#and the Space Between Us

[lgbtqreads]

New Releases: February 2025

This post is sponsored by Dana Hawkins and So Not My Type! Click on the graphic for more info! Scrappy determination clashes with polished privilege. Let the games begin. *** A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff (4th) Covid lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the…

[afterswan]

the scarmobile... but with no scar ?

[sammakesart]

I never for a moment interpreted the ending where Solas and Lavellan journey off into the Fade together as anything but hopeful.

The Inquisitor has been the Hero Who Saved the World for the last decade, and now she’s continuing that work. She’s not abandoning her duty. She’s venturing into the realm of pure magic to heal the Blight. Solas being there is just an enjoyable side benefit. Why can’t she save the day, get married to her true love, then head off on her next adventure? Heroes do those things all the time.

The game also is incredibly vague—and sure it’s implied they are going to the Fade Prison, which is the Black City—and Solas says it’ll be terrible… but he’s Mr. Grim and Fatalistic. Don’t listen to him. Lavellan responds that it won’t be terrible. It’s the Fade. You can shape it. It’s like the land of lucid dreaming. It will literally not be terrible if they are together. They’ll heal the Blight and help the Titans and go on many weird Fade adventures.

Again. It’s the Fade! It’s like the best sandbox for creating what comes next for them. They could totally spend all the time they’d like exploring Fade World, then return to the real world and find out only like… an afternoon has passed. Or I’m sure Dorian—after giving them a respectful amount of time for their Honeymoon—uses that magic knife to cut his way in and bring Lavellan an eluvian to use to visit him and her other friends and family whenever she wants. It’s not like they’re trapped forever. It’s left very open-ended. Have a little whimsy! Believe in true love that lasts forever and does not wane no matter the years that pass! Let them have a happily ever after. Why not. It’s fun.

[bluerosefox]

Hmmmmm.

Another DPxDC idea.

Wanna know what troupe I LOVE.

the troupe of 'Hey, I know we just met but I'm being followed by my ex/stalker and need you to pretend to be my lover for a moment, please play along.'

And I can totally see Danny, in a moment of panic, as a college senior in Gotham doing this while at a party/club he got dragged to by his dorm/roommate/friends in college and zero's in on one of the people at the party/club.

He just wasn't expecting to get dragged into an Bat case.

-x-x-

Basically, one of the Batboys (Or we could go Spirit Halloween, maybe around the time Batman is just starting out after returning to Gotham and is undercover at a party/club) is at this party/club investigating undercover and gets pulled into the 'I don't know you but please help me and play along' troupe. Its just luck that the ex/stalker is actually one of the main targets for their case and getting close to the 'ex/stalked' they're still wanting plays into their favor.

[fjordfolk]

this is absolutely not professional advice but there's something about trust and handling and cooperative care that just boils down to whether your dog knows you have their best interest in mind. it's not just trusting your bond or them being calm or whatever, it's about experience. the time your dog gets a bone or a stick or a pez dispenser stuck between their teeth ideally shouldn't be the first time you poke your fingers in their mouth and they shouldn't be running away from you thinking you're trying to take it from them. there's something about your dog knowing not to freak out because parts of this experience is not new to them, and it's going to be fine.

[rookamell]

Spite wasn't Lucanis's biggest issue in VG and I sort of get annoyed when people are like "Spite should have been a bigger problem!!!" Because yeah maybe before weisshaupt they should have had the two of them more earnestly disagreeing and that making it harder for Lucanis to physically be able to do his job but he spells it out for us multiple times in the Ossuary and afterwards: Spite doesn't want to be there. None of the spirits in the ossuary did. They didnt want to cross the veil spite is literally just as lost and hurt and confused as Lucanis the only reason they survived and didnt become one of those undead we have to kill is because of Lucanis's empathy and being able to put himself in Spite's shoes and see that. I don't think Spite would then actively try and sabotage the only person in the world who's been relatively kind to him he just wants Lucanis to let him be free like he promised. Like he gets frustrated and annoyed but its because Lucanis doesn't listen because listening means confronting all the other shit going on in his head and that is what he's afraid of. Not Spite. I think once he's out of the Ossuary he uses Spite as a scapegoat for all his other trauma like oh I have a demon in me so I don't have time to think about the fact that my cousin betrayed me or I was tortured or my grandmother is an abusive piece of shit SPITE IS NOT LUCANIS'S MAIN ISSUE

[puppetmaster13u]

Because it is Mermay:

Originally did this art for one of @radiance1 prompts/story ideas, which also gives an idea of colors so.

[jksmilkshake]

The Space Between Us - Jeon Jungkook

pairing - jeon jungkook x (f) reader

genre - established relationship, slight fluff, angst

summary - university is currently kicking y/n’s ass. battling higher education along side adulthood was not the ‘simple life’ she had always wanted to live. but atleast she had jungkook.

word count - 1155

warnings - mention of death, angst

notes - wrote something similar to this around 2 and a half years ago and just couldn’t stop thinking about it, so i thought to modify it and post it here!! hope you all enjoy!!

masterlist

y/n rested her back against the wall, as she sat down before the school’s courtyard. university was tough. lectures would last anywhere between an hour to 2 hours, assignments were given every other day, you would need to find time to study, get a job to earn some money, all while trying to maintain a social life. university was not for the weak.

her knees rested up against her chest, the cool breeze of mid-may kissing her cheeks, making her locks dance around in the wind. jungkook looked at her in awe, ‘hey baby,’ , he said softly, making y/n look up at him. her eyes were soft, tired almost, but relieved to see him. ‘hi babe.’ , she said with a soft smile on her face as jungkook sat down beside her.

he placed a kiss on the top of her head, gently pushing her head towards his chest. ‘you tired?’ , he asked, running his fingers through her soft locks. she simply nodded in response, leaning into his touch. ‘education sucks absolute dick.’ , she said, making jungkook stifle a laugh. ‘tell me about it.’ , he said quietly.

the courtyard was empty by this time. it was around 4:30pm, everyone was either studying for exams or sitting their exams. ah mid-may, what a time to be alive. exams on top of exams, the rude awaking of summer’s ridiculous heat slowly approaching, the even ruder awakening of adulthood hitting. what a time to be alive.

‘how’s your final project going?’ , jungkook asked gently. y/n was an english literature major, she had always adored writing, she felt that it allowed her to express her true emotions and be as creatively free as possible. her final project was to write a book or novel about the greatest love in life, may it be through a person, an experience or even a set of objects. a gentle smile spread across her face as he mentioned her project, ‘it’s going well, i’m excited for you to read it.’ , she lifted her body up from him, ‘it’s not due until the 18th of june but you can read it whenever i finish it. i want you to be the first person to read it.’ , her voice was like honey, jungkook could just listen to her speak for hours, her tone was always so kind and soft, her words were so meaningful, full of intent, so perfectly articulated. she would never say or write anything she never meant. ‘i can’t wait.’ , jungkook always looked at y/n with ‘googly eyes’ as y/n would call them. in this moment, he sat with his knees to his chest, chin in palm, making ‘googly eyes’ at y/n.

oh how in-love jungkook was with her.

days like this were the best. a simple walk around a park, followed by sitting down on the grass, talking about absolute randomness. jungkook and y/n had been dating for 4 and half years and have known eachother since they were 15. in all their years of knowing each other, it was all simple. nothing with jungkook was ever complicated. sure sometimes getting dressed up and going to a fancy restaurant was fantastic, but the simplicity of their relationship was one of y/n’s favourite things. everything with him was just, natural, easy almost. days like this where they would simply walk around and just enjoy the presence of each-other were the best.

the simple life, that’s what y/n craved most.

‘mmh, i’ve got a little present for you.’ , she reached into her bag, bringing out a box, maybe the size of a shoebox. as she placed it down on the grass, jungkook reached for it instinctively. y/n placed her hand on top of his, stopping him from opening it. ‘you can’t open it until the 5th of june. i mean it kook, you can’t open it until then.’ , jungkook’s head tilted, ‘isn’t the 5th our anniversary?’ , he questioned, taking his hand off of the box. ‘exactly.’ , a smile was placed on her lips. ‘little early to be giving your gift now, but much appreciated baby.’ , they giggled together.

the morning of the 5th of june. jungkook woke up with a bright smile, reaching over for his phone. he opened up his messages, pulling up y/n’s chat.

jungkook: happy anniversary baby 💗

he put his phone back on the nightstand by his bed. his eyes landed on the box y/n had given a few weeks ago. he chuckled at the thought of her, picking up the box. he took a picture, sending it to y/n. he lifted the lid of the box, looking down upon 2 books with pictures of y/n and jungkook scattered around the box. his brows furrowed, face scrunching up with confusion, as he gently picked up the book on top. the cover was a simple emerald green, with the words ‘jungkook’s version’ written in gold. he opened the cover, reading the first page.

‘hi jungkook, happy anniversary. it’s the 5th of june 2025, if you’re reading this, i’m no longer here. and i know you may think that this is just some kind of prank, but it really isn’t. in september of 2024, i found out that i had a terminal illness and only had a limited amount of time on this earth. i wanted to be able to spend the rest of my days with you. i wanted to be able to write with every last bit of strength my fingers had left, before it would be time for me to take my leave. i wanted to leave you with the writing i was most proud of, the writing i adored most. so here, i present to you, my final project. a book filled with you, my greatest love. i leave you with this book, which is only for you, hence the ‘jungkook’s version’ on the front, this book is written for you and your eyes only. this book is filled with all my favourite moments on this earth, which were all with you, it’s filled with all the words that stayed unspoken while i was here but now, i want to clear the air and let it all be known. and i know i promised you’d be the first to read my actual final project, which is why i left that with you too. i love you jungkook, thank you for being my greatest love.’

jungkook didn’t realise when the tears started flowing out. just as y/n poured her heart out onto the pages, jungkook’s physical tears dripped down his face, dampening her words, in pure and utter denial. ‘no…no, god please no.’ , he could barely whisper out. he looked back into the box, his eyes meeting the other book, her final project. he gently picked up the book, brushing his fingers over the cover.

‘the space between us’

[hwaslayer]

the space between us three (jyh) | eight.

⇢series masterlist | series playlist

⇢summary: while juggling the demands of life, yunho continues to do his best to raise his independent 11 yr old daughter, seora. throughout the years, they've built a strong foundation, an unbreakable bond— one that consists of late night talks and food runs, father/daughter dates, and sideline cheerleading at her basketball games. so when you unexpectedly come into their world, things shift. despite the uncertainty and the fear of stepping outside of their comfort zone, yunho and seora eventually learn how to open their hearts and learn how to rebuild a home where three can thrive together.

⇢pairing: single dad!yunho x f. reader

⇢genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers to lovers, single dad au | fluff, angst, smut

⇢word count: 7.3k

⇢chapter content/warnings: cussing, a glimpse of seora in her athlete mode, more yunho x seora moments, more yunho x oc moments hehe, yunho opens up to oc about eunha, making out, unprotected sex, oral (f. receiving), soft sex!!, lots of tender moments

⇢on rotation: be alright - yunho | savior - kyuri

“Ace." Yunho calls for Seora just as she's about to run off to the court. "Goodluck. Kill 'em out there, hm?" Seora smiles up at her dad before doing their handshake.

"Will do my best, daddy-o!" She salutes before running towards the coach and her team, setting up on one side of the court. Yunho settles onto a seat in the bleachers of the school gym, making sure to leave some space for Mingi— whenever he gets here. 

Yunho waves and acknowledges a few parents walking in, all of them staying within the same area of the bleachers to support their kids in front of them, the right team. He takes a moment when a select few squeeze him on the shoulder or come to sit next to him for a quick chat, checking in on him and seeing if he's doing okay. He appreciates the gesture, and he also appreciates seeing what everyone has been up to since he doesn't normally do much with the other parents besides Chan-mi's. 

And that's really only to coordinate shopping dates or sleepovers.

Just as tipoff is about to begin and the teams getting ready out on the court, Mingi comes strolling in, plopping himself right next to his bestfriend.

"About time." Yunho says with a small laugh. "Almost missed tipoff." 

"I would never." Mingi and Yunho look out to the court, watching as Seora gets herself situated in the center for tipoff. She gets into position, bending at the knee ever so slightly to prepare for the jump. She quickly looks over at her dad, giving him a subtle nod when he acknowledges her by tapping the left side of his chest where his heart is. She gives him a tiny nod right before the ref blows the whistle and tosses the ball up.

Seora times herself perfectly and jumps up for the ball— able to tip it into their side of the court first.

Yunho and Mingi cheer loudly, watching as she storms down the court to execute a play. They continue to watch the team score repeated baskets, Mingi finding it a good point to start bringing up a conversation with his bestfriend

"So.. I see Hwa couldn't make it." Mingi chuckles a bit, making Yunho subtly shake his head.

"Well, Yoori was gonna find out sooner than later." Yunho responds, keeping his eye on the court and cheering in between.

"Is he with her right now?"

"Yeah, he is. I think she pulled an ultimatum on him. It's either he gets his shit together and starts getting serious or she's done completely."

⇢FLASHBACK

Seonghwa isn't sure if he feels guilty about what he did during the club, and maybe that speaks volumes as to where he stands with everything. Because he's not gonna lie, he did enjoy it. Noeul was fun. She's like that shiny new toy that he's still excited over. 

But yet, he's here. Having coffee with Yoori because a part of him feels like he needs to make it up to her without really making it up to her. 

To try to figure out what it is he really wants.

To see if Noeul really is just that shiny new toy to him and if his heart has truly belonged to Yoori all this time.

He doesn't wanna think anymore. 

And his mind agrees when the buzzer on the table goes off, signaling their drinks are ready to be picked up. Seonghwa doesn't really think at all, leaving his phone behind to go pick up the drinks at the counter and return the buzzer. Yoori keeps her gaze outside of the window until Seonghwa's phone vibrates on the table, causing her eyes to shift down to the notifications coming up on the screen.

Noeul?

She knows of her, but they've never really interacted like that.

And as far as she knows, Seonghwa hasn't either until now, apparently.

When Seonghwa comes back to the table, he can easily tell the mood has dropped. Yoori's got her brows knitted, her chin resting on the palm of her hand.

"Here." He carefully passes her coffee over.

"Since.. when did you know Noeul?"

"Oh, cause of Yunho and Y/N."

"But, you guys text like that?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Since when?"

"Since we all hung out. What's with the questions?"

"News to me."

"I can't make friends?" She rolls her eyes and sips her coffee. Intuition tells her that it's definitely more than that because why the hell is he suddenly making a new friend? One that's sending him text after text. 

Let's not forget the emoji next to her name.

He doesn't do that shit. Even if she put it in his phone herself, he would've changed it so quick.

"Yoori. I know you're not mad about that."

"I know you're not lying to me again." Seonghwa is taken aback by the statement, but deep down, he's honestly panicking and losing it. Anxious. 

Does she know exactly what happened?

"What happened when you guys went out?"

"Nothing!" He says a little too defensively, and it's definitely the cherry on top for Yoori to start tossing her things into her bag— setting her untouched coffee aside. "What are you doing?"

"Why the hell am I here if you're just gonna keep lying to my face, Seonghwa? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Yoori, I—"

"You know what." She looks at him. "We do this time and time again, and I don't know why I put myself through this when we aren't even serious. Why the fuck do I bend over backwards for you when I know you wouldn't do the same for me?" She scoffs. 

"Wait, wait. Stop. Just sit. Let me explain, will you?" She sighs, pausing in her motions. "I— I fucked up. But, it didn't mean anything to me. I was just drunk and she just happened to be all over me and—"

"If you're gonna keep pulling this, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore, I'm done—"

"Yoori, please. It wasn't shit. It was literally just a drunk night out and I'm sorry I fucked up. It didn't mean anything to me, she didn't mean anything."

"Then why are you guys still texting? Do you want to be with her?"

"No."

"Then?"

"I'm just being nice."

⇢END

"Do you think he has feelings for Noeul, though?"

"I don't think so." Yunho lets out a breath. "Which is unfortunate that he had to pick her that night because Y/N told me she thinks Noeul is already super smitten with him despite the circumstances."

"Oh shit, really?"

"I mean, think about it." Yunho looks at him. "He was hella handsy with her, wouldn't leave her alone all night. Grabbed her number and texted her for awhile, then distanced himself when Yoori found out."

"Yeah, I guess you've got a point."

"And Yoori didn't even find out through Seonghwa, it was seeing Noeul's name pop up on his phone for the first time ever. She had to question him about it."

"Yikes, maybe he should've played his cards right." Yunho furrows his brows at him.

"Maybe the both of you should stop playing games in general. The hell am I gonna do with you two?" Yunho returns his attention to the court, finding Seora in the middle of a steal before barreling down the court into a layup. She makes the shot, but her momentum crashes her right into the wall— causing Yunho to stand.

"Ace!" Yunho calls out. She winces a bit and grabs at her shoulder before she's sprinting back down to the court. She throws him a quick thumbs up before he's slowly sitting back down and watching his daughter slip herself back into the game with ease.

"Jesus. She plays hard."

"Always." Yunho lets out the breath he's been holding.

"Competitive as hell like you."

"Well." Yunho chuckles a bit.

"How are you and Y/N doing?"

"Good." He smiles at Mingi. "Really good."

"So, what's the plan here? Ace still doesn't know?"

"No, she doesn't. But, I plan on telling her soon."

"You're making it official?"

"I want to, yeah. I haven't really planned how, or if I should tell Seora and get them to hang out first. I don't know. I'm at the point of just.. going with whatever feels right. Whatever comes first, however it should come first."

"You're not scared, are you?"

"I am. I just know Seora's gonna have a hard time adjusting."

"You never know, it could be different."

"Maybe. But, it's the first time someone else is coming into our lives after Eunha." Mingi nods silently, cheering along when Seora's team makes another shot to keep them in the lead.

"It'll all work out, okay?" Mingi gives his shoulder a squeeze. "She wants you to be happy, and I know she'll warm up to Y/N. She's a sweetheart, there's no way Seora wouldn't enjoy having her around."

"I just don't know how to make it clear that we're not replacing her mom. Ever."

"She'll know. She'll understand, even if it takes some time." Mingi breaks away from the court and briefly glances around, his eyes falling on the entrance. "Hey, isn't that Ara?" Yunho turns his head to see Ara sliding onto a bleacher next to a few people.

"Oh, shit. Yeah." Her eyes land on Yunho's and at first, she's surprised. Then, her smile dies down and she gives him a tiny wave that he returns.

"That'll be fun."

"Guess she's meeting Seora."

"You two still haven't talked?"

"Nah. Which is fine, but.. it’d suck if she was really holding a grudge against me."

"She'll get over it."

"Mm, I still care about her as a friend so yeah, hopefully things will get better between us." Yunho and Mingi continue to watch the game until the tiny half-time break in between. Seora quickly raises over to greet her Uncle Mingi in all her sweaty glory, teasing him and playing around before heading back to the team.

The rest of the game goes by eventfully— lots of ups and downs between scores, keeping the crowd on edge. This would be the game that would secure their spot in the playoffs, so both teams were giving their best.

In the end though, Seora makes the winning shot and Yunho finds that these are the moments that make him proud to be her father. She has grit, she's smart and she's independent— Eunha would be so happy to see how much she's grown and who this young lady is today. Yunho and Mingi cheer loudly, along with the other parents, standing and yelling as the team celebrates on the court with group hugs. Once the hype has died down, they congratulate the other team for their hardwork on the court, exchanging good sportsmanship before it all ends and the players are finding their way back to their parents and families.

"Goodjob, ace!" Mingi ruffles her hair before Yunho pulls her into a big hug and swings her around.

"That's my girl." Seora laughs as Yunho gives her one final hug and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "You did amazing out there, ace."

"Why, thank you." She does a bow.

"Starving?"

"Majorly."

"What do you wanna eat?"

"Can I come?" 

"No, you just want me to buy you food." Seora laughs at her dad and uncle bickering.

"Daddy, just let him come." Yunho clicks his teeth.

"Fine, but we play russian roulette."

"Fine! Where should we go?"

"You know all the good spots."

"Ace, what're you craving for?" Mingi scrolls through his phone with her. Just as they get busy scoping their options, Ara walks over, a small smile on the corner of her lips.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey." He nods at her. "What're you doing around these parts?" She chuckles.

"My niece is on the other team. I should've known I'd see you here. I don't know why it didn't click for me." Yunho chuckles.

"All good—"

"Dad, we finally found a spot." Seora tugs on his wrist, making him turn his attention to her. She looks at him, then at Ara, then raises a brow.

"Nice." He sees the questioning look on Seora's face. "Uh, this is Ara. She's a nurse at the hospital."

"Hey Seora, you did amazing out there!" Seora tugs on her bag straps and smiles. "Congrats on making it to the playoffs. My niece was on the other team and said you guys were really good. It was a tough game."

"Thank you!" She laughs a bit. "Now I gotta work extra hard on the next ones." Ara laughs.

"I'm sure you'll make it all the way to the end with that drive." Seora nods. "Anyway, there's an ice cream truck outside. You should convince your dad to let you get some before you head out." Her eyes light up as she looks at her dad.

"Oh, please?! I played so hard today!" Yunho laughs.

"Okay, go." He hands over his card.

"Chan-mi! There's ice cream! Let's go, I have my dad's card!"

"Aye, not the whole truck, though!" He calls out, making Mingi laugh behind him.

"Well, it was nice seeing you and meeting Seora. She seems sweet." She pauses for a bit. "See you around?"

"Yeah, it was. I'll see you." Yunho responds before she's off to meet her family, talking to Seora and Chan-min a bit when she falls in line behind them with her niece.

"That wasn't so bad."

"I guess so. Still felt awkward." Yunho looks at Mingi. "So, where are we eating?"

"Shake Shack. She saw it come up and got super juiced about it."

"Okay, fair."

"You covering for me?"

"The fuck am I? Your sugar daddy?"

"If you wanna be." Mingi smiles.

"You're full of shit—" Yunho glares at him.

"Dad!" He shifts his attention to his daughter, who is also dragging Chan-mi by the arm with their ice cream in hand. "Can I sleepover Chan-mi's again tonight? Please! I forgot our show has a new season releasing and we wanna watch it together!"

"Seora, you were literally just at their house last weekend. Why don't you guys stay at the house this time?"

"Because we wanna go to the community pool, too. Please!" She pleads again.

"I promise it's okay, my parents said yes." Chan-mi softly says with a small nod, making Yunho chuckle.

"Okay, fine. But, you need to give them a break, Seora."

"Yeah, sure!" She squeals with Chan-mi just as her parents come.

"Sorry, I really appreciate you guys taking her for another weekend." Yunho says to her parents and they give him a reassuring nod, laughing it off.

"Swear, Yunho. It's fine with us. We love having her over. Take more time for yourself." Chan-mi's dad squeezes his shoulder after a few pats.

"Thank you. Next time is on me." He responds before looking at Seora. "We need to eat and you need to pack up some things." He pinches her cheek, making her whine in protest. "What time can I bring her over?"

"Oh, we can pick her up in a few hours? We were going to be in the neighborhood to stop by his uncle's birthday party." Chan-mi's mom says, pointing at her father.

"You sure?"

"Yes! 100%." She laughs.

"Alright, thank you." Yunho shifts his attention back to Seora. "Let's go so you can be ready for when they pick you up."

"Okay!" She waves. "See you later!" Yunho and Mingi bid their farewells before they're splitting ways and off to Shake Shack.

After Shake Shack [that Mingi graciously paid for], Yunho brings his bestfriend home since he took an Uber earlier— claiming he was too lazy to drive and deal with traffic. Seora continues to poke fun at her uncle from behind his seat, poking him and pinching him before laughing loudly. Yunho thoroughly enjoys seeing them like this, especially when they bicker playfully like they did while eating. Seora is the same with Seonghwa, but she does it a lot less knowing he doesn't have as much patience as Mingi.

She loves him nonetheless. She wouldn't stop asking for Seonghwa during their meal, wondering why he couldn't make it to the game and Yunho couldn't really explain.

Too bad she could already sense it had something to do with ‘Miss Yoori that popped up on his phone.’ All Mingi and Yunho could do was shrug. Well, until Mingi ratted him out and said he did something that she wasn't happy about so he was trying to make up for it.

Which, leads Yunho to where he is now: loading the laundry before Seora pops next to him with a grave question.

"So, dad."

"Yup?" Yunho is tossing the clothes into the wash.

"What exactly did Uncle Hwa do to make him spend all his time with her? To make up for it?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know. You can't, anyway."

"Why not? He kissed someone else?" She helps throw the clothes into the wash. Yunho doesn't answer, and that's enough of an answer for her than anything else. "But, they aren't serious, right?"

"Ace. It doesn't matter if they're serious or not. You don't do that to someone you claim to care about and spend a lot of time with. You're just hurting all parties involved. So yeah, Uncle Hwa has a lot of things to fix and work on."

"Huh." She says, closing the door for her dad so he can immediately run the wash and get things going. 

"Yeah, huh." Yunho mocks her before laughing. "Are you packed? Chan-mi will probably be here any minute now."

"Yup."

"Charger?"

"Yes."

"Your prescription cream?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Yunho heads to the kitchen to sort through the fridge and see if there's anything he can whip up for himself.

"What're you gonna do when I leave?"

"Well first of all, find myself something to eat. Gotta get some groceries tomorrow for sure."

"Hang out with Uncle Mingi again?"

"No, god no. I've had enough for a day." Seora laughs. "I can just hang out here all by myself since my little one likes to leave so much."

"Daddy." Seora clings onto him like a koala, making him laugh. "I won't sleepover for awhile after this! We can go on our usual dates. Camping!" She reminds him and he nods, dragging her along to his room while she clings on.

"If you say so." Suddenly, her phone starts blaring in the kitchen. She quickly hops off to look out the window in her dad's room seeing Chan-mi's car out front.

"She's here!" She squeals loudly and rushes to the living room to grab her phone and all her things. "See you later!"

"Hey, hold on." Yunho comes out furrowing his brows. "You're gonna leave without a proper goodbye? For real?" She laughs before waddling over to hug him tightly, letting her dad plant a kiss to the top of her head. "Be safe, have fun, don't give them unnecessary headaches, please."

"I won't." Seora whines a bit. "I'll text you when I'm ready tomorrow?" Yunho nods.

"Love you, ace. Call me tonight."

"Will do!" She waves before rushing out the door, leaving Yunho to stand behind and wave at Chan-mi's parents as he watches his daughter throw her things into their trunk and climb into the backseat. Soon, they drive off with one last goodbye, leaving Yunho to his lonesome. 

He lets out a sigh as he drags himself into the house to finish cleaning around. He loves the fact that Seora has a close group of friends she can surround herself with, but he truly does hate these moments when he's home alone. No Seora to fill the void, the empty space.

It feels so fucking lonely.

Yunho tries to brush off the feeling until he's done with his chores, neatly folding all of the laundry and setting Seora's half onto her bed so she can put it away when she gets back. He looks at the clock noticing it's already past 6pm and the sun is setting. He makes his way to the convenience store, deciding to call you on his way over in case you were already back from spending the day with the girls. You had told him Noeul wanted to get her mind off of things so you and Sian offered to take her out for some retail therapy.

Luckily, you answer just as he swings the door open to the store, a smile instantly coming up on his face. 

You must be back.

"Hello?" Yunho bites his lip.

"Hey you." He slowly walks the aisles, trying to gauge what he's in the mood for.

"Yunho, hi." You giggle. "You okay?"

"I will be. Maybe. Depending on the answer to my next question."

"And what question is that?"

"Free tonight? My tiny bestfriend left me to go be with her other bestfriend." You laugh.

"Aw, sleepover at Chan-mi's again?"

"Mhm. Kinda lonely." Yunho teases.

"Well, you're in luck cause I am free now. What do you wanna do?"

"Just chill. Head to the beach or something with some convenience store food."

"I'm down for that."

"Want anything specific, love?"

"No, anything you choose is good with me." You laugh. "Surprise me."

"Cool. Can I pick you up in the next 30 minutes?"

"Of course you can."

"See you soon, baby." You smile to yourself. You set down the phone and quickly change into something more fitting for the beach, even though it's not too cold out. You slip on a matching, two piece grey sweatsuit— your jacket halfway zipped, a cami poking out from underneath. You take your turn to tidy up around your apartment, setting out new plugins to make your space smell fresh. You clean up the little trinkets and other items laid out across your coffee table, kitchen counter, bathroom and nightstand before getting your purse together and grabbing your shoes.

Just in time for Yunho to make his way up and to your door.

You hear Yunho lightly knock three times, making the butterflies in your tummy go wild. You swing the door open, immediately smiling when you see him leaning against the wall with a small bouquet in hand.

"Yunho." You poke out your bottom lip as you hug him tightly.

"Hey beautiful." You pull back and kiss him on the lips. "These are for you."

"I swear, you always pick the best bouquets." You smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He taps your nose, making you scrunch it in return.

"Let me get them in some water then we can go."

"No rush." You hurry off to find a free vase to stick them into, giving them a good amount of water to sit in.

"Where'd you get these?"

"Don't worry about it." You laugh, gently setting the vase on the table near the doorway. 

"We don't keep secrets between us."

"We don't. Except this. Let me handle buying the flowers for you." You shake your head and lock your door, letting Yunho slip his hand into yours effortlessly as you head down the steps.

"Can't even protest." Yunho swings the door open for you and waits until you slide in to get comfortable before shutting the door close.

"Thanks for hanging out with me, pretty."

"You don't have to thank me, Yunho. I love spending time with you." He smiles as he drives off towards the nearby beach. "How was Seora's game today? I'm sorry, I was so busy earlier just trying to keep up with Noeul and Sian."

"Good! They're off to the playoffs." Yunho chuckles.

"Aw, yay! Congrats! I'm sure they'll push it all the way through to the championships."

"Hope so! Ace is pretty competitive so I don't think she'll let it go unless they win it."

"Does she get that from you?" You tease and he nods.

"Honestly, hell yeah she does."

"Cute." You look at Yunho and gently press his hand to your lips while he continues to drive. He smiles, but you can tell there's something else on his mind. You assume he might just be thinking about Seora or he might just tired; but, something in his eyes says it's deeper than that, and you're not sure what it is.

"How was Noeul?" He softly breaks the silence with the question.

"I don't know, Yu. She seemed to be okay today, but she plays it off well. I know she's still thinking about it and is bothered by it, though."

"Mmyeah. I'm sorry, I don't really know what's up with Hwa." Yunho lets out a breath, driving effortlessly towards the beach. "I don't know what he wants and he doesn't know what he wants. He keeps saying he isn't ready for a relationship, but runs back to Yoori every time they get into an argument or fight."

"Then, he needs to figure this out soon before they both get deeply hurt. Did he say anything else about that night?"

"Not really. He tries not to talk about it around us. Well, especially me, because he knows I'll tell him stuff he doesn't wanna hear right now."

"Noeul also gets pretty attached. But, I think Hwa should have told her the truth. They were texting nonstop for awhile until he slowly stopped then ghosted her completely."

"I'm sorry, love. If I could, I'd talk to him, but I can't dictate what he does."

"I know. But, I'm sure he'll figure it out. Hopefully." You look at Yunho as he exits and starts cutting his way through the neighborhood to get to the beach.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, though. I hope she's okay. I'm not gonna say Hwa is a bad person cause he's not. He's just conflicted when it comes to what he wants in terms of a relationship."

"That's okay. It'll come to him. Noeul will be okay."

"Does she have feelings for him already?"

"I think so, but she's trying hard to suppress it." He finally pulls down the street and parks in front of the beach, letting out a sigh as he parks the car. He gives you a tiny, toothless smile and presses your fingers against his lips— giving your hand a squeeze. 

"Let's go and chill out on the sand." You nod. When you exit the car, Yunho grabs two blankets and a bag of food from the convenience store. He tells you that he grabbed fresh beef kimbap from the store, along with some fresh sweet potatoes, chips and other little goodies. He sets the blanket down before taking your hand when he sits. You snuggle up closely to him, letting the blanket drape over both of your shoulders.

The evening is still beautiful out— you and Yunho watching the last bits of the sun rest below the horizon as you eat and enjoy in small conversation about Seora, your family. Yunho reminisces about his childhood, remembering the days his dad used to take him to baseball and soccer games. Or, how his mom used to treat him to ice cream every time he got good grades on his school work. You feel sad for him when he talks about how things have drastically changed in their relationship and how he wishes he could have that back.

But, it can never be the same. Things can never go back to the way they were.

There's a small pause that allows you to break the sweet potato in half, sharing the other with Yunho while you listen to the waves crash along the shore and kids chasing after the water nearby. You lean your head against Yunho's arm while you hold onto it, finding comfort and solace in just being with him.

Then, things shift. 

And you'll forever remember this moment as the time Yunho finally opened up to you about everything.

The moment he was vulnerable, the moment he gave himself to you. The moment you were his and vice versa.

The moment you knew this was real.

"Despite the ups and downs, Eunha was always the peacemaker." He suddenly says, causing you to perk up and look at him— resting your chin on his arm as you listen closely and attentively. "She saw how my relationship with my parents crumbled over the years, especially when we kept Seora. But, she always gave them the benefit of the doubt. Always tried to see the other side of it regardless of how pissed off or frustrated I was. She tried to get me to see their side no matter what. She always tried to stay positive about everything." You continue to rub his arm affectionately, watching the way his Adam's apple bobs. He licks his lips, pausing in between his statements. You can tell he's digging up everything he's tucked away for so long; finally releasing all this pent up sadness, anger.

All this blue and grey.

The cloud that's been following him after all these years.

"When she passed, I didn't realize how much I needed that until I didn't have it anymore. It was just me, Seora and my thoughts."

"Yunho." You call for him softly and he looks down at you with a gentle smile. "Eunha seems like such a beautiful person."

"She is, yeah. She turned everything into something positive. She saw the silver lining regardless of how hard things got. She was always smiling, always happy to talk to people. She was the definition of selfless, always thinking about everyone else before herself. Always giving and giving, but never asking for anything in return. She loved going to the beach, being outdoors. She loved being crafty." Yunho chuckles a bit. "Seora's laugh, the way she gets loud and loves being super social. Loves journaling and scrapbooking. It's all Eunha. I see Eunha through Seora in so many different ways."

"She'll always be with you through Seora." You continue to rub his arm as he continues to look out at the water. There's a long pause before Yunho starts diving head first into the memories he purposely tried to forget. Afraid the pain will break him all over again.

Afraid he'll never recover.

"She was a graveyard nurse at a small hospice center nearby." Yunho says quietly. "That night—" He pauses and looks down at his hands, pressing his tongue to his cheek. You give his arm a quick squeeze to reassure him and it somewhat helps. He looks back out to the ocean and continues, although it's clear he's trying hard to hold back his tears. "She picked up another shift because they were short staffed. And even though she had been so tired, she volunteered. She loved that place, she loved her job. She believed she needed to be there, especially for the people who didn't have family stopping by to check on them during their last days. It was hard, but she really, really gave her life to that place." He sighs. "I kept telling her not to, especially if she was exhausted. Told her to give herself a break, let other people pick up the slack. But, she insisted. So, I let her go despite knowing I should've fought harder to keep her home so she could rest. I didn't think it'd be the last time I'd see her. I quickly said bye, gave her a kiss on the forehead and sent her off without thinking much about it. She was so close to home before a drunk driver collided head-on with her and that was it." He lets his tears fall freely, making you cry with him. He sniffs, quickly wiping away at his nose before he picks his head back up again. "Her parents seemed to have placed some kind of blame on me for her passing. And after all these years, it made me believe that it was my fault. It was my fault for not trying to stop her, for not thinking twice about sending her off that day."

"None of this was your fault, Yu."

"Then, why do I still feel like I should've done more?" He meets your eyes.

"This was out of your control." You say quietly. "You did your best no matter what, but there was nothing you could do to stop this. It's the shittiest thing about life, knowing our cards are laid out for us already." 

"I know, but at the same time, I wonder why it had to be her that night." He nibbles on his bottom lip, preventing it from trembling too much. "It still hurts until this day and I'm tired of wondering when it'll go away. I haven't even gone to visit her at the cemetery because I can't find the strength to."

"You just need to take your time with it. Everyone processes grief differently, and it doesn't matter how long it takes. But, you need to let yourself process it and feel it out. You can't keep it tucked away forever, babe." You run your hand through his hair to try and ease him. "You have me, and I'll always listen to you on your good and bad days. Let's get through this together." He lets out another small, shaky breath. Suddenly, you hear his cries picking up, making you hold onto him tighter;

Hoping he could feel your comfort through your soft, reassuring touches. 

"I lost her so suddenly, I didn't know what to do for the longest time." Yunho cries while you both continue listening to the waves crash against the sand. "I didn't even get to say goodbye properly and hold her one last time. The last picture I have of her is when I got the hospital and she was already gone." You feel the tears constantly welling up in your eyes as you watch Yunho finally release the feelings he had been harboring all these years. "I just— everything crumbled so quickly and I didn't even have time to process it. I've forced myself to bury this for so long because I didn't want Seora to think anything was wrong." You shake your head. "But, for the longest time, everything felt wrong. I felt so sad and empty, and I miss her so much every day." He cries harder.

"I'm so sorry, love. You didn't deserve any of that." You cup his cheeks and gently caress the surface, thumb swiping away at the tears that fall. "You both didn't deserve any of that."

"There's not a day that I don't think about her. But, it's so hard. It's been so hard." He can barely get out before he's crying more, leaning into your touch.

"And you're so strong. She sees it every day, she's with you every day. She never left. And I know she's so, so proud of you overcoming everything with Seora. For the way you two have persevered and blossomed from all of this." You look him in the eyes. "She is so happy to see how you've handled everything with so much grace and she knows you both love her so much. She knows, and she sees it." You cry, continuing to wipe his tears away until it subsides a bit. 

"Life has been so fucking hard without her."

"She never left, Yu. She's with you and Seora always." You repeat. He lets out a breath, his tears slowly coming to a stop when he gets a moment to gather himself. But, he can say that after all of this, he feels so relieved. Like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders because of this much needed release.

With you being here by his side.

"I'm sorry, baby." He laughs a bit to make the moment a little more lighthearted. "I didn't mean to."

"I'm glad you did, though. You needed to. And I'll always be here for you, no matter what. I meant it." He looks at you, staring deep into your eyes. He sees so much sincerity, so much comfort, so much love, and he sees Eunha.

Like Eunha sent you to be here with him, to be with him, to take care of him and Seora.

And that gives him the final push he needed to finally let her go, to release everything he's been needing to release into the ocean. Into the night sky.

To the moon.

You were genuinely heaven sent.

"Why don't we go see Eunha tomorrow? Together?" Yunho's lips curve into a tiny smile before he slides his hand into yours and gives it a good squeeze— kissing the surface before placing a kiss to your temple.

"Okay." Is all he says. "Thank you, Y/N. For being here for me."

"Always."

"No, you really have no idea how much I appreciate you." You look up at him as he presses a kiss to your forehead. "I needed this. And I wouldn't want anyone else to be here with me." You give him a toothless smile before the two of you sit in silence.

In peace.

After another half hour of just talking about life and showing you pictures Seora sent from Chan-mi's house, you and Yunho finally pack up and head back to your place. The ride is quiet, with the music softly filing the space while you continue to hold Yunho's free hand tightly. During the ride, you go back and forth between letting him be and asking him to stay because you aren't sure how he feels after the moment at the beach. You want to give him space, you want to avoid being too clingy and not giving him room to breathe.

But, you already hate the fact that you'll be home in the next 5 minutes and you won't be having Yunho until tomorrow again.

When he parks, he leans his head back against the head rest and looks over at you fondly, giving you a small, tired smile.

"Thank you again for coming out with me tonight."

"Always." You respond before he slips out to help you out of the car and up the steps. You get to your door, with Yunho behind you— hands dug deep into his pockets. "Goodnight, Yunho." You turn to him.

"Goodnight, beautiful." He gently grabs you by the arm to kiss you tenderly on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow before I get Seora." You nod. There's something in the air that makes you feel like you should just ask him to stay, especially when he takes a few steps backwards, finding it difficult to pull his eyes off of you. And you, the same.

"Actually, Yu."

"Hm?" He hums and pauses just as he's about to go down the steps.

"Wanna stay?"

"Y-you sure?"

"More than sure." He looks at you for a moment before nodding his head.

"Is it okay if I leave my car there?" You chuckle and nod, unlocking the door and stepping inside your humble abode.

"Yes. You'll be fine there." Yunho slowly follows, kicking his shoes off to the side before locking your door and settling onto the couch. Even though he's been here, a part of him still feels like he's intruding in your space. But, the other part is happy to be here because lord knows he didn't wanna go home and be alone tonight. "You can help yourself to whatever you need in the kitchen. I'm just gonna change and get situated."

"Course." Yunho watches as you head into the bathroom, flipping through the Netflix options on your TV. A call comes through on his phone, Seora's name popping up on the screen. While you wash up and get yourself ready for the evening, you overhear Yunho talking to Seora on the phone and you smile to yourself. You love hearing the way they talk to each other, even if it's for a brief 5 minutes just for Seora to tell her dad she's off to bed. She sweetly tells him that she loves him 'more than anything in the world' and Yunho returns the statement before he hangs up. You finish in the next 10 minutes, coming out of the bathroom in your shorts and longsleeve, a huge smile on your face. "What?" Yunho chuckles, confused.

"You and Seora are just the sweetest."

"Oh, you heard?" He laughs a bit. "Yeah, she's off to bed. Which I highly doubt, but glad she called me before she could forget." You giggle and plop next to him on the couch, shifting your attention to the TV screen. 

"Find anything you wanna watch?"

"No, I'll leave it up to you."

"You sure?"

"Mhm. I'm just here to be with you, Y/N." You smile at him, positioning yourself to partially rest on his body while he throws an arm over you. 

The rest of the evening goes by just as you'd imagine— you and Yunho settling for a movie you both hadn't watched but heard lots about, barely able to get through most of it without falling into a debate about the plot from time to time. Everything feels so lighthearted, the way you both bicker and tease each other; sharing cute, intimate moments you'll forever cherish.

And one touch leads to another, a kiss leads to another.

Tension so palpable it's hard to ignore.

In the next moment, you find yourself on his lap; tongues dancing around in a fight for dominance as you subtly work your hips against his. Yunho hisses at the feeling, letting out a breath when you tug back on his bottom lip— peppering his jaw and his neck with light, feathery kisses. 

"Y/N, baby." He breathes out, craning his neck so you have more access to him. You leave hot, open-mouthed kisses down the column of his throat, his grip on your hips tightening. "Fuck." He breathes out. "Want you so badly."

"You can have me." You whisper near his ear before nibbling on his earlobe. He lets out a soft moan, his warm, large hand coming up your long sleeve to feel your bare skin.

"I don't wanna mess this up." He says lowly against your lips, grazing the surface.

"You won't mess anything up."

"You sure?" You nod. He takes one more look at you, trying to find any doubt hiding behind those beautiful, deep orbs. But, he doesn't see any. He doesn't see anything besides the same sincerity. The same comfort. 

The same love.

So, Yunho doesn't waste any time. He doesn't want to waste any more time when life is too short. He’s learned the hard way firsthand. He needs to make you his right here, right now. He needs to show you just how much he feels for you, how much he adores you.

How much his days don't mean shit without you now.

Yunho carries you in one, swift motion, lifting you with ease and tugging you close to his body while your legs wrap around his torso. The TV is a long, forgotten thought, a random preview playing for the next movie coming up on the autoplay feature. He gently lays you down on your bed, shedding off his shirt while you do the same with yours.

Shorts and jeans to follow.

Boxer briefs and panties off to another side of the bed.

Yunho's mouth drags across your skin, leaving kisses on every inch that he could possibly reach; hands roaming across every inch that he could possibly touch. He slots himself in between your thighs, lips pressing against your inner thighs before he's right where you need him to be. You let out a gasp, back slightly arching off of the mattress when he slowly laps away at your folds— sucking gently at your heat while your hands tug on his hair. He takes his time with you so as long as you can feel his adoration through his motions; tongue dragging deep in between your slit, continuing until you can't help but move against his mouth to lead you right to the edge. You moan loudly as your body jolts and allows your orgasm to wash over, Yunho placing soft kisses against you before he moves back up and hovers over you.

He coos and praises you, telling you just exactly how good you were for him in your ear while he adjusts his position. He nudges his tip at your clit, slowly sliding it up and down your folds before pressing in and inching himself deeper and deeper to the hilt. 

"Oh shit." He groans. "Feels too good." He lets out a shaky breath, trying his best to keep his composure. It's been so long for him that he finds himself struggling with his self-control, but he continues; only knowing how to relish in this moment, in you, as best as he knows. He keeps you close— forehead pressed against yours while he moves in and out of you at a steady pace. His fingers dig deep into the bare flesh of your hip, sure it'll leave some marks with the way he starts to pound into you.

Wanting, needing, yearning for you to reach your release. To see you reach your high, to see you on cloud nine.

"Want you—" He kisses your neck as he continues to plunge deeper, hitting that very spot that will send you spiraling in the next few minutes. "To be mine, baby." He groans against your skin. "Need you to be mine." Yunho goes faster, thoroughly loving the pretty sounds you make against him. Him too, close to reaching that high, taking his seat on cloud nine.

"Yours, Yunho." You whisper in his ear, just as he takes you further and further into bliss— doing a deep dive into the abyss of desire. "Just yours."

And in this moment, that’s all Yunho knows.

Just yours.

⇢taglist: @asjkdk @interweab @woojirang @svintsandghosts @cheolliehugs @persphonesorchid @mxnsxngie @jycas @cowboydk @nopension @curse-of-art @thechaotictheoryy @likexaxdaydream @dalsuwaha @enha-stars @yasuraokaa @professormingisglasses @yunyunrin @pommelex @astral-trashcan @laura1399 @domfikeluva @tournesol155 @hwaskookies @yusalterego @hwa-stars @hyukssunflower @chngbnwf @jaytheatiny @lucid-galaxys-world @chaotic-floral @sofkloster @honeyrecommends @hwashua-luv @luvv4bby @spicxbnny @pandyandy71 @sanniesaurus @angel-hyuckie @wolviejex @purpleyou7x @honeyhotteoks

[stubz]

"Okay everyone floor is lava in 10..."

children scatter across the in door park.

"9..."

some leap onto nearby benches. Others climb nearby trees.

"8...7..."

the nearby safe spots become too crowded. Some force their way in while others sprint for the only place with enough room for the remaining few. The water fountain.

"6...5..."

the fountain can hold them all but is far. The slow one's won't make it.

"3...2...1..."

Some of the strong ones carry the slowest. their kindness is their downfall.

"FLOOR IS LAVA!!"

the lava takes them.

"Okay everyone on the ground is out!"

*chorus of groaning*

"So we have, 1, 2, 3...8...11...wait. Everyone hold still for a sec." the human recounts the children. And then again. And again.

"Where's Piper?"

"She was running that way!"

"Yeah towards the field!"

"The field? But there's nothing to climb there.."

"Is the floor still lava!?!"

Out in the field is Piper, sitting on top of her other teacher Kim's shoulders.

"Piper your out, you know the rules. You can't ask someone to carry you when the floor is lava."

"I didn't carry her."

"Kim no fibbing. Kids don't like it when it comes to floor is lava."

"No really I didn't. She climbed me," the woman picks the girl off her and put her down "show them Piper."

The 7 year old smiles and goes behind Kim and then starts to climb. Using the adults calves as a step she boosts her other foot to Kim's hip and then latches onto her neck with her arms. From there she shimmies herself onto her teacher's shoulders. All while Kim keeps her arms to her sides.

"...how long has she been able to do this?"

"Since yesterday."

"That's really cool."

"I know, right?"

.

..

...

"Human Kim I'd like to ask you a question about...human children."

"Yeah sure, go ahead."

"So as you know I am courting Morgan, who has 2 children, and I was wondering if it's normal for them at their age to not be able to climb me or him?"

"Climb you?"

"Yes, like that human child with blonde hair. Harrison is about her age yet he can't climb us like she can climb you."

"...Ohhh, yeah that's not a normal thing."

"Really?? But she does it with such ease and you look so, so, used to it. As if it was normal behavior."

"Piper is incredibly flexible and strong for her age, and while yes I am used to it that's because I'm used to kids climbing me while I'm sitting or helping them."

"So human children do climb their caretakers?"

"Yes."

"But Piper's climbing is not normal?"

"...yes. Wait. Hold on...So human children do climb on their family members but most of them can't climb to an adult's shoulders like that without help. Only a few like Piper are strong enough to do that."

"Ah. So I should not be concerned that Morgan's children can't do that?"

"No, you should not."

"Okay then. Humans are strange."

"That they are!"

[szilverer]

y'know... for a setting that places so much importance in Language and does so many ice cool things playing with it (Correspondence/Discordance, Parabola & Irem, etc) i think there's a bit of a missed opportunity when it comes to the terms and words people use in their day to day life... like for example:

do you think radical revolutionaries would avoid words like "enlightening" in their vocabulary and flip them for LON-appropriate counterparts to signal their beliefs?

like substituting the word "light" with "blight". lol

similarly, pet names relating to light like "sunshine" kinda have a whole extra flavour tied to them, leaning into nostalgia, melancholy and/or danger depending on the people using it. irony, even

"honey" as a pet name also has extra connotations now and might actually bother some people instead due to the association with the drug...

do you think SMEN, taboo as it is, and seeking being a recognizable phenomenon even to the common londoner, would spawn swear words and insults? (imagine the weight of telling someone to Go Seek or Fall Down a Well)

the word "well" itself. well as an adverb, interjection, adjective. just. think about it. think about what it represents. idk something is happening to this word for sure

[casualavocados]

#he doesn't want to fight with you ai di, he wants to Kiss🙄💘🥺

Nat Chen as CHEN YI KISEKI: DEAR TO ME (2023)

[le-stappen]

Max again doing his most important job - making Charles giggle - when he just wants to sit next to him.

[bri-cheeses]

personally I think that all queer books should have a “special edition” with a subtle cover (and a code name if it’s necessary) for all of the people in homophobic areas

[uncanny-tranny]

Your fears that you don't have a body that will transition "well" are, sure, understandable, but there isn't truly such thing as a body that's unworthy of transition. Perhaps your changing body won't suit everybody's taste, but would you rather live for yourself or for the whims of random people who don't care about your happiness as long as they're attracted to what they see?

Transition is for anybody who wants it. It's okay to be fearful. It's okay to be uncertain. But it isn't the end of the world. You are in control, and if you choose to transition to any capacity, it should be at your behest. You and your body are worthy of transition. I hope you are able to seize transition and do what you truly want for yourself.

[necrotic-nephilim]

@profandomhopper i was going to reblog the original post this comment was left on but i felt it divorced itself from the original topic so much, you get your own post for giving me delightful permission to ramble about this. buckle in people this is long.

so, DC is a big fandom that expanses a lot of different types of content, and like anything, is subject to crossovers. the obvious ones like Marvel are for the reason of being a similar and equally popular superhero world, so it's easy to transpose the worlds onto each other and overlap the characters. both of these worlds deal with multiverses and endless, endless heroes. it makes sense and there's no real stretch to think Batman and Spider-Man could co-exist. i mean, there have been canon crossover comics. and even some more random crossovers like White Collar have pretty easy to trace origins, being an actor in WC was a popular Dick fancast back in the day so there was some bleeding over that led to a well-loved niche crossover space.

but Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug are where it gets interesting. because at a surface, MLB sort of makes sense. it's a superhero world, you're following a teen girl superhero and sure the mechanics are pretty contained, but the crossover should make sense. but when you compare it to the crossover numbers of other superhero media like say My Hero Academia, Ladybug takes the *crown* with such a bizarre popularity. and of course, DP feels like it makes even less sense. sure, you *could* lump it into at the very least, superhero-adjacent media, but it's not a true hero world like MLB or DC is.

but, the thing to always understand about DC, *especially* the Batfamily (which is where the crossover content propagates the most) is this: a *very* good chunk of fans don't interact with the comics. i would venture to say even most Batfamily fans don't read the comics and actively talk about it. we've all read a very fandom big Batfam fanfic where the author's note mentions the writer has never touched a comic in their life. typically, these fans are either cobbling together their understanding from fandom content, or by frankensteining unrelated DC adaptations to understand each character. you take Bruce from Batman: TAS, you take Dick from the animated Young Justice, you take Jason from Batman: Under The Red Hood animated movie, you take Damian from the DCAMU Batman vs Robin, and you read some fandom metas to fill in the rest and well, you've got some sort of an understanding of these characters. read enough incorrect quotes, some genfic, a couple of character metas, and boom, you understand the Batfamily fandom enough to start creating your own content. and of course now. now you have Wayne Family Adventures so it's even *easier*. a pretty easy to pick up webtoon that's filling in all the gaps for you. but i've been in this fandom long enough to remember before we had WFA and even then, this was still a common, if not the most popular way, to ween yourself into the DC fandom space. you cherry-picked the canon you liked and then plunged into the depths of fanon.

i'm not here to make in depth commentary on if i think this is a good or bad thing. trust me i have that commentary in my head, but that would need it's own post. i'm very split on it and my feelings are complicated. my feelings on WFA are even *more* complicated. because oftentimes, the attitude expressed by these fans who are frankensteining this version of the Batfamily/DC world they have in their head is they don't *want* to read the comics. the comics don't contain the content they're after. and to an extent, i understand that. if you're looking for light-hearted vibes of the Batfamily all getting along and having the occasional hurt/comfort moments but in the end, they hug and make up, you're right. largely, you won't find that in canon. of course there are so many comics to recommend for Batfamily interactions, but you have to get specific. you'll find them interacting in small groups, Tim and Dick bonding here, Duke and Cass bonding there, but largely, the comics don't care to balance the ridiculously large cast they've given themselves. but fandom does. it's easy to toss them all in a blender and ignore the parts you don't like. the default argument to ignoring the comics or writing something OOC is always "well the comics are OOC and inconsistent too" which, while a flawed argument that massively misunderstand how comics work as a medium, isn't an entirely incorrect one. you could serve on a silver platter to these fans, an easy and accessible way to get into comics and they wouldn't be interested. it's not what they're here for. fandom is always character-driven above all else. it's driven by character relationships and dynamics. if someone wants to consume content where Tim idolized and stalked Jason as 'his Robin' and now is trying to help him rehabilitate and they're super complicated but have this long epic forgiveness arc, why *would* they read the comics? because they're sure as shit not going to find that dynamic in the comics. it's laughably OOC and not canon at all, but that doesn't matter. what matters is the sandbox. most Batfamily fans care *far* more about the sandbox canon gives them than the actual canon itself. feel how you feel about that, this really isn't being negative toward that attitude, but it is a common attitude.

so, you have Batfamily fans playing in the sandbox and building their own narrative. common fandom headcanons are so common, you could practically write a guide on how the fanon Batfamily works with how consistent people are about it. or you could just read WFA, which is practically the new manifesto of it. even now, with this sudden spike in people talking about canon accuracy and "actually this happening in the comics", they don't actually care about the comics, just what they can cherry-pick for fodder. (even if they rob it of so much context they're just as OOC as they were before. see specifically: the recent phenomena with Tim Drake going from the woobified weakest member of the Batfam who everyone needs to save constantly and he's the smart boy but he's also the one with a sad tragic neglectful past who gets overlooked being the way Batfamily fandom played with Tim for years. but recently, people seem to be pushing this idea of a ridiculously badass Tim, Tim who *totally* has a kill count because of his actions in RR (2009) if you take them completely out of context, Tim who bested Ra's and is even more badass than Jason and he's the 17 yr old CEO of Wayne Industries being cool and flawless it becoming the new fandom zeitgeist. neither of these versions of Tim are canon, and the second fundamentally misunderstands his arc in RR (2009) but the shift has undeniably happened and it's been fascinating to watch. the same thing happened with people suddenly deciding Jason isn't the "angry violent Robin", he was a sunshine sweet boy who was perfect as Robin. neither of these are true, but the second feels more transgressive and new to fandom from cherry-picked panels.) the point is largely, Batfamily fans would rather build their own canon than play with the actual canon.

and then, you have Danny Phantom. i'm not into DP and have no interest to get into it, but what i know about it via fandom osmosis is this: DP fans sort of also don't give a fuck about canon. once again, the canon of DP is a sandbox, not a rulebook. the concepts and the characters are the draw, not the plot itself. i've seen DP posts explaining characters who are essentially OCs, but have become so dominant in the fandom via fandom osmosis. there are concepts and ideas about how Danny's powers work and potential concepts with his ghost nature that either aren't in canon or only happened once in canon and fans decided to expand on that and doesn't care about it's own in-universe logic. i've seen a lot of DP fans also express they haven't seen the show and they don't have plans to see the show. because the show is just some children's cartoon with some inconsistencies and a simple plot, as you'd expect from CN. the show isn't the point. no one cares about it's plot, they care about it's characters. they care about pushing the concept of half ghost boy to a logical extreme and seeing what you can get out of that. can you make it weird and fucked up. how much can you highlight on his trauma and body horror. what identity crisis can you give him and how can you build his interactions with other characters in his world around that and also make those characters fun and unique on their own. sure, the skeleton of canon is there, but the meat lies all in the fanon.

Miraculous Ladybug also exists in this similar vein. the characters, the concepts, those hold intrigue. and not even mentioning the fact the original concept for this show was supposed to be aimed to an older audience, so you can see the bones of something a bit more mature and nuanced under this typical, villain of the week magical girl transformation show. the show itself is a bit shallow and that's not a *bad* thing, it's just the medium it exists within being aimed towards children. but the concepts of a teen girl who's basically a sort of chosen one, a boy who doesn't know his father is the big bad of the show, and their weird identity porn love... square thing. those dynamics are *so* complicated and such a fun sandbox to play in with character-driven fandom.

so, at the core, you have three fandoms that care more about the culturally accepted fanon than the canon, with a good chunk of people often not even consuming the original canon content. and well, DC is an *easy* world to transpose just about anything onto. a boy who's half ghost and fighting supernatural threats? that makes sense, DC has ghost heroes like Deadman already. a girl who has this magical item that gives her animal themed superpowers? i mean that's practically the same thing as Vixen's Totem so that one makes sense too. they fit in pretty easy, no needing to change the world to accommodate them. and of course, if you're a fan of *one* fandom where you don't care for the canon content and only like the fandom sandbox, chances are, you'll get drawn in pretty easily to another fandom with similar mechanics. if you can teach yourself the DP fandom rules/concepts, you can teach yourself the Batfamily fandom rules/concepts. and well, since there's so much crossover in fandom members, why not write the fanfiction? crossover fics will always exist, but with such a shared member base, you have a really big boom.

it's why the characters you see DP interact with in DC are *always* characters who are far more driven by fanon than canon. Danny and John Constantine is a *massive* concept. for people who don't read Hellblazer comics. my poor partner, @divine-dominion has lamented to me pretty often about finding DP content in the Hellblazer tag that is essentially turning Constantine into an OC. because whatever version of Constantine is being written about isn't one bit comics accurate, and really, isn't trying to be. and the same thing happens with Shazam. you watch Young Justice and understand him well enough, you get drawn in by the character concept that you just run with it. people put their favorite blorbos in the same place because hey, wouldn't ghost boy be pretty cool in a city like *Gotham*. how would Batman even react to him. and then, the shipping. because ages for the Batfamily can be easily hand-waved and moved around based on where you plop Danny into the timeline, you have your pick of the litter with him, and same with Ladybug. of course there are the most popular ships but largely, the world is your oyster.

i don't think this is the worst thing in the world for either fandom. it's not hard to filter out the crossover tags and scroll past content i don't like. and sure, i see the appeal of making your blorbos from two different places meet. i've got my drafts *full* of DC/MHA crossover ideas because well, i like them both and think that would be cool. i think my only gripe with it is when DP or MLB crossover content seeps it's way into the wrong tags. using the above example, if you're writing about Danny and Constantine but there's zero content of the actual Hellblazer comics, i don't think you need the Hellblazer tag, just the Constantine character tag. tbh i wish this extended onto Ao3 and people utilized fandom tags better. if you're writing Batfamily fanfiction that is very clearly and obviously WFA driven in characterization and concepts, i would far prefer those fics be tagged with the WFA fandom tag rather than the Batman (comics) fandom tag. because well, you're not writing about the Batman comics. and there's nothing wrong with that, but it helps if you don't confuse yourself for content striving to interact with canon more. (this especially extends to Young Justice, by the way. if you're writing for the Young Justice tv show please, please stop using the Young Justice (comics) fandom tag. i'm at my wit's end- /lh)

the whole thing is fascinating. i've got zero interest in entering DP or MLB as fandoms because that's not my speed, but witnessing it as an outsider is my favorite pastime. i see a *lot* of posts going around the DC x DP space that are helping explain to people who's who, what's what, and understanding the canon/fanon of both of these properties so others can better enter the space. which is not something you'd need in a fandom driven only by it's canon content, but it is sweet watching others try to help newbies enter the space. it's a very inviting fandom space, i think, whether you lament it's existence or not. they're just sitting in their corner with their blorbos, and i gotta respect that. the posts explaining the Batfamily to DP fans are always fun for me to read, even if i disagree with some of the characterizations in them because it helps shine a light on what the fans of this crossover regard as "important" enough about each fandom to be worth including those sorts of primers. very fascinating stuff.