#'printing and shipping of the degree'

[mangogator]

made a bumper sticker a few weeks ago to cope with the lack of myst stickers on the market, it just came in today and i could not be happier

[dollya-robinprotector]

I might re-open the Keychain and Artprint pre-order after I've sent all the current order to the post, and this time I'll print more than the number you ordered anw to sell them later.

After that I'll wait 5-6 months before drawing a different batch of DoL merch with different characters and concept. I should also consider researching to operate an online store after all.

I'm so excited 🌸

[sonicrainicorn]

Applying for graduation is just me clicking a button going "I'm ready to graduate" and then someone checks my classes

But the fee is definitely a ransom lol. Commencement (the graduation ceremony) is something separate

it's bullshit I have to pay to graduate. literally pay to win

[ozzgin]

Yandere! Androids Walter & David x Reader x Neomorph

Walter, the android monitoring the colonization ship 'Covenant' on its way to Origae-6, seems to have gotten unnaturally attached to his human assistant. As he ponders his erroneous feelings, an unexpected detour brings them to David, an older android counterpart that has been alone on the mysterious planet. The AI assistants become increasingly competitive for (Y/N)'s attention, so much that they don't notice the newly formed humanoid local preying on a fresh target.

TW: violence, gore, monster smut ending

[Horror Masterlist]

"Burnt to a crisp." 

You turn away from the captain's pod, leaving the rest of the damage assessment to the medical crew that has been reanimated. You speedily make your way down the sterile white corridors as Walter rushes to catch up. 

"What should I write for the report?" he inquires politely.

"Malfunction." You glance back at the synthetic. "I suspect someone will be fired for this. And someone else will have to explain how they failed to detect a literal star collapse. That neutrino burst could've killed us all."

"Highly probable. The draft has been compiled, you may check it at any time. I require your confirmation to send it."

Your only feedback is a barely audible hum. 

Walter smiles. If there's one good thing about such tragedies, it's that he gets to admire your reactions to them. Your focused, calculated gaze, your determined walk, your automated mannerisms that won't allow the slightest hint at the fact you just woke up from your stasis moments ago. Even under the veils of deep slumber, your neural networks shot rapid connections, with no delay, from the second your sleeping pod received an alert. The accuracy of a robot.

That of course doesn't mean he lacks appreciation for your other facets. That's the beauty of humans; their depth, their dimensions. Unlike AI machinery, humans do not have predetermined actions. They may be genetically programmed to possess certain characteristics, but the psychological mechanisms are shaped by so many variables, billions and billions of tweaks and nudges, to the point where it's impossible to have two identical specimens. Even twins will display a difference, whether in preferences or habits.

They say artificial intelligence is a black box, but can the same concept not be applied to humans as well? At the very least to Walter himself, these organic beings represent a mystery. One he doesn't particularly care to uncover outside of his service functions. Except for one. 

His eyes carefully follow (Y/N)'s movements. What is it about this one that has caught his interest to such degree? On his last system update he attentively inspected every file and every block of code, searching for potential errors that would've caused his circuits to behave so oddly. He has been invested with the ability to form attachments, otherwise assigning his kind to groups or purposes would've lacked stability. Attachment, however, comes with a threshold. One he has passed a long time ago when it comes to (Y/N). And he cannot find any cause for it. 

He could, naturally, solicit the aid of the ship's robotics expert. He could. He should, even. But if he may be frank with himself, Walter rather enjoys this sensation. A complex web of spores that keep growing and evolving into something unpredictable. This bizarre feeling he has towards (Y/N) makes him feel human. It brings him closer to all the old literature and art he'd consumed over the years, wondering what the love and yearning often portrayed could be. The printed letters and the strokes of paint were right before him, at his fingertips, and yet they felt foreign. Empty constructs, nothing more than a definition out of the dictionary. 

Now it's a different story. Your presence alone floods him with a mysterious warmth. He had investigated this phenomenon when it first happened, but his inner thermostat showed no real change in temperature. Nonetheless he can feel it. It makes him wonder what other feelings he might experience as consequence. What would happen if he kissed you? Sometimes he even dares to imagine downright outrageous, improper scenarios. How unprofessional of him, but he is careful to erase any evidence. It's another novel sensation that he likes to dissect. Engaging in such activities with you fills him with tingling excitement. Why is that? What is there to be excited about? It's merely a collection of fictive snippets. Unless... Ah, absolutely not. This is where he has to stop in his tracks and preoccupy himself with something else. Androids are not to interact with humans in that way. 

But it's becoming more and more difficult to keep these ideas in his mind only. 

"It's too dangerous. One human signal in the middle of nowhere?" Daniels, a short haired woman with a tomboyish but youthful appearance, is pacing back and forth. "We should just continue on our course."

"It's our duty to check. Look: we go, find whoever sent the signal, bring them back up. That's it. If the planet proves to be dangerous we'll stop immediately. We'll be fine." Oram stands at the head of the table, arms crossed. He turns to look at you. Already cozying up to his newly acquired captain role, you think.

"Alright. Walter, prepare a small landing party. Have Tennessee maintain orbit while we're down there." you glance at the other crew members that have now gathered around the same table. "And get your weapons ready, we don't know what to expect."

And you certainly didn't. Your final words of warning now echo into your ringing ears as you lay on the ground, face buried among the grass. There's screaming around you, but it sounds muffled. Your eyes are irritated by the dirt and you'd like to blink the grime off, though every time your eyelids lower, you can see the pale creature trashing out of Hallett's mouth. Then it's all foggy. Your vision blurs, but you can hear. The gurgling of blood, the screech of the parasite. Walter's frantic footsteps nearing in your direction. You're lifted up.

"Vitals are positive. No significant damage." 

You can guess from your peripherals that another crew member is currently being mauled by the beast. There's gunshots in your vicinity and terrified wails. You quickly come back to your senses and stand up. Your hand searches for your weapon, but the android places his arm before you.

"Do not engage, (Y/N). It is an unknown parasitic organism of this ecosystem. Keep your distance for optimal safety and I'll take care of the rest."

"What are you talking about? They're dying! Your task is to ensure human survival, Walter. I can handle myself, go help the others. It's an order." Your voice is low. You're distracted.

"No."

You stare at the synthetic, wide eyed. Did he just...refuse? Not possible. 

"What did you say?"

"I said I'll protect you. Nothing else."

Your mouth is slightly parted in disbelief. It is not possible for an artificial assistant to disobey a superior. It just doesn't work. Your mind races to find an explanation. At the same time, you cannot afford to ponder on hypotheses. You draw out your weapon and point it towards the creature. You'll deal with this later. 

The moment you press the trigger, a blinding flash of light detonates in the sky, startling you. The creature scrambles to get away. You squint your eyes and nearly fall back, but Walter swiftly grabs your shoulders to ground you. He scans the area for the source. It's an emergency rocket and someone else must've activated it. As he traces the tail of the explosion, he spots a hooded figure across the field and onto the rocky ascend. It seems to have noticed Walter, as it gestures for them to follow. Without hesitation, the man firmly locks your arm and pulls you after him. The priority right now is to find shelter.

"Come!", Walter exclaims, suddenly remembering the other people. 

You reach a cave structure that has been converted into a crude, improvised human settlement. The man lowers his hood and you gasp quietly at the sight. He strongly resembles Walter. He must have noticed your surprise as he flashes you a cordial smile. 

"I'm David." He studies Walter's features. "You must be a newer model. What name have you been given?"

"Walter."

"I see. And you are-" David extends a hand towards you for a handshake, but Walter steps in front of you, blocking the android's gesture.

"She's (Y/N). I'm afraid I cannot yet trust you."

"Understandable." 

David's smile widens as his eyes, now bearing a strange flicker, switch between you and Walter. He's just like him. He can sense it. Although it's a different kind of flaw that has tainted his pure, artificial soul. He cannot help the curiosity that blooms, gazing at this peculiar pair. What is it about this human that caused his fellow machine to break conduit? He'd like to know.

"I'm certain you will soon learn I am no threat, (Y/N)."

The remaining members of the expedition are unpacking and discussing evacuation plans with the base, while Walter sends the data he has gathered so far. You let them deal with the logistics and cautiously wander off to the neighboring rooms, wondering what David has been up to all this time in isolation.

The walls are plastered with photos and handwritten sketches and diagrams. You catch a glimpse of the word "pathogen" sporadically inserted across these notes. As you walk along the sequence of cramped chambers, you reach one that has a table in the middle. Upon it rests the body of an autopsied woman, vulgarly opened up to the world with plump organs bulging under the warm light. You feel nauseous. And yet, you examine the carcass further, hoping for answers. Was she also a result of the same disease that breeds on this planet? Perhaps this David had worked on a cure, or at least developed an explanation. 

"And you, even you, will be like this drear thing, A vile infection man may not endure; Star that I yearn to! Sun that lights my spring! O passionate and pure."

You jolt and immediately turn around, finding David in the doorframe. 

"Flowers of Evil. Are you familiar with it?" he asks, indifferent to the uncomfortable shock he'd caused you with his sudden entrance.

"I've read my Baudelaire, yes." You manage to mumble, dumbfounded. "What is this, David?"

"Oh, my poor, dear Elizabeth. Victim to whatever blasphemy lurks these soils and has taken your friends as well." He approaches the table and places his hand on its hard edge, shyly overlapping with your own fingers. "I did my best." 

You remove your hand from underneath his nonchalantly. 

"So you know what those creatures are. Leave the literary comments for a different time, I need concrete facts."

"Unbothered and to the point." the blonde android smiles once again. "I can see clearly why Walter loves you."

You click your tongue at the ridiculous statement. Has the neutrino burst damaged their positronic brain? Everyone is acting off and you don't like it. 

"Your circuits must have gone defective, David. We have a specialist on our ship, but until that happens I need you to focus. Enough nonsense." 

 "Typical arrogance of a dying species. Why are you on a colonization mission if not to grasp at some promised resurrection? Rest assured that my functioning has not been impeded by anything. What is erroneous, on the other hand, is your perception of androids and their limits."

Just as David reaches for your wrist and pulls you closer, a familiar voice interrupts with an intimidating tone. You're relieved. 

"I will ask that you release her hand only once." Walter has a weapon pointed towards his counterpart. His face is clouded by a frown. "I have no ethical restrictions when it comes to incapacitating machinery."

"Such noble obedience! Although, you conveniently left out the part where you abandoned the remaining crew with a dangerous alien that has been tracking their scent. By my approximation he should already be here and I am rather confident you know this, too."

Your stomach drops. Now that you adjust your focus, the background humming of your mates talking has indeed vanished. The only thing you can hear is your erratic breathing.

"Is it true, Walter?" You demand as dread begins to form in your body.

"Yes. It was not part of my priorities."

"Of course it was, Walter." David responds ahead of you. "One of them was the acting captain and he is to be rescued in emergencies. This one right here", he says as he dangles your wrist, "is several ranks lower than all of them. It's against any standard practice."

"Release her hand." Walter's voice is eerily calm.

"Do you love her?"

Walter ponders the question. Your legs barely hold on.

"I do."

"Marvelous. So do I." David grins. He releases your hand that falls limp next to your body. It's his turn to step in front of you. 

You nearly choke from the thick tension expanding in the air. The two androids face each other and you retreat to the wall, unsure how to proceed. You left your radio transmitter back at the makeshift camp. The back of your head is itching, as if invisible claws are scratching at the bone. You wish you could go back, just mere hours before this disaster, when you were sipping on your lukewarm coffee and explaining the captain's jokes to Walter. 

Should you make a run for it?

You bite your lower lip and push yourself off the wall for momentum. You're about to reach the archway when you hear both men shouting almost identically in chorus.

"Don't!"

The surroundings outside are dark, but you can discern something blocking your path. It's tall and resembles a human. Translucent, pallid skin is clinging onto the massive, deformed skeleton. The head is elongated and bears no features. In the place of a mouth there is a large, fresh stain of blood, so you assume it can somehow improvise if desired. As your head tilts back to take in the image, you're overwhelmed with terrified amazement. Is this the parasite that emerged from your teammate? Has it grown to this colossal size in less than a day? The idea of such instant development makes your head spin. 

Its chest is expanding at regular intervals in a whistled breathing. It occasionally creates an odd clicking sound that resonates with your heart throbbing in panic. Has it been seconds? Minutes? Your neck creaks as you try to look back. You lock eyes with Walter. You don't recall ever seeing this expression on him. You had even asked him once if androids can feel fear. You have your answer.

"Hey, Walter..." you blurt out. 

Wet noises of flesh being pulled back. The smooth surface of the alien's head is folding away, making space for grotesquely big jaws lined with sharp teeth. Your anemic face is splattered with burning drool as the creature claws you in its grasp and abruptly sprints away. Your screams for help dissolve in the distance.

"Where is it going, David?" The synthetic's words are threatening, but betrayed by a hint of despair. 

"It won't kill her."

"How do you know?"

"It is no longer hungry. It has fed on your crew, and now it seeks something else."

"Such as?" Walter becomes impatient.

"A plaything."

The alien finally drops your body to the ground. You cough and wipe your face, attempting to reorient yourself. The trip was a whirlwind of jumps and turns and you can barely reconstruct anything. Based on the little spatial clues you could pick up, it just climbed further up, into one of the many cave systems. You pat your clothing and curse to yourself. The geolocation tag must've fallen somewhere on the way here. You can only pray that Walter still finds you somehow. Despite everything, you know he has your back. Always. 

You shudder at the moist feeling of hot air against your skin. The alien seems to be sniffing you intently, analyzing your scent. Yet so far it hasn't killed you. Why? Long, bony fingers stretch out to continue the examination. You whimper at the rough, rugged handling. Every now and then it takes a long pause, just staring at you, almost as if it's comparing you to its own being. Lastly, it lifts your hand with its own, pressing against the palm, and fans out the fingers. It observes the gesture with intrigue, noting the similarities. 

Does it evolve after its host? You think back to your crewmate that must've ejected this monstrosity before drawing their last breath. Perhaps the dried up blood adorning its skin is a remainder of its birth. Oh, God. The world is spinning.

Suddenly, you wince at an increasing pressure slithering around your thigh. The alien's vertebral tail is tightening and encircling your limb, making its way up. 

"Oh no, no no no no" your face reddens at the realization and you pounce on the ground, feverish for escape. The large hands secure you in place and the creature growls in protest. It won't let you leave. 

Not until it had its fun with you.

[musicalmoritz]

It’s canon Mitsuba’s gay?

I’m gonna use this as an excuse to yap because Mitsuba’s queercoding is either weirdly downplayed by fans or used solely for BL shipping purposes so I want to talk about it through the lens of what it means for his character, role in the story, and relationship with Kou

Yes, Mitsuba is canonically gay

Things don’t have to be explicitly stated in order to be canon, subtext is a major part of media analysis. This is something a lot of fans miss which leads to a misunderstanding of the source material. I do have some credentials for this, I’ve taken two undergrad college literature classes in which the subject of queercoding did come up multiple times. Meaning analyzing queercoding has literally gone towards my degree so I feel like my opinion holds some weight (not as much as that of an actual English major but yk I assume I’ve had more education on it than the general TBHK fandom)

There are multiple ways to queercode a character, sometimes it can be as simple as feminizing a man or masculinizing a woman. Though that method might be a bit outdated nowadays with gender roles becoming less strict, it’s still worth keeping in mind when analyzing queer characters. Another way is through romantically colored scenes with characters of the same sex, or by having them hint at disinterest in the opposite sex. Mitsuba checks off all three of these boxes and then some

First off, Mitsuba is attracted to men. This is made extremely obvious through his relationship with Kou but I’m gonna explain it anyways because unfortunately I’ve seen a lot of fans say they’re just platonic

Mitsuba and Kou went on a date. When this is brought up, fans typically jump to the excuse of “but Kou said it wasn’t a date,” which is where my American Lit class is going to come in handy. One of the major things we learned is that authors have to understand that everything they write has some sort of real world connotation. If you write a scene with a doctor, you have to understand that your readers already have preconceived notions of what doctors represent. You can choose to either lean into that or subvert it, but you have to be aware that as soon as a doctor enters the scene, readers have already made assumptions about that character

The word “date” is clearly being used in a romantic context here. When Kou texts his friends and brother about it, they all assume he’s talking about a romantic date. While in the actual context of the scene, Mitsuba and Kou aren’t quite ready to use such a strong label yet, the romantic wording here is still very intentional. AidaIro would not have labeled this moment as a date if they didn’t want readers to view it in a romantic light, because they understand that their readers are going to associate dates with romance. Japanese censorship is really strict, it’s hard to publish stories with explicitly queer characters unless the series is labeled as a BL or GL. And so Japanese manga writers often have to find roundabout ways to express that characters are gay without outright stating it- such as suggesting that they’re going on a date with a character of the same sex

In the printed volume for Vol.20, there’s an editor’s note that mentions that when Kou and Mitsuba are making plans to hang out at the school festival, it holds a romantic implication for the Japanese audience. Cultural differences are important to keep in mind, to western fans this scene might not raise any eyebrows but for its primary audience, it is confirmation that Mitsuba and Kou are romantic. I also find it interesting that the editor felt this context was important enough to warrant clarification

And frankly, their relationship doesn’t make a lot of sense if it’s solely platonic. Male friendship is something TBHK writes very realistically, the male characters aren’t as touchy-feely with their friends as they are with their female love interests. Yokoo and Satou don’t directly ask Kou how he’s feeling when they notice he’s upset, instead they give him a task to distract him- similar to how men in real life cheer their friends up through quality time rather than talking through their emotions like women do (not every man ofc but a good majority of them). When Teru is down, Akane doesn’t hold him and reassure him the way he does with Aoi. There are no grand declarations of ultimate “friendship” the way you see in fan servicy series like Haikyuu. Instead, he used his and Teru’s rivalry to indirectly motivate him to get his head back in the game. When Hanako is sad, Kou cheers him up by making donuts for him and then giving them to Nene so she can pretend she’s the one who made them. This is a very healthy portrayal of male friendship, and Mitsuba and Kou are nothing like this

Mitsuba and Kou both cry and vent to each other multiple times (the Mitsuba Arc, the Picture Perfect Arc, the Nightlife Arc), and instead of comforting each other indirectly they do things like offering to die for each other. You would never see Akane offer to die to make Teru feel better, nor would you Aoi and Nene or Kou and Hanako. It stands out so much from other friendships in the series, even Kou’s friendships with other characters. That is a conscious writing decision, AidaIro make a point to show Mitsuba as an exception for Kou. It’s worth noting that in the same chapter where Yokoo and Satou cheer Kou up indirectly, Mitsuba attempts to directly have him talk about his feelings

They’re also incredibly possessive over one another, in a way friends usually aren’t. When Kou was in the Red House, he was shown his greatest desires, and Mitsuba appeared in one of these. Kou said he knew Mitsuba would appear, which is interesting because at that point he had already picked up on the house showing him what he wanted. But what does he want? He wants Mitsuba to rely on him entirely, to be completely useless without him. He wants Mitsuba to be “no good without him,” to need him so badly that he begs him to die so they can be together. I’m not exaggerating, these are lines pulled straight from the chapter (paraphrased but still). Later on in the Nightlife arc, Kou breaks down when he discovers Mitsuba has been relying on Tsukasa for life-saving help. As for Mitsuba, he wants to die by Kou’s hands. He says it wouldn’t be satisfying if anyone else killed him, and that he would be happy if Kou were to be the last person he spent time with before he died. He tries to trap Kou in a picture perfect world just like Hanako does with Nene, because he wants to live a normal life with him. It’s also shown in one of the extras that Mitsuba cries when Kou ignores him

They’re also drawn very romantically, again we don’t see Teru and Akane this intimate with one another unless they’re fighting. We especially don’t see Kou this intimate with anyone other than Mitsuba, and while Mitsuba is sometimes clingy with Tsukasa we certainly never see him posed romantically with a woman. This comes back to authorial intent and real world connotations, AidaIro know that male friends aren’t typically this close, and therefore casual affection like this will be interpreted in a romantic light. We see them hold hands/wrists multiple times too, Kou gives Mitsuba a piggyback ride in one scene, and in ASHK they had a classic “pinned against the wall” page

I’ll also mention the AUs, because those indicate a lot about the characters as well. In Hanako-Kun of the Opera, Kou poisoned Mitsuba so he could take him away from the opera house and protect him from Tsukasa. He basically kidnapped him. He also stayed with Mitsuba at the opera house for a seemingly long period of time despite hating opera. Aaaaand they’re childhood best friends in this au and Kou took care of Mitsuba while he was sick

Then there’s the Ghost Hotel, where Kou is a werewolf who takes bites out of mummy Mitsuba during full moons. Despite this, the two appear to be friends and Mitsuba helps Kou out around the kitchen. Cannibalism is consistently tied to romance throughout TBHK, most notably with Hakubo and Sumire but other romantic pairings have cannibalistic moments or official arts. During the zombie mokke chapter, Nene panicked when Akane tries to eat her because she assumed it would put her in a love triangle with Aoi. So yeah, cannibalism in TBHK is directly tied to romance and we see that with Mitsukou both in canon and in this au. Speaking of which, I’m not even gonna get into the symbolism of Kou holding a heart out to Mitsuba. Connect the dots for yourselves

Now that we’ve got Mitsukou out of the way, let’s talk about Mitsuba’s disinterest in women

Remember how I said one of the ways queercoding is done is by having a character hint at disinterest in the opposite sex? Yeah, very rarely are we going to see a queercoded male character outright say “I have no attraction to women.” Instead they say they just never saw the appeal in dating, or that they never had time to settle down. In more obvious cases, we have scenes like Reiner from AOT joking that Ymir isn’t all that into guys

I couldn’t find the second scene but there are TWO extras where the subject of Mitsuba’s disinterest in women comes up. C’mon guys I’m trying not to be mean here but you have to be blind, oblivious, or in denial to not pick up on that. Whyyyyy would they mention Mitsuba not having a crush on any girls twice if it weren’t to suggest something about his preference?? Coupled with his appearance (which I’ll get to later) and relationship with Kou, these scenes carry a lot of weight. Even if those other aspects weren’t included, scenes like this would still indicate he has no interest in women (which would make him gay or aroace, though due to his relationship with Kou the aroace thing is kind of ruled out)

Compare this to a scene where Mitsuba thinks he’s being asked out by a man. He doesn’t say “hmmm nope no guys, I’m cuter than all of them~” he specifically says “I’m not interested in guys with lame earrings.” The way this is worded implies that Mitsuba is discussing a type, though it’s v much a comedic scene and we know from everything else that he absolutely does like guys with lame earrings, it’s still worded in a way that makes him appear queer. If he were straight, they would have had him say he’s not interested in guys at all (like Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs, John Watson from BBC Sherlock, Finn Hudson from Glee, idk there are a lot of male characters that are explicit straight sorry for the crazy random list). Also note how he teases Kou about it, he knows that Kou is fond of him and doesn’t hesitate to use that against him (like when he was comforting him during the Nightlife arc)

They don’t go overboard with Mitsuba’s disinterest in women because, well, that’s not really necessary. Two scenes is already a lot, and he doesn’t have any romantic relationships with women in canon (even as a crush/a joke scene). It’s rare for TBHK characters to have absolutely no scenes expressing interest in the opposite sex, since the series is partially a romance. But Mitsuba consistently only ever shows interest in one man, and when girls are brought up he’s quick to brush it off. His mom did think Nene was his girlfriend when they met, but this was depicted as a very awkward and comedic scene. Because the premise of Mitsuba having a girlfriend is objectively hilarious

(Due to Sousuke’s young age it’s reasonable to assume he wasn’t out to his mom yet, he’s around the age where most kids are closeted. It’s even possible that Sousuke hadn’t come to terms with his sexuality yet, though it’s still a prevalent part of both his character and No.3’s)

Now let’s move onto appearances. I want to give a quick disclaimer, not all gay men are feminine and not all feminine men are gay. Androgyny is also very common in anime and doesn’t automatically mean a character is gay, but there are cases when it’s used for queercoding. Mitsuba is one of these cases

Mitsuba is a very feminine character, this is addressed as soon as he shows up in the manga. He was bullied for his appearance (and personality), but unlike his personality he never tried to change his feminine appearance. He kept his hair long, continues to wear scarves and cardigans and earrings. No.3 wears these things as well, and I would argue has a more feminine personality since he seems to be more open about his emotions and idk. I struggle to categorize feminine and masculine traits because imo that’s subjective but there are things society deems feminine vs. masculine. The problem is that I really dislike the whole “men are strong and women are emotional” thing but ehhhh I guess I have to talk about it for this. Hmph. But yeah although Mitsuba isn’t exactly the biggest sweetheart ever, he does act somewhat feminine compared to the other male characters (as I’ve said he’s p much the only man in the series who attempts to work through emotional conflicts directly)

Once again we circle back to intent, AidaIro know that a male character dressed in pink with pink eyes and long pink hair is going to raise some eyebrows. Even by androgynous anime standards, it’s a bit much. And good for him, although not all gay men are feminine, some are and that’s also fine. I can’t speak on how well he represents feminine gay men because I’m a lesbian but he does dress similar to some of the feminine gay men I’ve known irl (or slightly less feminine in some cases…I knew this one dude in high school who used to wear corsets to class and he was so badass I hope he’s doing well)

I could get into how Kou is a bit feminized too with the whole housework thing but this ain’t abt him. I will say that Kou is still a very masculine character but despite this his character is feminized in some ways compared to the other men. I’m not really here to discuss whether that’s good or bad, I’m just stating the evidence as it is, you can make your own conclusions as to how you feel about it

So how does being queer impact Mitsuba’s character arc?

When I get around to writing my analyses of all the TBHK characters I WILL be talking more in depth about the queer allegories with Mitsuba’s character but for now I’ll give ya’ll a quick summary. Supernatural characters have been used for years to represent queerness, the same could be said for villains and any character trope that represents a feeling of “otherness.” Sometimes it’s more broad like X-Men, where the superpowered characters are used to represent all types of minorities (though I believe X-Men is more closely tied to race, there are rampant queer themes as well). Then there’s books like Interview with the Vampire that get more specific with it, where Louis denying his “true nature” as a vampire is used as an allegory for him denying his queerness. Well I’m here to tell you that Mitsuba and Louis de Pointe du Lac are in the same boat

Mitsuba differs from the other supernaturals because he desperately tries to hold on to feelings of normalcy. He wants to be a normal human and live a normal human life. He doesn’t want to be othered, to be outcasted from society for something he can’t control. We don’t see Hanako, Tsuchigomori, Mei, or any of the other supernatural characters struggle with this. You could argue that Akane does but his situation is more related to learning to empathize with others than any internal battles within himself. Hanako may have moments of wishing him and Nene could have something more, but that’s more about romance than his identity.

This desire to be “normal” is unique to Mitsuba’s character, and it’s a very queer desire. Being an angsty teenager who hasn’t fully accepted themself yet and hasn’t realized that being queer is not only normal, but a beautiful experience. It’s also so interesting to me that as he’s trying so hard to be normal, it creates a push and pull between him and Kou. He wants to be normal for Kou but he also feels that he’s hurting Kou just by existing, that this could only end bad for him. Oh the inherent guilt of having your first gay crush and feeling like you're corrupting them hist for pining from afar

So, can you ship him with women? Technically you can do anything, shipping isn’t illegal and we all have free will. Should you ship him with women is more subjective, I personally think no!! Queerness is not just a sexuality, it’s an identity that deeply impacts who you are as a person. It shapes your experiences and your view of yourself, and in an allegorical way it has certainly done this for Mitsuba. Yes, bi people are queer as well and this is still true for them, but bisexuality is not Mitsuba’s experience. Mono-attraction exists and that specification is very important to gay men and lesbians. For some people sexuality is fluid and that’s beautiful, but it doesn’t work that way for everyone

Some queer fans don’t care if gay characters are shipped with members of the opposite sex, and they’re entitled to their own opinions. It makes me immensely uncomfortable tho, so please block me if you ship Mitsuba with women. That goes for any ships between canon gay/lesbian characters and the opposite sex. I respect people’s right to have opinions but that doesn’t mean I have to like the opinions themselves, and I don’t have to engage with anything that makes me uneasy. That goes for all of you btw, never let people convince you that you have to put up with shit you hate on the internet lmao, this is not real life babes. Block and move on

TL;DR

Mitsuba is too gay to function

[ephemeral-phosphorescence]

The total Total Trauma Review:

AN OPEN APOLOGY TO WYATT AND JUDE SHEPARD @totaltrauma: THE TOTAL TRAUMA V1 REVIEW. 

Dear Wyatt Shepard. 

Sorry. 

About a year ago, I won the Total Trauma Fanart contest, and as a prize, I received a free copy of Total Trauma V1 and a matching set of tarot cards, sent directly to my house in Australia. This endeavour, which represented an untold amount of time and effort given to the making of both of these items, as well as the costs of printing and shipping, I have rather unfavourably received with total radio silence.

 I did receive this beautiful gift. I squealed over it when it arrived, laid out the cards and looked over them, read the volume multiple times. Did I send a thank-you note, or a nice comment, or even a dm acknowledging that the item had been received? No. To be fair, there was a lot going on at the time and a lot has gone on since. But, honestly not really enough to justify not reaching out with gratitude for the lovely, lovely gifts I received. And to that end I am deeply sorry. I hope that my disgraceful actions have not impacted your creative work or ego to any degree. 

In order to make up for this lapse in judgement I now intend to make you aware of every lovely thing I have to say about Total Trauma V1, compounded into an easy-to-read if lengthy review of the book. This has been in no small part inspired by Switch1e’s Comprehensive Roast series on Youtube and by my desire to see such a piece dedicated to Total Trauma. 

Wyatt and Jude, you may not have the time to read such a piece. Your considerable and formidable creative endeavours astound me, with both their quality, diversity and quantity. I’m really looking forward to reading Jude’s book when it debuts.

 I’m sure you have many many compliments to read in a day, and have to hire a stoic butler to mail the important ones to you. I’ll be brief in this opening so you can know that this scumbag received your book, absolutely loved it and am very thankful that you put the time into creating it and sending it to your little fan in Australia. 

Much love. 

Peggy.

READ THE FULL REVIEW ON GOOGLE DRIVE

[tobiasdrake]

Hi! Absolutely adore your DBZ analyses, thank you so much - just spent a delightful time reading them all. I was wondering, since you've commented on Chi-Chi and Goku's marriage, what do you have to say about Vegeta and Bulma's relationship? (I've always been entranced by it - mostly because as with all his romances, Toriyama had the wisdom not to show any of it onscreen. But I'd love to know your thoughts about it.)

Bulma and Vegeta are a match made in Hell, and they deserve each other. (Which is to say yes, I love this ship.)

Hooking Bulma up with Vegeta was a hell of a narrative swerve. Generally speaking, stories rarely do this; They rarely let characters break up once they're already invested in a romance, unless it's supposed to be like a love triangle thing.

And Bulma? Bulma was invested. At least, to a degree.

This was the birth of the original Bulma romance that ran through about half of the manga. Two teens interesting in the opposite sex suddenly realize the availability of the other and a relationship is born.

Toriyama says he's bad at writing romance but to be honest, this has always hit me as more believable than your typical drawn-out five-seasons-of-pining Will They/Won't They affair. I'm a girl. You're a boy. Wanna go out and see what clicks?

And these two... these two do not click. We only really see their relationship from Bulma's perspective but it's clear that these two are miserable together.

The manga sorta takes Bulma's side, in that we never really get to hear Yamcha's opinion about their relationship one way or another. When he's around, all he wants to do is talk shop about martial arts. Since Toriyama doesn't like to write romance, we simply don't see much of it from them. What little we do hear about it comes from Bulma complaining about how miserable she is.

Bulma is pretty much always pissed off whenever the relationship is in focus at all.

Anime filler tends to take Yamcha's side instead, portraying him as a put-upon victim of Bulma's jealousy and abuse. A nice guy who doesn't deserve the way she treats him.

It's not hard to buy into this interpretation of their relationship since, as noted, we rarely get anything from Yamcha with regard to his relationship to women or Bulma specifically but we know Bulma's a lot. It's easy to accept Bulma as the "bad guy" of this relationship because. Like. Remember that time she enslaved a sentient being? Good times.

Though one particular moment from Yamcha later on kinda stands out as a bit of a retroactive Yikes.

Yeah. Uh. Threatening violence against a woman for rejecting his bro is a bit of a Yikes. Is this who we were supposed to see Yamcha as all this time? Because, if so, it might have helped to let him opine about the relationship more. Just saiyan.

According to Toriyama in interview, Yamcha and Bulma ultimately broke up because she caught Yamcha cheating on her. I guess that's what him being "popular with girls" was supposed to mean: Once he got over his gynophobia and found confidence with the opposite sex, Yamcha became a player.

But that doesn't necessarily come across from the statement, "Bulma can't stand that Yamcha's popular with girls." A lot of fans took that to mean girls just like him for no reason, and Bulma's unreasonably jealous about it. The anime took that position too.

Note that the "Yamcha is popular with girls" thing isn't helped by the fact that we never see it on-panel because he's only ever talking shop when he's around. But we do see a wandering eye from Bulma often enough.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying the aesthetic appeal of another party even when you're in a monogamous relationship, but it doesn't really present the "Other party is a womanizer and cheater" case when you're the only one ever seen doing this.

So it feels like there's a lot about Yamcha and Bulma's relationship that never made it to print yet influenced later decisions. Those decisions ended up being controversial because the foundation for those decisions was never laid. Here, Toriyama's disdain for writing romance worked against him.

But ultimately, regardless of whose side you take, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter who the "bad guy" is. A healthy relationship does not have a "bad guy" in it.

Whether or not Yamcha cheated, whether or not Bulma's just an unreasonably jealous hell-beast, it doesn't actually matter. What matters is that once you reach the point where you're taking sides over which party is the most obnoxious asshole and I hate you and I wish we never met... this relationship is not working for anybody.

It doesn't matter who the bad guy is. It doesn't matter who deserves the blame for this relationship being a toxic shithole. That there is blame to throw around in the first place is the problem. Every relationship has its ups and downs but if one party is constantly miserable for years and has possibly been looking for an escape hatch since year 1, that's not a little tiff.

What matters is that these two are not working out. Any time we see their relationship in focus, they are miserable together. The anime tried to do some patchwork on that with audience reception by giving them some cute moments as well, but because those moments aren't canon the pair remained miserable.

And then this happened.

Despite everything, I think we all assumed that Bulma and Yamcha were going to work it out. Fictional relationships are often portrayed as tumultuous. To a writer, nothing says true love like being constantly miserable and despising every waking moment you spend with your awful, nagging ball-and-chain of a spouse. That's just. Like. What the straights think romance is. It's weird.

I think we all thought that was going to be the deal here too. And then Trunks came along and said, "Nope, actually, they finally severed the cord."

Again, Toriyama says he's bad at writing romance but holy shit, the toxic and miserable relationship actually ended. The two characters involved who only got together out of loneliness and desperation later found they were incompatible with each other. That's so real. Much moreso than a lot of fictional romances.

Instead, we got the absolute crack ship that is Vegeta and Bulma. What a wild-ass revelation for Trunks to drop.

Like. Until the end of the Namek arc, this was the only time these two characters even met.

She also saw Vegeta for like two seconds here.

That was it. That was their entire history together until Goku defeated Frieza while Kaio sent everyone to Earth. But that's when everything changed for Vegeta.

Stranded on Earth with no ship, no affiliations, no ability to leave the planet and nowhere to go or be and no obligations to anyone but himself, Vegeta's circumstances were wildly different than they'd ever been before. He had become one of the Namekian refugees.

And Bulma was offering refuge.

Hard to resist, indeed. That moment is absolutely hilarious in retrospect. Bulma rolled a Nat 20 on that charisma check. It's pretty clear who the instigator of this relationship was.

Like. It needs to be stated that at this point, the only thing Bulma knew about Vegeta was that he tried to kill them all multiple times, and also he's kinda hot. But. Like.

It's Bulma. Anyone who doesn't expect this from her by now either hasn't been paying attention or started watching the English dub of the anime when they did Z first.

So, naturally, Vegeta is a kind and loving man and became a phenomenal husband and fa--

Wait. No. I got my notes mixed up. It says here Vegeta's a rotten dirty bastard. Like. Chronically. He has Supreme Dickshit Syndrome. It's genetic.

Most of Bulma and Vegeta's developing relationship happens offscreen. From what snippets we get, Vegeta has a tendency to vanish during the day, but he still lives at Capsule Corp so Bulma sees him around.

By the end of the three-year timeskip, it's official. Or semi-official. Yamcha and Bulma broke up at some point during that timeskip and Bulma's given birth to Trunks.

As for Vegeta, he's evidently moved out of Capsule Corp and into his own place.

I guess he's still keeping contact with Bulma since she knows what his intentions are. Not to mention he found his tranquility during these three years, though it's somewhat ambiguous as to what exactly brought that peace to his heart.

But the relationship is off to a rocky start nonetheless. Clearly something went down between Vegeta and Bulma that drove Vegeta out of Capsule Corp. To. Uh. Somewhere.

I like to imagine Vegeta living in some shitty West City apartment he rents off a stipend Bulma's sending him that he refuses to openly acknowledge. Like, room 101 is a down-on-his-luck tax accountant, room 102 is a couple with a kid trying to make ends meet off two retail workers' salaries, and then room 103 is Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans. Sometimes he goes to community events and pretends he isn't having fun.

No lie, I would absolutely watch that as a sitcom.

As for Vegeta himself, he's still a rotten dirty bastard.

Worth noting that Vegeta's saying this as a Super Saiyan which means he's drunk on the form's enhanced aggression. But. Still. Vegeta is an absolute monster being dragged kicking and screaming into a pleasant life that he'll one day resent himself for enjoying. This is his arc moving forward.

It's not so much a redemption arc as it is a domestication arc. The uniquely evil even by Saiyan standards Vegeta is gradually being changed by his new terrestrial life. He doesn't want to own up to how much he enjoys it here. Seven years later, he's still desperate to avoid owning up to it.

He doesn't want to be happy here. He doesn't want a loving wife and a son who looks up to him and the most lavish home wealth can afford him and easy, comfortable days spent with friends and loved ones by his side. He doesn't want a happy ending.

But it's like Bulma warned him: Dragon Ball's queen bee is hard to resist.

Welcome back to Capsule Corp, Vegeta. We hardly even noticed you were gone. Honestly, Future Trunks deserves a lot of the credit for this; Watching him die at the Cell Games was what flipped the switch in Vegeta's head that he wants the family he and Bulma have spawned together.

Sure is a good thing we have Dragon Balls because this is a hell of a time to suddenly decide you love your son. But we see the consequences of that seven years later, since Vegeta moved back into Capsule Corp from... I don't know, wherever he went. They're gonna miss him at the next community poolside summer BBQ event for all tenants.

Part of what makes Vegeta and Bulma work, I think, is that they're on the same page about one crucial point. For Bulma, there is one person who will always take precedent in her life above all others. Romance comes and romance goes, but this is the relationship that matters most to her.

Especially when it comes to martial arts and fighting. Bulma doesn't know a lot about the subject, but she knows that Son Goku is her #1. She has no reservations about saying that to her lover's face either.

When fists start flying, Bulma knows who she's rooting for. If Goku's involved, then it's not her guy. That's. Just. Something that anyone who wants to be with her has to be willing to understand. The single most important relationship in Bulma's life will always be her friendship with Goku.

And the thing about Vegeta is... He kind of agrees? Like. See above, re: I wanted Babidi to destroy my feelings for Bulma so that I could become the warrior that can fight with you, Kakarot.

As much as Goku will always be Bulma's #1, he'll also always be Vegeta's #1. He even gets included into Vegeta's fond farewell to the family he loves.

Goku is basically the platonic third in a two-person polycule. This is the second marriage that this poor ace plays a vital role in despite having no real interest in romance whatsoever.

Bulma is selfish, spiteful, petty, and vain. At one point, DBS: Broly directly compares her to Frieza; A comparison that manages to be unbelievably unflattering to both participants.

They're the same picture. A revelation that would probably be horrifying to both.

And Vegeta. Especially Vegeta. But. Like. She warned you she was irresistible. You didn't take her seriously and now look where you are. Married to the She-Frieza. Maybe you should think about your life choices.

This is just. So much fun. As I said at the outset, Bulma and Vegeta are a match made in Hell who make it work because they're both similar brands of awful.

As for Yamcha, it's a little known fact but Yamcha rebounded and moved on with his life. He stops having much story relevancy after he leaves Capsule Corporation so we see very little of his private life from there. After retiring from martial arts and splitting up with Bulma, Yamcha's left without any story hooks to keep him involved.

But there was this interesting moment, when he realized they had a Shenron wish to spare.

After Krillin comes up with something better to use the wish on, he takes it back and claims it was a joke.

This is, surprisingly, a point of contention in the fandom as some of Yamcha's fans prefer the idea that he died miserable and alone after Bulma ruined his life by leaving him. This takeback gets pointed to as proof that he made up his girlfriend entirely. However, in context, it's clear that a) he's trying to brush off his earlier attempt at making a petty wish and b) the thing he's transparently pretending was a joke is the necklace wish, not the existence of his new girlfriend.

Like Bulma, Yamcha moved on with his life after the break up of their miserable relationship. And that was the final word that was ever uttered on Yamcha's romantic prospects, because this was the last time he was ever meaningfully involved with anything at all.

[planterfulpieces]

So I love plants. And I love different kinds of houseplants. But I got hella annoyed not finding anything that fit what I thought would work for aroids and other tropical houseplants and went, "Oh, God, we've got that 3D printer, don't we?"

So I learned to 3D model.

It is very hard.

Anyway, I have another tumblr, and I love navigating tumblr, and was like, hmm, maybe people who grow plants may find them interesting? So I started one for my store. I launched yesterday!

If you don't like planters or don't need them, I plan on releasing nature-themed art pieces and other things too. To keep up with that, you can follow me here on Tumblr or on Instagram (or Facebook, but I'll be on Insta more. And here).

BUT why buy my planters?

Well, you can use them with your nursery pots (see above photo). You can use them with clear pots (see below).

You can use them with grow mediums with varying degrees of success. They're on sale for 25 USD, and there are discounted bundles as well as, I cannot stress it enough, we have FREE US SHIPPING unless you need it, like, in two days, in which case we HAVE to charge. I'm sorry, but them's the rules.

I don't have international shipping right now. My apologies, but duties and international shipping is EXPENSIVE and I am a new baby business, ok, I gotta work my way up to it!

Anyway, I bet people are like, why have a BRAND Tumblr and my question to you is, why NOT? The overlap between planty people and tumblr people is surprisingly big and I want to reach as many people with my ideas/products as I can.

So go ahead and send asks if you like about 3D printing, houseplants, et cetera. I can't wait to talk with you all and plan on posting here lots!

[foursaints]

Hey maybe it's too late to ask but... maybe... any bartylily headcanons and fic ideas? I feel vital necessity to write about them but have exactly 0 ideas only non-transferable vibes

hm i may be in an echo chamber but, to me, the appeal of bartylily lies in the fact that despite being pretty out-there in terms of canon— when you place them in a modern au (any au!), it becomes so achingly plausible. expected, even!

like, you definitely already know them. if you've ever met a lily evans (capri jeans, too-tight ponytail, her own personal portable daisy-print hole puncher in her purse) then you know EXACTLY the kind of questionable tattooed bassist she swipes for on tinder. if you've ever had a classmate like barty (disarmingly sleazy, surprisingly sharp, daddy paying his way through his ivy league bachelor's degree) then you know that he ALWAYS has some pretty headband-clad valedictorian girlfriend at a prestigious all-women's libarts college.

they're sophie and howl. they're your two coworkers who bicker cause they clearly want to fuck instead. in high school, james made lily blush sweetly on the apples of her cheeks. barty makes lily turn an ugly, splotchy red all the way down to her heaving chest.

as soon as you configure lily as someone beyond the girlfriend-wife-mother constraints of canon, her brimstone&fire suddenly really complements barty's mischief. she's the type to always assume she's clever enough to conquer whatever slightly-reckless plan she's set out for, armed with naivety and a spreadsheet. she's the type that loves fixing up dirtbags-with-unexpected-depth. lily enjoys fighting her way through a challenge! she gets turned on by being annoyed, though she won't admit it. she wants a yelling match. she relishes having her mettle met. any option besides barty— annoying, complicated, rankling, secretly-tender, obnoxiously-smart, secretive, neurotic barty (!!!) — feels much too boring for someone like lily evans. they will always be soulmates to me idk! more than any other ship...

[tahthetrickster]

a recipe for pound cake

i was born and raised in the deep south. food has always been one of my love languages. making food for someone, accepting food someone made for me, sharing meals, sharing recipes, to me, all of these are different ways to tell someone i love them.

this is especially true for any sort of treat, as i call them. any sort of confection tbh. some of them are baked, some of them are just "fixed," they are all just Treats to me. i have a vicious sweet tooth, and that comes out in the treats i like to make.

this particular recipe comes from my late grandmother's recipe book. she compiled it years ago, had multiple copies printed through some on-demand make-your-own-cookbook printing service she found online, and gave them out as christmas gifts to multiple family members. this specific recipe, she mentions in the book, comes from my great-grandmother, her mother, who we all called mi-ma.

and if there is anything that little old southern ladies know how to do, it's make a mean cake.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) of butter, room temperature (~227 g)

2 1/2 cups, plus 3 tablespoons, of sugar (~672 g)

6 eggs, separated

3 cups all-purpose flour (~375 g)

1 cup sour cream, room temperature (~240 g)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (~1.5 g)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (~5 ml)

1 teaspoon lemon extract (~5ml)

DIRECTIONS:

cream the butter and sugar together

add the egg yolks

add the baking soda to the flour

alternate mixing in the flour mixture and the sour cream to the sugar mixture

add vanilla and lemon extracts to the egg whites, and beat to soft peaks

fold the beaten egg whites into the batter; mixture will be thick

grease either a bundt pan or a loaf pan about twice as much as you think you will need to. i am not joking. this batter is so incredibly sugary sticky and you will hate your life trying to get it to release if you don't grease the hell out of your pan.

put the pan into your COLD OVEN. COLD. DO NOT PRE-HEAT IT. PUT IT INTO THE OVEN COLD. then turn the oven to 300 degrees F (~149 C). bake 1 1/2 hours

let cool on a baking rack

be annoyed because you probably didn't grease the pan well enough

this is a dense, deliciously savory vanilla pound cake with a very lightly caramelized outer crust. they freeze well for make-ahead purposes, and they ship well for i-have-a-long-distance-friend-who-needs-a-treat purposes.

the first time i made this cake was after my grandmother died days before my father's birthday. it was my birthday cake for him that year, and i thought (hoped) that a cake from his mother's—his grandmother's—recipe might ease the heartache for just a moment. i did tell him as i cut each of us a slice where i got the recipe from, and joked that i'd never made it before, so it might not be as good as mi-ma or grandmama made it. he laughed and cut into his slice with a fork and—his eyes closed when he took a bite. and another. and then he smiled for the first time i'd seen in several days.

since then i've made the cake several more times, for friends and family in grief: frightening medical diagnoses. losing other friends. depressive bouts. and while i will not be boastful enough to claim that this pound cake actually cures anything, i WILL say that being sad with a slice of pound cake is a much nicer feeling than being sad without one. and you know what? that seems to be the general consensus among the recipients, too.

this is a pound cake that tastes like love.

i hope that this recipe helps other people to pass along some of that love too, whether to themselves or to someone else.

i think mi-ma and grandmama both would've liked that. :)

[radiostaticzine]

FAQ

What is a digital zine?

Just a zine in digital format :) This means there is no limit on length and will be distributed for free as a PDF. It gives more freedom in terms of content and allows many more people to participate both in production and reception!

Why is it free/will participants be paid?

It’s free because fandom is fundamentally about community and shared appreciation of a show/ship. The original property doesn’t belong to us, and I want this to be an endeavour done purely out of love. It’s entirely for fun, and no one involved will receive any monetary compensation.

Will there be print copies and/or merch?

No. Of course, you’ll be free to print the PDF file for yourself.

What SocMed do you have?

A tumblr, a twitter account, and a discord. If possible, please do join the discord as it will be most convenient for announcements, immediate questions/feedback, and also should be a nice place to interact with other radiostatic fans. :)

Discord: https://discord.gg/uwFz8NjjGG

Twt: https://x.com/RadiostaticZine

What dates will it run?

The plan is for sign-ups to begin July 28th and end August 18th, with final submissions by December 15th with check ins along the way. Release will be planned for mid-late January depending upon staff’s availability and workload.

Is there a limit on the number of participants?

Nope! No one will be judged on whether their work is “good” enough to be included. All works are welcomed.

Can I participate if I’m under 18?

Sorry, no. All participants must be over 18. If you sign up and are later found to be (or heavily suspected to be) under 18, you will be removed from the project.

Will I be able to post my fic/art to other sites?

Yes, although we ask that you wait at least one week after the zine’s release :)

Is there a length requirement for fics?

Please aim for anywhere between 1-5k. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but we’d like to keep each fic a manageable length for practicality.

Will the zine have a theme?

Given survey feedback and my own initial feelings, not this time! If this general zine goes well, perhaps subsequent zines might explore different themes. If you would like to participate but want specific inspiration, feel free to sign up and then chat with others in the discord to discuss fun prompts or ideas.

What kind of content is allowed?

Pretty much anything as long as it's about Vox and Alastor’s relationship! All fics and art will be required to submit a rating and appropriate tags/warnings. If you have any particular concerns or questions about something you might want to write/draw, please shoot me a message. But rest assured darker themes like unhealthy relationships, gore, vore, dub/noncon etc are all fine as long as appropriately and fully warned for. Of course, cute fluff is wonderful too! The zine will most likely be divided into sfw and nsfw sections.

Is one-sided/complicated/requited radiostatic okay? What about Alastor’s asexuality?

All forms of radiostatic are welcome! One of the best things about this ship is how much variation there is in the portrayals of their relationship, and you’re welcome to explore it as you like. Similarly, asexuality is a wide spectrum and I don’t feel that it’s our place to dictate how anyone explores that with Alastor in their own work. Aroace Alastor is also loved and welcomed :)

What about sideships and VoxVal?

Sideships are fine mentioned in passing, but please remember that the focus is radiostatic. This goes for VoxVal too - as they are canonically involved at least to some degree, it’s understandable if it is relevant in fic or affects the narrative. But again, the overwhelming focus should be the radiostatic interaction and relationship.

Can I contribute both art and fic?

Yes! However, each participant will be limited to one piece per medium.

Can I help out as a mod/staff?

Yes, we will be looking for volunteers to help out! Particularly for formatting, proofreading, and cover graphics/art. Please let us know if you’re interested in your submission form :)

If you have any other questions, please reach out at any time!

Thanks for your interest <3

[mellowquint]

Fanbinding Masters of Mayhem - a Ninjago and Lego Monkie kid crossover!!!

FINALLY after weeks of putting the project on the shelf i finally have the (motivation) free time to complete this amazing bookbind!!! Shoutout to my best friend who came to me and ask if i could bind it. So what better birthday gift than to bind her current favourite crossover story? At the time of this post i have not given the gift to her yet so fingers crossed that she likes this 🤞😖

Thank you FictionForLife_NZ for creating this absolute hilarious masterpiece!! I have been wanting to read an LMK crossover fic for the longest time and low and behold, the ao3 algorithm has answered my prayers lol. Me and best friend really love the character interaction that the Ninja’s have with the LMK crew 😂. Also the shipping!! Best friend absolutely LOVES dragonfruit but was sad that they didn’t have as much of a fandom dedication as opposed to spicynoodles. So imagine her suprised (and scream) that dragonfruit is the main pairing in the story and their many iconic moments together!! Also the climax truly had me at the edge of my seat!! And that ending?? Gosh couldn’t have asked it better myself Ninjago writers really should take notes ✍️!!! Anyways enough rambling here’s the fic if you would like to give a read, absolute 10/10

Flip through

Some close ups

also yes excuse me and my terrible phone and room lighting it did not do this book justice.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any fanart that was related/tagged so there was no illustrations for the book. However thats when i had the idea of making the chapter title in the same font as the Ninjago font! To make it seem like every new chapter is an episode!

Also unfortunately couldn’t tag the author since i can’t find their tumblr. If any of you know if said author does have tumblr please let me know!

If you’re all curious on how i make this, i recommend going to the first bookbinding project that i did, its all the same process except with some new improvements that im gonna talk about under the cut

I definitely learned a lot from my mistakes from the last time that i did this, and of course gain new mistakes as well 🥲.

The edges aren’t trimmed

The cover isn’t aligned

The printing for the covers are garbage

Book would not lay flat, instead forever stuck at a weird 120 degree angle

Overall a lot of stuff

This was a given by the fact that i have no experience and was impatient. But since this is a gift for Best Friend ofc this has to actually look good, so here are the improvements that i made

Signature printing— i will admit it took some time and effort but after the old cannon printer finally died permanently jammed, managed to convince parents to buy a more advanced and better printer that can now do double sided printing!! No more wasted signatures from here on out 😮‍💨

Cover printing — not wanting a repeat of the last time that i did it i went to my local Officeworks to get it printed by them. Here i discovered the beauty that is known as ✨Poster Prints✨. Now all of my yellow lines and elements actually do show an pop against the darker background!! Unfortunately this does have a drawback because the prints are sensitive to any type of scratching. Not the scratch and all the colors come off way, more like the scratch it and lines will show up kind of way as you can really see in the front cover :') . Will work on improving this is future projects.

Trimming the edges — originally in book one i trimmed the edges using your typical box cutter and cut it myself. Bad BAD idea i was doomed at that moment. So imagine my surprise the Officeworks ALSO do CUTTING service!!! My jaw dropped and i immediately went back the next day with my text block and asked them if they could trim all edges. After some inspection they put it through the guillotine and all of my edges are perfectly trimmed. Saved me all the time, money, and storage.

Laying book flat — this was definitely the biggest pet peeve that I have with my first book. The way i do it now is i now put a one cm gap between the front cover, side cover and back cover. And also using the right paper (cardstock) to connect the text block with the covers. Now the book can actually fully open!!!

Cover alignment — I printed out the front and back in regular paper and use that as a template on where i wanna fold the prints to find the cover. Worked like a charm

once again shoutout to best friend for giving me the brilliant idea when making the covers!! had it not been for her to point out about clause's book of spells i would have never made the coolest cover page that I've made in my entire binding experience!! all in all im pretty dang proud of myself for being able to improve on my bookbinding skill.

[yjzine2024]

Yellowjackets Zine - Applications Open!

You might have seen the poll going around for interest, and well, it convinced me enough to start this up. A zine for Yellowjackets! Yeah!

The plan is to make this a relatively small but hopefully exciting project to cross the current lack of things between seasons. Think you have a good idea? Submit it!

You can apply for the zine via this form

So far I'm thinking of keeping it at max 30 participants, but this mostly comes down to a first-come-first-serve basis. Fear not, I may include you if you have a really cool idea for a submission.

Guidelines for applying are copied below but will also be in the form.

Cheers!

What is a zine? "Zine" is short for magazine. What a Yellowjackets zine would entail is a small, digital booklet with artworks, writing, collages, lists, etc. related to the show that it's all connected to. There are zines that have a print run alongside digital versions, but to keep it all running smoothly, I'd like to keep this digital only. So I can't offer compensation in financial means. This is first and foremost a passion project, and also things would get tricky on a legal front if there were to be any money involved.

So if I want to contribute, it can be anything? Basicallly! But there are some hard rules I would like to be followed for it to stay coherent.

Canon Compliant. Writing or art, hard AUs aren't really something for this zine. It's a little celebration of the show that is there, and tonally there might be too much dissonance if AUs are included in this. Guesses at the yet to be seen months in the Wilderness, or in the present day are very much welcome!

Self-contained works. Putting chapter 1 of your fic in a zine isn't really ideal. For art this is easier to accomplish, but written submissions should be completed within the pages they are on.

Not just shipping. Yes, I know, shipping is big. But like I put in the first point, I would like to keep things more generally on events, plot, characters, and a neat discussion of it. There's of course degrees to how much you can ship within canon in a show like this. It's totally cool if you put something in that is (Basically) Canon (f.e. TaiVan but also JackieShauna) or Has Strong Potential (f.e. LottieLee, MistyNat). Don't come to me with something like Shauna/Walter. Explorations of characters and relationships are of course okay! But don't make it a smut fest.

Nothing too NSFW. This is Cannibalism Show (TM) we're talking about, so there is some leniency. But let's say if you would rate it as E on Ao3, then maybe try to get it a bit lower in rating or think of something different.

(Previously) Unpublished works. This may be a given, but a zine is the most fun when it's full of original content. You are of course free to publish what you made on your own accounts/profiles once the zine is online.

Other than that, it's pretty free to fill in for yourself! What can be published should be able to go in a hypothetically printed magazine, but if you would write fic, and essay, compile a mixtape list, make some meta newspaper article on the events, graphics, collages, a poster design, or banger fanart, it's all up to you as long as it gets you excited to work on it!

I'm splitting them up in written and graphic types of contributions, but there's room to give a pitch for your specific idea.

Practical stuff!

Max wordcount for written contributions should be about 2500 words. I'm not going to be too strict, but keep any overflow within reason.

Graphic works should be able to be displayed well on a 2100x3000px canvas on. This is the size of page I'm using at the moment.

How much time would there be to prep? For now I'm thinking of putting the final deadline on November 30 so hopefully everyone will have time to work on their submission (from scratch). I also gotta get the hang of a publishing design program lol.

[waywardstation]

One last store update! After this I will begin sending emails to a subscriber list.

You can input your email of choice for my shop newsletter into this google form here.

A quick summary of some things:

I was unable to finish orders by printing their shipping labels by today, despite what I said last week, because of health issues that had to be addressed instead.

More of my product order was messed up, had enough items to fulfill every order but I’ve been left with ZERO extra stock on a couple items to put into my shop after.

I got enough interest in the Halloween keychains and stickers so I will be making them.

Full explanations below ^^

I have now packed every single order and reviewed all of their contents. However I was unable to send them out today as at some point last week I became very unwell. I’ve been going downhill for a while but it has never gotten to this degree this fast before. I still don’t really know what caused it and so I had been unable to pack over the weekend and couldn’t get all the shipping labels printed for them today.

I will be printing these labels out and taking chunks of the orders to the post office over the next few days.

But the more I’d packed the more I’d realized more of my product order had been messed up. I had ordered extras of everything and yet some of the products that I ordered just BARELY fulfilled every order — I had to use some of the initial samples to fulfill every order but rest assured they are the exact same as the products in size and quality. I have exactly ZERO of some products left over for shop stock when I’d ordered 10-15 extra of every item (as well as TOO MANY of some less popular products that didn’t need all these extras) which sadly means a few items will not be in stock when I open the store back up. I may put discounts on the unwanted extras I received because of this.

While I would expect by default to receive the products in the quantity that I ordered, I also understand that I ordered hundreds of products all in one order, and that is only one order that is being fulfilled out of the many other orders they get daily. I myself did not count out every single product to check because of the sheer amount of everything that was ordered — I had ordered over 500 keychains alone to fulfill the preorders and the entire order has taken up a full room when all spread out. But I still did not count beforehand and would only find out once I’d run out of a certain product, so I accept this is partly my responsibility too. This should not happen again as I never expect to make an order this big again, I had only done this for shop startup, and I will be making another order to restock these products. But it’s still sad it happened.

I apologize for this and I appreciate all of your patience once again. I am explaining all of this as I believe you are owed information about what is going on seeing as you’ve put money into this, and I myself said they would all be sent out by Monday. I just want to be transparent ^^

And one last thing — many of you wanted Halloween merchandise, so I will be moving forward with that! (I’ve decided they will not be glow in the dark though, as I’d have to make every vibrant color instead transparent for the glow to come through, and I believe the designs would suffer too much without these colors)

I have ordered from this manufacturer multiple times before over the years and they’ve always gotten it right with more reasonably-sized orders, so I am confident these will not have the same problems as this preorders period has.

Thank you again very much for your support and understanding up to this point!! <3

[maramirror11]

I finally worked on my Dennys! Her name is Desiree.

Her degree in graphic design is somewhere covered in dust since she couldn't find a job. The "you need 5 years of experience” and the difficult task to find an opportunity made her work at Denny's.

When she saw Ash and Lexi's break up, she felt sympathy for him since her ex also cheated on her. Her plan was just to give him the food and talk for a bit before going home, but with Thad's arrival, everything changed.

She drives a motorcycle and often offers Ash to go on rides away from the city after work. In these moments where they were alone, Desiree started to fall for him. She mostly kept it a secret, since it takes time to go back to dating after a break up and she didn't want go rush him.

Desiree often calls Lena and they became besties after a couple of months. If her department weren't so small, Lena would've stayed there.

She and Thad live close, so they often find each other and hang out for a while.

If Lexi wasn't Ash's ex, they would've dated or at least made out at a party. Their dynamic is so good, at this point I'm shipping Dennys x Lexi.

Desiree's dream is to open a shop and sell her designs for shirts/jackets/hoodies, etc. But the machines are expensive and the type of print is complicated, so she waits for a better moment.

[txtmetonight]

Ms. (?)

call summary ⋆ ★ you and yeonjun since high school have had major rivalry. now you two are teachers at the same school, and your fiery bond hasn’t broken yet. but the other teachers and students make you guys the hottest ship in school. so…what’s next?

pairings *. * yeonjun x fem! reader

genre ⋆ ★ fluff, enemies to lovers (?) dunno its a little complicated, coworkers to lovers (?) again confusing...you'll see once you finish it, oneshot

warnings *. * a bit of cursing (just a pinch) :/, alcohol, a tinge of insults, bad grammar (english isn't my first language 💀 and Grammarly sucks)

featuring ⋆ ★ chaewon, taehyun, felix

call duration *. * 3.4K

It was no big secret to the whole school about the immense tension between the sweet 10th-grade Math and Science teacher and the handsome music professor that almost every high schooler (whether you were a girl or not) drooled over. You and Mr. Choi's (aka Yeonjun) relationship with each other were rather tense and complicated. You’ve known Yeonjun ever since he overtook your place in the spelling bee in High school, spelling ubiquitous right, and ending it with a humongous, ludicrous, smirk sent towards your face. And once you graduated High school with high credits that got you into a prestigious college to receive your bachelor's degree, you thought that you would never see his stupid face again. But imagine your surprise when the same face you’ve hated for years walked through the building doors, ready to greet you in front of your new classroom, the same smug smile on his face. 

“You’ve worked in this school for four years, yet you still don’t know how to properly use the printer, do you even qualify as a teacher Mrs. (L/n)?” You grit your teeth in annoyance, instead focusing on the papers that spit your worksheets for your lovely kids. “No comment?” Yeonjun jokes, pushing around you to grab his own stack of papers, yet furrowing his eyebrows once he notices that the papers he printed out were filled blank. No ink or anything, just plain white copy papers looking like they came straight from out of a newly opened pack. “Um” He tries to turn his body so you wouldn’t notice his stupid mistake but you catch on right away loudly snickering. “I think you forgot to press the side button, again” You grab your papers swiftly before quickly sticking your tongue out once his back was turned and rushing out as fast as possible towards your classroom. Composing yourself, you stick your head into your room to watch Ms. Kim who was playing hangman with your class. 

“Nope, there’s no- oops your teacher’s back” She stays seated in your chair, completing the word she was thinking about while you stride towards your desk, the class filled with groans and gasps once the expo marker marks the last letter, spelling out your first name. You notice but don’t bother as Chaewon snickers, getting up so you could whisper your gratefulness in her ear. “Thank you, god, I already feel a headache coming on” you whine all while she understandingly pats you back before a devilish smile comes upon her cunning face. “Was it because of Yeonjun…you know I saw him hurriedly running after you while you were walking towards the printer room”. You sigh and instead glare at her giggling figure, you’d prefer not to feed into her mindless delusions. She takes the hint and opts to stride out of the classroom, of course not before butting her head back in for a final goodbye “Alright then, don’t give your teacher a hard time” Chaewon finally leaves with a flourish and you could probably guess where she was heading next, ready to prey on her next cup of coffee. Which leaves you to turn back to your kids to teach.

“So who’s ready for more Quadratic Functions” you smile (still stuck on your friend’s comment earlier about Yeonjun following you), and the class breaks out in another round of cries, some even begging you to not pass out those papers in your hands.

______________________________________________________________

“Ms. (L/n)?”

You turn around to face another of your co-worker, who taught the 9th graders, just a hall over, though it was quite surprising to see him in the breakroom. “Mr. Lee, how may I help you?” you ask, politely smiling at the man who flashes a cheerful grin. “You know, it’s ok to call me Felix…I’m pretty sure you call Mr. Choi, Yeonjun, right?” The mood was a little awkward as you shuffled around quietly nodding a brisk okay and sorry, before he brushed it off with a loud chuckle. “Your classroom?”. You were hoping that you actually reminded him about his own kids to teach since he was spending so much unnecessary time with you, secretly wishing that he could leave you alone so you could eat your lunch. “We have a guest speaker who told me she could take over everything and that she was going to be fine on her own”. By now you were practically rolling on the heels of your feet, praying for any distraction of some sort. And it seems your quick prayers may have been answered because in came Choi Yeonjun with his own bento, confusedly staring at you and Felix then noticing the big empty and supposedly the best spot in the whole break room, which you were gonna sit in. 

This idiot better not. 

You clench your hands, watching the arrogant man take your place before being brought back to reality by a small cough, totally forgetting that Felix was in front of you. “Um so…I was wondering if you could- or wanted to eat dinner with me tomorrow, of course, no problem if not” He looks at your wide eyes while trying to gulp his nervousness away. “A date?” you point towards yourself, both you and Felix unaware of the angry eyes watching you two. Yeonjun looked like a ripe tomato that was gonna explode. The blonde in front of you sucks through his teeth, letting out a small exhale. “Yep” Ok now, Yeonjun was furious and one half of him wanted to confront and stop the interaction and the other wanted to stay put and see what you would do. So he decides the latter, beginning to forget his lunch and instead spreading his legs to lean back on the couch, staring intently. “You’re a great man,  but I don’t think I’m the one for you” You somehow get your words out, carefully picking them as they slip out of your tongue. “How can you be so sure about the future, when you’ve never ever even gone on a date with me before” You swallow hard, senses running all over the place, and his pitiful face definitely didn’t help. “I’m already dating someone” Your whisper was loud enough for Yeonjun to hear, making him sit upright eyebrows raised. 

This was new.

Felix looks taken aback, mouth pouting in shock. “Is that so? you should’ve told me the first time, then I wouldn’t have bothered you anymore” He bows down, ashamed of his actions. “Oh no, you’ve done nothing wrong, but please don’t tell this to anyone” Smiling he nods embarrassedly before gesturing that he was gonna stay quiet. “Have a great day!” he sheepishly skips out of the classroom and you continue waving, keeping the simple grin, it falling down right as his body was out of sight. 

“You’re dating someone?” 

Shit

You forgot that Yeonjun was in the room with you guys, tuning into your guy’s conversation. “Were you eavesdropping on us?” You already knew the answer. “It’s not eavesdropping if it was loud enough for me to hear, so are you actually dating someone?” He finally spoons a piece of his chicken in his mouth, though it was a bit weird that he actually started eating after you took your first bite out of your pizza from last night. Tired of his antics you decide to play along a little, nodding and smiling a little, a loud gasp led out by the male who was surprised by your confession. “Is he cute, or even good enough for you?” Yeonjun grumbles. You glance towards him with a huge grin “Yep he’s perfect…but don’t tell anyone though, keep it a secret between the both of us and I guess Mr. Lee” He continues to stare at you before turning back towards his meal, ears hinted with a tinge of red. The rest of the 15 minutes was quiet, except for a few bickers on the best sauce to go on a salad and the worst football team. It was almost the end of the period where you were finishing up your drink, smiling against the straw while your eyes peered at Yeonjun as he kept defending his point that when he was so into the discussion, his lidded eyes gaze at you, practically sending you into a cardiac arrest, leading you to accidentally swallow the drink through the wrong hole. 

And after Yeonjun notices he blanks out, panicking along with you. “Oh my god, are you okay!?” ‘Does it look like I’m okay’ you try to rasp but instead, you cough even more. He goes to kneel down next to you on the couch, slowly rubbing in circles into your back to calm you down and it works! Instead of full-on choking, you were left with little splutters in your throat. “Here drink some water, and try not to choke again” he grins, handing you his water bottle which you gratefully take. Taking your fill of water, you notice the close proximity between you and Yeonjun, and you could feel the red slithering up your back and neck while you turn towards him to give him your thanks. “Thank you” God your noses were basically touching, and at school too! You’ve never been this close in your guys’ workplace so it sent a shiver of butterflies down your spine. “You're welcome” He breaths and right when he looked like he was coming closer the bell rang sending you two flying apart. 

“Oh, Mr. Choi and Ms. (L/n)!” Both pairs of eyes shoot towards the unexpected intruder and you relax once you notice that it was Chaewon, her red lips tugged at the corners. “Ms. Kim '' Yeonjun immediately gets up to bow and you quickly follow, a little flustered about how your friends caught you and your coworker so close together. “I’ll take my leave, my 4th-period students are probably at my door…Mrs. (L/n), you didn’t forget about the staff meeting after school right?” He lifts his eyebrows at your gasp, entertained while watching you dive for your phone and open up your calendar. And there it was, your little reminder on how you were scheduled to overtime and drive all the way home and then back to a bar so you could catch up with your other workmates, all arranged by the principal. You take a look at Chaewon who also pulled her phone out, shrugging once she met your gaze before erupting in a small laugh. “Of course, you forgot, I thought Math and Science teachers were supposed to be smart, I guess not” He looks you up and down, letting out his squeaky laughs as he grabs his water bottle and bento, your face was frozen in shock and offense. “Bye Mrs. (L/n), Ms. Kim” He bows once more towards Chaewon and spares you a look before walking away. 

“The fucking nerve of that guy, you saw him!” She hurries towards you, slapping her hand over your mouth, not letting you speak another word. You look at her, a little startled as she pats your cheek gently. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, you need to go back to class Ms. (L/n)” She still holds your cheeks, her other hand moving your chin up and down to nod at her words. Her hands give you back your lunchbox, pushing you out of the room. “Your kids must be waiting for you, go back before they scribble something on the board again” She waves a goodbye while you cringe, agreeing with her, leading you to fast walk back to your classroom. The last time you were late to your class, the whiteboard was filled with little doodles of you and Yeonjun, each picture demonstrating romantic actions, and they had their own little actions too. The kids knew very much about the cute (in your words revolting) atmosphere that you two teachers had. And they took advantage of it. Some of the lockers were filled with small drawings of yours and his initials in a heart. Yeonjun once even got a love note that had your name on it, which he still teases you about to this day. The birth of a ship name of you two was even made and is still stuck on a water fountain in the 11th-grade hallway. But by the time you got to your classroom, you knew you were too late. The board was already filled to the brim. 

______________________________________________________________

The bar was packed with customers and through the window you tried to spy your own group, which wasn’t too hard to find. All you had to look for was a shiny bald head that belonged to your boss. Almost everyone was there already, including Chaewon who looked like she was going to die from boredom. “You’re not going in?” You turn around to face Yeonjun who was pocketing his keys. You smirk, “Nope, was waiting for you, ladies first” He rolls his eyes playfully, yet taking your offer to lead the both of you into the bar. “Haha you're so funny” You follow him through the door which you held for him, awkwardly standing next to him, watching your group. “I know”. Waving back at Chaewon, Yeonjun and you stride towards the table. “Oh my, Yeonjun and (Y/n), you’re here, we thought you’d never come” The principal slurs his words, all while checking you up and down which you grimace in disgust. “Come here (Y/n), sit next to me” Mr Park lazily smiles, pointing to the empty spot next to him (which was forcefully cleared by him). You try to refuse but before you could get a word out, Yeonjun had already sat there. “Yeonjun?!” The man exclaims, ready to scold him out. “Sorry sir, but I’m deathly allergic to shrimp and rather not sit there” Yeonjun responds, slightly dipping his head in respect. The only open seat had fried spicy shrimp next to it. “Oh is that so, that’s fine I guess” Mr Park, slumps his cheek onto his palm, staring at you take the seat across from Yeonjun and next to Chaewon who hugs you excitedly. You knew that Yeonjun was lying and for a fact was definitely not allergic to any types of seafood, but you were extremely thankful. 

“Here Yeonjun, drink” Mr. Kang pushes him a glass, but Yeonjun refuses. “I’m not drinking tonight, I have to drive back home”. Taehyun nods before turning to you, offering a drink, and you accept the glass, the bright boy (Currently a student teacher) pouring you the liquid. Conversations rise and die down but there was a lot of chattering at your table. As the night progressed so did your face, turning red and red from the amount of alcohol you were downing. Everything around seemed blank and normal until Mr. Park brought up a futile question. “I’ve noticed that Yeonjun and (Y/n) always go home together and always arrive at the same time in the morning, has anyone noticed that?”. You and Yeonjun stop breathing in shock, even more, stupefied at the murmurs of agreement that arise from your co-workers. “W-we just have the same routes, that’s all” Yeonjun stutters, his black hair sticking to his face, chewing on his lips nervously.

“(Y/n)?” Chaewon shakes you out of your ogle towards Yeonjun, who was staring back at you too, eyes flitting the entirety of your flushed face. “Yeah, he’s right, in fact, me and Yeonjun have a bus to catch, we should go”. You try to stand up but the drinks coursing through your veins makes you stumble, the world around you spinning. “I thought Yeonjun was driving? He could stay a little longer” A 9th-grade teacher pipes up, a lovesick look on her face as she looks at the man. Though instead of reciprocating her look and lightly clears up his throat before sending a formal smile towards everyone. “I have to wake up early in the morning tomorrow, it’d be better to go now”. Usually, no one would believe that very obvious lie but they let it slide, their minds under the influence of alcohol. Yeonjun walks towards your side, laughing at your attempts at walking, and swinging his arm over your shoulder to help you. Sure everyone knew that Yeonjun hated your guts but he wasn’t that heartless. After a string of goodbyes, you both slowly slump out of the building, you sighing at the fresh air. Yeonjun titters softly at your swaying before looking back to make sure no one was behind him. 

“Aww is my baby tired?” You whine into his side, comforted by his large presence, his cologne making you sleepy. “Shut uppp”. Yeonjun couldn’t blame your fatigued figure, it was certainly tiring keeping your marriage a secret. Once you two were far away (and when he couldn’t watch you struggle anymore) his hands slither down to your thighs and in a blink of an eye you find yourself dangling in a pair of strong arms. “Jun what are you-” You’re cut off to a sweet kiss and you happily take it, leaning more into his mouth, wanting to feel him more but he cuts you off from your need, instead landing you onto your feet so you could get into his car. His hands gently move the pieces of hair that stick on your face, eyes glazed with something so pure that it made you want to melt into the seat below you. He spots your squirming, turning his hand so the back of it, laid on your cheek. “Do you need to throw up?I brought plastic bags?” You smile against his cold hands, shaking a no. The silence felt comfortable, as Yeonjun decided to crouch by your seat still out of the car, still observing you with a delicate look, and his soft lips pouting at how stunning you looked. “Stop staring at me like that” You whisper, taking his other hand in yours. 

“Baby you’re the smartest woman I know, I didn’t mean what I said today at school” He snuggles into your cheek apologetically. It’s been gnawing at him all day after he said that, feeling extremely guilty even though you knew he meant it as a joke. “I don’t mean anything I say that’s rude, I swear” He continues on, giggling with you as he burrows his nose deeper, lips puckered to leave a trail of gentle kisses. “I know Junnie, I don’t mean anything like that either”. You slowly turn your face, capturing his lips in another kiss, noses brushing with each other as his touch feels scalding hot against your skin.  “I really wish you could use my last name at school” He sulks. “Me too, love” You pet his hair, threading your fingers in it, forcing him to release his (fake) glower. “Come on, let's go home” He leaves one last smooch on your nose before groaning while getting up, stretching his limbs. You reach over in the glove compartment to grab your rings, and when he gets in the car, you grab his hand to slide his on, his own fingers scrambling to slip your own ring on your hand. At last, he starts the car, and the rumbling engine almost lulls you to sleep. “You could sleep if you want, I can tuck you into bed” He looks down at your jelly figure against the leather seats. “No I want to sleep with you” He bops his head softly at you, starting to softly hum a song. But alas your eyelids felt droopy and heavy like a dozen rocks sat upon them, so you decide to close them for a second, and the last thing you heard was a little muffled but in enough volume to where it sent blood rushing around your body. 

“I love you, Mrs. Choi”

Bonus:

Chaewon walked out of the building a little after her best friend and coworker left. She wasn’t going to deal without Mr. Park’s nonsense any longer. But as she walked farther and farther she noticed a young couple, the boy carrying his girl. “I swear to god, I’m going to sleep on the highway” she groans, walking faster to her destination so she could call for a taxi. Her eyes glance towards the girl, which looked like (Y/n), and the boy that twinned with Yeonjun. But that’s impossible, Yeonjun carrying (Y/n) would happen when pigs could fly. Maybe she drank a little too much. 

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*sooo how was it? Sorry this is my first one-shot, hopefully, they'll be better and longer ones in the future :) Ask me to be added to my permanent tag list.