#I think it’d make a good crack treated seriously fic

[catwouthats]

*Breaks down door*

HEY!

How come I’ve not seen any fics of Wade becoming a stripper using his Deadpool costume since he doesn’t want to go back to merc work or the car dealership?

[subzeroiceskater]

Yuletide 2023

Hey, Subzero Ice Skater here, thanks for reading this and considering writing for me. It’s my second time doing Yuletide but first time doing a letter. I am still feeling my way back through fanfiction; right now I feel I could be up to just about anything, if written with love, confidence, and good will. However, it’s probably more difficult to write without some idea of who you’re writing for. It’s easier to edit down a mountain of words than coming in fresh at a white blank page.

I know Yuletide is the small fandom exchange but I’ve never really been part of an overly huge fandom, especially one that had me wanting to read its fic or having a huge amount of fic at all. I felt like I never got to experience through beginners’ fanfic tropes that I read other fans all the time. Mostly the fluffy stuff: the five things plus one, the fake dating, the coffee/bookshop/library AUs, sickfic, whatever a wingfic is–the tried, true and usually shippy–it’d be fun to finally get to read that. I think that’s what I’m mostly looking for–something really fun, probably fluffy. That kind of fic is probably more fitting if keeping to the lower, relaxing end of Yuletide.

But on the flipside, I love the more serious kind of fics: character studies, stories with a touch of wistfulness, maybe horror; where characters learn fundamental truths about life and are forever changed, or something is slowly revealed about the world around them. Atmospheric pieces. I’m a big fan of those English Western literary short stories–stories with a twist, either happy or not.

I think if unsure, it’s probably best to go with a happy or hopeful ending. Or if it’s that puts the character(s) through the wringer, something that ends with powerful catharsis. I think if you hit on a hit on an idea and you’re confident with your skill, I’d say go for it. 

Stuff I like:

Women being cool

World History

 the Arctic 

Acknowledgement/presence of Indigenous people/history/practices especially in spaces usually believed to be the province of Western/white people (eg in the history of the Arctic)

Astronomy

unusual formats (example: epistolary format) 

unusual POVs (stories told from an outsider’s or an NPC’s experience) 

connecting themes like flower or plant or animal symbolism, flower languages or objects that can reveal something their character 

passages of time (a day-in-the-life, four seasons in a year, birth to death, first and last times)

literary AUs (one time I saw somebody request a Gawain and the Green Knight AU for Mega Man and I just fell so in love with doing something like that) (even cooler if it’s something that’s not from the familiar Western literary canons, say Latin American, South East Asian, Arctic literature, as long as you’re up for it.)

Bisexual characters

Gender non-conforming characters

Time travel/Time loops/Temporal Fish Out of Water/ Time Travel shenanigans in general.

If you’re really confident, playing with meta, like a self-aware narrator or the narrative coming alive.

Crossovers with stuff I like! I think I’m supposed to say I’m opting-in. If you’re familiar with more than one of my fandoms, especially the ones requested here, and somehow work out a way where my favorite characters meet/interact/even just help each other from the sidelines, I bet that could be very cool.

For the robot characters, going “let us contemplate our humanity”

Happy/ fun/ awkward sex with lots of laughter.

Parallel plots that combine at the end.

Vignettes.

Culture/personality crashes

Crack treated seriously

Puns

Holiday/Christmas fic (doesn’t have to be, obviously)

My tolerance for violence is fairly high, but I’m going to stick to Violence-For-Rule-Of-Cool-Sexy-or-Funny. If they get permanently injured or just for the duration of the story, I want stuff that makes them look hot or cool, like scars or eye patches or crutches. I’m also more than okay with topics like suicidal thoughts or ideation. I’d actually welcome it especially if it’s in service of catharsis. Whatever their bodies can stay broken but their spirit don’t, at least, not at the very end.

DO NOT WANTS: Scat Watersports Omegaverse Readerfic (First or second person POV is okay if playing around with unusual or unreliable narrators)

Art and treats are welcomed. If you give any art based on any characters requested here, I’m probably going to cry. ;___; If you’re a visual artist, I’d love to see you use new techniques or whatever you’ve always to do as practice. Use me as your guinea pig!

Rockman | Mega Man Classic

Tundra Man, Bounce Man, Block Man, Impact Man

Tundra Man as the fic focus–the story is about him, features him in a major way, or about somebody/something else but from his POV. Bounce Man, Block Man, Impact Man could appear as POV/major/supporting/background/mentioned characters.

I’m completely normal about Tundra Man. He’s my favorite Mega Man character and I fell in love with him at first sight and I’m absolutely pretty much always ravenous for anything more about him. I’m not weird. I think he’s gorgeous and his backstory is cool and moved me. Imagine being built for one thing, completely falling in love with another, and giving absolutely everything about yourself to your chosen art?

Tundra’s past– I’d love to see exploration of his past life: his daily and implied solitary life and work as an arctic robot, how or when exactly he was inspired by figure skating on television, or how he balanced his work and his newfound passion for skating before the events of the game. All the decisions he had to make when he was modifying himself. As a polar exploration robot, where did he go? As land development robot, what did he do? The fact that he could even decide to modify himself, when apparently, all the robots don’t have true free will, is so endlessly fascinating to me–what does that imply about Mega Man’s world and its robots? And it’s never revealed how he looked with tougher-exterior, so what did he look like? Does it matter to him? Does miss being stronger? Was the price worth it?

Tundra’s future– Or maybe skip a bit to his future–Tundra  gets rebuilt after the events of Mega Man 11, and he decides to pursue a career in figure skating. What’s that like? I’ve seen a (way too) few interpretations of how Tundra would tackle that and I’d just love more. What is competitive figure skating like for robots? Would somebody like him be able to just do that? Does he face any obstacles or objections from his creators? Does he face any backlash from what he did to the city and city museum? Did you know in his original Japanese profile, it’s said he was inspired specifically by ice dancing? A sport that is a totally different beast than singles ice skating? What if he originally did want to do ice dancing? What other challenges or opportunities or culture clashes would a solitary ice robot who spent years in the Arctic encounter when thrusted into a highly competitive, highly publicized, seemingly glamorous world of competitive ice skating? How would someone like him, a robot who had to do self-modifications, actually compete against actual sports robots simply built for skating and nothing else? Is he unique or severely underqualified? Are there even such a thing as professional robot ice skaters or was he watching a human ice skating competition? Does he get support from Cossack Labs or Dr. Light or does he get punished for going against his original design. And another thing, what is up with him being built by Cossack Labs but him showing up with Dr. Light’s lab at the beginning of Mega Man 11–what is the story there, is he a reverse Beat–

Tundra and the Arctic – Sorry, I’m but I’m totally normal about Tundra. This one is about a tundra AU–despite being called Tundra Man, neither his stage (which mostly takes place in a museum), nor his current passions (figure skating) nor his original purpose (polar exploration or development) seem to reflect the tundra much. I think it’d be easy to write Tundra as completely abandoning his original purpose for skating but I’d like to headcanon where he still cares a lot for the tundra and the welfare of the Arctic as a whole. There are a lot of assumptions and misconceptions about the Arctic and I’d love to see that as a reflection of the man himself. It’s not always eternal ice–the tundra is a biome that supports life and people all year around, and have for thousands of years. There’s spring, summer, fall, and winter in the Arctic tundra. Maybe something like a fisher king situation where the landscape reflects his state of mind or where he is in life, maybe it’s just symbolic. Maybe it’s literal since he’s a powerful robot made for land development. Maybe it’s magic realism. His purpose being about land development in Arctic brings up interesting implications but it’s really addressed in canon. There was even a joke about how people never getting to see his performance as bad global warming. Climate change is still a thing in their world when Chill Man is described to be made to stop the glaciers from melting. How does Tundra himself deal with climate change in his world when land development in the Arctic usually mean using up its resources and hastening global warming. Does he feel guilty? Does he ignore it? Does he work with anti-global warming robots like Chill Man or does he clash against them? Is pursuing his passions selfish in light of this? 

Tundra people & animals! –I understand if topics like global warming and climate change can get too depressing so if you can just focus on Tundra loving and caring about the tundra. I’d love to see Tundra being cute with tundra animals, whether robots like his stage’s Ice Swans or biological like the huskies, seals and bears mentioned in his profile. Maybe he got so good with modifying robots because he was in charge of repairs for the animal ones. Maybe the living animals ended up watching him because he was in charge of tracking them first. If there are any original human characters featured, I’d love there to be Indigenous Arctic people. I really dislike the story and perception of the Arctic being so overwhelmingly white and mostly about Western colonization, with little thought of the Indigenous people who lived there for thousands of years, seeing them as nothing more than ancient history. Again, I understand that topics could be depressing, and maybe rather be avoided, but there’s no need to get heavy on it, either. I'd just like to see Indigenous people being presented in Mega Man’s world just as much as any other nation. Like, if there’s scientist, citizens, travelers, entrepreneurs, or what have you, and it takes place in the Arctic (or even not), it’d be cool if background characters could be native or at the very least, not overwhelmingly white.

Bounce Man – Bouncy is adorable and cute; thinking about him makes me want to cry. He has my favorite stage music of the game! If I could request longfic of my faves I would. I’m mostly interested in a Tundra-focused fic so for any appearance by Bouncy, I’d like it to be on support for him. It’s easy to dismiss such a happy-go-lucky character described as having childlike innocence as having no depth or unable to feel any “real” emotions but I’d love a serious take on him, while still keeping his upbeat attitude. A sort of “crack taken seriously” but robot bouncing form. I wanna see him seriously played against Tundra, they’ve got some good parallels going on. 

Bounce was also transformed from his original purpose, but unlike Tundra, it wasn’t his choice. Also unlike Tundra, who WANTS people to know who he is and what he does,  Bounce is already established as a household name (with his own brand of exercise–Hopxercise) and beloved by people (well, kids). Bounce Man was transformed from something with underground utility (crash test dummies aren’t known for public appeal) to something that brings a lot of people joy (an adorable, probably profitable, athletic mascot). I’ve always felt there was some horror to make something self-aware crash test dummy that’s made just for the sole purpose of dying over and over again. And then he gets turned into a funny clown fitness instructor. There’s definitely a story there, feel–a horror, maybe the consequences of capitalism and fitness culture or something.

Is Tundra jealous of Bounce’s appeal?  Does he try to leverage his relationship with Bounce Man somehow? How do they react to each other? Does Bounce not notice since he’s too happy-go-lucky? Or he does notice but he just does not care? Bounce is basically a fitness coach so does Bounce use his expertise to help out Tundra achieve his figure skating dreams? How would robot-to-robot exercise work anyway?

Ship/Sexfic: Sex with Mega Man robots! How does it go down?

I don’t have a favorite Tundra ship but I’d love to see a take on a Tundra x Bounce pairing. It doesn’t have to involve sex, since I’m more than happy with them as friends or lovers but non-humanoid robots don’t get as much play with the fandom, especially not with sex, and I’d love for someone else to try it with Bounce. Bounce is a big moving weight ball with long stretchy arms and more than thick enough fingers. Plus, Bounce is basically a clown robot in charge of a gym with lots of access to exercise equipment and utilities. Plenty of opportunity to stretch all kinds of things. Considering Bounce’s personality, I’m looking for something funny than straight up hot, but I’m sure there’s plenty of opportunities for funny and/or heartwarming sex.

Block Man and Impact Man – I nominated them because I’d nominate all the MM11 robot masters if I could. I love them all but Block and Impact are slightly less popular since they’re more of the less humanoid of the robots and they’re my favorites after Tundra and Bounce. I adore that Block’s a huge history nerd with an ambitious heart to build like ancients and that Impact’s basically four people (he’s three robots who consider himself brothers and could change control or split depending on the situation, that’s so cool and how does that work? How does he feel?) I especially love that they’re canonically drinking buddies and I headcanon them as ride and die brothers-in-arms. You don’t have to include them fic but it’d be nice if they could be supporting characters, can make a background appearance, mentioned somewhere, or help influence the plot in some way. Some ideas: they have to help fix or build something for Tundra and/or Bounce. Maybe something goes wrong with Boing-Boing Park. Maybe there’s a secret plan to help build a training ice rink for Tundra. Maybe the two invite Bounce and Tundra on their drinking trips and they talk about love, life and ancient history (both personal and real world). Maybe it’s just as cute as the four robots just hanging out in the Arctic and building snowmen, snow pyramids and enjoying each other’s company.

Other Mega Man 11 Robot Masters are more than welcome to show up. As is pretty much any associated characters like Rock and Roll and Dr. Light and Dr. Wily. If you can throw in the Cossacks somewhere and explore their dynamics somewhere, I would immediately meet my expiration date out of happiness.

Fandom DNW:

Bounce having a childish and naive means he’s treated as a literal child. If Tundra, Impact and Block are considered adults in robot years then should Bounce. Please treat Bounce as an adult that happens to act childish and not a literal kid.

Tundra being dismissive or not caring about the Arctic.

Advance Wars

Jess, Jake, Colin, Worldbuilding

Jess x Jake as a ship, Colin as a major/supporting/background/mentioned character, Worldbuilding that features all three or any of Advance Wars characters.

There’s Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp out there but I’d like to stick with the canon of the original three games (Olaf’s defected from Orange Star, Eagle being surprised at being beaten by a girl, Cosmo/Macro/Omega Land existing as separate continents, their appearances (not a fan of Jess’s redesign specifically) etc). It might be a mess, canon-wise, but it was the mess I fell in love with. 

I’m starving for Jess x Jake. Just give me something anything, I’ll be so grateful aaaah. From the fluffiest fluff to heaviest military fic! I’m also very normal about Jess x Jake. I love them both individually and together; Jess GreenEarth is my everything and I think Jake’s so fun, but for this, I’d  like them to be treated as a set and shipped, shipped, shipped together like an overnight package. For something that has some canonical basis (they have a Tag Power in Advance Wars: Dual Strike), there’s absolutely nothing for them. I’m a multishipper and also like them with other people but, in my heart of hearts, they’re the OTP. I think for most people, they don’t ping off with shippy vibes, especially compared with their possible tags or interactions in the games – Javier is outwardly romantic towards Jess, it’s very hard to not see Sasha’s interactions as romance and Jake is clearly devoted to Rachel. I’ve heard that a relationship is more like mentorship than romantic and I agree–and that’s why I think they’re so good together. The relationship that’s sweet, solid, dependable, sweet, and maybe more than a little silliness.

Colin - Colin’s actually my favorite male character. He’s just this proper little gentleman who shows hints of inexperience.  He’s very booksmart with military tactics but still so very impressionable, especially to those he admires, and I don’t think that would change when he grows up. He’s just so mature in some ways and totally inexperienced in others. I’d like him to make an appearance somehow and help the couple along–maybe he’d like some lessons from Jess, maybe he’s curious why his sister Sasha is so taken with Jake; maybe his Power of Money could help kickstart whatever scenarios happen with Jake and Jess. 

Or you could flip my last request–Colin as the possible focus or POV of the story while JakexJess happens in the background. Maybe Colin doesn’t quite recognize what’s happening, or maybe he does and he somehow helps them get together in his own quiet Colin way. Jess mentoring Colin as well–they’re both from so different social backgrounds but they also both have this studious, honor student approach to the military.  How much are they different, how much are they alike? A Jess and Colin friendship would be precious to me.

I’d love it if all three of them are featured equally somehow (anthology??? Baton pass story telling?) but I don’t mind if the focus is not equal, because I do love all of them so much.

I’ve been into flower languages lately and Jess’s favorite thing is apparently dandelions. What could Jake’s and Colin’s favorite flowers be? What does this say about their characters? Is it meaningful to their life or does it remind them of a certain period of time in their life? A person maybe. Maybe their home countries.

Jake and Jess geeking about tanks and machinery would be so good.

So in the game, they don’t really do well in snow. Maybe they get stuck in a blizzard and get snowed in some place and very sexy, sexy shenanigans happen. I’m all in for Jake x Jess smut. My only preference would be Jess femdom. Maybe Jess could be a mentor for Jake in more ways than one.

Jake and Jess are ride-and-die for each other. By this I mean, literally. Maybe not sexually, but that could be funny, too. In a similar idea, they use their Tag Power together but it somehow translates to them actually playing “heavy metal”. Full on ridiculous, unleashing their full potential means re-enacting the scenes from Mad Max Fury Road, Flame Guitar style.

They keep spending all their time working, fighting and unconsciously finding all the reasons to spend time with each other, completely unaware they’re already in love with each other.

For something a little more serious and realistic, they’re in an established relationship but having some trouble navigating a long distance relationship between Green Earth and Orange Star. They’re also from totally different countries and upbringing (roughly speaking Germany and the USA). They might get a little strained but they’re still determined to work it out and have their happy ending together.

Colin, for some reason, buys out an amusement park and for some reason, Jess and Jake decided they HAVE to test out all the rides–no one asked them to, but they just felt it was their duty, you know. What no, it wasn’t an excuse to act out a date. There’a war going on and they’re two very serious, very adult, military personnel; not two teenagers in love. Now watch them break the speed limit on these bumper cars.

Actually, Colin buys/does something and Jess/Jake deals with it in their own way.

They all end up in Blue Moon’s equivalent of the Arctic Russia somehow, say on a mission, and they experience what the Arctic have to offer (northern lights, harsh winters, polar bears???)

Jake is taken aback by Jess even bringing up hot springs. Maybe he was just way too distracted by the image of her + hot springs. How distracted could he get when those hot springs joke become real.

Missing scenes between or during one of the game's missions. A take on their final convo before the last battle.

I also adore the Allied Nations a lot and I’d really love it if they could show up. Not necessary but it’d be so good to have fic with screen time for Sasha, Grimm, Sensei, Javier and my beautiful sweet girl, Rachel, especially the old timers. They’re not very popular but I love them so much. I also love the Bolt Guard so if you need some villains for your story for any reason, I’d love to see them.

Advance Wars (Worldbuilding)

If you could feature female infantry soldiers or officers as being a normal part of the military that’d make me so happy. I don’t mind appropriate enough sexism since that was a part of the original games (or even some racism as a result of historical fighting between countries) but Wars World is mostly chill so I’d like to keep the representation positive and progressive level. This is a world where female COs are the norm so it’d be nice if the rest of its military mostly reflect this. If you want to tackle a more realistic then, especially in service of a more serious fic take, then okay, but it's more fluffy and lighthearted then let the world reflect this, too.

Maybe you want to take on a particular worldbuilding, well, fine, I wanna read your meta, but there seems to be this desire to make Advance Wars gritty and realistic and “make it make sense!” when I really do prefer the cartoon wars world. Yes, this is a world where children, teens and grandpas fight in the army with superpowers, but don’t try to justify with realism, just go with it! I don’t mind poking fun with the silliness of the world but at the end of the day, I just want any roasting and exploring to be done with genuine love, and not embarrassment.

Fandom DNW: I love memes and stupid jokes but please, no “What’s an airport again” gag or any references to it. Nothing else in Advance Wars fanfic will immediately and negatively take me out than that.

Please don’t overly feminize Jess especially in some attempt to correct her gender expression or shove into traditional strict gender roles. She’s fairly in butch and gender non-comforming in appearance and in character. But please don’t go the other way and make her into an unemotional, unsmiling, uncaring men or people hater. I’m really not fond of the Re-Boot Camp redesign. It’s implied she worked her way up against sexism, I’m okay with some of that being present or getting believably sick of it. She’s been described in her Japanese profile as an otokomasari, but while she doesn’t get along with Eagle and she says she doesn’t quite “get” people like with battles, she shown also very kind and friendly towards Jake, Javier and Drake, and she’s mentioned to be popular with her troops which definitely has men it, too. Please think of her with a strong, knowing, gentle smile.

Another Eden

Riica, Zilva, Toova, Another Eden Worldbuilding

Gen fic focusing Zilva and Riica, not necessarily together; optional Toova appearing as a major/supporting/background/mentioned character, Worldbuilding is optional

She’s a work android who’s a little WHACKy*, he’s a gentleman soldier who loves writing letters to his wife–together they fight crime! Well, not exactly. There are dozens of dozens of characters in Another Eden, and so many times, places, stories that I honestly don’t know where to begin. However, these two are my favorite characters and while they didn’t have direct interactions, I’d love fic or art about them. Maybe they go on a time travel adventure together, solving problems like delivering lost letters, or finding lost cats. Maybe one of them gets in trouble and the other helps them out like Riica breaks down and only Zilva is around to help or Zilva seems really sad one day and Riica misunderstands the situation but ends up cheering him out anyway.  They don’t even have to be together or at all; I’d be happy with a split up story or scenes that may or may not be connected at the end.

*her weapon type is hammer

 I really like them because they’re both odd ducks in their way even in their own team/game–even as a pretty adorable gothic lolita character, Riica’s the only visibly “robot” like playable character–almost all non-human like girls look more like conventional humans. Zilva is the only visibly old man playable in the game. They’re both cool but I like how they stand out from the other playable characters.

Zilva is one of the few characters with the art personality. Along with the letter writing, I think it'd be wonderful to see him make art and use that to help people in some way. Art probably meant visual art but what if he’s particularly well-versed in the art of writing? Calligraphy and the like. If you want to speculate what exactly happened to his wife and how this still exactly drives him, please do.

I just think Riica is adorable and very funny. Her off-kilter personality and robotic manner could make for some fun situations and interactions.

We’ve got a character from the present times, a character from the far future, and bringing up a character from antiquity, here's Toova.

By the time Aldo and the gang meet her, she’s already about three thousand years old; she’s implied she might be able to survive way into Riica’s time, over twenty thousand years, easy. Even though Zilva looks older and Riica’s a machine, she’s probably the most mature and “together” of the three. It might be hard to juggle between three viewpoints, I’m okay with her being a supporting character or even just a cameo. She could be one asking help or the one they turn for advice. She might never show up at all but her presence can be felt in the background or through letters. I want to imagine all of Aldo’s traveling companions end up as friends. Maybe Toova and Zilva could end up talking about Toova’s Orphia and Zilva’s wife.

Worldbuilding: Again, the settings of Another Eden encompassed so many eras, places and even timelines, it’d be hard to pick to focus on. If you’ve got any ideas for something to focus on, I’d love to read it. I’ll be honest, I’ve probably forgotten a huge chunk of background lore since there’s so much of it and I play every so often but if you want to write something particular, go for it.

 I think since AE is so big on time travel, I’d like to see it treated as a theme in general. Like, a story that’s about the past, present and future. Maybe it’s literal as them hopping from era to era in an attempt to right something that was wrong. Maybe it’s as low stakes as finding a lost cat or delivering a forgotten letter. They must be aware of Aldo’s time traveling adventures so it’d be possible if the story could incorporate stuff like time loops or playing with time travel tropes in general. It could be present in the story itself like presenting a non-linear narrative or a story going backwards, or sidewards.

If possible I want the focus split between Riica and Zilva, and a huge side helping of Toova, but I don’t mind the rest of the cast or even original characters making an appearance and helping out with the story.

Fandom-specific DNW: 

I know it’s something that happens in canon but please no jokes about how Toova is self-conscious about how old she is. The whole “haha obviously beautiful women are still so superficial about their ages and looks” joke is so tiresome to me. I don’t imagine Zilva could ever be that rude but I don’t like Riica or any other character commenting and Toova overreacting. Discussions or comments about aging, growing, or mortality are fine. Even other jokes or gags about it are fine, just no “it’s rude to ask a woman her real age” gags. 

No smut or ship requests for this fandom. Background couples/shipping are okay if you wanna bring in other characters and their relationships. Non-canon ships are okay to appear if you have them.

Thanks for getting this far. I’m looking forward to reading the story that only you can tell.

“It's not the job of the artist to give the audience what the audience wants. If the audience knew what they needed, then they wouldn't be the audience. They would be the artists. It is the job of artists to give the audience what they need.”- Alan Moore

[anonnie-in-wonderland]

Call Me Crazy…

Rating: T

Word Count: 4.8k

Warning(s): None

Summary: When Y/N gets her hands on the newest Samsung phone, she thinks at most she’ll get a little clout with her friends and fewer dropped calls. A direct portal to BTS? Not so much.

Genre(s): Strangers to Friends to Lovers| Crack Treated Seriously| Fluff| Comedy| Romance| Magical Realism

Tags: bts x reader | ot7 x reader | poly| FM!POC!reader

Ch.1: In Which a New Phone is Long Overdue

A/N: This idea was inspired by this commercial, which I immediately thought would be a good fic idea the moment I first saw it! Just never assumed I’d be the one writing it, so I guess I played myself…anyway, this fic starts in 2019 and is not “canon compliant” (I think I’m using that right). I personally see this Y/N as a POC due to the girl in the commercial this AU is based off. I think she was really cute haha that being said, you don’t have to imagine the commercial actress ofc. Uh, and Y/N is not really an Army at first, sorry. Just thought it’d be more interesting that way. *PLEASE do not ask about the taglist in this story’s comments*

“I can make it better, I can hold you tighter…”

Y/N breezed right by the girls passionately singing along to the latest BTS hit in the hallway. Classes had just ended and caffeine was calling her name. That test prep was a doozy and really, she should definitely—fish the buzzing phone out of her jacket pocket, apparently. If she could even locate it. Why did she adore multiple pockets so much in her outerwear anyway?

Her fingers seized the small device just before it went to voicemail, and she barely glimpsed at the ID before accepting the call. “Hey, heeey,” Binna sang, her good mood evident, “That physiology test? Nailed it!” Y/N smiled, knowing how much her roommate had been stressing that exam, despite studying nonstop for weeks in advance.

Stopping, Y/N tucked herself into a corner of the corridor, out of the way of her fellow students. The tall arched windows provided an unobstructed view of the campus’ sprawling lawn, and the students congregating on it. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from my bestie’s big brain.”

“Try saying that three times fast,” Binna laughed. “How’d your business presentation thingy go?”

Y/N cleared her throat, trying to sound serious, but secretly endeared by Binna. “It’s a supply chain management project. I won’t know how I did until the end of the term, but it’s coming together really well so far.”

“Ohh then are some celebratory drinks at the cafe in order?!”

Y/N dramatically clutched her chest, probably looking like she belonged in the theatre program to the people passing by. “I thought you’d never as—”

“…N?” Binna’s voice began to crackle, fading in and out. “Hel..lo? Y…?”

Gasping indignantly, Y/N took the phone away from her ear to glare at it. “Oh, no you don’t.” Reflexively, she smacked the bottom a few times, momentarily forgetting that would do absolutely nothing for failing reception.

“I’m losing signal!” She hurried to explain, “Text you soon!”

The sound her friend made came across as agreement, more or less, so Y/N hung up with a sigh. Her fingers skimmed the tiny, worn keyboard, prepared to attempt a short confirmation to meet at the cafe.

“Still not ready to give up on that dinosaur?”

Y/N jumped, halfheartedly glaring at the owner of the voice, who didn’t look the least bit apologetic for startling her. Rather, Chung Chin-Mae arched a brow, face blank as he waited for her to respond. “When are you going to cut that out?” She hissed, smoothing a hand down her already wrinkle-free blazer.

“When are you going to give up on that phone?” He returned, taking a delicate sip of his vitamin water. Y/N’s glare became a little harder, lip jutting out in defiance. He knew she hated when someone answered a question with another question. But she let him have it…this time.

“Why would I?” Y/N briefly clutched her phone to her chest defensively, ignoring the way Chin-Mae just shook his head. Returning to trying to get her text through, she added, “There’s nothing wrong with it…”

Her friend looked ready to swing his messenger bag at her—and given that it was always full and on the heavy side, that was bound to leave a bruise. “How many other people do you know still using a flip phone that outdated? It’s not even a touchscreen!”

“But it does the same thing!” Y/N grumbled, mentally crossing her fingers that the text didn’t freeze and delete itself. ‘Please, not while Chin-Mae’s here.’

They stood in awkward silence for over a minute, and she lowered her head, knowing the expression he’d be wearing. “It just does it a little slower…” For all his love of being right, Chung Chin-Mae (affectionately Chinnie to his friends) could have made an excellent lawyer, but his heart belonged to the arts. His interesting taste in strangely patterned button-ups and the streak of deep red dyed in his short, black hair were the only real outward indicators.

“How many years?” he asked.

“Huh?” Y/N distractedly watched her text finally finish sending, a little grin of victory on her lips.

“How many years since you got a new phone?” He clarified.

“Oh, um…eight.”

“Eight? Y/N…girl…” Chin-Mae looked like he was struggling to find the words, absolutely aghast, and she rolled her eyes. Yes, there was that flair for the dramatic she’d expect from a performing arts major.

Checking her math, she nodded, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Leaning into her personal space so that she could smell the freshness of his gum, he whispered, “Repeat after me: I will get an upgrade!”

“Only if it becomes absolutely necessary.” she countered.

“It’s past necessary; you might as well be dragging an entire phone booth around with you.”

“Haha…” Y/N chortled drily. “Anyway, aren’t you a long way from the art studio. Did you come to meet me?”

Huffing, Chin-Mae squared his shoulders, looking thoroughly exasperated. Though his next words confirmed it wasn’t at her. “I came to drop off Yè’s report to him. He’d be flunking that class if it wasn’t for me,”

That made sense, considering how forgetful her upperclassmen could be. Brilliant, but oh so forgetful. “You realize you’re dating now. It’s okay to call him Min Su.”

“Old habits,” Chin-Mae dismissively flapped a hand at her, not sounding too concerned.

‘Poor Min Su.’ she thought. He had been smitten with Chin-Mae practically since their first meeting, when the clumsy transferee had bumped into her friend and caused him to drop a still wet painting while trying to search for the right building.

Needless to say, Chin-Mae had declared war on the guy. He had never been the most forgiving to begin with, and man could he hold a grudge. Y/N winced as she recalled the way he hadn’t spoken to his roommate for just over a month after he ate Chin’s pudding snack.

So the odds certainly were not in Min Su’s favor. Chin-Mae remained icy towards him even after he tried to make it right by lending a hand so he could redo the ruined painting in time to submit to his art showcase by the deadline. She and Binna had watched (and silently rooted for Min Su) from the sidelines for the better part of their freshman and sophomore years. Eventually his kindness and persistence won Chin-Mae over…not that he ever really wanted to say he had caught feelings somewhere along the line. And now, they were finally dating. But Chinnie was only really slightly less reserved with his affections. At least in public.

“Anyway. My boyfriend is hopeless. What else is new?” He asked rhetorically, breaking her from her reminiscence. “Do you need a ride to the cafe or what?”

Y/N thought over the benefits of catching a free ride while her friend was in a gracious mood, or waiting on the shuttle. “I guess I could—”

“If you have to think about it, you don’t know. So let me decide for you…” He pulled out his keys and pushed at her shoulder, ushering her out of the corner and through the lecture hall. “You’re coming with me.”

Well, Y/N shrugged, if Chin-Mae had spoken…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Umm…” Y/N watched Binna bouncing in place, tongue poking out in concentration as she attempted to make up her mind. Luckily, the cafe worker looked more amused than irritated, but then her friend had that effect on people. Something about her quick smiles and the bright eyeshadow she typically wore made her youthful, energetic and approachable, along with the fun hairstyles she loved to wear when she wasn’t in a professional setting.

 She was pure warmth, and destined to become an amazing pediatrician, if Y/N had anything to say about it. “Should I get an iced americano?” She asked no one in particular, “Oh wait, but it’s been forever since I had any boba. That’d hit the spot right now too…”

Normally, the campus cafe was packed, people chugging coffee in anticipation of a long class, or stopping to have a quick bite because they couldn’t be bothered to leave campus or cook for themselves (though it was far from the only choice). It was a welcome surprise not to be standing knee-deep in a line nearly out the door, everyone inside already sitting and enjoying their orders.

That meant at least they wouldn’t get nasty stares for holding up the line. As Binna continued deliberating, Y/N began envisioning the moment she’d take the first blissful sip of her own caffeinated delight. 

Unlike her friends, who often switched up their orders, Y/N preferred what was tried and true: cafè au lait with skim milk and a half a teaspoon of sugar. A small fingertip poked her shoulder. “…do you think?” Y/N blinked, cocking her head as she tried to figure out what she was being asked.

Something about what drink Binna should have, right? “Uh…since you like mixing it up, what about something you’ve never had before?”

Her round eyes instantly brightened, turning to the barista with a confident grin. “Ohh, what’s on your limited edition menu right now?”

The barista shared a proud look with her coworker, who had finished rinsing out mugs and happened to overhear the question. “We’re doing our artist-inspired drinks. This month it’s BTS, since they just released a new album.”

The minute the words were out of the young woman’s mouth, Y/N began silently counting down, only reaching three before Binna let out a loud squeal. She always got that way when she got the opportunity to chat about her k-pop obsession. “Oh my gosh, that’s so cool!” Eagerly lifting the little mascot attached to her backpack by a keychain, Binna gushed, “You know, I’m actually Army.”

That she was. She had the poster on her side of their room to prove it, and lots of merchandise on her desk and bookshelf. It was practically the only reason Y/N knew anything about BTS (or any other popular groups) to begin with, and her knowledge was less than that of a casual fan.

She could view a photograph or billboard advertisement and recognize she was gazing at the group of superstars who had captivated Binna and half the world. But if asked to pick them out individually and correctly name them…well, hopefully it wouldn’t be a life or death situation, because Y/N didn’t like her odds.

The next few minutes were spent with Binna and the cafe employees talking about the new album, their favorite tracks, leaving Y/N totally lost. While she was glad to see her friend having so much fun, she could really use that caffeine pick-me-up right about now. Maybe tuning into that telepathic link they always joked about having, Binna gasped, her lipgloss even shinier under the cafe’s atmosphere lighting. “Wait, oh no, you haven’t even gotten to order yet, have you? I’m so sorry. I’m terrible, your drink’s on me!”

Y/N smiled gently as her friend began to ramble about how awful she had been to make her wait for the last fifteen minutes, rubbing her shoulder in reassurance. But she wasn’t exactly about to turn down a free drink. Chinnie, who had opted not to tag along seeing as how he had a class coming up soon, was going to be sorry he missed out on being treated.

“I’ll take a…”

Binna interrupted her with a giggle, her cute little nose twitching. “Should I just order for you? I mean, I know what you’re having because it’s always the same thing. Every time. She wants a cafè au lait, skim milk and a half a teaspoon of sugar please.”

Y/N knew her friend’s cheerful declaration wasn’t in any way mean-spirited. It just wasn’t in her nature to be. She honestly couldn’t explain why that rankled her. Was it that deep down, she feared she was overly predictable?

“That’s not true…” she muttered, aiming to prove it. “I can change it up too. I’ll also take something off the limited edition menu…” She had missed what Binna ordered, so she ended with a shrug. “You can surprise me.”

The barista, whose tag read, “Minjun”, nodded eagerly. “You got it. Coming right up!”

Assuming they would wait off to the side, Y/N shuffled down the counter, only to catch Binna staring at her, wide-eyed. Today her eyes were rimmed in a nude eyeshadow, applied with an expert hand as always. “Okay, just say it.”

“You…” Binna glanced around as she moved her hands, “You picked something besides your usual!”

“It’s not that big of a deal…”

“Yes it is. For you, it is. You’re all about schedules and routines and…and sameness.”

Y/N felt her cheeks puffing, and hurried to calm herself. “Look, everyone gets tired of things being the same sometimes. I’m not that dull.” If her voice came out just a little snappish, Binna didn’t remark on it. The speedy service was a small blessing, their drinks being slid down to them as Minjun called out their orders.

Y/N squinted as she read the side of her cup, more specifically the label. Jimin’s Jumping Jubilation.

Binna silently motioned to a table, her eyes nonverbally apologizing in case her comment had upset her, and Y/N took the lead, playfully brushing her on the way over so she knew all was well. “So,” she said after taking a careful sip. “Jimin tastes a whole lot like coconut milk and dehydrated pineapple bits.”

Binna made a funny face, having finished taking a long sip of her Suga n’ Spice. The delayed snort was well worth getting slightly sprayed. Nothing about her friend looking anxious or down suited her. “Y/N!” Binna squealed, slapping at her from across the table. “You can’t just say that in public. People’ll think you read those dirty BTS fanfics.”

“They…have those?” She was well and truly clueless, and maybe it was for the best if it stayed that way. “You know what? Never mind.” Neither of them really seemed to mind the change of conversation, settling into their seats comfortably and watching the world go by outside. “Are you still going to the rugby game this weekend? Min Su and Chin invited me, but I’d feel like a third wheel on their date if you didn’t come.”

Binna’s cute manicured nails rapidly tapped both sides of her cup. “Oooh you know I’ll be there to keep you from third-wheeling.” she winked. “Plus, it’s KU’s biggest rival, right? That means Yonsei University boys.” Y/N cracked a grin as she watched Binna fan herself, pretending to swoon. “I thought you swore off boys at least until after finals.”

“I did!” She nodded expressively. “But there’s no harm in looking.”

“I guess there’s tha—”

“Eek, a bee! How’d it get in here?!” Her friend’s screech turned several heads, Binna trying to hop up from her side of the table and flailing just a bit to keep the buzzing insect at bay simultaneously. Y/N watched her arm strike the side of her mostly filled cup, the liquid splashing in slow motion…right over the ancient flip phone lying innocently on the table.

Realizing what she’d done, Binna stared down in horror. “Oops! Y/N I am soooo sorry! I swear I’m too klutzy to live, and you know I’ll make this right and get you a new one. You can have any color, just—”

“Bin,” Y/N held up a palm. “Breathe.”

Perhaps recognizing she had withheld a breath or two in the middle of her rambling, her friend took a deep inhale.

“I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” Though Y/N had a sinking feeling it would do very little good, she still attempted to dry off the phone with some napkins, able to see her reflection in the dark screen. “It was just…its time to go, I guess.”

Slowly lowering herself back into her chair, Binna stared down at the deceased cellular device, an errant giggle escaping. “Well now that you have to get a new phone, at least Chinnie won’t have a reason to keep bugging you about it?” she offered, looking entirely too cute to be mad at.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N cringed at her wet pant leg as she climbed from the passenger side of Chin-Mae’s car. If she’d known the day would end in rain, she would have worn rain boots, as much as they clashed with her business casual attire. It was a small miracle that she at least had an umbrella in her bag. Her friends huddled under and shared Binna’s, which featured a vaguely familiar pink bunny with a rather aggressively cocked eyebrow.

The bell above the door chimed as the trio shuffled into the phone store, which was nice and toasty to combat any would be draft from the rain. No one else was inside, only the quiet hum of the heat going filling the space. “Where do you think we should start looking?”

 There were so many shiny models on display in different spots on the shop floor it was hard to know where to focus. No sooner had Binna asked than a Samsung employee popped up from the back room, a few boxes carefully balanced in his arms. 

Glancing their way, the young man, who couldn’t be much older than them, gave a polite customer service smile. Y/N waited patiently as she set down the boxes on the counter near checkout then beelined straight to them, his name tag gleaming under the store lights.

“Uh-oh, someone needs a new phone, huh?” He sighed sympathetically.

“How’d you know?” Chin-Mae asked, hands tucked into his pockets. He was wearing Min Su’s favorite hoodie, which enveloped him quite well given the difference in their builds. Y/N found herself irrationally jealous, wishing briefly she had a boyfriend to steal warm, snuggly clothes from.

“I just thought it’s the most likely reason you’d come out in such nasty weather.” he explained. “This is the kind rainy evening that makes you want to get cozy somewhere.��

He wasn’t wrong, Y/N thought. What an intuitive salesman.

“It’s me,” she said, stepping forward and raising her hand. “I’m the one that needs the new phone.”

He hummed with a tilt of his head. “Ah, anything in mind?”

“Anything would be an improvement from that ugly old dinosaur she thought it was okay to keep for eight years.” Chin-Mae groaned. “It finally bit the dust today.”

“Actually, it was murdered.” Y/N corrected.

“I’m sorry!” Binna wailed, hiding her face guiltily.

“I certainly have to agree it was time for an upgrade.” The clerk whistled. “Eight years is quite a long time.” He began to walk, motioning for the group to follow as he looked over his shoulder. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything similar to what would’ve been on the market back then, even in our used phone selection, but I’ll do my best to find a suitable replacement for your baby.”

“Something simple that gets the job done.” Y/N piped up. “That’s all I need.”

“Please, tell her she doesn’t have to live like this!” Binna whined, clasping her hands together. “She can have style, high-tech features and efficiency.”

Exasperated, Y/N turned to glare at her friend. “Bin, I—”

“She’s right,” the salesman said, “I can get you all that. If you’re interested, of course.”

“She is.” Chin-Mae cut her off before she could so much as open her mouth. His grip on her shoulders was tight, almost like a warning…

Knowing that her friends weren’t about to relent, Y/N decided to cooperate and get it over with. She’d rip it off, like a bandage.

“I am.” She agreed, less than enthusiastically.

All three of them perked up, and Y/N had a feeling she was in for a long evening.

The clerk showed them various types of phones, rattling off their features with ease and even explaining how to navigate the touch screens. Y/N personally didn’t think she was that hopeless, but kept her mouth shut and let him finish each demonstration. Binna and Chin-Mae chimed in more than once, mentioning how impressed they were with this model or that and ushering her toward their personal picks.

Y/N wasn’t quite sure any of the ones they saw were right for her. ‘What happened to simple?’ she wondered. That concept had long since gone out the window it seemed.

“And this is the last one I have to show you.” The employee, who had told them to call him Suk-kyu, rounded yet another display. This one featured a line of phones in various colors, as sleek and fancy as all the rest. What caught Y/N’s attention was the flip design. Finally! An ode to the phones of yesteryear. “It’s the Galaxy Z!” Suk-kyu gushed, plucking one of the phones on the table from its resting place and carefully placing it in Y/N’s hands. “It’s got that old school design you like, but this baby is all new and cutting edge. Ask me what it does. It does it all!”

The man loved his job, that was for sure. It was either that or he got paid off commissions, because he was certainly making the hard sell. Suk-kyu let her see everything the phone could do. And true to his word, that was quite a lot. His eyes twinkled expectantly as Y/N deliberated over the seven colors it came in. “I think we have a winner!” he cheered, “Who’s your bias? That’s probably the best color to go with if you’re having trouble deciding.”

Y/N blinked, a pink phone in one hand and a purple phone in the other. “Who’s my…what?”

“Oh,” Binna chuckled, “There’s no need in bothering with that Suk-kyu. Y/N wouldn’t be interested in all that.”

“Interested in what?” Said girl asked quietly, beginning to feel like she was missing a vital piece of the conversation. The piece that made it make sense.

“Ah,” Suk-kyu rubbed his arm sheepishly. “I guess not everyone is. I just thought maybe you chose to get one of these phones because you’re a BTS fan. Most of the people who bought them have been. Actually we barely keep them in stock for long. This is the first time we’ve had all seven colors available since release day.”

“What’s with everyone and BTS today? What’s that got to do with the pho—”

Chin-Mae tapped her shoulder, pointing to direct her attention to one of the monitors mounted over their heads. Y/N gaped as she saw the famous boy band using the very same model of phone she was about to purchase in a commercial.

‘Of course,’ Y/N could have rolled her eyes. What product didn’t they endorse? ‘Okay, I guess it’s impressive from a business standpoint. I’ll give them that. It’s every company’s dream to find a brand ambassador with the golden touch that’ll keep the product flying off the shelves.’ As an aspiring businesswoman currently taking courses in product marketing and distribution, Y/N couldn’t deny they were something else.

“Uh…you know what? I think I’ll take this one after all.” She announced, ignoring Binna and Suk-kyu’s twin gasps of joy. “Just to try it out. If it’s good enough for BTS, I’m sure it’s good enough for a plain old business major like me.”

Seconds later, they watched the grown man skip to the back to retrieve the color she selected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rubbing a knuckle over her eye, Y/N yawned, staring blearily at the time displayed on her new phone. Huh, almost midnight. Didn’t feel like it was that late…but then it might explain the heaviness of her eyes.

Binna was already tucked into bed and snoring quietly on the other side of the room, leaving Y/N up by herself, toying with the cellphone she hadn’t expected to become so invested in.

Hoisting herself off her mattress, the tired university student stretched, hearing the satisfying pop in her back as she crept toward the bathroom, phone loosely clutched in hand. She’d brush her teeth and then go to bed. 

Tomorrow was a rare day off for her, so she had plenty of time to play with explore the phone’s features at her leisure. And, of course, get a leg up on her next assignment.

 Y/N had always treated school like she intended to treat the business world, and no one survived in business unless they could always stay five steps ahead of everyone else.

Y/N shuffled completely into the girls’ shared bathroom, shutting the door almost all the way before she flipped on the light, hoping the tiny sliver didn’t disturb Binna.

Thinking it over, she scoffed at the notion. Yeah right, that girl slept like the dead. Someone could scream about a fire in the building and she’d just roll over.

Taking her electric toothbrush from the charger, Y/N rummaged under the sink, locating the small bag that contained her toiletries and squirting a little toothpaste on the brush’s head. She put the setting on a slow pace, always wanting to be sure she got every nook and crevice. 

Running the brush everywhere inside her mouth, slow and methodical, Y/N hummed to a song she didn’t really remember. That helped her keep track of how long she needed to brush, even if the toothbrush had an automatic counter. 

She had used a manual one for so many years, to do her own mental counting was simply force of habit. And she was nothing if not a creature of habit, according to most people who knew her. But, was that really such a bad thing? She never used to think so, but recently it felt like another way to call her bland.

Leaning down into the sink, Y/N spit, turning on the tap and gargling away the rest of the minty foam in her mouth. Satisfied, she spit again, splashing the cool water on her face and setting her toothbrush down. Patting her skin dry with a small towel, the young woman took a small sigh, raising her face to the mirror and expecting to see her tired reflection staring back.

Except for the fact that the person in the mirror did not have the right features to be her reflection. Hell, they didn’t even have the right gender! 

Y/N’s eyes popped wide open, sleepiness dissolving in an instant at the equally shocked face of the man who was gazing back at her. His distractingly full lips were rimmed in white toothpaste, as if he had just finished brushing his own teeth. Light brown, almost tangerine-tinted hair hung messily into his dark eyes, which had enlarged to what had to be triple their normal size.

 And his skin… it probably wasn’t the best time to be noticing, what with her clearly hallucinating and all, but he had to have the tightest pores. They were nonexistent, really. His skin was smooth and blemish free. There wasn’t much more of him she could see, save for the black t-shirt that hung from his impossibly wide shoulders, filling the rest of the space in the mirror. 

It looked like he sucked in a breath at the same time she did, and Y/N finally stumbled back, unsure why she was seeing what she was. Blinking, she smacked both palms over her eyes and then opened them again, finding everything as it should be. The handsome man was gone, and she was alone with her reflection. All was right with the world.

Shaking her head, Y/N scurried from the bathroom and flipped off the light, trying not to drop her phone in the dark. Sleep. She needed sleep, and lots of it.

[heretherebedork]

Secret Crush on You is so fun and silly and over the top and I’m having so much fun watching it. I must say I’m surprised at how many people I see say they don’t like watching Toh and Nuea because I think they’re hilarious. Maybe I just have a high cringe factor but tbh I don’t think they’re one of the most cringe inducing couples I’ve seen. It’d be different if the show in general wasn’t so over the top or if Nuea wasn’t every bit as insane as Toh but I genuinely think they’re fun and kinda sweet to watch. Like in real life obviously it would be an insane and unhealthy dynamic bc hello stalker, but we’re watching this within the moral confines of the show where Nuea is excited by the fact that Toh is obsessed with him. And again the show is so obviously intentionally exaggerated I can’t really get mad at the stalking aspect bc it’s obvious the show is self aware imo.

Plus I just think Toh and Nuea have an entertaining dynamic. They’re communicating surprisingly well and have insane chemistry. Seriously their kiss against the wall at camp was amazing, perhaps one of my favorites and matched their unhinged energy so well. As BL kisses have improved I’ve still noticed a lot of the ones that occur while the couple is standing still have very little body contact other than touching each other’s necks/faces and they’re standing like a foot apart, which I feel like sometimes looks a bit awkward. So I appreciated some actual like body contact. I’m not someone who thinks kissing scenes are like the most important thing in a show, but a good kiss scene can really elevate something while a bad one can really negatively affect my belief in a couple even if they have great chemistry otherwise (hello where your eyes linger). Anyway my point is the actors have done a great job at making me believe they genuinely want each other.

They’re also just genuinely funny to me, the scene where Toh was all shyly like “oh no I’m not ready to have sex yet….how about Friday?” genuinely made me laugh out loud which is very rare in Thai BLs for me. Like this show is just a crack fic come to life and it’s everything to me. Especially given that it’s giving all the people who normally don’t get treated as love interests really awesome loving partners.

So, I think a lot of the issues with Nuea and Toh still stem from the first episode before we knew that Nuea was just as unhinged as Toh is and there's a lot of carryover energy from people who didn't get past the first episode or people who are still caught up in the energy we got in that episode.

I do find a lot of the humor over the top and cringey but it's part of the show and I can accept that. It's gotten better for me with each episode and I haven't had to FF or double speed in several episodes and only looked away from a few moments.

Nuea and Toh's actors definitely have a lot of comfort with each other and that also goes for what I've seen of the other acting pairs in a few of the BTS bits I've looked at. It's great to see. I hope this means they did more workshopping here. Maybe they can introduce the rest of Thailand to more workshopping on that.

That was good. Honestly, the humor gets better, to me, each episode deeper we get as we get a more balanced view of the characters.

[phoenixtakaramono]

So I'm here to say that I really love your Bingyuan fic! The research you do for it and share with us is just amazing! I also have a q regarding LBG. From SV we know that he felt admiration for his Shizun so do you think that if SJ wasn't cruel to him LBG's admiration would've grown into love and attraction like it did in LBH's case for SY? Which then also raises a question: would LBH/LBG fall in love with any Shizun who was kind to him? Or was he just drawn to SJ's type of personality. WDYT?

Hi there, Anon! I’m glad you’re liking the Untold Tale! Thanks for reading! I think it lowkey helps when the story I’m writing (in general) is from a culture I’m familiar with and that I know some of its language nuances (just general Mainland dialect; I’m unfamiliar with Shanghainese, the Beijing dialect, etc etc). So fortunately for me, as someone who is Chinese but was born in the Western side of the world speaking Mandarin to family and friends, emulating the Chinese aesthetic and atmosphere in TUT comes a little bit easier to me than someone who did not grow up with this culture. I bet if I had been raised in China, I would be able to write something even more multilayered and deep but, alas, the youthful rebellious me of the past hadn’t taken my pinyin and Chinese character writing lessons seriously so I can only communicate verbally and understand audibly 😫. It’s very special for us writers in fandoms to be able to write a story of a culture that we actually know and can identify with. But high key it’s been immensely fun injecting some references of things I’ve come to notice from watching period C-dramas and the C-novels I’ve read, and I’ve come to learn interesting things about Chinese history and mythology even I didn’t know! So the story really writes itself.

Shen Jiu (OG!Shen Qingqiu)

To answer your question 🤔, to be honest this is why the SVSSS fandom is great—because there’s so many interpretations of the original source material. That’s why we have our headcanons and fanfictions to explore these many different possibilities. So for me personally, I can see it happening both ways: *1) LBG does develop a crush/falls in love with SJ, or 2) no matter how SJ treats him LBG regards him respectfully or coldly. I think Possibility 1 is more likely, since SY transmigrated into SQQ and we saw what happened with “Bunhe.”

Now, mind, for Possibility 1 to be more likely to happen, the SJ in PIDW will have to undergo a massive personality change/ a change of heart/ develop a good conscience and will need to clean up his image aka clear up the massive misunderstandings from PIDW canon (like him being mistaken as a pervert for Ning Yingying, visiting whorehouses, killing LQG, etc). It’ll be difficult though considering who Airplane has changed SJ into for his stallion harem novel (reading through SVSSS, my impression of PIDW besides it being the harem stallion novel is that it sounds similar to a “dog blood plot,” where audiences tune in to see how the villains are brought to justice). I literally have a line from TUT in a future chapter where SY says this about SJ since I will resurrect SJ and bring him into the story for closure:

People like Shen Qingqiu naturally had a set of deeply-rooted values. If one wanted to change them, it’d be easier to just have them reincarnate. (—TUT, ch???)

At his core, he’s a flawed man (which makes sense with the underlying cycle of abuse theory, considering his upbringing and backstory). He’s jealous and petty and prickly. His image is that of a proud and cold immortal. In Chinese terms, he’s the type of character archtype who I can see being àojiāo (definitely not canon characterization; this is just a stray thought that amuses me) in a romantic relationship.

LBH will have to recognize that^, or be in a position where he finds SJ’s caustic side endearing instead. He will also have to be extremely patient with him (although, since the joke in SVSSS is that LBH is an incurable M, it shouldn’t be that hard).

A fun thing about OG!SQQ is that he’s the cannon fodder scumbag villain of PIDW. He’s the reason LBG blackened from a white lotus. And, as you know, villains aka antagonists aka bad boys resonate strongly with people for a reason. That’s why we see a lot of Enemies to Lovers tropes, etc. It squicks me to use this phrase but “the allure of dating a ‘bad boy’ is strong.” SJ is that type of bad boy we could identify as a “fixer-upper project” (ugh, that phrase)—even with the red flags and warning signs—especially for those said to have a troubled past with rejecting neglectful parental figures/ family members/ friends and have have not outgrown their wish to convert that sort of person into a loving, accepting person. When we want something we can’t or shouldn’t have, our desire for it grows exponentially. In fanfiction this is a concept writers and readers can explore safely in a world of the imaginary.

From a Meta Perspective

Although, if we look at it meta-ly, the cold and proud and/or knowledgeable Shizun (teacher/ master) character who comes to know love and “is redeemed” by whomever is the love interest (typically a cute and quirky girl who may or may not have started off as naive to the innerworkings of the Cultivation World and therefore needs an established and mature mentor to guide them) is a very well-known archetype for a reason in Chinese fan culture.

Seeing a terrible person change their ways and try to become a better person because of the influence of the one they love is also a popular depiction for a reason.

It’s almost like gap moe. The crueler and aloof one starts out as (arrogance is a staple), the more impactful the shift is when we see such characters soften their edges.

The draw of the sacred master/disciple relationship is that it’s taboo, so I think it’s fair to say that such a relationship in fiction is a popular trope precisely because of this aspect. From a writer’s perspective, the main appeal is to show that there is someone out there who can cause this respectful figure to lose control (undergo emotional change) and go to great lengths to protect his/her precious person. That precious person also has to fall into the “not like other girls” trope (so they can show the ML a different world he would not have seen the beauty of before). On the other side, we look forward to the point of the story where the love interest has their “Oh” moment and realizes their admiration has somehow shifted into love and attraction over the course of events.

Other Romantic Possibilities

It’s very likely. I personally like the fanon headcanon where anyone with Heavenly Demon blood running through their veins feels a compulsion to “obsessively fixate on one person” (TLJ —> SXY, LBH —> SQQ). Personally I don’t recall if this was canon or fanon, but someone had written something about LBH imprinting on one person in his lifetime on the account of his demon nature. And I like that theory (I think it’s likely more fanon than anything but it’s an intriguing idea full of possibilities!).

For him to fixate romantically on one person, I personally don’t think the prerequisite is just by being kind to LBH (but it probably adds to the person’s appeal). There’s probably other factors that go into this to capture the male protagonist’s eye, such as him finding someone attractive (or passes his own personal standards) and/or having good chemistry with that person. So I could see him being into other Shizuns and whomever else. Personally I also think there is appeal in the unobtainable. It’s one thing to have someone’s affection (see LBG and his harem of 600 wives who definitely aren’t shy about giving him affection), but it’s another to know you’ve earned the affections of someone you really like and respect (especially if it’s someone thought to be unobtainable).

As long as the writer can provide a plausible justification for me to suspend disbelief and they set up events to justify it, I can swallow just about any ship possibility. It doesn’t necessarily have to be SJ’s type of personality. (For example, I read a very good fanfiction before where the writer paired Luo Binghe with Ming Fan. Ming Fan, people!!! And they actually pulled it off! What a madlad! Mind, it’s Shen Yuan who had transmigrated into MF in that premise, but the writer set up events that showed how these two characters came to bond and develop a deep friendship which inevitably had LBH developing a crush on his shixiong. I use this as an example because this is the type of unexpected (crack)ship, but because the writer did their work trying to make it seem plausible, we can only admire their hard work and effort at pulling it off.)

As the saying goes, there are plenty of fishes in the sea! As the protagonist, LBH/LBG can have many OTP possibilities with just about anyone as long as the writer can make it plausible. It’s all about the character development and the story/ central themes they wish to tell with the ship!

(Note, these really aren’t hot takes, lol. I’m just having fun answering to this casually from the perspective of a writer. Thank you for your Ask, anon!)

[metalbvcky]

2020 Fic Year in Review

I’m waiting for my Sims game to finish updating, so I thought I’d do this since I saw @kalee60‘s post about it :) 

Total number of completed stories: 

14 (15 if you include a short 1am-oneshot I orphaned haha) 

Total number of words: 

111,575 (and that’s not including stuff I scrapped/haven’t posted omg) 

Fandoms written in:

Marvel/Stucky but also Supernatural (on my main) just a tad because haven’t posted anything yet but I’m including it anyway haha 

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?

Oh, absolutely! Heck, I never thought I’d write anything when it comes to fic because I’ve always kept quiet about my writing. (And I’ve been doing it since I was like 12 and it all started with my Club Penguin phase pffft)  But my interest turned into an obsession rather quickly and I honestly can say, without a doubt, that @buckybees​ is the whole reason why I even got the courage to post my first fic! I’m so glad I did because writing fic has given me a new perspective on fandom in general. And it makes me appreciate fandom/fanon even more. 

What’s your own favourite story of the year?

Pretty much all of them but Bucky's Got a Bun in the Oven? holds a special place in my heart. Not only was it my first published fic, but I never thought I’d write something like that. I go back and re-read it frequently since it’s so short. 

No lie: Sometimes I look back at that fic and it makes me wanna write a series of short oneshots with Pregnant!Bucky. Like, just Domestic Steve/Bucky living in the modern day with a baby on the way. Bucky shopping for baby clothes, decorating the nursery, having snack parties with Natasha, taking care of the baby after the birth, those sort of things. Oh, I think I just talked myself into another idea. 😂 

Did you take any writing risks this year?

Ehh, not really? However, I did write a series of crack oneshots lol. Some are crazier than others. 

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year?

Apple Pie Crumble Cake - This is my #1 goal. It’s a Bakery!AU Kid Fic that I’ve been planning for months. It’s gonna be multi-chaptered, and at least 50k. I have 10 chapters outlined and there are still more I need to get to, but probably won’t until I start writing the darn thing lol. 

I wanna start posting some smut oneshots on my secondary pseud, I have some done but I don’t think those will ever see the light of day since they’re just for practice- most of them were thought of on the spot without any outlining. I’d like to keep anything (totally) nsfw separate from my default pseud, just to be organized lol. And yes, this asexual read/writes smut. 😏 (my personal rule is as long as it doesn’t involve me, I’m good!) 

I thought long and hard on this in the past week or so, and originally I thought I’d join the Shrunkyclunks ‘21 Bang but the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to do it. It’d be my first bang, and while I have an idea, it’s just a little intimating to me lol. Soo, I’ll pass this year. Instead, I’m gonna look out for a Bingo whenever a new one starts up, since I’ll prob be more comfortable with that :) 

(Does this short lil Beach!AU count even though it’ll be done in 2020 but will be posted next year?? lolol) 

On my main, I’m writing a Supernatural + Spongebob crossover fic. Sort of like the episode, Scoobynatural. And I have a feeling that it’s gonna be turned into a series because I’m latched onto this idea- that started as a joke. 

Most popular story of the year.

Are we talking hits or kudos?? Hits, Buchanan Medical. Kudos, The Case of Bucky’s Wisdom Teeth. Eitherway, I’m so happy those two made it as my most popular stories. Buchanan Med is close to me on a personal level, and Bucky’s wisdom teeth fic is something I’ve always wanted to read but never existed :3 

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

I think @kalee60​ explained it perfectly when it comes to fics ‘flopping’ (I see this a lot on r/fanfiction) People will see it, they might like it, or won’t like it. And that’s okay! Not everything is for everyone, neither are tropes/genres. I know myself, I’m not a fan of A/B/O and the same could go for someone else who likes my personal favorite genre, hurt/comfort. And sometimes it’s kinda like an age old Tumblr saying: A post that took time and effort can get little as 10 notes but a spur of the moment post can get thousands. (Okay so, I made that up on the spot pffft) 

Most fun story to write.

Buchanan Medical, but Mercury In Retrograde was super fun since I added the whole ‘space puns/pickup lines’ aspect to it. They basically share the same AU, but they’re totally different and that’s why I love them.  

Most unintentionally telling story:

The entire Buchanan Med series. I wanted to explore Steve having asthma in a modern universe (because I too suffer from it- my whole life) and I really, truly, bled a little bit of my personal experience with the disease into the series. Having Bucky there, taking care of/treating Steve? It felt really comforting to me. And hey, write those self comfort fics!!! 

Biggest disappointment.

I hoped to finish the last oneshot of Buchanan Med this year but sadly, my motivation for it just tanked. I write hurt/comfort best when I’m in the right mood for it, and I’m still waiting for it to come back to me, whenever that may be XD. 

Biggest surprise.

The amount of reception I’ve gotten overall, the people I’ve met, the friends I’ve made, and new fandom experiences I’ve gotten to experience myself! Seriously, never in a million years did I think I’ve ever call myself a fanfic writer. But here I am, and I couldn’t be happier <3

~~~

My Sims game finished updating on the fifth question but I kept on rambling because I love taking about my writing!!! It made me realize that wow, I really did do a lot this year when it comes to fanon- especially since it was my first time delving into the world that is fanfiction writing <3 I have many hobbies, video games being the longest one, but I think I’ve spent more time writing/reading than playing games this year. My teenager-self WOULD NEVER believe that! But as the legendary Reggie Fils-Aimesays once said, "If it’s not fun, why bother?” 

I’m gonna tag you guys if you wanna do this! @buckybees​ @justice-for-plums​ @hbalbat​ @its-tortle​ @captainjanegay​ @greyhavensking​ @snarky-drabbles​ @joharvele​ @musette22​ @mysterious-marvel​ 

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: The Rebellion of Adrien Agreste, ch. 14

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Luka Couffaine, Lila Rossi/karma, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/aneurism, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Plagg & Tikki

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Lila Rossi, Jagged Stone, Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine, Penny Rolling, Anarka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire, Chloé Bourgeois, Wayhem, Nadja Chamack, Nathalie Sancoeur, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Tikki, Fang, Principal Damocles, Caline Bustier, Ms. Mendeleiev, original minor character, Alec Cataldi, Lila Rossi’s Mother, Sabrina Raincomprix, Roger Raincomprix, Mylène Haprèle, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste’s Bodyguard, Nino Lahiffe, Nooroo

Tags: Lila Rossi salt, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Teenage Rebellion, Swearing, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Crack Treated Seriously, Lila Rossi’s Lies Are Exposed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Luka Couffaine Needs a Hug, Paparazzi, Parentification, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Gabriel Agreste Needs an Aneurism, Uncle Jagged Stone, we’re all queer here, the spirit of punk is sometimes just being allowed to be yourself, Kagami Finds Her Groove, punk rock fashion, Savage Kagami, Marinette protection squad, Good Parent Sabine Cheng, Good Parent Tom Dupain, Protective Kagami Tsurugi, Protective Luka Couffaine, Bisexual Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pansexual Luka Couffaine, Sharing a Bed, Pet Names, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Instagram, Bullying, Social Media, Anxiety, Makeover, Hugs, will cure your acne, Face Punching, Bad Ass Juleka Couffaine, Rumors, Protective Juleka Couffaine, Protective Adrien Agreste, Lawyers, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Holding Hands, accountability, mental health, Jagged Stone’s well-paid pet shark, How to Make the Evening News, Sexy eyeliner for days, one fish two fish Lila is a screwed fish, How to have fun and piss Gabriel off, Fuckery, sweet litigious karma, Alya sugar, lawyer shark doo doo doo doo doo doo, Schadenfreude, Bad Ass Alya Césaire, Gaslighting, abuse denormalization, Jagged likes his lawyers like he likes his pets: toothy af, Blood in the Water, Everything you didn’t know you wanted and some things you did, Gabriel Agreste is shark bait, Denial, Consequences, Principal Damocles salt, caline bustier salt, the impotence of Gabriel Agreste, snarky Nooroo, lies and the lying liars who tell them, Lila’s brain is a narcissistic hellscape, Lila’s mind is built like an Escher piece, Alec Cataldi salt, Adrien Sugar, wholesome salt, Fu Salt, Kwami Shenanigans, Nooroo is a little shit

Summary: Jagged's Shark! Doo doo doo doo doo doo!

Notes: Jagged’s shark! Doo doo doo doo doo doo! (@norakwami​ fault, there.) For real, though. Look up the lawyer’s first and last name for extra lulz. I research too much. And also I love puns. Also researched diplomatic immunity—Lila’s mom could refuse to waive it only for her bosses to override her and waive it anyway. And for serious crimes that’s sometimes the case. I wanted some Alya sugar here; yeah, she and multiple other people believed Lila and dismissed Marinette's concerns. The adults are the ones who deserve salt, though. Not a 14-year-old.

AO3 link

Chapters 1-2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

--------------

They were still waiting for M. Damocles to finish contacting Mme. Rossi, Marinette having fallen asleep against Sabine and Adrien tempted to follow suit, when a commotion caught their attention. Marinette blinked awake at the shouting.

Curious, Adrien got up to peer around the corner. What he saw left him gaping.

Mme. Bustier’s class had spilled out of the classroom, and were watching as Lila and her mother yelled at each other in rapid-fire Italian, both red-faced. It was almost shocking how they met the stereotype of the hot-blooded Italian in their fervor.

Adrien watched, captivated, only vaguely aware when he was joined by the others, and when the lawyer knocked on the principal’s door and let him know about the “spectacle,” as she called it.

Marinette cried out, her face pale, pointing at a butterfly hovering near the scene. Alya took out her phone to record it, her face a mix of horror and excitement, as though she wasn’t sure she wanted an Akuma just now. Mylène started crying. Juleka moved protectively in front of Rose. Other classroom doors were opening as teachers and students alike came to investigate the commotion.

The Akuma hovered, seemingly uncertain as to which of the Rossis it wanted to go after. Unfortunately, Lila saw it, her expression brightening as she dashed toward it.

“I’ll show you all!”

Adrien gasped as the girl touched her pendant to the Akuma and a familiar butterfly-shaped mask appeared over her face. She would come after him and Marinette, and probably Luka and Kagami. And Jagged and Penny and the lawyer and Tom and Sabine… They were all defenseless. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get away quick enough to protect them.

As he stood there, frozen, Alya dropped her phone, rushed forward, and clocked Lila in the face. Once she was on the ground, she ripped the necklace from her neck. Mme. Mendeleiev rushed forward with a large beaker from her chemistry lab as Alya broke the pendant, capturing it and covering the opening with a book.

Marinette rushing past him unfroze Adrien, and he ran after her as she hugged a pale, panting Alya.

“Alya, that was amazing,” she breathed. “You saved everyone.”

“Mari— Oh, god, Mari. She wanted to be Akumatized. She was going to go after you and hurt you, and I just couldn’t—” Alya was sobbing in her arms, babbling. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. I’ve been a terrible friend! You tried to tell me, and p-protect me and instead I believed someone I barely knew instead of you. I c-couldn’t let her hurt you!”

As Marinette reassured her, Mme. Mendeleiev told a pallid and shaking M. Damocles that she would put the Akuma somewhere Lila couldn’t reach it for Ladybug and Chat Noir to deal with later.

Lila was keening softly on the ground, her nose obviously broken with this punch, and Adrien couldn’t help but feel a bit of schadenfreude at the sight. Her mother seemed frozen in shock, not even moving forward to comfort her daughter.

“Alya got the Akuma on video,” he murmured, thinking aloud. “So there’s video of Lila going after it to be voluntarily Akumatized.”

Nino picked up Alya’s phone, checking to see that nothing was broken. He pressed the screen to stop the recording. “Yeah, dude. She totally did. Sabrina, you might wanna call your dad. This is big.”

Sabrina immediately pulled out her phone and retreated into the classroom; Chloé blocked the door to make sure Lila didn’t try to stop her, though it seemed unnecessary—the girl gave no indication she’d heard.

M. Damocles stepped forward toward Mme. Rossi. “We will need to have a conversation about your daughter, but perhaps that will need to wait until after her arrest.”

Mme. Rossi turned white, eyes wide. “A-arrest?!”

“Your daughter just knowingly and willingly attempted to aid and abet a terrorist, Mme. Rossi,” the lawyer said, not unkindly. “She will face far more than just the lawsuits by M. Stone, M. Dupain, and Mme. Cheng.”

She stared at the lawyer as though uncomprehending.

“Of course, you could claim diplomatic immunity for your daughter, but it is likely she will at least be expelled from France, though France may choose to refer this matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union, as anti-terrorism laws extend beyond our borders.”

“Who are you?” Mme. Rossi finally demanded.

The lawyer smiled her best shark smile. “I am the head of M. Stone’s legal team, Maître Eulalie Reschignier.”

Adrien tried not to smile when he realized her name was almost a pun.

“My daughter has diplomatic immunity from all lawsuits, as I’m sure you are aware.”

The shark smile became a bit toothy. “We’re aware of that, but also aware that she can be expelled from France at the discretion of the French government.”

Whatever response Lila’s mother intended to give was interrupted by the arrival of Lieutenant Raincomprix and a retinue of other officers.

Nino stepped forward and played the video for the officers. Afterward, Roger approached the still-crying Alya to explain they’d have to take in her phone as evidence until the file could be processed. She just nodded, accepting the temporary loss; she hadn’t let go of Marinette yet.

Then he turned to Mme. Rossi. “We’ll have her injuries checked at the station, but it appears your daughter was attempting to voluntarily become an Akuma. While Akuma victims are never prosecuted, this is a very different issue.”

Mme. Rossi balked. “My daughter has diplomatic immunity!”

“We’re aware,” Officer Raincomprix said with a nod. “Since she has diplomatic immunity, she’ll be moved to a facility outside of Paris pending her likely expulsion back to Italy. Since she attempted to aid and abet a terrorist, your home country will decide whether to waive her diplomatic immunity, but regardless she is too dangerous to keep in Paris.”

That silenced Mme. Rossi, as she realized the limits of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Several officers helped Lila off the ground and led her down the stairs toward the school entrance, followed closely by Mme. Rossi.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief at their exit. He doubted they’d ever have to deal with Lila again—at least not in person. And he was willing to bet Italy would take a long hard look at her. Meeting Marinette’s eyes, he could see she was having similar balming thoughts; it’d take them all a while to heal from this—especially if the tears still streaming down Alya’s cheeks and the guilt in her eyes were any indication—but they’d move past this somehow, and hopefully their relationships would all be strengthened.

M. Damocles cleared his throat. “Are we finished here?”

Jagged’s smile was almost malicious. “I don’t think so. Eulalie?”

Maître Reschignier turned to the principal. “It seems Mlle. Rossi’s removal from class will no longer be necessary. Instead, we seek anti-bullying and anti-harassment training for all school personnel in addition to the investigation into the treatment of Mlle. Dupain-Cheng.”

Adrien couldn’t help but notice the elated smile that graced Mme. Mendeleiev’s face briefly, taking years off her appearance, before disappearing under her usual scowl. She, at least, was clearly not opposed to any of that. Mme. Bustier, however, looked displeased—and given that she’d rolled over multiple times to enable both Chloé and Lila, he wasn’t surprised.

The lawyer smiled, this time sincerely, at Adrien and Marinette. “I believe M. Agreste and Mlle. Dupain-Cheng would be best served returning to their class while M. Stone, Mme. Rolling, M. Dupain, and Mme. Cheng iron out the specifics with you in your office, M. Damocles.”

“Ah… Of course, Maître Reschignier.” The principal pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his brow. “That seems best.”

Mme. Bustier gestured to enter the classroom. As Adrien moved past the lawyer, she murmured, “I do hope your father will present more of a challenge, M. Agreste.”

He couldn’t hold in his laughter—oh, Adrien hoped she wrecked Gabriel Agreste.

And that he had a front-row seat when she did. And maybe some popcorn.

[quirkfics]

bringing sunshine

an anonymous commissioner came to me looking for a gift fic for @wannabewriter32 !! T’was a joy to write - hope you enjoy!

wordcount: 2k

warnings: fluff, smut, but seriously - all the sweetness.  

pairing: Mirio Togata x Female Reader

It’s rare that you get slow mornings like these. The pale sunshine just barely lighting the room, the sound of Mirio moving through the house- Usually he’s gone by the time you wake. He’s ridiculously fond of the adage: heroes never sleep! And sometimes you think he might take it a little too far. Knowing he’s still in the house though, that you don’t have anything planned until later- you fall back into a comfortable doze, breath heavy against your pillow.

You’re not sure how long it’s been when the bed shifts, Mirio’s warm hand sliding over your shoulders, his thumb pressing gently into the base of your neck.

“Waking up anytime soon?” He asks softly - still brightly, still backed by what you’re sure is a thousand watt grin. You shift, a slight smile spreading over your face, but the room has only gotten warmer, and Mirio’s touch is enough to lull you back into unconsciousness. “Breakfast will be ready soon,” he says, breaking into your sleepy thoughts. You lift a hand, motioning him closer and then nearly shriek when he laughs and half scoops you into his arms. “You weren’t asking for a good morning kiss?” He wonders, grin widening when you crack open an eye.

“...Maybe I was,” you say through a yawn, trying to blink and keep from smiling when he presses in closer. 

“I can’t refuse that rousing request,” he teases. 

You feel punch drunk, still not quite awake with heavy lidded eyes. You loop your arms around his neck to help support yourself as he kisses you, but your hold isn’t quite tight enough. The slack grip is all you can manage when you’re focused on his warm mouth, and the slight buttery taste on his lips that says he’s been sampling something in the kitchen. This is everything you want out of your mornings. The quiet ease, the softness- But something is off. Even though you’re surrounded by Mirio’s warmth, by his mouth moving slowly against yours, drawing out quiet, eager moans- Even though you can barely focus on anything but him and his hands in your hair, you keep getting distracted. You want to lose yourself in the feeling of him, in the pleasure that’s sure to come, but-

It’s the scent that clues you in, the acrid taste of the air when you finally pull away from his mouth, trying to catch your breath. 

“The eggs are burning?” You wonder aloud, tone even, still not quite understanding the urgency of the situation when you don’t yet have all your waking wits about you. For a moment, he doesn’t move, just tilts his head, staring at you with those dark blue eyes.

Mirio springs out of your arms like you’ve lit his feet on fire, apologizing when you barely catch yourself on the mattress. He leaves his clothes behind as he phases through the wall, and the sight of it, the sudden burst of motion and the fluttering of material has you more awake, heart pumping, than Mirio’s slow morning seduction. There’s a quick clattering sound from the kitchen and then Mirio’s laughter is echoing throughout the house.

He peeks his head around the corner, cheeks rosy with mild embarrassment. “What a way to wake you up, huh? I figured my clothes might come off at some point, but I didn’t think it’d be quite this fast.” His eyes dart down to the pile of pajama pants on the floor, like he’s wondering if he should just walk in or ask for them.

“You don’t have to be shy,” you tell him, rubbing gently at one eyelid. You smile when you see his tongue dart out to wet his lips. “If they were going to come off anyway-” You prompt, heart settling into a more pleasant rhythm when he nods and then laughs.

He walks around the corner, the only hint of embarrassment on his face overtaken completely by his brilliant smile, and- Well, his hands always seem to find their way to his hips, standing like a hero even when he doesn’t have a stitch on. You bite down on the giggle that wants to escape you, flopping back down on the bed.

Honestly, this is everything you want. The way he treats you - his awkwardness and all the hijinks that come with his quirk included. Nothing makes you quite as happy as Mirio’s golden brand of honesty or his smile, lighting up the room whenever he enters it. And the fact that it’s focused on you?

“What’s that face about?” He asks, sitting on the edge of the bed. You finally open your eyes, still smiling goofily, and turn your gaze back to him. 

“It’s the face I make when I think about you,” you tell him honestly, heart starting to beat fast once more when he reaches out for you. His hand is warm on your hip, even through your pajamas, and when he slides it along your side, knuckles just barely brushing your breast when he moves up, you arch into the touch, just a little. 

“Still thinking about me?” Mirio asks, and- his cheeks have gone a little pink, eyes darting from your face to where he’s stroking gently over your chest. His thighs flex as he shifts closer and the bed dips with the weight of him.

“How could I not?” You ask, and you’re awake now, fully. You take his hand, pressing it a little harder against you, breathing faster when he squeezes, and reach up to tug at his bicep. You want him closer. “Come here,” you insist, wanting to show him exactly how happy he makes you. With your words, with kisses-

Mirio’s smile fades, turns more heated than jovial as he leans down, your hand stroking up over his shoulder until you can reach the hairs on the nape of his neck. Kissing him always feels like coming home, the warmth of it, the sureness of his tongue when his lips part against yours. As soon as you make a noise Mirio is pressing in closer, adjusting himself on the bed until he has a knee between your thighs and he can feel the heat of you against him. He doesn’t taste like breakfast any longer, just himself, as familiar to you as coffee or tea, and just as warming. He groans into your mouth when you grind yourself on his thigh, and immediately pulls his mouth away, trying not to smile as he sucks down air. 

“I take it you’re not hungry for food right now?” He asks, shivering slightly as you stroke your hands down his sides. His hair is mussed now, sticking up in awkward angles from having your fingers twisting in the short locks.

“Are you?” You ask, purely because you know he isn’t - at least, not right now. He’s hard against your thigh and when you shift, you can feel him throb. His cheeks grow darker with his blush, but he doesn’t move away, just stays where he is as you press harder against him.

“I could stop for a bite,” he teases, grinning, even when you playfully slap at his hip. He lowers his mouth back to yours though, and captures your lower lip carefully between his teeth. Mirio is honestly ridiculous. He loves jokes and puns, and even though some of them are horrendously bad, he never fails to make you laugh. He enjoys himself, enjoys living too much to let embarrassment get to him. He divests you of clothing the way he does everything else - with a smile, making you laugh as he does. His fingers seem to find all of your ticklish spots, though he only lingers long enough to make you squirm. He moves on, fingers dipping between your legs, turning to a caress as his mouth closes over a nipple.

The heat of him has you arching, a soft gasp escaping you as you thread your fingers through his already mussed hair. Mirio makes a quiet noise when he finds you wet and he turns his hand, curling his fingers slowly into you. He’d stay there if you let him, use nothing but his mouth and hands to push you over the edge, but you’re too impatient for that build up. 

“Up,” you demand, though it takes him a moment and his fingers tremble, like he doesn’t want to stop. “Please?” You ask and then he pulls his mouth off of you with a wet pop from suction. His eyes are unfocused, and you’re fairly sure he’s mirroring the goofy smile you were making earlier, but he sits back, pulling his hands back to himself. “Not away,” you correct him, arranging your legs and reaching out for him. You urge him to be a little faster, hooking your feet around the backs of his thighs when he leans forward again. 

Mirio snorts, mouth opening to tease you, but he chokes on the words when you pull him down and he turns absolutely breathless when you roll your hips against him.

“O- oh,” he gets out, bracing himself on his forearm, his free hand resting against your chest. He murmurs your name and- the way he says it, the sweetness, the reverence- You know it’s just the sun filling the room, turning rays golden as it rises higher, warming the room bit by bit, but.. It always feels like Mirio brings the sunshine, that it follows him, caught in his orbit because his brightness rivals it.

Mirio doesn’t move again until you draw him back into a kiss, whispering your thoughts against his mouth. His hips start to rock, eyes falling closed before he slips his arm under you, keeping you as close as he possibly can. “Everything you do,” he says softly, nose brushing the shell of your ear. “I just- I can’t get enough,” he whispers and then his voice falters, fades as you hook your legs around his hips, pulling him in deeper. 

For all that you’d been impatient, Mirio is perfectly willing to keep things steady, just this side of slow. His mouth keeps going, keeps telling you things that makes heat build in your chest and abdomen both, but it’s the way the angle changes when he reaches down to wrap his hand around your thigh, to hike your leg a little higher, that has you close, that has you shaking.

“Mirio,” you gasp and then he laughs, low and rough, and the rumble of sound pushes you over the edge. As soon as you come, Mirio speeds up, just a little bit, fingers digging into your thigh before he follows after you, trembling when you clutch tighter to him.

Truth be told, you honestly forgot about breakfast when he walked back into the room, and it was all too easy to ignore the thought of it when his hands are on you, when his arms are wrapped securely around your back. You’d wanted him more than the food, eager for a lazy morning, for the time that being a hero usually denied the both of you. 

Mirio rolls to the side, taking you with him and inadvertently tickles you again. It isn’t until you’ve stopped laughing, carefully capturing his hands in yours, that you remember the food. Your suddenly rumbling stomach doesn’t really help things either. Mirio is grinning as soon as he hears it.   

“Your nice breakfast went to waste,” you apologize, tilting your head to look up at him, feeling mildly guilty about the whole ordeal. You shouldn’t, you know Mirio’s enjoyed himself, but-

Mirio shrugs, untangling his hands from yours so he can tap you gently on the nose. “Now you just get to make it with me,” he says, and- you smile. You’d never turn away any moment you could spend with him. “Should we get started, or maybe clean up a little first?”

You pretend to mull over the words, but his growling stomach decides for the both of you.

“Food first.”

[magioftheseas]

Conversations with Companions

Day 4: Speech/Breathing

Summary: He talks too much but that’s better than him not talking at all because his brain’s too rotted to even process thoughts.

Rating: PG

Warnings: References to illness and needles.

Notes: Because of Komaeda’s iconic wheezing, he was the obvious pick for today’s prompt. For the fic, anyway. I do think about it a lot because it’s such a worrying sound. He sounds like he’s choking and in pain so I imagine that Matsuda worries a lot, too.

***Alternate Ao3 Link***

Commission? Donate?

It was pretty commonplace for Komaeda to go on verbal tirades about hope, symbols, potential, hope, talent, and hope. Matsuda had gotten pretty good at tuning him out because it was exhausting the first time, downright intolerable the seventy-seventh. He only started paying attention when Komaeda’s wheezing got to the point where he seemed to be literally choking on his words. It’s only then when Matsuda stops him and nearly smacks him with a water bottle, demanding he stop to take a drink.

“There, there,” he droned, flipping through his manga as Komaeda gasps afterwards. “In and out. Nice deep breaths. Fucking hell, you really are a mess sometimes.”

Komaeda giggles weakly, screwing the cap back onto the bottle.

“I just get overexcited, Matsuda-kun. I mean everything I say, I just...”

“Get overexcited. Yeah. I heard you the first time.” Matsuda does glare at him over his book. “You’re sickly. You need to take shit easy. Should I resort to sedation to keep you calm?”

“You don’t have to go that far!” Komaeda hurriedly exclaimed. “So severe, Matsuda-kun!”

“It’s just that I worry you’ll hack up a fucking lung at the rate you’re going.” With how irritated he is, he ends up fidgeting with one of the pages. He’s digs his thumbnail into the fleshy pad of his finger as a distraction. “You don’t have an upper respiratory condition yet. It’s best to not fucking test it.”

“I... Okay.” Komaeda nods along dolefully. “I understand, Matsuda-kun.”

Do you, though?

With how pitiful a picture Komaeda Nagito made, Matsuda decided against questioning him further. Just something about those down-turned eyes and hanging head riled a sense of protectiveness. Stupid. So stupid. He really is painfully easy, but it’s expectable at this point.

I need to be needed just as I need to breathe. It’s only a shame that Komaeda’s ideology is so fucking unfortunate.

“I wasn’t actually listening to a word you were saying,” he said. “That’s because I kind of think like everything you say about this school, about yourself, and about other people is...pretty contentious.”

“You’re so cynical,” Komaeda replies, tired but smiling all the same. Like a dog just waiting to be kicked.

He makes it so easy by being as passive as he is utterly fucking patronizing. Seriously, do you have any self-preservation at all?

He already knows the answer.

“Hey, Komaeda.”

He really is so easy.

“How are things going for you and your class anyway?”

“Oh!” Komaeda lights up on the spot. “They’re going wonderfully! Just last week, Koizumi-san gathered up all the other girls for a get-together! They’ve all gotten so close! Although Hanamura-kun and Souda-kun had rather unfortunate ideas that had to be dealt with. But, I think our class has only gotten stronger! They’re symbols of hope after all, and conflict strengthens bonds.”

“How are they treating you?” Matsuda asks, thoroughly uninterested in anything else.

“They’re so much kinder than I deserve! Mioda-san invited me to her concert! Koizumi-san helped me clean the other day! I was even allowed to make suggestions for the class trip, although I don’t think I’ll be able to go, ehe. I don’t want to ruin their fun with my rotten luck, after all, and they had a lot of fun last time when I got too sick to attend.”

Pitiful. Utterly pitiful.

But, with a quick inhale, Komaeda was excitedly going on. “They really are incredible. Even though they don’t like me at all, they still include me on the occasion. I’m sincerely grateful. They could just completely ignore me and they don’t! Isn’t that so kind? So wonderful? And I’ve only gotten poisoned once! Although I guess it’s not Saionji-san’s fault, she didn’t realize I was allergic, aha. And Tsumiki-san acted quite dutifully. And, and, and...”

“Stop.” Matsuda held up a hand. “Take deep breaths. And take another sip of water while you’re at it.”

Swallowing, Komaeda nodded quickly. He opened the bottle once more and took a swing.

“Oi,” Matsuda snapped. “Don’t fucking choke. It’s water, not alcohol.”

Komaeda does nod again, and he spills some of it. Bristling, Matsuda tore off some paper towels for him to use. Giggling, Komaeda at least had the decency to look pretty apologetic.

“I guess I do overdo it sometimes,” he admitted meekly. “It’s difficult. I’ve never been so happy.”

“Yeah?” Matsuda asked, unimpressed with an eyebrow raised. “So, who would you say you’re at least friends with?”

“Oh, no! No, no, no!” Komaeda shook his head furiously. “Someone like me friends with people like them—that’s ludicrous! I’m nowhere near that—!”

“Do you think any of them would consider you a friend if I asked?” Matsuda cut him off before he could finish. “Like the punk rocker? Or the cam girl?”

“Don’t call Koizumi-san that,” Komaeda snapped in return before getting all flustered. “And don’t be ridiculous, Matsuda-kun. Your jokes are too much. Both of them are just kind, they don’t like me. And they shouldn’t! I’m beneath them, lesser than them, I’m—!”

“Stop.” Komaeda did. Matsuda’s glare was unwavering. “Inhale. Exhale. You’re getting too worked up again.”

Komaeda breathed in sharply, his face twisting up in a way that was pretty distressed.

“I’m sorry, Matsuda-kun. But. Um. Obviously I’m not...”

“Considered a friend?” Matsuda guessed. Komaeda feebly nods along, and there’s not much to do but sigh. “That’s pretty pathetic, you know? Like, even the reserves have friends.”

Komaeda’s expression soured considerably. His lips pressed tightly together, showcasing a restraint that Matsuda hadn’t even thought possible.

“It’s better this way,” Komaeda finally said, and his tone was firm. Firm yet resigned. “It’s dangerous for people to be around me in the first place. And I’m already so disgustingly indulgent. I—mustn’t push my boundaries.”

“Do you not want friends?”

“What I want isn’t important.” The answer was immediate. “What is important is...”

“Don’t care, didn’t ask about that.” Matsuda waved his hand. “Do you want friends or not, Komaeda. Because I might know a guy.”

Komaeda blinks at him. His lip curls, and then he laughs.

“Your jokes are too much, Matsuda-kun!” he exclaims, not sounding remotely mirthful. “Really, I’m fine! I’m completely fine!”

His hands were squeezing into fists. Matsuda can already imagine his nails biting into the pale meat of his palms. Komaeda’s so tense it looks painful. He’s even shaking, but...at least he’s breathing, albeit erratically.

Matsuda ends up shrugging.

“If you say so.” What can I even say to a face like that? I feel like if I pushed it, his expression would twist so much that it’d cause literal cracks. “You could still use more hydration though. You talk too much.”

“Ahaha.” Komaeda’s smile is still straining, but he seems grateful regardless. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He spoke without thinking. “I imagine it’s nice to just be allowed to talk sometimes.”

Komaeda flushes, and he makes a complicated sound of agreement.

He’s not a bad person. He’s naïve, stubborn, and stupid—but not bad. He talks too much but that’s better than him not talking at all because his brain’s too rotted to even process thoughts. I’ll make sure he never gets to that point, even if I can’t fix all his other issues.

It was the least he could do for this person, Matsuda Yasuke supposed.

[mint-yooxgi]

{2} - Ride or Die - Sehun X Reader

Gang!AU - Part of the EXO Customs Collab - With @ninibears-erigom @yeoldontknow @baekwell–tart @fairyyeols @suhoerections@kimjongdaely @kyungseokie and @kpop—scenarios

Ride or Die Mini Masterlist

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Mature

Pairing: Sehun X Reader

Words: 3,950

Warning: This fic will deal with mature themes such as illegal racing, gangs, drugs, violence, and swearing amongst other sensitive subjects which will be added as the fic is written. You have been warned.

A/n: On the second day of Ficmas, Jackie gave to me~ That you all so much for being so patient with me in regards to updating this series. Alas, at long last, the next part is here! I hope you all enjoy, and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

Previous ~ Next

“You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that?” A sigh escapes your lips as you press the alcohol soaked cloth against the cut on his left cheek.

A hiss escapes his lips as you make contact with his skin, face scrunching in displeasure, “you know, people usually say that after I’ve fucked their brains out.”

The chuckle he begins to let out dies in his throat as another hiss escapes his lips due to you pressing the cloth harder into his wound.

“You’re just lucky I was there, otherwise you could be in a much worse condition than you already are,” you say, your brow furrowing slightly as you take in his appearance.

You know for a fact his knuckles are bruised from the amount of punches he landed on Jesse’s face after the comments were made. Your heart warms at the fact that your best friend would defend you the way he did, even though you could have handled yourself. You’re just upset you didn’t get a good hit in on Jesse yourself.

Placing the cloth down on the counter beside you, you look over Sehun’s face. Besides the cut on his left cheek, he got off pretty lucky, with only a few other small scratches here and there. You can tell his right eye will swell soon though, but only a little since he managed to dodge the full force of the impact from Jaebum’s fist.

After Sehun had lunged at Jesse, Jaebum went straight for you with his lackeys. You managed to dodge his attacks well enough, easily taking down his backup as a crowd started to form around all of you. You even managed to throw off Jaebum enough to have time to pull Sehun off of a nearly unconscious Jesse before Jaebum tackled Sehun to the ground. Luckily, you managed to knock Jaebum out before he could seriously injure anyone else.

After that, the two of you decided to head back to Sehun’s for the night, you not wanting to deal with anyone after that little scuffle. The entire walk back to Sehun’s car you could hear the crowd whispering about you in curiosity, mainly asking about who you were and how you knew Sehun. Some even went so far as claiming you to be his girlfriend which only caused you to roll your eyes slightly in response.

The two of you had driven back in silence, Sehun’s grip on the wheel tight as he was still fuming at the turn of events this evening. You knew he’d calm down soon though. Nothing relaxed him like driving did, or boxing, but that was out of the question for the night.

Zoning back in on the present, you hear Sehun chuckling slightly from in front of you. You blink your eyes a few times, refocusing you vision to see him grinning at you from his position sitting on his bathroom counter.

“What?” You quirk a brow.

“I said,” he lets out a breath of air, sliding off of the counter in order to stand in front of you as he grabs your arms slightly, “are you okay?”

“Never better,” you huff as he looks you over for any blood or bruises. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he hums. “Seeing your asshole of an ex at an illegal street race, and then having yourself bet on like a prized object didn’t knock anything loose?”

“Nope,” you smirk, raising your hands to rest them on his shoulders. However, your expression shifts, becoming harsher in the next second as you squeeze his shoulders in a vice-like grip, him hunching over slightly in pain, “but if you ever make a bet like that again without consulting me first, I may not be as forgiving.”

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry!” He cries, breathing a sigh of relief once you release your grip on him. “Sheesh.”

“Don’t be a dick, Hun,” you reply, flicking his forehead softly with your one hand.

“Yeah, yeah,” he rolls his eyes, rubbing at the spot you’ve just hit. “I’ll make sure to let him call the shots next time.”

“Haha, very funny,” you deadpan, placing your hands on your hips in the next second. “Now, you should get some sleep. It’s late.”

“Yes, mom,” he jokes, moving past you and out of the bathroom into the hallway.

A small bark cuts off your next reply. Looking down reveals Sehun’s dog, Vivi jumping at his legs, tail wagging excitedly.

“See, even Vivi agrees with me,” you laugh, watching as Sehun bends down to pick up his dog.

“Vivi agrees with anyone who gives him treats and belly rubs,” Sehun huffs, scrunching his face slightly as Vivi starts placing slobbery kisses on his clean cheek.

“He just wants cuddles,” you chuckle, flipping off the lights to the bathroom as you follow Sehun to his room. “Speaking of, you should really find a girlfriend. Someone other than a dog to cuddle with at night.”

You casually lean against the frame of his open door as he sits on his bed, gently laying Vivi down beside him.

“Where’s this coming from all of a sudden?” Sehun quirks a brow at you.

You shrug, “I just think it’d be nice to finally see you settle down.”

“I don’t think I see myself ‘settling down’ any time soon,” he replies, laying back on his bed with his arms crossed behind his head. “I don’t want to bring anyone into this sort of life; too much work.”

“Stop acting like you’ve killed a man,” this time it’s your turn to roll your eyes.

“Maybe I have,” he counters, eyes narrowing as he stares into your eyes.

“Shut up, no you haven’t,” you say, arms crossed in front of your chest.

“Maybe so,” he hums, “but it could happen.”

“Oh Sehun, if I ever found out you killed someone, I would murder your dumb ass,” you state, shaking your head slightly at the thought.

“I’m so threatened,” he replies, sarcastically. You take a threatening step forwards, expression darkening as you shift your arms, preparing to get into a fighting stance. You see his eyes widen significantly, “okay, okay! I won’t!”

“Good,” you nod once. “I may be your best friend and put up with a lot of your shit, but don’t forget, I can and will kick your ass if I have to.”

“Noted,” he grins, shifting slightly so he’s now leaning onto his arms so he can see you better. “Anyways, are you going to stay the night? You know you’re always welcome to.”

“I know,” you shoot him a small smile. “Thanks, but no thanks. I should probably get going soon, anyways.”

“Up to you,” he shrugs, laying back down on his bed as Vivi curls more into his side.

“The real question is, are you going to be okay without me?” Even though a teasing grin rests on your face, Sehun can sense the seriousness behind your question.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he grins right back. “I’ve survived this long, haven’t I?”

“Barely,” your grin widens. “Well, if you’re sure, I’m going to head out then.”

“Alright,” he goes to stand up from the bed, but you stop him.

“I can see myself out, don’t worry,” you reassure him, pushing yourself off of his doorframe and cracking your neck. “Get some rest. I’ll see you at the gym tomorrow.”

“Sure, sure,” he replies, settling back down onto his mattress as he watches you turn around. He stares at your back for a moment, wondering why you haven’t moved down the hallway yet. Your voice manages to pull him out of his thoughts in the next moment, answering his question.

“Thanks,” you say. “For tonight, and for trusting me with all of this.”

“Of course,” you can’t see it, but he smiles faintly at you. “You’re the only one I trust regarding this.”

You close your eyes briefly, faintly nodding your head once in understanding. “Goodnight, Sehun.”

“Night, (Y/n),” he calls as you begin to make your way down the hall.

Moving silently through his house, you reach his front door. Grabbing your things while slipping on your shoes, you head out into the cool night air. Locking the door behind you with the spare key he’s given you for emergencies, you let out a sigh.

Taking a moment to yourself, you stand in front of his now locked door. Thinking back over the events of the evening, you’re just glad things didn’t turn out worse. If you’re lucky, you won’t have to deal with Jesse anymore, but you have a feeling it’ll be easier said than done. Considering you know about Sehun’s little activities at night now, you have a feeling you’re going to become a lot more involved than you like.

You know he means well, and he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. Not if he’s around to stop it. Tonight was evidence enough. You’re just worried he’s going to dig himself into an early grave.

Shaking your head, you make your way over to your car. Sehun is more than capable of taking care of himself. He doesn’t need you picking and fighting his battles for him anymore. Your little Sehunnie is all grown up. Regardless, you’ll be by his side every step of the way if he needs you.

Unlocking your car, you slide into the driver’s seat.

Sehun still never fails to surprise you. You just hope he won’t make a habit of getting himself into unnecessary fights when you’re around, especially if you’re going to be hanging around his other job more often. You’re a good fighter, but still, there’s only so much violence you can take. Even so, you’re willing to suck it up for your best friend; you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, and if you can take Jaebum, Jesse, and their goons down a few pegs while you’re at it, you’d be more than happy to do so.

Back in his room, Sehun can hear the engine of your car roar to life, listening as you drive off into the night shortly after. He lets out a sigh, turning onto his side. A smirk subtly pulls at his lips.

He doesn’t know how long he’s wanted to beat the shit out of your ex for what he’s done to you, and he’s glad he finally got the chance. In fact, he’s confident he’ll get more chances in the future, especially if Jesse is now apart of Jaebum’s crew. The only thing he wasn’t counting on, was to bring you along to the races more often, but if that’s what it takes, then so be it. At least he knows you can handle yourself.

Feeling Vivi shift beside him, he brings a hand down to mindlessly brush it against his fur. His face hurts sightly, but his hands are tense. Sparing a glance at his knuckles, he lets out a slight huff. They’ll hurt for sure tomorrow when he trains, especially if he trains with you. Hopefully, you’ll go easy on him though, not that he’d care.

To him, he’d rather himself get hurt than you. Seeing you in pain hurts him more than you’ll ever know, and he has no problem sticking up for you. After all, he loves you and cares about you deeply.

He’s never had a friendship like this before; he doesn’t know what he’d do, or where he’d be, without you in his life. You gave him an outlet for his anger with boxing, and you helped pull him out of a dark place. You listen to him about issues he feels like he can’t discuss with anyone else, and in turn, you share things with him he never would have expect to come from you. Like how you used to love ballet when you were small, but your parents ruined it for you. Something seemingly so insignificant, but means the world to him when you tell him.

Shifting slightly, he turns off his bedside lamp, shrouding his room in darkness. Resting his hand on top of Vivi, he lets his eyes fall shut, images of you dancing behind his eyelids. A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips as he finds his consciousness slipping away for the evening, allowing himself to rest after such a long, tiring day.

That morning, he wakes up slightly later than he expects to. Bringing a hand up, he rubs it over his face, sitting up as he does so. Rubbing at his eyes, he gets out of bed slowly, still groggy from sleep.

Checking his phone for the time, his eyes widen slightly. He sees a few texts from you asking him where he is. It’s way later than he originally thought it was, and he should have been at the gym by now. After all, he did say he’d meet you there today.

Moving quickly through his room, he changes out of his sleepwear. Grabbing his gym bag, he heads towards his front door. Before he leaves, he’s scooping Vivi into his arms, as well as grabbing a banana for the road.

Speeding down the road, he makes it to the gym in record time, cutting the engine as soon as he parks in order to hop out of his car. He nearly crashes through the doors of the gym, seeing you standing there with your hands on your hips, looking at him expectantly.

“You’re late,” are the first words out of your mouth.

“Yeah, I know,” he replies gruffly.

“Why’d you bring Vivi with you?” Your eyebrow quirks in mild amusement.

“Well, since I woke up late, I couldn’t take him out for a walk, or feed him, so I brought him with me,” Sehun shrugs, placing his dog on the ground as he runs up to you.

“You’re lucky that the owners are so laid back,” you shake your head as you crouch down to pet Vivi’s head, “and that they like you enough to let you bring your dog to the gym.”

“Who wouldn’t love Vivi? He’s an angel,” Sehun scoffs, mocking offence.

“An angel that’s trembling cause he probably needs to pee,” you laugh. “Take him out for a few minutes, I’ll get his food ready.”

Sehun simple nods in response, tossing his bag beside yours on the bench as he moves to hook the leash on his dog. He freezes slightly once he stands back up, and you notice the expression on his face immediately.

“Please tell me you remembered to bring food for him,” you sigh.

“Thank fuck that there’s a pet store across the street then,” he replies, letting out a puff of air through his nose. “I’ll be right back.”

Without another word, he’s heading back out the doors of the gym, Vivi trotting happily alongside him.

A small chuckle escapes your lips as you shake your head. You’ll never get over the fact that Sehun can, and will, bring his dog literally anywhere he can, especially to the gym. Your surprised he didn’t bring Vivi with him yesterday. Sometimes you swear he cares more about his dog than anything else.

Stretching slightly, you allow yourself a short break from training as you wait for Sehun to come back. You noticed his injuries from last night don’t look as bad as you thought they would be, which makes you breathe a sigh of relief. You don’t like seeing him hurt, especially if it’s because of you.

Grabbing your water bottle, you take a well earned drink. You’ve been running through some drills while waiting for Sehun to get here, but you’ve made sure not to push yourself too hard. After all, you are planning to spar with him today.

About ten minutes later, Sehun enters the gym once more. This time, he’s holding a small bag from the pet store across the street as Vivi trails beside him. He quickly sets up the food, unhooking Vivi’s leash shortly after. You bring over a small bowl of water shortly after.

Giving his dog a few pats, he stands up from his previous crouched position.

“Are you ready now?” You tease, watching as his eyes narrow at you slightly.

“Let me change and I’ll be right there,” comes his reply, not even waiting for your response as he moves over to his bag to grab his gym clothes, and then proceeds to head over to the change rooms.

While you wait, you decide to keep yourself occupied. Throwing a few quick jabs at the nearest punching bag, you work on your form. Out of the corner of your eyes, you notice Vivi move off to lay on top of Sehun’s gym bag, noticing Sehun already making his way back towards you shortly afterwards.

“That was quick,” you say, halting your movements in order to stand up straight.

“I didn’t want to keep you waiting any longer,” he grins, to which you shove him playfully.

“You’re here now, that’s all that matters,” you chuckle. “You’re just lucky I won’t kick your ass for being late today.”

“Oh, yeah?” He quirks an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” you confirm. “Wouldn’t want to hurt your ego anymore than it was last night, considering you got your ass kicked.”

“Hey! You know that’s not true,” he whines, shoving your arm slightly.

You laugh in response, “come on, let’s train.”

You watch as he shakes his head, following you over to the practice ring and stepping inside. You allow him to stretch and warm up a bit before you start to spar, giving him time to loosen up his muscles, and wrap his hands properly.

About twenty minutes later, he’s ready to take you on.

By now, you’ve noticed the two of you have caught the attention of a few other regular patrons of the gym you attend, having become fairly aquatinted with them. Both Yurim and Junhae are leaning against the side of the ring as they prepare to watch the two of you fight each other.

“Kick his ass, (Y/n)!” Junhae cheers, grin pulling at his lips.

“You can do it, Sehun!” Yurim adds, shooting him a supportive thumbs up.

“You want a fair fight or street rules?” You call, cracking your neck as you stare him down.

“Street rules, what else?” He nearly scoffs, only causing you to smirk.

“Your funeral,” you shrug, rolling your shoulders once as you get into your fighting stance, Sehun mirroring your movements in the next moment.

“Don’t expect me to go easy on you,” Sehun says, stating the obvious.

“I would expect no less,” comes your reply. “I hope you’re ready.”

With one final nod from Sehun, the two of you are springing into action. He’s quick to throw the first punch, always the first one to react in a fight. You smirk, simply dodging his fist as you counter with a low jab. He grits his teeth as your fist makes contact with his lower stomach.

“Oh, nice hit!” Yurim comments.

Just as you move in for another attack, Sehun is able to move out of the way just in time. He counters with a jab of his own, but you’re able to lean out of the way, only to take a hit from his follow through with his right hand. He smirks.

“Damn, that was a good move,” Junhae nods in approval.

The two of you go back and forth like this for quite some time, each landing a few hits on the other, and countering every chance you get. By the time fifteen minutes have passed, the two of you are both panting, sizing each other up and waiting for each other’s next move.

Sehun, never being one to wait too long for an opening, lunges first. You easily sidestep, seeing an opening in his own defence. Taking the chance, you hit him with a quick jab, successfully catching him off guard and making him stumble back a step. You use this to your advantage, swiping his feet directly from underneath him and causing him to land on his back with a loud thud.

The breath escapes him as he makes contact with the ground, you moving quickly to pin him to the ground. He grits his teeth as he finds himself unable to move.

Raising your fist, you prepare to strike the final blow. However, just before you can bring your hand down, a loud, district clapping sounds from near the entrance of the gym. Your head shoots up to look at the new intruder, eyes narrowing as you take in his familiar features.

“Wow, Miss Hunhun, getting your ass handed to you by some weak little girl,” he sighs, seemingly disappointed until a large malicious grin stretches across his lips. “Why am I not surprised.”

A low growl escapes your lips as you stare the intruder down, disgust evident on your features, “Jesse.”

“I had a feeling you would be here,” he says, staring right at you, and you notice how swollen his face looks, causing you lips to twitch upwards slightly. Sehun got him good last night.

“In case it’s not obvious, you’re not welcome here,” you spit, standing up off of Sehun and helping him up in the process.

“Is that anyway to treat a guest?” He mocks offence.

“You’re no guest,” Sehun bluntly replies. “Now, what do you want?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Jesse takes a bold step forwards, staring deep into your eyes before briefly shifting his gaze over to Sehun. “I’m here to make a bet.”

“The only thing you can bet on, is me kicking your ass,” you threaten, crossing your arms in front of your chest as you stand tall.

“What’s the bet,” Sehun asks with a sigh, uninterested in this whole ordeal.

“I want to race. A rematch, if you will, but with upped stakes,” Jesse replies, voice smug as he mirrors your stance. “In two weeks. If I win, we get half of your territory, drugs, and cars. If we lose, we won’t bother you ever again, and will graciously accept defeat.”

“I’ll have to think about it,” comes Sehun’s reply, knowing that if he agreed to something like this without consulting Junmyeon about it first, he’d be in deep shit.

“I’m not done,” Jesse continues, causing both yours and Sehun’s eyebrows to raise slightly. "Then, a week later, I want to fight you. One on one. No rules, no weapons, just us. If I win, I get her-” he nods his head in your direction, making your eyes widen in disbelief, “and if you win, I’ll surrender, fair and square.”

“Now hold on just a minute,” you interject, blood beginning to boil. “I am not a fucking prize to be won! You can’t treat me like an object, I’ll kick your ass myself!”

“What? Scared your lover-boy over there will lose?” Jesse mocks, eyebrow quirking in challenge.

“You wish, asshole,” you say through gritted teeth. “Sehun, if you personally don’t kick his ass for me, I’ll do it myself.”

Your words are all the permission he needs, “I’ll fight you, but I’m not the one to agree to the races.”

“Fine,” Jesse huffs. “We’ll be in contact soon, then.”

Without another word, he’s turning around and exiting the building. 

A sort of silence settles over all of you as you all let what just transpired sink in. You shake your head in disbelief.

“I cannot fucking believe the nerve he has,” you scoff. “Like hell I’d ever agree to his terms. He’s never getting me back, whether he likes it or not.”

“Don’t worry,” Sehun turns to you, a small reassuring smile on his lips, “I don’t plan to lose.”

[yourea--stubborn--man]

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Relationship: Julian Bashir/Elim Garak

Additional Tags: Mention of sex; one (1) swearword; Crack Treated Seriously; Sort of? - Freeform; POV Outsider; POV Julian Bashir; Team Dad Benjamin Sisko.

Words: 1.7K

Summary:  Following the Section 31 attempt to enlist Julian, suspecting that Garak may not be volunteering all the information he can to Starfleet Intelligence and suspecting that the two men may instead be working together and exchanging military secrets to bring down the Federation, the Federation sends a private detective to investigate the matter behind Sisko’s back. Said detective uncovers a secret, but not the one the Federation was hoping for…

I thought it’d be a good idea to make individual posts for my ST bingo fics from last week as I edit them again and fix some typos, since you guys seemed to love them but I think people would rather reblog single fics than the masterpost with ratings and pairings they don’t read. Please do leave a comment if you enjoy!

[theverybestpencilsoftuscaloosa]

May I Have You For Dinner?

My second story for OP Bingo 2020, hosted by @op-pirate-fleet. Is it low-quality Hannibal pastiche? No, it’s high-grade Hannibal pastiche. I wrote it in two hours after seeing the first two episodes of Hannibal before I knew Hannibal actually had a castle. Is it funny? At this point, I don’t know. I did work all nine Straw Hats in there, though, which is actually much harder to do than you’d think, especially in a comedic cannibal fic. God, WHY DID I DECIDE TO WRITE CANNIBAL FANFICTION? In three years when I get into fandom drama this is gonna be the one that gets my ass. AO3 link here.

“Excuse me,” said Usopp. “Do you think I could have a sandwich?”

“Pardon me?”

Usopp swallowed. “No, I mean, I’m sure you’re a great cook, but, well, um -- I just have this disease I actually got from a swarm of vicious mosquitoes, and if I have any dish with a red sauce I’ll--”

“You cannot have a sandwich,” snapped the host, Count De Lisces. Usopp quailed, and nodded quickly.

“Right! Right! Of course! I’ll just, uh, enjoy this meal! Yum yum! Yummy!” And he began picking at the vegetables without intent.

Sanji’s frown deepened, and he glared at the count. That was no way to treat a dinner guest. He could sympathize with not wanting to waste food, of course, but he could make an exception if the diner was clearly not going to eat it anyway. And from the way he was tucking in, their host would have no trouble polishing off another serving of -- Sanji looked down -- ...pork. With red sauce.

Sanji shot Usopp a look and mouthed I’ll fix something up when we get back to the ship. Then he cleared his throat, catching their host’s attention. “Count,” he said evenly, “this is a very interesting preparation. What did you say your secret was again?”

The count grinned. “The thing, you see, is to marinate the meat well. After seventy-two hours, you create a flavor so deep, so sublime --”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Count De Lisces blinked. For a second his mouth worked silently before he managed to spit out an “Excuse me?”

“You don’t marinate anything for three days. It’d start falling apart.” Sanji poked the uncarved slice of meat on his plate. “Honestly, do you even know how to cook?

The count’s eyes flicked from his plate to Sanji’s face. “Look,” he began, and stopped. “It’s an old family…” he trailed off. He closed his eyes for a second, collecting himself, and began again. “Why don’t we just -- what on earth are you doing?!”

Nami and Zoro turned, halfway to the ornate liquor cabinet. Zoro held up the empty bottle. “Refill.”

The count reddened. “That-- that was a seventy-nine year old vintage! That wine was an heirloom! And you finished it?”

“Yeah,” Zoro said at the same time as Nami clasped her hands together.

“Your Excellency,” she said in a syrupy-sweet voice, “we were only trying to be good guests. If we don’t sample your wines, how can we compliment you on the range and profile of your good tastes?”

“This is a place of decency,” said the count in a low, dangerous, tolling tone. “For years and years my castle, my island, has been a place of culture. A place of class! Sit down and eat your food and stop ruining the ambience!”

Franky cracked open a bottle of cola on his nose.

“Hey,” he said between gulps of carbonated sugar water, “where’s Robin?” Beside him, Chopper was examining his own untouched meal with forensic care.

“Sanji,” Chopper said, urgency in his voice. “Do you recognize this cut of pork?”

“No,” Sanji growled, “I don’t.” His hand closed around the knife reflexively, and he had to force it to open. He settled for pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting up. Unforgivably bad manners in most fine dining situations? Sure. In these conditions, though, he didn’t particularly care. And he was enjoying the look on Count De Lisces’ face.

“Luffy,” he said after a long pull. “What do you think?” Luffy looked up from his plate. It, too, was untouched. That about did it, Sanji thought. There was no reason Luffy wouldn’t clean his plate unless something was seriously wrong.

“It smells weird,” he said. “And this guy’s weird.”

“Hey!” squawked the count. Luffy turned to him, brow furrowed.

“What did you say your name was again?”

A smile spread across their host’s face like a bloodstain on a fine white tablecloth. He stood slowly, drawing himself up to his full height, savoring the moment like the finest of wines -- one his irritating guests couldn’t sample. “Count De Lisces,” he said slowly. “Count Yannibal De Lisces.” He bit each syllable off, and let them fall into the spreading silence.

“Oh!” Said Brook. “How funny! Your name rhymes with cannibal! Yohohoho-- that’s not really a skull joke, is it?”

“So this guy--” Sanji began.

“Cannibal,” said Usopp, shivering so hard the word came out with three Cs and five Bs.

“This is people?” Said Luffy, pointing at his plate. Chopper nodded. Sanji stood so fast his chair went flying, raising one leg to lash out, but Yannibal’s hand was raised.

“Ah-ah-ah,” he said slowly. “Not so fast, Mister Know-It-All-About-Marinades. You’re forgetting someone, aren’t you?”

Sanji’s breath caught in his chest, and he froze. “Robin.”

“Indeed!” Yannibal cackled. “That lovely dark-haired angel… where is she now, I wonder?”

Franky sat upright, knocking his plate to the ground. His left hand was already unhinged, revealing the wide dark mouth of the gun barrel beneath. He leveled it at Yannibal’s chest. “Where is she?”

“I have no way of knowing,” the count said. “She went wandering off, did she not? My castle is large and dark and full of… secrets. If she has delved too deeply, searched too ardently, she may not like what she has found. And I cannot guarantee no harm has come to her…” Sanji’s weight shifted, and Yannibal turned, clicking his tongue. “Mister Cook! No no no… indeed, her safety is not guaranteed. Indeed, a woman as… refined as her…” Yannibal’s eyes glazed over.

“What class. What taste. She is a cut above the rest of you, certainly. Perhaps I will be having her for dinner soon…” He focused on Sanji again. “Regardless, sir. I cannot guarantee her safety… but if you raise a hand to me, I can guarantee you will never see her again--”

“Excuse me,” said Robin from the doorway. “I’m back.” Sanji turned, hearts in his eyes.

“Dearest, lovely Robin! You’re safe! Oh, darling, thank goodness, I was so worried! You aren’t hurt, are you? Where have you been?”

“Ah,” Robin said. “I was gone some time, wasn’t I? I apologize. I was on my way back from the restroom when a small, strange man with facial deformities tried to knock me unconscious.”

“A-hem.”

Robin looked down. Standing by her hip, a small, strange man with facial deformities was scowling up at her, arms crossed. She smiled.

“My apologies. I meant to say a small, strange man with an interesting and unique face tried to knock me unconscious.” The small, strange man with the interesting and unique face smiled. It was a very interesting and unique smile.

“Is he… cool?” Franky said after a long moment of awkward silence.

“Oh, certainly,” said Robin.

“Cool,” said Franky. “We were figuring out if this guy’s a cannibal or not.”

“Oh, he’s definitely a cannibal,” said Robin. “He told me all about it.” She gestured to the small, strange man, who nodded vigorously. She smiled, and looked up at the Count De Lisces. “Your castle has a fascinating history, count. I was hoping to learn a little more about it from you. Such a shame it turned out to be written in blood.”

Sanji was a little more economical with his words: “I’m gonna beat the shit out of you, you no-good excuse for a cook!”

The count laughed, and stepped back. In the glow of the fire, his silhouette seemed to stretch, to warp, to grow. “Oh, you poor souls…” There was an edge to his voice, a hard, rough undertone that hadn’t been there before. “You think this story ends with you defeating the monster, emerging victorious?” The small, strange man shrank behind Robin.

“No… no, I’m afraid not. Tell me, did you know that of all the animals of the world, only one hunts man for sport… besides man, that is?” The count was definitely growing now, his shadow blocking out the roaring fire. “On a certain island in the South Blue, villagers began disappearing without a trace. They suspected slavers, pirates, but do you know what the true culprit was?”A growl ripped through the air.

“It was the hunter of the forest! The only true equal to man in his viciousness! The shadow of the night! And I have made its power my own!” Count Yannibal De Lisces stood in the firelight. Orange and black flickered over his skin, but the stripes ran deeper than the light of the fire. They were laid into his skin, and beneath them bulged rippling muscle packed onto a frame that dwarfed even Brook. “Witness the strength of the true apex predator, the top of the food chain! Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Tiger! I will feast on your--”

“Yeah, okay,” said Sanji, and kicked him in the face. Count De Lisces went over backwards yowling.

“Now listen to me, Count,” said Sanji, stepping forward. “In my opinion, you’re a shitty host leaving the human meat aside. But cannibalism? Serving human flesh to your unsuspecting guests?” On either side of him, Luffy and Chopper stepped up, fists clenched. “Do you have any idea how --”

“--unethical--”

“--gross--”

“--unprofessional that is?”

The count leapt, but Sanji’s leg moved faster, sending the tiger-count crashing into the finely decorated wall. In the light of the fire, the ember of his cigarette burning, he looked positively demonic. He leaned down, the sound of Luffy’s knuckles cracking echoing behind him.

“Consider this a lesson in cookery.”

As the chaos started at the far end of the dining table, Robin walked over to Nami and Zoro, who were surrounded by empty bottles -- apparently, far fewer than Zoro was hoping for.

“This one?” He said, exasperated. Nami shook her head. “No! Don’t open anything more than seventy-five years old!”

“Yeah, it’s eighty-three years old, from a vineyard that hasn’t been shit for two centuries! No one’ll give you more than fifty, fifty-five thousand berries for it! You have pants that cost more than that!”

“My pants are none of your -- wait, how do you know what a good vintage is?”

“Which one of us spends more time in liquor stores?”

Robin snuck a bottle away from the squabbling pair and sat down next to Franky. She  popped the cork, offered him a swig, and when he declined took a few deep gulps for herself. Brook helped her finish off the bottle, and along with a queasy-looking Usopp, the four sat in companionable silence and watched. Dinner had been ruined, but at least the show was nice.

Some time later, Sanji stepped back, panting. He took a long draw of his cigarette, and ashed it over the feebly moaning count. Luffy and Chopper, who had worn themselves out a bit earlier, watched from the table. Sanji straightened his tie.

“When preparing tiger--” He stopped. “Wait, no, fuck this, no one cooks tiger! And no one cooks people! No food-related metaphors for you, shithead!” And with a final kick, he turned away.

“So, uh, what are we going to do about this?” Usopp said. Everyone else looked at him. He looked back defensively. “I mean, I don’t think the marines are going to take him! What, are we going to kill him?”

“Well…” Sanj said slowly.

Robin cleared her throat. The Straw Hats turned to look. Behind her stood the small, strange man. Behind him stood another few dozen small, strange people.

“The count’s servants,” she said. “Apparently, they have some, ah, grievances. I’m sure they’d appreciate being left alone to… renegotiate the terms of their employment.” Sanji rubbed his chin. He walked over to the small, strange man and bent down.

“Look me in the eye,” he said. “No, both eyes. Oh, you-- your-- oh. Oh gosh. Okay, that’s fine. One eye is fine. Look,” he said, pushing past the pitfall, “this is important. Are you going to eat him?”

The small, strange man screwed up his face in disgust. Sanji looked him in the eye a second longer, then stood.

“Well, if you guys are okay with it…”

The Straw Hats left the castle of the Count of De Lisces behind, stumbling in the darkness (and, for some of them, drunkenness). They left with empty stomachs and arms full of old and expensive wines. When at last they arrived at the Sunny, Sanji went to the kitchen. Usopp was already swearing up and down that he’d never eat again, and he was pretty sure Zoro had drunk two or three dinners, but everyone else would need the calories. And Usopp would probably be hungry in an hour. He had an excellent cut in the fridge; he could fry it up and --

Sanji opened the walk-in and saw the meat he was thinking of. It was a prize-winning slab of pork shoulder. Sanji thought about it for a long time. Come on, he said to himself. You watched the butcher cut it off the pig yourself. It’s fine. Are you really going to let that stupid count go to your head?

Sanji threw it over the side anyway, although he felt a pang of guilt as ten pounds of pork vanished below the waves. Tonight, at least, he thought to himself, he would stick with fish.

[kyluxtrashpit]

2019 Fic Recap

So I’ve done this for the past few years and I started doing it at the end of 2019 but never managed to finish it. I think between TROS and IRL and then I got really, really sick, I just haven’t had the chance to do so. But fuck it, I decided to finish it anyway even though it’s now 3 months late lmao. So anyway, a recap of my 2019 fics

Total wordcount: 96 419 words. Which is less than last year, but still not too shabby. I wish I could’ve banged something out to get it over 100k but eh, it just didn’t happen. I definitely have enough wip words and whatnot to get me over that bump, though

Tough Love, 6572 words, posted Jan 17

So this was an experimental one. As you all know, I’m pretty hard on the sub!Kylo/dom!Hux train. But I had a conversation with a friend and it turned into one of those ‘okay, I don’t like x dynamic because of a, b, and c. But is it possible to write x without those and make it into something I like?’ and as it turns out, yes, yes it was. Thus this fic happened and here we are. I still really like it and I have a lot of Feelings on this dynamic vs the one I usually write, but that’s an essay in and of itself lmao. It got some great feedback too, which was cool

Take My Breath Away, 1230 words, posted Feb 7

Ah yes, this one, which was based off a throwaway KOTOR ability but was an excuse for me to write Kylo getting stuffed from both ends with some asphyxiation thrown in. And also extremely rough sex + softer aftercare is a weakness of mine haha, so I just had to do it

Fix You, 1994 words, posted Feb 10

So this was my first piece for Bad Things Happen Bingo, which is an event I’m still planning to finish at some point lmao, and that I’ve had a lot of fun with so far. This fic was another that I tried for a more ‘classic’ feel with, though it’s a lot softer. The uncomfortable intimacy. The ‘feelings are happening but we won’t talk about them’. The shaky trust. All of that good stuff. I had fun with it

Keep Your Enemies Closer, 1657 words, posted Feb 24

Another for BTHB! I just love when Hux wins, okay. And I think this was one of those time periods where Kylo was doing all the winning in fics and I just. Needed something different lmao. Emperor Hux remains one my all time fave ideas and it’s still a shame canon never gave it to us. But I have the power to make it happen, so I did. Plus Kylo in a shock collar is always fun >:)

Indulgence, 17 357 works, completed Apr 19, first posted Mar 28

So! This was a continuation to my experiment from above and really it was just an excuse for lots of smut and pampering lmao. Much as I had thought I had said everything I wanted to say with Tough Love, apparently I had not, and this monstrosity formed. There may be a third, more serious piece to finish off the series this year, but I haven’t decided yet. Although, I have to admit, I’m still surprised how poorly this fic did feedback-wise, especially compared to its predecessor and considering it’s the more popular dynamic these days. Tbh some of my best smut is in this fic imo, but ah well, sometimes people just don’t like things and I suppose I have to accept that, even if I’m really, really proud of that thing

(Okay and the rest are behind a cut for length)

Best Served Bloody, 2666 words, posted Apr 29

Another BTHB and, again, not much deeper to it. Beating up Brendol is always fun though lmao. And when I was writing this, I really wanted Hux to be the one to strike at his father. A lot of pieces have Kylo doing it, which is great, but I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted Hux to have the power to save himself. It was fun to write in that way, as a powerful revenge fantasy

The Best, 6450 words, posted May 12

Ah, now this was a fun one lmao. It was born of a horny crack idea but I can’t do real crack, so it ended up as crack treated seriously. And really, I just wanted an excuse to have Kylo sucking dick. A lot of dick. All the dicks he can find lmao. Slutty Kylo fic remains my favourite pwp, so I gotta contribute to the cause, you know. It was a delight to write, though challenging cause it kept turning me on LMAO. Totally worth it though. It was one of the most fun this year for sure

Be My Outlet, 1003 words, posted May 23

There’s not really much of a story behind this one haha. I was horny and I wanted some classic, Not Nice Hux and hatefucking, thus this exists. Plus I miss Kylo getting choked and it’s rare these days to see stuff quite this rough. I also have a bit of a somnophilia thing, which this sort of fits in to. And I’m always a fan of messy, masochist Kylo. So yeah. Idk it’s smut lmao what else could we want? It’s just a short little pwp, but I had a lot of fun with it and it was nice to revisit the classic kylux days

Safe Harbour, 1616 words, posted Jun 13

This one was for kyluxomegaverse week and it was very fun. A/b/o is one of those tropes where I really, really like a lot of it, but there’s also some stuff that’s much less my cup of tea. So I don’t write a lot of it, even though there are aspects of it that I adore. Which this one includes a lot of lmao. I think the nesting is fucking adorable and I wanted to write something soft, so here we are. Plus omega!Kylo is just delightful. Also looking back on it now, this one did really well? Holy shit, I had no idea it was that popular!

With Dignity, 4475 words, posted Jul 1

This was the last for BTHB that I managed last year (and I still intend to finish my card eventually, it’s just been a rough go so far this year lmao). I’m actually very proud of this one because this is the exact sort of angst I love to write. I didn’t intend for it to be as heavy as it ended up being, but when I started looking up the mechanics of force-feeding and reading about the experience of it, the plan changed drastically because holy fuck. I had never thought of it as that much of a torture before. I also enjoy with Hux like, making the reader feel bad for him while also actively reminding them he’s awful and getting that perfect cognitive dissonance. So this was a great excuse to do exactly that. And I love how tough he is even in such circumstances. Despite the heavy subject matter, I had a blast with this one

Greener Grass, 3389 words, posted Jul 14

This one was originally a twitter thread that really got away from me lmao, so I edited it and put it on ao3 because I really liked it. I’ve always liked self-cest as a concept and I thought it’d be interesting for Kylo to interact with a version of himself that made some different choices. One that was happier. And then we see Kylo through Ben’s eyes, see what the dark side has wrought for him. And then, of course, some smut to pull it all together lmao. It was a really fun character study and I had a grand time with it

Subliminal, 5719 words, posted Aug 23

This one! Okay so I’m pretty sure I sent in a couple of khk prompts over the years that were basically this, but no one ever wrote them so I finally did it. I’m honestly surprised hypno kink isn’t actually used more in kylux, considering Hux is canonically in charge of the brainwashing program. So much potential. So I had to write it. I also went down quite a few rabbit holes in researching this (with mixed success lmao) and learned a whole lot about hypno kink in the process. I may have even acquired it as a fetish lmao. But anyway, this one’s a bit darker and it’s fun to write those every once in a while. I think I pulled it off well too

Ashes Among the Stars, 36634 words, posted Dec 1

Ah and my big bang this year! I had a blast with this one although it was quite the challenge. My first fandom was gundam so when I saw this prompt I was very intrigued and ended up getting it. This fic had a lot more world-building than I usually do, which was the primary challenge as I basically had to take aspects from both franchises and sew them together into a new world of its own. I think I did that rather successfully tbh. The plot gave me trouble too but also gave me some of my best eureka moments haha. My partner was also wonderful and made the experience that much better. I know crossovers don’t tend to perform as well, so I was expecting that, though I do wish some more people had given it a chance since I wrote it specifically so that no prior knowledge was needed. But alas, I’m still incredibly proud of it. It’s also my second longest fic ever!

Filthy, 5657 words, posted Dec 9

And here it is, the gangbang fic I’ve always wanted to exist lmao. I had wanted to write this one for a long time, but I could never figure out how to end it, what circumstances would lead to the gangbang. Then a convo with friends gave me the idea and boom, I could finally write it. This fic is just straight up smut and I fucking love it lmao. There needs to be more Kylo gangbang fics tbh

What have I learned?

Last year wasn’t as successful for writing as I’d hoped, given that I wrote less in 2019 than I did in 2018. But also a lot of things happened to me last year. I got a new role at work. My dad had a heart attack (he’s okay though). I had a pretty rough time with my mental health. And then there was the lead up to TROS and the frankly unnecessary amount of stress that caused me. So there was a lot going on and working against me, which is a large part of why I didn’t manage to write as much as I’d hoped I would, and there’s a lot in my folder that I started but just wasn’t able to finish before the end of the year. I worried for a while I was losing interest, but looking back, no, it was definitely the IRL shit lmao. That said, I’m also extremely happy with all of the pieces I did finish, regardless of how well they did. I’m proud of them and I loved writing them, even when it was difficult

One of my goals from last year was to write more, which I didn’t manage, and to get better at answering comments, which I think I did well on for the most part up until post-TROS lmao. I also wanted to do the big bang again (and I was hoping for a reverse, which it was!) and I did. And I also wanted to have fun and keep my confidence with my writing, which I think I was the most successful at. I feel really good about everything I made and I really enjoyed writing them, even if I didn’t manage to finish everything

Goals for 2020?

I think part of the reason I didn’t finish this post in 2019 is because of my TROS breakdown and subsequent stresses associated with it. Because I wasn’t sure what I wanted or what I was going to do. Sometimes I wanted to give up and find a new fandom/ship, other times I was sure I was over it and going to just do whatever the fuck I wanted, and then there was every emotion in between

Now, though, I’m sure I’m going to keep writing here. I haven’t managed much this year yet, but I can feel it coming back to me. I have a post-TROS fic I managed to solve a major problem with the other day. I also have renben as a new ship to excite me. And I still have a lot of wips and BTHB and various others I desperately want to do. Right now, I feel good about my writing and my interest in it is back to normal, which is great. So this year? I’m not going to set a hard goal. I’d love to write more than last year and maybe I will, but it’s okay if I don’t. I’d love to do another big bang this year, but I’m not going to kick myself if I can’t handle it when that time comes. I’d love to finish BTHB, but if it stretches into another year, who cares? My only goal is to just keep writing and keep enjoying it. I want to have fun with it. I want to be happy with whatever pieces I do manage to put out. I want to set aside time to read more fics from others, if I can. And I think all of those will really help with my mental health, which is starting to recover right now, and that’s what’s most important of all

Also thank you all for your patience with me. I know I’ve not been responsive, here or on twitter or to comments, but I am trying my best. It’s been a rough go and I don’t like to whine too much in my fandom spaces. I don’t know when or even if I’ll get back to normal, but I’m trying, and that’s what matters. I love every one of you on here <3

[master-sass-blast]

Planning Pains

Whoooo boy. Gonna have to slap a big ol’ trigger warning on this one.

Summary: You attempt to start planning your upcoming wedding with Piotr --and run into a major emotional wall instead.

Rating: T for adult language, past child abuse, mentions of abuse, trauma from said abuse, and just a lot of anger, angst, and emotional pain.

Set after ‘Questions and Answers’ and before ‘The Literal Crack Fic.’

Also

TRIGGER WARNING: If you’ve got any hang ups on your ability to be loved or be in a relationship (which I absolutely understand and am not judging anyone for because I went through the same stuff as a teenager), this may not be the fic for you! This fic deals extensively with being led to believe that you (as the character of the Reader, not you irl obvs) weren’t worthy of being loved and the trauma that extended from that, and even if you haven’t suffered the abuse and gaslighting that I’ve detailed for the CHC, it’s heavy.

Obviously, y’all are fully capable of making your own grown-ass decisions, but I wanted to put it out there. Just in case.

Taglist:  @marvel-is-perfection, @chromecutie, @super-darkcloudstudent, @girl-obsessed-with-things, @starman-thorsus-canos-jock

(Want to be added to the taglist? Send me a DM! Seriously, DM me, I don’t trust Tumblr’s ask box system or reblog notification system to catch everything lol.)

You should be able to do this. You’re smart. You’re capable. You help herd around a bunch of malcontent mutant teenagers and take down various groups of mutant criminals or groups planning to enact crimes against mutants –and the former is arguably more dangerous than either of the latter. You can make pancakes without burning down the kitchen –and have an edible product by the end of it (though the overall “pancake” appearance is largely questionable)!

You can fucking fly, for fuck’s sake. Know how many people can do that? A significantly small number, and they need planes or fancy equipment to do it, the chumps.

(Alright, that last point may be a little moot due to your mutation set, but still.)

Point stands: you are a confident, competent, capable adult, who is capable of accomplishing many different things with varying but usually large amounts of success.

So, why is it you can’t plan your own wedding?

You’re staring down at one of the tables in the library; you’d opted to set up in there for the sake of space, so you could spread everything out and get a good look at all of it, but now you’re thinking that was a mistake because the sheer amount of everything only makes it that much clearer that you don’t know what you’re doing.

Venues. Catering options. Invitations. Cake. Flowers. Wedding dress. Bridesmaids dresses. More cake. Music. Groom’s suit and groomsmen’s suits. Cake again. Rings, vows, honeymoon reservations, wedding party details, finding a minister, finding a house, or maybe an apartment, legal name changes—

It’s all too much. Even something simple, like picking what flowers you like, is impossible because…

Because you never even thought someone would want to marry you. For nearly your entire life, you were told that you were a monster, whole-heartedly undesirable, and because of that you never even dreamed about what a wedding for you might look like. Not even once.

And, as a result, you’ve got absolutely nothing in mind for what you might even want.

And it’s making you furious.

Because you should’ve been able to dream about your wedding –or even if in some alternate timeline, you never wanted one, you shouldn’t have been so beaten down that you couldn’t even fathom someone finding you desirable, let alone worthy of committing to.

You’re shaking in your seat, hands trembling as rage courses through you. The longer you stare at everything in front of you, the more helpless you feel, and the angrier you get.

Fuck your parents. Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them, fuck them fuck them fuck themfuckthemfuckthem—

“Hey, Y/N.” Russell grabs your shoulder gently. “Are you okay?”

You realize that you’re basically angry-sobbing in your seat, glaring at all the wedding planning materials while you tremble all over.

Yukio materializes on your other side and hugs you gently. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t!” Russell protests. “She’s crying over a picture of shoes!”

“A lot of women do that.”

“Should we get Piotr?” Ellie asks, ever the voice of reason.

You nod, largely beyond words at this point as you try to wipe off your face and reign yourself in a little now that there are people in the room with you.

Ellie and Yukio head off to track down your fiancé, but Russell stays behind, sitting next to you and gently holding your hand while you –unsuccessfully—try to calm down.

“It’s okay,” he says softly. “It’s gonna be okay. Colossus’ll be here soon.”

You nod, trying to soothe him more than you are yourself at this point, because –honestly—you’re just so angry. It’s like a wound you never realized you had is now ripping open, deeper and deeper, tearing through you until you can’t breathe and all you can do is bleed and rage—

How dare they.

Betrayal. Pure and simple. Betrayed by your parents, betrayed by the town you grew up in, betrayed by the members of the church you were dragged to every Sunday and Wednesday…

Week after week, a community of adults bore witness –to the anti-mutant sermons you were forced to listen to, to the times were the kids in the middle school and high school youth groups would bully you even though you were barely out of first grade yet, to the growing fear with which you reacted to your parents, to the times where you were dragged back to your home by men toting rifles after you’d tried to run away, to the bruises that covered your arms from your father’s abuse, to the bags under your eyes from constantly being afraid and upset, to how you retreated further and further inside yourself as your parents bore down harder and harder on you…

And they did nothing. No one, not once, ever looked at you and decided that you deserved protecting because you were just a kid and couldn’t control your genetic make-up.

How fucking dare they.

You didn’t deserve to hate yourself, you didn’t deserve to feel worthless, you didn’t deserve to believe that you were so unlovable that you’re completely lost at sea in the face of planning your own fucking wedding—

And then Piotr’s kneeling next to you and drawing you into his arms. He’s in his uniform and armored up –he must’ve been overseeing training sessions, and now you feel bad for having inadvertently interrupted him.

“Tische, myshka.” He gently lifts you into his arms, then says something to Ellie before carrying you out of the library.

You wind your arms around his neck and bury your face in the shoulder piece of his uniform. You’re still shaking, borderline hyperventilating as you try to cope with the sheer level of wrath coursing through you. How dare they, how fucking dare they; I was a kid!

And then you’re in the bedroom you share with Piotr.

You’re vaguely aware that the teens have followed you and that they’re setting the wedding stuff on the desks, and then they’re leaving and closing the door behind them—

And then it’s just you and Piotr.

“What’s wrong, myshka?” Piotr murmurs. He armors down before sitting on the bed, carefully settling you in his lap so he can nestle you in his arms. “What has you upset?”

What you want to say is that you’re upset and enraged over the mistreatment you suffered as a child, and that it still extends so far into your life that you’re finding yourself unable to help plan your own wedding because you literally have zero ideas on what you want due to being abused for so long.

What comes out, however…

“I hate them,” you seethe as you sit back. “I hate them so fucking much. I was just a kid, I didn’t fucking deserve to be their punching bag—”

Fortunately, Piotr knows you well enough –and the tragic story of your upbringing—that he can decipher from your rambling that you’re upset about your family. He frowns, sad and concerned, and tucks a stray lock of hair behind your ear. “I am so sorry, moya dusha.”

“I didn’t deserve it,” you insist, almost frantically, as tears sting your eyes. “I didn’t deserve it, I didn’t deserve it, I didn’t fucking deserve it—”

“Konecho net. Never.” He draws you back into his arms, kissing the top of your head and rubbing your back and generally doing whatever he can to soothe you. “You never deserved how they treated you. You never could, and you never will.”

You sob brokenly against your fiancé’s chest. “I can’t even plan my own wedding, Piotr! I don’t even know what I want it to look like!”

And then it all comes pouring out –the panic you’d felt in the library, how it’d morphed into fury as you realized what was causing your utter lack of ideas for your upcoming wedding, how the teens had found you in there, borderline hyperventilating as you’d stared at all the wedding stuff.

Piotr, for his part, just holds you and kisses the top of your head over and over again. “I am so sorry, moya lyubov’. Had I known you would have felt this kind of distress, I would have not left you to work on our wedding details alone.”

“But aren’t most brides supposed to plan the wedding?” you ask as you sniff inelegantly.

“I do not think ‘supposed to’ is right word. I think most brides wind up planning weddings because they have more aesthetic preferences,” Piotr explains. “However, I think it might be better if we work together for most of it. If only so you do not have to deal with your pain alone.”

“But you’ve got job stuff to do,” you whine. “And X-Men stuff, and teacher stuff, and this is gonna take a lot of time—”

“And you are my fiancée and love of my life and future wife and we will find way to make this work,” he insists as he presses his lips against your forehead. “Your well-being is more important than easy schedule.”

You let out a shaky breath. “I just don’t want you to wind up hating me by all the end of this.”

Piotr just holds you tighter and kisses your temple. “Impossible.”

It’s not going to be easy. Even the thought of trying to work on wedding stuff makes your stomach churn with anxiety and unreleased rage.

Nothing in life comes easy, though. And with Piotr by your side –and your friends and newfound family—you know you’ll get through it just fine.

[flightfoot]

Now everyone in the fandom is going to be like: "You are a sentimonster, you are a sentimonster, everyone is a sentimonster!"

Not EVERYONE (unless it’s crack). Only people that it makes sense for Emilie to want to create. I don’t think we currently have any other leads on why Emilie would’ve wanted to create a sentimonster, than if she wanted to create a person for some reason. And right now the person that it would make the most sense for her to create, is Adrien. Gorilla’s also POSSIBLE, but I can’t see that making for that good a twist by itself. No, for drama purposes, I think it’d have to be Adrien.

Also I’m a SUCKER for a good Tomato in the Mirror storyline, along with Clones Are People Too sorts of things, especially if the person is still treated as, well, a person afterwards, and they get to stick around.

AND THE ANGST AND HURT/COMFORT FROM THIS CONCEPT.

Seriously I want it to be canon if only from the deliciously angsty and hurt/comfort fics that would arise from it.

[timeisacephalopod]

Ive seen endgame! Spoilers under the cut and I’m not tagging this as spoilers because I’m literally telling you now its spoilers.

1- what the fuck was the point of Tony’s kid? We had more than 10 years with this character, he doesn’t need a kid for emotional impact when he died and now I’m kind of pissed they threw this fucking random kid in there only to orphan the poor thing and make Pepper a single mother. What fucking bullshit. Never should have been a storyline.

2- Pepper in the suit yaaaaaas.

3- Wanda. Fucking loved her moments. And Thanos’ “I don’t even know who you are” was fucking iconic lmao. I mean her “you will” was okay but holy fucking damn that was the funniest shit from Thanos.

4- they killed viz permanently lmao yeah I didn’t give 2 tits and a snare drum about him anyway so I don’t care.

5- Steve. What the fucking fuck did they do to him? Don’t get me wrong, I like Peggy, and I liked him and Peggy in FA. They were cute. But it was a 4 month fling in the middle of of a war. Not that it can’t be important, but after 15+ years you are telling me a 4 month fling from Steve’s youth is more important to him than everything else? And what of Bucky? He leaves him to HYDRA and after all the shit he went through in WS and CW you’re seriously telling me he’d just LEAVE him there like that? I don’t mean to be a dick to Peggy because I do like her, but narratively speaking Bucky has always played more importance to her except when they want to make Steve feel nostalgic. I’m sorry, I’m fucking over that plot line.

More than that though she moved on in her show, she had a life after Steve and he went back and took that from her. And I don’t see why aside from no one let him grow as a character while also having him grow as a character. He went through a huge character shift in WS and then we saw nothing of it. Aside from his motivations in CW, which make sense given the context of WS however much I disagree, we see none of that development and I’m fucking tired of watching him lament over a relationship that lasted for a shorter time than a high school semester. To any normal person, and even to Steve given his non normal stance, he would have moved the fuck on. Also he made out with her niece that one time!! How is he living with this!

Also Sam says they never had a Captain America but Steve was still big when he danced with Peggy, which means he got the serum, which means he still can’t age right, which begs the question of how the tits long did he live? And again, what does this mean for everything else considering getting the serum implies he was, at some point, Cap even if he was never the Cap they knew. What the fuck! I’m actually the most mad about this because Steve, post WS, probably would have been one of my favorite characters given his extreme narrative shift and just how interesting that could have been if anyone ever fucking let him move on with his fucking self but no. Instead we end with him in the same spot he started in! I watched ten years of this shit for him to do NOTHING? All that development (that the narratives never really let him go through in totality because he narratively never shifted out of his War and Peggy Phase even while his character, on an individual level, moved out of that several times) and I watch him end in the same place he started?

Honestly I’m pretty pissed about that. Especially with all the did with Bucky. I seriously can’t believe Steve fucking left him there, ignored every piece of information he had, ruined Peggy’s original happy ending, and then didn’t even grow as a character. I like that he got a happy ending, I think he’s earned that, but I simply cannot believe a 4 month fucking fling meant so much he’d ignore his best friend, HYDRA, Peggy’s original marriage, the fact that he made out with her niece that one time, and everything else to end up exactly where he started. Which is why I don’t really care for him to begin with- because the narrative always leaves him right at the beginning and I don’t know how to invest in a character that grows but never grows. If he narratively was allowed to grow he would have been so. Much. Better. It is so fucking frustrating to me that he never moved the fuck on. You have no idea.

6- “I can do this all day” “Yeah I know”

7- “You look like melted ice cream”

8- Hated almost everything they did with Thor. Fat jokes? Yikes. Though I did love that ice cream line. Loved the bit with Frigga. And like. Thor being devastated and traumatized is ok. I think that’s realistic enough even if I wonder how someone that’s been alive for well over 1000 years doesn’t know how to handle himself with slightly more grace. I would have liked to see him crack differently.

9- Cap picking up Thor’s hammer and Thor being happy about it? 10 000 times better than the garbage Whedon wrote. Loved that.

10- Nebula. N E B U L A. NEEEEEBBBUUUUULLLLAAAA. Start to finish fucking loved her. She was amazing. 2 questions though- how did she not kill herself when she killed herself? Which in itself is a fucky question to ask. And also the second contention point I have with the movie beyond time travel bullshit is why NO ONE asked where she was post Nat (that in a minute). I know they were sad about Nat obviously but Rhodey is a full bird colonel, he keeps track of thousands of people for his job, plus all of his involvement in Tony’s antics, plus the Avengers and you’re telling me he didn’t notice her gone even with Nat? And Tony, you’re telling me he didn’t notice her gone? He was the one who bonded with her the most and he didn’t notice that he’s now technically lost two people he was close to? And Rocket? He didn’t notice? Are you fucking kidding me? I thought that was bullshit.

Even if, by chance, Rhodey somehow didn’t notice his partner in crime was missing (”I wasn't always like this” “Neither was I”- new BroTP yo!) when I think his military experience alone would have made him the second most likely to notice after Rocket (because he knows her the best) then Rocket should have. And if for some reason Rocket didn’t notice despite her being all that’s left of his found family, making him extra invested in her whereabouts, over Nat, whom I think he’d care about but not like Nebula, then Tony, who spent all that time with her in space, would have noticed.

Fucking someone would have noticed her gone. And the whole second half relies on no one noticing this moment and I call absolute bullshit on that. Someone. Would. Have. Noticed. Rhodey if for no other reason than experience of keeping track of people in war zones, Rocket if for no other reason than her being his last remaining connection to his family, and Tony if for no other reason than Nebula being a large part of the reason he’s alive. I was completely thrown from the story here. I simply can’t see how they could over look that even considering Natasha.

11- Natasha. Are you fucking kidding me? You killed her over Clint? I fucking hate MCU Clint. He’s boring, he’s nothing like the comics, he’s a fucking prick, and I don’t give a fuck about his family or anything to do with him. I liked him best when he was going to kill himself for Natasha. That is the only moment, as Marie Kondo would say, sparked joy for me. Otherwise throw the whole thing out. Fucking Natasha over Clint. Fuck you. That was an insult to the viewers. I don’t give a fuck about Clint, I don’t give a fuck about his kids aside from thinking they didn’t deserve the snap, and I don’t give a fuck about his story.

My mom said he was a plain Timbit (donut hole for the US readers) in a donut world and I honestly think that’s insulting to the plain Timbit, which is something we give to dogs as treats in Canada. Clint isn’t even a dog treat to me and they killed Black Widow over him. Fucking pissed.

12- “That suit does nothing for your ass” “No one was asking you to look, Tony!” “That’s America’s ass!” .... “That is America’s ass”

13- I actually really liked what they did with Bruce. I was excited to see all the benefits of the Hulk and Banner in one! That was pretty cool!

14- Strange’s reappearance was pretty badass. And Wong! I was excited to see him there! Was a bit surprised by Tilda Swinton’s appearance but okay. I didn’t hate it. Loved when she punched Bruce out of the Hulk lmfao that was so funny. I do like that she apparently does that to everyone lmao. I should write a fic where she punches Wong’s soul out of his body when the meet just because I think it’d be funny. And I’d love to see more Wong.

15- Steve vs Steve was really cool, I liked that. And fucking Hail HYDRA holy fucking shit I almost lost my ass. Couldn’t fucking believe he said that (and knowing that he just leaves that all for Peggy, his 4 month fling? Find this wildly out of character for him). Then he fucks right off with the tesseract omg.

16- Scott had some iconic one-liners. “That’s America’s ass!” “Okay I'm going to go inside you” omg. Ant Man was a joy to watch in this. I find Endgame used his character right.

17- I know I said it but Pepper Potts in the fucking suit y’all! I don’t know who was watching Morgan but also Pepper Potts in the fucking suit!!

18- That time travel shit made things entirely way too fucky. I knew that’s what they were going to do because that’s all that made sense, but I thought it was fucking stupid. And can Thanos even snap the stones out of existence? Because Tilda Swinton’s speech implied if he did something like that timelines would essentially do the funky chicken and die. She removed the time stone and shit was supposed to get weird, remove all 5 and what happens? Wtf? He fucking hid those stones. Did like Thor’s bit there though, killing Thanos. I think Nebula earned it more than him but I also think it was a good moment for Thor before his character became a fucking joke. 

19- narratively I understand why they started with Clint’s family dusting but I don’t give a fuck about Clint or his dusted family. I would have preferred watching a civilian lose his shit.

20- Steve you need therapy, stop leading therapy sessions. Especially when your advice is ‘move on’ and you literally go fucking nowhere in your life even after you went all over hell’s creations. Get this man a proper therapist he needs like 15!

21- lmfao Russos talking about gay representation and it was a guy talking about a date. I shit you the fuck not that was it. Gay. It was barely even there. Only straight men would ever assume that could possibly count as representation holy fuck. Like thanks for the blink you miss it shout out I guess. You remembered gays exist, wow!

22- Strange’s one finger thing, I liked that a lot actually. I think it functioned both as a great call to action and a nice reference to Stephen’s power.

23- Quick question, why was Tilda Swinton in New York? Because they went back too far for Strange- at first I when they mentioned 3 stones in NY I was like wait, when’s Strange’s story supposed to happen? After WS right? He can’t be in NY with the stone? But then Tilda showed up and I was like... why isn’t she in Nepal at the teaching sanctum? Because apparently the NY one isn’t a teaching sanctum and as far as I knew she was training Mordo and Wong there at this time so wtf? And it can’t be explained with ‘she knew she needed to be there’ because she punched Bruce out of hulk and he had to grovel to her to get the fucking thing from her and only managed because she knew Stephen gave up the stone willingly and would never do so without good reason because he’s the best fo the best. So like. Why was she there aside from plot convenience? That was a little too easy. Frankly, the whole plot was a touch too easy but still.

24- tired of aliens we’re supposed to relate to looking like humans but in pink while aliens we’re supposed to dislike are animalistic and non human looking. That’s a garbage trope.

25- The black woman in the elevator who made Tony and Steve is 100% Fury’s mother no one can convince me otherwise. I think the timeline matches up but I don’t care if it doesn’t she’s his mom now. He gets it all from his mama.

Bonus: stop trying to make Howard happen, Marvel, its not going to. I fucking hated that scene with Tony and Howard. What kind of bullshit abuse apology was that? Howard then, sure, he didn’t suck quite yet and seems to be aware of his own shortcomings. Howard in the future? Sorry, irredeemable crap. Narratively interesting irredeemable crap but irredeemable nonetheless. Tony panicking and saying his last name was Potts was great though lol. I’ll take it as evidence he took Pepper’s last name when they got married.

Bonus Bonus: I cried when Sam held the shield. I’ve been gunning for Sam to take over as Cap since we met him and everyone told me it’d be Bucky. I argued that we’ve already seen the story of a super soldier as Cap, it would be more interesting to watch Sam as a relatively normal guy take over as Cap. And I like Bucky traumatized and Winter Solider-y. I think he’s more interesting that way. Seriously though, Sam as Cap will be amazing and I didn’t expect to cry at that of all things but I did. I’m so excited to see him in that role!

Bonus Bonus Bonus for any sorry fucking soul who’s made it this far in I think I might update the Tony, T’Challa, and Their Gaggle of Children verse to include Morgan (but older) finding Tony only she’s his actual assed kid and no one believes it even though they have a striking resemblance. Which annoys them both because he got the media to buy all his other fake kids with easy to track down parents but not his actual kid. Ending with Nebula showing up and him claiming she’s his kid and everyone buying it.