#the other half comes from matilda

[goldenwilliamson]

winners and losers | leah williamson

pairing: leah williamson x reader

summary: bit of an angsty one where leah and matildas!reader play against each other in an england v aus friendly (based on that one in april this year) where england lose. leah blames herself. reader takes on sam kerr's position lol. the goals and the game is based on this game if interested

word count: 2.5k

When you found out that a friendly had been scheduled between Australia and England, you and Leah had initially felt excited. It wouldn't be the first time you two had come up against each other in your national teams, and it sure wouldn't be the last. Something about playing against each other lit a fire in your belly. It made you both want to be performing at your highest level, almost showing off to the other about how well you can play for your country.

You had also recently been made the captain of the Matildas, something that made Leah immensely proud.

"I can't believe we get to do a coin toss together," you had told Leah when you first found out about the Australia v England game.

"That's what you're most looking forward to? The coin toss?" Your girlfriend laughed at you.

"I've never done one with you before!" You defend yourself.

"You're a bit cute you know?" Leah poked fun at you.

"I'm also looking forward to seeing you in your England kit with the armband on," you said.

"Mm, do you have a thing for captains or something?" Leah said.

"I do when it's you," you told her, which made her laugh.

"Well I for one can't wait to see you as captain, baby," she kissed you as she said this.

—

People often asked about how you deal with playing against your girlfriend, and you always said the same thing: "In football there's got to be a winner and a loser, and we both know that."

You and Leah were well equipped to deal with losses and to support each other no matter the outcome. You were professionals, and you loved each other enough to not let the result of a 90 minute game impact your relationship.

The day rolled around that the Matildas would be playing the Lionesses, and you and Leah hadn't seen each other for a few days while you were both in camp. You exchanged a few texts in the morning, wishing each other luck, and promising to see each other when the game was over.

It was an important game for the Matildas. The Lionesses had been on a winning streak since Sarina Wiegman became their manager, making them one of the toughest teams to beat in the world. The Matildas were also trying to strengthen the depth of their side, bringing in younger players in the lead up to the World Cup. It was going to be a difficult game, and they knew it.

As kick off approached you felt the electricity of walking into the stadium alongside England players at a home game. Even though the crowd wasn't there for you team, you still felt the excitement as you walked out side by side with Leah as the captains. You went through the pre-match process of the anthems and then the coin-toss and exchange of the pennants with Leah. She had already adopted her stern game face. You looked in her eyes, feeling slightly disconnected from her, knowing the stakes were so high for your team.

Before you split to get in position you and Leah shook hands and before you stepped away she pulled you close so she could speak into you ear.

"Looking good captain," she said, stepping out of her professionalism for a moment, finally smirking and letting her serious exterior relax. You laughed for a second, having been caught off guard.

"Are you trying to throw me off?" You say playfully and she shrugs her shoulders innocently before patting your cheek and running off to her spot in the back line.

You smile as you move to your space on the pitch as the striker. Then the ref blew the whistle and the game was underway.

Australia held up well against the strength of the Lionesses, maintaining possession and creating some chances. But it was in the last quarter of the first half when things started to fall into place. Clare Hunt sends the ball forward and you can see that it's going to fall in a prime position for you. As Australia's leading goal scorer you knew what had to be done, and you started to run for it. Leah saw what was happening and began to run too, racing you to the ball.

Leah knew that you only needed one shot and you would put the ball in, and with the mounting pressure she attempted to header the ball back towards Mary, but incidentally ended up planting the ball right at your feet. You heard her wince as you saw the opportunity for the goal open up right in front of you.

Even though you knew it was a major blunder on Leah's behalf, you seized the moment, you chipped the ball over Mary with ease and watched as it hit the back of the net.

As you turned around to celebrate you caught one quick look at the disappointment on your girlfriends face before you were surrounded by your teammates. It was an important goal in an important match. You knew that the goal was gifted to you by Leah, and she would no doubt be regretting it for the rest of the game, but you couldn't have let that opportunity go.

At half time Tony assured you all that you could come out of this match on top. You were up 1 point against an undefeated team, and now you just had to maintain the ground that you've already covered.

The second half continued with little luck for England who seemed unable to get a strong shot on target. But on your side, another chance opened up in the 67th minute. You were running out on the right when the ball came to you, and glancing into the box you saw some yellow jerseys and sent the ball in. Charli Grant found it and sent it into the net, giving Australia a 2 point lead as you entered the final leg of the game.

At this point excitement was bubbling, and you and your team were fired up, knowing it was all about holding onto the lead now. And as the game drew to a close, you had managed to do so. At the final whistle the result was 2-0 to Australia.

You and your team celebrated, knowing this win was a massive achievement, especially in the lead up to the World Cup. Your teammates praised you for your goal and for your assist in the second goal. As you started to shake hands with the England players, many of whom you had a great relationship, you struggled to find your girlfriend.

You scanned the blue jerseys and saw she was almost on the other side of the pitch to you, speaking to Georgia and looking like she was giving herself a hard time. Warily, you jogged over.

"Hey," you said tentatively, and Leah hardly even looked at you.

"Good work mate," Georgia said, giving you a hug,

"Thanks G, you too," you said, beginning to feel awkward as Leah remained quiet.

"You alright?" You looked at your girlfriend with concern and she shook her head. You tried to touch her shoulder reassuringly, but she slinked away from you.

"I need a minute," Leah said bluntly, leaving you to stand with Georgia, feeling useless, unable to console your upset girlfriend.

"Did you get a word out of her?" You ask Georgia.

"Yeah, she'll be alright. I think she just feels guilty about that giving away that ball to you," Georgia explains. Of course, you think. You knew in the moment that her mistake would weigh on her, but you didn't expect it to be this bad.

"Yeah, okay. Well I'll give her some space I guess," you tell Georgia.

"That might be a good idea for now," Georgia affirms, patting you on the back.

You make your way back towards your teammates, shaking your head, feeling the pride of your win being overshadowed by Leah's disappointment in herself. The team circles up and Tony gives the team the praise they deserve, but your eyes wander around the pitch, watching Leah. You see her talk to her team mates, gesturing frustratedly, looking like she is taking the responsibility for their loss.

Before all the England players make their way off the pitch you decide you have to talk to her before you get on the bus back to your hotel, not wanting to leave her in a bad way. You jog over to her and grab hold of her wrist.

"Lee," you say as you she turns to face you.

She sighs, "Look I'm just in my head. I'll get out of there soon, but I just need some space, okay?"

Your heart breaks slightly, but you let go of her arm and say you understand.

With practiced ease she takes your hands in hers and kisses your knuckles, "I'm proud of you," she clarifies, "I'm just annoyed with myself."

"Alright," you take a deep breath, "Call me when you're feeling up to it."

She nods and leaves you standing alone as she follows her teammates back to the change room. Steph Catley notices you by yourself, having watch the interaction between you and Leah and she heads your way.

"Come on superstar," she hugs you from behind, "She'll be okay."

"Thanks Stephy," you smile, feeling glad to have players around who knew both you and Leah so well.

On the bus on the way back to the hotel, you put your headphones on as you mindlessly scroll through instagram, seeing all the posts about the game you just played.

A clip of your goal appears and you watch it a couple of times before clicking into the comments.

Williamson suddenly forgets how to defend when it's her missus

Such bad defending you'd think they planned it

Leah was hoping she could give her girlfriend a goal and England would still win... bad luck girls

Leah Williamson, the Matildas 12th player tonight

First Lionesses loss because Williamson was too distracted by Y/L/N

You cringe as your read them and quickly swipe out of the criticism of Leah. You rub your face with your hands, feeling upset that Leah will no doubt be reading all this too.

You take your headphones off and turn to Steph, who had sat next to you on the bus trip.

"Should I at least send Leah a text?" You ask her.

"I don't think it would hurt," Steph shrugs.

"I've just been reading the worst comments about her defending, and I feel like it's my fault," you explain.

"Y/N, it's not your fault. This is your job and it's Leah's job too. Obviously it's a shock to lose for the first time in a while, and she'll be carrying the weight of the loss because of one little mistake she made, but in the grand scheme of things it's nothing new, it's just football. She'll realise that," Steph says.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks Steph," you say, squeezing her thigh gratefully.

You pull your phone back out and open your messages to Leah and begin typing:

I'm sorry you're carrying the weight of this loss Leah. I know it doesn't feel good, and I hate that I played a part in you feeling this way. I know it's easier said than done but don't let one mistake make you doubt yourself. You're an immensely talented player, a wonderful captain, and the best partner I could ask for. I'm here for you when you need me. Love you xxx

You send it off without a second thought and allow your head to rest against the window of the bus until you arrive back at the hotel. You check your phone once you get to your room, but still there's no response from Leah. Switching your phone off, you set it down and decide to go to sleep, hoping Leah might get back to you throughout the night.

—

In the morning you check your phone and there is still no reply from Leah. You groan into your pillow, hating to not be on good terms with your girlfriend. You pull yourself out of bed and pack your things up before heading downstairs to say goodbye to all the girls flying back to their clubs.

You organise an Uber back to your apartment in North London, unsure about whether or not Leah would be there already. When you open the door you can hear the sounds of footsteps upstairs in your bedroom and you feel yourself tense up slightly.

You shut the front door behind you set your bags down. You glance into the kitchen as you start to walk upstairs and see a bouquet of flowers still wrapped up in paper laying on the counter, which is reassuring. If Leah was mad there's no way she would've stopped for flowers on the way home.

When you walk into your bedroom you find Leah hanging up clothes in the wardrobe. She turns and faces you with a nervous face.

"Hey," she says, setting down the shirt in her hands on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" You ask.

"Like the worst girlfriend in the world," she sinks into the end of the bed now and you move to sit down on the bed with her, tucking your feet up onto the mattress.

"I don't think you could do anything that would make you worthy of that title," you assure her.

"I don't know, I think being so selfish that you don't congratulate your girlfriend on winning a game is pretty shit."

"Leah, you weren't being selfish. You were disappointed and that's okay, losing sucks, especially when you've had as much success as you have."

"I was disappointed, but I shouldn't have acted like it was your fault, because it wasn't. I'm sorry for not talking to you, I promise I wanted to spend time with you after the game, but I chose to be a sook instead," Leah says and you laugh lightly.

"Poor Georgia had to mediate when you stormed off," you laugh.

"God, I was being proper stroppy," Leah scoffs.

"Well I'm glad you're feeling better now," you tell her, leaning in and finally getting the chance to kiss your girlfriend for the first time in days.

"Much better, and I'm sorry again," she says.

"It's alright. I'm used to Williamson tantrums, but usually I'm not on the receiving end," you say.

"And I promise you never will be again," she says, kissing you again.

"You're welcome for the goal by the way," Leah manages to make a joke of the situation, assuring you that all was fine.

"Yeah thanks, we needed that win," you laugh.

"Cheeky," Leah groans as she tackles you onto the mattress, seemingly ready to make up for her bad mood in another way.

#leah williamson #lionesses #woso x reader #woso community #lionesses x reader #leah williamson x reader #awfc #matildas #matildas!reader

[pixiesfz]

spiked arsenal fc x r

plot: you get invited to a party from a girl at your school and things don’t turn out the best

warnings: readers drink gets spiked, weird Pervy boys, sexual asault

Being a professional athlete at a young age had its perks but it also had its very bad drawbacks, privacy being one of them.

A 17-year-old Australian girl moving to London to play for North London's red team Arsenal, will she crack under pressure?

Your every move was watched by the public, weather at training or joining Katie and Caitlin for a coffee in the morning.

Another one was schooling.

Whenever you weren't training you were finishing an essay or researching history to write an essay on.

And if you were caught not doing your homework by Leah or Steph they would threaten less minutes at Arsenal or the Matilda's.

Kim let you take an hour off sometimes, seeing the stress you were under

"you're not going to do your best work if you're exhausted" she always insisted before passing you a pillow and her keys to the physio room.

And the last one which was your least favourite one to admit was fomo.

You physically went to school sometimes to do half days or full days, and your classmates always whispered to each other when you walked in.

You had made some friends, some were definitely your 'friends' just to see if they could get a free ticket to the Emirates but you figured it was better than nothing.

"Hey" one of the girls greeted you on the way to English "Hi Lisa" you smiled, happy another girl your age was talking to you "So It may be a long shot but I am having my 17th birthday party and I was wondering if you would be able to come?" she asked and you smiled.

You had seen everyone go to parties before as you watched on Snapchat and Instagram, but you had never been.

You had been invited sure, but not from anybody you knew well enough, the others just wanted to be able to say 'y/n y/l/n went to my party!"

"I'll just have to ask my caregivers but it should be fine" you smiled "Good cause I hear Tommy G really wanted to talk to you but that boy always needs liquid encouragement"

You grimaced and the girl laughed "I know I would have the same reaction" You smiled "So I'll see you there?" she asked and you nodded making her squeal.

When going home to Caitlins that day you entered with a smile "What happened today chook?" she asked as she was sprawled on the couch, Katie next to her.

"Lisa invited me to her birthday party!"

Katie cheered from her spot but Caitlin persed her lips

"Caitlin please, there's no training the day after and it's not on a game night, please I never get to go to parties, I'm the only girl in my year level-"

"Gosh shut up!" Caitlin scoffed "I was going to ask what you were planning to wear!"

You smiled "So I can go?"

Caitlin smiled, your happiness contagious to the two of them "of course, just don't drink you're still a minor and that can be bad for your image"

You nodded, the thought already crossed your mind in fifth period "I promise"

Katie's smile dropped "We will have to tell the captains"

"I already told Kim" you smiled remembering the call with your captain as you walked home "and she's the real captain of Arsenal and we're not on international duties, also please never tell Leah I called her not the real captain"

Your excitement was built up as your words were quick, Ella who had come out from her room laughing as you talked.

"You can borrow some of my clothes"

"No!" Katie was quick to say.

You had finished training and went home with Caitlin and Katie to have an 'everything shower before allowing Ella to curl your hair. You didn't have much party clothing so the day before you and Ella went shopping and bought jeans and a nice top.

"You look so pretty" Ella smiled as she finished your mascara "Lauren would never let me do her make-up and hair" she gushed "and Katie never did it for me so this is cute" she laughed as Katie scoffed from the bed her and Caitlin were laying down on, getting ready for your reveal

"Not our faults we were never into that at the time!" , "How much longer the party started half an hour ago!" Caitlin added before you walked out, a proud Ella behind you.

"Well don't you look like a princess!"

"Katie!"

"I'm messing with ya, you look good baby Australia" she smiled and Cailin grabbed Lisa's present "I feel like a proud mum" she cheered "now let's go".

When you arrived at the party all the goers cheered at your appearance and a very drunk Lisa came to your side "' I'm so soooo happy you made it" she smiled, squeezing you tight as you awkwardly handed her the bag "Happy birthday" you told her and she gasped loudly, hugging you again.

She left to put it in her room, leaving you with some other of your classmates as they offered you a drink "No I'm okay is there water offered anyway, or sprite?" you asked and Tommy G stood up "I saw sprite in the back" he said before disappearing "thanks" you called out to him.

"He found out you didn't want to talk to him so he's probably just trying to get away from you" Holly, one of the girls said and you nodded "I didn't mean to hurt his feelings I'm just not that interested"

She nodded "I get it, do you want a hit?" she asked and held out her vape which you crossed her head at "thanks for the offer but no thankyou" you smiled apologetically and the girl smirked "more for me then"

"Uh here you go" a voice piped behind you and you saw Tommy holding out your Sprite bottle, it was already opened but you didn't think too much of it, maybe he just wanted to open it for you.

"Thankyou Tommy" you smiled and went back to your conversation, not taking a sip just yet.

About an hour had gone by and you felt really, really shitty, your grip on the table tightening as you felt the need to lay down, a headache splitting your brain.

"I'm sorry" you apologised to whoever you were speaking to "I have to lay down" you said, stumbling away to the nearest bedroom, gaining the attention of the group of boys who were sat on the couch.

"Tommy boy you actually did it" "Well how else was I going to get her"

"You are the man, taking away Arsenal star girl's virginity!"

You assumed it was Lisa's parents room from the size of the bed but your head was spinning and your energy was plummeting, you felt vulnerable and your muscles were failing on you.

When you heard the door open you just merely mumbled "who's it?"

Why were you like this?

You didn't drink a sip of alcohol.

"Hey y/n it's Tommy"

"somethings wrong" you said, hopefully thinking he would get some help but instead he just closed the door. "Tommy help" you whimpered, your body feeling like a brick as you couldn't move "shhh" he shooshed you, climbing on top of you "It's all going to be fine".

Your eyes widened as he tried to kiss you "just kiss back it will be easier" he told you but you shook your head, tears running down your face.

"stop" you mumbled as his hands pulled down your top "you wanted this remember?"

no. no you didn't.

"stop"

"stop"

"Tommy stop'

"Tommy please" you cried

His hands started to undo your belt before the door was open again and a now sobered up Lisa barged in.

"Get off of her you Freak!" she yelled, running up and practically throwing Tommy off of you and pulling up your shirt "/n" she sighed, freaking out from your state.

Another two sets of girls came in, gasping at the sight "he drugged her" Lisa told them as they stood still, Tommy in fear as he looked around "Get him out!" she yelled and the two girls ran in and grabbed him.

"hey look she wanted it-"

And he was gone.

But his presence still lingered to you as you flinched when Lisa grabbed your wrist "Y/n I'm calling the ambulance okay?" she told you and you nodded.

You felt numb, you couldn't do anything.

It wasn't long after that you blacked out.

You woke up when the ambulance came to a stop, your body being able to move now slightly as you were able to balance on your elbows.

They carried your cart inside, going past a worried Caitlin and Katie who were called five minutes ago as they ran behind the cart and a blonde girl who was running out soon after "Who are you?" Katie asked "I'm Lisa"

"What happened?" Caitlin asked, on the phone with Steph who was driving over with Kyra, Leah and Kim.

Lisa's eye started to water "I should've- he- he- he spiked her drink!" she let out and both the Arsenal players stopped in their track.

You were able to move but you stayed still, you could feel his hands on you even if Lisa had promised you in the ambulance that the girls called the police.

You still didn't move when the doctors shoved needles into you, getting rid of the drug residue that was in you.

Ella, who was behind Katie and Caitlin ran after the doctors after hearing Lisa, knowing the news from classmates will be on the news tomorrow.

You turned your head towards the blonde with tears in your eyes "why me?" you asked and the girl grabbed your hand "Why?" you said again, not expecting an answer from the girl before Caitlin and Katie walked in with a tear stained Lisa.

"Just try and go to sleep y/n/n".

Your body was exhausted when you woke up in the morning, the room was full, full of your Arsenal and international teammates who had heard, it bran tears to your eyes as you realised what had happened, turning to Caitlin who was holding your hand

"No privacy?" you asked and the girl nodded her head "I'm sorry chicky"

You nodded, tears rolling down your cheeks as you looked at all the powereful women in the room.

If there was anyone you needed to get through the next couple of weeks, it was these women here.

#woso #woso soccer #woso community #woso x reader #matildas #caitlin foord #katie mccabe #sam kerr #alanna kennedy #arsenal wfc x reader #arsenal wfc #arsenal women #arsenal

[kamotecue]

Caitlin Foord x reader: Reader and Caitlin are secretly dating but the internet kind of knows what’s going on. A kiss after the France v aus world Cup game shocks the world and confirms their relationship

breaking the internet ❁ c. foord

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

if there was a way to describe how you’re feeling, you’d say displeased and out of sorts. perhaps it was the way you had just gotten knocked out of the world cup by the matildas.

you chuckled, hurt at the fact that your team had lost—to a penalty shootout. the aussies are a formidable team, you know as ellie carpenter who had been in the same club as you.

the blonde had took a seat beside you, as she knew what it was like to lose a game—an important one at that.

“well played, el.” your thick french accent was heard, ellie gave you a small hum as you played with your fingers.

“you did as well, n/n. however, i think a certain teammate of mine would like to talk to you.” ellie said, as you both had looked over to where the high-spirited trio were.

caitlin had a soft gaze on you, while she maintained a small conversation with lanna and macca.

“right, thanks el.” you heard her hum as you slowly stood up, dusting your shorts as you made your way to caitlin, the aussie who happened to steal your heart.

“mind if i borrow her, ladies?” your soft voice was heard, as alanna brought you into her arms, always one for comforting she is. while the goalkeeper had given you a small smile, which you had returned.

“i’m yours.” caitlin said, as lanna had separated from you—jokingly gagging at her friend’s sweet words. while the other party had her nose scrunched at her friend’s cheesiness.

you gave a shy smile, never one to have public affection in front of others. it was just subtle hand holding, or words of affirmation. it was the way you both had disregarded the people in the stadium, despite the noises from the crowd—you only paid attention to her.

“i’m sorry, puddin.” caitlin said, as you shook your head.

“you don’t need to apologize, ma moitié. [my better half]” her heart swooned at the endearment as she held your hand, swinging it softly. you knew the fans would go crazy, the edits that they would make.

the two of you weren’t exactly out as a couple, but fans from both teams had suspected it. yet the fans weren’t expecting it, no one was rather.

you had come to a stop, caitlin had noticed as she furrowed her eyebrows, analyzing your next move.

breaking the internet with a kiss was one thing—you wrapped your arms around the taller girl’s neck, pulling her a bit closer and gently locking her lips with yours.

the sudden screams from the fans as they had finally witness the two of you come out as a couple. macca and alanna glanced with a teasing look, before focusing back on the fans.

you felt caitlin grinning into the kiss, of course she would. she had been wanting to go public, but you were a bit hesitant. she had wrapped her arms around your waist, pulling you even closer—as you hummed into the kiss.

she was yours, and you were hers. each others to protect.

#woso imagine #woso x reader #woso one shot #arsenal wfc imagine #matildas x reader #auswnt x reader #caitlin foord imagine #caitlin foord x reader #caitlin foord

[maxsimagination]

𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 - 𝘀.𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘆

warnings: none, pure fluff

----

"thankyou so much, i'm sure she'll love it. bye." i clicked the red 'hang up' button on my phone as i finished up my call with nikki webster, the one and only. it was steph's birthday tomorrow and i wanted to surprise her with her favourite song, sung by her favourite artist.

macca, lani and caitlin had suggested we throw a party on the night of her birthday, and we surprise her with something, but it was me that thought of flying down nikki to perform.

the whole team thought it was a great idea, and they each pitched in to help set up the party, and make sure steph didn't find out. i even had tony make sure we were allowed to hold the gathering in the huge 'lounge' we had at the matilda's training complex. of course he'd said yes and and made sure there was speakers and a mic for nikki to sing with.

i was snapped out of my daydream when steph walked in and slid her arms around my waist. “hey babe, whatcha up to?” i turn to her with a smile.

"nothing." my voice is laced with cheekiness and steph can tell something's up. "you sound like your up to something, what have you done?" her tone was light enough for it to be a joke but part of her was slightly scared, i'm known to be impulsive and not think things through.

"i swear i haven't done anything, stephy." again with the sickly sweet smile. she decided to drop it for know, but her gut knew that i was up to something. it's a sixth sense she gets when she's with me.

——

the next day rolled around; steph's 29th birthday. i was the first one awake, like an excited little kid even though it wasn't even my birthday. i slipped out of the bed we shared and tiptoed down to the kitchen to start making some breakfast for my girl. my phone was on the kitchen counter, some light music flowing from the small speakers as i danced around, whipping up some pancakes.

it didn't take me long and i was soon pouring the batter into little circles in the frying pan. i had two plates on a tray, ready to be brought up to steph in our room. finally i had all the pancakes dishes up, grabbed the bottle of golden syrup that i knew steph would use, the utensils and the tray and headed to the sleeping beauty still in bed.

she was in fact, still in bed, and i slipped down next to her, putting the tray on my bedside table. "steph, wake up. i made you breakfast." it must have been the smell of the pancakes that woke her because she always sleeps through alarms. "mmm, mornin' babe, something smells good."

i chuckled at her and brought the tray to rest in front of us. "happy birthday." i pressed a kiss to her forehead and she sat up to eat with me. "don't remind me how old i am." she grinned at me and we started eating.

"stephanie-elise catley, you better be dressed! we have to go to training." i shouted out to my girlfriend who was probably still lying in bed. we had both finished eating almost a half hour ago and i had taken everything to the kitchen to get cleaned up. now i was dressed and ready to walk out the door but steph was nowhere to be seen or heard.

"i'm coming i'm coming!" there was a faint shout back and some small stomps from the room, you could tell she forgot we had training and was now hopping about the room trying to get dressed quickly.

i just laughed to my self as she finally hurtled down the stairs with her shoes in one hand and phone in the other. "okay, i'm here. let's go." she grinned proudly at me, it was the quickest she'd gotten dressed before. "alright, alright tiger. put your shoes on and we'll go." it was times like these that really made me fall in love more. i grabbed the car keys and we both went out to the car, heading to training.

——

i was absolutely shattered after that session. tony had us running hard, fine tuning everything we could for the world cup. the rest of the team was currently in the change rooms, i was outside with sam. someone had to keep steph distracted, and then get her back here for the party. "okay, so i'll take care of steph, we just need to set up the room inside before nikki gets here."

i was slightly stressing and sam could tell "hey, y/n, chill. i got everything covered. you said that party's at 5, nikki at 5:30?"

i took a deep breath and sighed. "yea, thanks so much sam. i just want it to be perfect for her." we finished the details of our plan and headed to get changed. once both me and steph were done, we headed to the car, me sending a discreet nod to sam and macca one our way out. they were the like the co-captains of steph's secret birthday celebration.

it was almost impossible for me to hard the jitters i had about my surprise for steph. it was now the afternoon and i had to get both of us ready and back out for the party. "hey, stephy! c'mere." she poked her head out from wherever she was hiding. "yea what's up?" "i'm taking you out for your birthday, you have to go and get ready." her face softened with a smile.

"you don't have to do that, y/n. i'm happy to just stay in with you." "but i want to. c'mon, pretty please?" i attempt my best version of puppy eyes and she instantly folded.

"okay, okay. anything for you, love." she left with a smile and got changed. i had already changed into my clothes, and soon so was steph. we went on our way and when we got close i told her to cover her eyes. with much protesting, she reluctantly covered her eyes with her hand for the rest of the ride. i pulled into the matilda's complex for the second time that day, turning the vehicle off.

"hold on, i'll come get you." i raced around the side to get steph. she slowly hopped out, eyes still covered. i walked her inside and made sure she wasn't peeking.

"okay, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" i opened the door to the room and the team yelled out at us from the other side. steph immediately opened her eyes and grinned at what she saw. "oh, this is so cute, thankyou y/n!" she turned to hug me and i returned the favour. we started mingling with all our teammates, me heading for sam and mac.

"that was so stressful. i was jittering the whole way here." they laughed at me and we all checked the time, ready for nikki to make an appearance.

speak of the devil, i got a ping on my phone and saw it was from nikki. 'pulling in now, see you soon.' i snapped into action and told sam to meet nikki out front and mac was in charge of putting on the song. i headed for steph. "we have to dance, come on, mac is putting on music."

she laughed at my antics and followed me to the middle of the floor. her favourite song, strawberry kisses, blasted through the sound system and steph broke into a grin.

'𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦,

𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨,

𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴,

𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪'𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨.'

the lyrics were thrown out into the room and everyone joined in. it was the teams' song, they loved listening to it.

'𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦,

𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦,

𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳,

𝘰𝘩-𝘰𝘩.'

steph was having a magnificent time, dancing away with me, yelling out the words with the song. the the voice changed, it was still the same song but it was like it was being sung live, in the room.

'𝘪'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴,

𝘤𝘶𝘻 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺.

𝘪'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴,

𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦.'

everyone whipped their heads towards the door where nikki webster stood, mic in hand, singing steph's favourite song. the whole room cheered, even sam was clapping and cheering from her place next to the singer. i looked at steph, who was shocked. she had no idea this was happening. "happy birthday, love." she turned to me.

"you did this?" i nodded with a smile. she wrapped me in a tight hug, squeezing me until i couldn't breathe. it was definitely a memorable night, one that ended very late and with tony scolding us that we'd be tired at training the next day. but none of us cared in that moment.

#woso #woso x reader #woso community #steph catley #steph catley x reader #steph catley imagine

[smellss]

Close quarters

Summary: Never has sharing a bed been so difficult

Warning: australian colloquialism/phrases (swearing soz not soz) and unedited uni is killing me :)

A long long night for the Matilda's, a wonderful game, the longest penalty shoot out in World Cup history. Y/n had never felt so proud to be alongside these women. Well most of them anyways, her feelings towards her Captain still remained unsolved.

Never had a single person frustrated her in her whole life, of course she respected her she's Sam Kerr for god sakes she had to. But that arrogance god, it frustrated her to no means.

Her smirk, her flirty winks and that tongue.

Wait what ew not like that

The way she smugly stuck it out after her goals, it made it her feel something.

Yes how exactly did it make me feel.

That's what Y/n was trying to discover using her vodka and soda as an accomplice on her journey. However, it was still World Cup and she couldn't get too crazy, just one celebratory drink.

Sitting with Hailey at the bar they discussed the game at length her other team mates surrounded around the pool table taking turns with one another. A new tactic of cool down their coaches had suggested as a bonding exercise.

Y/n felt a gaze on her from across the room but when she turned they were gone.

"You alright chicky?" Haley brushed her arm, a concerned frown rippling across her forehead. Y/n smiled at the term of endearment vigorously nodding.

"Just tired that's all, I might head up to the rooms" she yawned, finishing the last sip of her drink. However, just as she stood up two hotel staff came into the bar area.

"Ladies we have an unfortunate announcement to make, due to a leak in our pipe system a few of the rooms we had set aside for you have been damaged by water. Not to worry however, all of your belongings were fine" A few groans, moans and sighs were heard around the room.

"Not to worry girls, we have assigned you roommates to share with based off your positions, a bonding exercise if you will" Your coach chuckled slightly.

Perfect I'll be assigned with Hailey

"Arnold and Kennedy" both woman laughed like 13 year olds sharing a room at camp, walking off to their room.

I cannot believe I am getting an assigned room at 27

"L/N, Kerr is coming to join you" Y/n swear she felt her heart fall out of her arse. She looked over at Kerr who had a mischievous glint in her eye, saluting at her coach with that signature cheeky smile.

You both walked out of the room in silence, Hailey giving you a reassuring smile and thumbs up.

I really hope I can fall asleep quickly

Y/n heard a knock on the door she quickly rushed over opening it hastily.

"Hey roomie" Sam slightly slurred obviously not obeying the one celebratory drink rule, she glided past Y/n, taking in her room and belongings. Spending a long time looking at Y/n's photos she'd brought from home.

"Are these your siblings?" Sam half smiled, glazing over the photo she held it up towards the light.

"Yes, my brother and sister" Y/n stated proudly, extremely grateful of her wonderful supportive family.

Y/n noticed a change in Sam's demeanour once she saw the photo of her and Hailey at the season wrap up party last year. Sam's brow now furrowed as she walked away placing her things down.

Finally she turned around and faced Y/n, drinking in her appearance and forming a very large smile.

"Cute pjs L/n" Y/n quickly flushed a bright shade of red completely forgetting she was in her big Chelsea shirt and matching sweats.

"They were a gift actually, besides I don't know if you can be giving me much heat in those" Y/n quickly retaliated eyeing Sam's kangaroo and koala pj set. She gasped placing a hand on her chest pretending to be offended.

"Well I usually sleep in boxers and no shirt but I thought we'd keep it PG for our first sleep over" She winked, Y/n turning a shade of red she didn't even know was possible.

Both girls turned to face the bed, the one king mattress quickly becoming the elephant in the room.

"Ill take the couch" they both said in unison.

"You were on field longer tonight you deserve the rest more" Sam argued to the best of her slightly intoxicated abilities.

"You're team captain and recovering from injury you're taking it" Y/n retaliated

Sam shook her head, "Lets just share we are teammates, its just fucking bed".

She slipped in the bed switching her beside lamp off, a yawn escaping her she closed her eyes. Y/n stood their hesistantly.

"Y/n come on, I don't bite" The girl sighed slowly sliding in to their shared bed, turning off her bedside lamp, with now only having the light glow of Brisbane CBD shining through their windows.

Y/n could feel her heart beating in her ears.

The silence of the room was killing her.

Everything was so still.

It was as if time was frozen.

Why is this affecting me so much God, just go to sleep Y/n

The only source of comfort to Y/n was the feeling of Sam also tossing and turning, until she stopped facing Y/n's back.

"Psst, Y/n are you awake still?" Sam whispered

Both girls turned now facing one another. Sam feeling y/n's breath softly in hale and exhale.

"Yes Kerr what is it?"

"I just wanted to know...how long have you and Russo been together?" Sam hesitated, her breath tightly in her throat waiting for the response.

"What?" Y/n laughed tears nearly forming in her eyes, "Sam we are not together just very good friends"

"Oh,oh but you must have someone back home" The captain pried more.

"Nope just me" Y/n whispered, Sam's eye intently staring over her face trying to read her expression.

The room was hot, Y/n had never felt so tense she felt like she was melting. She suddenly felt a hand on her cheek, a thumb brushed over eye an eyelash stuck on Sam's thumb.

"Make a wish" Sam whispered, holding out her thumb. Y/n blew it away, Sam's hand now back on her cheek.

"Please don't kill me for this" Sam gently moving y/n's face towards hers.

Their lips slowly interlocking, the warmth flowed through Y/n like nothing ever had before. It felt like her body had finally switched on and every nerve had been sent into overdrive.

Sam's lips sweetly tasting like her strawberry chapstick and minty toothpaste. Sam smiled into the kiss breaking it apart.

"You've had no idea how long I wanted to do that for" Sam smiled stroking Y/n's hair.

I think I know what the feeling is now.

"Oh I might have some idea" she challenged back.

EXTRA:

"Macca I swear to god if you ruin this I'm going to fuck you up" Alannah whisper yelled

"One more shot" Mackenzie hushed leaning over the bed

The girls of course knew this was going to happen and were prepared rightfully so to document the occasion.

Both Y/n and their captain were entangled in one another looking as content as could possibly be.

"Mary you owe me that $15 babe" Hailey grinned

"No way", Mary scoffed hushing everyone out the door "I said August you owe me $40".

"Still worth it" Hailey smiled looking one more time at the couple before leaving them in peace.

#sam kerr x reader #sam kerr imagine #sam kerr fanfic #sam kerr fanction #wlw #fem reader #Matildas x reader #fanfiction #woso imagine

[vettelsvee]

JUST LIKE YOU | Oscar Piastri Prologue

<- PREVIOUS PART | JUST LIKE YOU MASTERLIST | NEXT PART ->

warnings: curse words, my very much created version of the vettel family (seb is married to diana vettel, his former race engineer), claire's parents being trash. christmas time! english not being my first language so sorry in advance for any mistake <3

taglist: just tell me in the comments if you wanna be tagged in the following parts!

a/n: would you like me to post Sebastian and Diana's fanfiction, History?

2022 December 20th Switzerland

Claire

If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that there was no way in hell I should be here, on the other side of the world, getting off a plane after nearly 25 hours of flight and a layover, and just two days shy of turning twenty-one.

Or maybe there was.

I don't know.

My parents were not at all pleased that their only daughter preferred to go with a woman, a mother and married to my uncle's arch-rival for a decade now, to try to solve the little existential crisis I was having now that I had only about five months left of university.

My uncle's wife thought the same, but since I had never liked her, if my parents' opinion didn't matter to me at all, hers mattered even less.

Mark was the only one who encouraged me to go to Switzerland to see Sebastian and Diana Vettel. I'm sure that more than the conversation he had with the engineer, seeing me crying and with smudged makeup after the three and a half hours of video call with the woman, was what convinced him in the end. Obviously, we didn't achieve my goal either: figuring out what the hell to do with my life once I finished the damn studies.

Seb must be in the arrivals area. Emily wanted to go with him. I'm sorry I couldn't go, someone had to stay with Charlie and Matilda.

After seeing Diana's message and answering her not to worry about anything, I hurried out of Zurich Airport as quickly as I could in search of the father and daughter so as not to keep them waiting much longer, all while controlling my nerves about meeting them again.

We were in the midst of the Christmas season, and that was possibly the main reason why even the last nook of the airport was crowded. Also, why my fear for crowded spaces was growing.

I tried to stay calm, focusing on the noise my suitcase wheels and my sneakers made against the pavement. I breathed in and out several times until I felt the anxiety decreasing, while at the same time I had to force myself to keep moving among the crowd when I could barely pass through, ignoring the curious stares of those around me, and the occasional stupid comments about how today's youngsters didn't have manners.

Every time someone passed near me, I tried to recognize one of the two faces I was expecting to see, but it seemed that the mission of finding the Vettels was going to end up being much more difficult.

"Clare, Clare!"

A childish voice shouting my name made me stop in the middle of the road and turn in the direction of the sound, trying to figure out where it was coming from. In the distance, apart from the crowd, next to a pearly white Tesla and a girl with curly, completely blonde hair, I spotted a tall figure with long hair, a headband misplaced on the forehead, and sunglasses.

Sebastian had his hand raised in a greeting gesture, telling me to head towards them.

"Clare, it's great to see you again!"

The blonde wrapped me around his arms, and all I could do was laugh at the mere thought of telling my ten-year-old self that I would feel so comfortable with the person I once hated the most in the world.

"I would say the same, but I'm really tired and not in the mood to talk," I lied, although partly it was true. What I didn't want was to face that conversation, at least not yet. "I missed you. Well, I missed you all," I admitted.

"We've been apart for a month, Webber. Both you and I, and Di, and your uncle, thought it was going to be longer."

"Thank my mental breakdown for that then, and also that your wife is my personal Tony Stark," I laughed.

"Again with the Marvel references?" he raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "I won't judge: Di is my particular MJ, or my Gwen except she isn't dead."

I didn't have time to answer or to calm my laughter because Emily, with the typical energy of an eight-year-old, approached me bouncing around. The eldest of the Vettels reached a little below my chin, and I realized she was no longer the baby that Seb and Di used to take to the paddock every race weekend and with whom I used to play. I assumed it was the same for Charlotte and Matilda.

"Look what I drew for you!" the blonde said proudly as she handed me a paper.

I took it and admired it tenderly, carefully observing the childlike strokes that seemed to represent her parents and her sisters, with me as a special guest, as if I were one more in the family. Obviously, there couldn't be missing a Christmas tree to our right, filled with presents.

"It's very beautiful, Emily! Thank you very much," I responded as cheerfully as I could given my weariness. "Do you want us to show it to Mark when we get home and I talk to mom?"

"Yes!"

The German looked at us after putting my belongings in the car's trunk and intervened again:

"Emily has been counting the days for your arrival," he revealed, leaving me a little surprised.

"And Charlie and Matilda too. Matilda speaks baby language, and we don't understand her, but she claps every time when we talk about you," the girl added. "Since mom told us you were coming to spend a few days with us at Christmas, we asked Santa in our letters to bring you a present."

"Well, Di and I were also looking forward to your arrival," the retired driver blushed, scratching his head shyly.

I didn't know what to say, and Vettel seemed to realize it. He tried to say something else, but he ended up just telling us to get into the car because there were still about forty-five minutes to go to the family house.

I sat in the back of the car at Emily's request, and as I chatted with her and her father about how the family was doing after retiring from Formula 1, how they felt about the upcoming filming of History, the documentary where they would talk about their lives and uncover things that hadn't been made public before, and especially about the topic that worried me the most, where I could do my internships for the last semester of university, I let the whirl of thoughts invade me gradually.

After all, it wasn't every day that you set aside your own family to spend the most family-oriented time of the year with another family member less, going to the other side of the world.

Unfortunately, I didn't think that the people who created me, especially my father, would say that all this confusion I had been carrying for longer than I'd like to admit, and that I had kept silent for so long, was just an excuse to continue living off the cuff or because, simply, I didn't feel like continuing to study.

"Are you okay, Claire?"

The concern in Sebastian's voice brought me back to earth. I saw his eyes staring at me through the rearview mirror, quickly diverting his gaze from the road.

"Yes, of course. I'm just tired from the trip, as I told you before," I lied. The forced smile and tension in my voice showed the opposite.

"Are you going to be with us for all Christmas holidays?"

The girl's question, so simple and innocent, made all my pent-up doubts increase. I knew there was a remote possibility that I hadn't made the right decision, and after hearing that, I was becoming more and more sure.

Diana reassured me more times than I'd like that they didn't mind having me there as part of the family because I already was. My parents told me to do whatever I wanted, that I was old enough to make my own decisions, and that if it wasn't now, it was only a matter of time before I left for any little thing.

The disdain and arrogance with which they gave me their response made me pack my bags and call Mark to pick me up as soon as he could.

"Yes, Emily. Claire will be with us for all Christmas holidays" the German replied for me.

"Why aren't you going to spend the holidays with your mom and dad?"

I felt the knot that was already in my throat tightening more and more. I looked at Seb, begging him to help me while I tried to find an answer to the innocence of the girl without being rude or revealing to her that maybe I didn't have as cool parents as hers.

"Emily, sweetheart, that's not something you ask," Sebastian immediately reprimanded his daughter as calmly as he could, stroking her leg from his seat.

"Sorry..." the little one said with a melodic voice. I thanked him with my eyes, to which he responded with a simple tilt of his head.

"It's okay!" I hastened to say to avoid saddening her, wrapping my left arm around her. "Sometimes, parents and kids... argue, but in the end, they always make up and recognize their mistakes. Does that happen to you with mom and dad?"

"Yes!" she responded immediately. "I also argue sometimes with my sisters over toys or food, and mom scolds us, although dad almost never gets mad at us."

The conversation continued without any further altercation or mention of anything I didn't want to hear. I greatly appreciated it because time ended up passing faster than I thought, and in the blink of an eye, I could already see the dark wooden structure with white tones where I assumed the family lived.

When I spotted Diana, with Matilda in her arms, greeting us as if her life depended on it, and Charlie playing with Clifford, the family dog, I knew I had arrived at one of my second homes.

"Home sweet home, girls!"

Before the blonde even had a chance to turn off the engine and say anything else, his daughter and I were already running down to go towards his wife.

Emily, without even greeting her mother beyond a slight wave, went to play with her middle sister and with the Great Pyrenees. Diana shook her head, laughing at her daughter's attitude. She put little Matilda on the ground and, to my surprise, she started running through the grass trying to catch up with her sisters and the dog.

"Has she learned to walk already?" I pointed to the little one while the redhead gave me a hug.

"I thought you were coming so we could talk about you and your future, not so you could see the not really important progress of my family in the month we've been apart."

"I can see you didn't have sex with Seb tonight, huh? What a mood," I whispered sarcastically in her ear. She burst out laughing and started hitting my arm.

"Don't be silly! Come on, let's go inside. It's cold and we have a lot to talk about. I don't want you to catch a cold."

Calling her daughters next, who initially resigned themselves to go back home, I finally headed inside with Diana. Seb approached us shyly, as if he didn't want to bother us. Seeing him out of the corner of my eye, and out of respect, I let him pass in front of me and slowed my pace a bit, falling a little behind the couple, but that didn't stop me from seeing how the German took his wife by the waist and gave her a short kiss on the lips, showing the affection and complicity that I already knew they both had.

I wish I had something like that in the future but, as my parents must have known, who would want me with my shitty attitude?

"Claire, sweetheart, make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back."

Diana disappeared, and her daughters and husband followed her. I decided to listen to her and sat on the couch, taking a blanket that was on it to wrap myself up. After a few minutes, I spotted her again, now approaching Seb to exchange a few words in a low voice while sharing quite a few caresses for my taste and, once again, another kiss.

In a matter of seconds, the engineer disappeared and reappeared with a tray in her hands that had a couple of glasses, several beverage cans, and a colorful variety of snacks that I didn't recognize.

However, some of them were typical Australian ones. The ones from my home. My home.

I hated that Diana Vettel was one of the most amazing and humble people I had ever met because each time she made me feel more like I wanted her to adopt me, regardless me being 21 already.

"Damn, it's like you bought the whole supermarket," I commented under my breath as a defense mechanism to avoid bursting into tears.

"For you whatever it takes, darling," she answered, sitting next to me and taking a bit of the blanket to wrap herself with it too.

I stayed silent, moved by her words. Since I didn't know how to start our conversation, nor did I know if it was the right time to have it, I just looked at Sebastian, who was now in some kind of greenhouse with his daughters, teaching them what seemed to be how to plant some kind of vegetable or who knows what.

"I know it was hard for him, but he's happy," the redhead suddenly spoke, pointing to her husband. "I tried to convince him not to retire yet, and he tried everything to get me to accept the offer to be Mick's engineer at Williams," she explained. Did Diana turn down the offer to be Schumacher's engineer this upcoming season? "But I guess it was time for us to be a normal family."

"You've always been a normal family in my eyes," in a strange way, yes. They had lived from Emily's birth in 2014 until just a month ago more in any other country in the world than in this house. I would swear that it would even feel strange for them to be here for so long. "And you, how are you?"

The woman seemed surprised by the question. I knew her well, but not as much as I would like, and I knew that this was one of her typical reactions. I also knew about some difficult things for her thanks to my uncle, and others because they became public, like the alleged leaked porn video starring her and Sebastian.

However, all the negativity didn't detract from the fact that my admiration for her was maximal since I met her in 2012.

"I know you're in charge of the F1 Academy with Susie," I continued, seeing that she was still in her trance, "but I guess it's not the same as being on the pit wall directing your husband and trying to make the sport a little more inclusive in all aspects."

"You said it, it's not the same. I miss and, at the same time, don't miss being in Formula 1," she finally confessed. "Feeling so undervalued when you're trying to give so much more than your maximum... it's tough. It's hard to feel like you're enough and that you're worth something, not to mention the constant thought of whether you really deserve what you've achieved."

"For me, and probably for Seb and many others, you're more than enough, Diana. I told you when I was ten, and I still think the same: I want to be like you when I grow up."

"And I told you that you don't have to be like me, but your own version," she added. "No matter what happens, you always have to be yourself, Claire, not trying to be someone you admire."

She lowered her head, shaking it, and then raised it again to look directly at me. I saw how the greenish tone of her eyes was covered by tears that, in a way, made me feel bad for her because it wasn't my intention to make her feel bad.

"You'll become like me if you want then, darling," she continued, her voice almost breaking. "I'm more than convinced, and I'll help you as much as I can to make it happen. After all, that's why you're here, right?"

Damn, the topic I just didn't want to talk about had finally come up, but I knew I had to address it.

I didn't know if I preferred to face my uncertain future or my partially dysfunctional family.

"Yeah. That my family sucks is another reason why I'm here," I grumbled.

"What happened, darling?" she took my hands and pulled me closer to her. I rested my head on her shoulder, and she started stroking my hair, as she had often seen herself do with her daughters. "We can leave the conversation about that extensive work world for another day, but not about your parents. I know it's affecting you no matter how much you try to show otherwise with that armor you put on."

The sigh that escaped my lips was heavy, as if I needed it to start slowly unloading the heavy burden I had on me.

"I don't know why my parents don't understand me," I started, my voice directly charged with frustration and, let's not say it, sadness. "I don't know what the hell to do with my life," I heard Diana scolding me for the curse word, but I didn't care, "and it bothers me that they can't put themselves in my shoes when, look, they've already been in my shoes."

"Claire..."

"Damn it, Diana, I'm their only daughter. If they don't want to support me, they could just refrain from giving it to me, not tell me that all this is an excuse to keep studying or... I don't know, not to start working or whatever bullshit they come up with."

The woman looked at me with compassion, nodding her head. She didn't know it, but something inside me was sure that she did understand me, and it hurt that it was just a person who hardly belonged in my life and not those who had given it to me.

"It's normal for you to feel this way, in the work field I mean," thanks for changing the subject, Mrs. Vettel. "I went through it in early 2011 when I saw that my graduation was getting closer and, therefore, the end of my contract as a trainee," she replied. I knew she wasn't the only one, I knew it. "If ninety percent of me sensed that they wouldn't renew me, the remaining ten percent thought I wouldn't even continue working in Formula 1. Obviously, with too much luck and thanks to a lot of Seb's influence, it was the opposite."

She took a sip of water, put a small Reese's in her mouth and, putting her hand in front of her mouth, continued:

"They say that choosing what you want to dedicate yourself to, supposedly, for the rest of your life is the worst part, but no one warns you that the end of the journey is the worst part of it," she said honestly. For God's sake, was this woman good at everything? "I know how hard it must be for you to feel this way, especially when you expect support and being understood from those who should give it to you the most. Luckily, you have your uncle and your aunt, just like I had my uncle and my aunt."

"Eloise is my uncle's wife, that doesn't make her my aunt. Not to mention the shitty behaviors she has towards me," I corrected her coldly.

"I've also been a victim of that snake, and I ended up blaming it on your uncle, so don't worry."

"The thing is, it's frustrating, you know?" I continued, ignoring the last thing she had said. "Knowing that you can't be honest and you have to constantly pretend to be the perfect daughter."

"Nobody's perfect, Claire, and as long as you're here, with us, these days, I won't allow you to be," the redhead assured me. "You can be honest about anything without fear of being judged by us, because it won't happen."

I looked up at her and was surprised. It was the first time someone, besides Mark, had taken my side and understood me.

"You're not going to take my parents' side?"

"I don't have to excuse them when I think they're not right," she revealed. "Being a parent is... difficult, and when you're all born, you don't come with a manual on how we should educate and raise you under your arm, and they don't give it to us later either, right? But there is something in which I understand your parents.

"In what?"

Diana Vettel directed her gaze towards where her daughters and husband still were. She chuckled softly and glanced back at me, giving my thigh a little tap.

"You'll understand someday if you ever become a mother, or care about someone so much that you always want them by your side."

Before I could even respond, she got up from the couch, swiftly tossing off the blanket, which ended up falling on my face. Her bare feet thudded heavily on the floor as she moved quickly, heading towards the stairs, forcing me to run to catch up with her.

"Where the hell are you going?" I shouted, breathless, gripping the staircase railing to catch my breath.

She didn't respond beyond telling me to watch my language, as the girls might hear us. I admired her as a mother, but sometimes she was so good at it that it exhausted me. The only consolation was knowing that Seb often let out curses in front of their daughters and prayed to whoever was with them not to tell Di, as he fondly called her.

"Diana, I would truly appreciate it if you could let me know in advance if you're planning any outings. I've been on a plane and in an airport all day, and there's nothing I want more right now than to crawl into bed and pray that jet lag doesn't hit me."

"Shush," she immediately responded as she sat down in front of the computer on the desk in what seemed to be her office. "I've been thinking about something for a few days now, and we need your uncle's help."

My uncle? How was Mark going to help me with my existential crisis, to shelter me in his house?

No way. I'd have to endure his wife, and I'd pay all the money in the world not to see his face.

"Mark isn't going to help us, I'm telling you," I replied, getting a bit annoyed by the uncertainty. "Who do you think he is, Cinderella's fairy godmother or something?"

"No," she said, scrolling through her FaceTime contacts until she found one labeled M. Webber, just below another one labeled Lara, followed by a bunch of heart emojis and weird faces, "but he might be able to help you land an internship."

"Mark already has a lot on his plate," I began to say as the redhead pressed the call button. "Dealing with Eloise, for example, takes a lot of work, and..."

"Hello, Mark!"

My uncle's smiling face and raised hand filled the screen. I knew his smile was a bit forced because he had heard the comment I made about his wife, but as always, he turned a deaf ear.

"Well, well, what's going on over there, ladies?"

"You must be kidding..." I muttered, earning a smack on the arm from Diana. "Fine, Mark, fine," I finished, shooting them both a disgruntled look.

"The thing is, putting aside formalities, after your niece more or less told me about the little problem she has with your brother and sister-in-law, and after I've been mulling over what we talked about the other day, I've come up with something," the engineer explained.

Mark furrowed his brow slightly, a bit confused and apparently a bit worried by the words of his former teammate's wife.

"Go ahead, it's all yours."

"Claire is a bit confused about what to do with her future," I stifled a laugh. I wished it was just a bit, and all this didn't feel like it was making me want to tear my hair out, "and she also has to do her final year internship. I thought that, if possible, we could help her do it in a Formula 1 team."

My eyes widened in surprise, and I shouted "what" louder than I had ever said anything in my life. My heart started pounding at the mere thought of me, Claire Webber, in a team of the sport I loved most in the world. I even started to feel dizzy with the idea.

"Are you kidding me, right?" was all I could say to Vettel.

"Do you want Claire to be Diana Vettel 2.0?" my uncle asked with a hint of sarcasm. "Are you planning to create a pilot project and then implement it with your daughters?"

"Neither one thing nor the other," the woman replied, quite agitated, crossing her arms. "Your niece doesn't need to be the second version of anyone. She's already her own version."

My uncle fell silent, realizing he had screwed up royally. Diana, on the other hand, tried not to make a big deal out of it, although she knew it might have affected him. She asked me to take the chair from what used to be Seb's desk and sit next to her, and so I did.

"According to the Teaching Plan of the University of Melbourne, Claire should start her internship period next January. The season doesn't start until March, but she could try to request some kind of leave," Diana explained in detail. I was pleasantly surprised that she had informed herself so much, and especially that she offered to help me.

"Don't worry, Diana. I can look for another place to..."

"As I told you before, I haven't forgotten that since we met in 2012, you've been telling me that you wanted to be like me," she interrupted. "Every time we've had the chance to spend time together, you've emphasized your dream of wanting to be part of this world, so if you not only have the chance but also the talent to make it happen, that's how I'm going to try to do it."

I nodded, accepting her proposal and everything that came with it. If this was my chance to pursue my biggest dream, and I could do it hand in hand with my own Tony Stark, then I had to make the most of it.

"So I should go starting from early March, right?" my uncle wanted to know, seemingly agreeing with everything.

"Yes, but I think it would be even better if she went to the preseason tests," the redhead asserted, getting closer and closer to the screen. "Maybe that way she can make herself seen and, perhaps, do something to get noticed by a team..."

I stopped paying attention to the conversation they were having because my eyes drifted to the back of the image emanating from my uncle. I saw as the door behind him slowly opened, revealing the figure of a guy I had never seen in my life.

His light brown hair fell slightly over his forehead. The color of his eyes was also brown, though a bit darker, and they stood out quite a bit against his fair skin. His shoulders slumped downwards, his gaze was almost downcast, and he seemed to move with such calmness that I didn't know if it was because he was tired or because he was just naturally laid-back.

"Mark," he began to say, "am I interrupting or...?"

"No, no, no worries! Come in and make yourself comfortable, Oscar!" my uncle replied. "I'm talking to Diana Vettel, who you surely already know," he greeted her with a wave and asked how she was, "and this is my niece, Claire."

"She's the one you've talked to me so much about, right? The one who's my age, studies Aerospace Engineering, and is almost as passionate about Formula 1 as I am."

Who the hell was Oscar, what the hell was he doing at my uncle's house at seven-thirty in the evening, and why did he know so much about my existence?

#oscar piastri #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri fanfic #op81 #oscar piastri one shot #oscar piastri imagine #oscar piastri x you #formula 1 #formula 1 imagine #formula one #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 one shot #fanfic #fanfiction #grumpy x sunshine #grumpy #sunshine #sebastian vettel #sebastian vettel x reader #sv5 #mark webber

[desertdollranch]

Opening and reviewing my first Australian Girl doll

She spent more than a month in a box, making her way halfway across the world to her new home, and now here she is! I'm so relieved that she arrived safely. It was the longest I've ever had to wait for a doll, and through much of her journey I didn't know where she was or when she would be here.

I don't want to drop too big of a spoiler, but listen to this........ she was so worth the wait, and the money. This doll instantly won my heart with how exquisite she is in every way.

Australian Girl dolls were specially made for Australian children, by Helen Schofield, a grandmother who loved dolls. She created the brand when she couldn't find an age appropriate doll that was locally available or good quality. So she created these dolls to help children feel pride in Australian culture, while teaching them about friendship and empathy. There are five girls to befriend--Amy, Jasmine, Emily, Bronte, and Matilda, each representing a different region of the country, ethnicity, and lifestyle.

The company itself has quite high standards. They strive to reduce waste in their product packaging, and they use a factory in China that treats its workers humanely and does not use child labor.

If you've been around my blog for a while, you know how much I love collecting diverse brands and types of play dolls, especially international dolls. Also, this one will be extra special because I actually have an Australian grandmother--she's also a doll collector, and I'm looking forward to showing her my new doll the next time I see her.

After the cut, I'll show you who she is, and talk about why I chose her. I'll compare her with similar-sized dolls as well, and have her do some dressing up.

Before we get to the unboxing, let's check out the little goodies included with my doll.

First is a little pamphlet explaining why the dolls are special, but also represent real girls growing up in Australia.

There's another pamphlet about how to care for your doll.

All of the dolls come with a fun freebie: this cute pair of thongs.

Another freebie (a $30 AUD value) is this very sturdy doll carrier with pockets for accessories.

I also bought a pair of sneakers for my new girl. I figured her feet would be a bit larger than my other dolls, and these are cute, so she now has three pairs of shoes to wear.

Anyway. Enough of the small stuff. Let's let her out of the box.

It's Amy from Adelaide!

I chose Amy after three entire years of being indecisive and going back and forth on exactly which Australian Girl I wanted. They're all equally adorable, so I picked Amy because her personality seems very sweet, and I love that she has mixed heritage. According to the Austrlaian Girl dolls website, Amy's family tree is a mix of Aboriginal and Dutch on her mother's side, and English and Indian/Fijian on her father's side. Very representative of modern Australia!

I have no regrets. She is perfect!!! Just the most charming little angel. I am officially WOWED.

I'm seriously impressed at the superior quality of her construction. I understand why she was priced a bit higher than similar dolls. She is, from head to toe, beautifully made, with so many sweet details. Her dress and shoes are also impeccably made and feel very durable.

Her hair is flawless. It's a Kanekalon wig with loose curls, in a gorgeous shade of brown. Her eyes open and close. She has both painted and attached eyelashes.

She has a gap between her big toe and the next toe, so she can wear her sandals and thongs.

Her elbows are dimpled and she has subtle blush color on parts of her skin, including elbows and hands.

She has a crease across her palm.

She has articulation at her shoulders, hips, and neck. Her limbs, head, and shoulders are vinyl, and she has a huggable soft tummy. I don't really have a strong preference for either cloth torsos, vinyl torsos, or half and half like Amy. They all have pros and cons. This specific construction is nice in that she can wear low-neckline clothes without showing a cloth body, but it does make her harder to repair in case she has to be fixed.

I have a pretty good idea of what she'll be wearing when she's ready to change out of her pink party dress.

The first photo shows her in a dress I made. The second is a Maplelea dress and hat. The rest are all American Girl brand clothing, except for the shoes. Amy can comfortably wear most stretchy clothes by AG and similar brands like Our Generation, but her feet absolutely will not fit AG, OG, or Maplelea shoes.

The exception to the clothes is some of the tighter pieces. This AG shirt did not fit well. Amy's shoulders are a bit more broad than smaller dolls, and so without some extra give this is too tight.

Amy is 20 inches/51 centimeters tall. Here she is next to my Our Generation doll Jordana. I'm using an OG doll because they're actually available locally in Australia. Whereas American Girl dolls, which I usually use when I compare brands, have to make an overseas journey. So it's only fair that I consider any Australians reading this now who are wondering how Amy compares.

Amy is tall, but not the tallest doll in the family! Here she is next to Fernanda, my Karito Kids doll, who is about an inch taller although slimmer. Karito Kids dolls are in fact just slightly skinnier than American Girl dolls, so they have a much easier time sharing clothes.

In conclusion, I highly highly recommend this doll. She's absolutely sublime! I'm so thrilled to have her here, and I'm looking forward to having lots of adventures with her.

Obviously I'm far from Australia, but my Amy will still live her life as if she were in a suburb outside of the city of Adelaide. I've been looking at pictures of the geography of the state of South Australia, and there are some places in the mountainous parts that look pretty similar to the desert southwest where I live. So Amy will have no idea she's actually in the USA. Don't tell her the truth!

#australian girl dolls #20 inch dolls #international dolls #doll review

[tommykinardkink]

slide on through my window

@bucktommyweek Prompt: Day One - Alternate first meeting Rating: Teen and up Summary: Based on this other prompt - “You broke into my apartment drunk thinking it was your friend’s house and I should call the cops but my cat kinda likes you so we’re good.”  Notes: for #bucktommyweekend

The first inkling Tommy Kinard has that something’s wrong is when Matilda doesn’t come greet him at the front door. She's usually there as soon as the door opens, winding herself around his legs purring loudly

He steps into his apartment, tossing his keys on the kitchen counter as he cranes his neck in search of his cat.

That’s when he gets an eyeful of his second clue that his day’s gonna be off to a weird start.

There’s a half-naked man sprawled out across his couch, snoring softly. Matilda, the traitorous little fur ball, is curled up on the man’s lap, tail wrapped around her body. She opens her eyes but doesn’t lift her head, watching as Tommy creeps forward.

For a moment, all he can do is stare. Because this is weird, right? Even by LA standards. Tommy allows himself some time to take in the stranger’s appearance. By his guess, the stranger could be about his height, but isn’t quite as broad. Despite his large frame, his features are boyish, with a birthmark at the corner of his right eye and above his brow and his mouth softened in sleep. His sandy blond hair is a mess, almost as though someone had been running their hands through it. That combined with the missing shirt—Tommy doesn’t allow his gaze to linger on the tattoo on his left pec—and Tommy can’t help but wonder if there’s another half-naked stranger in his apartment somewhere.

It’s been a long night, and an even longer shift at the 127. The whole drive home, all he’d been able to think about was snuggling Matilda, and then falling face first into bed and crashing for the rest of the day. This stranger has robbed him of both those things.

“Hey.” Tommy inches forward and pokes the man in the shoulder. A loud snore is all he gets in response. He frowns and rubs a hand over his face before trying again, poking him harder this time.

“C’mon, wake up.”

“Wha’?” The stranger jerks awake, sitting upright so quickly that he almost head butts Tommy in the face. It's only reflexes honed from years of Muay Thai that save him from a broken nose. Bright impossibly blue eyes blink at him in confusion. Somehow, the man hasn’t disturbed Matilda at all, and she rests her chin on her little paws and watches the standoff through a half-lidded gaze.

“Who’re you?” the stranger asks in a sleep roughened voice.

Tommy straightens to his full height, suddenly indignant.

“Who’m I? I’m the guy whose apartment you broke into,” he snaps.

The stranger squints at him before his expression breaks into a broad, still somewhat tipsy, grin. Tommy does his best not to notice how it brightens up the guy’s whole face.

“Nah.”

Jesus Christ.

Tommy draws in a deep breath through his mouth before releasing it slowly out his mouth. Grace, he reminds himself. It’s important to always extend grace to others, even when they don’t deserve it. Even when they’re intruding on his very limited free time.

“What’s your name?”

“Ev—Buck.”

“Evbuck?”

The beautiful dimwit blinks up at Tommy, clearly baffled. He slowly lowers himself down onto his elbows—Tommy is about to warn him not to get too comfortable—and shakes his head.

“My name’s Evan. Friends call me Buck.”

Well, Tommy sure as hell isn’t this guy’s friend.

“Okay, so. Evan. You broke into my home.”

This doesn’t seem to sink in any better than it did the first time. Evan frowns at him, then glances down at Matilda. She blinks placidly back at him.

“You’re Chimney’s roommate?”

Now it’s Tommy’s turn to be confused. Is Evan simply drunk, or is he having some sort of seizure? Tommy belatedly wonders if he shouldn’t just call 911 and be done with it. This entire conversation is giving him a headache.

But Evan has apparently used the brief silence to fill in some blanks in his mind. Only, he apparently spells like a toddler, judging by the way his shoulders abruptly sag in relief.

“Man, I guess Chimney didn’t tell you I was coming.” He flops back down onto the couch, the picture of ease as he beams up at Tommy. “I’m really sorry about that. He said I could—”

“What the—who is…” Tommy takes another deep breath. It doesn’t help, so he counts to ten before saying in as calm a voice as he can manage, “Evan. Are you on drugs?”

Now Evan looks offended. Good.

“No.” A beat. “I’m just a little drunk. But,” he adds, when Tommy opens his mouth to speak, “not so drunk that I can’t read… this.” He rummages around in the back pocket of his jeans, having to arch his back and lift his hips off the couch to do so and.

Is Tommy having some kind of Freudian nightmare? Is that what this is? Did he just crash on one of the bunks in the station and this is all just a figment of his overtired imagination? Is he gonna have to pinch himself?

But no, there's no time for that. He watches as Evan pulls a worn little square of paper from his pocket and waves it under Tommy’s nose triumphantly. Tommy snatches it out of his hand to peer at it.

Jesus, no wonder the kid had gotten lost. Tommy looks down at the chicken scratch on the bit of paper, practically illegible even in the early morning light. Tommy’s eyes narrow.

“What’d you say your friend’s name is?”

“Chimney,” Evan replies promptly, as though that’s at all helpful.

“The name on his birth certificate,” he clarifies through clenched teeth. Tommy can practically feel his eye twitching.

“How the hell am I s’posed to know?” Evan’s voice rises slightly in exasperation. “He just said—Ow!”

Tommy jumps, the piece of paper fluttering from his hands to the floor as Evan lets out a loud yelp. It’s easy to guess the source of his sudden discomfort. Matilda, who’d been handling the situation a whole lot better than Tommy, had seemingly lost her patience with the way Evan kept shifting around beneath her and stuck her tiny, needle-like claws through his jeans in an effort to keep him still. Evan stares down at her, eyes wide, big body motionless.

And. It’s stupid. Utterly ridiculous. This stupid man had broken into Tommy’s apartment and stolen his cat’s affection. But even though Tommy knows first hand how much those claws hurt, Evan makes no move to push Matilda away or retaliate. And just like that, Tommy feels most of his irritation slipping away. He lets out a gusty sigh and drops down into the loveseat opposite Evan.

“Okay, let’s try to figure this out,” he says, trying to be reasonable. “I’m telling you that you’re in the wrong apartment. No one by the name of Chimney,” Tommy pulls a face, “lives here.” Evan looks like he’s about to argue, so Tommy continues hurriedly, “I also don’t believe that you’re some kind of weirdo who just breaks into people’s homes so you can sleep on their couches.”

“Good. ‘Cause I’m not.”

“Right. Glad to hear it.” They stare at each other for a moment; Evan is definitely pouting. Tommy forces himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. “So this leaves us with a third option: this was all just a big mixup. Which, given your friend’s handwriting, isn’t surprising. So. No harm, no foul.”

“You’re not gonna call the cops?” Evan asks in a small voice.

“I was tempted for a minute.” Tommy looks back over at where his cat is kneading at Evan’s thighs in an effort to make herself comfortable. Evan winces but makes no move to stop her. “But Matilda’s the boss around here, and she seems to like you.”

Evan follows the direction of his gaze and smiles. It’s soft and sweet and Tommy really needs to go to bed. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and starts swiping through his apps.

"Uh..."

"Relax," Tommy says without looking up. "I'm getting you an uber."

"Thanks, that really nice—" He stops, and the abrupt silence grabs Tommy's attention, worried that Matilda's somehow managed to draw blood. He glances at Evan, only to find the other man looking at him thoughtfully.

"What?"

"You never told me your name."

Oh. It's strange but he feels a flutter of something like nerves for the first time since finding Evan passed out on his couch. He glances down briefly before forcing himself to get it together.

"Tommy. My name's Tommy."

And dear God, what was it with this guy and his smile? Tommy's too old to be getting flustered by some pretty boy and his fucking dimples. He clears his throat and quickly looks away again.

"Well. Evan. It's been nice meeting you. But I think it might be time for you to go."

"Yeah." Evan's smile dims slightly. He seems to shake it off, though, as he turns his attention to Matilda. With one big, gentle hand, he reaches down to scratch under her chin. Tommy can hear her purring from here. "Sorry, babe, but I gotta go," he tells her with a grin. She pushes her face against his hand, demanding that he keep it up, and Tommy has never before been envious of a cat. "But I promise, I'll always remember our time together."

He's so stupid. And adorable. And Tommy needs him to find his shirt, stat.

It takes some coaxing—and Tommy going to the kitchen for some treats—to get Matilda off Evan's lap. Tommy does his best not to stare as the other man gets off the couch and stretches lazily. The flex of his muscles is obscene and Tommy can't help the way his eyes dip to where the happy trail disappears beneath Evan's jeans.

Shit.

Tommy feels his face burning as he rips his gaze away, looking up just in time to catch Evan's little smirk. He can feel his cheeks burning and he pointedly turns his back as Evan pulls his shirt on over his head.

Together they walk to the front door, and the silence feels kinda awkward. A sudden thought occurs to him.

"Hey. How'd you even get in?"

"Huh? Oh." Now it's Evan's turn to blush, and he ducks his head. "I, uh, I came in through the window."

"We're on the third floor."

"Yeah." Evan scratches the back of his neck, expression sheepish. "I wasn't thinking too clearly. But still," he peeks up at Tommy from beneath his lashes, "pretty impressive, right?"

Is he... flirting right now?

But there's this incorrigible grin on Evan's face, impossible to resist, and Tommy can't help smiling back at him.

"Yeah. Pretty impressive."

Tommy's phone buzzes, a notification that the uber's just around the corner. He can't help but feel a pang of disappointment.

"Hey, can I—?" He looks up to find Evan looking slightly nervous. Tommy's expecting a request to use the bathroom but, instead, Evan surprises him.

"Can I have your number?"

"My number?" Tommy scrambles to cover his astonishment and tries for teasing as he asks, "Why, d'you wanna call ahead the next time you break in?"

"No. I wanna take you out for dinner. Or, y'know, maybe for breakfast." Evan's got this cocky smirk on his face, but there's a hint of vulnerability there too.

This is a terrible idea.

That knowledge doesn't stop him from giving Evan his number and watching as he disappears down the hallway and into the elevator.

This was really not how Tommy had expected his morning to go.

But he can't say he minds.

#bucktommyweekend #evan buckley #tommy kinard #bucktommy #911 abc #my writing

[2rats1gogh]

Hi! I wanted to know your opinion of Jacaerys. I always see that Team Black believes that he would have been a good king and it is also mentioned in the text, I, on the other hand, like to analyze what I read and draw my own conclusions. This guy's decisions were largely...bullshit. The first one that comes to my mind is the idea of riding their dragons and not sending ravens because then everyone would know they were "Targaryens" because only Targaryens ride dragons...then he proceeds to propose the idea of dragon seeds with bastards who haven't lived with his privilege claiming and riding dragons...and we already saw how it turned out. He also seems to me to be a very bad negotiator since to get support or maintain it he had to make quite important concessions and promises. The idea of sending away their little half-brothers who are not old enough to defend themselves and who only have little Stormcloud, when Rhaena and Joffrey were perfectly fine in the Vale does not seem logical to me. I always see that he died trying to save his half-brothers but this is not mentioned anywhere, Vermax decided to fly low...yes, but at no time is it mentioned that it was to rescue Viserys, I have read this fragment in the books that talk of the subject, not only fire and blood and it does not appear, I don't know if the source is this video that appeared on YouTube years ago where the Strong Boys had Valyrian traits 😂 there we see the credibility. They also say that he saved Aegon but the truth is that he was saved by his dragon... who did not allow himself to die until he was safe in Dragonstone, this decision did not have any positive impact on his half-brothers, rather it condemned them, Aegon to live with the guilt that did not belong to him and Viserys to be married at the age of 12...after spending years kidnapped.

Then there is the issue of Driftmark, something tells me that the legitimization of Addam and Alyn and consequently setting aside Joffrey as heir to House Velaryon was Corlys' condition to maintain his support, the people of team black usually say that this is so because Joffrey couldn't inherit the throne and also Driftmark (😂 sure, Corlys would be very upset if he was really his grandson) but Jacaerys was also alive when this agreement was reached. In short, I do not see brilliance or political cunning anywhere, besides the fact that with his condition as a bastard he should not have rights to the throne, but in his case no one speaks of usurpation to his half-brothers Aegon and Viserys, to Alicent's children and even Daemon's daughters, who had more inheritance rights than him and his two brothers, in the end his claim was based on a very very bad lie.

The dance is very poorly written, the truth is that this fact should have had more impact, I understand that they were going to die and George did not worry, but that Rhaenyra continued to be heir and retain so many supports being a woman with three very obvious bastards in a feudal society....It doesn't seem credible to me at all.

They give the example of English Anarchy but the truth is that it has nothing to do with it. Matilda had no siblings and it was a cousin, son of her father's sister, who claimed the throne. She also had no bastards, she had no children from her first marriage, in fact in the end it was her legitimate son, who she had with her second husband, who ended up on the throne and she fought more for his claim than for hers. It is not as similar as Team black points out, there are quite a few differences, Matilda and Rhaenyra are not the same.

Have a good Saturday! 🫶🏻

Hii sorry for the late response, hope you had a great Saturday yourself!

As much as I am a team green supporter, I never really hated Jace that much. My only real issue with him was him bringing the knife when Baela end Rhaena said that they’re going after Aemond. That’s it. He was never as awful as Luke, but he wasn’t that likable either tbh.

Imo we simply never got to know Jace well enough to say whether or not he would’ve been a good king. There is pretty much no evidence to suggest that he would. He might’ve been a good brother and a good son but that wouldn’t automatically make him a good ruler.

I think people are just mainly saying this because he is Rhaenyra’s firstborn and they are gaslighting themselves into thinking that Jace would’ve been a great king and so it’s a win for Rhaenyra when in reality we can’t say for sure. As you said, he did make some questionable decisions throughout the story. He was still pretty young, so he could’ve either matured into a wise and just king, or power and ambition could’ve corrupted him.

I think Rhaenyra’s bastards, and Jace mainly, are interesting only because they died in horrible ways. As soon as they were born (outside of marriage), they were doomed. And that’s their whole personality unfortunately. They have nothing interesting to offer other than being Rhaenyra’s doomed bastards. And Jace is just that.

And if we’re being honest, I don’t think the realm would’ve accepted him as a king. The rumors were there and people were talking. Sooo….. idk.

And you are absolutely right about Matilda!!! Her situation is entirely different from Rhaenyra’s in pretty much every way:

a) a cousin via aunt is not the same thing as half-brother via same father-king

b) Matilda didn’t have any other siblings whatsoever and was named heir because she had none, Rhaenyra did have three male siblings

c) Matilda didn’t have any illegitimate children

d) Matilda didn’t marry her uncle

e) Matilda didn’t try stealing her husband’s nieces’ inheritance

I can definitely see the inspo but it’s just not the same thing on so many levels

#house of the dragon #hotd #pro team green #anti team black #team green #anti team black stans #asoiaf #anti rhaenyra targaryen #anti rhaenyra #jacaerys velaryon #fire and blood

[jamesunderwater]

Jily Microfic - Daring

@jilymicrofics - feb 28th, prompt: daring- words: 687 Summary: Lily's finally reached acceptance. Now she just has to do something about it. Part 2 of 3! Read Part 1 here & Part 3 here; read the academic rivals micros collection here (there's parallels to each of the four micros in this little trio-finale)

She’s going to do it. She, Lily Matilda Evans, is going to crash a date.

After spending hours last night reviewing muggle medical books to confirm it isn’t just a case of a misdiagnosed heart murmur, acceptance finally hit her around three in the morning. And now, there's just no going back.

She, Lily Matilda Evans, has feelings for James Potter…whose middle name is Fleamont – a red flag, for certain.

But despite the red flags – that they can’t go two minutes without arguing, that she wants to pull her hair out when she’s with him, that she once wrote a poem about her love for the giant squid just to prove to him how much she doesn’t think about him (to name a few) – and despite the fact that they’ll have to withstand the awkward torture of working together the rest of the year if this goes wrong, Lily has to do this. She already can’t stand the fact that James is getting dressed for a date with another girl right now. She won’t survive it if she has to watch him be someone’s actual boyfriend. 

So might as well cause a scene sooner rather than later, right?

—

Lily waits until the two are seated inside the Three Broomsticks, rolling her eyes at James’s choice of venue. Leaning against the wall as casually as possible, she sneaks glances over her shoulder and through the front window of the pub. They’ve found a table toward the front of the room; James leaves Tamara to go get them drinks; he’s ordering from Rosmerta and Lily can see his smirk from here; Tamara, she thinks, is staring at his arse, and while the girl isn’t wrong for this, Lily feels the urge to shove a pie in her face.

“Evans, Evans…” Lily's blood turns cold as someone tuts. “Not spying, are we?”

Hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket, Sirius saunters over to her from across the way, Remus and Peter beside him. All three boys wear varying expressions of curiosity.

“Told you she’d get jealous – did I not say she’d get jealous?” Sirius turns to confirm this with his friends, a finger pointed lazily at Lily. She wants to bite it off, he’s so annoying.

“I’m not jealous,” Lily argues, gaze flicking into the pub again even as she crosses her arms in defiance. James has just returned to the table with drinks, and places Tamara’s before her with a smile. Lily’s stomach churns.

Sirius laughs. “Right, so there’s another reason you’re stalking our boy while he’s on his first date in nearly two years?”

“It’s not been two years, he went out with Holly Hartley at the beginning of last year.” 

She only realizes she’s stepped into the trap when Sirius smirks triumphantly. 

“So, what’s the plan, Evans?” he asks, tilting his head. She doesn’t understand what he means, and her face must say as much, because he says, “C’mon, it’s you, know you didn’t come down here to spy on them without a plan.”

Cheeks burning, Lily squeezes her arms tighter around her chest. “I was going to…” She looks between the three boys, all of whom seem keen to hear her answer, and while this confuses her, it also spurs her on. “Well, I was going to interrupt them. You know–” She brings a hand to the necklace around her neck and tugs at it. “I was going to crash it.”

She jumps when Sirius lets out a booming, “Ha!” then glances into the pub window to make sure he wasn’t heard. Her cheeks as red as her hair now, Lily opens her mouth to defend herself, but Sirius cuts her off. 

“Well damn, Evans, if you aren’t the picture of ‘daring, nerve and chivalry’.” 

Lily glares at him, and though she wants to make a retort, only half her brain is paying attention. The other half is busy glancing repeatedly into the pub, where she can see James laughing around the lip of his butterbeer bottle. 

Her mind comes back into full focus when she hears the words, “Can we join you?”

To be continued (again)...

#jilymicrofics #jily microfic #jily fic #jily #jple #jily* #james potter #lily evans #hp #my writing

[prettyprettypaci2]

Squire - Part 3

👑 Part 1 👑 Part 2 👑

"That was a disgraceful effort! Do it again."

You sigh mournfully from your splayed position on the oriental rug, so weak and exhausted you can barely drag yourself to your knees. Your "frollicking" lessons had been difficult enough before Madame Matilda secured your new shoes to your feet. Their glossy black leather is tight and unyielding around your toes and ankles -- almost as painful as the ever-present pink collar clamped to your throat. Standing on the towering 5-inch heels makes you feel like you're walking on stilts, which is made no less difficult by the odd weight of the sagging diaper fastened to your hips. Such ridiculous shoes are worn only by the concubines of hedonistic emperors, noble women of notorious reputation...and by you, a reluctant squire-in-training to Her Majesty.

"Have you gone deaf, squire? If you cannot so much as frollick without falling over, how do you intend to dance, or trot, or bend over on command? Get back on your pretty heels and do it again."

Knowing the consequences for failing to obey Madame Matilda, you dig deep for the strength to clomp one heel against the pink rug, then the other. You feel dizzy as you hoist yourself to a standing position, and your vision blurs as the squiring hall seems to spin around you. You fight for balance by taking a step back on one of your heels and closing your eyes. You're sure you would not even have the energy to open them again if Pig had not snuck some table scraps to your room last night. Your fellow squire -- the only other one you have met -- has taken to bringing you such gifts on their regular visits, supplementing your meager diet in exchange for a bit of companionship. As strange as Pig's desires are, you've come to look forward to those intimate moments when they crawl into your bed and comfort you after the long, punishing days of training.

"What are you forgetting, squire?"

Remembering yourself, you curl your lips into a pathetic smile which does not reach your tired eyes. Madame Matilda insists that a squire's demeanor should be flighty and gay, no matter what torments they may be subjected to. Nevertheless, you have found it impossible to fake enthusiasm for the daily humiliations you suffer at the hands of this cruel red-haired matron, and the punishments for failing to grin and giggle at the right times have been becoming more severe. With a deep breath, you attempt to fix the awkward rictus on your face into a more convincing smile, then clutch your feathered skirt in both hands.

You wobble on the first mincing step, worried you're already about to topple over. Your stomach growls grumpily as you force your body beyond its limits -- but there will be no hope for breakfast until Madame Matilda is satisfied with your frollick.

"Left, right, left, right...it's a frollick, not a promenade! Only one foot should be touching the floor at a time. Kick those knees higher -- one should be able to clearly see the state of a squire's diaper whenever it is at play. And have you never laughed? How should the Queen's guests know to laugh at you if you are not laughing too?"

You fight the temptation to grimace, and manage to keep the false smile plastered to your lips. The squiring hall is filled with a strange harmony of sounds: the galloping clomp of your high-heeled shoes against the rugs, the loud rustle of your starched feather skirt, the curious crinkling and popping of your thick diaper, and the half-hearted tittering of your fake girlish laugh.

After skipping in circles for endless minutes, Madame Matilda finally signals for you to stop. As you've been conditioned to do, you cross one smooth, stocking-clad leg behind the other and stoop into a deep curtsy, pinching your feathered skirt between your forefingers and thumbs. A wave of nausea hits you as you're going down, and you feel your quaking heels give out. You're once again lying prone on the floor, sobbing with fatigue, hunger, and fear at how Madame Matilda might punish you for this.

"Please..." You groan. "I need to eat. I swear I will get it right, but I must have a bit of food. Just a crust of something...anything."

You wince, anticipating a kick in your side for speaking out of turn. But to your surprise, you look up through tearful eyes to see Madame Matilda nodding unsmilingly in your direction.

"You will have some food, squire. Though your comportment is entirely unacceptable, you have managed some small improvement, which Her Majesty is most generous to reward."

"Oh...oh, thank you, Madame!" You gush. You practically mean it; never before has Madame Matilda agreed to give you food after so little begging and groveling.

Eagerly, you crawl across the floor towards the alcove in the squiring hall where Madame Matilda's handmaidens keep your feeding dish. You yelp when you feel a cold boot press against your back, forcing you to lie still. Your eyes cross to see a thin block rod bury itself in the pink rug, an inch away from your nose.

"The squire will not take its feeding from a dish today," says the familiar deep voice of Blackwood. Your frollicking had made such a racket that you had not heard him enter the squiring hall. As usual, the sallow-faced minister looks uneasy in this lush and decorated part of the palace, but he remains terrifying in his position of dominance over you.

"Minister!" Madame Matilda barks. You see Blackwood shift his weight uncomfortably from your place on the floor. "I am pleased to have your assistance. I fear in this pathetic state, the squire will be unable to drag itself to its new throne."

Your face contorts in confusion. "Throne?"

Without acknowledging your question, Blackwood's rough hands slide under your ribs and lift you off the ground, causing you to gasp with a small "oh!" You've become so thin and frail from lack of food that the tall man is able to carry you effortlessly on his hip without letting go of the rod in his other hand. You squirm a bit so as to ride more comfortably in his grasp, but make no effort to escape, allowing yourself to hang from his arm like a ragdoll.

"I instructed Mouse to prepare the meal; it is waiting in the Squirey kitchens now," Blackwood explains.

You are left to wonder who this 'Mouse' might be as Blackwood carries your limp and weakened body to the exit, with Madame Matilda leading by a few paces. You stare forlornly at your pretty shoes, which pump uselessly in the air as you are forcibly moved to another part of the palace Squirey.

Whenever Blackwood or Madame Matilda have led you through the halls of the palace, you've always tried to pay close attention to where you were going. You understand a mental map of the Squirey would be an essential tool were you ever to attempt an escape from this hell. But the labyrinth of darkened, identical hallways leave you constantly flummoxed. You had once asked Pig if they could help you navigate the palace, but they seemed to sense your motives and changed the subject quickly. As much as you have come to rely on Pig to maintain your sanity, you doubt you could trust them to assist you in any act of rebellion.

At last, Madame Matilda pushes on a heavy door that sits ajar at the end of a lone corridor. The room is windowless, illuminated only by rows of fluttering torches on the walls, which are decorated with an elegant pink wallpaper unbecoming of a simple scullery. Long tables stand on either side of a central wood-burning oven, the smoke from which billows out a sizeable vent in the ceiling. The pantry shelves are loaded with dried fruits, vegetables, and cloth sacks of grain -- a mouth-watering feast compared to the scraps you've been forced to subsist on. In a far corner of the room, beneath the haunting glow of the torches, you see a large contraption that you realize must be your "throne."

The wooden mechanism appears to be a cross between a high-backed chair and a pillory. The pillory framework is anchored to the armrest on a swivel, allowing someone to be placed on the seat and then locked into it with their head and hands restrained in the holes. The seat of the chair is far higher from the ground than normal, and the base is hollowed out in the middle.

Your squirming increases dramatically as Blackwood approaches the bizarre device, although you know with resigned certainty that you'll be locked into the seat in moments. Sure enough, your captor wastes no time in tossing you on the chair in a heap, lifting the top of the pillory to thread your head and hands through the holes before shutting it closed on top of you. You cough uncomfortably as the new weight on your neck joins that of the suffocating pink collar. Even wearing the 5-inch leather heels, your legs dangle uselessly over the seat, unable to touch the stone floor.

"The squire has begged for its morning meal, and it will have it," Madame Matilda says, no longer addressing you directly. "Mouse! Stop hiding in the larder!"

You see a mess of blond hair poke out sheepishly from a small room located off the main chamber. As if concerned there may be some trick, the figure hesitates before mincing into the light. You see a soft-featured face crowning a slender body, wearing a gray fur-lined dress with a flouncy skirt. A red satin sash is wrapped around their waist and tied off in a comically large bow. Despite teetering on a pair of high-heeled shoes much like your own, you imagine this diminutive creature would stand nearly a foot shorter than you. The leather collar wrapped around their neck identifies them as another of Her Majesty's many squires.

"I am here, Madame," a shy voice squeaks. The squire called Mouse is holding a gigantic ceramic bowl of what appears to be a thin barley gruel.

"Our new squire is ready for its breakfast. Feed it."

Mouse bows their head and brings the bowl over to you, almost struggling to carry it. They set the gruel down on a stool by your throne and pick up a flat wooden spoon from a nearby table. Despite the humiliation of being restrained in the pillory, your mouth starts to water at the prospect of at last tasting food.

"Ah-ah! Not yet," Madame Matilda says teasingly. Your heart sinks at the idea that this was all some cruel ruse to torture you, but the red-haired matron reaches into her bodice and withdraws a pink glass bottle. She twists the cork stopper and tips the bottle upside-down, draining a healthy dose of some syrupy substance into the bowl of gruel.

"This is a very special tonic. It is made from pressings of a plant that grows wild in the Far East," Madame Matilda explains, having noticed a confused expression on Blackwood's face. "The plant's resin has a curious effect on the mind. This squire's pride and education have made it a particular challenge to train, but the stupor of this potion can break down those nasty thoughts and leave it much more docile and pliant."

Your eyes widen in horror as Mouse begins to stir the syrupy mixture into the bowl with the flat wooden spoon. These villains mean to poison you! Your stomach cries out in anguish for want of the gruel, but you shudder to think what might happen if what Madame Matilda says is true.

Restrained by the pillory, you're unable to shake your head as Mouse loads a spoonful of the drugged gruel and extends it towards your lips. You clamp your mouth shut and kick your pretty heels furiously. Madame Matilda sighs heavily, as if your efforts were merely a predictable annoyance. With a forefinger and thumb, she pinches your nose shut, rendering you unable to breathe.

Your resistance is useless as you are forced to open your mouth to inhale. As soon as your lips part, Mouse shoves a pile of gruel into your mouth and immediately moves to refill the spoon. You stare pleadingly into the other squire's gray eyes, silently begging for mercy, but Mouse keeps their sad gaze cast downwards.

Not long ago, you would have been insulted to be offered such an unappetizing meal, but your belly rejoices as the thin cereal makes its way down your throat. After a few more sputtering attempts to halt your feeding, your body's desperation for nourishment overcomes your fear of the insidious tonic. Your mouth falls open willingly with each fresh spoonful, and your senses seem to fade into the background as you focus on nothing except sucking and swallowing the gruel that Mouse presents to you.

"Your tincture seems to be having some influence," you hear Blackwood say. His voice is strange, and seems to come to you in echoes despite the fact that he is standing mere paces away.

"Continue, Mouse, until it is full to bursting. I will attend to other matters and return when the squire has filled its diaper." Madame Matilda and Blackwood disappear from your view, which is becoming distorted by the effects of the gruel. Colors and shapes seem to dance and swirl in a way you find oddly amusing. You can't help but chuckle a bit as you gulp down yet another thick lump of the intoxicating porridge.

After a while, Mouse looks around nervously and then whispers in your ear as they continue shoveling slop into your mouth. "Are you far gone? Blink twice if you can understand me."

You furrow your brow as you pump your heels back and forth in the high chair. You did understand every word the blond squire said, but somehow it didn't make sense in your head. You remember the word "blink," and squeeze your eyes shut in an exaggerated way before fluttering them open again. This makes everything appear upside-down for a moment, and you giggle at the absurdity of it all.

"Well, there's something in there," Mouse sighs, taking a moment to stir up what's left of the gruel. "Listen: Pig has told me about you. You're some sort of noble, is that right?"

"Yeeeessssssssssss," you let the consonant slither out of you like a snake. Your voice sounds so funny. "Yeeeesssssssssssssssssssss."

"Please, try to concentrate. I have a plan to leave the palace, but I cannot do it alone. And I have nowhere to run to, even if I succeed. If I take you with me, can your family protect us?"

"Fam-i-ly...wam-i-ly...wam-i-ly wump." You burst out laughing, spraying gruel around the outside of your mouth and getting some on Mouse's dress, which is even funnier. "Whoop-sie poodle!"

"I pray there is some part of you that will remember me," Mouse says sadly, scraping the bowl for the last few bits of gruel and wiping them on your tongue. You drool stupidly. "You aren't broken yet. I know you aren't. And you may be my last hope."

"Last hope a-dope a-dope."

A loud fart escapes your bum and your diaper crinkles loudly as you begin to use it for its intended purpose. It feels warm and squishy and so terribly, terribly funny. You're not sure who this sad-looking person with the spoon is, but they don't seem to be amused. Perhaps if you farted again?

BLAART. "Hope-a-dope-a-dope." BLAAAAART. "Laaaaaaaast hope-a-dope-a-dope-a-dope."

👑 Part 4 👑

#ab dl diaper #ab dl lifestyle #ab dl mommy #diaper pee #diaper sissy #diaper training #diapered247 #diaper gal

[kamotecue]

the forgotten love ✮ k. cooney-cross

pairing: kyra cooney-cross x reader

summary: you were her first love—truly unforgettable as people would say. you had met in year 5 as an exchange student from sweden, you were her defender. swedish!reader

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

ever wonder what it’s like—when you’ve forgotten someone who’s dear to you? for you, it was extreme agony, you had photographs and polaroids of a freckled girl you don’t remember.

whenever you tried to ask, the ones around you would say “she’s just someone you used to know”, or that “she isn’t that important.” but they had lied—she was your entire world, the light that you’re supposed to find in the darkness.

you met her in year 5, an exchange student coming from sweden. you had accidentally bumped into her in the hallways, and that’s how you became friends.

the history between you—wasn’t just friends. you were friends to lovers, and had become strangers again. the freckled girl who you had yet to learn the name of—was the one who got you into football.

she was your midfielder, and you were her defender. however, your thoughts were interrupted as you heard the studs that pitter-pattered on the locker room floor.

it was magda, one of the team’s co-captain. ever since you made your debut for the senior team at 15 years old, she had taken you under her wing.

“du verkar lite distraherad på sistone, n/n. [you seem a little distracted lately, n/n.]” you hummed, knowing that she was right.

“det är bara något som upptar mitt sinne. [there’s just something that occupies my thoughts.]” you confessed as magda gave you a soft nudge, taking the seat beside you.

“det finns alltid, en riktig tänkare du är n/n. men jag vill att du fokuserar på spelet idag. [there always is, quite a thinker you are n/n. but i want you to focus on the game today.]” you gave her a short nod, it was the bronze match after all—the matildas have been a powerful team throughout the tournament.

your coach had clapped, signaling for the starting line up to head to the tunnel, as the game was about to begin. you hummed, slipping on the trainer jacket, this was the first time you’d be starting—as you mostly changed the game as an impact sub.

the tunnel was filled with small chatter from both teams, but you kept silently wanting to not get distracted. you didn’t notice the way australia’s number 23 had looked at you, it was filled with pining, the need to have you in her arms again.

you knew everything was going smoothly, until it was time to shake the hands of the other players. but when you came across the midfielder, your eyes has widened in realization.

she’s the freckled girl in the photos you don’t remember. asllani, the one wearing the captain’s armband had nudged you softly as you were holding up the line.

“focus, little one.” she commented as you gave her a small nod, the game was about to start and you swiftly headed to your position in the back line.

the game started with ease, as a penalty was rewarded in the 27th minute—due to stina going down under the pressure from australia’s polkinghorne.

you watched from your side of the pitch, as frido stood up to take it. zecira had hummed beside you, as you turned to glance at her.

“när kommer du att göra ett fantastiskt kors? [when will you make an amazing cross?]” you gave her a small chuckle as you simply shrugged your shoulders.

“snart, antar jag. [soon, i suppose.]” you commented, and that’s exactly what you did. just before the first half had ended, you had sent a cross to stina who had headed it in, scoring the second goal of the match.

the first half had ended just exactly how the coach had wanted it, but there was this gut feeling that you had—as if something bad was going to happen. frido had jumped on your back, easing your worries as you stumbled a bit.

“onwards.” she joked, as you laughed at her silly behavior. you hummed, wrapping your arms around her legs to support her.

“children.” magda teased, ruffling your hair as you three entered the locker room. the tactics were interesting, as you played with the tumblr that was given to you.

yet what happened next was something you didn’t expect—no one did. as the matildas were eager to equalize the score, you had collided with mary who had went for a header.

as you headed straight to the floor, zecira was quick to get the ball—making australia have no chance at scoring that close goal. you weren’t getting up, no one had noticed you—until after zecira had kicked the ball forward.

her eyes had landed on you, your hands were holding your head—as you had groaned, loudly. she stepped closer to you, while watching ahead.

“n/n?” her voice rang, as you slightly leaked through your fingers to see a blurred face. the ringing of your ears made it harder to distinguish who it was.

“mitt huvud, det gör ont. [my head, it hurts.]” you softly said, as zecira hummed noticing how the referee had blew her whistle seeing you on the ground.

you mumbled in pain hearing the loud whistle, frido and stina were first to come beside you as the swedish medical team made their way towards you.

from afar, you hadn’t notice the way her eyes had gazed to where you were—nor did you realize how katrina gorry had looked at you. she had heard about you from kyra who was like her daughter figure.

“a terrible collision that was.” frido said as she looked at the huge screen, before kneeling down beside you—making sure she was away from the medics space as she didn’t want to interrupt.

“jag tror inte att jag kunde hålla ögonen öppna. [i don’t think i could keep my eyes open.]” you had stuttered, your eyes fluttering now and then. you heard a huge commotion, as you tried to keep your eyes open—but it was bound to happen as your eyes had closed.

zecira noticed kyra coming closer, as she extended her arm to not make her go any closer to you. but stina had spoke in swedish, the goalkeeper just hummed before bringing back her hand.

she took a deep breathe before she saw you—there was a bit of blood above your right eye, as the swedish medic swiftly did his job.

“so, you’re the one y/n had fell for.” frido spoke in english, her swedish accent was evident as kyra looked at her with wide eyes, clearly surprised at this.

#kyra cooney cross #kyra cooney cross imagine #kyra cooney cross x reader #auswnt x reader #matildas x reader #woso x reader #woso imagine #woso one shot

[overtrred28]

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part two]

Words; 1.5k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; none (i don't think)

A/N; second part of this series. the only games i'm fully going off of right now are the tillies games and not for Sydney FC, sort of making them up myself. again please give it some love and i welcome any good feedback. enjoy x

masterlist

Joining Sydney FC was one of the best things Astrid could have done. She was thriving. She knew joining in the middle of the season was going to be tough, especially because all the girls already knew each other, and it was at first but having Cortnee there really helped, and the other girls ensuring a smooth transition for her too.  

Astrid and her parents did argue for a while when she signed because they weren’t so keen on letting their only child live in Sydney alone at 17, but that was the only option with them unable to move from their jobs. Astrid was a little scared at first when they finally agreed she was more than mature enough to do it, but Cortnee was close by and they had developed a sister-like relationship in Matildas camps and now at the club. And it wasn’t long until she was going to be 18 anyway so it was just an early start to adulthood and Astrid loved it. 

It wasn’t long until she was playing her first Women’s A-league game, subbing on in the end of second half as a right forward. During training and practice matches Astrid was known to always score a goal, specifically towards the end. That’s why the coach brought her on when they were still 0-0 and 20 minutes from full time. She had been warming up since the second half started, ready to run on and help the team out. 

Almost 15 minutes passed and their side finally gained more possession of the ball, Cortnee ran with it on the right side, opposing defence closing in on her. She shot the ball straight up to Astrid who was in a lot of free space just further up on the outside of the box. The ball connected with her feet, with players coming closer she went for it, shooting strongly with her left foot, successfully passing by the goalie and sinking it in the back of the net. The crowd roared, Astrid ran directly to Cortnee who was already running to the younger girl. Astrid jumped onto Cortnee, a wide smile plastered on her face as the rest of the team ran and jumped onto the pair. Her first A-league game and goal and she had brought the team ahead to 1-0 with minutes to spare. 

The game has ended here and the score is 1-0 to Sydney FC with the only goal from number 19 Astrid Taylor. First appearance with this club at 17 years old, after joining the CommBank Matildas a few short months ago. I’ll say it now, I think she’s one to watch everyone, she’s got a strong strike and a great passion for the sport.

After that game, Astrid was gaining more and more minutes with the club, not in the starting 11 just yet, but subbing on towards the end and gaining the position of a ‘super-sub’, never failing to give the team a leg up by scoring at least one goal and a few assists per game right at the end. 

Her parents tried to come to as many games as they could, it being easier with her in the same state and especially when they played against Central Coast United. But when they couldn’t see them in person, they got the extended family together to watch at home. They were so proud of her, finally getting some acknowledgement for all the hard work she had put in from a young age. 

The new year started and the Matildas were off to compete in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, Astrid and Cortnee travelling over together after their recent club match. 

When they arrived Astrid couldn’t have been happier to see the rest of the team after almost 2 months, immediately jumping on Kyra and Charli from behind when she saw them walking towards the tunnel. 

“ASTRID!” Charli squealed once the attacker had let go and they both turned around and brought her into a tight hug. “Oh I missed you.” Charli smiled before letting go, allowing Kyra and Astrid to hug finally. 

“I missed you guys so much. It’s been way too long.” Astrid spoke over Kyra’s shoulder. 

“Good to have the group back together.” Kyra commented as the pair let go, the three of them now walking down the tunnel together, arms wrapped around each other. 

“You know, I think we could beat Cait, Lani and Macca for the best trio on the squad.” Astrid spoke up as they spotted the three players chatting amongst themselves, her comment catching their attention. 

“Excuse me?”  “What?”  “WOW.”

The three of them spoke after one another, Kyra and Charli trying not to laugh beside the youngest player who was about to speak but Mackenzie got the chance first, a small smirk on her face. 

“Now listen here, child-” She began but was interrupted by Tony calling the group over to the pitch for today's training session. 

“Catch ya later.” Astrid smiled before skipping off with Kyra and Charli, arms linked and laughing. Caitlin, Alanna and Mackenzie stood for a second before laughing and following close behind with a shake to the head. 

Throughout this first training session plenty of laughs and jokes were shared within the team, most coming from their youngest player and quite a few being harmlessly thrown at said player. Astrid was building a dynamic with the squad and it was working well for everyone. 

Astrid had been working really hard over the past few days, hoping to maybe make her debut in this camp alongside Cortnee who had yet to make hers too. The pair had been talking up this camp excitingly since it was announced, both having spent a while on the squad but yet to play. 

And that day came for Cortnee. It was their second match in the competition against the Philippines this time and the Matildas were struggling a bit more than their last match a few days ago when they won 18-0 against Indonesia. They reached half time and no goals were made. The starting line up came back after halftime more pumped up than ever. 

6 minutes into half time and Sam had secured them a goal with an assist from Steph; then a Phillipines player made an own goal and gave them another one. Another goal in the net by Emily Van Egmond and they felt even more hopeful about securing the win. At the 71 minute the substitutions for Aus began happening. When Cortnee, Courtney and Holly got called up, Astrid gave them all a clap and a pat on the back, hugging Cortnee a bit more and wishing her luck for her international debut. 

Astrid definitely had the loudest cheer when Cortnee ran on, subbing for Kyah. The final goal by Mary at 87 minutes and then the game was over. A 4-0 victory and a Matildas debut for Cortnee, it was a good game. The Matildas had another game in the group stage, making it to the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win, but again no debut for Astrid. 

The quarter-finals match against South Korea was a tough one, the first goal of the match being made by South Korea in the 87th minute and ending the Matildas journey in the competition with a 0-1 loss. The team were devastated of course, Astrid slightly upset at not making her debut this camp again, but she had only been on the squad a few months so she knew her time would come. 

When Cortnee and Astrid returned to Sydney FC they both trained really hard, especially Astrid. She knew she had something to prove with both her club and national team and the only way to get there was to keep going. In their second match since returning from camp she made the starting line up and Cortnee could not have been more proud, nor could her parents who had been able to come to the game. 

Astrid had played more than 70 minutes and scored the team 2 goals and one assist before she was subbed off, more than happy with her results and to take a rest from her first long game since joining. At the end of the game, which they had won 5-1, Cortnee and Astrid made their way over to the barricade where her parents and Cortnee’s parents and brother had been chatting while they waited for the pair. 

The two families had joined the next day for lunch to celebrate the win and get to know each other a little better. They could see the sisterly bond Astrid and Cortnee had created and Astrid’s parents were happy to see she was being well taken care of since moving out of home. 

The next Matildas camp wasn’t until early April so Astrid had plenty of time to hone in on her skills, gain more minutes with Sydney FC while also adding to her score sheet. By the end of March she had 16 goals, many more assists and even more determination to be on the pitch in the next Matildas camp coming up next week.

to be continued...

#auswnt x reader #matildas #auswnt #matildas x reader #kyra cooney cross #charli grant #football #sam kerr #steph catley #caitlin foord #alanna kennedy #mackenzie arnold #australia

[demethinkstoomuch]

A Survey of House Leadership Titles

We know just enough about each house and its founders that I think there might be some threads to pull at in terms of what different house titles say about the house intends of its leadership, or some other interesting observation  -- in some cases, not a lot, but I’d say enough that there’s enough for me to play with and gnaw on like a naughty cat who should not be chewing embroidery thread.

The Second: No Known Title????

This is so interesting to me. Like, Judith is heir to the House of the Second, and this is a fact that, nevertheless, never at any point makes anything about the internal structure of the second even the slightest bit clear. What is she even heir to? I’m assuming it’s hereditary, because that seems to be the case across the board except for the Sixth. But what is she actually heir to? The training facility? The cohort command within the system??? Something else???

We don’t know, we just know their cohort ranks. Judith’s father was an admiral -- but I am sadly forced to conclude not Sarpedon, because Judith’s father projected a career for her that would force her to stay mostly within the system, and Sarpedon’s career has mostly kept him out of system. This constitutes the entirety of what we know about the Second... But, there’s information in this non-information. What this all says about the Second is that they try and present their cohort ranks as the important ones, the ones that Really Matter...But, then again, Judith, a mere captain, is the heir of the house, so...Are they what Really Matter, really? We don’t know the rules about which contexts things matter in, which I would call not encouraging. That said, I’m betting that Judith a) tries to avoid this contradiction sincerely and steadfastly by honoring the Cohort’s chain of command, and b) she isn’t the only one. If there’s an illusion that there is no mess or complication or strangeness here, it’s a precious illusion that no one intends to disturb until push comes to shove. What the Second cares about most, between their hierarchy and the cohort’s, is a question they do not want to answer.

The Third: King/Queen(?) of Ida, assumed

Man, that is such the most attention-whore title. The pageantry! The showmanship! Crown princes! Princesses! I bet there’s a literal crown, don’t you? (Also, while I’d assume from numerical order that the 5th came after the 3rd, I get the vibe from the general atmospheres of the houses the title order might have been different, that the 3rd picked King and Queen because it’s like Lord and Lady, but bigger and better. If it isn’t, then this is what would have happened if the chronology had played out differently.)

By the way, I do want to know why Babs is a Prince. Like, is that a family rank? A cavalier primary rank? A combined Cavalier-Family rank? A courtesy title? Answer the question, Naberius Tern!

The Fourth: Baron/ess of Tisis

I don’t have much to say about this one, except that my guess is that it’s kind of like the Third or Fifth titles, but, like, different (and a little bit Less Fancy.) I think that is not a coincidence even a little. Also, Baron sounds very cool.

The Fifth: Lady/Lord of Konniortus

Oh, man. I have takes on this one. For one, this is 100% an Augustine decision. For two, Oh, good heavens, he was so smug about it for centuries. It’s powerful, yet understated. Grand as all hell, but not showing off. Everyone would have wanted classical nobility titles, but the specificity of some makes them a bit weaker. I’m thinking of, like, the Lady of the Mercians, or Empress Matilda going by “Lady of the English” as an uncrowned queen for the way the term can sort of gently elide over questions of specific rank. It’s simple, classy, brief.  Augustine is judging half the titles on this list and laughing with a sad shake of his head, like it’s cute that you tried to go as hard as “Lady of Konniortus” and you absolutely failed. And those are the ones where he’s not actively rolling his eyes. But more on that in, oh, about 3 houses from now.

The Sixth: Master Warden

OK, but you know who deserves to be smug for her rad naming skills? Cassie. And I say Cassie, to be clear, because I know it’s her name. Or, the name someone who knew the things Cassie knew about the Sixth. Because, really, I think this refers, in an oblique way, to the Break Clause. Because that clause is, well, it’s the key. It’s the key to the literal and metaphorical lock binding the Sixth House to the empire and to the planet. The whole facility is a prisoner, in a way, overseen by its warden. The whole facility is a lock. And do you know what we call the internal jaws of a lock?

Nothing, actually, because there isn’t a part of a lock that one calls “the internal jaws,” I’ve looked up locksmithing terms when google could not avail me. But...I do know that, if Palamedes and the Sixth thinks of a part of the lock as the Internal Jaws, he’s talking about the little metal pieces inside the lock that the key’s teeth and cut are meant to fit into and around, so only the right key will fit. They are jaws in the sense that teeth fit into them.  When Palamedes makes this little riddle during the Fifth’s dinner party, he’s talking about The Wards. And that it can be unlocked, if a key that fits the ward(en)s is produced, is how the Sixth House is like a lock.

I love that for the Sixth. I got so excited about this realization that I went to some lengths to include this line of thinking in a sixth-house centric fic, because it was simply too good to leave out.They went for an elaborate, multilayered self-created reference that refers back to their secret secession plan, and they’ve stuck with that for 10,000 years without giving away the Bit. Good for them. Really, just delightful.

The Seventh: Duchess/Duke of Rhodes (Assumed)

So, this is more or less just like how I read the Fourth’s nomenclature, except they went with Fancy over Cool. It’s very nearly as important as King/Queen, but not quite, which suits them well enough.  Unless there’s a higher rank and Dulcie’s parents have that rank, which they might. It seems implied. They also keep up the theming, with Pro being a Knight of Rhodes. Point is, they, the Third, the Fifth, and the Fourth are all a part of a system of names, with the Fifth a tiny bit set apart, and the Third probably clawing for the top.

The Eighth: Master Templar of the White Glass

I love this title, and part of what I love is that I know Augustine hates it and rolls his eyes every time he hears it. Because I think it’s a Christabel idea. And I say that for a couple of reasons. The biggest being, it sounds very cool but it makes no sense. Like, flash your mind through literally every point at which Silas or the Eighth house are mentioned. How many of them refer to, in any way, anything pertaining to White Glass? Once, only once. Harrow refers to “White glass mysteries,” but that’s it. It’s a mystery. Outside of that, this title only exists, is only referred to, is only acknowledged at all, in the Gideon the Ninth Dramatis Personae. Sure, the Eighth get described with White, and Templars seems reasonable. They are even referred to as White Templars, because, sure, sensible. But White Glass? Is a throw-away concept here, one only Harrow seems to ever think about. It is a cool-sounding title that refers to nothing of any significance. Its only justification is that it’s rad. It’s just a little stupid, but joyfully so.

Which is not a Mercymorn thing. But I can totally see it as a Christabel decision, one she got very excited about. Like, this is the woman who made One Flesh, One End a thing for the next 10,000 years. Christabel seems to love this stuff, and I think if she got cheerfully enthusiastic about it, Mercymorn would go along with it, and that would enshrine it forever.

The Ninth: The Reverend Father/Mother

So, this is another very good one. Like, Anastasia and Cassiopeia are over here thinking of legitimately good and clever titles, ones which contain a duty, and a secret, and it’s the duty at the core of the house’s leadership, at that. Obviously, the idea of a Reverend Mother is one suitable for the Abbess of a nunnery, so that checks out to begin with, but there’s another layer to it, too. A reason why it’s Reverend Mother and not, say, Abbess, that catches my eye post-Nona, but really ought to have caught my eye before that. “Reverend Daughter,” as a position of heirship, is something important because it’s a Ninth invention. The existence of a Daughter or a Son, as opposed to just having Sisters or Brothers and Mothers or Fathers, creates a direct family line within the ruling family. It becomes a bloodline and an abbey in the same breath.

Harrow insists from the Pool Scene onward that it was critical, the whole future of their house, to have an unbroken bloodline of necromancers descended from Anastasia. And at the end of Nona, we see why: Because Anastasia made a pact with Alecto that is recognized as being attached to Anastasia’s descendants, known by blood. They are the unfulfilled vow, Harrow is right! A line of parents and children, reaching back to their original parent, who made a promise. Mothers and Daughters, all the way down. That’s what the House is really for.

A+ Naming, Anastasia. Fantastic. Beautiful.

#The Locked Tomb #TLT #Nona the Ninth Spoilers #Gideon the Ninth #Palamedes Sextus #harrowhark nonagesimus #christabel oct #Augustine the First #mercymorn the first #Cassiopeia the First #Anastasia TLT #Alecto tlt #I'm just saying girls out here are winning on the house titles. Girls and Augustine #I was so haunted by Palamedes' dinner conversation that I had to google #then look up locksmithing terms because google gave me nothing #Then had to scan a list of terms until I found one that I thought would be a pun and then reverse-engineered it #Also on the list that I thought were interesting: Shackle and Cam #Shackle being the hinge on a padlock's locking bar #Relevant to the concept of the prison of course #And Cam being 'Usually a tongue fixed to the end of the plug of a cylinder lock or latch' #Do I think this is deliberate? Probably not. #Do I think it's a cute little coincidence and someone (maybe me but come play with me in this space!) should make hay of it? Definitely yes #I still am haunted by WHAT EVEN IS THE SECOND HOUSE'S ACTUAL LEADERSHIP TITLE AND WHAT DOES IT DO #And I am still haunted by What Makes Naberius a Prince #But the world may never know #silas octakiseron

[baby-alien11]

Blurb: Abigail Premiere (Y/N Ulrich Universe)

taglist (open): @volturi-girl-imagines @dessxoxsworld @camiesully @ethanlandryluver @nowitsmissing @aliciacat20 @gabbylovesreading @nikfigueiredo @itsaaliyah2

A/N: this was inspired by the video of some of the Scream cast going to see Abigail and support Melissa, hope you like it

Ever since Melissa unjustified firing from the Scream franchise for speaking against the genocide in Gaza, your support and love for your half fictional sister increased even more, along side her new projects, specially Abigail since she talked with you about the movie a lot (without spoilers), and when the trailer dropped your excitement for the movie was bigger

When the premiere day of Abigail arrived, some people of the cast including your dad, Matthew, Mason, Tony, Dylan, Liana, Jack and you, and since you love to coordinate your outfits with the ocassion, you chose to wear a long sleeved dress, along with black high heels, your Baby Vamp ring, a black clutch, your hair straightened, a glittery smokey eye make up and red lip gloss

Arriving at the event, none of you wanted to take the attention from the main cast, all of you went direct to the teather, and grab something to eat and drink during the movie

"I can't wait to see the movie", you smiled grabbing your popcorn and drinks, "And I really hope it makes more money than any Spyglass movie"

"Specially Scream 7", Jack mentioned

"Specially that, and I can't believe they offered me to be head of the VFX make up, like, the audacity"

"They were fools thinking you were going to accept it"

"Besides it ended good with the last one, except for the part where you die"

"So you don't care that Ethan would go around killing everyone?", Jack joked knowing your answer

"Absolutely no, Ethan defender for life, it's a Ghostface loyalty, the Ghostface princess needs her Ghostface prince"

"Kids, come on!", Matthew exclaimed from the entrance of the cinema, "We don't want to sit apart from each other"

"We're coming!", you exclaimed back, "I'm bitting my tongue just because I don't want him to block me again on insta"

"It would be like the third time"

"Yeah, and I don't want that"

Entering the cinema both of you spotted the Scream family group sitting with them in the two seats they guarded, and also Skeet with your purse who took it while you were getting the snacks; when the cast went on stage to say a few words about the movie, you filmed the entire thing and cheered the most when Melissa spoke

And at the end, it become one of your favorite scary movies and also gave it five stars in letterboxd

"I'm so fucking proud of you", you said to Melissa after the movie while hugging her, "And I love the movie, like every other project you've been"

"Having your support means a lot to me", Melissa responded, "And I can't believe you watched the entire Club de Cuervos and in spanish with english subtitles"

"I mean, you are in there, and it helped me with my spanish"

"Tell me a phrase you learned"

"Me vale madres", you said with a bit broken spanish

"Okay, let's go to meet Alisha"

"Yes, Matilda's crossover", you exclaimed since you played that character in one of your school plays and she played it in the musical adaptation

#y/n ulrich universe #jack champion #baby alien creations #jack champion x reader #jack champion scream #jack champion imagine #jack champion fluff #jack champion fanfic #jack champion x y/n #jack champion blurb #abigail movie #melissa barrera

[idiotwithanipad]

-Headcanons for Robin I've had going through my head for hours now🫣

・Robin went millions of years without knowing about his power over electricity. So maybe he found out about lightning somehow through a living who stayed/lived at Button House and all of his memories before his death added up. The last thing he would've heard and seen would be a loud bang and a flash of light... Then nothing, not really any indication that THAT was the cause of his death...back then anyway. And we know that when his emotions are at their peak, he causes lights to flicker and bulbs to blow, maybe one day he was at near breaking point for whatever reason in whatever emotion and a bulb blew right by him (kinda like how in Matilda when she looks at the TV, gets angry, and it explodes)? Then he began practicing on lights placed around the house. 

・At some point, Robin obviously learned that he died because of lightning, not the bear (even though he still blames the bear😂) and the science behind lightning related deaths: essentially cooking to death from the inside. He knows what lightning can do because when he rushes to save Mike in that one episode he keeps looking up at the sky, he knows what he's about to do and he's watching to make sure he gets there in time to make his move. He knows that he's the only one who can save Mike because lightning IS electricity.

・Robin and Mary most likely felt more connected to each other after learning about each other's deaths. Robin knows how Mary died since he was a witness to it all, he saw that Mary was innocent... Strange, but innocent🥰 So after learning about how Robin died, Mary most likely felt less alone in her circumstances; She burned to death on the outside, he burned to death on the inside

・Robin most likely has a gaydar. He's seen homosexuality all throughout the ages in all shapes and sizes, even in his own tribe. There was most likely a hunky guy in the tribe who could snap a Mammoth tusk in half with his bare hands. Back in his day, who WOULDN'T be attracted to that?😂 Most likely the reason he knows about The Captain and Anthony Havers. Other than seeing it with his own eyes, he probably had an inkling that The Captain had feelings for Anthony Havers; Robin picks up on small details, so he'd be keeping an eye on body language and eye contact between two people. He'd know instantly. (Also Robin would definitely be president of the Button House Pride club if there was one😂

・Robin has a soft spot for kids. Clearly, he had many many of his own babies, so he's very used to them. But look how he behaves around children and young teens; when Sophie Bone (age 12) comes to Button House, he's all over her like a rash trying to pick up on what she's saying... And ends up learning a wholeass language... Let that sink in. He also most likely never left her side during her many years there, he slept on her window seat for crying out loud🥺) Then there was those kid's birthday party at the house. Even though they couldn't see him, he was still dancing around and being silly with them. Then after Julian accidentally caused a cup to fall on the floor and smash, he rushed over to it and tried to tell Alison, maybe because he knew it was sharp and one of the kids could cut their foot on it? 🥺and did you hear his laugh in that scene, like did you really listen to the way he laughs... Heartstrings WERE tugged🥹

・Robin most likely felt a little bit paternal over Kitty. He watched her grow from a child into a young woman, he obviously knows her better than he'd probably like to admit. When Kitty is upset, he doesn't just brush it off like everyone else, he sticks around to tell her it's okay to cry and that it'll make her feel better (🥺❤️) along with Mary (surrogatemumanddad). They stay with her until she falls asleep and LOOK at how they melt when she does sleep, like LOOK

When Kitty sings, look at the faces Robin and Mary make, tell me those AREN'T the faces of parental bliss😂 (I also don't think it's a coincidence that they sat Robin and Mary next to each other in that scene).

Just the way they look at Kitty in general

Then there's this..

Kitty got the lead role an he was proud, need I say more...And during their pantomime rehearsal when Fanny badmouths Kitty (Cinderella), the look on Robin's face. He's like 'we're just gonna ALLOW this?!

・Robin most likely related to Pat in most ways. He knows what it's like to be taken away from his family so quickly so soon, especially with so much depending on him. When Pat goes into a depressive state over his family coming to pay their respects, especially with his wife and former best friend, he gets conflicted. But look at Robin, he's hella quick to jump in and correct Thomas's harshness. He knows how it feels after all; being forced to just WATCH your family mourne, not being able to tell them you're alright, and then comes a day where they stop coming. Robin most likely lingered in that spot where he died for hours in confusion, until his tribe began to search, and when they finally found him it devastated them. His sister's sorrowful, wailing cries, his children huddled around him trying to wake him up, the elders and possibly his parents saying blessing to Moonah to watch over him😭Robin doesn't sugarcoat the situation, like telling Pat to enjoy it while it lasts or to hope for the best, he tells Pat how it REALLY is because he's been there countless times with countless tribes and families. Times gonna pass, things are gonna change and you won't see the people you love ever again, but more will come (honestly Robin should be called 'Owl' cause he's wise asf🥹❤️)

Robin, you marvelous man, stunning specimen, special little scrunkly, NEVER change you're the loml Fr❤️❤️😭

#bbc ghosts #robin the caveman #larry rickard