#ry takes photos

[ryttu3k]

Morning bird party! The king parrots in the diosma didn't stick around too long, mostly because of the dozen lorikeets having a grand old time, flitting between the road, the big-ass eucalypt, the frangipani, the dracaena, and the diosma, plus the handful of miners making the usual nonsense. Also heard a kookaburra and some magpies!

One of the miners had a bit of a go at one of the lorikeets. The lorikeet was not having it.

[eddiebabygirldiaz]

ryan's adventures in bookbinding

i feel confident to share my creations now that i have been bookbinding for several months, so here's one of my recent books that im very proud of

fic: let the world have its way with you by @shitouttabuck

inside artwork: by @bucksketch (and used only with their permission)

cover design: created by me

this fic is most beloved to me. roadtrip fics are a particular weakness of mine and nina wrote a phenomenal, moving, sweet, funny, sexy buddie roadtrip and i can hardly ever stop thinking about it. they write both buck and eddie so spectacularly well and examine their traumas and healing so beautifully and i just love this fic with everything in me

[rklf001]

the bd in bd-1 actually stands for best droid

[maranello]

INTERLAGOS, 2006 — Michael Schumacher. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts)

[33max]

“Only now are we starting to realize it: my son is F1 world champion,” she said. “I screamed and cried.”

“I can’t count all the candles I lit this week,” Sophie revealed.

“The angels helped us,” the overjoyed mother believed.

a mothers love is never done

(x / photo by vladimir rys / max verstappen: whatever it takes / sophiekumpen on instagram / x / x / to my son by alicia daly)

[kamesama]

sukuna and yūji as siblings ( inspired by this post by @nessieartss )

they are nearly spitting images of one another, but they get gravely offended if someone gets their names mixed up. calling yūji by sukuna's name is always followed by a scowl and his brows wrinkling his skin. sukuna's reaction is the same, making them even more similar. these offences lowered in number after sukuna got his face tattoos, however, they still happen every now and then.

on that note, although they behave differently and have nearly opposite worldviews, there are a couple of gestures that seem to be a shared muscle memory; the way they twist their necks and look at some wandering source of stupidity with the same unimpressed gaze being one of them. of course, they do so in a sync. the way they run their hand through their hair and scratch their head a little when confused. the way they fix their shirt and turn to the side in front of a mirror to judge its fit.

yūji is most definitely subjected to sukuna's insults, but he takes them pretty well; he puts up a fight of his own which sukuna appreciates ( invisibly ). he is happy to know his little brother is resilient. however, there are days where yūji simply cannot stomach the proportions of sukuna's asshole-ry. why are you such a prick?

fights — both verbal and non-verbal, physical and non-physical — are nearly a religious everyday routine. some days it's just sukuna walking by and ruffling yūji's hair as he leaves home, and some days it's a ferocious battle ending with yūji in a headlock because he responded to sukuna's random insult with an exasperated and serious, what the fuck is your problem, dude?

sukuna always ends up having an upper hand.

no one gets to bully sukuna's younger brother — other than him. sure, now when they are older, yūji can handle his own ordeals, but as children, one glare from sukuna was enough to provide salvation for his little brother. sukuna also had a way with their parents to get them out of trouble. how he managed to talk things out with them is beyond yūji even today, but sukuna always saved his ass, walking into crying yūji's room with a confident grin on his face to tell him problem's been solved and he can start kissing his feet.

sukuna found a scrunchie laying around at some point and gave yūji the worst time ever because he teased him so much.

yūji — god bless his wonderful soul — is undoubtedly the more respectful one of the two, unsurprisingly so. that pudding in the fridge that he knows belongs to sukuna? he doesn't touch it. he has no interest in it whatsoever. sukuna, on the other hand, will devour anything and everything he gets his hands on with no regard for ownership. i licked it so it's mine kind of logic. yūji starts hiding his snacks. sukuna nonchalantly finds them.

sukuna busts into yūji's room with nearly no announcement and regard. yūji, on the other hand, always knocks. at some point in the early teenagehood, sukuna's room was a yūji-free zone. no brats allowed. as such, yūji has lesser knowledge of sukuna's room than sukuna has of yūji's.

blackmail. threats. vile words and promises. "brat, give that back or you will never see your vanity fair jennifer lawrence poster again." "*gasp* you wouldn't." "oh, i will."

sukuna finds ways to get certain posters, photos, stickers, merch and absolutely whatever else yūji is dying to have, only to bully the poor boy. "can i see?" "no." "you don't even like that show!" however, these things always find their way onto yūji's desk in the end, or wind up under his bed. when they do, yūji strolls over to sukuna's room with the brightest sun-kissed smile on his precious mouth and expresses his gratitude with the utmost of sincerity and child-like joy. sukuna responds with aloof indifference and a middle finger. it's the tough love.

the times they do get along is when they watch movies together. it's never explicitly admitted, but it has to be their favourite way to spend time in each other's presence. they will binge a show, discuss characters, eat an unhealthy amount of snacks along the way, completely unfazed while someone's guts get clawed out and slurped on screen. horror movies are their forte but yūji successfully got sukuna hooked onto some slice-of-life romance drama here and there. if they are not watching something on some brimming-with-viruses-and-completely-illegal website at home, then they definitely go to the cinema.

the 3 am conversations about life happen. they chew on leftovers of a cold pizza, home alone, under the kitchen light, slowly and calmly commenting on the unyielding passage of time, importance of ambition and drive, and the paradox of life's meaningful meaninglessness. they do so for nine minutes before falling into silence and commenting how stupid that cliff hanger was and how a manga chapter will be delayed again.

yūji's music taste is a spectrum far wider than sukuna's, and although he prefers pop, there are some questionable and edgy songs that seem to crawl their way into his ear because sukuna keeps listening to them on high volume while showering.

surprisingly, yūji is messier than sukuna. both are relatively clean in a way that neither of their rooms resemble a pigsty, but yūji has stray hoodies on his chair or textbooks spread and splattered over his desk ( whether he actually reads them is a separate topic ). sukuna keeps his things relatively neat and leans more towards minimalism in certain aspects.

their styles most definitely clash, but not too drastically; sukuna always seems to wear something of a darker hue to the point yūji strongly questions if he owns something that isn't red, black, white or some shade of grey. on another hand, yūji adores his vivid colours; ugly mustard yellows and pastel pinks and forest greens. sukuna likes his accessories a little edgy but tasteful; yūji finds those to be a hassle because he moves around so much. however, they both seem to show affinity towards comfortable and casual wear.

because of their contrast in terms of dressing, they rarely steal borrow one another's clothes. however, there is a very cool-looking dark blue denim jacket of sukuna's that yūji's got heart eyes for, and every now and then he wears it without having asked for permission. yūji's cheeks are stuffed with his order of burger and french fries when he gets a call from sukuna. he picks up, and all that greets him is a frigid and irritated, brat, did you steal my jacket again? yūji swallows and hangs up.

yūji's socks keep disappearing. it takes him a while to realise it's because sukuna is stealing them, solely because they are made of cotton and comfy.

yūji likes sukuna's phone cases; most of them are dark-ish, sure, but they have this visual effect of elegance that makes the phone look nice. no, sukuna does not give them to his brother. the chambers of his heart are not that vast.

sukuna is more familiar with yūji's friend group than yūji is with sukuna's. he gets along with megumi, enough to acknowledge him as a good friend of his little brother. originally, he teased yūji about nobara, but once he met her, he stopped with a claim that there is zero chemistry between the two and that they're just no fun ( nobara gave him a death glare ). he calls them brats, collectively. on another hand, yūji is not well-versed enough to have a stable opinion of uraume, who seems to be sukuna's partner in crime, but he is very familiar with how irritating his brother finds yorozu who just cannot seem to stop annoying him.

thank you for reading!

— kamesama.

[peachhcs]

jealousy, jealousy

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

will does a bit of stalking on his burner account

1.7k words

here's a bit of will's groveling while talking with the guys from back home. if i had a burner account, i would also stalk my ex on it, so will's kind of real for that haha

au masterlist

will's eyes glued themselves to his phone screen. he didn't mean to click into samy's account, but one thing led to another and his fingers just typed away the password to his burner account that the girl had no idea he had so he wasn't blocked there.

he just needed to look. a check-in? what sounded better than calling it plain stalking? at least gabe and ryan weren't there to peer over the boy's shoulder and chirp on him for stalking his ex.

the boy's fingers slid through her profile. he hadn't seen it in awhile, so when he saw four new posts in her feed since the last time he looked, he was immediately tapping into them. will's gaze slid over every single photo.

samy's smile was wide and bright as she stood with hannah and their other friends. even her soccer photos captured her large smile and seeing it made will smile back. he always loved seeing her love soccer as much as she did.

the blonde scrolled until he stumbled onto a photo in one of her recent posts. the fourth picture out of the ten in the set was of samy standing very close to a guy will didn't quite recognize. his arm was wrapped around her waist and something in will pinched.

that feeling—one he had so long ago he hardly remembered it—started resurfacing the longer he stared at the photo. memories of samy's senior homecoming flashed in will's mind while he compared her date to the guy in this photo.

who the fuck was this guy? luckily, he was tagged, so will went to his account. it was public.

upon further inspection, the guy was their age, a soccer player for the men's team, and worst of all he had a similar photo of him and samy on his account too. actually, the brunette was in his feed twice.

they looked really close. too close.

will scoffed. the guy wasn't even that good looking. plus, he so wasn't samy's type. the boy clicked back into her account to inspect the rest of the photos.

for some reason he couldn't believe how happy she looked as if they didn't break up. she looked like nothing even happened, but that was how will looked too. at least he tried to.

suddenly, the boy's phone buzzed in his hand. gabe's name flashed across the screen and a smile appeared on the blonde's lips as she slid to answer the call. his friend's face quickly appeared.

"hey, did i catch you at a bad time?" gabe wondered when he connected.

"no, no. i'm in my room," the blonde chuckled.

"okay, good. ry and drew are with me too. they wanted to say hi," the dark-haired boy pointed his laptop towards the other boys who waved.

"hey smitty!"

"yooo, what's up!"

will smiled widely at their hello's, "hey, it's good to see you guys again."

"we miss you a lot here. it's not the same without our other guy," drew cut in.

"i miss you guys too. it doesn't feel the same not playing on the same team anymore," the blonde hummed a bit sadly.

that was the hardest thing about all of this. on top of going through a breakup, will's best friends weren't around to help him through it. he only saw them through a screen now.

"you start soon, right? in a week?" ryan wondered as him and drew sat behind gabe in what must've been one of their rooms or something. 

"yeah, i make my debut at the game next week," will nodded, excitement filling his system at that. he's waited since he was a kid to finally take the ice as an official nhl player and knowing that day was finally a week away didn't quite feel real. 

"dude, you're gonna be awesome. i wish we could be there to see it," gabe frowned a bit which made will frown again. 

"i wish you guys were here, too. how's boston been? the same?" 

"yeah, pretty much. tailgates, parties, practice, you know. the usual," drew commented earning small eye rolls from gabe and ryan. 

"mostly practice. coach wants us working extra hard this year after last season," ryan cut in and the blonde nodded. he figured coach would get on the team harder this season after they lost the ncaa finals without scoring any points. 

"what've you been doing though? are the guys cool?" gabe changed the subject. 

"oh, they're great. they've been showing me around the area and i think i'll really like it," the boy nodded. he felt content and the people on the team seemed like good guys, so he knew he was in good hands. 

there was just a few things missing. 

"met any girls?" drew teased with a large smirk. 

will's expression faltered while gabe and ryan glared in the other boy's direction. they didn't hound will as much about the whole breakup anymore, but the subject was still touchy and they knew for a fact will wasn't ready to meet other people yet. 

"dude," ryan mumbled, but will still heard him through the call. 

"uh, no. i haven't, but it's fine," the blonde offered a tight-lipped smile. the other three studied their friend for a moment, trying to decide if he was being truthful or not. 

samy's name wasn't one that came up a lot around them anymore when will was in conversation. they knew he didn't wanna talk about her, so they tried keeping her name out of their mouths as much as possible. they never even told him she visited last weekend to see them for their first home game of the season not knowing how that'd make will feel, but gabe decided to try his luck today with the topic. 

"uh, samy was up last weekend. she came and saw us for the first home game of the season," the dark-haired boy informed. he studied his friend's face for a reaction, worried that will would get mad or something. 

"oh, she did?" was all will said. 

"yeah, it was really nice of her. she was pretty excited for us. we took her out for dinner and everything, too," gabe smiled a bit. 

"that's cool. i'm glad she..she went out," will nodded while a part of him twisted. 

he knew the guys were still her friend, he just never really thought that she'd actually fly out to see them still when he wasn't there. plus, none of them even said anything to him about it last weekend. there wasn't even a story post about her being there. will knew his friends loved him, but did they really think they needed to hide whenever they were hanging out with his ex so he didn't know? 

"she asked about you..or well..we started talking about you a bit and she asked about you," ryan hummed making the blonde's ears perk up. 

"what did she say?" 

"just asked how you were. we said you were good. settled into san jose. she said she's glad you're doing good," ryan continued. hearing all of that made will's stomach continue twisting. of course she was glad he was doing good even when he (stupidly) broke her heart. 

"i haven't talked to her. i don't think she'd wanna talk to me anyway," will laughed dryly. 

"i'm sure she does if she asked how you were doing. she's not that heartless, will," drew chuckled some. the blonde could only manage a weak smile in response. 

"do you know if she's like..talking to anyone or anything?" will tried asking casually so it wouldn't seem like he was stalking her account and so the guys didn't know he resorted to the burner account to look her up. 

"uh..not really. i think she's just going on random dates. nothing serious," gabe shrugged. 

"so she is seeing people though?" 

when gabe nodded will felt his heart sink. he figured she probably would, but hearing it aloud hurt even more than he thought. 

"why do you ask?" ryan wondered, eyebrows raised. 

"no reason. i was just curious," the blonde attempted to play off his disappointment. 

"were you stalking her account?" gabe said because he knew his best friend well, even through a screen. the boy knew about the burner account because he saw it on will's phone a few months back when he caught him stalking samy's account too. 

"no." 

"will." 

"okay, maybe i was," the blonde rolled his eyes. 

"i thought she blocked you?" drew raised his eyebrow. 

"she did..i was just looking on my burner account," will admitted, embarrassment coating his expression. 

"oh boy," ryan muttered like he was unimpressed, yet he knew will would do something like this. 

"oh, come on. give me a break. it's not stalking. i was just..checking in?" 

"i think you should reach out to her. see how she is?" gabe cut in before ryan began arguing with him. 

"i told you, she doesn't wanna talk to me. she said she never wanted to see me ever again, so i doubt she'd want me to randomly text her. i'm probably blocked anyway," will mumbled knowing he definitely was because he actually did try and reach out to her about a month ago. his text went green, so that was a clear indication his number was blocked on her phone. 

"well, i hope you know she does wanna see you again even if she won't say it. i know she still thinks about you because she wears her charm bracelet and she's always stroking the shark charm i'm guessing you have her?" gabe raised his eyebrow. 

will immediately thought back to his farewell party where he talked a bit with mrs. hughes. the envelope had sat in his pocket all day deciding if he should find samy and give it to her before deciding it was probably better to have her mom give it to her instead. he didn't even know if samy would want it, so hearing that it was on her charm bracelet was a surprise. 

"i wouldn't think she doesn't want to see or talk to you too fast, will. you guys have history. you're like family. we're rooting for you guys," ryan said with a soft smile. 

the hockey player hummed, swiping out of the facetime to go back to samy's instagram. after another sweep of her recent posts, he did notice the charm bracelet sitting on her wrist. all of the charms were still there, even the ones he gifted her since she's had it. a soft smile spread across will's lips when he caught sight of the shark one. 

[chevvy-yates]

[NC_RES]_00002731 mercs_Steyr_Scharfenberg_008_JI.file ///core:_stuck_on_u.file\\\

—

⚠️ READ: Please do not repost/reupload any of my art here or to any other platform, or I will be forced to do anything to get it annihilated.

lovely Summer props by @breezypunk. 🏝️

—

First:

Brudi, I built a whole jungle beach and you almost see nothing of it when I took the pics lol. Anyhow I have my own private big jungle beach now bc I managed after a few fails to save it as a preset! Idk if I can edit it afterwards but I'll find out. It's funny bc while creating/building it didn't seem so big/huge/wide but when taking photos it's like the water is 150m away from their place they had set up the chairs lol. I just pretend it was falling tide, alright.

Here's a behind the scenes of it:

somehow I imagine V to do this all day in his net world. Like he has a program similar like Minecraft but more realistic where he constantly builds stuff like that but with a vaporwave-y touch ofc.

Now back to the pics: Yes, even my boys are sometimes just boys!

Also still. Yes! Ryder goes out into the sun. Yes, he's got more of a tan than Vijay and yes, Ryder likes this colorful pride floatie. And yes, Ryder has a good time. This is me trying to show more that Ry is not always the angry cool raver dude™ in all black. I still think he's interpreted a bit wrongly by most, like I know everyone sees a different Ryder than I do. With the right people aka closest friends around he is having a good time as he trained to ignore Beast away and as long as the mood is good, Ry feels good (ofc he keeps also playing fine a lot).

Also Vijay on the orca floatie is GOALS, okay!

PS.: It was not V who built that perfect sand castle — it was Ryder who refined it bc V's base was more like some piles of sand (he's more keen to built stuff like that in the net rather than in real life).

And the water is not blue because well … Night City is a fucking hell of a polluted city …

[monarcascension]

a little sugar | s.m

summary: Living the life of an idol was hard. You couldn’t really do much without being in the public eye, and sometimes the pressure is just too much to bear. That’s how you met Song Mingi one faithful night three years ago. His absence in the recent years due to work, had left you with an unfulfilled void, but that would all change tonight.

pairings: mingi x idol fem!reader

tags: smoking, drugs, vulgar language, SMUT WARNING, MINORS DNI, oral sex, unprotected sex ♡

word count : 4.9K

You had never gone this long without sex.

Well, maybe prior to your debut. Physical contact or contact at all with any male that wasn’t part of your group’s initial staff was strictly off limits as trainees. It was more of a mandate than a rule— rules are meant to be broken, whereas if you break a mandate.. well. That’s your job out the window. You had been in the industry for six years now, your group was fairing well amongst your competitors and you were now running your victory lap through the streets of South Korea after a more than successful comeback. However, you were only missing one thing that made all of your success in the past worth it.

Him.

He had just finished wrapping up the first leg of his four month tour, only to return again early this year. Since you had an album to complete and a comeback setting on the horizon, you didn’t have much time for boys anyway. But you couldn’t lie, you missed him. He was probably the only male, outside of your laundry list of wreckage, that you actually had a soft spot for. He was sweet in a kind, and goofy way. He made you laugh even when you weren’t feeling your best, and always made sure you were well taken care of when you were together.

In many ways, it reminded you of the moment you met him three years ago that started this whole thing in the first place. A broken girl meets a broken boy in need of affirmation. One too many drinks led to a slip up that lasted the entire summer and shouldn’t have meant as much to you as it did.

Since you started sneaking around outside the company and had your bachelorette-style fun, pretending to not know the many men you slept with in public - if you happened to run into each other- was easy.

But having to stand in rooms with Mingi amongst your other idol coleagues and act like you didn’t want him to take you then and there was the hardest thing you ever had to do.

You kind of felt pathetic waiting around for him all these months. You could have had sex with anybody at that time, but you always waited for him.

It was torture. Damn you Song Mingi.

That would all change tonight, though. Mingi had finally returned to Korea and was in town for his Anchor in Seoul tour. He had texted you earlier and requested to see you after, saying that he would come and get you from the usual meeting place in the next hour. Hearing from him after so much time had passed brought a smile to your face. You felt like a high schooler with a crush, if you could even call it that. Hell, you didn’t even know if you loved him, he just made you feel good and filled a void better than any other man had over the years. You assumed that you felt something for him if you were this excited to receive a simple text message from him.

Like you said, pathetic.

Having feelings just weren’t your strong suit because the only thing they’re good for is getting you hurt.

You sat tucked away in your private studio. Your feet kicked up on the table in front of you as you scrolled aimlessly on your phone. You checked through your social media, seeing all of your fans commenting on your photos, especially the ones you took with your members and equally your best friends. Soo Jin, Yeong Si, Hei Na, and Ry. The five of you were as close as anyone could possibly be considering you spent the last eight years of your lives together, you were more like sisters than friends.

Which is why you felt bad lying to them even now.

When you and Mingi frequently saw each other in the past, you had to jump through countless hoops just to keep it secret. You would deliberately hold back details of your location from your group as well as staff—paying your security detail to withhold telling them anything if they were to ask. You made sure to take every precaution necessary to make sure they didn’t know or ever found out: concealing text messages and phone conversations and giving them the bullshit excuses as to why you couldn’t hang out for dinner. It was better that they didn’t know about your little escapades. It made things easier for you as the leader. You had to keep a standard in the group and you never wanted them to follow in your footsteps.

Keeping your “relationship” with Mingi under lock and key was the only advantage that you had on the public. It was the one secret in your life that you kept close to your chest and it stayed completely between the two of you. Your secrecy made it special, which meant no one else could invade it and ruin it all for you.

Checking the time on your phone, you decided to start getting ready to meet him. The concert was close to ending, which meant you had roughly thirty minutes to be ready since the drive from the arena wasn’t that long from the center of Seoul where you stayed. Good thing was that you had no prior engagements, so you didn’t have to alert your security to your leaving. Since you would be alone in this, you had to be discreet or your career would be as good as done.

Going to your groups’ message thread on KKT, you sent a quick message to them for your cover. Simply telling them that you would be working for the rest of the night and would be coming up to the apartments later in the night and not to wait up for you. Most of your members answered within seconds— Soo Jin told you to stop working so hard and to make sure you got rest as soon as you were finished. Yeong Si teased you about eating the last Pokémon bread in the cabinet knowing it was your favorite. Hei Na and Ry didn’t answer, which means they could be sleeping as they usually did or watching a drama. Either or was good for you.

You responded back to them with a cute emoticon, promising them that you’ll do well and return home soon. Quickly wishing a good nights’ sleep. The action was customary as you usually had conversations like this, so they would not think anything of it nor come looking for you. Which is exactly what you wanted.

Now all that was left was sneaking out. You were pretty much dressed already, wearing a strapless black crop top and a thigh length skirt to match. You grabbed your purse and stood up from your chair to fix yourself up in the bathroom connected to the studio office.

You pulled half of your hair up into a split ponytail, letting the rest drape over your shoulders. You lightly fixed your makeup to liven up your visibly exhausted face, adding lipstick, fresh eyeliner and mascara. You took some of your favorite roll on perfume and applied it to your wrists before rubbing it across the rest of your body, specifically in your neck and chest areas.

A soft chime from your phone alerted you. You walked hastily into the other room and pulled the device off of the table to read what message expanded across the lock screen.

송민기 -

Ended the show on time. Heading your way soon.

Don’t forget our spot.

If he was heading your way now, you only had about twenty minutes or so to get to your meeting spot. Walking there would take way more time, so you had no other option but to take a taxi. It wasn’t the most inconspicuous route of travel, but they usually tended to mind their business as long as you paid well and didn’t bring attention to yourself. So you had to act fast, flagging down a driver around this time would be a lot more difficult.

So, you didn’t waste anymore time. You gathered your things, shut down the control center to the booth and walked out of the room, making sure you checked your surroundings thoroughly. You were lucky that you had your studio built on the first floor, which meant that you could easily make your way out. Since it was late at night, most of the employees in the building had gone home by now, leaving probably the general security and a few janitors.

Before stepping out into the hall, you fiddled into your purse pulling out the shades that you kept with you just in case and put them on. You walked through the hall and into the main lobby of the building until you reached the front doors. You weren’t so much worried about the people inside, although you didn’t want to be seen by them either, you had to be cautious of the people outside. If even one person recognized you, you would make front news on every gossip page in the country.

However, as you hit the brisk night air. The darkness concealed you enough to get you as far away from the building as possible to catch a taxi. The sidewalks weren’t too filled with people, but being in Seoul, there was always someone somewhere. You kept your pace steady, not to seem too urgent and stood just at the edge of the sidewalk to get a better view of the road. Once you spotted a taxi, you immediately raised your hand and waved vigorously, hoping to catch his attention. Thankfully, the driver saw you in just enough time and pulled over to your side. You quickly opened the backseat of the car door and slid inside.

“Where to?” He asked flatly.

“Jung-Gu please. Buruttrak.”

“Pretty late for a lady to be going to that area alone. Will you need a ride back?”

You were glad you were wearing glasses to hide how strongly you rolled your eyes. “Not necessary. Just meeting a friend. Thank you though.”

He didn’t ask anymore questions and only nodded, pulling off into the rest of the traffic. You shot Mingi a text and told him you were on your way, hoping that the drive went quicker than it was anticipated to.

Thanks to the medium-light traffic, you made it to Jung-Gu in just under thirty minutes. The strip that was usually filled with people and bright lights had now dimmed as shopkeepers were starting to shut down for the night. The taxi stopped in front of the Buruttrak CD store, where you and Mingi had first met three years ago. You paid the driver handsomely for the long ride and thanked him for his service. You stepped out of the taxi and looked around as he pulled away, leaving you alone again.

No matter how many times you frequented this location, it always made you feel nostalgic. As a kid you would come here with your mom and pick out CD’s of your favorite artists to listen to for hours on end. Only to return ten years later and run into the man who changed everything for you. You stared into the window of the store, seeing the shelves still in the same spot they had always been, filled to the brim with the most modern albums from new artists like yourself. Who would have ever thought this is where you would have ended up in your life.

“You’re not getting all sentimental on me tonight are you?” A deep voice exclaimed from behind you.

You were forcefully pulled from your daydreaming, turning around quickly to locate where the voice came from, only to see the sly smirk accompanying the sharp features of Song Mingi, who was hanging slightly outside of the backseat window. A bright grin stumbled onto your face.

“That’s more your thing than mine.” You teased, giddiness present in your stride as you started towards the car, pulling your glasses free from your face.

Mingi popped open the back door of the black SUV, and reached his hand out to you to help you inside. You took his hand and stepped up into the platform vehicle, shutting the door behind you which concealed the both of you in darkness. The car moved instantly, barely giving you time to settle in your seat, which sent you almost falling over him. Thankful for his quickness, he kept you steady, holding on to your side as well as your arm to ensure you did not fall.

Your closeness to him brought back old memories almost instantaneously— like you had opened a time capsule from your school days.

“You okay?” He asked softly.

“More than okay.” You beamed in his direction and without even thinking you pulled him into a kiss.

Your hands cupped around his face, while his palms found purchase on your backside— gently caressing the exposed skin underneath your crop top. Mingi’s lips were just as soft as you remembered them, silky and plump; warping into the perfect comfort around your own. Your breaths intermingled with the other as he split your lips with his tongue, snaking it into your mouth. The embrace alone felt like the sweetest ecstasy. The void that his absence left inside of you, slowly being filled the deeper you kissed him.

Mingi’s free hand found the nape of your neck, his

digits slipping into your thick, dark hair and sinking you further into the embrace. His thumb brushed gently across your cheek and you were like putty in his hands. The tender feeling mixed with the passion of the moment made you giggle against his lips. You could do this for hours alone and be satisfied. Although, after months of not having him, there was much more on your mind.

Slowing down your pace, your kisses were filled less with hunger and more with a burning sense of longing— transforming into soft, trickling pecks. Mingi’s lips started to trail off of their original path, pressing against your cheek, your jaw, until finally clinging to your neck. You bit down on your lip, living for the feeling of his warm, pillowy, pair against your flesh. That part of you having been untouched for so long, it was almost ticklish making you chuckle softly against him.

“It’s nice to see you too.” You chimed happily.

Mingi groaned softly against your neck before finally coming up to face you again and sighed. “God, I missed that smell…I missed you.”

“I know. You didn’t have much of a choice anyway.” You adjusted yourself in your seat, finding your purse that slipped off during the intensity of your makeout session and dug through it.

“Did you brin-“

Before he got the words out, you pulled out a small baggie filled with pre-rolled blunts. “Never forget ‘em.”

“That’s my girl.” He cooed, snaking his arm around your waist and pulling you closer to him. One hand resting against your thigh, and gently brushing over your skin.

“Did you bring that candy I asked for?” You inquired.

Mingi reached into the pocket of his gray sweatpants, a loud crackling sound coming from it as he pulled it out and handed it to you. “Couldn’t forget. You kept bothering me about it.”

You squealed excitedly as you read the packaging of the Fruit By The Foot. It was the one candy that was only sold in certain parts of Korea and since he was closest to the one location that had it, you just had to get some. And you would need it especially when it came down to smoking. The car had just hit the inner city. Neon lights from outside shined into the vehicle and illuminated both of your faces. You pulled one of the joints out of the bag along with the lighter and handed it over to Mingi, while you partook in the snack that he brought you, enjoying the familiar mixture of berry and apple that satisfied your tastebuds.

“You’ve gotten even prettier since I’ve been gone.” He said, moving a loose strand of hair out of your face. “Remind me not to go that long without seeing you again.”

Your face flushed with color, thankfully not that he could see due to the dim light around you. You smiled sweetly at him, swallowing, before speaking. “Well, maybe if you didn’t go on eighteen tours in a year you could see me more often.”

Mingi chuckled, flicking his tongue against his exposed fang. “Ouch. Damn, well if it was up to me, I would have been here with you. You know how it is with work.”

“Sadly, you weren’t.”

He placed the blunt in his mouth and leaned over towards you for you to light it. The metal beacon popped open with a click; the flame flickered and ignited against the paper, filling your nostrils with that signature pungent scent. You were happy that this particular SUV had a partition section and it was concealed to the driver, leaving the two of you to fully enjoy yourselves without distractions and or consequences.

Mingi held the joint between his thumb and pointer finger, inhaling its contents deeply as the taste simmered in his throat until he puffed out a thick cloud of smoke that curled up into the ceiling of the truck. You snuggled up closer to him, watching him as he did so and fuck, was it the hottest thing ever. You hadn’t even realized that your lips had slightly parted in sheer awe at how sexy he looked.

He turned to face you, catching you staring. He chuckled lowly to himself and blew a stream of what he inhaled into your mouth, curling into a thick plume that you gladly took in. “So you’re saying you missed me?”

You rolled your eyes and took a hit of the joint, sucking in as much of it as you could — pushing the vaporized smoke into the air through pursed lips. “Would I have come all the way out here if I didn’t?”

“I’d rather hear you say it.” He fixed his attention towards you. The look on his face was hard to describe, bordering on him merely waiting for you to say what he wanted to hear, but you just couldn’t work up the words.

You sighed, taking another hit of the joint before letting him have his turn, placing the blunt in his mouth and holding it for him as he kept both of his eyes planted on you, while he inhaled the compelling flavor.

“Saying it is one thing, ..” You whispered to him, placing your hand on his stomach. “but showing you is another.”

You let your fingers slide down his abdomen, lightly caressing over the band of his pants. Looking back towards him to see the response on his face. He stared at you with thirsty, yet intrigued eyes. He quickly blew out the smoke and used the ashtray on his side of the door to ash out the blunt. The high was starting to kick into your system and your mind was going a little fuzzy, which meant all of your sensations were starting to heighten, especially the ones down below. You wanted him badly before, but you wanted him even more now and you felt that he was the same way.

“Is that right? What did you have in mind?” He was playing coy, but he knew exactly what was whirring in that head of yours.

That’s when an idea popped into your head. You giggled excitedly, reaching back to grab that same concealed bag of candy that he brought you. “Something a little more fun.”

He kissed you again. Tender, but wildly all at the same time. Your hand slipped inside the hem of his pants and you rubbed your palm across his girth— your hand just barely wrapping around the full width of him. He growled inside your mouth, his dick twitched in your hands alone, and you could tell he was just as horny and needy as you were.

Not wanting to waste the time you had, you started to push off his sweatpants and he assisted you, pulling his hips off of the car seat so that they would slip down easier, still never breaking the kiss you two shared until you pulled away. His length stood at full attention. The veins blanketing his shaft pulsed with the blood that raised his desire. The sight of him made your pussy tingle. Your tongue was eager to taste him after so long.

You looked back over to him and smiled. “Just relax.”

He was confused at your words, but interested and let you continue. Fully unwrapping the coil of candy from its packaging, you stretched it out a bit until you got a sizable length of it, tearing the white strip beneath it and wrapping it around the base of Mingi’s shaft. Once it was attached, you tore off what you didn’t want to use and put it to the side for you to get to work.

You re-positioned yourself, leaning the bottom half of your body off the seat while your top half laid across Mingi’s lap. You gripped onto him, hovering your mouth just above his tip and gathered what saliva you could muster, letting it drip down and coat his member in your fluids. He gave you a groan of approval, moving a piece of your hair out of the way so that he could watch you take him in full.

You opened your mouth and started lowering yourself onto him, the warmth of your breath sliding over his sensitive skin causing his own to hitch in his throat. Latching your lips around his thickness you started working his pole like no time had passed at all. The flavor of his dick mixing with the added taste of the fruit candy you wrapped around him, the taste swirling in your mouth while you sucked him off.

Mingi’s thunderous moans emanated from above you. His exasperated sighs and hollow groans filled the back of the car more than the smoke billowing over your heads. It was a beautiful sound, one you missed more than you should have admitted.

“Fuck, I love how you look with your lips wrapped around me.” He spoke. The deep tone of his voice drove you insane. He placed his hand on your head, helping guide you down his inches.

Tasting him was one of your favorite pastimes. You thrived in his flavor, twisting and turning your head in an effort to tackle every curve of his pulsating length. Mingi’s drawn out exhausts of pleasure were enough encouragement to keep you going.

You swallowed him almost completely, letting your tongue engulf his rod, stimulating his nerves with the slippery nature of your pink instrument. You intently kept your eyes plastered on him, watching his face churn at the pleasure he was receiving from the plush velvet of your mouth. It turned you on to see how delighted and eager Mingi was to see you bob your head down lovingly on his thickness, slobbering and sucking up a percentage of the saliva you used to sloppily slurp him up with. Your main goal was to make sure that he was pleased—not giving him a moment of mercy to ensure that both of their desires were fulfilled.

“Shit, that feels so good.” He grumbled under a soft breath and laughed to himself. “You’re so fucking nasty.”

You took the bulk of him down to the base of his dick before coming back up again for a breath; a thick string followed in the wake of the action as she slid her tongue down to his balls, fondling him with a soft suction.

“You taste so good..” You whispered softly to him, happy with the reactions he was giving you.

“Mmm, keep going baby...” Mingi was starting to buckle under your control. His chest rose and fell quickly and his abdomen started to tighten. He was getting close.

Mingi laid his head back and gritted his teeth, rubbing the palm of his hand down his face. “You suck this dick so good babygirl.”

Taking him in your mouth again, you slushed him around using the inside of your cheeks to squeeze him tightly pushing the sides of his pole against the wet cushion. The fruit candy you wrapped around him was dissolving more as you licked off layer after layer leaving only one band left to focus on. You took every bit of him that you could. The tip of his dick hitting against the back of your throat the lower you went. The sloppy, wet sounds filled your ears.

“Fuck…I’m gonna cum..” he roared. His breathy pants quickened. His moans picked up in frequency as your tongue flicked over his shaft relentlessly.

Mingi applied light pressure to the back of your head, and started grinding his hips into your throat from below, riding out the crescendo of his orgasm until he burst. His moan was thick and raspy, bordering on insanity as he came down your throat and onto your tongue. You winced at the impact of the clumpy, warm liquid sliding down your pipe, but took it all without hesitation.

With his head rested against the seat in a desperate attempt to catch his breath, he relinquished his hold on you. You sat up and coughed a little, swallowing the rest of his cum and wiping your mouth. You looked down to see your work and the candy had completely dissolved, but he was still rock hard.

Using what strength he had left, he wrapped a full arm around your body and pulled you up into his lap. “You had your way, now it’s my turn.”

You laughed a little, bringing your hand up to his head and gently caressing his hair. “You’re so needy, you know that?”

“Have you met you?” He teases. “I have to leave you with something to remember me.”

You both grinned at each other.

“Why would I ever forget you?” You kissed him softly, not as involved as before, but still showing your affection towards him.

Mingi caressed your thighs, working his hands up inside your skirt and snaking them down to your ass — grabbing a handful. He hooked his finger inside your panties and pulled them off to the side, wrapping his hand around his mass and positioning it at your entrance. Rubbing the tip of himself against your lips, you both moaned softly.

“Let me take care of you..” He mused, slowly sticking himself into your luxurious center. You lowered your hips down onto him, and settled yourself fully into his lap.

The feeling of him slipping inside of you again was euphoric in its own right. It was like a piece of you had been missing, but had finally reconnected with you. He holds on to your hips and slowly guides you up and down his shaft, letting you readjust to his size. Licking over his lips he stares at you with a look you hadn’t seen on him since that night three years ago. Your first night together. He looked at you like you were the only girl in the world. It shook you. You badly wanted to avert your gaze, but you just couldn’t look away. His eyes were so inviting, so honest, yet lustful and wanting. Lovingly. You could tell Mingi did not rush this moment and neither did you. You both cherished the time you spent together, and this was no different.

Your pleasured moans careened through the air beautifully, mingling with the smoke that drifted around the boxed-in backseat. You took him well, finding a steady bouncing pace that would get you both to your destination. Mingi held you against him, one hand holding your backside while the other moved into your hair whilst you grinded against him. Your hands were placed on the leather seats on either side of his head, your nails clawing at the fabric and helping you maintain your balance for a moment, before you lost strength in that effort— cupping his face into your palms once more.

It was the softest you had ever been in a moment like this. So sincere. You wanted nothing more from him but to just feel him ravaging every part of you with what time you had to left with each other. You rocked against him dutifully, your slick juices drowning his member and triggering the prettiest moans you had ever heard come from a man.

He stuffed you full of everything that he had to give, letting himself do a majority of the work while you rode him, meeting him half way until you met your end.

You both breathed heavily like you had just come from running a marathon. Nearing the tip of your long-awaited climax.

“Cum with me..” You beckoned, brushing the tip of your thumbs against his bottom lip.

“Fuuuuck- I’m cumming..” Mingi’s brow stitched at the words, pressing together the closer he got to bursting.

He started picking up his pace, fucking you like he had lost all of his remaining sense. You nodded your head, holding his face steady in your hands in attempts to soothe him. Your moans blended together in harmony and with a final blow, you held him close and released onto him as he did in you.

You both caught your breath. Fully emptying yourselves together, sticky with sweat and other fluids combined.

With a sharp breath, you collapsed into him, laying your head in the crook of his neck. You opened your mouth to speak—your words were shaky, but with a soft sigh you finally managed to collect the words.

“I missed you, Mingi.”

You could hear the smile forming in his voice as he replied. “I know.”

[ryttu3k]

Look what I saw today! STINGRAYS! Two big ones and a li'l one!

I mean I say 'li'l' but it was at least a metre across.

Also, some unidentified but cute fish. Very spotty.

[tessa-liam]

Turning the Page  

Home is Where the Heart Is -8-

Choices, The Royal Romance, AU 

Series Premise: As Riley Brooks journeys through life as a single parent in New York City, an epiphany strikes as she contemplates the future for herself and her two-year-old son. 

Turning the Page Series Masterlist 

Main Pairing: Liam Rys x F!OC Riley Brooks 

All characters belong to Pixelberry Studios, except William Brooks (Rys) and Matteo Magro, who belongs to this series. 

Category: On-going series, contains angst/fluff/depression. Cross-over fic with Choices, Perfect Match. 

Rating: M🔞Warnings - Series will contain crude language, NSFW material – not Beta’d - please excuse all errors. 

Words: 2501 

Home is Where the Heart Is – 8 

Chapter Summary: Madeleine reveals her threat to the Royal council, while Liam makes initial preparations to bring Riley and William home to Cordonia. William, with Riley’s help, decorates a gingerbread house for his father. Liam arrives in New York on Christmas Eve. 

Music Inspiration:

Bless the Broken Road, Selah, Melodie Crittenden 

All I Want for Christmas is You, Mariah Carey 

A/N1: In this alternate universe, after King Constantine orchestrates two individual scandals to humiliate and entrap Riley Brooks and Olivia Nevrakis in shame, Madeleine Amaranth secures her position as the Queen of Cordonia. Riley, as the King’s mistress and Olivia, in self-imposed exile. Tariq is never found.  

A/N2: My submission for @choicesflashfics, Week#64, prompt #2 - “I’m not in the mood for a lecture.” 

A/N3: My submission for @choicesflashfics, Holiday Prompt #82 - “The only thing I want for Christmas is you.” 

A/N4: My submission for @choicesdecember2023, prompt, Food and Feasts - ‘Gingerbread House.’ #choices monthly challenge 

A/N5: My submission for @choicesholidays, Winter Holidays 2023 prompt event, Week5 – This is the best Christmas ever! @angelascribbles  

Brooklyn Heights, New York City 

As Riley carefully placed the gumdrops on the roof of the gingerbread house, William stood nearby, watching her intently. “Mama, put red one there,” pointing to the chimney top. William was serious about the details of the house. For him, everything had to be ‘just right’. 

Riley softly smiled. William wanted everything perfect for his Christmas gift to his father. 

"Mama, can I help?" 

"Of course, honey." Riley handed him the bag of candy, and William began to place them on the house, giggling as he did so. 

"You're doing a great job, LiLi. Your Daddy will be so proud of you.”  

"Look, Mama! It's finished." 

"Yes, it is ... almost. We just need a few more pieces of candy and we should put more ‘snow’ on the roof." 

William squealed with delight as Riley handed him the piping tube of frosting to hold, as they began to finish the roof together. 

Just as they were finishing up, Riley heard the front door open, and she turned to see Matteo coming into the brownstone, a large bag of Chinese take-out food in his arms. 

"Surprise! We thought we'd bring dinner." Daniel announced while Matteo nodded his head to the royal guard standing next to the entrance. Daniel followed, stomping the snow from his boots. 

"Thanks, guys. You're the best." Riley carefully moved the house to the counter to set, to make room for dinner.

"Unca Dan Dan! Unca Matty! Look what Mama and I made." William tugged at Daniel’s coat. 

"Wow, that looks so cool, LiLi." Daniel squatted down for a mini fist bump. 

William beamed, "It's a gingerbread house for Daddy. He's going to be surprised." 

"He will. I'm sure he'll love it." Matteo placed the bag of food on the table and pulled out his phone. "We should take a picture." 

Riley nodded, "Good idea. Come on, everyone." 

They all gathered around the gingerbread house, smiling as Matteo snapped a few photos. 

"Perfect. Thanks, guys.” 

"We got your favorites, Ri. Orange chicken, vegetable lo mein, and fried rice." 

"You know me so well." Riley smiled appreciatively. 

“Ummmm ... Ri?” 

Riley looked at Daniel, noticing he was moving his head toward the Royal guard. “Do we need to feed ‘Lurch’ over there?” he whispered. 

Smirking, Riley shook her head ‘no’ and asked, "What's the special occasion?" 

"Just a quiet night in. It's been a long week of travelling." Matteo sighed. “I am beat.” 

"Well, we have three days here before we leave for Greece," Daniel shimmied over to kiss Matt on the lips as William climbed into his toddler seat. 

"What's happening in Greece?" Riley asked, puzzled. 

"Matty’s corporate New Year's Eve party is being held at a private estate this year in Athens," Daniel answered. 

"Wow. Sounds fancy." Riley grinned, setting plates on the table. 

"It will be.” Matteo winked at Daniel. 

“Speaking of fancy ... and what about you, Riley?  What has Liam planned for you and William this Christmas?” 

Riley glanced at the royal guards standing near the entrance. She knew Liam would be returning in a few days, knowing that the guards received the King’s itinerary this morning. "Actually, I'm not entirely sure, yet." 

"Maybe a romantic dinner up in the Hampton’s," Daniel suggested, waggling his brows at Matteo. "The man owns a private jet, Dan. The sky’s the limit." Matteo added. 

Riley giggled, "Who knows? I am just thrilled he will be here with us," mussing William’s hair as he returned her smile. 

"So, how are things with you two?" Riley asked, changing the subject. 

"Good. Great, actually" Daniel replied with twinkling eyes. 

"Couldn't be better, Daniel is right. The change of scenery has been fantastic," Matteo agreed, giving Riley a wink. 

"Uh, ha," Riley chuckled, suspiciously. "Okay ... what is it?” Riley laughed, knowing her best friend all too well. 

"We might have some news." 

"Daniel ..." Matteo shook his head, "Not until after we formally announce it." 

"Spill. You can't just say something like that and not give details." Riley demanded., chuckling.

"Okay, okay. I cannot keep it a secret any longer. We're getting married!" 

Riley gasped, "Oh my god, Daniel! Oh! You guys! Congratulations!” 

"Thank you, Ri.” Riley stood up and gave Daniel a huge hug. Matteo smirked, knowing all too well that Daniel could not wait to tell his best friend the good news. 

"I can't believe you're getting married. That is amazing.” Riley gushed hugging Matteo.

"We're really, really happy, Ri. And we could not have done this without you. If you hadn't encouraged us to take a chance, we would have never realized how perfect we are together." Matteo gazed lovingly at Daniel. 

"It was all you two,” Riley countered. “You both just needed a push in the right direction.” 

"We're so glad you were the one to push us. This is the best Christmas ever!”, Matteo grinned. 

"So, when's the big day?" 

"We haven't decided yet. But we're thinking sometime in the spring," Daniel squeezed Matt's hand.

"That sounds lovely. I can't wait." Riley paused ... “Oh, I mean ...” 

"Neither can we. Riley, would you do me the honor of being my maid of Honor?” 

"Oh, yes! I'm really, really happy for you guys. You deserve all the happiness in the world. Yes! I would be honored.” 

"Thanks, Ri. That means so much to me." 

As they sat down and began to eat, Riley could not help but feel a tinge of sadness. She knew that the wedding would be beautiful in Greece, and she was happy for her friends, but ... she could not help but wish that she and Liam were engaged, too, and planning a future. 

"Mama, can I have some chicken?" William asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. 

"Of course, honey." Riley placed a piece of chicken on his plate, cutting the piece into bite size portions. William dug in, grinning. 

Standing up from the table, Riley's eyes were filling with unshed tears as she excused herself from the table, turning towards her bedroom. Needing a chance to breathe and have some space, she walked into her room and clicked the door closed behind her. Riley bowed her head, wiping the tears now flowing freely down her cheeks, and slid down to the floor. 

It was hard not to think about all the ‘what-ifs’.

What would have happened if they could have found Tariq in time to stop the wedding?

What if Liam had chosen her the night of his coronation instead of Madeleine?

What if Liam had chosen her, scandal be damned? As she sat on the floor, more memories surfaced.  

A memory of her and Liam together in the blue grotto in Italy, when Liam mentioned abdicating the throne as a way of moving forward. 

'There's this thought I can't shake off ... what our life could look like together. You and I. Without the court and the Crown.' 

'What does it look like?' 

'The parts I know? We elope and get married in a small, private ceremony...' 

Riley wiped her tears. knowing that this was in the future for Daniel and Matteo, but not for her. 

‘But you can't abdicate, Liam. You wouldn't be happy if you gave up the throne and... you wouldnt be you. In your heart, you know that.’ 

’If I do marry Madeleine, can you go on like this? Stealing moments, meeting in secret?’ 

"Mama?" William’s little voice sounded outside her door, interrupting her thoughts. 

"Yes, LiLi?" Riley softly spoke, standing up and wiping her tears away. She opened her door to see William looking up at her. 

"Are you sad, mama?" William pointed to her eyes. 

"No, honey. I'm just happy for Uncle Dan and Uncle Matty." 

"They marry?"  

"Yes, they are. Isn't that exciting?" 

"Mama, are you and Daddy marry, too?" 

Riley took a deep breath and put her arm around William, "someday, maybe." 

“We can be a real family." 

"We're already a real family, William. No matter what happens, you and I will always be together." 

"Promise?" 

"...and Daddy too?" 

Riley closed her eyes, her hands trembling as she tried not to break down. She was unable to speak and was trying to catch her breath. 

"Mama? Why crying?" 

"I-I'm sorry, William. I'm just feeling a little sad. It has been a long day.” 

Overhearing William, Daniel pushed open the bedroom door.  

"Hey buddy, go see Uncle Matt and finish your dinner." 

“Okay, Dan Dan.” As William went back into the kitchen, Daniel sat down beside Riley and hugged her tightly. 

“Riley?" Daniel questioned his friend. 

"Y-Yes. Everything's fine." 

"Doesn't look like it." 

"I'm just...it's hard, you know? To watch my best friend, get married when..." 

"I know, Riley. It is difficult. But remember, you and Liam are in a good place, now. And who knows? Maybe someday, you will be the ones getting married." 

Riley’s breath shuddered as she looked at Daniel, searching his eyes, staying silent. 

"I understand this is hard, but you can't let the past hold you back. You and Liam have come so far. You just have to take things one step at a time." 

Riley's cell pinged with a message. Picking up her phone, ‘Liam’ appeared on the screen.  

Cordonian Royal Palace 

Olivia, standing in for Liam, and standing for the Royal council, sat at the King's desk. Rashad and his father, the Crown’s personal legal counsel, sat on the sofa next to Liam’s large ornate desk. Madeleine's heels could be heard clicking down the hallway, stopping outside of the study door. Madeleine cleared her throat before Bastien opened the door and allowed her to enter. 

Entering the King’s study, her face was impassive. 

"Where is Liam?" 

"The King is occupied with important matters. He's asked me to represent him in this meeting." Olivia coldly, but politely answered the ex-queen of Cordonia. 

Madeleine’s glare turned nasty as she looked at Olivia in disdain. 

"Keep it up Madeleine. As the King’s representative, you will deal with me and answer all the questions I am looking for. Is that understood, Madeleine? I am not your subject.” Olivia sat back confidently. 

"I am not in the mood for a lecture," Madeleine scoffed.

"Very well. I am here to discuss the matter of the succession of the Crown. I trust the council has brought you up to speed?" 

"Indeed, they have." Olivia responded. 

"Good. Then there is no need to waste time. Let's get down to business." Madeleine said with a smirk. "As you know, the King has yet to select a queen, and secure an heir to his throne. Given his indecisiveness, I propose that the council appoint an heir, should Liam not produce an heir by his thirtieth birthday." 

"We're well aware of the succession laws, and I assure you, the council will make the necessary decisions, should the time come." Olivia rebutted. 

"The King's appointment must meet the established criteria. Should the King choose an heir that does not meet the qualifications, the council is authorized to remove the heir from the line of succession." 

"Your point being, Madeleine? I am sure that you understand that you no longer have any sovereignty in Cordonia." Olivia confidently countered. 

"My point is, is that if he fails to produce an heir, then the council has the authority to choose an alternate. I propose that the council select my unborn child to be named as the heir, since the child was conceived while our marriage was valid. My child meets the requirements, and should the King fail to produce an heir, the council would have no choice but to appoint my child." 

Rashad's eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Madeleine. The law is quite clear. A child cannot be appointed as an heir, unless said child is adopted by the monarch first." 

"...and Liam could adopt my child,” Madeleine seethed. 

Rashad continued, “that would require the child to live under the guardianship of the monarch, which is not possible, given the circumstances. Your residence is in Morocco, not Cordonia. as per the marriage dissolution filed legally." 

Olivia nodded, "The council will consider your proposal. In the meantime, Liam's position is still unchanged. He is free to choose his own heir, should the need arise.” 

Madeleine stood up from her armchair and turned toward the bay window overlooking the gardens, contemplating her retort her arms crossed.

"Madeleine, you cannot expect the King to simply appoint your child, when he has another option." Olivia rebutted, knowing that Madeleine was aware of William. 

Rashad added, “again the law is quite clear. A child who is conceived by the monarch while married or not, has the right to a place in the line of succession, even if the parents are not together." 

"Even if the child is a bastard? He was conceived outside our marriage.” Madeleine spat, frothed with resentment. 

"Yes. As was your child," Rashad reminded her. 

"This is absurd. We are done here....guards!” Olivia summoned, as Madeleine was escorted out of the study by the Royal guard. 

*** 

Liam, Leo, Drake and Bastien watched the entire exchange virtually from Liam’s personal quarters. 

"Do you think she's capable of harming Riley?” Drake wondered aloud. 

"Yes, I am sure of that. If not herself ... her father. Liam sat back in his chair, his hands steepled in front of his mouth, annoyance etched on his face.

"I think that she is desperate and will do whatever she can to get what she wants.” Leo added supporting his brother. 

“Bastien, begin the surveillance protocol on the countess and her father, Liam commanded. 

“Consider it done, your Majesty.” Bastien confirmed, standing to leave the room. 

"Do you think it’s wise to bring Riley and your son back to Cordonia?” Drake questioned. 

"It's the only way, Drake.” 

"What if Riley doesn't want to come back to Cordonia?" 

"Then I will support her decision, but I have to at least try.” 

Liam stood, walking to his private chambers, with phone in hand.

‘Hello Riley!’ 

‘Liam, hi! How are you?'

‘I'm well. How are you and William keeping?’ 

‘We're doing great. We miss you, though.’ 

‘I miss you both, too.’ 

‘I have a proposition for you...’ 

‘Oh?’ 

‘How would you and William like to come to Cordonia and stay with me at the palace after Christmas?’ 

Riley blinked, not sure how to respond.

‘When I go home after spending Christmas week with you...come back to Cordonia with me.'

'Liam, you can't be serious.'

'I'm quite serious, love.'

'You want me and William to come to Cordonia and stay with you in the palace?'

'Yes, I want you both here with me.'

'Li, I don't know. That seems like a big step.'

'I understand your hesitation. But please, just consider it.'

'I will see you in a couple of days, love. We can talk more then.'

'OK, I am looking forward to seeing you, Li. William made something special just for you.'

Liam smiled, 'I look forward to seeing it, but love, the only thing I want for Christmas is you.'

Thanks for reading!

📌All fics & edits: @ao719 @txemrn @queenmiarys @sfb123 @twinkleallnight @alj4890 @differenttyphoonwerewolf @harleybeaumont @busywoman @karahalloway @kingliam2019 @imjusthereforliam @lovingchoices14 @kyra75 @tinkie1973 @emkay512 @malblk21 @kristinamae093 @charlotteg234

📌Liam x Riley, MC/ OTP: @jared2612 @irisk12 @thesvnsins @walkerdrakewalker

📌Liam x Riley, OC: @emersyn-in-cordonia @mainstreetreader @belencha77 @walkerdrakewalker @iluaaa @mysticalfangirl @queenwalton @bascmve01 @umccall71 @choicesfrog @amandablink

📌Liam x Sophie: @charlotteg234

📌Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @choicesflashfics @choicesdecember2023 @choicesholidays

[angelasscribbles]

Heir Apparent Chapter 22: So This is How We End

Series: Heir Apparent.

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Drake x Riley, Liam x Riley (past)

Rating: MA

Warnings: Mature themes

Word Count: 1,223

A/N: So we finally come to the end after a mere two and half years! This series was such a learning experience for me. It was the first time I got wholesale attacked, and by multiple people, for my characters lacking "morality". 🤷🏻‍♀️

I strive to imbue my characters with real life emotions, flaws, mistakes, and reactions. This means they are often messy, sometimes toxic, but always realistic. Life is messy, humans are flawed and shit happens, then we deal with it.

I regret that I let the negativity derail me. I shut the story down and didn't pick it up again for well over a year and even then, the updates have been sporadic. I had to get to a place where I once again trusted the process, where I let the characters speak to me without the voices of my detractors in my head.

I think I've done that. I'm quite happy with this ending and I think I've stayed true to my characters, complete with their misperceptions, insecurities, and stubborn refusal to see the other side.

That said, stay tuned for an open ended spin-off series set in this universe. I have further ideas.....

Everything else: Master List.

The doctor from Auvernall delivered a healthy baby girl via c-section.

Riley spent the next three days in the hospital wing recovering. She was so wrapped up in her new baby that she didn’t question the lack of outside news sources in her room. There was no TV, and her cell phone was getting no signal.

Not that it mattered. All she wanted it for was to take candid photos of her new bundle of joy.

She was over the moon happy.

Crown Princess Eleanor Elizabeth Hana Olivia Rys was perfect. Ten little fingers, ten little toes, and no ill effects from the eclampsia outside of being born three weeks early.

Riley’s blood pressure stabilized by day three and as preparations were made for her to move back to the suite she shared with Drake in the royal wing, the men in her life realized they had to tell her about the treaty with Auvernall before she read about it online.

Liam had insisted on being the one to deliver the news. “I’m the one that made the call, after all.”

The conversation did not go well.

“I had no choice! My hand was forced!”

“Without consulting me? Without even talking to me first?”

He looked at her incredulously, “You were unconscious! You were about to die! I did what I had to do to save your life and hers!”

Tears of outrage and betrayal slid down her cheeks. “You promised me, Liam! You fucking promised!”

“I know, Riley. But things changed—"

“She’s a baby, Liam! She shouldn’t already have her life mapped out for her! What about love? She should be allowed to marry for love!”

Liam rubbed his eyes as defeat and frustration swirled through him. “You keep trying to apply rules for commoners to the monarchy.”

“Why should the rules for the monarchy be any different Liam?”

“Because they are Riley! You may not like it, it may not be pretty, but that's the way it is!”

She glared at him. “Then I’m glad you and I didn’t work out and I’m sorry you’re Eleanor’s father and not Drake! He would have never allowed this!”

Liam reacted as though he had been physically struck. His body jerked back and his mouth fell open as he regarded her with stunned disbelief.

He wanted to believe she was only reacting out of anger. He wanted to believe that she was just being illogical and unreasonable because she was hormonal and had just gone through a trauma. But he was afraid this was deeper. He was afraid that this was a fundamental difference in world views. One that might not be reconcilable.

He stood and began to pace the floor. Did he regret that he’d had to affiance his unborn child to the Auvernesse heir? Yes. Did he regret that making that decision saved the life of both the woman he loved and his child? Not even a little.

It had been a Hobson’s Choice and he’d done what had to be done. As he had been trained to do. As he would always do. Just like he’d done on coronation night, another impossible choice that had protected her, yet one she would never forgive him for.

The realization that this was the way it would always be engulfed him like a tidal wave. He suddenly saw the future he had wanted with her the way it would have actually played out, with her always second guessing him on subjects she didn’t fully understand.

He stopped pacing and turned to her with the most painful decision he’d made yet. “I rescind my offer.”

“What offer?”

“I told you that if you ever changed your mind about adding a Cordonian arrangement to your marriage contract, I would always be here. I won't. If nothing else this has helped me see that I was right in the first place that I would never marry for love. As loath as I am to admit it, my father was right. I love you Riley and I always will. But affairs of the heart have no place when it comes to making decisions for the good of Cordonia.”

He needed someone by his side who understood how the monarchy worked, how diplomacy worked. Riley had been right when she told him they would have never made it as a couple. She was always going to end up resenting him for something. It was better to let her go and be happy with Drake than to hold on and make her hate him in the long run.

“The good of Cordonia? What about the good of our daughter, Liam?”

“I made the hard decisions that had to be made. It's very easy to Monday morning quarterback the situation, you don't know what we all went through watching you almost die. If you had died, Eleanor wouldn’t even be here. She would have died with you. Have you considered that?”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

Liam shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry you’re disappointed in me. There will be a full investigation into everything that happened that night. If there’s a way out of the agreement, I’ll find it.”

Dr. Russo had been found locked in a music room by an unknown person. Godfrey had ties to Auvernall. Though no one could have predicted the medical emergency ahead of time, there were ample questions that needed answers. If the Auvernese king and queen had taken advantage of the situation and sidelined their doctor, he would find out. Meanwhile, a contract signed under duress could be challenged in an international court.  

He said none of that to Riley. He simply promised her to do what he could and then got out of her way so that her anger at him wouldn’t cause another spike in blood pressure.

He relayed the main points of the conversation to Drake.

“Why didn't you tell her?”

“Tell her what?”

“That at the end I agreed to it as well.”

“Why would I do that Drake? She needs you more than ever right now. She needs someone she can rely on, someone she can depend on, someone who understands her and the rules of the world she grew up in. That's you.”

“Sure. And I’ll always be there for her, you know that. But—"

“You fought me up till the very end. You only capitulated at the last second out of sheer terror for her life. And to be clear, I was going to do it anyway. With or without your approval.”

“But I still did capitulate.”

“And what good would telling her that do? Make her hate you too? Then she would have nobody to lean on. Let me be the bad guy so that she can have her husband to rely on. It's the only thing I can do for her now.”

Drake gave him a long, measuring look before slowly nodding his head, relief cascading through him. There was only a sliver of guilt as he agreed to be absolved of any responsibility in the decision. He understood Liam’s reasoning that, at least for the foreseeable future, it was more important for Riley to have someone to lean on, someone in her corner. And that was all he could do for her now, so that’s what he would do.

~Fin

[hysteria-things]

https://www.tumblr.com/hysteria-things/755131777207697408/oh-i-have-a-thought?source=share

ok basically it goes with the "smile, you're on camera!" fic you just made. butttt basically...

this is how i imagined chris taking the photo of y/n sucking him off 🤭.

or... imagine it in other ways 🤭

OH MY GOD YES.

RY YOU’RE A GENIUS😩

[wouldratherbetravelling]

Just attended Canon Creator Lab x Socality zoom event - Formula 1 Photography Through the Lens of Vladimir Rys.

Vlad takes such amazing photos and has such amazing range! 📸

[avocadosharks]

a snippet of my new noco fic voicemails to a ghost inspired by @eavee-ry 's au :)

read on ao3 here

____________________

It’s been months since the door at the end of the hall was last opened. 

There was a small table blocking the entrance. It didn’t hold much- only a singular photo sealed in a teal frame with dying flower petals circling the faded wood around it. There was a flickering tea light illuminating the haunted door behind it in a golden hue, creating ghostly shadows around the doorknob as the wax slowly withered away. Small tokens were scattered around the four corners of the table in the hope that one day, their owner would return to collect what was his.

On the other side of the door, though, sat a cold and vacant bedroom with crisp sheets pulled tightly around the corners of the made bed. The blankets were so smooth and his indent in the mattress began to fluff back up in his absence. Somewhere in the room, a clock ticked quietly. His desk was neat and organized. His books were still lined up by color on his shelf, yet, a thin layer of dust began to dull them. The curtains were drawn and the shades had long been tugged down. Everything was exactly how he left it- an artifact frozen in time.

But occasionally, life would be breathed back into it. A phone that would forever be plugged in would light up and bring the only light the place had left to see, casting a bright blue beam onto the blackened, dead shadows on the walls. It would buzz and buzz until the screen went dark, letting the shadows take over again. 

“You’ve reached Noah, leave a message…or don’t, I don’t care.” 

Cody sighs. “He-hey man, um, I’m just getting ready to go on a drive and I figured that…I could use the company, but…” He shrugs on a raincoat over his hoodie, his words fading quickly and he clears his throat.

He steps out into the early morning and his ragged breathing comes out in whisps as he fishes for his keys deep in his pocket, sandwiching his phone between his cheek and shoulder. “You know, I, uh, never really got my brake lights fixed, so I’m hoping I don’t get pulled over or something because that would really, really suck…I didn’t even know that not having functioning brake lights was a ticketable offense until you told me.” Cody slides into the driver’s seat and pauses for a moment, staring back into the glassy, exhausted eyes looking at him. 

“I’m sorry to call you so late, Noah. You really hated how I used to toss and turn all night at-” His voice catches, “-at camp and, uh, for a second I…I was sleeping. But, I haven’t been able to for a while now and I just really needed to do something, so here I am. Driving.” 

He pauses again, swallowing against his clamped throat as he jams his key into the ignition. The car engine shudders beneath him and the dull glow of the headlights offers some visibility as he twists around, pulling out of his driveway. 

“Do you remember that first day at the camp? When everyone got off the boat and we were meeting each other?” Cody starts. 

The lake water was the bluest Cody had ever seen it. It was the beginning of summer and he could practically smell the money through the stench of the dusty cabins and pine trees. He was young and dumb and excited, gripping the railing of the speedboat to lean forward over the water with a grin so wide, he could see it in the reflection as they sped to the island. 

There were already people on the dock and the first person he noticed was that black-haired girl. She had deep teal lips and porcelain skin with eyes that seemed to cut into him as he hopped off the boat. He noted how she seemed to watch him as he greeted Chris. He knew that his chest seemed to pound as he approached the girls, knowing to flash an easy smile, but making sure to eye only her as he did. 

She was pretty. Not intimidatingly gorgeous like the girl in the red tube top or hot like the blonde-haired girl. She was shy and pretty and had a raspy voice that made his spine shudder, but that’s exactly what Cody liked. 

Then, as he walked over to the boys, he saw Noah. And Noah was beautiful. 

[preciadosbass]

26/8/24 [skipped yesterday as there wasn’t much info, draft from monday — key + significant photo at end]

woke up at 9 and got ready as soon as possible to meet my extended family early at breakfast as today was their last day. i said goodmorning to boris, got dressed into my skinless outfit [skinless shirt, black ripped skinny jeans, wooden bracelet, panic! at the disco bracelet, mcr bracelet, two spiked cuffs [one with three rows and shorter spikes, the other with two rows and much longer spikes], my diy can tab bracelet, a leather skull-lined adjustable bracelet, taxidermy scorpion necklace, thrifted necklace with all/matching colours of my skinless shirt [the beads look like mushrooms], knee high converse, my mcr danger days zip up, and my pin decorated jacket.] and then packed my bag.

me, my parents and my sister met the rest of our family at our restaurant at around 9:30/40. i sat next to H, the other people on our table were RY, E, and R. i had a couple bowls of cereal for breakfast, and then had to move tables as RY had pancakes [ew] - after my food, while i was just sitting waiting for everyone else, i was sent a picture of boris by my hairdresser who is looking after him. it was an image of him and the hairdressers daughter that came along to meet him. its really nice that even though we’re away, boris still has company. i just hope that it isn’t stressing him out. we left breakfast at approximately 10:40 and headed to the fair.

once arriving at the fair, we established that most of us were having a go on the go karts and organised who was going with who. i decided to go with R as he drives fast normally, and my sister chose to go with RY; the rest went as singles. we spent about 30 minutes queuing and while doing so, i spoke to my dad & R about boris and the rollercoasters at thorpe park. i’m so excited to go with my cousins in september. anyway, me and R got on a green double kart and everyone else loaded themselves into their own. the doubles are allowed to go onto the track first, and as RY + my sister were infront of us in the queue, they were sat in the kart infront of us. they rolled onto the track and the lap started with our karts being neck and neck.

R’s legs didn’t even fit in the car and were getting stuck on the pedals but we ended up overtaking before the second lap started. my grandad and his fiancé were behind of us most of the time, and R’s girlfriend [E] was to our front. now, with this subject, i cant really get anything accurate from this point as the videos of us gokarting don’t show who we overtook next/i cant remember. so i’m going to skip to the end of the ride. right before it ended, we ended up overtaking E somehow, and had RY and my sister right on our tail. we both thought that we were going to be overtaken, but the staff cut the engines as the ride was over so they weren’t able to go past us.

there were a few other people unknown to us on the track, and they were getting mad at R for being at the front the whole time XD, at least we won! now we both just have to deal with my sister going on about it for years /hj - R in particular has a 10 year streak of winning go karting at this resort which i only was informed of after we won, so i’m glad i picked him. however this was the first time he’s been back at the resort since he was my age. he’s also really funny with things like this. the way he narrates things is just hilarious and he dosent even intend it to be half the time. after taking some family photos we all split up. my aunt and uncle said goodbye and walked back to their car, D [cousin #3] said goodbye and went off to the swimming pool to hopefully watch L and W [his partner and her son], and me, my parents, my sister, RY/H and R/E made our way to the beach at 12.

to get out of the fair, you can go through the arcade so my sister made my parents give in to letting her have another go of that minecraft game. [photo at end, ignore the blur my hair looked bad] afterwards, i went up to the beach a separate way from everyone else in order to not get my knee high’s sandy, but i ended up taking ages. once i’d finally gotten onto the path around the beach, we all started walking down it. everyone was just speaking about how our break has been and how much the resort has changed vs when my cousins were my age. i unfortunately didn’t get to change into my knock off converse’s before going to the beach, otherwise i would’ve been able to get some pretty shells.

the walk across it is very long, so i’d say we got about a quarter way down. we walked until we saw the two story accommodations and then headed back. once we did, RY, H, E, and R split off to go home, my mum and sister went off somewhere or another, and me and my dad went back to our chalet. on the way back, there’s an example of what the chalet’s would’ve looked like 80/90 years ago. so i went over to that and had a look inside. they for some reason look [design wise] better than the ones currently. however there’s not much to the interior/uncomfy looking beds/no bathrooms.

i attempted to write a little bit of my journal upon getting into the room, but i ended up falling asleep almost immediately. i slept up until 3 and while doing so my dad went back over to darts and my mum & sister carried on doing their own thing. once i woke up, i got my swimming things ready and all of us [my immediate family, now that everyone else has left] walked over to the swimming complex. there wasn’t any queue today as most people were leaving and the people arrived were still on their way so i was able to get undressed and just hop it within a small matter of time. i once again put on my swimming costume plus shorts and a t shirt.

the first thing we did was queue for the family flume. we queued up until we could pick up a ring and then my mum spoke to the lifeguard about the access thingy. it turns out that i was wrong and they do have an access organisation, they just don’t really talk about it. the way it works is they radio the person up top where you actually get into the slide, and you just make your way to the front of the queue. since the last time we’ve come to this resort, they’ve changed how many people you can have inside a ring at a time. it used to be four so all of us could ride together, but it’s now three. my mum offered to take a blue ring by herself so me, my sister and my dad could go together.

none of us officially agreed because we felt bad that she had to be alone, but we got to the front of the queue regardless. my mum went first, and we followed after she’d come out of the end. i resulted in getting absolutely soaked as the ring tuned right before you get off right where the largest body of water is. its been ages since we’ve been on a flume as a family [sort of, as my mum couldn’t be with us] so it was nice. i think i found it even fun-er as i genuinely couldn’t see where on earth i was going. afterwards, we queued up for the outside rapids. i say queued, but everyone just went in straight away.

i was freezing, mostly likely because my shorts & t shirt hold whatever temperature it is a lot more than just a swimming costume. i wanted to enjoy it but i couldn’t focus on anything other than how cold i was and how weird my throat felt from the stuffiness inside. my sister and dad tried doing our little game where you aim to be the last one out and everyone else tries pushing you/dragging you down the last drop, but i just slid down with my mum. hopefully another time it’ll be better weather and i’ll be able to play properly. i followed on with jumping into the adult pool while waiting for my sister and dad to come out of the rapids.

we barely stayed in there until we went over to the wave pool to see if it was working. it wasn’t the last time we came and it unfortunately wasn’t this time either. but there is still a small cascade of water that feels like what you’d imagine chocolate coming off of a chocolate fountain to feel. afterwards, we went round to the indoor river rapids. we went round two of three times, we’ll at least i did, until we went into the changing rooms. my dad found the locker and got everything out and i got dressed again. when id finished and came out of my stall, my mum and sister were gone. my sister went off somewhere so we had to wait until we could go to dinner.

when she finally reappeared we quickly walked back to the chalet so i could get my bag and brush my hair. once id finished and my sister finally let us leave the room [she wanted me to go to arcade with her], we went over to dinner. i had the stereotypical autism dinner [iykyk] checked on boris via my dad’s camera. i went back from dinner early and i stayed in my parents room for a while while scrolling on various platforms. once my parents arrived back, we set off to a show. we got into the correct venue and managed to get a seat right at the front to the left of the stage.

the show was a comedic ventriloquist performance. the guy had been on britain’s got talent before and got to the finals. i thought that the personality concepts for each puppet was good, but i don’t think that his jokes came across in a way that made them as funny as they could’ve been. the crowd was a little dead and my parents said they agreed but i still feel guilty for not being keen lmaoo but i don’t think it helped that i was really tired. i could barely process anything he was saying. during the show, i got a text from my aunt. it was a picture on boris outside, which obviously made me so happy. but near the end of the show, i realised that he’s outside - on the driveway; alone. so i started getting really worried.

conveniently, my aunt was on her way back to our house to get him inside as he wasn’t having it earlier. i got a text right before we started walking back to room saying that he’s inside and having his dinner followed with a picture of him eating. which was such a relief. i stayed in the chalet until 9:15 when i came along with my parents to see the light show that i also saw last night. i decided to go for half an hour so i’d have enough time to write this journal before having to do my questions about boris. the sound was better this time round as we were slightly further back and more towards the middle. and for some reason there was more cool lights, but i’m not complaining. the actual show started at 9:30 and i left to go back to the room at 10.

when i got back, i scrolled some more on tiktok and looked through some more jackass pictures on pinterest. when my parents got back, i scrolled through all of the pictures of boris on my phone which took at least half an hour. after, i wrote this journal, got undressed into my onesie at 12:20 and eventually finished asking my parents questions about boris at 1. i said goodnight to boris through a picture of him and went to sleep at 1:40.

🗝️ — boris/my cat, questions about boris/i ask my parents questions about my cat to verify he's okay + will be okay in the morning. its a compulsive thing and i'm hopefully going to be tested for OCD in the future.

have a good day/night O_o