#but I am very curious where the siblings are going from here

[majosullivan]

[talking to the Flyfin siblings like I’m the presenter of a Children’s show] now you see kids, you might have missed this between completely dehumanizing someone for your own gain, beating and threatening to break someone’s fingers to try and force them to help you and having no objections to your brother’s plan to slowly rip off pieces of someone’s skin until they agree to help you, but this is a little something called ‘having a conscience’

[angelicblondie]

high infidelity (pt 2)

enemy!luke x princess!reader (MDNI) warning: cheating (not ok at all), smut note: finaly done! thank you for the patience on this! it took me soooo long for some reason so im so sorry! but with that being said, i really hope you all enjoy 🤍 ⋆⑅ೀpart oneೀ⋆⑅

you hadn't properly spoken to luke in exactly 2 weeks. 2 weeks since you threw your coffee all over him at breakfast, 2 weeks since you spent the whole day cleaning camp with him, 2 weeks since you kissed him, and 2 weeks since you slept with him.

eventful day, huh?

after luke had cleaned the two of you up, you had promptly (and awkwardly) showed yourself out, sliding back on your underwear and running back to the beach for your clothes. you thanked the gods that everyone was at the campfire and no where near you and luke, otherwise they would have caught you in a very compromising position.

after redressing, you rushed to the rest of the campers, taking a seat next to alex. your boyfriend.

wow, what a good girlfriend I am, you thought sarcastically.

alex turned towards you, placing a firm kiss on your cheek. "hey babe, where were you?"

you loosened up your limbs trying to appear casual. "I had to finish off some cleaning with luke." you stated, forcing your voice to sound a bit annoyed at the mention of the raven haired boy.

alex sighs. "i know you don't like him babe, but what happened at breakfast was....a bit much, no?"

you bite your lip. "i know, i know, trust me."

his fingers twirl a bit of your hair, and his eyes narrow. "why is your hair wet?"

you blink, thoughts running wild to formulate an answer.

"i think im done cleaning," luke stated, tossing his shirt to the sand and unbuttoning his shorts. you turned to look away, fearing a blush would coat your cheeks at seeing his near-naked form.

you could hear the smirk in lukes voice as he talked, and you turned back to see him just in boxers, walking backwards towards the water.

"gonna take a dip, if you wanna join."

his words were enticing, and you still couldn't figure out why. despite yourself, you slowly peel of you clothes, curious as to where this was going. with a new found sense of confidence, you walked towards the water, locking eyes with luke, who was eyeing your body, and the thin, lacy garments covering you privates.

you held back a shudder of the memory from before, and forced a annoyed look on your face.

"luke threw water on me at the beach." you lied.

alex scoffed. "what a dick, huh?"

you nodded, leaning your head on his shoulder. "yeah, a huge dick."

you winced at your words, because they were true in all senses. you almost laughed at the irony - you had just slept with him and were now talking to your boyfriend about how he's a huge dick. beautiful.

in truth, you felt beyond guilty. here alex was, so sweet and caring, and you had just cheated on him. it was so out of character, especially given your hatred for luke - it was out of the blue.

you regretted it. bad.

but why did that idea fill you with even more guilt?

not long after you arrived, luke had showed up, going over to sit with his siblings.

he glanced in your direction, noticing that you were next to alex. feeling his gaze on you, a part of you wanted to detach from your boyfriend - a small part, but still a part.

and besides, even if that part of you was bigger - that part that quite enjoyed your time with luke over the past hour - it would never work. odds are, you were just a one and done for him. he messes around with girls all the time, its wasn't worth loosing your relationship with alex over.

so at that moment, especially when you saw luke begin to flirt with a girl from demeter cabin, you decided you would forget you and luke castellan ever happened, and you would devote your time into making your relationship with alex work.

because it was the right thing to do.

.·。.·゜✭·❤·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·❤·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·❤·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·❤

like stated, it had been 2 weeks since your...encounter, with luke, and safe to say things have gone mostly back to normal.

mostly.

the days were mostly the same. you spent time with your siblings and friends, and of course, your boyfriend. you trained the younger campers, you dueled with your peers, and you lead your cabin in all duties, being the head councilor alongside your sister silena.

you relationship with alex felt as if it had only strengthened in the couple of weeks - you had been pouring so much more energy into the the two of you, and if felt good to be investing into something that was good for you.

and besides, you were filled with immense guilt for what happened with luke - the least you could do was spend a little extra time with alex.

so yeah. the days were mostly back to normal.

the nights, however, had changed.

instead of being plagued by usual demigod nightmares, you had been burdened with far worse - dreams of luke.

you were angry, internally blaming it on him, even though you knew rationally, he couldnt have anything to do with it.

you were the issue.

whether you were trying to or not, you were the one dreaming of him. you were the one that as soon as you closed your eyes, you were back in cabin one, underneath him, writhing in pleasure.

you wished there was some sort of therapy at camp, so someone could tell you what the hell was going on.

you knew you didn't like luke - since the moment you met him, in fact, you hated him. the two of you never got along, always competing to be best, always finding ways to get under the others skin. you didn't like him, and he didn't like you.

so it was attraction - simple as that. just because you hated him with your gut, doesn't mean you couldn't find him hot. because he's objectively hot. it would be suspicious if you said he wasn't hot, because everyone knew he was.

so, you could admit that to yourself - that you found him very attractive, but you could never see anything with him. thats why it didn't matter - because theres nothing of substance. with alex - he genuinely cares about you, and you feel safe with him. luke would only ever disappoint you.

but you couldn't deny that lukes surprising warmth was unforgettable. that his lips and skin were shockingly soft, that his voice when quiet and breathless was enough to send shivers down you spine even now, that when you were with him in that state he was all consuming...

you couldn't deny that his touch was electric, lighting a spark in you that you didn't know was there. that his teases weren't aggravating that one late afternoon when he had you, in fact, they only spurred on your need for him. you couldn't deny that despite yourself, the intimacy of the moment you had wasn't lost on you - the way he demanded you look in his eyes the whole time, the way he joked with you and cleaned you up after, even his dirty teases about what your boyfriend would think if he found out - you remembered it, no matter how much you wish you didn't.

you cringed when you remember your own words from that night.

"bet he could never make you feel this good, could he?" luke had asked, his voice teasing and of course, knowing.

you repeatedly shake your head, your words coming out all jumbled together. "no, never, only you, luke," you cried.

"s'that right, princess? only me?" you almost regretted your words, seeing how much it seemed to have grown his ego, but you couldn't find it in yourself to care all that much when he was making you feel so good.

you nod, whimpering as your cunt clenched around him, biting your lip to hold back any more sounds.

you had essentially told him that it was only luke who could make you feel that good, that he was better than your boyfriend.

yikes. it wasn't a good look, especially since you were still with said boyfriend.

you could excuse it, say it was heat in the moment, but in truth, in that moment you meant it. you rarely say things you don't mean, and even if you tried to lie, you knew the truth - you knew that it wasn't a fabricated statement.

you also couldn't pretend that you hadn't seen him looking at you, very often as of late. you'd be at the volleyball court, messing around with your siblings, when you felt his hot gaze on you. you turn to look, seeing him with his own siblings from afar, staring heatedly at you. you would swallow nervously, you body feeling hot, before returning your attention back into the game.

you werent sure why he was pressed - you had assumed he would've been fine with it - getting it out of your system once and then going back to normal.

but nothing between you two in the past couple of weeks was your normal.

you and luke, as always, taught the younger campers a sword fighting class. you had been teaching this together for years, chirons reasoning that you two were the strongest sword fighters in camp, and it would be a shame not to utilize that. the two of your egos had been too stroked to disagree, despite your dislike for the other.

but now, after what happened between you two, you regretted that design greatly.

things were beyond different between you two now. instead of teases and jabs, from luke you were given intense glares and knowing smirks. when the two of you were demonstrating, it was impossible to focus, having to look luke in the eye after what happened between the two of you felt like hell. your cheeks grew rosier the more his lips tilted up into a simper, and your body felt hotter whenever his fingers grazed on you waist to show "correct stances" to the kids.

you felt so angry with yourslef for letting him have this effect on you - you had promised yourself to forget what happened between the two of you, but it was hard when he made you feel so helpless.

it was even worse when you got caught staring at him instead of the other way around - humiliating, even. he would meet your intense gaze, his eyes filled with a rare sense of seriousness. you would look away, embarrassed to be caught, but you would feel his gaze on you for a long time after.

you remembered one night when his stare was far too compromising.

it was about a week ago, aka, a week after the two of you slept together, and alex was walking you back to your cabin after a long day.

"you tired?" he had asked warmly, hodling both your hands as you stood in front of you cabin.

you nodded, a small smile on your lips. "yeah, long day."

he nodded in agreement, before stepping close to you, his lips tilting up. "can i give you a kiss?" he asked.

you internally winced. why did he ask? he was your boyfriend, he shouldnt have to ask to kiss you!

luke certainly didn't.

you shook that thought away before forcing a smile on your lips, nodding softly before leaning in to meet his lips.

kisses with alex were always slow - not that you didn't like slow kisses, but it was all the time - there had to be some sort of diversity.

with luke, there were moments where your lips moved sensually, before speeding up to be more intense. there was moments where he kissed you passionately and deeply, before pulling his lips away, teasing you, leaving you wanting more. it was electric, addictive, even.

luke-why were you thinking about luke right now? you were kissing your boyfriend, and you should be thinking about him, alex, not luke. you felt a prickle on your arms, goosebumps rising, as you flutters your eyes opened slightly.

from afar, you could see luke, leaned out front of his own cabin, watching you guys.

you wondered if you should've felt disgusted, annoyed even - but you were filled with shock.

alexs' lips trailed down to your neck and you gasped, him smiling into your skin. he thought you were gasping for him, he thought you were pleased with his lips.

when in reality, you were reacting to a whole different man.

staring at luke from across the way, your mind could trick you into thinking it was him doing this to you - him holding your waist tightly, lips sloppily trailing kisses along your neck. even though alexs' lips felt much different, you could pretend.

luke watched, his arms crossed, serious gaze softening into a smug expression. he knew. he knew you were thinking about him, he knew you couldn't stop thinking about him - he knew. somehow, he knew.

so anywayse, to summarize the past 2 weeks:

hell. absolute hell.

.·。.·゜✭·❤·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·❤·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·❤·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·❤

"alice, make sure to keep your feet planted, its easy for your opponent to knock you down if your balance is unsteady"

you heard lukes instructions from afar as your bent in front of layla, a young athena camper, putting a bandaid on her knee.

"why do you and luke not fight anymore?" layla asks innocently.

you look up to here, surprised by her question. you laugh breathily. "um, i dunno, layls. we just don't."

she huffs, wincing when you place the bandain on her cut. "yeah, but you guys barely talk, as well."

you blow out a breath of air, ignoiring her interrogation. "all done. why dont you go join the others?"

she pouts, but does as you say, running back over to her sparing partner as you stay where you stand, overseeing the practice.

you feel the space fill up next to you and you don't have to look to know its luke.

"ben is getting better," he comments, referring to your younger brother. you hum in agreement. "yeah, he just need to be more confident in his moves and then he'll be on a good path."

he hums, and its silent for a moment as you two watch your students.

"listen, i have some changes i want to make to next classes schedule," luke says, breaking the silence. his voice was casual, yet his lips were tilted up in a faint smirk.

you turn to look at him, furrowing your brows. "ok..." when he doesn't say anything, you huff. "go ahead."

he chuckles. "nah, i mean, its too long of a conversation, and class is almost over."

you purse your lips. "ok, fine, then after class."

he hisses in a breath of air. "i'm busy all afternoon," he excuses, faux apologetic. you narrow your eyes. what is he playing at ?

you let out a scoffed laugh. "ok, so when?"

he shrugs. "does after dinner work?"

you fold your lips inwards. you weren't so sure about that. alone, when its dark, with luke? cant be a good idea. but there was no other time to do it, and you knew he wouln't take no for an answer.

"fine," you say curtly after a moment.

he grins. "perfect. meet at the dock, then."

and thats exactly what you did. after finishing up your dinner, making sure all your sibling got ready for bed, you snuck out to the dock.

you saw luke already seated there, and when he heard your footsteps, he whipped his head around, his lips tilting up. "ah, there you are. almost thought you werent coming."

you walk over to sit next to him, yet far enough away. "so, what did you want to talk about?"

he chuckles, leaning back on his hands. "oh, theres tons i want to talk to you about, princess."

you clench your jaw, your cheeks getting a bit rosy. "i meant about the schedule for next lesson."

"oh, right," he sits up a bit, "i think we should change the demonstration to before they start practicing instead of after."

you blink. seriously? couldnt he have just said that earlier? "is that all?"

lukes eyes grow mischievous. "no, actually. i think you should bring your little boyfriend - think it would be fun for him to watch us spar, no?"

you purse your lips, immidiately filled with anger. "stop that."

he throws his hands up in faux defense. "woah, calm down princess. was just an idea."

you roll you eyes, scoffing. "i knew it was a bad idea to come here."

you begin to stand up, but he grabs your wrist. "no. c'mon, stop that," he snickers a bit. "i was just messin with you."

his voice came across a bit soft, and you couldnt ignore the fluttering in your stomach. you stay seated, looking over at him. "whats the real reason you asked me to come out here?"

lukes jaw clenched, and he looked out into the dark water of the lake. the vibe between you two darkened, as did his expression. "you cant just pretend it didn't happen. thats not how it works."

you face fills with shock, his switch in demeanor catching you off guard. he seemed...frustrated, frustrated that you hadn't acknowledged what happened between the two of you.

you swallow nervously. "it was a mistake," you say, but your voice betrays you, coming out quiet and unsure.

luke scoffs. "nothing you do is a mistake, princess. you always know what your doing."

"yeah, well, i didn't in that moment, obviously," you bite your lip. this didn't feel like you and luke - the two of you were being oddly vulnerable, you weren't necessarily fighting - sure you were frustrated, but it wasn't like you were throwing petty insults at the other.

"i..." you start, but have trouble finding you words. "look, i had a good time with you" you admit, your voice quiet. you don't dare to look at luke. "and it was all...really good. but it cant happen again. i've already done enough to betray alex, when he's been nothing but good to me. and-and im a relationship girl, luke. thats something you could never give me."

lukes jaw clenches. alex? nothing but good to you? so you dont know about how he bragged to a bunch of the guys about your body, about how you had given into him? so you dont know that alex had said disgusting things about you, vulgar things?

instead of saying this, he turns to you. "who says i couldn't give you that?" he asks, his voice quiet and low.

you blink, turning to him. you checked his eyes for the truth, and saw nothing but sincerity in his words. shock ran through you. you had no idea he was actually interested in you - you had just assumed he was purely attracted to you, and that was it.

it was like a gate you had forced yourself so seal shut had been cracked open. you had made yourself not even entertain the idea of more with luke, assuming that he would never even think of it. but knowing that he had - that changed everything.

you allowed yourself to consider it, truly consider it. the idea of being with luke. you didn't push it away.

you were brought back to the soft but firm touches, the intimate eye contact, the way he made you feel so special that night 2 weeks ago. you enjoyed it, you know you did, even if you tried to pretend it didn't happen.

but then you remembered alex - sweet alex, who was waiting at the campfire for you after you had fucked luke. gentle alex, who never rushed you, and was respectful.

alex always felt safe.

but what if you didn't want safe?

the silence had consumed the two of you - the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of crickets and the gentle summer breeze. the eye contact you two held was intense - your eyes were glazed over in thought - you both were thinking hard in that moment.

you don't know what possessed you to do it. the moment felt so intimate and private, and he was right there, in your grasp. your hand went out to delicately cup his face. his brows furrowed a bit, confused and a bit surprised by your touch.

you bite your lip. "do you mean it? that you could give me that?" you asked, you voice the softest it had probably ever been with him.

you words were so vulnerable, it caused his heart to clench. after a moment he nods. "i want to. i want to give that to you."

before you knew it, your lips were crashing into his. luke reacted instantly, one hand holding the back of your head and the other cupping your cheek.

you were brought back to the moment where you two kissed at the beach, but this felt a lot different. there was hint of desperation then - you two weren't sure how long it would last, what it meant, even how you were feeling - now, everything was more sure.

you had him now, and he had you.

he pulls you close, and you swing your legs around him, straddling his waist. his hands slide down your waist, squeezing a bit to pull you closer to his chest. you arch into his touch, pressing your chest against his and your hands slide into his hair.

once you start getting breathless you pull apart, panting against his lips.

luke grinned tiredly, and it was so contagious you smiled back.

"let me sneak you into my cabin," his swollen lips practically whisper.

you bite your lip unsurely. "i dunno...what about your siblings?"

he scoffs a bit, as if you said something funny. "they'll be out by now. besides, we'll be quiet"

that was enough to convince you, and before you knew it, his hand in yours, he dragged you over to his cabin, opening and shutting the door quietly, tiptoeing to his bed.

luke sits down first, opening his legs and looking up at you, signaling you to sit down on them. you straddle his lap, cautiously looking around the cabin as luke began to nip at your neck, forcing quiet, breathy hum out of your lips.

he pulls you down, covering you both in blankets, as his lips attack yours. you fall into a steady rhythm, hands exploring each others bodies, breathing heavily into each others mouths. you pawed at his chest. "more," you whisper pleadingly.

"more?" he asks tauntingly. "y'want more? more of what, princess?"

you whine quetly. "of you, luke, please?"

without another words he pecks you chin with a mischievous smile, disappearing under the covers. your filled with anticipation before you feel him lift your shirt up, placing kisses all along your torso.

you bite you lip, holding back the noises that you desperately wanted to release, as you felt his lips move lower and lower.

you wished you could see him, so you ducked under the covers, the duvet just thin enough that moonlight was able to peak in. you could see the shadows of his face, and he looked devastatingly handsome.

he smiled against the skin of your inner thigh, his lips peppering a few kisses there. he moved up, right against your denim shorts, playing with the button and zipper. after a bit of teasing, he slid the down, collecting them in his hands to climb up over you, sliding them under his pillows. he placed a delicate kiss on your lips, before whispering, "is this ok?" against them. you nod feverishly, and he smiles so soft you wonder why you've yet to see this side of him.

he moves back down, his lips against the cotton of your panties, hands holding you hips. just his breath against you was enough to make you feel light, and pool wetness. he place a sweet kiss directly over you clit and you shivered, hands moving to his hair.

"j'wanna make you feel good, princess." he says so quietly you almost miss it. your heart thunders in your chest as he presses more kisses over your panties, his hands sliding down to toy with fabric on yours hips.

"please, luke." you whisper pleadingly, and he gently shushes. "shhhh, its ok, let me handle it. just lay back and take it, hm?"

you nod, your face twisted in want as you relax you head, letting it rest on the pillow.

luke gently tore your panties off, letting them pool at your ankles as his middle finger slows runs down your center. you shiver, and he places a disciplinary hand on your hips. "stay still," he instructs, his finger still gathering your wetness.

his digit pushes into your tight entrance, causing you to swallow a whimper. you shut your eyes, hands gripping his hair.

he places a soft kiss on you thigh, mumbling incoherent praises against your skin.

he slowly moves in and out of you, before his lips press a kiss on your clit again. you jump, gasping quietly as he begins gently sucking.

with his digit fingering your fluttering walls, and his lips slobbering over you pussy, you swear you've never felt such pleasure. its hard to keep quiet, and your surprised you do (not counting the occasional gasp or quiet hums of pleasure).

luke is having way to much fun. you can feel him smirk against you when you let a little noise slip, and you can feel him silently laughing when his tongue flicks over your bud, knowing you would go crazy.

he adds a second finger, and before you know it, a third. every second your coaxed further into your orgasm, and you know he can tell, by the way your pulling his hair to push him closer to your core, and the way your back arches off the bed.

when he does finally bring you too your peak, you bite your lips so hard your surprised it doesn't bleed. your hips stutter against his hand, and his digits inside you slow down, moving you through your high. once you catch you breath, he gently brings your panties back up, placing a kiss over the fabric, before climbing back up.

he kisses you softly, and you can taste yourself on his tongue. he breaks away, the two of your heads peaking out of the blankets.

"good?" he asks quietly and softly, lips red and swollen.

you giggle a bit. "more than good." your hand runs down his chest. "want me to return the favor?"

he shakes his head. "another time, princess."

you pout. "are you sure? i dont mind."

he shakes his head again. "nah. tonight was about you. we have all the time in the world for that."

and it was true, you did. that night 2 weeks ago was the start to something beautiful, and tonight was the real start of you - you and luke.

[milaisreading]

How about this one. a scenario where the manager goes out with her older step-brother on a siblings date. But the bllk 11 boys thought she was having a boyfriend and such and chaos start going everywhere:D? Love your writings btw!!💕

Author: I had this sitting in my drafts for abt 4 days, since smn else requested it too!! Hope u like it and thank you for the request 🩷

Warnings: Reader uses she/her. Requests are open

⚽️Blue Lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

"Nagi, put down the knife." Rin warned as his eyebrow twitched. The albino groaned and put the item on the table. Rin rolled his eyes and continued glaring at the scene in front of him, until he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.

"Reo, who are you texting?" The billionaire heir looked up from his phone and huffed.

"I am writing the others what had happened. They are on their way here."

"They are what? Are you insane?" Isagi asked, finally wrestling a fork out of Nagi's hands.

"Did you seriously plan on stabbing the guy's eyes out with that thing?" Chigiri asked, never once looking away from the horrific scene in front of them.

What was going on? Why were these 5 boys.... agitated to say the least? And why was Nagi asking people, in the restaurant, to give him their knives?

"I am sorry about him." Reo sighed, flushing from the embarrassment and pulled Nagi away from the guests.

"Why are they so close?" Chigiri bit on his napkin, glaring at the older looking boy sitting across from (Y/n). The 5 boys felt their hearts get pierced as the saw (Y/n) laughed at something the older looking boy said.

"What did he say?" Rin muttered, eyes narrowing.

"I don't know.... but they do look very cozy with how close they are. Do you think the dude is her... boyfriend?" Isagi said, gagging at the last word.

"No no no, absolutely not. He looks too old for her." Reo said, frowning as they observed them from their table. Luckily for them, they were far away from (Y/n)'s table for her to notice them... but that also meant they couldn't hear anything.

"Do you think (Y/n) is into older looking guys? What a hassle, now I have to grow a beard." Nagi groaned.

"Please don't, unless you want to scare off everyone... but I am curious as to what that dude is to (Y/n)." Rin said.

"We are here."

"Where is the asshole who took my manager away?"

"Our manager, Otoya."

The five looked up and saw Hiori, Karasu and Otoya approach their table, all three seething in anger.

"They are over there."Chigiri said, glaring at the table.

"That lame guy? I should feel insulted that she picked him over me."  Otoya blinked in disbelief as Hiori stuck his tongue out.

"He looks sleazy. How did (Y/n) fall for that guy?"

"There is literally 0 significance about him... what does he have that I don't?" Karasu wondered, nt believing she would settle for someone like him.

"Is the rest coming?" Chigiri questioned.

"Barou, Aryu, Bachira Tokimitsu, and Yukimiya said they are on their way. Kurona, Gagamaru, Niko, and Kunigami sadly can't make it. So I am keeping them updated on everything." Reo said simply.

"Eh." Isagi gasped, causing the rest to look at him in an alarmed manner.

"What?" Otoya asked, as the boy pointed at the table. The rest looked at the table, and their eyes either narrowed or widened in shock as they watched the unknown man pat their manager on the head. Karasu and Nagi kept quiet, not believing their eyes, meanwhile Chigiri and Rin tried to walk over to them, and save (Y/n) from the unknown man, but got held back by Isagi and Reo.

"What now? Can I kill him now?" Otoya asked, earning a nod from Rin.

"No... no listen. We can't cause a scene now, (Y/n) will be disappointed in us if we do." Reo started.

"Then what are we supposed to do? We can't let that guy steal (Y/n)." Nagi argued, earning a nod from Karasu.

"Besides, (Y/n) will-"

"She is leaving. They are both leaving." Isagi and Chigiri said, watching the duo keenly as the guy paid for the food and left the restaurant.

"Well, let's follow them." Rin told the group, earning a nod in agreement.

"At least he wasn't complete trash to let her pay for her own food." Otoya rolled his eyes, quickly following after the duo.

'I could have bought her better food.' Reo growled, texting the rest what was going on.

"Such a loser. An insect and nobody compared to me." Rin muttered in anger.

"I really want to kick a football into that ugly face." Nagi thought, an unfamiliar sense of anger taking over his body. Karasu rolled his eyes, just as mad as Nagi.

"I might assist you there."

"Isagi, do you really think (Y/n) likes that guy? They were pretty close." Chigiri said in worry, the blue-eyed ace giving his friend an unsure smile.

"No... I believe they are just close friends... there is no way (Y/n) will replace us with him." Isagi said, dread filling up his body.

Shortly after they started following the duo, the group of guys had walked into Bachira, Barou, and Yukimiya, who were less than pleased with the sight of (Y/n) laughing at something the taller said.

'I will crush him! I should be the only one to make her laugh! Not that loser.' Bachira clenched his fists as they followed them through Shibuya, trying to hold himself back from punching the guy.

'What does she even see in him? He can't even dress properly nor does he have the looks worthy of (Y/n)'s attention.' Yukimiya rolled his eyes, the familiar feeling of jealousy hitting him again.

"He probably smells like dogs." Otoya grumbled.

"And has the personality of a brick."

"And the looks of a poorly done pavement." Karasu and Chigiri added in.

"Barou, please don't cause a scene." Isagi begged quietly as the taller was held back by Reo and Nagi. Barou himself was the calmest among the group, but he was losing it rather quickly after they witnessed the unknown guy remove something from her hair.

'That bastard will eat dirt soon.' Barou's glare was scaring every unsuspecting person by now. But oddly enough, Rin was the calmest. His reason? Simple, it's because in his mind, nobody can beat him. He was a captain, after all!

'What sort of fashion nonsense does he have?! Those pants with that shirt?!' Aryu thought, watching as (Y/n) and the guy were looking through some clothes at the mall. (Y/n) was showing the guy a cute, pink top, very glamorous in Aryu's opinion, and the boy was smiling proudly at her taste. But the sweet moment of Aryu swooning over her was interrupted by the guy showing her some jeans she could pair it with. Aryu chocked on his spit as he saw it.

'He will ruin her outfit!! That should be me buying clothes with her!!'

Tokimitsu was meanwhile pouting as he was watching the duo. He didn't like how close they looked. He also didn't like how much that guy was more than him. The guy was way more talkative and more brave to say things that were on his mind.

'I can't even compare to him...' Tokimitsu thought as he was told by Aryu to go meet up with the rest, since they were waiting for the two at the food court.

Rin wasn't much worried about the guy taking hi-their manager away, after all, relationships change and Rin doesn't believe this guy will be able to hold (Y/n)'s attention for too long. Sure, he was jealous that he wasn't the one sitting across from her right now, talking and laughing over nonsense. But worried? No. Currently, Rin, Isagi, and Reo were sitting near the table (Y/n) was sat at, and kept an eye on the guy, just in case. The conversations were bland, to the trio, and nothing indicated that they were a couple.

"Maybe they are just close friends?" Reo suggested, looking at Isagi.

"Probably. We may have jumped to conclusions too fast." Isagi laughed nervously

"You did, lukewarms." Rin added in, earning glares from the two.

"You were jealous too." They said in unison.

"I remember that! That was while you played basketball." The three stopped talking and paid close attention to what (Y/n) was saying. The trio sat a few tables away, but were able to make out some things they were talking about.

"Ahh~ you remember that? It was so embarrassing, especially after we didn't qualify for the nationals." The guy chuckled.

'Loser.' Rin and Reo thought, while Isagi flinched a little. Remembering how he felt after Ichinan lost.

"Win, lose who cares? I really admired how well you took the loss and acted all gracefully over it during the interview. A real captain." At the last sentence, Rin stiffened and his heartbeat quicken. She never complimented anyone om their captain skill, other than him!!

'What was that?!' He thought, eyes narrowing.

"Uhm... Rin?" Isagi muttered, sharing a few worried glances with Reo.

"Earth to Rin?" The billionaire heir said, waving his hand in front of his eyes.

"You think so? I think I was a decent captain." The guy added in.

"You were the best."

That last part caused Rin to finally snap and he got out of his chair, he was ready to murder now.

"Who does that piece of trash think he is?" He muttered, sending warning glares at Reo and Isagi, who were trying to calm him down.

Without another word, the younger Itoshi walked up to the table, clearing his throat to get their attention.

"Huh?" The guy muttered, looking at Rin in confusion.

"Rin? What a surprise! I didn't take you for a mall guy." (Y/n) smiled, unaware what was going on the whole time. She looked past the taller boy, seeing Reo and Isagi approach them.

"And you are here with Isagi and Reo? An unlikely combination." She joked a little, causing the 3 to relax a little as she laughed.

"We were just walking around, and wanted to say hi. It's all." Isagi said, wearing his usual smile.

"Yeah, it was a surprise seeing you here, too." Reo added in. The trio talked, ignoring the glares Rin was sending the older guy, who grew more and more unnerved at the stare.

"And you are here with..." Isagi started, sending a suspicious look towards the guy.

"Oh! This is my older brother, (B/n) (L/n)." (Y/n) answered, pointing at the older boy excitedly.

The trio felt their glares soften and they blinked a few times.

"Brother?!" Reo exclaimed.

"Is there an issue?" (B/n) wondered, suspicious of the trio.

"N-not at all! It's just-"

"We couldn't tell you two were siblings." Rin interrupted Isagi rather bluntly. (Y/n) laughed at that as her brother rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, we are half siblings."

"We get that a lot, don't worry, Isagi." She said, seeing the embarrassed look on his face.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, I am Reo Mikage." The purple-haired boy said kindly, trying hard to not make a bad impression on him.

"Isagi Yoichi, it's nice to meet you." The blue-eyed boy added in.

"Itoshi Rin." The now embarrassed Itoshi said, looking away with a huff.

'He is like a child.' Reo and Isagi facepalmed.

"So this is the team..." The older (L/n) muttered, eyeing the trio up and down, shrugging his shoulders right after. The three held their breaths, wondering what he meant by all of that.

"Aha! Told you they are great!"

"You... you talked about us?" Reo asked in shock.

"Constantly." The brother rolled his eyes, earning a pout from (Y/n).

"I am impressed, slightly." He added in monotonously.

"That's like the nicest thing you said about any of my friends." (Y/n) gasped. Hearing that, the three felt their spirits perk up a little. There was still hope for them!

"Do you guys want to sit and eat with us?" She asked, earning a no from Reo.

"Sorry, we have to...uhm..."

"We need to buy something and quickly go home! Sorry (Y/n), maybe next time!" Isagi quickly added in. The trio quickly after walked away, leaving the siblings a little confused.

"They are weird." (B/n) said.

"But a good kind of weird!" She defended them in return.

[wpdarlingpan]

For the sibling one with Coriolanus snow, you could do one like in the future with Katniss and sibling, not knowing anything that's been going on?

Or

Like it's when he's President and sibling wants to get married?

Hey Everyone!

IMPORTANT (Please Read)

Thank you so much for all of the love of the platonic yandere Coriolanus! I thought this idea was exciting so I wanted to build off of the idea of it going into Katniss's time as suggested by some readers. But, I did not want the reader to be as old as they would be if it were to take place at the correct time canonically.

So I am going to move the time forward a little bit to where a part of it will take place during Catching Fire. It would usually be 65 years in the future with CF being the 75th Hunger Games but I am going to make it take place on the 25th making the reader only 15 years older. I was imagining them being 5 or 6 years old so I am going to say they are 20 when it gets to that part.

Sorry for that entire big explanation, just did not want to confuse anyone and just pretend it worked out with the timeline.

My Little Snowflake (Part 2)

Platonic Yandere Coriolanus Snow x Little Sister Reader

Female Pronouns

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Obsessive behavior, manipulating, normal Hunger Games warnings

Click Below For The Other Parts <3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3?

Coriolanus wasn't expecting everything to change as it did. But it was almost... nice. He was able to spend entire days with his little sister whenever he finished training or the peacekeepers were doing mental training, which he had already mastered through the academy. On the days he had to do training he locked Y/N in the room through an outside lock.

"It is for your safety Y/N, you don't want to be taken away from me, do you? There are evil people out there, savages.”

"Then why'd you bring me?" She asked genuinely curious. Her Grand'mam and cousin were probably lonely without her, she also missed them. Even if Coriolanus was her main family it didn't discount them any less. He gave her a forced sympathetic look.

"I couldn't imagine my years without you Y/N. I love you. You're my little sister, my snowflake." He picked her up and held her close as a few forced tears fell from his eyes.

The thing was Y/N was very empathetic. She worried about everyone and everything feelings, from her classmates to a small bug. Which meant Coriolanus crying was going to make her cry, he was her older brother after all.

She started crying a little as he comforted her "I love you too Corio, I am just scared. I don't want to leave you, I promise I'll stay here." she spoke in a watered voice as she held up a pinky for a pinky promise. He wrapped his around tight as he kissed her forehead.

Within a few days of being there he found Lucy Grey.

The peacekeepers went to The Hob to have some time off and a little fun, which had different meanings for different people. Coriolanus didn't even get close to the alcohol, he was not giving that sort of impression to his sister and he wanted to have full control over himself so he could best protect Y/N.

That's when she went on stage and they saw each other. Lucy Grey liked him, but all he saw was a means to an end as he thought of how he could use her to watch over his sister.

Even when a fight broke loose, he did not join in, he picked up his sister before pushing her head into his neck to hide her eyes from the brutality.

When he went to find her in the forest, he brought Y/N.

Lucy was singing a song when she heard a twig snap behind her making her turn around quickly.

"Sorry... Instincts from the games." She looked down and saw a little girl hiding behind his leg. Lucy Grey was always adept to little kids, their eyes shone differently than adults. They were innocent. Bending down she made a show of peeking around him to see her. "and who is this little lady?"

"My little sister Y/N." Lucy Grey looked up at him with a shocked look. Not because he had a little sister, of course, that was all he talked about when they mentioned their families to each other, but the fact he would subject her to the fate of living in the districts with little money and no one to watch her.

Y/N peaked around and smiled at the girl, remembering what she's heard and been told of the songbird.

From that day on when Corio had peacekeeper training, Y/N would stay with Lucy. It was rare he would allow someone to watch over her without him present but the idea of someone entering the room or her without supervision wore on his mind.

Sure Sejanus had followed him to District 12 but he wasn't allowing his sister to stay alone, He was worried about ideals he would place into her head.

He told Lucy that his family wouldn't watch over her and since he was sent out here they made her go with him. Lucy usually was really good at detecting lies but to him. this wasn't a lie. e didn't trust his family to watch over her without him.

It was one of Lucy Grey’s days to watch her and they went out to the lake to pick flowers to make crowns out of.

“So what’s your favorite color darlin' ?” She asked the little girl as they crouched by each other picking the prettiest flowers of the bunch.

“White! Like Corio hair and our white roses!” She said giggling after all it wasn’t completely white. But then she saw a flower close to the same white “Like this!”

Lucy nearly swooned at the adorable child. It was hard to image that she was the sibling of Coriolanus Snow, the man who is so focused on surviving the world around him he forgets to live.

“Were you.. excited to come with your brother?” Trying to gage her reaction, making sure Y/N was okay when she wasn’t around.

“I do miss Tigres! And Grand’mam but Corio wanted me to come with him. I don’t remember leaving…” Y/N trailed off but her mind instantly got distracted by a little white flower.

Lucy Grey was confused about how the girl didn’t remember leaving the Capital but shook it off as a child’s memory. After all she had no reason to suspect otherwise.

But if she looked into it more, she could’ve seen all of the signs.

~*~

When the opportunity came to return to District 2. Coriolanus did not hesitate. Sure he would lose out on someone watching Y/N but it was a safer district and by now she was used to being in the room. She wouldn't disobey her big brother either by attempting to leave it. he knew best after all.

But he still needed to pass some tests. Things to ensure his loyalty. Why have many little tasks when they can be done in 1?

Sejanus was communicating with rebels, forming a plan to leave the Districts and live on their own beyond the walls of Panem. Sadly, he wasn't very sleek about it nor could he leave without telling his 'best friend'.

He suggested that Coriolanus come with. Bring Y/N and live freely without hurting anyone.

"Do not pull me into this. Rebels almost killed me with that bombing, or do you not remember?"

"Come on Corio! This is bigger than us. If you won't go what about Y/N? A kid does not need to grow up in the Capital watching others kill each other in a so called 'game'. Is that what you want for her?

That was Sejanus's mistake. Questing is protection and love for his sister.

It made his decision for him and he ended the recording on the jabber jay the second he declined the offer leading to Sejanus walking away.

Corio put Dr. Gaul's name on the box and sent it off with a weight off his shoulders. If this did not prove his loyalty to the Capital, they were stupid. He just caught a traitor. Maybe some indirectly but, one from its own walls.

That marked 3 killed by his doing.

When it was time to leave he gave some thought out spiel to Lucy Grey. He wouldn't make an enemy out of her if it was not needed. Sure she was hurt since she had practically fallen in love with the boy and his darling little sister but Lucy being Lucy knew the hold his little sister had on his heart. She wouldn't want to hold him back from getting her somewhere safer and to him that meant the Capital.

After he left Lucy Grey was never seen again. She did not tell him she was leaving or where. So he had no reason to accuse her of being a traitor.

Leaving them to part nicely.

-Time Skip 5 Years-

It was now the 15th Annual Hunger Games. Technology had greatly advanced throughout the years leading to an even better arena, one that wouldn't be easily blown up.

Coriolanus was working to prove himself so he was still residing under Dr. Gaul. He had forbidden her from watching the games. He didn’t want the violence harbored in her young mind. But he wasn’t there to stop her.

He was overseeing the interviews and the games, leaving Y/N home with Tigres and Grand’mam. When the game interviews started, they begun watching on the projector with her sneaking out of her room just enough to see it without them seeing her.

That’s when she saw the tribute from district 4.

Finnick Odair.

He was the youngest in the game at only 14 years old.

Y/N instantly had a little crush. She was only 10 so it wasn’t like it was true love, but his charm was noticeable to her and sadly the rest of the capital.

Tigres felt sympathy for the boy, the idea of it being Coriolanus harboring in her mind but now all she can picture of him, is his father.

When the games began and bets were made. No one could predict the outcome.

Especially not Y/N as Tigres noticed her sneaking out of her room and made her go back inside, not wanting to deal with the wrath of Coriolanus nor did she think Y/N should be seeing this at her age.

Somehow Finnick won. Making him the youngest Victor in the Hunger Games.

Of course, the lavish capital had a party for the elites after the games commenced. The idea of 23 deaths had not even crossed their minds.

Coriolanus went to build connections and Y/N begged him to go with.

"No Y/N, I'm sorry. It is too dangerous." He said trying to convince her in a way that worked many years ago.

"Please! I really want to get dressed up like you! I wanna see what you do" She begged and pleaded and Coriolanus hated seeing her sad. He almost missed those days back in the districts where Y/N was only his. But, the proud big brother in him was proud of how she's grown.

"Fine, but you're staying by my side the entire time. Swear?" He said holding out a pinkie. He found it silly after all it does nothing to prevent someone from breaking the promise but to his little sister it was sacred law and luckily it worked out for him.

Y/N squealed excitedly before linking pinkies and hugging him tightly as she profusely thanked him.

"Tigres, come to get Y/N ready. She is coming with," Coriolanus called out.

~*~

The party was as expected. It was decorated to the point someone would call it crowded. Avoxes were bringing hors d’oeuvres and drinks while the Capital was dressed classy but slightly over the top.

It didn’t matter that the winner was 14, it was a party made for the adults. Especially the game makers and everyone who had anything to do with them. Even the egotistical sponsors.

Coriolanus and Y/N walked in hand in hand as he made a small show about holding it out to her. She giggle enjoyably as they walked down velvet steps.

Coriolanus was talking to everyone, getting their name and status indirectly as he talked to them. One would think they would spill their darkest moment if they were left alone with him.

Even then not once did he let go of his little sister’s hand.

That’s when it came it Finnick. Coriolanus did not like the victor’s or anyone related to the districts. To him they were traitors and monsters. (If only he would look in the mirror).

So when they approached Coriolanus was on alert.

“Finnick Odair, newest Víctor. Tell me, what are you going to do with the money you were oh so graciously given?”

Finnick was calm and composed as if had been dealing with the Capital his entire life. Their questions and stares not even resulting in a mild flinch.

“Bring it back to my family of course.”

Y/N stood next to Corio, with a bashful grin as she stared at the boy. She had never imagined being this close to him.

“And who is she?” Finnick asked politely looked down at the girl who turned bright red at the attention. He simply found her adorable. Nothing bad about it.

“My little sister.” Corio replied as he lightly pushed Y/N behind him seeing the look that was reciprocated through the two even if it wasn’t known to the other. “We should be going now, I’m sure Mr. Plinth would like to talk to you.” He turned and began walking away as Y/N’s bracelet slipped off right at Finnick’s feet. He grabbed it cautiously as if he’d be attacked for holding it but nobody noticed and Y/N certainly didn’t mind after returning to the Capital with the money from Coriolanus’s win, she had more than enough jewelry.

He attempted to give it back but she was no where to be seen as her and Coriolanus left. He was angry and he was good at handling his emotions outwardly but he knew he was a fuse ready to blow when it came to his little snowflake.

Finnick kept the bracelet in his pocket, bringing it everywhere to go to remind him of the goodness in this world. Not expecting to ever see her again.

That was until the 25th Hunger Games, The Quarter Quell.

Taglist:

@dakotali

@repostingmyfavs

[naamahdarling]

Two days ago and I was comfortable enough that this was the right choice that I was able to make the call to have Smooch put to sleep. I am sure now. I wish I weren't. It hurts to see him like this. The vet is out or I would move it forward. We could do the emergency vet but I literally do not think I could do it without our vet and my favorite nurse. That feels selfish but when she answered the phone yesterday the comfort was... astonishing.

I'm trying to prepare. I've been waiting for this for a long time, which is why it's bearable at all. I have entertainment, I have an art project to memorialize him ready to go for whenever I feel like it. I have plans to make a couple of keepsakes. But there's going to be a hole in my life so much bigger than his frail little body. It's the end of part of me. He has been there in my future for so long, thinking about not having him there is like vertigo, or a reverse haunting of some kind. It's a Wrongness, part of the world about to be unmade. He is genuinely part of my identity. I'm all these things that I consider core parts of me -- queer, funny, creative, curious, a little clever, loving, an artist, a survivor, my friends' friend, my blood sister's sister, my chosen sister's sibling, my father's daughter, my boyfriend's partner...and I'm Dried Pickle Man's person.

Here at home IRL and online, and everywhere I go, to almost anyone I speak to at all, I have been his human for 13 years and 27 days.

And that isn't enough apparently, because Sid, too, is slipping away. I...I don't know that we can save him, either. His digestive issues are keeping him from eating, we can't stop the flare, a feeding tube won't fix it, meds aren't helping him. He's losing weight very fast. Vet is at a loss. I usually have a pretty good idea of what to do next or what needs to happen. I have nothing for him. The specialist might know. How the hell do we keep affording it?

And Raleigh. Oh god. Raleigh. If we can't afford the surgery or if it fails. What do we do?

What if we lose all three?

What if my boyfriend loses BOTH his boys? Raleigh alone is going to devastate him. Not just sad, like ordinary grief, I mean I have never ever in my life seen an animal love a human this much.

He's already struggling with his depression and ADHD. He will suffer and there is nothing I can do to stop this all from happening. I can't dig into a hidden well of trying harder, I can't outsmart it. I can't comfort him by saying that it is hard but possible to influence this. I hate seeing him in pain.

And I'm scared for me. I am afraid it will just ruin him and I will lose him too, until and unless he can recover. And I already spend so much time alone. Even my art is...gone. Too painful. Writing isn't really possible, either. My body barely feels like mine these days. I have so fucking little to hang on to. My cats are one of the last things I have of myself. One of the only good things I have in my day to day life.

It's all an absolutely terrifying cascade. Unlike a lot of situations where I'm scared of the future, this isn't me afraid of unlikely scenarios that are several crises away. This is very real. And I'm usually not scared for my boyfriend like this.

It won't kill us. You can come back from something like this, probably, I know people survive much worse and I'm bombarded with reminders of that a dozen times a day. But it can take such a long time to come back, and...sometimes you just...Come Back Wrong.

I'm not often genuinely completely helpless. I am helpless now.

[libraryofloveletters]

Daddy’s Biggest Fan

Lance Stroll x Fem!Reader

Warnings: surprise baby!, babygirl is the star of the show and the gem of the stroll family, grandpa Lawrence is besties with his granddaughter, mentions of labour and giving birth (nothing graphic!), the vettel family is the cutest, soft uncle mick, uncle estie and auntie elena, some cheesy comments from lance, auntie chloe and uncle scotty for the win! 

Word Count: 6,210

Author’s Note: prompted by this video and this photo :)) enjoy soft dad lance! // also y’all know I cannot write lance without some mention of Canada lmaoooo forgive me please 

--- 

Weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix, 2022. 

The hallways were empty considering it was nearly midnight. Lance’s bag hung off of his shoulder, hitting his back as he ran towards the desk. “Y/n l/n, where is she?” He asks, fingers drumming against the counter as he waits for the nurse to tell him. 

“Who are you?” She asks and he huffs a sigh. “Her boyfriend.” 

“Oh, yeah okay. Uh, one sec,” she checked the charts to her left, “room 209.” She tells him and with that he’s off again, scanning all the door numbers before he finds the room. 

He walks in quietly, silently hoping he hasn't missed it. “Did I miss it?” Lance asks.

He finds you still very much pregnant on the bed. “You didn’t,” you smiled, your hand stretched out for him. 

The Canadian Grand Prix was this weekend which meant Lance was home in Montreal so the baby picked the perfect time to make their appearance into the world. The fact that you two were expecting was a bit of a secret, no one except your families, the Vettels along with Esteban, Elena and Mick knew. 

Seb only found out because Lance went shopping with him to pick up a few things for his kids and Seb was curious as to why he was so interested in baby clothes all of a sudden. As for Esteban, Elena and Mick, the 3 drivers were close and Esteban is bad at keeping secrets so that was that. 

Sunday was rolling into Monday and your contractions were closer together. Your sister in law was asleep on the chair next to your bed, Lance didn’t wake her but your groans did. 

“When’d you get here?” She yawns, looking at her brother. 

“An hour ago. Can you get the doctor though? Her contractions are closer together now.” Lance asked his sister, you and Chloe share a glance before laughing. Chloe squeezes her brother’s shoulder, “yeah, I'll go.” 

It was a few moments before Chloe returned, your sister in law beside your boyfriend as the doctor checked how far along you were dilated. “Alright, you’re just about ready to push.” The doctor gets up, letting the sheet back down. “We’ll get you prepped, who’s staying?” 

“I am.” “He is.” Chloe and Lance answer at the same time. 

You smile at the Stroll siblings, Chloe comes over to kiss your forehead. “I’ll be waiting outside. You've got this,” she tells you, and you nod. “I’ll see you after.” 

Chloe gives her brother a hug before stepping out.  

The doctor and nurses come in, it’s an overwhelming scene to anyone on the outside but you were relaxed, surprisingly. 

The room door was shut, the drape up between your lower half and you with Lance standing by your side, holding your hand the whole time. Your boyfriend whispered sweet nothings to you, praising you on what a good job you were doing. 

“That’s my girl,” he whispers, kissing your forehead. “Doing so good, baby. Just a few more pushes.” 

“Almost here,” Your doctor calls up to you, “few more.” She confirms your boyfriend’s theory.

Within the next few minutes, you had given birth. You looked a mess, hair matted to your forehead from sweat, your eyes teary and you were beyond exhausted and yet, he looked at you like you held the sun and the stars.

“So proud of you,” Lance whispers, pushing your hair away from your face as he kisses your forehead. The doctor was right next to you two, cleaning up the baby and doing her initial tests before wrapping the little baby in a white and pink blanket.

“Congratulations,” She smiles, placing the baby in Lance’s arms. “It’s a girl.” She tells you both, giving you a moment to coo over her.

The floodgates have broken, Lance’s face covered in tears as he sits by your bedside, resting the baby on your chest gently. This was probably the first time you’ve seen Lance cry this much, it’s quite sweet to see his daughter reduce him to a puddle to tears. His arm over the top of the pillow, the two of you looking at the baby you created.

Both of you crying, the little thing on your chest had her eyes shut. “She’s got your eyes,” Lance whispers, as if he would be disturbing the baby’s rest by being any louder.

“Her eyes are barely open.” You chuckled, looking over at your boyfriend. 

It was a little while with just the 3 of you. Lance already has a million and one pictures of his baby girl on the phone, changing the home screen from you to one of you and her. 

There’s a knock on the door, the nurse sticking her head in to let you know that you have visitors. Lance tells her to let them in, you were sitting on the bed, a baby wrapped up in a blanket being cradled to your chest with Lance sitting on the edge of the tiny hospital bed. 

Chloe held the first bag, a little stuffed lion and blanket in it and Scotty followed behind, some outfits for the baby in the bag. “When’d you get here?” you asked Scotty, the two of them coming over to see the newest addition to the Stroll family. 

“Chloe called me as soon as it was time for you to push.” He asks, watching as you hand the baby over to your sister in law. 

“You guys,” Chloe whispers, holding the baby like she was the most precious thing in the world. “She’s so beautiful.” 

Scotty and Chloe sat on the bench next to the window, the two of them cooing over their niece. 

“We didn’t tell you her name,” you look over at them, Lance snuggled in next to you on the bed. The older couple looks over, waiting for you to tell them. 

“Meet Elizabeth Chloe Stroll.” You tell them, glancing between Chloe and Lance. 

“Chloe?” The blonde asks, looking down at the baby in her arms. 

“Mhm hm, after the best auntie in the world,” you hold Lance's hand, the woman smiles. Scotty grins at his fiancé, you and Lance chuckling at her reaction.  

“Lizzie for short,” Lance says, a smile on his face. 

The two of you had wanted to name her with a name that started with L but you couldn't settle on any so you went with Elizabeth, Lizzie for short. Also because Lance wanted her to have L. Stroll like him. 

“She’s beautiful,” Chloe says once more, “like her mom.” 

“Wow, no credit for me?” Lance asks his sister, she shrugs. “Don’t worry, mate. I think you’re handsome.” Scotty says to his brother in law, earning a few laughs. 

--- 

The next few days had been a whirlwind of emotions. Lizzie was born on Tuesday just past midnight and you were released on the Thursday. Lance refused to leave you two, telling the team that he’d be missing media day and decided to opt out of practice on Friday as well. 

Perks of your dad owning the team you drive for I suppose. 

Lizzie was laying against her father’s chest, her little hand wrapped around his finger as he rubbed her back softly. You had gone to take a shower before Lance had to leave but the man was still on the couch, dressed for the track but he’s yet to move from his spot. 

“Lance.” You called, your hands on your hips. “C’mon, you can’t miss qualifying.” 

“Do I really have to go?” There’s a pout playing on his lips when you come over to take Lizzie from him. 

You’ve got the little girl in your arms when you stand between his legs. “Yes, you have to go.” 

Lance gets up, a pout on his face and you reach up to give him a kiss. You can feel his hand over yours, the one resting under Lizzie, holding her up in her little roots onesie. 

“Go on,” you nudge him towards the door. Lance begrudgingly makes his way to the door, picking up his keys and his phone before turning back to face his girls once more.

“You’re sure you’ll be okay?” 

“One hundred percent,” you smile at your boyfriend. You’ve got Lizzie tucked into your chest, an arm under her as your other hand rests on your boyfriend’s jaw. “We love you, now go.” 

“I love you,” he smiles before giving you a kiss. Lance leans down a bit more, kissing Lizzie’s head, “I love you the most.” 

You smiled at the man and his daughter, rushing him out the door before he missed the session. 

Lizzie was but a few days old, much too little for you to be taking her to a race. You’re certain there were rumours floating around that you and Lance had split after you not being there for a few months. Once you hit your 5th month of pregnancy, it was hard to find the bump under clothes and your doctor suggested staying in one place or only go to races that are much shorter flights. 

It was killing you to miss his home race this weekend but there was nothing you wouldn’t do for this little girl. 

You two sort of lay around for a bit. You take a million and one photos of her; new parents and not wanting to miss a moment. You had the tv on, watching as the sky sports crew made their way through the paddock, asking around while they set up for qualifying. 

Lizzie stretches in your arms and you decide to change her into the little outfit her grandfather had gifted her. 

The day after you two told Lawrence you were expecting, you received a basket of baby things; onesies, hats, shirts, little jackets and hoodies, a blanket and even a little car stuffie all in Aston Martin green with the little logo on it. 

The little girl was now in a onesie, the Aston logo across her tummy and the back had a number 18 on it. 

You put her to lay on the couch so you can take a photo of her. You send that on to Lawrence with a message attached; future aston driver ? 

Your father in law replied with a yes and a million emojis that he’s newly discovered and had come to love. 

“Your grandad is so cheesy,” you tell her quietly, picking her back up. You held her in your arm carefully, watching as they were doing last minute checks before the cars would be pulling out for quali. 

The two of you take a selfie, both you and Lizzie have on Aston Martin shirts with the matching 18 on the back. 

To Lance: good luck!! <3 *1 Image Attachment* 

From Lance: miss my biggest fan. 

To Lance: awh you miss me? how sweet. 

From Lance: you’re funny, you got booted. Lizzie is daddy’s biggest fan. 

To Lance: it’s not cute when you refer to yourself as daddy. 

From Lance: you love it mommy. 

To Lance: you’re sooooo gross. go race, we love you. 

Setting the phone down, you rocked the sleepy baby softly. The volume was low but the sound of the zooming cars and the rumbling engines lulled her back to sleep. 

You managed to stay awake through qualifying; Sebastian and Lance were starting one after another with the German in P17 and the Canadian in P18. 

Not the best but hopefully tomorrow will be better. 

Lizzie woke up at some point after qualifying. You changed her diaper, fed her, rocked her and sang to her until you two found your way back to the couch. It had been a repeat of the same thing for the last few days; sleep, eat, sing to her, take a million photos, change her and repeat. 

You tried to get a few minutes of sleep when she did which is what you were doing when your boyfriend walked into the apartment. The door shuts quietly, the man setting the keys down on the entry table softly before making his way over to his girls on the couch. 

Despite changing his clothes, you could still smell the burnt rubber and gasoline on his skin. “Hey,” he whispers, leaning down to kiss Lizzie’s head before sitting next to you. 

The girl in your arms and your head back against the couch cushions. Your eyes were shut but you open them when you feel him take her from you, giving you a break. 

“Weren’t you sleeping?” He asks, Lizzie’s little hand wrapping around his finger when he gently rubs over her hand. 

“Resting my eyes,” you hum, snuggling into his side. 

The man smiles, there’s nothing better than having his two girls with him. He rocks the girl in his arms back and forth ever so softly, calming her when she stirs. “Shh, go back to sleep angel. Daddy’s here.” 

You looked up from his shoulder at him, “what did I tell you about that daddy thing?” 

“I was talking to Lizzie, you freak.” He chuckles, kissing your head. 

---- 

Weekend of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 2022. 

You and Lance have finally decided to take Elizabeth to her first Grand Prix. It only made sense to take her to Abu Dhabi, seeing that it was the final race of the season, and that you would get there early enough to give her time to acclimate to the environment.

Also, you had sweet talk Lance into thinking it was a good idea because you wanted to be there for Sebastian's final weekend.

Lawrence had been asking when he was going to see his granddaughter at a race and all the things just aligned, it made the most sense to go then rather than wait for the start of next season. 

Lizzie was now six months old, and she was starting to hit a few milestones. She can roll over and sit up on her own, starting to pull herself up and make efforts to crawl. She's starting to babble and make funny faces at you. She also is starting to recognize people and she loves when her auntie Chloe and uncle Scotty come over because Scotty spends 98% of the time making funny faces at her, and it causes the sweetest little giggles you’ve ever heard in your life. 

You had given her a shower, getting her dressed for the day and you were about to get dressed yourself, thinking you’d be leaving her with her dad but the man was knocked out in the arm chair, the baby bottle sat on his lap and dripping on his shirt. 

It was too funny to ignore so you set Lizzie in her playpen, taking a photo of Lance before posting it to your Instagram story. 

It’s the first post of him you've made since you suddenly vanished from the paddock. Of course you cover the baby bottle with a little heart emoji and tagged him before setting your phone down.

“Sweetheart,” you nudged him softly. Lance stirred a bit but didn’t open his eyes. You take the baby bottle off of his lap and sit on him. “Lance, c’mon.” 

The man finally opens his eyes, a scowl on his face. “Why’d you wake me?” He groans.

“You have dinner with the guys tonight.” 

“Noooo,” he whines, his arms wrapped around you. “Let me stay.” 

“I’ll give you Lizzie and have her drool on you if you don’t get up.” You give him a look and his brows raise, “you wouldn’t.” 

You get off his lap, going to get the girl out of her playpen. “Fine!” He shouts, grabbing you by the waist when he rushes over you, his arms around you once again as he hugs you from behind. Lance's chin rests on your shoulder, “I love her but she drools soooo much.” He sighs, earning a laugh from you. 

“Go change,” you wiggle him off of you. Lance nods, leaving you two to go change for dinner. 

“You’re sure you’ll be okay?” He yells from the bedroom and you roll your eyes; you know he means well but sometimes you swear he forgets it’s just the two of you when he was away racing. 

“Chloe is coming over, we’re gonna catch up on our gossip.” You tell him, picking up Lizzie and swinging her around. The little girl giggled, her big brown eyes wide and her gummy smile on display. 

Lance comes out of the room, “and what do we plan to do with little missy when you two are catching up on your gossip?” 

There’s a knock on the hotel door and you walk over to open it, Chloe and Scotty arriving together. Lizzie babbles when her uncle reaches for her, smothering her cheeks with kisses when you hand her over. 

“Voila!” You show your boyfriend, his sister and her fiancé enamoured with their niece. 

Lance shook his head, “you’re something else, babe.” 

“It's called delegating, Lance.” 

“Whatever,” the man nods, giving you a thumbs up with a look of fake disappointment. He gives you a kiss goodbye before saying hello to his sister and Scotty. He takes Lizzie from Scotty for a minute to say goodnight to her, knowing she'd be sleeping by the time he got back from dinner. 

“I love you, sugarplum.” He whispers to his daughter, “sleep well.” He kissed her temple gently before handing her back over to her uncle. 

----

The final qualifying of the season and you two had just returned to the paddock after almost an entire year of you not being there. 

This time with a special guest. 

Lizzie was in her dad’s arms, pulling on his sunglasses every other second as he walked through the paddock. 

The little girl looked out into the swarming photographers then back to her dad who was whispering something to her. His other hand was holding yours, the obvious fact was that this was why you had vanished from the paddock. 

You make it to the garage and while you two settle in, Lizzie is going from hand to hand, basking in all the attention she was getting; she gets that from you, her father wasn’t the most sociable with people he didn’t know, while you were a social butterfly. 

Lizzie’s got a pair of clunky green headphones over her ears, protecting her little ears from the loud noises. She was currently on Seb’s side of the garage, Britta holding the little girl as Seb showed her something he had in his hands. 

“I think Hanna’s gotta prepare herself for the ‘I think we should have one more’ talk,” you joked with Lance, nodding towards Seb who was clearly enthralled by the little girl. 

Lance laughed, “Seb just loves kids, babe. He’s been asking me to bring her around.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me that?” You smacked his arm lightly, “I would have brought her.” 

“Sometimes I think you like Sebastian more than you like me,” he gives you a pointed look and you smile, “I do.” You walked off to get Lizzie before the session started.

“Hey,” you wiggled your fingers at the girl, getting her attention.  Seb turns to see you, pulling you into a side hug, his arm over your shoulders. “She’s so cute, y/n.” He tells you, Britta had bent down so Seb’s daughters could talk to her. 

“Thank you, Seb.” You smiled, “I think she looks like her dad.” 

“No way, she's your carbon copy. She just has his eyes.” He says, “that’s why she’s cute, if she looked like him... well..” 

“Sebastian!” You laughed, taking Lizzie back from Britta. 

The German laughs, “I'm kidding. Hanna’s upstairs and that’s where you two are going, right?” He looks over at his daughters, the little blonde girls nod and hug their father before turning to you. 

“Can we play with her later?” The oldest asks and you nod, “of course. I’ll bring her upstairs in a few minutes.” 

The girls ran down the hallway hand in hand, back upstairs to their mother and little brother. 

“Good luck,” you tell Seb, “say good luck to uncle Seb,” you tell Lizzie, lifting her chubby hand to wave to the man before returning to Lance’s side of the garage. 

Lance takes the girl from you the moment you walk back over, sneaking in as many cuddles he can before he was needed in the car. You took a few photos of the two; Lizzie’s little green dress matches the colour of her father’s race suit and her chunky hands rested on her daddy’s cheeks, smacking his face softly as he pretended to bite her chubby cheeks. 

One of his engineers gives him the signal, time for him to get in the car. “I love you sugarplum,” he whispers to the girl, handing her back over to you. 

The moment Elizabeth is back in your arms, she starts crying. It was safe to say she was a daddy’s girl through and through, she had that man wrapped around her finger; Lance had a pout on his face like you had ripped his heart out and stomped on it the moment she started crying. 

“Don’t,” you warn him, your hand on his cheek when you kiss him. 

Neither of you seemed to notice the cameras flashing or the fact that they had gotten the whole sweet moment before Lance and his girls in camera. 

“Go before she wants you again.” You tell him, shooing him off while Elizabeth was looking over your shoulder, away from her father. He blows his girls a kiss once more, walking off to get his helmet and get in the car. You bounce Lizzie in your arms until the car pulls out of the garage and then you head upstairs to find Hanna and the kids. 

-- 

Quali had finished faster than expected but neither you nor Hanna were really paying attention; the woman was letting you in on the secrets of motherhood while the children played. 

The little boy was laying on his mum’s lap, his eyes shut and his blonde curls all over the place. You were sitting on the floor, Elizabeth on your lap while the girls showed her their toys, putting on a show for her. Lizzie had no idea what they were on about but the expressions on their faces along with the colourful toys captured her attention enough to get her to babble along, swinging her hands happily.  

Sebastian and Lance found their way upstairs to see their kids before having to go off to press. 

If you had asked Sebastian if he thought both he and Lance would be going up to see their children by the time he retired when he first started at Aston, the man would have laughed in your face. 

But it’s funny how life works and children change you for the better. Sebastian told his teammate as much. 

Lance find his way to sit behind you and you lean back on his legs. Sebastian is next to Hanna, sinking into the couch when he lets out a big breath. 

“How’d we do, boys?” You asked and Seb shrugs. “Could be better.” 

“Says the man in P9,” Lance laughed, his hands coming down to rest on your shoulders. “And you?” You leaned back, your head on his knee as you looked up at him. 

“P14.” 

“Tomorrow will be better.” Your hand comes up to rest on his, giving it a soft squeeze. 

“Ah young love,” Seb sighs, nudging Hanna. “Remember when we were like that?” 

“You’re still like that, Sebastian.” The woman gives him an exasperated look, earning a few laughs. 

Elizabeth was looking around now, instantly wiggling from your grasp and trying to turn when she heard Lance’s voice. You lean to the side, letting Lance hunch over and pick her up. She’s standing on his lap, hands on his face to keep her balance as she looks around. She sees Sebastian to her left who was making faces at her. 

The little girl babbles, her father’s hands being the only thing keeping her up when she reaches for Sebastian. Lance hands her over to Seb, Elizabeth sitting comfortably on his lap when you lean back to take a photo of her, Seb and Hanna. 

“Can’t believe both of my girls prefer Sebastian over me.” Lance grumbles, making you laugh. 

“He has 4 championships, how many do you have?” You asked your boyfriend, the man rolling his eyes at your comment. 

Sebastian looks down at the little girl, her hands tugging on the bracelet on his wrist. “Remember when the kids were this little?” He asked his wife and she smiled. 

“You could always have one more,” Lance suggests to the older couple. 

“No.” Hanna says, while Seb had a whole other answer; “yes.” 

You and Lance exchange a look, laughing at them. 

“Feel free to babysit Liz anytime you want another kid, she’ll change your mind.” You tell them and Seb shakes his head, lifting the girl when he looks up at her. 

“Mum says you’re naughty,” he gives her a look and she giggles. “Yeah, you’re not bad, you're a good girl.” He smiles at her, “I know you are, sweetheart.” He sets her back on his lap, facing him. 

At some point, Britta comes looking for Seb, both of the drivers having to up and leave for press. There’s lots of smooches, the kids wanting their fathers to stay and promises of sweets upon return. 

----

P8 for Lance and P10 for Sebastian. 

The Astons finishing off the season in the points and almost beating Alfa Romeo for 6th in the constructors was a good position to be in. 

You had joined the mechanics on the pit wall for the final lap, watching the cars cross the finish line. Lizzie was a few feet away, her chunky green headphones over her ears as her grandfather held her. 

Sebastian was currently doing his final donuts of his F1 career and you could see Hanna and the kids to your left, watching with the proudest looks on their faces. You smiled at them, a hand on your back pulling your attention away from the family. 

Lance stood beside you, his arm over your shoulders and his race suit rolled down to his waist. “Back so soon?” You asked, assuming he would have still been in parc fermé and yet he was here. “Wanted to see my girls.” He smiled, letting you lean in to kiss him. 

“I’m so proud of you,” you whispered against his lips and he kissed you once more. 

“Where’s sugar plum?” He looked around when he realized you didn't have her. 

You nod towards the pit wall; Elizabeth was banging on all the buttons on the table, Lawrence laughing as he watched the little girl. 

The chaos on the track died down, everyone returning to their respective garages or off to watch the podium. The paddock was still packed; fans, crew, drivers, families, celebrities despite the fact that it was nearly 10pm. 

The two drivers were in the garage, the Vettel children running circles around their grandparents as Seb and Hanna made the rounds, Sebastian getting into a conversation with everyone he stopped to talk too. You and Lance were soaking in the last few moments of the season on track. Elizabeth was with her granddad, the little girl being carried around the paddock as he said his goodbyes and small talk with the other team principals. 

“Can I get a picture?” The photographer asks when he sees Sebastian and Hanna with you two. 

The 4 of you manage to find yourselves together after the few drinks you’ve had, all adorning dopey, happy grins on your faces.

It was a bittersweet moment; the start of a new adventure for both drivers.

Sebastian navigates retired life while Lance figures out how to be a father - something he knows he’ll be turning to Seb for when he’s at a loss. 

You two say your goodbyes to Sebastian, Hanna and the kids, as well as Seb’s parents and his brother. Lawrence catches the Vettels on the way out, letting Lizzie say bye to her new friends before they head out for the night. 

“Can I have my baby back?” Lance asked his father and the older man shook his head, “no. She’s my granddaughter.” 

“But she’s my daughter.” He bickered with his father. 

You let them bicker, quietly taking Lizzie from Lawrence without either of them noticing. When they finally stop fighting and notice you’re holding the girl, you smile. “You forget she’s still my girl before either of yours.” 

Lance packs up the rest of his things shortly after saying goodbye to everyone else in the garage. You three were on your way out when you got stopped by Elena shouting for you. 

“Y/N!” She starts running to you three. 

“ELENA!” you shout back, rushing over to give the woman a hug. Lizzie was squished between you two, Elena taking her from you. “Mon amour,” she fixed the bow on the little girl’s dress, “you’ve gotten so big.” She kisses her cheek. 

Esteban and Mick weren’t far behind. The Frenchman coos over the little girl with his girlfriend and Mick joins in. 

The 3 of them had come to meet Elizabeth post Canadian Grand Prix along with Sebastian. The 4 of them and Hanna, were the only ones aside from your families that knew you two had a baby hence her instant connection when she saw them again. 

Once again, Elizabeth is the star of the show. Esteban is forced to take a million pictures of her and Elena. One thing with Lizzie was that she loved the attention, she always found the camera in the room. Mick was passed the phone next, taking one of Esteban with the girls. You and Lance joined the couple, all of you smiling for the camera. Elizabeth was getting fussy so you took her back but she started wiggling, her little arms stretched out for her uncle Mick. 

Mick was holding the girl now and you asked one of the Alfa Romeo crew members passing by to take the photo for the 6 of you. 

You smiled, watching as Mick spun around with the girl in his arms. He was telling her something, tickling her side as he did. 

“We’re headed to the club, you guys want to come?” Elena asks, her fingers interlocking with her boyfriend’s. 

“Uhh,” Lance looked at you and you shrugged. “We’d have to get someone to watch Liz first.” He tells his friends. 

Esteban nods, “the joys of being parents.” He jokes. 

“Well, I'll text you where we end up, text me if you’re coming!” Elena tells you, saying goodbye as they head out. Mick joined them once he passed Elizabeth back to Lance, giving the girl a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

“Do you want to go?” He asks you, the three of you heading out. “It’d be nice but who’s gonna look after Lizzie?” You looked over at him and he paused, literally stopped in the middle of the parking lot. 

“I know exactly who.” 

It’s a short walk back to the hotel, you two pack up whatever you think Elizabeth would need for the night, putting her in the stroller before heading back to the elevator. Lance hit the button for the 16th floor and you know exactly what he’s thinking. Once you got off, you followed the man to the door. 

He knocks and Chloe opens the door. “Hey,” she smiles, leaning on the door frame. “Everything okay?” 

“I was wondering..” Lance starts. “Since you’re my favourite sister and all-” “Your only sister but go on,” she folds her arms, waving him on. 

“Can you watch sugar plum tonight? I know you two don’t have plans and we wanted to go out.” 

Chloe gives her brother an obviously look but she nods, “of course we’ll watch her. Do you have her stuff?” 

“Everything’s in her baby bag, thank you guys.” You tell her when Lance pushes the stroller into the suite. “No need to thank me, I know you two needed a night to relax. Go have your fun, we’ll see you in the morning.” She gives you a shove out of the room. 

“You’re sure you’ll be okay ?” Lance asked his sister and she smacks his shoulder, “duh, I used to look after you. We’ll be fine, I'll call if anything but I won’t need to, so go.” 

The two of you were a little hesitant to leave Elizabeth without either of you  for the night, seeing that it was the first time that you've actually done that but you knew she’d be in good hands with her auntie Chloe and uncle Scotty. 

You two ended up meeting Elena, Esteban and Mick at the club and had the time of your lives; dancing, doing shots, singing along to the horribly loud music that was playing.

It was the type of night that you wanted to remember forever that won’t be fully remembered. The best kind of night. 

It was nearly 8am when you found yourselves back in the elevator and on your way to get your daughter. Lance wanted to go back to the hotel room and sleep off the hangover he knew was incoming but you at least wanted to see Elizabeth first.

You knocked on the door quietly, Scotty opened it with a wide awake Lizzie in his arms. 

“You two look like hell,” he laughed, bouncing the girl in his arms. “Sorry we’re late,” you tell him, smiling at the girl who was still sleepy and drooling all over his shirt. 

He steps aside. “It’s okay, c’mon in.”

Chloe was knocked out on the couch, the baby bottle in her hand. “Lizzie put her to sleep?” You chuckled and Scotty nodded. “It’s hard work but it's worth it, isn’t it?” 

“So worth it.” You smiled. 

Lance has found himself to the spot next to his sister, dropping down and his eyes already shut. 

“You should stay for breakfast.” He says, sitting on the couch across from the one Lance and Chloe were on. “I doubt we’ll be having breakfast anytime soon,” You nod towards the sleeping siblings. 

“That's okay,” he smiles, “you should get some rest too. I can watch her.” 

“Are you sure? You guys had her all night.” 

Scotty waves you off, nodding towards the bedroom. “She slept through the night like a champ, woke up like 30 minutes ago. Go get some rest.” He sends you off. 

It was maybe 3 or 4 hours later when you felt the little hands on your side. Lance in bed with you and Lizzie between you two. “Hi sugar,” you picked her up, kissing her temple. 

“Sleep well?” Your boyfriend asks and you nod, “good enough.” 

“We ordered lunch, should be here by time Chloe gets out of the shower.” He rubs your leg, “she left some clothes for you.” He nods towards the t-shirt and pants at the end of the bed. 

After a few minutes, you got out of bed and changed, making sure to wash your face and brush your teeth before joining Lance, Elizabeth and Scotty in the living room. Chloe joined a few minutes after you just in time for lunch to arrive. 

All of you settled in around the table and started having breakfast, chatting away and you took a moment to make a post on Instagram for the first time in a long time. 

It’s a couple photos from the last few days in Abu Dhabi. 

The first one from race day, you and Lance leaning on his car with Lizzie peeking out from under the halo of the car while she sat in his seat. 

The next one is Chloe, Scotty and Lizzie. The three of them laying on the floor from the night they came over while Lance was at Seb’s retirement dinner. 

The next 3 are from post race before you went out; one of Elena, Esteban and Elizabeth, one of Mick and Elizabeth and finally one with all 6 of you in front of the Aston Martin garage. 

Lawrence had sent you a photo of Lizzie and him sitting on the pit wall that one of the engineers took, her big chunky headphones being tugged on while her granddad tried to fix them. 

The last group photo was on you, Lance, Seb and Hanna in the Aston garage before you all headed out for the night; arms wrapped around each other and big goofy grins on your faces. 

There were the final two pictures; One of you and Lizzie, she’s on your lap while you do your makeup and one of her and Lance in the pool, he’s holding her while they’re laughing at each other. 

The set was captioned with a perfect end to the season <3. 

You set the phone down, looking back at the people sitting around the table. Your boyfriend, your daughter, your sister in law and your brother in law.

The little unit made some of the best memories and had some of the most important people in your life there. 

It truly was the perfect end to the season. 

----- 

taglist: @timetoracewrites @diorleclerc @lickmeleclerc @dragon-of-winterfell @benedictscanvas @elisaa-shelby @hnmaga-blog @czechoslovakiandisco @dr3lover @troybolton14 @Lovingroscoee @compulsiveshit @somanyfandomsbruh  @damnyoulifee @barzysreputation @vickyofalltrades @yeolsbubbles @barzysreputation @thybulleric @valkyrie418 @ricsaigaslec @idkiwantchocolatee  @sessgjarg @molliemoo3 @bisexual-desi @sunf1owerrq @alwaysclassyeagle @coldmuffinbanditshoe​ + @lovelytsunoda​ because i know i love lance <3

[beawake]

Random thoughts and immediate impressions of the first three episodes of tlovm3, an incoherent list

Pock o'pea wooden house at Gilmore's wannabe and taste of taldor'ei chalice thing

Did I mention the Gilmore wannabe? His distaste, amazing

Gilmore's displeasure at being dragged into Vox Machina's schemes, and still going along with it

My boy just wants to be home and run his shop, not babysit adventurers

Speaking about gilmore, Vex offering to flirt with the guards, gilmore saying he already tried

Gilmore, I'll hold them off, immediately gets caught. Yeah your adventuring days are behind you with running from highly efficient guards

Scanlan drinking courage

They are all so bad at communicating help!

Soo Draconia? Draconia.. *fingers guns* I forgot if they were there for real but they were there in spirit for sure

Percy looked so young in that scene, you would so often forget he's like 18 or 19 but not then

Kiki: but we kissed. When vax was saying they couldn't be together. It was so innocent and it hurt so much. Communicate dammit. And then cutting to Percy and Vex having sex nextdoor

They kept in Percy going for a talk and Vex opening the door naked!

Aah Cassandra and Percy as siblings, and Percy being so smitten

Kiki feeling so alone and unsupported

Scanlan ruining his relationship with his daughter even more cause he worries for his friends and then feeling unappreciated the cracks are there

The misunderstanding with Pike and Scanlan, oh that hurt, both trying to do their best but Pike not knowing how to fix it

Grog with the kids, being a detective, finding Percy

Percy giving himself up not feeling like he lied because he feels so responsible for all the dead the guns cause

Vex "I care for you so this can only be a fling or you'll get hurt"

Keyleth "so the joy of today is not worth the pain of tomorrow?"

J'mon Sa Ord is so fucking hot I want that character design

Allura and Kima 10/10 no notes these lesbians continue to slay

The banter, the one liners

The songs!!! Matt/Drenzel singing about the Ruby of the Sea

Scanlan singing about the Spice

Matt NPC do you spice? Does your daughter spice?

Scanlans vulnerability that he barely shows to his friends

It is so good, only a little disappointed about missing the cat/tiger demon going after Vax as Gilmore

Oh and I can't forget about Gilmores flirting with Vax

I just really love Gilmore

And how they are giving the NPC's bigger roles

Oh and Percy not knowing orthax's name, buddy? How?

Curious to see where that goes with Ripley, who is very cool

And the intro reminds me so much of anime intros and I love it, it is amazing

Things my friend noticed

J'mon Sa Ord and the creepily too big hands and feet, like trying for human and just missing the mark

Zerxus!!! Are we gonna see him all demon??? I am not ready

I might come up with more but first thoughts and excitements are here and good and there were a lot of changes but I don't mind any of them at the moment, I just trust that they love this as much as us and will go where needed

[vodika-vibes]

sorry for asking for more mer au when you've done so much but I'd like to request hurt/comfort with hunter and a reader who has a fear of deep water since nearly drowning as a child, and being afraid of mer because of it, and hunter helping her overcome her fears :)

Please Trust Me

Summary: Hunter finally found her, his soul mate. She’s perfect. Pretty and kind and good…and absolutely terrified of him and the ocean. Luckily, Hunter has never been one to give up.

Pairing: TBB Hunter x F!Reader

Word Count: 1566

Warnings: physical assault

Prompt: MerSoul AU

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: Alright, sorry that this took so long, I wasn't sure how to start it out, but I think I have it where I like it now! Happy reading!

Hunter has been watching her for days, long enough that he knows his brothers would give him a hard time if they knew about it. They don’t, of course, because he had to swim upriver just to keep an eye on her, and his brothers wouldn’t follow him.

Several days ago Hunter decided to sing for his soulmate, and she appeared. Confused and unsure, she clung to the railing on the pier. But when he tried to talk to her, she flinched as if he brandished a blade at her, and ran off.

He’s not sure if it’s the water she’s afraid of, or him, but Hunter is determined to figure it out.

And encourage her to love him.

His time watching her has taught Hunter a lot about his mate. For one, she’s kind. He has seen her tending to younger siblings (or perhaps cousins? The children look like her, but they call her by name so she can’t be their mother—), and the children clearly adore her.

She’s also very steady, when a neighbor came over to yell at her for something the kids did, she withstood his shouting without flinching and then tore him a new one.

It was insanely attractive.

He’s also noticed that she never wandered close to the lake that he’s temporarily living in. In fact, she gives the lake a wide berth, as though afraid that the water will reach out a grab her.

Which is a problem.

How is he supposed to win her over if she refuses to come near the water?

Hunter has spent several days considering this very problem and has finally come up with a solution. He’s going to sing for her, nightly, and use a messenger crab to deliver little trinkets and pretty shells to her.

With luck, she’ll be curious enough to come and see what’s going on.

And if she doesn’t…well, he’ll just have to try something else.

It takes three nights of singing and three mornings of her waking up with new presents before she comes to investigate the lake. 

She comes to the water early in the morning, following Hunter’s messenger crab, and she stops at the edge of the dock. She’s trembling, even from a distance Hunter can see that, but she’s clutching the string of pearls he sent to her this morning, and he can see the small blue shell he had delivered to her yesterday hanging around her neck.

She clearly likes the presents, and Hunter couldn’t be more thrilled about that knowledge if he tried.

He pops out of the water, far enough away that she can retreat if she feels like she has to, and he feels a surge of delight when she doesn’t back away from him as he approaches.

Instead, nervously, she folds her legs under her and kneels on the dock, her hands wrapped tightly around one of the railings. She’s terrified, but she hasn’t left.

“You came!” Hunter blurts, unable to stop himself as he lifts himself out of the water so he’s able to see her face.

She stares at him, specifically at his waist where skin meets grey scales, and then lifts her gaze to meet his, “You’re a merman.” She sounds stunned.

“I am,” Hunter agrees, “I’ve been following you since that day on the beach.” He admits, sheepishly, “I think I scared you.”

She shakes her head, “I have hydrophobia,” She explains, “I left the beach because I had a panic attack. Honestly, I’m not very comfortable being here.”

Hunter’s gaze softens, “You don’t have to push yourself. I can wait for as long as you need.”

Her hands tighten around the string of pearls, “You keep leaving me presents—”

“I do. You’re my other half, my soul mate.” He explains, “You can feel it, can’t you?”

She presses her hand over her heart and lowers her gaze.

“You can.”

“Yeah, I can.” She admits after a moment of silence, “You deserve someone better than someone afraid of water.” 

“Wait, wait.” Hunter lightly touches her arm, “I don’t want better, I have you and you’re all I want. I’m a patient person.”

She makes a face, “But what if I’m never comfortable in the water? I nearly drowned when I was a child, I don’t even know how to swim! I—”

“I would never let you get hurt.” Hunter interrupts, drawing a look of astonishment from her, “When you’re with me in the water, I promise that you’ll be safe. You just have to trust me.”

She averts her gaze for a moment and then opens her mouth to say something, but then someone calls for her from the house, “Um…I have to go.” She hesitates a moment longer, “Maybe we can continue this conversation later?”

“I’ll be here.” Hunter promises, “For as long as you need.”

She favors him with a small smile and then gets to her feet and carefully hurries back to the house. Hunter watches her leave before he lowers himself back into the water, he might as well try to get some rest while waiting for her to come back.

Several hours later, after sunset, Hunter is pulled from his light dozing at the sound of raised voices. The voices are muffled, but one is very obviously the voice of his soulmate.

Swiftly, he swims up to the surface and pokes his head just out of the water to see what’s going on.

Yelling isn’t unusual at this home, his soulmate usually isn’t involved though. 

Hunter immediately finds her, standing on the dock, her back to the water, and her family’s neighbor in her face, yelling at her. 

It’s almost as if time moves in slow motion. The neighbor lifts his hand and hits her with something, a stick of some kind, and Hunter’s heart sinks as she falls backward into the water.

His soulmate can’t swim, but she definitely can’t swim when she’s unconscious. 

He swims faster than he’s ever swam before, diving to the bottom of the lake and wrapping his arms around her, before dragging her back to the surface.

She coughs out some water, and her head lolls to his shoulder, but she’s breathing, and that’s good enough for him. Hunter brushes some of her hair out of her face, carefully tilting her head so he can see where he hit her.

There’s a clear gash on her temple, and it’s bleeding badly. Quickly, Hunter rips the sleeve off of her shirt and presses the cloth against the open wound, to try and stem the bleeding. 

He doesn’t dare bring her to shore, just in case the neighbor is waiting for her.

Eventually, something like 30 minutes later, she stirs awake and blinks, dazed, at Hunter.

“There you are,” He breathes out, “You scared me, pretty girl.”

She blinks at him slowly, and Hunter watches as slow awareness seeps into her dazed eyes. He recognizes the moment she realizes that she’s in water, as she tenses and her breath quickens.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay. You’re fine. I have you.” Hunter tightens his arms around her, “I have you, you’re safe with me. I promise. You need to calm down.”

It takes a few moments, but as she realizes that she’s not sinking and that she is, in fact, safe in his arms, the tension drains from her body and her breathing slows to a more even pace, “There we go.”

“What happened?” She asks him, her voice slightly hoarse.

“You don’t remember?”

She frowns at him, shifting in his arms so she’s able to wrap her arms around him, “I remember…I fed the kids and put them to bed.” She murmurs, “And then…” She pauses, “We had a visitor, I think? The neighbor. He was complaining about the kids, I told him he needed to stop yelling, and then—” her frown deepens, “And then…I don’t remember.”

“You were fighting on the dock, and he hit you with something, a stick of some kind.” Hunter explains, “You fell into the water.”

She stares at him, “You saved me?”

“Of course, I told you I would.”

She stares at him for a moment, and then she smiles at him and tightens her arms around him, “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for doing the right thing,” He replies, “I’m just glad that I was here to help. You really should learn how to swim though, angelfish.”

She sighs softly and drops her head on his shoulder, “Yeah, I guess.”

“I can teach you if you like.”

She seems to curl into him, as best as she can, “I’d like that.” She pauses for a moment, “Oh, I have to get back to the house!”

“I have you, sweetheart. Hold on tight,”

As she hurries back to the house, slightly unsteady due to her head injury, Hunter watches her. He’s going to stick around for a bit longer, just in case the neighbor comes back, but he has high hopes for his connection with his soulmate.

He tilts his head and listens as she approaches the house, and he smiles when he hears her mother release a cry of horror, everything is going to be alright now. Her parents will take care of everything. 

And Hunter will be here to deal with the man who tried to kill his soulmate, should he get to close to the lake.

[thebindingofpillo]

It’s been a while since I did a proper character introduction so this will be a little all over the place but MAGGY queen of my heart, best girl 2kforever is here!!!! Read all about her under the cut.

As with everyone else in the cast, Magdalene is a Normal Person trying to move through life the best way she can. While she’s aware or the existence of the supernatural, her strategy is to chug along and having a normal life in spite of all this. So who cares if the Angel of Destruction is chilling in her living room? That’s her boyfriend and he’s gonna help her with dinner, don’t be rude.

Her and Isaac are adopted siblings - you can find out about Isaac here - and they both have an artistic drive BUT while Isaac’s passion lies in figurative arts, Maggy is more of a writing type. Personality wise, I envisioned her as a really sweet, passionate girl, but also with an extremely short fuse. Quick to anger! But also very quick to calm down if people don’t respond to her anger - Judas is a master of this trick, while Isaac can get as emotional as her and their fight usually devolve into screaming matches.

This doesn’t mean she’s constantly looking for a fight, in fact she knows how to keep her cool if the situation calls for it. Her emotions only get the best of her if she’s with people she trusts and if the situation is dire enough (like discovering your beloved boyfriend killed the son of God…). She’s also a huge nerd! And a bit feral. Could either ramble for hours about her interests or eat a bell pepper like it's an apple. That's why her boys love her so much. Her and Judas met when they were in middle school and have been inseparable ever since. They bonded over their mutual interest in history and literature, so much so that they ended up pursuing a higher education in their respective fields. But while Judas had no problems getting a masters, Maggy spent years struggling to complete a base three-year degree* and ended up dropping out entirely. In the years she wasn’t studying, she focused on writing and publishing her first book, but that didn’t go so well either. She eventually ended up applying for a job at a kindergarten not too far from her home - where she met Lilith - all the while still trying her hand at writing. She’s currently working on a second book, with the help of Isaac (illustrations) and Judas (research).

*I am using my own experience with Italian university, I don’t know how American colleges work lol sorry. Anyway in Italy university is divided as such

Laurea triennale (three-year degree) - 3 years. This is the basic degree.

Laurea magistrale (masters degree) - 2 years. You can only access this after completing the three-year basic degree.

Dottorato (doctorate) - 3 years. Can only be accessed after completing the 2 year masters degree.

If you wanted to get a doctorate you’d need to go through 8 years of school. Judas has completed 5 years of studying (therefore has a masters degree) and is now taking a sabbatical before working on his doctorate. Magdalene dropped out after a couple of years and never completed the basic three-year degree. Hope this is clear enough!

Anyway, dropping out of school didn’t make Magdalene any less educated. She loves learning! And both her and Judas have amassed a huge library filled with every single book that captured their attention. She’s also very curious and has a knack for teaching herself new things, like calligraphy, cooking, and even lerning new languages. Everything that catches her attention - from mushroom growing, to crystals, to ancient religions - is free game!

Despite all this, dropping out of school and seeing her first book flop did put a damper on her overall mood. While her loved ones reassure her that her worth isn’t defined by her successes or lack of thereof, deep down she feels like a failure. Sure, she has a job, but idling away the rest of her life at a 9 to 5 isn’t really a thing she sees herself doing. At the same time, she’s afraid of putting too much hope into this new book, because another failure might push her to give up writing altogether and make her truly miserable.

As for her religious belief, she’s a born again Christian. She had a slight crisis of faith after highschool - nothing too serious, she just didn’t see the point in going to mass every week and was frustrated that this thing that was supposed to bring her joy felt more like a chore than anything. With her being a rebellious teenager at the time, she did a complete 180 and converted to satanism for a while. Her parents didn’t really support her decision, but they didn’t stop her either, as teenagers are teenagers and they just wanted their girl to be happy (and not hurt anyone or herself in the process).

During this phase of her life she dabbled a little in witchcraft, and her knowledge of tarots and crystals comes from here. She didn’t do much more than that though, as she was still a bit skeptical of the whole magic ordeal.

Eventually she met Azazel, who was nothing short of horrified to see her proudly announcing she was a satanist, since he had direct experience with the guy and could attest he was an asshole. Seeing a real demon from hell scared her half to death but since he was very sweet and knowledgeable, he managed to help her find her faith again and answer all the questions she might have had in the meantime. This does not mean that Magdalene is now the stereotypical Good Christian Girl Trademark. While her faith in God is stronger than ever, she still takes all the rules imposed by the human Church with a grain of salt. She’s not a zealot, but still goes to mass and tries to love her neighbour the best way she can (even when it’s difficult!).

More stuff (rapid fire)

She likes to joke she’s the world’s worst Catholic as she still reads tarots from time to time and stili has her pendulum and crystal collection

While she still has an interest in divination and magic, it’s from a purely cultural perspective now.

Her new book is about… the adventures of Perseus. I am getting meta with my story lol

I had the idea she was able to mend clothes and sew, but I don’t think it fits her too much anymore, so now whenever she needs something done she gives it to Isaac.

[maryonmega]

Timeless Starlight

(an In Stars And Time fanfic)

The early summer sun touched the Poteria cobblestones to create a layer of cosy warmth, yet to become a bothersome heat. The trees and statue in the piazza providing shade and a nice place to sit down and rest the legs while taking in the picturesque looks of the decorated homes and small shops around.

It was the impression given to Odile and Pétronille, while having a quiet moment on the place, the designated meeting spot, after each decided that splitting to do their own things was an acceptable thing. Before too long, the others started arriving, one by one. Mirabelle with Bonnie, Isabeau, and finally Siffrin. But, unlike the others the last had something other than just excited comments to show: a flyer for a play.

" 'Timeless Starlight'?" Odile read, brows furrowed " 'New production from acclaimed playwright Fortunato Amato, based on the real story of the country of Vaugard, the time freezing curse, and eventual salvation. His sources include bards, unfrozen citizens, merchants, pilgrims, and a self declared acquaintance of the Saviors.' Why did you bring this?"

Siffrin's half contained grin became even less contained:

"Isn't it obvious? I want to check it!"

"A play based on us?" Mirabelle looked at the flyer with a nervous gaze, not very encoraging "Are you sure this is a good idea? Even plays based on books can be hard to watch because they always change things..."

"Oh! Come on! Don't you think it might be fun? Looking at the struggle as an outsider?"

"You're really into Poterian plays, aren't you, Sif? Have you see this troupe before? Or writer?"

"Not even once! It's gonna be totally new!"

Odile sighed, ans shook her head.

"I did not travel nearly half of the planet to see the visual form of a gossip hill."

At the end of the afternoon, all six were sitting down at the theater building, snacks at hand and trying to be discreet so others wouldn't notice they were the real deal. The number of people in costumes made it easier. Nille seemed to be eager, almost as much as the resident theater nerd.

"Maybe it's gonna be a good way to catch up on what I didn't see."

"Maybe. I hope in a good way." Mirabelle responded, taking her seat beside Odile in the middle. Nille, Bonnie, Odile, Mirabelle, Isabeau, Siffrin - the pairs of siblings and couple at the ends of the row. A bit of luck to find six seats on straight line.

And, soon enough, the lights on the audience turned off, and the curtain opens.

The backdrop was actually pretty well made. It was easy to tell it was supposed to be outside of Dormont. The actress interpreting Mirabelle takes a couple of steps before falling to her knees on the middle of the stage.

"Who... Who was that man? To make time stop for my home? To threaten to do the same for the country? Is my escape for naught? Am I only to wait to be cursed anyway? Where to even go from here?"

Straight to the point, eh?

Curious, Siffrin leans foward to see Mira's reaction. She's frowning, but doesn't look very bothered. Being fair, naturally. Viewers aren't mind readers, thoughts need to be turned into monologues to be passed on.

... Not that it excuses the weird tone. Why did she sound like she was pretending to act for a bit? It sounded like something Siffrin would try to replicate for a bit.

The main lights turn off and a dim light goes on somewhere behind. Decent choice, helps give a bit of a dream-like impression. "Decent" is not "great", but, some plays do have unimpressive starts and pick a little later, so no pouncing on the first impression.

"There is more to you than merely awaiting for stagnation, lassie. It shall never reach you, even if the very source tries to."

Yeah, the logical part of his brain is saying that the writer can't be blamed, but the rest wants to crackle.

There isn't a lot of buildup for the set off to Jouvente. Character Mirabelle starts to look for the orbs without much explaining. It makes it seens like, she was on her way for an orb and the city was kind of, in the way? And arriving there she remembered that it has what's supposed to be a good Defenders body?

"The curse has taken over my home, and it will spread! He made it clear he wants to spread it to the whole of Vaugard! I can't stop him, not alone. I need help! As much as one can get!"

On the middle of the row, Mirabelle, face twisting in embarrassiment, patted Isabeau's arm to get his attention.

"I didn't actually sound like that, right?... Right?????"

"Kinda?" Taking a page from Siffrin's book, she pulled her shawl up to her eyes, so the sympathetic smile went unseen "If it helps, you weren't acting, and, the phrasing was less awkward. And, you were more anxious than damsel?"

"So not at all?" Odile asked, more amused than was called for.

"... Sure, let's go with that."

That seemed to be the best choice. For Mira's pride. Enough to lower the shawl on time for the next piece of dialogue.

"You sound like you need help, indeed, but not from us. We can't just take your word that someone with power to freeze a country even exists. And, if he does, that we should jump on the call of what sounds like a glorified suicide."

"... Aaand that's not even worth a 'kinda'."

"Do you actually remember how that went down?" Mira's eyebrows were raised with interest, a nervous smile appearing after "I think I blocked it out."

"Not pretty. Honestly, I don't really want to lay it out now. It's more irritating than anything else."

After that, there was a moment that was likely meant to be melancholic of the actress kneeled at the curb, but a little hard to take seriously with the bright illumination and very, very fake sobbing.

Dramatic lighting ensues. Oh! Time to introduce the next character?

Yes, exactly that!

Classic move, step out of the shadows, looming over the present character.

"Fear not, miss. You won't have to go through this alone."

Between Siffrin and Mirabelle, Isabeau leaned foward and squinted. His expression was hard to read.

"Is that... two people on top of each other?"

Odile rolled her eyes, not even looking at his direction.

"Yes. I know, ridicu-"

"Crab yeah! I'm tall with a capital T!"

"That's... one way of looking at the bright side." Mira added with a nervous chuckle.

"I wonder if the bottom half is hot, though. Who would think I would be a role to suffer for?"

After that wasn't very story heavy: looking for the first orb with some action - the part where they brainstormed who to find the orbs must have been deemed too boring. Fair, but kind of funny that it made such a headache look like it was common knowlege.

Credit where credit is due, the way they portraited the fight against the sadness to get into the dungeon was nice. There's only so much one can do to make three people come across as a big monster. Using ribbons and cloth to simulate craft waves. To...

"We did it, Sugarplum! The first big step done!"

Aaaaaaaaaand the mild respect when out the window with a two squeaks and and an undignified wheeze.

"Sugarplum?!?!?!???!??!?!??!!?!"

"Belle! You and Za were being gross?!?!"

"Change, no! This is not accurate at al- Isabeau! Stop laughting!"

"Alright, alright, I'm stopping..." The fighter says, still giggling and waving a hand, before taking a few deep breaths to make the impulse die down "... Sugarplum."

Odile and Nille had to physically stop Mira from pulling out her sword.

Path for the second orb. Under the protection of the owner of a big librarian. Enough for the near rapier experience to stop and Mira sit up straight.

"Oh! I remember him! Nice guy, even if I don't get how he knows when someone's lying."

"Wait, really?" Nille bent over to look at Mira "There were people who thought you were lying weeks after leaving Jouvente?"

"Oh, yes. Downsides of it starting at the borders, news reach center a little slower."

Nille nodded and got back to sitting properly.

"Dear miss, I was entrusted with a tool meant for the greater good. And I don't believe there is someone threatening the whole continent right now."

"You've got it!" the Isabeau actor (top half) all but jumped in "Three more and we'll punch that King's face to next year!"

Hesitantly, Siffrin took a peak at how his boyfriend was reacting. Silent giggling. Guess that was alright?

In the middle, Odile crossed her arms and legs, an eyebrow raised, clearly paying extra attention.

Sure enough, the next actress walked into stage. She had a fair amount of makeup and the wig had more light hairs than would be accurate. Consequences of not fighting the hag allegations.

"My, oh my, looks like some people here are after more than knowlege."

The interest got an amount of sourness. Maybe not what was said as much as the tone. Who the heck play teases people they just met?

"We are not doing anything shady!" Stage Mirabelle said, her hand over the orb in stage Isabeau's hands like someone trying to hide a shady thing "We need the orbs to reach the person causing the time freezing curse!"

"Oh, I'm well aware of the curse. I cannot research on a frozen country, so guess I'm going with you too."

"Crab yeah! The more the merrier! Right, Mira?"

On his seat, Siffrin fake gasped.

"Did he say crab? Oh my, there are kids in this theater!"

"Oh please." Nille scoffed "Some kids are worst than me when someone messes up in a way I told them not to."

Her gaze drifted to Bonnie, who gave a sly smile and looked away.

The third orb was hidden in a more "classic" way, in an underground dungeon which location was kept secret by a specific group of people. The backdrop to simulate that was actually well made, credit where it's due.

Mira remembered that. It had been a tough thing, at the tail end of withdrawal symptoms from her left behind medicine, in a dark place crawling with sadnesses, not as strong back then as she was later on. It had also been an important moment. Odile taking the orb and walking on the front for safety while Isabeau helped her up the stairs.

The Mirabelle on stage...

"Have it, doctor. A proof of trust."

"Just like that? That's cute, young lady."

And then the stage Mirabelle led the way with her head up. Even when the stage Odile gave her a headpat from behind.

"Keeping watching your back, lassie. You never know."

The two women make eye contact. It was clear that, if they weren't in the middle, they would be backing away from each other.

The change of scene was smooth, and, like in reality, they got ambushed by a sadness mere meters away from a road. But, because unlike reality they weren't worn down by sadness hoards and medicine withdrawal, the difficulty against it made the stage trio look straight up clumsy.

And them, the person is costume collapsed, to reveal the stage Siffrin. The wig was already darkless and too long for that point in time. Little by little, those small things were starting to kind of slip throught. Mix with the background.

Stage Siffrin flipped their not curved at all dagger, as if getting rid of good that wasn't there, and smirked at the group.

"Stars, what a stabulous meeting."

The real Siffrin was a bit too busy thinking about how he could have had that introduction to notice that the stage Siffrin sounded oddly snarky.

"Now, how come there are people that choose to fight a sadness to the end instead of running?"

The tone was a bit weird to read, but there was n way to let the words escape. Blinking a few times, the rogue looked at his teammates to see if they heard that too.

Nille looked back, looking about to laught of shock.

"Is this serious?"

"No?? If I was that bold from the start I wouldn't stay out of the group hugs!"

"Cute!~"

On stage, the Isa actor was bumping his fists.

"How else can we grow stronger?"

"You do have plenty of strenght!" Stage Mirabelle, now. Did, it really have to be so on the nose? "You must know by now of the curse freezing our country. We are getting better but any help is good help."

"Of course I know! And, I want to keep this country safe, too."

After the recruitment scene came a camping scene, with some kight tricks to make it look like night and a campire. The stage Odile was the one cooking, despite that role having been Isa's back then - the one member of four that actually had to do so before joining.

"So, by the accent, I guess you're a foreigner like doctor Odile?"

"Where did they even pull the 'doctor' thing out of?" The real Odile said with squinted eyes.

Nille leaned over to look at her better.

"Well, they don't call you doctor, but you've got those diplomas, don't you?"

"I dropped out of high school."

"WHAT????"

"WHAT?!"

Odile smirked to herself, despite the people hushing the concerned housemaiden and the fascinated child she was sandwiched between.

"What? I never said I have a doctorate."

"But you came here to do a research? Isabeau is still trying to find out what it is about?"

"I never said it was for college."

"Still, dropping out? Not even finishing the classes you started?"

"Of course the housemaiden who took more classes than there are days in the year would be the one to have an issue with that."

There really wasn't much more to it aside from an opening for a bit of Siffrin slipping on a banana peel. Including a whacky sound effect. What?

The scene of finding Bonnie was... anticlimatic. Just waltz into some bushes and get the short actor that would have to pretend to be a preteen. Infirmary in a House of Change time!

"Let me come with you! I don't want to stay and freeze!"

On the audience, Bonnie almost jumped out of their seat.

"What the crab is that voice!? And I don't talk whinning!"

On stage, Siffrin's actor nodded.

"We don't want you to freeze, either. Guess there's no choice, then."

"Change, if that was how that went down, every single one of you were getting the hammer." Nille commented, cringing at the direction.

Odile nodded.

"None of us would blame you."

On the way to the fourth orb, a nice backdrop for a forest with multiple rivers. Had been a bit of a pain to get throught, specially to Mirabelle and Siffrin, with their layered clothes.

Stage Isabeau moved to retrieve it, and almost fell on one of the shallow rivers. Getting caught by the stage Odile, the orb in question caught by stage Siffrin.

"Thanks, mom." Stage Isa said, and then squeaked. 

"Mom? Really?" Stage Odile rolled her eyes, not even trying to disguise her smile.

"Awn, I wish that moment had been cute." Real Isa said over Mira's head. Odile looked at him with a sharp enough look to make the joke recap die midway.

"Well, if the pair need a mom-ent, I can go ahead."

Soemehow, that got an audience laughter.

The fifth orb was anticlimatic - Odile was the one to solve the puzzles and sadnesses fell to the power of four. And then it was time to head back to Dormont.

Before arrival, however, another camping scene. With Odile cooking. Again. Bonnie scoffed and crossed their arms.

"They made a whole crabbing play and didn't even know who the chef was?"

"They don't know a good cook when they hear of one, Bug." Their sister said, gentl patting their shoulder.

On stage, Mirabelle, as usual there, was the one to break the silence.

"This smell delicous, Madame. Ka Buan too?"

"Not really. More of a family thing."

"A family thing?" The stage Bonnie made a face that was the stereotype of an excited kid face "And you're sharing with us? Wooow."

"Ha, yes. A little something my mom used to make me..."

And Mira and Nille had to physically stop Odile from pulling out her fish book.

"Just two more days, and Vaugard will be able to move and change again." Stage Mirabelle said, not even pretending to be eating.

"You guys sure love change, don't you?" Stage Siffrin asked, that same smirk still plastered on his face.

"How not? Can you think of a life with no change?"

A shrug.

"It's not hard. As far as I can remember I've been Siffrin."

And then, Dormont.

Light tricks to simulate night, and three beds in a row. Mira and Isa cuddled in one bed, Odile and Bonnie in another. Siffrin, who was alone on the third, slipped out of bed, took the orbs, and got out. Lights to show daytime coming, and the two duos waking up.

"Frin?" The stage Bonnie called, the bad imitation of a childish voice mixed with a abd imitation of a sleepy voice. Then a clumsy attempt of acting like they fell from the bed "Frin? Where is Frin?!"

The real Bonnie didn't get to really witness the rest of the "frantic search". Too busy cringing.

On his seat, Siffrin was picking at the leather of his gloves. Was it a blessing or a curse that they didn't put (or didn't know) about him blowing up at their friends?

Their attention was caught when the search led to the Favor Tree, by a shape... A star shape... A costume of a person-sized star with limbs sticking out.

"Finally, what was taking so long? Now, listen to me and pay attention, because your traveler is about to do something stupid!"

On the row on the front, someone scoffed and turned to the person beside them.

"Can you believe this? The thing is based off a real story and the writer still pulled a Deus ex Machina!"

The five behind them exchanged looks comparable to kids caugth stealing cookies. That... was arguably the most accurate part.

Also stopped around there, because the too-much-star person went into the House with the four.

It's hard to reproduce going from floor to floor on stage. Instead, the lights got turned on or off with the actor's movements to give the illusion of going to different places. Including a flash involving the Mira actress flipping throught a book. Smart choice.

And, soon, all lights on to reveal the "long corridor". At the end of it, an actor on a decent reproduction of the King's armor, stage Siffrin standing in front of him.

"Siffrin!" The Isa actor called out at the start of the corridor "Get away, Siffrin! You can't defeat him alone!"

The King actor moved his head to the group's general direction, fists still in front of his face.

"Contrary. The one who could stop me was the Bright one, and this won't happen. Now, goodbye!"

Ribbons were used to simulate craft, and a translucid cloth to simulate Mira's shield. In complete silent. 

The stage Siffrin stood up, showing that he wasn't frozen. Hand over mouth, and bangs brushed back to show a pair of bonding earrings.

Of everything wrong there, what Siffrin kept thinking was that his ears aren't even pierced.

The stage King reached, to get on the pose the real King froze on, for the stage Siffrin, who was doing such a good job in looking sad and conflicted that it felt like a waste.

"My King!"

"Siffrin, my Bright Star, there is still a way. Take the crown. Use my power."

"My King, I- I don't know if I can. So much happened. Things changed. My King, I changed!"

"No! There will be no more change! We shall stay together in stagnation, my Bright star. In timeless starlight."

"Sif! You and the King are divorced?" The real Isa asked clearly holding back laughter. And Siffrin didn't know if he found it funny or wanted to puke.

The stage Siffrin kept that emotion (stars what a waste!) and took the crown just before the King fully froze.

"Yes, we shall."

The crown was put on. Lights out. When the lights came back on, the four Saviors (and Loop?) where looking up on a curtain with a band to simulate the cloak shape, some sort of craft being use to make wind on the stage.

"I CAN'T LET YOU LEAVE!" Came a scream from off stage. It didn't exactly sound like it was coming from above, but that was the least.

The stage Mirabelle took a step foward.

"Siffrin! Even if you started on the King's side, he's gone! You don't need to do his binding!"

"No! I must finish what we've begun!"

A painted rope whipped around to simulate an attack, that got "blocked" by the stage Isabeau. Stage Odile grasped his shoulder.

"It's no use! He won't listen to reason!" A gasp, and a hasty reach "Bonbon!"

Attention was brought, and, sure enough, stage Bonnie was climbing the curtain/giant cape.

("Do you think I c

[muses-with-afp]

In terms of weird-o Bleachy thoughts that rampage through my mind at various times, there is always this page from the TBTP arc:

And while this is a banger of a page in an arc full of them, my goober mind mostly telescopes in on this one panel:

Am I not supposed to wonder at this panel? Because here I am on a Friday wondering. More specifically, I am wondering: What am I supposed to take away here? And, what is it that I do actually take away here (today at least)?

As usual, I'll start by describing it because you have to start somewhere, I guess. This scene is a mostly pointless aside to the story, since I don't think we learn anything super substantive, plot-wise. What we do learn is that Byakuya is what passes for a "teenager" during this period, takes his training and role super seriously, and Yoruichi tortures plays with him on occasion.

The panel that draws my eye, however, seems to be communicating a few things at once: One, Byakuya realizes he has a guest. Two, that guest is Yoruichi. And three, Yoruichi greets young Byakuya tits out, which provides some color as to the nature of their relationship. I don't think either points two or three are revelations to the audience. Is anyone shocked the guest is Yoruichi? No, we've already spent some time with her in this arc and know she's definitely around. Also, is anyone really shocked that she and Byakuya have a teasing quasi-sibling relationship? Again, no, we've probably gathered as much since at least the SS arc.

For me, then, it's point one that scratches at the ole brain pan. What I am to make of Byakuya realizing he has a guest? Does he often receive guests at House Kuchiki? My guess is no. He looks sort of curious. The art isn't giving, say, razzle-dazzle anticipation, either (i.e., in that he is really keen on the guest being someone specific). I suppose you could squint really hard and say he might be hopeful as to who could be calling on him, but more in a diffuse "someone took time out of their day to see me" sort of way and less of a heart-skipping prayer that the guest is XYZ, who he's been dying to see again for ages.

I think this latter interpretation might be closer to the truth once the scene continues, and Byakuya goes from, "A guest for little ole me?" to this:

Which is just the zany shit I love to see from my Bleach characters. To be perfectly honest, I think Kubo does a pretty good job at nailing teenagers in all their ridiculous reaction formations and exaggerated responses to things (I say lovingly). However, I think that his relative curiosity ("A guest?") turned immediately to, "GO AWAY, YOU," could be read as he may have been excited or hopeful to receive a guest, one who is not Yoruichi. And, his overblown reaction to Yoruichi likely betrays the fact that even though she's a pain in his ass, he's pretty happy to see her.

So, what to make of all that. Well... perhaps we're supposed to take home the idea that perhaps Byakuya is isolated, even now. We get a hint of that at the very beginning of the scene:

Here, Ginrei (Byakuya's grandfather) notes that he is staying at the manor rather than the barracks, which implies that at least one close family member doesn't always come home. Given that Byakuya's father is the Vice Captain of Squad Six, it's likely his father has a similar schedule (i.e., periods of absence from the home where Byakuya lives). Combined with Byakuya's curiosity at receiving a guest and subsequent deflation at who that guest winds up being, perhaps we are supposed to understand that he's pretty lonely.

Now, before someone accuses me of going easy on Byakuya, I definitely think some of that loneliness is of his own making, given what a cocky brat he is to Yoruichi in these panels, a perspective that gets echoed by Kaien shortly afterward:

But, being a cocky brat is sort of a thing teens do on occasion. And, not having a lot of people to socialize with probably doesn't help with beating that quality out of someone learning how to behave appropriately.

Given how this arc shakes out in the end--with Yoruichi going into hiding to help a friend--the potential people left to call upon Byakuya dwindles further. Then, after his dad dies an unspecified amount of time later, it dwindles further still.

And so, on that thought, I end this post. Because what's Bleach without a little tragedy coupled with humor? (My personal favorite variety of Bleach.)

[sunandflame]

What Happened to Me? Where Did Sunny Go?

Hey sweethearts. As many of you know, I've been inactive for a very long time and haven’t shared many details. I know I don't owe anyone an explanation, and most of you understand that, but there are still some things I'd like to share with you. I know that some of you are curious, and there are others who have been worried (for which I sincerely apologize).

To keep it brief: I have been suffering from depression for several years, and this time it hit me hard enough that I had to seek help in February. I had loving people around me who supported me and showed me that I matter to them, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of the year. Many more setbacks followed in the next few months. My grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at the beginning of the year, a good friend committed suicide a month ago, leaving everyone in deep grief. I suffered multiple nervous breakdowns again, and right now, I’m going through a divorce from my first love, with whom I had been together for 14 years. To top it all off, my mother was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago, leaving me in charge of everything since I am the oldest of my siblings.

As you can see, it’s really not been an easy year for me, and it’s probably not the year I’ll return to Tumblr, but I won’t make any predictions.

So why am I telling you all of this?

Well, I’m someone who doesn’t like to talk about their personal problems. I can't even bring myself to write in the vent channels on Discord because I don’t want to appear weak. Which, of course, is total nonsense because no one who shares their feelings or problems is weak. On the contrary, it’s an incredible strength—something I wished I had but couldn't muster because I had no connection to my grief. In the past, I wouldn't have been able to even think about something like this, let alone write about it here on Tumblr. Instead, I would binge-eat my problems away with fast food or pasta. But I want to learn to allow myself to grieve and to be honest with myself in this regard, which is why I’m writing all of this here.

I know some people might not care at all and probably won’t read this far, but that’s okay! I’m writing this for the people who feel the same way so they can realize they’re not alone. You are not alone, babygirl! If you’re struggling, ask for help—believe me, you’re not annoying anyone. There are people out there who care about you. ♥️

[leviraaaaaa]

Birthdays? (Levi x reader)

Cw: small mentions of negligent parent and sibling's death.

Note: Omg, reader is almost disgustingly optimistic here I'm almost cringing 😭. I found this as an old WIP and I'm too tired to even edit it lol. So it's kind of ew.

.

"Birthday?" Levi stared at you sceptically, unsure where the curiosity came from.

"Yes, sir. Birthday."

When Levi had stared at you silently, you looked up. Actually horrified. "Wait, no way. Tell me you know what birthdays are–"

"Of course I know—what the hell do you think of me?" He huffed defensively, scowling at you in annoyance.

"Yeah well, just in case you don't, it's the day when you're born."

"Shut up," he groans. "What do you actually want?"

"What? I'm just curious." You leaned back on your chair, raising an eyebrow at his accusation.

"Why would you want to know that? Why would you even care?"

"I don't know. I just do. Go on, tell me."

"No." He replies flatly. "You tell me what's actually your intent. You're always up to some shit. I don't trust you, this has to be a trick of yours of some sort."

"Ouch?" You gasp in mock offense.

Levi stared at you, searching your face. Then he sighed. Caving. "...I'm not sure"

You were surprised. You didn't expect that answer. "Like...at all? You don't remember at all? What did you put in the forms when you joined the military?"

He hesitated, thinking about it. "....I remember. Sort of. Just..not sure." He shrugged. "I remember my mom doing something special for me on a certain day every year but it was so long ago I can't pinpoint which day it was."

"Pick a guess, go on." You leaned forward excitedly, eyes shining.

He scoffed at your eagerness, but then shifted his eyes downcast. And he was deep in thought, in a time long gone. "I mean.." He spoke in a low voice, his tone unsure. "If I had to guess, I'd say late December. The weather would be cold. And...a lot more people would come down here from the surface to for...entertainment because of new year holiday."

You remembered that his mom was a prostitute. You waited a few seconds, closely observing his face for any hint of uneasy or that he was uncomfortable before continuing again.

"So...like 30-31 December?"

"Nah." He shook his head. "A little earlier perhaps. Like around 25th I think. At least that's what I submitted in the papers."

You thought about it for a few seconds, eyes on him as he stared of to somewhere distant.

"So.." You said. "You've... never celebrated your birthday since..right?"

"Are you joking?" He huffed frustratedly, almost affronted that you even thought of it. "Look at my life, this seems celebratory to you? I try not to die everyday."

"Yes but...that's no reason not to celebrate a birthday." You spoke slowly, shrugging.

Levi shook his head. He couldn't even believe you thought he would celebrate such a... thing like a birthday. As if there wasn't enough shit in his life.

"What am I? 11? It's just a day. It's nothing special. The sun rises in the east, sets at the west. There are 24 hours and the clock ticks just regularly. Why should it be any different?"

"But.." You seemed almost surprised about how he viewed it. "That's not true. Birthdays are special."

He raises an eyebrow, unamused.

"Well, I mean," You add almost defensively, but also in an attempt to make him understand." It means that..many many years ago, a life was created right? In this very day, a heart started to beat and a pair of lungs took their first breath. A whole damn human being... how is that..how is that not special, captain?" You say, resting your head on your folded arms above his desk, staring at him.

He frowned at you, as if he can't quite understand why you're so insistent to convince him. Also slightly confused to hear the way you thought about it. "...you romanticize everything."

"That's because the world is a beautiful place."

"Not for people like us. For you perhaps."

"No, sir. You just need to know how to see." You grinned, rising from the chair. You walked to the window that was behind his chair, leaning over the edge as fresh air caressed your face gently. "Have you ever seen the sunset? And the sunrise? That smell when the first rain hits the ground, soaking up earth? The soft little sounds, and maybe if you're lucky a rainbow too? When stars glitter all over the sky and it's a full moon night? You see it everyday, and yet it's everyday you're left just as mesmerized than the day before."

"I don't like it when you're being philosophical"

You sighed. "Look..I'm not saying it's not cruel." You turned your head so you can look at him. His head was turned, eyes on his paperwork. "But..that's the price to pay. Being alive is a wonderful thing, sir. Being born, even more so. You may think your existence is a small thing comparatively, but that's so wrong, captain. Because just think for a second, what would the world do without you? What would've happened to humanity?"

"There would've been someone else to replace me." He replied nonchalantly, not even bothering to look at you.

"No, captain." You say softly. "Everyone has a reason. No one comes here without one. Being born.. that's a gift. That's a chance to live, love and laugh. And birthday's are a way to remind that to yourself when life becomes unkind. That many years ago, your mother held you in this very same day for the first time." You paused when you saw his shoulders tense, considering if you should say the next words. You hesitated. Would it be okay for you? Would that be crossing a line? Then after several seconds of silence, you parted your mouth, the next words soft but firm. "And I don't know how I know, captain." You sigh. "But believe me, and I assure you, you were the best thing that happened to her."

Somewhere in the room a clock ticked away, your heartbeat beating along with it. And with every second of silence, it got harder to breathe.

Have you crossed the line?

"..you've put a lot of thought into this." He finally responded. The same bored, monotonous tone, not a single hint that your words had affected him in any way.

You exhale in relief. "Not really." You said, shaking your head. "It's my little brothers birthday today. A reminder that he existed once."

Levi shifted this time, just the barest turn of his head towards you.

"...I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. I'm not." You tell him, waving him away. "Perhaps it's better this way, the world wouldn't have been any kinder to him had he survived."

You stared at your feet. It had been years since you've watched your family die in Shiganshina. The pain was less now, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. You swallowed.

"...so," Levi asked suddenly. "When's your birthday?"

You were surprised, completely caught off guard by the sudden question. He's the last person you thought would ask such a question. "Mine?" You thought. Then smiled. "I don't know." A nervous laugh.

"...you're joking." He turned to fully look at you this time, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah no." You say sheepishly. "I just randomly selected a date when I had to fill out the papers. I have no idea what my actual birthday is. I don't even know my age."

"How do you not know?" He says in disbelief. He didn't expect to hear this.

You shrugged, flexing your arms absent mindedly. "My mom wasn't ever really sober for me to ask such casual things. And I was too busy trying to keep us alive to care."

Levi observed you quietly. There was a strange sort of shadow in your eyes. Not quite sadness..it was more melancholic really.

"So all that shit, and you don't even know it yourself?"

"That's fine, captain. It's everyday I wake up and am grateful because I was born." You leaned back from the window, turning to look at him, your eyes gleamed in the sunlight.

"...I will honestly never understand where you get that energy from." Levi shakes his head, almost mortified hearing your answer. He never understood how someone could be this unbelievably hopeful.

I grin. "Look outside, captain. It's a beautiful day to be alive. Live it."

-

Levi hadn't thought much of the conversation. He had almost forgotten it. Until it was the 25th of December and he found a package of his favorite tea placed on his desk.

A note was scribbled on a post-it on top of it.

'Thank you for existing. I hope you smile a little today, captain.'

He did. Just a little.

He stood stiffly, staring at it, eyes going over the short lines and the small words over and over, memorizing every little curve. He almost snorted when he saw the little balloon you drew in a corner.

Maybe life wasn't so bad after all.

Perhaps the world was indeed, as beautiful as you had said.

How could it be not when you existed in the same world, right beside him?

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: October Wrap-Up.

Gr8 news: I am no longer very far behind on my NaNo prep reading!! I had to drop JUST LIKE HOME (reread) and HOUSE OF LEAVES, but I got through the rest of my Haunted House and/or Aliens and/or Parasite/Fungus TBR. Here they all are!

Photos and/or reviews linked:

SHRIEK - ★★★★ I think SHRIEK Is my favorite volume of the Ambergris trilogy, taken as a whole--the one-way conversation Duncan was having with Janice was a really neat narrative choice, and then the reveal in the Afterword's Afterword was, in true VanderMeer fashion, mind-blowing.

FINCH - ★★★★ I was actually surprised by how much I liked this one. It helped me figure out a LOT about what kinds of power dynamics I enjoy in borderline-dystopian fiction, and what intrigues me most about limited agency. It wrapped the story up almost too neatly, for a VanderMeer, but I did still have a good time and blitzed through it quickly. Given this one and SHRIEK, I'm counting the Whole Series as a Four-Star read--I'd like to reread it someday, now that I know what's going on.

LEECH - ★★★★★ (reread) STILL ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVES, OFFICIALLY!! It's very gothic and heavy and fucked up, but it does FASCINATING things with POV, and worldbuilding, and storytelling frameworks. PLEASE check the content warnings, but if none of those are hard no's for you, definitely pick this one up. I suspect anyone for whom Animorphs was a Formative Influence will adore this (but so far my sample size is really only 1)--please prove me right.

A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES - ★★★½ This was fun! Not my favorite Kingfisher (that award still goes to HOLLOW PLACES), but I had a good time--I laughed, I squealed over vultures, I blasted through pages to get to the end.

STARLING HOUSE - ★★★★ Alix E. Harrow always manages to write exactly my catnip, somehow. Maybe it's the ADHD, but I'm constantly finding connections to my own writing projects in her work, and STARLING HOUSE was no exception! I liked that this one was more modern, and the sibling dynamic was precious, and I love weird sentient houses where space is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. I'll probably reread this one for Driscoll purposes!

WOODWORM - ★★★½ So much rage in such a tiny volume, and I was Absolutely Here For It. I don't tend to read much lit fic, but I do try to read a lot in translation, and I thought this one did very cool stuff with Spanish--the prose felt natural in English, but I loved the linguistic details the translators left in Spanish and how much depth that added. I feel like this one might be a good fit for Carmen Maria Machado fans, too.

HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE - ★★★ Call this a low 3, from me. It was Fine, I guess. I liked what he did with the act structure (labeling parts as stages of grief was very cool), and I liked the family dynamics and history, but a lot of the humor didn't land for me (I got a few sensible chuckles, but a bunch of it wasn't funny), and the "oh this author is A Man, huh" moments made me roll my eyes (seriously: Who thinks about their ~breasts~ when an angry taxidermied squirrel is clawing down your shirt?? No One With Breasts, Mr. Dude). This book did at least teach me that I'm not really interested in gore (it's just boring, unlike body horror, my beloved). I might still pick up HORRORSTOR, but I probably won't look into most of his other stuff, if this one is indicative of his general style. Meh.

THE ART OF EXCESS - No rating (didn't read the whole thing). At the end of ALWAYS COMING HOME, Richard Powers mentioned this book as the reason he finally committed to ALWAYS, so I was curious what this Tom Leclair dude had to say about it back in 1989. I had a heck of a time tracking down a copy (it's very out of print, and my local library had to source it from the Library of Congress for me), but I didn't want to buy it to read just the preface/intro/epilogue, because I haven't read any of the other texts he analyzes. Leclair's style was very readable, and I was intrigued by his framework, but I found some of his conclusions eye-rolly, given his sample size. I posted this one because I think Library of Congress books are fun, but I didn't add it to my Goodreads.

BLACK TIDE - ★★★½ This one had me rolling my eyes in the first couple chapters, and I was afraid I wasn't going to like it, but once Fucked Up Shit Started Happening, the momentum really picked up and didn't stop--I blitzed through it way past my bedtime on a school night. It was fucked up and weird and tense and bloody pull-no-punches horror, but it ALSO made me laugh, and I loved our two fuck-ups surviving the apocalypse together. NOTE: Dogs (and Gulls) Are Not Safe, and the cast is small enough that it matters a lot :( if you can't stomach animal harm/death, skip this.

A HALF-BUILT GARDEN - 81/338 pages read; will report back. Enjoying it so far! Glad I put it on my NaNo prep reading list, though not quite for the reasons I planned--the reflections on motherhood as well as parenting outside the binary have been interesting, so far (and that's relevant for my own haunted house endeavors!). A much gentler ride than BLACK TIDE, and the immersive tech reminds me of Murderbot's world, just Earthbound.

Overall! Fabulous month for reading! Anytime I think "wow I need A Break™ from writing or life," this is the type of reading I mean--where I can spend a couple weeks annihilating books within a day to Refill the Words Reservoir.

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. I am refining this as I figure out my wrap up posts (epiphany of last month: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[hamliet]

Hi Hamliet, I am a very amateur writer trying to get back into writing. Do you have any advice on how to avoid "forced romance" if you will? I see it in many medias and I feel like it takes away from the plot rather than enrich, especially in story platforms where romance is not the center piece in genres. How could I make romantic elements feel natural? Or would it better to tease subtle intimacy? Your analysis on a variety of media is helpful so I was curious for your input. Have a great day!

Hello! Best of luck with your writing!!

I would honestly look at your characters and story and think about their arcs and the themes.

For the characters, what is their main struggle? What is preventing them from getting it? How would a romance help or distract them from pursuing their main goal? How would the other character challenge them?

I also think it helps in particular to examine the internal drive for the goal--for example, someone may have a goal of, oh, winning a competition, but why is that their goal? For the joy of winning, or because winning is an integral part of their identity? See, you can't "win" in a relationship. It's either both of you compromise and learn how to win life together, as a team that sacrifices for each other because you enjoy each other, or you lose your relationship by focusing on winning against the other person. You need to know how to lose willingly to be in a relationship.

If the romance is meant to be a major plot point, then you have to develop all characters involved in a romance beyond just "love interest." But they don't have to be a super complex character to work for the story, depending on the specifics of plot and genre and themes.

Two examples of well-done romances that are only subplots are the main romances of the 2023 Netflix film Do Revenge. Drea's romance with Russ, as a character, shows us that as much as she's cold and driven by her ambitions, she also really craves personal connection in multiple areas of her life. It also shows us that she can heal, considering her whole revenge arc is set off by her ex, Max, betraying her. Through Russ, we see the possibility of Drea becoming a better person--and there's added conflict because Russ is friends with Eleanor's enemy whom Drea gets revenge on, Carissa.

For Eleanor, her romance with Gabby works because Gabby is Max's sister. The main villain of the movie is siblings with her love interest. Yet Eleanor maintaining a flirty facade with Max is integral to the revenge, so her ability to work both siblings clues the viewer into the fact that Eleanor is smarter and savvier than we initially think (leading up to a big twist). It also comments on her backstory about being outed and trying to hide parts of who she is. There's also another, smaller twist, where we're meant to see potential conflict in Eleanor getting revenge on Max and thereby hurting Gabby... but as it turns out, Gabby is the one who has more morals than Eleanor and sees her brother for whom he truly is--so instead of hindering Eleanor, Gabby actually challenges Eleanor to get on her level.

These romances are minor subplots in a fairly trivial movie, but they work because they tie into the character's arcs in intriguing ways, and also comment on the story's themes. Can you go too far in revenge? What is possible to forgive? How do we determine who we are and who we want to be?

So, for themes, what is the main message of your story, and how does love impact that? For example, if the story is one of self-discovery, of self-acceptance even, learning how you are in a romance is actually an important part of that for many people. A romance can even fail and still matter.

Romances that don't work, for me, are ones that are tacked on and not really relevant to anything other than "hero/heroine needs romantic interest, insert here."

[rileys-battlecats]

I really like your work! I discovered it a while ago but recently found it again and explored your tumblr finally. I'm not sure if me deciding to spend a couple hours going through your entire posting history over curiosity about Mica clan is a compliment to you or says something about me but I did it.

It was really neat seeing your Shut Eye video. Also, just to satisfy my own curiosity: it looks like of the thirteen you have Heroncall, Oriolewing, Addereye, Larksong/star, Foxjaw, Owlpounce, Buckfoot, Snaptail and her two kits, another queen and her kit, and a random cat. Are you willing to share any information about the other queen and the random cat. But it was nice to see a bit about where the clan came from, and if your ever decide to make a video about the clan's founding know I will eagerly await it.

Also, thanks so much for the family tree. Part of the reason I went through your entire tumblr was because I was curious about the details behind the clan so it's nice to have that, if a tad too late for me to save a couple hours. Also, is Heroncall mates with Buckfoot? And it looks like Robinsong may have mated with the kit in the Shut Eye video that belongs to the other queen, am I right? Also, it's really neat to sea Owlpounce and Foxjaw being siblings. It makes sense with how fluffy they are, and Embertooth is too. Also, it's really funny comparing Owlpounce and Foxjaw with their social skills and steady personality to Embertooth, who is somewhat prickly. I can also see Puddlepaw being related to the three, maybe as a cousin to Embertooth? They're very fluffy and I can see their personality as less social but just as steady as Owlpounce and Foxjaw. Is Orchidstar related to Owlpounce? When I saw her she reminded me of Owlpounce and she's also fairly fluffy.

Side not: With how depleted the clan first was after the disaster, and with how they picked up Birchspeckle just for her abilities, was there a time where the clan was friendly to outsiders just afterwards? Before the illness and attacks I can see them almost needing the extra cats. It would make it horribly ironic how they isolate Mudpaw for all that several of them would also be only half-clan, and explain all the question marks you have in the family tree. They're cats that were encountered and helped create kittens but weren't necessarily interested in joining.

Sorry for the length of this by the way.

ok first of all I love super long asks so no need to apologize HAHA

The unnamed background cats haven't really been thought through at this point, but the random cat (not the queen or kit) is Addereye's apprentice at the time of the disaster! Not sure what happens to him, but it can be assumed he lives with the clan and probably dies before the events of Mudpaw's story.

Good eye spotting Buckfoot on the family tree! I had the idea in the back of my mind of them being one of Mudpaw's ancestors ever since I designed them. I've said before on here but Micaclan doesn't really endorse the whole "healers can't have families" rule, and they especially didn't care for it after the disaster, when their numbers were so low. Plus, I like the idea of Mudpaw reminding Owlpounce of her old mentor :') I also like the idea of Puddlepaw and Orchidstar being related to Owl, Fox, and Ember! having all the fluffy cats related to each other is so funny to me ^^

Directly after the disaster, I imagine the clan sort of relied upon the help of strangers in order to survive. Maybe they even took some into the clan at first, like Birchspeckle. But I think the thing that really started their sort of isolationist-tendencies was the slow loss of their culture. I think it's entirely probable that, in taking outsiders into their group, they began losing some of the traditions and beliefs that made them Micaclan. If the outsiders they allowed to join didn't care for the idea of Starclan, or for the idea of caring for the weakest among them before themselves, or for following the warrior code... would they even be Micaclan anymore? After losing their home, their families, their ancestral territory, their very connection to Starclan... would they, the last survivors of Micaclan, maybe even the last survivors of any clan, be the ones to allow their traditions and way of life to be lost forever?

It's this fear, I think, that caused Micaclan to veer so sharply into isolation. Larkstar has many flaws, and even if it stemmed from a desire to see her and her clan's way of life preserved, she still encouraged an unhealthy distrust of outsiders in the clan. By doing what she thought best at the time, doing what she thought would keep them and their way of life safe, she ended up creating a culture of isolationism, and this very isolationism harms the clan and its members. Birchspeckle was made to feel unwanted by the clan that raised her, Possum was fully disowned for wanting to leave the clan and explore, and Mudpaw was treated badly because of the clan's subconscious dislike for anyone they consider to be other. The changes the clan underwent did preserve most of their culture, it's true, but it also meant that they lost one of the core ideals that Micaclan was built on; Micaclan was formed by non-clan cats who decided they wanted to come together and embody a code of ethics that they found admirable. Micaclan was never formed on the basis of blood!