#she was made in 1997!! same age as me
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you, my golden hour
Rancher!Javier Peña x Cowgirl!Reader
summary: 1997. as a fallen rodeo star, you can handle anything - except maybe your city’s hometown hero
warnings/tags: 18+ ONLY MDNI, Post Season 3 Javi works on his family’s ranch AU, unspecified age gap (only age mention is reader can drink and Javi is older), major pining & yearning, emotional hurt & comfort, light angst with tender fluff, reader has a backstory and family, no physical description of reader but gendered language is used and reader can ride a horse, use of pet/nicknames, mention/description of rodeo accident, themes of dealing with burnout, small texas town toxicity, light Spanish use, reader & javi having insecurities they bond/heal over, bar scene with alcohol consumption, spicy moments with allusions to smut, intense makeout where Javi gets handsy, soft!Javi, dreamy & protective!Javi
word count: 10.2k (I’m sorry)
a/n: the second installment of ‘let’s rodeo’ and my love letter to Javi & Texas, the heart of this series - this fic is near & dear to me and I just appreciate getting the chance to write this, so to @lowlights @ahauntedcowboy & @perotovar for giving me the courage to post this know I’m so grateful… and to you reading this thank you, so dearly appreciate you too ♡
You haven’t thought of Javier Peña in years.
Older than you, he was handsome and had a smile that rivaled the Texas Friday night lights. He eventually hooked up with the number one town sweetheart who was even rumored to have won a local state beauty contest.
By the time you heard of their engagement, you already had started your plans for the circuits, for the road. You didn’t mourn or even feel heartbroken over the news.
Even after that, the rodeo consumed you. It kept you in a tornado like whirl for years until that fateful day it spat you out.
When that ride stopped, Javier Peña came back into your mind with a strange fog-like entrance.
While still on bed rest, the news on the TV had been showing a small special on the War on Drugs and the lull of it filled the room.
Your grandmother was the one who brought him up.
“That’s what Chucho’s son is involved in.”
“Wait, Javier Peña’s into drugs?” You asked a bit confused even without the pain killers.
“No. He’s going after the people who sell drugs.” She clarified.
Oh.
“He also didn’t get married either. Do you remember?” She had added.
You did. You heard he left the little Miss Homecoming Queen at the altar. Quite a scandal that made him the talk of the town for a while.
Then he became a big shot drug enforcer who took down one of the largest drug cartels in history and he again became the talk of the town.
It’s been a few years since your accident and now Javier Peña is back home.
Now driving into the Peña ranch you feel both so young, yet so aged at the same time, like you’re stuck between two realities.
Your sister bounces out of the truck with uncontainable glee and you’re grateful she’s excited.
Chucho Peña comes to greet everyone. His classic cream cowboy hat and gentle smile are all a beautiful welcome. It’s also adorable seeing your grandpa reunite with his old friend.
Señor Peña’s kind eyes eventually land on you with a sweet twinkle.
“It’s good to see you, mija.”
You’ve always adored Chucho Peña.
His son on the other hand…
You never knew Javier enough to fully know him. Even with his dad and your grandpa being pals, the years between you and Javier didn’t help. He existed outside your obit, a figure almost out of reach.
“And that son of yours!?” Your grandpa of course perks up asking about him.
“Ah sí Javi’s here, just out in the stables.” Chucho explains casually.
The last time you physically saw Javier Peña he was walking out of the bank. You’d been waiting in your family truck when he stepped out. By that point, a small bit of shadow was forming against his jaw and upper lip as his facial hair began to grow thick. He was a young man on the verge of stepping into the threshold of being grown.
Now before you he’s a fully grown man.
For a minute you think the man in the barn is someone else because it doesn’t seem like Javier.
Yet when he turns, you see his eyes.
Rich soil of the earth stunning eyes and you know it’s him.
His body has filled out and his shoulders even look broader. He sports a similar mustache like his father’s and it adds to his older appearance. There’s a weathered weariness on his face evident in the wrinkles carved out by his eyes and on his forehead.
The button up shirt he’s wearing allows a peek at his chest and his skin shines with sweat from the Texas sun already shining its warmth.
He’s breathtakingly stunning and you can’t take your eyes off him.
He warmly greets your grandpa with a wide smile that touches his eyes and brightens his face. He’s still that charming young man you saw, a brilliant comet out of your galaxy.
But then his gaze lands on you and his eyes narrow. A conflicting recognition and confusion swirl in his eyes. He knows you, seems to remember you, but not fully.
His dad clarifies your name and you deflate a bit. Then Javier’s eyes go wide and his eyebrows shoot into his hairline.
So, he does remember you.
“Oh, yeah. Good to see you.” He nods fully realizing who you are.
“Guess the horse must be for you then?” Javier adds and your heart sinks a bit.
A grimace tugs on your face but you try recovering quickly.
“No mijo,” Chucho thankfully answers quick and gentle. “I told you, it’s for her hermanita.”
You grin small and tight in agreement.
“Oh…yeah of course.” He nods.
Your little sister immediately jumps in bright and eager to share her excitement. Thankfully the focus effortlessly shifts to her and the reason why you’re all here.
The horse is beautiful, playful and eager for attention. This first meeting already feels good. Of course, everyone holds their breaths when your sister goes for the ride.
And it couldn’t have gone more smoothly.
You even exhale relieved.
“You seemed nervous.” A smooth warm voice comes out besides you.
As you lean against the ring’s fence you discover Javier Peña moving to rest beside you.
“Just like the first day of school kinda nerves. Want to make sure everything goes smoothly.” You answer as your sister effortlessly trots around the ring with ease.
“Yeah, I bet. They already seem to be clicking.” Javier notes genuine and you’re grateful too.
Your grandfather now calls out to you.
Both you and Javier turn towards where the older men stand close to each other like conspiring headaches.
“To celebrate, we’re having dinner here!” Your grandpa cheers happily and a dread drop kicks your heart.
Immediately you stammer out panicked about how you all can’t impose.
“No pasa nada, mija.” Senor Peña gently reassures you saying not to worry. “Besides, you’re all more than welcome here. It’s been a while since Javi and I had guests.”
You don’t miss the unashamed hum Javier makes.
“And grandma?” You reply, trying to reach for more excuses not to stay.
“She can walk.” Your sister teases suddenly and you give her a sharp look.
“Will you go pick her up, please?” Your grandpa gives you his best pleading face before simply throwing the truck keys to you
Stubborn old man.
“Hijo,” Señor Peña calls out again, but this time to his son. “You should go too.”
Shit.
“No Pop, it’s okay!” Javi politely declines and you want to second that.
“Aye,” His dad chides and then he pointedly gives Javier a look that screams - Don’t be rude, go with her.
Damn.
The walk to the truck is quiet, awkward as hell, feels like two parents shoving their kids together to play nice.
Heading into the main part of town, silence fills most of the drive. You're also mentally kicking yourself for not getting the radio fixed last week like you should’ve.
“So uh, your grandma…still volunteering at the women’s shelter?” Until Javier offers a small branch of conversation.
“Yup.” You nod.
“Oh good, that’s good.” He replies.
But silence returns.
“So, you taking a break from the rodeo then? Pop used to tell me about you all the time.” Javier comments light, casual.
You feel like a cat with its hairs standing up. But even with that sensation, knowing Señor Peña spoke so fondly of you does simmer the sting.
“Sort of.” You decide to rip this off like a bandaid, get it over with now. “Had a bad accident a while back. Still haven’t decided if I wanna return.”
It’s been two years since you’ve been home.
“Oh…” Javier’s voice drops, the same way everyone does when you tell them.
“I’m sorry.” Except you’re surprise at how sincerely soft his voice is. “I thought I heard something about it. I should’ve fucking remembered… Sorry.”
He apologizes again, surprising you once more as genuine repentance floats off his voice.
You thank him understandingly. After all, it's one of the better responses you’ve been given. But you don’t want to dig into this, especially with him, so you quickly change the conversation.
“So how long are you here for? I’m sure there must be other drug cartels waiting for you to take them down.” You offer casual.
Not only had he taken down Pablo Escobar a while back, you briefly heard of his very recent grand move against the other cartel in Columbia.
He’s impressive, the town’s hero and golden boy.
“Uh actually, I’m retired. Gonna take a step back for a bit.” Javier answers just as polite and calm as you had answered him.
Oh. You hadn’t heard that. Or maybe you did and forgot.
You now feel like the foolish one and genuinely congratulate him.
“It takes a lot to decide when to step away. Besides, you deserve a break after all you did.” You mean those words.
After all, they were the same comforting words his father told you when you came back home.
A pause fills the truck and you worry you’ve maybe overstepped.
“I…yeah.” Javier breathes out. “Thanks. Appreciate that.”
Your heart flutters at how small and genuine he sounds.
“So…how about them Dallas Cowboys, huh?” Javier offers light and for some reason you laugh.
It’s not much, but it feels like a lifeline.
When you arrive to pick up your grandmother she gasps so giddy when she sees the surprise guest with you. Her excitement lights up the drive while she talks about her day taking full advantage of having Javier listening to her.
“Oh I’m so glad you’re back home safe Javi!” She gushes and then says your name.
You’re already panicking.
“With so many of your friends living out of town, maybe you’ll get to spend more time back in the city with Javier!?” She offers to you brightly and absolute horror seizes your heart.
Shooting a petrified face at her you silently plead for this discussion to die.
Javier in the back seat weakly laughs. Because of course Javier, ever the gentleman, had your grams sitting up front.
“Oh don’t give me that look.” Your grandma playfully teases back at you. “At least go rent a movie with him.”
The thought crosses your mind about turning around and dropping her back off.
“Did you know,” Javier innocently jumps in. “The first ever blockbuster was opened in Dallas?”
Your grandma coos in awe as if he’s just explained a miracle.
“See! Now you have to go with him to one!” She urges.
A horrified indignant noise escapes you. While behind you, Javier snickers even more and you’re tempted to drop him off on the side of the road to let the coyotes feast on him.
The minute you arrive at the Peña’s home you can’t get out of the truck fast enough.
Dinner fortunately goes smooth and you’re surprised at how eased the rest of the time unfolds. You do hate how many times your eyes flicker towards Javier like if you’re still trying to soak him in.
Then, from across the table, Javier’s gaze flickers to you fast catching you staring red handed. Your heart transforms into a jackrabbit, petrified and thumping fast, almost making you flee right then and there.
Until your grandpa addresses you. His warm eyes dance with a surprise in his gaze.
“We’ve decided to have some of your sister's training here.”
Your heart now skips over itself.
Your gramps and sister both explain the plan hatched while you were on the road. In order to get used to competing in different spaces, your sister decided to train here at the Peña’s.
You’re hesitant, but understand the logic. You’re even impressed. But you can’t pinpoint why you’re so nervous about this.
Señor Peña now calls to you, sensing your hesitation, and tenderly grins.
“Don’t worry mija,” his kind eyes crinkle with understanding. “It’s no trouble at all.”
His reassurance is grace and you smile back relieved while thanking him deeply.
“Seems like you’re the boss here.” Javier suddenly joins in with a casual tone and you freeze.
“Well yeah, that’s my coach you’re talking to.” Your sister proudly declares.
“Coach?” Javier’s voice perks up curious.
“Yeah.” You answer with a small smile. “That’s me.”
“Been barking orders at me all these years so why not put her in charge.” Your sister innocently adds and in pure sobbing annoyance you want to shove her face into her plate.
Thankfully everyone laughs, illuminating the room.
But you’re faced with a new reality. You’re going to be here more, seeing Javier Peña more.
And you don’t know how you feel about that yet.
-
The Peña ranch in the morning sits tranquil and the peace gives you the focus on training.
You’re surprised at how good your sister and the mare already bond. You explain a few drills and have your sister run a few repetitions of them.
“You sound like a tough one.” Javier’s voice surprises you and you almost jump over the fence.
Glancing back, he approaches you with two thermoses.
“Pop and I thought you might need an extra pick me up.” He offers and you can’t help but greedily grab at it.
“Tell your dad thanks and that he’s a saint.”
Javier snorts at your reply.
Now your focus returns to your sister. You recommend a type of turning drill vividly remember doing yourself. Your sister playfully salutes you and begins.
“How she looking, coach?” Him calling you ‘coach’ draws a dangerous electricity that snaps up your spine.
“Don’t call me coach.” You dryly tell him trying to keep yourself composed.
“Well isn’t that what you are?” He teases casually.
Your face scrunches up annoyed while his eyes crinkle amused.
“Don’t you have things to do, Javier Peña?” You sigh, already exhausted of this man.
“Javi…you can just call me Javi, coach.”
You’re tempted to childishly scoot away from him. Younger you would have never imagined he was this annoying.
“Don’t call me coach.” You dully repeat.
“Okay, coach.”
Now you contemplate just shoving him away.
But all the annoyance washes away when commotion hits. The horse makes a disgruntled whinny and immediately both you and Javier whip your attention towards the ring. Your sister calmly stays on the saddle, gently soothing down her companion.
After asking if she’s good, her eased thumbs up reassures you. She does a few trots to calm everyone down. You even exhale relieved.
“You lost in thought?” Javier comments.
“Yeah.” You answer him with a mutter. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
You almost don’t tell him. But you surprise yourself and do.
You explain the type of pace that comes with training in barrel racing. There’s a pattern and method to it all. You don’t realize you’ve rambled until you blink and realize Javier stares so directly at you. His eyebrows furrow slightly as if he’s focused hard listening to your words.
Embarrassed, you’re about to stammer out an apology when Javier whistles low.
“You know your fucking shit.” He nods appreciatively and hearing his pride ignites something dangerous in your chest.
Another surprise sharp whistle comes. Out from the barn, a further ways away, Chucho stands staring out. He even waves at you and you wave back.
“You gonna work today, hijo?” He calls out.
Javier curses under his breath.
“Busted.” You joke and now he’s the one side eying you.
“Please you’re the one slacking off here!” Your baby sister suddenly complains loud and cheeky “You’re not getting paid by the hour, coach!”
“Guess we’re both in trouble.” Javier snickers.
You roll your eyes but quickly sneer at your smiling sister.
“Alright then. See ya later…bandita.” Javier already walks away by the time you hear his goodbye.
But it hits you.
He thankfully stopped calling you coach. But now, what replaced it…
Little Bandit.
The nickname rips through you with a barbed fierceness you’re not prepared for.
The rest of the month follows this same routine.
On training days Javier shows up with something for you to drink. Once he even came with a few goods from the bakery across town.
No matter what, he watches practice with you for as long as he can before getting called back to the ranch.
During these moments together, he asks about how the turns are made or why you correct your sister when you do. It’s friendly. You actually start enjoying his company especially when your grandfather so eagerly leaves to hang out with Chucho instead.
The greetings and thanks are always the same.
“Thanks, Peña.”
“Javi,” he patiently corrects you everytime.
You can’t bring yourself to call him that just yet.
At the start of the new month everyone sleeps in and arrives later to the Peña’s ranch.
This time you’ve brought more barrels. Thankfully you can move them with the help of your sister. Suddenly besides you, boots clamor onto the truck and rapidly you snap your attention to the source of the sound.
Javier Peña smoothly climbs up to help you with the rest of the barrels.
He’s in a striking soft purple button up shirt. Sweat already shines against his bare arms. Thick worn in working gloves cover his hands. His hair seems a bit curlier today and he wears aviator sunglasses that suit his face.
Effortlessly Javier grabs onto one and lifts it by himself.
You’re stunned. Even your sister stops and stares just as surprised.
Javier is strong. Doesn’t seem like the muscular type but he’s built and radiates a type of seasoned strength of a well grown man, a rancher man.
His arms firmly hold the barrel, sturdy and toned, and you can’t look away.
“Where d’ya want me to put it?” Javier yells and you trip out of your thoughts to dumbly point where the barrel needs to be placed.
Your grandfather whistles proudly seeing Javier.
“If this rancher thing doesn’t work out for you Jav, you got the makings of a fine rodeo man.” Your grandpa teases.
Javier chuckles, with his eyes averted a bit bashful.
“Could add him to the team.” Your grandpa notes with a twinkling gleam of something mischievous.
You reply a dry no as you move to get off the truck.
In a flash, Javier jogs over and immediately reaches his hand out to help you get down. Placing your hand in his, Javier helps you down and you thank him.
He’s wearing gloves. This shouldn’t feel so significant. Yet the way he firmly holds your hand makes your heart sprout wings.
Even back on the solid dirt ground your legs don’t feel as if they’re under you.
Javier doesn’t stick around after that and you’re allowed to focus.
It’s later in the day, later than the usual practice times, and the Texas sun beats down with a fierceness. You call for more water breaks to keep everyone hydrated.
During a break, a rustling catches your attention. There towards the barn, Javi moves in and around the place.
You just catch the smallest glimpse of him with a hammer in his hand as he heads into the smaller enclosure. Curiosity gets the best of you.
Grabbing another water bottle you justify it as wanting to be polite, but curiosity gnaws at you.
The clang of hammering approaches louder and louder until you spot him in a goat pen. He hammers in a reinforced slab, probably fixing a hole. His back to you allows a glorious full sight of his broad shoulders at work.
He even switches to a drill and watching him casually use power tools, you never thought you’d find this so attractive.
One of the goats nearby makes a blep of a noise at your appearance and you almost want to shush them.
Javier glances over his shoulders spotting you.
“Hey there, bandita. Qué pasó?” he nods at you as the nickname flares up your heart.
“Just…knew how hot it was getting and gramps told me just to check up on you.” You lie waving the water bottle.
Javier turns to face you and you’re greeted with the sight of his full sweaty glory. You should be turned off seeing how bad his shirt sticks to him, how he smells of hay and dirt, but it’s incredibly hot.
The hard work of his day evident on every inch of him brews a dark cloud of desire in you.
“Oh well, tell your gramps thanks.” He replies snagging the water bottle from you.
His plus lips, the glorious sight of his thick slick neck, and the movement of the sweat just covering him as he drinks from the water bottle…
Getting this weak over the sight of him just drinking a water bottler you now think is the lowest you can go. You wonder about walking down by the river nearby and just jumping in to cool down.
From a distance, your sister yells out for you.
“Duty calls.” Javier smirks. With a sheepish smile you shrug then wave a quick goodbye.
You practically run out of that barn like a fleeing field mouse.
Later that night, alone in your room, your fingers slip under your sheets to slide under your sleep shorts. You imagine licking the sweat off Javier’s neck, picture his thick strong fingers, that fix up barns, hoist up barrels, and wonder how thick they would feel inside you.
You fall into desire’s blissful sticky release.
When you shower the next morning, you rationalize that those thoughts of Javier simply come from needing to scratch an itch.
Besides, you couldn’t get tangled with Javier. He’s older. He’s Laredo’s golden boy. He doesn’t go after broken cowgirls like you.
In the shower you turn the heat up more. A part of you hopes it will scorch off the building desire in your heart.
-
The morning is muggy, a soupy cloudy early day begging you to curl back into bed. Soft chirping echoes of the mockingbirds fill the air. You opted for earlier practices this week so your sister could prepare for a trip with her friends coming up. You agreed, wanting her to still enjoy moments outside of this.
“You out here all alone, bandita?” Javier.
He breaks the morning’s stillness. Holding his routine two drinks, he approaches you bundled up in a nice jacket that flatters him.
Thanking him, you greedily grab the drink and savor its warmth.
You explain that your sister is free roaming around the ranch this morning and it’s why you’re all alone. You stare at the empty riding area where the dirt sits holy and untouched.
“Do you miss it?” Javier asks. His voice is quietly probing, gentle as the morning mist.
That question holds a million answers all tied up in a messy knot.
“Sometimes.” You answer truthfully because you did. You missed the adrenaline, the wind blowing past you, speeding around a barrel so fast it was like you were out running the wind.
“Can I ask…” Javier and his soft, kind voice presses on. “What happened?”
Might as well. You’re now sort of friends with Javier even though the word feels sticky in your heart.
“You know that saying about how you just gotta get back on the horse? Well it's easier said than done.” You mutter.
It happened during a ride in Arizona. You’ve fallen and wrecked before. But this one just felt different. You took a barrel close and then everything slipped away. You remember being on the saddle, remember feeling your body float. Then the world went dark.
You woke up to a nasty concussion, a broken arm, and a couple of rowdy scrapes. You don’t remember your foot getting caught in the stirrup, but that’s what had happened.
“Holy fuck...” Javier breathes out, the weight of your words hang in his. “Shit I’m sorry.”
You thank him earnestly and reassure him it’s fine, just unfortunate shit like that happens. Everyone knew how dangerous the sport could get. The rodeo was a rough ride and every cowboy knew that.
But for you, you just couldn’t shake it off.
“I’m glad you made it out.” Sincerity blooms in his voice and your lips tug grateful at how considerate he is as you thank him again.
“You haven’t gone back?” Now he dances on a tight line.
“Nope. I tried after getting the clearance from the doctors but… it just didn’t go well.” You truthfully tell him.
You didn’t want to ride anymore, didn’t want to face everyone or the pressure of the race or the terror swallowing you whole. It felt as if you were burnt dry and exhausted from the inside out.
Your grandma gently embraced you and held you for what felt like hours.
“Then don’t go. You don’t have to do anything that makes you this worried and sick. Nothing is worth you being this scared, not even the damn rodeo.” She told you tenderly and with the most profoundly kind smile. You cried out of relief.
“It’s brave,” Javier says so firmly understanding. “Making a decision like that is really fucking brave, hard as fuck too.”
You gently grin and thank him again while blinking away a few tears.
“Same goes for you too.” You tell him.
From your gramps, who had gotten the full story from Chucho, you learned more about what happened with Javier and his final days in Columbia.
“I don’t know much but, what you did was brave too.” Your voice comes out softer than you expected.
He barks a laugh now. It’s dry, bitter, and can catch fire.
“Doesn't feel like it.”
You understand maybe more than he even knows. So you think about maybe what you would’ve told yourself.
“You did what was right.” You begin. “Everyone else might judge you or say shit but it doesn't matter. You’re not meant to please everyone or do what everyone expects you to do. And if that’s seen as a bad thing then…I don’t know, fuck them and fuck that.”
You say it so simply Javier busts out laughing. It’s a true blue laugh, so sweet it crinkles his beautiful dirt road eyes.
You’ve never seen him laugh like this before. And he’s beautiful.
You join in snickering as well but try to ignore the butterflies suddenly nesting in your stomach.
He’s really such a dream. A carved out Texas man so seasoned from the world, yet he still stays so kind and devoted to his family.
You get why many in the town, especially the girls during your time in high school, are all over him. Now you’re afraid you might’ve fallen into the same pit traps they did.
You’re falling under the spell of Javier Peña.
“So you’re really not going back to catching drug dealers and what not?” You ask when the laughter settles.
“I could’ve.” Javi answers. “Damn DEA would’ve taken me back. But…I just couldn’t see a future with it anymore.”
“And now here I am.” He says with a boyish soft grin.
“Now here you are”. You repeat with a nod.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” You truthfully tell him. You knew his dad worried about him. But the quiet truth is that you’re grateful for this time getting to know him now.
His eyes soften and your heat bursts.
“Thanks, glad I’m here. Glad you’re here too, bandita.” Then he softly nudges you. It’s playfully, friendly but it’s his words that almost take you out by the knees.
“Anyway, the government’s dumb. They don't deserve you.” You nod and Javier snorts amused.
“Guess I should listen to a cowgirl like you.” He teases.
You shrug. “Some people say I’m not one anymore.”
Especially because you didn’t ride anymore.
“Fuck them and fuck that.” He repeats your words and your lips twitch with a bubbling giggle.
Right now, it feels like you and him are two lonely birds sitting on a wire. Yet there’s something comforting about it, knowing it’s with him.
Then it dawns on you. You enjoy spending time with him. You know there’s desire already trickling in for him. But now he’s becoming someone precious to you.
You can’t even deny that anymore.
“Thanks, Javi.”
You don’t miss the way his eyebrows shoot up high.
Thunder roars suddenly clashing into the air interrupting the moment.
The dark clouds now loom on the horizon and coat the morning in an impending murkiness.
“Guess a storm’s coming in.” Javi mumbles.
Thankfully your sister rides back in quick and Javi decides to do some final things around the ranch before the storm rolls in. Before the rain comes, you and your sister pack up quickly. But it’s too late.
The rain pours down in a blink, almost like a hole in the sky popped to let a faucet drain out. The wind even picks up dangerously quick. It’s chaotic trying to wrangle the hose back to the stables but you and your sister manage.
“Come inside!” Gramps yells from the Peña’s porch and you and your sister scurry to the shaded sanctuary.
“You coming in?” Your sister asks while drying herself off with a towel. You don’t move from your spot by the steps.
“I’ll be in a bit.” You reassure her. She glares suspiciously and you shoo her away.
Javi hasn’t come back yet.
Noises clang out from the barn. A poisonous worry erupts through you and immediately you rush back out into the rain.
Inside the barn Javi tries yanking up a barn ladder that’s fallen over. It’s sturdy, wooden, and stuck in a hard position.
You move to help. Without any words or having to explain anything you both, as a team, work to yank the ladder out. Patiently and slowly the ladder gets moved to a spot the wind won’t knock it over.
The rush of it all has you breathing heavy.
“Thanks bandita.”
You breathlessly laugh and turn to maybe make a joke about now becoming a ranch hand and stealing his job. But all words, all thoughts, die instantly.
Having to work together to push the ladder, you now notice how close you are to him.
The sight of Javi soaked to the bone from the rain is corruptible. His clothes stick to him showing off his thick frame and shoulders. His drenched hair now seems darker with the curls more pounced.
He’s also heavily breathing too.
Now his lips, how soft and wet they look, have you hypnotized.
The pattering rain pours down hard on the roof, the only noise in the barn. You notice a shift in Javier. His eyes ever so slightly soften, almost hazing over. You might just be imaging it, but his face gradually seems to lean closer. Or maybe, you’re the one leaning towards him.
You’re possessed with an ache to kiss him, to see how the rain tastes on his lips.
It’s just you and him, soaked to the bone. You probably look like a drenched mess of a creature, but you’ve never wanted someone this much.
“Aye!”
Chucho suddenly shouts out from outside the barn and your heart stops.
Like a skittish roadrunner, you scramble away fast from Javier and just in time. His dad walks in from the other side of the barn holding an umbrella with an extra in his hand.
“You kids okay?” He calls out.
Both you and Javi yell back, quickly moving towards the elder Peña.
“You two look like a couple of soaked barn cats.” Chucho teases.
You weakly laugh and thank him for the umbrella.
Javi grumbles at his dad while he grabs the umbrella to open it up. Ever chivalrous, Javier holds it above you and him. Yet the entire walk to the house is quiet.
Fuck. Did you ruin this tentative whatever was forming between you and him? Or were you just imagining things?
You stay quiet the rest of the time waiting out the storm.
“You okay?” Your sister, keen as always, notices.
You lie with a smile saying the weather’s getting to you. When in reality, it’s a man that has.
Because you can’t stop thinking about Javier Peña now.
-
The rain stays for the rest of the week and everyone takes the schedule changes with stride. Your sister even heads out earlier on her trip earlier during a lighter drizzle.
By Saturday night the storm settles down.
Your closest friend from high school, now back in town for the month, even calls your home phone begging you to take advantage of the better weather.
“Look, before I go back to Florida let’s enjoy a nice night out, yeah? Maybe play some pool?” She pleads.
It’s how you now find yourself at the bar. You haven’t gotten dressed up in a while and you’re reminded of how nice it feels.
As much as you jokingly fussed about going out, being with your best friend laughing at the bar is lovely.
Ricky, one of the bartenders, actually was in the same grade as you two and it’s nice reminiscing, snickering over a nice drink.
“So how’s it been hanging out with Mr. Hero of the town himself?” Your friend smirks.
You make an unamused face at her while Ricky perks up.
“Wait, who are you hanging out with?” He whispers excitedly.
“Javier Peña.” Excitedly, she spills and you roll your eyes when Ricky gasps.
“You’ve fallen for the guy half the county is in love with!?” He hisses. You hate it, but it’s true and tastes soberly cold.
“Okay but practically all of our class was and maybe still is in love with him.” Your best friend adds.
“Well y’all do remember, he left Lorraine Wilson at the altar right?” Ricky reminds everyone and your mouth turns acidic.
“Oh fuck you’re right.” Your friend whispers.
“Might be bad news.” Ricky tensely tells you.
You want to hiss that he’s not like that. He’s kind, a bit annoying, but with a good heart.
“Shit, speak of the devil and he shall appear.” Ricky says in a low awed tone.
Worried you whip around to see what caught his attention. Absolute horror drowns you.
Javi and another man step into the bar and you want to run.
Your best friend squeals excited beside you, but you can’t comprehend what she says. Javier has stolen your attention.
Ricky called him the devil and he does seem like an angel dipped in temptation.
The sleek blazer he wears is dressed down by his nice button up shirt and jeans. His hair is styled nice, seeming so soft and begging for someone’s fingers to run through it. A buzz swarms in your head seeing him outside the ranch looking this gorgeous.
That’s when he spots you. For a split moment you two see each other. His eyes widen and before anyone can react you whip back towards the bar.
“Looks like you’re about to fall outta your seat.” Ricky snickers and you death glare at him.
“Okay,” your friend nudges you. “The guy he’s with, I think that’s David Martinez. He was in Peña’s class right? He’s so hot now, what the fuck?” She breathes out.
You almost toast to that because you felt the same about Javier.
So you keep your head down, enjoy your drink and maybe wonder about suggesting that game of pool your best friend advertised.
“Would you two beauties be alright with a bit of company?” A sweet male voice comes out and immediately draws the attention to him.
Behind you stands Javier Peña and his friend.
David has always been kind to your family and his mom even worked with your grandma at the shelter. You appreciate that Javi still hangs out with him.
“Yes of course. We’d love some company, right?” Your friend brightly asks you and you smile polite.
Your heart however rages like it’s a wild bucking bronco trying to break free.
The guys buy a round of drinks. Everyone laughs reminiscing about that one famous senior prank where the class managed to get two cows into the school.
The atmosphere is friendly, light. But your eyes constantly flicker nervously to Javi. You can’t stop staring at him, can’t stop thinking about him. Now here he is a Texas dream, or maybe your nightmare.
You turn back to take another sip and in that shift, your best friend turns to direct all her attention to David who moves to sit beside her.
But now Javier smoothly slides into the barstool next to you.
“Nice to see you outside the ranch.” His voice comes out smooth and rich.
You agree. But the air turns awkward, as if neither of you know how to tackle this new situation.
Suddenly heels clicking fast arrive. Standing to the side is a girl you recognize from your sister’s class that just graduated high school.
“Hi,” she smiles, staring at Javi with obvious hearts in her eyes.
He politely but cautiously greets her back.
“I was, um, wondering if you wanted to maybe dance with me?” She’s bold. You can at least appreciate that.
“My friends all dared me to ask you since it’s, ya know, you.” She gushes and giggles.
“Uh, appreciate the thought but I’ll have to pass, sorry.” He turns her down gently.
As if she finally realizes you even existed her eyes blink to you.
“Oh hey!” She recognizes you as an older sister to one of her classmates. And then for something else.
“Yeah didn’t you like, used to be a rodeo cowgirl or something and then something happened so now you’re not doing anything anymore?”
She’s being underlyingly mean. Her misleading chipper tone, vapid smile, are all soaked in venom meant to shake you or even scare Javi away from you.
But you’re used to it by now. You’re about to comment how she shouldn’t even be here.
Javier however speaks first and fast.
“Hey,” Javier’s voice jumps shockingly sharply, almost reprimanding. Your eyes go wide at how fast he reacts. He even glares at the girl.
Besides you, your best friend immediately turns around.
“Oh hey!” She greets the young newcomer. “Weren’t you that girl caught buying weed only for the cops to figure out you were actually buying oregano?”
Her cheerful tone makes you bust out a snort because yeah, she’s right.
The girl’s face falls absolutely mortified.
“Now get the fuck out of here.” Your dear friend finishes sweet but the undercurrent of her voice looms threatening. The disgraced girl rushes away before she can even reply.
You wheeze into your hand and fondly lean against your dearest sweet friend.
“If she or any of her little punk ass friends try anything again, I’ll shove my heel so far up their asses.” She reassures.
“Don’t worry,” Ricky now jumps in. “I’m definitely telling our bouncer those little shits managed to sneak in.”
Gratitude carves out an ocean in you and you’re thankful for those who understand.
David whistles appreciatively and your friend, with a reassuring squeeze to your shoulder, returns to her discussion with him.
You feel Javier’s eyes burning on you.
“Does shit like that happen often?” His concerned and low voice floats out among the music.
You shrug.
“Back when I first came back it did, but it's dying down.”
You were supposed to be a big rodeo star. You even had an official big name brand sponsorship lined up. But, after the accident, not returning to the rodeo painted you a failure in the eyes of the town.
Especially compared to its bright shining star you sit beside.
Suddenly a warmth slides over your hand resting on the bar. Javier squeezes your hand gently, a reassuring comfort.
“I’m sorry.” He mutters deeply sad. “S’fucking awful.”
You thank him, even make a dry joke about small town bullshit which earns you a small dry chuckle.
“The shit I got after Lorraine…” he sighs and now you find his hand doesn’t leave yours. You don’t want it to.
“I get it. Shit’s brutal.” He finishes, a steeled hardness lingering in his tone.
Now your hand squeezes his.
His eyes, gleaming tiger’s eyes gemstones, flicker up to you and you smile softly.
Javi’s hand feels so lovely. It's rough, a bit callous but cozy. Just like him.
“Hey!” Your best friend suddenly cheers. “Let’s dance!”
She interrupts the moment but you can’t blame her. A hesitant scrunched up reaction tugs at your face though.
“It’s a slow dance.” You waver.
“That’s the best kind! Come on!” She urges and you spot her hand already intertwining with the guy’s.
“You go,” you urge with a beaming grin. “I wanna finish my drink.”
“Aw, come on now bandita,” now Javi slides off his seat.
Standing up straight, he extends his hand out to you.
“You gotta at least get one dance in.” He smirks.
It’s just one dance and you don’t know if you’ll ever get another chance to dance with him. That thought alone outweighs the hesitation. Placing your hand in his, Javier leads you out to the dance floor.
Javi maintains a polite distance from you. Yet the faintest scent of his cologne floats off him, a siren’s song pure of temptation. His hand keeps yours in its protective hold while he gently guides you to the beat of the music.
Being this close to him clouds your focus in a tantalizing haze begging you to get lost in. But you can’t. You can’t even stare into his eyes. So your focus flickers out to the rest of the bar.
David and your best friend dance close, already getting cozy with each other. Then your eyes move to the door.
The bar’s bouncer sternly starts throwing the three girls out and the one you recognize stares at you with disgusted hatred.
You snort.
“What?” Javi mutters, his voice silky against the low music.
You nudge your head towards the bar’s entrance and Javi follows your gaze.
“Oh hey.” He comments, noticing the scene.
“Good riddance. Poor girl must be pissed seeing you dance with someone me though.” You mutter a bit gleeful at the thought.
“Wait, what?” Javi sounds insulted.
“Uh yeah,” you reply, confused. “I mean, it’s kinda funny. You’re Mr. hometown hero here with the town’s nobody.”
“No.” Javier snaps fast. “Anyone who says or believes that’s a pinché cabrón.”
They’re a fucking asshole and the way he speaks with a conviction refuses to allow any doubt to refute him.
“And besides…I’m not a hero.” That’s when Javi’s voice drops, transforming into a whisper tangled among the slow country ballad playing.
“I’m not that golden bullshit guy everyone thinks I am.” His voice contains a stinging rawness you recognize.
Now you’re the one snapping back at him.
“Yeah you are. You’re good, Javi.” You begin firm.
“You’re noble and kind. Brave.” The words flow from your heart and you don’t even stop them. “You’ve worked hard to help people. I’m sure there’s shit you regret and you might not think you’re good because of it, but you are.”
He stays silent. Only the tune of the slow jam settles between you and him. You’re worried you’ve maybe said something to upset him.
Then Javier exhales your name and it has never sounded so tender.
Your throat tightens and when you finally look at him, you’re greeted by a galaxy.
The lights of the bar dance in his dark road eyes that stare directly at you as if the rest of the bar has melted away. Javi’s hand gingerly against your back now slides down gently. In that same motion, he slowly begins drawing you to him.
You don’t resist and catch his eyes flickering to your lips.
A sudden clamoring collision erupts and startled, you clutch onto Javi.
The cause of the commotion is a man who tripped into some chairs. He effortlessly laughs it off. The group he’s with helps him up and you’re thankful it’s not a bar fight.
You sigh relaxed.
That’s when you notice Javier shifted to draw you closer to him. In an almost protective hold, he has you now close against his broad chest. His cologne smells divine, makes your mouth water.
Like a bolt of electricity striking you, you’re galvanized and scramble immediately out of his hold.
“Wait, bandita, what’s wrong? You okay?” He’s so concerned and you dare not look at him.
“Just need some air.” You reply moving away from Javi towards the door leading to the small patio outside.
Your best friend swiftly rushes to you.
“Hey, you okay?!”
You rapidly reassure her that you’re fine and just need air. You even joke about not being able to handle your drinks anymore.
“That fucker didn’t try anything, right?” She asks low and deadly.
You shake your head and squeeze her hand. It’s enough for her to let you leave. Your body operates on autopilot until you stumble into the night air.
It feels like you’re resurfacing. You move to lean against the railing and simply gather yourself.
You feel possessed again needing to kiss him.
And it’s not just that. You want all of him all the time now and it’s infesting you. You’re barely keeping your head above water or maybe you’re this far gone under the waves.
For a moment you think it might be drizzling again. Until you blink and realize the water against your eyes are tears threatening to spill.
You’re so afraid of how badly you want Javier, and how badly it might shatter right before your eyes.
Someone says your name cautiously.
Embarrassed, you turn towards the door.
Javi stands a few steps away from you. His handsome face crumbles instantly seeing you. Quickly he rushes to your side, as if on instinct wanting to help, until he stops.
“Bandita, are you okay!? Fuck… did I do this?” He stammers out worried.
“Did I overstep?” His voice is wrecked. He’s so apologetic already.
You shake your head trying to pathetically dab away the tears. Unable to look at Javier, your attention stays on the dark stretch of parking lot.
“I promise it’s not you. It’s me.” Maybe it will always just be you.
“Querida…”
Darling…he’s never called you that.
“Whatever it is, please let me help.” His voice pleads unbearably tender and you want to cry even more.
He really is so good, too good.
“I just…I just can’t take it...” you begin with a watery cough.
You finally look at him. The furrowed brows, his worried soaked eyes, concern paints him so young. You’re reminded of the young man you saw walking out of a bank all those years ago and how a piece of him stands before you now.
“I like you so much Javi.” Through the heartache, you finally admit it out loud. “Maybe even more than I wanna admit and I don't know if I can’t keep fighting it.”
His face scrunches up and his eyes rapidly scan over you.
“Fight it?” He mutters out. “Why fight it?”
Now you stare at him a bit confused. You have nothing to lose now. So you hold your heart out to him. You reveal it all…the fears and worries sprouting in your heart like uncomfortably cacti about how he deserves someone just as refined and established as him, that he'll eventually get bored of someone like you.
All your words come out hollow, especially thinking about how he can have anyone he wants.
Javier, suddenly in the middle of your ramble, interrupts, upset, snapping your name fiercely that any other words you want to say vanish.
“You’re the only one in this town who actually understands, who maybe even really fucking sees me.” He growls.
Your heart even jumps hearing how determined and raised his voice got.
“You…” Javi now chokes out and suddenly runs a hand over his face. Then his hands go to his hips. His eyes fall to the floor as if he’s taking a moment to gather himself.
“Fuck… you don’t even know what you do to me, how much you fucking mean to me.” Javier breathes and the words get caught in your ribs.
“Whenever you’re not around I can’t stand it. I just wanna be with you….all the damn time.” He coughs out as if he can’t even believe his words.
Those earth pool eyes of his flicker to you.
Under the watch of the clouded Texas deep night sky, it’s just you and him.
You don't know who moves first. Instead it feels like two magnets finally flinging together so fast the collision knocks you awake.
Because in a blink Javi’s hand holds face while his other yanks at your hips. Then he kisses you.
It’s all encompassing.
Immediately your hands scramble to claw at him, begging to get him as close as possible.
His mustache scrapes beautifully against your lips. You taste the beer lingering on his tongue and he’s divine. The wall of the bar suddenly hits your back.
Now you’re flush against him, fully pinned under all of Javier, and you moan. His tongue with hungered finesse licks into your mouth. One hand stays firmly holding your face while his other runs across your body trying to map you out.
His hips rut against yours and you go dizzy with aching raw need.
“Mi pretty bebita, so good to me.” He whispers out thick and heavy. You whine wanting him more, wanting him inside you every way possible. Everything feels molten.
Javi playfully bites your bottom lip and your knees almost buckle. Your mind simply chants for him.
A clash of teeth, a burning heat devours you while you chase every taste of Javier that he gives. It’s an unleashing of something raw and aching, as if finally you can breathe against him while something inside you whispers yes, yes you and I are here and you don’t want to ever leave.
A sudden droplet plops onto your head. You ignore it especially when your tongue swipes against Javi’s and he groans out the most heavenly noise.
A few more large obvious water drops come.
You and Javi freeze, halting mid make out like a paused VHS tape.
Then the rain arrives.
“Shit!” Javi coughs out immediately pulling away. He quickly shrugs off his blazer and drapes it over you, a makeshift umbrella.
Filled by the most buoyant bliss, you laugh.
Javier snorts, shaking his head but he must sense it too, all of it amongst the rain.
And it’s beautiful.
-
“I’m surprised you don’t wear this as much.” Javier comments as he picks up your Stetson cowboy hat.
He’s shirtless, only wearing his jeans. You’re treated to his bare broad shoulders and wonderfully sweet ass in his jeans. It’s an utterly devastating combo.
Sitting on your bed waiting to settle in for the night with him, you shrug.
You didn’t expect him to be so curious and constantly snooping around anytime he’s in your bedroom. Then again, you still can’t believe he’s even in your bedroom.
Sneaking away that the first weekend after the bar didn’t last long though.
Your grandma caught him a few Sunday mornings later trying to sneak out and she ran to you screaming excitedly when she could start planning the wedding. You still haven’t recovered from that.
Even with the blessings from both sides, including Chucho and your gramps, you still wanted to just enjoy being with Javi in these intimate carved out spaces.
His presence already is crystallizing here. His wallet and packs of nicotine gum clutter the night stand. His extra pair of sunglasses sit beside yours on the dresser. His faded worn Texas A&M University t-shirt is tossed by the bed and his boots are by the door. You treasure it all.
Javi, now standing in front of you, places the cowboy hat on top of your head.
The familiar presence of wearing it is like greeting an old friend. You bashfully grin at your handsome rancher. Javier’s eyes gloss over you, taking in the sight. His hand moves to tenderly hold your face.
“You look good, like a true damn cowgirl.” He mutters and your heart flutters against its cage.
“Know you can ride like one now too,” his voice dips with a magnetic undertone as his words hold the heavily sexual double meaning.
You playfully smack his shoulder and he smirks.
“I’m still surprised you don’t call me cowgirl instead of bandita.” You note gently.
“Do you mind that I call you that?” One of his eyebrows lifts up curiously.
No, you didn’t mind at all. You were just curious and you even tell him that.
Javi snorts and his thumb now strokes your cheek.
“The way Pop used to talk about you and how you’d race made you sound like some wild bandit trying to outrun outlaws or something.”
You snort now and your fondness for Chucho Peña triples.
“And then,” Javier continues. “When I met you, I knew I was fucked.”
Now your face scrunches up confused and you ask why. A small charming grin tugs his lips.
“Cause the minute I saw you glaring at me in the barn you stole every fucking inch of me.”
Javi’s thumb now moves to run over your lip and desire bubbles in you. You kiss his thumb, delicate and reverent.
“My pretty little bandit.” His voice is low, a fond rumble in his chest that you want to drown in as much as you can.
You think of all the awards you’ve won, the tournaments you’ve faced. Yet they all seem to fall so short to those words, to this man you so endlessly adore.
In your cowboy hat, you yank Javi close and kiss him. Quickly you and him both tumble into your bed sheets, melting against each other in pure bliss.
In the afterglow, you snatch up the cowboy hat again and now place it on Javi’s head. Your gruff rancher's face twists into a grumpy frown and you grin giddy.
“You look good, a classic Texas man.” You compliment him, almost mirroring the words he told you.
His face scrunches up more.
“Always thought I looked stupid wearing these.” He huffs taking off the Stetson.
“Everybody looks good in a cowboy hat.” You reply truthfully and place the hat back on him.
“Especially you.” You add letting your hand slide across his bare chest. The sight of him in the cowboy hat, your cowboy hat, flickers to life the simmering heat from earlier. He’s already so beautiful and now a cowboy hat on, shirtless, with the dimming post sex glow radiating from him, he’s personified sin.
“Cowboy hat doing it for ya, huh?” Javi’s little cocky smirk has you glaring playfully at him.
“Shut up.” You huff but then swiftly kiss him. Soon enough you become one again with the man taking root in your heart.
Early the next morning, when he thinks you’re asleep, Javier’s fingertips trace over your face with butterfly wing delicateness.
“So fuckin’ crazy about you, baby.” He whispers to your unknowing sleeping form. You feel your heart blossom, a morning bloom wanting to keep him tangled in your soul for as long as he’ll stay.
You think again of two lonely birds on the wire, maybe not so lonely anymore.
With a soft kiss goodbye against your forehead Javi heads out and you soak molten in his words.
You end up not seeing him for a few days. Over the phone he explains, annoyed, of having to run around trying to find a specific fence wire and how it’s kept him away.
Even with how much you miss him, it does allow you space.
Earlier this month, you decided on a new training schedule. Each week would alternate between practice at the Peña’s ranch and yours.
Currently practice is at your family’s ranch.
“Next time you talk to that boyfriend of yours, tell him to get tacos from that place he got us lunch from last time.” Your sister yells as she finishes up a few drills around the ring.
You roll your eyes. “He isn’t a food delivery service.”
She simply shrugs.
The day is winding down. Early evening approaches and the Texas sun starts to bathe everything in a golden glaze straight out of a George Strait song.
“You know…I’m happy for you.” As you and her start putting everything away for the day, your sister casually drops that line.
“About what?” You smirk.
“You and Javi.” She clarifies. Her face is messy with sweat but she beams bright. “You deserve someone like him.”
Your sister, always so kind, maybe too kind for a world this harsh sometimes.
“What? Someone who always manages to steal the last biscuit or flirts with grandma more and more everyday?” You tease and your little sister snickers.
“Well yeah. But what I mean is…you deserve someone who sees how great you are.”
Her words crash into you with a tidal wave of emotions. Her attention rests with her horse, getting in a few final brushes before she turns in for the day.
“I know you… think you’re some sort of failure or that you’re not good. But you are. You’re actually the fucking best.” She says so simply. “And I’m happy Javi sees it too.”
Tears clog your eyes and dry out your throat.
“You sound like a bad hallmark card.” You laugh watery but the gratitude flows out.
Your sister glares then throws the grooming brush at you. You laugh harder when she misses and once she’s out of the stable you playfully shove her.
“You heading back?” She notices your slow pace that hangs back.
You reassure her you’ll be home in a minute and just need a few minutes to yourself. With an understanding nod she walks back to the house.
Now alone you head to the very last stable and head to your ace. You miss your old companion and seeing this sweet creature nudge his muzzle against your hand conjures a sad nostalgic tug in your heart.
Grabbing the saddle, and untangling the reign, you head out to the ring.
You’ve been talking about your old rodeo days with Javi a lot recently. You ask him about Columbia as well. In the sacred soft space of pillow talk. you and him gently unravel more memories, more secrets to each other. It’s made you nostalgic, even a bit wistful.
Plus, you haven’t done this in a while. You frequently rode at a leisurely place along the trails by the river from time to time. But getting into the ring is still so sacred.
With your horse all set, you hoist yourself up and onto the saddle.
Just a few laps is all you do. You focus on the sound of the dirt under the hooves, the light breeze on your face, the feel of riding again.
Then, after gaining more confidence, you speed up.
It’s not even close to the speeds you used to hit, but it’s quick. You even make a lap around the ring going this speed.
One rotation, one good lap and you’re soaring.
It’s nothing. It’s not even an attempt to get back into the rhythm of racing. But it’s a ride and home in its own way.
You slow down, let the horse trot out of his groove to calm down. The entire time, your chest feels so light.
Your eyes glance out and then your heart drops.
Javi, with his flat out jaw dropped, stares at you as if you’ve spouted wings. You didn’t even hear him approach.
He breathes out your name.
Scrambling, a bit embarrassed, you quickly dismount, and after guiding the horse to the side you rush towards him.
You’re about to apologize for not noticing him when Javier ends up speaking first.
“You’re incredible.” He exhales in awe and it knocks the wind from you.
He must see whatever emotion colors your face because he repeats himself again firmer.
“You’re amazing, bandita.”
You weakly laugh thanking him.
“Does that mean-”
“Nah,” you gently cut him off and explain how you just enjoy a ride like that from time to time.
“It’s like just taking a casual drive type thing.” You shrug.
Suddenly Javi’s hand moves to rest on your arm leaning against the fence. He rubs so soft and comfortingly.
“Thank you,” he says gently. “For letting me know you.”
You want him to know every inch of you. The same way you want to know Javier in every way that you can. You want to carve out a home in your heart for him.
The hand that was on your arm moves to your cheek tilting your face towards his. He wears his classic aviator sunglasses you’ve grown fond of stealing from him.
He’s so gorgeous. It’s like the Texas sun was made to bask Javi in its glow. He’s a modern Helios, beautifully crafted with his deep earthy eyes and golden face.
“Proud of you, mi bandita.” He mutters with words soaked in adoration.
You swallow hard and let the truth sink into you.
“Thank you Javi… I’m proud of you too.” You earnestly tell him.
He snorts bashfully and you think you might be doomed to think about this man forever now, but it’s alright.
There’s something foreign in your chest growing so bright you feel as if you’ve swallowed a sun and maybe you have. Because Javier is bright, so unexpectedly warm.
A man crafted right out of the Texas golden magic hour.
And as Javi leans forward to kiss you so tenderly, you step forward into the sun, into his kaleidoscopic glow and it’s beautiful.
#hi hello howdy I’m so sorry this got so long but know Javi and I are baking you cowboy cookies as we speak#if you read thank you so much and know it really means the world to me#let’s rodeo fic series#rancher!javier Peña#Javier Peña x reader#javier pena x reader#javier peña x f!reader#javier pena fanfiction#narcos fanfiction#Javi P 🤎
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The world's oldest known person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118, a spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.
Randon, known as Sister Andre, was born in southern France on February 11, 1904, when World War I was still a decade away.
She died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon, spokesman David Tavella said.
"There is great sadness but... it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it's a liberation," Tavella, of the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home, told AFP.
The sister was long feted as the oldest European, before the death of Japan's Kane Tanaka aged 119 last year left her the longest-lived person on Earth.
Guinness World Records officially acknowledged her status in April 2022.
Randon was born in the year New York opened its first subway and when the Tour de France had only been staged once.
She grew up in a Protestant family as the only girl among three brothers, living in the southern town of Ales.
One of her fondest memories was the return of two of her brothers at the end of World War I, she told AFP in an interview on her 116th birthday.
"It was rare, in families, there were usually two dead rather than two alive. They both came back," she said.
She worked as a governess in Paris -- a period she once called the happiest time of her life -- for the children of wealthy families.
She converted to Catholicism and was baptised at the age of 26.
Driven by a desire to "go further", she joined the Daughters of Charity order of nuns at the relatively late age of 41.
Sister Andre was then assigned to a hospital in Vichy, where she worked for 31 years.
In later life she moved to Toulon along the Mediterranean coast.
Her days in the nursing home were punctuated by prayer, mealtimes and visits from residents and hospice workers.
She also received a steady flow of letters, almost all of which she responded to.
In 2021 she survived catching Covid-19, which infected 81 residents of her nursing home.
Randon told reporters last year that her work and caring for others had kept her spry.
"People say that work kills, for me work kept me alive, I kept working until I was 108," she told reporters in April last year in the tearoom of the home.
Although she was blind and relied on a wheelchair, she used to care for other elderly people much younger than herself.
"People should help each other and love each other instead of hating. If we shared all that, things would be a lot better," she said at the same meeting with journalists.
But the Catholic nun had rejected requests for locks of hair or DNA samples, saying that "only the good Lord knows" the secret of her longevity.
It is likely that France's new oldest person is now 112-year-old Marie-Rose Tessier, a woman from Vendee, longevity expert Laurent Toussaint told AFP.
But Toussaint warned that it was always possible an even older person had not yet made themselves known.
Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 in Arles, southern France, at the age of 122 holds the record for the oldest confirmed age reached by any human.
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t.A.T.u (Russian: Тату) — Russian music duo formed in 1999 that consist Julia Volkova and Lena Katina. Lena Katina first music steps were taken in children's music pop band Avenue, in 1997 she joined Neposedy, later on, Julia Volkova also joined the formation (They were part of the band along with members like Sergey Lazarev and Vlad Tapalov). In 1998 Julia got kicked out of the band for bad behaviour, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and getting in arguments with other band members, but Neposedy denied it and said that Julia left the band because of her age (Neposedy were children formation while Julia was 12 when joined the band) Lena left the band in 1999. Same year Ivan Shapovalov and his business partner Aleksander Voitinskiy planned to start a music project in Russia. They started organizing auditions in Moscow in early 1999 for teenage female vocalist. By the end of auditioning, the partners narrowed their search down to ten girls, including Lena and Julia that finally became the members of t.A.T.u. Lena and Julia knew each other before the auditions. Both girls stood out among the others because of their appearance and vocal experience, but the producers decided to start working with Lena. Katina began recording demos, including "Yugoslavia", a protest song about NATO boming of Yugoslavia, when the demos were cut, Shapovalov insisted that the project needs another girl, that will be a complete opposite of Lena. In late 1999 Julia Volkova was added to the project to complete the duo. Shapalov after adding Volkova to the project, noticed how close the girls are, he decided to use it and gave the band lesbian image, which made Voitinsky left the band because he said that the idea was immoral and he doesn't want to be part lf it.
"Ivan said, that we need second girl in a band, and that the band needs to be famous, He just said, that we need another girl, because if we will have two it will be happier and more interesting, we can take someone new, someone different, and then they will be singing together. Now i am working in a new project, not in Ivan project, he was a horrible collaborator (...)"
- Aleksander Voitinskiy for programme "Show-Business", 2000
According to Katina, Shapovalov was inspired to create the duo after the release of the Swedish film "Show me love" about romance between two school girls. After completing the duo producers decided to name the group word Тату (Tatu) It is a shortened version of russian phrase "Та любит Ту" (Ta lyubit tu — eng. This [girl] loves that [girl]) For the whole year girls were recording songs for their first album collaborating with Elena Kiper.
Debuted in 2000 with their single "Ya soshla s uma" The song describes the pain in a girl's soul because she is in love with another girl, but is afraid. It became a big hit in Central-Eastern Europe just like their next singles — "Nas ne dogoniat" and "30 minut". Their debut album "200 po Vstrechnoy" came out in May 2001, the english version of the album "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane" came out in 2002, the album was certified platinium by IFPI for over 1 milion copies sold in Europe and become the first foreign group to reach number 1 in Japan, it was also certified gold in United States. "All the thing she said" (english version of their song "Ya soshla s uma") have made it to first place of top songs in over 20 countries, and have been sold in 6 milion copies, it became one of the most succesful singles of XXI century. The controversial music video showing Julia Volkova and Lena Katina passionately kissing in rain infront of a crowd dressed in Catholic school uniforms was supposed to show — Created by their Manager Iwan Shapovalov — "love" between singers. Later on, t.A.T.u relased 3 english albums and 3 russian albums.
t.A.T.u scene image was controversial since beggining. They are most known from their first album, which was revolving around homosexual relations between Julia and Lena. During the promotion of second album they admitted that it all was just a marketing strategy, and they are not lesbians. Even after that they didn't give up on their homosexual characters. Lena Katina spoke up about it in one of their interviews in 2009
"Julia had some lesbian experiences before t.A.T.u, and i didn't, so it was obvious i was quite embarrased, it was foreign to me, but i agreed because i knew this topic is really important. I was on a meeting with fans in Los Angeles and alot of people are still greatful for us. One girl told me that t.A.T.u is the reason why she survived. It's a horrible feeling when you're a teenager and you know that you aren't like others. All your best friends are falling for boys, and you want a girl. You feel alone, and no one understands you, and then a band shows up and tells you that everything can happend in life and you shouldn't be afraid of who you are. When people are saying, we saved them from suicide, i feel like it wasn't pointless. (....) We are also actors somehow. We created a story of two girls in love, and we played it."
Their second album was about interpersonal problems, the russian title (Ludi Invalidy) itself was already controversial around organisations fighting for rights of disabled people. In their opinion the title was suggesting thath disables people don't live, they funcionate, and their only personality traits is stupidity, brutality and greed. Lena and Julia disagreed with organisations and said that they don't understans the point of singles name and the meaning behind it.
Their last pair of albums "Vesyolye Ubylki" and "Wasted Managment" was relased between 2008 and 2009. T.A.T.u oficially broke up in 2011, but they reunited to preform at special ocassions as The opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
(It's my first longer post in here, sometimes inbetween of weird images i want to be posting some more productive stuff about topics that i find interesting, i will be posting more about my fav bands, i wanted to make more posts today but this one took me waaaayyy too much time. If u know anything else that you would like to add to this post, or correct me on my mistakes, feel free to comment :P)
#queer community#lgbtqia#lgbtq#early 2000s#2000s#nostalgiacore#nostalgia#music#2000s music#electropop#t.a.t.u.#russian music#2000s pop#im so scared#pop music
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I calculated every years of birth of every characters
(yes i have no life, i don’t even if someone needed to know every date of birth of every characters, help me)
SARA CHIDOUIN: Since Sara is 17 years and the game is set in 2017, Sara is born in the sacred year of 2000′s
JOE TAZUNA: since he has the same age as sara then he is born in the 2000′s. Actually i’m gonna do something simple and put every that are in high school.
Sara,Joe,Ranmaru,Anzu,kugie are all born in 2000
( wait actually kugie is younger than sara so 16 so kugie would be born in 2001)
KEIJI SHINOGI: So with keiji it’s kinda difficult because he is canonically in his “late twenties” which mean he between 25 to 29. So i calculated that keiji is born the earlier in 1992 or the latest in 1988. So yeah this man is canonically a dilf.
KANNA KIZUCHI: Kanna is 14, so kanna must be born in 2003. Hinako since she has the same age, was also born in 2003
QTARO BURGERBERG: Okay so q-taro is “in his mid twenties” so 25, so q-taro is born in 1992.
SHIN TSUKIMI: Just like keiji, shin doesn’t have a real age, Shin is in his early twenties, the wiki states between 21 or 22, so shin is either born in 1996 or 1995
REKO YABUSAME: As the younger sister, reko is 23 so she must be born in 1994
NAO EGOKORO: My poor girl is 19 years old so she was probably born in 1998
KAI SATOU: Actually kai is the same age as keiji, so he’s most likely born just like piss hair boy inbetwen 1992 and 1988.
GIN IBUSHI : The goodest, the most amazing boy on earth is really just 12 so he was born in 2005
KAZUMI MISHIMA: Even though it’s difficult to admit it, mishima is thirty, big shocker to anyone who didn’t know but that man is just thirty. So in all the participants he is the oldest. Mishima was born in 1987.
ALICE YABUSAME: the older brother of the yabusame siblings is supposed to like keiji and kai in his late 20′s. So just like them he either was born inbetwen 1992 to 1988.
NAOMICHI KURUMADA: The best male doll is actually in his mid 20′s so 25 years old, so he was born 1992.
MAI TSURUGI: The best female dolls is in her early twenties so inbetwen 20 to 24. so she could be born earliest 1997 and latest in 1993.
SHUNSUKE HAYASAKA: Was born in either earlist in 1992 to 1988......... what do you want to say it’s hayasaka man.
Then there is the floormasters:
Gashu is 50, safalin is in her late 20′s, miley is 30, and welll midori is ......... undetermined. No seriously he has no age which is pretty funny.
Gashu was born in 1967, safalin is in the keiji/kai/alice category, i’m not gonna rewrite it just go up you will see the date, miley was born in 1987, and rio is 3 so like 2014. And i suppose midori is around shin age....... I fuckin hope so.
So if i made a chronology of birth it would be like that
Yes I write badly. If you have an issue reading a part of this don't forget to tell me in the comments. Also if I made a mistake please correct me in the comments
For your own sanity do not open the wall of tags please
#yttd#Oh no now I have to tag everyone 😭#sara chidouin#joe tazuna#gin ibushi#shin tsukimi#kanna kizuchi#keiji shinogi#alice yabusame#reko yabusame#kai satou#kazumi mishima#nao egokoro#kugie kizuchi#mai tsurugi#hinako mishuku#naomichi kurumada#shunsuke hayasaka#anzu kinashi#ranmaru kageyama#q taro burgerberg#gashu satou#Sue Miley#Tia safalin#Rio ranger#Sou hyori#Oh god kill me
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A Kiss Can Change Everything • glen powell
Requested by: @kati-1997
Hello! This is a new request made by @kati-1997, who I apologise to for making wait so long but I hope this is worth it. I really hope you all enjoy reading it and that I’ve managed to create everything requested/wanted in this one shot. I really enjoyed writing this one, please let me know what you all think if you’d like, either on this post or privately. Same goes for requests (which are currently open) you can either ask me from “Ask Me Anything” or privately if you’d feel more comfortable but it’s entirely up to you otherwise I hope you enjoy reading this.
Callsign is Rose for the character (Y/N) plays as requested by @kati-1997 but is not shown in either image above.
Gif is not mine, belongs to the owner.
Warnings: age gap (mentioned very briefly), fluffy
Glen Powell x fem!reader
Word count: 1,964
(Y/N) thought her character fit her perfectly. Of course the whole point of acting is becoming somebody completely different to yourself, immersing yourself into this person, but it felt as this role was made for (Y/N).
Her characters callsign, Rose, was like a play on words to the beautiful flower, she has a balance of being sweet and a tad shy like the delicate petals and has a feistiness and hint of danger like the thorns that protect the flower, hence her characters similarities that she sees in herself. The role of Rose for (Y/N) became important and another version of herself that would hopefully empower other women when watching Top Gun: Maverick in cinemas all over the world.
She knew there was going to be a kissing scene, she had read the script of course, her character had a budding romance in the film, but she wasn’t expecting it to be today. Right now at this very second. She needed to prepare herself for this moment, and she wasn’t feeling at all ready for it.
Because she and Monica were the only female pilots in the film, they had grown close and (Y/N) had felt comfortable enough in a moment of weakness to admit her attraction she had for Glen, the man she was currently working herself up about who would be the one she has to kiss.
“Hey, don’t be nervous, everything is going to be okay.” Monica says trying to soothe (Y/N)’s nerves.
“I know and I’m trying but it’s not working. How is it that he can be so calm?” (Y/N) asks, looking in the direction of where Glen is currently stood with the guys laughing and standing with his arms crossed looking all relaxed while internally for her butterflies were fluttering around like crazy.
Monica smirks following (Y/N)’s direction of sudden interest. “I’m sure he’s just as nervous as you. The only thing is, he’s just better at hiding it.”
(Y/N) rolls her eyes at Monica’s attempt at reassuring her and looks at Glen more closely trying to find even a hint of panic at what is about to happen but comes up empty in her search.
“Glen, (Y/N), we’re ready for you.” The director calls out, waving them over to where everyone is set up with the cameras and over head microphones.
(Y/N) takes a deep breathe, trying to calm her nerves and find some confidence that she knows she has hidden somewhere. She steels her shoulders back and begins walking over as Monica joins the rest of the cast who look on from the side.
She looks over to everyone looking for reassurance. Everyone gestures with their hands, creating a sweeping motion for her to go for it.
“I’m ready.” Glen says confidently looking at her for agreement. She nods seeing how the focus is now being put on her.
“Okay. And… action.” The director announces as the ringing sound dies down, the clapperboard moving away from view as cameras begin to roll.
“You can’t be so reckless all the time Rose. You could seriously hurt yourself, hell, you could even kill yourself with the way you’re flying out there!” Glen chastised angrily, getting into character.
(Y/N) shrinks back away from Glen as his character, Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin shouts at her, finding her own persona for her role. Her own character, not being one for confrontation but willing to stand up for herself if she has to, replies with her lines. “But I didn’t Hangman, did I? I’m okay, I’m here on solid ground. I don’t get what your problem is all of the time.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Glen asks as Hangman, an exasperated look on his face as he shrugs in disbelief and his hands come out from beside him, his actions looking almost realistic.
“What don’t I get Hangman? Hmm?” (Y/N) folds her arms over her chest, trying to appear stand-offish to him overreacting.
What no one sees from the recording camera is that (Y/N)’s heart is starting to beat like crazy against the inside of her chest, she knows what is about to happen and doesn’t feel totally prepared for it.
“I worry about you out there because I’m scared. I’m scared of one day not being able to tell you how I feel and regretting not having had that chance. I like you Rose, I have for a long time and every time you put yourself through harms way, it terrifies me. I’m terrified to lose you.” The raw emotion in his voice as he spoke his lines had everyone around them hooked by the power in which he conveys his feelings.
“You… you like me?” A smile graces (Y/N)’s lips as she stays in character, even though on the inside she feels distress because she wishes it was real. That the words, “I like you”, weren’t spoken from a script about pretend but came from his heart for real.
“Yes, I do.” Glen reaches out his hand and cups (Y/N)’s check, the pad of his thumb caresses against her cheek.
They stare at each other so intensely that when his lips touch hers for the first time, she doesn’t know what to do or how to react.
(Y/N) freezes in the moment, the feel of his lips against hers rendering her motionless. She tries to get out of her racing head filled with thoughts and control her beating heart that slams against her chest but she can’t seem to reciprocate his kiss.
“And cut. We’ll go again in 5 minutes, okay everyone?”
(Y/N) walks over to the group and drags Monica away for some privacy.
“That was amazing!” Monica screeches, shaking (Y/N) by her arms leaving her feeling dizzy.
(Y/N) flushes from Monica’s words, looking back to Glen who is already looking at her, while still feeling the lingering touch of his lips on hers.
She hears Monica sigh from beside her. “What?”
“It’s so cute. Seeing the way he looks at you and you at him and neither of you have got a single clue.” Monica laughs, patting (Y/N) on the shoulder who suddenly feels left out of something important.
“Okay, we’re ready for you (Y/N), Glen.”
Confused by Monica’s reaction, (Y/N) gets into position opposite Glen in front of the cameras.
“Are you going to kiss me this time or what?” Glen questions once they’re in the right spot, close enough for her to hear him.
(Y/N) stares at him speechless as he catches her off guard at his directness.
Before the silence can linger for too long, Glen smirks and continues. “Remember to actually kiss me back this time, alright?”
“Alright everyone, get back into position. One, two, three, action.” The director calls the numbers down, his voice cutting out getting quieter as he finishes and points for them to begin.
They start redoing the scene, the kiss coming up in just a minute.
“You… you like me?”
“Yes, I do.”
(Y/N) prepares herself this time for the touch of his hand on her cheek, the pad of his thumb gliding over her cheek, his gaze even more intense than before.
He slowly leans in and (Y/N) closes her eyes, feeling the softness of his lips as they brush against hers tentatively then gradually increasing the speed and deepening the kiss caressing her tongue with his and tangling his hands in her hair taking over the control.
They separate, opening their eyes to only focus on one another, the sound of the director calling out “cut” going unnoticed by either of them.
Glen’s breath brushes against her patted lips as she catches his eyes focusing back and forth from her eyes to her mouth, before lingering his attention on the latter.
“Are you going to kiss me or not?” She blurts out, the words leaving her mouth so suddenly she can’t fully comprehend what she’s asking, turning his own words loosely against him from minutes earlier.
Glen’s eyes widen in surprise before opening and closing his mouth, no words coming out. (Y/N), feeling ridiculous and embarrassed by her sudden forwardness, tries to back track. “I’m sorry. You know what, can we please forget everything I just said?”
He smirks at her hastened question but doesn’t reply. (Y/N) feeling stupid for making such a silly comment, begins to retreat her steps away from him. His large, warm hand wraps around her upper arm pulling her back to him. She gasps from the intimate touch, never having been so close to him in such a manner. The touch was welcomed if not surprising and unlike any other time.
His hand reaches out to touch her cheek again, very much like how he had twice before but this time the cameras weren’t rolling and there wasn’t any pressure of remembering lines. (Y/N)’s breathe hitches as she’s made more aware of the close proximity as she watches his face inch up to her.
The kiss is unlike the others, this is for them and no one else. This one is filled with passion and they manage to find a rhythm as she reaches up and holds the back of his neck and plays with the wispy hairs at the base, melting in his strong hold.
The clapping and cheering of everyone around them surprises them and makes them slowly begrudgingly pull away from each other.
(Y/N) and Glen look out over to where their friends, the rest of the cast, are watching and celebrating, and walk off to join them.
“Well it’s about time you two.” Miles says as he claps Glen on the back in a hug.
“Yeah, we were beginning to doubt if it was actually going to happen.” Lewis chimes in.
“We thought all that age gap crap you’d spew was beginning to get to you and put you off saying anything about how you really felt but I’m happy to see that it didn’t.” Greg adds as he looks specifically at Glen who looks embarrassed at being called out.
“It doesn’t bother me if it doesn’t bother you. The age gap thing I mean.” (Y/N) says from next to Monica having just finished hugging and catching what Greg said.
“Really?” Glen asks, shocked by her reply.
(Y/N) smiles as she looks at Glen’s face, lit up in wonder and full of hope. “Really.”
“So tell us, how long did it take for you to film your kissing scene together? I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the kiss definitely stole the show.” The interviewer asks, looking at them both with interest in her eyes.
Glen laughs as he finds (Y/N)’s hand beside him with his and begins to play with her fingers as he processes the best way to answer the question.
“It’s quite a funny story actually. Let me start at the beginning, so…”
After filming the scene after their confession of liking each other, the next take was perfect and everyone could see how much feeling went into it and was no doubt the take to include.
The confession had also meant that their relationship had the opportunity to blossom and everyone thought it was only right if they would do interviews together when it wasn’t everybody together.
Looking back now that filming was complete and she got to walk away with friends for live and an amazing boyfriend, (Y/N) doesn’t understand why she was so nervous about the kiss anymore. It managed to all work out for her and she couldn’t be happier. A kiss can change everything.
#glen powell x reader#glen powell#top gun maverick#miles teller#monica barbaro#lewis pullman#greg tarzan davis#masterlist
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Samantha Morton was just 19 when she made 'Jane Eyre' - the same age as Bronte's heroine. "That's never happened before," says Morton, pointing out that previous actresses who played Jane were in their mid- to late-20s.
"I just think nowadays, we have so many younger actresses who directors can trust," she says. "I felt very good about that."
Morton first read the book a few years ago in preparation for auditioning for the Zefferelli film. Though the audition never came to fruition, she fell madly in love with Bronte's novel and felt a real connection to Jane.
"I really admire people in the world who are honest and good," the actress explains. "I love this person. Charlotte wrote it in such a way that was so personal. At times it was like you were inside Jane and going through [her life] with her. I felt so connected to her. Not that it was personal to me, but I thought I was on this journey with her."
Source: Los Angeles Times
October 19, 1997
Well, that was interesting. It's good to know that Morton enjoyed the role as Jane in later "Jane Eyre" adaptation. Can you imagine what if she succeeded the audition in 1996 version and paired with William Hurt?
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Moments: One
Note: It's here (and about an hour later than I expected to get it up... my toddler did NOT want to go to bed)!
I'm so excited for this little story; it'll likely be 6 parts total, but I have 4 drafted now. I have a general timeline, some of the pictures I use won't be accurate, I'll get things wrong, and I'll omit things that should've been part of the narrative. I hope you can just embrace some fiction and enjoy it with me.
Reader is female, but I've tried to keep her description as vague and I'm trying to be sure to use a variety of types of women in the picture inserts.
Pairings: Chris Evans x Female Reader
Word Count: ~5.5k
Please leave me some feedback, I'd love your thoughts! Happy Thursday!
Moment's Masterlist
One 1997: Killington Ski Resort
They say that you encounter your soulmate three times before you meet them. It may be a short conversation while waiting for a sandwich at a deli down the street. Or perhaps it is as children, playing in a hotel pool on a “once-in-a-lifetime vacation”. It may be a blind date gone horribly wrong, only to have the evening salvaged by a stranger at a bar.
In other instances, the encounters involve no contact: passing strangers on a sidewalk, concert goers in the same row, children at the same playground, and passengers on a train platform.
For some people, those moments are spaced a lifetime apart. For others, mere hours. And for some lonely folks, the introduction never happens; they’re never introduced, they never take the risk, or their circumstances don’t allow for the universe to do its job and put these two souls together.
Those three moments, be they brief moments or a whole evening, can link a couple together forever.
When the sun was up, it had been a balmy 29 degrees today, but now that the sun was quickly dipping below the mountain, the wind picked up and the temperatures were dropping. Chris pulled his goggles off his head and waited for Scott to get to the bottom of the trail. It was Scott’s first outing on a snowboard and it was taking all of Chris’s energy to be a good, supportive coach. In reality, Chris wanted to take off and leave him behind; he could’ve done at least twice as many runs if he hadn’t been waiting on Scott all day.
He saw his dad outside the lodge waving him over and got to him just as Scott appeared over the last ridge. “You guys want to do one more?”
Chris nodded, “I do, I’m not sure what Scott’ll want, but can I go one more time?”
“Sure, we’re going to head back on the shuttle. I expect you both back at the condo in the next 45 minutes.”
Chris agreed and watched his dad and sisters shuffle towards the shuttle that would take them back to the condos. He turned and saw Scott scooting towards him and couldn’t help but laugh. “One more run?”
“Yeah, I think I’ve finally got it.”
Rolling his eyes, he dragged Scott to the lift line. With the sun almost entirely gone now, the line was much shorter than it had been all day. It was the Saturday of President’s Day weekend; an annual tradition for the Evans crew to hit the slopes for the weekend, but they always knew going into it that it would be a crowded weekend with long lines. It didn’t matter though, Chris just loved being outside. At 16, he was also invincible and full of energy. He’d stay out here all day if his parents would let him.
In line, he mostly ignored Scott babbling about what dinner might be waiting for them at the condo; he was too focused on trying to see the girl in front of them. She was around his age, with long hair poking out from under her helmet. Her pink ski jacket and black snow pants left more than a lot to his imagination but with his “sexually active” card newly stamped, girls were just about all he could think about. Her laugh had caught his attention when they got into line; she was giggling at a joke the older man with her had made and since then, Chris hadn’t torn his eyes away from her. He watched the way she threw her head back to laugh loudly, he watched the way she was constantly moving, checking out her surroundings, pointing things out to the man with her; she talked with her hands and Chris found himself straining to try to hear her conversation.
“Chris?” Scott shoved him, making him slide a few feet forward and bump into the man in front of him.
“Sorry,” Chris muttered when both he and the girl turned around. The girl smiled shyly while the man eyed the boys; Chris shot a glare at Scott.
Scott mumbled his own apology and they both turned back around just as Chris punched Scott in the arm, “asshole.”
“I said I was sorry!” Scott yelped, rubbing his arm, “You weren’t paying attention to me, you were just staring at her!”
“SCOTT!” Chris groaned through gritted teeth, glancing to see if she’d heard.
She had. Damn it. She was glancing over her shoulder at the brothers, hiding a smile and blushing in the most adorable way Chris had ever seen. He gave her an embarrassed wave while he felt himself turning red. The second she turned back around, he punched Scott again.
“Ow,” Scott whined, rubbing his arm again. Chris ignored him and returned his mission to staring at the back of her head and hoping that his powers of telekinesis were finally working and he could get her to look at him again.
Up until that moment, when she found out the cute boy behind her was staring at her, all Y/N could think about was how annoyed she was that her cousins and parents had bailed on her and left her with Uncle Chuck. Not that he was bad, he was actually super fun and she had to admit, she was having a good time joking with him. Y/N was the youngest of the cousins but the best skier. She was also the most empathetic. Chuck’s wife had asked for a separation just days before the annual Y/L/N ski trip so he was here with his two teenagers who just wanted to try to steal from the mini bar and try to get drunk without the adults noticing. Chuck was taking his angst out on the slopes and for a while, Y/N hadn’t minded. But now that everyone else was back in the lodge, showered, and probably eating, she couldn’t help but pout.
But here she was, in line at the lift, listening to the boys behind her bicker and trying to keep things light for her uncle. They’d been joking about her dad, Chuck’s brother, for a while– he was an easy target with his bad dad jokes and weird obsession with restaurants that offered more than one style of BBQ sauce. When one of the boys had jostled Chuck, he whipped his head around looking more intimidating than he was. At 6’5”, her uncle’s lumberjack appearance was all show. He was just a teddy bear, but these boys didn’t know that. She was sure he looked terrifying.
Chuck had shot them both a glare and turned back to the front of the line while she kept glancing over her shoulder. The boys were both cute, probably somewhere around her age, maybe a little older. The taller one– the one who’d bumped into Chuck– had been blatantly staring at her during this interaction. She knew she was blushing, but she didn’t care. She liked his attention.
She was still getting used to attention like this. In middle school, she’d been in the smart classes but was always afraid to raise her hand in class. She liked getting lost in a book as much as she liked getting outside and moving. Her body was in constant motion, even when she was reading she was tapping her foot, fidgeting with her hair, or twisting her ring around her finger over and over again. She had her small group of friends who stayed to themselves and had the same Friday every week: Blockbuster, ice cream, and sleepovers.
But now that she was in high school, Y/N was a good little basketball player– good enough to have schools already interested in her as a freshman– and somewhere between the first day of high school and now, she’d noticed boys… and sometimes girls… staring at her. Groups of people she hardly knew came to her basketball games and waited to talk to her after. She was the only freshman on the varsity team and was already a starter; the older girls on the team had taken to her fairly quickly and adopted her into their groups of friends. She wasn’t sure what to do with the attention, but she knew she liked getting it from this cute boy behind her.
Y/N and Chuck boarded the lift, the brothers behind them still squabbling as she and Chuck left the platform. Y/N pulled her gaiter up around her nose and ears to protect her from the rush of cold air on the lift. They rode in silence, both of them lost in thought and at the top of the mountain, they disembarked and headed towards The Jug– both of their favorite trails.
Uncle Chuck slowed, clicking his boot out, “You go ahead, I’ll meet you in the lodge. My sock is all bunched up.”
Y/N nodded and took off, enjoying a moment to herself. She’d been with her brothers, her cousins, or her uncle all day. Everyone wanted to parallel ski or talk on the lift. It was kind of nice to have a minute alone to enjoy the sunset over the mountain. She was in no particular rush, staying off to the side and thinking that Uncle Chuck might catch up to her.
Not far behind her, Chris and Scott were disembarking the lift, headed in the same direction.
“I’ve got this,” Scott assured Chris, “I can do The Jug.”
“Scott, it's a black trail, are you sure? You’re still new.”
Scott was emphatic, “absolutely, I’ve definitely got the hang of it now. This is our last one tonight; tomorrow will be too crowded again. Let’s go!”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m positive!” Scott whooshed by Chris to the top of the path and around a turn. Chris trailed him, keeping a close eye on him. He watched as Scott took the start of the trail smoothly, crisply moving around a group. He was about 100 yards ahead of Chris and the mountain was getting steep quickly.
“Slow down, Scott!” Chris called, leaning in to pick up speed to be ready to help, “Scott!”
“I’m fine,” Scott yelled over his shoulder, half turning to find Chris. It was in that half turn that he started to wobble. He found his balance fairly quickly but was also picking up speed.
“Scott!” Chris yelled again, moving between people. Scott was starting to flail and struggle to regain control. Chris could see Scott pointed towards the edge of the trail and the woods; he knew that he’d told his brother to drop on his ass if he was out of control, but Scott wasn’t dropping. Chris also couldn’t see the pink ski jacket he’d been staring at was directly in Scott’s path.
“LOOK OUT!” He heard his brother yell; Scott was now leaning backward, trying to fall on his butt but clearly nervous about the impact. It was then that Chris could see her. Panic coursed through him. This was going to be his fault. He’d taught Scott to snowboard, he’d let him go on this difficult slope, he’d gotten lazy and tired of being in charge of Scott so he’d let him go ahead, and now he was going to be the reason she got hurt. Chris started yelling too as he willed himself to pick up more speed.
Her head turned too late; a snowboarder was plowing down the mountain right towards her. Her brain didn’t work fast enough; he was flailing and yelling, trying to slow himself down the steep incline. He dropped to his butt just feet in front of her, “Ohmygodohmygodohmyoooodddddd,” he yelled when he collided with her. He took her out by the ankles, she felt pain slice up her leg as she landed directly on top of him; they slid a few more feet, thankfully going slower due to all of the things they were dragging through the snow, and his snowboard took the impact of a tree at the edge of the trail. They bounced slightly, both of them jostled and tangled.
“Oh fuck, oh my god, oh shit, are you okay? I’m so sorry. Oh god,” it was one of the brothers from the lift line; he kept pushing at her, trying to get them untangled. He kept repeating, “I’m so sorry, I’ve never snowboarded before.” If it wasn’t so painful, it would’ve been funny: they were a pile of neon fleece and polyester unable to fully move their limbs because of the thickness of their snow clothes. Every time one of them moved, it shoved the other, so every time one of them successfully untangled one part of their clump, another thing got stuck together.
“Hold on,” she muttered to him, unable to get up to unclip her boots and therefore unable to get to her feet, “I can’t reach my boots.”
“Here, let me see if I can,” he said, trying to reach around her; she yelped and he immediately stopped. “Oh god, are you hurt?”
Before Y/N could answer she heard, “Scott, you idiot,” the other brother called as he came to a stop beside them. He immediately reached down and unclipped her boots from her skis before offering her a hand, “are you okay?” he asked as he pulled her to her feet and held her shoulders as she tried to regain her balance. She was about to nod when she finally got her feet under her and pain shot through her ankle as it gave out. “Shit,” he said, grabbing her by the waist and holding her. “What’s wrong?”
“It's my ankle. I’m sure it’s fine,” she waved him off before she tried to pull away from him to stand on her own. She winced again and slumped again, his arm quickly tightening around her.
“Way to go, Scott,” he snapped at his brother, who was still now on his knees and trying to stand. “Take her skis,” he said to his brother before turning to her, “I’ll get you down the mountain.”
“What?” Y/N asked and shook her head, “no, I’m fine, I can get down.”
He paused and dropped his head so he could make eye contact with her, “What’s your name?”
“Y/N,” she replied, watching his blue eyes as a smile crept on his face.
“Well, Y/N, I’m Chris. The asshole who tried to kill you is my brother Scott. I’d really like it if you let me take you to the bottom of the mountain and get you checked out with the medics.”
“Seriously, I’m fine, I can just walk down or something,” she waved him off again and started to pull away from him, “thank you though.”
Scott piped up, now standing again next to her and holding her skis and poles, “please? I don’t want you to get more injured. Who are you here with? I can go get them and bring them to you. Or I can get a ski patrol.”
“Or,” Chris offered, “I can put you on my board and have you at the bottom of the mountain safely in no time. I promise you won’t get hurt with me. Do you trust me?” He held out his hand.
Y/N giggled, “Did you just quote Aladdin?”
Even in the fading light, she could see his blush, “maybe.”
“Fine.”
“Really? That worked?” She couldn't help noticing how genuinely surprised he seemed.
“Get me to the bottom safely, please,” Y/N gingerly stepped her good foot onto his snowboard and let him take her weight against him as he pulled her the rest of the way. It took them a minute to get into a comfortable position with her back against him; she was so much shorter he could see over her head easily. He tightened his grip on her, trying to calm his nerves. He’d promised to get her down safely, and now he had to deliver. He took off carefully, holding her waist to keep the weight off her leg and moving them very slowly down the side of the trail. His legs burned from the effort of keeping them slow, holding her upright, and trying to appear much more cavalier than he felt. It took far longer than normal to reach the bottom, and every bounce pushed them into each other making them both tense. By the time they were at the bottom, they were both flustered and blushing from the proximity.
When he was unattached from his snowboard, he turned to her, “why don’t you get on my back. I’ll take you to the first aid station.”
Y/N hesitated. It was one thing to be pressed up against him for the sake of getting to the bottom of the mountain. It was another to climb up on his back, in public, and parade through the lodge. “No, no, no, I can walk.”
He already had his back to her, reaching his arms around behind him. He looked over his shoulder, “we made it this far, let’s get all the way to the finish.”
Y/N was glad his back was to her because she was blushing furiously. She could hardly breathe. His arms around her waist the whole way down, his breath in her ear, his chest in her back… she’d been overwhelmed by his closeness and his touch. He had to be at least 16, a few years older than her, with the most adorable smile she’d ever seen and the brightest blue eyes. This sweet gesture was the most romantic thing she’d ever experienced and she had no idea how to act. She was trying not to let him see how nervous he made her.
He was still waiting for her, his back to her with his arms outstretched, and she heard him call her name softly. She nodded and reached for him while he bent down and she put her arms around his neck. “On three,” he said, leaning down further, “one… two…”
“Three,” Chris said, wrapping his fingers around her thighs as she hopped onto his back. He was sweating profusely from the exertion of a day on the slopes and now from having a cute girl pressed up against him for the last 15 minutes. It was impossible not to notice her little dimples or her blushes every time he made eye contact with her.
Thank God Scott can’t snowboard… Chris didn’t want her to be hurt, but he was excited for a chance to spend a few minutes away from his dumbass brother while he helped Y/N.
“Here we go!” Chris started to gallop into the lodge towards the first aid station.
Oh my God… I started to gallop… like a horse… shit. Chris thought to himself. This is so embarrassing. Oh, God. Oh, but she’s giggling. Okay, I guess I’m galloping now…
The first aid station was at the back of the lodge; he got her there and held tightly onto her legs, not allowing her to slide down his back, “I’m not putting you down until you’re with a medical professional. You’re not walking around on that ankle.”
“Chris,” she meant to whine but hearing her say his name like that made Chris’s heart thump harder.
“I’m serious, Y/N. Not until you’re with someone.”
She huffed a sigh but dropped her chin on his shoulder. He wasn’t sure if he was on the brink of melting into the floor from the overstimulation of cuteness she radiated or if he was grateful for the many layers of protection his snow suit provided from anyone seeing his growing hard-on.
They got her checked in and Chis finally let her slide off his back and onto a cot, but he sat down next to her. “Thanks,” she said quietly, catching his eye and giving him another delicious blush. He noticed she was a little teary-eyed; she must’ve been in more pain than she let on.
“How are you feeling?”
Y/N shrugged, “not great, I’m hoping it isn’t broken.”
“That would suck,” Chris agreed, trying and failing to think of anything to say to her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t come up with a joke or anything remotely witty. He thought about reaching out to take her hand, but his own were sweating too much. He settled for nervously rubbing his hands along his thighs and glancing back at her. She averted her eyes quickly and they both nervously giggled.
“You really don’t have to stay with me,” she forced herself to make eye contact with him. Out loud, she’d told him to go, but in her head, she prayed he’d stay next to her a little longer. His presence made her feel comfortable.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“NO!” she answered too quickly and recalibrated, “no, I just don’t want you to feel like you have to stay. I’ll be okay. Is Scott okay?”
Chris turned his body to face her squarely, “I’m happy right where I am. Scott is fine.”
“Okay,” she whispered, twisting her hands in her lap and willing herself to say more. God, she was so nervous. The way he looked at her made her pulse race. For as much as her ankle hurt, all she could think about was how dry her mouth was and how much she hoped he’d hold her hand, put his arm around her, or do anything to initiate contact again.
“So, uh,” Chris tapped his fingers on his legs, trying to channel his nervous energy. “Are you from Vermont?”
“No, I live in Maryland.” She said quickly and forced herself to continue the conversation, “What about you?”
“Massachusetts. We come up to ski on President's Day weekend every year.”
Y/N nodded, “we usually stay closer to home but my parents wanted to do something different this year.”
They were both silent for a few seconds, each of them anxiously racking their brains for how to prolong this moment. The door to the examination room opened at that moment and a nurse practitioner came in, “well, Miss Y/N, I hear you took a tumble? Let’s take a look.” She started to pull out her stool and move towards Y/N, “I’m going to take your boot off, okay?”
Y/N sat up straighter and nodded to the NP while Chris jumped off the cot, rubbing the back of his neck. “Can I get your parents? Are they in the lodge somewhere?”
“I think my parents took the shuttle back to the hotel, but my uncle was behind me. I’m sure he’s waiting for me by now.” She winced when the boot slid off, clenching her teeth. Tears formed in her eyes again and Chris returned to his spot next to her. He tentatively put an arm around her; without another thought, Y/N leaned into him and whimpered quietly while the practitioner manipulated her ankle. She looked up at Y/N sympathetically and then at Chris, “were you getting her uncle?”
“Oh, right,” Chris slid his arm away from Y/N. Tears were tracking down her face and he didn’t want to leave her. This girl he’d known less than an hour was now his only concern.
“The guy you were in line with is your uncle, right? What’s his name?”
“Chuck Y/L/N. He’s a really tall guy in a red snow jacket and–” she cut herself off when he came storming into the room with Scott hot on his heels.
“Y/N,” he barked, “are you alright? I heard what happened. This one–” he pointed behind him at Scott, “ –found me.”
“I’m okay, we just got started.” She gestured to the nurse practitioner who was still gently moving her foot and ankle, each time making Y/N wince or yelp.
“Damn snowboarders,” he glared at Chris and Scott before he pushed by Chris and sat down next to Y/N, “think they own the whole mountain. Goodbye, boys.”
“Uncle Chuck–,” Y/N started, looking up at Chris but Chuck cut her off with a stern, “goodbye,” before he started talking to the practitioner and asking questions.
Chris gave Y/N one last look and a wink; Scott apologized for the millionth time and waved half-heartedly before heading to gather their belongings and go to the shuttle. On the short ride from one side of the Killington property to the other, Scott talked the whole way, lamenting and then complaining of his own injury. Chris tried to sympathize with him, and he tried to listen, but he kept thinking about Y/N.
He thought about her all the way through dinner and a round of video games after dinner. He thought about her as he got ready for bed, and he was still thinking about her when he fell asleep. Maybe he’d come back from this long weekend to find that a new student was enrolled at school… Y/N. In his daydream, he was of course the one the guidance counselor called to show her around campus, which led to inviting her to eat lunch with him and his buddies, which led to asking her to go to the mall after school, which led to going to the movies that weekend, which led to kissing her goodnight, which led to…
Y/N however, had spent the rest of the day and well into the evening at the local hospital. The nurse practitioner had determined her ankle was likely broken and had advised her to be taken for X-rays. The emergency room staff confirmed it after several hours in the ER, and by the time it was set and she was in a cast with crutches, it was almost midnight. She was emotionally and physically exhausted. She’d begged and pleaded with her parents not to try to find the boy who’d done it; that it was an accident and they didn’t need to contact his parents and try to “decide how to deal with it.” After a very tearful conversation, her mother had finally convinced her father to drop the subject and let them get on with their weekend.
By the next morning, her mother had profusely offered to stay with her, rent movies and hang out in the condo with her, or take her shopping, but she’d decided to stay in the lodge and read her book with hot chocolate and the roaring fire. Her family left to ski for the day, her parents promising to come back and check on her at lunch. She was trying not to mope and moan, particularly because her dad and Uncle Chuck were still discussing the idea of talking to Scott and Chris’s parents. God, the last thing she needed was them to threaten to sue them. She knew it was all out of care, but both men could be a little overzealous. Y/N was certainly disappointed that Chris lived in Massachusetts and she was in Maryland, but she didn’t want them to stay in touch over a lawsuit.
She’d hobbled to the lobby and settled in front of the fire, and was about a chapter into her book when she felt the couch cushion beside her dip with the weight of a new body. They were way too close; who does that? Who sits down directly next to someone when there are multiple couches and oversized chairs? She peaked out of the corner of her eye and couldn’t help the grin that slid on her face. Chris was next to her, his own book open, and he was casually reading with a giant smirk on his face. He didn’t look at her immediately, instead, he continued to read and flipped the page dramatically.
Y/N continued to grin, knowing she was also blushing and feeling her whole body start to sweat, but she turned back to her book and forced herself to read. Another page in, and she felt his eyes on her. She continued her charade just as he had, and continued to read. He huffed a sigh and dropped his book in his lap to cross his arms. She picked up a piece of hair on her shoulder and twirled it around her finger, hoping it seemed casual and cool, while she finished her chapter. When she was done, she quietly put her book in her lap, picked up her hot chocolate, took a sip, and looked at him over the rim of the mug.
“Oh hey,” she whispered, hoping she sounded cooler than she felt.
“Hey yourself. Good book?”
She nodded and stared at him for a minute, taking in his perfectly gelled hair, his big handsome smile, and his captivating blue eyes. “Why aren’t you out there?” She gestured towards the huge windows next to them.
“I saw you when we left breakfast downstairs. I thought you might need some company today. You know, since Scott tried to kill you. I feel responsible for you.”
“Shouldn’t Scott feel responsible for me?”
“He’s proven that he can’t be trusted,” Chris pointed to her ankle, which was propped on the coffee table. There was a lull in conversation; Y/N was tapping her fingers on the cover of her book. Chris started to reach out to her and pulled his hand back; after taking a deep breath, he tried again and covered her hand with his. “I was also hoping you’d want to hang out with me.”
Words, Y/N. Any words right now. Say anything, you have to say something, oh my god he wants to hang out with you SAY SOMETHING. Y/N’s whole body froze as she stared at his hand on hers and his eyes fixed hard on her face. She had to be the color of a tomato right now. She had to be sweating. Could he feel that? Could he tell she was sweating? Were the tops of her hands as sweaty as her palms?
She settled for a shy nod and another lull settled over them, this one was more comfortable. She spilled her hot chocolate and they traded a few lines back and forth about the snow and how nice the fire felt. Finally, Y/N said, “let’s play 20 questions.”
“Isn’t that the game where you try to guess an object or something? You know like ‘is it bigger than a bread box?’”
She rolled her eyes, “I guess that’s the wrong name, but how about this: we each ask a question and both of us have to answer.”
“I’ll go first,” he agreed, looking around the room before he settled on his first question, “when’s your birthday?”
“April 2. You?”
“June 13. Your turn.” They went back and forth, moving into books and tv shows they watched, how they spent time with friends, and what their hobbies were. Y/N was fidgeting constantly, entirely unable to get comfortable and Chris kept jumping up to help her adjust her propped-up leg.
After Y/N finished telling a story about a time her social studies teacher split his pants during class, Chris’s laughter subsided and he smirked, “who was your first kiss?”
She bit her lip and dropped her eyes, “Kyle Brown. We were in 4th grade. It was the last day of school, he spent all day literally pulling my ponytail, then he kissed me on the bus, got off, and moved away. I never saw him again.”
Chris cackled, “what a chicken. If I was going to kiss you, I’d make sure I’d see you again every day.”
Y/N felt herself redden from the tips of her toes all the way to her hair; at the same time, her heart dropped. He said if he was going to kiss her. Meaning it was a hypothetical statement... Meaning he wasn’t going to kiss her. In this afternoon spent together on this sofa, she’d been convinced he was flirting and was convinced he’d kiss her. She stared down at her hands, trying to force a smile while she listened to his answer.
“Y/N?” He asked after she’d been quiet for a moment. She looked up and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “You’ve been quiet for like a whole minute,” he laughed, “you okay?”
“I’m fine, I should just go back to the condo, I need to take some painkillers,” she started to stand up, reaching for her crutches that Chris thrust at her.
“Let me walk you back, I can help you get your meds and get you settled. Will you be alone?”
“It’s okay, I can get back on my own,” her voice was quiet while she tried to be sure she had everything. “Thanks for sitting with me today.”
“But I–”
She had already started to move away from him and he followed her, navigating around furniture and people; she tried to pick up her pace. She was embarrassed and sad that she’d misinterpreted the time together and even more embarrassed that she’d gotten her hopes up that a boy from Massachusetts would kiss her. It’s not like anything could come of it.
“Bye, Chris,” she glanced over her shoulder and said it as firmly as possible before starting to move again. He stopped in his tracks and just stared at her, watching her walk out of the lobby and into the wind.
#chris evans fanfic#chris evans#chris evans fan fiction#chris evans fanfiction#chris evans fic#chris evans series#cevans#chris evans x reader#chris evans x you#chris evans x female reader#chris evans fluff#chris evans drabble#christopher robert evans#chrisevans
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Fun idea that I would love to hear your for. Imagine how chaotic shuri would be if she had namor as boyfriend during the whole black panther 1 and infinity war and engame drama. And namor didn't disappear during the snap. But Shuri did. Though I guess the age difference would be even more of a problem. How old was shuri during civil war and black panther?
hi I started to answer this then saved it as a draft. that was like two weeks ago. soz.
Black Panther (2018) takes place soon after CA:CW since it deals with T'Challa's ascension to King immediately following T'Chaka's death. So, that movie takes place in 2016. Everyone initially assumed Shuri was about 16 in that movie (though her age is never directly stated in the film), but later sources put her date of birth in 1997-1998 (source). So, she would have been 18-19 in Black Panther, and, assuming Wakanda Forever takes place in 2024 (a year following T'Challa's death, and six years since the Snap when Nakia would have left Wakanda), she would be 21-22. (For what it's worth, actress Letitia Wright is currently 29.)
But for the sake of a little au idea based on the chemistry seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, let's assume she's the same age as that movie when she and Namor get together in this one. T'Challa was already more than a decade older than her, so she'd still very much be his little sister.
(So the above wasn't actually super necessary, but Shuri's MCU age is a common misconception that gets thrown around, and it annoys me.)
SO TO YOUR ACTUAL QUESTION, I think a fic with this premise would fuck hard (a high compliment, I assure you). T'Challa was so protective of his sister that imagining Namor and him in the same room is incredibly funny to me. They would hate each other so much. I think Shuri would encourage a rivalry between them. I think she'd find it funny. Putting some enrichment in their enclosure.
Plot-wise, I think it's interesting to think of Namor-as-Shuri's-boyfriend in BP. I can imagine a version of that movie where, after T'Challa was thrown into the water by Killmonger, the Talokanil find him instead of the Jabari and that's where Shuri and Ramonda end up going (lmao Killmonger, good luck getting them in the underwater kingdom). Maybe then the initial plan would be for them to go to Talokan and ask Namor to kill Erik's ass. Shuri just gonna bat her eyes and go "🥺🥺 baby pls"
Meanwhile Namor is like, I'm about to make myself Ramonda's favorite son-in-law ever. Every time T'Challa ever wants to beat his ass again, Shuri's gonna remind him of that time Namor saved his life and kingdom and T'Challa would be FUMING
Namor in Infinity War would be hilarious cuz he would straight up kill Vision. "oh, so if we kill you and destroy the stone Thanos's forces won't have a reason to fight us until he shows up?? but if we protect you then a lot of Wakandan soldiers will die???? damn. sucks to be you then lmao" he would kill that toaster so fast
seriously though the second he saw Shuri was in danger trying to save this fucker, Thanos's army boutta have another thing coming
the ANGST of Shuri being snapped while he lives though. darkcrow, you are KILLING me with this one 🥺🥺 because they were supposed to have more time, and it was never going to be enough for him in the first place, but now they don't even have that 😭 I made myself sad
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When Was Each Tekken Character Born?
Although we don’t have exact dates, we can actually figure out the year during which each character was born in based on the years the games themselves take place in.
First of all, based on the game’s manual itself, we know that Tekken 1 takes place in the year of its console release and Tekken 7 sorta also confirms this based on the date of the Mishima Zaibatsu’s formation, so Tekken 1 takes place in 1995. Tekken 2 is set two years after that so 1997. Tekken 3 is set nineteen years after the events of Tekken 2 so that means 2016. Finally, all the other games from Tekken 4 all the way to Tekken 7 take place two years after 3, meaning we’ve been frozen in 2018 since 2001 when 4 came out, which in turn means the Tekken universe never got to experience COVID lol. Maybe that’s why they never changed the year again xD
So, with those dates established, let’s move on to the characters!
Paul Phoenix, Marshall Law, Lee Chaolan, Baek Doo San
Paul and Law were 25 years old during the first tournament so that means they were born in 1970. Lee is the same age as these old geezers but we can clearly see who got the good genes as he still looks fucking 30 lol. Baek is also apparently the same age as these guys though he arguably looks older than all of them and looked that way even all the way back in Tekken 2
Nina Williams, Jun Kazama
Tekken’s number 1 female fighter was 20 years old when she first appeared in Tekken 1 so that means she was born in 1975. One of the biggest mysteries in the series, Jun, was herself born in 1975 as she was 22 years old in Tekken 2
Kazuya Mishima
The original game’s protagonist was 26 years old when he defeated his father in the original game, placing his date of birth sometime in 1969
Ling Xiaoyu, Miharu Hirano
Tekken’s other prominent leading lady was 16 and still in school when she started kicking ass in Tekken 3 so that means she’s a 2000 baby. Something interesting about Xiaoyu is that she’s in her last year of high school from T4 to T6 and, since for the first time ever she doesn’t have her trademark Mishima Polytech school uniform in Tekken 7, this could mean that she finally graduated?? Her bestie Miharu who made her debut in Tekken 4 is also the same age as her
King II
King II was 28 years old when Armor King I finished training him and he was ready to officially succeed the original King so that means he was born in 1988.
Hwoarang, Steve Fox, Jin Kazama
Hwoarang and his eternal rival Jin are 19 by the time they meet each other in the third tournament so that means they were born in 1997. Steve joined during the fourth tournament which is set two years after the third, and he was, and still is, 21, meaning he was also born in 1997
Lei Wulong
Super cop was 26 in 1997 so that means he was born in 1971
Heihachi Mishima
Heihachi was 52 years old when he lost the Zaibatsu to his son so that would mean he was born in 1943
Jane’s JACK, Feng Wei, Sergei Dragunov, Miguel Caballero Rojo, Tekken 1 JACK
Although he has a different body each time, the JACK robot that saved Jane was 5 years old by Tekken 2 when he found her. Ever since he got destroyed after the second tournament, Jane made it her life’s goal to save him and has been trasnfering his data to the prototype of each new JACK model from Tekken 3 onwards, meaning JACK-2, GUN JACK, JACK-5, 6 and 7 are, essentially, the same “person”. That means Jane’s JACK has existed ever since 1992. Alternatively, the moment that particular JACK-2 unit decided to develop a conscience and save Jane can be considered his “birth” year so, 1997. Feng and Dragunov are, to my surprise, only 26 years old (although they both look dangerously close to 40), so that means they were born in 1992 as well, which is sus if you ask me. Miguel is also 26 but he arguably actually looks the part. The JACK robot that fought in the original tournament shares the same year of creation as Jane’s JACK, but not the same conscisnce
Bryan Fury
Bryan was 29 years old when he started wreaking havoc in the series for the first time, during the events of the third tournament so that means he was born in 1987
Craig Marduk, Prototype JACK, Fahkumram
Marduk is currently 28 so that means he was born in 1990 and the prototype of the JACK series of robots was also brought into the world of Tekken that years as well. Newcomer Fahkumram is also 28, one of the three Tekken 7 newcomers who have their ages revealed
Christie Monteiro, Leo Kliesen
Christie and Leo are both 19 throughout their appearances in the series so that makes their year of birth 1999
Asuka Kazama
Miss Kazama is 17 years old so she was born in 2001
Eddy Gordo, Lidia Sobieska
Eddy was born in 1989 as he is 27 by the time he gets out of prison to fight in the third tournament. I’m not 100% sure about Lidia’s because her bio simply says she was 29 when she became prime minister of Poland, but the very next sentence says that she requested Heihachi Mishima removes the Tekken force soldiers he had stationed in Poland with him instead inviting her to the seventh King of Iron Fist Tournament so, while not 100% clear, it is heavily implied that her back and forth with Heihachi happens shortly after her election as prime minister
Julia Chang
Julia was born in 1998 and is 18 years old in Tekken 3, her debut game
Lili
Lili is 16 years old so that means she was born in 2002, interestingly, the year when Tekken 4 was released and started the in-game 2018 year that we’ve been stuck in ever since
King I, Bruce Irvin
The original masked wrestler was 30 during the events of the original King of Iron Fist so that means he was born in 1965. Two years later, Bruce joined the ranks of Kazuya’s Tekken Force so that means these two share a birth year
Michelle Chang, Anna Williams
Michelle and Anna were 18 years old when they joined the fight as part of the oiginal cast so they were both born in 1977
Ganryu
Ganryu was 32 in Tekken 1 so that means he was born in 1963
Kuma II
The original Kuma’s son is 8 years old in Tekken 3 so he was born in 2008
Wang Jinrei
Wang is already 82 years old and still kicking in Tekken 1 so he was born all the way back in 1913!
Bob, Forest Law
Mister Robert and Law Jr. are 27 years old, placing their dates of birth somewhere during 1991
Zafina
The myserious assassin may not have a confirmed place of birth but she does have a confirmed age of 23 years, making her year of birth 1995
Panda
Xiaoyu’s pet-bodyguard is 7 years old in Tekken and was thus born in 2009, although in Tekken 5 she tells Kuma that she’s “too old for him”...
Eliza
Eliza is 1.000 (and 4 months!) old during the T4-T7 timeline so that means she was born sometime in 1018
So there you have it! If you’ve made it this far congratulations! If your favourite character is missing then that means they don’t have an official age stated, most notably the majority of the Tekken 7 newbies. Some have speculated ages, like Lars being “around 28″ or Leroy being “over 50″ but these are too vague to take into account I think
#Tekken#Paul Phoenix#Marshall Law#Nina Williams#Kazuya Mishima#Ling Xiaoyu#King#Hwoarang#Lei Wulong#Steve Fox#Heihachi Mishima#JACK#Jin Kazama#Bryan Fury#Craig Marduk#Christie Monteiro#Asuka Kazama#Feng Wei#Lee Chaolan#Eddy Gordo#Julia Chang#Lili#Sergei Dragunov#Michelle Chang#Leo#Anna Williams#Ganryu#Kuma#Wang Jinrei#Baek Doo San
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Modern Family review of just the Tucker-Pritchetts' ending
...
Being a college football coach is not a once in a lifetime opportunity. Being the first openly gay one in Missouri, yeah, but take a seat for a second. Think. It’s in the midwest, but also a bit southern and Cam’s consistently fluctuating/questionable/homophobic/racist backstory makes me think it’s not a great place for a gay couple with Asian kids even in 2020/2021 (the ever changing years/ages is another rant). Being near Cam’s family is not a good excuse. Nope. Not buying it, but also where did Pam go? She kinda just disappeared and the upstairs unit was magically available. Even if she returned to Missouri, she has beef with Mitch. She’s manipulative and more toxic than Cam. Barb is awful. Horrible. Nothing against the actress, I’m sure she’s sweet or at least decent, but Barb is depraved and Cam only enables her. I do not want Mitch or the kids near Barb. WHO THE HELL WROTE THIS?! WRITERS, WHY DID YOU THINK IT WAS OKAY FOR BARB TO KEEP ACTING THIS WAY AND CAM TO TREAT IT LIKE IT WAS A MITCH BOUNDARY ISSUE?! WHY DID JESSE AND ERIC THINK THIS WAS OKAY?! I get you’re the actors and you can’t do much to sway the script, but seriously? Why was this considered okay? Why was it passed off as a recurring ‘joke’ that she touches him every time she sees him and then kisses him on his wedding, idc if 'because she got drunk', Mitch should’ve exposed her to her husband who was RIGHT THERE even if they divorced. Also, Jay saw that and Mitch could’ve had the opportunity to tell his father. Cam, if ‘private parts are private’ why aren’t boundaries respected?
Some of Reddit seems to think Cam stayed for Mitch like he wasn’t here since at least 1997. Based on his age if he was 18 when he graduated from hs in 1990 and if he went to a four year college for music, ending in 1994, he could’ve moved between ’94 and ’97 in which Mitchell would be in law school. Not sure when he made the Greensleevers or the year of the LA Times article, but he went on a date with Pepper in ’97 and he knew Pepper. Cam knew Pepper longer than Mitch and enough to know he’s from Lubbock, Texas and his grandparents grew up in a trailer park. I feel like Cam stayed because of the gay community that Pepper was building/expanding. Cam and Mitch didn’t even meet until 2004 at one of Pepper’s game nights. And Mitch probably still uncomfortable and reluctant to be public with his relationships and Teddy probably recommended the friend group for a while until Mitch and Pepper met. Why do I feel like part of the reason Nathan Lane wasn’t in the finale was that they couldn’t come up with a reason Pepper would be fine with the move? I feel like Pepper would remind Cam of how much he’s gotten used to the city and how much he loves it.
Sal being the ‘final reason’ they moved is BS. Dump her. Seriously, she made two death threats against baby Lily and is antagonistic towards her the entire series which cannot be healthy for Lily. They should’ve dumped her years ago. Elizabeth Banks is awesome and funny and Sal had her funny moments, but a grown woman having beef with a baby for existing is pathetic. Luke jealousy when he was 10, I get it. It didn’t even last past Joe’s birth and he was fourteen. Still a kid, still reasonable. Also, Lily had friends and she was popular ‘there are nine girls who will freak if I don’t go to Jenna’s party’. I feel like there are a couple things she exaggerated so she could get her dads’ attention, but I doubt she would actually be okay. And what she said was concerning about dyeing her hair and getting an emotional support pig. She seemed to be saying sarcastically ‘no I wouldn’t be okay with it’. The writers mess around with her academic intelligence, like she’s smart, motivated, and popular enough to be cool with skip a grade, but later too lazy to do a proper project or start an assignment?
The same day they brought their baby home, they finalized the move into the new house. They had their house a month. A month and they decided fancy house that Mitchell feels good in doesn’t matter. Who has it out for him? Which writer screwed Mitch over? He was just starting to feel like the house is encouraging his talents and he painted a mural that’s just gong to get taken down by the next residents. It’s not like Cam was falling off, he got promoted to vice principal season 10, he can be relied on for school theatre productions, so he has things to do that encourage his talents. And wasn’t the whole chicken thing just enforcing Cam not liking even small farm work? They went to that store so they could have a taste of farm life while not going there entirely.
I get wanting to have the whole ‘separate ways’ thing, but why not leave that to the newer adult generation aka Dunphy kids and Manny. And it’s not like Jay and Gloria were moving to Colombia, just going to the summer (maybe so Colombia doesn’t come to Jay). Haley and Dylan just moved 10-ish minutes from the Dunphy house, they all lived in the same town. Despite Lily being 11/12 and probably in seventh grade, they could’ve had her mention an interest in a college in another state and tell her she still had high school to think about it which implies that she’ll go her own way eventually. I refuse to let Cam, who was called Jay’s son for the first time in six years, go off to Missouri and cause his family to be miserable. I hate that Jay and Claire didn’t even try to reason with or talk to them, just-next scene. The ending felt a bit rushed. I feel bad for hating on it because the actors loved the series and they did eleven years of it, but not all endings are great. Sarah Hyland didn’t feel ecstatic about her character’s ending and I can see that.
It’s a sitcom, I get it, but they do tackle serious/darker issues sometimes and for all the rightful bashing Dede gets, they give Barb none. She admits what she did was wrong, then continued to do it. Dede blamed medication/Gloria’s existence, but at least didn’t kill her when she saw her pregnant and allowed Gloria to come to her wedding. Barb gets no excuse. Why does Cam recognize Dede’s toxic behavior and comment on it but allows his mother’s behavior to thrive? And why can’t anyone tell Merle? Do Barb and Merle just operate separately as if they’re parents but not a couple? Is Nana Tucker his mom because he was absent in both of her appearances, the second being her death, like where was he? He appeared once in s3, then in the wedding. Barry Corbin is still alive, so what happened? Was he busy for Nana Tucker’s funeral episode? We get zero actual time for his character and his last line, I can’t-he sounds like a muppet…seriously, “If he’s doin’ it, I’m doin’ it. You comin’ Barb” takes me out of the emotional scene for a moment. It still would’ve worked if Merle didn’t say anything and just went to walk his son down the aisle and Barb silently followed, it would’ve been just as sweet of a gesture to their son. Even though frick Barb. I’ve killed her off in three stories so far. I’m sure Celia Weston is at least a decent person even though the first close up wikipedia pic of her is a jumpscare, I don’t hate her, I hate Barb Tucker.
#modern family#cameron tucker#mitchell pritchett#reviews#pls take with grain of salt or mountain of salt#vent post#i know its a sitcom
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Post 860
"You became evil, you went to the dark side." -- Judge
Zachary Davis, Tennessee inmate 550305, born 1997, incarceration intake in 2015 at age 17, sentenced to life
Murder, Aggravated Arson
A Hendersonville teen convicted in April 2015 of first-degree murder in the 2012 bludgeoning death of his mother will spend at least 71 years in prison.
Zachary Davis, 17, received an automatic life sentence for first-degree murder following a four-day trial. Sumner County Judge Dee David Gay sentenced the teen to 20 years each for the additional charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated arson for also setting his house on fire while his older brother slept.
The range for each charge was 15 to 25 years. Gay ordered that those sentences be served concurrently, or at the same time. However, the judge ruled that those sentences should be served consecutive, or after, the life sentence. In Tennessee, a life sentence is 60 years with eligibility for parole after 51 years.
Davis' case garnered national attention when television show personality Dr. Phil McGraw aired a jailhouse interview with the teen on May 22. In that interview, conducted two months before his trial, Davis detailed killing his mother, Melanie Davis, with a sledgehammer. When asked why he struck her nearly 20 times, he said in his usual flat, monotone voice that he "wanted to make sure she was dead."
Davis' exaggerated head nods and laughing at inappropriate times were "common behaviors for disorders ranging from severe anxiety to schizophrenia," said McGraw.
"When I look in your eyes, I don't see evil, I see lost," he said.
But the judge, who watched the Dr. Phil interview in court on Friday, had a different take on Davis' mental state.
Although several mental health experts who testified during the teen's trial and competency hearing disagreed on a diagnosis, they did agree that he wasn't legally insane, in that he knew right from wrong, Gay said.
Gay directed most of his comments to Davis himself, who sat still and showed little emotion.
"The thing that bothers me is that you have shown no regrets, no remorse, in murdering your own mother at age 15," the judge said.
Gay said the evidence during trial showed the teen, who played violent video games and had recently read the Stephen King novel "Misery," was focused on death.
Judge: Teen 'went to the dark side'
Other evidence, according to the judge, included two phone apps the teen had – one having to do with serial killers and the other listing torture devices; a notebook with such quotes as "you can't spell laughter without slaughter;" and his statement to police that "I didn't feel anything when I killed her."
"You became evil, Mr. Davis; you went to the dark side. It's that plain and simple."
Earlier in the sentencing hearing, Davis' paternal grandmother, Gail Cron, asked for leniency and mercy.
She said that if her grandson, whose father died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) when Zach was 9, been given proper mental health treatment, "this would not have happened."
"Every teacher, every guidance counselor should have to stand trial with Zach," she said. "Zach is not a monster. He's a child who made a horrible mistake."
In previous court testimony, Cron said that Melanie Davis cut off ties with her after the death of Zach's father and after the family moved to Hendersonville from Kentucky. She also said that Melanie Davis failed to get her son help when he was diagnosed with depression following his father's death.
"I would like for Zach not to be forgotten here today like he has for much of his life," Cron said.
3f
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tagged by @youngestdaughtersyndrome to talk about five things i'm obsessed with recently
barbie and the feminist agenda
ever since i saw the movie saturday it has baffled me that so many people are holding it to impossible standards. many ppl online are criticizing it for being surface level and a two hour long "toy commercial" when the film is literally being produced by fucking mattel, a multi million dollar corporation. one of the prominent messages communicated in the film is that, in today's day and age, women are expected to be perfect at everything they do all of the time and i think audiences expected the same of this movie. i think the people that went into this movie expecting something progressive and queer and groundbreaking had the wrong expectations. greta gerwig worked as hard as she could to make a movie that had a strong feminist message while also being accessible to mass audiences. yes, the whole feminist monologue is a little bit cheesy but you have to remember that a) children are going to see this movie and i believe that the messages communicated in that monologue are very easy concepts for young girls (and boys) to grasp. b) she had to work through a LOT of red tape. even the scene where barbie tells an old woman that she was beautiful (a non-revolutionary message) was threatened to be cut for run time purposes. with the material she had to work with, i believe that greta made a movie that is funny and forward thinking and something that will stick with audiences for a long time. no, it's not anything that's advanced, but it's still special and has brought joy to so many women. the sheer experience of barbie, being surrounded by women of all ages dressed in pink and unafraid to be feminine and find joy in what society shames us for, is so beautiful and special and i loved every second.
antique photos
at the moment, i'd confidently say that my antique photo collection in the 30s. antique photos are probably my favorite thing to buy (besides clothing) when i go antique shopping. i love finding photos of families from the 1900s showing off their family homestead, a couple in the 1950s sharing an intimate christmas morning, a small boy dressed up as a cowboy. these memories might not belong to these people anymore - so now they belong to me. i just love finding these moments captured in time, moments that strengthen the fabric of humanity.
american individualism
in the united states today there is no sense of community. outside of organized religion, it's hard to find a way to feel connected with other people. the heightened awareness of individual freedoms and rights that has been a byproduct of online spaces that urge users to bran themselves, there is nowhere for the youth of today to gather and find people that are like them. i believe that bc of this that is why labels for sexuality, gender, and even what mental illnesses we have, have developed online. there are no malls or internet cafes, or parks for our generation to be together in and it's making the average american individual feel as if they are entitled to certain treatment due to having certain labels attached to them. it's all so fascinating how aesthetics and labels and what you look at online shapes our worldview. and yes, capitalism is involved somehow.
caledon hockley
if you've been following me any amount of time you know that i've already written many thinkpieces on the antagonist of the 1997 film, titanic. notice how i didn't say villain. that said, i think people tend to forget what cal is like when we first meet him. yes, he's arrogant and pompous ("god himself could not sink this ship") but he doesn't do anything to outwardly control or harm rose. i'm pretty sure he was aware of the fact that she's miserable - sans suicidal. when he brings her the necklace he knows that something is wrong. he really tries in the only way he knows how to get close to her and yet she continues to push him away. i doubt that this is because she's unattracted to him but, rather, more the realization of what her life is going to become once they're married; being a wife and mother to his children, never experiencing any of her dreams. i want to theorize that when they met up until the engagement they were "happy" or at least what could be close enough and what we see in the movie is rose falling out of that happiness and yearning to find it in something or someone else (i.e. jack). i guess what i'm trying to say is that cal doesn't begin to shed light on his more undesirable traits (selfishness and possessiveness) until he can see rose pulling away from him and towards jack. the cal at the beginning of the movie, while he can be annoying and shallow, he's not necessarily a bad person. i think somewhere inside of him he wants to be good. but i mean there's also the whole sexual tension between him and jack and cal's hidden desire to live a life that's so free and easy and emotionally healthy. we also have to remember that he has his own suicidal tendencies - but we don't have time for all of that.
sylvia plath
i'm just so so so interested in her personal life and her writings. im slowly making my way through her journals (unabridged bc fuck you ted hughes) and we are both libra moons and have prominent scorpio placements !!! i feel like i identify with her work very deeply and im excited to start reading a biography i got abt her the other day at the used bookstore !! she was such a genius and really set such a precedent for poetry today and just female artists in general she's like the patron saint of girls on antipsychotics and i love her for that
tagging: @truelovewaitsmp3 @sweetsweetjane @jonismitchell @serethereal and any other mutuals inspired to do this !!!!
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I love when folks ask me Fandom Old questions and I get to be like "Yeah, uh, that's from my old online RP group, no it's not canon at all, yes we just made it up, no we did not claim it was canon but the mid to late aughts were a strange time."
It's honestly a shock to realize how often this has happened. I mentioned earlier that Reno's fanon surname came from this same group, but that's not even the half of it. I once made a bunch of screenshot manips based on the most ridiculous ships anyone could think of—someone slapped a random line of text onto one of them and to this day it's used as a "cringe FF7 fandom" meme. I saw it on the twits a bit back and almost fell out of my goddamn chair.
If you've ever heard Scarlet referred to with the surname "West," read about Tseng fighting with metal fans, seen Elena's older sister being called Anna instead of Emma, come across Vincent portrayed as having a PhD in spite of being a Turk, or caught references somewhere to Grimoire experimenting on Vincent as a child, that started with this group. That was us.
One of the funniest examples of this, for me specifically, is that we don't actually know which arm Veld is missing? The fandom generally goes with his left because that's how I drew him in the first picture of the guy ever posted on devart way back in 2005, but it may very well be his right. I've seen people offer "proof" that it's his right based on a scene in the opening cutscene, but you can't tell there either, and with BC's graphics there's literally no way to tell on his sprite.
Hell, this year we found out everyone's assumed timeline of the Kalm fire is wrong, and that's our fault too because we made some assumptions about Felicia's age for an LJ RP that were entirely wrong. She's around Zack's age, not Sephiroth's! She's old enough to run with a terrorist group in BC, but she was a child when Kalm burned, and that happened in 1997—we know this because NPCs in Rebirth literally refer to the fire in Kalm having happened "just ten years ago." Veld has only had his prosthetic for three years when BC starts. (This also implies that, contrary to popular belief, Veld may actually be younger than Vincent. Vincent may have been the senior partner, and that's why he was sent to Nibelheim alone while Veld was left at headquarters.)
We were really wrong on this! But we were working with what we had. There's no canon evidence for the vast majority of these things (the most notable exclusion here is Vincent being educated) but we weren't claiming there was. We were filling gaps, and canon was so sparse that we had a lot of gaps to fill. So if it turns out that Veld lost his right arm, then I'll just have to start drawing him that way—because losing his left was never canon.
Tragically, there's nothing any of us can do to make people stop assuming these things are canon at this point; there aren't a lot of us still in the fandom, and it's not like any of us have those old chatlogs anymore. People from this RP group have DIED since those days. It's been over 20 years since most of us met, and around 15 since most of us were in a public fannish space together.
"Prove it," people say, and I literally can't. Do you know how many computers I've been through since then? 75% of the platforms we used no longer exist. This all started on a BBCode forum! There is no proof!
But...there's no evidence any of these things are canon, either, so maybe think about that? The Kalm fire, Tseng's weapon of choice, Veld's arm, character surnames—none of these are retcons because there was no lore there to retcon. We made it up for our specific purposes, and it escaped containment in an era when there was really no way to do online contact tracing.
It's just one of the weirdest feelings in the world to see younger folk arguing about A or B point in canon, about X or Y retcon—referencing something my friends and I thought up at like 10 o'clock at night on a now-defunct IM client in August of 2005, because we needed something to refer back to for a specific scene in an RP and the source material had nothing to offer.
Absolutely fucking bonkers.
#fandom bullshit#kinda#headcanon warning#also kinda#repeat after me:#'fanon is fanon and that is not canon'#I don't really know how to tag this tbh#personal#the MHS crew#old guard ff7 fandom#vincent valentine#veld of the turks#felicia ff7#elfe ff7#before crisis#bcff7#final fantasy vii#ffvii#final fantasy 7#ff7#final fantasy 7 rebirth#ff7 rebirth#ff7rb#ff7r
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drive ME crazy! - carlos sainz x ricciardo!oc
warnings: swearing, angst, toxic relationships, max verstappen being a dick for a bit, mattia binotto, zak brown, age gap (carlos is 3 years older)
summary: lucia ricciardo had always watched her brother race but never pursued it herself, gravitating more towards the fashion world. things change when a certain man pulls her even closer to formula one.
drive ME crazy! - by lil yachty
previous-next
my carlos playlist - here
Lucia Ricciardo had always watched from a distance as her older brother raced.
She understood the sport like the back of her hand and cheered on her brother, but never got into a go kart and felt like she belonged in one.
She had gravitated towards the fashion world.
Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Versace, all of those brands.
When their father was bringing Daniel to races, their mother was bringing Lucia and her older sister Michelle to the formers photoshoots.
All three of the Ricciardo siblings grew up close.
They grew up on their families farm, Lucia always taking a liking to the horses and goats.
Before she became a model, the girl loved horses.
She had every horse Barbie you could think of, and would go outside and sit and talk to her pony for hours.
“Do you think Daniel is going to go places in his car, Strawberry?” The young girl asked her pony as she sat on the floor in the stable. “I think he is.”
“Lucia, dinner!” Her mom yelled from inside the house, prompting the young girl to get up and wipe her backside of the hay and dirt that had stuck to it.
“I’ll see you tomorow, Strawberry.” She smiled as she softly petted the pony’s nose, a wide smile on her face.
If you looked at the Ricciardo siblings side by side you could tell they were related.
They had the same toothy smile and crinkly eyes that everyone adored.
Lucia is 8 years younger than Daniel.
She was born on January 17th, 1997, in Perth, Australia.
Her parents were worried about how Michelle and Daniel would react to having a sister so much younger than them, but the two children adored their little sister.
Daniel would follow her around the house while she galloped around on her hobby horse, pretending to try and lasso her.
Michelle would do her hair in pretty styles and put her in fluffy pink dresses.
To say they were close was an understatement.
The day Daniel got signed onto his first F1 team the siblings went wild.
Daniel had gotten home from an important meeting with HRT, and walked into the door to see his entire family sat on the couch waiting for him.
“So?” Lucia spoke up, shrugging her shoulders.
“I got signed.” He broke out into a large smile as his sisters jumped off of the couch and into his arms.
“Oh my god!” Michelle smiled as their mother and father joined in on the group hug, joy and happiness radiating off of the family.
When Lucia was able to attend races, she did.
And she blew everyone away with her paddock fashion.
“Daniel Ricciardo’s fashionable sister just entered the paddock!” Martin Brundle said during the pre-race programme, smiling widely. “Miss Ricciardo, how are you doing?”
“Wonderful, Martin, how about you?” She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.
“Quite nice myself.” He smiled. “I love your outfit, can you give us a rundown on it?”
“My shirt is from Chanel, my skirt is from Chanel, and my shoes are from Versace.” She smiled. “If you couldn’t tell, Chanel is my favourite.”
“Hoping for a good result from your brother today?” Martin asked, swiftly changing the topic to F1.
“That’s what I always hope.” She nodded. “Can’t count on it. He is my stinky older brother after all.”
Lucia had always been a well spoken person.
Her modeling training had made sure of that.
Whenever she was asked questions, F1 related or not, she always handled them with ease.
A few years had gone by since Daniel entered F1, and his little sister had taken leaps and bounds in her career as well.
It was the first race of the 2015 season, and the 18 year old girl walked next to her parents as she entered the paddock.
The first race of the season was Daniels home race, so of course he was nervous.
“Hey, Danny.” She smiled as she walked into the Redbull garage, taking off her designer sunglasses.
“Hey, Lulu.” He smiled at her as he took his attention away from his race engineer.
She had been doing this for 4 years, so she knew exactly where to go.
She received her headset as Daniel got into the car, fixing it so that it didn’t mess up her hair.
She watched intently as Daniel pulled onto the grid, her eyes scanning all of the other cars to see the rookies this season.
She didn’t recognise either of the Toro Rosso drivers.
“Hey, dad, who are those two Toro Rosso drivers?” She asked her dad as she pointed to the screen.
“Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen.” He nodded. “Y’know, Max is only a few months younger than you.”
“Is he really?” She nodded, keeping her eyes on his car.
“Carlos’ father is a legendary race car driver as well.” Her father added.
“Formula One?” She asked, and he shook his head.
“Rally.” He said. “A couple of championships.”
“So his son must be good.” She shrugged, inspecting Carlos’ car through the screen. “55, I like that number.”
The race began and Hamilton kept the lead, blowing away as three cars behind him collided.
Maldonado crashed out at turn two and knocking the car out of the race.
A safety car was deployed and the next lap Romain Grosjeans car sputtered out.
Both Lotus’ were out of the race.
“That sucks for Lotus.” Lucia cringed.
“Lotus kinda sounds like Lucia.” Michelle chuckled.
“Are you saying I’m a bug?” The 18 year old scoffed.
“I never said that.”
“She never said that.” Their mother piped up.
Normal racing resumed on lap 4 and Carlos Sainz fell back 2 places.
“I like this Sainz guy.” Lucia said.
“He just fell back two places.” Michelle said, raising her eyebrow.
“And? He’s got potential.” Lucia crossed her arms.
Daniel took this fall back as an advantage and passed him, making the Ricciardo family cheer.
“See, him falling back made Danny go up.” Lucia said. “He’s a good driver.”
“That makes no sense, Lucia.” Their father said.
“You don’t understand my thinking.” She rolled her eyes.
“No, I really don’t.” He chuckled.
21 laps went by, and Hamilton was still in the lead.
Until he wasn’t.
Lucia really liked Nico Rosberg.
She liked his hair and his smile and basically everything about him.
She also liked Lewis Hamilton, but she was happy to see Nico pass him when he pulled into the pit lane.
About 10 laps went by, and suddenly Max Verstappens car was engulfed in smoke.
“No! Not the rookie!” Lucia gasped. “On his first race too? Damn!”
“And it wasn’t even his fault.” Michelle said. “Shame.”
Hamilton regained lead, and took his 34th race win.
Daniel scored points, making the Ricciardo family happy.
Lucia knew that her brother would be bummed he didn’t win, but at least he scored points.
Carlos Sainz also scored points, and Lucia was thinking about congratulating him.
After the podium celebrations it was time for media.
Lucia met up with her brother and gave him a fat hug.
“Good job scoring points, Danny.” She smiled as she hugged her brother.
“Thanks, Lulu.” He smiled. “Would’ve wanted to win.”
“I know, but at least you’re not Max Verstappen.” She whispered and giggled.
Carlos walked in and Lucia excused herself from her brother, Daniels eyebrow moving up in suspicion.
“Hey!” Lucia approached the Spaniard. “Congrats on scoring points your first race.”
“Uh-thanks.” He nodded, confused as to why this girl was talking to him.
Wait.
A girl was talking to him.
He did a double take and took in her appearance.
Striking dark green eyes, curly hair pulled up into a sophisticated pony tail, and a smile that literally lit up her entire face.
“I’m Daniel Ricciardos sister.” She smiled, sticking out her hand. “Lucia.”
“Carlos.” He smiled as he took her hand, shaking it firmly.
“I should get back to my brother.” She pointed to the man behind her, who’s eyes were on the pair the entire time. “Congratulations again!”
“Thank you.” Carlos nodded and smiled.
“What was that about?” Daniel whispered as his sister got back to him, pushing her shoulder softly.
“Nothing, just wanted to say hi.” She shrugged. “He’s got nice eyes.”
“Oh, shut up!”
#carlos sainz#charles leclerc#max verstappen#daniel ricciardo#formula 1#formula 2#chanel#fashion#grace ricciardo#racing
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BRIGADE FILES: MIMIC
Stars & Stripes Hotline [Version 1.12]
C: \login\BuddyHolly
C:\Users\mini\BrigadeFiles\Xmen
Directory of C: \BrigadeFiles\Xmen
04/27/2006 9:48 AM Total Files Listed: 15 File(s) 168,248 bytes
Directory of C:\BrigadeFiles\Xmen\RANKIN_CALVIN.txt
[file data =
Main Alias/Moniker: Mimic
Legal Name: Calvin Montgomery Rankin
Other Aliases: Cal
Date of Birth: February, 19th 1987 (Age: 19)
Status: Alive
Species: Human Mutate
Sex: Male
Gender: Cisgender
Height/Weight: 5'10 (1.78m) [Varies] / 173 lbs (78.47kg) [Varies]
Hair/Eye Color: Brown / Brown
Timeline (1987 - 1997): I don't have a personal connection to Calvin. Bobby and Logan have more of a bond with him than I. Still, our lives were intertwined for a brief but critical point. It's this among other reasons that I took it upon myself to draft his file, despite some of the subject matter still creating discomfort for me. For someone who has had so little control over his life, I felt I owed it to him, the closest person who can relate to his experience, to try and put it on record.
According to retrieved medical documents, Calvin inherited a glandular disorder from his mother. A genetic defect that can affect one's heart rate and blood pressure. Calvin's mother was diagnosed with the condition posthumously, as she suffered cardiac arrest shortly after giving birth to him. As a single parent whose child was in need of full-time care, Dr. Rankin was put in a vulnerable spot, one that was eventually exploited by Essex.
I don't know enough about Ronald Rankin to confidently judge his character. Even him taking employment under Essex could stem from financial insecurity, and his disappearance and presumed death could further suggest he eventually objected to Essex's treatment of his son, and was promptly disposed of. The full details will forever be lost, and whatever the circumstances the outcome was that Calvin ended up in the same lower levels of Essex's hospital that I was around that time, conducting the experiments on mutant traits that wouldn't compliment his public persona of "Nathan Millbury."
I've suspected that, through Calvin, Essex sought to refine his "chimera" experiments: The grafting of mutant genes, that he had long ago applied to himself, into a non-mutant body. Rather than splicing specific genes into Calvin, Essex altered his endocrine system to make his body able to absorb and mimic not much mutant traits, but potentially all superhuman traits. If my suspicions were true, them Calvin was nothing but a guinea pig. A trial run of a procedure Essex intended to then apply on himself. Fortunately, his plans never went that far, as Calvin escaped Essex's captivity the same way I did, when the first manifestation of my optic blasts blew a hole in the wall.
Timeline (1997 - 2003): The specifics of Calvin's activity between his escape and his first interactions with us are unclear. I can attest that Essex and his contacts made great efforts to scrub the children he experimented on from public records, so any accomodations Calvin might have fallen into have been difficult to find. It can be inferred that whatever living situation Calvin found himself was brief, and he largely spent this period mobile. Due to his trauma, his glandular condition as well as his newfound powers, Calvin's threshold for stress was considerably low, and as a means of survival his interpersonal skills were boiled down to either manipulation or confrontation. Though his powers more closely qualify him as a Mutate, as this was the peak of mutant-related discourse Calvin came to recognize himself as such. So once the X-Men came into prominence, Calvin developed a fixation on us.
Timeline (2003): Calvin's first encounter with us was through Bobby. He befriended him privately, under the half-truth of being a mutant runaway who looked up to Bobby. Bobby felt alienated with the rest of the team at the time, and was susceptible to Calvin's manipulations. Calvin's intentions were to mimic the entire team's powers, and he very nearly succeeded. The more he tried to absorb, the more taxing and unwieldy it became for him to maintain all of them. What broke Calvin was when he attempted to drain and mimic Jean's powers—specifically, her powers without the mental blocks she still had at that point. Calvin was so clearly in pain, we all dropped our guards and offered to help him, but Calvin instead overpowered us in one last feat and fled.
The powers Calvin absorbed eventually regressed from inactivity, but it nonetheless took a toll on his body. He went on a brief robbing spree, breaking into pharmacies and stealing sedatives to try and numb his pain. Before any of us could track him down, he was first found by Phillip Masters, aka The Puppet Master. Masters used Calvin as a stratagem, threatening his life if we didn't make use of our contacts with the Fantastic Four and give him access into the Baxter Building. Jean and I played along with this, bringing Calvin into the Baxter Building under the pretense of requesting consultation with Dr. Richards, while the Professor and the rest of the team tracked down Masters' psychic signature.
Masters' goal was to acquire an android built by him and an associate that the Fantastic Four was in possession of at the time. We did have to feign being the aggressors for a brief moment, but once the rest of the team tracked down and detained Masters, Calvin's life was no longer under threat and the act could be dropped. Even when Masters attempted to retaliate with the unleashed android, its own mimicry powers were cancelled out once confronted by Calvin, thus ending the threat of the situation completely. Calvin briefly resided at the Mansion with us, where we first got the best sense of his powers.
Though understandably shaken in the aftermath, Calvin appeared responsive enough to nod along to the Professor's offers to provide him care. He would mimic Jean's powers, this time with a greater sense of control, and glee yet again. Calvin would later say of this that his involvement with Masters left him in a state of despair, unwilling to trust anyone but himself lest he be taken advantage of once more. He resumed his life on the run, but maintained his fixation on us in spite of his supposed mistrust. When we went mobile after Bobby fled to San Francisco, Calvin trailed behind us, and only intervened when we nearly approached our destination.
Camping outside of Las Vegas for the night, we unwittingly came into contact with the Hulk, and a fight broke out. Calvin intervened when it appeared the Hulk was gaining the upper hand, boldly grappling the Hulk and absorbing his Gamma radiation. It was enough for us to be able to disarm the Hulk, but it also left Calvin suddenly deathly ill. Hank's quick thinking led to Logan making contact with Calvin, and by mimicking Logan's healing factor was able to naturally process the radiation.
After we all gathered our bearings, an idea had formed amongst us: That through a more focused application of Calvin's absorption and Logan's healing factor, we could potentially cure Dr. Banner of being the Hulk altogether. There was some brief contention on whether to go through with this idea, but what settled it was Calvin's consent in his role in the procedure. He said to us he was ready to repent his past misdeeds and sought to do good, and by all accounts he was sincere in that claim. In the middle of the procedure, however, his fight or flight instincts compelled him to attempt to absorb Dr. Banner's Gamma entirely, likely thinking that gaining the Hulk's nigh invulnerability would end any concern over his survival.
Jean intervened when this subterfuge became clear, and through that telepathic contact Dr. Banner's Gamma was inexplicably transfered into her. While the rest of us fell under the influence of Jean who then went out to confront the military convoy out searching for the Hulk, it ended being Logan, out of all of us, who met Calvin at his level and succeeded in reasoning with him. Once the situation with Jean and Dr. Banner was resolved, Logan stayed behind with Calvin as the rest of us continued our journey into California.
At time of writing, Calvin is residing on Muir Island, receiving treatment both for his powers as well as his antisocial tendencies.
/file data]
#earth93#comics#fanfic#marvel#comic books#x men comics#xmen#fantastic 4#cyclops#hulk#incredible hulk#iceman#wolverine#mister sinister#jean grey#professor x#mimic#bobby drake#scott summers
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Chapter Five - Two Souls United
He watched with wide eyes as she reached for his hand and gently moved it towards her lips, just barely kissing the tips of his artist’s fingers. They were slightly calloused from many hours of work and sketching, and yet so gentle, so soft, that it made a strong wave of yearning wash over her - and she knew immediately what she wanted, what she had been wanting deep in her soul since he had saved her from ending her own life.
Tina looked up at him, her slow exhale warm against his fingers. “Put your hands on me, Newt.”
His breath hitched as he stared at her, unable to believe his own ears; his hand was shaking as she pressed it firmly against her clothed breast, fingers laced with his own, and it was only then that he found himself able to move. Overcome with desire for her, Newt leaned in and kissed her desperately, squeezing the curve of her soft bosom through the fabric of her dress; she moaned softly beneath him, pulling him over her as she slid down in the seat underneath his welcome weight, her legs opening to cradle the berth of his hips as he settled atop of her.
Let me make it clear right now that this story's rating has changed from M to E, and it's specifically because of a certain moment in this chapter that happens in a steamy car. In the film it cuts away just as they lie down in the car, and then after a couple of other scenes it switches back to them post-coitus - in my fic, I decided that fuck it, let's do the love scene. I must admit that I took a LOT of inspirations for the love scene from countless Titanic fics I've read about Jack/Rose's time in that car - obviously it's not directly copying anything but I have to give credit to the incredible authors of the Titanic (1997) fandom for their work because they all manage to capture the film and the couple so beautifully that it made me want to do the same for Newtina here!
So, to sum it up, this is my official warning that there is a sex scene in this chapter; I think it's relatively tame in all honestly, the focus is more on the connection between two people as they express their love in an adult way, the focus is very much on their emotions. Having said that, it's still a sex scene and it's obvious what they're doing! I suppose I also have to give a small warning that like Rose in the original film, Tina is seventeen and Newt is twenty like Jack was; by today's standards, I can understand why this may make people uncomfortable, but this part of the fic is set in 1912...and let's be real, in the film Rose (and by extension Tina in this fic) was betrothed to a much older man who's closer to his forties, so a three year age gap between the main couple is really NOT a big deal all things considered.
Anyway, with that in mind... enjoy!
#fantastic beasts and where to find them#tina goldstein#porpentina goldstein#newt scamander#newtina#newtina fanfiction#newtina fanfic#fanfiction#newt x tina#newtina titanic au#newtina smut#🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️ they wanted to fuck in the backseat of a car it’s not my fault-
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