#i feel like i should maybe put out a more official announcement for this but i do have to delay FotF's debut more unfortunately. things hav

[starfacedstudio]

Image ID: A detailed digital illustration of a bedroom for Ralsei from Deltarune in a watercolor style. A chandelier lights the scene from above in blue, including a covered 4-poster bed + chair with plenty of books next to it (right / center), a closet filled with clothes (left / center), a bookshelf with a ladder filled with books and crafting supplies (center), a stack of unpacked boxes (left), and a desk cluttered with craft supplies and drawn-on papers (front right). The brick walls are covered with drawings and glow in the dark stars, hearts, and moons, and paper doll garlands line the perimeter. Two tapestries on the rightmost wall frame a large stained glass window. Just middle of left, Ralsei's hat hangs on the back wall. End ID.

Image ID: A page titled "Environment Intensive Packeting: Ralsei's Bedroom. There are 6 called out items from the previous illustration (shown at the top left), which include: 1. Window design, which features the Delta Rune motif / symbol. The bottom part of the window is colorful. 2. Banners (tapestries). They depict two different scenes from Ralsei's prophecies, one shows 3 heroes emerging from the world's edge, and the second depicts a Titan at the world's end. 3. Unused Manual pages, one contains a drawing of Ralsei with the text "Thank you! I'm looking forward to meeting you!" with a heart at the bottom. The second has text that says "Dedicated to the unending pillar of darkness that gives my body form." 4. Desk clutter: pink strings of yarn, dry macaronis, and a green crayon. 5. A string of paper dolls with varying shapes: a darkner, a lightner, a save point, and a heart. 6. Wall decor, including glow in the dark stars and drawings of other characters. End ID.

boy this was meant to be finished like 2 weeks ago but at least im in time for the anniversary babeyyyy!! happy birthday deltarune oh god you're 5 years old now

Here's a bedroom design for Ralsei that I did for class - there's certainly more details hidden in this that I didn't have time to call out, so shout out to anyone who may spot em!

#deltarune #ralsei deltarune #described #fotf #long post #lmao im not tagging everyone else theyre just drawings #finally catching up on work RAHG i had a sudden surgery earlier this month and it set me back quite a bit but its sorted now #this room is moreso catered to fotf ralsei but it can still apply to regular ralsei too #haha. i have some painful plans for him regarding this room. just u wait. #i feel like i should maybe put out a more official announcement for this but i do have to delay FotF's debut more unfortunately. things hav #been really busy this semester (when i thought they wouldn't be) so im now aiming for the end of the year. but i cant promise anything #dont have 2 longass comics in your brain at once man.... #anyways. im really happy with this!!! im thankful my professors were really understanding and I wasn't rushed to finish this #it came out pretty much exactly how i imagined it in my head!!!!!! #also this file has far too many layers. i dont know the number i just know its many. oops

[eloise-t-g]

i think for me, the watcher situation comes down to this:

it's absolutely respectable that the watcher team wants to grow and produce better quality content. it's respectable that they don't want to stagnate and end up pushing the same content out over and over again. that's not satisfying for them creatively, i get that.

however, if higher quality, more heavily produced content is not what your fans are asking for, then you can't ask them to fund it.

this all-or-nothing method they've gone for is frankly bizarre. it feels like they leap-frogged all other alternatives to improving their finances and ended up here, alienating and frustrating the majority of their fanbase (the fanbase they thanked for getting them to where they are).

i think this could have gone a lot better if they:

Hadn't hyped up this video for a week.

Hadn't announced the worth it successor just beforehand.

Hadn't put out a wishy-washy, "boo hoo we're so sad about this", over-produced video.

Hadn't made it $6/month (more in a lot of countries given exchange rates).

Had considered that this means fans in specific countries literally cannot pay for the subscription due to geo/region-locking.

my ideas for improving their funds, aka things they could have tried before blowing their brand up: create their own website with two options - a free version with ads and a paid version without ads, OR make better use of their patreon/make their website extra content, not all their content, for example:

Put the ghost file debriefs on there.

Put shows like survival mode on there (or even shift that show from pre-recorded video to live-stream - live stream access to patrons and VOD access to everyone, maybe).

Put episode commentaries there.

Do reaction videos to their old buzzfeed content, talk about memories and BTS, and put that there.

Put one/two episodes of each show, per season on there (and ONLY there).

Put the episodes up there a few days early.

Make specific, website only content (that's not your main and most popular series aka ghost files and puppet history).

Record the live, in-person shows and put those VODs up there.

EDIT (thought of something else lmao): put extended or even uncut versions of ghost files on there. Paranormal Detour on Detune's twitch channel has shown that people will willingly sit through 6+ hours of a ghost investigation.

EDIT: idk, do livestreams once a week where you watch scary movies with fans on discord or twitch.

(side note: the fact that they're not taking down their patreon and instead shifting all of their podcast content on there, something the patreons who have been loyally giving them money for years didn't ask for, is ridiculous and greedy. add to this the fact that they don't even get a free sub to the new website, instead get 40% off - a measly 10% more than anyone else who subs before the official launch).

the thing for me is that they're claiming they want to make "television" and "television-grade content". that's completely fine. what's not completely fine is acting like your four episodes a month is equal to netflix's entire catalogue.

this really felt like it should have been something they told us they were progressing towards, not something they revealed to be on the imminent horizon. idk, it just feels out of nowhere. no, they don't owe us all of the info about their company. but something had to be better than this.

final thought - it's okay and valid to be upset at the team for this. for a lot of people, it's a complete betrayal (especially the comment that $6 a month is something "anyone and everyone can afford", i mean yikes). i do think some people's anger got the best of them, and some of the comments i've seen across youtube, twitter, and tumblr are plain bullying, racism, and harassment. until we have the whole story, we can't decide that one founder (aka steven in a lot of people's minds) is solely responsible. i know a lot of these awful things are only coming from a small minority of the fandom, but they still get seen.

at the end of the day, all three of them got up in front of a camera and made this video, together. that can only lead us to the conclusion that they made this decision together. acting like these men in their 30s couldn't stand up against it if they truly wanted to, is so strange and parasocial lmao.

tl;dr there were much better ways of going about this announcement, if it even needed to be made at all. however, that doesn't excuse the hateful shit being spewed at the team. for now, all we know is the three founders decided they were done with youtube, and done with their loyal youtube audience.

(i have so many more thoughts on this but i need to stop lmao. however i do wonder how different things could have been if 1. they had hired someone with actual business experience as their CEO from the jump, and 2. this video was more of a "hey we're broke! this is a last-ditch effort to save our company!". guess those questions will remain ... well ... you know ...).

#watcher #ryan bergara #steven lim #shane madej #buzzfeed unsolved #unsolved #worth it

[photogirl894]

Hey bestie! Congrats on 1300!!!!❤️❤️❤️

You deserve every single one of those followers and more!

Could you do the fluff prompt "Let me help you" with Hunter? Maybe the reader is really stressed/burnt out and Hunter just wants to take care of her. (If you wanna do it with a little hurt/comfort flair I definitely wouldn't mind 😂)

Thanks so much!

Thank you so much, my dear!! 💜 I'm happy to count you among my followers and friends!! 🥰

I got uh...slightly carried away with this one towards the end, I'll admit 😅 You'll see what I mean lol

"Emotional Engineering"

34. "Let me help you."

Pairing: Hunter x fem reader

***

Becoming an engineer was something you'd wanted since you were a teenager and you were asked in school the kind of career you wanted to pursue. You were smart and really good with ship parts, putting them together and fixing them and such. You thought becoming an engineer would be no problem.

Until you got to engineering school at the Republic Academy.

That was not easy by any means.

You were lucky to get an internship as an engineer working in the Republic shipyards that helped with some things during your schooling, but it still kept you busy and only added a bit more stress.

Then you were assigned to a squad during the war as part of your internship: Clone Force 99.

They were a fun group that you got along well with and they were supportive of your schooling, offering to help however they could. You were glad you got assigned to them...but it didn't help that you found yourself distracted by their leader, Sergeant Hunter.

You were so attracted to him in so many ways, it was almost ridiculous. Your thoughts wandered to him when you were supposed to be studying for exams and you couldn't focus. You imagined what it would be like if he held you...kissed you...roamed his hands and lips over your body....

"Stop that!" you'd say out loud to yourself before smacking your own face to break out of your daydream. You couldn't afford to think like that. One, because you were supposed to be studying and two, he was a soldier and technically, your commanding officer. There was no way he'd be interested in anything like that.

Those distractions paired with the stress of your schooling as well as your work was doing nothing for your physical and mental health.

You found yourself feeling burnt out eventually, pushing yourself to do more when you felt you couldn't go any further. You had to. You couldn't let yourself or your squad down, even if it was costing you sleep and time.

This was something Hunter soon noticed.

Concerned for you, he went to your apartment one day to check on you. When he got there, he saw your door was left unlocked, which was already a sign something was up. He walked inside and announced his presence, seeing you with your head down at your desk.

His voice woke you and you cried out, "Hydrospanner!" Then you groaned, realizing you'd fallen asleep again. This couldn't keep happening. You jumped when you heard Hunter say your name. "Hunter! What...how did you get in here?"

"You left your door unlocked," he told you. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," you said, even though your whole body felt heavy and exhausted. "I'm just trying to study for my final test."

"It looked like you were sleeping instead of studying," he remarked.

You shook your head. "No, really, I'm fine."

He walked up beside you and you had to look away. You were slightly freaking out that you two were alone in your apartment. Then he said, "You're not. You've been pushing yourself and not getting sleep. Don't think I haven't noticed. You should take a break."

"I can't. This test is too important. Once I take this test, I'll officially be an engineer."

"Then maybe I can help you study and keep you focused."

An involuntary squeak sounded from your throat at the proposition. You would be far from focused if he were there. "That won't be necessary, thanks," you replied quickly.

"Your heart rate just spiked," he pointed out. "Are you uncomfortable with me here?"

You whipped around in your chair to look up at him and blurted out, "No, no, it's not that! It's just...well, I...I wouldn't be able to focus at all if you were helping me."

He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head curiously. "Why is that?"

You could feel your face turning red and heating up. Guess there was no way out now. "It's because...I'm really attracted to you and part of why I'm struggling is because I'm constantly distracted thinking about you."

His eyebrows rose up in surprise for a moment at your confession. Then he asked you, "What sort of things about me do you think about?"

Your throat closed up and you convulsed slightly in embarrassment as you turned away, not wanting to share the thoughts you'd had about him. What would he even begin to think if he knew?

However, Hunter had been able to sense the rushing of your heartbeat and that gave away everything...which made him smirk with satisfaction.

He knelt down next to you and laid a hand on your shoulder. "Look, sweetheart, you either need a break or you need to keep studying. Either way, I want to be here for you." He reached up with his other hand and gently guided your face so he could look into your eyes. "Let me help you."

The sincerity and care in his voice finally made something break inside you and, before you realized what you were doing, you leaned down and crushed your lips against his, catching him slightly off guard. Just as you were about to pull away, his hand cradled the back of your head and held you in place as he eagerly kissed you in return, which shocked you, but in a good way. Then his hands slid down your body to your thighs, he gripped them and pulled you forward a little, wrapping your legs around his surprisingly thin waist. Once he knew you were secure, one arm wrapped around you and the other came under your leg as he lifted you off the chair and into the air.

Breaking the kiss, he breathed out, his eyes dark with desire, "I'm deciding for you: you're taking a break with me. And that's an order."

Still catching your breath from his amazing kiss, you simply replied, "Yes, sir."

He carried you over to your couch and laid you down on your back. As he climbed over you, he said in a husky voice, "I can help bring all of your fantasies about me to life. I'd love to know the things you think about or imagine about me."

Your whole body went hot at his remarks and you found yourself unable to respond, unable to believe this was really happening.

Brushing some stray hair from your face, he added, "Maybe then, you'll be less distracted and can focus on your test."

"I...think that'll only distract me more," you replied.

He grinned mischievously. "Only one way to find out." Then his mouth found yours once more and his arms pulled you into him, his passion overtaking both him and you.

Needless to say...you ended up passing your final engineering test with flying colors.

Photogirl894's Fluff/Romance prompts

Photogirl894's 1,300 Followers celebration fics

#star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #bad batch hunter #sergeant hunter #my sergeant #bad batch prompts #hunter x reader #photogirl894 1300 followers

[devouringink]

TWST THIRD YEARS ON A SNOW DAY.

cater, trey, idia, rook, leona, lilia, malleus. (no vil because i'm not entiiireeely confident writing him yet, sorry. <3)

cater is absolutely enthused when the announcement of classes being closed goes up on NCR's official magicam account. you don't even get to learn the news yourself when you wake up in the morning, because he's blowing up your phone.

ding, ding, ding!

(TXT.) hey, (nickname.) did u heaarrr?

ding, ding, ding!

(TXT.) we have off! :p ur going to visit me right? <3

you feel like you don't have much of a choice. after all, how often does a school of magic have days off due to the weather? scarf wrapped tightly, you brave the walk to the house of mirrors from ramshackle dorm. however, you manage to come across cater halfway.

"thank the seven," he mutters gratefully. he quickly approaches, wrapping his arms tightly around you. "it's so cold! let's hurry to ramshackle."

"to.. ramshackle?"

"haha! riddle gave me permission to go to you. i figured i'd save you the trip. i guess the snow's messing with your signal.. uh, maybe we actually should go to heartslabyul."

trey doesn't get a lot of relaxed days like this. he figures that it would be a nice day to continue his tradition of snow day cookies. but.. too many people are using the kitchen today, so you offer ramshackle's kitchen. after all, crowley finally provided the funds for a much needed renovation.

trey merrily accepts, and gets right down to business. he catches the way you're watching, and offers to let you help him. together, you roll out the cookie dough and use cutters to make little shapes. it's a silly set from the mystery shop- designed as little bats, wizard hats, and wands.

you're so into it that you don't notice your face being slowly caked in powder until you hear him begin to laugh. trey reaches out, gently swiping a portion of flour from your cheek.

"ha.. hahaha! you should be a little more careful, you know."

shishishi.. a day off? perfect! idia now has more time to grind on his gacha games for more ten pulls! he used to pray for days like thi-.. eh? you want to hang out?!

fine. but know that idia doesn't plan on leaving his room today. he invites you in, letting you sit comfortably in his lap while he games. ..you know, he doesn't trust just anyone to do this!

rook is absolutely fascinated with the beautiful way that the snow cascades from the sky, decorating the ground that was flowing with lush grass only a month ago. you can hear his exclamation of 'magnifique!' from the window.

"..oh. that's just rook." you mutter, shrugging as you continue to wipe the window. "wait, what is he doing here?!"

rook doesn't bother knocking as he enters ramshackle dorm. you're already familiar enough with each other after all, no?

"y/n!" he chirps, strolling over to you as if he did not just barge in. "go ahead and put some warmer clothes on. i'd like to take you on a walk."

"a walk..? now?"

"but of course! the scenery outside is a beauty i'd like to share with you in its prime. go on, now." he gently nudges you along, making you believe you don't have much of a choice.

"alright, alright.."

leona is more than content to spend the day lazing about. but, you. ugh.. you. you had to send him that text about hanging out today. how can the gruff leona say no to you?

he ends up outside of your door half an hour after leaving you on read. honestly, you didn't expect him to even open the message itself, let alone show up at ramshackle!

"..leona." you murmur, pleasantly surprised. "come on in."

leona enters, scooping you up along the way. what? his plans today were to relax. i hope you're ready to spend most of the day watching TV and napping, y/n.

you had, unfortunately, not gotten the memo about school being closed for the day. you would have if your phone was charged, but the outlet suddenly stopped working! the weird thing is, the electricity everywhere else was fine..

you arrive to the school, completely prepared to begin the day. but.. the door doesn't open. you shake around the door handle, but to no avail. lilia, who was watching nearby, begins to laugh.

"l-lilia?" you stutter in surprise, staring like a deer caught in headlights. he likes this expression on you.

"malleus was wondering why you weren't at ramshackle. you know that the school's closed, right? didn't you get the email?"

"what? can't they just.. magic away the snow? -why are you here then?!"

lilia lets out another airy laugh. "silver left behind a book he was reading, so i came to retrieve it." he waves his hand, and the door magically opens. "come with me. it's cold out here."

as much as lilia wants to bring silver's book back, being alone together on campus has too many fun possibilities.. why don't you play hide and seek with him, y/n?

malleus is elated when you invite him to ramshackle. he does not spare a goodbye to anyone around him, and instead instantly teleports to ramshackle.

"child of man," he calls, tiers curved into a smile that you doubt will ever vanish from his lips. "what shall we do on this 'snow day'?"

"why.. don't we make a snowman?" you suggest.

"a snowman?" ah, yes. he's made his fair share with lilia, silver, and sebek. "very well. we'll make the most amazing snowman anyone's ever seen."

with that abrupt declaration, he begins to walk outside. too caught up in the moment, he forgets that you still need to put on your coat, scarf, gloves, and snow boots. when you get outside, you find him pacing.

"..mallleus?"

"-oh, right." he clears his throat. "i will begin to roll snow. find us sticks for the arms."

after spending a few hours indoors, you both decide to wrap up by drinking hot cocoa in doors. you yawn drowsily, leaning into him.

"..today was nice."

"yes, it was."

#twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #cater x reader #trey x reader #idia x reader #rook x reader #leona x reader #lilia x reader #malleus x reader #twst hcs #twst headcanons

[the-girl-wh0-cries-w0lf]

You're waiting for a train... (8)

A Son's First Hero; A Daughter's First Love

Robert Fischer x reader

description - Y/n's conversation with Robert is filled with more reality than should be in their dream.

word count - 3k

warnings - self-harm, physical violence (fake), tears, shitty parents, Robert Fischer's trauma.

a/n - so sorry this part is so late but I wanted it to be perfect so I've been working on it lot's and now I'm really happy with it!

Previous Part Series Master list Master list

If you want to be added to the taglist - here

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I furiously wiped away the unforgiving tears. Fearing my weakness would be obvious to those around me. I had to pull myself together and set out on the task at hand. Dad said Fischer would remember me but, in your dreams…well…anything’s possible.

“Eames. I need some help.” I pulled myself up onto the table where he was busy working. He looked up at my cheeky face, already excited for whatever idea spilled out of my mouth.

“Is that so?”

“I want to show my dad that I can do this.” I spoke.

“You know you don’t have to.” His voice gave away a sympathetic lilt. But my sincerity lingering in my eyes made him abandon his qualms about my well-being. Instead, he braced himself for the details of my plan.

“We both know that he may be the one dreaming, but we control the visual.” He smirked, sensing my direction. “Yes, he saw my face. But maybe, for this moment, we could just…alter it?”

“Ah, come with me my young Picasso.” He led me to a three paned mirror he’d set up on a rickety desk which would give way at the slightest touch. He firmly pressed my shoulders down into the even flimsier desk chair. “Let me teach you the art of disguise.”

“So, he won’t recognise me at all?” I managed to whisper out. And grasped the hand heading for my face.

Eames smiled down at me and squeezed my hand in a gesture designed to evoke a feeling of security. “We’re not changing your whole face, just mushing it up.” He spoke. “It’s like when you see a face in a dream; you know it’s a face, but you can’t quite make out the features.”

“Like a silhouette.” I softly agreed. My mind flitted back to the man from my own dream. How his indiscernible features had subtly begun to meld, and I already felt their final product. His eyes were now as familiar to me as ever.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

*Eames pov*

I’d offered Y/n time to psych herself up for her next role in this so-called game. She couldn’t ever throw herself in, she required prep and time to create her character which would be placed into the subjects story. But as I walked away, I chanced a glance at her form which had simply walked into the room, no character necessary.

But I needn’t dwell on it for too long; I trusted Y/n. Speaking of which my firm walk was directed towards a certain leader who I needed a few words with.

Cobb and Ariadne stood locked in thought. Cobb fiddled with an object out of sight, but his hunched shoulders betrayed his nerves. If he had been stood to my liking, he would have been destroyed in the corner sobbing his little heart out. I approached from behind, a droll cough announcing my presence and more importantly, my desire to talk.

“May we have a moment, my darling.” I shot a smile Ariadne’s way. She responded to the over-enthused expression by retreating quickly. Cobb did not meet my gaze which had tracked on to him. He grasped his object even tighter with each new hand placement. He clearly already knew the topic and could feel my reaction.

“You have some nerve.” I spat.

“She nearly put this whole mission in je—” He defended with a surprising amount of conviction.

“No don’t give me that!” I fumed at his official attitude. Scoffing at his apparent corporate nature. “She made a mistake. We’ve all made them.” I tilted my head towards him in an unspoken statement. “But for some reason she is held to a higher standard than us all.”

His mouth opened in silent argument, but his false words would give away no sound.  I went to turn, feeling my anger was misplaced due to the severity of this mission. For Cobb and Y/n. But I just couldn’t. I came back and leaned in further so I could attempt to meet him face to face.

“It’s all well and good you accusing her of being a child, but don’t you forget that she entered into our world a child.” My voice kept its hushed tones, but the severity seeped through it. “Whether it was her choice or not, you still let her do it.” My finger was shoved into his face, and he minutely flinched at this. I calmed myself, feeling relieved at releasing that before we continued on this mission. My head hung low when even I felt the sincerity of my words. I loved Y/n like she was my own sister, but I couldn’t deny how sick I felt when she was here with us. And now with this new revelation, I feared that Cobb, Arthur, and my self’s efforts at protection would not be enough.

I now leaned against the table, complimenting Cobb who had ignored his object in favour of supporting his hunched frame on the desk. I broke the tense silence between us.

“Do you know why she liked talking to Fischer and didn’t immediately run off.”

“Please enlighten me to the inner thoughts of my daughter.” Cobb huffed out in severe annoyance.

I took a beat, almost relishing in his cocky attitude.

“Because for once she wasn’t in the shadows anymore.” I stormed off away from the man in shameful realisation.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

*your pov*

I had placed myself centrally in the door frame, staring unforgivingly at the locked steel door. Breathing was tricky in my emotional state but the little gasps every so often at least confirmed the living state of my body. I’d altered my clothes to seem more faded and dishevelled. Cuts and bruises adorned my body, but I had forgone the use of the dreams mechanics to create that specific look on my skin. My nails still had specs of my blood underneath from where I’d dragged them down my smooth skin. Feeling pain on my unblemished skin in this fake reality spurred on my adrenaline. The lack of numbness would work in my favour. There was something about squeezing into my flesh until it speckled with purple and blue which tricked my mind into believing this reality. Then maybe I could believe what was about to happen.

Footsteps clacked up to my frame, and I turned to see Arthur, adorned like a true criminal. Gun cocked, mask prepped. I couldn’t help but bite my lip seeing his body constrained in that that dusky brown leather. My mind was flipped back to our first solo mission and the memory of embracing him and feeling that jacket beneath my fingertips. He had delivered a swift kiss to my hairline but had left in another second hoping it would slip my mind.

His hand reached to clasp my forearm, but he faltered. His eyes instead met the side of my head and eventually his lack of movement confused me so I turned to see what was the issue. His face spoke a thousand words yet his lips delivered none of them. He eventually decided upon a few.

“You don’t have to do this.” I understood the hidden end of his sentence. We both knew it was more than the simple task at hand.

“I know. But I do.” I assured him with a little smile. Hoping it would convey enough normalcy to calm his nerves. He once again took my arm and I slightly winced at the contact. His steely gaze landed on our point of contact and look of regret spilled over his features as his thumb lightly traced my skin. His hand landed on the look but before he could turn it another though bubbled up.

“Are you okay?” He looked up at me piercing through his gaze.

“Yes.” I firmly said with a softer edge. “Do you trust me?” I teased but there was a slant of sincerity within it.

“Forever.” He stated and he punctuated the end by ripping open the door, mask on, and dragging me inside.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Thought we’d bring you a little treat.” Arthur grunted out through his fake voice. I stumbled alongside upping the part of the damsel. The act was tied up through a calculated throw to the ground and a well-timed yelp from me. As soon as my body crashed with the floor, Robert scrambled towards me and lifted me up. We found ourselves in a position we’d been in many times before. As he took my hands to gently place me in a more comfortable position, I finally let my eyes flit up to his. But once our gazes locked a flicker of familiarity danced across his features.

My heart dropped.

The flicker burned out.

“Miss, are you okay?” He looked over my body. Took in my tattered clothes, my physical anxiety. As he landed on my various cuts and bruises, his expression darkened. It confused me to see him as he brushed his fingers over my injuries. As if willing them away with a darkened anger bubbling up. His conclusion of who I was settled on his soul.

“Yes, I’m fine.” I stuttered out. “Well, as fine as I can be.” Laying it on thick. I added a few extra shakes to the mix but he mistook this for me being cold. He quickly ripped off his jacket and softly wrapped me in it. The gesture floored me where I forgot my character as I sunk into the fabric and let my head fall to my shoulder to breathe in the unique scent.

“Why have they taken you?” Okay good, he has already assumed I’m a fellow victim.

“They’ve had me for months.” I whispered out as if trying to evade my captors wrath. “I was taken because of my father’s debt.” His face fell at the mention of my father, sensing a shared trauma between the two.

“Turns out I’m not even worth ransom.” I spluttered out a laugh amongst my crocodile tears. Seeing this he brought up his hand to wipe them away, not bearing to see me in pain.

“They could’ve killed me. They probably should’ve.” I said. “I guess they just like something pretty to look at.” My head hung. “That’s all I am; to my colleagues, to men,” My breath caught in my throat. “and to my father.” The lump in my throat dropped and I managed to muster up a sympathetic sob. Upon hearing this he carefully gathered me in his arms. Instead of waiting for permission or fearing consequences; he sensed what I needed and had relished in giving me it. I let off a few minutes to fulfil my tears and let them drip onto his shirt. But as I lay in his arms I could no longer differentiate anymore and struggled to decide whether I was lying or not.

I pulled away when I felt dried out. I giggled at the wet patch that had formed on his chest.

“I am very sorry.” I continued laughing, pointing at his shirt. He laughed once he looked down and noticed. “I dread to think how much it cost.”

“It was sacrificed for a worthy cause.” He cupped my cheek and felt the dried up tear tracks.

“It’s nice to talk to someone for once.” I spoke.

“Really?” His face fell upon hearing this.

“Yeah, even before this I didn’t really have anyone.” I shook my head to wipe away his sympathy. “I worked for my dad, but I never really felt taken seriously. Like I was a part of it. Rather just a moveable doll to be used for whatever.” I giggled out at the almost lie I had forced myself to tell.

Robert chanced a look when I had let my eyes fall to the floor. His brow furrowed at the strain of taking in my various features which were so blurry. But it was something about my voice that struck a deeply hidden part of his mind. My dulcet tones had seemed to pierce our intricate layers.

“I feel like I know you.” My heart struck cold. And the most base bodily movement ceased. “You’ve been in my mind a lot recently.” I turned to face him. My lip trembled at the possible subtext of the words he was speaking. We seemed to be locked together for an eternity, neither feeling comfortable in pulling away.

“Anyways,” I brushed off his previous thoughts by trapping him with my dozy smile. Each time I smiled he became transfixed, and it was addicting. “Apparently you’re an old hand at the father stuff.”

He nodded his head through a teeth gritting smile.

“They talk a lot when they think I’m asleep.” I feebly gestured to the locked steel door. And I turned back to see the life had left his bones once he’d considered what I’d said.

“Well, his ability at business could not be faulted. Absolute inspiration and a hard-working and powerful individual. But in the father department, there was a lot to be desired.” He shifted his position so we were now turned to face one another, with our knees gently kissing.

“Growing up, seeing my dad like that was transcendent.” He laughed thinking back fondly. “He was a god.” His head fell. “but I didn’t want a god. I wanted my daddy.” His voice took on the note of child as if that desire had halted the ageing of his heart.

My fingers creeped toward him, betraying any logical strategy in my head, and I linked them together in a silent show of comfort. His eyes crinkled when our hands met and he spoke his thanks through a gentle squeeze.

“You know.” The words fell past my lips before I could stop. “Sometimes, I think my dad is afraid of how much I love him.” I waited until he looked at my face before continuing. “But I don’t know how to do anything else, because it’s all I’ve done for the past 5 years.” I smiled through the pain at how foolish I could be.

“If he truly doesn’t want me in my life.” I searched around the room to find the end of my comment. “Then I don’t know how to live like that.” I gasped out through an unconvincing laugh.

“My love is wasted on him,” Robert hooked on and decided to alleviate me by sharing some of his own. “It only serves to hurt me more.”

“I get that.” I offered him another smile and I was greeted with the sweetest relief of his own cheerful face, even if it is only for a moment. “But love is meant to hurt. It is only the deepest wounds which have the most lasting pain.” I spoke inwardly, forgetting the conversation I was supposed to be having.

“I don’t think I’m capable of love.” He shocked me back to him with this statement. My brow furrowed at the lifeless face he beheld. He met my concerned face. “Well, those are the traits you learn. You watch from a young age, your parents and their displays. I don’t think my parents ever gave me that.” I shuffled closer so our sides met. I hoped the proximity gave him comfort. I knew my next move but I doubted everything about it. Finally conceding I lifted my hand to grasp his chin, and tilted his face towards my own. And I met it with my other hand.

“I see your capability.” I began with a whispered tone. “I see it in your eyes.” My sincerity seeped even further through my disguise. “That longing desire to be loved that only comes when one has a great amount of love to offer.” Our lips were inches away and with a slight lean we would be locked in a kiss. My neck strained to go further but I had to stop. I was being risky enough as is it is.

“Maybe we both need to realise the burden of our love for our family.” Robert softly stated and as soon as those words hit my ear, the world stopped. We’d both felt it too. The tiny sparks dancing between each point where our bodies met.

The door was ripped open and Arthur stormed in. He grabbed my arms and began to drag me away. Robert firmly protested. Trying to run after despite the threat of being shot. He pleaded with them for my safety and as I was forcibly thrown out, I noticed something in his eyes. Something I’d seen before but never this intensely.

“just do what they say.” I spluttered out before I was safely behind the door with Arthur.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Once Arthur had removed his mask, we both stood as I caught my breath from the stressful exit. He placed his hand on my shoulder in a bid to calm me down.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah. Perfect.” I gasped out.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Not hurt, or he didn’t –” His eyes ran over me during his uncertain questioning.

“No. Course not. All fine.” I half-way grinned up at him. We stood in silence, as Eames walked past all ready for his role as Browning. He opened the door and went in.

“I heard you in there.” He said through a small laugh.

“Oh really?” I tried to tease but my heart wasn’t fully in it.

“Yeah. It was a bit flowery, no? Bit poetic.” He laughed out. I joined in the humour but my eyes remained stoic.

“Yeah, I guess.” I became uncertain in my skin and my erratic hand movements betrayed this. “I don’t know he liked it.” I tried to show Arthur the humour behind my words and he seemed to buy it’s surface. After the laughter died out we walked back to the group. Despite the insincerity of our discussion, it felt like I had Arthur back. I liked it.

Once we reached the group, Dad immediately ran to meet us.

“Sweetheart, well done. Thank you for that—” He reached out for my arms but I never broke my stride and simply brushed past him. Arthur followed my lead.

Cobb was left standing aimless, before grasping his rejected hand into a tight fist.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

a/n - What do you guys think of the chapter? Is Arthur redeeming himself? What about Eames defending poor y/n? Are we liking Robert and y/n's interactions?

taglist: @jonsncws @h-l-vlovesvintage @theethy @fashionki11a @felicity1994 @bearchermer @idkyoutellmesmh @mimimarvelingmarvel @butterfly-lies-chase-them-away @neotanpopper @deliriouslybi @folklorde24 @thefandomdiaries07 @viarosemcmissile @noirrose21-blog @thepoeticfirefly @xoxo-gothic-girl @skeletonwrite

#cillain murphy #cillian series #cillian x y/n #cillian x reader #cillian x fem!reader #cillian murphy x you #cillian murphy fanfic #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy fanfiction #cillian murphy imagine #robert fischer inception #robert fischer x you #robert fischer x y/n #robert fischer imagine #robert fischer x reader #robert fischer #inception #inception christopher nolan #dom cobb inception #dom cobbs daughter #dom cobb #you're waiting for a train

[the-demons-writings]

You're safe with us

(Hermitcraft x child! Dragon reader)

I appreciate all the patience and apologize that it's been so long, the post after this will be of my own personal lore but over all this is still one of my biggest projects, I'll get to all the requests soon! Thank you all for being so patient.

❦ ════ •⊰❂⊱• ════ ❦

[part 1] || [part 2] || [part 3] || [part 4] ||

The morning came and you awoke with a groan , safe to say you'd gotten some really shit sleep. Maybe it was the fact you didn't fall asleep at your usual time, in your usual place. Or maybe it was the facr Xisuma had woken you up far earlier than you are used to.

"Morning kid, time to get ready, we've got a longer day than usual."

He smiled as he gently pulled the blankets off of you and set a rather fancy-ish looking outfit on your bed.

Alright, I need you to take a bath and get dressed, breakfast will be after, I know it's different from your usual schedule but we gotta do it, okay?".

You huffed at the notion your usual schedule would be interrupted, however you couldn't stay mad for long with how happy Xisuma seemed to be about things. Slowly you do as asked, taking a bath , getting dressed and then waiting at the table for breakfast. Xisuma happily provided something he called French toast as well as bacon.

After breakfast he asked you to gather things you'd like to take out, you quickly gathered all of your usual toys as well as the book Xisuma is currently reading to you and the book you write in. He happily packed those up for you and offered you a hand. " Alright, ready Y/n?"

You nodded with a small uneasy smile. "Yes?.." You questioned nervously looking up towards Xisuma as he took your hand and began to lead you along. As you two walked you met up with Doc and Grian who smiled when they saw you.as a group you all simply continued further to a large building. To your liking the roof of the place was decorated from head to toe in large crystals and other sparkly objects. Quietly you excited yourself over the gems as the adults talked.

Once their conversation had finished Xisuma took your hand and started up your walk inside the house. Once inside Xisuma sighed as he brought you to a corner to sit. He set your things down and smiled.

"Alright Y/N I'll be over there sitting if you need anything come get me,” He pointed towards the head of a very large rectangular table “After the bigger part of the meeting finishes you can come meet everyone, they're all really nice I promise." Xisuma sighs with a smile as he ruffles your hair and goes to take his seat.

The meeting provided as usual, server updates and new pop up shops being talked about as well as things that have happened, accidents or not. A general healthcare check and a mental health check for everyone. As the meeting was nearing it's end Xisuma smiled as he spoke.

"Pardon me hermits! I have one last important thing to announce!" He started as the hermits began to quiet down. " We have a new member on the hermitcraft server, they're shy and quite skittish so let them approach you at their own pace,” He gestured over to you getting the musing and quiet concerns of the other hermits the. “Yes they're the child in the corner. Their name is Y/n and they are an official member of our server and i'd like to ask all of your help in taking care of them."

You looked up hearing your name only to realise the many , many pairs of eyes on you. It made you feel nervous almost to the point of curling up. Your wings raised, fanning out as you backed into the corner. Grian, Pearl, Impulse , Scar and Cub are the first ones to recognize the not only frightened but partially hostile look. Grian is the first to speak up walking over to you and fanning his wings to hide you.

“As a collective we should all put in the work to research dragon hybrids,. Clearly they’ve been through a lot so they may have a more hostile or timid approach to most things but I’d like it if we could welcome them all with open arms. If it's any consideration I'll be taking them first.” He glanced over at Xisuma to confirm it was okay.

“As collective caretakers it's only fair we help them heal, and grow up no matter their interests, it could be building, Redstone, Breaking the rules of reality,” He spared a quick knowing glance towards Doc “Or any of the infinite things we could offer them!”

Small talk started between the hermits all with too many things to bring up, that was until Joe spoke up.

“I think it's fantastic! We were all getting a little bored, and I think we should take the chance to become someone special in someone's life.” He smiled glancing past Grian’s wings to offer you a small smile.

Xisuma nodded. “It would be good for all of us , Grian can start us off and slowly the rest of you could get acclimated and take turns with them as well.”

Grian nodded as he picked you up, placing you on his shoulders. “Me and the kid are going to have a great time! Trust me , there will be nothing but reasonable mischief and teaching them the important basics!”

#x reader #x child reader #dragon #x dragon reader #dragon reader #minecraft #platonic #hermitcraft x reader #hermitcraft fic #hermitcraft x dragon reader #YSWU

[propertyofkylar]

confession - m!whitney x gn!pc

spoilers for sneaky update content ;)

Your eyes roamed the crowded school halls as you shuffled through.

It was so annoying that you couldn’t find Whitney when you actually needed him. Most of the time he was just suddenly appearing unexpectedly. But now? You had no idea where he was.

You hadn’t seen your boyfriend since he left you that note, and you half thought that he might be ignoring you. A silly thought, maybe, but Whitney had never been one who dealt with emotions well. What if it had been a mistake?

School hadn't officially begun yet, and you were hoping to find him before classes started. If you had to wait until maths class to see Whitney - well, you honestly weren't sure what you would do.

You shook your head as if to physically rid yourself of those thoughts when you saw a head of blond hair ahead. “Whitney!” You called out.

His head turned and you saw a brief look of surprise and panic cross his face.

Oh, fuck. He totally was avoiding you.

"What's up, slut?" His normal smirk was plastered back on his face as his buddies laughed around him. You quickly caught up to him and leaned in so they couldn't hear.

"Can we, um, talk?" And now you were nervous, too. Great. There was that look of fear again in his eyes before he gave you a short nod.

"Gonna go teach this slut a lesson," Whitney announced to his friends, grabbing your wrist and pulling you away. "You all can fuck off."

He tugged you into a nearby storage closet and suddenly it was just the two of you. You had spent a while thinking about what to say but now your mouth went dry.

You were looking into each other's eyes, neither one wanting to make the first move.

It was starting to drive you crazy when Whitney finally opened his mouth.

"Listen-" he started.

"I love you too," you blurted out, interrupting him. His eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed several times.

"Oh," was all Whitney managed to get out.

"So...yeah," you finished lamely with a shrug. Your eyes went to the floor to avoid the intensity of his gaze.

Suddenly, Whitney's arms were around you in a bone-crushing hug, and you leaned into him, wrapping your arms around him and resting your head against his chest.

He let out a shaky breath and pressed his mouth against your hair.

"I just, I mean," you started, but you realized quickly you had no clue what to say. But it didn't seem like he knew what to say either, so you kept going. "I guess I didn't know you felt that way about me."

Whitney pulled back to look at you, and you could tell even in the dimly-lit closet that his face was bright red.

"You're such a dumb fucking slut," he groaned, rubbing a hand across his face as if to hide from you. "You're nice to me for some fucking reason, and- and you make me happy." It sounded like it almost pained him to say it, but it made you smile. Actually, it made you giggle, which you quickly regretted when you saw the look on his face.

"Shut up. I'm trying to be sincere," he leaned his head against the wall, and you wanted to laugh again at how whiny he was being, but you held back.

"Sorry," you put your hands up.

"Whatever," Whitney folded his arms and looked away from you. "Don't expect more of this mushy shit. And don't expect me to act different."

You nodded - nothing you hadn't already thought about - and took a step closer to him. He gave you a gentle kiss on the forehead. It made you feel warm.

"But I do love you," he mumbled. Actually hearing it from his mouth made you feel all sorts of things. So you leaned up and kissed him. It was tender and filled with love.

You wished you could stay in there like that forever with him, but you remembered that you were at school and needed to make it to science class before Sirris gave you detention. "We should, ah..." you gestured towards the door.

Whitney nodded before swinging the door open and stepping out. The bright fluorescents nearly blinded you after being in the storage closet so long.

"I will see you later, slut," he said, drawing the attention of his friends who were still lingering nearby, but clearly had gotten bored during the time you two were in there. Which was fine, since you weren't too keen on them overhearing such an intimate conversation.

You gave Whitney a smile, and he sent you off with a swift smack to the ass.

That made you smile even harder - it was the way he showed his love.

#degrees of lewdity #dol #whitney the bully #dol whitney #writing #this is the first of MANY whitney fics i have in my brain #thats not even true i started one before the update that i will get to #but many ideas. much to think about #tsundere whitney lives on bitch

[cialovesklopp]

𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 | k.mbappé

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 — where a talented singer climbs back to the top of the music industry while also managing her newly couple life that is going very strong

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — kylian mbappé x amara imani (oc)

𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 — 8.1k 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 — hrs & hrs [muni long]

𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 — the revenge era can officially begin and amara can be sure to count on kylian. i apologize for the delay, i had a very busy week and words weren’t wording. also thank you to my lovely angel @lorarri for giving me all this inspiriation and also thank you to @aechii

taglist: @lorarri @locedes @aechii

masterlist

𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚.𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞

liked by selenagomez, dualipa and 26.732.195 others

amara.imani thank u, next officially out — very happy that i got to work with this gorgeous queen on my first song after the hiatus @arianagrande we did good 💋

view all 167.423 comments

arianagrande we were fab 💋

liyah.clark that song is so GENUIS, on repeat the entire day, you two slayeddd

honeymoon_avenue why did this song make me rethink my sexuality

amara.e.imani1 it certainly proved that amara imani and ariana grande are two gorgeous women

stanamara_imani bi-panic immediately

graceywood all those late phone calles def paid off, the song is amazing, already breaking records

username MY NEW FAVORITE SONG

username it def gave Evan a taste of his own medicine

username FR, Amara and Ariana really roasted him

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚.𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢

liked by selenagomez, dualipa and 26.732.195 others

amara.imani “look at you, boy i invented you” — in my head OUT NOW, the second of many coming

the user unabled their comments

𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄

she was truly back. days, weeks, months had gone into this, had prepared her for this day and yet it felt even more special than she had ever anticipated. she had put everything into it, her time, her energy, her motivation— amara doesn’t think she would have survived if it had failed. the photo dump she had posted had announced her return but it were the publifications of thank u, next and in my head that had truly officialised her return to the music industry, — her comeback to the top.

especially thank u, next was one of her faves. the passive agressive but easy message towards her ex had truly given her the closure she needed before sue could continue. the finishing to their story that had taken so many ups and downs. their relationship had been a short high, a period of her life but one, that was over now — the message she tried to transfer through the song. she was genuinely thankful for evan, for showing her what love should NOT be like and for paving the way for kylian. who knows how long she would have stayed in that toxic environment if he hadn’t cheated on her?

was it smart to publicly shame evan and give misogynistic music critics the confirmation that she was just a copy of the likes of taylor swift and beyoncé? maybe not. but was she still proud she had done it? hell yeah.

deep down, she knew that the reason she had written the song was to shut up every newsletter and gossip magazine that claimed she was still crying over him, that their relationship was the only thing she was worth. she had matured a lot over the time, had let her feelings out and written them down before she had gotten the idea. why should she act like the mature woman who had to find five ways to euphemism the way he treated her when it should be him, who could just act mature the moment she would release the song? accept the fact that he hadn’t been the nicest to her and claim the criticism?

it were officially two days that had passed since she had released “thank u, next” and to be honest, amara was still buzzing. people could try to hide it but the song was genuis. everything that had been poured into it was a success. and she could never be thankful enough to ariana grande for accepting to be featured on the song. she remembered grace’s struggle to find a co-singer for her song, knowing that amara’s reputation had not been the best. and yet, she had one afternoon received ariana’s call, asking if she still needed a person and that she would be happy to feature on it. even though she had been shocked at the sudden call, a part of her suspected that kylian somehow had wriggled his way in. especially because the next day, she had gotten a long call from grace, telling her to keep kylian and all of sudden, she found kylian’s name in ariana’s followern (but she would never admit that she was stalking him sometimes).

in my head though was a complete different story. in all her career she had never doubted a song like this, never gotten anxious over it. perhaps, all the bad memories that were connected with every verse she wrote, brought it all back up again. or she still feared the failure she would maybe receive because everyone still held her for a bitch after evan’s interview. either way, the process of “in my head” was not one she would like to recreate.

but kylian had been there for her. every line that had brought her down, he had been there (whether live or onscreen) to cheer her up, to remind her that those times were over and she would never have to endure things like that again. maybe, he couldn’t promise her that she would never experience pain again but he had made the promise to himself that she would never ever find herself in the position, capable of writing a song like in my head. he had listened to her when she complained why it felt so hard for her to write, why she couldn’t find the words to describe what had happened. amara’s goal had been for in my head to be last song she would ever write about Evan again. the final page of the evan chapter before she would finally (and specifically for the press) move on from him.

she’d probably never admit it but all the shade thrown at evan felt good. two different people and yet the same intentions. he went on tv to throw her under the bus, she wrote songs about him, giving people the own right to analyse how much of an asshole he actually was. especially because there so many different interpretations of it but all had one common point — evan henderson was an asshole.

the good thing though was that, now that she finished with evan, she could finally focus on kylian. show him truly how much she loved him. he was her only thought now.

even when she celebrated her success, her thoughts were still on kylian. the air was filled with excitement as they celebrated the immense success of amara’s latest songs. both had claimed the charts rapidly, breaking records by being listened to over a billion times already. it brought a smile to her face, illuminating and radiant at the fact that she found her passion for music again, the sparkle that had been lit again.

it wasn’t exactly the tidiest space, with all the note sheets and song papers thrown around but they still found some space to put a bottle of wine to celebrate. she served herself another glass, still feeling the euphoria of her success and what better way to celebrate it, than with alcohol?

“so now you’re drinking without me?” someone whispered in her ear, making amara jump up out of shock as she hadn’t even seen anyone enter the place, except herself, grace and hudson. she hadn’t even gotten time to think about who it was when her eyes were suddenly covered by a pair of big hands but she recognized immediately who it was. only one person had that smell. “guess who it is?”

“let me guess, neymar?”

he chuckled mischievously, his breath warm against her ear. “essaie encore.” — try again

she pretended to think for a moment, biting her lip to add to her expression. “oh my god, it’s erling haaland. i feel so honored.”

the light nudge he gave her, made a laugh escape from her lips as she continued to play with kylian’s nerves. “last try,” the french striker warned.

“fine, fine, i know it’s you ky,” she replied, removing his hands from her eyes and turning around as she looked into his eyes.

he grinned at her, clutching his chest dramatically. “nice to know you didn’t forget me,” he replied, grinning widely at her. he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. “congratulations for the two songs. i’ve been playing them on repeat.”

“merci beaucoup,” she exclaimed, deepening their hug as she hid in his neck. “i can’t believe you’re here.” she mumbled under her breath, inhaling the so-familiar scent of his.

“i was invited as special guest,” he pointed at grace, who sent a sly look towards the couple before turning away again and continuing her conversation with hudson. “apparently i lift certain people’s motivation.”

she glanced at grace who sent her a smirk in return. how she had managed to get kylian’s number and even get him here was beyond her imagination but she was glad to have him here. to introduce him to her world.

“if you tell anyone i agreed to this, i’ll deny it.” she threatened jokingly, grinning at him.

he waved dismissively. “don’t worry, your reputation’s save with me.”

“you know, this is as much my celebration party as it’s yours. i don’t know how you did it but thank u, next wouldn’t have existed without you.” she thanked him, wanting to pass him a glass of wine but remembering at the same time that he couldn’t drink mid-season. “je te remercie tellement pour ça. pour sauver ma carrière. i owe you, whatever you want.” — i am so thankful to you for this, for saving my career

their hands sneakily intertwined, making sure to not be seen by grace or hudson. they didn’t want for the others to know about them so soon, preferring to enjoy their honeymoon phase for bit longer. “well, there’s something i wanted to ask you.”

“i’m all ear,” the singer retorted, looking at him expectantly.

he cleared his throat, letting go of amara’s hand to draw circles on it with his thumb while leaning closer. “you think you’re ready to make your first appearance as my nr. 1 die-hard fan with your presence at my game on saturday?” he asked her, his voice soft and tender with a sarcastic undertone. “parce que j’aimerais bien que tu sois là samedi.” — because i would love it if you were there saturday.

he was expecting a rejection, already having prepared for it. but he hadn’t really measured the way her comeback would change her. amara was done with hiding from the public and bad press. she had long enough play their game, where they could silence her with one bad article. and she was excited to see kylian play live.

“i’ll be there don’t worry,” she replied nonchalantly, accepting his request. “but you’ll have to score. i’m not leaving my couch for just anybody.”

he arched an eyebrow, skeptic expression on his face visible. “so now i’m just anybody?” he asked her incredulously. “wow, i see how it is.”

she rolled her eyes at his antics but wasn’t able to hide the way she enjoyed his dramatic act. “kylian!” she exclaimed, lightly nudging him.

“ça va, j’ai compris,” he held his hand up in surrender. “donc, combien des buts veux-tu, ma belle?” — okay, i understood. so, how many goals do you want, beautiful?

“two,” she stated firmly after thinking for some time. “i want a double.”

he laughed. “two goals it is.” he repeated, brushing some, hair out of her face. truthfully there wasn’t any hair in her face but he loved the feeling of touching her. there was a sense of longing for her, to be near her and feel her close to him. to touch her every time. “and what will i get if i do?”

she shrugged, her face implying everything. “how many kisses do you want?”

he pretended to think for a moment, even putting a hand on his chin before replying, “for a lifetime.”

“a lifetime?”

he nodded. “a lifetime.” he repeated proudly, “nous deux c’est pour l’éternité.” — we two are forever

“so you thought this far already?”

“all i know is that i’ll never let you go. and if you do, then i must have done something stupid.”

a new sense of comfort spread through her body listening to him. butterflies were an understatement for what she was feeling in her stomach. the room seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them in their own little world as they stared into each other’s eyes with their hearts beating in unison.

their kind of love, so innocent and untypical — it was based on more than just love. because sometimes even love was not enough. what actually strengthened their bond was the blind trust they held for each other, she had let herself fall from the clip she was grasping on with her entire strength and he had caught her. made sure she landed safely before taking her own way again. and he had come to terms with the possibility of maybe not playing an as big role in her life as she was playing in his. (luckily that had turned out different) — he was somehow willing to do everything for her.

but just as they see about to lose themselves completely in their souls, grace interrupted them, nudging the couple slightly. “as cute as this is between you, we still need to record some songs,” she said, directing the last part of her sentence to amara before pointing at kylian. “and you, i didn’t bring you here to distract my workers from working.”

“worker? you’re my manager.” amara retorted amusingly, grin quickly disappearing when grace sent her a cold glance. “i’m coming.”

“can i listen to it?” kylian asked, throwing his question in the middle of their conversation.

she shook her head, the mischievous twinkle practically sparking. “i’ll let you hear it soon. it’s a surprise.” she replied, assuring him as her voice brimmed with sincerity.

he nodded, though he couldn’t completely hide his disappointment. they exchanged a quick, longing glance before reluctantly parting, painfully aware that their obligations called them back to reality. “i’ll wait for you here,” he told her softly, instantly summoning a smile on her lips. that smile intensified when he took amara’s face in his hands (a gesture she had gotten used to) and planted a soft yet passionate peck on her lips — right in front of an unsuspecting grace.

any sense of seriousness and productivity left her body as she watched her best friend kiss the french striker, jaw nearly dropping in disbelief. but she was doing a great job at hiding it and acting as if whatever just happened in front of her was normal.

when everyone had gone back to work, grace seized her chance during a small lunchtime break. hudson had engaged into a very lively conversation with the french striker, not being able to contain his football-love anymore, bombarding kylian with question. this gave grace the possibility to drag amara away and do her own questioning relating to what had just happened between her and her beau.

without any forewarning, grace dragged amara to the back of the studio, her mind racing as she tried to piece the puzzle of the revelation in front of her together.

“what the hell did i just see?” she exclaimed excitedly. “a peck — a real relationship peck! when did this happen?”

her face was covered with a sheepish smile as she shrugged. “we’re dating now. we moved forward and things happened and now we’re dating.”

“that’s all you’ve got to say? we had thousands of phone calls and not even once did you mention this.” grace retorted loudly, staring incredulous at her best friend.

“honestly, it's a relatively new relationship, and i didn't want to make a big deal out of it. enjoy the small bliss.”

“wait till liyah hears that.” she furiously took out her phone, dialing liyah’s number and calling the latter by facetime. amara groaned, already seeing the kind of embarrassment she would get from liyah, especially because from the trio, she was the most livid when it came to exciting news.

to amara’s small dismay, liyah instantly took the call. “gracey, surprised you’re calling.” she greeted the pr-manager, loud noises in the back indicating that liyah must have been at the grand prix that was taking place on sunday.

grace grinned as they saw liyah all dressed in red-attire, probably to support her boyfriend. “liyah! thank god you took the call! i have news!”

“spill the tea!” liyah replied excitedly, matching grace’s enthusiasm.

“amara and kylian are dating. like fully dating! she’s off the market.”

liyah’s eyes widened at the new revelation, immediately turning to amara, who hid her face behind her hands. “what do you mean, they’re dating? you and kylian made a step forward? that final step we were all waiting for?”

before amara could reply, grace had already cut in. “and she probably wouldn’t have told us if i hadn’t invited kylian for today. this little bitch,” she pointed at amara, “would have probably waited a week before telling us that she and kylian even talked about making the next step.”

“how could you amara? i spent five days in paris with you and not even once did you mention that something happened!” liyah scolded her, voice getting louder to overcome the noises from the garage. “now spill everything. and i mean everything. every little detail.”

slightly panicking, she sighed. “well, he was over. he had planned on coming directly after they had come back to paris from their away match but i convinced him to come later because my mom was over—“

“mama imani was over?”

“she visited to check up on me and all that stuff,” amara explained, shrugging dismissively. “anyway, we talked about us and then there was a kiss…,” she confessed sheepishly, shyly turning away as her friends’ smiles got wider. “and then we decided to move forward. especially because the line of friendship was crossed a long time ago. oh… and the flowers he got me that day because they reminded him of him also were a factor that played into my decision.”

grace and amara covered their ears when liyah let out a loud scream, managing to even drown out the noises around her. “omg! how could you keep this from us? wait till i’m over again.”

“how long have you been in this new phase? i gotta know how long you’ve kept this up from us.” grace inquired, scrutinizing amara closely.

again, amara thanked the gods that she couldn’t blush. “well, it’s been two weeks now and like i said, we’re just looking where all this is leading to.”

“and now the real details?” liyah demanded, “did you only kiss or did more happen?” she asked, her tone becoming slightly suggestive.

“well, if you’re so curious. no we haven’t had sex yet. but we made out. a lot.” she admitted, hiding her face as liyah let out a scream.

“omg, this just made my day.”

grace smirked. “he’s also the reason why thank u, next exists. he’s the one who got in contact with ariana grande.”

another scream pierced through the phone, this time louder as liyah failed to contain her happiness.

“mon coeur, tu vas bien?” they suddenly heard in the background, and liyah turned to face the person calling after her. “i heard you screaming on the phone, even carlos was worried for a moment and andrea sent me to check on you.”

they watched liyah laugh, before peck the man’s lips, who they assumed was charles softly. “don’t worry babe. just excited because of some news i just got. wait, i just remembered that you haven’t even met the two most important persons in my life.” holding up a finger to indicate that he had to wait for a minute, she grabbed her phone, putting it in front of them, making charles appear on the screen. “meet my soul sisters, grace and amara, who is finally off the market.”

amara buried her face in her head out of embarrassment, listening to liyah introduce them. “she’s also the third person in our secret marriage with lewis.”

“third person?” she questioned, forgetting all embarrassment and arching an eyebrow. “now i’m offended.

charles laughed as they started to bicker around, his dimples reminding amara of kylian’s. “it’s very nice to meet you. she talks a lot about you. sometimes i feel like you’re dating her and not me.”

liyah rolled her eyes. “as if that isn’t the same with you and pierre.” she turned back to face her friends. “it’s literally me, my boyfriend and my boyfriend’s boyfriend.”

“if this is because pierre tagged along on our date once, i already apologized.” he groaned, turning his attention back to amara. “i’m a big fan of your music. especially your new song, ‘thank u, next’. a fave of mine.”

“thank you so much. i am also a big fan of your driving, especially your victory in austria. but i still prefer lewis.” she added jokingly.

he grinned too, taking no offense to her remark. “fair enough. athough now i can brag to the others that i met you. especially lando and carlos. they’re die-hard fans.”

“greet them for me. make their day.” amara’s smile radiated through the phone, her happiness clear on her face. “also do we need to do the threatening-thing, where we tell him how we can kill him in fifty-seven different ways or should we just skip it and talk about what dating you includes? because i actually like you, charles.”

the couple laughed, charles sneakily putting an arm around his girlfriend to bring her closer. liyah waved dismissively. “girls, don’t worry. you forget i’m the baddest bitch out of the three of us so i’ll know what to do if he ever steps out of lane. and honestly, after having been in a relationship with james, it’s not really hard to top that.”

still, they mustered him, scrutinizing him very closely though they were satisfied by him. just the way he held and looked at liyah was enough to prove that he really loved her.

it also didn’t hurt, that charles was happily ready to accept all of the conditions, amara and grace laid down for him.

he accepted the monthly girls’ nights and didn’t mind the three am calls between the girls as they all were sometimes in different timezones.

neither was he against weekly date nights, no matter whether it was a night in or night out and accepted quickly the rule to never leave the other on read.

grace and amara would lie if they said that they didn’t have fun, analysing charles and having him agree to every of their rule. and the ferrari driver would probably never admit, but he liked seeing her have such good and caring friends. even though he had already forgotten half the things he had agreed to.

listening to them, liyah suddenly understood what her friends were doing. they were making sure she finally got to have the perfect relationship with charles that she had been wishing for during her time with james. the dating nights, no fighting because she spent too much time with her friends, no jealousy crises — they were making sure she was finally living the bliss, she was supposed to live during a relationship.

hanging up once they had finished with their conversation, the two women walked back to the men again, who had longly finished their conversation and had taken on to talk about god and the world as they waited for the girls to finish their conversation.

“so, did you talk to your biggest fan?” amara asked kylian, leaning her head on his shoulder as hudson arranged everything so they could continue recording.

“fallais me dire qu’il était fan de manchester city.” kylian let out, grumbling a bit. “i am still a bit sore over that defeat.” — you should have told me he was manchester city fan

she grinned. “he’s a football fan. i thought that would be all you cared about.”

he rolled his eyes, smile still not leaving his lips. he sat down on the black revolving chair, taking a few spins. this time it was amara’s turn to roll her eyes. especially because she wasn’t finished and this was her place.

“kylian, you’re sitting in my chair,” she complained, groaning slightly. “please sit somewhere else.”

“mais celui-ci est plus confortable,” he replied, spinning around again to purposely miss the pout amara gave him. — but this one is more comfortable

“please,” she begged him again. “there are hundred different chairs here, just take one of these.”

“how about you take one of those,” he retorted before continuing to spin around, annoying amara even more. she let out an ‘uf’, groaning as she turned to make her way to the other chairs. “or you could just sit down on my lap.” he proposed slyly, smirking at her just as she was about to grab a chair.

she arched an eyebrow, weighing her options in her head. crossing her arms, amara sighed as she rolled her eyes and gave in, sitting down on kylian’s lap.

her body grew a bit tense, uncomfortable as she had never sat in someone’s lap before and somehow he sensed it. his arms wrapped sneakily around her waist, pulling her closer to his chest.

amara turned, smiling at him as kylian buried his head into her neck, his warm breath sending tingles down her body. his hands drew soft circles into her skin, tracing her body and every of her small defaults. the ones he had grown to love for her.

the new-found pair was so lost in each other, their flowing conversation distracting them from their surroundings thag they failed to notice the pr-manager take out her phone and capture this moment of love. smiling to herself, grace put her phone back after uploading the picture of the two to her story.

“after everything that happened,” hudson remarked, appearing next to grace as they watched the couple laugh together, only god knowing what they could talk about, “she definitely deserves this. someone who will love her the way he does.”

even though she had already been many times in his apartment, this time it felt different. perhaps because this time she wouldn’t be entering it as amara imani, the singer who had just had the worst year of her life. instead she was going into this apartment as amara, the girl dating him now. there wouldn’t be reasons anymore as to why she was there, she didn’t need any reasons anymore to be there.

the living room was tastefully decorated, lots of pictures showcasing his victories and achievements. she remembered her first time over, when she had been over here and the picture of their win from the lighe 1 had taken all her attention. the picture that had made her feel attired to kylian, with that certain twinkle in his eyes. while her eyes travelled around the room, he had quickly gone to his room, wanting to change into more comfortable clothes before spending the evening with her.

as she perused the shelves, her fingers wandering over the different book shelves, she noticed his music collection consisting of a long tower of cds piled up. needless to say, she was impresssed by his huge music collection and the way it varied from classical to contemporary. now it made sense why he had known so many old school and 80s hits . but what especially caught her eye was the dusty jazz cd, hidden away between a cd of whitney houston’s best hits and a 2000 party hits cd that instantly caught her interest. like they always said, curiosity killed the cat and amara couldn’t resist the temptation to play it.

confusion was clear on kylian’s face when he entered the living room, soft jazz tunes sounding out of the speakers. he arched an eyebrow as he joined her, placing himself next to her.

“do i even want to know why jazz is playing at the moment?” he questioned, amused that he was already so used to amara’s impulsive thoughts and ideas.

“nope,” she replied, shaking her head while a grin appeared on her lips. “but you need to dance with me. mayhe i’ll tell you then.” she replied mischievously, putting her hands around his neck.

he sighed but complied nonetheless and placed his hands on her hips before sliding them upwards for them to rest on her waist. “i have no idea how to dance to jazz,” he admitted, feelings heat in his cheeks even though there was no blush.

“me neither honestly.” she confessed, but shrugged happily. “but i don’t care. let’s just give it a try.”

the pair tried to keep with the slow rythm of the music but both realized quickly that jazz was not their music. they swayed and spun around, trying to dance the steps they had seen in music but the more they tried, the more awkward it became as they never managed to stay in the beat.

as kylian extended his arm and spun her around, amara tripped over his foot trying to match the rythm, resulting in both falling to the ground and landing softly on the carpet. one look was all they shared before they began to laugh. “we suck at this, don’t we?” kylian grinned, a sparkle in his eyes.

“yeah,” amara giggled, sitting up. “we should stop before someone mistakes us for actual dancers.”

the two let the jazz music play in the background, still fond of the memories with them failing to dance. while kylian got comfortable on the couch, taking over the whole sofa by extending his feet, amara preferred to stay on the fluffy carpet, songbook in her hands along with a pen.

“so… why were you so keen on dancing to jazz? i’m not judging but why, of all music genres did you take jazz?”

“i listened to the two of us and i just wanted to truly feel the song.” she replied sheepishly. “but as we all saw, it’s not really ours. i think we’re made to listen to it.”

he laughed at her but at the same time couldn’t stop himself from falling even more in love with her. she was truly the sunshine he had imagined her to be, the happy bubble she had once been. evan had only put a small black cloud on her head but once she had finally gained her self-trust and confidence back, the black cloud also disappeared and her sun shined through

“well, would you be so kind as to put on some serious music now?”

“only if i get to choose,” she commented, her face brightening up at kylian’s short nod. she quickly crawled to the music box, connecting her phone before she took back her place, getting truly comfortable now.

after their comical attempt at dancing jazz, they were ready to try out something new, listen to their own music. amara realized that music had become their own proper love language. while other couples communicated through affection, touch or soft words, their language was music. a language no one but them spoke.

she was used to express her feelings via verses and music but they had never spoken to someone. but with him, suddenly every song had an answer, a reply to it. they felt closer to each other when they listened to music and shared their feelings through soft melodies. a perfect duett.

as she scribbled through her notebook, going over the two songs that were next to record, kylian propped himself on one elbow to get a better view of her, watching her work. before her, he used to think songs were easy, they were just a few words that had to rhyme but after meeting her he had finally seen the process that went into it — was finally able to measure the worth of their work.

the first tunes of “style” filled the room, taylor swift’s song immediately lighting her face up with joy. she hadn’t even noticed that she had continued to sing along while working on her own lyrics — that much she loved the song. she wanted to ask kylian to sing along with her, dance with her to it but a certain sense of comfort prevented her from doing so. they were comfortable, at home in this position. she wouldn’t want to destroy it and kylian could always have another dance party with her.

the latter watched her intently, totally mesmerized and enchanted by her singing and her voice. each second that passed, he fell more in love with her, with the way she was just so natural. her talent and her passion were just two things of a long list that kylian loved about her. another thing was the way she was able to take another artist’s song and add her own note to it, her own touch. just the sight of her, fully in her element and singing to the song, fueled the fire in kylian’s heart that burned for her. somehow even the smallest moments like that deepened their connection.

amara would only know later how lucky she had gotten with kylian. someone who loved her because she was so passionate and talented and not just for her looks and reputation. he admired her creativity, her dedication and the way she always wanted to give her fans the 100% of herself that she deserved. she was the only one able to make him feel things he didn’t even know he could feel. he would follow her everywhere around if she asked him — kylian was completely enamored with her and probably loved her more than she did him.

even though she was deeply focused on her writing, she could still feel his gaze on her. the affection he gave her still made goosebumps spread through her entire body but here, she found comfort in it with him playing with some of her loose curls. it helped her concentrate. she turned, sending him a warm smile before turning around and setting her eyes on the paper in front of her again. it felt nice to have someone like kylian support her.

the song had longly ended and she had drowned out her surroundings to better focus on her work. it came easy to her with kylian’s support and encouragement along with the endearing smile he sent her. his gaze was comforting, calming.

“did i tell you about my coming collaboration with…” she broke the silence, trailing off. “i get to do a song with beyoncé.” she exclaimed happily.

“what?” his eyes widened in surprised before his perplexed expression turned into a happy one.

“yes. you know how she was my mentor and brought me into this business and now i actually get to do a song with her. that’s why i need this,” she pointed at the lyrics, “to be perfect. especially because she will be going over it and add her own lyrics for her part.”

“that’s incredible,” he gushed excitingly. “and believe me, your work is phenomenal. just what i got to see today was enough for me to know that you’re the most talented one.”

“well, i’m no beyoncé.” she mumbled shyly. “i just want this to work.”

“and it will mara. i’ll gladly call her if she doesn’t like it.” he advised, proudly smiling at her.

amara rolled her eyes. “get off your high horse. tu crois que tu es qui par rapport a beyoncé pour l’appeler?“ — who do you think you are in relation to beyoncé?

she laughed at his offended expression and continued to work on her song. she was immediately immersed in her songwriting again, adamant on making sure to give her idol her 100%. there was no way she’d disappoint the queen b.

while she wrote and erased words, kylian couldn’t help but be completely captivated by her focused expression. and to him in that moment, she was the most beautiful person ever. he had always thought that she was the most beautiful when she was laughing but he had seen another side of her — her passionate one. where she gave everything to make sure her words were perfect and made sense. and it made her even prettier than she already was.

he couldn’t even stop himself from taking out his phone and discreetly starting to take pictures of her without her noticing. he wasn’t very often a fan of taking pictures when the two were together but here, he knew he had to preserve this memory, this state of her.

after a few moments she started to sense something though. kylian was abnormally silent and calm for his usual state. she turned around, making kylian jump up at her sudden movement and a playful smirk build on her lips.

“you’re taking pictures of me again, aren’t you?” she asked, putting her book on the floor.

he chuckled, unable to hide his smile and pulled out her phone again to show her the endless pictures he had taken off her. before she realized, he started to take pictures of her again, making her groan.

“ky, please stop this.” she demanded, self-conscious taking over.

“never. i’ve never seen you so focused before, i had to capture this moment.” he just replied, laughing gently as he took another one.

“ky. at least delete it if i look bad in any of them.” she insisted, half-jokingly.

he shook his head, still amused by her slight discomfort. “ma belle, trust me, you look good in every lightening to me.” he replied sincerely, looking at her with so much love her heart filled with warmth

“why are you even taking them?” she questioned the french striker, putting down her book for final. she knew she wouldn’t get anymore work done today.

he shrugged nonchalantly. “i needed a new wallpaper. and why not take the person i like most.”

“fine,” she bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling but it was useless — a huge smile plastered on her face, reaching from one ear to the other as she let him take pictures of him for the rest of the night with small fights sometimes escalating as they thought over the phone. and still, she wouldn’t trade this evening for anything.

with an oversized shirt she had borrowed from kylian (which he knew he would never get back), amara found herself in the bathroom next to kylian as they brushed their teeth. she hadn’t really planned on staying over for the night but time had other plans, passing so quickly neither of the two had realized how late it had gotten. before they knew it, it was already too late for amara to go home (or more like, Kylian didn’t trust her to be alone at this hour in paris).

standing in front of the mirror, the two brushed their teeth, amused grins displayed on their face as they stared at each other through the glass. after spitting out the remainder of the toothpaste that stuck in her mouth, she washed her toothbrush and reached for her toiletries bag.

wanting to give her more place as he knew what she was about to do, the french international player placed his brush back into the small cup and took a few steps back to sit down on the border of the bathtub. he watched with amazement and an innocent kind of love and endearment as she gracefully washed her face before starting to apply various creams to it. with the soft bathroom light reflecting in his eyes, he smiled at her as his eyes glanced over her natural state. it felt like home.

amara glanced back at him through the mirror as she caught him staring at her, probably daydreaming with the way his eyes were locked on her. smiling, she turned to him, face creme still on her fingers. “do you want me to give you a skincare routine too? just asking with the way you’re staring at me. believe me, i’d be doing you a favor.”

he looked at her confusingly, chuckling as he shook his head. “don’t worry about me, i’m fine as i am.”

she walked towards him, squinting her eyes to scrutinize his skin. “your skin looks horrible,” she stated shockingly. “how come i’ve never noticed with how often we made out?”

kylian laughed at the way she seemed so upset, smirking as he responded, “guess that means im doing my job right.”

she rolled her eyes at her retort, exhaling loudly. “non, mais kylian sérieusement. i don’t want to kiss your face if it’s all scratchy and full of dead skin you probably didn’t really wash off.” — no but seriously kylian

he let out a small groan, realizing what that probably meant. “i take good care of my skin, don’t worry.” he replied but he hadn’t reckoned with amara’s persistence.

with a mischievous glint apparent in her eyes, she grabbed one of her moisturizing creams and moved slowly towards him. “i am so sorry but you left me no other choice.”

every step that she took towards him, he took one back, trying to get away from his as she neared him with an evil grin. “amara, really, it’s not necessary.” but she didn’t give up, ready to put some cream on his skin.

in the span of a second, he took off, trying to hide from her as she began to pursue him. the pair found themselves in a playful fight, both laughing as she tried to dab a bit of her moisturizing cream onto his cheeks.

he was successful in dodging every of her attempts but he hadn’t expected her to be so determined on it as she did not show any signs of abandonment or giving up.

“you’d make me so happy if you took good care of your skin.” she pouted, hoping to make him crack which worked. looking at her one last time, kylian finally gave in. but while amara thought it was because she finally wore him down, he had other reasons. and the biggest one was seeing her smile grow wider because she thought she had won. he’d do everything to see her smile.

“but don’t put on too much,” kylian instructed, “and just the cream. no serums or whatever you have in that bag.”

her face lit up with delight, nodding quickly as she made him sit down on the border of the bathtub again and gently applied the white cream to his cheeks. without even noticing, he closed his eyes as a sense of tenderness and softness washed over him. he’d never admit it but it felt good as she brushed her fingers softly over his face.

“and finished,” amara cheered, closing the cream, “now your skin is happy and smells amazing.” she leaned in, placing a soft peck on his cheek, her lips lingering for a little longer on his face.

he pulled her down next to him, his arm wrapping around her figure immediately. she laid her head down on his shoulder, playing loosely with the strings of his hoodie. “ready for bed now and some cuddles?”

“lead the way.” she replied quietly, intertwining their hands.

they exited the bathroom, heading directly for the bedroom to lay down. Kylian had been unsure whether amara wanted to sleep in the guest room or with him but his worries quickly vanished when they reached his bedroom and she laid down on the bed, hitting the free place next to her to signal for him to join her.

his cheeks were probably already hurting from all the smiling today and yet he couldn’t get himself to stop. laying next to her felt like a dream, the ones that felt so real that one often wondered whether it was really a dream. the soft scent of cherry and vanilla crawled up his nose as he buried his head in her neck, his arm pulling her closer to his chest.

it didn’t take long for them to fall asleep or at least enter the dazed state of sleep. nights that amara had spent, staring at the ceiling hoping to fall asleep seemed like a distant memory now that she had kylian. the sense of belonging he spread made it easy for her to fall asleep — because now she could let herself fall freely without worrying. except the butterflies in her stomach, she didn’t really feel anything that made her want to worry. and sleeping belonged to that.

“kylian, are you still awake,” she asked into the silence, hoping that kylian wasn’t asleep already, she nudged him lightly, happy when she felt him turn towards her. “tu te rappelles quand je t’avais promis une chanson?” — remember when i promised you a song?

“hm…,” he replied sleepily, “yes, that by the way i’m still waiting for.”

she stared up at him, waiting till his eyes were fully open and focused on her. taking a deep breath, she snuggled closer into his chest. “well, i wrote you an entire album.”

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚.𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢

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amara.imani mon amour, je t’aime — the album, COMING SOON

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[yourimagines]

can u pls write some smut for conor or for sean bringing you to a weigh in and like after the weigh in, the fighter conor/sean is fighting is trying to flirt with you and they get jealous.

like maybe a reader who works as their pr agent or something

“they cant touch you like this” 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Just a thought 😊

I like this thought. I’ll go with Sean Strickland, I will write in the future about Connor.

Mine

* English is not my first language I apologise

* Gif and photos are not mine

* Triggers: 18+, Smut, Swearing, Anger, a bit of angst and some Fulff

Y/N POV

I was waiting for Sean to come down to the lobby and go to the weigh in. I nervously wiped my hands down on my jeans, feeling getting nervous. First time for me doing all of this, being a media content creator for a fighter and so is this… “hey y/n.” Sean walks up with the rest of our crew. “Hi Sean, you’re ready?” “I’m always ready.” I smiled and grabbed my bag from the table. “Let’s go then.” We all went to the van and got in. I got seated next to Sean and I took a video of us, being cramped in the van. “Next time a bigger van.” One of the Pr guys said to my camera, I giggled and filmed Sean, he gave the camera a middle finger. “Hey be nice.” I stopped filming and put my phone away. Sean just chuckled and look’s away from me.

I was filming some behind the scenes as Sean was getting ready for the weigh in. “So how are you feeling champ.” Sean chuckled and flexed in front of the camera. “Feeling good, I’m looking good, can’t wait to fight that fucker.” I nodded and stopped recording with my camera. “You do look good.” I said with a shy smile, Sean of course loved it and winked at me. “Sean buddy lets go.” He trainer patted him on the shoulders and I got ready to record him again for his weigh in. “Next one is Sean Strickland.” He walks up and gets on the scale, a few media outlets where here as well. But tomorrow night is the official weigh in for the public. Sean flexed as his weight was announced. I zoomed a bit in and smiled to myself. ‘Don’t fall for him y/n, he’s your boss.’ He gets of the scale and his trainer gave him his clothes. I was waiting for him as Dricus popped up next to me, smiling at me. “Hey, I don’t think I’ve met this beautiful woman before, I’m Dricus.” He had a cocky smile on his face and reached his hand out. I didn’t know what to say, should I be polite or should I be a bitch? “Hi Dricus, I’m y/n.” I didn’t reached out and shake his hand but he didn’t care, he just smiled and moved a bit closer. “I see you’ve got a camera, if you want we can go to my room or something, play with that thing.” I felt disrespected as he implied things I would never do. I felt embarrassed and he made it even worst to wrap his arm around my shoulder. “What do you say? Me and you?” I shook my head. “I’m sorry Dricus but I’m not like that…”

Sean POV

I saw y/n talking to Dricus or more the other way around. He said something to make her feel uncomfortable, she looked down ashamed and he just wrapped his arm around her, whispering to her. My blood started to boil. ‘What the fuck is he thinking?!” I stormed up to them. “Hey!” I pushed him and security immediately pushed me and Dricus away from each other. “Motherfucker!” I yelled and he just laughed. ‘Fuck he got me.’ I looked around and saw y/n standing with my trainer, she was a bit overwhelmed. “I’m already going.” I said to the security guard, he lets go of my arms and I walked away, immediately to our van. ‘Fuck!’

Y/N POV

It was quiet on our way back to the hotel, Sean got himself in trouble…again. I was afraid I would lose my job on my first week, afraid I made him angry. I was looking at the pictures I made and felt Sean’s hand resting his hand on my knee. I looked up and he gave me a weak smile. “You want to see them?” I carefully asked, he nods and moves a bit closer to me, our faces were close to each other as I showed him the pictures I made today of him. “It’s not finished yet, I’ll make sure they are in a hour or so, so you can post them if you want.” I looked up at him, seeing his face so closed up to me, his eyes looking down at my lips for a second but he quickly looked back up. “Alright, we are back at the hotel.” His manager said while clearing his throat. Sean snapped out of his stance and got out of the van immediately, I let out a deep breath. ‘The tension is real between us now.’

I was done with editing the photos and a part of the videos. I texted him the photos and lay down on my bed. ‘I hope he likes them…’ a knock on my door was heard and I got up. ‘Who would it be.’ I slowly opens my door and saw Sean, standing in front of my hotel room. “Hi.” He didn’t say anything but walked right up to me, grabbing my face and slammed his lips on mine. I was for a second surprised but I kissed him back, holding him tight on his shoulders, afraid to fall down. He kicked the door closed and pressed my back against the wall. “Nobody can’t touch you like that darling.” He said between our kiss. His hands went down to my hips. “Jump.” He whispers, I did what he told me, I jumped and wrapped my legs around him, he pressed himself against me, feeling his bulge. He moved his lips to my neck, placing wet kisses on my skin. “I’m sorry Sean, I didn’t mean it to happen…he came up…” “I know darling, don’t apologise.” He started to suck on my skin. I softly moaned and threw my head back, giving him more room. “Sean..it’s going to leave marks.” He smiles against my skin. “That’s the point baby, they need to know you’re mine.” I pulled on his shirt, wanting it off of him. “Hold tight baby.” I hold him tight as he threw his shirt off, revealing his body. I roamed my hands over his shoulders, feeling his skin. “Like what you see darling?” I blushed and hide my face in the crook of his neck. He chuckles and squeezes my ass. I softly moaned against his neck and started to leave kisses behind.

He walked us over to my bed, laying me down. He unbuckled his belt and throws his jeans off. He moves on top of me and goes underneath my top to my breasts. “Let me see you darling.” He removed my top, revealing my black bra. He started to kiss my chest. “So fucking beautiful…” I blushed again and moved my hips slowly against his leg. He smirks and stops, a smile on his face and he caressed my face. “Are you sure?” I nodded and he unclasped my bra, revealing my breasts. He started to massage them, playing with my nipples with his thumb. “Look at you baby, so gorgeous.” His hands went down and pulled my jeans down, revealing my matching panties. He throws my jeans to the side and his hand went down to my panties, sliding his hand in. I felt his fingers moving around. “Already so wet for me…” he slipped one finger in, making me moan. He moved slowly in and out as he pressed kisses on my stomach. “Sean..” my hand went down to his head, he smiles and pulls my panties down, kissing slowly down to my clit. He pulled his finger out and his tongue moved between my folds, slowly eating me out, I threw my head back and my hand grabbed his head. I moved a bit with my hips and moaned. “Oh fuck…Sean.” His thumb rubbed my clit and my other hand moved to my breast, rubbing my nipple. I felt getting close to my orgasm and closed my eyes. “Sean…I’m close.” I moved my hips a bit more and came. I loud moan was heard and Sean licked everything clean. He looks up and smiles. “You taste so fucking good.”

I pushed him on his back, and straddled his waist. His hands went to my ass, squeezing them. “Fucking beautiful.” I smiled and kissed his chest and went slowly down. I felt him sucking in his breath as I stopped at his waistband. I looked up innocently and gently pulled his shorts down. His hard dick jumps out and I wrapped my hand around it, gently stroking it. He softly let out a moan and moves his hands behind his head, looking at me. My thumb gently rubbed his tip and traced his thick veins. I moved down and placed a kiss on his shaft, he moans again and I moved up kissing his hard throbbing dick. I gently sucked on his tip and took him whole in my mouth, sucking him off, moving my head up and down. His hips moved slowly with me and I felt his hand tangled up in my hair, slightly pulling my hair and pressing my head down. “Oh fuck, that’s it baby.” I looked up and saw him moaning and biting his lip. I stopped and his dick plopped out of my mouth, he looks not very happy with me. “Why did you…” I moved on top of him and sat down on him. He immediately smiles as I started to ride him. “Fuck babe.” His hands went to my breast as I rested my hands on his shoulders. My hips rolled down on him and we both moaned and kissed each other. “Fuck Sean.” “Fuck darling, keep riding like that and I nut in your tight pussy.” I smiled and kissed his neck. “Maybe I want that.” He groans and squeezes my hips. “You sure about that darling?” I nodded and kept kissing him. “Okay but you need to cum first.” We both moved out bodies, kissing and stimulating each other. I came to my high and moaned into his neck. He grabbed my ass and came inside of me.

I lay down on his chest, totally tired. He was caressing my back and also tired. “I hope you know you’re fucking mine now.” I giggled and kissed his abs. “I’m totally fine with that.” He chuckles and places my blanket over us. “I hope I wasn’t to rough, I was a bit jealous that the Motherfucker touched you.” I shook my head. “No you weren’t.” “Good, after the fight I take you on a real date…I’m normally not like this..” I looked up and he went with his hand through my hair. “Good, I’m normally also not like this.” I moved a bit up and kissed his lips. “I’m not letting you go…” “good because I really need that job tho.” We both laughed and cuddled up. “Let’s get some rest, you have a fight coming up.”

Stricklandmma

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Mine 😡 🥵

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@ mmafan44: god damn Sean, leave some for the rest of us

@ yourname: 😉 🙈

@ mikemma: unbelievable this guy haha 😂

Yourname

Liked by Stricklandmma, Johnnywalker and 20k others

This guy ❤️

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@ Johnnywalker: you guys are cute

@ momsname: can’t wait to meet this guy y/n!

@ Stricklandmma: 😘

@ Dircusduplessis: gross 🤮

#ufc x reader #ufc imagines #ufc imagine #mma imagine #mma x reader #sean strickland x reader #sean x reader #smutty romance #smut smut smut #smut imagine #fluff smut #smutty fanfiction #character x you #reader x crush #reader x character #y/n x character #y/n imagines #x you

[epiphyllous]

Visitation Rights (Malleus/Reader) [2/3]

Malleus invites you over to help him celebrate Christmas, a human holiday. It is officially day 2 of visiting Briar Valley and you all finish up the decorations around the castle, while some things are revealed to those who are observant enough to notice. (Just how subtle do the two of you think you are, anyways?) word count: ~5.4k notes: malleus x reader, gender-neutral reader "you", pre-relationship, mutual pining, you celebrate Christmas with Diasomnia dorm!! lots and lots of fluff

[Part 1]

Turns out, Sebek was right. They did end up finishing the tree the next day.

After deliberating for so long the day before about the tree ornaments, it was only a matter of placing the chosen decor onto the tree. It goes without a hitch, despite the earlier hiccup of Sebek waking you up much too early to begin. You were tempted to sleep through Sebek’s loud reminders when Malleus popped his head into your room and asked you if you were ready. 

Suddenly, you found yourself more than willing.

As a result, it is only late morning when you all finish the tree, decked in all its ornamental glory that even the servants cannot help but stop by and admire its grandiosity. You ended up with a star known to guide lost travelers, a compass-like, golden star with its north and south prongs longer than the rest. You explain its history as much as you can with your limited knowledge, mildly embarrassed that the other three hang onto your words as though you were an expert. (You had researched it all the morning of, thankfully.)

“Great work, everyone,” Silver says, standing back with the rest of them to view the tree. 

“Hmph, of course it is magnificent,” Sebek huffs, crossing his arms proudly. “There cannot be anything below perfection when it is decorated in the Fairy Palace.” 

You briefly stop your admiration of the tree to glance over at Malleus, only to look back with a wide smile. The look of undisguised awe and fascination is unfamiliar but not unwelcomed on Malleus’s face. 

It’s a look that you’ve seen on a lot of people in the castle recently when they pass by. As opposed to whispers of gossip, it is more hushed tones of wonder that pass through the dining hall. It is endearing to you as it is to see Malleus like this, to have a palace full of fae just as curious as their prince. 

“Malleus,” you say, nudging him out of his reverie. “You want to go ask everyone if they want to put a decoration on the tree?”

He blinks, and you huff in laughter, wondering if he's still recovering from his mesmerization. “Everyone?”

“Yeah, they’re all staring at it. I figured they’d want to maybe contribute something?” You grin. “And next year round maybe they’ll be able to decorate it even without me here.”

 Instead of jumping on the prospect of future holiday celebrations, Malleus holds your gaze. “Will you not?” When you look at him in confusion, he repeats himself steadily, “Will you not be here next year to help with decorations?”

And despite the fact you have already known Malleus holds you in high esteem (Sebek still grumbles about this to you), that perhaps you are simply the most convenient guide for human holidays, you feel your heart rise to your throat. Oh, you think, your smile wobbly, he wants me to be here with him next year too.

“As long as you’ll have me,” you tell him. Giddy, your mouth runs without you, “And maybe I can invite you to my place for a celebration too.” 

The habitual words ‘if you want’ are left unsaid; one embarrassed look at Malleus is all you need to know that there is nothing he would want more. 

(You wonder if the excitement is because he’s been invited or if it’s because it’s an invitation from you.)

.

It’s optional, but with a first Christmas celebration, hanging up the garland is mandatory– at least for Sebek and Malleus. Lilia pops in and announces that they should ‘as the kids say, go big or go home!’ and like that, the majority vote is in. 

You and Silver can only watch in amusement when you see Sebek take out the garland from the many boxes like his life depends on it. You are sure that it does for Sebek, considering Malleus is impatiently attaching the garland onto the walls of the dining hall with magic. 

“You think we’ll use all of the garland?” You ask absently, adjusting the reindeers on the fireplace mantle with a tilt of your head. 

“I don’t doubt it,” Silver replies, ready to put the old man in the red and white suit– Santa, he has learned– onto the mantle as well. He thinks it might be his favorite decoration. 

(Little does he know, it is also Sebek’s and Malleus’. You are not surprised when you find out. “Oh, all the kids love Santa,” you tell them, waving your hand flippantly as though you did not compare them all to children. “He’s Father Christmas, you know?” 

Silver briefly imagines Lilia in a Santa-suit and then waves the thought away.)

“I think the mantle looks quite festive now,” he comments, watching you fluff out the garland with your hands. 

“I kind of wish it had more space for us to put even more decorations on there.” You sigh. “But I guess that would end up making it look gaudy.”

He huffs in amusement. “I’m sure master Malleus would not have minded.” 

“True!” You laugh, throwing your head back. “Malleus’d be excited with putting any type of decoration up. 

“Yes…” Silver says, trailing off as he looks behind you and sees a glimpse of his young master glancing back. When you follow his gaze, you turn around and snort when Malleus quickly looks away. 

“Mal,” you call out, pleasantly ignoring the way Sebek glares at you from afar at the lack of proper address. “You wanna put some garland over here too? The wall’s empty.” 

Pliantly, Malleus walks over to the two of you after a final flick of his hand to attach the garland alongside the long stairwell. “Would this garland do?” he asks, floating the long line of artificial dahlias above their heads. The both of you look up to gaze at them appraisingly. 

Personally, Silver finds that the pink flowers on this particular garland are ill-fitting for the holiday season, based on what has been strewn in the castle thus far. It certainly does look very pretty, he admits. He thinks it would finely decorate the fireplace when the holidays pass. Looking over at you wearing an oddly conflicting expression, he knows you must also feel the same.  

Where Silver would hesitate on finding the words, you do not. “I like it a lot, but it doesn’t really fit with the decor we put over here,” you say. Malleus only nods, and you continue, “Maybe something red? The ones with poinsettias or the-” You stop mid-sentence to laugh as the garland begins to gently fall onto you, wrapping around you like a particularly human-shaped Christmas tree. “I’ll hold onto these then,” you tell Malleus without skipping a beat, adjusting the flowers so they rest away from your face. The only indication that Malleus is doing this purposely is the tiny, playful smile on his face. 

Silver looks between the two of you, and there is an abrupt moment of clarity that leaves him inwardly stumbling. 

“Human! Are you done-?”

“Sebek, shall we see if father has cooked anything for our snacks today?” Silver says quickly, and he doesn’t even take the time to care for his slip-up regarding Lilia as he holds Sebek by the shoulder and tries to turn him around. Sebek does scowl at him and shrug off his hand, but the mention of defending all of them against Lilia’s cooking is enough of an alarm to stop him from advancing. 

You perk up at the change in conversation. “We have snacks today?” you ask hopefully, and Silver can make an educated guess what Malleus will ask of them. 

“Silver, Sebek,” Malleus tells them, albeit sternly, “if Lilia has not attempted to bake again today, try to see if the cooks are free to bring us anything.”

It is a testament to Lilia’s cooking that even you do not protest against this given mission– or at least, Sebek and Silver find it appropriate to view it as such.  

“Do you guys need help bringing it down?” You offer.

“No, it’s fine,” Silver replies. “Sebek and I should be more than enough to bring down a tray of something. Is there anything in particular you would want?” 

“Anything good.” You hum thoughtfully. “Maybe a drink or two? I’m getting a little thirsty, actually.” 

Silver nods at this request, and like always, Sebek turns away first, heading down the room to reach the kitchen before him. He doesn’t fret to catch up to Sebek, but the feeling of urgency is there. Still, at the doorway, Silver gives himself another glance back and watches the two left at the fireplace. 

Malleus listens to you with rapt attention as the both of you kneel down to dig through the boxes for a better-fitting garland. Silver notes that you have yet to take off the garland that Malleus deemed to decorate you with, and as you speak, Silver sees Malleus adjust a string of garland that falls onto your shoulder back onto your head. 

Malleus’ gaze never leaves you once. 

“Silver! What are you dawdling around for?” Sebek’s voice rings out loudly, and as a person with high volume as Sebek, it is hard to tell how far ahead he truly is from Silver. 

“I am coming,” Silver says in exasperation, tearing his eyes off of the other two in their own world. You have begun to point out the layout of your garland vision with Malleus hanging onto your every word. Silver thinks, as he walks besides Sebek, that perhaps this is the first time that he is early to realize something and makes internal bets on when Sebek will catch up to him. 

(Silver will never admit that he is a little self-satisfied that he may know something that Sebek does not. The rivalry is a two-way street, after all.) 

.

The poinsettia garland is a nice touch above the fireplace. Malleus knew it was the right decision to trust your judgment regarding the decor, though he thinks he has learned much in the past day or so. 

After all, you did look quite charming in the floral garland. 

Looking more closely at the fireplace mantle, Malleus can see various figures placed on top. He bends down slightly to view them. At the very left is Santa Claus, of his many names. Malleus finds the red and white suit as well as the rounded stomach and rosy cheeks rather endearing characteristics of what the children refer to as Father Christmas. 

Briefly, he wonders if Kris Kringle was ever a real person who now only exists as a myth for families to talk about each year. After all, it is not a matter of miracle to fly across the country on sled if the sled is imbued with magical properties like a broom, and reindeer are common enough in dense forests to train as familiars. Certainly, the possibility of one lone man to deliver presents for children throughout Twisted Wonderland is close to zero, but every good story has its embellishments.

“You said that children eventually outgrow stories about Father Christmas,” Malleus says, distantly hearing you rummage through another box. He hears you hum and continues, knowing he has a somewhat attentive audience. “When did you learn that Santa Claus did not, in fact, bring you presents late at night?”

Malleus hears you pause for a second before continuing with your search. “When I was six- seven?” You laugh, and Malleus hears you come closer. “I think I woke up for Christmas one day and just realized that my parents were the ones who wrapped the presents.” You shuffle next to him and he feels your hand brush against his shoulder. “It wasn’t that dramatic or anything. A little disappointing maybe, but I just accepted it. I got presents in the end anyhow.” 

“Presents?” Malleus echos, looking to you only to find that you are behind him again, searching for something. “What type of presents did you receive as a child?”

“Oh, you know,” he hears you say absently, “some toys, some clothes– the usual stuff.” You come back and laugh. “Now I just get money to buy stuff myself usually, unless I’m doing a gift exchange.” 

“I see…” Malleus looks back toward the tiny figurines and wonders if there is anything he can get for you in the short amount of time he has before the holiday. He thinks he knows you well enough to discern what would make a good present, but to procure one in a short time is an entirely different challenge. Perhaps an outing to the shops would be a good idea; Malleus can show you more of Briar Valley besides these castle walls, and he can find something to give you. He knows that you are unlikely to refuse a chance to explore, and it is with fondness whenever he thinks about your adventurous spirit, as contagious as it is. 

Malleus knows that you have begun to wrap something around his neck but pays it no mind. Your hands that delicately trace over his skin is of greater import, and he cannot remember what else he wanted to ask you until your hands have moved on. “And what of these reindeer?” He asks, “Do these have a story to them? Why do they number nine?” He picks up a reindeer with a red nose. “And why does he possess a different colored nose?”

Malleus jumps only slightly at the feeling of your hands on his horns. It takes deliberation, but he stays frighteningly still, attempting to be focused on the reindeer rather than your touch though it is distractingly pleasant. He never once thinks about telling you to stop, and besides, your movements seem purposeful. He’s not one to interrupt your focus or fun, even if you don't realize the significance of touching his horns. (He briefly wonders if he should tell you.)

“That’s Rudolph– he has a red nose to guide Santa’s sleigh on a foggy night,” You tell him. He feels your hand press against the base of his horns and he almost loses track of a vital part of the conversation. “There’s a song that goes with it too, you know.”

“Song?” Malleus perks up. “Do you remember how it goes?” He turns to look at you, only to have you gape at him as though you hadn’t meant to reveal that tidbit. 

“I- uhm, yeah,” you stammer. “Let me see if I remember it all… ‘You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen; Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall,’” you sing, “‘the most famous reindeer of all…? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose-’ and so on and so forth.” You clear your throat, embarrassed. “It’s a cute song. I still remember it even though it’s been years since I’ve sung it.” 

“You sounded lovely,” Malleus says, thinking that the bashful smile on your face is just as charming. The song is genuinely pleasant though… “Shall we have the others learn to sing it?” 

At this, you brighten, and Malleus knows you well enough to recognize the mischief in your smile. “That sounds fun! Let’s see if they’re willing to learn it though. It’s not too hard of a song.” 

“Yes, I wonder when they will return-” Malleus turns his head to look at the doorway leading to the kitchen when something falls off of his head with a ‘clack’ onto the floor. 

“Aw, Mal,” You say, laughing. You pick up the tree topper– one of the stars that they didn’t choose for the tree. “Your star fell off.” 

“My star?” Malleus blinks and comes back to himself. He puts his hand up to his neck and feels a strand of garland hang around it like a bushy scarf. He glances up at his horns, or at least tries to, to see a glimpse of the Christmas lights you wrapped around them. A star is attached to the end of his right horn and an ornament hangs precariously at the end of the other. 

He’s transfixed by the notion of it all. 

“I think I decorated you a little better,” you say to him teasingly. “The Christmas lights are a good touch but I couldn’t get them to light up without your magic.” 

“How interesting,” he says, amused. He briefly thinks about how Lilia would laugh his head off and Sebek would react (badly), but finds that the casual intimacy is worth more than words can describe. Also, he thinks, is this not now an inside joke between the two of you? The idea tickles him. 

He holds the end of the cord, and the lights light up. You clap your hands gleefully at the sight. “Here, let me take a picture so you can see…”

When Sebek, Silver, and Lilia return with snacks, Malleus finds it lucky that Silver was there to catch everything Sebek dropped when they open the door. You would have been devastated if you didn’t get to eat the pastries his chefs had made otherwise. As expected, Lilia took no time to pull out his phone and snap photos of him, gleefully saying how nice they would look in a scrapbook. (And to show to his grandmother, but that’s not something Malleus finds out until later, much to his chagrin.) 

You look over at them, beaming, unaware of the danger that is heading towards you. Silver, hands full as it is, immediately tries to do damage mitigation, and Sebek–

“Just what do you think you’re doing to the young master?!”

(Later, Malleus would receive a photo from Lilia commemorating the entire event. Lilia’s face half cut-off at the bottom of the picture, Malleus standing to the side, decorated to high heaven and looking bewildered, Silver balancing two platters precariously and more awake than he has ever been, and a blur of motion as Sebek runs towards you. Your look of abject horror terror is comical even as you turn to run from Sebek, and behind them all is the Christmas tree they all worked so hard to decorate. 

Malleus wonders if the photo can be printed out so he can keep it on his desk.)

.

Getting ready to go to the market for “Christmas shopping”, as per Malleus’ request, is a festive affair, considering the brawl that nearly broke out between you and Sebek. Though that is an exaggeration, Lilia thinks. It’s not as though the efforts of Silver to stop Sebek with Lilia’s presence would allow a real fight to happen. And that’s on top of the fact that Lilia knows that Sebek would never truly hurt you– and not just because he knows Malleus would be furious with him if he did but because, loathe as Sebek is to admit it, you are as much as his friend as you are to everyone else.

Though that was an understatement, no? Surely, there was at least one person you view as more than a friend. 

Lilia hides his smile behind a hand as he watches Malleus explain to you thoroughly about the history of Briar Valley (ft Sebek), and you hum and nod at the right places in between his words. Absently, but no less lovingly, you fix the hem of Malleus’ sweater from folding up. 

Lilia wonders, not if, but when the two of them will figure it out. 

“Alright, are we all ready to go?” Lilia says, smiling when all four of them turn to him simultaneously. (It seems his family will yet have another addition.) 

.

In the outskirts of Briar Valley live most of the populace. From modest cottages to cozy houses, fae and some very few humans live day-by-day surrounded by magic. Though the castle is separated by a moat and a few fields, the roads eventually lend way to a busy marketplace where people sell their wares and buy their necessities. They are all colorful buildings meant to catch the eye, and for you, that is exactly what they do. 

Lilia leads with a confidence most characteristic of him, nodding in acknowledgement to townsfolk who pass by. Sebek and Silver walk stoically on each of Malleus’ side, facing forward and looking as properly intimidating as guardsmen of the prince should be. Malleus follows a little behind Lilia in the center of the group, and it feels odd for you to be a part of this entourage, walking right next to him. As they pass by, the people bow down in proper greeting to Malleus, and for once, you aren't sure if the stares that follow them are reserved for the crown prince or for the human beside him.

It’s a lot to take in– the scenery, the people (all who have pointy ears), the shops. The bustling noises of a thriving marketplace, the laughter of children running down the stalls, and the occasional clash and clang of kitchenware in cafes and restaurants surround you. A woodsmith holds your attention as he carves out a magnificent statue of a deer, and you have to have Silver gently guide you to the middle of the group when you begin to veer off track. 

“We’ll have plenty of time to go through the market, dear,” Lilia tells you, grinning as your face reddens in embarrassment. “Malleus, make sure our friend doesn’t wander off without us, alright?”

“Of course,” Malleus replies easily. He looks down at you with one of the smuggest smiles you have ever seen him direct towards you, and you can already feel your scowl rearing to show. “Shall we hold hands to make sure you don’t get separated, little one?”

And oh, if it weren’t for this situation, the prying eyes of the crowd, or Malleus’ self-satisfaction, you would have been more than happy to accept his offer. (If they were alone, there would have been no hesitation.) Instead, you quip back just as snarkily, with a grin matching his expression, “How about we all hold hands then so we don’t get split up?”

“Absolutely not!” is Sebek’s immediate response, the first in the entire trip since stepping into the marketplace for him to break character. Lilia, reliable as he is, hops on the chance to tease Sebek before he can turn on you with his hands on his hips. Lilia is even generous enough to add Silver to the count. He begins retelling a story about all of them in their youth, and it is worth the twinge of regret for turning Malleus down to see the other three have an array of mixed expressions ranging from a grimace to a look of resignation. 

You listen with rapt attention about the shenanigans Silver and Sebek have gotten into with their literal and metaphorical sticky hands, and the storytelling session becomes so animated that the both of them start to debate whether or not something really happened. If the townsfolk are surprised at the sudden change in dynamic of their royal entourage, you can’t tell– and you find that you are becoming less concerned about the stares in-between the laughter. 

Lilia guides you to a lovely restaurant with a nature theme, vines climbing across the restaurant walls and a canopy using the tree’s growth. He gleefully opens the door for all of you to enter, and like clockwork, your stomach growls.

.

Malleus persistently avoids Lilia’s knowing, somewhat pitying look as they settle into their seats at the restaurant. Knowing him, Malleus is sure to suffer another bout of teasing from Lilia, and on top of his most recent blunder– because yes, he actually did want to hold your hand– is enough to make him want to sulk the entire day away. 

As for why he wanted to hold your hand–well, is it not enough to know that he feels compelled to? As though it would somehow feel right to do so.

Still, he is careful not to let his dour mood linger; he can already see you give him a few discreet glances over to him in concern. Not that it lasts long; Lilia is deft at handling any situation at any cost, even if it means sharing some of the more embarrassing stories of Malleus’ life to distract you. Before long, you know about his appalling incident with a whole cake, and he is so thoroughly miffed at being reminded of his rather unfortunate emetic situation, it only feels proper to cross his arms as you coo at him. 

Malleus briefly remembers a stint when he was miffed for a total of two days (he thought it was only a few hours) when you had forgotten which gargoyle in the courtyard was his favorite. For once he would rather that you forget this particular detail about him, but knowing you, telling this to you would only make you remember it even more clearly. 

(Silver and Sebek are wise enough to not make a comment, having already been thoroughly put through the wringer with their childhood stories on the way here. That and the reminder of dessert makes Sebek turn mildly green to match his hair; some of the pastries earlier had Lilia’s mixed in with them.)

You and Lilia are still talking about it as Silver and Sebek wait inside to pay for the meal. Malleus almost wishes he remained sitting inside but of all days, he refuses to even entertain the thought that he may be left behind. Not that he would, he thinks, not with you here, tugging at his sleeve to have him follow or glancing ever so often back to make sure he is present.

"How long ago was this whole incident?" You ask, laughter still lingering in your voice.

Lilia waves, a smile constant on his face. "Oh, years and years ago."

"And here I was ready for you to say last year, Lilia," you tease, and Malleus only sighs.

"I was in my youth when that occurred," Malleus says, and he feels the familiar heat of embarrassment in his chest. He folds his arms with a frown. "Spare me the jabs from my inexperienced actions."

"I just think it's cute," you say, and Malleus doesn't think you realize what you’ve said as you continue to laugh. "You eating cake so good that you eat the entire thing then throw it all up afterwards because you didn't realize how much you actually ate."

"How the production of emesis is any way adorable is beyond me, truly."

"It's because it's you,” and his heart skips a beat again. You’re quick to continue, “And also because you're still afraid of it even now. How about eating just one slice at a time now?"

"I must pass on your offer.”

“Aww, not even a slice I make?”

At this, Malleus pauses and puts a thoughtful hand onto his chin. Eating sweets baked by you? “Well, perhaps that would be acceptable, though I fear making the same mistake.” He sees you open your mouth to respond, only to have you close it with an embarrassed smile. He is much too preoccupied with his thoughts to properly process that small exchange, wondering if it would be possible for them to produce food without Lilia altering it in some manner. 

“Lilia-” Malleus turns to Lilia, only to realize he is not there. He blinks once, bewildered.

“Lilia went inside the restaurant to check up on the other two. We could go follow him,” you say, though you begin to look around where the marketplace is, looking unlikely to be thinking of going anywhere but inside. “Or… we could just look around here?”

Malleus asks, “Is there anything that intrigues you?”

“Well, there was this one- oof!” You quickly step away from the main path, only a moment away from running into someone walking with a purpose. Like clockwork, a person exits the restaurant in the same direction as you, and you must swerve to avoid collision again. Unsure on how lucky you will be again, Malleus quickly takes your hand and guides you far from the afternoon rush hour to safety. 

Wordlessly, you hold onto him, following obediently in his steps as the two of you wait with the wall of vines as a backdrop. You watch as people pass them by, hands still linked. Malleus wonders if he should let go of you now that there is no need and loosens his grip in case you want to let go. 

“Did I ever tell you about the story when I was little?” you suddenly say, eyes flicking back and forth among people in the crowd. You start to swing your conjoined hands in tandem with the rhythm of your words, and Malleus finds that his heart wants to beat in sync.  

If you do not let go, then neither will he.

You begin your story and through it all, your hands fit into his. It is fascinating what he will notice just from a single connection with you. Malleus takes note of your little habits, like the way you unconsciously tighten your hand on his every now and then when you find something that excites you in the distance. 

You have always been a person of movement, gesticulating with your hands to emphasize your words, and holding hands with yours has not stopped you from doing so. Malleus lets you gesture with both of your hands, and it is a different type of delight to find his hand completely under your control as you lift it up in the air back and forth, never once intending to let it go. 

Of course, Malleus finds himself invested in your story– it is a given but also a choice; you have always been an entertaining storyteller, but he is always hungry to know more about what makes you who you are. It is new knowledge after years and years of studying every book in the castle, but it is knowledge he intends to hoard, for your words are worth more than liquid gold. 

Every once in a while, Malleus tests whether or not you will squeeze his hand back every time he does– and you have not failed to do so a single time. 

“Sorry for the wait,” Malleus hears Lilia say, and he hears Lilia’s voice before he sees him or the others exit the restaurant. He feels your hand drop away as you take a step closer to the entrance to greet them. “They kept insisting that we didn’t need to pay, but we made sure to say otherwise, isn’t that right, boys?” 

“You guys argued over this too?” You are quick to say, laughing when both Silver and Sebek huff in response. The conversation is quick to start up again with the three of them with Lilia not far behind them after he gives Malleus a knowing glance. 

“Let’s go shopping!” You exclaim, breaking up the narrowed look Sebek was giving Silver.

“Great idea,” Lilia chirps, wasting no time to grab a hold of the other two’s collars and pushing them in front of the lineup. “Let us go, men! Be prepared for a tour you won’t forget!” 

You can only huff affectionately as the other two take the request as seriously as they would any other official order. (Also, a little competitiveness never hurts.) You stay behind with Malleus, walking next to each other, though he notices that for every step he takes, you must take a half step more. 

He shortens his stride. 

“I forgot to say earlier, but there was one thing that really caught my eye,” you tell him, walking closer to him.

“And what is that?” Malleus does not expect the grin that you flash at him, full of the mischief and confidence that he adores. 

“A statue of you,” you say. You put a finger on your lips thoughtfully. “You think Sebek will buy it if he finds it?”

Malleus briefly imagines a wooden carving of his image as the topping of the Christmas tree and must admit that he finds that statement very, very likely. It is easy to start talking about whether or not it would be prudent to purchase the statue before Sebek does– and everything in-between. 

If there is one thing Malleus knows it is this: he will never tire of talking with you. The two of you walk together, close enough for your knuckles to brush up against each other, and Malleus wonders if he can be patient enough until the next time he can hold your hand again.

.

.

.

temporary tag list: @justgiulia

#malleus x reader #malleus draconia x reader #twst x reader #malleus draconia #diasomnia dorm #yall the trouble i had writing this bc i just kept on GOING #i lub them #gonna have to put this on ao3 at this rate

[vgperson]

What Did I Do In 2022?

Game Translations That Aren't YTTD: 1. Okay, maybe 1.5.

----

First of all, while I didn't add it until later in the year (not entirely unmotivated by the Stability of Platforms), my site now has an RSS feed for notable updates of any kind! I mention this upfront because I'm mostly just going over the things that are already listed there. It currently retroactively covers everything back to 2020, but I might add more past stuff over time so it can better serve as a general "everything I've ever done" page.

In February, I translated Kenshi Yonezu's POP SONG (and an interview). Noel The Mortal Fate Seasons 1-7 also got a revamped version on consoles (Switch, PS4); the console versions include a new Season 3.5 translated entirely by me, and the rest of the seasons have a revised script which is more thoroughly edited by me than even the redone Steam translation was.

In March, the update adding Kai to Your Time To Shine came out. Yes, he is Kai.

In April, I finally finished up my unofficial Japanese translation patch for Petal Crash. たのしいね、クラッシュ！ It actually just got some extra attention after the Petal Crash run for RTA In Japan about two days ago, which is kind of wild. Is this what it's like to be famous...? (clueless)

In May, I translated Kenshi Yonezu's Shin Ultraman theme song M87 (interview, interview), and the coupling song from the single, ETA. And there was an article about the 10th anniversary of his debut!

Also in May, the Ib remake came out on Steam in English! Told you they'd contact me. It was later announced to be coming to Switch, scheduled for March 2023.

In August, Your Turn To Die was announced to be coming to Steam. It's planned for early 2023, but to be clear, it'll release first in Early Access still with no final part, though with some exclusive mini-episodes and character profile sheets. Apparently once that's out, the actual completion is estimated for 6 to 12 months later... but, you know. Estimates are hard.

In September, I put together a guide for and officially "released" my Custom Translation Engine plugin for RPG Maker MV, the one I made for the Ib remake, and back-implemented into Your Turn To Die shortly after I was contacted about it coming to Steam. It's fancy (in-game language switching!), convenient (minimal direct editing of code!), and you can use it for your own translation projects if you want!

In October... well, I didn't do anything new for it, but I'll take credit for The Witch's House MV coming to consoles. (Switch, PS4, Xbox) I also translated everyone's favorite Chainsaw Man opening KICK BACK, associated interviews, and the single's coupling song Y'all Should Be Ashamed.

Finally, in December, after lots of spending my time elsewhere and indecision about how I should go about returning to doing some dang free game translations, I concluded that what I'd really wanted to do all year was translate Uri's PEDESTAL.

I think some people latched onto specific parts of Uri's original explanation for why it wasn't being translated, such as the cultural aspects (I honestly winced at her blunt remark that the story was "no good at all"), but while Uri indeed had those doubts at the time of release, the only real reason it wasn't translated at the time is that I did a less-than-ideal rushed playthrough that slightly hurt my overall impression of its quality, and I felt too busy at the time to work on something with lots of text that was likely to be divisive. So similarly, me finally feeling up to it was the reason it did get translated. I probably should've come back to it quite a bit sooner (after I was made to give up a certain other translation, say), but as I alluded to in last year's post, I was self-conscious about "my big return to free game translations" being something that might not have wide appeal. Uh, glad to be past that, hopefully.

Oh, and ever since finishing PEDESTAL, I've been working on all sorts of overhauls to my site, but like... not the kind that actually majorly changes any part of the visible design and annoys people (and if something did change in an annoying way, it's probably accidental). Some of it's just better consideration of mobile browsing (stuff like images or tables sticking out of bounds at mobile resolutions), or making things more convenient for myself behind the scenes (did you know I made a program to add "br"s to every line of all lyrics content before considering I could just have the page code do that, and also better?).

Some more major observable changes include general renovations to the lyrics page (bigger font size, buttons that hide individual languages to aid in side-by-side comparison), and more convenient navigation of OSTER's tweets, such that I could actually imagine someone reading through them all the way from the start without it being too much of a hassle.

----

While I'm glad to be over the PEDESTAL hump, I don't... necessarily have any definite plans for upcoming free game translations. I mostly just have some stuff on a list that I may have to make myself check out soon enough. Also, Game Atsumaru (which you may know as The Site That Hosts YTTD's Japanese Version) is ending in June??? So uh, might have to accelerate checking out stuff on there, though I guess it depends on how many creators are able to migrate. (Nankidai does plan to put YTTD's Japanese browser version up somewhere else.)

As I mentioned, Your Turn To Die's Early Access release on Steam should be coming up early next year with those mini-episodes and character profiles, and the game might be completed within the year. No promises. I mean, I don't have anything to promise, it's not my game.

Speaking of my game... also no promises. But I'd really like to release one. We'll see what happens. There's also a different kind of original project I recently returned to trying to make real, which could come early in the year, but who knows. As should be apparent, I'm working on a lot of different fronts here, so I frequently feel bad about neglecting such-and-such type of creative work, which sometimes means nothing actually gets done and released. Ultimately, though, it's probably better to follow what I most feel like doing, rather than force focus on one thing and end up not actually getting much done.

Which is to say: hoping to finish something in the new year!

#vgperson

[ladylooch]

Soft Thoughts Sunday - Nico & Lexi

Second request: Nico/Lexi- (before officially dating) after a really hard day at work, the last thing Lexi was expecting was Nico to catch her in the mail room, and notices her mood and won’t let her be alone until he sees her smile 🥰

Nico is sitting in his apartment, watching TV mindlessly when he takes a casual glance at his watch. Oh shit! He is late for heading to the mailroom to see if Lexi… or himself… has mail. He launches off the couch, grabbing his keys after stuffing his feet into his Adidas sandals. Downstairs, He puts his hands on the door, then pauses when he sees Lexi sitting on the floor. Her back is against the bank of mailboxes, head tilted back with obvious tear streaks down her cheeks.

His eyebrows furrow in concern and he wonders what he should do. He wants to comfort her, but maybe she wants space? She tilts her head back forward, putting her hands over her face completely as she sobs. Nope, he’s gotta go in.

“Hey.” Nico announces his presence right away. Lexi jumps in surprise. 

“Oh, Nico, hey.” She scrambles to her feet. She has her mail in her hands as she turns away from him to wipe her tears. It doesn’t matter because he already saw them and her eyes are pink, red rimmed with watery shine to them. In her hand is the similar notice he got via email that rent is increasing by 10% next year.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am just… feeling really stressed about money.” She looks at Nico like he can’t possibly understand what that means. “Go to nursing school I said…” She trails off. “Didn’t pay as good as I thought it would.” 

“Can I do anything?” He asks, hating the way her shoulders sink in, shortening her frame under the weight of her inner thoughts.

“Um…” She looks at the floor, sniffling. She brings her pointer finger up, pressing the tip to a tear to gather it off her face. “No.”

“Are you sure? I give really great hugs… and this sweatshirt is thick like a towel… It can handle a lot. Very absorbent.” 

“That sweatshirt looks more than my rent.” She chuckles, scanning it, noting the designer logos. It is, but he’s not going to tell her that.

“No, I got it thrifting.” He shakes his head, opening his arms. 

She hesitates, looking up into his face shyly. Then she steps forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. Nico practically passes out at how good it feels to hold her. He carefully breathes in, taking in the scent of her flowery perfume. He wants to put his nose into the part of her hair, close his eyes and get lost in this. But he shouldn’t. Instead, he holds her comfortingly, rubbing her back over her rain jacket. Lexi begins to cry again at his sympathy. It’s been so long since she’s been held like this... genuinely without motive or wandering hands from the other person.

“Thank you.” Lexi whispers, releasing her grip on his back.

Nico wants to offer her money, but he won’t. Instead, he goes back to his apartment and pays her rent for the rest of the year, asking for anonymity from the management company. He knows that isn't actually going to work. He isn’t surprised to see her the next morning, knocking at his apartment door as he is getting ready for morning skate.

She stares silently at him when he opens the door.

“Why?” She finally asks.

“Because sometimes we just need a break.” 

“I don’t… know what to say. I can’t give anything in return.”

“I don’t need anything.” He gestures around to the apartment and his luxurious life in general. “Just keep saving kids’ lives.” 

“Neeks…” She looks down, then reaches out to grab his hand by his thigh. It’s the first time she’s called him by a nickname and his heart swells in happiness. Damn, he is so into her. “Seriously, thank you.” He sees the tears in her eyes again and he clears his throat. Selfishly, he did it for himself. He knows the first way to save money is to move somewhere cheaper and he can’t have that. He needs their daily interactions like breath.

“It’s nothing.” He shrugs.

“It’s everything.” They share a look before Nico shifts uncomfortably from her appreciation. 

“Ah, I’m about to head out. You okay to wait for a second?”

“I’d love to.” She confirms.

Nico takes another few minutes, hustling around to grab his stuff before he meets Lexi back at the door. She smiles at him, taking her eyes off the picture of him and Emma by the front door.

“My sister.” He tells her. “You’d like her.”

“I’ve seen you with her before.” Nico and Lexi walk out of his apartment. He shuts the door and locks it behind them. “Thought she was someone… else.” Lexi widens her eyes.

“I don’t have anyone else. Just me.” 

“Not for long, I’m sure.. What with your absorbent, thrift store sweatshirts and all.”

“You willing to give me a recommendation?” He asks as they step into the elevator together.

“Maybe, you have someone in mind? Could send them a text.”

Nico shakes his head no, but he finds himself picturing her as he does it.

#what my world spins around au

[lesharl-eclair]

strollonso fic recs pt 2: authors

4 amazing writers whom i am Watching for strollonso content. may or may not be their primary output, but whatever they have is certified delicious. apologies if you've read these many many times just take it as classic literature ;))

[part 1]

all fics below the cut; if you enjoyed these fics, please show the authors comment and kudo love; should you be the author of a fic that's here, and don't want to be here, please reach out to me and your wish is my command :)

@alpaine:

a strollonso pioneer (these works were written in 2022!) somehow i do not detect a single trace of rancid vibes. almost jarringly wholesome. very good :)

something in the air (T, <1k)

Fernando Alonso keeps complimenting Lance. It's weird. He's not going crazy, it's weird, right?

this is delicious (fernando Knowing and Choosing to praise lance knowing full well what it does to him........) short and sweet. a little glimpse into interactions that are dizzying to think about.

game misconduct (T, 2.6k)

**BREAKING NEWS 🚨** Alonso to the Canadiens. The return is still being worked out, but expect an official team announcement by the end of the day. “Fuck,” Lance exhaled.

the author really said "i love fanfic because i can write fernando alonso as brad marchand and no one can stop me" and i am compelled. compelled. i think the inherent homoeroticity of ice hockey really helps matters.

"holy shit, alonso" basically encapsulates this fic so well -- all the characters really come through and meld so well despite it being a different sport, and the strollonso is given the space to shine.

***

2. @wewentcarracing:

for me this is the essence of strollonso. little else comes close :")

silver platter (E, 9.7k)

Lance is well aware that the first word people typically associate him with is "spoiled". He's fine with it. Well; not fine, maybe, but mostly past the point of caring. He's not delusional about it, either. He's gotten more or less everything he's ever wanted, and he wouldn't have any of it without his father. If that makes him soft or weak or a brat or anything else people like to throw at him—whatever, fine. It's a nice life. He can also admit to himself that it's left him kind of ill-equipped for knowing exactly what he wants but not having any idea how he's supposed to get it.

if there is one strollonso fic to read, let it be this.

i adore the way this author does characterisation it is actually insane. the sheer intensity of nando. the way he puts his pussy into it. the magnetic charm and easy confidence. ESTEBAN AS A CHARACTER. and lance oh my goddddd the way you write lance is breathtaking. rich child mindset? how he isn't spoilt per se but there's still this lingering attitude at the back of his mind??? spot on.

also possessive nando might just be my favourite thing: “Let them hear. Why not?” Fernando says, voice rough and low and close enough to Lance’s ear that Lance can feel it against his skin. “Let them see what I do to you.”

all teeth (E, 3k)

Fernando has always been able to play with his food for a long time before he's too hungry to resist it.

this one i am actually addicted to. i have reread it an embarrassing number of times. pOSSESSIVE NANDO. and lance not being as naive as one might expect. the attention to detail here is insane (the parallels between the before and during....... the metaphors.....) the vibes here are like the richest dark chocolate cake. decadent and fantastic and so so rewarding.

***

3. @vicsy:

so much tenderhorny introspection. excellent character studies.

snapshots (M, <1k)

The photos Fernando keeps on his phone always tell a different story.

it's poetry, is what it is. short and sweet and the scenes it proposes are so fitting and immersive, a tiny glimpse into just how deep their relationship runs.

little flame, consume my hate (M, 17.6k, wip 1/2)

The problem at hand is that Lance can't bring himself to care enough — about his father's wishes, about his fate as the future king, as a ruler of a kingdom standing on a shaky foundation; about slaying a dragon who hasn't scorned him in any way. Even the thought of not coming back and perishing on this unwanted quest doesn’t instill as much fear. He has everything and thousands would wish to be in his place, but his life feels empty and artificial; lacking a spark or a purpose. Or: Lance is a knight who’s sent by his father, the king, on a quest to slay a dragon in order to prove himself. Instead of a mighty beast Lance stumbles upon a peculiar man named Fernando who wears a lavish robe and spends most of his time reading. Or so it seems.

this was such a fun read!! i really admire this author's scene-setting ability, everything is so balanced, detail-rich and a pleasure throughout. also also also also the au/worldbuilding....so much love mwah mwah <3 even through 17k words the narrative is well-paced and well-timed, and really drew me in :) simultaneously scared and excited for part 2!

shatter my life apart (see me for somebody else) (M, 1.5k)

For all of Lance’s naivety, for how easily he follows down that narrow path, it’s a rush no money can buy. A touch here, a not-so-friendly pat there, a show of teeth in a smile that is lethal and Lance knows Fernando wants a taste, craves to do so much more, something unspeakable, something that could turn into the nastiest paddock gossip to this day but it’s exhilarating — knowing he does that to a man by simply existing. Knows that, maybe, he wants it, too. 

this needs to be framed and hung up somewhere, i think. author's way with words is insane - the almost dreamlike quality of how lance is blown away by nando again and again, the jarring difference between lance's perceptions and the reality are rendered so beautifully here. a character study to remember.

***

4. @merenwenformulauno:

you make nando suffer sO MUCH... ....... but i'm still here for it <3

Between Gravel Traps (series) (E, 3-5k per part)

It starts in Budapest, then Spa. Then Zandvoort, then Monza.

i think this took me a few reads to truly wrap my head around. the quality is pretty damn impressive and the potential is insane - a relationship that's a little rough around the edges, but still so distinctly Them. nando brute forcing (?) (there is no way that's the right word) his way into lance's affection is something i definitely did not expect, but plausible and lovely nonetheless. i love the way it's slowly growing into a race by race thing, looking forward to more!

against the clock (E, 28.5k)

fernando is a cop. lance is the wildcat behind the wheel of a bus that can't drop under 50kpm or a bomb goes off. a normal way to fall in love. 

i had been putting off reading longfic for sooooo long you had no idea. this one kind of snapped me out of it !! a very masterfully done speed au. (loved all the little references but i will not go into detail bcs i dont want to spoil it here) this author has a penchant for suffering methinks. this work is still unfairly riveting despite all the pain, and the deliciousness of bonding through trauma is UNMATCHED.

***

that's all for today and thank you for reading to the end of this very lengthy rec list hee hee....there's actually so much more to this growing corner of ao3 so keep an eye out for more amazing works!!

if you enjoyed this, or if i missed any fic, please let me know :) drop me an ask mayhaps if you would like more fic recs, and i will try my best to give timely unqualified opinions <3

#f1 #formula 1 #fernando alonso #lance stroll #strollonso #claire's fic recs #claire rambles

[hellsite-hall-of-fame]

Yep ok that’s it. The colour of the sky pin is a constant test of my faith in you but not knowing about HEROBRINE

And PUBLICLY announcing that as if it were normal is where I’m legally bound to draw the line. I’ve got a call from my Tumbyer (my personal Tumblr lawyer).

Have a good life and I hope you’ll get a free copy of Bee Movie soon. On DVD.

Oh and how was your day?

(My Tumbyer said I needed to send at least one question since this is an official ask™️ format)

P.S. : of course I voted for Herobrine’s survival. Any sensible person would know that he’s unstoppable. The other votes are obviously biased. Crying, throwing up rn. My favourite canon-not-really-canon -Minecraft creepy/horrorpasta dude won’t win in a poll. He got canonically removed from the game he wasn’t officially in. More than 10 times!

I’m tired I’m just putting words together.

Removed Anon

Thank you so much for your very officially formatted ask. Now, the color of the sky I understand.

But I’m legally bound to refute your drawing of the line, as I’m just an early scared, non-gamer. How would I know who Herobrine is??

And I would actually love a free DVD of the Bee Movie, so thank you very much!!

-

Your Tumbyr was correct though, you’re definitely legally required to ask a question…. but I’m refusing to answer out of principle :)

And you’re most definitely entitled to your opinion…. but I still feel like I should maybe win. To plead my case- I feel as though the time and effort i’ve put into this blog over the last 3-4 years, makes that a reasonable request. Also I might actually cry a little if I lose to Herobrine🥲and I already cried today so that would be excessive

#ask #anonymous #hunger games #hellsite hunger games #hellsite hall of fame curator’s bullshit

[hummingbird-games]

Dev Diaries

February 17, 2024

I almost put 2019 as the year and that's the energy I'm bringing to this update, help.

What Has Gemini Been Up To? -> The Knight Dance

This is around the time that the Black Visual Novel game jam would be in progress. Alas, there hasn't been an official announcement for 2024 so it's more than safe to assume that it's a hiatus year 😞 In my heart of hearts though, I still classify TKD as a jam project.

(Some might remember this idea was originally for the Yuri + Once Upon A Time jams but I had the suddenly good idea to like, chill, and shelve this project. I'm still a bit bothered I had to do that, but coming off of the development of Crushed was...brutal. Almost as if I didn't learn from my first project....huh.)

So late last month I started recruitment for sapphic project aka THE KNIGHT DANCE!! I have been DYING to work on this, but I wanted it to be a jam entry + team effort. I've never been on a team when it comes to game development! Way too anxious to function and for the longest stretch of time, I had zero experience. I have previous writing credits, but I wasn't sure how well my previous skills would translate over. And I was too embarrassed to reach out to a team and be like "hey, I don't know anything but I wanna help!". Maybe someone would have been cool with that, but I was too scared to put myself out there.

Well, Gemini is moving up in the world!! At the time of this post, I've assembled a team of people who are as jazzed as I am to work on this sapphic fairytale and bring it to life. There are a lot of first for me with this project, which means I will be learning a lot and taking copious notes.

Also I think I kind of suck at the leader part? 🤣 Methinks I was not built to be in charge.

This will have voice acting as well, and ohhhh my goodness after all the efforts to do partial VA in Crushed I really sat here and said, "Yes, yes... I shall do it again" 😭🤧💛

I don't anticipate TKD taking as long as Crushed did from start to finish (8 MONTHS Y'ALL, AHHHHHHH--), but I'm also prepared for anything to happen with TKD. I'm trying to extend the same grace to myself as I freely give to my teammates and anyone I work with, and let me say: I prefer bullying myself to being nice sometimes ☠️ I should work on that....

LOL I keep talking about TKD, but have yet to explain the concept! I'm unsure if this game with get the pinned post treatment but we'll cross that bridge later.

The Knight Dance is a sapphic remix not retelling of the original 12 Dancing Princesses story. We focus on the stubborn, youngest daughter of three, Princess Heather, and the knight who's already fallen in love with her, Lady Ezra. Are they meant to be or is love not enough???? 👀🍿

TKD takes a couple of the concepts I wanted but never saw all together.

12 Dancing Princess is one of my favorite fairytales and no one ever adapts this outside of literature.

I've wanted to do a sapphic game for a hot minute (HSDJY is basically yuri if you ask some disgruntled players LOL 🤷🏽‍♀️ Ryan and Langston are chopped liver...)

It's Black History month and I'm Black 365 days of the year and damn if I can't just see Black women falling in love and being loved in return????

The ridiculously stubborn girl trope and the love interest who loves her. I know some people are annoyed by MCs who would rather die than admit their feelings ('immature' comes up a LOT) so I was kind and kept y'all in mind when writing the script😂

So there's the update for the 'in progress' game. Tune in next time where we tackle -> HSD:JY 2...THE SEQUEL!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Gemini 🖤

#lol the 'part 2' of the previous dev diaries #gamedev #gamedev rambles #visual novel #the knight dance #God I LOVE using that tag in earnest heehhee

[jessybarnes]

Baby Steps

Title: Baby Steps

Pairing: Chris Evans x Sebastian Stan

Rating: General

Word Count: 901

Tags: Angst, fluff, coming out, Chris is anxious, Sebastian is the sweetest, Sebastian also speaks Romanian to Chris in this.

Written For: @comfortember

Day 11: Holding Hands

Beta(s): Just Grammarly

A/N: I am not Romanian, nor do I speak the language. I used Google Translate, which I don't trust 100%. If you speak Romanian and any of my translations are incorrect, please let me know what it should be and I will change it. :)

Translations: şi eu te iubesc, dragostea mea = I love you too, my love. and Iubitul meu = My beloved.

Chris sighs as he sits on the end of the bed in his hotel room. He's never been this nervous before in his life. Okay, maybe he's exaggerating a little bit, but this is big.

He and Sebastian have been dating each other for the better part of a year, and they've managed to keep it secret from the public eye. How he isn't sure, but that’s beside the point.

They've agreed that now is the time to make it official with the fans and the press. Both of their managers have also told them that this will be good for publicity.

So, that brings him here, in a hotel in San Diego, California, only an hour away from coming out to the biggest comic-con crowd in the United States.

A soft knock on the door brings him back to reality, and he stands up to answer it. He knows it's Seb. No one else other than the hotel staff knows he's here and he didn't order room service.

Chris opens the door and is met with a sleepy-looking Sebastian. He's just wearing black jeans and a dark grey sweater, but it still takes his breath away.

"Wow...you look..."

His boyfriend steps past him into the room so he can shut the door. "Tired? I know...I barely slept."

"I was going to say beautiful, sweetheart, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm equally exhausted. I can't sleep without you next to me."

Sebastian blushes at the compliment and smiles brightly, "you're such a sap, Evans." His hands settle on the blonde's waist and he presses a slow and sweet kiss on his lips, "but I love that about you. You're so good to me, baby."

Chris cradles his face and kisses him back fervently. "I'll always be good to you, honey. I love you, Sebastian."

They bump foreheads gently and Seb looks deeply into his eyes, "şi eu te iubesc, dragostea mea."

Chris's thumb brushes his cheek softly. There's very little he loves more than when Sebastian speaks to him in his mother tongue. It makes him weak in the knees every single time.

"Can we just stay here instead? Maybe we can order food and binge-watch that show you like?"

"I'd love to, but we should really make an appearance at the convention first. I don't know about you, but I don't particularly want to be the cause of a bunch of rioting fans because Cap and Bucky didn't show up." He winks and Chris sighs.

"You're right. I just... what if it doesn't go well? I-I mean...I know Scott's been out for years, but as far as the fans know, I'm only rooting for one team. I don't care what they think about me, but I certainly don't want you receiving hate because of this."

"Iubitul meu, I promise everything will be alright, okay? We can do this, and I'll be right there with you."

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Forty-five minutes later they're standing backstage listening to the crowd chatter among themselves excitedly. Sebastian pulls Chris into his arms and splays his hands across his back.

"Just remember to breathe, baby. I promise everything will be alright."

The host announces their names and Seb walks out first with Chris right behind him. They put on big smiles and wave at the screaming fans before taking a seat in the chairs provided for them.

Chris bounces his leg up and down anxiously and Sebastian has to force himself not to reach out and place his hand on his knee.

The host brings the microphone to her lips and looks at them with a smile, "Chris! Sebastian! You two look amazing this evening! How are you guys?"

Seb knows his love is nervous so he takes initiative and answers for both of them.

"We're doing fine! Thank you for having us here tonight."

She nods and gestures to the crowd, "Now, I know some of these lovely fans have questions, but I understand that the two of you have an announcement to make first?"

Sebastian glances at Chris for a moment before looking out at the eager crowd. "We do. Chris, did you want to do the honors?"

The blonde feels his pulse quicken as he stands. He steps toward the edge of the stage and swallows thickly just as Sebastian moves to stand next to him.

"H-Hey everyone...uhh, I hope you all are doing well."

He takes a deep breath and scans the sea of people who have now gone so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"This is...a pretty big announcement for me and Sebastian, and it's...well, it's something we wanted you all to hear from us directly."

He sighs and decides to just go for it. There's no use beating around the bush any longer.

"As many of you know, Sebastian is a great friend of mine. We uh... met on the set of Captain America: The First Avenger and have been friends ever since. Something that you guys don't know is..."

Chris stops and turns to peek at his sweetheart. He's looking at him like he'd hung the moon, and his heart skips a beat when Sebastian reaches for his hand and intertwines their fingers.

It gives him the courage to continue, his nerves disappearing as soon as he feels his boyfriend's gentle touch.

Chris turns back to the now-shocked crowd and smiles warmly.

"...Sebastian and I...we're...together..."

Tagging: @sarahrogersevans @chrisevansdaughter @brandyywar @nerdygingermoose88

#j snow writes #comfortember2022 #comfortember 2022 #evanstan #evanstan fluff #evanstan angst #chris evans x sebastian stan #sebastian stan x chris evans #chris evans #sebastian stan #chris evans fic #sebastian stan fic #cevans #sebstan #sebby stan