#I’m also really bad at conveying these feelings to people so I just hope they know how much I love them | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dandelions-143 · 7 months ago

Text

Who’s Gonna Hold You like me? Nofuckinbody

Masterlist

Part 1

Part 2

This one’s kind of sad/dramatic but there will be more parts to it.

Pairing: Idol Changbin x f!reader

Genre: Friends to Friends with benefits to nothing

Warnings: not much, cussing, a little drinking, it just ends sad… for now

Summary: You’re friends with Idol Changbin. You spend as much time together as possible. It’s always a fun time with him. Late nights sneaking out doing things you know would get you both in trouble but, it also feels like Changbin is stringing you along in some ways and it gets to you… coming to a bow up after so long of holding it in.

Masterlist

(Did not proofread… sorry!! Also likes and reblogs are highly appreciated!!)

He had all the car windows down. The wind combing through your hair. The music was up loud and he was speeding down the coast towards the beach. You looked over and a ghost of a smile played upon his lips. He was beautiful, sweet, gentle, and a little wild. Changbin was not suppose to be out right now, he had a busy schedule as an idol. A strict schedule nearly daily and he always stuck to that except late at night.

He would come and pick you up in his new car he recently bought. You would run out of your front door adrenaline pumping through your veins at the sight of him and the fact that if he got caught sneaking out of his dorm or if he got caught with you it could possibly mean real trouble for him. Changbin didn’t care, he wanted to spend every night he could with you and his friends.

Changbin was a bit of a bad boy, taking you to abandon places that had no trespassing signs just so you two could stay out all night drinking, dancing crazy to the muffled playlist coming from your phone, sharing heated kisses, and needy touches. Or he would hop a fence and sneak you into a hotel swimming pool to go skinny dipping after pool hours. And then sometimes he would just take you to a party with his friends from his past.

Like tonight he was taking you to the beach which was closed after sundown but there was a bonfire happening and he had pretty much begged you to go with him. Now, even though you two spent most nights together he had only ever kissed you, he never tried to do more than that even though you wished he would cross that line.. you would beg for it if it wouldn’t be humiliating. So you two stayed friends that would sometimes make out.

You craved his attention. You loved the way he would look at you sometimes as if he knew a secret that you didn’t. That little cocky smirk he got when you would tell him a dirty joke you heard, like you could see the smutty thoughts flowing through his mind. You touched yourself to the thought of him. You just wanted him always and tonight was going to be the night you told him exactly how you felt and what you wanted.

Changbin walked a little ahead of you as you both walked from the parking lot onto the still warm sand. He grabbed your wrist lightly pulling you along, “Hurry, so we can get a good cold drink.” You only smiled and picked up the pace. “Patience Changbin, the party wont leave. It’s still going to be there, also I’m a bit nervous. These people are all your friends I wont know anyone there.” You said as you walked up beside him and Changbin dropped your wrist, which you instantly missed the warmth of his large hand on your skin.

“No, no, don’t get insecure now. You’re the funnest person I know and the prettiest.” He put his hands on your shoulders to make you look at him. “Just be yourself and people will love you, just as I do.” You know he didn’t mean it the way you wanted him to mean it but a small bloom of hope began in the pit of your stomach. Maybe he will reciprocate my feelings… you thought to yourself as his warm brown eyes searched yours.

You opened your mouth to begin to convey that you really wanted to tell him something important but of course a couple of his friends spotted you both and began to yell for you two to come over.

The closer you got to the party the louder the chatter and music became. The fire was huge and blazing in the middle of this dug out pit causing the warm summer night to feel even more warm. You followed Changbin as he greeted a bunch of people. And you didn’t expect Changbin to introduce you exactly but, you felt a little awkward when he began conversations and didn’t even acknowledge you were standing right beside him. What’s up with him, he never treats you like this. You question in your head but chose to just go with it. You didn’t mind being a wallflower as long as you were with him.

Eventually you two made your way to where the drinks were and he did grab two drinks, one for you and one for himself. Changbin turned to you as he sipped on his beer, “Are you okay?” You nodded and drank some of your beer. You winced at the bitter taste as it slid down your throat. You thought that if you just had a little liquid courage maybe you would loosen up and not be so uptight.

You watched as Changbin flitted around like a social butterfly. He was in his element, talking to everyone he knew and even people he didn’t know. The more awkward you felt the more you drank and only two hours in you had drank two beers and you were on your third. You weren’t sure where Changbin had run off to but it was pissing you off at this point.

He had never treated you like this, he had never left you to just fend for yourself with people you didn’t know. He was always there, a comfort for you. And yes, maybe you should be more independent but you came out to be with him not strangers.

Fuck it.. I’m going to dance. I can’t just stand here alone anymore. The thought crossed your mind as you finished that third beer and you just chucked the empty bottle in the sand before walking over to a spot near the fire where the music was blasting the loudest. You were not the most coordinated but you were buzzed enough to not care anymore.

You let the music just move you, not caring what you looked like to the other party goers around. Then suddenly a pair of hands engulfed your hips and you smirked thinking maybe Changbin had seen you and decided to join you but, when you turned around it was not him. The guy that was dancing with you was a tall, slim man that had dyed dark blue curly hair. He was cute but, not the one you wanted to be dancing with.

“No thanks” you said to the guy, your words slurring ever so slightly. “I want to be dancing with Changbin.” You said out loud, your inner thoughts slipping free of your usually guarded mouth. The man didn’t seem offended he nodded and pointed in the direction of the water where it was darker and more quiet. “I saw him head out there with a friend, I think.”

So you began to walk in that direction, all the while muttering to yourself how you were just going to tell him. Tell him everything. As you walked you could see a figure sitting down in the sand by the water. The waves crashing on the shore but not quite reaching him. You couldn’t help but smile as his figure grew larger and you could see that little smirk you loved on his lips.

“Hey, I -“ you began as you plopped down beside him on the sand. Changbin looked startled. His eyes growing a bit wide and he kept glancing out at the ocean. You were too tipsy to really notice what or who he was looking at until you heard a girls voice calling to him. “Binnie! It’s so cold!�� The girl yelled as she came running up to him, soaking wet and only in her bra and panties.

You froze, your eyes looking at the girl who was now wrapping herself up in his jacket. You then looked over at Changbin and he couldn’t look you in the face. “Binnie, who’s this?” She innocently asked. Before Binnie could utter a word you shoved him and you shoved him hard. His muscly body was not easy to move but you were pissed, more so than you had ever been in your entire life.

“What the fuck, Changbin! You ditched me to come out here with her! And who the fuck calls you Binnie. No one calls you that!” You were yelling now and it took a second try but you stumbled to your feet. “I can’t fucking believe you!” You began to storm off in the opposite direction of the bonfire but Changbin followed you. You could hear his foot steps in the sand behind you.

“Come on, don’t be mad. I expected you to do the same. This is a party after all. It’s what people do. They hook up!” Changbin grabbed your arm gently, making you stop. You couldn’t take it anymore, the tears were rushing down your cheeks now, hot against the salty breeze coming off of the ocean. As you whirled around. You forcefully shook his hand off of you, “But I came here with you! I don’t want anyone else…”

Your voice was shaky and not as loud as it was before. You felt defeated and embarrassed that this was how your feelings came out to him. In a rush.. a drunken rush. “Oh come on, y/n. We aren’t dating. It’s not like we have an obligation to only be with one another.” Changbin blurted out, his eyes trained on you making you even more self conscious. You took a step back upon hearing his harsh words.

Slowly nodding in realization, “So none of it meant anything to you…” You watched his face fall a bit then he shook his head rapidly, “That’s not what I meant!” He yelled, anger seeping into his voice. “No! You don’t get to be mad, Changbin. All the sneaking out, the late night secrets, the heated kisses, staying up all night to watched the sunrise..may not have meant anything to you but, it meant EVERYTHING to me!”

Reaching up to tug at your hair in frustration you began to cry a little more. Maybe it was the alcohol but your emotions are running very high. You aren’t sobbing but the overwhelming urge to just sit in the sand and cry was very appealing. “You can’t tell me you didn’t feel it too.. that buzz between us. The way you look at me sometimes.. like you know.. like you feel it too.” Your voice was softer now, broken as you cried softly.

“Y/n, please don’t cry.” Changbin came to your side and gently took your wrists to pull you into his chest. He wrapped his arms around you to give you one of his protective hugs that you loved so much. It would be easy to just fall back into it again. To let him comfort you and nothing would change. That would be the issue.. nothing would change.

In that moment you made a decision, you were going to choose you this time. No more chasing after a man who clearly was not going to do more than just string you along. “Stop.” You mumbled just as he kissed your forehead and you stepped out of his hold. “No more, I don’t want to stop seeing you but, all of this can’t be one sided. I can’t be strung along anymore. You may not realize what you’re doing but it’s very clear to me now. I’m just someone to touch and kiss and be with when you’re lonely.”

Changbin began to speak but you held up your hand to silence him. “This hurts, I don’t want to stop this but, it hurts more knowing I’m giving you all of me when I will only ever get the pieces of you that you want to give away.” You shook your head as you began to walk backwards. “Don’t call me, don’t text me. This stops now. I wont be a convenience anymore.” Now you were sobbing heavily and you could see the reality hit Changbin. That you really meant what you were saying.

Before you turned around to walk away, “I’m done waiting for you to feel the way I do.” You didn’t say goodbye, you simply turned away from him and walked back to the parking lot. After the car you had ordered came to pick you up and you were on your way back home is when you allowed yourself to break down. The man driving probably thought you were insane but your body had to let it out.

It was like experiencing a death. Your entire body felt it. You cried hard but, tried to stay as silent as possible. Your shoulders shaking as the tears fell, wetting not only your cheeks but, also streaming down your chin and neck, dripping onto your shirt. You had fallen for Changbin slowly and then rapidly, head over heels and this was the hardest thing you had ever had to do. You loved him but, he didn’t love you the way you needed.

You should have been proud of yourself for putting your heart first but all you could think was.. how would you live your days without him.. and then in the back of your mind you hoped maybe this would make him realize he needed you too.

116 notes · View notes

licorice-tea · 9 months ago

Text

Loving and Letting Go

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x reader

Content: Angst, hurt/comfort, eventually fluff, a little bit of platonic Zosan <3

Word Count: 1.6k

A/N: FIRST REQUEST YAY! tysm to the anon who requested this, i loved writing this! hopefully it fits what you wanted! and ugh i tried to write it so it’s clear that sanji is genuinely in love for the reader, so much so that he’s willing to grow and change for them. he’s just so sweet, one of my fave characters for sure! oh also the title is from a song by Pham Viphurit! enjoy <3

Sanji loves you, so so so much. More than he could ever put into words, or cards and gifts of perfectly delicious meals and fruity drinks, or even hugs and kisses every time the two of you cross paths. But he still tries to convey the extent of his feelings for you, though it will never be enough in his humble opinion.

You, on the other hand, hold the complete opposite opinion. Yes, Sanji is sweet and loving and a great boyfriend, but sometimes he just does too much. Like, when he gives you presents out of the blue; you enjoyed the gifts at first, but overtime you started to feel bad for him spending all of his extra money on you. Then there were the things he’d say to you; you could be doing the most mundane of tasks, or be sick and rotting in bed, and Sanji would still address you as “my goddess.” Simply put, you feel undeserving of the amount of attention he gives you, and it makes you nervous.

Today, like everyday since the two of you became official (and quite a while before that), you wake up in his arms. Though Sanji wakes up much earlier than you in order to prepare breakfast and coffees and teas for the crew, he always makes time to come back and wake you up. And you know, as soon as you shuffle or allow your breathing to become uneven, that he’ll know you’re awake. So you try to fall back asleep in hopes he’ll just go and let you wake up alone. At least then your performance wont have to start until breakfast.

Unfortunately, Sanji just knows you too well. He notices the gentle flutter of your lashes and how your breathing had quickened, if only for a moment. Some people might consider this a luxury; to have such an attentive partner who knows you better than you know yourself. And you did too, at one point.

“Mon amour,” he whispers, “are you awake? I brought you a cup of coffee, and breakfast is ready in the kitchen.”

Sanji’s breath is warm on the back of your neck, but he places a kiss there and suddenly it’s burning hot. He’s so insatiable, smothering you in displays of affection first thing in the morning.

You really can’t take it anymore, and so you gently remove the arm that lays across you. “Go away, Sanji.” It comes off harsher than intended, but the buildup of stress from his constant admiration has reached its peak.

“…Are you ok? Are you sick?”

You sigh, still not turning to face him. “I’m fine, I just… you need to let me be.”

“Angel, have I done something? I’ll make it up to you, I swear, name what you want-“

“I want you to go away.”

Sanji holds his breath for a moment. You’re wounding him with your words, which you should feel bad for, but he’s literally giving you a headache. He doesn’t understand that even you, usually so accepting and reciprocating of all his love, have limits and require space.

He retracts his arms from around you and slips out of the bed, making sure to fix the comforter after. Sanji’s hand lingers on the door knob for a moment before he finally turns it. And while you let out a relieved, but shaky exhale, he tries to hold back tears on the other side of the door.

The tension between you two is palatable as ever. Not that there isn’t always some sort of tension, because there is, but usually it’s more… passionate. Or romantic, at the very least. But for the first time, the rest of the crew can tell that you and Sanji seem to be in the middle of some sort of lovers quarrel. He watches you from a distance and attempts to approach you several times throughout the course of the day, and every time you find some way to make yourself busy.

Even Zoro, in all his obliviousness, notices how little you two are interacting. “Hey, shitty cook.”

“Piss off, Zoro. I’m not in the mood for your stupidity.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Excuse me?”

“Ya know, with you and y/n. She’s avoiding you, so… What’d you do?”

“I DIDN’T-“ Sanji catches himself yelling, and takes a deep breath. “I don’t know. She just told me to leave her alone, and I’m respecting her wishes.”

“Huh. Well, alright then.”

Zoro doesn’t speak further, but Sanji can tell he has something to say since he’s still sitting at the kitchen island instead of taking his sake to enjoy on the deck. “What? Just spit it out already, asshole.”

He shrugs. “You’re probably suffocating her with all your… love-y shit.”

“Suffocating? No, no I treat her the way she deserves to be treated. Y/n is my goddess, my night and day, she is the queen of my heart and-“

“You see what I mean? Y/n is great or whatever, but she’s a human. She’s one of our crewmates, for fucks sake, and you worship the ground she walks on instead of treating her like one.”

“Because I love her.”

“She knows you love her, idiot.”

“… Hm. You think so?”

“It’s pretty fucking obvious.”

Sanji scoffs. “Whatever.”

He walks out of the kitchen with his hands in his pockets, but mind elsewhere. Perhaps Zoro… is right? Even that doesn’t sound possible, but… Sanji could understand how you might, on occasion, feel a little smothered. But even if you did, he thought you enjoyed it! You always welcomed his lips on yours or his hands around you, and you often would giggle and accept his compliments, returning them with your own. So when did you start to feel fed up with him? Had he not paid you enough attention, too caught up in worshipping you as the (surprisingly emotionally intelligent) swordsman had said? And most importantly, was it too late now to repair the damage?

Sanji finds you in the aquarium bar, finally, after searching the upper deck and checking your room and your study below deck. The door is open, so he knocks against the frame. You turn away from the tank to look at him with eyes wide open.

“Can we talk?”

You nod silently, and scoot over in the booth seat assuming that he would want to sit by you. But to your (pleasant?) surprise, Sanji takes a seat in a chair on the other side of the table.

“Mon- ahem, y/n. I’ve come to understand that maybe… Maybe you’ve felt smothered by me, recently. Is that true?”

You’re surprised that he recognizes why you’re upset. “Mhm. A little.”

“Can you tell me more, my love? I want to fix this, to fix my behavior.”

“…You’re perfect, Sanji. And I love you so much, it’s just… It makes me anxious when you’re always so- so extreme, you know?”

“What do you mean?” Which, he already knows; the gifts, the constant PDA, being around you 24/7…

You sigh. “You know what I mean, Sanji…”

“Yes, I do, but I don’t want it to be true. I don’t want you to feel bad because of me.” He thinks.

“You’re always hovering over me, and as much as I love being around you, too, it’s just too much. I need space, sometimes, and I’m only human but you treat me like… Like I’m somehow different or better than the others, and that… I don’t know, it makes me feel bad about myself.”

“I never want you to feel that way-“

“But you do. I feel guilty and nervous and- and..” you sniffle. Oh god, you’re crying. “I love you, but sometimes it’s too much.”

Sanji feels tears pricking the in the corners of his eyes, too. Was there really such a thing as too much affection? Clearly, if he had just made you cry from all of it.

“Y/n… I- I’m so sorry, I never meant to overwhelm you.”

You respond with an equally soft tone. “I know. It’s ok.”

He shakes his head and reaches an arm across the table, but second guessed the action and retracts his hand. “It’s not. I shouldn’t have ever done anything to make you uncomfortable in the first place.

You reach out this time, putting one hand over both of his. He glances up at you. “You didn’t know.”

“Still….”

“In the future, maybe… Maybe try to do a little less, if that makes sense?”

Sanji nods, and reaches out again; this time to wipe the tears from your cheeks. “I just love you so much, y/n.”

“I love you too.”

While cradling your face in one hand, he continues. “I’ll give you more space from now on, if that’s what will make you feel better.”

“I think it will.”

And it does. In the coming days, Sanji keeps the PDA to a minimum, and even makes a point to call you by your name more often than he addresses you as “my goddess.” It makes you feel more seen, and definitely more comfortable.

You still want him to hold you most nights. It’s hard to fall asleep without his arms around you after so long getting used to the feeling of him; his love, his protection, his dedication and his breath. And of course, Sanji still indulges you. The great, passionate love he has for you hasn’t gone away- it never will- but the way he shows you affection are more so on your terms now.

Besides: what greater way could there be to show you his love, than by doing everything in his power to make you happy?

#fanfic #one piece x reader #one piece #one piece x you #x reader #sanji x you #sanji x reader #vinsmoke sanji #sanji #black leg sanji #hurt/comfort #angst #sanji angst #sanji fluff

128 notes · View notes

skateordiebitch · 7 days ago

Text

HIT ME UP || D.F. x reader

‘and i'll waste my time if you pursue me, i'll let you know, if you ever hit me up'

summary: dominic fike, the one night stand who won't go away.

and i’ll eat up dominic being the biggest yearner everytime!!! i love writing him as someone who’s just head over heels😭 also can we talk abt how hot he looks in these photos? GOOD LORD. PLEASE JUST ONE NIGHT.

anyways enjoy! requests are open too <3

The bar was loud, packed with people, but somehow you managed to carve out a little oasis at the corner, clutching your drink and scrolling mindlessly through your phone.

It was one of those nights you weren’t even sure why you were out; you just knew you didn’t want to be home.

Your friend had bailed on you last minute, but the lure of a Friday night was still enough to get you out the door and into the smoky, neon-lit crowd.

That’s when he caught your eye.

Not intentionally—just a glint of movement in your peripheral, followed by a cocky grin aimed at anyone and everyone in his path.

This guy was tall, broad-shouldered, with dark eyes and that kind of look that screamed trouble.

His confidence was unmistakable, bordering on the absurd, as if he was used to people looking at him, fawning over him. You rolled your eyes at the mere sight.

It wasn’t long before he zeroed in on you, and despite the fact that you were clearly uninterested, he strutted over, a grin on his face like he’d already won you over.

“Hey,” he said, leaning against the bar beside you. His voice was low, smooth, a little too self-assured for your taste.

“Hi,” you replied, barely looking up, hoping your tone would convey your lack of interest.

He didn’t miss a beat. “Bad night or something?” he asked, his voice low and smooth.

You raised an eyebrow, finally meeting his gaze. “And you’re assuming that, why?”

He laughed, a deep, easy sound. “Just a hunch. You don’t exactly look thrilled to be here. This a party, if you couldn’t tell. Where you’re supposed to be having fun.”

You shrugged, tilting your glass in his direction. “Maybe I’m just avoiding guys like you.”

He let out another chuckle, clearly enjoying the challenge. “Ouch. So, I’m already a ‘type,’ huh?”

You gave him a once-over, taking in his relaxed posture, the way his eyes sparkled with barely-hidden mischief.

“You look like you know your way around this place,” you quipped. “Or at least like you think everyone else here should.”

“Guilty,” he said, unfazed. “But I have to say, you seem different from everyone else here.”

“Oh really? And what makes you think that?”

“Well, for one, you’re talking to me, but you haven’t batted an eyelash since I walked up,” he said, flashing a grin. “Most people here usually fawn over me, at least a little bit.”

You smirked, unimpressed. “Maybe I just have high standards.”

His grin widened, intrigued. “Good. I like a challenge.”

You sipped your drink, meeting his gaze over the rim of your glass. “So, does the mysterious charmer have a name?”

“Dominic,” he replied smoothly, extending a hand. “And you?”

You paused, weighing whether to indulge him. Something about the sparkle in his eye, the cockiness tempered by an unexpected warmth, had you curious despite yourself.

“Nice to meet you, Dominic,” you said, finally shaking his hand, “I’m Y/N.”

“Beautiful,” he replied, holding onto your hand a beat longer than necessary. “So, tell me, Y/N. What brings you out tonight?”

You shrugged. “I guess I felt like a drink. Or an excuse not to be home.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly, interest glinting in his eyes. “Mysterious and straightforward. I like it.”

You rolled your eyes, amused despite yourself. “I get the feeling you say that to everyone, Dominic.”

“Maybe,” he conceded, leaning in with a sly smile, “but I mean it more this time.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re a real piece of work, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he said, mimicking your shrug, a playful gleam in his eye. “But I’d argue I’m a good time… Care to find out?”

Against your better judgment—and perhaps the unexpected thrill of being genuinely intrigued—you left the bar with him, his arm around your shoulders as he steered you out into the cool night air.

You walked through the streets, your voices carrying in the quiet night, the conversation flowing easily. You found yourself laughing at his witty quips, surprised by how disarmingly charming he could be without even trying.

“Are you always this confident?” you asked as you strolled along, barely aware of where you were going.

Dominic chuckled, flashing you a sideways grin. “I don’t know. Are you always this skeptical?”

“Touché,” you replied, nudging him with your elbow. “But yeah. Actually, I am.”

“Fair enough. I like a girl who keeps me on my toes.” He paused, glancing over at you with a sly smile. “But don’t worry. I’m not one to back down from a challenge.”

Maybe it was the way he looked at you, as if he were genuinely intrigued by the fact that you hadn’t fallen at his feet like everyone else.

The night spiraled from there.

You didn’t know exactly what happened—there were blurry memories of shared laughs, whispered secrets, a lot of eye contact, and even more drinks.

The next thing you knew, you were back at your place, barely registering how late it was.

As you stepped into the elevator to head up to your place, a tension settled between you both, charged and unspoken. You could feel his eyes on you, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips, as if he was daring you to break the silence.

The moment the elevator doors opened on your floor, you felt his hand graze yours, sending a flicker of warmth up your arm. The two of you walked side by side down the dimly lit hallway, each step closer to what you couldn’t deny you both wanted.

When you finally reached your door, you fumbled with your keys, suddenly hyper-aware of every second that ticked by.

“Need some help there?” he asked, his voice a low murmur behind you.

You shot him a sideways glance. “Only if you’re as good with all these locks as you are with lines.”

He let out a soft chuckle, stepping close enough that you could feel the warmth of him, the intoxicating scent of his cologne filling the space around you.

With a deep breath, you finally managed to get the door open, stepping inside with Dominic following, his hand brushing yours as he closed the door behind him.

“Nice place,” he remarked, glancing around, but his eyes quickly settled back on you. “Though I have to say, I was mostly interested in the company.”

You rolled your eyes, though a grin betrayed you. “If I wanted flattery, I’d have stayed at the bar.”

“Good thing you didn’t,” he replied, stepping closer, his gaze now locked on yours.

There was a pause, the air between you thick with something you couldn’t ignore. And then, as if by some silent agreement, he reached out, his fingers brushing the side of your face, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

You felt a shiver run down your spine, but you held his gaze, refusing to let him see you flinch. He seemed to appreciate it, his smile turning softer, almost reverent. And then, slowly, he leaned in, his lips barely grazing yours, teasing, as if waiting for you to close the gap.

You did.

The kiss started soft, but quickly deepened, his hands finding your waist, pulling you against him. You could feel the strength in his arms, the urgency in the way his fingers pressed into your back, as if he couldn’t get close enough.

His mouth was warm and inviting, tasting faintly of whiskey and something inherently him.

Each touch, each kiss, felt like it was stripping away the layers you kept up, the armor you wore around people like him.

Without breaking the kiss, you backed toward the couch, your fingers tugging at his jacket, sliding it off his shoulders. He let it fall to the floor without a second thought, his focus completely on you as he guided you down onto the cushions, settling beside you with a grin that was half amusement, half something darker, more intense.

“Comfortable?” he murmured against your lips, his hands wandering over your sides, his fingers slipping under the hem of your shirt.

“Depends,” you shot back, your voice barely a whisper. “Are you going to keep talking?”

He let out a laugh, low and husky, his breath warm against your skin. “Fair enough. I’ll let my actions speak louder, then.”

With that, his hands moved with a practiced ease, gliding over your skin, finding ways to make you gasp and forget any lingering doubts you had. For once, it was easy to be completely in the moment, to let yourself get lost in the way he seemed to know exactly where to touch, where to kiss, it was like he knew your body before even seeing it.

You felt your heart pounding as his hands traced along your skin, each touch lighting a fire that was hard to ignore.

As you lay back, you felt the warmth of his body against yours, his weight grounding you in a way that felt unexpectedly intimate, like he was somehow peeling away your defenses, bit by bit, with each kiss, each brush of his fingertips.

His lips traveled from your mouth to your jaw, down to your collarbone, lingering in ways that left you breathless. There was something different about the way he moved, a gentleness mixed with unspoken intensity, like he was savoring every moment, every inch of skin he touched.

“You’re good at this,” you whispered, unable to stop yourself, though you half-expected him to respond with another cocky remark.

Instead, he looked up at you, eyes filled with a warmth you hadn’t expected.

He stayed silent. He only gave you a soft smile, his lips tracing your jaw as he spoke, his words melting into your skin.

The night unfolded in ways that left you surprised and, admittedly, a bit vulnerable.

His hands and mouth moved in sync, guiding you both through a rhythm that felt almost surreal. And, between the breaths and stolen glances, there was a tenderness—a softness—that you hadn’t anticipated. It felt more like slow unraveling than a quick spark; each moment, each touch, felt deliberate, as though he was trying to memorize you in some quiet way.

At some point, you’d shifted, trading the couch for your bed, the journey between blurring in a haze of laughter and kisses that grew more urgent, more intense, with each passing moment. His words were soft, with a hint of challenge, and in that moment.

Eventually, after what felt like both hours and seconds, you lay side by side, his arm draped around your shoulders, your head resting on his chest.

The two of you were quiet, your breathing still a little heavy, but your hearts were slowing to a steady rhythm. You found yourself tracing gentle lines along his arm, your mind still reeling from the night’s unexpected intimacy. You couldn’t quite remember the last time someone had left you feeling so alive, so out of control yet comfortable.

Finally, as you lay tangled together, the early morning light beginning to creep in through the window, you found yourself smiling despite yourself.

He was lying beside you, his arm draped over your waist, his eyes half-closed but alert, watching you with that same mischievous glint.

“You know,” he murmured, his voice still heavy with sleep, “I have to say, you were worth the chase.”

You laughed, rolling your eyes as you stretched out beside him. “You make it sound like I was a conquest.”

He shrugged, giving you a lazy grin. “Only because you put up a good fight.”

“Hmm,” you replied, stifling a smile. “Don’t get too comfortable. I’m not exactly looking for a repeat performance.”

He smirked, his fingers tracing idle circles on your shoulder. “Who said anything about repeats? Besides, I have a feeling you’ll change your mind.”

You let out a scoff, but his confidence—however misplaced—was weirdly endearing. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Guess we’ll see,” he said with a wink, leaning over to give you one last kiss before slipping out of bed.

And sure, it was good—he was cocky for a reason, apparently—but as soon as the sun started peeking through your blinds, you felt the sting of regret and a slight headache creeping in.

—

The next morning hit you like a freight train. You rolled over, remembering that he left before you even fell asleep. Perfect. You sat up, rubbing your eyes, thinking how that was probably the last you’d see of Dominic.

That is, until you looked over at your nightstand.

“Of fucking course,” you mumbled to yourself, staring at his wallet.

It was lying on your nightstand, his name in embossed letters on the black leather, practically taunting you. You sighed. Of course, he’d be the kind of guy to leave something behind.

He’d left a piece of himself behind, almost as if he’d known you’d want—or need—a reason to call him again.

Gritting your teeth, you picked up the wallet, rifling through the cards inside. There was an obnoxious number of credit cards, a couple of VIP passes to places you’d never heard of, and an California licenses with an all-too-familiar face staring back at you.

Dominic Fike.

You do a little more deep diving into the man who was in your bed all night— Seriously? you thought, staring at his face on the card. This guy is famous?

His face, his music, his relationships, personal drama—all of it filled pages and pages of search results. Tabs upon tabs of articles, concert photos, and screaming fans filled your screen, confirming what you’d already suspected.

You had a one night stand with a literal celebrity—and had no idea.

Annoyed and a little embarrassed, you tapped on the number he’d saved in your phone the night before, dialing him with a deep sigh.

He picked up on the second ring, his voice smooth and somehow infuriatingly amused. “You just couldn’t resist, could you?”

“Not exactly,” you said, already irritated. “You left your wallet.”

He chuckled. “Did I now? Look at that. What a coincidence!”

You narrowed your eyes, though he couldn’t see it. “Yes. Would you like it back, or should I just keep it as a very expensive souvenir? Something to remember you by?”

“Alright, alright,” he said, still laughing. “I’ll swing by in like, twenty. Wouldn’t want you holding it hostage or anything.”

You barely had time to regret your decision before he arrived, grinning like he’d won some kind of prize as you opened the door.

“Well, well,” he said, looking at you up and down, clearly amused by your less-than-enthused expression. “I knew you’d call.”

You held his wallet out at arm’s length, not letting him get too close. “Here.”

But Dominic, of course, was not the kind of guy to make anything easy.

He took the wallet, but instead of leaving, he walked right into your apartment, looking around like he was touring a museum.

“You have a cute place,” he remarked, sinking down onto your couch without waiting for an invitation.

“Thanks. Maybe, I’ll see you around,” you replied, crossing your arms, nodding towards the door.

“Oh, come on,” he said, flashing that aggravatingly charming smile. “Is that any way to treat a guest?”

“Guest? You’re barely an acquaintance,” you scoffed, leaning against the wall with a look of utter disbelief. “You could’ve told me you were like, famous, by the way,” you said, still crossing your arms.

He shrugged, leaning back as he flashed a smirk. “And miss out on the chance to see your genuine reaction? No way.”

You rolled your eyes. “Is everything a game to you?”

“Only the fun things,” he replied, watching you with a spark of amusement. “Come on, admit it. You’re glad you didn’t know.”

You exhaled, fighting a smile. “Maybe a little.”

“You definitely would’ve have invited me over if you knew. You definitely wouldn’t have been screaming my name—”

“Dominic!” You exclaim, not wanting to recall any of last night.

“Geez, Y/N! There you go again,” Dominic laughs, “Should we just hit the bed now or something?”

You groan loudly, not even connecting your response before speaking, “No… No!” You say, “That’s not what I meant. Be serious. Can you last longer than a minute? Or is that impossible?”

“Oh, you know I can last longer than a minute.”

You plop down on the couch, giving up when you realized that you were practically writing his remarks yourself.

But, Dominic’s gaze softened, as if he saw through the veneer of irritation you were putting up. “Well, in all seriousness, most people don’t look at me like you did last night.”

“Disappointed?” you teased, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” he replied, a bit more serious this time. “Like I was just some guy at the bar.” He smiled, something genuine glinting through the playful mask. “It was nice.”

There was a beat of silence, an unspoken understanding that lingered in the air. But then, with a smirk, he broke the moment. “Besides, I wasn’t ready for our little game to end.”

“Oh, and what game is that?” you asked, fighting the slight flutter in your chest.

He grinned, standing up as he approached you. “You, trying to resist me. And me, making sure you fail.”

Something shifted in his expression—maybe it was the challenge, maybe it was just your indifference. But whatever it was, he clearly wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.

“I won’t fail,” You say, probably in the most confident tone he’s heard you, “I know how to protect my peace.”

The next hour passed in a bizarre back-and-forth as he casually overstayed his welcome, making himself at home while you threw every jab and sarcastic remark you could think of his way.

You half-expected him to get fed up and leave, but instead, he only seemed more amused.

Every time you shot him down, he came back with a quip, grinning as if he were winning some game only he understood.

It was infuriating. But it was also… a little fun.

Against all reason, you found yourself laughing at his jokes, even as you rolled your eyes at his bravado. There was something oddly compelling about his relentless charm, even though he was the exact type of person you couldn’t stand.

By the time he finally left, you were exhausted—annoyed, sure, but also strangely energized, like you’d just run a marathon you hadn’t expected to enjoy.

As you watched him go, you couldn’t help but wonder if maybe—just maybe—you hadn’t seen the last of him. And part of you, despite everything, didn’t entirely mind that idea.

—

The day after Dominic’s unexpected reappearance, things settled back into their normal, peaceful state. You returned to your regular life, or at least tried to, even though your mind kept drifting back to the chaotic encounter that morning.

It was supposed to have ended after one night, but there he was, strolling back into your life as if he had never left.

A few days passed without incident, and you almost convinced yourself it was over—until you spotted him again, completely by chance.

You were waiting for a coffee at the counter of your favorite café, scrolling through your phone, when you heard a familiar voice behind you.

“Let me guess—no idea who I am?”

You turned, and there he was, looking as smug as ever, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets. He looked both out of place and totally in his element among the crowd of early-morning patrons.

“Hey, stranger,” Dominic says with a cheeky smile.

You raised an eyebrow, half amused, half exasperated. “Are you stalking me, or do you actually have a purpose here?”

He grinned, shrugging. “Coincidence, I mean, you’re at a very popular spot, you know. Or fate, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

“You wish,” you muttered under your breath, though you couldn’t keep the small smile off your face. You gestured at the counter. “Coffee first. Then you can do your charm routine.”

He chuckled, sliding in beside you as you placed your order.

There was a comfortable silence as you waited, but it was laced with an electric energy that made you all too aware of him standing there, close enough that you could feel the warmth radiating off him.

As you turned to pay, you noticed him handing over a bill, waving you off. “My treat,” he said, his tone casual.

You rolled your eyes. “I’m capable of buying my own coffee.”

“Come on,” he said, leaning in with that infuriating grin. “Consider it my way of saying thanks for not selling my wallet on eBay.”

“Very funny,” you replied, trying to ignore the warmth creeping up your neck as he continued to look at you with that playful spark in his eye.

You both took your coffees and walked toward a table in the corner, where he slid into a seat across from you, leaning back in a way that was far too comfortable.

You took a sip, studying him over the rim of your cup. “So, why are you here? Couldn’t resist a second dose of my sparkling personality?”

“Not exactly,” he replied smoothly, a little too quickly. He paused, his eyes catching yours with a hint of something serious beneath his usual carefree demeanor. “Actually... I was curious.”

“Curious about what?”

“About you,” he said, and for the first time, there was a flicker of sincerity in his gaze, as though he was trying to get past your defenses. “I meet a lot of people. But it’s refreshing to find someone who looks at me like... well, like I’m just some guy they met at a bar.”

You leaned back, raising an eyebrow. “Hate to break it to you, but you are just some guy I met at a bar.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “You know, that’s what I’m talking about. Most people that see me in a bar, wouldn’t say that.”

You took another sip of coffee, letting the silence settle, wondering where this was going. Finally, you set your cup down, crossing your arms. “So, what exactly do you want from me, Dominic?”

He hesitated, his eyes flickering with something you couldn’t quite place. “Honestly? I don’t know. Maybe... I just wanted to get to know you.”

You studied him, searching for any trace of a joke or a punchline, but his expression remained open, almost vulnerable.

Against your better judgment, you felt yourself softening, intrigued despite yourself. You leaned forward, resting your chin on your hand. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

He grinned, looking relieved and a bit triumphant. “Alright, let’s start simple. What do you do?”

You rolled your eyes, smirking. “Oh, I thought you were a fan of the ‘mysterious stranger’ vibe.”

“Consider it character development,” he said with a wink, but you could tell he was genuinely curious.

“I’m in marketing,” you said finally, “for a non-profit.”

His eyes lit up, and he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand in a playful imitation of your posture. “Wow. Look at you, making the world a better place. And here I thought you were just another mysterious stranger.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at his playful tone. “Yeah, well, not everyone spends their days living like a rockstar.”

“Ah, so you do know who I am.” He pointed a finger at you in mock accusation, but his grin was warm.

“Barely,” you replied, holding his gaze. “Not a fan, if I’m honest. It’s just not my type of music.”

That seemed to amuse him even more, and he laughed, shaking his head. “Ouch. Wounded.”

“Hey, just keeping it real.” You took another sip of your coffee, realizing that, despite yourself, you were starting to enjoy this.

“So… what’s your favorite type of music?” Dominic asks, as you chuckle, “What, you wanna write a song about me or something?”

“Who says I haven’t already?”

You could feel the heat creep towards your cheeks, and you bet that he saw it, too, “My music taste is kind of all over the place. I’m really into rock music, like 90s rock. Blink-182. Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

You see Dominic’s face light up with a joy you haven’t quite seen from him before, “You do know like, all of my music is inspired by that, right? Those are some of my favorite bands.”

You shake your head, “You’re just saying that.”

He holds up his left hand, and you realize it’s John Frusciante; The guitarest of said band. Of course, is it.. “Am I, now?”

You stared at his hand, taking in the tattoo of Frusciante’s face, a bit faded from time, yet still unremarkably impressive. Your jaw dropped. “Okay, maybe… I believe you now.”

Dominic grinned, pleased with himself. “Told you.” He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head.

You shook your head, amused and slightly exasperated. “So, you're telling me that your whole ‘cool guy who doesn’t care’ vibe is just you trying to live out your childhood rockstar fantasy?”

His eyes sparkled with mischief. “Maybe. What can I say? I like to lean into it.” He paused, watching you closely, his smile softening a little. “But you know, it’s not just for show. I’m not playing a part for anyone. It’s who I am.”

You narrowed your eyes, intrigued despite yourself. There was a moment of quiet between you two, but it wasn’t awkward.

It was the kind of silence that existed between two people who were really starting to connect.

"Okay, then," you said, leaning forward with a raised eyebrow. "If you’re so real, then how about you prove it?"

His eyes glinted. "Prove it how?"

You shrugged, sipping your coffee. "Let’s see if you can keep up with me outside the ‘rockstar’ image. Ditch the cocky lines for a minute. Show me the real you.”

Dominic didn’t hesitate. He leaned in closer, his voice low. “You wanna see the real me, huh? Alright. I’ll play along."

You had to fight to keep from grinning, but something in the air shifted.

The banter was still there, but it felt less like a game now and more like two people actually trying to understand each other.

“I’m not here for a show,” you said, your tone steady. “Just, you know… a genuine conversation. No flash, no pretense.”

Dominic watched you carefully, his gaze softer now, but there was still a glimmer of that cocky charm.

“I think I can do that. But fair warning,” he said with a grin, “I’m not sure how good I am at keeping the ‘real me’ in check for too long.”

You smirked, eyes narrowing slightly. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

The two of you continued to talk, the conversation slipping into more personal territory as you discovered more about each other.

Dominic opened up in ways you hadn’t expected, sharing bits and pieces about his life, his rise to fame, his time in jail, the constant pressure, and the sacrifices.

And as much as you were tempted to tease him, you found yourself listening—really listening.

He, on the other hand, seemed fascinated by you in a way that made you almost uncomfortable. The way he’d pause, studying your expressions, as though trying to figure you out, kept you on your toes.

“So you really don’t care about all the ‘fame’ stuff?” You asked after a long stretch of conversation.

“Not really,” He replied. “I think it’s just... a distraction. People focus so much on what you do, not who you are.” He shrugged. “It’s easy to get lost in that. I, obviously, get lost in it sometimes.”

“Yeah, trust me, I can tell… But, I also get that. I really couldn’t imagine having fans, or followers, or any of that bullshit,” You say, watching him run a hand through his hair, staring down into his coffee.

“It’s kind of like, I’m good at being who people expect me to be. But sometimes... I forget what it’s like to just be me, you know?”

You nodded, sensing the vulnerability in his words despite his usual bravado. “I get it,” you said softly, “You wanna be normal guy sometimes.”

Dominic looked up at you then, and for a moment, it wasn’t the cocky, charming rockstar sitting across from you.

It was just Dominic.

The man with flaws, with dreams, with struggles. The man who, despite everything, was still trying to figure it out.

“And what about you?” he asked, voice quieter now. “What’s your real ‘you’ like?”

You hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal. You had a tendency to keep your guard up, to keep people at arm’s length. But for some reason, something about Dominic made you feel like it was okay to let that wall slip—just a little.

“Me?” You sighed, rubbing your temples. “I’m just trying to make a difference. To not get too lost in all the noise. I want to do something that actually matters.”

Dominic watched you with quiet intensity, as if he could see through the surface-level responses, reading between the lines. “And you think you can do that?” he asked, his voice serious now.

You nodded, though you weren’t entirely sure yourself. “I don’t know. But I have to at least try.”

He sat back, taking that in. His eyes softened again, and for a fleeting moment, he looked like a man who wasn’t concerned with the world’s expectations or how many fans were waiting for him outside.

It was just him and you.

And in that moment, you could tell he wasn’t in a hurry to leave.

The tension between you shifted, growing more comfortable, more familiar. There was still a playful spark in his eyes, but now, there was also a sincerity that wasn’t there before.

“I’ll be honest,” he said, leaning in just slightly. “You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met.”

You raised an eyebrow. “That’s a line I’m sure you use on a lot of people.”

He shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. “No, really. You’re different. And I’m not talking about your, uh, lack of ‘fan-girling’ over me.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“Just a little,” he teased. “But it’s cool. It makes you way more interesting.”

“Glad to know I’m not just another fan to you.”

Dominic leaned back, his expression turning thoughtful. “Yeah. You’re not. You’re someone I’m actually starting to care about. And for the record...” he added with a grin, “I think I’m getting pretty good at this ‘real me’ thing.”

“Better keep it up,” you teased, trying to hide the soft flutter in your chest. “Because I’m not letting you off the hook that easily.”

He leaned in a little closer, voice barely above a whisper. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

And there it was again—the chemistry.

The spark that had been there from the start, now igniting with a slow burn. You didn’t know where it was going, but you knew this conversation, this connection—it wasn’t something you could ignore. Not anymore.

As you finished your coffee, you both lingered, the air thick with unspoken possibilities. Neither of you seemed in a rush to break the moment.

Maybe this was the start of something unexpected. Something that neither of you had planned—but both of you might just need.

You spent another hour talking, exchanging stories and teasing banter.

He was funny, charming, and surprisingly down-to-earth when he wanted to be.

For someone so confident, he had a certain openness that was hard to ignore, and despite your initial annoyance, you found yourself drawn to him.

By the time you left, you almost didn’t mind when he suggested meeting up again.

“Alright,” he said as he walked you to the door. “How about a deal? You let me take you out again, and I promise I’ll try my best to keep my rockstar tendencies in check.”

You smirked, crossing your arms. “Why do I feel like that’s a promise you can’t keep?”

He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Guess you’ll just have to find out.”

And before you could think of a clever comeback, he leaned down, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to your cheek. The warmth of his lips made your heart skip a beat, and as he pulled away, he looked at you with a quiet intensity that made it hard to breathe.

“See you soon, then?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

You nodded, unable to find the words, and as he walked away, you realized that, despite everything, a part of you was already looking forward to it.

—

The days that followed Dominic’s confession were full of anticipation, but also of hesitation. You couldn’t shake the feeling that you were standing on the edge of something, something you couldn’t quite define.

Every time you saw him, every time he looked at you like he was seeing the real you, you felt your resolve weakening.

It was confusing—after all, you’d spent so long keeping people at a distance, convincing yourself that you didn’t need anyone, that you were fine on your own.

But Dominic… he had a way of breaking through that wall, bit by bit, in a way that scared you and exhilarated you at the same time.

You spent the next few days trying to focus on your routine, but it felt impossible. Every small thing, like the sound of your phone buzzing or catching a glimpse of a song you both liked, reminded you of him.

But you weren’t sure if you were ready to dive into whatever this was between you. It was so new, so unexpected, and you didn’t want to risk getting hurt.

But then, just as you were trying to push those thoughts away, the text came.

"Hey, what’s up? Want to grab some dinner tonight?"

It was casual, like everything between you had always been. But beneath the surface, you could feel the weight of what had been said the night before. You hesitated for only a second before responding.

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"

A few minutes later, he sent a suggestion, and you agreed.

There was something about the way he made everything feel easy—like there was no pressure, no expectations, just the two of you figuring it out together.

When you met him at the restaurant that evening, it was almost like nothing had changed.

You greeted each other with that familiar teasing banter, a lightheartedness that had become the foundation of your interactions. But this time, there was a quiet undertone to the conversation, something deeper.

It felt like you were both waiting for the right moment to say something more, something real.

As the meal wore on, you found yourself opening up to him in ways you hadn’t expected.

Talking about your dreams, your fears, your past—things you usually kept buried beneath the surface.

And Dominic, as always, listened.

But this time, he didn’t just nod along or offer some flippant remark. He responded with sincerity, sharing his own struggles and insecurities, the parts of himself that were rarely seen by the public.

For the first time, you began to understand the weight of his life—the constant scrutiny, the expectations, the pressure to always be someone he wasn’t. And you could see the toll it had taken on him, the way he tried to push it all away with jokes and arrogance, but there was a tenderness beneath the bravado.

A part of him that was tired of playing the part.

After dinner, as you walked out of the restaurant, Dominic turned to you, his expression thoughtful.

“Do you ever wonder if we’re just two people who are too afraid to let ourselves get close?” he asked, his voice quiet but serious.

You stopped walking, looking at him. His words hit you in a way you hadn’t expected. You knew you’d been keeping your distance, but you hadn’t realized how much he had been holding back too.

“I don’t know,” you said after a pause. “I think we’re both scared of what could happen if we let ourselves feel too much.”

He nodded, his gaze never leaving yours. “Yeah. I get that. But maybe… maybe we’re both ready to stop pretending, even if we don’t have it all figured out yet.”

You swallowed, feeling the weight of his words sink in. Could you really let yourself be vulnerable like this? Could you trust him enough to let your guard down?

Before you could respond, he took a step closer, his hand brushing against yours. It was a simple gesture, but it felt like a promise. Like he was saying, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.

For a moment, everything else faded away.

The noise of the world, the uncertainty, the fears you had about being hurt—it all melted into the background. You didn’t need to have all the answers. All you needed was to be in this moment with him.

You finally spoke, your voice soft but steady. “I think… I think I’m ready. But you have to promise me something.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What’s that?”

“That you won’t disappear on me. That you won’t make this about your fame or your image. I need to know that the real you is what I’m getting.”

His expression softened, and for the first time, you saw the full depth of his sincerity. “I promise,” he said, his voice firm but gentle. “The real me, that’s what I’m offering. No pretenses. No games.”

The promise hung in the air between you, and in that moment, you believed him. You didn’t know where this would lead, but you knew you couldn’t keep running from it. The connection you shared was too strong to ignore, too real to pretend it wasn’t happening.

The next few weeks passed in a blur of laughter, late-night conversations, and moments of intimacy that felt genuine and raw.

There were still moments of uncertainty, moments where you questioned whether you were making the right choice, but every time Dominic showed up, every time he made you feel seen and heard, you couldn’t help but believe in it a little more.

You still held onto your independence, still made sure to focus on your work and your own dreams, but something in you had shifted. You were allowing yourself to let him in, to trust him in a way you hadn’t thought possible.

One evening, as you were walking together through the city streets after another spontaneous dinner, Dominic stopped in front of you, his face serious. You turned to him, your heart racing.

“I know we’ve been taking this slow,” he began, his voice quiet, but full of conviction. “But I need you to know that I’m all in. I’m not going anywhere.”

Your heart skipped a beat. You had always feared that this would be a fleeting moment in time—something that would fizzle out as quickly as it had ignited.

But Dominic’s words, the sincerity in his eyes, made you believe that this was something worth holding onto.

“I’m in too,” you said, the words coming easier than you had expected. “I don’t know where this is going, but I want to see it through.”

Dominic smiled, and for the first time, there was no uncertainty in his expression. No bravado. Just a man, standing before you, with his heart on his sleeve.

“Then let’s see where this takes us,” he said, his voice low and full of promise.

And with that, the uncertainty between you began to fade. The connection you had was real, and though the road ahead might be unpredictable, you knew that, together, you could face whatever came next.

#dominic fike #dominic fike fan fiction #euphoria #elliot euphoria #dom fike #my writing #dominic fike imagines #dominic fike x you #dominic fike x reader #requests open

28 notes · View notes

byclairs · 1 year ago

Note

Lucas's arc seemed like he deserved to be put in his place and recognize that he was wrong for believing he could hope for better? And they did not even focus in his character that much. Most people say Mike has a spectacular forced conformity storyline waiting for s5 when we had a forced conformity storyline for Lucas but it was so sloppily written. I thought the forced conformity narrative is suppposed to be written good in any case for poc too, not just for your white character that you send a message with.

it feels like the duffers just don’t care enough to convey a cohesive message for lucas’ arc and/or don’t know how because on the one hand they’ve acknowledged several times the racism he faces both on and outside the show so they can’t even play dumb and yet they then constantly downplay what he goes through and so you end up with scenes like the end of s4 where he basically learns to know his place or whatever like..lucas is not in same boat as someone like mike who’s mainly bullied for being a nerd. he’s ostracized in a way that mike and dustin will literally never understand but the show almost never makes any attempt to show how he deals with that yet it’s explicitly talked about in an official book from his perspective (and i know lucas on the line is not technically canon but it’s still tied to netflix/st and if they had someone in the writer’s room who could’ve incorporated even part of the type of material from the book into the show i think it would’ve done wonders to flesh out his story) like i’m sorry if you’re gonna acknowledge that his situation is different than the rest of the party’s then you need to put more care into following through with that because the whole “i thought i wanted to be like you—popular, normal” scene was just..it felt like they were insinuating his main reason for joining basketball was just to be cool when we know it’s a lot more complex than that; he was trying to protect not only himself but his friends too even though they don’t face the same shit he does. and possibly even enjoy something new in the process god forbid. and you would think that he was ditching his friends and other interests for the basketball team when that’s not what happened at all? like he never started acting aloof with them or ignoring them, he was still very much in hellfire and he never turned his back on them he even used his status on the team to lure them away from where eddie was hiding even though everyone was saying he killed chrissy and lucas didn’t know what was going on yet. he never let his desire to fit in turn him into someone unrecognizable who needed to be taught a lesson and that’s why it pisses me off so bad that he was made to feel this deep regret in the end as if he made some huge mistake that he learned from because in reality he’s never been anything short of a loyal friend or strayed from his morals. and to top it all off mike and dustin get off the hook without having reflect on how they hurt lucas because apparently you should never support your friends unless you fully understand and agree with the things they want 👍🏼 idk.

i also think his conflicting feelings about helping his (ex) girlfriend deal with her grief for her canonically racist brother who traumatized and literally almost killed him would’ve been really interesting and important to explore especially since that most likely relates to the reasons he started feeling like it was urgent to fit in more in the first place but. none of that because this boy’s feelings are never taken into account

i also think everyone should read all of this

#and as far as mike stans go well if everything revolves around him in s5 and the writing for every other character was shit they’d still #call st the greatest show ever written and be dead serious about it so that’s what i’ll say about that lmao #so yeah this is all just my thoughts but i’d say the audience’s reception of lucas is equally their fault for not extending him the same #sympathy and interest as other characters and the writers for refusing to put more time and care into his storylines #*their own fault #asks #my brain is so fried for real right now sorry if this is super annoying to read

99 notes · View notes

mariaofdoranelle · 2 years ago

Text

Look at Us Now - Ch. 1

Fic masterlist

Oh, hi, guys! Welcome to my new hyper fixation!! *fireworks* *champagne glasses* *me smiling like a maniac*

I really hope you like this new au! My other ones are still in progress, I’m just really excited about this lol

Warnings: cursing, mentions of drinking, mentions of sketchy cigars, mentions of a fistfight, mentions of a sprained ankle, promises of smutty times

Words: 3,3k

This party was falling apart. Literally.

Uncle Orlon thought it was a good idea to bring Aelin to this year's Aviator's Ball, so she could meet her future bosses with a little less pressure. At first, it was all fancy uniforms, expensive drinks and small talk. Now that it was past midnight, some of the older officers with the highest ranks had left—Like Orlon and Darrow—, a drunk major knocked down a massive flower arrangement, and the guy Aelin was flirting with had offered her a very sketchy-looking cigar, which she politely declined.

When two lieutenants started a fistfight, Aelin knew it was time to go.

She speed walked through the crowd of people, and even bumped her shoulder against the party planner's, who was going toward the brawl. The poor girl.

When she finally stepped outside, it felt like she could finally breathe.

"Staying out of trouble?" A deep voice asked her. Aelin looked around until she found an officer leaning on the side of the stairs that led to the garden. With his face lit up by the moonlight and eyes sparkling as they studied each other, he was breathtaking. Or at least that was Aelin's first thought when she saw him.

Aelin walked towards him. Staying out of trouble was Uncle Orlon's only request, but she also didn't want to look bad in front of her future bosses and future coworkers. That sounded like a suicide mission.

"Seems like that's what you're doing."

The hot officer chuckled. "Turns out being locked up becomes really easy when you're in the military. Specially when you make yourself some unruly friends."

"Have you ever been to the guardhouse?"

"Fuck, no."

She leaned against the wall on his side and shook his hand. "I'm Aelin."

"Rowan."

Turning fully towards him, she flipped her hair back a little to expose her shoulders and cleavage. "It's really hot in here, isn't it?"

Rowan got sidetracked by her exposed skin for a millisecond, then his eyes snapped back to hers. "You think so?"

"I know so, and I think it's because of—"

"Global warming, I know. God, this city gets hotter each year."

"What?"

He tilted his head. "You don't agree? This city's weather is hell."

Aelin clamped her lips together and tried not to laugh, even though her shoulders were shaking already. "I was going to land a pickup line, Rowan."

"Oh." He blushed, and it was the most adorable thing. "I thought we were talking about carbon monoxide."

Aelin chuckled. "Well, you ruined my pickup line now."

"My roommate teaches me a lot of those, but I won't use them."

"Why?"

Rowan leaned sideways on the wall and smirked. "Because I'm not trying to pick you up, I'm feeling like pinning you down instead."

She looked up, gaping. Aelin could kill that blunt, sassy grin of his. Or kiss it. God, she really wanted to kiss him now. Since he noticed her minutes ago, actually.

It was beautiful, how that smirk melted as his eyes darkened. The fabric of his uniform under her fingertips and Aelin's hands going up until they reached the lapels and clenched.

With both hands on her waist, Rowan was already one breath away from her when he closed their lips together with small, tentative brushes. At least until Aelin closed her arms around his neck and almost crushed their faces together, deepening the kiss.

His hands were everywhere. Her hips, her waist, toying with the straps of her dress. All that clashing and flicking and grabbing was making her heartbeat go wild. When it became too much, Rowan grabbed her upper arms and mentioned to lean away, but Aelin gently bit his lower lip to stop him.

Stay here, she conveyed.

He gave her small, gentle kisses and rested his forehead against hers, both heavily breathing against each other.

"You're not someone's wife, right?"

"What?" she breathed. Aelin's mind was still foggy from the kiss, she must've heard the wrong thing.

He swallowed and slid his hand down her arms, squeezing her fingers at the end. "That's why Fenrys got into a fistfight at the party. He made out with another officer's wife."

Aelin leaned away to properly look at his face, trying to understand what was going on. First, who the hell is Fenrys? Second, did he just stop their kiss to ask if she was married? Because he was avoiding a fistfight?

She sighed. You know what, that was fair.

Shaking her head, Aelin wiggled all her ringless fingers.

His eyes assessed her lack of uniform. "Someone's daughter, then. I think that's even worse."

A troublesome smirk was her only answer. Well, she was someone's great-niece, but it became almost the same if she considered Orlon raised Aelin since she was eight.

Looking up, Rowan cursed under his breath. Probably calculating his chances of being punished for this if her date—Brigadier Galathynius, not that he knew it—discovered. Proving her theory right, he asked, "They outrank me, right?"

Aelin raised her eyebrows. "You want to fuck me or not?"

"What?" His eyes widened, then he flinched. "Fuck, sorry, babe." He trailed kisses from her jaw to her lips, tugging her closer by the waist.

She hummed. That was much better.

"Do you want to leave before this party burns itself to the ground?" He whispered in her ear.

She chuckled. "Sure."

They were silently walking wherever he was leading her. One-night stands were so awkward sometimes, but Aelin was feeling good about this one. There was something comforting about Rowan, but she was failing to point what exactly. At one point, their hands accidentally grazed, but he kept them there and slowly intertwined their fingers.

Aelin hid a grimace when she saw his car, though. "I live in the village." She pointed in the direction of one of the military villages they had close by. "We can go by foot."

"You think I'd drink in front of all my bosses?"

He had a good point. It seemed like he was the only officer who cared, though. She had no idea how he understood her concerns so quickly, but Aelin didn't want to think too hard on this.

"I thought you should know I just moved in and my house is... lacking." He scratched the back of his head. "If you don't mind."

"Oh." She tilted her head. "We can go to my place, if you think that's better."

His shoulders dropped in relief. "You're sure it won't cause trouble?"

"I know my way around those security cameras." Aelin waved him off and leaned her side on his car. "But I still need to know what's lacking in your house."

Rowan's cheeks went crimson in a heartbeat. "I have a bed, it just hasn't arrived yet."

Aelin started cackling, her body trembling with laughter as he stared at her with the corners of his lips tugging up.

"I physically have a matteress, though!" He yelled over her laughter and opened the car, "And a great wall."

Things got quieter inside the car, so it was Aelin's cue to update her boyfriend, who was a little back and forth between Doranelle and Rifthold these days. He never told her about his one-night stands, which she didn't mind, but it felt wrong to sleep with someone without telling him.

Aelin: found myself a hot officer for the night

Aelin: we're going to my place

Dorian: how hot is he

Aelin: 8,5 maybe?

Such a horrendous lie. Aelin never graded her boy toys above 9 because she felt better if only her actual boyfriend was a 10. Truth was, if Dorian is a 10, Rowan is at least a 12. Actually, he was so handsome it made a lot of sense grading him above maximum score.

Dorian: nice

Dorian: have fun babe x

Rowan cleared his throat when they arrived at the village. Quickly tucking her phone back inside her purse, Aelin gave the directions of her house and made him park two houses before.

They silently walked together, until she stopped him on the border between her house and the neighbor's.

"I'm assuming you don't want to get caught by the cameras, since you're so scared of my uncle."

His eyes sparkled now that she satisfied his curiosity. Or maybe made it worse. There was no way to know. "An uncle, then." Rowan raised his eyebrows. "I'm not scared of him, but it would be nice if you could assure me he won't put me in the guardhouse for this."

Aelin snorted. Orlon couldn't hurt a fly if he wanted to, and even Darrow was a huge softie inside. But just the thought of sneaking out a little with her hot officer sent a thrill down her spine, so she kept her mouth shut.

"This wall we're in, it's a blind spot." When Aelin looked at Rowan, he was the most focused she'd seen tonight. An airman ready for battle. "We'll follow that path until we reach the porch, then we climb on the first window. It's my cousin's room, but he doesn't live here anymore. Then I'll check if the coast is clear, and my room is the one right next to it. Got it?"

Rowan nodded, eyes still calculating their path.

"It's the only way to get inside without getting caught on camera," Aelin added.

"This sounds like my training."

Aelin made eye contact, her chest a little more thrusted out than before. "Is the reward as good?"

"Not really, no," he muttered, his eyes on her lips.

"Well, you'll have to work for it, Officer," she said before tugging his arm towards the low fence they needed to climb.

From the moment Aelin decided she wanted to become a doctor, she knew she'd work at the Air Force General Hospital.

This was the place she came to get her first casket when she was nine, after falling from her rollerskates. The place Aelin reached for when she got a little too drunk at seventeen, and made Aedion flirt with the doctor so she wouldn't snitch on them to Uncle Orlon. She was comfortable there. It felt familiar.

During those early daydreams about her own life, Aelin never thought about the moments she'd wish she worked somewhere else, though. They were nothing more than fleeting thoughts, she loved her job. But they still happened on days like this.

When Aelin opened the X-ray images on her computer, the boy's ankle didn't seem to be broken. One small blessing.

His eyes went wide when she told him so. "But it feels like it is."

Aelin gave him a sympathetic smile. "It's just a sprain, but I'll prescribe you some painkillers and—"

"Good, now we can go back to training," his instructor interrupted.

A death glare was Aelin's only response before she continued, "And I need you to rest that feet for two days—"

"Absolutely not!" The unwanted instructor cut in again, making the boy freeze on his seat. "What's the point of painkillers if he can't even exercise?"

"Captain Whitethorn," she hissed, "I believe I am the doctor here."

He slowly turned to that terrified boy. "Do you mind giving the doctor and I a moment to speak?"

"No." Aelin got up before he could. "Captain Whitethorn and I can talk in another room." She pointed at his swollen ankle. "You rest that feet."

Rowan followed her to an empty room two doors down, and they closed the door, it was like... It was like every other day, actually.

"You." He pointed a finger at her. "Do not question my authority in front of my students, Lieutenant."

"And you." She pointed a finger back. "Do not question my authorithy as a doctor in front of my patients, asshole."

"I was not trying to—"

"Yes, you were!" Aelin screamed this time. "Every day, you question what, when, how—"

"Well, maybe I wouldn't need to question if you just—"

"If I just what?" She opened her arms, tired of this. "If I just acted exactly like you?"

Rowan just stared at her with that intense look of his.

Aelin took a deep breath. She wouldn't put sense in Rowan's head by screaming. She never did.

"Luca—"

He raised his eyebrows. "Seriously? You're trying to guilt trip me by using his first name?"

"It's his first week here, and he's already in the hospital, Rowan! He's a teenage boy! He's someone's kid!" Aelin yelled, her tone increasing with each argument.

"Don't you even think about mentioning my daughter! He's the one who enlisted. I'm just doing my job."

She sighed. "I know you are, but your teaching techniques..."

He scoffed. "Don't act like you didn't love my teaching techniques back then."

"Fuck you!"

There were two loud bangs in the door before Aelin's tiniest, angriest co-worker barged in.

"You two." Elide's finger darted between them before she continued. "Seriously? Again?"

Rowan didn't dare point out that he was being talked down by someone with a lower rank than his. He knew better than to argue with Elide.

She continued, "I'm going to discharge your patient, and you two are leaving. Now."

Aelin looked at her watch. Fuck, they needed to rush if they didn't want to be late.

She turned to Rowan. "I'll be in the car in 5." And stopped. Aelin slowly turned to Elide and said, "Tell the patient that Captain Whitethorn told him to go home and come back in two days."

Rowan clenched his jaw, arms already crossed, but said nothing. He knew he had no chance with Aelin and Elide together.

The drive was pretty silent after that, but not exactly comfortable. She knew their fight hadn't ended yet, but it had to for now. They needed to look composed for this.

They heard the deafening sound of children screaming before the car could park at the Air Force school, made specially for the children of the Air Force personnel. It wasn't one of those fancy Montessori schools with hyper-specialized teachers, but it was a good school right next to the village they lived in. It was the best choice for them.

Rowan didn't think so. And he always let her know that, from big arguments to the classic arms-crossed-and-narrowed-eyes thing he was doing now.

She wouldn’t acknowledge his dissatisfaction now, though. They walked together until the pre-K area, which was separated from the big kids', and it took no time at all until a soft set of limbs wrapped themselves around her legs.

Aelin crouched down to talk to her daughter and adjust that messy hair, taking it out of the front of her gorgeous deep green eyes, when Maisie's jaw fell. And she shrieked.

"DADDY!" Was the only thing she screamed before jumping on Rowan's arms, always ready to catch her. "You said you couldn't pick me up today."

Maisie's hair was completely her own, Aelin noticed as her daughter had her back turned at her, on her dad's arms. Not as pale as Rowan's, not as golden as Aelin's. She had Aelin's nose but, apart from that, Maisie looked like a small Rowan Whithethorn with chubby cheeks.

She was just waiting for her face to be right next to his and... yep, there it is. Copy, paste, add childish features. Genetics sounded a lot simpler than what she studied in college while looking at those two.

Rowan was spinning her around, and Mai's squeals of delight were almost deafning. For the first time since seeing Rowan today, Aelin felt like smiling.

They had conflicts, yes, but Aelin couldn't deny that he was a great dad. She had never resented Rowan for being the parent with the stronger genes, or Maisie for being so much like her father. On the contrary. She even thought it was cute, especially when she saw her daughter's little frown or her shy demeanor with strangers. Maisie's a Whitethorn through and through, or so Rowan's family point out every time they meet.

"How was your day, hun?" Aelin asked on the walk back to the car while brushing her little girl's hair back with her hand.

"I got the littlest, babiest grapes today." She stopped in the middle of the parking lot and opened the lunchbox. "Look!"

Inspecting it, Aelin noticed Maisie's littlest, babiest grapes looked like a car ran them over. "What happened to them?"

She took the lunchbox back and frowned. "I don't know. I slept with them at nap time to protect them, but it didn't work out."

Aelin's lips were clamped together, trying hard not to laugh. That little girl probably squished the poor grapes to death. Rowan seemed to think the same, from the way the corners of his lips were tugging up. Noticing Aelin's stare, he gave her a small smile while ruffling their daughter's hair. She quickly looked away.

They never picked her up together when Maisie was in daycare, but they were doing it as an encouragement now that she was still adapting to preschool.

She always missed one parent while in another's house, even if she spent no more than three days in each house and had daily goodnight calls. Every morning was a different meltdown because she says she doesn't like school, so promising Maisie that both parents would pick her up was a good way to stop a tantrum. Some days, at least.

Their daughter was asleep in the car seat, exhausted from preschooler life, so they kept quiet while Aelin drove Rowan back to base for his night class.

"I'll call you," was the only thing he said. Not goodbye or thank you for the ride.

Aelin knew she meant he'd call Maisie for their goodnight call, but she took the bait anyway. "No, you'll call Maisie."

Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose, and Aelin could feel her body go tense again. He was the one annoyed, really?

"I don't understand why we keep having the same conversation over and over."

"Me neither, is that so hard to stop calling me and use the f—" she glanced at Maisie, still asleep. "Fucking parenting app?" Aelin whispered.

"You know what?" He leaned closer to her, hand resting on the car panel. "It is. I hate that app."

"I. Don't. Care. I can't have you calling me several times a day to ask stupid shit like if I packed Maisie's lunch."

Rowan frowned. "That kind of comment isn't helping, Aelin. In fact, it makes me even more concerned."

Was he implying that Aelin didn't care?

Heat flushed through her whole body as she saw red. "Get out of my car."

He didn't.

"Now!" Aelin whisper-yelled, still trying not to wake Maisie up. "Don't you have a student to screw or something?"

Rowan's eyes widened, and every feature of his face slowly started looking consumed by rage. From his glare to his reddened face.

He held back, though.

"You know what?" Rowan unfastened his seatbelt. "I can't talk to you when you're like this."

"Great." Aelin knew she had gone too far. She'd think about it the day she actually cared.

"And I'll call you as many times a day I want whenever you're with my daughter."

He got out and slammed the car door.

Rowan's body went taut at the same time Aelin flinched. They both knew what was happening now.

"Mommy, where's Daddy going?" Their daughter asked a moment later, rubbing her eyes.

Maisie's lips started wobbling the second she noticed Rowan was leaving, and she was wailing even before he could get into the backseat to soothe her. He kept saying that he'd see her at their goodnight call later and tomorrow at the pickup again, but nothing seemed to work.

Resting her head on the steering wheel and taking a deep breath, Aelin tried to think of something. The best bribes were always ice cream or more screen time. She needed to pick her weapons wisely.

@aelinchocolatelover

@autumnbabylon

@bookcide

@cookiemonsterwholovesbooks

@courtofjurdan

@dreamer-133

@elentiyawhitethorn

@elizarikaallen

@fangirlprincess09

@goddess-aelin

@leiawritesstories

@rowanaelinn

@superspiritfestival

@s-uppertime

@thegreyj

@wishfulimaginings

#rowaelin #throne of glass #rowaelin fanfiction #throne of glass fanfic #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #aelin x rowan #rowan x aelin #throne of glass fic #aelin and rowan #tog au #look at us now

160 notes · View notes

honeyhotteoks · 22 hours ago

Note

hi! i spent quiet a while to write this one + english is not my first language, so i'm sorry in advance.

i studied literature, text editing, journalism and much more disciplines which tought me a lot about text, books and writing. i am a writer too. i do not write fanics on tumblr, but i write quiet a lot on my native language on our local platforms. not to be that person, but i can say when i read a good text, a good story with a good plot and characters, and when i read just a graphomania shit. i know about criticism — i studied literature critics too, so i know what i'm talking about.

so, the hell am i talking about? i know you've been writing for your whole life (?) (or almost), but 'across the stardust' shook me so bad i still cannot find right words to explain my feelings. i guess i've read almost all of your works, and your writing has always been so good so i thought sometimes 'wow a real novel by her could be so amazing'.

'across the stardust' not only well written, but it feels alive. to say boldly we change three main locations where we interact with yunho through this part: the dressing room — yunho's room — our room. locations where are not many things to interact with, not many things that can revive the whole scene, so it's about people. about y/n and yunho. it's only about them and there interaction, about their connection and. lots of dialogues. and what i'm trying to say is that you're so good at writing dialogues and chemistry between the characters— this is literally insane.

i have read many books — good and bad — have read lots of fanfiction to broaden my horizons etc., and the main idea or plot could be so so good, but characters were written so... they were boring, to say at least, and i didn't believe to any of their words. you know this moments where characters meet up and boom! the next day they're already in love, already dating, already so into each other. it can work when the chemistry was done well, but in 99% of such cases it just sucks.

i was afraid that something like this could happen with your fic. afraid because i really love your works and i didn't want to be disappointed. but... i don't know what have you put in this work, but... i felt EVERY single thing you wrote. every single goosebump of y/n of yunho, every single twist in their stomachs, every single fire they felt about each other. this is a truly magic how you made me believe that feelings they always had for each other was not just romantic, sexual or something like this, but deeper. this platonic connection they did not know about, but something has been in the air between them the whole time.

i rarely can actually feel in my bones what characters feel, and you did something i did not know someone can actually do to me. this was so, so incredible written. i swallowed all the dialogues, i wanted to understand the characters, wanted to feel what they felt. i couldn't stop reading— and i was at my workplace! felt like i fell into the black hole hawking told us about and its mass was more then sun's in a million times, so my body was stretched and i reached the event horizon — i'll know what's inside the black hole.

thank you so much for your writing. thank you so much for this work, i hope you'll have enough time and energy for the next parts. thank you thank you and sorry for this bad english and dry review, i swear i am much better with my native language :((

🥺 anon, this is genuinely one of the kindest things anyone has ever said to me. i’ve read your message twice and what you said is beyond kind ❤️

please never be sorry for your english, you conveyed so much to me i can only imagine how strong your own writing is in your native language.

i think the pacing problems with romance is a huge reason why i prefer to write longer works and read longer works too. i know that’s not everyone’s favorite, but i’m glad it resonates for you and many other readers here.

also…. what you said about writing a novel. that’s been a quiet dream of mine for a very long time, but i’ll admit that i’ve talked myself out of trying because in my mind the quality jump from fanfiction to published work is a big one, and i’m not sure i could do it. but it means so much to me that you said this, and if i ever do try to publish something i would be so happy to share that with all the people here who have supported my fic so warmly.

also lol one thing did make me laugh, when you said “i don’t know what you have put in this work” because my first thought was that it’s yunho. i think this version of him is closest to the one i imagine is real, versus some of my other work, and this reader is more of myself than i even realized initially. the love i have for yunho seriously transcends delulu, i just love him and look up to him, not for me but just as a person in the world. i’m really glad that translates into the work because when i was posting it i was nervous about the romance feeling too fast or too fake.

anyways i’ll stop rambling but thank you very much once again. definitely more chapters coming soon.

#answered anon

10 notes · View notes

transintellectualistic · 1 month ago

Text

Being in the anti-rq & antiship portion of the MOGAI community honestly seems miserable and I’m glad I stopped looking through those tags.

Every post has some miles-long DNI list on it filled with the most innocuous shit like “Steven Universe defenders” and “uses the term f*mboy” next to actual neo-nazis as if they’re remotely comparable. And this is also supposed to serve as a magical ward for who can and can’t use a flag or a fucking term? I’m so sorry for my thought crime of identifying with a concept whilst also watching a children’s TV show you don’t like?

There’s definitely a “you must always be fully immersed in world events and aware of Problematic Content because otherwise you don’t really care about your fellow man” attitude there as well; when I used to lurk in MOGAI tags I would always feel my OCD spiralling because I’d see people reblog dozens of those guilt-tripping “you’re a BAD PERSON if you don’t reblog this” news/“awareness”/donation posts— which just feels really gross for a community that likes to tout itself as caring about neurodivergent people and survivors, because any person with even a sliver of knowledge about mental health knows that posts like that literally only work on pwOCD and cause us to spiral even when we agree with the message being conveyed!!!!!!!

It’s a shame as well because like, I fucking LOVE xenogenders and quote-on-quote “terminally online queer microlabels”. I have a Pinterest archive with thousands of terms and flags saved that I add to literally every day! But the second I step into the Tumblr coining scene I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness wash over me. I feel bad for the people there who feel like they have to police their own thoughts and interests purely based on the fact that no other queer spaces will let them explore the intricacies of their gender and identity with such detail. I feel bad for the ND people who are constantly subjecting themselves to content that puts them in a state of constant vigilance and re-traumatising for the sake of being a Good Leftist.

I know there are a few people in these communities that read through rq tags and if you’re one of them seeing this I just want to let you know: you don’t have to stay in communities that hurt you because they’re the “only option”. You can distance yourself from them if you want to. It doesn’t make you a bad person, and I promise there will be people who genuinely accept you and uplift your identity without any pretense of needing to be “moral enough” attached.

I hope you can find a space that will let you feel loved and cherished, wherever that is.

I love you.

#radqueer #radqueer community #pro rq 🌈🍓#rqc 🌈🍓#radqueer 🌈🍓#rq 🌈🍓#and this isn’t even getting started on recoining culture godddd #that’s a whole other rant i could go on #and a part of the constant negativity aspect too #it’s just our terms with a bunch of stickers plastered over it that serve as unavoidable reiterations that The Bad People are Bad #also the hypocrisy. ‘don’t use my terms if you’re on my dni’ but it’s completely okay to take someone else’s terms?#it’s all so performative #and i did not spend years of my life being treated like a circus animal because of my autism #just to perform in front of a crowd of people online instead #fuck off with that shit!!

8 notes · View notes

local-pal · 5 months ago

Text

Dooming about Arcane Season 2, send help.

I’m throwing this word vomit on here. I'm sorry in advance.

So, Viktor’s been my favorite League character (for lore purposes only, I don’t reeeeeally play him much) since I can remember. And I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or fear of change speaking here but I didn’t care much for his character in Arcane.

I don’t think lore Viktor is perfect, far from it. Though his characterization has come a long way ever since he was just a silly evil communist Russian stereotype, he’s not that developed and you can kinda tell the current lore was being held back by having to fit in the already established role he had, and the canon at the time. Like him being kind of a one-dimensional asshole even before he turned into the Machine Herald—because Jayce was also an absolute asshole and assholes only really do well with one another. His silly goal of turning all of Runeterra into machines, or whatever the writers feel the Glorious Evolution is at the time. Blitzcrank just being shoved in there. His discussion with Jayce being only glazed over. His characterization is also really inconsistent in the games. I can’t blame League of Legends because his model and voiceover are incredibly old (ASU with Arcane, maybe?), but Legends of Runeterra’s feel like the writers didn’t really read through all of his lore and kinda stuck with the old evil communist Russian robot thing a bit. Also, his role as the one enhancing the Underground’s people has kinda been replaced by both Renata Glasc and some other cards of Legends of Runeterra. He doesn’t have much left at the moment.

So a complete retcon might not be that bad? But I’m not at all hyped for the lore being replaced with the one in Arcane. The following is all speculative—Internet-friendly itemized list coming up.

1| The Marketing

Viktor wasn’t really marketed as a main character in Arcane like how Jinx, Vi, Cait, and Jayce were. Honestly, I was surprised he was even there at all when I first watched the series. He didn’t get a skin, didn’t get merch (as far as I know), didn’t get a (now discontinued) Path of Champions story, nor an icon in the game.

As far as I can tell from the marketing for season two, this is the case again. I don’t wanna sound like I don’t like the characters, because I loved Arcane (I watched it eleven times in the first year!), but I’m not happy with the story focusing on Jinx and Vi again. I felt like their relationship was almost established, with some more screen time in season two to fully cement the way the writers wanted it to go. Like there isn’t much to do unless they want to kill or redeem Jinx, at least from what I can see. I really hope I’m wrong and they do something more interesting with her, though I could not imagine why.

So, does the marketing imply that the story is not gonna focus on him? I would be extremely disappointed. I think his character is the best to focus on the political themes on Arcane, but I’m not a writer.

2| The Season Is The Same Length As The First One

I don’t feel like there’s enough time in a six-hour show to tackle this as a main plot point and Viktor’s transformation into the Machine Herald; and they said this was the finale. And I honestly fully expected it to be the story of season two.

Do I sound entitled? I feel like I might come off entitled. Maybe I do feel entitled.

Viktor’s (and by extension, Jayce’s) was always one of the most interesting stories League had for in my opinion. Not much of the Piltover and Zaun lore tackles any themes quite like his, as superficial as they might be. At least it kinda tries to say something about transhumanism and how people from oppressed groups have to try much harder than those from privileged ones (by pointing out the difference in Viktor’s and Jayce's attitude towards work, and both of their origins and perception by outsiders.) This is kinda what Arcane is trying to convey for much of its runtime as well, so it seemed like a good fit.

I highly doubt that’s gonna happen now. At most, they show the beginning of his life as the Machine Herald, but I honestly don’t think we’re getting much of what comes after—things like the work he does in the Undercity, his cult, all of the rumors, a deep look into his philosophy, Jayce’s feelings about his transformation. It seems like there’s not enough time. And I’m not even getting into my issues with his characterization in Arcane. So I guess it’s time for…

3| The Hexcore: Oh my God. Please don’t do this to me, Arcane.

They are sooooooooooo gonna make the Hexcore corrupt him and turn him insane. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am. Please let me be wrong. Please let him become radicalized (by the war?) and let all of his further development come from him and not from an entity that’s making him insane. That would make his entire character so easy to dismiss by the story. “Oh, he’s just insane now.”, “Oh, the Hexcore is putting all of its ideas on his head, this is not really him.” (Remember how it’s implied that it’s alive and it learns?)

I think I was always interested in thinking how could this philosophy (the Glorious Evolution) sprout from a somewhat normal person, albeit one under a lot of emotional distress over his banishment from Piltover. How much is it his actual ideology and how much has it been distorted by rumors or so? Because he seemed fairly reasonable in his color story. It seemed interesting to explore—something like the actual man, Viktor; and the legend, the Machine Herald. He even has a cult, come on.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been dooming about this ever since the third act came out. I thought killing Sky was gonna be a turning point of some sort. I don’t know, I kinda deluded myself while I was watching. I was like, okay, THIS is the beginning of the Machine Herald! But I’m hazy on how act three Viktor is gonna come to similar conclusions to those of the Machine Herald himself. Which is why I’m scared they are gonna take the easy way out and make the Hexcore speak to him. This has been very exacerbated by being told that Arcane is canon now. And I’m sure they’d said they wouldn’t do that. I don’t know what I expected from Riot and how they manage the story.

I hope I’m so wrong that I’m gonna look back at this and laugh myself to tears at how pessimistic I was being. He did look a little bit evil while confronting the council.

4| Jayce.

Contrasting what I feel about Viktor’s character, I think Jayce’s characterization in Arcane is superb. He might be my favorite character? Though they kinda took lore Viktor’s story and stole it from him. (A bit of a tangent, but if we’re lucky we get some parallelism if Viktor is ever exiled from Piltover without Jayce defending him. Kind of a “he did it for you but you won’t do it for him” kinda way, even when both had a lot to sacrifice. That would be fucking cool.)

I guess I’m worried about his willingness to use weird-ass magic to enhance people, unlike lore Jayce. Where is the Divorce Arc going to come from? Using Hextech as weapons? Are they not gonna present an opposing view of transhumanism? Everyone except Heimer seemed pretty on board, to be honest. And that might change with him getting to see other sides of the Undercity, so I don’t even know.

It kinda feels like they swapped their stories and viewpoints. In Arcane, Viktor is the one to oppose progress by wanting to destroy the Hexcore because it took a life. Though it might be just the guilt of the moment. My Viktor would never oppose progress for something as insignificant as that, come on! (/hf)

They BETTER give me toxic yaoi, too.

5| The Rest of the Lore.

So, are they gonna re-write everything? Jayce and Viktor being the ones pioneering Hextech has so many branching consequences for the lore at large. What happens with Camille? How fast is Hextech gonna develop? Noxus getting involved in the war between Piltover and the Undercity? Where does Swain fit in all of that, or is he not contemporary to these characters? They mentioned building Piltover specifically to flee the unyielding reign of mages; are they gonna elaborate on that? Are the Rune Wars going to be relevant like Heimerdinger said?

The good thing about Arcane being self-contained used to be that nobody had to think about what they were retroactively changing. This is going to be a clusterfuck.

#arcane #league of legends #viktor lol #viktor arcane #arcane season 2 #i'm so sorry for this. i don't know what came over me

18 notes · View notes

spelllingandthemysteryschool · 1 year ago

Note

hi! :D i love your blog, so i wanted to ask, why do you think the barbie movie was bleak? i love hearing people's opinions on the film, and i thought that was an interesting adjective to describe it. you don't have to answer if you don't want to, ofc! hope you have a nice day!!! <3

oh you’re so sweet, thanks so much! ❣️ honestly i don’t know how intelligible this will be considering i spent a few days after watching the movie hashing out my thoughts with various friends and have mostly said my piece privately, but i thought it was bleak because it just… was…

like i did have fun because it is spectacularly produced & i guess in some ways it’s like oh, well it’s literally the BARBIE movie, what did you expect, but in other ways i was just like. oh my God, the faux criticism of barbie as a product, mattel as a company, and capitalism as a concept this film presents… i couldn’t stomach it! like how much of this are we supposed to believe is greta gerwig’s genuine artistic vision & how much of it is mattel indulgently financing a tongue-in-cheek critique of its own contributions to consumerism knowing it will only generate MORE of the same? i found myself reminded of a particular excerpt from chapter two of mark fisher’s capitalist realism: is there no alternative?, where he writes:

“…anti-capitalism is widely disseminated in capitalism. Time after time, the villain in Hollywood films will turn out to be the ‘evil corporation’. Far from undermining capitalist realism, this gestural anti-capitalism actually reinforces it… We’re left in no doubt that consumer capitalism and corporations… is responsible for this depredation… The film performs our anti-capitalism for us, allowing us to continue to consume with impunity. The role of capitalist ideology is not to make an explicit case for something in the way that propaganda does, but to conceal the fact that the operations of capital do not depend on any sort of subjectively assumed belief… So long as we believe (in our hearts) that capitalism is bad, we are free to continue to participate in capitalist exchange.”

i was so reminded of this passage while watching the film that the first thing i did upon leaving the theater was go through my copy to locate it.

there were also a number of scenes i found, ironically, to convey rather insidious anti-feminist messaging despite the movie’s reputation as (and attempts to live up to the title of) a feminist flick, but i won’t go into those in detail because i’m sure there are people reading this who want to see this film & haven’t yet. in the same vein, i found it to be massively spineless/inauthentic/confused? in the stances it takes because, in an effort to appeal to an audience so broad as to include Basically everyone on the planet, it… doesn’t really commit to any of the stances it presents at all. a lot of the points it tried to make about womanhood, feminism, capitalism, motherhood, and the patriarchy either fell flat or were completely undone by the movie’s end, which is why i found it very funny that some people thought this movie was TOO feminist when i thought it was, frankly, toothlessly feminist.

the sets and costumes were beautiful, the acting was genuinely solid, i liked a lot of the referential pastiche-y moments that cropped up throughout it and i laughed lots at its cleverness because it WAS very witty, but when the credits began to roll i did think, um. maybe we’re in hell. i’m sure some people loved this movie, but sadly i really could not! also mattel now has a Toy cinematic universe planned which is um… great! and doesn’t make me feel a horrible sense of despair or anything

#asks

67 notes · View notes

tadpolesonalgae · 2 months ago

Note

Hi hi! Im usually a lurker (first time sending anything in actually) I couldn’t help myself this time though and just really needed to say you are one of my favourite writers! Went from binging cbmthy to binging everything else. Thank you for sharing all the amazing writing🙇🙇 I hope you’re taking care of yourself!!💝🌸

…Moving forward…I’m sorry for my ramblings🫠 there’s just so much to talk and love about your stories

Ngl the first line of chapter 22 already made my heart ache🫠 just cause i felt it so deeply that reader almost routinely wants to talk to Bas. The thought of someone being such a big part of your life and just being gone one day over a terrible situation (whether it’s a good or bad thing that they’re gone), atp it’s so built into your routine that you can’t help but check on them or think of them even when you shouldn’t.

Idek how to feel about her sisters constantly wanting to buy things for her room. Cause I understand her sisters wanting to make her room feel more cozy again, and wanting to make her happy with the time she has left AND most importantly, conveying that it isn’t a “waste” to buy her things. BUT I ALSO UNDERSTAND READER’S MENTALITY AND I WILL ADMIT IVE GOTTEN FRUSTRATED IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS. Genuinely it does not feel good when you feel like you’re wasting other people’s money or time

Now Az…man Az…I’m probably in the minority of rooting for him even when the worst interactions happened between them (I say it’s cause I have massive faith in your writing ability to make their relationship come together☝️✨) BUT WJDJJWD I was almost thinking “just what is it that he wants??” Cause first, he’s the one who keeps seeking reader out now(? 2-3 times isn’t that many but I digress) while also flashing from decently warm (decently is important here) to extremely cold or indifferent.

“You kissed me back” EXCUSE ME? WHAT? LIKE- OKAY??? AND?? YOU DIDNT HAVE TO INITIATE IT ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KNOW SHES SO DOWN BAD(???)

Okok and now the part I’m slightly confused about right? Now it’s very clear that reader isn’t the most emotionally stable and she is very very deadset on the belief that they hate her. So it wouldn’t surprise me if she took Az’s reaction wrong. What may look like ‘a horrible secret being revealed’, could actually be Az just- almost not knowing what to say to make things better? Or just…not knowing how to handle this? The line I’m questioning is “Azriel doesn’t care if she hit the nail on the head” how I took it is that what she said wasn’t necessarily correct but it doesn’t matter cause Az doesn’t want her to think he reciprocates but he also doesn’t want to reveal a “part of himself”👁️👁️ CURIOUS, VERY CURIOUS. And so he opted to be cold so she would hate him which I almost think that’s cause of his own deep rooted fears and hatred for himself (especially cause of the ‘if she thinks she’s in love with him, she should know how awful he is’ line). And that’s the part he doesn’t wanna expose to her (MAYBE??) as well as he actually probably pays way more attention to her than she thinks (Mr. I-know-you-have-a-small-scar-from-the-arrow)

Anyway that’s my rambling, please let me know if I misunderstood some of the text with Az!! THANK YOU FOR THE BEAUTIFUL, HEART WRENCHING CHAPTER, EXCITED ABOUT THIS PRISON BREAK SITUATION💝💝

‘Hi hi! Im usually a lurker (first time sending anything in actually)’

Ahhh hello!! Very happy to have you here (whether you’re lurking or chatting in 🧡💛)!

‘just really needed to say you are one of my favourite writers! Went from binging cbmthy to binging everything else.’

Really?? ☹️🫂🫂 I’m so happy you liked cbmthy enough to explore further! I hope none of it was too jarring to read—I imagine hopping from angsty cbmthy to smut riddled basically-everything-else might be a bit surprising at first 😭

Please do not worry about rambling, I love love love hearing from people and chatting!! 🧡💛 (I also find it very helpful too—anyone who’s been here since the beginning of cbmthy will be able to confirm I relied—and still do kind of—a lot on feedback to help me measure angst levels and steer the story progression 🫣)

‘Ngl the first line of chapter 22 already made my heart ache🫠 just cause i felt it so deeply that reader almost routinely wants to talk to Bas.’

Yes! And it’s not like anyone other than Mor might have any reason to go to the Winter Court so it’s like he’ll be completely out of reach once he’s gone!

Though while I think it will be painful for reader to lose him like that—in the way that he won’t be completely gone, but just far enough she can’t reach him—it might push her to venture further in attempts to find a way to get another third space for herself (or I guess technically second space, since she’s only really in the River House now with her sisters and the IC)? I think that might be exciting to see?

What you said about doing things out of habit though, expecting someone to be there once they’re not…do you think anyone might spot a single empty chair and pause? Or pass a pair of gloves and remember sensitivity in their fingertips? After six months has passed, I mean

‘Idek how to feel about her sisters constantly wanting to buy things for her room.’

Yes, even though Rhys is probably horrifically wealthy, and even if that wealth is extended to Feyre and her sisters, I don’t imagine reader would ever really feel like it was hers. Or that she’d earned it.

If reader could accept that offering I think things could be very happy though. Imagine having an entire space designed specifically you? With the colours you like, evidence of hobbies scattered around? A safe place to be?

Also being on the other end of reader’s illness, I think it would be natural to want to make someone’s life as happy and as comfortable as possible if you knew it was coming to the end. It’s just unfortunate there’s still that small barrier between them :/

‘Now Az…man Az…I’m probably in the minority of rooting for him even when the worst interactions happened between them’

Yes! Yes! Finally! I’ll shower you in metaphorical flowers!! Thank you!! I promise it’ll get better, just stick with me and everything will be fine!!

‘Cause first, he’s the one who keeps seeking reader out now’

I think it’s very funny that they keep meeting, and trying to have a normal conversation and just,,,failing,,,consistently 🤭

‘“You kissed me back” EXCUSE ME? WHAT? LIKE- OKAY??? AND?? YOU DIDNT HAVE TO INITIATE IT ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KNOW SHES SO DOWN BAD(???)’

I adore that I could practically hear the indignant splutter through the screen 😭🧡💛

To be fair, in that moment Azriel thought that reader was accusing him of sexually taking advantage of her which is why he opposed her in a way that was kind of embarrassing for her, when reader was actually talking about Azriel using her to get a read on Elain (which yay, reader’s keeping that in mind now!!)

‘So it wouldn’t surprise me if she took Az’s reaction wrong.’

👀? To be fair, if she’s convinced herself that everyone hates her, I imagine convincing herself that Azriel might try to kill her out of revulsion wouldn’t be a tricky task 😭

‘The line I’m questioning is “Azriel doesn’t care if she hit the nail on the head” how I took it is that what she said wasn’t necessarily correct but it doesn’t matter cause Az doesn’t want her to think he reciprocates but he also doesn’t want to reveal a “part of himself”👁️👁️ CURIOUS, VERY CURIOUS.’

So I’m actually very curious to see how people interpreted this part because I think it’s the closest we’ve gotten so far to understanding an element of Azriel’s cold behaviour towards Reader?

I’m not going to elaborate on this part because it will be expanded upon later in the series and I don’t want to spoil anything, but yeah. It was fun to write those two paragraphs from Az’s perspective 🥲

‘as well as he actually probably pays way more attention to her than she thinks (Mr. I-know-you-have-a-small-scar-from-the-arrow)’

I want to say I ADORED that scene and I think reader was probably frozen from awe too. I mean, we know how flustered she gets from holding a conversation with him alone, not to mention when close proximity is added since Reader was obviously raised human, and time alone with a man + TOUCHING??? = Marriage. Horse and carriage. COURTING. (I’m being hyperbolic 😶)

Since I think that’s how reader’s been raised to view those things, I imagine she attributes much more meaning to them than any of the born-fae do, hence all the flushing and embarrassment and elevated heart rates 🤭

(That’s not to say that Azriel was flirting with her. More that they have different perspectives on how to display intimacy—also will be elaborated on—and while reader knows Azriel doesn’t mean those things in the way she understands them, that doesn’t remove their significance for her which makes her feelings much more difficult to temper :) )

Like him touching the spot atop her heart?? Much more intimate than a one night stand where it would only be physical nakedness 😭

‘Anyway that’s my rambling, please let me know if I misunderstood some of the text with Az!! THANK YOU FOR THE BEAUTIFUL, HEART WRENCHING CHAPTER, EXCITED ABOUT THIS PRISON BREAK SITUATION💝💝’

I loved reading you ramble and I’m so flattered you had so much to say about it!! Obviously I enjoy cbmthy since it takes up quite a lot of my time, so getting to hear people like yourself who’ve decided to read all the parts and then further decided to take some time to type messages out into my inbox? 🧡💛🫂🫂🫂

I love it, so much, so thank you for reading and enjoying!! I hope it continues to be a fun adventure! ☹️🫂

#anons <3 #cbmthy #kicking my feet and twirling my hair

10 notes · View notes

jujumin-translates · 5 months ago

Text

[A3!] ★ Main Story | Act 14 - DREAM CATCHER | Episode 11 - Overseas Training

Izumi: Umm, this is 7th Avenue, so…

Tenma: Is that it?

Muku: Ah, it is!

Misumi: We’ve arrived~!

Kumon: It’s so crowded here!

Kazunari: No matter where you snap a pic, it looks great and makes such a great ref~! Yukki, Kumopi, pose for the camera~!

Yuki: Sure.

Kumon: I love New York! (1)

*Camera clicks*

Kazunari: Here, here, Sumi and gang, you join too~!

Izumi: (Even after a little under 13-hour flight, everyone’s still full of energy. That’s Summer Troupe for you.)

Izumi: (But time really has flown by so fast from the time when we decided to go to the U.S. to now…)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Flashback*

Yuki: Training in the U.S.?

Tenma: I got a call from my dad out of nowhere.

Tenma: There’s a film festival coming up in the U.S., and he suggested that all of Summer Troupe come for a training trip. He said the agency would cover the cost too.

Muku: Huh? The cost too!?

Kazunari: If the cost is covered, then it’ll be a-okay with Frooch-san.

Kumon: I wanna go to the U.S.!

Izumi: But is it really okay for him to do that much?

Tenma: Partially, it’s because he feels bad about not being able to do anything for the company back when we were struggling with the whole Amadate mess.

Tenma: I think we should just be grateful for it.

Tenma: Theater and musicals included, the U.S. isn’t only about entertainment culture.

Tenma: It’s also cutting-edge in design and fashion, so I think there’s a lot we could all learn from it.

Tenma: He said that if we want to win the Fleur Award, the highest theater award in Japan, we should experience some authentic theater as actors.

Yuki: I am pretty interested.

Muku: Issei-san does have a pretty significant presence in the world, so it’s a pretty convincing argument coming from him.

Izumi: Well then… I guess I’ll take your word for it.

Tenma: Yeah. I think it’ll be a good opportunity for us to relearn some stuff, too.

Misumi: Let’s go to the U.S.~!

Kumon: I can’t wait to be on a plane~!

*Flashback end*

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Izumi: (We didn’t exactly have the greatest experience with Issei-san during the debut performance, but…)

Izumi: (Now he truly is supporting Tenma-kun’s path as a stage actor. I really am thankful for that.)

Izumi: (I hope they can all return home full of excitement and having absorbed a lot during our short stay.)

Muku: If we move a little further left, we should be able to fit the building in.

Kazunari: C’mon, Director-chan!

Misumi: Take a picture with us~!

Izumi: Ah, sure!

*Camera clicks*

Kumon: I still can’t believe how many people there are~.

Yuki: I mean, it is a tourist attraction, so it’s no wonder everyone’s taking pictures.

Tenma: And with the film festival coming up, there will be even more people than usual.

Kazunari: I’m so hyped for the film festival~. It’s something we never would’ve gotten to go to if we weren’t invited.

Kumon: I wonder if we’ll get to meet some of the world’s biggest stars~.

Tenma: But first we’re seeing this play before any of that.

Muku: Ah, we should start heading towards the theater now.

Izumi: The theater should be around-- Ah, over there.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kumon: That was so impactful~! I feel kinda fluffy like I’m still in the story!

Tenma: I’ve never seen a production like that before, so I was really amazed by the whole thing and overwhelmed by the performance skills of the actors.

Tenma: It really reminds you of the wide range of possibilities that exist within theater.

Kazunari: The lighting and music were supes cool. Everything was so powerful and the impact was insane~! I feel like I’ve got ideas bouncing all around in my brain!

Misumi: It was so much fun~. I couldn’t take my eyes off it, it was filled with so much heart-pounding excitement!

Kumon: Yeah, yeah, it was like an emotional roller coaster…

Kumon: I couldn’t understand the language, but it was still conveyed through all they did~.

Muku: There were so many different types of actors. Not just in age, but in the way they acted too…

Muku: They each seemed to be making the most of their abilities.

Yuki: The costumes were good too. Those are what stage costumes should look like.

Yuki: This place really is authentic, and you can see that the pros are working hard to improve each other and create the best things they can.

Izumi: (Looks like each of them was inspired in their own way. I guess there are just some things that you can only get a feel for when you actually see them in person.)

Izumi: (We’ve hardly been here a day but I’m already happy we came…)

Muku: It’s all in English, but I just had to get a brochure too.

Kumon: Me too! Even though I can’t read any of it~.

Muku: When we get back to Japan, let’s read some of it together with a dictionary.

Kumon: Yeah! Looking at the credits, there are some Japanese-sounding names, though. Like the costume person, Aiko Kataoka--.

Yuki: Ah--.

Muku: Do you know who that is, Yuki-kun?

Yuki: Yeah, they’re famous.

Kumon: Really~?

Yuki: I see, so that’s…

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

• • •

(1) Kumon says this in English.

#a3!#a3! translation #tenma sumeragi #yuki rurikawa #muku sakisaka #misumi ikaruga #kazunari miyoshi #kumon hyodo

15 notes · View notes

scamwatchseal · 4 months ago

Text

🕊️🍉Watching Out for Scams and Helpful Ways to Help Palestinians in Need🍉🕊️

With the humanitarian crises across the globe, there are (very unfortunately) absolutely vile people who want to take advantage of these horrific circumstances to make a quick chunk of change.

This is very bad since often legitimately new users of Palestinians in need seeking assistance from tumblr who just don’t know the culture here (IE: don’t really get that it’s considered rude, bot-like behavior to send asks about donations) are lumped in with these scammers and get banned, treated like spam, etc.

I hope this post can help people here discern if this is going to a real person in need or just a slimy scammer.

Things to look out for

Very guilt tripping language. Typically things like in very big red letters saying to please don’t scroll past at the most tame to actively berating users or the person the ask was sent like having very graphic descriptions of violence and saying “you wouldn’t want that to happen to you, would it?” at worst. The use of guilt tripping language is very intentional to convey urgency to anyone who may scroll past it, and make them feel awful if they don't do something right this second.

Check the age of the blog. I’m one to talk with having just made this sideblog, but it’s common for scam blogs to reblog a bunch of random posts to appear legitimate and their only original post is the one calling for donations.

Check to see if the Go Fund Me has been vetted by blogs known to vet and verify the legitimacy of Go Fund Me campaigns on tumblr. There are a few users who are known to verify the legitimacy of campaigns of those in need through a pinned post. Make sure you use the exact spelling as often scammers will see the name of a legit campaign, but end up switching a letter, spelling differently, etc. to appear all the more "legitimate". These users are @/el-shab-hussein , @/nabulsi, @/ibtisams, @/palipunk. Some have stopped vetting for fundraisers, but it's always good to check through their lists.

If the Go Fund Me link redirects you to a PayPal, it's very likely a scam. PayPal offers it's services to a lot of countries, however, it does not offer it's services to those in Palestine, unfortunately, so if someone is using PayPal I would consider it a major red flag.

If Venmo or Cash App are mentioned as a way to donate or any Go Fund Me Links redirect to there, it is absolutely a scam. Those apps only work to users in the US (and in the UK for Cash App).

Of course I'm aware that there are sometimes legitimate campaigns that may be organized by a relative or a friend living elsewhere and take donations through some of these means. However, it can also be something very easy to lie about. With the sense of urgency a lot of these posts present, it can be difficult to deduce if someone is really in need or if it's a scammer. You are not a horrible person for being informed about a lot of scam tactics and scrolling past.

Just remember a very important rule of thumb when coming across posts or asks:

Since yes, people do in fact lie, take advantage of the suffering of others and the kindness of those who want to help to make a quick buck. It's truly vile behavior and I hope this post can make users more informed about having a sharp eye when it comes to keeping an eye for scams, so that more people can be helped.

If you want to continue helping those in need but don't want to make sure every ask you get or post you see is verified, there are plenty of legitimate ways to help those in need, such as:

Doing your free clicks on Arab.org (it's free and something you can do daily. If you haven't done it today, consider this your reminder)

Donate Esims

Donate to organizations and relief efforts such as PCRF, Watermelon Relief, and Operation Olive Branch.

If you have Twitter, watching and engaging with Care for Gaza's tweets and videos helps as they are monetized for engagement.

#I'll update this post as time goes on IE: if there's more vetted charities I can help link to and the like #from river to sea palestine will be free

7 notes · View notes

whenthemarshmallowmettheslayer · 11 months ago

Text

My thoughts on Smallville 1x08 “Jitters.”

Confession: I watched this episode the other night. I’m watching it again because I enjoyed it so much. Okay, now that I’ve said that onto the episode.

I drag on the Smallville writers (for context I’ve been ranting about the show on several discord servers I’m on) but I want to compliment here in these opening scenes. The writers are showing the Kents are poor instead of simply telling it or simply having Lex offer a loan one episode and then never showing the Kents financial issues again. We actually get to see how oh, Kents don’t have money to spare. We see this in how Johnthan fixes the truck himself instead of going to an auto mechanic. We see this in how Martha is going to handle a plumbing issue herself instead of calling a plumber.

A small detail I like that makes this house feel lived in is how there's several cabinet doors left open that we can see behind Clark when he’s opening the fridge. I have a habit of opening cabinets, grabbing what I need, and completely forgetting to close them until a minute or more has passed. And then it’s ‘oh shit, I’ve got to close that.’

Also is it just an universal farmer thing for farmers to own a truck with a toolbox on the back? Because my great grandfather was a farmer and he had a truck with a toolbox in the back just like how Johnthan does.

Jonathan: “I’m definitely raising your allowance.”

Some thoughts here. 1.) Clark probably isn’t going to get that allowance raise after the party. 2.) We know Clark does the work of several farm hands - even though he’s juggling school - because this is mentioned in the episode the Kents needed a loan so my question is where does that saved money go? Is it given to Clark’s allowance? Is money the Kents keep to pay for stuff they need? Is it set aside for Clark’s college fund or for his first car? Looking back knowing what I do now…. Jonathan probably should have let Clark keep that truck. The Kents can’t afford a new car for their son and even if they go with an older car they’re still going to have to pay for repairs unless the used car is still in dealership warranty. But Jonathan was too prejudiced to accept it because of who Lex’s father was. I could understand vetoing the truck if Lionel was the one who gave it but it was Lex. I just **shrugs** I’ve got thoughts on Jonathan - I like him but he frustrates me - and I don’t know how to convey them so moving on.

Clark”....It’s a couple nights at Metropolis-”

That party of Clark’s was selfish. I understand that the Kents had to return early because of the plot but the in-universe reason they came back early is because they called several times the night of the party. Clark never answered but other people - people who told the Kents they didn’t know Clark - did. They left their trip after one day. I've got mixed feelings about this. Cause on one hand they deserve to celebrate their anniversary but at the same time they have to spend several hundreds of dollars on this trip because they’re staying at a hotel for several days and meals. That’s not counting any activities like going to movies, going to see a play, going shopping, or whatever. And it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth because what two episodes ago they were talking about a bad loan Jonathan accepted. I just they should spend money on themselves but at the same they were going to spend a pretty penny on this trip before they came back earlier.

Is Earl going to hold a bunch of teenagers and a man hostage this episode? Yes. Do I want to hug him? Also yes. So far Earl and Jodi are the only villain of the week characters I have empathy for. I was really happy last night to learn Lex is getting him medical help. Until canon states otherwise I’m going to hope Earl eventually gets to live with his family.

Janitor dude: “Earl see that's the talk that got yourself canned. Now, if you got as problem get some help.”

Dude. With what health insurance?! This is America. Also those doctors likely can’t do shit because they don’t know what caused the issue. There is also the fact that meteor rocks are volatile. There are no rules and regulations on how it is handled. And like most rules and regulations they’re gonna be written in blood.

Sidenote: I like how it’s established that Earl has a family. If he dies then not only does his wife lose her spouse but she will be a single mother. Earl is fighting to get answers so he can be in his wife and child’s lives. Also I wonder if meteor mutation can be passed onto children. I know Earl’s kid is too old for this to happen but I wonder about this in general.

I’ve ranted about this multiple times but whoever worked in costume and design in this show deserves a fucking raise. Why? Because they are telling us the Kents aren’t well off with money. Clark is constantly wearing the same articles of clothing throughout the show instead of a new piece every time we see him. This book bag in this scene looks like the same bookbag from earlier this season. (Martha - she’s not in this scene but I’m bringing her because I’m talking about the costume and design team being great - often wears the same grey coat.) Chloe and Lana meanwhile have a wider selection of outfits. Lex meanwhile - I’m not even going to talk about colors yet - has driving gloves. It’s such a small detail but it says a lot. It says Lex has money to spend because most people don’t own driving gloves. Driving gloves aren’t needed in this time period the way they were in the past because of early steering wheels. Driving gloves are not a necessity nor are they common. Yet Lex spent money on them which shows he has money to spend on his interests in sports cars. Also Lex is often seen wearing purple. Purple is a color associated with royalty and wealth. Fun fact: there was a time where only Roman emperors could wear Tyrian purple.

Okay back to the show. Who invited all these people? I know Clark didn’t. Maybe Lex? I know Lex is behind the fireworks.

Lana has this thing of politely calling out implications of her love life and it’s so funny to me. I did not remember this trait of hers from when I watched the show as a kid. I do wonder why Lana abruptly stopped wearing her necklace.

I know the show is trying to set us up to like Lana/Clark but I don’t like the pairing already. Lana is painted as this nice girl - she’s friends with non popular kids (nevermind we’re just told this instead of actually seeing Lana and future villains of the week hanging out in the background before the x villain of the week episode), she’s interested in breaking apart from the expectations people have of her, she’s against academic cheating, she’s willing to tutor people for free, and so on. The thing is. She is one of the two characters outside of Clark and football players who know Whitney kidnapped Clark, stripped him, and tied him up in a pole where Clark stayed for hours. And she’s still with this guy. I just. I admit I ship Clex and those two are going to be a mess as the show progresses but the thing is Lex calls out Clark’s bullshit (which I don’t always think all of Clark’s bullshit is actually bullshit but that’s not the point). Clark calls out Lex’s bullshit (which again I don’t think Lex’s bullshit is actually bullshit but again not the point). It feels more even because they are critical of each other. Where as Clark never has a moment of ‘Lana knows what her boyfriend did to me and she’s still in a romantic relationship with him despite calling me her friend. Do I really want to be with her?’ I feel like Clark and the show itself puts Lana on a pedestal. I hope that the shows allows these two characters to be critical of each other since they’re eventually going to be canon relationship.

Chloe:”It’s a class field trip.”

Lex: “What did you do wrong?”

Kid me did not understand Lex was the funniest character on the show. (Clark is the second funniest btw.)

Lex has a type and it’s brunettes. This lady, Victoria, Desiree, Helen, and Lana. If Lionel’s goon - I feel like his name starts with d but I’m not sure - from an earlier episode has the same hair color as his sister then her too because the goon had brown hair.

Also I like how the plumbing issue from earlier is brought up again.

Clark: “I’m officially dead”

Lol. Clark you’ve been dead.

I love that we’re getting background on Martha. Johnthan is so enamored by his wife.

Lana: “It was kind of last minute. I didn’t realize I needed your permission.”

I get mixed feelings about these two. (Sidenote: I respect Whitney asking Lana to come outside instead of arguing in front of everyone.) Because on one hand Lana has a right to hang out with her friends without inherently telling her boyfriend. On the other hand Lana has a history of not telling Whitney she’s hanging out with Clark - a previous occasion being a limo ride to a concert in the city. Lana is aware Clark has feelings for her. She is aware Lex - a friend of Clark - keeps trying to pouch them together. Lana has admitted she’s defended that limo event with Clark to her aunt. Whitney is not being paranoid. I can understand why he doesn’t like this.

Whitney: “So you sneak off to a party without me?”

Lana: “I didn’t sneak off - I walked.”

I don’t even fucking like Whitney but I’m on his side on this. Lana was being sneaky by not telling him.

Lana: “I’m starting to get the feeling you don’t trust me.”

I mean you didn’t tell him about the limo even until you thought Clark ditched you.

I find interesting in this episode Whitney relies or tries to rely on Clark twice in regards to handling potential threats.

Chloe: “This guy should be in a detox center.”

Chloe there are multiple reasons why he could be having body tremors even without taking into consideration this is smallville.

Chloe: “Then why was he shaking like a junkie?”

Was Chloe’s mom a drug addict? From what I remember Gabe is single handedly raising her.

Clark: “I kept snapping the guitar strings. I think Earl got sick of replacing them.”

But he replaced them more than once. He still tried to teach Clark even though Clark broke strings of the instrument. I just find this moment says a lot about Clark and Earl. I wish we could see these two interacting outside of this episode.

Clark: “He was like family.”

I want to hug him.

Clark call a lawyer damn it. Preferably one who does a contingent fee basis work or someone Lex would recommend.

I’m surprised no one tried to get medical staff to look over Clark after he went through that glass.

Whoever decided to have Kent parents watch Clark clean and then clap is a comedic genius. Also Clark honey why would you not shut and lock the door before using your super speed?

I’ve complained about how the writers don’t show Clark having empathy before but they did it right here. Clark spent all night at that hospital because of Earl even though he had a house to clean.

Doctor: “I pulled the plant’s safety records. I checked with OSHA and the EPA.”

Ma’am. How did you get all of that so soon?

I know there are cameras in this building. How come no one notices Clark super speeding? I can begrudgingly suspend my suspension of belief that Lex doesn’t have cameras at home - I still need to know what happened to the guy that froze in the pond in Lex’s backyard - but we see cameras in this building. You mean to tell me that Lionel nor Lex wasn’t curious about how Clark was already away from the group and running around unsupervised. Like even without a hostage situation I feel like someone would check the cameras on just Clark wandering around by himself.

Once again Martha is wearing that grey coat. I love the costume and design crew on this show.

How the fuck did no one notice Clark speeding around?

Clark, you have x ray vision.

Earl: “Just like everybody else.”

I’m gonna defend Clark here. He’s the only person willing to investigate Level Three even though Jonathan had also interacted with Earl. Jonathan who constantly is suspicious of Luthors (I think in the Bug Boy episode he makes a comment about the Luthor plant infecting people) isn’t willing to look into this. Clark, who is friends with Lex, was willing to investigate even though it could potentially cause an issue between him and Lex. He was willing to hear Earl out and search for Level Three even before there were hostages involved. (Side note: moments like this I can see why Clark grew up and became a reporter. Though I hope to see Clark taking an interest in the school newspaper in this or the next seasons.) That said, I can understand why Earl made this comment. He’s been gaslighted about Level Three. He is also being told that level doesn’t exist because there are people who genuinely don’t know about Level Three is a thing. He’s being treated like he’s crazy even though he’s having these powerful body tremors from the incident in Level Three. I can understand why he’s pissed off at Clark but Clark is genuinely trying to help him.

Lionel: “How did you allow this to happen?”

Lionel has a brilliant actor. Lionel is a nasty, intelligent villain which I like because I don’t tend to enjoy dumb ones. That said, this character makes me furious. Gee, asshole. Maybe if Lex was given a warning he could have been better equipped to prevent this.

Lionel: “Lex! How did you allow this to happen?”

Lex: “I didn’t allow anything.”

Lionel: “Then how did this man get inside?”

Lex: “I think-”

Lionel: “You think? Why don’t you know Lex!”

Lionel is one of those parents who even if you have a justified reason why x happened it doesn’t matter. Lionel isn’t asking how this happened out of genuine interest of knowing. He asked so he can lecture. If he truly cared he would allow Lex to continue speaking after Lex said “I didn’t allow anything” and wouldn’t interrupt Lex when he’s saying “I think.” Also I love how Lex’s actor plays this scene because at one point when Lionel is yelling at him Lex lowers his head. Lowering your head like that is usually a sign of submission but also it could mean you feel threatened and you’re protecting your throat. The first one is common but I’m not throwing out the latter because I remember from when I watched the show as a kid that Lionel was physically abusive to Lex.

Lex’s expression at Lionel offering his hand to Johnthan makes me curious. Is Lex wary of his father knowing the Kents? Does he find it weird that Lionel is offering to shake hands with Johnthan?

Lionel: “Of course it is.”

I love Lionel’s actor. Lionel has interrupted Lex throughout this scene but Lex asking about Level Three isn’t interrupted nor is Lex lectured for even entertaining the “deluded” theory that the man holding teenagers and a Luthor employee as hostages believes in. There’s even these few seconds where Lionel doesn’t answer. And it’s so telling.

Martha: “What about the kids? You need to get on the phone and talk to him!”

I wonder when Lionel will start to be attracted to Martha.

Lionel: “But…I do not negotiate with terrorists.”

Negotiate being the key word. I wonder if Lex picked up on this. I do think he picked up Lionel’s response earlier as off.

This episode is heartbreaking because in another universe Lex could have been a hero. I don’t think he’ll necessarily have the drive to go be a vigilante but I think Lex could have been a damn good hero if he decided to be. Now would he be a manipulative one? Absolutely. But **gestures at Batman**

Lex **insert handshake emoji** me. We both don’t like being abruptly touched by family.

I wish that Clark would hear this speech and think about it later when Lex is being hugged by his dad and is staring at the Kents in yearning. Clark is a teenager - who has a lot of weight on his shoulders - but I just wish that he recognized Lionel was abusive to Lex. A lot of the fandom blames Clark for Lex’s downfall. I however have a different opinion. Lionel is the main person outside of Lex to be blamed. I know what it’s like to be raised in an abusive environment and growing up in an abusive household may explain things but there comes a time where we are all responsible for our own decisions. Lex is responsible for his actions but if we are going to put blame on another character for the path Lex goes down I say Lionel is to blame. I think Clark played a role - though I’ve got opinions on this topic I’m not going to ramble about it just yet because I need to hurry up and finish this but I will be ranting about my mixed feelings later - but Lionel was abusive shit.

Lex: “Yeah, it’s in his imagination. There is no Level Three Clark. Now get out of here.”

The acting in this episode is phenomenal. I like how Clark is showing signs of feeling unwell as Earl draws near. There’s no physical signs of meteor poisoning - aka the green veins - or music to convey the meteor is affecting Clark but Clark’s actor is doing his part to convey Earl getting closer to him makes him sick. Also does Lex genuinely believe that or did he notice how off Lionel was acting but doesn’t have actual proof of Level Three nor does he have time to truly look for it with Earl so he’s just letting Clark believe there never was a chance for Lex to be saved? Lex is just one of those characters where I’m sometimes never sure what he’s actually thinking. And honestly it’s nice because I often can figure out what characters’ motivations are in situations.

How the fuck does no one notice Clark using his super speed on the cameras.

I want to hug Pete. Poor kid is blaming himself.

God I love the Kents pretending they have no idea what’s going on.

Lex must be so curious. Because not only did Clark magically find Level Three - somehow the wall covering the elevator has been smashed. I feel like the wall being smashed would be less interesting to Lex - he already suspects Clark is stronger than natural - than how Clark somehow managed to find it.

Lex probably is hating his dad right now. Which is completely valid.

Earl: “How am I going to get better if I don’t know what’s poisoning me?”

I’m so tempted to write a fic where Clark reveals the meteor rock is what is harming Earl. We know Clark sees Earl like family - Clark has said this but he’s also shown it in his actions - but he’s not willing to tell Earl the truth. Also I wonder if Earl will go the same hospital Amy Adam’s character went to…

I find it interesting that Lex - who is in a hostage situation - is taking time to tell Clark he didn’t know about this place. His life is in the balance and he doesn’t want Clark to think he lied to him. Lex doesn’t even know Clark is close to Earl to the point he considers the man family - he only knows Earl used to work on the farm. Yet he doesn’t want Clark thinking he lied.

Earl: “He’s lying. He's just like his father.”

I don’t drink but I want to say if I took a shot every time a character said Lex was just like Lionel I would probably have liver poisoning before the season ends.

Clark: “...I don’t know. Adrenaline, I guess.”

Okay, so here's the thing. I’ve read fics where this line is mentioned in a negative light either because it’s a bad lie or it was bad of Clark to lie. I don’t think Clark is lying though. I think Clark went through an episode of hysterical strength. There are times where humans have abnormal strength for a period of time in order to save someone’s life - there was a case in like 1980s I believe where a mom lifted a car that had fallen on her son. Anyway, throughout this episode we’ve seen Clark become sick when near Earl. It is so bad that Clark would not agree to help Whitney attempt to attack Earl. Yet when Clark’s friend and someone he considers as family have their lives in danger Clarkl manages to find the strength to pull them up. So I don’t think Clark is actually lying.

Ledx staring at Kents being happy Clark is safe - that they’re giving him a hug because they actually want to instead of for publicity - makes me want to cry. Also another reason this scene is sad is Lionel grabbed Lex by the arm earlier and Lex told his dad to never do that again. And Lionel here is hugging Lex - which is much more contact than grabbing an arm - for publicity reasons instead of respecting Lex’s wishes. I also think Lionel hugs Lex to prevent Lex from declaring anything else in front of the press that Lionel doesn’t want.

This episode is my favorite episode so far. I feel like it’s going to be a favorite even after I’ve rewatched multiple seasons.

#Smallville #Lex Luthor #Clark Kent #clex #Johthan Kent #Martha Kent #Lionel Luthor #watching smallville

21 notes · View notes