#Thank you all for being part of this journey

[its-avalon-08]

the paths we didn't take (cl16)

part7!

multipart story! part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6

Summary : Years ago, Charles Leclerc and Y/N promised to let each other go—for his dreams, for her freedom. No calls, no texts, just memories they buried deep. But when fate reunites them in Monaco, old scars and unresolved feelings resurface. Some loves are unforgettable, but can they find their way back, or is it too late?

✦ pairing - charles leclerc x female reader

Chapter 7: "Unraveled"

Y/N stood by the curb, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, the cool night air doing little to calm the storm inside her. Her thoughts were a chaotic mess, replaying the brief, heart-stopping moment she had locked eyes with Charles. The years apart had done nothing to prepare her for the rush of emotions she felt seeing him again. She blinked back the tears threatening to spill, silently willing her cab to hurry up.

“Y/N!” Lando’s voice called out behind her, his footsteps quick as he caught up. “Hey, where are you going?”

She turned slightly, her composure faltering when she saw the genuine concern etched on his face. “I just... I needed some air,” she muttered, trying to keep her voice steady.

Lando frowned, noticing the glistening tears in her eyes. Without hesitation, he pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around her as if shielding her from the world. “Hey, hey, what happened? Are you okay?”

Y/N clung to him for a moment, the warmth of his embrace grounding her. She took a shaky breath, her voice barely above a whisper. “I just... I saw him after all these years, and I don’t know how to react.”

Lando pulled back slightly, his hands resting on her shoulders as he studied her face. “You mean Charles?”

She nodded, biting her lip to stop it from trembling. “Yeah. I thought I was over it, you know? But seeing him... it just brought everything back.”

Lando gave her a small, understanding smile, his eyes filled with empathy. “It’s okay. It’s a lot to process. You don’t have to figure it all out right now.”

Y/N shook her head, wiping at her eyes. “I thought I moved on, Lando. I really did. But tonight... it was just so unexpected.”

“You don’t have to explain,” he said softly. “You’ve been through a lot. It’s okay to feel confused.”

As they stood there, Charles leaned against the balcony railing above, watching the scene unfold below. His heart sank as he saw Y/N in Lando’s arms, the way she leaned into him, the way Lando held her with such care. The sight of her tears stirred something deep inside him, but the rational part of his mind told him to let it go.

“She’s moved on,” Charles whispered to himself, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. “She doesn’t care anymore.”

With a deep breath, he turned away from the balcony, shaking his head to clear the lingering confusion. The weight of their history still pressed on him, but he forced himself to focus on the present. If she was fine, if she had someone like Lando by her side, then he had no reason to dwell on the past.

“Time to let it go,” he muttered, heading back into the club, the loud music and flashing lights quickly enveloping him once more.

Outside, Y/N pulled back from Lando, offering him a small, grateful smile. “Thanks for being here.”

“Always,” Lando replied, his voice gentle. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I will be,” she said, nodding. “I just need to get home and clear my head.”

“Alright,” Lando said, giving her one last reassuring squeeze. “Text me when you’re home, okay?”

“I will,” she promised, her voice steadier now. As her cab finally pulled up, she gave him a small wave before slipping inside, leaving the night—and all its unexpected emotions—behind her.

As the cab drove away, Y/N leaned her head against the window, letting out a long sigh. She had seen him, faced the past she thought she had left behind. But now, more than ever, she realized the journey to truly moving on was far from over.

----

A loud knock echoed through Y/N’s apartment, pulling her from the depths of a pounding headache. She groaned, burying her face deeper into her pillow, trying to escape the bright morning light streaming through the window. Another knock, more insistent this time, made her reluctantly sit up.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!” she muttered, throwing on a hoodie as she stumbled towards the door. As she swung it open, the sight before her made her blink twice.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Lando beamed, holding two steaming cups of coffee, his grin as bright as the sunlight she was trying to avoid. “Figured you could use some caffeine.”

Y/N squinted at him, rubbing her temples. “Lando, it’s barely morning. What are you doing here so early?”

He waltzed in without waiting for an invitation, setting the coffee on the table. “It’s almost noon, you lazy bum. Besides, I thought you’d need this after last night’s little adventure.”

Y/N groaned, flopping onto the couch and pulling a blanket over her head. “I’m officially never drinking again.”

Lando chuckled, sitting on the edge of the couch and nudging her with his elbow. “Oh, come on. You were the life of the party until, well... you know.”

She peeked out from under the blanket, giving him a mock glare. “Don’t remind me.”

“Fair enough,” he said, handing her a cup of coffee. “Here, drink this. It’ll help.”

She took it gratefully, sipping the warm liquid. “Thanks. You’re not so bad for a nosy friend.”

“I aim to please,” he quipped, leaning back with a satisfied smile.

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Lando’s expression turned serious. “Actually, I came by for a reason.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s up?”

“Well,” he began, dragging out the suspense with a mischievous grin, “it seems McLaren is interested in working with your business.”

Y/N nearly choked on her coffee. “What? Are you serious?”

Lando laughed at her reaction, nodding. “Completely serious. They want a meeting with you to discuss potential collaborations.”

She stared at him, wide-eyed. “Lando, this is huge! How did this happen?”

He shrugged, trying to downplay his role. “I might have mentioned your work to a few people. They were really impressed.”

Without thinking, Y/N launched herself at him, pulling him into a bear hug. “You’re amazing! Thank you so much!”

Lando laughed, wrapping his arms around her in return. “Hey, hey, easy! You’re going to crush me!”

She pulled back, her face glowing with excitement. “I can’t believe this. I owe you big time.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said, brushing it off with a wave of his hand. “Just promise me one thing.”

“Anything,” she replied eagerly.

“Don’t forget about me when you’re swimming in all that McLaren money,” he teased, winking.

Y/N rolled her eyes, laughing. “I could never forget you, Lando.”

He grinned, standing up and stretching. “Alright, I should get going. But seriously, congrats. You deserve this.”

“Thanks,” she said, her smile softening. “For everything.”

“Anytime,” he replied, heading towards the door. “Now, go get ready. You’ve got a big meeting to prepare for.”

As he left, Y/N sat back down, her mind racing with excitement and possibilities. The hangover was now the least of her worries, replaced by the thrill of a new opportunity—one that she wouldn’t have imagined even in her wildest dreams.

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[siggiedraws]

As someone who considers Silver to be her favorite Sonic character, I had spent a good while wondering why I keep feeling frustrated with him in the IDW comics as compared to Archie and I think you might had put into words why. His lack of a backbone is kind of weakening him in hindsight. I still like him all around and there are parts of IDW that do justice to his character and even expand on it (I will never not be happy for his journey as a gardener cause that is both in line with his love of nature and very refreshing to see for a male character to have unabashedly, especially someone Silver's age). Though I will disagree with you saying that Archie had NO backbone. He was constantly in conflict with Sonic over finding out who the traitor to the Freedom Fighters that lead to his bleak future is and he consistently makes mistakes that make him come off as cocky and bratty, to the point that Sonic eventually grows to hate Silver and even disregard his warnings when he does discover the actual truth until it's too late (that truth of course being that Sally betrayed everyone unintentionally with her Robotinazation, something no one wants to be true until they have to face it after the fact). Archie Silver is still flawed, but he is closer to his game counterpart more than IDW Silver is, at least in my opinion he is.

Thank you for your sharing your opinion and being very polite about it! To clarify something, I did not mean to say Archie Silver had no backbone. I was using him as a point of comparison because I noticed similarities with IDW, in that he is portrayed as more polite/timid than his game counterpart. I understand your interpretation of my previous post because I didn't get into it for the sake of not getting off topic. In the future, I will avoid making points without providing evidence in order to avoid confusing people or derailing my argument.

What I want to argue here is that I think your point arguing that Archie Silver has a backbone is still compatible with my position of both comic Silvers possessing noticeable character differences from game Silver that share the same problem with Silver being portrayed as polite or timid, just to different degrees.

I absolutely do not want to be unreasonable here! I agree with you that he is more similar to his game counterpart than IDW is and I won't deny the examples you just listed. I hope the examples I bring up can help illuminate my perspective a little bit and why Archie Silver is a bit too similar to IDW Silver for my liking.

Sonic the Hedgehog #195 - Silver tries to politely interject in on the fight, to the point of saying "excuse me" and "ma'am."

I am aware that he stops them all directly after this moment, however, it should not have happened in the first place if Archie Silver was aiming to be like Game Silver.

Sonic the Hedgehog #235 - Silver stammering in front of Sonic and allowing himself to get dragged through the dirt by his quills.

I think it's not in-line with the games for Silver to allow himself to be disrespected like this. If the Rivals games teach us anything, he gives back equal if not more aggressive energy when he perceives that someone is disrespecting him. Silver calling Sonic a jerk is really small potatoes.

If Silver reacts this way to being called crazy, how do you think he would react to being dragged through the mud by his quills? Not well, I can tell you that.

Silver's stammering here is also of note because it communicates that he's intimidated by Sonic when he has no reason to be if this were an accurate portrayal to the games.

Sonic Universe #43 - Silver tries to lie.

In the games, Silver is so honest and sincere when he speaks that it could be attributed to a source of his rudeness. Lying and deception is simply not something he ever considers doing. We've been shown in Rivals 2 quite clearly that Silver is honest to a fault. This panel also shows Silver being polite and timid in his mannerisms.

Silver attempting to lie happens to be a trait that is shared with IDW Silver in the 2022 annual.

Sonic Universe #25 - Another example of Silver not defending himself from being disrespected and using the term "sir."

Silver's childlikeness is emphasized here, as he is put in direct contrast with an elderly character who comes across as an authority figure, one he seemingly accepts and calls "sir" to be polite. This is an example of what I meant in my post when I say that Silver's naivety keeps getting conflated with being childish. He even says "b-but he started it" like a child telling on a sibling to their parents.

I acknowledge there is a tiny moment where Silver speaks passive-aggressively in the second to last panel, but Silver listening to the order of "don't sass your elders" directly afterwards quickly negates this moment.

Another moment from the same issue shows Silver becoming timid and lacking in confidence when faced with six enemies.

This directly contradicts the games where Silver is very confident in his abilities when faced with a horde of enemies. In Colours DS, he shows an eager willingness to fight and gets disappointed when Orbot and Cubot flee instead, which is opposite to how Silver attempts to avoid fighting in Archie.

Now, in the Archie example, Silver gets defeated by the enemies, which indicates that his timidness is because he is outmatched. I would argue that this is still not true to Game Silver. In '06, Silver readily and confidently fights Iblis, despite Iblis coming back time and time again and never truly being defeated.

Another example is when he fights Shadow. Despite losing to Shadow, and being told that it's no use fighting Shadow due to his Chaos Control ability, Silver does not start behaving timidly. He is still as determined as ever.

-

Thank you very much for your ask! I hope the examples provided illustrate why I brought up Archie Silver as an example in my previous post about this topic. I agree with you about gardening being a good recent addition to Silver's character, it's very wholesome to see him indulge in his love for the world around him.

[sugarikiz]

DEAR LORD 🪦 and thats where I faint, folks! 😁

okay, seriously. i cannot be more grateful to all of you guys that have been with me for this journey; whether you followed me recently or when i first joined. i really appreciate all the love and support <3 it feels like just yesterday that I made a (now on hold) series for my 50 followers special less than a year ago, and now here I am at 200. the amount of friends and mutuals I have made on here is insane compared to the few I once had. ive seen so many people leave and deactivate their accounts for whatever reason, and ive seen many stay and keep writing. to all my friends who left or stayed, I still am very grateful to you and I would love to see you guys come back someday 💞 the journey to 200 wasn’t easy — from keeping up with updates (which i fail miserably at ㅠㅠ) to my hiatus in between 2024 — but I wouldn’t change a single part of it for the world. so once again, thank you all so much, you mean a lot to me, and I hope to continue our friendships for a long time !!

注記 — also, i’ll be making a special event for 200 followers (stay tuned or else hehe ^^)

honourable mentions ⋆˙⟡ — @ad0rechuu (my first friend ><) @strawberrynull @yawn-zi @tzuyusluv @bywons @strvvy-anniee @puma-riki @thesassy-mia @liya07v @bywonyo @heeaara @haerinheartss @levandright @amoressb @hannamoon143 @eunandonly @irasvr @flufflights and.. @woniefication (for being my 200th follower!!)

[thelov3lybookworm]

Weeping Heart (Part 6- Cardan)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Summary: new revelations

•○●⛦●○•

Warnings: none, i think.

Word Count: 1163

A/n: WITH THIS PART, THIS SERIES HAS COME TO AN END ASLDJSKFH I CANT BELIEVE IT OML 🥹🥹🥹 THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING THIS JOURNEY WITH ME IM SO HAPPY 😭

this is part 6 for those who wanted yn to end up with cardan. for those who wated yn to end up with herb, you can read that part here.

anyways, enjoy🥹❣️

°•°•°•○🌑○•°•°•°

Cardan’s pov.

It was almost too easy to follow Y/n, especially when it was all he could think of.

Cardan could see Y/n’s second in command catching up to Cardan on his horse from his peripheral vision, and he pulled his reins taut, turning towards the fae.

"My lord," He rasped, his eyes wide, "I'm afraid I can't let you-"

Despite it being very unlikely of Cardan, he almost snarled. "I am your king, and you are no one to let me do things."

The second in command winced, swallowing. "Forgive me, your highness-"

Cardan turned his horse around, his mind again set on what was more important. "Will consider it."

And then Cardan rode away, chasing his love.

°•°•°•○🌑○•°•°•°

Y/n’s pov.

The air was quiet, peaceful. So at odds with what was going on inside Y/n’s mind.

Inside, it was chaos, a chaos Y/n didn’t want to look into.

She had always been very good at hiding away her thoughts, the chaos. It had always been easy. Push the thought to the back of her mind, and she would be fine. But not now. It wasn’t working.

No matter how many deep breaths she took, the uncountable number of steps she took, her mind kept returning to how she had lost her cool just a mere hour ago.

It wasn’t one of her finer moments, to be sure.

Sighing, she settled down on a fallen tree, nibbling on her nails before she forced herself to stop. Instead, she began biting her lips, knowing they’d be bruised before she would stop.

It wasn’t long before she heard the horse hooves beating the soft, pristine white snow, crunching softly.

Y/n straightened, refusing to turn to look. She knew who it was.

Cardan.

The horse stopped, and then Y/n heard the unmistakable thud of him landing on the ground. She counted the steps he took towards her in her head, eyes focused on the bug crawling maybe ten feet away.

He didn’t say anything. Not a word as he appeared in her vision, then quietly settled down next to her on the tree. She didn’t either, trying to ignore his presence. He heeded her wishes, staying silent for long enough that Y/n saw the overhead sun move down, towards the horizon, its resting place.

Only after it felt like it had been too long since Y/n had settled on the tree, did she sigh and glance at him. His eyes were already trained on her.

"What." She mumbled, tired. "Why did you come? Was my speech not enough?"

He exhaled, looking away. "Y/n. You did not let me speak."

Y/n turned her head back to the front. "What was there to be heard?"

She felt his gaze on her again. "A lot. A lot."

She didn’t speak, not sure what to say anyway. And so he continued.

"Jude and I. We only married for show. You know that, no? She helps me out with the kingdom, I help her stay safe and make sure no one in Elfhame dares to harm her."

"You liked her. You told me everything you ever did with her."

"That is not true. We’ve become friends, now, yes. But it does not mean I like her in any way. Not in the way that matters." He paused. "Not in the way I like you."

Y/n stiffened. "What?"

He sighed. "Y/n, surely, being the general of the army, you could not be that oblivious?"

She glanced at him hesitantly, jaw clenching. "Get to the darned point, your highness."

Cardan stared back at Y/n, his distaste for the title she used for him evident. "I love you, general."

Y/n’s jaw ticked. "You… what?"

He rolled his eyes, grabbing her jaw. "It is you I love. You I live for. It was only because you never gave me any indication that you liked me too that I started pursuing Jude."

Y/n watched him, dumbfounded. But what was the point anymore? He was married. And she did not want to be a mistress.

"That’s… great to know. After you’re with someone else already." She muttered, sarcasm dripping from every word.

He reached out, grabbing her hand. "Jude and I are not married anymore."

Y/n almost heard her neck crack as she whipped her head to look at him. "What?"

He grinned lazily. "Why does it feel like you’ve forgotten your vocabulary? You keep saying what, what, what?"

Y/n scowled. "I swear, Cardan-"

He squeezed Y/n’s hand before she could say anything more, leaning his head on her shoulder. "Jude never liked me, obviously. She only did what she did to be in power. The reason I came here in the first place was to tell you about our new plan. She and I will no longer be married, and as much has been announced in the palace two days ago. I wanted me to tell you about it before the news reached you, so I came here."

Y/n stared at him for a long moment, trying to process and understand the near atrocities escaping his mouth. For a moment, she wondered if he was lying. But he was fae, and so was she, and she knew very well he couldn’t lie.

She huffed, looking away from him. "Well, it would have been nice to know that earlier before I made a fool out of myself."

She could practically feel him raising his brow. "Yes, my darling, loving daydream, you gave me so many chances to do so, yes?"

She rolled her eyes, standing and dusting off her pants. "You must return to the camp, or something is bound to come get you. And I won’t be here to protect your royal… butt. I have to go out to look at jewelleries for Herb’s childhood sweetheart. Apparently, he is going to ask her to marry him."

It was true. Herb had always had his sights set on a pretty fairy with iridescent butterfly wings. Only recently had Herb requested Y/n help him out.

He followed her, grabbing her wrist before she could even take a step away. "And you must return to Insmear, or my guards are bound to get you."

His voice was light, playful even. butY/n heard the hope, the insecurity, the question in it.

And she, for the first time in months, glanced at him and offered him a small smile.

"Of course. Can’t ignore his highness’ orders."

He blinked, his smile making an appearance, one she loved so much. It made her cheeks turn warm. He led her to her horse, waiting for her to be seated before climbing on his own and snapping the reins.

And maybe they had a lot to unpack and talk about, think about how they were going to move forward, but for now, it was enough.

He was enough.

Her love was enough.

°•°•°•○🌑○•°•°•°

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[motherofdogs1010]

A Jedi in Arrakis VII (Paul Atredies x Reader)

Summary: While on the run from Empire troops, Jedi padawan Y/N comes to find out that hyper-driving in a compromised craft can have some major setbacks when she discovers not only is on a new planet but a whole new galaxy as well...

Warnings: 18+ only, jedi!reader, pinv!sex, fingering, angst, fluff, mentions of death, somewhat-canon Dune PT. 1 & 2, Paul is somewhat canon, talks of questioning the Force and teachings, spoilers for Dune Part I and II, eventual marriage

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI

Dividers by @firefly-graphics Banner by @vase-of-lilies

The journey to Sietch Tabr met them with danger as they eventually stumbled across Harkonnen soldiers descending from a ship. The body of Jamis having been left as a decoy as the Fremen told them to hide amongst the rock so that they may be able to handle the Harkonenn soldiers that she soon caught on were following them.

It was the sound of a thumper that eventually drew them away from where they hide, she watched as the soldiers floated up towards the top of the rock structure where they hide, not wanting to face a worm while the sun soon began to become eclipsed.

It wasn't until Harkonnen soldiers began to fall from the rock above them as they moved along the bottom that it began obvious the Fremen had been awaiting the soldiers.

Swiftly and efficiently killing them.

It seemed that was what being on Arrakis had come to.

Killing to survive as her, Paul and Lady Jessica killed the stragglers that had managed to escape the surprise attack. BB had some action too with zapping one of them in order to Paul to kill one.

Lady Jessica had assured them that her and Paul's unborn sister were well before they bore witness to the Fremen lining up the soldiers to extract water from their bodies.

It was fascinating to watch as they utilized water from the body, seeing the mechinism suck out the water until their skin was so tight against the bone they were mummified.

"Do you drink the water?" she asked, Stilgar chuckled.

"Not this one. Too dirty from all the chemicals, but good enough for cooling systems."

Unfortunately, the sight was too much for Lady Jessica as she soon vomitted, Stilgar having told her not to let it out but unable to stop it.

"Are you alright?" she asked, Paul parroting her question.

She nodded and dry heaved.

Eventually, the water was all collected, the bodies piled up and a thumper left for a sand worm to come and devour the bodies as they continued their journey deeper into the dunes.

"You fight well", Chani said.

"Thank you", she replied.

"Was it only you under your Master's training?"

"No, I had another companion, her name was Ashoka." A small smile came onto her face at the memory.

Longing fell upon her at the mention of Ahsoka because it brought up memories of home, of everyone. She wondered if she'd ever actually see them again, but the longer and deeper she went into Arrakis, the further that flew away.

"We were like sisters, her and I", Y/N sighed, a sadness seeping in her chest.

She knew she was going to have to accept she'd never see them again. Her life was here now, not back on Naboo or training under Anakin.

She just hoped everything was okay back home with the Clone Wars.

Sietch Tabr was amazing.

Tall slabs of rocks with writing carved into to, perfectly placed holes where light seeped into and the sound of indistinctive chattering echoing in the halls as Stilgar led them further in.

She glanced at Paul as he nodded, assuringly but soon they were met with hundreds of Fremen shouting angrily at them and screaming Jamis' name over and over again. Paul grasped her hand as BB beeped in fear before she heard countless words echoed over and over again.

Stilgar had them taken to what she guessed was like a communal area for the community as there were countless little groups spread about, taking. They had removed the stilsuits in favor of the muslin cloth clothes provided and sat in their own little area, BB decided to hibernate for a bit.

"They're calling you The One Who Brings Light", Paul whispered to her.

"And you the Messiah", she replied back. "You must teach me the language. But tell me, who is this person they call me?"

"The belief that the Messiah will come with their lover, the One Who Brings Light to free Arrakis from its chains. They will come with a Blade of Light and wield it in battle against the enemy, helping free the Fremen and bring peace."

"And how do you feel about their thoughts of you as their Messiah?"

Paul was silent.

"You can tell me, Paul", she said, "I will not judge."

"Conflicted", he answered, "a part of me hates it but the other part wants to sway the non-believers to my benefit of getting to the Emperor. So that I may avenge my father and my House."

"Your father did not believe in revenge", Lady Jessica spoke.

"I do", Paul retorted.

Soon enough, they were served a meal. It had a similar consistency to porridge and the flavor was like blue milk with the added spice that gave it any edge. It was nothing she hadn't handled heat wise, her tongue favored heat.

"There is spice in the food", Paul said, blinking.

Stilgar called for Lady Jessica and they watched as he led her away.

"I wonder what they want with her", she pondered.

"Who knows."

Once they finished eating, she rested her head on Paul's shoulder and he sighed. He intertwined their hands as they sat in silence before Paul whispered, "I've missed you."

She looked at him, "I've been here beside you."

"No, I've missed you, darling."

Her eyes widened slightly before she shyly whispered, "Paul."

He leaned his forehead against her, "I am but a man. A man with a beautiful woman that loves him. Is it so shameful that I've missed said woman? A woman that I've only had the pleasure of only sharing a single night with."

She sheepishly looked away, heat reaching her ears and cheeks as Paul chuckled.

🪐

It turned out that the Reverend Mother was dying, no other Bene Gesserit woman present being suitable and Lady Jessica accepting the role.

"You should be honored to accept it", Paul said.

"Is it the highest title?" Y/N asked, Lady Jessica nodded.

"Very."

"Is it different here?"

"Each culture does it differently", Lady Jessica explained. "So I have no idea what will occur."

Y/N saw it in her eyes: she was afraid and Paul voiced it to her.

"Reverend Mothers are tasked with holding the memories of all those that came before so I'll be given centuries of pain and sorrow", Lady Jessica said, her eyes tired and heavy.

"Is it lethal?" Paul asked.

"For men."

"But you will be alright?" she asked, concerned.

"Yes", Lady Jessica reassured. "I am not a man."

They followed the others outside to where Lady Jessica entered a cave opening with the other Bene Gesserit sisters as her and Paul stood outside it, other groups of Fremen sat under tarps to protect them from the harsh sun as they waited.

BB let out a series of beeps and Paul chuckled.

"I'm beginning to understand you", he mused, BB waited for a moment before popping open a compartment and giving Paul a thumbs up.

"Now he and I won't be able to gossip about you", she teased, Paul scowled playfully.

"I have amazing qualities, no need to hide between your hands to gossip."

She smiled at Paul as he grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers and she felt a sense a peace.

The sun felt hot against her back as she looked around to find Chani sitting under a pitched tent that was low to the sand with what she assumed were her friends as they laughed and spoke.

"Do you think they believe?" she softly whispered.

"No", Paul answered. "But it doesn't hurt for us to mingle with the locals."

Moving towards Chani's group, BB easily rolled over the smooth sand as Chani looked up at them as they approached.

"Hello", she said, Chani and her friends nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hello", Chani echoed.

Her friends eyed BB, who rolled cautiously closer to her and Paul as Paul spoke, "you don't believe in all this, do you?"

"No, we don't", Chani replied.

"These are old Southern beliefs", another answered. "Southern tribes believe a messiah and his lover will come to deliver us from evil."

"So, you don't believe in the Lisan al-Gaib and The One Who Brings Light?"

"We believe in Fremen." The way the woman spoke, she could tell that here in the Northern tribes, this belief went deep. "You want to control people, you tell them a messiah will come. Then they'll wait for centuries."

It was then that they heard Stilgar speak in Chakbosa as he emerged from the mouth of the cave before saying, "now, we must pray."

He moved towards a separate group where there were older Fremen, watching them get down to their knees and begin to pray as they laid their heads on the sand.

"And him?" Y/N asked.

"Stilgar?" Chani questioned, Y/N nodded. "He's from the South. You didn't hear his accent?"

Chani and her group laughed at her and Y/N felt a bit of embarrassment.

"You have an odd accent", a male in the group said. "All formal and diplomatic."

"With odd hair. Two lumps on either side of your head."

"She's not from here", Paul defended, "she comes from another galaxy. She crashed landed here on Arrakis with her Droid trying to get to her Resistance Base."

BB let out a series of beeps.

"It's alright, BB", she said, patting his head. "They're curious."

Silence befell the group for a moment or two before Paul asked, "what will happen to my mother?"

The question drove the group to speak in Chakbosa, which left her and Paul looking at one another.

"She will be alright, Paul", she reassured. "Your mother is strong."

Paul's mother was a Reverend Mother now, but that alone had brought discourse in the tribe.

The process had drained her of her energy and the Sisters were encasing the woman ins a type of shroud to allow her to be carried back.

"I think they are arguing over you", she said, moving a piece of hair from Lady Jessica's face. "What will you do?"

"I will try to resolve this."

She listened as Paul agreed with Chani and her group, claiming he was not the messiah and that his mother's survival was due to her training as a Bene Gesserit.

"And what of The One Who Carries Light? She has come!"

"I come from a place where many yield such blades", she said, "I am not a liberator. I am still a student in my craft."

"All I ask is that you allow us to learn your ways and let us fight beside you", Paul announced. "That is all we ask."

~

It was near dusk when Lady Jessica emerged from her slumber with bright blue eyes and a new aura to her as Paul sat in her new room that had been occupied by the previous Reverend Mother.

"Are you two alright?" he asked, Lady Jessica nodded.

"Yes, she was frightened for a moment, but she's okay."

Paul relaxed at the statement before his mother continued, "she speaks to me."

Confusion filled him, his unborn sister... is speaking to her from the womb?

"She believes in you... in both of you."

Lady Jessica grasped his wrists with wild eyes, "she says only one step remains and Paul, you will become the Kwisatz Haderach and Y/N will rule by your side. Only one step, Paul! You must do what I did!"

Paul felt a fear like never before enwrap him but he couldn't move away

"You must drink the Water of Life! It will free you! You will see!"

Paul could not get the conversation out of his mind for the remainder of the day.

As part of their immersion into becoming one with the Fremen was learning how to cross the sand and survive properly. A tent and food was given to them as BB was to say with Lady Jessica as soon the suns fell into darkness as they continued their crossing.

Stilgar had warned them against the possible dangers of being deep into the sands, even saying demonic lizards lived in the sands that would try to trick your minds.

"You two sandwalk like a drunk lizard", a voice echoed. "You aren't even in worm territory yet."

She looked to see Chani sitting on a dune watching them.

"I thought we were doing well", Paul panted.

Chani stood as she sandwalked slowly to them, "you must break up your rhythm."

She came to them, showing them, "but you must make your steps wider."

Chani came to her and forced one of her legs to slider farther, "you bear more weight so your steps must be longer."

She wobbled a little as she forced on not falling over at the new stance.

"Now, that's interesting because in the film books I've studies--"

"Paul, are you about to question a Fremen on how to properly do this?" she asked with a raised brow.

Chani blinked at Paul, "come, both of you. Follow my steps."

With Chani's demonstration and help, sandwalking became much easier.

Soon, Chani had proved to become a friend to her and it made her miss Ashoka more than ever. She was the only one to believe in her and Paul's training, helping show them the ropes of learning and Y/N found Chani to be a kind person underneath the stern exterior she displayed.

She demonstrated how the windtraps worked, how to properly string tents and the beginnings of understanding Chakbosa.

🪐

Sitting in the tent, she ran a brush through her hair as the flap opened and looking over her shoulder, she saw Paul walking in his loose tunic clothing.

Standing up from the large cot, she walked over to his as he grasped her hips and pulled his close to her.

Being here among the dunes had proved to be a different type of difficult under the hot suns and unforgiving environment, but had somehow brought her and Paul into a new level of intimacy.

She stared into his eyes as she caressed his cheek before Paul leaned down, meeting her lips in a tongue filled kiss that left her thighs clenching as she fisted his shirt. Their lips clashing, tongues gliding over one another before Paul began to trail his lips down to her neck and finding the one spot he knew made her shudder, abusing the spot as he brought a hand up to her breast.

"Paul", she gasped as she felt her cunt clench and clit throb.

"I know, darling. Let me finally show you how I've missed you."

He pulled away and helped her take off her muslin nightgown, revealing her bare body underneath.

Her thighs felt sticky from the wetness coming from her. It had been so long since she had first been with Paul and it felt as if her body was shaking with need, her cunt feeling so slick and wet for him.

Walking backwards, she sat on the cot as Paul moved to take off his shirt, exposing to her his lean frame that she so loved. She brought a hand to his abdomen, trailing it down to palm at his obvious erection that Paul had as she helped him remove his pants.

His heavy cock leaked pre-cum and looked angry with need as she went to grasp it, but Paul shook his head.

"Please, don't tease me, darling. I need to be inside you."

Laying back down on the cot, she felt Paul tug back down as she yelped a little in surprise to find his kneeling at the foot of the cot.

"I just need a taste, my love."

She parted her legs, shyly as Paul brought his thumbs to her lips and spread her. His mere touch making her moan and whine as he cooed, "oh, love, you've missed me as I have you, haven't you?"

"Yes", she whined, "oh, Paul, how I've missed you."

She could only imagine how she looked to Paul as he cooed further, "your clit is so swollen, love. And I bet I can-"

She cried out as he slid two fingers in, her slickness allowing such a action to occur as he begun to slowly thrusting his fingers into her. She shivered as his fingers met that one spot in her that made her arch her back as Paul's hot mouth encased her clit, sucking on it as slowly as his fingers moved.

"Paul, please. I need more", she whined, "please."

He released her clit in a grin, "more, love? Do you not want to be made love to?"

She felt his fingers move in sped, her eyes rolling back as they begun to move in a deeper and rougher sped that had her moaning like those whores she had heard of on Azar.

"Or is it you want me to fuck you like a whore?"

"Yes", she began to sob as Paul's fingers bullied her cunt.

She had never pictured herself to be such a person but as Paul slid yet another finger into her, she tried to grasp at sides of the cot to keep herself grounded.

"Your cunt is so greedy, she just swallows my fingers."

It was then Paul brought his other hand and pressed down where her womb was and she cried out, he moved back to sucking on her clit in a harsh manner. The pleasure seemed to increase and her toes curled tightly, tears streaming as her cunt seized, squeezing his fingers as she felt her orgasm wash over her like a tidal waves.

Her legs slightly shook as Paul lapped at her clit, his fingers beginning to slowly slow in sped before he pulled them out.

She panted as she opened her eyes, watching as he stood and looked at the mess she had made on his fingers. He brought his fingers to his mouth, licking at it and he moaned at the taste.

"You taste so sweet."

"Paul, please. I need you." Y/N could see that Paul's cock seem to be leaking so much and looked so red at the tip.

It seemed her wish finally came true as Paul between her legs, she grasped his face and brought their lips together in a moaning mess before they both cried out as Paul slid home into her.

Their arms wrapped around one another as their hips began to rock, Paul's cock bullying her womb practically as they breathed the same air, their bodies so intertwined it was hard to tell where she began and where Paul ended.

Her nipples rubbed so deliciously against Paul's slick skin that it only fueled her lust.

"Ah, I-I... love you, Paul!" Paul's hips seemed to rock even faster, the slapping of their flesh could surely been heard in the camp.

"I-I love you too", Paul grunted before he pulled out and left her whining as her cunt throbbed. "Turn over, I want to try something different."

She panted but curiousity filled her as she went onto her hands and knees, hearing Paul shuffle behind her before she gasped as Paul slid into her.

It felt so much deeper like this as Paul once again began to move.

Sex was forbidden among the Jedi Order and she could understand why as Paul had her soon drooling like a whore, letting all of the Fremen in this camp hear how she was begging for it all.

Her elbows soon enough gave out under it all, letting her top half fall to the cot as she bounced in time to Paul's thrusts.

She felt that familiar clenching as Paul brought a hand to her clit, rubbing it as he mouthed at her back.

Her second orgasm had her feeling like she was floating and shivering that she missed the warm sensation of Paul's cum filling her up, but once she did feel it, she moaned at the full feeling.

Collapsing soon from it all, they found themselves in a sweaty, lovers' embrace as their hearts tried to calm down and their lungs try to get more air back in them.

TAGLIST

@cloudlst @khlaeesihavilliard @colors-for-the-world-please @senhoritaapple @dark1paradise @chalametabingbong @aoi-targaryen @star-maker-rain-dancer @nj452896

[hexy-lynesdein]

The Traveler & her Path Behind

“Wounds suffered, lessons learned.”

I think the most prominent part about episode 4 other than it being Alice's trial— wherein she was able to ended her generational curse for once and for all; changing something that she thinks “wasn't real”, is that you get to see how it affecting her.

How Alice realizes that she was angry at her mom who was only trying to save her. Lorna did everything in her power to protect Alice in any way she could. So that even if she was no longer present on Alice's life— her protection through the song, in which she pours all of her love for her daughter into, would persist. Thanks to the people who sang that song with as much passion as how Lorna is writing it for Alice.

And I love how she learned all of this from a journey with a broken coven, each filled with covenless witches who had their own issues. But even though they are hardly a “true” coven— they were there for Alice. They sat there with her on that campfire, talking about each scars that they had, so that she wouldn't feel so bad about hers. And for once, she felt that hole in her heart was slowly filled with warmth. That similar type of warmth that she's been missing for ages.

Alice has always been angry all her life. It's easier for her to get angry and blame something instead of grieving it. Because being angry is relatively easier than grieving because you feel like you are in control of your life, you get this power to push through from that fire burning in you. But unlike anger, grief is far from that. It's that feeling of hollow and emptiness— that you acknowledge something was no longer yours. It's gone and you have to accept that. You will eventually move on and there might be something else that will replace it. You will learn to live side by side with this pit that sits with you and it will left you in a vulnerable state, and that's not alright. It's hard to said it'll be alright when it clearly didn't. But eventually, you'd move on. People always do. That's just how life is always been.

And for once, when the cause of Alice's angers was no longer there— and that she was finally free from it after a long time of suffering, she felt nothing but sadness.

This is a simple phrase if it were to be said by anyone. However, it held much bigger weight when it was Lilia who said that.

Lilia being the oldest witch from the coven. Lilia who's been alive for 400+ years. Lilia who made it this far in life, seeing all the horrors, and the tragedies that humanity experienced— the malice that lurked in their hearts. She's seen it all. She saw their path and “destination”; but mostly their destination because of her gift. That's almost all the thing she ever saw throughout her life up until now. Not to mention the flow of time that seems to be never standing with her.

It makes her angry. Because she saw it all. Lilia has seen their death. The causes and what's about to happen. But there is nothing she could do about it. She warns them. She tells them. And it didn't change anything. There's nothing she could do about the outcome. Because her task as a seer isn't supposed to change. She's there to observe — to see. And that alone upsets her. She turned away from her gift. Unwilling to use something that is a part of herself. For years. Decades. Probably centuries. Because why would she be? Death is all she'd seen. Why would she want to subject herself into something that would hurt her? Something that would only make her sad? And that's why, in the end, she resorted into being a con artist. Masking herself behind something that was not Lilia Calderu the chased-out-of-every-village-for-accurately-predicting-tragedies; running away from her true self.

Lilia already lost count on how many days and nights that she yearns for a change. To be able to do something for once. Flashes upon flashes would appear on the peripheral of her vision. About her coven. Her family. Her sister in the craft. And often times she wondered if a miracle would happened again in her life.

And it finally did.

When Agatha Harkness recruited Lilia to joined her coven, she almost wanted to spat. No one with a sane mind would willingly joined her coven. But fate always has its own ways with Lilia as her future self went back into that fateful day, where she write down the name of her new coven. Assigning herself to embark into a treacherous journey with a group of people that she, somehow, has quite a lot in common.

From there, she learns again what it feels to have a coven and be in a coven. Each trials they faced with death and their worst nightmare following in their step. But at least they are together this time. Lilia is not alone and maybe she could actually count on these people. Perhaps the walk down on this road with the infamous Agatha Harkness is going to change her. Maybe she still couldn't prevent deaths but at least she could piece up something that she has been missing. A part of herself that she was trying so hard to ignore— a part of herself that yearns for some form of connections through sisterhood.

And she finally got it again. She saw Jennifer who's capable of saving a life while being bound. Changing the outcome of Teen's life. She saw Alice fighting, oh ever so bravely, and full of fire. Ending her family's generational curse for once and for all — changing something that she thought she couldn't. She's seen all the struggles and how it impacts them.

And there they sat in that campfire, after the fire-trial. Sharing their own scars as an attempt to make Alice felt better about herself. Lilia saw the sadness that lingered on the once fierce and full of fire woman. She's seen it and she acknowledge it, she knows that feeling all too well. Lilia feels like she saw a piece of herself on her new coven members yet again, and she felt the urge to give Alice one last words of comfort, “Sad is better than angry”. And maybe that words is not enough to fully filled the hole in Alice's heart on its own, but as long as it means that Lilia could have a chance to do something for her sisters in the craft instead of running away again or being indifferent like how she always do— then that's fine. It's okay. She will take those chances.

And Alice? Alice is grateful to hear that from Lilia— who lives longer than her, who suffers worse things than her, and who knows so much more than her. Because to be loved, is to be seen and heard. And now Alice is surrounded with love.

[saranova]

2024 Fic Writer End of Year Roundup

aka It's 2025 and I'm just getting to it now

Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going! Tagging @feetreadyheartbeatsteady @fantasywithkassidy @thoughtsaboutshows because I don't think I saw any of you do this, but no pressure!

Thank you to @ubiquitouslyme @lizardsrunfast @oh-no-its-dragons @overjoyedisland for the tags! I haven't actually participated in one of these tumblr things before and being more active on this platform is a 2025 goal of mine so here we go!

I'm not on Tumblr a ton, but I'm trying to be better and, yes, I know it's already 2025 but there's no time like the present to recap my 2024.

How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

According to AO3: 382,988 um ... what!?!?

How many fics did you complete this year?

Seven! The rest are WIPs.

That Infamous Infantry Guy - A Halden/Violet prequel story exploring the theory that he was her famous infantry ex.

The Mile High Club - A one-shot modern AU where Violet and Xaden meet on a transatlantic flight.

The Music of The Night - Iron Flame Violet/Varrish fanfic for the Riders Quadrant winter solstice fic exchange (for @lunatrixart)

Tropical Temptation - A V/X/L Modern AU one shot for the Rider's Quadrant winter solstice fic exchange for @shipmistress9 that I co-wrote with @tegantales

Secrets Die With Those Who Keep Them, So What's One More? - A canon compliant short fic where basically everyone is feeling horny and experimental. B/I/V, B/I/G

A Ray of Light in Shadowed Clouds - A Tairn/Sgaeyl piece for the Rider's Quadrant Summer Solstice Fic Exchange.

Measure Up - A Xaden/Dain piece for the Rider's Quadrant Summer Solstice Fic Exchange

How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

Nine

The Golden Dragons - My first ever fanfic, my baby! I had no idea what I was doing, I just started writing one day and this modern college AU has evolved. It's fun and I don't take this one too seriously, its a bit of satire and a lot of silly with a touch of serious.

My Adversary, My Abyss - An in-canon Mira/Syrena fic I began back in September as part of the Fourth Wing femslash week organized by @oh-no-its-dragons

One Manhattan - Modern Riorgail AU set in New York City. Co-authoring with @tegantales

Two Manhattans - Companion Piece to One Manhattan, sharing supporting character POV's.

XOXO, Aaric Graycastle - Basgiath's Gossip Column. A fun and silly series of tabloid style articles for Basgiath shenannigans.

Samara Man - Like Florida Man ... but at Samara. Spoiler: it always comes back to Garrick Tavis.

The Choreography of Combat - A series of one-shots of Bodhi Durran sexy sparring all the hot guys.

What was your favorite thing you wrote?

This is a really tough one. I love Golden Dragons b/c it is where my journey writing fanfic began ... but I wouldn't necessarily say it's my favorite thing I've written. Honestly, probably Chapter 6 of That Infamous Infantry Guy, it was my first time experimenting with writing something dark, and I love how it turned out.

What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

Probably The Music of The Night. It was my first time writing something that was really inspired by music and incorporating it's lyrics into the prose. It ended up being far more poetic than my usual works and is very dark and twisted. But I loved how it turned out so much.

Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception?

I was definitely surprised how much I loved writing Music of the Night, I wasn't sure how this Violet/Varrish pairing was going to come together, but once the idea came to me, the words just poured out of me.

I think the fandom's reaction to One Manhattan surprised me the most. I mean, I knew it would be fun and a wild ride, but I didn't expect so many people to take the ride with us and that has been awesome!

Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

Definitely My Adversary, My Abyss. Though the response to it has been small, it's been SO positive. The comments and messages I've gotten about it have been some of the most supportive and appreciative I've ever received. There's a lot of M/M fic in the fandom, but there really isn't much in the way of F/F so i am very determined and motivated to finish this one!

Who is an artist that inspired you?

Both @oh-no-its-dragons and @ann7av have created fan art based off of my works and if that isn't inspiration to keep writing, I don't know what is!! The fact that I wrote something that inspired artists to create absolutely blows my mind in the BEST possible way. It's the most wonderful thing, isn't it, to continue inspiring one another with our creations?

A shout out also to @lunatrixart for her amazing Tairn & Sgaeyl piece she created for the Rider's Quadrant Winter Solstice exchange. I started following her after I was assigned her as my giftee - I love how the exchange introduced me to so many creative and inspiring authors and artists!

Who is an author that inspired you?

I have met some really incredible authors this year in the Fourth Wing fanfic fandom through AO3 and the RQ Discord Server. Though, I have to call out @ubiquitouslyme because her Xaden Year 3 is the first fanfic I ever read. It was what I discovered when looking for a cure for my FW/IF book hangover, and it led me here! And for that, I will be forever grateful.

Additional shout out to Lydi (who's tumblr name is escaping me) for bringing me into the RQ Discord Server and introducing me to the fandom in a deeper way!

There are just too many authors to count because everyone inspires me in one way or another! I appreciate every comment, every encouraging word, every kudo, every meme, and just all our general discussions. Thank you to this fandom for welcoming me with open arms, it's been such a wonderful journey!

Who is a new author you discovered?

Well, I am so new to this fandom that literally everyone is a new author to me! So can I just say, all the authors of the Empyrean Fandom? There's just so much talent here it's unreal. This is such a tough one because there are so many on the RQ server.  

@overjoyedisland @lizardsrunfastt @fantasywithkassidyy @thoughtsaboutshowsows @suebswrites @yanny-77 @shipmistress9 @greeneyedwildthing @pillowqueen26 @sarcasticmothwrites @oh-no-its-dragons @june-s-pumpkins @tegantales @hockeyspiral23 @siobhanbooks @essjaywrites Mint (who's tumblr name I don't know) and everyone else I may have forgotten because I'm terrible with tumblr and don't know everyone's names on this platform (yet)

Did you do any collaborations? How did it start?

I did!

I've been writing One Manhattan and Two Manhattans with @tegantaless. I am not actually sure how it started, I think one of us was like, "Hey, I like your writing, we should write something together" and the other responded "Yes, same. I'm in!" and then we just did. It clicked for us immediately, and it's been so easy to co-author together. It kind of snowballed from there - we've now met IRL and have probably 100K words and three different published works between us in just a couple months?

What accomplishments are you proudest of?

I have three things I'm most proud of this year:

I started writing. Period. Hard Stop. I've never written anything creatively before and just decided to try it and see what happens. To say I've surprised myself is an understatement.

As someone who had never read smut or fantasy before 2023, I have now written both. To say it was intimidating when I started would be an understatement, but I'm so glad I went for it!

I pushed myself beyond what I was initially comfortable with. I've now written smut, m/m, f/f, poly, fluff, angst, and some super dark stuff. It's hard for me to believe I started writing fanfic for the first time in May!

What did you learn about writing or creating this year?

That nothing is perfect. That every chapter doesn't have to top the last. That sometimes you just need to build out the story. That it's okay to walk away from something if you need a break or aren't feeling inspired, your writing will be better for it.

What is your advice?

Write what makes YOU happy! Write for yourself, not everyone else. 

Connect with your readers! One of the things that brings me the most joy as a writer is interacting with those who follow my work. I love it so much, that my first fic, The Golden Dragons, turned into an interactive fic where I have surveys and linkouts embedded and then draw from those responses to make it more interactive.

Support each other! I am a very slow reader, but I try to read as much as I can because I enjoy both the stories and supporting the other wonderful authors in this fandom!

What are your creative goals for 2025?

Finish my current Empyrean WIPs, flesh out Mile High Club into a multi-chapter AU fic, complete one original fiction.

Write at least one piece for another fandom. I'm coming for you @acourtofladydeath

[yell0wsalt]

Fic: Dreams to Reality

For @meljaymicrofics Day 4: Fantasy by Mariah Carey

Rating: G

Relationships: Jayce Talis/Mel Medarda

Summary: Dreams don't have to stay that way. Sometimes it starts with a glance and a touch.

aka Mel's fascination with Jayce may be more than a working relationship over his dreams

word count: 1026

“Piltover, the land of progress, equality, innovation. I know it sounds impossible, but when have we ever let that stop us? Please, just give us a chance.”

Jayce’s proposal, bordering on plea, clung onto the light beaming from Mel’s flashlight that cut through the obscurity of the night.

A flash from Jayce to Viktor, then back to Jayce. “One night, gentlemen,” she decisively said. “Impress me, or I’d suggest you pack your bags.” Speaking with a finality, her flashlight flicked off as the clicking of her heels dampened with her stride away for the night. 

One last glimpse over her shoulder catching a silly grin evoked a smirk out of her. 

Fascinating.

****

A little over two years into Mr. Talis’s “Hextech” research was proving to be a wise investment thus far for Mel. What started off with small prototypes such as Hextech capacitors and the like quickly gained momentum to Hextech regulators, assembly tools, and more. While the rest of the council continued to give scornful eyes towards the man, shying away thanks to Heimerdinger’s influence, Mel tucked a nonexistent stray hair behind her ear and listened closely.

She was frankly intrigued. 

Hextech had boundless potential to make the activites of the people of Piltover easier in their work and general day-to-day living. 

Being the only member of the Council who was in support of Mr. Talis’s Hextech innovation ideas, Mel maintained a careful eye on his and his partner’s progress. The man frankly made it very easy. When she was buried in her own paperwork, he’d become a pleasant respite. 

Just as much when Mel would be done with her work for the day, she wouldn’t mind taking the longer route to the exit if it meant stealing a few glances at Mr. Talis’s fine back at work.

Pleasant thoughts could melt one’s stress and fatigue away quite easily.

****

“Business and income have been thriving lately,” Mel’s assistant Elora was one step behind flashing through incoming reports. 

Mel chuckled. “It’s what we like to hear, Elora. Mr. Talis has been a lovely ass to the Medarda House’s claims in Piltover.”

“Asset, Mel.”

“Yes, exactly,” nodding confidently.

“No, um–” Elora’s eyes briefly darted about skittishly before pulling a cupped hand to her mouth, leaning into Mel’s ear. “You said ‘ass,’ Mel.”

Mel pulled away as if burned. “You’re fantasizing such things,” coolly condemning such allegations. Certainly Elora was someone Mel saw as one of her closest friends, but she was not one for that degree of tomfollery. Medardas had no place for it.

A heat crawled to Mel’s cheeks, feeling Elora’s eyes scan her up and down. Gratefully such heat fell when Elora took a step back and hummed. 

“Maybe I am. My apologies. In any case…” With a smooth flick, she turned the paper in her report book, continuing to present projections for the upcoming year and proposal timelines for Mel. 

Tried as she might, Mel decided she could review the details of the report on her own time. A certain golden boy’s figure was slipping more frequently through the gaps of the roaring fire in the center of the ballroom and the swirls in her gut were getting hard to ignore.

 ****

The invention and implementation of the HexGates were thus far one of Mr. Talis’s greatest contributions. To essentially negate the factor of travel time when journeying abroad… all of the neurons in Mel’s brain lit up as a clear night sky. Part of her wondered if Jayce truly grasped the cascading impact this would have on history. 

Efficiency in economics, trade, and communication, Mel couldn’t be more proud of her golden boy.

Not hers hers in that regard, he had certainly won the heart of many citizens of Piltover over these years since the beginnings of Hextech, but a woman could dream of what that meant. What that could mean.

Mel wasn’t an idiot. Far from one. She could feel his eyes on her longer than necessary when she’d either leave a room or lead a path for the two of them. She was more than sure he wouldn’t complain if she put extra emphasis in the movement of her hips with each step.

If she could close her eyes and reach out, the daydreams would almost feel real to her.

****

“Thought I might find you here.”

Jayce’s figure standing by the edge of the balcony overlooking the city became more clear to Mel and she smiled brightly.

He turned to Mel with a faint smile before turning his gaze to the closest HexGate. “Generations ago through their tools, grit, and bare hands, my family helped the people forge this city from the ground up. Now, Piltover has become a beacon for innovation and progress. I can’t help but think of the power of magic– the power of HexTech– being the tool placed in citizen’s hands. The future and possibilities it could create!”

When Jayce reached towards the stars, so did she. “The history of the Medardas has been rife with destruction and self-profit,” Mel admitted. “This time, I’m glad I was in a position to do the opposite.” A soft nudge to the back of Jayce’s hand brought him back to her and her insides flipped once more at his handsome smile. 

“Couldn’t have made it this far without you.”

Maybe it was the level of openness and comfort they’ve grown into over the years. 

Maybe it was observing the beautiful cobalt blue of the hexcore illuminating the night along the stars, but Jayce’s admission brought a peculiar light to Mel’s chest.

If she could close her eyes and reach out…

Inhibitions cast aside when one hand intertwined with his, the other laid on his firm chest, and her lips captured his. As he reciprocated the affection, wrapping her hands around her waist, a not insignificant part of Mel was relieved the long glances over the years weren’t merely in her head.

When her hands were free to roam the expanse of his broad back and thick hair, Mel sighed into their kiss, feeling her very being bloom under his touch…

This must be that kind of love they write about in those stories and songs.

[tecconquerit]

TecC in 2024: Despite being in a busy schedule, I managed to dive into 14 amazing games, unlocking 28 achievements and earning 595 Gamerscore across 67 hours of playtime. 🎮✨

From strategizing in Age of Empires Definitive Edition (my #1 game this year) to surviving the post-apocalyptic world in Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, every moment was unforgettable. 💥 Whether I was building empires, exploring galaxies in The Callisto Protocol, or racing through Forza Motorsport, each game kept the adrenaline pumping and the passion alive.

Gaming isn’t just a hobby; it’s an adventure where every session brings a new challenge, a new world to explore, and new milestones to conquer. Big shoutout to Xbox for making every replay worthwhile, and to the gaming community for inspiring even bigger achievements for 2025—though I’m unsure how my schedule will look by then. Let’s conquer the next year together—more games, more milestones, and a whole lot of fun ahead! 🚀🔥

Thank you all for being part of this journey, and here’s to making 2025 even better! What were your favorite Xbox games this year? Let’s compare and share the grind. 💪✨

#TecConquerIt #TECCONQUERITXBOXYEARINREVIEW2024 #TecConquerItXbox #GamingReplay #Xbox2024 #AchievementsUnlocked #GamingCommunity #AgeOfEmpires #MetroExodus #TheCallistoProtocol #ForzaMotorsport #GamerGoals #ConsoleGaming #GameLife #LevelUp #XboxAchievements #GamingAdventure #StrategicGaming #TopGames2024 #GamingPassion #GamerVibes #GameOn #TechAndGames #VideoGameAddict #XboxGames #GamerJourney #UnstoppableGamer

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

With the end of season two comes a second redraw!

[Nov 2022] [June 2023] [June 2024]

[shalom-iamcominghome]

My jewish community, friends, rabbi, and educators: We are very invested in helping you be jewish. Do you want to help read the haftarah? Here's a chanukiah! You can have it!! Borrow these books! Here's some books! You need more books... Come to pesach! Come to the chanukah party! When are your classes done? We need a minyan for once!

Me and my 50000 IQ: What if I am Secretly Appropriating judaism? What if I am doing a Cultural Appropriation........

[servantofthefates]

tumblr says my blog has turned 3 years old. ✨ So I thought I'd celebrate by sharing 3 little things about me.

1) I am a Scorpio Sun.

That means I never forgive — anyone or anything.

Growing up in a tropical country, we had pineapple almost every day. For dessert or as a snack. I used to love it. A lot.

But one time when I was about 4 or 5, a pineapple slice made my tongue itch. I could still feel a slight prickle the next day.

Since then, I never had pineapple ever again. And I never will.

Scorpios and second chances don't mix.

2) I am a Taurus Rising.

That means I am loyal. To people, principles... and more.

When I was 11 years old, my brother gave me a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue. I loved it.

So it's been my perfume ever since.

I've sampled many others after. From Acqua di Parma, Dior and Givenchy, to humbler ones like Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body. All of them paled in comparison to my one and only.

"Taurus" and "devotion" may have different spellings, but they have exactly the same meaning.

3) I am a Libra Moon.

That means I always go above and beyond, for me.

I once went to the doctor because I was getting nosebleeds. He said it was caused by the cold, dry weather at the time. He prescribed a humidifier.

Do you think I ordered a little one from Amazon to put on my bedside table?

No. I bought one from Dyson. A humidifier that disinfects every drop of water before it releases it into the air. Air... which has been purified, cooled, and distributed with 70% humidity in a 90° angle within my bedroom.

Yes, Libra is balanced. But who ever said balanced means basic?

[corviiids]

an acquired taste and fancy seeing you here are absolutely adorable-- though i will admit that i expected akira to steal akechi's wallet to find out his name when he bumped into him the first time

haha thank you!! god those fics are so old to me now i can't even look at them - tbh i've nearly privated them a bunch of times but enough people have let me know they're still enjoying them that i can't bring myself to do it lol. im so glad you had fun with them!!

[kieumy]

.

[agentravensong]

post-hamlet thoughts

tl;dr my college did hamlet and i was in it and it was cool

first of all, in case i hadn't made this clear already, this was entirely student-produced. i mean, we got some money from the theater department, but people-wise, it was all students.

i've told the rest of the cast this time and time again, but they're so good. insanely dedicated and humbling in their talent.

our hamlet, horatio, ophelia, and laertes were all freshman, and they were all stellar. ophelia and laertes broke my heart every night in the second half with their anger and their sadness. horatio always brings top energy to scenes and had lots of funny moments (espec counting his doubling as the second gravedigger) but also made me feel things (we staged act 4 scene 6 as him alone on stage reading hamlet's letter to the audience and he killed it every time). and our hamlet was just incredible; a pleasure to act against as guildenstern and a pleasure to watch / listen to in their more emotional scenes.

and everyone else was great too! our polonius was always funny but also had genuine moments of connection with his kids; our cladius brought some great depth to the role (his take on the monologue in act 3 scene 3 was great) while still being despicable, especially in his manipulation of laertes; our gertrude brought our director's take on her to life impeccably; and, of course, i had a wonderful and hilarious partner in our rosencrantz :)

not to mention our quartet of players (who also filled out the other miscellaneous roles) who had a ton of great moments. shout-outs in particular to the guy who doubled as the first gravedigger and sang his sung lines as a sea shanty (honestly, i think he could have been a great guildenstern or rosencrantz in another universe).

the crew, of course, was also amazing. there were like 150 cues? my friend (the writer i mentioned in this post) did a fantastic job with the lights. the people behind the staging and makeup did just as well. and the costumes were so fun! everyone looked great; we had a consistent black-white-red-brown color palette that tied it all together. special shout-out to the player king wearing a white shirt with a black cape while cladius wore a zipped-up leather jacket and a white cape.

oh, and me and ros? we got fedoras :) i may share a photo later. maybe.

we did our show in the college black box theater (inside the fine arts building), which i do not currently have the brain cells to try and explain the layout of. it's a kind of weird space, but i think we made the most of it. for the majority of the show i was off stage left, meaning i was hanging out at the top of the stairs which serve as the main entrance and exit to the theater (sitting/standing where i couldn't be seen by the audience obv). you can't really see the stage at all from there but you sure can hear the actors, and by the time of the show that was (mostly) enough for me.

as far as how the actual shows went?

friday was our most engaged audience. their laughter was greatly appreciated in the early scenes ...slightly less so when everyone was dying in the final scene. i mean, i get it, people start dropping like flies and actually foaming at the mouth and spitting out (fake) blood; it's a lot. i applaud hamlet and horatio for staying in character through it. everyone did a great job that night; it was probably better than all our dress rehearsals as a whole.

saturday, at least from my pov, had kind of weird vibes at the start? i don't know how much of it was people getting to bed late the previous night, how much of it was overconfidence, and how much of it was people getting in their own heads, but it was our lowest energy show. the audience wasn't as audibly engaged either, but they did give us a big applause. i felt more good than bad about it by the end, for sure.

especially in retrospect, because, despite us having a smaller crowd at today's matinee, everyone was back on the ball. the ending in particular i think was the best we've ever done it. it was probably my best performance as well.

to be clear, i wouldn't rate any of our three shows below an 8 out of 10, for what that's worth. everyone gave so much to their performances; the funny bits were funny even when the audience didn't seem to think so, and i was always getting caught up in my feelings in the second act. you can't ask for much more than that.

now, here's a compilation of things from the production in no real order:

i already posted about this, but having the blood stains on stage where people die from the beginning of every show? *chef's kiss*

i'll also restate the thing i mentioned in the tags of that post: characters who were murderers had symbolic blood makeup after they killed someone. cladius had a bloody ear from the start of the show, the meaning of which becomes clear once you see the player king get poison poured in his ears; hamlet got blood on their face during intermission that's meant to be polonius's blood; and, arguably most significantly, gertrude had bloody handprints around her neck when she entered at the end of act 4, which, in addition to her hair and arms being dripping wet, is meant to suggest that the story she tells about ophelia's death is, in fact, a cover for something less accidental.

as mentioned above, our director's take on gertrude in general was, from my understanding, pretty different from the standard. to quote from his character spines, "you fundamentally want to prepare your son hamlet to be king; you are playing essentially a game of chess to do so." it was really compelling to see in action. the way she performed act 4 scene 7? chilling.

speaking of those character spines, the first line of horatio's is literally just, "You are in love with Hamlet." and boy howdy did that come through

prime example of that (other than just, all of his and hamlet's interactions, which were wonderful): when horatio finished reading the letter from hamlet, he sniffed it, in a very sweet and very not-platonic way

it was an unintentional running gag throughout the whole process that other cast members would forget between ros and me which character we were playing - to the point that every performance, when hamlet first greeted us, even though i would get to them first, they addressed me first, and it's written that they say my name first, they would call me rosencrantz and our ros guildenstern. ...someone should write a play about that.

i might have posted about this already, but in ros and i's first scene with hamlet, when the two of them start talking about child actors, hamlet made us sit in the thrones, and we would make moves to leave of varying boldness that they, of course, never let us follow through on. this then got basically repeated in act 3 scene 2 except that horatio got to join in on the fun of relentlessly mocking us

(the thing where hamlet handed me their copy of william shakespeare's complete works while they dud the "what is a man" mimi monologue got dropped at some point in the dress rehearsals, unfortunately. they did flip through it with the players though)

during the play within a play, polonius would keep falling asleep and ros and i would keep waking him up

(we also got to do some fun silent banter back in act 2 scene 2 while hamlet and the players were doing their thing)

then the bit after that with the recorders, aka guildenstern's defining moment, was just so fun. hamlet and horatio basically sandwiched ros and me between the two of them, and hamlet and i played off each other very well (at least imo), and though i couldn't see what horatio and ros were doing behind me i know that it got some good laughs. and i could tell every night that the scene landed despite the shakespearean language barrier, so i can't help but be satisfied.

my other best moment was when the king told me to go get polonius's body from the stairs and i got to slump and make a "do i have to?" face before my (final) exit. i managed to actually get some chuckles from that tonight, from the crowd that, again, laughed the least in general, and i can't put into words how euphoric i was to have that be my last moment playing guildenstern.

from the rest of the second half of the show, which i am not in, i will highlight a) the gravedigger eventually realizing after shoveling for minutes on end that he's been shoveling literally nothing (love me a good little fourth wall break) and b) when hamlet and laertes come to physical blows over ophelia, horatio, on his line, steps between them, draws laertes's sword, and takes a stance pointing it at laertes to hold him off, all in basically one glorious motion.

oh, and the ending, of course.

as i alluded to way earlier, we had fake blood and alka-seltzer tablets that the people who died in act 5 scene 2 used to great effect (particularly the people who died via poison)

speaking of that scene, the sword fight was very neat! well-choreographed and well-enacted. real foils btw

and the way hamlet and horatio performed the ending? more than anything, the way hamlet said "give me the cup; let go!" - that shit hurt, in the best way, every night. (and though hamlet died in the king's throne (with the king's crown on), horatio held / clung to them the whole damn time)

for a lighter final note: our polonius doubled as fortinbras and came on at the ending in this huge, heavy, vampire-ass cloak, accompanied by our director as the messenger from england who announces my and ros's death :)

thankfully, we did record our last dress rehearsal, so we do have a version of it that we'll get to watch back in the future. i won't be able to share it with any of y'all (we will apparently be in BIG trouble if we post it anywhere online) but it'll be nice to have for me.

funny thing that happened while i was typing this long-ass post out: i kept using present tense and then realizing i had to change it to past tense. and by "funny" here, i mean, uh... oof.

we never got a perfect run-through where no lines were skipped over, but, i mean, it's fucking hamlet. we did this shit in like a month and a half (with a week lost to spring break); it's more than impressive that the show turned out how it did. it was a group labor of love, and one of the best things i've ever gotten to be a part of.

and i miss it already.

...at least there's movie night on tuesday :)

[daily-keyboardsmasher]

Day 1700

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