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libraryofloveletters · 8 months

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The Same Shade Of Red

Sebastian Vettel x Fem!Reader

Warnings: monza 2020 (double dnf for the boys in red), so much angst sorry, redbull comparisons for seb, the magic that is monza, the disaster that is ferrari and their team, talks of seb's races in monza, a few harsh/sad thoughts from seb, mentions of retirement, charles's crash in monza 2020, mentions of the pandemic, reader is the most loving wife to which seb is her perfect match, britta is sooo over you guys after years of this.

Word Count: 2.2k

Author's Note: would I be me if I didn't take monza race weekend and turn it into an ode to seb? no. ferrari seb you will always be my most beloved and fuck you ferrari for hurting my husband fr. (also this gif is so sexy I can't explain it. well I can but I will be banned from tumblr dot com)

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Monza held a special place in the heart of your husband, in yours and in anyone that was a part of the Vettel family.

Sebastian had proven his worth, winning his and Toro Rosso's first ever Grand Prix in Monza during the 2008 season.

It was no different when he moved to Red Bull from Toro Rosso, his era of dominance brought him win after win and two of which were in Monza; the home of Ferrari.

Ever since that first win, Sebastian held a special love for Monza, as did you. There's something magical about the place; it might be the atmosphere or the fans but it has always been good to you and Seb. Whatever it was, it was nothing if not remarkable every single time.

The Tifosi held their drivers to the highest of standards, some would say next to God. Something happens to Italy when motorsport comes to town; everything changes and every single person you meet is so passionate. They live and breathe for Ferrari, they'd die for their drivers if it meant they could see them on that top step.

When Sebastian moved from Red Bull to Ferrari, he counted down the days to Monza.

It had always been his dream to drive with the red team, just as his childhood hero and friend, Michael, had done. Sebastian's first year with Ferrari was the epitome of picture perfect.

Despite coming in P2 behind Lewis and Mercedes, being on the podium at home for Ferrari meant everything to the German driver. This wasn't the first time he had gotten on podium for Ferrari, in fact he had already won twice with them that season; in Malaysia and then again in Hungary.

Monza was different; magical, special. There was something in the air, the energy was indescribable. Sebastian grinned, waving to the team from the second step.

You smiled, watching as your fiancé at the time hummed along to the Italian anthem, a country he quickly counted as his second home.

Sebastian was the king of the world that day, even though he hadn't won.

He had returned to the garage with the biggest grin on his face, trophy in one hand and the bottle of champagne in the other. He passed them over to his engineer, making a beeline for you. The man's covered in champagne and sweat and confetti, and he smells like gasoline and engine oil but he picks you up, squeezing you tightly.

You remember telling him how much you loved him and how proud of him you were. Sebastian responded with a kiss, you can taste the champagne; a familiar taste that slowly became more scarce as his days with Ferrari went on.

Unfortunately, things took a bit of a downwards dip for Sebastian after that. He was hungry to win, he was constantly in a fight for the championship every year and it was killing him that he wasn't there yet. Yes, he had won races with them and broken every record he could possibly break but if he couldn't achieve the one thing he really set out to do, the one thing he had always dreamt about, then what was the point?

Monza seemed to always have Sebastian in its grasp, tricking him as the years went on. He almost always was there, he could reach out and touch the win and yet, it slipped through his fingers. Winning in Monza meant more to a Ferrari driver than winning in Monaco would - unless you were born and raised there like Sebastian's teammate, Charles.

You were the king of the world if you won there; your name written in the history books from now until the end of time.

Sebastian longed for his name to be in the book of the greats; Sebastian Vettel, Monza race winner.

A dream that slipped through his fingers as did his hope of winning the championship with Ferrari.

After coming in P2 in 2015, things just kept getting further and further from the finish line for him. P3 in 2016 and 2017, P4 in 2018 and last year was the final shove before the cherry on top this year; P13 while his new teammate, Charles, stood on the top step as race winner, basking in the magic that is Monza.

He was happy for him, beyond happy actually and any win for the team was great but oh how he wished that was him.

Now you're back in Monza, the season had been delayed due to the pandemic and this was the first race you had been able to join him for all season. It was weird being there with the track empty; just the teams and the occasional celebrity guest that was rich enough to pay their way in.

The car has been giving Sebastian a hard time all weekend, practice was shit and he placed P17 in qualifying. It wasn't a good weekend for your husband.

"Be good," you told him while he was getting ready for the race. Sebastian nods, a witty remark about him always being a good boy slipped past his lips and you waved him off, your cheeks red as you walked back to the garage.

Watching him start from the back of the grid was breaking your heart, you knew he could manage much more than that but it's the stupid car that was giving him trouble.

He barely got a grip on the car before he drove off and into the blocks that were in the run off area. Your brows furrowed as you watched him speed through the blocks, his voice coming through the headphone - "brakes failed."

Your heart drops, eyes fixed on the screen as Seb pulls the car into the corner as best as he can without disrupting the race. He finds his way back to the garage after the marshals come for his car, Sebastian gives your hand a squeeze as he passes through and into the back hallway to his driver's room. You figured you'd give him space to cool off and you stayed in the garage to watch a bit more of the race.

It was barely 20 laps later that you saw the other Ferrari slide into the wall. To no fault of Charles, the car had understeer which caused him to lose the back half and send him into the wall. You stood there, waiting to hear if Charles spoke before you took your headphones off.

Once you hear that he's okay, you step out of the garage and make your way to your husband's driver room. You knock on the door, peeking in before he answers.

Sebastian gives you a sad smile, you can feel your heart breaking as you step in and shut the door behind you. He's sitting on the bench and you walk over, joining him.

"Charles is coming in."

"What? The race isn't over, is it?" Sebastian looks over at you before glancing out the window. You shook your head, "it's a red flag now, Charles' car has understeer, went into the wall."

"Is he okay?" He asks and you nod, "he's a little shaken up but he'll be okay."

Your hand finds your husband's, interlocking fingers. "I always admire that even when you're going through it, you still look out for others."

"I know what it's like to be in his position, it's tough."

You hum, glancing down at the racing boots that were tossed to the side, Seb's sock clad feet slide back and forth over the floor. "You know what happened today wasn't your fault, Sebastian. It was mechanical."

He's quiet for a bit, nodding at your words. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, baby."

You look over at the man, "of Ferrari or of racing?"

"Both," he answers truthfully.

Sebastian and Ferrari had come to a mutual agreement - a publicity term - that they would not be renewing his contract. You weren't opposed to it, you knew it was killing your husband to go but if Sebastian was good at one thing, it was that he knew when it was time to go, he had to go. He wanted to win with them, you think a part of him still held a tiny sliver of hope that he would find his way back to the top step as champion of the world but he also knew being there was killing him.

Mentally, physically, emotionally; he couldn't bear the pressure of staying there any longer.

"It's just a few more races, love. You can do it."

He nods, "I know but.." "Don't even go there," you tell him, shifting to face him. One of your legs hanging off the bench as the other folded in front of you.

"Monza's special, you know that." He says, "I just.. I feel like I failed." He sighs, his head hung and if your heart wasn't already broken, it was broken now.

It was days like today that made you hate the team that your husband so dearly loved.

"You didn't fail, you never failed them, Sebastian." You squeezed his hand, the man looked up at you. Your free hand comes up to cup his jaw, your thumb rubbing over the few days old stubble on his cheek. "If anything, they failed you."

"You have the talent and the skill, and the drive to win and to be a champion; it's them, babe. They couldn't give you a car that was worthy of you, you can't blame yourself for that." You look at your husband and the man sighs again.

"I should have been able to, though. Been able to get the best out of the car."

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. "Seb, c'mon. Be for real right now, it's their shitty ass car, it's not your fault. You know Lewis's car is basically a rocket ship, plus it's not like your strategies are A1 over here."

Seb tosses you a glance, a look of disapproval on his face. "You're so not helping right now, darling."

You raise your hands in surrender and your husband smiles - his first genuine smile all weekend. You smile back, holding his face again. "I love you, Sebastian."

"I know," he grins and you shake your head, laughing. "This is usually the point where you say I love you back."

"Oh, sorry." he chuckled, "I love you, y/n."

You smile, leaning in to give him a kiss. "Good, now come on. You need to get dressed, go check on your teammate," you patted his thigh, getting up to find a shirt for the man. In the meantime, Seb pulled off his race suit and fire proofs, slipping on a pair of shorts.

"Do I really have to go?" He sits on the bench again, shifting to lay down, his arms tucked behind his head. You roll your eyes, looking through the small cabinet off to the side. "Yes, you know they'll make you out to be a villain if you don't."

"And if I wanna be a villain ?" He asks, looking over at you.

You sigh, tossing the shirt at him, "Sebastian, don't start with me right now."

The man laughs, dropping the shirt on the bench before standing up. Sebastian grabs your hand, pulling you flush against his chest. "Ew," you fake a gag, "you're sweaty."

He smiles, ignoring your comment. "I don't know what I'd do without you, I can't thank you enough for being here for me all these years."

Your hand rests on his jaw, giving him a kiss before smiling at him. "You don't need to thank me, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat but.. if you do wanna thank me, you can buy that purse I liked."

"Show me when we get back, you can take my card and order it."

"I was joking," you look at him, and Seb shrugs. "It's the least I can do to thank you for being the perfect wife."

"It's easy to do when I have the perfect husband," you smile, kissing him again. There's a knock on the door, causing you both to look in the direction of it.

"When the two of you are done being perfect, you're needed for press, Sebastian." Britt's voice from the other side of the door, making you both laugh.

Seb gives you one last kiss before grabbing his shirt, "I'm coming!" He calls to her, pulling it on. He was on his way out but you stopped him, grabbing his hand.

He turns back, looking at you as he waits to see what you wanted. "I'm proud of you, no matter what," you tell him.

Seb nods, smiling at you. "I love you."

---

taglist: @dragon-of-winterfell @benedictscanvas @elisaa-shelby @hnmaga-blog @czechoslovakiandisco @dr3lover @troybolton14 @Lovingroscoee @compulsiveshit @somanyfandomsbruh @damnyoulifee @barzysreputation @vickyofalltrades @yeolsbubbles @barzysreputation @thybulleric @valkyrie418 @ricsaigaslec @idkiwantchocolatee @sessgjarg @molliemoo3 @bisexual-desi @sunf1owerrq @alwaysclassyeagle @coldmuffinbanditshoe @sillybananamaker and @oconso cause she was fucking with the preview I sent her

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soultek · 6 months

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Late To The Party - Roronoa Zoro x Female!Reader (One Piece Live Action)

💚As it's a certain someone's birthday today!💚

A/N: I feel literally late to the party myself with this - but there we are!

Also not the Zoro I ever expected to be writing for but I was just too inspired NOT to go for it!

100% inspired by 'Dance With Me?' by @alotofrandomfangirling. I read that fic, listened to this song and was like "Oh it's all fits nicely!" and then kinda ran with it! [BTW - you should OBVIOUSLY go and read her fic!]

Ahh... and also, for getting me through all this OPLA fangirling @alotofrandomfangirling this one is also 100% for you! 😁❤

Disclaimer: As usual, nothing except the reader character is mine (loosely based on my OG anime counterpart character Zoro!SO) I tried to keep him as close to his OPLA self as possible but I can't promise I didn't let a bit of his anime personality slip in but I have read this back so many times now I'm like 99.9% he's LA accurate!

Warnings etc: Drinking, mention of injury/scars, super mild cursing, established (secret?) relationship.

Premise: With a party happening in the port you happen to be calling in, you and the crew take the opportunity to be social. Zoro takes it as an opportunity to drink, but maybe that isn't the only reason he's going...

Words: 6325

Song Inspo: Late To The Party - Kasey Musgraves

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By the time we get there Everybody will be drunk The chairs will be on tables And the band will be unplugged We're gonna look real good But we're gonna look real rude I'm sorry I'm not sorry that I'm Late to the party with you Let's promise when we get in That we'll try to get right out Fake a couple conversations Make the necessary rounds These kinda things just turn into Who's leaving here with who? But I just want 'em all to see me come in...

Late to the party with you Oh, who needs confetti? We're already falling into the groove And who needs a crowd When you're happy at a party for two? The world can wait 'Cause I'm never late to the party If I'm late to the party with you

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Nothing was right. Every outfit you tried just ended up with a sighed 'No.', before being thrown in the corner. Everything else was done – hair and makeup went perfect; you were maybe even quick with those. But this... This was taking the time. Sure, you probably could throw on any old thing and get away with it - this wasn't some fancy dinner, or anything you had to look good for. Just a port with a party. But that was the point - it was a party. It was a chance to be sociable, dress up for a change. It was your thing. And you were late.

Snapping you from your thoughts with a jump, was a loud pounding on the door behind you. It was almost accompanied by a shriek, but luckily you saved yourself the embarrassment of that. Whipping around, you could feel your heart beating a million miles an hour - you didn't realise any of the crew were still here.

"Y/N! What the hell is taking you so long!?" Your eyes widened to the voice; now you were doubly glad you hadn't screamed. Opening the door ajar, you poked your head out and were faced with the unimpressed look of the crew’s resident green-haired swordsman. On second thought that was just his natural expression. You opened the door a little wider, halfway between asking a question and looking around to answer it yourself - was everyone else still here? Evidently, he wasn't done ridiculing you; "What the hell!? You're not even changed!? Even I got changed!" Your eyes focused back on him... Well, he wasn't wrong. He had changed his shirt. You indicated to the pile of clothes strewn on the floor, "Well I didn't know what to wear!" Now you were talking to Zoro, you might as well ask; "Wait, is everyone still here!?" His hands went to his pockets as he shuffled a little on his feet, eyes moving from yours, "No, but I said I wasn't leaving without you, now hurry up!" "…Hurry up!?" You folded your arms, eyes narrowed. You'd known him long enough to be able to read him pretty well, "Zoro, I bet you don’t even want to go!" He copied your crossed arm stance, "Maybe it's not my scene but if it’s a party, there’s alcohol." You couldn't help but roll your eyes, 'good lord.' Resisting shaking your head you turned your full attention back to him, glancing head to toe; "You’re going with your swords? Really?" Zoro was as defensive as you expected, "You never know what’ll happen." That seemed typically him. "Well…" You turned back to your clothes with a smile, finally deciding on something that would complement what he was wearing, "you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t take mine." "Annnnnd that’s why I’m the better swordsman." You glanced back over your shoulder to shoot him a look. Despite how nonchalantly he'd declared it, the tiny smirk on his face said everything. “I am but a humble student, you’re supposed to be better than me.” He laughed, short, more like a bark; “Humble is the word you’d use, huh!? Interesting…” You turned your body fully back to him, hands on your hips. "Why would you even think I would debate-" You cut yourself short, realising that somehow Zoro was managing to stall time even more. So much for hurrying you up. "HEY! Will you get out of here and let me change!"

Sensing he was clearly enthusiastic; you gave him 15 more minutes before you headed back out on deck. He was standing with his hands in his pockets again, ankles crossed over each other as he leaned back on the railing. Glancing you up and down he gave a single simple nod. This was Zoro, so that was a complement and you would take it. There was silence between you for a moment, but the sound of a party was in the air. It was loud, it sounded busy. Exactly the kind of thing you liked. Exactly the reason it had taken you so long to get ready in the first place. And he knew that. The man in front of you however…

Zoro walked forward a couple of steps, slowly, looking around as if on high alert. He stopped not even a foot from you, brown eyes focusing back on yours. His voice was flat, but it was a distinct tease. "You know, a lookout not on deck is no good." You could have seen it coming from a mile off, but there was something about him that made you rise to it anyway. "Looking out for what?! We’re docked! You seem to believe you’re doing a better job, and you were still here.” He indicated to himself, "First mate. Lookout is not in my official job title." He was going to drive you insane. Your breath was deep but you held back the ‘my god, how did I end up with you!?' - for both ways he could take it and neither ending up in your favour. Instead, you cleared your throat and threw your hand in the direction of the port, “Can we just go please - if you’re so eager?! You did just rush me.” Zoro shuffled on his feet a bit more before he decided to respond with, “Fine.” That did not mean that he moved very fast at all, and you shook your head slowly, following him. Apparently, the draw of alcohol wasn't even doing it tonight. You did wonder sometimes, you really did…

Once you got down the gangplank, Zoro turned immediately left. You glanced to your right; exactly where all the light and sound was coming from. God help you now... You raised your eyes to the sky; 'idiot.' Instead of saying anything, you simply reached out and took his hand. Seemed like a natural enough thing to do... He was fine with it within the confines of a room training. Touch was okay there. But in public, you couldn't be sure. Not even on a currently deserted dock. But Zoro didn't jerk away, and even when he walked far enough for his arm to pull back when you weren’t moving, he didn't drop it. Turning back to you, standing rooted in place, staring at him. Your arm stretched as far as it would go with his doing the same, hands still together. You tipped your head in the opposite direction. Once again, not a word passed your lips. His eyes moved around you to the port, but he barely acknowledged it before walking back to you, and then in step. You let him dictate the pace - still super slow.

Zoro cleared his throat, deciding that he would comment on the situation. "I knew that, I was just taking the scenic route." You declined to comment that the scenic route was about to lead Zoro off the end of the pier. There was humour in your voice, “Every route with you is the scenic route…” You wouldn't say you struck a nerve, but there was something sharp in his voice. “What are you trying to insinuate?!” You opted to just shake your head again, amusement obvious on your features; even if it was clear, you were saying something. Zoro narrowed his eyes at you, keeping them on your face to wait for you to break. Unfortunately for you, it didn't take long to start giggling. Composing yourself a little, you came up with a decent excuse. “Hey, look, I just don’t want to lose you. It’s pretty busy.”

To your earlier point, the dock around you was dead, but the direction you were heading in seemed overly crowded. Zoro, still focused on the surrounding area, was halfway through raising an eyebrow to correct you - when he realised the joke. “HA. Lose.” Again, you said nothing, maintaining innocence. If that was the conclusion he wanted to jump to - correct or otherwise. For a minute or so you thought you'd get away with it, until you found your left hip bumped by not just one, but all three of his swords - which caught across your ankle for good measure, so his timing must have been impeccable. You paused your walk for a moment, looking across to him, clearly unimpressed. Rubbing your side with your free hand. Zoro merely shrugged, voice once again level. "Sorry." His first thought had really been to muss your hair or something, but that would have meant dropping your hand, and he really didn't want to let that go. It was also the perfect excuse when his swords were between you. In honesty you thought you probably did deserve some retaliation. "Maybe you should walk on the other side of me." "Not exactly my first thought, swordsman." Maybe you would have held his hand otherwise, but this had started practically... Now it was turning more romantic. Even if the words weren't. "If you had yours that wouldn't happen." "If I had mine things would be worse - probably for me." Considering you wore yours on your left hip you probably would have had to walk on his other side... "Yeah, that’s you up against me.” (It didn’t cross your mind he would be talking about anything except sword fighting until later.) “What!? I can’t believe you’d-” What did that have to do with anything!? “Name one time you’ve ever beaten me….” You remained silent. “Exactly.” Something within you felt determined to get him back for that comment - such had your friendship always been before it had become a relationship. “You know when I said that I bet what happened with Mihawk was awful for you and I was sorry you had to go through it?” Zoro almost smirked following your train of thought, “What? Not exactly feeling that right now?” The smile you gave him in response was crooked, “Yeaaah…”

So, his only option was to one up you, “Okay, well, next time how about I just put my sword through you instead of just barely grazing you. The AUDACITY!? This time he raised a gasp from you. You turned to retaliate, but funnily enough at the exact same time you gripped his hand a little tighter - this was play fighting. “Just barely—!? You call this just barely grazing!? I damn well needed stitches! It’s going to leave a mark!” Zoro listened, body half turned into yours, but he wasn't looking at you, continuing to stare in the direction you were walking. He simply indicated to his chest; 'really!?'. You knew you had no option but to drop it then - because fair enough. But there was still a deep cut across your left shoulder blade that he had left there. Instead, you sighed gently, turning back to the lights glittering off the water, everything was getting steadily louder as you got ever closer. You smiled again, “It’s okay. I know I’m the 5th wheel here…” Zoro frowned momentarily at your math; mentally counting the crew, before he realised you were talking about his swords. He shook his head in response, lacing his fingers with yours.

You weren’t quite sure how this had happened in the first place. It also wasn't meant to be like you were sneaking around behind the crew’s backs, you just weren't ready to be out in the open yet. You'd both been bounty hunters; Zoro mostly worked alone but very occasionally you had worked together. Had a couple of other good bounty hunting buddies too – and the four of you were a decent team. It hadn't taken long for you to develop a crush on him - and as a swordswoman yourself you were in awe of his skills. It was something you only ever strived to get better at. You'd pushed that crush back a long time ago in favour of friendship - after all, unless you were going to team up permanently (not his thing.) there was not much point in getting serious about it. Added to that, Zoro never at all seemed interested in romance. You had been content to just keep seeing him around. That was until rumours started flying around the community that the great Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro was now a pirate himself. Had joined a crew and everything. At first you had simply laughed it off as ridiculous. That must have been some other guy calling himself 'Roronoa Zoro' because there was no way in hell the man you knew was going to do that. How wrong you were, sufficiently curious to follow the rumours along until you both ended up on the same island. And sure enough there he was - with a crew calling themselves the Straw Hats. A crew you now found yourself a part of, having practically begged him to teach you after he'd kicked your ass yet again. (Like you weren't about to miss a bounty hunting opportunity - even if it was him.) Now you were, as you had pointed out to him earlier, a humble student.

The relationship element was new. You knew you weren't sure who or what started it, but it happened and it just felt like a good natural progression. Neither of you were really pushing that relationship aspect currently. You were close for sure, and you always kept close. ALL the time. (And if anyone on the crew was suspicious, they didn't call it out.) You held hands after training... When you were alone. It never progressed much further than that. Passed a confession and the agreement that you were, indeed, a couple.

Yet here you were, Zoro was not protesting holding your hand on the way to the party. And hadn't he just been the one to link your fingers in this way? That hadn't been you.

Stepping up from the dock onto the port side you were both bathed in light. It went from just the two of you to apparently everyone else in the world who had descended on the little town. You weren’t sure where to look – there was so much to take in. The bustle of the people – of all ages – was secondary to the bright colours all around. Shops, restaurants, bars, and their patrons spilled out onto the streets – covered in bright neon decorations and constantly glittering lights. In the central square ahead of you, music played from an elevated platform; even from here neither of you could tell if it was a live band playing or simply amplified through a sound system, only that the gathering of people around it were dancing. All down either street was a collection of booths selling various foods, drinks, wears and even offering games to play, each one looking as busy as the next and all dressed in the same bright colours as the permanent stores. Happy voices called out to each other: both friends and merchant alike. It was more like a festival than a party and you wondered quietly if that was actually what you had stumbled upon. There was so much to see and do, standing up on the street you almost weren’t sure what to give your attention to first: but you knew it was going to be a fun evening. Zoro could feel the energy from the party hit you instantly; if he didn’t know any better, he would say you were vibrating – you had an entirely different buzz about you than you had 2 seconds ago walking with him down here. He could feel it all through your connected hands, see it in the way your eyes were almost sparkling (though, that could have been the reflection of the lights). This was your domain; you were as in your element here as he was with three swords.

Zoro instinctively pulled you closer - if you didn't want to lose him in the crowd this was the only way. "You know where they are?" "In case you didn't notice - which you did - I wasn't the one looking out for them!" "Right... Stay close. Don't let go." He pulled you forward, and tonight you decided you would just trust him with directions. The 'don't let go' hit different though; if he was going to drop your hand at any point it would be now - not only in a very public place, but the chance of any of the crew happening upon you at any second. You almost wondered aloud if it might have been due to him spending his time waiting for you drinking; loosening up a bit. It would have made sense, but it didn't seem like it. Zoro was going to the party for alcohol. If he had it on him back at the ship, why would he bother? Unless...

You were snapped from that thought by suddenly being pulled in another direction. Finding yourself steered towards a building labelled 'Bar.' Figures he'd be able to find that with no issue. You continued scanning the crowds; the crew must have been around, but also at this point were long gone to you. And Zoro was clearly interested in drinking, pushing the door open with the most enthusiasm you'd seen out of him all night. But he wasn't just holding your hand for the sake of holding it. He knew men. You had dressed up for this because you had a social side. If he didn't clearly indicate who you were with, you were as likely to end up in trouble as anything. Another reason to keep those swords on hand; if anyone dared try anything he was sending clear signals. In the bar the crowds were even more dense, and you moved closer to him, free hand coming across your body to touch his arm; if you were going to hold his hand any tighter it might actually hurt. Still, Zoro couldn't help his little smile. You scanned the gathering more, swallowing hard at the realisation of how many eyes were suddenly on you. Drawn not just to yourselves, but also more closely to the points of connection between you and your entwined fingers. Your gaze flicked back to him, still solely focused on leading you to the bar - if Zoro had noticed this attention, he paid it no mind. You almost envied that. You were very aware of how gorgeous he was - you weren’t blind! You were unlikely to be the first or only girl to ever have fallen for this man. You were just the lucky one that had him…. Somehow! If you were any other girl in this room, you'd be jealous, too.

After what felt like an age, you finally made it to the edge of the bar. He brought your twined fingers up to it, unlinking your hands but keeping them close, leaning forward to try to find the barkeep. At this point the aged wood was littered with empty glasses and bottles. You hoped for the sake of your partner the whole bar wasn't already dry. Without even asking you were both presented with a beer, "Ahh! What can I get the lovely young couple then, eh? First one is on the house!" Zoro was clearly irked by the descriptor - but got straight to the point, "What have you got? Bottle of your best...?" He waited for the suggestion. "Well, uh, I'll have to see, sir! I would expect most things are out by now, but I'm sure I can find something." "Okay. Then," Zoro's sigh was deep, like he was trying not to think about it being the only reason he came down here. "I'll have a bottle of whatever you have left!" He turned to you, look pointed, "Clearly, we are late to the party."

You were about to commend him on just the one - realising suddenly you were going to quickly become the 6th wheel in this relationship to alcohol - when you were interrupted by the overly loud calls of your captain. "HEEEYYY!! ZORO! Y/N!!!" You barely had time to turn before Luffy was throwing his arms around you and pulling you together in a three-way hug, "Where did you go!? We were worried about you guys!" "Ah, blame her. She takes too long!" You punched Zoro's arm playfully, but you returned your hand to resting next to his on the bar. Luffy said nothing - likely oblivious as ever; but you could bet if one person in the crew didn't care, it would be him. Luffy grinned, "Well it doesn't matter! You're both here now! Ahh you gotta try the food, it's so good!" You turned back to the busy room, watching everyone else laughing and joking together. Luffy and Zoro followed your eyeline. Zoro's hand brushed against yours for your attention before he nudged you, "Go on." "W-what about you!?" You whipped back, a little too quick to protest. Luffy looked between you. "I'll be fine here. Besides, I can keep an eye on you from the bar. That's what you want to be here for, go have fun." Fun definitely didn't seem like the word Zoro would use, but this wasn't about him. It was about you. You looked to the bottle of beer you'd been given and pushed it towards him, "Here, just in case they can't find you anything else. I think you need it more than me!" Turning to Luffy you smiled sweetly, rubbing his shoulder, "Look after him for me!" "I will do!" Luffy grinned, Zoro just shook his head. But you knew he had everything he needed right there. You let your eyes linger on his and focused on that touch for just a moment longer, before you slipped from under the arm of your captain and went to make yourself sociable with the other crew and townsfolk. Surely Usopp, Nami and Sanji were in here somewhere... Glancing back over your shoulder you watched Luffy take your place, chatting excitedly to his first mate. He had Zoro's full attention; it made your laugh to yourself. You were going to end up so many wheels back you might as well have not been in this relationship...!

You were social, it was one of your greatest strengths. It was easy to make friends. It made it easy to get information. That was how you used to do your bounty hunting. You could talk to anyone and everyone easily. You liked listening to people's life stories - hearing about all the places they were visiting. The islands you’d landed on; about what there was to do in the area, even if you never went yourself. You liked talking about the tiny East Blue island you'd grown up on. You had enough stories from sailing across the East Blue yourself. And you could twist the crews’ stories into something a little less... Pirate-y. You always enjoyed it, you always had fun. If someone asked you to dance, you would. If someone wanted to drink with you, you were down. Tonight... Tonight you realised that even in your element, you were not having fun. Not as much fun as you wanted. Not alone.

You hadn't thought about it before. Hadn't considered when you were getting ready that it would ever be the case. You expected to have a good time with the crew - your relationship and anything that might happen with it tonight was an added bonus to something you loved doing. But in the middle of the conversation, you couldn't help realising how much you didn't want to be there. At least... Not in the company of these people.

You looked back over your shoulder to the bar, and were almost surprised to see not only was Zoro alone once more (you would have put money on either Luffy dragging him along, or Luffy dragging everyone else over to him), but he was staring at you. Clearly, he wasn't going to take his eyes off you tonight. When Zoro said he was keeping an eye on you he meant it. And maybe he’d never say it out loud, but with you looking like this, that wasn’t the only reason. The two bottles besides him were finished. But whatever the bar man had managed to find him was unopened. He turned slowly to it, before wrapping his fingers around the neck and dragging it off the bar. Gesturing with it towards you, before tipping his head back towards the ship. You smiled, and suddenly it was the happiest you had felt all evening. In that moment you knew exactly where you wanted to be. And tonight, where you would rather find yourself.

He met you by the door as you politely excused yourself from the conversation, this time taking his other hand and making sure to walk on his left. The knowing smile on Zoro's face indicated he knew you were learning. A tiny piece of your felt bad, as he opened the door back into the night air - the crowd was a little thinner, but the party was still in full swing. It felt like you were bailing, you'd been late and you were leaving almost immediately. But it wasn't as if people could say you hadn't turned up. Luffy at the very least had seen both of you there. But there was something inside you that stirred in excitement at the thought of sneaking back to the Merry with a bottle...

If you had gone at a snail’s pace to get here, you practically ran back. Or you would have thought you had, considering how giggly and breathless you were, despite not having drunk at all tonight. Yet. With the bottle in his hand that was clearly going to change. Zoro removed his sword belt, propping them up against the wooden railing of the ship, before blowing out a breath and settling beside them; back up against a pillar, he stretched his legs out in front of him, placing the bottle between them. You shook your head, sitting yourself down in front of him with a grin. At least out here it was quiet, the air was cooler. Zoro closed his eyes for a moment, tipping his head back; allowing you to trace the lines of his face. His jaw and down his neck, up over his broad shoulders and down his toned arms, to his fingers. You thought for a moment about the skilful way he could un- and re-sheath his swords. How any just-so movement with his fingers would move those blades to make perfect strikes. You hadn't been present for the fight with Mihawk that had made the scar across his chest. That was a little too much to think about, but the shirt you were coordinating with tonight exposed enough of his chest for a part of it to be visible... But you still couldn't imagine Zoro losing. Even when you could imagine just how incredible the 'World’s Greatest Swordsman' was.

You bit your lip, thinking about your earlier jab, and suddenly felt terrible. "Hey, Zoro..." "Mhm..." He initially kept his eyes closed and head tipped back, but when you didn't continue, he changed his position to look at you. With your eyes and expression a little guilt ridden; he couldn't help tipping his head in confusion. You took a breath, and although it seemed like you wanted to look away from him, you didn't: "What I said earlier about the Mihawk fight... You know I didn’t mean it, right?” Zoro almost chuckled - that was debatable. But he had known you was joking with him. "Y/N, you worry too much." "But I still-" "Of course, I do." It's what you wanted to hear - so he would satisfy that. You sat back on your hands with a smile, this time voice a little sweeter; "And what I said about being with you being scenic… you know I did mean it, right?” You had realised the hilarity of saying every route with him was the scenic one, and that depending on how you'd said it, how it could have been either a sarcastic tease on his sense of direction or a very smooth romantic flirt. Internally you'd kicked yourself for not realising sooner and now - despite it being obvious at the time which you were going for - you wondered which way he’d actually taken it… Zoro cracked a grin, clearly he'd noticed it too. “Oh. You mean I am the view.” Even though, by the look on his face, you knew Zoro understood you hadn’t meant it that way. Yet, you couldn't help but blush a little, “Glad we could agree.” “That would be a first…” You were compelled; you leaned forward and smacked his leg. It was likely always going to be a knee-jerk reaction to his teasing. That just made him chuckle, and he picked up the bottle again, cracking it open. "Should I get some glasses?" "Glasses?" Zoro scoffed, "Hell no. Now c'mere." He beckoned you forwards.

You couldn't help being intrigued, but as you moved to the side of him, Zoro grabbed your waist, pulling you to sit between his legs. For a minute you struggled, both shrieking and laughing, pushing against him enough that he had to physically hold you in place. You relented, giggles still rising in your chest as his arms wound around your waist. Head propped back against his chest you looked up at him. "Okay fine, you win!" "I'll just chalk yet another one up." "Ah, keep them, I'm never beating you." "Wow." He smirked again, "Did we just agree on two things? Careful, Y/N, we might be on a roll!" You nudged his face with your palm, "Hush!" Causing Zoro to grab your hand and interlink your fingers again. The movement caused his piercings to run together, making them chime softly. You focused on them dancing for a moment, unable to help yourself from reaching out and making the gold ring together again. Zoro simply shook his head at you, picking up the bottle he'd just opened (and somehow in all that hadn't spilled everywhere.) and taking a sip. "Whatever helps you amuse yourself." "One per sword?" "I'm not even answering that." "Hey, it's a valid question!" After all, you had a multitude of piercings in both your ears and didn't carry nearly that many weapons. He ignored you, holding the bottle out. You accepted it gratefully and read the label; "Any good?" "It's alcohol, even the bad stuff is good." "Yeah, no," you sighed, "that sounds like you." You took a drink and concluded that this one was indeed, pretty good. Taking another sip, he smacked the top of your thigh, "Hey! No drinking the whole bottle, I waited too long to get that one!" You almost choked, "And you won't get any if you make me spill the damn thing!" "You do that, I'll be throwing you overboard and telling the crew you elected to stay in town." "Thing is I wouldn't put it past you..." You handed the bottle back to Zoro, making yourself comfortable against his body, "I'm just saying a good boyfriend wouldn't do that." You heard Zoro huff a laugh as he lifted the bottle to his lips again, "Ah, I never promised to be one of those." "What? A good boyfriend?" "That's the one." "Well. A girl can dream." "That's all you'll be doing." You let out a laugh then, a full-blown belly laugh. "I know you're determined to ruin this, but you can't. It's not happening. This is exactly what I wanted." "Me?" But he left it there, fingers of the hand not holding the bottle finding yours again.

You sat in silence for a moment, the only sound your breathing and the back and forth of the liquid in the bottle every time he took a drink. Further back, the dull hum of the party, and the waves lapping at the side of the Merry. Inspecting the bottle once more Zoro realised it was nearly empty. Looking down at you in his arms he realised your eyes were closed. "Hey..." He tried softly, so not to wake you if you were asleep. "Mmm?" Your response let him know that even if you weren’t, you weren’t far off. "You want any more of this?" "Oh, no." You shuffled a little more, head moving to his shoulder, opening more of your body to the warmth of his, Zoro found himself pulling his legs in closer to aid you with this. "It's yours. You said it yourself; it was hard to come by. And I know it was the only reason you were going anywhere near the party." He stared at you for a moment, and then between you and the bottle. Your eyes were closed, so you didn't see his next soft smile. "Well, maybe it wasn't the only reason." You didn't respond, but he saw the smile on your face grow.

By the time he'd finished the drink you were asleep, and even when he moved himself to get a little more comfortable - careful with you still in his arms - you didn't wake. He'd have to be vigilant, glancing to his swords... Just in case anyone did think they were about to come on here and try to mess with you, or the ship. Come to think of it, where were yours...? ‘Ah forget it, I could handle it myself.’ He looked back down to you, peaceful. Pressed up against him, Zoro suddenly noticed how warm you were. How the air had a distinct chill to it the later into the night it became. (Heck, maybe it was early morning now. But there was no way of knowing - especially with none of your crewmates around.) Delicately he brushed some of your hair out of your face, before pressing his lips fleetingly to your forehead. Closing his eyes, he propped his head on top of yours, position of his body protective to your smaller form. He almost laughed to himself - when the hell did something like this happen? "Goodnight, Y/N..." * * *

It was not the scene the crew expected to return to, that was for sure. Looking between each other and trying to determine who might have had any indication that you were in any way a “thing.” Clearly, you and Zoro had been just that good at keeping it under wraps. Not that it mattered much now; nothing could have been more obvious! “What. The. Hell!?” Sanji was the first one to gain anything near composure enough to talk - although not composure in general. Nami and Usopp had to move quickly to hold him back; “I’m going to KILL that moss-head!” “Sanji! No! Wait!!”

Nami internally cursed herself for not being the first one on the ship. If she had been, she could have kept the rest of them away and would have had pretty good ammo for blackmailing you both for Berri. Ah well, no good thinking too much on that now. “I, for one, think it’s sweet.” Sanji scoffed. “Maybe she’ll lighten him up a little! God knows he needs that. Always so damn serious! And unsociable! I would welcome that change.” “Not with her though!” Sanji made another noise of discontent, making Nami sigh. As if Sanji would be fine with Zoro being with any other woman – on this crew or otherwise? She looked back to the scene; cuddled up together and sleeping soundly. It was late - maybe even early - and the air was much cooler than it had been before, rolling in from the sea. “Can one of you get a blanket? Last thing we need is either of them catching a cold!” Luffy - who had just been staring at you up until now, trying to add it all up in his head; it would explain how close you were at the bar but also… - suddenly sprang into life: “I’LL DO IT!” Nami grabbed him, clamping her hand over his mouth, “Stop yelling you idiot! You’ll wake them up!” Sanji actually thought that was a great idea - but he wasn’t exactly the person who was going to go against Nami’s wishes.

Luffy’s version of quiet was more of a shouted whisper, and he sounded out his words in their syllables for emphasis. “Sorry. I’ll get it!” Nami placed her hand against her forehead watching him walk off in big slow steps - she truly was surrounded by idiots. It was a good thing she loved them.

By the time he came back, she’d managed to successfully move Usopp and Sanji on. And once he handed her what she’d asked for, she began ushering Luffy away (which, considering him, ended up only being a few feet further back.) Rolling her eyes, Nami sighed again, unfurling the blanket, and throwing it carefully over you both. She tucked it as much as she thought she’d get away with before it woke you up and stood back admiring her handy work.

Luffy looked between you and her, “Soooo… will they be alright now?!” “I think so…” Nami turned to him, and pushed, “Now will you get out of here and give them some quiet!” “Well, what about you!?” “I’m leaving too! Honestly—!” “Okaaaaay….!!” He protested as if he wasn’t protesting and walked away.

But when Nami turned back, she almost jumped. Zoro’s eyes were open, and he was staring at her. From the expression on his face, she couldn’t tell if he was impressed or not. She decided she’d probably rather not enquire. After a little while of unnerving her on purpose, Zoro closed his eyes again. But he spoke, voice quiet. “Thanks, Nami.” She smirked, because this was her chance. He’d just left that door wide open and she wasn’t missing the opportunity. “You’re welcome. But you guys owe me!” He sighed - knew it! - this much more of discontent, “Of course.”

---

One swordsman down, two to go! 😁 💚🖤💛

#One of the nicest easiest writes and edits for a character ever - he was so kind to me!#OPLA Zoro #OPLA Zoro x Reader #Zoro x Reader #Zoro x Female Reader #Roronoa Zoro x Reader #Roronoa Zoro x Female Reader #You KNOW I got my Johnny and Yosaku reference in there!#A couple of her realisations are actually things I realised reading back where I was like /Aw damn. That was a good one!/#So - that was fun!#Zoro said the title of the fic /roll credits!/#Also I snuck in a Dustin Lynch song title reference!#I was like /there's not really a kiss in this?! Should I add one?/ and then i realised... there's an *indirect* kiss!!#Like... Diet Raleigh. Raleigh 2.0?#/psst/ you KNOW I had to mention the sword sheathing obviously. It's very much a hyperfixation point of Zoro for me.#Something so damn sexy about it that I can't explain?#Like UGH boy... PLEASE 😩

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stinkysam · 6 months

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Vinsmoke Sanji - Confettis.

Warning : alcohol, drunk behavior, puking

Genre : fluff

Synopsis : "sanji taking care of his drunk bf? ૮₍⑅˶•▿•˶⑅₎ა" - @vainillacookie

Reader : gender neutral (you/yours)

He watched to make sure you wouldn't get drunk but you were with Usopp, trying new drinks all the time and as soon as he turned his head you had a new drink in your hands.

Before you could get a new one, Sanji grabbed you, saying you shouldn't drink this much.

"It's fine ! I can walk just fine !" You said, trying to get away. He begrudgingly left you alone, not wanting to be too pushy.

So he left you with Nami, asking her to keep an eye on you but Zoro was there too and you don't remember how but you ended up eating confettis off the floor to prove how "fine" you were.

When Sanji saw that he almost kicked Zoro, grabbing you to pull you away from the confettis.

You whined, upset to be once again stopped in your tracks.

He tried to get you to bed but you refused to lay down, once more saying you were fine and didn't need to rest. Especially not while the others were still partying.

So you went back to the party with Sanji watching your every move, because he can't say 'no' to you for too long.

The only drink you were allowed to have was water. Sipping it while grimacing, watching all the others have fun with their alcohol.

Sadly it didn't stop you from spending your time by the toilets, puking all you had in your stomach while Sanji rubbed your back.

He sighed, knowing this would happen as he tried not to glare at Usopp who was puking in the other toilets.

Usopp knew sweet beverages weren't always the lowest in alcohol, he has met the consequences already yet it didn't stop him from doing it again, thinking that this time it would have a different effect. It didn't.

You were glad Sanji didn't tell you "I told you so.", supporting you quietly in this embarrassing moment as you puked your guts. You wondered how the sound alone of you throwing up didn't stop his feelings for you, how he could stay by your side so sweetly, rubbing soothing circles on your back.

When you felt like it calmed down you pulled away from the toilets, wiping your face with the towel he was holding out.

You huffed and sniffed, catching your breath as you tried to keep your eyes wide open.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. I've done the same." He said, ruffling your hair with a gentle smile. "It's Usopp who should be sorry to bring you into this."

"Nah, I knew it would end like this." You sighed, closing your eyes. "I just wanted more of the tasty drinks." You admitted, a bit ashamed.

Sanji chuckled, shaking his head.

"Come here." He said, moving to rest his back against the wall, gesturing for you to come in his arms.

You slowly moved, a small sheepish smile on your face as you placed yourself between his legs, his arms wrapped around you and his chin resting on your shoulder.

You closed your eyes, laughing a bit as you heard Usopp groan and puke again.

"Never again !" You heard him say before he flopped to the side.

#male reader #m!reader #one piece #one piece x male reader #one piece imagine #one piece live action #opla #opla sanji #opla x male reader #opla imagine #vinsmoke sanji #vinsmoke sanji x male reader #vinsmoke sanji imagine #sanji x reader

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bloodhoundluke · 6 months

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you, forever —❦ luke hemmings

pairing: luke hemmings x ex! reader

description: y/n seems to be finally over luke, but what does she do when he shows up declaring his love for her in the pouring rain? this was requested with the prompts #4 "Please don't cry. I can't stand to see you cry” & #2 “Don’t do this to me” from my prompt list.

warnings: luke being a shitty boyfriend, a break up. angst. slight mentions of insomnia and disordered eating. cursing. a happy ending.

word count: 3,5k.

a/n: now that i am happy with this fic, it's time to publish it! the beginning of this story was heavily inspired by the song ‘moment i knew’ by taylor swift. i hope you like this one! ❤️‍🩹

The broken promises, the events unattended. His lame excuses. They grew a dagger in your heart, which stung time and time again. Your 23rd birthday was no exception.

You hosted a party to celebrate your birthday. You never threw any parties, they weren’t really your scene. Luke was supposed to be there with you, his hands around your waist, wishing you a happy birthday. Against your wishes and his promises, he wasn’t there. Not on time, anyway. Somehow you thought it’d be different this time. Did he even love you like he claimed he did? Did he even care about you? Hell, you even wondered if he was sleeping with someone behind your back.

You tried to have fun, you really did. But as the night dragged on and you chugged down way too many tequilas, you bursted into tears in your bathroom. How could someone, your sorry excuse of a boyfriend, make you feel like this on your god-damn birthday?

It was 4am when Luke showed up behind your front door, and you foolishly opened the door for him. The party was over, and you couldn’t even bear to look him in the eye. It was the same old story, I am so sorry baby, we had to work around a few things in the studio. I love you, let me make it up to you. I promise I’ll do better next time.

You didn’t say a single thing to him as you let him in. Luke went to the bathroom, and as soon as he was out of your sight, tears began streaming down your face. You stood in your kitchen, and looked around. The alcohol-stained balloons, empty beer cans and the remains of confetti reminded you of your relationship with Luke. Sad, broken, bruised.

You sobbed and sobbed, hard enough not to notice Luke walking next to you.

"Please don't cry. I can't stand to see you cry”, he offered you his embrace, which you swore once was warm. And which was something you once wanted more than anything in the world.

You sobbed against his chest. This was the last straw, you promised yourself. You didn’t want to hear his excuses anymore. You had turned a blind eye to his mistakes, always holding onto some tiny glimmer of hope he would change. You defended him time and time again to your friends and family. You loved him more than you loved yourself, and that seemed to be your greatest mistake.

“Don’t do this to me”, you whimpered under his touch, still feeling the endless rivers building up in your eyes. “Do what?”, he proposed the question as if he didn’t have a clue what was going on. His eyebrows frowned, and he bit his bottom lip. You couldn’t believe it really had come to this. You receded from his embrace, breaking the skin contact.

“Pretend everything’s fine. Pretend we’ll be okay”, you swept your tears away, and saw the mascara stains on your hands. You swept them away with the helm of your dress, and wondered what was going through Luke’s mind. Did he even feel bad for missing your birthday party? Did he even understand how terribly he treated you?

“Y/N…”., he enunciated your name as if it was a warning, if there was some line you couldn’t cross.

“You knew this was doomed from the start. You played me along, Luke. I mean, fuck! I thought everything would change. I thought you loved me enough not to miss my own fuckin’ birthday!”.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it”.

“I’m sorry too”, you avoided direct eye contact with him, and left the kitchen with nothing but disappointment and anger. He didn’t even bother to come after you.

And that was the moment you knew.

—❦

The morning approached, and you executed your usual morning routines, only this time with a quicker pace. You could do this, you told yourself. You’ll be okay.

Luke was still sleeping, and you gathered his things from your apartment. The spare t-shirts and underwear. His toothbrush, his Vespa mug. Everything. You wanted to make this as smooth as possible. Not necessarily for him, but for you. You didn’t want him to stay around any longer than necessary. Sleeping with him last night was a mistake, even if you took all the anger into bed with you. You hated and loved him at the same time.

So, when you heard him shuffling in bed, you entered the room and leant against the door with a coffee mug in your hand.

“Hey darling”, he smirked. The man had no idea. You forced a smile, and waited until he was decent and in his Pink Floyd t-shirt and black sweatpants.

“Luke?”.

“Hmmm?”.

“I packed up your things, they are waitin’ for you in the hallway. I want you gone. Out of my life”.

—❦

The beginning was the hardest. The silent screams in the pillow, the loss of appetite. Your sobs echoed through every room in your apartment. There was no escaping him. His eyes, the prettiest blue eyes you had ever witnessed, haunted you wherever you went. Even the god-damn Rainbow Krispies yelled out his name.

You carried his silent optimism with you, his voice reminding you everything would work out just fine. You begged the voice to stop time and time again, but it persisted, clung onto you tightly.

For the first three months you couldn’t even say his name out loud, yet alone hear it coming from someone else’s mouth. It sounded wrong, the way they said it. Luke was supposed to come from your mouth, with your accent, with your tone of voice.

Slowly but surely, you started to see the world through realism-infused glasses. You didn’t think about him the first thing in the morning and the last thing before going to bed. You were okay. You didn’t need his love. Instead, you needed your own. A glimpse of hope was staring at you, you just hadn’t seen it before.

—❦

The past few years had treated you well, and you had gotten the job of your dreams. Everything was moving smoothly, and you were excited for what the future held for you. You were still living in the same apartment, but you had renovated it to look more like you. The white living room walls were now replaced with the beautiful shade of juniper, and your decor had shifted from a Scandinavian style to a more earthly and antique-appreciating English countryside.

You had stayed out of relationships. Sure, you had gone to a few dates, but you never wanted to build anything serious with them. You considered them more like irregular hook-ups, not official dates. You decided to be on your own. You had everything you needed; friends, family and a job you enjoyed.

You were returning from work, and it was pouring rain. You held an umbrella over your head whilst Bon Iver was blasting through your AirPods. Thankfully it was a short walk to your apartment from the metro station.

A figure of a man, supposedly, sat in front of your apartment complex. Maybe he was lost. Maybe he forgot his keys inside. Maybe he was a creep. Shit. You grabbed your umbrella tighter as you reached him.

And then you understood. Dark pants. A worn out leather jacket. Converse. Light, curly hair. A beautiful face, sculpted by the gods, was staring at you. It couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be.

Luke.

It really was him.

You glared at him, and took your earphones off in shock, placing them in their case. Luke got up from the staircase, and you both stared at each other for a while.

The rain was pouring down, and the man hadn't even bothered to bring an umbrella with him. He pulled his soaking wet hair back with his hands and you couldn't understand why your ex-boyfriend was voluntarily hanging out in front of your apartment complex, in a weather like this.

“What are you doing here?”, you quivered and held your bag tightly against your body.

“I’m here to get my girl back”, he shoved his hands into his leather jacket pockets, and studied your face with a somewhat melancholic smile on his face.

“What are you talkin’ about?”, you asked, your tone nonchalant.

“I’m here to get you back. Or attempt it, I don’t know. I fucked up, Y/N, big time. And many times. And-”

Didn't he think it was a bit too late for that? “Luke, stop”, you interrupted him. You didn’t want to hear it, he had smashed your heart into pieces. He didn’t get to apologize to you. You didn’t want him to have any power over you. And it wasn’t fair how he showed up and reminded of his existence, just now when you were finally ready to open your heart to someone new.

“Y/N, please? Hear me out”.

“Fuck you”, you cursed at him, and pondered walking away from him. But you stood in your place, hoping he could see the hurt on your face.

“Okay, I deserved that. Is there more?��, he tilted his head slightly, and his eyes bored into yours.

“What do you mean?”, you gritted your teeth.

“Just fuckin’ yell at me, get it out of your system. Curse at me, tell me the things you hate about me”.

“If you came here for this, leave…please”, you begged.

“No, no, no, I didn’t. I’m sorry. Shit. Uh…just give me a second, hear me out”.

“Okay”. You’d hear what he had to say, and then you’d leave him in the pouring rain. And you wouldn’t see him ever again. That was the plan.

“I, I know this might not mean anything to you, after I treated you, but it has always been you, Y/N. After all these years, you are the only one I have ever truly loved. Hell, I still love you. I still remember your favorite songs and the way you like your tea. How you like your eggs in the morning, and how you hate almond milk…And shit, I just, I need to get this off my chest. I am, still, so foolishly in love with you it’s unbearable. I want you, I want us back”.

You looked at him with sorrow in your eyes. When you tried to say something, the words escaped your lips, leaving you powerless.

As tumultuous your and Luke’s relationship was and despite the times you convinced yourself you hated him, you still caught yourself missing him and the relationship sometimes. But this…this felt a bit too much for you to handle right now.

“Say something, please….Anything”.

“I don’t know Luke. I mean, you hurt me. Time and time again. I don’t know if I want to go through that pain again”.

“I know”, he sighed. “Do you still love me?”.

“Despite everything, yes”, you sighed.

“So isn’t it obvious? If you love me, and I love you? Doesn’t that mean we should give it another go?”.

“But sometimes love isn’t enough, Luke. Love doesn’t fix everything, I thought you knew that”.

“I know you are cautious, and I don’t blame you. I put you through hell, I know. And if this makes me sound like a broken record, so be it… I fuckin’ love you, Y/N. I have always loved you. Just you. Nothing will change that. Not even the years in between that I haven’t seen you. Not even the fact that I am not the same person who I was those years ago, when I treated you like shit. When I made you cry every night. I remember it well, Y/N, I haven’t forgotten. It seems you are impossible to forget”.

“I think you are impossible to forget too, Luke”, you sighed again. “I just….I don’t really know what to say to you. I don’t even know what’s going inside my head right now. I…I need a moment to figure everything out”.

“I’ll wait for you”, he promised.

You took quick glances at each other in the rain, and a small smile crept upon Luke’s lips. You were soaking wet, and wanted to go inside. Against all your instincts, you invited him into your apartment.

“Are you sure?”.

“Yeah”.

“Really?”.

“Come on in before I change my mind”.

—❦

Luke hadn't been in your apartment in three years, and his sudden presence in your own space felt a bit nerve-wracking. Only if he saw that you had kept the mugs he once bought you. And his Blink-182 shirt that you never bothered to give him back. And the necklace hanging on the bathroom shelf that he had bought you on your 2nd anniversary.

You had changed to a dry set of clothes, and offered Luke a towel to dry himself up.

Luke sat next to you on your living room couch, as far as he could on the limited space of the two-seater. The silence was unbearable, it was eating you up. You had rehearsed every little thing you would say to him when you’d see him, but now it felt like the thoughts you once had escaped you the very moment you tried to reach them.

You had offered him tea, and were drinking some chamomile tea yourself. A few candles were burning on the top of your coffee table, next to a pile of books and the coffee mug you had left there this morning.

Would you really go through this with him again? Was it worth the try? Was it foolish that a small part of you thought it could work out this time? Did he really mean everything he said? Could he support his words with his actions?

“When you said you aren’t the same person you were before, did you mean it?”, you asked, and blew the tea slightly before drinking it.

“I did”.

“What did you mean by it?”, you placed the tea mug at the top of the coffee table. You looked at the candle burning beside it whilst Luke talked.

“That I’ve grown. I am not a stupid 24 year old anymore, Y/N. I know what’s important in life. I know what kind of man I want to be, and I am trying to reach that everyday”, he explained with a certain softness in his voice. This Luke was patient, calm; not like the passive-aggressive Luke you once knew.

“So growing up has changed you, huh?”, you frowned your eyebrows, and studied his hair, which had been bleached. You liked this look on him, he looked refreshed. And more mature.

“And losing you”.

Your lips parted slightly at the comment and you noticed how he was fiddling with his ring that adorned his left index finger. He still did that.

“Luke…”, he looked up to you as he heard his name, and you continued, “why didn’t you fight for me?”.

The narrative in your head that you had created through the years was that he didn’t love or care about you enough. That he had lied to you every time you went to bed, when he whispered those three little words to you.

“Because I knew you deserved something better. It was the right thing for me to do'', he offered you a sad smile.

You swallowed loudly, his words getting a hold of you. You were fighting off the tears, not wanting to show Luke how much it was still hurting.

“But now, I know, or fuckin’ desperately hope I am the man you deserve”.

“Do you really think it could work out this time? Us?”.

“Yes.”

“How can you be so sure?”.

“‘Cause I am a stupidly huge hopeless romantic, I suppose”, he let out a small chuckle. Your lips curved into a smile, “And let me guess, you’re stupidly, hopelessly in love with me?”.

“You took the words out of my mouth”, he chuckled as you chuckled along with him. You had missed this. Hearing his adorable laughter. And laughing with him, hearing the sounds of your laughter blending in together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“If we do this, hypothetically, of course, we should take it slow. Like extra slow?”.

”Yeah, of course. We wouldn’t want to rush a good thing, would we?”.

You smiled at his words, pleased with the fact he was on the same page as you. You would have never guessed, not even in a million years, that you’d discuss rekindling your old flame with the man that once tore up your heart. And that something inside you told you to trust him this time around.

”Luke?”.

”Tell me”.

”I’ve missed you”, you confessed as if it was a sin, something you shouldn’t say out loud. Something that you could be punished for.

”I’ve missed you too, Y/N”.

Something in you, some unimaginable force, wanted to throw yourself into his arms, and kiss him like you had never been apart.

You could feel the tears forming in your eyes, and as you looked how soft and angelic Luke looked next to you, the tears began to stream down your face.

”Hey, hey… what’s going on, sweetheart?”, he inched towards you, and like a magnetic pull, you closed the gap between you. The proximity didn’t make you nervous, it felt like something that was bound to happen.

”I just..uh, fuck… I don’t know”, you managed to answer through the tears, ”Can you… hold me?”. He nodded, opened his arms and you placed your head against his beating chest. He wrapped his arms around you and your sobs grew more silent. He fondled your arm with his other hand, and you felt his face squished against your shoulder.

”Feeling better?”.

”Yeah. I’m sorry, I was just a bit overwhelmed, I guess”.

”Don’t worry about it. I get it”, he still stroked your arm gently, comforting you just the way you needed.

It all started to make sense. His light stubble against your bare shoulder, your black tank top perfectly matching with his, your steadily beating heart.

You backed away from his embrace, the sides of your legs still touching one another. You sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, your fingers playing along with his, until Luke cleared his throat.

”My mom asked about you the other day, by the way. Well, she didn’t really ask, I suppose, but she wished you were doing good. She loves you, y’know. You always knew how to make her laugh. And she loved how you used to watch The Bachelor with her, now no one wants to do it. And gosh, she never stops complaining about that, I mean -”

You pressed your tear-infused lips on Luke’s, and it took him a while to figure out what hell was going on, and when did, he brushed his lips softly against yours. His hands moved to hold your face and you placed your own behind the back of his neck. You started to grin into the kiss, you couldn’t help it, and soon realized Luke was doing the same as your teeth clashed along with his. A few giggles escaped both of your mouths, and you could practically feel the blood rushing through your veins. Luke closed the small gap between your lips, and for a while, you sat there in each other’s proximity.

”I want to try again, Luke”, you looked deeply into his baby blue eyes and found a sense of comfort in them.

”I want to do that too.. not like it was obvious or something”, he giggled. You loved his sudden nervousness, it was adorable. A large grin spread across your face, and faded as soon as you remembered the reality of your and Luke’s situation. Like you said it yourself, love doesn’t fix anything, not on its own. Did you and Luke have what it takes to make your relationship work again?

”How do we do… this?”.

”I don’t think there’s a manual for this, but we’ll figure it out together”, he kissed your temple.

So you promised each other you’d do everything in your power to make your relationship work again. That night you made up for the lost time, and talked about everything that had been going on in each other’s lives. You babbled about your work, and he listened to you like your voice was his favorite sound. He showed you his tattoos which he had gotten, and the lotus quickly became your favorite. You shared your traveling stories, and he told you what it was like to be on tour. And when you got emotional about missing him for so long, he got emotional too. And suddenly you were sobbing against each other, your legs entangled with his and his lips brushing over yours.

And when you woke up the next morning, with Luke’s arm hanging around your torso, you knew you had made the right choice.

#luke hemmings fanfic #luke hemmings imagine #luke hemmings x y/n #luke hemmings x reader #luke hemmings fluff #luke hemmings x you #5sos fanfiction #5sos imagine #5sos fanfic #luke hemmings angst

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daisybianca · 1 year

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pairing: lewis hamilton x femalereader

summary: it's the last race of the season and lewis wins his 8th title. you are his precious girlfriend, but... you're scared of publicity and that people might ruin your defectless relationship with him. plot twist; love is greater than fear.

warnings: mostly fluff, some angst, anxiety

(a/n): God knows how much I loved writing this. Also, I know Lewis hasn't gained his 8th title... (yet)

FIREWORKS EXPLODED, transferring illumination up to the sky, along with the bright stars of the night.

After the F1 drivers finished their donuts at the end of the last game of the season, the crowd was so deafing. People screamed, hugged each other and the atmosphere was so beautiful.

And that was all due to one reason.

Your boyfriend had won the Championship.

Sir Lewis Hamilton was a Champion of the World after a few years of hard-working attempts to win.

Your beloved father, Toto, came from behind, embracing you and whispering close to your ears so that his words would be listened. "You're the reason he managed to win his 8th title tonight. I hope you know that, sweetie."

It was so hard, attempting not to let the tears that had been burning your eyes since Lewis passed the finishing line and confetti and fireworks were noticeable in the chilly atmosphere of the night.

So you gave in, letting the tears fall as your father let you go, walking towards somewhere else, and following the team's people.

It seemed like the drivers had exited their vehicles and went to greet their families and loved ones.

You eyed Leclerc a few feet away running to his mother's embrace, after managing to finish second.

You glanced at Max, Perez, Carlos and the others drivers.

You could see everyone, but the one you wanted to meet was nowhere to be seen.

Searching behind you, the team was jumping up and down, hugging and cheering.

There were so many flashing lights and your blured vision didn't really make it easy to fathom the circumstances and celebrations occurring just in front of you.

Approaching Mercedes' team, your father's tall figure sticked out hugging the familiar man you had been searching for.

Black-suited and with his colorful helmet reflecting the fireworks up on the sky, Lewis let go of your father and the ather team members.

As soon as his eyes focused on you through the helmet, there was no man that would stop him.

People tried to grab his arm, pushing him to them, but there wasn't a single chance he would let this moment pass by without you by his side.

"Hey," Lewis ran to you, stopping a few inches away. He wasn't sure if you were okay with him showing affection in front of all those cameras and paparazzi.

The truth, on the contrary...

Was that you didn't give a single fuck.

The man you loved most in your life was experiencing one of the most intense, beautiful moments of his life. No way you would let your fear of publicity ruin it for him.

Private but not secret, you remembered.

"I'm so proud of you." You sobbed, falling into Lewis' arms. He held you like he never wanted to let go.

He had admitted multiple times before that through your support and love, he would manage to get the title that was taken from him back some day.

And he did. He always kept his promises.

His grip on you tightened even more when cameras clicked around you both and flashing lights appeared.

It was one of the most terrifying moments of your life, but simultaneously you never wanted it to come to a finale.

He was your boyfriend and there wasn't a single chance you would let anyone destroy that.

Not the people, not the haters, not his female fans...

"I couldn't find you before. I was busy crying, I'm sorry." You admitted and Lewis laughed.

You'd love to give him a kiss at that moment. Although the helmet only made things a lot more difficult.

"It's okay," Your boyfriend cupped your cheeks with his big, sweaty hands, and you tried to get closer, wrapping your hands around his neck. "If you can't find me, I always find you, right?"

Even though you couldn't analyze his facial expressions because of the helmet, you knew he was smiling underneath it. You also knew it wasn't a fake smile. You could hear it from the unsteadiness of his voice. It was authentic and genuine. Just like he used to be with you at the coziness of your home and each other's company.

"Take off your helmet." You pronounced.

"What?" Lewis titled his head in an attempt to hear you. The crowd was encircling you in a suffocating way.

"Take off that thing." You tapped the helmet with your fingers. You would push it off his head by yourself, but you didn't want to hurt him by doing any accidental moves. "I wanna kiss you."

Lewis let go of you.

You both knew this moment would come eventually.

He had discussed with you about the WAGS of the paddock and how they preferred to show off their relationships with the drivers... you were nothing like that.

You needed privacy.

But right there, right now...

Privacy wasn't even an option.

And even if it was... you wouldn't choose it.

Lewis, an 8-times-F1-World-Champion, took off his helmet.

You looked at him, all sweaty and soaked.

He hesitated, not wanting to make the first move because he knew how you felt about all those flashing lights around you.

So after a hell of a few seconds that seemed like an eternity to you, you grabbed his neck and pushed him down to you.

You hadn't experienced anything like this before.

The flashes around you were limitless. You felt like you were transfered to heaven by the Gods themselves.

But you didn't care.

You felt Lewis smile between the brief kiss. He didn't pull away. He wouldn't. But he wasn't kissing you back. So you had to insist a little bit because he was occupied smiling.

Ugh, what a dumbass.

"Lewis?" You spoke.

He smile grew wider.

"Yes, love?"

Oh, that British accent...

It undoubtedly did things to you.

"Will you do me a favor, please?" You asked.

"Anything, angel."

You looked around, making sure the cameras were paused as you gave up a sign so they could capture the upcoming moment.

"Kiss me like no one's watching."

A second passed.

They turned into two.

Three.

Lewis Hamilton stared into your eyes and smiled, exuding security, love, respect, safety and patience.

He breathed and your mouths collided into an infinite and passionate battle.

The flickers were dazzling.

You saw a tear roll down Lewis' cheek when he finally pulled away.

You needed a moment before opening your eyes again.

He tightened his grip on his beautiful helmet as he handed it to you, gesturing you to put it on.

With a little assistance from him, you did.

It suited you like it never belonged to him.

"This is yours now," He murmured and smiled so that no one else could hear his words. "Just like my heart."

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savemeafruitjuice · 3 months

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I feel like not enough people know about Popee the Performer, and after searching, there is little to no tickle content of them, so I'll change that.

here is my contribution to this weird little show!

lee! Popee

ler! Kedamono

TW: Back injury, contortionism

Another morning in the deserted circus, the sun bright as ever and a new act for the ringmaster and sidekick to perform was being set up. Kedamono was seated on a stool as the blonde was pointing to a large board with bold text stating 'Contortionism'.

Popee flipped through various pictures of people in absurd positions, jumping up and down excitedly as the purple wolf's mask fell to reveal a concerned look. Suddenly, Popee tapped the board, then motioning to Kedamono to copy the arrangement. Another mask fell as Kedamono shook his head, hands waving in front of him before turning to run away.

He only made it a few steps before a familiar scent wafted towards him. The purple animal whipped around, face featuring a happy expression as his tail wagged. Popee held a plate of fried chicken in front of his face, knowing the bribe would always work.

Kedamono was snapped out of his trance as the food was moved, realizing he still had to participate in the act. Now nervous, he stretched his arms up, preparing to attempt the pose. He began to bend backwards, hands eventually meeting the ground as the wolf's body resembled an 'n'.

Everything was going according to plan so far! Popee stood back and watched as his "friend" continued to scoot back, hands inching towards his own legs. He was so close! He might actually do it!

The wolf's body bent slightly more, the tension in the circus building. Everything looked fine until...

Craack!

Kedamono fell to the ground, clutching his injured back as Popee fumed. The ringleader stomped his feet and pointed to Kedamono, a look of shame overcoming his previously pained expression.

The striped-clothed circus member rushed over to the other, plate of fried chicken in hand. Kedamono looked up hopefully, only to yelp as Popee threw the plate into a nearby garbage can.

The ringleader sighed, calming himself before motioning to himself with a look that said, 'If you can't do this, watch me instead'. Stepping back, Popee shook out his limbs, preparing to atempt the stunt. Kedamono rose, watching pitifully as the other bent backwards, getting into the designated position, and finally flinging his leg in the air, successfully completing the pose.

Confetti appeared from seemingly nowhere as Kedamono clapped, only for a drawn out moment of silence left the two rather awkward. Something wasn't right. Popee's arms shook under his own weight, but couldn't seem to dislodge himself from the position. Worried looks overcame the both of them as Kedamono made his way over, carefully examining how Popee's body had locked in place.

A thought came to the purple one. Maybe it wouldn't even work, maybe it would get him killed, but boy, if it wasn't a fun idea.

The wolf-critter crept behind his companion, pretending to continue examining the other, poking at his leg still in the air, before prodding at the other's torso, causing Popee to wiggle around. Kedamono decided to continue, poking and tweaking until finally...

THUMP!

Popee lost his balance, wobbling arms dropping him to the ground as he lay, his body a little crumpled but thankfully not injured. After a few moments, Popee sat up, rubbing his head before making eye-contact with his assistant. The look quickly turned to a glare however as Kedamono slowly backed away, arms raised in front of him before dashing off, Popee not so far behind.

Yeah... probably not the best idea, but at least it worked?

WAAAH! I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! I had a complete burnout and couldn't bring myself to write, but I really hope this is okay! 😥😥 I'm going to try to write some more, so I'll probably post another fic in a little while. It's going to be on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as that is my hyperfixation for the time being, so if you want me to write for that, I would be ecstatic to! I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

#ptp tickle #popee the performer tickle #ptp #popee the performer #lee Popee #ler Kedamono

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the-offside-rule · 1 year

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Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - L'hymne a L'amour

Requested: on wattpad

Prompt: L'hymne a L'amour by Edith Piaf

Warnings: It's just very sad and I'm very sorry in advance

Y/n sat looking at herslf in the large mirror, as the beautiful white wedding dress reached to the floor. She swore she was about to cry but no, her mascara was too expensive for that to happen. "You look beautiful." Y/n's mother said through tears. Her baby was all grown up. "Mum, please don't cry. Then I'm going to cry." Y/n smiled, engulfing her in a huge hug. "I know. I just can't believe it's finally happening." She cried. "Well, finally. We've been through a lot to finally get here but we're here!" Y/n chirped. Her mother nodded her head and reached into her purse. "Just before I go, I have a gift for you and when I say 'I'-" she paused and handed Y/n a letter, an old looking letter by the look of it. There were a few stains on it, presumably from tea or coffee which smudged the ink but she could still make out what it said. To Y/n, on her wedding day. She looked up to her mother, after recognising the writing and already felt the tears pricking her eyes. "He wrote it before he passed on and told me not to elt you have it until your wedding day." Y/n's head dropped down to the letter once again. "I'll leave you alone darling." her mother said before walking out to join the rest of the Church. Y/n just stared at it. Sje didn't want to open it but yet here her hands were, shakily ripping the seal open to look at the paper inside. Y/n gasped as some confetti spilled out but quickly laughed at her dad's sense of humour. She began reading. There was no going back now.

My little princess,

You better be reading this on your wedding day, or else your mother can't hide anything even if I left her instructions. I've long awaited for this day to come but just in case I didn't make it, enjoy your wedding day my darling. Its about time that driver Pierre got down on one knee and proposed! He used to talk so me about marrying you, so much so that I thought I'd live to see the day. Listen, before you're let walk down the aisle, I told Pierre to do something before I passed away and it's something I'm sure you will absolutely love. You'll notice it immediately darling, I promise so do me a favour. Go and marryg the love of your life, love like your life depends on it and don't ever, ever forget that you'll always be my little girl, no matter how old you get.

I love you my darling,

Dad

Y/n felt the tears behind her eyes as sje read the words in her mind. A lot had happened since he died. For one, she wasn't with Pierre anymore. They both lost the spark and Pierre was always away so they just decided to go seperate ways but not a day went by without her thinking of him and vice versa. Y/n folded the letter and stuffed it into her bouquet of flowers, making sure to keep it close to her and walked out. Y/n smiled to herrself, but it soon disappeared once her eyes met the bouncing blue eyes of the man she once loved. "Pierre?" Y/n whispered. Pierre smiled at her lightheartedly and nodded. "It's me princesse. I have to admit, I'm a little sad I didn't get an invitation." Y/n's lips curled into a small smile. "I didn't think you'd waste your time." she chuckled. "I would never count this as wasting my time princesse." The two were silent for a minute, neither knowing what to say. "Who's the lucky guy?" Pierre asked first, breaking the silence. "His name is Joshua. He's a really nice guy." Y/n replied. "That's nice. You always deserved the best."

"So why are you here?" she asked, cutting straight to the point. Pierre's eyes fell onto her. Oh how gorgeous she looked in white. Just a shame it wasn't for him. "Don't you remember my promise?" Y/n shook her head. What promise? "I promised I'd walk by your side on your wedding day. I always keep my promises princesse."

"You really do. Don't you?" Pierre hummed and looked away from her. It was paining him a little to see her ready to walk down the aisle to her future husband. He always thought it would be him, even when they broke up he always had that little voice telling him they would get back together at some stage but no. All that hope was simply crushed in the church. "Well, we're going to be late. Are you ready to walk down the aisle?" Y/n looked at him. His smile was completely fake and his once bubbly blue eyes had now grown cold. "Pierre, you don't have to walk me down." She reassured him. "No princesse, there's something I have to do. Not only did I promise you this but I also promised your father this too." Y/n furrowed her eyebrows. "I promised I'd always take care of you so here I am Y/n, pledging, promising that no matter the occasion, no matter the reason, no matter the weather, day, year, no matter what, I'll always be here for you." Y/n finally let a few tears drop down her cheek. "I know you will. He said in his letter there'll be something I will understand but I still don't get it." She admitted.

Pierre looked down at the cuffs of his suit and lifted them up to show her two beautiful silver cufflinks. "He asked me to wear his cufflings on your wedding day. He had a lot of requests, that being the last princesse." Y/n's face softened as she looked towards the door. "So now are we ready?" he asked. Y/n linked her arm with his and nodded confidently. "Always with you by my side."

"Always."

#f1 oneshots #f1 oneshot #f1 blurb #f1 imagine #pierre gasly x reader #pierre gasly x you #pierre gasly x y/n #pierre gasly

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killian-whump · 2 months

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Okay... so there's a new Colin interview here. It's a joint interview with Rothberg, so be warned of that if he's someone you can't stand. Like all of us. We all can't stand him.

ANYWAY. Moving on. I'm going to put my thoughts about it here, because I have a lot of thoughts - some good, some not-so-good, and I like to share them. Plus, I'm a little bored.

Colin says this about the TSR show: "I love music, I love acting, I love film, and it was an opportunity to get to speak to some really incredible creators and stuff like that, so it was a lot of fun." Which is exactly what I've thought all along - he's in it for the fun of talking to some rock stars about topics he loves. No news there.

He talks more about the interviews and interviewing and the interviewees and... if you're seeing a trend here, I don't think that's on accident. It's obvious this is what Colin's involvement is about. I don't honestly think he could care less about the tech aspects of the project.

Which is why, predictably, as soon as they start talking tech nonsense, they switch to talking to Rothberg. He babbles some bullshit, throwing tech buzzwords around like confetti, then tries to drag Colin into his bullshit by reminding everyone he's a producer on the show: "Having his tutorage, you know, and I've worked in the industry for many years, but his insights into producing is mind-blowing. It was something I was actually shocked to actually see the levels of his knowledge and his foresight, and it has really kept the team going."

Now listen. Being a "producer" on a project can mean anything from nothing to everything, and we don't know where the truth lies - but I don't see Rothberg giving Colin much creative control here at all. Maybe - Maybe - when it comes to the actual interviews and the people/subjects they choose to focus on - you know, the interview stuff Colin's interested in here that Rothberg doesn't seem to give two shits about. But the rest of this project, all the parts we don't like, I highly doubt Colin's leading the team on that front. But nice try at trying to make it sound like he's involved in your tech bro nonsense, Rothberg. Nice try.

And then Colin interrupts Rothberg with, "I only played it down so that he'd say something nice about me. That’s all." Classic Colin being Colin and saying Colin things. But... we also know why he played it down, lol. We know, baby. It's okay. We love you.

So then they start talking about Colin's music career and Rothberg says, "We have very big exciting plans for Colin’s music stuff."

NO YOU DON'T.

BITCH, YOU DON'T.

Don't you touch my baby's music stuff. Don't you even breathe on it. Don't you look at it. It's not for you. I swear to God, if you taint his lovely musical offerings with your money-grubbing douchebag ways, I will hunt you down and do terrible things to you. I'm so upset right now, I cannot even think of terrible things to do to you, but believe me, I will think of them and do them and you will be sorry.

O'Donoghue just laughed, "I’m saying we’ll see. That’s what I’m saying." Oh. Oh, okay. That's Colin-speak for no. Whew. Do not let that man have anything to do with anything he doesn't already have his hands on, Colin.

I need a moment. I need to calm down. Dear God. I need a drink. Maybe a long vacation. I'm too old for this shit.

Anyway, so Rothberg goes on some more about the Metaverse and all these big plans about immersive games and meet-and-greets and a bunch of other things that are on the "roadmap" - a word that basically means nothing in meta-speak, because 95% of the things on it will never, ever happen. Tech bros are basically selling you the idea of things they could do - even though most of them are impossible and/or not financially feasible. He adds, "Of course, there'll be all kinds of wonderful retail opportunities." because of course there will be. If he could get away with it, he'd stick Colin in a box on a street corner and charge people a grand a pop just to look at him.

Then the interview gets to something actually interesting - Once Upon a Time. Even Colin gets visibly interested at this point: 'I also shared that I had purchased a prop from Once Upon a Time a few years ago. It wasn't particularly exciting (Liam Jones' enlistment papers from "Good Form"), but O'Donoghue instantly lit up.' This is why we love this precious cupcake. He wears his heart on his sleeve and when he loves something, you know it.

He takes the interviewer on an adorable tour of the stuff he took from the Once set that I think we're all jealous of. And he goes into what the interviewer calls a "passionate description" about the show and what it means to people and how much it means to him that he was able to be a part of it and... You know what? I'm just gonna say what I already said: When he loves something, you know it.

They talk about the possibility of a reunion (and nothing he says here is indicative of one in the works, so settle yourselves down) and Rothberg chimes in that they could do the reunion in the metaverse and Colin replies, "Or a reunion in the metaverse. But, look, what was great about Once Upon a Time..." which translates to:

Have I mentioned lately that I fucking love him?

The interview continues with more of Colin talking about his experiences on Once and... Look. It's obvious where his heart is and where it isn't - and overall, this is a good and fun interview with Colin, minus the parts where Rothberg and his dumb ideas have any part in what's going on.

And yes, we're going to keep dunking on Rothberg forever, because he's a coward who never once addressed those of us who were speaking out about the n-f-t nonsense for months - but then attacked someone speaking out for the first time because he thought he saw weakness in her that he could exploit and mock. In doing so, he exposed himself as an ableist asshole to us all, and I have no respect whatsoever for him. Also, you fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. We don't put up with bullies in this fandom.

But we sure do love Colin, and that hasn't changed.

And this project is all about using Colin's likeability, Once's popularity, and Colin's already-existing fanbase to prop up and fund Rothberg's tech bro fantasies. That hasn't changed, either.

But Colin knows what's up. We know what's up. We can enjoy the Colin goodness where it shines through and toss the rest.

#colin o'donoghue #purposely not tagging this #with anything else #except #tsr debacle

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zhonyua · 4 months

Text

birthday

neuvillette birthday fic.

context: there is something wrong with everyone today. neuvillette wonders what's happening.

content: my pookie's birthday, he needs some love. spoilers for fontaine archon quest. very small fic.

neuvillette was busy as always. he went to work earlier than normal, since he was in need of some distraction after everything that happened.

he sighed softly, reviewing some documents another time, to make sure they were correctly signed and read.

suddenly, a hurried knock on the door made him look up.

"come in." his voice sounded too loud to his ears, but he tried to ignore that.

a melusine opened the door and peeked at him, taking a deep breath before entering the place and walking - the fastest that her little legs could walk - towards his desk.

"monsieur neuvillette, pardon my intrusion but there's something happening outside!" she looked nervous and that made neuvillette furrow his eyebrows.

"something happening? what do you mean by that, sedene?" he asked the little melusine who cleared her throat and pointed to the door.

"i can't explain by words, you need to see it!" her little hands moved frenetically in front of her.

"alright, please calm down, sedene." neuvillette got up, walking towards the melusine and patting her head with his hands, trying to calm her down.

she rushed to grab his hand and pull him outside of palais mermonia. he seemed even more confused and concerned, following the melusine around.

it was a sunny day, i mean, before neuvillette got worried. now it was more like a cloudy day, the sun being hidden by the clouds.

when they both left palais mermonia, neuvillette's eyes met the traveler and paimon, who were waiting for him with an impatient look on their faces.

"monsieur, finally you're here." the traveler, lumine, hurried to meet him.

"traveler, what seems to be the problem?" neuvillette looked at her with concern in his eyes, before looking around to check his surroundings. everything looked perfectly fine.

"oh, it's terrible! it's horrible!" paimon flew in circles around them, her little hands on her head.

"i'm sorry, monsieur, but you need to see it with your own eyes." lumine said and ran towards the opposite side, paimon flying behind her. neuvillette blinked a few times before following her.

something terrible must have happened. the sky was already changing to a darker color, matching the worries in neuvillette's mind.

when he finally reached lumine, everyone was there. furina, wriothesley, siggewine, navia, clorinde, lumine and paimon. even some melusines too.

before he could even ask what was the matter, everyone shouted at the same time.

"surprise!"

lots of confetti flew in the air, falling on his hair and clothes. his eyes widened. he felt even more confused than before.

"w-what?" it was all that he could say.

"did you really think we would forget about your birthday?" furina laughed, patting his shoulder and smiling brightly.

birthday?

oh right, it was his birthday.

his eyes softened in understanding.

"oh." he whispered, making furina laugh even more.

"oh, poor neuvillette! he really thought something bad had happened!" she covered her mouth while mocking him and lumine shook her head, smiling.

"sorry, monsieur. but we knew that you wouldn't leave palais mermonia unless something really serious had happened." she said, giving a little box to him.

"i couldn't miss your birthday for nothing, so of course i managed to come too!" siggewine said, giving him a gift too.

"happy birthday, neuvillette. fontaine wouldn't be the same without you." wriothesley said, his usually serious face warming up in a small smile.

soon, everyone talked to him, giving him gifts and pats in his shoulder.

the sky was already clean again. the sun shining brightly and happily up there.

neuvillette looked at everyone, his friends, having fun, laughing and talking.

maybe it wasn't so bad to create bonds among mortals. maybe it wasn't so bad to have friends.

a small smile perked up on his lips.

#neuvillette #fluffy #genshin impact #my pookie #happy birthday my love #small fic sorry i was busy

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sharksouth · 9 months

Text

But You Don't Know Love - katsbug AO3

note: hiii, so im katsbug on ao3 :3. i wrote this and decided to post this here a million years later

Kenny's laying on the loveseat, Marjorine is beside him. There's lights, fog, confetti, the smell of beer, and everything is loud.

It's loud and Kyle doesn't like it.

It's loud

... it's so loud.

And it's cramped.

Kyle doesn't know where Stan is, but he figures what Stan is probably most likely doing.

He sits in the chair closest to Kenny and Marj.

"So... how are you guys...?" His ears are ringing.

"Ah, we're doing fine. Ken has had... a bit to drink. And I, well, I've just been here."

Kyle thinks for a moment. "Understandable, this isn't really my type of scene, but Stan drags me here anyway. He always walks off and leaves me."

"Why do you show up?" Marj asks.

"I just figured he needs company..."

"But if he's out here leavin' you all the time--he wouldn't need company."

"I know. I just don't know what to say. I just like to talk to--"

"To see. You just like to see him. Especially when y'all don't talk at these parties." Marjorine was quick to correct Kyle.

Stan had a behavior of making Kyle go to the parties only to leave him and walk off somewhere with Wendy. It always happened. Over and over again.

Over and

over and

over and-

"Kyle?"

He looks to see Marjorine waving her hand in his face. He clears his throat.

"Sorry." He mumbles.

"It's alright, but you need to stop gettin' so hung up on Stan. You deserve better."

Kenny leans forward on the loveseat and looks at Kyle. He's silent for a moment. His hard glare makes Kyle nervous.

He speaks.

"He runs circles around you." That's all he says.

Marj joins in what Kenny was saying. "You don't even have a clue. He'll never even know how you feel."

Kenny offers Kyle a drink.

Kyle accepts.

He downs it like someone were after it.

And suddenly his chest burns.

He drinks more.

The burning feels a little lighter. And he feels great. He leans back in his chair, he's relaxed, he's not thinking for once. Everything seems brighter. He looks ahead of him and sees two familiar heads.

And everything stops.

It's all frozen but.

They're still walking towards him, and everything else is still.

They keep on walking.

Kyle is only able to muster one word, one name, and that's "S-Stan?"

Stan and Wendy near him and they look messy.

It hurts. This hurts him.

Kyle stares for a moment, Stan speaks.

"Oh dude... have you seen yourself? You don't look great."

"J-just- hiccup- take m-me home." Kyle wants to leave. Bad. He doesn't feel like he's in control and the burning is back. And he wants to rip it out of his chest. It's uncomfortable and it hurts. He stands up and nearly falls back into his chair.

He's overwhelmed. He wants to cry and so he does. He's not embarrassed, he doesn't care.

Wendy has already walked off, so when Stan and Kyle reach the exit, Kyle flips a bird in the direction where he thinks Wendy is. They're exiting the building and the tension is thick.

It's uncomfortable.

Stan tries to lighten the mood. "Hey, look at the stars. Aren't they pretty bright?"

Kyle grumbles in response. "Can't tell tonight, or even care."

Stan halts and turns around. "Okay, dude, what the fuck is your problem?"

Kyle stares at him in disbelief, his eyes wide. "'My problem'? What is my problem?! What the fuck is wrong with you? You don't even- you don't even care about me!" Kyle shoves Stan backward.

"What are you talking about?" Stan balances himself and walks towards Kyle.

"Y-You drag me to all of these parties and you n-never spend time with me! I don't understand you."

The tension is worse now, Kyle wants to scream, throw up, and cry.

Tears begin to slip from his eyes in an attempt to secretly drown him. "Y-you don't care about me!" He's crying. He weakly beats Stan's chest. Stan softens.

"No... dude. I care about you." Stan grabs Kyle's wrists to stop him, he then wraps his arms around Kyle's shoulders.

Kyle freezes. Stan is hugging him.

He tells Stan, "You don't love me though. Not in the way I love you."

He hears a mumble that sounds like 'are you sure'. Which it has to be that because the next thing that happens is he's being kissed. He's being kissed by Stan. He's surprised and it's light. He's happy. And it's wonderful.

Everything is wonderful.

------

please check it out on ao3 🙏

#song inspired #south park #south park angst #south park style #sp style #style angst #katsbug

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romeulusroy · 2 years

Text

Imagine Hopper putting a surprise party together for your birthday: 🎂

"Why are you smiling?"

"What's wrong with me smiling?" Hopper asked, his tone uncharacteristically joyous. Everything. Everything was wrong with him being happy. Where was your traditionally grumpy Hop? The one you loved? This was a stranger. Okay, a bit of an overreaction, but still. He's doing something or thinking of doing something you're not going to like. The last time he was this giddy he and El were making a waffle tower, set with sausage people and a maple syrup rainstorm. Like you'd warned them, the tower fell after its new and exclusive top deck of egg swimming pools and french toast cars, the expensive sports car kind you couldn't care to remember the names of, had been installed. That was a mess of breakfast foods, sticky and sweet and left you covered in syrup. You had an awful feeling whatever this grand idea was, because with that grin it couldn't not be grand, you'd be cleaning up a mess bigger than waffles.

"It means you're up to something!" You argued, but his look didn't falter. How could he hide it? The kids were setting everything up as you drove. A dinner out at your usual spot, where you were regulars. They knew about your birthday but didn't make a big deal about it, how you wanted. It wasn't out of the ordinary. In fact, it seemed pretty harmless. A little birthday celebration just for you. No singing waiters or sparkler candles, just how you liked: low-key. But that wasn't what Hopper or El thought you deserved. They wanted to show you how important you are to them, to everyone, and the only way to say it is through streamers, confetti, balloons, party hats. They even attempted to make a huge cake with all your favorite flavors. He hoped it was still in one piece, that the kids haven't snuck all the frosting off. He was putting a lot of trust in them. Everything had to be perfect, for you.

"That's crazy talk."

@locke-writes ~ Noah!!!! I am so, so, so sorry this is late my love!!! I sincerely hope you can forgive me!!!! I hope you had the most fantastic birthday yet my love!!! I can't even put into words how giggly I get reading your posts. Whether it's marvel or criminal minds, I know I'm gonna turn into a big ol sappy mess :P You're one of the kindest, most uplifting people I know and I hope this new year gives you all the joy you deserve 💕 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Xoxoxo💜💖🎂💜💖🎂💜💖🎂

#birthday imagine #jim hopper #jim hopper imagine #stranger things #stranger things imagine #jim hopper x reader #stranger things x reader

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sawyerconfort · 2 years

Note

I would love to request a Greta imagine! When we’re dating and I surprise her by showing up to a game. Just pure fluff☺️

Thank you!

SURE! A GRETA IMAGINE! YEEEES!

Honestly, I’m obsessed with A League of Their Own, so... maybe keep requesting oneshots about the girls, and I’ll write them!

(Start with Greta is such an honor... she’s a real godess!)

Ok, enjoy your request!

------

Two Weeks And I’ll Be Home | Greta Gill x Reader

Prompt: You’re Greta Gill’s girlfriend. She’s playing baseball in a female league. That’s the plot. The rest is... confetti?

* * *

"I think I'm going to explode with anticipation, Jo!"

"Hey little bird, calm down!", the girl comforted her friend on the bed in the room they shared at the Peaches' house. "It's just a letter, doesn't mean she's coming into the game unless she said so explicitly in the letter, let me see."

Things were getting too tense backstage at the games. Greta had just received a letter from you, who was traveling with your parents for work, saying that in two weeks you would be home. It was enough to start her anxiety, which she probably thought you were referring to "being home" like coming to see her play or something.

Not that that wasn't the real meaning. But you wanted to keep it a secret. And you weren't too sure you could catch the nearest train in game time. Your parents were, like, total supporters of dating Greta, but they cared enough about you to want you to stay.

"Do you think she can come?" Greta asked, still anxious. "Do you think I should write asking if she will come?"

"I guess you just have to wait...", Jo smiled, leaving the room. "Come on, let's order the girls a drink, calm your nervous breakdowns, Greta!"

She resisted, but ended up accompanying her best friend and confidant.

Jo knew about your plan. You had written her a letter a few days ago telling her everything. She'd written back to you with schedules from the last few games, trying to make it easier for you to find a train. But of course she was going to hide all this from Greta as much as she could.

It was a difficult task for Jo, but she was doing well...

* * *

"Sorry girls, I don't think I'm focused!"

The narrator's voice announced that the game was on a break, blaming it on the Peaches, when Carson asked him for a break. Greta sat on the reserve bench and put her head between her knees.

“What happened this time?” Lupe asked, confused.

"I can't, I can't..."

“Hey, little bird…” Jo called out of nowhere. “Hey, look at me. Everything is fine. I know the two weeks are here today, I know you really want her to come, but you have to focus on the game first...”

"I so wish she could see me..." Greta sighed.

“She knows you. She knows you're a great batsman and would want to see you crush that field, okay?” Jo added. “We need you Greta, let's go! It's impossible without you!"

"But if you want to stay, we can work it out..." Carson said, massaging her temples. "We'll find a way, of course."

“No,” Greta said, standing up. "I'll do it. You are right. I will do it for (Y\N).”

“Who?” Lupe asked, confused.

“I'll do this for my girlfriend!” she added, running back to the field.

Greta stayed focused the entire game, wondering what you would say if you were there to see her, and the ball landed perfectly on her bat, giving the Peaches team the victory. As the girls cheered, she stopped to look around the stands, where people in the crowd were screaming frantically. From a distance, she saw you, hugging some stranger. And minutes later, your eyes met.

Greta smiled broadly. You reciprocated, even from afar. She was dying to hug you, but she knew she couldn't do it in the midst of all these people, so she just waved, as if to someone very ordinary and unknown, which was what she did best.

* * *

“Miss Gill, sorry to disturb you,” Mr. Baker announced, stepping backstage and tipping his hat as a sign of respect. “We don't usually do that here, but there's a fan in the stands and she said she really wanted to meet you, so I let her in, okay?”

Greta turned around, taking off her team shirt and looking at the girls, who stared back at her, a little confused. She shrugged. "Alright, you can let her in if you want."

“Please be quick,” he asked, in a whisper. “It's discreet. We don't have much time, and if I let one in, I'll have to let them all in."

He left, replacing his hat and leaving a space to reveal you behind him. You looked at Greta, cringing for cover, and she grinned even wider as her eyes widened.

"You didn't, (Y\NN)...", she whispered, laughing to herself and running to hug her. Instinctively, you jumped into Greta's arms, taking her by surprise. “God, you're really impossible! And you came!”

“I came!”, you smiled, pulling away from her to kiss her, even though in front of the other girls. They weren't caring, apparently. “I said I would come, didn't I? You have to thank Jo, G, she's been helping me so much ever since I thought I'd come watch her game, I certainly wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for her..."

Greta smiled, kissing you again, hands on your face. She touched your cheeks as if she wanted to prove you were real. And the touch of Greta's fingers was so soft you didn't even bother to leave it there.

"I've missed you so much, honey...", she whispered, kissing you again. This time, a peck. “Since I got your letter, I can't stop thinking about you, since I knew you were coming, I've been counting the days, really… do you know the girls? You MUST meet the girls, baby, really, they are all amazing!”

“Hey G, I know you're excited about the game and me, but please calm down, okay?” you whispered back, laughing, and kissing her again. It felt so good to have Greta by your side, and these rare moments deserved to be made the most of.

* * *

You spent the rest of the day together. It is the next. It is the next. And there went a week you were together. But Greta wasn't satisfied. She wanted more, more time with you. And because of that, she tried to include you as much as possible when she was with the girls. When she got to know them better, you found yourself drinking endless drinks and getting drunk around them.

Now there were you two, you and Greta, resting, after a night of drinks (they were a little drunk, but sober enough to know what they were doing), in a lesser degree of cold, under a fireplace, in the living room, sitting on the sofa.

“The girls are amazing!” you would exclaim out loud. Greta laughed, snuggling you closer to her. “God, I feel like I've known them forever!”, you smirked. "And they're all extremely hot, you know?"

Greta looked at you suddenly, brow furrowed.

“Really, Greta! You know, Lupe is so serious, so badass, she's actually sexy! And Maybelle? Adorable, cute, innocent and very hot!”, you would say, of course, in jest. I expected her to be mad at you like she used to be. “Oh, but Carson is the best of them all! She's the prettiest, cutest, cutest, most adorable, and most…well, you know, of them all!”

“(Y\N)!”, she scolded you, making you laugh.

“But I really like my idol, Greta Gill, do you know her? She is all of that in one combo, divided by ten and multiplied by a hundred thousand!”

Greta smiled and kissed you, giving in to your teasing. “You're too silly, love…” she whispered against your lips. "I missed you, you know that?"

"Missed you too, hitter..."

She leaned her head on your shoulder and sighed. “I'm sleepy, but… can we just cuddle for a few more minutes? I miss your kisses, your hugs, your smell...”, she breathed in your sweet perfume, causing you involuntary shivers. "Can we? This time, you can be the big spoon if you want.”

You smiled back, giving her a peck. “Of course, Greta. Of course."

And then she snuggled into you, threading the fingers of one hand through your hair, and the fingers of the other hand through yours.

'I love you, honey,' she whispered spontaneously.

“I love you more, love,” you whispered back sleepily.

#greta gill x reader #a league of their own x reader #aloto #a league of their own #lgbt #fluff #romance #imagine #oneshot #greta is amazing i love her too much #and i love this series also #greta gill

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elithatgayemo2 · 10 months

Text

dating eric draven hcs

( English is not my first language so there will be mistakes sorry for that and I might abbreviate a lot<3)

Tw: cussing angst

These head cannons can go for both female and male and non-binarys Etc

He sleeps alot. He gets home from Patrol barely gives you a hug his ass is asleep he probably end up falling asleep standing up lol.

You got to help him take off his makeup I feel like you would forget all the time but he also does it on purpose so you can take it off for him it's also kind of like a bonding moment for you guys.

He makes you music a lot.you're feeling sad he will play you some music. He also tried to teach you guitar.

I feel like he was an artist I think he'd draw a lot he draw you he draw things he'd see at the apartment window

He can't cook worth a shit you leave them in the kitchen for more than 2 minutes in the house going to burn down you got to cook all the time but he likes your cooking.

He likes fiddling with your hair a lot he thinks it's like really fun to do and it's also just like a stress reliever in a way or it can just make him extremely frustrated.

He's very protective over you I feel like he literally watched you cut vegetables so you don't end up cutting yourself by accident or he was literally not let you out the house at night because that's when he Patrols in bad people are coming at him at the time.

I feel like he would like to do arts and crafts with you like it's just something you two can do together but you both probably like but there will end up being glue on the ceiling with like like confetti on it or something weird like that by the end.

not my video rights go to the rightful owner<3

#eric draven headcanons #Fluff

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sunburnacoustic · 1 year

Note

HI MUSE ASKS

2, 11, 14, 32, 36 (I love this question), 45, 51, 59!!

sorry it’s a lot but I’m also not sorry

Hi hi hi @goosetown5! Thanks so much the ask 😊Don't be sorry at all, I'm so pleased to chat to you about Muse!

2. What's a Muse song that sounds better live than in the studio?

Without a doubt, Verona, that's the first song that comes to my mind! I had the pleasure of seeing it live, it's a literal religious experience. Matt lost in the sauce, eyes closed, playing guitar on the verses. My gig had a really good crowd too, so in my mind, I'll always remember Verona now with the chorus of fans singing, "I neeeeed you sooo" in a slight French accent, the reverb around the stadium on Matt's guitar and just how much bigger the song sounds live: you can feel the drums under your skin, in your chest, in your bones. Confetti blasted out into the air just after Matt belts the chorus, blue light lights up the stadium, hands are in the air, ugh. Beautiful. It's an experience just listening to the song in normal everyday life can't recreate. It's a great song otherwise, lyrically it's my favourite on the album, but holy shit you can't return to the studio version after the experience of seeing it live :) I need to experience this song again!

Eyes closed, just lost in the sauce guitar line.

EDIT: My pictures don't half do this moment justice, so enjoy these pics from @prttyinpvnk!

Pretty special, eh?

11. Favourite song that's never been played live?

Falling Away With You. I love that song so much, the way it transitions between the verses and the choruses, such agitation on that chorus, the change from a major -> minor feel, the synths, the lyrics; oh, rip my heart out! I'll never understand why Muse have never played it live. I guess, technically the did almost play it... that one time at an iHeart Radio gig or festival or something in 2018 that Matt began playing its intro on the acoustic guitar and then went "nah, just kidding" and began playing Something Human. Matt why would you toy with our hearts like that </3 They've teased it a few times before.

Map Of Your Head is another. Muse can write such addictive pop songs! (I would also want to say Falling With The Crowd because that's an old one from one of those demos that we have no live footage/audio of, but it was supposedly played regularly in 1997. It's quite fully formed for a song of that era, it's a proper song with verse-chorus-bridge-outro, and I think it's a tune. The problem is, it wasn't played at the one and only 1997 gig we have audio of*, Plymouth's Soundwaves Festival, that was taped by a friend of Muse's off a radio live broadcast locally in Plymouth. And there are no known setlists on which it appears, so has it ever been played live? Who knows.)

*Update, nevermind I found out we have a tiny clip of video footage by someone who saw Muse at a different gig in 1997! It's 50 seconds long, the videotaper seems to have been keener on recording Dom, and it's of the song Boredom. No mention of Falling With The Crowd on the set though. Still, what a treat, it's from so long ago, Matt wasn't nearly the performer he would shortly become. I'll make a different post about that though, so that I actually answer your ask here!

14. Favourite live riff/jam/intro/outro?

I love this question because I've been thinking about it recently! 😊

The improvised, extended Jimmy Jam riff at Wembley before Time Is Running Out. What annoyed me for years is that they split up the clip on the Muse Youtube in ~2015 to separately have the Jimmy Jam riff as one video and TIRO as another, and they fade Jimmy Jam out and that got stuck in my head without the ending. I should make a proper edit of it from HAARP because that jam is my jam, I love it!

Also, how it ends is so cool:

A second favourite is the outro to Assassin played at the Mayan Theatre in 2015 (Theater?), it's so fuzzy it's so filthy, it's so heavy I could listen to it all day. Drones was a good era for Muse's slow-heavy/chugging stuff that The Handler kicked off. I don't know the name of this riff, but it's so good.

And I must mention the riff played during the French 1999 Olaive interview, where the interviewers asked Matt questions and he had to reply by largely playing his guitar, an acoustic, and it was so beautiful despite Matt being really young and nervous, that one of the interviewers told him at the end of the interview that there was magic in his guitar (how poetic the French were, but he's right!). I'm not cheating on this question though, it is a legitimate intro because they brought it back years later and opened Unintended at Wembley with this piece, but transposed higher. It's a classical guitar etude by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer.

(And of course, some classics - Helsinki/Glasgow jam -> bringing bagpipes to a stadium rock gig and then playing Muse fuzzy bluesy hard rock under it is something I admire so fucking much)

32. Have you ever followed Matt's advice to not give a fuck if people think you're a pretentious wanker?

Yes, definitely, and the realisation came for me more from an off-stage moment rather than one on stage, because I guess in some ways you personally can write off on-stage ambition and personas as just something that's easier to do on stage, a place for theatre, but the fact that Matt just lives his life without shame, without feeling self-conscious, without giving a fuck what anyone else may think— I'm learning that from him, and it significantly came from this moment back in 2014:

He's out there living his best life, unbothered. He's knows not to care what anyone else thinks of him (and my respect for him just skyrocketed after this). That made it click for me, just don't give a fuck, don't care if anyone thinks you're a pretentious wanker, cut all the hangups in life—don't be afraid to be yourself! I've kept that in mind since 😊

36. Favourite song to sing along to.

Hm, I suppose it depends on the setting! In a stadium, hanging onto people, bouncing around, headbanging, screaming together "No one's gonna take me alive..." is a life-affirming experience!

Otherwise at home, on your own, a really satisfying vocal part to sing... I'd say a lot of Matt's falsetto bits are so much fun to try and do because you can lose your head and turn into an absolute diva for 20 seconds, I highly recommend trying it with no shame (refer to Q. 32!) And have I tried Micro Cuts out loud? Yeah, while fearing for my life I have lmao. Don't need neighbours calling the paramedics on me! Supermassive Black Hole is fun to try and sing along to (multiple parts). I Belong To You is nice. Showbiz is fun. Undisclosed Desires is another, Screenager too. Dead Inside is so good to sing along to! (and we haven't even got into singing riffs live, something Matt noted Muse fans do a lot live :D)

You're so right, I love this question too! 😊 (Side fun fact, a singer friend of mine told me that Time Is Running Out sung properly is actually quite technically difficulut— it's an acceptable Grade 5 piece to perform on Trinity College vocal exams (the rockschool ones))

45. Tell me a little-known fact about Muse

Oh, yes please! (not the song :P) I've been hoping someone would ask this one :)

Here's one I've decided on at random: Muse played a gig away in North Devon on Matt's 17th birthday. Someone found a poster for the gig years later in like 2008, look at how Muse sometimes stylised their name—quite psychedelic! This was on 9 June 1995, in Torrington.

51. Dom - bleach blond era, 90s slacker-band, wraparound shades era, surfer dude era, Drones black hair era, 2022 'pornstache' baby blue hair era, or 2006 aviators era?

Do you know what, I'm partial to aviators Dom. I'm so fucking partial to aviators Dom. But I think we all know which picture from Dom's Instagram I had in mind when I typed up "surfer dude-era Dom", don't we?

59. Favourite Muse accessory? (Matt's OOS era thick necklace, the guitar-pick necklace, any rings, etc.)

Very partial to the pick-necklace! Independently of Matt, I'd been doing it myself for years, so I was delighted to find that Matt had a pick necklace phase too (except mine is very DIY: it's a pick held together to a chain with paperclips lmao. I haven't lost the pick in 7 years so clearly it works... happy to show pictures of it if you like!)

Matt's 2006-era braces are a top notch accessory too, that was a really good look! I picked up a fondness of scarves from him too, which was also mostly BHAR-era photoshoots as well. Glitter in Matt's hair, A+ accessory; love it.

That time someone stuck a star on Matt's forehead

And of course, Matt's sunglasses. I wouldn't be the "Matt wearing his sunglasses on his head like my mum" blog if I didn't mention that.

(^3 pairs! of sunglasses!)

(This got quite Matt-heavy, didn't it? I love Dom's ever-expanding shades of trousers too! Orange is the latest one the WOTP tour has blessed us with :) Not really an accessory though, is it? Otherwise I'd be able to openly drool over Matt's cool jackets.)

#this was fun!#asks #muse asks #it's (not) too much to ask #niche muse asks #muse nitty gritties asks #muse band #musers #muse #long post #but utterly fun to do :)#hey thanks for this! 😊

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