#Like he's one of the main LI's ffs!

[tomanationcentral]

Does anyone else ever think about how Toma is so focused on Shin and Heroine's happiness, he really--and I mean REALLY--doesn't think about himself that much?

Like....it's to a degree where he even doesn't put much time and effort into his own hobbies

Like does the dude just bury himself in whatever he can find to keep himself busy cause he's *that* lonely whenever Shin + Heroine isn't around?

I'm also someone that is very happy whenever I'm hanging out with friends, but with Toma, it's basically the highlight of his day life. If anything, he puts more effort with Shin and heroine than he does with his own life

Like the dude is in so many clubs, but for someone that is a supposed 'jack of all trades' does Toma ever talk about his interests that much? Let alone, does it really....make sense? All the other guys have solid interests that fit them quite well. Shin's love for card games comes up quite a few times, even outside his own route. Ikki has what I call 'rich guy, country club' hobbies, such as darts and billiards. Kent likes to take walks + observe things, very expected of his 'smart guy' archetype. Even Ukyo, who has several hobbies/clubs, still has them in a category that fits his 'feminine' image (cheerleading, hula dancing, braiding hair, etc.). Toma's hobbies are not only all over the place but doesn't really define him well. Now, I'm not saying someone can't have multiple hobbies that they lose interest in quickly, but for the sake of the game giving these characters well rounded, defined personalities, it's.....weird with Toma

Toma is really a 'go with the flow type of guy'. He doesn't really have a preference with what he wants, rather just does anything his friends likes. While these types of people are not rare irl, it makes Toma fall a bit flat as a character. Sawa and Mine (hell, even Rika!) feel more fleshed out and have more personality than Toma. I'm aware Toma is supposed to be the 'big brother that puts his childhood friends over himself' character, but does the dude even know his own likes/dislikes?

Fr! It's sweet and all he wants to put heroine's needs above his own, but it really does feel like Toma isn't really well developed as a character beyond "Kind older brother that can turn yandere". Like...do we really know anything about Toma aside from the description in the last sentence? It's like his personality IS 'doing whatever his loved ones' want

And his greatest wish in Crowd, when he finally reveals it, is (as sweet and wholesome as it was) was just....the plan. To build a family with heroine, but like...you two are freaking engaged! Wasn't that going to happen already?! Don't get me wrong, I like Toma for being this guy that is constantly thinking abt heroine's happiness, but it comes with a cost of shaving off a lot of genuine personality the game could've given him other than 'the nice guy w/ a yandere side'

[thedreamerstoryteller]

🎶 I know you

I walked with you once upon a dream

I know you

That look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.

And I know it's true, that visions are seldom what they seem

But if I know you

I know what you'll do

You'll love me at once

The way you did once upon a dream. 🎶

[5sospenguinqueen]

Terrible Two | Max Verstappen x Hamilton! Reader

Summary: Lewis hates the idea of Max dating his sister. Not because he's overprotective but because he’s trying to save the younger driver from the insanity of his sister. Or the one where Y/N terrorises the Grid OFF the track and Max terrorises them ON the track.

Warnings: Swearing. Fluff. Not 2021.

Female reader with various faceclaims. Pics found on Pinterest.

Requested by @shelbyteller

Main Masterlist

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YourUserName just posted

liked by maxverstappen1, georgerussell63 and others

YourUserName race day with my favourite hamilton (oh, and lewis was there too, i guess) 💚 tagged: roscoelovescoco, lewishamilton

9,457 comments

User 1 i live for the hamilton sibling shade

lewishamilton i miss how peaceful my life was before you were born

→ YourUserName i miss how peaceful my life was before i was born too

→ User2 oof, felt that

roscoelovescoco loves you aunty y/n

→ YourUserName and i love you my sweet boy. i’m already planning my next attempt to kidnap you

→ User3 i love that she wastes no time to pick on lewis but plays along with his roscoe account

→ YourUserName i don’t play when it comes to my fluffy man

User4 miss thing, you are not slick. we all see the red bull in the last slide

→ User5 omg and they were seen chatting outside the space between the two garages earlier

→ User6 she was also seen talking to charles, pierre, valtteri and george but i don’t see any of you linking them together?

→ User7 her and Charles tho

→ User6 ffs 🙄

mercedesamgf1 you and roscoe are also our favourite hamiltons

→ lewishamilton i just can’t catch a break

charles_leclerc thank you for letting me into the garage to see the baby 🐶

maxverstappen1 always nice having you around the paddock

liked by YourUserName

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YourUserName just posted

liked by alex_albon, lewishamilton and others

YourUserName another weekend, another flex 🏁. also, thank you to @ nike for literally being the reason i get to chase my brother around the world tagged: lewishamilton, georgerussell63

7,669 commnets

georgerussell63 will you stop eating my snacks

→ YourUserName no, you don’t need them. your trainer says you’re getting fat

→ georgerussell63 don’t tell lies!

lewishamilton shoes on the bed!!

→ YourUserName they never touched the bed! and they’ve never even touched the ground!

→ YourUserName get off my post!

→ YourUserName go lose some races!

→ lewishamilton just like you’ve lost my love!

→ YourUserName i never wanted it in the first place!

charles_leclerc perhaps you could wear red next?

→ landonorris nah mate. papaya all the way

→ maxverstappen1 i think she'd look better in blue

liked by YourUserName

mercedesamgf1 thank you for being the most entertaining member of the garage

→ georgerussell63 admin, how could you? i thought i was the best 🥺

User8 i'm living for y/n's sponsored post for work literally leads to her terrorising half the grid

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User9 no because the way this woman had him blushing and kicking his feet outside his own garage earlier, he’s smitten

→ User10 i was in the paddock and no joke, he giggled!

User11 um i highly doubt max is flirting with y/n to mess with lewis, if anything, lewis asked y/n to flirt with max to mess up his game

→ User12 i bet you’re feeling real foolish about this comment now (race day tweet)

→ User13 agreed with user12, if anything the flirting fuelled max because he won with an 8 second lead

User14 no because they would be far too hot for any of us to handle

YourUserName oh look at that, I’m trending again

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YourUserName just posted

liked by maxverstappen1, danielricciardo and others

YourUserName thanks for having me @ redbullracing. it was a different perspective of the track, that’s for sure. well done on your 1-2 tagged: maxverstappen1

10,347 comments

mercedesamgf1 but you’re still a traitor 💔

lewishamilton i missed you

→ YourUserName @ lewishamilton you’re so needy

→ YourUserName but i missed you too

redbullracing our good luck charm

→ georgerussell63 back off. you can’t have her

→ mercedesamgf1 @ georgerussell63 you tell ‘em, boo

maxverstappen1 it was a delight to have you

→ User15 dude you need better rizz than that

charles_leclerc ferrari in the future?

→ lewishamilton no

→ georgerussell63 no

→ mercedesamgf1 no

→ maxverstappen1 no

(this comment has been deleted)

danielricciardo i tried getting you to visit me there for years but max comes along and asks ONCE

liked by maxverstappen1

→ User15 omg max invited her

→ User16 omg she was there for work

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YourUserName just posted

liked by lewishamilton, maxverstappen1 and others

YourUserName he said he liked my curls so I let him take me for a drive

6,669 comments

yourfriend okay but the hair is looking fire

lewishamilton who’s car is that

lewishamilton where are you

lewishamilton who are you with

lewishamilton I know you’re on your phone. stop ignoring my comments

→ User1 lewis is killing me

→ User2 she’s really making him work up a sweat

yourfriend2 these pics are killing me. salivating

→ yourfriend3 agreed. bark bark woof woof

liked by YourUserName

liked by maxverstappen1

User3 okay but doesn’t that look a lot like max’s recent car?

→ lewishamilton show me the evidence

→ User3 omg no way you replied

→ User4 you literally can barely see the car but okay?

maxverstappen1 was he at least a good driver?

→ YourUserName i don’t know. he hit the curb and was a bit on the slow side

→ User5 you ain't slick, sis

landonorris omg you promised you wouldn’t tell anyone about us

→ YourUserName omg but you kept asking me for curl care routines. how could i resist?

alex_albon i mean the curls are nice but i don’t know how he can put up with your personality

→ YourUserName @ lilymhe dump him

→ lilymhe but he’s losing? so i feel like i have to wait until the season is over

→ alex_albon babe!

User6 do they need a third

User7 everybody stay FUCKIGN CALM!

User8 okay but the way he holds her when he kisses her 🥹

User9 can somebody check on lewis? i feel he may not be able to handle this

User10 anyone else think these photos are an absolute invasion of privacy? how disgusting

→ User11 oh agreed. we hate that this was done but we're also so happy that they're together

User12 the dream team. one can terrorise the grid OFF the track and one terrorises them ON the track

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YourUserName just posted

liked by maxverstappen1, carlossainz55 and others

YourUserName when bae is thirsty so am i 💦

11,342 comments

User13 is this a hard launch

→ User14 no, i think the paps did that for them

→ maxverstappen1 she had a 10 page document of plans for a soft launch as well

→ User15 um miss y/n, we'll still take those posts please

User16 does this mean we’re going to be getting y/n in the red bull garage from now to on and not Merc :(

→ georgerussell63 we were told we had to have shared custody

→ mercedesedamgf1 toto and christian had to sign a contract

lewishamilton i don’t like this. i'm happy for you but i do not need max verstappen thirst traps all over my feed

→ YourUserName well, i know you much prefer the real thing but you’re not allowed to drool over that anymore

→ lewishamilton how do i disown you?

→ YourUserName i've been asking myself that question for years

danielricciardo woohoo maxie. i wasn't familiar with you like that

charles_leclerc it's nice to see the two of you finally together so that max stops talking to me in the cool down room about your beauty

→ maxverstappen1 shut the fuck up.

→ YourUserName @ maxverstappen1 aww you think i’m pretty

→ maxverstappen1 of course I do

landonorris how could you do this to me. i thought we were forever

→ YourUserName we weren’t even for 2 minutes

→ danielricciardo she only likes champions, mate

redbullracing going to need these blown up and out in the garage

→ YourUserName already on it

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YourUserName just posted

liked by mercedesamgf1, nicorosberg and others

YourUserName just a couple of besties aka my brother wants to steal my boyfriend tagged: maxverstappen1, lewishamilton

7,555 comments

danielricciardo i think you mean MY boyfriend

→ YourUserName max told me your little fling meant nothing to him

→ danielricciardo @ maxverstappen1 you bitch!

→ maxverstappen1 i'm sorry but y/n means more to me than our night together

→ danielricciardo take it back

→ YourUserName your head game just wasn’t that strong

→ lewishamilton @ YourUserName i hate you for making me read that

georgerussell63 why don’t you take pics like this of me with lewis 🥺 i like him more than max does

→ YourUserName @ lewishamilton you’re upsetting all of your boyfriends tonight

→ lewishamilton i hate you

landonorris does this mean you’re free for me to hit you up

→ maxverstappen1 watch your back on the track

→ redbullracing @ maxverstappen1 christian said you’re not allowed to say that online anymore

→ maxverstappen1 for legal purposes, my previous comment was a joke

maxverstappen1 you’re the only Hamilton for me, schatje

→ YourUserName love you baby

→ maxverstappen1 love you too 💕

→ charles_leclerc @ maxverstappen1 i miss when you loved me

mercedesamgf1 please stop posting these. you’re making the rest of the grid jealous

mclaren please stop upsetting the grid by revealing their affairs. now they’re all crying

williamsracing @ YourUserName for the sake of the race, please stop stealing max from his boyfriends. they can’t drive through their tears

redbullracing we need more content like this, please. if the other drivers are too heartsick, there’s nothing standing in our way

→ redbullracing for legal reasons, this is a joke

[novaursa]

I have a request. Rhaenyra has an older brother and they always thought they would marry. But after persuasion from Otto, Viserys betroths his son to Alicent. Him and Alicent do their duty and have children. Alicent loves him but his heart still belongs to Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra marries Laenor but her children suspiciously look very much like her brother. Alicent suspects he's been having an affair with her and an argument ensues. To keep the fic short like you want, the main focus of the story can just be their argument.

Bound by Duty

- Summary: When your father married you to Alicent, your heart remained with your sister.

- Pairing: Rhaenyra Targaryen/male!reader/Alicent Hightower

- Note: The reader is the eldest child of Viserys I Targaryen and Aemma Arynn, and the older brother of Rhaenyra.

- Rating: Mature 16+ (just to be safe)

- Tag(s): @sachaa-ff @literaturedog

The scent of burning wax mingles with the faint breeze from the open window, but the room is heavy with something far more tangible than just night air—the weight of unspoken accusations. You stand by the hearth, hands clasped behind your back, the heat from the flames licking at your skin, but it is not the fire that makes your chest tight.

Alicent’s voice cuts through the silence like a blade, trembling with restrained emotion, yet firm in her accusation. 

"How long has this gone on?" she asks, her brown eyes piercing into yours, her hands clenched at her sides. There’s no hesitation in her tone, only years of repressed suspicion finally breaking free. “How long have you and Rhaenyra been carrying on behind my back?”

You inhale slowly, feeling the weight of her words press against your chest. Her accusation isn't unexpected, but it still stings. It feels as though the walls are closing in, every inch of this chamber suddenly suffocating. You have always known this moment would come—Alicent has always been sharp, her eyes always watching, searching for cracks in the facade you’ve built.

"I don’t know what you mean," you reply, though the words taste bitter on your tongue. You avoid her gaze, looking instead at the flickering flames. It’s easier to face the fire than the truth in her eyes.

Alicent scoffs, her breath hitching with something that might be laughter if it weren’t so full of pain. “Do not lie to me. I am not a fool, nor am I blind.” She steps closer, her green gown swishing with every step, her hands trembling now as they reach out, grasping your forearm. “Her children... Rhaenyra’s sons. They look nothing like Laenor. But they look like you.”

You close your eyes for a moment, feeling the weight of her touch and the accusation that lingers in the air between you both. You want to deny it, to turn from the truth that burns in your chest, but how could you? You have always known the children’s resemblance would betray you, just as your love for Rhaenyra has always betrayed your marriage to Alicent.

Alicent’s grip tightens. “Do not insult me with more lies. I have seen the way you look at her, how you speak to her. It was always her, wasn’t it? Even when Viserys ordered our marriage, your heart was never mine.”

Her words are a dagger, twisting deep into your chest. You can hear the hurt in her voice, the years of loyalty, duty, and sacrifice she made for a man who could never truly belong to her. You force yourself to meet her gaze, seeing the unshed tears that make her brown eyes glisten.

“I did my duty,” you say quietly, but the words are hollow. “I married you. I fathered our children. I have been the husband I was expected to be.”

She lets go of your arm as if burned, stepping back with a sharp intake of breath, her expression one of betrayal, as though you had slapped her. “But you were never mine,” she whispers, the hurt cracking through her voice. “Not truly. Your body may have been here, but your heart… your heart was always hers.”

Silence falls between you both, thick and oppressive. The truth you’ve tried so long to avoid now lies bare before you, and there is no more hiding. 

“I loved her long before I loved you,” you admit, the confession heavy on your lips, each word like a stone thrown into a pond, creating ripples in the fragile peace that once existed. “When we were children, we thought—hoped—we would marry one day. But Viserys listened to your father, to Otto, and instead, I was wed to you.”

Alicent’s face hardens at the mention of her father’s name, but the pain in her eyes does not fade. “And you have resented me for it ever since.”

You shake your head. “No. I have never resented you, Alicent. You have been a good wife, a good mother to our children. But my heart…” You trail off, unable to finish, because the truth is too much to bear even for you.

“Your heart belongs to her,” Alicent finishes for you, her voice barely a whisper. She turns away from you, walking toward the window, her back rigid, her hands clenched at her sides. “You think I do not see the way she looks at you? The way she covets you? I may have married you, but she owns you.”

You can hear the bitterness in her voice, the deep-seated jealousy that has festered for years. It is the same bitterness that has always existed between Rhaenyra and Alicent, ever since your father took Alicent to wife. And though you wish to comfort her, to tell her that none of this was meant to hurt her, you know the truth would only be another wound.

“I never wanted to hurt you, Alicent,” you say, your voice low, strained with the weight of your guilt. “But Rhaenyra… she is part of me. She always has been.”

Alicent whirls to face you, her eyes blazing now, her composure finally shattering. “And what of our children?” she demands. “What of them? You have given me sons, a daughter—and yet, all this time, your mind, your soul, has been with her. What am I, then? Just a toy in your game?”

“No,” you say, stepping toward her, but she holds up a hand to stop you, her expression one of sorrow now, not anger.

“Do not come closer,” she says, her voice thick with unshed tears. “I have borne enough of this pain. The worst part of it all is that I believed… I believed for so long that if I tried hard enough, you would see me. That I could win your love.”

Her words twist something inside you, guilt sinking deeper, because despite everything, Alicent had always deserved more than what you could give. You stand there, unable to offer her anything but the truth, a truth that has always been both your burden and hers.

“I wish things were different,” you murmur, but the words are empty, and you both know it.

Alicent wipes away a tear, her face hardening once more. “So do I,” she whispers, turning away from you again, her gaze fixed on the dark sky beyond the window. “But wishes change nothing.”

As the silence stretches, you know this moment is a turning point, a fracture in the fragile peace you’ve maintained for so long. You have done your duty to her, to the realm, but in doing so, you have wounded the woman who now stands before you, a woman who will never truly have your heart.

And as you look at her, the weight of your choices pressing down upon you, you realize that no matter how much you have tried to balance duty and love, something—someone—was always going to be left in the shadows.

[myownwholewildworld]

wherever you go (a joel miller's ff) - chapter 2

chapter 1 | series masterlist | main asterlist | chapter 3

pairing: outbreak!2003!joel x f!reader.

summary: it’s been nine months since your first encounter with the miller brothers and you're getting slightly annoyed with joel's attitude towards you.

warnings: mdni. mention of suicide. a bit of smut (kissing, rubbing). swear words. both joel and reader get a tad angry. pet names (darling). reader is female, no other description given. reader is mid-late 20s, joel is 36. no use of y/n.

a/n: i might have said this was a one-shot ― well, i lied heh. i have come up with an entire storyline in my head so need to put it into words. this is going to be a bumpy ride because i love drama. reader's pov and joel's pov. this is not proofread and english is not my mother tongue, so please excuse any mistakes you might spot. if you would like to be tagged on the next chapters, please let me know. interactions welcome. enjoy!

w/c: ~1.9k.

The rhythm those two had was relentless. You were barely able to keep up, your legs trembling as if you were a newborn foal. Your knees almost gave way, your lungs burning with exhaustion. You managed to grab onto a low hanging branch of a nearby tree to stop yourself from falling.

“Hey― Wait up!”, you shouted at your companions.

One of the men stopped in his tracks, Tommy turning around to look at you. Joel didn’t even bother to come to a halt ― He just kept on walking as if he didn’t hear you.

Sometimes you wondered if he had lost some hearing from his right ear because of the gunshot, or if he just had a really good knack at ignoring you. Every time you talked to him, you felt like you were a nuisance to him. You had spent nine months with the Miller brothers, and you were no closer to knowing Joel than you were to speaking Klingon. You had no issues with Tommy at all, he made the effort to make you feel comfortable. The same thing could not be said of Joel.

At first you thought it was because of how you two met. You had stopped him when he was at his lowest point. You had learned from Tommy that Joel had buried his daughter that day. You understood that feeling so damn well, you almost regretted interrupting him. But you could not just stand and watch as someone decided to take their own lives. You knew how that would have affected Tommy, because you had been on the receiving end of those bad news. It was, probably, selfish of you to have taken away that decision from Joel, but the consequences would have been far more devastating.

But as time went on, you were not so sure anymore why Joel tried his hardest to avoid you. You couldn’t recall a time where you treated him badly ― quite the opposite. You were kind, even understanding when he was rude to you unnecessarily. You looked out for him ―and his brother, of course― in many ways. You were younger, but not defenseless, and had proven yourself useful many a times. So why did he behave like a prick most of the time?

“Joel, hold on”, Tommy said to his brother, tapping on his shoulder, before approaching you.

You had rested your back against the tree you had held on for dear life, trying to catch your breath. Tommy got to your side and offered you his water bottle. You took a sip, avoiding making eye contact with Joel ― not that he was looking in your direction, anyway.

“You alright there?”, Tommy asked.

“Yes, well, no”, you chuckled. “I’m pretty tired, we have been walking for the past six hours non-stop. I need a break, otherwise someone is gonna have to carry me”, you joked.

You caught Joel swiftly turning around to pierce you with those brown eyes. He quickly retreated and looked around, as if he was paying attention to his surroundings in case you were not alone. You frowned, thinking you had imagined it.

“It’s getting pretty late, we probably should set camp somewhere around here. I’ll go and have a look around, make sure it’s safe”, you saw the hesitation in Tommy’s eyes, knowing exactly what he was thinking. He didn’t like leaving Joel alone, neither did you, in all honesty. “Keep an eye on him, please”, Tommy whispered.

You nodded and saw him disappear. You sighed, preparing yourself to be rejected once more. Sometimes you wondered if you were a masochist.

Joel was on guard as soon as he saw you approach him. He looked around, even though he knew there was nowhere to go. He didn’t like you because of how you made him feel. Because you made him feel. You were too nice, always willing to help no matter what, quick with a joke to make people laugh even in the darkest of times. He admired your strength, your wits, your outspokenness, your light-heartedness. You were a beam of light in the midst of darkness ― sometimes he felt like a fly getting too close to the sun.

But he knew better than that. He was not built for any type of personal relationship. He had tried ― and failed. The only connection he had left was Tommy and he was not too sure about that one either. Since his unfruitful attempt at putting an end to his life, Tommy had been walking on eggshells around him. He didn’t need that ― being treated like a damn old book everyone was too afraid to handle.

“Do you have some water?”, you asked him.

Joel almost jumped on the spot ― you had approached him from his right-hand side, which meant he didn’t hear you getting close. So close he had to back up one step. He noticed your bottom lip twitching and understood that you had interpreted his step back as a rejection. He felt compelled to change your mind but didn’t in the end. It was better this way.

“Yeah”, Joel replied as he reached towards his back and grabbed his water bottle from the side of the backpack, offering it. “You have finished yours already?”, he didn’t intend for it to sound accusatory, but it did.

You rolled your eyes, slightly annoyed, and grabbed the bottle to drink some more. “Yes, it’s very hot today, sorry for being human”, you said, giving it back.

“I didn’t mean it that way”, he offered as an excuse, shrugging his shoulders. “I hear a river nearby, I’ll go refill yours and mine”, he extended his hand towards you.

You snatched your water bottle from your backpack and gave it to him. Then you saw him starting to walk away.

“Wait! Where are you going?”, you almost stumbled with your own feet as you followed him.

“As I said, I’m gonna refill the bottles”, he looked at you as if you were daft.

“But we can’t leave, Tommy might come back and not find us―”.

“I’m going, you are staying right here”, he said matter-of-factly.

“No, I’m coming with you”.

“What are you now? My fucking babysitter?”, he snapped at you, his whole demeanour quickly changing, his jaw clenched.

“No, you prick ― I’m tired, I don’t want to be left alone, waiting around, if something happens”, you rapidly came up with a lie. You did feel bad though, because he had seen right through you and Tommy.

“Mhmm”, he muttered. “Ah’ite”.

You walked a couple of feet behind him while he guided you both towards the sound of running water. It really only was like twenty yards away, so Tommy would have no trouble finding you. When you both reached the riverbank, Joel kneeled to dunk a different bottle he kept in his backpack.

“Why are you always so freaking mean to me? Have I done something wrong? Is it because I pushed the gun away from you?”, you babbled before you could stop yourself, bracing yourself as if you were cold, but the reality was you suddenly felt too exposed.

The silence dragged on, and you couldn’t stand it.

“Look, if that’s it, I’m sorry, but…”.

“No, it’s not that”, Joel interrupted you, still not making eye contact. He retrieved the bottle and attached a filter to it. He then put it upside down on top of your bottle and squeezed, so clean water started to fill the container. “It’s just… Nevermind”.

“It’s just what? Don’t you think I deserve an explanation of why you have treated me like shit for the past nine months?”, you pushed, starting to feel your hot-headedness overcome you. A side of you Joel had not come across yet.

He looked up at you, his brows almost touching each other, as he towered above you.

“Hold your horses right there, kid”, he said as he passed you the water bottle with a bit more force than necessary.

“Kid? How old do you think I am, Joel?”, you almost laughed.

“I don’t know, twenty? It doesn’t really matter, I―”.

“Try adding a few years to that, you dickhead”, you crossed your arms at your chest.

He looked slightly confused. Joel did think you were younger than you actually were. Not that it mattered anyway ― in fact, it didn’t change a thing.

“Look, it’s nothing to do with you. And mind your tongue”, he kneeled again to repeat the filtering process.

“So what is it then?”, you insisted while you secured the water bottle to your backpack.

Silence again. Sometimes you would love to punch some words out of him.

“Just leave it be”, he mumbled as he stood up once done with his own bottle.

You cut the distance between you and Joel to bury your index finger in the middle of his chest. Your eyes squinted in anger.

“No, I want an answer. You’re always so damn evasive, it’s driving me crazy”, you demanded.

The atmosphere suddenly shifted as you looked into his eyes. Joel was staring at you angrily ― no, hungrily? Something in the way he was holding himself back sent an exciting shudder down your spine.

“No, darlin’, you are driving me crazy”.

Everything happened too quickly ��� Joel’s hand held your chin up as he lowered his mouth. Your lips were slightly parted, already inviting him in. He found no resistance from you as he licked your bottom lip before going in with the full force of his desire. You buried one hand in the hair of his neck, clenching your fingers and pulling softly.

Joel thought he was going to die right there and then. He could not think straight, not when you were so melting in his arms. His senses went haywire the moment he got hit with your scent. Lavander and cinnamon, he thought. He gripped your hip with his free hand, pushing you into him. The kiss turned wetter and hotter, his mind spiralling out of control. You tasted sweet, exactly what he had imagined.

He probably shouldn’t be doing this but couldn’t refrain himself. You had pushed his buttons and now he was too far gone. He had desired you for a while but didn’t want to complicate the situation. The world was going to shit, so there was no point in looking for a bit of hope in the middle of such madness.

He groaned into your mouth when you placed your free hand on the buckle of his belt, holding onto it as if your life depended on it. You pulled from the buckle, his bulge pressing against you. You smiled, satisfied you were not the only one severely affected by the kiss. You could feel the heat rising up in your body.

And as quickly as it started, it ended.

“Guys! Where are you?”, Tommy’s words were carried by the wind.

Joel broke off the embrace so fast you almost fell but was able to steady yourself in time.

“Joel, I―”.

“Not a word”, he cut you off, his voice deep, his eyes drilling into yours with intensity. There was a dark warning tone in his voice that you couldn't ignore. “Over here, Tommy, we’re filling up the bottles”.

A few seconds later, the younger Miller appeared in sight.

“Ah, there you guys are. I found a cave where we could spend the night”. He looked at his brother for a moment, brows wrinkling. “You okay, Joel?”.

“Mhmm, all good. Give me your bottle”.

[unintentionalseductress]

Why does everyone portray Caleb to be 'dark romance, zade meadows' coded? :/

Yeah he's got yandere traits to wanna keep her forever and for himself but he never implies that he'll hurt mc- instead expressing a fierce desire to protect her, so why do ppl write ffs Abt him being manipulative? Making him have 'rough jealous s*x' in which he's spewing a bunch of hurtful things just to manipulate mc to his liking?

I guess it's because of the initial show of possessiveness in his trailer, but literally every love and deepspace guy is possessive so why portray him so darkly?

I like that you portray him more realistically to his character and not so ooc because that's what it feels like most of the time

Hello there anon! I'm glad you think my portrayal of Caleb feels more realistic than some other interpretations. I really don't know where this concept of comparing Caleb to Zade comes from since Zade literally r**es the MC in that book and I simply can't picture Caleb doing that?

This might be a much longer response than you'd expected and I'm sorry, but I've been taking little notes as I went through Caleb's memories, anecdotes, and myth. I feel like most of the people that are portraying him in this sadistic way simply didn't read all the material and just clicked through to get the diamonds.

So let me start by saying, all the other 4 LI's met MC quite recently, meaning they had no say in her life and weren't there when the Chronorift Catastrophe occurred. They met her as an adult, when she'd had time to put herself together and act like a rational grown woman.

Caleb met her at the worst time in their lives as a child until Josephine adopted them. They trauma bonded and after all they've been through together, they're extremely possessive of each other. Not just Caleb, but even the MC as well. She's just as paranoid and possessive about Caleb as well, and this is evidenced in their memories which I will delve into shortly.

But imagine being so close and growing up with this person that you think you know like the back of your own hand. She and Caleb appeared to be quite close up until the explosion. Now MC had to deal with the loss of her second family, and possibly the love of her life. Yes, I said it. The love of her life, because after going through the memories, there's nothing that can be said to change my mind that these two weren't in some kind of relationship before Caleb's death.

Now Caleb is back. MC is wary of him, she's scared to be possessive of him like she was because she knows what it's like to lose him. Caleb has no idea where he stands in her life, and inside it's because he knows he fucked up. He realizes he wants her back, the same woman who was just as obsessed and possessive of him like how he was with her and he has no idea how to fix it.

Caleb imo slides into the tip of the yandere iceberg because of that scene in the main story where he says he'll rebuild their house in Linkon and they can move in together etc. To me, that's the effect of the chip (more to be discussed about that below), and also him literally breaking down because MC said his worst fear to his face; she doesn't need him anymore. How do you recover from having the one person you've loved for most of your life look at you with so much hate and say they don't need you? (reminded me of Sylus a little bit when he's told MC is disgusted by him) For him to be truly yandere, he would have locked her up then and there but he doesn't. He backs off, allows her to get back to her life unharmed, and he keeps himself busy with work. That doesn't look like true yandere behavior to me.

NOW. MYTH EVIDENCE. The part with the chips. The chips seem to exacerbate certain feelings that already exist and take them to the extreme, hence why people who are chipped are very emotionless and almost have a robotic character to them, perhaps to avoid the pain of being emotional. In his myth, we find Caleb actively fights the chip, and it puts so much strain on his body that he falls unconscious or goes into fits. I think that 'yandere' scene is because the chip and his body are at odds with each other. Even MC when she chips herself, finds herself being manipulative of Caleb, trying to make him think of memories that were only half-truths. They're both obsessed with each other, and without the chip, it was fine, but with chip, things get crazy.

Also, I think it's safe to say, Caleb hasn't shown yandere tendencies towards MC in the past pre explosion, beyond telling her to be careful during missions or to let her know when she got hurt. He wasn't upset because she wasn't staying at home, he's upset because she's hiding things from him (like when she lied about getting scratched by a cat pre explosion).

NOW ONTO THE MEMORIES. Because omg, there's so much evidence in the memories that Caleb realizes his limitations in his ability to care for her. In their bond memory Rain's Embrace, when MC is asleep on his shoulder, Caleb literally says something along the lines of "I promise not to be so overprotective of you." He says something similar in Endless Summer and Exclusive Aftertaste, stating he knows his tendency to protect her isn't good for either of them.

And to show how possessive MC was of him. In the memory Longtime Yesterday, we find out Caleb was super popular in college and many girls tried to befriend him by giving him bento boxes. His friends teased him saying "Miss Apple" helped him avoid having to accept the bento boxes. MC literally sulks all the way back to the airport and when Caleb asks her what's wrong she goes, "You have a Miss Apple," like that was a perfectly plausible explanation. Miss Apple turns out to be a hairtie that Caleb took from MC that has apple shaped beads on it and he wears it (presumably on his wrist) all the time, which drove away unwanted attention from other girls. MC was so upset prior to hearing this, and Caleb reassures her that he doesn't want anyone else's attention but her's.

In Borrowed Promise, which occurs when MC is still in high school, Caleb is visiting from college and MC has a fight with a friend who is a girl (important). Caleb notices she's unhappy and takes her to a fair of sorts to cheer her up and she tells him she's worried someone may not like her anymore. Caleb tries to act nonchalant but you can tell he's thinking MC has a boyfriend or a crush and he goes "their loss but oh well you're not for everyone." It's at this point she tells Caleb it's a girl and he's dumbfounded but his relief is evident.

And my favorite, Stage Observer. MC is helping Caleb empty his dorm since he's about to graduate from college and she finds an envelope tucked away in one of his books with cutesy apples on the surface. She mistakenly thinks this is a love letter and then gives a very confused Caleb the cold shoulder for the rest of her visit. Then on his graduation day, she softens and helps fix his tie as he's about to give his valedictorian speech. During this time, she admits she's scared about him finding someone else and he says he worries about her meeting someone else too, but he's happy having just her and grandma in his life. In his speech, Caleb talks about how people go through their whole looking for meaningful connections with people but he's fortunate to have found the one person he knows he can count on. Afterwards, MC runs to him and gives him what I think is their first kiss. And why does she do this? She says, "I kissed you so you can't have a girlfriend now!" Caleb is confused and then she finally admits seeing the envelope. Well guess what? It turns out the envelope actually holds a good luck charm she had sent Caleb but the cover got ruined so Caleb replaced it with the apple envelope. He teases her but the ending implies they now know how they feel for each other and that was the start of a more romantic relationship between them.

So there. MC is just as possessive and obsessed with Caleb as he is with her. He knows that and it's because he's so in tune with these feelings that to him, his actions don't seem out of line, because that's how he expects her to be with him as well. I think like the other boys, his love is limitless, he literally says, "I love you more than you realize" in his myth. He's struggling with mental health and trauma and I think people just want to downplay him for various reasons without delving into the complexity of his character, or the incredible history he has with MC, not from a past life, but in this very real, present one. He was there with her during a time when she didn't know a Xavier, a Rafayel, or a Sylus (maybe Zayne since Caleb mentions him).

There. It feels good to get this out. I will end this by saying, sure, Caleb qualifies as a dark romance, maybe a mild yandere, but definitely, nothing along the lines of Zade because I genuinely don't think he'd want to hurt MC by doing something that could hurt her or violate her consent.

I'm open to more discussion on this. And a reminder about my usual policy; if you have nothing nice to say, scroll on by.

[styrmwb]

References to Previous Final Fantasies in Dawntrail

Or, how 9 + 11 + 6 = 14, somehow. (SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY)

I've played every mainline FF, plus a few others, so one of my favorite things about playing XIV is seeing what they do with previous FFs, and how they incorporate it into the world/story. Dawntrail very very much did this, to the point that I could literally predict plot points before they happened. (THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT I LOVED THIS)

So I figured I would put down my fanboying in text form, for people to read the insanity of a madman who has played too many JRPGs from a single series.

Note: I have not completed every single side quest, but I have done the entire MSQ, every dungeon, and 3/5 of the role quests. This isn't a complete collection, just what I noticed :)

V

Krile's "real name" is Maya. The original Krile in FFV was Krile Meyer Baldesion. (XIV might also have the middle name but I don't remember! I'm gonna put it here regardless!)

VI

Valigarmanda is the first Esper you encounter in VI, right at the start of the game. Its summon attack is Tri-Disaster. I really liked how they kept it frozen in ice, just like the original, and because Tri-Disaster is a SMN ability, they changed it to Tulidisaster to fit the Tural location.

Pictomancer was first in VI as well, being Relm's job. She even got to be in XIV as well, being credited as the Archon who created the art (HA). Shoutouts to the Relm reborn joke it needed to happen

IX

One of the two most important games in this expansion. There is A Lot here.

The preorder bonus/deluxe edition had a Wind-Up Zidane and Garnet, the two main protagonists of FFIX.

Alexandria is lifted directly from IX. The name, the style of the buildings, and even the castle with the crystal popping out of the top, shown in the dungeon and in Yesterland in Living Memory.

(This is the Dissidia NT version, but I wanted a picture that showed the castle and the roof architecture)

Solution Nine is named after one of Zidane's Dyne abilities. While not direct, Living Memory, the final zone, is very reminiscent of Memoria, the final dungeon of IX. I wonder if you can get a special sword by completing the entire MSQ in under 2 hours?

Living Memory also features quite a few locations from IX. The Canal Town looks very similar to Treno, and features a location called the Daguerreo Medical Collection, named after the city as well. Underneath Proto Alexandria in Yesterland, where the data terminal lies, looks very similar to the part of Alexandria Castle where Steiner can grind to level 99 (I don't know how else to describe it if you know you know). In the Windspath Gardens lies the Cleyra Museum of Nature, also named after the IX city.

Some quest text in Living Memory tells you about other locations in the Unlost World. Lindblum, the city that holds hunts and is very technologically advanced; Conde Petie, where the Dwarves are from (mentioned by a Milalla who said he was from there), and the Iifa Tree. There might even be more here, that I either missed or haven't done yet.

Another quest has you go on a treasure hunt for a password. This password? "I Want to Be Your Canary", the play from FFIX.

Solution Nine has a couple buildings with monsters from IX as signs. One building features a Mu (Which is also mentioned in Living Memory), and another building features Yans, both friendly and not friendly.

Another monster that I noticed a reference to was the Gimme Cat, which is featured on the popcorn in Living Memory. It's also mentioned as an energy drink, but called a "Gimme Bat" instead? I guess it does have bat wings.

While XIV doesn't have any direct plot important characters from IX, the ones we do have are very reminiscent of its cast, and clearly are done like that on purpose.

Otis is Steiner (with maybe a little tiny bit of Beatrix depending on how you look at it). Captain of the Knights of Alexandria, he speaks in an older fashion, similar to Steiner, and is very loyal to his princess.

Sphene is an interesting mix. The most obvious one is Garnet, both being Queens of Alexandria, being named after stones, and loving their people. The other one, which might be argued isn't intended, is Garland.

(No, not those guys. The other one.)

Garland in IX is an artificial being whose purpose is to continue his world's life. To do this, he would try to fuse Terra (his planet), with Gaia (the main planet), and control Gaian souls for Terra instead. What did Sphene do? Try to fuse her reflection with the Source, to use their souls for her own people. I personally think this is a very clear similarity.

In general, because of this similarity, the latter half of Dawntrail shares very similar themes with IX's plots, dealing with death and souls. I also think it's pretty funny that both start out pretty happy and cartoony, and end fairly depressing and existential.

Another plot point used in the MSQ is the play sequence. While IX's is based off love, and XIV's is the history of Alexandria, both feature a sword fight scene. (99 out of 100 nobles approve).

Finally, several songs from IX are used in Dawntrail. In the above mentioned play, Swords of Fury plays, just like the original. And a few scenes later, Vamo'alla Flamenco (previously used for the DNC quests) plays, though it should have been during the sword fight!! Prima Vista Orchestra and Fleeting Life are used in several scenes, usually involving Sphene. Something to Protect also appears, but in a scene I can't recall. Finally, the Court Jesters' theme gets a remix as the main song in the Strayborough Deadwalk.

X

There is a singular joke in Heritage Found made about dodging lightning bolts right before the flash so they don't hit you. The person who wrote this line wanted to induce PTSD in as many people as they could with only a single line of dialogue.

XI

The other most important game in the expansion. In a way, Dawntrail FEELS like it could have been an XI expansion in another lifetime. I might be looking too much into it, but I feel as though this was foreshadowed back in the first patch of Endwalker, as Dawntrail takes A LOT from the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion.

In Endwalker, the Alzadaal's Legacy dungeon was based off of the Alzadaal Underwater Ruins in Aht Urhgan. The dungeon used many models from XI, such as the Rampart, the Xzomit (hell yes!), and the Acrolith. The dungeon had a visual similarity, as well as the areas in the dungeon being named after zones in Aht Urhgan (Bhaflau Thickets, Arrapago Reef, and Mount Zhayolm). I know this is Endwalker and not Dawntrail but trust me it's important for the foreshadowing.

Gulool Ja Ja was a boss in the Besieged mode of ToAU, leading the Mamool Ja Savages to assault Al Zahbi. Both incarnations of this character are VERY different from each other.

Similarly, Gurfurlur was also a boss in Besieged, leading the Troll Mercenaries. It's very funny to me that both of these warmongers became such nice people in Tural.

The Yok Huy as a whole are actually Trolls from XI. The different name I assume coming from the fact that Trolls are already an enemy in XIV, in Labyrinthos.

While this isn't direct, and is probably unintentional, the fact that the final boss in Vanguard was a naga/lamia like entity only makes me wonder if it was somehow a callback to Medusa and the Undead Swarm, the last remaining Besieged invaders.

Zoraal Ja is a Notorious Monster in the areas around Aht Urhgan.

To continue on with Mamool Ja facts, Mamook is an area in ToAU. They don't look very similar, but they do both share the title of Autarch as their ruler. Mamool Ja in general come from XI, so it's no surprise that in the expansion that well, expands on them, it uses XI for inspiration.

This next one might be a little insane. The general plot of Treasures of Aht Urhgan, is that after killing Promathia, a god that wishes to end all life, the Adventurer goes to a completely different area to have a relatively calmer adventure. Here, they meet a female member of royalty named Aphmau. Her brother, Razfahd, unable to rule over the country, has a conquering nature, and uses an Automaton body to control Alexander for his goals. This... can't be a coincidence, right?? We kill the Endsinger, who wanted to end all life, go to a completely different area to have a relatively calmer adventure with our female member of royalty, Wuk Lamat, and we fight against Zoraal Ja, her war hungry brother that is unable to rule, so he uses the power of Alexandria (a mech suit) for his goals. You... you see what I'm cooking here right??? RIGHT!?!?!

To piggyback off of this, Wuk Lamat very much fits the role of the XI heroine. A girl who is very clearly the main character of the story, and hangs around you more than anyone else.

Edit: one last thing that I forgot to put down before posting, one of the hunts uses the Magic Pot model from XI. We love Magic Pot.

I THINK that should be everything I found? I know for a fact we're going to get more since the Alliance Raids are based of off XI (I'm so excited)

XIII

A couple enemy models were used from XIII.

The Silver Lobos in Urqopacha use the XIII model. I'm fairly sure they've never been used in XIV yet, but I could be wrong.

Similarly, the Strayborough Deadwalk uses the Gremlin/Ahriman enemies. I do not think they've been used before this, feel free to yell at me if I'm wrong :)

Type-0

While not like, direct, the concept of erasing the memories of anyone who has died (especially seen as a blessing) was a major plot point of Type-0's world.

I think that's everything? My memory isn't the greatest, so I'm sure there's something I noticed that I missed, and again; I haven't done everything, so there might be even more out there that I've yet to find!

Please, feel free to comment anything else that you may have noticed, and hopefully you enjoyed reading :)

[dangermousie]

Finished The Grand Princess. It was like The Blue Whisper for me - an adaptation that was fairly faithful, and despite not truly conveying the complexity and intensity of the novel, was a pretty decent watch.

Also, my fave secondary OTP got to have both their angsty first life:

And their happy ending second life:

And their happy ending second life:

I am super impressed they kept both Li Chuan's descent into murder, monstrousness and madness in life 1 (honestly I got it) and the fact that he got to ride off to adventure and explore the world with QZZ in this one:

This is a small bit but I really liked it from life 1:

Anyway, I got Li Rong's breakdown over it and how it was all resolved:

They both get to be happy now, him free to adventure with his lover and her to rule wisely - doing what both were suited for. And of course the main OTP was steady until the end:

I found SRQ a giant bore from beginning to end and ff the heck out of his death scene (surely they didn't want me to laugh during his dying music performance but...) but to be fair I found him a bore in the novel too, and that one was decidedly more complex.

Overall, a super fun watch!

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 07

PREVIOUS

The thing about Nicky knowing that FF knows Russian and therefore understands every single excruciatingly sweet, ear-reddingly spicy, or shockingly mundane thing that Andrew and Neil say to one another is that he is objectively the 3rd worst person to know this secret.

First place is, of course, Andrew Minyard the man who has now asked him about his family 3 times in the last week and a half. FF doesn’t really care if Andrew goes after the majority of his ‘family’ since it’s just his step brothers and step dad but Andrew might go after his Grandma too so he just says “We don’t talk” every time it comes up and deletes his entire chat history with his grandma that way Andrew won’t know how close they are. If that means that Andrew thinks that no one would look for him if he happened to disappear into a shallow grave FF doesn’t know. He’s already doomed so the least he can do is save his gran.

Second place is, of course, Captain Neil. Captain has mentioned quite a few times that a lot of people stay with friends or people they’re close with over Thanksgiving break. It’s meaner than Captain Neil usually would be off of the Court reminding FF that he has friends but none close enough who would want to spend a holiday with him. He plans to go see his Gran for Thanksgiving and she plans to feed him a truly ridiculous amount of food. It’s the same plan he’s had pretty much every year since he was 13.

Third place is Nicky Hemmick. Nicky is a very nice guy who got him a paperboy to hyperventilate into a couple times and would absolutely never intentionally OUT somebody and compromise their safety! Nicky’s talked with FF about some of his background so FF has full confidence that it’s never going to be something that Nicky intentionally outs to anyone. But there are two main reasons why Nicky is the third worst person to find out about this secret.

The first reason is that Nicky Hemmick just unabashedly loves gossip. FF has heard that with the graduation of the girls the previous year had gone Allison Reynolds who had multiple running bets on multiple teammates and a whole cache of gossip. Now Nicky has access to the ultimate accidental gossip magnet in the man who no one notices, who knows any language the Foxes speak and is too awkward to get up and leave when they start talking.

Nicky will never tell another soul his secret but he also HAS to know what Neil and Andrew are saying to one another and when Nicky lies to cover for him the charge is one free conversation translation.

He’s absolutely hooked on getting translations the since the first time he had asked what Andrew and Neil are hissing at one another one morning practice.

FF translated it awkwardly feeling like a creep and like he’s invading their privacy but Nicky had helped him eat the four slavic letter flashcards he had made up to help a friend study the language when Captain Neil and Andrew had come back early from a weekend alone in Columbia.

Nicky had even assured him afterwards that the ink was probably non-toxic and given him floss so he could get the flashcard wedged between his molars out.

So….

“Andrew’s mad that Captain Neil skipped breakfast because they’re working to make him eat something for every meal. Captain Neil’s mad because Andrew’s the one that kept him in bed so long that he didn’t have time to make anything.”

Nicky squeals in delight

The second reason, which is just compounded by the first, is the fact that Nicky had promised not to tell another Soul. However Nicky Hemmick, the romantic that he is, believes that he and his Fiancé Erik share one soul since they are soulmates. Therefore Nicky Hemmic had barely even registered FF’s tears of gratitude before he was calling Erik to tell him about FF.

The sheer number of close calls that have happened because Nicky HAS to tell Erik about something Andrew and Neil said to one another or something someone else is saying is the reason FF started getting ulcers.

Watching Nicky talk to Erik about him knowing Russian is like watching a member of the three stooges walk through a construction site blindfolded. FF nearly kills himself stopping Nicky from outing him numerous times and at the end Nicky’s smiling, unscathed and unaware of the sheer number of close calls he had sauntered through.

FF can’t wait to go home and bury his face in his grandma’s lap, stress eat two apple pies, and tell her about how he thinks he might just become an electrician or a plumber or an underwater welder because one of his language professors wants him to come and speak to a lower level class (a gen-ed with over a hundred people in it) about the usefulness of LATIN for all their majors since they can parse the meaning via root word and he had panicked and said ’Sure’.

***

The thing about being the only person on the team that knows that FF speaks Russian and is riddled with social anxiety is that it’s absolutely hilarious most of the time.

Every once in a while he has to step in to help the guy.

So sometimes he’ll eat flashcards. Sometimes he’ll distract his cousin with a salacious comment so FF can escape a dangerous conversation with his drunk friend. Sometimes he pushes FF to go talk to Abby about his tummy troubles. Sometimes he’ll hand over one of the brown paper bags he keeps in his backpack nowadays so FF can wheeze into it and sometimes he’ll assure his cousin that FF’s passing out after he offered to teach him how to use a knife was probably because of his stomach ulcers not because FF is terrified of Andrew stabbing him.

Nicky is the only member of the Foxes that FF regularly seeks out on his own to hang out with and Nicky just loves how hard Andrew and Neil are trying not to be jealous about it.

“I want to ask Smith if he wants to come spend Thanksgiving Break with us.” Andrew says out of the blue a week before the aforementioned break when it’s just Aaron, Neil, Nicky and himself in Nicky’s dorm room.

Nicky thinks about FF talking about going back to his hometown in Washington State and how he waxed poetic about spending Thanksgiving Break with his Grandma and how he was going to eat his weight in pie and Macaroni and Cheese.

“He’s planning on going and seeing his grandma. He won’t shut up about it.” Nicky says still glad that FF has a family member like his grandma.

Everyone else in the room look at him.

“He won’t shut up about it?” Aaron asks with an eyebrow raised. Aaron likes FF just fine and appreciates how FF has helped Katelyn start to grasp the fundamentals of the German language so quickly so she can understand what’s being said. “So what he said it twice?” He continues.

Nicky remembers FF’s ability for catastrophizing every conversation with the Foxes into one where it comes out that he speaks Russian and Andrew stabs him. As far as the other Foxes are concerned he’s a man of few words.

“He’s been talking about it all month. If I hear about his grandma’s apple pie recipe one more time I might demand he sneak a slice back for me through TSA.” Nicky loves stoking the flames, especially when the fire is harmless. He watches Aaron shrug and the skin around both Neil and Andrew’s mouths tightens. “You can ask him, the worst he can say is No.” Nicky shrugs.

Nicky is there when Andrew does ask him and he can see the prolonged internal scream of terror on the utterly blank face (or maybe he just imagines it.) and in a way Nicky is a little sad when FF shakes his head and says “No, I have plans with my Grandma.” In an utterly blank voice that means he has functionally blue-screened before turning and walking towards the nearest door so he can reboot in solitude.

“The offer stands if you change your mind.” Neil says and Nicky is impressed with the seemingly very casual thumbs up FF gives as he power walks away.

A little less than a week later Nicky finds Andrew next to FF and FF looking down at a cancelled flight notification after coming in from a truly monumental storm.

Andrew offers Thanksgiving in Columbia again.

Nicky tries to stop it from happening he can see that FF is a little lost in his disappointment over not being able to see his grandma and not thinking clearly but before he can snap him out of it.

“Sure.”

NEXT

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @andreilsmyreligion @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242

[elpeadro]

I diagnose the Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld gang with QPR (queer-platonic relationship). It is so blatant and I love them so much.

Jentry-Michael: childhood best friends who haven't seen each other for half their lives after one of them accidentally burned down half the town (including her best friend’s home) with her magical fire powers and got sent away to Korea. Hit it off like nothing ever happened the day Jentry gets back in town. Gugu teases her about him because Jentry is not subtle at all. Protagonist girl x stereotypical love interest boy. Get to bond over being pressured to be someone they’re not by parental figures and being lied to about their powers. He dreams about her at night. (Don’t worry it’s not creepy.) She nearly kills him while he’s at work. Dating life stop-starts like 5 times because of shenanigans and poor communication and also maybe because their relationship isn’t meant to be romantic in nature.

Jentry-Kit: shapeshifter-adjacent demon who stalks, flirts with, seduces, lies to, threatens, and makes and wears a skin-suit of his mark only to fold after one (1) conversation, when she suggests he already has a soul, because he is that desperate for love and validation. Oh, and he’s working for the main villain who killed her parents, her great-aunt, and is actively trying to kill her. Protagonist girl x cool aloof bad boy love interest. Get to bond over being manipulated into fighting their authority figures’ feud/war. Lowkey is responsible for her almost killing stereotypical love interest boy. One kiss is enough to make him crash out when she rejects his advances afterwards. He falls for the oldest trick in the book, which is falling for your mark. He nearly dies distracting Cheng so that she can save the day (fuck you canon; you can’t take him away from me). He does this by wearing his Jentry skin-suit. They share the most homoerotically-charged scene in a TV-PG show while he’s building and putting on said skin-suit. Him nearly stealing her qi is so intimate and also please don’t do that without her consent sir 💀.

Michael-Kit: did you not SEE episode 5? They’re the nastiest parallels to ever parallel, to the point that their narrative energy warps reality and makes the lunch lady go on a comically direct lecture about how they need to choose for themselves what they want. This lecture is somehow about their identity issues and entire life’s course, and also about what they want for lunch. It is entirely unprompted. Kit nearly got him killed at work. They’re two-thirds of a love triangle, and a triangle can only be a triangle if it has 3 sides. (You get what I’m saying?) They were brothers-in-arms at the Alamo. They’re both incapable of not lying. Michael dreams about him the same number of times he dreams about Jentry. (Don’t worry it’s still not creepy.) They somehow avoid the stereotypical “high school love triangle drama” plot points between the two of them only because they’re busy fucking up their relationships in even bigger ways. Oh, and he prom-posed to Kit.

Michael-Stella: walking cliche of the high school “it” couple that was doomed the moment they set foot on the show. They were going to go to college together ffs. They dodge love triangle cliches regarding Jentry because they both think she’s that cool. She makes him protein bars. (Which suck, but it’s the thought that counts.) Football player x comphet lesbian. No seriously, she’s the most comphet lesbian to ever comphet lesbian.  They have cliche “romantic chemistry”, but then they break up because he lies to her about wanting to be a shitty flute player over a superstar wide receiver recruit (except it’s not really a lie, but also it is), and they move over the “awkward exes” period and are much better characters and friends. He dreams about her at night as well. (Again, still not creepy.)

Jentry-Stella: the girliest girl friend duo in the world. Stella helps her adjust to a new school in a way that is so nice and sweet that it’s one of the more unrealistic parts of the show. They have a scene in Jentry’s bedroom. Their male love interests fumble them at roughly the same time, and then they do spirit week together and are having the time of their lives. She braids Jentry’s hair. They’re both so cool, but also so lame in their own ways. Also there’s no way Stella doesn’t have somewhat of a crush on her because 1) Jentry is that cool and pretty and awesome, and 2) Stella is a certified girl lover.

Kit-Stella: look they didn’t really interact in canon, but he’s on her shit list. She’s got her eye on him at all times, because Jentry may have forgiven him, but she’s watching out for her friend. She 100% gave him the shovel talk. Things get REALLY awkward if Jentry and/or Michael aren’t there, because these two are easily the weak link of the QPR.

Also all four of them are some form of queer.

[b1ackbunny]

LOVE LIES

CH. 1 | SIN CITY

A Bada Lee smau-ish ff

pairing: bada lee x fem!dancer!oc (jia mei yu)

synopsis: bada lee wasn’t looking for love when it found her. jia mei yu couldn’t truly comprehend the feeling inside when she was with her, on and off the dancefloor. when these two dancers meet by chance, a bond is formed and uncharted territories are explored.

word count: 2.9k

warnings: definitely au-like… no mentions of swf or smf, uhhh idk any more, bad writing, friendly violence, a little inaccurate, unedited

previous: prologue

next: chapter 2

masterlist

a/n: first posted ff on here obviously has to be with my wife ofcccc!!! I’ve always wanted to do a smau-ish type story so I wasn't gonna pass up this opportunity 🫶🏽 this is just for funsies take nothing seriously so if you guys want to comment feel free I hope you enjoy! planning for this to be a series

Jia sighed and opened the practice room door, shrugging her bag off her shoulder and placing it by the mirror. She spent most of her day with Leejung and Deukie, although she got breakfast with her main friend group beforehand.

Looking down at her phone, she saw a couple of notifications displayed on her lock screen. She ignored them for now and opened Spotify, scrolling through her different playlists. Jia wanted to end the day with a calm freestyle session, so she settled on her playlist containing relaxed but danceable songs.

She clicked shuffle play and stretched for the duration of the first song. Setting her phone on the floor to record some of her session for potential sparks of genius, Jia made sure her shoes were tied as the first notes of Waves by Normani began to play.

Jia swayed to the beat before beginning to be immersed in the music. It was like second nature to hit each beat for the girl. Every move she did matched the vibe of the song. She stared at the mirror and couldn't help but criticize her dancing a bit.

Yes, her body control was exceptional, but she believed her lines could've been better. She took off her hat and ran her hands through her hair. She crouched down and took multiple sips of water. After she finished, she put her hat back on and stopped the recording before standing up straight and waiting for the next song.

The playlist continued to shuffle play and each song that played reminded her of the one person she didn't want to think about. After dancing to Too Late by SZA, Jia decided to take a break. She looked at the time and saw it was 7:16 in the evening.

Taking her water bottle and drinking a decent amount, she looked at it and saw that it was a little less than halfway. She picked up her phone and water bottle, put her phone in her pocket, and exited the studio. She felt comfortable leaving her bag in the room since YGX was her usual studio.

Jia walked down the hall, occasionally peeking through the windows of other rooms to see if any of her friends were in. Just as she was about to peek through the window of a room, she heard her name being called and hurried steps.

Her eyes widened once she turned her head to see it was her friend J-Ho. “J-Ho! What are you doing here?” She beamed at the Just Jerk dancer with a slightly confused smile. Jia and J-Ho’s friendship was one of those low-maintenance ones so it's safe to say she hadn't seen him since June.

J-Ho answered while pulling the girl into a hug, “My friend is hosting a workshop here so Howl, Hulk, and I wanted to sit in and support.” Jia let out a sound of understanding and pulled away before looking through the room window and seeing two familiar faces.

“Wait- it's in this one?” J-Ho confirmed with a nod and a grin. “There's a 10-minute break so I took a bathroom break,” J-Ho explained as he opened the door. Jia was getting ready to walk away before seeing J-Ho’s confused face.

“You’re not coming in to say hi to Hulk and Howl?” Jia glanced at the window before looking back at J-Ho. “I don't want to intrude or anyth-” Her sentence was cut off by J-Ho laughing and pulling her into the room. Jia smiled and bowed at the students she passed while the two made a beeline toward their friends.

“Guess who I found lurking in the hallway.” J-Ho joked as the two reached their target. It seemed that they were in a conversation but when J-Ho spoke, they all turned their attention toward the two. Jia only recognized two out of the three dancers they approached.

Hulk was the first to pull her into a hug and sway side to side. “G, I haven't seen you in so long!” Jia laughed a little and nodded as their hug ended, forming the Scout Honor sign with her right hand and standing up exaggeratedly straight. “I've been extremely loyal to YGX since about early August.”

The three rolled their eyes at her statement with a smile, knowing that her statement was only half-true. Jia greeted Howl before glancing over to the girl she was unfamiliar with. She looked her up and down, not in a rude way but in one with genuine curiosity.

“Oh, right sorry. This is the friend I told you about. Jia, meet Bada Lee. Bada, meet Jia Mei Yu.” J-Ho introduced the two. Jia and Bada bowed toward each other, a smile spreading across Jia’s face when she started to recognize the name. “Wait, you're the one that choreographed for Aespa and NCT, right?”

Bada nodded her head with a smile, causing Jia to smile more and slightly bounce on her toes and quietly clap. “But, you choreographed for Le Sserafim and Itzy, if I'm not mistaken?” Bada asked her smile still prominent when Jia nodded and covered her mouth.

She felt she was smiling too hard so she pulled down her hat, hoping it would swallow her face and smile whole. Bada glanced at the clock and saw the break was almost over. She made it known to the class before making her way back to the group.

“It was nice seeing you guys-” Jia started to say her goodbyes before she was cut off by Bada. “You can stay and watch the rest of the workshop…” Jia furrowed her eyebrows, glancing at the boys who nodded in agreement with Bada then locking her eyes back on the beautiful girl in front of her.

“Only if you want to or aren't already busy, of course..” Bada rushed out and the corners of Jia’s lips slightly curled up when she saw a hopeful glint in the girl’s eyes. “I didn't want to be a bother or anything but if you insist…” Jia trailed off, the smile that threatened to escape fought a winning battle.

Bada nodded and grinned before moving toward the front of the class. Once she left the group, Jia turned toward the boys and punched J-Ho in the arm. He winced in pain and moved away from the girl before she could hit him again. “That was for saying my full government name when introducing me to the Bada Lee.”

Jia sweetly smiled at him and patted his arm, summoning laughs from Howl and Hulk. J-Ho rolled his eyes and mushed the girl’s head to the side. “You’ll be fine.” Jia folded her arms and shifted her attention to the girl she stayed to watch.

Jia found Bada undeniably attractive and couldn't have been any more unprepared for what she was about to see. Since Bada had already taught and ran through the dance moves before the break, it was time to do the choreography full-out once again.

Jia and her friends stood toward the back while the first group, including Bada, moved to the center where there was a space cleared for them. The cameraman signaled that they were recording and the song started.

The girl recognized it as Sin City by SAAY and began to feel excited that she was able to experience this in person. She grinned at Bada through the mirror and caught a glimpse of the corners of her mouth twitch up.

She was completely and utterly caught off guard as soon as the group started dancing. Although both Bada and her students were doing an amazing job, Jia couldn't seem to shift her gaze onto anyone other than Bada.

She clapped and cheered for the dancers but as soon as she made eye contact with Bada for the fourth time she had to cover the lower half of her face with her hoodie’s sleeve to hide the rising blush that took over her features.

The other dancers stepped away, leaving Bada to perform her freestyle at the end. At this point, Jia fanned her face a bit, feeling unbelievably embarrassed and flustered at the way her body seemed to respond to seeing the girl dance.

Hulk laughed at her expression and how pink her face seemed to be getting, causing Jia to feint at him before going back to watching the phenomenal dancer in front of her. Once Bada finished with a bow, everyone began cheering for the dancer.

Jia clapped, cheered, and bounced on her toes before being pulled down to stand flat on her feet by Howl. The girl’s smile dropped and she side-eyed him before shooing his hands. “Let me applaud for this talented woman in peace!” Howl laughed and shook his head.

“You just met her, you're embarrassing yourself.” Jia rolled her eyes and looked over at the girl who was picking out the dancers for the next group. She held a dimmed smile, knowing that there was most likely some truth to Howl’s statement.

After the next group danced, Jia decided she wasn't going to stay for the other groups and it was time for her to head back to her practice room. “Well, this was fun thank you guys for convincing me to stay!” She said with a smile while glancing between all her friends.

She peeked over at Bada who was now stationed at the back of the room with them and saw she wore a slightly bummed expression. “You're not staying for the whole workshop?” Jia sighed at Bada’s question and shook her head.

“I should get back to the practice room I was in. It was great meeting you and I hope we meet again!” Jia kindly stated before saying her goodbyes to the group and bowing. She walked toward the door, greeting some students who recognized her on the way and exited the room.

Remembering the original reason why she left the room in the first place, she walked to the water dispenser at the end of the hall and began filling her bottle. She couldn't deny that Howl’s words ran through her mind a bit.

Why did she get so excited over a girl she just met? Especially when less than thirty minutes ago Jinhyoung was one of the only people on her mind. Speaking of him, she still couldn't wrap her mind around how he basically ghosted her for four months and then commented on her tweet.

Jia grimaced at the thought and stopped filling her water bottle. She walked back down the hall to her practice room while tightening the cap of her bottle. Opening the door, she was met with the room exactly how she left it.

She connected her phone back to the speakers and began stretching while searching for her next song. After deciding on a song, she set her phone up against the mirror. Only by J.cob began playing and Jia smiled when she took off her hat, running her fingers through her hair.

Before the lyrics began, she made the quick decision to ditch both her hat and her hoodie. Thankfully she had a black crewneck tank top underneath. Right after she tossed the hat and hoodie to the side, the lyrics commenced and she began dancing.

With each dance move, she found herself getting more and more hyped. She looked at herself through the mirror when the pre-chorus hit. She slowed down her moves and incorporated some hip movements before picking up the speed when the chorus began.

Due to this being one of her most listened-to songs, she was able to tell a story with her moves. They were smooth and looked pretty good for it being a freestyle. When Nathania’s verse on the song began Jia smiled at her reflection.

She was truly having fun. With her notifications ultimately being silenced and left in the company of herself and the music, Jia was honestly at peace. She smoothly danced to the verse, coordinating her body in ways she felt went with the song.

As the song came to an end, Jia felt that some parts of that freestyle could've been rearranged into a choreography. She slipped over to her phone and bent down to stop the recording.

She disconnected it from the speakers and replayed the recording. While watching the video, she cringed at some parts and felt like an intellectual at others. Overall, she ruled the freestyle as a stroke of genius.

When this happens, Jia usually locks herself in the room until she is able to transform it into an adequate choreography. This time is no different. She stood in the middle of the room, rerunning the video and dissecting the routine.

Jia decided that she would only make choreography for Nathania’s verse. She debated with herself on whether she should make the choreo more sensual or hip-hop-based. After some deliberation, she chose the latter and began working.

Since she didn't bring her notebook, she opened the notes app and started writing out elements that she liked from the freestyle, flipping between the recording and the notes app.

She added to, subtracted from, and rearranged the choreography until she was satisfied with her end result. This took close to three hours and many recordings later. Once Jia finished her final take, she smiled at her reflection and held her hips.

Her shallow breaths were heard once she picked up her phone and stopped both the recording and the music. She laid on her back and took deep breaths, the cool flooring helped her body cool down.

Hating the feeling of her hair sticking to her skin, she got up and walked to where her bag was. Once she reached it, she pulled out a hair tie and put her hair up in a ponytail while looking at herself in the mirror.

She heard a knock at the door and looked at her watch. It was currently 10:30 p.m. She remembered renting out the studio till 11 p.m., so this made her eyebrows slightly furrow. Jia turned toward the door and slightly smiled at who she saw.

Calmly striding over to the door, Jia swung the door open and leaned against it. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? Didn't your class end hours ago?” She joked with a tiny smile and happily maintained eye contact with the girl in front of her. “Yeah, it did, but I stayed to work on some new choreography.”

Jia hummed in understanding before putting a hand on her hip and quirking her eyebrow. “So, Bada Lee… why are you here?” Jia observed as Bada rubbed the side of her neck.

“I didn’t get the chance to ask for your number before. I think we should collaborate on a choreography or two in the future.” Bada vocalized and Jia put on a thinking expression. She looked up at the ceiling before glimpsing back at the girl.

“Yeah, of course! To tell the truth, I was honestly hoping we could potentially be friends…?” Jia hopefully drew out. The pause that occurred was mortifying and made the girl stare at her shoes.

Jia held back the urge to cover her face and right when she was about to take the request back, she heard a laugh from Bada. Her eyes immediately snapped up to meet Bada’s and what she was met with made her smile.

Bada was staring at the girl with a grin while nodding her head. “I’d love that.” Jia slightly giggled and tried to smoothen down her ponytail. Her eyes scanned over Bada’s face, stopping at every minute feature before meeting her eyes once again.

“So, the phone number?” Bada reminded and Jia could hear a slight tease in her tone. Jia shook her head and laughed to herself before turning toward the inside of the room. “Right, yeah, of course, duh!”

She signaled for Bada to come inside as she walked toward her phone lying in the center of the room. She picked it up and speed-walked to where Bada stood by the door. Unlocking her phone and opening her contacts, she swiped on the keypad and turned the phone toward Bada.

Bada did the same and the pair took each other’s phones. After they typed their phone numbers into the other’s phone, they both handed it back. Jia smiled at the contact and slowly tapped her phone against her hand.

“I guess we’ll meet again sooner than later.” Jia joked and watched as Bada backed up toward the door, holding up her phone. “I’ll text you.” She said once she reached the door and shook her phone, grinning.

Jia nodded and put a thumbs-up before Bada excited the room. She waited a couple of seconds after Bada’s departure to start celebrating. The giddy feeling inside was still apparent and Jia couldn't help but start hopping out of excitement.

She started doing her victory dance and punching the air before stopping and looking out the window to make sure nobody witnessed that. With a sigh, she fell back on the floor and smiled at the ceiling.

It feels like it's been forever since she truly liked someone, and though she's okay with how her life was, she missed the feeling a new crush brought her. Although she proposed the idea of being friends, Jia couldn't help but want for more and she hoped Bada would soon feel the same.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

I hate hateee how SJM books have become the face of ya to a lot of people and how popular Rhysand has become. He is literally the blandest fucking character anyone has ever written in history ffs. There is nothing going on there NOTHING. He is literally empty!! What is it that people find so appealing about him???

I am so fucking angry that you are going to make me defend Rhysand. but now I guess I’m going to defend Rhysand :/

First of all, I do think his original concept works! He was one of two characters I liked reading the first book. (Extremely relative, I did not have a good time reading ACOTAR)

He has nearly a Spike esque role in the story. He’s a minor antagonist with very little personal power, who gets to be smarmy and sleazy and gross. He’s genuinely introduced as like a cruel, ruthless murderer. And it’s shocking when he helps Feyre. It’s unclear what his motives are, and there’s always just enough malice when he does help her that he’s still not someone she can trust or even like at all.

Meanwhile, I despised the execution wrt how he got cleaned up and turned into a main love interest. But the bait and switch with him and Tamlin is like credibly done. And it takes an entire second book of pining before he actually gets together with Feyre. And like the execution is soooo fucking twee and annoying but I get the fantasy behind “Protagonist feels alienated from her loved ones after trauma. Similarly traumatized love interest understands this and is equipped to help her through it” the main SJM pitfall is that, past that first book, she cannot bear to write this guy with any perceived failing, flaw, or weakness and everyone has to be obsessed with him at all times, and he has to be the picture of so called like…feminist masculinity. (lol!!!!) But for a lot of genre romance readers that is a feature not a bug. So I get where the popularity comes from.

Meanwhile, having read so many GODAWFUL rip offs, I do unfortunately have to hand it to SJM in terms of like. doing the bare fucking minimum to make the dynamic work. We aren’t told that Rhysand invented feminism from day one! That’s a realization that gets built up to. Feyre doesn’t immediately drop Tamlin like a hot potato the moment she meets this guy. Their relationship does actually take time to develop and for them to form a dynamic. The bar is in fucking hell, to be sure, but I mean look at what the genre romance scene looks like 😭😭😭

Anyway, I do actually think it would’ve been very very easy to rehabilitate ACOTAR era Rhysand and make him into a main LI without… all the SJMisms. but again, feature not a bug for a lot of people who are into romantasy

Edit: I do need it to be known tho that if I could isekai into any fictional world I would personally go in and kill Rhysand with hammers. Like top ten characters I want to see fucking drawn and quartered. I can not overstate my vitriol here! do not get me wrong!!

[panlight]

Breaking Dawn has always read like a fanfiction to me. I'm aware this has probably to do with the fact, that Forever Dawn was written before New Moon and Eclipse, and SMeyer just rewrote some pieces of it.

But this made me think - most fans probably have an idea of how they would have liked the story of Bella and Edward to end and those endings might all be a little, or even very different. What would your perfect ending for the Saga look like? You can place it after any point of the story - just after the first book, in the middle of New Moon, around the end of Eclipse, wherever you want.

It really does have a lot of fanfic-y tropes. The big wedding. The over-the-top tropical honeymoon. This is an 18-year-old middle class girl getting married here. Sure the Cullens are rich but she's not an actual princess or something, this always felt hugely over the top to me in a fanfic-y way. And then the baby, of course. It does tick a lot of boxes of the sort of fanfic that imagines what happens after the book/movie/show where the main couple get married and have a kid.

For me, vampirism without consequences is just completely uninteresting. Bella getting to have her cake and eat it too not only undermines all the themes in the earlier books and makes Edward's brooding about being a vampire seem like unnecessary whining, it's also just boring.

So my ideal ending is an actual follow up to Eclipse. Bella and Edward follow through on their compromise plan: wedding, sex, and vampirism in that order. There's no baby; Bella is turned on Isle Esme and spends a few months there on a secluded island with no people (the groundskeepers are given time off FFS Edward can clean the house) eating wildlife and adjusting to vampirism.

But she actually has to like, adjust. It IS has hard as people told her it was. She can still do well at it, but with struggle. I mean, Carlisle never killed anyone either but he did it by banishing himself to the woods and starving to the point that he unthinkingly attacked some deer. I believe it was hard and he struggled and so his triumph feels earned. Bella can still control herself better than average but I wanna see her struggle with it, versus like, one tense afternoon with Charlie and then totally being fine around humans and going to see lawyers in a sexy outfit, no problem. That felt anticlimactic.

Also there should be some fallout with Jake, and she should probably have to cut ties with Charlie and Renee. She MADE this choice to become a vampire knowing she was giving these things up, so for Breaking Dawn to be like "Nevermind! Haha!" about it was deeply unsatisfying. It killed the conflict and tension for Jacob and Charlie to still be part of her life and accepting of the weirdness of it.

For me, the whole point was Bella was sacrificing a lot to be with Edward. That is where the romance and angst lies. Getting to be beautiful and immortal and rich and powerful AND with the person you love AND keep your father and best friend AND get a perfect baby who never cries and sleeps through the night AND conquer the bloodlust in like 2 seconds was just . . . boring. All the stuff I had been interested in seeing how it would resolve was resolved in just the easiest, least interesting way possible. A perfect example: the wedding. We're told that Renee is going to freak out about this early marriage and even THAT relatively unimportant conflict is just instantly resolved with "actually, Renee's totally on board!!!!" Snore!

So yeah. Bella is turned on the honeymoon. It's hard. She cuts off ties with Charlie; maybe she fakes her death, maybe she just disappears. Jacob refuses to talk to her, but Sam is like "whatever she made her choice we're not going to start a war over this." And in this way Bella is actually cut off from her human life and has to start over with the new family and new life she chose. We probably have to resolve the Volturi situation somehow; maybe a trip to Volterra to prove she's been turned and some conflict with the Volturi comes into play.

But ultimately I just want an epilogue where she comes back to Forks with Edward to check in on Charlie and Jacob from a distance. She watches Charlie with Sue (or someone else) playing with step-grandbabies, she sees Jacob, who has stopped phasing and is aging and married with kids of his own, and it's hard. It's sad to see them going on without her. And Edward looks at her like he's about to apologize for the 239470242th time for robbing her of a human life and she's like, "No, the life I have with you is worth it," because THAT's the vibe! That's where the romance is! Her being happy in BD means nothing because it was all so easy for her! Her being happy despite the downsides of vampirism is where the romance lies!

[gunophilia]

Hello! Not a question, sorry… Just wanted to say that Exposure is quite literally the best fanfic I’ve ever read, so thank you for writing it! And I’m sooo excited for the continuation! (Although don’t feel pressured or anything! Take your time!)

Also you wrote in a reply earlier that some people don’t like this fic since it’s so heavily “Nathan-centric” but to me that was the BEST part. And that’s why I’d always recommend this fic because I think Nathan deserved to be much more fleshed out in the game but for obvious reasons he couldn’t have been… However in Exposure I love that you did what the devs couldn’t: give Nathan an ACTUAL story, actual feelings and actual persona—and perhaps a chance at redemption.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that even though this is a Grahamscott ff the reason it got me hooked years ago was because you did such a fantastic job at writing Nathan—and all of the other characters. I feel like he’s so hated in the fandom, which I’ll just never ever understand—did these people not play LiS through the end? Yes, Nathan did bad things, however everyone seems to forget that he was barely even in control of himself, his actions. I personally never disliked him: if LiS taught me anything it was that no one is what they seem to be. And Nathan is so damn misunderstood in the fandom by so many people, it frustrates me so much…

Anyway (God, why did I write so much, sorry…) I finished my reread of it today and I still only have praise for Exposure. :)

Thank you so much! (I don't mind receiving long asks btw, they're fun to read)

Nathan's treatment in the narrative and by the fandom was one of the main reasons why I started writing this in the first place. I fully hated Nathan in my first playthrough of Life is Strange, until the twist in the second to last episode.

I find his character super interesting and multi-dimensional. It was really upsetting how he was written off by the devs after the reveal of Jefferson as the twist villain.

I wish we had learned more about him in the game, but alas. That's what fanfic is for. If he had been more fleshed out I may not have written Exposure, so in a way, it's good that they didn't say much about him. It opens the door to many headcanons and fanworks.

I just wish the general fandom was more receptive to works that explore his mindset and personality. People tend to assume that if you enjoy a "problem" character, it means you agree with them or think they did nothing wrong. I just think they're neat.

People assume that he raped Kate and are quick to point that out. I personally don't think he did. The game wanted the player (and Max) to believe that, so I don't blame anyone for believing it. The twist near the end of the game opened the door for me (and others) to question that assumption.

Sorry this got long. Thank you for reading my fic and writing this ask.

[ordinaryschmuck]

A lot of people are having HUGE problems with Doctor Doom being treated as an Avengers villain instead of a Fantastic Four villain for the upcoming Doomsday.

Me, personally, I don't have a problem with it. I've read a SHITLOAD of Marvel comics, and while Doctor Doom's definitely more of the arch nemesis to the four, I'd say it's more accurate to say he's THE antagonist to the Marvel universe. Tons of the world's biggest events, a lot of the roughest battles in the universe, mostly circle around him with almost every hero taking their turn to fight Doom one way or another. He's the biggest villain out there so the MCU making him the biggest threat to EVERYONE, not just the FF.

...My problem lies in the fact that they didn't set him up properly. They spent so much time hyping up Kang that, once Marvel decided NOT to follow through on something for once, they're going to just say, "Fuck it. It's Doctor Doom now." And even worse than that, they casts Robert Downey Jr. to play him. Outside of the fact that they whitewashed Doom, it's very clearly a desperate bid for fans to gain back public interest in the MCU again. Something that Doctor Doom doesn't deserve given the incredible character that he is. It's like the Infinity Saga calling it quits with Thanos after the third space toilet joke and then replacing him with Hugh Jackman playing Galactus or something. It's a disservice to the characters and to the fans who are patient enough to see if a story could save itself. I get that Jonathon Majors is...not a great human being, but you could EASILY recast him. You did it with Hulk and Thunderbolt Ross, YOU CAN DO IT TO A BLACK ACTOR TOO! Better than killing off the character or erasing them from existence when there's so much potential to do with them.

So, yeah. I don't have problems with Doctor Doom being the main threat in an Avengers movie. My problem lies in the fact that they didn't do it properly. Doctor Doom shouldn't forced in to close out a MESS of a saga, he should be the star of his OWN saga. The DOOM Saga--TELL ME THAT DOESN'T SOUND COOL!

[aserene]

Aserene's Master Fic List

Last updated 9 February 2025; the newest works are in red. Anything posted on AO3 or FF can be found in this list, fragments and WIPs will be listed at the bottom of each section. My AO3 works are largely locked to registered users only due to AI scraping. If you need an account, please feel free to hit me up for an invite code while I have them to spare.

Fate: the Winx Saga

Why "Did it break your skin" or "Hello Bloom" has such an impact is a question I can't answer. Sorry, Not Sorry.

Regin of Dragon Series

The Smoking Incident (Silrah, pre-canon, Keggar Explanation) 

Are you my fairy Godmother? (Silrah, Ficlets, Bloom & Farah Prequel to main story) 

The Heir of Dragons (WIP, Silrah, HOTD cross over, Farah meets Rhaenys, Bloom & Farah found family) 

Sparrow, Spider this is how it had to be

Sparrow, Sparrow on the hill (Silrah, Farah-centric time travel fix it) 

Spider, spider in the tree - Tell me how it ends (Silrah, Saul-Centric time travel fix it) 

Echantix and More 

Snow (Silrah, Bloom & Farah bonding) 

Across the Sea, Soar Above (Silrah, Mako Mermaids cross over) 

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust (Silrah, Winx power swap) 

Downpour (Silrah, Power Reveal, Bloom & Farah Bonding) 

Lighting (Silrah, Skloom, Protective Farah & Saul) 

Farah and the Caturday 

Tell Tail Heart (Silrah, transformation accidents) 

Let me tell you a tail (Silrah, Bloom & Farah, transformation accidents, Bloom’s in trouble) 

Other Works 

snow and sweatshirts (silrah sharing clothes, Year of the OTP 2025)

State of Mind (Farah has trouble with her powers)

Down an unknown road to embrace my fate (Meet the family, Silrah, lost child, Selkie)

Made You Look (Silrah, fluffy)

All the Stars in Your Hair (Silrah hair braiding, slight Star Wars cross)

A Solo Guardian (Silrah, Farah & Bloom bonding, Direwolf)

A road so rough, this I know (Road trips, Silrah, Episode tag)

Prompt Fills:

HEX Gifts 

tis the damn season (meet the family/kind of, snowball fights)

And the sky is a hazy shade of winter  (Winter whump, snowball fights)

soft snow falling in a winter serenade (winter party disaster)

Reverse Big Bang 

Ferns are what it must mean to love without yearning (Farah the Fern) 

WIPS:

The Geas of It (Silrah, Skloom, accidents, Like father–like son)

The Best Days (AU Fix it, Rosalind picked the wrong parents, Silrah & Bloom)

Exile (High Court Fae take an interest in Bloom)

The Heiress (Winx reflections on how they got their magic)

Farah the Cat (WIP for Farah and the Caturday) 

Pawlp Fiction (WIP for Farah and the Caturday)

Car Crash (Silrah, baby bloom)

Saul asks Luna for a favor (silrah, Luna, protective Saul)

NCIS 

Let me save you the trouble. They’re all jibbs. 

Long Live the Queen. 

I had a thought, dear, however scary about that night (Year of OTP 2025, Hozier - Like Real People Do)

A kiss in the park (Year of OTP 2025 first kiss)

Ex Files Take Two (episode re write)

A Christmas Fairy-Tale (Episode tag, team as family)

I’ve Read all the books beside your bed (domestic fluff, secret relationship)

Bella Noche (vampires)  

One in a Billion (Halloween) 

I talked to your dad, It’s a love story, just say “yes” (meet the family, Judgement Day fix it) 

Coffeeshop Chatter (Batman won’t like this prompt, Jenny overhears the wrong thing) 

In absentia lucis, Tenebrae vincunt, Coram amore lux valet (accidental love confessions)

The Director’s Fool (April fool’s prank) 

The Cure for Hangovers and Other Aliments (Gibbs to the rescue) 

Noli timere malum, sed time heroa (Jibbslet, Kidnapping, Angst with happy ending) 

Truth in the Lies (fake marriage) 

Ask Her (tag to Knockout) 

Say Goodbye 007 (Mentions of JAG, fluff)

The Twelve Days of Christmas (Christmas fluff)

Twist of the Mind (WIP, Secret Relationship, memory alteration) 

Off the Clock (Girl talk) 

He Knocked (Episode tag) 

Haunting (Halloween Fluff)

Muscle Spasm (Gibbs whump, Jenny gives TLC)

Paris Rose (fluff & crack, lipstick) 

Only With You (undercover as married)

The Missing High Heels (Slight sequel to Only with you)

Jen, Jenny, and the Director (fuff & angst, crack treated seriously) 

The Manual (Gibbs’ Rules, Fluff, Team Dynamics) 

History Lessons (Fluffy collection of ficlets) 

Carols in the Night Series

Carols in the Night (Holiday Found Family)

February Ills (Fluffbruary Sequel to Carols in the Night)

The Easter Bunny (Easter theme)

Mother's First (Mother's day)

He didn't have to (Father's day)

Judgement Day Rewritten Series

Second Chances (Gibbs wakes up in a world where Jenny isn’t dead, yet)

From Now On (Jenny gets a second chance and learns what honesty can change) 

The Reality of Acceptance  (Gibbs follows Jenny to LA)

Expressing the Inexpressible Series 

That’s not her style (Tabloids report on Jenny) 

Goodbye Earl (Gibbs finds an interesting person in the middle of an investigation) 

Home (letters, fluff and angst)

Our Song (tooth-rotting fluff) 

Do you Remember? (orchids, hidden relationship) 

24 (WIP) 

It’s beginning to get to me (WIP) 

Anything you can do (WIP)

A little fall of rain (WIP)

Something in Red (WIP)

So Close (WIP)

Ever, Ever, After (WIP)

She’s in Love (WIP)

That’s How You Know (WIP)

One Step Closer (WIP)

WIP 

Watering Your Plants (Post Hiatus) 

The Deal (deal to have a baby) 

Now I lay me down to sleep (secret relationship, abduction) 

Xena: Warrior Princess 

So you’re saying there is a chance… Xena/Ares 

As Long as You’re Mine (post Looking Death in the Eyes) 

WIP 

Reckoning the Thoughts (takes place during “The Reckoning) 

The Pendant (Aphrodite fixes Looking Death in the Eye) 

Wrapped Around Your Finger (Post Xena coming back from Callisto) 

Black Roses Red (Hercules bashing) 

An Affair to Remember (Looking Death in the Eyes Fix It) 

House of the Dragon

WIP

Rhaenys Intervenes (Time Travel Fix-it)

Daemon and Rhaenys work together to save the House of the Dragon (Time Travel Fix-it)

Go All the Way Back (Rhaenyra and Rhaenys Time Travel)

Rhaenys Overhears (Rhaenys will make sure she is the only one with the title of the Queen Who Never Was) 

Cross Overs 

Call my name and save me from the dark (Fate, Wednesday, NCIS, I have issues okay?)

 Wishes come True, Not Free (Fate/Labyrinth) 

A Demon and A Fairy Sat Drinking (Fate/Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)

Grave Digger Redux (Bones/NCIS)

My Perfect Romance (NCIS/My Perfect Romance) 

Captain Bennett’s Christmas Catch (Christmas Catch/NCIS)

The Man with the Blue Eyes (NCIS/ CSI Miami)