#5-8 she presents as a boy For The Plot

[moeblob]

Honestly? Good anime imo! I really enjoyed Aileen. I enjoyed Claude. I enjoyed Isaac and Keith and Rachel and Almond and Ribbon. I enjoyed Belzebuth and the flock of ducks (Walt/Kyle/Auguste) and Jasper.

[lej222]

Supernatural Involvement and Ominous Signs in ASLFUA

For a while, many readers have theorized that there is some kind of a higher power/higher being in ASLFUA, and looking at the latest episodes it seems to have been confirmed. With this post, I've tried to gather every instance of the higher power's implied presence and all the ominous scenes in the story. I also included foreshadowing scenes that could have made Miae aware of certain things if she had paid attention because coincidences are important in the story, and certain moments that were defining in the plot. The list contains spoilers for the newest KR episodes and it keeps being updated.

Episode 2 :

Miae is reading a book in the library about how the last day of 1999 will be the end of the world: "'1999, a terrifying overlord is coming...the end of the human race.." -> this might be a reference to the famous prophecy of Nostradamus in which in the 7th month of 1999 a great king of terror would descend from the skies (which makes me think...is it July in the story right now?)

The Hwang family's phone stops working

Miae's dresser breaks and therefore she has to take out the trash, where she sees Cheol crying

"This boy is about to be this girl's most special person, someone whom she will never be able to forget."

Episode 3

Miae and her mother visit the Buddha statue and Miae's wish is not to be in the same class with Cheol - it doesn't come true.

Miae, Cheol and Jisu all become classmates in their last year. Miae and Cheol become deskmates by coincidence.

Episode 4

Cheol's furniture becomes Miae's, along with the contents of his dresser, something only he knows about

Episode 5

Yunhui calls Miae on their new cordless phone, the line is interrupted by another conversation, "Did you get the present I sent you?" - it sounds like a message to Miae from the higher power about Cheol

Episode 8

Miae ruins her bangs, her mother says she should do something about her hair - the first time we are told Miae should go to a hairdresser to fix it

Hwanggeum Academy uses corporal punishment - might be relevant later on?

Miae has to go to karaoke so she gives up on going to the hair salon (this foreshadowing is super crazy btw)

Episode 9

Cheol is compared to the protagonist of the comic Miae reads, 'My First Love Next Door Is Number 1' - gets into trouble and transfers, fights the school bully and wins, nicknamed Lucifer, has a facial scar, lives next door

As Miae is thinking about Cheol, her thoughts are interrupted by a cockroach in the classroom

Episode 11

Miae notes how strange it is that she keeps seeing Cheol while they didn't bump into each other the previous year (just like how Jisu later keeps commenting how strange he keeps meeting Miae) - Miae acknowledges the higher power

Yunhui's pager says "between friends goodbye"

Episode 12

Miae has a weird feeling when she's talking to Cheol's shoe as if it understands what she's saying

Episode 15

In her dream, Miae remembers Cheol crying and her making a wish with a stone tower about how she wants to be his friend. The phone suddenly rings, the TV becomes static and there's a storm outside despite the weather forecast not saying anything about it. The other end of the phone is silent and the lights go out.

Episode 17

Cheol's shoe gets smudged with ink so Miae cannot give it back to him. She cannot concentrate on her practice test, foreshadowing her involvement with Cheol's academy.

Episode 21

Miae again remembers some memories about Cheol saying he doesn't want to be her friend while she's sleeping

Side note: while Soonkki is a great writer, there's some inconsistency about Jisu's seating arrangement. I think she always meant him to sit in Block 1, that's why we got limited panels of that area of the classroom, but his position kept changing until his official introduction. Here, he should have been sitting in front of Seonghan, but there's another boy in that seat. In episode 23, we get a panel of Block1 again, and there's a boy who looks like Jisu from behind in that.

She again remembers her time with Cheol while sleeping on the bus

Episode 24

Daebak Academy notebook says "The teacher is spoon-feeding you, so why can't you pass" -> the higher power is giving hints to Miae, why can't she understand them?

Episode 29

Miae thinks about how she doesn't bump into Cheol as much as before, we get a close-up of the shoe and the Daebak Academy notebook

Episode 37

Miae falls on Cheol while playing soccer

Episode 39

Miae and Cheol are arguing but still bump into each other because of their parents

While Miae thinks about how Cheol should smile at people, she almost gets hit by a ball but Cheol saves her.

Episode 40

Cheol goes to Miae's house to do their homework. Miae's mother says she wonders if it will rain before she leaves. Cheol tries to change the lightbulb in Miae's room, but the lights go out because of the storm. Miae thinks "again?" and they fall on each other. She tells Cheol they should be friends.

Episode 41

Cheol agrees to be Miae's friend and we see a flashback of young Miae wishing they would be friends. While they are doing their homework the rain stops. Miae says planes even fly in the rain and Cheol replies that airplanes fly above the clouds.

Episode 42

Miae answers their phone and the line is interrupted again. Someone thanks their boss for the present and says they will do well on their own from now. -> is it a sign Miae should do well on her own after the hints?

Interesting to note that every time Miae might be involved with the higher power, certain objects in her room are highlighted - Cheol's shoe, the lamp, the notebooks. They all give signs to Miae that she keeps ignoring.

Episode 43

Cheol and Yonghui point out that Miae should get a haircut. Miae ends up cutting it herself instead of going to a salon.

Episode 45

Miae wishes upon a star instead of a plane so that the presentation in class will go okay. This actually comes true, as also noted by the narrator in ep 46.

Episode 46

Daebak Academy booklet says "nothing comes easy"

Episode 47

Something I've noticed is that throughout the story Miae keeps thinking she forgot something, and there's usually a situation that seems like the answer to it. Here, it turns out she forgot about Jinseop's homework. And Taekwang's song is about how someone cannot do both things at the same time. It was the same when she forgot about her homework while playing soccer. Forgetting about things is a recurring plot point for Miae, which culminates in the Jisu subplot where we learn Miae completely forgot about his existence even though she didn't have many friends who were boys.

Episode 50

Cheol's father wants to take a picture of Cheol and Miae, but Cheol refuses

Episode 51

Miae again cuts her own hair and wonders if she cut it too straight

Episode 55

Cheol kicks Miae's pencil into Jisu's chair (side note: you can see here again how Jisu's seating arrangement was inconsistent, he should have been closer to the window)

Episode 56

Miae gets sent out to the corridor with Jisu

Miae's friends talk about handsome boys and someone mentions the number1 student (Jisu)

Episode 60

Jisu becomes Miae's folk dance partner - the first time Cheol and Miae are not doing something together

Episode 61

Hwanggeum Academy booklet says "there's nothing you can't do if you put the work in, do not expect a miracle" when Miae is struggling with the dance

Episode 65

Cheol's father takes a picture of Cheol and Miae after the sports festival

Episode 66

In Miae's dream, Cheol's sister says for a while means 5-6 yrs, Miae counts she will be in middle school by then. There's also a memory of Miae running after Cheol, saying "wait for me".

Miae's mother tells her to get a haircut but Miae replies she needs a bigger allowance for it.

The narrator says Miae should watch where she's walking after she bumps into Cheol.

Episode 67

Miae loses her name tag and Jisu finds it

Episode 70

Miae wonders how her wishes never come true, but remembers she also made one with the stone tower as a kid, but cannot recall what it was about.

Episode 71

Miae's mom notes their phone keeps ringing since yesterday. The day before Miae wanted to tease Cheol with how she heard him saying he "loved her" in the shop and she saw him shirtless the same night.

Miae doesn't realize it was Jisu who called her a pervert

Episode 72

Miae notices someone wearing her name tag (Jisu), but doesn't find the culprit

Episode 75

Cheol wants to ask Miae something, but the homeroom teacher interrupts. Miae and Jisu get called to the teachers' room and have to do cleaning duty together for a week.

Episode 76

We see Miae's mom at a hair salon - could the lady in orange be Jisu's mother? who knows

Episode 77

Cheol stands up for Miae, but when Honggyu asks if they are dating, they both vehemently deny it. It suddenly starts raining.

Episode 78

Miae and cheol promise to be friends for real, forever. The narration comments, "But will they end up regretting their promise?". The rain stops. "1999, the final year of the century is half over" -> Miae's story is half over at this point. I have pointed out this before, but the series seems to be about the transition period between childhood and young adulthood, symbolized by the last year before the new millennium. Hence the title, 'green apple academy'

In her dream, Miae remembers asking Cheol if they are friends. She is awoken by their phone. the Daebak Academy notebook says "you are in danger if you are relaxed" and we see a girl talking to Cheol.

Episode 81

Cheol and Miae fall on each other and almost kiss, but the phone rings. Later, they do end up in the same position with an accidental kiss.

Episode 82

Miae wants to confront Cheol about the kiss and gets embarrassed, but her actions are interrupted when the trash bag she gave Jisu splits open, spilling its contents. Miae runs to him to collect it.

Episode 83

While Miae talks to her friends, she thinks back on her memories with Cheol and the narration says "I always liked.." and Miae looks surprised by it.

Episode 86

Interesting detail that Cheol doesn't know why Miae keeps looking at airplanes. If we assume she has a reason for doing it from the past, it's likely not related to Cheol.

Episode 87

Miae uses the trashbag as an excuse to run away from Cheol, repeating how she has to throw it out. All of a sudden, Jisu appears and takes it out of her hand, giving her a chance to run. It's just my personal theory that the trashbag here symbolizes Miae's vulnerability and reluctance to face her feelings, and Jisu takes it from her hand. It makes sense when we remember how his words made her think about her actions when she wanted to interrupt the confession. It's a great early foreshadowing that Jisu might play an important role in Miae's growth story as her voice of reason.

Episode 89

Cheol and Miae take photos together in a photo booth, first with Jinseop and Song-I, then the two of them alone. We don't know if Miae still has her pictures, but we can assume she somehow lost them during running around from the bullies because we never see them again. Cheol gives her a new name tag in the next episode.

Episode 95

Cheol gifts Miae an airplane model for her birthday. I personally believe this episode marks the end of the first part of the story and it's a turning point, but more about this under ep96.

While Miae leaves for school, their phone suddenly rings and her mom answers it. Miae sees posters about love on her way to school. For the first time, Jisu arives early for cleaning duty.

Episode 96

The series has had 2 symbolic illustrations at the end of 2 episodes. The first one was at the end of ep2, when Cheol and Miae's story started in the present:

Miae is offering a green apple to Cheol - a biblical allusion, here, the green apple probably signifies how Miae helps Cheol in the first part of the story to mature and grow as a person with her own knowledge.

This illustration comes at the end of ep96. Like I mentioned, I believe this marks the start of the second half of the story which focuses on Miae's growth as a person. Space is an important concept in the series, Miae also has planet stickers on the wall of her room,has a charm on her bag, etc.

"16 years old. An age much like the universe." "16 years old. An age where it's like you're thrown into space." - highlights the narration.

But why is it compared to space? We have the illustration right after Jisu splashes water on Miae's face and Cheol wakes up from his dream. In my opinion, it's because this is where these kids' limited worlds start to expand. In part 1, Cheol and Miae were mainly together, but as you grow up you start to feel like you're just one insignificant part of a greater whole. You might feel like you're the center of the universe when you're a teenager, and that the world is ending when you experience negative emotions, but as the illustration shows us, it's not just Miae and Cheol standing alone in the universe. There are other people, facing different directions, but they are all interconnected by an invisible force. Miae is looking at Cheol, but Jisu is standing in her shadow- because even though she was not aware of him, Jisu had his own life happening parallel to what we saw in part1, and this is where he starts to have an intersection with Miae. If there is a higher power in the story, it is aware of all these connections and talks about youth in a nostalgic way. The sense that these moments are fleeting is always present in the story, however, connections formed between individuals will always have a lasting impact, just like how the universe will continue to exist. Being thrown into space might feel like losing your footing, but here it's the personal relationships that ground these teenagers and make them stay close to Earth.

Episode 98

The teacher tells Miae to cut her hair after Jisu takes the blame for ruining the plant.

Cheol is acting strange because of his dream, and while Jisu looks at Miae the narration box says: "16 years old. An age riddled with the unknown, just like the universe."

Episode 99

Miae's hair gets stuck in the zipper of Cheol's bag and he pulls it out, ruining her bangs in the process. They go to the infirmary after Miae gets scratched by the zipper.

Episode 100

At the countryside, while Miae picked a flower she thought how nice it would be if Cheol came to her school - and it became true. She thinks how it was so strange -> Miae again unknowingly acknowledges the higher power when it comes to Cheol

Episode 101

It's raining and the TV is not working in Cheol's home. He remembers taking a picture with Miae in the countryside. He asks his father about the picture on the sports day -> the data was lost. Miae gets grounded by her mother and she wants her to quit the academy.

Episode 102

I've mentioned symbolic objects in the story, but this one was noted by other readers as well: in ep 101, Miae accidentally drops the chalkboard eraser out of the window and Jisu fails to catch it - but Cheol does. However, in this episode Miae tosses it back to Jisu before saying she hopes they'll never see each other again (it's the first, but not the last time she declares it).

Cheol fails to convince Miae's mom about the academy -> Miae's mom points out Miae's grades have been dropping since last year. She makes her stance clear - she wants Miae to study.

Episode 103

It's raining and Miae cannot open Cheol's drawer in her room.

She tries to cut her hair, but the phone rings. On the other line, Miae hears someone saying "I only did what I did because you wanted it so bad, but you screwed up that chance! You don't deserve that project, I'm going to hand it to someone else." -> the first time the higher power tries to directly say Miae is late

Miae's mom cuts her hair instead of sending her to a salon...

Miae loses the name tag Cheol gave her

Episode 104

Jisu says "see you again" to Miae (and will keep saying for a while lol). Miae points out she never wanted to see him again.

Episode 106

After the teacher discovers their conversations in class, Miae and Cheol get separated and Miae becomes Jisu's deskmate. Miae and Cheol are not allowed to interact until the final exams are over.

Hwanggeum Academy's notebook remarks "Do you regret it now?"

Episode 107

Miae dreams about the flower from the countryside and a voice says she should hurry up and do what she wants about her wish if she remembers. She doesn't remember and the voice gets angry, Cheol appears and crushes the flower, telling her if she doesn't remember she should just forget it. The voice remarks Cheol is angry because Miae is late.

Episode 111

Jisu, who has also become aware of the coincidences, tells Cheol he's not the only one having something special with Miae.

When Miae calls Jisu her friend from the same class and tells him he should learn for himself, Jisu tries to say something, but he is interrupted by Cheol.

Episode 112

Miae thinks about their bet and how she should ask something serious, something more than friends do from Cheol, and we get a bunch of error messages. Cheol's dream is all fuzzy.

Jisu wins the bet, but we never get to know his wish because Miae gets angry at him.

Episode 115

The narration points out Cheol has changed and matured a lot, is it Miae's turn?

Episode 116

We see some posters about a summer festival, the forest in Midsummer Night's Dream and how everything is the product of coincidence.

The forest in Shakespeare's play is dominated by the supernatural - what we have in common with this story is the forest Miae and Cheol played together as kids, and obviously the involvement of a higher power. The coincidences poster is possibly a reference to Carl Jung's Synchronicity, a concept that states that seemingly meaningful coincidences have a deeper meaning, they don't have a rational explanation - almost like destiny, a deeper order in the universe. It's a connection between one's psyche and the material world (so you have to notice and acknowledge the deeper meaning of these coincidences in order to experience synchronicity). Jung used this to argue for the existence of the paranormal. For example, if you cannot decide something, you might come across a book on the topic. What a coincidence, right? In this interpretation, everything is interconnected in the universe, and we are a part of this web of connections. So those coincidences...were actually not coincidences. -> Hmmmmm.....I wonder.....meaningful coincidences, the universe, connections...why do they sound familiar??? BECAUSE OUR STORY IS EXACTLY ABOUT THIS NOTION! Who notices these coincidences? Miae about Cheol, Jisu about Miae....One has to be open to the possibility of the connection between our inner world and the outside world, only then they can start to notice the signs the universe is sending them. Soonkki, you deserve my applause! Because it was exactly what I said about the art at the end of ep 96 and the placement of the characters. Mind? Blown!

Miae thinks that she feels something is wrong

Yunhui's pager says friends goodbye

Jisu gets involved in the Yonghui-Yunhui storyline by coincidence

Episode 117

We see all the coincidences from Jisu's perspective and how he became aware of them. And what does he say about them? That they are fascinating and kind of funny! My boy Jisu got the synchronicity message.

This is the 3rd time Miae and Jisu didn't hold hands. The first time Miae pretended to help him up, only for him to fall back. Then Jisu held out his hand after the exam, but she didn't take it. Here, he again reaches out and Miae doesn't take his hand. Remember this later!

Episode 118

Someone steps on Cheol's bag, and he's worried it might be Taeuk

Jisu wants to join in another bet in exchange for his help

Episode 119

Jisu gets involved in the Shim storyline, and as we know from later he picks up the cigarettes to get revenge on him

Episode 122

Miae learns that Cheol rejected Seonyeong and the lights flicker in her room

She cannot remember her dream. The narration says that she should have realized that something changed.

Episode 123

Miae notes that she experienced the kiss in the comic book with Cheol

Jisu almost catches her, but Cheol pushes him away

Episode 126

The parents are having dinner together at a pig feet restaurant and toast for the future of their children. The TV is not working, and a boy who looks like Jisu tries to fix it.

Miae kisses Cheol

Episode 127

Miae has a dream again in the white dress. As she realizes she might like Cheol, the voice says she's too late and there's no use regretting it.

Episode 129

Miae remembers that they took a picture in the countryside together and wants to take one now. She makes a wish to an airplane about how she just wants one photo, and remarks that the planes never granted her wish before. Spoiler, they won't this time, either.

Miae chooses to take the picture with Cheol. The narration box says "she's always done whatever she sets her mind to. That has always been one of her better attributes. But Mi-ae, it seems as though you keep forgetting something. I told you, you're too late."

The pager's message means idiot, cancelled and it suddenly starts raining. Maie and Cheol cannot take their photo and Cheol cannot give her back the hairpin she dropped a few eps ago.

Episode 132

Graduation photos were postponed until the second semester

In Miae's dream, the voice says she's all over the place and cannot decide what she wants from Cheol. In her memory, Miae wishes at the stone tower that Cheol would like her back. The voice angrily remarks how it must not mean much to her.

Episode 133

While Cheol and Miae are looking at each other, Miae is smacked in the face by a flyer. Later while they are riding the bike, Cheol almost says she looks pretty but he is hit in the face with a flyer that belonged to Jisu.

Episode 134

Miae takes the cigarettes from Jisu and puts them in her backpack

While Jisu and Miae look at each other, the narration box says "Well. this is what we would call fate. What do you think?" Miae can sense the voice and dismisses it.

Jisu again says "see you later" and Miae answers let's not, but Jisu replies they never know and it would be fun.

On the radio in Miae's room there's a voice speaking, asking if it was a success and how there is something you can't stop thinking about. "A friend? The fact that you weren't wrong? Whatever it is, I don't think it's such a bad thing to obsess over it a little bit. I hope you have no regrets about it."

Episode 135

Miae's eyebrow and bangs are so ruined she has to finally go to a hair salon. Yunhui gives her money and says there's a cheap place where she can go. It turns out Jisu's mother is a hairdresser and after realizing she is Jisu's friend, she doesn't ask for money. So if anyone ever wondered why Miae kept ruining her hair in the story, here's the answer....

a little bit of strange wording here:

The narration says "Now that I think about it, this was about the time..wait,no, it was a little bit earlier that things started to go wrong, little by little. You two were completely oblivious, though. Just you two."

Miae's mother goes to the academy. One theory I can give on this is that Miae's family might be moving. She wished for it at the start of the story, mentions it in a later episode as well. Who knows ~

Episode 138

Miae doesn't tell Cheol her feelings because of her pride as she feels like she would lose first

Miae has a feeling as if something is trying to make her look bad in front of Cheol and her gun suddenly starts working

Everybody forgot to buy the picture they took together in ep 139

Episode 140

After conveying their feelings indirectly to each other, Miae tells Cheol they cannot date right now because her mom wouldn't allow it. She plans to go to the same high school, university, everything and thinks there's no one to stop them so nothing can go wrong.

Episode 141

Cheol imagines high school together with Miae and their friends

Every time Cheol is flustered, he accidentally drinks his sister's coffee and he cannot sleep at night..in a story where dreams are relevant I'm sure this is just a coincidence, right???🧐🙃😏

Miae says they should not be obvious before the entrance exam and they start to think of it as a competition

Someone watches them from the street

Episode 144-145

We get everything from Cheol's POV

Cheol got his scar because he wanted to give Miae the romance book she liked before they left and he fell on the stone tower

The picture his dad took of them is about a young Cheol accidentally kneeling with flowers in his hands, the same flowers from Miae's dream, in front of Miae. This picture was in the book Cheol and his family kept.

Cheol realized the book was in his dresser that is now in Miae's room, the one she couldn't open before

Episode 146

Miae sees two flyers in the newspaper, one is about how a student still didn't give it up, the other is about changing one's car

On the street, the same car ads keep flying after her in the wind

Miae goes with Yonghui to wait in a line and the same flyers are all over the place

Episode 147

Miae wants to call Cheol, but Jisu stops her. Miae notices how often they have met during vacation, and Jisu says these coincidences are fun. He remarks it's almost like as if some higher power is involved (!!). Miae is standing on the car ad, they look down on it with Jisu, then she kicks it away. Jisu tells her he has a feeling they will meet again, but Miae hopes they won't.

The academy is also full of the car ads and Miae falls on them

Miae thinks that for a while she's had a feeling as if something wants to get between her and Cheol, but brushes it off

Miae ends up with a bubble gum in her hair and goes to Jisu's house to fix it. Jisu tells her she should stay because he is bored, and there is a car ad on a stool.

Episode 148

We see some of Jisu's childhood memories and he was called a magpie by Miae which was a symbolic choice (I also made a post about it). Jisu in this story is the grateful magpie.

Miae and Jisu "touch hands" for the first time when they high-five (I wrote about how their hand hold never happened before)

After spotting some men smoking, Jisu tells Miae to go inside (one of them might be his father?)

Episode 149

Miae finally remembers Jisu

the narration boxs keeps saying how Jisu is cool and showing heart-thumping sounds and Miae is confused about these strange things

Miae not remembering Jisu was an important plot point considering she recalled everyone else from her past. As I theorized, memories and fate seem to be intertwined, the synchronicity theory also supports this. Synchronicity happens when seemingly unrelated events coincide and they become significant to you. It's easy to see why Jisu was aware of this notion, but Miae was not - because Miae had no idea about those coincidences other than meeting Jisu randomly. Him being her classmate, being the one who found her pencil, who helped her in the crowd, found her name tag, etc. - only Jisu knew about these. But right now, Miae was made aware that they knew each other in the past - a pretty big coincidence.

So now that Miae might have kickstarted her own fate, the question is whether she will be able to fight it or if there are certain things bound to happen no matter what. Is the narrator omnipotent and omniscient? So many questions that will hopefully get answered.

Episode 150

For the first time, Miae says she and Jisu will see each other again sometime. Before this, it was always Jisu who said it and Miae would reply that she didn't want to meet him again.

Miae remembers Jisu transferring, but doesn't know why he singled her out (so she will probably recall more memories later)

As Miae leaves Jisu's house, the car ads are flying in the air around her

Jisu enrolls at the academy and for the first time he says it's not a coincidence

Episode 155

Hwani tells her mother it would be great if they could keep being neighbours with Miae because she's fun. After a pause, Cheol's mother agrees.

Jisu keeps telling Miae she's a "traitor" or "bat" (depending on the translation, meaning she keeps secrets from others like the Yonghui Yunhui situation and the fact that she went to Jisu's house) and she might get into trouble because of that

Episode 158

Flashforward in the episode to a scene with Cheol leaving Miae at the academy while a storm is coming and Miae looks like she's about to cry

An hour earlier in the story the dark clouds are already gathering (I mentioned how rainy weather is always connected to the change in Miae and Cheol's relationship, and how it's usually an ominous sign). After seeing Jisu's flustered face, Cheol tells Miae that he wants to change the lightbulb in her house before she gets hurt. The lights at the academy are highlighted as they keep vibrating. (I also noted how the lights are signs of the supposed higher power, they get their own panels in Miae's room, and they went out 2 times when Miae and Cheol's relationship changed)

After Jisu reveals that Miae was in his house and Cheol gets angry, Miae's pager starts buzzing (again, the pager messages always appear when the higher power wants to communicate with Miae).

Taekwang is an interesting character because the things he says are sometimes connected to the greater theme of the story. Like when he listened to his music and said how Miae cannot choose two things at the same time (come on, it was the foreshadowing for the current conflicts!), he smelled Jisu on Miae (???), Jisu even said he's the one he cannot deal with, and now he was counting the seconds until Miae got another sign. Is he used as a medium? (who knows lol)

Miae wants to check the pager message but the fluorescent lamp(?) breaks. Jisu shields Miae from the shards while they fall on the ground, making it his first successful attempt to save Miae in the story. The pager lands in the corner of the room.

[zorrasucia]

Teach Me Tonight - Part 3

[Part 1] [Part 2] Part 3: [Deleted Scene] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Deleted Scene] [Part 8]

Reader x Carmy Berzatto (The Bear FX)

Rating: Explicit (5k)

Tags: Smut, Set sometime after the opening of The Bear, Porn with a little plot, Virgin!Carmy, Oral (M and F receiving), Phone sex, Dream sex, P in V sex, a sprinkle of SoftDom!Carmy at Reader's request, Both Carmy and Reader have a bit of a praise kink

Summary: With everything you had heard earlier, it seemed like sex was another facet of his life where he wouldn't let himself just enjoy stuff. "I want to make you feel good too," you insisted.

It was a foggy day, the cold of Chicago promised a quiet afternoon with few customers. Sydney showed up at the store and invited you to family, saying something about a surprise for Carmy. You quickly closed up and followed her back to the restaurant. Most of the staff knew you by now; Tina cupped your face lovingly, Nat hugged you, and Richie showed you to your seat. Everyone was there except Carmy. 

"What's going on?" you asked Nat in a whisper. 

"He didn't tell you? Of course he didn't tell you," she rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "It's his birthday," she said simply.

"Oh!"

You felt a weight settle in your stomach. How could you not know? You bit the inside of your cheek, trying to hide your nervousness and stopping yourself from crying at the same time. 

"Oh, sweetie," Nat put her arm around you. "You shouldn't feel bad about it. He doesn't tell anyone. The only reason I know is because I'm his sister. We don't do presents or candles or sing because of all the- Well, you know," she gestured vaguely. You nodded. 

You didn't know the whole story but Carmy had let you know bits and pieces of his unstable childhood and the fraught relationship with his Mom, from way before Mike died.

"But Syd wanted to cook something nice for him and Marcus wanted to test a cake recipe, so," she shrugged. You managed a smile. "He'll be happy to see you," she squeezed you to her side.

"Okay, everyone start eating and act fucking normal," Richie bellowed. "We don't want the birthday boy to feel ambushed or whatever. We're having a nice meal, with our neighbor, and there's a random ass cake here for absolutely no reason, okay?"

"Your ass is random, man!" Marcus replied from the other side of the table, cutting slices of what looked like tres leches cake. Fak chuckled between forkfuls of salad.

Sydney had already started passing plates around, it was lamb and salad and it smelled delicious.

"Thanks for inviting me," you told her once she got to you. 

"I mean, you're practically family, right?" she smiled.

By the time Carmy appeared, you were all eating and talking, and he could sneak in and sit by your side almost unnoticed. 

"What's all this?" he asked, looking frantically around the room.

"They asked me to come over for family," you smiled innocently. "It's very good," you added pointing at your plate. 

"No, I mean-" he hesitated, his eyes kept searching for Nat. She was leaning against the door frame and when she saw Carmy, she put her fingers to the corners of her lips and pushed them up, to shape a smile. 'Be happy, okay?' she mouthed.

Carmy nodded, then looked down, a relieved smirk curving his lips. He tried to relax, leaning back on his seat and placing an arm behind your chair. He took the plate Richie brought him and started eating with gusto. 

"So, you know?" he asked after a while. 

"No presents, no candles, no singing," you repeated, knowing it would calm his anxiety a little. "I want to make a suggestion though."

Carmy turned his head quickly. "Yeah?" 

"Yeah," you smiled mischievously. "I think this cake should be like a staple at the restaurant. No way I'm waiting for your next birthday to have it again."

Carmy laughed. After his first bite of the cake he had to agree. "That's fire," he hummed. 

His face looked bright and lovely. Your hand didn't leave his thigh for the rest of the meal. 

You leaned against Carmy's side; he kissed the top of your head and sighed, burying the two of you deeper into the cushions of the sofa. It had been a beautiful day. With his arms around you, you asked him.

"Why don't you like presents on your birthday?"

"Uh- I'm not sure," he replied honestly. His fingers drew pretty shapes on your shoulder. "I guess if you're not expecting anything then you can't be disappointed, right?" 

"I get that," you said after a while. "I just think it's a waste that I sell vintage, and you love vintage, and you don't ask for presents, you know?" you added playfully.

He smiled. "I guess. I think I like it better when it's on a random day, for no reason at all."

"Yeah," you nodded. "Can I do something nice for you, though? Just because I want to, not because it's your birthday," you clarified.

He turned to face you. "Uh- Okay."

You disentangled from his embrace and knelt between his legs on the floor . He tilted his head in confusion. You smiled and grabbed a hair tie from your pocket, making a show of putting your hair in a ponytail. Carmy's eyes widened when your hands ran up and down his thighs, slow, sensual motions that sent shivers up his spine. 

"You don't have to-" he started protesting.

"I want to," you said.

It had come up a couple of times. You'd offer to reciprocate after he'd eaten you out and he would refuse, saying he would rather be inside you. With everything you had heard earlier, it seemed like sex was another facet of his life where he wouldn't let himself just enjoy stuff. 

"I want to make you feel good too," you insisted.

He seemed torn, one of his hands reaching to caress yours.

"You're absolutely free to say no. There's other ways we can have fun but don't say no just because you feel you don't deserve it, Carm. You do. I promise," you said earnestly. 

He bent over to kiss you fiercely. "Alright. Yes. Please," he said.

You moved slowly, undoing his belt and unbuttoning his trousers, watching the rise and fall of his chest as his breathing became more erratic. You pulled his trousers down, towards you, and started touching his thighs gently, raking your fingers through the coarse hair that went down his stomach, palming at the growing bulge over his boxers.

"Uh-" Carmy swallowed. "I have never- So if I don't last just-"

"Hey, it's okay," you reassured him. "Listen, if you last five seconds but you enjoy it, then I'm happy." 

He laughed at that and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll aim for six then," he quipped.

You removed his boxers carefully, his cock was already hard. He groaned when your breath touched his bare skin. You suspected he was right, he wasn't going to last, so you tried to make it worth his while. 

You started by kissing his head, licking the drop of precum in a quick flick of your tongue. It made him shudder with pleasure - and it made you feel powerful, the effect you had on him.

"Let me know if there's something you don't like," you said, your right hand closing loosely around his shaft. He nodded. He was hardly moving and his hands were fisting the cushions of the sofa. "You need to breathe, Carm," you reminded him, your voice had turned husky. You took one of his hands and placed it on your head, his fingers intertwined around your ponytail and you heard him exhale. "Good."

You leaned forward again, kissing around his head, making the kisses open mouthed as you went, letting him get accustomed to the feeling of your lips on him. Your hand started pumping his length, softly, no rhythm to it yet, more a caress than anything.

"You're going to fucking kill me," he rasped, his hand holding tighter to your hair, loosening the ponytail when he massaged your scalp. You moaned against his skin, which made him writhe his hips in return. 

You opened your mouth, taking the first couple of inches of him. You couldn't deep throat, but he didn't seem to mind- your hand was pumping and making up for the rest of his length. He moaned and it made your pussy tingle. 

"You sound so pretty, Carmy," you praised. He chuckled, out of breath. 

You licked the length of his shaft, wetting it enough to help your hand glide easier. You took him again, a little deeper this time, not far enough to make you gag, just enough that he threw his head back in pleasure, the veins of his neck visibly pulsing and his Adam's apple bobbing as he tried in vain to breathe normally. It was all quick gasps and the occasional groan. That was enough teasing, you decided.

You started going back and forth, the rhythm of your mouth echoed with your right hand, the left rested on his knee. He intertwined his fingers with yours, holding tight.

"Please, don't- don't stop," he begged. His face was downwards now, looking you straight in the eye, his pupils were blown and his mouth hung open. "It feels so fucking good. Please, please..."

You sped up, hollowing out your cheeks, moving your left hand so that you were sinking your nails into the muscle of his tattooed forearm. Your underwear was wet with arousal and the sounds he made weren't helping, you pressed your thighs together to get some relief and ended up moaning on his cock.

"Holy fucking shit," he gasped. "I'm sorry, I'm gonna-"

You felt him twitch inside your mouth, every muscle in his body growing tense. He groaned over and over, going quieter each time, letting go completely. Salt covered your tongue in spurts and you did your best to swallow most of it, a little bit of it fell down the corner of your mouth. You slowed down, pumping him until he pulled you off his softening cock, mumbling something about "so good" and "too much". His hand let go of your hair and cupped your face, his eyes were glazed over and blissed out, a loving look to his sweaty face. 

"So fucking good," he managed to say in an exhale. His thumb cleaned the drop of cum off your chin - so carefully, so gently that it warmed your insides. "You're beautiful."

You laughed in disbelief but then you remembered how gorgeous he looked when he emerged from in between your thighs, half of his face completely wet, a turned on blush on his cheeks...

He pulled you up on his lap and kissed you senseless, his tongue caressing your tired lips, humming contentedly into you. You were both a mess: him naked from the waist down, you with your hair completely undone and your underwear soaked.

"Best birthday I've ever had," he said against your lips, his forehead to yours. "Thank you." 

You smiled. "You're welcome. Happy birthday, Carmy." 

~

You had slowly gotten used to sleeping in a bed that smelled like Carmy. Whether it was at your place or his, even if the sheets on his side were cold they still had a hint of salt, smoke, and his expensive aftershave. 

"Get a fucking grip," you reprimanded yourself in a low voice. 

Call me when you get home? 

You sent the text before you could chicken out. He wouldn't leave the restaurant for another hour or so, so you settled on the hotel room bed, the unfamiliar cream colored covers suffocating, the sound of a movie on the TV only making you more antsy. 

When the phone rang, it was a little before midnight. You were comfortable and warm - and completely awake.

"Hey, you okay?" Carmy's voice sounded raspy on the phone. 

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just- I couldn't sleep and-" you chuckled without a hint of humor. It felt silly: it was an overnight trip, you were staying at a nice hotel, and you couldn't sleep because Carmy wasn't there. It was so fucking silly. "Never mind. I'm okay, it's late. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Hey!" Carmy stopped you from hanging up. "Talk to me. What's up?"

"Fuck," you looked at the ceiling. "I don't know. Nothing bad happened. Actually, the estate sale went great. Uh. This lady had a big collection of dresses, fifties and sixties, beautiful pieces. And shoes! Just tons of them, barely used, Gucci and shit."

"And you got them?" Carmy asked, you could almost hear him frowning.

"Yeah! It's all good stuff and I think it will sell well too."

"That's good," he said, his tone soothing. "So, what's wrong?"

"Uh- I don't know," you repeated. "I came back to the hotel and it was so- just so fucking quiet and it feels wrong, you know?"

Carmy hummed in agreement. 

"I get it," he said after a beat. "When I got here, uh, the apartment was very fucking quiet too. Creeped me out a bit."

You sighed. Maybe it wasn't so silly.

"It helps, though," you said after a beat. "Talking with you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," you smiled. "How was your day?"

"It was absolute shit," he replied.

"Too bad I'm not there to fuck about it," you said. 

Sometimes, when Carmy's day was too bad to even talk about, you would fuck - hard and fast - and then talk about it. Hence, fuck about it. 

Carmy chuckled. "Yeah," you could hear him exhale as he fell heavily on the couch or the bed. "That would actually help a lot."

You bit your lip, feeling your stomach flip a little. "Um, Carm?"

"Mmm?"

"I know you said you hadn't been with anyone before me-" you prompted. "Does that mean you never had phone sex either?"

He coughed loudly on the other side of the line. You pictured him choking on his own cigarette smoke, a deep blush to his cheeks. 

"Sorry?" he asked after a moment.

"I mean that we can still fuck about it... If you want," you offered. "You know, you can say what you would like to do to me, or maybe tell me what I should do... That sort of thing."

"Uh," he hesitated. "I do- I'd like to try but I- I'm not good at playing pretend, you know? Never been, not even as a kid."

"If I do the talking? Would that be better?" 

"Maybe?" his voice sounded ragged but not just from coughing. 

"I've never, uh, taken the lead before but that would, like, even out the playing field, right?" you reasoned, your heart beating faster.

"What- what would that be like?" 

"I could tell you about the nice pajamas I'm wearing," you lowered your voice. "The blue ones?"

"With the shorts and the little bows?" Carmy asked. "You look good in those..."

You opened your legs, your free hand playing with the elastic of your shorts. 

"I wish you would take them off for me, Carm. I wish you would touch me like only you know how. I want your fingers inside me," he cleared his throat on the other side of the line. "Would you like to do that?"

"Yes," his voice was breathy, "I would, yes."

"I want you to do something for me, Carmy," you started teasing between your legs over the fabric of your shorts. "Remember when we first fucked? You closed your eyes and touched yourself to get hard again. Can you do that?"

"Yeah. Yeah," you could barely hear his intake of breath and it still made you shiver.

"You looked so fucking hot, I still think about it when I finger myself," you confessed. You could picture him clearly, the veins of his arms and neck bulging, his head thrown back.

"Shit..." he rasped.

"Can you hold the phone close, Carm? I want to hear you while you touch your cock."

"I want to hear you too... Ah, fuck!"

The sound made you curl your toes with anticipation. You got your hand inside your underwear and traced lines on your folds, caressing slowly.

"I'm already so wet," you said. "Are you hard for me, Carmy?"

"So fucking hard," he drawled and you moaned.

"What would you like me to do?" you asked, trying to keep your voice steady. "If I was there, Carm, what would you like me to do?"

"Ri- Ride me," he managed. 

His breathing was a quick staccato that made your hand pick up speed, spreading wetness around your clit. You sat up on the bed, imagined Carmy underneath you, holding tight to your hips, your hands on his sculpted chest.

"How? How do you want me to- oh, God- ride you?"

"Just- hard," he groaned but it was a muffled sound, he was holding back. 

"Carm..."

"I want you to fucking wreck me," he blurted out.

If he felt like he had fucked up, like he had done something terribly wrong at the restaurant, he liked it to hurt a little, you knew that by now. Maybe the rhythm was punishing, maybe it was way too fast, maybe you denied him his orgasm for a while. Anyway, he was atoning. 

"I want you to touch you like I would, Carmy," you said. "Can you do that for me? Put lube on your hand, hold your cock tight, and go as fast as you can, okay?"

"Yes," it was barely a whisper. But suddenly you could listen - deep growls from way within his chest, rhythmic gasps that grew quicker and quicker. You struggled to catch up with him, your middle and ring fingers pumped in and out of you in tandem with his sounds. 

"Oh, fuck," he rasped. "I can hear it. Jesus Christ."

"It's not the same without you, Carm," you said honestly. Your hand was wet to the palm but you still wanted that fullness only he could make you feel. "I need you inside me, I need you."

"Oh, fuck!"

He got quiet for a second, then groaned a few times, your pussy clenching while he did. You were so close. He sighed into the speaker, relieved and spent - you wanted to be happy for him but you were still on the edge and desperate for release. You kept moaning.

"Have you come?" Carmy asked.

"Not yet," you managed to say.

"Shit."

"I'm close though. Just stay on the line, please."

You could feel it slipping out of your grasp. It wasn't enough to have him listen, you needed something to hold on to. You let out a needy whine.

He read your mind, and in that fucked out voice he said: "That was- holy shit- that was so, so fucking hot. You made me come and you didn't even touch me," you fluttered against your fingers. "Can’t believe you're mine. You're my good girl."

He had never called you that. That was it. The tension within you snapped and you could breathe again. Eyes shut and forehead to the duvet, you could almost feel Carmy's hands touching up your back, tickling at your sides. You let out a shaky laugh.

"Fuck, Carmy. Fuck," you repeated, something warm settling in your belly. 

"You okay?" he said. You had dropped the phone and you heard him far away.

You wiped your hand on your hip and settled back on the bed, tired and a little sweaty. You'd have to shower again in the morning but you found you didn't care right now.

"I'm okay," you replied when you could pick up your phone. "So okay. You?"

"So okay," he repeated with a chuckle. 

"Okay," you let out a big exhale. "Now tell me about your day."

~

You were at The Bear, it was late at night, the lights were dimmed down and there were no patrons. You turned around and found the place empty - ghostly and quiet. 

"Hello?" No one replied.

Now that you thought of it, you didn't know how you got there - couldn't remember, actually. But Carmy was suddenly there too, hands on his hips, wearing his pristine chef's whites. The blue of his eyes popped with the ambience lighting in a way that felt supernatural.

"Carmy," you called but he didn't move.

"On the table," he said brusquely, pointing with his head at the only piece of furniture left in the restaurant. There was no tablecloth or cutlery on it.

"What?" you asked.

"On the fucking table!" he yelled and you obeyed, sitting quickly on it, facing him.

"What's going on?" you asked.

He laughed - it wasn't his usual laugh, soft and floaty - it was a cruel sound, glass like. 

"What's going on, sweetheart, is that I'm going to fuck you, on this table, until you come three times," he said and it sent a shiver down your spine. "Or until you beg me to stop, whatever happens first."

You didn't say a word, you couldn't: he kissed you violently, biting on your lip and grabbing your throat. 

"Carmy, holy shit! Slow down," you pleaded when you parted to catch your breath. 

He stopped but only to spread your legs wide open, his fingers digging into your thighs forcefully, then going up your skirt. He leaned to whisper in your ear:

"You sure you want that?"

His voice was low, caramel like, delicious. You ran a hand up his chest, fisting white fabric, bringing him closer. 

"Good," he said. His fingers shoved your underwear to the side and teased mercilessly.

"Fuuuck," you whined as he made you melt in his hands. 

He was touching you just right, having you soaked and pliant so fast it left you dizzy. He thrust two fingers inside you and started pumping fast, his thumb circling your clit - you thanked your stars that you had showed him early on where it was. Your moans grew louder and longer.

"Are you gonna cum for me?" he asked but it sounded like an order. 

You nodded frantically. 

"Are you gonna let me bend you over this table, fuck your pussy as hard as I want?" 

"Yes, please, fuck," you whined. 

Just before the knot within you could unravel, the bright light of morning rushed through the window and made you squeeze your eyes and cover your face. And suddenly you weren't at The Bear, you were at Carmy's place, warm in his bed. It was Sunday, you remembered.

"Oh, fuck," you mumbled. 

Carmy was right next to you, twisting to face you as he woke up too.

The mornings you shared were few and far between, the occasional day off, the days when you had to get up early to take a train for a sale out of town... They were precious, you loved to see Carmy with sleepy eyes, reaching out for you from under the covers. You smiled and stared at him. 

"Morning," you said, feeling a little weird about your dream. 

"Mornin'," he slurred with his eyes closed. "You sleep okay?" 

"Uh-huh," you tried to sound casual. "You?"

"Yeah," you let him pull you in closer, his nose brushed the side of your neck. And his hard on brushed your thigh. 

"Oh!" your heart raced - the one thing that still remained from your dream was the wetness between your legs.

"Shit," Carmy covered his face with his hand. "I'll, uh, I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it."

You cleared your throat nervously. "Actually-"

You didn't know where to begin so you simply grabbed his hand and showed him how wet you were, even through your underwear he could tell. His eyes widened.

"Wh- What- Why?"

"Uh, I dreamt of you," you said simply. 

"What about?" he asked. You shrugged. "I mean, if you liked whatever happened in your dream that much, we could..." he let the offer float. He had that curious look about him.

You bit your lip. It had been good, so good. But it made you feel a little embarrassed about the things that you wanted, what they meant about you.

"We were- Well, you fingered me and- yeah," you hoped he would be satisfied with that. 

"Oh," he sounded a little disappointed but he obliged. "Sure, we can do that." 

He scooted closer still, his hand and the way he moved was gentle and sweet. And completely wrong. You took his wrist and stopped him.

Carmy looked up in concern. "Did I hurt you?"

You shook your head. "I'll- I'll tell you about my dream but promise me you won't laugh," you pressed your hands on his chest. He nodded solemnly. "Even if we don't end up doing it because it's not your thing just- Don't laugh, okay?"

"I won't," he promised. 

"Okay," you took a deep inhale. "So I dreamt that we were at the restaurant. We were all alone, it was late at night and you- Well, you told me to get on a table and that you would make me come three times," you blushed furiously. "You kissed me and you fingered me. You said you would bend me over on the table and fuck me hard. And then I woke up."

"Shit," Carmy said.

"Yeah."

"Was I- Was I different?" he asked. 

"You were a little mean."

"And you were into it?" nothing about his tone betrayed disgust or revulsion.

"I didn't think I would be, but yeah," you replied honestly. 

Carmy ran a hand through his hair and stared at you for a little bit.

"You know I'm not good at the pretending thing," he said and you nodded. "But I think I can fuck you on the table until you come three times."

You felt like you had the wind knocked out of you. 

Before you knew it, you were both naked, kissing in the middle of his kitchen, his hands under your thighs as he placed you on the table. 

"I'm gonna need you to keep count for me," he said, lowering to his knees between your legs. That was the last thing he said before devouring you.

You knew Carmy was competitive but you didn't know it would extend to a dream version of him. He became laser focused: his only goal was to be a better lover than dream Carmy, make you come undone faster and harder than he ever could. Without preamble, he hooked two fingers inside you, curling non-stop, making you gasp for air. His mouth worked tirelessly licking and sucking at your clit, getting satisfaction every time you pulled at his hair. In minutes, he had you bucking your hips frantically, trying to fuck his face. You screamed and heaved and cursed, grabbing to the edge of the table for dear life. 

"How many?" he demanded once he got up from between your legs, wiping his face clean with his forearm. His voice sounded rough and you could see a glimpse of the cut-throat chef he used to be back in New York. You felt the aftershocks of your orgasm go through you one more time. 

"One," you replied.

He grabbed your hips and brought you down from the table, then flipped you over. You heard the condom wrapper hit the floor, then, immediately felt his breath on the back of your neck as he lined up his cock to your pussy. He wasn't careful before and he wasn't careful now, going all the way inside you in a swift motion. It was pleasure and pain in even measures, it was exactly what you asked for. Your knees trembled underneath you but Carmy held you upright. 

"Holy shit," was all you could say before succumbing to the rhythm of his hips against yours.

It was slow, purposeful. One of his hands played with your nipples while the other pressed on your clit. It was too much. You took the hand on your clit and placed it on your neck instead, remembering the way Carmy had kissed you in the dream, holding you possessively. Your Carmy didn't press at all, he caressed the column of your throat with careful fingers, kissed the side of it with devotion. It made you melt onto the tabletop. The feeling of your bare chest on the wooden surface and the sound of his hips clapping against yours turned you on even more. It took you by surprise when you started fluttering on Carmy's cock, your release almost gentle, a series of soft needy moans the only outer indication that you had come.

When you regained your bearings, your cheek to the table and your ass up in the air, you said with an unsteady voice:

"Two."

One of his hands soothed down your spine, a silent question being asked: Do you still want to go on? Can you do one more? You reached for his hand and squeezed it, using the strength you had left to get off the table and turn to face Carmy. He was a sweaty mess, curls falling on his forehead, red in the face from edging his orgasm to give you three. You didn't think you could love anyone more than you loved him right then.

"Carmy."

"I'm here. I'm right here," he maneuvered you gently to lay on your back over the table, his eyes on yours. You hummed contentedly. He lifted your legs, placing one on each shoulder and giving you a shy smile - you realized he had actually read the sex book you had bought him as a joke. You giggled. He didn't do anything in half measures. 

This time, his motions weren't calculated and cold. The tenderness when he soothed your back and caressed your neck had bled into everything else. His hips stuttered every now and then, his fingers touched your ankles gently, and his eyes were fixed on you. It was perfect. 

"I'm close," you whispered, one of your hands playing with your chest, the other reaching behind you to the edge of the table. You felt weightless. "You can let go, Carmy."

It was all a blur: the swirl of electricity down your body, the beautiful sounds that you made together, and the feeling of him falling on top of you. 

"Shit! I'm sorry I'm crushing you," he mumbled on your skin, his arms flexing as he lifted himself up. You looked up at him and cupped his face, the post-coital glow and the morning light making him look angelic.

"Thank you," you said and he smiled. "It was good, better than I imagined."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Right then, your stomach growled audibly. You covered your face with your hands, mortified. He peeled them off and leaned to nuzzle against your cheek. 

"Pancakes?" he offered in a whisper.

You laughed and turned your head to kiss the tip of his nose. "Yes. Please."

[Deleted Scene]

[Part 4]

[a3r3n]

from the "Chasing Cupid" series

Nct High Stories presents...

★Make a Wish★

A Shotaro × reader story

"Wherever you are I can find you"

🌼Pairing: Shotaro × girl!reader

🌼Status: completed ✔️

🌼Summary: Y/n loves her best friends, but if there's one thing she would change about them, it is the way they constantly prank her. They think she's too shy and diligent, and that she can have some fun at least through their jokes. But what if one of their pranks leads her to message an unknown number, and they grow close without even knowing who they are?

🌼Genre: social media!AU / high school!AU / fluff / crack / strangers to lovers

⚠️Warnings: ignore the timestamps, slight cursing, some cameos (or more)

☆Chasing Cupid Series☆

A/N (⚠️disclaimer): this is the third sm!au of my Chasing Cupid Series, and it's about Shotaro!! I know he’s not part of nct anymore, but I started this series two years ago when he was, and I felt it would be incomplete without him. Anyway, you don't have to read the previous stories to understand this one, but if you want to do it I'll be truly happy <33

🌼Chapters:

[intro pt. 1] - [intro pt. 2]

[1] ➪ single and desperate for love

[2] ➪ do it for the plot

[3] ➪ y/n bully era???

[4] ➪ toilet number guy

[5] ➪ Y***

[6] ➪ Sunday mornings🥰

[7] ➪ sit in a corner and cry

[8] ➪ baguette chat noir croissant???

[9] ➪ did somebody say CHEER?

[10] ➪ Bibble

[11] ➪ UH????

[12] ➪ last first Dream band night (✍🏼)

[13] ➪ how to get away with setting ur teacher’s hair on fire

[14] ➪ mr. Wang🥰😚😍🤭

[15] ➪ DreAm sPoRt GamEs

[16] ➪ one (1) innocent mistake

[17] ➪ 👍🏼☀️

[18] ➪ y/n.exe

[19] ➪ weekly douchebag count

[20] ➪ expired yogurt

[21] ➪ Donghyuck Einstein

[22] ➪ a very talented water bottle boy

[23] ➪ boba🤤🥰😋 (✍🏼)

[24] ➪ accomplished it magnificently

[25] ➪ self-proclaimed school’s Cupid

[epilogue] ➪ #yuselle

©a3r3n All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my works.

[mysterious-moonstruck-musings]

WIP Wednesday Thursday

Happy Thursday y'all! It's been a while since I gave an update on the Dancing with the Stars Dieter fic, Closed Position.

As mentioned before, I do not plan to fully dive into this fic and start posting until Destiny & Deliverance has been completed. However, there is only one chapter and the epilogue left (I'm not ready). Since, it's not that far off...I have started working on my outline for dancing Dieter. More below the cut. 👇

I have it planned out fairly well, so I am sharing my chapter list with you today. This could change slightly when I start digging in, but this is the format I'm going with:

Prologue

Introductions

Week 1 - Foxtrot

Week 2 - Cha Cha

Week 3 - Jive

Week 4 - Rumba

Week 5 - Argentine Tango

Week 6 - Paso Doble

Week 7 - Jazz

Week 8 - Viennese Waltz

Week 9 - Quickstep

Week 10 - Samba

Week 11 - Finale

Epilogue

I've been doing a ton of homework on the show, so I plan to incorporate a lot of crazy behind the scenes stuff that actually happens and makes for an entertaining plot. Anyone down for a weekly spray tan? No? Dieter isn't a fan either.

This fic will not be anywhere near as angsty as D & D. However, some tough topics are mentioned, mostly relating to Kat's (OFC) asshole ex who will be very present as another professional dancer on the show. Then of course, Dieter's issues with drugs and alcohol are discussed too. He will be sober in this fic, but early on in his journey. Still very much our loveable, hot mess trash panda though.

I would like to do a lot more extras with this fic. I plan to share some inspiration videos for each chapter so you will have a visual of the dances. I think it will help you understand what ultimately causes Dieter and Kat to fall for each other. If nothing else, the visuals are just hot AF.

There will be a lot of Latin dances, just because we have to show off Dieter's loose hips. You know there are going to be jokes about that. I feel like it's a good excuse to take Dieter's button allergy up a few notches too. 😏 Here is a sexy little Rumba video to get us started. This dance may or may not be the one that gets them in trouble...🤐

Series Summary: Dieter Bravo was looking to change his bad boy image and clean up his act after hitting rock bottom. His team hoped that having him join the nationally televised family friendly dance competition would be a good first step, if they can keep him out of trouble. 

Katarina Stamos expected her last season as a professional dance partner to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars to go the same as it had for the past nine seasons. That all changed when she was partnered with the infamous Dieter Bravo. 

Dieter and Katarina are reluctantly thrown into their partnership and must learn to work together to succeed in the competition. In the process they form a deeper connection beyond the dance floor that neither anticipated.

If you would like to be added to my taglist for this fic, feel free to comment below or shoot me a message and I will get you added.

Tagging all my usuals. If this isn't a fic you would like to be tagged on, let me know and I will remove you. 😉

@rhoorl @chaoticfestninja @survivingandenduring @partyofone3413 @wannab-urs @cakipy-blog @titlee78 @poodlebae @guelyury @missladym1981 @maried01 @alokaerza @samiamproductions @misstokyo7love @themonadiaries-blog @madnessofadaydreamer @darkheartgatita @avastrasposts @weho2kcmo @harriedandharassed @tkchaos @girlofchaos @yghuibt @musings-of-a-rose @secretelephanttattoo @maggiemayhemnj @legendary-pink-dot @linzels-blog @morallyinept @undercoverpena @sin-djarin @trulybetty @goodwithcheese @jazzloveslatte @timpletance @myloveistoolittle @annieispunk @bitchwitch1981 @readingiskeepingmegoing @runningmom94 @for-a-longlongtime @hisandsnakes @sarcasm-theotherwhitemeat @copperhalfcent

[kyojinacts]

Actor AU Headcanons for some of my favorite SNK/AOT characters!

1) Tea with honey is a staple resource on set due to the amount of screaming that the show requires. Eren was, naturally, the one who made the most of that tea during the earlier seasons. However, he was able to temporarily trade off his reputation as a screamer with Zeke, given that his character became more solemn and quiet as time went on. And, well, Zeke's character couldn't be what he was without the screaming.

2) When the iconic members of the 104th training corps met Levi for the first time, they caught him while he was method acting, and were intimidated. Little did they know that, outside of work, Levi has a very warm, kind, and charismatic personality. This catches both actors on set and fans off guard due to the stark contrast it provides against his character's demeanor. He finds it very, very amusing.

3) While we're on the topic of contrast, Hange actually finds titans very unnerving to look at, unlike their character. They typically don't have to encounter many due to most titans being animated via CGI, but there are some (like Sawney and Beane) that were constructed for "authenticity of reaction", much to Hange's chagrin. They maintain a professional front as much as they can. The only one who knows about their discomfort is Levi.

4) Mikasa breaking the floorboard in the scene where she strikes the human trafficker was entirely an accident. According to her, the floorboard had been unnaturally squeaky, but it was the last part of filming for the day, so she and the stage crew agreed to power through it. The poor girl apologized profusely, but Eren argued that it made the scene cooler. It seems as though Isayama agreed as the take was kept, though the audio team had to do some extensive cleaning to wipe out all the gasps and cries of shock that came from the unnatural breakage.

5) Sasha and Ymir are roommates who were both approached by a casting agent while volunteering at a food pantry. Ymir, though intrigued, was almost 100% sure that it was a scam, while Sasha did the research to check and dragged her friend to attend the auditions for shits and giggles. When they got their respective roles, they freaked out. Sasha almost dropped out, out of fear for what her family would think for being reckless, but Ymir urged her to take charge of her life, because opportunities like these don't come by.

6) The plot point of the Attack titan being able to send memories across time distresses Armin due to his belief that there are several timelines/futures that Eren's character could have chosen to follow rather than the one that was settled on. Isayama had to formally ask him to not discuss it during interviews, because the two of them knew that if Armin began his tirade, he won't stop.

6) Grisha and Carla are neither Eren's actual parents (in fact, Grisha is not even a father outside of work) but they both care about him as if he was their own since they saw him grow up on set. Zeke likes to joke that Grisha's method acting is spectacular in that way, since it took Grisha a bit of time to warm up to Zeke due to the latter's later appearance in the show.

7) The boy in the ending credits scene with the dog is Mikasa's little brother. He was always a big fan of his sister, and when presented with the opportunity to be a part of his sister's bigtime project, he took it with both hands eagerly.

8) The first scarf that Eren wraps around Mikasa was the only scarf that they used throughout the show. It has gone through a LOT, and is threadbare in many places. Despite this, Isayama refuses to have it mended. In an interview, Mikasa admits that she had gotten used to wearing the scarf, so during scenes when she wasn't supposed to wear it, she felt very exposed and empty.

9) Annie and Armin have a lot of deleted scenes/bloopers regarding their interactions for when Annie's character was in the crystal. In one scene, Annie is seen to dancing inside her crystal behind Armin as he monologued. In another, they switched places.

10) Connie and Jean are the ones to curse the most frequently after botching a scene. The others keep a tally on how many times. In the end, Connie barely ended up cursing more than Jean by two times. Connie's favorite curse words are "damn" and "shit" while Jean's is any variant of "fuck" like fuck, motherfucker, fucking hell, etc.

[thecreaturecodex]

General Abdalla Aulorian

“Fay“ © Ivana Abbate, accessed at her gallery here

[Unlike the other characters I’ve been posting for Monster Girl Summer, this one is Mine. Abdalla Aulorian is my character in a long form, freeform Pathfinder game run by @strawberry-crocodile​. Her main NPC, who I have an enemies-to-lovers relationship with, will be posted in a couple of days. This is Abdalla immediately before the campaign started.]

Abdalla Aulorian CR 7 LE Outsider (native) This woman has pale mauve skin, shoulder length black hair with red streaks, and ridged horns growing from her brow. Her left leg is differently shaped from her right, with an elongated ankle and a horse-like hoof.

Life is cruel to Abdalla Aulorian, and she has learned how to be cruel in return. Born as the sixth child in a particularly ambitious branch of the Aulorian family, her mother made a deal with the contract devil Jebelat to have her turned into a tiefling. She was treated as a whipping boy and basically a servant by her parents and most of her siblings, and she lashed out violently. To teach her some discipline and make her useful, she was shipped off to the Sisters of Eiseth. On the plus side, the Sisters did accept her as a trans woman, and helped her transition. On the other hand, they did so with humiliating rituals and beat what little independence she had out of her thoroughly. At the end of her training, Abdalla signed her soul over to Eiseth and bears her unholy symbol as a brand on her breast. If my soul was to be owned by hell, she rationalized, I might as well choose who my master will be.

From the nunnery, Abdalla went into the Chelish military as an officer. Although a few of her fellow cadets thought that as a tiefling she should be kept to non-commissioned status, those that complained too loudly had a nasty habit of turning up dead. Her assistance in crushing a halfling slave revolt near Laekastel won her a title, Demibaroness, and she was successful enough in the war against the Glorious Reclamation to claw her way up to the rank of general. She has some regrets, and plenty of nightmares, but is proud of her ability to survive in as hostile a system as she has. She hasn’t spoken to her parents in years—they fled their manor in Corentyn to a summer estate in Vyre, just in time for Ravounel to declare independence. Whether her family are keeping their heads down, fought back against the Silver Ravens and were captured or killed, or just used this opportunity to cut Abdalla out of her life… she doesn’t know and doesn’t particularly care. Now that she is a general, Abdalla regularly volunteers to lead troops into enemy territory, hoping either to win a plot of land to retire to or to be put out of her misery in combat.

General Abdalla Aulorian has survived as long as she has by being able to control her own emotions. She lies habitually, presenting herself as a loyal workhorse for the military and dutiful supplicant to Eiseth. In truth, she deeply resents Eiseth, Cheliax, her family, and herself for her very existence. Abdalla’s rage and self-loathing has been channeled into infernal power. She uses her few spells to augment her own physical abilities and for a modicum of protection. Abdalla never had much patience for ranged weapons, and relies on her soldiers to provide artillery support. Although she is fleet of foot, Abdalla’s gait is awkward due to her mismatched legs, and she finds both running and riding to be difficult. 

Abdalla Aulorian          CR 7 XP 3,200 LE Medium outsider (native) Tiefling bloodrager 8 Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +11, scent Defense AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor) hp 64 (8d10+16) Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +3; +4 vs. enchantment, fear, poison DR 1/-; Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 10 Defensive Abilities blood sanctuary, diabolical arrogance, improved uncanny dodge, infernal resistance Offense Speed 30 ft. (40 ft. unarmored) Melee +1 halberd +12/+7 (1d10+5/x3) Ranged javelin +7 (1d6+3) Special Attacks bloodrage (19 rounds/day, +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 Will, -2 AC) Spells CL 5th, concentration +7 2nd (2/day)—bear’s strength, bull’s endurance, mirror image 1st (2/day)—expeditious retreat, magic missile, phantom blood, protection from good, shield Statistics Str 16, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12 Base Atk +8; CMB +11; CMD 21 Feats Blind-fight (B), Eschew Materials (B), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Bluff), Skilled Rager (Bluff) Skills Bluff +13, Climb +5, Handle Animal +6, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Perception +11, Perform (dance) +2, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +15, Survival +12; Racial Modifiers +2 Bluff, +2 Stealth Languages Common, Halfling, Infernal SQ blood casting, bloodline (infernal), fast movement, fiendish sorcery, variant tiefling Gear +1 halberd, +1 breastplate, cloak of elvenkind, silversheen (x2), feather token bird (x2), potion of cure moderate wounds, scroll of spider climb, 3 javelins, dress uniform worth 30 gp, jasper earrings worth 50 gp, 40 sp Special Abilities Variant Tiefling Abdalla has the scent special ability instead of darkness as a spell-like ability.

[pxnsneverland]

Beauty and The Boss | austin!elvis x oc (part 11)

plot summary: Laura Jean Walker is the daughter to Louisiana’s most powerful mafia boss, but to her, he’s just her jail warden. When she sneaks out to the Louisiana Hayride with her friend she sees Elvis Presley perform and instantly knows something is special about this boy. Especially when he saves her from being assaulted by a townie. She thinks she’s on cloud 9 until she gets kidnapped in the middle of the night by the Memphis Mafia led by Elvis himself. Will Laura Jean try to free herself or will something hold her back from finding her way home?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

pairings: austin!elvis x oc

word count: 1729

warnings/notes: Gun Violence

Chapter 11

I'd be lying if I claimed I wasn't worried about my father's impending visit. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to wiggle my way out of his hands this time. There will be no rebellion or blackmail to save me or Elvis. This meeting would put a stop to everything, regardless of who won. I stayed close to Elvis while he and the rest of his mafia armed themselves with as many of Elvis' guns as they could conceal on their bodies. It was like witnessing troops train for battle. Elvis approached me, a fully loaded handgun in his hands.

He extended it to me. “Now, darlin’, I don’t know how this is gonna go. But I’ll be damned if I let him take you away from here no matter what happens to me.” He took my already trembling hand and placed the gun in it. “I’ll protect you with my life and you know that. But if Walker manages to fire first…you need to defend yourself. I know he’s your Daddy–”

“Not anymore.” I slid my hand around the gun's grip and tucked it into the waistline of my pants. Despite my quivering palms, the rest of me was rock solid. Even before I met Elvis, Daddy had been dead to me for a long time. I could pull the trigger if the time came. At least, that's what I told myself.

Elvis kissed both of my hands on the back. “When all this is over, we’re gonna have a Hollywood weddin’.” He grinned, but I could sense the anxiety he was attempting to conceal.

I smiled back and placed my hand on his cheek. “We sure will.”

~

2 hours appeared to fly away before Elvis received a call from the front gate. I knew it was time when his jaw clenched. He hung up the phone, nodding to the mafia guys who had been eagerly waiting for Elvis' signal. Elvis led me to his office, followed by his guys. When my father arrived at the door, just two people remained to accompany him in. Coming down the corridor, I could hear his dominating footfall. I took a long breath to calm my nerves, which were becoming more agitated as the steps became louder. The door flung wide, revealing my father and his mafia associates, men I had grown up with since childhood. Men who were previously like uncles were suddenly total strangers standing before me, staring at me with the same disdain they had for Elvis.

Elvis was absolutely disregarded by Daddy. He gave me a cheeky look as he glanced at me. His gaze slid down until it came to rest on my hand, which was lying on the outside of my thigh. His lower lip trembled. “Well…” he said slowly, “I guess my little gift was an early wedding present, wasn’t it?”

“You’re a sick man, Walker.” Elvis pretended he hadn't heard Daddy's remark. “You knew she would be in that car with me. You were willin’ to let your own daughter die just to prove a point?”

“My daughter made her choice.” While conversing to Elvis, he kept his gaze on me. “But once I get rid of you, well, her choice won’t really matter, will it?”

Elvis' jaw clenched. “I have no complaints about resolvin’ this peacefully. I’ll forget about the money you stole and your debt to me, but you have to leave Laura Jean here with me and never contact her again.”

“What kind of father would I be if I left my daughter here with you and your riff raff?” Daddy narrowed his eyes. “Especially when your bloodline has a history of killing mine.”

What was he on about? Until I met Elvis, I had never heard of the Presley family or their links to the mafia. And I knew Daddy would never miss an opportunity to tell me about another mafia family that was our rival. He had to be lying. Just trying to get something going inside of me so I'd make a mistake and he'd have the upper hand.

I discovered my own voice before Elvis had an opportunity to discover his. “What are you talkin’ about, Daddy?”

Daddy gave me a frightening smile, as though everything was going as planned. “You know your Mama died in a hit that was meant for me. You should know, darlin’. It’s his fault you don’t have a Mama anymore. Or should I say it's his Daddy’s fault.”

My cheeks heated, and I felt as if the world was whirling around me. My mouth got dry, and drums began to pound in my mind. Vernon Presley was the reason my life had crumbled. He was the reason my father saw me as a property rather than a daughter. His thugs had murdered my mother, an innocent, charming woman who had done nothing wrong but fall in love with the wrong guy. The name Presley was the boogieman I'd been looking for all these years, the thing that kept me awake at night hoping and praying for justice for a mother who died much too young.

“Laura Jean…” Elvis began in that lovely, delicate voice I had grown to adore, the one that was just meant for me..

My hands were quicker than my thinking, and I snatched the revolver from my belt and pointed it at Elvis. The Memphis Mafia attempted to make a move towards me, but Elvis stopped them and told them to keep still. Angry tears streamed down my cheeks, and all I could see through my clouded vision was red. “Did you know?”  I said, my voice shaking.

Elvis raised his hands. “Darlin’---”

“DID YOU KNOW?!” I yelled and removed the gun's safety. My finger was poised above the trigger.

Elvis' expression softened as he gazed at me with loving eyes. I have no doubt I could have shot him right there and he wouldn't have stopped loving me. I was blinded by the wrath, anguish, and heartache I'd been harboring since I was 12 years old. Elvis released both of his hands. “I didn’t know. But I knew Daddy had ordered some hits before he got jailed. He called it protectin’ me from the nearby bosses who would come sniffin’ around once word got out about me takin’ his place. When you told me about your Mama and with Louisiana bein’ so close, I—I thought maybe, but I didn’t want it to be true.”

The hammering in my brain became more intense, and the wrath within demanded blood for blood. I could hear my father laughing behind me. “See, baby girl? That’s why I’ve kept you so close, tried so hard to get you away from this boy. He doesn’t love you. He’s just tryin’ to finish what his father started.”

Mama's face flashed across my head like a movie reel. Her smiling face saying my name as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world. Her hugging me and singing to me only to serve the purpose of making me smile and cheering me up. Her teaching me to play the piano and her bell-like giggles when I hit the wrong key. The images then altered. I saw Elvis's face. Elvis smiling at me and whispering my name to me in the breeze. Elvis cradling me in his arms and tenderly sang me to sleep. Elvis teaching me to play the guitar and his boisterous laughter when I couldn't figure it out. My thoughts abruptly cleared, allowing me to see Elvis's face directly in front of me. That was right. That first night when I watched Elvis perform, I rediscovered the affection I had lost from Mama. His love, our love, was as precious and beautiful as Mama's love for me. Elvis was nothing like his father, and I was nothing like mine.

I spun around, my gun now aimed squarely at my father. He also indicated for his men to take a step back. His amusement was unwavering. A memory went through my head of Daddy teaching me how to shoot a gun. If you aim at something with this, you better always intend on killing it, he had said. “What? Are you going to shoot me now? Your own father?” He laughed. “You’re not going to kill me, Laura Jean. As much as you hate to admit it, you need me. You can’t survive without me.”

I shook my head. “I haven’t needed you for a long time, Daddy.”

“You know that’s a lie. Look where you’ve ended up, look how far you’ve fallen.” He extended his hand. “Come with me, sweetheart. Let us be the family we were meant to be.”

I'd heard him talk like this before. He'd only used that voice with Mama. A sincere voice that made you believe he meant what he said. But there was something odd about it. The genuineness felt distorted and untrue. “Leave, Daddy.” 

“You’re coming with me, you little brat! Whether you want to or not!” He pulled out his handgun and pointed it at Elvis.

I didn't think about it. I simply reacted. In my haze, I heard a loud gunshot and had no idea who had shot first. I cast a brief glance towards Elvis. There was no blood or evidence of harm. He appeared unharmed and content. I carefully turned my head to see where my father had recently stood. He was now lying on the ground, blood soaking his costly suit from a gunshot wound to the chest. As I approached him, he was struggling for oxygen and choking on his own blood. His men just watched for a mob leader who fell quickly lost respect. I stood over him, his astonished and wounded gaze was returned with one of indifference.

I knelt next to him. “I want you to know two things before you die. That your daughter who you treated like an expensive object is the one who killed you. The other thing I want you to know…is that one day soon, your daughter is going to hold the name of the family who ruined your life.”  I kissed and placed my fingertips on his brow before rising to my feet. I aimed the gun at him once more. “Goodbye Daddy.” I fired, the bullet striking him between the eyes.

Stay tuned for part 11!! Click HERE to view!

[sparrowandbee]

Part I Synopsis:

It was Marian Cartwright's last reaping. After seven years of living under the radar, hearing her name echoed at the reaping was not a reality she had accounted for.

Marian is ready to die, but her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, wants her to take a stand against her fate and fight.

In the days leading up to the 68th Hunger Games, Haymitch and Marian find companionship in each other, presenting a new dilemma for the tribute who swore she wouldn't cross certain lines for her survival.

How far would Marian go if she wasn't just fighting for herself but for the boy who desperately needs her, hidden behind the wrinkled grey eyes of her mentor?

*TW for alcohol and substance abuse, death/grief, suicidal thoughts, swearing, and canon-level violence.

Part 1: The 68th Hunger Games

Chapter 1, Part 1 | Chapter 1, Part 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4, Part 1 | Chapter 4, Part 2

Chapter 5, Part 1 | Chapter 5, Part 2

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

—

Inspired by @on-my-vigilante-sht's "Capitol Punishment" series.

All rights to the Hunger Games series and all associated characters, locations, and plot details are owned by Suzanne Collins and are not my own.

[starcrossedjedis]

Trying to spread some positivity in the OC community today, so: tell me ten random facts about Mira! Whatever fun little tidits you can think of, tell us about them!! <3

Oh yass, thank you for dropping this in my ask - I am so sorry that it took me 84 years to reply^^' 🥰

1. Mira's mum died a few days after giving birth to her daughter. It wasn't the easiest of births and by the time they finally made it to port there wasn't anything to be done for her anymore.

2. Her father never once considered letting Mira grow up anywhere other than on board the Oro Jackson, he even took a wet nurse on board to make sure she was cared for in the best possible way.

3. Roger found Shanks (and Buggy) shortly after learning that he was gonna be a father and all possible canon plot relations aside also loved the idea of his "little mate" growing up with friends "his own age" on board. Oh well... xD

4. Mira gets abducted when she is around 13-14 while she's on a secret unsupervised night out with Shanks and Buggy. Sick and tired of the whole crew watching her like hawks and treating her like some kind of precious cargo, she talked the boys into this. The guilt they carry over this - and the constant cycle of blaming each other for it - puts a strain on their friendship that might have ended up completely destroying it had Mira not returned.

5. The Mystical Zoan fruit wasn't actually part of the original plan Cipherpol had for Mira. It was only over the course of her imprisonment and (vaguely Red Room-esque) torture/training that someone thought it would add an excellent touch to what they were trying to turn her into.

6. She very probably inherited her father's Haki powers, but so far the combination with her devil fruit makes it so that they present in very distinctive ways (for example, the way her siren voice will make people bend to her will could be seen as being directly related to Haoshoku Haki).

7. Mira's mermaid scales are a mix of different shades of sea green and gold and her eyes take on a gold hue when she's using her power. She choses not to alter her appearance in her day to day life, but one thing she wasn't able to "turn off" ever since she came back is an iridescent sheen where the light hits her skin, which mimicks the sea green and gold hues of her scales.

8. Due to her devil fruit's paradox nature Mira would still drown in the ocean - honorig the more supersticious approach of the ocean rejecting those who ate a devil fruit - but in bodies of fresh water she can actually transform into full mermaid form, including gills to breathe underwater. (She hardly ever does this, as the full transformation is such a rush that she fears it might become addictive. It is however a sight to behold and when Shanks finally sees her like this, he understands why the sailors from the tales he grew up on would go to their certain deaths for a creature like this.)

9. I am still not 100% over the idea of a form of mermaid-y mating bond between her and Shanks, just because the obsessive, soulmatey, feral aspect of it makes me go... well, feral. I am however still not sure how I would wanna go about it, because a) she is not an actual mermaid and b) I am putting them through The Horrors™️ and those include a fecking long time of involuntary separation, which in like 97% of mating bond scenarios would mean near certain death where I just want maximum sadness ^^' (if you have ideas / suggestions feel free to hit me up, this is definitely not my usual trope and I have little to no idea what I am doing xD)

10. Mira gets Mihawk to take her to Shanks when their daughter goes missing.

BONUS - I am full on determined to make the timeline my bitch. I want Mira and Shanks to be older than they'd be in canon when Roger dies, but I also want their daughter to be around 18yrs old when she meets the straw hats. Yes, it doesn’t add up with the canon timeline and I am making a hellish effort to ignore this even though it kills me not to obsess over every little detail until it squashes all my passion 😬

[barbiegirldream]

My guess for Dabi fans is that they see he faced abuse so they have to try and justify him. But they don't want to admit the story was really about Endeavor's redemption so they have to compound things about Dabi that aren't true. Such as that he loved his siblings or he wanted to be a hero in the first place.

The truth of the matter is Touya Todoroki was the oldest of four. He was supposed to look out for his little siblings half the fics out there make it so he cares about them. When it's clear he never did. He learned misogyny at age 5 and told 4 year old Fuyumi she was a good for nothing girl. <- Endeavor has female sidekicks and was checking Fuyumi's quirk because she was a potential heir too. Besides being generally abusive to his wife because he was an abusive person it doesn't seem like he held women in lower regard to men so I don't know where baby Touya got his talking points tbh

And his 'care' for Natsuo was entirely selfish. Touya a 13 year old boy was unloading his problems on his 8 year old brother. Some of them still misogony. And when said 8 year old wanted to go to sleep Touya freaked the fuck out on Natsuo and the next interaction they would have would be Touya getting him kidnapped and wanting him to be murdered.

And Touya at like 8 was told to make friends at school and stop using his quirk it was hurting and him and said okay fuck you dad I am going to kill baby Shoto. At 13 thought maybe he was wrong and Shoto isn't the problem suggesting for the past five years he's still been plotting to kill his baby brother. And then at like ~16 when Touya wakes up and runs home he sees 8 year old Shoto on the ground beaten and bloody and makes the call He Must kill his little brother. More than anything in the world he has to kill Shoto in front of Endeavor. And it's because to Dabi, Shoto isn't even a person. He's Endeavor's trophy and he's going to break it. When Dabi at the end imagines his family around him Shoto doesn't exist.

So anyways that sums up why good sibling Dabi/Touya Todoroki is a fanfiction trope.

The next portion is Touya's dreams of being a hero being taken from him. Touya never wanted to be a hero. He wanted Endeavor's attention. Shoto wants to be a hero and he wants None of Endeavor's attention. If Touya could have ever even defined the word hero he'd have not tried to murder the infant in his mother's arms because he wasn't the only child in the house his dad cared about anymore.

Touya would have as many fics correct his actions as decided to go to a hero school all on his own and put in his very best efforts and get support equipment and become a hero outside of his father's control.

But this was never about heroism for Touya. It was about attention. And what better way to get Endeavor's attention than to make a funeral pyre miles high with innocent bodies ready to drag Endeavor and Shoto down with him. That was Dabi's goal. A desire that his terrorism would effect Endeavor's brand. There was never an ounce of hero material inside of Touya because he didn't want it. He didn't need it. Hero was just a word to summarize "Dad's attention and affection" to Touya.

Hori gives Endeavor (and Rei) a lot of outs by making it clear Touya was a lost cause before he hit middle school. He couldn't function without being The center of attention and would make it everyone else's problem. The quirk training was self harm and it was very much presented as such. They were trying to get Touya to stop self harming because they brought new babies home. And asking Endeavor to go to Sekoto Peak would be like asking another parent to watch a demonstration of their kid's favorite activity of burning themselves with lighters. It's an encouragement Touya didn't need and Endeavor said so. Unfortunately, that day Touya burned himself to a crisp and AFO found him before Endeavor could.

[warcats-cat]

human interaction!!

what's your favorite thing to write? what's your favorite part of the writing process? your least favorite?

what other fandoms, besides the ones you've written, would you want to write for in the future? If you were forced to write something about a fandom you knew very little about (let's say you get a summary of the plot and characters, plus whatever you might've absorbed via fandom posts from your mutuals), what fandom do you think you'd have the most luck with and why?

if you create OCs, what's your favorite OC that you've created? have you created any villain OCs? do you prefer Gen fics or romantic fics (both to read and to write)? who's your favorite comfort character? who's a character that probably shouldn't be comforting, but is anyway? who's a character that other people seem to love, but you just don't get the hype?

I hope this helps a little!! I'm always down to chat and trade asks!

20 questions 🤣🤣🤣 ok:

1) my favorite thing to write is also my favorite thing to read! Hurt/Comfort!!!!!

2) Most favorite part - Daydreaming about the characters/storyline while pretending to be mentally present at work!

3) Least favorite part - Making the words go 😢

4) I usually write what I know best at any moment - I've been eyeing some of the art/fic in the FNAF fandom lately but just kinda dipping my hands in, not really ready to dive in. I just love my Sanders Boys, ya know?

5) I think I could BS something from one of the classic animes, like Death Note or Naruto. I did watch Ouran Highschool Host Club and a few other sillier animes but my fandom experiences with those ended at looking at fanart. ((Wait, can Pokemon count? Can I do Pokemon? I know some Pokemon 👀👀👀))

6) my OC's are my DND characters and by far my favorite is Ink of Dreams, my cat-person thief 😍😍. Also Thistle, who isn't really an OC so much as my OC's pet 😅😅😅 If anything I guess HE would be my "favorite" because I talk about him all the time and he's in three dnd campaigns and I had a plushie made and I'm trying to have a movable puppet made...

7) RN I have a villain OC for a WIP I'm working on (read: poking with a stick like a dead animal) and I do enjoy writing her very much. She is an agent of chaos and I hate her so much, it's great 💜 I don't have a lot of experience doing the just straight up ridiculously depraved, but writing her is also giving me practice for writing future LRH adjacent fics involving Gabriel 👀👀👀

8) uuuuhhhhhh I like cuddles 😅😅😅😅 I'm fine with both, just not big on smut. I think I'm a little bit romantically starved tbh because sometimes I pull up a comfort fic that I know is gonna make me cry because I just kinda *need* to cry if that makes sense? I'm asexual and finding a romantic partner is hard 🥲 But anyway yeah I'm fine with both! RN I'm on a baby fic kick so send me babies 💜💜

9) My current comfort character is Patton from Sanders Sides, and no one is surprised. 😅 I just vibe with him a lot because in also a very emotionally-open and emotionally-invested person, I tend to be a caretaker and I like to be prepared in case someone around me needs help. And RN with fandom drama especially, I just feel connected with Patton. I also experienced a period of my life where I tried to help but made some mistakes and then was demonized and called an abuser, manipulative, gaslighter, horrible person and then I found out I was autistic so the things I was doing (like leaving a party to sit outside and decompress when I was overwhelmed and crying) weren't as common-sense and understood as I thought (aka said behavior was called me going off and crying to isolate people and make them come take care of me) ANYWAY. It's kinda funny because I've always bounced between Patton and Virgil for TS; it was mostly Virgil at first and then I had a gap where Good Omens took over, and then it was back to TS but now more vibing with Patton

10) I can't really think of a comfort character that would be considered "not good" besides like. The characters I call my "Anime Boyfriends", Jake English and Dirk Strider from Homestuck, but that's more because like,,, the creator of Homestuck kinda uses a *lot* of slurs,,,, but also I only read like 1/4 of the whole comic,,,, and I go off of fanon interpretations,,,, from ask blogs c2012,,, so.........

11) I do not understand the obsession with Janus and Remus. I'm gonna admit - I don't like them in canon. At all. I am ok with most fanon interpretations, but I just don't like them. I like the "Core Four" (Logan, Virgil, Patton, Roman) and that's it. And I do NOT look forward to the "orange side". And to be 100%, I get frustrated because I want to read poly fic of just the core four and so many people are tossing Janus and Remus in the mix and I just want to find the ones that don't and it takes *forever* to filter out all of the different variants of ships. 🥲 obv I'm not going to tell anyone else to stop enjoying their ships and characters, but I'm not gonna go searching for the stuff that I don't enjoy, either.

Thank you for the ask friend!! 💜💜 it's very much appreciated lol, and a lot of your questions really made me think 😅😅

[squintsposting]

Season 9 episode 8, The Dude in the Dam

God bless America rating 4/10 - standard noughties crime procedural, nothing particularly egregious here (by bones standards) UPDATE 5/10 - Bones' rival author literally uses the phrase "god bless america"

Body reveal rating 4/10 - there's something to be said for a skeleton in a beaver dam, but there was wasted potential

Randy Angela rating -2/10 - negative randy points due to Hodgins' infestation

Hodgins mouth to boot rating 4/10 - he lacks his season 1 anti-government spark

Bones as a believable anthropologist 0/10 - all she does in this episode is go on telly to talk about her book

How offensive did I, personally, find it 7/10 - booth commits police brutality against a black man in this episode and, as always, the show treats it as nbd

Silly score 10/10 - Wendell briefly gets stuck to both a bone and Hodgins' face - it should've been an episode long B plot but wasn't, I wanted to see them go to the toilet together. However, the real magic comes in when Hodgins carries a bot fly to term in this episode. "If you had a bot fly I wouldn't touch you" - my wife, watching this episode with me

How bad is the song at the end 7/10 - oof, not good

Best outifit of the episode - Cam wins by default with her Vulcan bob

Is Sweets a little baby boy - yes, Sweets is present in the episode

Overall rating 5/10 - knocked off a point for inaccurate portrayal of leopard slug mating

[stesierra]

@pluvia-b tagged me! Sorry to be so slow! I'm finally getting my brain back in gear after some med changes.

Rules: Look back on your work, both past and present, finished and unfinished. What are five to ten narrative elements or tropes that continuously pop up in your work?

This is a hard one for me because I've written so much and I don't like to write the same thing in all my books. So the tropes listed are those that appear in at least three books, rather than all eighteen.

1. Ghosts

I love me some ghosts. The Bone Queen is about ghosts. School of Souls is about ghosts. Court Phoenix is about ghosts. Mind you, these are vastly DIFFERENT ghosts and plots and couldn't exist in each other's worlds. But the theme exists.

2. Asexual characters

I got plenty of these but in particular Court Phoenix has my beloved Chujulan and The Many-faced Princess is about two asexual princesses (one sex-repulsed and the other sex-neutral.) The others are less obvious to the reader.

3. Female main/POV characters

Uh, all but Triangle Park have a female main character. Sorry boys.

4. Strong female characters who don't use weapons

I love a female character who kicks ass even if she's not physically strong. Examples: Elise in the Bone Queen, Antea in Stitches and Memories, Mindral in The Halfway Revenant, Zisha in Cast Out. These ladies may decide the fate of the world, but they use their brain to do it.

5. Strong female characters who can fight

We have to have some of those too of course. Nelone in As Immortality Fades, Chujulan in Court Phoenix, Ameryi in the Many-faced Princess, etc. These ladies know how to fight and kill but it doesn't define them completely.

6. Romance that doesn't focus on physical attraction

As an ace who doesn't fall in love easily, I love to write romance but not the lusty kind you find in a romance novel. It's all about connecting, baby. I do a mix of F/F (As Immortality Fades, Cast Out) and F/M (The Bone Queen, Stitches and Memories, The Halfway Revenant) romance.

7. No romance at all

Sometimes an ace doesn't want romance. I gotcha. The Court Phoenix and the Many-faced Princess have zero.

8. Dragons

Look, I don't always have dragons but sometimes a girl needs a big lizard, okay? Stitches and Memories and Court Phoenix will scratch that itch. I'm going to include this point even though it's only in two books because dragons are cool.

I hope that's enough things! I'm leaving an open tag and also tagging @aziz-reads and @mysticstarlightduck.

Tag list for everything

@anonymousfoz

@moremysteriesthantragedies

@elizababie

@sm-writes-chaos

@bellascarousel

@palebdot

@macabremoons

@the-dragon-chronicler

@teacupsandstarlight

@vorskra

@wrenofthewords

@amostdelectablescribbler

@savvy-minnow

@mysticstarlightduck

@phantommill

@gracewritesbooks

@aziz-reads

@owlsandwich

@symbioticsimplicity

@squarebracket-trick

@fishythewriter

@koala2all

@rmgrey-author

@atomatowriter

[bowlingforgerbils]

Good Omens Season 2 Thoughts (spoilers!)

I just need to blab about it for a hot minute and then I can go on with my life.

Things I loved about Season 2:

Investigative Journalist Aziraphale is the most adorable detective boy who ever existed. Here he comes with his little hat, ready to crack the case!

2. Magician Aziraphale!!! The whole trusting Crowley to shoot at him without a miracle! Crowley's suit!!!

3. Nina, the owner of the braincell this season.

4. Muriel, the sweetest cinnamon roll angel, I will protect her at all costs.

5. Gabriel's redemption arc. I was not an ineffable bureaucracy shipper before, but this sold me on it. I hope he and Beezlebub come back in Season 3. They really owe Aziraphale one.

6. The fact that it was made explicitly clear that (a) Nazis go to Hell and (b) they get tormented for eternity.

7. The set design, the different shop owners, just the general vibe of the street was very visually appealing.

8. Honestly, as emotionally devastating as the ending was, it made perfect sense to me for Aziraphale to take Metatron's offer. Metatron is saying all the things that Aziraphale wants to hear and making promises that everything will be better this time around. Aziraphale wants to badly to do good, plus he remembers that Crowley was happy as an angel, so it's a win-win! He doesn't understand why it hurts so much for Crowley to not be accepted for who he is. And the worst part is, I don't think Aziraphale looks down on him as a demon, necessarily, he just sees it as a way they can be together and happy. It's unintentionally very dismissive of everything Crowley has gone through to be the person he is now.

9. Metatron is SUCH a good villain, omg. He knew just what to say to split up Aziraphale and Crowley, damn. His kind but firm old boss man persona isn't fooling me, though. I'm onto you, dude.

Things I was not so keen on:

The Nazi zombies, but that's because I really really really don't like zombies, even if they are used for comedic effect. Why did Aziraphale just let them wander off like that, wtf?

2. Maggie. She didn't feel as fleshed out a character as Nina. It was like she was just there as a plot device.

3. I liked Shax's vibe at first, but she kinda fell flat for me by the end. She didn't quite hit that perfect balance of mean and stupid that Hastur did. It made me miss Hastur. :(

4. Aziraphale's weird smile at the end there. Maybe he thinks it's the face that he needs to present to Heaven? I dunno, it was weird and unsettling. (There were some other acting choices that I was not super excited about, but that's more to do with my own headcanons so I won't bother with them here.)

5. The fact that it ended on a CLIFFHANGER. Very rude!

I will feel better when I know for sure that we are getting a Season 3.

[incorrect-hgs]

Rank the episodes best to worst (explanations optional)

Uhhh.... hm.

Alright, so I did Favorite and Least Favorite here, so this'll really just be about 2-10.

2. Rainy Day Memories. Important character drama, alternate outfits, cute bits, Parnell and Slime Boy trying to rein in Amaryllis, Parsley in a hoodie asserting her position as Thyme's girlfriend, this episode has everything.

3. Crushing Obstacles. More alternate outfits, Amaryllis falling in love with Thyme, and Sage pissing off the dudebros. Plus, the exact moment where Amaryllis becomes best girl.

4. Attack on High Guardian Academy. A well-done finale. It honestly feels like the characters have grown since their introduction and you can see how. Plus, Olive has even more cat magicks. I don't love Sage's haircut, though. I just think it looks less good.

5. Past Present. Peak mumblecore Slime Boy, and Parsley bringing Thyme home to meet her folks. Plus, perhaps the only real time we see Parsley be insecure and upset for more than a second.

6. A Lost Cause. The gang's all here~

7. Journey to Lyngarthe. Kinda skippable after the first watchthrough, but I stick around for Sagemary cuddles.

8. Transformations. Tempted to put this higher to spite people who have a problem with Caraway's scene, but like I've said many times it's such a short scene it can't possibly speak to the quality of the actual episode and most of the episode is still just set up. Fun to see Snap get a crush on Sage the moment she calls her a jerk though.

9. The Scypith. The B plot is good, but I think I would've liked the A plot more if there were more students or we got a bit more worldbuilding around the mermaid school. I get why we didn't, but I think it would help its placement.

10. The Cave of Vinca. It's not a bad episode. Really, I don't dislike any of these episodes, it just doesn't have as much for me as the other ones. I'm not sure the Buckle sequence entertained me all that much. That or I just like the magic school stuff more than seeing these characters on actual adventures.