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xreaderbooks · 1 year

Text

Unspoken

Pair: Sirius Black x Reader

Word Count: 3.9k

Warnings: mentions cheating (?), jealousy, language

Summary: You and Sirius were friends, the best of friends, lovers? There's a thin line between love and being in love with your best friend, it seems like everyone knew, but the two of you.

Available on Wattpad and AO3

Sirius Black Masterlist - Navigation

“Alright, Y/n?”

James’ familiar accent practically shouted as he slid into the seat next to you, tugging the ends of your loose hair.

“Merlin, James!” You clutched your chest, startled by the sudden interruption. You were enraptured in your History of Magic assignment and the library had been so quiet before. “A little warning next time, maybe.”

“I am the warning,” He smiled slyly, “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been avoiding Pads like the plague.”

“Nothing is wrong with me, it’s only been four days for god’s sake,” You rolled your eyes.

His eyes widened, “I didn’t know it’d been that long or I’d have checked in sooner, Four days is a lifetime for the two of you.”

“You both are so dramatic.”

“Says you who won’t even tell your best friend why you’re not talking to your lover boy.”

You glare at the boy who didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, “Now, you know damn well you’re not my best friend and for the millionth time me and Sirius are just friends.”

You slam the textbook you were reading closed and packed it in your bag, moving out of your chair and walking away. James followed closely behind.

“I’ll have you know we’ve been friends for longer than the lot of them,” He referred to the rest of the Marauders and the girls. “You should be able to trust me.”

“You asked me for homework twice before I’ve had a conversation with Sirius or the others, that does not mean we’ve been friends for longer, that just means you're a slick prick.”

“I’m gonna pretend your words don’t sting, L/n, but I’m begging you-” He blocked the door to exit the Library. “Tell me why you aren’t speaking to the poor lad.”

You crossed your arms, frustrated, “The moment I tell you, you’re gonna be off tattling to Sirius.”

“I promise I won’t,” He spoke in a serious tone and you looked at him with a stern face. “Cross my heart.”

You had no reason to be ignoring Sirius the way that you had been, not really. After all, you were just friends- friends don’t get mad when friends kiss other people at a party. It was petty of you to have kept it going for this long but you were hurt.

Also, between you and Sirius, you were always a little more than just friends.

Nothing about the two of you was platonic and yet no physical act indicated that you were in a romantic relationship. It was known, it went unsaid, he was yours and you were his.

For years, it was an ongoing dance of lingering stares and near touches. As if the act of an embrace or a simple handshake will combust the carefully constructed invisible wall that you both had built on your friendship. It went unsaid that though you weren’t together- you are. Despite both of you being insistent on the status of your relationship as being just friends.

“He was with someone else at the party,” You confessed.

James scoffed disbelieving, “No he wasn’t.”

Your eyes narrowed, he definitely was- you saw it with your own two eyes, granted you were slightly inebriated but you couldn’t have conjured the image in your mind. If he didn’t trust your word it was fine by you, “Ask Remus if you don’t believe me then.”

“That’s why he hasn’t been in an uproar about this,” He placed his hands on his hips. “Right well, in that case, Pads was very likely drunk.”

“And this is why I didn’t want to talk to you,” You shove past him finally. “You’re always going to defend him, no matter what Sirius can do no wrong.”

“Forgive me if I don’t think Sirius would do such a thing, he’s absolutely mad for you Y/n, you have to know that.”

You paused in the middle of the hall, you bit your lip in thought and shook your head. “He’s not mine, James, it doesn’t matter what he does.”

~~~

When the Gryffindors threw a party celebrating the final win of the Quidditch season, all houses were invited, and you lost him in the crowd. Some part of you knew.

You felt the betrayal deep in your gut, though he would never do anything to hurt you willingly, a part of you felt like it was inevitable. That was the reason you held out for so long. Life was unpredictable and everything could fall apart in a second.

A girl hung around his neck, he looked stunned but smiled droopily barely opening his eyes before leaning into her again.

All the protection you formed around you had crumbled, your heart was shredded with sharp razors and the room was caving in. You shoved through the barricade of people cheering and dancing. You needed air, now.

You clutched your chest as you felt a pain come from your sternum, you couldn’t remember the last time you cried, this would be breaking the uncounted streak. You stumbled, dropping the firewhiskey-filled cup on a table nearby, and ran to a bucket of trash, throwing up the contents of an empty stomach.

Sirius warned you to eat and drink water ahead of time, the last thing you ate was breakfast 12 hours ago, the memory of Sirius made it so much easier for your upset stomach to clear out.

Gentle hands pulled the few strands of hair that fell out of our weak grasp, from your peripheral you saw Remus’ brown sweater sleeve. You heaved into the trash bucket, “Rem.”

“You’re alright, Y/n/n,” He rubbed smooth circles on your back.

“I think I’m gonna die,” Your eyes tear up from the sting in your throat and because of what you just witnessed.

Remus tsked, softly pulling you up from your kneeling position, “Up you go, love.”

You whimpered slightly, you were in a corner hovered over but more than a few people definitely see you spill your guts into the can you held close, this was going to be embarrassing tomorrow. Hopefully, no one was sober enough to remember seeing you this way.

“I’ll take you to my dorm to rest a little before I find Sirius and he can walk you to yours-”

You shook your head in protest, “No, I can’t. Get Lily.” Sirius could potentially bring his conquest up to the room and you didn’t want to see more than you already have.

He tilted his head in confusion, you weren’t up to explaining it to him right now so you insisted you both find Lily together.

“Weren’t you together?” He asked, his hand was on the small of your back, guiding you around like a lost child looking for their mother.

“He went to get me a drink, I was with Marlene, next thing I knew I was throwing up.”

“So why can’t we just find Sirius?”

“Later, Remus, I can barely fucking stand right now.” You held onto his shoulder as he walked you a couple of steps up the stairs to the boy's dorm so you both can get a better view of where Lily was.

You caught sight of her fiery red hair, giggling at whatever James spoke into her ear.

“Wait, here-” Remus steadied you on the wall as he went to pull Lily away from his flirty friend.

What was worse was that you saw Sirius searching the crowd, presumably for you, thankfully you were hidden from view. He found James who had pouted the moment Lily walked away with Remus, he stressfully ran a hand through his hair.

Your vision was blurry, the room felt like it was spinning and you weren’t sure if leaning against the wall was helping your nausea.

Lily and Remus had managed to get you to your dorm as efficiently as they could that night. The next morning you spent the day in your dorm, Saturday was spent avoiding Sirius, Sunday you went to Hogsmeade and Monday was the only day where you had no classes with him but during meal times you had barely said a handful of words to him.

~~~

Transfiguration class was busy and stressful with what Professor McGonagall had assigned. A full description of what was learned in class today, caused by the disruption of the lovely boys you called friends. James and Sirius wouldn’t stop interrupting class with their jokes which made everyone laugh but eventually, Mcgonagoll got fed up giving them warnings.

When she was over with her lecture, she told the class to have the essay ready by the end of class, there were only 30 mintues left.

You felt a poke on your side, you ignored it and continued with your paper. Another sharp poke stabbed harshly into your ribs, you slammed the quill onto your desk and turned to face your assailant.

The silver eyed Gryffindor was smirking into his hand that held his chin while he held onto the tip of the wand, handle side pointed at you.

“What?” You whisper shouted at him.

“Was hoping you could help me with my work?” He whispered softly to you with a charming smile that normally made you melt eased onto his features. You held strong, “No.”

His brows furrowed and a faux frown replaced it, “But darling-”

“No, Sirius.” You scribbled angrily on your paper. You were almost done with the essay, you just need a couple more sentences for it to be acceptable for Mcgonagoll. “You got yourself and everybody else into this mess, you get yourself out of it.”

He groaned a little too loudly earning him a look from the Professor, he sat up straighter and leaned closer to you, you both shared a desk and he already sat so close that your elbows would accidentally brush when writing notes or shifting in your seat. You could feel his heartbeat as his chest was touching your arm, his head was tilted to see your face but it was hidden by your hair.

You pretended you couldn’t feel him or the heat that was rising in your cheeks, with a finger he lifted the curtain of hair blocking your face and tucked it behind your ear.

“Please?”

You shot out of your seat making the chair scrape against the floor as you got out of it. You walked up to Mcgonagoll’s desk, handing her the paper and asking her if you could be excused.

~~~

When each of the rest of your classes ended that day Sirius was waiting for you at the door, he took the books out of your arms and walked you to the next one before going to his. During meal times he had his arm around your shoulder like it was something natural for him. It wasn’t even the casual loose arm around the shoulder, it was him pulling you so close that your head was forced to lean against his neck.

Not that you hated it, in fact, your traitorous heart lept in joy at every inch of attention he was giving you. Every now and again, your brain would pop in and remind you of the incident at the party that was the only thing you seemed to remember and your body would tense. The moment he felt you tense up he let you go, which ruined those perfect moments.

Each day something more was added. It made your body tingle in excitement at how it remembered Sirius’ burning touch. His arm, his leg, his fingers- his lips. Nowhere near your lips and it made you yearn for the feel of them.

At breakfast, he kissed your temple in greeting.

In class, if you had one together (he would always sit with you) his arm would be around your chair, and not only would he play with your hair but when he would stop, he pulled you into his side, tracing his fingers along your arm.

In the common room, if you were sitting next to each other on the couch, he pulled your legs onto his lap and traced the same patterns that he would in class.

After the Quidditch game this weekend against Ravenclaw, Gryffindor won and Sirius pulled you in a sweaty hug, twirling you in his arms. Once he set you down, the way he grabbed your cheeks and pulled you in you thought he was going to kiss you- instead, he kissed both of your cheeks.

The party that weekend wasn’t as big, most everyone from the last one still recovering but Sirius stayed by your side the whole night. It was half the crowd from last time but Sirius made it his sole mission to scare off any guys who weren’t in your inner circle.

You had to admit that this party made you think of the last one and it wouldn’t budge from your thoughts until you had enough liquor in you that you didn’t care.

Sirius held you close by your waist as you danced to Killer Queen by Queen, your back was against his chest, and in your tipsy state your head laid back against his heart as you swayed in an upbeat motion to the tune of the song. You and Sirius were singing along to the lyrics annoyingly to your friends.

By the end of the night, you didn’t know how much you could take of this before you exploded. You went back and forth between loving the attention and running from it, you weren't sure who was playing with your feelings more, him or you.

~~~

This went on for a week, by the evening of the next Monday, you needed to put a stop to this before your feelings overwhelm you. During this time, you've debated on what caused the sudden change in affection and the only logical reason you could think of was James.

“James Fleamont Potter!” You marched into the Gryffindor common room, straight to where Lily was surrounded by books on a desk, the boy you were looking for in a seat right beside her- no doubt attempting to woo the poor girl who was just trying to study. She pretended to be bothered by him, you knew the truth but none of that mattered at the moment.

Apparently, he didn’t hear so went around the desk and dragged him up from his seat by his collar and cornered him on the wall behind the desk.

“You told him, you told Sirius and now he’s acting different!” Your forearm was on his throat, he glanced down at his wand. “Try it and I’ll jinx you so hard you won’t be able to turn into a stag for a long, long while.”

He gulped as he looked down onto your furious face, “I would never!”

“What the bloody hell is going on here?” Remus held a bewildered expression once he came down the steps of the boy's dorms. You glared at James, releasing your hold on him and taking a couple of steps back.

You pointed at the boy who was rubbing his neck, “He told Sirius about the party!”

“I did not, I swore I wouldn’t-”

“Liar!”

You and James bickered for several seconds, both of you not hearing the other until Lily slammed her textbook loudly.

“Enough,” She shouted, “Both of you are behaving like children!”

“She started it,” James muttered. You huffed, “I hate you.”

“You know what? Maybe he’s acting different because you can’t even look him in the eye when you speak to ‘im and trying to get you to pay attention to him, you loon.” James blurted out and finished off his statement with his arms crossed.

Remus took a step in your direction and asked you in a careful tone, “Y/n, would it really be so bad if Sirius knew?”

“If I knew what?”

The subject of discussion just walked through the portrait, your heart stopped at the thought of him possibly hearing your entire conversation. Nobody said anything but you felt everyone’s eyes on you, you only held onto Remus' stare and walked up to the girl's dormitories, not wanting to deal with this mess.

The way he was acting differently was the way he was being more physical with you. The tuck behind your ear, the wrapping of his arm around your shoulders, the caressing of your face for you to look him in the eye. Something you’ve avoided since the incident.

Physical touch was something that you and Sirius didn’t do. To touch each other for something other than comfort in a time of need, was an admission of something that was unspoken. Those careful touches were full of care, admiration, and love. As if you could ever touch each other with meaning less than that.

It was so simple that it was never done unless one of you was hurting, or if it was necessary for a task.

The accidental brush of fingers was the one that sent a spark up your spine. His pinky would twitch against yours, or yours against his and you both knew but that was the most that either of you would allow.

There were times were he would have his arm around your chair, and he would play with the ends of your hair, never actually touching you.

The only time that was an exception was when Sirius did something wrong, in which case he would do what he was doing now and was more physically affectionate. He was a puppy rubbing his head against its owners leg to gain favor for chewing on their owners' shoes. The analogy felt fitting, and that’s what you told Lily when she came to the dorm after you, asking what was wrong.

She laughed heartily, “Well, he’s not called Padfoot for nothing.”

You laid back against the headboard of your bed, “With all these signs, he knows.”

“Those aren’t bad signs, Y/n, it’s quite the opposite actually.” She advocated for Sirius’ behavior, “That’s the equivalent of a man sending flowers to his girlfriend.”

“But I am not his girlfriend”

She sighed, “I’m sure you two have heard this a lot, but you might as well be. This affliction with touch as a way to avoid your feelings doesn’t change that.”

She was right, you knew it- Sirius knew it, there was just something that prevented you and Sirius from taking that step. You felt like it was his fear of commitment and for yourself… as much as you would’ve loved to hear how Sirius feels out loud, what you had with him as friends was safer than ending up with a broken heart.

~~~

Tuesday after classes, the Marauders wanted to go out, but out they meant the Black Lake. Lily suggested a picnic and whatever Lily wanted, James provided.

Remus and Peter set up a large blanket, Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary held hands swinging them along while Mary held the basket. Lily and James walked behind them as you and Sirius trailed after.

Sirius halted you by intertwining his hand with yours, you looked up at him in question.

“Can we talk?”

You look over your shoulder at your friends- none of whom were paying any attention in your direction- traitors.

“Sure,” You give him a small smile.

Sirius’ silver eyes intimidated you, his beauty in his tall stature, his style, and his bone structure was pure elegance but his eyes are what you loved the most. They sliced through every rational thought you had and turned your legs into jelly, they held yours so gently it made you want to jump at his every request.

“I know why you’ve been so off with me lately,” He started and leaned his back against the tree with his hands in his front pockets.

Your eyes narrowed, and your eyebrow quirked for him to continue, “Go on.”

“It’s cute actually,” He was playing with you.

“Aren’t you going to tell me why you think I’ve been off?”

He tsked, “Now, where would the fun be in that? I wanna hear you admit it.”

You weren’t going to, “You’re the one who wanted to talk, you admit it.”

He pushed himself off the tree and stepped directly in front of you so that he towered over you, you had to bend your neck upwards to meet his gaze. He held your face in his hands so lightly, it was as if he expected you to break in his grasp.

“I admit to knowing that you saw me kissing that girl at the party, I saw you looking” You turned your head from him- pissed that he knew you were looking while kissing that girl but he snapped your head back to face him. “I was drunk, and she pulled me to kiss her, honestly I think she was wearing your perfume or something ‘cause I thought she was you. It’s not excusable I know but it’s the only one I’ve got, you’ve gotta believe me, dove.”

You didn’t know what to believe, whether you wanted to or not.

He searched your eyes for a reaction but you kept your face calm, the only sign of anything was your eyes flickering between both of his.

“I love you,” Your eyes widened. “I love you more than I’ve ever shown you, Y/n, and that’s all my fault because I should have told you. I can’t even begin to explain how fucking in love with you, I am.”

“Sirius-”

“Y/n.” He slightly shook you in his hands, “I need you to understand, Please. I wanted you to tell me that you loved me too, that it wasn’t just in my head. That you were jealous when you saw her when I should’ve gone after you, I wanted you to tell me that night or this week that you want me just as much as I want you. I was wrong, it was wrong of me,” He sounded breathless.

You couldn’t help it, your eyes flickered to his lips, you didn’t care anymore. His confession unlocked something in you that you just wanted to feel his lips finally, adoration filled your chest and any doubts about confessing were gone. He leaned down so that his forehead pressed against yours and your noses brushed, it was teasing.

He didn’t stop you when you nudged your nose against his and finally kissed him. It was a long, passionate, desperate kiss that left you desperate. Sirius turned his head and brought you so incredibly close, the kiss deepened and a heat rose from your body.

You smiled in the kiss and how long it’s been, you pulled away, your eyes filled with a new light, and you pecked his lips, “I love you more.”

“Impossible,” He kissed you some more before you joined your friends who didn’t bother to hide their cheeky smiles.

“How much did you guys hear?” You asked as you sat and leaned against Sirius on the blanket.

James’ smile widened with mischievousness, “Everything.”

The rest of them nodded and continued their conversations, as mid-afternoon turned to night, you and Sirius were the only ones left behind with the food as the others went out onto the dock, play fighting you saw James get tossed into the water by Remus.

“I know we weren’t into labels before, but I’d like to make it known that you’re my mine now,” Sirius whispered in your ear.

His words sent shivers down your spine, “Oh is that so?”

“You were as good as mine, Y/n,” Sirius confessed. “I was the idiot that didn’t make it clear enough to let you know how much I want you as my girlfriend.”

“And this is you asking,” You said it more as a statement.

“Unless you don’t want to be which is hardly believable with the way you kissed me earlier- honestly, Y/n- you’re quite the kisser, I always knew you would be but Merlin,” He spoke with an exaggeration to compete with James’ dramatics.

You lifted your body from him, sat on your knees, and straddled his legs, crawling up to meet him, “I would love to be your girlfriend.”

He chuckled, grabbing onto your hips “My little temptress,” He stroked his thumb against your cheek lovingly, kissing you softly.

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whimsical-roasting · 1 year

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You reblogged that Sam gifs post and it reminded me of that headcanon i have of being Sam’s friend but you’re feisty and take no one’s shit. Like he’s always takes the high road and you’re like when they go low i go lowER. I would fight that Akufo dude for him no questions asked.

hi wifey <3 you are absolutely right!! i fucking love that idea of Sam having a bestie who'd throw hands for him.. it's on sight all the time.

special thanks to @sokkigarden for bouncing ideas off me, love you bby. okay, i wanna write about being friends w the AFC Richmond boys more, so if yall have ANY thoughts on being friends with ANY of the lads then send me requests on it so we can DISCUSS

OKAY BUT BEING BESTIES WITH SAM OBISANYA

he's such a wholesome and loyal friend... a breath of fresh air yknow?? Dani is more of that 'unconditional sunshine' energy, but Sam is positive whilst still keeping it real w you

and sooo you're hella loyal to him too. well, you're loyal to everyone you care about. you'd take a bullet for them, no questions asked, but probs a lot of cussing involved (same, but i'll come back to this)

sharing an airpod each if yall go out on a walk or join the team on a bus ride - if you're dating jamie then he NEEDS you next to him on the ride back, probs uses your shoulder to sleep on and has an arm around your waist so you can't leave, but that's a diff post ahahaha

having a shared spotify playlist that you both keep adding music too...the vibes are all over the place. "Y/N, I was trying to jam out to J.Cole, and then Adele came on??" "Oh yea, I was sad bout something earlier"

blanket forts and microwaveable caramel popcorn for when he's missing home

playing as him in FIFA when you're with the lads and yellin "YEA THATS MY BESTIE" every time you score as him

pinching his earlobes like his dad would for good luck on the days of a big match/when he's really nervous

since opening OLA'S, you join him when he attends small business owner conventions, but that's mainly to try the free food

since i'm vegetarian, telling him that his menu looks great but you can only stick to sumn like the jollof rice.. so next month when he invites you over to his restaurant for a catchup dinner there's a whole new lil section for vegetarian dishes on the menu (or whatever dietary inclusivr thingy etc.)

warning Sam about Afuko because "a man simply doesn't feed you pasta and lobster and send you a stack without something in mind" and him being like ??? what and you groan, "did you watch the tiktoks I sent you??"

hearing about how the Afuko rejection went and Sam only focusses on "he called me medium talent??" and you're SEETHING

you're like "what the living F U C K" and he's like "oh hey Y/N, don't worry, I know I am not medium talent" and you're like "what? no, shut up, obviously not, but that's not the POINT here. how did that ASSHOLE have the audacity to speak to you like that?!!"

you're searching up flights to Nigeria and opening a google map from the airport to Afuko's business residence or something, and Sam is like, "seriously, forget that guy. bullet dodged." and you're angrily muttering about how Afuko's gonna have to dodge the bazooka you're gonna smuggle onto the plane

"We cannot be best friends if you end up in jail because you tried to smuggle a bazooka onto the plane." "I just wanna talk to him...with a bazooka." "No." "Pleas-" "No."

telling Sam you might be getting feelings for Jamie and being nervous he'd be mad because of their relationship in S1, but you promise he's changed, and Sam is like, I know

wearing the Obisanya jersey and the rest of the boys are like 'hey why don't you ever support our merch' so like every match you're switching out jerseys before texting a pic to the groupchat

running into that Francis guy who's Afuko's right-hand man and "accidentally" stepping on his foot real hard like OOPS

giving him updates on your love life and vice versa. "Y/N, please tell me this one is not a loser." "Um, Sam, shut up; you know my rizz only seems to work on losers??" "hey, Jamie told me that telling a woman my favourite movie is Ratatouille is a bad idea... is it?" "just bake her a lasagna or something and say that's how you learnt to cook." "I am not doing that." "dammit, I thought we'd get lasagna for dinner"

doing random tiktok trends or challenges - the baking one where one person is blind, one is deaf, and one is mute, but they all gotta work together to bake a cake!! sam (tape around his mouth) x you (blindfolded) x jamie (loud ass headphones on)

jamie: pass the FOOKIN sugah!! *back turned to yall as he stirs the mix*

you: WHAT. WHERE. *randomly smacking shit, picking up the salt and dropping it on the counter and onto a spoon*

sam: mmmhnph! *waving his hands in your face like NO but you can't see*

you: *turning to jamie with a spoonful, which he probs tastes absentmindedly whilst stirring* OI TASTE THIS

jamie: FOOKS SAKE

#sam obisanya #besties with sam obisanya #sam obisanya x reader #ted lasso #ted lasso x reader #jamie tartt x reader #afc richmond

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gardenschedule · 1 month

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Perceptions of Paul as calculating & John's paranoia

“McCartney’s mistake, which he now admits, was to seem invulnerable. […] And yet, he says, the contrast between himself and Lennon, so assiduously cultivated by journalists, was a fabrication. “I wasn’t brilliant at school. I was trouble, just like John. I got caned practically every day, and the only exam I ever passed was Spanish. John and I weren’t black and white, although people took John, for all his aggression, to be the good guy, because he showed his warts. I’ve only just realized, after all this time, that people like to see warts. It makes them sympathetic. I’d always though that, in order to be liked, you had to be unwarty.””

Living with The Beatles’ legacy, the smears that Lennon left behind… and the battle to win my babies back, The Times Newspaper, Monday January 4, 1982.

Paul was the easiest to talk to. He had such energy and such keenness and, unlike John, enjoyed being liked, at least most of the time. I don't see this as a criticism; John himself could be very cruel about Paul's puppy dog eagerness to please. The irony was, and still is, that John's awfulness to people, his rudeness and cruelty, made people like him more, whereas Paul's genuine niceness made many people suspicious, accusing him of being calculating. Paul does look ahead, seeing what might happen, working out the effect of certain actions, but he often ends up tying himself in knots, not necessarily getting what he thought he wanted. I think there is some insecurity in Paul's nature, which makes him try so hard, work so hard. It also means he can be easily hurt by criticism, which was something that just washed over John.

Hunter Davies, Western Mail: The Beatles. (April 9th, 2004)

Even Paul’s immaculate manners could not thaw her. ‘Oh, yes, he was well-mannered–too well-mannered. He was what we call in Liverpool “talking posh” and I thought he was taking the mickey out of me. I thought “He’s a snake-charmer all right,” John’s little friend, Mr Charming. I wasn’t falling for it. After he’d gone, I said to John, “What are you doing with him? He’s younger than you… and he’s from Speke!”’ After that, when Paul appeared, she would always tell John sarcastically that his ‘little friend’ was here. ‘I used to tease John by saying “chalk and cheese”, meaning how different they were,’ she remembered, ‘and John would start hurling himself around the room like a wild dervish shouting “Chalkandcheese! Chalkandcheese!” with this stupid grin on his face.’

Philip Norman, Paul McCartney: The Life. (2016)

“He always suspected me. He accused me of scheming to buy over Northern Songs without telling him. I was thinking of something to invest in, and Peter Brown said what about Northern Songs, invest in yourself, so I bought a few shares, about 1,000 I think. John went mad, suspecting some plot. Then he bought some himself. He was always thinking I was cunning and devious. That’s my reputation, someone who’s charming, but a clever lad. “It happened the other day at Ringo’s wedding. I was saying to Cilia [Black] that I liked Bobby [her husband]. That’s all I said. Bobby’s a nice bloke. Ah, but what do you REALLY think Paul? You don’t mean that, do you, you’re getting at something? I was being absolutely straight. But she couldn’t believe it. No one ever does. They think I’m calculating all the time.

Paul and Hunter Davies, 1981

In the wake of his death you didn’t tour for most of the ‘80s. People suggested that you were scared to go on the road. Was that true? No. People speculate about anything. They always credit me with motives I haven’t even dreamed of. It’s interesting, the way they sort of perceive my life and analyse it for me. In that case, I never thought about touring much. People used to say, “Oh, it’s 10 years since you’ve toured.” I’d go, “Is it? Y’know, I’m not counting.” That’s all that was, really. I don’t know why. Maybe I didn’t fancy it.

The Q Interview, 2007

Astrid in Germany was always a bit suspicious of Paul at first, though his relationship with Stu was also bound up in this. 'It used to frighten me that someone could be so nice all the time. Which is silly. It's ridiculous to feel at home with nasty people, just because you feel that at least you know where you are with them. It's silly to be wary of nice people.'

The Beatles (Updated Edition) (Hunter Davies)

Paul is the easiest to get to know for an outsider, but in the end he is the hardest to get to know. There is a feeling that he is holding things back, that he is one jump ahead, aware of the impression he is giving. He is self-conscious, which the others are not. John doesn't care, either way, what people think. Ringo is too adult to think about such things, and George in many ways isn't conscious. He is above it all.

The Beatles (Updated Edition) (Hunter Davies)

Paul today is still the public Beatle, giving interviews at fairly regular intervals, being open and honest about himself and his past, his worries and his pleasures. Naturally, as ever, there are people who suspect his motives, putting him down for being too charming. Paul may be a bit of an actor, acting the part of Paul McCartney, the charming superstar, still loved by every mum, which can make him sound rather prissy at times, but I believe he does tell the truth about himself.

The Beatles (Updated Edition) (Hunter Davies)

“My problem is to me, I come over as this very together guy, always got his finger on top of everything: the man with no problems. School – a doddle, got all the exams. This is the sort of image of me. Actually, I had murder getting through exams, like I was saying about being on tour during my GCEs. I was like the kid who was getting the cane. Just like John was, but he [Phillip Norman] makes me the very shrewd, always-going-to-succeed guy, and John is the kind of cute, working-class hero. In actual fact though, John was just as shrewd and ambitious as I was. What does me in is he adds to this image I’ve got; I resent that, because I know I’m not that, and I know I’ve never been that.

Paul McCartney’s thoughts from 1983 on Phillip Norman’s ‘Shout!’

The funny thing is, when Apple [started], everything was laid out on the table, it’s like a Monopoly game. We saw who had what. I suddenly had more Northern Song shares than anybody, and it was like, oops, sorry. John was like, “You bastard, you’ve been buying behind my back.” John saw everything like a Harold Robbins movie, you know, which it was. He’s not incorrect. I couldn’t get over the fact that we were really involved in all this. I think to this day, he’ll not understand. I don’t think he would accept right now, my naïveté in it. I think he still suspects me of trying to take over Apple. He still suspects that when I offered the Eastmans as [managers] instead of Allen Klein, he naturally assumed that I would be taken care of better than the others, and that the Eastmans could never be moral enough to be equal in their judgment and do the Beatles’ thing rather than Paul’s thing. I think they still suspect to this day.

The point I was trying to illustrate is that it wasn’t so much John being a bastard as it was his being suspicious towards me, always being suspicious towards me. There was Northern Song shares. And I swear on any holy book you want, I know he won’t believe it, but I know for sure that I didn’t buy them with the view to— If I was really trying to do it, I could have bought an awful lot more. So it does hurt a little bit that there’s someone who still thinks, like, I’m out to get them, or that I always was. That’s one of the nice things about it— It’s a pity [I never said to John, “Fuck off, I’m not trying to do it”—and never was]. But he knows I was kind of— We were behind the scenes, and we did a few little [things] that we had to do, and our ambitions, and it was never a kind of terrifying skeletons in the closet. It was always just normal—but, uh, they …

All You Need Is Love – Peter Brown & Steven Gaines

SG: Were the other Beatles anti-Linda? PMcC: Uh, yeah. I should think so. Like we were anti-Yoko. But you know John and Yoko, you can see it now, the way to get their friendship is to do everything the way they require it. To do anything else is how to not get their friendship. This is still how it is with John and Yoko. I know that if I absolutely lie down on the ground and just do everything like they say and laugh at all their jokes and don’t expect my jokes to ever get laughed at, and don’t expect any of my opinions ever to carry any weight whatsoever, if I’m willing to do all that, then we can be friends. But if I have an opinion that differs from theirs, then I’m a sort of an enemy. And naturally, paint myself a villain with a big mustache on, because to the ends of the earth, that’s how they both see me. They’re very suspicious people [John and Yoko], and one of the things that hurt me out of the whole affair, was that we’d come all that way together, and out of either a fault in my character, or out of lack of understanding in their character, I’d still never managed to impress upon them that I wasn’t trying to screw them. I don’t think that I have to this day.

All You Need Is Love – Peter Brown & Steven Gaines

I was never out to screw him, never. He could be a maneuvering swine, which no one ever realized. Now since the death he’s became Martin Luther Lennon. But that really wasn’t him either. He wasn’t some sort of holy saint. He was still really a debunker. “For ten years together he took my songs apart. He was paranoiac about my songs. We have great screaming sessions about them.

Paul and Hunter Davies, 1981

SALEWICZ: Oh, he was presumably very paranoid. PAUL: I think so. I mean, he warned me off Yoko once. You know, “Look, this is my chick!” ’Cause he knew my reputation. I mean, we knew each other rather well. And um, I felt… I just said, “Yeah, no problem.” But I did sort of feel he ought to have known I wouldn’t, but. You know, he was going through “I’m just a jealous guy”. He was a paranoid guy. And he was into drugs. Heavy.

September, 1986 (MPL Communications, London)

Miles says, “I think Jane was always a bit irritated by John. Because he was so acerbic and difficult to get on with. And paranoid. He didn’t make life easy. I suppose it’s a sort of rapier wit, but it was usually just plain ordinary rudeness. There was nothing special about it.”

Paul McCartney profile for FAME Magazine (March 1990)

“They [Lennon & McCartney] saw each other again in 1977. The Lennons and McCartneys ate dinner together at Le Cirque, Paul’s favourite French restaurant in New York. John regretted going; it was a loathsome night. Paul and Linda blathered on and on about how perfect their lives were, how they had everything they’d ever wanted, and how they were as happy as they’d ever been. Something very paranoid suddenly occurred to John. Maybe Lorraine Boyle was spying on him for the McCartneys! He woke up the next morning still feeling disturbed; he consulted the Oracle. Swan assured him that Paul and Linda were frustrated and unsatisfied. Their marriage was in trouble, he said, predicting it would break up within the year. Lately Swan’s visions had been astonishingly accurate. Relieved, John began composing a song—a little ditty, really, that would never be released—in praise of the Oracle’s powers. But he still couldn’t understand why Paul and Linda had been together for as long as they had. There appeared to be a psychic connection between John and Paul. Every time McCartney was in town, John would hear Paul’s music in his head.”

Robert Rosen, Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon, (2000)

JOHN: […..] And he’s (Jagger) goin’ on about “he never calls. Do you think he ever calls? He never calls me. And he keeps changing his phone number all the time… And he’s hiding behind the kid.” I was hurt by it! You know… The fact that… A, I never call anybody. It’s not pride, it’s just that I never, ever have. REPORTER: Why? JOHN: I never call the other Beatles, I never call anybody. They always call me. REPORTER: Why? JOHN: Cos I’m self-involved! I’m paranoid, too. I don’t like phones… There’s nobody on this earth ever got a call from me that isn’t related, probably. Or a very old friend…

Sept 1980 – John

“Yoko was an extremist and was even more intense than John taking any idea or comment of his to the limit. If, for example, he complained about any of his fellow Beatles she would hint that that Beatle had always been an enemy implying that John should never deal with that person again. Her extreme positions fascinated John and help him take his mind off himself but when she became self-involved and paranoid herself -her paranoia usually dealt with her career, her fame and the fact that even though she had always been famous everyone conspired to keep her from getting even more famous- he had no place to turn. His insecurity about his solo career, his childhood, his relationships with the other Beatles, the way the public perceived Yoko overwhelmed him and he became more and more involved with drugs.”

May Pang, Loving John (1984)

John was lucky. He got all his hurt out. I’m a different sort of a personality. There’s still a lot inside me that’s trying to work it out. And that’s why it’s good to see that wedding-funeral bit, because I started to think, ‘Wait a minute, this is someone who’s going over the top. This is paranoia manifesting itself.’ And so my feeling is just like it was at the time, which is like, He’s my buddy, I don’t really want to do anything to hurt him, or his memory, or anything. I don’t want to hurt Yoko. But, at the same time, it doesn’t mean that I understand what went down.

Paul McCartney: An Innocent Man? (October, 1986)

Some three year later, during the making of Abbey Road, Lennon installed a twin bed in the studio so that Yoko, recuperating from a car crash, could survey proceedings and pass comment though a mike he had suspended over her. The other Beatles positioned themselves around the room as best they could. Yoko would later tell Paul that if, for any reason, he’d seemed to be standing too close to her, all hell would break loose when John got her home. Lennon, she said, was ‘very paranoid’ like that.

McCartney by Chris Sandford

But we were actually quite supportive. Not supportive enough, you know; it would have been nice to have been really supportive because then we could look back and say, “Weren’t we really terrific?” But looking back on it, I think we were okay. We were never really that mean to them. But I think a lot of the time John suspected meanness where it wasn’t really there.

Paul McCartney, interview w/ Chris Salewicz for Musician: Tug of war – Paul McCartney wants to lay his demons to rest. (October, 1986)

#the beatles #paul mccartney #john lennon #mclennon #i wonder how much of their issues were due to john suspecting paul of things that just weren't true #then again maybe paul is secretly an evil mastermind #can't put it past him

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rmoonstoner · 1 year

Text

***

Poisoned Empanadas

***

Pairing:

Moon Knight (Jake Lockley) x Spider!fem!reader

Spider-Man 2099 (Miguel O'Hara) x Spider!fem!reader

***

18+

Warnings:

Violence, strong language, mentions of death, mentions of depression, sexual themes, warnings may change.

***

Summary:

You move out of the old house at your friend's request. It's a very short chapter.

***

Chapter 2 - Empanadas de Santa Rita - Chihuahua City, Mexico

A Mexican pastry served in honor of St. Rita every year on May 22. Typically they are sweet and savory at the same time, containing meats, raisins, pecans, butter, garlic and assorted spices, peas, potatoes, and sherry.

***

A few months had gone by, with absolutely no word from Jake. You weren't surprised one bit, and had already gone through the process of selling most of your things. It was the big stuff, like your living room furniture, the bedroom set, any tools you had, and other such things too big for a studio apartment that you had your eye on. You even got rid of the car for a nice fat stack of cash. It was fitting that you had sold the car to Hawkeye. He was happy, and claimed that he was going to give it to his wife.

Today you were dropping off a huge bag of clothing to a local shelter. Anything that Gwen or America didn't want, ended up here. You made the old lady's day as she went through the nice and gently used items, all of which Jake had bought for you. After the drop off, you made your way back home the easy way, by web slinging home. By the time you got back, you found Peter standing at your front door.

"Hey! Sorry, I was out dropping off some clothes. You didn't mention that you were coming by." You greeted Peter with a wave and gave him a hug.

"It's alright. I was just on my way to the Sanctum, and I wanted to know if you wanted to accompany me?" He asked with grin.

"Really? You sure you want me to come along? You did mention the doctor hates unexpected guests…" You replied. Peter could see your hesitancy and he held both hands up.

"It's totally okay with Doctor Strange. I asked first, and besides, you're friends with his daughter, so…"

"Does he know-"

"Uh…" Peter looked away sheepishly as he rubbed his neck and laughed.

"Peter! Just because he's an Avenger and the king of the wizards, you can't be telling people my secret identity!"

"I am sorry! He saw you on the roof the last few times, and he wanted to know why I hadn't introduced you to him. Then America let it slip she's your friend, and, so… He kind of figured it out. He's a genius, and has that eidetic memory."

"Oh fantastic, a real Sherlock Holmes type, eh?" You retorted, and he laughed.

"Yeah, so I am sorry…"

"It's fine. Like you said, he probably already knew. I'm not mad."

"Oh good! So, do you need to do anything before we go?"

"I just need to put the washing on the next load of donations, then grab some water."

"Cool!"

***

Once at the Sanctum, Peter introduced you to Wong. The man seemed grumpy at first, but after hearing who you were, he changed his tune rather quickly. He made you a tea while Peter left to find the doctor, and the two of you chatted about how Peter basically lived here at the Sanctum since his Aunt and Tony Stark had passed away. He asked about what you did for a living, and you shrugged. You didn't have a paying job, and you lived in your ex boyfriend's house, which you were getting ready to move out of.

Wong seemed impressed that you were taking charge and moving on with your life, which told you that Peter had been blabbing his mouth again. You would have normally been upset by this, but Peter had told you all about who Wong was, what he did, and who he worked with. He was like the other king of the wizards, and Peter claimed he was way nicer than Strange. You found that hard to believe, because both of the wizards had a reputation for being formal hard asses.

Peter ended up coming back with Doctor Strange, and the lad was just talking up a storm as the doctor nodded along while sipping from a steaming mug. The way they looked was adorable, like a son telling their dad all about their day after school, but it was Peter talking about his patrols, while the older man listened intently.

"-And then she flashed him with the lights, kicked the guy in the balls, and he fell off of the roof. I've never seen Sandman go down that fast before! She managed to get him, before he could turn into sand!"

"Oh wow, Peter. That's most impressive." The doctor winced a bit, but he was impressed all the same.

"I take it that this her?" He asked as he motioned towards you. You gave a polite smile and waved.

"Yeah, that's her! You should see her and Gwen work as a team! It's so fun! She's the one making all the weird lights at night." Peter said as he made the same hand motions you did for the lights. You laughed and looked over at the older man who was chuckling softly at Peter's energy.

"Ah, I see. Well, in that case, it's lovely to meet you, young lady. My name is Stephen, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Uh, yes, sir, er, uh, doctor."

"Stephen is fine. Any friends of Peter's or America's are welcome to use my first name. Unless, of course, I don't like them." He laughed and held his hand out to you. You took it gently, remembering that Peter had told you the man had delicate hands that had once been crushed.

"Okay, Stephen, it is nice to meet you too. I always wanted to see what America's and Peter's adopted dad was like."

"Oh, well, I-" Stephen seemed flustered when you said adopted dad.

"Oh, he's a good dad. Very supportive of my Spider-Man gig." Peter said as he patted Stephen's shoulder. The man beamed at the praise and kept drinking his tea. You didn't understand why he was known for being snobby, stoic, and rude.

"That's good. Peter talks about you all the time. Says you've saved the world a lot, and kept the spooky magic things at bay." You remarked, and Stephen burst out laughing.

"I suppose that's what I do. It's a new way of saying it though. Oh, I have to talk to ask Wong something. Be right back." Stephen smiled and then excused himself to go talk with Wong for a bit.

They did not come right back.

It was three hours before they did, and by then, America had come home, said hi, then left again for her studies at the Kamar-Taj. You had spent the time playing chess, and had won three to two. When Stephen and Wong came walking in, they looked frustrated. It turned out there had been one of those cosmic fluctuations, and Stephen was telling Peter and you to keep an eye out for anything weirder than normal.

You left soon after, and went back home to grab a nap before patrol later.

***

Three weeks later…

Peter and Gwen had convinced you to move out of the house Jake owned. You didn't make it easy for them either. You felt reluctant to leave that house. It had bad memories, but it also held so many good ones with Jake.

You gave the excuse that you couldn't afford to move. The house and utilities were paid for, and you didn't have a paying job to get something new. Peter shut you up so fast by having Stephen and Wong literally coming out at that exact moment and time to offer you a room next to America's and Peter's. You groaned when that happened, because who the hell says no to the Sorcerer Supreme, which was basically your friend's dad?

That gave you a free place to live, free utilities, and free food. That also offered you access to being transported anywhere in the world if you ever wished it, not that you really wanted to unless the others needed you to. You had lost the will to travel after what happened with your ex, but it was nice that the option was there. Living there would gain you security, because there were at least three sorcerers at the Sanctum at any given time, not including Doctor Strange or Wong who were fully aware of your relationship problems.

They even said they could keep Jake from coming in if you gave them some of his hair. That was easy to do, and you did it, mostly because Peter and Gwen said they'd try to kick his ass if he showed up unannounced. You weren't sure if they meant the wizards, or themselves.

Plus your friends were there…

How could you refuse?

Notes:

***

Series Master List

***

None for now. Again, sorry for the short chapter.

Tags:

@theaussiedragon @autismsupermusicalassassin @readingfan

#spider reader #spider man 2099 #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x fem!reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x y/n #mcu moon knight #moon knight #jake lockley #jake lockley x reader #jake lockley x you #jake lockley x fem!reader #jake lockley x y/n

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ravenmichaelisstuff · 1 year

Text

I think A LOT about Soap trying to give back the childhood Ghost lost. (Part 6)

Task Force 141 were sent to take care of a dangerous individual sighted in an urban area. It turned out to be a false alarm, but now they were scattered in pairs around the whole neighborhood.

Soap and Ghost were walking mindlessly around apartments, waiting for the info about an exfil location. It was a chilly night, almost 3 am. And Soap thanked the Gods for not putting some drunk individuals coming back from pubs on their way. He could imagine the panic they would cause. Two fully geared-up men with guns having a walk around. Nothing weird.

They passed by a playground and Soap was suddenly struck with an idea.

"Let's sit down, Lt.. There is no point in walking around."

"I guess." Ghost went to sit on a bench, but Soap had different plans. He grabbed him by the handle on his backpack and gently tugged in the direction of swings. "The fuck are you doing, Sergeant?" Ghost growled.

"Let's sit on the swings."

"Why would I want to sit there, when there is a perfectly fine and stable bench?"

Soap smirked and took out his gun and shot the bench. "It's broken." A few windows lighted up, people probably got startled out of sleep by the loud sound.

Ghost looked at him absolutely bewildered, eyes wide behind the mask. "You are insane."

"Just desperate."

Now Ghost let himself be led to the swings, because everyone knew that Ghost was ruthless but no one knew what an absolute menace Soap was. Ghost decided not to test it for his own good. They sat down, Soap immediately started to swing himself.

"God, ah' didn't do that for years, forgot how fun it is." He swung higher and higher, while Ghost sat perfectly still. "When was the last time ye were on a playground?"

Ghost laughed bitterly and ducked his head. Soap was so innocently unaware of how really bad Ghost's childhood was. Ghost only told him snippets of information, when he felt generous or sometimes the sergeant just made him feel like sharing. No one else had that influence on him.

"Probably never." Ghost sighed.

Soap stopped swinging and looked at him, eyes filled with an emotion Ghost couldn't place. He just hoped it wasn't pity, that was the last thing he wanted Soap to feel for him.

And the Scott wasn't pitying him at all, he was on a mission. He got off his swing and stood behind Ghost pulling on the swing's chains to pull the man back. He was honestly impressed by himself that he managed that, with Ghost being a huge lad with heavy gear on him.

"Don't." Ghost said sternly.

But he should know by now that Soap always does and gets what he wants- Soap pushed him.

"Soap!" It had to be a very sturdy swing since it didn't break under his weight, but he could feel the whole construction pivot slightly. From all of Soap's ideas, this one did not make him feel good.

"Johnny stop!"

And he did, immediately after he heard his name he grabbed the chains- stopping the swing. Ghost stood up and hunched over, putting his hands on his knees. The motion made him sick.

"Simon are you ok? I didn't mean to-"

Ghost took a couple of deep breaths and then gestured for Soap to come closer to him.

"Ghost, are you going to be sick?" Soap panicked. But when he got to his lieutenant's side and put his hand on his back Ghost met him with a furious glare. He got kicked in the shin with a heavy boot.

"Fuck! For what?!" John grabbed his leg, which is going to bruise so badly.

"You asked for it."

"Ok, yeah, yeah… I did. Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"I know, just don't do that anymore or it might be your last day." Ghost wanted to be mad, he really did but he also knew that he would let anyone else even put him on the swing in the first place.

"Understood, sir."

"I need to sit down, Johnny."

"Yes, right. Come on." Soap led Ghost to a small desk over a sand pit- since, you know, his bullets split the bench in half. They both sat on it. "Man, Gaz would never believe me if I told him you get motion sickness." Soap chuckled and bumped their shoulders together.

"You tell him and he will have to die, Soap."

"Your secrets are safe with me, Lt." Soap shuffled the sand with his shoes. "So you probably never build a sand castle, huh?"

Ghost shook his head.

Soap buried his hands in the sand and started to form something. The shape looked pretty miserable since he didn't have any sand buckets.

It was so nice to sit together with the chilly breeze ruffling Soap mohawk. As his superior, Ghost should tell him to trim it shorter but Ghost also really wanted to run his hands through it. So he never did.

Ghost looked at Soap for a second and buried his gloved hands in sand as well.

Soap smiled, he was always ecstatic when he didn't have to prompt Ghost to do something just 'because'. It was nice to see the man let go for a moment. What they created looked… questionable to say the least. But the sand was dry and Ghost didn't really knew what to do.

"Looks like shit." Ghost stated.

"Aye, but it has the spirit." Soap desperately tried to defend their sand 'castle' when suddenly their coms cracked.

"Ghost, Soap exfil will be in 5 on street 12." Price's voice sounded from the speakers.

"We are coming." They both got up and started walking.

"I promise to take you to a beach once we get a leave. We will build a proper sand castle."

And even if Ghost knew that going on leave was the last thing he would do, the sheer idea of it made him smile under the mask. Soap wanted to spend his leave with Ghost which made him irrationally happy.

Hope you all like it <3 I for some reason struggled a little with that one as I had a problem with figuring out how to put them both in this situation- hence bench-crushing bullets :D We don't care too much for realism in this house.

Idea from @u5an5 <3

#soapghost #ghost x soap #ghostsoap #john soap mactavish #soap mctavish #soap cod #soap mw2 #soap x ghost #simon ghost riley #ghost cod #ghost #ghost has feelings #ghostsoap fluff #ghostsoap fanfic #inspired by my mom hating swings #cod mw2 #bltn soapghost fic

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carli-meows · 21 days

Text

im not a religious person but the way christians talk about god is weird

you call him father and praise him, but you certainly did not read into his character

bro was constantly testing our faith and choosing not to look into the future to see how it would turn out for... funzies i guess

like i dont know the full justification for flooding the earth multiple times, but fish is fish so that's fair

but sometime the lad is just bonkers

what about that one time he took away that one guys absolute everything and told him he'd replace it with new stuff without warning

or that other time he told that other dude to sacrifice his son as a test of faith and then went "lol jk, but you didnt question me so fuck you"

or that one time he knocked down a city with large fuck off angels wielding large fuck off hammers

like, he did not have to do that

and then the bible just kinda stops i think, and that tells me that he was like "ah shit, i buggered it, guess i'll go work on earth 2 and come back every now and then for inspiration"

god at the very least is a dynamic character with emotions who gets mad when you kill his mostly immortal son

who, by the way, was a very cool guy considering the time period and who he was

jesus should've smoked weed, that would've fixed everything except for what it wouldn't

anyways

#christianity #tw christianity #ramblings #god

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writers-in-moominvalley · 11 months

Note

You might have gotten an ask like this before but I think it's unfair how snufkin often gets misrepresented in moomin media/fandom as either a deus ex machina type of wise traveler whos never wrong, or some sort of awkward teen who's "scared of socializing" could you perhaps analyze the nuances in his character?

I held off on answering this ask for a bit because Snufkin has honestly become such a nebulous character to me after a while that I barely have the motivation to properly discuss him. But now I've finally come to the right mindset to talk about his character;

Snufkin was... A few things in the books. A few very different things, actually.

His character is very notably different between the first half of the books (Comet in Moominland through Moominpappa's Memoirs) and the second half of the books (Moominsummer Madness through Moominvalley in November). These 2 eras of Snufkin make for an interesting character to ponder about even if he isn't as prominent as other characters (ironic, considering he's the first character anyone would know of when entering the fandom and is practically its figurehead)

Snufkin in his first era was... A very regular child with a much happier disposition, he tended to kick the shins of those who are about to say something they shouldn't and had very strange preferences and lifestyle but he was still very much a child unburdened by having to socialize or talk to people. He became quick friends with Moomintroll not because he exemplified an ideal that Moomintroll hoped for - but because he was so gosh-darn friendly and fun to be around.

He claimed himself a tramp and a poet when first meeting Moomintroll and Sniff and tried very dearly to be of help to them along the journey, even consoling Sniff when his plan to nab some garnets went awry, and he continues to be a good-natured fellow and a quick thinker throughout Finn Family Moomintroll. In Moominpappa's Memoirs he was absolutely mesmerized by the idea of his father and wanted to learn as much as he could about him, and arguably taking to idolizing him for both their similarities and simply how cool and punk he considered him.

Snufkin was also a story-teller throughout and contained more wisdom in his self than even some of the adults likely due to his traveling making him accumulate stories and practical knowledge that others wouldn't even think to explore.

Much of Snufkin's "tragedy" boils down to being orphaned so young that he didn't even imagine having parents of his own, thinking that he just came to existence in some basket one day and was found by some unknown "they", whoever they are, but that tragedy is quickly resolved as he reunites with his family in the epilogue of Moominpappa's Memoirs. He also took to traveling out of Moominvalley with great eagerness, it was more of a sudden decision and he didn't seem apologetic about it at all - he wanted so much to go somewhere new again, he was excited!

And it wasn't a goodbye forever, he promised to return in the spring when everyone was going to wake up. Perhaps he found that hibernation just wasn't for him and would rather take the lonely but exciting alternative, who knows! He's just a jolly little lad!

But then came Moominsummer Madness where we are presented with a more mature Snufkin, suddenly taking after his father with his smoking and anti-park terrorism but also after his mother with his care for an impossible amount of children. Although he didn't ring as excitable in tone as before, he still had conviction and a small sense of whimsy in him, he still cared deeply and wanted to be kind and it was almost too easy for him to take on a very parental role for the Woodies. He also still exhibited his greater knowledge of the world through knowing exactly what a play is and how it works.

We lack him in Moominland Midwinter, but he becomes a very romantic subject in Moomintroll's mind, reading his letter a bit too many times and imagining what it's like in the south - even declaring to go and meet him before the reality of winter hits him in the face. Those thoughts are very sporadic and short-lived however, as he has everything about the foreign land of Winter to worry about.

We then have the luxury of having 3 whole chapters mainly featuring Snufkin, The Spring Tune, The Last Dragon in the World and Cedric, all of which place him on the higher ground, whether as a philosophical authority or someone to be impressed. He's clearly depicted as a more closed-off character, much different than the younger Snufkin we knew in the first half of the series.

Where he was excited to make new friends who've stumbled onto his camp in Comet in Moominland, he's totally apprehensive of a Creep invading his space. Where he tried to help make Sniff feel better by looking on the bright side of things and relented when Sniff countered him with his real lament in Comet in Moominland, he lectures to him a story and is too stubborn to stop it when Sniff is clearly disinterested and keeps interjecting.

Finally, Moominvalley in November made him very... Restless in his need for isolation. He hated or atleast disliked these people he was stuck with without even knowing them properly, he freaks out at the sight of signs that only tell the name of Moominhouse and he felt watched by the others even in the safety of his tent. But he grew out of it, his main motif was his harmonica and he kept playing and playing and playing it throughout the book, he became an inspiration to the Fillyjonk, he was a partner in Mymble's act during the party, he helped the Hemulen sail his boat for the first time.

He learned to coexist with new people again. After a long time of getting too used to a family as understanding as the Moomins, he finally formed new bonds with new people, and when the snow came it was his time to depart as the second-to-last person left in the Valley, even if he never got to see the Moomins that time. Toft pondered if Snufkin understood that Toft was meant to be the only one to greet the Moomins upon their return, or even that he understood even more than that.

Snufkin is still a kind person through it all, an unwilling inspiration to others now too, but even when he's become so terribly closed off from others he still makes the choice to help and make the right choice in the end.

He's changed a great deal throughout the books, but his integrity remains all the same.

Snufkin in the comics, on the other hand...

Is just kind of there? For about... 4 comics out of the 21 that Tove made?

I mean, not to diminish him, he's still spoken about as though he's Moomintroll's best friend in The Conscientious Moomins but he lacks any stay them. In Moomin and the Brigands and Moomin in Family Life (literally the first 2 comics of the strip), he seems very similar to how he was in the first half of the books, he's very quirky and happy to lend a paw whenever he should. He spouts about using money to plant trees all Lorax-like and barely helps in Moomintroll and Sniff's endeavors (he's characterized as more of a nuisance in Brigands, really), and he becomes an object to impress for Moominpappa because of Moominpappa's emphasis on wanting exciting things to happen in the comics. Snufkin's still a wise guy but he left before we got much of him.

And then we have the Conscientious Moomins and Moomin and the Golden Tail where he's characterized more familiarly to anyone who's watched the 90s series, Moomintroll goes to him whenever he needs advice or to 'get away from it all', and he's super willing to help others with jobs even if he and his lifestyle doesn't fit into the conscientious life. In Golden Tail he keeps asking Moomintroll to fish with him and he becomes the one source of normalcy in the story before being torn away because Moomintroll's fame is interfering with even his friendships. Snufkin is characterized as a support mechanism in these comics.

He's very likeable as a character but like almost everyone else in the comics, he's Not That Deep, Bro.

I think the reason why Snufkin gets characterized as dues ex machina who solves problems most of the time is because those adaptations lean into him being The Smart One With Outside Knowledge a bit too hard, however when you look at the 90s series as a whole his characterization there is only seemingly not-good because the series has an overall problem of not letting its characters express themselves, and he gets involved in much more stories than he actually was in the source material so I could hazard a guess that the writers - based on not only Tove's Snufkin but also Lars' Snufkin which continued Contentious/Golden Tail Snufkin's characterization - would reason that since Snufkin was Like That in the comics then he could easily also be like that in their own stories.

Shin Mūmin made an egregious use of the Snufkin-ex-machina card because they aged him up and they reshaped him into a traveling and helpful loner archetype who knows what he's doing 99% of the time, however they did what the 90s series couldn't and actually made him emotional which very much saves his character in my eyes.

Moominvalley 2019 started Snufkin's character in Tales From Moominvalley aswell as Moominsummer Madness and that pretty much dictated his personality for the rest of the show. Because Moomintroll was meant to be a teenager who acted like he did in the comic alot, I could easily believe that the writers also trying to rein Snufkin in by making him more relatable or more like a real teenager. Perhaps they also wanted to stray from Snufkin's previous characterization as a deus-ex-machina character and Gary Sue by going into the other end of the spectrum, but given how Moominvalley2019 is with the rest of the cast... It ended up a little too much.

While I admit Snufkin is a very interesting character and I can see how he's good enough to be a fan favorite, I don't have any plans on delving into him much further when there's other things that interest me. As I said, he's become a nebulous character to me - and no matter how much I read or watch about him in the source and licensed material and get happy to see him, there's always going to be that half of my brain that keeps reminding me about his fans and how fanon has took hold of him that there's really nothing but indifference whenever I think about delving into his character.

I wrote most of this based on memory with some occasional checking so I may have gotten some things wrong, and even when I read or watch stuff with him in it, my attention usually goes to things other than him. It's not because of an inherent fault in his character, really, it's just a tragedy of the fandom tainting my enjoyment of him in general. So... Let this be my one full-length analysis of him.

#moominvalley #moomin #moomins #lightbulb moment #snufkin #answers from yours truly #character analysis

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floralembarrassment · 1 year

Note

hi! i love your writing, and wanted to ask if you'd like to write some wolfstar with fem/genderfluid sirius? have a nice day/night!

So not only did this request come in but today I followed a car blasting the Killers "somebody told me" and because I am in so deep in this fandom all I good think was wow this is incredibly wolfstar coded. Anyway, this is what the combination inspired - enjoy! with love

The Bit (1/1) (wolfstar)

It didn't really matter where they went, they were often the best dressed couple. Remus looked sleek in formal wear, a shiny black suit with velvet lapels. His soft curls in a mop on his head, and a confidence now that drew much more attention than any of his scars.

Remus was a perfect contrast to Sirius, whose shoulder length black hair was flowing, effortlessly smooth and wavy at the same time. Sirius had a sheer black top that hung just off the edge of their shoulders, and matching not-so-see-through pants that waved with every one of her steps.

All eyes were on them as they walked into the restaurant.

"Hello, Reservation for Lupin please," Remus said. His tone sauve, but husky and low, a sound that generally made Sirius go mad. Remus knew it was working, as Sirius gripped his arm tighter.

The host nodded, ran his finger down list, and then turned to grab two menus. "Please follow me," they said.

They were led to a small candlelit table, one Remus had asked for specially, as it was the table where they had their first real date. Sirius noticed immediately, and reached their hand across to intertwine her fingers with Remus'.

The waiter came shortly after, reading them off the specials. Then the waiter turned to Sirius then Remus and back, "anything to drink for the lad... lady?"

Sirius eyes brightened, and a matching smirk appeared on Remus' face. He squeezed Remus hand before pulling away and addressing the waiter, "I'll have a cosmopolitan," they said, voice deep but sickeningly sweet.

It was Remus and Sirius' favourite joke to watch others try to figure out Sirius. Mostly because it took so long for Sirius to figure themselves out, and for her to be okay with who he was. And partly because everyone was still so daft that Sirius never got gendered the same twice.

Remus' chuckle brought the waiter back to reality, who turned away from Sirius quickly to ask, with a very politically-correct pursed lip, "and a drink for you?"

"The house red will do, thank you," Remus said and nodded, dismissing the waiter who was struggling to keep a blank expression.

Sirius used to get upset about it, and she still will when it's people who they care about or who should know better by now. But Sirius is long past worrying about what strangers think about them, and he loves how much joy Remus gets when Sirius fucks with the ignorant.

Remus took Sirius' hand back, turning it over to splay their fingers open and kiss her palm. Sirius swooned.

"Moony," Sirius whined, shamelessly.

Remus looked up and caught his gaze, "my lovely lovely boyfriend, you look absolutely beautiful princess, and I am endlessly thankful that you let me in your life."

And as Remus spoke, the pair fell more and more in love. But Sirius couldn't help but burst out laughing as the waiter shakily placed the drinks on the table after hearing the whole encounter, and then rushing away. Remus joined in the laughter as they watched their favourite waiter, a trans man, smack the current waiter with his order pad.

#I am in no way condoning ignorance #but this may or may not be based off a real life experience #sometimes you just have to laugh #also hopefully this is much nicer after yesterdays turmoil #sorry about that #marauders #wolfstar #remus lupin #fanfic #lgbtq+#marauders era #sirius black #remus x sirius #sirius orion black #remus john lupin #genderfluid sirius black #all pronouns #marauders fandom #just fluff

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ordinaryschmuck · 6 months

Text

And now here's a current ranking of the Modern Doctors

This is just based on the ones I've seen. I've just recently started watching the classic Doctor Who episodes and will give more of an official ranking another time....Anyways...

#13. No offense to the actress. She nailed the goofy, eccentric scientist who will fight with her last breath...but never had any good material to work with. It's a shame that she never had a good head writer, really...

#9. His appearance was off-putting, but he set out to justify both his and the revival's existence, doing FANTASTIC at it when bringing The Doctor bringing the modern era. I just wish he didn't look so...early 2000s.

#12. He started off too cynical, but really grew on me as his run went on. Peter Capaldi got to live the fan's dream, wanting to be a companion but ended up as The Doctor and having the time of his LIFE with it. He got the quips, the hilarious moments, and the speeches that made his Doctor great. I absolutely loved his final speech before the regeneration, saying the things that The Doctor and a true fan would want the next one to be...It's a shame that 13 wasn't a lot of those things, but she at least tried her best. And so did 12.

#10/14. Might as well lump these two together because they're basically the same. David Tennant's IRRADIATING charm where he could say anything and I'd be smiling. Plus, his off-the-wall maniac energy was a delight, and you can tell Tennant had the time of his life with every scene he's in, stealing the show at every opportunity. It was great to see him as Ten, it was a great surprise to have back as Fourteen, and it really is brilliant to use him as this transitional Doctor before the next guy takes over. Got to draw fans back in after five years of crap before making The Doctor Black (which some are likely already upset about for dumb reasons).

And #11. My GOODNESS, #11. He's just so...GOOFY, and I love it! Matt Smith has Tennant's enjoyment in the role turned up to eleven (ha), with him being this mad lad that brought a ton of humor but still a lot of heart and badassery. He'll leave you chills as he intimidates an enemy and leaves you laughing as he treats his bowtie as the most important thing in the universe. I couldn't get enough of him, and 11 will always be how I picture The Doctor no matter what face he takes next.

Speaking of new faces, 15 is already off to a great start. I just love how he's almost always smiling, as if he's experiencing life for the first time with new eyes and is having the time off his life with every facet of it. I can't wait to see 15 in a leading role and we get to see how well he'll do for this new age of Doctor Who. I'll be waiting with every episode, and it feels SO GOOD to finally say that again.

#doctor who #thirteenth doctor #jodie whittaker #ninth doctor #christopher eccleston #twelth doctor #peter capaldi #tenth doctor #fourteenth doctor #david tennant #eleventh doctor #matt smith #fifteenth doctor #ncuti gatwa

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riddle-me-ri · 1 year

Note

Congrats on hitting 500!!!! Could I maybe get some scrumptious nsfw BTAS Mad Hatter with the sharing a shower prompt? I just had to request this because it has now flooded my brain and refuses to leave.

A/N: hnngg my second most favorite lad with my favorite prompt? 🫠 Asdfgg absolutely you can get that, it's flooded my brain now too. Thank you so much!

Trigger Warning: explicit sexual content (blowjob)(idk why I always want the attention to be on him most of the time rip, he needs the reassurance ok?!), heavy touching

Word Count: 541

BTAS Mad Hatter - Sharing a Shower

Jervis’ feet were glued to the smooth fiberglass floor. His whole body flushed red and not just from the heat of the warm water that was running.

Jervis was still relatively new to this…level of intimacy. He knew all the proper rules of courtship, but never quite thought of what laid ahead after that.

“Are you all right, Jervis?” You asked, slightly concerned when he hasn’t responded to you.

“Ah, um fine…I am fine, my darling.” He bore his eyes into your own.

Not daring to gaze at your body any lower.

“You can look Jervis, it’d be kind of hard to bathe one another without looking. Wouldn’t you think?”

Jervis gulped. Perhaps you had a point. His eyes slowly trailed down your body. His hands slightly clenched, overcome with the idea to touch you.

You smiled as you notice him slowly relax. You pecked the tip of his nose before turning away to grab a wash cloth. You began damping and prepping the cloth with soap. Jervis grew a little tense again, but soon was eased into your caresses as you washed his skin softly.

“I-What about you-”

You shushed him softly. You moved your hand from his shoulders and neck down to his chest. “I’m fine. I’m more concerned about you enjoying this…and letting me adore you for once.”

Jervis opened his mouth to counter your point but couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He did begin to find himself enjoying the attention.

You leaned your body into his, skin sticking to slightly soapy skin as you began washing his back. Until you felt something poking at you.

Ashamed, Jervis immediately stepped away from you.

“I-I’m sorry. I-I can…t-take it from here–”

You shook your head. “Jervis, it’s okay! It’s normal, sweetheart.”

“P-Perhaps…but I-I didn’t mean..”

“Really? I mean…I kinda hoped it would happen. I don’t mind.” You walked back over to him with a comforting smile.

You slowly got down on your knees in front of him.

Jervis gulped nervously.

“You don’t?” He stammered as you got closer to his groin.

“I don’t…I can help…if you don’t mind.”

Overwhelmed by the prospect, Jervis could only bring himself to nod.

You set a steady pace, using the water to easily thrust his cock through your enclosed hand.

When you felt he was ready you swiftly replaced your hand with your lips. You could hear his gasp even through the running water.

Your lips tightened, you sucked harder and faster. Jervis could feel his knees start to buckle.

His body stiffened and you knew he was close. You slowly removed your lips, but continued to pump his cock at the same rhythm as your lips. You tapped the head of his cock against the tip of your togue, eagerly awaiting his release.

It didn’t take long for Jervis to come undone, some of his cum went into your mouth while some trickled down your chin and onto your chest.

As Jervis continued to try and catch his breath, you stood back up with a satisfied smirk on your face.

“Would you like to help me get cleaned up this time?” You asked, giggling.

Even though he just reached his peak. The idea seemed to rejuvenate him as he nodded enthusiastically.

#ri writes #ri 500 #btas mad hatter x reader #btas jervis tetch x reader #batman the animated series mad hatter x reader #batman the animated series jervis tetch x reader

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paledoptera · 8 months

Text

DEDMOS COSPLAY PICS

turns out i only got 2 good pics of the full cosplay but whatevs, i'll get my friends to take more pics next time lol i went to comiccon with my 3 friends there, tyler (grillby/undertale), kai (mono/little nightmares 2) and my brother clay (sun/fnaf sb) (the inosuke is a random guy who was there but he was a great lad) we did get two more good ones of me unmasked, first one looks like a beatles album cover (it's when we were packing up our stuff and leaving the apartment)

this one i absolutely love because while i'm taking the pic with diego you can just see dio approaching in the background of course there was also a whiteboard and i HAD to leave a madness combat mark

final thing (not cosplay related) after we changed out of our cosplays we took a pic with a medieval bard guy called Ardulf who was there the entire time the entire weekend playing instruments and singing and shit, he was an absolute legend

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yallemagne · 8 months

Text

Van Helsing, I love you, I am sorry, I have read this book several times over, I know all that has happened and will happen, and I still have trouble believing your bullshit---

First up, JONATHAN!!! My babygirl is BACK, and I love to hear his voice. He's filled with new energy but there is still that shakiness, that anxiety. The firm certainly mixed with the moments of fear and reflection aghh.

Van Helsing's preaching about Mina is so patronizing I want to slap him, oh my god. He is earnest, but lauding Mina as some heavenly symbol is just... bad news. No one can place someone on a pedestal that high while also regarding them as a human being and not an idol. Van Helsing adores her, but he still has yet to respect her.

VH: "Madam Mina told you against my orders?? And you are not dead??"

Jonathan: "Oh, actually, maybe the stress of not knowing and forcing myself to ignore the signs around me was really bad for my health. If it went on any longer, I probably could have worried myself to death."

VH: "Hahaha... you tell me... that secrecy meant to protect can harm instead?"

Jonathan: "Yep."

VH: "I MUST TELL FRIEND JOHN BEFORE HE HAVE THE STROKE!!"

Jack sounds more shaky than ever. The uncertainty that plagued Jonathan but is gone now has been afflicting Jack instead, but he does not acknowledge it. It doesn't help that Van Helsing...

Lissen. He's taking his first baby steps into being fully honest with Jack. And by that I mean he burst into Jack's asylum, shoved a newspaper in his face, and proceeded to scold him for not being into spiritualism. I don't blame Jack a single second for his difficulty.

Little tangent: THAT ISN'T HOW VAMPIRE BATS WORK YOU FUCKKER. Have you SEEN how tiny they are? A vampire bat would sooner balloon up and POP before it could drain the blood from a grown man's veins. What you have to worry about with vampire bat bites is rabies or infection not fuckinogn complete exsanguination, you madman. Jack doesn't know about bats, of course, but I DO and I might not know about parrots or GIANT SPIDERS IN SPANISH CHURCHES, BUT I DO KNOW BATS. Vampire bats are tiny. The absolute biggest bats in the New World don't drink blood, they eat birds and rodents and smaller bats. VH, stop shit-talking real bats.

That aside.

He berates Jack for doubting before Jack has even had the chance to doubt. Part of the reason Jack hasn't come to the conclusion that it is vampires... isn't that he's written it off as impossible. It's that he doesn't know what the fuck vampires are. And VH doesn't even bother to say the word vampire. He accuses Jack's dead friend of attacking young children before he even explains the concept of vampires.

Jack presuming that the creepy mortician stole Lucy's body is a reasonable conclusion with the information he has. The idea that Lucy has risen from the grave and is biting children now is NOT A REASONABLE CONCLUSION WITH THE INFORMATION HE HAS.

Van Helsing knew that Jack would have a hard time believing. He knew, so he tried to prime Jack's brain for the mic drop, but sir, spouting a bunch of urban legends about immortality and blood-drinking and then saying "I just need you to blindly believe me" is not good priming. It's just not it, chief.

"I didn't want to hurt you with the reveal, hence why I yelled at you about science and spiritualism and parrots for like eight minutes before finally getting to the point and accusing your dead crush of abducting and harming children."

There was a better way to go about telling Jack, Van Helsing. I don't know what it is. All I know is that you have gone about it in possibly the worst way, and you are not allowed to be annoyed with Jack for even a second, you mad lad. You made your bed, now sleep in it.

#dracula #dracula daily #re: dracula #jonathan harker #abraham van helsing #jack seward #john seward #all caps

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awhoreintheory · 2 years

Text

Lance is totally the type that was technically good in school without rlly trying, but felt like an imposter

But also like sucked at subjects he just could not get into, Lance was either an absolute mad lad with history, or he couldn't read two sentences without getting distracted and there was no in-between

And like, he's good at math, but the more steps there are the harder it gets so he feels stupid even tho he's basically a God at quick mental math

And he'd have HAD to be good at school bc he went to a prestigious school like the Garrison, and wasn't too good at the simulations so he must've made up for that with being good at school

I'm just sayin

Smart Lance hot as fuuuck 😩😩

#smart lance #lance mcclain #lance voltron #voltron #voltron legendary defender #voltron headcanons #vld headcanons #vld fandom #klance

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fantasyinallforms · 1 year

Note

Okay this is a bit simple compared to some of the others, but I’d love if you would do:

“HA! Take that!”

Thank you for the prompt Sunny!! ❤️❤️ I had an absolute blast writing this! Bit of a long one! Prompt was given to me for the FotFics March Madness event!

Also on A03! https://archiveofourown.org/works/45878251

Bagginshield-Rating [T]

Title: Bet On A Kiss

It had been one thing after another. No time to rest, no time to recuperate. So when they finally learned they were safe in Beorn’s lands, it was like a stone had been lifted off Bilbo’s back. After the events of the goblin tunnels and their run-in with the pale Orc, the company needed time to rest. Thanks to the Eagles carrying them so far, they could afford to take a few weeks to lick their wounds.

Beorn’s gardens felt like the closest thing to home since he left The Shire. Despite everything being twice his size, it was nice to lay among the flowers and just feel the sun on his face for a while. He had almost managed to drift off when two heavy-footed troublemakers lumbered through the grass.

Bilbo decided not to open his eyes, hoping they would pass right along. Instead, he heard a body thump down next to him.

“Kili, what are you doing!” Fili hissed

“It looks comfortable! Better than all the rocks we’ve been forced to lay on so far this journey.”

“Yes, but Uncle told us to find Bilbo!”

“And find him we have Fee.” Kili sounded like he was already completely comfortable on his spot in the grass. The boy's conversation piqued Bilbo’s interest, but he still didn't open his eyes. What did Thorin need with him anyway? He would think saving the king's life would afford him some kind of reprieve. Then again, this was Thorin Oakenshied he was talking about. He heard Fili give an exasperated sigh as he laid down in the grass on the other side of Bilbo.

“If Uncle asks, we can tell him that Bilbo was fast asleep, and we dared not wake him,” Fili whispered. Even if he didn't want to blow his cover by opening his eyes, Bilbo could envision the two armored lads lying among the wildflowers. It was nice that they were taking a moment for themselves. They were barely past their majority and had far too many struggles heaped onto their young shoulders. It made him wonder if Thorin had ever been as carefree and devious as his nephews. Sometimes, he could see that bit of Thorin in how Kili smiled or Fili’s eyes lit up. A smile really did illuminate all the features of the broody king's face. Bilbo dearly hoped it wouldn't be the last time he got to see it. He drifted off into a pleasant mid-day nap with the memory of Thorin smiling at him on Carrock dancing in his subconscious.

Bilbo was woken up mid-dream about 30 minutes later by a pleasant sound saying some unpleasant things.

“I sent you to find Bilbo, so imagine my disappointment when I see that instead of bringing him to me, you laid down next to him and took a nap!” Thorin’s voice was sharp and annoyed. Bilbo’s vision cleared from the fog of sleep to see him pacing in front of the boys giving them a thorough dressing down. He propped himself into a sitting position. He better at least try and step in before they got into any more trouble.

“Leave them alone, Thorin. I refused to go with them and told them to lie down with me. So if you’re yelling at them, you might as well yell at me too.” Bilbo chirped from his spot in the grass. The boy's eyes went wide in shock and gratitude.

“And what was the reason you refused to see me?” Thorin stalked over to where Bilbo was sitting, and he had to crane his neck to see him. Bilbo rolled his eyes and held his hands out, expectantly reaching toward Thorin. The dwarf king cocked an eye before taking his hands and pulling him effortlessly to his feet. Bilbo patted the loose grass and dirt off his pants before addressing Thorin again.

“I didn't refuse to see you; I simply wanted a nap first. Now, what was so urgent that it couldn't have waited until lunch?”

“I want you to start working with the princes to learn the basics of sword fighting.” Thorin crossed his arms and looked back at the boys, who looked equal parts excited and confused.

“That’s what was so incredibly important that I couldn't be allowed to take a nap in the first safe place we’ve landed in since Rivendell!” Bilbo threw up his hands and walked off in the direction of the house, collecting Fili and Kili as he passed them. How was it that someone so incredibly clever and tactically minded could be so dense! The three of them spent most of the afternoon running through some combat basics and standard stances before Bilbo decided that that was enough for today and left to get some food. The boys stayed behind.

**************

Fili and Kili sat under a small cluster of trees, eating some small finger sandwiches that Bilbo had brought out to them. When they finished those, they started sharpening their blades and, in Kilis's case, fashioning new arrows.

“Why do you think Uncle tasked us with teaching Bilbo instead of just doing it himself?” Kili wondered out loud.

“I don't know, could be several things, I guess. We’re closer to Bilbo than anyone else in the company other than maybe Bofur or Ori. It could be we’re the youngest out of the group and remember our early schooling the best. Or maybe he thought that if he had to teach Bilbo, they would be at each other’s throats less than an hour in.” Fili snickered

“The look Uncle gets on his face every time Bilbo points a wagging finger at him. Last person I’ve ever seen make him able to look like that was amad!” Kili threw his head back in a laugh. “You know, that would make a good wager Fee” Fili knit his brow together,

“What would?”

“Uncle will probably stop by and watch us train for at least a little while tomorrow. If he sees us messing it up too much or not quite to his liking, he’s likely to just take over. So the wager is once he takes over, how long till Uncle pushes Bilbo over the edge and they are in an all-out spat.” Kili’s mischievous smile was infectious, and the more Fili mulled over the idea, the more fun it sounded.

“That's a wager I could get in on.” Neither of them noticed Bofur, Nori, and Dwalin had been listing in on their little wager idea, and when Nori spoke, it made both boys jump.

“Aye, put me down for 15 minutes before Thorin stomps off in a rage,” Dwalin said, flipping a coin into Kili’s hands.

“I’ll do 20 min, and it’ll be Bilbo who huffs off.” Nori wagered. They all looked at Bofur, who looked deep in thought.

“You putting anything in the pot, Bofur?” Fili asked. Bofur’s face broke into a cheshire smile as he handed his coin over.

“My bet is that it takes them 15 minutes, BUT it won't end in a spat.” His response gained him a volley of blank stairs. “I can't be the only one who sees it? I think it’ll end with them snogging,” Bofur said proudly. The eyebrows of all dwarves currently in attendance shot up. They hadn’t thought of that, then they all doubled over, trying to keep from bursting out laughing.

“Feel free to tell the rest of the company, but don't let Thorin or Bilbo catch wind! As soon as Uncle shows up, we’ll see if we can get him to take over the training!” Kili pocketed the money he had been given so far and went back to making arrows and brainstorming about the day to come.

**************

Quiet and calm was not something that Thorin was typically very good at handling. They had been at Beorn’s for three days, and he was already restless. Thorin had enough downtime to find himself lost in his thoughts. Thoughts that he had, up until this point, tried not to focus on. Thoughts of Bilbo. What the hobbit had been willing to do for him caught him completely by surprise. It made the kindling that was his feelings for Bilbo up until this point catch fire. It also made him incredibly nervous. Yes, Bilbo had saved him, but he had charged into the battle completely unprepared and without any strategy. Without the quick thinking of his kin, it would have meant the death of both of them. If Bilbo was going to start throwing himself into potentially deadly situations, then he needed to learn how to fight, at the very least, the basics.

He had sent his nephews to find Bilbo for a reason. Beorn’s home and land weren't that extensive; it shouldn't have taken them more than 10 minutes to find him. Thorin had specifically sent them to look for him because he didn't want to find himself alone with the hobbit. He had already shown that his willpower was only so powerful with that hug on Carrock. He had meant only to press their foreheads together, but the overwhelming relief at seeing Bilbo whole and hale had hijacked his intentions. He hadn't expected Bilbo to fit so perfectly against him, like a puzzle piece clicking into place.

He stalked through Beorn’s grounds until he finally saw what happened to his nephews. They had, in fact, found Bilbo. They flanked him, hands behind their heads, snoring lazily. Bilbo was lying on his side, curled in on himself. His features were soft, and he looked at peace. Thorin stood there momentarily, allowing himself to steal this moment of comfort they so infrequently got on the road before waking Fili and Kili.

Thorin watched Bilbo walk away, practically dragging the boys behind him. Good, best, Bilbo thought he was a hard ass. It was safer for both of them that way.

The next day after a few meetings on supplies with Beorn and Balin, Thorin found himself again with nothing to do. He sat on the front porch smoking a pipe and humming to himself until he got bored and decided to check in on how Bilbo’s training was coming along.

The boys had set up around a clear space between 2 clusters of tall oak trees. They waved as he approved, then went back to their drills. Thorin sat on a stump nearby and relit his pipe to watch. At first, it looked like everything was going well. Bilbo had a good stance, and he was holding his sword correctly. He had divested himself of his jacket and blazer and was just wearing his thin linen shirt and trousers. Thorin stared a little too long at how Bilbo’s body was moving through the drills. He was paying close enough attention that he also noticed that his footwork was all over the place. He waited to hear the prince's corrections, but none came. In fact, Kili was patting Bilbo on the back and congratulating him!

“Make sure you’re watching his footwork!” Thorin shouted. Fili gave a thumbs up, and they went again. The same thing happened, and again, the same congratulations. Thorin grumbled under his breath as he tapped out the embers of his pipe before approaching.

“You’re not watching his feet! If his footwork is that clumsy in battle, he’s as likely to trip and fall on his own sword as he is to kill an orc.” Thorin chastised. He turned to Bilbo. “Put down the sword and use this.” Thorin tossed a sparing stick at Bilbo’s feet.

“Why can't we keep using a real blade?” Bilbo asked while picking up the stick.

“Because we are not running drills. Footwork is the basis of all swordsmanship, and I intend to show you why. Ready yourself.” The moment he saw Bilbo take a stance with the sparing stick in hand, Thorin lunged. Bilbo held the stick out in front of him and parried the first attack but overcompensated. The second attack landed him on his back.

“Dead. Again but this time, widen your feet.” Bilbo did, and Thorin lunged again, this time allowing Bilbo the opportunity to repost. Thorin stepped out of the way and thwacked Bilbo on the back of the leg sending him to the floor.

“Dead. Again but this time, bend your knees. When you lunge for an attack, your feet should go with you. Don't overextend yourself, or you’re an easy target.” Bilbo picked himself off the floor and brushed the dust off his trousers. His face was now pulled back in a scowl. Bilbo didn't wait for him to attack first, but it made no difference. Thorin met the blow head-on, then tripped the small hobbit sending him to the floor once again.

“Tripping me definitely felt like cheating. If I didn't know better, I would say you were just enjoying getting to toss me around.” Bilbo huffed as he picked himself off the ground again. Thorin tried not to blush at the double entendre.

“There is no cheating in warfare if it keeps you alive.” Thorin said sternly, “Are you good to go again, or do you need to take a break?”

“I bet you would love it if I wanted to take a break. The weak little hobbit couldn't go more than three short rounds in a spar with the king. Well, if beating on me makes you less of an ass for the next few days, then fine, let's give the audience a show.” Bilbo sounded more annoyed and pissed off than Thorin had heard him in a while. He also noticed they did indeed have more of an audience than he had realized. The entire company was standing around the perimeter of their sparing area watching with determination.

“Fine, one more round.” Thorin lunged, and Bilbo parried the blow and backed up, waiting for Thorin to advance. When he did, Bilbo repeated the tactic. Curious where this was going, Thorin let Bilbo guide the match until finally, Bilbo had nowhere else to go, and Thorin had him backed into a tree.”

“Always be aware of your surroundings, Burglar, Dea-!!!!” Bilbo balled his fist into the front of Thorin’s tunic and yanked him down as hard as he could, crashing their lips together. It was such an overwhelmingly lovely sensation that Thorin dropped his sparring sword and braced one hand on the tree behind them. The other hand was now firmly behind Bilbo’s head, pulling him into an even deeper kiss. He hadn't even fully registered what had happened. All he could think was how amazing Bilbo’s mouth felt, how he tasted like honey, and the pipeweed he liked so much. He was absolutely sure he never wanted to stop kissing this mouth ever again. When he was finally forced to come up for air, he was rewarded with Bilbo’s blushing kiss drunk face.

“Dead,” Bilbo simpered. Thorin screwed up his face in confusion as he just barely registered the sparing stick Bilbo was holding to his side. Thorin pinned Bilbo’s hand above his head, causing him to squeak adorably and drop what he was holding. He brought his face as close to Bilbo’s as he could without their lips meeting.

“Please tell me that kiss was not just a ploy to win the match,” Thorin whispered. He had not meant for it to come out as a plea.

“No, but it helped.” Bilbo giggled. He closed the kiss once again, and Thorin dropped Bilbo’s hand so he could use it to run his fingers through his silky soft curls. Words of elation and disappointment could be heard from the crowd behind him. He heard Bofur shout.

“HA! Take that! You shouldn't have doubted me! Put the money in the hat, boys!” and heard the unmistakable sound of coins being dropped on top of one another. Thorin didn't care; how could he with the feeling of a happily pliant Bilbo under him. Perhaps a few weeks of time to recuperate from their travels would be more pleasant than he thought.

#bagginshield #thilbo #the hobbit #bilbo x thorin #bilbo baggins #thorin oakenshield #FotFics #FIAF (me) fics

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