#and I mean elaborate I have made whole movies for me to be in

[captainmaxatx]

Look I love HTTYD way more then the next guy but I am keeping my hopes for this remake low

Live action remakes are so hit or miss and the first movie is so iconic that I just really don’t think they will be able to pull it off

I haven’t been doing well mentally recently so that’s definitely effecting my opinion but I’m kinda mad about it, like they already fucked yo with the last movie just leave it alone

[sskk-manifesto]

ಥ‿ಥ

[pucked-bunnie]

never have i ever ⎜l.hughes

pairings: luke hughes x reader genre: romance ⎜angst ⎜ college AU ⎜ warnings: mentions of a bet ⎜hurt/comfort ⎜ luke is a silly boy ⎜ none tbh ⎜ unsatisfying ending ⎜ synopsis: when his friends spot the new girl at the teams halloween party - luke agrees to a bet he know he shouldn't be making. word count: 7.6k authors note:  this was requested and ended up a little longer than anticipated! I hope everyone enjoys.

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Luke had been watching you for an hour now. 

Not in a creepy way. 

He was just entranced by the way you weaved through the crowd - being welcomed into each group you passed as you say a bight hello to anyone who looks your way. Your bright yellow raincoat had caught his attention as soon as you walked through the door - shining like a beacon as you made you way straight for the house kitchen, carrying around that small bottle of water as you started to mingle. 

“Who you so enamoured by, Lukey?” A slightly slurred voice says as the body of his friend and teammate slides into his personal space - Ethan’s shoulder rubbing against his, their matching costumes a joke to anyone who looked over at them. 

“A Weather-Girl.” Luke says shortly, taking another sip from his half flat soda - nudging the hood off his costume off his head. 

“Weather-Girl?” Ethan repeats to himself skimming over the crowd trying to find the described person. “I don’t see a Weather-Girl.” 

Luke doesn’t elaborate, his eyes still fixed on you as Ethan follows his gaze.

“Ohhh,” Ethan drags out the word, spotting the unmistakable yellow coat bobbing near the living room couch. You’re laughing at something one of the senior players said, your head tilted back just enough to catch the low, golden glow of the decorative Halloween lights strung up around the room. “Weather-Girl, huh? That’s new.”

Luke just shrugs, feigning indifference. He doesn’t need Ethan making this more of a thing than it already feels in his head.

But Ethan being Ethan, the subtle hint of interest is like blood in the water. “You know, Lukey, I think we should introduce ourselves. Friendly team spirit and all that.” He’s already grinning like a devilish accomplice in a bad crime movie, and Luke knows nothing good can come of this.

“No.” Luke’s voice is flat, firm. But he doesn’t move to stop Ethan as he leans in conspiratorially.

“C’mon, what’s the harm? You’ve been staring for what, an hour? Two? Don’t be a coward.” Ethan’s smirk widens as he straightens up and crosses his arms. “Unless, of course, you’re willing to make things interesting.”

Luke sighs, already regretting whatever’s about to come out of his friend’s mouth. “What do you want, Ethan?” Luke’s gaze flickers back to Ethan, who’s watching him with the kind of grin that only spells trouble. It’s a setup, Luke knows it is, but he also knows Ethan won’t back down until he’s either embarrassed himself or dragged Luke into some ridiculous scheme. That’s just Ethan.

“You know,” Ethan starts again, his tone sly, “I think this is fate.”

Luke arches a brow. “What are you talking about?”

Ethan leans in, lowering his voice like they’re plotting something top-secret. “The new girl. Weather-Girl. I bet you couldn’t even get her to go out with you if you tried.”

Luke blinks, his head snapping back. “What?”

“You heard me,” Ethan continues, his grin widening. “She’s got this whole sunshine-and-rainbows vibe, and you’ve got… well, you’ve got ‘quiet, brooding hockey guy’ energy.”

“I wouldn’t really say quiet and brooding.” Luke says taking another sip of his drink, “more like quiet and anxious.” Ethan just shrugs as Lukes correction, watching you move with an equally appreciative look. 

“I mean it’s not like you’re her type anyway.” 

Luke glares at him. “And you’d know that how?”

“I’m observant,” Ethan says smugly. “Like I said, she’s sunshine-and-rainbows and you’re you. But hey, prove me wrong. I’m willing to make this interesting.”

Luke sighs. “I’m not playing your games, Ethan.”

“Not even if there’s something in it for you?” Ethan’s eyes gleam with mischief. “If you get her to go out with you and be the first one to say she has feelings—even just an I like you—I’ll do all your house chores for a month. Every single one.”

Luke hesitates. 

That’s… tempting. 

Too tempting. 

But then he shakes his head. “And if I don’t?”

Ethan leans back against the wall, crossing his arms with a smirk. “Then you buy dinner for the whole team after every practice. For a month.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s fair,” Ethan counters. “Besides, you’ve been staring at her all night anyway. Might as well make it worth something.”

Luke doesn’t respond, but his jaw clenches. He knows this is a bad idea—knows Ethan is goading him on purpose. But then his eyes drift back to you, and he catches the way you’re laughing at something, the way you light up the space around you without even trying. It’s magnetic, and he hates that Ethan noticed too.

Before he can talk himself out of it, Luke mutters, “Fine.”

Ethan’s grin could rival the devil’s. “Fine, what?”

Luke glares. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Ethan claps him on the shoulder. “Atta boy. Just don’t forget—one date. Real effort. No half-assing it, Lukey.” Luke mutters a curse under his breath and shakes Ethan off. The smugness radiating from his friend is almost enough to make him back out, but then he glances at you again. You’re standing by the couch, the yellow raincoat still draped over your shoulders, your head tilted as you listen to someone talking. There’s something about the way you seem so at ease, like the party could crumble around you and you’d just smile through it.

Taking a steadying breath, Luke squares his shoulders and heads your way. The closer he gets, the louder the sounds of the party become—music pounding, laughter ringing, snippets of conversation floating through the air. He rehearses a dozen opening lines in his head, but none of them stick.

When he’s just a few steps away, you look up, and your eyes meet his. For a moment, Luke forgets how to breathe. Your expression shifts, recognition flickering in your eyes as you offer him a small, curious smile.

“Hey,” you say, your voice cutting through the noise like it’s meant just for him. “You’re Luke, right? From the team?”

Luke nods, swallowing hard. “Yeah. That’s me.” Your smile widens, and you take a small step closer, tucking a strand of your blue wig behind your ear. 

“I thought so. I’ve heard a lot about you. Big hockey star and all.” Luke’s mouth feels dry, but he forces himself to speak. 

“Uh, yeah. Something like that.”

You laugh softly, and it’s the kind of sound that makes the whole room feel smaller, quieter, like it’s just the two of you. “So, what brings you over here, hockey star? Didn’t peg you as the mingling type.”

Luke rubs the back of his neck, cursing Ethan silently. “Just thought I’d say hi. You’re… new, right?”

“Guilty,” you say, holding up your hands in mock surrender. “Just transferred. My roommate dragged me here. Thought it’d be a good way to meet people.”

“And?” he asks, trying to keep his voice steady. “How’s that going?”

“Pretty good so far,” you say, your eyes sparkling. “Especially now that I’ve officially met Luke Hughes-the-hockey-star.” Luke chuckles nervously, and for the first time all night, he’s not thinking about anything other than right now. 

He’s thinking about you—how you look up at him like he’s the only one here, how your smile feels like sunlight breaking through clouds. Ethan’s words echo faintly in his mind, but Luke pushes them aside. He might have agreed to the bet, but right now, he’s not doing this for Ethan.

He’s doing this for you — well for him but what’s the difference.

“So what’re you?” Luke asks, gesturing down at your costume. “I’m guessing a weather girl.” He says with a soft smile, your eyes glittering as you shake your head. 

“I’m Coraline - you know the terrifying kids movie?” The costume makes so much more sense now - your bright yellow raincoat, the gumboots and the button sunglasses propped on the top of your head. 

“Nope, never seen it.” Luke lies, his neck flaming red as your mouth falls open, your eyebrows lifting. “Maybe you should show it to me sometime.” Luke gets out quickly, his heart slamming against his ribs as a knowing smile grows on your face. 

Your grin is equal parts amusement and challenge. “Oh, I absolutely will. You’re missing out. It’s iconic.”

Luke’s stomach twists, but not in the usual anxious way—it’s something lighter, almost hopeful. “I’ll hold you to that,” he says, surprising even himself with how steady his voice sounds.

You tilt your head, studying him with a curious expression, and for a second, Luke wonders if you can see right through him, if you can tell that his hands are clammy, or that he’s replaying every word of this conversation in his head to make sure he hasn’t completely embarrassed himself.

“Deal,” you say finally, extending a hand like it’s an official agreement. Luke hesitates only for a heartbeat before taking it. Your hand is warm and soft, and he hopes you don’t notice the way his lingers just a little too long before letting go.

“So, Coraline,” he says, grasping for something to keep the conversation going, “are you into horror movies? Or is this just a one-time thing?”

You laugh again, a bright, genuine sound that makes his chest feel tight. “I like them when they’re creepy but not too gory. Psychological stuff, you know? Keeps you on your toes.” You pause, eyes glinting playfully. “Why? Are you scared of scary movies, hockey star?”

Luke shakes his head, though the truth is closer to yes. “Not scared. Just... prefer movies where I don’t have to watch an episode of SpongeBob after to sleep.” Your laughter this time is louder, drawing a few glances from people nearby, but you don’t seem to care. 

“Fair enough. I’ll make sure to ease you into it.”

Luke nods, pretending to weigh his options. “I guess I can handle that.”

“You’d better,” you tease. “I don’t usually offer private screenings, you know.” Luke’s cheeks heat, and he hopes the dim lighting hides it. 

“I’ll try not to ruin it with my... quiet, brooding energy,” he says, quoting Ethan with a faint smirk. Your brows lift, and there’s a flicker of recognition in your eyes. 

“Quiet and brooding? That doesn’t sound like you. Quiet - maybe, brooding - no way. ” Luke huffs a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.  Before he can think of a response, someone calls your name from across the room. You glance over your shoulder, and Luke follows your gaze to see a girl waving at you, her phone in hand. 

“That’s my roommate,” you say, turning back to him. “She’s probably wondering if I’m still alive.”

“Don’t let me keep you,” Luke says quickly, though part of him wants to. “It was nice talking to you.”

“You too, Luke.” You hesitate for a moment, then smile again, softer this time. “See you around?”

“Definitely,” he manages, watching as you make your way across the room. As soon as you’re out of earshot, Ethan materialises at his side, looking far too pleased with himself.

 “So, how’d it go?” Luke glares at him, though there’s no heat behind it. 

“You’re insufferable.”

Ethan just grins. “Good then?” He claps Luke on the back and saunters off, leaving Luke to process what just happened. He takes another sip of his now-warm soda, his mind replaying the way your smile seemed to light up the room, the way you said his name like it was already familiar. For the first time all night, the noise and chaos of the party don’t feel overwhelming. 

Because for just a few minutes, you made everything else fade away.

Until his head shoots in your direction - he never got your number. 

+

+

“You’re really gonna stick up posters to try and find her?” Ethan questions as he looks over Luke’s shoulder at the posters his teammate was currently printing out. 

“I have no other option, how else am I going to find her?” Luke hisses back, collecting each poster as it’s spit out of the machine. 

“What kind of idiot forgets to get their number.” Ethan chuckles to himself, throwing his hands up in defence as Luke shoots him a sharp glare. 

“I was distracted.” Luke clarifies. 

“Maybe she didn’t actually like you, she didn’t seem to be trying hard to make sure you got her number.” Ethan hints as Luke tucks his posters in his bag, throwing it over his shoulder before trudging out of the library not waiting to see if Ethan was following behind him. 

Ethan’s words replayed in his mind as the shorter man catches up the two of them making their way to the morning practice. 

Maybe she didn’t actually like you. 

It stung, even though Luke wasn’t sure if it was true. Maybe she had just been polite, humouring him with that radiant smile that had practically seared itself into his memory. Or maybe she really did want to see him again but figured he’d be the one to bridge the gap.

Except he hadn’t.

He’d blown it.

Luke glances down at the one loose flyer in his hand, the bold block letters read:

 Looking for Coraline (or the girl in the yellow raincoat) at the hockey teams halloween party. You left an impression. Let’s finish the conversation. - Luke Hughes (the hockey star) 

Luke had concerningly been willing to attach his own phone number, knowing that in the end this might spell disaster but he couldn’t think of any other way.  Ethan peered at the flyer and let out a low whistle. “Wow. Really laying it all out there, huh?”

“Shut up, Ethan,” Luke muttered, his ears burning. He started toward the cork-board near the vending machines, where countless other notices, ads, and lost-item flyers were pinned. The board wasn’t exactly the romantic reunion he’d hoped for, but it was a start.

As he tacked up the first flyer, Ethan leaned against the machine, chuckling to himself. “You know, you’re making this way harder than it needs to be. Just ask around. Someone’s bound to know her.”

“That’s not the point,” Luke shot back. “I’m not going to embarrass her by asking the whole world if they know who she is.”

“But flyers are subtle?” Ethan teased, folding his arms and smirking. “You’re like a lost puppy, man.” Luke holds the poster up to the board, looking around for a free pin as he feels Ethan tap his shoulder lightly. 

“Dude look.” 

“Ethan I’m a bit busy can you knock it off.” Luke hisses as he tries to shake off Ethan’s hand but his friend was unrelenting continuing to tap on his shoulder until Luke couldn’t take it anymore, smacking at his friends hand turning away from the cork board. 

“Hey Luke.” Your voice was like music to his ears. His hand quickly tucking the poster behind his back as his mouth falls open in surprise. “Someone said I might be able to find you here.” You laugh, Luke taking you in like he did at the party. 

You were still as stunning as he remembers, your cheeks flushed slightly from the cold of the hockey rink, your coat buttoned all the way up your neck and your ears tucked under a beanie. You worse glasses this time, the large brown frames sitting high on your cheeks. 

“Oh my god she’s a secret nerd.” Ethan whispers letting out a heavy ‘oof’ as Luke shoves him away, “Shut the fuck up.” Luke says through gritted teeth before stepping towards you, a lazy grin spreading on his face. 

“You never got my number.” You say softly.

“Yeah,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck, “I kinda noticed that... after the fact.” You laugh — soft, warm, like the first sign of spring after a long winter.  Luke glances down at the crumpled flyer behind his back, then at Ethan, who’s clearly struggling to contain his laughter.

“He found a creative solution,” Ethan says, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Your eyes flick to the paper in Luke’s hand  and then back to Luke’s face in surprise. “Flyers?” Luke winces, pulling the paper out from behind him and holding it up sheepishly. 

“Yeah. I, uh… wasn’t sure how else to find you. I thought maybe you’d see one.” For a moment, you just stare at him, your expression unreadable. Then, slowly, a smile tugs at your lips.

“You’re kind of a dork, aren’t you?”

Ethan snorts. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Luke glares at him. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, Ethan?”

“Not really.” Ethan shrugs, but when Luke’s glare sharpens, he throws his hands up. “Fine, fine. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it.” He backs away, shooting you a wink as he goes. “Don’t be too hard on him, Coraline.” As soon as he’s gone, Luke turns back to you, his nerves creeping back in.

“I, uh… didn’t mean to make it weird,” he says quickly. “I just thought you were—well, I mean, are—really cool, and I wanted to keep talking to you. But I totally get if this is too much, and—”

“Luke.” You cut him off gently, stepping closer, your boots making soft taps against the tiled floor. “It’s not weird.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” You smile up at him, your eyes crinkling at the corners. “It’s kind of sweet, actually.” Luke’s heart stumbles over itself, and he tries to play it cool, even though he’s sure his face is giving him away.

“So… can I get your number now?” he asks, his voice quieter, more vulnerable. You reach into your pocket, pulling out your phone and unlocking it before handing it to him. 

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” Luke takes it, his fingers brushing against yours briefly — just enough to send a spark through his chest. As he types in his number, he can’t help but smile to himself.

When he hands your phone back, you glance at the screen and grin.

“Luke Hughes, hockey star,” you read out loud, teasing. Luke groans, his cheeks burning.

You laugh again, sliding your phone back into your pocket. “So… when’s this Coraline screening happening?”

“Whenever you want.”

“Good.” You tilt your head, studying him with that same curious expression from the party. “Because I wasn’t kidding — you really need to see it.”

Luke chuckles, his nerves finally settling. “I guess I’ve got some things to come clean about?”

“You have watched Coraline, haven’t you?” There’s a pause — not awkward, but filled with something unspoken. Luke just nods his head, surprised when your smile grows. 

“Good, then we can go for something a little scarier.” 

“Scarier then Coraline, doesn’t exist.” Luke jokes, letting out a breath of laughter as you join, quickly glancing toward the rink doors more of Luke’s teammates filing through the doors.

Luke shifts awkwardly on his feet, watching you carefully as you tuck your phone back into your pocket. His heart is pounding louder than the distant thuds of sticks on ice from the rink nearby. He can’t believe you’re standing here in front of him — smiling at him like you’d been hoping to run into him, too.

You’re still here. 

You came looking for him.

“Do you have practice now?” you ask again, glancing at the double doors that lead to the rink.

Luke nods. “Yeah, just drills.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Shouldn’t take long.”

You tilt your head, considering something. “And after practice?”

Luke blinks, caught off guard by the question. “Uh… nothing planned. Why?”

A grin tugs at your lips, and you glance down for a second before looking back up at him, your gaze steady but playful. “I was thinking maybe we don’t have to wait too long for that movie watch.”

Luke’s heart skips a beat. “You mean tonight?”

“Unless you’re too busy, hockey star.”

He laughs softly, shaking his head. “Nope. Not busy. Definitely not busy.” You smile, the kind that makes Luke feel like the luckiest guy in the room — maybe the whole world.

“Good,” you say, taking a step closer. “Because I’d hate for you to back out after going through all the trouble of printing out those flyers.”

Luke groans, his face flushing again. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Not a chance,” you tease, your eyes sparkling.

Luke ducks his head, a shy smile tugging at his lips. When he looks back up, there’s a quiet determination in his gaze. “So… movie night?”

“Movie night,” you confirm. “My place?”

Luke blinks, surprised. “Yeah, sure. I mean, if that’s cool with you.”

“Definitely cool with me.” You pull your phone out again and hand it to him. “I’ll send you a text with my address.”

Luke watches you, his heart thudding faster as you step back. “So, tonight?”

“Tonight,” you agree, pulling your coat tighter around you. “Say… seven?”

“I’ll be there.” You give him one last lingering look before turning toward the door. Just as you reach it, you glance over your shoulder with a playful smile. 

“Don’t be late, Hughes. I’ll be waiting.” Luke stands there for a moment, frozen in place, replaying the whole interaction in his head like a highlight reel. He barely registers Ethan stepping back into view, his expression smug as ever.

“Well, look at you,” Ethan says, clapping Luke on the shoulder. “Got yourself a date, huh?”

Luke doesn’t even bother with a glare this time. Instead, he just shakes his head, a soft, disbelieving laugh escaping his lips. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “I guess I do.”

+

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Luke finds himself standing outside your door, holding a small bag of snacks and feeling more nervous than he’s ever been before a big game. He’s replayed every possible conversation in his head, hoping he won’t make a fool of himself. The door swings open before he can knock, and there you are — standing there with a soft smile, dressed comfortably in a hoodie and leggings, your glasses perched on your nose.

“Hey,” you say, your voice warm and inviting.

“Hey.”

You step aside, motioning him in. “Come on in. I’ve got the movie queued up and everything.” Luke steps inside, taking in the cozy space — blankets piled on the couch, a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, and the faint scent of something sweet lingering in the air.

“My roommate decided to give us some peace so she’s at her boyfriend’s place for the night.” You start slowly, before spinning around to face him, your hands thrown up in front of you. “Not that I’m expecting you to stay the night or anything.” Luke watches the way your face starts to burn, the tips of your ears a bright pink - a soft laugh leaving him as he nods. 

“No expectations.” Luke agrees, pulling out his snacks and placing them on what he’s assuming in your bed. “So what are we watching?” 

“I was thinking we should do a modern classic - have you seen any of the Jordan peele movies?” You question, busying yourself with laying out the food on the bed. 

“No, my brothers aren’t big movie watchers so I never got the chance.” Luke says quickly, hovering awkwardly besides you as he waits for you to settle on the bed. He watches as you hoist yourself up, swishing yourself against the wall before patting the empty space besides you. 

“Well you’re in for a treat.” You smile, throat bobbing as Luke climbs onto the bed besides you, his broad frame taking up most of the bed, his feet almost hitting the end. You had made the effort of setting up the projector your sister had gotten you before you went to college, the stupid machine notoriously hard to set up but it was worth it to not have to watch the movie on your tiny laptop screen. 

“Can you turn off the lights, horror movies only work if it’s dark.” You say quietly, pointing to the lamp switch besides Luke, who reaches without having to hand off the bed like you normally do, the room shrouded in darkness as you press play on your phone connected to the projector. “Be prepared of the best psychological horror of the past ten years.” You tease, settling against your cushions as you reach forwards to grab the bowl of popcorn. 

As the opening credits roll, Luke glances over at you. You’re focused on the screen, but there’s a small, satisfied smile playing on your lips. He knows that he’s here because of a silly bet, but right now, none of that matters. What matters is this moment. You, beside him. The warmth of your presence chasing away the cold outside. The way your laughter fills the room when you catch him flinching at a particularly eerie scene.

Luke has to admit that though the movie was very entertaining he couldn’t help but look away from the projector - his eyes one the side of your face almost the entire time, watching every tiny reaction you had. His gaze only flicking back to the screen as the movie comes to it’s crescendo your eyes briefly flicking over to him, a smile growing on your face as he panics and looks away as your eyes meet. 

“Good movie, huh.” Luke says as he stretches his arms above his head, the credits playing as you let out a snort of laughter. 

“You were certainly enamoured.” 

“Sorry.” Luke sighs, his shoulders folding in on himself, the hockey player somehow shrinking to half the size he was before. “You’re just really pretty.” He admits, scolding himself in his head for his confession, the words slipping out before he even got a chance to stop them. “And now I sound like a ten year old boy telling the girl at the playground that he has a crush.” Luke laughs, rubbing the back of his neck as more words slip out. 

You blink, processing Luke's words, your heart skipping a beat as the playful smirk on your lips softens into something more genuine.

"Really?" you ask, voice quieter now, almost hesitant, as if you're afraid to break the fragile moment hanging between you.

Luke nods, his gaze darting to the floor before meeting your eyes again.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not just that you're pretty. You're... more than that. Smart, funny, kind. Being around you feels—I don't know—easy. Comfortable. Even when I'm panicking inside, like right now." He chuckles nervously, his hand rubbing the back of his neck again. "And I know I'm probably making this awkward."

You shake your head quickly.

"You're not," you whisper, your voice steady despite the butterflies fluttering wildly in your chest. Luke watches you carefully, his eyes searching yours for any sign that he's misstepped, but all he finds is warmth and something that makes his breath catch in his throat—hope.

“You’re almost falling off the bed.”  you say softly, shifting a little on the bed to make more space. Your hand reaches out, fingertips brushing against his arm in a way that feels both tentative and electric.

Luke hesitates for a moment before scooting closer. The bed dips under his weight, and suddenly the space between you feels almost nonexistent. His knee bumps against yours, and he can't help the shy smile that tugs at his lips when he hears your quiet giggle in response.

Your fingers linger on his arm, tracing a light pattern along the sleeve of his hoodie before curling around his wrist. The movie’s end credits roll on in the background, forgotten, as the room’s only source of light comes from the soft glow of the projector casting faint shadows on the walls.

"I've been watching you too," you confess, your voice barely above a whisper. "During the movie. I thought you didn’t notice."

Luke lets out a soft laugh.

"I didn’t” he murmurs.  There’s a pause—a moment of quiet, charged with unspoken words and shared breaths. His gaze drops to your lips, just for a second, before flicking back up to your eyes. You catch the movement, your heart thudding louder in your chest.

"Luke..." you start, but whatever you were about to say gets lost as he leans in, slowly, giving you plenty of time to pull away if you wanted to. But you don’t. You close the remaining distance, your lips meeting his in a kiss that feels both inevitable and surreal. His hand finds your cheek, thumb brushing gently along your jawline as he deepens the kiss, his touch careful, as if he’s afraid to break the moment.

Your hands slide up to his shoulders, fingers curling into the fabric of his hoodie as you pull him closer. The scent of him—clean, with a hint of something woodsy—fills your senses, grounding you in the reality of this moment.  When you finally pull back, both of you are breathless, foreheads resting against each other as you share a quiet, contented laugh.

The kiss was sweet. Innocent, but left Luke’s chest buzzing as he left your dorm, sneaking past the RA’s room with you, the two of you pausing at the front door as you lift yourself onto your tippy toes placing a soft kiss to his cheek. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Luke asks softly, your head nodding as you promise to meet him at the cafe near the hockey rink. 

“Luke?” You call out as he makes his way down the steps, his body turning back towards you as you whisper, “I really like you.” The words make Luke’s heart drop to his stomach. 

The stupid bet. 

But no one heard it right? 

And surely Ethan wouldn’t hold him to it? 

Luke rushes back up the steps, his hands gripping your hoodie at your waist as he pulls you towards him, leaning down and capturing your lips with his own, the two of you lost in each other for a moment before he pulls away, whispering back “I really like you too.” Luke releases you, your lips tingling as you watch him dart down the steps, bolting from sight as his cheeks flush a bright red. 

+

+

“You going to invite her to the party?” Ethan questions, his eyebrows raised as Luke glances up from his coffee. 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” 

“This thing is getting kinda of serious isn’t it?” Ethan asks, his eyebrows furrowed as he looks down at his friend taking the lid of his drink to pour an excessive amount of sugar in the hot coffee. “I didn’t picture you as a dating kind of guy.” He adds, Luke just shrugging his shoulders as he straightens ups, placing the lid back on his drink before taking a long sip. 

“I’m not usually, but she’s something special.” Luke sighs, “I like her and I think she likes me too.” He adds noticing the way Ethan’s smile grows. 

“So you’re going to tell her, or are you waiting till you win the bet?” Ethan teases, his eyes catching the way Luke flinches slightly, a shocked expression transforming his features. “There’s something you aren’t telling me.” Ethan coos.  Luke’s jaw tightens, his mind racing. The warmth from the night before—the laughter, the kiss, the way you’d whispered that you really liked him—all of it feels fragile now, like it could shatter at any moment.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Luke repeats, his voice firmer this time. He doesn’t meet Ethan’s gaze, focusing instead on the swirl of steam rising from his coffee cup.

“Come on, man,” Ethan presses, leaning forward on the table. “We made that bet months ago. You were supposed to ask her out, take her on a couple of dates, and then call it quits. It was just supposed to be a joke—a way to get you out of your shell. But now? Now it’s looking a little more serious than that.”

“It is serious.” Luke’s voice is low, but there’s no mistaking the conviction in his tone. “I like her. A lot. And I’m not going to let some stupid bet ruin that.”

Ethan leans back, crossing his arms. “So, what’s your plan? Pretend it never happened? Hope she never finds out?”

Luke runs a hand through his hair, frustration bubbling beneath the surface. “I don’t know. I just… I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Then maybe you should tell her before someone else does.” Ethan’s words hang heavy in the air, the weight of the truth pressing down on Luke’s chest.

“I will.” Luke agrees, “Tonight at the party, I’ll tell her everything so just keep your mouth shut.” Ethan nods throwing his hands up in agreement as the both slip past a smaller figure holding the door open, a black oversized hoodie thrown up and over their head, Luke nods in thanks to the person, continuing his argument with Ethan as the continue on their way. 

The message dings on your phone as you wait for your coffee, your black hood now pooling around your neck as you let out a long sigh. 

Luke Hughes (hockey star) : I was wondering if you wanted to come to a party with me tonight - it’s at the frat house next to the rink? I can pick you up from your dorm?

Weather - Girl ☂️: I don’t know… I’ll just meet you there? 

Luke Hughes (hockey star): Ok. See you at 7.

You tuck your phone back into your pocket as you step forwards to grab your drink from the counter. 

A bet? 

Of course that’s why Luke had approached you that night. 

Someone like him would never go out with someone like you. 

+

+

You arrive at the frat house just as the sun begins to set, the amber glow of the evening stretching across the sky. The music blares from inside, the bass vibrating through the walls as you hesitate at the door, your hand resting on the knob. You’d never been a fan of parties—too loud, too chaotic. But tonight, everything felt different. It wasn’t just about the party. It was about Luke. The way he’d asked you to come, the way he’d kissed you like he meant it... and now, this lingering doubt.

A deep breath. You turn the handle and step inside.

The scene is exactly what you'd expected—college students scattered across the living room and kitchen, cups in hand, the occasional burst of laughter, music spilling into the air. You scan the crowd, trying to pick out familiar faces, until your eyes land on him. Luke’s standing by the pool table, talking with a couple of teammates, his eyes scanning the room every so often. He’s dressed casually, but he still looks effortlessly handsome. The tight fit of his shirt accentuates his broad shoulders, and his dark hair is slightly tousled, like he’s been running his hands through it all day. Your stomach tightens at the sight of him, and for a moment, all the noise around you fades. It’s just Luke, and it’s just the two of you, the weight of everything unsaid hanging between you.

He notices you then, his expression shifting as his eyes lock onto yours. His lips curl into a small, tentative smile. And for a moment, you wonder if maybe this is all worth it. Maybe he really does care. But then the nagging thought about the bet creeps back in, like a shadow in the corner of your mind. Luke steps away from the table, pushing through the crowd of people as he approaches you. His smile widens, but you can see the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes as he gets closer.

“Hey,” he greets you softly, his voice a little too calm. He’s studying you, trying to read your mood.

“Hey,” you respond, your voice a little tight. You force a smile, but it doesn’t quite reach your eyes.

“I’m glad you made it,” Luke says, his gaze dropping to your hand before meeting your eyes again. “You okay? You look... tense.”

You hesitate, debating whether to tell him how you’re feeling. How everything seems off. But you don’t. You don’t want to seem like you’re overthinking things, especially not in front of everyone. Instead, you just nod.

“I’m fine. Just, you know, not really a party person,” you admit with a half-laugh, trying to make light of it. “But it’s... nice.”

Luke chuckles, his hand brushing against yours as he gestures toward the side of the room. “Want to grab a drink? I can introduce you to a few people if you want.”

You hesitate, your heart hammering in your chest. What are you really doing here? Was this all part of the game to him? Or was he genuinely trying to make you feel comfortable?

Before you can answer, a voice calls from across the room—Ethan, Luke’s friend, who’s standing with a few of his teammates, his eyes narrowing as he looks at the two of you.

“Luke! Come on, man. Get over here!” Ethan calls, clearly in the middle of some kind of banter. “We’re going to play a game, the cute girl besides you can join in too.” Luke glances over his shoulder, then looks back at you. His smile falters slightly before he gives you an apologetic look.

“Only if you want to” he says, turning away from his friends to focus completely on you, your head nods before you can think about it Luke lacing his fingers through your before walking toward Ethan and the others. 

“Thank you for joining us, weather-girl.” Ethan coos as you and Luke reach the group, a bunch of people huddled in a tight circle at the back of the house. “We’re playing never have I ever, know how to play?” You nod again, watching as Ethan clears a spot for you and Luke to join the circle, the two of you squishing between some other players from the team - Ethan quickly handing you both a red solo cup full of beer.

“I’ll go first.” Ethan cheers, “Never have I ever kissed a boy” The girls of the group chuckling amongst themselves before taking a drink, you cup raising to your lips as you take a slow sip as well the round continuing as each player having a turn in saying something they have never done. 

The circle all turn towards Luke as the person besides him finished their turn, “Never have I ever regretted asking out a pretty girl.” He says with a beaming smile, watching as Ethan groans before taking a sip of his drink shouting across the room. 

“That was a lame one.” Ethan turns towards you next with anticipation, your throat clearing as you say, “Never have I ever made a bet with my friend to ask a girl out.” The group falls silent as they all look at you, Ethan’s gaze flicking between you and Luke with a grimace, Luke gaze dropping to you in surprise as you look up at him expectedly, hoping to any higher power that he wouldn’t take a sip of his drink. 

“I can explain.” Luke whispers, recoiling a little as you let out a harsh scoff, lifting yourself from you spot on the floor in a hurry. 

“I think I’m done playing.” You hiss, pushing your way through the crowd as you bolt for the front door, ignoring the sound of Luke calling after you - letting out a shaky breath as the fresh autumn air hits your face. 

“I swear I can explain.” Luke says as he comes up behind you. 

“So I really was just a bet? What is this some fucking wattpad fanfic.” You let out a bitter laugh as you push your hair off your face. 

“Yes...well no…kind of.” Luke sighs, not knowing how to answer your question.

“What did you even bet anyway.” 

“Ethan said he’d do my chores for a month if I got you to go on a date and say you liked me first.” 

“You tricked me because of chores.” You scoff, “Was it worth it?” 

“Yes.” You let out a shocked laugh at his response, taking a few steps away from him as you throw your hands up in defeat. “It was worth it cause it meant I got to talk to you.” Luke takes a deep breath as he looks back to the party before taking a few steps towards you.  “The whole stupid thing was worth it cause it mean I actually got to meet you, instead of just staring at you from across the room, and things moved a little faster then I was anticipating but I’m not mad that it happened.” 

You blink at him, the words settling over you in a wave. You want to be angry, want to shout at him for making you feel like a game piece in some dumb bet. But as you look at Luke, there’s something raw in his expression, something that makes you hesitate. His eyes are sincere, even if the situation couldn’t be further from what you’d imagined.

“Are you telling me you really liked me? Even before this… game?” You ask, your voice coming out more fragile than you intend. Luke’s jaw tightens, and for a moment, he looks unsure. Then he steps closer, the distance between you growing smaller with each second, the warmth of his body making you feel suddenly aware of how cold the night air is.

“I know how it sounds, and I don’t expect you to just forgive me because I’m telling you this now,” he says, his voice rough, like he’s been carrying the weight of it all for longer than he should. “I spent an hour watching you at the party that night, but I just couldn’t work up the courage to go over and talk to you and when Ethan made that bet, I saw it as a stupid way to break the ice—get us talking. And yeah, I should have told you everything upfront, but I didn’t. I messed up. I’m sorry.” The confession hangs in the air, a delicate thing between you. You feel the heat from his words, but your heart is still tangled in the doubt. He’s here, standing right in front of you, apologising. 

“I don’t know, Luke.” You shake your head, trying to process everything. “This whole thing just feels… wrong. Like I was some pawn in a game that didn’t even matter. And now you’re telling me that it did? That you really wanted to get to know me?” Luke nods, his gaze unwavering. 

“Yes. It matters. You matter. And I know it sounds like a bad excuse, but I’ve never done something like this before. I wasn’t thinking about how you’d feel, I was thinking about how I felt—and I was being selfish. I should’ve respected you more than that.” The wind picks up, tugging at your hair, and you shiver, more from the tension building between you than the cold. You don’t know what you’re supposed to say to all of this. Part of you wants to run. Part of you wants to let it go, to believe him, to give him a chance. 

You cross your arms, staring at the ground, trying to make sense of everything. The weight of the night presses on you, every sound from inside the house now distant, muffled. “I don’t know if I can just forgive you like that, Luke.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive me right away.” he says, his voice softening. You meet his eyes then, something in the way he says it making your heart race again. 

“Then what are you asking for, Luke?” You whisper, the question heavy with every word.

“I don’t know.” He says softly, his eyes dropping to the floor for a moment, before flicking back to you.  “I’m not asking for anything, I just want you to know that even if the only reason I worked up the courage to talk to you was because of the bet, it doesn’t mean that anything else had anything to do with it. I do really like you and if you want me to back off I will but I really, really don’t want to.”  Your stern expression falters a little at Luke words, your brain battling to keep your icy exterior up. 

“Please, I’ll do anything for one more chance.” Luke pleads, his hands reaching out for you before quickly dropping back to his sides. You watch as he fights with himself in his own head, trying to decide whether to pass the invisible border you had put between the two of you. 

“How about we make our own bet?” You say softly, not missing the way Luke’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “You get one date to prove that none of this was fake if you can manage that then maybe you’ll get a second one.” You say Luke’s head already nodding before you even finish your sentence. 

“And if I don’t manage to prove it?’ He asks softly. 

“Then you do all my errands for a month.” You answer finally cracking a soft smile, Lukes body visibly relaxing at your words, the joke clearing something as he takes a few steps forwards his arms wrapping around you and lifting you from the ground before you even get a chance to protest. 

“I promise I’ll prove that the bet had nothing to do with anything, and I’ll do all your errands for the rest of the year.” Luke coos, his heart throbbing in his chest as you let out the sweetest laugh, the one that makes his legs turn to jelly as he gently sets you back on the ground. 

“I think I can make that work.” You smile, the doubt remaining in your chest as Luke keeps his arms around you, a part of him needing to keep you wrapped up in his arm to truly believe that this was real. 

[tobiasdrake]

You know. Sometimes you look back at decisions made by entirely separate creators and it's like, fuck, with a more cohesive creative vision to connect these things together this could have been fire.

Like. Hear me out.

Thor 1 writes Loki as internally racist against the Jotuns. Upon discovering that he's a Jotun child taken as a spoil of war by Odin and then deciding that means he could never truly be worthy in Odin's eyes, Loki goes off. He creates an elaborate plan to give himself casus belli for complete unadulterated genocide against the Jotuns.

He's not trying to steal Odin's throne; He already has it. He even saves Odin's life as part of the plan, when it'd be so easy to let Odin die and then I guess Loki's king forever. Rather, he's trying to prove himself a Real True Son of Asgard by wiping Asgard's rival off the face of the map forever.

The Avengers writes Loki as a shameless fascist who thinks commonfolk exist purely to kneel to a strongman dictator, and that the natural state of people is to be ruled by their betters. The movie directly, on purpose compares his belief system to the fascist rhetoric of Nazi Germany so it can act like its take on Loki is deep.

Thor: Ragnarok says outright that Asgard is a colonizer state that became what it is through bloody conquest and subjugation. It asserts that any claim the nation may have to being this noble virtuous protector nation is just imperialist propaganda by an old fascist who ran out of enemies to subjugate and started to reconsider how he wanted history to remember him.

So. Like. Okay.

Loki is convinced that his ethnicity makes him unfit for Asgard and intends to commit a genocide against his own people to prove himself a Real True Son of Asgard.

Loki's belief system is directly called out as fascistic and reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

Asgard was secretly an imperialist colonizer state built on the bones of the subjugated, conquered, and enslaved this whole time.

...what a fantastic one-two-three punch this could have made if anyone involved in making any step of this process had been writing their film with the other two in mind.

There is a fantastic switch buried in these three films where it seems like Loki has a perverted idea of Asgard and then it turns out, no, actually, he really was behaving in the spirit of the culture that shaped him all along. Loki was the Real True Son of Asgard the whole time, and that was the problem.

[blushweddinggowns]

 “So let me get this straight. You met a hot guy, conned him into a date with you, lied about who you were to get into his pants and still failed. Then kept going, bought a new phone and rented a fake apartment, fell in love him, continued this elaborate ruse for four months, and now you want me to figure out a way for you to get out of it?”

“...yes?”

“Oh my fucking god,” Chrissy nearly screeched into his ear, “That is what you have been doing? Have you lost your damn mind?!”

“Obviously, yes!” Eddie yelled right back, feeling fraught as hell. He was pacing back and forth, a cigarette in hand as he spoke, “I never planned on ending up here!”

“Really? Because this whole shit show seemed to need a lot of planning. Is this really what happens when I leave you unsupervised? I am never letting you out of the house again.”

Eddie was well aware he deserved the ribbing. He deserved much worse, but that didn’t change the fact that he was desperate, “Chris, I’m serious. I need help.”

“Eddie, I love you but come on. You need a plane ticket and an apology muffin basket and to move on. This guy doesn’t even know you.”

“It’s not like that,” Eddie said as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “It’s-okay. I’m still me with him. It’s like…I’m acting like who I would have been if I was never famous. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“Have you tried delusional? Also, can I get a picture of this guy? How hot can one dude be to drive you-”

“I’m serious,” Eddie interupted, irritation coloring his voice, “I told him everything. The shit about my parents, Wayne, the drugs, you, everything.”

“You realize that everything would include your real name right? And again, a picture for the love of god would really help put this in perspective-”

“You know what I mean,” Eddie sighed. She still wasn’t getting it, “I’m in love with him. Like Chris, he was made for me. And if I had just stuck to tattooing instead of doing the music shit then I’m pretty sure he’d think the same of me.”

He could hear a small intake of breath on her end, her voice coming out a bit more concerned than before, “Eds, are you serious?”

“Dead. I… I think he’s the one,” No, that was another lie. Eddie took a deep breathe before admitting the truth, “He is the one. And… I don’t want to lose him. I can’t lose him.”

“Honey, it’s an infatuation. A really, really strong one, but still-”

“Chrissy. Listen to me. I want to marry him. Do you understand me now?”

If that didn’t get through to her nothing else would. Because Chrissy Cunningham had spent hours upon hours of listening to Eddie complain about the institution of marriage since fucking highschool. How it was all a farce, just some bullshit people pulled for tax reasons and patriarchal idealism. And now here he was, fucking day dreaming about the perfect happily ever after with the love of his life. 

“Oh Jesus,” Chrissy groaned, the sineritcy Eddie was looking for finally creeping into her voice, “Sweetie, I’m so sorry… but I think you might have fucked yourself too big on this one.”

“Isn’t there something I can do?” Eddie pleaded into the phone, like Chrissy actually had all the power in the world to fix this, “What if I just lead a double life? Couldn’t that work?” 

He had seen a movie about that once or twice. It was a thing. Or if it wasn’t then he could make it one.

But Chrissy didn’t seem too convinced, “Eddie, honey, you’re describing the plot of Hannah Montana like it can actually be a solution. Do you realize how insane that is? Do you not get how far you’ve fallen?”

from the next chapter of this fic

[drugs-and-daddyissues]

𝐌𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐗

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐎 You're a pornstar, and you ask him to make a video with you. And who is he to deny you?

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 explicit smut, p in v sex, oral (m! receiving), videotaping sexual activities, a bit of edging?, Dom/sub undertones if you squint, dom briefly sub! Johnny, sub briefly dom! Reader, a little degradation, Johnny refers to himself as 'Daddy' multiple times

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 Johnny Depp x f! reader

A/N: elaboration of this post, request.

You'd been thinking about the possibility for a while, what if you just asked your boyfriend, the famous Johnny Depp, to be in a porn video with you?

One day, you decided to just ask him, having already set up the cameras since you were going to record something, whether it was with him or not.

"Hey honey? Could I ask you something?" You came to him saying. You had a hoodie and sweatpants on over your lingerie, as you thought that would be most appropriate right now.

He looked up from his laptop, no doubt going over the script for his new movie, but of course he'd made time for you, his pretty little lover. "Of course, love. What's up?" He asked, shifting his hips slightly and God you didn't want to admit how attractive that one motion was, how it had already sent sparks of anticipation to your core. And of course he was wearing those slutty gray sweatpants.

You took a deep breath, sucking in your nerves before just being straightforward, "Okay, I'm gonna ask you something, and you can say no.. But, okay, you know what I do for a living?" You asked, trying to warm him up.

Of course he knew what you did, not like he cared, because it was just you. You never slept with anyone else for your job, since you were going independent, and you had always been loving and came home to him. He wasn't judgemental of it, I mean, get your bag girl. "Yeah, of course I do, what about it?" He asked, closing his laptop

"How would you feel about making a video with me?" You asked, just cutting straight to the chase. You could see he had a slightly shocked expression on his face when he let out an amused laugh.

"A video with you? Love, are you sure?" He asked, trying to push the ideas of what you'd film down to hide his arousal, but you could already see the tent forming in his pants

You just nodded, "I'm dead serious, so.. If you want to, and only if you want to, I would like to make a video with you."

He was already smirking and putting his closed laptop on the coffee table before you even finished your sentence. "Count me in."

Your video camera was recording the filthy scene on your bed, you between his legs, mouth bobbing up and down his length, occasionally gagging on it, looking up at him with pathetic eyes. He just grabbed your hair, whispering words of praise.

"So fucking good for me. " "Yeah, that's it, take my cock just like that, love."

He could feel that tightening pleasure coming on, but just before he could cum, you pulled your mouth off, leaving him desperate and on the edge of release.

"Come on, please darling. " He begged as you stood over him on your knees, panties long discarded.

"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it my way." You said, giggling. You lowered over him, your wet folds rubbing against the tip of his cock. And God, he wanted to push inside you so badly, his hips trying to rut up desperately, but you wouldn't let him

"Please baby, I'll do anything, make you feel so good. " He begged, his hands gently squeezing your hips, rubbing you against his cock.

You chuckled at his desperation, quickly sinking down on his hard length, mouth open in a silent moan, which Johnny took as an opportunity to shove his tongue in your mouth. There was something thrilling about knowing that you would post your intimate activities later, letting the whole damn world see how good your boyfriend fucks you.

Immediately he started fucking up into you, holding your hips steady while you moan into his ear- when his lips aren't capturing yours of course.

Suddenly and quickly he pulled out, flipping you over gently so your ass was up and your chest was pressed into the mattress. He tapped his cock against your ass, letting the wetness from both of you fall onto your skin. "Shouldn't have teased me like that, doll. " He said with a smirk on his face, before pushing back into you, not wasting anytime before his movements were fast.

Obscene noises filled the room, your muffled moans, the slapping of skin, and the beautiful sound of his groans. "That's it, baby, let the whole fuckin' world see how much of a slut you are for me. Daddy's good little girl" He said, his voice low and sultry.

His voice, God, his voice did it for you every time and he knew that, could feel the way your greedy cunt was clamping down around him.

"Gonna cum for me, pretty girl? Gonna fucking cover Daddy's cock?" He cooed as he kept thrusting into you from behind, earning pretty little moans and whimpers from you.

"Mhm, don't stop- mmmm, so close." You whined, the tip of his dick continuing to hit that spongey spot inside you, the pressure building up in your stomach.

He just chuckled, but now at your desperation. "Mhm, that's it. Cum on my cock, pretty girl, wanna feel your tight fucking pussy milking this cock. " He purred softly, knowing he wasn't gonna be able to hold on for much longer.

He gently took the camera off your tripod, angling it down towards where his dick met your pussy, as you came undone. With a few more sloppy thrusts, he was spilling his load inside you. He stayed inside you for a couple of seconds before pulling out, letting your combined arousal leak out of your used hole.

Very quickly, that video became your most popular one, and something about it made him feel prideful. As you were checking the statistics on the video, he came up behind you, gently rubbing his clothed erection against your ass.

"You know, love, I wouldn't mind doing a part 2." He whispered in your ear, his hands trailing up your body.

Yeah, you were in for a long day.

As always, likes, comments, follows, and reblogs are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading and supporting my work <3 - 🪐

☆ like what you've read? masterlist

[throughthetwistedmirror]

The Spoiled Treatment ~ *Jamil Viper*

Summary: Jamil works so hard for everyone he cares about. It hurts your heart that no one takes care of him in turn. That's why you take it on yourself to spoil him rotten.

Pairing: Jamil Viper X G/N!Reader

Genre: Fluffy Drabble

Word Count: 768

Warning: N/A

Masterlist

Taglist: @moonitsune @savanaclaw1996 @goseew

A/N: This is a request!

Jamil worked harder than any other Scarabia student you knew and it broke your heart. You understood why he did it; his family worked for Kalim's and he cared very much for the future of his dorm, though he'd never admit it out loud. But that didn’t mean he needed to work himself half to death. So you came up with a brilliant plan in an effort to help him relax.

When he woke up on the day of your plan, you surprised him with breakfast in bed. Instantly, he was suspicious of your behavior and your motives.

"What's all this?" He skeptically asked, staring at the food before him.

"Well, you do so much for Kalim and the rest of the students in Scarabia, but you never take any time for yourself." You sheepishly explain, shifting your weight from foot to foot. "So I thought I would do something special to show you how much we all appreciate you. And before you ask, Kalim is spending the whole day with his family back in Scalding Sands. The rest of Scarabia is out of the dorm as well. It's just you and me, and I am determined to spoil you rotten today!"

"But-"

You held the food you made for him up to his nose to stop him from protesting. "You can't back out of this, Now, eat up! We have a long day of doing nothing ahead of us!"

Though he seemed reluctant, Jamil finished his meal, which made you smile as he admitted to how delicious it was. Following breakfast, you brought him to one of the spare dorms that was used for the many guests that come over at the request of Kalim. You had completely transformed the room to look like a day spa. It was a lot of work and it was all done behind Jamil's back, but you were proud of what you accomplished. Jamil, on the other hand, was a little annoyed, but let it slide because of the puppy dog eyes you flashed at him.

He enjoyed a warm, relaxing bath as you gently washed his hair. When he changed into a fluffy robe, you brushed and braided his hair with deft fingers.

"You're pretty good at this." He mused as he let your fingers run through his soft, silky hair. "I might just have to ask you to braid my hair more often."

"I'd be honored." You gushed before tying off and beginning to massage his shoulders. 

He flinched at your touch. "What are you doing now?"

"I'm sure you're all wound up tighter than a clock and I was right. I'm just trying to ease some of the tension in your shoulders." You explain. "Just relax, please. Today is all about you."

It turns out, it was a lot harder to get him to relax than you anticipated. He was so jumpy every time you tried to do something nice for him. He also looked guilty when he thought you weren't looking, as if he should be helping you in some way. But you would not be deterred. You were going to show him how much you appreciated him because he deserved it.

You gave Jamil a mani-pedi and a hand massage. You allowed him to assist you with making lunch and he was definitely in his element as he showed you how to make traditional dishes from Scalding Sands. You couldn't stop complimenting him on his amazing cooking skills and his blush made you praise him even more.

After lunch, the two of you built a pillow fort, which was pretty elaborate thanks to Kalim's obsession with pillows. When you both were settled in comfy clothes and full of snacks, you turned on a movie marathon. As the hours ticked by, you watched as Jamil became more and more relaxed. It seemed your plan was finally working.

Dinner consisted of more comfort food for Jamil before you led him outside to stargaze. You both told stories about the stars above, leaning against each other, cuddling under a blanket. You almost fell asleep listening to the sweet lull of his voice, when you were startled by the sound of fireworks.

Jamil smirked and pulled you closer, pressing a kiss to your cheek. "What a finale, I must say."

You shook your head. "The fireworks weren't me."

He furrowed his brows before realization dawned on both of you at the same time. "Kalim."

A laugh escaped you. "Of course! I should've known!"

"Still," He pulled you closer. "Thank you."

"Of course." You nod and kiss him. "Anything for you."

[velvet-vox]

Why King Candy has been so underrated and misunderstood for a long time (Still is, but to a lesser extent)

(All the images in this post come from the video linked below)

Hi everyone; so, usually, I'm not a trend chaser, in fact, I completely missed out on the hype of the Murder Drones finale by not releasing something for the occasion, as I have been very busy this past couple of months, and still am, but I've decided to make a special, out of program post just for my new current hyper fixation, that being King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph, who, for the past couple of weeks, has slowly risen up to become my third favourite Disney movie villain of all time.

And all of that, as some of you might have guessed, happened because I watched @king-crawler 's two hour long video essay on the character and the movie that he comes from.

Needless to say, just like many others before, it inspired me to add my own two cents to the conversation, and talk about some points that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else.

This is probably the only Wreck-It Ralph related analysis that I'm ever going to make.

I even thought about scrapping this whole analysis, because midway through development I thought that I was just spewing out nonsense, but I kept going because some of my points may give food for thought to someone who understood this character way better than me.

I may reblog some analysis/art posts of this character, but I'm not going to turn WIR into a staple of my blog; however, if I see a lot of people in the comments or the reblogs adding stuff or points to my arguments, I could always make a sequel post to this one.

But first, I need to get something out of the way immediately.

Spoilers below the cut if you never saw this movie, kind of important, as it is the movie's major plot twist:

King Candy is Turbo.

Who's Turbo? Watch the movie.

With all that said, enjoy the read, I'll now elaborate on the meaning of my title, also, here's the video in question; I highly encourage everyone to check it out, as it is a way better sequel to Wreck-It Ralph than the one who was lost in the depths of Lake Laogai:

Clarifications:

Wreck-It Ralph is an amazing movie, but one for which I've never had much to think about.

Don't get me wrong, I always considered it to be the smartest Disney movie ever made since my first watch, but I saw it for the first time relatively late, after I had consumed other Disney movies as childhood classics and other crossover movies featuring video game characters, so it never had neither a nostalgia nor hyper fixation factor as reasons as to why I should have put the story under a microscope after that.

Also, as Rando says at the beginning of their video, it is not a movie that blew me away after my first watch. Or the second. Or the third.

Why is this section important? It is important because these are my subjective opinions of the movie, which are unfortunately going to subtly influence what I'm about to say in one way or another, regardless of me trying to speak from a place of supposed "objectivity".

I'm really passionate about this world now thanks to Randomalistic, but you won't get the same vibe from this post as you would get from one made by long time fans of this movie.

Ok?

Good.

Next:

King Candy/Turbo has always been... in a weird spot for me.

Just like the movie where he comes from, I never really cared about Turbo until a month ago, despite always feeling like I should have loved him a lot more, especially since Deltarune chapter 2 released a while ago, and the character of Spamton G Spamton is someone for whom I have very strong feelings about; and Turbo, in a technical sense, is literally the spiritual predecessor of that guy (actually, Turbo is the spiritual predecessor of a lot of similar characters, he kinda was ahead of his time).

If I had made a Disney tier list for their movie villains, a completely subjective one for that matter, I would have put him in A tier, but thinking that he should have gone in B tier... while also feeling like neither were appropriate placements for him.

Randomalistic's video finally helped me fall in love with the character; so much in fact, that it got me thinking:

"Damn, if Turbo is actually this amazing of a villain, why was(is) he so underrated and overlooked by general audiences, when he admittedly is, in my opinion, one of the best Disney villains of all time? Frollo is by and large considered the best villain out of any Disney movie, and the HOND was nowhere near as successful as Wreck-It Ralph when it first released, so it can't just be a matter of first impressions (?). Maybe there are other factors, that stop audiences from recognizing Turbo as the Magnum Opus of villainy that he truly is..."

... And that's exactly what I'm going to discuss!

Let's get right into it.

The minor stuff.

First things first:

He's ugly. I'm sorry to all of the people who ironically and unironically simp for him, but that's a design only a mother could love.

On a serious note, KC and Turbo's designs always felt... not very eye-catching to me? (The bug form is excluded from this conversation)

I'm not saying these are bad designs, far from it; but each form has on them a certain amount of design decisions that, by the authors own decisions, make them unappealing to a viewer like me (I'm using myself as reference point because the topic that I'm talking about is inherently subjective).

Starting off with King Candy, is design has to balance a lot of different aspects simultaneously: it has to be eyecatching, so that the viewer can pay attention to him as an antagonist, and believable enough so that the watchers buy the fact that he is the King of Sugar Rush and not someone else, but it also has to be generic and fake enough so that it can later on add up to the fact this is just a performance, a facade, a ruse, a costume, and not the real character, it also needs to be friendly enough so that the audience can be manipulated together with Ralph into believing that he actually is a good guy;

I could go on and on listing off all the amazing things, that the King Candy facade pulls off simultaneously, but exactly because the design has to feel real and fake at the same time, it also, by proxy, ends up feeling weird, and that inexplicable sentiment can end up alienating the viewers who are watching the movie and the ones who have finished consuming it without thinking too deeply about what the meaning of the KC's facade actually was.

In the case of Turbo's design, all the people working behind the movie did such an amazing job making him look as scary, ugly, alien, and deranged as possible, all the while keeping him relatively PG friendly; the result clearly paid off, but Turbo's ugliness is not as slick as the likes of Ratigan's, nor is it as nightmarishly horrifying as the Other Mother's.

The most nightmare fuel qualities of Turbo's design are hidden out of plain sight, which is basically a recurring theme with his character.

To put it in a funny way, his looks neither end up in the conventionally attractive territory that most other Disney villains fall into, nor do they grab the attention of the Monster Fu###rs crowd.

I have zero things to say about the Cy-bug form, but I do have a section later on where I talk about that entire scene in and of itself.

All in all, it might just be me, but the first impressions of this character's design don't really do him any favours when it comes to his popularity.

I now love both designs, but before, they just didn't click with me, and I think some other people might understand what I'm talking about.

Admittedly, I could have explained this section better, but these were mostly my personal opinions and they are not really important in the grand scheme of things, unless somebody else agrees with me, in that case I'd have to take a closer look at the situation.

Second of all:

The marketing.

To be honest, I feel like what really elevated all of the most iconic Disney villains into pop culture status was a joint push from the company and the artists to include these characters into more stories and products.

Like, sorry to all of the Oogie Boogie fans, but that character is barely in his movie and doesn't do a lot, and he wouldn't be nearly as iconic as he is if Disney didn't use him again multiple times after his first debut.

And the same can honestly be said for all of Disney's most popular villains; they got used multiple times in multiple different projects, that either kept them mostly the same, changed them with some unique twists (that change in quality, but that's up to you), expanded on their preestablished characters, or put them into unique situations that showcased just how versatile they are.

Kingdom Hearts, The House Of Mouse and Descendants are very obvious examples of what I'm talking about, but even appearances in lesser known stories like Lady Tremaine in Cinderella 3, Captain Hook in Jake and the Neverland pirates, or the entirety of Disney Twisted Wonderland help solidify these characters as pop culture icons;

All except Frollo.

Frollo is the only one whose hype and cultural recognizability wasn't built up by the company or the media in which he was featured, but by the fans of the original movie.

And despite Disney almost never used that character ever again after his debut, he, his movie, and Hellfire still get a lot of prise and are talked about classics to this very day.

Because Frollo is just that freaking awesome.

Turbo, on the other hand... is barely in anything.

Let's get the most obvious stuff out of the way first: King Candy is a relatively new character, released in an era where Disney was slowly starting to integrate the new, corporate ideals that we see today.

All of the villains that I've mentioned previously already became tried and true successes by that point, so even if the company doesn't care about having good villains anymore they still use their likeability because it has already shown in the past to bring in audiences.

It's also the main reason as to why Mother Gothel is used so rarely: King Candy, as the last truly great Disney movie villain (excluding Tamatoa, who's barely used anyway, and movies not produced by their main animation studio), arrived at a point in time when the company wasn't pushing for their villains anymore, and instead actively sanitized some of them in their new stories (you know what I'm talking about); therefore, Turbo, being actually incredibly dark on second look, and with no actual intention of tuning him down like Jafar because he hadn't already reached the iconic status by that point, had no reason to make any big appearance ever again or be paraded around as much.

There are some more reasons as to why Turbo likely doesn't have more stuff dedicated to him, like the fact that he is technically 3 characters at the same time, but I don't want to prolong this section too much.

So instead, how about we take a look at some of his other appearances outside of Wreck-It Ralph?

Let's see...

He has various cards in Lorcana, which is his most recent appearance, mind you;

He became a playable character in the 7th season of Disney Speedstorm, a game where I was hoping he would be the main villain, due to a variety of reasons, but hey, that's perfectly fine;

And he was mentioned multiple times in Disney Heroes Battle Mode, a game where he hopefully is the secret main villain, as it would pay off a large amount of story and design decisions chosen for that game, but it's probably just wishful thinking and unless the game's plug is pulled, I doubt we'll see him anytime soon.

Ok, it's more than nothing, but it's also not that special if you ask me.

But hey! At least he got a boss fight in a Kingdom Hearts game! That's more than Randall can say! He was a major boss in Union Cross... the mobile game... that you can't play anymore... and since KH adheres strictly to its own canon most of the time, it also probably means that we'll never get to play through the storyline of the first WIR in any future mainline game, and we're more likely to see a world based around the second movie instead.......

Yeah.

That seems to be it, unless I'm missing something huge (feel free to let me know).

This section is important because Cruella De Vil became one of my favourite Disney villains of all time not after seeing her in the original movie, but after I saw her in 101 Dalmatian Street, a niche show that almost nobody knows; so other medium appearances are important to these characters popularity, especially when not all of these villains are Frollo.

ALSO, PLUS 1+, I was originally going to cut this point, but I decided to add it anyway: the Italian voice actor.

After recently rewatching this movie in English, (I'm Italian, we in Italy translate the movies to our language because it's easier than learning an entirely different language for them), I have to really admit that Alan Tudik's voice performance really does a lot of heavy lifting for the character's memorability.

This is not to say that the Italian voice dub sucks or that King Candy's Italian voice actor does a bad job, in fact, the voices are actually quite similar to each other, it's just that Alan's performance has that small edge of hidden bitterness that really brings the character together; though I do prefer Turbo's Italian voice for its twist reveal: the more raspy, heavy tone of the actor really highlights the vicious, alien nature of his character, as well as the sense of dread that Vanellope is feeling in this moment; I encourage you to give it a watch.

Again, this is extremely minor, and it really only affects me specifically, but don't worry, it's not going to have influence over the rest of this post.

These were just additional points and not the actual meat of my argument, so now I'll start discussing what I actually wanted to talk about from the very beginning:

Who is he?

I think that one of the main reasons as to why Turbo is so underrated is because we spend way less time than with most other Disney villains (before him) to know him as a person.

Think about it:

Most other Disney villains, or at least the most popular ones, all have moments where they are doing nothing to progress the plot, that are dedicated solely to get us to know them better.

Hades has several moments with his minions to show off his personality and anger, Jafar has silly little moments with Iago that show off his depravity, Maleficent has talks with her crow that make her more dynamic, Ursula has her introduction scene where she spies on Ariel and does nothing but talking, and Captain Hook... has 30% of his screen time dedicated to just that.

Heck, Hellfire, one of the most iconic sequences in all of Disney, is just a character set piece for Frollo, and it's arguably completely disposable, as it doesn't really do anything to progress the story, it just explores Frollo's character in deeper depth and that happens to make the big difference when it comes to him.

King Candy doesn't really have an obvious character centric moment, something easy for the audience to quickly latch onto: every time we see him, he is always doing something to push the plot forward.

Yeah, there's that small character interaction with the Donut cops when he gets glasses, and other small moments here and there, like the would you hit a guy with glasses joke, but nothing truly character-defying.

I also don't count King Candy's first scene as a character centric moment, as that's more of an introduction rather than an elaboration, but it is technically valid, even if it ultimately is just a facade that he puts up to serve his needs.

Speaking of which: the fact that most of what we see of Turbo throughout the story could be entirely fake is definitely something that I could use to make the argument in this section stronger, but I'd rather save it up for later.

Also, side note:

I think that the moment most dedicated to him only, to show off a different, "true" aspect of his personality, is when he is walking back and forth in the castle waiting for his cops to show up again.

This moment is so interesting on rewatch, as it is one of the few moments in the entire movie where I can safely say that Turbo is being 100% genuine and isn't putting up any facade whatsoever, as there really is no benefit to him appearing distressed in this situation.

In general, it's funny to think that Turbo's most genuine reactions are of fear.

Back to point one, do you wanna know why Maleficent was given a crow in Sleeping Beauty? The reason as to why was for her to have someone to bounce off, a way for the writers to showcase more facets of her character, and while Candy has Sour Bill, the movie never uses the relationship between the two to show off a different aspect of his character.

To be clear, I'm not saying that Turbo is a worse character than these other Disney villains, or that without these moments of calmness he doesn't work, one great example

Do you know that Calhoun in early development had a camouflage ability, meant to highlight how she hides her feelings but was scrapped because it made her harder to relate to? Well, let's just say that Turbo's entire character is a What If scenario where that idea actually went through.

It's a double edged sword: King Candy is so interesting because he is so mysterious and surprising all throughout the movie, but exactly because he has to be so mysterious, he is not a character as easy to understand as some of the other villains from the company; it's incredibly easy to miss out on just how cruel he is and the full scale of all the damage that he has done.

I, AM, .......the twist villain.

There's also something to be said about how popular to the conversation the twist that King Candy is Turbo became.

Everyone loves this reveal, am I right?

It may not be the best moment in the movie, but my god if it isn't hype, all thanks to the music, the lighting, the setup, yada yada yada....

But the identity reveal scene is to Candy what the Genocide Boss Fight is to Sans: it's the most impactful moment about his character, to the point where it becomes the entire baseline where most discussions are built around, which, more often than not, lead a lot of people to overlook other things about Turbo.

Let me explain: how many analysis videos have you seen where the person making it talks more about the setup and subtle hints present in King Candy's earlier scenes that slowly build up to the twist and less about the events happening in it?

The reveal is amazing, don't get me wrong, but if Rando's video didn't come along to dive deep into King Candy's earlier scenes with the twist already in mind, the true impact of what Candy had been doing throughout the entire movie up to this point would have been lost on me, and I can imagine someone else feeling the same, as me, casual enjoyer of WIR, have been conditioned to think of Candy more for his well planned out surprise, rather than for how that surprise makes the character more engaging (I hope this makes sense).

I also want to mention this video ranking all the different twist villains from Disney and Pixar where CellSpex says that the Turbo twist is useless, since the movie doesn't do much with it afterwards.

Now, aside from the fact that CellSpex is clearly in the wrong and she's missing the point, I think this lack of reconsideration highlights that casual viewers care more about the Turbo plot twist than they care about Turbo himself.

But honestly, I don't believe people focusing too much on the twist is that big of a problem, more so, the problem stems when you want to use the twist... to discuss something else.

Now, I think it's perfectly fine if you want to use Turbo to explain why other Disney twist villains don't work, but when the villains that King Candy is compared to the most are Hans, Yokai, and Bellwether, you kind of start to think that he is only the best of the worst, and not an actual amazing antagonist in his own right.

It may not be a message that was intended to be sent, but it is something that may subconsciously cling to someone's brain, especially when you consider that there might be a huge audience of people who watch these videos because they saw Hans in the title (wishing for the video to bash him), and have seen Frozen, Zootopia and Big Hero 6, but have never seen Wreck-It Ralph in their lives, and they get all their knowledge of Turbo from them.

It's exasperating, especially when King Candy has way more in common with renaissance Disney villains than contemporary ones.

Yes, through technicality, he is a twist villain, but he's more so a hybrid antagonist to be honest.

And even worse than people just grouping up Candy with a bunch of morons, as I've just discovered by reading a comment from this Turbo Tribute, is that some people apparently despise him for starting the Disney Twist villain trend: even if he's leagues better than his competition, the simple fact that you can attribute some of the blame for the fall of villainy onto him, is enough for someone to despise him.

King of the Cy-bugs (feat Rockotar):

Very recently, I've rewatched Rockotar's video analysis of the first Wreck-It Ralph, and when he arrived at the "Welcome, to the Boss Level!" scene, I decided to analyse all the possible reasons as to why he (and possibly many others, such as, admittedly, myself) wasn't as entranced by it as basically any other scene from the movie, who he had been praising non-stop up until this point.

And I think I understood why: aside from the fact that this scene is only a setup for Ralph's sacrifice (and I wished the actual boss fight to be longer and more creative), the Boss Fight is less of a climax for Ralph's journey and more so a character study for who Turbo/King Candy is.

In my opinion, this is the closest we ever get to a "villain at rest" moment with Turbo because in every other scene of the movie, King Candy is always doing something, he's always active and we never see him doing anything that doesn't coincide with his role.

And, paradoxically to what I've just said about this being a "villain at rest" moment, in this scene, he is still doing something and being active in the plot, only that this time, instead of advancing the story, he's holding it back from its conclusion.

This scene simplifies Turbo's character to his most bare bone essentials: he's a short-tempered jerk, a power hungry murderer, a virus; it's all pretty interesting stuff once you take a sweet moment to break it down.

However, there's a point that I briefly mentioned before that I want to bring up; this creature that we are laying your eyes upon, is now three different people all at once, King Candy (anxious, quiet and manipulative), Turbo (short-tempered, competitive and spiteful), and now this Cy-bug hybrid.

To reiterate what I've said before, if you don't think about it for long enough, you aren't going to understand who either character is exactly.

Because that's the big thing: all of his facades, implied development off screen and reactions are so well constructed that at certain points, it feels like we're following two different characters simultaneously, which fits perfectly with the narrative that so called "real" Turbo died and now he's no longer himself, but...

I'm scratching the bottom of the barrel to bring up other possible points as to why this character is so underrated, and the lack of a clear identity seems like a pretty obvious thing to me.

But that's only two out of the three characters I mentioned; we need to take a second look at the Cy-bug form, who, in many ways, is simultaneously the thesis and antithesis of his character.

In particular, there's one thing I want to consider:

There's this theory made by somebody else that says Turbo, upon getting eaten by the Cy-bug, didn't take over the animal's conscience and control his body, instead, upon eating King Candy, the Cy-bug took upon himself his mannerisms, meaning that, according to this theory, neither King Candy nor Turbo technically survived the encounter.

If we accept this theory as true, then that means that even during what is supposed to be a character study, the character that the movie is highlighting may also be just as fake as the act that was put up until this point, meaning that, in a sense, we never saw the real Turbo in the movie.

He was three people at once.

(Yes, I've been spamming this image everywhere, and I'll keep doing so because I can)

In Conclusion:

Turbo is, ironically and unironically, an incredibly subtle character, and that makes it extremely easy for a lot of people to overlook and miss out on the most subtle details and characteristics that make him truly exceptional;

Him being so deceptive and mysterious helps and hinders his popularity, as some either love the mystery surrounding him, others fail to get a good grasp on who he truly is and become disinterested.

He is, by design, a building block, a puzzle to be solved, a character to piece together, that makes him so much fun!

But also, if you aren't interested in putting the pieces together, then he may not be up everyone's alley.

I definitely feel like the best thing that @randomalistic did in her/their video on Wreck-It Ralph was create an easy jumping point for new fans/casual watchers of the movie to get insanely invested over the story and characters;

I'm sure it was incredibly easy for many other people like me to focus only on the most talked about aspect of Turbo, aka the plot twist, and overlook all the other things that were not as much in your face as that; I was blinded by the spotlight, and it made it hard to see the genius that was put everything else;

Now, thanks to Random highlighting King Candy's cruelty and repulsive behaviour, my favourite thing about Turbo is how he weaponized the "disability" of a child to marginalise and persecute her, discriminating her for it all of her life WHEN HE'S THE ONE WHO MADE HER "DISABLED" IN THE FIRST PLACE.

This man, is so HORRIBLE, and he deserves to be publicly exposed for all the heinous s##t that he did, not just for being the best of a bunch of villains who frankly he shouldn't even be attempted to be compared to.

Anyway, I hope someone had fun reading this. I definitely felt like I started to write this with some really good ideas that I wanted to share, but in the end, I feel like they weren't all that interesting to begin with.

Feel free to share your own opinions, and have a great day!

[emma23]

The awkward art of flirting:

Steven grant x reader

————————————————————————

Steven Grant’s heart pounded in his chest, louder than the Egyptian drums that had played in his dreams last night. He stood outside the dimly lit warehouse, a nondescript building hidden in the maze of London’s abandoned industrial district. This was the hideout of one of the city’s most notorious criminals—you.

His mission? Gain entry, gather intel, and get out without getting caught. Easy, right? Wrong.

Steven wasn’t the sort of man who infiltrated anything—let alone a villain’s lair. Yet here he was, trying to channel every spy movie he’d ever seen, which, frankly, wasn’t many.

"Okay, Steven, you can do this. Just... be charming, be confident," he muttered to himself, wiping his clammy hands on his trousers. He pushed open the door, stepping into the dimly lit room.

The interior was surprisingly cozy, not at all what he expected from a villain’s lair. It had more of a… lived-in feel, with mismatched furniture, stacks of books, and a coffee table littered with half-empty mugs. You were sitting on a couch, reading a book, and looked up as he entered. Your eyes immediately narrowed, recognizing him as soon as he walked in.

“Well, if it isn’t Steven Grant from the British Museum,” you drawled, not even bothering to hide your smirk. “What brings you to my humble abode?”

Steven froze. This wasn’t going according to plan—not that he really had one to begin with. “Oh, um, hello there,” he stammered, trying to recover. “I was just… uh… passing by and thought I’d… pop in?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Pop in? To a villain’s secret hideout?”

“Er, yes?” Steven winced, realizing how ridiculous that sounded. “I mean, no! Not a villain! A person! A very interesting person. I just thought we could have a… chat?”

You tilted your head, amused by his awkwardness. “A chat. With me. Right.”

Steven cleared his throat, trying to summon what little courage he had left. “Yes, I thought maybe, you know, we could, um, get to know each other? Over tea, perhaps? I make a mean cuppa.”

You blinked at him, unable to tell if he was genuinely trying to flirt or if this was some kind of elaborate joke. “What are you doing?” you asked, genuinely curious now.

Steven shuffled his feet, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “So… this isn’t working then, is it?”

You sighed, setting your book aside. “No, Steven, it’s not. But I’ll give you points for effort. It’s not every day a museum gift shop employee tries to flirt his way into my hideout.”

He scratched the back of his neck, laughing nervously. “Yeah, well… I’m not really good at this whole espionage thing, am I?”

You stood up, crossing the room to stand in front of him. “No, you’re not. But it’s oddly endearing. What exactly are you hoping to achieve here?”

Steven gulped, realizing he was in over his head. “Honestly? I was supposed to gather intel, but… I think I’ve mucked it all up, haven’t I?”

You studied him for a moment, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “Well, Steven, you’re lucky I find your bumbling nature somewhat charming. Otherwise, you’d be in a lot more trouble right now.”

“Really?” he asked, blinking in surprise. “You think I’m charming?”

“Don’t push your luck,” you retorted, though there was no malice in your voice. “Come on, let’s sit down and have that chat. You’ve clearly gone to a lot of trouble to get here, so the least I can do is hear you out.”

You led Steven to the kitchen area, where he fidgeted nervously as you prepared tea. The silence stretched on, punctuated only by the clink of cups and the whistling kettle. When you finally placed a steaming mug in front of him, he thanked you quietly, his voice almost drowned out by the hum of the refrigerator.

“So,” you began, taking a seat across from him. “Tell me, what made you think you could flirt your way into my hideout? Was that your idea, or did someone else put you up to it?”

Steven’s face turned redder than the bricks outside. “It was… er, sort of my idea. I thought maybe if I came across as… friendly, you wouldn’t be so… suspicious.”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Steven, you walked into a villain’s lair with a nervous smile and a cup of tea as your only weapon. That’s more naïve than suspicious.”

Steven looked down at his tea, feeling like a fool. “I just… I wanted to help, you know? I’m not like Marc. I’m not brave or strong, but I thought maybe I could do something useful. I just didn’t want to be useless…”

Your expression softened. Despite your hardened exterior, you couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. “You’re not useless, Steven. You’ve got a good heart. That’s more than I can say for most people.”

He glanced up, surprise and gratitude in his eyes. “You… you really think so?”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” you replied, leaning back in your chair. “But yeah, I do. It’s refreshing, really. Most people in my line of work are either power-hungry or just plain cruel. But you… you’re different.”

Steven didn’t know how to respond to that, so he simply sipped his tea, letting the warmth of the drink calm his nerves. The silence between you two wasn’t awkward anymore; it was comfortable, almost companionable.

“So,” you said after a while, breaking the silence. “What are you going to do now? Go back to your normal life, pretending this never happened?”

Steven hesitated, his mind racing. Part of him wanted to run back to the safety of his ordinary existence, but another part—the part that had brought him here in the first place—felt a strange pull towards you. “I… I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t want to keep living like this, not knowing who I really am or what I’m capable of.”

You studied him, a small smile playing on your lips. “Well, Steven, you’re already doing more than you think. You walked into the lion’s den, and you’re still here. That’s something.”

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, but I’m not sure how long I’ll last. I’m not exactly cut out for this.”

“You might surprise yourself,” you said, standing up and extending a hand to him. “Come on, let’s see what you’re really made of. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up liking it here.”

Steven stared at your hand, torn between fear and curiosity. Finally, he took it, letting you pull him to his feet. “You won’t, um, kill me, will you?”

You smirked, shaking your head. “Not today, Steven. Not today.”

As the evening wore on, the two of you settled into an easy rhythm, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Steven found himself opening up to you in a way he hadn’t with anyone else, telling you about his struggles with Marc, his love of ancient history, and his dreams of a life less ordinary.

You listened intently, intrigued by his honesty and vulnerability. There was something about Steven that made you want to lower your own defenses, to show him a side of yourself that you kept hidden from the world.

Eventually, the conversation turned to your own life, and you found yourself sharing more than you intended. You told him about your past, your reasons for choosing the path you did, and the loneliness that came with it. Steven’s empathetic nature made it easy to talk, and before you knew it, the barriers you’d built around yourself started to crumble.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Steven asked quietly, genuinely curious. “You don’t even know me.”

You sighed, staring into your tea. “Maybe it’s because you’re different. You don’t judge me, you don’t try to manipulate me. You just… listen.”

Steven smiled, his heart swelling with an emotion he couldn’t quite name. “Well, I’m glad I could be that for you. Even if I am a bit of a… bumbling idiot.”

You laughed softly, shaking your head. “You’re not an idiot, Steven. You’re just… you. And that’s not a bad thing.”

For a moment, the two of you just sat there, the silence thick with unspoken emotions. Then, before either of you could think twice, you leaned across the table and pressed your lips to his.

Steven’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he found himself kissing you back, his hands trembling as they moved to your waist, pulling you closer.

The kiss deepened, and soon, the table between you was forgotten as you both stood up, still locked in each other’s embrace. Steven’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, but the strongest one was how much he wanted this—wanted you.

The two of you barely made it to the bedroom before clothes started to come off, piece by piece, falling to the floor like discarded memories. Your hands roamed over Steven's chest, feeling the softness of his skin and the faint ridges of his muscles. He was surprisingly fit for a man who worked in a gift shop, and the thought made you smile against his lips.

Steven’s hands were hesitant at first, nervous and unsure, but as you guided them over your body, he grew bolder. His fingers traced the curve of your waist, then moved upwards, gently brushing over your ribs before settling on your shoulders. His touch was both tentative and eager, as if he couldn’t quite believe this was happening but didn’t want to stop.

“You’re sure about this?” he whispered, his breath warm against your ear.

You pulled back slightly to look into his eyes. They were wide and dark with desire, yet there was a tenderness there that made your heart skip a beat. You smiled, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead. “I’m sure, Steven. More sure than I’ve been about anything in a long time.”

He smiled back, a relieved laugh escaping his lips. “Good, because I really don’t know what I’m doing here, but I… I want to. With you.”

You chuckled softly, leaning in to kiss him again. “Just follow my lead,” you murmured against his mouth. “I’ll show you.”

With that, you guided him to the bed, gently pushing him down onto the mattress. He watched you with rapt attention as you climbed on top of him, your legs straddling his hips. His hands settled on your thighs, gripping them lightly as you leaned down to kiss him again, this time slower, savoring the feel of his lips against yours.

As the kiss deepened, you felt Steven’s body respond, his hands moving up your back, pulling you closer. You could feel his heartbeat against your chest, fast and strong, matching the rhythm of your own. The connection between you was electric, each touch sending sparks of pleasure through your veins.

You took your time exploring his body, your hands running over his chest, down his arms, over his stomach. He shivered under your touch, his breath hitching when your fingers brushed over sensitive spots. You could feel his arousal growing, pressing against you, and it fueled your own desire.

Steven’s hands were everywhere now, touching, exploring, learning. His fingers tangled in your hair, then moved down your back, tracing the curve of your spine. He was gentle, almost reverent, as if he was afraid to hurt you. It was sweet, and it made you want him even more.

You moved your hips, grinding against him, and he groaned, his hands tightening on your waist. “Oh, bloody hell,” he muttered, his voice thick with need. “That feels… amazing.”

You smiled, leaning down to kiss him again. “Just wait,” you whispered. “It gets better.”

You guided him inside you, taking him slowly, inch by inch, until he was fully buried within you. The sensation was overwhelming, a mix of pleasure and connection that left you both gasping. Steven’s hands gripped your hips, holding you close as you began to move, setting a slow, steady rhythm.

His eyes were locked on yours, filled with a mixture of awe and desire. He was completely focused on you, on the feel of you, the sight of you, the sound of your breathing. It was as if nothing else existed in that moment but the two of you.

The room was filled with the sounds of your lovemaking—soft gasps, quiet moans, the creak of the mattress beneath you. The rhythm of your bodies was in perfect sync, a dance of pleasure that built higher and higher with each movement. Steven’s hands were everywhere, touching, caressing, holding you close as if he never wanted to let go.

You lost yourself in him, in the feel of his hands on your skin, his breath against your neck, his body moving with yours. The world outside ceased to exist; there was only this, only him, only the connection between you.

When the climax finally came, it was like a wave crashing over you, pulling you under, drowning you in sensation. You cried out his name, your nails digging into his shoulders as your body shuddered with release. Steven followed moments later, his own climax tearing through him with a force that left him breathless.

You collapsed against him, your bodies slick with sweat, your hearts beating in unison. Steven wrapped his arms around you, holding you close, his face buried in your hair. You lay there together, the world outside forgotten, the only sound the steady beat of your breathing.

You woke to the gentle light of dawn filtering through the curtains, casting a warm glow over the room. Steven was still asleep, his arm draped over your waist, his face peaceful and relaxed. You watched him for a moment, feeling a strange sense of contentment. It had been a long time since you’d let anyone get this close, but with Steven, it felt… right.

Carefully, you slipped out of bed, grabbing a robe from the floor and wrapping it around yourself. You moved to the window, looking out at the quiet streets below. The world was waking up, and soon, you’d have to face reality. But for now, you allowed yourself a moment to just be.

Behind you, Steven stirred, stretching and yawning. He blinked sleepily, then smiled when he saw you standing by the window. “Morning,” he said, his voice rough with sleep.

You turned to face him, a smile playing at your lips. “Morning,” you replied. “Sleep well?”

“Better than I have in a long time,” he admitted, sitting up and running a hand through his messy hair. “Last night was… incredible.”

You walked back to the bed, sitting on the edge and leaning in to kiss him. “Yeah, it was,” you agreed. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Steven Grant.”

He laughed softly, pulling you into his arms. “Honestly, neither did I. But with you… everything just felt right.”

You rested your head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “So, what now?” you asked, your voice barely a whisper.

Steven was silent for a moment, then he gently tilted your chin up, making you look at him. “Now, we figure this out together,” he said firmly. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know one thing—I want to face it with you.”

You smiled, a feeling of warmth spreading through your chest. “Together,” you agreed.

And for the first time in a long time, you felt hopeful. Whatever challenges lay ahead, you knew you could face them, as long as you had Steven by your side.

[dimonds456]

Transfem Stan Thoughtdump

Okay so @/abyssalzones made a pretty good post that sums up a lot of my thoughts as well, but I have a few extra ones I'd like to add to this discussion, as well as elaborating on one of the post's points. I've been thinking about transfem Stan for a couple of weeks now and at this point I'm like "fuck it we ball" and throwing it out there. 

For one, it warms my heart whenever there's an older character who was raised in the mid-1900s/older times who realizes they're queer, or comes to terms with their identity in old age. You're never too old to realize you're part of the community, and never too late. Adding this on top of the many, MANY identities that Stan has had to take to survive in her life, it'd be like really turning over a new leaf for her. She'd get to really step into an identity that she aligns with completely, and not something else given to her or that she took to protect herself. 

Not to mention, everything regarding Ford. The fact that she had to pretend to be Ford for so long, she more than likely never had the chance to even think about taking on any other identities. She had to keep this one as intact as she could. Otherwise, she could risk loosing the Shack, and with it, the portal- her brother. No way that was happening. 

It was briefly touched in the post, but when Stan was watching that one movie and she was like "JUST LIKE ME FR", obviously the writers intended that to just be a joke since this was as far and away from Stan's identity as they could get. But we're gonna ignore that and take it at face value for a second. 

The channel introduces itself (jokingly) as the boring old lady black-and-white channel, clearly something that a manly-man like Stan wouldn't be into, and he reacts like how you'd expect. But once it gets going, he gets fully sucked into it, leading eventually to the scene where the main character, seemingly about to complete a Character Arc™, tells her mother "I'm not just a dutchess, I'm also a woman!" and Stan cheers for her, saying the "just like me fr" line. 

Without any transfem headcanons, again, this is a joke. Or you could interpret this in hindsight as Stan feeling a similar way about his father, since lines like "I'm a woman!" declared like that usually means "I'm free to make my own choices," which is a message resident make-my-father-proud-issues Stanley Pines would relate to pretty hard. Even though this isn't a conclusion Stan comes to in the show, we could easily see him coming to a conclusion like that in the future.

Now let's add the transfem headcanon back in. With that new layer to it, Stan (whose egg hasn't cracked yet) would be confused as to why she relates so hard. After all, she's a man who was raised to shove feelings down and be a manly-man man by Filbrick. She's more than likely gone her entire life trying to conform to that idea of toxic masculinity that her dad pushed on both her and Ford. Stan was always the one who resorted to punching, after all. That's a manly-man trait, so surely this goes no further right

There's a part of Gravity Falls that I feel doesn't get discussed enough, and that's the underlying misogyny of it. There's not a ton of it, but there are quite a few jokes about how men are stronger than women and the like. Stan has quite a few lines like that herself. So she would be subscribing to a similar mental state, the idea that if you like punching, CLEARLY you're a guy. Cuz that's how it works. Obviously. 

Introducing Mabel Pines, someone who is VERY much a girly-girl. She likes pink and unicorns and rainbows and makeup and sleepovers, stuff of the like. Now I could make a whole other post about my headcanons for Mabel and her queer journey, but one thing she can definitely do that "girly-girls" DON'T? Punching.

Mabel can punch. And she punches a lot. 

It's a small thing, and something I think Stan has just kinda accepted without question over the course of the series, but if she were to stop and think about it, she'd be like ".....wait a minute." and it could very well be the first piece that cracks the idea of manly-man masculinity vs just. existing as a person and what that actually means. 

Once Stan finally starts to break away from toxic masculinity and all those lessons she got thrown into her head, then her egg would finally be able to start cracking. 

As for why it even matters, first off, it just makes for an interesting interpretation of the character I haven't really seen before until VERY recently. Like, within the past 2 days recently (and maybe once like a month ago?? idk). 

But secondly, for her character, it would be a good, healthy step into really taking back her identity. Who IS Stan Pines? She's spent so long being other people, either as a form of self-defense or pretending to be her brother so she can help save him from the sideburn hell dimension, that I don't think she's really allowed herself to connect to who Stan is. 

This is true regardless of gender headcanon, but I think the transfem angle makes it so much more interesting. Who is Stan? Not even she knows. And she's starting to feel VERY confused about the whole thing. 

As for Ford, I think he'd be more than willing to support an identity journey for Stan. After all, he's traveled across dimensions and more than likely had all his teachings questioned as well. I am willing to bet money he's encountered trans people before. And, knowing Ford, he'd be open and curious to the idea, not close-minded, no matter what their father tried to teach his kids. Honestly, I could see Ford pestering Stan with questions long into the night regarding the whole thing, and taking up the whole identity mystery for himself as something the two of them can "crack" (heh) together. Just another adventure for the crew of the Stan'o'War II! 

There's SO much more but I don't wanna re-say things that the og post already said, these are just the big ones that stick out to me and what I wanted to elaborate on. 

TL;DR Stan goes on a journey of realizing that toxic masculinity Is Bad Actually and honestly so was his father, and once he accepts that and starts actively challenging his own beliefs about gender, her egg cracks and she realizes that maybe she isn't a guy at all. The rest of the Pines- but Ford especially- are supportive, and although Stan has a LOT of self-reflection to do and I could see her getting frustrated, flustered, or even embarrassed of her newfound realization, ultimately it makes her happier like this. Cuz it's her identity. She's not pretending to be anyone else anymore and she can just wholly be herself.

Thank you and goodnight

[pluckyredhead]

hi! i'm new to comics and i got in through reading your fics and wayne family adventures. i've since started reading more of the mainstream verse and i realized that most comic fans consider wfa to be totally fanon. you're one of the few i saw that disagrees. would you mind elaborating a lil on why? i'm too new to really form an opinion either way but i'd like to know your's!

(also yes i really did stalk your blog back years worth of posts i'm sorry! 😭😭)

Aw I love this! Welcome!

So I think it's really important to be clear on definitions here:

Canon means it's part of an official text. It's literally in a comic (or book or movie or other property) published or licensed by DC.

Fanon means it's made up by fans. That doesn't mean bad or good, it just means that it comes from fandom and is not part of the official text.

Wayne Family Adventures is an official licensed comic by DC, so by definition, it cannot be fanon. That doesn't mean everyone has to like it, but it's not a fan comic. It's an official DC product. It's not fanon.

Now, WFA isn't part of the main DCU canon. It takes place in a separate universe. The Jason in Batman #138 and the Jason in WFA are not the same and they are having very different experiences. (And I'm sure the Jason in WFA would be grateful if he knew.)

But that's no different than a comic that takes place in an alternate universe, like Dark Knights of Steel or DCeased, or a movie like Blue Beetle or a show like My Adventures with Superman. They all take place in their own universes, but all of those universes are canon. None of them are fanon.

What I think most people mean when they say WFA is fanon is that WFA draws on tropes and characterizations that are popular in fandom. Which...yes, absolutely. This is on purpose, and honestly, it pisses me off when people complain about it. (Not you, anon! Your question was lovely, you just triggered my unskippable cut scene of dialogue. Sorry lol.)

Wayne Family Adventures is probably the single best idea DC has had in the 20 years I've been reading comics. (The second best was the kids and YA graphic novel lines.)

I just checked, and WFA has 1.3 MILLION subscribers. That's more than every floppy comic starring Batman sells in a month, combined. It's more than literally any superhero comic has sold in decades - in this century! The combined strips have over A HUNDRED MILLION VIEWS. That is bonkerstown. That is a readership like DC hasn't seen since the 1970s. That is unparalleled success, and it's introducing characters like Kate Kane and Duke Thomas to a whole new audience.

Now, WFA was clearly designed to appeal to Batfans who were active on social media and fanfic sites like AO3 and Wattpad, and Webtoon readers. The readership of Webtoon is mostly young and female. Fandom as a whole is mostly female. The writer of WFA is female.

And maybe I'm not being fair here, but when I see people dismiss WFA as "just fanon," I always catch a whiff of "It's not a real Batman comic. It's a girl comic for girls."

I have spent the past 20 years begging DC (and Marvel, DC is not alone in this) to see women as a viable audience - as their largest potential growth audience! I have watched in dumbfounded frustration as they ignored the juggernaut success of Raina Telgemeier and Ngozi Ukazu and Alice Oseman running rings around the NY Times bestseller list and counted a 50k shipment here and there as a resounding triumph. I have literally seen them throw out survey responses from women because "those women had an agenda." (This is a true story. 2011 was rough, y'all.)

And all of a sudden, they gave us a comic actually catering to women and young people and fandom, and they put it on the most popular, current, modern platform for comics availably - and it's brilliant. It's smart and funny and stunningly drawn and every episode makes clever, inventive use of the scrolling format. They FINALLY gave us a girl comic for girls, and it's a masterpiece.

And yes, it riffs on fanon concepts. It also has its roots firmly in mainstream DCU canon. It references deep cuts. CRC Payne and StarBite know their shit. Jason Todd being a bookworm may be a fanon staple, but he does plenty of reading - including Jane Austen - in the 100% canon mainstream DCU comics.

It's not going to be for everything, because nothing is. It's completely fine if you don't like WFA. No one has to read it or enjoy it. If you're into Batman for the darkness and the crime and the ongoing plotlines and the angst, WFA won't be for you, and that's totally fine!

But to finally, finally be valued as a reader by DC, to have them do something smart and innovative and so, so well executed, and have the exact people they made it for dismiss it out of hand because Bruce has a "World's Okayest Dad" mug or whatever? Yeah, that chafes.

[lottielatte73011]

Rating (some of) the Overwatch men based on whether or not I think they’d watch twilight with you

This was something I randomly thought of one day and it’s consumed me lol. I love twilight but I kinda hate it at the same time. Aaannnyyywaaayy there will be some light twilight slander.

Mauga: 7/10

-Wouldn’t know what it was prior to you asking but would be happy to watch it with you.

-I feel like he’d complain about Bella being stupid

-Would 100% talk about how he could beat Edward in a fight

-like for most of the movie it gets kinda gets annoying after awhile

-He’d probably enjoy making fun of the movie with you and like seeing you laugh

Hanzo : ?/10

-honestly I could see him either saying that the very idea of watching a movie where a girl is in a love triangle with a vampire and werewolf is stupid and frivolous

-or lowkey get sucked into the story and end up enjoying it (he’d never admit that though)

-if he thinks it’s stupid he’d suggest other things to do instead of watching it and apologize

-if he agrees to watch it with you, he’d sit quietly and watch it, an unreadable expression on his face

-When the movie ends and you ask what he thought he’d simply say “It was…interesting”

-No elaboration on it

Reaper: 0/10

-absolutely not

Lifeweaver: 9/10

-Has probably already seen it before you asked but would be down to watch it again with you

-Pokes fun at the characters, but never says anything outright mean

-Though he enjoys the romance I don’t feel like he’d particularly like Jacob or Edward

-I think he’d constantly look over at you to watch your reaction to certain scenes (in a sweet endearing way not creepily or anything)

Genji: 6/10

-Well since you asked so nicely… he guesses he’ll watch it with you

-Similar to his brother, he’d think it’s stupid but would watch it and end up low-key liking it

-By the end of the movie he’d be so invested in the story he’d ask if they made another movie

-he’d probably secretly watch the next movie by himself

Cassidy 4/10

-I love Cassidy but I don’t get the sense he’d be into supernatural romance

-Don’t get me wrong if you really wanted to watch it he’d watch it with you

-He’d dog on the movie the whole time tho and make jokes

-If I’m being so fr I could see him dozing off watching it and then wake up when the movie really picks up at the end and then wonder how tf everyone got there.

Junkrat: 9/10

Ngl I’m pretty biased when it comes to Junkass, I love him sm

-I think that he’d have no idea what the movie was before you asked but would be down to watch it with you!

-I mean you must like him well enough if you’re asking to watch a movie with him…

-He’d definitely make fun of everyone

-Would probably ask a lot of questions about the plot

-Doesn’t see the appeal of Edward or Jacob at all

-Would he enjoy the movie? Ehhhh not enough explosions for his liking but it was alright

Lucio: 8/10

Again, I love him

-he’d probably be aware of twilight and generally what it’s about but has never seen it

-He’d watch it with you and joke about the characters, moderately interested in the plot

-I feel like similar to lifeweaver, he’d look over to you and watch your reactions to whatever is happening in the film

-if you wanted to watch the next movie with him he’d be down, just to spend more time with you :)

-I don’t think he’d hate twilight, but he definitely isn’t super invested in it

[persistentplums]

More Venture bro future thoughts p2:

With the timeline as a factor in Venture bros I think Hank would ride the wave of 2000s reality tv and still be an adventurer. After somehow falling into trainings and becoming certified he would probably get the attention of someone who likes his moxy (how can you not) and get him a show.

He runs around the world with a camera guy, and it’s another person pulled into the whirlwind of Hank/ventures. I would like to think bc Dermont is OSI he shows up sometimes. In classic adventure movie fashion there’s always a woman who’s antagonistic (Hank has a type what can we say).

I believe Hank would have an impact culturally like his dad and Jonas but a larger scale. He would be closer to a wrestler/Gordon Ramsey Hell’s Kitchen etc (2000s tv I can’t remember reality tv), dabble in acting, movies, tv, music. Rise of the internet means Hank Nation is a real thing, kids would imitate his stunts, Halloween costumes would be made of him, etc.

Hank would be a bachelor for his life, Hank is great! It’s just he doesn’t slow down, always “on” and all the women he likes kinda want to kill him or he’s into women who aren’t compatible. I would like to think, in a sweet Disney tv show way, Dean kids are trying to set Hank up with someone. Kids can be sweet, and they would love Hank. Even when the kids get older, but whether or not Hank settles down I don’t know. Hank feels like he would grow old and be weird worldly old man in the neighbourhood who has stories upon stories that has loved every inch of the world.

Hank is suited to the quick entertainment output internet put a pedal on so I genuinely think Hank is set for a while. He would make enough to retire still doing everything he does but with the less flashy lifestyle of his career gave him.

Dean definitely hates the idea of being on reality tv so no go for him. Dean helps at Bobbi ranch also with Hank, I’m sure they visit her never officially calling her grandma but it’s the same in energy. Dean gets motivated to help the animals on the ranch, leaning harder into science+biology. Funny enough he ends up in school longer than any Venture but still graduates.

He has bureaucratic messes happening to him, again following timeline of the show we are leaving the classic ages of heroes and villains. 2000s comics were edge on edge, we have anti heroes, villains who do psychological damage (even more) and don’t draw the line. I would like to think Dean who’s already over it, is SUPER over it. A heckler of a “hero”, who weirdly in a Brock sense is a critic of what’s “classy” villainy and gets under a lot of people skin that way. If his Monday night is ruined then EVERYONE Monday night is ruined too.

I think the boys “team up” a lot Hank is never in the same place but his adventures end up crossing Dean’s a lot. If Dean is sent to the moon to examine the water, Hank is there because he heard there might be massive worms only for both to find a villain who is trying to destroy the moon by digging into parts of it with robot worms. Stuff like that!

Dean is the type of person who has a child with a woman who is his arch. Did he know? Nope. Does she love him? Hm. But I think it would be funny that’s how Dean has kids and how a real villain would ensure their spot as Dean Arch. Visitation and “going to moms” is the most elaborate and dramatic part of each week. The kids probably don’t care, mom has a flying lair they get snatched up by.

It’s a little funny to ME, the whole set up that Dean in an effort to ignore this life he’s in has kids with a person he saw the most of and still didn’t put two and two together. Mr and Ms smith esq except we never really know if Ms.Arch loves Dean or not.

They both love their kids deeply and in a weird way Dean is glad the arch who keeps taking his kids isn’t scary to them she’s incredibly harmless to the kids just dramatic. Unlike Myra or any arch/person that has kidnapped Dean, Hank, or even Doc as kids she makes sure the kids are taken very safely and in fun ways. Then cranks up the heat for Dean for seemingly no reason.

(It’s also against my personal belief that Dean is just straight but I want to believe Jared and Dean get together but I like to think Jared and Dean still have a thing going on even when they get older.)

Dean Arch having his kids was a move nobody would do but she committed to the whole thing with glee idk what he did to her but I think it’s a move Monarch would like so that’s my reasoning. Monarch was trying to fuck RobotDoc I think he would respect the underhanded approach of marrying your nemesis and having his kids but would 100% be so aghast.

Monarch obviously believes in love, the show is all about love so I think it would be a good problem of “modern villainy” mindset. How the game is changing and things don’t stay the same. (She isn’t devoid of love, but with every joke you gotta have a consequence ykwim) with that in mind OSI also has the problem with modernization.

Nobody respects the classics anymore but we can’t keep recycling them, things need to keep moving on and I would think this is a fun problem for all characters to deal with in some aspect. Hank leaning into reality tv, Dean technically married and divorced to his arch, the new wave of villains, what heroes exist organically anymore etc

That’s it! For now!

[jrob64]

Hook's First Trick or Treat (Reposted with new art!)

A CS Canon Compliant Story for CS Spooky Season/Autumnal Bingo

I'm jumping on the hayride wagon and giving you my first offering for Spooky Season/Autumnal Bingo, the brainchild of @hollyethecurious. Everyone owes her a big thank you for inspiring a fair few people to write some warm, seasonal tales and art for our favorite show and couple. Everything posted for the event can be found in this collection on Ao3.

I also owe thanks to @kmomof4 for checking over this story.

**Extra special thanks to @motherkatereloyshipper for the spectacular manips of Henry, Emma & Killian in their costumes!**

Summary: Hook has his first experience Trick or Treating in Storybrooke.

Rating: T

Words: 2542

Can also be read on Ao3 and ffn

*********

“Are you going trick or treating with us next Saturday, Hook?” Henry asked.

Killian looked up at the boy from where he sat on the sofa beside Emma. The three of them had just finished watching The Nightmare Before Christmas together at the loft, sharing a huge bowl of popcorn and sipping mugs of warm apple cider. Hook hadn’t been impressed with the drink until he enhanced it with rum.

The whole town was enjoying the peace which came with the banishment of Gold at the town line three weeks ago. Mary Margaret, David and baby Neal were currently on a weekend away at a small cabin in the woods, allowing Emma to have the loft to herself for a few days. She and Henry immediately invited Killian over for a movie marathon on Friday night, culminating with the Tim Burton classic.

“Do you mean there is such a thing as trick or treat, such as in the movie?”

“Yeah, but in Storybrooke, we never had it until after the curse broke,” Henry explained.

“Why is it called ‘trick or treat'?” Killian inquired.

Emma reached over and linked her hand with his. “Back when it started, if a child knocked on a person’s door and they didn’t give them a treat, the child played a trick on them. These days, it’s just kids dressing up in costumes and going door to door, asking for candy. It doesn’t really involve tricks any more.”

“So it’s a children’s holiday?”

“Not necessarily. Anybody can dress up, but usually only the kids get candy.”

“Last year, Dr. Hopper dressed as Paul Bunyan and had Pongo dressed as Babe, the big blue ox. They sat outside his house and passed out candy,” Henry explained. “Grandma and Grandpa were Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Remember, Mom?”

“How could I forget? Dad kept talking in that squeaky voice the whole evening, which made Mom giggle. It was cute at first, but got annoying before long.”

“They won cutest costumes at the Halloween party, though.”

“There’s a party, too?” Killian asked.

“Just a get together at Granny’s after trick or treating wraps up,” Emma said. “Granny gives out prizes for cutest, scariest, most original, and best group costume. She makes popcorn balls and caramel apples and has the diner very elaborately decorated for Halloween.”

“So will you go with us?” Henry asked again.

“Aye, it sounds like fun.”

“Awesome!” Henry exclaimed. “Are you going to dress up?”

“He can dress as a modern man, since he already spent hundreds of years dressed as a pirate,” Emma smirked.

“Perhaps your father will allow me to borrow some of his Prince Charming garb,” Killian teased.

“You looking like my father would give me nightmares,” Emma said, wryly.

Hook and Henry laughed. “What will you be wearing?” Hook asked the boy.

“I’m gonna be Legolas, from Lord of the Rings. Wanna see my costume?”

“Of course.”

Henry dashed over to the stairs and bounded up them, two at a time.

“Will you be dressing up, Swan?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t figured out what to wear yet.”

He leaned over and nuzzled his nose behind her ear, then murmured, “Pity you didn’t bring that wench dress home with you when we returned from the past.”

Emma shivered involuntarily. “I’m not sure that would have been appropriate to wear around my son.”

“You could always wear it when it’s just the two of us.”

“Those moments are few and far…”

“Here it is!” Henry shouted, jumping down the last three steps with the costume in his arms.

“The kid is proving my point,” Emma whispered.

Killian chuckled before turning his attention to Henry, who was holding up the costume. “Grandma is going to let me borrow her bow and quiver of arrows, and Ruby loaned me a long, blonde wig,” he said proudly.

Killian got up and walked over, using his hand and hook to stretch out the cloak and get a better look. “It’s quite handsome, lad.”

“Thanks! Granny made it for me. She might be able to make you something before next Saturday. She made this in one day.”

“I’ll put some thought into it,” Killian promised.

“Hey! Maybe you could be Aragorn and Mom could be Arwen. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“Very, um…cool,” Killian agreed, unused to using the jargon, but pleased that Henry wanted to include him in his costume plans.

“Orrrr,” Henry said with a mischievous grin, “maybe Hook should be Legolas, since he already has the elf ears.”

Emma laughed, while Killian rolled his eyes.

They continued to discuss their costumes until Emma declared it was time for Henry to go to bed. After he went upstairs, Emma and Killian remained on the sofa, talking quietly and kissing. When they were sure Henry was sound asleep, they took advantage of Emma’s parents being absent from the loft.

*********

“Mom, are you ready yet?” Henry called. “All the good candy is going to be gone if we don’t leave pretty soon!”

Emma emerged from the bathroom, placing a large hoop earring into her lobe. “Calm down, kid. Trick or treating doesn’t even start for…” she checked the clock on the wall in the kitchen, “ten minutes.”

“Is Killian coming here or are we meeting him at the boarding…”

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Guess that answers your question,” she said, grinning at her son as she moved to open the door.

When she did, she was momentarily taken aback at the figure on the other side. Killian was dressed as the sexy ranger Aragorn head to toe, complete with crown, sword and chainmail armor.

“Wow!” Emma exclaimed. “You look amazing! Where did you find everything for that costume?”

Killian didn’t answer for several seconds, his eyes roaming up and down Emma’s green gown with silver accents. It was nearly an exact replica of Arwen’s in the coronation scene from Return of the King. Marco had even fashioned the silver crown, which sat atop the black wig she wore.

“Swan, you look…words fail me,” he managed to say, obviously gobsmacked.

“Yeah, yeah, we all look great,” Henry grumbled. “Can we go now?”

Killian entered the loft and offered his arm to Emma. “Shall we, milady?”

They trekked down the steps, being careful not to trip over their long cloaks.

“Seriously, where did you find all of that stuff?” Emma asked again, once they were outside.

“Belle let me look through Gold’s shop. I found most of it in there,” Killian said, holding his arm out to examine the chainmail. “Lady Lucas did create the cloak for me, though.”

“Well, it turned out fantastic. I’ve always had a bit of a crush on Aragorn and seeing you dressed like him is…” She pinched her fingers together, brought them to her lips, kissed them, then flicked her wrist and spread her fingers apart as if she was throwing the kiss into the air.

“What exactly does that gesture mean?” he asked.

“Chef’s kiss. It means it’s perfect and I love it.”

“Ah, I see. I’m very happy you approve. Meanwhile, your costume is absolutely magnificent. Did Granny make it?”

“This is actually one of my mother’s capes and a gown she brought from the Enchanted Forest. Granny altered it and added the silver embellishments. It turned out pretty good.”

“‘Pretty good’ is a vast understatement, Love. It truly enhances your beauty. I hope you will wear it again once this trick or treating is over.”

Emma laughed. “Storybrooke doesn’t really have a place where I can wear this type of gown.”

Killian leaned in to whisper in her ear. “It looks lovely on you, but it would also look lovely on my bedroom floor.”

“You know that hasn’t worked out well for us in the past because of Granny’s werewolf hearing.”

“Hmmm. I guess we’ll just have to come up with a way to keep you quiet while you’re in the throes of passion, Love.”

“I’m not the only one who makes noise. If you recall, you’re the one who…”

“Would you two stop being all lovey-dovey and come on?” Henry called over his shoulder.

Emma and Killian exchanged amused glances and increased their pace.

They soon began seeing other costumed townspeople walking up and down the sidewalks. Children were racing up on porches, knocking and shrieking “Trick or treat!” as soon as the doors opened.

Henry joined the fray while Emma and Killian remained on the sidewalk, heads swiveling to take in all of the colorful, creative costumes on both the children and their parents. As they moved closer to the center of town, Emma noticed Killian had become rather quiet. While earlier, he was making astute and amusing observations about the costumes, now he barely spoke a word. She also noted the puzzled and somewhat sad expression he wore.

By the time they reached the clock tower, Emma was beginning to worry about her boyfriend. He didn’t seem to be having any fun and she had to practically drag him along from one place to another. Even seeing Archie dressed as Woody, the cowboy from the Toy Story movies, with Pongo in a Slinky Dog costume didn’t cheer him up.

Henry was oblivious to Hook’s discomfort, too busy sprinting from house to house and business to business with his bulging treat bag. When he ran up to them and breathlessly asked if he could finish trick or treating with his friends and join them at Granny’s later, Emma readily agreed. She was eager to go somewhere private and talk to Killian, hopefully finding out what was bothering him.

Grabbing his hand, she pulled him into a nearby alley. Fully aware that asking him if he was alright would lead to him insisting he was fine, she cut to the chase. “Hey, Killian, tell me what’s wrong. And don’t say nothing, because I can read you like an open book, too.”

He sighed heavily and looked down, studying his boots for several seconds. Then he raised his head and used his hook to gesture toward the street. “What do you see out there, Swan?”

Emma kept her eyes on him for another moment or two before turning to look at the chaotic scene. “I see a bunch of kids dressed in costumes, running around like maniacs, chasing a week-long sugar high. I also see silly-looking adults who dressed up just to please their kids.”

“Do you know what I see?”

“You don’t see the same thing?”

“Aye, but it seems many people, young and old, are dressed as pirates.”

“Yeah, pirates are always a popular costume choice for Halloween. You should take that as a compliment. You know what they say - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

“Look closer, Swan. The majority of them have a plastic hook over their hand.”

Emma turned to face him. “That bothers you?” she asked softly.

He gave a slight shrug. “Wouldn’t it bother you if people made fun of your…disability?”

Emma felt like kicking herself. Why had she failed to recognize the possibility that he would interpret the costume accessory to be a source of mockery?

“Oh, Killian,” she said. “I don’t think they’re making fun of you. It’s just that you’re one of the only pirates they know and you have a hook. I saw a couple of them with red knit hats like Smee’s.”

“A hat is quite different from my hook. I wear it out of necessity. I find it insulting that they would treat it as a source of amusement.”

Emma saw the same hurt in Killian’s eyes that she had seen on a few occasions when he felt inadequate because he lacked a hand. She reached up to cup his face, brushing her thumbs over his cheekbones. “Do you remember when we went out on our first date? When you made that deal with Gold to give you your hand back?”

“Of course. I felt like a whole man for the first time in centuries.”

“When you gave me that rose, I didn’t even realize you were using your hand until my mother brought it to my attention.”

“That only proves you weren’t being very observant,” he grumbled.

“No, it shows that it doesn’t matter to me whether you have a hook or a hand. I see you for the person you are - the sweet, thoughtful, protective, devilishly handsome man who won my heart.” She pushed up to her toes and kissed him, then murmured against his lips, “Besides, you’re very proficient with that hook in certain…intimate situations.”

A grin spread across his face. “You do seem to enjoy me wearing it on those occasions.”

“Mmhmm, and I don’t consider it a disability because you’ve definitely proven you have a lot of ability to use it for very enjoyable purposes.”

Killian ran his nose along the slope of her throat. “Perhaps I’ll show you just how proficient I am with it later tonight.”

Emma bit her bottom lip. “I have been practicing a silencing spell that would soundproof your room. Do you, uh…would you like for me to try it tonight?”

“Aye, Love,” he murmured, nibbling on her earlobe.

“What if it…doesn’t work?” she gasped.

“Well, then, I suppose I’ll have to turn my charm on Lady Lucas to encourage her to ignore what she hears.”

Emma’s giggle was cut short by Henry asking, “Are you guys coming to the party? I want to win best group costume.”

They hadn’t heard him approach and both jumped slightly. Emma’s face reddened immediately and Hook took pleasure in seeing the color spread as far down as the widely scooped neck of her gown.

“We’ll be right there, lad. Just give us a minute to finish our…discussion.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “I’m not stupid. I know you guys came in here to make out. Stop being gross and come on.” He turned on his heel and headed toward the diner.

Emma looked at Killian with a mischievous grin. “My dad’s right - it’s quite satisfying to be able to embarrass my kid. But we better go. If we miss Granny giving out the prizes, he’s never gonna forgive us.”

Killian grimaced slightly. “I’ll be along in a minute. I just need to…”

Understanding suddenly dawned on Emma. She glanced down, then back up, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess it wouldn’t do for Aragorn to win best costume while sporting a very prominent bulge in his trousers!”

*********

They made it to the judging in time and unanimously won the award for best group costume. Once the party wound down, Emma said goodnight to Henry and watched him leave with Regina, gripping his huge bag of candy and the trophy. Then she and Killian covertly left the diner to slip off to his room in the boarding house.

Emma performed the silencing spell to perfection, despite her pirate trying to distract her in the most pleasurable of ways. And Killian was correct - Emma’s dress did look fetching on his bedroom floor, but not as fetching as the woman who had worn it, writhing and moaning beneath him as he showed her new tricks with his hook.

Afterwards, they agreed their lovemaking was the best treat of the day.

*********

Thank you for reading! Happy Autumn!

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[richeeduvie]

thank you genius anon for the roman summer house ask. but also richee can you elaborate on this time that roman came out from under the table while drunk… curious to know if he did that for the reason I think he did

"That tickles. Jesus fuck-!"

"I'm not even licking anythi-"

Roman's not. He just finds the inside of your thighs quite comfortable. And your skin smells good. Like really good, it's whatever body wash you're using.

Sometimes, it doesn't feel that taboo to want to peel bits of you off. If he could put you back together without any pain, he would.

"Someone's coming. Just shh."

He rolls his eyes, but his heart feels like the way his mouth purses when he hears it's Kendall.

Roman understands his jealousy. Not very fucking well, but he knows that it's just not right whenever you talk to people. It doesn't even have to be other boys that Roman's sure they want you naked and nippled and for them, it's just...anyone. It's Kendall, but Kendall's a fucking freak. It's Shiv and every adult adult who takes time away from him. It's school and it's movies that distract you.

Maybe it's fucking pathetic? Roman doesn't it. It's not right because it makes him feel sick and small.

And Kendall just keeps yapping. You're too nice to everyone, like it's your job. It's especially peevy when you make it so Kendall's comfortable.

You won't admit it - Kendall won't even admit it, but the brotherly fucker wants you so badly. It's gross. And you should pretty much have the understanding that you don't do well with other people. Just him, even when he's mean. Sorry.

"So, I was just thinking about...you ever hear of go-karting?"

"Jesus fuck."

Roman cringes and lazily comes up from your legs. Not air, cause that would mean he wouldn't be taking in your mouth whole.

"...Roman-"

"You taste like cake. Yum. Hi, Ken." He furrows his brows, looking down. "Close your legs, you don't want to look slutty in front of my brother."

And Roman tries not to wear a stupid-born smile when Kendall just stares, all the confidence and shitty banter gone now that he's here. And his mouth was just on your crotch. That doesn't need to be said between the three of you.

"Do you - do you guys do that al-all the time? What the fuck? That's not cool, dude."

"Why are you pushing this on me? What if she wanted me down in the trenches."

"...Are you-" You hiccup. Roman fixes your hair. "Is my vagina the trench?"

"It's like - take it as a fucking compliment. Wet, narrow....I'm the only one up in there, right?"

"Don't fucking...Roman. Both of you, what if Dad saw?"

"He wouldn't have?"

Roman scratches behind his ear. He can see a purposeful, slight shake of his brother's body.

"What? Cause you wouldn't have made the fucking effort to come up?"

"Why does it bother you so much? It would've only bothered Dad cause it's just more proof that I am his disappointment baby. A vat of unprofessionalism."

Roman knows why Kendall looks so strangled by the way he came up from under the table, why he still looks tense as he throws his legs over you. You look heated. It makes Roman smile.

He knows why even if Kendall never admits it. Maybe he'll get over you like a normal fucking person. But Roman's selfish as much as he is someone that loves his brother. He deserves a bit of tense nerves, his own amount of jealousy because he's not even suppose to be jealous in the first place.

Roman burps and presses a thumb into your hand.

"Go away, Kendall. You have Stewy cock to make you feel better. About what? I don't think either of us have a clue."

He drags out the word clue and stares into your skin, a low head looking down.

Don't give her that fucking look, bitch.

He looks at your guilted face like you've vomited on his shoe.

"Don't tell me you actually feel embarrassed and bad about it."

"You should've waited."

"Oowee, let's spare Ken's feelings. What feelings am I sparing by making the effort to not remind him that I'm inside you at all times?"

When you don't respond, the casual and sickly humor turns red in Roman. He stares.

"What feelings?"

But he's weak, it never takes much and it takes nothing when he's drank a lot. Like a softy, touchy little hand holding his.

"Wanna pick a movie?"

"...It's gonna be a super dirty movie. The most visible pussy and dick you've ever witnessed."

"You had a panic attack watching the first fifteen minutes of boogie nights and we had to put on the beauty and the bea-"

Roman's heart picks up. Why would you ever bring that up?

"You didn't make that moment feel like something you were gonna fucking laugh at me for."

"I'm not laughing, I'm just saying...do you think you'd get like that if you watched us on camera?"

He blinks.

"Have you been fucking recording us?"

"No! I was just wondering."

"You're not good at that. Fucking Jesus."

"Where are you going?"

Back down. Where it's easier to breathe.

[adamnablelittledevil]

What did you think about that moment in chapter 24?! I'm dying to know!

(The part that starts "I looked down on Lestat, who was unchanged...")

Hey! I'm sorry I couldn't answer it immediately and you had to wait, but I wanted to give this a proper answer with all my thoughts, so I hope this was worthwile and and makes up for it. 😉🙃 Anyway, here we go… I already knew what was going to happen, so, I was counting the pages to finally get to the chapter. And when I did, man, it did not disappoint.

Obviously, that wasn't romantic, but it was such a meaningful, intimate, delicate and tender moment that it felt even more powerful to me. Yes, part of the reason Armand went there was to get answers and try to quiet the anguish in his heart, but most of it was genuinely love. Which is why he returns, approaches, touches and shows Lestat affection again, even after drinking his blood. And it speaks volumes how Armand had all the reasons to keep a safe distance and yet he didn't flinch or even hesitate. And not only he approached Lestat, but also touched him, multiple times, and kept getting bolder and bolder with those gestures and 'pushing his luck'. Whether Armand was willing to take the risk of Lestat having a negative/defensive reaction or knew he would allow it by mere instinct, this is a proof of how deep their bond goes and how far they have come in their relationship. And from Lestat's side as well, because Armand was the only person he gave his consent to get near at the time and that was a huge thing. It was overall a really big and turning point in their relationship. And it's one of my favorite Lesmand/The Vampire Armand/The Vampire Chronicles moments as a whole.

And as if it isn't enough that it's such a monumental event on its own, it's so poetic too. The fact it happens in a chapel, they are both silent, Armand's tear falls on Lestat's cheek… It's all about the aesthetics, the body language, facial expressions etc. The imagery is so delicate and beautiful. The wording is stunning as well. Specially for this line:

"I tried to keep my heart absolutely pure of pride and pure of anything but love. It was not differentiated or defined, this love, but only love […]"

This has become one of my favorite quotes ever, maybe even my ultimate favorite from The Vampire Chronicles. I absolutely love the idea of a love that can't be classified, nor separated in different boxes, but instead defies all definitions and simply transcends. And when she wanted to, Anne Rice knew how to execute the concept brilliantly on her books. She even knew how to elevate and still manage to make it better almost two decades later. When she went on Facebook to further elaborate on it from Lestat's point of view, it just made my heart ache in the best way. I mean, the screenshot below speaks for itself.

Plus, if the show does that in the future, in any shape or form, it would be incredible. I'm such a sucker for scenes that are more complicated and primarily rely on the talent/chemistry of the performers and the actors need to work twice, three times as hard to execute them. Silent, scenes where the actors don't touch, phonecalls where they can't look at or feed off of each other in any way… I like to call them 'raw scenes' and they're usually my favorite on any show/movie I watch, including Interview With the Vampire. I can see it being a mix of Aragorn taking care of Eowyn after she was wounded

and Lizzy and Mr. Darcy dancing,

filmed and edited in a way that makes the people around them disappear for a moment and slowly reappear at the end, just like the way Armand described how the situation felt here:

"There was no chapel then for me, or outraged sighs or reverential cries. I heard nothing, and yet knew what was all around. I knew it as if the substantial place was but a phantasm, for what was real was his blood."

I'm personally obsessed with that trick and find it so sophisticated and mind-blowing that it frustrates me how it's barely used? So, I always appreciate it whenever I see it. And I also just know that Assad would be phenomenal at that, because he's already been doing that kind of acting for two whole seasons now. I can see him being soft, gentle and even somewhat tragic and I just know the affection and pain in his eyes would kill me in the best possible way. I could even see it becoming part of my top 5 moments on the series, maybe even my number #1. Right now my favorite clips are the 1x01 church sequence, the 2x08 loustat reunion and armandiel's last scene on 2x05. However, considering how much I love this moment and pretty much all things lesmand, they can easily become just as big of an obsession, possibly even bigger in future seasons (they already are my #1 on the books). I mean, the scene they have alone already makes my heart skip several beats because the chemistry was magnetic and irresistible,

that eye contact was *INTENSE* and I felt the sparks all the way over here. Felt like I was witnessing something that I shouldn't lol, but I was happy to invade their privacy because it was simply mesmerizing.

Anywaaaay… Hopefully, that will happen on the show someday, even if the context and circumstances of it may differ. Still, regardless if they do a version of it or not, that will remain a wonderful part of the book and that gladly I will never move on from.