#that's all for now i'm going to get this finished and then when i'm done i'll have a treat

[peachesofteal]

you bake when you’re upset or stressed - ghoap/f!reader

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," the quiver in your voice doesn't do much to dispel Simon's suspicion, and you toss the bowl full of brownie batter onto the counter. "I'm fine."

"You're baking at three in the morning, sweetheart. Did something happen?"

"I had a bad day, is all. It's nothing." The lie hisses through your teeth, jaw set tight as an attempt to keep everything bottled up where it belongs.

"What's going on?" Johnny's leaning against the counter in plaid pajama pants, gold ring on the chain around his neck glinting in the dimmed light of the kitchen. They both wear them, the rings, the ones complementing yours, a delicate twist of three threads, woven together to make one tight knit strand, looped together in a knot at the top of your finger where a diamond would normally go.

"Baked goods in the middle of the night." Simon sticks his finger in the batter, and gives you a knowing look. "You know I'll keep you here until you let it out." You shake your head.

"Let's go back tae bed then." Johnny's trying to coax you, gently, as always. It's his way. Soft, slow, sweet. Even keeled and sensitive.

Still, you won't budge.

It's not them. It's something else, something unsettled in your stomach you can't explain. It's you. Always you. Distraught. Disorganized. Disappointing.

"I need to finish these." Simon's focus is one of a predator's, and you're always prey. Analyzing, anticipating, nose to the ground on a scent. He’s already got you pegged, turned inside out. He knows.

When Johnny carefully wraps his fingers around your wrist and Simon hops onto the counter with his knees spread wide, you know you're done for.

You let them arrange you. Let Johnny push you between Si's thighs and cup your face, stroke your cheek. You go willingly, lacking a fight that was so prevalent only an hour before.

It takes two minutes of physical touch before you're crumbling.

"I had a terrible day," you sob, "I got a parking ticket and spilled my tea and missed an important email and then I bailed out of my work out halfway because I was miserable and then I didn't do anything at home, I wasn't productive, I didn't get any of the laundry done like I wanted and I left so many dirty dishes in the sink last night, I-"

"Okay, hey." Johnny rubs your arm, "hey, ye're alright dove. Ye're okay." He knocks his forehead against yours. "Jus' breathe f'me. Just breathe." You suck a long gasp in through your lungs, Simon tightening his hold enough to ground you.

"Who cares about the laundry? It's not even your week, and the dishes are our fault. You worked all day, we laid around. Should have done them."

"I know!" You cry, "I mean... you should have. But I left them and I feel like I'm always so disorganized, I'm always making a fucking mess."

"I'd clean up your mess everyday. I love you, your dishes and whatever else… none of it matters." Simon kisses your temple, "we both would. And there's nothing wrong with calling it during a workout if you're not feeling well. That's the right thing to do." You nod miserably, lingering in their hold, their arms, your heart rate slowly sinking back into a normal rhythm, your air coming easily.

"Now, do ye really want these brownies? Or do ye want to put the batter in the fridge?"

"Batter in the fridge." You press your face into Simon's shoulder, blocking out the light. You're suddenly so tired, energy drained from the emotional purge, and Johnny rubs your back.

"I'll put it away, ye two go get in bed. Put on a movie, an' I'll be in."

The bed is the coziest place in the house. The safest. The warmest. It's so easy to succumb to sleep and sweet dreams here, so it's no wonder by the time Johnny makes it back, you're barely awake. He tugs you away from Simon's snores and into his arms. "Ah love ye, dove. Messes an' all." You smile.

"I love you too."

[staranghae]

the perfect way to spend christmas

summary. jihoon really wants his first christmas with you to be perfect

pairing. loverboy! l.jh x fem! reader genre. new relationship, fluff, crack warnings. seokmin being seokmin, jihoon threatens them but its lighthearted(?) wc. 786 a/n. my first work on here after a while for @k-films advent calender event. also, my first (and possibly only) work where profanity isn't a warning lmao. anygays, enjoy down bad loverboy jihoon <3 mwah mwah merry christmas and happy new years. p.s: check out the masterlist for the event here!

the last thing soonyoung expects to see when he enters his shared apartment with jihoon are christmas decorations.

jihoon putting up a plant smack dab in the middle of the kitchen, to be exact.

"when i told you to decorate for the party, i didn't expect you to go all out like this!", soonyoung exclaims, while placing the bags of food and alcohol on the counter.

"well, this is my first christmas after getting with y/n so it's only appropriate i go all out, especially since we're hosting."

jihoon replies, almost shyly, as he continues taping the mystery plant to the ceiling.

soonyoung merely laughs at his friend. in all honesty, he was somewhat of a cupid in getting the two of you to go out with each other, owing to his balbbermouth tendencies when drunk, exposing jihoon's long term crush on you.

"well. make sure you don't end up putting any mistletoes in there lest seokmin tries to make out with you."

"again." soonyoung adds after a beat.

jihoon's face scrunches up at the thought. they really did not need a repeat of the great disaster '22. he's about to retort when the doorbell rings, signalling the first guest had arrived.

soonyoung gets the door as jihoon cleans up in the kitchen. he can tell by the chaos happening in the doorway that seokmin and seungkwan were the first two to arrive.

he finishes up and goes to greet them. seokmin immediately tackles him into a hug which he reciprocates while the other two tease him about how he broke seokmin's heart by going out with you.

amidst the teasing, the doorbell rings a second time and jihoon finds himself hoping that's it's you behind the door.

the door opens to reveal mingyu and minghao and jihoon is almost disappointed when he catches sight of you behind mingyu's broad frame.

he doesn't even stop to consider the consequences when he shoves walks past mingyu to, quite literally, engulf you in a hug. he only registers what he's done when he hears the hooting and cheering of the members behind him and sees the shell shocked face of seungcheol who had walked up right behind you and mingyu.

he retreats from the hug, embarassed. meanwhile, you were left with a lingering warmth that had gone as fast as it had come.

"well, at least someone exists here who can make the lee jihoon himself lose control." jokes seungcheol as he enters the apartment.

"we'll give you guys some privacy for now," says minghao, leaving you the two of you in the doorway, red faced and flustered.

jihoon breaks the ice first,

"i'm sorry, i shouldn't have-"

"it's fine, hoon. really. it was actually kinda cute."

"of all the things you could've called me, cute?!" jihoon feigns offense. you giggle at his antics and jihoon swears he could die right now. he notices the bag in your hands and gives you a questioning look.

"cupcakes, for the party." you clarify.

jihoon thanks every being in the universe for giving him the oppurtunity to say what he did,

"let's go to the kitchen and open them, they smell delicious."

you nod excitedly and walk towards the kitchen as jihoon follows.

unbeknownst to you, he silently threatens to do unspeakable things to his friends if they so much so as looked at the two of you while you were in the kitchen

you hum to yourself as you start to open the box of cupcakes when jihoon walks up behind you. you're about to tease him about being oh so obsessed with you when he utters a single word while pointing upwards

"mistletoe"

you look up at the ceiling and sure enough, a dainty little mistletoe is taped to the surface, albeit a little haphazardly. you look back at jihoon. your eyes flit between the mistletoe and jihoon's face.

jihoon can see the gears turning in your head about the possibilities of one of his idiot friends walking in.

"relax, none of them are coming anywhere near us, i assure you."

the tone he uses leaves no room for any buts or what ifs. so you don't ask any and instead opt to kiss him as hard as you can.

he stumbles back a little because of the impact but gains his footing fast enough to wrap his arms around your waist to kiss you back with the same fervor, if not harder.

the two of you end up so lost in each other, you don't even hear the other three holding seokmin down as he yells "me next".

'what a perfect way to spend his first christmas with the woman of his dreams' is last coherent thought that flashes through jihoon's mind before he loses himself in you again.

[polarisjisung]

LOVE ON THE COURT | 37 REGRET

SYNOPSIS | every college student has their struggles, but raising her younger brother has Y/N top of the list, struggling her way through college whilst balancing her academics and basketball captaincy is difficult no doubt and with Jaemin, her ex best friend and captain of the guys basketball team, and his growing one sided hatred towards her, it doesn't seem to be getting any easier

WARNINGS | swearing

NOTES | new year in 4 hours and I haven't even finished this smau. gonna write some chaps of my smau in advance next time 🧍‍♀️anyways I'm sure you guys can tell we're reaching the end, so what if jaemy/n never happens 😈

+ I feel like this chapter could've been better (proofreading it mightve helped) but it is what it is 😭

Jaemin looks at Y/n, and despite the double doors of the lockeroom finally being swung open, he looks at her, and only her.

Her tear stained cheeks, her ragged breaths, her bloodshot eyes, they all make the guilt biting against his tongue sharper.

The palm of her hand pressed firmly to her forehead only causes his mind to run, an unwanted whistle stop door down memory lane. Every moment comes back to him, his ignorance, his resentment, his rashness — his incompetence however, is the most haunting.

All those years ago, Jaemin swore he knew Y/n better than she knew herself, her habits, her mannerisms, her likes and dislikes. He knew it all. He knew her, truly and entirely, and yet he had been so quick to assume. He felt incompetent, like those years of friendship had amounted to so little, like knowing her had meant nothing.

What use was knowing her in their best moments when he couldn't recognise her in their worst.

She wouldn't do that to him, he knew that. Y/n wouldn't betray him. But knowing wasn't enough if he couldn't believe it. Her hadn't.

And suddenly the shame and self reproach had never spoken louder to jaemin. He should have known better. Been better.

Truly, Jaemin never felt he had measured up to y/n when it came to their friendship, but something now made him feel so much more lousy than ever before, insecure. And perhaps, he had let those insecurities of his cloud his judgement.

If only he'd heard her out, if only he'd listened. If only he'd acted differently.

Jaemin sure wishes he'd acted differently. Her shouts, teary eyes and desperate screams for him to just talk to her played, a broken record in his mind.

But it was so much more than that, regret that stretched far beyond distinguishing lies from actuality.

It was about all the things he never noticed, all the small details that he should have noticed. A best friend would have noticed.

Sure, Jaemin had been hurt. He'd been through hell and back in the months after the competition, but never once did he go through it alone. He had his friends by his side, his brothers, and Y/n, she hadn't just lost him, she'd lost them too, without so much as a goodbye, never even knowing why.

She'd fallen apart and put herself back together right in front of him, and he'd never noticed a thing. The guilt ate him up inside.

What could have been, what he should've done, it was almost haunting.

Yet again, as he hears the shuffling of feet in front of him, the muffled protests of way too many voices by the door and the increasingly fast footsteps away from him, Jaemin feels like he should have known better.

Y/n was always impulsive.

And when he looks ahead of him, Jaemin realises she's long gone, shouts of her name coming from down the hall, confused eyes latching onto Jaemin.

"What the fuck hapenned in there Na?"

Jake's voice comes loud and clear but the captain in front of him looks just as dazed as before.

"Why was she crying?"

"She was crying?" Jaemin doesn't mean for his words to come out to monotonous, but he can't control it. It feels like everything is moving too fast for him, like he's a couple seconds behind of it all.

"Jaemin?" This time it's chenle, staring mouth agape at him.

"You look like you've seen a ghost what hapenned?"

He doesn't know how to respond, explain it all or find the words to even begin. And it's clear to the two in front of him.

Jaemin feels so far from reality that he doesn't even realise when Jake had grabbed him by the arm and started running, now standing not too far from the rest of their teammates.

That's when they see her, y/n, dishevelled, distraught and for the first time ever, absolutely enraged.

"You really thought we wouldn't find out?" she laughs at him, but somewhere also at herself, for having been so foolish, for not having tried harder.

Her father stands, bruised, but somehow just as proud as before. He smiles, pretentious. It's like he knows Y/n has no intention of letting him speak, because he doesn't even try to respond.

"You tried to break me down piece by piece until I had nothing, you started with Jaemin, my freedom, my childhood, and then you even took away yourself. Not that you ever were much of father. But you know what, you failed."

Watching y/n, jaemin saw her father in her, for just a moment, fleetingly, she stood proud, nowhere near as pompous as him, but just as angry. Still their differences were markable, how she was proud but not too cocky, how his anger seemed to be directed at life, and hers only at him.

"You failed because you never took anything away at all, you should've known the second you tried to sabotage my career you wouldn't win. But you tried anyways, really it's commendable. Your only achievement in life was taking away mine, so at least you accomplished something. But you know what, everything you did, all you tried to take away, it left me with so much more. And Jaemin? You must've been a fucking idiot to think we wouldn't figure this out. "

Jaemin let's a shaky breath out, some part of him relieved that Y/n didn't blame him for anything that hapenned.

He watches the rage bubble in the man across from him, the signs of his age now etched into his skin, he wasn't always like this. But as long as Jaemin could consciously remember, the man had never worn a smile, never made a kind gesture, never been pleasant. He wished he could be shocked at the situation in front of him, but the only word he could find was deserved. Y/n's father deserved it.

Still the tension is high, relief underlying but with a heavy silence laying overtop. The weight of words and memories extortionate. But the audacity of the man in front is unchanged, his hand moving so swiftly towards Y/n

"Ungrateful bi-"

It's Ningning who reaches out to stop the man, pushing him backwards and away from his daughter.

"I hope you don't think she has anything to be grateful to you for"

"I raised her." his protests are loud and obnoxious.

"Barely" Y/n scoffs, with so much more to say, but her tiredness catches up to her, "Just stay away from me, please."

It's easy to notice the sharp edge to her voice. Something that says she just needs a moment to herself.

And despite wanting to scream and shout at him, wanting to question him some more and push him a little further, Y/n walks away from the man, eyes stinging.

The weight on her shoulders is lighter, still present, but enough for her to let her sniffles grow further into full blown sobs with each step she takes away from the man. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

With the tears blurring her vision, she barely had any idea where she was going, her head hitting something hard as she strode forwards.

"Y/n?"

Y/n just wanted to be alone, in fact, the last thing she needed right now was to walk into Jay.

"I was looking fo-" he pauses, concerned as she tries to walk away, "hey it's okay, we don't have to talk about it, just let it all out" he says, soothing her slowly with a hand on her head, cradled in his chest.

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[sabine-smitten-obviously]

Good Omens - December reads part #3- fanfics recs 🤓🩷🎄

I ´ve decided to write a short summary each month about the books i read. I need this to let go of the stories, its a nice way of saying good-bye to them and to spread the love to the authors and to you. 🩷

I only read finished stories and rarely one-shots. You will find no WIPs in here, as i really like to dive deep into the plot and i keep losing track of WIPs. Also you will only find happy or at least hopeful endings here - i couldn´t handle anything else.

Also i try to find every author here on tumblr to link-to, but sadly some times i am out of luck. If you happen to know them, please tell them, write to me in the comments or DM me and i will update the post!

Ratings in ()

Multichapter Fanfics

Dark Literature (E) by @unproblematicme

Well this was a first for me. Human AU with our ineffable loves being exes. Ugh. Lucky for me, Aziraphale is hired by Gabriel to work for the same company on a regular basis. But all of this somehow fades into the background as a haunting starts on the 13th floor of the building. Massive ghoststory and halloween-vibes ensues! 🎃

I'd like to think i still know you (T) by @inherently_human

Human AU. Crowley and Aziraphale went to school together, before life took them on separate paths. Crowley actually detests the thought of the 30years reunion, but ... maybe he would meet Aziraphale again?

Biggest laugh: "Age has not done your eloquence any favors, I see." 😂

The ineffable bride (T) by @theravenmuse

Warlock asks Nanny Astoreth to read him a book he got from the gardener. The story is about a prince named Aziraphale, who fell in love with a farm boy that left to make good fortune, but never came back. Now he is supposed to marry Prince Gabriel.

Happiness, more or less (M) by @mllekurtz

Crowley moves into a flat above a bookshop, glad to have found a short lease. If it weren't for the strange noises in the night ... A ghost story, a love story.

Biggest laugh: "i'm not learning the riddle you have for a name." 😅 I love love love this one. It had me laugh, it had me on the edge and it made me cry. Please give this one a try! 🩷

Intermezzo (E) by @feraltuxedo

Crowley is a former Rockstar, whose career as opera-writer was crashed by Aziraphale Fell's official critique. 10 years later Crowley is offered to write a symphony and get a TV documentary on it, but there is a catch: Aziraphale is the one who will be presenting. Human AU, Enemies to lovers, very nice. Also the author has a way of leading up to and describing explicit scenes that had me wish for more. 😋

The accidental understudy (T) by @appleseeds

Human AU. Aziraphale is the stage manager, when he re-meets with famous actor and former school-collegue Crowley for a play of panto. Sweet fluff ensues as both have had their secret crushes for 30 years.

Love Thy Neighbor (E) by @snae-b

Aziraphale runs a successful bakery blog, but recently he is getting more and more delayed with his posts. The new neighbor is simply a nuisance with his construction noises throughout the day and his loud music in the night. One evening his temper gets the best of him and Aziraphale fists on the door. What will he see, when the door opens? You'll never guess. 😉

Oneshots

Naked in Malibu (E) by @cemeteryangel725

Human AU. Crowley is a famous actor, who is home early from his shoot without telling anyone. And naked. Aziraphale is the hired interior designer, who just so happens to be in Crowley´s home to redesign it. The rest is epic seduction and surprises beneath clothes.

Actually a re-read, as the author gifted us a with a sequel for christmas - see next! 🤓

Naked in New York (E) by @cemeteryangel725

Crowley and Aziraphale have been dating secretly for months now. They both have been falling in love and - of course, these are our beloved idiots! - they have NOT been talking about it. But there is this big red carpet-thingy coming up. Oh no, what is Crowley supposed to do? 😉

Hot Blood, Hot thoughts, Hot Deeds (E) by @supergeek21

Aziraphale sorts the books, when shortky before closing time a strange looking man, dressed all in Black and kind of outdated clothes comes in. He has quite some sharp teeth, too ... 🧛‍♂️🦇

The Serpent King (T) by @angela345

After the death of his father, King Gabriel rules the country. But a curse seems to have befallen the former prosperous kingdom. So knights are being sent out to the Serpent King of the neighbouring kingdom. Will they be able to break the spell? A fairytale.

Stocking Stuffers (E) by @cemeteryangel725

Yes, i know - this is the 3rd rec for @cemeteryangel725 in this blog alone. What can i say - she is a glorious (smut)writer. 😁 In this one we meet again with our beloved husbands from the human AU "Of fire and falcons", which you should definitely read, too. In this oneshot Crowley does a little christmas-strip for his Santaziraphale. 🌶️🎅

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique (T) by @dragonfire42

Aziraphale goes shopping with Jim to dress him up for the ball ... Sweet!

The Snake Prince (T) by @LTRisback

Aziraphale takes a walk and bumps into a snake - a talking snake. He offers to save him from the cold and takes him to his bookshop.

Sweet, short fairytale i found bc of another artist who made this beautiful Art to it @rocas-are-doing-well

Only Ever Meant For Someone Else (T) by @di-42

Human AU. Every year the night before christmas, Aziraphale drives his passengers for free as an act of charity. This year, when he has finally finished his shift, there is a commotion behind him. Realising the other driver has wrecked his bentley, he offers to take him to the hospital, where his - presumably - wife Anathema is in labour.

Beautiful little christmas story, seasoned with a bit of angst and a happy ending. 🎄

Biggest laugh: “Of course. I can see how this entire predicament is very clearly her fault.” 😅

I loved this story and it stayed with me for several days.

All the pretty girls (T) by @spectrallydistracted

Crowley has made a pact with Ana to date each week for a whole year - or as long as it takes to find a partner. Sadly all the pretty girls never click. Unlike the very male barista Aziraphale ... 😉

So thats 16 stories this time, next year i will start counting for the whole year, just for the fun of it. 🥳

Found something you like? Spread the love with kudos, sharing and loving 😅🩷

Have a wonderfull start to 2025! 🎆

[on-a-lucky-tide]

this is very specific but have you done Nikprice giving Ghostsoap the shovel talk?

I have not. I'm kinda working out which way round it would go.

I reckon Price would send Nik to talk to Soap first. To put his feelers out, because technically he can't have favourites but Simon is his favourite. Soap is an absolute fuckboy, Price has seen his record, knows about the indiscretion with the girl on the base. He doesn't want Simon hurt. He has a separate conversation to have with Simon about fraternisation and the risks there. He'll take that one.

Nik was a slut in their youth. He's the fuckboy that grew up and came out the other side. If anyone is best placed to talk to Soap and explain what's at stake, it's Nik. So Nik invites Soap out for a drink and they sit opposite each other in a small pub in the countryside around Credenhill.

"Are ye gonna assassinate me?" Johnny asks finally, watching Nik with owlish eyes.

Nik looks nonplussed. "That has never been my line of work, sergeant."

"Aye, but... ye have the Daddy KGB aura, and ye do everythin' else under the sun, so, ye ken, hitman wouldn' be too..."

"John." Nik looks a little surprised at himself when he says it, and Johnny realises the only time he ever uses that name is when he's talking to Price in private. It's sweet. Well, it would be if Johnny wasn't still forty percent sure he was about to get dumped in a nearby river.

"Aye, right, so... this is abou' Ghoost then."

"Da," Nik says, straight to the point. "The captain is concerned you will... uh, what was his phrase, pump and dump him."

Johnny chokes on his beer. It comes out his nose and everything. Nik offers him a napkin and once he's finished mopping the spit and beer off his chin, he croaks. "Cap really said that, eh?"

"Da. He wants me to... outline the risk you are taking."

"The risk, aye. Well, g'wan then."

"If you hurt Simon, your time with the 141 will conclude."

Johnny's eyebrows jump up his forehead.

Nik continues. "Simon has been through a lot. He has healed a lot. But breaking his trust again would do irreparable harm. This cannot be permitted. Do you understand?"

"Aye, ah know Simon, he--"

Nik leans in. "When I committed to the captain, I had to make adjustments. The flirtation, the sex in every city, the drugs. It all stopped. He was worth more to me than any hedonism. I am a better man because of Jonathan. In every way." Nik pauses, taking a long drink from his glass, the ice sitting against his lip.

When he sets it down again, Johnny watches his thumb dust over his lower lip, and then those dark eyes are boring into him again. "If I were to hurt him, Simon would see that I paid an equivalent price for my sin," Nik's fingers tap on the side of his vodka glass, and somehow it's the most intimidating thing he's done since they sat down. Johnny has seen those hands do some pretty gnarly shit, "and so I will extend the same courtesy to him. Now, do you understand?"

Johnny swallows. "Aye. Understood."

Nik smiles. The icy threat melts from his features and Johnny feels less like a mouse trapped under the paw of a giant tom cat. "Then we are on the same page." Nik lifts his glass. "To many happy days in the arms of your lover, comrade. There is nothing quite like it."

Johnny meets Nik's glass and feels distinctly lightheaded. He's glad Nik's on his side, well, mostly, apparently.

[amethystfairy1]

🎉 Happy New Years! 🎉

It's been a loooong year so I figured I may as well make a post about it, as well as talk a bit about my plans for 2025! As you know, I tend to ramble, so this got a little long, and maybe sounds a little too much like an Oscars acceptance speech...whoopsie 😅...but from the bottom of my heart I genuinely just felt like I needed to get all these emotions that were emotion-ing today thinking about the New Year out for those of you who have played a part in giving them to me.

If you have a few minutes, please do give it a read through!

The Mushy Stuff:

Firstly, and most importantly beyond a doubt, I want to thank everyone who's been so incredibly kind and supportive of my writing this past year! Every kudos, comment, like, follow, ask, all of them have been treasured by me!

I've had a very difficult year. As I've mentioned before, I'm a full-time masters student. I also work a nearly full-time job on top of that. And while I don't like my blog to have anything to do with my train wreck of an irl life this year, let's just say it hasn't been great...lots of stuff went down, lots of things went wrong, so on and so forth.

Point is, my tippy taps have been crucial to my mental health. I started TTSBC, literally posted the first story 'Pretty Boy' on my very first day as a grad student, sitting there in the office with the knowledge that between school, work, and things happening in my own life, and I'd be having a really rough couple of years to get this degree done.

I finish in May, and I feel confident with my work, I'm ahead of the curve, I'm doing well, and I think that's in no small part because of my tippy taps. These AUs, the writing challenges, the amazing friends I've made and the little community that's somehow decided for whatever reason to form around my obsession with the block people, they've been a very big part of what's kept me going through all of this.

Knowing I could count on people to read my work, to enjoy it, that I could give someone out there something to relate too or even just make them smile if they were feeling as shitty as I was, that made me feel better. It's been so, so important to me.

So thank you. Thank you for following Through the Sky-Blue Cracks and Traveling Thieves. Thank you for screaming over my Whumptober and Febuwhump collections. Thank you for following me, for chasing me and my thoughtful Batman gif around in the asks, for playing along with my goofy-ass side blog, for commenting and kudos-ing and somehow materializing the instant a chapter goes up even before I post the tumblr notif. It means a lot more than I think any words I could come up with would convey.

I also really really really want to thank my Tinted Glass crew!

@silver-sunray This is all your fault. You started this 😤 And by that I mean you made these AUs and me screaming into the void alone so much more than that. It's because of you that I started to fight the fear, scuttle out of my shell and start actually trying to talk to others in this little online sphere. Your incredible work on the Beyond project and now in helping with my side blog and all our other plans and projects mean the world to me! You always have so much spunk and confidence whenever any ideas pop up that I suddenly feel like it's so much more is achievable thanks too you. I'm so very happy you reached out to me this year and I know so much that I've done with my writing wouldn't have happened without you 💖

@boo-the-ahh you're just the sweetest! You always make everything feel so light even when things are complicated or heavy, and you don't even know it! I love getting to work with you on the podfics and our other projects we've been plotting! You're always so full of energy and enthusiasm and encouragement that makes me feel like I can come up with the most whack-ass idea and you'll just back me up, and that's absolutely amazing! I'm so happy you reached out to me and started podficcing for me! Your work is incredible! You put in so much effort, your final products are always so beautifully polished and you always go the extra mile even when it makes things trickier. I admire that so much! And I apologize in advance for the sheer amount of my writing you're probably doomed to have to read out loud in the coming year 😅

@khoirkid You're just a marvel, in my opinion, which I know you don't share but shhhhhhhh. You come up with masterpieces at the drop of a hat, and the fact that you are willing to draw my whack-ass lil guys is still just unfathomable to me. You're always so easy to talk too and down to earth, and you're so creative and imaginative with how you weave symbols into your art with different imagery and color! I feel like half the time the stuff you come up with is so articulate and amazing that it goes over my head, but that's fine! 😆 You're so knowledgable and you have a perspective on things that helps me think things through. I love getting to work with you and I'm so very grateful for all the gorgeous illustrations, and for all the time you've given to me that's made me feel a little less alone.

All three of y'all are just so cool and supportive and talented that most of the time I don't get why you're hanging out over here and giving so much of your time and energy to these projects of mine, but I'm forever grateful that I have you as my friends. So thank you. 💜

Plans for 2025:

Ok, now that I've gotten my emotions all emotion-ed out, let's talk a little bit about my plans for the New Year!

Of course I'll still be continuing TTSBC and TT! No doubt about it! There's big things happening in both the AUs, and I'm so very excited to share them with everyone!

I'll be finishing my degree in May...to be perfectly honest, I'm still unsure of how much of a workload I'm gonna end up having academically this last semester, so I think I'll just say that if updates slow down a bit, just assume Amethyst is drowning under piles of revisions doused in red ink and a bunch of reference texts and papers due to be graded. I promise I'm not gonna just stop tippy tapping! I don't think my brain would be able to handle it if I did 😅

As far as some of the typical challenges go, I will not be participating in Febuwhump this year. I wish I could, but I know I'll definitely have too much going on academically to commit to another writing challenge...also I think Whumptober almost killed both Khoir and I, and we don't need to be doing that again anytime soon 😵‍💫 I'm still gonna check out the prompt list, and if I see a few prompts that I find particularly intriguing maybe I'll write those up, and do a few of the days, but I won't be doing the full writing challenge.

Jury is still out on Hermit-a-Day May, which I'm hopeful will be running again this year! I'd love to do it, but I'll have to make that later, once I know for certain how my workload is feeling since I'll be doing my final revisions, my defense, all that good stuff in late April, which is when I'd typically be working up my fics for Hermit-a-Day May.

I will be doing Whumptober. No questions about it!

I have a few other Hermit/Traffic/Empires fanfic projects on the back burner that I'm working on here or there whenever I need to take a lil break from TTSBC and TT. One of them is a project that all of the Tinted Glass Crew is working on together, and while I don't wanna give spoilers, I'll just say that it's going to be a ton of fun! It's unlike any other AU or one-off I've ever done before, and even just brainstorming it has been incredible so please look forward to it!

I also have my original series. Which...I haven't talked about, not really. I'm pretty nervous about putting it out there, to be honest, but it's my baby and I've been working on it for over four years now. It's written in a similar style to TTSBC and TT, that is, focused on queer romance and found family in a ton of stories all organized in chronological order and written up and down on a timeline. One of my big hopes for this year is to finally share this series. I dunno where yet, or when...it'll definitely wait until after I finish my degree in May, that much is for certain, but I suppose I just wanted to prime everyone. The Tinted Glass Crew has already been so amazingly kind as to agree to help me find a way to get this story that's so dear to me out to all of y'all someway somehow...and I'm confident if I have those guys on my team we'll figure it out! 😅

I hope, if you've enjoyed TTSBC and TT and any of my other work, you'll at least give my original blorbos a shot whenever they are freed from their little cage in my notebooks and save files. They're not so different from the way I write my MCYT characters, they're a bunch of big gay idiots with personality issues, a ton of tangled up secrets, and more trauma than you can shake a stick at...and they're mine, which means I really like to put them through the wringer. 😆 But after everything I've done over this past year and even further back here on this blog, on A03, and in this little community, I feel like maybe they might find themselves a home in at least some of your hearts...or maybe just piss you off with their poor life decisions and accidentally give you brainrot, who knows.

Anyway, this has been a lot. Sorry I tend to ramble...all of this is just to say thank you. I had a lot of fun this year, getting to share my stories with all of you, and I hope you'll continue to support me as I tippy tap my way into the New Year!

-Amethyst

[glossdebut]

PRICE OF FAME | MYG ★ CH. 3 TEASER

✧ PAIRING: yoongi x fem!reader

✧ SUMMARY: You were about ready to give up, your career nowhere near what you dreamed it’d be when you started at eighteen, bright-eyed and naive. Reality for you these past few years has consisted of pouting at a camera, ignoring whispers of your name at company events, and ensuring that the stupid, tiny designer purses they keep forcing on you can at least carry a flask. But now, you’re helping a friend in need. For the first time in a long time, it feels like you’re doing something worthwhile with your life. Too bad Min Yoongi, the newest thorn in your side, seems insistent on stopping you. 『 series masterlist 』

✧ TEASER WARNINGS: none!

✧ AUTHOR’S NOTE: okay, so we're like 80% of the way there!! it feels like this chapter is taking me forever, but i'm finally getting to the end, so i figured i'd give you guys a teaser while i get through the final stretch! i'm hoping to get the chapter posted sometime next week, but i'll keep you guys updated if anything changes <3

P.S. just like with all of my teasers, wording is subject to change when the chapter actually comes out

✧ TEASER WORDCOUNT: 534 words

✧ STATUS: ongoing

“Hey. You in a meeting?”

Your eyes snap up from your laptop to find Jeongguk poking his head into the bedroom. With a quick glance to your calendar, you realize you’ve just finished your last call of the day, and it’s not even two in the afternoon.

“No, I’m all done,” you say, shutting your laptop and waving him in. “What’s up?”

“Namjoon-hyung’s gotta go back to Seoul, so we’re taking him to the airport,” Jeongguk says, kicking the door closed behind him before sitting on the edge of the bed. “And then we’re gonna fuck around in Jeju City for a little bit. See the sights and all.”

“Oh, okay.”

Is this an invite, or…?

“Yoongi-hyung’s staying, though.”

Fuck. Nope, not an invite.

“Is he,” you hum, acting as unbothered as possible.

“We got some songs started today,” Jeongguk says, studying your expression for a moment. “The rest of us are burnt out, but he wants to keep going.”

“Well, do you want me to join you guys, or—”

“I want you to stay and talk to him.”

There it is.

“Jeongguk,” you huff, a protest on the tip of your tongue.

“YN, it’s worth a shot! Maybe if you two have a chance to talk you’ll find out you have more in common than you think.”

“I don’t think he’ll be happy if I interrupt his songwriting to have some kind of Kumbaya moment, Guk,” you sigh.

Jeongguk stands up from the bed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Can’t you at least try?” he says, his voice clipped as he paces. “Both of you are so fucking stubborn. Maybe you can bond over that.”

He’s one to talk about being stubborn, but whatever. You’ll let it slide, only because you feel so fucking guilty.

A long moment passes, and at your silence Jeongguk stops in his tracks to look at you expectantly. Fuck. Fuck this man and his stupid big brown eyes.

“I can’t promise you anything,” you finally say.

“Like I said, I just want you to try.”

He’s still tense, but at the hint of acquiescence from you, he softens. And that little bit of softness is enough for you to fully give.

“Fine,” you huff. You can already feel a migraine coming on.

“Thank you,” he beams, pulling you into a tight hug.

“Yeah, yeah,” you say, patting his back. Your heart flutters just the slightest bit because you’re a weak, weak woman. “Just don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

“I won’t!” he promises, pulling away with a bright grin. Hopes absolutely all the way up.

Goddammit. You hope Yoongi is feeling talkative today, because if not, you’re going to be the one crushing this poor guy’s dreams.

At this point, you’ll make him talk if you have to. Anything to keep that from happening.

“Go,” you say, nudging him towards the door. “I can’t talk to him until you guys leave.”

He clearly doesn’t need any more motivation than that, because then he’s out the door.

“You’re the best, YN!” he calls as he books it down the hallway, leaving you to flop back onto the bed with a groan.

Well. You’ve fucked yourself now.

✧ TAGLIST:

@jajabro @pitchblack0309 @sugar-snap @ot72025 @ktownshizzle

@futuristicenemychaos @tea4sykes @sugainmybowl @namjoonsbuspass @wobblewobble822

@kkaetnipjeon @ohnothisnameisalreadytaken @this-most-assuredly-counts @sugafun @binniesbabe

@1800lxcifrrr @whoa-jo @amarawayne @kimsaerom @bangtangsworld @angellekookie

@jalexad @tarahardcore @valhallawhispers @chimmisbae @notsevenwithyou

@jimingirl95 @jadestonedaeho7 @bontensbabygirl @silencionyx @nnybtitts08

@kpophosblog @yoonmetogether @curse-of-art @daskewl @rebloginfics

@perfctlyunstable @ennvfv @chimmchimmm

[ceratedfish24]

I think the first time Scott did something kind to Etho he didn't even realize it was a big deal, just reflexivly did it and immediately thought nothing/forgot about it, and Etho is left standing frozen eyes wide like oh snap I'm interested in this guy now. So Etho starts watching Scott from a distance now and notices how Scott keeps doing these kind things for other people and that's how he falls in love.

YES!!! YES! YES! YES! Scott is so kind to everybody he meets, and Etho is so used to fighting for his life and becoming a product of by his circumstances, whereas Scott is so stubbornly kind, refusing to let his hardships corrupt his loving nature. It happens when Etho is scoping out the competition right before 3rd Life, and Scott is going around introducing himself to everyone. Right after Etho finishes a playful stare down with Bdubs, this pretty boy comes right up to him, an enemy to be, offers him a smile, and wishes him luck in a game they’re both about to compete in. Immediately after, Grian calls Scott over to make fun of him, which means Scott didn’t really get any time to think about Etho’s reaction. “You can’t be nice to the competition, Scott! We’re going to war! Stop making my game friendly!” Etho just watches him go… He can’t actually be that friendly, right? Well, he really was, and he continued to be.

Scott excitedly congratulates Grian on his win. He defies the Boogeyman Curse instead of going after his teammate. He sacrifices himself for Pearl. He has no resentment towards Martyn after Limited Life. He teams with Gem, a new player who may be in need of guidance. He treats Cleo’s win with all the seriousness and excitement of a full-length season’s win. He negotiates and reaches out to Etho, who has never done anything for Scott or grown close to him or proved himself to be a good teammate for other people.

And, on top of all of that, Scott does really well.

At first, Etho assumes that Scott is just really kind to people he’s close to, such as Jimmy, Cleo, and Pearl, but then Scott extends his kindness to Etho in Limited Life, making polite conversation with him despite them being on different teams and having so much more time than anyone on Etho’s team. Then, in Secret Life, Scott humors him even though he knows that Etho’s trying to distract Scott from pursuing Bdubs during the infamous game of tag. At the time, Etho couldn’t explain why he found himself stumbling over his words, as he found himself so distracted by how the light reflected in Scott’s eyes. Finally, Wild Life is what tears Etho open like a gash in a place he already knew was tender. Etho isn’t oblivious, at least not to his own feelings. He’s known that he’s felt something for Scott for a long time, but a crush isn’t exactly an optimal in a death game.

Scott, so willing to grant Etho a place on the Gs, smiles and shrugs and tells Etho that he doesn’t care if Etho’s “not a good teammate”, and Etho’s heart bursts in his chest. He’s been given a chance that he doesn’t feel as though he’s earned from someone who doesn’t know him all that well. Everything that’s been buried deep in his chest finally erupts to the surface and he wants to grab Scott and get him somewhere safe and warm. He wants to hold this man’s hand and be as close to him as physically possible, but he can’t. They’re in the middle of a death game. Etho isn’t about to dump all of his years of internalized yearning onto Scott in the middle of a death game. They can talk afterwards.

Except, of course, Etho manages to create a more urgent matter to talk to Scott about after Wild Life. If they were a mainstream pairing, there would be two hundred fics about that kill by now.

[tiedyeflannels]

Did We Forget...

OT7 x f!reader

Word Count: 2.1k

Genre: Angst

A/N: Heyyyy... I'm finally back from the dead! Turns out being busy and having writers block is definitely not a fun combo, but I wanted to finish this since I started it last year on my birthday. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and happy new years!!

Masterlist

“Happy Birthday, Y/n!” Your parents exclaimed.

It probably wasn’t too late over in the States where they were right now, but it was really early in the morning in Korea and they claimed that they needed to call you ‘as soon as possible’.

You sleepily smiled at them, “Thanks, you guys! But… you do know that it’s 5 am over here right? I don’t have to get up until later and now you guys woke me up.”

“Well, why did you pick up then,” your dad teased.

You deadpanned, “Because mom ingrained it in me that I can’t not pick up a call from you guys, or she would have my head.”

Mom shook her head, “I never said that.”

“It’s implied, Mom!” You chuckled when she let out a frustrated huff. 

“Anyway, thank you for the birthday wishes! I’m coming home for New Year’s, don’t forget! We can do something then, okay?”

They nodded.

“Yep, we’ve got your room ready and we’ll be picking you up from the airport. All you have to do is let us know where you are,” Mom said.

You hummed in agreement.

“Oh! Are you going to spend the day with the boys? Are they going to take you somewhere special,” Dad asked.

You laughed, “Yeah, I plan on spending the day with them seeing as I don’t have any work to do until I come back from my trip, but I don’t think they have a special event planned.”

“Okay well, don’t party too hard with them! Have fun, be safe and we’ll see you when you visit.”

You fondly smiled, “You got it! Love you guys!”

“Love you,” they said in unison before waving goodbye, then hanging up. 

You sighed as you locked your phone and let it drop on the bed before shifting in bed trying to get comfortable so you could go back to sleep.

~

KNOCK! KNOCK!

You scrunched your face at the sound of light knocking and groaned as you stretched before pulling the blanket over your shoulders and rolled over on your side, trying to go back to sleep.

You didn’t get very far until another round of soft knocking woke you up once more before the door slowly creaked open.

“Y/n,” Jungkook whispered. You sleepily hummed, peeking an eye open to look at him.

“Jin told me to let you know that breakfast is almost ready.”

“Okay, I’ll be down there in a sec,” you croaked out.

He nodded and closed the door, leaving you to wake up on your own, so you stretched once again to get rid of the sleep from your body before reaching up to grab your glasses off of the night stand. You sat up, moved the blanket off of me and placed your feet on the floor. With a yawn and one final stretch, you stood up and made your way to the bathroom. 

Once you were done, you started down towards the kitchen and upon reaching the bottom of the steps, there was a delicious smell wafting through the air. You walked over to the kitchen to see Jin hovering over the stove before picking the pan up and plating its contents. You took a seat at the island as Jin turned around and placed a plate of (y/f/f) in front of you.

“Tada! Breakfast is served,” Jin said, taking a towel off of the oven handle, wiping his hands clean.

You looked down at the food and then at Jin, smiling. “Ooh~ my favorite! What’s the occasion?”

He shrugged as you took a bite of food, melting at the familiar taste. “I figured since you haven’t gotten to eat it in a while and all of us really like it so… I would go ahead and make it!”

You stopped for a second.

Just because? Did he-

You lightly shook your head at the thought.

You tried again, “So, that’s the only reason? Nothing special?”

He shook his head as he looked at you. “Nope, why? Should there be another reason to make this?”

You shook your head, breathing out a laugh before giving him a smile.

“Nope! Thank you for the food, Jin,” you said, before going back to eating.

You finished the food a while after Jin had left the kitchen. You thought it was interesting that he didn’t seem remember your birthday considering that he was excited for it a few weeks back.

Maybe he’ll ‘remember’ later, you thought as you washed the dish and put it on the rack to dry. 

When you was done with that, you looked over to the living room to find Jimin, Hobi, Tae, and Yoongi sitting on the couches scrolling through their phones. You walked up to where Hobi and Jimin were sitting and placed your hands on the back of the couch resulting in a soft pat sound.

Hobi lifted his head. “Oh hey, Y/n,” he said with a smile.

You looked at him and saw that he was dressed up; still casual, but better than sweats, so you looked around the room at each of them and saw that they were dressed the same, fancy but still casual.

“Are you guys going out,” you asked, hinting that they had at least put some thought into what they were wearing instead of the sweats you had gotten used to over that past few days.

Jimin breathed out a chuckle and shook his head, “Nah. We’ve just got practice in bit.”

“Oh yeah! That reminds me,” you turned over to Namjoon, who was adjusting his coat as he made his way over to where you and the guys were, “We’ll have practice until 5 and we have a company meeting and dinner after that, so we won’t be home until late, okay?”

Oh.

You plastered a smile on your face and nodded as Jin and Jungkook came into the room, prompting the others to get up from where they were sitting.

“Yeah, that’s fine. You guys go… be great or whatever you do,” you force a laugh, giving Jungkook a light nudge on his arm, hoping to hide your slight disappointment. 

Might’ve worked too well as they laughed and started heading out.

“We’ll see you when we get back,” Yoongi turned to me. You nodded,

“Okay. Have fun! Be safe! Work hard!”

You waved good-bye to them as you watched them file into the black SUVs and drive away from the house. You sadly sighed at the thought that they forgot, but decided to make the most of it while you still felt like it. So, you went back upstairs, got ready, shrugged on a jacket and went out to who-knows-where. 

Turns out that spending a day by yourself on your birthday was get a little tiring after a while. You sighed as you plopped down on a random park bench, letting the shopping bags fall on the ground next to your legs. Though it was late December, there wasn’t any snow on the ground due to the weather being weirdly warm, which just created slush and puddles.

You rolled up the sleeve of jacket and stared down at the watch as its hands ticked just passed 5 o’clock.

“They should be done with practice now,” you quietly muttered and dug into the coat pocket, pulling out your phone and checking if the members texted.

I wonder if they remembered yet?

Looking through the notifications, none of their names showed up, giving you your answer.

You sadly nodded as disappointment started to seep in before putting your phone back into its hiding place and grabbing the bags as you stood up and started to walk back home. As you drew closer to home, you stopped by the convenience store and picked up a slice of cake and a box of candles, hoping that maybe the members would remember before the day was over so you could celebrate together.

Once home, you set all the bags in your room then remembered the slice you had bought and quietly made your way to the kitchen to put the cake in the fridge, then plopped down on the couch and put on a movie as you waited for the boys to come home. Slowly, your eyelids started to feel heavy and as you tried your best to stay awake, the tiring day finally got to you as you let your eyes close.

You didn’t start to stir until the sound of shuffling made its way to your ears. Opening one eye to peak around at what was happening, you saw the members filing into the house one by one. You sat up immediately and rubbed the sleep from your eyes as you looked at the time on your phone.

11:45. 

“How was your day, you guys,” you yawned out the question, getting up from the couch and stretching.

“Tiring,” Jin said as he walked passed you towards his room.

“Yeah, we’re probably just head to bed,” Hobi said with a tired smile. You sent back a small but warm smile and nodded in understanding,

“Yeah, of course. Good night.” 

There was some tired muttering of ‘good night’s from the others as they passed by and a small nod from Yoongi as they quietly made their ways to their respective rooms, turning off the kitchen light therefore leaving you to stand in the dark alone. You looked at the time on your phone and knew that they weren’t going to come out anymore. 

So… they didn’t remember after all?

You walked over to the fridge and pulled out the slice of cake, carrying it to the counter and setting it down before opening a drawer and taking out a candle and lighter.

Sticking the candle in the center of the cake, you took the lighter and lit it. You stared at the tiny flame, putting my hands together as you made a wish before quickly blowing out the candle and placing it back in the fridge and the clock struck midnight.

~

“Are you sure you have everything,” Yoongi asked as Jungkook handed you the carry-on bag and backpack.

You nodded, “Yep! I should be all set.”

You looked around the group before your eyes settled on Taehyung.

“I’m sorry that I won’t be able to make it to your birthday dinner tonight,” you sadly smiled.

He waved you off, “Don’t worry about it! You can’t exactly control flight times and I know you are dying to see your family. Oh, and thank you for the gift.” 

You took a few steps towards him and pulled him into a hug to which he happily reciprocated.

“Of course! And there’s also a slice of cake I bought in the fridge for you, if you want,” you said, pulling away from the hug in order to say bye to the rest of them, seeing as you won’t be back until the New Year. 

“I should get going,” you said, taking the luggage in your hand as you started to slowly back away from the group.

“I’ll be back in a week! Happy New Years, you guys!”

“Be safe!” “Take care, Y/n/n!” “Bye!” The members waved as they watched you turn around and walk toward your gate.

There was this feeling that Jimin had that he couldn’t seem to shake as he watch you disappear into the crowd of people.

“Guys… I feel like we’re forgetting something.”

“What do you mean? Y/n said she had everything,” Taehyung commented as he placed a hand on Jimin’s shoulder. 

The latter shook his head, “No. I think we’re forgetting something.”

The members looked around as if trying to retrace their steps. “We dropped off Y/n. Later, we’re going to dinner for Tae’s birthday,” Namjoon listed off as something seemed to collectively click in their brains.

“Did we forget,” Jungkook started.

“Y/n’s birthday,” Hobi finished the thought and everyone’s eye widened in realization.

Oh no…

[prettygoododds]

2024 Roundup

Thank you @rimeswithpurple and @nausikaaa for the tag!

I've been looking at everyone's 2024 roundup and I'm blown away by how hard this fandom works. So many pieces of art, baked goods, and words written all in the name of one horny vamp and a devil-tailed muppet.

That being said, I didn't do near as much as you all have done. But here it was I accomplished this year:

Was surprised to see that I wrote 91,875 words this year. I can get very dialogue heavy and I'm really trying to work on my descriptions and such. I think the word count points to progress.

I finished one fic. Started another. and completed the COC Countdown this year.

FIC COMPLETED

Sugar We're Going Down Swinin' (Explicit, 32k, hockey fic)

I started this for 2023 COBB and I wanted to finish it before I needed to delve into 2024 COBB. This fic is one I'm really proud of.

FIC I STARTED

Picket Fence is Sharp As Knives ( Explicit, 15k, unfinished AU)

This was my 2024 COBB submission. I'm still working on it, but got stalled and then COC happened and I put it on hold. I now have a good outline for the rest and should finish that up here soon. Maybe before COBB 2025 starts....

COC 2024

As Seen On TV (mature 44k)

believe this was my 4th year participating in the COC and as always it's one of my favorite things to do in this fandom. The pressure, the prompts, ,the pressure.... oh wait I said that. And I truly can't believe that this year 's countdown had me writing my longest fic to date.

In none SnoBaz news, I a took up another hobby. I started crocheting in October when my work ran a 4 week workshop for beginners. I've basically been alternating between one night crocheting , one night writing since then. I'm currently making my cat a couch (don't judge, I promise she deserves it) Here are my creations:

Goals for next year.... hmmmmm.....

I know I need to carve more time in my schedule for writing. I'm bad at it. I seem to think that I only need to write when I have a solid idea, but I know that's not true. Just sit down, stare at the computer for an hour. You can always rewrite it if it's crap, but at least it's something.

I also want to get better at responding to comments. I long... no yearn for those comments. They get me though some really tough mental times. But man, I suck at letting you all know how much they mean to me. I'll work on it. I promise.

I hope to be able to take part in some more challenges this year. I've stuck to COBB and COC but maybe it's time to branch out. Throw some at me!

Either way, this fandom is the best. Here's to 2024 and may 2025 bring us more great content and friendships!

I tag: @ic3-que3n @dohrnaira @thewholelemon @facewithoutheart @artsyunderstudy @imagineacoolusername

@shemakesmeforget @ivelovedhimthroughworse @wellbelesbian @aristocratic-otter @cutestkilla @blackberrysummerblog

@supercutedinosaurs @nightimedreamersworld @valeffelees @iamamythologicalcreature @shrekgogurt

@ileadacharmedlife @martsonmars @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @hushed-chorus @roomwithanopenfire

@youarenevertooold @noblecorgi @bookish-bogwitch @talentpiper11 @monbons

[doriansquest]

dragon prince season 7 refuses to be good and I'm so disappointed

i've been putting off finishing the season since it came out and i watched the first three episodes and absolutely hated it, but i finally decided to pull off the bandaid and wow was it so much more worse than i expected. like, i didn't really expect it to be good or anything, since everything has just been going downhill since season 4, but at the very least expected a proper conclusion, but nope, they couldn't even end the show in the finale.

this show just refuses to take the least logical path to the conclusion all the fucking time. like did there need to be so much subversion? follow through on your obvious foreshadowing. let callum be possessed by aaravos after he uses dark magic. that was set up all the way back in season 4. is he good? is he any different than as viren and claudia now, if he's willing to do the wrong thing for the greater good ("however dangerous, however vile")? hell, force rayla to reckon with that difficult choice. put her in the same situation she was in the pilot; is she willing to kill for the greater good, especially now when the stakes are so much higher and the victim is the love of her life?

let claudia kill terry and/or soren. that was bound to happen, she's far past the point of redemption now, she revived aaravos. stop tiptoeing around it. ("i'm still nice! i'm still me" what the fuck, no you're not. you made that decision ages ago, hell when you chose viren over soren all the way back in season 3). arguably, terry, as much as i love him, should have died all the way back in season 5, when viren was revived. it would have cemented claudia's conversion completed to aaravos if there was absolutely no one who loved her around anymore.

and for god's sake, don't try to make your main villain with absolutely no redeeming qualities sympathetic. don't give him a fucking daughter. not every villain is made to be redeemable, they can be just be evil! that's what i loved about aaravos. viren was morally grey from the start, but aaravos was always the dark voice whispering in his ear. he was conniving, manipulative, a force of pure evil! there was absolutely no reason to reduce him to this stupid thing that's so easy to defeat. why was it the dragons that killed him? why not the protagonists of the series instead of some side characters who haven't been in the story for multiple seasons?

like, there is no reason to constantly be adding new plot points? you can take a predictable solution. hell, it should be done in a final season. a story can still be interesting even if it's not the most twisty turvy thing in the world. it would have been so satisfying if the finale went exactly as expected: callum uses dark magic, gets possessed by aaravos and has to fight him out of his head while the other characters have to decide whether to hurt callum or risk aaravos escaping or whatever. we did not need the unicorns, nor the new archdragons, nor the fucking godforsaken sun elf plotline that never connected back to the main plot (and absolutely wasted amaya as a character). and we did not need evyrkind, nor bird harrow who never bothered to contact his sons, nor the seven fucking years. it was so easy to make a satisfying conclusion. why the fuck did the writers decide to take this route?

i don't know, i feel like i've put so much of my investment into this show for the past six years and somehow they manage to fumble it over and over again since season 4, and i keep telling myself that it's going to improve, that they're setting up something good, and they just don't, over and over for seasons. if you somehow enjoyed this season, please explain to me why. i want something good out of the time i spent.

[tessabennet]

Hello my friends

So. It's been five years, give or take. There was a worldwide pandemic, I got two and a half-ish degrees, I got diagnosed with epilepsy, I lost my dad and my grandpa, I worked various jobs, international politics have been nothing short of awful for a long time now... Yeah. It's been stressful, the whole time I was writing What I'm Looking For.

And in all this time, in between all of that, working on this massive project has been a comfort that I can't even begin to describe. This was something I could dive into when I was at my worst, in all this time, even when it felt like this series was the only thing that I was doing well. It was something that kept me going and that I'm proud of having finished.

Having said this much, I don't want to make some stupid kind of speech about being done with posting now. For most people, this is probably not as big a deal as it is for me. But I totally will make this a speech, because I have some things to say that mean too much to me to leave them unsaid.

You may already know that I first started writing These City Walls as an excercise to practice writing dialogue. At the time, a lot of what I did came from a place of frustration, with myself and especially with the MCU. But the more I worked on it, the more I realised that this fanfic stuff wasn't going to be a one-time thing, and I'm glad I decided to make this a longer series. And it kept getting longer, the more I thought about, outlined, and finally wrote it.

And throughout this whole journey, there were people that I want to mention, now that we're at the end of it. Starting with girlbookwrm, whose Hundred Year Playlist was the initial inspiration for huge chunks of this series (please go read it, it'samazing). And then, I have to mention @jesuschristtakethewheel, who was my beta reader for the first two parts of the series, and who encouraged me to start publishing it in the first place. I also have to say a huge thank you to @the-littlefangirl, who I've only gotten to know because of this series, who occasionally served as my test audience, and who, I can honestly say, is one of my best friends today.

There's a lot more people I want to thank, and those are my amazing, incredible, wonderful, and lovely regular commenters. You guys have been a rock for me to hold on to for so long. There's @haluton with their excited (and at times incoherent) screaming at me, there's @numberonestuckyshipper with her never-ending kindness to me and my writing, there's @smlmsworld who never gets tired of recommending my work, there's @hipsterdiva who approaches my fanfic like it's an actual piece of literature that deserves analysing, there's @mythicalmxyhem who's been with my series from so early on, and there's @radicalpeachie who made amazing fanart for me. I only know a lot of people here because this fic made me part of the stucky community. And then on AO3, there's PanamaRed, Jo_Dee, kawherp, saturns_moons, SaphDragon494, helloilovefanfiction, TylOcephale, AlwaysAkin, shakleton2, dxzei, Shinigami24, thisisalright, theearthisntflatatall, kingandlionheart, crazyjane, machka, and many, many more that I'm really, really scared of forgetting here. If you guys are here on tumblr, please let me know so I can follow you. And to anyone else reading this: if somehow you aren't on this list but feel like you should be, I agree that you should and apologise. Believe me, I recognised your name in my emails every time and I love you very, very much!

I can never thank you guys enough for the praise and support I've gotten from you over the years. Every single comment still means the world to me, and I'll no doubt always go back to them when I'm feeling bad or need a boost in confidenc. My life will definitely change now that I probably won't wake up to all those lovely comments as often anymore.

This is exactly why I'll be selfish and ask anyone who might still read or reread the series to consider leaving more comments and kudos. Or if you want to, feel free to create fanart and link it to the fic. Consider this my blanket statement: you can translate it, podfic it (you'll be my hero if you do that actually), make playlists, write your own spin-off based on it - just please link it to the series and let me know so I can share it too. It would mean the world to me if you don't let this fic die just yet.

(Also, just as a shot in the dark: In case you know someone who works at Disney or Marvel or happens to be a talent scout for publishers, please recommend me and my writing to them. That would be the cooles possible thing to come out of all this.)

In the meantime, I'll keep writing. I've been working more on original stuff this whole year, and if I ever publish a "real" book, I'll be sure to let you know. And more recently I've also been toying with some ideas for possible spin-off stories in the What I'm Looking For universe, so who knows? Whatever they could be, those fics probably wouldn't me stucky-centric. But maybe I'll write and publish them at some point - you never know.

For now, this is it anyway. And I don't want to be didactic or patronizing about this in any way. It's just, if there's even one thing you can take away from my version of this story and these characters, I hope it's that there's nuance in the world. Perspective matters, empathy matters, and so does understanding. And with that in mind, I think there's hope. I have to believe that, no matter how dark and dire the world seems at times. Steve and Bucky managed to go back to Brooklyn. We'll be fine too.

So yes, for now this is it. And for a while now I've been thinking about how to say goodbye to this fic. I still don't know. I'm not sure I want to. And I definitely don't want to say goodbye to all the lovely people I got to know, all the amazing friends I made because of it. And if you want to, you can come talk to me whenever you like, I really mean that. My asks are open and you can dm me any time. You guys have been the greatest audience I could've asked for. I wasn't expecting anything when I started posting - never could I have imagined that one day my stupid writing exercise would mean so much to some people. I love you all, each and every one. I'll miss you.

And finally, now that I'm all emotional about this anyway, I'll say this last thing: next year's gonna be different, but that doesn't mean it can't be a good year. I hope it will be, for all of us. Please stick around. I love you so much, and you mean the world to me. So - goodbye, guys. And, from all my heart: Happy New Year 💜

[kepler-station]

VIRTUE OF INNOCENCE/GRIEF + THE FIVE BEASTS ⟡ How the Beasts acted with INNOCENCE + Individual reactions to GRIEF/HEALING

— p.s. the wanderer!reader is like 80% done, it's just that i need to do the quest w/ wanderer getting a vision to complete it fully. rq by @damsel-balladeer, thank you for requesting!

— i'm gonna be honest, this is probably my favorite au i've seen with the beasts + beast! reader next to brittle-doughie's compassion au. i love the idea of sorrow already, and innocence is very similar to my own personal self-insert in crk. haha, wonder if anyone would like to see that (the lore isn't finished, don't request it).

— p.s. i didn't know where i could add this in but their soul jam broke immediately after they witnessed their old friends, the corrupted beasts getting trapped in the tree. having to watch who were practically their parents be locked away as they pleaded for you to remember them, that they loved them... what a blow to your emotional health. that is an understatement.

— no explaination for the virtue of innocence, just go here, lol.

APT. — ROSÉ & BRUNO MARS ıllı.

· · ͟͟͞͞꒰ TW. beasts are referred to their beast names instead of any headcanon pre-corruption names.

· · ͟͟͞͞꒰ SHADOW MILK COOKIE ıllı.

— if we thought of the beasts as Innocence's parents, as the VIRTUE OF KNOWLEDGE, shadow milk would be like the fun parent. of course, he's probably also the type to give out fun facts about earthbread and do fun things with them.

— he's likely the type to be good with kids because of his theatric skills. he can tell vivid stories, do plays with the other beasts to make you laugh, and make all kinds of jokes and anything that you find funny! it's not on me to pick your favorite beast, but if i were Innocence, shadow milk would probably be my favorite to be with. he's also be best at cheering you up!

— however as the BEAST OF DECEIT, it's likely that he'd still do all the theatric shenanigans he did, but it would be corrupted. plays about your favorite stories would now be different from the way you remember, and he'd gaslight you into thinking it was the original if you said it was different.

— in my headcanon, he was the first to be corrupted out of the five. he'd still care for you, but it's laced with deceit and horrible things you shouldn't be knowing as a child. to the very end, he still had a tinge of care for you even if the others cried because you'd be left behind. he was the one who tried cheering you up when you first turned into grief, albeit with corrupted stories and plays about he and his friends victory with scenarios such as the victory and happiness you'd have if you joined them. he was the one who first wanted to leave because he wanted to find you again, seeing how hurt you were at their decent to villainy...

· · ͟͟͞͞꒰ ETERNAL SUGAR COOKIE ıllı.

— she's the VIRTUE OF HAPPINESS, you always used to be so happy around her! it was probably eternal sugar and shadow milk who actually made you laugh and smile and happy because they did their best to play with you and interact you! in fact, she was the one who made the black cat doll you still carry to this day! dusted with happiness, she promised that if you hugged it, no matter where she was they were, she'd they'd always hug back even if they were already gone.

— she smiled so sweetly when she saw you hug it for the first time, it only took a glance between her and shadow milk to hug you right then and there. "see, we'll keep the promise!"

— she's second to my favorite beast if i was innocence, and she'd also likely still care after she was corrupted, albeit more slowly. she's the type to go "five more minutes..." when you'd ask her to play. in the early days of her SLOTH, she'd still play with you, but more sleepily and lazily. she'd probably fall asleep half way but still care about you when you cried, offering a cloud for you to sleep on.

— she and shadow milk were also probably the only ones who wanted to get out with also the reason to comfort you. some of her few words to you before she was caged in were some that told you to remember about the doll, that they'll still be with you through it, that she still loves you...

— (later note, she also was the one who taught you how to properly use your magic, emotional magic. you probably learned to control the blue emotional aura trick from her.)

· · ͟͟͞͞꒰ MYSTIC FLOUR COOKIE ıllı.

— as the VIRTUE OF VOLITION, she's the chill parent, and the most actually motherly (sugar's more like the fun mom) towards you. moments with her are always the most calm, and the most perfect for sleeping! she always offers the perfect atmosphere for sleeping, she's your go-to for whenever you're tired.

— she's the one who actually made the promise within black cat doll work, except what actually happens when you hug it is a comforting warmth that radiates from within that makes you think that they're hugging you right there even if they aren't. eternal sugar talked with her when she first made the doll, flying up to her temple and requesting to actually make the promise work when you hugged it.

— she's not the type to go full on play mode with you, but she smiles whenever she sees you playing with shadow milk/eternal sugar. she's happy to see you happy, but when you go to her, she'll make anything you want come true. a feast of jellies? a new set of clothing? a new island just for you? all of it, just for you!

— speaking of the island, she was the one who made the island. when you got old enough (atleast what she deemed old enough to have your own island), she made not just an island, but an archipelago with your aesthetics and palette just for you, and even taught you how it operated and how you can change it at your will! there's even five secret rooms hidden in discreet islands decorated with each of their palettes and themes as a room of comfort, but she was never able to tell you where they were as she fell into a deep state of APATHY far too soon.

— her apathy meant that she stopped playing with you, stopped granting your wishes and stopped smiling when she saw you at all. inside, she felt a tinge of happiness whenever she saw you... not cry, but it never showed enough to make you smile. you meant nothing to her at the peak of her corruption, but she made a promise to make you see her world of white as one of the last times you spent time with her as she saw, and you'd be with her forever...

· · ͟͟͞͞꒰ BURNING SPICE COOKIE ıllı.

— you never hung out with the VIRTUE OF CHANGE for too long because it always seemed like his ideas of fun were a little too... fiery? dangerous even, is what eternal sugar would call it with her face covered in concern after he burned you that one time he played with you.

— he told you great stories about the kingdoms he changed and the battles he fought, and the look of awe on your face was enough for him to make himself proud that he was able to make you happy in one way.

— he trained you in the past, however your capabilities in physical attack were nil because your natural abilities are more focused on emotional magic. it was also with him that he found that out because a blue aura covered beast-yeast when you cried out due to the burn. he never forgave himself for making you cry, and eternal sugar made sure he regretted it (he still regrets it but he hides it around his spice lackeys such as nutmeg tiger and pepper pangolin). if you're into sports, he does that with you too and even if you're not, he teaches you sports and you either have fun or he gets banned from teaching you sports by our local virtue of happiness again.

— when he became the BEAST OF DESTRUCTION, he stopped playing with you. he didn't stop talking to you, but he always ignored the way you cried when he told you how kingdoms fell due to his fire, the way you cried when he went off to kill another kingdom. still, you never saw the way in private he still reminisces of the days when you two were happy together playing even as a group because sugar banned him from playing with you since he burned you (cue a glare at eternal sugar in her cage). he may miss those days but he'll never admit it out of almost almost doing so when nutmeg tiger mentions you.

· · ͟͟͞͞꒰ SILENT SALT COOKIE ıllı.

— i can never see the VIRTUE OF SOLIDARITY being an active playmate of yours, it was always just shadow milk and eternal sugar (mystic flour is a stretch so shes not an active playmate, she's more like the rich mother who actually mothers and spoils you with whatever you want). burning spice and him were the ones who protected you and helped you when danger struck. as a knight, silent salt was literally your knight in shining armor.

— he was always pretty quiet, but he shows he cares through his sweet actions. he's always watching over you and he and mystic flour taught you important things like what's right and wrong, proper manners and important life lessons you'll need when you're older. while the shadow milk and eternal sugar were the fun parents, he and mystic flour were the parents who spoiled you but actually parented (they taught you what you needed to learn as a child), and burning spice is... there, he'll pick you up from soccer practice. that's all i have to say about burning spice.

— as the BEAST OF SILENCE, he ignored you constantly, with silence that just screamed "i'm busy". he still protected you fiercely, so much that it caused turmoil between him and shadow milk (eternal sugar if she was awake enough to play). you'll never see it because of the mask, but behind that facade he was pretty sad whenever you were sad. it wasn't your magic, it was just his natural emotions, but he ignored you and that too.

· · ͟͟͞͞꒰ HOW DID THE BEASTS REACT TO THE BEAST OF SORROW/GRIEF? ıllı.

— it was SHADOW MILK COOKIE who saw you first. when pure vanilla and shadow milk came back to fight one another. now freed, it was you, white lily, pure vanilla, and the grave gang against him once again. but wait, who was this cookie in a deep blue coat with the shining lilac tear crystal on their chest?

— when this mysterious cloaked cookie laid their eyes on the beast in the final fight of it all, in the heat of it all as he took away white lily in a fit of revenge, it was there when the blue aura consumed the atmosphere. of course, white lily fell onto the ground, sobbing, as well as the others accompanying them. pure vanilla cried atop the blue tower and shadow milk was in tears as well. you... you... it was you... INNOCENCE?

— they could see the way the beasts' eyes softened as he cried genuine tears. you proclaimed how hurt you were when they turned against the light, the years you cried so much the sea level rose and almost drowned beast-yeast as you were forced to lock yourself away deep in the seas to prevent losing your friends and the cookies you strived to protect, the cookies they failed to protect all those years ago.

— it was here when your friends striked the beast enough to beat him up, but he still just looked astonished... how much time has passed for you to be all grown up, a literal adult the next time they had met again? would you still enjoy his plays or would an emotional flood destroy his props as you cried out...?

— from there, MYSTIC FLOUR COOKIE and BURNING SPICE COOKIE found out next, both with different reactions.

— mystic flour of course, had little reaction on the outside. apathy had clouded her resolution so much she could hardly care as much as shadow milk did, but if you used your blue aura thang on her, she'd probably show tears too. hollow, white tears, but her face showed no sadness. on the inside though...

— wow, look at you. you're all grown up, pretty at that. your cloak hid most of you but this wasn't the cookie she once granted mindless, childish wishes to, you were an adult with your own responsibilities, you were like them prior to their corruption.

— deep down, she wished you would not follow the same path they did as a new hero of cookiekind. she has true faith in you and what you can do for cookiekind, she just doesn't care enough to show it.

— burning spice however was more excited about what you could do now that you're grown. he can do what he's dreamed of doing for so long... FIGHTING YOU!

— he doesn't break down when your aura surrounds his spice valleys like how his lackeys broke down in tears, he just wiped that stream away and distracted himself by taking you down.. attempting to atleast.

— inside, he feels... weird. it feels odd to feel this way after years of wallowing in the fires of destruction. how much has he missed? how much time has passed since you were a child? that child that eternal sugar banned him from playing with a long, long time ago was no more... all that was left was a fully grown adult drowned in their own sorrow and tears (literally), he can see your eyebags from the years you spent grieving and mourning over the loss of your friends. he almost feels bad for you... what? no, let's fight instead, none of that mushy emotions. maybe your magic is working. damn you, eternal sugar for teaching you those tricks.

— speaking of ETERNAL SUGAR COOKIE... truth be told, she was probably asleep and waved you off. what happened to the fun mom you once hung out with literally everyday? same with SILENT SALT COOKIE, but inside they feel... more or less the same, actually.

— both felt a deep sense of mourning for losing out on your entire life. you were an adult now, they missed almost your entire life growing up from an innocent wee little child to a fully grown adult, a depressed one, almost. you spent years wallowing in grief and sorrow over the loss of your friends. you believed they were taken away as a child but now you see the truth. you weren't a child anymore, long gone was the innocent and naive child they remember. those tricks don't work anymore, they know better now. all those years you spent crying and crying so much so that you almost drowned beast-yeast and had to lock yourself in the seas under your island to stop in hopes that they'd come back one day...

— eternal sugar won't be beat by your emotional magic, she knows all of that, she taught you that... is what she thinks because you actually beat her. how? how did you do that? you couldn't control yourself back then, how did... simple, you grew up. sugar was thinking of the child of old she once taught magic too, same with salt, just more silent about it.

[spoonfulofmilo]

Mick x driver!male!reader but childhood friends to rivals to lovers trope pls?

been writing this for so long, but I love it so much, and I'm finally happy with it :)

if you want to participate in my 400 followers event, look here :)

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist lmk :)

mick schumacher x male!driver!reader - childhood friends to rivals to lovers

2004

---

“Micky, Micky!”

Michael watched as the 2 kids smiled at the camera, both struggling to hoist their trophies up for the trophy. He saw the trophy tilt and tried to cry out, however it was too late.

Y/N could feel the tears welling up in his eyes as his head hurt. He’d heard his friend Max’s dad say that men don’t cry, and unless he was dying, there was no reason to cry. But he was 5 and the impact that the metal trophy had made with his head had really hurt.

But before the tears could fall out, Mick had already placed both his and Y/N’s trophies on the ground and was giving his best friend the biggest hug, and trying to stop him crying.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay You’re okay. This only hurt because it scared you. It doesn’t hurt as badly as the karting crash from last month, you’re okay, aren’t you.”

Y/N wiped his tears and nodded, trying to smile as he gasped to get his tears under control. Mick gave him the biggest hug ever as he stopped crying and picked up his trophy again.

Michael watched as the photos began again and the 2 kids smiled. Those 2 were going to do great things some day, he knew it.

---

2009

---

Michael didn’t think that Y/N would be happy when he got out of the kart. Mick and him had been fighting the entire race, miles ahead of anyone else and it had looked like Y/N would win it.

Until Mick went for a daring dive down the inside of Y/N’s kart, resulting in a spin for Y/N. He’d gotten back, gotten up to close to Mick again, but that spin had been costly, as Mick crossed the line and Y/N crossed it in second.

Michael didn’t even try to look for Y/N’s parents. They either would’ve gone home, expecting Michael to bring him home, or they’d be waiting in the pits for an opportunity to berate their son.

If they had done the former, Michael reckoned he would simply decide to let Y/N stay over for a sleepover tonight. He needed it.

As Michael wandered down to the pits where the drivers were finishing and parking up, he tried to blend in. It was easier than it used to be, back when he was racing he’d spend a while after every race taking photos with a couple of kids, talking to them, trying to convince them not to give up on their dreams even when it’s impossible. But now, ducking through, he was almost invisible.

And as he approached the two 10 year old boys, all he saw was jubilation. The 2 kids were happy, celebrating each other.

‘Papa! Papa! Did you see that, I won!’

“He did very well, even though I’m not exactly happy about that dive down the inside.”

Nothing about Y/N’s face indicated that he was unhappy, except for the darted around eyes that signalled he was looking for his parents.

They weren’t here. Clearly. Michael pulled Y/N into a hug. “C’mon, let’s get you 2 on the podium, and then we can head home. You wanna stay at home tonight?”

Michael didn’t even realise he had referred to his own home as Y/N’s home, as he saw his face light up.

“Home sounds good,” smiled Y/N, as he darted off to follow Mick to the podium.

---

2019

---

“Mick. I get that we were friends, back in karting, but life happens. Stuff happens. We’re both gunning for the championship and the f1 seat.”

“That doesn’t mean that anything has to change between the 2 of us, Y/N. We never let that stuff get between us usually. We were fighting for seats our entire childhood, and it never got between us then.”

“Yeah, well, this is the big leagues, Schumacher, sink or swim. I would wish you good luck out there, but I think I need it more.”

Y/N smiled at Mick, but it wasn’t a nice smile. It was a planned smile, like he knew what he was doing the whole time. Then he turned and left the driver room, heading towards the garage.

Mick tried to stop his eyes welling up with tears. First of all, Y/N was his friend. He didn’t know where this competitive spirit had come from. Well, Y/N had always been competitive, but not an asshole. And right now, he was being an asshole.

And Y/N knew of all people how much he hated his last name. How he hated when people referred to him as Schumacher, how he wanted to be seen as his own person, not his father’s son. And yet Y/N had called him Schumacher.

“Fucking asshole” was all Mick thought to himself as he prepared for the race.

---

2020

---

Y/N looked like he was going to throw something. Or murder someone. Or crash his car into a barrier. He looked positively fuming as Prema surrounded Mick, congratulating him on his driver championship and celebrating the team’s championship.

But Y/N, the person who’d been with him since karting, since they’d both been born. That was who he wanted to see and talk to. He bounded towards where the other prema driver was getting weighed.

“Y/N! Y/N, we got the championship!”

Y/N didn’t respond, just simply nodded, before listening to whatever the official was saying and wandering away from Mick.

As if he didn’t exist.

“Y/N” he called again, seeing him take out his headphones, maybe he hadn’t heard Mick’s calls. He could hear his family and team calling out, ready to celebrate. But he wanted to celebrate with Y/N.

Mick called out again “Y/N.”

“The fuck you want Schumacher?”

“I… wanted to celebrate the win with you. We won the teams championships. We should be celebrate.”

“Yeah, congrats. Congrats on your seat for next year as well.”

“I- oh, c’mon Y/N, you’ll get a seat. I bet Christian Horner’s just seeing how long you can hold out before he gives you the Alpha Tauri seat.”

“Yeah, well. Currently you have a contract and I don’t, so excuse me if I’m a little salty.”

“Y/L/N.”

Mick saw the way his jaw tightened, as he heard his father’s voice.

“I have to go, now Mick. Enjoy your win, and congratulations.”

Mick watched him walk off, towards his father. He saw the way he curled in on himself, as his father slung his arm around his shoulders.

Days later, when Y/N’s seat at Alpha Tauri was confirmed, Mick messaged him congratulations.

Y/N didn’t message back.

---

2022

---

“When did you start hating me Y/N?”

Mick was pissed. Y/N had nearly taken him out early in the race. He hadn’t spoken to him in years, since the end of 2020, over a year ago. He missed his childhood friend, and the fans had too.

Finding childhood photos of the 2 of them, often with Michael, had brought up more painful memories than he would like to admit.

Y/N was hyper aware of the cameras following them through the paddock, and so continued walking until he could pull Mick into a quiet corner where the cameras couldn’t reach them.

Inevitably, Y/N thought as he pulled Mick into the side of a motorhome, this will end up on the next season of drive to survive, but god do I care, no.

“I never hated you Mick. I tried to make myself hate you, but I couldn’t. You could hate me, and I would still love you.” 

Y/N tried to retract the ‘l’ word as soon as it came out of his mouth, covering his mouth and praying that Mick didn’t hear him correctly. Yeah they’d said ‘i love you’ to each other as kids, but that was when they were young, and kids and they didn’t understand the word, or the world that they lived in, or themselves fully. It was just another silly childhood promise.

Besides, while Y/N understood himself as queer, there were never any queer drivers, and he was probably about 95% sure that Mick was straight. He’d been spotted with girls through the junior formulas and he’d even been introduced to a couple of the girls. They were all lovely, but they never seemed to last a long time.

Mick's eyes widened as he heard the love word come out of Y/N’s mouth. Honestly, he was confused as to how he never saw the signs of Y/N’s queerness. The fact that there was 1 girl in karting, when he was 14, and then she never showed up again. The way his eyes had always lingered just long enough that it was unusual, but not long enough to cause any real suspicion. The way he’d gone on a few dates here and there, but always been super hush hush about the whole thing, not mentioning it until after it had happened. The way those dates had always had they/them pronouns, or they hadn’t been named.

“Y/N…you love me?” Fuck, Y/N had really fucked this up.

“No,” Mick’s heart dropped “No, I, fuck fine. It’s not like I’m ruining any friendship. Yes. Yes. I love you. And I have since, well not the day I met you. Maybe when we first got into single seaters… fuck i don’t know, but yeah i love you.” Y/N took Mick’s silence badly and just decided to walk out towards his driver’s room.

Mick didn’t follow him.

---

2025

---

Y/N couldn’t even be pissed as he crossed the line second behind Mick. The Ferrari just seemed happy, even from 5 seconds behind.

“AND MICK SCHUMACHER CROSSES THE LINE FIRST TO WIN THE GERMAN GRAND PRIX AND CLAIM HIS FIRST EVER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and there’s his father on the screen looking every part like the proud dad that I’d imagine he is right now.”

“That’s right Crofty, it may not be the 7 world championships that Schumacher Sr achieved, but still this championship must mean so much to him.”

Mick pulled in to the pitlane, behind the number 1 stand, and he just sat in the scarlet Ferrari crying.

He had done it.

He had won a world championship.

Y/N pulled up beside him in the dark blue red bull, smile evident even after losing the championship.

He watched as he pulled off his helmet, watching as Mick embraced his family, his mum, his dad, his sister, his niece. He stood to the side high fiving his team, and thanking them for a great year. Next year would be their year.

And he didn’t exactly try and stop Mick as the German ran towards him, helmet off, and pulled him into a kiss.

---

taglist: @leosxrealm, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3, @anicega, @badblondebisexualboy, @ghostking4m, @koalapastries, @camelliaflow3r

[morgana-larkin]

May I have a Chessy x reader slow burn then against the wall smut? I'm a sucker for both to be quite honest.

Hi Anon! Thank you for the prompt and I hope I delivered on the slow burn and the smut enough for you! Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I got another Chessy prompt yesterday so I'll see if I'm able to finish it before the New Year! Also I didn't specifically describe this about reader but I pictured her being taller than Chessy. I am not taller than Lisa, I'm 5'1, which is why I usually make reader shorter.

A Vineyard Crush

Warnings: Smut, Angst

Words: 9.1K (Enjoy)

You just got hired as a gardener at the Parker’s ranch and Nick Parker himself is giving you a tour of the ranch. 

“So once the grapes are picked then they go down here where they get inspected again and then turned into wine.” Nick says as he shows you the basement. “So that’s the places you’ll need to know for work, any questions?” He asks as you walk back to the field. You’re about to shake your head when you see a woman appear at the front door and you can’t help but stare a bit.

“Who’s that?” You ask and point to her, Nick looks to where you’re pointing.

“Oh that’s Chessy, she’s the live-in nanny that helps me raise my daughter and keeps the house running.

“You have a daughter?” You ask and he nods.

“Ya but she just left for camp yesterday and won’t be back for a month.” He tells you and you nod.

“Ok, when do I start?” You ask him and he smiles.

“Right now.” He says and he calls someone over. A man walks towards you both and looks at Nick. “Kyle, this is Y/n. I just hired her and she needs someone to show her how things are done.” He tells him and Kyle nods before Nick walks to the house.

“Ok, so come with me and I’ll show you everything we have to do.” He tells you and you follow him to the grapes. On your way there, you stare at Chessy again and can’t help but be entranced by her.

The next day you’re checking the grapes while Kyle watches and you see Chessy walk out and you turn slightly to glance at her.

“Do you need a break?” You hear and you snap out of your staring and look at Kyle.

“What?” You ask him.

“Do you need a break? I’m guessing you’re not used to working in the heat all day.” He says and you nod.

“Ya a small break would actually be nice.” You tell him and you go get your water bottle from the cooler. “What do you know about her? I think Nick said her name was Chessy.” You ask him and he looks at her.

“I don’t know much actually. She doesn’t go outside much unless it’s to walk Sammy and she doesn’t talk a lot.” He says.

“Who’s Sammy?”

“Their golden retriever, he’s a sweetheart of a dog.” He tells you. “All I know is she takes care of Hallie, Nick’s daughter, and she’s also the cook and she cleans the house.” He says to you and you look at Chessy. 

The following day you’re picking grapes when you hear barking and then you see Sammy running up to you. He stops in front of you and then you give him a few pets and then you hear someone calling him and you look up to see her running towards you.

“Sammy!” She yells and Sammy ignores her and demands more pets from you. “Sorry about that, he usually doesn’t run up to people like this.” She says to you with a smile and you smile back at her.

“Oh it’s not a problem, he’s so sweet and cute.” You tell her and Sammy wags his tail.

“He’s sweet until he runs to total strangers to get away from the bath.” She jokes and you laugh. “Are you new? I haven’t seen you before.” She asks you and you nod.

“Ya, it’s only my third day.” You tell her as you stand up straight to look at her.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, I’m Chessy.” She says and holds out a hand to shake, you immediately shake her hand and you feel her incredibly soft hands.

“I’m Y/n. Sorry but your hands are so soft, what’s your skin routine?” You ask and then mentally facepalm for asking a stupid question but then you hear her laugh.

“Well thank you and I actually don’t have any routine other than using body lotion every night before bed.” She says with a smile and you stare at her the entire time until Sammy barks. “Well I gotta get this mister into the bath so he has time to dry off before the sun goes down.” She says and holds on to Sammy’s collar. “I’ll see you around.” She tells you.

“Ya, well I work here so I guess you will.” You joke and she smiles before walking Sammy back into the house.

The two of you didn’t speak again until a week later when you and Kyle were working on a grapevine when you noticed something strange about the bottom of the plant.

“Kyle, does it look like the plant is molding?” You ask him and he quickly goes on his knees to inspect it.

“Go get Nick, he’s in the house.” Kyle tells you and you run to the house. You walk inside as they left the doors open and you see Chessy in the kitchen, cooking something.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?” She asks as she sees you.

“Where’s Nick? It’s important.” You ask her.

“NICK!!!” She yells and he jogs into the room a few seconds later.

“What’s up Chessy? Y/n? What are you doing here?”

“Can you come with me? I think something is wrong with one of the grapevines.” You tell him and he follows you outside. 

“If it’s molding then we should pull it out and save as much grapes on it as possible.” Kyle tells Nick and he looks at it.

“Yes, you should pull it out and save all the grapes.” Nick says and you and Kyle get to work.

An hour later Chessy comes out and reaches you just as you turn around and bump right into her.

“Oohh! Oh Chessy, I’m sorry.” You tell her and she waves you off.

“It’s no one’s fault, wrong timing is all. I was just wondering if the problem got fixed. The one that you had to get Nick to help solve.” She asks and you smile.

“Oh that, ya. We had to pull one of the vines out as it was dying from the root.” You tell her and she nods. “Did you come just to check on me?” You ask her and she rolls her eyes. 

“No.” She simply says and you tilt your head. “Ok maybe.” She changes her answer to.

“Well I’m flattered, I heard you don’t talk to the workers much.” You tell her and she quirks an eyebrow at you.

“Oh, have you asked about me?” 

“Of course.” You say to her with a smile.

“I don’t talk much to people because I’m busy.” She tells you as you get back to work.

“And yet you took time out of your busy schedule to come talk to me.” You tell her and smirk.

“Don’t get cocky, I have to go back to work now, but I’ll see you around.” She says softly and you nod.

“You can come out and see me any time during the day.” You tell her and she smiles before she walks back to the house.

The next day she goes to walk Sammy and passes by you. She smiles and waves when she sees you before she continues with the walk. When she finishes the walk, she lets Sammy off the leash and then he starts running back to the house. He ends up taking a slight detour and runs to you. You turn around when you hear him barking and you get on your knees and start petting him. Chessy eventually catches up and walks up to you both.

“What horrible thing were you going to do to him now?” You joke with her and she snorts.

“Nothing this time, I just took him off the leash.” She tells you. “And I guess he ran to his new friend.” She adds and you smile as you continue petting him.

“Well, aren't you sweet?” You say to Sammy and then he runs off. “And I guess he’s had enough.” You say out loud as you stand up. “By the way, did you hear that this publicist is coming to take pictures tomorrow?” You ask her and she nods.

“Ya Nick told me, apparently this girl named Meredith Blake.” She says. “I gotta go finish cleaning the house in case she wants pictures of it as well.” She tells you and you nod before she leaves.

“So you and Chessy are getting along.” Kyle says to you and you turn to look at him.

“I guess.” You tell him and shrug your shoulders.

“I won’t tell anyone about your crush on her.” He says to you and you whip your head towards him.

“I don’t have a crush on her.” You tell him sternly.

“Alright, whatever you say. But you were staring at her as she walked away.” He tells you and then he gets back to work.

The next day a car pulls up and Nick walks out to greet them. You think that it must be the publicist. You see her walk out of the car and you widen your eyes as you see a beautiful young woman step out and greet Nick. You watch them walk around as he gives her a tour and you go back to work. About half an hour later they walk up to where you are and Nick greets you.

“Hey Y/n, this is Meredith Blake, the publicist I told you all about.” He introduces her to you and you nod then shake her hand. You see Nick’s hand is on her back the entire time. “Do you mind if she takes a couple pictures of you working and of the grapes?” He asks you.

“No not at all, go for it.” You tell him and then get back to work. About 10 minutes later they move on to the other areas and you just shake your head at Nick being smitten with her. “If she was my type I might be all over her as well.” You mutter to yourself. “Thankfully she’s not my type.”

“Who is your type then?” You hear behind you and you turn around quickly and see Chessy there with a smile.

“Oh, Chessy. I didn’t even notice or hear you coming.” You tell her and she giggles.

“Sorry to scare you, maybe I’ll wear a bell next time.” She jokes with you and you snort.

“Well that might actually help, that way I’ll know to run away.” You say with a smile and she laughs.

“I saw you met Meredith.” She tells you and you nod. “Apparently they already met a couple times and Nick apparently asked her out and she said yes.” She tells you. “I noticed you eyeing his hand.” She adds on.

“Were you watching me?” You ask her.

“Watching her actually, I want to know what’s going on.” She tells you and you nod. “You didn’t answer my question earlier, what’s your type?” She asks and you slightly blush.

“Oh that’s not important.” You say, trying to not answer the question.

“Come on, I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.” 

“I’m actually ok not knowing what kind of man catches your eye.” You say as you look at a couple grapes before picking them out and putting them in a basket.

“Man or woman.” She says and you look at her. “I’m attracted to both genders.” She tells you and you stare at her for a couple seconds. 

“I’m attracted to women.” You tell her and she nods. “Attracted to one's a bit older than me and brunettes the most.” You say, keeping it a bit short but then realised you described her.

“Hm, interesting. Well I’m attracted to both genders and it’s not really anything physical that really attracts me, it’s more personality. Like kind, confident and romantic.” She says to you and you nod.

“That’s a good list to have. I wasted a small amount of time on a girl who wasn’t nice.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Well you can use my list as a reference then.” She says and then both of you say bye before she leaves to the house.

“I just don’t know what he sees in her.” Chessy tells you a few days later as she holds the basket full of grapes for you.

“Well she’s pretty and good at selling.” You tell her as you place a grape in the basket.

“She’s barely selling the wine.” She says and you look at her.

“I didn’t say it was the wine that she’s good at selling.” You tell her and she snorts. “You seem a bit jealous.” You add and she shakes her head.

“Not jealous, more concerned.” She tells you. “Nick and Hal are family to me, and I don’t think Hal is going to like this.” She says as you place another grape in the basket.

“When is she coming back?” You ask her. 

“In 15 days.” She tells you.

“Well we can’t be too surprised that Nick is dating, he is a single man.” You say to her.

“I guess, it did take him a while to get over his ex-wife.” She says and you hum.

“Well there’s nothing we can do, so how about you focus on keeping the house going until Hallie comes back?” You tell her and she nods.

“Good point, it’s not like anything serious will happen at least until Hal meets her.” She says and you nod.

“Exactly.” You tell her as you put another grape in the basket. She then hands the basket back to you.

“I gotta go make some lunch.” She says and you nod at her.

“Have fun.” You tell her and she smiles before walking to the house.

“I don’t have a crush on her.” You hear Kyle as he imitates you.

“We can be acquaintances.” You tell him.

“She might be acquaintances with you but you got a crush on her.” He says and you roll your eyes.

“I don’t, she’s just an interesting person.” You tell him and then he looks unimpressed and gets back to work.

The next day you have your raincoat on as it’s raining out and then you all hear thunder coming and then see lightning that’s pretty close.

“Come on, we got to take shelter.” Kyle tells you and you grab the basket and then run to cover. 

You, Kyle and a couple others take shelter at the front porch of the house and wait out the storm while others take shelter in the horse shelter.

“Is everyone ok?” You hear and turn to see Chessy there.

“Ya everyone is good, just saw lightning really close by.” You basically shout over the rain and she nods.

The following week she stops by to say hi to you.

“Hey you.” She says softly and you look at her.

“Where’s your bell?” You joke with her and she laughs.

“I knew I forgot something.” She says and you giggle.

“I guess you’re excited about Hallie coming back in 7 days.” You tell her and she nods.

“Yep, but it’s looking serious between Nick and Meredith. I saw them making out the other day by the pool.” 

“Ew.” You say and she laughs.

“It’s even worse if you catch them.” She says and you smile.

“You must be traumatised.” You say dramatically and she laughs again.

“I most definitely am.” 

“So what brings you by? Came to rant again?” You ask her and she shakes her head.

“Nope, just came to say hi to my friend as I have some free time.” She tells you and you smile.

“Already at friends?” You ask her shyly and she nods.

“Well we shared our attractions so I think friends is acceptable.” She says and you laugh. 

“It definitely is.” You say as you pull out a couple weeds around one of the grapevines.

For the rest of the week, Chessy comes to talk to you everyday and then on Thursday she comes out running to you.

“Y/n!” She yells and you turn to look at her.

“What is it?” 

“They’re engaged.” She says to you and you look at her confused. “Nick just proposed to Meredith and she said yes.” She tells you and you widen your eyes.

“That’s quick.” You say and she nods.

“Hal doesn’t even know her father is dating someone, and now he’s engaged.” She says. “She’s coming back in 2 days.” She exclaims and you rub her arm to comfort her.

“Just relax, maybe Hallie might like it.” You tell her and she looks at you unimpressed.

“I’m calm, but I know Hal won’t like it.” She tells you. “Are you working on Saturday?” She asks and you nod.

“Ya I work everyday over the summer.” You tell her.

“I might rant to you over the weekend.” She tells you and you nod.

“You can come rant to me anytime.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Thank you.” She says and you smile at her.

The next day you see Chessy frantically getting things ready for Hallie’s arrival, as well as going shopping to pick up everything for meals.

On Saturday morning you see Nick’s car pulling up and you see a ginger haired girl getting out as well as Chessy running out, screaming excitedly and you snort.

“She’s such a dork.” You mutter and then you look to see Kyle looking at you amused. “Still not a crush.” You tell him and he shrugs his shoulders and gets back to work. 

You then hear barking and you see Sammy barking at Hallie and avoiding her. That’s odd. Chessy told you that Sammy adores Hallie.

You then see Hallie go inside and Chessy pets Sammy before following her. You see Meredith walking around in a white dress with a hat on and you shake your head. You wonder when Chessy will come out and rant to you.

You see her coming out about an hour later and you pretend that you don’t see her, to make sure that Kyle sees you don’t have a crush on her.

“Hey Y/n.” She says and you look at her with a smile.

“Hey Chessy, come out to rant already?” You ask her and she shrugs her shoulders.

“Not only is Hal meeting Meredith right now, she also seems different. It seems she changed a lot at camp.” She tells you and you nod.

“Well she’s almost 12, don’t they tend to do that at that age?” You ask her amused and she nods.

“They do but she barely touched the chili I made even though it’s her favourite thing in the world.” She says. “Not to mention that Sammy is avoiding her.” She adds on.

“Ya, I saw that, I did think that was weird.” You tell her and she nods. “Just give it a couple days and I’m sure once she settles in then she’ll be begging you to make that chili again.” You tell her and she smiles.

“You always know what to say, don’t you?” She asks and you blush a little.

“I guess I can be a woman of words.” You tell her and she laughs. The both of you chat a bit until she has to go start on dinner. 

“You guys spend a lot of time together.” Kyle tells you when Chessy is out of ear shot.

“Well we’re friends and we don’t spend a whole lot of time together, I mean we only talk while I work.” You tell him.

“You mean you don’t spend time together outside of working hours?” He asks and you shake your head. “Are you really friends if you don’t spend time together outside of work? It sounds like you’re work friends.” He tells you and you frown.

“Maybe.” You tell him and go on your knees to pull out a weed.

The next day you see Nick and Hallie take off on their horses and then Chessy comes out with Sammy. Sammy remains off leash and he chooses to run up to you.

“Hey Sammy!” You exclaim and go to pet him.

“He definitely likes you. He might have a little crush on you.” Chessy tells you when she catches up.

“I bet he likes everyone.” You tell her.

“Except for Hal, he’s still avoiding her.” She tells you and you look at her. “And she’s still acting strange.” She adds.

“Strange how?” You ask and she sighs.

“She barely touched breakfast, she took a bite out of a piece of toast and then took off. She normally loves to eat a lot at breakfast. She’s also gotten incredibly proper which is unusual and she forgot how to open the door to go outside.” She tells you.

“So she’s acting a bit different, but she’s still Hallie. I mean there’s not someone else who looks exactly like her.” You joke and she looks like she’s thinking about something. “Right?” You ask her and she snaps out of her thoughts and looks at you.

“Right, exactly.” She tells you.

“I’ve got a lot to do today.” You tell her and she looks at you.

“You don’t want to talk with a friend like we did yesterday?” She asks and she tilts her head.

“Well work friends don’t always talk to each other for an hour or two everyday.” You tell her and she frowns.

“Work friends?” She asks.

“Ya, I mean we only talk to each other while at work. Isn’t that work friends?”

“Oh, right, I guess so.” She tells you with disappointment in her voice.

“Everything alright?” You ask her and she smiles and nods.

“Yep, just remembered something I have to do.” She tells you and heads inside, and Sammy follows her. You get back to work and you see Kyle looking at you strangely.

Chessy heads inside and finishes cleaning the kitchen before she gets her glasses out and goes to read in the chair. Her mind goes to wander to you and you saying that her and you are just work friends and that kinda stung. She thought you two were real friends but then thinks you have a point, you don’t hang out outside of work. That didn’t stop her from developing a crush on you though. She’s suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when Hallie barges in all anxious.

Chessy is in the kitchen 30 minutes later making food for Annie when she catches sight of you working on the grapes. She looks out of the window just to watch you working and gets lost in thought. She doesn’t know how much time has passed when Annie walks into the kitchen. 

“What are you staring at?” She asks Chessy and Chessy slightly jumps and turns around.

“Nothing! Nobody.” She says and Annie looks unconvinced.

“You were staring at someone?” She asks and Chessy shakes her head.

“Of course not, why would you ask that?” Chessy says with a slight blush and Annie smiles.

“Well I just came to tell you that Hallie is telling our mother tomorrow morning and then we’re going to be switched back.” She tells Chessy.

“Well I guess that’s what’s bound to happen when you switch places with your secret twin.” Chessy tells her amused and Annie laughs.

“Why didn’t they tell us that we’re a twin? I mean you knew.” Annie asks her and Chessy looks at a lost for words.

10 minutes later you’re on a ladder getting some grapes up top while Kyle is holding on. 

“Hey Y/n.” Chessy tells you and you look down and see Chessy and Hallie there.

“Hey Chessy, just a moment.” You tell her.

“Kyle, none of these grapes are ready.” You tell him.

“I guess they’re growing slower on this one. We’ll just check again tomorrow.” He tells you and you nod then get down. Kyle takes the ladder and walks away to put it away.

“So Chessy, what’s up.” You ask her as you take your gloves off.

“Well I wanted to introduce you to someone.” She says.

“Oh, well hello Hallie.” You tell her and shake her hand. “Chessy has told me quite a bit about you.” 

“Well actually this isn’t Hallie.” Chessy says and Annie looks at her in shock. “You can trust her.” Chessy says and you look confused.

“I’m actually Annie, Hallie’s twin.” Annie says with her British accent and you look at Chessy and she confirms with a nod. 

“Well it’s nice to meet you Annie, and I see you’re from the UK.” You tell her and she nods.

“From London. Chessy wanted me to meet you before I get switched back with Hallie.” She says and you nod. 

The 3 of you talk for a little bit before Annie and Chessy had to go back inside to eat and you had to get ready to leave.

The next day Chessy comes up to you and takes a breath before speaking.

“We’re all leaving tomorrow morning to go to the Stafford hotel.” She tells you and you look at her.

“Well hello to you too.” You tell her with a smile and she chuckles.

“Hey Y/n, we’re switching the twins back as Hallie told their mom.” She tells you and you nod.

“Well at least you’ll get to see Hallie again.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Ya, but I’m going to miss Annie. I saw both of them when they came home from the hospital and then a year later Elizabeth takes off with Annie.” She tells you and you grab her hand.

“I’m sure it’ll all work out as the twins will want to see each other again as well as see their parents again.” You tell her and Chessy looks at your hand in hers and nods.

“You’re right, I’m excited to see Hal again and I’ll see Annie again.” She says and you smile at her before you let go of her hand.

“How long are you going to be gone for?” You ask her. 

“Nick reserved a couple bedrooms for a couple nights.” She tells you and you nod.

“Well I’ll see you when you get back, and I can’t wait to meet Hallie.” You tell her and she smiles at you before she goes to pack. 

You do your work for a couple days and then you see them come back home, only this time there’s 2 cars coming back. You watch as 2 ginger-haired girls get out of the car, as well as Nick, Chessy, Meredith and Sammy, as well as a couple other people you don’t know. 

You watch Chessy for the whole day and see her and this guy being really close with each other. You feel a sting in your heart at seeing them spending time together and being all giggles. You start feeling jealousy at seeing her with someone else and you work and mope until Chessy walks over to you.

“Y/n!” She exclaims as she comes over with that guy and the twins. “I wanted to introduce you to the twins and also Martin. We don’t know which one is which as they won’t tell us. And Martin is Elizabeth and Annie’s butler.” She tells you with a smile.

“Well nice to meet you Martin and Hallie.” You say and look directly at her.

“How’d you know which one was who?” Hallie exclaims and you smile.

“You just told me.” You say and they pout before you hear Chessy giggle. Martin then gets called by Elizabeth and he goes to help her.

“Isn’t he great?” Chessy asks you and the twins look at her and then at you.

“I don’t know him.” You tell her, harsher than you thought and she looks at you confused due to her tone.

“Well him and I are going on a picnic date tomorrow while everyone else is away camping.” She says and you go back to picking grapes.

“Cool.” You say, completely uninterested in the conversation. The twins look between the two of you before looking at each other and then leaving. Chessy watches them leave and then steps closer to you.

“Are you ok? Did something happen while we were away?” She asks with concern and puts her hand on your shoulder but you shrug her off.

“I’m fine, I just have work to do, as you can see.” You tell her with a snap to your voice and she looks at you surprised.

“If something is bothering you then you know you can tell me.” She says and you look at her without any emotion.

“Why would I tell you? We’re just work friends, remember?” You say and she nods.

“I guess you just need some space right now, I’ll leave you be.” She tells you and walks away.

You let out a breath when she’s out of earshot and Kyle comes up to you.

“Still denying that you have feelings for her?” He asks and you glare at him before you soften your features.

“I know I like her, but she obviously likes that Martin guy instead of me.” 

“So what are you going to do? You can brush her off like that everytime she comes to talk to you.” He tells you and you sigh.

“I can’t talk to her without being jealous about her and Martin.” You tell him.

“So you are going to brush her off every time?” He asks and you nod. “Doesn’t she come to talk to you a few times per week?” He asks you and you nod.

“I have to start distancing myself as I have a major crush on her. At this point it’s not even a crush, I have feelings for her, real feelings for her.” You tell him and he rubs your back before going back to work. 

“So your plan is to get her to not like you anymore?” He asks and you nod.

“It’ll make her stop coming to talk to me.” You say and then you go back to work.

You watch Chessy and Martin kiss under an umbrella as Annie, Elizabeth and Martin head back to London. It’s been 2 days since you started distancing yourself from Chessy and you still feel a sting in your heart at her spending a lot of time with Martin, especially since you heard that she spent a whole day and a night with him. 

The next day you see Chessy walking around the yard with Sammy and then Sammy runs up to you and demands pets from you. You couldn’t keep yourself from ignoring him as he’s too sweet and cute, so you obviously start petting him.

“So you refuse to spend time with me but not him?” Chessy asks as she comes up to you both.

“Didn’t think you’d notice?” You tell her and she looks at you confused. “You were spending every minute with Martin.” You tell her and she frowns.

“Yes but he’s back in London now.” She tells you.

“And didn’t Nick and Hallie not go after them?” You ask her and she nods. “So he’s going to come back and you’ll be able to spend all the time you want with him.” You snap at her.

“What’s been going on with you lately? Ever since we came back from San Francisco, you’ve been acting different.” She says and you roll your eyes. You go to walk to a different grapevine but she grabs your wrist. “Y/n, please talk to me.” She says and you glare at her.

“Why do you care if I talk to you or not?” You ask her and she looks hurt by your words. Before she speaks again, Kyle comes up to you both and looks at Chessy.

“Sorry to interrupt but I need Y/n’s help with something.” He says and Chessy lets go of you.

“Of course, I’ll talk to you later then Y/n.” She says to you and you watch her walk away and then turn to Kyle.

“Thank you.” You tell him after taking a breath.

“You’re welcome. But I can’t save you all the time, you should come up with an excuse as to why you don’t want to see her ever again or tell her the truth.” He tells you and you sigh.

“Obviously I’m gonna lie, I just have to come up with a reason why.” You tell him. 

“I don’t understand why you never told her that you have feelings for her.”

“Because I’m not her type.” You tell him.

“What did she say her type was again?”

“Kind, confident and romantic.” You say and he looks at you.

“So you don’t want to be nice to her anymore cause that would just turn her off?”

“I was never trying to turn her on, and besides she has Martin now.” You tell him. “And he seems like her type.” You say, unknown to you, Chessy was watching you and Kyle talk from a window inside the house.

Chessy takes a deep breath and places her hands on the counter to steady herself. She likes Martin but she also likes you. She thinks how Martin is her type, he’s nice to her, he’s confident with what he wants and he took her out on a romantic picnic. But during the picnic she remembers thinking about you. But you seem to be pushing her away and she doesn’t know why. 

She would rather be with you as she likes you more, but you have no romantic interest in her, and it seems that you have no platonic interest in her anymore as well. She slumps down on the ground and Sammy walks up and sits next to her, providing comfort. If you want nothing to do with her then she’ll just have to respect your wishes and stay away, besides she has Martin now and there’s a good chance he’s coming back.

A couple days later you see Nick and Hallie pull up and get out of the car with smiles on their faces, and you’re guessing that it’s all going to work out for them.

Nick and Hallie tell Chessy that the whole James household is moving in with them, including Martin. She’s excited at first but then it sinks in for her that Martin is going to be around the entire time and each day she stares at you from a window. 

A week later the James household and Martin come to the ranch with some essentials before the rest of their stuff comes from London.

The whole first week of them being there, you try to ignore Chessy and Martin being close to each other. Chessy hasn’t tried to talk to you since you snapped at her and you can’t blame her. 

The day after the first week of everyone moving in, you come to the ranch and Hallie and Annie come up to you.

“What can I do for you two?” You ask them.

“Why are you and Chessy not talking to each other?” Annie asks you and you look at her.

“We were acquaintances but we’re not anymore.” You simply tell her.

“But why?” She pushes and you sigh.

“The reason doesn’t matter.” You tell her as you get back to work.

“Is it because of Martin? You snapped at her when she introduced you to Martin.” She asks and you got to give her credit for catching on to that.

“What would anything have to do with him?” You ask her.

“Because you like her.” Hallie simply says and you wipe your head at them.

“Is there a reason for this questioning?” You ask them as calmly as possible.

“Chessy likes you as well.” Annie says and Hallie agrees.

“And why would you say that?” You ask them.

“Because when I was here, she spent a lot of time with you, spoke highly of you and I caught her staring out the window at you.” Annie says and you sigh.

“I still don’t see the reason for you two talking to me.” 

“Well don’t you see? You like her and she likes you, you should be together.” Hallie says.

“Annie, have you forgotten that your butler is with her?” You ask her and she thinks about that for a moment.

“We can break them up.” Annie says.

“No, I’m not going to ruin a happy relationship because of feelings that Chessy might have had for me at some point.” 

“She still likes you.” Hallie says and you look at them. “We see her staring out the window every day. The window that just so happens to be in the spot to see you perfectly.” She adds and you go back to work.

“Annie and Hallie, I’m only going to say this once. Chessy is happy with Martin and her and I are no longer acquaintances or friends or whatever we were. So please just drop it, ok?” You tell them and they look at you.

“If we dropped it with our parents then they wouldn’t be together.” Annie says and Hallie nods.

“Chessy and I aren’t your parents.” You tell them and then they seem to get an idea and run away.

Back at the house, Chessy is sitting on the living room couch with Martin when the twins walk in.

“Chessy, can we talk to you?” Hallie says as they go up to her.

“What’s up Hal?” She asks and then they take her hands and drag her up to their room. “Guys, what is going on?” She asks them once they close the door.

“It’s about Y/n.” Hallie says.

“What about Y/n? Is she ok?” Chessy asks.

“Physically yes, emotionally not so much.” Annie says and Hallie nods.

“What?” 

“Why aren’t you two friends anymore?” Annie asks. “When I was here, you spoke highly of her and a lot.” 

“Well Y/n didn’t want me in her life anymore.” Chessy tells them honestly. “I tried talking to her and she snapped at me twice. That’s what happened.” 

“But why did she snap at you?” Hallie asks.

“I don’t know, you’d have to ask her.” 

“We did, she didn’t give us a direct answer but we have a good idea why.” Annie says and Chessy looks at them in confusion.

“And why do you think Y/n snapped at me?” Chessy asks them.

“Because she likes you, as in, has feelings for you.” Hallie tells her and Chessy looks at them, at a lost for words.

“Did she specifically tell you that?” She asks them carefully.

“No, but she didn’t deny it.” Hallie says.

“She started snapping at you after you introduced her to Martin, Chessy she was jealous.” Annie says to her.

“We’ve been talking all summer, she never said anything.” Chessy says.

“We don’t know the reason for that, but she could be scared.” Hallie says.

“Why are you telling me this?” Chessy asks them.

“Because you deserve to know, we know you have feelings for her.” Annie says.

“But I’m with Martin now.” Chessy says.

“Well it all depends on who you’d rather be with.” Hallie tells her. 

“You can stay with Martin or you can tell Y/n the truth.” Annie adds. 

Chessy is looking out the window at you working and Martin comes up to her.

“Why do you stare out that window everyday?” He asks her and she turns around.

“No important reason.” She says and he looks out of it.

“Oh, I can see the vineyard from here, I guess it’s a nice view.” He says. “Oh and there’s your friend Y/n.” He says to her.

“She’s not my friend anymore.” She says to him.

“Why not?” 

“Because she doesn’t want me in her life anymore.”

“Did she say why?” 

“No, she didn’t, and it hurts.” She says and Martin hugs her.

“Why don’t we go ask her together? Demand an answer from her.” 

“I don’t think she’ll say anything with you there, it took a while before she started opening up to me.” Chessy tells him.

“It’s that why you look out the window everyday? Cause you’re looking at Y/n.” Martin asks and Chessy nods. “Are you staring at her because you’re longing to be her friend or for a different reason?” Martin asks and Chessy looks at him.

“Different reason.” She tells him and Martin looks disappointed before looking at her.

“Is the reason that you’d rather be with her?” He asks and she nods. “I understand.” He says and goes to walk away. “You can’t choose who to love, the heart chooses for you, no matter what.” He says and a few tears fall down Chessy’s face.

“You’re really sweet and romantic but I can’t stop thinking about her.” Chessy says and Martin nods.

“Then you should go tell her.” Martin says and Chessy nods before leaving.

You see Chessy walking out and then walking towards you but you pretend that you don’t see her. You notice her coming closer to you and you start to walk away but she catches up with you and she grabs your wrist.

“Come with me.” She says sternly and you look at her.

“I’m working.” You tell her and you see a fire in her eyes.

“Nick won’t care, come with me.” She says and you let her pull you away. She pulls you until you’re alone in the garden and you look at her in confusion.

“What’s all this about? I thought we weren’t talking to each other anymore.” You say to her.

“Did you get jealous?” She asks you and you look at her.

“What?”

“The reason you snapped at me, is it because I was with Martin and you were jealous?” She asks you and you widen your eyes.

“Of course I’m not jealous.” You tell her but she grabs your shoulders.

“You’re lying.” She tells you plainly and you look at her in shock. “Martin and I aren’t together anymore.” She tells you.

“Why?” You ask her and she softens her features.

“Because I can’t stop thinking about you.” She says and you widen your eyes.

“What?”

“I look out a window where I can see you perfectly everyday, when I’m talking to Martin or kissing him then I think about you when I shouldn’t be. I think about you constantly throughout the day. Y/n, I like Martin, he’s nice.” She says and takes a deep breath before speaking again but you interrupt her.

“Then go be with him and leave me alone.” You say and try to walk away but she grabs your arm and looks at you.

“I like him but I’m falling for you.” She says and you stop breathing for a second. “I want to be with you.” She adds.

“Is this some sort of trick? Payback for snapping at you?” You ask her and she shakes her head. 

“You snapping at me broke my heart. When you asked me why I care about you, it broke me.” She tells you and you stare at her. You then lunge forward and kiss her, Chessy is shocked by the suddenness but then kisses you back immediately. You pull away once you realise what you did and you stare at her in shock.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” You start to say but she cuts you off by pulling you back into a kiss.

“Don’t apologise, I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a month now.” She tells you after pulling back.

“But you’re with Martin.” You tell her and she shakes her head.

“He figured out that I liked you and I told him I’d rather be with you.” She says. “But I need to know if you want to be with me.” She says. “I know you kissed me but I need words.” She adds and you smile.

“I do want to be with you, I didn’t tell you because I thought you didn’t like me that way and then you got with Martin.” You tell her and she smiles. “I did get jealous, I’m sorry I snapped at you.” You say to her and she strokes your cheek.

“I forgave you for that pretty much right after you snapped at me. I just wanted you to talk to me but I stayed away as I thought you wanted me out of your life.” 

“I did, but only because I didn’t want to have to fake a smile every time you talk to me about Martin.” You tell her and she runs her fingers through your hair.

“Well you don’t have to worry about him, I’m not with him anymore.” She says softly.

“When did you break up with him? The twins talked to me today and it seemed like you were still with him.” You ask her.

“We broke up right before I came to talk to you.” She says and you tilt your head.

“I hope I’m not some rebound.” 

“You’re not, you’re the one I’d rather be with.” She says and you lean into her touch. “You know the twins came to talk to me earlier as well. Told me that you have feelings for me, I almost couldn’t believe it.” She says and you hum.

“They just love setting people up don’t they?” You ask her and she laughs.

“I guess so, first their parents and now us.” She says and you nod. “I’m gonna get them such a great birthday gift for their meddling.” She tells you and you laugh.

“I have one question for you.” You tell her and she looks at you and nods. “Did you sleep with Martin?” You ask her and she shakes her head.

“No, I was going to but I couldn’t because I thought about you instead of him.” 

“Hmm, you must have a lot of pent up sexual energy then.” You tell her as you wrap your arms around her.

“Yes and you’re just feeding into it right now.” She tells you and you smile. “Do you live alone?” She asks and you nod.

“Well how about I tell them I’m going out for the night and you take me home with you after you’re done work? I’ll even bring supper for us to have.” She says and you smile.

“Sounds good.” You tell her and you squeeze her ass before walking away.

“You’ll pay for that later.” She tells you and you turn around to face her.

“No idea what you’re talking about.” You tell her and you wink at her before you continue walking away.

“So did you talk to her?” Hallie asks Chessy as she makes supper.

“I did.” Chessy says and then they look at her.

“And?” Annie asks.

“Well thanks to you two meddlers, she and I talked and she kissed me after I confessed.” She tells them and they smile.

“So you two are together now?” Hallie asks and Chessy nods.

“She’s bringing me to her place after she’s done work.” She tells them. “I already told Nick that I’ll be gone for the night.” 

“Well good, it’s about time. Ever since you introduced me to her I saw sparks.” Annie says to her.

“Well you’ll be getting a really nice birthday gift this year.

“And that’s in 6 weeks.” Hallie says and Annie smiles.

“Yep, October 11.” Chessy says to them and then continues making supper. 

After you’re done work, Chessy walks out with a container in her hand and meets you at your car.

“Hey you.” Chessy says and kisses you.

“Ready to go?” You ask her and she nods.

You drive to your place and then you go and unlocks the door and she follows you inside.

“Nice place.” She says.

“It’s not much but it’s home.” You tell her and she smiles.

“I think it’s perfect.” She says and then goes to the kitchen and places the food on plates before handing you one.

“Thank you.” You tell her and then you go to the kitchen table with her. “Why did we never hang out outside of work?” You ask her and she shrugs.

“Didn’t think you’d want to.” She says and you tilt your head at her. “Especially after that work friends comment you made.” She says and you frown.

“That was me wanting to hang out with you outside of work.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Well we are now so quit complaining.” She says and you give a salute.

“Yes ma’am.” You say and she snorts. 

You put the dishes in the sink after you’re both done and as soon as you turn around she kisses you. 

“And what were you wanting to do?” You ask her and she hums.

“Well we can kiss, talk or something more than kissing.” She says and you stare at her.

“You mean sex?” You ask her and she nods. “I lost count over how many times I’ve masturbated while thinking about you.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Same.” She tells you and you smile. 

“My bedroom is just down the hall.” You tell her and then bring her there. She closes the door and then you trap her between the door and you. You immediately kiss her and place your hands on her waist to bring her closer to you. You trail down to her neck and she moves her head to give you more space and you start sucking. She gasps as you leave hickeys all over her neck and you feel her legs give way so you hoist her up and lean her on the wall while her legs are wrapped around your waist. You then take her shirt off and you stare at the sight of her breasts in the bra. “I knew you had a bigger chest but wow.” You tell her and she smiles.

“There's a lot to suck on and touch.” She tells you and you reach behind her and unclip her bra. You throw it across the room and immediately attach your mouth to a nipple. She moans out as soon as you attach your mouth and she puts her hands in your hair and tugs slightly. You switch to her other nipple and you trail your hand down and undo her khakis. You get her off of you and then you immediately take her pants and underwear off. You go to kiss her again but she stops you and then she takes your shirt off. “If I’m completely naked then you have to be as well.” She says as she takes off all of your clothes. 

You go on your knees and then quickly find her clit with your tongue and you start sucking and licking. Chessy places her hand on the wall, while placing her other hand in your hand and closes her eyes and has her mouth open.

“Oh god, I forgot how good women are with their mouths.” She says and you smirk. She then yanks your hair to push your mouth off of her and she gets you on your feet. “I don’t want a mouth on me though, I want fingers inside of me. I want to feel you inside of me until I come around your fingers.” She says and you push her up against the wall while she wraps her legs around your waist. You then make sure her entrance is nice and wet before pushing a finger in and she gasps. “Insert another one.” She tells you once you start pumping and you then quickly insert a second finger and it slides in easily.

“You’re so wet Chess.” You tell her and she whimpers. “Is this what you imagined me doing to you?” You ask her and her eyes are shut again. She nods quickly and you smirk. You continue pumping in and out her and you pick up the pace when you feel her legs around you start to shake. “Are you close Chess?” You ask her and she nods again. Moans and gasps are spilling out of her mouth and you just love getting these sounds out of her. “Take your time and come when you need to.” You tell her and you feel her body tense up and she squeezes around your fingers before she comes with a gasp. 

You bring her over to your bed and cuddle her as she calms down and then she turns to you with a smile. “My god, you’re good with your tongue and your fingers.” She says with a chuckle and you smile.

“Women know what feels good on other women as they have the same body.” You tell her and she hums. She then reaches over and easily finds your clit and begins rubbing it. You buck your hips and gasp and she smirks at your actions.

“Something specific you want? Tongue or fingers?” She asks you. 

“Please stick your fingers inside of me, as well as get on top of me so I can feel your boobs on me.” You manage to get out and she giggles but does as you ask. She gets on top of you and then inserts two fingers inside of you and you moan out. It doesn’t take long until your whole body tenses and then you come on her fingers. She takes her fingers out of you, licks your juices off of her and moans at your taste. 

“Next time I’m gonna use my tongue on you if you taste this sweet.” She says with a smile and you chuckle.

The next morning you bring her to the ranch and she brings you into the kitchen with her and immediately goes to kiss you. You two make out in the kitchen until you hear someone clear their throat. She pushes you off of her and you both turn to see everyone watching you. The twins run outside with Martin and Elizabeth speaks up first.

“Have a nice night?” She asks you both.

“Yep.” Chessy says and lays her head on your chest.

“It looks like it, might want to cover up your hickeys.” Elizabeth says and Chessy looks at you.

“How many did you leave on me?” She asks you and you shrug your shoulders.

“Do you want me to count?” You ask her with a smile and she slaps your head playfully.

“Come on, since you put them on me then you’re gonna help me cover them up.” She tells you as she drags you to her room.

“So you’re not bringing me to your room to make more?” You ask her and she rolls her eyes.

“I hate you.” She tells you and you laugh.

“That’s not what you said last night.”

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[mrs-gauche]

Hey guys! 🙂 It's the end of 2024 and I realized today I haven't posted on here since finishing Veilguard.

Well, to make it short.. since then, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, replaying it, watching my friends who are DA casuals and not into fandom play it (which was very enlightening but also hilarious 😂), so now.. I feel like I'm at a point where I know exactly what my issues with this game are and I've made peace with it. I still love Dragon Age! And I love parts of Veilguard and I had a ton of fun playing it (though probably for all the wrong reasons 🥲). When I first finished the game, I cried tears of happiness that after ten years my favorite character actually somehow got a beautiful Happy Ending and closure, but also tears of sorrow that this marks the end of the story that was set up back in 2009.. and tears of mourning that this story had all the potential to be so so SO much more.

Dragon Age is a very weird franchise in that all the games have been, in many ways, vastly different from each other and to be a fan of the whole series means to recognize all its flaws and changes, but still loving it because of its unique core elements that glue it together and make it so special. I could sit here for hours trying to put into words what I think went wrong with Veilguard, but I know many people have already done so far more eloquently than I ever could. This blog was always meant to be just a positive little corner to share my love for these games and silly VA stuff with other people and I'm sure I will eventually reblog all the two million posts I've liked over the past month, both positive and critical. But for now and the new year, I want to focus my time and energy on just being creative, getting back to drawing and trying to realize ideas about DA I've had for a looong time and that's my way of "emotionally recovering" (that sounds so dramatic 😂). 💜

With that being said... What a crazy decade year it has been for me personally in this fandom... So I want to look back at it, just some rambling under the cut, 'cause I'm a little sentimental now, I guess. 🥲

Before I created this blog, I was mostly just a lurker on here for many years, despite being a fan of BioWare games since.. uh.. forever? lol But I was always waaay too insecure about my English, let alone my own art. I also have social anxiety, so maybe that was part of the reason why I decided to finally create this blog at a time when the fandom was at its most dormant? lol (There is also a whole separate post for another day about how Mass Effect influenced me personally and how it made my biggest dream come true, the enormous honor to voice a few NPCs in (the German version of) Andromeda. Still the craziest thing to ever happen to me. lol)

So, seeing all the crazy excitement and the fandom fully revived this year and all these months leading up to Veilguard was both incredibly overwhelming, but also the most fun I've ever had as being part of a fandom! This year also marked the first time I posted my own art online and I can't even put into words how crazy it was seeing the response to that and I still can't believe that Trick Weekes not only commented on but also reposted it, that is still f*cking insane to me and I'll never forget the morning I woke up to see that. lmao

So yeah.. THAT happened. Followed by what I think has to be one of the weirdest, craziest marketing campaigns I've ever seen. lol Going back to 2022, we truly had it all...

A title announcement on a random Thursday that was probably done so that it would not be confused with the Netflix series announced a few days later. A tie-in comic more than a year before release that was... a little pointless? lol A vinyl collection that spoiled the composers a year before release. A title change literally two days before the first trailer. A reveal trailer that left many in shock because of its tone shift and complete lack of the former title character. A line of Game Informer articles that left us often times with more questions than answers. Every single article being deleted the very next month due to GI shutting down. An actor panel at SDCC happening right as Sag Aftra went on strike. A "fandom" party that had nothing to do with Dragon Age. Jason Derulo. An artbook that accidentally revealed the release date with its pre-order, which was then deleted. Twice. Memes about roadmaps. A second trailer that in hindsight probably should've been the first one. An audio drama by a different writing team with some baffling (but funny) lore mistakes. A combat showcase starting off with a disclaimer that "footage had been edited due to spoilers"... followed by THE biggest spoiler in literally the first ten seconds. The first IGN video with super spoilery dev commentary. A hand-on preview event with 140 people leading to spoilers galore... Did I mention spoilers? lol

That was when I stopped looking at stuff online, so I don't know what happened after that, but WOW, what a crazy ride that was. 🥲 Truly a DA4 Summer to remember and I'm unironically so grateful to have witnessed it in real time with all of you. 😂

Then finally, after ten flippin years of tinfoiling, speculating, reading crazy development stories and clowning around at every gaming live event, Veilguard was finally released and it will probably go down as the most emotionally charged Halloween of my life. lmao

Then it was time to actually play The Veilguard. Which took me about a month.

A month filled with what I can only describe as a crazy rollercoaster of conflicting emotions. Aside from everything having to do with Solas, I'd say my personal highlights of the entire experience was seeing Felassan (I screamed), the PHOTO MODE and even one hilarious "breaking the fourth wall" moment, where I would frantically run around in Elgar'nan's trap in "Blood of Arlathan", to a point where I would yell at the screen "SOLAS, I COULD USE SOME HELP NOW, HELLO???" and hearing his flippin voice literally two seconds later going "Yes, you called?" and I freaked out so hard I dropped the controller. 😂😂😂 Also, as someone who romanced Alistair in my first playthrough of DAO and brought him to the final battle not knowing he would sacrifice himself, you can imagine my flashbacks when I saw Davrin dying at Tearstone.. who I had romanced. 💀 Or the Dark Ritual flashbacks when I saw Morrigan wanting to talk to me right before the final mission. lol Getting the Felassan rune actually made me tear up a little. There are many little moments like that that I loved or that made me emotional, but ultimately.. Veilguard is a game that, for all the amazing graphics and cutscenes and flashy combat.. the more I think about the story and the lore (or lack thereof), the more I end up confused and trying to figure out what it is that's breaking the immersion to me in a way that the previous games didn't.

But anyway... I finished Veilguard, though the DA craziness of 2024 wasn't over just yet and I didn't know that the best was yet to come in December. lol

So.. Years ago, one of the main reasons I created this blog was to make silly "appreciation posts" about Solas' German VA and ramble on about my love for his performance.. I even remember making a post on here like three years ago talking about how I would sadly never EVER get a chance to meet his VA personally, because that man never ever goes to any fan conventions or public events. lol

Well... GUESS WHO I MET AT THE GERMAN COMIC CON EARLIER THIS MONTH!!!

YES GUYS, without sounding like a weirdo (because despite my obsession with voice acting, I don't care for VAs social accounts or anything beyond their work as a VA), but after years of jokingly referring to this blog as the "Ozan Ünal Appreciation Blog", and kinda the reason I made this blog in the first place, I finally met the man himself and it was probably the best friggin fan experience I could've wished for. 🥲🥲🥲

See, I've met a lot of different VAs at Cons before, who were all super nice and awesome to talk to.. but let me tell you, this guy has such an incredibly contagious positive attitude and charm!! lol Me and my friend were literally the last to stand in line at his booth before the event closed, there were TONS of people (there were quite a few VAs at the Con, but his booth had BY FAR the most people in line the whole day lol) and yet he made sure to take the time to talk with every single person, asking questions, was genuinely interested in our opinions, joking around and just generally SO FRIGGIN NICE. And he's just a very chill and funny dude? lol

And it was so funny, because there were SO many people and yet apparently I was the only person that day to talk to him about DA and Solas and he was SO excited about it 😂😂😂 (I bet like 90% of the fans talked to him about his VA work on Vampire Diaries, The Big Bang Theory, Gravity Falls and Nicholas Hoult lol).

And of course, because DA4 happened so recently, it was still fresh in his memory. He told us that he even watched some Let's Plays and asked what we thought of the game and I'm still laughing so hard, because he was literally like "Oh yeah, the lore is MASSIVE and it was so overwhelming and I could barely keep up with it, the whole time I had no idea what I was talking about.. like, what exactly IS Mythal??" LMAOOO His performance for Solas was so good and so convincing and now I'll always have to picture him standing in the recording booth, no flippin clue what he's actually talking about. lmaoo And then my friend was pointing at me like "She's actually a walking lore encyclopedia" and then he was like "Oh, you should've been in the booth then!" lol

And I'm actually quite upset on his behalf now, because he also told us how, when the English VAs were officially announced, he had actually made a post on social media about how he was returning for Solas in DA4 and how he got in so much trouble for that because EA told him they were going to make an official announcement.... AND THEN THEY NEVER DID??? Like, I was desperately waiting for an announcement about the German voice cast and they simply never made one, we literally had to wait for the credits to be published? (Also, the German and French version have only one female and one male voice for Rook and no one knows what happened there, we tried to contact them about it, but no response so far?? It's like they don't even care.) That's EA for you...

Anyway, we then chatted a bit more about his other work and stuff and he recorded an audio for me (I actually got him to say the "Vir shiral malasa, bellanaris" GUYS AND IT SOUNDS SO GOOD, like I was so nervous, asking "Could you do elven..?" and he was like "Sure, it's been a year, might be a bit rusty" and then he just knocked it out of the park?? lmao So I have both Lavellan's AND Solas' WEDDING VOWS NOW. 😭😭😭❤❤❤❤❤)

So yeah, that was my meeting with Ozan flippin Ünal and what an awesome guy and amazing VA and what an "epic conclusion" of this year of the Dragon (Age) 2024. lol And the timing feels so strange now, because, in a way, it feels kinda like coming full circle?

Like I said in the beginning, for years I was always mainly a lurker in the fandom and the reason why I created this blog was to join in on the hype/speculation train for DA4 and to talk about Solas' German and French voices and share my silly edits and gifs. And now I've played Veilguard AND I've met Ozan Ünal.. both things that, at some point, I wasn't sure were ever going to happen.....

So.. In terms of my fandom experience, this year was crazy and whatever 2025 brings and whatever happens with this blog or DA in general... I love this fandom (especially my little Solasmancer bubble <3) and I love Dragon Age and whoever's reading this, here's to 2025 and I hope you have a Happy New Year!! 💜💜💜💜💜