#this is someone who had to be so brilliant just to get crumbs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

talkbykhalid · 1 year

Text

idiot in love. k.yeosang x f.reader 5.7k words (fluff + humour)

“I have an idea!”

“No.”

Yunho, who had just burst into the room with a bright smile on his lips, now stood by the doorway with a pout. His phone is held tightly in his hand and playing a video from what looks like tiktok. A chorus of cheers and gasps comes from the gadget’s speakers and you can’t help but to be intrigued.

“Don’t be rude, Yeosang.” San tosses a candy wrapper at the other’s face, telling him off for crushing the light behind Yunho’s eyes.

You sit on the pink reclining chair in the middle of the room and look up at your tall friend who had just arrived. Currently, you were waiting for the rest of your friends to get to your guys’ usual hang out spot. A comfy little pool house in the back of Seonghwa’s normal-sized and humble house, or that’s what he likes to call it (you’d rather skip the pleasantries and call it a mansion). It’s a decent sized pool house, as decently-sized as a mansion’s pool house can be, and it’s well decorated.

That’s a lie.

You know how there’s this big thing with the generation now with aesthetics and styles? Yeah, so if you’d gather all those and smush it into a snowball pile and then throw it against a wall, you’d get the pool house decor. It wasn’t bad! Mingi once said that this is what cluttercore is. And you don’t think that it’s ugly, it’s not the best interior design you’ve done but if you look at it at a certain angle and then tilt your head to the left, then sure, it looks pleasing to the eye!

Actually scratch that. This was all Jongho’s fault! Yeah for sure. He calls himself an interior design major yet he can barely even get this place in check. Yeah, that’s right. How about you shift majors, Jongho?

No… that’s a lie too. Because you know god damn well that Jongho’s no joke when it comes to designing. This mess of a house was collectively everyone’s fault. Why? Because everything in this god forsaken pool house was brought by none other than your group of hooligans.

Hongjoong had speakers stacked up in one corner along with a keyboard and a 2015 dubstep pad which you highly doubt still works. Beside his mess is another mess, this one is of dumbbells and resistance bands with a pull up bar station and foldable bench (which never gets folded) in between it all. This one was courtesy of your gym rat friends, i.e: San, Mingi, Yeosang and Jongho.

Jongho’s solo corner is most definitely the only aesthetically pleasing and neat area of the whole place. He had set up a little bean bag seat by the door so he could bask in the afternoon sunlight. And beside that was his little guitar stand and trusty acoustic guitar. You remember gifting it to him when he graduated high school; oh the memories of huddling together to gather all your saved up cash from your part time jobs.

Your corner? Well you didn’t exactly have one, per se. You had a habit of hovering around everyone else’s little respective corners and sticking your nose into their business, so you never really saw the need to have your own space. But you had a little pink reclining chair you thrifted in the middle of the room. It was beaten up and the leather was peeling in some spots but if you covered it with a blanket, then it’s out of sight and out of mind.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

You were sitting on your chair with your legs dangling off the arm rest and scrolling through twitter when your friend unceremoniously slams open the sliding glass door and holler about his brilliant idea. San was lying on the rug watching ants march by a cookie crumb and Yeosang was messing around with Hongjoong’s keyboard. Seonghwa was back inside looking for some snacks to share and everyone else was on their way to the pool house.

“What is it, Yun?” You turn to the man and place your phone down onto your chest.

“At least someone cares.” The tall blonde trudges to your side and plops down on the ground beside you. You watch as he shuffles around to get his bum comfortable on the concrete before he shows you his phone screen. Once he’s comfy enough, he leans his chin onto your tummy and starts talking about this one tiktok he saw.

“So I was scrolling through tiktok and there’s this one that has like thirty million views.”

San crawls up from his previous spot before kneeling beside your pink chair. His eyes are trained onto the people on the screen as he scurrys closer and leans his chin onto your shoulder. The newest addition to the scene connects eyes for a split second with the man on your stomach before he hums when the video replays again and it vibrates on your shoulder. But you’re not concerned, because your attention was on something else. Rather, someone else.

Yeosang stayed where he was, fingers mindlessly pressing key after key on Hongjoong’s keyboard while his other hand scrolled through his own tiktok. Is he not interested in what Yunho’s showing? Why isn’t he coming closer, you pout inwardly.

Listen. If you were in his situation and you heard people gasping, you’d have ran all the way to see what was going on. This is not to say that you want Yeosang to come running towards you at any chance he gets, it’s just… Okay you do want him to run towards you whenever the opportunity’s there.

But can you be blamed for having a simple crush on your friend? He is exceptionally beautiful, of course all your friends are beautiful but you just think he has that edge that puts him above everyone else (but don’t tell Wooyoung or else he’ll flip). His large russet irises that just glitter in the sunlight like cold brew on a sunny afternoon. His high cheekbones and the rich red birthmark that sits at his temple. And his voice! So deep with a timber that makes your heart rattle in your chest. Everything about him just had you captured.

“Keep the pda to a minimum please, we have a minor.”

Hongjoong scolds from the doorway, throwing a glance at the other side of the room where Yeosang sat all alone with his equipment. He stands proud on his feet with pottery clay stained sleeves and mismatched socks. No one really knows what Hongjoong does in his free time, but he always turns up with skin tainted in whatever and oftentimes a new hair colour. Behind him stood your other two friends, one bearing a scowl and the other freely giggling at Hongjoong’s words.

“I’m literally twenty one.” Jongho grumbles, unbuttoning the first couple of buttons of his tan cafe uniform dress shirt.

“I’m talking about Mingi.” Hongjoong directs a nod at the taller of the three who then yelps out a ‘hey!’.

You and your friends had this little inside joke that Mingi was actually five years old mentally. Not in the sense that he’s dumb (he’s actually the opposite), but rather because of his cute and clumsy nature. For a man of his height, you wouldn’t expect him to be the type of person who makes hand hearts in every photo and calls the colour pink ‘heart coloured’.

Moving forward, it’s not like skinship wasn’t a norm with your little gang of misfits, it was. Especially with the more cuddlier guys of the bunch, like Yunho and San. So, seeing them getting all cozied up with anyone isn’t all that surprising.

“Where’s Wooyoung?” You ask, genuinely curious of where the loud one was.

“He went to bother Seonghwa. Probably making those crappy western sandwiches with ham and potato chips.” Mingi responded, making his way to you and peeking at the screen in Yunho’s hand.

“That looks fun.”

“Wait, so how does this go again?” Jongho asks, sitting on the ground beside the tray of snacks Seonghwa had prepared. Wooyoung had sneaked in three of those crappy sandwiches that Mingi mentioned onto the tray, and they were all eaten by him too. The rest of you settled on the bowl of salted pretzels and kettle chips.

Yunho downs his can of beer before tossing it to the side (much to Seonghwa’s dismay) and beginning to explain again. He believes this is his eighty-eighth time explaining to the group because none of them are ever listening at the same time!

“So we all put our phones down in the middle and make sure they’re locked.” Yunho demonstrates by placing his phone on the floor with the screen pitch black and reflecting his face.

“And then we wait for one of them to light up. The person who owns that phone will then have to call their crush!”

Now everyone’s listening. Especially you, reclined on your chair and suddenly sweating. You can feel your fingers start to tremble and your heart beat quicker. Your eyes flicker to Hongjoong who gives you a wicked smile.

Hongjoong’s the only person who’s known about your… affectionate feelings for Yeosang. It’s rather an embarrassing story to recall. You were scrolling through your guys’ group chat and skimming across the recently sent pictures. You guys had just gone on a little beach trip in the middle of summer, yes how anime plot cliche of you, but who’s to judge? Anyway, you had stopped on a particular picture because it had caught your eye.

The sky was a rich blue and thin clouds had been strung out across it. The horizon sits beautifully between it and the clear blue sea that calmly breaches onto the hot sand. But who cares for that view when you have the perfect view of Kang Yeosang clad in only his swimming shorts, sitting on a beach towel with his hands planted behind him to lean his head back. His hair was dripping with the salty sea water that trickled down onto his skin and pooling in his deep collarbones.

You couldn’t stop staring. Not with the way his eyes had been shut and his lips hung open in a deep exhale. You were– as what the young ones say these days, quite gagged. The sight of his smooth skin with a light sheen of the sea and the sand that stuck onto his muscular thighs. Oh the things that ran through your mind…

You wouldn’t have stopped staring if it wasn’t for Hongjoong walking up from behind you and gawking at the picture opened on your screen. In full brightness. Zoomed in on Yeosang himself.

What’s worse than that was the way he reacted, but that’s a story for another day.

“I’m in!” San happily announces after Yunho explains, immediately fishing his phone out and placing it beside Yunho’s.

And soon, everyone had their phones out and ready to participate. Even you, although it does feel like you’re shitting your heart out of your ass. But what are the chances right? There are nine of you and there’s absolutely no way that your phone out of the nine lights up first. You had about an eleven point eleven percent possibility, so it couldn’t be you.

Yet, why were you so jittery? You know that your chances are low but why do you still feel like running out and diving to the pool by reason of insanity? God, what’s up with you right now?

“We have to film this.” Wooyoung interjects before the game starts.

Everyone now had their phones laying in a circle right beside the litre of sprite. And honestly, you were kind of anxious, seeing that your phone was the closest to the bottle and might possibly get wet from the perspiration that’s dripping down the green plastic. You had literally gotten that five months ago, had to bust your ass sitting dogs and begging on your knees in front of your parents…

“Idiot how are we gonna film if all our phones will be in the pile?” San delivers a soft smack to the back of the shorter’s head. And now that you think about it, Choi San has been quite violent today. Throwing stuff at people and smacking heads.

“Seonghwa has two phones.”

You hear Hongjoong call out from opposite of you. His voice was rather bitter, understandable. He, of course, has to live with his crappy little iPhone 6s plus until next month when he’s eligible for a new one from his plan (don’t ask why he hasn’t upgraded in the last– something, years). And his dear best friend Seonghwa is here with two of the latest iPhones tucked into each of his back pockets. But it all comes from a place of banter, though. You know how Hongjoong and Seonghwa’s dynamic is.

“I’ll get the tripod!” Jongho immediately jumps onto his feet and runs to Wooyoung’s little nook. The latter then complains at how Jongho teasingly scatters his stuff in search of the tripod that’s ‘literally right there!’

When everything’s all set up, everyone huddled on the floor, Seonghwa’s turquoise iPhone perched by the sliding doors, and phones readily on hand, Yunho begins his countdown.

“Okay guys, so we all know what to do, right?”

A chorus of ‘yes’ erupts from the team and a quiet ‘get on with it!’ sounds from Yeosang, who Yunho throws a pouty glare at.

“On the count of three, we’re all gonna lock our phones and then put them in the middle.”

One.

You have your phone in your hand and your fingers are trembling. You’re honestly so nervous because, fuck. The chances of you being the one chosen is high. Who in the world thinks that one in nine is a low possibility? Definitely not you! That eleven percent was one above ten percent. And in a situation like this? You think that a ten percent chance is still ten too many!

Two.

You think about backing out, again. Maybe you should smash your phone on the ground and go oops! No… Maybe you could pretend faint and fall face first into the bowl of pretzels. Yes! That sounds– fucking stupid. Come on brain! You yell inside your mind, Think! Think! Think!

Three!

Too late. Everyone’s now clicking their phones shut and you’re left no choice but to follow from the peer pressure. And soon everyone’s phones are back on the ground again. This time, you’re not that worried about the damn puddle of water on the fucking gray concrete. All your mind is racing about is the fact that your life is on the line (okay dramatic much?).

Your heart is pounding in your ears, and it’s all you can hear. Granted, everybody in the room had shut up in anticipation, but it just made the beating of your heart even louder. Your palms are growing clammy and you can feel beads of sweat forming on your hairline. It feels like millions of years have passed by now, but anyone can tell you otherwise. In fact, it hasn't even been five seconds since your phones were tossed into the ring.

With everyone’s eyes glued onto their own phones, you all waited. For whichever iPhone lights up first. The screens lined up together to perfectly mirror the way the pool water reflects the sunlight into the room. You try to distract yourself with the refracted light that dances on the ceiling, enjoying how they wiggle and float as a result of the pool right outside. It’s crazy how science works. But that distraction barely even lasts a moment before your eyes flicker onto a pair already staring at you. And as you stare into Hongjoong’s dark irises, you’re reminded of the fact that you’re waiting. For one phone to ping with a notification. Waiting.

Waiting.

Ping!

There it is. Finally you’re put out of your misery! Your eyes, along with everybody else's, fall onto the glowing screen. And you see the face of Suna Rintarou, Inarizaki High School’s Volleyball Team’s six foot one middle blocker. The same exact picture you have on your lockscreen. A text notification floats into view and it reads:

“Happy Birthday! This is Doja Cat, meow~. I am sending this message from my private number…”

That’s crazy, you think, who gets scam texts from Doja Cat? Haha… Oh.

Panic surges through your veins as it now registers that it was your phone that pinged. It was you who got the Doja Cat scam text. (It’s not even your birthday! Who sends this kind of stuff and how did they get your number?! What?) … And it’s you who has to call your crush right now.

At this point your heart has probably fallen out of your asshole, maybe even crashed through the crust of the earth. You can’t believe that this is happening to you right now. You had only a little over ten percent of a chance on your side yet the universe still pointed its grubby wrinkled finger at you. You’re convinced that you’re the main character of some stupid early afternoon sitcom titled ‘What are the odds?’ or something… Fuck, with a capital ‘F’!

Right after your phone had pinged on, Hongjoong’s crappy banged up iphone six followed suit with a notification from instagram. But it’s too late. Whoever just liked his post was twenty-three seconds too late. You were the chosen one.

The two of you make eye contact once more and his eyes now glitter with mischief. Not only was he saved by the grace of god, but he gets to watch you crumble into dust and debris like the ruins of Parthenon, again! Oh what a splendid day it was to be Hongjoong. What makes this situation even more satisfying (for Hongjoong and not you, oh dear god, especially not you) is what happened a couple days back. And the male who sits across from you can’t help but smile.

For context, it was a lovely Wednesday afternoon. You were lying on Hongjoong’s kitchen counter whining and moping about being single, as per usual. And your friend sits on the newspaper covered floor, painting his cabinets blue. Not even the usual calming sky blue that shows up naturally, no; he is painting his kitchen cabinets an awful shade of neon blue. One that blinds you and leaves a lasting orange mark behind your eyelids when you close your eyes.

“Is this about Yeosang, again?” He had asked you without even looking away from his brush strokes.

You felt your face heat up at the mention of him. You turned your head to look at the man with a pout, which he doesn’t even notice. Again, all his attention is on keeping paint from his precious bronze hinges.

“Maybe…” You responded after a few moments of silence. “And why aren’t you using a big brush like any normal person?”

Hongjoong murmured something along the lines of ‘mind your business’ and then told you to carry on your rambling. So you do.

“I don’t know! It’s just that… I’ve been silent about my feelings for so long and this is my first time talking about them to anyone, so I’m dumping out a lot of emotions here.”

“Aren’t you glad I found out, then?”

“Fuck you.” You scowled at Hongjoong’s teasing tone pertaining to how he found out. You hate him.

“Like there’s something about him that’s just so charming!” You continued when he gave you no response. “When I first met him he was shy and quiet and so it was like whiplash because his best friend is apparently Wooyoung? I can’t be the only one who was surprised at that. But then… then he started opening up to us and then my perception of him just tumbled from there…”

Hongjoong placed his paintbrush on the floor, soaking the newspaper in blue paint and his focus had moved onto you. The way you talked so nonchalantly, like your feelings for Yeosang were something so familiar to you. The way you absentmindedly wiggled your fingers every time you giggle at a memory of a certain blonde. It was so obvious that your feelings for the man were much stronger than what Hongjoong first sought it out to be.

“He’s just so funny in his own little way. He doesn’t even have to try! Like that one time he was frying an egg and he tried to flip it but then–” You bursted out laughing at the memory. Hongjoong remembered too, the clueless expression Yeosang had after dropping the sunny side up egg on the ground was just hilarious.

“I don’t know why I like him so much. We’re not the closest of the group– I don’t think I’ve even spent an hour just him and me alone! So it doesn’t make sense to me how I started liking him. I don’t know anything about him that you don’t, and vice versa. It just happened suddenly and now I have uncontrollable feelings for my friend. It’s like fucking cupid just punched me in the gut and went ‘hehe you have feelings now’!”

By now you had your face down on the countertop, muffling your cries onto the cold surface.

“And it’s so frustrating because he has the qualities to be the perfect crush! He’s handsome, funny and kind, but I know that’s not why I like him. Maybe it adds up to why, but it’s not entirely true. I think it’s because he has this aura around him that just had me hooked. It’s like his own angel halo, he’s just so– so… benign!”

“Benign?” Hongjoong finally spoke, he has never met anyone use the word ‘benign’ to describe anyone. Especially you! He did not expect you to pull out uncommon words for this. No hate, he loves you kiss kiss, but you’re the type of person to slap someone in the face and call it flirting. Describing someone as benign was not up your alley.

“Why don’t you just ask him out then?” He asked you the most obvious question ever.

“What if he rejects me?” And you responded with the most obvious answer ever.

“You’ll never know unless you shoot your shot.” Hongjoong picked up his paintbrush and went back to painting his cabinets such an atrocious colour.

You gave him a cocky laugh in response. Pfft– confess? You? It was like telling an elephant to bungee jump, that’ll never happen!

“But! If I don’t shoot, then I’ll never miss.”

Were your infamous last words, Hongjoong remembers so well. So maybe that’s what makes this entire thing so interesting.

Hongjoong watches you with hawk-like eyes, reading your heart off from your sleeves. Your eyes meet for a quick second before your eyes flit back onto the phone in front of you. The room erupts in hollers and hoots and Hongjoong can’t help but let his eyes drift off to the male who sat two persons to his left.

Yeosang’s face was undecipherable, that’s all one could say. His eyebrows were raised in the slightest bit as a sign of intrigue. The corners of his lips were neither turned up nor down; they were just neutral. The only telltale sign of interest he’s showing is the upturn of his head as he tries to get a better look at your glowing phone screen. But other than that, you might say he looks indifferent.

But that’s not what Hongjoong sees. Oh no, the older male has his eyes on Yeosang’s closed fists. Watching as they ever so slightly clench when you shakily reach for the gadget. And Hongjoong’s mind is set. He knows now.

“This is rigged!” You cry with your phone heavy in your hands.

“How?!” Wooyoung screeches from beside you.

“You rigged it!” You point an accusatory finger at Yunho who flinches and gives you his sweetest most clueless puppy dog eyes. That devil.

“You came here with this idea! This was planned from the start! I am a victim!” You cry, voice getting more deranged as each word flies past your lips.

And it’s funny, yes, everyone’s glad it’s getting captured by Seonghwa’s phone. But what will be even more fun is when you actually get to the fucking plot of this and call your crush!

“Just call whoever you have to call, y/n!” Jongho says firmly after his own laughing fit. Scary how strict the younger generation is nowadays.

“Do I have to?” You resort to pleading. “Can’t we just go again?”

They all give you one final stern glare before you finally give up and unlock your phone. With each tap you do, your breathing gets even more shallow. Oh it’s bad for you.

Everyone has their eyes on you, some curious, some teasing, and you just want to die. Dig a hole and die. Eat concrete and die. Roll in barbed wire and die. Anything! Literally anything would be better than you embarrassing yourself.

So you find the contact and press call. A ring comes from your speakers and it goes silent for a moment. Everybody is on their toes, giggling to themselves and feeling giddy over something that doesn’t even involve them. But can you blame them? They’re all so nosy and always want to be in each others’ business.

The next ring that blares into the room comes from the circle of phones on the floor. A light blue iphone vibrates and flashes, catching everyone’s attention. You’ve pressed your face into your palms, refusing to look at anyone as embarrassment spreads like wildfire on your skin. Just like before, the room has fallen silent again, minus the constant ringing of the still unanswered call.

Yeosang stares, mouth agape and eyes wide. That’s his phone. There’s no mistaking it. And only he has his notifications set to LED flash which he first did because it annoys Wooyoung. He doesn’t exactly need it, per se, but at this point he’s had his phone set to LED flash for years now that he’d feel empty without it. Back to the scene at hand, Yeosang’s still staring at the call screen.

Everyone was at a loss for words. For multiple reasons, the first one being you having a crush on Yeosang. Wooyoung, at first was about to wail about you not choosing him instead, because obviously he is the better choice (his words). But that soon went over his shoulder when he glanced at the phone on the floor. The second, and more appalling reason to everyone’s disbelief, is that the object of your desires does not even have your number saved.

“You don’t even have her number saved?!” Wooyoung suddenly breaks the silence and it makes you snap your head up.

What…? You’re taking blow after blow today, a match with Manny Pacquiao would have had less punches to the gut. Triple Whammy! Or whatever you call it.

“Wow… You’re really…” San speaks up from beside you. “Really, you’re something else.”

The phones finally stop ringing and you hear an automated voice come from your end of the call. You could hardly look in Yeosang’s direction right now, because, face it, him not saving your number? That’s a large blaring neon sign of unrequited affection. And you’re too wrapped up in your own emotions, still frozen in shock, that you don’t notice Yeosang frantically shaking his head and hurriedly blurting out about how it’s a misunderstanding.

“It’s not just, y/n! I don’t have anyone’s numbers saved…” And his voice trails off when realizes that he just made things worse. That does not sound reassuring at all.

“Bro?!” Wooyoung snatches Yeosang’s phone from the floor and holds it up briefly to his best friend’s face to unlock it. The dark haired male finds his contacts list and it’s true. So far all he can see saved are his family’s numbers. Heartbreaking really, because after all they’ve been through?

“Eight years! We’ve known each other for eight years, Yeosang. And you don’t have my number saved?!” Wooyoung’s hysterical, which is somewhat funny. He’s an inch away from mauling his best friend like a bear and Yunho’s tasked with holding him back by the collar considering he’s sat beside the feral man.

But there’s nothing for you to smile about, it seems like the group had momentarily forgotten about what happened a mere minute earlier. Which, thank god, you don’t want to dwell on that forever. But you are craving a little bit of attention right now, preferably from someone who’ll comfort you or some shit. You don’t know! It’s confusing.

Seonghwa notices the way your fingers pick and pull at the strings of your distressed jeans and he decides he should at least get you out of the room. He spots the empty bowl of pretzels and uses this as an excuse.

“I’m gonna go get more pretzels. Wanna come, y/n?”

You jolt at the mention of your name and you look up to see Seonghwa holding a hand out to you. Which, after you catch on to what his intentions are, you gratefully accept. Now on your feet, you grab the empty bowl and throw a quick smile at the squabbling group of idiots before making your way out. Missing the way a pair of panicked eyes trail after your figure.

Once in the kitchen, you sigh and plant your hands on the pristine countertops. Actually, last time you were here, Seonghwa’s countertops were steel gray granite. How come the slab in front of you was now a snowy marble. When did his mom even renovate the kitchen?

“Hey, Hwa.” You start when you hear footsteps join you in the kitchen. “When did you get your countertops changed…”

Yeosang is who greeted you when you turned your head. Not Seonghwa.

And then everything’s quiet. Where was Seonghwa? You have no idea. Was he the one who set this up? You’re not sure, but you think so. Will you absolutely abolish him when you get him? Absolutely.

You don’t know how long you both stand there stupidly staring at each other, but you assume it’s a really long time. You counted about seven bird chirps from outside and approximately three cars had honked as they passed by the road. You think you can see the sunlight moving, or maybe you’ve absolutely lost it. Matter of fact! Maybe that’s not even Yeosang in front of you. Maybe that’s just another one of your crazy hallucinations, that sounds about right. Real.

Yes, there is no Yeosang in the room.

“So…”

It talks?!

The man in front of you starts and you’re startled out of your thoughts. Oh sweet cheese… That’s the real thing. That’s the real human Yeosang… oh great heavens…

“Uhm…” He scratches the back of his neck and sucks a breath through his teeth.

That is a telltale sign of discomfort, you conclude, the psychology major part in your brain puts on her lab coat and pushes up her jacket. Hand on the back of the neck? Head tilted? Avoiding eye contact? Yep, he absolutely despises you. He wants to grab you by the ankles and throw you onto Seonghwa’s incredibly large front lawn like a shot put. Miss Trunchbull style.

Only, you’re studying architecture.

“This is awkward.” Yeosang speaks again.

“I’ll get the pretzels.” You turn your back and try to find a bag of pretzels, when you know that they’re in the pantry. And the pantry is right behind Yeosang so that means that to get to the pantry you’d have to walk past Yeosang. And you’d rather not get within shot put throwing distance of Yeosang right now! Maybe, you can take an alternate route over the kitchen island and then take the stairs up to the balcony and then jump off into the pool and then walk back in to grab the pretzels.

Yes. Wonderful.

But, right when you’re about to jump over the marble, Yeosang’s voice pierces through the room.

“We should go get coffee sometime.”

And now you’re rooted in your spot. Because did Yeosang just ask you out or did you just bang your head on the counter in an attempt to run away?

“I mean like… If you want to!” Panic rises in Yeosang’s eyes because, from his perspective, you’ve been silent this whole time. You even tried to avoid the topic entirely. But, I guess he wouldn’t blame you after the whole thing in the pool house.

He’s been freaking out since the phone call. First of all, he fully expected San’s or Yunho’s phones to ring because you’re always cuddling with them. Maybe even Hongjoong, you go over to his place often and have a lot of inside jokes and secrets with each other. Who’s to say that you two weren’t secretly harbouring feelings for each other. But, that’s not to say he’s unhappy that you called him. He was just pleasantly surprised.

He’s not complaining, he thinks you’re cute and he loves your personality. If anything, he’d love to get to know you more, maybe spend some time away from the hooligans you call friends. They always did hog you whenever you hung out. Never gave him the chance to talk with you one on one. Maybe this is his chance?

So, when Seonghwa offered to pull you out of the scene, he decided to take his place. A quick ‘I’ll go’ whispered as he passed by the older male. His palms were leaking by the time he got in the kitchen, standing nervously and bashfully scratching his neck. He genuinely didn’t know what to say. Where should he even start?

So when he blurts out an invitation to go out, he feels his heart fall into the depths of the abyss. He didn’t mean to say that! He should have de-escalated the situation first, fuck! Now you’re standing there in the kitchen looking at him like he was stupid. He is.

“If you don’t want to then it’s okay.”

And you just stand there staring, for another good three minutes.

“Sure.” You finally whisper, eyes wide and dumbfounded, but Yeosang heard it. And it made his heart swell. Sure.

If idiot in love was the phrase, you were the picture.

note: not proofread and it's kinda rushed. ive had this prompt im my drafts for about a year now and i just wanted to let it out.

#ateez #ateez x reader #ateez fluff #kang yeosang #kang yeosang x reader #yeosang x reader

246 notes · View notes

seelestia · 10 days

Note

who are a few mutuals that you appreciate alot? mutual appreciation day 🥰❤️😊🤩💐✨

OOOO FUNFUNFUN!!! thank u so much for sending this in and for essentially spreading positivity, nonnie. this is appreciated ♡ also, instead of strictly moots, i decided to extend my appreciation to everyone! moots, anons, friends and readers alike ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა

some odeliaesqué sappy appreciation under the cut:

@yvnaology - one of my fav facts abt yona was that she's one of the first moots i ever had on tumblr!!! and she's a lyney kisser and a fellow aventurine kisser (#taste). also she's so silly (/aff) and easy to talk to! like u'll feel at ease around her. she deserves good great and awesome things in life, so make sure to water ur yona daily with love <3

@solarisfortuneia - mika wished me congrats when i reached 1k and i still remember it till this day <3 she's friendly in a shy/modest way and suchsuchsuch a good writer! e.g. i cry over this every day actually. mika also has her silly moments sometimes too. someone save her /j

@floraldresvi - simply the sweetest & most supportive moot EVER! vivi is full of love and she's good at giving some of that love to others <3 her selfships are like bottles of serotonin to me. 100% would drop anything and everything in my hands to support her!!! and ik she'd do the same for me <3 mwah mwah 💐💐

@monicahar - the moot who comes online once in a while and drops absolute meals when she does. ate, left no crumbs 🔥🔥 also SUPER FUNNY!!! and unhinged, i'm concerned but amused at the same time. i hope she's having a nice break!! thank u for ur past & future services ma'am. we love u 🤭🤭

@milk-violet - MIREI !!! sunshine personified but also vv precious. i'm the leader of # protecc mirei squad (real). best person to have ever appeared in my notifs and i lovelovelove when her username pops up. take care & good luck with school! IK U CAN DO IT. remember what i said: slay before ur slayed 🗣️

@xianyoon - the butterfly moot 🦋 !!! both socially and aesthetically hehe. sosooso sweet & kind. has creative projects and executes them well at that too. i personally crown her as genshinblr's best hostess™! also, send her a moodboard and she'll cherish u forever - that's one of her love languages <3 ++ her pretty & aesthetic rb's are such a good refresh for my dash. love her for it!!

@hermosacolibri - the name, 'starlight' fits them sm bcs i feel like if we were to take a peek into their mind, stars will burst out!!! /pos (<- unique complimenting skills ik pardon me). their ideas are brilliant and i can tell they put their all into pursuing their vision <3 it's truly an honor to be a witness & reader. if u want to check them out, they write over at @/starlightlacrimosazpsff !!! ★

@wolfhookk - aaaaa ri !!!! booping her x1000 rn bcs i cannot believe boop trend ended when she came online. the discrimination 😔 /j i'll always remember ri as my first ever moot on here like first, 1st, #1!!! i forever thank her for swooping into my inbox back then and she's welcome to do that even now any time she likes <3

@kaiserkisser - skylia is the true angst consumer, the realest of it!! even in different fandoms LOL. she's nice (and gremlin-ish) when u get to know her more and she reciprocates energy really well! i'll never forget the disaster of boops in my notifs /lh

@callilouv - COOL MUTUAL ALERT !!!! cool art & cool interests. truly, picasso w/ the finger and fandoms!! idk if cal still draws with his finger dhjahshsj but still vv mega cool!

@manager-of-the-pudding-bank - the grandpas & old men kisser where art thou 💔 /j loqua has that awkward & silly rizz!!! idk if she still does wax stamps but i still think it's really cool. bcs qua's just cool in general !!! hehe

@calxlu - aaaaa vi!!! the one who enables my rambles and selfships shhshsh i am so thankful <3 rambler 🤝 rambler is the best. i love talking to her and it's super reassuring to know that it's mutual! even if i take some time but i always look forward to seeing her replies in my inbox. it's like we're penpals across the screen talking abt irl stuff and our f/o's ꒰✿´ ꒳ ` ꒱♡

& honorable mention: @/zhongrin. rin does not interact with minors anymore (which i respect and so should everyone!), so we count as former moots. but !!! i still think she's an amazing person regardless <3 (note: her blog is equally as great but plsplspls be mindful of her rules beforehand.)

brainrot anon - A REAL ONE!!! always there when i come back from the grave each time. i get reminded of them whenever i look at my inbox, it's an instinct atp. their brainrots are so fun & random (but that's a charm in itself /pos) !!! tbh i love elaborating them all so never stop sending the brainworms in <3 feel free to treat my inbox as a drop-off for ur thoughts LMAO /gen. come by again soon!

michiki anon - MY COUSINNNMNMN!!! i still love and miss when they'd come into my inbox to chat. it was so nice getting to know someone in a casual way <3 i hope ur doing well wherever u are, michikinon! i'm doing well these days and i hope u are too 🤍

rix anon - their series still has me FLOOOORED. i still think it deserves a proper platform than just thru my lil ol inbox. it deserves more recognition :( but just the fact that i got to help share their writing alone is an honor of its own!!! i hope ur doing well too, rix anon <3

++ everyone who has left a nice feedback / said anything nice in my notifs or my inbox!! even a simple 'cute' or 'this is good' or even just leaving a note means sososo much to me. i'm just a measly guy in my own little corner on this site, really - so thank u thank u thank u all !!! 🫂

#SORRY FOR THE PINGS Y'ALL 😵#this is giving 'end-of-the-year post' energy LOL (it's literally the end of april)#but yes why not <33 #ask box! 📬#anon visitors!

18 notes · View notes

innytoes · 7 months

Note

I will be shocked if I'm the only one who sends you this, but: found family Thanksgiving, greater polyphantoms polycule

It wasn't like Thanksgiving was the biggest deal, Julie tried to reason with herself, even as she refreshed her phone again, and again, and again. She didn't even like Thanksgiving that much. The Molinas had always been more of a Christmas kind of family. Mostly because Mom liked the sparkly lights and Dad was a fiend for gingerbread.

But her phone still said that all flights to LA were cancelled, and would be until after the holidays, due to the stupidly early snowstorms. She should have just done what most people had done, and skip her last few days of class to catch an earlier flight.

But she really couldn't afford to miss more of her stupid mandatory PE credit dance classes, after she already missed two in a row due to oversleeping after staying up working on her musical composition homework and a bout of the flu. So her dad and her aunt had advised her to not skip, school came first, it would be fine, the news was always being dramatic anyway.

She couldn't even bear to call her dad, knowing that just the sound of his voice would make her burst into tears. Instead she texted him the screenshot, and he sent her back a very long text about how much he loved her and would miss her and he'd send some money so she could get something nice to treat herself. They could video call all day if she wanted to.

She sent him a little thumbs up, before throwing herself at her pillow and having a good cry. Then, she went down the dorm hall to get a hot shower and change into her coziest, most comforting PJs to have a little pity party with the hidden lock box of snacks under her bed. (Her roommate Kayla was an awesome friend but also a dirty snack thief.)

The dorms were echoingly empty. It was almost creepy. The food hall was closed for the holidays, so she quickly heated up some water for instant noodles before hurrying back to her room. She stayed up too late comfort-watching Gilmore Girls and eating an entire roll of Oreos and several mini chocolate chip muffins before falling asleep amidst the crumbs. Excellent pity party.

She woke up to what sounded like three separate people knocking on her door. For a moment, she was confused, before she blearily shoved her glasses onto her face and rolled out of bed. She opened the door angrily, ready to snap at whoever was disturbing her wallowing. "What the hell are you doing knocking so early it's only..." she threw a look at the clock and deflated. "Um, noon."

"Julie!" Oh no. That was Luke, from her song writing class. The guy who she kind of had a crush on, with his cute smile and his pretty eyes and his brilliant lyrics and his- "You were right, Reg, she's totally still here, just like you said."

"Not that I was stalking you or anything!" Oh no, and there was her other crush, red-cheeked and fidgeting. Reggie was in her dance class, one of the few people who showed up yesterday. Which meant that they'd been partnered up a lot. Which had been really nice, except also very, very distracting. "It's just that you were saying you were going to the airport right after class but the news said everything's shut down and we just wanted to check if maybe you were still here but not to like be weird or creepy but-"

"Oh for..." A third boy, in a pink hoodie and backwards baseball cap said. "We wanted to ask you if you wanted to come to our Friendsgiving party."

"Orphan and Stranded People Tofurkey And Epic Sides Meal That Does Not Perpetuate A Fake Racist Narrative Party!" someone called from down the hall, where they were knocking on doors, apparently to see if anyone would open.

"Willie, that's too long..." Pink Hoodie started, before sighing. "Okay. Yeah, that."

"I... I don't have anything to bring," she said, looking at her now sadly empty snack box. "Except for maybe some stray peanut butter cups."

"That's okay," Willie said, moving back towards her room. None of the other doors opened. "We were planning on breaking into the kitchens anyway, there'll be plenty of food there. Besides the Tofurkey, of course."

"Yeah, Alex stole that from work!" Reggie beamed.

"I did not!" Alex, pink hoodie guy, said, his voice high pitched. "I just... used my staff discount."

"You rang it up as a single grape," Luke pointed out.

"The manager is an asshole and ordered way too many anyway," Alex shrugged. "She won't notice."

Honestly, hanging out with both of her crushes and what appeared to be a set of Chaos Gremlins seemed much better than faking internet connectivity issues so she wouldn't cry on a video call home. So she agreed to come if she could change into something more suited for breaking and entering (and impressing her crushes) and then joined in the 'search party'.

In the end, there were seven of them. Willie made picking the lock to the kitchens look easy, and they all had a great time sneaking around and rummaging through the kitchens for food. Flynn took charge, delegating 'the eye candy' to mix and chop and stir when all of the admitted they had no idea how to cook a turkey, much less a Tofurkey. Julie, after a brief rapid fire round of questions, was put in charge of the stove, since 'she could be trusted with fire'.

While they were cooking, the stories came out. Luke wasn't going home for the holidays because his parents had freaked out when they found out he'd switched his major to music. Reggie and Alex didn't have any family to go home to ("none worth our time, anyway"). Willie's uncle was in Paris, but he'd sent a bunch of money so he could eat out 'somewhere they don't serve cranberry sauce from a can'.

"But you're here with us breaking into the kitchen?" Julie asked, pointedly looking at the cans of cranberry sauce on the counter.

"He already spent it all on art supplies," Alex said fondly.

Flynn was stranded, like her. Carrie, who hadn't been very talkative, just gave a curt 'I don't want to talk about it'. Reggie got her to smile, though, by guessing more and more outlandish scenarios, beaming and shouting 'I knew it' when she finally gave in and agreed that yes, her pegasus was in the shop so she couldn't fly home to her fairy kingdom.

By the time her dad called to check in on her, the Tofurkey, rolls, and mac and cheese were in the oven, and they were all laughing. She made the rounds, introducing her new friends, beaming when they all waved back just as dorkily as her dad was.

And if next year she brought them all home with her? The more the merrier.

And if a couple of years after that, they were the ones hosting their friends and family at their own Thanksgiving party in their shared house, trading cranberry flavoured kisses and bites of stuffing while cooking together?

Maybe Julie liked Thanksgiving after all.

#you were in fact the only one to prompt this!#julie and the phantoms #the greater polyphantoms polycule #fanfic #I wrote a thing #thanksgiving #julie like: my two crushes and two chaos gremlins. Julie a few weeks later: oh they're all chaos gremlins okay #you know Ray is adopting all of them as Molinas on the spot the first time Julie brings them home #he's not sure who is dating his daughter and who isn't but Julie cares about all of them so they're all welcome #just picturing them all making it big and getting a giant house together

37 notes · View notes

epickiya722 · 9 months

Text

You know what, seeing someone say Audrey is a "bitch" stirred some unwanted feelings in me because rewatching the first movie and comparing her to other Disney antagonists, Audrey isn't all that bad to me.

At most, what she did was make snide comments and that's about it.

She never tried to sabotage the VKs to send them back to the Isle. She only tried to make Ben jealous after he (being spelled) practically humiliated her in front of the whole school by declaring his love for another girl.

And she wasn't wrong about being cautious around the VKs (practically Mal) because Ben did get spelled, did he not! Didn't Mal use magic to manipulate Jane?

Even onscreen, we don't even see her be mean to other Auradonian kids.

And at the end of the first movie, she was the one to have a change of heart and even danced with the VKs.

And the thing about the Family Day scene, I don't even blame Audrey for not wanting her grandmother to talk Mal. I wouldn't either. That's the same girl who took her boyfriend away, the same boyfriend she known for years given the books and photos seen in the third movie.

Mal is the same girl who happens to be the daughter of Maleficent. THE FAIRY WHO SPELLED AUDREY'S MOTHER WHEN SHE WAS JUST A BABY TO HAVE A SLEEP-LIKE DEATH. Mind you, Maleficent probably did it because she could, not because she was hurt about being invited to a christening. Isn't Maleficent the "Mistress of Evil"? You really think a villain with that title would be like "woe is me, you didn't invite me, wah, *sad tears*"? Nah, she just wanted to cause some mischief. Look, some villains just want to be evil and cruel without any reasons, no sad backstory required. (Keep in mind, Descendants was following the stories of the animated films.)

Also, to me, watching the Family Day scene, Mal looked almost smug, kinda... it just didn't come off like she was being nice when Audrey told her grandmother not talk to her. Queen Leah didn't freak out until Mal made that face, probably getting flashbacks to when Maleficent cursed her daughter.

Granted, the VKs did deserve to have a chance to prove they're not like their parents and I like the VKs, I do. (In fact, most of my faves are the VKs, Sea Three included.)

But to me, Audrey really isn't all that bad that some people like to say she is. She was snarky, but let's not sit here and act like she was the only character doing it (just saying, she left no crumbs). She was cautious and had every right to be. But she never tried to sabotage anyone and she isn't shown to be mean to other characters until the third movie, but that was more so out of anger (after all the wrong she went through) and being corrupted by the scepter.

Collectively, throughout the three movies, the worst Audrey ever has done was steal the crown and scepter and use Maleficent's magic.

But not to excuse her actions, but I'm blaming Auradon for that one.

Why do they only have one guy holding down the museum?! Why?! Makes no sense!! Twice, twice someone managed to get into the museum undetected and the second time a lone person succeeded getting not one, but two items!!

Why was Maleficent's scepter not properly cased?! Oh, they be making sure FG's wand is safe and secured, but knowing how powerful Maleficent's scepter is they just leave out in the open! Just stupid! Stupid!

Expected though, since someone had the "brilliant" idea to have the barrier open and a bridge form through a button... but that's for another day...

#just saying without audrey descendants 1 would be a tad more boring #she ate up her scenes #just kiya's thoughts #descendants #disney descendants #audrey rose #audrey descendants #princess audrey rose #princess audrey #audrey

50 notes · View notes

random-imagines-blog · 10 months

Text

Bullet with Vampire Wings {Sherlock x GN!Reader Oneshot}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 3904 Summary: You end up killing someone that attempts to murder Sherlock Holmes. But the reason behind it is not what everyone thought it would be. Notes: Describes murder, blood, deception.

Your hands were covered in another person’s blood. It was warm, sticky, and it really did get everywhere. It was worse than hair dye in that regard. It was on your shirt, though you couldn’t remember if you had touched it or not. More than likely, it was upon your face too. There was no mirror to look in, at least, not yet. You could clean yourself up in the prison, the arresting officer said, pushing your arms behind you to put the handcuffs on. It might not be ideal, or welcoming, but there was a shower there. The flashing lights on top of the police cars were disorienting you, and you could faintly hear Sherlock shouting. It was defense, you idiots, it was all defense. Y/N had saved my life, why are you arresting them? Oh, the poor dear. He really considered himself to be brilliant but you never caught onto one simple fact. You were never on his side. Not even once.

It had started five years ago. Sherlock’s name had started popping up in the papers. A picture or two, once he had solved a case. There was something about his face that you just didn’t like. A smugness to it. This man truly thought that he was the most intelligent man in the world, and yet he was lowering himself to solving petty crimes? What a waste of a mind, and what a waste of talent. He was smart, you could give him that, but was he actually clever? You, only twenty at the time, had sipped at your tea while reading over his latest case and thinking - perhaps you could pose a sort of challenge. See how far he could actually take his intellect. And why not add something on top of it? Why not do it all while right under his nose?

It was easier to orchestrate a crime in this grand city than it should have been. You went missing. You created a trail of very subtle clues and sat yourself down in a loft in the city owned by an executive of a company you didn’t like very much and spent your days following the case on the news. Sherlock Holmes was brought in to consult. On the television, you saw him standing outside of your brownstone, Lestrade with him, waving away the press. To every question asked, they said no comment. That told you a lot.

It took them two total days to find you. You weren’t impressed at all. You thought that Sherlock was supposed to be brilliant, but alas. That’s the problem with trying to meet people these days. Most of them were a disappointment, especially in the intelligence sector. But Sherlock was the closest thing to a match that you had in this city, even if he was still a level below you. As your father said, sometimes you just had to play nice with the unfortunates. It’s not their fault that they’re so ... stupid.

You had more than enough time to anticipate his entrance, and to play it up. You were just a poor victim. You had been taken from your home, tasered, blindfolded. You had the burn marks on your side to prove it. The lengths that you would go to for this plan, the scars were just the beginning. Who took you, Lestrade asked, while Sherlock looked carefully at everything. You had no worries about him finding any evidence that you were just here at your leisure. That a simple hour ago, you had been sitting on the couch, reading a worn out copy of The Iliad, snacking on some goldfish crackers. No crumbs, the book slipped back into the bookshelf, yourself being bound once more and a look of desperation on your tear lined face. They bought it. They absolutely bought it.

You were treated in A&E for the burns, and you watched on the TV that the executive was arrested. Not only for kidnapping, but for all sorts of business malpractices. Money laundering, illegal displacements of funds, all of that very fun stuff that was going to have him tied up in the courts for at least a decade. He pleaded his innocence to everything that he was being charged with, but the evidence spoke for itself, and if he was lying about one thing, who is to say that he isn’t lying about everything? It was the simplest thing in the world. And his reason for kidnapping you? A complete accident, of course, the address of your brownstone was on an Avenue, while the address of one of the accountants was the same number, the same street name, but on a Grove. Easy mistake. They were keeping you around while trying to figure out what to do with you, since you were innocent.

Really, it was all too easy to set all of this up. You just had to act all traumatized, answer the questions, and work your way into Sherlock’s life. How did he find you, you asked. And he was only too happy to explain how ‘easy’ it was, with the eight steps that he took. You attempted to look impressed, you really did. But you couldn’t stop yourself from interrupting during the fourth, “-and those emails didn’t make it clear to you?” You asked,making him pause. That was all that you would have needed, if you wanted to spend your time looking for missing people. “Sorry, sorry,” You muttered. “I’m grateful, I am, I just would have thought - no, never mind.”

“No, go on,” Sherlock insisted. And you explained yourself, how what the email said - written by you through the executive’s account, easy peasy, should have pointed him to look into his other properties. Then they might have been at the door as soon as yesterday. Sherlock seemed to give that some thought. He looked pensive, an amusing expression because it meant that he knew you had a point, a ‘simpleton’ like you. He was gazing at you differently than before now, and you settled into the hospital bed, pretending to have gotten a sort of pain.

And as expected, he kept in touch. You had planted the seeds of interest inside of him. He was intrigued by you, and you - well, you appeared to be eager to learn. He took you under his wing, so to speak. Minute by minute, the amount of rage that he caused inside of you grew larger. He was so sanctimonious. So smug. So fucking holier-than-thou. And then you met his brother Mycroft and saw how much that ran in the family. His parents must be entirely insufferable. And then there was John. Poor little John Watson, always bring dragged into these dangerous situations, and puffing out his chest like a hero as he wrote them out on his blog, as if he had been the one to save the day. As if. It was usually some off-hand comment by you, or some comment made innocently that had put Sherlock on the right path. You weren’t made for the role of a hero. It was infuriating.

Your plotting began the first moment that he invited you to help him with a case. It was hard for you to admit, but you became obsessed with the idea of taking Sherlock down. Of wiping that stupid expression off of his face for good. Villains were always monologuing before a kill, which meant that the hero had time to escape and save the day, hurrah hurrah, so you wouldn’t be able to give him the full experience of pointing out all of his wrongs, unfortunately. It was so temping though. He really just assumed that he was always the smartest person in the room. You were giving yourself an ulcer putting up with it.

You were always one step ahead. You might have a bit of an ego but you couldn’t put it at more than that. He was close to being your match. And you hated him for it. You loathed every second that you were around him. You hated how slow he could be, how it took him an additional day, an additional hour to catch onto something in a case that you had noticed right away. There were times when you had to innocently bring up a fact just so that he would have a chance to catch up. Just so that there wouldn’t be an innocent death on your hands, or an additional murder out there. You might not have much of a conscience but you did have a care for those that couldn’t always help themselves.

God, how you hated him. And how you couldn’t express it around him. He probably thought you worshiped him, the narcissistic pig-face. You couldn’t murder him too quickly, no, you had to play it cool, learn every facet of his life to use it all against him. He had his walls built up castle size, however. It was hard to get even the slightest bit out of him without him catching onto you. That’s why it had been taking so long. Years. Years of your life wasted but the fall was going to be the most beautiful thing in the world. You already started to make your moves - Moriarty was becoming more well known now, and you pushed forward an actor who knew nothing about you save for the instructions you sent him from afar, just to throw off more blame from you.

Five years. Orchestrating from behind the scenes. There was no satisfaction that you had ever felt more strongly than that when Sherlock was stressing out over what Moriarty’s next move was going to be. You learned how to keep control of your facial features to the point where you deserved every award out there. Give you an Emmy, give you an Oscar, the Academy should be worshiping your feet.

But there was one thing that you did not foresee. Someone else wanting to get to Sherlock as much as you do. But they took the quick and easy route, rather than the concentrated long-game that you did. It wasn’t even some mastermind that did it either. It wasn’t Magnussen. It wasn’t even Culverton Smith. It was just some run of the mill murderer. Some guy with a gun who was trying to get away from Sherlock and Lestrade. The stupid Holmes, he wasn’t even supposed to be a part of physically catching the murderer. He was just supposed to stay inside of Baker Street, come up with the killer, phone it in and wait. His stubbornness was going to get himself killed before your plans came to fruition.

The man had a gun, a pocket pistol of sorts. And he was turning around to shoot Sherlock, his coat flinging away from his torso as you watched in slow-motion. He whipped it out like he thought he was some sort of action star. Lestrade was running too hard, too fast, to start to take out his gun properly. He was fumbling while trying to get it out of his belt. Sherlock was trying to stop, but his momentum was too fast. He was thrust forward, nearly falling to the ground. And John, poor limping John, had nearly crashed into a postbox. It was up to you at this point. You were closest, having been told to try to cut him off from the side street. A mere two meters. You could let him shoot Sherlock. It was an easy shot. He wouldn’t get away with it. You could claim that you were too far away to stop him.

But no. That was letting him get off way too easily.

Your knife was easier to get out of your pocket than any weighty gun was. Just the push of a button on the handle and the blade came out, sharpened just that week. It glinted in the streetlight, right into the eyes of the murderer. It distracted him but only for the narrowest second. He tried to blink the glare out of the corner of his eye and by that time, it was too late for him. You reached him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and thrusting the blade right into his gut. And with a sweeping motion, you slid it through the flesh, through the shirt, and tore it out of his side, blood rising to the surface. In his pain and his panic, he fired off a shot. It hit a no parking sign, and ricochet, going through the windshield of a car that was breaking that rule. Then the murderer started to fall towards the ground, slowly, slowly, everything still in slow motion for you as your brain worked quickly.

Stabbing someone is not as easy as one would make it seem. You had to push it through layers of skin, all pushed together. Organs as well. It wasn’t a thin little pork chop. It took strength. It took determination. And it took a real sharp knife. Even wrenching it out, covered in blood, was rough. Your biceps were sore just from the motion, but your adrenaline was rushing, making it hard to notice or focus on.

There was so much blood. You didn’t typically get your hands dirty like this. It was so sticky and so messy. It was like glue from elementary school. When you pulled out the knife, and let go of the man as he started to fall, you realized that it had spilled over the handle as well. It had gotten onto your coat. It even got onto the trousers that you had just picked up from the dry-cleaner the night before. And it looked like he wasn’t even going to be around to foot the bill to get them re-cleaned. You looked down at his body, while still holding the knife over him, and noticed how it was more than just blood that was coming out of the large gash that you had made in him. An intestine was spilling out, looking like a limp snake.

You knew exactly what you were doing. There wasn’t any shock to it, there wasn’t any trepidation or regret afterwards. It was a simple annoyance. As was everything that was going to come afterwards.

Back-up finally started to approach, sirens coming from the top of the police cars. Sherlock and Lestrade finally caught up to you, the policeman looking at the body and Sherlock looking at you. “Are you hurt?” The lank man asked - as if he had thoughts of anyone outside of himself.

“I don’t think so,” You said, knowing perfectly well that you were fine. Not even a nick. Not even a bruise. Just the work out from going through those layers and layers of epidermis. “He was going to kill you.”

“Yeah, he was,” Lestrade said, kicking the pistol out of the way, and then dropped down to the ground. Two fingers against his neck to test his pulse. He shook his head. “Dead.”

Too quick. That was annoying. You could have spit. Anger was making you start to shake, but Sherlock took it as you being in shock. He put a hand on your upper arm and you flinched away - the audacity of this skinny bitch. He muttered to the back up police that you were in shock. You braced yourself. You knew what was coming. There was no way that you were going to kill someone in public like this without getting cuffed.

And that’s where you were now. Sherlock was yelling in your defense. John was trying to explain to an officer what had happened. Lestrade was promising you that he’d meet you at the station and everything would be cleared up. Surprisingly, you felt alright. You had a calm and level head now that the threat had been eradicated. The only thing that was possibly upsetting was the fact that the victim wasn’t the correct person. You didn’t offer any trouble to the officers, to your credit. You could have broken out of these cuffs easily. They all had a weak spot, but you didn’t. You allowed yourself to be taken to the station. You allowed yourself to be fingerprinted. To be put into an interrogation room.

Just because your plan was being forced to change didn’t mean that it was off. You just had to take a different approach now. It was the perfect time to break Sherlock’s little heart. To let him know that all of the trust he had put into you over the last couple of years was misguided. That he was not smart enough to see this coming.

You were waiting in interrogation for an hour before Lestrade, Sherlock and another officer came in. “This is just a formality,” Lestrade explained, looking annoyed at the other officer. “We just need your statement and then we can process your release. It was clearly in self defense. We’ll have this sorted in no time,” Greg assured you. “Can we at least remove the cuffs?”

The officer acquiesced, coming around to your side of the table and undid the cuffs around your neck. You rubbed at where they had irritated your skin. Such barbaric little things, these handcuffs. A rope with a good knot was much more effective, but you know how men are. They love the look of metal. You smiled at Greg thankfully, since you honestly had nothing against the detective. He was a good man. Not smug. A little confused sometimes, but it was adorable in it’s own way. “Can you tell us what happened?” He asked.

And so you went through the story. You told him about the case. How you had come to hear about this killer. How he had the gun out and how you pieced together his intent to kill Sherlock Holmes.

“And you stabbed him in defense of Mr. Holmes?” The officer, who had conducted the interview asked you.

“Of course,” You said, leaning back casually against the chair. “I couldn’t let him do such a thing. Not after everything that I had planned. I’ve had to modify it now because of the current circumstances, but what can you do? Even simpletons can disrupt the best laid plans. I know now to try to accommodate discrepancies.”

“Beg your pardon?” Lestrade said, leaning forward, his face confused. But what you were looking at was Sherlock. He looked utterly bewildered for just a couple of seconds before he regained control. He hated to be caught unaware. It was satisfying to see.

“What I’m saying, Greg,” You reiterated. “-is that the real reason I killed this man, whatever his name is, I can hardly remember now, is because I wasn’t going to let him take the kill away from me. Since I had met Mr. Sherlock Holmes here, I’ve had this craving to be the one that wipes his smugness away from the world. I satisfied myself for a time on the fact that he really isn’t as smart as everyone, including himself, thinks that he is. Why, he never even caught on that meeting one another was a farce. I wasn’t kidnapped by anyone. I set it all up myself as a test to him, to compare intellect. He did pass it, but I thought he would catch on a lot faster. Seemed he never had,” You smirked over in Sherlock’s direction. He was starting to get flustered. An angry kind of flustered. “These last couple of years, Sherlock, I’ve helped you so many times. It was so ... so infuriating watching you take the credit when I handed you the answers. Did all of you really think that he solved all of those cases by himself? Not a chance. See, we’re very different, you and I. While you thought you were grooming me, I was playing you the entire time. I had this ... this beautiful, extravagant plan made up that would destroy your life before I took it, but it seems I’m going to have to go another way because of this. I’ll make sure that the detour is worth it. I will take your life with my own hands, and I will enjoy every second of it. That is my statement. I won’t fight against the cuffs officer, so if you please, you can take me to prison now. I admit full conspiracy to murder, and second degree murder for that poor killer. I look forward to making some new friends.”

Lestrade was in shock, because he had considered you a friend. He had considered you to be an asset to Scotland Yard. The other officer was more unbiased, and hurried to put the handcuffs back on you, to hoist you up. He was acting rather roughly with you, showing anger and disgust, which was ever more amusing because this man, this random officer, was never going to be on your level. Before you left though, you couldn’t help but say some last minute words to the tall man who was starting to stand, hands slightly trembling.

“Oh, and Sherlock” You said, making sure his eyes were on yours. You had one more blow to deliver. “If it’s any consolation to you, your brother didn’t figure out that I am Moriarty, either. And he’s of far better intellect than you are.”

If anything was going to leave him more angry than your betrayal, it was that blow to the ego. You saw those words hit home, gave a little wave with your fingers, and allowed yourself to be lead out past a bewildered John Watson, Lestrade and Sherlock following and talking amongst themselves until you were out the door.

Two weeks. That’s all that it took. Two weeks and you were out and about in London once more, and not in the prison cell that you should have been in. You even beat the timing in the show Prison Break. In another life, you might have been able to make a fortune in pointing out the weaknesses in the prison structure, in the timing of the changing of the guard, of blind spots from the cameras that even the guards didn’t know about.

And now, you were casually scrolling through a phone that you had stolen from some teenager in the park, while watching Sherlock being put into a black cab by Lestrade to be taken to a safe house. News had emerged of your grand escape. Of the riots that had happened in your name back at the prison. You hadn’t escaped alone, of course not. You brought some people out with you, the ones who had taken the fall for the Moriarty name.

You stepped out onto the sidewalk, and started walking to a car that was idling in wait for you. You got into the passenger seat, eyes still towards 221B. Mrs Hudson was standing in the doorway, looking worryingly out after the car Sherlock was taking off in, the one that you and your actor would be tailing at a distance. Poor dear. You always did like that woman. She knew her place. And that place was making the best cuppa that you ever had.

The dark haired actor maneuvered the car onto the small street, and started the drive. You chose the music, putting on something fun, kind of poppy. A ‘grooving on a Sunday afternoon’ sort of song, singing along as you made your way to enact your final plans.

#Sherlock #Sherlock x reader #Sherlock oneshots #Sherlock BBC #Sherlock BBC oneshot #oneshot #x reader #request #sherlocks #Sherlock Holmes #Sherlock Holmes x reader #Sherlock Holmes oneshot

43 notes · View notes

meova101 · 1 year

Text

Okay I have been Thinking lately, and especially now that all I have left is rechewing old crumbs... Sebchal has such character development, you know. It’s actually so different whether you see them now or in 2019 or 2021 and it’s so interesting to see it develop over time. We went from karting together as part of an FDA event to Charles being a nervous wreck to a tribute helmet and ended up at the easy camraderie we see now and there’s so many layers to this shit, man.

In honour of Sebchalday, I figured I’d make a little write-up of the character development I saw in real time. And with little I mean someone stop me this shit is almost 5k. Yes I also had to add in how I watched the public perception of them change because I might as well honestly, the dichotomy in their teammate years truly was something else. Anyway, without further ado, here’s Sebchal throughout the ages, as told by Meo.

2018 and earlier

This really is just a lot of what seems like hero worship from Charles and Seb being polite, a good guy and up for a laugh. In 2017, Charles occasionally starts going on track walks, there’s the iconic moment in Monaco of course, Charles is just a little starstruck. Why else would he make damn sure he’s got Seb in an Instagram post about the karting event. Or look like he’s in a straight-up romcom when Seb talks to him there.

Seb, on the other hand, seems generally aware of Charles (his F2 results, ofc the track walks, signing that picture of Charles from testing 2018, offering Charles a seat during a drivers parade), but he keeps his distance for the most part. Which is completely understandable, honestly. But this all sets up the scene, because who would have ever thought that this would turn into a rather unlikely friendship?

2019

Rivalry time! We kick this off with, uh, a very nervous Charles on the first team outing to the Dolomites, followed by a hug and a cheek cradle in the second race. Yeah idk either where this went off the rails.

Okay no that’s a lie, I know exactly where it went off the rails, and shit really hit the fan in Monza. The media was already pushing a rivalry and it makes sense - the story of the old veteran and the young hotshot, both equally talented (don’t fight me on this Barbara) and vying for the top spot in the iconic team. Charles was settling in well, quickly matching Seb in the first half of the season, something was clearly brewing. It’s brilliant. It’s a showstopper. It’s also not true, but imagine listening to the drivers themselves.

So Monza comes around and all hell breaks loose. No, legit, this streak of races is the main cause of the rivalry talk persisting. In Monza, Charles doesn’t give Seb a tow during qualifying, leaving Seb unable to even set a final time in Q3 (along with basically every other driver, this quali is so funny). Seb has a race to forget after that while Charles wins. He wins in Spa, he wins in Monza, it’s fucking insane. Il Predestinato for real.

Singapore is up next and Charles gets pole, Charles has a good start, but then. Ohhhhh, then. Seb pits, has a very good outlap, starts overtaking the as-of-yet-unpitted like they’re barely there (in fucking Singapore y’all), while Charles falls further behind. Exasperated, Charles gets on the radio and says he wants everything, but what d’you know, Seb wins. Charles does not look pleased on the podium. Seb does.

And then Sochi. Oh my god let me tell you about Sochi. Charles has pole, again. But you don’t want pole in Sochi, and Seb wastes no time in overtaking Charles, nabbing P1 in the process. And what happens next is the perfect example of what I like to call a bitch fight. You’re gonna want to see this to believe it. Here’s a link to the team radio. It’s funny as hell, it’s petty as hell, Seb DNFs and Charles barely hangs on to the podium in the end, ladies and gentlemen: a rivalry.

Brazil only fanned the flames, I’m just saying.

But even with all of this. Like, it seems very explosive, you know. Which makes it all the more interesting how they don’t actually... seem to explode? They’re still nice to each other? Sure, it’s still very careful, and the videos they do together have that awkwardness, but they’re nice. And if you dig, just a little, you find Seb and Charles... actually having fun together. You can see their dynamic here most clearly in the language videos, in my opinion. Charles is gushing over everything Seb is saying in French, while Seb is teaching and teasing a little in the German video.

Ferrari themselves somehow manages to hide all the cute stuff, too. Because they sure tried, but you have to know where to look to find their date road trip through the Italian countryside, the videos for Shell and Ferrari themselves, the utterly endearing UPS video where they are both very confused but having fun with it. This stuff is all there, it was uploaded in real time, but it just… got ignored or brushed off as PR.

I remember watching all of their videos at the tail end of 2019, and just gloating like… if only they’d known what would happen afterwards. They wouldn’t be so cordial to each other now if they’d known what lies ahead. Until I realized, and yes this took a hot minute, that if they were always nice to each other, even in the second half of the season, even after everything that had already happened… maybe they actually liked each other.

This was a revelation. Unheard of. These two hated each other, were vying for top spot and there could only be one winner, the other one was just collateral damage, of course they didn’t like each other!

The first half of 2020

Dear reader, turns out they like each other.

There were two camps developing at this time. One of them was still convinced these two hated each other, disliked each other at the very least. The other camp was watching Charles slowly lose his mind on Twitch.

I really can’t understate just how much the lockdown did for the perception of Sebchal, although the major turnaround would happen much later. There really are two factors at play here and I will get to the second one in a bit, but you cannot underestimate how much the Twitch era helped.

Because Charles – and you have to understand, Charles was still seen as a very arrogant, incredibly pretty, extremely talented guy (two of those three are true) which did not help – brought up Seb, a lot. He told us about how he’d been in touch with Seb, trying to get him to play games with him on stream. He wanted to be teammates with Seb so bad while playing F1 2019 that he accidentally picked Seb to play as. He watched F1 compilations that definitely had other drivers in it while exclaiming they were videos about him and Seb. Whether you ship them or not, it’s clear as day that from Charles’s side, there was no rivalry.

Seb, of course, was pretty quiet during this time, but there’s this one interview for Marlboro Mission Winnow that feels more like friends catching up than an actual interview, so there’s that.

The second factor in this is Netflix getting involved. We all know and love to hate Drive To Survive and for season 2, they finally got access to Ferrari and Mercedes. Of course they’d dive headfirst into the rivalry storyline, because believe it or not, once upon a time Drive To Survive actually pretended to base their plot on reality.

And this one backfired. What they thought they were showing were two guys who didn’t much like each other, trying to figure out a way to keep the media at bay. What they actually showed were two very much exasperated guys, teasing and joking with each other while trying to focus on their job. Netflix failed to account for the fact that people might actually look beyond the framing, and thanks to Ferrari trying their best at social media but being endearingly rough around the edges with it, we had plenty of material for that.

And while all of this was playing out, we heard that Seb’s contract at Ferrari wouldn’t be renewed.

Now that’s a whole mess I won’t get into further, because this is also the part where the rats get divided into two camps and I’m not here for that. What I am here for, though, is Charles’s reaction, because he posted a very heartfelt message about the news a bit after it dropped. Why did it take him a bit? Not because he had to run it past PR, I’m pretty sure, because I don’t believe for one second his messages would have gotten the green light. No, it was because not only did Charles take special care to pick out a few pictures of him and Seb together to add to the message, but also because he was driving back from France that day and also, he didn’t know.

I only know he was in the middle of a long drive that day because he’d mentioned it on his Twitch stream before. Also, while looking up this Tweet, I noticed the location tag so that helps. I’m sure I didn’t hallucinate it but since Charles didn’t feel like archiving his streams, I’m also pretty sure this is lost to the void by now. If you happen to have this clip, please let me know so I can stop doubting my memory.

But the second part, where he plain didn’t know? It never got confirmed, but I’m positive. Once again, so many people were convinced here that Charles had been pulling strings behind the scenes, that them working together was impossible after 2019 and especially Brazil, Ferrari had to make a choice and they picked Charles. Except Charles has gone on record multiple times, stating he’d like to keep Seb as his teammate. That he still had so much to learn from him. If it was up to him, Seb would be his teammate for years to come. If he’d known, why would he not have had the messages ready? Why would he have been hyping Seb up as his teammate? Why would anything else in 2020 have happened?

Because trust me, we’re only through the first half of the year now, and it’s only getting better.

The second half of 2020

As we know now, the 2020 Ferrari sucked. Which, in hindsight, was clear during testing, but we all thought Ferrari had just learned how to sandbag. It took until the season finally got underway in Austria that we realized just how deep in the shit our guys were. Charles got a podium in the first race while Seb barely got one point, undoubtedly helped out by the fact that almost half the drivers DNF’d.

In their second race… they crashed. Charles attempted a divebomb down the inside and instead humped Seb’s rear wing. I was crowing at the television at that point, ready for the will-they-won’t-they rivalry of the previous year to continue, yes they’re friendly off track but on track it’s spicy, this was bound to explode…

And nothing.

Because what had happened, especially with them both knowing this partnership would end after this season, was that they started backing each other up. This season was going to be a wash either way and Seb wasn’t going to be there to deal with the fall-out of it. There was no reason for them to remain cordial, to not throw each other under the bus when necessary, and especially in this case it seemed clear-cut, yet they didn’t.

The difference between what happened on track and what happened off track became even more stark. On track, Charles was outdriving Seb so incredibly hard. He qualified so well, while Seb started getting booted out of Q2 more and more often. Charles nabbed another podium in Silverstone, Seb fought for singular points most races. And yet they made sure that whenever the media brought up their results, or tried to poke into their partnership, they always backed each other up. They never once talked bad about each other, tried to make sure the media didn’t forget both of them are extremely talented, and presented themselves as a united front.

Not that anyone bought that, but whatever. 2020 was a weird time and we didn’t have Fernando back on the grid yet. They were aching for some drama.

Off-track, though, and once again you had to actually look for this, which is a common theme with Sebchal… man, this era makes me the most feral still. We not only get Charles saying Ich liebe dich at the end of Seb’s birthday video, and Seb making awkward jokes in Charles’s birthday video, but we get the hourglass challenges. Quite frankly, this is the best social media to ever come out of F1, hands down, nothing will ever beat this. Because you can see, in real time, how Seb and Charles grow closer and more comfortable with each other.

They constantly get paired up with other Ferrari team members, but that doesn’t matter, because when Seb and Charles start talking? They’re talking and no one can disturb them. Like when Seb tries to explain what a pocket watch is briefly, in the background of a video. Seb trying to teach Charles some more Ferrari history during Memory. The entire music challenge, which might as well not have anyone else there.

We get a true glimpse of their fun competitive vibe here, even though Charles gives Seb more chances to win when it looks like Seb might actually lose (you might claim that Seb let you win, Charles, but we have the proof in the darts video and the categories video). I’m pretty sure that if you’d let the two of them alone with a game, you could come back hours later and they’d still be racing tiny little racecars.

You can tell how much closer they got during this season, but as usual, you have to look and listen for it to click. There’s the moment during qualifying for Spa, when they both get knocked out in Q2 and we get a shot of them looking at each other and smiling in understanding. There’s Turkey, where Seb finally gets his podium because he can capitalize on a mistake from Charles, and Charles actually stops beating himself up over the radio for a moment to congratulate Seb on his podium.

The final few races are just a fever dream, really. You have to see the challenge videos to believe them, but they truly have found their dynamic there and they’re so comfortable around each other. And the Danke Seb helmet is still, to this day, probably my favourite moment. Charles made a fucking scrapbook on his helmet. And just to show how even at that point, people still wanted the rivalry to be real so bad: I vividly remember someone on commentary saying “what’s he thanking Seb for, leaving the team?”. It’s crazy. That’s how pervasive the rivalry narrative was, even when Seb and Charles did everything to prove it wasn’t true.

2021

So 2020 was a whirlwind of character development, of notable moments, and definitely lit a fire underneath the ship. Now, however, we enter uncharted territories. The rivalry talk is finally over, now that their time as teammates has ended. But this also means we don’t get to see them interact quite as often, since they’re no longer shoved together at every possible opportunity (lol, not like they were anyway, seeing as the shipbaiting only really starts kicking off around this time in F1 socmed), and we’re rats looking for crumbs now.

Luckily for us, we get a lot of crumbs, and once again it shows very well how their relationship evolves and how they actually work together.

Now, during the winter break and after testing, there were quite a lot of doubters. Which is fine! Everyone gets to have their own opinions! But because the whole rivalry thing was so incredibly pervasive and even without that, Seb and Charles just seem like very different people who only got shoved together because they drove for the same team… it’s entirely understandable to doubt whether they’d continue to interact. And let’s be real, testing did not necessarily give us any indication to think otherwise.

But once again, this is exactly what’s so nice about them, if you look a bit closer… they actually became friends somewhere along these years.

Charles stands next to Seb for the We Race As One ceremony. This might be planned out beforehand, I don’t know, but what certainly isn’t planned out, is them talking and sharing their customary fist bumps before and after these little bits. After races, they also catch up if they find each other either near the car in parc ferme or in the press pen. It’s never that obvious unless you look, and we sure looked.

But it became blindingly obvious during Monaco and Baku this year.

When the drivers were waiting around for the parade, we find Seb and Charles talking to each other, once again so invested in their conversation that Charles almost misses his cue for the bus. And then, once it becomes clear that Charles can’t participate in the race, plenty of drivers offer some words of comfort. But Seb’s the only one to hug him, really talk to him about it, and Charles even leans back into him when Seb’s let go. We don’t know what was said of course, but it’s clear as day now that if anyone’s still hanging onto the old narrative… they’re dead wrong.

And then Baku. Not only do they find each other on the grid again (a recurring theme, there’s so often just a small moment of them getting the other’s attention to say hi), but after the race, Charles obviously first congratulates Pierre on his podium, and then beelines to Seb, where Fernando stares at the display of affection in front of him like he’s watching two aliens land.

It’s the easy way they both grab onto each other there, no hesitation from either side. And yes, I know it seems like Charles is a very tactile guy, but it’s always other people grabbing him. There’s two people where Charles will take the initiative, and both of them have made it onto the podium for this race. Later on, Seb lets us know that he told Charles the previous night, through text, that he’d see him in his mirrors, which once again shows that quietly, they’re still in touch. They’re texting, still teasing each other, and we had no idea until that moment that they still kept in touch in that way, and once again, even if you take the shoggles off it’s still frankly unbelievable that they managed to build a friendship when literally everyone was pushing them towards a rivalry.

This is the moment the rivalry talk really fizzles out, insofar it still even existed. Yes, there’s still people hanging onto it, and it does make a good story, but it’s just that. A story. What we see now is two people who are seemingly very different, pushed together in circumstances that would make other people crack, and they’ve somehow built a connection.

And isn’t that the best story of all?

There’s no topping these crumbs, not even the moment in the Spa press-pen tops this, where we all figured out Charles was talking to Seb before even hearing or seeing him just based on his facial expression, but it does show where Sebchal is at in this year. They’re figuring out how to be friends now that there’s no obligation, because both of them want to be. Seb isn’t one for big gestures and Charles (surprisingly, I know) isn’t either, so we only get the one in Baku. Hell, even Monaco was more of a background thing, and I sure nearly broke my tablet when I spotted the two of them during the We Race As One ceremony as the camera was panning away.

But in the background, there they are, always somehow finding each other, and that’s what truly solidified my love for this ship, really. They don’t need flashy moments, they’re comfortable with each other and it shows.

2022

And then we get to 2022, where everyone finally seems to have figured out that the whole rivalry narrative was never actually a thing. I’m sure part of this is the fact that they haven’t been teammates in a year at this point, that they’re both still persisting in only ever talking nicely about the other when asked, and well, the Aston Martin isn’t actually good so there’s no chance of even having battles on track.

And what we do get, is more crumbs. Honestly, we get much more than in 2021, even without really big moments like Monaco and Baku.

The thing is, we see yet another development in their dynamic for this season. And that’s really one of the big things about Sebchal all this time, we get to see them develop as people, as friends, and this really feels like a culmination of sorts. It doesn’t get picked up much by the social media accounts (thank fuck) and both of them definitely have their people on the grid (Seb gravitates towards Mick, Charles gravitates towards Pierre), but they seem so comfortable in their interactions now.

Take, for instance, the times they get put into the same press conference. We’ve gone back to the bigger pressers now, five people in each session, so we already get more moments where they’re together in the room. And pretty much every time, there’s these quiet friendly moments that don’t necessarily get picked up by the media, but they’re endearing as hell.

Yes, we get the moments where Seb’s flirty on main (which is so fun to watch too, and I dare say it’s even more pronounced now than it even was in 2020). There’s the bus tour jokes in Monaco, where Charles offers to take Seb on one. There’s the presser in Monza, where Seb says he never had as many issues leaving the hotel as Charles does, probably because Charles is more handsome. This kind of open teasing is something new and definitely shows how far they’ve come already.

But there’s also the moments that are more brief, more subtle. Like when Charles motions at Seb about his moustache, or when Seb heads straight towards Charles when he’s late to give him a fistbump. Or when they’re sitting next to each other and end up deep in conversation again, while the presser’s still going on. I know I say the word comfortable a lot, but that’s what it is. They seem to enjoy each other’s company, they like talking to each other and seem to search it out, too, and it’s so organic when you’ve followed them for all these years but it’s a stark contrast to where they started and where the narrative started, too. It’s also a slap in the face to everyone who doubted they’d even acknowledge each other after Seb left the team, which I’m totally here for because I’m not bitter at all lol.

Besides these moments, where they’re already in front of a camera and don’t care that whatever they do is being recorded, there’s still more moments when they’re not. Like, this is just what they do, they don’t ham it up for the cameras at all. There’s plenty of times in the press pen, after a race usually, where they will find each other and catch up a little. To the point where Britta and Mia, both their PR people, just start talking among themselves as well. And it’s always so interesting to see how, even when Charles is looking down (like after Silverstone, or before Hungary for obvious reasons), Seb will always manage to coax a smile out of him.

Because we have more interactions to go off here and we have so much history by now, it’s easier to point out where it seems like they’ve figured out how the other one wants to be treated. As I pointed out in the 2021 section, Seb is one of the few people Charles will actually initiate physical contact with. And throughout the years, throughout this season, it’s not hard to figure out why that is. Most people will grab Charles when they want to touch him, not give him much of a choice. On the other hand, Seb does give him that choice, either touches him briefly and then lets go (like with the upper arm touches that are often used between them to get the other’s attention), or he hugs him from the side, leaving Charles an opening to get out of it if he wants.

On the other hand, Charles seems very aware that Seb is a private person and gives Seb the chance to maintain that privacy, too. During the Twitch streams in 2020 already, he would talk about Seb but never reveal much of what they were talking about together. Most of the times they interact are in the background and Charles is happy enough to let Seb initiate their contact when they are in front of a camera.

And while it seemed like Charles wasn’t very involved in Seb’s last race, I would argue he was and actually took a step back himself to let Seb do what he had to. Even when he felt ill, Charles was still there for the final track run, in the crowd. He did the donuts he promised, mimicked Seb’s finger when he was on the podium after the race. He was also one of the few, if not the only one, to temper expectations and tell people that when Seb’s made a decision, he’s sticking with it, and to not pin hopes on him returning (he’s very stubborn, after all, and his favourite colour’s blue). It might not seem like a lot, but there’s a very real respect and acknowledgement of who Seb is as a person there.

The narrative surrounding Sebchal has changed so much through the years – to the point where even Ferrari called it a very special bond in their social media posts about Seb’s last race – and their dynamic has evolved alongside it. The “rivalry” was very fun while it lasted, don’t get me wrong, but the guys have been telling us all along that it was fabricated and luckily, we now have the full picture. It’s been a fun journey to see it all develop right in front of my salad (I might have only joined after the 2019 summer break but all in all, missing out on half a season is excusable I think) and while I do miss seeing the two of them together on the grid, I will absolutely go down with this ship. No one does it like them and even without new crumbs, there’s still plenty to chew on and pick apart to keep me busy for a long time to come.

#sebchal #sebchalday23 #god this truly is just one big ramble and infodump huh #idk if anyone is even interested in this but it's sebchalday and I miss them and I just want to bask in their history #because it's so fascinating! nothing about this makes any sense but here we are!#watching them throughout the years is something I'll always be thankful for... it was a ride and a half but it was amazing #it's the slow burn it's the growth it's them figuring out each other #I truly don't think we'll ever get another unhinged storyline like this #charles started at hero worship and seb started at talented guy but not Kimi hmpf #and they became genuine friends by the end of it #obsessed with them I tell you #meo shouting into the void

50 notes · View notes

variousqueerthings · 5 months

Text

You always say you're going to take me there for dinner and then you always cancel at the last minute

man, husbands of river song is going to pull a double by giving me a character-farewell that I... actually like. for a character that I've criticized pretty heavily. twice in a row, who'da thought, but yeah this episode, like hell bent, is messy, but it's mostly enjoyable messy rather than nonsense messy, youknow?

anyway, brace yourselves... I'm about to give a m*ffat episode... a good rating

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 5/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 10/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 9/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 5/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 5/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 6/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 67/100 (if I can count….)

see what I mean? messy, but fun. also greg davies is there, mostly yelling and being large or uh... being a disembodied head and still yelling

OBJECTIFICATION: because this is a river song episode, it does unfortunately fuck up on this point again, because if there's one constant for river song episodes it's that she's Sexy in a dom mummy kind of way, but it's Empowering because she's the one who casually dismisses and objectifies men, she ooowns her sexuality, which just so happens to be the kind of woman that m*ffat thinks is hot

it's actually not so bad once you get past the first bit of it. once the doctor and river song are in the tardis things get a lot better and then stay relatively even for the rest of the episode. and then the ending is. actually quite moving

PLOT-POINT: this could go both higher and lower. lower, because I think if there's one thing that bothered me throughout river's whole narrative it was the way she clearly never had a positive view of her relationship with the doctor, always defining herself as someone who couldn't help but love someone who was so far above her, so brilliant, so amazing, so extraordinary, that nobody could hope to be on their level -- not to mention all the stuff (which isn't in this episode thank goodness) about how once the doctor sees you age, it's over

and now we've reached the end of the story, this core of river, the whole... thing of having been groomed from birth to revolve entirely around the doctor, to never feel worthy, to think the doctor is just plain "too good" for her, is confirmed for good to be simply the way this story is, without further analysis or deconstruction

that being said, this episode gives us more crumbs than any before. the doctor is incredibly kind towards river, in a way I don't think eleven ever really was outside of a small handful of moments, and it's confirmed that they've been avoiding the singing towers and that if it were up to the doctor they'd never go there, but then the universe decides on it, so the doctor pulls out all the stops (in a doctor-like way, not in a "godlike unknowable being" type way) to make it a good last time for them. so in that sense, this episode manages to be all about river in a way I don't think any previous ones have been

for once it's the doctor revolving around her, not the other way around. this also further by showing little tidbits into river's life outside of the doctor, and the doctor being confused (and jealous, sure, but... ehhh lower-and-higher rating, it's complicated, it's kind of het but also kind of not) about her sheer amount of other spouses that she never mentions. so the doctor is crashing into her adventure basically, not the other way around. if this had been the template for river song episodes, i might have liked them better. the closes we get to something like this is back in s5 with flesh and stone/time of angels, but after the beginning it very much became about the doctor and not about river. this story is firmly river, the entire way through. all it took was for it to be her very last flipping episode

COMPLEXITY: I'll call this one doctor who complex. it's silly, it has various locations, kinda takes you for a spin, but it's quite simple and doesn't try anything clever where it's not needed. this episode is a romp, and it remains a romp right until the end, where it's a sweet story about a long long goodbye

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: river song has gone to the library to die. i don't think this technically means she could never come back, because m*ffat utterly fucked the whole "we meet backwards" lore. they definitely just meet out of order, not in strict reverse linear order

but. but. I get that this is the big goodbye, you'd want it to remain that way. also it introduces nardole who is with us throughout s10

I don't... love nardole. i think he was good comic relief for this episode, now that I'm watching s10 I think he's too comic to be able to carry the dramatic scenes, but yeah. he's fine here

COMPANIONS MATTER: it's fuckn river song's episode, we're just gatecrashing it! this will be the second time (after the girl who waited) that this point gets a rating like this, and while there have been a few scattered episodes with 7/8 ratings, it on average sits firmly at a 5 or below so just... bask in it for a second after five seasons of companions being sidelined the majority of the time

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: the doctor is doing some smart things here and there, but again, it's firmly river's episode and that's really really ever-more striking the more I think about it. so much of this era of doctor who consists either of The Doctor Is Always The Centre Of The Universe Narrative type episodes or the doctor enters someone else's story and then takes over

it's so very refreshing for the doctor to let river do her thing, it's what we've been told is so great about her as a person, but I think far more seldomly seen

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: there's a lot of river-and-doctor history which, because river only really occurred multiple times in eleven's arc, means we don't actually go back very far. it is one of those things that weakens river's character, and yes yes I know in audio books she meets previous doctors (further weakening the whole "meeting in reverse linear" idea), but in the show she never does, making it odd that she'd be prepared to meet any of the other faces

I think river could have been so much stronger as a character if she'd not been presented as The character. the one who knows the doctor best, who is the best, who was created For the doctor, etcetc. broken record I know. but it's little things like this that hammer it home

and ofc we already have this character, it's the master, and gomez!master provides a far more compelling "version" of what they were trying to do with river being a mysterious femme fatale. there were just things that could have been done differently to ground her more, and that feels very obvious when trying to do callbacks here and you're like... your callbacks happened two-three seasons ago

actually noticed just now that the master and river never met, which also, the other thing being that river is very disconnected from the rest of doctor who mythos. sure she's mentioned to know various aliens and she's there in the pandorica episode, but her main stories aren't ever putting her in a wider context of the story. if river song episodes were totally excised, then apart from the odd mention of the doctor having ostensibly been "married" she may as well not exist

“SEXINESS”: there is some stuff. Idk whether this belongs in objectification as well or not, but m*ffat gets some last digs in with his favourite historical women he loves to objectify, because the doctor married Elizabeth 1st, Cleopatra, and Marilyn Monroe -- these were all eleven-doctor episodes, so more of a uuuurgh in hindsight about some of the ways this was written, because flipping 12yr old looking eleven was too much to resist for these women.

I lie, because actually Elizabeth married ten (in day of the doctor, so eleven era), but it was an egregious mischaracterisation of ten as well. and ofc. the fuckn jokes about all of that. finally, Elizabeth the first, whom I have no flipping opinion about usually, because who tf cares about the royal family (well, apart from the Shakespeare play versions of them + Lion in the Winter), is free from this hopefully

there's a bit of "sexy voice" going on at times, but that's just par for the course with river song episodes, and again, it's not too egregious in comparison to usually

INTERNAL WORLD: yeah, fun, silly, simple stuff, good times good times. nothing massive and complicated, but then steven not everything needs to be so damned massive and complicated all the time, does it????

POLITICS: still question the politics of river and guns. will do so forever. look, i know the doctor isn't so pacifist as all that, but there was a lot of gun-related arcs in nu!who era that was often quite complicated (for example eleven in town called mercy or twelve in hell bent) and it never seemed to apply to river

it's actually another way she sometimes felt disconnected from everything else. there's doctor who with its themes, and then there's the doctor and river adventures, and they never quite meet up

there's also ofc the ongoing silliness of "marriage as concept" and unexamined amatonormative + heteronormative ideas, but like. do I expect them to know what that means, never mind how to do an interesting exploration of relationship dynamics unless it's by accident? so I take what I want from it on that front

FULL RATING: 67/100 (if I can count….)

on the whole a fun episode and I was very prepared to not enjoy it, because I haven't been the biggest enjoyer of river song as character in the past + I obviously am not a fan of attempting to make the doctor alloromantic, which arguably... they also didn't manage to do

and if that felt strong with eleven, oh boy does it go through the roof with twelve! now I've had "aplatonic doctor" as concept put into my brain, it applies so strongly to twelve (as well as eleven) and I can absolutely read this episode through that lens and come out with a great deal of enjoyment for it

on the whole, this is a story about the doctor doing things for river, which is a rarity. it's a fun adventure between the two of them, which is also rare. and it's a neat little exploration on the themes of ending and putting off that ending (which also exists in clara's story), and how endings may be sad, but there's all the bits that come before that and that's important. and also ofc it's slowly gearing up to saying goodbye to this era's doctor -- the ponds have left, clara has gone, and now river...

#im watching nu!who #im watching capaldi who #the measurement #episode the husbands of river song

11 notes · View notes

gryffindorkalicious · 1 year

Text

My review on S&B season 2

So I binged watch Shadow and Bone in on sitting and OMGGGGGGG.

OMGGGGGGGGG

WOWWW

THAT WAS A ROLLERCOASTER RIDE AND I HAVE A FEW THOUGHTS

PLOT

The plot was rushed like it was there is no denying it, but it was also fun in the best way possible. IMO The writers really aced it for TV. You can tell they actually respect the source material and understand it well. I know that a lot of controversy is surrounding season 2 but I would like to point out that I think the writers and actors did BRILLIANT with what time they had. Like I am pretty sure I saw a tweet that said that the writers weren’t sure that they would get the green light for season 3 and with that in mind they were exceptional. They did remove quite a few scenes from R&R and S&S, I really missed alina’s white hair and MAL’s “I am become Blade tattoo”. And as someone who has read the books I missed the character development that was done but at the same time, I have come to realise that adaptations are different from source materials and it’s best to seperate them both. That way you enjoy it more. And my friend (Who hasn’t read the books) loved it even more then me.

Nikolai hiring the crows was absolutely genius, it was a really good introduction

The Crows having to steal the sword plotline was so good was so goodd

The transition for Kaz’s flashback was so good ( Can I just say that I loved the VFX for this season)

KANEJ AND HELNIK ANGST ALMOST KILLED ME

WESPER BEING SO IN LOVE IS AAAHHHHHHHHHH IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE

THE ENDING THOUGH OKAY IK UNPOPULAR OPINION BUT I LOVED THE ENDING BECAUSE ALINA IS SUCH A SLAY IN THIS SEASON AND HER USING THE CUT AND I WAS SO HAPPY THAT SHE DIDN’T LOSE HER POWERS LIKE IK THAT THE THEME WAS POWER CORRUPTS BUT IDFC, LIKE LET IT CORRUPT. INFACT I WANT IT TO CORRUPT. I CANT WAIT FOR NEXT SEASON IF ITS HAPPENING

Zoya having the bee fly near her (...............)

The fight scenes were really impressive like it was done so innovatively.

The plot was like 7.5/10 for me because ik that its a TV show but I still love the books too much, However, my friend gave it a 9.5/10 (She wanted more of the crows)

2 major complaints I do have is that WHY THE FUCK IS DAVID DEAD??????

LIKKKE WHY SHOWWRITERS??

hUHHH??

WHAT WAS THE REASON??

and my 2nd complaint is please give me zoyalai crumbs, I wanted some banter but I was disappointed.

ACTING

the acting done by each and every charcater was phenomenal. Ben Barnes was amazing as usual, Jessie mei lei added her beautiful depth to Alina’s character, Archie renaux make Mal’s character so much more three dimensional, NIKOLAI, TOLYA,TAMAR AND WYLAN. OMGGG. When I tell you they were fucking perfect like their expressions, their dialogue, their attitude. Jaw droppingly amazing. Daisy was so good as Genya this season like her raw emotion could literally be felt throught the screen. Her acting literally made me hate the Darkling so much. Amita was amazing as Inej, she as born for this role and danielle and Callahan have such amzing chemistry I can cry. Kit young is amazing, I love him so much. I wanted Sujaya to have more screen time because she is amazing but i know she had conflicting schedules but still :(

Freddy carter though,

WHAT THE FUCK

IT WAS LIKE SOMEONE PLUCKED OUT KAZ FROM THE BOOKS AND WAS LIKE HERE YOU GO AND HAVE THE MOST HEART WRENCHING STORY BE DONE IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. LIKE HE KILLED. HE ABSOLUTELY SLAYED WITH THE ACTING. I WAS FLABBERGASTED. OMFGGGG. WHAT WAS THAT. LIKE FREDDY CARTER IS KAZ BREKKER. PERIOD.

OVERALL THE ACTING WAS A 10/10. I could not imagine a more perfect cast.

Conclusion

I Liked the show, had fun with it. The best way to enjoy it is as Leigh said,” Think of it as a fanfiction.” Sepereating the show from the book is the best thing to do for adaptation guys. I understand why people may not like it but still fucking watch it. IDNC that you didnt like it. WATCH IT. I need my Ice heist spin off. <3

Overall it was 8.5/10 ( ik the average is mathematically wrong but idc this is the rating i felt right with)

#shadow and bone #six of crows #Wesper #kanej #malina #crooked kingdom #kaz brekker #alina starkov #the darkling #inej ghafa #Shadow and Bone Season2

23 notes · View notes

angelasscribbles · 2 years

Text

Unbothered

Series: Unbothered

Fandom: The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir

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

Rating: MA

Warnings for this chapter: adult themes

Word Count: 800

A/N: Completely random and unprovoked. This was just suddenly in my head so I pass it on to you!

My other stuff: Master List.

“This fucking bitch!” Madeline raged under her breath, “Sitting up here like she owns the fucking palace!”

“What was that, Mads? Did you say something?” Riley gave her a self-satisfied smirk.

“Do you have to eat in the sitting room? And could you get your feet off that coffee table? It belonged to Queen Alexandra and has been appraised at over eighty thousand euros!”

“Leave it to you to know the exact dollar amount of every piece of furniture in the palace.” Drake snarked.

“You’re going to get crumbs on the divan, Riley!” Madeleine screeched, ignoring Drake.

“The baby is hungry.” Riley replied with a smug grin, “Liam was very clear that the wellbeing of the heir is of paramount importance.”

“Yes, but does that mean you have to eat in here? We’re meeting with the Norwegian prime minister and his wife in here in fifteen minutes! Get out!”

“Calm down, Madi, before you blow a gasket.” Drake stood lazily to his feet as he stretched.

“Why are you even here, Drake? Don’t you have a stable to muck out or something?”

“Yeah, I don’t do that anymore. I’m a duke now, remember?”

Madeleine rolled her eyes, “How the fuck could I forget? You take every conceivable opportunity to remind me!”

Drake reached his hand out to Riley, “Come on baby, let’s go find you some more snacks in the kitchen.”

“Must be nice to have literally nothing to do all day except lounge around someone else’s home eating all their food.” Madeleine muttered.

“It’s Liam’s house and his food!” Riley reminded her, then she rubbed her belly with a smile, “And Liam’s baby.”

Madeleine turned a deep shade of crimson, “Drake get your wife out of my sight before I lose my patience!”

“Whatever. I’ve lived here longer than you have, Madi. This is my home too!” Drake gave her a disapproving look, “Liam only married you because he was forced and blackmailed into it. He doesn’t love you and he won’t even fuck you. He had to knock up my wife to get the heir that Cordonia needs!”

“And that doesn’t bother you?” Madeleine stared at him with her mouth open. How was he ok with this?

“Eh.” He shrugged, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Right baby?”

Riley went up on her toes to place a kiss on his check, “Right baby. Except when what happens in Vegas is due in November.”

“Oh, there you are, love.” Liam called out as he entered the room.

Madeleine turned to face her husband, but Liam had Riley wrapped up in his arms, brushing her check with a soft kiss, “How are you my little peach? How’s our little nugget?”

“I’m fine, my king, and our baby is doing great!” She tittered as she shot a triumphant look at Madeleine.

Liam held onto her hand as his eyes roved freely over her body, “You’re glowing, love. Pregnancy agrees with you!”

Madeleine stepped closer to Drake, “This….this doesn’t bother you?” She whispered.

“N….no!” He shook his head, “Riley’s my wife. Liam knows that.”

“Does he?”

Drake glanced back at Liam who now had one arm over Riley’s shoulder, whispering something in her ear that made her cover her mouth and giggle. Drake cleared his throat, watching Riley anxiously. She moved her head to find Drake’s eyes and gave him that brilliant smile that always washed all his doubts away. Yeah, she loved him.

“Hey, baby, let’s go back up to our room.” He suggested with a seductive edge to his voice. He would reassure himself with sex, that always worked.

“Yes, go to your room!” Madeleine just wanted them out of there before the Norwegian prime minister and his wife showed up, “Better yet, go to your own house! Why are you even here? You have a whole estate you could be at! Liam gave it to you!”

“Liam wants us here, don’t you?” Riley walked her fingers up his chest.

“Absolutely!” Liam beamed.

“Because I’m your best friend, right?” Drake interjected.

“Right.” Liam reluctantly released Riley as Drake pulled her away from him and into his own arms.

Drake pulled her out the door of the formal sitting room as Liam watched her go with undisguised love and longing on his face.

Madeleine watched Liam watch them leave, seething with annoyance. Drake was completely unbothered by Liam fawning all over his wife. Liam was completely unbothered watching Drake drag her away for middle of the day sex and Riley was completely unbothered by, well, everything!

Madeleine was bothered. She was bothered by all of it. But there was nothing she could do about any of it. She sighed as she drew a hand across her forehead wondering for the eight millionth time if being queen was really worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PermaTags:

@nestledonthaveone @gkittylove99 @karahalloway @texaskitten30 @tessa-liam

@kachrisberry @fangirling12566 @belencha77 @lovingchoices14 @twinkle-320

@21-wishes @secretaryunpaid @lunaseasblog @princessleac1 @bebepac

@emersyn-in-cordonia @walkerdrakewalker @73geenalove @tornbetween2loves @sillydg

@pinklipsandmasonjars @savannahdix @jennieausten @kingliam2019 @3pawandme

@queen-arabella-of-cordonia @tinkie1973 @differenttyphoonwerewolf @jared2612 @mainstreetreader

@amandablink @harleybeaumont @xpandass420x @ladyangel70 @twinkleallnight

@dcbbw @indiacater @queenmiarys

@choicesficwriterscreations

#unbothered #one shot #angelasscribbles #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #trr #the royal romance #choices #drake walker #liam rys #madeleine amaranth #riley brooks #the royal romance fanfic #choices stories you play #drake x mc #ridiculous

50 notes · View notes

binnudacademy · 2 years

Text

Your name is Nicholas Benedict, although you are occasionally (and erroneously) referred to as Nicholas Glenn.

[[MORE]]

You're 26, you would've barely been out of grad school if you hadn't dropped out. Something, someone is tearing the world apart bit by bit, drowning everyone in fear, and you don't know who or why or how exactly. You know just enough to drive away all your allies.

You eventually learn about the Institute, and finally you have a lead. A lead, but no plan.

The tests are a long shot, a desperate ploy. You grade test after test, look kid after kid in the eye, and none of them are right. You placate parents who threaten to sue and feel your heart crack at every child's disappointed face, knowing they're the lucky ones. You start to lose hope.

And then she arrives.

She walks in alone, her school bus yellow Mary Janes (with matching socks) clacking confidently on the tile. She carries herself like she's used to being ignored--her posture is perfect, her stare challenging you to look away.

(How an 11-year-old with such a distinct fashion sense ended up overlooked is a mystery even you can't unravel).

She asks if she can eat during the test, even though she isn't really asking. You let her, because you're intrigued and there's no good reason to stop her, anyway.

She reduces three granola bars to messy piles of crumbs. Several other children give her dirty looks for her munching and crunching, but she ignores them.

Her test score isn't perfect, of course it isn't, but she's much closer than anyone has ever gotten. And more important is that challenge in her eyes, the determined set of her mouth.

She politely asks for some of the consolation donuts, and you give them to her.

She passes the second part of the test easily, but when she brings the paper up to you, she asks what this is all about.

You weren't sure you'd get this far, the next test is really more a prototype, so you tell her the whole story right there: the Sender, the Emergency, the problem of children.

She listens, nods once firmly, and says, "I'm in."

There are more explanations to be made, on both your parts, but that "I'm in" sets the tone for all of them.

You work together to improve the tests. For the first time since---for the first time in a long time, there's someone making sure you're safe, putting pillows under your head if you have a narcoleptic seizure, scowling at you if you take unnecessary risks like cutting onions without supervision.

Somewhere along the line, you refer to her as your "number two." She nods seriously, the familiar set expression on her face.

And from then on, that's her name.

You can't be her father. For one thing, you're not old enough. Well, maybe old enough to be an ill-prepared, unexpected father. Which, you suppose, is what you are.

It would be unfair to be her father. She's still a child, who deserves to be a child. She doesn't need a parent who still feels out of his depth, a parent who relies on her as much as she relies on him.

And yet...

She's 15, working on getting her GED while compiling lists of missing persons, when you finally work up the courage to ask.

You prepare a little nest of pillows on the floor so she doesn't have to catch you in any event.

And you finally ask, finally look over and ask if she will adopt you as her family, and she—this brilliant, insightful, caring girl—raises an eyebrow and says

"I thought I already had."

#college dropout mr b is something that can be so personal--#mysterious benedict society tv #nicholas benedict #number two mbs #here's how Number Two and Rhonda being his kids can still win--#forgot how to do readmores on mobile sorry

37 notes · View notes

cleanlenins · 1 year

Note

Hello Lenn!

I’ve been following your mc sideblog for a like, a few months(?) and have been reading to be truly free since the first chapter and I just have to say:

You are literally my favourite fanfic writer. Between updates I just keep rereading to be truly free over and over again. It’s just so brilliant, every sentence is just so !!!! Idk how to describe it, I don’t think I can describe it, you can just tell you poured a lot of love, energy and time into it and it paid off so well! All the scenes just work so well. And the characterization! You capture everyone’s personality perfectly and I love how you write Techno. I get so hyped for your updates I’ve literally spoken about it to real life friends lol. Also! You introduced the politics and worldbuilding so well so well that I just me wanna know more.

I’m sure you get this a lot, that you’re a wonderful, really talented writer.

(Also that ask you sent anarachy-and-piglins, yeah how are you able to get me SO hooked with one tumblr ask? that was amazing I will be thinking a lot about it thank you very much, if you have even one crumb to share about it I would love to hear)

You know anon, first I gotta thank you because I did NOT realize I had asks turned off on paladinpalindrome. That's a big oopsie on my part. And you sending this ask let me know I did that so now I can fix it. So, omg thanks.

Second of all, I am currently a puddle of goo. Just, goo on the floor. This comment was so nice, I just completely melted. I am the first goo to be able to use a keyboard because you are just SO INCREDIBLY NICE. I don't even know WHAT to do with you telling me I'm your favorite fanfic author. I am overjoyed that you enjoy my story that much. I'm having a blast writing it, and it just makes it so much fun knowing that others like it to.

You saying you reread it is breaking my brain. Like asjkhks. Someone liked it enough to reread. I'm blushing. Blushing is something goo can do, right?

I do pour a lot of effort into it. I want it to be good. I enjoy making it good. Even if sometimes I get a little stuck, I love the story so much and want to do it justice. Sometimes I feel a little like I am being a bit too much of a perfectionist with it, seeing little flaws that are probably not there or not a big deal, but I think that is everyone who tries to make art or write or create in general. Like, Characterization? I try really hard on that. Like really really hard. I want it to feel authentic. I don't want the characters to feel ooc. But I also want to indulge in the writing tropes that I find fun. Which means thinking of realistic reasons for those situations to occur. And I am so so touched to hear that I am doing that successfully. It makes me feel great.

Also, the politics and worldbuilding is so fun, but also INCREDIBLY exhausting. Why did I make the world so big, oh ancients. (The answer was because it's fun but keeping everything straight is very hard).

I'm so incredibly happy that you think I am doing a good job. That is-well, goo-inducing. I don't have the words to describe the happy bubbling feeling. I am twirling my hair.

I'm assuming you mean the Dark Royal SBI ask I sent to Anarchy-and-Piglins. I don't have a ton of concrete ideas on it yet. If I do write it, I won't post it until I have the whole thing written out. Just because that would maybe help me NOT blow it up into a 100k word monster like To Be Truly Free has become. Maybe. Hopefully.

As for crumbs with it, hmmm. I kinda like the idea that Tommy doesn't like Techno at first? You know, he's jealous of all the time that Will spends with Techno and so he isn't warming up to him. But at a dinner, Techno secretly offers to eat Tommy's vegetables that he doesn't want to eat (they were carrots, why would Tommy want to eat carrots? ew). When Phil turns his back for a second, Techno scoops them up in his hand and shoves them all in his mouth in one bite. When Phil turn back, all of Tommy's veggies are gone so Tommy can go play. Techno has to pretend that he doesn't have a mouth full of food, because that isn't very polite. Luckily, its not all that strange for him to be a little less talkative. Tommy starts to warm up to him after that.

Phil knew, of course, but he wanted his new sonboy to get along with his kids. However, he doesn't give them a chance to do it again so Tommy still has to eat his veggies.

Thank you so much for the ask! And thank you for your kind words <3 <3 <3

#hannahmail #mcyt #to be truly free #long post

5 notes · View notes

randomnameless · 2 years

Text

Soup Ream anon

(lol what is Soup Ream? Our glorious leader?)

I always wanted to get some Adrestian Civil War, if they wanted our estimeed Leader to be an Arvis's lookalike, she had to take care of internal politics without letting Hubert do everything.

And I love how it plays, she lies to her allies (before Arianrhod!) by killing three birds with one stone - when she only told them one bird had to go - she abuses Rhea's trust (let's be real, Rhea's betrayed by Jerry first, then Alfie, and then Edie. She has to learn how to find trustworthy people now!) and uses Varley as a scapegoat to antagonise the Church and create another "reason" to invade Garreg Mach bar Adrestia's usual revanchism.

She almost reminds me of another brilliant bastard from a game I recently played, who prepares for a war and starts his, effectively crushing a country and, depending on the route, ending up conquering the continent.

Someone even pointed out how the attempted "assassinations" on Varley might even be staged by Hubert - again to give a "reason" to invade Garreg Mach - Varley's sheer existence is a reason to go to war, but if he dies, it's obviously because of Rhea, so they have to avenge him (just like the previously mentionned bastard killed his own cousin then accused the king of the nation he wanted to conquer of having killed him).

It's much more interesting than a supposed manifesto we never see, "Church Bad because I'm telling you" and a country of randoms supporting her because, hey, why not + revanchism.

Depending on where this goes, SB might be my favourite path, but after Tru Piss, I'm afraid 3 Nopes is going to borrow the same route, that is playing the route straight up as a "good ending" route, ignoring all critics around and ultimately having Barney (because we know Supreme Leader now!) never realise or question what the fuck is he doing.

We already have the first bread crumbs with Barney being all "I'm not a farmer so I'm not the one suffering from your war, so IDGAF about it, let's kick refugees and the woman who offered me a place in her home because you said so! + and the larva in my head seems to hate her guts for a reason".

#anon #replies #3 nopes spoilers #3 nopes #I wonder if AG is going to include lizards and include them in the plot or not #even if Rufus had to be retconned to oblivion I think it can be the most satisfying route #or VW will be the one by default

7 notes · View notes

salmonthestoryteller · 2 years

Text

RNM Season Episode 13 - Rave

There were lots of things I liked about the finale. And a couple things I really didn’t. In this case, I am going to split my hate list from my loved. This post is about the things I loved.

Rosa using her powers to get out of Clyde’s trap and smashing him over the head. 10/10 Can someone gif that for me? It was brilliant.

Allie was great. A few easter eggs in there I couldn’t help but love - including “You shaped this mind” and the antenna at the end. I appreciate that it wasn’t so much that Allie came in and saved the day, as much as she was just there to help fill in the knowledge Liz was missing. Kyle and Liz were actually who came up with the actual leaps of what was needed, which is fitting as the alien experts.

The final showdown with Clyde was pretty good, despite my bleh feelings for him. I think because they almost didn’t make it that big of a deal. Because, honestly, he just didn’t live up to the past villains, so the almost ease of his defeat was pretty gratifying. Liz saying they’d learned to bring more than one and pulling out another syringe was a great line in the midst of it all.

What little crumbs of Isobel and Kyle we got I will hold onto pathetically and dearly. This is the only version of Roswell Isobel got to end the series with her romantic partner. And there was just… them by the fire was special. Because it did hark a bit back to a certain scene with Isobel and Noah in season one, only this time it was real. This time Kyle’s love for her is real, and she is there with him because he is her person - and I still wish we’d gotten her saying that, but I wll take the crumbs.

Gosh, where do I start with Michael and Alex’s wedding? I kind of loved a lot of it. Michael shaking things as he freaks out pre-wedding. Sanders and his moment. Michael playing Alex a song on his guitar. Their dance, and Michael saying I married my high school sweetheart. Them finally getting to just interact with the group as a couple these last few episodes was really nice because it's something they pretty much didn’t get most of the series.

Bonnie is alive and gets to stay and live out her life on Earth. Bonnie is basically one of the best parts of the season for me, and I am so happy she didn’t get Adam-ed.

Absolutely approve of Liz planning to propose. Also, approve of the interruption, but Max then saying at the portal that his answer is Hell yes. I have always been pro-Liz proposing for Echo.

The final answer to why Max was the savior, why - as Noah had said in season one - someone would come for him regardless of who won, was mostly fitting. I still feel there’s a lot of the story of the past left unanswered and unexplored and a bit jumbled. Overall, though, there was some sense of finally tying up that loose end.

Where Max and Michael end the finale is an interesting place - because it’s almost the opposite of where you expected them to be when the series began. You start with “I’m just a guy from Roswell” Max, and “I think it’s my only way out.” Michael. We end on Michael is the one married and off on his honeymoon, Max is the one taking the portal to Oasis. And that’s something I rather do approve of. It seems kind of fitting with both their character arcs. Because in the end what Michael really wanted was to find a home, and what Max needed was to come to terms with the weight of his powers. Completing the Pod Squad’s journey is Isobel “I’m married to a man who can’t ever know who I am”, completely free of the masks she has always worn and with someone who knows and loves all of her.

As far as series finale go, I have a fair amount of satisfaction in this ending.

#roswell new mexico #season 4 #episode thoughts #character thoughts #spoilers

6 notes · View notes

innocencefactoryblog · 6 months

Text

OCTOBER FILM DIARY 2023

In lieu of no longer having access to my Letterboxd, I will be keeping a diary of films at the end of every month, with some thoughts about them.

I did not watch enough horror films this October! I guess I made up for it slightly with SAW X aka the greatest cinema experience of my life. If you can, go and see a film in 4DX. I promise it is worth every penny. I really was not expecting much, but those seats shake you about like nobody's business. I felt like I was in a Saw trap! 10/10! Aside from that, hmmmm. I guess Di Humani Corporis Fabrica was more gross than any horror film I’ve ever seen. I am a transgender body horror writer for fucks sake of course I am afraid of the human body! Thanks Lucien and Verena, wish I could have seen it in 4DX. I finally got around to watching Unfriended: Dark Web, which is a piece of cinematic genius I will probably write something longer and more coherent about. Watch this space! Oh, and my partner showed me Cable Guy which was totally unsettling and the only time I have genuinely enjoyed watching Jim Carey act. A film I need to revisit when I am more awake for sure.

Obvs for Halloween I had to maintain my 3 year strong tradition of not going out anywhere, ordering Chinese, and watching horror films. I began with Beyond The Darkness, a solid late 70s Italian taxidermy/ incest horror which features my favourite Goblin score of all time. Surprisingly though, my next choice of Evil Dead Rise was a total treat. Fun set pieces, interesting cinematography and characters I actually cared about, the sort of film that would have scared me shitless at a sleepover in the best way possible. My partner hadn’t seen Talk To Me yet, so we watched that together over dinner. I hadn’t seen Talk To Me since I watched it in the Westfield Vue (an experience in itself!), and so was happy to discover that the film holds up on rewatch. I was still scared! Thinking of that one depiction of Hell/limbo in particular! Not a film, but I found some time to start playing back through Undertale this Halloween, because Undertale is brilliant and there is nothing more to say on the matter.

Something always gets in the way of my October horror film plans is the Film Bro Mecca that is LFF. Holy shiiiit I managed four days of straight festivalling and was exhausted! How do you Film Bros do it? Can someone make me unemployed so I can join you all? I didn’t see anything totally terrible, which is unusual for LFF, but possibly because I chose not to wake up at 6am to queue for Saltburn. Frederick Wiseman went beyond my expectations with Les Menus Plaisirs Les Troisgros, which was four hours long, but could have been longer, and was easily my film of the festival. All Us Strangers made me cry so hard that someone next to me, who I didn’t know, asked if I was okay lol, so my judgement there is clouded. It gets the weeping pass. Killers of the Flower Moon was of course great, and worth waking up at 5am for. Myself and my friend were the first in the queue, which made me realise that LFF queuing culture has died post pandemic, but then our egos were so inflated that we totally failed to get into Late Night With The Devil because we thought there would be no queue and opted for coffee instead oops. So what do I know!

Aside from that, I had great times with Cruising and Multiple Maniacs, because of course I did. One is by one of my favourite directors and one is just so stupidly my shit. Both brilliant, both films you can put on at parties. I did NOT have a great time watching The Killer, David Fincher’s new output. It hwas just….boring? Sorry David, I wish I had more to say than that. Blah blah blah it’s supposed to be like that, I know! But I don’t care! I wasn’t interested! I wanted slow, not boring, there’s a difference !!! !!!!!!!! Regardless, October was a good month, filmwise, and November looks like it’s bringing some exciting new releases. AND I have co-programmed Crumb at the Cartoon Museum for the end of the month! If you’re in London, you should totally come (https://www.cartoonmuseum.org/whats-on-events/crumb)! I’m making zines and introducing it and everything! It’s not all bad out there!

DIARY

1st - SAW X, Kevin Greutert, 2023. Truly insane start to the month, the best in the Saw franchise and the best going to the cinema experience of my entire life. Watched in 4DX at Wandsworth Cineworld.

2nd - No Stone Unturned, Alex Gibney, 2017.

3rd - Kitchen Sink, Alison Maclean, 1989 (Short).

4th - The Cable Guy, Ben Stiller, 1999.

5th - Multiple Maniacs, John Waters, 1970.

6th - Red Rooms, Pascal Plante, 2023 (LFF). Watched in Picturehouse Central.

7th - Killers Of The Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese, 2023 (LFF). Worth waking up at 5am for. Watched in Picturehouse Central.

7th - Unmoored, Caroline Ingvarsson, 2023 (LFF). Watched in Picturehouse Central.

7th - Stopmotion, Robert Morgan, 2023 (LFF). Watched in Picturehouse Central.

7th - Fallen Leaves, Ari Kaurismaki, 2023 (LFF). Watched in SouthBank Centre, this is the last time I ever see a film in the SouthBank Centre.

8th - All Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh, 2023 (LFF). Cried so ridiculously hard and every film bro saw me trying to hide outside the screen. Watched in Picturehouse Central

9th - Menus Plaisirs Les Troisgrois, Frederick Wiseman, 2023 (LFF). Film of the festival. Watched in Picturehouse Central.

9th - Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2023 (LFF). Watched in Picturehouse Central.

10th - Cruising, William Friedkin, 1980.

13th - Unfriended: Dark Web, Stephen Susco, 2023. A work of filmmaking genius.

13th - Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman, 2002.

15th - The Wickerman, Robin Hardy, 1973 (Rewatch).

15th - Matinee, Joe Dante, 1993.

17th - The Goonies, Richard Donner, 1985.

18th - The Old Oak, Ken Loach, 2023. Watched in Ritzy Cinema Brixton.

22nd - Songs From The Second Floor, Roy Andersson, 2000.

23rd - My Best Fiend, Werner Herzog, 1999.

28th - Cobweb, Samuel Bodin, 2023.

29th - Di Humani Corporis Fabrica, Verena Paravel + Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 2022. Having been a big fan of Levithan (2012), I had high expectations for this and did not disappoint. One of the most difficult films I have ever watched, physically recoiled at certain points.

29th - Gummo, Harmony Korine, 1997 (Rewatch).

30th - The Killer, David Fincher, 2023. Snooze. Watched in Ritzy Cinema Brixton.

31st - Beyond The Darkness, Joe D’Amato, 1979.

31st - Evil Dead Rise, Lee Cronin, 2023.

31st - Talk To Me, Danny Philippou and Micheal Philippou, 2022 (Rewatch).

Films of the month: Multiple Maniacs, Cruising, Les Menus Plaisirs Les Troisgros, SAW X

Link for Crumb tickets: https://www.cartoonmuseum.org/whats-on-events/crumb

#film #film diary #letterboxd #horror films

0 notes

open--till--midnight · 2 years

Note

FINALLY getting around to this, so... can I please request “It’s quite fascinating. I can always hear you from a mile away, but when we’re talking, you’re always so quiet.” for Jaskier x reader? That would be absolutely lovely <3

Every Second Since

jaskier x fem!reader

summary | during your first year at oxenfurt academy, a blue-eyed boy catches your eye

warnings | language, idk pining?

wc | 3.5k

a/n | I had a lot of fun writing this prompt! thank you so much!

****

The village you grew up in was small, stuffy, and traditional. It was an environment not very well suited for someone of your temperament. You wished to learn, to travel, and to be around people who understood and welcomed you.

Though there had been others like you in your town. Others who had wished for more. Now, they were old and sad, wasting away like all the rest of the townspeople. You were determined to do more, to become more. So every day you worked as hard as you could to save enough so you could leave.

You had a plan once you had enough money, though your parents didn’t believe in you. It wasn’t as if they didn’t care, at least that wasn’t the whole reason. They were stuck in the village's traditions and antiquated beliefs. So when you told them you were going to Oxenfurt to get an education, they laughed in your face.

“Oh, dear. A woman? Getting an education? You’re better off. Don’t let those scholars feed you all those lies, it’s poison, y/n,” your father had finished his food as he spoke, crumbs falling to the table, earning your mother's fleeting face of disgust.

“Your father is right. Look at everything you have here. You can get married, keep the house for your husband. Ooh, and you better hurry up with those children, dear. We’ll only be here for so long, you know.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. The pit in your stomach grew just a bit with every word they said. There was no debate, no way they would sway you. This just meant too much to you. It was all you’d ever dreamt of.

Someday you’d write masterpieces, novels that would surpass the ones you grew up on. People would be eager to hear what you had to say. But first, you would need an education.

So you applied in secret, using a friend’s address for any response, as you were certain your parents would hide the letters from you. But eventually, your friend became so annoyed at your constant checking in that she assured you the second she got it, she would give it to you.

It took you two tries to get in, but it was well worth the wait. You were in ecstasy when you received the letter and within a week, you had gone. School wouldn’t start for a few months, but you wanted to get accustomed to the lively streets of Oxenfurt before starting classes.

The first month was lonely. Your small two-room apartment was suffocating, and you longed for something to do. Taverns and pubs were fun, but with no friends, they became depressing. You hoped that once classes started you would make some real friends. You assured yourself that it would happen. You had to.

In the time until then, you grew familiar with everything. The constant bustle of the streets, the personality of the city, and the brand new culture. It was almost like the more nervous you got, the more exciting it got. There was a certain thrill to it, finally having the space to grow into who you really were. And once you got past the initial shock, it was almost perfect.

Your first day in a proper school was brilliant. Of course, the nerves were still there, but nothing would ruin this day for you. Nothing. Well, except for the boy you sat beside in your third class of the day.

He had short and fluffy brown hair that slightly covered his bright blue eyes. They reminded you of the little flowers you planted in your garden back home, that made you smile. You looked away quickly, but not in time for him to not notice.

“Is something wrong?” The question may have come off as intimidating if it came from anyone else, but from the boy with the wide grin, it was inviting. That didn’t stop you from getting flustered, though.

“I- No-”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just not often that you get a smile like that from a stranger. I’m Jaskier, and you are?”

“Oh, I’m y/n. It’s nice to meet you.”

“May I ask why you were smiling?”

You explained to him, detailing the shade of the flowers you adored so much. And being the over-sharer you are, you talked a little about the past few months and how that hint of familiarity brought you some peace.”

“Well, I’m glad my eyes are good for something other than seeing,” he smiled at your laugh, “And, only if you want, you can stick with me. I know this place like the back of my hand. And having a friend never hurts, right?”

“Right.” You smiled and nodded, eager to have already made acquaintances with somebody.

Class started, but you couldn’t help but steal glances at Jaskier. Jaskier. You thought it was a lovely name, fitting, really.

Even after you separated for the day, you thought of him. After a month, it was just about the same. You couldn’t get this man out of your head.

For the first couple of months you’ve been in Oxenfurt, you’d come to the conclusion you were an extrovert. Well, sort of. When you were around people you knew you were. It was no different with Jaskier. The pair of you became inseparable. But within time, things changed.

Even though you knew Jaskier better than anyone else here, and even though he was your closest friend, you forgot how to act around him. Why was it so hard to act normal around him all of a sudden?

You could, of course, hold a conversation. He was still your best friend, after all. But you no longer talked about the things close friends talk about, things that just friends talk about. You contemplated spending a little time apart to recuperate from the time spent with him, but you shared all the same friends. Separation wasn’t an option, and part of you was glad of that. You wanted nothing but to be with him. It just got hard sometimes.

On weekends, instead of working ahead in your courses, your group would hang around in one of your apartments. A little over a dozen people always attended these evenings, and they were always entertaining. Whether it was watching some of them get drunk while playing Gwent (very poorly) or the trivia nights you always had fun.

But your favorite nights were the ones in which Jaskier brought his lute. He’d started learning it a while back and only just worked up the nerve to play it in front of people. And of course, his best friends would not judge. Every one of them would cheer him on, including you. Especially you.

His nimble hand worked the fingerboard while his other gracefully strummed, and his smooth voice would fill the room so sweetly. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from him. And this didn’t go unnoticed. Everyone just assumed because you were so obvious about it that Jaskier knew. But he didn’t. No, of course, he didn’t.

Even when you went to his plays and cheered him on, every single time. He still did not notice your infatuation. Besides, he always did the same for you. Because he was your friend. And that’s what friends did.

On lunch break one day, you were telling a story to a couple of people. A retelling, but entertaining nonetheless. When Jaskier approached, you had already finished. You had noticed his entrance and hurried to the end of the story. You always flustered yourself when he was listening to you. Even though that’s all you wanted him to do.

Little did you know, but Jaskier felt the same. He became quite aware that his arrival at your table seemed to disrupt whatever atmosphere had been previously created, and now everyone was quiet. One of your friends continued the conversation, but it was not lost upon him that he had caused you to become uncomfortable.

When the group dispersed, Jaskier took his chance.

“Do you want to hang out with me for a bit?”

“I’m so sorry, Jaskier, but I have somewhere to be.” You didn’t, and you felt horrible and conflicted about it. You wanted to hang out with him, really, you did. It was just that you didn’t know how much longer you could continue this without your crush ruining it.

“Ah, that’s ok. I do miss you, though. Another time, then.” He took your hand and bowed slightly, kissing the back of your hand. Ever the dramatic. You scoffed, if only to quell your nerves. Thankfully, he didn’t take it the wrong way. He only laughed before walking away.

You tilted your head to the side, longingly watching him until he rounded the corner. When he did, your heart broke just a bit.

A couple of months went by exactly like that. Yes, you had begun to hang around with him more outside of class, but it wasn’t the same, not like you were when your other friends were there. And he started taking it to heart.

He settled for watching you smile and laugh from across the room. It was all he ever got of that anymore. But he was at least content.

Jaskier would lay awake at night, haunted by you. He wouldn’t use the word haunted, though, you would. His words would be far more romantic. He imagined his conversations with you. He pictured how your first kiss would go. How you would react to him confessing his feelings.

He was wrenched from his thoughts when he heard a loud knocking on his apartment door. He pulled a pair of trousers on and opened up to see you standing there, soot in your hair, huddled in a blanket.

“Y/n! Oh, gods. Come in!” A string of expletives flew out of his mouth as he saw the bandage on your forearm. “Gods, what happened?”

“A f- fire. My building it- it’s gone.” It was only now that he saw the small bag under your other arm, “I shouldn’t have grabbed these. I was stupid.”

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t worry about that. You’re here, aren’t you?”

You nodded as he pulled you close to his chest, and you laid your head down. It was painfully clear to both of you that he was still shirtless.

“Shouldn’t you be at the infirmary?”

“I was. But I didn’t want to be there anymore. They said there was nothing more they could do for me, so I just left. I just needed to be with you, Jaskier.”

His heart swelled for a moment before he realized how much pain you had to have been in. Both physical and mental anguish. He was also far too curious as to what was in your bag that could have been so important that you risked your life to get it. He wouldn’t push, though, not yet at least.

All he could do right now was hold you until you fell asleep. Right there in his arms as he laid back on his couch. It was an uncomfortable position, but he didn’t really care.

You were still there when he woke, and to your surprise, he was too. Jaskier couldn’t care less about the sleep marks and spot of drool on his chest. In fact, he could not be happier.

He felt terrible at how chipper he felt. You had just lost everything, and he felt like this. He tried his best to hide it and he did a fairly good job. He would be there for you until you decided what you wanted to do.

When you eventually moved off of him, you were back to being shy.

“I’m sorry I barged in on you last night.”

“You didn’t barge in, and don’t be sorry. I’m glad you came to me.”

“Well, where else would I go?”

He had multiple answers to that question, but he kept silent.

“Right. You can stay here as long as you need to, you know?” You nodded, a weak smile danced across your face. “Now. You must be hungry. I’m sure I can whip something up.”

You laughed. Both of you knew he was a terrible cook. So you followed him into the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients he had just missed.

The day was spent inside. With no classes, you could both spare a day to relax. He played a couple of songs and you played a couple of games. When night came, you were both exhausted.

“Here, you take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch. Tomorrow we can work out some kind of arrangement, ok?”

You agreed, just thankful to have a soft and warm place to sleep. The sheets on Jaskier’s bed smelled like him, and so did the shirt he lent you. In these conditions, it didn’t take you long to fall asleep.

Jaskier, on the other hand, had far more trouble falling asleep. The sight of you sleeping in his bed was seared into the backs of his eyes. On top of that, your bag sat at the foot of the couch, just begging to be opened. To his credit, he didn’t open it for a long while. Well, a long time for Jaskier. But he eventually caved in and placed the bag on his lap.

After contemplating for a few more minutes, he untied the straps. There were a couple of blouses, some pants, and skirts. He recognized all of them. Underneath that was a journal. Tied to it was a stack of parchment. He realized that the writing on it was his own. These were the letters they had sent back and forth throughout the year. This excited him. Maybe you felt the same way as him. Or maybe he was just your best friend.

To the left of this journal was a small pouch. Again, against all of his morals, he opened it. Inside rested the simple charm on a chain he had gotten you for your last birthday. You told him that it was perfect, and you wore it almost every day. Along with it were a couple of old rings he had given her. Ones he had worn when he was younger that no longer fit.

The sight made him cry. He hoped he hadn’t read this wrong because now he got his hopes up that this meant you felt the same. Before he could look any further, he placed everything back to how they were and put the bag back at the end of his couch.

That night it wasn’t the pain in his neck from the stiff couch pillow, or the stress of your situation that stopped him from sleeping. They contributed, in part, but it was what was in your bag that stopped sleep from finding him.

The past month, he worried that you were slipping away from him. He wouldn’t have been surprised. He was the first person to talk to you. Now that you met others, you had every reason to branch out and leave him behind.

He thought his relationship with you had been deteriorating, yet here you were, and you had risked your safety to save these trinkets. It meant so much to him because when he gave them to you, they had been a quiet confession of his love, both platonically and romantically.

That birthday that he had given you the necklace to had been the first night he had performed in front of anyone. You had cheered him on with the widest smile he’d ever seen from you. It had given him the confidence to go on and pursue his passion for music.

It was in the early hours of the morning that he finally dozed off. You filled his dreams, just as you did every other night.

You woke before he did, and like you had in the many other nights you stayed here, you started water for tea. As you walked past Jaskier’s sleeping form, you couldn’t help but admire him. His mouth was slightly parted and one of his arms was stretched above his head. The blanket he had used was now only covering his feet, so you pulled it up before walking into the kitchen.

He must have heard the noise of the cast-iron kettle because not seconds later, he sat up and stretched.

“Morning, dear.” The pet name that had only ever been platonic still made you swoon.

“Good morning, Jaskier.”

“Whatcha making?”

“Tea.” You wished you hadn’t sounded so blunt, but you couldn’t seem to be able to conjure up any more words.

“That’s all?” He chuckled, teasing you, while folding the blanket and laying it over the back of the couch. He disappeared into his bedroom, emerging only moments later in a simple outfit. Though he’d begun to experiment more with his wardrobe more in the past year, he still held on to those simple staples.

When the water was done boiling, you tied some lavender tea up in the little satchels, put them in two mugs, and set the three objects on the table. As you poured the water into the cups, Jaskier watched you intently, and it didn’t go unnoticed by you.

“What’s on your mind?” You tapped his forehead, breaking him out of his stare.

“Hmm, nothing.” Convincing.

“Right.”

“It’s just- It’s quite fascinating.” He paused before he spoke, as if contemplating his next words carefully.

“What is?”

“I can always hear you from a mile away, but when we’re talking, you’re always so quiet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You became more nervous by the second, hoping he didn’t mean what you thought he meant.

“It means that I know you’re not a shy person, y/n. At least not at your core. But, slowly, you started to get shy around me, quiet, too.” He knew. He had to know. He was smirking as he spoke.

When it was your turn to respond, you couldn’t. Proving his point.

“Are you ok, y/n?”

“Of course I am.”

“No, you’re not. You’ve been acting so strangely, so different for the past few months.”

“I have not.”

He had you right where he wanted you, right fucking there, and he seemed to be enjoying every single second of it. His grin was enough for you to understand that. What you couldn’t see were his nerves. His heart that was beating far too fast and the blush that was begging to show under his sky-blue eyes.

He slowly placed his hand on your cheek, slow enough so you could pull back if you wanted to. When you didn’t, he leaned forward.

“May I kiss you, y/n?”

As always, it seemed, your words failed you. But your enthusiastic nod was enough for Jaskier to do what seemed like the only thing he had ever wanted to do. When he kissed you, the faint taste of lavender still rested upon your tongue as you deepened the kiss, running your fingers through his short hair.

He pulled back only when the need for air became too strong, to both of your disappointment. His hand stayed on your cheek as he watched you in wonder.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the first time I saw you.” He gave you another quick kiss, “and every second since.”

“Oh gods, Jaskier, me too.” You held his face and beamed, needing to remember this moment exactly as it was.

#the witcher #jaskier x fem!reader #jaskier imagine #jaskier #jaskier x reader #witcher jaskier #dandelion x reader #dandelion #lilywrites📝

85 notes · View notes