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itsgrimeytime · 10 months

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Magnolia in May (Part Two) || Rick Grimes (TWD) x Greene!f!reader Regency AU

Part 1...

AVAILABLE ON AO3

Inspiration (in honor of Speak Now Taylor's Version): Enchanted by Taylor Swift

Summary: Your town was small, not the smallest you knew, but anyone of high fortune was the gossip of the week. Predictably, Richard Grimes was a thing of whispers -rumors of a search for marriage among the grassy hills. You weren't one to buy into town gossip, but something about him... just seemed a little too intriguing.

TWS: rumors.

[[ A/N: Also, am I so inspired by this concept that I wrote a second part in a day? Maybe so... 👀👀👀 Anyway, thanks for reading!!! ]]

You realized pretty quickly that you hadn't gotten the man's name, only his daughter's first. It was a bit frustrating, and even more so as your Headmistress continued to ramble on about timeliness and arriving on time.

You knew the lesson, it had been drilled into your head since you'd been late to school once at age six. It only grated on your ears now.

There was a thought there to tell her it was because of a man -she'd be so delighted, her whole rant would be long forgotten. But another part of yourself wished to hold it back -to keep this man and his darling daughter in your brain for no one else to see.

It was a rather selfish thought, but having never seen the two before you assumed they were travelers -they'd be gone soon enough. And without his name, it would be rather difficult to describe to a Headmistress all about social standing. He could be a farmhand for all you knew, an overdressed farmhand, sure, but one no less.

"Y/N," Headmistress pursed her lips -a grainy sort of disgust in her face, "-are you even listening?"

"Yes ma'am," you cleared your throat, moving to cut into your pancake, "-sorry, I was a little distracted, what have you asked?"

Elisa frowned, set deep into her face and you wondered how she'd been so smiley before with how heavily ingrained it looked, "I asked, young lady, what distracted you on your trip? It's not normal for you to take such time! So what happened?"

You paused, quickly eating a bite to buy some time -unsure if you wished to speak the truth. The more you thought about it, you found it rather stupid -the man was surely gone and it wasn't anything to concern them. You were a lady of age, and speaking to a man hardly was anything to talk to your parents about.

"Mrs. Sweets had some new dresses in the window," you lied -carefully dabbing your face with the napkin (you had noticed the new dresses but it had hardly taken any time at all), "-I wanted to look at them closely, and lost track of time, I suppose, I truly apologize."

"Hmm," the Headmistress pursed his lips -seeming to evaluate your words, "-lesson learned, I presume?"

"Very," you replied -simply, wishing for the conversation to navigate elsewhere.

And just as it seemed to (Maggie saying something that the Headmistress just had to dispute), there was a heavy knock on the door.

The room fell abruptly silent, the only noticeable noises being the slight clink of silverware and the creaks of the old chairs. Your father was the first to stand, making his way to the door with a confidence you'd wished you inherited.

The man who stood there was short, a cap situated on his head and a determination in his eyes, "This the Greene residence?"

Your father answered, a little uncertain -blocking the man's eyes from farther into the house, "Yes, I'm Dr. Hershel Greene, is this about work?"

"No sir," he responded -respectful and quite direct before extending a hand forward, a thick piece of paper exchanged between them, "-your family has been invited to the Ball, come next Tuesday. Mr. Grimes personally requested your presence."

Headmistress couldn't hold back a gasp, as Father took the paper -skimming over it with a heavy sort of look, "Personally?"

"Yes, sir. He insisted I bring it to the residence directly."

You thought back to the man, and his insistence on buying you more -just for the lack of one. Poking around the fruit on your plate, you frowned. He was probably married after all, he did have a child -someone as charming as he was most certainly bound to a wife.

Before you could dive further into your sudden despair, your father joined back at the table -slow and sure steps. Opening his mouth to say something, he didn't get very far before the Headmistress snatched the invite out of his hands.

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she skimmed over the words, she seemed to digest it (like it could be a fake).

You furrowed your brows, as she seemed to stall.

"I'll be looking forward to your presence signed Mr. Grimes," the Headmistress read out loud -a grin large and wide, "-he wrote us a note! He must be in search of a wife!"

"Miss Elisa," Father tried to calm her, now sitting back in his spot at the table.

"I'm only thinking optimistically, Hershel," she responded -tone much more controlled but still quite touched in tone, "-wouldn't it be wonderful for the girls to have suitors?"

"I'd rather not discuss speculation," your father leveled with her -eyes set in a certainty that not even the Headmistress could refuse.

And that was where the talk of the invite ended.

Your father was rather stubborn in his restrictions, and starting any sort of rumors about a man he respected was far below his limit. It wasn't even mentioned until that Saturday afternoon at the seamstress.

"Beth, dear," Headmistress hummed -rapting her knuckles on the small room she'd been dressing in, "-how does the blue one fit?"

It was a beautiful blue dress that matched her eyes with pillowing sleeves -layers of fabric heavy on the skirt. The cotton seemed soft to the touch, and you thought it a very good match to your sister -she'd suited it well from what you assumed. Beth hadn't shown the dress to you yet.

"It needs to be tightened," she echoed with a huff -frustrated, "-I can't reach-"

"Alright, alright," your Headmistress responded, her tone calming and direct -as she navigated into the room to help.

With that, you sighed deeply. Rather unamused by the extensive shopping you found yourself currently in, you enjoyed getting new dresses, really. It was just a long process, and for whatever reason, the Headmistress had always focused on you last.

It was rather stuffy in the store, dresses hung up in any corner they could. They were beautiful, truly stunning works of fabric and ribbon -you'd trailed your fingers along some of the layers with keen interest. It was always rather fascinating to study how the dresses were made, each individual stitch had its own purpose and you enjoyed the complexity of it.

Maggie grabbed your attention, motioning to a rather fluffy pink dress -detailed by too many rather large ribbons. She pulled it up to her side, posing like she was prim and proper -a grin biting on her face, "What do you think?"

You smiled, always amused by her antics, "We might need to-"

Your eyes caught on the window framing behind her, and there was someone so familiar there. You'd only seen a glimpse, but it had struck you so intricately, your eyes peered the area looking for whoever you recognized-

And then, you saw him.

He was still rather overdressed, darker button-up detailed by a lovely light blue ascot tied around his neck -it looked satin. Actually, he looked much fancier with a peacoat of a rather deep blue splayed across his shoulders, and hair still a little tussled from the day -brown curls resting still rather perfectly. He seemed content on a bench, Judith not present -as he looked on in front of him, absorbed by something quite heavily. You stilled, he was still here?

With a quick thought, you realized just how close the shop had been to the markets -it was a short walk, and you'd done it often. You had a wonderful view, well... right where he was seated. It was treacherous thought flooding your mind that he might be waiting for you.

"Y/N?" Maggie waved her hands in front of your face, starting to match your eyes towards where yours lay on the window, "What are you looking a-"

She stiffened. You hadn't been quick enough to divert her attention, as her eyes skimmed over the figure without much report. Maggie was a very upfront woman, after all.

"Who-"

"We might need to look elsewhere!" you finished your thought, rather loud and squeaky, as you quickly turned to a few other mannequins, "-what about this one, Maggie? I think the color is exquisite, really-"

"Y/N-" she spoke at full volume before you caught her eyes and made a shush motion -head tilting toward the dressing room.

"Everything alright, girls?" your Headmistress asked, most likely from your tone only a few seconds ago. You'd been thoroughly embarrassed it had even left your lips -so loud and not very graceful.

Maggie, a simple master at her craft, replied -without a flinch, "Yes, ma'am. Y/N just slipped on a skirt."

"Right, yes," you spoke, trying to contain the rather squeaky tone your voice had taken on, "-there are some quite long ones."

Headmistress must've accepted this answer, as she no longer responded -assumedly preoccupied with the dress mechanics, you briefly wondered how it had become so complicated. Before the more pressing matter made itself known.

Maggie was a hair away from jumping up and down right there in the seamstress shop, eager to be in on the loop. She'd gotten that trait from Ms. Elisa, you assumed.

Her voice was much quieter now, "Do you know him?"

"Oh, no-" you answered a little too fast, judging by the mischievous glint in her eyes only gleaming brighter, "-I just think he's rather handsome, that's all."

As if on cue, the man looked in the direction of the window of the shop. You don't know why, maybe the old man on the corner had grabbed his attention or the little boy who was currently chasing a butterfly down the street. It didn't matter, because his eyes neatly settled on you.

As if you were the only one on the street. Your cheeks turned a fantastic crimson at the mere thought-

And then, they shifted -flickering to your side. Where Maggie stood, grinning brightly and waving to the man. You were going to kill her.

With a little questioning look smoothing across his face, he raised his hand and waved back. His right hand, you noticed. (There was no ring.) You bit down the little flutter your stomach had done, bashfully raising your hand to wave as well.

The smile that stretched across his face was incredibly telling.

Maggie grinned even wider, not turning to face you, "You know him, how do you know him?"

"Well-"

Before you could say anything else, the man seemed to falter for a minute -turning to his side and grabbing something you couldn't quite see. He then lifted it, seeming to try and show it to you. It seemed to be a delicately woven basket one with much better craftsmanship than your own. You hadn't known what to expect in it, except-

Oh, he was waiting for you. He had the berries.

Your sister couldn't hold the pose, now fully turning to face you-hands gently taking your arms, "He's got a present."

"It's not quite a present, really-" you started.

Maggie didn't wait, eyes darting to the room where your other sister and Headmistress stayed stationed. Before she seemed to decide something -a familiar determination sparked in her eyes.

"Go," she whispered.

You opened your mouth, "What about-"

"I've got it," she reassured, a sort of warm affection bubbling up her voice, "-I'll lock them in there if I have to."

You rolled your eyes, knowing better than to argue with your sister, "I'll be quick, I promise."

Maggie rolled her eyes and pushed you to the door -scampering off to find whatever distraction she intended on using. God, you truly loved her.

As soon as you exited the shop, the man raised to his feet -almost on instinct. You frantically looked across the street, keeping an eye on oncoming carriages -before hastily making your way to the bench where he now stood.

He was laughing by the time you got there, the sound sent a familiar buzz up your spine, "In a hurry?"

"A bit," you answered -brushing a bit of dirt off your dress at the commotion, "-let's say I'm on borrowed time."

"I could've come to you," he said, so genuinely that you found you had to remember your point of being here. He apparently had a way of making you forget what you were doing.

"You couldn't," you responded, before scrambling to explain, "-wait, that sounded a bit rude. My apologies, it's just my Headmistress would lose it if she saw me so much as speaking to a man. She wants to marry us off, and any living breathing specimen is of enough quality to her."

"I'd hope I was better than a specimen," he smiled, a lilt in his voice that sounded quite close to teasing, "-do you refer to lots of men as specimens, Ms. Greene?"

"Just you," you quipped and he broke out into a sort of laughter -head thrown back, pure joy. You were quite proud of yourself for that one, holding your head slightly higher at the boost -smiling at his contagious one.

"Right, well," he added, clearing his throat to try and regain his composure, "-I'll keep note of 'at. Oh, and before I forget, here's the berries I owe ya."

And then, the basket (which surely was worth more than everything you currently wore) was extended to you. You could already see that it was filled with an assortment of berries, not just the single blueberry Judith had actually eaten.

"Oh, I couldn't, really-"

"I insist," he repeated, familiarly, and you found you couldn't quite fight the man in front of you.

"At least take the basket back, sir," you urged, a bit mesmerized by the handwoven pieces, "-I can't imagine what it's worth."

"Think of it as a gift."

"No," you reiterated, "-this must've cost a fortune. I can't-"

"Ms. Greene," he straightened, blue eyes glazing over your face in a way that almost worsened the crimson stain on your cheeks -something of fond, "-it's a gift, an' I'd be rather honored if ya accepted it."

You sighed, a bit defeated, "Alright, thank you, sir. I have no way of repaying you though-"

"How about a-" he began, fidgetting slightly with his coat -as if he was nervous. Why would he be nervous?

"Y/N," Maggie hissed across the courtyard, a sort of nerves in her eyes -you knew she'd already been cutting it close.

"I'm so sorry," you spoke, trying to genuinely portray it in your voice, "-really. If I see you again, please do approach me. Maybe we can have a complete conversation?"

He smiled, noting before you could leave, "Will do, Ms. Greene, enjoy the fruits. I got quite a wide selection, didn't know what you'd prefer."

"I'm sure they're lovely."

And then, without much of a notice, you rushed back into the seamstress shop -only chancing a look back when you came back inside. When you did, he stood in the same place -eyes intently focused on you, and gently waving his hand.

You laughed, timidly waving back.

Maggie was staring at you as you turned around, the gleam from earlier only sparkling even brighter.

You started, trying to stop the train before it even started, "Maggie-"

"You're telling me everything."

Then, the door creaked open -Beth (still in the dress she came in) as her eyes settled on the basket you held carefully in front of your skirt, and your Headmistress rumbling something about corsets.

"Girls, I think-" she started, before faltering, her own eyes settling on the rather extensive stash of fruit you'd gathered, "Where did you get that?"

The Headmistress was already making her way to you, brushing her fingers over the woven material -much like she had handled the invitation. So delicate as if it was the finest piece of china.

"Just someone repaying a debt," you answered, vaguely.

Ms. Elisa furrowed her brows, glancing at you with a deep, questioning gaze but you refused to break, "An expensive debt, I assume? That craftsmanship could probably pay for three new dresses from scratch, dear."

The Headmistress continued her path to the dresses, calling out to Beth to join her -leaving you stunned in your own path.

"Everything," Maggie reiterated, her tone doused in much of the amazement you'd felt.

"Everything," you agreed.

#rick grimes x reader #its griming time #stuff n' thangs #rick grimes x you #rick grimes x y/n #ricky dicky doo dah grimes #twd #twd rick #rick grimes x y/n fanfiction #rick grimes oneshot #magnolia in may #rick grimes

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yozff · 2 months

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I’ve reached the edge of what I am willing and equipped to do with design in a commercial context. This is one of very few spaces where we might remove industrialisation from design and explore the cones of the plausible and possible.

This is essential for many things: • approach the many wicked problems of the climate era

• imagine our way through late capitalism • challenge anglo-centricity and anthropocentrism

• further Design as a practice of future-ing (and not one of selling shit)

• other, ideally more humorous, things

The rise of design-thinking and her coupling with big-T Technology (spawning their own darling Fenrir: UX) has continued in the patterns of the past. In the mid-century, design was used to direct lifestyle from the highrise to the supermarket shelves. Now design works on the digital architecture of the supermarket itself. We’ve taken the key concept of understanding the contextual situation of real people in order that we can better problem-find and have applied it to keep people on screens. Under the guise of a slick ’n sexy user exp.

Right now we need design not to make us buy, but to make us think (thank you, Dunne & Raby).

But we must recognise that we’re not close yet. It will take a baseline shift from the consumable to the conceptual. It will take narrative, storytelling and folklore to inspire and critically imagine the future of what might be. In the same way ‘􏰀e Godfather’ changed how organised crime self-identifies, how ‘􏰀e Minority Report’ generated a schema of what near-future technology looks like, design needs the power of the tall tale to move the dial from the probable. Systems wide change emerges with or without us, but for design to be a deeper systemic influence, good design must be inextricable from cinematic experience.

Ultimately, that’s my motivation — to find and work with others who believe design can imagine how the world could be; develop the tools to envisage and question that future; and bring others along too. A design moonshot.

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talenlee · 10 months

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Game Pile: Unblock Gridlock

Unblock Gridlock: Real Sounds In Fake Space

Watch this video on YouTube

Thumbnail and script below the fold

You might know this game, at least by looking at it. I learned about it the first time from watching ASMR channels softly talking while they tried and solved the different puzzles of a physical version of the game. They call it Rush Hour, because that tends to be the branding attached to it.

It’s a sliding block puzzle, where you have a bunch of blocks that can only be slid along their longest axis. The idea behind it is inspired by a thing from a bygone history, where people would depict in magazines lots of cars all locked in against one another, stuck in place, until the road cleared, all at odd angles, and getting out involved shifting everyone just enough in the right way.

It’s funny to think about how ‘rush hour’ as a concept is kinda dated to me. Obviously it happens, but I grew up knowing it was one of the worst things my dad had to deal with, and we had to map whole days around it, but also now I couldn’t tell you a thing about it because I catch the bus everywhere. Perk of living in a place with nice public transport, not going to lie to you.

The original puzzle design driving Rush Hour is the product of a designer known as ‘Nob.’ Nob is short for Nobuyuki Yoshigahara, a prolific puzzle designer from Japan. Now, I don’t know Nob’s work very well, but based on reading up on Nob’s work, the reason I can’t really appreciate the scope of Nob’s work is the reason why standing on the ground outside my house, I can’t really see the scope of Australia. I don’t know Nob well but by what I can see, looking at his work, as a game developer, and its scope, it is remarkable for its *vastness.* The man wrote over 80 books on puzzles, and was at one point writing seventeen monthly columns on puzzles across a host of different puzzle publications. If you’re into puzzles, you probably are into puzzles made by people who built on the work of Nob.

My favourite anecdote learning about this history, by the way, is that when the 4×4 Rubiks Cube was released with a mechanical flaw that meant it could fail under stress, Nob was so intrigued by the design that he redesigned it – someone else’s design! – and mailed the revision to the publishers of the game. This being the 1980s, they implemented his changes. You got one of them little metal elk puzzles? Yeah, there’s a reason there’s an ‘N O B’ inscribed on them.

Nob was also an early adopter of computer technology to design and solve puzzles. Foreshadowing.

I don’t know why Rush Hour became a darling of the ASMR set. For those of you unfamiliar, ASMR refers to the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, a science-sounding way to describe a phenomenon of experiencing pleasant tingles due to a wide variety of subtle stimuli that are hard to explore in most everyday situations. It’s a big deal on Youtube, a platform that gave the medium a lot to work with and if you’re not interested in it, you might not know anything about it. It has that name because it’s a lot easier to talk about, and a lot easier to search rather than ‘that nice fuzzy feeling in the back of my head.’

It’s also the genre of reading like this. I’m deliberately aiming for a soft-spoken version of my normal presentation without making anyone feel like their ears itch.

ASMR is a really interesting, broad community – I think I’m in the ‘selfconscious fictional’ part of it, where I want someone to talk to me nicely about something obviously fantastic. Some folks want to hear a pretty girl playing with cellophane, some folks want to have their cranial nerves examined, and some people like to watch methodical, slow playing of manual tabletop games. It’s a thing that provides structure for a video that’s often about forcing yourself to not act quickly, not do things maximally efficiently. Sometimes, when you go looking, you’ll find an ASMRTist playing Rush Hour.

Rush Hour has a lot of potential as an ASMR game. It has moving physical pieces. It can make pleasant sounds when the pieces are slid into location. It rewards thoughtful consideration of pieces and what they need to fit in various places. It’s something you can get better at over time, too, which means the learning process shows itself in longer videos. It’s brightly coloured, to make sure it’s reasonably easy to understand what it’s doing.

I know I’ve been talking about Rush Hour a lot in this video ostensibly about a different game, Unblock Gridlock. That’s because Rush Hour serves as the underpinning of it, but there is a big difference in computer games and videogames, and that flows from a place of scope. The Rush Hour physical game ships these days with forty cards, showing forty puzzles, and they’re complicated, but the really long solutions can’t really be shown on a card easily. It’s not like you’re going to get a puzzle that’s forty steps long.

What you do get, though, is a weird cousin of procedural level generation. Under the hood, Rush Hour is a math puzzle. The math is about graphs, and involves something called nondeterministic constraint logic, but ultimately, if you can give a computer anything that fits on a Rush Hour board, it can solve it pretty much trivially, because largely, computers are pretty good at solving this kind of math. That means that while Rush Hour presents you with forty puzzles, Unblock Gridlock presents you with a positively bananas 9,392 puzzles. I’m pretty confident to make that many puzzles, the designers made the computer generate possible puzzle configurations that could be solved within a certain number of steps, and picked a reasonably-sensible set of those.

It’s a good value proposition if what you want is a giant pile of puzzles to work through. If you get a Jumbo 10,000 Puzzles book and think bet, well, Unblock Gridlock is going to be good for you. It feels kind of bottomless to me, and I say that with over a hundred puzzles under my belt after seven hours of play, in little two-and-three-minute increments.

And now I’m gunna talk about something that’s a bit of a bummer.

Oh, and in Unblock Gridlock you’re playing a cop, so, mnyeh to that I guess.

It’s a great puzzle game, I like it a lot. I just need to dedicate myself to controlling when and how I play it.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Uncategorised

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starshiningsirius · 3 years

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Our adorable little junior (Yandere Vice dorm heads x reader)

The dorm heads aren't open to compromise as much as the vice dorm heads who are more civil. Surprisingly I can't find any yandere fics with all the vice dorm heads simping for one darling. Despite them being more scary, manipulative, and having more husband material.

I thank @writer-akihiko for the inspiration I had in the middle of the night to bring you this.

Color coded speaking habits are based off dorm colors and what tumblr had, so keep that in mind.

💝💗HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 💗 💝

It all started with you wobbling through the courtyard only to bump into someone. They held on to your shoulders to keep you from falling to the floor immediately.

"Woah there! Y/n? What's up with you? You were weaving back and forth through the courtyardwith every step. Your not sick are you?" A slightly worried or rather maybe that was in your head to call it slight, maybe that was a illusion in your mixed up head.

You looked up to see a tuft of green hair with a pair of glasses that reflected golden eyes, and an unmistakable clover on his cheek.

"Ah Trey, no I was just studying for magical history a bit too late last night and now I'm --" Has Trey always felt this warm and soft? What ever the case it made him the perfect pillow as you slumped over toward him, which startled him for a second before he heard your soft snores and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Geez don't scare me like that, it's rather worrisome that you'd fall asleep like that out of nowhere." He held her up a bit more to have her leaning on him as support. He was able to see the calm sleeping expression you had on your face.

"Still so naive though, if it was any other guy how do you think they'd react to such a vulnerable girl in this situation." He had a faint blush on his cheeks as he pushed up his glasses and made his way to Heartsbyul with you in tow before lunch would be over.

Thankfully he made a few sweets yesterday giving you one would give you a bit more energy not to mention the look on your face that would light up would be worth it.

The next day Rook had approached you after classes. Before you could say any sort of greeting he dragged you off to Pomeifore without providing an explanation. When you both arrived tea was already made for some reason, and small treats like macaroons were set in the lounge.

"Mon chérie I heard from Rose Chevalier that your in need of some assistance in magical history, I could be of aid to you." She contemplated his words, wondering who he was talking about before immediately assumed Trey. That made sense as they were both in the science club.

The offer he made did sound very tempting, she needed as much help as she could get.

"Yes please I'll be in your care Rook-senpai!" That short phrase did send a few butterflies in his stomach.

She was just as cute as when she slept at night. He did take a few pictures without your knowledge and managed to distribute them out to the others but there were these other expressions he saved in his head that were exclusive for him to see.

The radiant smile and look of triumph you showed toward him when you understood the concept he told you about. It was much more lively, he couldn't choose what he liked more the vibrancy of your smile or the vulnerability of your sleeping expression. Either were just fine afterall you were such beautiful person one that could do anything and would still have shown its beauty in his eyes.

That ended another day for you.

The next had you struck with some bad luck. As your pocket had gained a hole in it. Whatever money you had for lunch had been lost too. If you traveled back to your dorm all the good stuff would be gone, but it would be better than starving so you left the cafeteria. On the way in the halls you saw Jade who inquired where you were off to when lunch just started.

You told him your dilemma and he told you to follow him. After walking all the way to Octanivelle in silence and entering the Mostro Lounge you thought if he was going to try and convince you to sign a contract, but he only asked you to sit at a booth and wait for him.

20 minutes into lunch and he came back with some food for you both.

"Ah, Jade you didn't have to do that! I can pay you back just tell me the cost and I'll-" He leaned over a little bit and held a finger to your lips with a closed eyed smile on his face.

"It's fine, why not enjoy the meal? I made it with your tastebuds in mind. Afterwards preferably after class I can sew up the hole you mentioned." He removed his finger, but it didn't stop your face from heating up and turning red to the tips of your ears.

The reaction was cute in Jade's eyes seeing you nod obediently and take bites of the food he made with an embarrassed expression. It was all too entertaining for him, such entertainment made his heart rate accelerate rapidly and he'd keep sneaking glances while he ate himself. For it was always wonderful to bask in your presence.

Yet another day came to an end and another began. It was on this day that you didn't have to worry about lunch either. Jamil handed to you a bento box. You thanked him with a big smile on your face.

Your bright smile radiated so much energy, it looked like you genuinely appreciated his effort he put into making this. Such a smile made him pull down his hoodie a bit more to hide his blush taking over his face.

"It's not anything impressive, but since you like it just ask and I'll have lunch prepared for us everyday. It's no trouble." For you was what he meant to say. If it meant seeing such an expression again it certainly would be well worth the effort.

"Thank you Jamil! Kalim always says your food is the best I can't wait to try it!" That caught him off guard, hearing his own heart pound and feeling his face rise in temperature he thanked the great seven he wore a hoodie.

He put it over his face and waved it off saying the same response he'd have for everyone else downplaying his own capabilities, but she eagerly denied it causing even more embarrassment on his part. God another thing Jamil couldn't stand about Kalim was when he ran his mouth.

* * *

That very same day that started with luck had dropped significantly and took an opposite turn to bad. The misfortune of bumping into a few Savanclaw students whom find simple reasons to get angry whether they started it or not.

Luckily before they could throw a punch they suddenly started fighting each other for some reason. From their conversation it didn't sound like they were in control of their bodies in the first place. As soon as it started they suddenly stopped and ran off with anger for one another after embarrassing themselves.

A voice came from behind her that startled her for a split second before she recognized it.

"You've got to be more careful, Savanclaw is the dorm to avoid picking a fight with, Y/n." Ruggie came from around the corner twisting his magical pen in between his fingertips before placing it in his pocket.

Before Ruggie could chastise his junior a bit more she ran up and hugged him.

"Thank you Ruggie! If there's anything you need then I'm at your service!" He didn't hug back. For one is was abrupt and when his mind actually processed feeling your warmth radiating off you on to him, his face flared up.

His ears twitched and he tried to occupy his mind with some other thought to preoccupy which only led him to recall your words.

'Anything? Doesn't she know that prey like her shouldn't just say whatever.' He wasn't denying the fact that the offer sounded so sweetly tempting to take her up on, but with the others taking their chances with you and him low on the food chain out of the five others he knew the risk wasn't worth it.

"No it's fine just watch yourself next time. I may not be here to help all the time."

How many times had a student helped you now?

The next morning Lilia had joined you.

The thing is while Lilia was regailing an enchanting tale of his past it kept you occupied in not noticing the five other pairs of eyes that had set themselves on watching mainly you. Whether it was them keeping an eye on their dorm heads, or on their way to their own class they kept their eyes trained for as long as they could before she left their sight.

Lilia had heard the details from Ruggie and out of all the vice heads he was the most free as the others were commanded to do things by their dorm heads or were their unofficial babysitters. Lilia of course was the strongest and most capable by far out of all six of them. So he had jumped at the chance of being able to brighten up your day with many of his travel stories.

Seemed like you were spending more time with the vice prefects more than usual. Though Savanaclaw had none Ruggie was pretty much the unofficial for it.

They were reliable, more so than their dorm heads at times, that could be said for mainly Jamil, Ruggie, and Lilia. But some had proved their skills far exceeded their position and it was known to other dorms as well, like Jade, Rook, and Trey.

But with all these people who adore one so much to the point of doing anything for her, it had to go bad at some point. Obsession festers for many reasons, like worry, denial, or paranoia.

In this case its deemed worry.

The very next day you were offering sweets you made yourself to the six of them to thank them for their aid the past couple of days. They were all so happy, nothing would damper their mood for the rest of day, knowing you appreciated how much effort they put in for you. Well of course it didn't last long it didn't matter who you went to see last, mainly either Jade or Jamil, or Rook too. They were the type to pay attention to the little things. Though this time they were a bit preoccupied with their own deeds. You had found Jamil last as you assumed he'd be busy with Kalim the majority of the day. He was in the kitchen as usual fixing tomorrow's lunch for Kalim and him, and her too.

He was happy to accept the treat until he noticed how you looked. You looked like you were spent. He noticed your smile, one they adored to the point of insanity looked forced. Not to mention it looked like you were wearing make up under your eyes, in which he assumed you were tired and had to hide your eye bags.

He tried to tap you on your forearm before you could go and leave, but when you froze and winced with a petrified look, that's when he began to notice something had been wrong than what he already had imagined. He was worried seeing as the state of your expression was slight fear, but it didn't look to be of him.

When he asked her to tell him what's wrong, you asked to first be brought in private to hear the dilemma. He decided his room would be best seeing as the desert of Scarabia at night got cold.

When they both entered she immediately broke down. Usually she always seemed so positive but this was the complete opposite. He tried comforting and coaxing you into telling him what happened, so he could eventually inform the others in their group chat and eventually you did. Though it made whatever self restraint he had held back within his life snap.

You told him of how yesterday a student came up and flirted with you. You politely disregarded him, but the student didn't get the memo. He had gripped your arm tight enough to cause a bruise. That's when you kneed him in his gut and once he let go, used your leg to make his head hit the floor with a blow to the neck, successfully knocking him unconscious. You ran back to your room after that without looking back. Then you thought back to all the good deeds recently the vice heads had done, and decided you'd haven't been showing enough appreciation toward them. That's why you gave him and the others treats.

He also interpreted that he had touched you where the bruise was located and given you slight PTSD in which he apologized for his earlier actions. You probably didn't get much sleep either. You told him it was fine since he was just trying to figure out what was wrong and that you were just caught off guard. No soon after you finished your statement did he ask to see the bruise in which you received.

Slowly you took off your blazer and uncovered the bandages located where your elbow was on the inner part where the skin was softer and bone was located. That made his heart stop to see the bruise you obtained. His thoughts ran rampant with the thought of what he would do to the person who did it. Surprisingly he was never usually angry for someone else's sake but you had made it that way.

He had to put on a front for you though and he told you to stay while he got a pack of ice to ease the swelling. While away walking through the halls of his dorm he was seething with rage. One would think if someone touched him it would be the end of that person's life when he released such anger.

He started to text in the chat where all the vice dorm heads would inform each other of their encounters and Y/n's problems to find solutions. He told them to gather in Scarabia at the fountain for an urgent situation pertaining to their favorite little junior on his phone, though he would have informed them through the chat, he was more focused on getting the ice pack. They agreed to meet up in said dorm that their junior was currently in to hear the details from him himself.

When he had finally made it back to his room he found the person of their obsession in question asleep on his bed with their blazer still in the same spot and legs dangling off the bed as to not have her shoes touch the covers. Hugging his hoodie as a pillow of sorts. He would have savored this sight if not for the tear streaks that were on your face and the prominent bruise in the same spot.

He gently placed the ice pack on her arm and brushed away the stray tears and streaks with his thumb. The sight was normal for him considering Rook had distributed sleeping pictures to all of them. This was realer than any picture though. Soft breaths rhythmic breaths and silky hair like an angel.Despite that you looked to be uncomfortable seeing as the arm you were using had to replace the other one that was bruised and probably hurt to bend. He softly sighed knowing he had to get ready as the others would arrive soon and that the situation would not be pretty for the misfortune planned that ignorant person who dared lay a finger on their favorite junior would receive.

When everyone had arrived in the meeting dorm all had sour moods to be called a bit late after set curfews in two of the dorms or just the time taking away from their leisure after taking care of tasks that came with their position.

"It seems we're all gathered here now, Monsieur Multi-Compétent why have you called us here in the late hours?" Rook had a smile on his face which was normal but he was intrigued and serious about the matter at hand.

"You mentioned it's urgent regarding to our little angelfish correct?" Jade as well had his usual smile, but the slightest glimpse in his eyes had a rather invited gaze.

"You sure you couldn't have just texted it to us, it woulda saved us the trouble of coming here." Ruggie grumbled.

"I know you all are busy, but tell me did you notice something off about her today?" Jamil inquired to the other five.

"Now that you mention it when she gave me the treats she made it seemed like she was off. I was focusing on some tasks Riddle gave me so I didn't think too much of it." Trey had thought back to hearing her call out to him in a lower tone of voice.

"She didn't seem too energetic either when she gave me mine either. Sebek was a bit of a handful so I couldn't pay attention as much as I liked to her and she said she had to go give out the others." Lilia remembers asking her to stay for a little longer but she put up a facade and said she had other things to do.

The others agreed on the same notion that today she lacked her usual energetic, positive, behavior. Since their dorm heads and first years put them through the wringer today they didn't have time to think much on it. Jamil was used to dealing with Kalim's mayhem and chaos since they were children and had learned to still be skeptic even if he was exhausted or at his wit's end.

"Exactly, seems as though someone laid their dirty fingers on her the day prior and now she's a bit broken down mentally." Jamil had informed them of the situation, fully going into depth and detail seeing their facial expressions change throughout the retelling.

"Right, now I know you all want to see her, I can do that but you've gotta be quiet. She fell asleep in my room because she wanted to talk in private. She and other dorm residents are asleep so try to keep noise to a minimum."

They all had no reservations about that. He guided them to his room in which he did have some irritation toward letting them in. Thankfully he hid the picture Rook gave him so she wouldn't see it unless she looked. Slowly opening the door to see the sleeping girl, they surrounded her unsuspecting figure. They examined her for a moment taking in the sight before noticing the tear streaks on her face and the ice pack placed near her elbow.

Seeing the ice pack on her arm Rook steadily removed it to give the others a glimpse of the injury. Some of them froze while others who usually weren't so expressive of true feelings like Lilia, Trey, and Jamil had a look of anger. The ones who were more prone to dirty methods and violence like Ruggie, Jade and Rook had a look of bloodlust for the person who dared to do such a thing, despite Jamil having already saw it.

They all exited the room and ventured to the common room, closer to the outside section.

"Such a poor unfortunate soul, he doesn't even know the enemies he made."

"How foolish of them to touch something that's ours."

"Oh Rose Chevalier, you've been rather silent, no objection to such acts?"

"Don't get me wrong I'm angry, Rook. It's not as if I can stop you all from doing something horrible to some idiot. Fights happen all the time at this school."

"I'm sure I could find the idiot in no time, it's much easier to catch unsuspecting prey!"

"Since you all have your 'plans' I'll go and make a potion to rid her of that unsightly injury that foo-, I mean so she won't have to feel anymore pain."

"Since that's all finished what do you all suppose we do about her?"

"We've got to keep a better eye on her."

"Yes that much is clear, but with all of us having to be so busy all at once, going about that is rather difficult."

"Especially since she's a lot more frail, if the student were a beastmen then she probably wouldn't have gotten away."

"I propose we reveal ourselves to our angelfish. She may not like it at first, but it's clear that unless we know where she is at all times then we can't ensure her safety."

"Whose dorm is best suited to keep her there?"

"I was going to offer up my own, I'm sure your dorm heads would condemn our act of unsavory deeds, but Azul is different of course. Just let me handle all the details."

"As expected of Monsieur Mastermind, fully equipped to handle the situation."

"While that is going on, Ruggie how about you bring that cretin to Diasomnia, I'd love to have a chat with him. Don't worry I'll make sure no one is nearby to hear his fate."

"Ah, okay. Better than bringing him to my dorm and having to clean up a mess."

"Oh how about you let me in on your conversation, Monsieur Curieux, and I'll bring a few things to aid in the clean up Monsieur Dandelion!"

"Trey I need a favor."

"Depends on what the favor is?"

"I heard you can change the taste of something with your unique magic. Can you cast a spell on the potion before she drinks it? She's already suffered enough a disgusting potion is an easy fix."

"That's nothing, too complicated. Hand it over to me when it's finished once it's done."

* * *

Screams could be heard within the bounds far away from Diasomnia. Near the edge of a cliff stood three people while another person was on the ground. Burned, bruised, and battered not to mention a few broken bones, and loss of some organs devoured. They were proud of what they did to say the least.

Ruggie had the most blood on him mainly around his mouth while Lilia had some on his hands, Rook had a blade coated in it and still managed to get some on him. The lifeless corpse on the ground was where the blood had originated from as they tossed it off the cliff.

Lilia had cast green flames in order to rid the evidence. It was easy for Rook to cast a spell to clean their clothes with. Now they just have to go meet up with the others.

* * *

Based off the decorum of the room, she could only assume she was in Octanivelle. That's where she had woken up, but she remembers Scarabia last. Soft covers on top of her were thrown off as she hurriedly looked around the room to see no one.

She tried to go toward the door and twist the knob only for it to not budge. Using magic as well didn't move the door an inch. Her pen was gone too, so she was limited without its usage. Not to mention first years only knew so much less you came from a country where magic usage was prominent like the Valley of Thorns then it was likely you weren't to know much before entering school.

She sighed and took a moment to sit back down on the bed she woke up on and think why she was brought here. The last person she saw was Jamil, and she was in his room last but that didn't spark anything as to how she ended up here. She hoped at least that Jamil was okay if she was here by force then he might have tried to stop the captors and got hurt in the process.

The door opened after about an hour she heard the key being inserted. It revealed Jade who stepped in the room with a smile and revealed five others who came in with Lilia slowly shutting the door back closed.

All of them she recognized were Vice dorm heads who she had spent time with the past couple of days. She didn't open her mouth yet still trying to piece things together, and the first to come to mind was that they brought her here. Connecting the dots over the past several days she spent time with them more than anyone, and they each seemed to know her problems or were curious about them.

She just couldn't understand why though. Nothing added up and when she glanced at each of them a nervous shiver came through her body.

She finally decided to speak.

"Why, .......... would you do something like this?

"Because prey like you, has to be protected."

"Such a sweet thing could easily be devoured."

"That's why your such delicate and fragile flower."

"Precious and meant to be protected like the most valuable treasure."

"Mon amour we do commend you for defending yourself but fret not,"

"Our dear little angelfish we'll fix all your problems so that you have no worries."

Masterlist

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malleux · 3 years

Text

precious. | k.a

-> Pairing: Kaeya Alberich x GN!Reader

-> Fandom: Genshin Impact

-> Genre: Fluff

-> Request: “Your kaeya x shy reader was so precious💕💕💕 I'd like to request sth inspired by that! Reader and Kaeya have been together for a while but they've never kissed for very long/very deeply bc reader is insecure abt their kissing ability and also very shy and easily flustered and embarrassed! I live for concepts like these<3”

-> Warnings: Kaeya being a tease, but that’s usual

-> A/N: thanks for 1580 followers i love all of u! also the way i’d love 2 have more mutuals/writer friends/anon friends/FRIENDS i just love love love love interacting and talking to people ♡︎

Kaeya believes that he’s a patient man.

He’s willing to wait to get the best outcome of any situation, and things that take time don’t bother him. He’ll sit out for days, waiting for the perfect time to strike an enemy, and doesn’t mind battles that take a while to win. Such things still don’t bother him- good things come to those who wait.

Kaeya is patient. Except for when it comes to you.

From the moment he met you, he was in a rush. Everything happened quickly. He was quick to fall in love with you, and even faster to seal the deal when he realized that you felt the same. He showed affection and held your had less than five minutes after, speeding through the not-so-awkward beginning stage with ease.

And yet, Kaeya is patient. Except for when it comes to you.

It aches the cryo user to the very core that he hasn’t been able to kiss you yet. All the sweet nothings in your relationship, and yet you’re still unable to face him head-on and return his kisses.

Instead, you shy away with a blush on your cheeks, going quiet for a little while afterwards.

It’s endearing, but at the same time incredibly frustrating.

Kaeya believes that he’s patient, but he knows that he’s affectionate. And that trumps his patience.

You were laid upon his chest, cheek pressed against his soothing heartbeat and legs intertwined with his own. Kaeya’s cool, slim fingers carded through your hair, putting you even more at bliss. It was quiet. Peaceful. Loving.

Kaeya’s hands slowly moved to cup your jaw, bringing your eyes up to meet his. A love-drunken smile plastered his face and your cheeks couldn’t help but burn.

The moment was perfect, Kaeya thought. His thumb grazed your cheekbone and he inches his face towards yours, preparing to meet your lips and feel fireworks.

And yet, they never came. He never met your lips.

You had turned your head to the side, avoiding his gaze. Kaeya sighed a bit and sat up, wrapping his arms around your waist to keep you upon his lap.

“Are you okay?” He wondered.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You still wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

“Am- Am I doing something wrong? Please, tell me if I’m making you uncomfortable-“

“No! No,” You quickly defended, “I’m just... nervous.” Kaeya quirked an eyebrow, so you continued. “I’ve never kissed anyone before. I don’t wanna mess it up.”

At that, Kaeya couldn’t help but laugh. You pouted and crossed your arms, moving to get off his lap and leave the bed. But the cryo user had tightened his grip, his fingers digging into your hips and giving you no choice but to stay.

“Darling, I’ve been wanting to kiss you since the moment I met you. There’s absolutely no way that you could mess this up. I won’t push you if you still don’t want to, but please give it some consideration. You won’t regret it.” He winked.

You hesitated for a moment, trying to pull together your jumbled thoughts before deciding ‘fuck it’. You nodded slowly and a grin appeared on your lover’s face, his adoration never once leaving his eyes.

He cupped your face once more and tilted your jaw up, whispering with hooded eyes, “Just do what feels right.”

You closed your eyes and rested your hands on his biceps, your heart racing out of your chest as you were finally ready to feel those long-awaited fireworks.

And when they came, they were magical.

Kaeya’s lips were hot against yours, contrasting greatly against his usual cool body temperature. Your hands slipped around his neck, pulling him closer until your chests pressed together. Kaeya’s hands wandered practically everywhere, choosing to finally rest on your thighs and occasionally squeeze them to reassure you. He pulled away- all too soon, in your opinion- and gave your bottom lip a final nibble before resting his forehead against yours.

“You’re a natural.” Kaeya smiled breathlessly.

You returned it, your cheeks redder than they’ve ever been before. “I think I could still use some practice.”

“And I’m one-hundred percent willing to help you. Come back over here.”

#fanfiction #fic blog #x reader #writing #genshin impact #lay writes #genshin impact x reader #kaeya #kaeya alberich #kaeya x reader #kaeya alberich x reader

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lucywrites02 · 4 years

Text

The one with the pillow fort and lovestruck God

I was inspired by @lokitrashfan and her story Pillows.

Pairing: Loki X Reader (Gender neutral reader)

Words: 733

Warnings: Fluff, a lot of fluff, so much fluff you will puke with heart emojis after reading this

Summary: You and Loki decided to build a pillow fort

“Y/N, we need more blankets!” your boyfriend shouted from the living room as you were looking for those old christmas lights that were somewhere in your room.

The two of you were supposed to go out to a fancy restaurant for your date but Loki wasn’t feeling well and so you decided to hang out at your place and watch some movies. As Loki was looking for something worthy of watching you proposed an idea to build a pillow fort. At first the god was confused but after you explained the concept of pillow forts his eyes lit up and he immediately started to gather bedsheets, blankets and pillows.

And here you are now, trying to find those damned lights. You were searching through all of the boxes that were stacked on the back of your closet.

“Do you have those blankets?” Loki asked again

“I’m looking for christmas lights!” you responded

“I already have them here” you signed and closed your closet door. As you entered the living room you noticed that your couch cushions were on the floor alongside most of your pillows. You watched as Loki tried to attach a blanket to one of the bookshelves but failed miserably

“Why didn’t you bring more blankets?” you only laughed in response

“I think that this-” you said, pointing at the pail of bedsheets and blankets right beside your partner “is enough to build a fort”

“Darling,” Loki walked over to you and took your face in his hands, smiling lovingly at you “I will build us a palace!” he announced and pecked your lips with his. You smiled into the kiss and put your arms around his waist, pulling him closer to you. Before this situation could have gotten any more R-18 Loki pulled back. “I think we have some work, petal” who would have thought that such a simple thing as building a pillow fort would make Loki so happy. He was feeling like a little child again.

And so the two of you started to tuck as many blankets under the books on your shelf as you possibly could. You were putting the lights up while Loki tried to find a perfect playlist. The whole thing felt so domestic, so intimate. You wondered how it would be if the two of you were living together. You were only dating for three months but you knew he was the one. You didn’t realise this but Loki felt the same way. The god of mischief was utterly in love with you, he was just waiting for a good moment to voice his feelings. As the music started to play Loki embraced you from behind and swayed you to the rhythm. You dropped the remaining lights on the pillows and took his hands in yours. The two of you stayed like this for a while, enjoying the moment. You turned around and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

“I’ll order some food” you announced “Do you want anything specific?”

“Can I have you, please?” he responded with a smirk

“Pizza or sushi?” you asked, playfully pinching his cheek “You can have me later” you winked at him and walked away. Loki just smiled at you. Norns! He was so in love with you!

“Let’s have pizza tonight!” he answered. You couldn’t see it but the god was blushing like stupid.

—————————————————————————————————————————

The two of you were laying down in your fort, I mean, castle as the last minutes of “My neighbor Totoro” played on your TV. Pizza boxes and empty mugs were scattered across your living room but you didn’t mind the mess. The only thing that you were focused on was the god who you’ve been cuddling with this whole evening.

“What do you want to watch next?” Loki asked and you realised that the movie was already over.

“I don’t think I want to watch anything else tonight” you announced and yawned involuntarily.

Loki took the remote and turned the TV down. He kissed your head and pulled you even closer to him. Your foreheads were touching as you gazed into each other’s eyes.

If Loki had any doubts before, there were all gone now. Loki’s lips ghosted over yours but before you could kiss him, he whispered those sweet words you wanted to hear for so long.

And his heart skipped a beat when you said them back.

———————————————————————————————————–

taglist: @lilyofthesword @twhiddlestonstuff @lokitrashfan

#loki x reader #loki fluff #loki x you #loki friggason #loki odinson #soft loki #loki laufeyson #loki x reader fluff #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x reader fluff #loki odinson x reader fluff #loki imagine #loki odinson imagine #loki drabble #loki x reader drabble #gender neutral reader #marvel x reader #loki x y/n

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moondustaeil · 3 years

Note

If your moots (or blogs you want to be mutuals with) were fanfics, what would they be? I personally think you'd be a 'royalty au, protective brother king!Kun × princess/prince!reader × suitor!Sangyeon' fanfic! 📚

You just seem very mature and put-together to me.

hihi, my love!! This was so nice to do even if it took a long time, I loved it so thank you. Also thank you for saying what fic I would be, I wish I could live in that fic 🥺💙

If you’re not in here, I’m so sorry, I’ll still add you if you want or next time someone asks me this, I’ll add you!

you can find the fics and moots under the cut! I didn’t go in any particular order, just who popped in my mind at what moment and émi last bc she’s my world yes. This is way longer than expected

@sunhyuck

Au: soulmates

Pairing: wanderer!Haechan x Kei

Backstory: ever since Donghyuck accidentally met eyes with a stranger on the street, he is greeted with sunflowers scattered along his path. Young sunflowers dance under the sun, turning to the source of warmth and light. Just like the sun is all you've been gazing at ever since you walked on the same path as your soulmate.

Why: because I truly think of Kei as one of the people I'll always go to and when thinking about soulmates, I think of people who find each other and accept each other despite different lives. That I will connect to the weird variety of subjects we talked about. I love you, my angel (if you're reading this).

⠀

@neo-cult-ure

Au: demonic entities , haunted house , roommates

Pairing: composer!Taeyong x journalist!Ley

Backstory: Taeyong has been shouting over his music to you for over half a year, almost begging you to dedicate a column to him and his music. When his equipment starts picking up the strange noises coming from the house, it becomes clear that the clock hasn't been stopping at 3:19am for nothing. With Taeyong discovering the entity living among you, you decide to dedicate the article to Taeyong and your invisible roommate.

Why: do I even need to explain, this queen owns horror and the horror concept. She's the one I'll bow to because I owe her a lot and she's freaking talented.

⠀

@ceruleanskies

Au: secret relationship

Pairing: soloist!Yuta x stylist!Kai

Backstory: ever since Yuta appeared on the red carpet with a short haircut, fans hunt for the person that made the decision to get rid of his mullet. All fingers point towards you, stylist of Nakamoto Yuta, from each finger a new opinion flows into your ears: too short, not the right colour, better looking with the mullet. Though one finger shoots the arrow right in the heart "they're dating."

Why: because I truly adore Kai even though I'm way too scared to actually tell, I don't want to mess up and make her think that I'm some kind of weird person. In my eyes, she sparkles through my screen.

⠀

@neonun-au

Au: dating app

Pairing: photographer!Johnny x Mads

Backstory: just like he with a button alters between the different pictures on his camera, Johnny alters between the different profiles, swiping them in his desired direction. That's how you strand in his life and mostly his camera roll: the pictures he takes, one by one, capture you.

Why: because even though we don't know each other well, I truly want to capture her in my memory and think about the smiles I had on my face when reading her messages.

⠀

@flowerhyucky

Au: arranged by fate (you can call this soulmates but I'm calling this arranged by fate)

Pairing: Hendery x Ana

Backstory: one day, the flowering plant amaranthus caudatus settles itself in the middle of an empty field. Another day, someone else's birth flower is planted next to the amaranthus caudatus. The young miracles of nature grow just as their owners do, however, they don't bloom until the love between you and Hendery starts to bloom.

Why: I really like Ana and her URL actually inspired the story, I could write so many adorable aus to fit her but nothing would compare. I truly like her vibes and her personality is so beautiful, like wow.

⠀

@smileyjaeminies

Au: university , writer

Pairing: writing student!Jaemin x student!Alex

Backstory: exam season is closer than expected for you, with only a few days to go until you scribble your knowledge down on the exam sheet and a week to go until you need to hand in your paper. However, someone is willing you help you with that paper. Na Jaemin, student and writer who seems to have more control over his life than the earth has over global warming. As the word document increases in pages, so does your liking towards the young writer.

Why: I met Alex thanks to thesunnyshow that we're both co-admins of, and it immediately felt as if we were friends. Alex helped me through the screen when I fell off my bike (yes haha, a 21-year-old one took the wrong brake) and I try to make it work when she's busy with uni but we have a shift. So I think we're a great team and that's why I picked this au.

⠀

@fruityutas

Au: broken relationship

Pairing: Taeil x Emily

Backstory: "Can I go on?" Taeil asks himself every morning, gazing upon your sheet-covering body as you drown in the world of sleep. The wind howls outside the window, and Taeil wishes the wind would push you towards him, but the soft blowing only pulls you further away from him. You feel a soft breath against your neck, the soft lips murmuring "without you, there's no way."

Why: I don't know why I chose this particular plot, maybe it was because I was listening to a song and based it on that. Initially, I wanted to go for a cheerful and happy plot that reminded me of her URL, but I ended up with angst. I remember we had this talk about angst and went from that. Also, I adore her so much, I probably expressed that once in a gc already but I'm saying it again.

⠀

@afishcalledfatin

Au: friends to lovers

Pairing: Jungwoo x Fatin

Backstory: for as long as you can remember, you've been friends with Kim Jungwoo. In your childhood and teenage years, the term BFFs would be engraved in each object you gave to each other, but now that you two are adults, life is different. You want to give him the world because he deserves everything, he wants to give you love because his heart is longing for yours.

Why: because she feels like a friend that I've had for years, we don't always talk but when we do, it just feels like we've been friends since forever. I love that a lot about her and I love how easy she is to approach and talk to, she's a true darling.

⠀

@heartyyjeno

Au: strangers to lovers

Pairing: Sungchan x Alesha

Backstory: trainee life is tough for Sungchan, even thinking about having to walk for over half an hour to get to the dance studio is something Sungchan stopped looking forward to. However, he meets you on his way, walking along the same path to get to a different location. One step a day with you along his side is all it takes for him to look forward to it again, to walking with you and getting to know you better.

Why: because Alesha is a great friend and we, unfortunately, don't talk as much as we used to, but that doesn't take away I'm always there for her and she's always there for me. Sungchan's walk resembles the many different talks that we had together and not all of them were fun, but we walked the path together.

⠀

@jimjamjaemin

Au: youtuber , vlogger

Pairing: vlogger!Mark x vlogger!Mona

Backstory: Mark and you have been a couple for over a year, with the growing interest in your relationship, you and Mark start a YouTube channel. From a look in the life to fun challenges, you and Mark take over the crown of cute YouTube couples.

Why: Mona and i didn't meet in the best situation, we started to talk when there was quite some drama in the fandom. But I love Mona and the thing she made me for my birthday reminded me of an editor which led me to a youtuber au!

⠀

@chaoticdeobi

Au: bakery/coffee shop (bc how can I not, she kicked me out of the coffee queue)

Pairing: soft-spoken!New x coffee shop owner!Bea

Backstory: the coffee quote that hangs inside your coffee shop, is something that Chanhee cites every day. With a soft voice, he orders his coffee and then flashes you his smile when you proceed to tell him that the cookie is on the house. As you bring the coffee to his table, the last minute of your shift ticks by, and when you sit with him, you start your shift as girlfriend.

Why: I literally love love love Bea, sometimes she reminds me of a soft-spoken person and other times she reminds me of a chaotic deobi. I still laugh to myself thinking about our talks, thinking about having fun together. We don't get to talk as much as I'd like, but when we do, I wish we could talk forever.

⠀

@juyeonzz

Au: criminal , badass , something chique

Pairing: criminal!Jacob x partner in crime!Qiu

Backstory: pointing the gun at his future victim, Jacob awaits your return. You explore the house: tugging at knobs of money-filled drawers, opening jewellery-clad treasures. But you are looking for the key to Jacob's heart, a golden key dusted with scratches, poisoned with old blood from when someone else locked his heart and pulled the key out harshly.

Why: because Qiu really gives me chique and sad vibes, when I think about her, I think about a longing feeling described with poetic words. Qiu wasn't my first mutual but if I need to mention my first mutuals, there's a big chance I'll include her because it feels like she was one of the first people I got close to.

⠀

@atbzkingdom

Au: dream

Pairing: Haknyeon x Dee

Backstory: if Haknyeon were to have one more day on this earth, how would be spend it? He would make a timetable of which you are the only returning factor, because he would like to drown himself in time with you. Twenty-four hours in which he is the sun that illuminates each part of the world, the world that is you, rotating until the sun is replaced by the moon.

Why: I don't know Dee that well because we haven't talked overly much, but whenever I think about her, I think about references with the earth, sun and moon or natural things. She's just a sweet person, and it seems really natural to talk to her!

⠀

@127-mile

Au: muse , painting

Pairings: Ten x Émi (but there's also Renjun in here)

Backstory: from the brush that Renjun manoeuvres, droplets of paint colour the blank canvas in a self-made story. Ten, the master that learned Renjun how to portray his muse, is now standing next to Émi, the young woman returning in each painting of Ten. Never had they stood next to each other: artist and muse. Never had they consciously smiled at each other. Never had they been real. Until now. Immortalised on the canvas, Ten hugs his Émi, they might both be droplets of paint with a shadow, but behind the canvas Renjun bids farewell to his last painting. His tear streaks the painting, blurring the line between reverie and reality

Why: because Émi and Renjun are both my muses in life and writing, creatively but also in daily things. I proclaim my love for Émi a lot but that never takes away how genuine it is, because I genuinely love her and sometimes it seems so surreal that she's in my life. Sometimes I'm afraid that she's a dot, a droplet of paint that will fade by time until I have no more remains of her. But however long we have left, I will cherish and love her each day just like she loves Ten (isn't that a sad love story, I literally cried for like five minutes after this 😂)

#Seashell telephone 🐚 (ask)#Don't have a tag for my mutuals whoops but I'll make it one day

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ddarker-dreams · 8 months

Note

Hi hi Lock, how are you? Remember to stay hydrated and take care of yourself.❤️

Just finished the third chapter of Nexus and I'm drinking in the words like a smoothie.

Again obligatory hug to Reader, she's got so much to shoulder and now there's the Nona spy allegations 😭 babygirl deserves better and I just know things will get worse

Kafka doesn't even appear physically in the chapter and she's still chef's kiss😩

And ofc her and Bladie growing closer 👀 their banter was funny and ngl the "brat" line got me

HIIIIIIII i'm doing well so far today!!!! i took a sip after reading this ask. i'll stay hydrated 👍👍

one of the first notes i wrote when plotting nexus was, "from the second kafka shows up, n darling's life will only get worse." that set the tone for how everything else would go on to develop.

the nona situation </3 n darling already has so few people in her life that she can call friends and it's like they're being ripped from her one after the other. one of the games that inspired nexus revolves heavily around the concept of identity, with its most well-known dialogue phrase being, "what can change the nature of a man?" i can't go into anything too much yet, but both lear and nona were written around n darling.

KDFJGKL the kafka text message exchange is brief and it's one of my favorite parts too. she's so flirty and for what.

n darling and blade's relationship has been such a fun mess so far and that's considering nothing truly awful has gone down yet. she rarely gets to put her overly cordial front aside, but when dealing with the stellaron hunters, she doesn't bother 😭 born to >:3c, forced to :|

#sweet asks #nexus #answered #Anonymous

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tomsrebeleyebrow · 4 years

Note

hii, i love ur work!!!💞💞 btww could i request smt w/ tom x reader where they r both in quarantine w the boys and tom is always hanging out with them and the reader is sad but don't want to show it until tom asks her what's going on and then she snaps!!!☺️☺️fluff ending❤️❤️

A/N: oh nonnie, i felt quite inspired for that one?? 😗 but as you know, externalising your feelings is sometimes the best remedy so never hesitate, you’ll feel a bit better after ☺️🙏🏻 and talk about it!! as always, stay safe sweetheart 💖💗

‘Stay safe, Cheer up’ blurb event

SLIGHTLY ANGSTY BELOW (INSECURITY), SO BEWARE! (FLUFF ENDING)

You were bored. The lockdown was still going in the UK and after six weeks of being between four walls, time was passing by ever so slowly. But fortunately you were staying at Tom’s house with the boys, him asking you to join them to not be alone being a better idea than you staying alone in your apartment...

... is what you thought.

More than bored, now you were also getting slightly upset. What you first thought about sharing great and funny times with all the boys and catching up with Tom just vanished after the first week.

You felt alone, even when living all in the same house. Left in a corner to be by yourself most of the time. Even asking to join them during a simple game on the PlayStation became hard. And your shy nature was not helping at all as you just let it happen.

Today you were bored, and now pretty upset too.

As you sat cross-legged on yours and Tom’s bed, trying to deal with some college work on your laptop, Tom suddenly barged in the bedroom quite frantically.

“Babe! Have you seen the Marvel puzzle box?” Tom asked while he started to rummage through his wardrobe, “I need it for a video!”

You clicked your tongue, your eyes never leaving the screen. This was basically what 99% of your interactions with Tom were about: “have you seen this?” or “what do you think about that?” or “is that a great concept?”. You became a sort of adviser against your will.

“Don’t know, check around” you plainly said, fingers keeping their constant clinking on the keyboard.

Tom stoped and turned towards you, quite shocked with that answer.

“Uhm, that was... cold?” he said with raised eyebrows, a hand ruffling his hair.

You preferred to simply ignore him, focusing of your work as much as possible. That confused Tom even more. Actually he’s been noticing that recent attitude you were giving him, but not quite minding about it too much at first until his own friends started being aware of it too. Harrison already told him a few times to have talk with you, just to check but he never really did. And now, Tom was confronted to the situation itself and couldn’t ignore it. Something was going on.

“Babe, you’re alright?” your boyfriend questioned first, then proceeded as you gave him no reaction. “Are you mad about something? ... About me?”

“Ah!” you scoffed suddenly before closing your laptop rather violently, making Tom jump on the spot. “Finally my own boyfriend decided to ask how I am doing, like a civilised person. Or should I refer to you as Mister Tom Holland now, since we were basically like strangers for a few weeks, uh?”

“What are you saying (Y/N)?” retorted Tom, completely taken aback by your answer as he now advanced a bit towards the bed.

“That you just ignored me since the beginning of the quarantine, but other than that, nothing! Everything’s good, everything’s FINE!!”

Feeling the anger slowly accumulating, you pushed your laptop away on the mattress and stood in one jump, reading to stomp out of the bedroom. But you were brought up short once you felt Tom’s hand grabbing your wrist, stopping you from leaving him this dumbfounded. You tried to wiggle free from his grip but soon stopped, still looking away from him, your breathing heavy after each inhalation and exhalation.

“(Y/N), look at me” Tom calmly asked, loosening his hand around your wrist a little bit to not hurt you. “Please, (Y/N)...”

After this rush of adrenalin, all your muscles seemed to release the tension you imposed to yourself. You lowered your head and dropped your shoulders, now shivers going along your spine.

“I-It’s like you abandoned me” you began, tears wetting your eyes before some rolled on your cheeks. “We didn’t even have some t-time for ourselves, but I’m n-not judging the boys or anything b-but-”

The tears kept running on your now red cheeks, the sobs getting more pronounced as you went on about the insecurity you felt during these weeks, how much this heavy feeling called loneliness just grew inside of you. And how much you had to endure it by yourself, not daring to say a single word about it, not even to your boyfriend who was there all along.

All of a sudden your body was pulled to the back and soon found yourself pressed against Tom’s chest, his arms instantly surrounding your frame to not let you go. One of his hands gently rested on the back of your head, before caressing it to soothe you.

“I’m the biggest idiot and the worst boyfriend that could ever exist on this planet” you heard Tom’s voice mumbled against your temple. “How did I not see this uneasiness in you... I just hurt you without noticing it, and I fucked up really bad, right?”

You hid your teary face against his chest, your hands grabbing his shirt on the back, your breath finally calming down a bit as you let Tom talk.

“I regret (Y/N), fuck I’m so sorry darling, please forgive me...”

You sniffled while nodding a few times, forehead still resting on his torso. Then you felt his lips kiss your hair, his body soon rocking slowly side to side to wash away any ounce of negativity left around you both. And in fact, it did appeased you because you missed being close to Tom, that deep connection between you both you felt ever since the first day you met and that you just found again today.

After some time spent in a rather calm silence, you parted from each other and Tom gently brushed your wet cheeks with his thumb, a comforting smile never leaving his face.

“Never hesitate to talk to me, (Y/N), never” Tom stated quite seriously, his hands back on your hips. “Even to insult me, I don’t care.”

“I’ll keep that in mind then” you chuckled, slightly slapping his chest before Tom joined you by laughing with you.

“Alright, what do you think about going in the backyard and enjoy this beautiful sunny day, only the two of us?” your boyfriend proposed, arranging a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“Didn’t you have a video to film?”

“The boys can definitely wait” Tom simply said, now taking your hand in his as he began walking out of the bedroom with you.

🏷 Permanent tag list & mutuals 💖 (get notified)

@allegra-writes @tom-holland-is-spiderman @detroitbydark @blissfulparker @farfromhaz @xxtomxo @worldoftom @charismas-world @stiles-banshees @americaxo17 @zabdisamor @princezzariel @mcuassemble @thatweirdomimic @juliebean247 @harryhollandwhore @spiderbibby @intiate03 @himynameishooman @bookworm06 @flowerboyparker @miraclesoflove @eridanuswave @jillanaholland @mendes-marvel @biebsmylife95 @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming @tsh-darling @popbubblegumpop @fanficscuziranout @beiroviski @langdonlovey @markleehee @riverxholland @tomhoran @itseightbeats @xxrebelswithoutacausexx @rubberducky-jrr @howdyherron @jacobsppsleeve @lovewolfspirit @saysomethingspiderman @yoongi-holland @quaksonhehe @the-crazy-fanfictionist @alaeddis @lyzalovealk @sovereignparker @lmaotshollandd @howdyherron @t-monosapiens-h

#staysafecheerup #blurb event #blurb #tom holland #tom holland request #tom holland blurb #tom holland angst #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland x fem!reader #tom holland reader #tom holland reader insert #tom holland oneshot #tom holland one shot #tom holland imagines #tom holland imagine #angst #fluff #stay safe

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friccinfricks · 4 years

Text

The Princess & the Pauper Pt. 1- Ben Hardy x Reader

Synopsis: Princess Lucy’s kingdom is on the brink of destitution, Prince Ben’s father is growing ill and he’s in search of a wife to join him on the throne, Y/N’s a seamstress with bigger dreams, and Rami is Lucy’s bighearted tutor. Will all four of them follow their hearts or remain devoted to their duties?

Warnings: Bad writing, cursing, you know.

A/N: I haven’t written in FOREVER. Depression or something like that lmao. Anyways I’d love to get some feedback, yes, I re-watched the iconic movie from my childhood, Barbie and the Princess & the Pauper and I just... I had to write this. Please don’t hate me. Also, this concept was loosely inspired by @freddiesaysalright and their Fairy Tale AUs :)Sorry for grammar mistakes and such, I’m pretty rusty ://

-------

“Uh, your highness?” Rami mumbled sheepishly as he knocked gently on the door to the princess’s library. Lucy hummed a soft, “Come in.” as she sat at her desk, book in hand, her eyes not bothering to glimpse up from her current page. Rami, clad in a light blue vest that hung over his white puffy shirt and navy pants, breathed a heavy sigh, knowing she wouldn’t like what he said next. “Your mother... she wants to see you.” Lucy emitted a sigh of her own, rolled her eyes and gently put the book down on the desk in front of her.

“It was just getting good, too.” She mumbled as she stood, straightening her pastel pink gown. She walked to Rami, who had a quizzical look on his face.

“What book were you reading?” He asked as he held his arm out to her.

“Something about horticulture.” She shrugged. Rami chuckled as she took his arm. “What? Don’t laugh!”

“I’m not laughing at you! I’m laughing at the fact that your book about horticulture was ‘just getting good.’ What exactly is the plot of a book about horticulture, Princess?”

“The plot isn’t necessary when there’s a chapter about how to grow roses over an impromptu gravesite.” Lucy deadpanned, trying her hardest to suppress her own giggles.

Rami had been hired a few years ago to tutor Princess Lucy in the art of science- the only art she seemed to be interested in after her father died. He always knew how to cheer her up, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t have feelings that were more than platonic for him. And though he would rather not admit it out of pure fear of overstepping his place, he returned her feelings wholeheartedly. Although that didn’t stop him from cheekily flirting with her any opportunity he got.

The pair walked down the corridor, cracking jokes about plants until they arrived at the throne room. Sitting on the throne was Lucy’s mother, and to her right was Abigor, the royal treasurer. He stood a little too close to the Queen for Lucy’s liking, but she said nothing. Before leaving her side, Rami whispered in her ear, “Oh, yes, a meeting with the Queen and the royal penny pincher. Your favorite.” Lucy suppressed the urge to smile, and only squeezed his arm as he left.

“Hello, Mother.”

“Hello my darling... I’m afraid- I’m afraid Abigor and I have some rather bad news for you.” The Queen said, her voice shaky as she averted her eyes from the princess. She stared at the floor as Abigor, dressed in his purple robes and his pompous hairstyle to match his personality looked straight at Lucy.

“The kingdom is broke.”

“What?”

Abigor rolled his eyes and repeated himself. “The royal mines are out of gold. We are destitute.”

Lucy felt the color leave her cheeks. “Wh-what does that mean?”

“It means we’ll need to salvage the kingdom by making an alliance with another... we need to combine the wealth of our country with that of another...” Lucy’s mother said softly. Rami listened intently from the doorway, putting the pieces together just as Lucy did. An alliance.

“An alliance? You don’t mean...?” Lucy asked, her lip quivering as her mind raced. Her eyes bounced from Abigor to her mother to Abigor again. Then to the portrait of her dead father hanging on the wall behind his old throne. Her mother nodded silently.

“You are to be married to one of our neighbors.” Abigor said flatly.

--------

“You can’t go on like this, Father.” Ben said, shifting his weight nervously in his father’s own throne room. The older stout man heaved as he coughed, pain written all over his face.

“I can tell you’re in pain, the stress is killing you!” Ben exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. His stubborn, stubborn father. He turned to his mother, who shook her head solemnly.

“Benjamin, love, if you’re to replace your father, you cannot do so alone. It pains me to say this, I know you want to see the world, but the kingdom is your responsibility as well. And when has there ever been a great king without a great queen?” She said, her eyes lighting up as she thought of the prospect of her son marrying. It had been time for a few years now, but out of love for their son, the King and Queen of Westenzia had allowed him to go on adventures while he still could. But with the health of his father deteriorating, Ben knew his days of freedom were numbered. He nodded his head, aware of what his parents would say next.

“You need to grow up. Go find a wife so you can rule on the throne together.” His mother said, a certain softness in her tone.

“And don’t complain about love! Love is inconsequential!” His father said, clutching his sides. The Queen shot him a dirty look.

“I mean... I mean, don’t worry about love. Love will find you if you look for her.” The King restated, pressing a clammy hand to the hand of his wife. She rolled her eyes just as her son did before he walked out of the room.

----

Y/N sat at the table, needle and thread in hand as she hummed a tune. She had been sewing for hours, and while it wasn’t the worst of trades, it was just as exhausting as being a lumberjack. Well, she thought it must be, anyways. She wiped her brow as she heard the door open and the bell jingle before setting down the gown she had been working on to approach the customer. Much to her dismay, it was a young woman in one of her gowns but... the woman looked nearly identical to herself. Aside from her blonde hair, this girl could have been her sister.

“Um, how may I help you?” Y/N asked, her own blue gown nearly colliding with the pink one of her lookalike.

“I’m getting my first and last taste of freedom and I... well, I wanted to see where all of my beautiful gowns came from.” The woman said as she looked around.

“Ah, well, welcome!” Y/N said, still slightly entranced by how similar this stranger was to her. “You look... familiar.” She mumbled.

“And you look like my reflection, but with Y/H/C hair!” Lucy chuckled. Y/N blushed, a smile finding itself on her lips. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Y/N. What’s yours?”

“Lucy.” She said shyly.

“Oh, like the princess?” Y/N asked before it dawned on her. What other Lucy’s were in the kingdom? Dumbass. Lucy smiled and nodded.

“You could say we’re acquainted.”

“Are you looking for anything in particular, your highness?” Y/N inquired, folding her hands together in front of her waist.

“A wedding dress, apparently.” She mumbled, rolling her eyes.

“A wedding dress? But... but there’s no news of a wedding.” Y/N said softly.

“It’s not exactly my choice... it’s- it’s my duty.” Lucy said, looking down at the ground. Y/N nodded her head. She knew all about duty. Before she could retrieve a book of dress designs, another person entered the store, with a single pink rose in his hand.

“A rose for a rose.” He said as he bowed to the princess. When he lifted his head and saw the two of you standing together he backed up and looked back and forth between the pair.

“Wait, what?” He furrowed his eyebrows. Y/N and Lucy giggled. “The two of you are... indistinguishable. Amazing!”

Y/N and Lucy smiled at one another before Y/N brought out a sketchbook with different designs.

“How long have you been doing this? Your dresses are amazing, I refuse to wear anything that isn’t made here!” Lucy inquired. Y/N blushed and shook her head in disbelief. The princess loved her gowns? Really?

“I’ve been a seamstress ever since I learned how to sew. I was orphaned at a young age and... well, I didn’t want to be in debt forever, so I decided to do something. Something that didn’t involve marriage for money instead of love.” Lucy winced at her words. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that. I um...” Y/N trailed off, feeling guilty for reminding the princess of her rather unfortunate situation. While Lucy hadn’t explicitly told the seamstress the reason for her marriage, it had been easily implied.

Lucy shook her head and put a hand up. “It’s alright. But I’m to be married in a matter of days.” She sighed, motioning to the book of sketches in front of her. Y/N nodded and discussed the different styles and layerings as Rami walked around the shop, observing the variety of fabrics and works in progress, trying to deny his own heartbreak.

----

“Mother, I don’t even know where to find an eligible princess.” Ben whined as he sat with his parents in the royal dining room. He sipped his wine and nearly spit it out as his cousins, Joseph, Duke of Evania, and Gwilym, Duke of Mundil, entered the dining room.

“Cousins!” He exclaimed, excusing himself from the table and going to greet them. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for babes.” Joseph said, a smile planted nearly permanently on his face. Ben laughed as he took him and Gwilym into a warm embrace.

“Welcome to the club.” He chuckled. Gwilym patted his back and the pair joined Ben for dinner.

“You know, word on the street is that the neighboring kingdom of Dulcinea is looking for someone to marry their princess.” Gwilym stated, looking at Ben.

“You cheeky wanker. Are you trying to sweep Princess Lucy off her feet?” The King chuckled. Gwilym shrugged his shoulders. Ben rolled his eyes.

“I think you should marry her, Benjamin.” The Queen said softly. Ben looked down at his plate, heat rising to his cheeks.

“Well I don’t know about that...” Ben muttered.

“Why not? Why don’t you travel to Dulcinea and meet her? And if it’s meant to be, you can tie the knot.” Joseph said, nudging Ben. Gwilym nodded encouragingly.

“Yes! The three of us can go visit, perhaps she has two beautiful cousins as well.” Gwilym suggested, getting a chuckle out of his two cousins.

“Fine. We leave on the morrow.” Ben ceded, shaking his head. His mother smiled at him, slipping the ring from her finger and handing it to her son.

“If it’s meant to be, I want you to be prepared.” She winked. Ben swallowed. This was really happening. It was bound to happen for months but now... now this was real.

He would be meeting, and likely marrying, Princess Lucy.

-----

Lucy and Rami rode in the carriage back to the palace, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Thanks for taking me out to the village.” She said, sleepily. Rami nodded, trying to control his breathing.

“Of course, your highness.” He looked down and watched her lashes flutter closed, smiling to himself. She really was beautiful. He pushed a stray lock of blonde hair from her face and stroked her head gently before leaning his own back against the cushion of the carriage and falling asleep himself.

When he awoke, he noticed Lucy staring out the window.

“Princess?”

“Hmm?” Lucy turned her head back to Rami, sleep and stress evident in her eyes.

“Are you alright?” She blinked a few times and smiled.

Nodding her head she gently whispered, “Yes.” Before placing a hand on Rami’s chest. Sparks exploded in his body and fire raced through his veins. Lucy’s soft hand moved up to his neck and clutched gently at his jaw.

“I-I need to admit something before it’s too late...” Rami said softly, placing his own hand on her waist as he moved his head closer to hers. Their foreheads met and the stared intently into one another’s eyes, searching for a love neither thought the other actually reciprocated.

The carriage came to a halt.

Oh, right. The palace.

Escorting Lucy from the carriage, they walked arm and arm up to the palace doors. Neither seemed to be able to look the other in the eye out of sheer embarrassment, perhaps that was why neither of them noticed the pair of henchmen lurking around. In a swift and sudden motion, Rami was knocked unconscious and as was Lucy. However when the pair woke up, they were no longer together.

Rami sat alone on the palace steps, searching for the princess while Lucy awoke to a start in a bed that wasn’t hers, and a bedroom that was just as unfamiliar to her as the bed.

Holding his head in his hand, Rami stood, scared for the safety of the princess. Who would do this, and why?

#ben hardy x reader #ben jones x reader #ben hardy #ben jones #gwilym lee #joe mazzello #lucy boynton #rami malek #fanfic #the princess and the pauper #series #borhap boys #bohemian rhapsody

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lichenthrope9 · 3 years

Text

Artist’s statement: Ys, or, Borrowed from the Sea

A shortcut to mushrooms

My interest in alternate worlds was piqued when I first read The Hobbit, and the first two volumes of Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring. The maps, the histories, the biographical information and allusions to genealogies, the languages and cultures and very real, lived-in countries, the sense of geography in that the story took place as much between points of interest as it did within points of interest, simulating the time it took to travel between cities – all of these factors hooked me as much as the story had. It is from the world of Middle Earth and the history and accidents of its construction that I derived much of my inspiration for this project.

However, as we must with all our favorite creators, I returned to the Lord of the Rings with a more critical eye years later. After coming out as transgender, going through a long health crisis, beginning to critique my own whiteness, and reading a lot more about philosophy and social science theories, I had more tools and lenses through which to critique the premises on which Tolkien wrote the darling of English fantasy literature.

It seemed Middle Earth was a project born out of Tolkien’s devout Catholicism, and the cosmology of Middle Earth heavily reflected Tolkien’s own interpretation of Catholic teachings. There were angels and fallen angels, and a battle between them on the physical world that took it off track from the plans of the all-knowing Eru Ilúvatar (Tolkien‘s analogy for the Father). This would all be well and good in theory, if Tolkien hadn‘t taken a step further and made ”Good“ and ”Evil“ sentient races, created by individual angels with certain aesthetics and moral philosophies in mind that would irrevocably be tied to the bloodline of each of these races. This already has problematic implications for Tolkien‘s racial frame, but to make matters worse, he based certain fantasy races on certain groups of humans on Earth.

So, with these pitfalls in mind, I put my initial worldbuilding efforts not into creating languages and cultures, but rather creating a planet that they could live on, that could feasibly exist in our galaxy. I didn‘t include magic in its formation, I didn‘t use a mythic structure at first. I didn‘t even know if I wanted to populate my world until I had an entire solar system. I knew things like the luminosity, age, and mass of the star, the distance between the star and planet, the length of the year and day, the axial tilt of the habitable planet, how all of that would affect the seasons and climate, and how far away the moon was and what it would look like from sea level on my planet. I knew how deep the oceans were and I even had some speculative biology plotted out for how life would come to be on this planet. My idea was, I wanted to make a hard scifi world (within reason – I‘m not Andy Weir) and then drape a cloak of high fantasy on it, almost a bit more like Dune by Frank Herbert than Lord of the Rings.

My readiness to populate my planet with peoples and histories neatly coincided with the beginning of my Purchase career. I was no geologist, geographer, meteorologist or astronomer. Though I was certainly interested in how ores were distributed in my planet‘s crust, how coastlines and climates developed, and how the sky would appear from the surface from my world, the central focus had always been and would always be how these things would all affect my fictional societies and their growth. What would it be like to grow up on a world where the moon appears so much larger than the sun? A world where the solar year is just a bit over 639 Earth days? Would it be possible, given different historical circumstances, to achieve a Type 1 or 2 Kardashev civilization? How would such a civilization come about politically?

Worldbuilding as anthropological exploration

After learning of my passion for worldbuilding, a professor suggested I take a look at the 2015 presidential address to the AAA by Monica Heller, called ”Dr. Esperanto, or Anthropology as Alternative Worlds.“ In it, Heller outlines the history of perhaps the most famous constructed international auxiliary language, Esperanto, and maps its positionalities, along with those of its creator, L. L. Zamenhof, within the scope of highly anthropological inquiry. Zamenhof was situated at the precipice of many different identities; he was a Jew from Bialystok, a multilingual city which in his lifetime lived under Russian and Polish-Russian rule. His interest in creating an international auxiliary language was one of diplomacy and peacemaking in the years preceding World War I, a time where international tensions and the influences of global industrialization and capitalism were all growing ever stronger and more binding. Esperanto‘s goals have since changed slightly; on a sticker on the back of a Paris street sign in 2013, it was hailed as ”La langue internationale équitable,” marking Esperanto as the “equitable” opponent to the specifically capitalist problem of income inequality. One can only conclude that not only the language itself, but also the act of its creation by Zamenhof, was a highly political project. Heller then touches upon other forms of constructed language, ones whose purposes lie in artistic expression and exploration such as Dothraki and Sindarin. The article taught me that “the act of transportation [to an alternative world] might have unexpected consequences. But the whole endeavor will be transformative, teaching us things we would never have learned otherwise” (Heller 2015: 21).

Since finishing this article, I have embarked on a journey to ground my project in social theory. My goal began as less utopic and more experimental. It was not yet apparent to me how my politics would manifest in the work, but I still wanted to play the game: with a number of minor changes to a habitable world from Earth, and a number of restrictions in how I depict the cultures, can I keep my civilizations alive and, more importantly, ”breathing“ (that is, relatably and realistically complex enough to feel lived-in), until they reach Kardashev Type 2 status? (That is, until they can technologically harness as much energy from their home star for use as they like.) What would stories look like set in this universe, perhaps stories set in the same star system but separated by hundreds or thousands of years? And how do I responsibly depict these people without falling prey to the same ideological traps that Tolkien and Herbert did?

This new phase of my project also coincided with my renewed interest in the works of Ursula K. Le Guin and the Nickelodeon show Avatar: The Last Airbender. A:tLA stood out as a shining example of how to write a complex, colonially-charged political history between societies without directly making any one society analogous to Western Europe or Euro-American whiteness. I devoured Le Guin‘s The Left Hand of Darkness, which taught me that even tiny changes to human cultural frameworks (such as, what if there were no gender as such, and what if everybody on a planet were asexual except for a predictable period of sexual arousal and attraction?) can have vast implications for that society‘s history (Le Guin theorized that on such a planet, there would be no concept of war); and The Author of the Acacia Seeds and Other Extracts from the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics (Le Guin‘s own term for the supposed study of animal language) which taught me that the lenses of imagination can be focused just as strongly on our nearest neighbors in the dirt as they can be on the distant stars.

I therefore decided to take a hybridized Tolkien / Le Guin – ian approach to writing the stories. I committed to ”translating“ every character‘s pronouns into the English feminine, and only gendering them at all as feminine when necessary. I also committed to writing a world history where no one ethnic group was directly analogous to Euro-American whiteness, à la AtLA. I would of course need to loosely base groups located in geoclimatic zones on similarly-located groups on Earth, or else have altogether too much work to do (deciding how much of the culture‘s development might be affected by the geography and climate; deciding on a model of anthropology on which to base my analysis of each culture, be it structural, evolutionist, structural-functional, etc.; building each cultural good, artifact, and practice in relation to every other; conducting a simulated ethnography of each of my major ethnic groups).

So, I decided to base some of my cultures on recent ethnographies and archaeological studies of geoclimatically analogous Earth ethnicities. The first of these was a master‘s thesis by Meghan Walley, ”Examining precontact Inuit gender complexity and its discursive potential for LGBTQ2S+ and decolonization movements.“ In it, Walley complicates the gendered narratives of pre-contact Inuit history by critically analyzing remains and gender-specific tool usage, and conducting interviews with living queer Inuit and their families. Walley found that Inuit-specific definitions of Two-spirit gender and sexual nonconformity had existed since long before contact with Europeans, and that queer archaeological practices were necessary if the living traditions of extant Two-spirit and queer Inuit were to be given their appropriate ontological priority over colonial narratives. I decided to use this thesis as a springboard for reading more current histories of the Inuit and other people of the far North, to embark on my project of constructing plausible cultures for the people living near my planet‘s South Pole.

The magic of semiotics

Then: a type of breakthough. Last summer I found myself reading book after book, including Tao Te Ching, the foundational text for Taoism, and How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human, Eduardo Kohn‘s posthuman ethnography of a Runa group located near Ávila in Ecuador. In it, Kohn tries to apply the semiotic theories of Charles Sanders Peirce to human groups living in rainforest settings to construct and analyze a broader, more current, postcolonial cosmology for this Runa group and its implications for other groups’ cosmologies. It was my first encounter with Peircean semiotics. Oddly, How Forests Think referred in passing to the very chapter of Tao Te Ching that had resonated with me strongest: Chapter 11, in which Laozi talks about constitutive absence, the anti-structures that permeate structure and make structure functional (the examples he gives include the empty hub of a wheel, the space inside a clay pot, and the emptiness enclosed by a room’s four walls). Kohn applies this anti-structure model to the semiotic, saying that Peirce’s types of signs can only signify when they represent things that are not present. A child buzzing their lips to imitate an airplane will only remind you of an airplane if you forget the differences between the child’s imitation and the sound it is meant to represent.

From How Forests Think and Tao Te Ching, I derived six major tenets that I would literally incorporate into my text’s lore as an ancient religion. But more than that, it got me thinking about how language and signification was a type of magic, in many ways. So, I re-incorporated magic into my story. I based the initial rules of my magic system on the postulate that this universe was not ours, in fact, but had grown out of a knowable Universal Field that could be at least partially described with a type of grammar. This Syntaxelium (designated as such both to distance it from concepts like Chomsky’s Universal Grammar and innateness hypothesis, and also to connect it more closely to ideas of networking and fungal semiosis) could be harnessed in languages that contained its features to “negotiate” with the universe. That is, if you speak a language that uses a lot of features of the Syntaxelium in a short amount of time, you are “persuading” the universe to change some of its rules, at least for enough time to grant you a wish. I decided to make this language too complex to be conservative; that is, it would evolve and diverge very quickly from any one set of rules as people used it and streamlined it. There was a constructed language I knew of that might serve perfectly: the language Ithkuil, completed by John Quijada in 2011 and so complex that nobody, not even Quijada himself, is yet fluent in it as of this writing.

Ithkuil is a philosophical-engineered language whose design goals are to be as semantically condensed and specific as possible. There is a single “formant,” or word, in Ithkuil that can be translated as “...being hard to believe, after allegedly trying to go back to repeatedly inspiring fear using rag-tag groups of suspicious-looking clowns, despite resistance” (the word itself is /qhûl-lyai’svukšei’arpîptó’ks). Quijada has offered that Ithkuil is too complex to be a natural spoken language – rather, that it is a useful tool to think about how quickly and reliably information can be condensed into linguistic frameworks. Its philosophy of meaning is (as the author himself admits) relatively Enlightenment-based – that is, there is a one-to-one correspondence of conceptual representation to some Platonic prototype of what an Ithkuil formant might mean, which is not exactly in line with the language’s design goals – but Quijada here threw up his hands: “A more careful and rigourous construction for Ithkuil’s lexico-semantics, given the author’s stated design goals…would not assume such a theory of meaning, but would rather incorporate more recent findings of cognitive science and cognitive linguistics to reflect embodied meaning and metaphor-based conceptualization. However, pursuing such a foundation for the lexico-semantics of the language would, in the author’s opinion, be extremely time-consuming (on the order of many additional years, perhaps decades, to construct)” (2011: 270-271).

I found this thoughtfully constructed masterpiece of a language perfect for my purposes and set about creating daughter languages that may have evolved from its natural use in my world. I imagined that a group of priests of the Moon Queen had created Ithkuil in-world as an attempt to access the power of the Syntaxelium and communicate with the Goddesses. These priests partially succeeded, in that their new language granted them magical powers. They did not become all-powerful, however. These new Wizard-Queens attempted to conquer the world with their magic, and largely succeeded – but once they had spread out, Ithkuil almost immediately diverged into daughter languages due to its complexity, each of these languages preserving different features of the Syntaxelium. After a few generations, the language with the most expansionist, imperial-minded speakers would conquer the world once again and spread their language into every corner of the globe. The language would diverge again, and the cycle of colonization and genocide would continue until a group of marginalized people led a revolution against their contemporary empire and broke the chain.

The politics of translation

But, at this point I was too invested in this project to continue in my experimental, non-utopic design philosophy. I needed to introduce my polemic into the work, or else it might carry messages contrary to my values (it may regardless, but at least I can try and make my intent as clear as possible). I needed my writing to reflect a strong opposition to, or at least complication of, Enlightenment ideals. I would also paint a picture of the post-revolutionary society I dreamed for my characters, which meant I needed to refine my anarchist sensibilities with a deep dive into ethics and anarchist theory.

I decided to illustrate the conflicts between more Enlightenment, classical logic-based arguments and more post-Enlightenment, posthuman arguments in a contest between two translators trying to render the same text into English. I therefore refined the six tenets of my constructed religion, translated them into Ithkuil, then rendered them back into English in two competing and slightly different ways:

1. tʼal-lrëikțatf orêtfiáss arkʼarț

[tʼal.lɾəɪkθatf ɔˌɾeːtfɪ.ˈas.s ˌaɾkʼˈaɾθ]

similarity.p1s3.IFL-MLT.N-MNF-HAB-EPI thought.p2s1.FML-MLT.N-v2ss/9-GEN source.p1s1.FML-AGG.N

“It is known: some reminder is the source of any thought.” – Eloquences

“So it is that all thought’s source is a likeness.” – Violet

2. okleomdh âkláʼdh tʼal-lriočʰaț atvufq oráʼtf

[ɔklɛ.ɔmð ˌakˈlăð tʼal.lɾɪ.ɔt͡ʃʰaθ atvʊfq ˌɔˈɾătf]

river.p2s1.IFL-COH.N.PRX-ASI river.p3s1.FML-N.PRX-MED organize.p3s3.IFL-DYN-HAB-EPI.N self.p1s1.IFL-MLT.A-IND thought.p2s1.FML-MLT.N-MED

“It is known: as a current from the channel, so selfhood organizes itself out of any thought.” – Eloquences

“So it is that as the whirlpool from the stream, selfhood knits itself from strands of thought.” – Violet

3. ôcneoț îcnêț atvațoaxiarň tʼal-lrëigadhoaqʼ

[ot͡snɛɔθ iːt͡sneːθ atvaθɔ.axɪ.aɾŋ tʼal.lɾəɪgaðɔ.aqʼ]

spore.p3s3.IFL-N-ASI fungus.p2s3.IFL-N-GEN self.p1s1-IFL-N-v2x/2-v2rň/9 component.p1s3.IFL.MNF-HAB-EPI-N-v2q’/2

“It is known: as the fruiting body of the fungus, the crucial, tiny self is the visible component.” – Eloquences

“So it is: the smallest self is the most crucial visible component, as the spore of the fungus.” – Violet

4. tʼal-lreijjaçoak ekraxiuk amvouț tʼal-lrükrațíukiss

[tʼal-lɾɛ.ɪʒ.ʒaçɔ.ak ɛkɾaxɪ.ʊk amvɔ.ʊθ tʼal.ˌlɾuːkraˈθɪ.ʊkɪs.s]

motion-in-situ.p1s3.IFL-v2k/2-ASO.N.PRX-DYN.EPI.HAB tool.p1s2.IFL-ASO.N-v2k/1 center.p11.IFL-N.NAV tool.p1s2.IFL-N-v2k/1-v2ss/1-MNF.HAB.EPI-framed

“It is known: a good wheel spins right about the hub, where there is no wheel.” – Eloquences

“So all wheels spin ever toward their wheel-less centers.” – Violet

5. öpatf uizát tʼal-lripšasúemzeoj ékëuʼady tʼal-lreisásiull

[øpatf ʊ.ˌɪˈzaθ tʼal.ˌlɾɪpʃaˈsʊ.ɛmzɛ.ɔʒ ˈɛkəʊ̆ʔadʲ tʼal.ˌlɾɛ.ɪˈsasɪ.ʊl.l]

carrier.p22.IFL-MLT.N mind.p1s1.FML-N-MNF happen.p1s1.FML.DYN.HAB.EPI-PRX-framed-v3mz/9-v2j/6 path.p1s2.FML-A.PRX.PRV-ABL-framed deviate.p1s3.IFL-DYN.HAB.EPI-framed-v2ll/1

“It is known: a ‘thing’ is a self which acts automatically as expected, and never deviates from its predetermined path.” – Eloquences

“So inanimate is the self which obeys only habit, and never strays from destiny.” – Violet

6. tʼal-lriokápps oratfiáss âkțîʼatf

[tʼal.ˌlɾɪ.ɔˈkap.ps ɔɾatfɪ.ˈas.s ɑkθiːʔatf]

path-oriented translative motion.p3s3.FML-A.TRM-DYN.HAB.EPI thought.p2s1.FML-N.MLT-v2ss/9 similarity.p1s3.IFL-ALL-MLT.N

“It is known: finishes, arrives, any and all thought at a type of reminder.” – Eloquences

“So the destination of a thought is a likeness.” – Violet

As I mentioned, these six tenets were adapted from the Tao Te Ching as interpreted through Charles Sanders Peirce’s semiotic philosophy. They have to do with the origins and ecologies of the self, the necessity and inevitability of communication, and the structure of thought. Why did I create two different translations of the same text in-world? I wanted to show how political of a project translation can be. For example, the less rigorous Violet Text translates the epistemic-habitual modal affixes of the main verbs as “so it is,” whereas Eloquences uses “it is known;” I did this because though they might not seem such different phrases, “so it is” distances the knowledge from a knower – it poses the knowledge as an immutable state of reality, rather than an interpretation derived by an observer. As I learned from readings of Victor Turner, Antonin Artaud and Roland Barthes, such mythologizations are processes of naturalizing the events of a narrative until they lose their historicity, and seem to follow simply from common sense. Mythology transmutes history into a string of isolated, politically vacuous events that could never have happened any other way.

Further examples of the differences between these hermeneutic exercises are in the translation of “similarity.p1s3” in Tenets 1 and 6. Eloquences renders this as “reminder;” the Violet Text, as “likeness.” Why is “reminder” any more nuanced? Why might “likeness” lead the reader astray? To me, “likeness” implies literal similarity; a sort of facsimile relationship between an “original” and “copy.” I took these tenets from Kohn and Peirce directly: Kohn says that all thought begins and ends with an “icon.” “…[A]ll semiosis ultimately relies on the transformation of more complex signs into icons” (Peirce CP 2.278 cited in Kohn 2013: 51). By an icon, Kohn and Peirce mean a type of sign that stands in representationally for another in a very literal sense, like an onomatopoeic sound-image or a drawing of a smiley face. These icons aren’t supposed to be technical, detailed imitations, but rather empty stand-ins to quickly communicate a desired connotation. Therefore, a “reminder” suffices as a translation of “similarity.p1s3,” because the relationship between the sign and the referent is not always one of literal similarity.

The limitations of magic

Or, other magics that do just as much

If we take from Mauss that magic is highly grammatical, that it follows closely to linguistic processes, then my equally linguistic magic system’s limitations must lie in the exclusive capabilities of non-linguistic systems, or perhaps even non-semiotic systems. We must turn to the affect theorists. Is the magical self truly nothing more than a set of interpretants, signaling to each other through eternity? What would the implications of this be for free will and the power of the individual vs. the community? This takes me to my current readings of Deleuze & Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism & Schizophrenia, translated by Brian Massumi, and Massumi’s own Movement, Affect, Sensation: Parables for the Virtual. These books challenge the idea that the self can be reduced to its linguistic processes, and posit that the “emptiness” at the hub of Laozi’s wheel, the constitutive absence at the heart of these semiotics, can actually be filled with direction, with velocity – a sort of perpetual growth into excess meaning that’s difficult to pin down in definition or interpretation.

Massumi takes from Bergson that any space, including the political geography upon which poststructuralism maps identities in their “positionalities,” is formed retrospectively from the completion or frustration of dynamic, unmediated processes of movement and sensation in the body. For Massumi, there is an incorporeal element of The Body – its movement through spacetime – that is ontologically privileged before the formation of The Discursive Subject. “Another way of putting it is that positionality is an emergent quality of movement,” says Massumi (2002: 8).

Emergence is another effect that I address in my Tenets; Tenet 2 deals with selfhood as an emergent property of interacting thoughts, as per Kohn and Peirce. Peirce’s semiotic often grapples with the problem of continuity vs. description, creating almost a Heisenberg paradox of its own wherein a thought can only be described precisely as a positional snapshot, or as a “nondecomposable…dynamic unity” (Massumi 2002: 6). Peirce formulated his three types of signs as emergent properties of each other; indices are emergent properties of the relationships between icons, and symbols are emergent from analogous interactions between indices, or indices and icons. So selfhood, language, and magic all organize themselves from the simplest signs, which is why Peirce and Kohn say all thought begins and ends with an icon. It seems there are parallels within these genealogies of thought, between the Deleuzian affect theorist Massumi and the semiotic of Peirce as it applies to posthumanism. Can the analogy be drawn further to say that if space is an emergent property of movement as selfhood is of thought, then movement and affect is its own kind of non-semiotic magic that must have an effect on spacetime?

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shemakesmusic-uk · 4 years

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Baby Queen has released her third track 'Medicine' with a fab new video. The follow-up to ‘Buzzkill', it arrives ahead of her debut EP later this year. "It's about a tangle of mental health and navigating your way through this world,” Bella says of the song, “whilst being so unhappy and equally disillusioned with the cyber landscape that we are forced to live inside, and the different ways people might numb themselves, or try to find a place where they can exist in amongst all of this fucking chaos." [via Dork]

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Oklahoma-born, LA-based electro-pop songstress Mothica has released her debut album Blue Hour, accompanied by the official music video for her single 'VICES.' The album was written over the course of a few months, starting with one of the worst moments of Mothica’s life: a psych ward stay for self-harm and ends with a song about never wanting to feel the “crash” of drugs ever again. “Following that incident, I sought therapy and wrote lyrics detailing my journey into sobriety. I am now 13 months sober at the time of writing this, and have never been in a better place emotionally.” With her new album Blue Hour, she chronicles her deep struggle with addiction + mental health and the process of getting sober. “Someone told me that every artist has their ‘getting sober album’ eventually,” she explains. “I find it ironic that my debut album is my ‘getting sober’ album, because I think that’s indicative of how quickly I was forced to grow up."

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FKA twigs has always made incredible music videos, and 'sad day' ranks right up there with her best. For this clip, twigs worked with the director Hiro Murai, one of the best music-video directors to emerge in the last decade. Murai has mostly moved on from music videos in recent years. Instead, he’s directed episodes of Atlanta and Barry, two of the best shows on TV, as well as Donald Glover’s Amazon short film Guava Island and the forthcoming apocalyptic miniseries Station Eleven. The 'sad day' video is Murai’s first clip since he made the instantly iconic 'This Is America' with Donald Glover in 2018. I don’t want to give away much of the 'sad day' video, which starts out in a dingy takeout spot and transforms into a surreal dream-logic head trip. But you should know that twigs only made this video after spending three years studying martial arts at the Shaolin Wushu Center, and you can tell. A dancer named Teake, who twigs discovered via social media, co-stars. [via Stereogum]

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The latest of Silly Boy Blue's ongoing build is 'Hi, It's Me Again,' a song she describes as the "too long text I didn't want to send at 3 AM to my ex." Like the rumination behind a loaded, emotional message to a former lover, she adds that it took months to assemble the words in her head but only one night to write out the lyrics. "I needed to write a song about this, because it's a very special place between the hate and the void during a breakup." With an almost lullaby melody, the spacey tune slowly builds into the ultimate warning: "You'll be the one I always haunt," Silly Boy Blue sings, her voice beautifully layered and atmospheric. All her thoughts throughout the song are interlaced with the relatable, somewhat insecure backpedal, "I'm sorry," capturing the headspace "just before resilience," as she describes. It's "when you start to understand the breakup, but you still have so many questions popping in your head." In the 'Hi, It's Me Again' video, Silly Boy Blue says she "needed to show the different parts" of her identity. "Some of them are masculine, some of them are feminine, some of them seem confident, some seem shy, some seem to suffocate, some stand proudly." Much like the nuanced feelings during a breakup, she expresses without binaries — and especially through fashion, as she opens the clip in only an oversized men's button-down. Scenes in the new visual roll by like memories or fleeting emotions, ranging from subdued drama to full on meltdowns. At one point, she's shown with a plastic bag pulled over her head to capture the most extreme feelings of dread, juxtaposed against a more innocent shot of Silly Boy Blue in all white with two lone tear drops fixated on her cheek. The artist also loaded in "important" references to her favorite movies, from the Titanic's necklace to The Rocky Horror Picture Show's big mouth. [via PAPER]

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Dream Nails have released a video for their new single, 'This Is The Summer'. It's a song from their new Tarek Musa of Spring King-produced, self-titled record out now via Alcopop!. “[It's] a song about how our climate is breaking down irreversibly,” says singer Janey Starling. “Colonial capitalism, waged by UK governments and corporations for centuries, has ravaged our earth. “We need to be urgently fighting for migrant rights so the UK welcomes climate refugees displaced by countries hit by extreme weather. We must demand transparency from oil companies who relentlessly put profit before people, even as the world burns." Guitarist Anya Pearson adds: “We wrote ‘This Is The Summer’ in the heatwave of 2018, recorded it in another heatwave in 2019 and now we are releasing it in yet another heatwave! Our video for the track shows how the current pandemic, white supremacy and climate change are not separate issues but interlinked. The song is about the brazen complacency of getting drunk and catching a tan in the park while the world burns.” [via Dork]

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BBC Sound Of 2020 winner Celeste has shared her new single 'Little Runaway'. Out now, the single is about a crisis of faith, and features a towering vocal from the London artist. A song about succumbing to the depths before emerging renewed, 'Little Runaway' began as a jazz sample, before taking on a life of its own. Celeste says... “‘Little Runaway’ is a song about losing your faith, even if just momentarily, and seeking answers from spirits and ghosts as nothing seems to make sense on this planet. My favourite line in the song is ‘good news I could use some’ – I believe everyone has a guardian angel, a protector, and this is me talking to mine.” “The verses actually started as this saxophone sample we were playing around with and eventually it transformed into the melody. I always play the sax back in my head even though it’s not in the song.” 'Little Runaway' features an innovative music video, steered by Celeste’s frequent collaborator Sophie Jones. [via Clash]

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Anna Sofia released a brand new music video for her song 'Don’t Play Pretend'. 'Don’t Play Pretend' is from her latest EP Broken Perfection. Over a million streams into her career, Anna Sofia sings this song about her own life. She might not be perfect. She might make mistakes. All that said, at least she doesn’t pretend to be something she’s not. Sofia said she doesn’t have a message. “It’s just real life,” she said. “One day, I hope to fill stadiums all over the world. I want to have fans everywhere and have some way of helping them or guiding them through my music. My confidence comes from being myself and connecting with people.” [via The 360 Mag]

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Last year, the K-pop group BLACKPINK made big moves in America with their Kill This Love EP, becoming the highest-charting women-led Korean act on both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 (with its title track). They also played Coachella. Earlier this year, they had a guest feature on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica with ‘Sour Candy,’ a single that matched their previous chart record at #33. They’re releasing a new album in a couple months, which was led off by ‘How You Like That’ in June. Now, they’re putting out another song from it, a collaboration with Selena Gomez called ‘Ice Cream.’ The food angle of the track is appropriate for Gomez, who has most recently been in the headlines for her new HBO Max cooking show. [via Stereogum]

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Tel-Aviv based artist Noga Erez shares the next in a series of game-changing singles leading into her mysterious second album (details yet to be announced). 'You So Done' and its striking accompanying video are out now via City Slang. Following the sparkling sass of 'VIEWS' and the irresistibly upbeat lockdown anthem 'NO news on TV', Noga Erez and her collaborative partner Ori Rousso's latest offering 'You So Done' has been highly anticipated online since appearing on NBC's Good Girls earlier this year. It sees Erez shift from outward looking political themes to personal soul-searching, opening up for a stirring track about rejection, toxic and emotionally violent relationships, and ones own inner violence. Along with the track she has shared a moving statement, saying: "At some point, exactly one year ago, I started flashing back to one of the darkest times in my life. I was young, incredibly confused and lonely... There was a moment during this period where I was actually so weak, insecure and in need of love that I was not able to step out of what I know now to be an emotionally abusive relationship." She concludes: "It really, truly means the world to me to give this song to you. I hope this story can help some of you to realise that you are not alone. And I really do hope to make it clear that even the darkest places are not impossible to free yourself from. They are eventually an opportunity to learn, grow and to become a stronger person." Erez has created a reputation for the captivating videos that accompany her songs, and this latest video sees her step it up a level yet again. Her third collaboration with Tel Aviv-based director Indy Hait sees Erez as a puppet in a dystopian future, being violently flung to-and-fro by an unknown captor. "The video for 'You So Done' was a big risk taker for me" she comments. "Usually, I have an idea or I work with a director on an idea together. Since this was my third video with Indy Hait, I decided to let him do his thing. He offered up an idea that included a robot and I immediately hated it. I was just not able to imagine how it wouldn't come off as a science fiction video and felt it wasn't my style. But after talking and tearing the idea apart, I realised that this is a truly meaningful character. The robot in this video is actually not the violent character. Its job was to portray the act of violence through transferring the moves from an unseen character and helping them come alive visually. The video uses muscle memory as the 'engine' to that violent dance act, and muscle memory is something that fascinates me. Eventually this video is far from being science fiction, it is my most personal video to date."

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begaedocrime · 5 years

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Break in

Mob!Brad Simpson X Reader

Author’s note: I was really feeling the whole mob!Brad concept and I couldn’t help myself. Also, I feel there is very little Brad Simpson fan ficiton, so I’m here to fix that.

Summary: It’s been five years since Bradley became the leader of the mob and since you began working for him. Will a near death experience finally push you to confess your feelings towards each other?

Word count: 2,3k

Masterlist

“Listen here, if you don’t speak I won’t have a choice but to put a pretty little bullet through that little pretty head of yours,” You spat the words, getting annoyed about the resistance the guy was showing. By now you’d have collected enough information, but so far, nothing.

“Y/N,” Brad warned, “We’ll get the information. Patience, love,” He said, making your face slightly heat up at the pet name. Thankfully the room was dark, he wouldn’t notice.

Brad could watched you carefully, eyeing your every move, he knew you well to know you’d never make a move without his permission. Then again, he also knew how reckless you could be when angered. And this guy was getting on your nerves. Few threats later and a knife to his thigh, the guy was singing like a canary, giving you all the information he knew...or so you thought.

Later that week you were lounging around in your pajamas, exploring Brad’s huge mansion. He insisted you moved in because of security and this way you could work closer. You smiled to yourself as you roamed the halls because deep down you knew Brad cared much more about you and that’s why he wanted you to live under his roof. But if confronted, he’d say it was for strictly for security purposes. You couldn’t help but feel as if there was more to your relationship, yet none of you had ever made a move. Although there were several times you’d had little moments. Stolen glances of each other, catching yourselves staring. The blush rising on your cheeks whenever he’d call you “love” or “darling”, and despite knowing he called tons of people that, there was a difference between the others and you, the tone was different.

The big halls were full of priceless paintings and artwork. But there was one piece that struck out the most; one piece you knew by heart. At the end of the hall, under a white light and surrounded by velvet ropes was a painting of Italy in oil. You came to a stop next to a sign that read: Italy under the stars by Y/N Y/L/N. You remembered painting this one after the business trip you took with Brad two years ago.

“Brad come on, we’re in Italy,” you kept insisting he took you to look around.

“Love, we’re here for business we don’t have time to turist around.” Brad said with a serious tone in his voice, but with soft eyes as he looked at you.

You huffed defeated, “fine. Let’s do this.”

Two days later you were getting inside the car, directly after you, Brad. Ready to go to the airport. As you drove through the streets, you couldn’t help but admire the architecture and sights you were missing. When all of a sudden the car came to a stop. You turned to look at Brad with a confused expression.

He smiled and opened the door, “We may not have to leave straight away,” he shrugged. You couldn’t be happier. Getting out of the car you enveloped him in a tight hug, thanking him over and over again.

You spent the afternoon walking around the streets and exploring the city until sundown. Afterwards Brad took you to dinner to an amazing restaurant with the prettiest view of the hills and the sea. That’s when you took the picture you used as inspiration as soon as you got home.

“My favorite out of all these,” a voice said from behind, making you jump around.

He had just arrived home from a business call. Still dressed in his two piece black suit, only having his shirt slightly unbuttoned revealing a small sight of his chest. Seeing as you weren’t in your room he went looking for you straight away, knowing how you liked to get lost in the halls.

“Jeez Brad, you scared the shit out of me,” you placed a hand on his chest to steady yourself and the other on your racing heart. He only chuckled keeping his hands on his pockets. You looked into each other's eyes for a moment, before you caught yourself and turned back to look at the painting. You continued to remember Italy while admiring the painting, while Brad could only admire you, and how adorable you looked in your pajamas.

A red light started blinking throughout the house followed by a deafening alarm. You looked at Brad with wide eyes, seeing him return the look. With silent dialogue, you reached inside a nearby room to retrieve a weapon. Your weapon of choice, a gun. Since you found yourself more comfortable with one rather than any other weapon.

You see, considering Brad was the leader of one of the most powerful mobs in Europe, you were constantly in danger, which led to Brad hiding all different kinds of weapons around the house. And then, making you memorize those hiding spots just in case of an emergency, like right now.

The alarm only meant one thing; someone had broken inside the house. Because you didn’t know how many were there or if it was even a break in, you followed protocol. Brad was very tight with security so every once in a while he’d have security drills. This was no different, except it wasn’t a drill.

You made a right, coming face to face with a stranger, your first instinct was to raise your gun and shoot them before they could you. As the body laid there on the floor, you crouched down taking his gun. You inspected his uniform, trying to find any clue to who they were. Then moving into the direction towards where he came, inevitably finding more like him. Undoubtedly they were part of the other mob that had been causing you problems ever since they arrived to the city. They were making irrational decisions killing people left and right. Obviously they didn’t know who they were messing with. Fighting one guy on your left while aiming at the other on your right, you wondered how Brad was doing.

Brad took a left, looking at you one last time before you disappeared in the dark hallways. Walking silently he hoped it was a mistake made by some guard, maybe they pressed the wrong button. He was proved wrong when out of the corner of his eye he saw a guy wearing a gray suit pointing out with a gun. He had no trouble shooting him down. He continued to stroll carefully until he reached the main entrance. Somehow these idiots broke into his security system and ultimately into his home. Although he must admit he hadn’t done a security check in a while and he blamed himself. And now his team and you even were in danger. Your scream took him out if his thoughts, red alert flashing in his mind. He raced towards the sound, letting it be his guide to find you.

“Son of a bitch,” you screamed. You had taken a shortcut avoiding the entrance and racing towards the dining hall. Upon entering you took down three guys and managed to take the gun away from another. What you didn’t expect was the knife he took out form his back and tried to stab you twice before you almost tripped and he grazed your arm. The cut wasn’t deep but it still had an impressive sting. Just then Brad burst through the door and shot the guy that was standing tall in front of you. He fell to the floor and you took him for dead.

Brad sped towards you to see if you were gravely hurt. But, before he reached you, the guy laying on the floor reached out for a gun and was about to shoot you on the back if it weren’t for Brad pushing you out of the way. Thankfully, he was losing blood quickly and his aim failed only shooting Brad on the leg. You watched the scene unfold, immediately shooting the guy three times before running up to Brad. He laid on the floor unable to move because of the pain. You were panicking on the inside wanting nothing more than to let your feelings take over, but you knew better than that and had to remain calm to help him get medical help.

Doctors rushed to help Brad while a nurse patched up your arm. The whole time you couldn’t focus on anything else that the previous moments when Brad almost got himself killed trying to save you. And the whole time you were cursing him for not pushing you out of the way and get himself out of the way as well, that way nobody got hurt. The nurse was sweet and made sure you were completely calm before letting you go. And you couldn’t thank her enough because you probably were going to go off trying to find whoever broke into your home. Whilst Brad would want to remain calm about the situation and take it easy by checking security cameras and not rushing into things, like you knew you would.

Few hours later, the doctor talked to you and told you Brad was fine, that he was resting for now and that it would take a couple of weeks before he could properly walk and return to his daily activities.

Those weeks you spent your time making sure Brad was comfortable and changing the bandage on his leg and overall taking care of him.

One day you were returning to Brad’s room from the kitchen with some soup when you caught him trying to walk away from his bed. You dashed to him setting the soup down somewhere by the dresser and scrambling to help him keep his balance.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” You frantically rushed to him and checked to see if everything was fine.

“I just needed to use the loo,” he tried to explain himself with a lazy smile making it sound as if he had been shot on the leg.

“Bradley,” you sighed, “I would’ve helped you get up. You could hurt yourself, the doctor said that you should be resting constantly and letting your leg heal before trying to walk on your own,” you rambled on, “What if you had fallen down and couldn’t get up or what if you tripped over something and something were to happen to the wound and I couldn’t let that happen because I am taking care of you and-” you stopped rambling, steadying your heartbeat and looked up at him. He was smiling down a you with the softest expression. You stood there looking into each others eyes. He tried to get closer to you but was prevented from doing so y a sharp sting on his bad leg.

You helped him sit on the bed carefully rapidly as to avoid him hurting himself anymore. With him now sitting on the bed, his hands reached for you. Instinctively you stepped into his embrace. His hands went around your waist as he rested his head on your stomach, and yours found their place around his neck.

“Have I thanked you enough for these past few weeks?” he mumbled against the fabric of your shirt.

You relaxed into his touch and chuckled, “Yes I believe you thank me at least three times a day,” you laughed.

He took a deep breath, your perfume filling his senses, “god.. I’m so in love with you,” he confessed.

You froze, your heart speeding up. Did you hear correctly? Brad loved you? You had to admit that Brad was the sweetest guy you’ve met, and quite the charmer. There was undeniable attraction. Maybe a teensy bit tiny crush on your part? Okay so maybe not such a tiny crush. But, you never imagined he’d reciprocate those feelings.

You pushed him away gently, just enough so you’d be able to look at his face, “You’re in love with me?” you couldn’t help but ask, wondering if you had imagined it or heard wrong. A smile creeping on your face.

His smile only widened, “I am, Y/N. For some time I doubted my feelings and tried to push them away, seeing as we’re in a dangerous line of work but, after these weeks, I can’t deny it anymore. I am so madly in love with you it drives me crazy.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Looking deeply into his eyes, you knew. You loved him too. Slowly but surely you began leaning down until your face was mere inches away from his. You looked at his eyes one last time, whispering “I love you too” before pressing your lips against his.

He was a little shocked by your boldness, but almost instantly returned the kiss with as much fervor, setting a constant rhythm whilst his hands pressed closer so you were standing in between his legs. Not for long though, pushing you closer, prompting you to straddle his lap without breaking apart for a second. Your hands lost in his hair, playing with his soft curls. You smiled into the kiss, humming contently while his hands roamed around your back, maybe slipping a little under your top.

When you did break apart, you held your foreheads pressed against each other. Both your faces sporting wide smiles and blushing cheeks. He opened his eyes first, bringing his hands up to caress your cheeks, “I wish we could stay like this forever.” He smiled up at you.

That’s when you opened your eyes, “Weren’t you going to the restroom?”

His eyes widened in realization and you burst out laughing while getting up and helping him up and to the bathroom. Once you were alone in the room, your hand came up to your lips, the feeling of Brad’s lingering.

When he came back you spent the afternoon cuddling. Part cuddling, some making out, and a lot of Brad trying to convince you he could go back to work; although he knew he still hadn’t healed completely he liked to get a reaction out of you. But overall, just reveling in each other’s touch and company, making up for all the lost time.

A/N 2: I did proofread it, but there might still be errors. Also, requests are open.

#Brad Simpson #bradley will simpson #bradley simpson #brad simpson x reader #the vamps #James McVey #connor ball #tristan evans

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singingwordwright · 6 years

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Untitled: Malec Rock Star AU concept

Okay, after @ohfreckle and @faejilly so cruelly encouraged me yesterday, I had to at least take this concept out for a test drive.

The plot still hasn’t come together fully, this is totally unedited and unbetaed so far, and I have no posting schedule planned for it. Also, I have no idea what s3 is going to do to my head and whether it’s going to drive this story totally out and fill my brain with other stuff. Thus, like the D&D concept, I’m not putting it up on AO3 yet, because I don’t want to start anything else I may not finish.

However, for those of you who were intrigued, I thought I’d give you a hint of what it would look like.

Also, this piece is 100% inspired by @noksindra‘s fanart based on the People’s Sexiest Men photoshoot, and I’ll be borrowing each characters’ instrument/role in the band from that, as well as the band and album names. Credit goes to them for that portion.

Anyway, enjoy!

Trigger warnings for sham marriages, drinking, mentions of past drug use, and past minor character death.

Gideon’s dark hair was soft beneath Alec’s fingers. He sat on the edge of the bed in the Captain America-themed bedroom they decorated together last year and stared down at his sleeping son, eyes burning and his throat tight.

Rubbed a shaking hand across his mouth, nearly overwhelmed by the temptation to go crawl into his own bed and hide away to avoid the pending confrontation.

Or, alternatively, he could get his shit together.

Eventually, headlights painted the wall, splashing harsh light into the quiet, comfortable darkness. Since there were only two houses on their—his—cul-de-sac, and the other one was currently empty, it wasn’t hard to guess whose car had just arrived.

Lydia’s key jingled in the lock. The front door squeaked softly as it opened, and clicked quietly shut. He could hear her in the dining room, the clink of crystal suggesting she’d made a stop by the liquor cabinet he hadn’t gotten around to purging.

Alec sighed and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans, then rose.

As he thought, there are two whiskey glasses on the dining room table. Lydia hadn’t turned the dimmer switch up very high; she sat there in semi-darkness, staring down at her folded hands.

“Alec, I’m so sorry about Max and Jace,” she said before he could speak.

“Yeah, well, that might have meant more if you’d actually been there at the funeral,” he replied tightly. Which was unfair. His parents had never really warmed to her and his father had been convinced he’d shot his career in the foot, marrying and having a child so young. They wouldn’t have wanted Lydia at the funeral.

Rather than deal with all that, though, he gestured to the glasses. “You shouldn’t have poured those. Simon and I made a pledge after we—well, after. The band is going totally dry.”

Lydia snorted. “Easy pledge for you and Simon to make. Neither of you likes to drink much.”

Alec took a chair, but didn’t pick up his glass. “Still, we thought it would be easier for everyone…”

“And it will. But do you think it’s going to help Jace later, when you’re on the road, if you refuse to have a drink with me tonight, to make a difficult conversation go more smoothly?”

“Good point, counselor.” Alec sighed and lifted his drink. The whiskey seared his throat and he shuddered, but the warmth that radiated from his stomach soothed his temper and nerves, and damn Lydia for right about that.

“How was Gideon this weekend?” she asked once their glasses were empty.

“How do you think?” He pressed his lips together, because that was way more snarly than he wanted to be in this conversation. The sudden surge of anger didn’t surprise him much; he’d been tamping it down for almost a week. But a lot of it had nothing to do with Lydia and if he unleashed the part of it she did own, he’d end up heaping the rest of it on her as well.

“I spent all weekend answering the same question over and over: why won’t he and mommy be living with me anymore. And I had to bullshit my way through it every time, because I don’t even know the answer!”

“Alec—”

“No!” His hand shot up, cutting her off, and his well-intentioned effort not to rip into her verbally hung by a precariously thin thread. “I get an email from you one day telling me you’re taking Gideon out to your grandparents’ old place in the country, so you won’t have internet or phone. Which would have been fine but it meant I couldn’t reach you after the accident. And then I get home from burying one brother and delivering the other to fucking rehab, only to find divorce papers sitting on my goddamn table, with a note saying you’d talk to me when you got back. Then, two weeks later, you call saying you’re back and you’ll stop by and drop Gideon off to spend the weekend with me, and we could talk after he fell asleep. Well, fine. Here we are, Lydia. Our son’s asleep and I think I’m finally entitled to a damned explanation.”

She gave him a long, tired look, and reached for the decanter of whiskey once again.

“You are,” she said after pouring another shot and taking a slow sip. “But first you’re entitled to an apology. I left the divorce papers and the note three days before the accident. I was out in the country when the news about Max and Sebastian and Jace broke. Please believe me, I would have wanted to be here. I would have done things entirely differently if I’d known—”

“Yeah, I get it. You didn’t mean to kick me in the balls while I was already down, it was just bad timing.” Alec scrubbed his hands over his face until his eyes stopped burning. “Sorry. That was unnecessary.”

“No, it wasn’t. You’re totally justified in being angry with me. I needed space to think and prepare myself for this conversation, but I ended up making what was a terrible time for you far worse, and not being there to support you when you needed me. I truly am sorry for that.”

Alec closed his eyes and swiped the back of his hand across his damp lashes. “I just want to know why. We were a family. I thought we were happy. What am I missing?”

She didn’t quite roll her eyes at him, but there was an incredulous really? riding heavily on the wry gaze she fixed on him.

“What, are you trying to make me say it?”

His hackles rose at that knowing look. It left him feeling exposed and defensive. “Why not?” He flung out a hand. “You’re the one with all the damn answers!”

“Not this one, Alec. This one can’t come from me. You need to be the one to say it.”

“Don’t.” He clenched his jaw and looked down at the table until his temper was back under control. “Have I ever done anything to make you think—” Except, of course, it was what he hadn’t done that confirmed what she’d always suspected and he’d never said. Dammit. “Have I ever been papped in a compromising situation or done anything to end up on the gossip blogs?”

“No, of course not. You’d never take that risk with the morals clause still in your contract with Idris Records, nor would you humiliate me that way. I’ve always appreciated that about you. But I need more.”

More. A more that he couldn’t offer. “You know I wouldn’t mind if—”

Then she did roll her eyes. “Oh, yeah, that’d be terrific. I’d get papped slinking away from some illicit encounter. I’d be vilified all over the blogosphere as the scarlet woman who broke shy, quiet Alec Lightwood’s heart. The Nephilim would probably have to break ties with my firm, which would cost me my job, but at least you’d become a media and fangirl darling for fifteen milliseconds. Robert Pattinson Goes Rock-n-Roll.”

He didn’t have an answer for that, because of course she was right. They’d somehow managed to trap each other, when they’d always intended the exact opposite. He nodded, hanging his head.

“We were using each other and you know it. Not callously; we truly care about one another, but not the way we’re supposed to. Not in the way that will sustain a marriage.” She stared at him levelly. “We each had something the other needed for a time. I needed a husband after John died, because I didn’t want to be a single mom just finishing law school, and because John’s awful family would have made a bid for custody if they’d known about the baby, and they had enough money that they might have won.”

She wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. They’d had very frank discussions at the time about how his coloring was similar enough to John’s that no one would question it if he’d claimed the baby was his.

“And you needed a plausible excuse for why you never banged any groupies or showed up to events with some up-and-coming starlet or model on your arm,” she concluded, her voice subdued.

Alec’s mouth twisted. The idea that he was a devoted family man helped bolster his appeal with some of the band’s audience. Jace cultivated the image of the wild party boy, while Alec was the deadpan sidekick who kept him grounded. It played well in interviews.

Except now it was clear Alec had failed spectacularly at fulfilling his role.

He huffed in irritation. “Okay, so it wasn’t a traditional marriage, but it was working. At least, I thought it was. When did that change?”

“When I got lonely, Alec.” Lydia’s eyes were sad when she met his startled glance. “I know you being off touring is part of the package, and for a long time, I was okay with that. After losing John, when Gideon was little and I was so wrapped up in him and starting my career, I didn’t want anyone else. But it’s been six years, and I’m ready to try to find someone. And I—”

Her voice hitched and her eyes swam. She hasn’t wept in front of him since the day Gideon was born, looking exactly like John. “I care about you enough that I started coming dangerously close to deluding myself. Telling myself that maybe you and I could make it...make it real. Maybe I just hadn’t ever tried to be attractive to you, and it wasn’t that you couldn’t want me, it’s just that you were being a gentleman, giving me time to get over John. That you might want me once I let you know I was ready.”

Alec sniffled and wiped his eyes again. Hurting Lydia was the last thing he’d ever wanted to do, yet somehow, just by existing as who he was, he’d managed to do just that. After all the blows he’d taken these past few weeks, that was one too many.

“That’s when I knew I had to get out.” She shrugged, her smile forced but fond. “But you? You don’t like change. I know leaving the divorce papers was cowardly, but I didn’t know how to convince you it was time to let go. I thought if I gave us both a few weeks to settle in with the idea before we talked about it—”

“Alright. Alright. I get it.” His breath shuddered, but he nodded, lifting his head. “Okay. So what do we do now?”

“We sign the papers, and release a statement through your publicist that we are amicably divorcing, our son continues to be our top priority, we’d appreciate privacy during this time of transition, et cetera et cetera. Then, you take a while to heal and support Jace in his recovery. I’ll work on buying out Sebastian Morgenstern’s rights to The Nephilim’s brand and catalog. In fact, I’m already on it.”

Alec bared his teeth in fury at the mere name of the drummer who had gotten Jace hooked on drugs. Sebastian had been behind the wheel, higher than a fucking kite, the night of the accident. Yet somehow he walked away with only a few bruised ribs while Max…

Dammit.

Lydia gave Alec a moment to seethe, then continued, “Once Isabelle has had time to grieve, she’ll return from staying with your parents and begin work on finding The Nephilim a new drummer and front man. Then I’ll do what I do and handle the contracts.”

“I don’t think we can do that,” Alec said, shaking his head. “Ask Izzy to replace Max?”

“She’s your manager, Alec. Who else is going to do it?”

“I’m just… The Nephilim happened because of Max. Yeah, Simon and I were the songwriters, but it was Max as the child-prodigy with the angel face that really made it happen. I’m not sure the band can exist without him. I’m not sure I want it to.”

Lydia frowned. “So you’re all...just going to retire? Try for solo careers?”

“Come on, Lydia. We both know I don’t have the vocal chops for a solo career.” Alec snorted. “Simon could pull it off, and maybe Jace if he can keep his nose clean, but I’m just, you know, Tony Banks. I’ll always be stuck playing keyboards and singing backup.”

“You’re a brilliant songwriter, Alec. You and Simon together. Max may have been the face of The Nephilim, but you are the soul.”

Alec’s cheeks warmed. “Thanks. But not the point. Actually, we were thinking of forming a new band. Simon and I talked about it over coffee after Max’s wake. We didn’t want to put it on Izzy to try to find someone to fill his shoes, and we knew it wouldn’t be the same anyway, so we were thinking maybe building something new of the skeleton of The Nephilim. Like the core members of Joy Division forming New Order, or David Grohl moving on from Nirvana to Foo Fighters.”

“Mike Rutherford forming Mike + the Mechanics while Genesis was taking a break,” she added, picking up on his chain of thought.

“Exactly. Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page going from The Yardbirds to Cream and Led Zeppelin, respectively.”

“It’s risky.” Crystal chimed as Lydia tapped her fingernail against her empty glass. “It rarely works out as well as it did for Grohl and Page. You’d be giving up all the branding you’ve built as The Nephilim and starting from scratch. Some diehard fans might follow you, the same way they would if you decided to split up and try for solo careers, but you’d lose a big chunk of your audience.”

Alec shrugged. “Max is—was—The Nephilim. This is the way it has to be.”

“All right. There’s going to be a whole stack of new contracts that will need to be negotiated, then. Like whether the new band will have the rights to The Nephilim’s old catalog and brand. But that’s something to figure out once you have a singer and drummer. I assume, even if you won’t be using the The Nephilim band name anymore, you don’t want Sebastian to have rights to it?”

“I’ll fucking kill him if he tries,” Alec growled, and buckled in to talk business.

“Magnus Bane,” Izzy announced two months later, apropos of nothing as she slid into the booth across from Alec.

Alec rubbed his forehead. “That name sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it.”

“What name?” Simon asked, returning from flirting with the bartender. Or whatever passed for flirting with him. Jace had never quite managed to get a grip on his jealousy over Simon’s inexplicable appeal to girls. Jace was the one with the golden-boy good looks and charm, the one whose skill on the bass was frequently compared to greats such as Sting and Geddy Lee. But Simon, with his nerdy hipster appeal and adequate but less showy handling of the lead guitar, always topped the popularity polls, far ahead of Jace.

Alec, for his part, just wanted them both to shut up about it.

Izzy leaned over until her chin rested on Simon’s shoulder, her hand slipping into his lap as she peered past him toward the bar. “She’s cute.”

Simon smirked and kissed her jaw. “If you want to find out if she’s into girls, you have to ask her yourself. Her name’s Maia.”

Izzy mock-pouted. “I didn’t come up in conversation?”

He shook his head fondly. “Nope. Two things guaranteed to get a girl to stop talking to me. One: mentioning I have a girlfriend, and two: acting like some skeezy asshole and asking a girl if she might be interested in a threesome with me and my girlfriend. No way, not going there. Besides, she’s really nice.”

“Oh!” Izzy’s eyes widened. “You like her. Well, how about I ask her out for you? That way, she knows all about me and there’s no danger of her assuming you’re a cheating creep.”

“Or you could ask her out for yourself?” he shot back as Alec wished that his glass of cola was large enough to dunk his head in and drown out their conversation.

“Who says I won’t ask her out for both of us?”

“Can we please, for the love of God, get back to the subject?” Alec demanded.

Simon and Izzy both gave him guilty looks, which Alec interpreted to mean they’d literally forgotten he was there.

“Right.” Simon cleared his throat and folded his hands together on the table before him. “Something about a name?”

“Magnus Bane,” Izzy announced again, triumphantly.

“Oh! The guy who went viral after he was on that reality show! Which one was it, again? He was good!”

Alec gritted his teeth. “Let’s assume for a moment that I don’t know what the hell either of you are talking about and clue me in.”

Izzy sighed and pulled out her phone, poking at it as she spoke. “Last year, Magnus Bane made it past the audition rounds on one of the reality singing competition shows. He was incredible, but the producers had already decided who was going to win and they made sure that happened. Magnus was eliminated four weeks from the finale, but by then his first performance on the show had gone hugely viral and he’d built a fan base. Enough so that, even though he didn’t win the competition, the labels took notice. He happened to sign with Idris recently, and now that the deal is inked, his manager has been auditioning talent to back him as a solo artist. But rumor has it he’s a Nephilim fan, and I think I could convince the label, and his manager, to let him join our new project instead.”

She passed her phone over, along with her wireless earbuds. Alec inserted them, unpaused the video she had loaded for him...

...and promptly forgot how to breathe.

Magnus Bane was amazing. His voice was a smoky bari-tenor with just the right amount blues-tinged whiskey-and-growl. His fashion sense was glamorous without being either ostentatious or campy, and his eyeliner was sultry enough to oust Dave Navarro from Alec’s catalog of wet dream fodder and make Bowie and Lambert look like a toddlers who’d gotten into their moms’ makeup kits.

He strutted across the stage like sex on legs, wild and dangerous and...kind of sweet, too. It was there, easy to miss, but lurking in the way a dimple appeared when he smiled at the applause when he was done performing.

“He’s, um...wow.” Alec passed the phone and earbuds back to Izzy. “He’s not much like Max, though, is he?”

She smiled sadly, leaning against Simon, who rubbed her shoulder. More than any of them, Izzy blamed herself for what had happened to Max. She’d been the one to persuade them that Sebastian was the right fit for The Nephilim, after all. “Is that really a bad thing? If it’s actually going to be a new band, we need a new image.”

“Yeah, but, musically, I mean.” Alec forced himself to ignore the part of himself that was salivating at the idea of writing music for Magnus’s voice. “Can we adapt to playing with someone whose style is so different?”

Simon’s hand shot into the air. “I volunteer as tribute!”

Alec blinked. “Huh?”

Izzy shoved Simon down. “Ignore him. He’s being a film nerd again. It’s a quote from that movie you couldn’t bring yourself to watch because it came out just after Gideon was born.” She patted Simon’s hand as he sulked. “But maybe that answers your question? Simon thinks he can play with the guy. If you do too, then Jace is the only one we need to convince.”

“What about the sobriety pledge?” Alec met Simon’s eyes, then looked back at Izzy. “He looks like he might like to party a bit.”

“So far no rumors of any problem behaviors have emerged from behind the scenes of the competition or from anyone who has worked with him since. I’ve scoured his social media feeds and while he has been out to bars and clubs with friends, there haven’t been any drunk tweets or videos. Then there’s this.”

She poked at her phone for a moment and handed it back to Alec, a tweet thread dated late July filling the screen.

Magnus Bane @MagnificentBane

So heartbroken to hear about Max Lightwood. He may have been younger than me, but he was decades beyond his age in talent. #RIPMaxL

I’m even more heartbroken to hear he wasn’t even the one who was high. He was just in the wrong car with the wrong guy.

I hope @SebMorningStar faces the consequences for his choices. The rest of us need to take this as a lesson.

We’ve lost too many talented people in this industry, friends and loved-ones, to drugs, alcohol, and irresponsible behavior.

No one, however talented, is indestructible. Fame is a very unreliable airbag.

That was weirdly poetic, Alec though, smiling despite the fresh pain in his heart at seeing those thoughts on Max. The guy was probably a capable lyricist.

I love a night out at the club as much as the next guy, but I’ve learned from a lot of close calls who not to trust with the keys.

Sometimes the guy who shouldn’t have the keys is me. I’ve learned to make sure everyone gets home safely then, too.

It’s a fucking tragedy that Max will never get the chance to learn how to make that call.

My heart goes out to his brothers and the rest of @NephilimBand and the Lightwood family. May they find comfort and solace. #RIPMaxL

Alec blinked rapidly and passed the phone back to Izzy. “Wow. Okay. So I don’t think we’d have a hard time talking him into the sobriety pledge.”

Simon glanced at the tweets over Izzy’s shoulder. “Especially if we just make it clear that he’s free to do what he wants when he’s not in the studio or touring with the rest of us. I mean, I’m not interested in telling anyone they can’t have beers with the guys while watching a game or go out for a drink with friends. Just, you know, not when the rest of us are there.”

“You really think you can get him to agree to it?”

She took a slow drink of her virgin daiquiri. “I think so. There’s no downside to it for him. He needs a band; you already have a band, minus a drummer but we can fix that. True, he won’t be billed as a solo act, but signing on with you guys means he starts out with a bigger fan base than just his social media following since the competition. Plus, we know he likes your music.”

“Any potential downsides for us?” Alec asked.

“None that I can think of. In fact, he’s openly bisexual so we might end up increasing our LGBTQ fanbase.”

He frowned sharply. “What? How’s that going to work with the morals clause in our contract?”

“Lydia’s renegotiating from the ground up.” Izzy gave him a grin so toothy it would make sharks swim away in terror. “Whole new band means the old contract gets thrown out. She’s insisting on getting rid of the morals clause.”

Alec stared at her for an incredulous moment, then narrowed his eyes at Simon, who sank down in the booth a little. “The new band was your suggestion. Did Isabelle put you up to that?”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah, that was totally the first thing on her mind when she was crying her eyes out over Max.”

“Right. Sorry. That was out of line. I just—” Alec rubbed his forehead. However coincidental the timing, Simon and Izzy couldn’t know why Lydia was divorcing Alec. They might suspect, but they didn’t know.

“Alec, do you think Simon and I like hiding who we are?” Izzy asked softly. “Thanks to that morals clause, we have to pretend we’re not dating, or otherwise we’d have to pretend to be monogamous. I mean, sure, since Simon’s the one bound by the old contract, the label would probably turn a blind eye if we only saw other women.” She nodded toward Maia over at the bar. “They’d assume he was cheating on me, and for some odd reason they’d decide that didn’t violate the prohibition against illicit sexual behavior. But God forbid if we wanted to date another man.”

Alec struggled not to shudder or wince. “You get that this is way beyond TMI, right?”

“But you get what I’m saying.” She gave him a censorious look, the kind that never failed to whip the band into shape whenever they started misbehaving in the studio. She’d mastered it since she’d taken over managing the band from their father, when their parents had divorced. “It wasn’t as big a deal when Max was with us; The Nephilim had a certain image that was entirely appropriate for a band whose first album dropped before their lead vocalist had to shave regularly. But we’re starting with a clean slate. New image, new outlook. I’m just saying, there’s more than one person in the band who will benefit from losing the morals clause, okay?”

“Okay.” Alec caught Simon’s eyes and nodded. “I’ll let Jace know when I pick him up from rehab next weekend. I don’t think he’ll have any objections, So if Magnus is interested, have him join us in the studio as soon as possible; we can bring in a session drummer temporarily if we have to. Let’s just all jam and see how we work together.”

On to Chapter 2

#shadowhunters #malec #fanfic #rock star AU #addiction cw #character death cw

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