#< adding all these tags here so they're easy to search for

[kenwio]

Thunderbolts*

Yelena Belova x scientist*! Reader : Establishing dynamic

my masterlist

Authors note 1: Hey guys! I disappeared... again...  but I defeated exams and work and I'm back! This time totally for longer! And I cooked something new :3 I'd also like to say sorry in advance to anyone on the tag list who might see this, but only if they're not already interested in my work except for Joker's Kid! Reader Warnings: Based on Thunderbolts* movie, Maybe grammar mistakes, use of Russian Things that inspired me were «Thunderbolts*» and Honkai: Star rail» and I thought it would be interesting to see dynamic between Yelena and scientist! Reader, who is a little bit like * - the Herta. Hope I carried out my idea properly :3

You know you were a genius. One of a kind. And Val gave you credit, of course, but not enough. Unfortunately to her, surely.

In your eyes, it was a common sense to work on things that matter something to you currently. Well, to put it bluntly, you only worked on the things that pick up your interest at the time you work on them, when you think projects you work on worth your time and effort, only when. Why settle on boring if word hides so many wonders?

But in eyes of others, Val especially, you were… if saying politely a bit messy, and if saying bluntly too messy, leaving a tray of finished and abandoned experiments behind you, not bothering picking it up. That wasn't good for Val. For all your worth, the trail that was leading to you was too long and easy to follow. And Val is not one to risk her reputation.

So… you should have been eliminated. Should have been burned alive with others.

But you are you, great you.

You simply didn't obey her.

One reason - who is she to give you missions?

You worked on her? Ha! You worked *with her*. She gave you project ideas and all the equipment and means to lead those projects to success. Nothing more

Secondly, you saw through her and her schemes. Not to mention that you were always one step ahead: first you found Bucky and worked with him to catch unfortunate operatives; then you found out about Val's projects and started to search for her secrets. Which leads you to working with them, working with *Yelena*.

When Yelena saw you for the first time, leaning on the wall and doing something in your tablet and occasionally adding up sarcastic remarks, she thought you were annoying. Like really annoying. Even when you joined her in convincing Bucky to help with the situation.

When you were the only one who tried to help her to talk to Bob instead of attacking him like rest of the team, she was grateful for your help.

When you came out looking composed but hiding the obvious rage that your memories had made you feel, she felt empathy.

But right now, when all of the team was here, adjusting to the new life in Avengers… cough... Watch tower, she didn't know how to feel.

She read about you through recovered Val's files you yourself gave to her as a «study book and light literature». She watched you praising yourself and dismissing others. She saw your project first hand. And Yet, Yelena knew full picture wasn't there.

So far, she knew where she stood with each of the team members. She had respect for Bucky, slight irritation for Walker, understanding for Ava, care for Bob and familial love for her father, Alexei. But what about you?

She couldn't figure out your dynamic and that wasn't helpful. She needed to know how to act with you to keep not only the team together, but her own facade AND mental health

Did you annoy her? Yeah, with your comments about how great you were and your attitude and the things you said. And God, you were such a poser. Such a poser. But she never got too irritated by it. Most of the time, she knew you were acting and talking out of your genius status — a high pedestal you created for yourself that others could never reach — and that made you more difficult to understand. Even if you seemed full of yourself, you did things for others that could be mistaken for caring. If she wasn't vigilant and observant — or just paranoid enough — she wouldn't really notice that. But she did. She noticed that the things they needed were always nearby when you were around.

Did Bob want some tea? Oh, the kettle was already on and there was tea on the table. *Sometimes with sweet treat… no need in saying thanks. *

Was Bucky's arm in the dishwasher? Next time he puts it on, it will be calibrated a bit better for him. *Wakanda technologies are good but sometimes it needs a bit optimizing. *

Did Ava feel a bit out of it? Oh, why were quantum particles on the coffee table in the communal area instead of the lab? *Uh just put stuff you need to place you can reach it*

Walker were trying to prepare to new mission? He found data on his laptop about it. Optimized data... *What? It`s just common scene to do this*

Alexei... well. as he running loudly towards the enemy, who were clearly in the majority? You can be sure that their comms would be off… magically like the rest of those instances. *We don’t need this much of distraction*

And she had noticed few of those wonders happed to her. And those wonders happed to her more compared to the others.

When her vest was really damaged in one of missions, she surely didn’t expect to find a new one hanging on her chair the next day. It certainly was in her style, made according to her preference and even had just enough pockets to her liking. Hell, that new vest even matched her jewelry. And it was light and really sturdy, the supper bulletproof vest kind of sturdy, yet flexible and comfortable in the same time. She didn’t expect this much of gear up great. For her it was easy to find a culprit behind it even with no note and nothing, but it still was obvious who made it. The one and only user of the lab practically and owner. The only one who know how to work with fabricator.  As for you, you didn’t hide blueprints, didn’t said anything about it upfront. The only resembles of reaction you how were your comment when you saw her in it

- Hmm it looks better on the supposed owner. – you mused looking at her as if she was part of your recent project

One time, just as she was treating her scrapes after another crazy mission, her first aid kit ran out. She dragged herself to get a new one and found one sitting at the table in the medical bay as if waiting for her. It had everything she could possibly need, and more. Yelena wasn't completely pain-averse, but she was taken aback by the sight of chlorhexidine, the same stuff Melina used to treat her scraped knees as a child. Back when she wasn’t used too and she didn't like the burning sensation of hydrogen peroxide and alcohol, so it was a bit of a surprise to see it in the kit. And there are also a few different types of bandaids, including beige ones and some cute and funky ones with animals on them. As if wasn’t enough there also vitamins and color-coded instructions of when what how to take them. It took her quite a few minutes of staring to took it all in… and take it back to her room wondering how the hell did you find out about her childhood preferences. And she knew it was you, you purposefully left your signature and best wishes on the instructions.

What with the first aid kit? -Yelena asked you once you left your lab

I made it useful, more or less – you answered nonchalantly

Hard to argue with that – she shrugged

When she thought the tea privilege Bob was getting from you was his thing exclusively, you proved her wrong. For some context, while talking for Bob, Yelena one time mentioned that tea time was a thing in Russia and tea time was form of bounding time for families and friends. And he didn’t pass and opportunity to use her words against her… and probably will use it against others too in the future. And if the way others were joining in with this 'family tradition' was another story, the way you welcomed yourself to their tea party is definitely worth mentioning.  They were just having a normal tea time when you walked into the common room. You walked in, sat next to her, crossed your hands and pointed your nose up, as if you were expecting something. As if they should have known what you wanted them to do. After a moment of awkward silence and confused staring from their side, you finally took charge of the situation and poured yourself a cup of tea, and then sat right back, letting out unsatisfied huff.

You were expecting us to do it? - She asked, accent thickened and sounding a bit confused, annoyed and shocked by your audacity.        

What? It`s a common decency and politeness no? – you answered, huffing once more.

It would be if you were to ask nicely – she answered successfully shutting you up

That’s how you started joining in regularly. In the beginning you were just sitting, looking at the cup as if the idea of tea inside it was your research topic. When they got used to it your presence and their conversations moved on from being awkward it took you few «tea parties» you started occasionally joining in on them with your usual remarks and smart flashy words. Sometimes tea time became your personal ramble time. You also started bringing in your own teapot with some fancy tea with Chinese names she couldn’t pronounce or remember, saying it was good for focus and health and to be honest she didn’t care to remember all that you said about some leaves in hot water. But still it was good. And one time you find her drinking tea alone you joined in, almost as per usual.  But this time you surprised her by bringing pastries, and not some stuff from grocery store but real Vatrushka`s. Color her surprised and happy.

What? Thought you would appreciate it. You can thank me latter – you said, catching her gaze.

Maybe that's when she started talking to you. As if having a proper conversation kind of talking. She was amazed to find out that, she kinda liked talking to you, was even more shocked when she realized you are actually a pleasant company. Maybe that’s why she started paying more attention, reading between the lines every now and then, to understand you better. Yelena found she was enjoying your conversations. You were smart and daring, and you could keep up a with her banter, with her banter. That`s rare. Yeah you were still full of yourself, even fuller of yourself than Walker, but so much more pleasant to talk to compared to him. But unlike how everyone could shut Walker up, she was the only one who could keep you calm when you got heated. She had a knack for it, and even Val wished she could do it. Yelena found your insufferable and confident attitude somewhat charming, sometimes even funny. Maybe that’s why she kept talking to you.

Even your obsession with science and research was cute and respectful in her eyes. You found your place on the team as a so called «Brainiac» of the team, not villain but smarty pants per say. Someone who helped behind the scene and occasionally joined un in fights. That was useful, you could deal with smart words while they were dealing with bad guys. But maybe just for her you made some of science sound more reasonable. Yeah sure in your lab, where you worked in science and occasional and with self-talk which sounded like gibberish, when she wanted to know something you made and effort to make sound more reasonable. And since she knew firsthand about your tendency to stay cooped up in your lab all day long, sending tiny robots for occasional elaborate type of coffee and sometimes she got curious about what were you up to, Yelena became frequent in your lab.

Not to stray too far away, one moment of your sudden care happened exactly in the lab. She was dealing with a severe headache, a kind when painkillers didn’t help and you wanted to crawl a wall. And just her luck, rest of Watch tower was too loud: her rooms were occasionally visited by her Dad whom had another oh so amazing design project and wanted to share his ideas. In common room Walker was his usual self, Ava commented on him, Bucky was staring to loudly and Bob was snacking on something to strong smelling for her. And sound was too bright, glass windows didn’t help at all, curtains be dammed.  She knew your lab was mostly smells free and your occasional comments shouldn’t be so loud. So, she went to you.

Mind if I say for a bit? – she asked, trying to find casual, but her frown was a huge give away. It took you just one look to figure out what was up with her.

Armchair if in the corner – you gestured – should be dark enough, and, just because I`m nice, I`ll refrain from talking.

And finally, after finding a strange but comfortable position on the armchair, which was much comfier than it had seemed, she could finally drift off for a bit and sleep off some of the pain. She felt something warm and cozy being placed on her in the middle of her sleep – a blanket. And it smelt just like some herbs near Melina's place in the countryside outside St Petersburg, and that’s how she finally relaxed and blacked out. When she woke up, it was still quiet and dark, but now she could take it all the surrounding, and blanket on her really smelled like herbs, but also a small robot near her was carrying her a cup that smelled like herbs too

это/ Chto eto? – she asked, groggy from sleep.

Herbal tea with peppermint, chamomile, ginger, lavender, hawthorn, valerian: should be helpful with headaches – you answered, sounding nonchalantly but she didn’t miss your glance.

Why does these blanket smells like that tea? – she asked taking the edge of it

Obviously because it has herbs in it too, of course.  – you huffed, looking at her, your gaze a bit softer with concern.

Huh, were you letting me marinade?

You and your jokes – you huffed hiding a chuckle

Just like that you were becoming close, you showed your care she was letting you ramble. Yet your dynamic still was unclear to her. But you still… you confused her. She couldn’t deny that you sparked in her genuine interest to get to know you. She could see it coming both ways, somehow. But what if your interest was temporary? What if you just saw her like just another of your projects? What if your interest was only temporary?  

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♡♡♡ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

Thank you for reading ! Feel free to share thoughts about it

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♡♡♡ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

Authors note 2:  About Joker's! Kid reader. Do I want to continue? Yes! Do I have ideas? Yeah. Am I trapped by my current fixations on marvel? Totally… I'll need some time and I'll continue on writing, rewatch DCAU and I`ll continue my series. Exams and work took a lot for me, and now that I finally have rest, I should recover real soon and my inspiration will come back.   On my one day off exams and work my fried dragged me out to watch Thunderbolts* and just like that they opened a pandora box. Currently I can't stop adoring Yelena (and it was for over a month) and she gave me strength to overcome my problems, so yeah, I love this girl so so  so much <3. Also, I`ve been thinking about making ASMR series on her (I can do, and if you'll be interested, I can drop a link on it of I'll do it, just let me know)

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♡♡♡ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

♡ Tag list ♡

if i forgot someone or anyone want to be added please let me know

@dearlawdimasimp , @shirp-collector-of-fixations , @socially-embarrassing , @leovergurl , @deathbynarcisstick , @cryptic-arr0w , @lynns-cornerr , @cxcilla ,  @charlotteking23 , @ninihrtss , @lillycore , @pix-stuff , @tfamidoingwithmylife , @linoalwaysknows , @00hellohello00 , @lilithskywalker , @bagofrice , @lenaisaloser , @devilslittlehelper , @camilo-uwu , @l3v1us , @eyeless-kun , @stargazingbutgayer, @wpdarlingpan , @weirdothatreads , @maybea1 @mel-viper-wayne @amber-content @lizzyzzn @animadi888  @coldnightshark @anamiranda7383 , @skepvids , @jizzuo308

[scintillating-scales]

Drafting an intro post...

_____.About me._____

> he/it pronouns.

> 20yo.

> forest dragon. Technically otherkin, but prefer the term nonhuman.

> queer and neurodivergent.

> sideblog. I like and follow from my main, @dragonwysper

> asks and DMs always open.

See under cut for tag list and BYF/DNI.

_______.Tags._______

Typing this in the regular font because it's easier to read.

#scintillations. || Serious posts about my draconity.

#mythos. || Information posts (like this one).

#hoard. || My content (i.e. art, photos, moodboards, etc). Things I've made. Do not use without permission or credit.

#mirth. || Memes and lighthearted posts.

#summons. || My posts looking for community engagement.

#ashes. || Vents.

#dragonfire. || Misc. personal posts.

#talons. || Others' content (non-meme creative media posts).

#tails. || Others' posts (non-meme text posts).

#whispers. || Tag rambles.

_____.BYF & DNI._____

I know these don't really work as deterrents for most users. I treat them more like explanations for why you might be blocked, and demonstrations of stances. Take that as you will. Also typing this in the regular font because it's easier to read.

BYF...

> this is a sideblog dedicated to my nonhumanity. For other content, follow my main or another one of my sideblogs.

> do not use my art or photos without permission. If you ask, I'm more than likely to allow it, with proper credit.

> do not DM me just to chat if you are under 16. If you do anyway, I will either ignore you, give very minimal responses, or tell you to come back when you're older.

> I am neurodivergent with low empathy and do not always have the spoons to properly mask in my responses (if I give responses at all). This is not a sign of malice or dislike. I try to use tone tags when I'm worried I'm coming off as blunt or unclear, and I am never against messages asking for clarification.

> I do not mind NSFT accounts or paraphiles interacting with me, as long as they aren't pro-contact or pedophiles/MAPs. I will not ERP or discuss NSFT topics on this account, though. For that, if you're an adult (with age in bio), you can DM to ask for my NSFT sideblog or alt.

> please for the love of god do not come to me about sexual topics if you're a minor (under 18). It happens way too often, and it sends me into panic attacks. Please go to someone your age, or your parents / a therapist / a counselor for that.

DNI...

or, why i have you blocked.

> bigots (e.g. racists, sexists, queerphobes of any flavor, abelists, anti-nonhuman, etc).

> those who believe in "narcissistic abuse" or who are otherwise abelist towards people with cluster B PDs.

> pro-contact harmful paraphiles and pedophiles.

> non-para radqueer identities.

> under 14 (nothing against you. Just uncomfortable talking to minors. I generally ignore unless you interact a lot with my posts or DM me).

I will block anyone who makes me uncomfortable, regardless of if they're on my DNI or not.

This post will be updated as needed.

[winterzsurprise]

Change My Mind [3]

Pairing: BTS x reader

SUMMARY: As a make-up artist, you were expected to glamorize your clients with brushes and products that cost a week-worth of food, not to befriend them outside of work, let alone have them save you from dates yet here you are five years later as one of their closest confidants.

Being a stylist of the world's biggest boyband is no easy feat, someone is doing flips, someone can't stay still and one's asleep but its fine, you can work around their chaos but then one day, you find out they're all your soulmates, a whole different can of chaos you don't think you can handle.

Tags: Soulmates AU, Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Not Beta Read, Slow Build, Polyamory, Attempts at Humor

Words: 9.3k

ao3 is down so I'll update it first here. Chapter got delayed since this wasn't originally part of the roster. its currently 1am so there will be mistakes I missed but that's for future Winter's problem.

edit 03/05/25: added a couple paragraphs and changed a few dialogues

<<<Prev || MASTERLIST || Next>>>

__________

For a guy with his heart on his sleeves and his emotions displayed so loudly on his face like neon signs with gigantic arrows, Taehyung is an enigma.

It didn’t help that he had experience in acting, if anything it made it harder to understand him.

One moment he's supportive of your quest for a perfect husband then another, he's raging with a jealousy even the power of the thousand burning suns couldn't replicate. Even when Guwon has long disappeared, Taehyung didn't stop from hanging off of your arm when the three of you had entered your home. 

In the short time they had stayed over, he made sure he was somehow close to you or having you within his sight while Jimin returned to being the sweet boy he had always presented himself as but the glint of something dark in his eyes never disappeared.

But it didn't make any sense. All of their behaviors, even Jimin, is confusing.

Taehyung had introduced a date to the group before, and had hooked up with a few people from the after-parties if the others’ words were anything to go by. Jimin is the same, although he took every chance to flirt with you at any time and everywhere, you always thought it was him being his playful self. But after last night?

You don't know.

And you hate not knowing.

To find out that Jin still liked you was shocking already, then comes this new realization—along with the impacts of Jungkook’s confession—to knock you off of your feet. You thought he had moved on like he had said years before, but last night's conversation had told you otherwise.

“That's the tenth time I've heard you sigh just this hour alone and we're only drinking coffee, what’s wrong?”

Your head shot up to meet the concerned gaze of the oldest make-up artist. Jihae is one of the original staff back from 2013, the woman who had picked you up when you tripped in front of the BigHit building crying with your bag spilled out, having been given a low grade in one of your subjects. 

They were lacking in staff back then, urgently searching for another body to help with the debut look and when she saw your cosmetic bag, she tugged you inside and told you to agree with whatever they were going to ask. 

Stunned, you followed the woman without question.

A month later, you dropped out of the nursing course your mother had insisted you take and pursued cosmetology.

Many times have you looked back at the memory and grimaced. It could've gone wrong, she might've been leading you into a trafficking ring but nonetheless, you're glad you had accepted it.

All because Jihae had seen you with mascara-stained tears and somehow deemed you skilled enough for the job. Up until today, you still wonder what she had seen in an emotional teenager who had comically tripped face-first in the company’s front yard, mascara running down her face and thought: ‘She’d be a good addition’ . 

Whatever it is, you're thankful. 

“Hey, you still with us?”

Snapping out of your trance, you wearily smiled at her. “I am, don’t worry. Just frustrated about something...”

At this, multiple heads turned to you, their stares a varying mix of curiosity and teasing. Suddenly reminded of the group lunch Jihae had proposed that day, a bonding exercise for the entire make-up artists roster, for better teamwork, she had said and internally facepalmed. You had forgotten that it wasn't just your friends sitting on the table with you and you had just aired your problem out in the open for them to hear.

Fuck Kim Taehyung and his confusing attitude. You should beat his ass next time you see him for being the catalyst to the dilemma haunting your mind.

Leaning closer to you, Nabi—another friend of yours—crossed her arms and flashed a shit-eating grin.

“Is it boy problems?”

Instantly, the table explodes into chatters, all of their questions drowning each other.

“Which one of them?”

“Did someone from Bangtan confess to you, unnie?”

“Is it Hoseok? Please say it is! I have a bet with someone from the hair styling department.”

“Was it Taehyung? I always thought he had a crush on you for a whi—”

“It's not any of them, please we're just friends.” You interjected before they dig further and find truth in their questions. “It's a different guy I've had two dates with.”

Never had you sounded more unsure of yourself until now and you had wished nobody had noticed. But one look around the table says differently. Your friends’ eyes glinted, all of them telling you that this discussion was far from over and you find yourself already dreading opening the groupchat once you're home. But unlike them, someone wasn't satisfied with your answer and crossed her arms from the other end of the table.

“Why so dismissive, unnie? We're all friends here, no need to be so defensive.”

Immediately, the ones closest to her snapped their heads at her with a scandalized look. Alexa was a new recruit, A half-Korean and half-Chinese who lived in the States for a better half of her life, had just joined the week before the first leg when one of the crew went into labor and had recommended her cousin as her last minute replacement until she could return.

In the short time she had been in the company, there had been whispers and none of them were positive. Rumors of an unhealthy obsession hidden beneath the skillfully applied make-up that granted her a younger and cuter appearance, hushed stories of their encounters where she'd reveal her soulmate mark—inked initials, and written on her wrist is a K.S.J, something she boasted around with a smug look, as if to imply something you refuse to entertain.

It was absurd. 

Seokjin was untethered, if he got a soulmate mark out in the open, he would've screamed it on top of the world. Delighted and in cloud nine at the thought of having someone destined for him. Not to mention, it meant that he didn't need to go through any of the shit you've gone through, going through dates after dates looking for someone better to settle down with only to be met with constant disappointment at the end of the day.

(You'd also be the first to know. He would've ran to you and asked if you manifested a mark too, but for your sanity, you pushed the thought at the back of your head as soon as it came.)

To say, to imply that Seokjin’s soulmate is the kid on the side of the table, it almost made you grimace.

“Hey Alexa, I know you're just new and a foreigner but that doesn't mean we'd let you disrespect your seniors!” Minhyuk, someone who had quickly wormed into your friend group last year, had jumped to your defense.

Alexa scoffed. “I'm just saying, no need to be so secretive, unnie. Everyone in this table knows how close Bangtan is to you. Everyone is wondering if you've at least dated one of them.”

“Hey Alexa, that's a bit…”

“Why are you guys looking at me like that? I'm just saying what you're all thinking,” She looks back at you. “I've seen how they look at you, surely you've at least had a fling with someone.”

Your brows shot up, incredulous and shocked by her audacity but before you could bite back, Minhyuk stood abruptly, face darkened with pure unadulterated anger.

“Oh this—” Nabi and you were quick to tug him back down to sit. 

At the commotion, everyone in the cafeteria shifted their attention to your table, inquisitive and curious of what might've set off the resident social butterfly, someone who everyone knows the name of and has been at the end of his constant kindness.

Minhyuk is a passionate soul, especially towards his job and friends. Having been kicked out for being himself, he turned to the very skill that had his father screaming expletives at him. Recommended by Jihae, who had been visiting a nearby friend at the time and was passing by his street, had found him crying in the rain, outside the gate of his family house. She had taken him home and the rest was history.

There's never been a time when you've all hung out, five emptied bottles of Sojus later, where he wouldn't be crying, thankful for the chance your eldest had given him before turning to you, sobbing loudly and hugging you and the rest of the group in a tight grip. Heart full of gratefulness for his new found family.

So there was no shock that he had been the first one to jump at the first sign of aggression towards your group.

“Everyone is looking, hyuk. Let's calm down.” Nabi whispered to him, eyes cautious and Minhyuk grunted.

“She's lucky we're in public, I would've torn her down for that comment.”

At the end of the table, Alexa scoffed, incredulous. “Are you seriously mad that I'm saying my opinion? Is it a crime to express their own opinion these days?”

“Not when it's as rude as yours.”

Jihae sighs. “Calm down the both of you. Remember that you're working right now.”

You didn't doubt that everyone in the company has speculated about your relationship with Bangtan. It's hard not to when the maknaes hang onto your words and comfortably play around with you, especially not when you have dinner at their dorm every other week so you didn't blame the newbie for being curious.

That's what you would've felt if she hadn't been going around planting ideas into people's heads that she might be Jin’s soulmate like the delusional slug she is.

You had half a mind to loosen your grip on Minhyuk and let him wipe the floor with her unnecessarily expensive work clothes.

Shrugging both your and Nabi’s arms from his, Minhyuk stands up again only to walk away from the table. Instantly, the rest of your group follows him as he marches through the gathered crowd in the cafeteria and in front of the closed elevator.

You trailed behind him, waiting for his eventual frustrated explosion as he always does after an encounter with Alexa since she was hired. Once you were all far enough, hidden away from the prying eyes of the public, he threw his head back and let out a loud, exasperated groan.

“That girl I fucking swear!” He growled as combed his long hair back. “Why did we even let her continue working after the tour?! We could've just found a better alternative, she's getting into my fucking nerves!”

Nabi sighed. “It's not like we have a final say in this, hyuk. Whether you like it or not, we'll be stuck with her until Hyuna comes back.”

“God,” He groaned. “You should've let me hit her once! I'm so tired of hearing her bullshit! Surely, you've heard the lie she's spreading around right?!”

“Like Nabi has said, we can't do anything unless it starts to hurt the reputation of the idol. She's smart for not saying it outright and somehow containing it within the styling departments.” Jihae responds with a defeated shake of her head.

The answer didn't satisfy Minhyuk, who then turned to you with a pout and wide puppy eyes before promptly stomping over and taking both your hands in his.

“Surely you can pull some strings, noona? Tattle off to Namjoon hyung or Seokjin hyung, surely one of them would do something, right?”

You almost considered his suggestion. Alexa had been grating your gears ever since she arrived to replace Hyuna. You had excused her lack of cooperation with the team for being a newbie and clumsy mistakes of haphazardly leaving her items everywhere for the stress of the new environment she was suddenly put in. But for her to go around implying Seokjin is her soulmate is another can of worms you didn't even want to open.

The mere thought of her existing on the same floor as Seokjin invokes an unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach.

But unfortunately, even if you had tattled to Namjoon about her, nothing would happen since it's not too drastic of an event to fire someone over for. It's also just not a good idea overall. The tour is set next Wednesday and while Alexa doesn't cooperate with most of the team, she unfortunately got the skill to back her up. Her skills nearly compensate for her rude personality.

Almost.

“They won't fire someone over a small argument, Hyuk. Just suck it in until Hyuna returns.”

“Which will be in December after Japan,” He mulls it over before shaking his head. “Yeah no, I don't think I can tolerate her nasty ass that long.”

The elevator opens—Jihae had called it the moment they've arrived, bless her—and everyone piles in. It was a quick ride, the stylists being on the floor below the cafeteria. In a flash the metal doors parts opened and you all walked out. But before you could follow your friends back into your department, your phone vibrated from your pocket.

Slowing down, you pulled the device out and looked at who's texting you.

           [13:02] Hobi: can ask you a favor

           [13:02] Hobi: just an itsy bitsy favor 🤏🤏

           [13:02] Hobi: I promise it's harmless😁

There's also a text from Guwon not too long ago. Something you missed while you were lost in your thoughts earlier.

           [12:30] Guwon: Eat your lunch soon!            [13:03] You: hi sorry late reply, I was having lunch with my co-workers, couldn’t use my phone during.            [13:03] You: I hope your lunch was good😁

You briefly grimaced at how robotic your reply sounded before returning to Hoseok who had sent another text.

           [13:03] Hobi: don't leave me on seen please😢            [13:03] Hobi: noona noona noona noona noona            [13:04] You: hoba hoba hoba hoba hoba            [13:04] Hobi: YAY            [13:04] You: how can I help you?            [13:05] Hobi: can you deliver lunch to hyung?😁            [13:05] Hobi: I would do it myself but I'm currently helping Seokjin hyung and Namjoon with the dance            [13:06] Hobi: and we both know Yoongi hyung wouldn't eat on time if I do it            [13:06] Hobi: can you do it for me?🥺            [13:06] You: sure, you guys still in the dance practice room?            [13:07] Hobi: ur a life saver            [13:07] Hobi: an angel in disguise            [13:07] Hobi: but yes😁            [13:08] Hobi: just knock on the door when you're here😁

“Y/N?” Jihae asks and you look back up to see your group waiting for you.

“Who is it?” Nabi adds.

“Better be news of Alexa getting fired. If not, I don't want to hear it.” Minhyuk says as he crosses his arms. You shook your head and he threw his hands up in frustration.

“Got asked to help with something but I'll be back in a moment.”

With a brief goodbye, you turned back to the elevator and directed yourself to the floor where the dance practice rooms are at. 

The walking distance from the elevator is not too far from the dance room but seeing five familiar teenage boys speaking in hushed whispers and hitting each other's arms in front of the vending machine just a feet away from the door easily distracted you.

If they had been crowding around the machine, you would've thought they were fighting over the last snack but instead they were all facing the same direction as your destination.

Sneaking up to the five giants, you're slowly introduced to the dilemma they were hitting and pushing each other for.

“You're the oldest, you should go and knock!”

“Just because I'm the oldest doesn't mean I should always be the first! Why are you even ordering me around?! Go ask Huening Kai instead!”

“Why me? I can't talk in Korean, I-I’m foreigner .”

“Oh don't you pull that shit on us. How are you only a foreigner when it matters?!”

“What are we talking about?”

Three shrill screams pierced through the air as the five of them jumped back, awkwardly long bodies falling against and clutching onto each other for dear life, all of them huddling onto the next body for protection. But once they recognize you, Yeonjun immediately regains composure and breaks off from the cluster to stomp over to you with his bottom lip jut out as he dramatically latches onto your arm.

“Noonaa, why would you scare us like that?!”

When you first met Yeonjun, he was standing in front of the cafeteria bar in front of the exhausted cashier and the long irritated line of workers, peering up onto the menu before looking down to count his money. He looked like a little kid lost in the sea of busy adults, painfully alone and helpless as the hungry customers behind him began to complain loudly.

He had been holding up the line as he recounted his change once more, hoping he had miscounted and that he could afford what he was eyeing. Seeing his hopeful expression crumble into defeat was enough to make you approach him and buy him lunch. 

Yoongi had teased you when he saw another kid trailing behind you like a baby duckling, saying you were collecting every doe eyed kid in the company and becoming their reliable older sister. The rest laughed when they saw Yeonjun’s soulmates follow suit.

“What were you guys doing? Fighting against who gets the last chip?”

Beomgyu then ran to wrap his arms around yours, the sweetest and most innocent smile plastered on his face as the two boys began to walk you forward, the destination? The dance studio.

“You know that we love you right, noona?”

Why these kids are genuinely intimidated by your sweet Hoba is beyond you. The man screams and flinches at the smallest of bugs daring to exist two feet away from him. Still, you entertained them with a raise of an eyebrow and Yeonjun continued.

“Our favorite make-up noona, the greatest sister figure we have ever had, my savior and my salvation, our dearest credit card—”

“Okay, what do you guys want?”

You all stopped in front of the dance room door. IDOL was blasting on the other side of the wall, the floor vibrating with the beat. Although muffled, you could pick up the sound of shoes squeaking against the floor and heavy footsteps accompanying the song.

“Could you pretty please knock on the door?” Beomgyu asks, pleading and also hopeful and the rest of his brothers chimed from behind you with their own versions of the request which ended up sounding like a bunch of warbled words and shooting you puppy eyes.

“Couldn't you have done that yourselves?”

“But they're busy and J-Hope sunbae is scary.” Taehyun quietly adds behind you.

“Hoba? He's the sweetest though?”

“Okay, let's not lie to ourselves now,” Huening Kai shoots back before motioning to the door. “Just… knock and we'll handle it from there. We promise!”

“Cross our hearts.” Taehyun says, drawing a cross over his chest. The other four follow.

Dance teacher Hoseok to you is a hoax. You've never been subjected to his intense scrutiny and harsh perfectionist side, always managing to slip past or only being able to meet him outside of the workplace where he'd be far relaxed and cheerful. 

Sure there's been plenty of photographic and recorded evidence posted in the group chat but you still find it hard to believe he's more frightening than the bugs that scare him off the room.

“He's not that scary, guys.”

Taehyun scoffs. “Easy for you to say.”

“Crush privileges.” Soobin quietly adds.

“What—”

The door swings open before you could ask what he meant and Jungkook steps out of the room. 

In a span of a second, the memories of his drunken confession flashed before your eyes. From the moment he had entered your home with bags of snacks to the way his voice had sounded, hushed and shaky, when he asked you for a kiss.

Seeing him again outside the concert where Namjoon and Yoongi had made sure there were no contacts between the two of you, evoked a weird sense of longing within you. Having absolutely no contact with Jungkook for two days had you missing and recollecting your past memories with him. In the short amount of time you've been away, you wondered about many things.

From something as headache-inducing variations of hows and whys questioning his attraction to you to something more simple and short like ‘how is he feeling right now?’.

It was a dumb question with an obvious answer yet you wanted to know. Curiosity and anxiety clawing at your chest. 

Is your friendship still okay? 

Did rejecting someone this time finally ruin your entire dynamic with the group? 

Should you have chosen someone like your sister had told you to do? 

They have plagued your mind and haunted you in your waking days yet the moment you finally see him, your mouth dries up and your voice dies in your throat.

But before you could even muster the courage to talk to him, he turned his attention to the boys who had retreated behind you the moment the door opened and greeted them with a short bow before walking away, completely ignoring you. Pain blooms in your chest like a thorned vine wrapping and strangling your heart tighter and tighter as you watch his back disappear around the corner.

“Did sunbae just ignore noona?”

“Is that even possible?”

“I didn't hallucinate that, right?”

“Noona, are you okay?” Soobin’s concerned voice, soft and cautious, brings you back to reality and you turn to them, a precariously built smile on your face.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

The five stared at you with uncertainty before sharing a look as you stepped into the studio, exposing you to the two figures laid on the floor, heaving and panting. The main character of your thoughts was sitting at the far corner next to the black plastic table while Hoseok stood in the middle of the room, unaffected by whatever had happened and was chugging down the water from the small bottle in his hand.

As if he had grown a sixth sense for you, he suddenly spun around, a wide grin brightening his stern face.

“Noona!”

At this, the two men on the floor perks up. Namjoon merely waves before promptly dropping back down, Jimin and Taehyung only smiled at you, looking spent from whatever routine Hoseok had them do before turning to the two tallest. Seokjin had pushed himself up to stand and approach the black plastic table from the other end of the room where a dozen take outs were.

As Hoseok approached you, his gaze then found the cluster of five heads peeking through the sides of the entrance and laughed.

“You’ve got five ducklings following you. Did they ask you to knock on the door for them or did you buy them ice cream again?” He jokes before turning to the teens and waving them over. The group then spread to occupy the space in the doorway and bowed. “What can I do for you guys?”

They suddenly disappear behind the wall but you hear them hitting each other and their whispered-shouts, it took a long while before Soobin was pushed out of the shadow and forced to talk to their sunbae. The painfully shy teen shuffles over, shoulders folded forward and taking the smallest of steps forward before stuttering a bow.

A wide smile brightens Hoseok's face, endeared by the boy’s actions.

“H-Hi sunbae.”

“Hello, Soobinie.”

“We-we we're just wondering if we-we could watch you guys? Practicing dancing I mean—Not that you sunbaes need it cause you're professionals!—I mean of course you still need to practice to be better at dancing and—wait no—”

“ Yah Soobin, stop embarrassing us like this!” Yeonjun scolds from behind and immediately, the young leader snapped his head at him, almost breaking his neck from how fast he had whipped around.

“Then go do it yourself!”

“We don't mind, as long as you guys stay in a corner like good kids then we'll all be good!” Hoseok cuts in before an argument ensues.

There's a tap on your shoulder and you turn around to see Seokjin standing behind you, a gentle smile playing on his plush lips, both hands hidden behind him.

There's an awkwardness that hung in the air as the conversation from the night before echoed between you both as you gazed into each other's eyes before he cleared his throat and began.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Yes.” You lie. Jin caught it and he rolled his eyes.

Turning to face him fully, he then takes one of your hands and forces your fingers to hold the neatly folded top of a paper takeout bag.

“I've packed Yoongi’s portion here as well as an extra for you—”

“You didn't need to, Jinnie. I already ate.”

Ignoring your words, he continued. “—I even had them order some soft tofu soup, you were craving it last week, right?”

It was sweet being loved so selflessly by him. It tasted like the sweetest nectar from the garden of Eden with a foul aftertaste once your mind reminded you of your sins against the man and the thorned tendrils of guilt coiled tighter around your chest, its sourness easily overlapping the sweetness of his love.

After Jungkook pretending you didn't exist earlier, having Jin, someone who you didn't even know still admired you all these years while you had messed around with many faces and came to work with some of their marks on your skin, expressing his care had you almost bursting at the seams. 

It enrages you thinking about Alexa going around spreading her bullshit spiel about being Jin’s soulmate. As if she deserved a morsel of his attention.

Nobody deserves Seokjin, not even you.

“Thank you Jinnie, but I’m really fine.” You then remembered your promise to return to your friends soon. “And Jihae is expecting me back immediately.”

“Coffee and toast is not lunch.” He deadpans as he takes your hand and forces it to close around the pack. “Just eat it with Yoongi, he'd be happy to be able to eat with someone and I’ll handle Jihae noona.”

“How the hell did you know what I had for lunch?”

Shock crossed over his face and he brought a hand over his mouth. “I was right? I just had a hunch on what you ate.”

“That’s a bit creepy, old man.”

“Maybe it’s a soulmate mark manifesting.” He shrugs but you doubt he meant it in a joking way.

“You’re way past the age, give it up hyung.” 

You both turned to the door at Jungkook’s voice. Like earlier, he had strode in without acknowledging your presence, something Seokjin had noticed immediately. His eyes slid to the five boys tentatively pushing each other to the empty corner of the studio before looking back at their youngest.

“How could you insult me like this? I fed you with my hands, you should be addressing me formally with a full 90° bow!” 

“I should’ve bitten your fingers at least once back then.” Jungkook jokingly muses.

Before you could witness their banter explode, there’s a tug on your shirt and you spun around to face Hoseok who had nodded his head to the door. Jin had already marched towards the maknae before you could even thank him so you left.

Once you were both outside the studio, Hoseok closed the door behind and hugged you.

“Wh-what is this?”

“A thank you hug for being the sacrifice and feeding the grumpy dragon instead.” He says with a laugh but you knew what he was trying to do.  

Returning the hug, you replied. “I’m fine, Hoba. I didn’t expect us to be buddy buddy again after what happened.”

He sighed.

“He still shouldn’t have done that. I’m sure Seokjin hyung will talk to him about it later.”

Stepping back, you shook your head. “No need, I understand why he’s acting like that.”

His eyes regarded your face for a moment before pulling you back in for a hug and nuzzling his head on top of yours. “You don’t have to defend him noona, he’s acting like a child. It's our duty as his hyungs to fix that up.”

“Please don’t. It feels like you’re taking sides, he might think it's unfair.”

He laughs. “Are you kidding? ‘Cause from what I’m seeing, he’s being a petulant child. He should handle the rejection with more grace when it's his fault he’s in this predicament. You know Seokjin hyung warned him, right?”

“Yeah, he told me when he and Tae took him home.”

“Then you should know better than to defend him.” You opened your mouth to refute but he pressed a finger to your lips. “Don't start. He's not the same sixteen years old we had to raise back then, he needs correcting.”

With two hands on your shoulders, he then spun you around and began to push you towards the elevator, leaving no room for an argument. 

Once he had led you back to the locomotive, he briefly stepped in to push the correct button for the production floor and stepped back and waved as the elevator wall slowly closed to a shut.

“Now go feed hyung and yourself before you go back to work. Thank you again noona and see you later."

__________

“Special delivery for a grumpy hairless cat!”

A beat.

Then came a grumbled: “Come in.”

Punching the proper strings of numbers on the door code, you open the door to the genius lab to find Yoongi sitting in front of his computer, one ear off of his headphones as he goes back to a specific second again and again.

Situating yourself on the couch next to the door, you place the paper bag on the coffee table and slowly unload all its contents, hoping its smell is enough to deter him from his work just for a second.

Taking one of the containers, you open it to see strips of savory beef generously sprinkled on top of rice. The savory smell of the dish wafting out almost immediately, and Yoongi visibly perks up from his table; if perking up meant him temporarily stopping his incessant clicking and head tilting a little to the side.

“Is it all meat?”

Placing down the container, you opened the other one to reveal the same dish except this time with fried rice.

“Yeah, you want fried rice or no?”

“Whatever you like less.” He grumbled as he returned to his work.

“That's not a proper answer.”

“Just take whatever you want, I like either.” He muttered.

Staring at the food on the table, you found yourself at a crossroads. The fried rice looks more appetizing than the plain white rice on the other container but you've had enough sodium for the week, having challenged Taehyung, Jimin and Jin to who can eat more ramyeon in one sitting the day before the concert.

But today just doesn't feel like a plain rice type of day. 

But fried rice isn't healthy.

“Just choose please, I don't know what I want either.” You groaned out, frustrated.

With a grunt, the man took off his headphones and turned to face you before maneuvering himself closer to the table and picking up the container with the plain rice.

“Stop thinking so much about what is healthy or not,” He remarked as he took a pair of chopsticks from the paper bag. “I could hear your thoughts even with my headphones on and my back turned.”

“Then why tell me to choose if you already knew?”

Yoongi only shrugged as he took his first bite, prompting you to take yours. He seems to mull over something as he chews, staring at the food on the table for a while before placing the container down and leaving the room without a word.

You had learned not to question his confusing actions throughout the years, even then you couldn't help but be bewildered.

When he returned, he was carrying two drinks in one hand. Sprite and Kombucha. Settling back on his chair, he placed down the bottle of Kombucha in front of him before opening the can of sprite and placing it in front of you.

“I don't have any straws on me so you'll have to just chug it.”

People don't usually notice it but you think Jin and Yoongi are more similar in how they show their affections, just in different volumes. Seokjin’s care is always voiced out, always asking whether you want something or not and offering to do or make it for you while Yoongi just somehow always knows what you want and does it wordlessly. Both of them are providers who’d go as far as to pick the stars for you if you so wished.

If you had asked them for something as ludicrous and impossible as fried cotton candy with melted cheese on top, Jin would complain and express his disgust openly, ranting about the strenuous process while holding the handle of the pan and a spatula in the other while Yoongi would cook it without questioning your sanity.

Either way, it never fails to make your chest warm.

“Thank you, Yoongs.”

He suddenly takes a huge bite, bringing the container close to his face before humming out his response, easily flustered as ever.

You both eat your food in silence. With years of friendship under your belt, you have learned to enjoy the serenity Yoongi’s silence brings. It had been rough at the start, his quietness matched with his stoic expression had often led to misunderstandings where you often thought he thinks of you badly for being close to his brothers, especially after Jin’s confession.

He had confronted you once he heard it from Namjoon,—who had immediately tattled onto his hyung after you had told him not to tell anyone—saying he simply had problems expressing himself. You could remember how his hands, despite being entangled with each other, shook with his voice, could recall how he had forced himself to hold eye contact with you when he always had difficulties in holding one.

It was thoughtful and that was the first time you had felt the tingles of warmth in your chest. Teenage you had her feet swept off by a stuttering mess of a guy with eye contact issues.

Despite Jin being the first in the group to confess, Yoongi was the first to touch your heart.

“Why are you looking at me like that?’

You tilt your head. “Like what?”

A conflict of emotion crossed his eyes as he struggled to find the words but before he could, your phone vibrated from your pocket.

           [13:54] Guwon: I'm at the cafe close to your building

You almost choked on your spit, surprised by his message and Yoongi hurriedly put his food down to pat your back. 

Guwon’s office was on the other side of the city, why would he drive so far just to get some coffee with you during work days? 

Love , a voice answers and you immediately waved it off.

There was no way he had fallen in love with you in such a short time. You have been on two dates with him and he hadn't even asked you to be his girlfriend when there's been multiple times throughout those days and nights he had the chance to do so.

During nights where you'd restlessly toss around on your bed, you found yourself facing one more problem outside of your friends.

You didn't notice when it started when Guwon began to make your stomach churn and it bothers you to the nines at how you were being suspicious of him.

Guwon is a genuinely nice guy with a legit and grand background from what you learned throughout the short time you've been hanging out, his case stories of helping out women stuck in abusive relationships and bringing justice to those the law has failed once proven true when you've typed his name on Naver. The man didn't deserve the doubt twisting in your stomach nor the aversion you were slowly gaining towards him.

There was just something about him that struck you odd.

Your conflicting feelings surrounding your friends' confessions shouldn't be affecting your relationship with the man you will marry at some point yet it ended up doing so.

There was something foul and bitter simmering in your guts these days whenever you force yourself to think about him during your time. It burns like bile and tasted like betrayal, almost like unfaithfulness ; you try not to think hard on why you feel this way but it's hard not to when Jimin and Taehyung's jealousy keeps flashing behind your eyelids with every blink.

           [13:55] You: Oh wow, which one?            [13:55] Guwon: The one on the left side, Areum Cafe.            [13:55] Guwon: Are you free to get a cup of coffee with me?            [13:56] Guwon: Sorry for springing this up on you            [13:55] Guwon: I missed you🙁

“Who is it?”

“It's Guwon,” You say, scratching your head. “He says he's at the cafe down the road and wants to meet up.”

Yoongi placed down his food and stared at you, long and hard. Cat-like eyes narrowing and observing you as he leaned back on his chair and sighed.

“I assume you need help getting out? I'm not as… bold as the younger ones but I think I can help… somehow”

His presence would surely help tamper down the discomfort that had bloomed with the recent revelations. Yoongi is intimidating as he is caring, having him next to you while meeting with Guwon would ensure you a shorter time spent with the man, as well as prohibit him from pulling another surprise kiss on you.

But why are you so uncomfortable spending time with Guwon anyways?

You didn't have any problems before, even wanted to sleep with him the night prior so why now?

“How’d you know I need help?”

“You looked like your mother just told you to come to another date.”

Immediately, you ironed out the frown you didn't realize had marred your face. 

“I thought you would've been delighted you've finally met your match?”

“I-I am.”

Yoongi clicks his tongue, the sound echoing louder in the silence of the room. “Try again. A little more sure this time.”

You sighed and relented, knowing the man wouldn't let you take a step out of the door if you lied to him again.

“Everything just started feeling wrong for some reason.”

He raised an eyebrow at that, eyes widening with surprise. “How so?”

“You know, when Jimin and Taehyung came over last night to make sure I got home safe, they were acting strange towards Guwon.” When he made no move to respond, you continued. “When Guwon suddenly kissed me, Taehyung looked… scary. Jimin too, if you can believe it.”

“I actually do.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Yoongi goes silent again, mulling over something as his gaze finally met yours for the first time that day. “For someone so perceptive, you're a bit oblivious.”

“What is it?”

“I won't elaborate, I'll let you realize things on your own.”

You groaned, facepalming because ain't no way Yoongi just added more fuel to the forest fire that is your thoughts. The man doesn’t even look aware of what his words had done, reaching over and innocently sipping on his kombucha once more.

Another chime from your phone and it was Guwon asking once more if you’ll come and meet him. You hold back a frown and Yoongi notices.

“Back to what you were saying, why do you think it felt wrong to see Guwon?”

With his calm voice and the deafening silence of the room, you found yourself comparing Yoongi, who even has his hands folded over his crossed jean-clad legs, to a therapist and laughed.

“Didn’t know I was due for a therapy session when I dropped off your lunch.”

“Well I did, just not with Guwon,” He placed down his bottle. “So, do you need my help or not?”

“Is breathing important? Obviously yes.”

He nods and stands, but not before saying, “I hope you know this conversation is far from over.”

__________

While his presence had given you more peace of mind, leaving the BigHit building with Yoongi—who had forgone his usual outdoor style of beanies and big prescription glasses had only worn a black mask in order to appear more intimidating, claiming the beanie and glasses softens his edges, something you playfully rolled your eyes at—still felt like walking into your doom.

The moment he steps out of the building, suddenly everyone's eyes are on him. The cool stoicness surrounding him commanded attention and the people listened without complaint, not when Yoongi looked like every highschool teenage girls’ bad boy wet dream.

Strolling into the cafe is easier with Yoongi trailing behind you like a guard dog; or in his case, a guard panther.

There's something about having the rapper, who has never shown a hint of romantic attraction to you in all your years being their friend, accompanying you to meet the man you might marry made you feel awkward. It makes your heart jittery and your stomach twisting uncomfortably, the nerves from meeting Guwon only adding fuel to the fire.

It felt improper somehow, as if you were breaking an invisible rule you're yet to uncover from the depths of your soul.

The tempting aroma of freshly baked buttery goods and roasted coffee beans greeted you the moment Yoongi had pushed the door open for the both of you. In the controlled volume of mixed chatters from different tables, a calm acoustic instrumental flies through the air and you almost forgot what you came here for. 

It didn't take long for you to find Guwon sitting on the table farthest from the entrance, secluded and away from the wide glass pane windows. When the door had opened with a chime, the man had raised his head from his phone and met your eyes. You try not to linger on how his expression stiffened when he realized you had Yoongi in tow before a smile wipes it away.

“You see him?” Yoongi’s voice grumbled from behind and you nod. Guwon stands, the sound of the chair scraping against the floor catching his attention. “That him?”

“Yeah, I don't think he's happy I brought you with me.”

He chuckled darkly. “Good.”

Good?

Guwon met you both halfway, arms opened wide to greet you with a hug and you let him. When you pull away, his hand casually falls to your waist and your skin scrawls . 

Immediately, Yoongi’s eyes drop to look at it but before any hint of emotion breaks onto his face, his cool eyes are already back on your suitor’s face.

“Which one of your kids am I given the pleasure of meeting this time?” Guwon asks before offering his free hand to Yoongi who had taken it with a carefully crafted blank expression and an unrelenting stare.

Seeing him remain in eye contact with Guwon surprises you. The man, even after your years of being friends, had never held eye contact for longer than five seconds outside the time he had opened up to you about his struggle with expressing himself.

It made you curious. Why is he provoking him? Is he testing Guwon?

“I'm not one of her kids, I'm actually older than her. Min Yoongi.”

“Yoo Guwon, a pleasure to meet you.”

Even when both their hands had long pulled away from each other, their eyes lingered longer. Challenging on Guwon's part, and taunting on Yoongi's as he stared back completely unfazed.

Seeing them silently engage in a dick measuring contest, something you didn’t expect Yoongi to ever partake in since he had been loud in his distaste for his own gender, irked you. The tightening grip on your waist didn't help, wanting nothing but to slap it off if it wasn't for your promise to your mother to not fuck this up.

‘If you don't tell them what you're uncomfortable with, then they'll continue on doing it. The other guys out there aren't like us who'd feel guilty if we knew, I fear that they might take advantage of you instead, noona.’ Hobi’s voice echoes in your mind.

Sorry Hoba, I'm trying to make this work. But if this behavior continues, then I'll listen to you.

“I thought you idols are often more busy than the average folk?”

Yoongi sucks air through his teeth before responding. “We were in the middle of a fitting prior. I hope you don't mind me keeping watch, can't have our staff getting distracted by heartthrobs like you.”

Guwon laughed, a little louder than usual.

“She's been telling you guys about me?”

“All the good things, don't worry.” He then turns to you, eyes searching your face for a hint of extreme discomfort before continuing. “I'll go order the others some food.”

Sparing one last nod of his head at the man next to you, Yoongi then turns towards the counter to order. The moment he was out of earshot, dread drops onto your stomach like an anvil and you looked up at the Guwon whose eyes were already trained onto yours, a lazy smile stretched on his lips.

“I assume you’ll be needed back once he’s done?”

“ Yeah, I’m sorry it's just… Wrong timing.”

He waves you off. “Nonsense, it’s my fault for bringing you out of your work. They won’t fine you for this, right?”

“I went with one of my bosses, of course they won’t.”

His eyes studied your face for a moment, searching. 

For what? You don’t want to know. 

When he had found whatever it was, his face melts into a softer, more mellow expression and your heart clenches. The outpouring of awe in his eyes felt heavy and thick, it clogs up your throat and weighs your already strained form.

“I missed you.” He whispers with the sweetest of voices. “Did you miss me?”

“I-I do, kept thinking about you...”

The lie weighted like lead on your tongue and burned like acid. Compared to the genuineness practically dripping from his lips, your words fall short in your ears. With the way his softened expression crumpled into a frown, you knew he also noticed the hesitance in your voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry. With the tour being so close and more sponsorship offers coming in, it got a bit stressful than usual.”

When his arms reach around your shoulders and pull you flush to his chest, you will yourself not to tense. You were both hugging in the middle of the coffee shop and you could feel the nearby patrons’ stare pressing onto your body, judging and unpleasant. Embarrassment burns your cheeks and the desire to push him away grows.

Even Jimin and Taehyung doesn’t dare to get affectionate in public, none of your friends ever did anything more than a hand on your shoulder to lead you to the correct direction or a supportive pat on the back when Jungkook had more sleep and food ingested, and was bouncing off the walls and you just happen to be assigned to him.

You wanted nothing more but to tell him to back off but the words got stuck in your throat. 

“Just a tip, she doesn’t like PDA so maybe step away?”

Immediately, Guwon scrambles off of you. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Guwon says, his hand falling from your shoulder and down to your arm. You tried your best not to shiver, you really do. “I’m really sorry, Y/N.”

A firm and familiar hand lands on your shoulder before Yoongi’s tugging you to stand next to him. There’s a set in jaw as his eyes narrowed down at Guwon, the hand replacing Guwon on your arm is tense and rigid but not enough to hurt. The air around him has sharpened and cooled into icy spikes.

For a moment, you had thought you were being hounded by Taehyung again.

You sensed that he had a lot to say once you were out of sight, all of them expressing his distaste for the man you’re set to eventually marry. Even when you were all standing there, you could already imagine the curses and nitpicked details pouring out of his lips.

“We’ll be going back now,” Yoongi says to Guwon, voice tight as if holding back his emotions as he curtly bowed. “Our leader is already demanding us to come back so we’ll have to cut this meeting short. It was nice meeting you though.”

Guwon looked incredulous at the turn of events, eyes shuttering before he nodded in understanding and turned to flash a smile at you.

“Message me when you’re back at the company, alright?”

Yoongi didn’t even linger long enough for you to respond, already walking away. By the time you turned to look at him, he was already three long gaits away from leaving the coffee shop. With a dip of your head, you sprint to follow closely behind the man now pushing through the door. 

You could understand the reason for his irritation, Yoongi was always the most protective out of the bunch and the one with the most to say about men. To see your closest female friend be made uncomfortable by her suitor, a stranger in his eyes, there was no doubt he’d be livid.

But why does he have to walk so damn fast?! 

You’re not physically built to match his pace, he takes one step and you have to do three. It was infuriating but you couldn’t exactly scream at him to slow down in public, catching the attention of other people would only create more problems than you both could take on.

He eventually slows down to a halt in front of the double glass doors of the BigHit building and you were able to finally catch up to him. In the lobby, you both calmly approached the elevator, a complete juxtaposition of how hasty you two were not a moment before. 

But the moment the metal doors of the elevator shuts, isolating you and Yoongi from the rest, he begins.

“I don’t like him.”

It was stupid but you wanted to know what specific trait he had found irksome.

(Deep down, you knew you were finding a reason to stop, to let go of Guwon and stop this stupid charade.)

“He didn’t even notice you were uncomfortable earlier. When you told us that he’s good, I thought he’d be decent, not top grade bare minimum.”

“H-He was actually good, believe it or not.”

“So he's a pretentious prick?”

You sighed. “H-He just—”

“Hyung wouldn't approve.” Yoongi cuts in, his hardened eyes now piercing through yours, almost taunting you to bite back. “Not just him, everyone wouldn't. You'd break poor Jiminie’s heart if you continued seeing him once he found out how he acted today.”

You knew he was guilt tripping you and it was working. But you swore Guwon was better than the others, he had treated you with a gentleness and care your friends had shown yet something had changed after that night. 

Was Taehyung's clinginess, their presence in general, been the catalyst?

Had he felt threatened by them showing up? You had established early on that they're your boss and your mother would've mentioned your relationship with the boys in passing at least, so why would he feel threatened by them?

“I know what you're thinking but it doesn't work like that.” His voice, now softer than it had been earlier, pierces through the trance you’ve submerged into. “Even if you had said you’re only friends with them, it's human nature for us to still feel intimidated even if we're just friends.”

“That's dumb.”

He shrugged. “Men are dumb, I'm just slightly better than the rest.”

“That's debatable.” You joked and he raised an eyebrow.

“ Your taste is questionable.” He shot back and you hit his arm in response, making him laugh but it dissolves as fast as it came. “I'm serious, hyung won't like it if you continue meeting Guwon.”

“I know, I can already hear him and we're not even there yet.”

“Don’t be dumb and break it off with him. If you want a husband so bad, tell auntie to wait for me to renew my contract next year and then I'll marry you.” 

He meant it as a joke, you knew that, but you couldn't stop the butterflies in your stomach from fluttering wildly. You're suddenly reminded of a scene from years ago, his alcohol-flushed cheeks pulled taut by the dopey smile stretching his lips wide and his slurred voice admitting something you, even in the present time, have no recollection of what had been uttered.

You both have been battered to the nines, drunken out of your minds and stumbling over the smallest rocks on the street by the time Seokjin and Namjoon had found you halfway home. It was a miracle you both got off unscathed with how giggly and dumbed down you both were.

“Bold of you to assume I'd say yes.”

“I got wealth, I got a good mug on me, I can do all the household chores, what else would you need?”

“Seokjin also got and can do those.”

He pondered long and hard, sucking air through his teeth before he turned to you again with a glint in his eyes.

“You know what they say about my tongue right?”

He couldn’t say he didn’t expect the punch in the arm that followed soon after.

When the elevator door opens and you both go straight for the dance studio, the conversation about Guwon is put on pause and you dread the moment Seokjin hears what had transpired in the coffee shop when suddenly, Yoongi stills and hissed out a curse.

“ Shit , I forgot Jungkook’s muffins.”

[julysalad]

My Big List Of Underappreciated Tomarrymort Works On AO3.

❗This list is based solely on my own fanfiction preferences. I think all fanfiction deserves to be read and known, even if I, personally, don't include it in this list❗

As a very picky reader, I'm usually left dissatisfied with the portrayal of characters or quality of the plot even in works that have many kudos and bookmarks. I often find my attention straying from the text, even if I was interested in a work after reading summary or first chapters.

So, in this list of recommendations I will include fanfiction that, in my opinion, deserves more readers and recognition. And that is the reason why I'm setting the bar at works that have less than 5000 kudos on AO3.

I'm also not adding fanfics that fall under Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot tag on AO3 here. Firstly, because I've never seen anyone read their porn based on anyone's fic recommendations 🤷🏼‍♀️. Secondly, because I don't find myself lacking high-quality, well-written tomarrymort porn.

Works will be placed in no particular order.

More Precious than Rubies by Strange_Soulmates (T, 44K, 6/6)

Harry Potter has recently escaped from his dragon-guarded tower. So has his fellow prisoner - the dragon who was enchanted to guard him. Harry's friend is missing, however, and so he sets off to assure himself of his well-being before he finds the person responsible for imprisoning them both. Accompanied by a stranger with a familiar name, Harry finds himself with more questions than answers as he slowly learns about the customs of dragons and the history of the dragon he befriended, the fearsome Voldemort.

Fantasy AU. One of the first tomarrymort fics I've ever read and instantly loved. Very fluffy and tender work, no hurt only comfort. Harry and Tom | Voldemort are just really sweet together in this one.

The Nature of Mating by Strange_Soulmates (E, 22K, 6/6)

Ron and Hermione have spent the last year searching for their missing friend, Harry Potter. Just when they think they have finally found an answer, they're swept away themselves.

Harry Potter is tired of waiting for Tom to finish making a move, and is determined to take the last steps of their courtship himself if that's what it takes.

Voldemort? Voldemort just wishes his little pest had better taste in treasure.

Sequel to More Precious than Rubies. If you loved the first part, you'll probably love the second.

Mary Magdalene by @vashhanamichi (E, 17K, 4/?)

Based on a prompt for the Daddymort fest: when Harry tries to destroy four of Voldemort's seven Horcruxes they turn into babies instead and latch on to Harry like ducklings.

or:

SCANDAL! Young Mother Of Four Claims Dark Lord Hasn't Been Paying Child Support

The summary is self-explanatory in this one. Very enticing, very sensual work with dark themes. Mind the tags. Even though it hasn't been updated in a while I really hope it will be continued 🙏

Those Made of Lightning and Blood by A_Single_Cactus (E, 53K, 5/5)

A story in which Harry believes his soulmate bond is unreciprocated. Voldemort is his soulmate, but he's not Vodemort's. What he doesn't realize is that he's meant to speak his first words to Voldemort in a different time, not in front of the Mirror of Erised.

Time-travelling Harry AU + Soulmates AU. Falls under Tom Riddle Is His Own Warning tag (like most of the works in this list, to be honest). I really love the author's style in writing, the fanfic is a very easy read (I read it in one go).

The Reverent Son by A_Single_Cactus (E, 9K, 1/1)

When Harry decided to raise Tom Riddle as his son, he never could've imagined, one day, that the demon would want him. He never could've imagined his child growing to be a monster.

Lord, save him.

Church AU with demon!Tom. Mind the tags. Another work by the author of Those Made of Lightning and Blood. This fanfic comes close to Porn Without Plot category, but I still decided to include it because I really like this author's style.

In Your Soul is Sealed a Pleasure by mosiva (E, 22K, 2/2)

“So confident,” Voldemort murmured, “to be waiting here alone, this late at night.” He let a little menace seep into his tone.

The man merely smiled in return, cocky. “Oh, is this a bad area?” he said. “I hadn’t realised, what with the lack of streetlights and the not-so-distant screams. Silly me.”

Harry’s been sent back in time, but he’s still not worked out what it is about this specific moment that gives him the best chance to change things for the better. All he’s managed to do so far is talk to an oddly intense man in an alley and try not to get mugged.

Time-travelling Harry AU. The times of the First Wizarding War, with obsessive Voldemort and funny, charming, witty Harry.

A Light That Never Goes Out by @kippipies (M, 108K, 13/?)

Harry steals from the wrong people and finds himself left for dead with a bullet in his skull.

Except he doesn't die.

And now, he has an infamous criminal organization called the Death Eaters hot on his tail, determined to correct that mistake. Even worse, the group is led by a deranged kingpin named Voldemort, who seems to think trying to kill Harry is the best fun he's had in years.

Mafia | Mob boss AU. I've never thought I would enjoy a non-magical Harry Potter AU, because, for me, the whole point of Harry Potter is it's a magical world and a very important part of both Harry and Tom's characters. So if you're sceptical, like me, please give it a try – I promise you won't regret it. No "big strong alpha mafia boss falls in love with tiny little weak omega at first sight" in this one. An incredible story of slowly progressing obsession. The work is regularly updated.

One of my most favorite works.

What quickens me is the violence in thee by @i-dream-of-libraries (M, 16K, 6/6)

Harry is sold at auction to a man who is clearly in some kind of disguise - Lord Riddle isn't as charming as he looks, and the way he looks at Harry...

A bit of guilty pleasure fanfic for me. I just love works with dark obsessive Tom | Voldemort and a bit of old fanfic tropes...

Saving the World, One Blowjob at a Time by NixandShit (E, 13K, 1/2)

Harry goes back in time to stop everyone from dying and ends up in a weird Slytherin hierarchy and saving the world by distracting the future dark lord with sex.

Time-travelling Harry AU. This work also comes close to Porn Without Plot category, but, just like with "The Reverent Son", it has plot and I just reeeeally love the author's style in writing. So yes, I'm including it.

And the Living Will Envy the Dead by @k-s-morgan (M, 114K, 6/23)

When Harry looks at Tom, he feels overwhelmed. There is a spark that makes him hopeful, the fear that nothing he does will save Tom from himself, and the horror at what his lies might lead to.

When Tom looks at Harry, he feels nothing. Until he does, and then Harry’s world starts drowning in blood.

Time-travelling Harry AU. The work by the author of "What He Grows To Be", one of the most popular tomarrymort works on AO3 (the amount of kudos is completely deserved). The author's style is incredible, the portrayal of characters is immaculate, the plot and plot twists are one of the most well-written I've ever seen! The fanfic isn't finished, but please support the author and read it anyway!

One of my most favorite works.

Extenuating Circumstances by Origin_Of_Symmetry (M, 87K, 2/2)

“You’re really quite a delight, Harry. I can’t believe I went weeks thinking you were useless and boring.”

Somehow, unwittingly, Harry finds himself engaged to Tom Riddle.

He’s not entirely sure how that happened.

Time-travelling Harry AU. A work full of funny scenes, smart dialogue and entertaining plot! The progress of Harry and Tom's relationship is portrayed realistically, and this is one of the most important things I value in fanfics.

The Sense of Self by SpitFire97 (E, 87K, 7/7)

This is the story of Death entrapping Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort in a series of reincarnations to undo the chaos the two of them have collectively caused. It’s a story of how two adversaries tangled in fate are forced to learn about themselves and through that, about the other; of them trying to work together for a change - if only, to pursue their individual goals.

Time-travelling Harry AND Tom | Voldemort AU. The character portrayal, the plot, the relationship between Harry and Voldemort – everything is portrayed perfectly in this work. I don't usually read works that have Death as a sentient being in them, because I usually find it frustrating when Death treats Harry Potter as someone special, almost bowing to him, and sends him back in time. So if you're, like me, wary of reading such fics – rest assured that this won't be a problem in this work. Harry's MoD!status doesn't make him overpowered – he's just as powerless as Voldemort, both of them being puppets in Death's hands.

One of my most favorite works.

Yule Ball by @holaolla1 (E, 5K, 1/1)

“How do you find our first dance, Professor?” the Slytherin's voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts bringing him back to the harsh reality. He looked skeptically over to Riddle's face, a sly smile playing on the latter’s lips.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Do you think we'll ever have another?”

“I’m sure we will,” Riddle’s smile grew wider. Harry huffed deciding not to comment. After all, if one ignores the problem long enough, the problem will eventually disappear on its own.

Professor/Student AU. A short, well-written work.

Vicious Circle by Bakuko, cyberslut404, kewpiekewpie (E, 194K, 37/?)

Harry and Hermione are transported back in time, while Tom Riddle begins his first year at Hogwarts.

Time-travelling Harry AND Hermione AU + Professor/Student AU. The work is regularly updated. I really love the plot and author's style.

One of my most favorite works.

Kisses Cursed by The_Fictionist (NR, 49K, 13/13)

Fairytale AU. Loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast.

Some said he was once a man, cursed, and some that he sold his soul to demons and became one in turn. Others said that such evil as he could never have been human. That he was instead a nightmare, left lingering upon the earth a very long time ago.

Harry just knew it wasn't safe to walk near the Riddle House after dark.

Incredible. Just incredible. I have no other words for this masterpiece. I stayed up until 6 AM because I just couldn't put my phone down until I finished this work. This fanfic deserves to be published as a Harry Potter fan-book. The author of this work became a professional writer and, let's just say, I can see why.

One of my most favorite works.

The Devil's Playground by The_Fictionist (NR, 26K, 3/3)

AU. The Devil's Playground was the most exclusive nightclub in London, if not all of Europe. So, frankly, Harry wasn't entirely sure how he came to be bathed in its flawlessly concocted ambiance, with music pounding in his ears and an entirely delicious drink cold against his palm. But it had something to do with the deaths.

Supernatural AU. The work by the author of "Kisses Cursed" .

The Closing Of The Year by kcstories (T, 4K, 1/1)

After his divorce, Harry Potter moves in with Tom Riddle. So does his ten-year-old son Albus Severus, who tries his utmost to get used to his new surroundings and to the strange, sinister man his dad has fallen in love with.

A very fluffy, comforting work featuring post-war Harry, Tom | Voldemort and Albus Severus. I really like the budding relationship between Tom and Albus, love for Harry being a bonding point for them. All three of them are just so sweet together.

Enthralled by @obsidianpen (M, 5K, 1/1)

“Do you know what it is like, to be bitten by a vampire?”

Vampire AU. A work by the author of "No Glory", one of the most popular tomarrymort works on AO3 (and one of my most favorite fics). Very sensual, enticing and hot work.

Dulce Et Decorum Est Mori by beetaker (E, 134K, 10/10)

“Do you think he meant it?” Harry asked, once the professor was gone, tracing the gilded lettering of his own name on the letter he'd given Harry. “We're really Wizards?”

“It makes sense,” Tom shrugged, though he could hardly look away from his own letter, the proof of what he'd always known, in some pit inside himself, that he was something different from everyone around him, that he was something better. He'd believed the first priest that had told him the same thing, albeit it opposite in nature, that he was a devil. It had made sense at the time, just as this answer did. Anything that offered an explanation for his being set so apart.

“I'm glad it's both of us,” Harry said, green eyes somehow greener, the natural brightness in him turning incandescent. Tom had thought he'd known the answer for that before too, dull hours at Sunday service spent gazing at the sun illuminating stained glass portraits, thinking: angel. “I'm glad we're going together.”

“We'll always go together,” Tom said, knowing it as fact, unable to imagine anything different. Wherever he went, Harry was sure to follow. It'd been that way forever. It would surely always be that way.

Time-travelling Harry AU + Tom and Harry Grow Up Together AU. This story is Tom Riddle's POV and it's very well-written, it's an amazing study of his character, his sociopathy, his relationship with Harry. The great character portrayal+great plot combo I'm always looking for in tomarrymort work is present here. Please go read it, it has awfully little attention!

One of my most favorite works.

Keep Your Enemies Closer by @duplicitywrites (T, 3K, 1/1)

"Evans does have quite the... physical advantage," says Avery.

"We saw him tackle that enormous Hufflepuff beater during the last match," comments Lestrange. "He's mad."

"Do you think he could lift you, Tom?" asks Nott.

"Shut up, all of you," Tom says, but it's too late. He's thinking about it.

Time-travelling Harry AU. Funny, comforting work with Tom Riddle Outsmarting Himself ™.

The Marry-Harry Incident by Anna_Hopkins (G, 3K, 1/1)

"Why, is that an engagement ring you're buying, Harry? Who's the lucky witch or wizard, hm?"

Harry... panicked. "...You. It's for you."

Or: When Voldemort shows up at a Muggle department store, Harry blurts out the first explanation that comes to mind.

A funny, humorous and comforting work.

The Heir de la Mort by @rowena-rain (E, 82K, 18/?)

When Voldemort hits Harry with the Killing Curse in the Forbidden Forest, it fails yet again. Only this time, the problem is that instead of ending a life, it creates one.

“Harry Potter,” he says softly, tasting his prophesied killer’s loathsome name on his tongue. “The Boy Who Lived.” Come to die.

A pause. And then, he utters the fateful words. “Avada Kedavra.”

First, everything goes green.

Then, everything goes black.

When the Dark Lord regains consciousness, he hears before he sees, and the first thing he hears is crying. Why is there a baby crying?

Child fic, but not a fluffy, no hurt only comfort work – it has dark themes, as Voldemort is not exactly what one might call a great parent. However, the work is well-written, I like the plot and Voldemort is slowly changing as the time passes. I highly recommend this work.

In the Shadows by orphan_account (M, 5K, 1/1)

For so many years Harry had been running. Hiding. Hoping that Tom had simply forgotten him. Or, thinking that Harry was just a beta, had decided to chase someone else.

He should have known better.

Living close to knockturn alley.

Even the shadows all have eyes.

Omegaverse AU. Another guilty-pleasure fic for me, as Harry in this one is kind of damsel in distress, but sometimes I just want to read something that is predictable in a good way.

[miku-earth]

miku.earth update: September 15

Hi all! This is a lil progress update for those interested. In a rush? Here's the cliff notes!

The map site at miku.earth is back: sorry for the delay in fixing it! Check it out: it has six hundred Mikus!

Including the hyuge ol' queue, we've collected over 3,100 mikus!

Representation is important! I've been using some fancy stats to avoid bias. To that end, please help make sure we have a Miku in every African country!

oh hey! you clicked 'keep reading!' well hi! here is your Miku Direct. . The map site, miku.earth, is back!

I ran into a kinda complex issue and it was a whole Thing. I was working on the site the whole time though! Sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy now it's back up and running.

This site has six hundred Mikus on the map, and more are added each week. It was recently rebuilt from scratch (fun fact! I am not a web developer) so I hope it is far zippier and less glitchy as before. A mobile-friendly version is coming soon too!

Also: check out the new search feature! In addition to the title, artist name and region(s), it can also search for the categories indigenous and historic!

cw: this video involves moving around a 2D map with some speed. on the site itself site, this only happens when you hit the Enter key.

We've reached more than 3,100 mikus!

Even at its Miku-per-hour speed, the queue will continue until 2025 at least! This is with thanks to an incredible number of contributions, including donations of literal thousands of links.

Thank you so much to @awnowimsad, @worldmikuposter @the-hatsune-miku-trend, @communist-hatsunemiku, @council-of-beetroot, L-A and a whole host of DMers and emailers for helping get this far.

Oh and by the way: over two thirds of the collection are tumblr posts! Given that this was originally a twitter trend… if you know any Twitter users who are into this trend, please reach out. Some napkin math tells me there are at least 10,000 works of art total out there, which is, by the way, surreal. Let's make sure not a single one is lost.

If you're super curious, the collection is public! I have some tools to auto-annotate (I do not want RSI), but be aware the backlog isn't vetted.

Representation is important!

Fun as this trend is, this project was always intended as a serious study into how people represent their own culture through artwork. I'm no anthropologist, but I feel it is important to make sure this collection is respectful and bias-free. If we're to represent the world, we have to avoid underrepresentation!

To that end I've used some fancy statistics to calculate a "representation value" for each country. Here's a table if you're into the stats of it! This info is handy to help me with the queue – especially with tweets as they're a lil more effort than a carefully-tagged reblog. Of course, Indigenous, hyperspecific and low-note Mikus get priority.

And, well, of course you can see on the site there are purple regions for countries still missing a Miku. In particular, please help me make sure every country in Africa is represented.

Thank you for reading!

Phew! That was a lot. If you're still curious, please check the behind-the-scenes and source code. I work in the open! Even if my code is probably messy.

And if you're a programmer, issues and pull requests are welcome! This is actually a static site, so it's purdy easy to develop.

[neristudy]

Materials that helped me pass the DTZ B1 exam and not lose my marbles

YouTube

Benjamin - Der Deutschlehrer

My favorite channel for specifically preparing for the exam. Very good at explaining letters, conversations, that sort of thing. Also very helpful with advice on what to add or take away in the delivery to make it sound more b1 rather than a2.

LordPappnase

I love his gameplay videos and his way of speaking. But frankly, he's more as an example here - go to youtube and type in your hobby/special interest/favorite game/favorite media + deutsch into the search box and you'll get a lot of auditory training, which you won't be bored watching! I have to admit, I get terribly bored watching all these videos that are specifically designed for language learners - they look in places like they think I'm an idiot >.<

Android Apps

Babbel

The best program for learning German in my eyes. Grammar, drills, interesting topics - it's all there. But, a small nuance - it is the best for those who know Ukrainian, because then you will have a full course without ads and restrictions. I do not know why. But it's worth taking advantage of if you have the opportunity!

Flashcards // Anki // Drops

You will always benefit from a program which is simply a deck of useful words to memorize.. I used Flashcards like 90% of the time, but the other two will also do the job if you like them better.

Tutor Lily

I can't put into words the usefulness of this app. It's a chatbot with whom you can talk a little every day - and thus literally force your brain to lay down the neural pathways of how you should communicate in a particular language. I credit my 97/100 on speaking to this program alone. It is 100% worth it.

Polygloss

Shows you images that you have to describe in your target language. It doesn't sound particularly helpful, but one part of the DTZ exam is literally describing the picture! So it's actually insanely useful - including the fact that it forces you to look up words to describe different objects, events, and the like (or think of what you can call it if you forget a specific word).

Clozemaster

Read more about how I use it here and here!~

Additional notes:

I'm sorry, but there is no way to “learn a language in two weeks”. They're lying to you. You have to sit and study, half an hour a day, ten minutes - even five minutes. Every day. Or every other day. Learning a language takes time, and even if someone was able to memorize a few lines for an exam to pass, factually speaking, it's a Pyrrhic victory - they still have to learn it all over again if they want to really know the language and not just pass the exam (which may work on b1, but good luck with b2 then, me dude).

You will be bored. You will feel like nothing is happening. That's part of the process - and there's no avoiding it. And that's okay.

Find something that lets you dip your feet into the language, but doesn't feel like bloody agony - for me, it was listening to the German podcast Easy German on the way to and from my courses. By the time of the exam, I had listened to about 70 hours of this podcast, which is 70 hours of uninterrupted German. By the end, I was even understanding it very well!

If you like playing video games, put on German voiceovers. Even if you leave the text in your native language, it's still an unconscious imersion - and every minute is worth it.

While you're at it - put German dubbing in your movies and TV series too. It may be strange at first, but it also helps a lot!

And in the name of all that is holy, don't use chat gpt. No, chat gpt's “wonderful courses and explanations” won't help you. No, if you throw your letters into it, it won't analyze them and give you a worthwhile assessment - it'll hallucinate and give you some faulty answers.

Please. We really don't need another person starting their German letter with “Guten Tag,”, as did at least 3 of my coursemates <.<

And good luck!~

[riddlemearose]

Linked Universe Combat Guide (part 1)

Lmao I have been casually sitting on this for like two months now and since I'm procrastinating writing an essay, I've decided to post it.

Anyway, this came from my bajillion notes about the Chain's equipment so I could have fight scenes that involved more than "he swings his sword" x9. I also wanted to identify all the weird weapons the Links would have too bc I know they exist. And since adhd is the shark disorder and I need to do something bc I stop moving I die, I've made my notes coherent enough to inflict upon tumblr.

General Notes:

In terms of additional weapons/equipment, I’m not including the traditional bombs/bow + arrows/boomerangs bc basically everyone has a variant of these. All I'm doing is looking at the possible items collected on the quests and being like "yeah I could probably work out a way to kill monsters with that".

Also they all have one-handed sword and shield proficiency, so I'm not including that for each Link. However any other canonical or possible weapon proficiencies will be listed.

7 out of 9 Links are predominantly lefties. Generally, left-handed swordfighters are used to fighting right-handed swordfighters, but the same is not true vice versa, so they will have an advantage against most human enemies. -> any ambidextrous fighters in the group is largely a headcanon but go nuts w/ it.

Researched to the best of my ability (limited only by search terms and my own waning hyperfixation), but pls be aware I literally only played my first Zelda game ever in February 2024 so there’s a lot I don’t know and games I haven’t played. Both parts are open to peer review and active fact checking lmao

Half of this is canonical abilities and half is presumed abilities based off of said canon + other logical conclusions. I'm doing this from a lore-accurate sense, rather than a straight pull from the LU comics, simply bc that allows for a broader analysis of what they're technically all capable of. I've tried my best to keep my personal headcanons out of this either way.

This part covers Four, Hyrule, Legend and Wind, whose games I have not played, so my apologies if anything is missing or incorrect.

Updated 9 March 2025 with new info provided by @thejolteonmastertj who's a literal godsend for their info about Legend and Hyrule's combat skills🙏, and @respheal who added on and emphasised just how important Legend's spin attack is. I love you both <3

Updated again 2 May 2025 with info for everyone here provided by @interlink-au.

Four

I am actively making the argument that Four probably has knowledge about other fighting styles due to his trade as a black/weaponsmith. I do not have any specifics in mind bc I do not have the spoons for that deep-dive, but feel free to run with this however you want.

Sword techniques: -> spin attack + variants    -> great spin attack (repeated spins. interlink-au emphasises that it's very OP bc there's no dizziness/stamina involved so it can be spammed)    -> hurricane spin (same as above but temporarily induces dizziness) -> dash attack (requires pegasus boots) -> peril beam (only works when he's got 1 heart left) -> sword beam when at full hearts -> roll attack -> down thrust (requires Roc’s cape)

Obviously, Four's greatest strength is team combat w/ the Colours. By splitting, he's able to coordinate combat with easy tag-team attacks with a much lower risk of friendly fire compared to when fighting alongside members of the Chain. Group combat, quite obviously, is actually kinda hard bc it requires an increased amount of situational awareness that is often overridden by adrenaline. Thankfully, since Four and the Colours are literally the same person, this is mitigated by a LOT.

Seriously do not discount how Four's height is an advantage in combat. Being smaller/shorter means you have less body mass to speed up and slow down, so you have greater agility and speed. You're also harder to hit and better at close combat (short limbs take less time to block, attack, etc.)

Genuinely don't know if he's proficient in combat while on horseback. I've heard at least one of Four's games has an Epona, but I don't know if there's any mounted combat.

Additional Weapons/Equipment: -> power bracelets -> gust jar -> Cane of Pacci -> magnetic glove -> fire rod -> magic hammer (hammer is capable of producing shockwaves and causing earth tremors) -> pegasus boots -> Roc’s cape -> shovel (do not under any circumstances discount mundane weapons) -> slingshot

Hyrule

To start off, the most important thing to know about Hyrule is that he's a self-taught fighter.

No, seriously this is more important than you think but not for the reasons you may think. Self-taught fighters are scrappy as shit. Out of the entire Chain, Hyrule will be the first one to resort to fighting dirty. Have him clawing at people’s eyes, throwing dirt, and biting. When you grow up in a situation where survival is a thin line you don't want to cross, you’ll do anything to stay alive when you have to.

Spells*: -> Shield: reduces damage by half -> Jump: self-explanatory -> Life: recovers health -> Fairy: shapeshifts into a fairy -> Fire: shoots fireballs from the end of his sword. (an aside, but this scene from the comic may be a variant of Fire? Fact check again lmao) -> Reflect: reflects magic attacks and strengthens his shield to temporarily block some physical attacks and most magical attacks -> Spell: can turn most enemies into Bots -> Thunder: summons lightning *be aware Hyrule has a magic meter. I haven't included how it functions here because it cluttered this section up horribly, but here's a link to it.

Hyrule actually gained the ability to use magic in his second quest, so while he's probably well adapted to using it now and may default to using it when backed into a corner, he's still a capable swordsman without it. -> Update: while the spells I listed above came about in Hyrule's second quest, thejolteonmastertj points out that Hyrule is straight up slinging sword beams with the random sword he gets given at the start of his first adventure, and that it's an important technique for the game.

He can canonically use Jump to perform a down thrust (like Four's) and a jump thrust (think Mario hitting bricks lmao),but there are so many ways to utilise this spell. Someone should teach Hyrule the Helm Splitter.

Additional Weapons/Equipment: -> power bracelets -> hammer -> this will sound stupid but ladder (again, never underestimate weird and mundane weapons.) -> magic rod (w/ accompanying fire upgrade) -> magic recorder (used in-game for fast travel but thejolteonmastertj also says it summons a tornado and if you can't find a way to use that in combat, I'm going to eat my hat)

Legend

Legend gave me so much trouble, solely bc sir has too many games. Jesus Christ man.

I am once again happily arguing that due to Legend’s sheer experience, he probably has other weapon proficiencies outside of a one-handed sword + shield combo, but that’s entirely up to personal headcanons. -> update provided by interlink-au: Legend is capable of dual-wielding his sword and a magic rod/cane, a boomerang, a hook-shot, etc etc. He will also parry with his sword if he's charging a spin attack (and can hurt them by walking into them, unless they're also holding a sword which will mitigate the blow).

Sword techniques (provided by interlink-au): -> spin attack (see above) -> dash attack (needs pegasus boots) -> sword beam -> hurricane spin (drains magic and induces dizziness) -> great spin (separate to a spin attack. increases range of normal attacks)

Once again for the class lmao, Legend has the most questing experience. While his section may seem small bc I don't want to rehash stuff I've already said, it's entirely on-brand for him to have tweaked a lot of this. Headcanons abound.

Updating the above points: again provided by thejolteonmastertj, Legend's officially getting smacked with another label, and this is "Most OP Spin Attack". This has been pointed out to be a core aspect of combat for ALTTP (Legend's first adventure). directly quoting their reblog bc I can't summarise it any better than it's already been said: -> "Legend’s charged spin attack as reactive crowd control is foundational & central to his entire battle style. It’s extremely difficult to land a hit otherwise! You gotta either run, button mash to parry with ur back against a wall till something hits… … or you play it smart, watch everything in the room & plan your charged spins accordingly. Legend would be particularly adept at being outnumbered in an enclosed space. He can also throw pots, even shrubbery if he so desires, but well-timed spin-attacks are what truly carries him through his first few dungeons."

respheal also points out that some of Legend's enemies can only be damaged by the spin attack, making it a cruical technique that he's more than likely put time into developing more than the others may have.

interlink-au adds on to both of the above and mentions that, with the roc feather/cape, Legend is able to do a jumping spin attack.

Sword techinques (provided by interlink-au): -> spin attack (see above) -> dash attack (needs pegasus boots) -> sword beam -> hurricane spin (drains magic and induces dizziness) -> great spin (separate to a spin attack. increases range of normal attacks)

Can't believe I didn't mention Legend's own tactical prowess smh

interlink-au also has informed me that two of Legend's rings let him punch, so congratulations, he now probably knows some brawling/boxing techniques. The Expert Ring can let him punch so hard, he does the same amount of damage as he can do with the Noble Sword.

Additional Weapons/Equipment (Warning: brace yourself): -> literally the entire contents of his ring box. I'm not listing them. I don't even know what's in it, nor do I want to at this point. A link to the Everything in his ring box can be found here -> power bracelets/power glove/titan’s mitt -> hammer(s) -> pegasus boots -> Cane of Byrna -> Cane of Somaria -> hookshots -> switch hook(quoting interlink-au: "swaps you for whatever you hit it with, objects and enemies, which you can use to cross gaps.") -> long hook (upgraded version of the switch hook) -> seed shooter (+ ember seeds, scent seeds, mystery seeds, gale seeds, & pegasus seeds) -> hyper slingshot (interlink-au says it can shoot 3 mysterious seeds at a time, which have different elemental effects). -> fire rod -> ice rod -> Rod of Seasons -> tornado rod -> sand rod -> Bombos medallion -> Ether Medallion -> Quake medallion -> magic powder -> shovel -> super net -> alternative tunics (attack or defensive enhancements) -> red shield (fire defence) -> Roc’s feather & cape -> mermaid suit (allows Legend to use items underwater) -> magnetic gloves -> super lantern (I've discovered this is as strong as Legend's second Master Sword upgrade in ALBW) -> magic cape (makes Legend invincible)

Breaking my own rules to list a few of Legend's 5 boomerangs, as they all have different abilities (info provided by interlink-au) 1. Magical boomerang -> can be controlled with his mind. 2. Magic boomerang (different object) -> further range 3. Nice boomerang -> sends out three boomerangs for the price of one

Wind

Arguably has the best balance and proprioception of the group, which is extremely useful in many situations.

Once again, do not be afraid to use Wind’s height to his advantage. He has a slight detriment bc he’s still getting taller and going through puberty does screw up your proprioception, but I think if you’re using a sword that much, both against enemies and in sparring matches, he's probably still got a decent sense of his own balance and body.

Updated info provided by interlink-au: Wind has a great spin/hurricane attack, which does induce dizziness and use magic.

I genuinely don’t know how the Phantom Sword works, sorry. I know it has some potential to slow time, but I’m not entirely sure about the mechanics behind that, nor if it’s still capable of such magic. From interlink-au: apparently the Phantom Sword currently doesn't work bc it doesn't have any magic leftover. There may be a comic out there made by Jojo that features Time and Wind talking about the sword, so if anyone knows of it, pls let me know.

Wind’s Parry Attack:   Hmm this thing. It’s interesting. Note: no actual parrying with a shield is needed, which means it's kinda like BOTW's perfect dodge mechanic. -> Wind’s parry attack is like the Helm Splitter and Back Slice combined into one. If the attack is vertical, he does a Back Slice-esque attack. If the attack is horizontal, it’s a Helm Splitter. -> Additionally he has an ending blow like Twilight and Sky, which has a specific trigger.

Mild note from interlink-au: Wind can use three different items at the same time, unlike the others who generally use two, and he's very quick when he uses said items. Topically, I keep forgetting that Wind has magic which he uses to empower some of his arrows with fire or ice.

Additional Weapons/Equipment: -> power bracelets -> deku leaf (requires magic to be used) -> skull hammer -> grappling hook (!!!!! any rope dart combat video would make this brutal) -> shovel -> hookshot -> Wind’s weird magic armour spell -> Hyoi pears if you feel like world-building

Part 2: Sky, Time, Twi, Wars and Wild

[olderthannetfic]

I thought it would be interesting to see if I could easily determine which ships had the most works updated in 2023.

It turned out to be fairly easy, though a little time consuming. I think these results should be reasonably accurate.

Some points to note:

I did this on my own account, and I have like 2 people muted. So I am capturing the effects of archive-locked works, but my numbers might be off by one or two works due to muting.

Works updated in 2023 is a number that constantly changes as works are deleted or updated again in 2024.

I didn't scrape the entire archive or anything like that, so it's possible I missed a ship that would bump one of these down below 100. I'd take the last few at the bottom there with a grain of salt. But I think we can be reasonably sure the top ones are accurate and that the kinds of numbers that we see at the bottom there (eighteen hundred plus works updated in 2023) are about where the cutoff will be even if we find a ship I missed.

--

As for how I did this, I went to the category tags and the rating tags, filtered for updating in 2023, then excluded ships in the sidebar till I got to 130-150 ships excluded. I also grabbed ships that are big in general from tag search, which you can use to find all relationship canonicals, ordered by frequency.

I combined those lists of ships, cleaned off the works numbers, and generated a list without duplicates. That got me three hundred and something (yes, they were mostly duplicates). I generated the relevant AO3 URLs, opened them in batches with Open Multiple URLs, and copied the works totals into a spreadsheet. Not as tidy as using a script but honestly pretty easy if you know a few spreadsheet formulas to clean up data.

The key here is that if you're only going for pretty good and not accurate beyond a shadow of a doubt, all you need to do is generate a list of likely ships, then check them.

It's possible that there's some much-updated ship that is so evenly spread across these various other tags that it just missed showing up in the sidebar. Hopefully, grabbing more than just the top 100 avoided this problem.

This method also doesn't take into account backdated works. If a whole archive was imported in 2023 but all backdated, there could be some ship that didn't have new works but where AO3 users experience in 2023 was of an influx of content.

I also did this just now, in late March/early April, so some 2023 works have inevitably been deleted or updated again. So the exact work counts don't represent the experience of using AO3 throughout 2023. A fandom active in early 2023 might not have much updating in early 2024, while a fandom active in late 2023 would. This could demote the latter a few places in the rankings since I didn't grab numbers on January 1st.

Even if a person scraped AO3 every day or was monkeying around in the databases, you also have to ask what conceptual answer you're after. Is it works a user could have read at some point during 2023, whether they were deleted by the year's end or not? Is it new-to-AO3 works or only newly-created ones, not including imported archives? Does it matter if the works are fic? If they're in English? What about accidental double-uploads or translations of a single work?

I hope this makes it clear why a definitive ranking is not actually possible.

However, despite these drawbacks, I am confident that the rankings above accurately represent the broad trends on AO3 in 2023. Just don't get too fixated on whether a ship should be at number 73 or number 74.

And, of course, I excluded these from the top 100:

Original Character(s)/Original Character(s) - 20,026

Minor or Background Relationship(s) - 16,187

No Romantic Relationship(s) - 8,052

Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s) - 7,195

Original Male Character/Original Male Character - 6,283

Other Relationship Tags to Be Added - 5,618

Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s) - 3,990

Original Character(s) & Original Character(s) - 3,210

Here's a spreadsheet if you want to see the actual numbers not as a shitty screencap. I left the next few below 100 for context.

[penguinmerchant]

"Pet" Binding (with a twist)

This binding is a little different than what I've done so far! This is "Pet" by C.S.Pacat, but with notes from @lucky-clover-gazette. The notes on this read along were SO funny and I knew I wanted to feature them in a bound work, but they wouldn't really make sense without the context of the original work. And so I mushed both the original work and the notes together!

So the idea here was to make it look like a composition notebook, complete with stickers on the front and (as we'll soon see...) drawings and scrawled notes on the inside. "Sam Reads CaPri" is the tag that Lucky Clover uses for her read along notes, and so I used it here just to make it clear this wasn't just the canon work. I used black and silver marbled paper to complete the look of the composition notebook, and more direct-to-film transfers for the "stickers" on the cover. I think it turned out fantastically!

More pics and a LOT of notes under the cut.

So I thought this was a really interesting project because I wanted to use the original work but add to it. I...acquired a PDF of Pet (let me have this one, I bought 2 official english copies of the short stories AND a Polish one I can't even read!) and messed with the margins a bit to make more room for Lucky Clover's notes. Here's what it looks like inside.

This whole thing was done in Libre Office, by the way. I'm sure there's a better program out there that would have done this WAY easier but I didn't want to have to learn how to use Adobe (or pay for it, honestly). But so the little notes are added with textboxes and placed next to their respective quotes, and the quotes themselves are highlighted with highlighters used for bibles, which is apparently a whole subset of office supplies I never knew about! I needed those highlighters specifically because I wanted to have archival color (no idea if regular highlighters are, these are just the only things that came up from a quick search) AND they're really good because they are made not to bleed through really thin bible paper. So on regular paper you can barely see them through the other side at all. They're great! Thanks bible highlighters, I know you thought you would be used for more holy purposes but really there's no better writer than Pacat, so you're in good hands!

So the other problem was that some of the notes were too long to shove into the margins, even after I had made them bigger than normal. That meant post-it notes! Now these aren't actual post-it notes, obviously (I can't imagine how terrible it would be to line those up in the printer) but I used colored printer paper and cut them to size, and it worked out. I used a bit of glue to get them down, and made it so that all of them fold away from the text so that everything is still readable. And then I made some of them poke out the top and sides, because I liked the way it looked.

There are little doodles throughout, some of which I colored in with a highlighter, and I the first word in each section is in a scribbly font, which I thought was funny. All of the notes are likewise in a handwritten font (Amanda Rose) and slightly rotated so that they're not in line with the text.

I also did not trim any of the sides of this textblock, so it's kind of uneven (deckled edges are common on the long side of the textblock, not so much on the top and bottom) but I kind of needed all the space. No endbands in this one either, I wanted to keep it more notebooky and the uneven pages meant it would have been impossible to do anyway. Everything else was bound normally, so aside from the two thousand years it took me to typeset this it was a pretty easy bind.

Oh, and last but not least, the endpapers:

Plain brown butcher paper, in honor of Berenger.

[5ummit]

Permanent Blacklists for AO3

Would you like to permanently remove fics with your squicks, triggers, and dislikes from all AO3 searches by default so that you never have to think about or encounter them again? Well now you can!

The ability to do this has actually been around for a little while but it relies on some new CSS functionality that wasn't supported on all major browsers until fairly recently (though you may still have to enable it manually on some). I'm not going to explain how this method works or how to code AO3 skins in general, as I've only dabbled in it a little and there are already some very good tutorials out there. If you want all of the details, check out these guides:

Skins and Archive Interface FAQ – The official skins guide created by AO3. Lots of good information but might be overwhelming and confusing for a beginner.

A Non-Extensive Guide on How to Start Creating a Skin for AO3 by ao3skin – Some good, fairly easy to understand, beginner info on CSS and specifically how it applies to AO3 skins.

Permablocking Specific Tags - Site Skin by Eli0t – Everything you need to know to create permablock lists. If your blacklist doesn't seem to be working as expected, check this for troubleshooting tips.

What I can offer though are some handy pre-made blacklists that you can use as-is or as a starting point to create your own so that you don't have to go to the trouble of figuring out how any of this works or hunting down relevant tags. Just copy the code, open AO3, go to My Preferences > Skins > Create Site Skin, paste it in the box, title it, and click Submit!

Note: The following lists are very specific to me and my own personal tastes. Absolutely no judgement if you love any of the things that I choose to blacklist. You do you. I just happen to like my fics fucked up and relatively canonical.

★ No Reader Fic – Hides all self-insert and reader fic.

★ No Alternate Universes – Hides anything tagged with the most common AU tags. There are so many incredibly specific AUs there's no way to list all of them and AU tagging is also extremely inconsistent from fic to fic so this blacklist may only catch 80% of AUs, but that's better than nothing. You could always exclude the entire alternate universe tag, rather than trying to list specific ones, but unfortunately canon divergence and other less extreme AUs would get caught in the crossfire, which is not worth it for me.

★ No Fluff – Hides anything tagged with the most common fluff and romance tags. I specifically left out "fluff and angst" though because sometimes that's used for things that are mostly angst with only a bit of fluff and I do love angst.

★ Bonus: No Dead Dove – This list is not mine (for obvious reasons) but I know some people may find it useful. Hides anything with the main archive warnings and many common problematic, taboo, or controversial tags. Some of these I wouldn't even classify as dead dove, they're literally just kinks, so I'd suggest reviewing the list carefully and removing any that don't apply to you.

Additional Notes:

This system doesn't work exactly the same as AO3's exclusion filters because you can't use top-level wrangled tags to block all subtags. It only blocks exact matches.

Once the blacklist is implemented you'll see no indication that anything was blocked (except for fewer fics listed on each search page); the entire blurb will be hidden. The tags and fic counts listed in the filter bar will remain unchanged. If you want more advanced features like whitelisting or adding something to indicate when a fic was removed, check out the permablocking guide by Eli0t.

Here's a link with info on which browsers currently support the new "has()" element, which this blacklist system relies on. As of right now Firefox for desktop still has to be manually enabled (for instructions see the section on flag enabling in the permablocking guide). Firefox for iOS isn't listed on this website but it seems to work fine for me.

There are other browser-specific extensions that let you permablock tags, such as this one and this one, that may be more a little more user friendly, but I've never tried them so I can't vouch for them and they may not work consistently between different devices. The good thing about doing blacklists via skins is that, after setting it up once, it should work automatically on pretty much any device (as long as you're logged in to your AO3 account).

[haveyoureadthisdcfic]

Let's rec DC fics that we've enjoyed!

Inspired by @haveyoureadthisfanfic

Hi, I’m Gecko! ( @kiragecko )

New or old, dark or fluffy, on AO3 or Tumblr or Wattpad. Share your favourite fanfics, and lets see how many people have also enjoyed them!

Submission Form

Fic Masterlist

Stats from the last time I updated them

Find Recs for:

Ensemble (focused on multiple characters, and not on their relationships)

Gen (focused on platonic relationships or a single character)

Shippy (focused on romantic and/or sexual relationships)

Other (focused on queerplatonic, ambiguous, and otherwise hard to classify relationships)

If you know an authour's Tumblr that isn't listed, please let me know!

All types of content are accepted, and this blog will not be supporting any sort of antishipping discourse or harassment. I'd love to include warnings for dark content, but ... we'll have to wait and see how mature of a community develops here. For now, I'm trusting that all of you can handle opening a fic, reading the tags, and then closing it again if it isn't for you.

I'd especially love older fic, from Livejournal, early Tumblr, fan-specific archives, etc. If you want to try out some fic from a particular era:

2025 to 2029

2020 to 2024

2015 to 2019

2010 to 2014

2000s

1990s

Also, I love the Bats, and recognize that it is by far the most popular subset of the fandom. (4 times bigger than it's closest rival on AO3!) I'd love to see the full spectrum of the DCU represented, so I encourage submitting for smaller subfandoms! But Bats are just as welcome. (And that's what a lot of my recs are going to be.)

Questions I've answered about 'rules' (they're more like guidelines).

Additional ways to use the tags:

This blog is designed to allow you some basic customization. Any tag that you don't like can be blocked. So if you aren't into video games canons, you can block 'media: video games'. If you like your fic to match canon closely, block 'media: all media types'.

Note for submitters: You are absolutely allowed to give me different tags than the authour added for media types. If you think a fic is canon compliant, but it's on AO3 under 'All Media Types', feel free to submit it under 'media: comics' instead!

If you're squicked (grossed out) by romance, block the 'shippy' tag.

Note for submitters: You are also allowed to give me different tags than the authour added for relationship types. There ISN'T an 'other' category on AO3. The AO3 tag for 'Gen' is split into 'gen' and 'ensemble' here. (Ensemble is for fic that focus on multiple characters, and not on their relationships.) Choose the one that you think fits best.

If you only want newer fic recs, or really want to get into older fandom, block the 'published' tags that you aren't interested in. You can also block specific subfandoms. If you're annoyed by the high percentage of Batman fic, 'batman' is easy to block!

-

If you go to haveyoureadthisdcfic.tumblr.com, you can click on any tag to see what other fics are in them. (If you do this on tumblr.com/haveyoureadthisdcfic, it will go to a site-wide search instead.) Check out authour's names to see if they have any other fics recced!

[ilsahaara]

rest

pairing: shakir x f!merlin

rating/tags: T / fluff (they're napping!)

words: 2.1k

summary: Shakir insisted on a spar session, but the Magister stood her ground—after all, it was her day off. Eventually she found a compromise that saved her day (with an added bonus).

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

The aroma of peppermint tea filled her room as she brewed a pot for herself. Today was one of her rare days off, and she planned to finish the book that had been on her backlog for what seemed like forever. She decided to shut herself inside her room, hoping that no one would disturb this precious moment. 

But hope is such a fragile thing to lean on, so easily shattered.

Her ears caught the sound of overly eager footsteps approaching her room and she already knew who was going to ruin her day. The door was promptly swung open, revealing someone who had been staying in the Magical House for some time now.

A useful ally, but undeniably annoying at times, including today.

“Aha!” he grinned when he saw her, “Taking it easy today, Magister?”

“Shakir,” she hissed, raising her eyebrows to barely acknowledge his presence. The Mauler barged into her room as if it were his own—a conversation she had been meaning to have with him many times already. But not today; she desperately needed some rest today.

“Can I help you?”

It was futile, she already knew what the answer would be. The Magister wondered why she even had to ask, she could just reject him flat out with no preamble. 

“Let’s spar!”

There he went with the usual zeal that he always carried.

“Absolutely not.”

And that was the standard answer she had always given.

"Yet another blunt and straightforward rejection from the esteemed Magister herself," he sighed, folding his arms on his chest and looking dejected. "That means I have to bother you another time, just as usual."

She rarely got time for herself, and this wolf definitely wanted to ruin it. Can't she rest for once?

"Then I shall remove myself from the vicinity. Should you change your mind, I’ll be waiting eagerly in front of your room until the night time comes."

Merlin wanted to be heartless and knew it was not wrong to put herself first, but she did feel a pang of guilt about never wanting to entertain the idea of sparring. Even today he definitely sulked as he dragged his feet towards the door. His broad shoulders slumped and even she could see his ears drooping.

He must’ve wanted it so badly . 

She almost gave in to his sad puppy eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to tire herself today. Her brain immediately searched for a compromise, as it always did.

The Magister eventually coughed, “Why don’t you have a rest day today?”

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head towards her, raising an eyebrow as if her statement was blasphemous, “The strong don’t rest.”

“Do you think I’m strong, strong enough to be your adversary?”

His eyebrows now knitted in confusion, “What kind of question is that? Of course! There is no doubt about that.”

“Well, do you see what I’m about to do now?” Her endless journey had taught her to spew nonsense on the go, and she was definitely applying this very skill right now,  “I’m resting, and I’m strong. Maybe what you lack that I don’t is the resting part. Your strained body definitely needs time to refresh itself.” 

It was almost comical the way the gears inside his wolf brain were turning so hard, as if it was like a new and holy revelation to him. Shakir just froze where he stood as he was trying to process what she had said–his body definitely loathed and rejected the idea of ‘having a day off’.

She almost had him. Merlin knew the Mauler just needed another soft push.

Maybe the wolf required a demonstration to convince him. The Magister sat on the edge of her bed and patted the space right next to her. Just a little bit more , she thought to herself. 

“Come here, Shakir.”

“I feel no lie in your statement, but somehow, I can sense that this is a ploy to distract me from achieving greatness,” He sniffed around as if his nose could smell traces of lies from her mouth, “Surely the esteemed Magister doesn’t lie, does she?”

“Why would I?” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but she had twisted and warped the narrative to suit her agenda, making it seem almost deceitful.

Well, she’d do anything to save her precious rest day. 

“Are you coming or not?” 

He finally relented and walked with unusual hesitation towards her bed. He sat. Rigidly. Like it was his first time taking it easy. 

“Hey, relax a little!” Even she couldn’t help but laugh at how stiff he was at this. “Gauntlets off, please. And any sharp objects around you. Just place them on the table next to you.”

“Huh, must I?” He quickly questioned her, “I feel so naked without it, like I’m stripped of my defenses”

“You definitely don’t need those, and those are still within your reach.” The Magister winced at his usual dramatic choice of words, which didn’t fit his outward appearance in some way. She wondered where he learned to speak that way. 

“Wait here, I’ll pour you some tea.”

Just like an obedient puppy, he sat still on the edge of her bed as Merlin got up and poured him a cup of peppermint tea. She carefully handed it to him as he awkwardly received it and nodded with a small thanks–definitely not his usual drink to have. She poured another cup for herself.

“Will this make me stronger?”

She wondered if anything else went inside his brain other than fighting and getting stronger.  “In a way, yes.”

He downed his cup in one go despite the tea being scalding hot, but she was not surprised at his antics. Maybe the Magister was just desensitized at this point as she only raised her eyebrows and took his empty cup away from him.  A toothy grin spread across his face as if he wanted to be praised, but Merlin pretended she didn’t see that–she was just glad that he didn’t choke on the hot, freshly brewed tea. 

She sighed. The Magister was starting to regret this day a little. 

“Well, how does this ‘resting’ thing go?”

“Let me help you, excuse me,” She said as she placed her hands on him and positioned his legs on the bed, ensuring his back was resting on the mountains of pillows she usually used herself. She gave him a soft push on his stiff shoulders, telling him to relax. 

She took a step back, admiring her own work. Though he looked awkwardly out of place, muttering to himself repeatedly to ‘relax, Shakir, relax’. 

“Comfortable?”

“I don’t know?” The Mauler fidgeted to maintain his position as he glanced at her, his arms crossed over his chest. Shakir was clearly still struggling to grasp the concept of what they were doing right now. 

“Do you never, uh, deliberately take a day off?” The Magister climbed onto her own bed and sat next to him. She knew other people would kill for a rest day, and yet this enigma right next to her just didn't .

“I sleep when necessary.”

She should’ve known the answer was going to be somewhere along that line, and that was on her for asking. She shrugged, “Do you need a book for yourself or are you reading with me?”

There was no hesitation in his answer, “I must copy what you’re doing so I’ll just read with you. What are you reading anyway?”

“A forbidden romance between a commoner and a noble.”

He winced. 

The strong (such as himself) definitely have no time for romance. The Mauler wondered why the Magister would waste her time with something like reading a romance book when they both could be sharpening each other’s skills through a meaningful and definitely fruitful spar. Hell, Shakir had some combos he wanted to try–

“It’s fun!” She tried to convince him again when she saw him lose interest instantly. “They fell in love during war time, so the noble must steel himself and bring the war to its end.”

His ears perked at the words ‘steel’ and ‘war’, and lo and behold, the Mauler decided to give this resting thing another shot: “Okay, you got my attention.”

The Magister was grateful that he didn’t beg for a sparring session, at least not today. She sighed with relief as she made herself comfortable, at last, this was the moment she was waiting for this entire day.

She had read a few pages ahead of Shakir, and she didn’t lie about the premise of the book she was currently reading. The noble aspired to end the war with the ultimate goal of spending the rest of his life with the commoner he loved. This book had lived in her mind rent-free–the longing between the noble and the commoner was so intense, as if they were ready to give up anything in order to be together. 

Merlin was so engrossed in the story, but she wondered why she heard no complaint from her companion as she expected to hear. But it was a blessing to her nonetheless, she didn’t dwell on it. 

They reached the part where the noble’s family confronted him for associating with a lowly-born commoner. As a result, he was stripped of his wealth and status, having brought shame to the family. 

Despite everything, he was born and raised a noble, and his upbringing instilled in him a sense of duty to protect the common folks. He knew deep down this meant to protect the town at all costs. The outcast noble then joined the ranks from the bottom once more, driven by the ultimate determination to ensure the safety of the town, including his commoner lover.

“Wait,” He stopped her as she was about to turn the page, “I’m not done reading yet.”

“Huh, you got hooked with his life story, didn’t you?”

He groaned as if caught in an embarrassing act, “I just want to know how he would overcome the hurdles in life. That’s what the strong do, is it not?”

“Yeah,” She chuckled; she had never seen him this flustered before, “I guess so.”

And so, the book delved into his journey as a lowly-ranked soldier, laced with bittersweet nuances centered around him longing to see his love once the war ends. The lover was also eager to help, and so she became a medic. She waited patiently for his return as she mended the injured soldiers that got sent back, hoping it was not him she had to tend to. 

The Magister managed to flip a few pages before her ears perked up–she could hear soft snoring from right next to her

“Shakir?”

She called out the suspect, but there was no response. 

Merlin slowly turned her head towards him who had now fully surrendered to this resting thing as he snored lightly, leaning against the stack of pillows she had set up. Funnily enough, his arms remained crossed in front of his chest, as if he didn’t want this at all and was still defensive about it even in his sleep.

“I guess it’s not fair if I continue reading on my own,” She chuckled as she carefully put the book away. The setting sun painted the arched window of her room, bathing them in inviting warm rays, which lulled her to join her companion to take a short nap.

Shifting around to find the optimal position to take a nap, she accidentally grazed his body, startling herself with the realization that the Mauler’s presence was, unintentionally, comforting–warm just like a cozy blanket.

Something fleeting stirred inside her as she took a good look at his face, she never had the chance to observe him from this distance. He looked serene, and dare she said, very nice to look at . Her gaze lingered longer than she’d like to admit, admiring the rays that softly graced his features.

What the hell?

Merlin blushed once she heard her own thoughts. His presence was so hard to resist that she couldn’t help but to rest her head onto his shoulder, so very carefully, in order not to wake him up.

“W–well, this should be fine, right…?”

The great Magister tried to convince herself as she soaked in the comfort. Her mind wondered if he would be keen to do this again next time–this felt nice.

And the warmth didn’t take long to drift her away to sleep.

(Shakir woke not long after she rested her head on his shoulder. He opened one eye, stealing a glance at her—there was no denying that his heart swelled with pride seeing the esteemed Magister seeking solace in him. Even he couldn’t bring himself to disturb her, so he decided to follow her into slumber once more, savoring the situation he found himself in.)

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

Hammie wondered why the Magister’s room was open, but there was no sound whatsoever, she didn’t even know if her beloved Merlin was inside. 

She decided to sneak a peek, and her tiny little hamster heart couldn’t fathom what was going on when she saw Merlin taking a nap with someone she least expected. But it didn’t matter; they both looked like they needed this for a long time. 

“Huh, I better not disturb them.”

The hamster carefully tiptoed and closed the door, a small smile stretching onto her face, letting them both doze off even deeper into their nap. 

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

notes: Hi! I've been lurking here since forever but I'm technically new. English isn't my first language, so please bear with me >< Shakir is one of my first favorites (besides Hogan), and I hope I did his character justice hehe (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) enjoy!

also cross-posted on AO3!

[mikuchan]

Sorry if you already talked about it somewhere, but for your infographics, how do you determine if the character is main, side, or minor character in the fic? Summary? Search through text? I love that part of statistics, and I'm curious about the process

hi!

so it is (at the end of the day) a pretty subjective process. I do manually open almost every fanfic (my ao3 history's a mess, I can't find anything in there now LOL) search for the character name, skim the content, and judge from there. longer details below the cut.

general process -

I say that I open 'almost every' because sometimes it's obvious. If a work's tagged Minthara/OC with a description like 'Minthara tries to adjust to her life in the adventuring party' I will assume that Minthara is the main character.

Otherwise, I open fic in new tab - ctrl + F. I try to make sure I catch misspellings (Jaheira, Jahiera, Jaheria), nicknames, etc. and also make sure I'm not getting false positives (aka the Orin experience:

lol)

I skim through to get a vibe for what the character's role actually is. Do they push the plot along, or are they just there as window dressing? Are they mentioned few and far between, do they appear in one chapter to do something really cool then disappear, are they a constant presence at the main character's side??

I do take writing style into account. Work type too (drabble collections, poetry collections, fanart, fanfiction, etc.)

the actual judging of which category a work fits into -

Main is easy: if the story is focused on them.

Side and background are very case-by-case. I try to think of it like: a side role is when I want to read about a character, but I'm okay if they're not the main character. (or on the flip -- if someone told me they can't stand a character, would I suggest this work to them?) I'd call Isobel a side role in my Shadowheart fic here because she's not a constant presence, she's only in one chapter out of three, but she is an important character with a distinct role.

A minor/background role is like: they are definitely there, they're doing more than a barrel, but they don't have a large role. Again using my own fic for example, I had this Arka/Mizora one tagged as Memnos bc I had big plans for more chapters, but as it stands, he would be a minor character. he's present in the story, but if you were seeking out works about Memnos you might be disappointed.

Mistagged: they are not actually in the work, lol.

I do have a clause to this one that is: can the character be replaced with a barrel without changing the story? Because there will be 100k+ works that go like:

Astarion woke up thinking about Tav. Her beautiful piercing eyes, her long soft flowing hair, the way her cheeks flushed red whenever he purred darling. She was the only one he cared about, and this was very obvious. He left his tent, where could his darling be? He finally found her standing by the campfire next to Halsin and Jaheira.

"Good morning Astarion," Halsin rumbled.

"Hello my incredibly hot vampire lover," Tav simpered.

Jaheira will not perform an action, say a word, or even be mentioned in the entire rest of the work... but she will be tagged. This is, with some rare exceptions, counted as a mistag.

So it's definitely not numbers-driven in the sense of 'if they appear in x percent of the story, they are this role.' I think that would be impossible, actually, because of the huge variety of writing styles, impact, etc. It has to be case-by-case. But I try to be accurate, and I do try to have standards that could be taken & replicated by others.

I do also want to say I don't think all minor tags or mistags are wrong per se. I think it's good to tag in advance (versus adding as you go) so your readers can make an informed decision of whether they want to get invested in this work. So there's an amount that should be expected, and even desired.

But boy oh boy I also think people should stop and think "okay, is Minthara actually important in this work or am I just tagging every character I can think of and clogging up their tags."

Thank you for the ask :) I hope you have a good weekend

[strawhbrrries]

All That Matters, ii.

pairing: cocky!tattoo artist!frank castle x afab!reader

summary: working with a world renowned tattoo artist who knows his own beauty has more cons than pros. the main one being that he's infuriating and it turns you on.

warnings: general banter between frank and reader, jealous reader??, jealous frank?, mutual pining but they're both idiots, cocky frank duh!, tattooed frank with long hair!!, no use of y/n or descriptions of reader, not proofread

word count: 883 words

authors note: it wouldn't be a series if there wasn't some sort of trouble, theo my beloved don't get hurt!! if you want to be added to the tag list just drop a comment! as always, enjoy!

find the masterlist here!

read the first part here!

You waited at the reception desk until the girl from Frank’s booth left before marching yourself right in and leaning against the wall, waiting for him to acknowledge you. He was busy putting away all the machinery he used, throwing away all the single use products and checking his notifications to notice you standing there. It made you feel a bit invisible, you’d unpack this feeling later in the shower.

“I wasn’t staring.” You stated, watching his hair fall around his face when he looked up at you from his chair.

“So what were you doing then? Did you think he was cute? Good thing you already have his number.” He responded, going back to whatever he was doing on his phone before he realized you were there. It almost sounded like he was jealous, but you pushed that thought aside. He had no interest in you.

“Jesus, Frank. Go fuck someone and get rid of the attitude.” You scrunched your nose at his attitude and turned around, instantly regretting whatever voice convinced you to come back here and speak to him. 

“Are you offering?” You heard him call after you, your eyes were practically in the back of your head at his words.

Frank allowed himself to eye your ass the entire time you walked away from him, watching how it moved when you walked and imagining it grinding up against him in a club. If he was drunk would he know it was you? Would you know it was him? He put the image in the back of his mind for later when he showered and needed some help reaching that high only you could give, and you didn’t know you did. 

You spent the entire rest of your shift ignoring him, only speaking to the other artists and telling them to pass on a message for you if you ever needed to talk to him. He spent that entire time trying to figure out what crime he committed, besides being so devilishly handsome, to earn the cold shoulder from you. One of the other artists had finished all his scheduled appointments for the day and decided to sit at the desk with you, generally you got along with everyone you worked with. Except for Frank, the literal guy who owns the place.

In a heated argument towards the beginning of your career as the receptionist, he’d told you he only kept you because he couldn’t find anyone better to do your job. You were proud that you were the best at it, also upset that he disliked you that much he was actively searching to replace you. The resentment for the statement sat at the bottom of your stomach, threatening to spill out every single time he irritated you. Frank paid you well, it wasn’t even a question in your mind if it was worth working there. The jo was easy, the pay was amazing, but your fucking boss.

“Do you wanna go out for some drinks later? Some of the other people wanna go out and I wanted to extend the offer to you.” Theo, the other artist sat next to you, offered. 

“I mean, as long as I’m not a bother.” You smiled, handing him your phone to input his number and then switching to put your number in his phone.

“Never, I’ll shoot you a text with the place and all that shit later.” He shot a smile your way, it almost rivaled Frank’s smile. You rarely saw it though.

Theo had only been there a few months when you got hired, he’d been friends with Frank during their internships and only felt right working next to him. He’d welcomed you with open arms and never made you feel any lesser for your position, in fact he always made his appreciation for you obvious. On most days he picked up some coffee for you when he picked up his breakfast, always making sure to give you a few napkins just in case you spilled. It was a surprise to everyone, but yourself, that you didn’t have his number yet. You knew that the second you let him into your life like that, you wouldn’t keep your hands to yourself.

He almost looked like a blonde version of Frank, way less arrogant about his looks. If they told you they were secretly twins who were separated at birth you would’ve believed in an instant, your mind was blown when you found out they didn’t know each other until they were twenty. His voice wasn’t as deep or rough, just as loud though. You never could see an ink of skin that wasn’t covered in tattoos, on either of them, except Theo’s face. He had this weird thing about never tattooing his face, he’d do other people’s but never his own.

Frank rounded the corner to your desk and frowned the second he saw you two together, laughing. He’d been the one to bring up going out for drinks, he however had no intention of inviting you, he’d look like an even bigger asshole if he told you not to come after his best friend invited you. Theo being so close to you was irritating, Frank. He knew he was attracted to you but jesus, this was a problem.

tag list: @elsvrse

[tripleconecup-trio]

Hi, i made this blog as a joke, but now i think I'm gonna make it into an archive blog of sorts, for all the Triple Cone Cup Trio posts that i find on this website! this blog is run by @witches-dream.

Basically, I'm gonna reblog everything, it's gonna run on a queue and I'm gonna tag everything so you can easy search something up.

‼️‼️ I'm not gonna reblog anything that includes AI in any form. If you notice i reblogged something AI-generated, please lemme know.

So let's go over the tags I'm gonna use (I'm doing this for myself also)

Also as I'm getting used to this, I'll edit posts a lot and add/remove tags until i arrive at a system that I'm happy with.

Individual characters:

#capsaicin cookie

#kouign amann cookie (note that it doesn't have a dash)

#prune juice cookie

Other characters that frequently appear will get their own tags:

(only tagged if they're interacting with the tcc cookies)

#burning spice cookie

#financier cookie

#madeleine cookie

#clotted cream cookie

#shadow milk cookie

#choco drizzle cookie

#pudding a la mode cookie

#green tea mousse cookie

#oc - original characters

#others

Group tags:

#tcc trio - post includes all 3 of them

#polychampions - post includes all 3 of them (shippy)

#prunesaicin - Prune Juice/Capsaicin

#kouignsaicin - Kouign-Amann/Capsaicin

#pruneamann - Prune Juice/Kouign-Amann

#beasts

#iris gem trio - Choco Drizzle, A La Mode and Tea Mousse

#other ships - when other ships are in the post

Other tags:

#AU - posts about Alternate Universes

#fanart

#fanfic

#headcanons

#edits - includes photo and video edits

#animation - gifs and animatics included

#crossover

#boards - moodboards, stimboards, etc

#other posts - memes, shitposts, etc will go here

#comic studio - stuff made in the cookie run comic studio

#username - I will also include the OP's username as a tag so you can search yourself or someone else's TCC posts :D

#rambles - just me talking to myself

Content Warning tags:

#suggestive

#flashing

#body horror

Other tags will be added as needed

[broodsys]

little fandom vent on here instead of my sideblog bc. well. i have too many followers over there akjfjsklf. no detailed game info tho!

without getting into the weeds about it, i am just Really disappointed in the response to veilguard

like every individual has all the right in the world to hate the game and loudly talk about how much they hate it, ofc. it's their blog. i love it beyond reason but not everyone does! and i'm not condemning any one person or anything

it's just sad to see at a broad, generalized level. for a lot of reasons, but the biggest for me is that this game was very intentional in its diversity and its messaging. and it really is a product of this moment; a deliberately queer, neurodivergent, diverse game published - in part - as a response to increasing fascism and rn transphobia in particular

idk. i guess the critiques and condemnations end up feeling a little... tactless to me

they aren't, i get that. again, everyone has the right to feel how they want and post what they want. it's just that it is such a big part of the "fan"base right now that it feels kinda inescapable. either ppl are posting critiques or they're posting responses to critiques (i am guilty of this too! it gets frustrating and the urge to vent and seek out like-minded ppl is Strong...) or ppl comment on your fucking positive posts with critiques

and again. it is fine. it is. my comment is only expressing disappointment at how wide-spread these sentiments are. but it can end up feeling like ppl are missing the forest to nitpick the trees

and it's not like tumblr is some super-secret clubhouse. anyone can search through common tags once they know what to look for. devs can - although they shouldn't, and i'd hope they'd know better than to go looking - but so can companies who are debating about the economic feasibility of adding in a more diverse cast. so can writers - professional or otherwise - who are debating about adding more diversity to their works. and they can see firsthand how the hammer comes down hard on more diverse media

it came out last halloween. that feels like a long time for haters to still be this active and involved, and a short time to have totally sailed past the inherent value of the game and its representation - coming from a triple-a studio, and from a dev team with multiple queer people on it

like. idk. i've never gotten into critiquing shit but is it really so important to share and post.... not to sound totally naive and childish, but can't we just not talk about games we aren't into? personally, i find that easy to do! idk! i'm happier not focusing on things that did disappoint me. most ppl don't even know media i dislike bc i have absolutely no desire to talk about it! ever!

and ik ik, critique is important. it's part of analysis. all that. i'm just tired. and i'm tired of the scale of it all, although i understand, logically, that the angriest voices are often the loudest and are disproportionately represented and not actually indicative of reality

but the reality is i'm still so fucking tired