#but a lot I just deleted while feeling not great in the moment!

[the-weeping-dawn]

Did you delete some posts from your main blog? 😭

Yeah, there was a thing with someone where I reacted in a very calm and reasonable sort of way by making a sideblog, and just kinda deleting a good chunk of things.

[cyberm4n]

HI I LOVED UR HYPERSEXUAL FEM READER HEADCANONS UR WRITING IS SO GOOD

Soo I'm here to request the vees (mainly vox but idc) x hypersexual Fem reader pleasee 😭🙏

if not that's okay and I hope you have a nice day/night!! feel free to delete this lol

-xoxo, Ari

THANK YOU <3333 i love the vees and ive been looking for an excuse to write them so this is perfect

vees with hypersexul reader

going with the same scenario as last time- you've just finished a round and (char) is spent but you're already ready to go again

《— vox —》

■ he seems like a 2 rounds kinda guy so after that second round and yall are just laying there he is SPENT

■ so when you roll over to lay on his chest like "one more time?" with a little smile on your face, as if yall did not just violently fuck it takes him a moment

■ he's spent, so spent. but he really wants to please you

■ he'd get used to it tbh. like he's mentally prepared everytime now but maybe sometimes he can do a round 3

■ he'd resort to toys i think, only the best for his girl <3

■ there's also something he loves about getting to hold you and watch you writhe in pleasure and he just gets to watch

■ he'd always take your preferences into mind with toys too. like if you want smth specific he's got it for you

■ i feel like he might prefer if yall are spent at the same time so the foreplay goes CRAZY

■ like it's not just foreplay it's actual rounds of getting you to cum before the main event yk

■ or sometimes he'll just ask if it'd be okay to be done for the night when he is

■ he doesn't mind either way but he'd definitely want to communicate about it

■ so yeah it might take him a little bit to adjust bit he'd be just fine!

《— valentino —》

■ okay let's be real this man fucks A LOT so he can probably do like. 3 or 4 lengthy rounds before he's tapped out

■ it's making me giggle about it but like okay val is a kinky guy, and like especially if the first time yall do anything it's a little bit rougher he is SHOCKED when you're down for more

■ he's prly into something like overstim where normally you kinda gotta reel from it after so when he's done and it takes you like. a minute or two to be like "do you wanna do it again?" he judt looks down at you so confused

■ he takes a moment, blinking. he'd definitely ask if you're kidding or smth and then finding out you're not he has to take a moment

■ like, he finds it fucking awesome but jesus christ he's finally met hsi match

■ he might use toys on you or go down on you, depends how he's feeling tbh

■ i think he'd lean towards going down on you, idk he just seems like he'd be a bit of a munch.

■ and if you're okay with it when yall fuck in the future he's constantly just seeing how far you can go before you're spent

■ long story short he's totally chill abt it when he gets used to it and thinks it's fucking great

《— velvette —》

■ okay im literally giggling and kicking my feet while typing this

■ she seems like a 2 or 3 round kind of gal

■ idk femxfem sex doesn't really go in rounds ime but like. yk.

■ so after she's spent, she's like so ready to cuddle up and sleep. but then you're caressing her cheek, nuzzling into her neck. "again?" you murmur and she has to take a moment

■ cause like, she's just super surprised you're still ready for another.

■ she'd ask the most questions abt it. like she'd want to just know more so she can support you better

■ she'd go down on you tho! anytime! she definitely has toys but she seems like the type to be more inclined to eat you out

■ if she gets tired of that she'd use a toy on you. but she stays engaged the whole time, super attentive.

■ she's a service switch so like getting to keep you pleased like this makes her feel good and she doesn't mind at all

■ once again, all of them would embrace it and they do not mind at all!

■ if you guys with the poly hc for the vees i think it just makes it so much better for them to know it's really hard to burn you out

■ i loved this request ty <3

taglist: @reaper-of-light-12 @mxxny-lupin @wisteria-songs @t3llas @concentratedconcrete @pansexual-opera-house @dionysusismypatrongod

taglist form

[aemondwhoresworld]

SOUVENIR

pairing: cregan stark x fem!reader

summary: what will happen when lord stark's wife or maybe his son, reckon found a souvenir from his old lover?

warning: minor angst, jealousy, mention of an ex-lover, use of y/n, cregan is a single dad, y/n’s lord stark second wife

word-count: 1k

mae: english is not my native language, please forgive my lag of grammar. i do use google for a translation, if any reader could help me fix some of the grammar or vocab, that would be great and i’m very appreciate it!! 🤗⭐️ this is my first fic, please forgive me if i made any mistake. i might delete soon (idk if rhis was too flop 🤗)

you and Cregan have been weds for 36 moons. although you are Cregan's second wife, Cregan has always treated you with nothing but respect, love that every lady wife deserve that affection from their lord husband, even when you know that the betroth between you and him are duty, beneficial for both houses but you cannot help but falling for him more and more. the begin of the 5 moons into your marriage life, both admitted you had feelings for the other.

right now, in the middle of winter season in Winterfell, sitting in front of the fireplace inside your and Cregan's chambers, with your favorite book open in your hand along with all the thoughts of those sweet moment that you have had with Cregan and Rickon.

“mommy, mommy look what i found” even you are not his real mom, Rickon still always call you mommy. Rickon's clear voice pulled you out of those thoughts and immediately all your attention is on Rickon holding a handkerchief in his hand, you take it from Rickon's little hands and ask

“oh what did you find Rickon, can you show it to me?” you asked softly, the boy also nodded in agreement, opened the handkerchief and you immediately saw that there were seams and very skillful embroidery inside, and of course this handkerchief did not belong to you because you had no memory of embroidering a handkerchief to give to Cregan as a gift before or not from what you remeber

when you look a bit closer at the embroidered lines, its shape resembles a man and woman, hands in hands. at this moment, you immediately recognize the male figure in the scarf is Cregan because of the Stark family's signature scarf and then when you look at women figure, you wonder who is the girl standing next to your husband?

but then a small knock on your chambers door interupted

“my lady, Lord Cregan Stark wants to meet you in the dining hall,” said the maid, Anza. before the Anza can leave the chambers, you called for her and asked about the handkerchief.

“Anza, do you know who is standing next to my husband in this embroidered scarf?” you gently asked while pointing at the embroidery. when Anza didn't answer your question, you turned to look at her with curious eyes.

"what’s up? is there something i shouldn't know about?”

“no, my lady,” she continued, “if you really want to know, i’ll tell you.”

“then just tell me then” you said

“my lady, it's Lady Celess Ashwood. an interest lover of Lord Stark.”

hearing this, you were a bit disappointed, but you had to regain your composure, stand up and tell Anza to take Rickon back his chambers because it was time for him to rest. you walked out of your shared chamber, went straight to the dining hall where Cregan was already sitting there and waiting for you, all the way from your chamber to the dining hall, holding that handkerchief in your hand with lots and lots of thoughts running through your mind

does he really love you?

or is it because he still misses his past lover?

there are so many thoughts that make you go to the dining hall without even knowing when, with a handkerchief in your hand.

“y/n” Cregan stood up, walked towards you with a gentle smile on his face, Cregan's hands gently hugged your waist, then he bowed down his head and gave a kiss on your forehead, a kiss filled with love.

“Cregan” you said and gently leaned into Cregan's hug. then you asked him

“who is Celess Ashwood?” Cregan was a bit surprised when he heard this name, its been awhile since he last heard this name but he calmly answered

“how do you know this name?” Cregan asked you with a warm voice, his toned arms still not leaving your waist. still holding onto you tightly like he was afraid that if he let go you would be blown away by the cold, strong winds of Winterfell.

“please, cregan answer my question first.”

“Celess is…” he hesitated a bit, as if he didn't want to say it

“Celess is someone i once had feelings for, someone i once loved.”

“so you still miss her? that’s why you didn't want to say it, right, my Lord Stark?" You asked Cregan with a slightly disappointed voice, tears welling up in the corners of your eyes

“please call me Cregan, we are man and wife there are need to call me that” he continue

“and no, i don't want to mention it, not because i don't want you to know, but because i think it's not important anymore. now i have you and Rickon by my side, that is my first priority.”

“then why did you still keep this handkerchief?” you continue to ask him

"i didn't keep it, love. i thought i lost it so i had no intention of finding it again."

after hearing Cregan say that, you can’t say that your moods change completly but atleast you felt relieve when you learned that your suspicions about his loyalty were completely wrong.

“well, i forgave you my husband but unfortunately for you, Rickon is the one who found it and gave it to me.”

“oh my son, Rickon is always on your’s side. i pray to the Seven one day you will gave me a daughter” Cregan joked, then pulled you in a tight embrace. then you ask

“so you have to quickly plant your seed inside me, hopefully the Seven might heard your pray sooner or later, my dear husband.” at this point, you could only laugh, only now did you pay attention to it. the dining table in the dining hall was filled with food and Cregan let you out of that warm hug

“but before we start to try and bring another baby Stark into this Winterfell, we must have to to eat first, my dear y/n.”

[alcoholfreenayeon]

yow what abt twice mtls? confess first, fall in love, get jealous, fall out of love. great jeongyeon hc btw

Twice most to least likely: Get jealous

A/N: I feel some of these ended up sounding more yandere than jealous🙂‍↕️ but hopefully that’s just me😭hope you guys like it

Sana

She’s a huge flirt, she likes the way she can get people to be infatuated with her plus she likes to play hard to get.

Because of this she’s not used to people seeing her as a second choice so when she sees her partner having a good time with someone else when she’s available or even when she isn’t, it makes her feel strange.

It’s uncharted territory for her and she feels possessive immediately. After all what does the other person possess that Sana doesn’t. Why isn’t her partner yearning for her every moment instead of having a good time without her…

Nayeon

You’ll find Nayeon staring daggers at you with or without a polite smile. It’s really not a fun sight to witness because you just know you are in so much trouble later.

Nayeon feels very possessive of you. She’s someone who needs a lot of reassurance so you being clingy with anyone other than her doesn’t bode well with her.

Though she ends up feeling a bit silly after some time thinking for being so possessive she can’t help it, she wants you for herself and only herself.

Mina

Mina is a big introvert and she likes to stay indoors alot and keep to herself. But she knows she can’t really force you to do the same.

Nevertheless, she secretly wishes you would be that way. She’d prefer if she could have you all to herself. If it’s only you and her, all day everyday,

She feels sometimes she’s not good enough and that might make you drawn to others and hence gets her guard up immediately when she sees you being close with someone she doesn’t know.

Momo

You were happily chatting with your friend while waiting for Momo. You had known her for a long time, you didn’t take much notice of it when while laughing at a joke, she put her hand on your arm.

Soon enough, her instincts began to scream for danger and upon looking around, she spotted Momo a few meters away, glaring at both of you. “Is that your girlfriend?”…..

The journey back home was quiet. You realized how that might have looked out of context and were fearing Momo saw it differently. She was quiet though. “Everything ok baby?”, you ask her.

“Yes. But you need to sleep early and rest well”, she replies. “Huh? Why do I need extra rest?”, you question. “Well the couch isn’t very comfortable to sleep on is it”, she answers, unbothered, as she looks into the rearview mirror and applies her lipstick.

Chaeyoung

Chaeyoung and you were surprised to run into your ex at the mall. It was a bit awkward for the three of you but luckily there was no violence.

She hated how you and your ex became awkward because for her that meant you both saw each other and intentionally or unintentionally reflected back on the time you both were together.

She hated when while leaving, you both shared an inside joke which she didn’t know. Chaeyoung knew it’s just how these things go but that didn’t make her blood boil any less.

Tzuyu

Tzuyu is observant, she doesn’t always speak out, never mind her speaking her mind.

So when she was looking at your Instagram and spotted old posts of you and your ex, it just made her quite upset.

But she also knew it was the past yet she also thought you could have deleted it. After all wasn’t the ex was no longer part of your life.

Dahyun

Dahyun was watching you talk with the party’s host. It was normal. The two of you seemed to be getting along well.

She was standing a few feet away, getting something to drink when she suddenly heard the host make a suggestive flirty comment towards you. You didn’t realize it and just laughed along,

Dahyun though, gritted her teeth, it’s annoying that you always are so oblivious to these things. She’s gonna scold you for that later, as for the host…well, it’s a good thing her nails felt sharp right now.

Jihyo

Jihyo knows her worth and she knows you know it too. So she’s never really worried about someone else stealing you away.

But after watching some dramas, she got a bit influenced by them and began to worry that she didn’t like you as much as she thought or wanted because why wouldn’t she ever feel jealous. It was normal for couples to feel jealous at some point right?

And when she asked you to try and flirt with a cashier because she wanted to test something, you definitely felt it was a test. It took a lot of convincing from her and a promise that you wouldn’t get in trouble. Reluctantly you did it but when the cashier actually ended up giving you her number. Jihyo took your hand and dragged you out of the store without even buying anything. You were in big trouble.

Jeongyeon

Jeongyeon never has any real reason to doubt you. She knows you both love each other very much.

Of course, it’s inevitable that at some point either of you would get approached by someone else. It won’t be your or her fault if that happens.

But that’s easier to think when it hasn’t happened. When a fellow idol told Jeongyeon that she was lucky to have you and she should be careful you could get stolen. Though Jeongyeon was polite, her glare she ended up shooting at them later would have scared them silly.

[raceweek]

hello. alexalblondo's rude anon coming here to humbly and politely beg for galex primer because i dont understand their history. george said he lived at alex's family's house at one point? how - weren't they already racing? sorry thank you humble thank you 🙏🙏

hello!!! thanks chris for the referral FKFJDKD

i have overwhelmed my alex and george tags so much that i fear i could never capture all of it but my galex key moment anthology is under the cut!!

karting/early single seaters

Alex thinks they met in 2011 but the footage in georges flip phone says he knew alex back in 2009.

Their first actual interaction (so far as they've told the world) was when alex was world champion with the intrepid karting team and bc he was their reference driver he was asked to help pick the drivers who were quick to replace him when he moved up and he picked george (and charles) so they were then part of that same intrepid driver programme for a while. Interestingly, alex was always at least one year above him bc of their ages and george says the fact they didn't really race directly against each other before 2016 was probably why they became such good friends.

They did a deep dive of their camera rolls from this time on twitch a couple years back and talked about the oldest pictures they have of each other in their camera rolls (1:25:36) which was cute.

2017

2017 is the year george basically lived with alex. They were also sharing a trainer whilst alex was competing in gp2 and george was in gp3. George was doing mercedes sim work at their factory so rented a flat in milton keynes near where alex lived but according to alex that rent was wasted money bc george had more meals at alexs' house than he did that year. Also as detailed in those links, the Great Mountain Biking Incident of 2017 occurred at this time so we have the fun mental image of george literally wheeling alex into a&e on a wheelchair bc that is an actual event that happened.

2018

George and alex both in f2 fighting for the title year wooooo!! They never really fought on track but we did get fun tidbits like when alex pipped george to the win at silverstone bc george had a slow pit stop and giggled about it in parc ferme (5:42) & these post session interviews.

also some incredible photoshoots.

2019

Promotion to f1!!! We started the year at winter testing and this nugget that they have both accepted that they are actually tied together by the strings of fate. They're doing fun media stuff like karting and bullying each other over percentage of apexs hit at the skypad (video). 2019 also the start of the umbrella sharing. They were just together a lot… more skypad analysis!!!

2019 also has MY personal favourite galex moment which was hockenheim 2019 and the 45 minute phone call galex had on the way home after george missed out on scoring what would have been his first point in f1 and only point of the season.

There was also the summer break and enjoying a training camp together, exchanging infections etc. Alex also took george to meet lily for the first time, bc that’s a normal thing to do.

There was also the rookie of the year vid, and the rookie season review vid at the end of the year. Much was happening.

2020

The year started with f1 trying to race during a global pandemic. Fun! On the singular media day before everyone realised just how stupid that was they were being annoying. The lockdowns did give us the twitch streams. George was initially so bad at virtual racing he had to secretly consult alex's brother for help behind alexs back. George was also actively seeking alex out like a missile at any given opportunity and at one point felt necessary to declare that he wasn't alexs boyfriend when someone asked if alex was going to be streaming that day. Anyway my lockdown twitchscapades tag has a post with a playlist of all the streams that haven't been lost or deleted if you want to feel joy and have a spare million hours.

Racing resumed in July with the covid team bubbles and within two races and one qualifying session george was defending alexs honour to sky sports and the world in a truly remarkable fashion.

At the end of the year alex was unemployed....even more tragic than this loss was that alexs career difficulties were so extreme he started ghosting george, which devastated him to the extent he needed to publicly drag him for it.

There was also george asking lily to post alexs n*des on instagram and lily responding with if anyone has them it would be you which was perhaps the last time george had access to his own social media password.

Despite george not liking it they celebrated alexs first podium by going golfing! and reverse! George was also gifted an alex albon signed autograph card for christmas and said that he'll put it somewhere special x

2021

The beginning of 2021 was during lockdown and there was more fun virtual gps except the only two drivers doing it were george and alex so they were just bitching and gossiping and threatening to steal strategies and abu dhabi 2016 each other. Particular shoutout to the time they had a virtual race on valentines day and alex put a suit on for it and george was baffled. Immediately after valentines day was georges birthday which lily used to thank george for letting her borrow his boyfriend from time to time.

Then the season started with george enduring the season alexless and not letting anyone forget about it. Alex was turning up to races after being locked in the simulator until the early hours posting stuff like this on instagram and otherwise stumbling over his words after getting whipped on the ass.

Perhaps the defining moment of the galex 2021 season was george pushing the williams board to sign alex so heavily that they had to actively shut him out of proceedings. Also at this time there was this cute congrats from alexs family and one from alex to georgie about the mercedes seat.

anyway here's some more random 2021 nuggets:

i've seen him topless a few times

george getting alex a good deal on a merc x

yet More golf

the handover

georges driver room

2022

They truly lost every inch of personal space in 2022 like. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. The back signing Hello.

2022 had alex having his appendix out, nearly dying and alexs family updating george whilst alex was in the icu and then when alex returned for the next race in signapore a couple weeks later (insane behaviour) george was like mmm audacious of him to be here.

Elsewhere alex discovered georges photoshoot and was making screensavers about it. Alex also discovered hair dye and george was making instagram stories about it.

other random 2022 nuggets:

george is alexs fave f1 driver excluding himself

this skit williams did of lily finding a huge picture of george in alexs driver room

whatever this image is of lily george and alex

private plane carpool

double date

2023

@onadarklingplain covers the whole year for you much MUCH better than i ever could here!!!!!

and that brings us to present where they're just as weird and freaky with each other as ever!!!

[flamingpudding]

I'm so sorry I didn't get to finish but as Dan's Teekl is a Phoenix snake and he takes after Vlad since of dressing

When something big is going on the magical world and they need King Phantom's help he decides to bring along his children this is how the Justice League finds out just like Robin is a past dumb title so is Klarion all the Justice League deal with a bunch of hyper up chaotic children who have been antiheroes let's find out

I wanted this to be just like a we are robbing thing except with Clarion all of them showing off the fact that Teekl have never been a cat would be so funny to me

Anywho I haven't been able to come up with anymore ideas for Dan is Klarion but I did come out with this one hope you find it funny sorry that I messed up on the first part of the writing

Okay... so version one got deleted, per my rant post notices... so here is version two hopes to that it will still be as good... also... i didn't remember how I ended this the first time soooooo yea... sorry again for having messed up in between...

[Link to the first part of the Ask here!]

I hope this will still be as enjoyable....

------------------

Vlad didn't regret a lot of things but he regretted having told Bruce Wayne that he had a way of summoning the Ghost King. Why you ask? Because Bruce Wayne apparently leaked that information to the Justice League.

Well originally Vlad had told Bruce only about this because he was after the deal he had wanted for years with Wayne Enterprise. That man had been able to avoid Vlad for years now, and during his years when he hadn't been a redeemed man it had infuriated him.

But he was a redeemed man now. He had reformed his entire Company and since Wayne Enterprise was contracted with the Justice League, he had felt it was appropriate to boost that his Company had valuable connections too.

He also just wanted to rub it into Brucie Waynes face that he wasn't the only one with big name Hero / other worldly connections department. Okay it might have been a bit of an ego thing left. But he was a redeemed man.

And because he was a redeemed man he had not used his ghost powers to throw Batman out of the window the hero had used to barge into his hotel room at 3 -goddamn- AM only to demand the method on how to summon the ghost king.

No sir, Vlad was a redeemed man, he was nice now, a good guy.

He only grumbled and demanded the reason, which apparently was a demonic thread to the magical world that indirectly could wipe out the entire world itself. Great, little badger will not be amused hearing about that.

Daniel would be cross with him for using the summoning stone in the middle of the night but Batman was giving him a valid reason to use it. Surely Daniel would understand right? Plus Vlad could use that as change to see the little badger again. It had been a while since he last saw him.

Well Vlad regretted agreeing with Batman with the condition that he would be the one to do the summoning. That man in a bat suit did not hesitate to drag Vlad with him then bringing him, blindfolded mind you, to a place where he then was faced with several heroes, including but not limited to the Justice league.

Just great.

At least Vlad got to inform Danial about the situation and the reason for his summon as Ghost King via summoning stone, even if that blond British man had scoffed when he saw Vlad pulling it out, about the situation and what the little badger could expect the moment he stepped out of a portal.

What Vlad did not expect were several RED portals opening and similarly dressed young adults as well as one teen stepping out of them.

"Sup old man! Mom told us you called him about some world ending problem!" Dan greeted him in his Klarion get up, perfectly styled hair and his ghost pet, a phoenix snake, Snape (yes Dan named his pet after a mage from a wizard movie series) on his shoulders. Vlad could feel the distinctive illusion magic around the pet and he was pretty sure everyone without ghost powers were not able to see through it.

"KLARION?!" One of the present heroes yelled.

And of course all of the kids had to answer in reflect turning to where the voice came from at the same time.

"Yea"

There was a brief moment of silence in which Vlad face palmed.

"Ah sorry, that was on reflex. Old habits die hard!" Ellie laughed, she had grown into a young woman and was currently wearing what looked like a black suit crossed with a 90s style witch dress.

"I am the current Klarion, lose that fucking habit already." Dan grumbled annoyed as he crossed his arms glaring at every sibling that had answered to his alias.

"I am telling mom you cussed." Ellie instead grinned instead, before she looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on Nightwing, her face instantly lighting up. "ROBIN! I mean Nightwing! I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Do I know you?" Vlad could feel sorry for the hero, but these where the phantom kids, so he wasn't in the slightest and he was still cross with he heroes for waking him up at 3AM!

"I am hurt! Don't you recognise me!" Ellie gasped and Dan unashamedly elbowed her for acting so familiar.

"Misrule." He warned her. Ellies current Anti-Hero -Chaos Agent- Alias Vlad remembered. A name she specifically chose because it sounded like Miss Rule and she knew that the word play would annoy Nabu. That girl had some serious beef with the Ancient of Order.

"Oh shush little brother! Let me reconnect with the kids I used to mess with!" She shushed Dan ruffling his hair and nearly messing up his horned hairstyle, before turning back to Nightwing. "Don't you remember my lovely Armadillos? Though I only know you were the Robin I first meet because I looked into Grandpa Clock's time mirrors..."

There was a brief moment of silence on the other side where the heroes stood and Vlad swore he could have heard a pin needle drop.

"Oh god..." One of them finally spoke up as apparently some kind of realisation sunk into the heroes. But before Ellie could add anything more the one Vlad recognised as Red Robin cut in.

"Klarion is like Robin!"

"RR what are you...?"

"The title of Klarion got passed down like Robin!"

There was another brief moment of silence before Dan, Ellie and the rest of their siblings burst out laughing.

"It took you idiots this long to see that?!" Dan called them out, laughing as he hugged Snape.

Vlad would probably feel sorry for the entirety of the heroes before him if he wasn't amused by this himself, even he had seen the differences whenever 'Klarion' got passed on.

"For your information, I was the first Klarion, so i could mess with Nabu." Ellie grinned. "I was also the one that used a bit to much eyeliner."

"I never got the the horned hairstyle right."

"I was the one with a fancy black suit."

One by one the phantom kids listed of all the differences in their versions of Klarion until they all looked towards the youngest Dan, the current Klarion.

"What?" He grumbled as his elder siblings grinned at him.

"Fucking fine. I use a suit similar to the old man's style and I like to do more than just mess with Nabitch." He muttered after enduring his siblings stares for.

"And you cuss." Ellie grinned brightly causing the rest of the siblings to to chuckle.

Vlad recognised the look in Dan's eyes and before the kids could break out into an argument or a brawl, depending how violent Dan was feeling, he coughed loudly to get noticed by everyone.

"World threatening situation." He reminded everyone. "Where is your mother? The Ghost King?"

"Oh Mom is already dealing with the situation." Dan shrugged. "We more or less came to watch and see the heroes suck and fail at 'Order' to rub it into Nabitch's face."

Vlad really wanted to scowl the kids and he was going to but then the heroes cut in again.

"Can we get back to the thing about Klarion being a title passed down like Robin? With how many different Klarions did we have to deal with over the years!?"

"Red Robin not the right time..."

"Yes the right time! So many comments from Klarion make sense now! Like the first time he went right up into my face!"

"Red Robin!"

"Oh that was still me! The first Klarion!"

[mithrandirl]

i always get questions when i do a split gifset, and it's a deceptively simple process so i thought i'd try to show how i do it! i don't know if these types of gifsets have a more universally recognized name, but that's what i call them so that's what i'm going with.

i'm going to write this assuming you have a solid familiarity with photoshop and making gifs, but please feel free to send me an ask if anything is unclear. i use video timeline/smart objects so will be showing that (here's a great general tutorial on giffing with timeline). i will also be talking A LOT about gif dimensions, so first let's briefly go over the limits and theory a little bit.

a 1 column gifset can accommodate gifs 540 pixels wide

2 columns = 268 pixels each with a 4 pixel gutter between

3 columns = 177, 178, 177 pixels with 4 pixel gutters

i'm mostly going to talk about 2 column split gifs here (what i will refer to as 2x1 from now on - 2 across and 1 high), but the process is the same for 3 column (3x1) and so on (1x2, 2x2, etc).

so, why would you even want to make a gifset like this? i mean, let’s face it, generally, bigger is better for gifs on tumblr, and there are obvious incentives to 540 width gifs over 268 or 177/8 width, especially since the upload limit went to 10MB. but even 10MB isn’t much when you’re talking about high quality footage. gif making is a constant balance between quality (whatever that means to you: frame dimensions, sharpening, coloring, etc) and file size. split gifs are a cheat to that limitation >:)

i personally believe an untapped frontier of tumblr gifmaking is playing with dimensions and time. that sentence makes me sound like an old-timey sci-fi villain, but you get the idea: gifmaking is an art and there are many fun and interesting ways of exploring the medium. you can do a lot with 268 pixels! longer frame loops to gif longer scenes unbroken, bolder coloring on a wide shot you don’t want to pare down. and, a shorter x axis means the y axis’s bang goes a lot further on a buck. also just if you have a 2 column set but only 5 gifs so you need to make one take up 2 slots. there's a lot of reasons but the most important one is it's fun :) here are some examples of other split gifs i've made: x, x, x

this isn't so much a limitation, more of a shift in how you think about gifs, but it's important to remember that each gif should ideally be doing something still. when making split gifs, it’s easy to pick a wide scene without thinking about how it’ll be split down the middle, and then you’re left with a lot of something on one side and a lot of incongruous nothing on the other - or you're left with a person cut in half awkwardly in the middle. so while a split gif can still be a whole scene, you shouldn’t ignore the break and what it means to the bigger picture. now this is personal preference, but i like to play with the break and make it a part of the gifset. mirrored movement, subjects trapped on either side but still talking to each other, a bird flying from one side to the other. fun with frames! it can be another way of drawing attention to specific images/moments/feelings happening within the same shot.

SIMPLE SPLIT GIFS

to more narrowly define what i’m calling “simple split gifs,” it’s one set of frames split down the middle into two separate gifs that are meant to play concurrently, side by side.

first thing's first, crop your gif and uncheck delete cropped pixels if it is not already (very important). i'm cropping it to the 1x1 size, in this case 268x350. if you need to see how the full size will look, you can try it out with 536 first. but this one is pretty easy, this is the exact center of the frame (the left boundary of this crop is the center line) and both their heads fit within their respective 1x1 crop.

then color as you normally would. if your scene is very different one side to the other, it might be easier for you to color on a wider crop and then either crop again or copy paste your coloring to the smaller crop version. i do that with the 2x6s, but it's usually not that big a deal to color the 2x1s with just the small crop on your canvas at the time. this scene is very symmetrical, both in movement and colors, so i'm good.

now the fun part! once you've got one side how you want it, save/export as you normally would. at this point i also like to make a mental note of how many frames there are.

so i have 49 frames and it's still only ~3MB! this is just an example that i picked from my rotk fancy set, otherwise i probably would have made this gif longer.

then onto the other side, so i ctrl + z my way back to my smart object video timeline. to get to theoden i just drag and drop the smart object 268 pixels over. since this one is in the exact center of the image, it even helpfully guides me (this can get annoying if you are NOT giffing the center of the image fyi, but you can always manually go pixel by pixel too if you need to with your <- -> keyboard buttons. just always remember where you started and count accurately). i can never move around my smart object without hiding the adjustment layers on top of it, so you'll see me do that in this screen recording.

see how it corrected me when i dragged it a few pixels down by accident, and with all those pink guidelines? sometimes photoshop is good 😌

then make sure you still like the coloring, adjust whatever needs to be adjusted, but watch out! don't make any major changes because it still has to match the other side. and export again.

what we perceive as 1 series of frames chopped down the middle is just 2 separate gifs with the same frame rate. when tumblr loads the images, it will run concurrently in the post (even though it never does in the draft post 🙄). and that's it!

COMPLEX SPLIT GIFS

again i'm making up terms, but i call anything with more than 2 components a complex split gifset. i've tweaked some things in the process as i went along, but this is generally how i did the lotr series. these sets are basically just many split gifs with transitions. and here's where endurance becomes a factor :) there's a lot of prep done blind. but if set up well, it will be fairly easy to pull together by the end.

first i decide on my dimensions, using my upper bounds to determine how big i'm going to go. since lotr has very nice large file sizes, i can go pretty big without sacrificing much in quality. i decided on 3 rows of 350 pixel height gifs and it's worked well for me. that means my biggest gif will have a total height of 1050 pixels - fun! you could also do 8 rows, with two 2x2s or just a series of 2x1s that transition to 1x1s. there really is no limit to this except your imagination and source material.

i cap everything i'm going to use before i even open photoshop, then do all of them at once. uncheck delete cropped pixels, then i make my gifs! this is where i spend 90% of the time on this set. every gif should be the size of the smallest 1x1 gif (268x350 for me). i make all 10 into a fully colored, separate psd. (and then i usually go back through all of them a few times to get the colors to match better 😅) for the bigger ones (2x1: 536x350 and 2x6: 536x1050), i just crop them as if they were 1x1 but always thinking about how they will look when big. this gets tricky when i do the big one :) my lazy workaround for that is to basically make it twice: one cropped as it will be and one full size for me to color. then i copy and paste all the coloring layers onto the small one and voila, i know that the coloring in the upper right slice will also look good on the bottom left slice 1050 pixels away because i saw it on the full size version.

coloring is probably the biggest thing i'm thinking about with this kind of set. the whole idea is that these gifs are using the same colors, more or less, throughout each phase. even with the 1x1s, they're still part of a larger color concept, and they should (🤞) work with each other.

in a pinch, i like to eyedrop a color from one gif and add it as an accent to another. one of my 1x1s had a much more muted color palette originally, but i wanted it to have deeper blues and yellows to complement the 1x1 that would go next to it, so i added some gradients on lower opacity over it, color picked from other gifs i already colored.

i keep my coloring and the smart object in separate folders to help me in the final step of combining everything, and then i trim everything down to my lowest common denominator of frames. you might think you need to keep frames pretty minimal if you're doing 3 phases with transitions like this, but there's more room to work with on a small gif, in terms of file size. i usually do 30-50 frames for each phase, with the assumption that i'll be adding a transition on each side of each gif that will eat up some frames (i usually do 4-6 frame fade transitions). for the rotk set my final frame count was 129 and i never went over 8MB on a gif, so there's plenty of space play around with things :)

and then, combine! whatever order you start with, you are stuck with (unless you're getting even more complicated, but we won't go into that lol). for these sets i go small 1x1 -> medium 2x1 -> big 2x6. i like to think of it in phases from this point on. small is the first phase, then medium, then big. then i put in the fade transitions, chopping up the first phase gif so the last one will fade into it, restarting the whole cycle seamlessly. i'm just doing a quick and dirty fade here, but here's a tutorial if you want more explanation on transitions.

at this point i save this psd as its position, "top left" or whatever (usually it's a psb by this point too 🥲), just in case i need to go back to it. then i export this first gif and move on to the rest.

it's the same concept as a simple split gif: drag and drop the smart object to the new position, but now there are multiple phases to keep track of. folder organization has been key for me to keep everything straight. i move through the gifs in a backwards S, starting with the top left. but you could go any direction, just gotta stick with it and remember your counts. in my case, i'm always thinking of 268 pixels over and, for the 2x6, 350 up/down. it's a tedious process, but it goes quick (apart from waiting for photoshop to load each time you export).

i did this series as a color concept aesthetic kind of thing, so my theory was by using the same-ish colors throughout, that would save me in the end when it came time to export. there's only 256 colors max to work with on a gif, and that's usually what gets me over the 10MB limit. but as i said, i have never even gotten close to the size limit on this series. it's pretty hard to reach the limit on 268 pixels, but not impossible. (i did run into that on the emma set i did, and that was hell. but also not an impossible fix in the end.)

and that's it! if you try any of this and have trouble, i'm happy to help if i can but mostly this is a "click around and see what works for you" kind of process. and feel free to tag me on your split gifsets :) i love seeing them <3

[brooooswriting]

Hey! Would be interested in R joining Essex after Leighton is already out and R is closeted. Would love to see how Leighton deals with it when she was just as closeted. Thanks<3

Oh I know

Being gay wasn’t fun, not when you were scared to tell people and had to hide who you really are. You hated it in high school which was why you made a plan for college. Since you despised the thought of coming out you decided to just go to a frat party and make out with a girl. Boom! Everybody would know and it would be fine.

Well, turns out you were too shy to do that. You went there extremely confident with your roommates but you ended up only chatting with some new people before getting drunk with your friends. At the end of the night you met a nice girl that was one year above you, Whitney.

Somehow Whitney kinda adopted you. She took you everywhere, made you meet her roommates and willow. It was nice really, Bella was hilarious, Kimberly was so caring it was crazy and Leighton, well Leighton was unhinged but so damn hot.

Seems like Leighton had a great gaydar because after meeting you like three or four times she decided to get you alone at the next frat party. When you went outside to catch some fresh air you suddenly felt a hand on your waist making you jump. Just as you were about to start a fight with the person you noticed that it was Leighton. “Hey” you mumbled out with a small blush covering your face.

“Hey” she just stared at you for a moment making the blush even worse. “So, what do you think we get out of here?” You choked on the sip you just drank, avoiding eye contact.

“I- uhm. How’d -how do you know that I’m…you know?” You whispered, your eyes flicking around to make sure that nobody would hear you.

“I used to be like you, a little richer and a lot less shy but I can tell when you look at me” you were about to scream when she bit her lip while looking you up and down “so, wanna get outta here?” This time you nodded, quickly pulling Leighton away.

What was meant to be a one night stand turned into a lot more, it was hard to see you and Leighton apart. If it was in private you were always with her and if it was outside you were always with the her and her roommates. Every time you saw a gay couple walk down the street you wished it could be like this with you two but the thought of coming out makes you shiver in anxiety.

“Damn look, this is such a good TikTok for the sorority” Leighton said as she came back to you, her phone in hand. She turned it to you so you could watch it. “I am definitely going to post that. It’s the perfect mix between rich, hot, sexy and perfect” she explained further. While you hated to admit it, because she was, just like Bella pathological overconfident, it was true. She was wearing expensive shit, her hair was slightly messy from your activities and her lip sync and movements were nailed.

“Wait, did you already post that?” You suddenly panicked, staring at the phone trying to figure out if she did.

“Yeah why?” Her voice was so normal and unbothered which nearly made you snap. It would be stupid to snap at her as she didn’t see the problem but in that moment you were just too in your head. I mean we are talking about THE Leighton Murray, that video would have thousands of views before you could do anything.

“You HAVE to delete that!!” You quickly said, trying to figure out how to do that.

“No, why would I? It’s perfect” she argued taking the phone from you.

“Because my letterman jacket is in the back! With my name on it and some cloths beneath!” You explained pointing to the problem which made her sigh.

“We are always together, people won’t figure out that this means anything” she first said, but when she looked at your panicked state she stepped back. “I’m sorry, I’ll delete it” she quickly did that before setting the phone down.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel like I don’t care about your feelings because I do and I get how you’re feeling. When I was still in the closet my ex flipped every time it came to this. We broke up because I made her take down a picture where you could see an inch of my bag” she laughed slightly at the end to ease some of the tension.

“I really want to show people that I’m with you, you know that right? It’s not that I’m embarrassed about it, I just don’t want everybody to see me differently” you explained as you laid back into her arms, your teary eyes breaking her heart.

“I know, I get it. You do it on your timeline and if you want any help coming out just tell me” she stroked your back and pressed a kiss to your lips. Your lips chased hers as she pulled away.

“Are you sure that this isn’t too much for you?” Alicia asked, she didn’t know who Leigh was seeing but she knew that there was someone. They had decided to become friends again after a while as Leighton had to do charity work again. “I mean you’ve just come out of the closet and now it’s like you’re back in it again. She’s pulling you back in the closet and it’s not looking good on you” she added.

The blonde had to take a deep breath to calm down because otherwise she would have killed Alicia. There was no way she was going to talk bad about you and try to make her break up with you. “Look, in contrast to you I don’t break up with her over her being scared. I’ll give her the support and love she needs to show the world that she’s a badass bitch and if I ever see you talking to her or about her like that you’re gonna have a problem” with that Leighton stormed off to your dorm.

“Hey, is y/n there? I’m here for math tutoring” the blonde said, a disgusted look in her face to make it look like she was really coming for that. Your roommates didn’t know and if she came here happily instead of annoyed they would have known something was off. The youngest Murray wasn’t known for being happy and nice to everyone that walked her way.

“Yeah, she’s in her room. Just knock, she’s alone here. The rest of us got class. So bye” your roommate rushed out, clearly scared of the girl. Leighton bit her lip to hide her grin as she walked past the girl and to your room. After a quick knock she let herself in to a surprised you.

As soon as the door closed her hands grabbed your waist to pull you into her, her lips joining yours seconds later. The kiss was fast and heated as you could barely keep up, your arms wrapped around her neck while hers went under your shirt but they stayed on your naked waist. By now you realized that this wasn’t sexual, no it was Leighton trying to find reassurance.

Once you both ran out of breath you pulled away, a dreamy look on your face while there was a concerned one on hers. “What’s wrong?” You asked as your hand cupped her cheek, your thumb rubbing over her skin softly.

“Please tell me that you don’t feel pressured to come out by me. That I’ve been supportive and made you feel good about yourself” you were shocked, you had never seen her so insecure and desperate.

“Hey, where’s all this coming from? Of course you’ve been supportive, you never made me feel like I had to come out and I’m so thankful for that. What made you feel like you didn’t?” You asked as you pulled her to your bed, you rested again the headboard so Leighton could lay between your legs with her head on your chest.

“I had a talk with Alicia about us, she didn’t know that it’s you but that I’m with a girl who’s closeted and she started to talk shit about how it, about how hard it was to be a with someone who is closeted and shit. I got so mad because that’s what she left me for but now that I’m with you I don’t get it at all. I don’t think being in the closet with you is hard” she confessed and even though you tensed up at the name of her ex you couldn’t help but smile at her monologue.

���It’s okay, I’m sorry she made you feel like that. But you? Damn girl, you’re awesome and I’m happy that you’re my girl” you grinned as you said the corniest line you could think of.

“God, that was disgusting. Never say something like that again” she complained making both of you laugh as she snuggled closer.

“So, my roommates isn’t coming home tonight. Do you maybe wanna sleep over?” You asked as you rested your chin on top of her head.

“Yeah, why not”

———————————————————————————

Part 2 of reader coming out?

[carlottawllms]

Forbidden Taste

Mason Mount x Reader Fluff / Angst-ish / Smut

I was close to deleting all of this bc I’m not really happy with it. I had this great story in my head and the fact that it sounded so perfect was probably the biggest problem bc no matter what I tried, it never came out the way I wanted it to.

But since I haven’t posted in what feels like forever, I’ve decided to still post it for you. I've made peace with the fic rn and I really hope it’s not as bad as I think it is and you can still enjoy reading it.

As always, feedback is very much appreciated! Enjoy 🩷

“It’s so nice to have you with us, y/n.”, Debbie smiled when she pulled you into her side a little. “I feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever.”

“Yeah, it was a lot easier when he was still in London.”, you sighed, your heart hurting a little at the reminder of having to leave your best friend in only a little more than a day. “But I’m glad I could finally make it up here, watch him play and see you again.”

Literally everything had been easier before Mason’s move to Manchester. Life had been easier with your best friend around.

You’d met Mase quite early in life through your older brother Ben and it hadn’t taken long for the two of you to become what Ben liked to call besties. You and Mason had been attached at the hip ever since, never separated unless it was absolutely necessary. “Little-Mount and little-Chilwell causing chaos in the world.”, your mum had used to say with a smile on her face and although Ben had hated it sometimes, he was mainly incredibly happy there was someone else looking out for his little sister.

And then this summer, one of the worst things had happened: He’d left Chelsea and moved up North and as happy as you were for him to have found a club that appreciated and wanted him, you couldn’t help but feel absolutely heartbroken to be so far away from him.

Especially as now, juggling watching him play without abandoning Ben and the other way around had become an every week struggle. And you hated it.

“He knows it’s not easy and he’d never hold it against you.”, Lewis, who just passed you mentioned, making you nod. He was right and you knew it, but it didn’t make you feel less bad.

Mason was special to you. And you missed him. A lot.

You and Debbie kept talking for a while until Mason came over. He handed his mother the menu from that Italian he’d found a few days ago, before he turned to you. You having already raised your eyebrow made him chuckle.

 “I know you offered to cook, but as much as I would love it, I just want you to spend time with us and not in the kitchen.”, he smiled softly as he sneaked his arm over your shoulders, the tips of his fingers just about caressing your collarbone.  

“Fine.”, you grumbled jokingly. “But next time you’ll let me cook for you, Mister.”

Mason dropped a barely-there kiss to the top of your head before burying his nose in your hair. “I promise.”, he mumbled, unaware of his mother’s fond expression at the sight of her son and his best friend.

It was undeniable that there was something between the two of you. The bond had always been close but over the last year or so something else had developed. There was this tension surrounding you two whenever you were alone or at least close to each other and you both knew it.

You’d both become incredibly attracted to one another, basically longing for something more than a friendship, but because it was practically impossible as Ben would most likely have Mason’s head for seducing his little sister, you’d subconsciously settled on a friendship.

It didn’t mean that it was easy though. Both of you were quite big on touch, meaning that cuddling, forehead and cheek kisses as well as his hand on your thigh or the small of your back weren’t rare occurrences.

You sought out each other’s proximity whenever it was possible and lately, the moments in which only a phone or someone calling for either of you kept you from actually kissing occurred more and more frequently.

Maybe it was a good thing, to avoid the basically pre-programmed quarrel with Ben, but your heart longed for him a little more with every passing opportunity.

“I’ll ask Tony to order. y/n, what do you want?” Debbie interrupted your train of thoughts, attempting to hand you the menu, but Mason was quick in snatching it away.

“Oh, she’s not allowed to choose, mum. I’ve done that already.”, Mason grinned, causing his mother to frown, but when you simply smiled and nodded, she let it go. “The list is in the kitchen; you can put yours on there too and ask Lew if he’s finally picked something.”

Him ordering for you was only one of the many insiders you and Mason shared. You couldn’t even remember when it had happened for the first time, but at some point you had known each other well enough to be able to order for the other, so whenever Mason had found a new restaurant, he got to choose your first meal there, whilst with a place you’d found you got the first choice for him.

“We’ll eat outside since the weather is still nice, but knowing your freezing ass, you should probably go and grab yourself something warmer to wear.”, Mason grinned as he tapped the end of your nose.  

“About that”, you mumbled, feeling how your cheeks heated up. “I forgot to bring a hoodie.”

“You out of all people forgot a hoodie?”, Mason laughed in disbelief. “You live in those, y/n. Are you sick?”

Giggling, you ducked away when he tried to press his hand flat to your forehead to check your temperature. “Go away, Mount.”, you moaned in fake annoyance. “I overslept and it was a faff to even get my train. When I ran out of the flat, I accidentally left it on the sofa.”

Mason sighed before grabbing your arm and pulling you along and up the stairs. “You can have one of mine then. As an exception.”

An exception…as if you hadn’t worn his stuff hundreds of times already.

You knew he probably thought you’d forgotten it on purpose, but eventhough you loved wearing his clothes, you hadn’t lied. You truly had forgotten yours at home.

It didn’t take you long to make your choice, eyes already settled on your favourite the second you entered his walk-in-closet. You’d fallen in love with it when you’d helped Mason film his very first TikTok and had worn it for several occasions already.

“Do I even need to ask which one you want, or should I just grab the one I know you’ll go for?”

For a moment you were willing to take another one out of sheer pettiness, but the memory of how fluffy on the inside the one you loved was, was too tempting, so you simply pushed past him, bumping him with your hip in the process as you walked over and pulled the hoodie out.

“I’ve bought a new one by the way.”, he informed you whilst watching you struggle with pulling the fabric over your head. “I think you’ll really like it.”

“Stop talking and help me, Mount.”, you grumbled as for some reason you couldn’t figure out how to put it on. There was just too much fabric.

“Sorry, sorry.”, he laughed, before coming for your rescue. He turned the hoodie a little, helping you put your arms through and eventually pulled it over your head properly. “It just looked too funny.”

Your hair was all over the place as he looked at you, soft brown eyes locked on yours and only when his warm breath fanned your face did you realise just how close he was. All the tiny freckles, the moles and the crinkles by his eyes were right in front of you and the way his chocolate eyes stared back into yours had a shiver running down your spine.

With his fingers gently stroking down the sides of your neck, Mason leaned in and nuzzled his nose against yours and when his eyes dropped to your lips, your mind went blank. Slowly, you leaned in. Your heart was racing in your chest, threatening to burst your ribcage, but from where you’d placed your hands flat against his toned chest you could tell that his wasn’t doing much better.

When his lips just about brushed yours, you closed your eyes, ready to finally give in to what your heart had been begging for forever. Mason’s warm hand moved to the back of your neck, pulling you a little closer and-

“Mase? y/n? The food is here.”

At the sound of Debbie's voice, you both startled apart, taking a step or two back from each other with your gazes cast to the floor. Your heart sank in your chest as yet another moment had passed and when you raised your gaze you could see Mason scratching the back of his head awkwardly. His cheeks were flushed, and he couldn’t meet your eyes, looking everywhere but at you.

“We erm…we should go downstairs.”, you mumbled.

“Yeah, I guess we should.”, you agreed quietly, trying to hide the sadness as best as you could. What if this was the universe telling you that you and Mase weren’t meant to be?

Once back downstairs, being around his family helped to get rid of the awkward tension between the two of you and the moment you sat down on the dinner table on Mason’s terrace, you and he were back to normal, joking around like you always were and all thoughts of the almost-kiss buried where all the other similar moments were stored as well.

“Water?”, he asked, sending you a soft smile and when you nodded, he reached for your glass to pour some in.

“Thanks.”

For a while you just sat there and listened to what the others were talking about. After that moment upstairs, after his lips had brushed yours ever so softly, you couldn’t think straight anymore. You’d been given a tiny taste and now you wanted more.

You looked up when you felt Mason’s foot nudging yours, thinking he wanted something, but he simply smiled at you and locked his feet around your ankle.   

“y/n, by the way, how is university treating you?”, Lewis asked, pulling your attention away from his little brother. The way he was speaking with his mouth full of pasta earned him a warning look from his mother, but he was a master in ignoring that.

“Good.”, you nodded. “But I’m glad I’m nearly done. Just adding the finishing touches to my thesis and then I’m all done. Hopefully.”  

“Oh, I have no doubts about that, my dear.”, Debbie smiled, and Tony was quick to agree. “You’ll be the world’s best lawyer, y/n.”

You blushed a little, dropping your gaze to the table with a smile. Mason’s family had always been as supportive as your own, making you feel as if you belonged to them as much as you belonged into your own and words couldn’t describe just how special that felt.

“I mean there’s still a long road ahead, but I can’t wait to jump headfirst into work and actually do something other than just reading about it all.”

“I can imagine.”, Tony smiled. “If we ever need a bit of support without actually hiring a lawyer, we can count on you, right?”

“Contract law is not my specialisation.”, you laughed. “But I know the basics, so as long as you don’t heavily rely on me, you can always ask away.”

You all kept talking about everything and nothing for a while, simply enjoying being reunited with each other and once again you noticed how easy everything could be if it wasn’t for you being a Chilwell.

You would be able to be with Mason, the one person who meant so much to you and with whom everything seemed so easy. There would be no awkward talking stage, no first dates where you couldn't really be yourself. His family had long since accepted you as a part of them and even if you'd only overheard by accident, you knew Debbie saw you as the perfect daughter-in-law.

It could be easy. It could be perfect. It could be you and Mason.

“y/n?” You were startled out of your thoughts when Tony nudged you and repeated your name laughingly.

“What? Yeah sorry, I zoned out for a moment. What was the question?”

“I asked what time your train is.”

“Right. 4pm from the main station. Ben promised to pick me up in London.”

Ever since the moment upstairs, Mason had forgotten about Ben altogether. He’d simply enjoyed having you around, looking at you and watching you get along so well with his family. But the mention of his best friend’s name was like someone had emptied a bucket of ice right over his head.

He shouldn’t feel like this; he couldn’t. Dropping his gaze, Mason pulled his feet away from yours. The physical contact suddenly too much.

Your heart dropped at the loss of contact, eyes searching for his, but they remained stoically focussed on the table. You hated how much you liked him, how much you longed for him.

-

“If that isn’t my least favourite human in the world.”, Ben joked the moment you flopped onto the passenger seat in his car. It was his typical greeting for you and whilst normally you would roll your eyes at him, you couldn’t muster up more than a tired smile.

“Hi. You’re good?”

“Yeah, I’m good. I just- What’s wrong?” Ben turned the car off again, noticing straight away that something was wrong.

“Nothing, I’m just tired.”, you said. “You know how these long train rides are.”

Lying to your brother wasn’t one of the things you particularly enjoyed. In fact, you hated it because you knew he’d be disappointed knowing you felt like you couldn’t talk to him about certain things, but with this one you had you. There was no way you could tell him that you missed Mason already.

“You know I can read you like an open book, right? What’s wrong? Did something happen with Mase? I’ll chop his head off if he hurt you.”

A quiet chuckle left your lips. “You know him, Benji. He would never. I’m just tired.” You sent your brother a smile, hoping to convince him with it and although you were sure it didn’t work, Ben let it go.

“I ordered some pizza for us, but I can eat at mine if you want to be on your own for a bit. You know like, charge your social battery?”

He tried to hide it, but you could still make out the slightly sad tone in his voice and as much as you’d love to be alone for a bit after being constantly surrounded by people those last days, you’d never send your own brother away.

“Nonsense, Ben. We’ll eat at my place.”

During the 30-minute drive home, you kept checking your phone, but Mason still hadn’t replied to your text. You’d let him know you’d gotten into Ben’s car safely and whilst normally Mason was practically glued to his phone until the moment he received your text, now 20 minutes later, he still hadn’t replied.

You knew it wasn’t that big of a deal. Maybe he was just taking a nap, tidying up his flat or had simply forgotten to reply, but it did make you a little sad.

After Ben and you had finished the pizza and caught up with each other’s plans for the week, he’d bid his goodbye and left you getting ready for bed. After sitting in the train for nearly four hours, you were too tired to do your whole skincare and although your skin would probably hate you for it, you only removed your make-up and put some moisturiser on.

You’d just crawled under the covers and made yourself comfortable, ready to watch a bit of Netflix to fall asleep, when your phone lit up.

Subconsciously, a smile pulled at your lips as warmth spread through your whole body. Missing you already. Giggling, you rolled over, hiding your red cheeks in your pillow as giddiness filled your tummy.

You messaged him back to tell him that you missed him too before snuggling back into the sheets and closing your eyes to get some much needed shut-eye.

*

The next time you got to see Mason was weeks later on Ben’s birthday and you couldn’t be more relieved the moment he hugged you close to his body.

At United, things weren’t going exactly great for him. Deep down you knew he was fine and that going through a rough patch wasn’t the end of the world, but you hated it. You hated that he didn’t get to play much, that he didn’t get the chance to show his talent and shine in the team. And you hated that you couldn’t be there for him properly.

Obviously, you’d stayed in touch throughout the last couple of weeks. You’d talked a lot, facetimed and kept each other updated on what’s been going on.

Mason was fine, working hard and fighting for his place in the starting xi, but you couldn’t help and squeeze him a little tighter before letting go.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Mase flicked your nose jokingly the moment you’d stepped back from him and when he held his hand out, you realised. You’d forgotten your signature handshake.

Mason and you giggled through it, not being able to stay serious at the sequence of funny hand movements and when he eventually finished it with a bow and kiss to the back of your hand, you both laughed out loud.

“I’m still wondering what’s wrong with you two.”, Ben shook his head, but the smile on his face was visible for everyone.

“You’re just jealous mate.” Mason punched his best friend’s shoulder before pulling you into his side to get something to drink.

But it wasn’t long before you were separated. His friends and former teammates hadn’t seen him in forever and wanted to catch up with him and as much as you would’ve loved to spend the whole evening with Mason, you knew he was dying to talk to them in person.

You were giggling away with Sophie as you clinked your glasses together. Neither of you were even close to being drunk, but you’d had enough to be a bit buzzed and for everything to be that little bit funnier.

When Ben had introduced Sophie as your girlfriend to you about a year ago, you’d been a bit hesitant. He hadn't had much luck with his ex-girlfriends, instead he’d been through hell and back at times, so naturally you questioned her intentions, but it hadn’t taken her long to get you on her side.

She was good for him, supportive and incredibly understanding. She’d struggled with mental health too, so she knew what it meant and understood him in a way no one else did. She had his back and made him happy. She cared for him and that really was everything you needed to know.

Whilst the two of you stood there, gossiping a little about your brother’s friends, your gaze kept wandering to Mason. You knew it was wrong, but every time your eyes caught his over the distance, your stomach fluttered, and you couldn’t help but get addicted to the feeling that arose whenever your eyes locked and he smiled softly.

You blushed when it happened again, your gaze dropping to the ground. It felt like your little secret as by some miracle neither Sophie, nor Woody who was talking to Mason had caught onto it yet.

“I’ll erm head to the loo real quick.”

The feeling of Mason’s eyes on you as you made your way through the room had the butterflies going wild in your tummy. He probably thought you were heading towards him, but he just happened to stand right next to the hallway that led to the loo.

You grazed your hand against his as you passed him, your heart pathetically skipped a beat at the tiny contact, and you had to drop your head slightly to hide your blushed cheeks.

Once you’d finished in the bathroom – you’d taken a bit longer as you’d had to fix your hair a little – you returned to the living room, finding everyone gathered around Ben’s dinner table. Confused, you looked Sophie, but she actually found you first.

“There you are! We were looking for you.”, she grinned. “You’re teamed up with Mase.”

With furrowed brows you looked at her. “Teamed up for what?”

“Oh, apparently there’s several games planned, I don’t know drinking games or something, like quizzes and stuff and I teamed you up with Mase.”, Sophie winked, reminding you of that feeling you’d been having for a while now: She was playing cupid and tried to get you and Mason together.  

You weren’t entirely sure, but throughout the last couple of weeks if not months, she’d made small comments about how well you and him got along or about how last time Mason was over at Ben’s, he’d talked quite a lot about you and whilst it made you a little giddy that she apparently was very in favour of a potential relationship, you knew it was impossible. Ben wouldn’t have it at all.

“Drinking games? What are we, 14?”

“Don’t be a party pooper, it’ll be fun.”, Sophie laughed before pulling you along to where Mason was leaning against a wall. “Here you have your partner in crime.”

Mason laughed quietly, agreeing internally that you were indeed his partner in crime, before pulling you into his side a little. “I’m glad it’s you cause now I know that at least one in this team has the brains for what’s to come.”

“You’re pretty intelligent yourself, Mase. And I feel like your pretty face makes up for the lack of knowledge in some areas, if you ask me.”

The questions started off rather easy, but you knew it wouldn’t stay that way for too long. There was no fun in everyone getting all the answers right when there were body shots and other punishments for whenever a wrong answer was given.

“Mase, what’s the smallest mammal in the world?”, Ben asked, a proud grin on his face as there was no way his best friend would know the answer to this question.

Panicking, Mason turned his head to you in hopes you could give him a little hint, but you only shrugged as you didn’t know the answer either. Or rather you weren’t entirely sure you knew.

“No clue, mate.”, he laughed. “A squirrel maybe?”

“Wrooooong.”, Ben grinned, hitting the red buzzer he’d bought for today and everyone cheered excitedly for what was about to come. “Time for the punishment. Either you or y/n have to lay down here on the table and let the other take a bodyshot off your body.”

If his cheeks hadn’t been slightly red from the alcohol already, they definitely would’ve been flushed by now. Bodyshots hadn’t been on his agenda for the evening…and definitely not when they included you.

“I can go for it.”, you offered with a smile as you stepped closer to the table.

You knew Mason wasn’t one of those guys who liked to show off and get shirtless more often than not and with so many people – especially women – around, you were sure he’d feel uncomfortable.

“No, it’s fine, don’t worry. I’ll lay down, you take the shot. I’ve had enough for now.” He gently pushed past you, manoeuvring you towards the side of the table as he hoped the others would buy his excuse. He hadn’t even had that much to drink, but he desperately didn’t want you to be the one to lay down.

As much as he disliked the idea of getting shirtless randomly on a birthday party, the thought of you only in your bra for everyone on show was way worse. There was no way all the other men would get to see you half-naked.

You knew there was no point in arguing with him. Once Mase had made up his mind, there was no going back so instead you watched him taking off his shirt, revealing that toned body of his that, no matter how often you’d seen it already, still had the breath catching in the back of your throat. The way his muscles danced under his smooth skin made you want to reach out and touch him all over.

Especially that tiny mole you’d only recently noticed.

Mason hoisted himself on the table and it was only then that you snapped out of your thoughts and noticed the women in the room ogling him, causing your tummy to drop.

You had no right to be jealous, you knew that, but you couldn’t help it. He looked like he’d been crafted by the gods and whilst you knew it was impossible, you just really wanted him to be yours and only yours.

Once he was on his back, his hands by his side, he turned his head and looked for you. His big brown eyes locked on yours and to your surprise he looked a little hesitant. “Relax, it’s just me.”, you whispered before placing the slice of lime right between his lips.

Mason’s eyes squeezed shut adorably for a moment when the sour liquid touched his lips and when a soft giggle left your lips, you felt him squeezing your arm gently.

The little crowd around you whistled when you placed your hand on your thigh and leaned down, but all you could focus on was the way he felt the moment you licked a stripe through the valley of his abs. His muscles contracted where your tongue touched to wet his skin and when you got back up to sprinkle the salt over the wetness, it was way too soon to part.

The second the tequila dropped into his navel, Mason’s whole body shivered. Squeezing his thigh, you smiled at him softly. “You’re ready?”

You noticed how his eyes were a little darker when they locked back on yours, but he was quick in nodding. “Go ahead.”

Just like before, you leaned down and licked the salt from his skin, fingers digging into his thigh a little as you were slowly becoming addicted to what he felt like. Gently, your lips brushed his skin before you quickly sucked the tequila out of his navel and as you moved up the side of his body, ready to take the lime, your hand trailed up his stomach, causing goosebumps to erupt all over his skin.

With your back shielding you both, you dipped down. You stared into his dark eyes, filled with something you couldn’t quite place and when your teeth dug into the lime and your lips just about brushed his, your heart stumbled in your chest.

It had only been the tiniest of touches, but it had been enough to set your whole body on fire an from the way Mason looked, flushed cheeks, his lips still slightly parted and a clouded expression in his eyes, you could tell that he felt it too.  

You wanted to let go of the lime and lean back down to kiss him properly, but you knew you couldn’t. The whole situation had already been going on for far too long to be considered normal and you were conscious about your brother watching, so you came back up and sucked the juice from the lime in front of the others. You were convinced your face was as red as a tomato, but with the tequila in your system maybe the others would blame it on that.

As the party kept going, pretty much all you were busy with was staring at Mason. Ever since the moment your lips had touched his, the addiction you’d always felt towards him had increased tenfold and he seemed to look even better now.

You wondered if his white t-shirt had already hugged his body that perfectly when you’d arrived and whenever he wet his lips you couldn’t help but focus on his mouth.

“Earth to y/n?” Ben snipping his fingers right in front of you brought you back into reality.

“Sorry. What?”

“Are you okay?”, he looked at you with his perfected caring-big-brother look, head slightly tilted and eyebrows furrowed.

“Just tired.”, you smiled reassuringly. “I think I’ll actually leave now to get some shut eye.”

“But you’re not going on your own, y/n.”

You were tempted to roll your eyes, but you knew he only meant well. Being outside on your own really wasn’t the safest thing to do, but you only lived about 10 minutes away, so you didn’t see the harm in walking home or taking an Uber. “I’m a big girl, Ben.”

“No, y/n. I won’t have you leaving on your own. It’s too da-“

“I’ll make sure she gets home safely, okay? I’m leaving now, and I pass her apartment on the way to the hotel anyway.”, Mason explained as he suddenly appeared next to you, his fingers gently tickling the small of your back.

You weren’t entirely sure if it was a good idea for him to bring you home. This newfound deep attraction towards him was worrying you and with the alcohol in your system you weren’t sure you could hold yourself back. You could still feel his lips brushing yours, his skin beneath yours and the way his muscles had contracted because of the way you’d touched him.

He’d been so close; so within reach, but at the same time so far away and it made your head spin. You weren’t even sure if he felt the same for you or if it had only ever been in the spur of the moment.  

Once you’d both bid your goodbyes and left Ben’s house, silence settled over you. The atmosphere between the two of you was a little awkward – at least it felt like that for you. Mason was uncharacteristically quiet, and you didn’t really know what to say. The whole bodyshot situation had obviously created a strange tension and you hated the thought of having ruined a perfectly good friendship with a stupid drinking game.

What if he felt weird about you now? You’d practically taken advantage of the way he’d been lying there with no where to go. What if all the other situations before today had only ever seemed obvious to you? What if he’d always found it weird?

Little did you know though, that Mason was still thinking about where you’d touched his skin. The feeling of your tongue licking the salt off his tummy was etched into his brain, but the moment that had left a long-lasting impression was your lips brushing his for the tiniest moment. He’d wanted to kiss you forever and now that he’d had a tiny taste, he wanted more. He wanted you.

Mason felt stupid. Who the hell fell in love with their best friend’s little sister?

Thankfully, it wasn’t long until you were back to normal though, joking around and talking about everything and nothing and you couldn’t explain just how relieved you were. Mason was one of the most important people in your life and losing him sounded like your worst nightmare.  

Too soon for your liking, you reached your house. Mason, claiming he could use a little workout, took the stairs to the third floor with you and once you were in front of your door, you realised you weren’t ready to say goodbye yet.

“Do you want to come in?”

When your eyes locked on his you could see the whirlwind of emotions in them, so it didn’t come as a surprise when he shook his head no.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, y/n.”, he whispered, gaze dropping to his shoes.

You hated what today had caused. This hesitation to spend time together had never been there before and the thought of him going back to Manchester and distancing himself even more was terrifying you.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”, you nodded as you tried to hide your sadness. “Night Mase.”

Quickly, you leaned in and kissed his cheek. It was something you always did when saying goodbye to him, but tonight it felt different. More intimate, more meaningful.

Mason stood there, rooted to the spot. The cogs in his head were turning like crazy, but after a split second, he reached out and grabbed your arm to hold you back. Turning around, you were about to ask what he wanted, but before you could even open your mouth, his lips were on yours.

Too surprised, you couldn’t even reciprocate the kiss and when Mason noticed, he was quick in pulling back, lips parted and eyes searching yours frantically. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have don’t that, y/n. I’m just-“

But you just shut him up by pressing your lips to his again. Your hand moved to the back of his neck, fingertips just about reaching into his soft hair, whilst the other found a home on his shoulder and once Mason had realised what was happening, he kissed you back deeply.

It was a desperate kiss. One that the both of you had been craving forever and with his lips moving against yours passionately, he walked you backwards into your flat until you were trapped in between his heavy body and the wall.

You sighed against his lips, as he deepened the kiss, his fingers sneaking beneath your shirt and digging softly into your flesh and when he gently buried his teeth into your bottom lip, a hoarse moan of his name tumbled from your lips.

Mason was quick in using the chance to invade your mouth and the moment he brushed his tongue against yours with langued, lazy strokes you lost all capacity to think straight. All you could focus on was the way he kissed you and touched you. He was an insanely good kisser, better than in your wildest dreams and whilst deep down you knew this was wrong and could ruin everything, it all felt so right.

“We shouldn’t do this.”, you breathed heavily against his lips the moment he pulled away to catch his breath, but contrary to your words, you pulled his shirt up and over his head, desperately to see his naked upper body from up close and once the shirt was out of the way, your fingers trailed all over his soft skin.

“I know.” His brown eyes were blown out, clouded and dark when they locked on yours, causing a shiver to run down your spine. “But it feels so fucking good to kiss you, y/n.”

“It does.”

“Jump.” His warm hands had now fully grabbed your hips and when you obeyed and jumped, legs wrapping around his waist, his hands moved to cup your bum and pull you flush against his body. You could feel his crotch pressing right against yours and when you felt how hard he was, you blushed deeply. “I’ve waited way too long for this to stop now.”

His lips were back on yours in an instant, moving against yours as he walked the two of you further into your flat until he sat down on the sofa, with you still in his lap and you didn’t waste a second to grind down.

“Jesus, y/n.”, he moaned into your mouth, hands tightening on your waist to stop you from moving for a second. “Are you sure about this? We’ve both had some alcohol and once we’ve done this, we can’t undo it.”

“I know.”, you smiled before leaning in and kissing him softly. The expression in his eyes was serious now and your heart warmed at the way he was so mindful. “But I want this, Mase. I promise, I want you. Just like you want me.”

When you dipped your hand in between your bodies and cupped his dick over the fabric of his pants, Mason’s eyes darkened. “Feels so good.”, he moaned quietly the more pressure you applied and once his eyes had fallen shut, you leaned in and let you lips travel along his jaw, leaving tiny kisses and nibbled all over his soft skin. You relished in the way he sighed and moaned quietly as you continued to palm him.

“Will you let me make you feel good, Masey?” The quiet whisper had him shuddering beneath you and with a deep sigh he nodded. It already felt like heaven on earth, and he couldn’t wait to feel you without the barrier of his trousers.

You dropped to your knees in between his parted legs, hands moving up and down his thick thighs until you eventually unbuckled his belt and opened the zipper. Mason helped you by lifting his hips and soon enough, his pants were off. Your mouth watered at the sight of the visible tent in his boxers and whilst you really couldn’t wait to have him in your mouth and hear more of his whimpers and moans, you wanted to spend a bit more time on teasing him.

With your eyes locked on his, your nails gently scratched the insides of his thighs, causing Mason to shiver. “Don’t tease, please.”

“But you look so good like this, Mase.”, you pouted, before placing your lips on his skin and making your way higher up. His thighs tensed under your touch, causing naughty thoughts to run through your mind, but right now it was about him, not you.  

“What do you want me to do, hm?” You gently bit the skin right where his boxers ended, pulling a small hiss from Mason. “What is it you want, Masey?”

“I…I want you to- Fuck!”, he groaned when you started to palm him over his boxers. With his head falling to the back of the sofa, he had to take a few deep breaths to calm down, but your fingers squeezing his length made it difficult to think. “I want you to…to…”

Mason had never been in the position where he had to voice what he so desperately wanted. Quite the opposite, as until today he’d always been the one being in control and asking that question and now that the roles were reserved, he suddenly got very shy.

With reddened cheeks, he dropped his eyes to his tummy, wishing he could be more confident, but you were hot, currently between his thighs and this whole thing started to make him incredibly nervous.

“Mase.”, you whispered, reaching out to grab his chin and tilt his head up. “We can stop whenever you want to.”

“No, I…I don’t want to stop. Sorry, I just got a bit overwhelmed.”, he confessed. Gently cupping your hand in his lap that had stopped palming him the moment you’d realised something was wrong, he moved it for you, encouraging you to keep going. “Please keep going.”

“Okay.”, you breathed as you applied a little more pressure on his restrained cock, eyes never leaving his and only when you saw the clouded expression coming back, did you lean down to press kisses all over his length.

Mason’s breath hitched in the back of his throat the moment your teeth grazed his fabric-covered dick, and you couldn’t hide your proud grin. He was moaning like this because of you, and you couldn’t wait to make him feel even better.

You hooked your fingers into the waistband of his boxers and once Mason got the hint, he lifted his hips again to allow you pulling the fabric down his legs, causing his hard dick to slap against his tummy. Palming him before had given you a good hint at what you were working with but now that he was fully exposed, you realised that he was bigger than you’d expected.

He felt hot and heavy in your hand as you grabbed him and when you gave him a few gentle pumps, Mason’s head dropped back onto the sofa with a deep sigh. His hips bucked up almost immediately as it had been a while ever since he’d been touched like this and when your thumb brushed through his slit to spread his pre-cum, he cursed loudly.

“Oh my god.” His heart was thundering in his chest, and he could already feel the tingling at the base of his spine. “Don’t tease, y/n. I…It feels so good already.”

Your cheeks heated up slightly at the way a very few of your touches had such an effect on him. He looked so insanely hot. His lips were slightly parted, his chest heaving and abs contracting from the way you were stroking him.

“Holy shit!” Mason’s eyes shot open the second he felt you sucking his tip. His stomach tightened at the warm feeling of your lips wrapped around his dick and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to avoid cumming on the spot. “Fuck, y/n. What the hell.”

“Sorry.”, you grinned as you’d pulled away, knowing fully well what you’d done with surprising him like that. “Just really want to suck your dick, you know?”

“I nearly came.”, he breathed as he threaded his fingers through your hair, subconsciously letting you know you were okay to continue. “A little warning would’ve been nice.”

“Well, where’s the fun in that, Masey?”, you smiled before kissing the tip of his dick and taking him back in your mouth. Bobbing up and down, you took as much of him as possible, whilst working the rest with your hand. You’d set a slow pace, knowing that the faster you went the sooner the fun would be over, and you really wanted this to last.

Who knew if you’d ever get another chance of having him like this.

The warmth surrounding his length combined with your tongue massaging the vein on the underside had Mason tightening his fingers in your hair. Breathy moans and whimpers were falling from his lips, spurring you on, but the longer you kept going, the more difficult it became for him to hold back from reaching his high and soon enough, he pulled you off his dick.

“You’re way too good at that.”, he panted with his hands framing your face. Gently, he brushed his thumbs over the soft skin right beneath your wild eyes. “Come back up here.”

Mason helped you back up on your feet and pulled you into his lap, hands immediately settling on your waist beneath your shirt, stoking up and down your sides as he leaned in to kiss you again. Softly this time, less rushed and hungry than before, but still passionate and as if he’d been waiting for this moment forever.

You sighed against his lips as you felt his big hands cupping your boobs, thumbs brushing over your perky nipples poking through the thin lacey material of your bra and it wasn’t long until Mason pulled your bra down enough for your boobs to spill over.

“Take your shirt off.”, he ordered quietly whilst his hands kneaded away on your boobs. “I want to see more of you, y/n.”

You obeyed quickly and pulled your shirt over your head and whilst you expected Mason’s gaze to drop, it never did. His hands spanned the ribs right beneath your chest, but his eyes stayed locked on yours.

“You’re so incredibly beautiful, y/n.”, he whispered and the honesty in the tone of his voice had you blushing. “You’re the most beautiful and incredible woman I’ve ever met.”

His hands stroked up and down your sides and all over your tummy, leaving goosebumps in their wake and causing small sighs to fall from your lips. It had been a while since someone had touched you like this, had taken their time to caress you in a non-sexual way.

The men you’d been with had only ever been interested in one thing and whilst tonight was going to end in the same way, Mason still took his time to worship you and your body, and it made you fall for him even more.

He held the entirety of your heart and from tonight on also the entirety of your body. He hadn’t done much so far, but you were sure once he had, he would’ve ruined sex for you as no one else would ever come close to this.

You gasped the moment his lips enclosed around your nipple. Your hands flew to the back of his head, fingers gently pulling on the soft strands of hair as his teeth grazed your sensitive skin. Mason skilfully unclasped your bra before flinging it across the room to get it out of the way, making you question for a moment how often he’d done that already, but when his lips sucked your nipple and his fingers ran up and down your spine, your thoughts were back on him and how good he made you feel.

It wasn’t long before he asked you to take off your pants and as you stood there right in front of him in only your lacey panties, he couldn’t help himself. Grabbing your waist, he pulled you back in between his tights, hands stroking up and down your tummy, fingers grazing your boobs until they eventually hooked into the waistband of your panties.

“You’re so so beautiful y/n. I want you to always remember that.”, he whispered with his lips pressing against the skin of your tummy. “You’re so perfect, so soft and I don’t deserve you at all, but I’m so glad I get to see you like this.”

His lips trailed up and down your body until they reached a spot Mason found perfect for the purple bruise, he’d wanted to leave on your body ever since you’d taken off your shirt. Pulling a gasp from your lips, he sucked a hickey into your soft skin, soothing the sting with his tongue and once he was done, he looked up at you with a proud smile grazing his lips.  

“These come off now.”, he mumbled, pulling your panties down your legs before making you straddle his lap again. You felt a bit insecure, being fully naked, with your legs on either side of his, now, but Mason was quick in picking up on that. “You’re so hot, I can’t believe I get to have you like this.”

“Mase.” His name fell from your lips in a hoarse moan the moment you felt his fingers running through your wet folds. Giving him head had turned you on more than you’d thought and with his fingers between your legs now, you were practically dripping for him.

“Fuck, you’re so wet, y/n.”, Mason groaned. “All for me? Hm?”

He didn’t give you the chance to answer though as his lips were on yours in an instant. The kiss was hot and heavy, tongue immediately invading your mouth and toying with yours, whilst his fingers worked away between your legs. With his middle finger, he continued to stroke through your folds, making the base of your spine tingle, but when his thumb started to draw precise circles on your clit, your body slumped forward slightly as a deep moan got lost in his mouth.

Mason listened intently to the sounds you made, carefully figuring out what you liked and what brought you closer to the edge and once he was fully satisfied with how ready you were, he pushed his finger in.

“Holy shit.”, you cursed, pulling away from his lips momentarily to catch your breath, but with his finger curling deep inside of you, it was more than difficult. He touched all the right places with precision, causing you to see stars for a second. “Mase that’s…fuck..that’s so good.”

“Yeah?”, he breathed proudly, attaching his lips back to your nipple whilst gazing up at your face that contorted in pleasure. His dick twitched at your breathy moans and whimpers and whilst at this point, he couldn’t wait to feel everything of you, he desperately wanted to feel you falling apart on his fingers first.

“You’re close baby? Hm?” When he dipped another finger into your wet heat, he pulled another deep moan from you and in an attempt to push you closer to the edge, he curled his fingers even further against that one spot and pressed his thumb into your clit.

“Gonna be my good girl and cum on my fingers?”

Mason didn’t miss the way your walls squeezed around his fingers that little bit more when he called you his good girl and he made a mental note.

“Yes, Mase.”, you whined. “Please keep going, Mase. I’m so close, I’m-fuck.” With a few more curses and his name continuously falling from your lips, you came around his fingers. White hot liquid shooting through your veins, caused your body to shudder before you eventually collapsed into his chest, head falling into the crook of his neck as you tried to catch your breath, whilst Mason rode you through your high.

Your heart was thundering in your chest, as he gradually slowed the movements of his fingers until he eventually pulled them out completely. You sighed into his neck, not noticing how he smiled at the taste of you as he licked his fingers clean and when Mason wrapped his arms around your body, one hand running up and down your spine in an attempt to calm you, you snuggled further into his chest.

It took you a while to come back to your senses, but when you pulled back and his eyes were on yours, his cheeks as flushed as yours, you leaned in and kissed him softly.

“That was incredible.”, you sighed against his lips and Mason nodded. “But we still have to sort this out, hm?”

Mason shuddered when your hand wrapped around his painfully hard dick. Watching you cum had made him even harder and he couldn’t wait to have you and watch you fall apart on his cock, but he knew that the previous orgasm had wrecked you and that you might need a moment.

“We don’t have to, y/n.”, he mumbled, groaning quietly when you began to stroke him gently. “At least not immediately. We can take a moment in case you need ti-“

“I want you, Mase. I promise I’m okay. I want you.”

“Let’s take it slow, though. Okay?”, he whispered against your lips, before pulling you in for another kiss. “I want this to last, y/n.”

“Okay.”, you smiled.

With one hand on his shoulder, you pushed yourself up onto your knees and lined his dick up with your entrance, but before you could sink down, Mason’s hands on your waist stopped you.

“Look at me please?”, he asked with bright red cheeks. He felt a little stupid for it, but as this might be the only time he got to have you like this, he desperately wanted you to look at him, whilst taking him for the first time.

And with your eyes locked on his, you sank down his length. The both of you moaned at the feeling of one another, his hands squeezing your hips, whilst your fingers dug into his broad shoulders as you took all of him carefully.

His size stretched you deliciously and the slight burning only added to the pleasure running through your veins. He was so big, you could feel him in your tummy once you were fully seated and you actually needed a moment to adjust.

“God, you’re so tight.”, Mason moaned as he dropped his forehead to your chest, trying to think of the unsexiest thing he knew to avoid ending it right then and there. “Squeezing me so tightly, baby. Feels so good.”

You could feel him pulsating inside of you and the way he was panting told you everything you needed to know. He felt as incredible as you.

Once you were both ready to continue, you rolled your hips against his. Gently and carefully at first, but it wasn’t long before you were bouncing up and down in his lap. His hands sat firmly on your hips, guiding your movements and making sure you were both enjoying it, whilst you’d planted yours on his shoulders.

“You feel so good, Mase.”, you whined as he continuously hit that one spot deep inside of you. “You’re so deep.”

“Yeah?”, he panted, a proud grin on his lips. “Can feel me all the way up your tummy, baby?”

Mason moved one of his hands to your stomach, fingers caressing your skin until he flattened his hand and pressed down right when his hips snapped up, causing you to whimper loudly as the delicious ecstasy running through your veins only increased tenfold.

“You’re such a good girl, baby. Taking me so well. You’re my good girl, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Mase.”, you whimpered, squeezing tightly around his dick at the same time. Your high was approaching pathetically quickly because of the way he knew how to hit all of your right spots. “Fuck, you’re so good.”

It wasn’t long until you were nearly there, and the moment Mason attached his thumb to your clit and rubbed it in quick circles, you fell apart on top of him, curse words and his name falling from your lips repeatedly.

Your thighs shook and your fingers squeezed his shoulders so tightly, you were afraid you were hurting him, but with the ecstasy shooting through you as he continued to snap his hips into yours, multiplying your pleasure, you couldn’t really care about that.

“Where…where do you want-“

“Inside of me, Mase.”, you panted. “It’s…it’s safe, I…I promise.”

His fingers dug into your skin and his head fell back, as his hips pushed up one last time before he spilled into your tight heat. “Fuck, fuck, oh my- fuck.”, he cursed, rolling his eyes at the way you gently moved your hips against his to help him ride out his high. “Oh my god, y/n.”

Once you’d both come down from your highs and had caught your breaths, Mason wrapped his arms around you tightly, pulling you flush into his body, head finding a home on your chest where he could listen to your racing heartbeat.  

You could feel him softening inside of you, but neither of you cared enough to pull away. Instead, you threaded your fingers through his soft hair and massaged his scalp, causing Mason to hum in content, whilst his hands caressed your back in soothing motions.

It was the most content you’d felt in forever.

*

Weeks after this incident, you were back up in Manchester. You and Mason had slept together another handful of times and whilst deep down you both knew it was stupid, given your obvious feelings for one another, you’d agreed to stay best friends and just enjoy the sexual part with each other as well. Friends with benefits. Nothing more.

You tried to convince yourself that it was enough as you got to have him in the way you wanted him every once in a while, but you’d noticed rather quickly, that it was everything but enough for you.

You wanted to be able to kiss him and hold his hand whenever you felt like it. You wanted the public to know that he was taken and that it was you who made him happy. You wanted all those women to stop looking at him as if he was still available.

Women like Tabitha right now. She was hanging off of Mason’s arm, flirting with him shamelessly, whilst you were right next to them.

It was the international break and since Mason hadn’t been called up for England, he’d asked you to take the week off and come up to Manchester to spend some time with him. Going to the bar hadn’t been one of the things you’d imagined you’d be doing, but when Mason had admitted that he wanted you to meet some of his friends, you’d eventually agreed.

Your idea of the evening hadn’t included several women ogling him though and the problem was that the longer your friends with benefits thing was going on, the more jealous you got. Before, you’d never had the right to be jealous at all and whilst now you still hadn’t, the fact you got to kiss him and have him between the sheets, whilst not being allowed to be his outside of your flat or his house, made it even worse.

You were in love with him and a tiny part of you knew he felt the same for you, but he’d never made it that obvious. For all you knew, it could be him using you for sex without any other intentions.

“So, are you going to take me home then?”, Tabitha chirped as she batted her eyelashes at him. Her hand was trailing up and down his arm and whilst you’d noticed how Mason had moved away from her every time she‘d touched him, she apparently hadn’t. Or she simply didn’t care.

“You do realise I’m right here, don’t you?” The words had left your mouth faster than your brain had processed your thoughts and from the way Mason looked at you, he was as surprised as you were. “He could be taken for all you know.”

“Oh honey, no offense, yeah? But he could be with anyone, so why would he go for you? I’m the real option here.” She sent you a fake smile, the disgust in her eyes visible and whilst it did scratch your ego for a moment and had you wondering if Mason thought the same, you were quick in smiling back at her.

Mason was about to step in as he refused having her speaking to you like that, but before he even could, you surprised him again.

“Sorry to pop the bubble, honey, but I know what he tastes like.”

Stunned silence fell over the three of you as the loud music faded into some sort of background noise. Tabitha simply scoffed before turning around and looking for someone else to pay for her drinks and take her home, but Mason didn’t even notice. He was too busy staring at you and trying to calm down his racing heart.

He carefully sneaked his arm around your waist and squeezed you a little. The fact you’d just subtly claimed him and showed a bit of jealousy for the first time, had left him speechless, but at the same time it made him incredibly happy.

“We need to talk to Ben, don’t we?”

After giving it a moment, you nodded. “Yeah, I think we do.”, you whispered before leaning your head against his shoulder. Mason pulled you a little more into his side, happy he could finally hold you like this in public and when he dropped a kiss to the top of your head and you snuggled more into his chest, his heart skipped a beat.

That night you stayed over at his. You shared the bed, but not in a way you normally did. Instead of being tangled in between the sheets, you were cuddled up, shared soft and meaningful kisses and lingering touches. Very little words were exchanged as you traced the hundreds of freckles on his cheeks, ran your fingers through his hair and all over his neck.

Mason hummed softly, squeezing your waist and caressing the warm skin of your tummy until you fell asleep in each other’s arms.

-

The next morning, Mason drove the two of you down to London.

Last night hadn't changed everything, no, this change had already started weeks ago, but the moment in the club had made you realise that you were just fooling yourselves with beating around the bush and it was time to wake up and act like adults. And that meant making a decision. The decision to be honest with yourselves – and Ben.

“Hey, don’t be nervous. He’s your brother, he’ll be okay.”, Mason tried to reassure you gently, but being honest with himself, he was bricking it too. He had no idea how Ben would react as the topic of you and him had never once come up and he doubted Ben suspected anything.

“What if he’ll just shout at us and be super mad? Mase, I’m his little sister and I know how protective he is. I don’t want you two to fight or fall out because of me. You’re best friends.”

Mason squeezed your hand gently, his thumb running over the back of it in calming motions. “We won’t fall out, y/n. Please don’t worry about that. Worst case scenario is he’ll be mad for a couple of days, maybe weeks and then he’ll be back to normal. Okay?”

“Okay.”, you smiled, bringing your joined hands up to kiss his in appreciation.

The journey, which normally felt so terribly long, seemed to have taken only a few seconds today and when Mason stopped his car in front of Ben’s house you weren’t sure you were ready to face him.

“Mase, I don’t think I can do this. What if he’s gonna hate me or worse you? I can’t just go in there and talk to him and-“

Mason gently shut you up with his lips against yours and you almost immediately relaxed into him. Your heart slowed down and when he pulled away and stroked your cheek with his thumb, you smiled at him.

“Thank you.”, you mumbled with blushed cheeks.

“Okay to go in?”

“Yeah.”, you smiled. “Let’s face it.”

With a final kiss you eventually got out of the car and made your way up Ben’s driveway. Your heart was beating out of your chest when you knocked on your brother’s door and you were afraid your knees would give way any second. Maybe Ben wasn’t even home? That way you could avo-

“Oh hi.”, Ben smiled, but the confusion was visible on his features. He definitely hadn’t expected either of you and especially not the two of you together and when he asked you to come in with an unreadable expression on his face, your stomach dropped.

You were terrified.

And as if Mason could read you like an open book, he placed his hand on the small of your back, offering you the most support he could without drawing too much attention to it. Ben flopped down on his sofa, watching you curiously as you stood there, nervously fiddling with the hem of your hoodie.

“It’s erm…Ben there’s a reason why we came here so unexpectedly and it’s erm…a little difficult and I don’t really know how to explain it, I just…it’s complicated and I didn’t mean to…but, well…erm…”, you stumbled over your words. The whole speech you’d memorised during the drive down to London had disappeared, leaving you with an empty head and bright red cheeks.

Mason noticed how you struggled. He knew you wanted to tell Ben yourself, but it seemed as if you needed a bit more support from him to go through with what you’d wanted to say, so he removed his hand from the small of your back and instead grabbed your hand, lacing his fingers through yours and giving it an encouraging squeeze.

With one last deep breath, you eventually just blurted it out: “We’re…erm…we’re together.”

You could feel Mason’s surprised gaze on you the second the words had left your mouth, and you knew exactly why. This thing between the two of you? You were yet to put a label on it. Surely, you wanted to give it a go and start dating, but neither of you had ever even mentioned the word relationship. And now you’d simply gone and told your brother you were in a committed relationship.

But as Ben was already up on his feet, Mason simply went with it.

“I would love to say I’m surprised, but truth be told, I’m not.”, Ben laughed as he pulled you into a hug. “I‘ve been suspecting it for months now, to be honest.”

“Months?”, Mason asked incredulously. You hadn’t even been sleeping together for months, let alone talked about liking one another for that long.

“You two are like peas in a pod, never without the other and recently it became more and more obvious. I always knew you liked each other, but I didn't want to interfere.”, Ben explained, causing you and Mason to blush.

The two of you shared an incredulous look, unable to believe that what you’d made out to be such a big deal, had turned out to be the easiest thing in the world.

“So you’re…you’re not mad?”

“Mad? y/n, are you insane?”, Ben laughed. “You two are among the most important people in my life, you are family and I want both of you to be happy.”

He pulled away from the hug as his expression became serious for a moment. “y/n, you’re my little sister and all I’ve ever wanted for you was someone who treats you the way you deserve, someone who I can trust to take care of you and when there’s one person who would drop everything for you, then it’s Mase. He’s done it perfectly as your best friend and I can only imagine how much more protective he’ll be now.”

Mason who’d seen the tears welling up in your eyes reached out and with the gentlest of touches wiped a stray one from your cheek, basically confirming what Ben had just said. He pulled you into his side and kissed your temple before focussing back on his best friend.

“Thanks, Ben.”, he smiled. “I promise I’ll take care of her. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I know, mate.”, Ben nodded. “But I’m also happy for you because after all the shit you’ve been through those last years, you deserve someone who’s by your side unconditionally and who likes you for being you and not for your money or your status or whatever. You deserve someone who has your back all the time, but especially when you’re not there to defend yourself. She’s precious and just like you’d drop everything for her, she’d do the same for you. You both deserve each other, so no, y/n, I’m not mad. I’m incredibly happy.”

You couldn’t believe anything of what had just happened. Your fear that Ben would explode and literally shoot you to the moon didn’t come true. Instead, he was supportive and happy and had basically rooted for you and Mason to get together.

You were lost for words, unsure what you should say other than thank you, but thankfully Ben’s phone ended the situation rather quickly and your brother left you and Mason alone to take that phone call in the kitchen.

“So, we’re together now?”, Mason asked with a cheeky grind once he’d turned you in his arms so he could look you in the eyes.

He watched how an adorable blush painted your cheeks rosy and how you shyly dropped your gaze to his chest, but he was quick in tilting your head back up.

“I erm…I just thought…I don’t know, I just didn’t know what to say and…it’s just happened. Sorry.”, you stammered, unable to explain why you’d stated you were together when really you weren’t or at least hadn’t talked about that yet, but Mason simply laughed.

“So, you’re my girl then? Officially?”

“If that’s what you want?”

“y/n.”, Mason sighed. “I don’t need a talking stage or seven dates to figure out if I want you in that sense because I already know. It’s early days, but at the same time it’s not because we’ve spent so much time together already and I know that I’m in love with you. I’d love to be home to you in the way you’re home to me.”

“You are home to me, Mase.”, you whispered with tears burning behind your eyes. It felt as if you’d finally found your forever, your home, your person. The one man you wanted to spend your whole life with. “I’m in love with you too.”

With his arms wrapped tightly around your shoulders, Mason dipped down and pressed his lips to yours in a soft, loving kiss.

-

Later that night, with you sleeping soundly in his arms, Mason couldn’t help but feel as if he was about to explode from all the happiness he felt and although he hadn’t actually talked it through with you, he really wanted to world to know he’d managed to land the best girl in the world.

__________

I genuinely hope you enjoyed reading this. You would make my day if you left a little feedback so I can see what you liked and what I can improve on 🩷

[brella-boi]

Okay guys this is becoming a tradition of me seeing films recently so heres a

Sonic 3 review from a technical standpoint

Look im no film critic or anything, but i AM an animator and theres a lot of. Things. I see whether I want to or not. Its just how my brain is wired because of my profession lol

(This is full of spoilers btw so now's your time to fast scroll away)

Anyway lets begin!

The movie is great. Cool even. I liked it! But theres a lot of direction decision that I am just. Baffled by I guess?

First of all- the models are different. (Httyd ass moment) And the way they sculpted the characters lips absolutely destroys anything theyre trying to emote. It looks like theyre CONSTANTLY pursing their lips. Like they ate a lemon. Do you understand? Sonic also has much more pronounced brows which makes him look more pissed off constantly LOL

[Sonic 1 model vs sonic 3 models, pay attention to the lips]

Eggman and Dr Stone had possibly the best interactions in the entire movie. Their dynamic was fantastic, and I would argue they kinda carried the movie. Unfortunately! The ending left their issues unresolved. And Dr Stone looked entirely unbothered by the possible death of Eggman.

This brings me to some writing choices that I feel may be due to... Either infantalising or time cuts. The storyboarding of this film was just. God how do I even describe this. It feels like a lot of crucial scenes where cherry picked to be deleted between shots. Thats not good at all- and while character continuity WAS there, it really did feel like something crucial was missing in some scenes. This is especially evident in the Chao Garden scenes. Specifically when the general dies (WHY DOES HE DIE LIKE THAT. WE DIDNT EVEN SEE THE RUBBLE GO ANYWHERE OR PIN ANYONE DOWN OR SEE MASS PANIC FOR PEOPLE TO DIE?) The characters COMPLETELY gloss over his death- a death that feels like its out of a show for 8 year olds Im not going to lie to you. He just flops, delivers a line, and thats it.

It feels like the two halves of the movie were written by two different writers.

The first half is weak. The jokes are stale. And the storybeats almost feel off. The actions scenes- while there's nothing particularly offendish about them- don't *hit*. If you're an animator or writer you understand that important beats need to pack a punch. It was severely lacking in packing punches in the first half.

I also wanna speak to the animators. Are you okay? Was this made on tight deadlines? Where is the fun and whimsy? Did you outsource this? Did you give your workers a good environment or were they crunching and hating life? Or did you hire younger animators with no senior feedback because they're cheaper to hire?

Look, the animation is good. Just that. Its good. Its TV show standard, not movie standard. Its lacking a good push to the poses, its using slow keyframing between poses instead of it being snappy, with good silhouettes, with good visual gags. Instead were left with this.. subpar passable animation for every character instead of something energetic and snappy like Sonics personality. I think this is where I take the most issue with because guys come on. You didnt push the models to their limits at ALL. And Sonics speedy running is... Well read my previous points. Where are the fundamentals of animation about exaggeration? Not in Sonics run cycle.

The second half of the movie carried the first half on its back thanks to Eggman. I am SO GLAD to see giant spaceships and mechs and whatnot. Thats great! Loved to see the lovely mech models and once again- interactions between Eggman and Dr Stone. Id go as far as say they should be gay tbh (hello? The scene where theyre tied up?)

I didn't bring up Shadow entirely so far. And honestly Ive no notes about him. All my notes are entirely about just the animation and not hitting the beats well. His characterisation was great- it actually explains his aggression pretty well and then redemption. Genuinely the last arc of the movie was fantastic. And finally we got to hear a rock score to go with it. Maria was fun, the flashbacks were fun, the scientific exploration was fun. All in the second half of the movie of course!

My overall score is 6/10.

To untrained eyes the movie is going to be extremely fun- if a little more childish in some parts than others. I'm glad they took some risky moments, I'm glad the characterisation is well written. I just wish other aspects were tightened down, mainly animation and storyboarding.

6/10 but I never thought Id leave the cinema with the thoughts "I could storyboard some of these scenes in a lot more meaningful way, and Im not even a storyboarder."

I recommend a watch! Its not a bad movie. Its not a rock-it-out-of-the-park movie either though. I feel like maybe all the anticipation and high expectations maybe made it not as gut punching for me as it couldve been. Overall, all I can gleam from it is theres a lot of things to improve on! But nothing that really destroys it or makes it bad. Just a lot of room for improvement.

Thanks for reading!

[writingquestionsanswered]

I used to love writing when I was in high school, but stopped after I graduated because of life. Now, after almost a decade, I want to get back into it but I don't know how. I have so many ideas but I tend to bounce around the same variations and don't know how to stick to one thing, or how to just get back into the rhythm of writing actively. Or even reading actively.

Any advice?

Getting Back to Reading and Writing

What you're experiencing is what I like to think of as "the creative zoomies."

After so long away from actively reading and writing, there's now this flood of ideas, plans, books you want to read, and stories you want to write. You can't settle and focus on a single thing because your brain wants to do ALL THE THINGS, so you keep bouncing back and forth between things hoping something will stick.

First things first... DEEP BREATH.

As I said in an earlier post, remember: there is no ticking clock. It may feel like there is, sometimes, but we're just little ants on a planet doing our things. There are no deadlines unless you sign up for any, and you don't have to worry about that right now.

So... start by taking an honest look at your schedule and your life, and see if you can figure out a realistic estimate of how much time you have in a given week. Where are there slots of time you can dedicate to writing? How about reading?

Next, it can be immensely helpful if you have a comfortable, relaxing space, free from distraction and interruption, where you can go to write. Some people like to go write at a coffee shop or library to get away from family shenanigans or bothersome housemates. If it's not a billion degrees where you are, you might also try your patio, yard, or a nearby park. Listening to soft music or "ambience rooms" (tons on YouTube) through headphones can also help you focus. There are also still some different apps and programs for distraction free writing. Just make sure to save often and keep a master document on your computer to prevent losing all your work in case the app or program gets glitchy. Also: put your phone on silent, turn off your internet if you must, and let people know not to bother you. This is your writing time... don't be afraid to guard it fiercely.

As for choosing ideas, I'm a big fan of the old-fashioned methods... random number pickers, drawing out of a hat, rolling dice... But you can also do a process of elimination based on what appeals to you the most. If you get it down to two, and then you're disappointed with the one you're left with, you know the one you just eliminated is the right idea to go with.

If you're not sure what to write, try doing some writing prompts. There are lots available online and there are some great books with writing prompts. Doing one a day can be a great way to get yourself back in the habit of writing again.

As for reading, start by reading during moments of spare time, such as if you're taking a bath, riding your stationary bike, sitting in a waiting room, or riding public transportation. You can even read during your morning coffee or your lunch break. Also, embrace the world of audio books. This is one of my favorite ways to read, because I can do it while I'm exercising, showering, cleaning, cooking, driving, doing projects... I get through so many more books by listening to audio books. More than anything, just remember that once again, there's no ticking clock. You don't have to finish a certain number of books before the end of the year. Read what you want, at the pace that works for you, and don't be afraid to DNF if a book isn't working for you.

I hope this helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[asexualbookbird]

I didn't complete my 24 in 2024 list, but that's okay. I read a lot of short books and that's okay. I tried something new and wrote a small blurb in a draft after finishing it, instead of cobbling together feelings from what I remembered throughout the month, and I liked that a lot. I'll continue to do that, it made this a lot easier. Officially gave up on Ga'Hoole, and don't feel guilty about it. There are better books in the world and I will find them. That is a threat.

The Screaming Stair Case by Jonathan Stroud ⭐⭐½ - I want to watch the tv show, and I always feel weird doing that before reading the book. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't another Jackaby. I will not delete my blog over it, but it was. Not great. Fine. Fun at times. Would be more fun if the author didn't hate fat people so much. A pet peeve of mine is when the main character is a girl but the series is named after the main boy in her life. Icky. Not the worst, but I'm not sure I want to continue the series. The audio narrator was Delightful.

The Shattering by Kathryn Lasky ⭐⭐ - GaHoole book five. I know I said at the start of the year I'd read what I owned, but I'm no longer having fun so this will be the last for me. I'd rather be reading Animorphs. The owls can't save it for me, I'm sorry. Still counting it towards my yearly list though.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons ⭐- by Peter S Beagle This was trying to be a T Kingfisher novel but couldn't figure out the right balance between humor and devastation and how it fits into a small amount of words. It tried to be a Terry Pratchett novel but couldn't figure out what satire was. Disappointing considering I was hyped for it when it was announced. Dragons eventually showed up, but it was too late for them to save it.

A Psalm for the Wildbuilt by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - reread for book club! Still adore it! This time around I was able to pinpoint WHY I adored it! It's because I too feel Aimless and Without A Purpose. So. Ouchie. It's also helping me figure out what I want out of a "cosy" novel (or novella). Internal personal conflict! I would still do anything for Mosscap.

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - reread for book club! Once again, Becky Chambers has flayed me open and picked apart my soul! Reading Monk & Robot is like sitting down and being given a cup of tea while I cry my heart out.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - "Is this what it means to lose someone? The pain never goes away, it just gets buried?" I think this ending hit me hard for different reasons than most people are going wild for. It was Fine. Not mad I read it, but don't see myself ever wanting to reread it. I like the idea of the library as a living thing and a character itself, but there were a few plot points that just seemed to be brushed aside.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I needed a safe tragedy I knew the end of and this did it. First time I actually shed tears over these words, but I needed it. It was fun to see and note the pieces that were laid out for later books, and I wonder, knowing some teasers we've gotten for Alecto, what TMuir means by Gideon wishing she could marry her sword.....

I don't have 2025 reading goals at this moment. Maybe that will change. It will probably change. I mean, there's the Usual, read the books I own, dangit, but that seems so. Boring. Typical. Everyone's doing that. Let me be ~Different~. I have a few fiber arts projects I'd like to do and finish, and I'd like to finish the sewing projects I started if only so I can pack all that up and put it away for a while. We're still hoping to move, so paring down my book collection is still an ongoing endeavor, and I do have a couple of art pieces I'd at the very least like to get sketched out. I want 2025 to be slow. I want 2025 to be quiet. I want 2025 to be kind. That's all I ask of it. Be kind.

[casscainmainly]

thank you so much for answering my ask! and so fast too, haha, don't worry about deleting it that stuff happens <3

i'm just curious though, im kinda new to dc and i mostly know stuff from tumblr (ive started reading comics from reading lists tho!)

since you're a cass fan, what makes you think dick is the fav? i love them both ofc but just tryna improve my understanding of the dynamics between the family. i've heard that cass and damian are the favorites? and jason? though apparently jason is only in fanon and ahh im just kinda confused im so sorry for the stupid questions

Trust me, no question about comics is stupid!! It's impossible to know everything (and I'm relatively new myself haha), so don't feel bad about asking anything. Plus I love answering asks :)).

Anyway, fantastic-nonsense's post here covers about all of why I think Dick is the fav. In case you don't wanna go there, here's one of the panels:

From Infinite Crisis #6. As clear an answer as we'll ever get, I think.

The question of 'who is Bruce's favourite?' is always subject to personal interpretation, though. Lots of factors - what a person has read, which character they like, what interpretation they have of Bruce - go into who someone thinks is Bruce's fav. Sometimes it's not even a question of pure canon, but a question of theme. Which character being Bruce's fav is the most narratively compelling? To me, that's Dick - their relationship has the most history, the most depth, and frankly I prefer one of Batman's successors (who to me is Dick or Cass only) being his favourite.

Cass being the fav is compelling too, but not as compelling to me as her not being the fav. Her story, her quest to break free from White men's expectations (both David and Bruce's), makes me not want her to be tied to Bruce's love too much. So while there are great canon reasons for her being the fav, I don't think it's a necessary or even particularly interesting angle for Bruce-Cass.

I actually haven't heard many people argue for Damian being Bruce's fav (it's usually Dick or Cass in my circles), which goes to show how much opinions vary haha. Damian has great reasons too - his entire death/resurrection has strong Bruce-Damian moments - but this is the least interesting fav kid pick to me. He's been raised to think of himself as Bruce's fav, and his arc is about undoing that belief in legacy, being the heir, etc. So being Bruce's fav doesn't do much for him. Having the only bio kid be the fav isn't that interesting either.

Jason definitely is the most fanon-y pick, though Jay being Bruce's fav is genuinely interesting. It's just that Bruce's love for Jason is a lot about the dead kid he used to be, and also half of why Jason is so obsessed with Dick is because he knows Bruce is obsessed with him. So in a roundabout way my preferred Jason-Dick dynamic hinges on Jason not being Bruce's fav. But I'm not well-read on Jason, I think some Jason fans might have good reasons for him being the fav.

These are all my interpretations of these characters, and the fun about reading comics is growing to develop your own opinion about questions like this! To me Bruce's fav isn't a strict right/wrong answer, I'm like one well-written meta away from changing my mind. But I hope this clarified my thoughts on the question!

[pengugu09]

THEORY TIME😍🤩🤩😢 don't share this on other media's w/o permission or credits‼️

(for those who have patreon, don't ruin my delusional gyat)

Looking back at these deleted official art by vivinos:

2/3 of the characters in this picture have already experienced smth bad (which is death)

But I want to share my opinions on this one since it just, well- strike on my mind

The characters are divided with these hearts surrounding their name with their corresponding eye color

So I'm assuming the reason why Sua and Ivan are holding an apple is prolly because it's a visual representation of who they love.

💜SUA💜

Sua is holding the apple with tender care using both of her hands just like how she have her feelings for Mizi, she treasures their relationship so much that Sua looks stressed (at the picture) since she knows the bad things that the aliens are doing in their society unlike Mizi who has a supportive and non-abusive aliens/guardians and doesn't have a clue (yet) on the negative side of these alien invasion.

When it comes to the outfit, she's wearing a princess gown.. but with a cape(?) like a superhero cape one? Is that why they deleted it because it shows a sign about the ROMH Sua ver?

"My savior, pitiful lady. Make me your god, I can give you everything"

It also shows that Sua is Mizi's inspiration, savior, or even a hero the moment they met, and have that spark even grew while she admires her.

🖤IVAN🖤

Ivan is holding the apple carefree, even smiling in the picture, showing no signs of any negative feelings (stressed, upset, anger, etc.)

This is something like- how we view Ivan base on appearance yet never know what runs on his mind behind that smile, knowing that something negative may be happening but he still keeps his calm composure about it.

As for his outfit, a charming prince, simple design for someone who has good looks

(mb I don't have anything else to say😭)

🩶HYUNA🩶

Hyuna.

She's not holding any apple. Which means that she don't have any feelings for anyone (sorry Luka) but she's doing a gun sign instead, which is foreshadowing on her situation since she got shot on her right arm.

Now, as much as possible I don't want our queen Hyuna to die at the next round but I think there's a 50/50 possibility.

That picture at the top is a picture of dead characters, but Hyuna isn't dead(?) is this foreshadowing that Hyuna is next??? Aside from being shot at her arm, we'll never know what did Mizi and Hyuna do next since there primary goal there is to save the alien stage contestants, and it's smh delayed since they got into a trouble that they never expected to happen.

On her outfit, I don't know what style is this called my bad, but she got this purple coat, black fur, and a hat with a feather on it.

PURPLE COAT. PURPLE. She's wearing a color associated with someone. (I hope that this isn't just color theory, if it is I'm going to cry)

And that someone is no one else other than:

*drum rolls*

Luka has been associated with purple in a lot of scenes.

In my opinion, Luka has a part in Hyuna's life ofc, even though Hyuna doesn't have this romantic feelings for Luka, she still values him as a childhood friend but then their relationship as they grow up begins to be complicated. (I won't explain it any further since this might become a whole ahh fanfic with how much number of the words that I've typed out)

So, I think, that Luka will be involve when something bad happen to Hyuna, but I really hope nothing bad happens to her since she has a great potential on how the story plot will go.

[might edit to correct some minor spellings or grammar]

[passionateseadruid]

Snake king’s bride 7

Holiday Havoc part 1 of 2

CW: Swearing, religious topics, Violence, one mention of dub-con and more

Summary:

This chapter was brought to you by spite and Lucifer’s slutty waist and sluttier child bearing hips. Man needs to close his FUCKING LEGS!

Notes:

HEY REALLY QUICK IMPORTAINT NOTE: So in this chapter there's gonna be a lot of references to religion and a surprise and ONE mention of Dubcon at the end. If you are uncomfortable feel free to skip this chapter. If you want to skip the chapter but you want to see the surprise I’ll leave a note at the end.   Also sorry this took so long to get out, I was having a hard time getting inspiration for this and then my computer broke. And on top of that a good 30 minutes of work was Deleted! Fuck ao3

It's been a few weeks since you've met Fizzarolli. He hasn't Been able to find anything but you're hopeful because you'll actually get to see him again at the end of the week for the kings annual holiday party. To top it all off you haven't bought a single present for anyone (plus you're not even sure who it's appropriate to buy presents for).

But none of that is what you were concerned with right now. No, right now you have to convince the short blond idiot in front of you not to wear a green tree print tux embroidered top to bottom in tinsel, lights, and other decorations.

"First of all, you are NOT coming with me to my parents dinner-"

"Of course I am! I have to introduce myself to my new in-laws." He cuts you off playfully sticking out his forked tongue.

"I figured you'd overstep again." You sighed. "If that's the case then secondly you cannot wear that to this dinner. All of my brothers are gonna be there, plus Lilian is gonna be there. I want to make a good impression so that you don't kill them."

"Okay fine. What do you want me to wear?" He sighed. Under his happy exterior he was fairly nervous.

You went into his closet and looked through his clothes. "We also need to set up some ground rules. My entire family is veryreligious and while I'm no Mother Teresa I still don't want them to worry about me."

"Teresa was such a goodie two shoes. I observed her when she was alive and she was even more virtuous than anyone else makes her out to be." He sighed and looked toward the ground for a moment. "She... reminds me of someone I knew back in heaven. Or she did, but the angel I knew... changed"

"Really? You don't talk about your past much."

"...You said you had ground rules for me." Lucifer avoided your eyes as he changed the subject.

"Firstly, don't tell them anything about you being the devil; or about heaven or hell; oh or about our situation. Secondly, don't mention Charlie; I don't want them freaking out about you being billions of years older than me, or about the fact that you have a daughter whose old enough to be my sister."

"She's actually old enough to be your great grandma."

"And you don't find any problem with this relationship."

"Darling look I know that we're an... ahem... unusual couple but I can't go on without you. I'll do anything to have you." He cups your chin and forces a kiss.

"Rule three, you are not allowed to be overly sexual. I have four brothers and three of them have kids so no groping me and no talking about how you wanna diddle my holes in my sleep."

"That's disgusting, I wouldn't do that to you." He defended against your accusation. 

"Okay we should probably go over each of my family members and their jobs. I hope we'll have enough time to go over this and get them presents."

"Don't worry! We'll just give each of them $10,000."

"Hells currency isn't going to be valuable on earth.

"I know. But for all your protests towards my affection you sure seem to forget who I am. I'm the Devil darling. I have pretty much every politician in my pocket. Here check this out!" He pulled you away from the clothes and into a side room off of his bedroom. Never a good thing to have. He shows you a room that's mostly filled with carnival games. "Here I'll spin this wheel, you take a dart and throw it at them. Whoever it lands on I'll go have a little chat with."

"How about you do that and I'll go pick out something for you to wear." This was just too weird. "If you're absolutely serious we'll need 14 grand."

////////////////////////////////////////

About an hour later you two were sitting in the kitchen going over your family members. He wore the red sweater with a big duck plastered on the front and black pants you'd picked out. It was annoying having him matching your red sweater and floor length black skirt but nothing could be done about it considering the only other option was letting him dress like an idiot.

"Okay so my Mom’s name is Janice, she likes crafts. Dad's name is Dalton and he and my oldest brother Austin like to weld and woodwork. Austin is divorced and has only one girl, her name is Monika. Don't worry she's probably not gonna want to talk to anyone let alone you. My next oldest brother is Peter who's married to Margaret and they has twin boys named Christopher and Evan. Everyone calls Christopher CC though, since he likes that the best. The twins and their dad like rollercoasters and the batfam. Dallas is the brother I'm closest with and he is the epitome of middle child, very class clown type. He has two kids a boy names James and a girl named Missy. He lost his wife last year so don't don't bring it up okay? And finally my spoiled brother Michael. He's the youngest son, my mom's pride and joy. The golden boy, her favorite. Him and his Fiancée got married this summer in July. She despises me so whatever you do bite your tongue and be as nice as you can to her okay? The last thing I need is for Maggie to start crying."

"Golden boy Michael hits a bit to close to home for me." Lucifer looked away from you. Just anywhere away from your figure.

'Oh like that isn't your fault.' You thought, thankful that he couldn't read your mind. "Got all that?"

"Yep." He motions to a notepad that he wrote it all down on. "Quick question. What's the "BatFam"?"

"Bat family. Like Batman and all his robins. Here I should have a picture on my old phone of them last year trick or treating. Peter was Batman, Margaret was cat woman, Evan was Nightwing AKA Dick Grayson, and CC was the fifth robin, Damien Wayne."

"What about your old roommate?"

"Lilian moved in with her uncle when we were 14. He worked a lot to provide for her so she was left alone most holidays. I invited her over one year and she basically became part of the family. Are you ready to go? The fudge I made yesterday has probably settled by now."

"Yeah, let's go." He held out his hand. You took the fudge in your hands instead. He frowned and opened the portal. You both stepped through and found yourselves at your parents house. Lucifer knocked on the door and 

"Auntie!" James shouted from behind the CC who'd opened the door.

"Hi auntie!" CC smiled as the two boys hugged you.

"Hi boys! Let me get inside and put the fudge down." You smiled warmly, not noticing the short man behind you seething. Yes Lucifer knew how childish it was to be jealous of two young boys, and your nephews at that, but he couldn't help it. You smiled so warmly at them and you gave them the attention he so desperately craved.

You two walked in with the boys in toe. 

"How's my favorite baby sister?" Dallas asked as you set the fudge down on the counter and he picked you up to twirl you from behind. "Better not be doing the Devil’s Tango with that deviant." He teased quietly so only you heard him.

You giggled. "I'm doing fine."

"You better be! Do you know how worried we were when Lilian told us you ran away with your fiancé! None of us even knew you were engaged! Why didn't you tell us?" Austin pulled you out of Dallas's hold and squeezed your shoulders protectively.

"Her and I had a bit of a spur of the moment engagement. I mean if it feels right and they’re the one, why not tie the knot." Lucifer put his arm around your waist. "Hi, call me Lucy. Lucy Magne." He held out his other hand for either of your brothers to take. Austin takes his hand and his eyes widens when he feels the Devils cold black hand.

"Sorry. It's a skin condition. Very rare. Not hereditary."

"Uh huh." Austin looked suspiciously at him.

"Bestie!" Lilian runs up to you.

"Lilian hi! I- oof!” You were cut off by her hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you got a sugar daddy?" She whispered.

"A what?!" You blushed.

"Come on I'm not dumb. A man shows up in a clean white suit and asks about all the things you like. He says he wants to provide for you. It's so obvious it's painful."

"Well it's not as simple as that." You tried to explain but you were pulled away by your parents.

"Sweetheart! Where have you been? So much has happened in these past four months." Your mom hugged you. "I'm sorry mom. Things just happened and my life got kinda hectic."

"You're not pregnant are you?" She asked.

"What? No."

"Then why did you drop out of college? You practically fell off the face of the earth. You're only 19, you should live your life. You don't need to grow up so quickly. We already have 5 grandchildren, you don't need to rush into marriage and family life. You should enjoy being young."

"I know mom." 'But I don't really have a choice.' "Him and I aren't rushing in to anything like that though. He's just… passionate about me and kinda… clingy."

"Come on Janice. We raised our girl right. She knows not to run around with degenerates." Your father came up to you both and squeezed your mother’s shoulder reassuringly. "Hi pumpkin." He turned to you.

"Hi dad." You two hugged each other. He led you over to the dining table and sat you down next to Lucifer who was arm wrestling with Monika.

"Why you going easy on me, old man? Just cause I'm a girl?"

"Haha… hah…" He chuckled awkwardly. "Who is she Goliath? I wasn't going easy on her." He whispered to you.

You looked at Monika. "Suplex him next." You smiled towards her as Lucifer's face fell. "It's nice to see you off your phone for once Monika."

"I guess I'm in a holiday mood since it's nearly Christmas." Everyone eventually came over to the table to eat.

////////////////////////////////////////

After about an hour of talking with your siblings you heard crying coming from the playroom your parents built decades ago.

"Is anyone hurt? Did the bookshelf fall down on someone? Did the curtain rod smack someone on the head?"

"Your freaky Fiancé made Missy cry." Evan pointed at you accusingly as James held the tot in his arms.

"What did you do?" You asked Furiously.

"Nothing." He held his arms up defensively. "It was just some light teasing."

"He said the goat man was gonna eat me!" Missy sniffled. 

"What goat man?" You rubbed her cheeks, whipping her tears away.

"Krampus." James answered.

"I didn’t say he was gonna eat her. I said Krampus beats naughty children who don't share with their siblings." Lucifer explained.

"I didn't even want the stuffed moose that badly. I swear I didn’t Auntie."

You shushed James and turned to the Devil. "What is wrong with you?! Why would you think that’s okay to say to CHILDREN?!"

"Honey I-"

You ran your hand through your hair. "You know what? I want you out. I’ll see you tomorrow but right now I need to be alone."

"What…?" His eyes widened.

"Leave. You've caused enough commotion for my family. My brother Austin thinks you're a creep. My mom, Dallas, and Lilian all think you're a deviant. And now you're traumatizing my niece and Nephews."

He left out the back door and you explained the situation to your parents afterwards.

////////////////////////////////////////

"Okay seriously this guy’s bad news sis." Michael persuaded as you two sat on the couch. It's been almost an hour and things are starting to die down. You and your youngest older brother sat in the kitchen talking by the island. "Look I know we've never been super close but you're my favorite sister and I worry about you. Without you, I'd be the one they shirk responsibility of watching the kids onto."

You rolled your eyes. 'Of course.' "So what do you suggest I do now?"

"Dump him. It's not like you need to get married. I mean, come on. You? A wife? HA! No, you're not the marriage type."

"I suppose. The only problem is that I can't get this stupid ring off." You look away. He goes to the cabinet and pulls out some vinegar. He grabs your hand and pours a bit on your ring but it won't come off. He pulled and pulled but it still wouldn't come off.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY BRIDE?!" A distorted voice came from the Fireplace in the living room. Out stepped Lucifer back in his white suit with his top hat. His red horns popped out of his head, fire sprouting between them. Just like at the ball; only this time he sprouted a tail. He grabbed you and pulled you toward the fireplace.

"NO! LET ME GO!" You thrashed in his hold. In a Last ditch Effort you grabbed the crucifix hanging on the wall and said, "Matthew 10:14 Begone Satan!"

"Ow! First of all it only works if you say the whole thing. Secondly IM NOT HIM!!" He slapped the cross out of your hand and slapped you to the floor. "AND FINALLY YOU REMEMBER WHAT I SAID WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU EVER BROUGHT UP THAT BOOK AGAIN. HOW ABOUT I KILL YOUR FAMILY INSTEAD SO YOU LEARN NOT TO FUCK WITH ME- Ah!" You two were cut off by a shot ringing out throughout the house and your dad holding a smoking shotgun in the doorway. "FUCK YOU! THAT’S GONNA BRUISE LIKE A BITCH TOMORROW!!"

"NO NO NO, PLEASE PLEASE. I'll do anything you want but please don't hurt my family." You clung to his striped vest as hot, fat tears ran down your face. 

His cheeks flushed at the sight of you sobbing, begging on the ground. He bit his lip as he fantasized about all the things he could do to you here and now.

"Stop! His skin is turning red! You're making him angrier!" Michael called.

"Shut up you horse-shit eater! Ah!" He cried as your mom rushed in and sprayed him with holy water. A few places on him started to blister like a burn. A few on his right horn and arm and one on the shell of his ear.

"PLEASE! ILL DO ANYTHING!" You begged, wrapping your arms around his small waist.

"I'll spare them if you vow to never contact them again. And I get to do whatever I want to you tonight."

"Deal!"

"NO!" Several members of your family shout. He envelopes your hand as a fiery illusion overtakes both of your hands and he pulls you into the fireplace.

Notes:

Yep, your dad has a shotgun now! Yay?j

[silverskye13]

how did you get the confidence to write fanfiction? i always worry that i won't portray the characters properly so any ideas or wants to write fanfics that i have go away or i talk myself out of it :(

Well! First and foremost: Most people don't start writing,,,, anything with confidence. Let alone fanfic, where you know other people are going to be looking at it, with their own ideas of how the characters are supposed to act and feel influencing what they're coming to the story with. My first fanfic I was very insecure, which I feel like was evident, reading through the author's notes now. Apologies whenever something that required a lot of suspension of disbelief happened, a poll so readers could decide the ending so I wouldn't disappoint anybody, only to end in me writing and posting three different endings. Long justifications for why I chose certain things in the author's notes. The fic nowadays reads to me like a very rough apology.

"Hi I'm sorry I tried. Be kind I'm very scared."

But the thing about writing that fic was, it was the writerly equivalent of jumping into the deep end of the pool for the first time. After I bobbed back to the surface and realized a shark hadn't like, taken my legs off while I was down there, jumping in again got easier. And kept getting easier. And now I just write and post things.

There's kind of two schools of thought that I've seen people subscribe to, when it comes to taking the first leap. The one that's really popular around here on Tumblr is: Do it scared. It is simple and straightforward. You are scared. You will be scared. You probably never won't be scared. So do it scared. Write your thing, close your eyes and hit send [either to post it or to share it with one or two friends, or even just hitting the "save" button and not deleting it]. Get scared, do it, close your eyes, finish. When you open your eyes again and nothing terrible has happened, you can breathe a sigh of relief and do it scared again. It's a little nerve-wracking at first, but the idea is giving your mind the association of jumping and not falling. I did it and I didn't fail, therefore it is safe to do it again.

The other school of thought [the one I specifically subscribe to] is: Do it once. What you think or feel about it doesn't matter. What matters is you did it once. Maybe it will be hell, or it'll suck terribly. Maybe you're really excited! And it turns out great! Maybe its a wild ride of ups and downs, and by the end you need a few months to catch your breath and decide if it was worth it. Regardless: you did it once. Now you know, if you want to, you can do it again. Now you can decide if its worth doing again. For me, the euphoria of finishing a project always far outweighs the trouble getting there, so the step forward of "Do it once" is powerful for me. And that can be broken down too. "Write one chapter." "Draw one drawing." "Clean one room in the house." There is no pressure to continue if its really that terrible, but you at least get to decide if one was worth it [and a solid 9 times out of 10, one was worth it enough to do it more.]

Now, all that said, if what you're worried about is writing the characters right and nothing else -- don't worry too much. Most people care less about how true to life the characters are, and care a lot more about consistency in the story. An example from RnS: In canon, Helsknight is a cartoonish villain with one motivation, and that motivation is taking over hermitcraft Doofenschmirtz style. To date, no one has come into my inbox demanding I change him, because he's so OOC he's basically an OC at this point. What people have come into my inbox about though, is "Hey, you established X in this chapter, but he said Y in this chapter. Was there a reason for that?" which is them saying, "Why didn't you keep your character consistent?" If you tell your audience what the expectations are for the story and you stick with them, they will stop caring about OOC moments and characterizations, and will trust you're going somewhere with your writing. Suspension of disbelief, your powerful friend! They put the world on their shoulders and carry and everybody watches and claps.

If you're also worried about consistency, then start out with one shots! There's a lot less room for error, no large, sweeping character arcs to keep track of. And stringing a bunch of one-shots together can give you practice with character consistency and progression without committing to something massive and overarching. If you're truly worried about making the characters exactly like Canon [or the Canon in your head], I recommend making little lists of character traits, or important things you want to keep in mind. At that point you're scared of your own consistency, and you just need a framework to keep yourself consistent enough for yourself, if that makes sense?

Hopefully! This helps! Sorry I'm a little scattered today :'D