#july rolling weekly

[alittlefanatic]

🍎 Midnight Whispers 🍎 Wally Darling x Reader Oneshot!

Tags: Fluff, Romantic, Established Crush and Friendship! Summary: You and Wally have been close friends for some time now! But when you fall asleep early at a sleepover, who knows what you might hear...

(Lovely Art done by karoochui on Twitter!)

Laughter surrounds you, as Barnaby and Julie are cracking up at their own jokes as everyone around them rolled their eyes and groaned. It was a Friday evening, which meant the neighborhood had their weekly get-togethers to catch up and overall have a joyous time, which Julie hosted, of course!

The scent of warm vanilla and sugar filled the air as Poppy was baking her signature cookies while everyone hung out in the living room. Howdy was helping Poppy in the kitchen, Sally, Julie, and Barnaby were sitting in some beanbags, Eddie and Frank were on the love seat, and where were you? Sitting on the couch with no other than Wally Darling himself. You couldn't help but steal a glance in his direction every once in a while. Whether he had his signature smile or laughing at all the commotion.

You were very close with all the neighbors, being in the neighborhood for months, everyone was so welcoming! But Wally always seemed to catch your eye. No matter where or who you were with, Wally would eventually come along on your adventures and tasks with the other neighbors. You two became close because of it! Most of the neighbors would even say you're best friends. You were that close!

You couldn't help but admit, though, that he does make you feel butterflies. Maybe it was his caring disposition or the way you would catch him staring, but it made your heart soar. But Wally? Liking you? You couldn't even entertain the thought. He's known everyone for so long that him liking you seemed farfetched. It was still a nice thought, though nonetheless.

Barnaby's laugh distracted you from your thoughts. "Ok, ok! I have another," he chuckled. "What should you do when you want to try something different with your baking?"

"Oh, oh! I think I know this one!" Julie spoke, with the biggest grin on her face. You couldn't help but smile along with her, even if you knew what was coming.

"Take a whisk!"

"Ha ha ha... that's a good one, Bud." Wally spoke, as you couldn't help but smile warmly. Seeing Wally smile brought you so much joy.

Poppy couldn't help but sigh, a chuckle escaping her as Barnaby and Julie burst out laughing more. "Oh my, you can't find dad jokes that funny, do you?"

"What's wrong with a good ol' dad joke?

"Everything!" Frank chimed in as Eddie chuckled.

"Oh, Frank, lighten up once in a while!" You spoke, causing Frank to roll his eyes in frustration.

"Says you! If anything came from Mr. Darling over there, you'd be a having a laughing fit. Don't try to deny it!"

A faint blush rose to your cheeks as you flashed an angry glare toward him. "Of course I would. He's actually funny, unlike you spoilsport!" You huffed, crossing your arms. Frank, despite his disposition, was smart. He probably knew about your crush on Wally before you even did! Meaning Julie knew as well since they were best buds.

Julie looked over, a playful smirk on her face as you tried to avoid her gaze. "Oh, what's wrong, neighbor? You look a little red~" She teased, getting up from her bean bag to slide next to you on the couch, or, more so slide into you, causing you to close more of the gap with Wally. You gave her a death glare but couldn't help but notice that Wally was staring at you, which caused that blush to fester more.

"Don't you have a shooting star to wish upon?" You teased back, causing Julie to huff, turning a light shade of pink herself. You knew she had a crush on Sally, so two could play at this game. Sally, though, was oblivious, reading through her scripts to memorize her lines for the next play she was going to produce. Julie was lucky... this time.

"Frank, you're not being very neighborly," Wally spoke up with a soft laugh. "Our dear neighbor is just the absolute most! Not my fault they think I'm funny, I do tell good jokes."

Before Frank could retort, Howdy interjected. "The cookies are done, everyone! Come grab yourselves some!"

With an excuse to remove yourself, you quickly got up from the couch, dusting yourself off before running into the kitchen. The scent of vanilla infects your nose as you let yourself relax. "Poppy, these smell delicious!"

"Why, thank you hon! Howdy here was a big help, don't forget to thank him too." She spoke, as you looked, seeing an embarrassed Howdy rubbing the back of his neck.

"Aw gee, I didn't do that much -"

"You did plenty! Don't sell yourself short!"

The two playfully argued back and forth as you grabbed a warm cookie, taking a small bite into its ooey-gooeyness, not noticing Wally walking up beside you.

"Is it good neighbor?"

You almost choked, startled by the voice, as you swallowed. You tried to give a thumbs-up as you attempted to stop coughing. "Yes, it's great -" you coughed, as Julie walked up next, patting your back. God, you felt like a fool.

"Well don't choke now! How else are you going to enjoy more cookies?" She spoke happily, grabbing two cookies as Sally, Eddie, Frank, and Barnaby walked up.

Sally glanced outside, stifling a yawn. "It is starting to get pretty late though, should we start to head back to our homes?"

Eddie nodded, "I was thinking the same, I have a busy day of delivering plenty of packages tomorrow!"

Julie took a bite of her cookie and nodded, as did Howdy and Poppy.

"That might be the best..but! I know you're trying to practice for your play, if you'd like Sally I wouldn't mind if you wanted to stay over...I could help of course!" Julie spoke, and Sally nodded happily with a smile.

Everyone seemed to mutually agree that it might be best to head home for the night, and after everyone grabbed their cookies, everyone started to make their way out. Eddie and Frank left first, then Barnaby, then Poppy and Howdy, til all that was left was you and Wally, cleaning up the remnants of the cookies, and picking up the mess before you left, it's what good neighbors do after all!

"You're so kind neighbor, thank you for helping me clean up! But I think Sally and I got it covered from here.." Julie spoke sheepishly, and I smirked back, about to speak but Wally did first.

"Julie you can just say you want alone time with Sally!~" Wally teased, causing Julie to get redder, and Sally to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Out out out!" Julie retorted, grabbing both Wally and I and practically shoving us out, slamming the door behind us.

Wally and I looked at each other, and we couldn't help but laugh. It was all so silly!

"You would think with how outgoing Julie is, she'd be brave or even bold in telling someone she likes them!"

Wally just laughed, dusting himself off. He seemed more relaxed now that it was just the two of us. I couldn't blame him, sometimes I get overwhelmed in groups too.

"Julie is an absolute sweetheart, but you'd be surprised. She's as stubborn as can be, especially with her feelings! Though, she loves to tease others about theirs."

'Don't I know it...' I thought to myself, as I looked, noticing the sun was starting to set, and my home was unfortunately the farthest one away. "Well, shall we get going Mr. Darling?"

Wally held his arm out for me to hold. "Whenever you are!"

I shyly took his arm, he was such a gentleman. 'It didn't mean anything! He's just being nice!' I thought, shaking my head, as we made our way towards Home. Though, I could have sworn his smile growing wider, wishful thinking I guess.

"I don't know how people can handle long gatherings, my poor social battery is trying its best." I chuckled, starting up a conversation.

Wally glanced over, looking a little concerned that quickly turned to mischief. "Well neighbor, I was going to invite you over for a sleepover, but if you're too tired then I can be all by my lonesome~" He spoke, being rather coy and dramatic, putting his hand to his head as I rolled my eyes.

"I would love to have one! Just because social gatherings get me tired, doesn't mean I'm ever tired of you specifically." I grumbled, glancing over with a smile. Wally looked a little pink, though it was probably the sunset...definitely the sunset.

"Well, I'm glad you think of me in that way neighbor."

It was comfortable silence walking Home, as we saw the familiar red house in the center of town. Making our way up to the door, it creaked as its shutters move.

"Yes home, Neighbor is staying with us tonight! We're having a sleepover!"

Home creaked again, sounding happy as it opened the door for Wally and I. Wally glanced toward me, motioning inside, to which I obliged, letting go of his arm and heading in.

It was quite a bright and colorful home. The walls were bright red, with yellow couches in the living room and colorful portraits of the neighbors all along the wall. Despite its bright colors, home felt cozy. I've been inside before to chat with Wally or to relax with him on days I felt like talking to anyone else would be too much. It was a nice friendship we had.

Friendship...man, those words stung.

The shutting of the door took me out of my thoughts as Wally put his hand to his chin.

"Ok, so what do you think of getting on some pajamas and watching a movie to finish the night off neighbor?"

"I don't have pajamas on me-"

"Silly. Silly. You can borrow mine. That's what neighbors do! Let me go grab some" He cut me off, speaking matter-of-factly as he went down the hallway. Moments later he returned with a blue shirt and some stripped pants, offering them to me.

"That works then, I'll take the couch too, to be polite! Until then, I'll go get changed, and you choose a movie. Thank you again!" I grabbed the clothes, walking down the hallway to the bathroom to get changed and freshen up.

Putting on the clothes, I looked at myself in the mirror, running my hands through my hair to smooth it out and get some of it out of my eyes. The clothes fit somehow, as I folded my other clothes neatly and held them in my hands.

Stepping out, I walk back into the living room with an already-changed Wally. How did he change so fast? He had his stripped pajamas on as well as a blue robe and red house slippers on.

"Oh, neighbor! I found a movie, come and get comfortable, I'll get a blanket!"

Smiling, I went and sat down on the couch, as the movie began to play.

"Is this the Aristocats? I haven't seen this movie in ages I feel." I looked at the familiar animated cats that began to play on the screen. Wally smiled and sat down next to me shortly after, grabbing a blanket and putting it on the both of us.

"Yes! I figured an animated movie might be good to unwind to. As an artist I'm always enthralled with how they animate, it truly is a wonder."

I smiled, watching his eyes seem to dilate at the movie on the screen, as he seemed to absorb every little bit of information he could.

As we watched the movie, I could feel myself getting tired, my eyelids feeling heavy as I leaned my head on Wally's shoulder unapologetically. I yawned, as I felt Wally adjust, as the cats danced and sang on screen, until the tiredness took over, and I shut my eyes.

...

I heard the TV shut off and the room fade to quiet as my eyes were shut. I was too comfortable, I didn't want to move, or open my eyes, this was nice. I could feel Wally shuffle, and I groaned, him moving softly as he gently lifted my head off his shoulder, before putting it back down.

I opened my eyes slightly, I was...horizontal now? I moved my head, only to realize I was laying on Wally's chest, as he laid back on the couch, resting his head on the armrest. My heart began to beat faster before I felt a hand on my head, rubbing it, which calmed me down. I shut my eyes again, feeling comfort at that moment as I heard a soft sigh.

"You're so cute when your sleepy neighbor..." Wally spoke softly, and I could feel him staring at me, rubbing my head. I felt more awake, but I acted like I was asleep, what more could he say?

"I hope your resting well...and having sweet dreams... I'm glad you're here, even if you are sleeping. At least you're sleeping soundly." Another sigh escaped him, he seemed to be deep in thought.

"You always make my days better, from the moment you came into the neighborhood, I knew you were going to be special to me. You had such a kind smile, despite being nervous about meeting us. It..was sweet. You took notice to me immediately it seems, and introduced yourself so quickly."

I couldn't help but smile in my sleep as I listened to him speak, he really thought that way about me?

"I wish I could be braver around you...I guess that's why I'm saying this while you sleep... that makes me a coward huh? But, that's ok. I don't mind watching your beauty from afar. You always seem to brighten up my days, even if you aren't directly in them. Though, I'd always want you to be in them.."

I adjusted myself slightly to get comfortable, Wally halting his words until he could tell I was 'asleep' again. He covered me up more with the blanket before rubbing my head again as he continued.

"I guess you could say...I like you...but I'd want to tell you in a cordial way! You deserve the best..not something bland. Maybe I could get you flowers, or maybe I could paint you...you are one of my biggest muses. Maybe a picnic? I'm unsure...maybe I need to ask Julie.."

Wally yawned, getting more tired by the minute, while I was trying my hardest to hide my smile and act asleep.

"Even tonight you were just, divine...I could feel myself getting nervous. Thankfully everyone was joking, or you might have noticed. You were all I could focus on..."

Silence hung in the air for a moment, as I hung onto every word. It was sweet, he made me feel safe.

"You feel different from the rest of the world, you had...this spark, that no one else did. Something like that can't be ignored...so I..I fell in love with you. I fell in love with the spark you gave me. I fell in love with the way you made me believe that I could feel this way about someone.." I could slowly start to feel my mind slipping again, his loving words making me relaxed and my heart fluttered. I wasn't going to interrupt him, especially now. His voice was becoming softer and softer, as were his head patting motions, as he seemed to become more relaxed. This would be a talk for the morning, for now?

This moment was all I needed.

After some deep breaths, the cozy warmth finally overtook me, as I slipped off into dreamland, the biggest smile on my face. ...

The morning came, almost too quickly, as I yawned, stretching to wake myself up. "Good morning neighbor, did you sleep well?" Wally spoke softly. Did he even sleep? I looked up at him, with a soft smile.

"The best sleep I've had in a long time."

AUTHORS NOTE:

This was honestly SO cute that I thought about making a second part to this where the reader reveals they heard everything…what do you think?

Also this is my first oneshot ever...I hope you enjoyed!! I tried my best!!

#wally darling x reader #wally darling x y/n #wally darling #welcome home requests #welcome home x reader #welcome home #oneshot

[walli3darl1ng]

Hello!! I really want to know how the welcome home crew would react to a enderman like reader

!But minus attacking when looked at!

Like I just imagine reader was just teleporting randomly but accidentally got lost while teleporting and somehow found the neighborhood and at the exact same time Frank and Julie were having a picnic then all the sudden they get jump scared by the reader so they make them the new neighbor.

I just want the reactions of the crew to a enderman like reader lol!

So I’m not an expert in Minecraft, I’ve watched other gamers and my brother play so I had to do research on this as well as look up human Endermans just to get a concept going.

If I’m gonna be honest with you I think this sucks🫠 but I did try my best^^

Julie and Frank were having their weekly picnic up a hit in the forest, where they would talk about their day, the week, any gossip they have. All in good spirits, of course.

“Did you hear home locking Wally up this morning?” Julie takes a bite of her cookie, enjoying the nice weather.

“What did he do this time?” Franks looks away from the butterfly that landed on him and turns to Julie.

“Ever since he ran around with that toy car all over the neighborhood and almost ran me over!” Julie takes a deep breath of the warm spring air and slowly lets it out with a smile. “I hear he forgot his pin on the lock for his gel barrel and he’s losing it.”

Frank was about to reply when they heard rustling behind a set of bushes. Curious they look at each other then back to the void of the forest.

Let’s say they were not prepared for what they saw next.

They see you, a really, really tall, black color skin, glowing purple eyes and long limbs. You walk out the tall trees and into the clearing holding a block of dirt that was surrounded by a purple glow. Looking away from the block you caught the wide eyes of the best friends.

There was silence for what seemed like hours but it was only a few seconds you look back down at the block and show it to them with a soft coo. And in a heartbeat they run down the hill, screaming with terror.

You tilt your head in confusion and drop the block of dirt that melted away to a pile as you slowly walk towards the picnic that your friends, that you don’t know the names of, left. And turning toward the direction of where they ran off to, you see a neighborhood.

Back at the neighborhood Barnaby is outside of Wally’s home. He just wants Wally to join him to get some sweets and meet up with Sally for her rehearsal. “Home, it’s just one afternoon.”

He gets creaks and bangs as a response and he can see their shutters rattle and close. Well, that’s a no. Barnaby then sees Wally peek from the window and wave at him, he’s clearly not helping but he sees that Wally’s hair is up in his hairstyle so Barnaby assumes he got the barrel open.

“Hey, Buddy! Care to help me out here?”

“Oh sure! Home will let me out if I promise not to lock the barrel.”

“Okay….and why don’t you?”

“And risk losing my gel!? No way.”

Barnaby rolls his eyes before a pair of screams interrupted them and the trio tune to see Frank and Julie run to them. “Gee, guys, what’s wrong? Why are you yelling?”

Frank falls to the ground face first and Julie hides behind Barnaby. “It was huge! Taller than anything I’ve ever seen! It could literally touch the sun.”

“What are you talking about?” Barnaby moves to the side and helps Frank up and bust him off. “What was huge?”

Wally makes it downstairs and home reluctantly lets him out. “Are you okay?”

“It was gonna eat us and turn us into dirt, we saw it!”

Confused and a little concerned Barnaby turns to Wally, who shrugs. They all hear a chip and then a huge shadow making them look up to meet your glowing eyes. You tilt your head again and hold the basket to Julie, who flinches but slowly takes the basket from your long, slim finger.

Now seeing that you’re just a tall sweetheart her mood changes drastically. “Awe, aren’t you cute!? I’m sorry I ran away.”

Your eyes squirt as if you’re smiling and she quickly runs to you and hugs your leg. You slowly crouch down and pat her head.

Frank was still a bit cautious about you, you’re really tall and huge! How can he not? He noticed that you have small white dots all over you and think it’s cute. They’re your freckles!

Barnaby was just confused. What are you? How did you get here and what do you need? But he can’t say he’s not fascinated by just how tall you are, not to mention you don’t look like anyone else he’s met, your hair looks like it’s flooding underwater, when you move your head it slowly follows you! He thinks that is so amazing.

Wally is so amazed right now. That little artist is about three feet tall, he can’t deny he’s short but him looking up at you really lets him know exactly how tall you are. You can stack three of him and you’ll be at eye level. He sees you still playing around with Julie, who’s using your finger as a place where she can hang from. He walks over to you and stares in awe.

You notice him and look down at him before slowly holding your hand out for him to climb on. It’s weird though, because of the color of your skin you look like you have no definition, no deft. Nonetheless, you bring him up to eye level and your glowing eyes lock with his sleepy ones.

You slowly blink and that’s what got him. His eyes dilated lounges forwarded to hug your cheek. “You’re mine now.”

“Hold it right there, Elvis! They're mine!”

The whole commotion caused Eddie, Howdy and Sally to come outside to see and well, a few emotions here.

Eddie was a bit frightened, I mean you’re a skyscraper! But he does find you absolutely harmless and adorable! You’re just sitting there holding Wally while letting him and Julie fight. You remind him of a starry sky with your body color and white freckles.

Howdy isn’t that much different from Eddie, maybe a bit more scared but then again he hasn’t met you. He’s a little more worried, what exactly do you eat? Can you eat? How long has it been since you did eat something? The big brother in him is getting concerned.

Sally was having the time of her life! She immediately adores you, like how a child would look at a big horse. With wonder and amazement. Is your hair soft? How do your eyes glow? Do they glow a different color? Or maybe they dim in the dark? She has a lot of questions and she needs answers.

“I saw them first.” Julie argues with a pout, now Sally standing next to her.

“Well, they blinked at me first. So ha!” Wally, from your shoulder, argues back, running his hand over your hair and watching the glow-y locks wrap around his hand and back away.

“Oh! Oh! Is their hair soft?!” Sally asks her questions as she jumps around.

“Very. Odd, really, it almost feels like when you graze the top of still water.”

“What’s your name?” Howdy calls out to you and you look at him and smile. You take your finger and write on the ground.

‘Y/n’

“Y/n?“

“So pretty!”

Eddie smiles at Sally and takes the apple from Howdy’s hand and holds it up to you. “Okay, Y/n, are you hungry? We can ask Poppy to bake you something later.”

Taking the apple with two fingers you bring it up and open your mouth, it opens wide and the inside glows purple as well, In one gulp it was gone.

“That was…” Julie and Sally spoke up then turned to each other in amazement. “Awesome!”

“Quick, quick! Give them another.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Howdy takes a hold of them with two of his arms while the third one on his waist and the forth pointing at them in a scolding manner. “You two are not gonna run my store dry..again!”

“No fun..”

“Okay, let’s talk about the main issue here.” Frank spoke up, noticing the sun going down. “Where are they gonna go? We can’t throw them in the forest.”

“And they obviously can’t stay inside with any of us. They're too tall.” Eddie adds.

Wally hums and snuggles back to you. “They can stay with me, they can be our new neighbor!”

“Stay with you? How?”

“They can sleep next to home.”

“They’re not a pet!” Frank argues. “How about we let Wally take care of them until tomorrow, we can figure something out.”

All agreed, even Julie but she protested on it a bit beforehand. Wally asks you to put him down then tells you to lay next to Home and snuggle up next to them. Tomorrow they will figure out how to keep you in the neighborhood.

Bonus:

Poppy hears a knock on the door and she opens it to find it empty. Was this a joke? She looks around and leans forward a bit to see if she can find anyone but nothing.

She was about to close the door when you peek your head from behind her barn and smile at her. Let’s just say she still is a bit scared of you. But still bakes you sweets whenever she can.

#wally darling #wally x y/n #welcome home #wally darling x self insert #welcome home x reader #welcome home x you

[ginjones]

“What did Apollo dream of?” Asks Hob, his voice a questing note which brushes the curve of Dream’s ear. He lies in naked warmth across the corded thew of his back, breathing life into marble. Breathing for them both. They had stayed this way for hours. Swathed together in the casual rituals of Sunday. An indulgent afternoon spent riding the blissful peaks of orgasm. Fragments of time dissolving into the peony blush of an August sunset.

Muscles tense beneath him and for a moment, Hob wants to swallow his words. The question has come too early. He should have waited. Let another century pass in quiet restraint for answers to fall unbidden. Then Dream moves under him with tectonic force, and every muscle rolls to bear his weight with ease. Impassive eyes stare blankly up.

“Music,” Dream states simply and then, after a pause “how the notes of a Lyre might soar and scatter their seed in the wheat fields of Crete. He dreamed the way God’s dream. With intent.”

“Oh.” Hob replies, “…alright.” He is not sure how to take this or for what answer he had hoped.

When Dream had returned to him in the bright glory of a June afternoon, had called him friend and sat in alignment on the seat of a twin chair, he had felt himself exalted. Then came the gifts of a name, several in fact, and the first offering of answers. That he had lain at the base of a glass sphere for 133 years. That he had missed the sound of birds taking flight. That blood will turn a dark sepia if left to stain a cold stone floor. Hob had felt the brush of fingers to his palm then. He had felt each subtle contact point of hands, of wrists, of legs. He had said nothing. Dream, he had told him, is in the process of rebuilding.

Hob gives himself freely to this process. By July the casual touches had transformed into weekly rituals where, in the summer heat of his flat upstairs, they had venerated each other in the arching of bodies, in the twisting of limbs. In warmth. In wetness. In light.

Dream looks up at him now, the light of ancient stars reflecting in his eyes. He smiles faintly. “I have had many lovers, Hob”. And he knows this. He knows. But he wants to know more. He wants to unwind the tangled eons of his being and find the subtle frays of conquest. To trace the heart line of his relations with the gods of another age. To wonder perhaps, what they felt like to this impossible creature who, after making himself a willing body, became the vessel for their dreams.

And his traitorous mind will not stop its reckless imaginings. Of perfect bodies mounting each other with graceful fluidity. Rutting for hours, decadent in the gleam of their own transcendent   splendour. He regards his own body then and finds it lacking. And yet, to trace the distant lands of Dream’s past is to know him, fondly, completely. He holds the envious blade to his heart and smiles. 

“I want to show you something,” Hob says, “Wait here.”

He rises from the alter of the bed to gather the offerings of books. Stories told by others to share. Hutton’s Queens of the Wild, a battered copy of Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classiciae he had bought second-hand in Cambridge. Human tales to dying gods who wait, in the tomb of the earth, for idolatrous rebirth. He places them down kindly and wraps himself again in the comfort of the bed.

Seraphic black eyes glance over the pages for the briefest of seconds before one is turned, then another and Hob realises this is how Dream processes information. So that entire books could be read in minutes; knowledge subsumed, taken inwards, and swallowed whole. Each story catalogued and reformed as a star in the nightscape consciousness of the collective unconscious.

“And what about Brigid?” Hob asks again, brushing a finger over the image of a woodcut in Hutton’s book. Dream’s body curves towards him; the pale crescent of a waning moon.

“Protection to those who would adorn her with the pearls of their words. Love given at a price. She was triple natured and dreamt of sacraments in milk and blood.”

He imagines the proud swell of her breasts and the lustrous warmth of her sex. How Dream might have laid her down among the richness of the living earth, her legs parting in mimicry of the unfurling of shivering leaves. How he might have bent to kiss the curve of her fruiting form and then, with the surge of yellow iris and bloodied poppies their consummation would sing in the arrival of spring.

Dream watches him closely with the subtle glimpse of a frown. His features correct themselves back to unspoilt marble. He glances back at the book.

Hours pass, or maybe days, and Dream is feeding him grapes. He watches with fascination at the ripe burst between his teeth. He places one perfect finger to the corner of his mouth and Hob takes him in. They make love again. Dream edging inside gently; a curtesy that belies the sheer strength of him. His shoulders are the roll of Atlantic waters, his corded muscles the terrain of mountains. Every quiet command to sit or bend down or open for me is the distant promise of a rainstorm. A body made for the pleasure of the divine. In the drop after the rising heat of release, he is reformed in bliss and made anew.

 “And Saturn?” He asks, once more.

It is midnight now. Time hangs suspended from one day till the next. His throat is the frayed edge of a salt slicked rope. Language has come back to him slowly and with it, the recollection that he wants to learn more. He has been placed under soft, dark sheets and held in the willowy bough of cool arms. His world has shrunk to hold nothing but the senses; the smell of his own body, juniper and vetiver. The glow of orange lamplight casting shadows on the wall. The delicate ache of muscles. The sound of distant voices rises thorough the stone of buildings, the wood of floorboard.

Dream is under the blankets with him too. He opens his eyes; sapphire bright.

“Unwavering devotion despite the hardships of capricious seasons. To be fed the rich loam of toil. Saturnalia was a decedent celebration, but his worshippers did not sleep. They turned away from my realm to follow the ghost of his words.”

“And you’re okay with me not being…Like; you don’t mind if I’m not someone one who could…”  Be a god for you, He thinks. Be better than I am. Be good enough to keep you.

Dream graces him with the rarity of a true smile and moves to close the distance. He is pulled to rest his head in the cove of a moonlit scapula. He is held there in silence; Dream placing a hand to the soft warmth of his stomach then tracing the thick trail of chestnut hair that leads down towards his pubis. He nuzzles into the crook of his neck and Hob can feel the subtle sensation of air. Dream is breathing him in. In this sanctuary they have created for themselves he is reminded of several moments. Where Dream, bathed in morning light, has watched him butter bread, or rinse dishes, or change tracks on a playlist to find a favourite song. He has watched him water plants, watched him eat. Has asked, several times in fact, to place a hand to the bob of his throat when he swallows. Sometimes, when he has woken from the swell of sleep, he finds Dream’s attentions on the aura- space around him. His eyes lit from the inside, tracing the phantom movements of some unseen, imperceptible thing. Half asleep still, he has seen Dream move a hand through the gloaming air in a dextrous swirl of intent. Capturing something, examining it, then looking back at him. You dream such wonderful things.

And here, resting together, Dream’s voice brushes the curve of his ear.

“You are more than a god, Hob. You are human.”

@softest-punk

#dreamling fic #dreamling #dream x hob #dream of the endless #hob galding #hobert hob gadling #the sandman fic #the sandman #greek gods #pagan deities #what it means to be human

[severalforraelee]

The Girls Part 11: Charles Leclerc x Reader

Photo credit to si.com

Word count: 3,091

Written by raelee / Posted July 22

Masterlist

Formula 1 Masterlist

The Girls Masterlist

“Good job, Ada,” I compliment as she kicks the ball across the room, we watch as it bounces against the kitchen cabinet. “Nice job, Lucy.”

The blonde girl is the one to kick the ball this time, but it only rolls a few feet away. She huffs, tiny arms crossed over her chest as tears begin to fill her eyes.

“Okay, come here. Can you feel? What emotions can you feel?” I open my arms and she collapses into them, tiny sobs shaking her body as I rub her back comfortingly. “I thought I had at least two months until the terrible twos hit.”

A knock sounds at the door and I rise to my feet, Lucy still clutched in my arms.

“No,” Ada shouts, arms winding around my leg as she drops to her bottom.

“Really? How am I supposed to get to the door, you guys?” I whine. Ada giggles and Lucy sniffles.

I make it to the door in twice the amount of time that it would normally take, swinging it open to reveal Charles on the other side.

“Dada,” Ada hollers, hopping up to reach her hands up towards him.

He grins at her, pulling her up and into his arms as Lucy raises her head at her sister’s words, face lighting up at the sight of the familiar man. She reaches out for him as well and he pulls her into the crook of his other arm, stepping over the threshold into the apartment as I close the door behind him.

“You should really just give me a key to your apartment at this point,” Charles tells me, lightly throwing the two girls on the couch and sending them into a fit of giggles.

“What, you want a drawer, too?” I motion towards his backpack.

“Well, if you’re offering.”

I roll my eyes, throwing a few stray toys into the toy box.

“Why the red eyes, Lucy?” He traces the toddler’s puffy eyes with a frown.

“A little sisterly jealousy,” I explain. After glancing at the clock I add, “And tiredness.”

“Did you stay up after your bedtime just to see me?” Charles questions enthusiastically, tickling the two girls' bellies. They’re full of laughter tonight, because they think that was the funniest thing. “I think it��s time for bed now, then.”

“No,” Ada whines.

“You’re already up past your bedtime-”Lucy erupts into another set of tears, interrupting her dad.

He pauses, glancing at me to see my reaction. I raise my eyebrows at him. He knows what the action says.

If you’re the one responsible for having them stay up even later than they already are, you’re dealing with the bedtime routine and cranky tantrums tomorrow.

But, as always, he cracks.

“Okay, fine, one episode of Bluey wouldn’t hurt.”

~

“One episode of Bluey won’t hurt,” I mock Charles’ words.

He doesn’t respond, reaching forward to place the giraffe pacifier back inside Lucy’s mouth and the penguin pacifier back inside Ada’s mouth to soothe their cries. I can still see him roll his eyes out of the corner of my eye.

I even warned him this morning that we should have a lowkey day because of how late he let them stay up, but once I returned home from class he announced that he placed a reservation at a nearby ball pit so the girls could have a fun activity to do.

Charles checks us in for our reservation once we arrive, and as soon as we place Ada and Lucy in the ball pit, it’s like the tantrums that occurred not even an hour ago never occurred at all.

“Are you going to answer that?” Charles questions after my smart watch buzzes for the third time in a row, altering me to a text.

I already know that it’s Lando. We had that conversation last week in hopes of repairing our relationship, but it’s still a bit tense. I guess it hurts more than I care to admit that my family just cast me aside once I got pregnant, and that Lando remained oblivious to it all this entire time.

Sure, I didn’t tell him at the time, but I think it was noticeable by me missing from photos that they sent of weekly family dinners or texts in the group chat. It’s just difficult to move past the resurgence of bad memories.

“No,” I shake my head, watching as Lucy throws a red ball a foot away from her with a wide grin.

Now it’s Charles' watch that buzzes.

“Are you going to answer that?” I repeat his question.

“No,” he answers. “I want to enjoy this time with my three girls.”

I roll my eyes at his response, but look down to hide my blush.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly because of how late they stayed up, the girls are tired out and fall asleep as soon as we put them in their stroller to head back to my apartment.

“Charles,” I pause on the sidewalk, watching as he pushes the stroller towards a looming apartment building. “What are you doing?”

“I have a friend that lives here,” he answers.

“But the girls are sleeping, we need to get them home before they wake up,” I remind him. They’re not the best sleepers in their stroller.

“It won’t take long, I promise,” he responds. I reluctantly follow him. It’s not like I have much choice, he does have our kids with him.

He smiles at the doorhop as we pass him, then the receptionist behind the front desk as we make our way towards the elevator. Of course he has a friend that lives in this building- it has amenities like a doorhop, receptionist, gym, spa, and pool by the signs plastered in the elevator, along with elegant chandeliers and marble floors.

To put it bluntly, it’s in the rich part of town, the area that Charles is familiar and comfortable with.

I, on the other hand, am completely uncomfortable by this. Although I was raised in a wealthy family, we were never taught to flaunt our wealth in such a public manner, like in the things that we own. We lived in a nice house in rural England and the thing that probably showed our money the most was the fact that Lando was karting.

Besides, family money is something that I haven’t experienced for years. Even before becoming pregnant with the girls and distancing myself from my family, I rarely let my family pay for my things. Of course, I let Lando pay for my tickets to the grand prixs, but that was mainly because I was working for him. And being away from Formula 1 for so many years, I sometimes forget how these guys are so used to a luxurious lifestyle.

The elevator doors open on one of the top floors and he pushes the stroller out and down the hall with confidence. I follow after him closely, not wanting to get caught in the hallway by anyone who might see us.

“Your friend gave you his key?” I question, confused as he presses the fob to the lock.

“Yeah,” he grins back at me, pushing the door open.

He steps inside the apartment and I follow close behind. We enter a small entryway, intricate detailing on the doorway welcoming us into a larger space. There’s an area straight ahead with big glass windows and doors that lead to a balcony, clearly meant for a living area. Between that area and the entryway is an empty space, for what I assume is a dining table. Off to the left is a decent sized kitchen with white cabinets and white marble countertops, a small island in front of stainless steel appliances.

“Did your friend just move in?” I ask, taking note of the obvious lack of furniture.

“Yeah. Why don’t you take a look around?”

“Take a look around your friend’s new apartment?” I raise my eyebrows at him skeptically.

“Yeah,” he shrugs.

I give him another look, trying to understand where this is coming from. Why would I want to look around his friend’s apartment? Of course I want to- it’s always fascinating to see how the other half lives, but why would Charles encourage me to?

I don’t argue with him on it, though, not wanting to start another fight.

I start on the right side of the apartment, finding a nice sized bedroom, full bathroom, and laundry room. Then I head to the left side of the apartment, finding two more nice sized bedrooms and another bathroom.

“It’s nice,” I comment once I rejoin Charles and the girls, looking around the main space of the apartment once again.

“Yeah, you think so?”

“Could do with more color,” I suggest.

“Well, you can add the color.”

I turn back to him in confusion, resting one hand on the handle of the stroller casually. “What do you mean?”

“You’re my friend!”

I pause, staring at him. “What?”

He stutters. “I mean, I bought this flat for you.”

My mouth gapes open a bit in surprise as I gaze at him. “Why did you do that?”

“Your apartment now is so small, and it’s not on the safe side of town,” he explains.

“I like it being so small,” I defend, “It makes it easier to hear and see Ada and Lucy, and I can get to them quickly. And, I don’t know why you and Lando keep saying that, I feel safe where I live.”

“There was just a murder in your neighborhood last week!”

“On the other side of the neighborhood!”

“You’re going to put your ego over the safety of you and our daughters?”

I stare at him in shock. “I’m putting our daughters’ well-being in front of my ego, if anything. Don’t you think I would love to stay in this apartment and show it off?”

Charles can’t help but crack a grin, knowing that’s incredibly unlike me.

“The girls love saying hello to our neighbors every day, they love walking down the street to the park, hell, they love sharing a room, Charles,” I motion to the three bedroom doors.

“And they can share a room here,” he responds.

“Then what is the third- oh.” I stare at him in confusion until my face blanks.

“Why ‘oh?’” He questions.

“Charles, we just talked about this,” I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest before looking off to the side.

“Talked about what?”

“We’re not having another baby.”

It’s quiet- which is understandable, I’m sure it’s hard for him to really get it through his head that I don’t want another baby right now- and it’s not just with him, it’s with anyone. Currently, the girls are more than enough for me to handle.

Although, I do think it’s weird that he is still pushing for another baby since that pregnancy scare caused an argument and more tension between us.

It remains quiet. Too quiet.

I look back over at him, expecting a shattered expression, just to see a smug smirk on his face. My annoyed expression deflates at the look on his face but I quickly put it back on, not wanting him to think he has the upperhand in this scenario.

I feel like I’m missing something.

“What?” I ask him.

“The third bedroom isn’t so that the girls can have separate rooms, or so that we can have another baby. The third bedroom is so that we can all live together. That way we can have separate rooms, so I can be with the girls all of the time while in London and have somewhere to keep my stuff,” he explains.

I feel all the blood in my face drain at his explanation, and embarrassment creeps throughout my body.

“Oh.”

“Oh?” He raises his eyebrows at me suggestively.

I stare out the wall of windows at the bustling London street below, avoiding eye contact with Charles while feeling his gaze on the side of my face. I don’t respond, just wanting to get out of this humiliating situation.

“You want another baby?”

“No,” I whip my head towards him, narrowing my eyes. “You want another baby.”

“You’re the one who just brought it up,” he responds defensively.

“Yeah, because you just bought an apartment with three bedrooms after we had a pregnancy scare,” I roll my eyes.

“You know I’d have another baby whenever you’re ready,” he offers.

I don’t respond, instead rolling the stroller to the front door of the apartment.

“So I contacted a moving company and they can move you in as early as next week, they told me since you have such a small amount of stuff we can be moved in within a day and we can shop for the rest of the furniture together,” he says, following after me.

My feet stop in the hallway, causing Charles to almost run into my back. I turn around slowly to face him.

“What?”

“What about that did you not understand?” He wrinkles his eyebrows in confusion.

“What about what I said did you not understand?”

“Oh, I understood you alright,” he smirks at me.

I take a deep breath, fighting back the eyeroll. “I’m not moving into this apartment, Charles.”

“Why not?”

“Do we need to go through this again?” I raise my eyebrows at him.

“Clearly we do.”

“The girls are happy where they are now,” I assert.

“The girls are not even two years old, they don’t even know where they are half of the time.

“Charles,” I stare at him in disbelief.

“What?”

“You’re not even with them half of the time, how would you know that?”

I know that it’s a low blow, but my blood is boiling. I understand that he’s not here because of his job, one that he’s really passionate about, but it feels like when Charles wants something, he does whatever he wants to make it possible.

It used to be a character trait that I really admired about him. I loved watching him overtake on the track and advocate for certain strategies with his team, admiring all of the passion that he puts into everything he does.

But when you have kids, that personality trait has to be thrown out the window.

It’s no longer about what you want and what you think is best- it’s what’s best for the kids. And I know my kids, and although someday I’d like to move into a bigger place, while I’m in school and working and the girls are still young, it’s best to stay where we are.

“I could be with them more if we moved into this apartment,” he waves his arm, as if to make his point.

I can’t hide my eyeroll this time, turning around to push the stroller back to the elevator.

“No response?” Smugness sneaks into his tone.

“It’s not even worth a response,” I tell him, pressing the button to go down. “Tell your realtor that you changed your mind.”

“After hiding the existence of my daughters for almost two years, you can’t do this one thing for me?”

My feet whip me around to face him before I can control my movements, and I begin to speak before I can stop myself. “Are you serious?”

His jaw drops open, as if he can’t believe he said those words himself.

“We had this whole conversation before, Charles, and I thought we figured out how to get over it. And, you’re not going to try to guilt me into doing something that I don’t think is the best option for our daughters, that’s not how cooperating between us is going to work,” I protest. “I will put our daughters' well-being in front of your emotions, and my own, time and time again because that’s what you do as a parent. And I’ll do everything that I can to get along with you because of them as well, as difficult as that may be.”

I step inside the elevator, pulling the stroller with me. Charles just stands in the hallway, staring back at me with a blank expression.

“Are you coming? I need to press the button.”

~

Ada and Lucy begin to squeal at the familiar sight of Ms. Berry, the elderly neighbor who always gives them lollipops whenever she sees them.

“Oh, you sweet darlings, it’s been too long since I last saw you,” the woman coos, pulling a strawberry flavored lollipop and cotton candy flavored lollipop out of her purse. Like clockwork, Ada reaches for the strawberry one and Lucy reaches for the cotton candy one.

“And who is this young man?” Ms. Berry smiles at Charles who stands holding Lucy’s hand.

“This is Charles, the girls’ dad,” I inform her.

“I hope that means that I’ll be seeing a lot more of you.”

“Say thank you to Ms. Berry,” I instruct the girls, who say the words around a mouthful of sucker.

“Anytime, girls. You’re the highlight of my week.” “Who was that woman that we ran into in the hallway earlier?” Charles asks later at dinner.

“Oh, Ms. Berry?” I reach over to wipe the ketchup off of Ada’s face. “She lives a couple doors down. She loves to see Ada and Lucy.”

“I’ve just never seen her before.”

“It’s because you’re usually gone on the weekend when she returns from her daughter’s house in the country. She stays there during the week to take care of her grandchildren, that’s why she loves the girls so much.”

Charles is quiet after that.

I know that he’s thinking about the apartment that he bought for us to share without my permission. It’s been a couple of days since we visited and fought about it. From the way his gaze lingers on me and flits around the apartment, I can tell that he wants to apologize for making such a rash decision without me and expecting me to go along with it, then guilting me when I refused.

But for some reason, he refuses to apologize.

Whether it’s pride, still partially believing that he’s correct, or something else, I don’t know.

All I know is that I’m sick of fighting with him.

Despite the fact that we fight about literally everything, I’m ready to move on and get along with him for the sake of our daughters. But it seems like everytime we take a step forward, we take two steps back.

And I’m just wondering how much of this back and forth we can both take.

Tags that are working

@untitled92260 @disneydaydreameralways @zxlla @thrsdyschld @purpledianezzzzzz @lovingroscoee @bilbobag9ins @way-to-eat-all-the-chips-kip @withyoutilltheendofthismess @chiogarza @simpforpierre @scottmctominbae @octaviareina @lindsaytriestowrite @starjane312 @savannah-elliott @sanne-p @o0itsjustme0o @eleanorbvb @permanentllyharry

@dr3lover @piceous21 @citylights31 @xoxoloverb @lebritneeey @sweetlittleorchid @soomanybands @raaaaabzzz @heyitskay-21  @5secondsof-beforeyouexit @xox-moon-xox @tall-tanned-tattoo @fredsandlokiswhore @fictional-l0v3r @valkryejh @welcometomyworldwithoutrules @starjane312 @hannahholland1811 @b-orderline @puthaydestroyer @theplobnrgone @dudde-44 @lmao-liz @herpes-free-since-05 @leclerc16s @fictional-l0v3r @hes-club @kyomihann @compulsiveshit @markluv4u @kodzuskook @hazzasswiftie @organasith @chxndlerrr @ella33 @pleasantducktimetravel @ourlazydetectivekitten @weirdlychaotic @s00nfloweronfyre @ophcelia @loveofmylife12 @iamasimpingh0e @amulhermaisfelizdomundo @allisonxf1 @f-hollands @junglxqueen @motylekrozi @shqwqrma @justmemewriting @hello-sunshine-x @hiphopdancer101universe @caosfanblr @rosesintj @arieltwvdtohamflash  @dessxoxsworld @alwaysclassyeagle @irule-ha-losers @buendiabebeta @butterflyjames @copper-boom @xcharlottemikaelsonx @mrswang17 @charlesswife @kplatzman @teti-menchon0604 @oneoftwoghosts @darkmalice00 @alwaysclassyeagle @rafaaoli @a-distantdreamer @teti-menchon0604 @sadsierra2

Tags that aren’t working

@watermelon1299 @sweet3poison @88red88 @infamousmany @cippyo @sophiachiodelli @starlightoctavia @ln15 @adorerdj @fromthedeskofjoii @ar333f1 @callmequeenbeee @starbucksthings @ninnypoosworld @starxqt @poofy-baby-unicorns @escapingrealityagain @jazztime @sueesstuff @coucou123 @nglurmomishotlmao @dontforgetplusc @teamspideyman @starcatcher48 @lissimountf1 @motheraiya @lovee-rosiieee @brusg21 @lcuppo @squidwardsluverxx @ystrolllll @blueskiesandtom @fulla02 @teardropsandraindrops @ruleroftheuniverse @livster

#formula 1 imagine #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc imagine #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 fanfiction

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

GIL Schedule + Masterpost 2024

Message from our Chancellor

Dear humans,

At the Gallifrey Institute for Learning, we firmly stand by the principle that every individual, regardless of their species or background, deserves the opportunity to access knowledge that is appropriate for their level of intelligence.

In our efforts to extend this philosophy, our dedicated human liaison on Earth has been working to develop social media content and comprehensive learning modules that are meticulously tailored to meet the unique needs and capabilities of humans. These modules have been crafted to be compatible with your extremely rudimentary technology, thereby ensuring that you can engage with the vast expanse of knowledge that we are eager to share. It is our hope that these learning modules will prove to be not only educational but also profoundly enlightening, representing a significant stride in narrowing the gap between Gallifreyans and humans.

This year marks an exciting phase for the Institute as we welcome aboard new members of staff. We are particularly thrilled to introduce Noraxoekodurosugofbyn of Prydon, who will be assuming the role of Translation Officer for Mutter's Spiral, following that rather regrettable incident. Additionally, we are delighted to announce that Myishu 'the Fryer' of Scendeles will be leading our catering team.

We are grateful for the attention you have bestowed upon us during your incredibly short lifespan. For Rassilon's honour!

Kowlignelokegalrasnorusowayfogilsha Chancellor for Gallifrey Institute for Learning

==================================

Daily content

Asks are open all week and usually responded to within 1-2 days.

All week: 🔥Trending Tuesdays: 🫀Gallifreyan Biology Wednesdays: 🗨️Gallifreyan Language (con. lang) Thursdays: 🕰️Whoniverse Throwbacks Fridays: 🤓Whoniverse Facts Saturdays: 🌟Guides and content drops Sunday: 📢Announcements

》📫Got a question / submission? 》📚Complete list of Q+A

Archive 😆Jokes & Incorrect Quotes [stopped]

==================================

Weekly topics 2024

January: New beginnings | You know it makes sense | Run! | Who lives in a House like this? | BANG! February: In the shadows | It must be love | Sontar-HA! | One giant leap March: Oh no not the Time War | Everything's normal here | Haven't we met before? | Slitheen April: Forsooth egads | I'm regenerating! | Who nose? | Fight for your right | Guns May: Once and Future King | Read a book | It's bigger on the inside!™ | I'm so old ... June: Ian and Barbara | Dalek Rights Week | The Brigadier | Parp July: Timey Wimey | Obey your Master | That's not cricket | Ace decision | I'm in space, man August: Is that you Sarah Jane? | Can you drive this thing? | Fire | A cure for all ills September: Impending doom | That's ood | I see dumb people | Good dog | I'm sorry so sorry October: Meanwhile in Kasterborous | I'm the Doctor | Doctor ... wait what? | Halloween November: Cyberin' around | Here's the plan | Anniversary week | Would you like a jelly baby? December: Rock n Roll | Under the weather | Breaking the ice | It's Christmas | Best of 2024

==================================

Courses

Gallifreyan Biological Studies: Anatomy and Physiology

The Gallifrey Institute for Learning is excited to offer "Gallifreyan Biological Studies: Anatomy and Physiology", a specialised course designed to delve into the unique biological structures of Gallifreyan life forms. This course is a comprehensive exploration of the anatomical and physiological aspects of Gallifreyan biology.

Available content: →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (WIP) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine/Monitoring Guides →📝Source list (WIP)

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

Gallifreyan Linguistic Immersion

The Gallifrey Institute for Learning invites humans to join "Gallifreyan Linguistic Immersion". Designed by top Gallifreyan linguists, this course is tailored for those eager to understand the Gallifreyan language.

Available content: Pending

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

TARDIS Systems: History, Theory, and Practice

The Gallifrey Institute for Learning proudly presents "TARDIS Systems: History, Theory, and Practice", a comprehensive course designed for those fascinated by TARDIS technology. This course offers an in-depth exploration of TARDIS systems, combining historical knowledge, theoretical foundations, and practical skills.

Available content: Pending

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

Other

Which Gallifreyan academy would admit you? (Quiz)

==================================

Our Staff & Affiliates

Kowlignelokegalrasnorusowayfogilsha of Arcal - Chancellor Saralonoroxapligofmyityo of Arcal - Vice-Chancellor Noraxoekodurosugofbyn of Prydon - Translation Officer for Mutter's Spiral Shaplinortyovatshuagu of Drome - Regional Liaison for Mutter's Spiral Myishu 'the Fryer' of Scendeles - Catering @fatelesschild - Human Liaison for Sol 3 @fritzmetzger - Lead Artist for Sol 3 Joxer (the Mighty) - Feline assistant to Human Liaison for Sol 3

==================================

Disclaimer

The courses provided by the Gallifrey Institute for Learning are intended for educational purposes only. We do not accept any responsibility for information from the programmes being used to harm any Gallifreyans, no matter how irritating or destructive they might be.

For humans

GIL is brought to you by its creator, researcher, writer, and all-around nutso Whovian, @fatelesschild, with art by the incomparable @fritzmetzger. It has no affiliation with the BBC or the actual Gallifrey. Sorry.

If you're finding joy in this part of the internet and fancy supporting the cause to help make new content, feel free to buy me a coffee on Ko-fi or tip below.

#pinned message #doctor who #dr who #gallifrey #GIL #gallifrey institute for learning #classic doctor who #whoniverse #GIL announcements

[the-oricami-curio]

The Noctern didn't do nearly as well as I had hoped when I first posted it in July of 2021. However I loved the design so much that I thought I'd try again a year later. it is now by far my highest performing piece.

Noctern

Rare, Magic Weapon (Rapier)

(requires attunement by a rogue)

This item is found as an ornate hooded lantern which can be attached to one's belt. While carried as a lantern, it can be lit without using oil and sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet.

While touching the lantern, you can use a bonus action to transmute it into a rapier of spiraling flame or return it to a lantern. The rapier deals fire damage instead of piercing.

Illuminated Strike. You deal an additional 1d6 sneak attack damage with all finesse or ranged weapons.

Enlightened Aim. If you have advantage on an attack that is being canceled out by disadvantage, you can still deal sneak attack damage.

Eclipsing Fog (Lantern Form Only). As an action, you can cause the lantern to emit a subtle blackish fog in a 10ft radius, centered on you. The fog enwreaths you and a number of creatures of your choice, within the radius, up to a maximum of your Dexterity Modifier. The fog remains centered on you when you move. While the fog persists, anyone enwreathed in the fog cam share your Dexterity (Stealth) rolls, and counts as Lightly Obscured. This effect lasts for 1 hour, or until you or anyone else enwreathed in the fog damages a creature or forces them to make a saving throw. Once you use this ability, it cannot be used again until 3d6 long rests have passed.

-

Ko-fi - Early access weekly items, Transparent PNG files and alternate forms, map packs, small settings and more!

Discord - Talk with artists, science nerds and TTRPG lovers alike!

Twitch - Talk about your character's, campaigns, while you can see me draw next week's homebrew! Every Thursday @ 9pm EST.

Commissions - See my commission prices and DM me for more information or a quote!

#dnd 5e art #dnd 5e homebrew #dnd homebrew #dnd5e #dnd #dungeonmaster #d&d 5e homebrew #d&d 5th edition #d&d 5e #d&d #digital art #digital artist #5e homebrew #homebrew #magic item #magic items #art #artists on tumblr #fantasy #fantasy artist #phantom rogue #rogue #lantern #rapier

[f1blrcreatorsfest]

fest credits & acknowledgements;

an author’s note by yours truly, ames ivettel <3

"oh, wow..." was pretty much all i could say as i scrolled through the f1blrcreatorsfest23 tag on the evening of august 1st. i was in a hotel room with some of my best friends in the world, all of us piled on a single bed, my laptop balanced precariously in the air as i passed around tumblr posts like a blunt, and already, i was floored by the initial response to the fest. little did i know that my mind would continue to be blown.

not to ruin the illusion, but going into the month, i was so stressed and scared that things wouldn’t happen—literally, the day the festival launched, we were still doing prep work. fio and i had committed to a morning of Getting Life Shit Done, and while she did more important stuff, i was on after effects finishing up the launch post and rushing through the caption (and bothering her 💀). i hit post and went to touch grass, already kind of having given up on things going smoothly… and i came back to the best chaos i’ve ever seen, along with the feeling that i was completely out of my depth.

honestly, if i’d run this behemoth of an event completely by myself, i’m sure it would have flopped early. not for lack of trying, mind, but simply because running a community festival is a team game at heart; you need input from others if you want to make something big for others!

so, with that said, i’d love to give credit where credit is due. i hope you’ll join me in giving a standing ovation to these stellar individuals!

first and foremost, a massive shoutout to barbi @brawn-gp for kickstarting the idea in the first place: a racing sideblog that prompts community challenges for motorsportblr. the very foundation this fest is laid on is because of you! thank you also for running the queue for most of the month and being so meticulous with the tagging system—our blog would not be here without you!

next, thank you to kyle @princemick and riel @azrphales for your work doing posters and being active members of the exec team! as i tried to chase people down to vote on big decisions, your quick input was a sigh of relief—a sign that others wanted this fest to happen just as badly. your promo work was literally invaluable in getting this to take off and stay strong. thank you both for your work post-launch (additional planning + sideblog modding)! a special thank you to kyle for being so active in the discord server and supporting our participants, also for participating so much in the fest itself <3

another big thank you to garnet @garnetaldebaran! your suggestions were incredibly insightful and thoughtful while trying to create the fest’s schedule and events. you really came through with the organization of our first sprint, which proved so helpful when organizing the second and third. and the creations you made for the fest on top of it all? absolutely gorgeous!

to nico @userscuderia and fio @maranello, thank you for lighting the inspirational fire we needed to get ideas flowing on what we could do in addition to weekly themes! the very concept of our sprint challenges, our silly f1-themed guidelines, and our motivation for most of july are thanks to you!

finally: nami @boyfrombarbados, emma @dannysricciardo, and ginevra @leclerqued, thanks for rolling with the changes to the video editing server / joining the pitwall on the fly! your comments were great and helped us define how we wanted to shape our fest identity.

i set out, initially, to try and change the culture around f1blr—to show noncreators that there is so much talent that exists in the fanbase, and that to keep us going, pretty much all we ask for are reblogs. maybe even a nice comment or two! it’s been made pretty clear, however, that the lack of interaction and interest in supporting creators stretches far, far beyond our reach.

that said, not all hope is lost! if this fest has done anything, i think it’s encouraged people to try new things artistically and really push the boundaries of what it means to make a #f1edit. at the end of the day, isn’t that what this is all about? being on the side of art, encouraging creation, fostering support? if we can continue to push ourselves—and really enjoy the act of creating—doesn’t our spirit count for anything? 

so i’ll sign off on this by saying one last thing: stay passionate about the beauty you give to the world. it matters, regardless of the notes, the likes, and the comments; it matters, and most of all, you matter.

thank you, everyone! a gold star for each of you ⭐️

-xo ames

#f1blrcreatorsfest23

[just--vi]

2023 in fanfic!!

i wrote my first full fanfic in 2023 after coming back to fandom after a long hiatus. in all i've written over 240,000 words which is just nuts. it made me some incredible friends and incredible mutuals who i hope to turn into friends. i started with the loves of my life (wolfstar!!) and discovered some new loves (jegulus has the key to my heart) and came up with a million future fic ideas

goals for 2024 include: write something that isn't a muggle au, convince everyone to ship moonchaser (jk... or am i), write more smutty one shots, read more!!! (gimme your best recs)

if you'd like to see what i've written, click below...

love by the seaside - april 23 / august 23

Remus is an artist who, after a particularly messy breakup, finds himself drawn to the Cornish coast. His fresh start is disrupted, however, when he meets someone who reminds him an awful lot of his ex-boyfriend. (multi-chapter, complete, 42,126 words, wolfstar with background jily)

you're losing me - may 23

Although they're desperate not to, Remus and Sirius just can't quite keep from falling apart. (one-shot | 3,898 | wolfstar | canon compliant)

young blood - may 23 / november 23

After Regulus spends a difficult year alone with their parents, Sirius convinces him to spend his last summer before college on a road trip with him and his closest friends. The very last thing he's expecting is for his feelings for Sirius' best friend to resurface with a vengeance (and he certainly isn't expecting them to be returned). As it turns out, he and James aren't the only ones dealing with complicated emotions. Sirius has just returned from a year long trip abroad and Remus is having a difficult reconciling with just how much he's missed him. Or, a coming of age road trip AU full of angst, fluff, healing family trauma and navigating old feelings. (multi-chapter | complete | 71,029 words)

a weekend at crystal lake - october 23 / october 23

A group of recent college graduates set off to a cabin in the woods for one last hurrah before going their separate ways. As the weekend goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that they aren't alone out there. This is horror-themed AU featuring our favourite Marauders where (almost) everyone dies. This is a fic written for Halloween, with scheduled weekly (sometimes twice weekly) updates until October 31st. Enjoy! It's basically angst and smut with a little bit of fluff as a treat. (multi-chapter | complete | 24,166 words)

under the glow of neon lights - november 23

Pure smut. Regulus, Remus, and James fuck in a dingy club bathroom (and then carry on fucking at home xo). (one-shot | 4,429 words | remus x regulus x james)

the weather outside is frightful - december 23 / december 23

James takes it upon himself to drag Regulus home for Christmas and an unexpected snow storm rolls in, stranding them together over the holiday with no lights, no power, and no heat. (multi-chapter | 15,726 | jegulus )

for the love of ducks - september 23 / present

Remus Lupin has always been sick, and he'd just like to feel normal for once. Sirius Black seems like the perfect man with a perfect, exciting life. (multi-chapter | ongoing | wolfstar with background jily)

where the light gets in - july 23 / present

Remus Lupin splits from the Marauders after a bitter feud with frontman Sirius Black; Famous brothers Sirius and Regulus Black haven't set foot in the same room in seven years; Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadowes enter a rivalry for the ages… at least, that’s the media’s side of the story. Scandal, heartbreak, and bitter rivalries. But how much truth is there to the rumours? (multi-chapter | ongoing | wolfstar, jegulus, dorlene centric)

the little blue house on main street - november 23 / present

A coming of age university AU in which Regulus Black struggles to navigate his feelings for his brother's best friend, Sirius Black struggles to navigate his sexuality, and the whole lot of them struggle to navigate growing up. (multi-chapter | ongoing | wolfstar, jegulus, pandalily/marylily)

#wolfstar #jegulus #fanfic #dorlene #pandalily #marylily #fics #2023 fanfiction summary #can't wait to read everyone else's summaries #everyone post yours i want to see #viwrites

[macabrecravings]

Feelings I Can’t Peg Down

Pairing: Julie Crawford/Leland McKinney Fandom: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Game Summary: Study sessions were a weekly occurrence in their friend group. Every Friday, they’d get together and prepare before the weekend. As the quarter dragged on, schedules got muddled and people began flaking out. Without the others to keep them on track, Leland and Julie get distracted. Their regular study session ends up taking a turn after searching for school supplies inside her closet. Who knew, that discovering a shoebox in Julie’s closet would end up awakening something inside of him, too? Warnings: NSFW!! Very explicit/graphic smut.

A/N: HELLO JULAND FANS I'm here to feed you!!! Finally <3 Sorry to make the first fic on ao3 straight up porn but... I'm totally down to write a chapter 2 (& more stories about them) if y'all like this (*/ω＼*) Fr just leave a comment & It'll probably motivate me for the next week HFJHGHGH

Words: 7.3k

“How do you feel?” She asked, tilting her head and resting her cheek on his chest. She continued to stare up at him with her bright eyes.

“I've never felt so good in my life.”

“Oh my God.” Julie tittered, rolling her eyes with a big grin on her face. She hid her flushed face by burying it in his chest.

“I'm being serious.”

“Sure, Leland.” It was clear she was laughing and joking around, but he really did feel that way. He laughed, and the movement got her to look at him again. He stared at her lips, longing to kiss them again.

Julie brushed a thumb across his cheek, and he piped up again. “I think you're the most beautiful girl I know.”

Julie let out a gasping breath, muttering to him. “I think… you're crazy.” She deflected his compliment with another laugh, but his words still took her breath away. The noise sent shockwaves through Leland, reminding him where he was.

Read on AO3

#julie crawford #leland mckinney #texas chainsaw massacre game #tcm game #tcsm game #julie x leland #juland #juleland #original post🍓💌 #my writing📕💌

[foxes-that-run]

2021 Haylor Timeline

Timeline Tag, or years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024..

18 January - Coney Island released as a single.

14 February Olivia at Harry’s house with luggage. Don't worry Darling filming wraps. On the 21st Taylor Lover tour cancelled.

10 March Instead of congratulating Harry on the nomination Zayn posted “F the Grammys”

15 March -Talk at the Grammys, Taylor and Harry part of small group of attendees. Harry goes over to Taylor and they are polite, Harry seems a little awkward and says “well it was nice to see you”. He keeps looking at her during his acceptance speech for record of the year.

Taylor wrote High Infidelity and WCS with Aaron Dessner while in LA for the Grammy's, when she saw Harry & J Mayer.

Niall and Liam congratulate Harry on his Grammy win, Zayn and Louis do not.

31 March - architect of Harry’s Erskine House renovations posts photos of the interior to their website. It has a black, wood pale grey palette with pink stairs

April 27 - Joe leaves UK to Belfast to film.

May 11 - HS & TS both at Brit awards (the 26th was a blood moon)

May 24 - Joe and Taylor seem together in Paris

21 June - Harry wrapped My Policeman in Italy, started in Feb. Released 1 September 2022. Holiday in Italy

2 July - renegade released

8 July - Harry and Olivia on yacht and in Italy

9 August - 26 August Harry in studio maybe mixing Harry's House in the behind scenes photos here you can see outfits he wore in LA on these dates.

4 September – 22 July 2023 - Love on Tour

9 September - Taylor at Toronto Film Festival and to premiere all too well

11 September - Harry at Toronto Film Festival to premiere My policeman, talks about wasted time being the worst thing in presser

17 September - wildest dreams TV released. Harry and Olivia in Phili with Xander, max and family

22 September - first heart kiss since 2018! St Paul - Falling, with Two Ghosts intro (4:31). Then again weekly till the end of the year

25 September - Taylor London Lena's wedding.

29 September - & 1 Oct Harry played Nashville and wore a white satin outfit, he played with his rings while performing Beautiful. Harry plays To Be so Lonely for 9 shows then never again, including Nashville N2 and NY. In Nashville looks up.

2 October - Harry recorded Satellite at Cave Studios in Nashville

22 October - one more photo of Taylor and joe in the bathroom leaked (the proper selfie), photos from 2016 leaked in 2020

26 October - Taylor posts TikTok "Autumn Lovers RISE" as a reenactment of a 27 September 2017 Tumblr post. She writes lyrics to ATW "just between us did the love affair maim you" "and Plaid stuff and ankle boots" she's wearing a skirt but says 'stuff' plaid shirts and ankle Chelsea boots is Harry in 2011-2013. And "Maroon/Hunter Green" The ATW move included a book coming out 13 years later about the love affair.

1 November - rumors Harry and OW fighting

12 November - Red TV released Harry wears red in his show on the 11th. All Too Well Short Film premiere Dylan O'Brien (who is in ATW film) is included in this footage of Austin and Dylan cheering when Jack plays Question..? in the Studio. Appears on Fallon and says she easter eggs 3 years in advance in reference to ATW.

16 November - Pleasing launch with Harry on bike photo on cover of Dazed

17 November – Taylor leaves NYC for Panama to go see Joe. Taylor posts a drunk TikTok from Panama. On the 20th she went to the national theater and leaves on the 22nd. Joe stays and films. Midnights written while gone

21 November - Last time Taylor is photographed in public for 3 months is the SNL performance for All too Well

25 November Rolling Stone noted the Haylor call and response “the long-running songwriting badminton between her and Harry Allegedly is pop call-and-response the way it ought to be”

28 November- 13 December Harry MIA. OW seen alone in LA

1 December Taylor wore Gucci lion ring to Zoe’s kravitz birthday throwback photo shared day after YLM date identified by Jack.

5 December - You're losing me written. Love on Tour in Buenos Aires

Continue to 2022

#haylor #Youtube #haylor timeline #2021

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - July 2

 It’s a quiet week of reading, but I really enjoyed everything I read this week. Check it out and be sure to leave comments and kudos for your authors! 

~*~ 

Two Hands and a Map by isozyme

Tonia sighed and leaned back with a clang of armor on galvanized steel railing. “I’m ready to go home, take a bath, and relieve some stress, if you know what I mean.”

Eve did not know what Tonia meant. She frowned, trying not to be annoyed that she’d missed another joke. Tonia raised one eyebrow and made a filthy gesture, jerking her fist up and down over her crotch. Someone across the aisle whistled, and Tonia responded by exaggerating the pantomime, rolling her hips into it and licking her lips.

“Don’t make fun of me,” Eve said, reaching out and grabbing Tonia’s armor-less bicep so she’d stop being gross. “I know women don’t do that.”

The sexual education of Eve “The Female Orgasm Is a Myth” Rogers, courtesy of Tonia Stark.

the girl with the modern face by isozyme

“Nice to meet you.  I’m Steve Rogers,” Steve said, sticking his hand out and trying to wrestle the interaction back into something normal.

“I know, sweetheart,” Tony said, ignoring his hand.  “Rescue told me all about you.”

“Did you make her?” Steve asked.  It had been implied that Tony was a tech-man, and she said he was her boss.  It would fit together.

“Yes, the armor, that was me; she’s my bodyguard,” Tony said archly.  “Impressed?”

The only good thing about the future is Tony Stark's bodyguard, Rescue. She's beautiful in her red and gold armor, and Steve will never know who she is.

(i need a) touch up by isozyme

Manicures are a girl thing.  Not to Tony, exactly; taking care of his body is neutral, and he’s always liked his creature comforts.  But to Steve, nail care is definitely a girl thing.

And Steve likes girl things on Tony, but —

Start slow, Stark, Tony thinks, and takes a deep breath.

“Give me your hand, sugar,” Tony suggests, already pulling one of Steve’s big hands into his lap.  He turns it over, digging both thumbs into the meat of Steve’s palm and rubbing at the sore muscles there.  Steve’s eyes flutter shut. “That feels good, doesn’t it?”

A sequel to the girl with the modern face. What it says on the tin: Tony discovers they’re both very into Steve in femme things, but it’s a touchy subject for hyper-masculine Captain America.

then sirens, then bells (the broadcast remix) by isozyme 

“I tire of this,” Amora says, and with a casual gesture the entire team is pinned in place, frozen in mid-air. Steve has the unsettling, half-familiar feeling of someone rifling through his head like it’s a card catalogue. A mind-reader as well as a witch, then.

A female voice whispers into his mind’s ear. It’s very tragic in here, dearheart, but I think your armored friend is, somehow, more psychically toxic than even you.

What’s wrong with Tony? Steve thinks, but the presence is gone, leaving his memories of war stirred up like flying insects rising off a lake in at dawn.

The Enchantress opens Tony's mind to anyone and everyone near him. Steve knows he should let Tony keep his secrets, but he's not noble enough to stay away.

Good Vibrations by isozyme

Steve had sounded like he really genuinely wanted to see Tony and hear about the new robot-heart and Stark Solutions, so Tony decided that a weekend trip was worth it to see his friend in person.

His friend, Tony had reminded himself. Not anything else. It wasn’t fair to Steve if Tony spent their entire visit thinking un-friend-like thoughts about him, and his muscles, and his sweet smile and his careful, firm hugs. However, Tony had a plan. All he needed to do was to tire his dick out on the way over, and he’d be fine. Fortuitously, the Mark 20 had a few brand-new bells and whistles that would help him blow off some steam before meeting up with Steve.

◈

Tony built a fucking machine inside the armor. It would be a shame if it malfunctioned in the worst possible way, at the worst possible time, in front of the worst possible person.

not gruesome, just human by isozyme

“I need to crash on someone’s couch for a while. Your couch. I need to crash on your couch,” Tony says.

Steve’s mouth opens. If he asks why Tony’s going to bolt, he can feel the certainty of it under his sternum. He doesn’t have a sternum anymore, just a tangle of metal under his skin. Too many things have punched through it to get to his heart. There hasn’t been enough bone left to reconstruct anything made of flesh in a long time.

“There’s borscht on the stove,” Steve says.

what it looks like (from the outside) by isozyme

“I talked to Rogers,” Tony said. His tone was edged with wheedling — Tony was building up towards asking for something. “And now I need your opinion: what are your feelings on threesomes?”

“With Rogers?” Steve asked, surprised. Steve certainly — surely — probably — didn’t approve of threesomes. Even if Tony asked for it, in his haughty, affected way, the way that said it was all a joke until you said yes, Steve would — he wouldn’t say yes. He certainly wouldn’t have thought other-him would go for it.

“No, with a platypus,” Tony teased. “Yes, obviously, with Rogers.”

Commander Rogers from Earth 616 comes to visit Ultimates Steve and Tony. They have a threesome with feelings. That’s it, that’s the fic.

Very Good Bad Thing by isozyme

Sometimes Tony came back from his weekly Tuesday evenings with Whitney with scabs on his back and chest. He seemed hazy and touch-shy those nights. Steve was certain he was making it up. Any misgivings plaguing Steve were evidence he was selfish in his relationship with Tony and, by extension, Whitney. Nothing more.

When Tony and Whitney open their relationship so Tony can date Steve as well, Steve struggles to adjust to modern ideas about polyamory and kink. But no matter how hard he tries not to be jealous, it feels like something's wrong.

The Power of a Reframe by viklikesfic (v_angelique)

“So no one knew about the relationship you were in, and you’re starting to think you imagined it, or how he hurt you, and you want to see it on your body to know that it’s real. Do I have the jist?”

Steve nods. “My… life before,” he manages after a long pause, his voice sounding raspy to his ears. “It’s starting to fade. I don’t… think I know how to handle it. There’s no real tangible reminder of it, any of it. Everything’s changed. I feel like a ghost sometimes.”

“That sounds terrifying,” Tony acknowledges. Steve’s glad he doesn’t offer platitudes or shame Steve about how he’s chosen to cope. 

“It is.”

The Devil You Know by shetlandowl

Best selling author Tony Stark revives the bodice ripper genre for a modern audience. From frisky gay cowboys to ravenous lesbian pirate queens, he consistently delivers riveting thrillers full of romance, drama, and the filthy, unapologetically kinky sex that has become his trademark specialty.

Tony has everything a man could dream of - horny, adoring fans, and boatloads of money. Or that's what he thought, until Detective Steve Rogers walks into his life and turns it all upside down.

My Known Unknown by shetlandowl

That True Lies AU nobody asked for, set in a world where Stane Inc is the world's foremost weapons manufacturer, and Tony's employer.

Under God by isozyme

“Captain America represents the values of our country. The recent allegations about his sexuality are specious and designed to smear an American icon. Captain Rogers regularly attends the Church of Saint Agnes and invites the citizens of New York to attend worship with him this Sunday, April 14th. God bless America.”

Nobody was ever going to know. Steve would be a good husband, a good father, and he’d never give in to sin and touch another man.

But Steve makes two mistakes, one after the other: he leaves two words out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and he doesn’t notice a camera flash among the strobe lights of a dark club, because he’s dancing with his clumsy hands on Tony’s hips.

Holding Out for a Hero by mariana_oconnor

The serum did a lot of things to Steve, but one thing he hates about it is how sensitive it made him, too sensitive. After it contributes to the end of his relationship with Jan, Tony offers to help him out.

Who Wouldn't Go? by isozyme 

“But it’ll help you?” Steve asks.

“Yes,” Tony replies, even as he knows this is going to break his fragile, smitten heart. Steve, on his arm, coming up with some sweet story of how they met, having to pretend to Steve afterwards that it had all been an act on Tony’s part as well, cock-blocked Tantalus hoist on his own petard.

“Then I’ll do it,” Steve says. “Anything for -- for a friend.”

Figure It Out As You Go by viklikesfic (v_angelique)

Steve is a straight-identified guy, but has a fetish for men's feet. Tony is super helpful. Nearly 7,000 words of porn and not much else, kids!

Sugar Sweet by viklikesfic (v_angelique)

Part figuring out how to assimilate Steve's sexuality into modern ideas of orientation and gender, part burgeoning D/s relationship, part mild-to-moderate sugar daddy exploration. Basically, Tony's creative and Steve is a very, very good boy.

Sugar, Spice, and Spankings Are Nice by viklikesfic (v_angelique)

“Y’know… that was sweet of you, Steven. Offering my coat in public like a sweet little sugar baby.” His voice goes sharper, and he slides one glass across the counter, gesturing with a flick of his eyes. Steve approaches, cautious even though Tony’s physically smaller and weaker than him. He knows who the prey actually is in this relationship. “Let’s toast… to our friends,” Tony offers, mild, holding up his glass. Steve clinks, suspicious.

“To friends.”

“You know… they’re not going to be able to decide whether to see you as Captain America or as Stark’s little bit of something on the side, now.” Tony smirks as he delivers the punchline, and Steve inhales sharply. He still takes a sip as Tony does, the liquid smooth and smokey on his tongue and warm going down. “You wanna be my trophy husband? A prize I can show off? Cause we could do that.”

There's a First Time for Everything by viklikesfic (v_angelique)

"What are you, Cap, some kind of masochist?"

Later, Steve will blame his response to Stark's quip on the heavy-duty painkillers Bruce is administering via IV in serum-resistant doses. He smirks, hissing just a little at the way the motion pulls at the cuts on his face, and looks at Tony dead-on with his one open eye.

"Buy me a drink and maybe I'll tell you."

i was put together wrong by suchmadnesss 

Even in his anger, in his misjudgment, or even in the barest glimpses of inadvertent cruelty, everything Tony did was with passion. No matter what, he was always graceful, grandiose, effusive. Incandescent.

Tony grows in front of the cameras and keeps a world of expectations balanced on the tightrope of his shoulders, but nothing ever seems to be enough. The hubris is a fallacy and the smirk Steve had always known to be a front isn’t whimsy, as he’d expected; instead, it’s bred. As he follows a couple of his steps, Steve feels as Tony does, which is to say: intensely. Every happiness is a marvel, every pain is acute.

The higher they fly, the harder they fall.

 (In which the stones beckon Steve into a glimpse of Tony's past, and it proves to be his unraveling.)

Deep End by FestiveFerret 

SHIELD has found a way to make Project Rebirth work - something Tony's father was never able to accomplish. An unexpected side effect has Fury begging Tony for some rather unusual help: the painful procedure has put their volunteer, a sub called Steve Rogers, so deep into subspace he can't come up on his own.

The Least Difficult of Men by isozyme

It isn’t until Tony watches Steve lean into the punch that he thinks oh, this is going to be a problem.

Steve’s taking hits on purpose in the field, so Tony suggests a safer option. It's simple: Tony smacks Steve around, Steve gets the pain fix he’s looking for, everyone leaves happy. Things do not stay simple.

The one with repressed masochist Steve and sadist Tony and everyone getting off on pain a whole bunch.

#stevetony weekly #stevetony #stevetony fic #stony #stony fic #stony fic rec #fic recs #rec list #steve rogers #tony stark #iron man #captain america

[bespokeredmayne]

Report: Eddie Redmayne’s lengthy commitment to Cabaret on Broadway — and its whopping budget

A exclusive report today from Philip Boroff and his Broadway Journal says Eddie Redmayne is committing to an expensive New York production of Cabaret for six months. ‘CABARET’ IS COSTLIEST BROADWAY REVIVAL

by Philip Boroff 

EXCLUSIVE: Investing in Cabaret  at the August Wilson Theatre this spring might seem like a safe bet, after the success of the Kander & Ebb classic in London and earlier productions in New York.

That's until you see the price tag: $24.25 million, a record for a Broadway revival.

Broadway Journal reviewed a preliminary budget and recoupment chart for the transfer from the West End, which is being presented by the multinational theater operator and producer Ambassador Theatre Group and U.K.-based Underbelly, which creates shows and festivals. Tony and Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne will reprise his role as Kit Kat Club emcee on Broadway. 

Revivals of musicals by John Kander and Fred Ebb have been golden on Broadway, particularly the concert version of Chicago, now in its 27th year; and two Roundabout Theatre Co. engagements of Cabaret. This production, which follows several new musicals into the financial stratosphere, needs to be a smash to repay investors. 

Cabaret‘s largest line item is its $9.4 million physical production. That includes millions from investors to transform the August Wilson into a Weimar-era nightclub, designed by Tom Scutt, where the show will be performed for an audience of about 1050. (There’s also a pre-show with actors and musicians interacting with the audience.) Another $1.5 million is allocated for a “refurbishment reserve,” presumably for cost overruns. A production spokesman declined to comment for this story.

For the 2021 premiere, Ambassador Theatre Group paid most of the expense of renovating London’s Playhouse Theatre (where the show’s performed in the round), someone familiar with the production said. As is standard in the industry, backers benefit from the sale of tickets but don’t share in revenue from drinks or food.

The New York production is what’s known as a related-party transaction: ATG is both producer and landlord. It recently bought a majority stake in the August Wilson along with Jujamcyn Theaters’ four other Broadway venues.

One of the busiest players on Broadway, ATG and subsidiary Sonia Friedman Productions are producing four of the 16 plays and musicals opening this season through December: The Shark is Broken, Gutenberg! The Musical!, Merrily We Roll Along and Appropriate (with Second Stage Theater). It’s controlled by Providence Equity Partners, a mammoth private equity manager that buys companies with the eventual aim of reselling them at a profit.

Cabaret must thrive to survive, requiring a weekly $1.2 million at the box office to pay its bills. That’s one of the biggest nuts on Broadway, even more than the time-travel spectacle Back to the Future projected in its recoupment chart. Back to the Future‘s home, the Winter Garden Theatre, has about 50 percent more seats than the reconfigured August Wilson, which will lose about 200 seats in the renovation.

Investing may be most appealing for patrons who prioritize backing a prestigious and artful show (and a leading Tony contender) over return on investment. Rebecca Frecknall’s dark revival won seven Olivier Awards last year in London, including for Redmayne. He’s committed to reprising his role for six months, two people familiar with the production said. ATG and Underbelly haven’t disclosed details about the transfer, including casting.

When it opened in London in 2021, Cabaret got flak on social media for its prices, now as much as £375 (equivalent to about $465, which includes a light three-course meal and champagne). Producers have told investors that the show played to 96 percent occupancy through July, with the highest average ticket price in London.

Broadway seats may be costlier. The average ticket at 110 percent capacity of the August Wilson — i.e. with premium pricing — is projected to be $248. That’s approaching Hamilton in its peak years, when it was charging as much as $849 a ticket.

If Cabaret can command that $248 average and sell out — grossing $2.1 million a week — recoupment will take about a year. (Hamilton, which cost half as much as Cabaret and has low running costs, was distributing profits six months after opening night.)

By selling out with an average ticket of $176 — Sweeney Todd  territory — Cabaret‘s recoupment would take closer to two and a half years.  With an average ticket of $158 — $1.3 million a week — recoupment would take four and a half years. (Projections in this story are based on recouping $20.9 million, which excludes Cabaret‘s reserves, deposits and advances; and receiving a $3 million state production tax credit, which can take years to get to investors. If the show dips into reserves during construction or the run, recouping may take longer.)

Musical revivals have gotten ever-pricier to produce, but none has approached Cabaret. For example, Sweeney Todd was capitalized at $14.5 million and appears to be on track to recoup later this fall, after about 33 weeks. Hello, Dolly! was capitalized at $16 million in 2017 (about $20 million today) and earned a small profit; last year’s $16.5 million Funny Girl  recouped and is expected to make a profit.

Shows that required extensive renovations have a mixed record. Most recently, Here Lies Love, the $22 million disco-themed historical drama around the corner from the August Wilson, is struggling at the box office; whereas Harry Potter appears to be enjoying a long life in ATG’s souped-up Lyric Theatre, after producers trimmed the two-part show to one. But it arrived from London at considerable expense. In addition to Harry Potter’s $35.5 million capitalization, ATG, which competed against other landlords for the play, spent tens of millions of dollars clearing out and renovating the Lyric, Michael Paulson reported in the New York Times.

Revivals are typically short-lived, Cabaret as well as Chicago being obvious exceptions. The Roundabout Cabaret revival directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall opened at the Henry Miller’s Theatre in 1998 and ran through 2004. It initially starred Alan Cumming, who stepped in again when the Roundabout revisited the revival in 2014.

Two decades ago, the Roundabout bought its revival’s most recent home, Studio 54. The nonprofit company, with help from the city of New York, paid $22.5 million for the real estate, which looks like a bargain today.

#eddie redmayne #cabaret on broadway #philip boroff #august Wilson theatre #ATG Productions #cabaret at the Kit Kat club london

[invisibleraven]

Loving You is a (Trick Or) Treat

Written for the Year of the OTP challenge prompt: couples costume

On AO3!

Happy Halloween witches! Honestly I had another prompt in mind for this month, but then this idea bit me and I decided to go with it. Just something short and sweet but I do hope you enjoy!

As a kid, Julie always loved Halloween; the pumpkin carving, the candy, the silly and spooky television specials. As the end of October grew nearer and nearer, the more excited she would get. But what she loved most of all was the costumes. Julie loved dressing up as it was, so to have a whole day where it was acceptable-nay encouraged-to wear a costume all day? Sign Julie up!

And it wasn’t just her, she fondly remembers her parents always wearing couples costumes as they went out to parties, or even stayed home to answer the door. Every year they would find some cutesy couple to dress up as, and little Julie longed for the day when she found the person she could do that with.

Only little Julie didn’t know she was going to find herself madly in love with two people at once. Two guys who loved her, and each other just as madly. It was never planned, but then again, love never was. Luke and Reggie were the perfect couple, and Julie hated her traitorous heart for falling for them both, only to be shocked and delighted when they confessed to feeling the same-and the rest was history.

But being with two people made it a little hard for some of her childhood dreams and fantasies, like couple costumes, to become a reality.

Thus, this Halloween, she was slightly grumpy.

“What’s with the long face darlin’?” Reggie asked as he greeted her with a kiss one afternoon.

“Yeah, you look like someone stole your favourite yellow sweater,” Luke added, hugging her tight from behind.

“Is that your way of telling me it’s in the studio because you 'borrowed' it?” Julie asked with a look. “Because I kinda figured that one out earlier.”

Luke buried his sheepish grin in her shoulder, and Reggie rolled his eyes. “Not like you can say much, little miss clothes thief,” he said, gesturing to where his beloved red flannel was tied around her waist.

Julie had the good grace to blush but shrugged, not even displacing Luke as she did. “It looks good on me and you know it.”

Reggie let out a good natured laugh. “You do look good in our stuff.”

“Damn straight,” Luke added, hooking his chin over her shoulder. “But that doesn’t explain your grumple dumpus act.”

“It’s almost Halloween,” Julie said, as if that explained everything.

“Do you not like Halloween?” Luke asked, his confusion clear. “You seemed really jazzed about it last year.”

“Is it a Catholic thing?” Reggie questioned. “Because I get that, my nona always preferred we celebrate Purim instead. But MeeMaw said Halloween wouldn’t do me any harm.”

“I love your MeeMaw,” Luke quipped. They all did, to be fair. Chavala had surprised them by being one of their staunchest supporters after their situation came to light. The less said about Reggie’s nona, or the rest of his family in general, the better.

“No,” Julie replied. “We always celebrated Halloween when I was a kid, then All Saints Day the next day.” Though she was slightly touched that they respected her faith to think of it. Luke was pretty agnostic, and Reggie’s Judaism was a bit lapsed, but they still never said anything about her still going to church weekly, praying before meals and wearing a saint around her neck. They just worked like that, even if their religious beliefs didn’t always match up.

“What’s the problem then?” Reggie asked, guiding them all to the overstuffed couch, the guys flanking Julie on either side.

“It’s stupid,” Julie mumbled.

“Hey, if it’s upsetting you, it’s not stupid,” Luke replied. He squeezed her hand in his, Reggie mirroring the move on her other side before they let go, snuggling in further.

Julie sighed, running her fingers through her hair, wincing when her ring snagged on a curl. “Every year my parents would dress up to go trick or treating with us, or to wear to parties as we got too old for it. They would be some famous couple every year. And I guess I’m a little upset that I’ll never get to do that.”

“Why not?” Reggie asked. “We’re down for cute couple costumes. One year we were Frodo and Sam, another we were Batman and Robin. We can totes do it again this year.”

“Yeah, keep the tradition alive!” Luke enthused.

“But there’s three of us,” Julie reasoned. “Not many famous triads out there for us to dress as. Trios sure…”

“So you don’t want to go as Musketeers or Chipmunks, got it,” Reggie joked.

“No Star Wars either,” Luke added, and stifled a laugh when Reggie’s face fell. “Dude I’m not dressing as a character that is canonically Julie’s brother.”

Reggie sagged in defeat. “That’s fair. Even if Julie would kill it in a gold bikini.”

Julie shot him a look, “Never gonna happen buddy.”

Reggie shrugged, “A man can dream.”

“You keep dreaming, but that doesn’t solve my costume woes.”

“What did your folks dress up as boss?” Luke asked. They had never met Rose sadly, though Ray did adore them both, and they liked him in return. Sure it had been awkward at first, getting used to his daughter dating two people at once who were also in a relationship, but Ray came to accept it, and would leap to defend them should they need it. Julie didn’t talk about her mom a lot, which Luke and Reggie got, so every time she opened up about Rose, they lapped up the new piece of her that got revealed as a result.

“One year they were salt and pepper, another they were Lucy and Ricky, and another they were Beauty and the Beast, only from the 90’s TV show,” Julie recalled fondly. “I remember being so confused as to where my mom’s big yellow ball gown was, because she always let me have her costumes after the fact. They got me the Belle dress in my size that year as a result.”

“Well we can’t copy any of those, but I am so asking Ray for pictures later” Reggie said. “But if you wanna do condiments we could be ketchup, mustard, and relish. Or vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream.”

“Maybe,” Julie hummed.

“We could go as gender-bent Three’s Company,” Luke suggested. “But I call Suzanne Sommers.”

“You would make an interesting blonde,” Julie giggled.

“Or the trio from The Road to El Dorado,” Reggie piped up. “They had definite polyam vibes.”

“Oooh, I do like that,” Julie exclaimed. “But then one of you has to play mandolin all night.”

“You say that like Reggie doesn’t know how to already,” Luke said. Reggie shrugged with a nod, he did know how to play an awful lot of instruments. Julie suspected that was one of the factors that first got Luke interested in him, and it didn’t hurt her own attraction either.

“Oooh what about Steve, Peggy, and Bucky from Captain America?” Reggie asked.

“Pass, I’ve heard Willie’s rant against Endgame waaaay too many times,” Luke said with a groan. Reggie winced and conceded that yes, he could do with avoiding that particular rant once more.

Julie nodded in agreement, then stood up to stretch, browsing their media shelves, as if they would provide inspiration. Or maybe just give them a break with a movie and come back to Halloween at a later date. Stopping as she got to one movie that they all loved, and had a very famous trio, even if Reggie preferred to write an ending where they all got together instead.

“How about this?” she said, holding up the BluRay case. “I think we could pull these three off as a couples costume.”

“Perfect idea boss,” Luke said.

“I love it darlin’,” Reggie replied. “But I call Gene Kelly.”

Julie grinned as her boys playfully bickered over who got to be Don versus Cosmo, and pulled out her phone to research how to manage her curls into the1920’s do. It looked like it might be somewhat harder to pull off, but also like a bit of a fun challenge.

So that Halloween, maybe nobody knew who they were until they pulled out their umbrellas and started singing together, something they totally didn’t practice beforehand, but Julie was beaming the entire time, finally having realized her dream-with plenty of ideas for next year. And years down the line, maybe she put aside the triad costumes, because with Luna and Danny, a group costume was so much easier. Making new memories for her children to carry with them for many Halloweens to come.

#my stuff #writing #fanfic #rukebox #peterpatterlina #julie and the phantoms #otp 2023 #year of the otp

[thislovintime]

It’s not a Leap Year, but... remembering Davy Jones.

“Underneath his nasty exterior, Davy had a heart of gold. He’d always fight for what he wanted. I’d have to say he had the most feeling of any of the members of the group.” - Peter Tork, Sioux City Journal, January 1980 (x)

* * *

"[W]e’re playing to 18,000 screaming kids and Davy’s banging on the tambourine and he comes waltzing over to me right in the middle of this wonderful thing and he yells, ‘We’re gonna form a group!’ Which is why I love Davy Jones, because he noticed and he knew what it was about.” - Peter Tork, Hey, Hey, We’re The Monkees (1996) (x)

* * *

Peter Tork: "Davy’s extraordinarily funny.” Q: “Is he?” PT: “He’s said things — and quite deep sometimes, too. David has, he’s got some insights.” - GOLD 104.5, 1999 (x)

* * *

Q: “Which of the Monkees are you closest to?" Tork: “It's different with each. [Micky]'s the best pal, but my heart connection is biggest with Davy. Davy is capable of as much heart as anyone I've ever met. I kind of had a crush on Davy for a while.” Q: “That's sweet. Maybe it will work out for you two some day.” Tork: “Maybe. We'd have to talk to our respective girlfriends about that.” - St. Petersburg Times, June 23, 2000

* * *

Peter Tork: "Davy, for all of his virtues and glories, was very much into British music hall. Given his head, he would do nothing but ‘I’m Henry the VIII, I Am.’ I mean, not that he did that song, but that’s the kind of music that he would do, in spite of the fact that Davy could rock like nobody’s business. [At one point] Davy [did a version of] ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’ and nailed it! It just wasn’t what he wanted to do.” Q: “I think that demonstrates the dynamic of what each member brings to a band and to a situation and how they contribute things but are also there to tell you to pull back where necessary or encourage you to go further.” PT: “I’m only sorry that we didn’t do more of that by a huge amount. I only now have, in the last couple of years, come to understand how smart and good-hearted Davy Jones could be. I did not have the skills to notice that, even though I was drawn to it without knowing exactly why. But I certainly did not have the first clue of how to encourage all of the good stuff from Davy that I loved. I wish I could have known how to do it - and he might still be with us, even.” - Las Vegas Weekly, September 14, 2016 (x)

* * *

Clowning around at The Monkees' London press conference on June 29, 1967.

* * *

Peter with Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart in 1976, and in 1977.

* * *

From The Monkees' Solid Gold interview in 1986.

* * *

Peter Tork: “(quietly) Yeah, I really hit him once.” Q: “You feel badly about this?” PT: “I sure do. My conscience was stricken for years. (perks up) Of course, the little sucker hit me first.” - 2000 The fight, in quotes and audio.

* * *

“Jones has a tremendous sense of fun.” - Peter Tork, The Post-Crescent, July 29, 2004

* * *

“When we first met, I was confronted with a slick, accomplished, young performer, vastly more experienced than I in the ways of show biz, and yes, I was intimidated. Englishness was at a high premium in my world, and his experience dwarfed my entertainer’s life as a hippie, basket-passing folk singer on the Greenwich Village coffee house circuit. If anything, I suppose I was selected for the cast of ‘The Monkees’ TV show partly as a rough-hewn counterpart to David’s sophistication. What stands out for me about David, however, were the several events through the years in which I came to see a man of extraordinary heart and sympathy. […] I felt this criticism [of The Monkees] keenly, coming as I did from the world of the ethical folk singer, basically honoring the standards of the naysayers.
We did play as a group live on tour, including a concert in Osaka, Japan, in 1968. There, in the middle of a performance of Mike Nesmith’s ‘Sunny Girlfriend,’ we hit the pocket. The beat fell into place, solid and grooving. Rock n roll was happening there for us on stage. David came bouncing over to me and yelled above the volume, ‘WE’RE GONNA FORM A GROUP!’ David’s sympathy for my feelings about the criticism, his musical awareness and his sense of humor buoyed me that day about as much as getting into the groove. Later, when we four argued to be the musicians on our own albums, it was David’s agreement that provided the unanimity that made the difference. This was huge, actually; Micky and David came from an entirely different tradition. Actors sang on records made for them, and nobody thought twice about it. Folkies and rockers made their own albums!” - Peter Tork, Hartford Courant, March 6, 2012

* * *

Peter Tork: “Well, Davy’s always been a man of great talent and heart and I had just been hoping to work with him some more. He had such talent. He was probably the most talented of us all. He certainly had the best pitch and the best time. He should probably have been the drummer or the bass player of something. He should have been in the rhythm section. It’s kind of amazing – the two guys with the best time in the band weren’t in the rhythm section [laughs]. That was a little weird, looking back. And he was so able – there was just nothing he couldn’t do. I remember once in the middle of a tour, we said, ‘Well, we want to do this song, and we want to do it this way. But we’re missing a bass player. Davy, here’s a bass. Put your fingers here and pluck this string there.’ Next thing you knew, he was playing bass on stage like that night or two nights later or something. It was nothing major – he wasn’t popping strings and doing runs and fills, but he was laying down a bass and it was solid – it was solid. And that kind of ability is, I think, what I’m going to miss … what I’m sorriest to see go.” Q: “What was the last you had contact with him?” PT: “At the end of the last tour. We just said, ‘Goodbye, I’ll see you soon.’ I didn’t think I wouldn’t – partly because he was the youngest of us. That was too bad.” - LeHigh Valley Live, June 2012

* * *

“[Micky] and Mike and I have a very cordial relationship and share a lot of common topics. We go to lunch together when we're all in town and have a good time. I love and respect each of these guys in their own way, although the real joys that I shared with Davy were special. At one point we had some good hard connections but as the years rolled on, those things faded away. But I am sorry to see Davy go. He was the one member in the group that I had the strongest human connection with. I still have two guys that I love and respect left from the band, but we share a different dynamic.” - Peter Tork, Review Mag, May 27, 2016

* * *

“Davy adored performing, and adored meeting and greeting his fans. He was tireless in making himself available to sing a song, do a dance, shake a hand; whatever was asked. I had heart-to-heart moments with him that were among the best in my life. I was blessed to know and work closely with him. He was one in about 6 billion, give or take. We won’t see his like again. He left much too soon. I share your sadness. Thank you again for this chance to contribute. God bless and keep you all.” - Peter Tork in a note for a Pennsylvania memorial event for Davy, also shared via Peter’s official Facebook page, 2012

#Davy Jones #Peter Tork #Tork quotes #60s Tork #70s Tork #80s Tork #90s Tork #00s Tork #10s Tork #The Monkees #Monkees #<3 #Michael Nesmith #Micky Dolenz #long read #(since it's not a leap year but there has to be a remembrance) #Peter and Davy #2012 #can you queue it

[transmickey]

hi weekly tag wednesday 🌅 thank you for this week's questions @suchagallabitch , and @creepkinginc @metalheadmickey @deedala for also tagging me 🫶

1. if you could switch bodies with anybody for only one hour who would it be and what would you do?

my best friend's cat because 1) i miss them and 2) he is so silly and dumb and does nothing all day and i need that rn

2. whats your most trivial / dumbest hot take?

mayonnaise is bad as hell like i'm sorry but EW

3. if you had to teach a college course what would it be in?

the only thing rattling around in my little head these days is chemistry (please can july hurry up i want to graduate immediately) so. i think teaching intro chem would heal me a little bit that shit was so mindless and i miss it

4. season 12 of shameless is suddenly happen and youve been put in charge! what plot point(s) are you gonna make happen?

*rubs hands together* carl quits the force + buys the alibi. ian and mickey get a cat or dog im not fussy i just want pet dads. and ian + mickey actually having nice deep talks aand communicating and healing. im sending them both to therapy. fiona back at least just for a bit idk i miss her. lip + brad either buy bornfree back or start their own shop (BRAD! i love u brad). franny transgender (true). debbie actually meets a nice person and has a nice relationship please i am begging. aaaaand so much gay sex like so so much i am serious.

5. who would be your godly parent? (can be any mythology).

i am so sorry idk anything about any mythology

6. what’s something you love about yourself?

im a little bit funny sometimes. as a treat.

7. describe your day in 5 emojis:

🏙️📖👨‍🔬💻🥱

8. what shameless character do you think you could beat in a fight?

realistically just liam.. probably frank. definitely couldn't beat him but lip just because i want to punch him [affectionate]

9. tell us 2 truths and a lie, we’ll try to guess the lie!

👀 i don't like tomatoes, i've never broken a bone, i swam competitively for 6 years

10. do you have a pet(s). if so how did they get their name?

i do not :-(

11. show us a meme (or picture) that captures your essence

im sorry i went through my entire camera roll multiple times and couldnt decide so you get 4

12. whats your typical coffee / tea / beverage order?

english breakfast tea with oat milk mmm

13. use a song to describe the last 5 years of your life?

ngl i thought harder about this than i did about everything else i did today combined

2023: faith healer - julien baker

2022: oh no! - marina

2021: scott street - phoebe bridgers

2020: young blood - noah kahan

2019: ribs - lorde

tagging some lovely people woo! @stocious @skylerwinchester @lupeloto @jrooc @heymrspatel @dynamic-power @milkovichrules @ian-galagher @deathclassic @tanktopgallavich @such-a-barbarian @mickeysgaymom @swiftfootedachilles @rereadanon

#ajax talks #tag games #i feel like we've all basically said the same thing for s12 HAHA give the people what they want!!!!!!

[f1uckinghell]

Mini Summer VV Event, Part 1 🩵

I have several oneshots for the event prepared, and I will drop them throughout the week I've decided! Remember: the event has been extended until the 22nd of July!

Enjoy!

Maxiel parenting//angst with a happy ending//tw: mentions of violence

🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

Max lets out a slow breath when the screen of his phone says “school”. Again.

“Good morning, this is Ms. Bailey.” She doesn't sound urgent, so nobody is hurt. Probably.

“Good morning, Ms. Bailey,” Max says, leaning against the counter, rolling his eyes to the heavens. “Which one is it?”

By now he should be on a first name basis with her, to be honest.

“I'm afraid it's Flynn,” she sighs, and the “again” is implied.

Max narrowly bites back an exasperated “fuck”. “What happened?”

“He got into another fight,” Ms. Bailey says, her voice neutral, “With the same boy from his parallel class again. During homeroom.”

“Anyone seriously hurt?” Max asks. There is a stain on the sink opposite of him that needs cleaning.

“No, no, a teacher pulled them apart, thankfully. Before anyone could get hurt. But you know how it is, I have to inform you-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Max replies. He's a pro at this by now. “We'll talk to him later. My husband is coming to pick the kids up today, if you want to talk to him-”

“It's really not necessary,” Ms Bailey tells him. She sounds as routined at this as he is. With so many mid-puberty alpha students, Max wonders how many of these calls she has to make weekly. “Just make sure you talk to him… you know we have a very tolerant policy around here, but Flynn’s been getting into so many fights lately that I'm concerned he might get suspended at some point.”

“Yeah, of course.” Max pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Ms Bailey echoes.

“Ugh, fuck,” is the first thing Max says after hanging up.

Teenage alphas get into fights, it's normal and somewhat expected. They're full of hormones, they're trying to find their own identity, they're starting to feel territorial and they have a lack of self-control. But lately, at least once a week, Max gets one of these calls.

Isabel was never like this; she did get into her fair share of fights and tussles, but they very rarely ended with calls home from school.

But Flynn…

He's not a violent kid, at least not at home. He's gentle, actually, with all of the animals which he loves so much, with little Jasper, with his siblings and packlings (mostly) and with them; lets Luna braid his hair and lets Jasper use him as a climbing gym. Sometimes he's still just like a little boy and wants cuddles and to sleep with his head in Max's lap or for Daniel to spend time with him and tell him he's proud of him.

But ever since he's turned fourteen a year ago, he’s been coming home with split lips and black eyes and bloody knuckles at least once a week.

At first, Daniel reassured Max that it's normal, that young alphas just need to fight sometimes. But when it became more and more frequent, both of them started getting concerned.

When he told his mother about it, her expression softened. “...like your dad,” she said, regret heavy in her voice.

Max hates that thought. He doesn't want to be like his father, and he especially doesn't want his kids to be like Jos.

But it's undeniable. For as much as Flynn looks like Daniel, his broad frame and his face shape make it undeniable who his grandfather is.

Max takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Then he calls Daniel, and tells him what happened.

-

Flynn looks like a sad puppy, and Max already feels bad for the scolding he's about to receive.

They're sat around the dining room table, Daniel, Flynn and him. The doors are closed; Daniel shooed the other pups away when they tried to eavesdrop.

Daniel has his arms crossed, looking as strict as he can (which is, to be honest, not very strict). It's enough to make Flynn duck his head.

“Tell us what happened,” Daniel tells him.

“This is the third call in two weeks, Flynn,” Max adds softly.

Flynn sniffles and Max's heart almost breaks.

“I'm sorry,” he says, looking up at Max through his curls. “I didn't mean to get into another fight.”

“Then what happened?” Daniel urges, leaning forward. He doesn't sound unfriendly, just… well, like a Dad who needs to make sure his kid is okay. „The same boy again?! What’s your deal with him?“

Flynn sniffs, scrunching up his nose. Like I do, Max thinks.

“...he was being mean,” he eventually says.

“To you?” Max prompts. He wants to reach across the table and grab Flynn’s hand, he looks so miserable.

Flynn shakes his head. “No, to Jakob.”

Daniel and Max exchange a quick glance, heavy with meaning in a way only couples who have been together for a long time can.

“What did he do?” Daniel asks.

“Keeps saying he's weird and stupid,” Flynn grumbles, “And called him the r-word.”

Max looks at Daniel again, clenching his jaw. Daniel lets out a slow, controlled breath, meeting his eyes. They've been dealing with this for fifteen years now; it's just how things are when one of your kids is different. It never gets any less infuriating.

“So you hit him?” Daniel asks.

Flynn is staring at the tabletop, nodding. “I know I shouldn't, but… it just made me so… so mad!” Finally, he looks up, and there's a fire in his eyes. On the table, his fists are clenched. “Jakob isn't stupid or weird! He's the smartest person I know! …well, him and Luna. But the point is, he's not stupid!”

They can tell he's getting heated over this, and Max is so, so proud of him.

“Did you tell anyone what that boy said?” Daniel asks.

Flynn bites his lip and shakes his head. “...no, I didn't… I didn't want to get Jakob involved. He doesn't need to know someone… said that. And I didn’t want to get Evie involved, either.“ Evie, the only person even more protective over Jakob than Flynn.

Daniel and Max exchange a long glance, and then they both exhale simultaneously. Max can feel the tension fall away from his heart.

Flynn looks up at them, eyes darting between them in surprise as Daniel starts laughing and Max hurries around the table, wrapping his arms around him.

“You're so…!” Max holds him close, and Flynn, albeit confused, gives a sweet little pup-like whimper and cuddles close.

“Sorry, Mama,” he mumbles, voice muffled against Max's shoulder.

Daniel gives a friendly little growl, reaches between them and grabs Flynn by the scruff of his neck, in an affectionate way, the way he used to when Flynn was little and got too wild. „You’ll be the death of me at some point, boy.“

„Sorry, Daddy,“ Flynn says, but there’s a smile in his voice.

„It’s okay, champ.“ When Max has stepped away, Daniel ruffles Flynn’s hair. Then, his expression becomes more serious. „But you can’t solve all your problems with violence, yeah?“

Flynn ducks his head again, the sheepish expression back on his face. „Yes, Dad, I know… but sometimes I just get so… so mad when someone is being mean!“

Max is overcome with love for him. „You’ll learn to control it.“

„When?“ Flynn throws up his hands.

„Once you’ve presented,“ Dan tells him with a sorry little smile.

Flynn grumbles. „That could take ages!“

Max runs his fingers through Flynn’s curls. „It won’t, I promise.“

„You’re already so chock-full of hormones, it can’t take that much longer,“ Dan comments, and the noise Flynn makes in reply is peak embarrassed teenager. It makes Max laugh.

They’ll talk to the school, set things right. It’ll be okay. They’ve gotten through worse.

For now, Max can’t believe that he ever thought Flynn’s behavior was caused by aggression, instead of Daniel’s pure, protective, and maybe somewhat impulsive streak.

When he goes to open the door to the kitchen, he hears Daniel say in a sotto voice: „You know, some bullies do need punching, though.“

#virtues verse #writing tag #vv!maxiel #vv!event #vv!flynn #Angst Tag #fluff tag #pup tag