#If I put fan from ii would you be annoyed

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Is it just me or do I feel like iv would use his jacket to mark the girl he liked. Back off cunts she’s taken sort of vibes. Maybe you could write something along those lines?

I think about this a lot myself, so I definitely understand you and genuinely agree. Also III is being a bestie in this one.

Little part II

His mark

It started so innocently. The whole band was hanging behind the stage after the concert. The conversation was light with people reaching in to nibble on some food and drinks. Your stage outfit, as nice as it was to jump around on stage while the huge lights shined on your body, now that you were in the dim of the back rooms did little to keep you warm. And you so could have just excused yourself from the conversation with the girls, knowing full well that they wouldn’t mind holding the conversation off for a couple of minutes but you just didn’t want to somehow break the atmosphere.

That’s when you felt it. The weight pressing on your shoulders. The heat instantly radiated from the leather that was being so casually draped over your body. Crocking your head to the side you saw none other than IV. But you didn’t even have to look. The smell of him, so familiar and at this point engraved into your brain gave him away. “Could hear your teeth clacking together from across the room, it’s so annoying”, he grunted, clearly trying to seem more annoyed than he was. “My apologies and you shouldn’t have tasked yourself with coming to my rescue”, you sassed back, slipping your arms through the sleeves. “Sometimes my kindness surprises even me”, IV shrugged, leaning equipment boxes. “We will grab some more food”, the girls chirped, making you snap your head back at them, completely forgetting that they were there in the first place.

“Is it bad that I secretly fantasized about wearing this?”, you asked so out of the blue that you were almost convinced that you heard IV choke on his drink, “This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long while”. IV stayed silent for a moment before that shit-eating grin spread across his face, “See, depends on what these fantasies entail”, he muttered, clearly delighted with himself. Now it was you who gasped, pushing his chest slightly as you both giggled away.

The next time it happened was in the middle of the show. The open stage, as nice as it was for some parts of the summer, wasn’t all that friendly when the summer rains split the skies. While the first two songs in soaked clothes were kind of refreshing. Rain alsp brought a lower temperature, slowly settling the tremble into your hands. That’s when a familiar figure sauntered closer but you didn’t give it much thought. IV often found himself close to you and the girls. It was his nature, well all of theirs. That’s until IV pulled his guitar off, setting it down and shrugging out of his jacket.

With your eyes already glued on him, you watched him lifting the jacket closer to you. All you could do was shake your head, “Are you insane?”, you mouthed. It was one thing doing stuff like that around the people in the team. A whole different story when fans were involved. “Put it on or I will put it on you”, IV stated flatly. Throwing the jacket up.

The logic within you told you to ignore it. Let it drop. But you couldn’t. It was way too precious. Someone had spent hours making it and it was also his. But just because it was in your hands didn’t mean you had to put it on. You could just hold it for him. Well, wrong. Cause IV dared to cross his arms over his chest as he watched you, and knowing his stubborn ass he would stand there till you did what he had told you to. With an excessive eye roll, you threw the jacket over your shoulder, pushing some of the wet strands away and clinging to your face. “Happy?”, you mouthed, but IV only winked at you before returning to the front of the stage.

And more often than not this had turned into a norm. Going to the bus? His jacket is on your body. Right before the show while the jitters are insane? His jacket. Walking through the backstages while preparing? Band meetings? Rehearsals? The list could go on and on. But since it brought you the same sense of comfort you never voiced it out loud. Too afraid that if you pointed it out he would turn the other way and run for the hills.

“So, where’s your guard dog?”, III's voice snapped you out of your thoughts. Smiling you rolled your eyes, pushing a pack of goldfish towards him. “Maybe guarding someone else”, you shrugged, making III snort, “Nice try, I bet all of his security alarms are ringing off right this minute”. You frowned slightly at his words. “Oh come on, tell me that you don’t see a pattern?”, III tilted his head to the side in disbelief. “He’s just been sweet”, you muttered, “Plus, I had told him that I have frog hands and feet. I’m constantly cold”.

III just shook his head, “We all know that but do you see me running after you with a blanket?”. You huffed, letting your mouth drop, “Is this your way of telling me that secretly hate me”, you gave him the best version of puppy dog eyes. “Girl, I held your hair back while you threw up a bottle of tequila, I don’t do that for people I don’t care about”, he pointed out. You leaned in, warping your arms around his lean body, “And that is why I like you”, you muttered again his chest.

Someone cleared their throat and you instantly pulled back. Not far from you two stood IV. The fire in his eyes burning out of control. You expect III to pull back but instead, he casually slung his arm over your shoulders. “In need of a hug too?”, he teased, IV eyes burning holes in his bandmate's face. “Just wondering why you needed one”, IV said through gritted teeth. “Oh, come on, I hug you all good morning and goodnight, don’t start playing favorites”, you slapped III on his chest, pulling out of his hands.

IV equally didn’t waste any time stepping closer to you. And as if it had become your secret skin, the jacket pressed down onto your shoulders. III let out a laugh, shaking his head, “Loud and clear mate, loud and clear”, he saluted before turning back. “Why are you in a pissy mood?”, you crossed your arms over your chest, turning to face IV. His eyes are still on III. “I don’t like when people mess with what’s mine”, he muttered, snatching all air out of your lungs. “What is that supposed to mean”, you muttered, letting him pull you closer to him. “Don’t worry your head about it for now”, IV leaned in pressing a kiss to your temple.

[pitchsidestories]

A kiss from my enemy II Erin Cuthbert x Reader

masterlist I word count: 2811

A/N: Would you like us to write more about Chelsea's Fab 4?

A day before the CL game Chelsea against Real Madrid Erin Cuthbert found herself among her friends, drinking coffee in Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis new home. It was a quite cozy afternoon despite the Blues knowing there was a big match ahead of them at Stamford Bridge.  

Expectantly the American midfielder sipped from her cup of coffee before looking at the Scottish woman: So, it’s true what they say, Erin? That you forget she’s your girlfriend when you two play against each other?”

“Doesn’t everyone do that?”, Erin laughed it off. Next to her sat Guro Reiten who nodded grinning: “Yeah Magda definitely said that too.” “That’s not true for Sam and me.”, Kristie announced.

Amused Millie Bright replied:” Of course not.”  “I still see her as my fiancée.”, the Westham player added beaming proudly. Smiling Erin realized: “And I’ll see her as my girlfriend before and after the game. Shit, I think she heard that we are talking about her, she’s trying to face time me right now.”

“Take the call!”, Sam advised the younger woman. Enthusiastic Millie agreed:” Yeah, let’s all say hi.” “Oh yes, hello chica!”, Guro greeted her first.

Blushing you put a loose string of your hair behind your hair:” Hola! Erin, you didn’t text me you were still with your friends otherwise I’d have tried to call you later.” “Sorry, drinking coffee with them always takes a bit longer.”, your girlfriend apologized with a sheepishly smile.

Quickly you reassured her:” That’s okay.” You paused for a moment before you turned your attention to her recently injured teammate:” How are you, Sammy?”

“I’m good. I got my girls.”, Sam waved it off, placing a hand on her fiancée’s thigh. The latter one asked curiously:” Tell me where did you get that lipstick? It’s so pretty!” “Kristie.”, Erin rolled her eyes, visibly annoyed. Innocently Kristie told her:”What?”

“I’ll send you a screenshot with it, Kristie. But back to you captain Cuthbert.”, you cleared your throat and turned the attention to your girlfriend. She furrowed her eyebrows in response:” Captain Cuthbert?” “I read you’ll captain Chelsea tomorrow.”, you snorted.  

A teasing smile played on the Scottish international lips: “Oh, you read that?” “This is going to be spice, the girlfriend’s being the captain of each of their respectable teams, I can’t wait for it.”, Sam exclaimed.

Immediately Erin tried to cool off the striker’s excitement for the roles you were about to play tomorrow: “It’s not that big of a deal, Sam.”  “Honestly.”, you underlined her message with your word. Not convinced by your reaction Sam said:” Uh huh sure.”

“The press and the fans will make a big deal out of it.“, Kristie agreed with her fiancée. Sam shrugged; “It is a big thing.“ “We’ll see but I can’t wait to see you all tomorrow.“, you subtly tried to change the topic. “Oh, we can wait.“, Sam grinned back at you. Erin shook her head; “No, I can’t. Because some of us don’t have their girlfriends living in the same city.“

She gave Sam and Kristie a jokingly accusing look. “You’re the only one she’ll get to see tomorrow anyway. And Guro. The rest of us is injured.“, Sam commented, pointing down to her knee brace. Millies who was also out with an injury announced; “But we’ll be there at the Bridge and say hi.“ “Maybe.“, the Australian added with a smirk.

Millie rolled her eyes at her teammate; “Ignore Sammy.“ “Okay, enjoy your coffee, guys. See you tomorrow.“, you waved into the camera. “See you.“, Erin answered before ending the call. Excitedly, Kristie looked at Erin; “I’ll be there tomorrow for the gay drama.“

“If West Ham doesn’t train at the same time.“, Sam reminded her. “Right.“ “But we’ll be there.“, Millie interjected. “Anyone any more coffee?“, the injured striker asked. Erin shared a smile with her friends and answered; “Absolutely.“

Champions League nights always felt even more special than normal league games. The stadium was starting to fill while both teams finished their warm-up routines. Guro was the first Chelsea player to pull you into a quick hug; “Hi.“ “Hi. Ready for the game?“, the Norwegian asked. You nodded; “Yes, I’m ready. What about you?“

She rubbed her hands with excitement; “Ready to smash Madrid.“ Unimpressed, you replied; “Oh, we will give you a good fight.“ “Like you guys did against Barcelona?“, Erins teasing voice appeared out of nowhere, immediately wiping the smile off your face. You could hear the annoyance in your own voice as you answered; “Oh shut up. You’d lose against Barcelona too.“

“But at least we managed to draw against them. Something your team hasn’t managed.“, Erin countered. “But Chelsea lost the CL final in 2021. Barca won 4:0.“, you reminded her cooly.

Your girlfriend tilted her head; “And how far did Madrid make it?“ You knew she was trying to play some mind games and that you shouldn’t react to it but you couldn’t stop yourself from snapping; “What’s your fucking problem, Cuthbert?“

She reacted with a casual shrug; “I’m just saying it as it is. You’re already out of the CL. Again.“ “Whatever you’re trying to do, this won’t work.“, you warned her before your team mate caught your attention; “Hayley?“ “Yes, we need to get in line. The game is about to start.“, Hayley Raso reminded you while adjusting the bow in her hair.

Turning into your captain mode you put your armband on:“I’m coming.”  While the CL hymn was playing the Australian forward noticed:” Did you lost your hairband?” Quickly Hayley gave you the extra hairband she had around her wrist. You mouthed a sincere thank you.

This didn’t got unnoticed by Erin who softly elbowed her Norwegian friend:” Have you seen that, Guro?” “What?”, Guro asked confused, she clearly missed the moment her teammate was referring to. Biting her lip the Scottish midfielder answered:” Doesn’t matter, let’s win this game.” “Alright.”, Guro sighed before they went to their starting positions.

The first half begun, and you were eager to prove that you’d give the team of your girlfriend a good fight. Your confidence grew as you fairly tackled Erin to get the ball. Enraged the Scottish player stood up, cursing quietly so only you could hear her words tripping with fury:” What the fuck was that?”   “Next time you got to be faster.”, you replied with a smug smile on your face.  

Under her breath she told you:” Learn to play football next time. That was a foul.” “It wasn’t.”, you shook your head.  Immediately Erin disagreed: “Of course it was.” The tension between you was almost touchable. Later your girlfriend knocked you off your feet. “Hey!”, you protested loudly.

Quickly Athenea del Castillo was at your side, shouting:” That was a foul.” “If that earlier wasn’t a foul, this isn’t either.”, the Scottish midfielder snapped. Slowly you got up, promising her:” You’ll get that back.” And you held your promise only a couple of minutes later you assisted Athenea in scoring the equalizer for Madrid.

But you couldn’t enjoy the celebration with your team as Erin whispered into your ear:” You think you’re so good, huh? You’re still losing.” She was right only a minute after Madrid scored, they did again but this time it was only an own goal, resulting in a 2:1 for the Blues.

“Yes!”, Niamh Charles cheered. Triumphantly Erin turned her head to you:” Told you, you’d lose.” “Get over yourself, Cuthbert.”, you rolled your eyes at her. Her following comment made your heart race even faster: “Don’t be such a sore loser.”  “We still have twenty plus minutes left.”, you reminded her. Confidently she remarked:” That’s not enough time for you.”  

Her words proofed to be right. From a reasonable point of view, you knew that a win wouldn’t have changed the fact that you couldn’t qualify for the next round, the loss still stung. Numbly you could hear Guro happily scream:” We’re qualified, girls!”  “Don’t you want to go over to your girlfriend?”, cautiously Hayley padded your shoulder. Stubbornly you mumbled: “No.”

Confused the Australian player furrowed her eyebrows:” Why not?” “I’m too mad at her right now.”, you replied honestly. The eyes of your teammate turned soft:” We were out anyway.” “I know.”, you sighed deeply.

Smiling Hayley tried to cheer you up:” And we did give them a tough time.” “That’s true. Sorry, I’m not being a good captain, I should comfort you and not the other way around.”, you apologized. Warmly the forward reminded you:” Sometimes even the captain needs to be comforted.”

At the same time Erin said to her teammates:” I’m back in a second.” “Don’t go away for too long!”, Niamh shouted after her grinning. The Chelsea captain of the night shook her head:” I won’t.” “Good!”, Ashley exclaimed cheerfully.

Laughing the Scottish midfielder told them:” You can start celebrating without me.”  With these words she turned to you, her kiss caught you off card, as you mumbled:” Good game, Erin.” “Sorry for what I said during the game. You know I don’t mean it.”, your girlfriend whispered into your embrace, her cheeks flushed.

Startled you looked at her:” You don’t?” “Of course I don’t.”, she answered. Confidently you glanced at her:” But I was right, we didn’t make it easy for you.” “Yeah, you were.”, the Chelsea player admitted.

 A cheeky smile appeared on your lips:” If you kiss me again, I might forgive you.” “Okay, but then I got to leave.”, Erin nodded giving you a more passionate kiss than before. “Alright.”

For a second she rested her forehead against yours: ”Come over to our dressing room when you took care of your teammates.” “I’ll be there.”, you promised her before you went to look after your teammates being back into your captain mode.

“Linda, how are you feeling?”, you asked her compassionate. The Columbian forward responded with a weak smile:” I’m okay.” “Good.”, relief ran through your veins because of the answer of the younger footballer.

Comforting hands padded your shoulder who belonged to Ivana: “Not an easy game.” “Right.”, you had to admit. Reassuringly the older woman continued:” But we’ll continue to grow.” “We’ll.”, you agreed. The defender offered:”You can go over if you want to.” “You girls will be, okay?”, you wanted to know from her. With a motherly smile Ivana waved you off:”Promise.”

You met your girlfriend in her locker room, freshly showered, her blonde hair still wet. “Hi Erin.”, you greeted her. Blushing the Scottish player put a hair string behind her ear:“Hi.” “Was that me?”, guiltily you pointed to a black eye on her body. She gave you a challenging look:” Told you, it was unfair play.” “You weren’t playing nice either!”, you reminded her. Pouting  Erin observed:” You don’t look as bad.”

“Well, I got thicker skin.“, you shrugged with a smirk. Your girlfriend quickly bridged the gap between you two and pulled you towards her. Her fingertips on your skin made you giggle; “Hey, no tickles!“

“You’re lucky it’s only tickles.“, Erin countered. Guro interrupted the two of you by throwing her shirt at you; “Behave, we have children in this room!“ You were suddenly painfully aware of the stares of Erins teammates.

Erin grimaced at Guro; “Do you mean Hannah?“ The young goalkeeper looked up in surprise; “Rude!“ “Sorry.“, Erin grinned back, obviously not even a little bit sorry. “I’m not a child!“, Hannah protested. Your girlfriend casually shrugged and pointed into the direction of her other teammates: “Maybe Guro meant Sjoeke or Aggie.“

These two protested loudly while Hannah raised her eyebrow at Erin; “I hope so!“ Ignoring the rest of her team, Erin turned back towards you; “Want to leave?“ “Please.“, you smiled back.

She quickly grabbed her bag and took your hand; “Let’s go.“ “Bye chicas!“, Guro yelled after you. Millie appeared in the door, Sam on crutches next to her; “You’re leaving already?“ “Not without a hug from you of course!“, you said and let yourself fall into the arms of the tall defender.

“Sorry, took a while to get Sam down the stairs.“, Millie apologized. The Australian striker rolled her eyes. You quickly hugged her too, careful with her knee and crutches; “And hello, Sam.“

“You two were not subtle at all after the game ended.“, she commented smugly. Erin and you shared a knowing smile while she explained; “I had to make up for something.“ “Yeah, for the things you said to each other during the match.“, Millie grinned. “Oh shut up, Millie.“

But the defenders smile only got wider; “Never.“ “How would you even know that?“, Erin asked, a slight hint of exasperation in her voice. Millie touched her fingertips to her mouth; “Lip reading.“

Your girlfriend rolled her eyes in response; “Oh, sure.“ “Now go, you two don’t have much time.“, Millie ordered, making space so you two could pass her and Sam. “You kept us here.“, Erin protested.

She took your hand in hers again; “Let’s leave.“ “Coming.“ As you moved past your friend group, your girlfriend yelled “Bye, girls!“ over her shoulder. “Bye, have fun.“, Sam replied with a smirk while Kristie appeared behind her, wrapping her arms around the strikers waist as they watched you leave; “And off they go.“

“About time. After game sex is the hottest.“, the striker laughed, turning to kiss her girlfriend. Kristie nodded; “Agreed. They wouldn’t let each other get away with anything.“ “That’s too much information!“, Millie complained, pretending that she needs to throw up.

“Sorry, not sorry.“, Kristie shrugged. “I hate that you moved here.“, the defender laughed. With big innocent eyes, Kristie suggested; “Maybe she’ll move to London to next season.“ Seeing the feigned disgust on Millies face, she added; “A girl can dream.“ “Of bringing all your girlfriends here?“

“Yes.”, the American midfielder beamed. The England defender wiggled with her eyebrows: “I see.”  “She’s unstoppable.”, Sam winked at her fiancée. Big eyed Millie looked at her close friend: “Will I have to leave?”

“No, you’re the honorary straight best friend in our squad. Let’s get Same home for no.”, Kristie told her in a friendly tone. Happy with that answer the English player clapped into her hands:” Alright. Come on, Sammy.” “On my way!”, the Australian forward announced while one of her best friends and her fiancée helped her to come home safely.

Meanwhile you had stepped out of Erins shower, wearing some comfy clothes, begging your girlfriend:” Erin, repeat that.” “What?”, she echoed. Serious you added:” What you just said.”

“Pretty sure you heard me the first time. ”, the Scottish woman answered. You bit your lip in response:  “Still.” “Well, we can just ignore it if it upsets you so much.”, the midfielder shrugged her shoulders.  

Swiftly you shook your head:” No, please, say it again.” “I want you to move in with me.”, Erin repeated. Carefully you said:” English clubs are interested in me you know that, right?” “I do.”, your girlfriend affirmed.

Slowly you revealed what you were holding black from her for quite a while now, waiting for the perfect moment to say it:” I might have an agreement with a club in the summer.” “You do?”, the Scottish player looked surprised up.  “Yes.” “So that’s a, yes?”, a hopeful shimmer appeared on her face.

Teasingly you played with her hair: “It’s a yes. I’d love to move in with you. But I won’t join your club.” “That’s okay. I love playing against you.”, Erin grinned at you. A warm laugh escaped your lips:” I knew you’d say that.” “It’s true.”, she confessed.

The smile on your face grew bigger:” Sorry but I like red more than blue.” “Arsenal!”, playfully shocked your girlfriend hit your upper arm. “Yes, bebé.” Dramatically the midfielder groaned:” Oh that’s just horrible.” “So, you take the moving offer back?”, you threw your eyebrows up.

Much softer she told you:“No, I can live with it if I get to see you more often.” “You definitely would.”, you reassured her. Beaming Erin replied: “Then you should take that offer.”  “I’ll.”

“Can’t wait to win the London derby against you.”, the excitement was written all over her face.  Confidently you countered:” Oh no Arsenal win their fair amounts of derbys do I have to remind you they just won the latest?”

“Doesn’t count. You weren’t on the team yet.“, Erin protested. You shrugged nonchalantly; “Just saying.“ “Next time we’ll win again.“, your girlfriend said, half challenge and half promise.

Smirking, you added; “Or you’ll lose.“ Stubbornly, Erin shook her head; “There’s no way.“ “But for now…“, you changed the topic, pulling your girlfriend close to you. “For now?“, she repeated so that you would continue.

“Enough talking.“ “What should we do then?“, she asked, all pretended innocence. You winked at her while you let your hands glide under her shirt; “Something equally as fun.“

[inthedoghousern]

11:45

part III of just this once (I) and okay (II)

pairing: oscar piastri x driver!fem!reader

summary: all eyes are on you and oscar after the monaco paparazzi pictures, and the two of you haven't been in the same vicinity since that night. after weeks of avoiding it, you two confront one another and your feelings.

contains: some social media, swearing, angst, fluff, brief mention of sex.

3.8k words

a/n: was going to end this angsty but i only got 1 comment on my last post and it was someone who wanted another part... so this one is for you @andruuu28

f1gossipofficial

Liked by mclarenfan3744 and 88,402 others f1gossipofficial Oscar Piastri and Y/n Y/l/n spotted together after the Monaco Grand Prix.

View all 31,288 comments

-

The rumors were in full effect. 

Your night with Oscar had taken social media by storm. The rumors were more than just you two being close friends, there was this notion going around that a potential romance was forming. 

The whole thing annoyed you, it was a moment that shouldn't have been public in the first place, a moment you should’ve been smart enough to avoid. 

It's been a few weeks now since Monaco, and you've done your best to keep the situation from growing even larger. No interaction with Oscar, denying any romance, reminding everyone that the two of you have known each other for years, that you're only colleagues and friends. Not everyone liked this response, especially since it's been clear that over the past few years, you and Oscar haven't really been friends, but rivals. But you stuck to the same explanation, and Oscar and McLaren gave the same one as well.

-

You're now sitting in a meeting with your PR team. Even though there have been multiple Grand Prixs since the photos started circulating, you were still getting questions about them. “If you're asked about it, don’t comment. If you feel the need to say anything, just remind them that you’ve known Oscar for years and you’re simply friends," your manager tells you. You nod in agreement.

You were used to having the spotlight all on you, but now you're having to deal with it being on you and Oscar together.

Your manager's advice had been to shut down the rumors and just focus on the races, it was the smartest move. But your mind couldn't help but drift to the memories of Oscar. You had known him for years and suddenly some pictures of one night in Monaco caused you two to be branded as more than friends by the public. It was all just so overwhelming. How being in the F1 world made every moment in your life a spectacle. 

“Alright…” your PR manager moves on, “speaking of Piastri, you have a panel with him today, alongside Tsunoda and Sargeant. Some sort of young driver thing.” 

Your heart drops a little, you'd been lucky enough up until this point that you hadn't had to do any media with him. You got to address the rumors, separately. The luck has run out. 

The panel was intended to showcase the young drivers, but now it was more than just a panel to you. You were scared it would become the focus of all the rumors and discussions about you two.

Obviously no one knew that the rumors had backing, that you had actually slept together, no one except you and Oscar. But it still made you nervous that you would be together, that every word you speak to each other during this conference, every look, is going to be dissected by fans and media looking to find out if there really is anything happening.

-

The walk to the panel brought you past fans and media alike. For the most part, they were asking questions regarding the races in the upcoming days, but one reporter got brave and decided to bring the rumors up.

"We all know about you two dating, when are you gonna go public with this relationship?" His question was loud enough to draw the attention of other reporters and fans. You're still walking as he asks, and the reporter is in step with you.

“Hey look, the only people I’m in love with out here are the ones who keep my car going fast,” you put your hands up in a joking surrender. You hope your humor towards the situation would show your indifference, make them see how ridiculous all the talk is. 

Your response was able to brush off the question without even really addressing the rumors. And it worked, he laughed at your joke and moved on, a few of the other reporters were even laughing at the joke, which made you feel a little bit better.

It was time to focus again because now you were nearing the panel and you still had to be focused on getting through it without all the attention being on you and Oscar.

You walk into the press room, journalists are sitting in their chairs, waiting for the proceedings to start. Out of the four of you, you're the first to arrive. One of the coordinators guides you to a seat and you put your mic on. You give a closed-lip smile and direct a nod at the room. Now it’s just time to wait for Oscar, Logan, and Yuki. 

The room was filled with chatter, the journalists were eager to get some insight into the young drivers of the grid. But the chatter soon dies down and the room becomes quiet, the silence only intensifying as Oscar walks onto the stage, followed by Logan and then Yuki. Because you were the first one to arrive, you were seated on the far end, and the coordinator that sat you led Oscar right next to you. Great.

-

As the MC introduces you all and opens the floor for questions, the photographers get busy snapping pictures of the panel. Oscar is right beside you, the two of you next to each other in full sight of the cameras, but he's busy looking straight ahead. So are you. 

He's trying to avoid eye contact with you, he doesn't want the cameras to catch on to how he wants to look at you.

A few questions come in from the journalists to each driver individually, Logan is asked a question, which he answers, and so does Yuki. You're asked a few about you're dynamic with Max, and Oscar is asked about his with Lando.

The panel continues to go around the room a few more times, when you, Logan, and Oscar are asked a question. 

“So, you three have been racing together for quite a long time”, he starts, “when can we expect a podium with the three of you? Imagine a moment like that!” He says passionately. I smile at his question. It was true, that during those early days of you and Oscar racing, Logan was there as well. You all had even driven for Prema together for a year. 

You answer first, “Logan when do you think…” you joke and lean forward to look at him. Your response is an obvious dig at him driving for Williams, a team that isn’t well-known for getting podiums. Even getting points. Logan gets the jab pretty fast.

Logan laughs and takes the bait, "Oh I can already feel a podium coming on this weekend," he jokes and everyone has a little laugh, including you and Oscar. 

You lean back again and reach to grab Logan’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. “No shade, Sargent,” you smile. While reaching back to grab Logan, your arm brushes against Oscar’s back. 

Logan smiles back, he knows it was just a little joke and doesn't take it personally. Oscar, on the other hand, is sensitive to your touch and feels a spark go through him when you brush against him. He can feel his muscles and body tense up just a tiny bit, he masks it by joining in on the joke, turning and smiling at Logan as well.

-

As the panel wraps up, you both feel a sense of some relief. Things had gone rather smoothly and the reporters were satisfied. And no one asked any questions about the pictures of you in Monaco. 

Oscar was just glad the session was over, now he could finish the rest of his press obligations and go back to the hotel. But as he looks around, he still sees you sitting there, looking away talking to someone on your team, and he is partially in disbelief that you just sat through an entire panel with him, acting like there was nothing wrong. Because for him, he can't stop thinking about you, during the whole panel he was focused only on you.

In contrast, you're focusing on the conversation with your team member, completely turned away from Oscar. “Okay, yeah sure,” you answer to one of your manager's questions. You put the mic on the table and stand up.

Oscar looks away as you stand up, he hopes he wasn’t staring for a noticeable amount of time. He takes his mic off as well, standing up and making his way to the McLaren team. 

It was a brief moment of eye contact, but when your eyes met with his, you could feel the intensity of everything between you and Oscar all rush back into your chest. It was just a look, a look that said a thousand things. A look that told you and Oscar everything that had happened between you. 

You're the first one to break eye contact, and you both walk away, exchanging no words, as each of you sticks closely with your teams on your way out of the room. 

Just two people who've had a lot of tension between them who were now trying to pretend like none of it ever happened. But neither of you were good liars.

-

The next day, you go through practice sessions like normal. You do more interviews, debrief with the engineers. Nothing special. Just business as usual. 

It's now later in the day and you're back at the hotel sitting on a couch, just scrolling on your phone, trying to let your mind relax. A few Red Bull employees had been sitting with you earlier, but they had all left to do their own thing at this point. You have been alone for a few minutes now, but you're suddenly disrupted by someone sitting next to you, his presence makes you tense up as you know who it is.

“Hey.” He says. “Hi.” You respond almost reluctantly.

Oscar could tell that you weren't really happy about him sitting down next to you, and he should leave, he shouldn't have even sat down, but he was going to stay for a little bit to at least attempt to have this conversation. 

He sat in silence for a few moments after you responded, before finally saying, "How were your sessions today?”

“Pretty good,” I answer. “What about you?”

"Yeah, mine were fine too." 

Very successful conversation. You both sit in silence again, and you look back at your phone. 

"How long are we going to avoid the obvious?" Oscar finally says, getting to the reason he sat down next to you in the first place.

You put your phone down. “I don’t know…” you trail off. “But it seems like whatever we’re doing now has diverted the media off our trail," you half-joke. You dance around his question. You're scared to talk about it. 

Oscar was tired of pretending, it was killing him to keep quiet and act as if nothing had happened. He didn't know how much longer he could take it. 

"That's not what I meant, you know what I'm talking about..." he said softly, his eyes just looking straight into you, trying to get you to look at him.

You lean your head on the back of the couch. You don’t meet his eyes yet. “Oscar I already told you… it was one time… we shouldn’t have let it even happen.” You're not sure if you really mean that, but you do regret that it was a door that you allowed to open. A door that you don’t want to close, but you have to. 

Oscar sighs, your excuses are falling on deaf ears right now. 

"Sure, we shouldn't have let it happen, but it did. So why are we pretending like it didn't? This is ridiculous." He said, his voice not raising, but you could tell he was annoyed with you.

"Is this really what you're gonna say every time we're together like this? That it was just one time? Because I'm not satisfied with that answer anymore."

“Okay okay," you surrender. “Look if we need to just talk this out, for once and all, get it out of our systems, fine. You tell me what you need to say. But you know we can’t do it here.” You lift your head and finally look at him. If he wanted to talk, okay. But you had worked so hard to dispel the rumors, and having a heart-to-heart in this hotel lobby where anyone could catch a listen was counterproductive. 

Oscar nods, he knows he can't really say anything in here either, too many ears, too many eyes. But he has been holding this in for a while, all of his emotions and thoughts building up over the past weeks.   

He wanted to talk through it, even just a little. "Okay. Where then?”

One of your hotel rooms was the obvious answer. But there was no way you were even going to consider that, not after what you two had already done together. It was too dangerous, too much could happen between you two if you were allowed to have each other all to yourselves.

You think. “There’s a pool here right? I’ll find out when it closes.” 

Sitting on the pool deck, outside, in public, seemed like a much safer location for you and Oscar’s impending conversation. Even if it was closed and no one was there, there was always the threat of someone showing up, passing by. Private enough to say what you needed to say, public enough to control yourselves. “I’ll text you when. Then just meet me there,” you tell him. 

Oscar was surprised that you suggested a place that was even more public. But it was a good solution because you are right. If your conversation was in a closed-off room somewhere, then there was always the chance that one of you would let yourself get carried away again. 

In a public space, with even the smallest probability of someone coming by, you two would be forced to keep your distance. 

"Alright," Oscar says, standing up and leaving the lobby.

-

to: Oscar Piastri

11:45pm.

from: Oscar Piastri (1 new message)

11:45.

-

The time comes and you slip into the pool area, trying to be discreet considering that it’s closed. And because you're meeting Oscar. He’s already here sitting on the edge of the pool. 

When you arrive, he looks straight at you, there is no need to try hiding anything right now. The whole situation was already obvious and you both knew what conversation was incoming, what it was going to be about. 

You don’t say anything as you walk over. Neither does he. You sit down next to him and put your feet in the pool, he does the same and keeps his legs straight so he doesn't accidentally touch your legs. There is a small amount of space between you two and you both stay quiet. 

“So…” you don’t know what to say. He seemed like he had something to get off of his chest in the lobby. You should just tell him to spit it out, but you don’t want to be hostile. Be mean. The whole situation is really fucking with your head already but you don’t want to make it seem like he’s the only one with feelings to express. Things to say. Just because you've been avoiding him, you've been better at acting like it didn’t happen, didn't mean you weren't constantly thinking about that night, thinking of him.

You can see he's not entirely sure where to start either. "Can we just skip all the bullshit and not pretend like we don't know what is going to be discussed in this conversation?" Oscar asked, just being blunt from the start. His eyes looking straight into yours, they were piercing, it showed to you that he was serious about discussing this right away.

You're taken aback by his response. You weren't expecting him to be so forward, maybe you should have. 

“Fine.” You turn and look at him. He should be the one to speak his peace first. He’s the one who pushed for this meeting back in the lobby. But you're sick of avoiding the confrontation. You'll confess first. 

“Oscar, I don’t regret Monaco. If I'm being honest with myself, I want it to happen again. But don’t you understand why I say it can’t happen again? You’ve been here, almost every step of my career. You know how hard it’s been for me. Not just in the car. And it’s stupid that it would be a big deal if we got together. Stupid that people are going to use it as a way to justify not taking me seriously. But you know it will happen. Just those pictures of us in Monaco were hell for me.” I pause and look forward. “And I don’t want to sneak around. Watch my back every time we are together.” You move your feet through the water.

Oscar listens to you with an intense look on his face.

“I understand. And you’re right, they’re always going to talk,” he responds. You look at him. “It’s inevitable. It’s not fair. But that’s how we’re living. I know you're concerned about your career and reputation, but you’re at the top. You’re a great driver. So fuck them," he says looking back at you.

You sit quietly, waiting for him to continue. 

“I’m sick of pretending like my feelings don’t exist, I don’t care if everyone talks about me and our relationship or rumors or whatever, I don’t have anything to prove to anyone.” The floodgates are open now. 

“I want to try. If you’ve already made up your mind and you’re done with this, then cut me lose now.“

Your mind is working overtime. You're trying to process his words and process your reaction to them. You know he’s right. If you keep running from relationships because you're scared of what people think, you're going to be alone until you retire. But your mind still runs to headlines. *McLaren and Red Bull. Competitors or Lovers?*. It’s not just the fans, the media. What about your teams? There’s no way things won’t get uncomfortable.

Oscar can tell your mind is racing, it's hard to take everything in so suddenly. If something were to happen between the two of you, you were right, a lot would change. 

But Oscar believed it was worth a shot. 

“What happened between us was only one night. But usually when people feel how we’r– I’m feeling, they get to explore that...” Oscar cringes slightly at his words. He's saying exactly what he means, but it sounds so corny out loud. 

“What I’m trying to say is that we could decide to actually spend more time together. Give us a shot. And it's a real possibility it just doesn’t work.” He looks up, trying to find the rest of the words to verbalize what he’s feeling. “But we can’t know that unless we try.”

He finishes his speech and looks away, his head lowered. The words were finally out there, there was no hiding from those feelings anymore. 

You can't find any words. He cannot look at you. All you two can do is sit there, waiting for the other to make the next move.

You look at the side of his face. His freckles and moles you had once traced. His hair. It was messy again, maybe he was running his hands through it before you got here. You continue staring at him, just examining.

Eventually, you look back at the pool. You sit for a moment before moving your feet in the water, tapping Oscar's next to you. 

He felt your foot lightly touch him in the water. He looks into the pool and he gives a small smile. His eyes travel to your leg, close to his now, and he pushes his lightly back into you. 

You still aren’t looking at each other as your legs keep touching in the pool. And now you can feel his hand nearly touching yours, and you inch it closer. You feel his slight touch back as your pinkies are now intertwined. 

It was so still and so quiet. All you could hear was the slight trickle of water, your legs and hands lightly touching, and the occasional small breeze that came by. 

You don’t know how long it's been when you finally turn to Oscar. He’s still looking at the pool. Your heart is beating faster and faster and you've made your decision. Is it the right one? Is there even a right decision in this situation? You don’t know. 

You move your hand away, your pinkies no longer intertwined. 

Oscar felt you move away, feeling a tinge of pain, it seemed like you decided to leave. 

He stays still, facing the pool. 

You linger for a second before you begin to trace your fingers on his back and up along his neck.

He looks over at you when you do this. Now that he's facing you, you run your fingers through his hair and rest a hand on his face, your thumb caressing his cheek. 

Oscar shudders slightly as your fingers go through his hair, it's such a tender and sweet gesture. His breathing started to slow, the tension that had built up this whole time and throughout this conversation was now subsiding. He can feel you gently touching his face and it feels so natural.

His hand now finds your face, lightly brushing a piece of hair behind your ear and then resting on the back of your neck. You turn your body more completely now, bringing one of your legs out of the pool, bent in between you two, while the other still floats.

Oscar feels your leg come out of the pool and is placed in between the two of you, the both of you are practically pressed together now. 

You feel his hand caress the back of your neck, as he draws you closer to him. You lean closer too. No words have been exchanged but it’s clear you've both made your decision. It’s almost as if with your simple action of leaning closer, a secret agreement between the two of you was silently accepted.

Your heads are touching now, your legs pressed tight between the two of you. No words need to be spoken to prove it, something had happened and now it was time for you both to embrace it.

You kiss him. Finally. 

He kisses you back.

Maybe this was the wrong decision. Maybe not. Either way, right now you and Oscar couldn't care less. All you wanted in this moment was him. All he wanted was you. The worries of being caught, the reactions of fans, your teams, and the media, and the fear that whatever this is would just be a fling, dissolved in the kiss. You were the only two people who mattered at this moment, the only ones who knew how you were feeling and what you had gone through just to be in each other's arms again. 

And as Oscar pulls you closer and smiles into the kiss, you know for a fact that this is the best decision you've ever made. 

-

f1gossipofficial

Liked by user4337 and 98,963 others f1gossipofficial McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Y/n Y/l/n spotted together again in the night leading up to the qualifying sessions of the Belgian Grand Prix.

view all 54,041 comments

landonorris oh wow (deleted by author)

a/n: the end 😄 they are such idiots, how are you about to get caught AGAIN after your whole plan was to be incongnito!

[greenqueenhightower]

Hey.

I constantly argue back and forth with TB stans that Jace, Luke and Joffrey aren't legitimised just because Laenor, Corlys and Viserys go along with Rhaenyra’s lie about them being "trueborn". As I'm sure you're aware, in Westeros only a king can legitimise the illegitimate by first declaring their bastardy and then legitimising them afterwards. And TB stans. Just. Don't. Get. It. They also seem to think that the King's word is law in Westeros. They don't understand that this a feudal monarchy where the king and his vassals are reliant upon each other and both must respect the social contract in order for the Westerosi social structures e.g. monarchy to be maintained.

IMO, they fall for the narrative trap of the Targaryen characters. Just because Viserys and Rhaenyra say that the King's word is law doesn't actually make it law. It's only law as long as the king has the ability to enforce it. Therefore, if a king did something insane in the eyes of his noble polity, e.g., try to place his bastards in the line of succession, they'd rebel proving accurately that the King's word is in fact not actually law. Aerys's overthrowing is a great example of this. As is the reign of Daeron II: if his word was law and everyone had to obey him, no one would have joined Daemon Blackfyre's rebellion.

Anyway back to TB stans. I think alot of them don't actually realise how the world works. Even GRRM confirmed the bastardy of Rhaenyra’s 3 son's for goodness sake. Every time they try to deny it using the aforementioned argument it only confuses me. Are they insecure about Rhaenyra having illegitimate children? Is that how far they're para-social relationship with her goes?

They also have another stupid argument that Rhaenyra's kids having her blood means that they can inherit her throne. No no no no no no no no no. THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS TB. If it was Westerosi lords with bastard relatives, it would allow them to inherit. You have to be trueborn. It's unfair but these unfair laws are what keeps Westeros from constant civil war. That's the point of inheritance law in the Seven Kingdoms.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. It's just that sometimes when I argue with certain TB stans they don't seem to understand the laws of the world they're fans of. They will bend over backwards to excuse their faves, not understanding that you are allowed to criticise a character you like (& in their case love). I think Rhaenyra is an interesting character - moreso in the book TBH - I just don't get why so many TB stans willfully refuse to understand the way in which the laws of the world she inhabits work. Any thoughts?

Hi anon, it took me forever to get to your ask but you're right! 💚

Not all TB stans share the same views, and there are people in here with whom you can converse intelligently, but I have also seen the discourse you're referring to, and it is very annoying when the stans don't get it.

You put the Westerosi legitimization process very well. If we consider the greater Middle Ages-inspired world-building context that Westeros is based on, it makes sense why bastardy is a stigmatized social issue. Blood "purity," lineage, and legitimacy are important because they are the only way land and titles are bequeathed and inherited.

The King is the only one who can legitimize his own illegitimate children as heirs, but he can do so for other illegitimate children, regardless of whether these are related to him by blood. King Louis IV, for example, legitimized John II Duke of Brabant's son, Jan Cordeken, after a petition John wrote to him thus enabling him to inherit his father's fortune and found the House of Glymes. From Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to Enlightenment Europe, there are examples of Kings legitimizing not only their children but also the children of their officials, courtiers, and friends. It was seen as granting a favor to them, and when it came to personal matters, a King might choose to legitimize his children when he ran out of heirs, or in the case of Louis XIV, because he could and wanted to.

In other words, Viserys, who knew of but chose to ignore Rhaenyra's sons' (his grandsons') bastardy, had ample time and opportunity to legitimize them but chose to blind himself to the truth instead. What was that about Alicent calling Viserys "weak" in one of the deleted scenes of S1? Well, "weak" isn't the only word I would use to describe him... also irresponsible, foolish, and inadequate.

Nevertheless, the legitimization process in history was seldom favored by the court, the King's vassals, and the people, and caused quite a stir. As you say, the King's law didn't hold up that much ground compared to the law of tradition and at times the Church. The people didn't care if a King legitimized a child by naming them heir... the stigma of being born "illegitimate" wasn't washed off that easily, because bastards were seen as devilish, impure, half-breeds, unnatural hybrids, and so forth. So Viserys choosing to ignore the issue face front was bound to be catastrophic, because no matter how he tried to silence the tongues that wagged by threatening to cut them off, the issue of his grandsons' apparent bastardy remained, and THE REALM would not accept any of them on the Iron Throne, for the same reasons.

And Viserys did nothing about it. He could have confronted Rhaenyra when Jace was born and reminded her of the stark reality of the consequences of what she was doing. Not only did he name Rhaenyra (a woman) as his heir, which alone was controversial and unprecedented, but a woman with three illegitimate children, whose existence never even tried to correct or prevent. Viserys alone weakened Rhaenyra's claim with his lack of foresight and counsel.

If TB uphold the "Viserys loved his grandsons and he accepted them as they were" narrative, they are not only deluded but lack media literacy as well, because Viserys DIDN'T CARE if his grandsons were trueborn or not, or if that would plunge the realm to war, the same way he didn't care that he had named Rhaenyra as his successor when the realm, who was so used to having Kings for centuries, knew he had THREE legitimate sons of his own.

So my two cents on the discourse would basically be that those who don't understand the social and political repercussions of Rhaenyra having bastards, not being counseled as to why this is destructive, left on her own to raise them, and having to cope with the consequences of her actions as she realizes that the father she so loved and admired didn't protect or support her at all, are missing out on a much more interesting character in Rhaenyra and a more complex dynamic with her sons, who she now understands are exceptionally vulnerable and potentially threatening to her cause.

This is a far more intriguing reading than anything TB stans are getting at with their "no criticism" ban on Viserys and Rhaenyra.

[songmingisthighs]

Oddeleny

introduction pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iii

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ch. xx - plan z

ghost!yeosang × reader

wc: 1.4 k

genre : ghost!au

rating, warning : mature; crude jokes and filthy language, mentions of attempted murder, depiction of trauma (described) fear, hitting

buy me coffee ?

a connection once had, broken with the expectation that the ending is final. but life has an odd proclivity of making attachments from detachments. in the end, we don't know what we lost until we look at what we have

You could hear your heart pounding in your ears and the vibration was so prominent that you were sure that it was beating right against your skin.

You were never a fan of hospitals what with the two most traumatic experiences of your life happened at the hospital. The first one was when your grandfather was officially pronounced dead and your parents blamed you for your 'negligence'. You were a child, you thought your grandpa was napping, it was just a freak situation that had your parents been there too, they wouldn't have been able to foresee or avoid. The second one was when your parents dragged you by the collar of your uniform (literally) to apologize to Yeosang for almost killing him and seeing Yeosang avoiding your gaze, not even acknowledging you nor the fact that your father had you bowing to the floor so harshly that there was a bruise on your forehead. Not even your sobs and your apology which ultimately became the ammo they wield in their weapon to get you thrown out of school because it was a "confession". Coercion was never questioned and the fact that no one was backing you up because you were an outcast didn't help.

So now, back in the hospital with an unconscious Yeosang in front of you started stirring some anxiety back. You hesitated to make a move because Yeosang's unchanging look made you think that something bad was going to happen. As ridiculous as it was, you did think that your parents would suddenly barge in and throw you to the floor and force you to beg for forgiveness again.

"What are you doing?"

The voice from your phone almost gave you a heart attack but thankfully you recovered immediately. "What the hell is wrong with you?" you hissed as you brought your phone to your face and glared at Yeosang who was on the screen, "What did I tell you about suddenly showing your face like this? I almost shat myself you asshole." Yeosang cringed and shook his head, "Yeah, that's not something I need to know. Why are you just standing there?" you look between your screen and the body lying on the bed a couple of times before answering, "This is a lot freaky for me, okay? To be honest, until 2 minutes ago, I still believed that you were not in a coma and were just pranking me to extort something out of me." Thankfully, Yeosang was understanding to your predicament, only nodding and letting you take steps forward at your own pace until you stood next to his physical body.

"Okay, so how are we doing this?" you asked, "Do I just... Plug you in?" you looked around to see if there was any way you could... Transfer? Him? "Do you think this is like a data transfer?" he asked, unsure as well. "I don't know what this is like, it's not like your soul came with an instruction," you deadpanned and he rolled his eyes, "I'm equally stumped so let's not be snarky," you couldn't help but mock him because while he had a point, it was annoying.

Without thinking, you tried a bunch of stuff from putting the phone in his hand to pressing the phone on his forehead, both the front and back. This made Yeosang sigh loudly, "Do you think I'm Bluetooth transferable or NFT readable or something?" he sounded exasperated you couldn't blame him because his body was just there and he was so close to returning but you were trying your best. "Hey, at least I'm trying here. I'm risking A LOT to be here and it's not like you're giving out ideas on what to do!" you exclaimed angrily. Yeosang opened his mouth to answer but you held a hand up, "No, you listen to me first. I'm doing this out of the kindness of my own heart and you're just pressuring me to try and try and try and I am trying and I'm so pissed at you for only bitching and not doing anything to help either of us in this situation!" "I would help if I could but my movements and reach are VERY restricted! I'm scared, okay? I can see the way I'm just right there and it looks like I'm just sleeping but I'm not! My soul is stuck in a tin can like sardines!" he fought back.

Although you wanted to respond, something he said struck you and an idea popped up.

You slapped Yeosang's physical body and the Yeosang that was in your monitor reeled from the impact.

"Hey!" he exclaimed and he was about to angrily tell you off when he realized that he felt something. "Oh my God, what did you do?" he asked, now amazed. So you tried again, this time slapping him from the other side and he responded accordingly, reeling to the other side.

"Can you feel that?" you asked, amazed at the reaction. When Yeosang nodded, you hit him again and this time his physical body stirred at the same time your screen started glitching. "Yes!" you exclaimed loudly.

Your phone became even more glitchy despite you not hitting Yeosang's physical body but for a moment, you truly believed that he was about to wake up. "One more! (y/n), one more!" Yeosang's voice boomed from your phone and despite the cracking and delay, you could hear what he said.

So you did as told.

Hoping that this was it, you slapped Yeosang's physical body again and this time, you saw his eyes fluttered open slowly.

For the first time in almost one and a half decades, you were looking into the eyes of someone who you used to care for a lot. You had once thought that seeing Yeosang again would be painful, that you would hate it and that you would probably want to run away from it. But no, all you felt was glad and you couldn't help but crack a smile the same time Yeosang almost too.

But, your feeling was right.

All of a sudden, the door barged open and you were suddenly yanked back while someone, in a flash, headed over to Yeosang's side to reach over to the buttons above his head and pressed something that made an alarm ring. You looked up to see a face that cursed you at your last meeting and in fear, you turned to look at Yeosang. Your heart sank when you saw that his eyes were back to being closed as if he hadn't just opened his eyes merely seconds ago.

The chaos that erupted caused your ears to ring because all you could think about was how you came so close to getting Yeosang back only for it to fail so miserably.

You didn't even know what happened until you were grabbed by the shoulders and shook violently.

"Was the first attempt not enough for you?"

It was confusing. It took a moment for you to focus but when you did you were met with the face of the other person who cursed you at your last meeting.

Yeosang's mom was hitting you as his dad handed you over to a nurse who immediately escorted you out.

"I- I was-" you tried defending yourself but his mom kept following and hitting you, "I saw you! I saw you hit him! You wanted to kill him because you failed last time, you wretched girl! How can you live with yourself? How can you do this to someone innocent?"She cried, screamed, really which then became an announcement to the whole VIP coma ward, allowing people who were in the hallway to stare and whisper while the people in the other rooms who got curious stepped out to see the commotion.

Noises mingling together between Yeosang's mom's screams of hurtful accusation at you, his dad who was trying to get her to go see if their son was okay, Yunho and Jongho who did their to shield you from the impact while telling Yeosang's mom to back off, and Hongjoong who clawed the nurse off of you so he could cover you instead.

Your head was buzzing and there were pins and needles prickling your fingertips. So you closed your eyes and let your friends take you away, you let them lead you to wherever you needed to go because, at that moment, you were not the you that had grown. At that moment, you were the 12-year-old middle school student who got accused of attempted murder.

And it was terrifying.

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[thetavolution]

20 TAV/OC QUESTIONS

I did it again!

Please consider yourself tagged if you want to! Feel free to @ me so I can read them.

This time it's Paloma (drow monk) and Lamia (changeling bard rogue disguised as a half-drow)! More under the cut.

Paloma

I. what do they smell like at their freshest? (and/or after a tenday. your choice)

Her kids would tell you she smells "like mom."

Other people describe her scent as pomegranate, ylang ylang, and mandarin.

II. what would their blood taste like to vampires?

It would be sweet and fruity like peaches or maybe a little tart like pomegranate juice.

III. how would they kiss their LI?

She's a sweet and gentle kisser until you get her in the bedroom. She loves to shower her lover with kisses whenever she can. She's a body worshipper with her kisses, too.

IV. how do they sleep with their LI (what position, does one steal the blankets, is one too hot/cold, etc)?

She's always cold and hates it. She piles on the blankets and probably has her own separate blankets to avoid stealing from her lover. She would also be pressed against Halsin for warmth. Even in the summer, she'd be desperate for body heat.

He'd happily hold her tightly.

V. what does their tent area look like? where do they prefer to pitch their tent (next to water, covered on three sides, etc)?

It's immaculate with very little clutter. She travels light so it would mostly just be things necessary for survival and to make the trip moderately comfortable. She does carry a few gifts from her kids. (She avoids images of them for the children's safety.)

She also always has a snack stash. She's a mom and it's habit now.

VI. if they had a set of dnd dice, what would they look like?

It'd be blue sandstone.

Photo from Crystal Maggie.

VII. do they collect anything (gems, bottles, keys, etc)?

She doesn't really collect things. She's not a big fan of owning more than she needs.

VIII. if either, are they part of the astarion/gale book club (magic & literature) or the wyll/shadowheart book club (trashy romance novels)?

She'd be in Astarion and Gale's club. She loves to read and she'd ask those two for recommendations. She wouldn't mind hearing what Shadowheart and Wyll recommend though.

IX. if they had to be put in a “get along shirt” with a companion, who would it be?

Minthara. They do not like each other and they never see eye to eye on things. Paloma is so unlike lolth-sworn drow that she rarely gets on with any of them. She doesn't keep up with traditional drow politics either.

Paloma has a son and doesn't appreciate a lot of the choice words Minthara has to say about that.

X. do they prefer speak with dead or speak with animals?

She'd say speak with animals.

XI. what are their thoughts on clowns?

She hates them and considers them annoying, but just tries to ignore them when she can. She happily sends Minthara to go on stage with Dribbles.

One of her kids loves them so she knows way too much clown fandom lore. It's her curse.

XII. their companions are gossiping about them behind their back! who is it and what are they saying?

She's secretive so her companions would try to figure out what she's hiding. They would find little hints of something here and there. They'd be trying to solve the mystery and coming up with ideas.

While Shadowheart would respect her privacy, she's not above what she sees as harmless theorizing. She'd assume she was running away from something dark. Astarion would have the most outlandish theories about who she really is. Wyll would romanticize whatever her history is. Gale tries not to gossip about it, but he has some very educated guesses he wants to share.

They would also gossip about how unlike most drow she is. Minthara would loudly talk shit about her "behind her back."

The other gossip would be how she was good at hiding what a horndog she is until she met Halsin.

XIII. what makes them laugh? what does their laugh sound like?

She has a deep and soft laugh. She has a very dry, deadpan sense of humor, but she can also be silly. Her kids can always make her laugh. She and Jaheira have a very similar sense of humor.

If she didn't hate Minthara so much, she'd admit she's really funny.

XIV. do they have any inside jokes among their companions?

She'd have a few with Halsin. There would be a lot of innuendo that would make everyone roll their eyes. I'm really struggling with the inside jokes part of this and I can't say why.

She and Jaheira would. I have to revisit this after I think of anything good to share.

XV. what’s the description of their camp clothes in the inventory menu?

"Warm and snug, but made of flexible material in case heads need to roll in the middle of the night."

XVI. what’s the description of their underwear in the inventory menu?

"Not the type of underwear associated with monks, but something a little more fun...."

XVII. how do they celebrate their birthday?

She's not used to taking time for herself so she never really celebrated her birthday. For years, only Lamia would acknowledge it and get her a gift and a slice of cake.

After the kids were old enough, they try to do things for their mom's birthday. They cook for her, take care of the house for her, and just want to do things with her. Halsin easily slips into that family dynamic. Halsin gives her meaningful gifts and makes sure she doesn't have to lift a finger for the day. The kids and Halsin always make sure she gets cinnamon rolls for her birthday breakfast.

XVIII. what modern day tv show would they binge over a weekend? do they get their LI to watch with them?

She'd binge shows like The Bear, Carol & the End of the World, Cunk on Earth, Mandy (she'd love Diane Morgan), Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Fleabag, and Bridgerton.

She'd also watch UNHhhh and Drag Race with her sister, Lamia. She wouldn't ask Halsin to watch with her, but he probably would watch her favorite shows to understand her interests better. They'd watch so many documentaries together.

She would also be a Bluey mom.

XIX. do you have a playlist for your tav? if so, what’s the title + description?

I never name my playlists lol. I'm way too lazy.

Surface Pressure - Jessica Darrow

Reach - Madds Buckley

Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman

She Used To Be Mine - Sara Bareilles

Momma's Got This - Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, and Tituss Burgess

Zero Gravity - Kate Miller-Heidke

Moral of the Story - Ashe (about her ex and father of her children)

Eldest Daughter - Isabel Pless

No Time To Die - Billie Eilish (another one for her ex)

Ready Now - Dodie (this honestly works for Paloma/Halsin or her relationship with Lamia)

Like Real People Do - Hozier (for Paloma/Halsin)

Speechless - Alicia Keys ft Eve (for her children)

Sweetest Devotion - Adele (for her babies again)

Closer - Nine Inch Nails (for Paloma/Halsin)

Thousand Miles - Miley Cyrus ft Brandi Carlile

You're Gonna Be - Reba McEntire (for her children once more)

Praying - Kesha

Breath (2 AM) - Anna Nalick (it felt perfect for her and Lamia's bond)

Interlude: I'm Not Angry Anymore - Paramore

XX. if you were to try pickpocketing them, what would they be carrying?

She wouldn't have much aside from some money, snacks, and some pictures her children drew for her.

Lamia

I. what do they smell like at their freshest? (and/or after a tenday. your choice)

She tries not to smell too strongly of anything so she can sneak up on people more effectively. She'd probably smell like a mixture of leather and rosin if you got close enough.

If she's going to an event where she can dress up and doesn't have to worry about sneaking around, she smells like amber and honey with a touch of vanilla.

II. what would their blood taste like to vampires?

It'd be sweet and spicy like a sweet serrano chili sauce.

III. how would they kiss their LI?

She has two love interest options: Astarion and Wyll.

She's passionate, but often sloppy. She's not used to romance, but hot and heavy trysts and booty calls.

When in a more vulnerable state, she's more likely to give slow and/or delicate kisses.

IV. how do they sleep with their LI (what position, does one steal the blankets, is one too hot/cold, etc)?

She runs hot and she's a flopper. She flops around in her sleep and steals all of the blankets. It's like sharing a bed with a cat.

She gets a little better at sharing her space over time. She still wakes up all over the place, or sprawled out over her lover.

V. what does their tent area look like? where do they prefer to pitch their tent (next to water, covered on three sides, etc)?

It is a mess. She has booze bottles that she promises she's going to toss out soon. There are plenty of knives and whatever objects and money she's stolen. She doesn't like being snuck up on so she always makes sure her tent is up against a wall or something.

VI. if they had a set of dnd dice, what would they look like?

It would be white with red blood splatter

Photo from DigitalDice on Etsy.

VII. do they collect anything (gems, bottles, keys, etc)?

Not exactly. The girl just steals things and keeps it in her tent. Some things she keeps in case she "needs it" or she sells it.

VIII. if either, are they part of the astarion/gale book club (magic & literature) or the wyll/shadowheart book club (trashy romance novels)?

Wyll/Shadowheart, without a doubt.

In a relationship with Astarion, he would be able to talk her into reading certain books. They'd have a private book club away from the others... that would turn into a lot of sex.

IX. if they had to be put in a “get along shirt” with a companion, who would it be?

Lae'zel. They don't hate each other, but they can't stand each other. They fight all of the time. It's amazing they haven't killed each other.

X. do they prefer speak with dead or speak with animals?

Speak with animals. She loves animals, what can I say?

XI. what are their thoughts on clowns?

Lamia loves clowns, especially when they make others uncomfortable. It's part of the joy. Astarion is so confused by this love. She definitely would go to a clown show with Wyll.

XII. their companions are gossiping about them behind their back! who is it and what are they saying?

She does a lot of the gossiping while simultaneously being offended when others gossip about her. She wants to be loved. But really there's a lot of "How do we solve a problem like Maria Lamia" going on behind her back. Her companions would be near mutiny until they realized she actually knows what she's doing. Then it'd go from judgmental to concerned. This girl really needs to get her life together.

I'm playing with her as a Dark Urge and after that's revealed, people would talk about that behind her back. Even if they trust her, it's hard not to gossip about hanging out with a real Bhaalspawn.

XIII. what makes them laugh? what does their laugh sound like?

Campy things can get her to laugh. She does love sarcasm and anti-humor. Her sense of humor can be mean spirited, but she never wants to REALLY hurt anybody.

She has two laughs. Her low chuckle and her very loud cackle. Her cackle can be likened to an old school anime laugh.

XIV. do they have any inside jokes among their companions?

She and Astarion have a million inside jokes. I'm still blanking on what they'd be. They'd probably have way too many Bhaal jokes. She'd also have plenty with Wyll.

Naturally, she has a lot of inside jokes with Paloma. They're sisters, y'know? Since she's a Bhaalspawn, she'd have an inside joke or two with Orin and Gortash. Lamia often remembers weird shit people have said. Most of her inside jokes are this:

Gortash misspoke one time and now she'll never let him live it down, even as mortal enemies.

I have to figure out how to mash Lamia's original backstory with the Bhaalspawn storyline.

XV. what’s the description of their camp clothes in the inventory menu?

"Though it's comfortable for a nice of restful sleep, it's also perfect for slipping away into the shadows."

XVI. what’s the description of their underwear in the inventory menu?

"Why even bother wearing underwear at all?"

There's just not that much fabric.

XVII. how do they celebrate their birthday?

There'd be a lot of partying and drinking. She usually ends up totally trashed by the end of the night. There's a present pile for her and a lot of party foods.

As time passes, she does less crazy partying. She starts to value just getting some drinks with friends and having them show her with gifts and praise. (She isn't going to be a different person, just a calmer one.)

XVIII. what modern day tv show would they binge over a weekend? do they get their LI to watch with them?

She's binging a lot of UNHhhh, Rupaul's Drag Race, and The Boulet Brothers' Dragula. Astarion and/or Wyll would happily watch all three with her. Paloma already watches them with her and Lamia probably even has the kids watching it once they're old enough.

She'd watch a lot of reality TV, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and True Blood. Astarion and Wyll would love it. You cant tell me they wouldn't love trash TV.

Wyll has a LOT of opinions on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

XIX. do you have a playlist for your tav? if so, what’s the title + description?

Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) - Pet Shop Boys

Daisy - Ashnikko

Dirty Imbecile - The Happy Fits

Sweet But Psycho - Ava Max

Bad Girls - Tennis

Angry Too - Lola Blanc

Lilith - Ellise

How to Be a Heartbreaker - MARINA

Demons - Hayley Kiyoko

One Love Can Save Me Now - The Pretty Reckless (for either Lamia/Astarion or Lamia/Wyll)

Devil's Worst Nightmare - FJØRA

Psycho - Maisie Peters (I heard this and immediately thought Lamia/Gortash)

Joke's On You - Charlotte Lawrence

Villainous Thing - Shayfer James

The Red Means I Love You - Madds Buckley (for Lamia/Astarion)

Work Song by Hozier (for Lamia/Wyll)

Mess Is Mine by Vance Joy (for Lamia/Wyll)

Tear You Apart - Megan McDuffee (for Lamia/Astarion)

Arms Tonite - Mother Mother (for Lamia/Astarion)

Nobody's Daughter - Hole

XX. if you were to try pickpocketing them, what would they be carrying?

Money and knives. So many knives. And then she'd stab whoever pickpocketed her with one of those knives.

[dreamwritesimagines]

I stumbled upon your Sunshine HC today while jonesing for my fix and absolutely adore them! I can 100% see Logan not knowing what exactly it is about Sunshine that endears him to her so, it just feels like he'd throttle anyone (other than Theo) who rambles like she does but for some reason he just can't put his finger on it it's (gasp!) cute when she does it.

Secondly, I whole heartedly believe that Sir Bartholomeow adopts Logan when Theo is at home on weekends. Logan doesn't want to like the cat, but it just keeps showing up in his room or laundry or just seeking him out in a room full of people to cuddle up and purr next to, and suddenly before he knows it he's in over his head because every member of the Sunshine family just burrows their way into his heart.

Finally, I saw you post that you are not traditionally a Wolverine/X-Men fan and may I say, I'm *highly* impressed by your Logan!! So many fics have him off the charts OOC but I feel like yours is the perfect blend of gruff yet soft *hearts*

As a lifelong X-Men fan, let me tell you that the Fox timeline absolutely sucks and makes no sense no matter in what order you try and watch. They were all over the place and often not canon to one another.

I can offer a few facts about Logan from the comic book-verse just in case your muse is interested!

He was born in the 19th century as James Howlett, his parents John & Elizabeth were wealthy and it's basically all but spelled out that he's actually the illegitimate son of Thomas Logan, the abusive groundskeeper of the Howletts via an affair with Elizabeth. Side note - Elizabeth and John had another son, John III, who died previous and may also have been Thomas'. Thomas was raising/abusing another son he named (no joke) Dog. A chain of events leads Thomas to kill John, and in turn James' mutation activates and he kills Thomas with his claws and flees. He adopts the name "Logan" and for a time is even living with a pack of wolves.

Eventually he ends up fighting in World War I and II and eventually marries and settles in Japan with his wife. Things go badly (again) and his pregnant wife is murdered - he doesn't know it but the baby was "removed" from her prior to her death and its many *many* years before he meets his son, Daken.

Eventually he's kidnapped into the "Weapon X" program and tortured. The program uses his healing factor against him and forcibly bond adamantium to his bones. Eventually he escapes but is left with post traumatic amnesia. It's at this point that he joins the X-Men and becomes the Wolverine we know and love.

And speaking of Logan as a "girl dad", over the years he unofficially adopts a number of girls including Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat), Jubilee, and Rogue. Ultimately he 'adopts' a girl named Laura Kinney, who is believed to be his female clone (X-23). Eventually they discover Laura is actually his daughter.

And just for some muse food that may impact future!daughter Sunshine, know that both of his kids (Daken and Laura - and Laura's clone Gabby) have *very* similar abilities to him. All three have enhanced senses, strength, healing and claws (amongst other abilities). The claws do vary though - Daken has two on top of his hand and one in his wrist, Laura has two on the top of her hand and one in her foot and Gabby just has one on each hand.

And I'm going to shut up now that I've word vomited just as bad as our dear Sunshine and Theo!

Hi loveeee! 🥰

Aaaaaaa I absolutely love this, thank you so so much! 😍 It's so wonderful to hear that you liked the HCs ❤️

Oh you're absolutely right, if it were anyone else other than Sunshine (and Theo) rambling his ear off, he would be veeery annoyed but he's literally watching Sunshine with heart eyes whenever she does it ❤️

Sir Bartholomeow adopting Logan asdfghjkl, cat distribution system 😂

suddenly before he knows it he's in over his head because every member of the Sunshine family just burrows their way into his heart. THIS IS SO ADORABLEEEE! ❤️ I can just see him walking into his room one day to find Sunshine sleeping there with Theo and Sir Bartholomeow sitting by them like he's guarding them ❤️

And Logan will be walking around with Sir Bartholomeow comfortably sitting on his shoulder at the weekend😂

OMG OMG it is so nice of youuuu! ❤️ I was like very nervous about it at first, because I didn't know if he was in character because I didn't watch all the movies and it's like very recent for me, so it's so lovely to hear that he in fact is in character! 🥰

WAIT WAIT I LOVE FACTS ABOUT LOGAN! AAAAA-

Oh noooo his actual father was evil?! 😱

I'm sorry, his father named his son what-

LOGAN LIVED WITH A PACK OF WOLVES?!

He has a son????

Oh that's why he didn't remember the experiments! 😱

Laura is his actual daughter???

Oh that's very interesting! So their abilities are basically the same as his but with small differences aw! ❤️ I wonder what kind of claws his daughter with Sunshine would have🥰 Her strength will shock them too when it first shows😂

Honey I absolutely LOVE THIS! ❤️ You're so amazing, thank you so so much! 🥰🥰🥰

[grumpy-liebgott]

Miscellaneous Tag Game (pt. ii)

Made by the lovely @onehelluvamarine and thank you for the tag @panzershrike-pretz <333

A band you don’t like that many others do:

BTS. Idk why but I'm just not the biggest fan of them

A childhood memory that you remember vividly:

When I was younger, my sisters and I would put aside time every night to play blind man's bluff with my dad in my parents' room. Every night, we would choose a different person to be the blind man, and the rest of us would have either 3, 5, or 10 lives (depends on how tired my dad was that day). It didn't matter what our mood was before, after we played blind man's bluff, we were all happy and giggling. I loved those moments and I still smile at the memories.

Least favorite animal and why:

Flies and mosquitoes. THEY'RE SO ANNOYING. THE WAY THEY BUZZ BESIDE YOUR EARS AND LAND ON YOUR FOOD AND BITE YOU. Ugh I hate them so much.

Hot fandom take:

I don't knowwwww

Do you wear any jewelry, if so, what’s your favorite piece:

I rarely ever wear jewellery except for a necklace my mum had made when I was a baby. It's in the shape of a heart and has my name engraved on it. My mum and my sisters all have one of their own.

Besides that, I used to have two pairs of clip on earrings that I absolutely adored. My grandpa banned my sisters and I from ever having piercings, but I've always wanted earrings, so my mum got me those clip on ones. Sadly, I lost both of them a few months ago.

A movie others liked but you didn’t:

I don't know, maybe the new animated Super Mario Brothers movie? I fell asleep half way through it. Though, that could probably be because I was just too tired.

Three things you love about yourself:

- my hair. It has a few different shades of brown with some copper and gold strands mixed in. I have my mum's genetics to thank for that

- my ability to memorise things (very handy in exams)

- my eyes

A place you hope to visit in the future and why:

Italy. It's always been on my bucket list to visit Italy. It just looks like such a beautiful country

An actor that gets on your nerves and why:

There isn't any, really. I don't know much about celebrities lives because I don't actually care, and I think they should have their own privacy.

Things you’re excited for in the nearby future?

Celebrating Chinese new year with my family!

Least favorite ship in a fandom you’re in:

Thor/Loki from the Marvel fandom. Like, come on, they're siblings. Adopted siblings, but still!

What’s the most toxic fandom you’ve been in?

All the fandoms I've been in haven't been very toxic. But then again, the HBOWar fandom is the only one I've really interacted much with.

List three things you find beautiful about life:

- being able to watch the sky. The clouds, the stars, the moon. They're all so nice to look at.

- spending time with the people I love. Whether it's my family or my friends, I appreciate all the little things we do together

- playing with my pet dogs. I love seeing them so happy and excited when I play fetch with them

Any dreams for the future?

I hope to one day become a sucessful veterinarian who ensures long happy lives of pets, with enough income to support my family.

How are you really feeling today?

Honestly, not too good. I was tired the whole day and I'm down with a cold. Oh well, at least tomorrow is a holiday for me so I can rest up.

Tagging (no pressure) : @ronald-speirs @malarkgirlypop @a-n-t-h-e-a @l13bg0tt @1waveshortofashipwreck @blueberry-ovaries

[greenfinchwriter]

for the fun asks: 3, 8, and/or 9! :3

Hiiiii!!!! Hope you're well!! Thanks so much for the asks!!!

I hope these are from the correct ask game,since I've reblogged way too many. My apologies if I answered for the wrong questions!

3. 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

Tři oříšky pro Popelku (German: Drei Hasselnüße für Aschenbrödel, English: Three Wishes/Hazelnuts for Cinderella), a Czechoslovak- German co-production from 1973. The story is based on a Bohemian variation of the Cinderella fairytale. This movie is a holiday classic in my family growing up,a tradition which I've carried over to my own kids. We watch it every year during the holiday season,and it is a deeply nostalgic movie for me. Unlike most Cinderella retellings,and fairy tale based movies in general the protagonist is more than just humble,sweet,pretty,and virtuous - she's a proactive,feisty badass who is endearing for being more than the archetype one would expect.

The Avengers and Captain America movies: I know it's become kinda fashionable to complain about Marvel movies but as a lifelong comic book fan,I can hardly describe the easy,relaxing joy they make me feel. Are they perfect? No,of course not. Especially the lack of Stucky follow through. But that's okay.

The Godfather Part I and II: Masterfully made movies that do justice to the source material,and have just always fascinated me.

8. Any recurring dreams?

Unfortunately I'm not often able to remember my dreams. The ones I do remember are usually unpleasant nightmares,and of those not many are repeat offenders lol 😬

9. Tell a story about your childhood!

As compensation for the lack of recurring dreams here are two:

I occasionally used to go trick or treating on my ponies,and loved the Halloween dress up shows. Oh and I've ridden my horse through a drive thru once lol

Once when we were on vacation my eldest brother managed to convince my 5 year old self not only of the existence of nearly invisible,carnivorous jellyfish with human level intelligence (their favorite prey being annoying little sisters,ofc) but that glow sticks were radioactive - for a "gifted" kid I sure was pretty stupid😅🤦‍♀️ Our parents eventually caught on and put a stop to it but I'd wasted a couple of days terrified of beach because of the killer jellyfish that were supposedly out to get me😬😂

[brutal-nemesis]

Goretober II: Hook, Line, and Sarcasm

Continuing to explore my stupid probably unrealistic ideas via @coyotehusk's goretober✨

←Previous - Castys Masterlist - Goretober Masterlist - Next→

Ingredients: hooks of different sizes piercing into a guy, suspension, eye whump/gore, inhuman whumper

Castys was not a fan of the tentacles.

He didn’t even like eating them when it was like an octopus or something, the texture always weirded him out, but Kuro’s tentacles were a whole other thing. That was the darkness lady’s name, Kuro, but it’s not like knowing her name made any of this any better. She’d let him off of the stupid table, but her tentacles were more than enough to keep him from trying to escape, wrapping around his wrists and neck snugly, pulling him towards…a big hook.

“Contrary to popular belief, I’m not actually a fish.” Castys was glad she’d pulled that nail out of his mouth and killed him when she’d let him up so he could at least talk again.

“Oh, this hook isn’t for fish. It’s for meat!” Castys opened his mouth, but he couldn’t exactly argue that he wasn’t meat. Kuro reached out and pulled the hook a little lower, using her tentacles to force Castys to turn around. 

He knew exactly what was about to happen, but he really wanted to believe that he was wrong. “Change your mind? Are you gonna take me back to the cozy little table?”

Kuro laughed. “No, but maybe I’ll put you back on there later. I want to try this first.” One of her tentacles snaked behind him, the clink of the chain his only warning before-Castys couldn’t help but wince as the sharp point of the hook pierced his back, shivering as it scraped against his bones. 

“I-I’m not sure if this is-agh.” Castys decided to keep his mouth shut as Kuro turned a crank in the wall, pulling the chain attached to the hook upwards. She finally let go of him when his feet no longer touched the ground, but by then it was too late for him to do much besides wiggle. He couldn’t reach the hook now lodged in his back, and even if he could, there was no way he’d be able to pull it out.

“There! You look kinda funny, hanging like that.”

“I always look funny.” 

Kuro might’ve smiled at that, but there was no way to tell, unfortunately. He was just going to assume from here on that all of his jokes landed all of the time because that was the only form of consolation he ever really got. At some point while he was thinking about things, Kuro had produced a small box, and now she was pulling out a little shiny…fish hook. 

Of course.

“You’re really hooked on those things, huh?” 

“I think you’re hooked more than I am.” Okay, playing along, good, she probably thought he was a little bit funny. But that wasn’t his biggest problem anymore, and also was really never his biggest problem because he still had a giant hook in his back that hurt very very much because all of his weight was on it. And now Kuro had poked a fish hook through one of his wrists, in and out so it looped under his skin. When she reached for his other arm, he tried to jerk it away, but since she basically had six hands he lost that battle pretty quickly. In and out with the same fish hook, and now his wrists were, like, pierced together, and while it wasn’t super painful, it was annoying and also kind of dumb. He had to actively keep his wrists together or the fish hook would just tear through the skin since it wasn’t in very deep.

“Hmm, what do you think, should I add some more so you’re more comfortable?” Kuro mused.

“I think I would be most comfortable if you added less, but that’s just my opinion.” As usual, Castys’s opinion was promptly ignored, and before he knew it, there were already like five or six more hooks keeping his arms together. Kuro worked fast, holding him with her tentacles and saving the more delicate work for her hands. After she’d put in enough that he could relax and let the tension of the metal pierced through his skin hold his arms together, she stepped back, crossing her arms as she looked him over.

“I still feel like you’re missing something…”

“I could go for some cake. Alternatively, you could take something away, like these hooks.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Kuro laughed, pulling out another fish hook, this one with string attached. “Maybe I should take something away.”

“Hey, uh, I was just kidding, you don’t have to-uh, hi, that’s my fa-” Her grip on his chin shifted, covering his mouth now, too, so he could only watch as the point of the hook came towards his eye, piercing it with ease. She shoved it in deep as he screamed into her hand, and as much as he wanted to jerk away he couldn’t or he’d only make things worse, but it ended up not mattering as Kuro wound the string around her fingers and started to pull, awful, painful pressure building up in his eye as it bulged further and further out of its socket, his vision already fucked and getting worse by the second, and there it was that annoyingly familiar pop of his eye coming out, flopping against his cheek as Kuro laughed.

“I think I’ll take this, if you don’t mind. I think I’d like to keep it.” Castys, very stupidly, shrugged, which is a terrible idea when there is a large metal hook under your shoulder blade. Kuro took her hand off of his mouth, grabbing the stringy bit that attached his eyeball to the inside of his head and giving it a harsh tug, enough to rip it out completely, which was honestly up there with the most awful feelings ever. In his screaming and thrashing in pain, Castys tugged hard enough at the fish hooks in his arms that they ripped free, which caused him to scream and thrash more, which made the hook digging into his back hurt even more, which caused-

When he had settled the fuck down, he noticed Kuro swinging his eyeball around like the world’s worst keychain as she laughed, which was a little rude. “You ruined all of my hard work, Castys.”

“Well you…you ruined all of my hard work to…to have two eyes.” Wow, great comeback, you totally don’t deserve to keep hanging here on a hook like a pig about to be butchered. Kuro laughed again anyway, but it was probably because he was stupid.

“No matter. I’ll just leave you there to bleed out and we’ll try again later.” 

“Can you please stab me so I bleed out faster?”

“Mm…no.” 

Well, it was worth a shot. Nothing left for him to do now but hang out. 

…Yeah, he probably deserved this.

Next→

Castys Cult: @as-a-matter-of-whump​ @blackrosesandwhump @fanmanga1357-blog​​ @thehopelessopus​ @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @hearse-song​ @muddy-swamp-bitch @whumpasaurus101 @yet-another-heathen​​ @galaxywhump​ @starnight-whump​ @his-unspoken-words​ @misspelledwitch​ @suspicious-whumping-egg​ @pumpkin-spice-whump​ @painsandconfusion​ @i-can-even-burn-salad​​ @befuddled-calico-whump​ @whumpinggrounds​ @whump-queen​ @whumpedydump​

[gascon-en-exil]

Could you do 2 and 3 for the ask meme? What about 37?

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Not exactly a trope, but I'd like to branch out from the semi-canon-compliant work I've been mostly sticking to in my first fic. I feel like the later chapters, which are mostly set after the story canon has all wrapped up, are where I got to be among the most creative in terms of ideas and with what I actually wanted to see from these characters.

That's a big reason that I think that I might actually be able to follow up on this and turn it into a series, now that I've laid the groundwork for where and how this continuity does and does not adhere to canon. That's been fun on a meta level, as a (hopefully subtle?) way of working through issues I have with Octopath Traveler II's story aside from just writing meta about it like I would with Fire Emblem or most other properties, but eventually those issues run out and one is left looking at these characters and wondering where they should go next.

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Omegaverse springs to mind. I can understand the appeal of it intellectually, in part thanks to @theeeveetamer who writes Omegaverse and talks about it regularly, but I've determined that it's not really for me. If you know anything about some of my other interests you'd think it might be...but nope. It might be a bit distasteful to pull my - as someone once derisively described it, specifically referencing me - "man in fandom" card, but I think a big part of my indifference to Omegaverse is that I do have an unfair advantage over many readers and writers in M/M erotic fic spaces. I'm actually gay and have quite a lot of sexual experience to draw on because of my offline work, which happens to align closely with the standard profile of (cis) gay smut in transformative fandom. As such I always look at Omegaverse and find myself thinking about comparatively more mundane kinks that accomplish the same goals, kinks that can fit more readily into a variety of fictional contexts and don't require a hyper-specific AU to function.

That said, I do find many of the common arguments against Omegaverse - that it replicates heteronormative dynamics, that it's adjacent to bestiality - to be quite dumb and not worth entertaining. Even when kinks aren't to my taste, I don't see much point in judging them.

37. Talk about your current wips.

I appreciate that you separated this one, anon, because it's one of those that's pretty awkward for me to answer at the moment. The fic I'm working on is only a WIP publicly at this point; I finished it around the time I posted the first chapter, and have only been making edits intermittently since then because I've been told that staggering chapters is better for engagement. Still, it's what I've got - so let's go with that.

Putting this story together and publishing it have certainly been interesting experiences, and I've gotten some positive feedback from the approximately ten other people who ship Osvald/Partitio. Part of me is annoyed that I chose to start writing for a rare pair in such a small fandom as OT2, and that I didn't start out with something like Dimidue or Ferdibert instead...but FE's settings just don't speak to me in the same way. (Also, back when Houses was the hot new thing I was writing meta and fending off fan wank, and later getting a feel for YouTube, so I was quite busy elsewhere.)

I discovered pretty quickly that I have two preferred modes when writing fic. The first is the same sort of meandering, almost fairytale-esque disassociated narrator voice like what you'd find in my ship meta that actually verge on short fics themselves, ex. my attempt at building the crack ship Diarmuid/Tristan. The second is dialogue, to the point that for several scenes, particularly later in the fic, I sometimes felt as though I were writing a play. I'm not great with action scenes, which is one reason I skipped over most of the ones that had to be worked around in canon. I did come up with a rather cheeky way to nod toward that in the epilogue...though whether anyone else finds it funny remains to be seen.

But yes - it's been educational, and I am now firmly in rare pair hell. There's an entertaining spitefulness to it: that while YouTube's algorithm has pushed me into being a dedicated FETuber with only the occasional vanity project on the side, over on Archive Of Our Own I'm becoming known for my work in a completely different fandom.

[zeldaelmo]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Tagged by my wonderful friend @bahbahhh.

__

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

77

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

484,215

My goal for 2023 was to hit the 500,000 and I'm positive I'll reach it.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Legend of Zelda, all games apart from Zelda I, II, and Minish Cap (because I haven't played them so far)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

How to name a royal child

Stolen Kisses

Strangers in the Night

It's in his Kiss

Flour, water, salt, yeast, love

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Uh... in theory, I do. I love getting comments but I often feel stupid saying ten times 'thank you' in a row, so I end up answering mostly when I have something to say.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would be Lonely at the Top. I don't really write angsty endings, but this one is hurt/no comfort as it tackles Link visiting the Light Dragon who doesn't even react to him.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hm...I'm not too fond of the fanfic version of the perfect happy ending, namely, proposal, sappy wedding, and omg, twins!, mainly because I love the nuance life teaches us. What a happy ending for a fic and a character is, is so often much more different than the fairy tale version.

That being said, I'd still go with Strangers in the Night, just because the two worked so damn hard for their happy ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hate is a big word, but I get negative comments and sometimes they are even personal, yes. Most people are lacking reading competence and/or don't understand how stories work. I mostly ignore those. Sometimes I complain on discord if it's very annoying. If someone insults me, I block.

I don't think that has to do so much with me, though. I have 1,346 comment threads on my stories. Of course, there are some idiots among them, that's life.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, occasionally. I think ten of 77 fics are explicit. Look, the thing is, I'm a story teller. So if the smut doesn't add to the story, I don't tell it. Rule of thumb is, that I keep it to a T-rating if possible to make the story accessible to most people. I only go for explicit stuff if I want to deliver some part of the character development/plot with the intimacy (or the lack of lol) that the smut offers.

Does that get me the most Kudos? No. But I'm not here for that or I wouldn't bother writing for 30 years old games. I'm here to tell a good story and have fun. :)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No. If you've read so far, I can tell you a secret as a reward: I find crossovers pointless. Ooops.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I am aware of! But I'd love to! Big fan of accessibility!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I've seen a few writing collabs end in fandom drama or otherwise go awry, so I decided that I only collab with artists. I might try with something short one day, but nothing novel-length.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Take a guess.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ah, so I have a half-written novel in my drafts. A story about writer!Zelda and fanartist!Link who are also princess and beloathed bodyguard. I'm very determined to go back to that one after I finished The Promise, but I'm a little scared. The story is complicated and my thoughts are chaotic. I already asked @mistresslrigtar to help me work it out next year, so I hope we'll manage.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and showing what's going on in the character's head who's not the POV character.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with simplicity sometimes, mainly because of the language barrier. I write something that's horribly complicated and I just know there must be a better way to put it, but I can't figure it out. Grammar is hard, lads.

I also have a weird relationship with descriptions. I love having characters interact with their environment but I loath big chunks of description. I plan to work on this during my traditional holiday self-study break.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

This is a weirdly specific question, but ok.

If you don't happen to write a book that's supposed to teach beginners the other language, then don't. You might end up othering the person who's speaking and that's something you don't want to dabble with lightly.

I already talked about accessibility: You will exclude people from your writing and you don't want that just to sound cool. If you must for plot reasons, make otherwise sure everyone is on board. Slightly different case if you actively hide something from your readers (and other characters), but that's probably not the most common case.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

LoZ

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I refuse to answer this. 77 fics are too much to choose from. I love most of them.

_

tagging: @mistresslrigtar, @airplanned, @jenseits-der-sterne, @silentprincess17, @deiliamedlini, @skyyknights

[extrasweetcoffee]

Riddle and Cater's Friendship is Being Slept On and I Want to Ramble About Them

This has been sitting in my drafts for a bit, so I'm just gonna post it to get it off my chest since why not. This is gonna get mega TL;DR, so more under the cut. Also spoilers for TWST JP content and several personal stories.

Basically, a few ideas that almost exclusively happens in fan content with Cater angst at the forefront has been sitting at the back of my mind for a while now. Usually (but not always) it'll have: Riddle being portrayed as a mega asshole towards Cater, Riddle stealing Trey from Cater, or portray Trey as a bad/neglectful friend towards Cater when none of that very accurate, if at all.

Okay. First off, it's not impossible to have multiple best friends. Trey was already friends with Chenya before meeting Riddle, and the two are still buddies despite attending different colleges. My guy is 18; he can handle a social circle just fine.

Second, Cater is practically the second vice housewarden if you think about it. Riddle trusted him to lead a group with the unbirthday setup and management in Cater's dorm vignette, Riddle acknowledges Cater's importance as the mood-uplifter of the dorm during Halloween II, and we learn in Masquerade that Riddle trusted Cater's advice to get a better haircut (Riddle was really out there with the Rollo cut lol). There's more instances I could name, but you get the jist - Riddle isn't the kind of character to go putting this kind of faith onto some randy.

I get the feeling that people see that one line in Cater's gym story and roll with it without thinking more about the context behind the dialogue. In that story, Cater knew he was breaking school rules by using his magic in class to cheat. Trey probably would have told him to do his exercises normally, since it's kinda his job as a vice dorm leader to make sure his boys aren't fucking around. If it were Rook, Jamil or Lilia, I have no doubt they'd do the same with their own dorm members. Plus, Riddle already knows Cater is a habitual bullshitter, so it's not like Cater had any chance of lying to his face and getting off scot-free if even if Trey wasn't there. (I wanna say this is a problem caused with the EN's translation being a bit blunt at times, but honestly I think people would still misinterpret this scene regardless).

Yes, Trey and Riddle have the more familiar relationship so Trey may prioritize Riddle over Cater if the option arises which would hurt the latter boy's feelings. But truth be told, Cater already had attachment issues LONG before NRC; I doubt Trey being Riddle's second in command or him trying to tide over Riddle's tyranny during his tenure as housewarden was changing much of anything between them. Cater couldn't muster the courage to break his facade long enough to give his (possibly) closest friend a non-superficial wish for the Starsending, even after Trey called him out for using the same one three years in a row. Cater purposely keeps people at an arm's length, and I wouldn't call Trey a bad friend in this case for respecting Cater's boundaries. Also Trey is possibly the only person in NRC who's aware of Cater's tastes and often makes him spicy food (or uses Doodle Suit on sugary foods so Cater can stand them).

Like shit, if you think about it Riddle's friendship with Trey is probably the main reason why Riddle likes Cater and is willing to tolerate his quirks in the first place. Riddle knows Trey Clover of all people would never squad up with absolute fuckbois such as the faceless NPCs who always start shit. Trey trusting you at all is one of the strongest forms of friendship clout there is, which is probably why Rook isn't on Sage Island's sex offender registry (as far as we can tell).

While Riddle does get annoyed with Cater's easygoing habits and tendency to cut corners, it's not a behavior he exhibits exclusively towards Cater. Riddle is a man of high standards, especially when it concerns Heartslabyul's integrity. He isn't singling out Cater for shirking his responsibilities any more than he would Ace or Deuce. And like I said before, Riddle does give credit to Cater when it's due. Riddle was even willing to help Cater with his test via utilizing Cater's social media addiction (and they're probably still mutuals on MagiCam, which is a cute thought).

I'm not saying people should stop doing this exact trope. After all I'm just some rando on the internet and I certainly don't have any more right to police what people do in their own time more than anyone else. Also the ex-dorm leader Cater headcanon, which is a favorite of mine, pretty much thrives off these tropes. Really this is me airing my thoughts about this as someone who likes Riddle and Cater's companionship and eats any crumbs the game and supplemental content gives me. I guess my thesis for all this would be some characters have better relationships than is read at face value.

Anyway that's my TED talk, I hope you have a good day :)

[lemonhemlock]

Do you think Aemond would have made a much better king than both aegon ii and rhaenyra

Thanks for dropping by, Anon! What a loaded question! I suppose the matter of contention here would be "which Aemond?"

Book!Aemond is villainous to the point of caricature and offers little in the way of characterization. The historians of the time do not dive into his personality or motivations. Is he genuinely like that or has he suffered some breakdown of sorts? Does he become too far gone or can his trauma be overcome?

The problem with Aemond is that he reveals nothing in the direction of policy, both in the books and in the show, so it's very difficult to appraise his potential for kingship when we don't know his ideas. This is true even of Aegon. We know Aemond will burn the Riverlands, but what are his starting-point policies for peace times?

Meanwhile, characters like Daemon and Rhaenyra have had more time to make political decisions, just by virtue of being older. We already know Rhaenyra is not an astute political actor, because she proved herself before the war began. We already know Daemon relies on a combination of throwing tantrums, running away, murder and waging war as a means of problem-solving, because he has lived a full life before the start of the war.

This will get long. :))

Show!Aemond fortunately has received much needed humanization and characterization, even so much as to become a fan favourite with little screen time. His appearance on-screen suggests that, as a child, he is well-behaved, dutiful, sensitive and kind. He doesn't cause trouble, doesn't get into fights, is studious and a rule-follower. He has low self-confidence because he is the only boy in his cohort without a dragon and is hurt that he is not accepted. He has no problem confiding in his mother and seeks her out for comfort. He respects and cares for his sister. These are all good qualities to have in a king.

Not low-confidence, but the fact that he doesn't retaliate to his bullies and takes it patiently on the chin says something. He doesn't resort to cruelty as his first reaction. He instead tries to prove himself over and over, which is why he is often scolded for annoying the dragons and putting himself in danger. That can also be interpreted as recklessness, but it's not exactly thrill-seeking behaviour. This is dragons we're talking about and it's basically the only way he can gain one: by claiming one. Taking risks is kind of inevitable in this situation. Aemond is not a hatcher, else a dragon egg would have hatched for him already.

There are also shades of Targaryen exceptionalism in him: he must have a dragon and marrying your sister is normal and even opportune. But he doesn't look down on his mother for not being a Targaryen and he doesn't seem jealous of Rhaenyra or Daemon for having "purer" blood than him (gosh) or even of the Strong boys for claiming to have "pure Valyrian blood" (my god, I sound like a Slytherin). I think Aemond was a pretty respectable, sweet kid that yearned for connection with others (his brother, sister, mother, I think he would have accepted even Jace and Luke had they been nicer to him) and was saddened when he got rejected within his tiny circle. He tries very hard to prove himself worthy, in the hopes that he will one day gain that sense of belonging.

I think little Aemond really wanted some friends and would have responded very well to people treating him kindly, but he isn't a pushover and not necessarily the type to cede to peer pressure. He could haven taken his cues from Aegon and shared in his vices out of a desire for closeness with his brother (perhaps that is why he agreed to go with Aegon to that brothel?), but he didn't. He has his own moral code and isn't comfortable with breaking it willy-nilly.

Based on this, I think that, with the right councilors, Aemond could have been a pretty decent king. Again, he hasn't released his Manifesto yet, so I have to base my assumptions on something. 😅

People look at his fight with Jace/Luke/Baela/Rhaena and claim he is insensitive and disrespectful and violent. I disagree (obviously, lol).

He went out in search of Vhagar unarmed, through the fields of Driftmark, after dark, perhaps because violence wasn't really his modus operandi.

He was brave enough to approach Vhagar and claim her. Riding Visenya's dragon is obviously supposed to be evocative and symbolic, but Vhagar doesn't necessarily bond only with the serial killer gene. She was also Laena's mount, who is not presented as any kind of psycho and seemed to be a generally well-balanced person.

That was probably the best moment of his life, finally gaining the confirmation he craved for. Getting a little cocky and talking shit afterwards is not a crime. Defending yourself after being assaulted 4-1 is not a crime.

After he got maimed, with half his face stitched up, he demonstrated enough emotional intelligence and political awareness in order to diffuse the situation twice in favour of his mother. That's good indication for his political acumen if he ever were to become king.

However, unfortunately, this incident obviously traumatised him and he will not the same afterwards. He is now disfigured, disabled, suffered through a great injustice and was betrayed by his literal blood relatives. I can't imagine what that would do to someone's self-esteem. Even claiming the biggest dragon in the world wasn't enough to gain him acceptance and appreciation.

Now, the next time we see Aemond, he is undoubtedly framed in a villainous way. He has a pirate eyepatch, looks like an anime villain, has obviously been studying the blade and is kind of a dick to his bewildered, nice-guy nephews. But is that so out of the ordinary? He hates Jace and Luke's guts. He has no reason to be nice to these expired coupons.

I'm not gonna lie, Aemond has his own issues. He has thrown himself into his studies and training as a means to cope with his new eyeless existence. He has anger issues and a desire for vengeance. How would that translate into being king? Well, for starters, he is still very kind to his mother and sister. He stands up for his Aegon, even though he's a lecherous street rat. He's still "doing the right thing" and abiding by his own morals like a good little boy. He prays with Mummy at dinner. Aemond is a trauma-survivor (now of sexual trauma, too, thanks to Aegon) who deals with it via perfectionism and repression, but he doesn't strike me as someone who wouldn't listen to reason. He still longs for connection. I have made another super-long post about how Aemond basically insinuates himself into Criston's quest to find Aegon just because he wants to shoot the shit and process his past troubles.

Should he become King at this moment, I think he'd continue to be a good little boy and listen to Mother & Grandsire, but probably take his duties way more seriously than Aegon ever did. As downsides, Aemond has a chip on his shoulder now, probably has more low-confidence because of his mutilation, and is really, really mad at Lucerys for taking his eye.

I don't know what he'd do to Luke and Jace if he became King. When constrained by social norms, i.e. at dinner, with Viserys still alive, he tries his damndest not to react to anything at all, probably an attempt to control himself. He is dead silent and only reacts to look after Aegon and Helaena. He already thinks this situation is humiliating. When Luke laughs at the pig, it's literally the final straw for him. And still! What he says is a mere insinuation, not even mentioning the word "bastards". The people present already know the truth and it's a private event anyway.

He wanted to ruin their night and did it in the most low-effort way possible. He is astute enough to figure out this will get under their skin, mirroring Criston's behaviour when he provoked Harwin into that outburst. But we don't know if this is a true talent for reading people or if he just knew how to read Jace and Luke because with them he made the extra effort.

To those sat at the table, his outburst could have appeared out-of-nowhere, but he has been nursing this grudge for nigh on 6 years, since he's been literally disfigured and disabled because of them. I mean, if THAT doesn't earn you the right to hold a grudge, nothing will. I get why he would feel it so disrespectful to be forced to dine with them when he hasn't even received an apology. I don't blame him here, since I'd probably also try to make these guys' lives as hellish as possible.

When these social constraints disappear (Viserys dies and they are on the verge of going to war), Aemond feels like he can finally have his revenge and sets out to terrorize Luke. So, from his perspective, he let loose one time and ended up doing something catastrophic, that can have terrible consequences for his own family. He is obviously shaken and regrets it immediately. He's never done anything of this magnitude in his life and must feel panicked and in need of guidance ASAP. For a King, that's not very good, because he'd be the person to impose these social constraints in the first place. It doesn't bode well if the King himself lets loose and this happens.

So, I guess we'll have to see where they go with his characterization from here. At the moment, he should be feeling very vulnerable and is possibly in a headspace that allows him to be manipulated. From what I can gather, Aemond is not the type of person to thrive on his own. He needs connection and genuine bonds with people in order to not feel swallowed up by his feelings of inadequacy. If left to his own devices, he'll probably spiral. In a way, he is similar to Aegon, who also craves love and validation more than anything.

Unfortunately, after Blood & Cheese, I think everyone will be consumed by their own anguishes and left incapacitated to give themselves the comfort that would allow themselves to heal. Aemond himself is likely to become riddled by guilt and have some kind of mental breakdown.

The answer to your question is, therefore, dependent on several variables.

When does Aemond become King? Does Aegon succeed in running away to Essos? I have spoken about how/if he could realistically become King in that scenario. If he does manage it somehow, I feel he probably would abide by Alicent's advice. The question is how he would approach Luke and Jace down the line, with his desire for revenge. In that scenario, he would probably not go to Storm's End himself, but maybe send Daeron or some other emissary.

Does he become King because Aegon succumbs to his injuries and dies in the war? Is this before or after the battle with Daemon? Does Helaena still die? Does Brothel Queens happen? Does Maelor still die? He will be forced to set Alys aside and marry a proper noble girl. How would he handle that? What kind of character is Alys? We don't really get a look inside his head from the text, so we'll see how they approach his characterization in the show, but each new tragedy will be an opportunity for depression and agony.

Is Aegon the second son or does he even exist in this version of the story? If he is the first-born, Aemond is going to come with different emotional baggage.

[weclassybouquetfun]

When Optimus Prime puts out the call you know I'm going to answer,

The seventh film in the film series and the 2nd best film out of them all.

Helmed by Steven Caple Jr. (CREED II) this second installment of the prequel series takes place in 1994, seven years after the events of BUMBLEBEE. Unlike BUMBLEBEE which I found to be lighter fare (still enjoyable), TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS harkens back to the intensity of the Michael Bay installments, but is in the sweet spot where it still has great action but doesn't lean into the excesses that Bay tends to indulge in from a confusing and mind-numbing mass of action to his ever-increasing runtimes (this one taps out at a breezy 124 minutes).

Great characters human, Autobots and Maximals alike.

SPOILERS FOR TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS, ROLL OUT

THE GOOD

*The energy and pace is fantastic. It digs in quick with the Maximals and the Terrorcons, let us know the villainy we're facing (Scourge taking and wearing the Autobot shields from his kills was A++)

and quickly establishes the human protagonists. No dawdling on that front. And the use of back-to-back 90s east coast rap really drove home the sense of time for the film. Just hit, after hit after hit that help boost the vibe of the film.

*With his hilarious Peacock series BUPKIS and his voicework in this, Pete Davidson is seemingly entering his less annoying era. I loved Mirage's banter with Noah.

*I liked seeing a less than capable Optimus Prime. He's been the sure-footed leader for so long and we get to see him beaten down and of broken spirit from being stuck on Earth. This is a Optimus who has lost his spirit and I like that Optimus Primal reinforces those concepts, and introduces the concept of unity with humans to Prime.

'TIL All Are One.

*We've had the human allies of course but to actually see one don battle armour and fight and not just be used as a decoy??!!!

At the end I assumed Michael Kelly's character would be from Sector 7 (the organization John Turturro's TRANSFORMERS character worked for. I even thought, "Is this dude joining the Transformers Initiative? What is this?"

But G.I. Joe?!!!! Noah is a Real American Hero!

And while he uses the code name Sonic as a shout to Sonic the Hedgehog, maybe it has the double meaning of Noah now being a G.I Joe Sonic Fighter.

Anthony Ramos, you fumbled Jasmine Cephas Jones but you didn't fumble this role.

THE BAD

*No notes

THE REST

*I think Dominique Fishback has a great personality but her acting leaves a lot to be desired and not just in this film. She's very uneven in her work. Sometimes you can see the promise, but more often -and too often in this film - she's wooden.

The way this scene isn't even in the film.

I would still like to see her back. My hope is that they do a bigger time jump than 7 years and assemble the human allies from across the films.

*If you're in it because you are a fan of BEAST WARS you may be disappointed. We spent too little time with the Maximals. It's the price of having a moderate runtime. I can't think of anything in the film that I would have wanted jettisoned in order to get more time with the Maximals, though. Shame because their designs were fantastic, especially Cheetors and when they transformed out of their animal forms to fight.

*Mirage tells Noah that Marky Mark left the Funky Bunch, but as Mark Wahlberg plays Cade in two TRANSFORMERS films does that mean Cade walks around being mistaken for Mark Wahlberg?

[knightotoc]

It's so annoying that there are fan theories that both Wendy in The Shining and Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby were hysterical and imagined everything. I love a logical explanation, but it feels essential to both of these stories that the women are not crazy, but being manipulated. That's why it's scary! The manipulation and betrayal are scarier than the supernatural events.

It's complicated because the directors of both of the movies were/are notorious misogynists, so it's easy to imagine even they would have bought into these theories, or at least expected the audiences to do so (tho I don't think that was their intentions). For what it's worth, it's harder to imagine this hysterical interpretation from the original authors.

If people do want a fantastic horror story where the scariness hinges on an unreliable woman narrator, there's Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw and the fantastic Deborah Kerr movie adaptation, The Innocents. A more recent example of an "unhinged governess" type horror story is the creepy Chilean stop motion film The Wolf House.

These stories put the women in a more complex social role than The Shining or Rosemary's Baby; while they don't have the power of a patriarch, they do have power over helpless children, and this power intersects with race and class. (Jack and Guy also feel oppressed/emasculated by an older patriarch.) This power goes to their heads (or does it?) in a totally believable and terrifying way, not in some absurd misogynist reach.

Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is also about an unreliable woman narrator, though it is more sad than scary. I don't know what a misogynist would make of it tbh; presumably they'd just dismiss the whole thing, since you do have to listen to a woman's thoughts and feelings and care about her to get anything out of it.

My personal Oscar for "Unreliable Woman Narrator in a Horror Story" goes to Courtney Bates in Slumber Party Massacre II, a fantastic but niche movie about PTSD that I saw at the perfect time (I was suffering big time myself from PTSD; feeling better now). It deals with insanity in a rather over-the-top way I can't recommend to more sensitive viewers, but it got me more than all these actual masterpieces because it is funny, and I am a cornball.