#Hair Fair 2018

[tricoufamily]

more ancient ocs i got bored and made as sims. they were doing every tired annoying romantasy trope years ahead of the curb smh i could have been making booktok bucks

[celebratingwomen]

Lily James for Vanity Fair, 2018

[the-flaneur]

couples quiz gq (lh44)

pairing: husband!lewis hamilton x wife sports reporter!reader

summary: it’s the gq couples quiz time with your boo 💋

warnings: mentions some suggestive content

wc: 2165

[masterlist] [requests]

y/n: lew stop pushing my chair away, im moving out of the frame

(whispering)

the director’s going to be mad at me now

lewis: you want me to pull you back in?

y/n: le-lewis! im going to fall if you pull the chair in that fas-

y/n yelps loudly and looks like she’s going to fall but the clip is cut short by the editors

*cut*

y/n: hi everyone, i’m y/n m/n l/n-hamilton!

waves to the camera

lewis: and i’m lewis carl davidson hamilton

y/n turns towards lewis, with a mischievous look on her face, and in a matter of fact tone…

y/n: can’t forget the sir, lew

lewis: sorry darling

lewis rolls his eyes affectionately, before waving at the camera as well

hi, im sir lewis carl davidson hamilton. 

both: and today we’ll being doing gq’s couple quiz!

y/n: we had a competition last night to see who was going to start, and of course i wo-

lewis: you only won because you bribed roscoe into giving you the toy. we said we were going to play fai-

y/n: you also tried to bribe him, i just bribed him better. don’t try to fool everyone honey

y/n smirks, before pulling out her cue cards

so lew, where and how did we first meet?

lewis: well we first met back in 2015, at silverstone…it was actually a little bit silly how we met. i hadn’t realised that ted [kravitz] wasn’t going to be at the pitlane broadcast because he was sick. so when this absolutely gorgeous woman rocks up with a sky sports microphone and lanyard, i was so confused…

lewis trails off sheepishly while y/n laughs, reminiscing over the memory of their first encounter

and then of course i was blown away by her gorgeous presenting skills, even if she did really emphasise the pit crew’s interesting tactics during the race.

y/n: i was just doing my job…

y/n pouts sarcastically before lewis gently pats her arm

lewis: yes yes, i know darling. so after channelling seb’s now somewhat questionable flirting skills, i convinced her to go on a date with britain’s best tour guide.

y/n: sometimes i don’t know what my younger self was thinking, considering you almost insulted me during that date

lewis: it was just my unbelievable charm and wit - you cant resist the hamilton sex appeal

lewis mimes a hair flip, whilst y/n gags behind her hands, before shrugging

y/n: and i guess the rest is history.

*cut*

y/n: lew, what do you think is the most romantic thing you’ve ever done for me?

lewis: well i mean apart from my show stopping proposal last year, which i think undeniably will never be topped by anyone else in the history of proposals, if i do say so myself-

y/n: but no one else will know about all the details…

lewis: of course darling, my lips are sealed. 

lewis mimes zipping his lips and tossing away the key

apart from the proposal, i would probably have to say our first anniversary in 2018. of course, we had met back in 2015, but didn’t officially get together until late 2017. and of course being out first anniversary, i had to pull out all the stops.

y/n: to be fair, it had been a complete surprise considering it was our first anniversary together

y/n grins at lewis, grasping his hand in hers

lewis: i prepared an entire day of activities, like we went to the beach at sunrise and had a picnic, and then we went surfing for a bit…then we did a city wide scavenger hunt, going to all our favourite locations and reshooting pictures we originally had taken there, and then we went and had dinner with all our families, and then i proposed to her a darry promise ring…

y/n: ladies and gentlemen, if they wanted to, they would

y/n swoons and winks before frisbee-ing the cue card off screen

*cut*

y/n: what has been my favourite couple’s outfit we’ve done together?

lewis: well apart from when you’re wearing my clothes…

y/n rolls her eyes as lewis cheekily smiles at her

it would probably have to be this year’s met gala look. i honestly think all round, a significantly meaningful outfit which meant a lot to both of us. we both looked absolutely amazing, especially you darling.

y/n: correct!

y/n showers the camera with jazz hands

wearing a replica of junon was honestly the highest fashion honour i could’ve ever wished for. even if it was just a replica, i felt absolutely ethereal wearing it, and the craftsmanship was just as exquisite. the beading and layers of the dress are cut so beautifully…

and of course, seeing the real junon in person was even more spectacular. but your outfit was just as elegant and more impactful, lew.

lewis: of course i had the amazing privilege of being able to honour the work, life and story of john ystumllyn, who was one of britain’s first black gardeners. the emboridered flowers on the outside reflects the language of flowers, something which is also something so meaningful between my wife and i…

y/n and lewis look gently at each other for a minute, the camera capturing their serene and gentle smiles 

*cut*

y/n: another one, lew. what is your favourite thing about our two kids?

lewis: well of course, i love them both so much, since they’re half you and half me… hey don’t laugh at me baby

y/n laughs as lewis points at the camera

hey guys, your mum’s being mean to me now - but i love you guys so much, ok. dad loves you lots, more than your mum

y/n puts a sarcastic hand over her heart as if she’s been wounded by lewis’ words

y/n: babe lets be for real. i carried both our babies the entire pregnancy, i’ve practically become one with them. i love them the most

lewis: no matter which one of us loves them more, we’ll always play second fiddle to roscoe, babes. he’s like the babies’ number one protector, he’ll even sometimes stop y/n or i from cuddling them

y/n: yeah like father, like son

lewis: hey! what’s that supposed to mea-

*cut*

y/n: what is my favourite meal that you cook for me? this one is a bit difficult, considering you haven’t cooked for me since our last anniversary…

y/n pouts before lewis sighs again

lewis: i try my best…

lewis now addresses the camera

but this little lady likes to complain that vegan food sometimes only tastes like grass, so she always gets take out from the restaurants. 

but apart from that… i would think my dad’s oil down, taken straight from his mum’s recipe, is definitely a family favourite. the kids love when i take the time to make it, and it always makes the house smell great. y/n: definitely, the coconut and spices are always a fantastic combination in food we enjoy, like other cuisines like thai food - always amazing!

*cut*

y/n: final question from my side lew - if you had to describe our relationship in five words, what would they be?

lewis puts on a contemplative look, he’s really trying his hardest here

lewis: hmmmm, it’s a bit hard there’s just so many wonderful words to use

y/n: yes baby?

lewis: like judgemental, interesting, dramatic, inventive… there’s just so many wonderful words

y/n bursts into laughter at lewis’ deadpan stare into the camera

no but honestly…

lewis thinks thoughtfully, before holding onto his wife’s hands

the love i have for y/n and our family cannot be just described in five words. i love her more than i love anything else in this world, and i would give up anything to be with her forever…

y/n looks teary-eyed at lewis’ confession

y/n: lewis… i love you baby

lewis: i love you too darling

*cut*

y/n: now i guess it’s your turn lew, lets go

y/n mimes finger guns at her husband, before leaning back to lounge in her chair

lewis: what’s been your most recent favourite memory of ours?

y/n cups her hands around her mouth before discreetly whispering something to lewis, who giggles at her words before miming a not-so-subtle kiss

y/n: not that recent, but i think your silverstone victory. it was so emotional for everyone, especially having the kids there. they probably didn’t remember your last victory before then. of course i was so proud of you and the team, i couldn’t stop crying the entire time

lewis: the afterparty was extra special too; we had dinner with my whole family at our home in central london, although my dad complained we should’ve gone to stevenage and stayed at home longer

y/n: anthony just loves seeing his little boy at home, and his grandkids

y/n leans over a tugs on lewis’ cheek affectionately

*cut*

lewis: y/n, with your extensive motorsports knowledge, what does drs stand for?

y/n: daniel ricciardo supremacy of course - danny’s one of my favourites, especially when he drove for red bull. sorry seb

[subtitle: this was filmed before it was publicly known that daniel would NOT be driving for VCARB for the remainder of the season]

*cut*

lewis: who is or was your favourite driver to interview?

y/n: well, i mean apart from you - cause you’re just that willing to give me all the nice PR suited yet sometimes edgy commentary, i would probably have to say….

kimi

i mean he made my job both really easy and really hard, but he was always super nice to talk to off camera, so technically i got to interview him, just off camera, where he could talk a bit more freely

sorry kimi for outing your secret extrovert-ness

y/n sticks her tongue out, knowing kimi is very unlikely to see this video

*cut*

lewis: if we didn’t need to compromise on baby names, what would you have named our children?

y/n: do you want my really wacky answer, or the half truth answer?

lewis: hmmm… lets go with both.

y/n: well my real options would’ve been lewis jr and c/n, but i already call your di-

lewis, knowing where y/n was going with this quickly cups her mouth with his hand, before anything else comes out

lewis: are you sure that was the real answer?

y/n giggles from behind his hand, before moving it back down

y/n: well my wacky answers would’ve been nico and fernando so…. take your pick babes

*cut*

lewis: what’s my favourite tradition that we have?

y/n: our 2-2-2 date plan. i saw it on tiktok that one time, and sent it to lewis, who became obsessed with it. but in all honesty it works really well with our busy lifestyles, especially when i stay home with the kids. 

lewis: to be fair, the timing is not actually weeks, months and years since we work pretty often together, it’s more like days, weeks and months…

y/n: especially during the summer and winter breaks, cause their grandparents love looking after them then

lewis: roscoe too, he’s always with them, so he’s actually the person they see the most in their life sometimes y/n: but yeah, the date plan just gives us a way to properly structure time for us together, which can get so hectic during race weekends

*cut*

lewis: ok now the final question of the couples quiz - when is my birthda-... just kidding!

lewis chuckles whilst y/n bats the cards out of his hands in mock anger

just kidding darling… what do i love most about you?

y/n: my ass?

*cut*

lewis: well now i suppose it’s time to reveal the winner, which will obviously be me

y/n: no it’s obviously me, you barely remembered my five favourite drinks

lewis: i haven’t had alcohol in like forever, you can’t blame me for that. besides you almost forgot our anniversary date

lewis pouts, turning away from y/n

y/n: ughhhh, you’re gonna hold this over me forever, i already know it. i only had a slight lapse in memory because it’s so close to c/n’s birthday

director: regardless the final tally is…

[y/n and lewis both look up at the ceiling above them, where the numbers are displayed in the video. lewis’ shows a 14, whilst y/n’s shows a 20]

y/n: AHA! clearly the superior side of this couple now!

y/n cheers, throwing her hands up in the air

but i guess it was a shared victory. afterall, whenever i win, you win too babes

lewis: sure do, cause we’re one team and we rise together.

[gq closing screen plays]

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@charlesgirl16

© the-flanuer || do not copy, rewrite or translate any of my work on any platform.

[azzibuckets]

For the Love of the Game [Pazzi | Part 10/10]

paige bueckers x azzi fudd

summary: the end 🙏

a/n: decided to combine the last two chapters into one! don’t mind the abrupt ending

word count: 2.1k

masterlist w/ all parts

“You and Paige played together on the U16 and U17 USA Basketball teams, where you guys won a championship at the 2018 FIBA World Cup. Has there been a noticeable difference in your on-court chemistry from USA Baskerball to UConn after the development of your more personal relationship?”

Azzi stared at Leo blankly. “With Paige’s ACL, we haven’t gotten many opportunities to play together yet, so I wouldn’t know.”

Leo raised her eyebrows expectantly. When Azzi crossed her arms and looked away, refusing to speak anymore, she sighed in frustration and clicked her pen. “Okay…” she drawled out. Her eyes scanned her notes for the next question. “Paige was the first freshman to win the AP and Naismith Player of the Year. Although she’s still an underclassman, it would be fair to say she has a lot of valuable experience and natural leadership. What have you personally learned from Paige?”

“That she’s a fuck ass bitch,” Azzi whispered under her breath.

Leo leaned forward. “What was that?”

“Nothing.” Azzi smiled charmingly at the blinking red dot on the camera. “Paige definitely makes her presence known on the court.“ She paused, gathering her thoughts. Leo sent her an encouraging smile, her pen finally scribbling for the first time in the entire interview.

Azzi thought back to the way Paige had used to speak to her, both in their time playing together at USA Basketball and in the months leading up to their agreement. “It’s the fact that you can’t shoot a mid ranger without getting the ball turned over. These are basic foundations of basketball, Fudd. You’re playing college ball now. It’s time to grow up.” Paige had spat, months earlier. Azzi pursed her lips, her anger further fueled from the words they’d thrown at each other in the hospital bathroom the week before. “If she sees a weakness or a flaw in your play, she won’t hesitate to point it out. She likes having her way with things.” Leo’s smile slowly faded. “She has a whole system set up at UConn, and if you dare challenge it, she’ll make you regret it.” By the end of her rant, Azzi was rigid in her seat, the tips of her ears on fire as she riled herself up.

Leo’s pen slowly started moving. She aggressively slammed down her pen and paused the camera. “We can’t use that!”

Azzi looked innocently at her. “Why not?”

“No one is gonna watch this film and think you guys are dating with the way you’re speaking about her,” Leo scowled.

Azzi rolled her eyes. “I doubt Paige said anything positive about me either. Why can’t you just bin the interviews and work with the segments you already have?”

“No, she didn’t,” Leo answered roughly. “Paige gave great answers. You’re the one that’s hard to work with.”

Azzi’s leg stopped jittering. “What do you mean great answers?”

Leo clicked away on her laptop before swiveling it around to face the dark haired girl. “Watch,” she demanded, pressing play.

The video was dark and muted at first, until someone adjusted the camera and it showed Paige, sitting in one of those director’s cameras. A mic was attached to the collar of her jersey, and her hair was pinned up in her signature two braids and ponytail. Azzi’s heart ached. This was her first time seeing Paige since their incident in the bathroom, and she looked good. Better than good. She’d obviously recovered well from her surgery; her skin was glowing and the bags under her eyes were lighter than normal. Her deep blue eyes were sparkling, and she looked in a good mood.

Leo’s voice filtered in from off camera. “What do you like about Azzi?”

Paige smiled uneasily. “Basketball wise or uh,” she shifted in her seat, “girlfriend wise?”

“Both.”

“Well, in terms of basketball, I don’t really have to speak for her,” Paige laughed all nervous, and Azzi could feel her blood pumping faster through her veins. “I mean, everyone knows how good she is. She has a killer pull-up and unlimited range. Her jump shot is perfect, and she’s lethal with her catch and shoot threes.”

At that moment, Leo cut in. “Many people have been saying that with you out, UConn suffers a major drawback. Are you worried about the position of your team without your guidance on the court?”

Paige’s expression changed. “I hear that, and I understand that, but honestly, I’m not as worried as people think I am. Each player on the team is a valuable asset. If we’re talking about Azzi, she’s been putting in extra work to expand her offensive role ever since my injury. I’ve been watching her at practice, and let’s just say, I think that other teams should be even more scared of UConn this upcoming season.”

Azzi felt like someone had just dumped an entire bucket of ice water on her head. What was Paige saying? She’d expected Paige to be condescending, that of course the team was going to suffer badly without her, to laugh at the idea that Azzi would be able to compensate for her loss. But here Paige was, talking about Azzi like she’d hung the damn moon.

Leo’s voice on the video brought her back to attention. “Now, what about personally? You and Azzi have been recently named the ‘it couple’ of women’s baseball, even despite your…” Leo hesitated as she searched for the right word, “tumultuous history. We’d love to learn about what you appreciate about who fans have dubbed as the people’s princess.”

Paige smiled tightly. Azzi noticed her tapping her finger against the side of her leg, a nervous tic that not many people knew she had. “Azzi is a really good person.”

“Can you expand on that?”

Paige’s eyes focused on her lap. “She’s very selfless. Especially in the beginning, I struggled a lot mentally with my injury. Basketball means the world to me, and not being able to play it is devastating. But Azzi, you know, she’s torn her ACL before. She was there for me in the whole process, driving me to rehab sessions and making sure I always ate and doing stupid things with me to get my mind off my knee.” A faint smile flickered on the blonde’s lips as she thought to herself. “I probably wouldn’t have survived it without her.”

Azzi swallowed, trying to dissipate the knot forming in her throat. She’d been so furious at Paige just moments before - for minimizing her struggle to find her sexual identity, for trying to make their situation and her feelings so black and white when everything was a muddled grey for her. And now, Azzi was positively vibrating, like she was a little schoolgirl whose crush had just complimented her.

“You see?” Leo shut her laptop, giving Azzi a pointed look. “This is what we’re aiming for.”

Azzi rubbed her palms together, thinking. Paige had callen her confusing, but right now, Paige was the confusing one. She’d essentially told Azzi to go away and never speak to her again, and then pulled shit like this. How could Azzi stay away from her when Paige was putting her name on a banner and waving it for everyone to see?

———————

Paige studied the notepad of plays in front of her. When the circles and xs and lines started blurring together on the paper from her staring at it so hard, she exhaled, letting her eyes shut for a moment.

“Hey,” Geno said gently from besides her. “Stop stressing. The girls got it.”

Paige nodded, looking up to watch her team as they warmed up for the season opener. Every bone in her body itched to be out there, stretching and warming up her shots with her girls. But she couldn’t, and right now she had to trust her team. Besides, she had an important job out here too. She’d helped draw up half of these plays, going over the strategy and who to place where in order to maximize each player’s individual talents and get as many points as possible.

Her eyes fell on Azzi. She looked nervous for her first official debut of her college career, and Paige wanted to mentally send her a message - to tell her to keep her chin up, to play as hard as possible and show everyone why she was the #1 high school recruit of her class. But Paige knew that talking to Azzi now for the first time in a month would probably heighten the girl’s nerves even more, so she kept her mouth shut, forcing herself to look away.

At half time of the game, Azzi had already scored 10 points, but Paige could tell that she was off. The crowds in the stands were large and loud, even for a season opener, and she could tell it was getting to the younger girl’s head by the way she kept missing shots she normally would’ve aced.

Someone tapped Paige’s shoulder from behind her. She turned around and saw a few guys sitting together who looked like they attended UConn. “Hey,” one of them nodded. “You miss being part of the action?”

Paige liked talking to fans, but right now she wanted to focus on the game, so she only gave a quick nod in response before turning around.

Soon, another tap came. Trying not to roll her eyes, she turned around again. “Yes?”

“It looks like your team needs you,” one of the guys chuckled, his eyes fixed on the court. Paige followed his gaze to the girls playing, and right on cue, Azzi sailed another shot. Paige’s heart lurched as the younger girl bit her lip and sprinted back to defense, a hollow look in her eyes.

“You carry the team, bro. Number 35 just missed again. You might need to give her some pointers.” The guy grinned at her, as if what he’d said was a compliment. Then, as if he couldn’t get any more audacity, he whipped out a Sharpie and dropped it on her lap. “By the way, can you sign my jersey?”

Paige stared in disbelief at the Sharpie before she picked it up and threw it at his face. She felt a sadistic sense of satisfaction as the Sharpie hit the guy right in the eye and he howled, hands going to up to massage the area.

“I’m not signing any of your shit,” she growled. “Number 35 has a name, and Azzi Fudd would drop 20 on your sorry ass any day.” With that, she turned around, fury pulsing through her veins and enlivening her senses. She secretly applauded herself for having the self control not to punch the living daylights out of that guy right then and there.

Thankfully, Azzi seemed to get ahold of her nerves after Geno’s inspiring speech at half, going on to score 10 additional points while barely missing any more shots, an impressive performance for a freshman debut. The game ended with Aaliyah pulling through to hit the game-winning buzzer beater.

Deciding that was cause for celebration, the team decided to go to Tim’s for drinks together after. Paige went straight to the bar as soon as they arrived, ordering a Shirley Temple. When she turned around, she came face to face with the guys from the game earlier.

“Hey,” one of them smirked. “Go tell your lesbo girlfriend good job for me. She looked a little rusty tonight but if you give her my number I can help her with that.” Laughing, he threw a crumpled up piece of paper at Paige, hitting her in the chest, and that’s when everything went red.

Flinging her crutches to the side, Paige moved towards him with a ferocity she’d never felt, grabbing the collar of his shirt. “Listen here, motherfucker,” she hissed. “Clearly your mother didn’t teach you any manners so I guess it’s up to me.” She let go, and the guy stumbled back, fear in his eyes. Then she reared her first back and punched him.

The guy cried out in pain, blood gushing from his nose. Incensed, his friends turned on Paige. “Come on,” she becked her hands at them. “Give me all you’ve got.” The guy she’d hit with the Sharpie earlier lunged towards her, but before he could reach her, hands grabbed Paige’s hips and pulled her back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” A familiar voice growled into her ear, restraining Paige as her other teammates rushed to intervene.

“I was giving them what they deserved,” Paige said bitterly, turning away from the scene. She shook out her hand, her knuckles aching.

“In case you haven’t noticed, there’s three of them and one of you.” Azzi forcefully moved Paige’s hips so that they were facing each other now. “What the hell has gotten into you?”

“Azzi! Take Paige away before she does any more damage,” Nika demanded as one of the guys she was pushing away started spitting curses at Paige.

Azzi grabbed Paige’s crutches, marching her off to the bathroom. She slammed the door behind them, anger evident in the slanting of her eyebrows and flattening of her mouth. “Are you serious, Paige? Getting into fights at the bar? You could get a suspension for this!”

“It doesn’t matter.” Paige fixed her eyes on the peeling paint on the wall. “I can’t even play anyways.”

“You said you don’t need my help.” Azzi paced back and forth angrily. “But here you are, throwing yourself at the hands of three grown men.”

“I didn’t need your help. I had the situation under control,” Paige said coldly.

Azzi grabbed Paige’s shoulders, shaking them. “You’re in crutches, Paige. You can barely even move. I get that you’re frustrated with your injury but you can’t just ignore it!” Azzi slumped against the sink, her head in her hands. “Why’d you even start attacking them anyways? Nothing is worth putting yourself in danger like that.”

You’re worth it, Paige thought. But she stayed quiet, hoping Azzi’s anger would blow over.

“Are you serious? You’re not even gonna tell me what started this whole thing?” Azzi threw up her hands in exasperation. “Is this what you’re like now? Being all moody and mysterious and hitting people whenever you feel like it? I don’t even know you anymore.”

Paige clenched and unclenched her fist. The soreness was starting to get her. Azzi must’ve noticed, because she took her hand and examined it.

“It’s gonna bruise,” Azzi said, her voice now soft.

Paige shrugged.

Sighing, Azzi gently led Paige’s hand under the faucet. She gently washed away the blood on her knuckles. Paige flinched - not at the pain, but from the all too familiar feeling of Azzi’s fingers touching her.

Azzi managed to find some bandages after rummaging through the cabinets. She slowly wrapped the gauze around Paige’s knuckles, her touch sending electric sparks through Paige’s hand. Neither of them spoke as Azzi patched her up, the tension in the air thick.

Paige swallowed, the silence becoming overbearing. “They were saying things about you.”

Azzi’s eyes shot up, her hand stilling. “What?”

Paige ducked her head, avoiding her stare. “The guys. They were at the game and making stupid comments the entire time, and I mostly ignored them.” She huffed. “But then they came here, and when they said something else, I just lost it.”

Azzi’s jaw clenched. She finished wounding the bandage, but she didn’t let go of Paige’s hand, and Paige didn’t move either. “I don’t need you defending my honor,” Azzi said quietly. Her thumb brushed once against Paige’s knuckles. “People like those guys are always gonna talk. It’s better to just ignore them and not give them what they want.”

Paige grunted, clearly not heeding Azzi’s words.

Azzi’s lips parted. “I miss you.”

Paige grinded her teeth.

“And I know you miss me too.” Azzi put her finger under Paige’s chin, forcing her to make eye contact. “I watched your interview with Leo.”

Paige cursed. “I told her not to show you that.”

“I would’ve seen it eventually, once she published her film.” Azzi studied the blonde’s face, memorizing the features she’d missed so much. Her long eyelashes, the way they fluttered. The wrinkle in the corner of her eyebrow. The turn of her pretty pink lips.

“I know you’re angry that I couldn’t tell you what I wanted. I was still figuring myself out. And these past few weeks, I’ve been working at it. Trying to come to terms with my sexuality.” Azzi took a deep breath, stepping closer. Paige’s hands instinctively went down, brushing the younger girl’s waist as the distance between them grew closer.

“I think I’m bi,” Azzi breathed out. “And if you can’t respect that, then I don’t think we can be together. But I don’t think my sexuality was the issue. I think that you were hurting, and you were impatient, and you wanted an immediate answer, and when I couldn’t give that to you, you ran away.”

Paige’s eyebrows furrowed.

“We’re killing each other, P,” Azzi whispered. “It’s torture not being able to see you and kiss you every day. And you’re obviously not coping with it any better than I am.” She brought her hands to cup Paige’s face, pressing their foreheads together. Paige relaxed, leaning into her touch.

“I need you, Paige,” Azzi begged. “I need us.”

Paige’s heart erupted, and she closed the gap between them, bringing her lips to Azzi’s and pulling her in for a bruising kiss. Azzi gasped, but recovered quickly, tangling her hands into Paige’s hair.

“‘M sorry,” Paige breathed as soon as they broke apart. “I was so awful. I should’ve never made you feel stupid for trying to figure out your sexuality.” She bit her lip, anguish in her eyes. “It’s just always been so easy for me. I’ve always known I liked girls. I was being hot-headed and I didn’t consider how you were feeling.”

Azzi laughed. “Yeah, that was pretty shitty of you. But I did some selfish shit too.” She nudged her nose with Paige’s. “And I think it’d be fair to call us even.”

Paige trailed her hands up Azzi’s sides. “What I told you at my surgery was complete bullshit. You’re always on my mind, driving me fuckin’ insane. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I know. Getting into fights and everything. A little part of me is flattered,” Azzi joked. Paige groaned in embarrassment, hiding her face in the crease of Azzi’s neck. Azzi brought her hands up to rub her back in calming circles. “Everything’s over. We went on the Europe trip, where you ignored me the whole time,” she laughed at that. “And Leo’s done with her film. She’s set to submit it tomorrow.”

Paige nodded, drawing back to look Azzi in the eye. “No more of this fake dating shit. I want you to be my girl for real.” She tenderly caressed Azzi’s cheek, not believing how someone as beautiful and kind as Azzi could want someone like her. “I meant everything I said in the interview, ya know? About how talented you are at basketball and how selfless you are in real life.”

“I know,” Azzi whispered, “I know.”

“I’m gonna take you on a date,” Paige rambled. “A good fucking date. The best date you’ve ever had. Gonna make you forget about all the other girls you’ve ever been with.”

“That sounds great, baby,” Azzi giggled softly, her hand playing with the wisps of hair at the base of Pige’s neck.

“Gonna make you fall in love with me,” Paige mumbled, her head dropping on Azzi’s shoulder. Azzi smiled. You already have, she thought silently.

[staylovesmiley]

Collision— Chapter 8 (finale)

ᯓᡣ𐭩Pairing; Stray Kids x afab!reader

ᯓᡣ𐭩 ᯓᡣ𐭩Summary; You’ve known him for years but you never would have guessed the charming guy you’ve been online gaming with has been an idol this whole time. (masterlist here)

ᯓᡣ𐭩 ᯓᡣ𐭩ᯓᡣ𐭩Warnings; implied afab reader (only they/them pronouns used for reader), mild angst?, pls I haven’t written fanfics since 2018 patience and kindness is appreciated

—one year later—

“I can’t believe you actually went through with it.” You giggled, fingers carding through the aussie’s now silver and blue locks from where you laid in between his legs on the couch with your head resting against his chest.

Felix smiled, sticking his tongue out at you as he paused the game he was playing on his phone. “Why not? I think it suits me- plus Neuvillette is awesome.” You didn’t disagree with him, but it was still funny to you that he kept his word to do his hair like the character for their comeback.

As the two of you discussed what fictional character’s hairstyles would suit you the best, Seungmin made his way from the kitchen with two large bowls of popcorn, one in each hand and set them down on the coffee table. “Could you two come help me get the rest of the snacks? Everyone will be over for date night soon.”

It honestly hadn’t taken much convincing for the boys to get you to agree to moving in with them permanently, helping you apply for a longer work visa so you could stay for more than a few months. It did however take some getting used to when the company split everyone off into smaller groups, yourself sticking with Felix and Seungmin.

Not being under the same roof didn’t change much, with each apartment only being about a five minute walk from each other you were always spending time with one another either at your own apartment or someone else’s just like tonight, which had been designated polycule date night where everyone would come over for movies and snacks.

The sound of the front door opening caused the three of your heads to turn and see the first two members to arrive. “Hi Channie!” You called out to him, giving a small wave from where you now sat up on the couch in front of Felix. “Hey baby!” He called back just as cheerily, both his and his roommate’s dimples on display as they made their way into the dorm after slipping off their shoes.

Chan made a beeline for the pair of you on the couch, leaning down to give both you and the silver haired man in front of you a peck on the lips before Seungmin whined behind him about how he had been completely skipped. “Maybe your vision is starting to go with your age, old man.” He teased, a smirk on his face and arms crossed over his chest smugly until the oldest pulled him close.

Seungmin’s arms instinctually wrapped around the leader’s waist, a little squeak slipping from his lips as Chan cupped his face with one hand and pulled him in for a deep and slow kiss. Jeongin laughed at the sight of the second youngest’s ears turning a bright red and the way his hands fisted in Chan’s shirt at the small of his back. “Ya- leave some for the rest of us, hyung!” The maknae teased as he gave a kiss to Felix lips and the top of your head before moving to pull the puppy-like singer away from the oldest.

The two youngest gave each other a quick peck on the lips before Chan gave a little pout. “No fair- wasn’t done with our puppy…” Jeongin rolled his eyes and plopped himself on the couch so that you were now sat between him and Felix. “Oh get a room then- unless you plan to put on a show for us.” He laughed, pulling you to cuddle into his side. “Missed you- how’s work been?” The youngest questioned, looking into your eyes with his full attention and causing your heart to flutter.

No matter how long you been with them it all still feels so surreal, you don’t think you’ll ever get used to it. “It’s been good! A little boring compared to you guys but I’m happy where I am.” You gave the man a smile as you shifted to lay more comfortably against his side with his arm draped over you to intertwine his fingers with Felix on the other side of you. “They are being modest, innie- Star here went and got themself a promotion and they’ve barely worked there for five months now!” The freckled man beamed, his pride for you shining in his eyes as the fox-like man beside you gasped and poked at your side. “You should have said something sooner!! We should be celebrating-“

A blush crept up your cheeks as you hid your face in the crook of his neck. “It’s not that big of a deal-“ From the kitchen, Chan followed Seungmin in with more snacks since it seemed the three of you sat on the couch had no plans of moving any time soon. “Don’t worry the three of us celebrated plenty when we found out…poor Star was so worn out after they were almost late to work the next day.” The singer teased, ruffling your hair as he passed by to set the refreshments in his hands on the coffee table. You felt your blush deepen and a groan leave your throat at the teasing. “Yeah well I wasn’t the one begging for more rounds even in the shower after we’d been at it for hours.” You teased back, the pout on your lips turning to a smug grin as it was now Seungmin’s turn to blush. “Well I- ugh that’s not fair how can you use that against me?” He whined, lower lip sticking out in a pout as the singer felt strong arms snake around his waist from behind.

“Awe Minnie no need to be shy~ we all know how insatiable you can be sometimes.” Came the sweet voice of their resident dwaekki. Seungmin’s hands came to cover his face, whining behind his hands as embarrassment flooded him. Changbin laughed, giving the younger man a wet kiss to his cheek as Hyunjin sat next to Jeongin on the other side from you to begin playfully fluffing up his hair. “This new hair suits you so well ayen~” the artist cooed, rubbing his face into the youngest’s cheek as he groaned and tried to pull away. “Thank you? Can you please stop that-“

Hyunjin whined but pulled away reluctantly. “But you’re just so cute I can’t help it- wanna absorb you.” Jeongin made a face but the lot of you erupted into fits of laughter as the last pair made their way into you, Felix, and Seungmin’s apartment. “Hey what’s so funny? What did we miss?” Jisung said with a pout as he walked into Chan’s open arms and accepted a kiss from the oldest. “Jinnie being weird again.” You said with a giggle, blowing the dancer a kiss and mouthing an ‘I love you’ when you noticed his pout at your comment.

Minho chuckled and bent down over the back of the couch to give you a quick kiss before pulling Han towards the kitchen so they could both unpack and fill the fridge with containers of different foods the second oldest made for the three people living in the apartment. With the hours you worked and the disaster the lovers you lived with were in the kitchen Minho had taken pity and started preparing extra food for the lot of you so you wouldn’t have to constantly order in or starve to death instead of potentially burning down the apartment in an attempt to make some for yourselves.

Changbin sat down on the other side of Felix while Chan and Seungmin took their spots on the floor in front of the couch, Jisung and Minho joining shortly after as you scrolled through options for what to watch first.

Upon Han’s request, and pleading boba eyes, you settled on howl’s moving castle and you snuggled into Felix’s side after pressing play. “Ya know you and Jinnie look kinda like howl and Sophie with your new hair styles.” You whispered into his ear with a playful smile.

The silver haired man chuckled lowly and shook his head at your remark, pulling you closer to his chest and planting a kiss to the top of your head before changing the subject. “Did your job approve of you working remotely while we are on tour?” He whispered to you, soft eyes gazing down at you fondly as he waited for your response. Nodding, you gave him a thumbs up before lean up to peck his lips. “Yup! I’m all set to go with you guys! If that’s still the plan-“

Some months ago while they were in the process of getting their announcement for the first set of stops for their world tour the kids had all approached you to ask if you’d be willing to tag along, working from hotel rooms during the day and coming to their shows at night to cheer them on. Of course you couldn’t promise that your new job in Korea would allow for that so you told them you would put in the request and see how they would respond. Thankfully this job seemed to like you enough to want to be flexible with your needs and even wants, quickly letting you know that as long as you are able to complete your work in a timely fashion that you were free to work from wherever you needed as you followed your eight boyfriends across the world.

Felix beamed at the confirmation that you would be joining them, squeezing you tightly and peppering your face in kisses loudly until Jisung started to complain that the two of you were interrupting his favorite part. You giggled as Felix stuck his tongue out at his fellow sunshine twin before planting one last kiss to your lips before settling down to continue enjoying the movie with everyone.

In the back of your mind you began mentally preparing for how crazy life was about to get living on the road for months on end with the men you cared for most, not being used to that side of their lives just yet but knowing now you were about to be thrown head first into it all.

-one month until the first Seoul show-

“Oh come on just one more- please?” Came Chan’s voice from outside the dressing room you we’re currently standing in clad in only your undergarments as you put the last outfit he had passed to you back on its respective hangers and onto the almost completely full rack in the room with you. “Fine, but this is the last one- I’m starting to feel claustrophobic in here.” You said with a chuckle, listening as Jeongin and Chan argued quietly over what to dress you in next before yet another outfit was passed over the door and into your awaiting arms.

With their tour approaching the pair had declared you needed new clothes to wear to their shows, and you had reluctantly agreed to let your oldest and youngest boyfriend take you shopping for said clothing. You figured it would just be a couple of items, not practically a new wardrobe entirely as over the course of many hours they two of them took turns picking things they thought you would like or look good in before sitting and waiting eagerly for you to step out and show off what they had chosen as they would clap and take pictures to send to your other boyfriends who were busy preparing for other aspects of the tour.

“Okay….this one is a bit too much you guys- when would I even need to wear this on the tour?!” You said as you stepped out of the dressing room in a long silky backless dress, the deep shade of red matching the blush on your cheeks at how revealing and elegant the garment looked on you. Where they sat on the small couch in the dressing room area both men’s attention was fully drawn to you.

Jeongin’s jaw was dropped comically wide as he looked like he could faint at the sight of you whereas his older lover merely smirked and looked over you as if he wanted to devour you there in front of everyone in the waiting area. “Baby you look incredible…” the youngest finally spoke up, voice sounding strained as he swallowed deeply to keep from drooling as you did a little spin in front of the floor length mirror. “That doesn’t answer my question, ayen~” you teased, confidence building the more their hungry and admiring eyes lingered on your body.

Chan came up behind you as you were busy looking yourself over, adjusting one of the straps that threatened to slip off your shoulder before placing a soft kiss to the bare skin there. “It’s for date night, obviously. Did you think we were gonna bring you with us around the world and not take you out somewhere nice?” His eyes gazed into yours from over your shoulder through the mirror, causing your face to heat up and your heartbeat to race. “I guess that is fair- I didn’t think of that…”

Ever since that almost scandal when you had first come to Korea and Chan had carried your sleeping form to his car the company tried to play it off as you just being a staff member that Chan was carrying for like the gentleman he was, but Felix wasn’t having it and went live one night with you by his side. At first it was absolute chaos as he hadn’t gotten permission from the company to do the live or to reveal your identity, but once everyone saw that stays seemed to enjoy the live you were told that you should join the aussie for his mukbang live streams more often.

It didn’t take long for them to find your socials and begin flooding the comments with compliments, questions, and unfortunately some negativity as came with anyone even remotely in the spotlight. The leading theory after a slip up on one of his lives was that the two of you were more than friends, stays being too clever for their own good and noticing the way stray kids resident sunshine seemed to fluster easily around you. At the very least they were convinced the freckled idol had a schoolboy type crush on you which the others used to their advantage to tease the both of you, mainly Felix.

Since then the boys have been less hesitant to be seen with you in public, or even on their social media. With you joining them on tour you were all certain the rumors would spike that you and Felix were involved, if not you and one of the other members. They wouldn’t necessarily be wrong, but they didn’t know the full story and probably never would has relationships such as you and the members was taboo in places like South Korea.

Still here you were in the early evening with two of your loving boyfriends as they carried the absolute mountain of items for you to the counter. “Seriously I don’t need all of this, you two…the clothes I have are perfectly fine-“ You said with wide eyes as you tried not to look as the total rose with ever item scanned at the check out. “Nonsense! You looked so cute in everything so you deserve it all.” Jeongin said cheerily while trying to hand the cashier his card only for Chan to bat his hands away and have the woman his card instead.

“I feel bad having you guys spend so much money on me, especially when it isn’t a necessity-“ the older of the two men shrugged, while Jeongin placed a kiss on the top of your head before picking up two of the shopping bags of your new things. “We like spoiling the ones we love, and you fall into that category.” The youngest said simply as Chan grabbed the remaining bags and began leading you out of the store so they could get to the parking garage where his car was waiting for the three of you.

You sighed, realizing there was no use arguing over it and seeing the smiles on their faces in the days to come when they saw you wearing one of the items they had bought made the awkward feeling of accepting such lavish gifts worth it.

-September 1st, end of Seoul day 4-

It was the night after the last show in Seoul and you were sat on the plush couch in Jisung and Minho’s living room with the later humming along softly to himself while he bustled around the kitchen making dinner for the three of you, the former sat in front of you with a bottle of polish in his one hand while the other held one of yours to carefully paint the nails there a soft shade of pink. “You have really steady hands for someone who can never seem to sit still, Hannie-“ you giggled, watching as the man across from you pouted as he concentrated on finishing the nails on your right hand.

“Ya- I’m trying to be sweet and paint your nails for you and you are teasing me? How is that fair?-“ Once he finished you leaned forward to peck his lips in apology, batting your lashes at him as you pulled away. “Sorry baby, I didn’t mean to offend you.” He blushed, stuttering a bit after the kiss with a big goofy smile on his face. “Apology accepted! Now don’t touch anything until those are dry!” He said with a serious look on his face, putting the cap back on the bottle of polish before standing to put it away with the rest of his stash.

As Jisung was in the bathroom you heard Minho call out about dinner being almost ready and you pouted. “How am I supposed to eat if I can’t touch anything-“ this caused the oldest in the room to smirk and shrug his shoulders. “Guess you’ll have to starve, cutie~” he teased as you gasped loudly. “You wouldn’t do that to me-“ just then Han returned and plopped back down in front of you once more. “No we wouldn’t. Don’t worry baby they should be dry in time for you to eat.” You nodded hesitantly, keeping your hands out in front of you which Jisung took into his own and began blowing lightly onto the still damp polish.

Just as he had assured you, your nails were in fact dry by the time Minho set the food on the table and called for the two of you to join him for dinner. The three of you talked about the show, what your favorite moments were and what you were looking forward to at the next line of tour stops as you ate your meal together. Once it was over you and Han offered to clean up since Minho had cooked to which he accepted and went to draw himself a bath and soak his sore muscles from the performance earlier that evening.

As you washed the dishes Jisung would dry and put them away, stealing sweet kisses every time he took a clean plate or piece of cutlery from your hands causing you to giggle and blush furiously.

After everything was cleaned and put away your boyfriend insisted on the two of you doing face masks before bed, laying you down on the mattress before straddling your hips to carefully place the sheet mask on your face and smooth out any wrinkles in the material so it was flush against your skin. You did the same for him before the two of you lay side by side scrolling through tiktoks on your phones, showing ones you thought the other would enjoy to each other every now and then until Minho joined the two of you and made a comment about your appearances looking scary with the masks you wore.

“Any good cat videos?” He asked as he wiggled his way into the small space between the two of you. “Funny you say that- yes! Look at this compilation of cats being savage, you and dori are in it!!” You said with a giggle as you pulled up the video you had shown to Jisung only a few minutes prior. As the familiar scene of Dori as a kitten attacking a sleeping Minho came on the screen the older man couldn’t help but watch fondly with a little chuckle. “Still can’t believe that went so viral- it is funny though.” You laughed along with him at the rest of the clips in the video before going back to your routine of scrolling until you saw something you thought they might enjoy, turning your phone to them to show it off eagerly.

The timer you had set for the masks went off soon enough and Minho sat up between you both before carefully peeling the masks away and discarding them in the small trash bin beside the bed.

Gently he massaged the remaining essence from the mask into both of your faces before planting a quick peck to the tips of your noses.

Giggling, you shook your head at him while Jisung spoke up with a pout. “Um I believe you missed- my lips are a little bit lower than that, jagiya~” Minho rolled his eyes playfully before giving you each a peck to the lips as well. “Much better, thank you.” Han said smugly before the older man pulled him into his arms and against his chest.

“Hey where are my cuddles?” You whined and it was your turn to pout at the dancer before he turned to lay on his back and use one arm to pull you to him as well. Now with Jisung tucked into his left side and you at his right, Minho sighed contentedly and let his eyes fall closed. “I could die happy like this, you know.” He said in a relaxed tone. Han gasped and hit at his chest playfully. “Ya! Don’t even joke like that- you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon do you hear me?” You giggled, snuggling in closer to the dancer while draping your arm over his chest to card your fingers through your younger boyfriend’s hair.

“Relax, Hannie he was just being sentimental….he just- isn’t good with his choice of words.” You narrowed your eyes a bit at the older who simply blushed and turned his head away bashfully. “Sorry jagi I didn’t mean to scare you- I just meant this moment is really nice….special.”

Han relaxed visibly and nodded, placing a kiss to the palm of your hand as you moved to rest it against Minho’s chest. “Hmmm okay you’re forgiven. But don’t say stuff like that again it puts that kind of shit out into the universe and that’s not good-“

Minho nodded in understanding and kissed the rapper’s forehead softly, his lips lingering for a moment before he pulled back to look down into soft brown boba like eyes. “Okay, Han-ah I promise I’ll choose my words more carefully in the future.” You smiled fondly as you watched them, head resting somewhat on the older’s chest and shoulder while the three of you mumbled soft affirmations to one another to help calm down Han’s spiked anxiety that Minho’s words had unintentionally caused.

Soon, soft snores started to echo throughout the bedroom and you watched your two lovers get some much needed rest after working so hard for their fans and for you, your heart full of affection for the two of them as well as the others as you too drifted off to sleep.

-September 27th, day before Singapore show-

It had been a few weeks since the tour really kicked off after the shows in Seoul.

Now in Singapore, you sat on the couch in Hyunjin’s hotel room with a switch controller in hand as you, Changbin, and the room’s occupant himself raced against each other in a heated game of Mario kart.

You had learned pretty quickly that your two lovers played dirty, sticking a hand out in front of each others face or pinching the other to get them to fall behind. You yourself had fallen victim to their tricks even as you were just about to win your second race in a row when Changbin reached out to quickly poke at your side causing you to squirm and your finger to slip from the controls, your character slowing to a stop on the screen for just a second but it was a second long enough for stray kids’ dark rapper to push past you and claim the victory for himself.

After that you decided it was only fair to fight fire with fire, leaning over to place a kiss at Changbin’s neck during one race causing him to hit the banana you had just dropped and go spinning around until he was driving the wrong way on the track. Hyunjin had laughed but your actions didn’t remain amusing to him when the next race he had somehow slipped past you into first place so you leaned up to press your lips to the shell of his ear and whisper lowly. “Stop being so sneaky, Jinnie~” and even though the line itself was ridiculous and had no sexual connotations whatsoever the tone mixed with your breath on his ear caused the artist to tense up and accidentally drop his controller into his lap allowing you to pass him and cross the finish line with ease.

“You guys are too easy.” You teased after your third win in a row, sticking your tongue out at them playfully as you stood up to stretch out from where you were hunched over playing video games for hours. “Ya! It’s not fair when you play like that-“ Changbin whined, tossing his controller onto your empty seat with a little huff. Hyunjin followed his lead and poured at you with as much conviction as he could muster. “Yeah! You are using our love for you against us!” You simply laughed, shaking your head as you pointed a finger at them both. “As if you two weren’t playing dirty as well! If you can’t take the heat don’t play with fire, babes.”

You started heading towards the little kitchenette in the room to grab a glass of water, feeling someone come up behind you briefly before strong arms were wrapping tightly around you and you were lifted off your feet effortlessly. “Seo Changbin if you do not put me down right now we are gonna have a problem!” You squealed, no malice in your words as laughter erupted from your chest. “Nope! You are gonna get back here so I can beat you and regain my honor!” You shook your head, squirming in his arms but his hold on you was firm.

The rapper sat you back on the couch but instead of in your own seat he was sat beneath you, cross cross so that his thighs pressed against your hips lightly where you sat in his lap. “Binnie- If I’m on your lap like this then it’s only easier for you to cheat-“ you groaned, head falling back to look at him upside down. Your boyfriend merely smiled and gave you a kiss to your forehead before handing your controller to you. “Come on, just one more game?” You sighed, nodding in agreement before selecting which character and vehicle it was you wanted.

One game turned into two and as the hour turned from late evening to early morning you decided it was time to call it quits. “Okay okay you have both beat me multiple times now- we need to go to bed you guys have practice in the morning for tomorrow’s show.” You moved from where you had been sat in Changbin’s lap to take both controllers from the men and put them away on the coffee table. “Chan will stress if you guys are late, so no sleeping in!” You pointed a finger at them in a playfully scolding manner and Hyunjin stood up to pull you against his chest.

“M’kay baby but can you stay with me tonight? Don’t wanna let you go yet-“ Originally you had plans to go back to Changbin’s room, the older of the two claiming his time with you while on the plane ride over to the foreign country. “Ya! It’s my night and you know that-“ the rapper pouted as he jumped up from his seat and tried to pry the taller man’s arms from around you to no avail. “Shit, Jinnie- joining me at the gym has been paying off.” He huffed, a proud smile on his face as he struggled against the dancers newfound muscle.

You giggled, watching the two struggle as you carefully wiggled free from Hyunjin’s hold causing the weight to be shifted and the two men to crash into each other and fall to the floor. “Hey- that’s no fair Star what the hell!” Hyunjin whined dramatically as he rubbed the spot on his head where it had bumped into his other lover’s shoulder during their descent to the carpeted ground. “Maybe next time you guys can learn to share. I’m gonna go see what Innie is up to-“

Before you could step away a hand shot out and too hold of your calf, successfully pulling you into the heap of limbs on the floor with a loud howl of laughter from both boyfriends. “What if we can share now?” Changbin proposed, looking over at Hyunjin with a raise of his brow. The artist smiled wildly and nodded with enthusiasm. “I think I like that idea~ but can we move this cuddle puddle to the bed? I’m a bit uncomfortable here-“

You laughed lightly and gave a kiss to his cheek, standing carefully as to not step anywhere that could hurt either of them before making your way to the bedroom adjacent to the rest of the hotel room. Before you could make it far you were once again scooped up by Changbin, your boyfriend landing a sharp but quick slap to your ass with his little giggles echoing in the room. “Bin I swear if you do not stop picking me up without warning I will wear platform heels for a week and make sure I stand right beside you as often as humanly possible!” Your threat made him gasp dramatically and Hyunjin to laugh loudly as he followed behind the two of you into the bedroom.

-October 20th, Sydney Australia-

The weather was nice, warm with a slight breeze causing your hair to blow into your face slightly as you hopped out of the passenger seat of the car before walking around to meet Felix on the other side.

The two of you watched as the others took off running to the ocean, the freckled man almost buzzing with excitement beside you causing your eyes to roll playfully. “Go- I’ll start unloading the car.” He turned to look at you, eyebrow raised skeptically. “You sure? I can give you some help first if you-“

“I got it! Go have fun, you deserve it after how hard you’ve been working.” You cut him off, giggling as you shoved him slightly and gave him a kiss to the cheek.

Felix beamed and pulled you close to him, giving you a firm kiss to the lips before taking off after everyone and running straight into the sea after quickly kicking his shoes off somewhere in the sand. You sighed as you watched them fondly, turning to head to the trunk of the car to get the cooler and other beach supplies you and your boyfriends would need for the evening.

“Need a hand?” Came a soft voice from behind you and you turned to see Seungmin standing with a warm smile while dripping wet from head to toe where Chan had unceremoniously thrown him as far as he could into the sea. “After I get you a towel, yes.” You giggled, digging around until you were able to find the rolled up fabric tucked away in a bag full of thick colorful beach towels. “Here, dry off a bit first then we can start setting everything up. You know how to start a fire?” The younger man shrugged and began drying him self off. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

You indeed did figure it out, with little trial and error, and soon you had a pretty decent fire going with the little grill plate settled on top.

The boys slowly returned from the water, Minho taking over the grill while Chan started on some of the side dishes alongside you under the tent you and Seungmin had struggled to set up for the better half of an hour.

“Star, open-“ you heard the oldest of your boyfriends call and you turned to see where he held out a spoon with some sort of paste on it. “I tried making a dressing my mum was telling me about, try it?” You hesitated a bit, but eventually opened your mouth and allowed him to feed you the mystery dressing.

You gasped a bit, eyes widening at the taste. “Oh that’s really good! Don’t do anything else to it- that’s seriously perfect.” You pointed at the now empty spoon, a smile breaking out on the older’s face. “Really? Oh thank god- I was afraid I added too much vinegar.” You shook your head, giving him a thumbs up after slipping a piece of pineapple you had cut up into your mouth.

The rest of the meal went by smoothly, and once everyone was finished and the leftovers were put away you snuggled up next to Seungmin in one of the large camping benches you had brought while the two of you watched the others fondly.

Felix and Bangchan were rough housing in the shallow parts of the ocean, water barely meeting their hips as they splashed around and laughed as Chan hoisted the younger aussie up onto his shoulders before throwing him further out into the sea as you assumed he had done with Seungmin earlier when they had first arrived.

Han and Hyunjin were busy searching for seashells, a small bucket held between the two of them for their growing collection as the artist had mentioned wanting to paint them when they got back home as gifts for his family and friends.

Jeongin and Minho were somewhere to the left of you, laughing hysterically as they attempted to bury Changbin in the sand with only his head visible while the buff rapper giggled and continued to wiggle his toes free much to the disk of the pair burying him.

You laughed softly at the display, head coming to rest against Seungmin’s shoulder as he reached for your hand to intertwine your fingers. Seungmin pulls you closer with his free arm that rested around your shoulders before kissing you atop your head. “I’m so happy I decided to stay..” You said with a smile so large it started to hurt your cheeks, though you couldn’t seem to stop. “I can’t wait for many more years with all of you.”

author’s note: and with that…this story comes to an end ໒꒰ྀིっ -｡꒱ྀི১ thank you so much to everyone for showing this series love! If you ever wanna see more into certain aspects of the lives of the polycule (even just member x member without star) feel free to send me a request while they are open~ I’d love to know what more you would like to see from them as I’m not fully done with this universe and will most definitely pop up with blurbs here and there for them as they are my first series and will always hold a special place in my heart~ once again thank you for showing me so much love and kindness and I really hope that although bittersweet you could enjoy this last chapter along with me ᕱᕱ₊˚⊹♡

taglist; (pink users mean I wasn’t able to tag) @softkisshyunjin @coastinglove @palindrome969 @amara-mars @whiteghostt @ihrtlix @queen-in-the-shadows @soaplickerrr @skzswife @reallysparklychaos @sebastianswhore13 @velvetmoonlght @katsukis1wife

[supercap2319]

"You know it's bad enough that there's a possible attempt on my life, but being sardined canned into a closet with you two is punishment enough. Y/N grumbles. His foot is in a mop bucket, and it's still wet from the mop water. "I think I'd rather be shot. Would be less painful than feeling Claremont's elbow in my ribs and your majesty's foul breath down my neck."

"Are you quite finished?” Henry said. "Can you perhaps stop putting all our lives in danger with your incisive tirade?"

"Why do you hate us so much, Y/N?" Alex and Henry turned their heads to squint at him. This close Y/N could see the flecks of blue in Henry's eyes and the soft black curls of Alex's hair.

"You guys really want to go there?"

"Maybe we do."

Y/N tried to un-sandwich himself between the two boys, unsuccessful in his mission as he huffed and looked at both of them. "Olympics 2016." He looks at Henry. "I went to introduce myself and was excited to meet you, but you looked at me like I was the antichrist and told Shana to get rid of me."

He turned to Alex. "2018. Your New year's party. My dad insisted on getting to know you, Nora, and June. So, I went to one of the rooms and when Nora asked if you were going to invite me, you laughed and said 'fuck no! Fuck that cocksucker' and started to laugh."

Alex and Henry looked down. "I didn't realize you'd heard that." Henry said.

"Is that your douchey-prince way of apologizing? Because you sure suck at it."

Henry looks at him and pauses. "I could have been nicer."

"And I can be a big mouth when I'm drunk and you're right. I should have invited you in the first place. I don't think you're a cocksucker." Alex said.

"And you think that makes it okay? Half-assed apologies and everything is fine?" Y/N said.

"I'm sensing there's more to your dislike of us." Henry noted.

Y/N sighed. "It's just… it's not fair. You guys make it look so easy. Everyone loves you and thinks you're sexy and the greatest thing since sliced bread. Me? I feel like I'm always being compared to Prince Henry and First Son Alexander Claremont. I feel like I have to struggle to catch up to you both to prove I'm worth it too. Now can you understand why I'd rather be shot than spend another minute in this janitor closet with you both?"

They're both quiet for a while. "Well, I can't change that, but I can tell you that I was, in fact, a prick that day. Not that it excuses my behavior, but my father passed away fourteen months back and I wanted everyone to suffer like I was suffering. I'm sorry."

"And I'm the son of the first female president. And I'm not white like she is, so I understand the struggle to prove yourself to the world. And it may seem like I have it all figured out, I don't. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, Y/N." Alex apologized.

Before Y/N could reply, Alex's bodyguard opened the door. "Threat neutralized. Some kid brought fireworks for his friend."

Alex looks her. "When you say 'neutralize…'"

"It's a good thing he's already in the hospital." She winks at Y/N.

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

10:30 ー NANAMI KENTO. and the dark awaits us all around the corner; but here in our place, we have for the day, can we stay a while and listen for heaven?

“I can feel you looking at me.”

“How do you know? Your eyes are closed.”

A brown eye opens to see you, unsurprisingly, resting your chin on your palm. Guilty as charged, you’ve been watching him. “I can’t truly enjoy our joint day off if I don’t look at you lovingly before you wake up,” you grin and despite your boyfriend’s best efforts, he chuckles lightly. “It’s Sunday,” you remind him unnecessarily with a giggle. “The world works differently on Sundays even if you’re a big bad jujutsu sorcerer with a world record of black flashes.”

“I regret letting you and Gojou meet,” Kento’s tired sigh only makes even more laughter bubble from your lips. You don’t know many people from the sorcerer life Kento told you about, but Satoru is a riot. Any choice of confections and the white-haired man will quickly divulge all the stories he has about Kento’s teenage years. Part of you is certain he’d do that even if sweet treats weren’t on the table though. “Have you been up long?”

You shake your head before falling back onto your side, “not too long." It's rare Kento has time to himself from his work as a sorcerer. It's complicated but you can understand the gist of it. Curses don't stop and thus, neither can he. You'll treasure the time he does have, at least.

You have been ever since he told you the truth about his job. What being with him would entail. He said it wouldn't be fair to keep it from you began getting serious.

It's only a matter of time before Kento retires and he can rest as much as he deserves. Malaysia. We should go on a trip soon. He's always wanted to go.

A comfortable silence falls over your room as you look at each other with a pair of matching smiles.

"Good morning," the blond's voice rumbles with a tired but satisfied hum. He reaches out a hand and you meet it halfway.

You kiss the back of his knuckles before pressing your lips to the tips of his fingers. "Morning," you whisper before holding his hand to your chest and twining your fingers.

You close your eyes and lean into his warmth. I never knew I could love somebody this much. The world is cold and cruel but Nanami Kento is proof that, despite that fact, there is still warmth and beauty to be found in it. "Let's just stay in bed today."

"And abandon our plans for brunch?"

"Yes," you say resolutely. There's no where you'd rather be than at home with your boyfriend.

Kento's thumb brushes the side of your fingers, "I normally wouldn't fight against staying in but it would be rude to the employees if we didn't go in for the reservation."

"Okay, okay," you groan. This is what happens when you make reservations and you're not selfish enough to inconvenience restaurant staff. "You take your shower fir-"

When you open your eyes, Kento is gone and the vibrant color and warmth of your room went with him.

The bed feels too large for one person.

Your hand isn't covered by another a few sizes larger than your own; it isn't engulfed in a palm that is a strange dichotomy of rough and soft. Instead your hand is in the open and bare, save for the ring gracing one of your fingers.

Finding it was an accident during a manic cleaning episode a few days prior. Kento had it hidden away neatly in a cupboard you almost always forgot you had.

Ah.

Reality sets in and your giddy smile drops.

Right.

1 WEEK AGO. OCTOBER 31, 2018 ; 23:15 ーThat's the time Itadori Yuuji tells you three words that destroy the center of your universe.

“Nanami is dead.”

Yuuji can’t look you in the eye when he tells you this, he can't bring himself to look. His fists shake at his side, but he forces himself to stay still awaiting your reaction. You're quietー too quiet. He closes his eyes to brace himself for whatever your reaction will be.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry. I couldn't..."

Will you yell at him?

Will you rightfully bring your hands down to strike him?

Or will you merely sob and have it haunt him for the rest of his days?

Nanami's gone and there's nothing of him to bring back for you.

"You've got it from here."

The least Yuuji can do is tell you what happened to the man that would never return home to you. Not even in pieces. There are so many bodies that can't be identified. So many people who will never go home to their families. Families that will never see their loved ones again.

He can't tell all of themー but Yuuji can at least tell you.

There's movement in front of him and Yuuji welcomes however your emotions have chosen to manifest. Yet when he feels your arms wrap around him, his eyes jolt wide open. "He saved you, didn't he?" Your voice is soft, melancholic. Sadness clings to your tone but he can't mistake the blithe and relief mixed in it.

"He saved you, didn't he?"

"I-" Yuuji's cracked lips feel even drier. "But I-"

"Don't ever apologize to me for living," it's the angriest you've sound since he stepped foot in your house and even then it's a delicate anger. "Kento saved you because he believed in you, I believe in you too. There's nothing for me to forgive."

The warm tones of the apartment you once shared with one of the greatest individuals Yuuji's ever known is beginning to blur. "I don't know what I'm fighting for anymore. I can't ever protect anyone that I want to save. Nanami should be here-"

At those words, you hug him even tighter. "I know that man better than anyone," you tell him firmly with that knowing tone all adults possess. "Kento didn't regret anything and I know he would do it all over again. I'm happy and blessed that I was able to fall in love with someone with such a big heart. So trust me when I tell you that Kento adored you and he would happy you're alive. I'm happy your alive. It's the job of us adults to worry about you troublemakers. So please, don't blame yourself. Kento would want you to hear that."

When the tears spill and the sobs rack his body, Yuuji feels resentment more than grief. All the while you hugged him tightly, rubbing circles into his back. You who should be crying right now if anything. You who should be angry at him.

He wants you to be angry at him.

"Why can't you just be mad at me?" Yuuji whimpers into the crook of your neck.

You kiss the side of his head despite how undoubtedly gross it must be from the sweat and blood and dirt its collected over the night. "Because I love you, you silly boy. Me and Kento."

That's what breaks him the most.

.

“Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?" Your expression is one of concern as you both stand at the door. "I can whip up something while you're in the bath. I'm sure I can find something of Kento's that you can fit."

Yuuji's grin is weak but he shakes his head, "it's okay. I've got a ride back to the school. They're probably sick of waiting for me."

With a smile and a final exchange of farewells, you close the door with a sigh. Yuuji is a strong kid, you know that much. Still that doesn’t stop you from worrying about him. I hope he takes everything I said to heart. Even just a little, bit by bit, until the boy is able to believe your words fully. You know the man you love, Kento wouldn’t have regretted anything.

I should have tried a little harder to convince him to stay for at least a shower and dinner. That driver could have waited a few more minutes. Or I could have invited them in to eat as well. You press your forehead against the door, welcoming the coolness on your skin. You’ll check on Yuuji tomorrow you think as silence truly settles over your apartment.

It's in that silence that you finally notice the shaking of your hands. No they've been shaking the entire time. You're thankful Yuuji was too distraught to notice.

He's gone, that's all that had been racing through your mind when those three words left Yuuji's lips.

I can’t let this poor boy see me cry.

It wouldn't have been fair to him. He blamed himself enough, you could see the self-hatred all over his face.

Don't cry.

Don't cry.

It’s simultaneously a relief you can’t hear Yuuji’s footsteps anymore as much as it fills you with further dread.

Kento isn’t coming home.

Your chest heaves dryly as quiet gasps slip from your lips and your knees buckle.

He's gone.

He's gone.

He'sgonehe'sgonehe'sgonehe'sgoneー

Your throat clenches as a sob finally escapes your throat.

"Kento..."

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Not to be Sussex heavy but do you believe the cropping of the birthday photo was intentional? And were the Wales pressured into the birthday repost?

No, I don't think the cropping was intentional. They needed a photo of Harry and picked that one.

And for the record, no one needed to do a deep dive investigation to figure out when the photo was taken. It's right there in the photo: his hair was full and red-red, and there's natural happiness in his face - ergo, 2018, within a few months of the wedding because the light hadn't gone out out of his eyes yet.

Anyway, KP did to Harry what they did for Meghan's 40th. They used a photo of just her from an event where Harry was sitting next to her. No one complained that he was cropped out then. It's fair and equal treatment.

The Waleses weren't pressured into posting it. If the message had been signed W or W&C, then yes, they were definitely pressured into it.

But the tweet wasn't signed off with W or W&C, which meant a member of staff posted it, probably from their own bed on Sunday morning in their own flat miles away from Adelaide Cottage where William was being SuperDad so Kate could have a lie-in. The only involvement William had was probably an instruction to the intern on Thursday or Friday to repost BP's message.

And note that over on Instagram, the Waleses reposted BP's message as a story, so...you know.

In a way, what the Waleses did was probably even more insulting than not doing anything at all. Not doing anything at all, Harry can then go on a weeks-long sobfest crying to Oprah, Anderson Cooper, and Tom Bradby about how no one cared. But making the barest minimumest of effort - reposting someone else's birthday shoutout with the same exact text (and not even adding an emoji!)? It's essentially saying "I forgot till someone else reminded me and you're not worth the effort for a personalized message"

Let's be real, guys: how many of us forget about people's birthdays till we see the notifications on social media? And how many of us just send a generic "Happy birthday! Hope you're having a great day!" message when we see it? That's basically what the Waleses did.

It's still the filling of a shit sandwich because now Harry can dine out on this story for a couple of weeks (as we've seen them do already) and it puts a little bit of royal shine back on the Sussexes and extends their 2 minutes of fame for another year.

[slippinninque]

😤Fussy 😤

Fontaine x black reader

Fontaine listens on as you get some things off your chest.

Warnings: fluff, cursing, fussy!reader, long fic, before work drop so may have some typos before I can edit lol

Fontaine can tell the difference between you being angry and you being fussy.

One would entail a cold front of emotions, you turned into an absolute Ice Queen when angry.

Fussy, on the other hand, Fontaine found you to be utterly adorable. He would never dare to say this as the Ice Queen will appear, but he did keep his smiles to himself.

You reminded him of a video he saw of a kitten at the vets office, just meowing and screaming at the audacity of being taken care of.

How you stomped around the house like an angry little bear, your lil' flip flops slapping frantically as you tried to remember what you came into the room for.

If he saw you wince when taking off your bra or feel you tossing in turning in bed, he knew what was coming. He kept the heating pad and ice cream bars ready.

The wrinkle in your nose? The sharpness to your gaze? The one dimple that came out when you purses your lips? Fontaine was weak for it.

He rather you have a rough day and come home spitting fire rather than see you tripping over your tears.

Fontaine knew you were a pot of emotions and not everyone that poured out may be pleasant, but he loved you more than enough for that not to matter. What mattered to you mattered to him. While he may rob you or poke fun, Fontaine will still offer any help you may need.

--------

"Whatchu doin', pretty?"

"Locking up."

"Mhn. Sound mad, you okay?"

"...smch, I'm fine. This dang-darn-damn-fuckin'-fuck ass gate won't close!

Fontaine choked on the other end of the line and you paused in wrestling with the iron gate. It was never the same since the Disastrous Book Fair of 2018. Poor thing.

"Don't you be sayin' that out loud, baby. No one should know yo' gate don't work."

"What? What they goin' do, burgle some damn books? At the free book house?"

"Damn, that's what they callin' libraries now?"

You growled into your phone as you strained to keep the latch lines up just enough to flip the lock.

"That's what Imma call 'em now. D'you know this old man got mad at me 'cause I wouldn't show him how to pull up titty pictures?!"

"Mn! Bold as hell."

"Right? Then gonna look me up an' down and ask for someone else t--!"

You gasped then shrieked as the latched pinched your finger before settling into place. Rage doused you and before you could recall yourself--you dropped your bag and kicked the gate.

"Fuck you, fucking broke-ass, rusty-ass, tragic-ass gate! Imma turn yo' ass into scrap!"

Furiously stabbing the lock home and finally securing the gate, you grabbed your fallen items. Still ranting and raving under your breath, you did take a look around to see you were alone before tattling to Fontaine.

"The gate fucking bit me..."

"Just come on home, baby, okay?" Fontaine's voice gentle and it somehow only fueled your indignation.

"I am," You snapped as you stomped towards your car, "I want to cuddle. Hard."

------

Yowling, crowing, and calling --you told on the day you had. Unreasonably unsatisfied patrons, rinky-dink electronics that should have been swapped out ages ago, and to top it all off the A/C died as the day reached its muggiest.

"That was when I decided to leave the house." You muttered, staring gloomily down at the bump of your belly beneath the seat belt.

You were only bloated but you hated how you looked like you were expecting in your favorite skirt. Your hair wasn't fuzzy in the way you liked and your locs were staging a rebellion.

As you crawled through the late-afternoon traffic, you noted that your tank was nearing half. You always kept a full tank if you could help it.

"I ain't worried 'bout that car," Fontaine's voice held no room for argument through the car speakers, "I'll take your car an' fill it up later--I asked you to come on home."

When Fontaine wouldn't let you stop for gas, you huffed and puffed to his unceasing fondness. All up until you pulled down the street and into your driveway.

As soon as you came through the door, Fontaine was there to meet you. He took away your purse and pulled you into his arms, despite your grumblings.

"I could have done it, y'know." You grumbled into his chest. It felt good to be home. It felt better being in Fontaine's arms but there was a restlessness under your skin. You resisted the urge to bite the

"I want to do it for you, how's that?" Fontaine countered before he began running his hands over your aching shoulders. You grumbled, momentarily lost in the feel of his hands on you.

Then you remembered your outrage.

"No, I wanted to do it 'cause I was out and I could have gotten my cinnamon bun early. I could have slept in an extra 5 minutes..."

He leaned put his lips to your ear, "Then how 'bout I get you your cinnamon bun, too. Hm?"

"I guess..."

"Yeah?"

His lips trailed softly around your neck to kiss your cheek, arms tightening around you enough that the next sigh that escaped you wasn't as hostile.

Fontaine took your silence as acceptance as he lead you away from the door and past the living room.

"I want to sit." You muttered, enticed by the blanket nest you made the previous night. Fontaine held you fast with as tsk and insisted you shower.

Your aggravation flared but before you could open your mouth to complain, Fontaine kissed you again. He grabbed a handful of your ass in tandem, swallowing down your surprised yelp.

"Get in there and clean up, Imma feed you and you can tell me all about it."

He released you with a pat to your ass and a "go on now" slant to his eyes. Stomping your foot was all you could think to do before turning on your heel and going towards the bathroom.

-------

The shower did help to loosen your body but the wrinkle in your brow remained as you left the bathroom.

Fontaine met you with another kiss, pressing a plate into your hands before wordlessly setting you toward the couch. You gratefully settled into your blanket nest and released a huff, your comfort and hunger coming at once.

Still...

You didn't eat. You craned your neck over the couch to try and see into the kitchen, only to be caught by Fontaine as he balanced his dinner and drinks for the both of you.

"I'm comin', baby." His knowing grin warmed your face as you settled back down. Then you registered what was on the screen and perked up, absentmindedly reaching for your folk.

"You don't mind, do you? You can put on somethin'--

"No, no--I want to see you play."

Fontaine had a talent for eating dinner and keeping himself alive on GTA. You liked the chaos of the game and Fontaine liked to ride around to cause some just for you.

By the time your fork hit the ceramic of the plate, Fontaine was joined by a few of his homies though he didn't bother with the headset. You watched them challenge rivals and loot their spots. The action sucked you in and hearing the gang laugh together and crack jokes loosened your frown up.

Belly full and suddenly feeling very lazy, you fell over to lay in his lap. Fontaine chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to your temple. He shifted to put his feet up on the table, giving you more room to lay out and face the TV.

"Feel better fusspot?"

Maybe a bit pouty but the only remainder of your annoyance came from your bandaged finger. You could not recall too much, not while settled on Fontaine's warm thighs and perfectly encased in your blanket.

Content was creeping back into your chest, shooing away the yucky feeling and returning your balance. All you had to say about your day has been said ten times over, the horse was buried by now.

"...Yeah. I feel better."

Looking up at him in time to catch his fond smile, you felt the rest of your ire fade away. You just had an off day and you would have a better one tomorrow.

Now was time to enjoy the night with your man.

-----------

Ending notes: another before work drop of something that was flying around my mind! 🤣Tell me what you think and give me some prompts! Im slow but I love to get them! Please comment and reblog! 💕💜✨

✨taglist: ✨@megamindsecretlair @thadelightfulone @mag1calenchantr3ss @cocoeffects @wide-nose-and-wonderful @8ttached @thadelightfulone @hobiesmain @thickeeparker @longpause-awkwardsmile @ms-angiealsina @educatorsareslutstoo @mysterychick93 @sageispunk@hunnishive@notapradagurl7@mcondance@longpause-awkwardsmile@ms-angiealsina@educatorsareslutstoo@miyuhpapayuh@mogul93 @kindofaintrovert@blowmymbackout @mcondance @kindofanenigma @eggnox

[3terna15unshin3]

Connected

—

A/N: idea came from this ask, so thank u anon🥰🥰 it was so fun to think of how Matty and Este’s relationship was seen from the other side like what fans pick up on, and also establish how much they decide to share with fans vs keep to themselves. this concept is so interesting to me but i had a hard time writing from the pov of a fan hahaha so i just did it this way instead :))

This obvs is based heavily on TBSG lore so none of this makes sense if you haven’t read the main fic - go do that first!! and also check out the Instagram AUs, they add to the pizazz

—

“Love, look what I just saw on Twitter. This is hilarious.”

Este points her phone screen towards Matty as they sit in bed on a Sunday morning. He yawns, tired and still half asleep, then blinks his eyes a few times to read what she’s showing him. It’s a tweet from a fan that sits in her mentions from a couple of days ago when a clip from his Zane Lowe interview resurfaced.

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

thinking about the fact that matty mentioned meeting e.manansala when she worked at a bookstore in manc to zane and in this 2018 interview he said his fav spot in the city is Greenhouse Books …….. what are the chances this is the same bookstore bc that would be so😭😭😭💔💔💔💔 https://manchesterwire.co.uk/?s=matty+healy+give-yourself-a-try/arts&culture/article

jaymie SAW UNDO LIVE trmanb1ackk

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND

Hold on you might be onto something

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

→ Replying to trmanb1ackk

right like okaayyy bookstore worker x customer to lovers notting hill pipeline????? 🤭 huge if true

She watches his eyes scan over the text and a fuzzy smile grow on his face. Matty loves talking about Este when he can—to bring some much deserved attention to her writing—and did so often, but does’t always mention many the details of their relationship. That was until strolling around the Northern Quarter with Zane brought a bit of it out of him.

Este is what brings him back to Manchester the most often, from visiting her family and Cate and Georgia to just needing a bit of a homey feeling from its familiar pubs and nostalgic shops. So, naturally, Matty talked about her in the interview done for the release of Being Funny—explaining how they’d met and how much the city means to them both.

“How they put two and two together is beyond me,” he says, scratching his head. “That Manchester Wire interview was five years ago now, you know. Did you ever read that?”

She chuckles. “Course I did! We had a few fans come in that summer with the sole intention of coming to a place you recommended, actually.”

“Why have you never told me that?” Matty asks, “You’re welcome for the business, by the way.”

“You never even told me about your little shout out, to be fair. I had to find out on my own,” Este teases. “Plus, we weren’t even a thing at that point—we’d met once! Quite creepy, in retrospect.”

“When you put it like that it’s honestly so cringe so please change the subject now.” Matty buries his head in the bunches of sheets that sit in her lap, embarrassed and frankly too sleepy to defend himself.

Este giggles, letting her hands settle into his curls. “Oh c’mon, you weren’t cringe. I’m just pulling your leg. It was sweet,” she reassures him.

“You’re just saying that because you feel bad,” he whines, then rubs his eyes to try and get the sleep out of them. “That’s so crazy that they dug that up, though. I’m not sure if many people know you’ve been around since then.”

“They probably looked at your life in 2019 and figured you were a rockstar with a new girl in every city but in reality you were calling me to get to sleep every night and doing origami in your free time because it reminded you of me.”

Matty’s jaw drops at her blunt comments. “I was about to get mad but I can’t even disagree.” He sits up, raking the hair out of his eyes. “Do people still use the word ‘simp’? Can that be applied to this situation? Was I a simp?”

She throws her head back, mouth wide, as she laughs at how ridiculous his question is.

“Please don’t say ‘simp’, love. You’re 34.” Este squeezes out between her giggles, “But no, people don’t use that word anymore. And yes it can be applied. And also yes, you were. And still are.”

“Proudly am,” he adds.

She leans into his side and he snakes his arm around her waist. They sit there, Matty only in a pair of pyjama pants and her an oversized tee, scrolling through the funny replies to the tweet and how big of a deal some fans were making it.

“You should respond. Tell Megs that she’s right.”

“Seriously?” Este asks, shocked that he’d want her to engage in something so meaningless and speculative.

But alas, he nods casually with a smile. “Yeah. They seem sweet, and just curious. And maybe being such a simp will give me some brownie points,” confirms Matty.

“God, enough of that word!”

Este e.manansala

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND

Can confirm🤝

liv livmymistake_

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND and e.manansala

MEGS OH MY GOD

Jude 🥾🌎 ittsjudesk

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND and e.manansala

UMMMMMMMMMMM

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

→ Replying to e.manansala

omg hi😭😭😭 are being fr i can’t cope

Este e.manansala

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND

Greenhouse is the bookstore i worked at and is where matty and i met that year:)) and hi💌

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

→ Replying to e.manansala

i think i’m psychic for guessing that🤭🤭🤭🤭

—

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

k now i’m going crazy bc i had no clue him and este had been dating for that long💀 was genuinely convinced it had been 3 years max

Jude 🥾🌎 ittsjudesk

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND

Literally they didn’t post each other until like 2020

sarah🧸 _102sar

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND

I think she was at the 2018 Pryzm show too. Not sure but I was at the after party and remember seeing her there lol

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

→ Replying to _102sar

WHAT…….. this lore being uncovered omg

“Someone recognises you from the Brief Inquiry album release show?!” exclaims Matty in disbelief. “There’s no way.”

They still sit in bed as Este types away, having fun interacting with the small group. He leans his head on her shoulder and watches her as she does it.

“They’ve known you longer than I have, you know. They know their stuff,” she responds.

“Even I don’t remember you being at the Pryzm show.”

Este’s mouth falls open in shock, thoroughly offended. “You prick.”

“I’m joking!” Matty defends through fits of laughter. “C’mon E, I’m joking.”

She knows he is, but enjoys the theatrics of it all; shoving his head off her shoulder and scooting away from his touch in protest.

“That was a special night for me! The first time I saw you play and met the guys! Don’t make fun!” Este pouts, crossing her arms playfully.

“Fine. I take it back, I take it back,” Matty begs, dragging her back over to him and bringing her legs over top of his. He grabs her hand and places a kiss on her palm. “I remember meeting Cate, and introducing you to Louis. And Ross making fun of my gallbladder surgery, and leaving Cate on the dance floor to get drinks, and screaming at each other over the music at the bar. You telling me about the anniversary party. I very much remember!”

“Okay, okay. Enough gushing. I forgive you.”

Matty pecks her palm once more and shuffles her even closer. “Open Twitter back up. This is fun.”

Jude 🥾🌎 ittsjudesk

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND and _102sar

This is absolutely shocking bc how did his chronically online ass manage to hide a whole gf that long

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

→ Replying to ittsjudesk

fr!!! like do we think she was on the abiior tour with them bc i swear jordan absolutely fed us with so much bts content it would be impossible to miss?? someone dig

sarah🧸 _102sar

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1D and ittsjudesk

If u scroll back on her IG u can see Matty in her comments since then. And they’d repost each other on their stories and stuff🥲 So not that hidden if ur a stalker like me lmao

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

→ Replying to _102sar

thoroughly upset that i missed so much bf matty content </3

Este e.manansala

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND and _102sar

Ignore me stalking u🤭🤭 i was indeed at that Pryzm show lol but we weren’t dating yet. And during abiior tour I saw a few UK shows but otherwise i was just in Manc working/being a bad groupie x

Este e.manansala

→ Replying to PL4YINGONMYM1ND

Also matty is sitting beside me now and he is cool with me filling u in (it was his idea) and he says hi. and that u guys are cute

megs ⎕ PL4YINGONMYM1ND

→ Replying to e.manansala

ohhh yes u are a working woman how could i forget!! bookstore worker/groupie same difference. thank u for responding😭 u are the coolest❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 (also hi matty😳)

Jude 🥾🌎 ittsjudesk

→ Replying to e.manansala

Hi Matty sorry for calling u chronically online x

Este e.manansala

→ Replying to ittsjudesk

He forgives you (but it’s true imo)

liv livmymistake_

→ Replying to e.manansala

este wait i have to know …. since u are a former bookstore girlie turned writer are u the reason matty periodically spam posts a bunch of literature on his instagram stories???? did u convert him to bookstoregirlieism??

Este e.manansala

→ Replying to livmymistake_

I am obsessed with the idea that he was illiterate before meeting me so i’m gonna say yes. thank u for that

Este e.manansala

→ Replying to livmymistake_

Liv it’s me I stole the phone and don’t appreciate this sentiment tbh. You should know I’ve always been a wanker so all the literature spams are just me letting that out and este just enables me. hope that helps x Matty

[asoiaf-fancasts]

Rhaenyra Targaryen - Fancasts

Age: 07 - 33

08 [Mother’s Death]

14 [Tourney]

17 [Marriage to Laenor]

23 [Marriage to Daemon]

32 - 33 [Civil War]

Appearance: She is beautiful with the Valyrian look and small lips. After her first 3 children she retained the weight from their pregnancies having a thick waist. She is dressed richly and is often wearing rings.

Character: Elizabeth Murray [Younger]

Actress: Cara Jenkins

Movie: Belle [2013]

[She was 8/9 during filming so good for Rhaenyra when her mother dies and she is declared heir to when her father marries Alicent. She is pretty with pale skin, blonde hair and small lips.She wears mid 18th century clothes ish.]

Character: Katherine Woodville

Actress: Elsa Houben

Show: The White Queen [2013]

[Unknown age, looks to be around 8 - 10 years old so good for when Rhaenyra is declared heir till her first half brother is born. She is pretty with fair skin, blonde hair and a small mouth. She unfortunately is only shown in one scene clearly. She wears a 15th century ish dress.]

Character: Violetta Giurgiu

Actress: Anamaria Vartolomei

Movie: My Little Princess [2011]

[She was 11 during the filming of this movie so good for a year before he sweet half sister was born. She is pretty with blonde hair, pale skin and small lips. She wears modern clothes that are still good for close ups.]

Character: White Queen [Younger]

Actress: Amelia Crouch

Movie: Alice Through the Looking Glass [2016]

[She was between the ages of 10 - 12 during the filming of this movie. So, good for when her half brother and sister were born. She has light blonde hair, has small lips and is pretty. She wears fantasy clothes.]

Character: Lucrecia Borgia

Actress: María Valverde

Movie: Los Borgia [2006]

[She was 18 - 19 during this movie so the right age for Rhaenyra when she’s married to Laenor. She’s pretty and has small lips and blonde hair that is a bit too golden. She unfortunately has brown eyes and is not “thick of waist”. She wears 15th century Italian ish clothes.]

Actress: Catherine Howard

Actress: Tamzin Merchant

Show: The Tudors [2007] [Season 3 & 4]

[She was 22 - 23 during this show so good for her during the start of her marriage to Daemon although she does have a love interest that more suits Harwin and is playing a character of an age with Rhaenyra when she was with Harwin. She’s pretty. She has lighter blonde but golden hair and small lips. Unfortunately she is quite skinny and not thick of waist. She wears Tudor ish clothes.]

Character: Queen Jadwiga of Poland

Actress: Dagmara Bryzek

Show: The Crown of the Kings [2018]

[She’s 22 - 25 during this show so a good age for Rhaenyra during her marriage to Daemon. Her hair is brown and obviously not correct for Rhaenyra but with some editing I do think this fancast could be really good. She has pale skin, a rounder face and small ish lips. She isn’t plus sized but she is “thick of waist” compared to the other actresses. She wears 14th century polish clothes.]

Character(s): Lucrecia Borgia & Constance Chatterly

Actress: Holliday Grainger

Show: The Borgias [2011]

Movie: Lady Chatterley’s Lover [2015]

[She was 22 - 25 during the show and was 26 - 27 in the movie so good for during her marriage to Daemon. She is blonde although a bit more golden than I imagined her hair and has relatively smaller lips. She has a rounder face in the movie but is unfortunately skinny in both. She wears 15th century Italian clothes in the show and in the movie she wears late 1920’s clothing.]

Character: Catherine the Great

Actress: Yuliya Snigir

Show: Catherine the Great [2015]

[Suggested by: ???]

[She was 31/32 during this movie to the right age for her at the start of the war. She wears a silver wig, has a round ish face and small lips but unfortunately isn’t really “thick of waist”. She wears 18th century clothes.]

[kaleidoscopiccc]

trying to make old cyclone things canon to new cyclone

astrid, trishna, corey, and hank are all a year above the choir and used to be in it at some point in their lives but graduated the year before the accident

trishna and hank used to date before they broke up and hank started to date astrid and all 3 are still on good terms to this day

corey, also being ukrainian basically took mischa under his wing when he first came to canada and basically helped shape his whole personality and thats why theyre so similar

the old intro songs (tragic fact, fall fair suite, waiting for the drop, etc) were all songs they performed at previous years at kiwanis and "inspired by traditional african folk music..." is just a lie they reuse every year to earn brownie points

the blackwoods are matriarchal and the cafe is passed down from mother to daughter, its the men who marry in and take their wives last names, thats why shes so fixated on her mom especially in her old monolouge

the blackwood cafe used to be called the fatman cafe but mrs blackwood changed it when she inherited it in honor of her mother

astrid was a hardcore communist for a while around the same time ocean started debate and catholic school so ocean started consistently having nightmares about karl marx jesus and speech and debate for like a year straight, they got even weirder when she discovered taylor swift

astrid is mischas second favorite graduated kid, after corey, because she looks earily like talia (and hates ocean as much as he does)

zolar refers to the greater gaaxy that yhe solar system cataris, where the evil cat queen lives, is in. basically 2018 sabm is like a sequel to current sabm

lalalove and talia are so similar bc astrid had a habit of humming the tune of lalalove a lot, so mischa, hanging around her a lot because of being adopted into the older kids friend group via corey, subconsciously picked it up

legoland penny was the shortest her hair had ever been because it got set on fire by the barbies and she just left it alone for 2 years to grow out to cyclone penny length

talia is not actually what shes called irl, thats her username, everyone irl just knows her as natalia. not old cyclone but i need to correct that stupid mistake somehow

[celebratingwomen]

Freida Pinto for Vanity Fair Italy, 2018

[lemonhemlock]

strange that people had the thought that sansa was gonna stay in the vale and not go back to winterfell for so long when geographically other than bran(beyond the wall having trippy visions)/jon("dead")/rickon (cannibal island skagos) sansa is way closer to winterfell than a lot of characters and the knights of the vale is pretty much a chekhov's gun especially since like you said they havent joined the war yet and somehow sansa marching to winter fell with them was unbelievable since like 2009-2018 (her story might not follow the show especially because of the diverged storylines and she has the alternative to escape the vale but who knows)

It's no secret that Sansa was a very hated character throughout GoT's run. People ~manifesting she would stay in the Vale was a way of wishful-thinking her out of the narrative. Their dislike made them ignore reason and come up with many silly theories.

Much has been said about Sansa's pawn-to-queen narrative, but the main argument for her surviving the series is that, if GRRM wanted to kill her, he had many, many opportunities to do so in five books and didn't. Sansa is physically and socially vulnerable & her POV focuses on her rich internal world, strength and endurance, yet she remains unscathed and is instead learning court politics. Why is that? It's basic bildungsroman storytelling. Denying that is just being petty at this point.

Sansa also cannot remain in the Vale as Alayne, since that is Littlefinger's plot. Only the most delulu stans will not accept that a shady person such as Littlefinger will face authorial punishment for his sins. And, when he does die, what's stopping Sansa from claiming her identity? Especially as she finds out the feared and detested Ramsay Bolton has married "Arya Stark". She will naturally want to help her sister.

Now, I need to re-read for this, but I believe it is hinted in AFFC that Myranda Royce slyly figured out who Sansa is. If you remember the prologue of AGOT, the fancy, pretentious Night's Watch ranger from the group of three that first encounter the white walkers, is Waymar Royce. He is the third son of Bronze Yohn, head of House Royce. I did a quick search to refresh my memory:

"Bronze Yohn knows me," she reminded him. "He was a guest at Winterfell when his son rode north to take the black." She had fallen wildly in love with Ser Waymar, she remembered dimly, but that was a lifetime ago, when she was a stupid little girl. "And that was not the only time. Lord Royce saw . . . he saw Sansa Stark again at King's Landing, during the Hand's tourney." Petyr put a finger under her chin. "That Royce glimpsed this pretty face I do not doubt, but it was one face in a thousand. A man fighting in a tourney has more to concern him than some child in the crowd. And at Winterfell, Sansa was a little girl with auburn hair. My daughter is a maiden tall and fair, and her hair is chestnut. Men see what they expect to see, Alayne." He kissed her nose. "Have Maddy lay a fire in the solar. I shall receive our Lords Declarant there."

(AFFC, Alayne I)

I mean... you can't be more explicit than that. The Royces know who Sansa is, but they'll just keep quiet and play out this charade?

[katnisspeetaprim]

Slice Of Life Part 1

Jeon Jungkook/Reader

Summary: Your and Jungkooks first meeting and first date.

Warnings: idol!au, non Korean reader, store worker reader, fluff, kissing.

Word Count: 1821 M.list

2018

The first time you and Jungkook met, was when he wandered into your workplace at 2AM. You worked in a small 24 hour store and the place was always dead this time of night, so you perked up when someone walked through the door, happy to have someone to speak to.

‘Hello! Welcome.’ You cringed at how cheery you sounded for how late, or early it was. You couldn’t really make out the face of the man who just walked in, considering he was wearing a hat and also a mask, though from what you could see he looked quite young, maybe 20 ish?

To your surprise, he turned to you and bowed slightly, saying a quiet hello. You watched as he picked his items and walked to the counter. Various snack and drinks, along with tubs of ramen littered the counter, one tub almost rolling off which he clumsily caught.

‘So that will be 40,000 won please.’ You couldn’t help but raise your brow in shock when he pulled out a black card for such a small amount. You wondered how rich this guy was to be able to have something like that at such a young age, though you kept quiet. He went to take the bag from you but hesitated.

‘I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you Korean is very good.’ A smile grew on your face, not expecting the compliment.

‘Oh thank you! I’ve lived here since I was 12.’

‘Ah very cool! I bet it was scary, moving country so young?’ The stranger sounded genuinely interested, which only made you happy to share your story.

‘I guess so. My step dad is Korean and he got a good job over here.’ You explained.

‘So good that you have to work in a convenience store?’ He chuckled, but realised right away that that may have been a little insensitive... ‘Sorry.. I didn’t mean it like that...’  You held up your hand to stop him apologising.

‘No it’s ok. I don’t really have a relationship with them now, so I’m supporting myself how I can.’ You smiled warmly, hoping to make clear that he hadn’t offended you in any way. The man nodded as he looked over your smiling face. There was an awkward silence as you shuffled from one foot to the other.

‘Was there something else I can help you with?’ You asked, feeling a little intimidated under his gaze. He looked as though he was contemplating something.

‘I’m sorry if this is too forward, but you are very pretty.’ Your eyes widened and you felt a blush creep up to your cheeks. You brushed some stray hair behind your ear as you laughed.

‘Um thank you.’ You looked up. ‘I wish I could return the complement, but I can’t see your face...’ You glanced up at him, hoping he got the hint. He looked away, and you could see his eyes were cast down, like he was weighing up his options, before he slowly lowered his mask. Your eyes widened again. Stood in front of you, the man you’d been kind of flirting with, was Jeon Jungkook from BTS.

‘Oh, wow yeah. Definitely handsome.’ Was all you could manage to say. He smirked at your response. Jungkook was well aware of how he looked.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Y/N’ You try to say with confidence, pausing for a moment after. ‘I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know yours...’ You didn’t want to make things awkward, but you wanted to be transparent with him too. It was only fair. Jungkook looked down, still smiling but almost like he was disappointed.

‘I’m sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear..’ You trailed off, hugging yourself sadly.

‘Ah no, it’s not that. If you can talk to me like a human, that’s all I want.’ He spoke quickly , not wanting you to feel offended by his actions. You gave him the biggest smile you could muster.

‘I can do that.’ He grinned back at you.

‘Would it be alright if I came back here to talk again sometime?’ He asked hopefully.

‘I’m here every week night!’

After that night, Jungkook started coming in every other day just to see you. You enjoyed seeing Jungkook and not just because he was some famous idol. You felt a genuine connection with him, and you only hoped that he felt that way too. You wanted to ask him on a date, but you also didn’t want to over step and boundaries he may have. Maybe it was best to see how things play out for now, possibly just ask for his number and go from there.

Turns out you were worried over nothing. He ended up making the first move and asked you out to dinner. You said yes. Obviously.

Jungkook had insisted on picking you up for your date so you stood waiting on your front porch, fidgeting nervously as you checked the time yet again. He was late. By almost half an hour. You had text him to see if he was on his way, but received no response. At this point you were sure you had been stood up.

You sighed and looked down sadly, swallowing the lump in your throat as you took in your outfit. You had chosen a flowy blue, knee length dress and simple hair and makeup, not wanting to seem over the top for the first date.

You were in the process of unlocking your front door so you could wallow in self pity, when you heard the sound of an engine suddenly pulling up.

You turned just in time to see Jungkook jumping out and running up to you.

‘I’m so sorry I’m late! We ran late at practice, then we had to go to a meeting, and THEN  I couldn’t find anything to wear and the traffic...’ He was rambling, desperate to explain. You smiled softly, realising he had tried his best to get there.

‘Jungkook, it’s fine. You’re here now.’ He sighed in relief when he heard you speak. ‘Thank you. I promise to make it up to you.’

This place was way out of your comfort zone. You had been worried about being over dressed, but now you felt under dressed in this place. You tried to distract yourself with the menu, but your face paled when you saw the prices, plus there weren’t many vegetarian options either...

Jungkook was oblivious to your concerns as he spoke animatedly, not that you wanted him to notice. You just wanted to have a nice night together.

‘I’m ready to order. How about you Y/N?’

‘Umm-‘ You hesitated for a moment, eyes raking over the menu once more.

‘I think I’ll just get a salad and an eggplant and seaweed side dish.’ He frowned at your choice.

‘Salads? Are you sure that’s all you want? I’m paying if the prices are an issue?’ He didn’t want to assume you couldn’t pay, but he was aware that this place wasn’t within everybody’s budget.

‘No please, I don’t want you to pay for me.’ You waved your hands dismissively. ‘Plus it’s not that.’

‘Are you sick?’ he asked, concern filling his features. You smiled at his caring nature.

‘No. I’m a vegetarian and there just aren’t many options is all.’ You watched he face fall as you explained.

‘Ah right.’ He sighed and his shoulders sagged. ‘I’m sorry Y/N. I should have asked about that.’

‘No honestly it’s fine! I don’t mind eating salads, I swear!’ You tried to make him feel better, but it didn’t really work.

‘This is probably the worst date you’ve been on huh?’ He looked down sadly. The last thing you wanted was for him to be upset. You leaned across the table and gently placed your hand over his.

‘not even close. Really, I like being with you.’ He stared at your hand resting on his for a second, before turning his hand upwards to hold yours with a smile.

‘What do you say we get out of here? We can get takeout and go back to your place to eat?’ You raise your eyebrows playfully.

‘My place? That’s a bit forward, don’t you think?’ You smirked at him, causing a deep blush to form across his face.

‘NO! T-that’s not what I meant, I swear! There’s just 6 other guys at my place who won’t leave us alone...’ He stuttered out, causing you to laugh, putting him out of his misery.

‘I’m kidding! I know what you meant.’

After that, you both got up and left, ignoring the strange glances from the waiters as you walked out the door. Not long later, you found yourself spread out on your sofa, surrounded by various boxes of takeout.

‘This is definitely more my scene.’ You sighed contently as you finished your slice of pizza. Jungkook had removed his jacket, leaving him in a dress shirt that clung to his shape perfectly. You couldn’t help but admire him.

‘I’m glad I could get something right.’ He chuckled, stacking up the containers on the coffee table. You gently shoved his arm.

‘Stop that! I’ve had a good time tonight.’ He grinned at you as he leaned back, arm spread across the back of the sofa. You shuffled up next to him and nestled yourself under his arm.

‘Hi there.’ He smiled down at you.

‘hi.’ His hand came down to brush across your shoulder, causing Goosebumps to appear on your skin.

You looked up at him and caught his eyes boring into you. Without warning, he leaned down and kissed you. The action took you by surprise, but you excitedly returned his kiss. You bought your hand up to cup the side of his face as you made out with open mouth kisses.

You pulled back for breath and rested your forehead against his.

‘I didn’t expect that to happen, not that I’m complaining.’ He joked, pulling you close.

‘Yeah.’ You nodded with a blush, smiling wide. Your fingers ghosted over his chest.

‘What are my chances of a second date?’ You pretended to think for a second.

‘I’d say about 50/50.’ You smirked before giving him another quick peck.

‘Ah, I see how it is.’ He laughed.

‘OH SHIT!’ He suddenly exclaimed when he caught sight of the time.

‘What!?’

‘I didn’t realise how late it was! I need to go, early schedule tomorrow.’ He was disappointed, but he couldn’t risk being late in the morning.

‘I understand. I had a great time tonight.’ You stood and walked him back to the door as he put his jacket back on.

‘I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?’ You nodded in agreement as you pulled him into a tight hug. ‘See you soon.’ He whispered in your ear, before planting a kiss on your cheek. As you watched him drive away, you couldn’t stop yourself from giggling like an idiot.

[mlleclaudine]

En couverture de Vanity Fair: Noémie Merlant, portrait d'une actrice en feu

by Norine Raja - Vanity Fair France, July 24, 2024

Tragic, comic and now erotic: Noémie Merlant continues to prove that she can play anything, including a radically contemporary version of Emmanuelle.  But how do you reconcile sensuality and feminism in an era that leaves so little room for nuance?  Norine Raja asked her.

Suddenly, the interview’s soundtrack changes drastically.  At the café terrace where we're chatting, the lyrics of Maître Gims give way to an electro remix of the familiar melody of Bella Ciao.

Is it a sign?  The music seems to have anticipated Noémie Merlant's thoughts: «At one point, I felt trapped.  Now, it's like this song: freedom, freedom, freedom!»  she says to the beat of the chorus.  Has she reached the point of total emancipation?  «Not yet, but I’m getting there», she says with a smile.

On this June afternoon, the actress is back home in the Paris suburbs after having attended two festivals in a row – Biarritz and Nantes – to present her second feature film as director, Les Femmes au balcon.  Espresso started, unfussy outfit, bag casually laid on the floor, hair in a ponytail.  She weighs her words, relishes the silences.  Then, the next minute, she rivets you with her electric gaze and makes her point with total conviction.  Just try to pigeonhole her.  She’s got a 14-year career under her belt and as many different roles: a rebellious teenager in Les Héritiers (2014), a naive aristocrat in Le Retour du héros (2018), a trans man in A Good Man (2020).  «She's a perfect blend of precision and abandon», said Céline Sciamma, who directed her in Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (2019).  «She can play a powerful woman, but also hint at vulnerability», adds Audrey Diwan, winner of the Lion d’or for L'Événement (2021), who has just directed her in Emmanuelle – more on that later.

Because she remains an enigmatic figure in the public eye, no persona seems too outsized for her.  Think she’s limited to dramatic roles?  She displays unexpected comedic flair in L'Innocent (2022), in which she plays Louis Garrel's brash best friend: twinkling eyes, a mischievous attitude, raucous laughter.  Her feigned nervous breakdown in a highway restaurant is unforgettable.  The role (finally) earned her the César for Best Supporting Actress in 2023.  Audrey Diwan hasn't forgotten that performance: «Every time she smiles in this film, she turns the world upside down.»

That same year, the filmmaker was working on a remake of Just Jaeckin's Emmanuelle, the famous erotic feature film of the Giscardian era.  At the time, Noémie Merlant had never seen this landmark of 1970s sexual revolution, the first installment in a 15-part saga.  So she met the director without any preconceived ideas or images.  She was inspired by the character.  «She must be exhausted in her search for pleasure», she suggested to Audrey Diwan, who offered her the role before the meeting was over.  She insisted on watching the original film after shooting was done.  Her verdict?  «It's a disaster.  The first part is interesting, with this open relationship.  But then there's a storyline with Emmanuelle and an older man.  She gets raped in front of him...»

The film has aged badly, but the 2024 version is free of any misogyny.  The look and feel have been modernized.  Replacing the postcard Thai décor and its whiff of orientalism is a luxurious Hong Kong setting.  Not a young woman pandering to the desires of others, but an ambitious thirtysomething in the throes of self-discovery.  A complete reinterpretation, in other words.  I hesitate to ask: was she afraid to embrace this character and her sultry aura?  She dismisses the idea out of hand: «That never even occurred to me.  What interests me these days is working with women directors who are seeking to redefine representations of women, their imagination, their sexuality.»

Céline Dion, her idol

Sorority was Noémie Merlant's guiding principle, long before she became aware of or defined the concept of female solidarity.  The daughter of a pair of real estate agents, she grew up in Rezé, a town of 40,000 people near Nantes, in a happy household where television held center stage.  Evenings were spent watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and crying over Titanic, she admits with a touch of embarrassment.  Like thousands of French people, we'd like to tell her.  She is very close to her mother and older sister, who suffers from a disability.  To avoid adding to her parents' burdens, Noémie learned not to take up too much space.  After years of therapy, she's come to realize: «It's nobody's fault, just the dynamics imposed by society. And then, at the same time, school teaches you not to make waves, society tells women to be well-behaved.»

So she found other means of expression.  She was a soloist with the Nantes Conservatoire choir, and dreamed of following in the footsteps of her idol Céline Dion.  She also practiced ballet and modern jazz for ten years.  Her father was convinced that Noémie was destined for a career in the arts.  One day in the mid-2000s, he saw an advertisement for the Cours Florent and encouraged her to try her luck.  The 17-year-old was scared, but eventually let herself be convinced.  She headed for the capital, where the transition was rather brutal.  «When I arrived, I was thinking: “I don't know anyone, I have no culture... What am I going to do?”»  She compensated for her imposter syndrome with a thirst for knowledge.  Here she lists the directors she needed to catch up with: Bergman, Cassavetes, the great Italian filmmakers like Visconti.  And reading?  «There's nothing to be done about it, I just can’t», she says frankly.

At the same time, she pursued modeling to «earn money, even if you only got paid in clothes», she says pragmatically.  She did photo shoots, fashion shows, and trips without really thinking about it.  She didn't want to «bite the hand that fed her», and would realize only much later the full extent of the toll this experience took on her.  The «Shut up and look pretty», the memory of being sexually assaulted by a photographer, the feeling that her body was no longer her own.  To the point where she weighed only 45 kilos.  «That gave me a massive eating disorder, which I'm still trying to overcome.  I was anorexic-bulimic for almost ten years.  I'm not any more, but I'm still hypervigilant about what I eat, and I'm always careful not to let myself go.»

There was only one thing to do: get out of the fashion world as quickly as possible.  Sometimes, it's all about meeting someone.  In 2013, the actress auditioned for Les Héritiers, a film by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar inspired by a true story.  It tells the story of how a teacher enrolls her most unruly pupils in a history competition, an experience that will change their worldview.  Noémie Merlant was 24, but looked young enough to play the class rebel, wearing a leather jacket and with headphones on.  On set, the filmmaker was impressed by her talent and intense presence.

Filming with Desplechin

A year later, another text message: «Would you be available to meet?  I'd like to talk to you.»  [Mention-Schaar] offered her the role of an average young girl, radicalized by jihadists, in Le Ciel attendra.  To prepare for the role, Noémie Merlant met with teenage girls in the process of deradicalization, and tried to understand their mindset.  «We found girls from all social backgrounds, cultures and religions.  For many of these teenagers, there was the feeling of being misunderstood by society, but also frequently the beginnings of anxiety about death and shame.  The desire for an ideal, for something unconditional, even in love stories.»  The film was released in a volatile context, less than a year after the attacks on November 13.  But the actress took a cleareyed view of this phenomenon, which she believed revealed youth in search of meaning.

This total commitment paid off: in 2017, she was nominated for a César in the Most Promising Actress category.  In an interview filmed around this time, she appears smiling and fulfilled.  Well aware, too, that the road ahead is fraught with pitfalls: «The hardest thing is to maintain self-confidence, even when you don't believe in yourself, or when you have periods of emptiness.»

What was Noémie Merlant dreaming of at this very moment?  When asked about whom she’d like to collaborate with, she almost mechanically cited Arnaud Desplechin or Abdellatif Kechiche.  She didn't know it yet, but the revolution would be born in a female microcosm.  In 2019, the young woman played a painter hired to create the likeness of an aristocrat (Adèle Haenel) in Portrait de la jeune fille en feu.  Céline Sciamma's fourth feature is an incredibly intimate costume drama: a manor house, a cliff overlooking the sea and just four characters.  At first, the actress was confused by the script: «Conflicts are nonexistent or immediately defused.»  The absence of dominance hierarchies unsettled her: there were no saviors or anyone being saved; there were creators but no muses.  «Just a gentleness and a wonderful equality.  And in spite of everything, there’s an exciting story full of surprises.  That's what makes it so powerful.»  A head-on collision between two great actresses, where their eyes meet, sizing each other up, caressing each other.  Like when Noémie Merlant’s character places a mirror between her lover's thighs, then sketches her self-portrait.

A box-office success across the Atlantic and a critical triumph, the film was in the running for ten awards at the 2020 Césars.  But on the evening of the ceremony, one name brought all the tensions into focus: Roman Polanski.  The director, who is currently facing several rape allegations, had been nominated in several categories for his film J'accuse.  French cinema had never been so fractured.  Adèle Haenel, who revealed that she had been molested as a child by director Christophe Ruggia, was in shock.  For her, honoring Polanski was tantamount to «spitting in the face of all victims».  No one heeded her: the filmmaker won the prize for best director, to the applause of part of the audience.  «Someone shouted: “Well done!” recalls Noémie Merlant.  It was clearly a response to Adèle's speaking out.»  In protest, the cast of Portrait de la jeune fille en feu left the auditorium, after shouting a resounding «Shame!»  In the wake of her commitment, Adèle Haenel announced her retirement from cinema in 2023.  Has Noémie Merlant thought about following her example?  «It wasn't easy to keep going, she acknowledges.  I admire Adèle's courage.  But staying is also a way of continuing the fight.»  The actress has no illusions about the seventh art.  No promotional newspeak, no generalities or shortcuts in her remarks.  Even when she salutes the «extraordinary people» she has worked with, she qualifies that with «but that's not always the case».  You get the sense that she is torn between the desire to talk about her difficult experiences and the fear of endless controversy.  She mentions «casting directors, actors, who promise you things».  How do you recognize them?  «Thanks to my experience as a model, I'm like a fish that spots the hook before the worm.»

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu «changed everything» for her.  She set off in search of more meaningful roles.  She reassessed her place not only in cinema, but also in the world.  She reflected on «patriarchal oppression», confronted the traumas that resurfaced.  «Even my relationship dynamic no longer suited me.»  She left her partner at the time and moved in with Sanda Codreanu, a friend from the Cours Florent.  She hesitates over the precise terms, but speaks of «escape» and «sanctuary».  In this haven, words flow freely and bodies are liberated.  They laugh as much as they talk about the violence they've suffered.  She, who used to move from one relationship to another, embraced a new perspective on relationships.  Why should romantic love count for more than friendships?  Why force yourself to have sex to please the other person?  Noémie Merlant now knows what she wants... or rather what she doesn't want.  These days, she's in a «healthy, unstructured» relationship.  She adds: «We're not afraid to experience things separately.  The important thing is that each of us is fulfilled.»

The Cate Blanchett method

Recovery also involves the body.  Onscreen nudity doesn't bother her.  «There are fewer and fewer actresses who agree to undress, which I understand.  But I don't have any issue with it, so I'm happy to go for it.  I think there are things to explore and advocate for in this freedom.»  She asserts her willingness to explore eroticism and sexuality through the eyes of other directors.  Female desire in all its forms is a common thread running through her filmography: she develops an attraction to an amusement park ride in Jumbo, plays a writer infatuated with a libertine photographer in Curiosa.

For a long time, sex scenes had been reduced to a few lines in a script and improvised on set.  In Jacques Audiard's Les Olympiades, the ballet of bodies is carefully designed.  Playing a thirtysomething woman who becomes fascinated by a camgirl, Noémie Merlant was coached by choreographer Stéphanie Chêne.  She learned to abandon dialogue in favor of her gaze and body language.  For the first time, she thought about her character's movements.  «It allows you to feel safe and to work with respect above all else.  And so you can go further, seeking precision through imagination.»  Farewell to the good little girl.  She avoids tyrannical filmmakers, those who push the actors' limits.  At one point, when a director tried to manipulate her to extract emotions, she almost walked off the set.  «I made him understand that I was making this film above all for pleasure and for creativity, and that I couldn't accomplish anything with that kind of method.  In the end, it turned out well, but I wish I hadn’t had to go through that.»  It was like revenge for all those outbursts she’d had to swallow.

Behind the camera, Noémie Merlant has also chosen irreverence.  In her second feature, Les Femmes au balcon, she imagines a Marseilles-style Rear Window, somewhere between comedy and outright gore.  The pitch: three girlfriends have fun spying on their mysterious neighbor across the street, with whom they develop a relationship that goes beyond exhibitionism.  It was difficult for her to find an actress who would agree to film naked, until she came across the luminous Souheila Yacoub.  One question nagged at her: how to film a body without sexualizing it?  First, by disarming the issue with humor.  «Right from the start, I give the viewer a heads-up: “Here you go, boobs.  Now that you've had a good look at them, let's move on.”»  She also uses the expression «shirtless» for women, a way of denouncing double standards.  There's no idealizing of her heroines' bodies.  She films them in their everyday lives, in positions that are not always flattering, and welcomes a touch of vulgarity.  «It's a form of sincerity as well.»

Taking risks is finally paying off.  In the last couple of years, Noémie Merlant has turned a corner in her career.  Like Marion Cotillard, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Juliette Binoche, she is now sought out by foreign filmmakers.  In 2021, Todd Field sent her the script for Tár.  And for a significant role.  She plays the assistant to a famous orchestra conductor, starring opposite Cate Blanchett – and speaking perfect English.  An intimidating experience?  Idolization is not her style: «It's important to demystify people who are in the limelight.»  Still, she took the time to observe Cate Blanchett in action.  The way she handled a complicated sequence shot or filmed the same scene twenty times without complaining.  Her ability to juggle lessons: piano, German, baton handling.  «There's no mystery.  It's all about the love of the craft, precision and the quest to relinquish yourself to the role.»  She adds, a bit idealistically: «Often the ones who succeed are also good people...  Not always, but I prefer to tell myself that.»

Yet Noémie Merlant has no desire to sacrifice her whole life for her profession.  For a long time, she took one role after another, as if for fear of missing out or being forgotten.  These days, her priorities have changed.  «I want to do Qua-li-ty», she says with a smile and a funny inflection.  Wouldn't this be a good time to enjoy it, too?  Her financial situation now allows her to help her family.  She has adapted her house to accommodate her father, who has been in a wheelchair since having a stroke in 2009.  She has helped her parents find a new home, and paid for outside help to relieve her «very exhausted» mother.  How does her father view her success today?  «He's very, very, very proud.  He tells himself that he was lucky, because it might not have worked out.»  He follows every step of her career, keeping track of every press article.  «He's definitely going to be handing out Vanity Fair to all his friends.»  You can sense her admiration for this close-knit clan, for their ability to face adversity.  A few years ago, she took out her camera to film them in their daily lives, around Christmas time.  She has started editing, but still has some work to do.  Recently, she went back to the rushes, but hasn't managed to finalize the project.  Perhaps it's too intimate.  I propose a hypothesis: what if she had primarily sought to freeze time?  She continues: «There's something interesting about the way they talk, the way they live, with a lot of humor and joy in spite of everything.  I want to share this story, because it can do a lot of people good.»  Could this be the next step toward freedom?

[Please don’t repost this anywhere, in part or in whole.  Feel free to reblog, or at least cite your source and provide a link back here.  Asking permission would be nice in an ideal world, but I’m a realist – I know far too well how easy it is to appropriate stuff on Tumblr.  I would be the first to admit that my translations are not perfect – there are some words and phrases that simply do not drop neatly into an equivalent in English, and I constantly fix typos and make changes or corrections in older posts – but they do take a lot of work and time.  Thanks for understanding. - C.]

h/t @morningmightcomebyaccident - thank you, Grey!