#there was a GUI setting for that... it didn't do anything

[anonf1writer]

Lando gives you his 4 tally mark necklace so everyone knows you're his 😍

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written. 3,1k words. warning: suggestive language. +18. note: this took me almost two months to get done. I'm so, so sorry! I hope you're still around to read it, and I hope I didn't disappoint. Thanks for the request, it means a lot to me!

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The context of your relationship with Lando was easy to describe: you two had met through mutual friends less than a year ago, started casually hooking up right away, and had been officially dating for over six months now.

Giving the nature of Lando’s occupation, and the attention his every move got, things were still pretty private between you, meaning that the general public new nothing about your existence yet. Or of what was happening behind closed doors. Like the fact that you had met each other’s families, that you were comfortable around each other’s friends, and that at this point your visits to his apartment had been frequent enough for you to consider his place a little bit yours, too.

For the most part, when he was traveling and busy being a Formula 1 driver, you spent your time at your own place, doing your own thing. But on those weekends when he was back, or during those rare two or three days off in between races, you joined him in a blink of an eye. No invitation needed—not anymore. Both always on the same page when it came to making the most of it, as in everything, together.

On that particular Monday night, the one that set this storyline into motion, it wasn’t any different. You and Lando were at home, his home that was slowly becoming your home, and one of your closest friends was over for some wine and food. The two of you enjoying each other’s company in the living room, laughing and gossiping on the couch, while Lando distracted himself and livestreamed with his own friends behind closed doors. Nothing big, nothing new.

Sometimes, as you two blabbered and laughed, he would pop out of the room to get a snack, to go to the restroom, or just to check up on you. Just to say hello. To make a silly joke and move on. Never a big deal. Never anything that interrupted the conversation that was going on between you and your friend. Not even when the topic shifted to your new co-worker, a guy who had joined the company you worked at less than three weeks ago, and had quickly developed a not-so-subtle crush on you.

“What about that guy from work?” your friend asked, synced with the opening of Lando’s game room door. “Is he still texting you at random hours?”

Busy chewing the last remains of your pizza, you just grimaced and shook your head. Then watched Lando cross the living room and disappear into the kitchen.

“I think…” you said, then stopped to swallow the food, “I think he finally got the message.”

“Good...” Your friend nodded, and took a sip of her wine. “What was his name again?”

“Vincent.”

Mimicking her earlier movements, you leaned in and grabbed your half-finished glass from the coffee table. And then, as you were sitting back and bringing the wine to your lips, a tiny snort left your nose, and you shook your head. All to yourself.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing... He just followed me on insta the other day.”

“Shut up...”

“Mhm…”

You sipped more of your wine, watching your friend frown as you did so.

“How did he even find you?”

“I don’t know…” You shrugged. “But he did, and then he liked a bunch of my older pictures.”

“Noooo!”

“Yeah…”

“Oh my God! Can a guy ever read the room?”

A soft chuckle left your mouth.

“I didn’t follow him back tho, so again, I think he got the message.”

“He knows you’ve got a boyfriend, right?”

You shrugged again, then shuffled on the couch, pulling your legs up and making yourself comfortable.

“Everyone at the office knows, so maybe someone told him? I don’t know.”

“Wait, so you didn’t tell him?”

“I  didn’t even tell him my name, let alone the fact that I’m dating someone I can’t really talk about.”

Your friend rolled her eyes, and then sighed. “Look, I think it’s lovely how consistent you two are on keeping each other a secret, but just this once I think you should tell him you’re dating and therefore not available.”

At that, it was your time to roll your eyes. “Or... He could realize I’ve done nothing to suggest I’m interest and back off because I don’t want him.”

“Right,” she laughed. “You’re talking about a guy that’s been acting like a creep.”

“Exactly. So if he bothers me again, I’ll raise a complaint to HR for harassing.”

You changed the topic after that, and a few minutes later Lando stepped out of the kitchen, the salad he had ordered in hands. He paused to chat a bit with you two, then kissed your temple and made his way back to the game room.

Eventually, your friend said goodbye and left Lando’s apartment, and you took a moment to clean up the mess left behind. Lando was still busy in his own world, his loud laughter vibrating through the walls and making you laugh along from time to time.

It was on your way to the bedroom that you decided to stop by. Just to let him know.

You knocked on the door once, and then another two times—the code you had unintentionally created to avoid interrupting his livestream and getting caught on camera.

“Yeah?” he shouted, but you knew better than shout back at him. Instead, you cracked the door open slightly. Barely. Only enough for you to peek inside and glance at him.

Lando’s eyes were already waiting for you, his head turned to the side while he fully leaned back into his chair.

“Heyyy…” he breathed out, lips curling up into the cutest, softest smile while he stretched his arms up in the air.

“Hey...” you whispered back, lips curling up as well.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing,” you said quietly. “Just saying hi before I get to bed.”

Lando dropped his arms and placed his hands on his lap, then tilted his chin towards the computer.

“It’s muted,” he said. “No need to be quiet.”

You raised your eyebrows, not changing the volume of your voice as you answered, “That’s what you said last time.”

Lando’s smile got bigger, and his eyes wrinkled at the sides. Mischief and playfulness taking all over his expression at the mention of that chaotic memory—when a female voice laughed loudly in the background of an allegedly muted livestream and caused a very serious online meltdown.

“I checked twice,” Lando said, turning back to the camera and giving a thumbs up. “Right, chat? You can’t hear me right now, can ya?”

He leaned in, then, squeezing his eyes to the screen.

“See? They are all lecturing me. Lando, we can’t hear you. Mic’s off, Lando. Lando turn your mic on. Lan—”

“Okay, okay.” You rolled your eyes and pressed your temple against the frame, but a soft chuckle still left your chest at his silliness. “Got it, yeah.”

He leaned back and turned his head to you, smugness written all over him. “Told ya. I learn from my mistakes.”

He winked. And, once again, you raised your eyebrows.

“They can still see tho, can’t they? So don’t get cocky.”

“You’ve barely opened the door,” he laughed. “Not even I can see you, I doubt they’ll be able to.”

“Yeah? Just watch them read your lips or start analysing who you’re talking to so late at night.”

“C’mon…” he laughed again. Head tilting back as he faced the ceiling. “Don’t be si—”

“Ooookay…” you snorted and stepped back from the door, a little too tired to get into one of his playful arguments. “I’ll save you from finishing that sentence.”

“What? C’mon… I’m just teasing.”

“I know. You’re having fun while I’m worried trying to protect your wishes. Then tomorrow you’ll be snapping at me because someone found out you’re not alone and I’ll have to watch you overthink while trying to find ways to prove I don’t exist.”

The world paused around you.

Time paused inside the room.

You watched the moment his face fell. How his expression changed along with the drop of his shoulders. As if some unknown truth had been thrown at him.

And just like that, regret dawned on you, a tight knot twisting low in your gut as you tried to make sense of your words. Of your abrupt change of mood.

You looked down to your feet and sighed, your voice coming out like a whisper when you spoke again. “Sorry… I don’t know why I said that.”

Lando nodded.

You noticed his movements, the way he turned back to his computer and leaned forward to reach his keyboard. How he typed, then clicked a few things, and then how everything went off. Heavy silence easily filling the room.

“C’mere,” he said, once again leaning back into his chair, then fully turning it towards you. You looked up, meeting his eyes, and Lando tilted his head slightly to the side. “Please?” He stretched his arm to you. “I’m not streaming anymore, I promise.”

You checked the screen, just to be sure, then dropped your arms to your sides and sighed. Embarrassment taking over your chest—and flushing across your neck and cheeks—as you walked towards him.

Lando didn’t wait for you to stand in front of him before reaching out for your waist, hands grabbing your sides and pulling you down to his lap with the easiness of someone who had pulled that move hundreds of times before.

You gasped, even squealed a little, a smile curving your mouth as you adjusted yourself to sit on his thighs. Body to the side and legs hanging in the air. Arms circling around his neck. Eyes settling inside his gaze.

Silent.

Comfortable.

Easy.

“Sorry,” you said. Again. “Didn’t mean to snap.”

“I know,” Lando smiled, placing your hair behind your ear, then cradling your cheek. “I never tried to prove you don’t exist. You know that, right?”

“Of course, yeah.”

“Is it how I make you feel, tho? Like I’m trying to hide you or something?”

“No... C’mon... I understand why you’re so... Protective. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Ok…” He nodded, arms settling around your waist, pulling you a bit closer to him. “Just making sure.”

“Sorry for making you end the stream.”

Lando smiled. “Thank you for making me end the stream.”

A smile grew on your face, too.

There was a pause, in which he held your stare in silence as he moved one hand to the back of your neck.

“C’mere,” he said, then pulled you in, his lips brushing over yours once, then twice. Slowly. Softly. As if it was the first time he was getting a taste of them. As if he wasn’t really sure he was allowed to do that.

Your chest fluttered, and you leaned into him. Melted into him. Eyes falling shut and hands moving to curl tightly around his jumper. To hold onto its neckline like you were afraid he would suddenly stop and leave. Like he could vanish.

A low, contented hum escaped him, almost like he didn’t mean it. Like he couldn’t help it. Like he was melting into you, too. Hand pressing on the nape of your neck and arm anchoring around your waist, guiding the pace while he tilted his head and deepened the kiss.

You exhaled through your nose and followed his lead. Stomach flipping and thoughts blurring. Getting lost into the tenderness and casually of it. Into how personal, intimate, and affectionate it felt. How soft, how steady, how electric it was. The way he moved, the way he sounded, the way he tasted. How he treated you with respect and carefulness, like you were the most delicate and precious thing in the world, and yet made you feel breathless and powerless, like you could die if you didn’t get more of it. Of him. Or this.

And then, Lando pulled away. Panting. Hand still holding the back of your head and lips still brushing yours when he asked, “Who’s Victor?”

Your lips searched for him, unwillingly. Automatically. Your body craving for more before his words clicked inside your mind.

He didn’t stop you, kissing you back and allowing your mouths to ghost over each other as you spoke between kisses. Never quite gone.

“Victor?” you asked.

“Mhmm…” His nose bumped against yours, and he slipped his hand between your hair, making sure you wouldn’t lose the pace.

“I don’t… Hmm… I don’t know… Shit… Who’s Victor?”

“I don’t know…” he repeated. “Someone that’s been hitting on my girlfriend… Or so I’ve heard…”

You blinked your eyes open and flinched back. Just an inch. As far as he allowed you to. Only enough to meet his eyes.

“What?”

Lando shrugged, and you licked your lips. Trying to gather your thoughts. Trying to make sense of what the heck was going on.

“You mean Vincent?”

He rolled his eyes and pulled you back in, his lips barely touching yours before he was tilting your head back and moving them down your jaw.

“Potato, patahto,” he murmured, his warm breath hitting your neck while he kept smothering your skin. Your throat. “Still hitting on my girlfriend.”

A smirk grew on your lips, and you closed your eyes, feeling his lips kissing your sensitive spots. Feeling his tongue getting its own taste, his teeth grazing right behind.

“Didn’t know you were listening to us...”

“Was I supposed not to?”

He sucked onto your sweet spot, and you gasped. Thighs clenching and fingers twisting even tighter around his jumper.

“Fuck…” you breathed out.

“I know…” Lando murmured, brushing the tip of his nose up and down the same spot. “I wonder how many until I leave a mark…”

“You never leave any…”

“Maybe I should start…”

He kissed you again, softly, moving his mouth and making sure no inch would go unattended.

Heat built low in your belly, slow and relentless, and you shuffled on his lap—even though the position you were in didn’t allow you to feel much of him.

“Jealous?” you managed to ask.

Lando snorted and pulled away, guiding your head so you would look at him.

“Just annoyed… Pissed, actually… Why is some random guy texting you and going through your photos? Who the fuck does he think he is?”

You smiled, hands loosening up around his clothing and moving up through the back of his neck. Fingers tangling with his curls as you said, “Someone who stopped texting after I left him on read, and who never got a follow back from me…”

“Hm…” He leaned into your touch, eyes fluttering shut while you ran your nails up and down his scalp. “Can’t say I’m not happy to hear that.”

You chuckled. “Did you think I’d react differently?”

“No…” he said, eyes meeting yours again. “But as confident in our relationship as I am, can’t ever get too comfortable, can I?”

You tilted your head, not really knowing what to say at that.

Thankfully, Lando didn’t give you too much time to think about it before he added, “Don’t want him to think you’re single, tho.”

“We don’t know if he thinks that.”

“Then I want to make sure he knows you’re taken.”

You smiled. “I’m taken, huh?”

Lando rolled his eyes, hands sliding down your spine while he stretched his back and got taller underneath you.

“You’re mine,” he said, voice an octave lower and fingers reaching to the hem of your sweater. “Just like I’m yours. Yeah?”

You nodded, curling your body to place your forehead against his. Feeling his bare touch pressing on your lower back, warm and needy.

“Yeah... You know I am… Yours.”

“I know… I want him to know, tho. Not just him, everyone.”

“Lan…” you sighed. “If this is because of what I said, you don’t have to—”

“Not saying this because of what happened,” he said. “I’m saying it because I love you and because you’re beautiful and I don’t want stupid wankers hitting on you when I’m not around.”

“Well… That’s not really fair, is it? I can’t stop girls from hitting on you while you’re not around.”

“Babe, not one single girl has flirted or—”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. Loudly enough that you had to bring one hand to cover your mouth.

Lando smiled. And you noticed how something softened inside him. How he dropped his shoulders. How his touch went from greedy to affectionate. Still pulling you closer, still holding you in place, but with a different intention behind it.

 “I mean it, tho,” he said. “I don’t want to keep hiding it anymore. I heard when you said I’m someone you can’t really talk about, and I don’t want you to feel that. I want you to say ‘I’ve got a boyfriend’ and throw my name into a conversation if you feel like it. Just… Y’know… Want it to be natural.”

You pressed your lips together and sighed, pushing the playfulness aside to understand the seriousness of what he was suggesting with that.

“Okay… But just so you know, this feels natural to me. I don’t have to say ‘my boyfriend Lando Norris’ for me to talk about you. People who know me know I’m not single, the only reason why I haven’t told Vincent it’s because I haven’t really sat to chat with him. He saw me twice and decided it would be a good idea to get my number without even asking me about it.”

“Fucking idiot.” 

“Right?”

“Can’t really blame him, though… Kinda hard to look at you and not to fall in love.”

“Oh my God…” You rolled your eyes, but also smiled, shoving his shoulder playfully before hugging his neck. “Shut up.”

He did as you told, busying himself by kissing you instead of talking again.

From then on, the kissing melted into something more. The chair becoming uncomfortable to hold so much want and so much need from both of you, and your touches and steps guiding you blindly to his bedroom. To your bedroom. To your bed. Clothes getting lost along the way.

“I love you,” he said, over and over again.

Stealing your breath away.

Making you forget your name.

How you got there in the first place.

Until you were shaking and falling on top of him, his hips digging and pushing until he got the last bit of pleasure out of you. Of him. Of both.

Erratic. Intense. Everything.

The next morning, Lando left earlier than you. You didn’t even hear him, didn’t even feel him. Tangled and sprawled in the sheets. Blissfully happy. Satisfied.

You saw it when your alarm went off, though. His tally mark necklace, his number four shining in the sunlight. Right on top of his pillow. And a post it right in between the two.

For you. So everyone knows you’re mine ;) Love you. LN.

And that’s how it happened.

That’s how you ended up clasping his necklace around your neck.

And that’s how now, every time you think of him, you bring your hand to your chest and hold onto him. How you know he’s always there, like a part of you. Loving you. Whether everyone knows it...

Or not.

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[pheastinyworld]

i'm going home ❀•°•───────•

request: have you seen the trend of telling your bf you want to go home when hanging out with Gabe

Word count: 1.4k

Warnings: got randomly suggestive towards the end, sorry guys, my fingers just started typing

author's note: thank you for the request ceci!!! also, this is kinda set around two years from now so creative liberties were obviously taken.

| phe's main masterlist |

it was just before winter break and gabe was already two years into signing with the rangers. he had decided it was time to move out of the hotel room he shared with brennan othman and brett berard. 

when gabe told you he was signing, you were over the moon but part of you was worried about how the distance would affect your relationship. you had practically been together since the very start of college, meeting in french class two weeks in, and dating by the next month. 

but if anyone could make it work, it was going to be you two. so you agreed to do long distance until you both graduated; gabe coming back occasionally so he could finish off his exams.

it only felt difficult when you had gone long periods without seeing each other, but it never put a great strain on you two. constant meaningless texts about his day made you feel less alone, and in turn, your nightly long rants over the phone to him about your horrible study schedule always put him at ease.

it wasn't a question for you to apply for jobs in his city, and once you received an acceptance email, you were on a plane and surprising him at his hotel the day later. from then on though, gabe knew he was going to have to move out, he didn't really want to share the same space with his teammates and his girlfriend. so you both agreed to rent out an apartment not far from where he was staying anyway. 

it wasn't crazy big, but it was more than enough. amongst your busy schedules, the shared apartment was a place where you could just be together and relax. and that's what you were doing right now. legs draped across his lap as a christmas movie played on the screen. but you had seen this movie too many times before and had begun to grow bored, thinking of ways to get whatever reaction out of gabe you could pull. 

you remembered a funny trend your friends had sent you and immediately thought it would be perfect. you got up quickly, telling him you were just getting more popcorn when he whined at your movement.

after setting the phone up to the side of the sofa, trying to be as discreet as possible, you made your way back to him, dropping down to his side. you felt his arm that was resting on the back of the sofa pull you against him as if it was possible to get any closer. 

“gabe?” you spoke up.

“yeah baby?” he hummed out, leaning down to press a small kiss onto your hair.

you closed your eyes and pursed your lips closed, already wanting to laugh at him. calmly you spoke up, trying not to give anything away, “you know… i think i’m gonna head home.”

“huh?” is all he got out, moving his hand up to your cheek to turn your head towards him, looking all confused. you glanced at him, his brows knitting together as his lips pressed into a thin, uncertain line that turned downwards at the ends. “what do you mean? where’re you going?” 

you nibbled on your nails in an attempt to hide a smile you were desperately fighting against. “home.” you reiterated, “i’m going home gabe.”

poor gabe was so lost, his brows furrowing even more now. “so, you actually are home…? i’m so confused.”

you huffed out, pinching the bridge of your nose which made gabe feel like he must’ve done something to piss you off. he scanned your face frantically, eyes darting around as if he was going to find the answer on his face. had he said something? what had he said that was so bad that made you want to leave your shared home?

“did i do something to upset you.” he asked sweetly, words delicate so as to not make you more annoyed. oh great, now you felt horrible. “baby, i promise i can’t think of anyth- is it because i asked if you wanted to spend christmas with my family this year? you want to go back to your home during christmas? thats fin-”

“no.” you stated simply, shaking your head, shifting so your body was facing him before you drew your knees to your chest, hugging your legs. you actually surprised yourself with how upset you could act. “i just want to go home. like now.” 

gabe blinked, face dropping at how upset you seemed. he didn't know what to do, he just wanted to make you feel better no matter what was wrong. 

“hey hey,” he whispered softly, still wearing a sad frown as he scooped you up into his arms and placed you on top of him, your legs moving to straddle his lap. “what’s wrong? what home are you talking about? can you tell me what’s gotten you all upset, i promise if i know then i can help.”

pouting your lips, you sighed as he squeezed your sides reassuringly, looking at you with wide eyes and very concerned. “i don't know, i just feel like i should be at home. 

gabe’s mouth opened like he was going to say something. honestly he wanted to say ‘i have no clue what the fuck you���re talking about’ but he restrained, too nervous that it’ll just make you mad and you’ll stomp off to the spare bedroom. “you- i really don’t know what you mean. we’re at home.”

“no. home home.” you rolled your eyes as if it was obvious, trying so hard not to smile at his look. he was in utter disbelief. had you hit your head?

“you’re at home home.” he gestured his hands around the room, looking around as if to check that you two had not magically teleported somewhere else, “i’d like to think my contributions to the interior design choices made this place feel homey enough.”

you let out a small huff, not saying anything in case you started laughing. gabe knew you well enough to sense you were on the verge of smiling. the thing is, he thought it was because he was making you feel better, so he proceeded to try and lighten your mood. 

“did you hit your head on door getting the popcorn?” he grinned just a little, hand coming up to press against your forehead, “should we go to the doctor, you’re a little warm actually. you must've hit your head, huh?”

you swatted his hand away, finally letting out a string of giggles, dropping your head against his shoulder. you were for sure not going to last any longer, despite very much enjoying him looking all clueless and upset. 

“sorry, sorry, it was a joke.” you lifted your head and gabe’s shoulders relaxed as he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. 

“don’t do that! i seriously thought you were trying to tell me you were moving out.” gabe grumbled, complaining, but his grin told you he wasn't annoyed at all. 

“i would never.” you pressed a firm kiss upon his lips to punctuate your statement, “you’re totally stuck with me.”

gabe smiled, eyes dancing in mischief before he began to tickle your tides making you yelp out, arms trying to push him away. 

“this is what you get.” gabe laughed, ducking his head as your arm moved frantically and nearly hit him.

“oh didn’t know you were into punishment stuff. very kinky, gabe.” you smirked, laughing even harder when gabe stopped abruptly and his eyes went wide, face suddenly all red. 

you chuckled as you cupped both of his cheeks and pressed your lips on his, slow and soft, letting you both melt in each other before you pulled away. “gonna need to delete the last bit of the video so it’s appropriate to send to your sister.”

gabe’s mouth dropped and he rolled his eyes, looking to his left to see your phone propped up against the lamp. “please don’t show that to anyone, especially my family. and please don’t do that again.”

“can’t promise anything sadly.” you said matter of factly, grinning at him. 

“but you’re still coming to christmas?” he asked hopefully, head tilting so he was leaning into your touch. 

“obviously. but im only going because your mom makes the best cookies.” you shrugged, making gabe chuckle.

“whatever you say baby.”

[oscpstri]

everything but you | bearman

bearman x fem!reader, blurb

ollie bearman had everything— the car, the dream, the career. but the one thing he wished for but never had, was you. and he hated it.

INCLUDES: reader is arthur leclerc's girlfriend, sorry we compare careers here but i love the both of them ok pls dont kill me, slight angst

NOTE: inspired by jessie's girl (the glee version again) !! this was originally supposed to be another set of drivers but i switched to ollie bcs the damn lacy edits have gotten to me again man. also im kinda wasted writing this so pls bare w me

( masterlist | more OB87 )

Ollie Bearman was in Formula 1. Arthur Leclerc was not. And that should have been enough.

He had the seat, the career, the fame, the experience. He was in every media day panel and in every post-race interview. He had casual conversations with world champions and raced wheel-to-wheel with the greats. He lived the life he always dreamed of, high at the top, only getting better.

Arthur never made it to Formula 1. He could have if time allowed him. He didn't have Lewis Hamilton's phone number saved in his phone, nor did he talk to Fernando Alonso every weekend before a race. He wasn't the one who flew private planes with the other rookies, nor laughed beside a four-time world champion during a driver's parade.

Ollie had everything Arthur wanted. Everything but the girl.

"Fuck, I'm so stupid. What if I never walk again." You sit up from the hospital bed, grimacing at the pain in your ankle.

Ollie sat in front of you on a small stool, looking at the bandages wrapped around your foot. "Ok first of all, you're being dramatic. It's a sprain."

You look up at Ollie with pursed lips, he meets your eyes with a certain tenderness that you always found comforting. "Second of all, you're not stupid. You got excited, it happens."

You groan in embarrassment, covering your face with your hands. "I can't believe I'm sitting in a hospital room because of my boyfriend."

Ollie's eye twitches at this, "Who didn't pick up, by the way."

You place your hands on your lap, slumping in the bed as you look at the Brit. "Hey, he's probably busy on the sim."

So? Ollie wanted to say out loud, but refused.

You were at home when you got the news that Arthur would be competing in more endurance racing for the rest of year. Happy for him, you started jumping up and down and landed on your foot wrong, resulting in you spraining your ankle and calling your best friend at 8 in the morning.

You insisted that you were fine but by the time Ollie got there, your ankle was swollen and he knew better than to leave you in pain. So he drove you to the hospital to get properly treated.

"Thanks, Ollie." You turn towards him, a smile on your face as he leaves the apartment keys on the table. "You didn't have to do all that, you know."

He smiles back. "Anything for you."

You see his reply as friendly, Ollie's heart skips a beat.

"You wanna go to Qualifying later? I could scrounge up a spare pass."

You shake your head politely, "No, thanks. I'm waiting for Arthur to get here for tomorrow."

Just as fast as it sped up, Ollie's heart shattered once more. Arthur, right.

It wasn’t supposed to bother him this much. You and Ollie were childhood best friends and always in the same circles. You'd been at every single one of Ollie's races in the lower Formulas and tried your absolute best to watch as many as you could now that he was in Formula 1. You were his friend first. You’d been there the whole time— before the call-ups, before the pressure, before Arthur ever made a move.

Ollie had every chance. Every moment. Every excuse to say something. But he didn’t. Too focused. Too careful. Too convinced he had time. After all, Ollie was the reason you were in the Prema garage all the time in the first place.

But Arthur? Arthur didn’t wait. He just said what he felt and you picked him.

Now Ollie was racing in front of the world while silently choking on the fact that the guy still stuck in his shadow had the one thing he didn’t.

He saw you at the race the next day. You were wearing his team colors, in his garage, with his hat on, and shouting his name from the pit lane. But no matter how loud you screamed for Ollie Bearman, the sound of your laugh resonated louder when you talked to Arthur Leclerc.

Ollie won, he had podium, he had the champagne, but he didn't have the look of love in your eyes whenever you looked at him. He didn't have his hands on your waist as the crowd screamed when he popped the champagne.

He had the seat, the headlines, the future every young driver dreamed of.

But none of it mattered when you were in the garage with someone else— someone he’d beaten a hundred times— and still lost to in the only way that mattered.

[mod2amaryllis]

oh what the...i didn't tell you guys. this week i made a reasonable yet impulsive decision..

i was at Big box pet store with all the girls (baby and dogs) cuz it was too hot to do anything else. i do this a lot, at this location. someone was cleaning the rodent display and i was like "out of curiosity how long has that chinchilla been here, i feel like I've seen her for a long time." the lady was like A YEAR! it's so sad! and she was even purchased and returned at one point by an inexperienced family.

i of course go noooo! poor thang. u know my girl at home is 14 years old now. Lady goes you have chinchillas? i give her the whole low down, two old girls, one passed last year, they're my husband's babies, he built them a huge armoire enclosure. she gets very quiet. tells me hang on...i need to call my manager..... and I'm "???"

because the chin had been there so long, the whole staff had been discussing adopting her out. of course they're not gonna advertise this on a 200 dollar difficult-needs-but-so-cute-everyone-wants-one animal but lady and manager are both really excited at me as a prospect. I'm like fuuuck hang on my husband's not gonna want this i don't wanna get anyone's hopes up oh no I'm getting my own hopes up, oh nooo!! and here's.. listen...ok of course i believe in pet acquisition being a 2 yes deal, but i did... wear jose down... which was very embarrassing.... i was just overcome with excitement that i could actually help a lil beast after being out of the animal game for 6 months now.

i got the extra cage set up and despite his reservations jose was like "siiiigh.... no here it's better if you set it up like this," i went and signed some paperwork bada bing bada boom.

that was two days ago!

I've started calling her Summer 🌻

[parasolemn]

X7 Narrative Overview Transcripts and Notes: Acts I-III

Hi there. Nothing revolutionary contained in this one, I was just bored so I decided to start writing everything I could see on the other slides I didn't end up doing when this stuff first came out.

This doesn't include the first slides of each Act, which are summaries of everything that happens in them. What's contained in *here* is just production notes and whatnot. Here's some links if you'd like to read something shorter that actually tells you what you're looking at.

Acts 1-3 Summaries Acts 4-5 Summaries

I need to stress by the way, I'm trying to not squint as much at these since it really hurt my eyes last time lol, so this probably won't have as much hard-to-see stuff as the other ones did. Also, length warning, there's more content in these so the post is way longer.

Including screenshots in case anyone else sees things better. Alrighty, have at it

act 1 da murda

They want me to die so this one's a nothingburger and the stuff that could have been a somethingburger just straight up never becomes visibleburger

Location

The timestamp seems to read "Season: Autumn (<5 min. post-Dream)"

This section of the game takes place at the Capeside Apartments, but rather than simply reusing the location from Disco Elysium, it appears they were remodeling and retexturing the maps. There are four images here: "Interior (Old)", "Interior (WIP)", "Exterior Dock (Old)", and "Exterior Dock (WIP)". Probably just so these parts can be visible from a different angle than the game.

This bit is never zoomed in enough for the other text to even become blurry pixels, sadly.

Characters

Five characters appear in this segment of the game: Beast de Ruyter, Cuno's father as seen through his eyes (crucial); Cuno and Cunoesse (crucial); Call Me Mañana (on the cusp between "necessary" and "supporting"); and The Swarm, Cuno's box of locusts (necessary).

The video never zooms in close enough to see the other text clearly, but some of the concept art on these slides appears at full size later on in the video.

Plot Details

They don't even want to give me a chance. The text never even becomes a visible blur, it just stays as lines. There is this odd little "FELD" thing in the top right corner though, I guess?

Tasks

Critical tasks:

First, survive

Return to Cuno's Apartment - [...] Completed when both Cuno & Cunoesse have [...]

Find what's left of Cuno's people [A/N: probably The Swarm]

Subtask: Find something to carry the survivors [A/N: probably the box he carries The Swarm in for the rest of the game] - Complete when Cuno [...] the remaining locusts in the box. [...]

Leave Martinaise forever

Reactivity/Outcomes: Three sticky notes. Too blurry to read.

Items

Definitely: [Interactable item sticky with no text], [Family?] photograph (Interactable)

This section contains a screenshot of a mock-up of the in-game clothing system, with the items that both children are already wearing highlighted. I assume it to be such: For Cunoesse, hat, shirt(?), pants. For Cuno, shirt(?), pants, shoes. There's two sections that have nothing in them, one between Hat and Shirt and one between Pants and Shoes, but I'm not sure what they would be.

There is other text, but it never zooms in enough for it to be visible.

Maybe: [Two interactables, too blurry to read]

To Be Decided: x2 Healing Item (Consumable); x2 Hype Item (Consumable)

Section also contains one other consumable, two clothing items, and one interactible. One of the clothing items has a screenshot which looks to me like some kind of beanie and scarf set? Not sure. Can't read anything else.

Thoughts

Cunoesse has one Thought, and Cuno has two, but I can't read them. I'm not a magician. Sorry guys...

Special Assets

Systems: (unreadable) Art: Title screen at end, Opening dream sequence, Locust Swarm Audio: (unreadable)

Relationship Beats

Cuno vs. His Dad; Cunoesse vs. The Strong

Act II: The Escape

everyone say Thank You Dora for Zooming Riiiiiiight In on This One

Location

Top text:

"On the splash screen at the opening of each Act (Location), the Player should immediately be given the ability to place themselves in time and space to understand how much time has passed since the last Act and how much distance remains to their destination. Each Act (Location) should be introduced alongside the distance to Hämärä Maa (in kilometres.) Therefore, the distance to Hämärä Maa will serve as a reference point for the gameworld and as a tension-building countdown towards the game's climax."

"1,347 km to Hämärä Maa (Tweak the numbers)"

[A/N: Hämärä Maa is likely named after a Finnish song by the same name written by Matti Esko. You can view translated lyrics in the reply section of my Acts 1/2/3 Summaries Transcript post.]

Note on Geography:

"Consulting the huge wall map of Le Petit Continent on the Jamrock Central station wall the kids learn there's a 14:44 train to June Cite, -- Revachol Express' Azure Sans-Détour -- that completes the 1300 km journey south in three days. Before reaching June Cite -- the third largest city on La Petite Continent -- the train drives past Rhône Tréville (formally Royal) Penal Colony. That's right across the bay -- few kilometers -- from Cunoesse's ancestral home -- Hämärä Maa archipelago -- marked as Breach Atol on the station map. If the kids could only find a way to stop the train there, they'd be almost home."

[A/N: chat, is it Le Petit Continent or La Petite Continent, why is it spelt both ways]

Jamrock Central

"Refer to Jamrock Central Map (hyperlinked) for more references." [A/N i would give anything to have this]

Sticky notes: [unreadable] Groningen station Green marble Peacock, cockatoo [unreadable]

[A/N: Groningen Station is the main railway station in Groningen, in the Province of Groningen, in the Netherlands. It's quite lavish. Many of the reference images on the left side of this slide are actually of this train station.]

Middle block of text:

"Jamrock Central is one of the three major transportation hubs in Revachol. The other two being railway hub in Ville de Charbon and the aerodrome on La Délta.

Jamrock station was erected about 150 years ago by the edict of King Philippe III the Squanderer. It was the height of opulance for the Philippian kings and and[sic] not a cent was spared building the station. The ceilings are high, the windows are huge, the floors are all marble and there are columns everywhere. It's the lavishness of the catholic church + of Sheiks of Dubai but with the taste and sensibilities of Louis XIV the Sun King. Or "was", because after the communards dethroned the Suzerains in the Antecentennial Revolution (Turn-of-the-century Revolution) and the Great Spending came to an end no one wanted to carry the insane upkeep costs. Nowadays the marble is cracked, the colors faded and no one is even thinking about renovation. The station is still very busy and multiple trains both regional and continental arrive and depart every hour.

Near the entrance is a fish pond turned wishing well. Beastmaster Raccoono can talk to the fish, Cunoesse can talk to the water and every 30 minutes the pond produced 0.50 cents from people wishing for stuff.

The station should be populated by lots of npc's barking as crowd in a way the Scabs bark in DE. Ideally there's lots of motion and commotion. The busier we can make the place look the better.

Notable areas might be: - The Fish Pond - Source of income, Cuno beastmaster reactivity, Cunoesse surface tension reactivity, foreshadowing the blind cave fish of Hämärä Maa) - The Ticket Offices - Might be just a dinow in the wall. Ask information, buy tickets, pull a schenanigan) - The Little Gentleman's Room (Piss Lounge for Noblemen? Salle de pisse pour Nobles?) - Rob Herculé, set fire to create a distraction to sneak aboard the train. - The Platform (maybe two sets of track visible?) - The one further back would be purely cosmetic -- inaccessible for PC -- and could show cool trains flashing by"

[A/N: Louis XIV, King of France in the 1600's, commissioned the Palace of Versailles and had a huge influence on French Baroque fine art and architecture. Also was notable for a bunch of other things, but that's what's relevant here.]

Middle image references: Estimated size of this map is compared to the whole road area of the Martinaise map, from the scab area down to where the lorries end near the open water lock. There are also some more reference images in black and white, as well as some more images labelled "Early platform concepts".

Right side: Title text "Arrive at dawn, leave at mid-day" A box titled "Visual references: Train, Exterior". Contains many older style train carriages and artworks. There's a draft logo with small top text "REVACHOL EXPRESS", large text below "AZURE SANS-DÉTOUR". There's two sticky notes, one reads "MARX!!!! HELP PLEASE!!!!!!". Middle text: "The Train from the next Act needs to be visible on the platform (exterior only.) Rough level map below; needs to go through several iterations with level & environment design." The rough level map is divided into the Pavillion and the Platform.

Characters

"updated 02/03/2023"

Character Map Crucial: Cuno, Cunoesse, Trip the Train Conductor (Ticket Control) Necessary: Petite Hercule, Beggar King, Dog Courier, Rémy the Ticket Seller Supporting: The Academic, The Wandering Widow Marginal: Man from Jamrock Station, First Class Lounge Door (No portrait, but might need some funny VO (TBD, small)

Character Relationships Beggar King: Observing The Academic, Has dirt on Trip the Train Conductor, Observing Petite Hercule Petite Hercule: Following Cuno, Following Cunoesse, Helps steal from Dog Courier Cunoesse: Wants to mug Petite Hercule Rémy the Ticket Seller: Creeping on Dog Courier

Major Area NPC: Hercule Louveau, the Younger Kid Flow map: C&C enter the Train Station -> (no text visible on other sticky notes)

Biography:

8 years old

Travelling [...] to see his grandparents in June Cite, [...]

sheltered, [...]

total [...]

[...]

[...]

[...]

fascinated with C&C, because they're the only other unsupervised kids

slowly manipulated [...]

Narrative function:

can be manipulated to help you steal from the Ticket Office

can be mugged for his ticket by [...]

[...]

[crossed off list item] (TBD)

Also a section labelled "Appearance" with no text visible, and some TINY screenshots of text in the bottom left corner

Beggar King No text visible

Man from Jamrock Station No text visible

Dog Courier There is a name here, almost certainly readable with the right eye, but I cannot read it. Most likely her real name.

Some quotes read:

"No petting the dogs!"

"[Name] doesn't like you."

"These aren't dogs for petting."

The dogs in the references appear to be borzois. There's other text, but it's unreadable.

The Academic Split into two. The two sections are titled "Convergent Field of Disaster" and "Dr. Agathe Maier-Sachs" respectively. Also a small text box at the bottom labelled "Financial [Autonomy? Astronomy?]". Other text is unreadable.

Rémy Caprice Subtitle "Employee of the month". Other text unreadable.

Estelle Edelbrock Subtitle "The Wandering Widow". Other text unreadable.

Barkers Cops; Public [...]; Barking passengers; [...]; Janitor Bonus: [...]

Trip the Train Conductor

Present here only as gatekeeper to the Train level

Major character in the next Act

Might even have a different entity name, since he has not introduced himself yet

Needs to be presented with two tickets, or a ticket and a pet carrier to let you aboard

Him letting you aboard ends the Act (otherwise chasing the train as it's pulling out of the station ends the Act)

(Unreadable text box)

This box connects to a box immediately below it in the Act III Characters section.

Plot Details

There is a note on this slide that reads: "Information might be outdated, See the latest Progression Path in the Act II Miro board:"

Location Objective: "Get on the 14:44 train to June Cite. If possible, secure two train tickets. If not, get creative. You arrive at the Station at 07:30. Your time at the Station is limited."

Ways to board the train: "Ideal: You have two tickets. Show your tickets to the conductor and board. Sub-optimal: You have one ticket. Obtain a pet carrier from a Station NPC. Smuggle one of you in it. Inadvisable: You have no tickets. Create a diversion and board in the chaos. (?) Disastrous: Train is departing. Last calls, dramatic encounter where you [...] RC's to mitigate losses. [...] on the train, but you likely lose inventory, health... [has been cut]

The amount of tickets you are holding will have reactivity in the next chapter, as Trip the Train conductor will be able to casually blackmail you."

Ways to obtain tickets: "1. ONE can be stolen from the Ticket Office, if you manipulate the Young Kid to help. 2. ONE can be taken by force from the Young Kid, if the previous has happened. 3. ONE can be bought with fish pond money, but it takes a whole day of fishing for coins.

The dog carrier can be stolen from the Dog-Walker if you can trick the dog to get out.

The diversion involves setting fire to the men's room...?"

Plot:

Cuno and Cunoesse arrive in Jamrock Station at 07:30.

At a first glance it seems cops have beat them to it. Several groups of RCM patrolmen are moving around the crowd. You don't know this yet, but the cops aren't there looking for you, they're looking for someone else.

This "Criminal at Jamrock Station" side-plot will unfold in parallel to Cuno & Cunoesse's story, as their fugitive paths cross during Act 3 and possibly 4.

First they need to know how to get to where they are going. Consulting the huge wall-map of the entire Le Petit Continent the kids learn there's a 14:44 train to June Cite, -- Revachol Express' Azure Sans-Détour -- that completes the 1300km journey south in three days.

Before reaching June Cite -- the third largest city on La Petit Continent -- the train drives past Rhône Tréville (formally Royal) Penal Colony. That's right across the bay from Cunoesse's ancestral home -- Hämärä Maa archipelago. If they could find a way to stop the train they'd be almost home.

Originally, Cunoesse made her way to Revachol as a stowaway on a train along the same line, so she is trying to retrace her steps back home. (Being illiterate, she barely understands maps, and needs Cuno to connect the dots between her recollections and geographical locations.)

The task now is to find a way aboard the train. There's a number of ways to do it. Should they be able to acquire the means they can straightforwardly buy the tickets aboard AZURE SANS-DÉTOUR. Alternatives include, sneaking aboard, stealing a ticket from a young(er) boy or perhaps outright forging it.

The main goal in the Station should be getting aboard that train and one of the more obvious ways to accomplish that is to just buy two tickets. Tickets cost money. There are three ways to get money in the train station.

Fish coins out from the Fish Pond (0.50p/30min)

Beg for money. -- After talking to the character "beggar king" about begging and it's finer nuances and option to tell your own little sob story (Series of RC's on different character in station) to people owns up. Tell it convincingly and they'll give you their change.

Steal a number of items from NPC's in train station and sell them to Beggarking.

Criminal from Jamrock Station notices that and has reactivity to the fact in ACT III.

Once you've found a way to get past Trip and board the Train, the Act ends.

Tasks

Note at top says: "This is a rough overview. The latest Task Chain can be seen in the Progression Path in the Act II miro board:"

Critical tasks: "Find out how to get to Hämärä Maa: Activates upon arrival at the Train Station. Completes upon FELD interaction with the Continental Map. Subtasks: Consult the (huge) railway map on the wall. Ask for directions. Find a way aboard the 14:44 train: There are multiple ways to go about this objective. Let the PLayer know that their time at the Station is limited. This task can fail if the time runs out and the train begins to depart, triggering a failsafe "jumping on board" sequence with critical penalties. (It might also mean a different starting point for Cuno & Cunoesse in Act 3, with them waking up in the Cattle Car instead of the Passenger Car.) Solutions: Buy a ticket; Smuggle one of you on board; Steal a ticket; Forging? Distraction?; Each one of these can be a task with its own subtasks."

Side tasks: "Make the kid stop following you Figure out Beggar King's luggage stealing ring Evade the RCM officers Deal with your injuries? Find new clothes?"

Reactivity/Outcomes: "How many tickets you have = the ease of Trip blackmailing you; Lost items, money, if boarded via failsafe; Criminal from Jamrock Station knows all you did at the Station, and he boarded the same train; Hercule either left behind safely, or mugged, stranded and possibly even stabbed"

Items

At the top is a concept map of the station showing where items or perhaps people can be found. Note reads: "Please refer to the location map (hyperlinked) in Act II Miro for the latest number and distribution of items, NPC's and containers."

Definitely: None in this section

Maybe: Interactable: Can of dog food; Railway map of La Petit Continent; Book: interesting Zoology: Animal colonialism. Consumable: Candy stolen from a baby Other: Locust home upgrade item; an umbrella; Ring from the fish pond

To be decided: Clothing: a hat; Winter-barka; What are those? [A/N: ugly ass shoes]; Meque[sic] sailor shirt; pair of pants / a skirt?; Tioumoutiri T-shirt Consumables: x3 Substances, x4 Hype Healing item; x3 Hype Healing item Other: TBD ITEM from FISH POND

Thoughts

Cunoesse:

Cuno's dead dad.

Reflecting on Hercule

Trains

Predators & prey

Blood debt

Hämärä Maa 1

[Four blank "THC" diamonds]

Cuno:

The Man from Jamrock Station

Dead Dad

Thoughts from Beggar King

Leaving home

Beast-master

Swarm 1

Thought about money?

Hooked to the Book

Blood debt

[One blank "THC" diamond]

Special Assets

Systems: In-game economy: The buying-selling mechanic and the use of money start to play a role from this Act forward. Some preliminary design brainstorming needs to be done on the game economy, including what kind of merchants and money sources should each location require. Mechanic for a fishpond that generates 0.50 centimes every 30 minutes Special movement: Hercule pathfinding: See the Hercule character brief for the idea on the kid following Cuno & Cunoesse at a distance around the Train Station. He should initially be evasive and retreat if you try to approach him, only after some time you can catch up to him. Explore technical possibilities for implementing this kind of special pathfinding for Hercule. A large clock on the station wall which is in sync with the game one? Kid in a pet carrier: There's a sequence where the kids steal a dog carrier, and one of them crawls into it to be smuggled onto the train. There can be strategic screen fade to black to avoid some of the unnecessary animation work, but at the very least the player should be able to have a conversation with Trip where one of the kids' character model is replaced with a dog carrier model. Jumping on a train failsafe [has been cut]: Specifics are largely TBD, but there should be a scripted and [...] sequence where [...] in-game clock reaches 14:44, triggering a FELD-[...] where the [...] some Red Checks and jump on the departing train with minimum [...] losses. Introducing the Cooperative Red Check ?

Art: Map of La Petit Continent: Use the map from the Location Brief as reference. Half-screen sized, like Harry's *expression* painting. Afterwards, it should get added to the map roster in the journal screen. Should there be a marker on it that shows your location in each Act? Train Station map: Standard location map that automatically gets added to the Journal. Shows the layout of the station and platform. Should be done in the style of retro railway pamphlets / subway station maps. Location splash screen: This Act, and each consecutive Act, opens with a title screen overlaid on the environment (in the style of Control or Fringe.) containing the words "ACT II -- JAMROCK CENTRAL -- 1,347km to Hämärä Maa" [A/N - not sure what they mean by Control or Fringe] Kid in a pet carrier Dog model, running away Cuno and Cunoesse idles: Both in the free exploration of ACT I and in Act II, Cuno and Cunoesse's body language should be uncomfortable, suspicious - a lot of looking around and [...] kind of hunching into themselves, generally uncomfortable and [...] by possible witnesses. Jumping on board failsafe (animation) [has been cut] Hercule mugging animation Potentially animations for [...] other [...] the [...] dog [...] carrier [...]

Audio: Train Station foley: Voice calling out names of cities, murmur of crowds echoing in the waiting room space, sound of idling train engine on the platform, and more Action music for failsafe sequence?: The very short but intense failsafe sequence will require some action music. Since this is not necessarily the path the majority of players will see, the music doesn't need to be unique, it can be a piece of generic action music we will reuse in other tense chase/combat scenes as well. Dog/animal noises: voices for the dog in the dog carrier and/or other animals which might be present on the location. (Pigeons?) Subtle, occasional background music: The Train station is far less [...] than the Murder Scene, but still not as lighthearted or [...] as the Train. Most of the time, the Player's focus should be on the [...] sounds of the Train Station, and in the [...] of when a musical track is present, it should come with a sense of [...], feeling of tension, of looking over your shoulder, of being a fugitive on the run. Nothing [...], but rather a [...] reminder that this is not a place where you can relax. It is a place you are eager to leave, but you can't allow yourself to be too visibly agitated. Some musical references TBD?

Relationship Beats

Cunoesse vs. The Weak; Cuno vs. His Conscience

Act III: The Journey

this ones also evil strap in boys

Location

Top box: "Day 1: [1,004] km to Hämärä Maa Day 2: [489] km to Hämärä Maa Day 3: [76] km to Hämärä Maa [Tweak the numbers] [Unreadable sticky note]"

Revachol Express Azure Sans-Détour: Sticky note sequence: Locust Dream 2 -> After the first day on the Train, [...] will [...] -> [...] -> [...] Ghost station -> Second night -> [...] Left notes: "Inspired by mid-century European trains. The [...] and first class luxuries [...]"

Characters

Fuck if I know

The Trip box from Act II's characters links to the box here titled "Major Area NPC: Trip Leroy Fruiscante aka Trip the Train Conductor" actually

Plot Details, Tasks

le shrug

Items

surely im gonna run out of images here soon right

"From top to bottom: items for which we hae a solid narrative idea, vs. items for which the specifics are still unknown. Objects in the definitely pile can already be passed to an artist to paint, whereas the TBD pile will need some concepting first."

Definitely Clothing: Trip's coat?

Maybe Other: Skippy's leash Interactable: [...]; Adult flip-book; [...]; Interactable; Interactable

To Be Decided Clothing: like 50 of them idk theres no writing... Consumables: [...]; x3 Healing items; x5 Hype items

Thoughts

i swear this is actually harder than the summaries were

Cunoesse: There's four thoughts there idk Cuno: Road Living; Swarm 2; yeah that's it sorry, there's 7 more thoughts there

Special Assets

Systems: [...]; Daily map changes; [...]; Jumping off the train Art: Train map; [...] sequence; Locust dream; Two kids in a trench coat model / animation; Jumping off the train animation; Animated character model; Location splash screen Audio: Locust dream; [...]; [...]

Relationship Beats

Cuno vs. His Influences; Cunoesse vs. The Ordinary World

[worshipandtribute]

in honor of me getting a kitten, its time for..

nikityom as cat-dads :3

Artyom tries his best to keep the camera centered, but something keeps pushing at his ankle. He does his best to ignore it, focusing on his friend who's cutting up the body of a person they killed. Soon enough the pushing at his ankle frustrates him, he looks down and is greeted by a kitten.

He clicks the camera off, setting it on the ground next to his feet and quickly getting Nikita's attention. “Check it out.” He leans down and grabs the kitten gently, pinching at the skin on the back of its neck and watching it go limp.

“Do you wanna?..” Nikita gives him a worried look, doing his best to force a smile. He was desperately hoping Artyom would say no. He was barely sure he could get himself to do something like that.

Hearing the poor thing meow in such high pitch didn't help either.

“Hell no! Look at the thing.” Artyom stood closer to nikita, using both hands to hold the kitten in a more gentle nature.

Standing there, the blonde cradled the kitten in his arms as if it were a child, all while leaning against Nikita.

The two boys made eye contact after looking at the sweet little animal in the other's arms, acknowledging the little game of "house" they were playing.

“Okay, good, because i really didnt want to.” Nikita responded, and they both broke out in laughter, making their way to the blonde's house.

ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅ

“The soap, kitja, hurry!” Artyom leaned back as he held the kitten inside the bathtub, he himself hissing at the pain of the little guy scratching up his arms.

“Alright, alright, sorry!” Nikita squeezed the bottle over the kitten, soap pouring onto its pretty grey fur.

“Don't let it fuck you up too bad, you've already got enough scars on your wrists!” Nikita nudged the other. “Don't make me push you into the water with this cat, man.” The other joked as laughter filled the small bathroom.

They heard the door to the apartment open and click shut, making both their eyes widen as they made eye contact with fear.

“Artyom, i swear, if you've brought some kind of animal into my house, I'll kick you and the thing out. You can both be strays!” His mother angrily called out from the living room, making the two boys hold in their laughter until their faces turned blue.

the kitten's nails scratching the tub must've been a giveaway..

Bathed, dressed in a small collar, and fed the cheapest cat food they could get, the kitten was happy in its new home. Even if it had two sub-par fathers.

The two stood over the little thing, watching as its belly rose and fell as it slept on the jumble of sheets and fluffy blankets they had put together.

“who knew you were such a good mom, nikita.” Artyom smirked, patting the other on the back in a teasing manner.

“who said i was the mom?! You're more of a woman than me, with that pretty hair of yours!” He whispered, yet trying to seem as if he were screaming.

They both did their best to not wake the cat up, scream-whispering at each other like the pair of idiots they were.

“You think my hair is pretty?” Artyom chuckled, but it was a genuine question, he didn't find anything funny. His face was dusted pink from ear to ear, making eye contact with nikita and watching as he avoided doing so.

He turned to the other, arms wrapping around his lower waist. “Well, now.. I didn't mean to—” Artyom cut him off with a chuckle, pressing his forehead against his and closing his eyes. “don't make yourself look stupid, kita.”

Trying to change the subject as he wrapped his arms around Artyom, he turned his head and looked down at the kitten. “What should we name it?” He asked, artyom leaning his head onto Nikita's chest.

“kita.”

“Yeah, what?"

“No, idiot! We should name the cat kita.”

“Oh.. But won't that get confusing?” Nikita questioned, giving the other a confused look.

“Nah. It'll be fine.” Artyom smiled, pulling away from the other and placing a quick kiss to his cheek.

/⁠ᐠ⁠｡⁠ꞈ⁠｡⁠ᐟ⁠\

The cat mainly stayed at Artyom's house, but the two spent just as much time with the kitty as normal. Eventually, the cat was very attached to both of them. They'd occasionally joke about being the favorite, but in reality, the cat loved them both dearly.

When they'd make music in Artyom's room, kitty-kita would scurry away from the screaming as fast as he could.

At night, the kitty would sleep between the two. Artyom made jokes about them possibly crushing the poor thing by accident, but that never happened.

As the two would lay in bed together— clothes discarded for whatever reason— and the cat would jump on top of them and walk across their chests. The cold pads of its paws making them both giggle like little kids.

This kitten, this small, dependent being, was singlehandedly healing their relationship. They were very clearly happier ever since the kitten had waltzed into their lives, it was one of the only reasons their mothers allowed them to keep it.

my kitties!

[pandaofsecrets]

We often talk about "the writers" as if they were some kind of hivemind, and that made me wonder, are they really? Well, let's find out.

But first, some general trends.

For one, with the grand exception of The Mime, which was written by five people, episodes in S1 were usually written by three people at most and there were a lot more solo episodes, which made it easier to figure out who was responsible for what in most instances. S1 also had a larger selection of writers, so I'm only going to focus on those who went on to work on the show from S2 onward.

For another thing, most of the writers don't have a lot of writing credits to their name, let alone experience working on anything good. The only ones that do are Fred Lenoir, who worked on Code Lyoko, and Matthieu Choquet, who worked on the adult series Lastman, based on the comic of the same title. And trust me, it shows.

Thomas Astruc

The creator and the one beefing with people on Twitter, he is the guy the fandom generally tends to point to when the writing goes sideways. However, for how much attention we give him, there's actually surprisingly little to say about the man.

First of all, he isn't even a writer. His actual job is as director and storyboard artist, and the only writing credit he has besides Miraculous is like 3 episodes of Wakfu.

Second of all, for how much shit he talks on Twitter, it's actually really tough to separate out this man's influence. He never gets solo episodes, and his episodes usually tend to have more than three writers total. Closest we ever get to unfiltered Astruc is Zombizou, which he wrote alongside Wilfried Pain, who is himself not a writer and only wrote for this one episode.

In S1, Astruc wrote four episodes:

The Bubbler (w/ Sébastien Thibaudeau)

The Mime (w/ Sébastien Thibaudeau, Michaël Delachenal, Karin Lollichon, and Françoise Charpiat)

the Origins episodes (w/ Sébastien and Quentin Thibaudeau)

He became a full-time writer in S2, which is when you'll notice the show started to become more serialized. From then on, he wrote for every episode except for "Action".

From what little I can gather, toxic positivity and the prioritizing characters' short-term comfort over their long-term development is an Astruc special. In The Bubbler, Marinette lets Gabriel take credit for a gift she made because it makes Adrien happy, which is sweet until you realize all she's doing is giving Adrien false hope, and clinging to false hope is Adrien's fatal flaw. I've heard people say the ending of S5 retroactively ruins this episode, but it left a bad taste in my mouth from the very beginning, subsequent writing decisions just made it worse. The same thing happens in Zombizou, where not only was the class encouraged to "set a good example" for Chloé by being nice to her even when she's treating them poorly, but the entire episode started because Marinette got on Chloé's case for something that was not her business, and Chloé was treated as the bad guy when she naturally didn't take that well. Zombizou is just bad all around.

Sébastien Thibaudeau

The head writer and story editor. Basically, everyone else's boss. He's literally only third to Aton Soumache (the executive producer) and Jeremy Zag in terms of influence. He gives feedback and suggests rewrites, works with the other writers to ensure continuity and correct runtime, and approves scripts for production. So, even if an episode was written by someone else, that writer had Thibaudeau looking over their shoulder and that script has his stamp of approval on it.

Like Astruc, he doesn't have a lot of experience writing. His only writing credits I can find that aren't for Zag shows are like 6 episodes of Sherlock Yack: Zoo-Detective, which I don't think anybody's heard of, and 2 live action movies I don't think anyone's heard of either.

In S1, he wrote 10 episodes:

Lady Wifi

Copycat (w/ Pascal Boutboul)

The Bubbler (w/ Thomas Astruc)

Timebreaker (w/ Michaël Delachenal)

The Puppeteer

The Mime (w/ Thomas Astruc, Michaël Delachenal, Karin Lollichon, and Françoise Charpiat)

Guitar Villain

Antibug

both Origins episodes (w/ Thomas Astruc and Quentin Thibaudeau).

From S2 onwards, he wrote for every single episode.

Thibaudeau is very good at his job. /s He's directly responsible for such memorable gems as that time Hawk Moth and Lady Wifi left Ladybug alone to de-transform despite having her literally at their mercy, or that time Adrien randomly got jealous of a fan that wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell with Ladybug anyway (especially not over her literal partner), or that time Alix had to apologize and learn a lesson about responsibility when she's literally the only one who did the responsible thing in that situation. Generally if an episode fails to make sense, he was definitely involved. Thibaudeau is also the big-brained lad who had the idea to sell Miraculous to broadcasters as a "formula show", despite the fact that it very clearly isn't one. And then tried to walk back on it anyway.

Fred Lenoir

Lenoir is generally one of the show's better writers, at least compared to the two I just mentioned. Her other writing credits include 9 episodes of Code Lyoko, and her favorite character is Plagg.

In S1, she wrote 4 episodes:

Stormy Weather

Horrificator

Kung Food (w/ Matthieu Choquet)

Simon Says

In S2, she worked on every episode except for Befana, Gorizilla, and Zombizou, and in S3, she didn't write for Animaestro, Miraculer, Startrain, Oblivio, and Desperada. In S4 and 5, she wrote for every single episode.

Out of all the writers, Lenoir is probably the least interesting one to talk about. I can think of really only three things to say about her. One, she's only second to Thibaudeau for the number of solo episodes, and all but one of her episodes in S1 have her as the only writer. Two, she's responsible for some of the best LS moments in S1—Kung Food and to a lesser extent Horrificator are some of the rare episodes where Marinette comes across more like a girl in love and less like someone's caricature of what teen girls are like. Third, she has no idea how contests work. Every single one of her S1 episodes involves a contest that fails to make sense in some way.

Matthieu Choquet

The show's best writer, bar none. Everyone else go home.

Choquet wrote 5 episodes of S1:

The Evillustrator

Kung Food (w/ Fred Lenoir)

Darkblade (w/ Léonie de Rudder)

Princess Fragrance (w/ Léonie de Rudder)

Volpina (w/ Léonie de Rudder)

In S2, he wrote every episode except for Befana, Syren, Zombizou, Frozer, Reverser, Anansi, Sandboy, and Santa Claws. With the exception of Glaciator, generally if an episode of S2 was really salt-inducing, chances are he had nothing to do with it. After that, he wrote less and less. In S3, he wrote Miraculer, Startrain, and the Battle of the Miraculous two-parter, and in S4, he only wrote one episode, Psycomedian. He seems to have left the show entirely in S5, and truly, I cannot imagine why. /s His favorite episodes are the Heroes' Day two-parter, and his favorite character is Chloé.

His episodes tend to be very low on romance, and when it does show up it's usually of good quality. His episodes are also where Adrien is at his most competent (with the glaring exception of Evillustrator), and he seems to show more of a preference for solo Cat Noir. Evillustrator needs Marinette to detransform so she can go on the date with Nathanaël, and Darkblade and Princess Fragrance see him fight the akuma mostly alone with Ladybug not even showing up until the last third of both episodes.

[nubiawrites]

one shot: blue part one

Pairing: Aaron Pierre x Black Original Character

Warnings: 18+. unprotected sex. pregnancy. miscarriage.

Summary: iriye and aaron's road to becoming a family.

Notes: off the bat, this is at least 10k. I wanted to split it up because there is a second part to this but this was the perfect stopping point. This is set in the future, four years after the events of the actor and his muse. I was very much inspired by @kumkaniudaku as the universe she has made with Terry and Patrice is one of my favorite stories to read. I also put a line in here to warn where one of the warnings happens, as I do not want to trigger anyone. To find it, hit control or command f and enter trigger ends. I was inspired to write this as a Black woman who is looking at her own future and relationship when it comes to the idea of having children. I hope you guys love it as it was made with so much love, care and research. The songs Blue and Mine by Beyonce inspired this piece. Enjoy part one.

MASTERLIST

Iriye didn’t know when it happened, but babies were becoming a common thought in her head. Maybe it was because of her birthday passing, a party Aaron threw in her honor. She was buzzing from seeing how he had gathered close friends and family to celebrate her. Even Vivian turned up, her nose growing wider daily as she waddled in flats, a glow about her. She looked glamorous, even with the weight of carrying her first child.

“You look stunning,” Iriye admired, Vivian chuckling at her praise. 

“I am trying my best. This little girl is taking all my energy,” Vivan rubbed her hand over her belly, humming. 

“We can sit if you want,” Iriye said. Vivian just shook her off. 

“If I sit, I’m gonna fall asleep, and I don’t know when I might be out at a party after she’s born,” Vivian admitted. 

“How much longer do you have till she’s born?” Iriye asked.

“Two more months and then Gabe, Charleston, and I become a family of four,” Vivian said, teary-eyed. Iriye turned to find a napkin and handed it to her. “I never thought I would love doing something more than acting, but becoming a mom… nothing beats it.” 

Across the party, Aaron made himself a drink as Kel chatted about how Nelly was driving him crazy. Nelly had been taking her job as producer on Lanoire Productions' new show very seriously, and Kelvin was starring in it, so the two were budding heads. But to Aaron, their friendship turned into something more, and neither could see it.

“Like what does the color of my suit have to do with anything?” Kelvin asked.

“Listen, Nelly knows what she’s talking about when it comes to production and such,” Aaron said, mixing his whiskey sour.

“She said that about my suit tonight,” Kelvin stated. Aaron chuckled. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s gonna take you two some time to figure it out. Your relationship,” Aaron chuckled. He heard Iriye’s laugh from the other side of the room, and he bit his lip, watching her with Vivian, holding a hand to their friend’s baby bump. He watched them for a minute longer, seeing Vivian walk away, and he caught Iriye’s eye. The look in it took him aback: longing. Aaron mouthed three words: I love you. Iriye returned them: I love you, too.

The party ended later that night. Iriye enjoyed a glass of wine while Aaron rubbed her feet in his lap. 

“Thank you again for my birthday. Even though I’m still not the best about celebrating myself, I appreciate you putting this party together,” Iriye admitted. 

"It was nothing at all. It put itself together honestly," Aaron said, being humble. He knew he had done quite a bit, but it was all worth it to see how happy Iriye was. "I'm just glad so many people were able to come."

“It was so nice to see everyone. I gotta send thank you emails. You even got Vivian out. I know she's been relaxing and such. Nesting for the baby to come," Iriye laughed softly.

"You and your bestie were chatting up a storm," Iriye playfully rolled her eyes at Aaron.

"I didn't know Vivian that well three years ago," Iriye stated. "She's probably due any day now, and then she's supposed to be filming with Tamara in about three months. I think she's bringing the baby with her to the UK."

"I would imagine Vivian wouldn't want her eyes off of her kid." Aaron rubbed the arch of her foot, and Iriye moaned.

"She's gonna make a great mom," Iriye admitted.

"You know you would make a great mom, too," Aaron stated. Iriye raised a brow at him as she sipped her wine. 

"What are you talking about?" Iriye asked him. Aaron moved till she was sitting in his lap, putting her wine glass on the ground for her. "What are you up to, Mister Pierre?"

"I just wanna talk to you," Aaron whispered against her ear. "I saw the way you looked at her while you two talked-"

"Okay stalking much," Iriye teased, her hand curling around his neck and stroking the hair at the nape of it. 

"And we've been together for about four years now. And maybe... Maybe we want more than just the two of us. Maybe we could make... A baby. If you wanted that," Aaron explained.

Iriye raised her eyebrow at Aaron, chuckling softly at his words.

"Is this because I'm thirty-four. Are you trying to get me to do this because I'm getting up in years?" Iriye teased. "I get it. A baby would be something... Good. But are you just saying this because you think it's what I want or because you also want that?"

"Is it something that you want?” Aaron asked.

“Yes. I mean, we’re both in a great spot financially with our jobs, and we have this beautiful place together,” Iriye went on before Aaron interrupted her. 

“Yes, but emotionally,”

“Is it bad I want to say… yes. It’s not just seeing Vivian. On set two weeks ago, I held the baby Samantha, who was cast for an episode. I forgot she was on my hip and was going about my business as usual,” Iriye admitted, Aaron chuckling at the image of Iriye with a headset, comforting a fussy child. “What about you? You didn’t say if you wanted that.”

“I can’t lie. I’ve thought about it some,” Aaron stated. “Last film I was on set for, and you came to visit. We were walking in the park early in the morning in New York. Remember when we saw the toddler with grass stains on their pants? I kept imagining what if that was us,”

“Well, it can be reality. Do we want to do it? Make the next big step. Have a baby,” Iriye asked.

“I do. Do you?” Aaron looked up into her dark brown eyes, her reddish brown skin beautiful as he looked at her.

“I do, Aaron. I do. Let's do it. Let’s have a baby,” Iriye said with a giggle. Aaron kissed her softly before picking her up. “Aaron, my wine.” She felt a smack to her backside as he laid her over his shoulder.

“You won’t be needing that, love.” Aaron led them to the bedroom, where they worked on their baby-making moves for the rest of the night.

It took two weeks to coordinate a day off as Iriye was in the throes of prepping for season three of the show she was on. She managed to get the morning off, and Aaron and she drove to her OBGYN’s office.

They probably looked like a pair, holding hands happily as they watched the different stages of life around them: expecting mothers and some even with their babies in tow.

“Can you believe this could be us in a few months?” Aaron asked, leaning on her shoulder as she looked at a pamphlet about fetal development.

“Maybe. We gotta see how this appointment turns out,” Iriye stated. “Did you know I wanted to be a doctor once?”

“Did you?”

“I did,” Iriye nodded. “But then I broke my arm and at the age of seven, that dream was long gone,” Aaron chuckled, and she kissed him softly, brushing her nose against his. 

“Broken arm made the dream die?” Aaron asked. 

“Seeing them put it back together was wild,” Iriye said. “But the first pilot I ever wrote was a terrible medical drama,” She said with a smile.

“Using the trauma for creativity. I love it,” Aaron teased. He took the pamphlet from her and read it till Iriye’s name was called. 

Iriye and Aaron headed back into Doctor Lathan’s office. Her walls were littered with her life’s work: families of different backgrounds and the babies Doctor Lathan helped bring into the world.

Doctor Lathan came into her office, Iriye squeezing Aaron’s hand.

“So this is the partner,” Doctor Lathan said, holding her hand to Aaron. She was an older Black Woman who didn’t look a day over forty-five.

“Nice to meet you, Doctor Lathan. I’m Aaron.” 

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m guessing we’re not in here for a check-up,” Doctor Lathan sat down with Iriye’s chart.

“We’re looking into our options for having a baby,” Iriye said, feeling Aaron squeeze her hand.

“Well, congratulations. Were you two debating options? Trying naturally, or did you want to go about IVF or surrogacy?” Doctor Lathan asked, opening Iriye’s chart and making notes.

“We wanted to try naturally before looking at those options,” Iriye explained. 

Aaron let Iriye take the lead, just listening and offering his thoughts, but knowing that, ultimately, whatever Iriye wanted, he would give her.

“I think the most important thing is that Iriye is happy and healthy, so the baby is too. I want to do everything I can to alleviate any stress or pressure. Support her,” Aaron admitted, Iriye trying her best not to be too in awe of this man. 

“That’s good to hear. So we will take some vitals from you, Iriye, and then Aaron, we’ll do some from you as well. We check the results to see if we need to worry about anything. And since Iriye has not been on birth control for a year, it makes things easier as she doesn’t have to wait for the birth control to leave her system. So you two can get started as soon as you want to,” 

“Well, that’s good to know,” Iriye tried to be calm and collected. But she knew they would get to business as soon as they got home.

Aaron and Iriye took all the pamphlets and information, knowing what they would need to make this thing good. When they got home, Iriye felt Aaron help her out of her jacket. He moved her hair to the side, laying soft kisses down her neck before pulling her in for a hug from behind.

“Hi,” Aaron said, his hands rubbing the front of her body.

“Hi,” Iriye said, humming as she felt Aaron close to her. 

“You want me to make something, or do we order in?” Iriye bit her lip, turning to face Aaron.

“I don’t know,” Iriye said. “I mean, whatever we pick, it might be in the story of the day we conceived our child. You know, the one that we tell them to annoy them,”

“Always looking for the angle for a story,” Aaron kissed her thoroughly on the lips.

“You know me,” Iriye whispered against his lips. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and Aaron lifted her, legs wrapping around his waist. He walked them to the bedroom, taking her down on the bed for what would be the first of many times they would try to conceive.

Three weeks in, it was bliss for Iriye and Aaron—lots of laughter and giggles. Hurried hands took time to pull the other into positions every night they had free. Some days, quickies were when Iriye worked from home for her writers' room or after Aaron was done with auditions. 

Of course, Iriye researched the best positions for conceiving a baby. If they were going to do this, they would be the best at it.

“You got a pregnancy pillow?” Aaron said, eyes wide, as he lifted the pillow from the box. 

“When you say it like that, it sounds wrong. It’s just a pillow meant to help elevate the hips, making your swimmers get to their destination super easily,” Iriye explained.

“Yep, that whole sentence was super sexy,” Aaron teased. 

“Well,” Iriye moved to her jean dress, unbuttoning the top until the lacy bra she had brought from the store was revealed. “What about this being super sexy?” Aaron licked his lip softly.

“I think I need a closer look at that,” Aaron said. Iriye walked over to sit in Aaron’s lap. He moved to unbutton the rest of her dress, seeing the matching panties. She was just about to take her heels off. “Nah, keep them on.”

Making a baby was fun, but waiting for the fruit of their labor was stressful. The anticipation only worsened when they went to see Vivian, Gabe, Charleston, and their little bundle of joy, Liberty. 

“She has your nose,” Iriye said as she looked down at the baby sleeping peacefully in her crib.

“I know. I’m gonna protect that nose from the world. I let someone talk me into a nose job when I was eighteen. Never again,” Vivian said, looking in adoration at her daughter. 

“I’m sorry about that,” Iriye said, looking at Vivian, and she gave her a small smile back.

“It’s a lesson I should have never had to learn, but I’m glad I did because now, I get to protect her the way I should have been. Be the mom I never had,” Vivian admitted, pausing when Liberty squirmed in her bassinet. Her little hazel eye peeked open a few times as she yawned. “Hi sleepyhead,” The baby released a soft coo, and Iriye was in awe.

Iriye helped Vivian get Liberty ready and cleaned up, then they headed out to the living room. Gabe brought Vivian over a mocktail, and Aaron came over to see the baby Vivian was holding. 

“She’s gorgeous, Viv,” Aaron said, and Vivian smiled.

“Thank you,” Vivian said, trying to take a sip of her mocktail.

“We can hold her if you want to drink and eat,” Iriye offered. Aaron smiled softly at those words. Vivian put her drink down. 

“Okay. Just make sure to cradle her head,” Iriye could see the little worry in Vivian’s eye, but she made sure to help Aaron hold the baby correctly, trying not to giggle as he looked like a giant with the baby in his hands. 

“How do I look?” Aaron asked, gently rocking baby Liberty in his arms.

“Like a natural,” Iriye let slip out.

“That’s how it starts, you know? Baby fever,” Gabe joked, going to make Vivian a plate.

“Not bad at all,” Iriye smiled, watching Aaron with Liberty.

By the time they were leaving, Vivian had to practically pry her daughter from Iriye and Aaron, the two promising to bring more goodies for their little family. 

They made it home and quickly became enraptured with each other again, bodies melding together.

Iriye rolled her hips in Aaron’s lap, Aaron focusing on where his length was connected to her center. Her hands were on his knees as she ground against him, feeling his length hit that right spot. She felt the sweat on her skin and the heat rising between them.

“Look at me,” Iriye whined. Aaron’s eyes looked up at her, and she smiled, leaning forward to kiss him. “I love you,”

“I love you too, Iriye.” His hand slid to her stomach, and she found herself clenching around his length. “I can’t wait for you to have my baby,”

Iriye threw her head back and cried out, her end hitting her hard. She continued riding him until he spilled into her, Aaron turning them so she was on her back. She stroked his cheeks as he caught his breath.

“We’re going to have something we share forever. Apart of me and you,” Iriye said softly. Aaron opened his eyes, the deepness of the blue in them striking her to the core.

“Our child,” He said, pulling her tighter to him. As much as Iriye knew they would regret falling asleep on the couch, she couldn’t find it in herself to convince Aaron to move them as they were entangled.

“Can we get pineapple on the pizza?” Iriye asked one of the writing room PAs, Elias, as he was taking orders for the office. Her show’s writers’ room was working out of the expanded Lanoire Production offices on the Warner Brothers’ lot. She had been craving pizza badly and decided to change the plans, paying for lunch for the writers’ room and everyone working in the office. 

“Pineapple. Ew,” Nelly said, furiously typing on her phone. They were in the main conference room, giving everyone a couple of minutes to get their orders and clear their head before they got back into planning the rest of the season for the tv show Iriye created.

“Tell Kel, we said hey,” Tamara chuckled as she walked behind Nelly, Nelly hiding her phone.

“I don’t know what you two are talking about,” Nelly stated.

“Girl, we know you and Kelvin are a thing. You guys aren’t slick about it,” Iriye stated, grabbing another bag of chips from the snacks area. “God, why didn’t anyone tell me how good these vinegar and salt chips were?”

“I did. For many years. Why are you joining the party now?” Tamara tried grabbing a chip, and Iriye playfully slapped her hand.

“Okay, snackie gonzalez,” Tamara chuckled. Nelly eyed Iriye carefully.

“What?” Iriye caught Nelly looking at her. 

“I don’t know. You just look… different. Glowy even,” Nelly stated.

“I noticed that, too. What’s the new skincare routine?” Tamara moved closer. Iriye playfully rolled her eyes at them.

“Nothing new. Just washing my face and wearing sunscreen,” Iriye took a sip of her water, happy that some writers started coming back into the room, making Tamara and Nelly leave.

Before she got home, Iriye stopped at the grocery store to pick up some things, including the one thing that had been on her mind: a pregnancy test.

She didn’t want to do it alone, so she waited until Aaron got in from dinner with his agent. Iriye sat up upon hearing the door to their apartment open and shut.

“Hey, baby,” Iriye called out. Aaron rounded the corner to the kitchen with a smile.

“Hey, love,” Aaron came over to kiss her lips before seeing the box on the counter. “Wait…”

“I think we should pee on this. I mean, I pee on this. You can watch,” Iriye rambled on.

“You want me to watch you pee?” Aaron raised an eyebrow. Iriye playfully hit him.

“I meant to be in the bathroom for moral support or not. I don’t know,” Iriye climbed off the stool, and Aaron pulled her in to kiss her neck and shoulder. “I added pineapple to my pizza and have been craving vinegar and salt chips. I hate vinegar and salt,”

“Yeah, you’re pregnant,” Aaron said, pulling her back into his arms and resting her head on his. “Plus, your skin is all glowy.”

“That’s what Tamara and Nelly said,” Iriye pulled away and grabbed the box.

“Well, there's only one way to confirm it,” Aaron said, taking the box from her and moving to find a plastic cup from when they had a barbecue. “I’m gonna need you to pee in this here cup,” Aaron joked. 

After handling the business of peeing in a cup, Iriye was sitting in Aaron’s lap while he sat on the edge of the bathtub.

“How much more time,” Iriye asked, her hand playing with the tag in the back of Aaron’s shirt. 

“Well… It’s been two more minutes since you asked a minute ago,” Iriye groaned, and Aaron chuckled at her. He moved to nuzzle her neck and kiss it softly. “You’re in a rush,”

“Maybe. I wanna know. Whether it’s a yes or a no,” Iriye lamented.

“Once we find out, it’s not just us anymore. It’s you, me, and our baby. Baby Edwards-Pierre,” Aaron explained. Iriye raised her eyebrow.

“What does your last name get to be at the end?” Iriye raised her eyebrow at him. “Baby Pierre-Edwards sounds better to me.”

“It has a nice ring, but just think about it. Iriye Edwards-Pierre,”

“Aaron Pierre-Edwards,” Iriye stated, blinking at him. 

“We've got nine months to work it out on the remix.”

“You and Kelvin gotta stop going on TikTok,” 

The alarm went off, snapping them out of their conversation, and Aaron put Iriye on the side of the tub to walk over to the cup and grab it. 

“You ready?” Aaron asked Iriye. She nodded and took the stick from the cup, her finger hiding the screen.

“I love you,” Iriye said, Aaron’s smile growing.

“I love you, too. Even if I’m holding a cup of your pee,” Aaron stated, and Iriye playfully rolled her eyes. 

“Dump it,” Aaron went to flush it down the toilet and then went to wash his hands. “You didn’t even touch it.”

“Sanitary needs, baby,” Aaron returned to her, and she bit her lip. “Whenever you’re ready,”

Iriye waited one more moment before removing her finger from the screen on the test. She stared into Aaron’s eyes, seeing the softness and wonder there. She looked down at the screen and read it.

One word: pregnant. It stunned her. It was just a word, and it had her planning the rest of their lives together. They needed to make a college fund, baby-proof the apartment, and get a house instead.

“What does it say?” Aaron asked.

“I’m pregnant,” Iriye said aloud, bringing the words to the world. Aaron took the test from her hand, and his grin grew to Cheshire proportions as he saw the words. He picked her up, spinning her in his arms and kissing her deeply.

“Baby, you’re pregnant!” Aaron laughed, Iriye giggling at his reaction. He put her down and kissed her again. Iriye wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her close. “I didn’t think falling even more in love with you was possible. Every day you prove me wrong, and today, my love for you just… It’s overflowing.”

Iriye’s eyes filled with tears, and she bit her lip, trying to hold them back.

“Really?”

“Yes, Iriye. I’m so in love with you,” Iriye kissed Aaron again, and she felt him kiss down her lips and then to her neck.

“Baby,” She moaned softly as he skimmed her breast. She was about to take her shirt off when she felt Aaron stop at her belly.

“Hey…” Iriye looked down to see Aaron kissing her belly. She ran her hand over his head as he spoke to her belly. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m your dad. And your mommy is right above us and she is amazing cause she’s doing all the heavy lifting by carrying you, feeding you, and keeping you warm,”

Iriye smiled, tears flowing down her face as Aaron spoke to her belly. She was sure she couldn’t distinguish what he said above her sniffles and sobs. But he returned to kiss her, and she pulled him close.

“We’re gonna be parents,” Iriye whispered, soaking his shirt in happy tears, holding each other in the bathroom.

It took them three days to get in for an appointment with Doctor Lathan for an ultrasound. Iriye was giddy as she listed the answers to the nurse’s questions before the doctor came in. Aaron just held her hand through it all, kissing the back of it or pecking her lips. 

Doctor Lathan came in with the chart, smiling softly at the couple. “Well, we have the results from the blood test. Congratulations. You are pregnant. Seven weeks along. Now, change into the gown and we can have a look at the fetus on the ultrasound,”

Doctor Lathan stepped out, and Iriye got changed into the gown. She had to bat off Aaron’s hands and lips as he tried to pull her close. She lay back on the table, and Doctor Lathan and her nurse returned with the ultrasound machine. 

Iriye bit her lip as she looked at the screen, seeing it go black for a moment. Aaron stroked her hand, trying to calm his nerves and hers. 

“And there it is,” Doctor Lathan pointed to the screen, and Iriye saw the tiny speckle. “The fetus. The baby,” She turned a knob and a steady heartbeat flowed through.

“It’s so tiny, but it’s making that much noise.,” Aaron said in wonder.

“And it will get even bigger in the next months. We just have to get through the first trimester. That’s usually when the risk of miscarriage is higher,” Doctor Lathan explained. “Once you’re out of there, it goes down significantly.”

“Okay,” Iriye said, awed by the life growing inside her. “Can we get pictures?” Iriye asked.

They left the appointment and headed to a restaurant for lunch, Iriye in the mood for something savory. While waiting for their food, Iriye was cuddled up close to Aaron in their booth, looking through a baby clothing website.

“Those are so cute,” Iriye said, showing the little booties. She added it to her cart.

“The tracksuit looks adorable too. And it’s unisex,” Aaron said, sipping his water.

“We’re really gonna have the cutest baby ever,” Iriye added the tracksuit to the cart. “So when are you thinking about telling your parents and my mom?” 

“My parents are coming out towards the end of next month. By then, you should be well into the second trimester, so it seems safe. We can fly your mom down too and tell them all at once,” Aaron reasoned.

“You don’t want to tell them sooner?” 

“Doctor Lathan said we have to make it out of the first trimester,” Aaron reminded her.

“I get that. I'm just buzzing. I’m excited. We did it.” Iriye explained. “Why not share it now?” 

“I just want things to be alright before we tell anything. And it will be,” Aaron assured her. 

“Okay. I won’t say anything,” Iriye said, mimicking herself doing a lock and key moment with her lips.

And Iriye stuck to her word. It’s just that everyone else figured it out easily.

Iriye was in her office, trying her best not to eat more peanut butter cups, when she heard a knock at her door.

“Come in,” Iriye said, chewing her last peanut butter cup.

Tamara and Nelly came into the office, stopping at the door.

“Anything I can do for you two?” Iriye said.

“No but there is something you can do for us,” Tamara said. Iriye raised her brow at them. Nelly pulled a pregnancy test out from behind her back.

“Pee on the stick!” Nelly stated.

“Guys!” Iriye said, hoping no one overheard them. 

“It’s that simple. We need to know,” Tamara crossed her arms.

“It’s either that or a drug test,” Nelly demanded.

Iriye huffed before saving where she was in the document she was working on.

“Shut the door,” Iriye said. Tamara and Nelly came into the office. She grabbed her bag and pulled the sonogram out. “You can not tell Aaron or Kelvin that I showed this to you guys.” 

Iriye slid the sonogram over to them, and immediately Nelly got excited, trying to hide her screams with her hand. 

“You’re pregnant!” Nelly hopped.

“I am,” Iriye said, trying her best not to get teary-eyed. Nelly came to hug her while Tamara looked at the sonogram. “Tam?” She was nervous. Tamara looked up at Iriye and Nelly, biting her lip.

“You’re gonna be the best mom, Ri,” Tamara said with a watery smile, eyes filling up with tears. The flood gates came through, and Iriye was crying.

Tamara joined the hug, and the three women held each other as they cried.

“You guys are gonna make a player cry,” Nelly joked, trying her best not to sniffle.

“How far along are you?” Tamara asked, pulling back to grab some tissues for them.

“I’ll be two months by the end of this week,” Iriye grinned. “Aaron thought we should wait because the first trimester is the trickiest, and he wants to ensure we’re good. The baby and I,” 

“You’re going to be a mom. That’s wild,” Nelly shook her hand. “We’re going to be aunts,”

“We are!” Tamara cried, and Iriye dabbed at her own eyes. 

“You guys can’t say anything, or Aaron will be so mad. I haven’t even told my mom yet, and he hasn’t told his mom or dad or siblings,” Iriye stated.

“We won’t,” Tamara stated. “My lips are sealed,”

Iriye and Tamara turned to Nelly.

“What?”

“Don’t play, loose lips,” Iriye pointed out. 

“I’m not going to say anything, I swear. And who would I say anything to, anyway?”

“Kel,” Iriye and Tamara said in unison.

“What? No. I’m not even talking to him right now,” Nelly rolled her eyes.

“But are you going to fuck him tonight?” Tamara asked, Iriye’s eyes going wide.

“You two have been sleeping together?” Iriye gasped.

“Define sleeping together?” Nelly asked.

For the next hour, Iriye and Tamara got the details on Nelly and Kelvin’s escapades, ensuring no stone was left unturned.

A week and a half later, Iriye was setting up game night for her and Aaron’s friends. Iriye had set up the snacks while Aaron was bringing packages to their apartment at the last minute. Aaron had told her he had it, considering he didn’t want her overexerting herself. 

“I could have gotten those,” Iriye said as she went over to help him with a few boxes and packages, but Aaron turned away.

“Nah, love. I told you I was going to handle them. You've got enough to deal with carrying our baby,” Aaron stated. Iriye glared at him. 

“I’m not helpless, you know,” She said as Aaron placed the packages on the coffee table in their living room. She saw a package and tried to pull it away discreetly, but Aaron caught on quickly.

“What is that?”

“What is what?” Iriye feigned, slipping the package behind her back. 

“Iriye,” Aaron raised a full eyebrow at her before pulling her into his lap, Iriye shifting the package to her side. “Show me,”

Iriye huffed and opened the package, showing Aaron the baby clothes she had brought.

“They were gender-neutral and on sale,” she rolled her eyes. Aaron shifted her to his side on the couch, chuckled, and opened a package.

“We said we weren’t going to buy anything,” Aaron said, opening the box in his hand and then shutting it, trying to slide it to his side.

“What you got there, babe?” Iriye asked. 

“Nothing,” Iriye locked eyes on his before trying to reach for the box. But Aaron was quicker. “It’s nothing,”

“Show me,” 

“Opening another person’s mail is a crime in this country if I remember,” Aaron chuckled as Iriye tried her best to climb over him to the package. “Be careful, love,”

“Just show me. I won’t get mad,” Iriye stated. Aaron handed her the box after he pulled her back onto his lap. Iriye opened it and pulled out a tracksuit set for a baby. “Now Aaron,”

“It was cute. And I don’t even order many things,” Aaron explained. Iriye then pulled out another one in his favorite color. By the time she was done, she had pulled three more out.

“Now that is a lot of tracksuits for one baby,” Iriye raised an eyebrow at Aaron. 

“Just preparing them for their future,” Aaron said. “Don’t worry, though. Yours should be coming soon.”

“Wait… you got us matching track suits,” Iriye asked.

“Of course. We gotta look good as a family,” Aaron said with a shrug. Iriye cupped his chin, and she leaned in to kiss him softly. 

“We’re a family,” Iirye repeated before she leaned in for a more extended kiss.

“We can cancel game night, right?” Aaron mumbled against her lips.

“I don’t think so, but if we don’t answer the door, they’ll get the memo.” Iriye reasoned.

“Right, love,” Aaron kissed her again, leaning her back against the couch.

Sadly, they didn’t cancel game night as Kelvin showed up twenty minutes later to set up the karaoke machine he had brought. And of course, Nelly so happened to meander in a good ten minutes later, perfectly timed. Aaron pretended not to notice the hickey on her shoulder when Nelly took her jacket off. Iriye just rolled her eyes.

Tamara and Cece came, along with a few other friends. Viv made a big deal of entering the house, each hand holding a wine bottle.

“She’s already two sheets to the wind. My mom took Libby for the weekend,” Gabe remarked.

The party was in full swing, everyone convening around snacks as Vivian came to refill everyone's glass with their wine. Iriye had been doing her best to excuse herself to the kitchen to fill her glass with grape juice, not wanting to seem too out of place for saying no to a glass of wine. 

“I got a special bottle I’ve been drinking,” Iriye said when Vivian tried to fill hers. “It was a gift from the studio. Hella expensive,” 

“Mhm,” Vivian giggled, winking at her. Iriye raised her eyebrow at her.

“What?” Iriye asked her. 

“Nothing… you just seem… bright. Glowy even,” Vivian said, her smile coming through.

On that last sentence, Kelvin came into the room with a bag of chips.

“Well, duh. She’s with child,” Kelvin said, chewing the last of his chips.

There was a silence until Iriye smacked Aaron’s arm.

“You told Kelvin?” Iriye whispered.

“No, I swear I didn’t,” Aaron stated.

“But he told me in the kitchen twenty minutes ago,” Vivian giggled.

“Aaron!” Iriye glared.

“She guessed it!” Aaron exclaimed.

“Not really,” Gabe stated. “I might have told Vivian after we got drinks that one night,” 

“Man, come on,” Aaron stated.

“You told Gabe before me?” Kelvin held his hand to his chest, hurt.

“I was knackered,” Aaron shrugged.

“So who told Kelvin?” Iriye asked.

“Nelly did,” Kelvin stated.

“You weren’t supposed to say anything, Kelvin!” Nelly rolled her eyes. “There’s a reason why pillow talk stays in bed!”

“Wait, Nelly and Kelvin are fucking,” Viv asked.

“Is it safe to say, we’re the only ones who know how to keep things quiet?” Cece whispered to Tamara.

“So I didn’t tell Nelly and Tamara, which means,” Aaron looked towards Iriye, playing with her sleeve. “Anything you wanna tell me?”

“They practically figured it out,” Iriye raised her hands in surrender.

“Okay. So we all know Iriye is pregnant,” Tamara stated. “I guess this is the part where we say, congratulations!”

Soon, the other women in the room embraced Iriye. Gabe slapped Aaron on the back while Kelvin dapped him up, trying to convince Aaron to make him the godfather.

“Now that all of this is out of the way and we’re laying everything out, Kelvin and Nelly… what the hell are you two?” Iriye asked.

The rest of the night was filled with joyfulness and laughter, and everyone enjoyed themselves. At the night's end, Iriye was shuffling through their fridge, looking for ice cream to eat while Aaron rinsed some wine glasses off and dried them.

“There we go,” Iriye smirked as she pulled out one of the cartons of ice cream she had stashed in the freezer.

“Were you hiding ice cream?” Aaron asked as Iriye hopped to sit on the counter.

“Well, yes.” Iriye picked up a spoon and opened the carton, digging in and humming as she tasted the Vanilla Bean ice cream. Aaron dried his hands and moved to stand in front of her.

“Any way I can get some?” Aaron raised an eyebrow at her. Iriye nodded, taking a scoop and raising it to his lips, watching him take some off the spoon. A little slipped down his chin, and Iriye leaned forward, licking it off with the tip of her tongue.

“Your tongue is cold,” Aaron chuckled, and Iriye giggled. 

“You never had an issue with that before. Remember our anniversary two years ago,” Iriye hummed. Aaron groaned, moving closer to her, his fingers flexing on her thighs.

“That was a fun time,” Aaron stated.

“It was.” Iriye pressed her chest against his. “We should run that back with the ice cream.” She said, handing the ice cream his way. 

“Whatever the mother of my child wants,” Aaron said, putting a scoop of ice cream into his mouth. He leaned forward to kiss her, and she shivered, feeling the cold from the ice cream in her mouth. He pulled away after they kissed each other a moment longer. “You head to the bedroom and strip down… I’ll meet you there,” He helped her from the counter, playfully slapping her ass as she walked away.

By the end of that night, the ice cream was long gone, and their bodies were sticky from coming together in different ways. Aaron held her closer, and for a moment, everything was good. They were happy. They were going to be okay.

Iriye wished she could have held onto that moment even longer. Feeling him hold her and caress her stomach. Talking to their baby. Something they had made together. 

A week and a half later, Iriye was shopping on her day off. She had been strolling through a bookstore she loved while Aaron grabbed both smoothies from a local cafe nearby. Once she was finished paying for her books, she went to walk back his way, taking in the day when she felt something was off. She sat outside the shop, trying to figure out why she felt like that. She watched as Aaron took a photo with a fan before making his way out to her, a pomegranate smoothie in hand.

“Here you go,” Aaron said, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. Iriye took hold of the smoothie, but didn’t take a sip. “You craving something else?” She shook her head. “What’s wrong, love?”

“I think I’m just not feeling good,” Iriye stated, standing up and wincing slightly as she felt a sharp pain.

“Let’s get you home. You’ve been walking for a bit,” Aaron took hold of her bag and the books she brought, Iriye grabbing the smoothie to take with her.

They returned to where they parked his car, and he quickly grabbed her bags and put them in the back seat. Iriye leaned against the car, winced again at a sharper pain hitting her stomach, and let out a small cry.

“Iriye, baby,” Aaron said, heading over to her. Iriye felt tears welling up as she felt like water was gushing from her bottom half.

“Aaron. We gotta go. We gotta get to the hospital,” Iriye stated, trying to hold it together.

Six days later, the hospital visit still felt like a blur for Iriye. Aaron was comforting her and telling her she was okay. The doctor told her the news… she had a miscarriage. She had tried to block out the bad parts because she would cry if she thought too hard, and she was sure no tears were left. She was tired of it anyway.

She heard footsteps from the bathroom and saw Aaron coming in, a pair of sweats low on his hips.

“You’re up,” Aaron said. “I didn’t wake you running the shower, did I?”

“No,” Iriye sighed. “Is my mom still here?” She asked.

“Yes. She’s in the kitchen. She was talking about making blueberry muffins when I came in from my workout,” Aaron stated.

“You went to work out?” Iriye asked him, appalled a little.

“I did. I left a note. I didn’t want to wake you. I know you didn’t sleep last night,” Aaron reminded her. Iriye turned to lie on her back, biting her lip to hide her shame. 

Iriye had gone to her home office in their apartment, knowing her mom figured that she didn’t need to see any of the baby's clothes she had brought. But Iriye needed to know that what she and Aaron had created was real. So she went and hugged the clothes to her face as she cried late into the night.

“You could have gotten me up,” Iriye stated. “I’m not fragile. I’m not gonna fall apart,”

“No one said you were, Ri.” Aaron watched as Iriye got up out of bed, Aaron moving to help her, but she swatted his hands away. “Iriye,”

“I need to start calling people. To thank them for the flowers,” She had seen the bouquets from friends and family whenever she felt like venturing out of the room. It wasn’t often, but she saw the different flowers. Even noticed a small bouquet of them from Samuel Arenas. She hadn’t seen or heard from him in two years, but word must have gotten around to him.

“I already sent out thank yous. Told people to give us some privacy. Luckily, they pushed back production shoots for me in London so we could get more time together,” Aaron explained.

“My show. I have episodes to produce, Aaron.” She moved to find her phone, and when she clicked it open, she saw the picture of the ultrasound that she had made her background. She shut it, her eyes closing and trying to shake the images in her mind. 

“I’m sorry,” Iriye said to the nurses as they helped her out of her ruined clothes and into a clean hospital gown. Aaron was trying to put her clothes into a bag that the hospital offered, but the nurses shooed him away to sit.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Amiyah, an older Black nurse, assured her. She helped Iriye get onto the table, and Aaron reached for her hands and kissed the backs of them.

“I love you so much, you know that, right?” Aaron said, trying to stay calm for Iriye as tears flowed down her face. He was pushing tendrils of her hair back, and she nodded.

“I know,” Iriye stated. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Iriye sobbed. He shook his head.

“It’s okay,” Aaron affirmed. 

“It’s time for the ultrasound to confirm if you’re having a miscarriage,” Amiyah explained.

Iriye shut her eyes as she lay on the table, hoping this was a big mistake. The blood that was left in her body was not abnormal, and their baby was okay. Soon, the wand they used entered her, and she watched as they looked around on the screen, Amiyah keeping a look of neutrality on. After a few more minutes, she turned the monitor to them.

“There is no fetal heartbeat detected.” Amiyah stated. Iriye looked at the screen. 

“Can you um… can you try again?” Iriye asked. Amiyah nodded, doing another sweep and nothing could be heard. 

Iriye’s bottom lip trembled while Aaron sniffled.

“Can we try again? Please?” Iriye felt like everything was out of control.

“Iriye, baby,” Aaron said, making Iriye turn to him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Iriye laid her head back against the table, breaking down in tears.

trigger ends

“Can you change my phone background, please?” Iriye asked Aaron, handing her phone to him. “I’m going to check on my mom.” Without another word, Iriye left the room.

The smell of heavenly baking hit her senses, and Iriye saw Eve nursing a cup of tea.

“Hey, mommy,” Iriye said, kissing her cheek.

“Hello to you, too,” Eve said, passing a mug filled with hot tea to Iriye. “I was expecting to bring this to your bed. You should be resting,”

“I rested enough,” Iriye reached for a muffin, and her mom popped her hand.

“It’s still hot,” Eve said. “And besides, Aaron has never had my blueberry muffins.”

“He’s had blueberry muffins before,” Iriye stated.

“Keyword: my,” Her mom went to put one on a plate. “You can share one with him. Talk to him,”

“What’s there to talk about?” Iriye asked. Iriye’s mom cleared her throat.

“Iriye Renee Edwards,” Her mom demanded. Even in her state, she knew using her middle name meant business. “Just because you’re grown doesn't mean you’re not my child.”

Iriye rolled her eyes and took the muffin and tea to the bedroom. She paused at the door before she pushed it open, a clearing of Aaron’s throat stopping her halfway in the room.

“My mom says you get the first bite of the muffin,” Iriye said, her voice coming out meek. 

It wasn't rare that she saw Aaron get emotional, but it was rarely because of her. And for that, she felt like the worst person, even more so given the situation.

“Oh. Thank you,” Aaron said, Iriye seeing the tell-tale sign of his jaw twitching.

Iriye walked over to him with the plate in hand, placing it beside him before taking a spot.

“You should eat something,” Aaron stated. Iriye took the knife off the plate and split it in half.

“Pick the side you want,” Iriye stated. Aaron sighed softly before taking one part of the muffin. Iriye took the other. He watched her, and Iriye took a bite, showing that she would try to eat. He took a bite of his.

“You know… it would have been three months next week,” Aaron stated. “We would have made it out of the first trimester,”

“I know,” Iriye stated. “I’m sorry,”

“Iriye-” Iriye stopped him.

“I’m sorry for being snappy before… it happened so soon, and it will take some time to heal. But I… It’s only been a week, and I feel like if I don’t move forward, I’ll be stuck, cause you’re just… you’re acting normal. Working out,” Iriye rambled. Aaron tsked.

“I’m anything but normal, Iriye,” Aaron explained. “But right now, what I’m worried about more than anything is you,”

“And who's worried about you?” Iriye asked. Aaron took a moment to breathe, thinking it over.

“I told my parents… about the miscarriage. We talked about it. Prayed about it,” He explained. “My sister said it’s common and often happens in the first trimester.”

“But why did it happen to us?” Iriye asked. There was a silence between the two for a while.

“I don’t know, love. I wish I had all the answers to give you,” Aaron said, choking up. “I wish I could… take it all away.” A sob broke through, and Aaron tried composing himself. But in the safety of their room, Iriye held him closer to her body. When the first sob broke, Iriye couldn’t help but feel her eyes tear up. His face soaked her shoulder and neck, tears rolling from her eyes. Soon, their cries matched each other, Aaron holding tight around her waist.

Iriye tried to shift, moving the plate aside and lying back, pulling Aaron with her. She let him wrap himself around her, his head on her stomach. After a while, the tears quieted down and Iriye continued stroking the back of his neck.

“I shouldn’t be the one breaking down,” Aaron stated. Iriye looked down and saw him lifting his head to look at her. “You went through it—the miscarriage. The d and c procedure,”

“We went through it. It was our baby,” She said, trying her best to cover her eyes for a moment as she felt tears coming back up.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay, you know. I went to work out because your mom said it was okay for me to have some time to myself,” Aaron explained. “I was trying to focus, but I kept thinking of you. I felt like such an ass,”

“I’m being an ass,” Iriye whispered.

“You have every right to be,” Aaron corrected her. She tried pulling him up to face her, and he crawled till they were turned on their sides, facing each other. Her fingers brushed the unshed tears from his face.

“Can I ask you something?” Iriye looked between his eyes. “Do you still love me?”

Aaron furrowed her brows at her.

“Of course I still love you,” Aaron said, sitting up. “Iriye, I do,”

“Okay,” Iriye nodded, getting teary-eyed again. Aaron pulled her close, pressing a kiss against her head before going to her cheek and then her other. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and pulled her in close.

“I love you, too, Aaron,” Iriye said, the two holding onto each other. As long as they had each other, they would be good. 

Two weeks later, Iriye was in her OBGYN’s office, talking to Doctor Lathan as she checked up on her. Aaron had a fitting and was apologetic for missing it.

“Everything seems to look good. Hormone levels are coming back down,” Doctor Lathan explained. “Emotionally, how are you feeling?”

Iriye bit her lip. “Some days are good. Some days are bad. But talking to a therapist has been helping. Aaron has been really good about giving me space to process it alone, but we’re working on it together. I think he feels guilty because he has to leave for filming in two weeks, and I won’t be with him, so we’re making the most of it.”

“And have you two been intimate?” Doctor Lathan asked. Iriye raised an eyebrow, trying to find a way to word it.

“No. I think we’re still trying to deal with the loss. It feels weird to. I mean, I’m not gonna lie. I want to. Like really badly,” Iriye admitted. “Sorry, that’s probably too much information.”

“It’s completely normal. Some couples wait months out. Others get back to it once things have been cleared. Sometimes fertility levels can be higher after a miscarriage, so that’s just a discussion for you and your partner to have if you do decide to try again for a baby,”

Iriye nodded, taking this information in. It was something she needed to think about with Aaron and discuss.

Later that night, Iriye and Aaron shared takeout on the couch while some mind numbing reality show played. Aaron refilled Iriye’s wine glass, and she smiled at him, taking a sip immediately. She hummed happily afterwards.

“I missed that,” Iriye said, Aaron chuckling at her. 

“I bet you did,” He said, tapping his glass against hers before taking his own. Iriye swirled the wine in her glass, stretching her legs from under her. Aaron pulled them into his lap, massaging a calf with one hand. “You never told me how the appointment went.”

“Pretty good. I seem to be going back to normal, physically, at least,” Iriye explained. “And she said that it was okay to have sex,” She added on before sipping her wine.

“What love?” Aaron turned to her and Iriye felt shy.

“We can have sex?” Iriye stated. Aaron swirled the wine in his glass. 

“We can or we will?” He asked, and Iriye swatted his arm.

“Do you want to have sex with me?” Iriye asked him.

“Well, yes. But do you want to have sex with me?” Aaron asked.

“Can I admit something?” Iriye asked. “I do, but I’m nervous.” She put her wine down. “What if it feels different for me or you? And then what if you want to use a condom or vice versa, because we never discussed if we wanted to try again for a baby and I-”

Iriye was immediately cut off by Aaron kissing her deeply, his hand on her throat. She moaned into his mouth. He pulled back, pulling her lip between his teeth before letting it go.

“So… you do want to have sex with me?” Iriye was still trying to focus, and Aaron pulled her into his lap. She could feel how hard he was, and she ground against him, her dress pushing up her thighs as Aaron grasped her hips.

“I wanna do more than have sex. I wanna make love to you. Fuck you. Claim every part of you,” Aaron groaned, and Iriye felt her cheeks warming, a shy smile on her. “But do you want me?”

“I want you, Aaron,” Iriye whispered. “Please,” 

Aaron didn’t waste any time putting his glass aside and lifting her as he got off the couch. He pulled her in his arms, and Iriye wrapped her legs around his waist.

Aaron made it to their bedroom and lay Iriye on the bed. Clothes were hurriedly pulled away, and Iriye smiled at Aaron, a newfound vulnerability and connection built between them.

“You’re beautiful,” Aaron stated. Iriye bit her lip before kissing him deeply once again. His hands moved to her sides and traced up to her breast. Iriye allowed him closer as she cradled her legs against his sides.

“Aaron,” She breathed as she felt Aaron push his length inside of her. His hand moved to grasp her thigh, holding it high on his hip as he began to roll his hips inside of her.

“You’re so wet, Iriye,” Aaron moaned, his hips keeping an even pace.

“Aaron, fuck you’re so deep,” Iriye grasped onto his sides, her nails digging softly into the flesh.

Iriye moved her hips against his, them moving in sync. Aaron leaned down, kissing her lips before trailing down her neck.

“Right there,” Iriye cried, feeling him hit that spot inside of her that he knew drove her crazy. “Oh my god,” 

“Iriye, you’re so tight,” Aaron grunted, his hips moving a little harder into her. His hand moved to hers and placed them by her head.

“Aaron, fuck,” She intertwined their fingers, feeling him roll his hips into her repeatedly.

“You’re so fucking deep,” Iriye said, Aaron moving to kiss her again. Iriye wrapped her legs around his waist, and he moved a little quicker. She could feel the little pit building inside of her, wanting to reach her end.

“Iriye,” Aaron moaned, feeling Iriye’s walls tighten around him. “You’re so pretty like this under me,”

“Aaron, baby,” Iriye cried as she felt him speed up, thrusting harder into her. “Fuck…” Her walls began tightening up around him. “You’re gonna make me cum,”

“I want you to. You wanna come for daddy?” Aaron said.

“Yes, I wanna come,” Iriye cried out. She rolled her hips harder, trying to keep up with Aaron.

“Oh god,” Aaron began thrusting faster, Iriye’s back arching up into him. His mouth found hers again, and he licked into hers, hearing the wet slaps of their bodies combining.

“You fucking me so good,” Iriye moaned as she could feel herself getting closer to her end. 

“Come for me, Iriye!” Aaron groaned, thrusting harder as Iriye’s moans grew louder. 

Aaron thrust harder into Iriye, hitting her G-spot, and Iriye threw her head back. 

“Oh god! Yes! Yes! Aaron,” Iriye cried out into the night, her walls tightening as she felt her end hit her.

Aaron kept thrusting into her, his hips pounding into her as she rode out her waves. He thrust into her a few more times till he came in iriye, skin slick with sweat as he lay on top of her. 

Iriye didn’t mind his body weight on her as she cradled him, feeling his warmth surrounding her.

“I love you,” Aaron whispered against the skin of her chest, kissing down to nuzzle his head between her breasts.

“I love you, too,” Iriye giggled. Stop, you’re tickling me.” She felt the stubble of his beard scratch against her, and she whimpered, knowing she was still sensitive.

For the next two weeks, their nights shifted between moments of passionate lovemaking, cuddling, and talking, and some were somber. Iriye would get little pangs of sorrow, seeing things that reminded her of the child they lost. She would see the same moments of pause in Aaron whenever he was quietly studying or taking a moment for himself. His eyes were watery. They at least had each other to wipe the memories away.

But once Aaron left for shooting in London, Iriye tried her best to focus on work. The season of her show was wrapping up, and she had been having meetings about the next film she should write. 

For the next month and a half, most of the meetings were in person, so Iriye had time to figure things out before she joined Aaron in London for a much-needed vacation. But the longing didn’t help as she would lie in bed alone, thinking about how far along she would have been. 

“You sure you don’t want one of us to stay with you?” Nelly asked as she, Tamara, and Iriye walked to their cars on the production lot.

“No, I’m good. I’m gonna go home to a bottle of wine, all my shows on DVR for me to watch and unwind,” Iriye stated. 

“A wine dinner? Cece can make you something,” Tamara stated, but Iriye shook her off.

“I’m fine. And besides, Aaron is gonna be up in the next hour by the time I get home, so if anything, I’ll bug him until he tells me to go to bed,” Iriye explained.

“Are y’all going to have phone sex? You’re gonna have phone sex,” Nelly teased.

“No, we’re not.” Iriye could tell Nelly was trying to cheer her up from her impending sadness about Aaron's absence from work. 

“Well, we are here for you, no matter what. You can call us at any time. We will come running, you know that,” Tamara said. Iriye took Iriye’s hand in hers and squeezed it. She hugged Tamara before grabbing Nelly for one. She watched as they got into their car and soon made it to her place.

Iriye had made herself a sandwich after slipping into one of Aaron’s shirts and going to their bed. She texted him good morning, knowing he was probably on set earlier. She found herself slowly nodding off when she finished her sandwich.

Loud knocks at her bedroom door abruptly woke up Iriye. She got up from bed, stumbling to the bedroom door, and opened it to see Tamara at the door.

“What? What’s wrong?” Iriye asked, trying to rub sleep from her eyes.

“Thank god! I thought you were dead or something,” Tamara said, checking Iriye to see if she was okay. “It’s twelve thirty-five Iriye,”

“Wait, I overslept! Shit,” Iriye looked for her phone and saw it was dead. “I had a meeting! I can’t believe I slept fo r over ten freaking hours,”

“The exec’s assistant called to ask if you were running late. I called Aaron, and he hadn’t heard from you since you said good morning last night,” Tamara explained.

Iriye ran a hand through her hair, feeling like she was a mess, and Tamara came over to her.

“Are you sure you’re not under the weather?” Tamara put her hand to Iriye’s head, and she frowned.

“No, I feel okay. I must just be tired. So many meetings and work stuff. It’s draining me,” Iriye moved to put her phone on the charger. “Give me about twenty minutes and I’ll be ready,” 

Iriye went into the bathroom, getting herself together. She returned to the room, huffing as she realized what was wrong.

“I got my period,” Iriye rolled her eyes, seeing Tamara sitting at the edge of her bed. “It’s been a minute, so that’s probably why my body is off.”

“Aw, Ri,” Tamara gave her a small smile. “Please call Aaron cause he is steadily blowing up my phone,”

Iriye quickly grabbed her phone and texted Aaron, letting him know she was alive. She was immediately met with him FaceTiming her.

“Thank god,” Aaron said, his tone sounding worried as he came into the camera's view.

“My phone died. My bad. I overslept,” Iriye explained. “Tamara saved me, though.”

“I told her to,” Aaron stated.

“That man thinks he runs me,” Tamara joked.

“Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Aaron said. “I love you. I gotta head to bed, but I will talk to you later, okay?”

“I love you, too, baby,” Iriye said, hating how things were rushed between them, but work called. Aaron hung up, and Iriye sighed.

“Another day in Paradise,” Iriye explained. 

Soon, Iriye and Tamara arrived at the office, and her assistant, Cassie, caught Iriye up on things.

“Anything you need?” Cassie asked, eager to be of help to Iriye.

“Can you bring me a snack from the office and order lunch for us both. I’m starving,” Iriye hated feeling so off.

“I restocked your snack drawer, so you have some stuff. But I’ll get on that lunch order,” Cassie said. Iriye thanked her and opened the drawer, seeing the salt and vinegar chips. She hesitated for a moment, thinking of her former pregnancy craving.

 Iriye took a bag out and opened it, took a chip out, and chewed it. She hummed quietly, knowing she must have been desperate to eat the chips. Iriye made a mental note to ask Cassie to keep them in rotation.

Iriye began to believe she was under the weather, combined with her period, as she felt so sluggish for the next week. She went to bed and slept for long hours. She powered through, knowing she had another two weeks to make it, and then she was off to London. It didn’t help that she began getting nausea spells.

Luckily, Iriye’s team at Lanoire worked with the executives and producers she was meeting with to arrange her schedule so that she could complete the meetings earlier, freeing her time up so she could feel better and get to Aaron sooner.

Aaron hated night shoots. They always threw his sleep schedule off, and as much prep as he had in ensuring his routine wasn’t rattled, he still felt off. He had just gotten himself relaxed enough when he heard his doorbell ring. He groaned as he got up, heading to the front door of his house. When he opened the door and saw her, he was prepared to kindly ask whoever it was to leave if it was anyone else.

“Hey, handsome,” Iriye smiled widely. Aaron’s eyes went wide, and she giggled as he kissed her.

“What are you doing here? Wait, did I read our calendar wrong?” Aaron asked if he had gotten the dates of her coming to London wrong.

“I got done with work early and I have some news I couldn’t wait to tell you,” Iriye smiled as she felt his warm hands on her cheeks. He noticed she didn’t have anyb ags besides her tote in hand. He began kissing her again, him trying to slip his tongue in but she stopping him. “You’re not gonna like that,”

“I have tasted you in many different ways, Iriye.” Aaron raised an eyebrow, and Iriye slapped her hand over his mouth. 

“Well, you’re not gonna like the taste of morning sickness,” Aaron heard her words and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Morning sickness?” Aaron asked. Iriye bit her lip, and she reached into her pocket, pulling out a picture.

“Open it,” Iriye directed. Aaron opened the envelope and carefully studied the ultrasound. “I’m pregnant,“ Iriye said, tears coming.

Aaron was in awe at the ultrasound picture, looking back at Iriye and seeing how happy she looked. 

“You’re pregnant again?” Aaron was afraid that she would say it was a prank. That this was a dream. Anything that made this moment feel unreal.

“I am, baby, I am,” Iriye could see his thoughts racing. “You’re gonna be a dad. We’re going to be parents,”

And with that affirmation, Aaron pulled Iriye in for a deep kiss. He lifted her up and spun her around, Iriye giggling. 

“Put me down or we’re gonna have a problem, “ Iriye teased. Aaron listened and put her down, his joy not knowing any limits. 

“I love you,” Aaron said, looking deeply into her eyes.

“I love you, too,” Iriye replied. Aaron’s hand went to her stomach, a tear running down his face, and she wiped it away, her own eyes filling up. 

In that moment, Iriye knew that whatever happened, as long as Aaron continued to look at her like that, she would be safe, their baby would be loved, and their family would be whole. 

@wildwomanalereyia @teenage-aria @skvrpion @absentmindeddreamer @blackpinup22 @liv10002 @styleismyaddiction @jungwonsgfs @hooliemooliedonutshawp @hippiesandpeacesigns @blowmymbackout @justagirlwho-believes13 @caribbeangyalsworld @melovedorks @moihasarrived @ashanti-notthesinger @xx-mintyxx @iluvchrisbrown @ash-ketchumzzz @deijalee @pyramidlight @xosharieee @kaylaahisthebestest- @chaniceandrea @kimmivlixx @saveadanc @kaylalb @queenbritbrat @kceeee @naughtynolly-blog @myawesome56 @chainingxday @nononoks-blog @kinginwithbreezy-blog @apple123cg @jazziejax @lauren1000000 @withoutmusiclifewouldbflat @venusincleo @loveschrisbrown20 @brwnskingirlll @iamfredtina @cozyashhh @modelmemoirs @kimiasinterlude @rpayn22 @mscarter123 @lolola22267 @thesweetestdrug @valarghoulis @nyifly22 @zimsilandela @teheeboo @blveeeeeee @5starsirl @yassbishimvintage @23jammy @prettiegal @vadeadiugularis @gabbywontlose @pinkkycherrish @slashervalley @aqueenwasmadehere @lee-jennie @wuzzzgoood

[ironwoman18]

MANGA SPOILERS FROM WIND BREAKER!!!

So... I began Wind Breaker's manga last week, and TBH I was pounding better doing or not reading before the Season Finale yesterday but I decided to read a few chapters set in what happened in the manga but I'm right now on chapter 96 and oh man... I just cry with Ume's back story...

First these pages:

Ume was struggling with the loss of his parents and the food didn't taste the same so he wasn't eating but a Furin guy saved him from.... doing something... He went back to the orphanage he was in and the person in charge asked for his favorite dish, all the kids said their favorite meal until Ume said "Omelette Rice" and it brought to me THIS MOMENT with our freshmen class with their captain:

The parallel is WILD!!! Both were struggling with their emotions and their comfort food was the same. It's beautiful.

Then this moment broke me... His mother was pregnant and he didn't know if he will have a brother or sister but the kids at the orphanage, without knowing anything, started to call him oni-chan and he decided to be their big brother.

This is beautiful because:

Explain why Ume needs to begin or wrap up with a meal, and it's because he is adopting his opponents and teammates to be part of his family and the food will feed their body and soul.

Explain why he considers Furin kids his siblings and he's willing to fight for them.

So... Now it's not a theory but a fact... Sakura will be Ume's successor, and it might be a little obvious from the beginning but we don't know Satoru's plans for the MC... so it's a possibility that he will do what I said or not.

Thanks for reading this far. I might keep ramping up about what I read so, I'm sorry for the person I will be until I reach the lasted chapter.

Also if you liked, please RT this.

[jam-mayo]

Wait... Actually yeah that is weird.. I've been thinking about the one-shot as a before the Witchlight carnival kind of thing but if that were the case where did they pick up Torbek? If he wasn't at the carnival that means no Fey torture, so where did the tubes come from? Or is it that they went to the feywild and everything, they just didn't do anything and came back and decided to waste their month setting up the carnivale again? What's the timeline here? Sorry, not really related to the original post D:

On an actually relevant point though, poor guy can't catch a break but at least everything else is looking up for Torbek after death... And the Other seems to be on better terms with Torbek? Obviously not happy with the situation but not too hateful towards him

also it's crazy that torbek is canonically a werewolf in crooked moon because the implications of that for ouaw. it's not the beast that is violent and cruel, but the man. yet the beast is hunted and ridiculed and the man hides inside the beast, safe.

[veilyink]

after a tiny forced hiatus (god, college is gonna kill me one day!!), i'm back and i'm looking for new rp partners — to my old partners, i'm not replacing anyone!! <3 and if you dm'd me for a plot and didn't get a reply (i'm so sorry about that), but still wanna write with me, you're more than welcome!!!

you can learn more about me and my writing/rp style through my pinned post, but i'll give you a quick rundown here! i'm a +25 writer who writes only with +21, only on discord, and i love writing a variety of themes and ships!! i can easily go from dead dove & NSFW to something softer and romantic. everything's welcome!!

below, i'll list some plots i'd love to write right now, and in my pinned post, i've got some other plot ideas!! send me a dm or like this post, and i'll reach out to you <3

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟏 :: something with bonnie & clyde vibes, please!! a young couple robbing gas stations, crashing in cheap roadside motels, and being totally reckless. i think an 80s/90s vibe would be super cool here too!!

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟐 :: god forgive a girl for being so obsessed with the hunger games!! i just NEED to write something in that universe (with ocs, pls). maybe mentor x tribute, tribute x tribute, mentor x mentor...so many possibilities!!

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟑 :: cliché but it works. just a girl from a religious family getting involved with a totally questionable guy. a bit of angst, maybe. maybe a little toxic...sky’s the limit!

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟒 :: anything involving vampires. modern vampires, period-setting vampires, something like TVD or Twilight. anything at all!!

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟓 :: another cliché i love. mafias! give me arranged marriages, slow burn, a couple that hates each other but can't live without one another. a bit toxic, a bit (a lot) of smut...you know the vibe.

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟔 :: i rarely see people suggesting plots with this theme, but i think old money aesthetic deserves some love!! maybe a forbidden romance between people from rival families with that vibe.

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟕 :: something university-themed, full of clichés and all the classic tropes we never get tired of! give me academic rivals, nerd x popular, hockey players (or any other college sport), cheerleaders...ahhh, i need it!!

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟖 :: not super popular, but i need to reinforce my love for formula 1 and try to find someone who wants an rp in that universe. driver x driver, driver x journalist...so many possibilities!!

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟗 :: i have a thing for bad boys who wear jackets, smoke, and are fully tattooed, so give me plots with them in any setting! maybe a plot involving motorcycle clubs or something with devils night vibes, angst, a little toxic, enemies to lovers, etc.

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟏𝟎 :: cowboys. rural settings. rodeos. cowboy hats. farms. that’s what i want and need!! we can do the classic city girl going to the countryside or we can go beyond. once again, so many possibilities and ideas.

• 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝟏𝟏: and last but not least, something beachy. give me that summer love that's intense, full of desire, and has an expiration date.

[nokingsonlyfooles]

DO NOT GO TO A PROTEST WHERE THE "SAFETY VOLUNTEERS" MAY BE SOLDIERS OR COPS WITH GUNS.

DO NOT GO TO A PROTEST WHERE THE "SAFETY VOLUNTEERS" MAY BE SOLDIERS OR COPS WITH GUNS.

NOBODY IS GOING TO NOTICE THIS OR CARE BUT PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD APPROACH ANYTHING THAT THE 50501 MOVEMENT IS DOING WITH A HEALTHY AMOUNT OF SKEPTICISM AND MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT GOING TO A PROTEST WHERE THE "SAFETY VOLUNTEERS" MAY BE SOLDIERS OR COPS WITH GUNS. IF YOU ARE NEW TO ACTIVISM, LET ME INFORM YOU THAT NONE OF THE VOLUNTEERS TRYING TO KEEP YOU SAFE SHOULD HAVE GUNS, LET ALONE TWO OF THEM. A PROTEST DOES NOT HAVE ITS OWN ARMED POLICE FORCE.

...The two men drew their handguns and ordered Gamboa to drop the rifle...

“Our team of safety volunteers, who have been selected because of their military, first responder, and other relevant de-escalation experience, believed there was an imminent threat to the protestors and took action,” organizers said.

Difficulty: According to the article, a national coordinator for the 50501 movement says they told everyone not to bring weapons and they didn't ask for a permit for armed security.

Sarah Parker, a national coordinator for 50501 Movement, which helped organize the “No Kings” protests across the country, said all attendees, including those in safety roles, were asked not to bring weapons.

So, either they are lying (and they will lie to you), or they drew their "safety volunteers" from a pool of people with gun experience, and didn't check to make sure they didn't show up with guns (so they're not liars, they're idiots).

Yeah, there was a guy with a rifle, but when the "safety volunteers" drew their guns and fired, they became the threat, and they killed someone. Utah is open carry, so a guy could just be walking around with a rifle, on his way home, on a public street. I wouldn't, and I wouldn't have liked ANYONE to get killed, but a protest is not a war. And pointing guns and saying "Drop it!" (by the authority of our safety vests) is not de-escalation. If you volunteered to do that, you volunteered to put yourself in harm's way to help others, not to shoot bystanders 'cos you don't wanna get shot.

Please see the following for more effective ways to protest:

If you see something, do something. You CAN stop the gestapo from carting people off. It's highly situational, I can't give you one method that's always gonna work and leave everyone unharmed, but if you make it hard enough, the lazy pigs will lay off.

In the city of Spokane in eastern Washington state, hundreds of people rushed to protest outside an ICE building June 11 after former city councilor Ben Stuckart posted on Facebook. Stuckart wrote that he was a legal guardian of a Venezuelan asylum seeker who who went to check in at the ICE building only to be detained. His Venezuelan roommate was also detained.

Both men had permission to live and work in the U.S. temporarily under humanitarian parole, Stuckart told The Associated Press.

“I am going to sit in front of the bus,” Stuckart wrote, referring to the van that was set to transport the two men to an ICE detention center in Tacoma. “The Latino community needs the rest of our community now. Not tonight, not Saturday but right now!!!!”

They turned out, and those two men did not get taken away, although some other folks did get arrested.

However, the ending of the latter article gives me the creeps, with context. I am not a conspiracy-minded, person, but this doesn't have to be a conspiracy, this just has to be some clueless people with good publicity who think they're helping.

She said she wasn’t able to go to Stuckart’s protest. But she marched for the first time in her life on June 14, joining millions in “No Kings” protests across the country.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt as strongly as I do right this here second,” she said.

I don't know if she could only pick one thing and she picked the "No Kings" protests. In any case, people have a limited amount of time and energy. If you are a person, choose standing in front of a van to prevent human beings from being abducted over standing in a park with fake "safety volunteers" who may start firing into the crowd if it gets scary. If you are standing in front of a van, you have a better idea of where the danger is, and you might actually accomplish something.

My handle predates the "No Kings" protests, by a lot. They're creeping up on anarchist philosophy with that slogan, but it's simplified to the point of meaninglessness. "Hands Off" was similar. If the government did actually stop messing with social programs, these programs would fail on their own. Enough damage has been done already. No one's needs are being met and too many people have decided that's how it's supposed to be, and it's better to die quietly than have any "violence." So "No Kings." OK. What do you want to happen that'll stop Trump from being a king? Impeachment is off the table, he's going to stay in the White House and he's got some awesome personal immunity that the Supreme Court handed to Biden. He's not necessarily going to let you have another election, you know that, right? And, although you may not have noticed until just now, the democracy isn't very healthy. Somehow, you elected a king, that's not how it's supposed to go. So if you're a movement, where are you going instead? Just "Hands Off" the wheel so we trundle over the cliff a bit slower?

I don't have a lot I can do from where I am. The last protest I went to, my crap health made me a liability. So we fled. Still trying to get my goddamn health together up here. But if I'm ever in a position where I see it happening, I hope like hell I can get in front of the van. "No Kidnapping People From My Community Right Out In The Open Where I Can Fucking See You, I Will Stop You" is motion with meaning.

[justafewberries]

Beetee's failed attempt to hack the capitol coms leading to punishment with Ampert is either evidence that the attack served a greater rebel organization

Or

Beetee wanted to do a mega attack that would create that rebel organization from the network of cells.

If it's the latter then a possible rebel tendency towards mega propo attacks(blowing up arenas) could be established.

Though most d12 rebel action besides posters is based on escaping d12 or sabatoging mine production(in CF we see more examples of this in other districts).

I don't think Beetee was trying to communicate through the system:

“It’s because I’m being punished for coming up with a plan to sabotage the Capitol’s communication system. I’m too valuable to kill, but my son is disposable.”

He was trying to sabotage it. He was trying to prohibit something from being communicated, or just take the systems down entirely. However, we do not know when he tried to sabotage them. It could have been years prior. Ampert was 12, so it was the first year he could have been reaped. This opens the door to the sabotage plan being developed before the period between the 49-50th Games.

He did not know he was caught until they reaped Ampert:

“But it is. Entirely. I took a risk. I didn’t suspect that I’d been found out until the reaping. The timing was calculated. If I had known, I could have killed myself, and Ampert would be safe at home. That is how Snow works.”

This doesn't necessarily mean he developed the plan recently, but I think makes it more likely.

There are a few reasons he may have taken up against the communication system specifically (other than the fact he's the comms guy in mockingjay):

Prevent development of the arena:

He stated he got to look over the plans over a year ago:

“My point is that, for at least a few weeks, the arena has to be capable of sustaining the tributes and supporting the set pieces. I haven’t seen the plan for the actual arena, but over a year ago, they had me look over the Sub-A design."

So he has insider knowledge. Perhaps he was planning to meddle with the communication systems for the construction of the arena. Although, I don't think this hold water, as he did not implement the plans, and the arena would have to have been built by then.

"Oh yes, Well, they've been in the works for years, of course. Arenas aren't built in a day." (Catching Fire, Plutarch)

So, at best, he would be meddling with the construction of a future arena.

Trying to overwrite Capitol propaganda

People in the Capitol love their TV's. Maybe it's literally just him trying to do what he does in Mockingjay, although, I'm not sure what he would break in with, but that could be why it's a plan he didn't implement. They needed propos in Mockingjay before they could do any kind of breaking in.

Game communications/operations

Perhaps he was trying to sabotage the trackers (but that really wouldn't accomplish much on its own), or the operations of the Games in a Bluetooth/control from a remote location kind of way. I'd buy this if Sub-A didn't exist and the Games were as automated as they were in the 74th Games.

There are a few smaller things that could have to do with "Capitol communications", like moving Peacekeeper squadrons from areas to allow access to restricted areas, too, but I don't know if that would be sabotaging so much as interfering/controlling, maybe he just planned to leave a security gap in them for later?

I think the distinction of "sabotage" is why I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the rebels or not.

[storkmuffin]

J'accuse 1N2D encore! (Lemon Drop Edition)

I enjoy 1N2D content in general, or thought I did, until I had a run in with the episode where an editor's bias got too obvious on behalf of San. The set up for this series is especially hard on Mingi, because it requires acting out famous scenes from famous KBS(?) dramas, or games of speed. Mingi didn't fare that much better this outing - they reduced the pro-San flailing, but Mingi still suffered (I made a separate post).

I'm not sure how fun it was, actually, as far as content goes, but it revealed a lot anyway. I think that Ateez always just do best when it's their own content, and for various reasons have a hard time coping with this StudioK type of setup overall. It doesn't really show any of them in a great light, you know?

Production Quality was a Miss.

Dressing them up in hanbok was a cute idea. I approve. But. They didn't do anything with the hanbok set up in terms of coordinating with the hair and make up, so this group of boys who are famously all ethnically and legally Koreans using their real names look like underprepared tourists wearing someone else's national costume. I especially hate Yunho's hair, followed by Mingi's flop-a-thon situation.

The other problem is the lighting set up. The director of photography for this needs to forfeit their salary. This is exactly the lighting set up and angle that any beginner amateur photography book tells you to never place your subjects. The merciless sunlight pounding down at the top of their heads as they all squint and sweat in the heat and glare - this is almost an anti-fan set up. Nobody looks good like this. It's only because all of these guys are exceptionally handsome that you get any sort of result that isn't painful to view. What the hell? This is their sixth appearance, and this is the best you can do for them?

Every time any of them go in the shade, they all go, OMG It's so cool here.

The Group's Dynamics

Oh the way that Ateez are now considered old-timers, able to take on the old-timer mantle is bittersweet. The lead speaker among the invisible women who run this show start out trying to tease the group - I feel like I'm a 9th member of your team- and is met with very bland responses - sure, come on in, stand in the center, show your face- and then doesn't know what to do with that. Hongjoong teases her gently, saying, Oh, you must've recently done content with newbies! You're going to find us harder to deal with. (Once again - terrible light conditions, terrible photo result, and with a face as pretty and photogenic as HongJoong's! What the hell).

And they go on to just be viciously rough with each other. Wooyoung acted upset last outing about not being given the opening comment line, so they give it to him this time. Mingi, Yunho and Jongho loudly say that they should not show him the cue card. They let him reference it, but Wooyoung fucks up anyway, and then Seonghwa and Hongjoong pile on while Wooyoung looks like he got pooped on by a bird. Wooyoung also gets piled on for not dyeing his roots. Mingi gets in a swipe about, How come you didn't do your hair? 1N2D is important.

Ateez are entirely distracted (or maybe cringing away from each other) throughout the attempts to deliver acting lines, such that variuosly, Hongjoong, Yunho and Mingi need to corrall the others into providing the silence necessary for clean footage.

THE PARENTS

Yunho and his Mom: Yunho is just like his mother. This surprised me, because in TokToqs he's said that he takes after his father - physically and personality-wise - and that Gunho, his younger brother, who is (according to Yunho) cuter and more appealing and much more fussed over by his parents (yeah, he was obviously jealous as he denied feeling jealousy for his brother btw), All the things I find oddball about him, she has. She answers the phone toughly: "What. Son?" And when he says the fancy schmancy, 아침 문안 드리겠습니다. (I respectfully submit my morning greetings to you) she immediately quips back, "Who are you?" Yunho laughs and can only muster a "No no!" His mother also has that voice-over actor voice, plummy tones, slightly unnatural. This must be his actual inherited vocal tone. Also? Yunho's mom sounds really rich lol. And the urge to never ever back down from a challenge, Yunho must also get from his mom. Because she knows she's on air, and he says something that is really touchy feely and uncommon - Thank You For Giving Me Life. It's both filial (up to a point) and nice (as always) but it's kind of an ambush too. Yunho's mom can't let Yunho win, so she one ups him: It Was a Joy To Give Birth To You. Her son? KO'ed. Damn, lady.

Wooyoung and his Mom have a best-girlfriends vibe. What the heck. LOL. He gets the quick witted, fast-talking thing from her too.

Wooyoung being mistaken for Hongjoong by Mingis' mom and being so disappointed.

Mingi and his Mom. She unintentionally gets Wooyoung back (for being pretty mean to Mingi throughout this episode) SO GOOD because he doesn't bother trying to trick her with his voice, but she can't identify him. Mingi seems moved that she knows the title of his solo single, which is sweet, but again it's one of these weird Mingi self-owns. How chilly is it between you and your mom that you'd be surprised?? But is it chilly?? Because his mom knows his career pretty well! What is going ON?

San and his dad: San naturally falls into dialect when he talks to his father, and I loved that Wooyoung calls San's dad 아빠. Being very cutely, confidently wrong is something San must get from his Dad. That was very hilarious.

Yeosang and his dad: I was actually pretty thrilled that Mr. Kang appeared. There's only a few stories that Yeosang has ever told about his parents, and they aren't terribly nice. One is that he fought with his father so fiercely over his desire to be an entertainer that he ran away from home to make his point, that he intended to exercise control and agency over his own life or he'd stop having a relationship with his father. The other is that his parents wanted him to stay in school. But Yeosang's father, on this outing, is proud of his son's beauty and knows a lot about his career, enough to do quite well on a keyword speed quiz. That makes me happy to see.

In red, HJ's mother to Yunho: Why did you do that to me? Yunho: [freaking out.]

The most normal (as in, familiar and normal to me) parent-child chats were between Hongjoong, Seonghwa and their mothers. Oh and I especially enjoyed Hongjoong's girlishly giggly mother telling off Yunho for playing a vocal trick on her, and his bouncing up and down on his butt in distress at taking it too far with a grown up. LOL.

and ps: Just in terms of looks? San really should be in a Korean costume drama. Omg his face.

[electricea]

The more he looked around, in the vain hope of finding something - anything they could barter with, the more he hoped this friendly old gent wouldn't take - and as he was about to sheepishly apologize, he was taken aback by what the old man seemed to be saying - he'd really take any old junk? Well, that might be something to keep in mind - they didn't have to worry about finding anything valuable or even anything specific - and if and when they did reach an island, maybe they could set aside old junk...in case they ever saw this guy again.

"Ah, so you'd really take whatever we're willing to give you...?" He doesn't want to sound like a broken record but truly, the last thing he wanted to do was to shortchange this old guy. "You'll give us one thing each...? T-That's really kind of you..." He was already pretty taken aback at not only how kind this old guy seemed but also how generous he was too. He didn't want to go ahead and just take something from him, but the old guy had offered.

"W-Whoa...!" His eyes widened as seemingly, something came out from Ishi's fluffy form - the edge of a picture or painting, maybe...? "How long have you had that hidden in your fur, Ishi...?!" Had Ishi always had that tucked away...? How had he managed to hide it...?! Or had this old guy somehow managed to bring it out of him, somehow...? Had the old guy put it there in the first place...?! Well, it was something to give the old man but still, where had it come from...?!

"D'you have any more of those...?!"

Ryuji turned his head, looking out across the water which seemed to stretch out endlessly - he couldn’t even remember how long they’d been paddling for or how far they’d come since that unforgettable moment which seemed a lifetime ago. Not to mention, the island they were heading to still seemed so far away and so abstract. What would they find there? Just a big empty island where they’d have to make do and set up? Would they be expected to stay there or would there be other islands in their future…? He supposed he ought to be taking this all one thing at a time, lest he overwhelm him - focus on getting to island, first.

“So, you guys all knew we were coming, then…?” In a way, that was sort of reassuring to know. What had it looked like to them, though? Some big bright portal opening up…? “Uh, I mean I think you’ve got a lot of great stuff but…” He looks down guiltily, knowing this was embarrassing to admit but even so, he wanted to be honest with this old fellow. “We don’t have money to pay you or…anything to trade you with, unless…”

His gaze went to the orb, wondering if maybe that might be able to help them - it had given them paddles when they’d touched it, so maybe if they touched it now, the orb could give them some money to barter with…? Or better yet, even anything at all they could try and trade and barter with. Of course, he still didn’t have a firm handle on trying to control this and he couldn’t even guarantee they’d get what they wanted but it was worth a try, wasn’t it…?

“Is there…anything we can give you? Anything you want…?”

[tvuniverse]

9-1-1 OLIVER STARK as Evan 'Buck' Buckley -> shift in his facial expressions as warning signs

(thank you @911bts for the screenshot 💕)