#But it's criminally underrated because it was different

[lightbluesleeper]

guys i’m not even joking go watch big boys on channel 4 that ending has me in tears. jack dave rooke sir you have done it again

[simpingforheros]

Safe

Pairing: Gotham Knights! Jason Todd X Female! Reader

Summary: Being a mercenary isn’t easy. Being a lab experiment turned mercenary isn’t easy either. Being a Bio-engineered mercenary in Gotham city with a reformed Red Hood isn’t easy at all.

Warnings: Hurt Comfort, Angst with bittersweet ending, Enemies to Friends??, Female Pronouns, Mild Violence, Horrible Fight Scenes (I’m sorry), Reader is basically Black Cat but little different, implied OOC! Amanda Waller, Mentions of Death, Torture, PTSD, and Panic Attacks.

Author’s Note: I guess I’ll give y’all a break from my Toxic! Jason agenda. But I’m not giving y’all a break from calling y’all out on being slanderous to my underrated, unproblematic princess that is GK! Jason. He may not be as pretty as the other ones, but he got a better relationship with his family than y’all have with y’all’s daddies (jk I’m sorry). Also yes, the reader is Black Cat coded because I love her and I want to see Jason with a cool feline counterpart of his own.

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Fuck. FUCK!

Chanted through her mind as she realizes what the hell she has just done. This whole assignment was a set up from the moment that job listing hit her burner phone. Her clawed gloves raked through her hair as she desperately took in her situation.

Months after the death of Batman, criminals became bolder with their crimes despite the lurking remains of Batman’s legacy. New villains and mercenaries came in to either assist Gotham’s veteran rogues or building their own empires among the shadows of the bigger evil’s crimes. However, Y/N didn’t fall into either category.

Originally a lab rat for Amanda Waller to find a cure for her terminal cancer, the cat like mercenary became a quick popular option among gang leaders and the low life to hire to do quick jobs without minimum risk. Of course the cat like persona wasn’t due to her stealth…

A blast rings out of the previously locked door as the girl’s head snaps back. Her body collapses as the roar of victorious laughter fills the air.

“You see how that bitch’s head just snapped back like a twig?!” Victor Sionas laughed through his leather mask as his golden firearm flashed in the fluorescent light of the value.

It was supposed to be a quick heist, minimum risk on her end. Just grab a hard drive with 6.8 Billion dollars worth of stolen and encrypted medical documents and financial records and leave before Black Mask realized she was there. An easy heist for a fair reward.

Victor’s ranting and raving filled the safe in loud echos as his assistant tries to listen to her pager for their normal disposal team. As the crimson slowly sets into the concrete, a faint green glow began to form around her body. The harsh grit releases her life force as it recedes back into her skull.

Amanda Waller wasn’t normally a desperate woman, but when it came to her life, she didn’t care what criminal she had to deal with to get her life back. Even the League of Assassins…

As the pair was about to leave to attend a meeting of some kind, Y/N didn’t know or care to know as her ears ring back into tune. Her body jolts up as she springs back to life in an instant.

As her eyes meet Sionas’ shocked stare, her lips curled into a wicked smirk. Her E/C eyes shined with a new madness as she flexes her adamantium tipped claws, ready to rip out his throat.

Victor quickly raises his gun ready to shoot again as she swipes at his wrist. The appendage falling to the floor as his screams drowned out the echos of his false victories.

“I guess it was an easy job.” She comments before her claws strike again.

Maybe she should ask for a raise to make up for her dry cleaning?

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The crime scene was a bloodbath.

Police scrambled and crawled the building as lights and tape marked the massacre. Every surface, furniture, rug, and plant were all tagged, sprayed, and searched for any bodily matter that could lead you to the person behind this horrific crime.

Black Mask’s gang. A once prominent gang in Gotham city who survived fights between Batman and The Red Hood were all dead. Eviscerated. Slaughtered.

All of the dead were clinging onto weapons as either distinct claw marks either craved them to ribbons or they were killed by their own weapons. Whoever did it clearly attacked the ones who attacked first.

The only survivors were the ones who didn’t attempt to fight the assailant. Victor’s assistant was the only one that was harmed among them with a deep set of scratches on her face with a look of horror in her eyes.

A look Nightwing and Red Hood didn’t like to see even from a criminal.

“And you said you didn’t know why this happened?” Nightwing asks skeptical of the woman’s reliability.

The woman eagerly nods as she sputters out, “We caught her in the safe and Sionas wanted to teach her a lesson…we heard her reputation was only with stealing…not this…”

Jason growls as he grew inpatient with her stuttering, but he takes a deep breath. ‘Be Patient…’ He reminds himself before something made his ears perk up.

“It was like magic or something! Sionas shot her point blank in the head and she just came back to life in an instant!! That’s when she went crazy! We just wanted to get her back for stealing from our off shore accounts. We didn’t know that she was a…monster.”

Fuck.

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Fire. Fire is what it felt like. It crawls from the deepest part of her mind and spreads through her veins like a fever. Her vision tunneled in as memories of all her previous deaths haunting her brain surged forward as her body acted on instinct. Out of fear…

It took three days before the madness faded this time. That was probably the longest time she was trapped in that state since she escaped Waller. Those three days were a fog as she only remembered the splitting head ache from the gun shot and her costume covered in blood.

Once the new broke on a ‘maniac’ who killed the Black Mask’s gang, Y/N knew she couldn’t leave Gotham yet until the buzz died down. She already knew the Bat’s sidekicks were looking for her, so she used whatever cash she had left to hide out in a cheap motel room.

“Fuck….” She groans as her trembling hands dropped her cell phone. Her eyes tried to dart around the aisles of the gas station she was currently hunting for food in. The remaining madness caused her senses to be on high alert and her anxiety to be high.

If she was back home, she could hideout in her apartment with her cat for a month before finding another job listing, but she was trapped in Gotham in a ratty motel.

So venturing to the crummy gas station for some junk food and beer is the next best thing. At least the disinterested cashier doesn’t pay her any mind. 4am on a weekday with a case of beer probably made her just appear to be a normal tweaker.

(Y/N) adjusts her sunglasses and makes sure her silver hair was well hidden under her zip-up’s hood before she brings her items to the counter. The zit faced teen gives her a look over, not hiding the attention he gave to her exposed cleave from the tank top she had showing.

“Ma’am, we don’t allow sunglasses inside the store.” He creaks out. Her (E/C) roll as she takes her sun glasses off. The door chimes as someone enters the store, but her attention was focused on the cashier. When he finally scanned her beer, his cracking voice asks,

“Do you have ID, Ma’am?”

Her hands go to her sweatpants pocket and only feels the cash she brought. Her mental anguish grows as she sighs in annoyance. Her fake id was in motel, and she technically doesn’t exist so she never had a real id.

Deciding to turn up the charm, she smiles sweetly at the teenager as she says, “I’m sorry, but I left my id back at my place. I’m sure you can tell I’m old enough, right?”

Her cleavage seemed to not work its charm as the teen rudely says,

“I can tell you’re old by your hair lady. But I need ID.”

Her eyes widen as a faint glow of green shows as she snaps at him. “I’m not old! I’m 24, you little p-!”

She stops herself as she takes a deep breath as she feels the madness subsided. She really didn’t wanna kill a kid over some cheap beer.

“Fine…I had a bad day so just get me the snacks.” She admits in defeat as she pulls out a hundred bucks. Just as she was going to pay, a hand drops some beef jerky and a case of beer on the counter beside her items. A deep voice cuts the air and causes a shiver to crawl up her spine.

“Add her stuff and beer to my order.” A thick, veiny hand presents the cashier with his ID and a credit card as she turns her head to see who it was that saved her evening.

Before her was a man who stood well over 6 feet tall. His shoulders were as broad as an old oak tree with muscles strong enough to take one down. His face wasn’t particularly the normal standard for attractiveness, but the strong jaw and scar gave him a handsome roughness that made her stomach tighten. It didn’t help that his nearly buzzed hair gave him a military sense, but his eyes were what made her heart stop in her chest. The beautiful green eyes that glowed an unearthly hue that she was familiar with.

She sees it in her eyes everyday. The scar of the Lazarus pit.

(Y/N) almost forgot where she was before the cashier cleared his throat. Her focus returned back to the counter as she grabs her stuff. Before she could run off, something made her stop to wait for the man. Whether it was curiosity or stupidity, she didn’t know.

Maybe she wanted to see what his deal was? Was he with Waller? The League of Assassins? Can he tell she was from the pit too? How different were they? How many times did he die and come back?

The opportunity to speak with someone who may can relate to her outweighed her wariness from her situation. But it was curiosity that killed the cat, right?

As the man starts heading for the door, she follows as she says,

“Excuse me?”

His eyes meet hers as a small smile as he says,

“Hey, I’m sorry for stepping in over there. I understand when stuff isn’t going your way.”

A warmth takes over her face as she says shyly, “No, it’s fine I just wanted to thank you. That was really sweet of you…”

As the two walk out, the stranger's friendly demeanor drops a little as he mumbles into the empty night air.

"So, you're the one who killed Victor Sionas..."

Her breath releases as she hears the pin drop. Her eyes dart around the parking lot as she sees the only vehicle is a old school motorcycle. She doesn't have any weapons and she wasn't sure if how skilled he was or if he had gained powers just like her from the pit.

With a frown, (Y/N) gruffs out, "Yeah...what are you gonna let me enjoy my last beer before you turn me in?"

She looks up to the man as their eyes meet. His eyes studying her as she keeps a tight grip on her bag. Maybe if he charges at her, she can swing the bag to his head and throw him off...

"No." He answers simply as he heads towards his bike. Her eyes widen in disbelief as she sputters out.

"No? I just admitted to murder and you're letting me go??"

"Yep." He answers over his shoulder as he loads his things into the compartment under his seat. Irritation fills her being instead of the relief she should have felt. She stomps towards him as she fusses,

"What's your deal? You buy me a beer and casually ask me if I commit murder? And you're gonna just leave? Did the pit mess you up that bad??" She snaps at him as she stands face to face, face to chest with him. Her eyes glowed eerily as he was filled, and a familiar shiver went down his spine.

His hands clap onto her shoulders as he pulls her close to him. A wave of coldness filled her body as the eerie glow covered his hands. The familiar feeling of the Lazarus pit filled her as he leaned into a whisper.

"The only reason I'm not hauling your pretty ass to Arkham right now is because I understand that it wasn't you when you killed them, Kitty..." His eyes glowed momentarily as a sad look briefly flashed into those green pools. "A petty mercenary who had no history of mass murder on file doesn't just jump to it without warning. The Lazarus Pit fucks up people to their core, so trust me when I say that I understand better than anyone how you feel..."

'Understand? How can he understand?' Her mind unravels as she looks up at him in disbelief. Has he ever woke up afraid of what he might have done the night before? Worry about when someone would come and shoot him in the head or stab him just to see if he could come back without being submerged anymore? Did Waller use him to heal her at the expense of his own pain just to throw him away to fend for himself???

Rage flashes through her as she roughly pulls away from him. Her bag falls to the asphalt as glass shatters. Her eyes are wild as old memories filled her. "Don't you dare say you understand me? You don't know shit about what I had to go through?"

His eyebrows frown together as he grimaces. A look of recognition and guilt flashes before he says to her. "You're right. I don't know what you went through before you died, but I do understand how you're feeling. The anxiety, the rage, the blood lust...I wanna help you."

She laughs bitterly as she figures out something about him. He only died once and was brought back. The skunk stripe in his hair should have given it away when she realized he was similar to her.

"Which time?" (Y/N) asked as she turned around and walked away. "I've died plenty of times to know that you will never understand..."

And she leaves the man alone in the parking lot as she storms off to her motel, not caring if he sees where she went or not. Her heart was beating out of control as she felt the wavering thoughts of going back to him and either hitting him or hugging him.

‘Maybe I need to rest some more….’

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Silence filled the museum as the dust bunnies and art laid undisturbed during their rest from the public eye. Her footsteps were a minimum as she walked through the shadowy parts of the building, trying to find what she was sent to retrieve.

After another week of hiding out, a job was directly pinged for her on the job board. Her eyes squinted at it at first because the offer was a little bogus to her.

‘Steal a painting, retrieve the hard drive inside, and bring it to the disclosed location in exchange for 2 Million dollars in unmarked bills.’

2 Million for a petty thief job that would have more suited Catwoman instead her seemed pretty unusual. But, at this point, her phyiscal cash funds were running low and she still was afraid of using her offshore accounts now that she knows that some zombie like her knew who she was.

Her masked eyes scanned the building’s plaza until she found what she was looking for. A large flowery portrait hanging just beyond the fountain. Her head tilts as she looks at it from afar.

‘Pretty… I wonder if I can find a print of it to buy to hang in my living room…’ Her steps remaining slow and cautious until she reaches the fountain. She looks under where the painting hung, trying not to get too close to it. There was no tag or podium that held the artist’s name or any indication that it was an actual art piece. It was most likely some print from a furniture store catalog or Etsy.

Her eyes rolled as she realizes that the listing was another trap. Obviously from someone who didn’t know shit about art or how to buy mercenaries on the black market.

As if on que, her ears buzzed as she heard the pure instinct take over as she whips around. Her hand immediately stops the staff about to hit her in the face as she elbows the smaller opponent in the stomach before slamming her fist in his cheek to knock him back. The guy gets thrown back a couple of feet as he gasped for the air she punches outta him.

She looks to the guy as she twirls his staff absent mindedly in her hand. His costume and smaller physique gave it away as to who he was. She remembers seeing a tv show story about him the previous night on the news. The boy wonder, Robin. At least the third version of him.

“Hey, tweety bird. You good?” She asked in a nonchalant tone. Her eyes unamused as she watches the kid cough up a lung as he looked up at her in shock that she wasn’t attacking him like he expected her to.

“You know, it’s dangerous to be on job listing boards like that.” She scolds him lightly as she walks around him and grabs his arm, gently helping him up and sitting him by the fountain. “There’s actual killers on that board who would have happily tried cutting you up for pulling a shitty fake job like this.”

The sidekick glares at her as he was already confused as he just witness the girl he was sure killed an entire gang just casually scold him. “Like how you did with Black Mask?”

Her eyes flashed with guilt before the nonchalant personality appeared again as she focused on throwing the staff up to make it spin. “It was self defense. He and his gang had it coming for all the child drug peddling and the lives he ruined.”

A heavier drop down of three other figures caught her attention as she looks around. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood were surrounding the fountain, blocking her in. Her anxiety rising as she hides it with a now playful smile.

“Damn, didn’t realize little old me warranted for the whole family to come get me.” She says playfully. “Don’t worry I promise to be out of y’all’s city soon.”

“You still have to pay for your crimes.” Batgirl says as she steps forwards slightly. The feline mercenary tilts her head as she looks at them with now false concern.

“Me? A defenseless street cat?” She asked before laughing. “You can certainly try.”

Nightwing steps closer as her shoulders square up. Her defensive stance rising as she observes him. Way too lean to be the guy she met, and she can tell his face was more pretty boy looking.

“We wanna help you… but you still have to pay for what you’ve done even if you didn’t mean to.” He says softly.

‘So they know…that just means they are gonna be more defensive instead of offensive. They can’t risk killing me when they know I could rampage again.’ Her eyes shine as she laughs coldly at him.

“Oh, you wanna help me rot in prison?” She says as she finally looks at the Red Hood.

Right build, right height, and she’s sure if she can knock that helmet off, right face. That’s the man she met a week ago that affected her so badly. She knew she couldn’t let him get a good grab on her or she maybe toast.

She turns her now glowing eyes back to Nightwing as she smirks. “I think you would be better off letting me leave or else you can see what I actually do when I mean it.” She bluffs.

Movement nearly catches her off guard as Robin tries to rush her again. The staff in her hand flies into his face as she tries to move as Batgirl flies kicks her in the face. Her ears ring as the warm feeling of blood starts to run out of her nose. The cat catches the bat’s fist before she whips her in the face with another punch. She used the disorienting blow to slide under her legs and give a good kick to her knee. The distinctive pop and her cry lets her know she did dislocate the bone.

She remains in her crouched up position, ready to pounce. She can feel their eyes observing as her broken nose begins to heal as it disgustingly pops back into place as the blood retreats back to its original place like it was on rewind. Her wild eyes looks to them and makes notes of their stances.

Nightwing was ready to pounce on her. He stared at her like she was the wild animal that he knew she was. It was a look she was used to.

The Red Hood wasn’t even in an offensive or defensive position. He stood with his back straight as he watches her. Damn his stupid helmet from seeing his eyes, she wanted to know what he was thinking about. Was he bluffing too or was he trying to get a good feel on how to catch her.

Before Nightwing can start advancing on her, Red stops him with a step forward and raises hand. Nightwing looks confused as he asked him.

“What are you doing?” He seethes to him. “We gotta take her down, she already hurt Robin and Batgirl.”

“Out of self defense.” The Red Hood clarifies before chuckling. His modulated voice making the feline theft frown. “If she was dangerous like you think, she could have sliced Robin’s throat with those claws of hers when he first attacked. You guys were attacking first and she responded with non lethal force.”

Her eyes glared at the man as she stands up, slightly agitated. “So? Maybe I just don’t wanna kill a kid?”

Red tilts his head as he turns his attention to her. “Calm down, Kitty….if you surrender, I promise I won’t let them send you off to the pound.”

Nightwing looks at Red in horror as he basically promised to protect a wanted criminal. He didn’t seem to concerned by it. He even surprises his team by removing his helmet as he looks to the one they were chasing.

“I found your file on Amanda Waller’s network. Took me three days, but I know what she did to you, (Y/N).” The man she knew from the gas station.

The images of all the torture she endured flashed through her mind all at once as she remembers all Waller put her through for the sake of her cure.

Multiple executions to test the powers of the pit. Torture and savage punishments for the slightest disobedience. The nightmares and madness that fueled so many panic attacks. The feeling of her organs stolen to be put in that evil woman so she can use her healing factor to win against cancer while she spent days slowly dying and coming back to life over and over until her new organs regenerated back into her.

“Why?!” She snaps at him as rage filled her again. Her confusion over his insistence to help her made her so angry. Why would he wanna help her? Just because they were both dunked in a pool of Ra’s bath water?

“You’re the feared Red Hood! You’ve done worst shit than I’ve ever done and you are trying to act as my savior?!” She yells at him as she stomps towards him.

Nightwing tries to step between them, but Red keeps him away as she finally stood before him. Her hand rips off her goggles, revealing her face to him as she pokes into his chest. Her own chest tightening as her body shook. Her breath was tight as angry tears rolled down her face.

“Answer me, dammit! Why do you think you can save me?!”

“I don’t think I can save you.” He answers honestly. “I wanna help you save yourself…”

A look of grief passes over his eyes as he looks at the shorter woman. A memory of someone she didn’t know making his resolve strengthen.

“I was trapped in a state of anger for so long that I pushed everyone away that was trying to help me…it wasn’t until I lost the one person that tried to save me that I realized how much it meant to have someone just hold a hand out for me…” He says as he grips her shoulders. The expected coldness didn’t meet her. She felt him. The warmth seeping through his gloves into her suit. It felt…comforting….nice.

Her vision began tunneling as she felt her chest hyperventilating as she cries. His gentle words finally breaking her as he mumbles to her. “Let me help you fight the madness so you won’t be alone anymore…”

Her knees buckling as a sob broke through her. The warmth of his arms wrapping around her and pulling her into his chest made her cries so gut wrenching. Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing watch in shock as they watched Jason, not only be the most gentle he’s ever been with someone, but see a stray tear fall from him eye.

As the two remained tied together as an unspoken bond was formed. A bond between two lost souls forcibly brought back into this world now feeling safe in each other’s warmth.

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Author’s Note: I’m gonna make a part 2 to this one because I actually like it. Let me know if you like this, if you hate it, or whatever. I’m trying to clear out my drafts so expect more Jason and other characters coming out either this week or next week.

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@simpingforheros fanfic. I DO NOT CONDONE THE COPYING, STEALING, OR REPOSTING OF MY FANFICS ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT MY CONSENT.

[toastermuffles]

Hey guys welcome to my massive rant about q!Fit and how cc!Fit is incredibly talented and underrated. Since y'all kinda blew up my twitter post LOL.

There are SO many things I could touch on so it's probably gonna be scattered around a lot.

1) Fit had a great character set up from the beginning. From the very start many people knew Fits reputation as a 2b2t veteran, a place with a toxic environment and brutal people. He was no exception, he was closed off to relationships and was very cautious/closed off to many things. Not only that but his past made people distrust him in the beginning. I loved the suspense it brought with his character and the question of why he WAS actually here. Since the whole "vacation" thing was never very convincing. My favourite part was a lot of this was IMPLIED! He built on the character he portrayed in his YT videos and it worked so well, adding small comments about his character here and there (like when he said q!Fits hearing was bad BC of all the explosions he's experienced).

2) His RP skills were another level, not only was he in character almost the WHOLE time when he was live (even donos) when he first did lore he would tease elements of it by writing cryptic messages when others were live. SUCH a good idea when you have a smaller audience and want to create suspense. Not only that, he would have set dates and times for BIG lore stuff, this honestly made it so much easier to keep track of and engage in, not only alone but with friends too! His actual lore was very different from many others, it was cinematic and well planned, yet it still left room for sudden changes. The final result was a cohesive story line that the audience could interpret. I just loved how I could understand what was happening but also have questions/cliffhangers!

3) the fucking MUSIC. Throughout his lore and start of his streams I adored his choice of music, "Stranger in Paradise" being a personal favourite that was not only reoccurring in more than one language but fit SO WELL. I also think it was very clever how a lot of his music choices for his character didn't make sense until you understand the full story e.g. "Can't say goodbye to yesterday". All of this really added a new perspective on his character, almost through cc!Fits own eyes. Along with his music choice just being absolute bops OFC.

4) THE SYMBOLISM. My absolute favourite lore moment of his was at the end of the "Attachments" lore stream. Where the sun is setting over the mountain, slowly covering a patch of roses in darkness. ALL WHILE an instrumental Italian version of "Stanger in paradise" played. Roses of course being a symbol of not only his and Pac's relationship but love in general. His love for Ramon and his friends. The love he had to grow, just like a rose. While the darkness symbolizes his past catching up to him, more specifically his deadline. His time with his family and friends ending, his loves disappearing. Chefs kiss because it makes me cry everytime fr.

5) q!Fit's sexuality (gay). There is something so poetic about a gay guy from an extremely homophobic wasteland learning to come to terms with his own sexuality and love in general. Him slowly building a loving relationship with Ramon, Growing feelings for Pac, Nervously coming out to his son and then finally indulging in the first relationship and FAMILY he had ever had. Finally learning to love and to be loved in return. Even if he is scared about his mission, or taking things too fast. Just learning to live a normal life.

6) Fitmc is criminally underrated and overlooked. I still remember when Fit got his first proper piece of fanart in the museum. It was like... JULY? or something. And I think that says enough. People had no idea he was even doing lore at some points. Averaging at about 1-2k viewers in the beginning, until hideduo came into the mix. A lot but still compared to others very low. I think because his viewers consisted of his YT audience it didn't translate well. But I'm so glad he was able to build a loving community on twitch <3

Anyways it's 3am for me, I probably have more to talk about but this is basically what I meant when I posted that tweet. Feel free to reblog and add your own favourite observations or moments. I wanna hear them! ❤️

[desperate-gay]

Scary Talks At Midnight

Alex Morgan x fem!reader

summary: a big question from charlie gives you courage to ask your wife an important question

a/n: just a small random blurb to my criminally underrated wife on this app

“I’m gonna get you!” You taunt, chasing the energetic little girl around the house, trying your best to tire her out.

“Mama, help me! Mommy is trying to get me!” Charlie yells, jumping into Alex’s arms so she feels safer and can see from a taller height.

When you turn the corner, you notice the little girl looking at you with a smile, so you begin to tiptoe tauntingly toward her, crouching lower to look like a monster. All of a sudden you run at her, making her shriek and giggle when you start nibbling at her leg.

“Mama, help me!”

“I told you I’d get you!” You state, letting out an evil laugh when you take the little girl out of your wife’s arms and head into your shared bedroom.

Throwing Charlie gently on the bed, you pin down her arms and continue on your nibbling fest, tickling her all over and making her laugh loudly. Alex watches from the doorway with a wide grin at the two of you together. When you first started dating three years ago, she was scared you wouldn’t be able to handle a kid, but boy did you prove her wrong.

Three years dating and one married, and she wouldn’t change a thing about you, your marriage, or your little family. She’s brought down back to earth when she hears that the giggles have stopped and you’re both now catching your breath, backs laying against the bed.

“Okay you two, you had your fun but now it’s time for bed.” Alex claps her hands in encouragement even though it still results in a whine from the little girl. “I know, bedtime is the worst!” Your wife fake agrees, shooing the little girl to her room so she can lie down.

“C’mon, Mommy! You gotta tuck me in!” Charlie shouts from down the hall which makes both you and Alex chuckle from different rooms.

Alex says her goodnight and waits out her doorway, bowing down and gesturing for you to go in dramatically. “You have been summoned.”

You shake your head at her antics and head into the room, kneeling beside the now-exhausted kid. Brushing her hair to the side, you press a kiss on her forehead and mumble, “Sweet dreams, I love you.” When you start to stand up, a tiny hand grabs yours, pulling you back down.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, sweetie?” You ask, stroking her hair to soothe her to sleep. You expect her to ramble just so she can stay up longer, but what you don’t expect are the next words to come out of her mouth.

“I want a baby sister.”

Mouth falling open, you turn around to see if your wife has heard it but she’s not there, must have already gone back into your bedroom. You’re quite thankful though because you have actually been thinking about this all on your own and you don’t want to freak her out.

“We’ll see.” You whisper to Charlie’s sleeping form, pressing one last kiss to her hair before getting up and sneaking out, shutting her door quietly on the way.

Soon after you go through your nightly routine, you head over to the bed where your wife flings open the covers, patting your spot with her arms wide open. With no hesitation, you slot yourself into the brunette’s arms and snuggle up to her chest. Alex looks down with a loving smile and places a tender kiss on your forehead before grabbing the remote to start another episode of your nightly show.

You watch about four episodes and then decide to call it a night after looking at the time. Lying on your stomach, your head is turned towards the bedroom door and away from Alex. You try your best to go to sleep but with the thoughts of earlier tonight, you start wondering if Alex would even want another kid. Maybe she’s too busy with her career or maybe she just thinks one is enough.

With a slight huff, you turn your head, facing your wife’s peaceful state. A twitch of a smile crawls up on your face, so you decide to snake your hand under her shirt and scratch her stomach to which she replies with a satisfied hum, signaling she’s still somewhat awake.

Running your eyes down her face, all your worries leave your body and just positive thoughts overcome your mind. Alex, you, Charlie, and a baby having a picnic at a park, laughing and playing around, or you and the kids cheering on Alex at one of her games. Maybe you should bring it up now before you chicken out and never bring it up.

“Baby?”

“Hmm?” She hums, raising her eyebrows slightly but keeping her eyes closed.

“Can I talk to you about something?” You bite your lip and nervously twist your foot around in the sheets, causing Alex’s eye to creak open from knowing your tell.

“Of course, darling. What’s going on?” She rasps, shuffling closer to you so your noses almost touch, and loops her leg into yours, trying to remain as close as possible.

“You know I love you, Charlie, and our little family,” you stop to clear your throat while Alex nods in encouragement before continuing, “but have you ever thought about making our family a little less…little?

“Are you asking me if I want another baby?” Your wife asks with a smile breaking over her face as you nod with your lip tucked into your mouth, holding back your own grin. “Yes! Of course, I want to have another baby with you!” She jumps on you, attacking your face with kisses as you laugh from both the sensation and the overwhelming joy you’re experiencing.

Pulling back, you both have lovesick looks in your eyes, now just staring at one another. Your hand reaches up and strokes her cheek, quickly pulling her down into a very much-needed kiss. Your tongues lazily work against each other, both still tired from the time of night it is.

“I hope you know, you’re carrying.” Alex mumbles against your lips, making you laugh into the kiss.

“I figured. The tougher one’s gotta do it.” You tease, turning away from her, pretending to go back to sleep only to be yanked and pulled into her front. Alex hums softly, relaxing with her arms wrapped around you and the excitement for the future. “We’ll talk about this more tomorrow, baby. Let’s go to bed.” You murmur.

“Yes we will, and maybe we can start the baby-making tomorrow.” Alex purrs, tugging at your earlobe with her teeth, but soon groaning in pain from your foot making contact with her leg.

“Alexandra Patricia Morgan, it is too late for you to be thinking like that.”

[swishbishbosch]

Yet Another Major Revamp: Semi-Realism Edition + make-your-own toolkit!🥳

🐸 DOWNLOAD: SFS

This is an edit of Phaenoh' Realistic Major to Career Linking BUT with the following BENEFITS:

🌟 NOT REALISTIC... BUT MAXIS-REALISM: this edit made the ideal careers for each major somewhat logical and coherent (consult the table below for the changes) yet respects the internal logic of the game because Maxis' humor is underrated, slacker and criminal are treated as serious career pathways in this game so why not 🤩

🌟 ALL MAJORS BALANCED ⚖️: frustrated with the lack of benefits that some majors offer compared to others? want an easier time being a job-hopper?? what do you mean my skills aren't transferable in this market??? WELL:

All majors are now supporting at least 5 or more careers

Art [6]: Adventurer, Architecture, Artist, Culinary, Gamer, Slacker

Bio [5]: Athletic, Medicine, Natural Sci, Ocean, Science

Drama [6]: Athletic, Dance, Entertainment, Law, Politics, ShowBiz

Econ [5]: Business, Criminal, Music, Politics, Show Biz

History [5]: Adventurer, Artist, Law, Military, Politics

Lit [6]: Artist, Edu, Entertainment, Journalism, Law Enf, Music

Math [6]: Business, Culinary, Edu, Gamer, Natural Sci, Science

Philo [5]: Culinary, Law Enf, Music, Paranormal, Slacker

Physics [5]: Athletic, Dance, Medicine, Ocean, Science

PolSci [5]: Intelligence, Journalism, Law, Military, Politics

Psych [6]: Architecture, Business, Criminal, Edu, Intelligence, Paranormal

All careers are now supported by 2 or more majors, only the Politics career is supported by 4 (cause Maxis' choice was so good I didn't want to touch it!)

8 careers that require degree (only available for graduate): Architecture, Education, Intelligence, Law, Medicine, Nat Sci, Oceanography, Science.

🌟 OTHER INFOS:

🎓 You'll need UNI EP 🎓

Credits: Phaenoh (for the base mod I edited and the tutorial!), SimPE

Conflicts:

mods that lock/unlock degree requirement like Lamare's getUniCareerWithoutEducation

any mods do the same thing (Belladovah's, Phaenoh's & Cyjon's) which you might want to consider shopping around first before picking mine so look below 🛍️🛒👀

also conflicts with lauratje86's but their mod works with default replacement majors so it can't be covered here, check it out though!

note: Cyjon altered some majors' names and skill requirements (he also hates Philosophy methinks), Phaenoh offers a different version that changes which career requires degree (just like mine but ADDED Business), Belladovah offers Education version in which every major benefits the Education career.

📁 MOD RESOURCE: Linking Maxis Majors & Degrees to Maxis Career Toolkit 🥳

🎯 Difficulty: EASY (no modding experience needed)

It's easier to customize own or track which majors your career is linked to with a bunch pre-made templates right???

Download my edited mod as a base & start making edits 📝 Have these templates to easily cross-reference 0x2(2) values you need to change in SimPE following PHAENOH'S TUTORIAL.

The templates will look like the 2 tables you see above, they are available in:

odt (highly recommended, easy to use word doc file with Phaenoh's tutorial included)

md (markdown file)

csv (for both of the tables you see above)

Comparison Table - use to compare your edits to MAXIS original Career By Major Table - work out which major supports your career and calculate 0x2(2) values

4. zip (for SiYuan users to import, highly rec because I used that program to make the tables, it's Notion but ✨uglier and offline✨)

🐸 DOWNLOAD (browse what you need): SFS

[planetkiimchi]

send my love | l.jh

featuring: music producer!jihoon x musician!reader, secret relationship

word count: 936 words

summary — jihoon accidentally exposes your relationship with a slip of his tongue… in front of an entire school of students.

author’s note: had sm fun writing this and doing the bonus part <3 inspired by the songwriter that came to my school today!

Jihoon stands backstage, listening to the first few seconds of your song, “breaking down walls”, play. When it stops playing, the chorus of voices doesn’t stop, and he’s shocked to hear the students singing the lyrics to the song the two of you co-wrote together, their voices loud and clear in the multi-purpose hall.

He’d thought it would stop, but he swears only the first 3 seconds of the song were played, yet they sing all the way to the chorus before stopping.

Still in a daze, he barely notices when he’s signalled to go onstage, but he pulls himself together and does exactly that. He’s prepared a presentation for the students, to let them know a little bit more about songwriting and how he came to write songs, and a few tips he has for anyone who might be looking to become a songwriter.

He was invited to speak because your song was a top hit, and the lyrics were about breaking down the barriers of mental illnesses with the help of medication, proper treatment, good relationships and healthy coping strategies.

Mental health is something that he’s struggled with for a while. Every time he feels low, and his mental health is waning, he writes a song about it.

He writes about other things, but his favourites are probably the songs that he writes coming out of a slump caused by executive dysfunction, when he manages to get his life back on track again.

The school he’s visiting is holding activities for mental health week, and this presentation he’s giving is among the last few before they wrap up the week.

Of course, Jihoon mentions you in his presentation, because you’re the singer of “breaking down walls”, a song that the two of you wrote over a series of months, rarely exiting the studio except occasionally to get food. He probably calls you stunning a couple of times—he can’t remember, but he’s always found you the better looking between both of you anyway. You’re also more popular, so he apologises that you can’t be there because you’re busy preparing for your concert the day after.

He was nervous getting onstage to speak to such a large audience, and he can’t say he’s ever been gifted at public speaking, but he thinks he does an okay job. The crowd is relatively quiet, and he hopes the soft buzz is just the students excitedly talking about the content of his presentation.

When he’s finished delivering his points, one of the music teachers that he briefly met backstage comes onstage. Two students bring out two chairs for the two of them to sit, and the Q&A segment starts.

Jihoon feels that this is the part he was most nervous for. Before getting onstage, he wondered what he would say when asked about this song. It’s very close to his heart, and while he’s co-written a different song before, with a different friend, about mental health too, it wasn’t really the same. It’s hard to explain, but the you and his other friend have different styles, and he thinks “breaking down walls” holds a special place in his heart. It’s truly an irreplaceable song.

Because of how important “breaking down walls” is to him, Jihoon finds it difficult to articulate his emotions without feeling extremely overwhelmed, and he’s afraid tears may start flowing if he thinks too much about it.

However, his fears are eased when the teacher begins speaking. The teacher asks Jihoon simple questions like what’s his favourite song he’s written, and one of your songs that he finds criminally underrated.

These are easy to answer; he barely hesitates before launching into a full-blown explanation for his two choices, and he’s bolstered by the cheers of agreement from the students.

Jihoon gets really into it when asked about “breaking down walls”, managing to word his feelings without getting too emotional. After all that worrying, he’s impressed with himself when he manages to phrase it as “writing lyrics from the bottom of his heart, with all of his soul”, expressing his gratitude for all the support the two of you have received for this song.

As the teacher brings the Q&A segment to a close, the students burst into a round of applause. Jihoon thinks you might want to see how much admiration they have for you, so, taking out his phone, he says, “I’ll send Y/n my love—I mean, your love.”

He doesn’t blush, but his palms grow sweaty. He subtly wipes them on his lap before hitting the “record” button on his phone.

”Hey, Y/n. I hope you’re having a good time preparing for the concert. There are some people who’d like to say hi to you.” He smiles, thinking about how you’ll look receiving his message in the middle of rehearsals, hoping he can give you a boost in energy.

He turns the camera around to show the students, who—to their credit—cheer so loudly his eardrums feel like they’re going to burst. When he turns it back to himself, Jihoon says, “That’s all I have to say. Enjoy the rehearsals!”

He stops recording, and turns to the students. “I’ll send it to them and let you know. Thank you so much for having me.”

He’s escorted away from the venue with a gift from the school, but all he can think of is the way he slipped up onstage. He still sends the video, but he receives a notification on X first.

Clicking it open, he finds something that makes his face turn pink. He’s glad he slipped up, after all.

—

Bonus (the tweet in question):

[sunlit-mess]

you are criminally underrated. *holds out hands like a sad victorian child* any tips for a young artist? :)

im a very. tired. artist.

To aspiring artists, I'm not sure what 'tips' or advice I can give that were not already said by another. However, I'll remind you anyway.

"There's no secret to art... just begin and keep going. That's all we can do."

Always set your pace, and take your time learning. Art is something that isn't rushed, rather it grows through experience. Think of it like exp points or something, the more you gain, the more you know and skills acquired. It doesn't mean you HAVE to abide by the principles or rules either, though it's best to know them. Knowledge comes in different ways and your method is yours to explore.

As for motivation, it's something you'd find attached to, a mission and values thing per se. Find your dedication, how will you strive, how much are you willing to pursue. What keeps you going? What WILL keep you determined?

We take criticism critically: Don't get your ego attached to every work, everyone has their own perspective. What I mean to say is to understand errors and find improvement. Be HONEST with yourself and your work. Nothing is ever wrong in art, hell- even the most fucked-up ones can look so beautiful and meaningful.

In social media or sharing artworks, it's cool to show them to your friends or relevant platforms your craft would be in, just gotta learn the long process of algorithm somehow... It's a pain, but never lose confidence! Believe in yourself. Even the tiniest of work, effort is counted as special. Because it's from you!

Lastly, enjoy what you do! Have fun once in a while, and best that you find fun all the time in your crafts! You create for a cause and not just to please. Art shouldn't be a cause to break you, rather it builds you.

I hope this message is enough? ::)

I've been drawing since I was young, now as an adult- my art is meh compared to other artists out there, but I still try my best to keep my mark around.

So much has happened in my life and I'm still VERY lost, especially in a path as an 'Artist'. Though, I fell off in art, burned out, and relapsed more than I can count,

nothing or no one can kill the part of me that just wants the world to see that I can still... Create.

[just-null]

Fr bro I love your energy! Noritoshi is so pretty and so criminally underrated. Keep up the good work in making more of us lusting publicly for him. You've done amazing job! That boy well-deserved it :)

tysm!! I try to open the eyes of the public to his qualities. join my cult yall, Noritoshi is so good listen to me.

but on the topic of energy, whether you're high or low energy, Noritoshi loves it. the only difference is how he reacts to it.

Let's say you're low energy or prefer subtlety in your affection..

Noritoshi will initiate first! ..after a while... in his own way.... He needs to gather enough courage and collect his thoughts properly, then hes good to go! He prefers more subtle displays of affection too, but if needed he'll be blunt about it. He'll learn to adapt to slightly teasing remarks, going as far as to banter and tease back, moreover he's just very loving. So loving it can be embarrassing from time to time because of how intense the atmosphere can get.. the best way he can be described here is princely.

A small smile forms on Noritoshi's lips when he feels you're around. He turns to you, already memorizing each and every quirk you have so that he doesn't waste any time setting his sights on you again. His hands reach out to tug on your sleeve as he looks at you with a gaze so needy you can practically tell what he's about to ask. "May i hold your hand?" His voice comes so smooth that if you didn't know him, you would've missed the twinge of desperation it carried. You couldn't help yourself, you shook your head, a mischievous grin slowly creeping onto your lips at the sight of Noritoshi's pouted lip. Of course he'd do as you say even if it was clearly unfair, but not without some complaints. He clicks his tongue, a quiet mutter of "cheeky.." escapes under his breath. He knows you do this on purpose to mess with him, he was tempted to beg a little, but decided against it. it was an embarrassing thought to begin with. Seriously, how mean can someone be to make a guy think like this? ..Extremely, if the guy's pouting is cute enough! Noritoshi lifts his hand to his chin, thinking of the many ways he can try to get around this obstacle you cruelly placed in front of him. He leans in close, hovering next to you as he usually does when he thinks. He faces you as who knows what goes on in his head, his closed eyes not even giving you a hint as to what he could be thinking. "Ah, pardon me, I got lost in thought. I suppose i can keep my distance, so long as you keep looking at me with that charming gaze of yours." Ah, so he was just winding up for a pick up line. How lame, but.. get used to it. He's going to shadow behind you the entire day with more one liners like that unless you shut him up yourself. Wait.. was that his plan? The faint sly smirk tugging on the corner of Noritoshi's lips and the warm hue on the apple his of cheeks are all you need to figure out the rest.

If you're high energy or prefer more blunt methods of affection..

Noritoshi gets overwhelmed and flustered from such raw approaches from you that he comes off as a bit rude. It's only because you make his heart so full that he needs to shut you down or else he'll do something embarrassing!! He wants to impress you, of course he enjoys your advances very much, but it's not very slightly to see someone like him act like a crushing school girl!! or so he thinks.

Noritoshi yelps in surprise as you snake your hands around his waist from behind. He doesn't push you away or even move for that matter, he's frozen stiff. Is he still alive? Like any good lover would, you benevolently press your ear against his back to listen for a heart beat. ..You didn't hear anything until the sound of Noritoshi sharp inhale came through. That was unexpected, but it works. He squirmed a little, seemingly trying to shrug you off but quickly giving up, accepting the fact that you've got him trapped. "You imbecile, e-enough of this!" he scolded, though he made no actual effort to stop you. Noritoshi remains stiff for the most part, but looking at the back of his increasingly flushing neck reassures you that he is, indeed, alive. He's just being stubborn! Not turning or even a greeting, just rude name calling again! You raise one hand and place it over his heart to hold him tighter in your embrace. As expected, its practically pounding against his chest. He swats your hand away and finally turns back to you with those cute furrowed brows and rosy cheeks. "You're such a bully, you know that?" he huffs out, any semblance of sternness failing to take effect as his jutted bottom lip quivers. Mercifully, you finally let go and spare him by not pointing out the quiet whine he let out. He stumbles forward and turns around to face you fully, trying to keep an eye out for any more of your stunts while he catches his breath. He felt so dizzy from being in your arms, if he were held for a moment longer, he surely would've melted right then and there. Noritoshi's hands trembled as he smoothed out his clothes, his mouth opening and closing as any and all words died in his throat. He wanted to yell at you for being so forward, for giving him no chance to prepare, for letting go of him, for a lot of things..! Yet he just pouted as he tried to calm the flush on his face. His hands instantly whipped up in front of him when he noticed you took a step towards him. He can't handle another display of affection right now, he'll go weak at the knees! But how can you hold back when he's just so damn cute?

The most likely outcome is a mixture of both with a heavy leaning towards one. Either way, you're very right!! He's extremely pretty.

[lemon-pie-enjoyer]

Incorrect Haikyuu quotes x reader pt.2

I, for one, still think 3rd year Karasuno student Y/n is criminally underrated concept.

(No pronouns used.)

pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt. 5

-----

Hinata: I don’t care what anyone thinks about me!!

Y/n: Ok.

Hinata: Wait, what's with such a muted reaction? Did that not sound cool? ;-;

-----

Daichi: Loosen up, your smile looks forced.

Y/n: That’s because it is.

-----

Noya: Am I right, Y/n?

Y/n: I’m almost certain you’re not, but to be fair, I wasn’t listening.

-----

Y/n: What are you doing here?

Tanaka: I could ask you the same question.

Y/n: I live here. This is my house.

Tanaka: I should probably ask you a different question.

-----

Y/n: I have to say, I'm a little embarrassed for you.

Noya: This is a sports-related injury. It makes me look cool!

Y/n: Tripping over a volleyball on your way to the bathroom is not cool.

-----

<3

[theblueflower05]

Ayo saying that Ao'nung is criminally underrated

So imagine he been like acting up right? Fights, tempers been blowing, and his 'punishment' is to do work with you/reader who is the clans designated calming woman 🤣 ?? Anyways, so like you been working with him for a week or so, he's made zero progress. You can't deny that he is indeed scrumptious so you offer another way for him to relax, to stress relieve him. Basically you become an outlet for him yknow yknow 🤣

- 🍒

I WANT TO KISS YOU RIGHT ON THE FUCKING MOUTH THANK YOU FOR REQUESTING AONUNG I LOVE THIS MERMAN SO SO MUCH.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: stupid amounts of smut. Oral(male and female receiving) Cock warming. Ao’nung being obsessed with the reader and her magical healing pussy. You know, norm lol

Smut beneath the cut!

You fustrate Ao’nung.

Which is funny, because you do the complete opposite to the rest of the clan.

You’re highly spiritual, closer to Ewya then anyone she’s ever met claims his mother. You’re centered in who you are, mature beyond your young years.

You’re not the ocean, with its ever changing tides, but the beach. The sand, the earth.

You work closely with the Tsakarem, but your approach to medicine is different.

“It’s in the mind” you whisper, voice airy and light “your body can never be well if your mind isn’t”

It’s why he’s been sent to you.

His father had had it with his temper and the fist fights that resulted from it. Tonowari would not tolerate another minute of it.

Ao’nung could handle grunt work; shucking shells. Cleaning out the bed pots for compost. He was good with his hands, if he just kept them moving he’d be fine.

What he can’t handle is being stuck with you, for hours on end, doing nothing.

Your Mauri is on the smaller side, but cozy. It reflects you perfectly. Healing herbs grow from clay pots. Sun catches and wind chimes sway in the breeze from the open window.

Heavy fragranced incense plumes clog his nose.

He knows everyone else loves it in here, children and elders alike flock for your company and attention.

But he hates it. It’s stuffy and boring.

He thinks he puts on a pretty good mask though. Doesn’t outrightly tell you that he’s pretty sure you’re a fucking fraud and all of this is bullshit.

He sits with you on the woven mats infront of your alter. Legs crossed, hands resting on his knees as you lead him through guided meditation.

“Close your eyes” you’d instructed and he’d followed “Empty your thoughts let the Great Mother flow in”

You hum, the vibrations musical and pleasant sounding and all in all it shouldn’t be that horrible of an experience.

Except for the fact that he feels no calmer then yesterday. Or the week before. Or the month before that.

His face is all scrunched up, his hands fists on his thighs instead or resting palms. He’s so obviously wound tighr.

“Ao’nung?”

You call for him, and he peeks one eye open.

“This isn’t really helping you, is it?” You don’t sound upset or hurt. Just observant. Your big blue eyes patient and kind.

“Um-“ he starts fully intending to lie to you. But those eyes…”not really, no”

Your mouth quirks and your ears wiggle. Like your taking his words and focusing hard on them.

You stand then, all graceful limbs, and place a thin finger on your chin “when do you feel most relaxed?”

That’s not an easy question to ask. It’s too big- he can’t really compute it. Mostly because he can’t remember the last time he was truly relaxed-

He shakes his head. Shrugs his shoulders “Come on, Y/N. Let’s just get this done and appease my father”

“I don’t spend my afternoons with you to appease your father” you sigh, even then he can’t sense an ounce of frustration on you. Perma composed “I spend this time with you trying to help you, I want you to find peace”

He has to fight a scoff. Wants to roll his eyes. Peace, yeah okay.

“Think very hard- when was the last time you felt the weight of the world off your shoulders? The last time that you relaxed your jaw? Even if it’s silly, tell me” you push on, gently.

Huh.

The last time he unclenched his jaw?

He can feel the tips of his ears go pink as the memory resurfaces. A few nights ago he got a moment to himself, snuck down onto the empty beach. Shoved his hand in his tweng and fisted his leaking cock-

“I don’t know if it’s appropriate…”

You giggle, it twinkles like your wind chimes, as you approach him. Behind his broad back. Your small hands rest on his big shoulders. “When has that ever stopped you?”

You’re sun warm and smell of water flowers. Your presence steady and comforting behind him. It prompts him to talk.

“I made myself come about a week ago, it felt good. I felt relaxed” he admits and you hum again.

Your hands still on him.

“I see. You take a more physical approach to mental wellness, there is no shame in that” you start, as your dainty fingers begin to dig into the meat of his shoulders. Working at the tight knots with finessed expertise “Do you have a lover?”

He had many. “You could say that”

“No, no. I don’t mean a warm body to fuck for the night. Do you have a lover, that you can trust to take care of your needs?”

Again, his mind is blank. Why do you ask him these questions? And better yet- why can’t he answer them?

You don’t force him to speak. Instead you keep massaging him, as you start up that sweet little hum again. It feels so good that Ao’nung stars to lean back into you, biting down on his lower lip hard to stop the sounds that are building in his chest

“Do you know what brings me peace of mind?” You inquire, offhandedly, as your fingers creep into his hair.

You release the tight bun on the back of his head, and his dark hair falls in waterfall like curls around his head. The tension of keeping it so tightly back released. It feels so nice-

“Hmm?” Hes dazed. Melting into a puddle or your making.

“Trust” you say simply.

That’s so stupid. He tells you so. He regrets it though, thinking you’ll stop your ministrations.

You don’t of course, you keep going. Unfazed.

“I trust the people around me, our clan. Our village. We are good strong people, we take care of each other. I trust the ocean, the give and take of the life cycle. I trust our mother Eywa- I feel safe and held in her embrace” your words are hypnotic, spoken low and true “and I trust myself, to honor my needs. When was the last time you truly honored yours, Ao’nung?”

There only you and him in the empty room. Your humming and the smell of fragrant burning herbs surround him.

Trust, you say.

He trusts you. It’s a stark revelation. He almost can’t believe it.

“I…” he clears his throat, trying to continue “I’m supposed to take care of others. Not the other way around. I am future Olo’eyktan. I do not have time for such trivial matters”

Again. Those little sighs.

When you press your plush lips against his cheek he almost shoots up off the floor. His eyes go wide and he lurches a bit.

“I see now that I’ve been taking the wrong approach” you tell him, apologetically as you get up. Coming to stand in front of him once more.

You hold his gaze, never breaking eye contact as you begin to undress.

Your motions are fluid, it’s almost a dance, as you slide your tweng down your shapely legs. As you unclip the seashell pin that holds together your gossamer top.

You stand in front of him completely nude. He traces your womanly figure with his eyes. Your full breasts, the smooth lines of your flat stomach, the curve of your hips.

He zeros in on the mound of your pussy. He can feel his mouth water and a wave of desire surges through him as he reaches for you.

“Maway” you coo as you step into his arms. Sinking down into his waiting lap “calm, Ao’nung”

As he tastes mouthfuls of your skin he thinks that he might have found the antidote to his raging temper.

———————————

He tests this theory, often.

When he tangles his fishing net beyond repair, and then rips it right down the middle right as he’d almost had it loose-

He fucks you from behind on the moonlit beach. His hand clamped over your mouth as he loses himself in your heat.

When him and Tsireya get into a heated argument about how to handle an internal affair within the village- and she throws the fact that she’s older then him and will be Tsahik first-

He makes you bounce on his cock until you can barley move, your knees giving out and his hips snapping up to keep moving inside of you.

When a bad storm destroys docs and he has to spend days repairing it-

He fucks your throat, brutally. Watching as you sputter on his cock. Your eyes, always so sage and peaceful, water horribly. Tears roll down your pretty cheeks. When he comes, he makes sure to pull you off so that he can watch the fat milky globs soil you even further

It works. Your methods. You are a skilled healer after all, you have found a way to calm the chiefs son.

Everyone is surprised, in awe.

Tonowari is over joyed and Ronal is grateful. You try to take it all in stride. This is what you do. You help people find their inner peace.

But it’s not the same as everyone else. Ao’nung is so different, he means so much more to you.

While you had helped him find his own balance- he had unbalanced you. You’re needy, jittery. You crave his touch, his kisses, his thick cock.

His love. You crave that most of all.

As much as you meditate and talk to Eywa, you can’t seem to recenter. You’re not whole until you’re in his arms.

Most nights, Ao’nung ends up in your hut. Your bedding smells like him, he’s very familiar with their softness.

He has you spread out, exactly like he loves.

He his face inbetween your thighs as he eats your wet cunt. It’s like a cradle. He’s serene as he feasts on you. Eyes closed, Aonung prays to the Great Mother as you stroke his hair lovingly.

You have your alter- he has his. You sweet cunt makes him feel closer to the spirit of Pandora then any prayer circle ever did.

“Love it” he mutters, his tongue still lapping at your swollen clit.

You can’t form words. They were all tongue fucked out of you two orgasms ago. You can only squeal and nod.

“Love this pussy. Need it. Always” he continues, his voice muffled by your thighs. He sounds drunk. So relaxed “Need you always”

You’re too gone to fully comprehend it.

There was never any fighting it to begin with. The Olo’eyktan had tasked you with the taming of his wild son. Anything to quell that ever burning fire in Ao’nung.

Who knew that all it would take is you spreading your legs?

UM I LOVE YOU AONUNG. Seriously. He so fun and different to write for and everyone needs to start writing him and stop neglecting my lil fish baby. @cinetrix I thought about you while I wrote this because I know how much you love our best Metkayina boy!

But the real question is; how am I supposed to not make this a series? LOL YOU GUYS KINK REQIESTS ARE TOO GOOD.

[welcomingdisaster]

Rec List: Favorite Fics of the Year!

hey hey hey! here are my favorite fics that I read this year. This is not an all-encompassing list, and I know I am missing some fics I read and loved. I always appreciate more fics recs. That said, here are some things that really stuck with me this year!

before the black gate by TheChasm ( @thelordofgifs)

Lôminzil would mark her, if she could: leave the indentations of her fingers on Abraphêl’s hips and thighs and kiss-bruises on her neck, carve her name into Abraphêl’s flawless skin so that all who set eyes upon her might know to whom she belongs.

Lôminzil does not much like her job as one of Tar-Míriel's attendants, but there are consolations. Her secret work spying on the Queen for Ar-Pharazôn, for one: and Abraphêl, too.

This list in in particular order, but I am putting this one first because I believe it is CRIMINALLY underrated. The odds are stacked against it as a femslash, original character, Numenor centric fic but listen it is SO good. The tragedy and inevitability is SO peak Silmarillion to me. The character work is delicate and intense at once. It is both soft and violent at the same time. It makes me feral. It makes me cry. Please read it.

Also, because I feel weird recc'ing ghosti without including any M&M fics (which are all excellent!) - her little one shot, crowns and other trinkets, somehow stuck with me a lot. It's quiet and understated and just catches something about the characters to me.

A Common Chord by sallysavestheday ( @sallysavestheday)

I loved him first, Maglor liked to tell himself. Fingon and Maglor and Maedhros, loving.

Just so obsessed with this dynamic. Sally's language is as always so creative and vivid and good to read; the characters in this are so vivid and breathing. This fic is warm and cold at once. Please read it.

Silence Stretched as a Shadow Between the Trees by Melesta ( @melestasflight)

This is what Maedhros wanted all along, this is why he selfishly stole Fingon from his duties and brought him here at the edges of Beleriand. Because here, there are no houses or banners, no wars to fight, no rules of propriety. They are not the eldest sons of great fathers, nor lords of mighty kingdoms. To the forest and its cycle, they are no more worthy than the mayflies that emerge and die within a single turning of the Sun.

A late entry, published a few days ago; but I've already read it twice, so I think it has to count. I'm always a sucker for art writing and location writing, and this has both in droves. Just really beautiful writing and great character work; this is kind of cheating as a compliment to Melesta, but what a wonderful wonderful Fingon. Aurgh. Love the osanwë work in this as well.

I was also going to include Red by the same author, but I think I actually read it last year. Go read it anyways.

Oh everybody waits so long by polutropos ( @polutrope)

In the summer of 2017, Fingon is called to the scene of hit-and-run while on duty. He's shocked to discover the victim is Maedhros, his ex-boyfriend he hasn't spoken to in two years. Over the next six months, they stumble and fumble their way back to each other.

I am jealous of this fic's ability to render the Silmarillion believably in a totally different world. It takes a lot of writing chops and a lot of brain juice to do an AU this different, and boy do you pull it off. This is emotional, intense, and quite often funny. I think about it a lot.

The ficlet collection in this universe is also so so fun!

On the same note - Hearken Still Unsated by the same author.

“For how many years have we two listened for the echoes of the Music of Creation in the oceans and lakes and rivers? And yet we will never be sated. Like the water in which they say it lives, the Song does not rest but ever moves and changes. It may pool in a great lake for an age and then pour down into the Sea in another. It fills whatever spaces it can and flows by whatever paths most easily open before it.”

When the Noldor return to Middle-earth to make war on Morgoth, only rumours reach Menegroth of their reasons for coming, but Doriath's minstrel experiences their loss and longing through his connection to Music and the gift of his Queen. Years later, he is sent to the Feast of Reuniting and meets the Elf whose grief he felt. A story about the Eldar returning home, their connection to the land and to each other, and their relationship to Music and fate, love and free will. 

Not a fic from 2024, but I did read it in 2024. One of the most lovingly-crafted, carefully made fics I've read. No word is out of place. Foundational to the ship. Check it out.

arrangement of flute and harp by jouissant ( @jouissants)

“What sort of man leaves his lover abed with his brother? Fingon, hast thou ever heard of such a thing?”

Incredibly tasty character dynamics in a lot of ways. The writing is delicious and vivid and extremely witty at the same time. I love the character voices in this most of all - so sharp and well-defined, fitting for the ebb and flow of the fic. The way the characters are intertwined and tangled up together is so striking. And the smut was really hot, which goes without saying for the author.

Mockingbird by littlewhitemouse @littlewhitemouseagain

One of his captains had asked him, “Maglor, do you not sleep beside with your brother when visiting him?” and Maglor had replied, “I do, as it makes it easier for me to sleep,” and his captain had said, “Which is good, because you do not usually sleep,” and Maglor had said, “I do not.” But his captain had then asked, “but doesn’t Prince Fingon also bed with him, on account of their completely secret and frankly astounding incestuous affair that no one knows about (and I certainly don’t myself)?” and Maglor had replied, “Yes, and that makes it harder to sleep.” On account of that being a full and complete explanation, Maglor’s captain had said, “Ah,” and that was the end of that conversation.

This caught me from the absolutely-hilarious description and kept me for each word. You can probably tell this is a very funny fic, but it is also an extremely thoughtful and earnest fic, an incredible Maglor character exploration, and a gorgeous rendering of the world and customs and clothing and jewelry and AHHH. Love this fic. Frequent re-read.

In Memory to Dwell by EilinelsGhost ( @eilinelsghost)

"I was healed, they told me. As ready as a soul could be." Bitterness laced through Finrod's words and he drew the robe close about him once more. "In what way is this readiness? Is there no longer healing in Námo’s halls?"

Immediately after his reembodiment, Finrod shuts himself within his chambers and allows none but his mother to come near. When Eärwen is called away, Finarfin must navigate his grief at this new separation and both father and son wrangle together with the toll the First Age has left upon them.

Really thoughtful and carefully crafted examination of elven culture, disability, reembodiment. The author is extremely precise with her language and her characterization; the little details in the text really make this fic very striking and real. I loved how this balanced the family dynamic (and Finarfin's longing for his son as a child again) against the adult separation. Bittersweet in the best way.

And a lot of philosophy, which is suitable for Finrod, ha.

Finrod/Sauron One Thousand Nights Esque AU by am_fae @meadowlarkx

In which Finrod does not die at Tol-in-Gaurhoth, but begins an extended game of wills as Sauron's captive. Mairon is intrigued by the mysterious Elf singer. That's all there is to it.

Cheating by posting the whole series but GAUGH this is just so good. I was chomping at the bit to learn how Lark was going to wrap this one up and it SO delivered. This is tender, brutal, and so crisp. It left me wanting so many contradictory things for the characters (escape. love him. escape. stay) and dug at the core of goodness and corruption in such an interesting way. As always I am blown away by Lark's dialogue and POV writing. Just really great stuff.

And that is all, for now! I unfortunately read less fic than I wanted to this year, so I know I missed out on some gems. I'm thinking of putting together a quick list of some favorite short fics and drabbles, if I can find them (I have lost more than I thought) - keep an eye out for that! And always feel free to add on to this post with your own recs. :)

[clovestreet]

use me- chad meeks martin

an: chad is so CRIMINALLY underrated... and there is like almost nothing for him on here so i wanted to take things into my own hands🤗 i hope you guys enjoy and as always let me know if you want to see anything else for characters i have already written for :)

summary: you wanted to try something new with your boyfriend you and he made sure you were glad you asked..

warnings: SMUT (16+⚠️) thigh riding, soft/playful chad😊

It was eating away at you. 

Your palms were clammy as your nails dug crescent- shaped marks into them, your legs bouncing up and down in your chair, your teeth digging into your bottom lip sharp enough to draw blood. 

You wanted to do this so bad but you had no idea how to ask. The thought of asking him made your stomach twist in knots. 

It all started when Sam told you about it. It had never really crossed your mind until she mentioned it and told you it was a “euphoric experience” and that you just “had to try it with Chad”. 

You and Chad were no stranger to each other’s bodies, much less sex. You loved being intimate with Chad and you guys had experimented with a bunch of different things. 

But riding his thigh? That was something you had definitely not tried yet. 

But now you couldn’t stop thinking about it and you wanted to try it so bad. 

You just didn’t know if Chad would be down for it and you were terrified to ask. 

Watching your handsome boyfriend cook you dinner shirtless dancing around the kitchen in your new apartment didn’t make you any less nervous to ask either. He was just so beautiful and his beauty still intimidated you in the best way possible. 

“Dinner’s ready babe!” he said shuffling over to you, two plates in hand. 

He placed a kiss on the top of your head as he placed your plate in front of you and then sitting beside you. 

“Thank you baby.” you said as you stared at your plate. 

You knew the second you looked at him he would know something was up. 

He smiled at you and watched your expression carefully as you looked at your plate. 

“Let me know if you like this new recipe, Mindy told me I needed to add garlic so I mixed that with the- “ 

He paused and looked directly into your eyes. 

Shit.

“Is everything okay baby?” he asked in a concerned tone as his hand reached over to rub your shoulder.

You swallowed and tried your best to keep your voice from wavering with nerves.

“Mhm, everything’s fine.”

“Doesn’t sound fine to me. What’s bothering you babe?” he said scooting his chair closer to yours.

You put your hands over your face and sighed. There was no getting out of this now. 

“I just- god I can’t do this.” you groaned into your hands. 

Chad pulled your hands from your face and held them in his own. You looked into his eyes and saw nothing but genuine love and concern. You were being dramatic, why couldn’t you just spit it out?

“You know I’m not gonna let you off the hook until you tell me.” 

You swallowed again, trying to prepare yourself for how to word this.

“Um, it’s really nothing babe, I’m fine, I guess I just wanted to ask you if-”

You paused and looked into his eyes again. 

“If we could try something new.” you finally said. 

It took him a second to understand what you were saying, but then he was shifting in his seat, looking at you a little differently than before. There was a glimmer of want and lust in his eyes that gave you butterflies.

His thumb caressed over the back of your hand as he looked at you.

“Of course baby, I’m always down for whatever.” he said smiling at you. 

You felt your nervousness fade away as you took a deep breath. 

“I basically just heard about it from Sam and wanted to see if we could give it a try.” you said shyly. 

“What is it baby?”

You sucked in another deep breath. Here goes nothing.

“I want to ride your thigh.” 

You said it impossibly fast but somehow Chad still understood you because you watched him shift again in his seat, trying to hide the obviously growing bulge beneath his grey joggers. 

“I am so down, you have no idea.” he said with the biggest shiteating grin on his face. 

You threw your head back in laughter in response. 

He was beaming at you as he took your hand and led you up and out of your seat to grab you and carry you bridal style with only one destination in mind. 

He turned his head to kiss you and smiled into the kiss as he laid you down gently on your bed. 

He fell down on top of you and his biceps caged you in as he started to kiss you more passionately, more desperately. 

“You are so insanely sexy when you’re shy.” he murmmured into your mouth.

You smiled into the kiss and grabbed his strong arms as your wrapped your leg around his waist flipping him onto his back. 

“Oh yeah? How’s this for shy?” you teased as you leaned down into another breathless kiss. 

“Fuck, I think I like that even more.” he groaned into your mouth. 

His lower hand stroked the skin on your lower back as you straddled his thigh on either side. 

Chad positioned himself against the headboard as his hands slid up your body to firmly grip your hips. 

Your hands found purchase on his shoulders as you slowly started to grind yourself back and forth on his thigh. 

“Just like that baby, use me.” Chad groaned into your shoulder as he flexed his leg.

You gasped at his words, your mouth falling agape with pleasure.

The friction was intense and you were completely not expecting it to feel this good. You found a rhythm and experimented by switching between moving in a circle and back and forth on his leg. 

You threw your head back in pleasure as Chad gripped your ass and used his hand to grind you harder onto his thigh. 

You dragged your nails down his bare chest and Chad threw his head back against the headboard with an almost guttural groan. 

He was in a trance as he watched you trying so hard to get yourself off. He did his best to try and memorize the way your face contorted when he flexed his muscle a certain way and how it felt to have you like this. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you.

You looked down to see where your body met Chad’s thigh to see a darker grey spot forming on his joggers. 

“Chad, please.” you begged as you grabbed his shoulders to move yourself faster.

“I got you baby, just keep looking at me.” he rasped.

His hands slid up your lower back as he started lightly bounce his leg up and down.

Everything you were feeling was multiplied and you knew that you couldn’t last much longer like this, not with him looking at you the way he was.

“Mmm Chad, don’t stop please.” you choked out.

“Come on baby, I know you’re close.” he groaned, watching you throw your head back again.

He started to bounce his leg a little faster and it caught you off guard completely.

“I’m so close Chad, you feel so good.” you said as you tilted your head down to connect your lips to his.

Chad knew every single sign your body had to offer like the back of his hand and he knew exactly how to make you come hard enough to see stars, which was exactly what he was about to do.

His hand on your back slipped down across your thigh until his finger was pressing on your clit. The added friction sent you over the edge and you were coming all over his fingers and thigh.

You moaned into the kiss and he took everything you gave him. He fucked you all the way through your high, not stopping until you collapsed onto his chest.

His arms caged around you holding you close as you propped yourself on his chest to stare at him. 

How could you not?

“I wanna watch you do that every single day.” he said stroking your hair.

 “Chad!” you scolded as you playfully hit his chest.

He laughed and smiled before pulling you in for another kiss.

“Baby, I think our dinners’ cold.” you said pulling away. 

“Oh shit you’re right! Let’s go eat.”

You started to ease yourself off of him before he pinned you on your back.

“..After I fuck you at least two more times.” he breathes, merely a few inches from your face.

You grinned as your fingers intertwined with the curls on the back of his neck.

Who were you to turn him down?

[mdhwrites]

I’ve been watching Amphibia while studying. I should definitely do a rewatch during the summer, but it’s occurred to me that Amphibia’s strengths are criminally underrated.

Amphibia feels like a more focused show than TOH. It has its flaws ofc especially in Season 3, but Amphibia’s cast comes across as a lot more developed than TOH’s cast. I mean, Andrias got a dedicated flashback episode and Belos didn’t???

Amphibia’s execution of the found family trope is one of the best things I’ve seen in animation. In contrast, I always felt that King, Lilith, Eda, and the Hexside crew are plot devices to get Luz where she needs to go. Eda has some depth but generally speaking TOH never “got into their heads,” unlike with the Plantars, Sasha, Marcy, Grime, and Andrias.

And I gotta praise Amphibia’s ending!!! I wish more kids cartoons embraced the idea of permanent, bittersweet change. The idea of letting things go but not forgetting them.

So while I agree Amphibia is more focused, I actually don't think that's what the bigger difference is between TOH and Amphibia that I think needs to be highlighted. No, instead, I'm interrogate something you said: Does Belos not get a dedicated backstory episode? For that matter... Does he potentially get MORE time spent on backstory than Andrias?

Andrias literally only gets The Core and the King. He actually gets VERY little screentime, mostly because the effects of his cruelty are more important than what he does himself. So for backstory, he gets 11 minutes. MAYBE you could stretch to like 12 or 13 if you want to include hints to Lief but that's all post her time with him. So 11 minutes because Andrias only gets one segment, not two.

What does Belos get?

Well... I think everyone just forgets about Elsewhere Elsewhen. That IS backstory. That is previous characterization. It's not a flashback but it is still interacting with a Belos earlier in the timeline, like a backstory exposition dump or a flashback does. And interacting with Philip is the main purpose of the A plot of the episode, even if it takes a bit to get to him and then he dips out before the end.

As the author of the journal though, he also counts for backstory whenever passages of the journal are told to us. It's unreliable but it is still previous characterization. So stuff like Eclipse Lake and the end of Looking Glass Ruins adds a little here and there.

Then of course... What the fuck do you call Hollow Mind if not a dedicated backstory episode to Belos? The majority of the run time is literally go through his brain, and his memories, to show his rise to power. His backstory. And while there is technically a B plot, it doesn't take up much time so probably at least a third of the episode is spent on this and these are 22 minute episodes. If just two thirds get spent on backstory, that's more than Andrias gets.

So why doesn't it feel like that? Why does it feel like we get a VERY complete version of Andrias' backstory, despite seeing cumulatively three days in a row of his life, while it feels like we were never told Belos'?

Efficiency. Amphibia is a VERY efficient work. It crams a LOT into its run times. It's part of why the episodes are so satisfying because they actually manage to tell complete stories with morals, sometimes their own A and B plots in an 11 minute segment and actually move the characters forward a full step within the span of that time. It does this while also being hilarious and action packed, much more than TOH or, honestly, a lot of cartoons. Not every episode segment counts for this but ESPECIALLY the important ones do and The Core and the King should be taught in classes for how to get across a character's motivations and backstory in a nuanced, breezy way while also being DENSE. AS. FUCK.

In eleven minutes, we get a clear idea of the utopia that Andrias used to live in, the cost of that utopia, the pressures upon him as a prince, how deep his relationships are with two other characters, Lief gets some genuinely good characterization that helps explain her choice, a logical progression of events that matches with the sillier side of Andrias we know of, an escalation and then a climax. We can VERY clearly see what Andrias lost, what he is trying to get back, and why he would want it back on multiple levels, both societal, familial and even personal, that will motivate into being a MONSTER for a thousand years. All while still being a lot of fun and having some really great jokes. It introduces so many elements but it never feels bogged down by any of this. Instead, it chose the PERFECT moment to get across everything it needed to and left very few questions that you as an audience couldn't figure out yourselves. This also all while being explicit about much of the motivation and what not instead of relying on background details.

Which TOH can't claim for Belos. In Elsewhere Elsewhen, we see that Philip hates witches, that his journal is unreliable and that he has ALWAYS been an asshole and a manipulator. That's befitting who he will be but doesn't actually tell us jack shit. It also includes I guess how he met the Collector but that's moving plot, not expanding on your villain. Because the journal is unreliable, it tells us very little to nothing about him except for some reason he donated his journal to the people he fucking despised. Then Hollow Mind shows how he came to power... But not who he is. Not his motivation, what he actually wants to accomplish besides murder, etc. like that. The paintings in the background tell you far more just by being far more suggestive of what he's been through.

TOH is fucking awful when it comes to density. Most episodes, not even just Belos, have the problem of only taking half steps. Each of Belos' parts are those half steps. Revealing only one or two elements when it easily could have shown more to be more satisfying. As an example: Amphibia has a GREAT episode between Ivy and her mom about rebellion, the consequences of fighting what your parent wants for you, why they might do the things they do, etc. like that. In 11 minutes, we get a genuinely complex relationship between Ivy and her mom who haven't had much talk about each other or their relationship up until now. Meanwhile, TOH decides to focus on Luz being expelled for the episode about Amity and Odalia, meaning Amity is in like... Three, maybe five minutes of that episode? A full minute of that being the intro to the episode where she's just showing off the abomaton?

Because it isn't actually focused on Amity, the relationship between Amity and Odalia isn't actually explored. Because they can't explore that, they also need to now make Odalia cartoonishly villainous so as to fit the fact that Luz also spends very little time with her due to making the conflict be about Hexside so we have to waste some time with a stock standard montage of Luz, Willow and Gus trying to get back in. And by the end, what is the resolution between Amity and Odalia? "Get in my way again and I will kick your fucking ass."

Much deep. Very brave.

There's TONS of stuff like this where Amphibia is genuinely the work trying to do more interesting, more meaningful and deeper things than TOH and managing to do it in literally half the time. If not even less. That breakneck pace is part of what makes Amphibia feel like a kids show but it's also what makes it just more enjoyable to watch.

Which actually makes TOH fit in better with our current era of streaming television. TOH is constantly baiting you for the payoffs it promises. It keeps swearing that its elements are deeper than they appear so make sure to tune in next week because this SURELY can't be all there is to, right?

Unfortunately, that is all there is to it. And once you realize that and look at the show with that sort of lens, it starts falling apart. It's part of why TOH should be thankful it was shortened. It lets people more easily claim that it just needed another season. Another fourteen episodes. That TOTALLY would have solved all the problems with episodes that happened even before the shortening.

That is extremely rarely how this works everyone. Sorry.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group E Round 4: Are You Ok vs Moriarty the Patriot

#E1: Are You Ok (You Yao)

Transmigrators modernize ancient China. Chaos ensues.

#E4: Moriarty the Patriot (Yuukoku no Moriarty)

Gay found family criminals versus corrupt nobility

#E1: Are You Ok (You Yao)

Summary:

People from the modern world transmigrating into the ancient Chinese fantasy world has become a common and everyday occurrence that the royal court in the latter has decided to moderate them. If you’re a transmigrator, you must report your existence to Lou Zhu, the master of Best Tower. Once you pass his test and prove that you are indeed a modern person, you can then be assigned to work in different areas of the government and be given a high salary.

Because of this promised benefit, many impostors have showed up before Lou Zhu. And one day, Zuo Yunqi takes this test as well. Is he an impostor, or is he an actual modern person?

But some transmigrators also choose to hide their existence out of distrust in the government. Where are they? And with their advanced knowledge on science and technology, what are they planning in the dark?

Elsewhere, other transmigrators find themselves in all sorts of situations—an art student is detained and forced to come up with a recipe for a poisonous meal, while another is stuck sharing a body with the original soul and fighting for its control. Meanwhile, unrest rises in the Jianghu and a storm brews in the palace. Can our transmigrators’ modern knowledge save the day? Or will their lack of understanding in the current world lead to their downfall?

Propaganda:

As someone who is in the You Yao and YuuMori fandoms and adores both for being very gay while still having a good plot, I’d say these two stories are tied in terms of quality. They both execute their respective genres well and really shouldn’t be pitted against each other. But since I absolutely have to choose, then I’m siding with You Yao for this round. The YuuMori anime is a bit lacking compared to its manga, whereas the You Yao donghua elevates the original novel and breathes new life into it.

I started both shows as an anime-only. While watching YuuMori, there was always this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I was missing out on something. There were so many instances that seemed odd or abrupt. The “found family” gang felt forced, and Sherlock’s attachment and dedication to William seemed excessive in the episodes leading to the climax and even at the climax. It turns out the anime had cut out a chapter in the manga where Sherlock visited William at the college where he teaches. This was such a let-down for me because that chapter showed how the two interact outside of a crime scene and still be friends.

In contrast, the You Yao donghua was able to stand on its own. You don’t even have to read the novel anymore, which is surprising coming from someone like me who always advocates on experiencing the source material.

In the novel, arcs seem disconnected from each other that, while reading, you don’t get the feeling that there’s an overarching plot. It is only later in the story that everything starts slowly coming together.

Somehow, the You Yao donghua was able to take the scattered puzzle pieces of the novel and connect them all together to deliver a coherent story all the while still keeping the spirit of the original—a suckerpunching emotional rollercoaster ride masquerading as yet another comedy. Characters were also given more emotional depth, which is a plus because the novel only portrayed it subtly. Even the donghua-original characters were so likable that I had to double-check if they were canon.

The YuuMori anime has its good parts of course, but overall I think it could’ve done a lot better in terms of character relationships and pacing.

So yeah, both stories are equally good in each of their own genres. But on being an animated adaptation? You Yao takes the win. Vote You Yao.

Trigger warnings: Guns, kidnapping, and imprisonment. Nothing too dark, though.

#E4: Moriarty the Patriot (Yuukoku no Moriarty)

Summary:

During the late 19th century, Great Britain has become the greatest empire the world has ever known. Hidden within its success, the nation's rigid economic hierarchy dictates the value of one's life solely on status and wealth. To no surprise, the system favors the aristocracy at the top and renders it impossible for the working class to ascend the ranks.

William James Moriarty, the second son of the Moriarty household, lives as a regular noble while also being a consultant for the common folk to give them a hand and solve their problems. However, deep inside him lies a desire to destroy the current structure that dominates British society and those who benefit from it.

Alongside his brothers Albert and Louis, William will do anything it takes to change the filthy world he lives in—even if blood must be spilled.

Propaganda:

The story isn’t quite on par with the manga (solely due to there being not enough episodes to cover full character arcs), but the ‘eat the rich’ vibes are immaculate, the plot is complex and interesting, the queercoding and subtext are both wonderfully done, AND there is a CANON TRANS CHARACTER !!!!

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Gender Identity/Sexuality Discrimination, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Rape/Non-Con, Self-Harm, Suicide

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form with your revisions, and I’ll consider adapting those changes.

New: Starting round 5, screenshots will be included in the poll post. You can submit screenshots through the form linked above, or through here, via ask or dm.

Guidelines in submitting screenshots:

No NSFW or spoilery images.

Pick some good images please. Don’t send any blurry or pixelated ones.

You may send up to 9 screenshots, but not all may be used.

[msunitedstatesjames]

Frances Hardinge is a criminally underrated author. If you've never heard of her, I'm not surprised. Even though I'm in several fantasy book groups on Facebook with thousands of members, I've only ever seen one or two other members post about her. And yet, since I first read one of her books in 2020, I've bought every book she's published and read most of them.

Frances Hardinge, for those who've missed out, writes fantasy young adult books. Her books are extremely well written, romance free, unfailingly unique, and somewhat dark, all of which are qualities I find to be more and more rare in today's YA fantasy market (not to hate on YA, I've read tons of it). If you need a comparison, I would say aspects of her books remind me of YA/middle grade books by T. Kingfisher or Neil Gaiman.

If I haven't convinced you yet, here's a little preview of some of her books that I've read:

A Face Like Glass (my personal favorite): A girl named Neverfell lives in a world where people have to be taught how to show emotion in their facial expressions. She has to wear a mask at all times because, mysteriously, she naturally shows facial expressions and if people found out they would freak. If that's not unique enough, this society is underground and produces magical artisinal goods, such as cheeses, wines, and perfumes that can do some wild things. If that still hasn't convinced you, the book critiques the privelege of the wealthy, as in this world only the rich can afford to hire Facesmiths to teach them expression, while the poor languish along with one or two facial expressions for their entire lives.

Fly by Night and Fly Trap (these might have different titles depending on where you are in the world): In a world where reading is illegal and seen as revolutionary activity, Mosca Mye escapes her awful life with her aunt and uncle by forcing an infamous conman (Eponymous Clent, this world has cool naming conventions) to take her under his wing. Joining them is Mosca's only friend, Saracen, the murderous goose. Yeah, you read that right. Highlights of the series include a heartwarming found family tale, an accidental revolution, a city that literally changes its population, personality, and shape when day changes to night, and, of course, an extremely violent goose. I mean, if you've read Pratchett, Saracen the goose is basically the Luggage. There's more than one scene in these books where all hope seems lost, and Mosca is like, "I guess it's up to you now Saracen," and she just straight up lobs her goose at the enemy and he utterly wrecks their shit. If I recall correctly, this happens once during a pitched river boat battle over an illegal printing press.

The Lie Tree: Faith's father, who refused to recognize her potential as a scientist, mysteriously dies. Faith discovers a tree he kept hidden that grows when you tell lies and reveals secrets in its fruit. The bigger the lie you tell the world, the bigger the secret that will be revealed. You can imagine the chaos that eventually ensues. This book critiques gender roles and discrimination, and tackles both the dangers and the necessity of telling lies.

Cuckoo Song: When Triss wakes up after apparently falling in a lake, everything seems wrong. She's missing memories, she has an insatiable hunger, dead leaves are mysteriously appearing in her room, and her sister claims she's a monster. Triss must piece together what's happening to her before it's too late. This book deals with the complexities of life with overbearing parents, siblings who've been pitted against one another, and families that have been torn apart by tragedy.

Verdigris Deep (another one that goes by different titles): A group of friends are cursed by a well witch after they take some coins from her well. She forces them to work for her by granting her wishes. Working with the witch gives them powers, but the wishes are getting increasingly complex. Does that guy really want a motorcycle or does he want to be someone else? And if he wants to be someone else, does that mean what he really wants is not to exist at all? This book deals with issues of self worth, power and control, and toxic friendships.

She has a bunch of other great books as well. So if you're looking for a unique fantasy story with adventure and no romance, definitely check some of Frances Hardinge's books out!

[dangermousie]

hello! i was wondering if you would mind me asking for period/wuxia cdrama recs - i have really appreciated your blogging on various shows and have run out of things to watch 😅 off the top of my head i've really enjoyed stuff like minglan, love like the galaxy, heroes, monarch industry, yanxi palace, eternal brotherhood, a journey to love. thanks in advance for considering this ask!

I love giving recs!!!!

You may have watched some of these already but hopefully some are new.

There are no xianxia on your list so I am not providing any xianxia or xianxia adjacent recs :)

Novoland Eagle Flag - in my top 3 cdramas. Recommending it because you mentioned Eternal Brotherhood and in a lot of ways, NEF is if EB had a bigger budget; it has the same "low fantasy" vibe and a main who is a gritted teeth idealist in a feudally dark world.

Vigilantes in Masks - because you mentioned AJTL. This one features Liu Shi Shi as an outlaw and is also a story of a group of down-and-out people coalescing together into a team on a mission. She and Wallace Huo have insane chemistry.

Battle of Changsha - from the writers of Minglan. It's set in 1930s so not sure if that is an issue, but it is a wonderful, nuanced story of a family with a great love story in the middle, but the family is as or more important in the narrative.

Love In Between - because you mentioned Heroes and AJTL. This one is a criminally underrated drama. It follows a group of people whose mission intersects now and then and they are sometimes a team and sometimes enemies. FL is on a quest to heal her master, ML is a physician with no martial ability, due to childhood events, there are seemingly favored daughter and son of a fancy sect, an information broker etc etc. There are causes, love, friendship, grudges, some fascinating gender reversal dynamics, the filming is beautiful. It's just genuinely amazing. Listening Snow Tower also has that vibe (FL and ML both fascinating, tons of cool secondaries) and is also a wuxia I love.

You seem to like female-centric narratives where women triumph and deal with harem or family or plots etc matters. The Sword and the Brocade is inferior to Minglan but has that same vibe. The Princess Weiyoung and Legend of Xiao Chuo are both "female protag rises to power and obtains love" that are fun.

I hesitate to recommend General and I even tho I adore because a lot of people don't like Angelababy, but to me this is a great entrant into "FL is strong and ruthless and with her own agenda and that is what ML falls for and they form a team eventually subgenre." The same is true for Twisted Fate of Love (so so so good and so so underrated!)

Everyone loves Nirvana in Fire but I prefer Nirvana in Fire 2 (different generation, no need to watch the first one) due to family dynamics and approach. It also has idealists against the court, politics vibes.

The Young Warriors is ooooold (over 20 years old) and looks it, but is one of the best family centric period narratives and a lot of concurrent great stories and dynamics and also confrontation between warrior protags and corrupt court (see shades of EB) and the same for Lan Ling Wang (it features an amazing love story to boot) tho that one is newer of course.

Oh, and if you haven't seen Joy of Life 1 and 2, it has everything you would love I imagine.

The Rise of Phoenixes is a great narrative about families, power struggles and a love story with two vvv smart protags.

Hope you find something you like and thank you for the awesome ask!