#THEY BOTH ARE MORALLY GREY and kind of sucks sometimes

[kimsmingyu]

the way so many queen of tears watchers are pretending the first episode didn't exist just to be anti hyun woo is insane 😭 the way both hae in and hyun woo are basically morally grey characters but only hae in is seen as a saint?? 😭

[f1byjessie]

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS ━━ LN4.

sometimes the right words are hard to come across, and sometimes everything you need to say can be captured in an image.

( lando norris x photographer!reader )

━━ part twelve.

The first coherent thing you say the morning after, as you tug your sweatshirt back over your head and resolutely ignore the sculpted planes of Lando’s abdomen while he lounges in bed and watches you, is: “This can never happen again.”

He makes an inquisitive sound. “Can this maybe wait until I’m actually awake?”

You look over your shoulder just in time to catch him yawning into his elbow, and for half a second find the drowsiness to be endearing━ the way his knuckles rub languidly at his half-lidded eyes, his scratchy morning voice, and the wild case of bedhead that’s got his curls sticking up in every direction. It’s only when your gaze finds and latches onto the dark bruise sucked onto his collarbone that you remember you can’t be entertaining this anymore than you already have, adorable sleepy morning habits be damned.

“Lando.”

At his name, he opens his eyes again and meets your stare.

“This━” you gesture between yourself and him, “━can never happen again.”

You do feel sympathetic for trying to have what’s intended to be a serious conversation so early in the morning, especially when he’d really only been woken up by you practically throwing yourself out of bed, but the gravity of the situation had slammed into you the moment you’d opened your eyes to see his peacefully slumbering face across from yours.

There isn’t actually a clause in your contract that forbids you from entering a romantic relationship with anyone else on the team━ technically, there aren’t any mentions at all about anti-fraternization rules━ but just the thought of how badly this could fuck things up for the both of you has you preemptively planning to take an ibuprofen or two the minute you make it back to your own hotel room in preparation for the nasty headache you’re sure to get.

Firable offenses aside, McLaren could just as easily cite some other reason to decide not to renew your contract at the end of the year if they deem the “partnership” between you and Lando to be too detrimental to his performance ability. You might be a good photographer, but Lando’s a great driver and he’s certainly more valuable to the team than you are. He’s a one of a kind, and you’re one of plenty in a market saturated with young talents desperate for a chance to make it big.

On top of that, you’re not even sure how ethical it is to sleep with your coworker, all things considered. It’s your job to follow him around every week and take pictures that you plaster all over social media. You’ve already gotten a glimpse of how difficult things can be in the midst of an argument, but if things turn serious━ assuming, of course, that Lando is after something serious and that this isn’t just a bit of fun meant to keep him entertained with the added convenience that you’ll be traveling with him for the foreseeable future━ what sort of added ramifications would an argument have then? You’re not sure the professionalism the two of you have managed the last few weeks prior to making up would be able to survive a messy breakup.

“You’re spiralling,” he comments, sliding out from beneath the covers of the bed. He’s very nonchalant about his nakedness.

You avert your eyes.

“So maybe it’s morally grey territory,” he continues, leisurely collecting his clothes from where they wound up strewn across the floor after being discarded amidst the night’s activities. “But we’re both consenting adults━” he tugs his sweatpants back on, “━and so long as we both stay consenting adults I don’t see what the problem is. I don’t really have any plans to be magically turned into a baby anytime soon. Unless you did?” 

You stare at him incredulously, ignoring the fact that he’s still shirtless and now that he’s standing and facing you it gives a clear view of all the hickeys painted across his skin. Hickeys that you left there, and that you can remember leaving there despite attempting to shove the memories down and forget them.

He stares right back.

“In case you suddenly forgot, I’m supposed to be in a committed and exclusive relationship with someone else,” you hiss.

“Yeah, but it’s not real. You aren’t actually dating him,” he answers back with a shrug. “It’s a PR stunt, you said.”

You don’t actually care about Garrett Ward or the fake claim of faithfulness between the two of you. If there weren’t guaranteed to be nasty consequences for you, you’d let the staged relationship crash and burn in a blaze of vengeful glory. But that’s exactly what’s stopping you━ the consequences. It isn’t just your reputation on the line like it would be if you were some no-name fan who somehow managed to score lucky. If you go down, your career goes with you and that also means waving goodbye to Lando and Formula One as a whole.

Even if you managed a miracle and didn’t lose your job, the media would not look favorably upon you. At best, there would be a smattering of fans from people like Jack and Lando speaking up on your behalf who would defend you for a month or two, maybe a media outlet with a more present stance on women in sports would try to lessen the blow if the right people said the right thing. But the reality is that you could sit down and regale the whole story about Garrett’s blackmail━ starting from the very first call asking you to dinner and detailing the proof of his threats and manipulation━ and there would still be people out there painting you as the villain in his story.

You’d be designated another “bitch” who ruined the career of a perfectly good athlete, and they’d speculate into your motives, into why you chose to tear him down. It would discredit the actual wrongness of Garrett’s own actions and instead pin the blame on you and your jealousy. Or, whatever else they’d attribute it to.

So no, you don’t care about Garrett Ward or his rotten excuse for a heart. His feelings can go fuck themselves for all you care. But even still…

“The public doesn’t know that, Lando,” you start to explain. “I can’t be seen with you because, fake or not, do you know how horribly it would end for me if I were painted as some adulterous slut? They already tore me to pieces just because I was with him in the first place, can you imagine how bad it would be if it got out that I’d supposedly cheated on him? Do you know how much meaner these people would get if they somehow believed they’d been proven right about me? That the things they were saying were right all along?”

He’s silent now.

“There’s a reason I haven’t tried to get myself out of this situation already,” you continue, beginning to pace the length of the hotel room. “Like I told you yesterday, even if he makes his claims and I manage to prove him wrong, the damage to my reputation would ruin me. I’m lucky that I had McLaren to come back to and that’s what made it easier to push back on his demands, but can you imagine if I didn’t have anything lined up after that City gig? I would’ve been even more desperate to get any sort of work and Garrett absolutely would’ve capitalized on that. And I can’t keep banking on the fact that McLaren will save the day because what if one day they don’t?”

Lando crosses the distance between you and rests his hands on your shoulders, bringing your harried pacing to a stop. He looks like he’s about to give you a pep talk, and the absurdity of the thought is almost enough to make you forget about the seriousness of this entire situation and laugh. Almost. You are, unfortunately, still painfully aware of the line you’re now walking and how terrifyingly thin it is.

“McLaren would never get rid of you, so you don’t have to worry about that,” he says after a moment.

“You don’t know that,” you tell him, shaking your head and pulling free from his grasp to resume your nervous treading in another section of the room. “You can’t know that. Honestly, the backlash this could have would probably be enough to get McLaren to fire me on the spot. If not immediately, then there’d at least be enough harassment from Garrett’s fans for them to eventually decide letting me go would be the best course of action for the sake of their own reputation.”

He crosses the distance between you again, and this time pulls you into his arms entirely. He’s still warm from being beneath the covers and you soak up the comfort as much as he’s allowing you to, burying your face into the crook of his neck and reciprocating his hug by wrapping your own arms around him and grabbing at the back of his shirt.

“Obviously, this is something you’ve thought about a lot,” he starts, running his fingers up and down your back soothingly. “And it clearly stresses you out. But I really like you, Y/N. Honestly, it’s embarrassing. I’ve fancied you since I met you. You walked in and it was like one of those dumb romcoms you’ve made me watch. I just… I just knew. And I wanted you to like me, too.”

You hum in acknowledgement and sag deeper into him, clutching tighter at his shirt. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because you hated me,” he answers simply with a tiny shrug. “Or, at least, I thought you did. And then you didn’t, but we were still so new to being friends that I didn’t want to do anything to fuck it up. I got so anxious thinking about what would happen if we broke up. It would ruin the friendship, but it would also potentially ruin your career if we couldn’t both do our job and I didn’t want to fuck that up for you. So, I was content to just have you close, honestly. That was enough.”

“Until it wasn’t?”

He sighs. You feel the rise and fall of his chest more than you actually hear it. “Garrett Ward is a raging prick and I stand by all the things I’ve said about him, but maybe some of it was influenced by me thinking he’d taken you away from me. And, when I called you that night piss drunk at Daniel’s, I was projecting the anger I felt towards myself onto the people around me. I didn’t take any risks, and because of that I was convinced that I’d lost you in every way that mattered.”

He holds you a bit tighter, “And we know how I handled that.” It’s quiet and he sounds miserable. You pull back just enough to see him looking piteously out the window, a pained look painted across his features.

You release your hold on his shirt and trail your hands across his body until you can grab his face and turn his gaze back on you.

When he’s staring into your eyes, you say, “I want this, Lando. You and me. I really do, I promise. But I can’t.”

His face falls. “If you let his influence over you control every aspect of your life, then hasn’t he already won? He’s gotten what he wanted. He doesn’t need you to be desperate for a job, because he has control over you anyway.”

If it were said in any other context or by any other person, you’d bristle at the accusation that you’re letting Garrett take whatever he wants without at least attempting to put up a fight. You’ve pushed back where you can, where it’s safest, but you have to prioritize your livelihood too and if that means asking how high when he says jump, you’ll do what you must. Not that it feels good to bend to the whims of a man who gets what he wants through fear.

“I just mean━” he hurries to correct himself, as if sensing you offense, “━you shouldn’t have to sacrifice everything that brings you joy just because you’re afraid of what he might do or how the media will perceive it due to his presence in your life. You have every reason to be hesitant to fight back against the power he holds over you, you just shouldn’t have to be.”

You pull him back in and sink into his arms again, pressing your face into his chest to hide the shine of tears in your eyes.

“I can’t promise that there won’t be backlash,” he continues. “But I can tell you that McLaren will stand behind you. I’ll make sure of it. And if they don’t, I’ll walk.” He says it likes it’s nothing━ like he isn’t saying he’ll give up everything he’s worked for just for you. “I can get you a really nice lawyer, too. If you’d want one. Or, you know, if you’d want to come out about what all Ward’s done.”

The idea sounds impossible and yet it’s so close━ close enough that Lando is practically offering it to you on a silver platter. The idea of just coming out with it all and exposing the horrible things Garrett has done. You know on top of Lando’s support, Jack and the other Manchester City boys would side with you, too, and the other members of the team behind the scenes who you worked closely with throughout your time at Etihad Campus. It’s a lot of people, and by proxy you’d probably have a large amount of their fanbase as well.

It seems too good to be true.

But Lando’s offering you the chance to make it a reality.

“I’m supposed to still be mad at you right now,” you mumble into his shirt.

He huffs out a laugh, “Being mad at someone and being in love with them aren’t mutually exclusive feelings.”

“Who said anything about being in love with you?” You tease, though you’re practically melted into his arms.

“I mean,” he starts, and just from the sound of his voice you can tell he’s about to say something stupid and cheeky and it’ll make you want to slap him upside the head. “The way you treated me last night kind of implies that you at least like me pretty seriously.”

You groan in feigned annoyance, pulling away from him just in time to catch the dazzling grin splitting his face. It’s a beautiful sight that you don’t think you’ll ever get tired of no matter how many times you see it. You recall the caption of a post made what feels like ages ago, but the words ring just as true now as they did then, and you stand by them. A smiley Lando is the best Lando.

“If we’re really doing this,” you start, somberly after another moment, “we have to be careful. Like, really careful. No PDA in public. No PDA anywhere unless we know for a fact that we’re alone and there aren’t any cameras. And no telling anyone unless we absolutely have to for health or security reasons, or something. We can’t have this blow up on us, because if they catch you you’ll be just as much of a target for the hate and I will not have you get caught in the crossfire with this, Lando.”

He finagles around a bit until your hands are held in his and he’s pressing a gentle kiss to your knuckles. “I promise,” he whispers against your skin.

It feels like the start of something perfect.

INSTAGRAM.

liked by user, user, and 561,816 others

footballfansofficial BREAKING: Manchester City Forward Garrett Ward, a victim of infidelity?! Ward and his girlfriend Y/N L/N first revealed their romance to the world on the 5th of January. Since then, they’ve regularly shared photos of one another across the social media platform Instagram, and have been sighted on dates around Manchester and London. Though the couple have not recently shared any new posts of one another, fans believed this was due to schedule differences, as nothing has been said to indicate an end to their relationship. With the Champions League back in full swing, Ward has been constricted to a busy schedule of matches in Europe, and similarly as a photographer for Formula One team McLaren, L/N has been traveling across the globe. However, she’s apparently more than just friends with McLaren driver Lando Norris! Pictures from the 24th of March at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne reveal L/N and Norris sharing an intimate moment. Check the link in our bio for the full article!

view all 19,815 comments

user oh… that’s not….

user that is NOT garrett ward for sure 🫢🫢

user honestly a cheating scandal was not on my 2024 bingo card

↳ user i mean i’m not surprised but i definitely thought of the two of them it would be ward tbh 👀

user WHAT DID WE FUCKING SAY

↳ user WE ALL SAW THIS FROM A MILE AWAY

user fucking slag 🙄

user ugh!!! us REAL garrett ward fans KNEW this would happen but everyone called us crazy!!! 😠😠 he deserves someone who ACTUALLY cares about him and we knew from the beginning that she wasn’t it!! honestly just the thought that anyone could POSSIBLY do this is SICKENING!!! garrett is such a loving person and he deserves the WORLD!! i hope he doesn’t let this stop him from finding REAL love some day!! 🥺🥺🫶🫶

↳ user ikr?!?! it’s so not fair that he’d choose her when she’d just use and abuse him when he has so many loyal fans that would treat him so much better and would actually love him and all he has to offer. she totally must’ve manipulated him or something!!

user damn… i wasn't l/n’s biggest fan in the beginning but i kinda hoped she’d prove me wrong… yet here we are…

user this is seriously so disappointing to see

user SLUT 🤬 SLUT 🤬 SLUT 🤬

user long distance is not an excuse to cheat and this is such a horrible thing to do to a partner. garrett ward has been exceptionally nice to her, and this is what she gives in return? so many ppl tried to warn him about her closeness to lando norris too. i’m disappointed but not surprised that this was the result. girls like this truly have no shame and no dignity. they don’t know loyalty at all.

↳ user we tried to warn him and this is what happens? like we tried, but you ignored us and called us crazy. make it make sense 😮‍💨

↳ user the fact that he was genuinely so sweet by taking her on dates and posting her on his socials and she turns around and stabs him in the back like this… my heart hurts for how upset he must be right now. and honestly, this lando norris guy is just as much to blame for garrett’s pain too.

↳ user i’m willing to give norris the benefit of the doubt if only because we’ve seen girls like this before who manipulate athletes into giving her what she wants and if they don’t then they move onto the next. obviously ward wasn’t going to just roll over for her every whim, so now she’s moving onto the next guy and is trying to manipulate him the same way she did ward. norris is as much of a victim as ward is.

user WHORE BEHAVIOUR I CALLED IT FROM THE GET GO GUYS

user she really said “hold my beer” and went to go prove us all right about our initial assumptions 👀👀

user knew i should’ve trusted my instincts when they told me she was bad news…

user AINT NO WAY INFAMOUS WOMANIZER GARRETT WARD, AS IN NOTORIOUS CHEATER GARRETT WARD, GOT CHEATED ON BY THE FIRST GIRL HE WAS IN A SERIOUS COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP WITH 😂

user lowkey had high hopes for them bc i gen thought ward garrett was changing his ways and was trying to settle down

↳ user me toooooooo i thought she was gonna be a good influence on him 😔

user can you blame her tho?? you try moaning “garrett” in bed and see how that goes for you

user just because they haven’t said anything about ending their relationship doesn’t mean they haven’t ended it privately! honestly who are we to judge them for not telling the public every detail about their personal lives? this was obviously not a moment intended for us to see and was meant to be shared between l/n and norris, and i honestly find this account in general to be incredibly invasive as most if not all of the photographs the articles are written about are from paparazzi and look as though they were taken without the consent or knowledge of the people in them.

↳ user THANK YOU!! 🙏 i’ve been trying to say that for so long!! speculation is so dangerous and harmful to the very real people that are involved and it can have consequences on them and their careers. these pictures do look very damning, but we’re lacking context into l/n and ward’s lives and we shouldn’t judge anyone involved in this before we have the full story. for all we know, the relationship was ended and this is l/n’s new partner, in which case we should be respectful of her choices to be with someone else and should also respect their privacy and take into consideration the fact that there was probably a reason her and ward didn’t announce a split.

↳ user the only comment of sense on this entire post. istg, some of these ppl just have too much time on their hands and spend it all worrying about the love lives of celebrities that don’t even know they exist. y/n and garrett are both adults and can make decisions for themselves without needing the support or backing of people who don’t actually know anything about them beyond the persona they put on for the public. even if she did cheat, garrett’s a big boy and can take care of himself. he doesn’t need an army of women and girls either half his age or double it coming to his defense. be so fucking for real and maybe go touch some grass while you’re at it.

━━ tags: @maih23 @urfavnoirette @leclercsluv @f1luvur @formulaal @a-disturbing-self-reflection @starlightpierre @chezmardybum @marshmummy @405rry @sideboobrry11 @d3kstar @mcmuppet @happylittlereader @casperlikej @5starl1ght @bellezaycafe @whentheautumnleavesfall @mess-is-my-aesthetic @ssprayberrythings @landosgirlxoxo @lifelessfan @81ja @wcnorris @a-disturbing-self-reflection (CLOSED).

━━ a/n: we are back in business! i am very happy with this part and how it turned out. there's a bit of a time skip between pre-season testing and the australian grand prix obviously, but all questions shall be answered in the next part! thank you for reading, and i hope you enjoyed!

[channoticedmeuwu]

TXT'S CHOI LINE AS . . . . TEENAGE BOYS IN MY CIRCLE !!

ミ♡ !! ୨🤍୧ ⁸⁹ ↻🍬

p — CHOI LINE × FEM!READER | g — crack, fluff, teenage love type romance | w — beomgyu's is a bit morally grey, mentions of harassment in beomgyu's

A/N — hehehehheehhe this was kinda self indulgent, enjoy !!!

CHOI YEONJUN

got an insane fashion sense. calls you before hang outs to confirm if his outfit is hitting or nah. always consumes social media but insists he'll never post, and if he does, it'll be deleted by the next week. started out super excited for ig but now has a black pfp with no posts. begs you to get the apps he uses, telling you it'll be, “funnn pleasee!!!” really flirty. isn't aware of how hard he's gatekeeping his looks until he gets a few compliments for being photogenic (which he's super shy about when he realizes it's not a joke !!!). has a skincare and haircare routine, well groomed and good at whatever he does.

if platonic— your hype man. begs you to send him everything you know about the person you're interested in. finesses his way into getting you an inside scoop. happens to know a lot of people and always introduces you to new people. doesn't share his food unless you beg for it, but really easily convinced because he's a people pleaser. tells you he's okay with everything but has a very visually expressive face— so you can tell what the poor boy's thinking the entire time. insists he's okay with your choices (like a place to eat or something) even if he isn't. gets upset when you post without sending him the pics beforehand.

if romantic— ghosts. no sugar coating, (accidentally) ghosts. overthinks everything, tries to make it look he's not overly interested, but accidentally ends up not speaking forever and it makes it worse. slides up on your stories instead of just liking it a lottt. compares you to attractive popular characters in cartoons & shows to boost your mood. a lot of touches !!! hand grazing, shoulder bumping, pushing, shoving, arm wrestling, YOU NAME IT !!!! got you covered on money too, running less? he's got u.

gets super quiet when overstimulated, follows you around like a silent puppy. holds your hand, super shy. you see him droop his head while he's sitting down, falling asleep, and you let him rest his head on your shoulder. gets super happy at that, cuddles up to your arm and hides his face w his hand when you ask him, “you okay?” loves it when you hold his hand. gets his heart beating all crazy but he's so tired n dizzy he doesn't say a word.

CHOI SOOBIN

a sweetie. but also super dumb. always up to no good. face timing his friends saying he'll be late to the meetup because his car fell into a ditch. kind of gullible, can't tell if you're being genuine or just joking. asks you if you, “really meant it?” and you have to assure the dumbass that you were just joking. and then, he breathes in and starts laughing so loud 😭😭

asks you if it's okay to make an inappropriate joke because he doesn't want to offend you. and you have to remind him that you've been friends forever, of course he can. and he sucks in a breath, shy and telling you it didn't matter— he needed to get confirmation. again, like yeonjun, finesses his way into doing you favors. once you couldn't sign up for an extra class on time and lost your opportunity— and he goes out of his way to talk to the professor, and doesn't back down until you're in. again, your wingman, giving you high fives everytime you tell him how you made a smooth move on your crush. makes a lot of puns— whispers the stupidest jokes ab being single to you during class and gives you a fist bump after the both of you are struggling to breathe.

and his fashion sense, he's the greatest shopping partner !!! gets drinks with you first, then the both of you go around talking about crush issues and how people are so difficult to communicate with sometimes !! grabs about 5 different tops and asks you to stand in front and place each one over your body. then tilts his head, and either says yes or no. gets super excited when he sees something that'll compliment you a lot, and forces you to try it on. when you ask him how he knows so much about women's clothing and style, he says, “dude, I got like two older sisters right it's just. I know.”

once you were rush shopping when you two had to 1. buy clothes during peak sale season for his sisters, you & him, 2. grab food for about five people, and 3. make it to the car to be on your way to a friend meetup. all in 30 minutes. you've never seen such a tall guy push you towards the counter (which had a line of about 17 people !?!?), run around a store grabbing clothes and throw them at you, and then run out to the food court.

and then, he called you right before your turn, asking you, “WHAT THE FUCK WERE EVERYONE'S ORDERS!?!?” and you yelled at him, “DUDE!? WHAT WERE DOING FOR THE LAST 10 MINUTES.” and he yelled back with a, “LOOKING FOR THE BATHROOM. THE WORKERS ARE STARING AT ME CAN YOU TELL ME EVERYONE'S ORDERSSSS!?!?” in his hurry, he forgot to mention the order was a take out, so then he was hurriedly stuffing everyone's food into take out bags and really close to tears.

in the end, you two made it in time with so many shopping bags, everyone in the mall was wondering what the fuck two teenagers were running towards the exit like they were being chased.

but if he got a crush on you— he's the most observant person ever. has a type but says he's okay with everything. notices the smallest details ever, like which part of your face lights up first when you're about to smile, or your fav fruits or what you like to do in your free time. socially awkward so he doesn't know how to talk to you. his height got him towering over every one, doesn't realize it's a perk because he's so tall !!!!!! asks his friends to tag along when he wants to hang out with you because he can't bear being alone with you. compliments you— then asks you right after if that was okay or too personal?

cheery, super corny, always giggling. asks if you two can get food, but right after, follows it up with how two more people will also be there because he doesn't want it to be weird. but then, realizes he might have over shared that info, so he's gushing with a blush and telling you “not that I don't want to be alone with you!!!” but that also sounds so suspicious, so he just shuts up. and you have to tell him with a giggle that you get it, don't worry. and he gives u a grateful smile, pressing his lips together and smacking your arm a bit.

CHOI BEOMGYU

nothing like the people he talks to— is somehow the bestest of friends with them. everyone's (self proclaimed) chauffeur, he's always driving people everywhere. just needs an excuse to drive in big cars (not even his....) and takes a lot of selfies. every pic of him with his friends is either him kissing their cheek, or being the one who's getting kissed.

fashionably late to hang outs. tells everyone its cuz he got lost. calling everyone with a lot of traffic in the back, saying, “GUYS WHAT WAY CAN YOU SEND YOUR LIVE LOCATIONS.” is the unemployed friend meme. always calling people randomly on a Tuesday afternoon and being like “I'm lost....” and he's fucking hours away.

once you all had decided to drive over towards a water park that opened up about two hours away from the city, and boy, was he excited. “IM DRIVING. FUCK OFF NO, IM DRIVING.” slaps people's wrist if they reach over to change the music. doesn't let anyone but his bestie (aka taehyun) change the music. his car takes all da bois 🫦🤟🔥 is also the reason da bois are lost.

gets to the place an hour late. and tells NO ONE. you all walk into the hut you rented and see beomgyu and his boys hogging all the food, under the impression they haven't even arrived. mouth stuffed, blinking and whining to defend himself after he was caught in the act, “YOU GUYS WERE HAVING FUN, I— WE THOUGHT WE COULD HAVE A BITE!!!!!” he paid for everyone's meals that day.

super protective and flirty. lives to see the expression on your face after he teases you constantly. smacks your head from the back, blows raspberries at you, frowns at you rudely, tells you that you smell like shit. but doesn't know what to do if you get upset from his words— whispers that he didn't actually mean it, and you're one of the prettiest people he knows, and that he's sorry & he'll never do it again, and that he never intended to hurt you— you just looked super cute angry at him, and asks you over and over if you've forgiven him and promises he'll never do it again. and when you finally agree, he doesn't leave your side, always trying to cheer you up or something, gives up his food to you or throws in a compliment here or there, or playfully hypes you up.

is actually super passionate too, so if you're dating him, be prepared for a lot of pda !!!! (if ur ok with it, ofc) grabs your shoulders from the back and asks you, lips against your ear, if you got your hair done. from a simple hand in your back pocket to a hand around your shoulder, beomgyu loved to feel you near him. always brushing his long hair out of his eyes, has a habit of biting his lips as he playfully pinches your shoulder, teasing you, “you can't pinch me harderrr— OW! Y/N, Y/N, STOP— OWWW!!”

he's the type to give partner privilege, if no one is allowed to touch the music in his car— well, you're an exception. always picking fights with people he doesn't know, has you pulling him, “shut up!!!! you're embarrassing!!!!” always asking you if you'd go to the party with him, squeezes you in even if you're not on the list bc he got links with everyone.

really protective of those he cares about because he knows how people can be, and their intentions. once, he was standing there awkwardly while you were comforting your friend because of her stupid asshole of an ex, who won't stop driving up to her house to scare her. beomgyu promised that he wouldn't let that happen to her again, “any friend of y/n's, I gotchu.”

forced said ex to make an apology video where beomgyu and his friends stood behind the camera, holding a script for the ex to read. “‘and to (friend's name) and y/n, I'm so—’ I am not saying that.” and beomgyu bent forward, “what did you say? say that again.”

and the ex, distressing, held his hands up front as beomgyu got closer, “OKAY MAN. FINE !!! ‘(friend's name) AND Y/N. IM SORRY, IM SO SO SORRY, MWWWWAH!!!!’ HAPPY?”

and you could hear beomgyu and his friends chuckle from behind the camera as they picked up the phone, “yeah, that kiss was the greatest idea ever. wait til I send y/n this.”

txt — masterlist

main taglist (hmu to get added!) — @koishua @navyhyuck @allegxdly @daystiny  @kdyism  @neotism  @bluejaem  @radiorenjun  @sleepylixie @oifelixcmerebrou @mrkcore @imdamnconfused  @sicluvz @abhirami20 @tyongishs @emvrd @brxght-world @1921choi @bangchansbae

I’d appreciate if you’d give me a little feedback on the drabble if you read, whether it’s an ask, a reply or in the tags of the rb! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

[t4llhum4n]

👀 pleaaaaase talk about vega i wanna hear everything you have to say about him 🙏🏻❤️

OMG, YES THANK YOU. YOU'RE A GODSEND <3

Vega is my favorite character from a writing perspective. Full stop. Both Prime and Imp!Vega are such interesting character studies for me it's unreal. Imp!Vega is a whole 'nother can of worms though, so I'll save that for another day.

Gonna cut because I can already tell that this is gonna be long.

So, what's so interesting about Vega for me? Firstly, I ADORE the way that Erik approaches "morally grey" with him. Like, I love grey morals, but I really don't like it when a character is just mysterious for mystery's sake, y'know? But with Vega? There are REASONS.

Reason one: He's old as fuck. No but fr, I LOVE this example of immortality and living for millennia. We always talk about how being immortal would kinda suck because all of our friends and loved ones would die and all that. This guy? He's been there, done that. Vega has existed for so long; it makes so much sense that he's disillusioned to stuff like death or suffering. Which brings me to my next point..

Reason two: Not only is he old -- he's an old sadism demon. So, not only has this dude witnessed people dying and suffering, he's BEEN THERE. Hell, he's probably been causing it for thousands of years. I mean, everybody's gotta eat, right? Which, when you think about it, would make the outcome of the Cacophony so much worse for him. For all we know, the Vega that coalesced ages ago was a kind and gentle daemon, but when they imprisoned the Sovereigns, and he found out that he had to feed on the worst kinds of feelings? He would've had to bury that part of himself to SURVIVE. It's crazy man.

Another thing, the way this man plays manipulator is so insane. Like, he doesn't outright lie, he just tells the truth when and where it suits him. And he never makes himself out to be a victim or a good person. He gives explanations for his actions (sometimes), but never full-on excuses. That line about "Warden" being complicit in his actions after he told them that he was going to hurt people? If they didn't go to the Department, then yeah, they would be complicit. Speaking of the Department..

HE'S GIVES PEOPLE AN OUT. And it's in a VERY manipulative way (because I'm only talking about Prime rn). He keeps an air of mystery around "Warden" to draw them in. He knew that they were curious about him, like genuinely curious, and he played on that BIG TIME. He made a whole big deal out of his plans and kept them vague so Warden would naturally be curious about them. Then, and ONLY then, is when he reminded them that they "could leave at any time." Motherfucker KNEW that Warden would not leave his side.

And the indications of his character? He's said that everything he does is in service of his plans. So like, did that include getting caught? Was he aware of "Warden's" existence beforehand? Is he just using them? And that's the best part: WE DON'T FUCKING KNOW! Vega's manipulation is written so well that even we, as listeners, have no idea if he's truly opening up to "Warden" or not. Unreal.

Anyway, that's getting into theory territory, and I'm not about to open that box (yet). Focusing on canon stuff again, he's powerful as hell but is so subdued about it. He doesn't flaunt it beyond saying things like, "If I wanted, I could have you curled up at my feet like a dutiful puppy." And that's just.. true. No hubris on this man whatsoever. He knows his strength, and he isn't going to play it up. That'd be stupid. He might play it down though but once again that's theory territory.

And, to address the elephant in the room, the VOICE?! So so pretty. I literally get lost in how smooth it is. I made a post when Vega's new audio came out about how I had to relisten to it because his voice was so pretty it was distracting, and I just want you all to know that that is a very common occurrence for me. It's so pleasant to listen to, and part of me wonders if that's part of his manipulation as well. Like, he purposefully trained his voice like that so that it was pleasing to hear, and it made people more willing to listen? Either way though, easily one of my favorite voices on the channel (Anton's climbing quickly tho).

The fact that he's SUCH a manipulator makes him such a good character to reveal lore and foreshadowing through. Because guess what? You bet your ASS that there's gonna be some doubt there. This man has ONE audio that doesn't have either a [gaslighting], [manipulation], or [threatening harm] tag. ONE! So of course we're gonna doubt it. That means more mystery for us and more theory fodder for people like me who read way too deep into things.

..also thank you @fluffsoo for the ask!

Edit starts here!

Okay, we're back. And funny enough, I just had an in-depth conversation with a friend about a character in a book we're reading for class that we see as irredeemable. So, now I feel like talking about redemption, and along that line, how interesting it is that Vega doesn't care about being redeemed.

I love characters that are set in their goals. Vega is one driven son of a bitch -- he has his plans and fuck is he gonna see them through. And the sentiment of "no matter what it takes" is so much more interesting here. As I mentioned above, he's been exposed to the worst aspects of human emotion since the Cacophony, which explains why he's so numb to the pain of others. It's been part of his daily existence for thousands of years. So, what does he care if he has to break a few eggs to make an omelet? It's nothing new to him, and as far as he's concerned, humans do it to each other all the time. He's seen it happen millions of times over the years. Why should he care about hurting them if they don't seem to care about doing it to each other?

And his disinterest in redemption is only further shown by him not really caring that humanity will benefit if his plans come to fruition. His only focus is how it will benefit his people, who he knows have suffered for millenia longer than any human ever could. It's as he says, "The long run is the only thing that matters to [him]." Vega has no care for humans at all. He has no qualms about using them, in whatever way he must, to reach his goal.

HOWEVER, that's all his cruelty toward any human ever is. It isn't born out of hatred or disgust; what's the point in hating a being that's so much weaker than you are? He doesn't hold grudges because grudges slow progress. He doesn't seek vengeance because that would get him sidetracked. Nothing he does to humans is ever truly personal, and that's such a fascinating thing to dive into. Every cruel and vile thing he does is in service of his plans -- making him single-minded, but in an infinitely interesting way. The reason why he's so quick to jump to violent measures is because, like it or not, that's the quickest way to ensure that you get what you want. He doesn't care that it's wrong. It's efficient. That's all that matters.

Anyway, I could go on forever about this. Vega is genuinely such a well-written villain (with a voice that's pleasing as fuck to match), and I really love looking into all of the complex characters in the Redacted lore. I could write essays upon essays about characters like Regulus, Blake, Morgan, "Cutie" etc., and y'know, I just might :D

[ohmeadows]

What are some of your fave niche motifs or themes in storytelling

good q! off the top of my head:

forgiveness. i think about it a lot. the years pass. are you able to forgive? and what does the forgiveness look like? what was the sin that broke the fragile bond between you? there are people in my past who, if you asked me last year, i wouldn't have been able to forgive. today i'd say "i forgive you, but there is nothing here anymore".

corruption. of the soul, of the economy, of the system, of the love, of the humanity inside of you, of the purpose that drives you. i love a narrative that pays attention to the downward spiral, and what it means to deal in true shades of grey.

good vs good. two morally defensible positions clashing. i think this is hard to depict in a contemporary setting, hell, maybe even for a contemporary audience since we have grown a necessity to cast everything in good vs bad, but it's something i find immensely mesmerizing to read.

history is written by the victors. this is growing, but i'd love to see more of it in genre fiction and fanfiction. who shaped the narrative?

the heroes 10+ years down the line. there was a book that tried this but it didn't work for me, but the concept of them being traumatized by what they had to do, perhaps having complex nightmare-dreams about the enemy and even a budding understanding of them, unhappy with having been turned into a symbol to be paraded about... live long enough to become the villain tying into this, too.

disability vs society. interrogating the systems and interrogating the narratives of "i turn my disability into a superpower! it is an asset!". sometimes, the shit just sucks. sometimes, you realize the overbearing burden capitalism enforces upon you and your ability to feel useful and meaningful.

loneliness. and how maybe loneliness isn't fixed just because you started dating someone wonderful. perhaps a better word is alienation as well?

stormy relationships that aren't inherently toxic. ok, this one is perhaps harder to explain... anyway, you don't need to work on yourself before being in a relationship. you can get into a relationship when you are a mess and work towards something better. you can have stormy nasty fights and work to get past them. you can backtrack on progress and still be loveable. that kind of stormy. circumstances suck. we all carry wounds. admitting flaws and faults and perhaps they aren't fixed immediately, but you figure out ways to deal.

being a fucking loser in your 30s. lmao ik ik but it's like. we are both so obsessed with achieving and becoming and growing that seeing people who are losers and what it means and cost them... it's intriguing.

plants and flowers as body horror. my absolute ultimate niche. flowers growing under your skin, root systems sprawling into your flesh, pollen coating your tongue...

[einsteinsugly]

I'm sending this to three T70s blogs! What are your very most controversial/unpopular That 70s Show opinions? To get the ball rolling, I'll confess a few of mine since I'm on anon and can't be attacked :) 1. I always shipped Jackie/Eric to the point where they're a true OTP of mine. I have no idea why. Usually when I ship non-canon couples, it's because they're very close friends whose personalities seem incredibly compatible to me...but Jackie and Eric aren't especially close (despite being in the same general group), and they don't seem very compatible or even to care about and respect each other that much. (Though Jackie's "hero" line melts me!) Tbh, it probably just comes down to the fact that Jackie and Eric are by far my two favorite characters. I love analyzing, writing about them, and envisioning how they might have worked if I conveniently ignore 97% of canon. I'm pathetic :) 2. I wouldn't really like Hyde in real life and don't think he was a particularly good romantic partner at all. (*ducks*) I mean, he was an improvement over Kelso, but who isn't?! I just think fandom idealizes him a bit too much. It's a matter of taste, though---the super 'edgy, rebel, proudly rude, 'duuude, I shoplift and smoke a lot of weed and would rather set myself on fire than eat in a mainstream chain restaurant' kind of guys just aren't my personal type :) 3. Sort of related to the first two confessions: I don't think Jackie and Hyde would make each other happy long term. They had some wonderful moments on the show, but I really just don't think they'd give each other what they want. 4. I don't really get how some newer fans turn Laurie into this root-worthy 'girlboss' who's just misunderstood- she's supposed to be unrepentantly, hilariously terrible, and she is! Sometimes it really is as simple as that :) 5. (*whispers*) More often than not, I enjoy Kelso. Obviously as a boyfriend to Jackie, but as a character who - for me - really does add a lot of humor and energy to the show. i can't wait to read yours, and please don't hate me for mine!

Don't you mean, obviously not as a boyfriend to Jackie?

To your points.

1. Jackie and Hyde can work long term, to me. They're stubborn, but they give eachother what they want. Love and stability.

2. I do think Laurie was mistreated by her mother and was unrightfully slut shamed. However, she goes beyond this, and willingly home wrecks. Ultimately, she falls back into her old patterns whenever things get hard. She has potential to be better, but she is morally grey, if you will. She is willing to do almost anything to get what she wants.

*****

Okay, now mine.

1. I've said this before, but I think T9S is worse than season 8. If only because season 8 is way easier to fix.

2. I tend to regard season 8 as canon, if only because it logistically meshes (unfortunately). Both post-season 8 and post-season 7 verses are canon. T9S is not, since it logistically clashes with both, in a huge way (*cough* sixteen year old Jay *cough*).

3. I do not think Jackie can truly overcome all of her conservative biases via Hyde. She would really struggle to accept a child that seriously strays from the norm. It sucks. It's one of those things where she outwardly accepts it, to be politically correct, but it's obvious that it's not how she really feels. She'd ultimately accept a gay or bi kid, but it would take her years to accept a trans/gender non-conforming kid. And even then, she still wouldn't get it/understand it.

4. Okay, T7S takes place in the past. Blatant historical anachronisms, to adhere to modern standards, do way more harm than good. It leads some readers to believe things were better than they actually were, which is a fucking disservice. I strive to be historically accurate, not just in material things, but in attitudes too. It varies from character to character, but still.

5. Jackie, for the most part, would be awful irl. I've met good Jackies in the past, but a lot of bad ones, too (*cough* family members *cough*).

6. Only Jackie, and maybe Fez, would be a Swiftie.

[lillyosaurus]

unhinged character bingo thorn and smolder

OKAY FOR THORN

She’s one of our favorite characters I love her SO MUCH. Her dynamic with the scorpion den is incredibly interesting and how she basically went from “oh I’m the big boss poster child of it” to now running the whole kingdom and begrudgingly leaving vulture to deal with it. Thorn and vultures dynamic is really interesting to me aswell with how well they play off each other I personally imagine them both as morally grey but on opposite ends of the spectrum, thorn being the “cares about people but only certain people/kingdom and will do what she thinks is best for them despite maybe hurting others in the process but it’s okay it’s best for them” similar to how I imagine qibli that’s where he got it from and vulture heavily leaning towards the morally grey of “oh I’m doing what’s best for me and me only sorry 😂😂😂” I do wish however when thorn became queen Tui kept the more morally ehhhhh parts of thorn she kind of gets toned down when she becomes queen even though a whole thing of her character is that. She ran part of the scorpion den your moral compass is going to be iffy after that yknow???? I wish she didn’t try to make her just silly she’s silly AND fucked up. Morally grey thorn my beloved and it just fits her character as a whole more!!! Her being queen felt like a convenient way to put an end to book 5 but honestly I don’t mind it that much? I liked her character more in Sunny’s book but her being queen is an okay move not the best but it could’ve gone alot worse. Id think that she was BY FAR not the best option to be queen if she was actually kept like book 5 her but the eye of onyx was like “well. everyone sucks.” I also think about her and stone mover a lot not as partners but T4t then they got divorced and now they’re buddies and thorn visits stonemover sometimes to tell him all the weird stuff that’s happened in the sand kingdom and also to talk about qibli and sunny. Even though thorn and morrowseer had only one interaction over stonemover I find their quick conversation very… interesting? It’s street-smarts vs people smarts and kinda wish we got a little bit more of that. I don’t particularly like thorn x smolder, mainly because headcanon thorn as a lesbian, iffy age gap and also don’t really like the pairing with thorn because that also goes against thorn not being royalty and standing against the royals but then dating a prince. I think of them as just buddies who got thrown into the limelight of royalty either being born into it or gaining it and bonding over the fact that they have way too much spotlight on them!! Smolder also shows thorn all of the weird little hidden areas of the stronghold (like those bookshelf’s that rotate and then bam there’s a whole other room back there) and thorn helps smolder with coming back into society after the Sandwing war of succession because it literally just happened

FOR SMOLDER

Smolder doesn’t really hold that much space in my brain? I REALLY like his design and honestly headcanon him to look very similar to char I do actually really enjoy him as a character minus the thorn stuff, specifically I really like him in deserters where he’s the cowardly prince and continues to stay that way. I do enjoy how he builds around oasis as this all powerful dragon if a PRINCE has to act this way in order to survive hell what’s the queen like??? His relationship with palm also is a bit sad and again goes to show oasis as this all controlling the queen was to where he feared himself and his girlfriend would be put to death for just existing together. He’s like those princes in fairy tales where “oh I’m the big strong knight here to save the princess oh!! Dragon scary AHHH” and he runs off and I think that’s a really funny contrast to thorn who is exactly the opposite, I’d also think he’d kinda act as a mediator to thorn when she gets too pissed and also helps her navigate the political system of pyrriha because hell she knows nothing about it and he’s been a prince all his life. I think they’re buddies, and as it stands smolder in canon for me is eehhh story-roll wise. Love him personality wise but he just really doesn’t have enough on him to call him my favorite, neutral about him canonically love the one in my head though.

[yanderefairyangel]

While Engage and 3H were developped in the same period, the interview explained they were splitting the work which is why half of the IS team worked on 3H with KT and compared to (Disc)Hou(r)ses who had a team of 3 writers from KT, since in Engage they had more focus on making the gameplay the greatest thing ever, the left the story to only one writer, Nami Komuro who provided main writing for Awakening and Fates (even if she didn't planned the scenario) whereas for Engage she is credited as the scenario director and alone for the writing which means she wrote it alone or with very little help and... it's funny, how a story that is far from being perfect and had only one writer because it wasn't their main focus is more structured as a story with more foreshadowing and planning then the "morally grey masterpiece with 3 writers".

I have my own gripes with Engage's story especially in the last chapters, Engage's big character resolution is

Yeah even chapter 22 with the apotheosis thing of Alear being the Fire Emblem is still something I have problem disgesting but it does have something to do with their whole character resolution of becoming a hero, a symbol of hope and inspiration tying to their JPN name Lueur because "lueur d'espoir "and "la lumière c'est l'espoir" etc but I don't think I will ever really accept that monstruosity called chapter 24 which sucks because of AkaLulu being in it.

But it's still impressive of something deemed as "morally black and white" is actually capable of saying "No, not every person who believes and worship Sombron is bad or a child murderer there are good people or normal one among there too" or "No fell dragon aren't inheritenly evil, they are called like that because humans hates them and in reality they can be very sweet like how Lulu and Vey were always very sweet person but forced to act like this by evil yandere Papabron who himself used to be a kind and scared person but became this way because he never gave up on finding his only friend who is also the only remaining connection he had with his family and former world". It shows people who believe in the Divine dragon aren't necessarily good : Veyle's mother died tortured by the believer of the Divine dragon and Veyle herself was subjected to such and would have died if the follower of the Fell dragon didn't saved her. Fell dragon are victim of discrimination because of people hating them and thinking they are evil because of Sombron's action. Brodia, a country that believes in the Divine dragon albeit much less devoted then Firene is portrayed as the bad one in the Elusia/Brodia war, even though Elusia worship Sombron and even Elusia is shown to not be entirely clean either (see Linde and Saphir's support). Even villain like Zephia have backstory to explain her behaviour and while her whole deal is "I wanna be a mom because I am lonely uwu" it at least does a better job at showing that people who follow Sombron aren't "BaD" but they are simply making bad decisions and are rewarded with losing everything and realizing their mistakes unless they decided to amend for it. Even Divine dragon aren't portrayed as all good since they are pretty much flawed individuals that despite being revered as such are shown to not being god with the power of solving everything by a single move of the finger : Lumera had struggles and was sometimes incapable of helping her believer, that's why Mauvier's mother stopped believing in her and worshipped Sombron instead. We also have the whole bit about Sombron and Lumera both being genocide survivor and how they deal with it : Sombron, by causing pain, Lumera by trying to fight, be brave and that's what makes her link with Alear and yadi yada.

Somehow the game with good dragon vs bad dragon has more nuance... almost as if you had to define first and firemost the goodies and the baddies before adding on to the nuance that they are neither entirely evil nor good...HMMM

nowhere in the Fodlan games is it ever mentionned, by one character who has a crust, that crust is only a power and not inherently bad or good, it's what you decided to do, you as someone who has the opportunity to use this power, who ultimately choose to do the right thing, or the wrong thing.

I am not really sure about that. I do recall Dima mentioning it, but can't recall whether or not it was in Houses or Hopes at any rate you are right, IS dislike "black and white morality" since they always find a way to try to insert the idea that not everything is black nor white. Even Fates for all it's flaws, at least tried to do that with Garon and Nohr even if it got lost in translation or with the whle "Anankos isn't evil he just became mad because humans hate him" which would be more "morally grey" then anything Houses attempted to do with the biasied narrative that resulted into moral relativism.

I think, even if FE16 still sells a lot of alts in FEH and DLC and what not, the lack of side materials and goodies is, imo, telling enough about what IS wants to do with it - FE17 got a manga release on the shonen jump + (i think?) even when the sales are inferior to FE16's (granted, if we compare something that was around for 4 years including 2020 to a game released in January, that's not very fair) - Nopes's DLC was called off and bar FEH milking the Fodlan verse to sell units, imo, IS wants to drop it and move forward.

In all fairness, Engage is MUCH easier to adapt as manga then anything from Houses. Many jpn fans claim that the story is so short and simplier it feels like watching an anime to play it with some bringing up how much they would want it to become an actual anime, but the manga itself exist also to promote the game and polish some details of the game's story even if strays a looot from the canon game (like Alcryst calling Alear a pervert) since the short story format didn"t allowed some points to be developped and that Nintendo said "NOPE" to Komuro wanting to make Alear even more of a scared cat as they are supposed to be, which Kazuro Kyo as no problem giving us the most wet nya nya version of Alear with him being just a silly little guy accident prone. With Houses I don't think they could try to adapt any storyline without having to add some "morally grey uwu" stuff like they did and even most fans of 3 H in japan claims the story is a hot mess.

But seeing how IS is I am glad we are likely to never go the Fodlan direction again since KT made it clear with Hopes they simply CAN'T improve Houses. Stories like Engage can be improved because it's closer to what IS have been doing for now over 30 years. And even then the story needs little polishing seeing how the manga managed to fix very efficientely some of the weak elements of the narrative and it doesn't change much, barely some elements. And hopefully it gets rid of the time travel chapter. I feel so conflicted about this damn chapter !

I'm beginning to think there might have been discourse/debate between KT and IS regarding the Fodlan games. We'll never know of course but it would be amusing if that's the case considering how it translated to their audience.

lol

Some people already thought about it, and while Nopes was a heavily marketed/produced product by KT, at the end of the day, even for FE16, IS had to pop in and give a sign of approval.

I think the interview for Engage more or less revealed that while the two games weren't developed together, they were thought of as being wildly different experiences - both in gameplay and story, and while I have my own gripes with Engage's story especially in the last chapters, Engage's big character resolution is

Alear coming to terms with what they were born as, but deciding, nonetheless, to use their power to be and act as the divine dragon Lumera was, aka use their power to do something "good" even if they were born as Sombron's kid thus supposed to do "bad" things.

Compare this with "crust BaD" - nowhere in the Fodlan games is it ever mentionned, by one character who has a crust, that crust is only a power and not inherently bad or good, it's what you decided to do, you as someone who has the opportunity to use this power, who ultimately choose to do the right thing, or the wrong thing.

Hell, it's only when Fodlan met another game (fully developed by IS, for better and worse) that his question is raised, and quickly eluded by Supreme Leader warping away from Lissa, because hey, in an IS game, that question would have been raised, and defaulting to "crusts BaD" has never been the house's recipe to make a game - especially since this specific recipe has been overused, first in FE Jugdral (Loptyr blood isn't inherently evil, that was the teaching Blaggi tried to promote that was later ignored and then forgotten), then, sort of in FE6 (no Fa, divine dragons aren't doomed to become souless war dragon producing machins or humanity's enemies!), in FE13 with Robin and their fell blood, and finally, in FE17.

I think, even if FE16 still sells a lot of alts in FEH and DLC and what not, the lack of side materials and goodies is, imo, telling enough about what IS wants to do with it - FE17 got a manga release on the shonen jump + (i think?) even when the sales are inferior to FE16's (granted, if we compare something that was around for 4 years including 2020 to a game released in January, that's not very fair) - Nopes's DLC was called off and bar FEH milking the Fodlan verse to sell units, imo, IS wants to drop it and move forward.

And while it makes me sad because there are things I'm legit interested in (war of heroes guide like the tellius recollection guide plz), given what "Fodlan" ended up when KT was left (mostly?) alone in the form of Nopes (you effing beat up refugees to steal their gold! Like, we're the red units beating the green npcs, or the bandits burning houses??) - I am less and less sure I want to see more Fodlan content, even if I was pleasantly surprised with the Fodlan content - especially regarding Nabateans who are completely ignored by their source game - IS made up for FEH.

Sure we have some issues that are inherent to FEH's nature as a gacha selling game cajoling units who can sell a lot (Hilda's family never had slaves unfed servants! Syrup just had some adventures in Goneril!) but to the FEH team - from IS - Sothis is more pissed at Agarthans for having genocided her children and turned them into pincushions than for Billy's dad's death.

Hell, for what it's worth, Emblem!Dimitri mentions how much he likes the idea of a world/place without discriminations based on origins or races, something he cannot say in the KT Fodlan games, because it stars Ms "You are a Nabatean, you should not rule over Humans!" as the main character of the game - so it's not a lot, but imo, FEH + FE17 gives us clues as to what IS would have done with the Fodlan cast -

Even if I'm not kidding myself, Hresvelg Tea was always supposed to be the main selling point of that verse, so while I don't think we would have had less uwus, maybe we might have had some sort of "sekrit brainwash" to make Ashnard in an onesie still be marketable for FEH.

[coeurdastronaute]

Atlas: Venus

Previously on Atlas

I was a billion little pieces ’til you pulled me into focus Astronomy in reverse It was me who was discovered In the highest tower, in the back, darkest lab, lit by only the few monitors of the wall of screens, the youngest Luthor sighed before digging her fingertips into the corners of her eyes and digging there, as if hoping to evict the sleepiness physically despite it being etched into the deepest parts of her bones and muscles. She leaned back in her chair and stretched her body only to find the cup of coffee that remained lukewarm and barely palatable. 

Only the light of her phone getting a notification drew her attention from the disdain she had as she took another swig of the wretched drink. 

She ignored that as best she could, hoping to hide away from the part of her life that always seemed to follow, and instead, shifted her gaze to the laptop with the CADMUS logo etched on the top of it. Her chair swiveled as she turned to face it, her fingers steepling in front of her lips as she clenched her jaw and felt the temptation to know lingering beneath the surface of her bones. Her whole body yearned. 

But it was Pandora’s box, and Lena knew what waited on the other side, in the darkness, if she were to peak inside the lid. 

But if she did open it, she would have answers. 

But if she did, she’d hate herself. 

But she already hated herself. 

But she could hate herself even more, she was certain. 

But if she didn’t, who would stop her mother?

Lena sighed again, her shoulders softening and her body giving into the defeat. The only thing that separated her from the sociopaths of her family was having a strict moral line of which she refused to cross. That was it. And it was a thin, thin, thin line. Terrifyingly slim, at the moment. 

With a moment of weakness passed slowly, agonizingly slow, Lena pushed at the laptop and stood, craving fresh air and some physical distance from the temptation that nagged at her and tore apart her willpower. In a turn of events, she found herself relating to Eve more and more, and understood how easy it was to bite the apple. 

But instead of looking again, Lena looked straight ahead and sought fresh air. She hoped to run into the darkness of the roof in the middle of the night, but as she pushed open the fire escape door, the grey sliver of sunrise began. She squinted against it and inhaled the dew and the stillness of a city waking. 

There was a secret on the roof, that Lena never shared with anyone, and that was the pack of cigarettes she kept hidden behind the telephone box, and it was almost habit at this point for her to grab one as she made her way outside, twisting it a few times in her hands before flicking the lighter and disrupting the dark and instead becoming another flash of light in the twinkling city. 

With a long first drag, she exhaled smoke into the clouds and leaned against the railing, surveying and seeing nothing, but enjoying the peace that came on top of the world and far removed from it all. It helped to step away from temptation. She had to, sometimes. 

The city faded after that, until she was looking at nothing more than the outline of her hand as it held the cigarette. She watched the red end burn down to nothing, as she found a kind of peace in just the feeling of warmth and the dancing of smoke as it joined the sky. 

“Shit,” she hissed after letting it burn too low, effectively burning her fingers before dropping the butt toward the city below. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, it wasn’t--” Lena paused as she kissed her own finger, sucking on the pain of the burn as if it would fix it completely. “Hello, Supergirl.” 

“Good evening, Ms. Luthor. Enjoying the fresh air?” 

“As much as I can.” 

Strong and firm, Supergirl stood there, allowing herself to land on the roof, still keeping herself at a distance from the CEO. She was close, but not too close, and that was enough. Lena just smiled softly to herself. She didn’t have much else to offer. 

“I wanted to thank you for your help the other day. I needed a better perspective, and you were able to--”

“It was nothing,” Lena shook her head. “Please.” 

“I don’t think we have to be on opposite sides anymore.” 

“Were we ever?” 

“I don’t know, maybe,” Sueprgirl offered weakly as she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “I hoped not.” 

Lena stared at her features, studying them, printing them into her memory so she could try to figure her out, as if that were an option. Sometimes, Lena was certain she’d be able to see the strong jaw anywhere and know it. She saw slivers of Supergirl everywhere. She saw her eyes on the street, she saw her lips at the restaurant across from her condo. She saw her hair in the park. But never at one time, and never all together, never in the perfect package that stood beside her presently. 

“I trust you completely,” Supergirl finally offered. 

It was becoming almost common, almost normal for them, Lena realized as she looked at the hero’s eyes. She was used to parts of her now, the parts that she didn’t see on TB, or in front of other people. For the first time, she wondered if their nightly rendezvous were completely accidental, or more ushered along by homemade chance. 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” 

There came the scoff, the chuckle, the shucks and shake of a head as Supergirl took a deep breath and relaxed despite Lena’s latest proclamation. It was more honest than she wanted to be with the stranger who wasn’t nearly strange enough to be different. 

“I’d like to think we knew each other better than that,” Supergirl chided, childish and taunting. 

They stood closer than before, a feat accomplished over weeks and months and a grueling pace of millimeters. 

“I don’t even know your name.” 

It seemed to take her off guard, but Supergirl recovered swiftly, turning her gaze on Lena with something the CEO wasn’t entirely sure of experiencing before from the hero. Maybe she was debating the trust, realizing she really couldn’t do it. Lena shook her head and pushed herself up from leaning against the railing. 

“Have a good night, Supergirl,” she offered 

Lena made it three steps before she felt  a gentle hand grab her wrist. She felt her heart flutter and furrowed at the feeling, though she refused to turn around. 

“Kara.” 

It was quiet, it was the truth, and Lena held her breath until Supergirl dropped her hand. 

“Kara,” Lena repeated. 

“Have a good night, Lena.” 

In a breeze, she was gone again, and Lena was left with a name and perhaps a secret she was certain not many were entrusted to keep. 

“Kara,” she repeated again, testing it out. There were just more questions left to be answered now, because now Supergirl was a person, with a name, and maybe that was what her brother was missing all along. Maybe that was enough to keep someone on the side of good-- to be known, and yet unknown. To act magnanimously. 

XXXXXXXXXX

It was incredibly stupid, but Kara didn’t care. For the first time in her life, she really didn’t care that she’d taken a risk. It should have been something she considered, but she hadn’t. It just popped out. 

She didn’t tell her sister. That would have been suicide. She didn’t even want to admit it to herself, but she thought about it the entire flight home. She thought about how reckless and how silly it had been, and how great of a risk she’d put herself and her family in. 

But it didn’t matter. 

There was just something about the way Lena looked, how sad she was sometimes, and how desperate she seemed to be to do good and feeling painfully inadequate. There was a savior part of Kara that just couldn’t shake it. There was also a part of her that couldn’t stand to see Lena not happy, and chasing the feeling of her laugh, as distant as it was. Kara wasn’t sure why that existed, that need to make hear that laugh or see that smile. 

Kara sighed as she flopped onto her bed. Suddenly she was someone who was worried about a pretty girl and how to make her smile. 

XXXXXXXXXX

It took about three days for Lena to discover Kara, and not Supergirl. She didn’t want to believe it, and yet, there was the same jaw and smile. 

“I didn’t expect to run into the likes of you here.”

Lena held her breath because she knew the voice before she turned around in the barstool. She didn’t breathe. She twirled the ice around in her cup and pursed her lips before turning back into the woman on the balcony and not the sad sack washing away some misery at the first bar she came across after her most recent meeting. 

“No I, you.” 

“Are you going to turn around?” 

“I don’t think I will,” Lena said as she finally took another sip of her drink. “I don’t know why, but I can’t.” 

She was still and quiet in the middle of the bar. But Lena could still feel her presence, and she understood Lot’s wife a little, suddenly. That was the thought she had in her head, from all those years ago in private school chapel. It would change everything. 

“Could I join you, Lena?” 

That was the question. 

When Lena tilted her head slightly she saw familiar hands rooted on the back of the stool back. She saw wrists. She saw the tiny scar near her palm that intrigued her infinitely. But she didn’t move to acknowledge the girl behind her, just to order them both drinks. Politely, ever with her manners and decorum, the hero waited patiently while Lena watched the drinks poured and only nodded after taking another drink. 

“If I can buy you a drink, you may join me.” 

Before it could be rescinded, a body slid into the seat, stretching her torso to squeeze close to Lena, to crawl in as quickly as possible. Lena inhaled a distinctly Supergirl smell and felt her heartbeat thumping belligerent in her chest. Slowly, she followed the wrist to an elbow, and a loosely rolled sleeve hanging there. From there she moved to shoulder, to jaw, to lips pressed against glass, to those eyes. 

And he stared, unmoving, trying her hardest to comprehend it all. 

Kara put down her drink after making a bit of a face and adjusted her glasses. She offered a small, faint smile. 

“You look different at ground level.” 

“So do you,” Kara chuckled. “Is that all I get?” 

“I have a million questions, but I honestly don’t know where to start.” 

“I trust you.” 

“That might answer a third of them.” 

Kara shook her head and adjusted slightly. 

“I wanted to know the real you. To do that, I had to give you the real me.” 

The answer made Lena fidget as she adjusted slightly, recrossing her legs. She blushed slightly to see Kara’s eyes move to the hem of her skirt and follow her thighs. 

“But why?” 

“Because I trust you,” Kara repeated adamantly. “And I think you might want to get to know the real me, too.” 

“I will admit only to a minute fascination.” 

“I can work with minute.” 

“Infinitesimal,” Lena corrected. 

“I’ve done more with less.” 

Despite it all, Lena smiled to herself. She felt Kara shift closer and she suddenly found herself adjusting again and her cheeks bursting pink. She didn’t know that Kara could tell her heart was racing. 

“I’m happy to run into you, for what it’s worth.” 

“What brings you here?” 

“Oh, I was here with some friends. It’s our normal bar. I live close by.” 

“Hadn’t really considered you living anywhere.” 

Kara chuckled and Lena found herself searching every inch of Kara’s face. She saw the cut of her jaw when she tilted her head back. She saw the arch of her eyebrow and the slope of her cheeks. 

“Not as good of a view as your place, but I don’t mind. It’s home.” 

There was something about the way her biceps looked in the old flannel that hung from a shoulder, hidden but still there. And the shading near her clavicle and the tenderness of her hands. She seemed more comfortable in he brown skin, less stoic and less rigid. 

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt your time with friends,” Lena sighed, looking over Kara’s shoulder, wondering who she might have been there with, wondering if they knew, too.

“You’re not.” 

“Are you certain--”

“Let’s get out of here,” Kara decided as she downed the rest of her glass. “I think you might need something to soak up your bad day.” 

“Ok.” 

XXXXXXXXXX

The way she liked ketchup on her fries, and how precise she was in opening every packet and squirting them into a big puddle. And there was the way she took a giant bit of her burger, careful to catch the tomato that tried to escape, carefully tucking it back in with the lettuce. Her face when she chewed and savored, relieved for all of the goodness that came with the greasy food. 

Kara stared unabashedly. 

She smiled faintly and ate another fry, careful to look away before Lena could accuse her of staring. 

“I have a nutritionist, you know,” Lena proudly announced. “And a private trainer.” 

“I’m sure you do.” 

“You can’t tell?” she raised her eyebrows, challenging Kara, and earning a slight blush. 

“I mean… you’re certainly…. Fit. It’s very, um, yeah-- noticeable-- that you, uh take care…” Kara shoved another fry in her mouth. She accidentally looked at Lena’s chest and blanched before burning alive. 

“I’ve eaten at the best restaurants all over the world, and I have to say. This might be the best bite I’ve ever had.” 

“That’s the whiskey talking,” Kara tried. 

Lena did this thing, she was learning, where when confronted with a statement she didn’t particularly agree with, she waved it off. Kara liked the way her hair tucked behind her ear. 

“Do you honestly believe that a few glasses is enough to take away my senses?” 

“I wouldn’t imagine thinking anything like that. You’re far too impressive for such things.” 

Kara smiled and took a sip of her drink as Lena took another large bite from her burger. There was something freeing in seeing Lena like this-- not drunk, not absent, but perhaps just uninhibited. It was late, suddenly, but they kept to their booth, enjoying their late night dinner. Kara didn’t even mind when Lena took one of her onion rings. 

Even when their plates were taken and their conversation continued with the refills, Kara couldn’t stop staring. She didn’t really want to. She pulled her knee up and leaned against the wall of the diner while Lena explained the absolutely boring and unproductive meeting that took up her entire afternoon. Kara was hooked. 

It was easy for Lena to switch the conversation to Kara because Kara liked the furrow Lena had when she asked questions, and she liked being honest, finally. 

“What about this?” Lena murmured, leaning forward and turning over Kara’s palm. She traced the faint scar on her palm. “I thought you were impenetrable.” 

Kara felt the hair on the back of her neck raise slightly. She gulped. 

“Oh.. um, this was from when I was a kid.” 

“Before you got here?” 

“Yeah, I fell. I used to fall a lot. Clumsy kid and all. It was a trip to the mountains with my parents, and uh, we,” Kara furrowed and for the first time, looked away. “I just tripped, braced myself, got a pretty deep cut.” 

Lena nodded and furrowed a little more as well, just as Kara shook the thoughts away and looked back toward her. Fingertips stopped gliding against her skin, and by the time she looked down at her expose palm and back up, Lena Luthor stood from her side of the booth. 

“What happened?” 

“You live around here, don’t you?” 

“I-- yes?” 

They made it outside of the diner and evening had put most of the city back to sleep for the night. The traffic was non-existent and those left guzzling burnt coffee were the nightwalkers, the ones who existed only on this schedule. 

“It’s down this way,” Kara nodded her head as she shoved her hands in her pockets. 

They went about three steps before Lena tugged Kara against the alleyway behind the dinner, gripped her shirt tightly in her fists, and kissed her. 

“Oh,” Kara whispered, unable to open her eyes. It was rough at first until they caught their breath, and then there was a gentleness, a rush of words against her lips. 

“Sorry--”

“No,” she shook her head. 

When she opened her eyes, Kara just saw Lena Luthor staring back at her, worried she’d messed it up entirely. She wretched her hands from her pockets and smiled as she cupped Lena’s cheeks before leaning forward and kissing her back. 

“Who is kissing me right now?” Lena whispered when she woke from the stupor. Her hands loosened slightly but still held there. 

“Me.” 

“Which is the real you?” 

“This one. Right here. Right now.” 

Kara watched as Lena flexed her jaw, clenching it and thinking it through. Their faces were so close they couldn’t see much else other than the other. Lena nodded.

Next

[boldlyvoid]

ain't it fun? | part 3

summary: reader just needs an NA meeting before they have a meltdown, they end up with the best friend they could ever make.

warnings: season 4 episode 7 plot but spencer doesn't have to go through it all alone. mentions of child molestation and murder

word count: 2K

P1 P2

Spencer calls from Vegas of all places, he’s staying an extra few days after a case and he won’t be home. “Actually, if I buy you a ticket would you fly out here for me?”

“Are you crazy?” She laughs, “what’s really going on babe?”

She doesn’t call him babe very often but when she does she can always hear him blush, he’s so giddy and cute he smiles wide and licks his lips a few times, but he doesn't this time.

“I’m not doing the best.”

“Do you need your girlfriend or do you need a meeting?” She asks because she knows there is a huge difference.

“I need my best friend.”

When she arrives in Vegas, she takes a taxi to his hotel and sits in his room all alone until he’s done whatever he was up to. There’s an envelope on the floor, “you’ve got the wrong guy” written on the front in a hasty black chicken scratch.

She hides along the wall, making sure no one can see her under the crack of the door. She manages to keep one foot on either side of the door frame as she looks out the peephole to see an older white man walking away from the door. He’s in a work uniform, on the phone, he’s whispering.

Once she’s sure he’s off the floor, she grabs her things and leaves the room. Leaving the envelope on the floor, she calls Spencer from the stairwell.

“Hey, I’m on my way back now,” Spencer answers.

“Someone dropped an envelope off in your room. I didn’t touch anything I just walked out after the guy left… can I meet you in the bar instead?”

“Yeah! Of course,” he encourages her safety protocols, “I’ll make sure the envelope is safe first, thank you for being smart.”

“No problem," she laughs, he was the genius and he was still calling her smart for following her gut.

"I’m just walking down the stairs cause he took the elevator. He was white, 5’8 ish and older; balding with grey hair so I’m guessing he was in his 60s, and he was on the phone with someone,” she gives his description quickly before she could forget it. “And the envelope says you got the wrong guy on the outside.”

“I know who that is, thank you. I love you,” each phrase got quieter and quieter and she knew he was in the car with his co-workers.

“I love you too, see you soon.”

—

It’s midnight in Virginia, it’s only 9pm in Vegas and Spencer’s been losing his mind trying to solve a case for his own sanity. He was getting nowhere, he’s even tried hypnosis to take him back to when he was 4. But nothing was working.

He’s in the middle of begging his mother to remember, “mom, this isn’t about me. This is about Riley Jenkins.”

“It was always about you…” Diana whispers.

“Please, mom—“

“Spencer,” Y/N’s eyes shoot open.

She’s just been sitting there, barely getting to know Diana as Spencer explained what he remembers. It was very intimate, but she already knew about the dream. She knew one day he’d want to learn more, and now he was.

“Listen to what she just said, it was always about you,” she repeats the words and Spencer looks more confused.

She steps forward and takes Diana’s hands in hers, sitting her down on the edge of her bed as she looks at her carefully. “This is hard, I know you’re really trying and I know how hard it is to talk to Spencer when he’s like this. But how about you tell me the story? Why was the Riley Jenkins case more about Spencer to you?”

Diana clues in then, her eyes zoning out as she remembers everything and Spencer sits quietly in the corner. “Riley was a real boy, poor boy…”

He’s amazed by the fact she’s so calm and good with his mother. “Yes he was, mom, how did I know him?”

“Your father was the t-ball coach, you were really more interested in chess and so eventually he let you go from the team, and you ended up playing in the park with this older man; who was also watching Riley before he died,” Diana explained softly. “It could have been you.”

Spencer gets closer and closer, eventually, he’s kneeling in front of his mother like a little boy at storytime. “What was his name mom?

“Gary Michaels.”

—

David and Derek are really nice guys. She’s sitting with them in the bar while Spencer has a heart-to-heart with his parents at the police station. It’s been a long day, he’s learned a lot and she couldn’t wait to unpack it all with him.

“How come you don’t come out with him more often?” Derek asks, unsure of how to broach the subject, but he wants to know.

“What do you know about me, first of all? Because it’ll tell me everything I need to fill you in on,” she asks in a question in response to his.

“I know you met at a support group, I know he loves you, and I know you live with him now.”

She smiles, “I have a rare disability that many people don't believe in, I work from home and I make little art pieces for the different seasons to make money, I don’t really like going outside. much”

“But you flew all the way to Vegas for him?” Derek smiles knowingly.

She nods gently, “he’s still my best friend in the whole world, Derek.”

“Thank you,” is all he says, “you’ve helped him be the same Spencer I met when he started. You’ve brought the joy back to his life, it’s nice to get to know you more.”

He asks to get her a drink then, to make up for everything she’s been through that day. All she wants is ginger ale and Derek gives her a strange look, he really has no idea that she’s a recovering drug addict. Spencer has kept all her secrets nice and safe in his big and beautiful mind.

“I’m allergic to most alcohol,” she isn't lying but it works. “Especially dark tequila and all vodkas, it’s because they’re made from potatoes and I have a potato starch intolerance... you know actually sometimes even hand sanitizers that are made in alcohol facilities give me an allergic reaction as well.”

“Okay, that right there,” he teases, “that’s why he keeps you all to himself.”

She laughs, “that was a bit of a Reid ramble, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Derek’s smile is so soft. “It really was.”

When she finally sees him again, it’s been almost a full day since he called her and asked for her to fly into Vegas. He needed her moral support while dealing with his parents, and he knew she was the only person who knew the extent of what he felt for them. He tried his hardest to be the best kid in the world for both of them, and yet sometimes he feels like both a disappointment and an unwanted mistake.

They hug for so long when he finally enters the bar, that Derek gets up from the table and goes to find someone to occupy his time with. It’s Vegas and he’s Derek after all… it wasn’t going to be hard for him to have a woman hanging off of him soon, too.

Back in his hotel room, he passes out from exhaustion and she just stares at him. He’s been through so much that even his eidetic memory didn’t want to think about it anymore. normally he would recount his day to her with a smile, now he just sleeps peacefully for the first time in days.

He was so soft and sweet even after being through the most terrifying things the human mind and body can go through.

—

They take a few days off, his co-worker has a baby and it’s the perfect time for him to take her to meet them all. They won't be focused on her at all, and thus she will have fewer questions to answer.

Penelope Garcia is a blessing on this earth. The second Y/N lays eyes on her, she knows that they are going to be friends. She’s a hugger, and they’re good hugs, and she was already making plans to hang out and keep Y/N company when Spencer and the team were out of town.

JJ looked beautiful for just giving birth, Emily was intimidatingly smart and beautiful and she didn’t know how to really make eye contact with her without developing a crush on Spencer’s co-worker. Derek was kind as always, and Aaron gives a firm handshake.

JJ asks Spencer to be Henry’s godfather and it’s all a little too much for Spencer to handle after everything from the day before. He’s been through so much that Y/N can see the panic roaring through his veins as he tries to keep his cool in front of his friends.

But when they’re back in their own bed; in the safe space, they’ve created for one another. She’s running her hands along his back as he snuggles into her chest. Normally she’d tease him for being this close to her boobs, but they were comfortable and he likes to hear her heartbeat.

“I thought for a while they were going to tell me I was molested,” he whispers. “I was more relieved to know my mom witnessed a murder… and I hate myself for thinking that.”

“I was,” she whispers into his hair. “More than once by different men.”

He sits up to look at her, she shrugs, “my friend's dad tried to teach me how to drive by sitting me in his lap so that I’d have to bounce on him over the rocky back road. And a scout leader drove me home and kept his hand way too close to my parts and then a teacher-“

“How are you okay?” he stares at her like she's got 3 heads or something as he shakes his head lightly in disbelief.

She laughs, “I’m not. But I am at the same time? I can’t really explain it... it sucks and I hate it but I’m safe with you so I’m fine... but I’m not okay?”

“Yeah,” he smiles. “I’m fine with you but not okay, too.”

They're quiet for a bit, tilting their heads as they stare at each other with soft little smiles. She loves him and he loves her and all she can think about is forever.

“Can I ask you something?” She’s really serious now, looking at him carefully as his eyes light up.

“Anything!”

“Do you think you’ll want kids one day? Even after everything with your dad?” She’s careful, not wanting to hurt him to push him or make him think he’s letting her down if he says no.

“I want kids, even if it’s just one. I want to be a dad and do what my dad couldn’t. I want to love them and help them grow and teach them how to ride a bike and how to do Pythagorean theory,” his words are full of passion, he’s speaking from his gut.

“I want 3 kids,” she smiles. “With you.”

His eyes go wide, “why?”

She smiles because of course, he convinced himself she wouldn't want his kids, he was a worrier.

“My dad was okay, he was pretty distant and cold until I got sick and then he became one of my best friends. Your dad sucked. Together all that love that we craved will go into our little person and they’ll be so happy and wonderful and loved with us."

Spencer nods in agreement, it's soft and sweet and she makes a last-minute decision. "I don’t think I want kids if I can’t have them with you.”

“What’s your 5-year plan look like?” he asks abruptly like he wants to start having kids tomorrow.

“I don’t have one. But I’ve always dreamed of just being a stay-at-home mom and making art on the side. Maybe even babysitting a few other kids during the days… I don’t know. It always felt like a pipe dream before...”

“Before me?” He asks with a smile, proud and believing it. He really knows she loves him and it’s changed him for the better.

She nods, “you wouldn’t mind if I didn’t ever have a real job?”

“I think we’d be okay as a single income family, I make enough to support the apartment bills as well as groceries, then your income can for things you and the kids want. I’m good paying for everything else.”

She smiles, “you just said the kids.”

He’s giddy with excitement as he nods, “I want forever with you.”

“Okay,” she whispers, leaning in to press her lips against his gently like he could break.

He was so special and perfect to her. Even with the scratches and dings in his paint, he was a collector's item, a one-of-a-kind, never-made again, kind of man who she was really happy she found.

taglist: @g0lden-cth @doctorspenceryeet @samuel-de-champagne-problems @reiding-recs @ssavanessa22 @spookyspence @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria@reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @jswessie187 @k-k0129 @calm-and-doctor

[smolstarthief]

Persona 5/Persona 5 Strikers: Pro-Police or Anti-Police?

Hoo boy... So this honestly has been a LONG time coming on my end because I have seen so much of that debate on social media (Twitter namely) and I can see the points of BOTH sides but there have been moments where it just got out of hand... Especially whenever people tried to put in a more grey/nuanced take only to be slammed and taken out of context. Even repeatedly mentioning the interrogation at the beginning of P5 which, I will admit has gotten tiresome. At least for me, I do still feel for Joker and I wished the game acknowledged his trauma more but there's a thing called, "beating a dead horse" and this is one along with "Haru says ACAB" in Strikers (which was done THREE TIMES in the same arc and it got annoying fast, like shut up already! We get it!). So, let's dive in a little bit:

MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!

Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal

Now let me just say I know! Police in Japan are just as bad if not worse than the West and I STILL hate the idea of Makoto wanting to become a cop for such naive reasons (especially with what happened to Sae, her own sister!)... But there are at least some of form of nuances sometimes and by that I mean, I can see what they were trying to do? I do agree that P5/P5S backpedaled SEVERELY by deciding to sweep issues under the rug after addressing them and not continuing from such. In fact I feel like it could have been a hell of a lot better. But P5 did something different compared to previous games and addresses the issues DIRECTLY right at the beginning of said game! It was tense and horrifying, but needed. Of course... They then sweep it under the rug and act like nothing traumatic happened to our protag which is NOT a good look at all and I'm still pissed off about it. In the main game's case, it's portrayed as more black and white with only a SMALL amount of nuance like that cop that was trying to help Futaba when she went out by herself and got lost (which people ignore entirely by the way). So I CAN see where people got the "anti-police" message from... But that's only the tip of the iceberg as it's ACTUALLY more about Systematic Corruption, not exactly or JUST police corruption. Namely in politics with Shido and the Conspiracy (which is apparently still somewhat around in Strikers until Owada's downfall) controlling everything all the way to law enforcement. The force had been basically under his payroll (including the corrupt SIU Director before his death) whether by force or not (mostly not in this case though). Now honestly, the police depicted there are undoubtedly rotten to the core save for a VERY SMALL handful (the cop that was trying to help Futaba which, again, gets ignored by several). Look at the interrogators who ruthlessly beat and drug a minor without any second thought or remorse for example. But again, the black and white narrative the game kept unwittingly doing ended up being to its detriment in a way. I'm not defending those assholes AT ALL! They deserved every punishment given to them! But for a game that goes on about grey morality... It doesn't quite deliver on that. Still though, it does emphasize that it's more of the fault of the whole corrupt system, not just one part of it. There needs to be change and reform which is what our MCs were trying to do in a way (more like inspiring change but still). In the end, it's all about the following:

Corruption and abuse of power.

Again the police depicted in this game were incompetent at best, corrupt at worse with very few silver linings. But it's not just them but rather the one person responsible for the whole mess. Who had them under his payroll? Who controlled them and by extension all of Tokyo? Who was willing to dispose of anyone who "outlives their usefulness" or is perceived as a threat to what he wants (including his own family)?

SHIDO AND BY EXTENSION THE CONSPIRACY

Bottom line: They are definitely a problem but it's not just them.

"But, Joker and his trauma?"

I definitely understand that and still do. I fully believe he has and still has trauma with the police. Easy! But... I do feel like people go too far with it sometimes. It's hard to explain but there have been moments where people either use it as a justification/argument against someone trying to provide a more nuanced view of things or... Dare I say, depict him like a "uwu soft traumatized boi." Like I said, it's hard to explain on my end so feel free to ignore it. Everyone deals with trauma differently so there is STRONG chance that I'm overanalyzing it. I just remember moments where I just feel a little, I guess annoyed? I'm not sure exactly but final thing: I understand what he went through and I can't imagine how long it would take to recover but I hope he DOES overcome it.

"Sae? Akechi?"

Yep, even though their jobs are different, they are by and large members of law enforcement no matter how you spin it. Both were broken in a way. Akechi is pretty easy to explain with how Shido negatively impacted his life but not much about Sae, who dealt with sexism/misogyny at her workplace along with the trauma of her father's (also a cop) death. She no doubt had some idealism only to be hit with the fact that she's gonna have to use underhanded/downright illegal tactics to get by and even rise up the ranks. She, therefore ended up (well, nearly) corrupted herself before coming to her senses. That's honestly one of the BIGGEST REASONS why I felt like Makoto joining the force to become a police commissioner isn't a good, even a downright naïve, idea. I honestly would have been somewhat fine with it if it weren't for that fact among other things. Regardless of her willpower, it will go south fast.

Now... Onto Strikers!

Persona 5 Strikers

Since the game came out and I started playing it, I still feel like the system is still beyond saving, especially when attempting to do it from the inside. But I don't mind the added nuances that P5 didn't do much of. It's still continuing the critiques, just shows more of what does happen within said system and even has an ACTUAL officer (Zenkichi) say, "Yeah, my job sucks, everyone's corrupt, there are much better ways to do things and make a change but not this. I'm only staying because I have a daughter to take care of and it's all I know. I'm no different from them." Was it all handled well? I wouldn't say "yes" (Joker's trauma is BARELY addressed at all of course) but a little better than what P5's narrative did which only addressed the issues but not exactly follow up on them. Now to be fair... In the system, regardless of where you live, any one within it who remotely tries to do something or speak against it either lose their jobs or even go "missing" irl. Those have happened and it's more proof that yeah, it's rotten to the core. There's no denying it but regardless, that's NOT what the game is about at all. At least that's what I feel about it as it's only PART of the narrative. I think Zenkichi puts it best here:

Speaking of Zenkichi... Oh boy... Now I definitely understand some of the criticisms with him but honestly, he was the best written (PT) character I've ever encountered! He was honestly the perfect representation of those that genuinely want to help and do good, only to be held back by an extremely harsh reality. It was already hinted at with Sae but here? It 100 percent confirms just how harsh and even cutthroat it can be if it could break someone's idealism so badly. Even Kaburagi of all people thinks the same thing Zenkichi said:

Then there's his past and it's a tragic one! But let's look more at the decisions he ended up making:

While it was no doubt done to protect his daughter, he ended making a selfish decision along with a selfless one (which was brilliant!) with not only allowing the cover up of his wife's death and denying justice for her, but also ruining an innocent person and their family's lives.

It's horrible, but also... There's a grey area/nuance as with the rest of his character. It was both understandable, but also wrong as he, as Akane's Shadow puts it:

He sacrificed his values, his morals, all for the sake of having a peace of mind. Speaking of Akane, she's also an interesting case in a way that she more or less perfectly represents the more "black and white" views on justice in general. Namely the more toxic/biased kind. Her reasons are also understandable but she was also acting selfishly by only focusing on how SHE was effected by Aoi's death and not even considering those that were also grieving her death and/or that people grieve/handle grief differently than her. But back on topic.

Her own views and beliefs that law enforcement basically SHOULD be dismantled (mostly out of said childish bias and black & white views) and it's framed as WRONG and it's very much correct on that. Chaos and order are two sides of the same coin, one can't exist without the other. When I say ACAB, I'm calling for reform, defund, have the corrupt held accountable for EVERYTHING and even face jail time for their crimes! Defund the police, have the ones that arrest, harm, and even murder out of bias (race, gender, etc.), lose their badges/jobs and locked up, make improvements! It's saying that there IS still corruption out there and there's no denying it. But fully eliminating the law in general will just lead to more problems. Now granted, she's young and clearly doesn't fully understand why those views are ultimately wrong but still... It was a very interesting subject to tackle and I feel like they handled it well.

Now back to Zenkichi, he was at first in denial about his decisions ultimately being the wrong ones too and even tries to justify it. Of course, his Shadow said otherwise and that was when he finally admitted that he really did act no different from the criminals he despised. But it also doesn't mean he can't redeem himself and that's what ultimately leads to his new resolve:

That right there along with everything else! There's the nuance! And ultimately despite some hiccups, Strikers handled the grey morality and nuance beautifully! Especially regarding law enforcement! Dare I say, even better than the base game! It continues the critiques with no problem but also showing different sides and areas of it! There is good and evil, but what about in-between? What about the more greyer area? It still says that there IS corruption, sometimes even beyond saving but... Sometimes a small silver lining is hidden somewhere.

Now, the ultimate question:

Is P5 & P5S (namely the latter) Pro-Police or Anti-Police?

Personally, my answer is this: Neither.

Why? What theme do they both have in common?

JUSTICE

Someone puts it best on Twitter that the games are more pro-justice and I fully agree!

P5/P5S gives the idea about following your OWN justice, your OWN moral code and rules, paving your OWN path and not let others dictate it! That's what the MCs ultimately start to learn in both games. Therefore it's pro-justice. Again, do I agree that the system is beyond saving? Yeah. Do I at least acknowledge and understand what the narratives are trying to say and nuances regardless even if I don't agree with some writing decisions (ex: Makoto wanting to become a commissioner despite everything)? Also yes. But at the same time, don't judge a book by its cover for other people (not just law enforcement and politics mind you). Especially some that genuinely DO want to help at best. That there is nuance and greyness, just have to look closely. Some of the MCs are still TERRIBLY written and executed (even annoying) but the message was still somewhat there.

Final Thoughts

Now I fully understand how you all feel of course! I still believe in ACAB and even I agree that maybe I'm one to talk and have a lot more to learn about the world... This is just my own attempt at putting my own two cents in. If you disagree, that's fine! This is just what I've felt should be at least talked about more often. And I tried to phrase it as best as I can without coming off as insensitive or ignorant and if I did, I sincerely apologize for that! I'm not trying to say, come off as a "bootlicker" or any of the sort. I'm just trying show discuss more of the grey areas and nuances that are, more often than not, constantly overlooked. How one interprets both games is ultimately up to them. You, the player. And this is my own interpretation. Simple as that. I hope you all have a good day/afternoon/evening!

[dylanobrienisbatman]

Omg give us ur rant abt hating d*rklina as a ship.. im petty

Okay Anon, so i saw this the other day and I wasn't in the right headspace to answer but i am now!

So to start off, I am firmly in the ship and let ship category. You like a ship, i don't care. That doesn't mean i won't rag on the ship itself but I don't send hate, I don't really engage with shippers from ships I don't like, and I am liberal with the block button and the blacklist feature. Cultivate your tumblr/online experience, y'all. You don't owe anyone on this hellsite (or any other) a damn thing.

However, I REALLY do hate d*rklina as a ship, and I have a big problem with the way the shippers talk about it, so I hope you were being serious about wanting a rant because here it goes.

As for the ship itself, i feel like the reasons I dislike it are pretty obvious and standard. It's abusive. He is her abuser. He manipulates her. He spends months grooming her and gaslighting her, intentionally trying to get her under his control so that when he literally enslaves her it will go over easier. He never actually loved her, he wanted to use her for her power. It's not complicated, it's not really 'up for debate', that is the way its written, and the author has explained that that was the intended interpretation of her work. I mean he literally sexually assaults her in the second book, and straight up tells her he's going to kill everyone she loves so that she has no choice but to fall to him because she is completely alone in the world. He threatens to skin her alive in the second book when they're on the boat, he has no problem torturing her to get Mal to do what he wants. That's not love. He does not love her. It's pretty black and white, its explicitly written as an abusive relationship. The point was to show how easily powerful men can manipulate and abuse young naive women who don't know any better and try to see the best in people. Alina 'fell' for the version of Darkles Sparkles that he intentionally created to try to control her. Nothing he told her was true, from his backstory, to them both being 'the only one like [each other]' (hello, baghra), to using Genya to convince Alina that Mal had abandoned her, everything he did was manipulation so that he could get her under his control. It is not a romance, it is not 'a ship war', d*rklina is not written as romantic. He is her abuser. Full stop.

There is also the point about him being just a generally horrible person all around. He's not morally grey. He just isn't. He sold an 11 year old into sex slavery, forced her to stay in that situation so he could use her, and then mutilated her when she defied him. He also groomed and abused Zoya, because he saw that she was exceptionally powerful and wanted to use her the way he wanted to use Alina. He enslaved Alina. He blinded and mutilated his own mother. He is a genocidal maniac. He shows no remorse, he doesn't care about anyone but himself and his own power. He is not the type of character that should be romantically shipped with anyone. If you like him, that's absolutely fine! One of my fave characters ever is Kai Parker from TVD. Dude was a straight up psychopath. He tried to kill multiple pairs of toddlers. He brutally murdered his pregnant sister AT HER WEDDING. He is a HORRIBLE person. But I think he's a brilliant character. But do I think he's a good guy, do I want him anywhere near any characters in that show in a romantic way (ehem b*nkai)? Absolutely fucking not. Being a fan of a villain character is fine, but fucking own that shit. Villains can be SUCH good characters, but they're still villains. Erasing the bad they've done so you can justify putting them in situations where they WILL harm the people around them because you can't level with yourself about the bad things they've done doesn't make you 'woke', it just makes you look like you don't understand the media you're consuming.

Which leads me to why I have such a problem with the way D*rklina shippers engage with the ship. They simultaneously wanna say "oh we know it's toxic/bad/abusive/etc., that's why we like it!" and then also they try to claim that it should be endgame, they romanticize scenes where he is abusing her (and by romanticize I mean they literally try to frame his abuse as romantic, not like "oh yeah my ship is interacting!!". those are different things. You can be excited about ship interactions without trying to say that things he is doing to her are actually romantic), they try to argue that he is morally grey/misunderstood/etc., and they straight up try to lie and say he's not her abuser.

If you wanna ship an abusive ship, own it. Be straight up about why you like it. It's okay to be into dark shit, y'all. It does NOT make you a bad person to be into dark shit. But this idea that fiction doesn't impact real life, and that people can't call the ship out for what it is is a problem is a very troubling trend in fandom. Nobody is saying you can't ship it, do what you want. But this idea that these people are 'oppressed' because fans of the show/book continue to point out the facts about the way the story was written and how the relationship is actually presented is fucking insane. Someone saying that D*rklina is abusive is not calling you out, they are stating a fact. It's the story as it was presented. You trying to say it's not makes it look like you have no reading comprehension. And this idea that 'well i'll be on the lookout for evil shadow wizards in real life lol' is such horse shit too. His shadow wizard powers aren't the issue. He is a powerful man who grooms and abuses young women. You're telling me you lived through the Me Too movement and you wanna act like thats not a real threat that young women face every day? You're telling me that you can't see that the actual real life connection you're supposed to be making here? Okay, well you should maybe deal with that and come back to me, because that's an issue.

Fiction is meant to teach us lessons. Darkles is meant to teach us something. He is meant to show us that sometimes, powerful men lie to, manipulate, groom, and abuse young women, and we should be aware of that. The story is about a young woman who is sucked into an abusive situation, and then she breaks free and in the end she is able to defeat her abuser. That is a really powerful story, and one that millions of real life women can relate too. To pretend that that story doesn't have real life connections makes you look insensitive and frankly, kind of cruel.

So basically, in the end, my biggest issue is that D*rklina shippers love to spout this nonsense about 'knowing' it's bad and that he's a villain, and 'that's why they like him', and then turn around and try to say that he's not actually the villain, he's not actually bad, and the things he does to Alina that are abuse are actually romantic and sweet. You wanna ship an abusive ship, you do you, but lets not pretend it's anything other than what it is, but romanticizing and normalizing abuse tactics so you can feel, what? morally superior? Cool? edgy and different? That has real life impacts. You are normalizing abuse. Real people will engage with that rhetoric, and it will make it difficult for them to see abuse when it happens to them or the people around them because they believe its romantic or normal to be treated that way.

You wanna be a villain stan? You wanna ship dark ships? Good on ya, but fucking own your shit, y'all.

[wolveria]

Into the Twilight

Pairing: Link x Reader

Summary: It was one of the last full days of summer when you discovered your wolf… was not a wolf

Prompt: For the @bannedtogetherbingo2020​

Chapter Warnings: Explicit sexual content

Word Count: 2.8k

AO3

It was one of the last full days of summer when you discovered your wolf… was not a wolf.

You were headed down to the springs; it was hot, muggy, and the insects hung about your head in clouds. Not expecting to find anyone at your secret bathing spot, you paused at the sight of large, familiar wolf tracks in the mud. Only one beast could make tracks that large so close to the edge of the village.

Sure enough, you peered through the trees to find a hunched figure at the water, but… it was too small to be your wolf. Too naked and too human, you realized, as he rose to his feet.

Mortified at stumbling across someone during their bath, you nearly gave in to flight, but you paused. He was a stranger, someone you didn’t recognize, and his ears were pointed instead of round. How odd to find a Hylian here, of all places.

And he was beautiful. Even from this distance where you hid in the shadows, his golden skin and lean muscles were glistening in the sunlight. It was like something out of one of those romance books at Sera’s Sundries—not that you’d ever read them—and it made you feel even more like a pervert to just sit there and stare.

You couldn’t bring yourself to leave, either. Who was this mysterious Hylian? Where had he come from? Where were his clothes? You tried to spot them, anything to take your eyes off the golden-haired man as he slipped into the water, but you couldn’t see any fabric along the shore.

Deciding to confront him when he emerged, you waited him out, wiping irritably at the sweat on your forehead. The whine of dragonflies zipping across the water filled your ears, and you were resentful to the stranger for stealing your moment for a bath, no matter how pretty he might be.

Finally, the Hylian swam back to the shore and emerged onto land. Your face heated again at the sight of all that skin, and you attempted to keep your eyes down as you watched what he would do next.

Never could you have predicted him dropping onto all fours, spine arching and his fingers splayed across the ground as dark grey fur rippled across his growing body. A bushy tail sprouted, his limbs contorted into animal legs, and his head formed into the large wolf features you’d come to know so well over the past several months.

Your wolf… was a man.

Bath forgotten, you ran from the stream as fast as you could, unable to quell your panic until you’d returned home.

***

You had first met the wolf months earlier in the dead of winter. The woodland deer had been agitated, fleeing something in the forest, and it had been simple to follow the bright crimson trail of blood in the snow. Before long, you found a massive beast, one leg trapped in a cruel, metal vice meant to capture bears.

Trembling, eyes wide with fear, the wolf had allowed you to approach, and pull the pin on the hinge to release it. The wolf had taken off after that, only to return a few days later, weak and barely alive. It—he was starving, unable to hunt with a leg that was clearly broken.

You’d treated his wounds, fed him from your own meager food supply, and from that day forth he was more like a friend than a pet. You’d always suspected there was more going on behind those intelligent blue eyes—but you’d had no idea it was this.

Life went on as usual after your earth-shattering discovery at the spring. You talked to him like you always did, paying more attention now that you suspected he could understand. You didn’t know much about shapeshifters, just that they were the stuff of myth and legends, but here he was, real and true. You probably should have suspected something; what kind of wolf had such ornate fur with jewelry on his ears?

If the wolf understood you, he played ignorant and acted the part of a beast, albeit a clever one. He kept the brown bears from encroaching onto your small farm and never bothered your chickens or cats. But he kept his true nature to himself, and your curiosity grew with each day, stifled in frustration the longer he continued the charade.

One particularly hot, muggy day as you were toiling in the garden, dirty and knee-deep in rice paddy water, your patience snapped.

“I know you’re not just a wolf!”

His head perked up from where he was resting, ears forward as he looked at you.

“And I know you can understand me!” you fumed. “Why won’t you show me what you really are!”

Those blue eyes stared right through you, far away and haunted in the way only a person’s could be. Then he looked away, rose to his paws and took off, across the field and into the forest faster than you could follow.

Defeated and mournful with the certainty he wouldn’t come back, you cleaned up and went inside to get ready for an early bed. The sun was nearly set and you wouldn’t get anything else done the rest of the day.

But sleep wouldn’t come easy. As your old rickety barn house grew dark and the stars and moon climbed beyond the window, you tossed and turned, thin sheets tangled in sweaty limbs. Sighing irritably, you gave up the battle for sleep and stared blankly at the peaked roof over your head. It wasn’t long before your hand slipped beneath the waistband of your shorts, warmth blooming in anticipation.

Sometimes, on sleepless nights like these, it was the only way to find solace. You’d been alone for most of your life, and while there were a few attractive people in the village, no one drew your eye. No one, that is, until a few days earlier.

As you began to rub yourself, slowly at first, you pictured him perfectly in your mind. Shaggy dark blond hair, pale golden skin, and those eyes. Even in the distance you recognized the shade of blue, identical whether he was a man or a beast.

Was it wrong to have these thoughts? Did it truly matter? No one had to know. It was your secret to imagine those strong limbs wrapping around you, pulling you close as his hot mouth traced over your skin. What would that feel like? Warm and wet, with teeth a little too sharp—

You groaned as quietly as you could, spreading your knees and pressing your fingers deeper inside yourself, pretending it was him. The man whose name you didn’t know, wearing wolf’s clothing.

You didn’t know why you opened your eyes; a shift in the air, a creaking floorboard, or perhaps the quiet huff of a breath. But when you did open them, there were glittering eyes staring back at you from the foot of the bed.

You jerked your hand out of your shorts with a yelp and scrambled back on your elbows. The wolf continued to stare at you, dark and silent, and the hairs on your nape stood upright. Now you understood what it felt like to be a rabbit caught in a predator’s gaze, limbs frozen in terror.

With graceful silence, the wolf jumped onto your low-frame bed. He was so large you had to draw up your legs, and you moved as far away from him as you could, pressing your back to the stone wall.

Moonlight streamed in from the window above your bed, highlighting the white of his fur until it almost glowed. And then it did glow, shifting and shrinking until it was dark blond hair that was faintly illuminated by the light.

You couldn’t breathe or move. His expression was much more intense at such a close distance. His hair was unkempt, lips pulled thin as he watched you intently with blue eyes that hadn’t changed.

He crept toward you on all fours, movements cautious as he sniffed at your bent knee. You twitched when he licked your skin, the touch sending a ticklish jolt down your leg, leaving warmth in its wake. It wasn’t the only area that grew warmer.

His expression shifted into something darker as he leaned forward. He grabbed your hand, his movements clumsy as if from disuse, and he brought your fingers to his lips. It wasn’t until his tongue darted out and he licked the tips that you realized it was the same hand you’d used to touch yourself.

Face on fire, you tried to pull away, but his grip was unyielding. His tongue was as warm and wet as you’d imagined, his pupils blown as he slipped one of your fingers into his mouth. He sat back on his haunches, a soft moan escaping his throat, and you were suddenly reminded of his lack of clothes. The moonlight illuminated the smooth muscles of his chest and abdomen, and the erect, flushed cock hanging heavy between his legs.

Simultaneously, you tried to pull back your hand and press your thighs together, a poor attempt to hide your uncomfortable arousal. His dazed expression was replaced by a sharp, hungry one. He released your hand, pushed open your legs, and lowered himself to nose at the seam of your crotch.

You let out a harsh noise and tried to back away again, but there was nowhere to retreat and his hands were iron on your hips. He nosed and licked through the threadbare fabric of your shorts, slow at first as if you were a meal he wanted to savor, then more desperate as if he were starved.

The overwhelming need to be touched made you helpless as you rolled your hips against his mouth, fisting the sheets as part of you wanted to pull away and the other part sought more friction. The fabric of your shorts and underwear were quickly soaked from both of your efforts, and when he growled and grabbed your waistband in his teeth, you didn’t stop him as he tore them off.

Burying his head back between your legs, he wasted no time in hungrily licking stripes along your sensitive skin, groaning deep in his throat as if you were the best thing he’d ever tasted. He took you into his mouth, sucking and licking with almost clumsy enthusiasm.

You arched your back and dug your fingers into his shaggy, soft hair, too overwhelmed to question the morality of it all. He felt so good, and you were so lonely. Judging by his desperation, he was the same.

The pleasure in your gut built unbelievably fast, and you didn’t have time to warn him as your muscles clenched and electrifying pleasure shot up your body. You cried out, gripping his hair tightly as you throbbed in waves, every inch of your skin tingling as he sucked and licked you through your orgasm.

You gasped, oversensitive, and gently pulled him off of you. He frowned and his brows creased in disappointment, but his expression quickly changed to surprise as you pulled him up, fully on top of you.

He inhaled sharply when you drew him forward, hand on either side of his face, and pressed your lips against his. Relaxing into your grip, he quickly got the idea, opening his mouth and returning the gesture hungrily. He didn’t seem to know how to kiss properly, licking into your mouth more than anything, but you weren’t about to complain.

You broke apart when you had to gasp for air, heart pounding as something hard and hot poked against your thigh. He buried his face in your neck as if suddenly shy, but that didn’t stop him from darting out his tongue and licking your neck.

The skin of his back was smooth under your hands, your need to feel every inch of him like a physical ache, and it wasn’t longer than half a minute before he was panting and shivering, a low whine in his throat.

Slipping down between your hips, you grasped him in hand, savoring the way he groaned and rolled his hips, frustrated and wet as copious amounts of pre-cum leaked from the head. You guided him down until he was rubbing his length against you, the strength of his muscles taut. He was holding back, but just barely.

“It’s okay,” you said softly, lips pressed against one pointed ear. “It’s okay.”

His grip was tight enough to bruise as he grabbed your hips and pulled you down the bed so you were flat against the thin mattress. The head of his cock prodded against your entrance as he lined himself up, and then he pushed in. You were already slick from his mouth against you earlier, but it was still more than you were prepared for. You threw your head back, mouth open as you choked for breath, and he took advantage to lay kisses and licks all along your throat.

He was halfway inside when he slowly pulled out, giving you a few seconds to breathe before he pushed back in, sheathing all the way inside until his hips struck yours.

Nails digging into his back, you tried, and failed, to not whimper at the sudden, overwhelming fullness. He distracted you with soft touches and warm licks, tender and affectionate in a way you’d never experienced from anyone. There was only you and him, and when he began to roll his hips in long, slow thrusts, the pleasure blotted everything else out until there was only him.

He gradually picked up his pace, his moans and whimpers beautiful, and you wrapped your thighs around his waist in an attempt to get closer. You drew his lips back to yours, kissing him sloppy and open-mouthed, and like day to night, the gentleness became hard and desperate. He gripped you tight, slamming against your hips as he sucked and nipped at your throat. The bed rattled and shook under you from the force of his thrusts, and some distant part of you wondered if the bed would break.

No longer able to remain quiet, you cried out sharply as he repeatedly hit the deep, sensitive place inside you could never reach, and with a hoarse yell you came without warning.

He growled, losing his rhythm, and he bit down into your shoulder hard enough to draw blood. The pleasure whited out most of your senses until you were nothing but a writhing, crying mess. With a choked cry of his own, he pushed in as far as he could go, a warm, throbbing pulse following as he spilled deep inside you. He lay limp for a moment, then made to get off of you, but you held him tightly.

He allowed you to pull him back down on you, and you ran your fingers through his surprisingly soft hair. His trembling eventually stopped. He relaxed, his uneven breaths finally slowing, and he tentatively licked at the bleeding mark on your shoulder.

You buried the side of your face in his hair and continued to pet him. He hummed deep in his chest. You both remained that way for a while, floating in contentment, though you couldn’t stay like that forever. His seed was leaking out of you, and that knowledge was far more appealing than was proper.

Perhaps this is the person you’d always been, and it had taken a romp with a shapeshifter for you to realize it.

Eventually, he pushed himself up; you reluctantly let him go, but he only rolled onto his side to face you. You felt empty without him, another thought that sent fire to your cheeks, but he didn’t seem to be planning on going far. His expression was gentle and warm as he watched you, and you couldn’t stop yourself from reaching out to pet his chest.

His eyelids shut halfway, a small smile on his lips as he moved a little closer, sharing your warmth. The night had turned colder, and you could smell the faint hint of autumn in the chilled air. Come winter, the forest would be coated with snow and it would be difficult to forage for food. You feared for him, out there alone, able to recall all too well when he’d been injured and starved.

“Stay.”

You reached up your hand and stroked his warm cheek. He leaned into it, closing his eyes, long dark lashes lying against his skin.

“Like this. With me.”

He opened his eyes and gave you a questioning look. Did he know what you were really asking? To stay for more than just one night?

“Can you… talk?”

He blinked, sharp brows furrowed.

“…Yes.”

His voice was barely above a broken rasp, but it was there. Your expression softened and you asked, “What’s your name?”

His lips parted, large eyes vulnerable and searching yours for something. An answer? Reassurance? What was it he feared?

He curled his hand around yours and pulled it down until it was over his heart.

“Link,” he said. “My name is Link.”

[volfoss]

I'd love to hear you rant in depth abt what fanons done to Bruno Bucci because this man has been done so dirty like, ppl ignore he is Goddamn weird & definitely willing to punch a teenager no holds barred

ok i rly rly apologize for how long this might get and/or how incoherent it might get.

fanon bruno... god. the majority of the content is mommy bruno and god, it sucks. and people also acting like? hes not morally grey. im gonna split this into paragraphs for each thing because i KNOW how heated i get abt mommy bruno so i dont want it to be a wall of text <3

the fucking mommy bruno people... as someone who has talked w someone who firmly believes in that and when asked had NO reasoning for what made him quote mommy unquote, i think thats how a lot of the mommy bruno truthers are. i know ive mentioned it before but i feel the only scenes that they really can point to as wow omg bruno mom moment are: boat scene, and how he "rescues his kids" (which 😒 we will get into prommy). so boat scene, where after like getting his ass handed to him, hes glad that the people around him that he's close to still have his back. and on the other point, lets go thru how each person joined Passione/Team Bucciarati. Fugo- dont have a ton of info, but was not by any means "adopted" by Bruno, in the anime specifically warns him hey i could snap and kill you and bruno is just like ok :). Narancia- bruno EXPLICITLY threatened him and was like hey dont join and narancia went against that. abbacchio- had a ton of trauma and joined (anime added a lot more into the backstory than the manga did, but again it really just touches on brunos savior complex that brunos own backstory did and how he tends to put others first often to a detriment for himself) mista- literally was just bruno getting him out of jail. none of these make him a woman or mother or even matronly figure. people really just kind of? act as if this guy caring about the people around him automatically equals mother (imo bc they cannot grasp the concept of a man rly caring about people around him or just how they make him and abbacchios relationship fit into the hetero boxes). like i think people that are out here being like woahhh mommy bruno forget he has done fucked up stuff (including fighting a kid (and tbh the entire giorno subway scene) and just how he is like not just some perfect little angel.

speaking of those scenes- he is in a mafia, he has tortured people but he is also a caring person. that can coexist. araki rly did well w part 5 writing characters that are more morally gray (and bruno is an EXCELLENT example of that). he doesnt have to fit into the boxes of good and bad because the setting and how part 5 is constructed doesn't let him neatly fit into either of those. hes a complex character and i think a lot of fanon really just takes that away because wow hes a nice guy sometimes and cant do ANYTHING wrong... like its idk to me at least its obvious that the character CAN both do morally questionable things and not be a villain.

also fucking sick and tired of how people act like they understand him when its literally just surface level understanding... anyways go watch il postino and perceive him

[daliaswhisper]

why every single zodiac sign sucks + 1 redeeming quality

Aries:

- never met an intelligent Aries ngl

- very childish, even their humor is like that of a 12 year old

- even the more reserved Aries people I know have a bit of a temper

- nothing revolutionary has ever been said by an Aries, I'm sorry

- overall I don't have much to critique, I think you guys are pretty neat and I admire your drive

Taurus:

- how does it feel to be the boring mom friend?

- there's that stereotype that Taurus people only ever eat and sleep and it's 100% true

- surprisingly manipulative and gets away with it

- no protagonist ever is a Taurus and there's a reason for that

- never met a Taurus that isn't hot though

Gemini:

- member of the "no backbone" - club

- a whole other level of insecurities beyond that veil of confidence

- irresponsible, better not depend on them for projects of any kind

- wants to be liked by everyone too badly

- witty and charismatic

Cancer:

- whiny as fuck but what else is new

- too much of a backbone if that's possible?

- anger issues

- cancer men tend to be very manipulative

- I have a weakness for cancer tbh, I just think they're cute even though they're exhausting

Leo:

- attention whores but what else is new

- where do you all get your inferiority complex from, genuinely curious

- you were the bullies in highschool, don't lie to me

- they tend to become even more obnoxious as they age somehow

- surprisingly perceptive??

Virgo:

- I have never met a Virgo that isn't this 👌 close to an emotional breakdown at all times

- they're either straight up hoes or have a stick up their ass (sometimes they manage to be both)

- unless you're Beyoncé none of you have achieved enough to justify that subtle belittling tone you got going on at all times

- most likely to get killed first in a horror setting

- I love to drag them but I actually think Virgos are on of the best signs. They are self aware enough to know they got issues.

Libra:

- another loyal member of the "no backbone" - club

- do they ever shut up

- have never met a Libra (especially female ones) that isn't completely batshit

- they have the highest standards for other people but they themselves cannot do the bare minimum

- adaptable and charming

Scorpio:

- you guys are surprisingly shallow, I don't really get the "deep and secretive" - reputation

- vengeful as shit, they actually cannot let go of anything ever

- most Scorpios I have met feel misunderstood but the truth is that you're just unlikable my dude

- my theory is that you are unable to properly communicate so you fuck instead

- loyal to the core and I can respect that

Sagittarius:

- they are like Tyrion in terms of personality but without the intelligence and the wit (which only leaves alcoholism)

- most likely to choke on their own spit

- very superficial kind of intelligent

- a sagittarius that faces their problems? doesn't exit

- hilarious but at what cost

Capricorn:

- You guys are so bland that I am struggling to come up with anything at all

- you're described as this Mr Darcy like persona when in reality you're Catherine DeBourgh

- invented the term "morally grey"

- if Voldemort were a sign he'd be a Capricorn, change my mind

- good work ethic and I respect that

Aquarius:

- so obsessed with their identity, I'm lowkey convinced it's because you guys have no personality and forcibly need to create one

- make shitty romantic partners

- unnecessarily reckless

- emotional intelligence below 0

- idk your existence just amuses me and you make the best of friends

Pisces:

- I'm sorry but you guys are the actual worst

- every single one of you needs therapy

- they manage to simultaneously be sensitive but also emotionally numb

- president of the "no backbone" - club

- they're great for deep conversations

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS | CHAPTER 3

Rating: Explicit.

‼️TW: Reader is EIGHTEEN! Recreational drug use, smoking and alcohol consumption, deeply internalised self-loathing, very questionable moral standards. Daddy kink taken half-seriously. BDSM themes in later chapters - explicit content will come with it’s own TWs. FIRST PERSON POV.

Summary: You’re Peter’s classmate, a child of rich and famous but uncaring parents. Getting paired up for a lengthy project with the boy was an interesting turn of events and you don’t know whether to feel blessed or cursed when you develop, seemingly, a perfectly normal, harmless crush on Tony Stark. Fueled by feelings of inadequacy and boredom, your life spirals out of control - and you’re lucky your newfound friends are there to pick up the pieces even if you cannot find it in yourself to believe these amazing human (and not so human) beings voluntarily give you more than a fleeting glance and an offhanded thought. And they brought cake!

A/N: Peter always unapologetically stealing all the uwus. It’s the MCU law, sorry, didn’t make it. Tony Stark can ✨rail me✨. Enjoy, deviants.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub @mostly-marvel-musings​ @vozit​ @littlegasps​ @pilloclock​ @shereadsinquiet​

Beta read by the lovely and patient @miscmarvelwritings ! She deserves THE WORLD! I’m not kidding. Please visit her and show her some love, my homegirl is stressed 💖✨

I didn’t see Bruce nor Tony for a week. The doctor was away on some science conference (he sent me one dorky selfie next to a whiteboard full of barely intelligible equations as proof), Tony was in California, having some sort of a board meeting. How do I know? Peter, out of lack of better things to do, constantly texted me updates on his science patron’s whereabouts and what-abouts.

In times like these, it took me for a loop - I was on a first name basis with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. In the beginning, I was intimidated - I avoided them both like the plague and tinkered in the lab with headphones on whenever I could, until Tony made a comment so snarky I couldn’t resist joking back. That’s not to say Bruce was a social butterfly, but even he gave into my tomfoolery after seeing me stand calmly throughout several of Tony’s hissy fits.

What amazed me even more so was that despite Tony being literally an insufferable little brat, I still longed after him. Sure, the man was hot as hell - but his physical traits were much less significant when it came to my feelings towards him than the amount of sheer drive and willpower he possessed. He was stubborn - that’s another trait we shared - and unapologetically himself in every damn situation.

I could write poetry about the million expressions in his face, about the shine in his eyes.

But I won’t. He’s a technical guru. Ever since I started hanging around the tower, I became much more conscious about what I posted online. Not to say I had a Stark fan blog or anything, but I’d stopped scrolling through the tag, even if I didn’t actually click on any articles. I dutifully reblogged pictures of Tom Ellis instead - while he was a very fine, distinguished man, he wasn’t Tony Stark. I enjoyed looking at the first and enjoyed being around the other. And even though my feed still had the occasional “I love arm” shitpost, I focused on aesthetic pictures and quotes instead - things I had an active internet presence for.

My personal life wasn’t very interesting. I didn’t have any close friends and any and all sex I’ve had was just a bunch of one night stands, fueled by alcohol, selfish lust and the occasional joint. Despite having a fair share of kind, generous lovers, the morning after left me feeling a little bit emptier every time. I thought about getting a boyfriend or something… But quickly became totally clueless as to where I could find one. Men under twenty-five could barely hold my interest long enough to have a casual chat and I wasn’t naive enough to think there were a lot of honest, well-intentioned thirty-somethings that wanted to date my high school ass.

Peter had a crush on me, I knew that. The boy developed one or another kind of feelings for anybody who showed him the tiniest bit of kindness and it alarmed me. In any other case I would have bailed on him, gently, of course, to spare him the disappointment but my selfishness got in the way. I regretted it every day. A wave of desperation rose in me every time I thought about moving on without seeing Tony or Bruce, without Peter shyly smiling at me as he explained how the things he created worked. A faint hope that one day, his schoolboy puppy love will grow into a brotherly kind of regard was the only thing that kept me afloat in my sea of guilt.

As the Fall rolled around, so did my gloomy mood. It was hard to be sad when the sun was shining and the birds were chirping outside, but with clouds hanging over the city like a lead curtain, the bottled up negativity rose to the surface uninvited. Mother had returned from her business trip, adding an uncomfortable, hollow sort of chill to the house wherever she stood. I don’t know what was worse - the hours we spent in one room ignoring each other or the immaculately structured questions she asked me about my studies and extra-curriculars. Mother didn’t ask me about my friends, or my feelings or any of the other things a mother was supposed to give a damn about.

I was an asset to her company and that was that. If you would have asked her, she would tell you I’m old enough for her to mind her own business - which was technically true. Yet according to her, I’ve been old enough since seventh grade. My dad answered his messages sporadically, sometimes with a two-word answer and sometimes with a cocaine and booze fueled rant eleven texts long. I felt sorry for him. I really did.

My phone was blowing up. Party invitations, likes from people I saw once or twice (“oh my god, you’re, like, so hot, what’s your Insta”), DMs from guys looking to score an easy piece of ass. I never answered. If I wanted to party, I just sort of showed up and everybody went along with it. I took care of my appearance and it showed - never once was I turned away from a party. Everyone wanted to dance, to share their drinks, to light up and get faded together and fade into the city, into the cold air and grey sky.

Skirt swaying and top clinging to my chest, I danced. The sweaty, heated bodies around me did the same. Not one of us cared, it was a Tuesday night and the place packed way too many people. An arm snaked around my waist, startling me. I had to begrudgingly crack open an eye to see the bastard in the dimly lit room.

“I saw you at the bar, you looked bored. Maybe you need something to cheer you up?”

So not a creepy rapist. Just your friendly neighborhood drug dealer. At house parties like these, there was always The Guy. He never danced, he sipped on the same drink all night yet always looked like he was having the time of his life. I was no stranger to the occasional joint, or even something more stimulating…

“I got the good stuff, sweetums, you’ll be fine and dandy in no time.”

Eh, what the hell. I inconspicuously danced with the guy to the middle of the crowd, exchanging a few crumpled dollar notes for a baggie of two pills. In no time, I chased one down with a hastily poured Jack.

The world did become better, as the drug dealer promised. People were nicer, friendlier and I almost didn’t believe mother was a useless, stone cold bitch. I almost didn’t care that I was deeply, madly in love with a man as unreachable as Olympus. If I squinted, the guy sitting at the bar looked kind of like Tony, tan, dark hair, worn jeans and a band tee.

So I danced. I danced and I stared right at him and then we danced some more. I closed my eyes, letting his arms grab me and pull me, I let his beard scratch my neck where he sucked a mark on me, I let his rough palms choke me against a wall in one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the house. It felt good to be wanted. It felt great to be needed as he rutted inside of me, hitting that sweet spot with every twitch of his hips.

It felt lonely when he left, pressing a kiss to my forehead and saying something dumb like “Be good, kid.”. I don’t remember what exactly it was, only that I had to turn my face away from his breath that reeked like weed and vodka.

To shake off the void that made home inside of my chest, I went to the roof to get some fresh air. The house had a nice patio on it - I actually knew the owner - that hosted more plants than I’d care to count. There was an ashtray and an abandoned pack of cigarettes. I greeted the faintly blooming sunrise surrounded by a cloud of smoke, shivering in the autumn mist.

Sounds of the party became less prominent with every passing minute as people geared up to go home and get a few winks of sleep before going to work. New Yorkers weren’t really thoughtful partying on a Tuesday, but then again, neither was I. The city always was busy - even then, at the crack of dawn, the dull throb of a bassline was rudely interrupted by a blaring car alarm followed by dogs barking in aggravation.

The more I sat there, the bleaker everything became. I had enough common sense to know I was just coming off the drug but for once, I had been happy and content for several hours without a care in the world. It had been too long since I felt that way and what’s a little low after a good high?

Mother left for her early conference at five AM sharp, I entered my house at five-thirty, making a beeline in the shower and immediately dumping my alcohol and cigarette soaked clothes into the wash with the smelliest detergent I could find. I gave similar treatment to my body and my hair, using the chemically-smelling products on my body and on my hair, brushing my teeth multiple times.

By the time I was leaving for school, only a faint smell lingered in the air where I’d previously entered, so I set the air freshener to automatically spray the obnoxious mist every ten minutes. Mother gets home at twelve for lunch, that should be more than enough time for any remnants of my partying to disappear into the lilac and lavender fumes.

The Valium I’d popped to deal with the aftermath of Molly made my brain sluggish. One look in the mirror and I hastily put my sunglasses on - the ashen colour of my face and the slightly crazed look wasn’t very complimentary to my complexion. The teacher didn’t give a damn. I stared blankly ahead of me for most part of first period.

“What happened to you? You look like hell!” Peter’s exclamation, while usually would’ve alarmed me, barely made a dent in my stupor.

“I feel like shit, too,” Admit what you can’t deny. Deny what you can’t admit. “I didn’t get any sleep. Like, at all.”

Peter frowned, the crease between his eyebrows growing deeper with every passing second. I flinched when his hand tentatively touched my forehead - the pounding in my temples slowed to a dull throbbing but it was still unpleasant when someone was all up in my space.

“Jesus, you’re as cold as a corpse. Maybe you should go see the nurse,” His worry bled into me too. Like hell I was going to the school nurse! They were specifically trained to recognize the signs of substance abuse.

“I’ll head home straight after school, I think we’ll have to skip our sciencing,” No way also I’d be letting Tony and Bruce see me like this. Oh my God, I was a mess. “Mother’s home.” I added. Even the emotional frostbite I’d get from being around her was more tolerable than being a downer for Peter and Tony.

Peter’s face immediately softened in sympathy. He knew almost everything about my relationship with my family, including him actually seeing my mother that one time. He told me she gave him the creeps and I don’t blame him at all. The stoicism that was required for her work made my mother an unbearable person to exist around outside of her fancy office on the top floor of a glass high-rise building.

“Okay, but promise to text me if it gets worse. You might have caught the autumn bug that’s been going around,” He obviously said the last part to calm himself down. Sweet little Peter, naïve child. I solemnly nodded nonetheless.

When I got home, I went straight to bed. Tony was being Tony, as usual, but in a strangely kind way. I suppose it should’ve made me feel better and it kind of did, but then it went downhill from there. I couldn’t explain why I started crying. I bawled my eyes out at how unfair this god-damned world was and when the doorbell rang… Let’s say, the delivery boy hightailed it out of there once the bag of takeout was deposited into my arms. I looked and felt ghastly.

I ate as much as I could and dropped into a restless nap, drifting in and out of sleep with exhausted exasperation. There had not been a time where I felt so low after popping a pill and I was equal parts alarmed and satisfied. For one, the drug dealer didn’t lie like they usually do - the stuff was good and I still had the other pill hidden away in a bottle of painkillers, inconspicuously mixed with other white pills but shape distinctive enough for me to recognize should I have need in taking it again.

The thought of well, taking it again, was fleeting. I had school tomorrow and a missed science bender to make up for. A few buzzes of my phone later, I felt happier. Better. Not so down anymore. I meant every word that I said - Bruce was very precious, kind and gentle. And so, warm and soft. And totally kissable.

Well, fuck. What do I do now?