#WRITING OUT THE MOST INSANE LOVE CONFESSION EVER NOT ONLY IN GENERAL COMPANY BUT WITH HER LICHERALLY STANDING NEXT TO U

[wulfhalls]

YOU PIERCE MY SOUL. I AM HALF AGONY, HALF HOPE.

[valenhell]

From the studio that brought you “I can’t find good Byler fics in the ao3 tag”, comes:

"The Definitive Byler fic rec list"

Literally no one asked for this but because I spent the majority of last year (...and 2019, and 2018...) reading byler fics and coping with life, I thought I’d make a list of some of my absolute favorites. 

The other day I was basically starving for some byler fics and the angel @magicalfairy provided me with some of her faves so I thought I’d do the same, because I love reading, and I love all of these fics and I appreciate their writers💗 And fic writers in general, come on!

- This is a mix of long works and one-shots/short stories. - Everything is mostly fluff with a tad of angst and a lot of internalized homophobia conflict.  - Every fic is completed, except for the ones I mention that they are not. - I try my best to lay out the stories in a way that I won’t spoil you the plot but also warning you of some stuff you might don’t like. Either way, all of these fics are correctly tagged by their respective authors/owners, so read at your own risk. For better understanding, in between brackets I denote Rating, Words and quantity of Chapters. - I feel like I should clarify, none of these are narrated in the singular first person. None of that “And I told him...”, no. 

Long fics

a dream always the same (T, 99k, 35 chapters) What happened in those few weeks between the Battle of Starcourt and the Byers leaving Hawkins. Literally a satisfying and very needed fill in of season three, with a good dose of Mike’s thoughts and conflict. Mike’s characterization is specially amazing in this one. The writing style is amazing and I know the author put everything into making it historically accurate, and it was really sweet. You probably read it, it’s by the amazing sevensided here on Tumblr🧡

Spring Break (T, 120k, 14/15 chapters) The slowburn of my dreams. Lots of internalized conflict and conflict with each other. Conflict within the Party (uhh kind of), conflict with Mike and Will. Byers family has moved and the kids are visiting! Chaos. Characterization is on point. Yeah, I know it’s unfinished, but the fourteenth chapter actually serves as a pretty nice ending. 

This is where it starts (M, 148.8k, 24 chapters) Aged up characters. The Party is in college and Will disappears again, but now it’s different. Mike knows he didn’t vanish from thin air, and the discovery he and the Party end up making is pretty insane. Mystery solving/fantasy/third dimension, throw in a bit of D&D and Mike realizing some shit, and you get this marvelous fic. It’s a breath of fresh air. The world building is definitely one of the elements that stands out the most, because it’s very nicely described, it sounds like a dream and it’s completely immersive. Absolute gem of a fic. 

there’s a Starman waiting in the sky (M, 30.6k, 8 chapters) Do I need to say anything? Will is out there living his best life and Mike realizes that wow, umm, maybe his best friend looks a bit too nice with that costume... and wait, is he getting horny? It’s actually really fun and sexy.

The Evening Speaks (T, 23k, 7 chapters) In where Mike is a late-night college radio host and Will is the art student that stays up till late to catch up with Wheeler on the Mic. They flirt through songs y’all, this one is really sweet. 

heads or tails? (E, 24k, 3 chapters) Aged up characters. I know most people don’t enjoy sex in fics and with specific characters but this one is insanely well written. It’s a slowburn that commits to the tension and with every word you are grasping and anticipating their next move. I think you can find the author here on Tumblr as yousaidyes🧡

The Man of Average (M, 56.7k, 5/? chapters) Aged up characters. No but you don’t understand, the writing here is absolute gourmet. The story is exciting as well, it’s super interesting. Weirdly enough, for being very aged up characters, they are well characterized but they don’t feel like teenagers. They are naturally Mike and Will. The author really captured Mike and Will’s essence. I know, it’s unfinished and it’s updated very rarely, but this is the typical fic you can’t believe someone just posted on the internet for free. I will say though, I think it’s definitely not for everyone. Read at your own risk.

Heartstrings (E, 82.8k, 24/? chapters) Aged up characters. By the same author of The Man of Average. A collection of memories, the road to Mike and Will’s happy ever after. And fucking hell!!!!! You’ll cry and get angry, you’ll cheer for them, then you’ll want to crash their faces together because god dammit you love each other!!! But yeah, same thing here. The writing and the way the story is laid out as a nonlinear narrative is brilliant. And I also think this is one of the best Will versions I’ve read. The author might as well be the og creator of this two characters tbh. You can find the author here as mylesimeblr🧡

Sinners behind the walls (T, 1.5k, 1/1) And because I can’t stop recommending this author, a little thing of Mike tormenting himself but also being too deeply committed to Will. 

The Red Envelope series (T/E, 167K, two completed works) Something happens that Will thought was impossible and from there, pure drama and romance. Anything by this author has the potential to become your absolute favorite fic, but this series in particular is amazing. I doubt that any of you haven’t read this, but it doesn’t hurt to put it in this list. I’m pretty sure the author is serendipitous-magic on Tumblr🧡

A New Fight series (T, 91k, two completed works, one WIP) And finally the Star Wars AU that we all needed. But this isn’t your typical “Mike is Han”, “Will is Leia” and “El is Luke”, it’s way more interesting than that, and the author has appropriated the Star Wars world like no other. I’ll admit I’m not a 100% fluent in SW lore but this is amazing to me either way. This author is also on Tumblr, tea-for-one-please🧡

- Yes, most of these are (if not all), in a way, canon compliant/canonverse/canon continuation into fanon. (In a way)

One-shots and short stories

Sundae for Two, Please (G, 4.8k) Steve being the supportive friend and older brother these kids collectively need. (not Jonathan erasure, we love him). Steve is very sweet himself, and this little cute thing through his POV is gorgeous. Yes, it’s byler.

Backstage (T, 10k, 2/2) Jonathan, you forgot to mention to Will how hot your new band’s guitarist is, dude. Now he’s hyperventilating and weirdly flirting with him in the corner. Background Stonathan because why not.

102 Peach Street (G, 3.8k) Established relationship, but not only that, they are married :’’))) PURE fluff. Extreme fluffiness. Diabetes. 

sweatshirts and bottled up feelings (T, 3.2k) Or, Mike thinks that the sweatshirt Will wears looks insanely good on him. And kitchens are for lovers. 

kiss it better (T, 16.3k) Basically one of the best character studies of a few precise moments of Mike and Will’s relationship and feelings. 

will wonders ever cease (T, 11.3k) #i ship will and happiness. Omfg what a beautiful piece of fanfic. Will centric, this kid really deserves all the good in the world.

The Calm After the Storm (T, 1.6k) Tooth rotting fluff, boyfriends in love. Boyfriends being lazy, cuddling, love words, kisses. Boys loving each other’s company... Basically, Mike and Will in their element. What more can you ask for?

neither of us ready to let go (T, 4.8k) That scene from season three, but a bit of a fix it. 

Still in love (G, 1k) Domestic, married life au fluff. Y’all, I’m a sucker for established Byler, even if I can’t find many fics with it. But this is very sweet. It takes place in 2020, but I don’t think there are any mentions of the COVID-19 crisis that I remember.

I Nver Find Out ‘Til I’m Head Over Heels (G, 12.5K) Classic 5+1 fic. If you haven’t read it, where have you been? This is your moment. In where Mike keeps inviting Will to the school dances and Will thinks it’s just a joke until he realizes it’s not. 

Before You’re Gone (T, 5.9k) Will is leaving Hawkins and Mike thinks this is a great moment for a confession. This one I discovered last friday, thank you friend @magicalfairy 💗

You’re weird Wheeler (M, 4.5k) Mike unintentionally starts a tradition of going to each other to talk about their sexual encounters just after they finish. Will keeps getting more explicit with the details he shares, and he makes his best friend interested. This one is really fun y’all.

Out-Of-Town Friends (N/R, 4.6K) It’s not rated. I haven’t re- read it but I’d say it would probably fall in a T rating. So cute!! Will has new friends and sneaks off every friday and the Party doesn’t know where he is going, so Mike decides to follow him and is surprised. 

Snowed Under (G, 1.3k) By the same author of The New Fight series. Mike is spending christmas by himself in college because a snowstorm hits Chicago and Nancy can’t drive to see him, but then he has a surprise visitor. Ahhh just a lil sweet holiday fic. Super cute. 

you love me anyway series (T, 7.1k, three completed works) Literally just the cutest thing ever. Established Byler. Will loves to take pictures and he loves taking pictures of Mike. It’s adorable. 

you wanna be friends forever (i can think of something better) (T, 9k) This one is so amazing. So. Amazing. From Will’s POV, my kid deserves the world and he gets it. 

okay not to be okay (T, 4.9k) Mike is a bit sad but then everything is okay. 

can’t hold out forever (G, 18.4k) Y’all!!!!! 5+1 sweetness. Mike has been falling in love since kindergarten. And it’s long af, you’ll enjoy it. 

even if it takes forever (G, 1.3k) College short AU, they miss each other, they love each other, they promise all to each other. It is sappy y’all.

clear as day (N/R, 18.4K, 4 chapters) It’s not rated, but I’d say it falls in the T category. Strangers to friends to lovers. And also, everyone is pretty gay; we have our dynamic trio Mike, Max and El as disaster lesbians (and gay). Will works at the library and he is also gay. Lucas and Dustin and Will are the best friends we needed. It’s very sweet and the Party is kind of formed here!

I went overboard with the one-shots, so you must have realized how much I love long one-shots and I favor them over long works lmao but they are all amazing!!! If it’s on this list, I probably read it at 2 am, sobbing in my bed. So. Hope you enjoy it☺️🧡

[ptergwen]

web of lies

take a leap. if you start to fall, the net will appear to catch you.

photographer!peter x journalist!reader || masterlist

w/c: 7.1k

warnings: swearing, one drinking mention, descriptions of anxiety, and angst if ya squint

summary: peter can’t stop holding your hands, betty and ned are the modern day bonnie and clyde, ned is a terrible guy in the chair, the osborn’s are up to something, and mj hates you all

a/n: y’all i’m super excited about this series like i haven’t had an idea i’ve really loved in months? so it’s good to be back !!! there are tons of things i have planned and i can’t wait to share them with all of you hehe i really hope you enjoy part one <3 happy reading

to be honest, which is what you do best, you’ve had a thing for peter parker your whole time at the daily bugle. you actually almost told him once.

a couple months ago, peter walked you home on a night you worked overtime. he’d came in last minute to leave some pictures on your boss’s desk. no one else but you was there, hunched at your computer in the dim office lighting. peter was pleasantly surprised to see you, yet concerned for your well-being. you had to put your finishing touches on a story.

he didn’t feel comfortable letting you travel alone at that hour. so, he went with you when you were ready. his company was more than welcomed. you told peter about your article while you two sat on the subway. he’d listened intently, your head resting on his shoulder and his arm around you. he made sure you got to your apartment building alright as well.

“hey, peter?” you’d asked, halfway up the steps. he was waiting until you were inside and safe to leave. “hm? you good?” he’d smiled sort of expectantly. “yeah. i... i wanted to say...”

your words got caught in your throat when he gave you the softest puppy eyes you’ve ever seen. you couldn’t do it. for some reason, you were too scared to confess how you felt. “thanks again for walking me home,” you’d settled on. he’d seemed disappointed that was what you wanted to tell him. nevertheless, he said not to worry about it before taking off.

that one moment perfectly captures it all; how yours and peter’s narrative plays itself out.

—

“we’ve got an update on hydra v. the people!”

“those freaky giraffes escaped the zoo... again.”

“shoot one more spitball and it’ll be your last.”

“does anyone have an aspirin?”

welcome to the daily bugle, where the chaos never ends and the calm never starts. you’ll find new york’s finest writers, publishers, and creatives of all kind right here. that would include you. you’re one of the top journalists in the whole building, according to mr. norman osborn. he’s the brilliant and slightly insane man who runs this place.

although it’s rare for someone in your field, you were hired straight out of college. norman read a few pieces you’d written and loved them so much that he offered you a job. full time, full benefits, no questions asked. there was something special about the way you wove your words together. your writing had its own voice. a strong voice, one the paper was severely lacking.

you’ve been with the bugle for just over a year now. it’s not the quiet, nine to five gig you were initially expecting it to be. you’re each very unique individuals in your office, and there’s never a dull moment because of it. your coworkers can be found hosting debates on the riskiest topics or tackling each other for blueberry muffins, and that’s just a regular tuesday. the place is stranger than strange. but, it’s become home.

thanks to mr. osborn being so accommodating, you actually settled in rather quickly. another big help has been the friends you’ve made. your first was michelle jones, who prefers to be called mj. she’s a fellow journalist with a wickedly dark humor that trickles into her writing. if you had to describe her in one word, it would be blunt. mj is as real as it gets, and also eternally loyal. she keeps her circle small, so you’re honored you get to be in it.

mj sits right next to you, which means you’re always talking through your days. that’s due in part to the way your office is set up. there aren’t any cubicles, tables and swirly chairs taking up their space instead. norman heard it was more progressive, probably from his son harry.

harry is about your age, only a couple of years older. he hangs around quite a lot, but doesn’t do much with his time besides that. according to norman, he’s still seeking out his passion. he’s banking on him finding a suitable career at the bugle. he’d like to pass this all on to harry some day, hopefully sooner than later. either way, you don’t mind having harry here. he’s super funny and friendly with everyone.

there’s also ned leeds, who’s an editor and reviews most of your pieces. he’s sweeter than candy, even when he’s ripping your grammar to shreds. on the rare occasions you’re not discussing breaking news, you two talk about movies. ned is a film buff and gives you the best recommendations. you’re convinced he was a critic in his past life.

last but so from least is peter parker. he only works for the bugle part time, since he’s still in school. you both graduated from your respective colleges the same year. peter wants to get his masters degree, though. he’s a photographer who’s aspiring to be a cinematographer. him and ned have their passion for the industry in common, and that’s what makes them such great friends.

you learned this and more from the times you and peter have partnered up on stories. he’s one of your best friends not only at the bugle, but in your entire life. the many long nights you’ve spent collaborating have brought you close to each other. they consist of drinking and deep talks, along with some actual work. he takes the pictures, you do the writing. you’ve been told you make a lovely pair.

peter says it himself, too. you’d like to believe he means it as more than coworkers. he’s so caring, and smart, and pure, and peter. yeah, you like him an awful lot. you can hardly stand the feeling of it sometimes.

the fact that you you haven’t come clean already is ridiculous.

“goddamn. not again,” you mutter out. “em, you better come look at this. it’s bad.” mj wheels over to you in her chair with a puzzled look. her eyes follow yours, landing on your computer. “leeds just sent this? to everyone?” she questions, your reply a short hum. you’re both staring daggers at the email your screen displays.

ned is responsible for assigning each journalist their own topics to cover. he’s been lacking a bit recently, having you write up think pieces on fluffy things. in other words, stuff that no one cares about. he asked you to compare oat milk and almond milk just last week. you’d hoped this week would be better, but here you are.

“this is ass. who does he think we are, buzzfeed?” mj scoffs at her own words. the daily bugle prides itself on being a reliable news source, on paper and tv. you’re starting to stoop down to the low level of your competitors. “he assigned me some tiktok dance trend. i’m not writing a single word about that app.” she sets her elbows down on the table, head in her hands.

“aw, why not? grandma mj isn’t down with the kids?” you tease and click out of the upsetting email. “i don’t write for kids,” mj deadpans. she pushes her glasses up on her nose. “what’d you get?” “the evolution of memes,” you gloomily reply. you’re surprised norman has been approving these topics. then again, ned is the head editor. he can do whatever he wants regardless of approval.

mj glares over at the kitchen, where betty brant currently resides. she’s making two hot chocolates instead of her usual one. “i blame her,” mj mumbles to you. your eyebrows furrow. “dude, what? betty is an angel. she doesn’t even work in editing.” betty is the bugle’s highest rated anchorwoman. her and her news team are on people’s televisions every night.

“no, but she has been spending a generous amount of time with leeds,” mj grumbles. she’s admittedly very nosy. the upside is that she tells you any juicy office drama there is. “my theory is betty’s making him give us crap stories so she can report the good ones.” she glances over at you to see what you think. “no way. that can’t be allowed... or legal,” you laugh back.

as if on cue, ned appears next to betty in the kitchen. he takes the extra hot coco that’s piled high with whipped cream. betty tucks a sheet of paper into his suit pocket and kisses his cheek, then he’s gone. you can only gasp as you watch this unfold. what has she done to poor, clueless ned?

“not such an angel anymore, huh?” mj smirks in satisfaction. “suddenly, she has red horns and a pitchfork,” you bitterly agree with your tongue in your cheek. betty waves to you two on her way back to broadcasting. mj gives her a fake nice finger wave, you ignoring her. “we can’t sit back and let this happen, em. we have to do something,” you decide. “let’s tell norman.”

uninterested, mj takes off her glasses and starts to clean them. “like he’ll believe us. yeah, golden girl betty brant is sabotaging the writer’s room,” she rewords her previous statement to put its stupidity in perspective. you throw your hands up. “she is, though! we literally watched it happen!” mj puts her freshly wiped glasses back on and sighs.

“i doubt norman would care, y/n. every newspaper to ever exist is corrupt somehow.” your pessimistic old pal has a point. however, you’re not so willing to accept it. “why can’t we be the first one that isn’t?” you offer a small smile. mj snickers, wheeling back to her own computer. “those are words of the innocent.” she’s already tapping her fingers across the keyboard.

“i thought you weren’t doing the tiktok piece,” you say under your breath. you’re slightly pissed mj turned you down, since she’s the reason you know about betty’s meddling. “i’m not,” mj answers sharply. “i’m gonna email quentin and ask if we can change our topics. happy?” quentin beck is another editor in the building. he’s not bad, but he is intimidating. no one typically goes to him as their first option.

“i’m thrilled,” you confirm and grin at mj to emphasize it. “thanks for stepping up. you’re forgiven.” “i didn’t realize i had to be sorry,” mj notes, this time in a playful manor. she shakes her head as she begins writing. “you and your morals.”

what you value most in your career is honesty, under any circumstances. of course, the other daily bugle writers are the same. norman strictly prohibits clickbait and crazy headlines because that isn’t real news. you leave that to companies like buzzfeed. you’re honest in the sense that you say whatever has to be said, what everyone else is too afraid to. you’ll speak your truth no matter who tries to stop you.

it didn’t used to be that way. there’s some childhood trauma that remains deep in the back of your mind. you’ve left that behind you now, having over a decade to cope with it. hey, they say the past is in the past. what’s important is your takeaway, that you would never let yourself or anyone else be silenced from there on out. never again.

quentin ends up giving you the okay to write different stories. he lets you and mj choose choose your own because he’s got “better things to do” and you’re “big girls.” what a peach he is. mj goes with how capitalism is continuing to provoke global warming. she has something to say about every major world issue, and you admire the hell out of her for it.

you’re a bit stuck when it’s time to write your article. it’s terribly ironic because you pushed for this. you aren’t too worried, though. the city is crawling with material, so you’ll find what you’re looking for eventually. lucky for you, some much needed inspiration comes skipping out of the elevator.

“morning, peter,” you hear liz greet him at the front desk. she’s your floor’s receptionist. her wisdom and patience keep this place going. “hi, liz. how’s it going?” he asks. “things have been quiet... mostly. can i do anything for you?” liz peers up at him. peter sports a shy smile. “uh, yeah. mr. osborn wanted to see me?” “right. hang on.” she nods, dialing his office phone number.

it’s endearing how peter calls him mr. osborn, seeing as the rest of you go with norman. he’s probably the politest guy you’ve ever met.

grinning, liz puts down the phone. “you can go in whenever you’re ready. good luck!” peter laughs nervously and turns to leave. “thanks, you too.” his face falls when he realizes his mistake. “wait, i- i didn’t mean to say that. that was stupid. you’re not-“ “it’s fine, peter,” liz reassures him. his anxiety makes him trip over his words sometimes. that, and he’s a bit dorky in general. you find it rather adorable.

you also wonder what exactly he needs good luck for. he’s not even supposed to be working today, so your curiosity as to what’s going on has been piqued.

“um, i’m gonna go now. bye!” peter rushes off, his face tinted pink from the embarrassing encounter. you’re hoping he’ll stop and talk with you for a little while, but he heads straight to norman’s office. your whole body deflates at that. mj notices from her peripherals.

“what’s the matter? missing your hubby?” she coos, her words dripping in sarcasm. “no,” you lie. “i’m... i don’t know what to write about.” ok, there’s some truth. mj gives you a couple pats on the shoulder. “ask parker for help. you two work... well together. don’t you?” this must be the zillionth time you’ve heard that.

“we do,” you murmur and glance at norman’s closed door. peter is hidden behind it. “i just don’t wanna bug him. he has finals soon, and whatever norman is putting him up to. it’s my job, anyway.” mj pokes your arm. “those sound like excuses to me,” she concludes, still jabbing at you childishly. “you really just don’t wanna tell him you like-“

“can you keep it down?” you hiss, yanking your arm back. “he’s literally right over there.” peter stands up and shakes norman’s hand. you catch it through the blinds on his window. “y/n, you were drooling over his mere presence only minutes ago,” mj prefaces, a smile pulling at her lips. “you can handle three little words. i like you, that’s it. spit it out already.”

you’ll never admit this to mj, but she’s right. you lost your momentum after your first failed attempt to say the three little words. you’re still not sure what stopped you. you’d shared the details of that faithful night with her, and she’s been pushing you to try again since.

the door to norman’s office opens, and out walks peter. he’s beaming after their conversation, which seems like a good sign. harry passes peter on his way in to pay his dad a visit. he claps him on the shoulder, peter happily accepting before continuing his stride back into the main office. it takes a moment to register that he’s coming towards you.

you quickly set your focus back on your computer so he doesn’t think you’ve been watching him. even though, you definitely have.

“y/n!” peter calls your name. he’s on the opposite side of your table, in front of you. “peter!” you match his tone. “i was just dropping by. i thought i’d say hey while i’m here.” he’s still grinning. “what’re you doing?” he looks cute as ever in an oversized and cream colored sweater. his curls are slicked back with a tad too much product, cheeks rosy. you gaze up at him when he rests his arms on the table.

“pretending to be productive,” mj answers for you, pressing her lips together. peter cocks his head to the side. “pretending?” “ignore her. she’s being a shit stirrer today,” you explain. “like every other day,” he jokes, earning a laugh from you. mj just tuts and keeps writing. “talk about me like i’m not here,” she mumbles to herself, then gets back into her article.

“anyways, i thought you didn’t work today?” you ask to take the attention off yourself. also, because you’re curious. “oh! get this.” peter perks up even more, if that’s possible. he has energy like no other. “you know alex in broadcasting? betty’s camera guy?” “what about him?” you wonder. “he called in sick earlier this morning, with the flu or something.” he’s oddly excited to announce this. that prompts you to make a funny face.

biting back another smile, peter elaborates. “mr. osborn needed someone to fill in for him, so he picked me. i’ll be here all week.” it makes sense, since peter knows how to work a camera and does so wonderfully. you give him a celebratory push at his chest. “peter, that’s amazing! this is the perfect way to transition from pictures to film, right?” he’s nearing his finals at school, which consist of more movie-like projects. the news will be great practice.

then, he’s off to hollywood. you’ll put that out of your mind for now.

“exactly! i think it’ll be a good place to start. the pay isn’t bad either.” peter wiggles his eyebrows at you, you giggling once again. you do a lot of that when he’s around. that’s going to be more often now. “plus, i get to see you. everyone wins.” he squeezes your hand that was just on him. your heart begins to thump. “except alex,” you challenge, playing with his fingers. “but, for real. i’m happy you get to do this and that we’ll be spending more time together.”

“thanks, y/n/n. me too.” peter grins and leans over, taking a peek at your computer screen. there’s a blank word document on it. “you never told me what you’re up to,” he chuckles. “guess mj was right... nothing.” “i’m always right,” she chimes in from next to you. you look between the two of them with a scowl. “i haven’t found my story yet. i don’t know, this never happens.” peter nods as you share your dilemma. “no good ideas are coming to me,” you murmur.

“they will. you have a way of attracting things.” he licks his lower lip, your heart completely stopping this time. “well, i gotta go set up for rise and shine with betty brant.” he waves his hand like he’s presenting his words. that’s what betty calls her morning news segment. “be careful with her. she’s being really sketchy these days,” you warn peter, mj grunting in agreement.

confused, peter purses his lips. “really? ned says she’s a sweetheart. they’ve been going out for a while.” mj pops her head up and adjusts her glasses. “did ned also tell you she’s bribing him to give her all of our scoops?” she’s asking rhetorically because she already knows the answer. of course he didn’t. “it’s one thing to not like her. you’re just making things up now,” peter huffs.

mj kicks your foot under the table. “i told you no one would believe us. not even peter gullible parker.” “it’s benjamin,” he corrects her. “whatever,” she brushes it off, resuming her work.

peter does tend to be sort of naive, to only see the good in things when there’s plenty of bad. you’re the same in that way, unless you hang around mj for too long.

“is that true? betty’s stealing your stories?” peter turns to you and asks. you gesture to your screen. “i don’t have one, so you do the math.” he hums sympathetically. he’ll listen to you, never mj. “i’m sorry. thanks for telling me, y/n. i’ll watch out for her.” he bends his fingers to look like goggles, putting them around his eyes. you sigh lightheartedly.

“are you twenty two years old or twelve?” mj remarks, but not without a comeback from peter. “you’re, like, eighty five. worry about that.” they’ve had this type of banter for as long as you’ve known them. it’s equal parts amusing and exhausting. “don’t be late on your first day.” you snap peter out of it with a knowing smile. he returns it.

“i hope something crazy happens so you can write about it.” he’s walking backwards now, towards the elevator. “see you later, pete,” is all you say back, yet another laugh threatening to escape you. “see you. bye, michelle,” peter says just to bug her. “it’s mj,” she groans without looking up. he shrugs. “not so fun, is it?”

after peter is gone, you try to get back into work. or rather, you try to start your work. what he said about you having a way of attracting things keeps ringing in your head. was he flirting? no, he couldn’t have been. peter parker doesn’t flirt. words aren’t his strong suit, and you have countless memories that prove this to be true. earlier with liz, for example.

you’re probably reading way into this. peter was simply doing what any good friend would do and gave you advice.

it’s late in the afternoon when anything worth mentioning happens again. peter is still with betty, as far as you know. they’re probably preparing for the nighttime news now. all you’ve done since seeing him is nibble on snacks and bug mj, who’s almost done with her story despite your distractions. this is really bad, considering your deadline to submit is at the end of today.

you’ve never missed a deadline.

mj emails her work to quentin while you repeatedly bang your head on the table. she hits send before deciding to entertain you. “whatcha doing over there?” she cautiously prompts, powering off her computer. “trying to get an idea. i’m desperate, if you couldn’t tell.” your voice is muffled. “i could.” mj grabs your shoulders and pulls you back so you’re sitting up. you childishly pout.

“y/n, the only thing that’s gonna give you is brain damage,” mj says sternly, then softens her tone. “why don’t you ask for an extension? norman gives me them all the time.” whining, you slump down in your chair again. “yeah, but you’re you! we do things differently, have different expectations put on us.” she’s back to cold mj after you say that. “alright. at least i did something today besides pine over that little-“

mj’s insult for peter is interrupted by harry. “ladies, what’s shaking?” he comes up to you two with a the hint of smirk on his face. you manage a nod to acknowledge him. “oh, hey... harry,” mj unenthusiastically replies. she’s the one person who isn’t really a fan of him. “not much. y/n was just having a tantrum.” “she was not,” you dismiss her. “it’s work stuff. you know your dad.”

harry clicks his tongue in a teasing way. “yep, the grind never stops in this joint. boss man is...” he does the sign for cuckoo with his finger. you laugh a little at that. “in a good way,” you add on. mj only watches you two, blinking blankly. harry gives you a definitive pat on the back. “before i forget, he wants to see you.” that gets mj talking. “norman?” she questions. “your dad?” you choke out at the same time.

“who else? he said you two have to talk.” harry flashes you a weary smile. “have fun in there, old sport.” you’re too busy biting the skin off your bottom lip to respond. “mhm... she will,” mj speaks on your behalf. even she sounds worried. saluting you both, harry leaves to go pester your other colleagues. you’re completely and totally fucked.

“that’s it for me!” you grin sarcastically, freaked out by harry. “i’m fired, aren’t i? i’m definitely about to get fired, and it’s all because-“ “relax!” mj cuts off your rambling. she reaches down and grasps at your wrists. “get it together, y/l/n. you’re the best we have, okay? you aren’t going anywhere.” your grin becomes a frown. “then why does norman wanna talk to me? and, why don’t i have a story?”

mj always has the answers, but this time is the execption. she lets out a breath. “i don’t know. you’ll go find out and tell me what happens.” there’s no use protesting. you’re going to have to face whatever you’re about to at some point. “ok,” you give in, defeated. “i’ll be back soon, i hope.”

the walk to norman’s office feels like a walk of shame. mj can do nothing but sit back and observe it. if this ends the way you think it will, you’ll be collecting your things and won’t ever return. norman is a kind man, and he’s usually pretty understanding. he doesn’t mind the workplace shenanigans as long as you get your job done. unfortunately, you haven’t today.

you hear your boss’s booming voice when you approach his door. inhaling deep, you knock on it, and the room goes silent. “come in,” norman responds after a few seconds. mustering up a smile, you open the door to be met with your doom. “hi, am i interrupting something?” you check. “not at all! you’re just the person i wanted to see. sit, sit,” he beckons you over. he’s not using his angry voice, so maybe you’re in the clear. you enter the room as told.

you’re shocked to see a terrified peter is already in one of the chairs. he visibly relaxes a bit now that you’re here. what the hell is happening? whatever you were expecting, this was the last thing.

taking the armchair next to peter, you sit facing norman’s desk. you nudge his arm to get his attention. his big brown eyes lock with yours. “what’s going on?” you whisper. “no idea,” peter whispers back. the two of you turn to norman again when he claps his hands. he’s plopped down into his cushy leather seat.

“so,” he begins, gaze flicking from peter to you. “you kids know why you’re here?” “is it because i missed my deadline?” you blurt out. you’re once again a nervous wreck. peter doesn’t speak, just winces. “not that. although, i did hear from ned that you turned down his assignment.” norman flicks at a post-it on his desk. “i asked quentin for one instead. me and mj,” you explain, peter’s eyes going wide.

“you talked to quentin? that guy’s bad news,” he murmurs to you. “how so?” norman questions, since it’s his employee. “he- he, um,” peter clears his throat before answering, “he’s super critical, you know? hates all my pictures.” “i love your pictures,” you assure him, the corners of his lips turning up. “your style is so cool. yeah, though. quentin’s pretty bitter.”

considering this, norman drums his fingers on the desk. “i’ll look into that. but, that isn’t why you’re here. i’m letting you off the hook this time.” your whole demeanor changes and a huge weight lifts off of you. “really? you are?” “i have a scoop of my own that i want you to cover,” he continues, peter bumping your knee happily. a toothy grin takes over your face.

“since peter will be sticking around for a while, i want him to join you.” norman waits a beat in case you have any questions. it’s been a minute since you last worked together. peter laughs in disbelief. “you want me to take over for alex and do this?” norman nods proudly. “y/n will need the extra hands, if you have them.” “yes, sir. i do,” peter immediately confirms. “my last class is next thursday, so i have the time.”

“wait, so you’re almost done? that’s awesome!” you bump peter’s knee this time. “yup, all that’s left is finals... and studying.” he mindlessly takes your hand, lacing your fingers together. you’re enjoying his gentle touches. “thank you so much, norman. seriously, i appreciate this a lot,” you tell him and mean it. “hey, no problem,” he chuckles at your eagerness. you grip peter’s hand tighter.

“what’s the story?” “ah, yes. the most important part,” norman starts, peter sharing an excited look with you. “how familiar are you two with spider-man?” his excitement fades at the question posed. it’s unbeknownst to you, caught up in the moment. “uh, same as everyone else, i guess,” you casually reply. “how come?” “he’s your subject.” norman points at you both. “you’re gonna study him over these next few months.”

peter’s hand goes limp in yours, and he gulps hard, throat feeling dry. “you mean, like, an exposé?” “no, no. there will be no exposing,” norman clarifies. “i’m sure he wears the mask for a reason.” that settles peter only slightly. you’re not sure why he’s so tense all of a sudden. “what’s our aim here, then?” you steer the conversation.

“see what new york’s favorite hero gets up to every day, how his life is beyond the crime fighting,” norman further describes your task. peter exhales a shaky breath, shifting away from you in his seat. the golden sun hits his face and reveals a bead of sweat dripping down it. you stare at his figure in worry. “you okay, peter?” “fine. i’m just... hot,” he murmurs back. his sweater does look pretty heavy, so you concede.

getting back to norman’s story, you grimace at the idea. “do you really think people will want to read that? for lack of a better term, it sounds kind of...” you pause. “basic.” “i thought the same thing at first,” he surprisingly agrees with you. “harry pitched the idea to me this morning. you won’t believe it! the other night, he caught spider-man hanging outside his window.”

“harry... harry saw him?” peter squeaks out. he uses the wool material that feels like it’s swallowing him to dab at his forehead. “he stopped on his balcony. must have been pretty late, the kid’s a night owl,” norman says about his son. your face lights up as you listen to him. “he took some shots of spidey in action, when he swung off. i saw a few. they were pretty great.” he’s grinning at his son’s success.

“maybe he’ll get into photography with you, pete,” norman suggests. peter gives him a weak smile in return. “we’d be happy to have him.” he usually has a lot more to say about his career than that. his behavior is starting to genuinely concern you. “anyway,” norman gets back on topic, “it got me thinking. how much do we really know about this guy? we’re supposed to blindly put our trust in him?”

you’re beginning to see the appeal now. you’ve written your share of pieces on the avengers and their methods, tackling the same questions norman just asked you. spider-man shouldn’t be overlooked, especially when he operates so close to your home. this could be another revolutionary superhero story in the making. and, you get to bring peter along for the ride.

“you know what? this has a lot of potential,” you smile at norman, then peter. he has his phone in his lap, fingers flying across the screen. it must be something important. you’ll discuss with norman while he takes care of that. “we could make it a weekly thing, about spider-man’s adventures. find out what we can about the man behind the mask...” peter shoots up in his seat. “without taking it off,” you finish, putting his mind at ease.

“see, i knew you were gonna love it! it was a blessing in disguise, you missing that deadline.” norman bangs his fist on the table with a hearty laugh. “what do you say, peter? you still in?” peter slips his phone back in his pocket. his tongue pokes out to wet his lips. “oh, of course. i can’t wait to work with you, y/n/n,” he speaks in a monotone voice, adding on, “again.”

something is definitely bothering him, and it isn’t the weather.

“i gotta go. betty needs me upstairs, so,” peter moves to get up, his body stiff. you assume that’s who he was texting. “thank you again, mr. osborn.” he’s rushing out of the room just like that, until you call after him. “um, don’t you wanna set a time to meet up? so we can get started?” you reasonably ask. “i... i really gotta go. find me later,” peter tells you, giving you both a tight lipped smile and running off.

“the dynamic duo is back!” norman announces to you. you’re disappointed you can’t share that sentiment with peter.

he’s absolutely booking it down the stairs, not bothering to wait for the next elevator. this is bad. this is a nightmare.

peter went from having one of his best days in a while to the worst in not even a full round of work. today started off fine, and got better when norman promoted him. it got way better when you came along. he saw your smile that makes his insides tingle, heard your laugh that’s the prettiest sound to grace his ears, held your hand that he never wants let go.

things went a bit downhill after that. betty was pushy and yelled at him a lot, demanding he only film her good angles for the segment. you and mj weren’t wrong when you told him to be careful.

later on when he saw you again, everything was okay. he was physically shaking as brad told him mr. osborn requested to see him. brad is mr. osborn’s assistant. a try-hard for sure, but good at his job. why did mr. osborn call him in? did betty complain already?

they’d been sitting in mostly silence, save for small talk until you came knocking on the door. simply being next to you was enough to ground peter and his racing thoughts. it was enough, then it wasn’t.

the whole day had gone to shit after he found out you were going to be writing stories about his alter ego. not only that, but he was helping. during the pitch, he’d texted ned to meet him in the bathroom. he was really anxious and needed a friend who understood why.

ned accidentally found out peter is spider-man last year. it’s a long story that involves peter hiding from some bad guys in the building and ned shrieking so loud the lights flickered. they’re cool now that peter talked things through with him. his secret has been kept, from what he knows.

pushing open the men’s bathroom door, peter is a mixture of sweat and ragged breaths. he’s panting from his fast descent down the staircase. he takes in his disheveled appearance using one of the mirrors. his styled hair is now damp and undone, hands trembling and palms sweaty, chest heaving. here’s his daily reminder that anxiety is not cute. as if he didn’t know.

his stupid, gigantic freaking sweater is only making things worse. it’s suffocating him. no one else is in here, so peter pulls it over his head and tosses it to the ground. he’s got a t-shirt on underneath that happens to be black. what a convenient day for him to wear the hottest material there is.

peter splashes his face with some cold water next to try and cool himself down. that doesn’t do much for him. his face still feels like it’s on fire, but now it’s wet. he takes his hands through his mop of curls, backing away from the sink.

“fuck. fuck, fuck, fuck,” peter repeats to himself. he’s silent for a moment, then rage overcomes him. he kicks open a bathroom stall. “shit! i can’t do this. what am i supposed to-“

the door creeks open, so peter shuts up in case it isn’t ned. it thankfully is, and he wears a deep frown at the sight of his best friend. “dude, what happened? you look...” “terrible. i know,” peter finishes for him. he tugs at his locks in another attempt to tame them. ned approaches him carefully. “you’re not, like, dying... are you? because betty was telling me you have to-“ “of course you were with betty,” peter exhales in frustration. “no, ned. i’m not dying.”

in ned’s defense, the text he received was very alarming. all peter wrote was, ‘EMERGENCY. SOS.’

“i mean, yeah. it was my break.” ned sits on the ledge by the window, close to peter. “you do the same with y/n.” the mention of your name upsets peter all over again. he hides his face in his hands as ned watches. “if you’re not dying, then what’s the problem?” ned finally asks. “me and y/n...” peter removes his hands from his face, meeting ned’s worried eyes. “mr. osborn wants us to do a project together.”

“uh, peter? you’ve been saying how much you miss her forever, dude! you’re not excited?” ned snorts at him. he means well, but he has no clue what he’s talking about. “no. it’s supposed to be about spider-man,” peter answers angrily. this isn’t the support he was hoping for. realizing the severity of the situation, ned gets serious.

“oh... but, you’re still doing it?” he questions. “i didn’t have a choice,” peter scoffs out. “i can’t let either of them down.” “you’ll expose yourself!” ned escalates things further. “it’s not like that. we’re gonna follow spider-man around and post updates on him,” peter says, technically in the third person. he’s given an are you insane? look from ned.

“you are spider-man! and, no offense, but you’re not so good at hiding it,” ned refers to himself finding out. “how are you gonna be in two places at once?” damnit, peter hadn’t thought about that yet. he can’t be taking pictures of spider-man and swinging from building to building simultaneously. “i- i’ll figure it out,” peter stammers, unconvincingly.

ned looks him over in a disapproving way. “jeez. you’re really putting your life on the line for this girl-“ “woman,” peter interjects, not loving ned’s attitude towards you. “have some respect.” unfazed, ned gets up from the windowsill. “speaking of women, remember betty? you’re still on the clock,” he changes the subject. peter nearly forgot he has to go film her segment.

“i’ll head up to her now,” peter gives in. he scoops up his discarded sweater, not bothering to check his appearance again. ned follows behind him to the door. “we wrote her script together, you know,” he gladly informs peter, who already knows from you. “not really a flex,” peter mumbles his response. “peter, lighten up.” ned hits at his shoulder. the two of them exit the bathroom.

“you’ll figure this out later. i can always help.” he shoots him a sugary sweet smile. “thanks, ned. for talking with me and everything.” peter doesn’t smile back. they do a quick bro handshake, then they’re going their separate ways. “have a good show, dude!” ned yells back, to which he doesn’t get a response. peter doesn’t have it in him.

he allows himself to take the elevator back up to broadcasting. he’s so drained from the several anxiety attacks he endured. while peter waists for the elevator, he contemplates all the issues he’d better solve. it’s a relief to hear it ding because it brings him back to earth. that doesn’t last long because both you and betty are there when the door opens.

you’d each had the same idea, to find peter. unlike betty, your intentions were good. you asked liz if she saw peter leave. she told you he went downstairs, so you did also. betty was already in the elevator when it got to your stop. she was looking for him because, you guessed it, he had to record the news. the small space was filled with tension as you and betty occupied it.

“perfect. we’re going right back up,” betty beams, motioning for peter with her index finger. “hop in!” “coming,” peter does as told, going to stand between you and betty. she presses the button for your floor and theirs. the doors close. “pete?” you speak up, voice soft. “you kinda ran off earlier. i thought you were with betty.” “clearly, he wasn’t,” betty sneers.

you’re less concerned with her and more with peter. the sweater he looked so huggable in is now folded in his arms, his face splotchy and jaw clenched. he must have gotten triggered by something back in norman’s office.

“are you sure you’re okay? you... you can talk to me about it.” you take a step closer to peter, your doe eyes searching for his. he meets them with a tiny smile. at least, it’s real this time. “i’ll be fine, y/n/n. ‘s nice that you came to check on me, though.” “don’t mention it.” your arms loop around his neck and bring him into a hug. peter hugs you back by your middle, chin resting on your shoulder, breathing out in relief.

you keep your hands on his shoulders when you pull back. his stay on your sides, a lopsided grin now crossing his features. “spider-man...” you quirk an eyebrow. “how are you feeling about that?” “should be cool,” peter somehow maintains himself. “i’m mostly looking forward to doing it with you.”

listening in, betty joins the conversation. “what’s happening with spider-man? anything i should know?” her hand reaches into her bag and emerges with a notepad. does she ever think of her own content? “she’s nothing if not persistent,” you grumble to peter. chuckling, he pulls you into his chest. if he didn’t hold you back, you would’ve pounced on her.

“we’re gonna do a piece on him,” peter tells her. “you can’t copy or steal this one because it’s already been approved,” you contribute, smiling smugly as peter holds you tighter. betty is taken aback. “are you accusing me of stealing? who said i-“ “ned ratted on you... sorry,” peter says in a sing song voice. squealing, you jump away from him. “he did? we were right?”

“mj’s never wrong,” he reiterates. “mj knew about this? oh my god, i can’t believe her!” betty stomps her foot. “we got you on candid camera.” you make a clicking noise with your mouth. peter mimes taking a picture to back you up. “alright, alright. i won’t do it again,” betty mumbles, turning away from you two in annoyance.

“finally!” you hold up your hand for a high five, which peter gives you. “we really do make the best team,” he hums. your fingers intertwine with peter’s, and he lays his palm flat against yours. he prays extremely hard you don’t notice that it’s sweaty. you do, but you couldn’t care less.

“i was wondering when you’d wanna start our... research?” peter asks you, his lip between his teeth. “you were saying something earlier. maybe we could make a schedule.” “how elaborate of us that would be,” you tease. that earns a breathy laugh from peter. with a knowing smile, you put your free hand back on his shoulder.

“what are you doing tonight?”

-

peter parker taglist

@saturnpeter @tpwk-grande @itstaskeen @missyouhollnd @becicamina @dummiesshort @zspideyy @watchitimreadinghere @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @dpaccione @karispotters11 @theofficialzivadavid @thehumanistsdiary @kelieah @aayaissaa @petersgroupie @annab-nana @tayyx @swtltlmrvlgrl @magicalxdaydream @haoluvver @kjune113 @captainamirica @marvel-dork98 @emmastarz @killingbxys @viriditie @misshale21 @veryholland @liliswifts @tommydarlings @rebelemilu @peterspideysense @cr-uelsummer @dreamy-clousds @quaksonhehe @quxxnxfhxll @blackbat2020 @babyblue19 @falconxbarnes @zachary-s @dirtytissuebox @dracoswhore007 @heavenlyholland @thsquad @etheralholland @dhtomholland @awh-lilies @tomshufflepuff @multifamdomfan12

-

if i forgot you please lmk!

[lucy-sky]

luucccyyyy luuuceee if you havee timeee,,,,, i have,,,,, a zaphod request,,,,, like,,, the reader and zaphod just dancing like dumbasses in some outer space club, having fun and mayhaps it leads to a love confession? it can come from either person like in the heat of the dance (or after) they just confess how happy @ other person makes them sumn like that??? [you can 100% take ur time/do this whenever u wanna, ik u're in your shea era ;))) ]

Bri, love!!! HAPPY TOWEL DAY TO YOU!!!

Thanks so much for this request (it was highly motivating!!) and also I’m sorry - I haven’t written anything for almost 5 months so I became super rusty and it took me ages to write this small thingy.

The Longest Party (Zaphod Beeblebrox x Fem!Reader)

1,133 words, no warnings; see a couple of notes in the end.

Where did you meet Zaphod Beeblebrox? At the party, of course! Where else? It’s a good question what brought him on your planet, in your country and your town, in that same nightclub you went with a bunch of friends that night. No one can tell, even Zaphod himself. All you know is that the attraction was instant and mutual, probably because you both have always been a little bit crazy and adventurous.

He was fun and charming, and slightly (okay, not slightly) weird, but being normal is so boring, right? After quite a few drinks he decided to tell you where he’s from, and of course you didn’t believe him at first, but still chose to play along.

“This party is getting so boring, baby doll! I know a much better place for the both of us…” he said, leaning closer to you and smirking as if he was telling you a secret.

“I bet you have an eye for really good parties, huh?” you raised your eyebrow.

“I sure do,” still smirking, he grabbed your hand. “Look, my ship’s parked nearby…”

“Ship?..”

“Yeah, the spaceship I told you about! Wanna see it?”

He was truly ridiculous, that guy. But at this point you got adventurous enough to say “Why not?”

Honestly, you expected to see anything, except… the actual spaceship. Maybe you just drank too much, fell asleep at the party, and it was your dream?.. No, y/n… You simply couldn’t be that drunk. It was really happening.

“You coming, doll?” Zaphod waved at you. For a few moments you hesitated. Some of your girlfriends considered leaving the party with a stranger already extreme enough, and you were about to go to another planet with a guy you knew for only like a couple of hours… Insane! Then again… When else you could possibly have a chance like that?

“Darlin’?”

“I uh… You know, I should be at work on Monday morning,” you blurted.

“So? It’s Saturday night, doll, we’ve got plenty of time,” he shrugged. “It’s not that far anyways. Oh, and don’t worry, you won’t need to hitch a ride back - I’m a gentleman after all,” he laughed, and then extended his hand. “Come on, it’s gonna be fun, promise.”

You took his hand, not knowing yet this decision was about to change your life forever.

How many parties have you attended with Zaphod since then? One wilder than another, in different parts of the galaxy, places you could never imagine even in the craziest dreams. You sang, danced to all kinds of music until you could hardly stand, drank all sorts of cocktails, and saw so many gorgeous sunrises together. With him, it was never boring, you really enjoyed his company, and he seemed to enjoy yours as well.

Beeblebrox wasn’t perfect though. You found out very soon about how much he loved himself. You also couldn’t imagine talking to him about any serious stuff. Zaphod hated to be bored and didn’t like thinking too much. And it was okay, until you started to realize you were growing a bit too fond of him, more than you wish you were. It wasn’t good at all. Zaphod was fun to hang out with, but falling for him? Nope, he was far from being boyfriend material. You decided that if he doesn’t take anything seriously, you shouldn’t either. Just have fun while you can. You’re such a lucky girl after all! Not that many people from the Earth have a chance to see the galaxy.

The party you attended that night was by far the most epic event you’ve ever seen. The Longest And The Most Destructive Cocktail Party* - that’s how it’s called. People say it’s been occurring for four generations at least! And it started with a bunch of drunken rocket scientists - who knew the nerdy guys could party that hard?..

“So, who was that guy you’ve been talking to, huh?” Zaphod asked casually, twirling you around.

“Oh, you totally won’t believe it! That was Loki** himself!”

“Who?..”

“Loki, you know, scandinavian god of mischief. Come on, Zaphod, don’t tell me you’ve never heard of him!”

“Ah, that Loki…” He shrugged as if it was some random guy next door. “How do you know that’s really him anyways?”

“Well, he showed me how he can shapeshift, he turned into his brother Thor, and then…”

“Ugh, can’t believe you’re that easily impressed,” Zaphod rolled his eyes and you frowned.

“Hey, what’s the matter with you? If I didn’t know you, I’d say you’re pretty jealous,” you told him teasingly.

“Me? Jealous? Ah, come on! I know that there’s no one like me in this Galaxy,” he laughed.

“Yeah, of course you do,” you muttered. It’s just Zaphod being Zaphod, what else to expect from him after all?

“What’s wrong, doll?” As much as Zaphod could be a complete dumbass at times (or most of the time, to be completely honest), he was quite good at noticing the changes in your mood, so you tried to shake it off. What did you tell yourself? Just enjoy partying while you can, there’s no need to ruin it.

“Nothing,” you beamed at him. “See, I’m smiling!”

“Oh good!” he grinned back at you, reaching your chin with his fingers, “‘Cause I want the girl I love to smile, yeah?”

“Wait, what?..” your eyes widened as you stopped dancing.

“Huh?..” Zaphod seemed pretty confused.

“What did you just say? I mean… I probably misheard you, or did you say the uh… L-word?..”

“The what word?...... Oh. Oooh…” You could see the realization hit him, and for a little while you were just staring at each other, standing awkwardly in the middle of the dancefloor. “Well zark… Guess that just slipped from my tongue, doll,” he giggled a little nervously.

You blinked for a second, and then… You couldn’t really tell how it happened, who exactly made the first move, but all of a sudden your lips were on his, his lips were on yours and you kissed each other so passionately as if your life depended on that. And honestly? It suddenly felt just right.

“Zaphod,” you breathed out after what seemed like forever, when your lips finally parted.

“Yeah,” he murmured dreamily, cupping your face with both his hands.

“Are you… squeezing my butt with the third hand?..”

“Oh, that…” he giggled again, releasing you from his embrace. “I thought you were about to trip so I just… caught you.”

“That’s okay, I don’t really mind,” you smirked, taking his hand and letting your fingers entwine. “So, Beeblebrox… Are we dancing or what?..”

“We absolutely are, baby doll,” he grinned and pulled you closer, swaying to the music.

And it was just right as well.

The Longest Party kept going.

◤━━━━━ ☆. ☪ .☆ ━━━━━◥

* “The longest and most destructive party ever held is now into its fourth generation and still no one shows any signs of leaving. Somebody did once look at his watch, but that was eleven years ago now, and there has been no follow up.” ― Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything

** In Life, the Universe and Everything, Trillian met Thor at this party, so I just thought why Loki couldn’t be there too? He totally could, right?.. :)

[hjbender]

Hi it's that Donald Blake au anon, and I agree I don't like Donald in general it's weird and sometimes in the comics he has a stick that he's always holding onto then he bangs it and somehow becomes Thor, idk. But the au is something that really interested me cuz it has so much potential, like is Thor an Avenger in this au, does he have to wait til Loki is not looking to go and save the world? Or is he not worthy yet and somehow choosing to reveal himself to Loki the real way to be worthy?

OH HAI AGAIN, ANON. THANK YOU FOR RETURNING

Yeah, I’m kind of glad the writers and directors decided to leave out the whole “mild-mannered human alias” from the Thor franchise. Really, so many superheroes already have alter egos—Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool, literally every single one of the OG Avengers except Thor has another name—that for once it’s nice to just have Thor be Thor.

But as far as that brilliant idea you pitched, in the first couple drafts of my answer, I actually started to rewrite Thor (2011) to make your idea fit with canon. However, after getting stuck a couple times, I started thinking it might work better away from canon (specifically Earth 616), more like a true alternate universe, no Avengers or Thanos or anything. Or, to make things simpler, it could just be a Porn With Feelings deal where the story is driven by characters and drama (and, of course, porn).

For the PWP approach, Thor masquerades as an MD on Earth because he genuinely likes to help people and having a human form helps him escape detection, or possibly keep his powerful electromagnetic radiation field from harming humans. In any case, Loki is unaware of his brothers super-secret human identity.

Somehow Loki bites off more than he can chew or pisses off the wrong supervillain—it’s practically his hobby, isn’t it?—and ends up getting his ass beaten and thrown to Earth. Miraculously, Thor (as Don Blake) is there to help him, and Thor can’t risk getting his cover blown, so he just plays along while Loki regains use of his limbs and/or powers (a perfect opportunity for some hurt/comfort whump sickfic type tags). Thor brings Loki to his apartment until he can fully recover, and in that time, Loki finds himself bonding with this disabled and good-natured human man who reminds him so much of his brother… and thus begins the forbidden romance and angst-ridden relationship drama.

...okay, so the PWP setup actually has a lot more plot than your average smutfic. (But just think of all the opportunities for medical kink in this one. Like Loki pretending he feels hot and achy and insisting that Blake give him a thorough, private exam… on the kitchen table… with stethoscopes and tongue depressors and lots of poking and prodding and pelvic exams. Anyone? No? Just me?)

The actual canon setup is the one I tried (unsuccessfully) to write out, but here’s a bullet list of the basic plot (get comfortable, this gets kind of long):

After defeating the frost giants in Norway in 900-something, Odin secretly makes a deal with Laufey to raise Loki as his own son, then marry him off to Thor so they can establish everlasting peace with Jötunheim (just like Odin and Frigga did to stop the Æsir-Vanir war). Thor and Loki’s children will be heirs to both royal houses. Upon Thor’s ascension to the throne, Odin will then return the Casket of Ancient Winters to its rightful place, and Jötunheim will flourish again with Asgard as its protector/ally

Loki is a lot more autonomous and independent than his original cinematic depiction, traveling the realms to learn seiðr and be an ambassador (and cause mischief, naturally, but nothing that can’t be fixed or used to his advantage). He’s always held a secret torch for his brother but knows there’s little/no hope of it ever being reciprocated, thus he stays away from Asgard as much as possible

Thor loves and misses his brother (perhaps too much). Their parents would surely disapprove of their relationship, gods or not, and besides, Loki is too much of a free spirit, a wanderer, content with his own company. Asking anything more of him (like a grounded, committed relationship) is something Thor could never do

Loki returns to Asgard on the eve of Thor’s coronation with gifts and smiles, and Thor embraces him with deep affection. They almost confess their feelings to one another, but shy away at the last moment (damn!)

Meanwhile, Malekith the Accursed (comics version Malekith, who is a lot sexier and generally more interesting/diabolical than his MCU counterpart) doesn’t like that Laufey is planning to make peace with Asgard and sever his alliance with Svartalfheim, and somehow breaks into the Vault on Thor’s coronation day just so he can frame Laufey and sour the arrangement with Odin

Odin decides not to act, sure that something else must be going on. Loki decides to take the intellectual route and do some investigating while Thor and his warrior companions sneak into Jötunheim to kick some ass

Thor accuses Laufey of wrongdoing, just as Malekith wanted, and almost incites a war with the frost giants. Odin banishes him to earth to live as a disabled human man until he can learn some humility

After much screaming at the sky and manly weeping, Thor finally accepts his fate and his new human identity

Enough time passes (months? A year?) that Thor eventually learns to be humble and considerate, helping other humans physically and emotionally in the medical field (I imagine him becoming an orderly at a local hospital since being a doctor requires years of education and money. Also, being thrown to Earth without a penny to his name will help Thor work through some of his entitlement and privilege issues. I headcanon he was aided by some good-hearted humans who were able to find employment for him and a place to stay, help him get on his feet, basically)

With Thor out of the way and the royal family torn apart, Malekith begins preparing for his attack on Asgard

Loki doesn’t know that Thor is trapped in a human form, only that he was banished and all contact forbidden. Loki is suspicious of the frost giants and goes to Jötunheim alone, where Laufey reveals everything to him—including Loki’s betrothal to Thor

Loki is stunned at first, unable to believe that the thing he’s wanted most was always meant to be his, and he hurriedly leaves Jötunheim

He tries to sneak to Midgard without using the Bifrost, but Malekith catches him en route and they fight. He throws a binding spell on Loki to render him powerless and then beats the living daylights out of him

Loki crash lands on Earth not far from where his brother was banished (he had been following the last known path from Asgard to Midgard), and is rendered temporarily powerless and amnesiac, not remembering anything about his fight with Malekith, Thor’s banishment, or why he was on his way to Midgard

Loki wakes up in a hospital bed with a kind human man looking after him. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, he settles in and finds himself comforted by Donald Blake’s presence. It’s… soothing, somehow familiar…(maybe it’s the drugs talking)

Thor instantly recognizes his brother but he cannot reveal himself, either because he’ll look insane/lose his job or maybe Odin made it so he’s unable to even speak the name “Thor” until he’s worthy again. In any case, Thor decides it won’t hurt to beat Loki at his own game just this once (Loki has played this prank on him more times than Thor can count). He ends up taking Loki back home with him once he’s discharged from the hospital

As his memories and powers slowly return, Loki is surprised that Blake listens to and believes everything he claims to be, and soon grows to trust and even like the man. He’s never really had a true friend before… except for his brother, Thor, of course. Blake reminds him so much of Thor…

While things gradually heat up between Loki and Blake-Thor, Malekith disguises himself as Loki (just as he did in the War of the Realms comic arc) and returns to Asgard. Odin and Frigga learn that Loki had indeed traveled to Jötunheim and confront their “son” about what he might have learned there

Not knowing it’s actually Malekith they are speaking to, they reveal the truth about Loki’s parentage and upbringing, and the reasons for his betrothal. Malekith is shocked, then amused at his good fortune. He decides to use this information to his own advantage

Malekith plots to bring Thor back to Asgard and insist that they be married at once. Thor will be crowned king, and when Thor finishes swearing his oaths, Malekith will steal Gungnir and kill Thor with it (and the entire royal family of Asgard). He will then steal the Casket of Ancient Winters, return to Jötunheim, kill Laufey and all the rest of his clan, and then head to Midgard to finish off the last of that bloodline: Loki. Then, with the power of Gungnir, Mjölnir, and the Casket of Ancient Winters, nothing will be able to stop him from bringing war and chaos to the Nine Realms

My brain is smoking and on its last cylinder right now, and I know this post is already decades long, so I’m gonna cheat and skip the whole part where Thor and Loki somehow learn about Malekith’s plot (maybe the Warriors Four come to Earth to warn them), and Thor becomes worthy again, revealing himself to a stunned Loki, and they all go flying back to Asgard, beat Malekith in an epic battle, and save the day

Once the dust has cleared, Thor is crowned king to an audience of Æsir and Jötnar, followed immediately by his and Loki’s wedding. Everyone cheers, Volstagg weeps and uses Fandral as a handkerchief, and Malekith gets a tiny slice of the wedding cake down in the dungeons

The end 🍰

[pens-swords-stuff]

Hi I really love your blog! I was wondering if I could ask you for tips on writing an enemies to lovers romance? I want my two main characters to start off hating each other but eventually fall in love but I don’t know how to do it in such a way that it doesn’t feel forced and the reader will enjoy reading it. Sorry if this ask annoys you SKSKS 💞💞

WRITING AN ENEMIES TO LOVERS ROMANCE

I’m actually currently writing one as well, and here’s some things that I’ve picked up on that journey! It’s not a comprehensive list by any means, and this is just how I personally perceive enemies to lovers relationships.

They need a good reason to hate each other

Your characters need to have a believable reason to hate each other because otherwise it just becomes a “they only hate each other because the plot requires it,” and readers can pick up on that really easily.

There are a lot of reasons to hate someone, but it’s really important to make sure that it’s something that can be overcome without it becoming abusive. 

For example, having a bad first impression of someone is hatred that can be overcome. Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse is not something that can be overcome in a romantic relationship. People with conflicting ideologies can learn to coexist with each other, but not when one is a white supremacist that is discriminatory towards their partner of color.

Identifying the exact reason why they hate each other is also crucial in figuring what needs to change for them to stop hating each other — most of the times this is done in character development, as they mature enough to be able to get along.

Have them be compatible somehow

On some level, your characters will have to enjoy each other’s company — even if it takes a long time, and even if they don’t realize it at first. They can’t be at each other’s throats all the time, and there has to be love underneath all of that bickering.

Maybe they have similar interests that they can bond over, or similar personality traits that they can understand each other with, even as it can be a cause for friction. Or on the other hand, it might be opposites attract where they at first don’t understand the other since they’re so different, but come to fit together like a puzzle piece. Maybe they don’t have any particular similarities or differences of note, but they have a similar goal and learn how to coexist as they work together. It doesn’t matter how, and I don’t believe that there’s a type of couple that has to be used. So all I can say is make them compatible! Their romantic relationship ultimately needs to make sense, and not “why are these two together, they’re terrible for each other!”.

Finding common ground is so important!!

They need to make it there naturally on their own, not because you, the writer are nudging them in that direction.

If you can nail that compatibility, people will ship it because they see the potential, even if it’s at the beginning of their story.

Give them a situation to bond

They hate each other! In order for any romance to believably happen, they need to get to know each other and connect more so that their opinions can change.

Maybe this means fighting against a common enemy so that they begrudgingly have to work together.  Maybe one person has something the other person needs, and they have to spend time together to negotiate terms. Whatever the reason, they need to spend time together willingly or not, because otherwise they’ll never get to know each other.

Take your time, don’t rush!

Enemies to lovers relationships are often slow burns for very good reason. It takes time for people to get over hating someone, much less falling in love with them in a short span of time.

When it comes to tropes and relationships like this, there needs to be a lot of growth and care put into it. And with enemies to lovers, it’s extremely important to showcase their thoughts, their attitudes, their moments. Savor them, let the reader know exactly what they think about the other person, and put love and care into the moments that they share, no matter what stage of their relationship they’re in.

It’s a good idea to keep track of your character development as this happens as well. It’s tied extremely closely with enemies to lovers relationship development, and this will change worldviews, perceptions, and understanding of each other.

Don’t rush it, take it slow. Their relationship and their perception of each other will take several babysteps to change. Let it simmer, let it stew, let them sit in it for a long time.

Take advantage of their chemistry

Most enemies to lovers relationships have a ton of chemistry between the characters, and it’s one of the best things about the trope! Things like having fun when they’re arguing even as they deny it, or some sexual tension that might be lurking underneath everything they do, or just riling each other up in general at the mere mention of their names or catching themselves thinking about the other… The chemistry that your characters have will vary depending on who they are, but whatever chemistry they have, put it in full force. Make it blatant, make it undeniable to everyone but the characters themselves.

The “I don’t want to like them but I can’t help being drawn to them” is a powerful tool to use in writing relationships like this! 

The importance of pride 

In my opinion, the most important thing that needs to change for enemies to develop into a romantic relationship is PRIDE. 

These characters have insane chemistry, they’re constantly thinking of each other, and maybe they’re even beginning to realize they’re attracted to each other… So what’s stopping them from immediately kissing and dating? 

A lot of the times, the answer is pride. They’ve spent so much time and effort hating this person, fighting with them, telling others how much they hate them, etc., and all of a sudden they realize that they’re in love with the other. You can’t just confess to them. All of their friends will have smug smiles that say “I told you so,” and god forbid that it’s unrequited love on their part. What happens if they tell their enemy-turned-crush that they have feelings, and they get laughed at? That’s humiliating! The fact that they even have feelings for the other person is ridiculous, it just can’t happen.

A lot of the reasons why enemies to lovers can’t get together immediately is due to pride. (Of course there can be a lot of other reasons too!). 

So a large part of their journey will be learning how to get over their pride and toss it aside for each other because their love for each other is much greater than something as flimsy as their ego.

This internal battle is one of the things that makes it so juicy, and so satisfying to read.

Happily ever afters don’t happen immediately

Your characters went from enemies to begrudging friends, and they’re finally, finally together, and all you want is to write fluff and a happily ever after——

Not so fast!

Chances are, the beginning of a romance would be really rough for them. Yes they’ve developed, yes they accept each other and love each other, and yes that was a wild journey... But being friends with someone or coexisting with them is completely different from dating someone. It’s likely that people will go through a bumpy period where they try to lay the foundation for their budding relationship and figure out what it’ll be like, and what they both want and don’t want. 

Considering that they used to be enemies, it might be a colorful relationship full of fire. Things aren’t magically perfect because they got together, there is still a lot to discuss and work through. They won’t always get along, they won’t always be lovey-dovey, they’ll be annoyed by things their partner does, and that’s okay. These growing pains are an important part of any relationship, and it can be really effective to showcase this in a pairing like this.

I now have an updated FAQ and Ask Guidelines for Writing Advice, please check those out first if you have a question about writing or Writeblr!

Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist

[lveclouds]

a/n: this is another got7 drabble hehe i promise i have more bts fics on the way!! pls be patient with me dfjjkfjg 

genre: fluff 

rating: g (for all audiences) 

word count: 1.3k 

pairing: bambam x reader 

cupcake looked up at you, her eyes big and thoughtful, her head tilting, as if curious about something. “what?” you asked, gently petting her soft, fluffy fur, the strands like silk in between your fingers. cupcake only purred, settling down on the arm of the gray couch, tucking her paws underneath her, bright blue eyes closing in content. you sighed, letting out a soft sigh, leaning back on the couch, exhaustion hitting you. you hadn't gotten much sleep since you agreed to help take care of bambam's cats, which was not an easy task, whatsoever. you weren't sure if it was because you had never raised a pet of your own, let alone four animals at once, so you were feeling pretty drained as of late. however, you didn't want to complain, because bambam wasn't strict at all, and was pretty laidback most of the time, and you made sure that it would stay that way. however, despite the lack of sleep you got, you had fallen in love with all his pets, and they seemed to like you to, for they were always affectionate with you, even the cats. you loved being able to spend time with them, and on rare occasions, bambam dropped by to check on them. he was rarely home due to his busy schedule, and from what you heard, was always boarding planes, whether it'd be to thailand, america, or even back to korea. he wasn't usually home, which meant that you usually had his house to yourself, as well as the animals' attention.

and, as you had taken care of his cats, you somehow managed to develop a little crush on bambam, which you were a bit embarrassed about, as it was kinda unprofessional to have a crush on your employer, but you couldn't help it. not only was bambam one of the most stunning guys you'd ever laid eyes on, but also one of the sweetest. he had a heart of gold, and was very selfless, always putting others before himself. he was also the first person who trusted you enough to stay at his house, alone, and even suggested you sleep in one of the guest rooms, to which you refused, for you thought that he was being generous enough with the fact that he was letting you stay in his house, for heavens sake. so, much to his dismay, you often slept on the couch, a warm white blanket draped over you, your head pillowed on a couch cushion. surprisingly, though, you slept pretty well most nights, despite being woken a few times to the animals wanting food, as his cats were pretty energetic at night.

you were so lost in thought that you didn't hear the front door open. "y/n?" you heard a familiar voice call, and your face flushed scarlet once you realized who it was. a few seconds later, bambam appeared before you, looking immaculate in black jeans and a bright yellow sweater, black hair swept off his face, styled perfectly. he looked as if he had just finished a photoshoot, despite his outfit being so casual, and you envied his ability to look good in anything he wore.

"hey." you said as he went to sit next to you on the couch, cupcake immediately getting up and settling into his lap, looking content. "so, when did you get back?" "a few hours ago. i had to stop by the company to record a few songs with jaebeom hyung. how are you? have the cats been giving you any trouble?" you shook your head. "no, they're pretty well-behaved." bambam grinned, his expression slightly smug. "of course, i'm the one who raised them, after all." you laughed, shoving his shoulder lightly. "you're ridiculous." "it's just the way i roll, baby." you rolled your eyes playfully. "quit being arrogant before i punch you." "i'd like to see you try."

"anyways, how have you been, bam?" the nickname slipped out of your mouth automatically, and as you tried to apologize, he shook his head, a small grin on his face. "don't apologize. i actually like the nickname, its cute." you felt your face flush scarlet. "as for me, well, i've been pretty busy recently. i just got back from a fanmeet in thailand, which was fun, but i'm drained. and then jaebeom hyung asked me to go to the studio, and even though all i wanted was to sleep, i couldn't say no to him. i mean, he literally pulls all-nighters sometimes just to write songs, so its the least i could do for him." "you're such a softie, aren't you?" a faint pink settled across his cheekbones. "s-shut up. i just wanted to do something nice for jaebeom hyung, ok?" "whatever you say bam," you singsonged. "and yeah, i've been pretty busy recently, so i'm glad that i finally have a break." "how long are you off for?" "not long, unfortunately. the break's only a month because next month, we start comeback promotions." "seriously? already?" bambam nodded, and it was the first time you actually noticed the prominent dark circles under his eyes, and your heart broke a little at the sight. you couldn't imagine what it was like to barely have any time for yourself, let alone not being able to sleep well.

"i hope you can take a longer break soon." "i hope so, too." "anyways, what do you want for dinner?" "how about chicken from that place that you and jackson were talking about?" bambam grinned. "sure, why not? i haven't had food from there in a while."

that night, as you and bambam were practically inhaling chicken wings, you decided to tell him how you felt. and, yeah, maybe it was a bit ridiculous that you were about to confess to bambam while you were eating chicken, for gods sake, but you knew that if you kept your feelings to yourself, you would surely go insane. "uh, bam? i know this isn't the right time for this, but-" "i like you too." bambam mumbled as he reached for another chicken wing. "what?" "you were going to say you like me, right?" "y-yeah, but how the hell did you know? was i being that obvious?" bambam shook his head. "no, i kinda just figured it out? i guess? i mean, yugyeom kept telling me that you were gonna confess soon, but i thought he was just trying to tease me, you know how he is. then, i confirmed it when i caught you looking at me while i was cooking." "ah, you noticed?" "mmm. i pretended like i didn't though, because i didn't want to embarrass you." you groaned. "are you serious? i held in my feelings for this long only to find out that you knew?? all this time?" bambam chuckled. "well, now that all of that is out of the way, wanna date?" you laughed. "wanna date? wow, so blunt." you teased. "shut up, i'm trying to be romantic!" "bam, how the hell is asking someone if they wanna date romantic?" "why, is it not?" you sighed in frustration. "no, it's not. and even though you asked me that question in the worst way possible, yes, i'll date you." "see? i'm just that smooth." "bam, shut up and eat your chicken before i slap you."

and, as you fell asleep that night, you felt your lips curve into a smile. even though your confession hadn't gone as you had planned, you were happy that it had resulted in bambam becoming your boyfriend. and, you would be lying if you weren't nervous. after all, this was your first relationship. but despite the nerves, you were also excited. excited to start a new relationship with an amazing guy, and the opportunity to make even more memories.

a/n: uh idk what this was but i hope you guys enjoyed this nonetheless! my next drabble will be a bit angsty, and it'll be a jinyoung drabble hehe and i promise i have more bts drabbles coming!! pls be patient with me fhksjdhfjkhdsjkfh

tagging: @yongcherie​ (hope you don’t mind me tagging you love hehe)

[letterboxd]

Sommar Loving: The Ari Aster Q&A.

“The best filmmaking is mischief-making.” —Midsommar director Ari Aster confesses to being a nervous wreck while answering Letterboxd members’ questions about pagan rituals, grotesque imagery and psychedelic drugs.

It’s crazy to think that only two years ago, Ari Aster was just another New York filmmaker with a few shorts under his belt. But by this time last year, his debut feature, the Toni Collette-starring Hereditary, had taken out the title of most popular film on Letterboxd for the month of June, and ended the year as our Highest Rated Horror for 2018.

Not that he had a moment to enjoy it. Last August, while Hereditary was still in cinemas, Aster was already in Hungary (standing in for Sweden) filming his new horror, Midsommar, with Florence Pugh in the lead role. It was an assignment from a Swedish production company that he almost refused, until he saw it as an opportunity to process the break-up he was going through at the time.

In an insanely tight turnaround, Midsommar is out less than a year since it was shot, and feedback for the film on Letterboxd is largely positive. Midsommar “manages to be the perfect rom-com and the most mesmerizing horror film of the year,” according to Owen, and the film proves to SilentDawn that “Aster is a capable craftsman and an auteur with many dastardly thoughts on his mind”. Laura declares: “Nobody makes me feel as icky, awful, and downright dreadful as Ari Aster, and for that, I’m very, very grateful.”

It’s safe to say that Aster is a Letterboxd MVP, so we thought it only fair to invite you to submit your questions for our interview with him. Ever the optimists, you pitched us well over a hundred, so Jack Moulton got the tough job: whittling, coalescing and combining your thoughts, tucking them in among a few of our own, and putting them to a guy who has “more fun talking about other movies than talking about my own”.

One thing we didn’t ask? The most popular question of all: “Ari, are you okay?” The better question, after watching his films, is: are we okay?

Isabelle Grill (center) and some Swedish friends. / Photo: Csaba Aknay

You wrote both Hereditary and Midsommar while you were in a personal crisis, and you consider that writing was your remedy. Do you think you can make great art—to explore the depths of existential questions—when you’re more comfortable and content? Or is suffering the root of your success? Ari Aster: I’m sure I can. I’ve written a lot of films when I’ve been more comfortable and content. The two short films that I made first were written in that place. I’m a filmmaker who likes conflict, which is not unique to me of course, but I do have a dark side and I go there in my writing.

I’m also someone who believes the best filmmaking is mischief-making and I’m always trying to come from a place of mischief as a writer. But, whether I’m going through a crisis or writing in a more or less relaxed state, I’m also a very neurotic guy. Even when there’s relative peace in my life, I’m kind of a nervous wreck.

That’s relatable. Grief is a catalyst for both films, and both Toni Collette and Florence Pugh’s big scenes of anguish are really the most horrifying parts of the films, because they’re so raw. AlecDouglas asks: what is your approach to directing actors’ performances? More specifically, can you talk about how you prepared each actress for these gut-wrenching moments. A lot of that was laid out in the script as clearly as I could. Beyond the script, it was just a matter of talking through the material with them and explaining what I felt was needed. Luckily both actresses are extraordinary artists who knew exactly what was necessary and were fully committed. They gave themselves to the material in a very generous way and were prepared to dive in headlong.

Florence Pugh (center) has a good cry in another memorable scene from ‘Midsommar’.

Chris Flores, Timur Dzhambinov and Kahlen all asked about your obsession with mutilated heads and/or skull trauma. I grew up loving horror films and subjected myself to a lot of grotesque imagery. I’ve always had a feeling for the macabre. There are a lot of images that traumatized me and I’m sure that they lingered in my mind in a way that conditioned me to pursue images like that and come up with them myself. In all of my stories, the imagery comes after the ideas and characters, so it tends to fall in line with the story. In some cases it does come first, but it’s very hard to trace any of that to any origin.

Several people, including Mark and MrJoshua, would like to know how many of the pagan rituals and artwork in Midsommar are legitimate, and how many were invented by you. Most of the rituals are references in one way or another to actual traditions and laid out in pre-existing folklore, but I did take a lot of liberties from there. So there are certain things in the film that are pure invention and there’s certain things that are absolutely pulled from reality. The pubic hair in the food and the menstrual blood in the drink, for instance, is tied to my actual research.

Gunnel Fred. / Photo: Gabor Kotschy

Scott Stamper, Sam Sellers-King and Ash were interested in your obsession with cults, or, as Deryn asks: “Ari Aster what the fuc— okay, what is it with you and pagan cult-themed horror movies?” I don’t know if I have an obsession. It just so happens that the first two movies that I got made featured cults. They’re also both films that are very much about family and are asking questions about the families you’re born into, surrogate families, and the families you find. So for both films it made sense. A cult is a very useful metaphor when you’re digging into material.

Another common question: how much “research”—personal or professional—did you do into psychedelic drugs? When it comes to the psychedelic stuff, I didn’t really do research. I had taken psychedelics about ten years ago and I had some very bad trips when I was in college.

That counts as research. Inadvertently, yeah.

Laura Valentina asks: which films inspired the look and feel of Midsommar? Can we ask you to also talk about cinematography influences? For the tripping scenes, we weren’t looking at any influences. We didn’t want to do the 1960s and 1970s psychedelia that you might see in Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy, or the films by Kenneth Anger. I love all those films and really enjoy them, but they’re dated due to that. If anything we just knew what we wanted to avoid.

For the cinematography in general, we were pursuing a three-strip Technicolor look. We were talking a lot about the color films of Powell and Pressburger and looking at older movies when we were color-correcting the film. When I was finishing Hereditary, I was working on a shot-list [for Midsommar], but it was a more accelerated process because of our extremely punishing and tight prep schedule. On Hereditary we did a lot of screenings for the crew of given movies that I thought would get people in the right mood, but we weren’t able to do that on this film.

You’ve mentioned this was a gruelling shoot on a tight timeframe, but Mariela and NineTailedFox would like to know what the most satisfying part of the production of Midsommar was for you? It’s always satisfying when you have a good scene in the can and when you’re able to achieve certain things. Everyday there’s satisfying moments but it’s also loaded with little disappointments. You’re just always praying for something that will help move the shoot along and keep people’s spirits high. There were a lot of scenes that we were happy with so that’s always something to be grateful about.

Jack Reynor, Ari Aster and Florence Pugh. / Photo: Merie Weismiller Wallace

Many in the Letterboxd community are raving about Midsommar’s stellar cast. Half the character work is achieved in those selections. Can you talk about where you first saw your actors and how you knew they were right for the roles? For a lot of the parts we had people tape and send in auditions, so it’s really a matter of instinct and feeling these people fit. In the case of Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor and Will Poulter, they were people who were at the top of our lists early on who we persisted on that they were right. It was a real joy to work with all of them. William Jackson Harper, too.

Florence Pugh can really do anything. She’s an incredible actress who’s wonderfully endowed with amazing talent. Will Poulter is a total professional and a brilliant actor. Vilhelm Blomgren was somebody we pulled on pretty late in the process and it was very exciting to find him and know we had our Pelle.

Bran asks: how different did Hereditary and Midsommar end up being from your initial ideas for them? They changed in the sense that what we ended up shooting were a lot longer than we could keep them, so the movies were cut down a lot. I feel both films are pretty close to what I was imagining. Midsommar was more ambitious and so there were more compromises, which is just what happens. You’re chasing this thing and you get as close as you can to your vision.

So then, given that Midsommar was significantly cut down, we’ll jump to Joshua Booker’s question: what was the hardest stuff to cut? There’s more rituals and we get to meet more people in the community to get a more nuanced view of them. There are more scenes between Dani and Christian so that their journey to that ending is a little bit more circuitous. There’s more of the thesis competition between Christian and Josh too, that originally had more body to it.

Right out of the gate your vision as a filmmaker feels fully formed. You’ve said that you intend to explore different genres. Do you want to continue working with cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, and do you plan on exploring different styles? I’m always interested in developing different styles but the style needs to fit the film. I’ve been working with Pawel for a long time—he’s one of my best friends and we understand how the other person works. We have a very satisfying shorthand and our own processes, which is great. I definitely plan on keeping on going with him.

Ari Aster with cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski. / Photo: Gabor Kotschy

Everybody wants to know whether you’ve ever written a script, or a scene, or a short, and then thought “I’ve gone too far”? I admit have a problem with brevity. That’s maybe where I wonder if I’ve been a bit too indulgent, but not if I’ve gone too far with the taboos.

MaxT26 asks: do you think it’s important for modern horror films to push the boundaries in terms of being disturbing and creative? Related: Tobias Soar wonders what recent horror movies you’ve admired. There’s a tradition in horror of confronting taboos and twisting the knife, so to speak. The Wailing is a film I absolutely loved and already has a place among my favorite horror movies. I would describe that as a masterpiece.

I’m excited by South Korean filmmakers in general, by the way they approach storytelling and juggling of tones. Their films defy categorization while also tempting it. Later this year, we’re all going to get The Lighthouse. I wouldn’t necessarily categorize that as a horror film but I’m excited for people to see it. I’m a big fan of Robert Eggers. I saw an early cut of it and it’s great.

The final question/answer contain spoilers for both films. Read on at your peril.

You’ve mentioned building the script for Hereditary around the image of both Charlie and Annie’s deaths and the way they mirror each other. What image was your starting point for Midsommar? Some of the final images were certainly the things that came to me first. In particular, it was the image of the wide-shot with Dani and the house burning behind her. The prologue of the film came to me pretty early on too.

‘Midsommar’ is in US and UK theaters now, and coming to other festivals and markets soon. All photographs courtesy of A24. Our thanks to Ari for his time and to everyone who asked a question. Still not sated? Enjoy this Letterboxd list of Ari Aster’s favorite contemporary directors.

[lurafita]

Hi! So, I have so far only seen you post stories for the Starker pairing, or Iron Dad. Do you do other pairings, too? If so, would you consider writing something for Spideypool? Please and thank you.

Spideypool was my absolute OTP for a long time (though I did have some side pairings I also enjoyed with Peter all the while), I’m a hoe like that.

Anyway, it took me a while to answer this ask, but I do hope you enjoy what I wrote up.

I sometimes like imagining Spideypool as the kind of power couple, where they both are just ridiculously badass.

No-powers AU, established relationship, police detective!Wade, mysterious background!Peter.

—

Edward Collins, suspected for weapons dealing, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, looked far too smug for a man currently sitting in an interrogation room, with his hands cuffed to the table.

Captain Steve Rogers watched the man through the one way mirror with a suspicious frown on his face.

“All our evidence so far is circumstantial. It was enough to bring him in, but it won’t hold up in court. I don’t like that he waved his rights to a lawyer. He must think he has some kind of trump card. We need either a confession, or for him to incriminate himself in any way. Just get him to talk, Wilson.”

Next to the blond captain, the ex-special forces turned New York police detective, grinned sharply.

“No worries Captain America. I’ll have him singing like a bird.”

He ignored the familiar demand of “Stop calling me that!” and strode leisurely into the room.

“Eddie! Pal, Amigo, dirt under my shoes!”

He let himself fall into the chair right across from the man.

“So, what’s a scumbag like you doing in a place like this? Also, you don’t mind if I call you Shirley, right?”

Most of the precinct would describe Major Crimes unit’s detective Wade Wilson anything from ‘slightly eccentric’ to 'bat shit fucking insane’. They would also say, however, that at the end of the day, Wilson always got his shit done. So as much talk there was about his methods (and general being), it was usually accompanied with a measure of respect.

Wade reveled in it. Not just the respect, but also all the gossip about his 'crazy antics’. In fact, he liked to stir up the rumor mill every now and then, exaggerate on some tales, spice up some details.

His long time partner, Nathan Summers, had tried to reign him in during the early stages of their work relationship, but after damn near 7 years of being friends with Wade, he had given up.

It was too bad that good old Nate wasn’t down here with them to see him work his particular brand of magic on their suspect. (Someone did need to do the paperwork, after all. And Nate had lost at rock-paper-scissors)

Wade so loved aggravating his uptight partner.

Anyway, back to business. There was actually (sometimes) a method to his madness.

Sure, Collins had seemed pretty relaxed and put together so far, but how would that facade hold up when he was angry? What would the man let slip if Wade pissed him off enough?

If there was one thing that Wade liked to pride himself with (apart from his excellent taste in food and the love of his life), it was his ability to piss people off.

“You know, on second thought, you look more like that old woman in that horror game, after she was taken over by that parasite or whatever that was, and had all those cockroaches coming out of her crotch. What was her name again… Marguerite! That was it!”

The look on Collins face had darkened significantly, and his fists were clenched tightly on top of the table.

Bingo.

“So, Maggie-moo, let’s talk about last weeks shipment for your company.”

He pretended to rifle through the stack of notes to his side.

“You know, the one that, according to your books, should have been transporting sheep wool from Uruguay. However, it says here the ship hailed from the exotic shores of Columbia, and was carrying about twenty-five million dollars worth of cocaine.”

He affected a shocked look, complete with dramatically slapping his hands to his cheeks.

“Marguerite! What a bad, gross looking, girl you have been!”

Collins face was growing red, eyes pinched, teeth grinding together. Guy was gonna blow any second now. It was almost too easy.

“It’s because you weren’t hugged enough as a kid, isn’t it? I mean, I totally understand that your parents didn’t want to hold what must have been the ugliest baby on the planet, and I’m not blaming them one bit. But maybe it was a little much for them to chain you up outside and tell the neighbors you were just a mangy dog for all those years.”

Just as it looked like the other man would explode into an all condemning rage,  Collins, surprisingly, suddenly calmed. The angry red left his face, his tense shoulders relaxed, the fisted hands intertwined their fingers together, and the man leaned back into the chair with a long exhale. Then he smiled.

“You said your name was Wilson, right? Detective Wade Wilson. I thought the name was familiar. I read about you in the newspaper the other day. An engagement announcement, wasn’t it?”

His smile turned nasty.

“And what a lovely creature your fiance is. Peter Parker, 28 years old, works in Queens 'Little Tykes’ daycare center, doesn’t he?”

Wade’s demeanor changed instantly, as a cold, foreboding feeling spread through his stomach. Collins went on, smirking as he saw the panic building up in the detective.

“It would be such a shame, wouldn’t it, if something were to happen to that pretty little fiance of yours. While you are in here, wasting your and your departments time and resources by accusing a good, honorable citizen of crimes he didn’t commit.”

Wade pressed his hands down on the table before him hard, and leaned over to be as much in the slime-bag’s face as possible, and spat out through clenched teeth.

“What did you do?”

He knew that his captain, who had been watching and listening to everything from the other side of the mirror, was likely sending people to his house right now to check up on Peter, as well as calling him on his mobile. It was the only reason why he remained calm enough to not break Collins bones one by one right then.

But Collins remained seemingly unintimidated.

“Why, Detective Wilson, I didn’t do anything. I have been in this room ever since you and your friends in blue so rudely interrupted my meeting, waving these false arrest charges about. I can hardly be held accountable for any accident that might befall the man you love, because you happen to be bad at your job. Did you know that most accidents happen at home?”

The gears in his head turned as fast as his rage grew.

“You sent someone to my fucking house, didn’t you?! Who did you sent? How many?!”

He was becoming frantic, his muscles shaking with the effort to keep himself from lunging right at the smug mother fucker.

“You wouldn’t have sent a lot, right? You have neither the brains to plan accordingly, nor enough underlings to organize something like this on such short notice. You would have sent only one, right? Two at the most! Two couldn’t cause too much damage, right? Tell me you didn’t send more than two!”

The man was far too satisfied with having rattled the detective so much, it didn’t occur to him to wonder about the strange nature of the questions. He was just about to taunt him more, when a new voice cut into the room.

“Four.”

Both heads whipped around to look at the person standing in the now open door.

Peter Parker’s brown hair was slightly ruffled (but still looked ridiculously fluffy if anyone were to ask Wade), his jeans had a few unidentified stains on them, and the too big flannel shirt (Wade’s) that he wore over his science pun t-shirt, was ripped all the way up his left arm. Other than that, however, the younger man looked completely fine.

If you didn’t count the scowl on his face.

“He sent four guys. They trampled their muddy shoes over the new rug in the living room, bled all over the furniture, and broke the vase Aunt May gave us last Christmas.”

Wade had just straightened up and slapped a mollifying smile on his face. “Baby boy-”

Peter’s pointing finger stopped him right in his tracks.

“Don’t you 'Baby boy’ me! I told you not to buy the white rug, because it’ll be a literal dirt magnet. Did you listen? No. You were also the one who insisted on the hard-to-clean couch, because 'But Petey! It’s so soft.’ “

Behind Peter stood one astonished looking Steve Rogers, and a snickering (SNICKERING! The traitor!) Nathan Summers, who had undoubtedly followed Peter down here.

Then his fiance pinned Wade with another withering glare.

“Since our house is now a 'crime scene’, and I will probably have to wait several hours to get back to reading my book in some semblance of peace, until the CSI has found all of the missing teeth from your suspects amateur cronies, I’ll be spending the rest of my day off at Gwen’s place. And who knows, maybe we will go on a little trip down the street, to the shelter on the next block and get a dog.”

With that, the younger man turned on his heel and left a gaping Wade, his full out laughing partner, and their gobsmacked captain in his wake.

“But Babe! We were supposed to pick out the dog together!”

If Peter heard him, it went ignored.

The captain still didn’t know how to react to what had just transpired, it seemed, as he questioningly turned to face one of his best detectives.

“Say, Wilson, how did you two meet again?”

Summers just laughed harder for some reason, and Wade, instead of answering his captain, turned to (the up to that point forgotten) Collins.

Clearly having not anticipated that the detectives twink-looking fiance would be capable of defending himself against the men he had sent out, Collins’ previous bravado melted away faster than ice cream in a microwave. Add to that the now absolutely murderous expression on Wilson’s face, and he was seconds away from wetting himself.

Wade stalked over slowly to his suspect.

“Do you have any idea, how much sex my baby boy is going to withhold from me for this?”

It took both his partner and the captain to restrain the detective long enough for Collins to confess.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Different Kisses with Mark Tuan

Thanks so much for your request! Mark is one of my top ten biases in kpop, and so naturally I was anxious to write this, as I am with all my biases - for some reason, I always feel like I will let myself down? Hahah! Anyways, let’s get into another GOT7 member today!

Mark cannot go a day without telling you how much you mean to him, and his kisses are like constant passionate reminders of this.

First kiss:

You had known Mark for some time, and as friends your relationship had been easy going, playful and comfortable. Ever since he confessed a week ago, he’d been a little awkward with you, not because he was worried your feelings didn’t match his, but because he was just so excited you had accepted his heart. He was anticipating making all those new steps with you. There was no weird first date because you had hung out so often that you were able to skip some of those steps. All the same, ever since he had confessed, all he could think about was your lips, and wanting them on his. That’s what had him anxious, wanting something, but not knowing if you’d be down for it happening so soon. He wanted to go at your pace, but also, he had thought too much about this for too long now. To you, he was constantly playing with his lips subconsciously and it was driving you insane, unable to stay focused on what you were both doing together, and only on how full his lips were. It was almost illegal with how much he emphasised them, and if you didn’t see that distant expression in his eyes every time, you’d be certain he was doing it on purpose.

And so, when you were catching up on a show you had been watching together and he played with his lips for the umpteenth time that evening, you groaned, startling him. “Just kiss me, would you?!” you almost begged, Mark’s eyes widening at the request, but not wasting anymore time either. The embrace was passionate as soon as his lips landed on yours, both of you exploring each other with ease. It was as if your kiss dissipated any of the remaining hesitation between you both, cementing that this was actually happening.

And that kiss went from your first, second, third, right up to your eighth one being a kiss goodnight. You had never kissed someone so much in your life, and you had a feeling that you would have to get used to having someone who would shower you so easily in his affections.

Public kisses:

Mark doesn’t get too worried about what you get up to out in public. He’s not the type to make an obvious spectacle out of you both, but he also isn’t bothered by anyone seeing you enjoying each other’s physical contact. Holding hands is a given, and if he’s not holding your hand, then his arm is slung around you, keeping you close to his side. He loves it when you wrap your arms around his waist as you walk too, smiling and leaning down to kiss your head happily. He always likes to be touching you in some way. Kisses out in a public vary, he can be satisfied with just a quick peck on the lips, or lots of forehead or cheek kisses, and then sometimes he needs more of you, stopping whatever you’re doing and running his thumb lightly over your bottom lip before cupping your face in his. He’s not going to leave his mouth on yours for long, but he always gives you this smile that makes you feel like you’re going to float away if he ever lets go of you.

You have frequent dates out, either to do active pursuits, like the ski lodge in winter, or the pool in summer, but he also loves spoiling you and taking you shopping, to museums, cafes, and lots of park picnics and walks. On these he is more affectionate too, holding you close at all times and quietly telling you how beautiful you are in your outfit, or how much he cannot wait to take you home and get you out of it. That escalated quickly. Give or take on his mood, he’s not even afraid to rile you up out in public, his hands swift at targeting your weaknesses, his lips kissing yours with a little more demand, and silently you both make plans to end whatever you’re doing and get someplace more private, so you can continue on with where this was heading.

Private kisses:

At home it’s just a continuation of when together anywhere, period. Lots of cuddles, plenty of touching, playful banter, serious conversations, no talking at all, you did it all. Some days all you’d do is stay cuddled up together, leaving kisses upon one another, smiles endlessly pouring out alongside your love. Others you’ll be cooking or cleaning together, and Mark will come over and rest his head on your shoulder, enveloping you in his warm back hug and kissing along your neck, telling you how good you looked right now. In fact if there was one phrase you heard the most aside from I love you, it was that, he was always enamoured by how you appeared to him. You could come home from the gym all sweaty and dishevelled and apart from a playful pout accompanied with a complaint about getting all worked up without his help, he would still tell you how good you look to him. And it wasn’t from a lack of control over his sexual desires; you could see he genuinely meant it each and every time.

And you were both able to function without being attached to one another, though Mark would often stop what he was doing just to stare at you, taken back that you’re his. No matter how much time passed, it still felt surreal that he had gotten this lucky. And that’s why his lips were constantly on yours; gently reminding you that he needed you always.

Making out:

Mark could make out with you every day of the week if you let him. But that would be far too much passion for a person to cope through, and so you settled for several times a week when together, both of you unable to keep your hands off of each other and heating things up. You had quickly progressed into a physical relationship, given the fact that you had been friends before lovers, and didn’t need to spend that extra time getting to know what each other was like. You were both still the same, but you had used that “free” time to explore each other, finding out what you both liked in each other early on. Mark is a confident lover, so long as you’re not trying anything new. And so most sessions would almost always follow a similar routine, both of you liking the consistent flow of making out with one another. Unlike JB and Jinyoung, Mark isn’t an experimental kind of guy. He knows your key spots well, and attacks them first every time. He loves having you in his lap, his hands running up and down your curves and then gripping at your thighs as you grind against him, quickly building up both of your breathing. And his lips are almost always upon your upper chest and neck, sucking and biting lovingly at you as your moans begin. You can bet that making out with Mark is essentially a long, intense session of foreplay, and this appreciation of your body will extend into the bedroom. And so because of this, he’s vocal, even now, letting you know how you make him feel, cursing at how good it is. Quite often his cue of wanting to take you someplace more pleasurable is spoken out with a “fuck you look so good right now”, picking you up as your legs wrap around him instantly, stopping along the way to balance against the walls, or counter tops when the passion makes it too much for him to walk and keep kissing you. By the time you’re in the bedroom, you’re both far too hot, stripping down and leaving the making out completely behind, moving into another realm of ecstasy. Goodbye I am deader than dead.

Morning kisses:

Mornings are sweet with Mark. You both wake up around the same time, and he’s always smiling lazily over at you, reaching over to brush the hair away from your face and greeting you huskily. His lips are always soft and slow in the morning, almost like they’re still waking up too. Lots of Eskimo kisses and his never ending forehead kisses too. He loves playing with your hair in the morning, making fun of you whenever it’s a little messy, only mussing it up further to annoy you. And whenever you try to leave him, his arms around your waist tighten, telling you to not even dream of leaving him. But it’s time to be awake, not dreaming, and you’re aware of the clock unlike him. He doesn’t like this about you and will try every tactic in the book to keep you next to him. There has even been a few times where you’ve been late for work, Mark’s sweet morning sex being enough to distract you completely.

Making up:

Arguing with Mark is frustrating. You both like to talk about your feelings, Mark actually being quite the talker if he has something to say. And so because of this, your relationship is generally quite harmonious, any time an issue crops up, you both work promptly to solve it. And if you can’t do that, Mark avoids the situation until it cannot be ignored any longer. Unlike others with tempers, he doesn’t yell. He’s always calm, but disconnected in his tone, which is harder to deal with than yelling and getting it out and over with. And worse is the silent treatment that follows, frustrating you completely until you cry. This is when Mark softens; hating that he’s causing you to shed those emotions, even if it might not be directly his fault in the beginning.

He is a firm believer in making up, lots of kisses laced in with his apology, his hands pulling you against his body and rocking you both back and forth until you calm down. Like Jaebum, he’s also one for make up sex, the mood incredibly delicate and soft, unlike most of your love making sessions.

Movie kisses:

A lot of dates are spent at home, both of you loving a good movie night with some snacks and each other as company. You’re not huge into scary movies, but he is, and a lot of the time he convinces you to watch them with him, even though you spend more time gripping at him and burying your head into his chest than actually watching the screen. Of course this is why he loves movie dates with you so much, smirking to himself whenever you freak out, patting your back gently and kissing the top of your head. Whenever it gets too much, or when it’s finished and you’re shaking a little from what you just endured, he feels a little bad, telling you it’s not real and it won’t happen to you because you have him. And irrationally you bite back, telling him you’re not going to be able to relax now and sleep in case you have nightmares. He softly kisses you then, distracting you entirely until you’re sleepily gazing up at him with a smile upon your face, and allowing him to help you go to bed and sleep, reminding you that he’s kissed all the bad dreams away if you slip back and think of what you were doing before his luscious lips were on yours.

Pouty/teasing kisses:

Although you have a lot of chilled, loving and tender moments, Mark is also a clingy guy, and if you don’t give him enough attention, he’s going to play with his lips again until all you can think of is kissing him. He will shamelessly follow you around like a lost puppy and cling to you at any chance he can get. And because he’s right there, and sticking out that bottom lip at you, how could you resist?

But you also have your own way at getting him back for is needy behaviour, teasing him whenever you can with whatever ammunition you can find. A lot of it stems from your great relationship with his family, photos of him when he’s younger being a great way to get under his skin. You love seeing him riled up, especially after he’s made you watch one too many horrors in a month, and so you’ll send him taunting messages about whatever you’ve got on him, Mark finding you as soon as you’re together again and demanding you hand them over. He’s even begged his Dad to stop releasing all of his childhood disasters to you, but of course you still get them delivered promptly to torment him with. In these moments, he’s desperate to get whatever it is away from you and you’ve already climbed up on the sofa or something higher than him, dancing around with the item in your hand or phone, gleaming triumphantly at him. And so he does what is the only way to silence you and grabs you swiftly, landing his lips upon yours, kissing you until you fall captive and relent to his charms completely. And he can never figure out if you always forget this is how it ends up, or if you do this purposely just to be taken hostage by his lips entirely, but neither of you are complaining by the time you’re done.

Missed you kisses:

Naturally with this line of work, Mark’s often away from you and he hates this so much. Aside from daily texts to make sure you’re eating well, that you’re sleeping okay without him, if you have his hoodie on that his spritzed his cologne onto when the time apart is too long, he also rings you, unable to go without telling you at least once a day that he loves with you his own voice. Regardless of whether you pick up or not, given the time zone differences at times, he always leaves you his love, and misses you like crazy. So much that the plane is barely landing on the tarmac or the van is just rolling over the borderline that brings him back into the city, before he’s on the phone to you, telling you he’s on his way. If it’s late at night, he’ll forgo the call, making his way into your apartment with the key you gave him earlier into your relationship, and removing all unnecessary layers before climbing into bed and finding your lips. He is relentless, evoking instant desire within you, tasting your mouth completely before he pulls back, and utters a “god I’ve missed you” before his lips are reaching for yours again. You never thought you could be loved this deeply by someone else, but here you were getting spoiled completely, that you didn’t even care if he disturbed your sleep.

Future kisses:

Although you didn’t talk about it often, as there was no need to constantly confirm with each other, some of your favourite moments with Mark were at night discussing the future together. It would start of innocently, a friend of yours might have sent a wedding invitation to you, and suddenly you’re both discussing how you want your big day to be like. It’s casually started but grows earnest from both of you, smiling up at one another and giving each other kisses in between. But when it gets deeper, when he tells you how he’s imagined buying a house together within the next year, how his family are waiting for him to tell them he’s proposed, Mark not so subtlety testing your reaction to the idea of becoming his fiancé, and his wife, to the mother of his children, it’s a little overwhelming, all in a good way. Because he’s so resolute that it’s only ever going to be you for him, and he knows that it’s the same for you. But he wants your thoughts always, and seeing how worked up you are whenever he adds Tuan onto your name, you just cannot help but explode with love for the man beside you. Your lips finding his, and kissing him in a way that has you both shivering in delight. Your foreheads pressed together as you both utter love confessions at one another, showering each other in kisses afterwards. It’s a moment where you truly feel yourselves connecting into one entity, knowing some day soon, you’d be able to live out those desires, ready to make them your reality.

A lot of people see Mark as a quiet guy, and he although he’s not as talkative as most people in your life, with his meaningful short sentences to go along with your entirely detailed and lengthy ones, he’s definitely not a silent aspect of your life, evoking a lot of passion, spoiling you completely, letting you treat him like your prince, and just living happily ever after, because that’s what’s in the cards, right?

_______________

Other GOT7 members: Mark // Jaebum // Jackson // Jinyoung // Youngjae // Yugyeom

[Different Kisses Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

[patsdrabbles]

Once Upon A Time

Fandom: The Traveling Wilburys Pairing: George Harrison/Bob Dylan Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 1749 Summary: Wherein Bob has a story he finally wants to talk about. A/N: Another story I wrote a while ago. ^^ I also have two more Dylarrison drabbles written that I hope to get around posting soon. ♥ Feedback is, no matter how short, super appreciated and helpful! ♥ Enjoy <3   (AO3)

„And now we welcome, on TV for the first time in several years: Mister Bob Dylan!”

The applause was insane. It was almost too much but he shook his head briskly. He had come here on his own terms. He had asked his manager himself whether he could arrange an appearance on the show a while ago.

“Bob!” The talkshow host welcomed him with a firm shake of the hand, and before he knew what was happening, Bob was already sitting on the thankfully not too soft couch opposite of him. Had it been too soft, he might just have let it swallow him whole. He still hadn’t managed to calm his nerves.

After exchanging some pleasantries, the talkshow host, a certain Dan Miller, thanked him for appearing on his show, and Bob talked about his latest album for a minute, until the talkshow host harrumphed.

“So, Bob. You wanted to talk about something in particular when coming here, you told me?” Bob, despite being prepared and all too willing to finally confess, felt his heart stop for a moment and took a steadying breath before nodding affirmingly. “Yeah.”

He looked directly into the camera for a moment instead of toward Miller. “I just wanted to say... I am gonna tell you a story about George. ... George Harrison, you know.” He saw Miller nod from the corner of his eye. He had his hands folded in his lap and looked eager to hear what Bob was going to tell him. Him and half the nation watching the show right now. “And I just wanted to say that Olivia and Dhani – his wonderful wife and kid – they gave me their blessings to tell this story. ...Yeah.”

He had turned back toward Miller toward the end of his little heads-up. Now it was time to spill the tea, as George used to say. He smiled a little to himself, not noticeable enough for anyone to notice.

“Now, you see, I first met George when he was only in his early twenties and the Beatles were quite famous already.” Miller nodded, but remained quiet, waiting for him to continue. “I was also quite known back then and I ended up meeting all of the Beatles then. George became a fast friend of mine. He was one of the most decent people I ever met – and the one with the most wicked humour.”

Miller laughed, nodding. He had met George on his show once before, many years ago, and his humor had left a lasting impression. The talkshow host told Bob about the incident and Bob allowed himself a barely but yet, visible smile. “Yeah, that was George.” Miller was smiling at him and the tension caused by the anticipation of what Bob’s story was faded away a bit.

“A’ight,” Bob shook his head, still smiling. (Talking about George tended to have that effect on him.) “I’m gonna tell you the story I came to tell now. It’s not a lot that happened, but I felt like it was time to spill the tea, as George used to say.” Miller nodded at him encouragingly.

“You see, Olivia told me she had found writing of George’s the other month and it seemed like he wanted to publish it when he was working on it. It was all autobiographical and she saw a sequence in there, a story we all three knew about. She called me and we reminisced about it when we met on her invitation.”

Bob took another steadying breath when suddenly, a gentle calm settled over him. He wasn’t nervous about what he was about to confess anymore, hell, he couldn’t care less about what anyone thought about him. And he had known George well enough to know that he had his blessing, too. And he had Olivia and Dhani at his back, no matter that he hadn’t seen them for years until recently.

“In the eighties – before the Traveling Wilburys came to be – we hung out sometimes and one time, late one evening, we were sitting on George’s couch with some wine.” He paused, recalling the evening very clearly still. He knew it would never fade from his memory and he was glad for it. “He told me–” He let out a sound that could only be described as a giggle but thankfully wasn’t as obviously one, his voice deeper and rougher than it had been in younger days. He reached for his water and took a sip before continuing.

“He told me, serious as only George could be without being intimidating, that were I a girl, he would have dated me. Even married me.” The room and the audience within had grown noticeably quieter over the course of his last few words. “Despite all my flaws.” Bob shook his head, laughing lowly.

“I told him I’d still be no good then, as a girl, but also that I wholeheartedly returned the sentiment.” He smiled, the memory coming back to him more clearly than it had been minutes ago. “He was closer suddenly, but he didn’t do a thing. So I ...kissed him.”

There were a few gasps but also an audible, surprised “Woooah” coming from the audience, but Bob didn’t pay much attention to them then. He didn’t pay more attention to Miller either, who was staring at him unbelievingly. But more positively surprised than uncomfortable. Bob had chosen to appear on his show for a good reason after all, that being Miller being openly gay and talking about LGBT matters quite frequently. He knew that most people that watched the show were also pretty open-minded, but that didn’t matter all that much now. Tomorrow, the whole country would know anyway. He felt oddly unworried about it now.

“George was horrified, told me he’d have to fess up to Olivia about what had happened. I told him not to worry, it had been my fault after all. He hadn’t kissed me. He told me he had been thinking about it though.”

“Wow, I. Wow.” Miller was clearly at a loss of words, not having anticipated Bob’s story to lead where it was going right then. So, Bob internally shrugged and went on.

“He asked me if I didn’t like girls after all and I looked at him and told him–“ Bob raised both his eyebrows, mirroring his gaze back then, and dryly repeated his words to George: “There are people who are bisexual, y’know, George?”

The audience laughed heartily for a moment and Miller, too, seemed to recovered his voice, despite only managing a short, laughed “Oh my god” before Bob took over again.

“Y’know, that question coming from a man who then told me he was bisexual himself was kind of hilarious. But... that was George to you. I think he knew but wanted make sure.” He added: “And it was still a topic you didn’t talk about that much with your friends back then. But then, you didn’t kiss your best friend every day either.”

The rest of the talkshow went over quite fast after Bob had finished telling his story. The show still continued for another half hour, actually, but Bob felt like he had lost his sense of time. He felt so much lighter now that he had talked about what had happened. There had been no one else, no other guy after George and their kiss. But that didn’t change how he felt. And he felt better for himself now and he felt that George would hug him, where he still here.

*****

It was late and they had spent all day jamming and writing a couple of new and half-finished songs. It was a musically satisfying day, to say the least, and being in good company was a bonus both of them appreciated.

George had gone and fetched them a bottle of wine from the cellar, pouring them both a glass before letting himself fall lightly onto the couch next to Bob.

They sipped at their glasses in amiable silence for a few minutes, drinking but not enough to get tipsy yet. It wasn’t the wine that made George suddenly set down his glass on the table before turning and, meeting Bob’s eyes seriously, tell him: “If you were a girl, I’d have dated ye any day. Even married ye.”

It was a sudden and unexpected confession and Bob, too, set down his glass before he thought of a good answer. “I don’t think you’d like to date me. I’d still be as unreliable as I am now, I reckon. But... I’d date you, too.”

His gaze was locked on George’s, silent questions being directed at each other in a frenzy, and suddenly, George seemed to sit so much closer than before. Bob couldn’t help himself anymore, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to George’s lips, his hand holding George close by the shoulder and his thumb caressing his throat gently.

George, whose eyes had closed the second their lips had met, pulled back all of a sudden, eyes wide and filled with panic. He was married and very happily so. Bob knew. George didn’t even need to say it.

“I’ll have to tell Olivia.”

Bob nodded. He understood.

George looked torn and close to tears, and he placed a hand gently on Bob’s cheek before pulling him closer and resting his forehead against Bob’s. “You know that I love her, more than the world, but... I love you, too.” He waited, looking into Bob’s eyes to see if he understood how important this was to him. “Please don’t ever forget that.” Bob couldn’t look away, the moment too intense and his own feelings finally released from where he had hidden them for years now. “I always loved you, George.” It came out all choked out and the tears in his eyes were undeniable. “And I always will.”

George pulled him into a tight hug and sadly cursed about his too big heart, asking why he had to love two people so, so dearly, at once. But Bob only shook his head against his shoulder and told him firmly to stop. “You are one of the finest persons I know, George. I won’t do anything to hurt you. I promise.”

George, too, shook his head then. “I feel like all this love might kill me someday.”

Bob stilled for a moment before holding George even more tightly. “It won’t. I’ll make sure it won’t.”

And he and Olivia did.

[your-rose-highness]

Tell me What is Love (ch.1)

Hye hee entered a coffee shop at a dreadful hour when there was hardly anyone present. Being an assistant editor of a publishing house, didn't help in her dire need of a routine. Most of her days passed pulling deadlines late into the night.

Today was just another night of editing a long guideline of using a mechanical bicycle. As she entered the dimly lit cozy coffee shop, the barista gave her a pitiful smile, knowing very well why she was here at 1 A.M.

“Hey there.”, Minseok greeted as the little bell rang marking the arrival of customers.

“Hi.”, she groaned back.

She makes her way to the back of the shop, which was her deemed ‘spot’, that she used for feeling mega productive to finish her all nighters.

Minseok heads to the table carrying her pomegranate tea, which she regularly ordered during her night ventures.

“Here you go”, he said, placing the aesthetically pleasing pink tea in front of her, taking the seat opposite to her.

“Thanks min, you’re an angel.”

“So what is it tonight?”, he inquired, supporting his head on his palm, expecting another high rush novel.

“Mechanical sport bicycle guidelines. Want to hear more?”, she laughed sneakily.

“Bye.”, he got up as a reflex, making both of them chuckle. “Any way if you want anything, i’ll be just behind this screen. I’m not really expecting anyone tonight, it’s a slow evening.”

She nodded and began typing away. Sipping her tea, she felt exhaustion creep in by 2.30.

If only i had not taken up the extra manuscript yesterday, i could be in bed today, she thought.

Barely able to keep her eyes open, she typed the last few pages, when the little bell jingled a little too loud into the quiet night. Hye hee peeped from her laptop, to find a man covered in black clothes, a face mask and black goggles step in, shivering from the cold outside. Minseok stumbled out and the mysterious man ordered his drink. Hye hee resumed her work, her thoughts slightly clouded by entrance of the man.

Idol?

She thought to herself. Poor fellas, don't get proper alone time that they probably need to hanker about in the middle of the night. As she worked out her theories, minseok approached her again, to ask if she needed anything. The man had seated himself with his back to her, so she couldn't make out who he was.

You've grown, Song hye hee, she congratulated herself.

It was still hard for her to see idols anywhere since baekhyun.

Baekhyun, her dorky friend from the seventh grade. The both of them had never spoken to each other before he spilled his pudding all over her skirt in the cafeteria one time, when he slipped while demonstrating a move his dog had done earlier that day.

Hye hee was the class president and had dreaded the clown baekhyun was. He had always teased her in the past for being too nerdy. He could be the definition of trouble all by himself But this was the limit. Baekhyun had expected her to yell at him, sincerely sorry for have done the deed. To his surprise, she cried in the middle of the crowded cafeteria, attracting annoying looks from everyone. Baekhyun’s friends slipped away from him, afraid of being embarrassed. He rushed to soothe her, but she wailed even louder, running into the girl’s bathroom. He waited for her to come out, but when she didn't for 30 minutes, he picked up courage and entered calling out her name.

He found her, head between her knees, sobbing with red eyes. She looked up at him with defeat. Hye hee was tired of his impractical jokes, but he had surprised her that day. Handing her tissues, and offering his school coat to her to cover her skirt. They had walked home together that day, which was a rare event even though they had lived across the street from each other. She was touched from his actions and he had a found a good friend in his nerdy, irritating class president cum neighbour.

From that point onwards, Baekhyun and Hye Hee were pretty much inseparable. They enjoyed each other's company to their and their classmate's surprise. He still teased her but knew his limits. At times, he would join in and help her with the tasks in hand.

They were happy. It felt complete. Extremely mismatched, although, it seemed to work out for them.

Hye hee brought herself back to reality when the black hoodie man got up from his table. She looked at him till he went to the door, when suddenly he turned to meet eyes with her for a second, as if he knew she was watching him.

Finishing the last page, she lifted her eyes to find that it was nearly six in the morning. Picking herself up and rushing to her office, she submitted her manuscript when her friend found her.

“You! Do you even check your phone?.... Omg what the hell? Girl, you look like a panda again!!!”, Jae In said surprised.

Lee Jae In, her only comrade in this lonely business. Hye hee and Jae In were both interns when they met. The competitiveness wouldn't let them be friends in the beginning. Getting ahead was more important. As years passed, they realised how alike they were and slowly got to know each other. Jae In (or Jane, as she preferred to be called) and hye hee were now the rare colleague- friend combo.

“I’m sorry.. You called? I had to work overnight for this…”, hye hee explained, frantically digging through her bag to find her phone.

“Forget about that… i have to tell you something really important.”

Jane paused to have her friend’s full attention.

“Baekhyun’s getting married.”

“What?”, hye hee whispered.

“Go out with me.”, baekhyun casually dropped one evening when both of them sat by a tiny pond, feet dipped in the water.

Hye hee turned to stare at him with disbelief. “What? No!”, she exclaimed.

“Why?”, he whined, “look i’m way better than daniel anyway. So you’ll be safer with me.”

“Safer?”

“The guy’s a literal jerk. How can i trust him with you?”

“You thought i was asking for your permission?”

“Look, you like me, i like you. What's the problem?”

“The problem is we’re friends!”

Baekhyun then kissed her. Trying to give her reasons, hoping that the kiss will be a silent confession of his feelings that he did not quite understand himself. All the 16 year old knew was that he was jealous when his friend spoke to other boys or dressed up for them. He hated that she would be their company.

He loved her. He had always loved her.

Breaking the kiss, both sat without uttering a word. It was new for them. The feelings that they were experiencing. Baekhyun watched her with the corner of his eye, judging her reactions. A tiny smile broke across her face, and he sighed in relief.

They were in love.

No one was surprised, really. Their friends always thought they were dating secretly.

Like all young lovers, they faced everything. Misunderstandings, passion, anger, jealousy and unceasing love.

Regardless, they became each other's strength. Hye hee wanted to pursue journalism and write, Baekhyun wanted to be a singer, as his passion wouldn't let him pursue anything other. They worked hard to achieve their goals, frequently disappointed with the outcomes. Working as  team, they supported each other, and became the other’s driving force to hold on and keep trying.

“I'm giving up.”, Baekhyun screamed, as he walked into Hye Hee’s room one evening.

“Baekhyun?”, Hye hee inquired from the bathroom.

“Yeah..”, he sulked on the bed.

“You should KNOCK when you come. I'm a GIRL.”, she stressed across the door.

“Yeah… GIRLFRIEND. by the way that's not the point. I'm tired Hye hee. I didn't get in through this audition too. I… I can't anymore.”, He sighed.

“Don't give up Baekhyun. You love music and you're good. Honestly, if you weren't, I wouldn't be pushing you. But you're really good!”, She said stepping out of the bathroom.

He looked at her, and he forgot about the audition for a minute. What had he done to deserve her? She was beautiful. She caught him staring and smiled.

“You're being so obvious that you're in love with me.”, She cockily said.

“I do love you.”, Baekhyun cooed, wrapping his arms around her waist.

The past came back like a whip. It was just a second. Jane realised that Hye Hee wasn't listening to her. Baekhyun and Hye Hee's relationship had gone downhill ever since he was accepted into SM agency as a trainee.

First, they hardly had any time to see each other. When they did, Baekhyun would just sleep, too tired to go out.

Only, during the trainee year, he was still the Baekhyun she knew. He was tired, but at least he was still her old buddy, her first love.

After he debuted, that's when the difference began. He wouldn't pick her calls, if he did, he wouldn't talk much. It drove her insane.

Baekhyun was in ecstasy. The new found fame, the popularity, his name on everyone's lips, it made him feel on top of the world. He was a sensation and he knew it.

“Hi.. Baekhyun right?”, A young girl peeped in one day when he was in a vocal room of his company practicing.

“Oh! Hello! Yes, I'm Baekhyun.”, Baekhyun bowed to his senior, and his idol.

Girls generation's leader, Taeyeon.

“I've been meaning to meet you guys! But we had to leave for a concert.”, She said shaking his hand.

It had begun there. Girls generation was always hanging out with their new maknae boy group who were so filled with energy. Everyone noticed how much taeyeon and Baekhyun loved each other's company. They shared food, jokes, even had inside jokes that they giggled on.

Baekhyun had idolized Taeyeon. He had a massive crush on her since school days. Now, he was able to talk to her and she was exactly how he had dreamed she would be. Sweet, gentle, an Angel, and so beautiful. Taeyeon was attracted to him too. He was lively, cute and made her laugh.

Baekhyun was loving life. He would tell Hye Hee about taeyeon when they spoke on the phone. It was always about taeyeon or exo. He was so drunk off of his company, that he couldn't wait each day to get back to work. He anticipated taeyeon’s call more than Hye Hee. At times, he'd pick her call when Hye hee and Baek went out on their very rare trips out, talking for hours.

Hye hee was jealous. She wanted to be supportive and not behave like a controlling bitch. But her boyfriend was suddenly so into another super pretty, model-esque girl, not to mention part of the biggest girl group of the time, it bugged her. They had common ground of conversation. Something now Baekhyun and Hye hee lacked.

“We're just really good friends, Hye Hee. She's amazing too…”, he convinced her.

“Did you tell her you have a girlfriend?”, Hye hee asked innocently, poking at her noodles.

“Yeah, that's what we discuss about at work.”, He laughed it off.

“It didn't seem like you were talking about work..”, she whispered softly, but he heard it.

“Are you being suspicious?”, He asked.

“No…”, she said, unable to meet his eyes.

“Look, I don't really want to do this right now. Let's eat and go, I'm really tired.”

Hye hee convinced herself that it wasn't how she thought it was. Deciding to have dinner with him today, she bought his favourite food, healthy ofcourse, and called up Junmyeon.

“Hey Hye Hee!”, Jun Myeon boomed on the phone, “ it's been long since we've spoken! How're you?”

“Hi oppa. I'm good. It's just that I miss you guys, and thought we could have dinner together? Are you all free tonight? I wanted to surprise Baekhyun.”, Hye hee radiated.

“Ah! Yes we're free. But all the boys wouldn't be home till late 10 I guess. Baekhyun and Jongdae are home I think. Why don't you ahead over? I'll see you there later..”, he informed.

Thanking him, Hye Hee, bopped to their dorm. Feeling oddly happy that she was doing something for the tired Baekhyun. Usually she would be too busy with work herself to enjoy any free time.

Reaching over, she put in the code, she knew so well. Baekhyun's room was on the first floor, so she decided to say hello to Jongdae first. Knocking twice, when she slowly opened the door, she found him strewn on his bed, sleeping with his mouth open.

Wow, he must be really tired. I’ll wake him up later when junmyeon gets here.  She thought and shut his door.

Baekhyun must be tired too, i was so harsh on him. He needed me the most now and all i've really done is be all jealous. I was being a bad girlfriend.

She opened his door slightly, incase he was sleeping too. He wasnt in his room though. Hearing muffled voices coming from the balcony, she tiptoed across the bedroom to find him.

“I miss you too… guess what? Let’s have dinner at my place tomorrow. The guys will be out and we can have the place to ourselves.”, baekhyun giggled over the phone, with no idea that hye hee was standing right behind him.

It was taeyeon on the phone. Hye Hee’s heart shattered. Without knowing how to deal with anything, she left without a word. Baekhyun, giddy over the phone, hadn't realized anything yet. It was when suho came home, finding the takeouts on the table, did he ask baekhyun about it.

“Hey baek, where’s hye hee?”

“What? I don't know.. At home maybe. Why hyung?”,baekhyun without a care in the world.

“Why didn't she stay?”

“Stay where?”

“She came here to see you right? The food is on the table.”, suho said confused, pointing at the dinner table.

Horror crawled in on Baekhyun’s face.

“When? When did she?”

“She didn't meet you?”

“When did she call you?”

“I don't know around 8?.....”

Baekhyun knew. She had heard him. He did notice someone who looked so much like her run down the street. But he had brushed it off.

He grabbed his jacket and ran to his home, his heart thudding uncontrollably.

Hye Hee wasn't responding to his calls anymore and after sometime it said switched off. She wasn't home.

Where could she have gone?

Running around his neighbourhood at 1 AM, he found her at last. She stared straight at him. She had been crying for long, but now her cheeks were stained with the dried tears.

He approached her slowly, sitting beside her. When she didn't say a word, Baekhyun worked up courage.

“Hye hee.”

“We're over.”, She stated.

“Let me explain.”

“There's nothing to explain Baekhyun.”

“Taeyeon…”

“Stop it! STOP IT!”, she screamed into the night.

“Stop saying her name! I get it! She's the one you've always wanted! But you should have had the mere decency to tell me that you didn't love me anymore! You could…”, she broke into tears again.

It hurt him to watch her so broken, worse, because of him. He had knew that he had feelings for Taeyeon, but he forgot that unintentionally was hurting Hye hee.

“I guess we should just take a break.”, Baekhyun whispered. It was making him crazy. He loved Hye Hee but taeyeon made his heart beat. Was it possible to be in love with two people at the same time?

“You love her..”, Hye hee softly said.

“I love you too.”

“No. You don't. I'm just someone you're used to.”

“No… Hye hee…”,tears filled his eyes realising what her words meant.

“Look. We've been dating since high school, right? So we never really dated a lot. Maybe she's the one. You never know.”, Hye hee muttered, more to convince herself.

“C'mon, run back. You've got to leave for China tomorrow right? You need rest.”, She continued.

Baekhyun stared at her. He felt an ache build in his chest. She'd been such an important part of his life and ripping it out wasn't going to be easy. “No point continuing this if there's no love Baekhyun. We'll just continue to be anxious. It's time to move on. I don't want to hold you back.”

With that, she hugged him one last time. Hye Hee embraced him, wanting to engrave him in her memory forever. Baekhyun wrapped his hands around her. His first love, his best friend, the super girl, who was good at video games as well as academics was leaving him. Nothing he said or did would make a difference now. They had grown and they had changed.

It was an end of an era.

Meanwhile, the words rang in her head as Hye Hee tried to continue her day as usual...Baekhyun is getting married.

It’s out! I’m so nervous about this story so do let me know your thoughts on it!! :D thank you for reading

[crownandwriter]

Hello! May I please request a matchup for Genshin Impact? Thank you so very much for considering my request, as well as any time and effort you may spend on it.

I’m an INFJ-T, 5'4, demisexual girl. When I first meet people, I’m very withdrawn, and tend to be shy. I’m not the type of person that would start a conversation, even when we’re considered friends. (But I will if it’s someone truly close to me.) However, this is not true for work related things, if it’s work, I’m very serious and have no problem talking. Although, if I’m trying to make some sort of decision (even minor ones) or am trying to figure something out, then I’ll have an extremely bad stutter and will have great difficulty forming sentences. 

Among my peers, I’m known for being very polite and having a rather proper way of speech. But also for speaking very softly, so people sometimes can’t hear me. Oftentimes, I don’t actually speak, and when possible, I tend to nod or use other gestures. Unless one of my hyperfixations is mentioned, because then, I’ll be talking a mile a minute. It doesn’t really matter who I’m talking to, I’ll light up like a light bulb and become VERY expressive. Whenever I smile, my face flushes uncontrollably. (But I don’t become SUPER red.) 

Once I know people well, I’m actually extremely affectionate. I love hugging, handholding, and physical affection in general. Whenever I see someone I care about, I always give them a hug. Also, I love writing letters and poetry, and writing in general. But for people I love, I keep a notebook that I write letters and poetry for them every night. Once it’s full, I’ll give it to them. I’m really a romantic at heart. Also, I give out words of affirmation on a practically daily basis, and make a point of saying good morning and good night every day. I can be a bit of a mom friend, but often, I am the child. I’ll be pretty chaotic and although, I won’t become reckless. Amidst my chaos, which usually includes pranks, insane ideas and a ton of energy, I’ll still be very cautious and thoughtful. 

My interests are generally towards creative things, I love writing. There’s something amazing about how people can elicit emotions from others using words. My writing is often rather depressing though, but I can do well with other tones as well. I also enjoy drawing, I always feel a swell of emotion and pride once I’ve created something I’m happy with. Though I often scrap drawings that I’m not so happy with. I also play violin and dizi, and carry a deep affection for music. It’s something that makes me truly happy. Cooking and baking are also things I love, simply because I love other people’s expressions when they try what I make. I also love to dance, and exercise a lot. Still, I overuse my body often, and so cannot use my left wrist and have many other less impactful overuse (and other) injuries. Also, I have loose joints, so my bones often pop out of their sockets at random times. 

I’m pretty uncomfortable with being flirted with, and want the person I love to be my close friend before my lover. The thing I find most important in a relationship is companionship and trust. I hate being controlled and don’t do well with pressure. I want to be free, but I’m also very loyal, I won’t ever betray the people I love. They are what is most important to me, romantic or platonic.

That’s all that I have to share at the moment, I hope that this is the type of information you’re looking for, thank you so much in advance and have a lovely day!

Hiya! Sorry this took a while--thank you for submitting!!

I Ship you with Venti!

- You want a friend before a romance, and that’s definitely Venti’s style! He loves people inherently, however due to his past is a little slow to get to know anyone on a deeper level. A relationship with him starts as a slow-blossoming friendship and only eventually changes when one day he wakes up and realizes you’re precious in a way he’s never experienced before. That said, I think it could go either way in terms or whether or not there’s an actual confession. Venti strikes me as the type to think love is love, and he doesn’t need a title to start treating you accordingly. If he thinks you reciprocate, there’s a pretty good chance he’ll just start kissing your hand in greeting to test the waters.

- He’s the cheesiest of romantics! Flirting is very much within his repertoire, but usually it takes the form of the same good-natured teasing he gives all his friends. (Sprinkled with more inside jokes.) He may seem a little laid-back in his responses to romance--but he definitely went a little misty-eyed the first time you handed him an entire book of letters and poetic musings. (You can expect to be hearing a lot more new music from his lyre in the following weeks because he’s got a lot of catching up to do.)

- He’s a physical love bug too, and will gladly cling to you like ivy if you let him. He might even wrangle a piggyback or two out of you, if you’re playful or too weak-of-will to resist his puppy face. I’m sure you can guess, even if only by the tone I set there, that Venti’s happy to throw in on some small-scale chaos with you. He’s more of a verbal-shenanigans type of person, but if you wanna go prank Diluc and maybe run off with some wine he’s not gonna say No.

- Your desire for freedom obviously works out very well here. While Venti’s own emotional communication is a little lacking, he’s always very open about supporting you and your decisions. Even in a relationship, he’s the type to disappear for days or even weeks at a time to do his own thing, so he’d be a hypocrite if he tried to hold you down in any way. ...That said, he’s very much a conversation-initiator and will gladly talk your ear off whenever you’re feeling quietly sociable. You can expect him to seek you out just as often as he disappears.

- And on those days when you’ve really overdone it and are just too sore or tired to leave bed...Venti takes full advantage to be lazy. But it’s a fair trade, right? He gets to lounge about all day--munching apples, napping, strumming songs--and you get his wonderful company. UuU

Runner Up: Jean

[softforimjaebum]

knight in a black mask.|wang jackson

bestfriend!Jackson

Word Count: 4k

Genre: Fluff

Summary: I hated birthdays. But all of this changed when a certain Wang Jackson barged his way into my life. 

Author’s Note: I was just in the mood for some Wang Puppy in my life. Just a generally (hopefully) fluffy oneshot. I really hope the first person writing doesn’t bother anyone too much. Thanks for reading!

I hated birthdays. They were my assured, once in a year source of disappointment, a yearly reminder of the fact that at the end of the day, I was alone in this world.

If I think back far enough, I can still remember the butterflies in my stomach from just thinking about my birthday.  But I do suppose that was more from the excitement of wearing casual clothing to school for that one day; studying in a school with uniforms made you live for the simple things like that.

Birthdays in my family have always been calm and collected, just like I was. Not even when I was a really young child do I remember a wild party thrown on my birthday. In fact, I barely remember having a birthday party at all. Maybe once, or maybe twice; but I have very vague memories of it, and mostly I believe those memories have more to do with the pictures I saw of those days rather than actual memories themselves.

The older I grew, the worse the memories of my birthdays got. It got to a point where I started dreading them because I saw people I knew having these friends and family wishing them on their birthdays while in my extremely big extended family, no one really cared for it. They didn’t even remember it for a better part of my existence. Most of my friends had withered away from my life with time; I knew I was pretty terrible at keeping in touch with most people. I just never knew what to talk about except my interests; and my interests were always so different from a majority of my friends.

So birthdays got lesser and lesser exciting as I grew older, still yearning for the clichéd parties and rituals I saw my friends have. Not that I would ever admit it to another soul, mind you. I wasn’t one to show my weaknesses to people, neither was I one to admit how many clichéd things I wanted in life. I was too cool for clichés.

But all of this changed when a certain Wang Jackson barged his way into my life.

I had recently moved to a new city, a new country in fact, so the list of people who were my friends was at an all time low. I was in a small indie cafe, occupying a 4 people table all by myself with my books, bag and coat taking up a lot of the space. Not many people came into this cafe, which was a reason I was more often than not found here, and if it ever got crowded I wasn’t the one to mind sharing the other side of my table.

It was one of the quieter days in the cafe when a fairly loud group of boys came in. They were just loud enough to catch everyone’s attention, including the ones like me who had headphones on. A boy amongst them, wearing a bucket hat gave everyone a slight bow with an apology for the rest of them. They looked familiar to me, but for the life in me I couldn’t figure out how.

I went back to reading the book I was frantically trying to finish, Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami. As of lately, my pile of to-be read books had increased substantially and I hadn’t had enough time to read, but it was Chuseok in Korea which meant a three day long vacation with no homework to be given in at university afterwards. Perfect time to read as much as I possibly could.

It wasn’t until a boy wearing a mask from the same loud group had come up to my table asking for an extra chair did I look up at the one who would come to be my best friend.

“Can I borrow this, please? We’re short of chairs at our table”

“Of course” you smiled, and he thanked you happily.

With that he returned to his table, and I returned to my book.

A couple of minutes passed, when another boy distracted me from my reading. He said he had seen that I was reading Murakami and wanted to have a conversation, and I wasn’t turning down anyone who wanted to talk about books.

When he sat down, I finally recognised him. It was Park Jinyoung, and it dawned on me why I had found that group of boys so familiar looking. It was because I had been staring headfirst at GOT7.

But I was not about to ruin my chances of discussing books with Park Jinyoung over coffee by freaking out in front of him. My impending fangirl reaction would have to wait until I got back to my dorm. I took a deep breath as he introduced himself, and I did the same. He told me how he was a part of a kpop group, and I told him about my university majors.

He asked about the books that were already on my table, some of which I had already gone through, most of which were still in line to be read. We discovered soon after we started talking about the authors we loved and the books we that were our favourites that he was also an avid fan of the Harry Potter series.

Jinyoung told me he was in Ravenclaw, and I told him how I always thought I would be too but ended up in Hufflepuff. Not that I minded anymore, if Newt Scamander was in Hufflepuff I had no complaints about my house anymore.

Like me, he preferred Newt as a character over Harry and told me he was surprised by his own choice. He didn’t think he would choose anyone over Harry, but when he had read the book and then seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he had been proven wrong.

We talked a little more about Murakami before he noticed a book by Patrick Rothfuss, another author who had my heart in his palms. I had been putting off reading The Wise Man’s Fear for the simple reason that the third part of The Kingkiller Chronicles was still a work in progress, and a cliff-hanger in this second installment would drive me insane.

But I had missed reading Patrick Rothfuss, so I had told myself that no matter what, I would at least begin that book.

“Some of my friends from college always recommend I read Patrick Rothfuss but I’ve never come around to it” Jinyoung confessed.

I gasped in shock; I always did when people told me they hadn’t read his books.

“Here” I said, rummaging through my bag to find the first instalment of the series and sliding it across the table to him. “Take my copy. You don’t know what you are missing out on”

“Ah I couldn’t do that! I promise I will buy his books soon”

But I was adamant. Besides, I had multiple copies of his books and I told him the same.

In the end, he gave in with a condition of his own. He would borrow the book, and return it to me after reading it with a book of his own; one that I absolutely had to read.

We hadn’t noticed how long we had spent talking about books. Youngjae had come over to ask if Jinyoung wanted to leave with them or not, it had been over an hour they had been here.

Jinyoung turned to me, “I would stay and talk to you about books, but I really need to get back to practice”

“Of course” I had said, knowing how busy their schedules were.

You would think that Jinyoung and I would be the ones who ended up being best friends, but there Jackson was, two weeks later in the cafe across my dorms, waiting for me with my book in hand.

When I entered the cafe, I completely overlooked him. I had been having a pretty rough week at university; I was a tired, only partly function mess, but when Jinyoung had asked to meet up with me I couldn’t bring myself to say no. My eyes grazed around, expecting to find Jinyoung in a tucked away quiet corner seat, but he was nowhere to be found. Thinking that he was probably running a little late, I sat down on the first table I saw near the door ordering myself a coffee while I was at it.

When my coffee arrived, so did another man. He was wearing a mask and a cap, barely any of his face showing; I remembered I had seen him when I had looked around for Jinyoung. He had his own coffee in his hand and a bag strung over his shoulder.

“Hello, are you looking for Jinyoung?” he asked, the rasp in his voice giving away his identity.

I stared at him for a little while, pondering over the fact that I had casually overlooked Jackson Wang. How many other times had I overlooked celebrities here just because I was a dumbfuck?

Blinking a few times I answered, “Uh, yes I am”

He took a seat, keeping both his coffee and his bag down before slightly pulling down his mask and showing me his naked face.

“Hi, I’m Jackson” he said, reaching a hand over to shake mine. “Jinyoung wanted to come himself, but he was called in for some reshooting schedule out of the blue”

I nodded, and Jackson continued, “He wanted to postpone this, but I was free and really tired of being around the company today, so I offered to come instead”

He flashed me a small smile, waiting for me to continue.

“That’s really nice of you” I said, not really knowing how to reply to him.

“So!” Jackson began excitedly, “You’re a university student. You must know good places to eat and relax around here? Oh and a bit incognito too. I’d like to get rid of this mask while I eat”

I told him a couple of places I went to with  my friends when I wanted to have good food and relax at the same time, starting from the ones that weren’t heavy on the pocket at all to the ones us university students had to save up for.

“Ah I almost forgot, here’s your book” Jackson said, retrieving my book from his bag looking almost as good as new.

“Did Jinyoung even read this? It looks so...neat” I noticed. Usually when I let people borrow my books I expected them to come back to me with dog-eared pages, a creased spine and probably some stains on the book.

“Oh he did. He carried it everywhere with him once he started reading. He was addicted” Jackson laughed, remembering Jinyoung obsessively reading the book. I laughed too, knowing exactly how it felt. I had been the same the first time I read this book.

“But Jinyoung is really good with books, especially if he’s borrowing from another nerd” Jackson clarified.

“Did you just call me a nerd?” I asked, tilting my head a little, accusing him.

He laughed, “Nerds are amazing though”

I laughed with him; he was too easy to get along with.

“Well, it was nice to meet you Jackson. And thank you for returning my book” I said, gathering up my things to head back to my dorm.

“Wait, where are you going?” he asked.

I paused for a second before answering him, “Back to my dorm room?”

“I thought we were having lunch?”

“When did we decide that?”

“When you told me all those places we could have food in”

I laughed at him, shaking my head.

“I’m sorry but I really can’t” I began, already sensing a protest on his part, “I’m swamped. I really am. I have like 5 deadlines this month”

“Okay then let me come help you with your work” Jackson offered.

“You don’t have to do that, I can manage my work but a lunch at some fancy place is what I can’t afford”

“I don’t care about a fancy lunch” he confessed. “To be honest with you, I just want to spend some time away from my world right now”

There was something in the way he spoke that made me give in, ordering take out while having someone helping out with my deadlines didn’t seem awful.

“Okay, but you’re paying for takeout. I am as broke as they come right now. And next time, I’ll treat you”

“You don’t have to pay me back” he said, gathering his own things and putting his mask back on.

“Oh I will, just not when I’m this broke”

He shrugged his shoulders, and I led him towards my dorms. I had to sign him in for a visit, and he chose to write his Chinese name instead of Jackson in case anyone recognized it.

And that is how Jackson Wang had practically barged his way into my bedroom the first day the two of us had talked. He had typed one of my assignments for me while I had hand-written another one before ordering takeout from an Italian place nearby. It turned out that we both were fans of watching Korean dramas for the kick of it, and that is what we had done while stuffing our faces with food.

That day was more than two years ago. Jackson had just...never really left since then. He invited himself into my life and put up a camp whether I wanted him to or not; though I have to admit I would be dumb to say no to him being a part of my life.

He was the best friend anyone like me could ever ask for.

“But Mei, its your birthday! We can’t just not do anything!” Jackson was shouting through the phone.

I sighed; the nickname he gave me was so odd it didn’t even make sense. He called me Mei after the little girl in My Neighbour Totoro. Apparently, it fit me perfectly. I didn’t agree with him, at all.

“Why do you insist on calling me that, Jack-Jack?”

Since he was hell bent on calling me Mei, I gave him a nickname after the baby in The Incredibles.

We both loved animated movies too much; it was one of the things we bonded over. There were a lot of differences between me and Jackson, I was never quite sure how we became such close friends. He loved organic food, and on the other hand I would survive on pizza every day if given the chance. He was outgoing while I was happy to be inside my own room. I constantly wondered how I didn’t end up being best friends with Jinyoung instead of Jackson, we had such similar personalities.

“You know I just find that nickname endearing right?”

“And you know that I hate birthdays don’t you?”

“Look, I was physically not here last time around but now that I am, I refuse to let you spend your birthday sitting at home all alone, eating pizza and watching animated movies all day long”

“But I am happy to spend my birthday like this, its like a ritual” I said. I had already made my plans, even perfected a list of movies to watch and in which order to watch them. It being my birthday I knew I could afford to shell out on the fancy pizza instead of the regular ones, maybe even get myself some wine while I was at it.

The last thing I wanted to do was be in a room full of mostly unknown people, piss drunk and celebrate another worthless year of existence.

Birthdays brought out a strange, depressing existentialism in me; it always felt like I was celebrating another year of being closer to death without having actually achieved much of anything. It didn’t help that I didn’t know any other way of celebrating it, I always did what I had planned to do this time.

But Jackson just wouldn’t have it.

“Jackson you know I hate being piss drunk in a suffocating club. I would really rather be home” I said, still hoping he would give in.

“You think I don’t know that? Get ready I’m coming to pick you up in around an hour”

Without waiting for me to respond, Jackson hung up. I sighed at my phone before tossing it on the sofa next to me and returning to my paused movie and the bowl of popcorn I had been eating before Jackson called.

One hour later, just as my movie was drawing close to its end, I hear the doorbell ringing and I knew exactly who it is. I glanced down at myself, still my fluffy onesie with popcorn crumbs all over it.

Not that I cared if Jackson saw me like this, he had seen me in conditions much worse than this. I just knew he would whine at me for still not getting ready like he had asked me to. But its not like he had given me any choice in this situation; I clearly refused to go out for today and he didn’t listen.

I opened the door to see Jackson with a bouquet and a bag in hand.

“You’re not ready” he noticed, opening his arms to hug me anyway.

“I told you I don’t want to party”

He hugged me, mumbling a quiet happy birthday to me before kissing my forehead.

“I got you some books” he said, holding up the bag in his hand. “Mostly they are the ones Jinyoung thought you would like, but I chose some too”

I smiled at him, “Books are my favourite gifts to receive, thank you”

“I remembered, silly girl. Which is why you are going to go get ready and come with me” he said pushing me towards my bedroom.

I groaned, I didn’t exactly want to get out of my comfortable onesie.

“Isn’t this an acceptable piece of clothing?” I asked him, pointing to what I was wearing.

“Not for what I have planned, no. Sorry, Mei. Now go change” he said, once again pushing me towards my bedroom. “I’ll take the liberty of putting these flowers in a vase for you”

I groaned, but did as Jackson asked. Putting o a simple pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt that was definitely a couple of sizes too big for me, I put on the minimum amount of makeup I could get away with. I didn’t want to turn up at a fancy restaurant with my greasy face.

When I stepped outside my bedroom 20 minutes later, Jackson was sitting on the couch shuffling through his phone. He looked up at me when he heard me approaching him and smiled widely

“Perfect! Let’s go”

“You still haven’t told me where you’re taking me”

“Oh I plan to keep it a surprise” he said, holding up a blindfold.

I instantly took a step away from him. “This is too cheesy Jackson, I refuse”

“If you refuse I will catch you and put it on anyway so you may as well help me out” Jackson said, knowing that I knew he was serious about catching me if he had to.

I must have still looked sceptical because Jackson continued, “Look you stubborn little girl, just trust me okay? I won’t take you any place I know you wouldn’t want to be spending your birthday in”

“Fine”

“Grumpy head”

Wherever Jackson was taking me was a short drive away from where my dorms were. I sat in his car, blindfolded and just a little bit grumpy. I didn’t like to do things I didn’t want to do, but I also knew better than to argue with Jackson about this. He was just as stubborn as me, and if he had planned something for me I knew it wouldn’t be something I would absolutely loathe.

I felt Jackson stopping the car and turning off the ignition, indicating that we had reached out destination.

“Can I take this off now?” I asked quickly.

“Okay” was all I got as a response.

I was quick to undo the light knot Jackson had tied behind my head and removed the blindfold, blinking a couple of times to adjust to my surroundings. I looked around, trying to decipher our whereabouts when it suddenly hit me.

We were outside the little lane which led to my favourite barbeque restaurant. I turned to my left, noticing the all familiar lane, and the restaurant sign just outside of it.

This was the restaurant I had brought Jackson to after a month of knowing him to repay him for paying for the takeout the first time we had spent time together. It wasn’t anything fancy, it was a small restaurant owned by an old lady, but the food was made with the kind of love and care you only expected to find at home.

I had later told Jackson, on one slightly drunk night, that whenever I missed home and the few friends I had back there I always went to that restaurant. It had a strange feeling of homeliness that made my life easier for a little bit.

“You...You brought me here” I turned to look at Jackson, fighting to keep my tears at bay.

I didn’t want to be overly emotional, but the fact that out of all the places he had brought me to my favourite barbeque restaurant made it difficult to not be. I extended my arms towards him, Jackson immediately responding by leaning in to hug me back.

“See, I told you I wouldn’t take you some place you wouldn’t like. But there’s more surprises, let’s go”

He led me inside, where I saw the entire restaurant was empty, barring the few people I honestly would want there if I was hosting this party myself. Jaebum had brought some seaweed soup his mother had very kindly made for my birthday, while Bambam was in charge of the cake.

“It’s that rainbow cake you love, Noona. Jackson hyung especially made us leave early to go get it” he proudly announced.

Jinyoung was there with a bunch of stationery, him knowing better than anyone how obsessed I was with stationery, and Youngjae had brought Coco along with him.

“Jackson hyung told me that if I let you cuddle with Coco you would be happier than any gift anyone could get you” Youngjae said, apologising for not buying you a real gift.

“Well, he wasn’t wrong. This is the best gift” I said, picking Coco up and cuddling her. 

Mark hugged me, handing me a Starbucks gift card.

“I am proud to say Jackson did not, in fact, micro manage this gift” Mark said.

I laughed, and thanked him for his gift. Everyone knew about my obsession for coffee, but Mark understood it.

Jackson had even called in to make an excuse at work for my only friend from back home who lived in Seoul to be able to attend the lunch.

He had made everyone, even Jaebum, wear disgusting birthday hats. They sang me a quick birthday song as I cut the cake and blew out the one candle that Yugyeom had managed to bring.

When we all settled down, Jackson leaned in and whispered, “Oh and by the way Mei, I am staying back all night to have a Harry Potter marathon while we order takeout again”

“Jackson Wang, my knight in a black mask”

“You know you don’t have to spend your birthdays all alone anymore, right?”

I smiled at him, keeping my head on his shoulder as we waited for our food to arrive.

After the lunch, true to his word, Jackson took me back home with some extra bottles of soju and stayed the night with me. We binge ate everything I had planned on eating all alone while watching Harry Potter all night long; like Jackson had said, I didn’t have to spend my birthdays alone anymore. I had a clingy best friend who would always be there to take care of me, and do everything with me that I had always done all alone, even the binge eating non-organic food for one night no matter how much he was against it.

 And for the first time in however long back I could remember, I didn’t turn another year older despising my birthday.

[terranoctis]

willow

After some casual catching up on work this afternoon, I took some time to myself to do things I enjoy. Oddly enough, this enjoyment consisted of educating myself on the most random array of subjects. I spent time reading a slew of news articles, watching documentaries, learning history, and consuming Shakespeare. I like to learn things of varying topics because it helps me think about how I want to shape the world I’m writing. History and enjoying stories of different mediums informs me, and makes me reflect on how I want to understand the world. In general, I simply want to understand things more because there are a myriad of topics I still have much to learn about. 

One of the first things I took a dedicated interest in today was the politics of Lebanon and how it culminated in part from the Lebanon Civil War. This was a result of the recent events in Beirut. Similar to why I chose to start learning Arabic a few years ago, I wanted to understand more about the culture and history of the Middle East. How did the Lebanese government become this entity that had done its people so wrong, according to everything I had been reading this past week? My delve into history today was that same feeling I had a few years ago. I specifically remember the Yemeni-Syrian humanitarian crisis of 2015 because it was around the exact time I decided to learn Arabic and took time to educate myself on that situation.   

Just like when I learned the Arabic language, and in part, introduced myself to Middle Eastern culture, I felt there were many things put into perspective once I took the time to learn. Learning about the Middle East puts into perspective sometimes how tailored the education and news cycle we get in the US is towards a Western perspective. When I was talking to my friend yesterday, he wasn’t even all that aware of how the negligence of the Lebanese government lead to Beirut’s explosion. I might not have either if I hadn’t recently started regularly reading news from foreign correspondents. The whole week has been terrible from news articles I’ve been reading, and it makes me hurt for all the people who live in Lebanon. My Arabic professor was from Beirut, and to witness her city, that she so lovingly described to us, be destroyed... I can’t fathom at all how she’s feeling now. Was she there? Is her family okay? I don’t know and that thought scares me too. There isn’t anything I can do to make anything better, but I want to understand, because it’s only when we learn history that we collectively understand as humans and be better where possible. 

It is an understatement to state that Lebanon’s recent history in the past fifty years or so is fractured and fraught with factions. My understanding is still minimal and I’ll likely have to read significantly more on the Middle East to even comprehend its complexities. Moreover, as all history goes, it’s not possible to learn about one country without understanding how the politics of another country affected it. The Lebanese civil war is a testament to that in how Palestine, Israel, and Syria played their parts. It was much bloodshed though, from my research into it. In this part of the world, our bloodshed and factional discord almost seems incomparable to what Lebanon has lived through. I wouldn’t wish that history on any nation, let alone any city like Beirut that was a battleground for warring factions. 

But I digress. I could go on about history for awhile if I wanted to. This blog is more for my collection of thoughts. Take my thoughts with a grain of salt as I still have much to learn, and I confess to being more ignorant than I wish to be in such topics. Nonetheless, the Lebanon Civil War made me think quite a bit about how I also wanted to write war as well, considering the backdrop of one of my stories exists during a civil war. 

I went on to watch a documentary on the Fyre festival. After some heavy history reading and documentary-watching, it seemed only appropriate to learn about something more seemingly inane. I had only tangentially learned about the music festival previously from the people I grew up with and their knowledge of it on social media. To learn about the entirety of the situation more in-depth though explained to me more about how tragic and terrible the whole festival was. The insanity that occurred because those in charge weren’t willing to own up and take responsibility for it was immense. It’s sad to see how people will take others for advantage, and it’s sad how a group of people can be driven to a point of no return because they are in way over their heads. It’s a different history to learn, and one that should be learned due to the way the online world and social media can drive an idea or break it. We live in a world now that thrives in some part by appearances online--and in the same breath, shuts something down online by mob mentality. It’s a different kind of history to learn, but something very fitting for this modern day and age. The advent of online networking and marketing, along with the appeal of social media has changed the world entirely... and this disaster of a festival is one of its textbook cases on how good and bad social media can be for one concept.

From there, I ended up watching a stage production of Othello put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Othello is one of the more widely read plays by Shakespeare that I have not ever once read, so I thought it would be interesting to experience it as a stage production first rather than in text first, as I have experienced most of his other plays. The production itself is quite a fascinating take on a Shakespearean play. Having not read the text, but understanding Shakespeare themes, the production cast both Othello and Iago as black men. This definitely lead to some race discussions and tensions that may not have been relevant with different casting... and I loved that it did that, particularly in conjunction with Cassio’s role as a white lieutenant. 

I can’t say it’s my favorite Shakespeare play, but I do think it’s one of the most sympathetic and well-written takes from Shakespeare on the female experience in a poor relationship. This may have been in part to how Desdemona and Emilia were acted, but there is something chilling about how Othello goes into a rage over his jealousy. The women are left to the mercy of this rage and to the mercy of all these men’s jealousies and manipulations concocted around them. Even the third woman in this play who is made a farce of with Cassio is sympathetic, because we witness Cassio seeing her as nothing more than someone to pass his time with. Cassio is quick to degrade her verbally when she becomes jealous. Emilia is manipulated by Iago as his wife to steal Desdemona's glove. Othello is known as a noble man and we see this up until he’s manipulated into a corner. 

But even Othello’s noble character doesn’t excuse his rage towards Desdemona in the privacy of their own home. It shows a man at his worst being a violent and jealous man--and an abusive significant other. For all that Iago is the manipulator, it also paints Othello as a man who can justify murder and more because he believes he was wronged. It’s power and abusive privilege at its worst in someone who is supposed to be a noble man, regardless of misunderstandings. As a woman watching the play, it was less about Iago’s manipulations for me, though he is a fascinating character. This play was the progression of a loving husband like Othello becoming an aggressor to Desdemona. It was about Iago killing his wife Emilia because she didn’t serve his purposes. 

It was also haunting to me that the only happy or peaceful moment the women have in the second half of the play is alone with one another, in the privacy of a bath, singing a willow song about a woman who was in love and whose love was lost in her significant other. It is a sad moment that foreshadows Desdemona’s death, but softly, also one of the happier moments the women have in the play with just the two of them together. There’s a kinship there that I don’t think I’ve quite seen in other Shakespeare plays between two women and how they recognize they’ve both been at the mercy of men, and their loves. They’ve been scorned as the woman in the Willow song. Just as Emilia helped her husband, and Desdemona loved her husband wholeheartedly, they’re just singing willow, willow, willow... Emilia’s monologue during this scene, which gives credence to how powerful women’s feelings can be in spite of how their husbands fail to recognize it, was probably my favorite monologue in the entire play. And the way it contrasts with Desdemona’s dejected rejection of that concept because of her sadness towards her husband makes it one of my favorite scenes in the entire play.

Othello is titled after the main character, and it is an apt portrait of a man who is driven to a jealous rage. But as it paints him, it also paints what and Iago have done to everyone around them. Iago may be the Machiavellian villain, but I think Othello is a villain in his own right as well. The people who suffer the worst fates are the women in this. It’s definitely a Shakespearean tragedy, and I’m not surprised necessarily in how that played out. Yet, there’s a lot to read into from how the stage production presented these characters and the unstated elements that aren’t verbalized outright. Somehow Othello seems relevant when you think about it through the lens of how some abusive relationships come into existence and in light of how quick people may be to slander women when you believe ill of them. In that regard, in its depiction of women and relationships, this play may be one of my favorite to analyze in regards to the topic of women in Shakespeare’s plays. 

In other words, I’m still a lit nerd. 

I went on quite a dive today into topics that interested me. I suppose it’s a cultured dive. It makes me happy though and I’ve drawn some ideas for things I’ve already been writing. Writing this out also helped me formulate my thoughts more. It’s my dream to read and educate myself more as I please, and it’s nice to just have a whole day to do that between errands. I love that. I love just learning what I want to learn about in the context of the world around me. It brought me back to days when I would spend reading Shakespeare for fun and set myself to reading specific authors like Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain, or Ursula Le Guin. Or reading mythology from different cultures. Maybe a part of me misses being in school, but I also know that I like just educating myself as I please. Things like this also make me a better writer.

I suppose I’m an old soul. I just like stories...and history is a story in itself. 

[stillrecruitingrp]

The D.A. has recruited Karli to the character of Harry Potter with a faceclaim of Dev Patel. Best of luck, Chosen One -- or should we call you, Undesirable Number One? Either way, we hope you don’t think it’s still your army...

OOC Details

Name: Karli

Pronouns: She/Her

Activity Level: I do have a full time job and I am planning my wedding, so that will take up some time. I would expect around a 7/10 for activity in terms of numbers. Some days I will post much more than others, while some days I may not be able to post at all. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I work 11 hours… so those days are harder to get on for me, but I usually am on mobile between my clients at work, so I will check in every day to plot and whatnot even if I can’t post.

Acknowledgement: I acknowledge that the themes of this game may include triggering elements. I also acknowledge that my character may be harmed or even killed during paras/events or may cause harm to or kill others during paras/events through the violence roulette.

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General IC Details

Name: Harry James Potter

Age: 17

Ships: I’m Harry/Ginny shipper, but it’s not necessary if the other person doesn’t like it. To me, Harry is very likely bisexual. But I don’t think he’s realized it yet. He’s only dated girls because he hasn’t really thought about anything else. He’s had crushes on boys, but hasn’t really understood that’s what they are yet. It wouldn’t be until after the war that he even realizes this about himself – it’s the 90s, so there’s not a whole lot of information out there yet – and he’s got some other pressing matters to think about instead of romance, anyway. That being said, even though shipping is great, I’m not really here for the ships anyway.

Gender/Pronouns: He/Him

Face Claim: Dev Patel

Desired Changes: I like the point made about Harry going on without his friends, especially since that’ll give me room for if I’m accepted but we don’t have a Ron and/or Hermione. However, I don’t see him abandoning Hermione all on her own – if Ron has not yet returned to them with the deluminator, I mean. So I have some ideas on how to navigate this, depending on which characters we have at the beginning of the rp. We can talk more about it, if I’m accepted. However, I just wanted to make a point that if it’s just Harry and Hermione or whatnot – then I could see him breaking her down until she’d come back with him. This all depends on which characters we have at the start, but I’d like some wiggle room if possible!

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BIO Questions

Biography:

Stuck in the cupboard under the stairs, Harry never would’ve pictured this life. He had a vivid imagination, if only to take away from the yelling of his uncle, the haughtiness of his aunt, the annoyance of his cousin. Growing up on Privet Drive hadn’t been easy for a boy with brown skin surrounded by white people who liked to stare. Either at his baggy clothes (hand-me-down from Dudley, of course, never something new for the unwanted nephew) or his scrawny build (the scraps of leftover food at the table designated for him) or the odd lighting-shaped scar on his forehead (the only thing left from his time with his parents). He used his imagination to get away from a household that didn’t want him – but never would’ve been expected anything like what happened on stormy shore in the middle of nowhere. A door breaking down, a giant man with a smile and the silliest – most beautiful – cake he’d ever seen. He’d never been anything other than the odd one out – and then he was told he was something special.

But special came with a cost. And Harry went from invisible on the best days to the center of attention. The Wizarding World had expectations and looked at him as though he was a hero. He discovered what he was meant to do not through choice, but through fate. It meant he could die. But having friends – having this life where people loved him – it was worth it, in the end. Finding out how his parents really died hadn’t been easy, nor had coming face-to-face (or back of head, as it were that very first time) with the man who’d murdered them, but Harry persevered. That could really sum up his time in this newfound world, really. Though his biggest memories revolved around fighting the dark arts – a soul in a chamber, an insane follower, a sociopathic teacher, or even the Dark Lord himself – those were not the things Harry would look back on fondly as he thought about the place where he felt welcomed for the very first time. No, it was enjoying the sun with Ron and Hermione. Or laughing around the table at the Burrow. The secluded corners with Ginny. He never asked for the title of the Boy Who Lived – he would rather be normal. And it was in those small moments without anything to worry about that he loved the most.

But, in the end, he can’t be just Harry. He is the Chosen One and it’s a job he takes seriously. Enough people have died alongside him in this fight. He’s seen it with his own eyes – dreamt about it. Lost the one person who could maybe give him a home outside Hogwarts. Another who could show him the way.Voldemort may be determined to win, but so is Harry. And now that he knows the truth behind his destiny, he’s ready to come charging towards it. Even if it means his own death.

School Year So Far:

He didn’t know what to expect when he left to find the horcruxes. Not really an adventure – finding pieces of Voldemort’s soul seemed more like a curse than anything – but maybe something more than what he had so far. It wasn’t until after Dumbledore was gone that Harry realized how much his old headmaster didn’t tell him. They had a vague idea on what these objects where, with no direction on where to go to find them. It wasn’t only that, though – Dumbledore didn’t tell him about the important things in his life and suddenly Harry found himself feelings exposed. He’d opened up and hadn’t got the same courtesy in return. He knew he was supposed to keep his between him, Ron, and Hermione – but they were out of clues. Out of ideas. Swimming around the same sort of mantra in his head. Maybe it was time to stop following blindly and make his own choices.

Harry didn’t go back to school at the beginning of the year and he was fairly certain he’d die if he did. But the school was like a magnet, summoning him to the grounds. He knew something was there. Knew it was where they were meant to end up. Even if Ron and Hermione thought that, if Dumbledore couldn’t find it, then Harry wouldn’t be able to either. His friends never really understood how important the place was, though. They had homes outside of the castle – real families. And perhaps even Dumbledore didn’t know all the secrets in those walls. Finding a place they belonged within the school was something both he and Voldemort had in common. And while it scared Harry that he could understand his enemy so well, he also knew he had to use it to his advantage. Look inside his head – see what he was planning next. But it wasn’t Voldemort’s head that valued Hogwarts in the same way Harry did – it was his heart. Even the darkest of people had something they needed.

They’re on a mission, but maybe it’s time to trust in something outside of logical and plans. Harry’s not willing to let his friends die. Even if that means facing off alone.

(Harry’s pretty important tbh, so I think it would be interesting if him coming back – either alone or with Ron/Hermione depending on which characters we get – could be a good plot drop for the group!)

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Open Themes (Optional)

I am open to the possibility of applying for one of these later. Right now, I don’t think having one would fit where Harry is at, but I’d like to explore the possibility of a curse or something else later on.

OOC Questions

Writing Sample

(set in DH, before the Order comes to get him from Privet Drive, but after the Dursleys have left to go into hiding)

The cupboard looked so small from where he stood. How he was able to sleep in here for so long, he no idea. Back then, it had seemed like his only sanctuary from his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Even when locked in there without dinner, alone with only the spiders to keep him company for hours, it was better than out there with everyone else. Because it meant that at least he couldn’t be scolded any longer. Though it did mean loneliness. He used to talk to his parents in there, sometimes, after the Durlseys turned out the lights. He whispered desperate confessions, pleas to come back. But, of course, no one could rise from the dead and he survived on his own.

It had been years since he even thought about speaking out loud to Lily and James, though he often wondered about him in his head. Harry didn’t know if that meant he was forgetting them – or if it was just because he’d found a new sort of family with Ron and Hermione. Could someone even forget people they’d never really known? His friends would be here soon with the Order and, when they stepped through the door, he needed to have the cupboard shut. No prying questions about why he was looking at the brooms with such a sad expression. None of Hermione’s soft, knowing eyes or Ron’s stare as they both figured out that this place meant something more to Harry than it would any other person.

Just a cupboard – small little walls and a couple of blankets. A cheap old mattress with lumps and holes. Broken toys lining the sides of the floor. That was all it would ever be to him now. And the bedroom on the next floor… that was never a home. In fact, it never even felt like his. Just some place he’d borrowed. This entire house only brought cold and lonely memories and Harry was ready to get out. He wanted to leave. The next time he lived somewhere, it would be his. But he couldn’t really think about that, not really. Not when there was a very real possibility he would never make it out of this war alive. Part of him was convinced it would happen, even.

There was no future past Voldemort. The path laid out on front of him was all Harry could see when he looked ahead, the Dark Lord and him standing at the end. He could not see around it – could not see a fork in the road. This was his destiny and he would die because of it. Though he was prepared to fight for the chance to live. He had other things he wanted to do – the images of Ginny laughing in the secluded corners of Hogwarts came to his mind and he could the picture of Ron and Hermione as they sat in their favorite chairs besides the fire in the Common Room – but the war ahead was more important than anything he wanted. People were dying for him.

He sighed and closed the door, bespectacled gaze falling on Hedwig. His lips twitched upwards into a smiling. “We’re leaving this place forever,” he said, his voice soft to the angry owl who was still ignoring him pointedly. “Don’t you want to say goodbye? All the happy memories.” And he laughed to himself before heading down the hall, waiting for his visitors at the door. Turning his back on the cupboard under the stairs.  Ready for what came next.

Exploration

I’d like to see something where the gang has to use Dark Magic for good. Like that graying of the lines. I mean, they were stuck on how to destroy the horcruxes for a long time. Without the sword, it would’ve been something Harry, Ron, and Hermione might’ve had to consider. Using Dark Magic in order to defeat Dark Magic.

That being said, I think it would be interesting if Harry eventually open up to more people about the horcruxes. He’s pretty angry with Dumbledore anyway after learning about all the things that the man kept from him, so I could see him telling the D.A. in a time of defiance. However, I wouldn’t want that to be right away. He’s gotta have his whole angsty this is my job! I can’t tell anyone! for a while. But Harry doesn’t really ask for help. Barty Crouch points it out in GoF when he talks about how he literally gave Neville the answer to Gillyweed. It’s not that he’s too proud, really – more like he just doesn’t think about it. Growing up with the Dursley’s, he had to do it on his own. He couldn’t ask for help or be comforted. So it’s second nature to try and figure it out on his own. Even opening up to Ron and Hermione wasn’t something that happened right away. Now, it’s natural to him to bring things up to them, but no one else. Even with them, he keeps many things to himself. Getting over that and actually asking for help to a larger crowd would be a struggle for him, but it would be something I would enjoy to play out.

As a general plot, I want to see action with the DA. This isn’t an rp where everything should be interpersonal or about relationship. There should be missions and action and defiance and rebellion. Bring on the burning torch as they try to take back the school. Also on this front – I’m eager to see how it’ll play out with Harry coming back to school and he’s not really the leader of this group he created. Yes, they’re on his side. Yes, they’re listen to him. But he doesn’t really get their struggle because he hasn’t lived under the Carrows. He wasn’t the brains of “Still Recruiting” and they look to Neville with those plans. Look to Ginny out on their proverbial battlefield. Doesn’t mean they won’t do what Harry needs – but what he needs isn’t always letting them scratch that itch of rebellion. His fight is more quiet, subtle. He needs to stay under the radar. And they’re done waiting for action.

I think it would also be important to explore the backlash of curses. They’re kids – not healers. There will be injuries and blood and things they can’t prevent. Limps and cuts and bruises. Dark Magic. The lingering of Cruciatus. I don’t want the injuries to get skimmed over. That being said, I wouldn’t be opposed to something happening to Harry as far as injury goes. He’s not invincible.

There’s a fifth simply because I couldn’t resist – but give me more Slytherins who help. More Ravenclaws who hurt. I am tired of JKR’s black and white thinking. Not every Slytherin is evil. Not every Gryffindor is good. Basically, I want everything to be a bit more gray.