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lumateranlibrarian · 5 years ago

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Let’s talk about Claudia and Soren, because I’m pretty sure their conflict is going to be one of the biggest parts of The Dragon Prince’s endgame.

The Dragon Prince’s main recurring theme is breaking the cycle of revenge and hate, and how that duty falls on the newer generations when their predecessors failed to do so. This theme is so prevalent that we see the children of The Dragon Prince being placed over and over in chilling parallels to their parents.

Rayla’s parents were the last line of defense for the Dragon Prince’s egg, and yet they failed to protect it, running away or losing their lives (or so we’re led to believe); Rayla chose to be the last line of defense for Zym and Zubeia during the final battle. In her confrontation with the exact same man her parents faced, she was put in the same position, and was also willing to die to save Zym (and would have if Callum hadn’t pulled that spell out of his ass, but that’s beside the point).

Ezran sits on the throne of Katolis, and has to decide whether he’ll let a man driven by vengeance and fear tell him how to use his power. This man inevitably decides that dark magic will lead him to his goal. Like Harrow in his final days, Ezran chooses peace over conflict - and yet, for this choice, Ezran is ousted from his throne and placed in a prison he later escapes (unlike his father, unless you consider a birdcage, subsequently escaped, to be a prison too - oh, wait).

And then. Soren and Claudia.

Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon. Shit’s about to get real.

The scene where Soren snuck away from Viren’s army, leaving Claudia behind, was masterfully executed, and I’m still both delighted and heartbroken over it all. But to map out why it was so excruciating, we have to go back a few episodes. Specifically, the finale of Season 2.

In Breathe, Claudia apologizes to Ezran for her actions attempting to capture him. When Ezran admits that he knows about his father’s death, Claudia empathizes with him by explaining the circumstances of Viren and her mother’s separation.

CLAUDIA I know it’s not the same, but… when I was a kid, my mom and dad split up. I remember hearing them fight a lot at night after we went to bed. And then one day, they told us Mom was moving back to Del Bar, where her family was from. And then they said… we had to choose. And Soren chose Dad. How could I choose? How could I do that? Then my mom looked at my dad, and she told me to stay. She said that I had to stay with Soren, that this was my home, and my brother and I needed each other. And then she left.

EZRAN But how could she do that? Why would she leave you?

CLAUDIA I think she needed to leave for herself. To be happy… somehow. You might have noticed my dad is pretty intense.

EZRAN You must miss her.

CLAUDIA Losing her has been the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me.

EZRAN When you grow up, sometimes there are changes you don’t expect, and you have to face things you’re not ready for. Callum told me that.

CLAUDIA You are so lucky to have a brother like Callum.

EZRAN I know.

CLAUDIA And… I’m lucky to have my brother. Soren is a doof, but he’s my doof! I know he would do anything to protect me, and I would do anything for him.

Pretty upsetting, right? I can understand why a young Claudia would be so torn - after all, no child wants to make the choice between losing one parent or the other. And Claudia clearly recognizes that it was not abandonment, when her mother left - rather, it was her mother doing what was right for herself. Of course, Claudia didn’t come to this realization immediately, and says as much. It just took a long time for her to get there. Again, an understandable response.

Hold onto that! It’s a surprise tool that will help us later.

So, with this in mind, let’s proceed to Season 3, Episode 7, Hearts of Cinder.

Soren has seen some shit.

Where to even start? Viren told Soren all but explicitly to kill the crown prince and his brother. And when Soren and Claudia confronted Viren about this, Viren gaslighted the shit out of his son, to the point that even Claudia was convinced Soren had misunderstood their brilliant, intellectual father for the umpteenth time. This left a deeply upset Soren was wrestling with what he knew and what he was being told. Every time Soren tried to ask for more information, he was harshly rebuffed by Viren, or more gently brushed to the side by a (perhaps willfully) naive Claudia. He knows what Viren wanted him to do with Ezran, and this has been weighing on him for a while. When Ezran spared his and Claudia’s lives, and then was himself thrown in jail (a fucking ten year old boy cuffed in the same prison cell used to contain a treasonous archmage), Soren finally put his foot down and said, actually, fuck this.

And, before I get into the quotes once more, I’d like to point out: Soren isn’t actually stupid. He has his blatantly obtuse moments, yes, but he did come up with the plan (and muster the sheer audacity it took to pull it off) to get Ezran out of Katolis. That doesn’t happen by being an idiot.

Anyways, hold on to that. It’s a surprise tool that will help us later.

By the time Viren, with Aaravos’ help, manages to siphon the power of the Sun Elves’ city, Soren has seen enough. And when Viren straight-up assumes that Soren will be blindly willing to be the first transformed soldier - perhaps because he assumes Soren is too easily led to refuse - Soren says no. He says, I don’t want to do this. I’m scared.

You know how the rest of that scene goes.

Let’s get to the good stuff.

Soren flees, and Claudia goes after him.

CLAUDIA Soren. What’s going on? Where are you going?

SOREN I can’t stay here anymore, Claudia. You’ve seen what’s going on. What Dad turned Kasef into. What Dad turned into.

CLAUDIA Maybe he’s just doing what needs to be done.

SOREN Claudia, you’re changing, too. But it’s not too late. Come with me, Claudia. You can leave him!

CLAUDIA Please, Soren, don’t… don’t do this to me. Don’t make me choose. Not again!

SOREN Okay. Goodbye, Clauds.

CLAUDIA No! No! No, no no!

Do you see the parallels? Yes? No? All right, let’s go.

Both of these scenarios have arisen because of some sort of discord between Viren and his (I hope) loved one

Both loved ones (the children’s mother and Soren, respectively) decided that they could no longer stay with Viren, and had to leave.

Both loved ones gave the remaining family members a choice, to stay with Viren or come with them.

Claudia couldn’t decide, or Claudia wouldn’t decide, and this drove her to intense distress.

Hoping to spare Claudia pain, the leaving party told her to stay with Viren and Soren (or, just Viren), and Claudia had to watch someone she loved walk away.

The writers are bringing their A-game here, in case that hasn’t been made abundantly clear yet. There are a couple of reasonable assumptions we can make, going off these pretty blatant similarities:

Claudia and Soren’s mother was likely also upset about Viren’s growing reliance on dark magic. Or at least, that was a part of it.

Claudia and Soren’s mother returned to live with her family in another city, far away. This raises the possibility that Team Zym and associates are now Soren’s “family”, and like his mother, he’s not likely to go back.

Remember that first “surprise tool”? Claudia, while heartbroken now like she was then, may be able to forgive Soren for leaving her, as she came to understand her mother’s reasons for finalizing the divorce and moving away from the capital. Whether she does, and if doing so leads to reconciliation, however, remains to be seen…

This scene was beautifully executed, and kudos to the writers, animators, and voice actors for a superb character study. I am curious, though. Claudia has been closely paralleled with Viren, here. It’s possible that Soren has had several moments in the series so far where his actions and motivations mirror his mother’s, and we just don’t know about it because of how little we know of her.

But wait! We’re not done. I did say I think a final, major confrontation between Claudia and Soren is part of the endgame, right? Let’s dive into that.

Point: Claudia is either more powerful or more dangerously driven than Viren. Why do I say this, given all the crazy shit Viren’s done, especially under Aaravos’ counsel? Because Claudia brought Viren back from the dead. She has done what Viren either never could, or never dared to do. If Viren had been able or willing, he would have saved Sarai.

(If that’s not true… if he chose not to save Sarai, in favor of collecting her last breath in order to make a cursed weapon that could bring down Thunder… well, any shred of redeemability Viren had is now gone in my mind. Because how do you look your friend, a grieving husband, father, and king in the eye when you hold his wife’s last breath in your hands and say, “This is all I was able to save,” when it’s a lie?)

Point: Viren failed Aaravos. Viren failed Aaravos, but Claudia has managed to perform what is, as far as we know, the impossible. From the split second glimpse we have of her face immediately after Viren is revived, it seems like she just cast the spell - her eyes are pure black, but quickly fade to their original color, much as they did when Claudia restored Soren’s ability to walk using life force siphoned from a pair of deer. We also know that Aaravos has been spinning himself a new form over the two days before Viren was revived - it’s possible that Aaravos doesn’t yet know what Claudia has accomplished. What will Aaravos do, I wonder, when he learns about the impossible prodigy he has access to? It’s implied that Claudia still doesn’t know about Aaravos speaking through the caterpillar, but that hardly matters to a master manipulator like Aaravos. When you want to conquer Xadia, do you want a broken, old pawn, or a young and innovative replacement instead?

Point: Soren is not stupid. He’s not booksmart, obviously. But he’s got a keen eye for strategy. How do I know? Because he made Captain of the Crownsguard at the age of 18. Because it took him all of two seconds to see a dragon brought down by ballista during the battle to realize that the only way to give the dragons a fighting chance was to keep them in the air. Because he planned - no, he masterminded - Ezran’s escape from the dungeons and subsequent journey across Xadia to get to Zym before Viren. And because he timed it just right, Viren has no idea Ezran has escaped until the final battle - if he even knows at all, given that the only interaction we see is between them after Ezran’s escape is on the battlefield, with Ezran and the illusion Viren created by Claudia.

Point: The Illusion Viren.

This frame was the one that, of the entire season, truly stole my breath away.

Viren (well, illusion Viren, but that’s not the point of this frame) is the dividing factor between Claudia and Soren, and he has caused this rift between them due to his intent towards Ezran. Soren’s compassion and duty towards Ezran has allowed him to see the truth of Viren’s actions, whereas Claudia’s compassion for Ezran has blinded her to the fact that her own father could act so horribly to him.

And, if you’ll indulge me for just a minute, I have to wonder - why was this the ploy Claudia chose to use, to distract Soren and Ezran from the threat at the top of the Storm Spire? She has adamantly been opposed to the idea that Viren would ever orchestrate Ezran’s death, including several clear warning signs and Soren’s testimony. So why did she use this illusion - of Viren going after Ezran, clearly trying to kill him - against Soren, when his resolve to protect Ezran from Viren is what led him to the Storm Spire in the first place? Claudia is horrified when Soren demonstrates that he is willing to kill his own father to protect Ezran (who is, by the way, still a ten-year-old boy, king or not). But isn’t this what Soren has been saying all along? That Viren has been telling him to kill Ezran, and that Viren is wrong, and Soren believed this so much that he chose to leave rather than continue gong along with Viren’s plans? So, whose resolve is Claudia really testing here - Soren’s? Or her own?

I think it’s the latter, honestly. But back to our regularly-scheduled programming. Where was I?

Ah, yes.

Endgame.

So what do we know? Claudia is quite possibly the most powerful dark mage in the world. She’s chosen to continue aligning herself with Viren and Viren alone. Soren is a strategist driven by duty, and is surrounded by other warriors of similar mind and similar or even better skill. Unless a new threat emerges beyond the alliance of Viren and Aaravos (which isn’t impossible, of course), the two siblings are in direct opposition to one another. Claudia must live with the fact that her brother was willing to kill their father, and has left her to pick up the pieces. Soren must live with the fact that he was willing to kill their father, and that Claudia’s manipulation is what drove him to it.

The two of them have also, believe it or not, grown up with vastly different influences during their formative years. Differences in treatment from Viren aside, there’s an implication that Claudia and Soren have been on separate paths for a long time. Claudia is clearly Viren’s favorite - he has actual conversations with her, listens to her questions and attempts to answer them (whether the answers or truthful or not is another issue). Meanwhile, Viren puts very little effort into understanding Soren. Likely, he believes he already does, as Soren isn’t, shall we say, the most complicated of individuals. So, Claudia gets private tutoring under her father, and academic and intellectual training that Viren can relate to and challenge and encourage. Meanwhile, Soren, the family jock, goes into the castle guard. It’s not clear what all this would entail, but I imagine he trained with other recruits for a time in his own age group, reported to a commander or other superior officer, and probably received some sort of advanced training when it became clear he was a prodigy in his own right - after all, it’s not your average eighteen-year-old who is placed in charge of the security of a monarch. To sum up, Claudia was favored and likely spoiled to some degree by her father, whereas Soren excelled in military boot camp, which requires recruits to learn how to carry their own weight and take responsibility for protecting others in a very different sense than Viren’s supposed dedication to the realm.

Narratively speaking, despite first impressions, Claudia is the sibling with more cards stacked against her. She is falling faster and faster towards the point of no return with dark magic, whereas Soren has fought for every inch of his venture into the light. I’m anticipating larger confrontation between the two siblings than what we have seen so far. My heart breaks for both of them, but when I think of how future generations of humans and elves will tell the story of the Dragon Prince, these tragic siblings will fill one of the most resonant threads of the epic.

Ezran rode into the throne room that was his by birthright on the back of a massive, black-furred beast whom he charmed into loyalty. Rayla tackled a madman off of the highest peak in Xadia, and Callum dove selflessly after her. Claudia raised her father from the dead. Soren crossed miles of hostile territory in a single night to warn the Dragon Prince of a coming army.

There is a story being told here. Sometimes, history repeats, and sometimes, it rhymes. Cycles are meant to be broken, but only time will tell how Claudia and Soren handle the one they’re trapped in.

Can I just say, though?

Claudia is going to make one hell of an epic villain.

Bring it on.

#the dragon prince #meta #my meta #I think this is the longest meta i've ever written #it's just over 2800 words #that's longer than most of my Ao3 pieces #LONG post #tdp

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stifledlaughterao3 · 4 years ago

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How writing recursive fic (fanfic of fanfic) has made me a better author and member of fandom

After doing the math, approximately 45% of my AO3 works are recursive fanfiction. (I am actually excluding a large translation I did which was a translation of a recursive work itself!) The majority of that is from one single series, with the rest being significantly below that.

There are a few fanfics for which I've written fic.

1. "ReSWAN: The remix of Song Without A Name" by LadyYatexel

2. "Deep Dish Nine" by LadyYatexel (which turned into a community-wide AU where I took inspiration from other authors as well, such as tinsnip)

3. "Doing the Unstuck" by TempeTot

4. "Designation: Miracle" by umisabaku (the large majority of my recursive fic is for this series, most within a collection work, as well as a few stand-alone works.)

I've noticed a few patterns in fic that I am writing fic for. They are always:

1. An AU where the characters, changed by their AU circumstances, have aspects of them that are unique to the AU application and reflected strongly in their personalities and actions

2. There is more depth / possibilities of emotional interplay in the AU presented than the canon

3. Queer in both pairings and mood (relying heavily on found family, introspctions about sexuality, subversive responses to mainstream sexuality) . There sometimes are M/F pairings in the fic I base my fics on, but at least one pairing within the fic is always queer.

Permission

Something that feels different from writing regular fic as opposed to recursive fic is permission from the author. When writing regular fic, I feel that I do not owe the creator any sort of heads up or permission to write. There are entire laws protecting me on this.

Therefore, theoretically, there should be nothing stopping me from just writing recursive fic, posting it, and saying ,"This other fic was inspired by this other fic". However, having been in fandom since 2004, I don't feel it would be good fandom etiquette to do that without at least inquiring first.

I've never been told I cannot write the fic - however, if the author preferred that I not post a fic of their fic, I'd adhere to that. Would I write it in private? If I felt moved enough, yes, but not post. There's nothing stopping me except that I, as a longtime member of fandom, want to do my part to make fandom a kind place that acknowledges reasonable requests.

Perhaps it is hypocritical of me to write and post fanfic without the permission of the original media creator, whether it be a single author or a giant franchise, but when it's a fellow fanfic creator, that's where I draw the line? Maybe it's because I can usually easily message the fanfic creator and ask. Whereas, if the creator of the anime I am writing about personally messaged me to ask me to stop writing their characters kissing (or, more likely, having extended conversations over food), maybe I would pull my fics. Or, in the long-standing tradition of fandom/media relationships formed on defiance, I would wave my hand at the OTW Legal Team and say, "Go talk to them." It hasn’t happened so I honestly am not sure how I would respond.

In every instance the fanfic author has happily given me the go-ahead. Some have linked my work in the "works inspired by" section at the bottom of their fic, and others haven't, and I'm fine either way. I'm discomfited by the idea of the recursive fic author requesting the author link their story in the original fic - it feels like asking for free advertising, which then gets into the capitalism aspects of fandom that in general make me uncomfortable (in this case not cash capital but social capital/views.)

Posting etiquette

Another piece of recursive fic etiquette that I've done is, after I figured this particular etiquette out, was that I kept all of the stories for my recursive fic in one AO3 work and added chapters. (My earlier recursive fics are their own works as I hadn't gotten the hang of how I wanted my recursive fics displayed.) Even if the stories are long and disparate, they are 95% of the time one-shots, so that would be A. many stories filling up the AO3 feed for that fandom and B. filling up my AO3 works list with many one-shots for this specific AU.

For the fanfics that are longer or are really deserving of their own works, I try to really limit it and then post all of the chapters at once so it does not appear multiple times over days. These however are rare. The majority are held within one work that I call a collection. For example, "A Handmade Scrapbook" (which hosts the majority of my "Designation: Miracle" recursive fics), at this time of writing, has 23 chapters, all of which are completely unrelated one-shots and AUs. I sometimes would save up a handful of shorter stories I had written and post those chapters all at once so as not to clog the Kuroko No Basuke tag (which is canon for the D:M AU.) Sense I cannot assume average KnB fanfic reader has context of D:M (even if they read the first story, the majority of my works are based on the most recent addition to the series), they cannot read that fic, and thus I feel a bit guilty if I were to clog the tag with my recursive fic. I also do not tag the canon tag on tumblr if it is a recursive fic, especially one that requires a ton of source fic knowledge in order to begin to understand.

Again - is this necessary? In theory, it’s not. I could post a 100-word recursive fic every day forever on the AO3 tag and be completely in my rights to do so (I mean, I’m sure there’s some rule about spamming but that aside). However, something in me is feeling that it would not be considerate of other readers to do so. (I could probably look at my actions and think, “Hmm, is this influenced by my gender and how women are taught to not take up space, even if it’s okay to?” but we shan’t be getting into that now.)

I know that posting frequently, spreading out those frequent posts, and advertising gets more comments on fics. However, for my recursive fics, I genuinely don’t expect them to get views -and that’s okay! They often require pre-reading of another fic, which narrows down the readership considerably, and if it’s something huge, like my longer D:M fics, that’s a big investment. Therefore, writing recursive fic is genuinely a for-me practice that lets me be very self-indulgent and narrow with my interests. It's an interesting catch-22 - I truly enjoy comments and kudos, and love hearing feedback on my work. But the less I assume that someone will read a fic, the more off the rails I feel I can go with it, and thus why some of my favorite fics I've written are the recursive ones.

That does mean, however, when people read my recursive works, I cherish those comments and interactions a little more than my other fics, as I know that it took a little more to read my works and comprehend and appreciate them.

Characterization

Something specific to writing recursive fic is that it differs from regular fanfic in how precise the characterization is. Generally, when writing fic, you have to align (at least somewhat) to the characterization portrayed in canon. However, your interpretation of it can vary pretty wildly, and while you probably would be called out as writing someone as out of character if it skews significantly from canon, you can get away with your various interpretations.

With recursive fic, you’re deliberately working with a fellow fanfic writer’s interpretation. The entire point of your writing a fic of one of their fics is that their interpretation or worldbuilding grabbed you enough to want to write from it. Of course, there are instances where a characterization of a character is popularized enough to where you can just write it and it’s not necessarily a ‘recursive fic’ as much as ‘using a fic’s interpretation as a template’. In a recursive fic, you’re specifically writing to that characterization.

That’s why I think writing recursive fic has made me a better fanfic writer- writing regular fic, I did not feel particularly beholden to the canon characterization, and could shrug off writing a character a specific way if I felt like it. It is, after all, my right as a fic writer to do so.

However, with recursive fic, the entire purpose of me writing a recursive fic is so that I could make an homage the author’s characterization. It’s the characters that drew me in, after all (although it is occasionally the worldbuilding as well, which is when I bring in my own OCs, but that happens infrequently.) In many instances in the fics I’ve written recursive fics for, the characters had become so distinct that they were basically OCs at that point (or, I was writing about actual OCs from the fic). Therefore, I had a fairly strict characterization to follow if I really wanted to be writing recursive fic and not just “loosely inspired by this fic”.

Which leads back to another point about being a more conscientious member of fandom. The likelihood of anyone from the media I engage with reading my fic is slim to none. However, since I do ask each writer if I can post a recursive fic based on their fic, the likelihood of them reading it goes up significantly more (not necessarily 100%, but definitely higher than 0%!) Therefore, I feel slightly more beholden to ‘getting it right’.

I’ve also asked if I can write NSFW content of the characters for some stories, particularly if they were OCs. Again - something I am not required to do, but it’s part of me being respectful of the author’s choices. It also wouldn’t fit some character’s arcs or personalities if I were to write smut of them, so I do not do that, but for other characters, there were fade-to-black scenes that I wanted to fill in the gaps of. However! Just because that existed in the fic didn’t mean it was alright for me to write it, so I checked.

That said, per my earlier comment, I clearly write regular fic of characters having sex without checking in on the creator’s wishes. In fact, if a media creator came out and said, “X isn’t gay, stop writing them gay” I likely would not care. (See: Star Trek DS9’s butchering of Garak/Bashir. In my head, however, they are happily married and living together on Cardassia.) Therefore, it could be something else to examine within myself, as to why I give more consideration to fellow fans over the wishes of the media creators.

Conclusion

I write recursive fic for the same reason I write regular fic- I am so incredibly compelled to write it that I legitimately cannot stop myself. The same daydreaming+plot bunny herding+fannish actions I do when I engage with a new media I like occur for fics that I read, particularly well fleshed-out AUs with a strong worldbuilding premise that I’d like to expand upon.

However, unlike regular fic, the engagement with the author of the source fic means I am interacting with other writers on a more personal level than just leaving comments, something I really hadn’t done in fandom when I first started writing fanfiction when I was much younger.

Writing recursive fic has made me friends and helped me understand my own writing more. Even though it narrows my reading audience considerably, it brings me back to why I write in the first place - my own joy. Comments, views, kudos, and feedback are wonderful, but in the end, writing something because it makes me happy, no matter how niche or narrow, is why I write.

#fanfic

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kirikamibang · 4 years ago

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FAQ

What is the KiriKami Mini Bang?

The KiriKami Mini Bang is a fan event dedicated to sweet rarepair of Kirishima Eijirou and Kaminari Denki from My Hero Academia! Writers who join will create a never-been-published fanfiction that is at least 3k words in length. Each writer will be paired with an artist, who will create at least one (1) full piece for their fic.

How does the pairing process work?

At the first check in, each writer will provide a title, summary, list of tags and content warnings, and a short excerpt of their fic. This information is kept secret, to make sure the claims process is totally anonymous. The mods will take this information provided by the writers and put it in an anonymous document for all the artists to read through. Artists will pick five (5) stories they would like to work on, based on the information provided by the writers. From there, the mods will do their best to match every writer with an artist. From there, they will work as a team to create content together!

How is a Bang different from a Zine?

Zines are an anthology of fanworks compiled into one PDF or bound into a physical book, that are then sold for profit or charity, and distributed to consumers. They are exclusive in nature, because printing costs require they only take a small number of contributors to fill a small number of pages with a limited number of pieces. Bangs, on the other hand, are free fandom events that anyone and everyone can participate in! We encourage everyone who believes they can create a fanwork that meets the requirements in the scheduled time-frame to join and participate. Bangs are all about community, and content creation. The heart and soul of a Bang is the love content creators have for their chosen ship, or trope, or fandom. You strive to meet a minimum word count, or a minimum art piece count, and can go above and beyond if you want to! You and your event partners get to decide what and how much you make, with no rejection emails in sight!

What is a Mini Bang? How is it different from a normal Big Bang?

Mini Bangs have a lower minimum word count than a Big Bang! Artists are also required to create a lower number of art pieces. So, while a Big Bang might require somewhere between 15k or 40k minimum words and 2-3 fully rendered art pieces, we only require a minimum of 3k and 1 fully rendered art piece. However, much like a Big Bang, there is no maximum word count or limit on the number of illustrations. We encourage our participants to have fun and get as creative as possible during the creation period! Mini Bangs are an excellent low-stress event for content creators, because the only requirements are to hit the minimum word/art count and finish a piece before the posting period begins. They're also a lot of fun!

How do beta readers fit into this?

If we have enough beta readers sign up, we will set up a separate claims document with all of the anonymous info from writers who indicated they would like to work with a beta. Betas will claim fics the same way the artists do, and will work with their writers to polish the fanfics up and make them shine before posting!

Does this Bang have a theme?

Nope! All content should focus on KiriKami, but other than that, content creators are free to create for any AU, trope, or plotline they want! We want you to be able to have fun and create something you and your partner can enjoy!

Does that mean there will be NSFW content?

Yes! However, it will be separated out from the SFW content during claims. We request that all participants provide their age (18+/-18) upon sign up. Anyone over the age of 18 will be free to create NSFW content. NSFW pitches from adult writers will be placed on an 18+ claims list with all relevant tags and warnings, and will only be available to 18+ artists and betas. Anyone who is caught lying about their age to access the NSFW claims list will be let go from the event.

How do I participate?

Once sign-ups open, fill out the appropriate Writer/Artist/Beta sign-up form, and you’re in! There is no application process, no acceptance or rejection, no limit on skill or ability. If you are passionate about KiriKami and join during the sign-up window, you are in! Once you’re in, Discord will be our primary method of contact with participants, but we will send out emails for all major deadlines. Please ensure your provided email is accurate and up to date!

Do I need Discord to participate?

While it is not absolutely mandatory, we strongly suggest you join the KiriKami Bang discord to keep on top of the deadlines and keep in touch with the mods. We will send out emails to all participants regarding all important information and deadlines, however there is always the risk that an email will be caught in a spam filter. Discord is also the fastest and easiest way to get in contact with your event partners. Your partner information will be provided via email, but it is the participant's responsibility to reach out to their teammates and begin collaborating.

Can I apply for more than one role?

As long as you are capable of handling the workload and agree to respect the anonymity of the claims process, we will be allowing participants to take a maximum of two (2) roles. For example, you could participate as a Writer and a Beta, or a Writer and an Artist, but not all three.

Why is it so important that claims are anonymous and the fanfiction is unpublished?

One of the most important (and most fun!) parts of a Bang event is the fact participants are paired based on the fic premise alone. Keeping the fic ideas a secret ensures everyone gets a fair chance at getting picked, without follower count or hits or kudos or likes factoring into the equation. Once claims have ended, some teams can choose to share small hints about their WIPs, but we discourage the sharing of snippets, screenshots, and excerpts on social media. When content creation teams choose to keep the fic and art a secret during the entire event, it also means that the people following along with the event get a wonderful surprise flood of art and fanfic during the posting period!

What’s a pinch hitter?

Should a creator drop from the project during the creation period, we will call in a pinch hitter to fill that content creator’s spot. This might mean an artist or beta will take on another fic, or it might mean a writer steps up to create a second piece with an unpartnered artist.

My question wasn’t answered here, where can I contact you?

You can contact us in a number of ways! Please feel free to DM us on Twitter or on CuriousCat! Our email is also linked in this carrd. If you are a member of the KiriKami discord server, please ask in a mod-contact channel or DM one of the mods! We will answer your question as quickly as possible!

#kirikami.bang.faq #kirikami.bang #faq #mini bang #fanevent

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electronicdelusionstarlight · 5 years ago

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Alright, I’ve gotten back into writing Spider-Man.

I’m scrapping the Wonder Woman x Spider-Man open relationship with Mary Jane X Felicia Open relationship that ultimately culminates into a 4 people polycule where Peter gets pegged, and go for something a bit more simple. So, I’m sorry for the, like, 20 kudos I received on Ao3 over that, and 31 favorites on HF, but that’s abandoned at the moment.

So, new idea...

Amazing Spinnerete, an AU where MJ gets bitten by the spider instead.

(Spider-Woman and Jackpot were already taken and Spider-Girl didn’t sound right to her, as if it was too early for that).

1) Peter, who doesn’t get any powers ever for the entirety of my story (unlike I was planning to do for Mary Jane in the previous one as I piled power after power on her among star sapphire rings, spirits of vengeance, symbiontes, Gamma Radiations and Thor’s hammer), turns into a Sidekick/IT Guy role to her.

2) He’s there to fulfill a purely supporting role to MJ Heroics, craft the webs, be a support to her, all that shebang you’d expect, while getting worried sick over her going out in New York and risking her life daily among villains and criminals and whatnot. He’s the “Nerd behind the computer,” a concept that got admittedly popularized by Oracle, as well as her “field medic” when she gets back home and needs stitching on both the costume and her scars.

3) Also uncle Ben is alive and on a ongoing trip with Aunt Anna and Aunt May around the world. They solve crimes, off screen, like 3 Jessica Fletchers, so Peter isn’t as fucked up emotionally as in canon.

4) I’m gona take from the MC2 and say that, unlike Peter, MJ is actually trying to profit off her image from the start. This might cause some conflicts with Peter over him not wanting them to lucrate on some of their crime fighting (Such as not wanting to patent the web fluid in fear of criminals getting a hold of it), and mixes up with their already canon conflict over her being the main breadwinner in the couple AND the possibility of her doing progressively more risque work.

5) Specifically, I’m gona say it: Spinnerete and Mary Jane have two separate OnlyFans. It’s a modernized story and they are in their mid twenties and need a stable source of income and what better than a horde of people out there paying the same woman TWICE for pics of her buying wonderbread? “Pictures of Spinneret” therefore become a way different phrase, and there is a debate in universe over a superheroine essentially being a sex worker, and all that that entails. I don’t know how well I’m going to explore it tho so this might get dropped after a while and just make her a ASMRtist or a Twitch Streamer, basically the same thing at this point.

6) Since this is a AU I can do like Spider-Gwen did and not just fuck up one piece of the main universe but make every aspect of the universe different, so, bullet list of things I’ve been coming up with that are different from main continuity:

6A) The Hero to Heroine ratio (as well as Villain to Villainess) is 1 hero every 10 heroines. Major (Male, Homo Sapiens) heroes in the setting are: Johnny Storm (Johnny Storm), Thor (Thor Odinson), Power Man (Luke Cage), Iron Man (Rhodey Rhodes), Original Captain America (Steve Rogers).

6B) The mutant community is a massive polycule of free love and shit. The biggest mutant community in the world is stationed in the Free Republic of Genosha, currently part of a worldwide international federation of small nations around the globe born to contrast Soviet and American influences during the cold war called IFMP (International Federation of Micro-Powers). Latveria and Wakanda are part of it, and are the leaders of the two major factions among the delegates in the form of the isolationists (Wakanda) and the Expansionists (Latveria). The second biggest mutant community in the world is in San Diego. most male superheroes and some of their villains happen to be mutants.

6C) Susan Storm lead a year long deep space expedition team financed by the united states government, and managed to contact several alien races in her travels, returning to earth with diplomatic ties and Power Cosmic given to her by Infinity herself as a sign of good will after she and the united armies of space finally managed to slay and destroy “The eldritch abomination at the edge of reality that makes people racist by existing,” as it was called. This starts a age of cooperation between the various alien races and empires out there in the cosmos and Earth, their embassies being built in most of the major nations of the world, trade and science deals cropping up as a result.

6D) Susan Storm later formed the (apolitical, above nations and planets) superhero team the Fantastic Five, which changed members over the years based on relationship with other alien planets and tensions between the members of the team. Current line up consists in Susan Storm (Susan Storm, former Ms. Fantastic), super partes leader due to the Power Cosmic, alongside Lyja the Lazerfist (Second Ms. Fantastic and Former Skrull chaos agent on earth during the Skrull-Kree Cold War), Crystalia Amaquelin (Crystal, Inhuman Ambassador), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters, earth representative and legal expert), Thundra (Thundra, Femizonian Ambassador). The Kree empire was disbanded after the end of the Kree-Skrull cold war.

6E) Johnny Storm never became the second human torch but ends up becoming Evil Jesus. During his trip to the stars with his sister he accidentally ends up in the Negative Zone, the void between dimensions, and befriends the locals, becoming a jesus like figure and ending up ruling the place. It’s not as banged up as it sounds but with prolonged commuting with the Negative Zone he has achieved a state of resonance with Oblivion, one of the other 4 great entities of the universe, and has become his champion. (in direct contrast with his sister’s coming from Infinity). He still uses his powers for good, if in a chaotic good way compared to his sister lawful good one.

6F) Peggy Carter was subjected to the Super Soldier program during WWII, thus becoming Agent England, de facto leader of the Invaders (Mostly same team, Sub-Mariner, First Human Torch, etc.), and guiding the assault against nazi germany and hydra. She and her sidekick end up frozen on the same plane

6G) Steve Rogers was still picked under her wing, if not able to receive super soldier treatment, and still became the (original) Captain America, a purely propagandist figure of a scrawny, physically weak son of immigrants Brooklyn dude, the complete opposite of the German Ubermech ideal for the white man, but with enough anger and outrage over an unjust world to pick fights with people 5 times his size, shown in many a propaganda video punching Hitler square in the jaw and knocking him out cold. They both ended up on that plane crashing in the arctic and were defrosted several years later.

6H) With the disappearance of Agent England, the Invaders disbanding, and the cold war underway, with no superhero team really cropping up, Doctor Deidre Wentworth managed to develop a modified version of the Super Soldier Serum, testing it on herself, and becoming the Superior Captain America. She forms the (US Exclusive, extremely political) “Americommandos” superteam, with selected superheroines and “reformed” supervillaines of the time. The team was responsible for many controversial superhero activities during the cold war, in and out of the united states, and is still going to this day, even if some members have retires or have outright died. Not Superior Cap tho, no, her aging has been slowed down due to the serum, so here she is still guiding black ops teams to capture and imprison some worker rights activists that happen to be mutants.

6I) The Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension happens to be Doctor Doom, Ruler of Latveria.

6L) Norman Osborn never became the Green Goblin. He was still a scummy CEO and millionaire, and still had a affair with one of his son’s best friends. Gwen was dating Peter at the time and ended up getting pregnant with Norman, he finds out, pressures her to get an abortion, almost terrorizes her, she doesn’t cave, Peter is understandably confused and shocked but still wants to support her (as does Mary Jane), but on the day of Gwen’s son’s and daughter’s birth Norman pulls the same shit he pulled in canon with Mary Jane and Mayday, hires an assassin to force a miscarriage, Gwen finds out a couple months later, stages her death, and becomes the Ghost-Goblin, ending up throwing Norman off the New York bridge and killing him in the process for good. His estate and company was inherited by his son, Henry, who devolved most of it to charity, destroying the Osborn business empire.

7) That’s the gist of it really, gona elaborate on more tomorrow.

EDIT: 8) Nightcrawler is the Pope.

#spider-man #mary jane watson #spinnerete #eh #long post

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comicsnsuch · 5 years ago

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Wildstorm Halloween Trilogy of Terror! (1997)

This review is going to be about the Wildstorm Halloween Trilogy of Terror published in 1997 by Image Comics, and just read moments ago by me, in March 2020.

I picked this one up after finding a Sleeper Season One TPB (by Brubaker and Phillips) in my collection and reminiscing about how good Wildstorm was at one point. So I went online, looked up some Wildstorm comics, opened a tab with this one and thought to myself “I’ve been known to enjoy Gen 13 from time to time and this cover looks cool, let’s roll the dice!”

Spoiler Alert! Nothing as cool as the scene depicted on the cover happens in the book, and the Lovecraftian monster lurking behind our heroes never appears.

In case you never knew or forgot, Wildstorm was the branch of Image Comics that Jim Lee was in charge of and responsible for all the titles he created and oversaw like WildC.A.Ts (later just Wildcats), Gen 13, Stormwatch (later the Authority) and Deathblow. Also Wetworks apparently, which was created by Whilce Portacio, another of the original Image Comics founders.

This special has three different stories by three different creative teams. Each story shares a common thread, the villain of each story is a man called Crandall or Camatoz, a “bat god zombie abomination”, that Crandall resurrects in the first story.

The the “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz, in case you were wondering

The first story of the trilogy contained in this issue stars Team 7, an elite military strikeforce whose members go on to be major players in the Wildstorm universe including Michael Cray (Deathblow), Cole Cash (Grifter), John Lynch (Gen 13), Alex Fairchild (father of Gen 13’s Caitlin Fairchild), Jackson Dane (Wetworks) etc. This story takes place in the past and sees Team 7 covertly travelling into Mexico to put down a rebel uprising calling itself the Nueva Mayapan. Crandall is working with this group but only to further his own goal, resurrecting the “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz. Which he does, but is swiftly defeated by Team 7.

This story was written by Christopher Golden with art by Ed Benes. The story felt a bit disjointed due to the narration, dialogue and art not quite syncing up.

For example Team 7 defeats the “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz using explosives to cause a cave in burying the “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz, but we never see the explosives planted! The dialogue is on par with a cheesy action movie and the narration is too weighty and self serious causing issues with the tone of the story.

Look at how well drawn that bandoleer of bullets is! Go Benes go!

Like a lot of Image Comics from this era there's no shortage of cool pictures, but they often come at the cost of the story and the more meat and potatoes panels telling important beats of the story.

The middle story in the trilogy stars Gen 13 and takes place in the present, of 1997.

For what it’s worth this is the only story that takes place on Halloween, 1997.

The Gen 13 kids dress up and take part in Halloween festivities while the other stories simply contain horror elements, like vampires and the undead. So those bring the “Terror” element from the title, while this one brings the “Halloween”.

Not to worry, this one also has the “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz, everyone’s favorite new character from this issue, for a few panels.

Plus Grunge transmutes himself into blood, so there’s that.

Here’s that

This story opens on John Lynch and Alex Fairchild, both formerly of Team 7 and making appearances in the previous story, scaring some trick or treaters visiting the Gen 13 house. It also provides my favorite panel from this entry:

Kudos Mr. Odagawa!

The Gen 13 kids have received an invite to a nightclub for a Halloween party. Bobby (Burnout) is nice enough to let us know the regulars of this club file their teeth into fangs. I’m sure this outing is going to go fine.

Turns out I was wrong, Caitlin (Fairchild) and Bobby are kidnapped by the club owners and are going to be used as a sacrifice to summon the “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz! Crandall is nowhere to be found in this installment. Using their powers (and teamwork) the other members of Gen 13 are able to rescue Fairchild and Burnout. After the kids return home Lynch and Fairchild, Sr, find are shocked to find a flyer for the evening’s festivities that basically spells out the whole event was to try to resurrect “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz.

This story flows nicely from the first, letting us know the horror of the “bat god zombie abomination”, Camatoz, is still a problem for the Wildstorm U, but in hindsight other than having Gen 13 in the issue to boost sales, this story adds nothing to the trilogy of terror. Which as you know, years later got me to pick up this issue. Good job Wildstorm marketing team!

Ryan Odagawa handles the art for this chapter and draws it in a J. Scott Campbell light manner. Writer Peter Gutierrez does a good job of aping the style and tone of the regular Gen 13 series, lots of slang that someone probably used on MTV once and a loose Scooby Doo-ish plot that shows off the Gen 13 kids doing trendy things and being moody.

Not bad, but not an essential entry in this trilogy of terror.

The final entry stars Wetworks and is written by Tom Sniegoski and Chris Warner and it’s the best one of the three. It feels like a direct sequel to the first story, with similar elements, making the second entry feel disposable.

This story also takes place in the present of 1997, abandoning the advancement of time element that happened between the last two stories. So no cool Wildstorm of the future story here, unfortunately.

We find the Wetworks team travelling to the arctic to stop Crandall, the dude working with the Nueva Mayapan in the first story, now working with the Vampire Nation (something I imagine readers would be more familiar with if they were reading the Wetworks title at the time) to prevent him from destroying a virus that can kill the undead.

There’s a quick flashback in the opening panels of this story of an ancient viking warrior perishing in battle. This is important because when Dane, from Team 7 again in the first story, fights Crandall he gets knocked into a cave or something and finds this warrior’s axe. The spirit of the warrior possesses Dane and causes his golden symbiote to grow a beard and don a viking helmet.

Does it get any better than this? Don’t let me know if does!

Wetworks takes care of the Vampire Nation and Dane defeats Crandall. No idea what happens to the virus they came to protect or the bat god zombie abomination, Camatoz that was part of the connective tissue for the first two stories because it’s not even mentioned here.

Chris Warner’s artwork was a pleasure to read and his storytelling was the best out of the three artists working on this issue. Yes, some of the dialogue was cheesy action movie, but the fact that the art was so on point helped to elevate this entry above the rest. And to the credit of Tom Sniegoski, he keeps the cool coming giving Warner no shortage of cool stuff to draw and moves the plot along briskly.

So we’ve reached the end. What’s the verdict? “You sure wrote a lot about a twenty plus year old comic.” Well, besides that. Should you seek out your own copy of this book? No, probably not. If you’ve got some money to spare and want to read something that will leave no impact on you, you could do worse. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, 1 being the worst, this is 4.5.

Until next time!

#imagecomics #jimlee #wildCATS #90s nostalgia #wetworks #comics #comicbooks #review #gen13 #halloween #comicart #xmen #batman #comicsnsuch

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wpwhiteboard · 2 years ago

Text

WordPress 6.1 “Misha” has landed: Fluid Typography, Major Performance Improvements, An All New Default Theme, and More!

WordPress 6.1 — the final installment of WordPress is here (for this year folks, relax!). Great features, massive updates (believe me, they are!), and the much-awaited Twenty-Twenty-Three theme (Yes, this version is shipped with a default theme)!

Say hello to WordPress 6.1, “Misha” 👋. Inspired from the life and works of Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist Mikhail “Misha” Alperin. Misha played a key role in introducing jazz globally, especially in USSR. He is also celebrated as a founding member of the Moscow Art Trio.

WordPress 6.1 is a part of phase 2 of the Gutenberg project which introduces a lot of improvements to full site editing, block editor, and block-based patterns.

“Misha” takes refinement of site-building and the overall WordPress experience to a higher note. Find enhancements that make website creation intuitive while enabling you to push your creative boundaries. While you’re at it, here are some of Misha’s jazz piano as you learn about all WordPress 6.1 has to offer!

Index

Twenty-twenty Three Theme

Performance Improvements

Block Editor Improvements

Editor Screen Enhancements

Customization Enhancements

Conclusion

New Default Theme: Twenty Twenty-Three

Following in with the WordPress tradition, the last release of the year comes with a brand new default theme. This version is also keeping the tradition alive with the theme: Twenty Twenty-Three (TT3). Looks like the future is here early, with massive features, and functionality.

The theme features a minimalist style, with 10 variations (Creativity unleashed 🚀). Don’t worry, the theme is a block theme with full-site editing capabilities. Get your inner designer out and pick a variation of your choice. About adding more design, the limit is you!

Being a content guy myself, I always think about fonts, readability, letter spacing, etc. If you too have those lingering thoughts, well, the TT3 theme also houses 4 fonts that are used in different styles. Hey, you can choose them when crafting your posts and pages!

All in all, the TT3 theme has everything you need to build the website you want, with no restrictions or limitations. It’s an open playing field and the only thing that can stop the possibilities is – You!

Performance Improvements

There are major performance improvements packed with WordPress 6.1. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting and major ones.

Fluid Typography

WordPress 6.1 comes with fluid typography support via the theme.json file. This feature takes responsiveness to the next level, allowing text to automatically adjust its size based on the user’s viewport.

This feature now comes built-in with this WordPress version update. You can change the fluid typography settings in the theme.json file.

WP_Query Performance

A great improvement to the WordPress experience is a change in how database queries are handled in WP_Query. The concerned ticket on WordPress.org was opened 6 years ago and was finally closed after inclusion in the WordPress 6.1 release.

Improvements to WP_Query performance in 6.1

In a nutshell, this change results in caching of database queries, so if the same database query is run more than once, the result(s) will be loaded from cache. It is worth noting that by default, all calls to WP_Query will be cached going forward.

Kudos to the team of WordPress and contributors who worked on this major improvement. In the latest tweet by a core contributor:

In WordPress 6.1, there is a massive improvement to database performance. Database queries in WP_Query are now cached. A ticket I have been working on for 5+ years was merged.

This should result in billions of less repeated database queries.

Improvement to REST API

When a webpage is requested, many different requests for various components of the page are made. The improvements in REST API not only streamline the process but also reduces the number of database queries.

Thus, what we get as end-user and visitors is an optimized website experience, that is fast and optimized for maximum performance.

WordPress explains:

When running profiling tools against the responses of REST API requests, it was discovered that post controllers request a lot of linked data to each post. For example, when returning a post in a REST API response, linked data such as author (user), featured image, and parent post were all requested. As these linked items were not primed in caches, it could mean that for each post in the REST API response there would be 3 separate database queries: one for the user, one for the featured image, and another for the parent post. In WordPress 6.1 all the caches are primed in a single database query

Improvements to Cache API

There are many improvements in the Cache API. One of them is called “Check cache key types” which addresses a problem created by plugins.

This fix enables developers to notice a failure that resulted in a weird website behavior or complete failure.

The developer notes on this fix state:

This commit introduces a quick type check on the given cache keys and adds a _doing_it_wrong() message that should help plugin developers to notice these issues quicker.

The second improvement is called, Remove @access private from cache priming functions.

This fix provides theme and plugin developers to access and use certain functions that result in fewer database queries, resulting in an increased website speed performance.

Media Handling Improvement

This improvement boosts how images are shelved to keep them from slowing webpage requests and display. Thus, again adding to website optimization and performance.

What team Wp.org says about this:

Recently I have been playing around with another special attribute to the img tag which is basically decoding=”async”. After implementing async decoding to the images in a page, the page load became, even more, faster and images are decoded asynchronously by the browser, loading the contents almost instantly and also reducing page render time. This is a huge performance booster to any webpages which has a lot of images (so basically most sites).

Improved PHP performance for Core Blocks Registration

Improvement in ‘block registration’. This improvement enables a much better identification and handling of blocks.

Thoughts from team WP.org:

…reduce filesystem reads and processing of block.json files, which should benefit all WordPress sites and improve performance…

New Site Health Checks

WordPress 6.1 comes with two new site health checks. Well, this is not a major performance improvement, but it does help developers to identify the scope for improving their website performance with the use of a Persistent Object Cache and/or a Full Page Cache.

Persistent Object Cache

The Persistent Object Cache holds a cache of frequently requested webpage parts. This reduces server load and speeds up the display of a webpage.

Cron API

It is more of a bug fix, but also an improvement to wp-cron.php, which is a task scheduler for things like backups, scheduled posts, or updates. This update will speed up the performance, making it compatible (again) with LiteSpeed Web Server plus LSAPI. Find the technical details here.

Block Editor Improvements

Well, of course, there are tons of improvements to our beloved block editor. Well, most people like to call it Gutenberg (PS. it’s the project name of Block Editor). Gutenberg updates were released one after another, starting from version 13.1 to 14.1. Read more about the latest release Gutenberg version 14.4.

There were a lot of conversations, rumors, and cues laid out around the block editor, its scope, use, flexibility, etc. If you felt the same, well the major focus during these Gutenberg releases was to bring a consistent experience and design flexibility for different blocks.

Well, this is just the start. Let’s look at some of the most awesome changes!

Dimensions Controls in Blocks

WordPress 6.1 comes with dimension controls for many more blocks like List, Columns, Paragraph, Table, and more.

This will allow you to set padding and margin to these blocks. A refined and greater control of the minute design and layout elements, here we come!

Visualize the changes and have the design you want!

Enhanced Border Options

WordPress 6.1 comes with more border control options. Take the creativity in you to the next level with the options to adjust the top, right, bottom, and left borders separately.

Also, border options extend to the Image block. Earlier, you could only select border-radius, but now, you can add actual borders.

Featured Image and Cover Block

Well, it’s no hidden fact, there are always discussions around Featured Images and Cover Block, their difference, etc. Many users wanted to use the Cover block as the Featured Image.

WordPress 6.1 gives you the power to choose a Featured image for a Cover Block. You just need to set the Featured image and it will start appearing inside the Cover block. Also, this allows you to showcase the Featured image anywhere on your page.

Note: Hey, this option should be used correctly. Else, your featured image will appear twice on the screen.

Quote and List Blocks with Inner Blocks

Now, move an item up or down in a bullet list. WordPress 6.1 introduces inner blocks that give items in a list, a block of their own. Cool, right?

Also, the Quote block gets style updates, all thanks to inner blocks. Now, style quote and cite blocks separately.

Editor Screen Enhancements

WordPress 6.1 also brings many changes to the Editor screen. A more immersive and intuitive experience awaits you! Following are some of those enhancements:

The preview Button is View Button

The Preview button is renamed, taking the name View. Also, the View button now includes a link to view your website!

Information Panel Improved

The information panel is a great improvement for all the content creators. Now get word count, characters, blocks, time to read, etc.!

The WordPress Logo Replaced!

You can see your website’s icon on the top left corner of the screen of your WordPress dashboard. It will be used as the View posts button, make sure you’ve set your site icon!

New Preferences Options

We have two new preference options to choose from:

‘Always open list view’ allows you to display a list view when editing posts.

‘Show button text labels’ allows you to show text instead of icons on buttons.

Customization Enhancements

There are many customization options to your website building journey. Let’s look what WordPress 6.1 has in store for us:

Create More Templates in Site Editor

In classic WordPress themes, you could create templates using template hierarchy and extend your WordPress theme. With WordPress 6.1, you can now achieve the same with the block editor. The best thing, you can do this without writing any code.

The following templates will unlock with WordPress 6.1. Hey, these are all available, irrespective of the block theme you’re using:

Single page

Single post

Individual term in a taxonomy

Individual category

Custom template (can be used for any post or page)

Go to Appearance » Editor and select templates from the left sidebar. Click on the Add New button to see the available options.

To apply a template to an individual item, you can choose a template, and a popup will appear. Here you can select the item where you want the new template to be used.

Let’s say you pick the Category template, a popup will appear. Select it to apply your new template for all categories or a specific category. It’s as intuitive as that!

Quickly Search and Use Template Parts

Searching for template parts becomes swift and easy with WordPress 6.1. For instance, if your theme has multiple header template parts, then you can quickly find and apply one of them.

Click on the template part options and select Replace. This allows you to choose from a wide variety of available template parts, all yours to use.

Improved Template Options

The template creation process is now easier. A new template will automatically add relevant patterns, saving you time and effort. You can also add a new template to specific item(s). For example, adding an author template, you can apply it for all authors or just one, the choice is yours!

Two new template options are here: page and single item: post. If these options are not enough, you can always create custom templates for any page or post!

Block Spacing Presets

Currently, block spacing tools require users to specify the spacing pixels. While this offers accurate customization options, it has some limitations when using the same spacing on multiple blocks.

WordPress 6.1 comes with seven spacing presets to choose from to speed up the process. This will help you remember the preset applied and apply it to the blocks you wish to customize, If you prefer using the old way, you can switch to that with a click of a button!

Improved Block Locking

WordPress 6.0 introduced a block-locking feature, enabling you to customize your site’s safely. By locking important blocks, users won’t be able to move or change the design of these blocks.

WordPress 6.1 takes this feature to the next level by applying block locking to inner blocks inside a group block. So now, all you need to do is get everything under a Group block and apply block locking to avoid manual locking of each block!

Find Block Themes Faster

The Themes Directory now hosts a filter for block themes, Now, search for block themes faster, with a pattern preview to give you a better view of how the theme might look like.

Keep Site Editor Settings

Site Editor settings are now persistent for each user. All your settings will remain consistent across browsers and devices. Amazing, right?

A Streamlined Style System

The CSS rules for margin, padding, typography, colors, and borders within the styles engine are now all in one place, reducing time spent on layout-specific tasks and helping to generate semantic class names.

Content-only Editing Support for Container Blocks

Now, different people can work on WordPress at the same time, focusing on their respective tasks. All praises to content-only editing settings, allowing layouts to be locked within container blocks. In a content-only block, its children are invisible to the List View and entirely un-editable.

So, developers control the layout while writers can focus on the content. Combine it with block-locking options for complete control over blocks!

Conclusion

Overall, WordPress 6.1 beta contains more than 350 enhancements and 350 bug fixes for the block editor, this also includes 250+ tickets for the core.

Performance improvements for websites with a large number of custom taxonomies (like tags and categories), reduced database queries in multi-site environments, etc. There are also many other cache-related improvements that speed up the delivery of webpages.

Hey, there’s no denying that most WordPress users spend the maximum of their time creating posts and pages. Well, yes the performance improvements in WordPress 6.1 are massive, the features and customization additions are at par, making WordPress 6.1 a complete package for all your website building and editing needs!

A big shout out to team WordPress for making this possible. Thanks to all contributors for making this amazing feat happen!

Signing off for now, subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates, slingshot to your inbox. Take Care!

#WordPress

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firebreathingkoifish · 3 years ago

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For the character breakdown game, @find-me-under-the-midnight-sun recommended Momo Yaoyorozu from My Hero Academia! Again, please feel free to judge my responses and add to it! I had to review to get a refresh on the character but I hope I’ve done her justice! Thank you again! 😁

This is kind of an overall review so I will be skipping around a little.

One of the first things we learn about Momo as a character is that she got into UA through recommendations. And later on, it is easy to see why. She is dedicated to her studies, smart, and optimistic. She immediately comes across as a leader (at least to me). In multiple episodes, Momo provides constructive criticism and encouraging words to her classmates and, as time goes on, it seems the majority of them have a strong respect for her (except maybe for Bakugo, but honestly, he has respect for no one but All Might).

Momo is later shown to be the wealthy daughter of a famous hero family. This is evident in her quirk use and training as well; she seems to go into UA with an understanding of her quirk and clearly favors a bo staff. In addition, she placed first in the quirk apprehension test. While this may be because she MIGHT have relatives who have gone through UA (not confirmed but with family members in the hero business, it is possible), it’s easy to believe she may have gotten some prior training, lessons, and/or advice on how to best use her quirk.

Likely one of her best skills is her ability to read people. In the quirk apprehension test, she recognized that Aizawa was lying about expelling whoever came in last place (and since he had expelled a whole class before, that was a legitimate concern). She also used her observation in the episode where she was teamed with Todoroki against Aizawa in the practical exam: in the short time they had been fighting, she picked up on the decreased time Aizawa could use his quirk and the increased break between use intervals (made even more impressive by the fact that she hadn’t even been at the top of her game that episode; she figured it out while wrestling with her self doubt. Kudos to her!).

(Yes, I am dedicating several paragraphs to S2E35 - Yaoyorozu Rising, thanks :D). That’s the episode where we see a good deal of Momo’s character.

After several downs throughout the year - not being chosen for class president and primarily her more recent defeat in the sports festival against Tokoyami - she has lost a good deal of the confidence she had going into the first season and a half. And it SHOWS. Todoroki said he had an idea for how to evade Aizawa during the match and, just before the starting bell interrupted, Momo looked like she was thinking about intervening with a plan of her own. As she looks up to him - a point that she voices later in the ep - she let the lost chance go and followed his lead, agreeing to be the coal mine canary by making small objects until her quirk stopped working. One small thing I would like to point out here is that later on, we see her throw the flashbang-equipped Russian dolls at Aizawa. Unless she alters the dolls off screen, there’s nothing to prove that the flashbangs were a last minute decision. This could just be a logical failsafe (against someone who needs to see to use his quirk, why not add that extra protection?), OR she could have been integrating bits of her original plan into Todoroki’s. Either way, that strategic point came in handy!

I love her interactions with Todoroki in this episode. I think she could relate to him and Iida on some level; all three are from families in the hero business and have to live in that shadow. If nothing else, I’m sure there is some self-imposed pressure to live up to her family legacy.

Perhaps a little mild atelophobia (fear of imperfection/not being good enough)? Not entirely sure, just a headcanon of mine. :)

Back to the episode! Momo took into consideration the arena as well. While Todoroki was more inclined to fight head-on (a reckless maneuver to begin with against an opponent who can cancel your powers with a stare), Momo’s plan involved using wit and close range diversions and attacks to keep the collateral damage in the residential stage to a minimum. Even though she missed the catapult trigger, the complexity of her plan and the perceived threat of ambush from Todoroki was enough to throw Aizawa off her trail.

Sorry again that this is a little messy! 😅

#bnha #character ask game #my hero acedamia #oh shit i think i forgot to post this one sorry!

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fy-kpopfanfiction · 7 years ago

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Five Years - UBomb

Requested by: One of my Instagram followers has been requesting tons of Block B for ages. Finally got around to it. If you have any requests, send me a message or an ask! Anons welcome! Only M/M pairings, but I’ll write just about anyone! :)

Pairing: U-Kwon/B-Bomb (Block B), Taeil/P.O (Block B)

Summary: High school AU! An angsty fic with a happy ending where former best friends Yukwon and Minhyuk are reunited at a kissing booth. Angst and fluff ensues!

Warning: None, really. There’s some swearing. Some sexual scenes, but no actual sex.

Word Count: 11,529

Rating: T (Cussing, “steamy” making out)

AO3 Link (Please head over and leave kudos and comments!)

You can also read under the cut, but leave me some kudos and comment anyway! :)

In Minhyuk’s hometown, there were several big events throughout the year, but the biggest was the annual week-long fair with a huge carnival filled with rides, games, and delectable fair food along with cook-offs, live music, and a small menagerie of animals for the little ones to ride or pet and feed.

Minhyuk had attended every annual fair since he was a toddler. His mother and father were co-chairs of the planning committee. When he was old enough, he began to volunteer – starting with brushing the animals and feeding them which he had loved to cleaning up after them (not so much love there) and onto more responsibilities as he grew older.

As a senior in high school, his volunteer duties involved signing up acts for the live music stage in addition to running the kissing booth for his high school. The proceeds from all the kisses would go toward new uniforms for the football team and cheerleaders. Minhyuk was mortified by the whole ordeal. He’d attempted to wiggle out of the job, but as student council president, it was his job to aid the school in any way possible.

As he fretted with his hair before leaving the house, he stared at himself in the mirror and wondered who exactly would pay to kiss him? Student council president, vice-president of the astronomy club, and an enthusiastic member of the chess club, he’d never gotten a kiss for free, let alone for a dollar or two – depending on where you wanted the kiss (cheeks or lips.) Why the captain of the football team wasn’t tasked with this job, he’d never know. The girl that would sit opposite him was vice president of student council but also a cheerleader – popular and pretty. Everyone would want to kiss her.

Minhyuk was… Maybe average? If he was lucky. And presently at war with a section of his hair that wished to stand on end rather than lay nicely with the rest of it. He rubbed a little gel into his hands and attempted to flatten the hair once more. It finally gave in and he let out a sigh as he left his room.

His house was eerily quiet as his parents had been at the fairgrounds since six that morning for set-up. It was nearly three in the afternoon, and he was just getting there. School was a month from letting out and he still had plenty of work to do. He’d convinced his parents that he couldn’t possibly devote the entire day to these volunteer activities.

When he showed up at the fairgrounds, he went directly to the volunteer station where his mother was coaching a group of volunteers that would be working with the animals. How Minhyuk wished he could go back to doing that. He’d shovel goat droppings any day over sitting at a kissing booth being humiliated for an entire evening.

“Minhyuk-ah!” His mother called, waving him over after she sent the young volunteers on their way with their “Big Kid Helpers” – the slightly humiliating term given to the teens tasked with minding the little ones in the animal pins.

Minhyuk accepted his mother’s embrace and then took a badge with his name and photo on it from her.

“Will you check in at the music stage before heading off to the kissing booth?” She grinned at him every time she mentioned the booth and, every time, he groaned internally but kept his face neutral.

“Sure, Mom. I’ll make sure things are going smoothly. Where’s Dad?”

“You know, I’m not sure. I’ve lost track of him. I hope he’s not eating another fried Oreo.” She glanced around anxiously as if his father would magically materialize in front of them.

“I’m sure he’s fine. I’m going to head out.”

“You have your cellphone, right?”

When did he ever leave home without his phone? He planned to play video games or read an eBook on his phone the entire time he was not being kissed. “Yeah, Mom. Call if you need anything.”

“Sure, honey! You’re on the booth at four, right?”

“Around there.”

It was five, but he wanted an hour to ride some rides before the lines were too long and stuff fried Oreos in his face while his mom wasn’t looking. He’d packed a tiny toothbrush kit and minty fresh gum for after even though he was sure no one would be getting near enough to his mouth to know.

As his mother requested, he stopped by the music stage which already had five volunteers surrounding it. Still, because he was an obedient boy who respected his mother, he checked in with all of them to be sure things were running smoothly before he walked off to find the first ride he’d enjoy – the Ferris Wheel.

The Ferris Wheel had been his favorite ride since he was tall enough to ride it. His father would sit with them then and they’d wait, excitedly, hoping that they’d get stuck at the top. Well, Minhyuk would wait excitedly while his father humored him like any great dad.

“We’re gonna get stuck up there forever, Son! We’ll live on top of the world!”

That’s how it felt to Minhyuk, like being on top of the world. He could see the entire fairgrounds, of course, and off into the edge of town. His father swore he could see clear to their house if he looked hard enough. Minhyuk would lean as far forward as possible when he was young, straining to see their house, sure he’d do it one day.

He knew now that their house was much too far to see even from the top of the Ferris Wheel, but he still felt like he was sitting on top of the world.

It was too early for the majority to be riding rides. Most waited for night fall when everything was lit up and exciting. Minhyuk loved riding in the daylight when he could see everything and there were fewer people to crowd him. He was given a little seat all his own and, since the volunteer controlling the Ferris Wheel was a member of his Chess club, he knew he’d be stalled at the top of the wheel for longer than would be necessary even if there were other riders to let on and off.

Sure enough, after their second time around, the wheel stalled, Minhyuk’s seat rocking gently directly in the middle of the giant wheel. He sighed and sat back against the metal seat, staring out over the fairgrounds. He spotted his mother and father on the nearby stage where one of the cook-offs was taking place. He imagined his mother gingerly scolding his father for taking more food than was needed to sample the offerings. He smiled but averted his eyes when he heard a commotion down below on the wheel.

He leaned over the side of his seat to see an arm waving out to the side a few cars down – stalled toward the “front” of the wheel. “Come on! There’s no one here! Let’s move!”

Minhyuk recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to the boy that had once been his best friend. They’d been inseparable when they were babies, toddlers, and up until eighth grade when suddenly Yukwon became “too cool” for him. The girls had started to follow Yukwon around like he was a lost puppy that needed looking after and he didn’t seem to have time for his “nerdy” friend, Minhyuk, anymore.

Now, Yukwon had a reputation for being a “bad boy.” He drove a sports car – always too fast – wore black all the time, had a piercing in both ears and one in his nose. Minhyuk thought that one was fake, but he couldn’t be sure. Yukwon never deigned to come close enough to him to find out. He was also sure that the rumors of tattoos were fake, but again, couldn’t be sure.

A part of him hated the sight of Yukwon – his once very best friend and closest confidante – that had betrayed him, left him alone in favor of popularity and girls. He’d never forgiven him for that and, yet, he knew that if Yukwon ever came back to him, asked to be his friend again, he’d say yes without a moment’s hesitation. He missed him.

Beneath that bad boy façade, Minhyuk was sure that his Yukwon was still there. He missed him so much. Five years had passed and he still wished Yukwon were there with him. When he became obsessed with a new video game, he recalled the years of playing Mario Kart with Yukwon after school and wondered if Yukwon would like the new game.

He was sure Yukwon was too busy driving his ridiculous car or kissing some girl to play video games, but still his mind couldn’t help but wonder.

When the ride moved again, he wanted to slap Yukwon for, not only, ruining his perfect moment at the top of the Ferris Wheel with thoughts of him, but also for berating his poor Chess club friend until he started the ride going again.

Minhyuk motioned for his friend to let him off the ride when he reached the bottom. The small boy a grade lower than Minhyuk – apologized profusely, but Minhyuk kindly waved him off.

As he walked off to find a different ride, he looked back at the wheel, foolishly searching for the shape of his former best friend. Yukwon was somewhere at the top of the ride by then and he couldn’t see him. He imagined for a moment that Yukwon was looking down at him, missing him the way that Minhyuk missed him.

He turned, shaking his head at his ridiculous thoughts. He was certain that Yukwon never wasted a moment of his time on him.

His next stop was a rollercoaster, followed by the tilt-a-whirl, and finally a food stand for a fried Oreo and a corn dog. He wasn’t usually allowed to eat that sort of food. His mom was a lovable health nut. She joked around, but he and his father were given a free pass at the fair.

When he finished his snack, he walked around a while longer, used his tiny toothbrush to freshen up, and then begrudgingly walked toward the kissing booth which was at the front of the fairgrounds at the beginning of a line of carnival games. The High School wanted to catch as many people coming in as they could.

He nodded a hello to Ellie, the cheerleader and his student council vice president, when he slid into the seat beside her. “Gum?” he asked, offering her his small pack of mint gum.

She fished in a little purse she had laid on the table in front of her and revealed a pack of gum. “Already brought my own.” She smiled sheepishly. “I was afraid of how my breath would be,” she admitted.

Minhyuk nodded, popped a piece into his mouth and then shoved the pack into his pocket. They sat awkwardly silent then before Ellie instigated small talk about some end-of-the-year party that Minhyuk hadn’t been invited to. He smiled and nodded mostly, offering the occasional affirmative sound when necessary.

He was glad when their first “customers” approached the booth. One of them was Ellie’s boyfriend, Riley; the other, his little sister who paid to get a kiss on the cheek from Minhyuk.

And that set the tone for the night.

Over the next two hours, several guys from popular to relatively unknown, approached the booth and shelled out two bucks to get a little peck on the lips from Ellie while Minhyuk had the odd toddler or grade school child get a peck on the cheek or forehead because their parent wanted to donate to the school. The children were sweet and Minhyuk had always liked kids despite never having small siblings of his own. Maybe that was the reason he liked them so much. Everyone he knew with siblings didn’t like them.

When the sun went down, the fairgrounds came to life around them. The games amped up, color-changing lights highlighting their signs and the volunteers shouting out encouragements to passersby, drawing them in. From his seat, Minhyuk could see the pulsating lights on the Ferris Wheel. He wished he could be there rather than stuck at the table kissing babies like a politician. Ellie had joked that he got stuck kissing the babies because he was president of the student council. He laughed but didn’t find her joke amusing.

He didn’t find Ellie Chambers amusing, as a rule, and was glad when she announced that she needed a drink. It was closing in on eight o’clock and he wanted to go home. His mother had him slated to sit at the booth until nine. Who cares about a stupid kissing booth that late? They hadn’t seen anyone that wasn’t one of Ellie’s friends running over out of some loyalty to her or the school or whatever in over an hour.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“Water,” he said, producing a few dollars from his pocket.

“That’s okay, Mr. President,” she said, giggling. “I’ll cover it. Don’t kiss too many babies while I’m gone!”

He rolled his eyes at her back and sat back, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the status of his game. He was awaiting supplies from a neighboring village. Three real-time hours remaining. He closed it out and opened the eBook he had nearly finished it.

He hadn’t even managed to get through a page before he heard a throat clearing above him. When he looked up, he almost dropped his phone.

Yukwon stood above him, smiling (or perhaps smirking) at him. “Two bucks for a kiss on the lips, huh?”

Minhyuk nodded. He couldn’t speak. He was pretty sure those were the first words that Yukwon had said to him in five years.

Yukwon reached back to pull a black leather wallet from the back pocket of his jeans which Minhyuk noted were tight black, ripped skinny jeans. He averted his eyes when he caught himself looking at the curve of Yukwon’s backside when he turned slightly to dislodge the wallet.

He had just begun to realize that he found Yukwon to be attractive to him as more than a friend when Yukwon abandoned him. He still wondered sometimes – mostly late at night when he couldn’t sleep – if Yukwon had sensed that and it was the real reason he left him. He couldn’t imagine that to be true, but it still plagued him, as did the thought that someone might find out that he thought of any man that way.

“Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk jumped, Yukwon’s sharp voice tearing him from his thoughts. “Hmm?”

“Two bucks…” He shook two bills in Minhyuk’s face.

Minhyuk snatched them away, embarrassed and annoyed. His cheeks burned red. “Ellie will be back in a minute. She went to get a drink.”

Yukwon cocked his head to the side and a slow smirk slid onto his face. “I’ve already paid my two dollars.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell her when she gets back.”

“Maybe I don’t have time to wait for my kiss.” Yukwon’s eyes burned into his.

Minhyuk gulped and his cheeks burned hotter. He couldn’t possibly mean.

“Stand up, Min… Unless you want me to bend over for you.”

Minhyuk almost leapt out of his skin. Yukwon was the only one to ever call him Min or Min Min, for one. He hadn’t heard the little nickname in years. The flood of nostalgia it brought on could have knocked him off his feet had he been standing. Not to mention… Surely, that last statement wasn’t meant to sound as sexual as Minhyuk’s overthinking brain took it to be… Right?

“Wouldn’t…” He cleared his throat. “Wouldn’t you rather wait for Ellie?”

“If I wanted to wait for Ellie, I wouldn’t have come over when I saw her leave. Up. I’m not going to bend over for you.” He winked that time and Minhyuk nearly suffered a heart attack.

He stood on shaky legs. He fought to hide his nervousness but was absolutely certain it was on full display for Yukwon who had the nerve to chuckle at him when he bumped the side of the booth coming around to stand by him.

“I’m getting the VIP treatment, huh?”

“What?”

“Don’t you usually stay behind the booth?”

Minhyuk felt his cheeks blush again. He did stay behind the booth. Why had he come around for Yukwon? Because he wanted to be closer to him and Yukwon must know that now. “Sometimes,” he lied.

Yukwon smirked. Had he always had that smirk? It seemed like a he had a trademark on it now. Minhyuk wasn’t sure he liked it. “Alright, now… I better get my money’s worth, Min.”

He took a step closer to him and Minhyuk’s mind was at war with his body. His mind screamed, “RETREAT” while his body inched closer to Yukwon. He hadn’t been this close to him since the last time he saw him – standing on Yukwon’s front step while the latter told him he didn’t think they could hang out anymore. “We’re just different now, Min Min. You’re so…” He had shrugged casually while Minhyuk’s heart broke. “We’re just too different now.”

He’d walked home in tears, something he’d always wanted to tell Yukwon just to see if he’d apologize, if he’d feel any regret.

He couldn’t tell him now not when he was about to kiss Yukwon. Kiss Yukwon. He never thought he’d do that, though he thought about it often. He’d seen plenty of dramas where the most unlikely of couples got together in the end. He still saw his as a million in one shot. He was more likely to be struck by lightning.

“Do you always make your kiss recipients wait in such suspense?” Yukwon’s lighthearted laughter was familiar and tugged at his heart.

“Yukwon, I…”

Yukwon silenced him when he took hold of his wrist and tugged him closer to him. “You always did overthink everything,” he muttered just before his lips pressed to Minhyuk’s.

Minhyuk tried to ignore the jab and let himself process that he was kissing Yukwon! After five years, they had reunited and now they were kissing! Was this kissing booth thing just a pretense, an excuse for Yukwon to confess that he’d had some feelings for him all the time?! Had his own feelings scared him away from Minhyuk? After all these years, he might have the answers and the resolution that he had craved. He might have his Yukwon back.

He brought his hand up to rest on Yukwon’s chest, pressing just a little closer to kiss him back.

Then came a bright flash of light.

Was he actually being struck by lightning?

Then came the snickering and the hooting.

Not struck by lightning – photographed.

He pulled away from Yukwon, jerking his head to the left. Yukwon’s gaggle of new friends stood in a huddle, cackling and snapping photos of him with their phones.

“Told ya he was gay for ya, Kim!” A boy Minhyuk only vaguely recognized, shouted out to Yukwon, laughing like he’d just cracked the world’s funniest joke. “You were all into it, weren’t you, homo? You probably volunteered for this just hoping to kiss a bunch of dudes.”

The rest of the guys threw out jabs filled with homophobic slurs. Minhyuk was frozen to the spot at first but snapped out of it when Ellie returned to the booth. “What is going on?”

It was then that Minhyuk realized one of the guys in the brood was her boyfriend. He didn’t usually hang with Yukwon’s crowd, but he must have made an exception for this spectacle.

“Babe, you’ve been sharing a booth with a homo this whole time. He just attacked Yukwon.”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened. He turned to Yukwon, thinking surely he’d argue with this. Surely, he wouldn’t let them say that. Yukwon wouldn’t meet his eye. He said nothing. His face was unreadable. Minhyuk wanted to scream at him or hit him. But his body wanted to cry and run.

“I’m quitting for the night,” he said to a startled Ellie.

Tears filled his eyes as he hurried away, listening to the homophobic shouts behind him. His tears gushed harder the further he got from them. How could he have been so stupid to have trusted Yukwon again? He’d been such a fool to think that Yukwon would come back to him after all these years and not only want to be his friend but want to kiss him.

He cursed at himself as he searched the lot for his car. This would be the second time in his life that he made the journey home in tears because of Yukwon.

He sent a text to his mother when he arrived home. It wasn’t the whole truth, by a long shot, but it was close enough that he didn’t feel like he was lying to her, something he had never done.

I went home a little early. Not feeling well. Don’t worry about me! Have fun!

She replied quickly, as always: Feel better, sweetie! Your father and I will be out late. Call if you need anything. There’s ginger ale in the refrigerator if you’ve eaten too much fair food.

Despite everything, he smiled at her message. He knew she was genuinely concerned for him, but the fact that she couldn’t resist throwing in the fair food jab almost made him want to laugh. Almost.

He left his phone on the table in the foyer and went up to his room to have a long, hot shower. He wanted to wash away the shame he felt. He could still feel Yukwon’s lips on his. He’d felt like he was in heaven for those brief seconds before everything went to hell. The taunts rang out in his ears.

People always said things like, “It’s not that bad. I mean, it’s 2018. Come on. No one is that small-minded.”

Funny how they were always straight people who never had to justify their heterosexuality to anyone, never had to “come out” and say that they were attracted to the opposite sex. The idea of coming out at all felt like an offense to Minhyuk. Why should he have to make a spectacle of his choice to love a man?

He had hoped a shower would make him feel better, but his mind just ran and ran, overthinking everything. He left the shower feeling angrier than when he went in.

He’d just put on his pajamas and decided to stuff himself with junk food from the stash he kept hidden and watch Netflix as a second shot at calming his anger when he heard a loud knock at the door.

He glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It wasn’t quite nine, but he still wondered who could possibly be at the door. If his mother had come to check on him, she’d have used her key. His father, maybe. He’d be more apt to leave his keys behind. But the house key and the key to his car – that he’d definitely need to get home – were on the same ring.

He slipped into a pair of house slippers and made his way cautiously to the front door. Knowing his luck, it would be a serial killer. Humiliated and murdered all in one night. Sounded like his luck.

Another knock came – louder and more insistent.

Did serial killers knock? They made phone calls, he knew that from his horror movie viewing history. But he didn’t think they knocked at the door…

When he looked through the peephole, his hands clenched into fists. A serial killer would be preferable, he thought, in a fit of great maturity.

He jerked open the door and used one of his fists to punch Yukwon in the face.

The first punch he’d ever thrown in his life.

And it was terrible.

He had aimed for his nose, imagining how it would crack under his knuckles, permanently marring his beautiful, stupid face. But he’d hit him somewhere lower(?) and to the left(?), colliding awkwardly with his cheek, lip, and teeth.

Yukwon stared at him wide-eyed. “What… the hell was that? Did you just punch me?” He brought his hand up to brush at his mouth. The punch had been so weak that it didn’t really hurt, just a light sting. He was startled though. He never imagined Minhyuk would have the guts to raise a hand to him.

“Yes,” he said hesitantly because, honestly, what the hell was that? He really needed to work on punching things. He considered trying again, but demanded instead, “What are you doing here, Yukwon? Are your friends out there to take pictures of me again? Just… get off my doorstep.” He slammed the door in his face.

Get off my doorstep? What am I – a ninety-year-old man yelling at a door-to-door salesman?

How did he get so pathetic?

“Minhyuk! Open the door! There’s no one here, but me! I want to talk to you!”

Minhyuk wanted to swear at him, but he didn’t really swear. It just wasn’t his thing. Instead he threw out a bunch of intelligent insults, using words that he was certain Yukwon wouldn’t even know.

Silence.

And then, “Did you just swear at me in Middle English?”

“Early modern English, actually,” he answered though he was unsure why he bothered.

He thought he heard Yukwon snort. “You’re such a dork. Can you please open the door?”

He felt anger rising in him again, his heart pounding. How dare Yukwon even come here after what he did? He jerked the door open again and raised his fist to hit Yukwon a second time.

“Don’t!” Yukwon jumped backward. “Come on, don’t. You can’t even throw a punch, Min. Just… don’t. Can we just talk?”

“Why would I want to talk to you, Yukwon?! You dump me because I’m not cool enough for you and then five years later, you finally talk to me, kiss me, and humiliate me. Why would you do that? Did you need to do that? It’s been five years and I’ve never done anything to you. I’ve never even spoken to you. You had to come up and get your friends to take photos of me kissing you and call me all of those awful names? I’m sure they’re putting those photos all over Twitter and Snapchat and they’ll probably print them and hang them up at school.”

Yukwon was shaking his head before Minhyuk even finished his sentence. “They won’t do that. I made them delete the photos. I didn’t know they were going to do that, alright?”

“Liar. I don’t believe a word you say, Yukwon. I don’t trust you!”

“I know you don’t and I know that I haven’t given you a reason to. What I did to you when we were younger was stupid and mean. I was stupid and mean.”

“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.” Minhyuk was really showing his maturity tonight.

“Look, Min, I need you to believe that I didn’t know they were going to do that. I didn’t think they were even around. I left them at the Tilt-a-Whirl and came to find you. I got lucky when I saw Ellie getting up to leave.”

“You expect me to believe you? You expect me to believe that you didn’t have her boyfriend call her away or something, so you could come and humiliate me.”

“She didn’t even show up until after they were there, and she looked confused, Minhyuk. How does your theory even work?”

Minhyuk hadn’t thought about it before he blurted out the words. They made zero sense. Her boyfriend wasn’t even a regular in Yukwon’s crowd.

“I don’t even know why Riley was hanging out with us tonight. Steve, I think.” He rolled his eyes.” Look, Min… I’m sorry, okay? I never meant for that to happen, honestly. I just…”

“Just, what? How am I supposed to believe that you just wanted to come over to, what? Talk to me? Kiss me? That’s the most ridiculous load of crap. You wanted to pay to kiss me at the kissing booth?”

“So, what if I freaking did, Minhyuk? Would that be so horrible?” He stamped his foot on the porch. “Can I come in? It’s getting chilly out here.”

The April air had turned colder the longer the sun was down and Yukwon wore nothing, but a thin t-shirt and his skinny jeans with large rips. Minhyuk noticed how his muscular thighs showed through the rips.

“Whatever, fine.” Minhyuk walked away from the door leaving Yukwon to enter and close the door behind him.

He walked to the opposite side of the room and stood broodily in the doorway that led off to the kitchen. His mind was spinning with ‘So what if I freaking did, Minhyuk?’ He didn’t want to believe a word he said. The more distance he put between them, the easier it would be to do that.

Yukwon seemed to forget why he had come as soon as the door was shut behind him and there was no longer a real barrier between them. He ran his hands through his hair which he’d bleached blond during Christmas break. It was fading, his black roots growing larger with each day. Minhyuk thought it looked sexy, but he’d sooner tear every hair from Yukwon’s head than tell him that.

“Min, look…”

“Please stop calling me that,” Minhyuk snapped.

Yukwon looked at him, bewildered. “What?”

“Stop calling me ‘Min.’ We’re not friends anymore. You can call me Minhyuk or nothing at all.”

Yukwon stared at him for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve said that quite a few times now. I still don’t believe it, so you can save your breath.” Minhyuk’s voice was even belying the anxiety coursing through his body. His heart hammered against his rib cage and he felt slightly lightheaded. He never thought he’d be able to muster the courage to stand up to Yukwon. He was terrified, but he wouldn’t back down. Not after this humiliation.

“Minhyuk, shit, please!” Yukwon stomped his foot again, like a petulant child. Minhyuk recalled that he’d never been good at not getting his way.

“How dare you say that to me, Yukwon?! You ended our forever friendship over some jerks that you thought were cool and some stupid girls who thought you were hot! You dumped me at the start of eighth grade when everything was changing and scary. You just abandoned me to go be cool with some freaking jerks! And now you expect me to just hang on your every word and forgive you everything, believe the disgusting lies that come out of your mouth! I don’t believe for one minute that you didn’t set me up tonight, that you didn’t get your jerk friends to take pictures of me, so you could – at best – laugh at how much of a stupid ‘homo’ I am and – at worst – spread them everywhere to ruin my life! What is wrong with you? You used to be so… different. Better. You used to seem like an actual human being. You’re disgusting to me now.”

“Do you feel better now, Minhyuk? Huh? Does it feel better to say that to me? How long have you wanted to say that to me?”

Yukwon expected Minhyuk to shout back at him, but the latter just sighed and shook his head. “No, Yukwon, it doesn’t make me feel better to say that to you. It would make me feel better if I didn’t have to say that to you. You think I want to hate you? You think I want to think that you’re a disgusting thing that somehow took over my best friend? I don’t. I want to go back to seventh grade when everything was right and you still cared about me.”

“I didn’t stop caring, okay? It just…”

“Don’t tell me a bunch of bull… crap, Yukwon! I don’t want to hear it!”

“It’s not bull crap, if you just let me finish!”

“Hurry up, so you can go. I don’t want to look at you.”

Yukwon jerked like he’d been slapped. He deserved that, but it was hard to hear. “I deserve that. Just… I was stupid, okay? I ran away from you, because shit got weird.”

“Screw you. You left me, because I was a nerd and you wanted cool friends.”

“Screw you, Minhyuk! You don’t know what I wanted!”

“You told me! You said we’re just too different and you shut the door in my face and I walked all the way home in tears, Yukwon!”

“Yeah, I said we were different! I never said you weren’t cool enough! You made that leap on your own.”

“Oh, well how we were so different then? Any differences we had didn’t seem to bother you before that!”

“We were different in that I was growing up, becoming a teen, I guess. My hormones were going mad and I couldn’t stand to be around you. You were always so calm and cool and you just read books and played video games like when we were kids.”

“Oh, and that’s so wrong, is it? You know there’s nothing different from what you said and I what I thought. You were growing up and becoming so cool and I was still just some loser kid. Right?”

“Wrong.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“I know, but I’m telling you the truth! And maybe you’d believe if you just shut the hell up for a second and let me actually tell you all of the truth instead of just pieces of it for you to freak out over.”

“Well, I told you to hurry up!”

Yukwon crossed the room until he had closed half of the distance between him and Minhyuk. “It will go a lot faster if you stop interrupting!”

Minhyuk sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Get it over with then. I won’t interrupt.”

Yukwon walked a little further until he was in front of the bookshelf where Minhyuk’s mother kept her collection of classics amongst several family photos and cute trinkets. He stared at photos of young Minhyuk, recalling the days they spent together as kids. He had spent years feeling like a complete idiot, but it was worse now. He was overwhelmed with regret. “I remember this year,” he said, pointing at a photo of Minhyuk, age seven, with a fat orange cat on his lap. The photo was taken a week before the cat ran away. Yukwon was allowed to stay the night with Minhyuk on a school night that night to comfort him.

Minhyuk gritted his teeth. He didn’t understand what this had to do with Yukwon’s big truth, but he didn’t dare interrupt when he swore that he wouldn’t.

“Carrot was such a good cat. I still miss her sometimes.”

Minhyuk wanted to punch him in the throat. “Tell your truth or get out.”

Yukwon hung his head. “Sorry… Eighth grade was a weird year for me. Like I said, I was changing and you were staying the same which wasn’t a bad thing. I wanted to stay the same too. I wanted everything to stay the same, for us to be friends forever and just play video games, go swimming in the lake during the summer, stay up all night on weekends talking about silly stuff and making jokes. But I started to feel weird when I was around you. I started to feel like my older cousin always said he felt about the girl who lived next door. They were friends with they were little kids and then one day, the realized that they wanted to kiss each other. I found myself wanting to kiss you and hold your hand in more than just way that you held it as we ran around. I didn’t know what to do with those feelings. I didn’t know anyone that felt that way. My parents don’t support the lifestyle. I had no idea what to do and I was sure that you wouldn’t want anything to do with me if you found out. You wanted a friend to play games with, not some freak that wanted to kiss you. I thought I was doing us both a favor by leaving. I realize now that I was stupid, that I should have trusted you enough to talk to you. But I was terrified. I wanted to dump you before you had the chance to dump me after probably humiliating me.”

Minhyuk’s heart felt like it was in a clamp. He wanted so badly to believe him. What if he was lying? He couldn’t take the humiliation and pain of believing another lie.

“I know how stupid I was, Minhyuk, and I’m so sorry. You have to believe me when I tell you that I’ve never regretted anything more than I regret what I did to you.”

“Okay… I have to believe you, but you don’t really give me any good reasons to. How am I supposed to believe that you were so filled with regret when you had five years to tell me that and you didn’t. Five years, Yukwon. Why would you wait this long?”

“Well, I knew that you hated me, and I didn’t know how to talk to you at all, let alone try to apologize.”

“If you had come to me the day after, I would have forgiven you everything!”

“I couldn’t! I was ashamed of the way I felt. I thought I was a disgusting piece of shit that ruined our friendship with my gross feelings. I couldn’t come to you then and the more time passed, the more impossible it seemed.”

“So, what changed? Why bother now?” Minhyuk felt fear twisting in his stomach. Had Yukwon somehow discovered his sexuality? He had gone to great lengths to hide the fact that he was attracted to men. He never dated men, but his being a nerd covered that. No girl wanted to date him anyway.

“I’m tired, Minhyuk. I’m tired of being so fake all the time. I’m sick of pretending to be this cool badass idiot that doesn’t care a damn for anything. I’m tired of spending time with people that believe I’m really that person. I’m tired of this damn thing.” He reached up and pulled the fake nose ring out, dropping into the little waste bin by the wall.

Minhyuk gasped quietly. I knew it, he thought but said instead, “I don’t think I can believe you.”

“It’s all true, Minhyuk. Also… The biggest reason that I had to make some kind of move now… We only have a month left before we graduate. You’re so smart, always have been. I knew that you’d probably go to some huge university far from here and… And I might never see you again. I had to say something before we went our separate ways and never saw each other again.”

“So, you wanted to accomplish what, exactly, by telling me all this.”

“I want us to be friends again. I… I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever done to you. I’m so sorry for the way that I made you feel. I never stopped loving you, Minhyuk. I still consider you the best and only real friend I ever had. Do you hate me?”

Minhyuk withered when Yukwon met his eyes. His mind didn’t want to believe him, but his heart was giving in. It wanted to believe every word, believe that Yukwon would never hurt him again. He stepped closer to him. He wanted to hug him, to feel Yukwon’s arms around him. He wanted to beg him to kiss him, deeper than at the kissing booth, deeper than he’d even let himself imagine countless times.

“I love you.” The words rushed out of him. He’d intended to say, “I don’t hate you.”

Yukwon bit his lip when it started to quiver. He wasn’t about to have an emotional breakdown in front of Minhyuk. “Do you want to be my friend again? Two months and we’ll be away from high school. All that shit can be behind us. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make up for being such an asshole to you, I swear it, Minhyuk.”

“Kiss me.” A rush of words again, seemingly flowing against his will.

Yukwon started, shaking his head a little, and pulling his head back. “What?”

“I want you to kiss me again.” Minhyuk’s entire body trembled with anxiety as he stumbled toward Yukwon. “I want you to kiss me right now, not like the kissing booth. Kiss me like you mean it.”

Yukwon’s eyes went comically wide. “You – you want that?” he sputtered. “You actually want me to kiss you?”

A moment later, Minhyuk was so close to him that Yukwon could feel his warm breath on his face. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since we snuck that dirty movie your cousin had and watched it together.”

The look on Yukwon’s face might have made Minhyuk laugh if he wasn’t so focused on kissing him. “You, wait…” Yukwon pushed him back a little, breaking the tension between them slightly. “Wait, you mean that you wanted to kiss me back then, too? You’re actually… gay?”

Minhyuk’s entire face, neck, and ears tinted pink. “Yes… I thought… You knew. Your friends called me a homo.”

Yukwon rolled his eyes. “Those assholes call each other ‘homo’ for spending too much time with their girlfriends instead of doing ‘manly’ things like racing cars and being massive tools.”

“You know that you’re one of the biggest tools at our school, right?”

Yukwon looked away, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt. “Not really. I just fake all that crap, so they won’t find out that I’m really a… homo, or whatever.”

Minhyuk let out a loud sigh. He felt like the world was spinning. So many feelings coursed through him. He still desperately wanted Yukwon to kiss the hell out of him, but he also, sort of, still wanted to punch him. But, also, was his real Yukwon really back? Or was this another set-up? Was there a camera somewhere to catch him in an even more vulnerable state? Why was he thinking of being in such a state with Yukwon right now?

“You’re not messing with me, right? You’re not going to pull out some camera that’s been recording all of this? You’re not going to tell me that I’m some pathetic homo that’s been pining for you all these years, right?”

“I don’t have anything, Min… Hyuk. I don’t have a camera and there’s no one waiting to jump out. I swear to you. You can search every inch of me.

Yukwon grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and started to lift it.

Minhyuk wildly grabbed for his hand. “Don’t!”

“You want to make sure I don’t have a camera, right? You don’t trust me and for good reason. I’m a piece of shit! I’ll show you!” Yukwon stepped backward and pulled his shirt over his head. “Nothing!”

Minhyuk stared at his exposed torso. He couldn’t help it. He had never seen Yukwon this way before. When they were thirteen, Yukwon’ had looked nothing like this. He’d been scrawny and pale. Eighteen-year-old Yukwon was tanned – bronze and glowing – his torso all planes of lean muscle, a slightly defined six-pack. Minhyuk gulped as he took in the V of muscle disappearing into the waistband of his skinny jeans.

Yukwon turned “Nothing on the back either.”

“Wait…” Minhyuk had noticed something as Yukwon spun, a flash of color on his lower side.

“What? Did you see the wire? Oh, no. Min, come on. I don’t have a camera, I swear. I’m so sorry, but…”

“You really have a tattoo?”

“Huh?” Yukwon jumped and spun around again, scrambling to put his shirt back on. “No.”

“Liar! I saw it! There’s something on your side! I thought that was just a lie! Some crap to feed your bad boy image.”

Yukwon snorted as he tugged his t-shirt back down. “Well, it would hardly work for that.”

“I thought you didn’t have one. You lie like it’s your job.”

That stung, but Yukwon tried not to show it.

Minhyuk apologized quickly. “Sorry… I shouldn’t have said that. It was mean. I just need some time to forgive you, I guess. Can I see your tattoo?”

“No.”

“Why? Come on. I’ve never known anyone in real life with a tattoo.”

Yukwon snorted again. “You should see Taeil now.”

Taeil was Yukwon’s older cousin – three years older than them. He’d always been nice to Yukwon and Minhyuk, though, treated them like equals and friends. He’d bring them candy and always rented movies or video games for them. He’d been a little steamed when he discovered Yukwon had swiped his filthy movie, but even then he’d been cool about it. Minhyuk would never have imagined him as the type to have a tattoo, though. He was small for his age, had glasses too big for his face, and had been more interested in science and math than something like a tattoo.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s covered in tattoos.” Yukwon laughed and pulled his phone from his back pocket. He swiped through his photos until he found one from the previous summer when he and Taeil had gone to the lake for a week together. They spent nearly every waking hour swimming. “Take a look.”

Minhyuk took his phone and his jaw dropped. The guy in the photo was obviously Taeil – still short and still wearing huge glasses too big for his face, but they suited him now. He had shocking blond hair, cut close to his scalp. His skin was absolutely covered in tattoos. Arms, legs, neck, chest, hands. “He has tattoos everywhere!”

Yukwon laughed heartily. “I know, right? He went to university, quit after a semester, and became a tattoo artist. He did some of them himself, but most of them were done by his boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Minhyuk’s eyes shot up from the phone to Yukwon.

Yukwon walked to him and swiped over on the phone. There was another photo of Taeil at the lake, but there was a massive, tall guy behind him. He had a huge grin on his face as he leaned over to wrap his long arms around Taeil’s neck. “He’s tall.”

Yukwon laughed again. “Yeah, he really is. He’s a good guy, though. He and Taeil have been together for about three years, I think. They met in that one semester Taeil did.”

“Wow. I didn’t know Taeil was… Well, is he gay?”

“He’s gay.” Yukwon took his phone with Minhyuk offered it to him. “He told me that he thought he was bi when we were younger, but then he realized that he really just liked guys.”

“Does he know that you’re…?”

“He’s the only one besides you that knows. Well, Jihoon knows too.”

“Who’s Jihoon?”

“His tall boyfriend.”

“Oh, right.” Minhyuk looked away for a moment. “So… You’ve never had a boyfriend?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Who am I gonna date around here? If there are any gay guys at our school, they’re certainly not advertising it. I went to a party at Jihoon’s university last year and made out with a kid that was there touring the campus, but that’s about it.”

Minhyuk had never even kissed anyone, aside from Yukwon at the kissing booth, and Yukwon was off going to college parties making out with random guys. No wonder Yukwon had thought they were so different back when he dumped him.

“You disapprove?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re scowling at me like you think I’m gross for making out with some guy at a party.”

“Oh, no, sorry. I was just thinking how you were right to say we were different back then. I understand why you wouldn’t want a friend like me. You’re the type that gets tattoos and goes to college parties to make out with random guys while I like to stay at home with a video game and a book and have never even kissed anyone aside from you at a kissing booth.”

Yukwon was filled with a weird feeling of relief. For some reason, he liked knowing that he’d been Minhyuk’s first kiss. “You’re wrong. I’m sorry that I made you feel that way. It wasn’t like that, Min. Sorry, Minhyuk.”

He shook his head. “You can call me Min, I guess.”

A small smile flashed across Yukwon’s face quickly before he returned to a serious look. “I was afraid of my own feelings, Min. Honestly, that’s it. I was afraid of the want that I had to kiss you all the time. I thought it was my only option and I couldn’t go back. I’m not lying when I tell you that. I told you that earlier and I meant it.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket and walked toward Minhyuk. “I will do anything to make it up to you, okay? I’ll do anything I can to get you to trust me again. I just want you back. I miss you.”

Minhyuk stared at him and then at the floor. “I miss you too,” he admitted finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve been missing you for years.” He looked up again. “It was so hard to see you all this time, wanting to be your friend, thinking about what it might be like to kiss you, all while hating you so much for what you put me through. Hating you but not really hating you at all. I… have thought about this so many time. By this, I mean, you coming back and being my Yukwon again, the Yukwon I remember and not the jerk with the nose ring.”

Yukwon laughed. “It was fake… It’s in the trash.”

“Excuse me… The jerk with the tattoo that he won’t let me see.”

“If I let you see, will it earn me some points toward trusting me again?”

“Half a point.”

“Can I have a full point if I tell you what the tattoo means?”

“Maybe if it’s a good story.”

“Come on, Min. I’ve never told anyone what it means, not even Jihoon when he did it.”

“Jihoon did it? Not Taeil?”

“Taeil refused to do it. He didn’t want me to hate him if he messed it up.” Yukwon started to take his shirt off again.

“I’m pretty sure that I can see it if you keep your shirt on.”

“Oh… Right.” Yukwon blushed a little and held his shirt up. “It’s really low on my side. You won’t be able to see the bottom of it unless I pull my pants down a little bit. I’m assuming you don’t want that to happen.”

Minhyuk nibbled at his lip. “I’ll see what I can see.” Minhyuk inched closer to him and leaned over to look at the tattoo. He couldn’t see it clearly, so he sank to his knees.

Yukwon stared down at him. His stomach did a little flip at seeing him like that, on his knees so close to…

“Mario and Luigi.”

Yukwon jumped at being pulled out his thoughts. “Hmm?”

“Mario and Luigi…” Minhyuk flicked his eyes up to Yukwon. “You and me?”

When the were little, Minhyuk’s mother had compared the two of them to Mario and Luigi. They were close like brothers and always going on adventures – whether real or in their favorite video game – with each other. The boys ran with that comparison. Minhyuk got to be Mario because his name started with M and he was two months older than Yukwon like Mario was older than Luigi.

“Do I still get a full point if you guess the story behind it?”

“You got a tattoo of Mario and Luigi for you and me?”

“As soon as I turned eighteen this year.”

Minhyuk brushed his fingertips over the video game characters. Yukwon wiggled and squealed. “That tickles, Min!”

Minhyuk grinned. “You’re still ticklish?”

“That doesn’t just go away.” Yukwon wiggled and hopped away when Minhyuk purposefully tickled his side.

Minhyuk giggled softly. “I want to see the rest of it.”

“What?”

“I want to see the bottom of the tattoo.”

Yukwon hesitated for a moment before he walked back over. He removed his phone and placed it on the sofa table next to him. He undid his pants and rolled down the waistband a bit, so Minhyuk could see the rest of the tattoo. There were three life hearts under each character. Mario’s hearts were all red – three full lives. Luigi’s hearts were empty.

Minhyuk flicked his eyes up at Yukwon. “Why doesn’t Luigi have any lives?”

Yukwon hitched up his pants and buttoned them back. He couldn’t look at Minhyuk when he spoke. He busied himself picking up his phone and shoving it into his pocket. “I thought I was being clever, I guess. I didn’t feel like I had a life without you, so Luigi didn’t have any.”

Minhyuk stared at Yukwon’s back from his place still on his knees. He stood up a moment later and placed a hand on his back. Yukwon spun around and wrapped his arms around his back. “I’m telling you the truth, Min. I missed you so much! Please believe me.”

His hand tightened into a first around a section of Yukwon’s shirt when Minhyuk rested his head on his shoulder. “I want to. I’m trying.”

Yukwon held him tightly. They hugged silently for several minutes before Yukwon whispered in his ear. “Do you still want me to kiss you?”

Minhyuk nodded, pulling back just enough to get his mouth in line with Yukwon’s. “I want you to kiss me.”

Yukwon pulled him close and their lips collided. Minhyuk was a surprisingly good kisser for not having ever kissed anyone. His lips were soft but insistent. His eagerness revved up Yukwon’s own and he kissed him harder, pushing him back, guiding him until his back hit the wall behind him.

Minhyuk whimpered when Yukwon pressed him against the wall. Their kiss grew sloppy and feverish, desperate. Yukwon just wanted more and more of him. He broke away from Minhyuk’s mouth finally, ignoring the whine of discontent from Minhyuk. He kissed his way to his neck where his mouth latched onto his pulse point and he kissed him there, sucking gently at his neck.

Minhyuk squirmed beneath him, mewling softly. He’d never felt anything like this before. He’d fantasized about this very thing, though. Yukwon holding him against a wall, a door, maybe, ravishing him. A heady feeling took over as he realized that his fantasy had become a reality but also wondered if he was imagining the whole thing.

He put his palms on Yukwon’s shoulders and pushed him backward.

“Sorry, sorry…” Yukwon was quick to apologize and back away even further.

Minhyuk struggled to catch his breath, to tell him it was okay. Yukwon had started to pace around the little sitting room and foyer.

“Shit. I’m sorry, Min. I didn’t… I got carried away.”

“Don’t. I didn’t… I needed a breath. I was overwhelmed.”

“I’m sorry.”

Minhyuk went to him, grabbing his face. “Is this real, Yukwon?”

“Is what real?”

“This… Everything. You being here, the kissing, the promises. Is it real?”

“Yes, I swear. I want to be here. I want us to be friends again. I want us to be more than friends. I want to kiss you. I want to… I want you.”

Minhyuk brought his face to his, smashing their mouths together for another frenzied kiss. Moments later, he was being shoved against another wall.

Eventually, they made it down the hall to Minhyuk’s room where their shirts were thrown to the floor just inside the door before Minhyuk was shoved against said door, forcing it closed.

“Shit, you’re so beautiful, Min,” Yukwon muttered as he covered every inch of Minhyuk’s chest with kisses, flicking his tongue over the most sensitive areas, raking his teeth over a nipple just to see Minhyuk’s reaction. The arch of his back, the low groan… Minhyuk knew how to put on a show and Yukwon couldn’t get enough of it. He wanted to map his entire body with his mouth. It gave him a rush knowing he was the first to see Minhyuk like this, to kiss him, to make him moan and whimper.

Minhyuk couldn’t string together a coherent thought. His mind was a hazy mess of want and need. He wanted Yukwon’s mouth all over his body. He needed his touch, craved this closeness.

When Yukwon reached the waistband of Minhyuk’s jeans, he looked up to Minhyuk for permission. He was on his knees in front of Minhyuk and the image made the latter feel weak.

“Can I go further?” Minhyuk asked. “Can I take your pants off?”

A tiny voice in the back of Minhyuk’s mind warned him that this might all go wrong. He shouldn’t go this far. His heart and his body took over. He didn’t care what consequences there might be, what might possibly go wrong. This felt so right. He nodded quickly and watched as Yukwon’s head moved forward. He pressed a gentle kiss to Minhyuk’s stomach as he popped the button on his jeans. He continued to kiss him as he unzipped the jeans and pulled them slowly, gently off his hips.

The tell-tale tent in Minhyuk’s boxers made Yukwon’s stomach flip. He wanted to touch him so badly. He could. His hands were only halfway down Minhyuk’s thighs. He could reach up and take him in his hand, caress him.

He stood and pulled Minhyuk’s pants back up to his waist, zipped them, buttoned them.

“Yukwon, what… What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

Yukwon held his face gently and pressed a kiss to his lips. “No, Min. I did something wrong.”

Minhyuk’s heart felt like it dropped to the floor. He felt the familiar squeezing ache of a panic attack in his chest. What had Yukwon done? He’d known better. He never should have… He struggled to take in a deep breath, his eyes falling closed. His therapist had taught him deep breathing as a technique to fight off his panic attacks. He struggled this time.

“Min, are you alright? Min.” Yukwon gave him a little shake.

He forced his eyes open. “Just leave,” he choked out.

Yukwon’s eyes widened. “Min, no. Why? I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to push it. I didn’t want you to think I was taking advantage of you. I did you so wrong in the past. I don’t deserve to have this with you yet. I want you, but I need to earn your forgiveness first. I need to earn you.”

“Wrong in the past…” The pain in Minhyuk’s chest lessened. He had been so afraid when Yukwon said he’d done something wrong. He feared that he was admitting to having a camera or telling his friends or something awful. He was speaking of the past, just the past. “I misunderstood.”

Yukwon kissed him gently on the cheek. “I’m so sorry. Min, you’re so beautiful and I want you to trust me and love me before we do anything like this. This will be a first for both of us and I want it to be good. I want us to be on good terms when we do it. Please trust me.”

“I try. I will try. I want to trust you. I want to believe you and love you. I want you.”

Yukwon took hold of his hand, threading their fingers together. “I just want to be back in your life. I want whatever you’ll let me have. And I don’t want to lose you when we graduate. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Minhyuk leaned forward, resting his forehead on Yukwon’s. “Don’t leave me then.”

Yukwon closed his eyes. “I won’t. I won’t leave you again.”

Two hours later, the two of them were curled up on the couch in the Lee’s family room. “Yukwon… I know that I said I didn’t want you to leave me, but I think you should probably leave. If my parents come home and find you here, it probably wouldn’t be good.”

“They hate me, don’t they?”

“You know my parents. They could never hate you. You were like a second son to them. But they just… They were hurt when you disappeared too, you know? They lost a second child when you stopped coming around, or whatever.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t want to have to explain everything to them after we’ve been making out all night. I’d rather explain to them when my head is clear and maybe after we’ve been hanging out for a while.”

“When you’re sure that I won’t go anywhere?”

“I trust you. I’m trusting you not to do that again. Not to hurt me.” Minhyuk turned to face him, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged on the couch. Yukwon mirrored him. “You understand what that means, right? I’m giving you one chance, Yukwon. If you betray me, we’re done forever. I’ll never forgive you if you hurt me again. If you betray my trust, it’s over. I’ll never speak to you again.”

“I won’t. I won’t do that to you. Let’s start out by restoring our friendship, okay? Let’s hang out again. We’ll start tomorrow at school. Okay? Everyone will see that we’re friends. I’m going to be late to school. I have a doctor appointment in the morning.”

“Are you okay?” Minhyuk interjected.

“Yeah, it’s just a therapy thing.”

‘Therapy?”

“Mental therapy. I take pills sometimes to help with stuff.” He shrugged his shoulders.

Minhyuk wound his fingers into the hair at the back of Yukwon’s head and caressed it gently. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I’m fine. I just have to go in once in a while to talk about things and see if I still need the pills or whatever. I’m okay. I’ll find you at lunch tomorrow, okay? I’ll sit with you.”

‘Seriously? What about your friends?”

“My friends? Firstly, they were never really friends to begin with and do you honestly think I would still hang out with them after what they did to you tonight? I would never, Minhyuk. I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch.” He leaned in for one last quick kiss before he stood up to leave.

Minhyuk went to school the following morning with an anxious ache in the pit of his stomach. If Yukwon didn’t show up at lunch or if he sat with the others, he would know that the previous night meant nothing. Everything Yukwon said would be a lie.

He wanted so badly to trust him, but the ache in his stomach said he wasn’t quite there.

He couldn’t focus for his first three classes. They passed in a blur.

After calculus, it was time for lunch. He dumped his books off in his locker and walked slowly to the cafeteria. He’d eaten lunch in the corner with his chess club friends every day that year. He looked around for Yukwon, wondering if they would sit at their own table now or if Yukwon would take up with his friends. He couldn’t imagine his friends would like that much. He felt sick.

He turned to rush to bathroom when Yukwon’s blond hair caught his eye. He stood by his old table, talking to one of his old friends – the same one that had been front and center snapping photographs and shouting hate at Minhyuk the night before.

His eyes filled with tears and he rushed down the hallway into the bathroom. He stayed there through the lunch hour, fighting off a panic attack. When he finally left the bathroom, he went to the school nurse and got a note to take the rest of the day off.

Yukwon blew up his phone with over ten calls and twenty texts.

When Minhyuk’s doorbell rang at half past three, he knew it would be Yukwon. He heard his mother’s curt response. “Minhyuk is sick.”

Yukwon tried to argue, but his mother was unmoving. Another call came in, followed by two texts just after he heard the door shut.

He turned his phone off and rolled over to face the wall.

“Minhyuk…” His mother poked her head into his room. “Do you want to explain to me why Yukwon Kim was just here begging to see you.”

“No.”

“It’s been years…”

“I know.”

“Did something happen with him?”

“I’m sick, Mom. I just want to rest.”

“I think you should see the doctor tomorrow.”

“Fine.”

Minhyuk saw the doctor the next morning, earning himself another two days off school and free from volunteering at the fair which was on until the following Sunday. One of the chess club members brought him his homework and he had everything finished by the time he returned to school on Thursday.

Yukwon was waiting for him at his locker when he walked into school. He turned to walk away. He could carry all the books that his friend brought to him. He’d carry them all day if it helped him avoid Yukwon.

“Minhyuk!” Yukwon ran for him when he saw him walking the other way. “Minhyuk!”

“Get off me!” Minhyuk shoved him back when he grabbed his arm.

“What?! How can you say that to me? You haven’t been at school all week and you won’t answer my calls or texts. Your mom won’t let me in. She said that you’re sick! What happened? Are you okay?”

“Like you even care. Stay away from me, Yukwon. So help me.”

“What are you talking about?! What did I do? We were fine Sunday night! We were supposed to meet each other at lunch and you never showed up.”

“I did! I showed up!” Minhyuk got in his face. “I showed up and I saw you chatting happily to that freaking jerk that called me a disgusting faggot! So, screw you. Get away from me and don’t ever talk to me again.”

“Minhyuk, no! I wasn’t talking happily to him! He called me over. I told him that I meant what I said the night before. He threated to tell everyone that I was a homo. I told him to tell everyone. I didn’t care. I told him I didn’t care who knew but I wasn’t going to stop hanging out with you. I told him that you were my best friend and nothing he said was going to change that. And then I waited around for you. I even asked your chess club friends. They didn’t tell you? I asked some other guys and Ellie. She broke up with Riley, by the way. She didn’t want to be dating someone that acted like he did. Anyway, no one knew where you were. And then I couldn’t reach you and I was scared as hell.”

“I thought…”

“I told you, Min. I told you that I’d be there. Why didn’t you come to me?”

“I… I thought you were playing me again. I thought… I had a panic attack and went home.”

“I’m so sorry.” He kissed his forehead quickly. “I’m sorry. You can trust me, I swear.”

“I’ll try.”

“I swear I’ll do everything I can to earn your trust.”

Yukwon spent every day trying to make things up to Minhyuk. He brought him little gifts. He played video games, reinventing their lost childhood. He made up with his parents – a tear-soaked event – spent nights and weekends with them.

Graduation came and went and they celebrated together. They had a post-graduation vacation together – a gift from Minhyuk’s parents. A beautiful cabin in the woods where they could camp and fish and swim.

They came out when they returned home. Yukwon earned huge points for standing bravely at Minhyuk’s side while they tearfully explained things to his parents. For their part, they were very accepting of their relationship but wanted to be sure that the physical side of their relationship didn’t go too far, too fast.

Yukwon’s fear of moving things forward physically remained until their second year of college. They went away together, lived in a small apartment together.

They made love for the first time only after Minhyuk told Yukwon that he finally fully trusted him.

Lying in bed together after their first time, Minhyuk gently traced the tattoo on Yukwon’s side. “I think you should have Jihoon change this now.”

“Hmm?”

Minhyuk leaned down and placed a kiss on Yukwon’s warm skin over the tattoo. “You should fill in the lives. It’s time, Yukwon. I’m here and I’m not leaving you.” He kissed his way up his chest and to his mouth. “You have your life back. I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

Yukwon pulled him closer, kissing him intently. “I love you.”

“I love you too, and I love the life that we’re going to have together – now and forever.”

#block b #kpop #ukwon #bbomb #lee minhyuk #kim yukwon #block b fanfiction #kpop fanfiction #fanfiction #high school au #angst #fluff #ubomb #ubomb fanfiction

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writing-yj · 7 years ago

Text

Robin/Tim Drake x Reader: Back Again

Anon: Can you do prompts 41 & 50 with Tim Drake? If you can, can you make it angst at first but then cute and romantic at the end? You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Have a nice day/night! And don’t pressure yourself too much!

41. “I often ask myself if I deserve you, and I usually feel like I don’t.”

50. “How could you do this to me?”

Word Count: 4205 (I GOT REALLY CARRIED AWAY)

Warnings: Death, blood, bit of gore, angst, kissing, same old same old

A/n: I got the idea for the plot at two in the morning. To other writers, do you guys also fly for the computer while squealing with delight or practically choking on air when you have the best strike of inspiration? Anyway, I hope you like it, anon! There are several time skips, my bad!

Being Zatanna’s protege had many, many perks. You were learning more and more every day, and getting stronger and stronger by the minute. You were remembering almost every spell you were taught, and you could navigate all of your spell books in a snap.

When you were first placed on the team, you were very unhappy. You didn’t have friends your age and you were content with that, but you still had to learn how to work without adults.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Zatanna! I don’t need to work with them!” You snapped. You glanced over to the team you were being forced to join. It was obvious they were eavesdropping, but that wasn’t your biggest concern.

Zatanna looked in the same direction and grumbled under her breath. The other group of teenagers looked away abruptly. “You need to learn how to work with other heroes, not just me. Please stop being so difficult-”

“You’re calling me difficult?! You don’t even understand what I’m feeling! When you joined that team, you were willing to do it! You practically begged your father to let you join, but I’m doing the exact opposite.” The light above you flickered. “If I’m supposed to stay here, I won’t be working with you anymore, will I? It kind of feels like you don’t want me to be your partner anymore, actually. Is that it!?” You were feeling so many emotions that it hurt.

“Now you’re just making assumptions.” Zatanna’s voice was firmer now. “Like I said, you are here to work with other heroes, make friends your age,” You knew what she was going to say next would set you off. “And it looks like you still need to work on your anger, too.”

The flickering light above you shattered, but you didn’t even flinch. “Still sounds like you don’t want to deal with me anymore. You’re no better than my parents.” With that, you stalked off to the zeta tube, and went to a secluded place of yours to calm down.

“She’ll come around, Z.” Nightwing put a hand on Zatanna’s shoulder. “I know how much she hates change, but-”

“Just make sure she doesn’t get too uncomfortable, and you better keep her safe,” Zatanna gently shrugged off his hand, and went to the zeta tube. “If she gets badly hurt, The Light will be the least of your problems.” She threatened before she left to find you.

Then, after reluctantly joining the team, you met Robin. He helped you adjust to life with the team, and easily became your first friend… and first crush. It was easy for you to hide it; you did have magic, after all. That and Batgirl helped you out when you accidentally told her.

You greatly impressed Tim (you eventually gained enough of his trust, much to Batman’s chagrin) when you beat him in sparring, without using magic. During training session, you were his go-to sparring partner, and you two eventually were able to work together so well that it was like putting two puzzle pieces together. You were almost always partnered on missions due to your impeccable teamwork, and Zatanna contacted you and praised you when she found out.

“You’re doing better than I thought you would, (Y/n)!” Zatanna hugged you. “And I’m positive that he likes you, too, (Y/n)- of course I knew, I’m not stupid -Make a move!”

“Be quiet! Someone will hear you!” You hissed.

Nightwing peeked his head around the corner and chuckled. “Too late- Stop looking at me like that; I won’t tell anyone!” Your death glare sent unpleasant chills down his spine.

You looked back at Zatanna and your expression calmed. “But really, I am so proud of you.” She hugged you again, and you didn’t think you could ever be happier.

You took your mentor’s advice to make a move, but not without extensive planning. It took you at least two days to come up with a solid plan and to prepare yourself for any form of rejection. But rejection never came. Tim blushed immediately and said yes to getting coffee faster than Bart ever could, and the rest was history.

“Are you sure you want to help with this mission?” Zatanna asked you quietly. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“It’s the least I can do.” You said softly, but you looked sad. “The team might not ever forgive me. Or you, for that matter.” When Zatanna gave you the choice to help her and Doctor Fate on a top-secret mission, that required as much magic as possible, you jumped at the chance. But there was a catch.

You had to fake your death.

Zatanna’s face fell a little. “We know that, but this mission is too important for us to ignore. Are you absolutely positive to pay that price?”

You nodded solemnly with very little hesitation, and the three of you started to work on the spell you needed to use. It was a rare spell, one that a magic user could cast only once every one hundred years. You didn’t plan on having to fake your death a second time, so you didn’t think much of using it only once in your lifetime.

Trying to hide the inevitable from your team was hard, especially from your boyfriend. Not even Nightwing knew about it. Other than Doctor Fate, Zatanna, and Rocket, no one else knew that your death wasn’t going to be real.

“How was school, love?” You walked up behind Tim and pecked his cheek.

Despite being the third Robin, he jumped at your sudden presence and romantic gesture. “I mean, it was normal, I still hate it- wait a minute, you have lipstick on, don’t you?” Tim turned his head and looked at your lips, and then put a hand on his cheek. He rubbed it for a moment, pulled his hand away, and sighed when he saw red on his fingers. “Did you, ‘forget’, again?”

“Of course I did.” You winked and giggled. You uttered a quick spell and it disappeared from his face and fingers. “I would never do it on purpose, Robin!”

Bart zoomed over and propped an elbow on Robin’s shoulder. “She definitely did it on purpose. And every time before that.” He looked smug, but Robin already caught on to your sarcasm.

You phone went off, and even though you knew what it was for, you casually pulled it out of your pocket and answered the call. “Hey Zatanna, how may I be of service?” You walked away from the two teenagers, and quietly used a spell to prevent them from hearing Zatanna’s side of the conversation.

“From what we’ve calculated, there will be a villain near the Hall of Justice in thirty minutes,” Zatanna told you gravely. “It’s time to say your goodbyes, (Y/n). But don’t give it away, be nonchalant.”

“Another villain, huh? Kudos to you on finding out in advance,” You said a little louder than usual, maintaining your cover. “I’ll be there in a bit, just let me finish up first- Of course I’m not just going to run out without saying anything, that’s rude…!” You heard Bart snort, and Robin elbowed him. “See you soon.” You hung up not long after and you walked back to your boyfriend with a false smile. You felt like doing anything but smile, but you had to.

“You need to leave.” Robin stated and he gave you a small grin. “Be careful, okay?” He said that before every mission, and it made your heart flutter each time.

“If you guys are going to kiss, I’m out!” Bart almost gagged and he ran out of the room. You laughed as he left, but you turned back to Tim just as fast.

Tim pulled you closer and put his hands on your hips. “I love you, (Y/n).” He said warmly. He didn’t know why he had a bad feeling in his stomach, but he didn’t want to take any chances. “I’m taking you out for dinner when you get back, you have no choice.”

“Is it that one restaurant we went to on my birthday?”

“Sure is, I even made reservations.” Tim beamed, and you laughed.

You put your forehead on his and whispered, “I often ask myself if I deserve you, and I usually feel like I don’t.”

In response to your statement, he gave you a passionate, breathtaking kiss that warmed your entire body. The amount of love in the kiss made you want to cry; you were going to break his heart in a few short hours.

Tim went weak in the knees when you kissed him back with two times as much love and devotion, and you clung to him like it was your last day on Earth. To them, it technically was, so your were pouring all of your emotions into the fiery lip lock.

“I’d love to make out with you,” You said flirtatiously and he turned pink. “But I’ve got to get going. Maybe when I get back, or after dinner, okay?”

“S-Sounds like a plan, pretty lady.” He called out after you, and you forced the tears to not fall. “Don’t get yourself killed, please!”

Now that pulled some major heartstrings. “I won’t!” You said quickly before your voice could crack.

As you went to the zeta tube, you waved and said a happy and heartfelt goodbye to your team, your friends, your family. You didn’t want to hurt them like this, but it had to be done.

“Really, Robin?” Blue Beetle asked and shook his head.

Robin grunted at him and he kept his eyes on the team's huge computer. "What? I don't think there's anything wrong with watching my girlfriend and her mentor kick some ass." He said as carefree as possible, but he was worried. The villain you were fighting against wasn't too difficult to defeat, but anyone could have a trick up their sleeve.

The other team members came one by one to watch the news; when you worked with Zatanna, it was always a cool battle to watch. Bart scrambled over to see and he turned up the volume for everyone to hear.

The news channel even had a news reporter at the scene, but the team was more concerned about the battle. No one expected anything to go wrong.

As onlookers stared in fear or awe, you started to cast the spell the was crucial to not die in the process of faking your death. If there were any errors, you would actually get killed. When you finished the spell, a cold feeling settled over you, and that confirmed that the spell worked. For the specific villain, you knew how to get them to murder you, so that was the plan.

"If you don't stop smiling at her like that, I'm going to be sick." Beast Boy said to Robin, cringing in the process.

Batgirl chuckled when she looked at his smile as well. "Leave him be, I think it's sweet." She was happy for Tim; she helped you two get together, after all.

You were sweating you felt sick. It was time, and it was going to be hell to hurt them. You didn't want to break their hearts, but you wanted to go through with the mission, too. So Zatanna distracted the soon-to-be murderer, and you went into the final steps of the plan.

The team was on the edge of their seats; this was usually your final and signature move and it almost always ended the fights you participated in. Tim watched you fight with adoration in his eyes, and he whispered to him, "That's my girl."

But what happened next destroyed Timothy.

You were jumping at the villain, pretending to attack him with all you had, but you purposely made your position known. He turned around rapidly, and drove his long, sharp sword straight through the middle of your chest. Your blood instantly coated the sword and spewed from your mouth. Zatanna, playing along, shrieked in despair and conjured the most powerful spell she could to 'avenge' you. The villain swung the sword sideways and sent your bleeding body flying through the windows and into the Hall of Justice. The news reporter gasped and bystanders reacted similarly.

Shrieks and cries simultaneously echoed around Mount Justice. Tim shouted and screamed and he flew away from the computer as his heart shattered. Hell, the entire team was distraught. He broke into a sprint to the zeta tube, and Nightwing was right on his heels.

By the time they got there, your killer was unconscious and apprehended and Zatanna was inside Mount Justice. The two brothers ran in with no hesitation. They didn't even try to not cry at the sight of your blood smeared on the floor from where you slid across it.

Zatanna knelt next to your body and cried, too. And the tears were real; it looked realistic, and the troubles and emotional hurt to come would be hard. She heard their running footsteps and she cried harder.

Tim wailed when he saw your body, and even more so when he glanced at your lifeless eyes. The love of his life was gone, just like that. No warning whatsoever. Not a single suspicion of something going horribly wrong. He fell to his knees next to you, and pulled your body to his chest.

He couldn’t care less about the blood that got on his costume. Tim sobbed into your hair and ignored the gaping, bloody wound on your chest that still adorned the floor with red. Even though he saw it happen on TV, you had no chance of surviving. If anything, you would have died before you hit the floor.

“(Y/n), please!” He begged for it to just be a nightmare. He prayed that the image of your death was a lie.

It wasn’t.

You sat up so fast that your head spun. You took a sudden deep breath of air as if you were almost drowning. Before you could freak out, you saw Doctor Fate standing above you with his palms facing you. The memories of the recent events came coming back, and instead of relief, you felt a sickening sense of dread.

“You scared us there, (Y/n),” Zatanna exhaled. “We thought you weren’t going to wake up.”

You blinked several times. “I thought you had enough faith in me to trust me with casting the spell properly.” You yawned and rubbed your eyes, but your heart was abruptly pierced with sadness. “How are they...?” Your voice dropped to a whisper.

Rocket briefly looked away. “They’re not handling it very well. None of them are.”

“And Robin?”

Zatanna closed her eyes and opened them a few moments later. “He’s the worst one of them all. From what Nightwing has told me, he hasn’t left his room in days.”

After hearing of all of their conditions, you wept. They were hurting so much, and you couldn’t help until the mission was over. That could take months. Maybe even a year. You didn’t know how you were going to be able to handle it, but you were going to have to whether you liked it or not.

A little more than half a year later, Tim was one of the most serious members on the team. Your death took away and sort of will to mess around and to be a teenager. It was useful for missions, if that was a bright side to it, but his personality was different. Everyone on the team became more serious, some less that others, but not as much as Tim.

Zatanna was speaking to Nightwing, and she quietly asked him, “Can you ask your team to come in here?” It was time for you to come back, and Zatanna wanted them to all be in the same place. She was there for moral support and to explain to everyone. Nightwing still had no idea, so she was going to try and contain his wrath as well.

“Why?”

“Please. Just do it.”

So he did, with plenty of confusion. None of them knew why they were summoned to the same room; they didn’t see anything special. Nothing in the room was new or cool.

Tim looked at Nightwing with a stone face. “Why are we here?”

Nightwing looked at Zatanna, and she inaudibly said into her comm, “Ok.” About ten impatient seconds later, the zeta tube whirred to life.

Recognized: (Y/n) (L/n), B27

And there you stood, wearing casual clothes with your hands shoved into your pockets and you looked up from the floor. Nothing emotionally prepared you to see their stunned faces and the tears welling in their eyes.

Nightwing’s escrima sticks clattered to the floor and Robin stumbled back a couple feet. No one could understand what was happening. Was this a test? A hallucination? This couldn’t be real, could it?

“Shape shifter!” Blue Beetle cried out and wasted no time in shooting his plasma cannon in your direction. You were supposed to be dead; this was impossible!

You let out a small huff as you put quickly put your hands out in front of you, wordlessly summoning a small force field that absorbed his attack. You clapped your hands together, and the force field disappeared with a small gust of wind. “Are you trying to kill me a second time?”

Batgirl was the first to collide into you with a big hug. If this was just a dream, she was going to make the most of it. Your ‘death’ hit her hard. When she wrapped her arms around you, she shuddered; you felt so real, so alive. (Y/n) (L/n) was truly back.

It became a large group hug, with happy tears and a few angry demands for an explanation, and you gave them a mini version, but Tim hung back. He was still in a state of shock. He didn’t know what to say to you; he was overjoyed and it took a lot for him to not run up and kiss you in front of anyone, but he was also furious. Tim was enraged that you tricked him and everyone else into thinking that you were killed. You were in for it.

It was a very long reunion, and it came with a long lecture from the Justice League members you didn’t know about the plan. Zatanna backed you up, and it came to them understanding why it had to be done. But Tim blocked that out; he wanted to hear your explanation on why you thought not telling anyone was a good idea. Nightwing tried to console him, saying that it wasn’t your fault and that it was necessary, but he refused to listen to his older brother.

Tim waited until he got you alone. He still had yet to approach you, and when you were about to run over to him, he stopped you in your tracks. “How could you do this to me?” He asked, and when you didn’t answer, he yelled the question a second time.

You flinched at his raised voice, but you looked away. “It was for the mission. I had to-”

“But you had a choice! You could have chosen to not do it, but you did!” He curled his hands into fists and his knuckles went white. “Do you not know what you put us through, how you made us feel? How you made me feel!?”

You gritted your teeth. “I already told the others; I did it because-”

“How am I not supposed to think that you were lying to them, too? You had no problem making everyone believe you were dead!” Tim couldn’t control the words coming out of his mouth.

“I wasn’t lying!” You growled. “The mission called for some of the most powerful magic users and I am one of them!”

He still wasn’t convinced. “You could have told me! You could have told Batgirl, or Nightwing!”

“No, I couldn’t have! We would have told anyone else, but we had to fake my death and keep it a secret for a reason. I’m sorry that I-”

Tim interrupted you again and it was pissing you off. “What was so important about this mission that you had to make us all cry and scream and shatter our hearts? What was so important that I had to have nightmares about seeing my girlfriend impaled and thrown in the Hall of Justice!?”

“If I hadn’t gone on this mission to- if you fucking interrupt me again, I’m going to lose it!” You snapped and Tim closed his mouth. “If I didn’t go on that mission, there would be chaos on Earth. It would become a war that we wouldn’t win, not by a long shot. I’d rather have you see me die than for you to have a slow, painful death at the hands of our enemies.” You exhaled and looked down at the floor. “I love you, Timothy. I wanted to tell you so bad, it hurt. And I didn’t want to be left with the thought that there would be worldwide bloodshed if I chose to not help. I’m sorry.”

Tim was silent, and you heard his footsteps echo around the room. You thought he was leaving, and you didn’t blame him, but when his arms wrapped around you, you let out the sob you had been holding in since the day you left. You instantly leaned into his embrace and dampened his shoulder with your tears.

He stroked your hair and cried, too. Tim pulled your warm body as close as he could and never wanted to let you go. Not again. Your body was warm and living against him, not cold, dead, and bloody. Tim was never going to let that happen again.

You glanced up at him for barely a second before kissing him, just like you wanted to for the past six months. He lightly gasped, but pressed his lips against yours almost immediately. You ran your fingers through his dark locks, and he wiped away a stray tear from your cheek. Tim’s anger turned to sadness, and then to the burning love he always held for you. You groaned when he slid his hands down your waist and gently felt your delicious curves.

“You’re going to have to- face Batman for this- He won’t be happy-” Tim said between hot kisses. Your back touched the wall and his lips hovered over your reddened ones. “He doesn’t like being kept in the dark about these things.”

“I thought he’s always in the dark,” You chuckled and your lips barely brushed against his. “And you know how many secrets he’s kept from everyone, let him have a taste of his own medicine.” You lightly kissed his jaw once, twice, thrice, and so on. You almost laughed when he shivered.

Tim reluctantly pulled away from you when you started to kiss his neck. “W-we need to take this somewhere else, we can’t go any further here.” He blushed a bright red and he felt like his face was burning.

“You do still need to take me out for dinner,” You giggled at his expression. “If that is an option?”

“I can’t say I have reservations anymore... For obvious reasons.”

You winced, but he didn’t notice. “We don’t need reservations, dummy. They shouldn’t be busy this time of day anyway.” You reached out and took his hand in yours.

“Yeah, th-that’s true...” He stuttered and his eyes shot down to look at your hand tangled with his own.

Tim lightly jumped when you snorted. “I swear, you’re more embarrassed when we hold hands than when me make out. It’s usually the other way around.” You giggled, and he gave you a soft push.

After dinner, you found yourself laying next to Tim in the grass, looking up at the stars. He asked questions about what you did on the mission, and you asked about what the team did when you were gone. When he barely hinted at how horrible and upset they all felt, you started to cry again.

Guilt still had a firm grip on your heart and, overtime, Tim helped you get rid of it. Eventually, everyone understood why you, Rocket, Zatanna, and Doctor Fate did what had to be done for the mission, and the negative feelings slowly dissolved.

You were back in Tim’s arms for good, and he couldn’t be happier. You could finally love him again with nothing holding you back.

And that’s all you ever wanted.

This ending is certainly not the best, but I hope y’all liked this!!!

Pssst.... @draketimbers , I have some Tim for you

#angst #tim drake x reader #tim drake imagine #tim drake #timmy timbers #robin #robin imagine #robin x reader #young justice season 2 #young justice #young justice imagine #young justice x reader #300 followers special #prompt #prompts

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