#the many times i had to rewrite this was insane

[yeta-drewit]

Wenclair fic recommendations

I’ve read way too many. About 115.

Also all of this are finished fanfics. I believe.

Edit- yes this are all in ao3 and I did this at like 3 am so I didn’t put links and I’m too lazy to change it now.

MY TOP ONES

-Hunting season by gobreakaneck. OMG THIS FIC, a season 2 fic, angst to the max, slow burn to the max BUT REALLY GOOD SHIT. Like it’s good guys trust. Unfortunately it’s part one of a series so yk I was left crying for more at the end.

-Yours, Eurydice by hanjisgirlfriend- SAD AND CELEBRITY AU. Enid is an actor, Wednesday is a famous writer and they are neighbors and they share letters with pen names because they don’t want the public to know. ITS CUTE.

-I pledge to you (my blood and soul) by Whatiscolor. WRITER OF THIS FIC I WANT TO TROW HANDS. This is genuinely one of the saddest fics I’ve read. Forced marriage Au WITH A LOT OF ANGST. I’m not joking I cried. Angst was angsting.

-Purgatory would be beautiful with you by Emilywritesatuff- Just Wenclair stuff but Wednesday is kind of acting like a werewolf but she isn’t, it’s kind of like they are mates and Wednesday acts like it. I just like it.

-Christmas Eve(L) by miliamin- Fake dating and Christmas what else can I say?.

Weird Aus

-Let’s get political by WishaDream - Gomes and Esther are campaigning for the same government position. Esther tells Enid to hate Wednesday but she can’t. They hate each other in public but almost kiss in secret. Don’t let the weird au get you it’s actually really good. I like the political comments in between the actual Wenclair story.

- Just the taste of you/ blood in the water by littlebirdonair - another weird au but this time Wednesday is an assassin meant to kill journalist Enid. My best description of the story. Enid "I talked to an assassin Yoko" Yoko "omg girl!. Have you told the police?! How are even alive?!" Enid "Omg girl it was the hottest thing ever, she was so fucking hot" Yoko "wtf girl” (Warning there is one explicit scene. I skipped it as it was really short and I’m not interested in that)

-The Heart Knows No Death by viienrose - Enid is brutally murder by her pack and the Addams family can bring her back to life if she wishes to. Wednesday helps Enids soul process her death and the possibility of coming back. Sad shit but kind of cute Wenclair.

- Driving to my house in the middle of the night by AtomicJellyBean - Wednesday ghostbuster, Enid has existential crisis and is a park ranger and a very popular fanart comic came from this story.

-Strawberry and Lilacs by thislonelyrealm - not Nevermore high school au, Wednesday is new in town and Enid has live there her whole life (she also beats up Tyler). I made fanart of one scene.

- So this is love by LoriLoud- season 1 rewrite. lowkey insane and deranged. Not joking. I’m not rereading it so I may be remembering wrong but just so yk how crazy it is they kiss while Esther is literally burning. It gets so bad I think Yoko is the only survivor. Bad representation of the Addams family but a fun read.

-Parce que toi et moi, ca fonctionne (meme si ca ne devrait pas) by bogteats- Eurovision Song Contest AU. Enid is a French singer and gay, the Addams family is a Spanish band (my Mexican ass is sad they had to be Spanish) it’s a really cool celebrity au with Enid trying to hide she is gay. It’s not in French guys.

-The proposal (Wenclair’s Version) by NyxSmols- apparently is the 2009 movie The Proposal but make it Wenclair. Idk I haven’t seen the movie but the fic was cool. Honestly Enid was giving Debbie at the beginning of the fic and I’m all for that.

Normal AUs

-Vortex by Alotofconfusion- Wenclair childhood friend au. I think it’s cute. Enid is pretty much adopted by the Addams, no one believes Enid that she has a gf, they call each other business partners.

- Imprinting is such a bitch by King_boo - Season 1 rewrite where Enid imprints on Wednesday the moment they meet, so its season 1 if they both immediately liked each other. Slight gaslighting by Wednesday but she works on that.

- Like two Mismatched Pieces Put Together by ShadeNeverMadeAnybodyLessGay- Wenclair childhood soulmates. Enid is abandoned but adopted by the Addams. Just cute kids stuff.

-Cool about it by randomiska - they are in college and they are fake dating to stop their friends from trying to get them together. Obviously it backfires.

Normal ig?

- Everyone comes to Yoko’s by Sincerely_Sierra- Yoko gets the gays together. Yoko is stressed about the gays and she just wants them to stop bothering her.

- What does he have that I don’t? By Kofeew_milkk- Enid hates that Wednesday smells like Tyler. Cute scenting fic.

-Sweet nothings by Hymenopus- They simp for each other while being in opposites sides of the country. They exchange letters and gifts.

-San Francisco by bishopsinclair_(dustydandelions) - Set during the break, Wednesday goes to San Francisco and werewolf chaos ensues. Blood wolf stuff.

- Raven in the den, wolf in the nest by Barbara_lazuli- Fake dating to spite their moms, it’s really cute specially Enid and the Addams family. There are references to the animated movie, I love Parker.

-Downside of Visions by CelticWolf55- it’s a sick fic and it’s very cute.

To make yourself sad

-Bubble Gum bitch by wishadream - Celebrity AU. Depress actor Enid and assistant Wednesday that doubles as a therapist. They don’t end up together but it’s still cute.

- I’ll love you (from the shadows) by mickeroni -technically not a Wenclair story but it’s a Weems story about her being a sad gay for Morticia and projecting towards Wenclair. She goes to the wedding.

-You drive me crazy (baby) by Sincerely_Sierra- Yoko angst, Enid angst, everyone angst. It’s a taking care of a fake baby trope but what I thought would be like domestic fluff just made me sad. YOKO LOVERS READ THIS SHIT.

Fluff no plot

- It’s just a werewolf thing by WelshCakes68 - Enid blames her gayness on the fact she is a wolf, Wednesday is so whipped she accepts this excuse. Oblivious homosexuals.

Silly ones

- Woes of the Heart by 1unluckystudent - It’s just Enid crashing Wednesday’s and Tyler’s date and being like super jealous and really funny. This Enid behavior is what I want from Enid if Wednesday gets another love interest.

-Potion problems by batzeus99 - Switch personalities and it’s super cute and I think it’s like really funny seeing Wednesday act all happy. Enid just acts like Pip from AGGGTM.

- I’m your garbageman by cowardnthief - Wednesday asks Enid for help on a crush she has. Enid is the crush and she is also obviously to it.

- Black Butterfly by misscanteloupe- Wednesday is jealous and makes Enid hug her while Ajax watches. Wednesday just hates Ajax and I find it hilarious.

Parent fics (because I like this type of content)

-Werewolves made with woe by omnical - Podcasters try to investigate the Addams family. Enid gaslight them into going into the house and absolutely scares the shit out of them. Enid is scary but she is trying to protect her kids.

- Plans of Joy by southernsunrise- They try to have kids. It gets sad but trust it gets better. (Warning miscarriage)

-Double trouble by Pieck_Simp- Wenclair twins. Wenclair moms fighting prejudice against their kids.

Obviously what I like you may not like. Some of this are entertaining but not good representations of the characters. I understand some may have poor writing but it’s fanfics guys not a novel. I encourage you to think critically and not get influenced by this fanfics, not everything you read is good and a representation of good behavior, some of these have questionable behaviors that go unpunished because it’s a fanfic. So do keep that in mind and don’t base your behaviors solely on fan fiction.

[wishfuldivine]

PT. 3 of GhostSoapGaz, where Ghoap are always going on dates and keep bringing Gaz with them because they love him, but he doesn't know.

Gaz walked down the empty streets with his emotions in such a wreck. His mind was beyond a mush right now. Thoughts on an annoying limbo. The need to just get under his sheets in the comfort of his lonely room becoming a must.

His suppressed emotions were beginning to crack. The realization became clear when he witnessed the pure and genuine love between Soap and Ghost for the first time.

Soap had gotten a bullet near his shoulder which resulted in a bed rest for a couple of weeks. Ghost had been opposed on leaving the demolition sergeant by himself, always visiting. The softness and tender care in which Ghost assisted Soap with anything declared nothing but love. Soap soaking it all in with delight.

That's when he first cried in a very long time. Cried for being such an idiot and feeling like a complete asshole. As if he was breaking their trust without doing anything. He never should've fallen in love with them.

He was so lost in his own head that it took a moment to realize that his phone was vibrating in his jeans pocket. He paused on the sidewalk and took it out to see the incoming call. Soap. He sighed deeply, not knowing if he should answer it or ignore.

But ever the absolute sweetheart and caring man, he answered anyway. He didn't want for his fellow sergeant to worry for him despite the inner turmoil he's dealing with right at this moment.

"Garrick here."

"Gaz? Where did you go, lad? Everythin' okay?"

"I'm fine, mate. Just needed some air. It was very crowded there, yeah? I didn't want to be a pest with my claustrophobia, so I just came back to base."

'You're such a fucking liar.'

"Should've told me! Or Ghost! We would've canceled and gone back together. Your health over this. You know that."

He felt like crying again. The simple truth was that THEY would've done that. Being kind and understanding people even if different when on the line of battle, they definitely would've been so considerate of him. Their teammate. It elicited a small sliver of hope that it was because of love. Because they felt the same.

But alas, that was just wishful thinking. They were so in love with each other. And he was going to make sure to keep it that way.

God, why did he have to fall in love? With them no less? Sometimes, he wished they were annoying and simply cunts. It would've made everything so much better and not be in this predicament.

Such a fucking mess. Big mess.

"Nah, I'm okay. Thanks, though. You enjoy the rest of the night, mate. See you later." He hung up without letting Soap finish what he was saying. Or maybe he didn't bother to care.

He rubbed a hand over his face with another deep sigh. It felt like the one hundredth time of doing so. It was beginning to get tiresome.

'I can't fucking do this.'

He needed a break from all this. He fucking needed it so badly. With the sudden change of mind, his eyes roamed the area and landed on a pub a couple of blocks away. Maybe a few drinks will be good for him instead of drowning in the emptiness of his room and tormented heart.

Everything was hurting too much. And maybe, just maybe, drinking his sorrows away will do.

[autumnrory]

i rmr when all the initial meta around endgame was coming out people were talking about steve being depressed and whatnot and it's like well yeah but he's BEEN depressed, like he woke up alone in this century and he kept going, now i can understand it being worse this time after finding a family and getting bucky back and losing them all except of course that's not why endgame steve was on about so like......the people writing meta were trying to connect these things that of course weren't really there on screen because that simply wasn't our steve

but i think it really could've been SO interesting to see this is the thing that finally makes steve stay down like he's lost so much and he just CAN'T keep fighting like i get some people think that's what they were going for but considering the ending......it's really not. and so i'm just thinking about a version after iw, maybe he gets some of the thor treatment except not turning his depression into a dumb fatphobic joke lol and maybe nat and others are trying to get through to him and it just doesn't work and then we get some flashbacks (which you could have done for all the original avengers actually which would be particularly important for bruce and nat and clint who did not have their own trilogies) including his mom telling him "you always stand up" and THAT being the thing to finally get him moving like it would've been such a perfect way to finally show sarah rogers some respect and ACTUALLY show steve really struggling instead of whatever they tried to do with him in that movie

[natasha-in-space]

GOOD NEWS: I finally finished up writing the chapter for a fic that gave me so many issues for the last month!! It's pretty much the reason why I haven't been posting much lately, lol. Been a while since I've struggled with writing something out like this, but I did it! Yippee! So, I'll be editing it out and posting it on my nearest day off, and after that, I'll finally get back to my drafts over here. I have a rough idea planned out for a Suit Saeran request, so I'll be writing it out first thing after I'm done!

[danidoesathing]

🦈💭❤️ for the fic ask game!

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

Frankie. oh my god i love her and would love to write her more but jesus christ she is a hard character to nail down. i am always scared im gonna do her wrong whenever i write her. miss lou im so sorry i cant do you justice like you deserve

💭 What inspires you and your writing?

oh a bunch of different stuff. music is an obvious one, both cause of the vibes™️ but also because my current fixation is music lore. all i gotta do is listen to a funky song and bam! we got a new fic. i've also gotten ideas from reading different fics (i dont copy the plot but sometimes a line or two will inspire me, or ill think "very cool but what if [this thing] happened" and i go insane from there) and on occasion random comments or sentences.

i mean one time i was writing a multi-chapter fic and like. there's a major MAJOR twist that was inspired by a comment i got on chapter 10 and it was one of my favorite plot points of that series. this comment singlehandedly made me redo an entire character storyline and made this character, who i had come up with for a scene or two at most, insanely important to plot and a huge part of the sequel fic i did. the comment wasn't exactly what i went with but it did inspire me to change that part up

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

That's really hard actually. a lot of my favorite parts of my fics are less single lines and more "effective in the context of the situation" but i did have some bangers in the love like ghosts fic i suppose. I kind like this one:

"There’s nothing beyond this edge of the world but concrete and the unforgiving earth, but you'll be damned if you aren't tempted."

[crossbackpoke-check]

Fixed point (mathematics) // The History of Perspective // "Point of Disappearance", Dennis Held // How the Hughes hockey family stays grounded // Fixed Point Photography-- // "Portrait of A.", Tung-Hui Hu // Mic'd Up | Hughes NHL 25 cover shoot // "Burnt Norton", T.S. Eliot // "Circuitry", Janine Joseph // Bruce Bennett // Nick Wass // from obedience [maybe one day, during a point in time], kari edwards // Bill Rapai // "Errand Upon Which We Came", Stephanie Strickland // Benchmark (surveying)

art kid luke hughes

[katy-89]

I swear every time I read a post from the badger mole and any other hardcore zutara shipper i'm losing braincells. How can people take her seriously? :/ I get it, you all like zutara, but do you also like this series at all? Because you are literally rewriting this show and the main character to make a crack ship looks better, which is insane 🤦‍♂️

Mind you, this is Aang in the CANON SERIES

There are many other moments but i'm not wasting my time posting it

Also...Aang acknowledge Katara's beauty three times in the whole show. Oh my God, what a crime. That's means he only care about her beauty and nothing else 🤦‍♂️

It's insane how much this character is demonized because he had the audacity to fell in love with Katara

People, it's 2024

[running-with-kn1ves]

Drunken Stupor

A/N: this is based off of that drunken yan gangster idea that I couldn't get out of my head. I might rewrite it or do it differently but this is 4 u my 1 gangster lovin' anon for now!

OG Yandere Gangster Drabble (nsft) w/ da Yan Gangster Ramble

TW: kidnapping, drunken yandere, noncon kissing (no nsft), threats, toxic behavior, 

Puzzles, accompanied by whatever news channel you could get through. Paint-by-number pictures, and shitty DVD’s from another time. Horribly thin sheets and an aching back--- you were completely, utterly, and seemingly irrevocably, isolated. The tight handcuffs around your feet only allowed you to hop around the house, barely making it to the front door before you tripped over the rug and nosedived into the cold, black floor. 

How long has it been? When was the last time you felt the spring wind on your face? You weren’t even allowed to open the windows, out of your captors fear of you screaming for help, even with him right next to you. He gave you countless things to keep yourself entertained, whether they be knitting grandma-like sweaters or taking up a different artistic hobby, anything that could keep you in one spot for long without the need to move or the option to hurt yourself. 

You were tempted to scream, to throw your half-finished puzzle at the wall and destroy the nice room set up for you that once belonged to the lone bachelor-- who, was much later than usual tonight. Your throat was too sore to keep up with the screaming however, and you pushed it to the back of your mind to try again tomorrow. If he came home all of a sudden and found you screaming at the ripe hour of 11 PM, he might do more than just threaten with one of his switchblades. 

You hated being around the bastard, feeling so terrified and weak like maybe today would finally be your last-- but at this point, you were going insane being by yourself for so long. Even a nice screaming match with him until your voice finally left you would more desirable than watching another 80s thriller that would haunt your dreams, alone. For someone who wasn’t home very often, he certainly had an extensive collection of old gangster movies, romcoms too even. But you couldn’t put Sixteen Candles on again without wanting to rip your eyes out-- not even one of his five million copies of The Godfather. Who needs that many copies of the same movie?

Your exhausted, beaten-down brain jolted at the sound of someone jerking at the door handle. The door practically thumped with the lock against the wall, dust raining as it was violently ripped back and forth. But then came the familiar jangle of an overloaded key ring, one you had heard most nights for what you can only assume has been the past month. 

Finally, your spiked anxiety crashed when you saw those familiar, much-too-shiny-for-a-gangster-to-be-wearing black leather shoes thump inside. You peaked your head out from your sitting position near the opened bedroom door, trying to get a glimpse without getting up and alerting him of your presence. It was inevitable for him to come to you, his kidnapee, but you tried to postpone the smothering for as long as possible. Maybe now was the time to chuck that puzzle. 

“You reallyyy gotta hold *hic* on mee…”

Mismatched footsteps trudged, stopping first to hit the corner of what you could only assume was the livingroom loveseat.

“Move outa ma way, couch! ..Even though you… treeat me *hic* badlyy..”

You heard the raking of fingernails on the couch cushions, the clink of a bottle rolling on the ground back and forth. You didn’t dare look back through the door crack. Maybe you should shut it? Lord knows what that would cause him to do, though. 

“You still gotts’a hold on me…” 

The sing-songy voice came closer, belonging to the madman you dreaded the return of. Within the crack of the door you saw a dark silhouette, the TV casting a face-shadowing glow that made you just an inch more terrified. 

“Hey, baby…” He hiccuped. 

“Well that’s new,” You started, looking away from him back to your puzzle. “When did I become your ‘baby’?” 

He moaned thoughtfully, thinking about your rhetorical question. “After you kidnapped me, I suppose?”

Maybe it was wrong to poke the beast, especially because he smelled like dirty whiskey and had three buttons too loose on his dress shirt, showing a deep scar betwixt his faint chest hair. A vulnerable image he’d never let you witness soberly. 

“Hrmmm….” He pushed his entire weight on the door, letting it creak open as he looked at you with a smile. 

“I dunno…maybe.” He laughed a little, giving a small snort like a schoolboy hearing his first nasty joke. 

You rolled your eyes. Damn, as if you weren’t on edge before, now you were going to have to deal with the equivalent of a murderous toddler who’s been threatening to hurt you ever since you were first brought here. Drunken fools were best left at the bar. 

But your icy demeanor didn’t sway his unsettingly good mood, the gangster opening the door all the way to flop onto your (unwillingly) shared bed. He dug his face into the sheets that smelled like you, looking at the back of your head that was pressed against the edge of the mattress.

“Was thinkin’ bout’cha…” He murmurs, tugging at a strand of your hair from behind. “Couldn’t stop talkin’ to the boys, ‘bout how pretty you are..” 

The short yanks at your hair to get your attention were becoming annoying, though you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of glaring face-to-face. 

“Told em’ how nice you look when yer sleepin’, when ya brush ya teeth, sayin’ that they’re not allowed to have ya....”

You hummed in response, trying to bend away to get closer to your puzzle. But you could sense the bubbling in your stomach, could feel that something was coming. Whether it’d be a bunch of slobbered kisses or your early demise, you couldn’t tell. 

“Oh really?” You asked, knowing he’d been adamant on not saying a word or letting make a peep about your existence in his gang-funded condo. 

“Yah, I did. Don’t believe me? Said i’d cut their fingers off, like boss does when some’n fucks up. I’d slam into em, make em watch while I...” 

He went quiet, and you thanked whatever made him. Whatever he said, you didn’t want to know; you’d already had enough of an unwilling look into his violent thoughts. 

“Well, doesn’t matter now, right... ‘cause now I gots’ya here. Mmph,” You hear him kick his shoes off, his face coming up to bury in your hair. “Smellin’ so good, lookin’ so nice fr’ me… wanting you so bad.” 

The sound of him inhaling you, his nose pressed to your neck as he shimmies his head deeper against you like a cat is uncomfortably warm. You feel two hands creep up, looking for your shoulders to push you back and make you more accessible. 

The gangster wasn’t normally so affectionate, so quiet and simple when he spoke. You were waiting for it to be replaced by his normal, angrily resentful behavior, the type that’d pull you by the hair to kiss you, that’d rant about the idiots he’d had to deal with for the day at you. But maybe, just maybe, you were in the clear for now?

“You’re acting weird,” You try to jerk away. “I’m not in the mood to entertain you, okay? Just, let me do my puzzle in peace. Go take a shower or something.”

He’s quick to respond, wrapping veiny arms around your shoulders and dangerously close to your neck. 

“Nuh huh, not unless yer comin’ with me, wanna show how much I loove you,” His head pops up closer to yours, the stressed crinkles under his eyes making him look older. “Cuz’ baby, you reallyy gotta hold on mee..” 

“Stop stop stop.” You couldn’t take the second-hand embarassment of listening him to try to sing again, horribly off key and far too confident in each drawn out word. “What do I have to do to stop you from singing again?”

“I can’t hold it in though. Love’s too strong for you, love.” His disheveled hair, once slicked back in an oily black, now strewn about across his forehead as it nearly covers his eyebrows. He presses his forehead towards you. “Lemme kiss. Told the boys you give the best kisses, lemme prove it..”

“Prove what-- they’re not even here!” You try to go under his arm-barricade, only to be stopped as he practically puts his full weight forward, dragging him with you each time you move. 

“Lovin’ you for so long, jusst a kiss, just one kith..” He reaches for your cheek with his lips, ignoring how you whip your head around in retaliation.

“No, no! You stink like a bar and ciggarettes, get off me.”

He grunts in frustration, biting down on his lower lip as his dark, full eyebrows furrow together. 

“Let me kiss or i’ll.. I’ll gut you like a fish, my lovely..” 

You stopped at that, looking out of the corner of your eye to his pink-tinted cheeks and strong neck that sweated at the sight of you. 

He puts a ringed knuckle to your cheek, huffing as his eyes go half-lidded. His suit was all wrinkled from rolling around on the bed, dirty with the day’s work and bar-stench as he forced you back against the end of the mattress. 

“C’mon, don’t make me say stuff like that just for a kiss…” He whined, scooting closer. “Maybe I’ll start singing again, y’knoww, if y’don’t come close.” 

“Please just… don’t hurt me.” You mumbled, trying to avoid that blank, dark look he often held that came crawling back a moment ago. You didn’t want that sober side right now; this was somehow easier to handle, even if it meant losing your dignity. 

“Don’t wanna, never will,” He hums, staring unbothered at your lips, as if he wasn’t holding you tight enough to suffocate. “S’just kiss me, need it bad..” 

You looked around, as if there was anyone else looking, trying to avoid the task that made you shiver inside. 

But you didn’t get a chance to reject the drunken gangster again, his wet lips coming against the side of your face. He poked the tip of his tongue out, flicking against your lip before going tongue-first into your surprised mouth. 

Anytime he had tried to kiss you, to do anything overtly intimate, the most he released was the silent huffs of a man too wrapped up in himself to let you hear anything of pleasure. But now, you witnessed the lewd shlops of his lips against yours, the neediness of the back of his throat, groaning to be deeper inside of you. 

One of his heavy hands cradled the back of your head, his stupor not caring (or rather, not noticing) how little you moved, how you seemed to be backing into his large palm that massaged your hair. 

“Loved’ya forever, so happy you were so stupid…” He mumbles between licks to the corner of your lip, diving back into the sticky warmth of you. “What kinda… mph, idiot, doesn’t..hugh, report to the police..?” 

With his arm once wrapped around you, the gangster takes your limp wrist to his collar, bringing it to hold his loose tie. He makes you drag him closer, guiding your slow and frowning lips in his one-sided makeout session. 

“Not’ma fault, making your life so much better now.. N’now, you’re mine.” He grins, a stupid little grin from the alcohol and delusion swarming his head as he consumes you, fingers coming to fiddle with your cotton T-shirt as he draws lines down your chest. “My sweet sunshine, all mine, forever n’ ever.” 

[percevalec]

THIS WONT STAY IN VEGAS {part 2}

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Female!Reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Summary: You went clubbing with your friend, celebrating her moving to Vegas. You got drunk and don't remember anything. The next morning you find yourself in bed with a stranger and a ring around your finger

Words: 8.4K

Warnings: Alcohol, Mentions of hooking up, cursing, not proof read.

do not copy, rewrite or translate any of my work on any platforms.

Charles' eyes widened in horror as you shoved the phone into his hands. There, in big bold letters, was a headline about him and his mystery wife. And underneath, a picture of the two of you at the wedding chapel. "What - how..." He was at a loss for words, disbelief and frustration in his eyes as he stared down at the article.

Explain this! Why the hell is there an article about us? You yell in frustration. There's no way this is actually happening right now

Charles looked up from the phone, his eyes meeting yours. He let out a defeated sight, running a hand through his hair as he reluctantly answered your question. “I'm a F1 driver, For Ferrari. I’m pretty well known i guess” His voice was low, sheepish. He was still having a hard time comprehending the whole situation. The fact that the marriage was all over gossip pages was just another level of insane. “Great, this is exactly what i needed in my life” you say sarcastically, sitting back down on the couch. Your eyes drift over to your friend “Did you know that?” Charles was silent as he listened to your conversation. “No, I had no idea. I just thought he was another guy at the club” She shoots Charles an apologetic smile as he returns the phone to her. “Crap, I have to head back home” Riley exclaimed as she stands up looking over at the clock “I'm going to assume your lovely husband doesn't want to taint his reputation any more than he already has so i'll trust leaving you with him” You nod in agreement “it's fine Ry, i'll text you later” You say kissing her cheek goodbye.

After Riley leaves, Charles and you are left alone, once again in uncomfortable silence. He looks over at you, his expression still somewhat stunned as he tries to process everything. His eyes linger on you for a moment before he finally speaks up “I'm sorry” he sounds ashamed and genuine, if both of you would have been mindful of how many drinks you were consuming none of this would be happening. “It's not entirely your fault Charles” you respond, giving him a soft smile. Charles was about to speak, but his phone ringing interrupted him. He picks up his phone, looking at the caller ID and lets out a sigh. It was his mom. This was gonna be a nightmare. He answers the call, sounding nervous. “Hey mom” You watch as he steps back into the bedroom.

After a long conversation with his mother Charles disconnects the call. He walked back out to the living room standing  a few feet away from the couch you're sitting on. As he looked at you his eyes seemed remorseful “So…” He took a deep breath before continuing. “She wants us to come to monaco” Your eyes widen as you sit up straight, “what? There's no way I'm going to Monaco with you! What did you say to her?” 

Charles ran a hand through his hair, his expression sheepish. “I didn’t exactly have much of a choice” he said  “She kept asking questions about us and saying how the family wanted to meet my ‘new wife’. He used air quotes as he said the words, clearly less than enthusiastic about the situation. “I couldn't tell her the truth so i said we’ve been dating in secret for a while, and we decided to get married yesterday” He walked towards the couch and sat down next to you, his knees bouncing nervously. You say nothing as you're lost in your thoughts. If you agreed to marry him you could definitely agree to meeting his family. Plus how would you go back home and explain this to your mom “Fine i’ll go to monaco with you” He lets out an almost inaudible sigh of relief, a bit surprised that you relented and agreed to come to Monaco with him. A small wave of guilt passed over him as he thought of what he had gotten you involved in. “Thank you, I didn’t expect you to say yes. I’ll uh...have my assistant book a flight for us and arrange everything.” He tries to sound confident despite his anxiety. This whole thing was absurd. He was taking the woman he got drunk-married to meet his family. “Of course you have an assistant," you say in a teasing tone.

Charles chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as you commented on the assistant. “Yeah, it’s part of the whole F1 driver gig.” He didn’t want to come across as bragging or anything, he just figured it was something he should mention. “So, we should get going as soon as possible.” you nod your head in agreement. “I just need to go back to my hotel and pack my things” you say standing up from the couch. Charles nods in agreement. “Right, yeah. Should I… drive you back to your hotel? Or something?”  He cringed internally as he asked the question. He felt like he should at least make sure you get back to your hotel safely, since you were kind of in this mess together. Not to mention the paparazzi were bound to show up eventually.”I would actually like some time to myself” you say softly, hoping he doesn't take offense. “But I'll take your number and meet you at the airport," you follow up with a smile. "Yeah, no that's totally fair" Charles said, his mood slightly deflated. He couldn't blame you for wanting time alone to think, he was sure you had a million thoughts racing through your head just like he did. He pulled out his phone, and you quickly typed your number into the device handing it back. "I'll text you the flight details and my assistant will take care of everything else. See you at the airport then."

———————————————————————————

You get into the uber and give him your hotel address. Finally you're alone, your thoughts running through your head as you make the short drive. The whole situation still felt surreal, and now you were going to Monaco with your husband who you barely even know. What are you going to tell your mom and friends back home? Your phone was already flooded with messages from people asking you questions and fans finding your social media accounts. You really hope this won't go as far as to affect your job, there's no way you would be able to handle that. This  was like a bad rom-com.

You opened your phone ignoring every notification, especially your moms missed calls. You went to Google and typed in “Charles Leclerc”. You scrolled past the articles written about both of you and focused on the other stuff. He was pretty successful. Having won multiple races, even his home grand prix. Okay well at least you didn't marry the worst person on planet earth, and the more you thought about him you noticed he was extremely cute. Maybe this wasn't as bad as you thought. You did always admire the Soccer WAGS, now you were one according to the public, you just belonged to a different sport. 

No! What? You seriously can't be thinking that. This WAS bad and horrible, think about all the backlash you will receive when this whole thing is over and you have to divorce Charles. As you pull into the parking lot, your eyes glance around paranoid as if you’re expecting paparazzi to pop out of every corner. 

Once inside your room, you plop down onto the bed, letting out a deep sigh of exhaustion. It had been a long and chaotic day. You let your mind wander for a moment, trying to come to terms with the fact that you were technically married to one of the most popular Formula One drivers. After a few moments, you sit up on the bed and look around the room. You knew you needed to start packing for the trip to Monaco, but instead you just sat there, feeling a sort of numbness wash over you as you stared at the wall across from you. Your phone interrupts this moment, you sigh and reach for it. It was a message from Charles with all the flight information for tonight. You reply with a thumbs up and lay back down on the bed. Eventually, you force yourself off the bed and start pulling clothes out of the drawers and changing into something more casual while shoving them into a suitcase. You felt a mix of emotions as you packed, curiosity, anxiety, disbelief, confusion. It all felt like a bizarre dream, but you knew it was very much real.

As you finish packing your things, your eyes glance over to the clock on the bedside table. It was getting close to the time you agreed to meet Charles at the airport. With another deep sigh, you picked up your suitcase, called another uber and headed out the door. The drive to the airport was uneventful, but your mind was anything but calm. You thought about all the possibilities of what could happen when you arrived in Monaco. Would the paparazzi be able to find out which flight you were on? Would Charles’s family think you were some type of gold digger? This was all too much.

———————————————————————————

When you finally arrived at the airport, you took a deep breath and looked around the terminal. You spotted Charles off to the side, looking surprisingly calm despite the circumstances. He had a few bags by his feet and as soon as he saw you, he gave a small wave and a tentative smile. Charles walked over to meet you, his eyes studying your face for a moment. "Hey" he said softly, a hint of anxiety in his voice. "Are you ready for this?". “Not really but here I am” you say, accompanying your response with a sigh. Charles let out a soft chuckle at your honest answer, appreciating your candid response. "Yeah, neither am I, honestly" he replied 

He picked up his bags and motioned towards the check-in counter, signaling that it was time to get going. The two of you checked in and made your way to security, standing in line with the other passengers. Charles seemed lost in thought, his eyes wandering to the crowd of people passing by. He dreaded the thought of someone recognizing him and causing a scene before you could even make it to the gate. As the line slowly moved forward, Charles turned to you, trying to hide his tension. "Have you flown first class before?" he asked, trying to make conversation to pass the time. You nod “I have actually” "Ah, okay. Good" he replied, his voice slightly strained. He was silently hoping that the flight would go by quickly so he could get everything over with.  

Charles and you boarded the plane, taking your seats in the first-class section. Charles let out a small sigh of relief as he settled into his seat, grateful for the extra leg room and the privacy of the small space. The cabin was half full, most of the passengers already occupied with their own things as the plane prepared for takeoff. Charles looked at you and attempted a small smile. "You said you've been to Monaco before, were you just traveling or..?". “Yeah just traveling” you respond, sounding hesitant. Charles raised an eyebrow at your hesitancy, noticing that there was more to the story than you were letting on. "Just traveling?" he repeated, sounding interested. "Nothing else?" He leaned in a bit, curious to know more. The plane started moving down the runway, gearing up for take-off. “Yes Charlie, just traveling” You say, sounding annoyed. Realizing you called him Charlie made you quickly apologize “Sorry I didn't mean to”. Charles’s eyes widened as the nickname rolled out your tongue, not expecting the casual use of a nickname. For a moment, he was surprised and a bit flustered by the unexpected familiarity. But he quickly composed himself, masking any surprise with a small smile. "It's...it's fine. I don't mind, '' he said, although his cheeks tinged red. “Anyways, you told your mom we've been dating in secret for a while, right?” Charles looked at you for a moment, a hint of shyness in his eyes. "Uh, yeah, I did," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I didn't want to say that we just randomly got married, so I lied" you watched him talk, focusing on his words before speaking. “We should probably come up with a story so nothing seems suspicious when they start asking questions” Charles nodded in agreement, realizing that the two of you did need to get your stories straight to avoid any suspicion from his family. "Right, good point." he said, his mind racing to come up with a believable story that would convince his family. "We should probably keep the details simple though, don't want to dig ourselves into a hole or anything" “any ideas?” you ask.

Charles thought for a moment, tapping his fingers absently on the arm rest. "Well, we could say we met through a mutual friend. Or maybe something more spontaneous...like a meeting at a coffee shop" He glanced over at you, searching for your reaction to his idea. “Mutual friend sounds more convincing, we can even say you asked me out after I showed up at one of your races” Charles nodded, visibly pleased with your addition to the backstory. "That could work. It would explain why the family hasn’t met you before, since we’ve been keeping the relationship lowkey" he said, taking note of the cover up story in his mind. “Right, we didn't want the media finding out so we couldn't risk telling anyone” you add. "Exactly." Charles agreed, glad that you were on the same page with the new story. "We’ll stick to that then. Let’s just hope they buy it." He shifted in his seat, feeling a bit better now that you had a plan for handling the questions from his family. “They will if we play our parts right” Charles let out a soft chuckle, amused by your confidence. "You’re right. We just have to be convincing, act natural" he said, his mind already running through different scenarios and questions he could expect from his family.

 “We should try and get some sleep,” you say, shifting your body in the seat to face him. Charles nodded in agreement, feeling the exhaustion catching up to him. "Yeah, good idea," he said, looking over at you. "We have a few hours until we land. Might as well rest while we can" “goodnight charles” you whisper softly before closing your eyes. Charles smiled faintly, a wave of unexpected fondness washing over him as you said goodnight. "Goodnight" he replied, his voice also softer than usual. He settled back into his seat as a slight feeling of comfort creeped in.

———————————————————————————

After a few hours, the plane finally touched down in Monaco, landing at the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport. Charles and you gathered your bags and made your way off the plane and into the terminal. As soon as you stepped out, you could feel the change in atmosphere. The air was warmer, the sound of French being spoken all around. It was like stepping into a different world.

Charles looked around, familiar with the airport after countless times flying in for races. “Alright, let’s go get a taxi,” he said, pointing towards the exit. They made their way through the terminal, Charles’s steps quick and a bit nervous. He was excited to be back in Monaco, but at the same time, he was dreading the upcoming meeting with his family. As they exited the airport, a group of paparazzi suddenly sprung up, snapping pictures of Charles and yelling questions at both of you. Charles tensed up, instinctively shielding you from the flashlights with his body. He was used to dealing with the paparazzi, but having you there made it even more uncomfortable. Charles wrapped his arm around your waist, moving you in front of him as the paparazzi continued to shout questions and take pictures. He could feel the tension in your body and he tried to keep his own composure as he navigated through the crowd. “Stay close” he muttered quietly, his grip on you firm but gentle. “Mhm” is all you manage to respond, overwhelmed by the situation.

Charles guided you both through the throng of paparazzi, finally making it to a waiting taxi. He put both of your suitcases in the trunk before  opening the door for you, ushering you into the backseat before climbing in himself. Once inside the taxi, he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, grateful to be away from the flashing cameras and invasive questions. You feel a feeling you can't entirely describe, there's now way you could ever get used to that. Four weeks couldn't come any faster. Charles noticed the look on your face, realizing how hard that must have been on you.. He gave your hand a small, comforting squeeze, trying to ease your nerves. “Don’t worry, they’re not always that intense” he assured you, although he knew that wasn’t entirely true. You look down at his hand on top of yours and give a quick smile before looking out the window. Memories from your previous time here rushing back to you. Charles noticed your smile and felt a rush of unexpected warmth in his chest. Ignoring the feeling he removes his hand from your skin. The taxi began to drive through the streets of Monaco, the sun perfectly shining down on everything. “I remember these streets” you say, breaking the comfortable silence. Charles watched as you spoke. He had been caught off guard by how natural it felt to simply sit in silence with you. As you mentioned recognizing the streets he also turned his attention to the city outside. “I can't believe you grew up here” Charles chuckled softly, his eyes wandering out the window as they passed by familiar landmarks. "Yeah, it's a pretty nice place to grow up in" he said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. "Most of the time, anyway" He looked back at you, studying your face as you took in the city.

———————————————————————————

The taxi pulled up in front of Charles’s house, the familiar building standing tall and elegant. Charles paid the driver before getting out of the car and retrieving his bags. He looked at you as you grabbed your own bags, a mixed look of nerves and anticipation on his face. "Ready?" he asked, as he led the way up the front steps to the massive front door, bracing himself for the coming conversation with his family. “Yeah, I just can't believe I actually agreed to this” you say with a sigh. Charles's heart was racing as he opened the door and led you inside. The inside of the house was just as extravagant as the outside, with high ceilings and elegant furniture. Charles’s mom and brother were sitting in the living room, watching TV, but they immediately looked up as they heard the door open. Charles’s mom, Pascale, was the first to stand up, her eyes widening in surprise. “You made it,” she said with a smile as she walked over to you. "Coucou maman" Charles greeted his mother, a slight unease in his voice. Pascale wrapped Charles in a tight hug, then turned her attention to you. “And you must be” she said, looking you up and down appraisingly. “My new daughter-in-law”. The word “daughter-in-law” felt incredibly surreal to Charles. He watched you nervously, wondering how you would respond to his mother. “Bonjour. Je suis Y/N, I've heard a lot about you! I wish we could have met a bit sooner but we really wanted to keep things private, désolé”. Both you and Charles were extremely surprised at how the lie rolled off your tongue. Pascale was a bit taken aback by your perfect French, clearly impressed by your proficiency, and your charming response. "Oh, mon Dieu! votre français est remarquable!" she exclaimed, clearly taken in by your fluency. Charles looked at you in surprise, he had no clue you understood French, let alone spoke it. “Where are you from?” she asked. Before you can even open your mouth, Charles answers the question for you “She's from New York ''. You quickly turn to look over at Charles, before returning your gaze back to his mom. “Yes, I'm from New York but my mother made me take French lessons when I was younger” You say, letting both Pascale and Charles know. “Maybe she knew you would marry someone who speaks French,” Charles' mom jokes. Making Both of you laugh. 

Charles chuckled uneasily at his mother’s joke, the mention of marriage only adding to the tension. He glanced at you again, impressed by how you were handling the situation much better than he expected. “Please come sit down,” Pascal says, leading you to the living room. 

Charles and you followed his mom into the living room. Arthur, Charles’s younger brother, was sitting in an armchair, watching the scene unfold with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism. He gave you a slight nod in greeting, studying you intently. “Hello” you say Greeting Arthur in a low voice before taking your seat next to Charles. Charles couldn’t help but feel a pang of protectiveness as you sat down next to him, unsure on why he felt more at ease now that you were closer. Arthur gave you a small smile, his eyes darting from you to his brother, clearly trying to figure something out.

"I know you guys must be tired but please do tell me how you met each other" Pascal says with joy in her voice. Charles and you both turn your attention back to his mother, trying to keep up the façade. Charles glances at you for a moment before beginning the made-up story. "We met through a mutual friend about two years ago" he started, trying to keep his voice casual. "We got to talking and it just kind of went from there" You nod in agreement, adding a smile to show that you are onboard. Pascale is hanging on every word, clearly enamored by the story. Arthur, on the other hand, is not as convinced and gives Charles a dubious look. Charles shoots him a look back, signaling for him to let it slide. "it was very romantic, he confessed his love to me after one of his races" You say continuing the story you and Charles planned on using. 

Pascale let out a small squeal of excitement, clearly loving your romantic story. "Oh how lovely!" She exclaimed, giving Charles a playful nudge. Charles tried to keep his composure, feeling more and more guilty at the way his mom was buying the lie. You look down as you feel Charles grab your hand that's resting on your thigh.  "Well maman as much as I would love to keep talking about us, we are very tired”. He says as he stands up, also dragging you to your feet. Pascale looked slightly disappointed at Charles' desire to end the conversation, but she recognized the exhaustion on both of your faces. "d'accord" she said, standing up as well. "You must be tired after such a long flight." “It was very nice to meet both of you” you say looking over at Pascal and Arthur. “I know how weird me suddenly being here must be, but we didn't expect it to get out of hand” You looked over at Charles as you spoke. “We had already booked flights to Monaco so we could talk to you before going public, but the media ruined everything” You say clearly lying  giving charles hand a squeeze. Pascale was clearly moved by your words, touched by your considerate approach to the situation. She smiled at you, "Of course, ma cherie, we understand" she said soothingly. "The media can be quite relentless, unfortunately. But i'm glad that you're here now. I need another woman in this family, "she says laughing. You chuckled, feeling guilt about all the lies you have been saying. How were you ever supposed to go through with the divorce now? You never expect this to be so hard.

Arthur's gaze seemed skeptical, his eyes looking between you and Charles. But before he could say anything, Charles spoke up. "We're going to head to bed now" he said, eager to escape the scrutiny. You wave goodbye before you grab your suitcase, Charles dragging you upstairs wanting to leave the living room as fast as possible.

———————————————————————————

Charles pushed the door open, and placed your suitcases inside. His room was large and tidy, with a king-size bed against one wall and a few pieces of expensive-looking furniture. The room had a minimalist aesthetic, with a few framed pictures and a large window overlooking the city.

Charles let go of your hand as he shut the door behind you, his mind clearly still racing. You're not sure why but the sudden loss of his touch makes you feel off. “Fuck of course theres only one bed” you say realizing you would have to share a bed. Charles noticed the slight disappointment in your voice. He glanced at the bed and then back at you, feeling the awkwardness of the situation. He hadn’t thought about the sleeping arrangements beforehand, and now it was too late. He scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit flustered. “Yeah, I didn’t think that through '' he admitted, his voice a bit tense. “But it wouldn’t be our first time sharing a bed” he says, winking at you jokingly referring to your previous hookup. “Shut up” you say laughing, pushing him slightly. Charles chuckled with a playful smile forming on his face. “Hey, I’m just stating facts” he said, his tension fading slightly at your laughter. He reached out and poked your side, his fingers gently skimming your ribs. You freeze at his touch, turning over to look at him giving him an intriguing look. Charles noticed the curious look in your eyes, his smile growing wider. He took a step closer to you, his hand still on your side. “What’s that look for?” he teased, his fingers gently digging into your ribs, tickling you slightly. “Hey” you yelp as you squirm at his actions. Charles smiled at your squirming and laughing, his fingers continuing to torment you. “What are you going to do?

Make me stop?” he challenged, a mischievous glint in his eyes. You quickly move to face him, walking backwards to get away from him. Charles took your step back as a challenge, his smile growing wider. He stalked after you, his eyes locked on yours. His fingers continued to tickle you as he moved, closing the distance between you in quick strides. Your laughter grows as your knees hit the bed behind you, resulting in you sitting on the bed. Charles’s eyes lit up with amusement as you fell, the sound of your laugh filling the room. He closed the remaining distance, standing over you as you sat on the edge of the bed. His hands stilled, no longer tormenting you with tickles. He looked down at you, a slight hint of something else in his gaze. Your breathing suddenly clams down as you realize Charles is towering over you. He watched the rise and fall of your chest as you caught your breath from the laughing, his gaze flickering down before returning to your eyes. You look up at him, locking eyes.  Charles continued to look down on you, his mind racing. Your nearness was making it hard for him to think straight. He couldn't help but notice the way your hair frames your face. His eyes flicked to your lips, the memory of their taste all too fresh in his mind. 

“I'm pretty tired, I think I'm going to try and get some sleep” You say breaking the silence, still looking into Charles’ eyes. Charles' gaze lingered on you for a moment longer before he finally spoke, his voice a bit rough. “Yeah, okay” he said, stepping back to give you some space. You scoot back, finding your side of the bed and getting comfortable. Charles watched your movements. He thought he should give you some space, but he couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to stay close to you. “Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, his voice a little strained. “It's not like you had another option, and you're right. It wouldn't be our first time sharing a bed” You said jokingly. Charles chuckled, feeling a bit of the tension ease at your laughter. "It definitely wouldn't be the first crazy thing we do" he said, his eyes trailing over your body as you lay in the bed. He swallowed visibly, his mind flashing back to the last time you were in a bed together. 

You turn your body so you can face Charles “i still havent talked to my mom about any of this” You say in a low voice with a slight hint of worry. Charles noticed the change in your voice. He had been so caught up in the moment that he had almost forgotten about the outside world. He moved to lay a bit closer to you, propping himself up on his elbow.

"Right, the whole explaining to families thing" he said, a note of irony in his tone. "What do you plan on telling her?"  You sigh “Well I'm not sure, I was thinking…” Charles watched you in silence, patiently waiting for you to continue. He could see the conflict in your eyes. Not sure what took over him but he reached out and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear. "What were you thinking?" he prompted, his voice gentle. His touch feels soothing and familiar to you. “Well maybe I could tell her the truth. The reason this has gone far is because you can't risk the press finding out that our marriage was a drunk accident.” you reply, hoping Charles agrees to your plan. “But what if your mom tells someone and then the truth comes out, i can't risk that”. You nod in agreement, “Yeah i guess you're right, maybe i'll just talk to her when all all of this is over'' You weren't entirely sure why you cared about Charles reputation, but part of you knew that if he faced backlash, so would you. And there's no way you could handle the millions of eyes and name dropping sleazes speaking about you negatively. 

“We have time to figure something out” he says trying to ease the situation, “4 weeks” you reply with a sigh. "Yeah, four weeks," Charles repeated, his voice a bit weary. He flopped back onto his back, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. Four weeks. It felt both like an eternity and not long enough all at once. “Goodnight Charles” you whisper. Snapping him out of his thoughts. “Goodnight Y/N”

———————————————————————————

Week 1 day 2

Charles slowly woke up, his mind foggy with sleep. He opened his eyes and was immediately reminded of the night before. He turned his head to look next to him and saw that you were still asleep, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips at the sight. A few moments later your eyes fluttered as you slowly woke. The early morning sunlight streamed through the window, casting a soft glow across the room, the shadows contouring your face perfectly. Groggily, you turned over, letting out a yawn as you struggled to shake off the remnants of sleep. Charles noticed your stirring, his eyes watching as you roused from sleep. He silently observed as you slowly awakened. He propped himself up on one arm as he waited for you to fully open your eyes.

 “Hey” you groan as you stretch. You had a goodnight sleep despite the situation you're in. Charles chuckled softly at your sleepy greeting. "Morning'" he drawled, his voice still rough "we should head down for breakfast". “Okay. yeah, let me just get dressed”. Charles nodded, reluctantly pulling away from the comfortable bed. He stood up and stretched, his back popping audibly. He watched as you rose from the bed, his eyes tracing over your figure. 

You walk into the bathroom to get dressed. You decided on a little flowy dress, you thought it would be perfect for the weather today. Naturally you took longer than Charles to get ready. He didn't really have to wait for you to finish, he could have gone downstairs by himself. It's not like couples spend every second together, but he still chose to wait. Charles watched as you came out of the bathroom, his gaze never leaving you. He couldn't help but admire your figure, the way the clothes looked on your body. He had to force himself to tear his eyes away. Why he was suddenly looking at you in a different way was a question he couldn't exactly answer. He obviously knew you were attractive. That's the whole reason you got into this mess, he thought you were so beautiful he had to ask you to marry him. But Charles knew there was no point in trying to start anything. You weren't looking for a relationship, or at least not with him. You weren't cut out for the type of fame that came with dating him, and either way all of this was ending in four weeks. Right?

“Okay, let's go,” you said, making your way towards the door. Charles nodded, watching you exit the room first. He followed behind you. You both made your way to the kitchen, the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting through the air. As you entered the room, both Pascale and Arthur were at the table drinking coffee and chatting. Pascale looked up as you entered, a bright smile on her face.

“Good Morning” you say smiling as you greet both of them. "Good morning dear!" Pascale responds, her eyes darting between you and Charles, who stood behind you. Arthur nodded in greeting. Charles pulled out a chair for you, gesturing for you to sit. He then took a seat next to you at the table, his knee brushing against yours under the table. Pascale and Arthur continued to chat as they prepared breakfast, glancing intermittently in your direction before Pascal spoke up. "That's right, I forgot to ask to see your ring," she says with excitement. “Oh yeah, it's beautiful” The question caught you a bit off guard. You had honestly forgotten about the cause of all your problems, the ring on your finger. Regardless you extend your hand, showing Pascal the stupid but beautiful ring. Pascal's eyes widened as she took in your ring, a radiant smile crossing her face. "Oh my! Look how lovely!" she exclaimed, admiring the sparkle of the diamond in the light. Arthur peered at the ring, a stoic expression on his face. “I couldn't have asked for a better one” You laugh, turning over to look at Charles. You watched as he chuckled, a hint of pride in his eyes as he looked at you. "Yeah, I picked the perfect one" he agreed with a smirk. He reached out and grasped your hand that was holding the ring, his fingers tracing the band softly. You looked up at him, a bit confused by his actions. Charles met your gaze, his fingers still holding onto your hand. A moment of silence passed between you, the world seeming to fall away. His thumb traced small circles on the back of your hand. 

Arthur cleared his throat, bringing Charles and you back to reality. Charles quickly let go of your hand, as if remembering that you had an audience. Pascale was still gushing over your ring, oblivious to the moment that had just passed between you and Charles. "Why am I becoming so forgetful" pascal exclaims "Charles dear do you think you could quickly go and get bread from the boulangerie, it's not far on foot"

Charles gave a nod, thankful for the distraction. "Yeah, I can do that," he said, standing up from the table. Not knowing what took over you, you make the decision to grab his hand, stopping him from leaving “i'll go with you too babe” you say smiling. Charles's eyes widened a fraction as you grabbed his hand. He looked down at you, a hint of surprise in his gaze. He couldn't deny the fact that he liked the way “babe” sounded on your lips. "Yeah?" he answered, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “Mhm” you respond as you stand up, pulling yourself closer to him. 

He tried to ignore the way his heart quickened at your proximity. "Alright then" he said, his voice slightly strained. "Let's go get the bread." “We’ll try to hurry,” you follow up

Charles nodded in agreement as you said goodbye to Pascale and Arthur. He led the way out of the kitchen to the front door, his hand still in yours. As soon as the door closed behind him, he turned to you "You're trouble, you know that?" he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Me! How?” you reply with laughter "You, grabbing my hand, calling me babe, needing to go with me for a simple task" he responded. “Well I didn't want to be left alone with your family, I know nothing about them and besides what if slip up on a lie”. Charles sighed, realizing the truth in your words. "Fair enough" he conceded, his grip on your hand tightening slightly. "Guess you have a point there." He looked over at you, taking in the vulnerability in your eyes. "But that “babe” thing?. You roll your eyes “Don't let it get to you, If we don't show affection they might get suspicious”. Charles squeezed your hand in agreement. "You're right, gotta sell the bit" he said with a smirk. “Okay well i think we’re far from the house now” you say as you let go of his hand. Charles felt a pang of disappointment as you let go of his hand, the absence of your touch creating a sense of emptiness. A part of him wanted to grab your hand again, to pull you closer, but he resisted.

———————————————————————————

You and Charles approached the bakery, the familiar sight and smell of fresh bread filling the air. As you walked up to the counter, Charles's eyes roamed over the variety of pastries and loaves of bread on display. But he was also drawn to something outside. You feel a strange sense of deja vu. Have I been here before? You ask yourself in your head. Suddenly you get snapped out of your thoughts by the cheerful voice of the woman behind the counter. "Bonjour, monsieur, mademoiselle. What can I get for you today?" she said, her eyes flickering between you and Charles. “Order the bread, i'll be back in a second” Charles says tapping your hip slightly before leaving the bakery. You ignore whatever he's doing and focus on your task. 

The worker hands you the bag of bread as you pay. You walk outside looking for charles. You can't seem to find him so you walk a little further down the street, spotting someone you think you recognize. You squint your eyes trying to get a better look. “Hey!” Charles says poking your sides from behind you. “OMG! don't ever do that again” You say nudging him slightly, realizing he's holding a brown paper bag. “Did you get the bread?” he asks, laughing at your reaction to him scaring you. “I did, but what did you get?” you reply as you furrow your eyebrows in confusion, curious to know what he bought. “Dont worry about it, i'll show you when we get home’ 

He started walking again, gesturing for you to follow him back to the house. 

——————————————————————————-

You arrive back to the house and walk into the kitchen. “I hope we didn't take long” you tell Pascal as you set the bag of bread down on the table. “Of course not dear” she responds, reaching for the bread. “Please sit down, eat something”. 

“Actually we had some on the way here” Charles says to his mom, the mystery paper bag still clutched in his hand. “Yeah, we're a bit full” you follow up with a chuckle. “D’accord, but please don't be shy with me". She says with a smile before returning to talking with Arthur.

“Come, let's go back upstairs, I have a surprise for you” Charles says, taking your hand, dragging you upstairs. You couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Charles’ words. A surprise? What could it possibly be?. You allowed him to lead you up the stairs, your curiosity piqued.

As you reached the top of the stairs, he opened his bedroom door and ushered you inside.

“What is it?” you ask as you sit on the bed. Charles mirrored your movements, sitting next to you handing you the paper bag before replying “Open it in see”. You give him a quick look before opening the bag. Your eyes widened in disbelief “NO WAY!! THEY SELL IT HERE” You yelp standing up in excitement. He bought you the latest issue of the magazine you write for. Charles couldn't help but smile at your reaction when you saw the magazine. Your excitement was contagious, and he enjoyed seeing the happiness spread across your face. "I remember you telling me you wrote for a magazine and well I saw your last name on the cover and figured that one must be it since your mom owns the company" he admitted as you stood up.”I can't believe you remembered,” you softly say as you look down at Charles. 

Charles shrugged, trying not to make a big deal about it, but you could see the hint of pride in his eyes. "Of course I remember, I listen when you talk, and I would be a bad husband if I didn't remember," he said, his tone soft but still joking. He patted the space next to him on the bed, silently requesting for you to sit back down. You happily accept taking a seat next to him “Thank you, i know its an effortless gift but no one has ever done something like this for me” you say in a soft tone. Charles's heart ached slightly at your words. "Someone should have," he murmured, his voice low. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, his fingers lingering on your cheek for a moment before he pulled back. "You deserve nice things, Y/N." 

You smile at him not knowing what to respond. You're not falling for him, You can't. There's a million reasons why it won't end well. You couldn't keep the lie about how you actually met a secret for your whole relationship. What would you even tell people, You hooked up, got married, met his mom, fell in love, then got together ? That would be perfect if it was reversed. But it's not and you both know that. With that in mind, you decide to speak up. “Charles, we barely know each other that well and if you really think about it, it's only been a few days we've spent together, and I can't…”. Charles sighed, realizing the truth in your words. "Yeah, I know," he said, a hint of melancholy in his voice. He had been so caught up in the moment, in the way you made him feel, that he sometimes forgot that all of this was temporary. "You're right, we barely know each other and..." he trailed off, struggling to find the right words.

“I'm sorry if you ever thought i was leading you on” you say feeling a bit guilty about your words. Charles shook his head, not wanting you to apologize. "No, no," he said. "You didn't lead me on, I just... I got caught up in all this." He let out a dry chuckle, "It's just that spending time with you feels so natural and easy. Like we've known each other for years, not days." 

“I feel it too but it could never work out, you're a formula one driver and I'm just a girl from New York. you would barely be in the states and I wouldn't be able to accompany you to the races once the season starts. it just wouldn't work.” You watched as Charles’ heart sank as you spoke, the brutal truth of your words hitting him full force. He knew you were right, that there were endless obstacles between you and him. He was a world-famous driver, and you had a life in New York, miles away from the races. But despite all that, he found himself wishing it could be different. "Yeah, you're right, let's just push through and get the divorce in 3 weeks," he said eventually, his voice heavy with resignation. You sigh before speaking “And there's no way I would move to Monaco agai-” You quickly look up at Charles hoping he didn't hear the end of your sentence. But he did, His ears perked up at the sound of your words, his eyes quickly darting to your face. "Wait, what?" he said, his tone laced with disbelief. "What do you mean again? 

You stand back up quickly changing the subject “I saw a cute store on the way to the bakery, I think I'm gonna stop by it, My Vegas clothes will only last me so long” you say referring to the clothes that you had only originally packed to only stay a few days in Vegas. Not to live a married life in Monaco. You follow up your words with an awkward smile before walking out of his room. 

Charles watched as you abruptly stood up and walked out of the room, his heart racing. Your use of the word “again” echoed in his mind, and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story. He waited for a few moments, contemplating whether to follow you or give you space.  But he also remembered your words from earlier. "It would never work" he decided to stay back letting you go.

As you walked down the stairs, you encountered Arthur standing at the bottom, a contemplative look on his face. He observed you for a moment, his eyes lingering on your expression before he spoke. "Everything alright?" he asked, his voice laced with a hint of concern. “Yeah, i'm just going to a store” you replied, giving him a forced smile as you walked towards the door, leaving the house.

—----------------------------------------- 

Day 3, 4 and five were calm, nothing crazy happened between you and Charles. Both of you maintain the facade of being hopelessly in love. You act sweet and affectionate towards each other in front of Charles's family, selling the act effortlessly. Everyone buys it, well everyone except Arthur.

Week 1 Day 6

It was later on in the day getting closer to night time. You were quickly cleaning the dishes before you got ready for bed. You were lost in thought looking outside the window above the sink until Arthur walked up to you. “Hey Y/N” he said. You found this strange. You and Arthur acknowledged each other's existence and had a few interactions here and there but you never really had a conversation with him. “Hey Arthur” you replied with a hint of confusion in your voice. Arthur leaned against the sink, studying your expression as you turned your attention to him. You could sense his hesitation, his eyes searching yours. "Can I ask you something?" he said, his voice low and laced with a hint of seriousness. “Umm sure” you respond with a confused tone. Arthur took a deep breath, as if gathering his thoughts. "I know you and Charles are in this... “pretend” marriage," he said, his tone gentle. "How did it start?" 

Your eyes widen as you hear the words come out of his mouth. His question caught you so off guard that you almost shatter a dish due to the speed you dropped it at. I- what? How do you? What? You stutter, extremely confused as to how he found out.

Arthur chuckled softly at your reaction, his eyes never leaving your face. "Let's just say I overheard you and my brother talking last time, the day we ran into each other on the stairs" he explained. "He said you were getting a divorce in 3 weeks and I figured my suspicion was true, you got accidentally married in Vegas didn't you?" He says somehow laughing at the situation. You look around nervously making sure there's no one in the perimeter. “Arthur, I-” You stutter before giving up. You figure  there's no point in lying. “Please you cant tell anyone, if the media found out it was a drunk decision not only would it get Charles in trouble but I would be dragged to filth. People are already mad I'm dating him, I don't even want to know what they would say if they found out I was a one night stand gone wrong. Arthur nodded in understanding, placing a hand on your shoulder in reassurance. "I get it, trust me and honestly I don't really care." he said, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "If I had a dollar for every time my brother did something stupid I'd be richer than he is. I won't say anything to anyone I promise, but you might need to get a bit better at keeping this lie up". You tilt your head at his words “what do you mean?” 

Arthur grins as his hand leaves your shoulder "just tell my brother Alexandra is coming to the party our mom is hosting next week"

That's all he manages to say as he leaves. You stand there by the sink, left puzzled by Arthur's cryptic words. Who's Alexandra? you think to yourself.

Part 3

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this one, I know its a bit long but I couldn't help myself. If you would like to be tagged in Part 3, comment below and I will add you to the Taglist

Taglist: @tsireyasgf @v4mp1r3bl0g @asparklysoul @sltwins @janeh22 thank you for reading, I appreciate it so much :)

[querenciasturniolo]

OKAY NO, “favorite” was insanely good. If you wouldn’t mind, could you please write a part 2 for this fic? Maybe their flirting before something finally happens or maybe another car video with them already dating but no fan knows?

oops ⮕ c.s.

word count: 1.4k

warnings: swearing

summary: chris slips up, and the secret’s out

a/n: i’m so glad you liked favorite !! i changed the idea just a little bit 🤏🏻 but i hope you like it !!! 🤞🏻

{i’m not the biggest fan of this, but that’s okay. i might rewrite this at some point, but who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️}

everything written is completely fictional. the people i write for are written with characteristics and mannerisms that i made for them, this is in no way depicting what would actually happen in real life.

part one || part two

Before you realized what was happening, Chris Sturniolo had made his way into your heart and stayed there.

The few months after the Q&A video was posted, the two of you continued keeping in touch. You talked to Nick and Matt of course, but Chris was incredibly persistent on answering quickly and asking you questions about yourself. It was only a matter of time before the two of you finally got together.

It had been almost a year since that video, and eight of those eleven months you’d been with Chris. The two of you decided early on to keep your relationship a secret from the fans, but with each video you did with them, more edits of Chris looking at you the way he did nearly blew the secret.

You thought it was funny, how he couldn’t control the way his eyes scanned over you like you were the only thing on his mind. It wasn’t just Chris, though. Nick keeping the bit of you and Chris admitting to be each other’s celebrity crush and favorite triplet in the video didn’t help things, either.

Your new single had only been out for a few weeks, and every single interview consisted of the same question.

“Fans have been speculating that your new single, Rare, is actually a love song about Youtube star, Chris Sturniolo. Is this true?”

You’d laugh and shake your head, your chest aching and your heart pounding as you said the same thing over and over again.

“I think the interpretation of music is up to the listener. If the listener wants to believe this song is about Chris, that’s okay. If they want to believe it’s just a love song I wrote for fun, that’s fine too. I personally was inspired to write about the feeling you get around someone who’s important to you.”

The interviewer would then fake laugh along with you, and thankfully change the subject. You hated lying to your fans, and just lying in general, but it was nice to have something private. You wouldn’t mind going public, persé, but you’d need to talk about it first to make sure he was on the same page.

Chris had spent the majority of his time at your apartment when you were in LA, and any time he wasn’t there, you were at their house. One of those times was right now, Nick and Matt sitting next to you on the couch and watching a show you had absolutely no interest in. Chris had his head in your lap with his eyes facing the screen, your fingers carding through his hair absentmindedly as you pretended to pay attention.

Suddenly, Chris sat up and turned to face you, his hair sticking up in different directions and his eyes wide.

“We should go live.” He suggested, Matt and Nick glancing over from where they were sitting with furrowed eyebrows.

“Why?” Matt asked, reaching for the remote and pausing the show.

Chris shrugged his shoulders and pulled his phone out, glancing at you unamused and running a hand through his hair to fix it. “Why not? We aren’t doing anything anyway.” He said, tapping the Instagram icon and sliding over to go live. He propped his phone up on the Pepsi can on the coffee table and rested his head on his hand. Comments started pouring in almost immediately, many of them about the fact that you were on the couch next to him.

After a few moments of silence, Chris glanced over at the three of you with his eyebrows raised. “Are you guys just going to sit there like bumps on a log, or are you going to join me?” He said, your eyes rolling as you scooted more into frame, Nick and Matt grumbling as they stood up and followed suit. Nick sat on your other side while Matt sat on the other side of Chris, all four of you now looking at the comments flooding in.

Y/N WHO IS RARE ABOUT?????

You chuckled and shook your head. “Rare is a song I wrote about how it feels to be around someone who makes you love yourself.” You said, your answer vague as you noticed the way Chris’ fond eyes flickered to you on the screen for a split second before going back to scanning the comments.

well that’s one way to answer a question i guess

it’s about chris confirmed

idk, the verse about someone with bright eyes like stars seems to scream chris

Nick scoffed and looked at you. “How many times have you been asked that?” He asked. You shrugged your shoulders.

“About ten thousand, but I don’t mind. It’s sweet that people want to know. It’s a happy song, they just want to know why.” You said, Nick pursing his lips and humming noncommittally before looking back to the phone.

The live went on for what seemed like ages, the four of you replying to as many comments as possible, the rapid rate of which they were coming in made it near impossible to read. After a while, Matt pulled out his phone and started scrolling through Tiktok, his volume low and his eyes flickering between his phone and the live.

“We filmed our Wednesday vlog today, it’s one of my favorites so far.” Chris said. “No hints as to what it is, but I hope you guys like it.”

Matt snorted at whatever was playing on his phone, nudging Chris’ shoulder for him to look. He did, his eyebrows furrowed and his tongue between his teeth as he watched. You and Nick continued reading the comments, laughing and responding to a few before Chris guffawed and covered his mouth with his hand at whatever Matt was showing him.

He grabbed Matt’s phone out of his hand and held it in front of your face. “Babe, look at this!” He said, all four of you freezing in place as you registered Chris’ words. Before any of you could react, comments started flying in immediately, whether they were keyboard smashes or just consistently repeated ‘I KNEW IT’s.

“End the live.” Nick mumbled, all four of you reaching for the phone at the same time and knocking it off of the table.

“Shit!” Chris shouted, scrambling for his phone and desperately jamming his thumb onto the screen to end it. It was no use—his live had crashed, and his screen was frozen on the image of all four of you staring wide-eyed at the camera seconds after Chris’ slip up, comments still pouring in at an impressive rate, each comment blurred. In a last ditch effort to fix it, he turned off his phone and dropped it into his lap.

The four of you sat there in silence, the tension in the room thick enough to cut with a knife. You finally turned your head and met Chris’ eyes, his face frozen in a wince.

“Oops?”

The silence only lasted a few more seconds before you completely lost it, hysterical, raucous laughter bubbling out of you as you clutched your stomach. The three of them joined in soon after, the four of you near tears as the reality of what just happened set in.

“How did that even happen?! We were doing so well!” You said through your laugh, Chris shaking his head and wiping at his eyes.

“I don’t even know, it just came out.” He said, the four of you finally calming down enough to catch your breath. “I mean, at least we don’t have to hide it anymore.”

You pulled out your phone and opened Instagram.

“Well, there’s only one thing left to do.” You said, Chris leaning into your shoulder as he watched you create a post. “Help me pick one.” You said, scrolling through your photos before he tapped one. You had taken it ages ago, but it was still your favorite picture the two of you had taken together.

“What should the caption be?” You asked, Chris raising his eyebrows at you and scoffing.

“What do you think?”

You rolled your eyes and typed the lyrics out, making sure to tag Chris before posting the photo and locking your phone.

“And now we wait for the uproar.” You said, Chris chuckling and pressing a kiss to your temple. Nick groaned dramatically, catching both of your attention as he pushed himself off of the couch and headed towards the kitchen.

“Oh God, if you guys are going to be all mushy now, could you at least give a warning?” He said, though you could tell he was only teasing. Your phone screen kept lighting up, notifications pouring in from Instagram.

“Well, it’s out there now, I guess. You’re stuck with me.” You said, Chris rolling his eyes as he wrapped an arm around your waist and lightly leaned his weight onto you.

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

don’t keep your distance, i’m not scared

i’m not gonna fight this, baby you’re rare

[erinwantstowrite]

Let me just quickly say, cross-overs can sometimes get REALLY difficult to map out and write in a cohesive way but you have absolutely NAILED IT!! I absolutely ADORE LoF!!! I usually don’t even bother reading fics with the ‘Richard Grayson is Richard Parker’ premise cause I felt like they were super confusing and overcomplicated but this fic?? SUPERB. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. OH MY GOD I ADORE IT. Everyone’s characterizations are so nice and wonderful aaaaaaah!!!! <33333

Ok ok I did actually have a question as well: would you be willing to share what your writing process looks like in terms of a chapter you’ve already posted? I was just wondering since I’m also currently working on my own fic (it’s been a few years but I managed to get fixated on an idea and it grew legs lol) and I’m currently fighting the organization of it haha.

How do you keep track of the plot points and/or foreshadowing you want to get a ‘lightbulb!’ moment for later? Do you have any tips?

Thank you so much! I absolutely adore your writing AND your art is so gorgeous omg it adds so much to the incredible story :DDD I hope you have a good day!!

I have a secret: I actually didn't like "Richard Grayson is Richard Parker' tag for a while for the same reason. Sometimes they felt like they missed the mark or it's just. A thing that's there? I almost didn't include it for LoF, but I'm glad I did because it changed the direction in such a big way.

Another secret: this made me incredibly happy because I have read so many wikis and scoured the internet to make sure that I had enough info on both fandoms so LoF could make sense to anyone who's reading it, whether they know Spider-Man, Batfam, or neither at all. Sometimes I worry a lot before I post that I'll miss a mark and will confuse people.

As for the question: I definitely am willing to share what my writing process looks like!

Be prepared for under the cut, I love to yap. It's in my blood to yap. And that's why it took a minute to get to this ask haha

(Spoilers for Leap of Faith!! Everything mentioned has already been published ((Chapters 1-11))

I had to go and find out which chapter I wanted to use as an example and I think we're gonna go with Chapter 5 for the most part :)

My writing process is, as described by alighterwood:

I think the description fits because while I'm all over the place, I have to be very detail oriented and I store everything in one spot.

Starting with the overall process, what I find is most helpful for me, when organizing, is having a notebook rather than doing it all digitally. I've been using a 70 sheet notebook that I had lying around waiting to be used, and as of yesterday, I officially filled the entire thing front to back. It's been an incredible help, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it's a lot easier to remember something I physically wrote down than it is to remember something I typed. I'm now on to my second notebook for LoF, and I might even have to get a third.

In another ask, startupkat asked me this:

And I shared a little about my outline process there, but I'll try to go into a little more depth here. Emphasis on little because this is so long.

I write a truly insane amount of outlines in this notebook.

This is just what I can show you, but a good chunk of the notebook is just outlines. Over and over and over again. That's because they're always changing/adapting based on so many different factors. Sometimes I get to a chapter I thought I had fully planned out and then realize it just doesn't work anymore. Other times, I get to the chapter and realize I don't want to write that anymore/isn't as interesting as I thought it would be. A few times I got halfway through a POV of a scene I was struggling on and decided to switch POV's, which will change up the outline for a chapter every now and then.

Which is why I don't write incredibly detailed outlines and try to keep it vague until I actually get to that chapter. It's a lot less daunting to rewrite a chapter outline than it is to rewrite the entire outline.

Fic outlines and Chapter outlines look a lot alike.

This is what I said in the other ask, but I didn't elaborate on it all the way.

I make a list just like that, and then I try to put it in chronological order/in an order that makes sense. I keep the Fic outline vague by writing down "Goals" for a chapter rather than scenes. But I also keep notes to myself if I really think something is important. The more important I think a scene needs to be, the more details I write down to make sure my future self recalls what I had in mind when I thought it up.

Really simple example:

Chap 1 Goal: Peter gets to Gotham and meets Babs while running around. Meet Nightwing too? Get shelter.

Chapter 2 Goal: Bats are like "???" about Peter. Batfam dynamic important... Peter stalking Batfam back? Peter meet Batman >:)

When I get to a chapter, that's when I make a far more detailed list of wants/needs/goals. It's the Step 2 from the Step 1. Here are some examples from Chapter 5:

Needed to have:

More POV's from universe 1299 (Peter's home universe)

Tony's POV more specifically, how he's doing/feeling, what he's figured out

What they've figured out on 1299 side vs what's going on in 1300 (Gotham)

Explaining more about Peter's trauma/his past

Dick learning more about Peter, and vise versa

Wanted to have:

Ned being a more central character

Natasha :)

Loki being a little shit

Tony and Cap bickering

Peter talking to Nightwing again

The last name Grayson

Gymnastics!!

(This is the shortened list, because the chapters are so long)

When I looked at this list before writing my outline, I had to figure out how I could incorporate everything. If I needed more 1299 POV's, and I wanted Ned, Natasha, and Loki, there's one scene accounted for. I had to get their side of things and wanted that trio together. I needed a Tony POV, and I wanted Tony and Cap bickering, so those went together, plus I got 1299's POV of Ohnn and his plans explained.

I needed to have Peter explaining more about his trauma, and Dick and Peter to talk/get closer. I wanted a Nightwing POV, to have Peter say his last name, and them doing gymnastics. I knew Peter wouldn't willingly talk about that, so I had him have a nightmare. Not only did it give readers perspective but it made Peter more susceptible to talking to Nightwing because he was more emotionally vulnerable/lonely, and that's how that scene came together.

That's when I would write down the chronological order of these events by writing out "Scene Blocks." (This is what I wrote down but my handwriting was so bad I can't subject y'all to it):

scene 1- Ned talking to Loki. Natasha should be nearby and observing Loki's behavior. They are not on friendly terms. Ned is more worried about Peter than he is as to what Loki could be up to, so Natasha takes on that role.

scene 2- Tony is freaking out about Peter being in an alt dimension. He should attack Ohnn when he's not prepared for it. Beat his ass? Beat his ass. Cap there too.

scene 3- Peter's nightmare. "Ben, where do you go when you die?" "Where do you think?" "With you. Where you went."

scene 4- Nightwing and Peter.

Of course, things come to attention when writing. Like originally, Tony and Cap were arguing in the Tower. But it was a little too much like his and Natasha's argument, and I kept in mind that Tony is smart. Sometimes I forget that the characters are smarter than I am, so I have to account for what they would figure out. So Tony would have picked up the puzzle pieces and come to more conclusions than I originally thought about, and I figured he'd be way more proactive about it than just. Being in the Tower and waiting.

Which means that that scene ended up being as listed above: having a squabble with Cap, learning more about Peter's dynamic with the Avengers in this universe, and seeing how Tony is reacting to it by throwing himself head first into trying to capture Ohnn.

I'll realize I need something else to be mentioned or put in and I'll have to shimmy things around, but that's basically how it goes.

As for other forms of organization:

Keeping a timeline is so important because it tells you a lot about the environment your characters are in. It's also important to remember what a character has on them, what money they've spent, who they've met/who you have mentioned, every alias that is being used, to read your work and write down edits you want to make before you make them, to write down ideas beforehand of situations you can use, and, most importantly: MAKE A MAP!! This has saved me so many times. Sometimes your brain WILL trick you or make it harder on you to envision a scene. Make a map of where your characters are physically!! It will save you too!!

As for foreshadowing and plot points, I'll let you in on yet another secret:

Your subconscious is doing a lot more than you think it is.

Sometimes when I foreshadow something, I didn't even know I was until I got to it. I very often go back to read chapters that came before this to see what I've mentioned and what I haven't, and when I do, I'll see something and go "I have to bring this back" or "I almost forgot about that!"

Other times, I am very aware of what I'm foreshadowing, and that's because I follow a mystery plot formula. You have to keep in mind everyone's intentions, all the time. How are they feeling? What are their motivations? And: what are they doing right now, while this character is doing this?

Like Beck and Ohnn. From the very beginning, I knew I had to make sure that it was obvious Ohnn wasn't working alone. From there, I had to weave through the story and slowly build him up as someone who's working behind the scenes. Even from Ned's first POV, I made sure to mention that this person knows Tony and is tech savvy.

My biggest tip is to make sure you reread your work or at least skip through it, because sometimes you don't even know that you placed something there.

And sometimes, it's very purposeful. :)

I hope this helped! I really tried to keep it short but I am insane and the process is sooooo long. It sounds complicated but it really is simple when you're actually doing it I swear

[especiallythewomenandthechildren]

As If Destiny

A/N: I too have fallen ill to the widespread disease that is young snow 😮‍💨 like him being so fine is so unnecessary. Some quick notes: I've never actually written a fic on here nor a reader one in general so please deal with me! Also I wrote out this whole thing, posted it, then it went into oblivion and I had to rewrite it completely so I apologize! Please let me know if I should add anything or am missing certain details that seem necessary. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you loves❤️

Summary: You've always been kind hearted yet admirably defiant. Or that is at least one of the ways Coriolanus Snow would describe you. Ever since grade school, you have always been on the same level as him in academics and one of his few competitors for the Plinth Prize. But as tragedy struck your family, Coriolanus thought you would fall away from his life, but instead, you got even more intertwined (not to mention the complicated past knots tying your families together).

Warnings: Terminal illness, parent death, death and brutality (it is the hunger games after all) characters may be ooc. I read the book a while ago but don't really remember much of Snows way of thinking (I mean I know its toxic and insane but yk the other things) so I will mostly be basing off the film and my own thoughts. Also I can't spell for the life of me so be prepared for bad spelling and grammar. Enjoy loves!

⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆

Blood just kept on coming. And coming. And coming. Every violent cough shaking your mother's body was followed by spatters of hot, deep red blood. You quickly tried to clean it up as soon as it came out to protect your mother's dignity and to make sure she didn't choke. It took a few minutes, but the coughing session passed and your mother took deep gulps of water, fighting off your attempt to get her to slow down.

⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋇⋆✦⋆

With her engrossed in her cup, you steal a glance at the clock on the wall. As the time for the start of classes nears, the more axinety builds in your chest. Your mother follows your gaze and smiles warmly.

"Run along my little scholar. I will be fine and even better knowing you are sticking your nose in every textbook you can find."

She says in a hoarse voice. You smile slightly and lightly laugh. "That's not how school works, mom. I stick my nose into tissues because of how many textbooks I have to read ."

She rolls her eyes at your little comment and does a little motion gesturing you should be on your way. Shaking your head, you retorted "I still have half an hour till classes begin and I have plenty of time for Rhayen (your driver) to take me to the academy."

You attempt to assure her. Though, it was now your mother's turn to shake her head.

"I know you prefer walking there, don't try to fool me now. You will come back after school and I will be fine. Don't worry, darling."

With a sigh, you stand up and dust off your rouge colored academy uniform and grab your bag. You give your mother a soft kiss on her temple and steal one more glance at the clock. You rush through the halls and down the stairs of your luxurious apartment. The academy wasn't too far from your home, so you could enjoy the walk and the early spring air ruffling your hair.

You tried to smile and nod at the strangers walking past. You needed to clear your mind (distract yourself) so you examined every part of the high class society. Their eyes, faces, hair, clothing, and whatever else you could analyze. With this strategy, it doesn't take long untill the grand structure of the Capital academy to come into view.

As you near the school, you notice a certain curly haired boy sitting on the steps. You feel a sense of relief and pick up your pace. You stop infront of the boy, who seemed too engrossed into his book to notice your sudden appearance.

"Are you behind on the reading or are you being a bookworm?" You question.

He snaps his head up with his familiar smile. "Had some extra time and motivation, so thought I would trudge through this absolute -"

You nudge him with your shoulder to motion to stop talking.

"Yeah yeah I know but be careful: Professor Rhaen always spawns out of nowhere and I would personally prefer if you were not on the receiving end of one of his lectures."

Everyone knew how hard it was to please your professor and how strict your he was. Especially with Sejanus.

He didn't care about his money: professor Rhaen still felt Sejanus was lesser because he was born in the districts.

That sentiment is widely shared with your classmates. From the first day, when little kind hearted Sejanus came to the capital, he was met with stares and whispers. You specifically remember Arachne snubbing the boy. But when lunch came and he sat all alone, seemingly dejected, you sauntered over to his table. Then, just like now, his brown eyes widened in surprise. You smiled and sat down in the chair across from him.

"What's your favorite smell?"

He just stared at you for a while. who asks that. The silence continued untill you got too impatient, a trait you still struggle with, and answer your own question.

"Mine is vanilla because it smells like the sweet cakes my mom makes on special occasions or even sometimes when she is in a really good mood."

A smell that has slowly been creeping its way back into your life after the war. He laughed at your confession and replied that his was lavender, the smell of his mother, or as he calls her, ma.

He was still warry as why you were sitting with him. It was clear you were well liked by your peers and teachers and always seemed to posses the right answers, exemplified in your shared morning classes. But as you both continued your meal and conversation, he felt as if he had been sent an angel that day.

"There's that smile, I've missed it." Sejanus says, breaking you out of your reminiscence.

You duck your head down in some sort of embarrassment and shame. It felt wrong to be smiling and laughing nowadays, especially with the worsening of your mother's condition.

Noticing your reaction and following your train of thought, Sejanus tried to backtrack.

"I didn't mean it like that, Y/N! I'm sorry, you've been suffering and here I am saying stuff like that. I- I- wow I'm such an idiot! I'm truly sorry."

You look up to his genuinely defated and apolgetic face. "You have no reason to be sorry, it's okay. And it's not like I'm the one suffering. I can walk, talk normally, and am not coughing up blood while my face pales and hollows." You say solemnly.

Sejanus opened his mouth to question but was cut off as you both reached your destination. It was best not to discuss your mother's condition around your gossip privy peers around.

You walk to your desks and switch to the topic of later tonight, which you would be having dinner with the Plinths, an occurrence that is becoming more and more often. The last few of your classmates filled in, including Arachne, Clemensia, Festus, and Felix.

A few paces later comes in the charming and handsome Coriolanus Snow. You wouldn't be embarrassed to admit that description, any girl with eyes would agree. With that ever plastered, neutral yet calculated expression on his face, he quickly made his way to his seat, on the other side of you.

He wasn't necessarily friends with you or even Sejanus, but he was far kinder to him than the others were. That's probably one of the many aspects that makes him more appealing. You definitely didn't have a crush on him, but you have zoned out on his side profile once or twice.

Hey, you can't blame a girl!

Well that was your excuse to Sejanus, who caught you seconds in on staring at the blonde. But that was a long time ago. Now you were always zoned out on her.

That's exactly where your mind drifted to as Professor Rhaen began his lecture on the reading assigned. And it stayed there untill the sound of a pen hitting the marble floor brought you back.

You thought it could have been you, especially in your state of hazy focus and sleep deprivation. But taking a quick look at your feet, it was Coriolanus's.

Perfect and proper Coriolanus. Huh.

You hastily grab it and give it back to him, which he accepts with a small greatful smile. A smile that quickly turns into a look of concern.

He grabs your wrist and began examining it. You were stunned and curious what he was looking at until you noticed the deep and clear blood on your wrist, clear even on your deep red uniform.

You must have gotten it when taking care of your mother! You were mentally kicking yourself for being so careless.

"Your bleeding!" He states worridly. He quickly grabs a handkerchief from his bag and attempts to put it on your wrist, but you snap it away from his hold.

You noticed the initials on the white handkerchief. It was his father's. You certainly weren't going to stain such an item of sentiment with blood that wasn't even yours. Her blood.

He was moving to grab your wrist once again but was interrupted by the clear nosies of irritation and frustration of your classmates.

While you and Snow were having your little debacle, Professor Rhaen assigned an extensive research paper that will be due in two months. You understood your peers frustration, the longer you had in this class for an assignment, the more work and harsher the grading will be. But you were greatful for this assignment. It would be a wonderful distraction.

You took a quick look around to gage their reactions and saw Arachne's scowl which made you inwardly chuckle at her expression. But when you came back around to Coriolanus, you saw him still staring at with you a questioning expression.

Questions he would be unable to voice as the bell rang to signal the end of the first period. He tried to stop you or slow you down, but you were extremely focused on getting your materials in your bag and getting out of the intense stare of the blonde.

Sejanus noticed your haste and helped you out, while Snow was attempting to catch up, handkerchief still in hand. But you sped out and straight to the bathroom to wash off the blood covering your hands.

⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆

A/N: Sorry to cut it off here! I felt this was already so long (future me after doing some revisions and having some actual writing under my belt - no it's not.), but don't worry I plan on posting again soon! I am excited to see where this is going I hope you all are too!

[snikt111]

hi hi hi hi I found out about Hal Jordan TODAY and am going so autistic over him it’s insane can you please give me a rundown on what his deal is I think you’re the Tumblr Green Lantern guy

omg hi, insane compliment btw, tysm! i'm glad to give you a rundown!! also definitely check out @katmaatui for more hal info, red is SUPER knowledgable abt him. @rillette, @catboyollie, @halcarols, @starsapphire and @yellowcorps (along with so many others that i cant think to tag off the top of my head) have some great hal takes too! (edited the post just to tag more ppl)

apologies if this is a bit rushed/messy, i'm doing this while i smelt stone in minecraft LMAO

that being said... i think this will be a long one, so more below the cut :3

(cw for light mentions of pedophilia, abuse, canon typical violence)

okay, so hal jordan is the first human green lantern of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS. it's important to note that there was technically a human green lantern before him (alan scott, originally from earth two/the justice society, but integrated into main DC canon after crisis), but his power comes from a different source- which is a whole different ballpark that would take ages to explain, lol, so i'll move on from that.

hal was originally introduced in a showcase issue in 1959, but ended up getting a solo run in the mid 60s because of his showcase issues doing well. he's been a test pilot, middle brother, compassionate, rule follower (although being surprisingly liberal for the time) with an interesting relationship with star sapphire carol ferris since those first appearances. for the first 20 odd years of his appearances we had no information on his parents, but we got a lot from other family members, such as uncle titus, cousin hal jr (aka airwave), younger brother jim jordan and older brother jack jordan. through the 60s and 70s those members of his family were developed along with him; with the audience learning that jim's wife sue thought jim was green lantern, rather than hal, and hal himself training his cousin, hal jr.

the most known version of how hal got the ring in the first place is probably based off of geoff john's rewrite in the mid 00s, reiterating the original story of abin sur crashing onto earth and dying, leaving hal with his ring to be trained by sinestro and the rest of the glc, while also changing miniscule details that had been developed in emerald dawn 1 & 2 (which was released in the 90s, more on that later). the main premise of abin sur's crash has stayed the same, but the story around hal's current life, job, family and stability keep changing. for instance, the original comic with abin sur in showcase only showed hal getting the ring, the guardians choosing him. the first rewrite i can think of was emerald dawn volume 1, published in 1989 and continued in emerald dawn v2 (1991). here we get the classic hal watches his father die in a plane crash with carol ferris beside him as a pre adolescent, and some of the biggest implications of the mistreatment from his father. we also get introduced to hal, despite his stick to the rules, straight edge attitude, making some serious mistakes and putting people in danger and even death- with the implication of alcohol abuse. the audience HAS known hal used to be in the air force since sometime in the late 60s or early 70s (sorry, i don't remember the exact issue!), but emerald dawn shows us that hal's moved on from the air force and into test piloting, and that his mother keeps having to bail him out for making mistakes. emerald dawn vol 1 shows the abin sur moment, followed by fights that cost hal's friends life, and is followed up by sinestro training hal in emerald dawn vol 2, where we get to see the iconic scenes of hal finding out about sinestro and his... dictatorship.

along with that; how the guardians and rings are treated and hal and the glc's perception of them is vastly changed over time. in the early days of gl in the 60s, the guardians were really never to be seen. hal was repeatedly summoned to them and then had his memory almost fully wiped- only leaving a vague notion of his orders. the guardian's called hal to them at seemingly the worst times, ending up with him almost getting injured, getting in trouble at work, and even ending up jobless and homeless. the chaos of being a green lantern has been around the WHOLE time, but originally, the green lanterns didnt really... fight it. the guardian's were their masters (and even father figures, to hal) and not to be questioned. the rings in the 60s were also much more powerful, despite the yellow weakness (the yellow weakness is the notion that from about the 60s to the mid 90s the green lantern rings were completely unable to be used against anything yellow). time travel, phasing, teleporting, etc were all very viable and common things- as well as forceful shapeshifting, invisibility, mind control, mind reading, etc etc. these days, writers have dampened these powers down to mostly shooting light and constructs.

okay, it's parallax time. the emerald twilight arc from the mid 90s wasn't an arc that was as thoroughly planned out over a long period of time as it probably should have been. a lot of fans at the time (and even now) hated what happened there, and claimed it ruined hal's character entirely. i can understand why! but, at it's core, the parallax arc is a story about a broken man pushed to the limit, fully grieving his home and family (originally, he lost his brother jim in the destruction of coast city, along with a lot of other family members) and being goddamn fed up with how his "masters" treated him and the rest of the corps. the so called "perfect lantern" (no, he wasn't that much of a rebel, despite what johns wants you to think) snapped and essentially tried to gain as much power as he could to bring back coast city. when the guardians stripped him of his powers so he couldn't, hal became enraged and took down every lantern in his path, just to get to the guardians and that power. long story short, he kills the guardians and absorbs all the energy from the central power battery on oa, becoming parallax- essentially a god. this marks the start of zero hour, an event made by dc to restructure and reset; giving the comics a new generation of heroes. hal destroys the world and remakes it, but is ultimately taken down by kyle rayner, the new green lantern, with the help of the jla, jsa and associates. there are a few more run ins with parallax after this, before kyle convinces parallax/hal that he can make up for all of this by reigniting the sun after it went out- aka killing himself. hal does it, is stuck in limbo for awhile and then becomes the spectre to continue to make up for the horrible things he did as parallax. the spectre is the spirit of god's wrath and vengeance, a weapon used to drag sinners to their very own, self made hells, and scare the shit out of people. the spectre, from it's very first appearance, is a ghost like spirit that takes on a host, and is primarily described using christian terms and is used in a very... christian ideology. HOWEVER, the spectre 2001 confirms that hal is jewish (jewish mom, catholic dad) and that belief system, plus his personality as a whole, literally makes him change the spirit of vengeance into the spirit of redemption, for at least as long as they are bonded. the whole parallax to spectre arc is about grief, pain, cycles of abuse and terror, redemption and guilt. it is NOT about a fear bug that possess hal. (im so serious though, the spectre 2001 is one of the best comics ive ever read. amazing. changed my world view) but... geoff johns changed all of it, decanonized the spectre, and ruined the legacy of parallax and hal's growth as a person by releasing green lantern: rebirth in 2004/2005. this retcons hal's breakdown and journey through grief into him BEING POSSESSED BY AN ENTITY CONTROLLED BY SINESTRO THAT FULLY CHANGES PREVIOUS GREEN LANTERN CANON AND IMPLICATIONS. also, fucks up the importance of kyle becoming ion, but whatever. geoff johns writes hal (and even more so, carol) so very wrong, and change their stories so vastly in ways that go against the stories very meanings.

SIGH.

now... time to get started on some rougher stuff. hal jordan misconceptions. i'm saving that arc for last.

- hal jordan wasn't much of a rule breaker or rebel until the 70s/80s, where he BEGAN (very slowly, mind you) to be radicalized by oliver queen during denny o'neil's green lantern/green arrow. hal was painted as more of a conservative during this period (which, admittedly, kind of goes against previous canon... he's always been relatively central to liberal, not to any extremes like ollie though, lol) but gets more and more understanding of how power structures work and how lower classes are mistreated during this time- which ends up opening his eyes a bit to how shitty the guardians are. (this is helped by the guardians literally just. leaving. the green lanterns and kind of disbanding them so they can go fuck the zamarons, lmao). geoff johns tried to change this narrative into making hal a very... maverick-from-top-gun type of character, who punched his way out of the military (when, in reality, the original story during emerald knights in the late 90s was that hal had been framed for stealing a jet and was dishonorably discharged, which he took the punishment for because he knew someone had to) and hits on women constantly and gets ladies and allat (which, funnily enough hal was awful at getting carol to like him for a long time, since carol fell for green lantern rather than hal. not to mention the awkwardness of carol's proposals or hal's many, many failed relationships). hal has always been insecure and lowkey boyfailure, he is NOT a top gun maverick tom cruise sorta guy! fuck you jeremy adams!

- hes not that much of an idiot asshole. hal can be a real dick, he's had that going for him since the beginning, but he isn't what you read in batfam fics. he's not stupid and shouldn't be the laughingstock of the justice league. i assume this idea started from the obsession with batfam and the fact that the jla has quite the history of ignoring hal and his issues (as well as. all of their issues. theyre not so great at work life balance), but it's gone too far. hal isn't making fun of the robins and pissing bruce off bc of that. hal isnt fooling around on the job 24/7 (he takes being a gl and pilot VERY seriously, although he does enjoy some danger and high stakes) or slacking off to get girls. again. not top gun maverick.

- hal has not been a creep since the beginnings. hal was not weird with carol in the 60s. things were weird between them, yeah, but that's based off circumstance and the craziness of star sapphire and green lantern. he was NOT being horribly sleazy! i hate that i even need to say this, but i see this take too much not to

- going off of what was said above, lets discuss the arisia arc. if you want to be a real hal fan, this is unfortunately something you need to know about. in action comics, after crisis and the guardians left to go fuck the zamarons, most of the green lanterns fell apart and seperated. a small group went to earth- led by hal and consisting of hal, john stewart, katma tui, kilowog, salaakk, ch'p and arisia rrab. (also sometimes guy gardner, but that's complicated) previously to this arc, hal treated 14 year old arisia like a beloved little sister, welcoming her and leading her into the corps just like everyone else. things started to change once the timeline gets closer and closer to crisis, where arisia starts showing that she has a crush on hal (who is roughly 30s at this point). any advances made by arisia are shut down by hal at the beginning, because she's a child. now, it's unfortunately a common thing to just call hal a "pedophile" because of what happens in this arc- but it really isn't that simple. still weird and icky, but definitely not to the degree of which some fans like to act like it is- esp to attack hal fans for, which is... an odd choice regarding how many fucked up things every character (esp male characters) did back in the day. arisia ends up using her power ring to artifically age herself up, making her body AND MIND into that of a young adult (the comic makes this very clear). once this happens... hal stops rejecting her. they get together, they kiss. the only person in the group of green latnerns who actually has an issue with it is john (salaakk is meh about it, but he just doesn't like human-esque romance no matter what), and katma even directly encourages their relationship. kilowog ends up crushing on arisia as well, and guy gardner hits on her repeatedly throughout the whole period. eventually, hal and arisia break up, but this legacy (thank so much englehart, for wrtiting this. /sarc) is a big controversy among the comics crowd. "is hal jordan a predator?" personally, and i know a lot of friends/mutuals/other gl fans choose to erase the arisia arc entirely (versus how canon ended up retconning it to be 14 earth years is equal to that of an adult and she didn't really get super ages up, or whatever) and go with the familial relationship between hal and her. that's my preferred version! i know red (@katmaatui) has explored that version as well as an alternate version where the arisia arc did happen, and how it affects arisia in particular, which is really depressing but super interesting. anyway, it's complicated and weird and nuanced, but that whole occurence doesn't mean hal's a bad character or person (cause yk. retcons) and it's certainly not bad to like his character. (definitely ignore any guy gardner fans who try to bitch about this arc. cough cough. guy was ALSO into her and hit on her repeatedly. smfh) most people who bring this up to demonize fans didn't even read the arc, and don't know the nuance or the other weird shit that happens in it. (hal is not a horse, sigh)

OVERALL NOTES!

hal jordan is a super complicated character with an extensive history spanning from the 60s to his worse written appearances in modern age. it's okay to like any version of the character, but it is important to note the changes that have been made, the storylines butchered and lost, and more. he has quite the legacy, and he's particularly interesting as from a moral standpoint. hal's a real sweetie though, when it gets down to it! he's neurodivergent coded (imo at least.. his dad very much gets onto him for being disrtracted, hes kinda shit at social interaction (and then amazing at it the other half of the time) etc etc. "spacecase") and his dad is an abusive asshole, who he desperately doesnt want to be like but thinks he NEEDS to be like!

[morganafayes]

morganafayes bbc merlin fic rec list <3

hiiii here is a tiny little fic rec list i made for fun of some of my personal underrated faves in the fandom!! i've tried to avoid stuff that's already pretty well known + have a decent balance so hopefully yall might find some new stuff you haven't seen in here :)

the witch and the queen - toxic morgwen slay <3 very short!

in our quiet hour - i mean just read everything by lupinely. its all so good. its everything. they have never missed. id recommend 'castled' by them too... insane merthur fic. their dynamic is perfectly written. also their gwen character study mwah

heir - gen, arthur & merlin. genuinely have never once stopped thinking about this since i read it and it makes me sick :/

off the deep end - now THIS. this is good shit. toxic merthur modern au where they are exes and hate each other and hurt each other. finally someone who gets their specific brand of codependent toxicity. bbc merlin modern aus peaked here i dont care

swan down - nimueh ficlet about her relationship with arthur. gave me many brainworms............ please read it. its very short and it will make u crazy.

this graveyard - ok i havent finished reading this yet bc its like 10k. but its morgana/gwen and a rewrite of the whole dark tower thing which as you all know is the bane of my existence. society if the the writers had actually written that episode well etc etc.

i hear deserts heal your history - THEEEEE fic of all time. genuinely i have never stopped thinking about this fic ever. i have such complicated feelings on it. it makes me want to die and throw myself off a cliff at the same time. this is the morgana centric fic of all time genuinely she is done SUCH justice here oh my god but also. everyone is very mean to merlin. my poor guy..... :( in terms of morgana fics though. a must read <3 also great exploration of the mergana dynamic. reading this was truly where my mergana crusade started btw. also read their other morgana fic its absolutely fantastic (i havent finished it either though because im slow asf...)

living for the hope of it all - mercelot warriors come get your heartwrenching angst <3 i have more mercelot fics to rec if people want. i hate them and i love them

ouroboros - merlin/morgana. insane freaks at it again. my fave victims of lavender divorce

drawing lines - gwen character study which i <3.

the chakra of merlin - okkk this is a strange one. it feels almost semi incomplete because although it does. end. it doesnt really. its most interesting for its sci fi elements + character exploration which i find really interesting and well done. merlin is truly unhinged here in the worst ways. when is he not though

the huntress' heart - mithian/gwen slay!

tongue tied - yeah its another truth spell merthur fic... what can i say im basic. its very good though!

dragons! - morgana/gwen. super short and cute <333

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Feeling all sorts of fucked up about the use of This Woman's Work by Kate Bush in OFMD again, because I was just giving it a listen (again) (hundredth time today) (as you do). So much of the song speaks to what Ed is going through - he's got a little life in him yet, he's thinking about all the things he and Stede never did, but tonight I was really struck by the line "give me these moments back."

Because that's so much of what s2 is about, isn't it? From Ed's perspective, so many of those sweet moments he had with Stede have to feel ruined. In the Gravy Basket, Hornigold taunts Ed about how Ed told Stede his biggest secret, and then Stede left - that sweet moment where Ed told Stede about his dad has to feel sullied to Ed. Ed doesn't know yet why Stede left; he obviously thinks it was all his fault, and all those wonderful and genuine moments he had with Stede in s1 feel tarnished in his mind. Ed and Stede making up and Ed learning that it wasn't his fault Stede left allows him to reclaim those moments they shared.

And s2 goes even further once Ed and Stede get back together. Their kiss in the moonlight is very intentionally the two of them rewriting the same moment from s1, only this time, even if they aren't yet quite fully on the same page, they're at least reading the same book.

Never going to stop being insane about this I think.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

(I wish I could ask this in a video with GamingMagic13’s editing style, but I don’t have the energy for that.)

People say that, after Antibug, Chloé’s redeeming qualities started to show through throughout Seasons 2 and 3 because Thomas Astruc didn’t contribute to those episodes of those seasons as if he wasn’t on the writing team for every episode for those two seasons, including the ones showing Chloé’s redeeming qualities.

It’s not “Thomas left so the other writers started to make a redemption for Chloé, but then he came back and threw it all away”, it’s leaning more towards “Thomas, along with other writers, wanted to waste our time with Chloé pity parties for two seasons and trick people into feeling bad for her, which worked on plenty of reactors, and then yank the rug out from under them just for the sake of pulling a rug out from viewers” whether it’s the truth or not.

Also, do you get the feeling that, if people weren’t harassing Thomas and his family over Chloé’s “abandoned redemption”, Chloé wouldn’t have been made into evil incarnate to spite people?

Considering that the hiatus between Seasons 3 and 4 started towards the end of 2019, had to continue throughout 2020 due to the COVID pandemic with only the New York special to keep us busy in September 2020, and then finally ended shortly after 2021 started, that would have been plenty of time to rework scripts, because we know he was also on the writing team for every episode of Seasons 4 and 5 alongside 2 and 3, to made Chloé more and more unlikeable while propping up the male adults to spite Chloé fans, like several episodes of Teen Titans GO! and even this show are guilty of.

Whether all of this is true or not, I think it all lines up too well for too many other outcomes.

The "Thomas Astruc was able to completely rewrite the plans for this character and no one stopped him" take has always been a little wild to me especially since Chloe never showed meaningful improvement in canon. In fact, now that we've seen her story play out in all it's disappointing and time-wasting glory, you can even argue that Despair Bear was straight up telling you what we were in for since it's the same plot, just on a smaller scale.

As far as I know, there is no evidence for this "Chloe was rewritten" conspiracy. At the very least, no one has sent any my way on the multiple occasions when I've asked for it. Astruc is a credited writer for pretty much every episode involved in the Queen Bee arc and, while head writers have a good deal of power, they often don't have supreme power over their shows. This is especially true when it comes to kids shows since those have a lot of restrictions on what they can do. While I cannot speak French, I've been told that this class involves one of the writers talking about the multiple darker version of Chat Blanc that were rejected, leading to Chat Blanc being a season three episode instead of a season two episode like they originally planned.

These shows are products that are being sold to buyers who do have the power to reject the product and the writers work for a company. In most cases, they can be stopped!

There's also the fact that this is Astruc's career that we're talking about. You're arguing that he purposely messed with his reputation and screwed up the writing in the show that he's most well-known for in order to get back at online randos instead of just blocking them and moving on with his life. That's an insanely hard sell for me. Unintentional bad writing is a much easier explanation especially since he has nothing to gain from people disliking the Chloé stuff. This wasn't situation where Astruc needed to tank the show to get out of writing it. If Astruc left the project, then Miraculous would go on without him. While he came up with the initial idea, Zag owns the property.

Unless someone has hard evidence that Chloé was changed to spite fans, I am never going to buy into this conspiracy theory. Her bad writing is too in line with the show's other issues. Remember, this is the show that gave us Derision, everything about Lila, and Gabriel getting an 'ascends into the light with a smile' ending while his son sat the fight out and remains in the dark. Is Chloé really meaningfully worse than any of that?

I'd say no and, if you agree, then why do you think that she's so special? I've previously called her a canary in the coal mine and that's going to be my read until someone gives me evidence of something else. She was your warning sign that the writing was never going to be very good. I don't think she foretold just how bad it would get - that's why I kept watching - but her story showed that these writers were only good at short-form content and sucked at long-form content. In fact, Chloé's story is arguably better than a lot of the long-form stuff that the show gave us in season four and five. At least Chloé's story logically flowed together even if it was massively disapointing!

I also don't consider Chloé's season four and five writing downgrade to be all that telling because, once again, it's not unique to her. The class gets a similar downgrade in quality, going from "we'll help Marinette with her confession plans when she asks, but this isn't a major thing to us" to "we live for Adrienette and will make our own plans for Marinette to confess and force them on her/try to force Adrienette to kiss." It makes the entire class feels more shallow than ever.

Gabriel also gets a downgrade with his writing going more over-the-top than ever. We have things like him locking Adrien in a cell and using Adrien's amoks for no obvious reason even though Gabriel is supposed to get an ending where he dies totally at peace and ascends into the light. Totally nonsense choices just like the choice to make Marinette's inability to speak to Adrien because she's anxious into a full-out trauma response.

These are just a few of the many, many, many writing downgrades.

If you truly believe the Chloé conspiracy, then I'd strongly encourage you to watch at least the first of the videos I'm about to link and see if you notice similarities. I have all of them set to the specific, relevant timestamps in case you don't want to watch a massive video to see what I'm talking about because they all talk about more than the conspiracies that arose in these fandoms when the writing got "bad" (especially the last one. The conspiracy gets a very brief mention. I really only included it because I wanted three examples and just went with ones big enough that someone else had done research on the topic because it's not an area of fandom that I've ever waded into).

I'm linking these videos because I wanted to give you more than me just saying "this kind of thing happens all the time when media gets bad." Watching just a few minutes of each of these should give you the context you need assuming the timestamps work:

As you can hopefully see, the Chloé stuff is nothing new. So many pieces of media do something disappointing and then fans create conspiracies for why it happened, refusing to accept what is most likely to be the unfortunate truth: the writers thought they told a good story or, at the very least, they did the best they could within the confines they were working with be those confines monetary, temporal, and/or the limits of their own skills. That doesn't make the bad writing okay, you're fully valid in being upset, but there's also no need to create a conspiracy theory around it. It's probably not that deep. This shit happens all the time, especially in larger fandoms.

This is why I often give the advice of, "don't trust your mental health to stories that you have no control over." Is not that fandom isn't fun, I've just seen this shit before and I always feel bad for those who get involved with it. I've luckily never gone down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but I have gotten really upset when other fans continued to like a show that was bad, actually, and got a good deal of catharsis when most of the fandom woke up after the final was terrible. That still wasn't a good experience for me, though. It was not a healthy mindset to be waiting with baited breath for total strangers to agree with me that this random show was bad. I'm much better of bashing it with those who agree that it's bad, moving on when I'm no longer having fun, and letting those who like it be wrong (that is both a joke and real advice. Don't waste your time trying to change people's minds on something as insignificant as Miraculous. Just let them be wrong.)