#and then you KNOW why it was written a certain way

[meadowfics]

suddenly, you're my valentine

se-mi x f!reader

your bestfriend turned lover gives you a good valentine's day

warnings: friends to lovers. reader has issues with love.

valentine’s day has always been bittersweet for you.

no matter how much you try to ignore it, the ache of loneliness never fails to creep in. everywhere you turn, there are couples holding hands, exchanging gifts, sharing soft kisses.

reminders of the love you’ve always wanted but never truly had.

you’ve never had good luck in love.

every time you let someone in, they leave.

maybe it’s you. maybe you’re just not meant to be loved the way you hope for.

so, when you wake up to a bouquet of deep red roses sitting on your nightstand, your heart stutters. confusion swirls in your chest because no one has ever done something like this for you.

did someone get into your house? there is only one person who has a key to your apartment besides you.

attached to the bouquet is a small envelope, your name written neatly in handwriting you recognize instantly..

semi’s.

your best friend,

the other person who has a key to your apartment.

your lips twitch into a small smile as you open the card.

nside, there’s a note written in semi’s familiar, neat script:

happy valentine’s day, y/n. get ready, i’m picking you up at 7. wear something nice.

your heart races.

semi’s always been sweet to you, but this feels… different. still, you push down the lingering hope that bubbles in your chest, telling yourself that she’s just being the best friend she’s always been.

at exactly seven, semi arrives, a small grin on her lips as she stands at your door with a single red rose in hand.

she looks stunning, dressed in a dark red blouse that complements her effortlessly, her dark hair styled just right.

your breath catches for a second.

“wow,” you murmur, before you can stop yourself.

“you clean up nice.”

semi chuckles, handing you the rose.

“you look beautiful, y/n.”

your face heats up at the compliment, but you shake it off. this is just semi being semi.

nothing more.

she takes you to one of the nicest restaurants in the city, one you’ve always wanted to go to but never had the chance. the candlelit ambiance, the soft music, the way semi’s eyes never leave you.

it all feels so intimate, so much like a date, and yet you don’t let yourself believe it.

“so,” you say, swirling your drink, trying to ignore the way your heart is betraying you.

“what’s all this for? i mean, i know it’s valentine’s day, but this seems like… a lot.”

semi leans forward slightly, her fingers playing with the stem of her wine glass.

“you deserve it.”

you scoff, shaking your head.

“i don’t know about that.”

se-mi's brows furrow, lips pressing into a thin line.

“why do you do that?”

“do what?”

“act like you’re not worthy of good things. of love.”

your stomach twists.

“because I do not feel like I am worthy, semi.”

semi's expression softens, but there’s a certain intensity in her gaze that makes it hard to hold.

“that’s not true.”

you don’t know what to say to that, so you focus on your food, pretending like your heart isn’t hammering in your chest.

the night continues with semi making sure you feel special, treating you with so much tenderness it nearly makes you want to cry.

she pays the bill before you can argue, and when you step outside, the cool night air kissing your skin, she turns to you with a small smile.

“one more surprise,” she says, taking your hand in hers.

you don’t question it.

you never do when it comes to semi.

she drives you to a secluded hilltop, where a blanket is already set up with fairy lights twinkling softly around it. there’s a small box sitting at the center of the blanket.

“semi…” your voice is barely above a whisper, overwhelmed by everything she’s done for you tonight.

she gestures for you to sit, and when you do, she hands you the box. with hesitant hands, you open it, only to find a delicate silver bracelet inside, a small charm hanging from it..

your initial intertwined with hers.

your breath hitches.

“semi… this is… this is beautiful.”

you smile up at her.

"you're such a good best friend, semi."

she watches you carefully, lips parting slightly like she’s holding something back. then, she finally speaks.

“i didn’t do this as your best friend, y/n.”

your fingers tighten around the bracelet. your heartbeat thunders in your ears.

“what… what do you mean?”

semi exhales sharply, running a hand through her hair.

“i did this because i’m in love with you.”

everything stills.

your eyes snap to hers, searching, needing to know if she’s serious.

there’s no hesitation, no doubt in her gaze.

“you’re lying.” the words leave your lips before you can stop them.

“you… you don’t love me like that. i’m not even your type, semi.”

she shakes her head, frustration flickering across her face.

“what does that even mean, y/n? you’ve always been my type. I just...i didn’t know how to tell you without scaring you away.”

your breath shudders as you take in her words, your emotions a tangled mess inside of you.

all this time, you’ve convinced yourself that you weren’t enough. that love wasn’t meant for you.

however, here she is. semi, your best friend, the only person who has ever truly seen you...telling you that she loves you.

before you can think, before doubt can creep in, you surge forward, crashing your lips against hers.

semi freezes for a split second before responding with just as much urgency, her hands finding their way to your waist, pulling you closer.

the kiss is desperate, filled with all the emotions you’ve buried for so long.

your hands tangle in her hair, and she groans softly into your mouth, tilting her head to deepen the kiss. your plump lips attaching to hers..

it’s intoxicating, the way she tastes, the way she feels against you.

when you finally pull away, breathless, foreheads pressed together, you whisper,

“i love you too, semi. happy valentine’s day.”

she lets out a shaky laugh, pressing a lingering kiss to your lips.

“best valentine’s day ever.”

masterlist

[sgiandubh]

In which the Music Manager strikes again

I very honestly think it's time to try and sort out a very complicated question, that bothered this side of the fandom for a long while.

This comment summed it up perfectly and I promised a separate post to discuss some of it, bearing in mind that this is Just My Opinion:

I think the early days on this side of the fandom were the best of times and the worst of times, too. The best of times, because shippers had daily receipts and renewed confirmation. The worst of times, because fanfic or just wishful thinking did find a way to sometimes overlap with what obviously already was a very complicated reality.

By the time the Dreaded MC reached our shores, the shockwave was cosmic. People cried. People quit. Former friends started bitching on and about each other. But once the first shock was taken full front in, some tried to make sense of it, as I have already written. I maintain my position which is to never judge or discuss anything I was not a direct part of, and so I choose to remain silent on all the things that were done to that extent. It is not my call and it is not my intention. My intention is to try and correct some fantasies and plain untruths that have been taken for granted for many, many years, in here.

I have already explained here why the Ibiza marriage is, at worst, fanfic and at best, some sentimental-binding handfast ceremony on the beach, possibly: https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/772076510404395008/hola-hola-pregunta-de-novata-asombrada-de-veras?source=share

To back it up, here are the applicable regulations, as per the UK Government itself:

[Source: https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-consulate-ibiza]

The only problem is, you can get married in a British consulate if and only if the host country's legislation gives permission for it:

If you click on the link below, you will not find Spain on the list of the countries where a consular marriage can be arranged. The reason for it is that Spain does allow same-sex marriage (which is the main reason this type of ceremony is still being performed as such, in a handful of British consulates across the world) and also because it does allow two foreign citizens to marry on its territory, provided certain requirements are being met.

[Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/getting-married-at-a-british-embassy-high-commission-or-consulate]

This is where things become impossible for that Ibiza marriage scenario, because there is no way they could have arranged a Tijuana marriage of sorts. While Spain does allow foreigners to marry on its territory, it leaves to the provinces the power to set the criteria of doing so. For Ibiza, you have to be a legal resident (which means, to have a residence permit issued by the Spanish authorities) there for at least two years prior to the date of your marriage:

This leaves, in theory, the possibility of a legally binding Catholic marriage, celebrated only in church, since C is a Catholic herself and, unlike the case of Anglicans (Presbyterians, in the US) not needing a prior UK civil marriage certificate (something which in theory, would have extended also to S):

[Source, for both of the above: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/getting-married-in-ibiza/]

But we know that never happened, unfortunately. And we know it because on that damned Marriage Certificate both C and McGill wrote and signed, is that horrible little word: 'single'.

Sorry for hurting your eyes with this. Some say the best way to overcome your greatest fear is to face it - I wholeheartedly agree with them:

[Source: https://www.tumblr.com/hurleyburly/649158609642618880/arrived-this-morning-april-22nd-by-post-from-the?source=share - I used this particular one, because the legal watermark is very obvious on it and also, because it is the easiest to look for and find].

Before the 2004 reform of the UK marriage and civil partnership legislation (enforced starting December 2005), the appropriate mention on a marriage certificate was either 'bachelor' or, accordingly, 'spinster'. That meant none of the two future spouses were married before. This has been further clarified by the Registrar General of England and Wales, acting as sole competent authority in that field, in September 2005:

[Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4141996.stm]

Therefore, all of the above beg the question: which scenario applies?

1. SC got married in Ibiza, the USA, or Atlantis (doesn't matter, legal case in point is entirely the same). In that case, C would have been already married to S, on August 10, 2019. That would make her a bigamous woman. The punishment for bigamy, in the UK, is 6 months (convicted) to 7 years (indicted) in prison and a fine of £5,000, according to the Offences against the Person Act 1861:

[Source: https://penmansedgwick.com/bigamy/]

On top of it, writing 'single' on that paper without it being legally true would also qualify her as a perjury. In the UK, the punishment for perjury, in the special case of marriage procedures, is 2 years in prison if convicted and up to 7 years in prison, if indicted, plus a fine of £100, according to the Perjury Act 1911:

[Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/6]

Does anybody seriously (I repeat: seriously) think C or anyone else involved, for that matter, would have risked that? Now, I know the integrity of the Authorized Person and/or the GRO people has been questioned. I am not going there, because I was not involved in that entire business. Corrupt officials exist everywhere, after all, and that is not entirely out of the question. However, without the misdemeanor being denounced as such, you can bet no investigation has been conducted on that particular point. As such (and one last time, for I shall not discuss this anymore, lest we'd have news about it) the Dreaded MC is still a legal paper, producing legal effects. You can choose to ignore it and go your merry way, but you cannot tear it apart in a fit of rage and hide the shreds under the carpet. It is there and it happened. What possessed her and why exactly, we might never know.

Finally, if C would have been (secretly) married to S (in Ibiza, the USA or Atlantis - legal case in point still the same) and divorced before August 2019, the appropriate wording would have been 'previous marriage dissolved', with no mention of any other specifics. The same we'd have if... but I'll stop here.

2. Second scenario and what I think might have happened (in Ibiza, the USA, or Atlantis - doesn't matter): a symbolic blessing ceremony, with no legally binding effects. There is an entire thriving industry of it, yes, in Ibiza:

[Source: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/getting-married-in-ibiza/]

Again, you draw your own conclusions. I am not here to fuck your Sunday evening chamomile/Monday morning coffee to shambles. But I am here to tell you and all those idiots across the street that we are not naive and the fantasy, as wonderful as it might be, is exactly that: a dream. In real life, that horribly dull place with mortgages and taxes and responsibilities, things are infinitely more complicated and possibly even dirtier. And that is exactly what makes their story more interesting and endearing to me, in fact.

Many of you will probably be upset. If so, feel free to unfollow, by all means. I cannot and will not lie. I never did, because I think it is useless and idiotic. What bothered me the most is to see this witty community becoming the laughing stock of a bunch of brutal cowards, just because some thought it was easier to make believe than take the bull by the horns. And yes, accept the crooked reality of a paper that does not translate by any stretch of the imagination into a genuine relationship.

A relationship where the two spouses would publicly be glad for each other, celebrate their closeness, act like Mr. Tweedledum and Mrs. Tweedledee, invite the press to see the Taj Mahal, have joint interviews or at least offer some fucking snippet of normality. Because no, 'he is shy' is borderline insulting to McGill, who is a 48 year old man, by now. Because no, acting like deer in headlights every single time a more focused question is asked will only fuel further speculation. Because no, gaslighting in the mainstream press hundreds of people who questioned this entire mess is akin to PR suicide. And because no, you can't really hide forever a ridiculous arrangement, backed by a single piece of paper where the groom wrote himself, under oath, he was a 'music manager' (remember, BIF? you recently wrote a PhD thesis about it, isn't it ironic moronic?).

[yimpysdiner]

Ridiculously long analysis of Jimmy's dialogue (PART 2)

PART 1 HERE Continuing with the next section,

Mimicking?

The whole ordeal of Jimmy copying Curly's "yeah?" in speech has already been pointed out, but there's something else I wanted to look into. This section is gonna be relatively short but this interaction still sticks with me. It's fairly easy to miss as you can brush it off but given Jimmy often repeats words or phrases from those around him I find it interesting.

This interaction was so awkward that it has me thinking about it over and over so honestly this may be one big nothing burger and more so headcanon territory but hear me out.

Jimmy gets quiet here as either 1, he expects them all to die on that ship as he said before crashing it or 2, he's terrified of any sort of attention their whole ordeal may get if they survive. The awkward silence is only filled by him commenting on ladies. Daisuke is no stranger to talking about "beach babes" and as Swansea puts it, "thinking with his downstairs long-nose." Honestly, Jimmy is a scumbag and gross around women, but I don't think this is the sort of situation where he cares to be impressing any ladies. This reads to me as him trying to "fit in" with Daisuke in a way. The way he often mimics people and says things they'd relate to defuse situations and get on their good sides feels like a form of masking. I'm no professional, no idea what in specific this would be, but Jimmy strikes me as the kind of guy who finds it really difficult to positively navigate a lot of social situations, especially if he feels uneasy like he was here. This parts super rambly sorry, this is just something interesting about him to me, how he'll latch on to other people's personality traits and mirror them.

Lashing out

We all already know Jimmy's not a very stable guy, very small things irritate him, he has levels to his anger however.

His base line irritation is just little remarks like this, things that you would scratch your head at but they're small so you can't quite bring them up. It's not completely aggressive, but it's definitely not very friendly either

I won't shove all the same screenshots of him lashing out during the birthday party here, but there he only lashes out in front of everyone else when he's able to make it seem like he's in the right. He insults everyone to their faces, but he's able to pin all the blame on Curly, letting out his anger while also in some sort of way getting people on his "side." Here he's *already* sewing seeds of doubt about Curly into the other's mind, so his little plan to blame Curly for the crash later on only works out all the more in his favor.

Then there's moments like when he's giving Curly his pills. He isn't exactly yelling, more so going on with his angry, paranoid rambles. This of course is followed by the implication he beats Curly while feeding him his painkillers, physically taking out his anger on someone who can't fight back. Side note, the only times he ever gets physical is when they're in a position of being unable to fight back (drugging Swansea, the implied drugging of Anya, and of course when Curly is left defenseless.)

I believe this is the first instance of Jimmy actually full on yelling while having one of his tantrums, which is why I say his anger is written in levels. It's not all one flat base of him cussing like a sailor and screaming his head off, remembering this and *what* exactly makes him tick helps me when deciding how I should write him reacting to certain situations. There's other instances where he's clearly panicked and flustered, stuttering and rambling because of high stress situations such as when Daisuke is on the brink of death and it's all his fault, which we'll get to later.

Hopelessness

Something I noticed when going back through everything is Jimmy seems completely and utterly hopeless about everything in his life. It starts out in the cockpit scene, one of the very few times he's genuinely vulnerable.

This line initially just seems like Jimmy is some power tripping guy who likes being the right hand man to the Captain, which is entirely possible (and true, given how quick he is to assume the Captains role himself), but it leads me to suspect something else as well.

These are out of order, but I think like this is better demonstrates Jimmy has never really felt the sense of control over his life like he has until he got this gig with Curly. He feels comfortable like this, which is why Curly wanting to "throw it all away" in his eyes baffles him. I really wish the devs gave some insight to what Jimmy's life on Earth was, why *he* ran from it all to assume a position where he felt he was finally in the drivers seat.

When Jimmy is faced with the reality of what he's done, his first worry is when he gets back home, he'll be caged in the same position he was, back at square one with no control over his life, rotting in a prison. Even if he did get out, as he said, none of it will matter, not with an assault on his permanent record. Maybe he held onto hope that he and Curly would find something new to do, but because he made the choice to force himself on Anya, that'll never happen. His knee jerk reaction to that? Kill himself. Kill himself and take everyone down with him, because if he's not in control, he may as well be dead. "The Tulpar crew was never found."

Remorse

Jimmy isn't entirely uncaring for what he's done. He suffers delusions for each and every one of the people he fucked over, all except Anya. Instead, he sees visions of the child he created, the ever looming reminder of what he did, no matter how hard he tried to block out Anya from his mind, it will always, always haunt him. Him crying to Curly and pleading forgiveness from someone who can't properly give it to him anymore is already a sort of in your face scene, that and the scenes with the horse delusions.

I want to talk about Daisuke and Swansea actually, as he had a much more direct role in their ends. In his mind he can say, oh, Curly ran in and did that to himself, oh, Anya swallowed those pills and did that to herself. It's Daisuke and Swansea who show up more broadly as themselves in his delusions as he was the sole reason for their passing. As Daisuke is dying, he is incredibly distressed the entire time.

Daisuke being so prominent in his mind has always struck me as interesting, seeing him in the vent, a grave, in the graveyard, all the flowers, the real genuine panic when trying to fix what he did. He never wanted him to die, he obviously feels immense guilt in making him crawl through that vent.

As for Swansea, Swansea can read him like a book, and he lets Jimmy know exactly what he thinks of him before he's shot and killed. He appears in the graveyard with Jimmy, also leaving a lasting impact on Jimmy's psyche.

To say Jimmy feels nothing over what he's done, or that he wouldn't care about people dying or anything like that is wrong on so many levels when the entire last half of the game focuses on him having to literally fight his own demons. It all culminates into him saying he fixed everything, deluding himself into being a hero as some sort of final comfort to his broken mind before he offs himself, "saving" Curly after dismembering him as if that makes up for all his wrongdoings. Jimmy is so layered and interesting and human, and that's what makes him a fantastically written character. It's what allows you to see yourself in him and reflect, see those insecurities he harbors, those toxic traits he exhibits, every little ugly part of him meant to be a mirror to your own actions. Denying him his humanity and making him an emotionless, aggressive, constantly angry person strips him of everything he's meant to be.

Sorry for the huuuuge yapsesh, but I thought going over these would be fun, it also helps me keep my characterization of him as accurate as I can possibly make it. If you have any thoughts let me know!!! I am very very invested in him and I love to hear what others think of him, even if I may agree or disagree.

[wings-of-ink]

Hi!! I have a bit of constructive criticism, if I may 😅 English is not my first language, so pardon me if I sound rude, it's definitely not my intention!

Something that confuses me is how people act when the MC has to lift their shirt, when in comparison characters like Oswin and Duri can be shirtless/completely naked and people not batting an eye at it. It's funny and confusing why people jump at MC taking out their shirt as if it's scandalous 😅. I guess if that was the reaction to all the characters it wouldn't be as weird, but MC seems to be singled out. For example, on that scene where the characters ask to analyze MC's mark and they say "I can just cover what I'm not comfortable showing", that answer doesn't really make sense to MC's who consider "it's just skin", as can be stated if you choose to take a bath on the river after meeting Nathan; I'd imagine my MC just lifting it naturally, or even taking out his shirt completely without any problems, going as far as being confused as to why Oswin is making a big deal of it. This is just one example of something that happens some other times, if you want I can list them, so it's easier for you to check them out! The characters reactions seem pretty on point, tho! Zahn and Duri don't seem to mind anyone naked, Rune is respectful regardless, and Oswin seems to only be affected by MC's nakedness (which can be explained by his apparent feelings for MC? I'm not on his route but it looks like he has a crush on MC, I could be wrong😆). The problem comes mostly to how MC responds, I think? As in, couldn't they be as comfortable about being naked as Duri is? So just a bit of a twist on MC's answers and it would flow naturally! Coding wise, maybe putting a choice of how comfortable your MC is with showing their body at some point in game/the beginning? Like, "never comfortable", "uncomfortable with strangers", "choose as happens if they're comfortable or not", "always comfortable", etc.

Anyways, sorry for the long text and thank you for your time! I absolutely love the game and constantly replay it, thank you for your hard work and good job! :)

Hello dear and thanks for stopping by! And not to worry, I didn't think your message was rude. Below I've explained where my thinking is in the way I've written what you're discussing.

The reason those parts are written that way is not because it is intended to seem "scandalous." Nudity in general isn't really considered as such in the world and it's entirely up to personal preference. The reason those scenes are written in such a way is that I'm writing from the eyes of many MCs with many different possible comfort-levels. I didn't find it necessary to track code for the MC's feelings on being exposed when it is easier to write a general statement that suggest the MC does or does not cover themselves and the like (where I could, I added reaction choices). And sometimes, it's better to error on the MC being a little bit discreet because of that. Could I add code for this? Yes, but overall I didn't see the purpose in it (I have a mountain of variables as is and some things just need to be trimmed).

I also need to consider that situationally, each MC will react different. With the variety of situations in the story, even when MC is comfortable, there could be situations that they would not be. Getting an exam from a stranger is different from your crush walking in on you or you wanting to tease and such.

During the forest-bathing scene, the MC also needed to take consideration for keeping their mark concealed. Oswin was cautious because they just met Zahn and he knows that Nathan has a unique curiosity for magical goods. As we learn in later chapters, this is wisdom since some people covet magical things and are willing to do horrible things to get them.

Oswin also has a particular protectiveness over MC, especially depending on a few choices about MC's feelings for him he may react different in certain scenes.

I hope that covers it in a satisfactory way. At least for now, I don't think I will set any code variable for this at least for the time being. I'm not sure how often MC will end up nude either, lol. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! I'm glad you're enjoying the game! ^_^

[lovetaroandtaemin]

Number One Girl

Ning Yizhuo x Reader

Word Count: 4,257 Genre: Fluff, Angst Rating: Some adult themes, MINORS DNI!

Summary: Hoping to get over her crush on Yizhuo, Y/N starts to distance herself from her friend. Turns out that was the exact push that Yizhuo needed to realize that she has a crush on Y/N too.

Content Warnings: Alcohol consumption, very brief mention of sexual activity but no smut, unrequited love that is later requited. If you think I missed a warning, please let me know!

A/N: This fic is part of the @k-vanity network's "Love in the Mix" event! The songs that I chose to base my fic on were "Empty Glass" by Nam Jin, "Sleepover" by Hayley Kiyoko, "Number One Girl" by Rosé, "I Like You" by Day6, and "Unconditional" by Jaehyun. If you like this fic, check out the other fics that are part of this event! I'll be linking the event masterlist here when it's posted.

Taglist: @xomakara

Fic is under the cut.

You always hated going to the bar, but you never stayed home when your friends asked you to go with them, either. After all, despite your lack of interest in the city’s nightlife, the bar seemed like the perfect place to meet someone and finally get over your ex. It had been months since she’d walked away and left you heartbroken, and all you wanted was to connect with someone new and heal.

Honestly, though, when you really thought about how many times you’d already tried and failed, you wondered why you even bothered anymore. With slightly more thought, however, you concluded that it was a sick combination of desperation, loneliness, boredom, and a miniscule amount of foolish hope that made you want to keep trying.

When you finally arrived at the bar, you were certain that nothing interesting would happen. Still, that little bit of hope in the back of your mind kept you going as you made your way to the bar and ordered a cocktail. While you enjoyed your first drink of the night, one of the most gorgeous women you’d ever seen walked into the bar and sat on the stool right next to you. She looked at you and smiled, and you let the hope that carried you through the door continue to carry you into a conversation with her as you smiled back and introduced yourself.

“My name is Yizhuo,” she replied, her voice filling your stomach with butterflies as she spoke.

“What brought you here tonight?” you asked, hoping to hear her speak again so that the butterflies would come back.

“I just wanted something to do. What about you?”

“My friends dragged me out,” you answered, laughing softly.

Yizhuo laughed at your answer and asked, “Well, why did you let them?”

“The short answer is boredom.”

“I understand that, honestly. There’s never anything interesting going on around here.”

“Tell me about it.”

As the two of you continued to talk, you found yourself thinking about just how beautiful Yizhuo was in every sense of the word and how badly you wanted a connection with her that lasted beyond just one night. You wondered if she felt the same way about you, but you knew that it was far too soon to ask. So instead, you asked, “What do you like to do for fun?”

“I love to sing,” she answered. “I don’t think I would ever want to do it professionally, but when there’s music on, and I’m singing along, I feel lighter than a feather.”

“That’s really beautiful.”

“What are some of your hobbies?”

There was a brief silence before you answered, “I really like to read. Sometimes I write too, but never anything that I would want to publish.”

“I’d love to read some of the stuff you’ve written sometime.”

“Well, I’d love to hear you sing sometime.”

Just then, you heard an unfamiliar voice say, “Hello, everyone, and welcome to our weekly karaoke night! If you would like to participate, come see me in the booth next to the stage to pick a song and a time slot.”

“That���s perfect!” Yizhuo said with a smile before walking away. You wanted to ask her where she was going, but before you could, she was across the bar, talking to the guy that made the announcement earlier. He nodded at what she said, and she followed him to the empty stage.

“Ok, everyone, please give a warm welcome to our first participant for this week’s karaoke night, Yizhuo!”

You didn’t quite hear the title of the song that she sang, but once she started, you didn’t really care. The combination of the seductive nature of the lyrics and her sultry voice had you in a trance for the entirety of the song. You were sure that you looked like an idiot as you watched her onstage, but you didn’t particularly care. All you cared about was how beautiful she was and how she really seemed to be in her element as she sang.

When her performance was over, you clapped, and when she got back to her seat, you said, “That was incredible! You have a beautiful voice.”

“Thanks,” she replied, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

The rest of the night continued with nothing major happening, except for butterflies in your stomach every time Yizhuo spoke or smiled at you. For a brief moment, you wondered if it was a good idea to ask her to come home with you. After all, she was gorgeous, and you really wanted to show her just how beautiful you thought she was. In the end, however, you decided against it, too nervous to try anything beyond asking, “Can I have your number? I’d love to talk more.”

“Yeah, of course,” she replied, holding her hand out to take your phone. You handed it to her, and she handed you hers. You each put your contact information in the other’s phone, and with a smile, Yizhuo added, “I really liked talking to you tonight. I hope we get to see each other again.”

Before you could respond, she walked away, and your friends were surrounding you and telling you that they were ready to leave. You reluctantly left the bar, disappointed that meeting someone new hadn’t gone the way you’d hoped but excited that you’d met someone new in the first place.

When you got home, you considered texting Yizhuo, but you didn’t want to come on too strongly and make her uncomfortable. So, you decided to just turn your phone off for the night and go to sleep. Before you could, though, you opened your phone and saw a new message.

Yizhuo: Hi! Just wanted to say I had a lot of fun tonight. I’d love to see you again sometime. Y/N: That sounds great! Just let me know when you know what days you’re free. Yizhuo: Will do. Good night! Y/N: Good night.

The next morning, you woke up and got ready for work, just like any other day. When you got to the office, however, you were pleasantly surprised by a familiar face.

“Oh my god, (Y/N)! Hi!” Yizhuo cheered, pulling you into a hug.

“Hi! What are you doing here?” you asked.

“Today is my first day in the legal department! I’m so happy to see someone here that I actually know,” she commented, laughing softly as she spoke.

“Well, good luck! If you need anything or have any questions, just let me know.”

“I will!” she replied, letting go of you so that she could get to work.

Nothing significant happened for the rest of the day, except for Yizhuo asking if you wanted to get dinner with her after work. You happily agreed, and the two of you decided to go to a local restaurant that was close to the bar you’d met at the night before.

At the end of your shift, you met Yizhuo at the restaurant. Once you sat down at a table and ordered drinks, she asked, “So, when did you start working at the Kwangya Corporation?”

“I’ve been working there for just under a year. How did your first day go?”

“Better than expected. I thought that I was gonna struggle a lot, but Aeri was a huge help. She’s in charge of training me.”

“Aeri is one of the best employees the company has. If anyone can help you feel more at ease and teach you how to do things the right way, it’ll be her.”

The two of you continued to chat for what felt like hours as you enjoyed your meal and relaxed after a chaotic day. You talked about everything from what you did at work to foods that you liked, and with every word, you found yourself continuing to fall for her. The way she treated you fell firmly into the “platonic affection” category, though, much to your disappointment.

At the end of the meal, Yizhuo smiled and said, “Thank you for hanging out with me; I needed to get out and have fun with a friend.”

“It’s no problem. I’m happy to hang out whenever, as long as I’m not busy.”

After you paid for your food, she pulled you into a hug and left the restaurant. As you got into your car and drove home, you wondered if she would ever see you as anything more than a friend.

A few weeks later, you were walking into work when you saw Yizhuo speedwalking toward you. She looked much happier than usual, and when she finally reached you, she said, “Oh my god, you’ll never believe what happened last night!”

“What happened?” you asked.

“I met someone.”

You were surprised, to say the least, but you still tried to seem happy for her as you asked, “Really? What’s their name?”

“His name is Shotaro. We met at the bar last night. Actually, it was the same bar that I met you! Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah, totally,” you answered, hoping that the hurt you were feeling wasn’t too obvious.

Before Yizhuo could say anything else, you walked into the building and made your way to your desk, which was in a different department. You knew it was petty, but you really didn’t want to listen to her talk about the amazing guy that she met, at the same bar that she met you, no less. All you wanted to do was focus on your work.

The day went by quickly, probably because you were determined to focus solely on your work until you got home. As you walked to your car, however, you couldn’t help but start thinking about how lonely you really were. Sure, you had friends, and you were somewhat close to your family, but you really missed having someone to fall asleep with at night and kiss good morning. You knew that you would find someone eventually, but you couldn’t help but wonder just when that would be.

The next month of listening to Yizhuo talk about how amazing Shotaro was and how much she loved spending time with him was difficult, to say the least. You were happy for her, of course, and you knew that holding onto your hurt wouldn’t help you get over her, but you couldn’t help but think about her constantly. You knew it was stupid, but you slowly found yourself falling harder and harder for your friend.

The way you felt only got harder to ignore whenever Yizhuo spent the night at your apartment. She stayed with you one night a week, sometimes two if she had a particularly bad fight with Shotaro, and over time, those nights became your favorite part of the week. Every time the two of you watched a movie together on your couch, her arm wrapped around you as you leaned into her side, you found yourself actually relaxing, and part of you couldn’t help but imagine that one day, she might see you the same way you saw her.

At some point, Yizhuo and Shotaro broke up, and you were the first person that she went to for comfort. She showed up on your doorstep late at night, tears in her eyes and a stuffed bear that you’d given her for her birthday in her hands. When you saw her, you knew pretty much immediately what was wrong, and the second your door was closed, you pulled her into a hug and said, “I’m so sorry. Do you wanna talk about it?”

Yizhuo shook her head and said, “I don’t think it would help.” After a moment of silence, she added, “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Of course.”

Once she was fully inside, you led her to the couch and picked a funny movie to watch together. While the movie played, she relaxed in your arms, and you found yourself thinking about how badly you wanted her once again. You knew better than to tell her, though, especially because she was there for comfort after the end of a relationship.

Eventually, Yizhuo moved on from Shotaro and started dating someone new. The relationship didn’t exactly last long, though, and based on the fact that she never even told you their name, you figured that it probably wasn’t serious. Regardless, she was heartbroken when they broke up with her, and you found yourself in a similar situation with her once again.

With every new relationship that Yizhuo got into, the cycle repeated, and after a few months of continuing to fall for Yizhuo while she dated and hooked up with other people, you started to consider distancing yourself from her. Not because you didn’t want to be around her, of course, but because you thought that space was the only thing that would help you get over her. So, over time, you started hanging out with her less and less.

When Yizhuo realized that you were distancing yourself from her, she couldn’t understand why. She stayed up late every night wondering what she did wrong, and she couldn’t think of anything that would have upset you. Every time the two of you talked or hung out, you were like a ray of sunshine, never even hinting that you were upset with her. Despite your upbeat demeanor around her, however, she couldn’t think of any other reason that you would distance yourself.

You even started avoiding Yizhuo at work, much to her disappointment and confusion. There were times that she considered just asking you what she did wrong, but she worried that it would cause an argument and make you want to distance yourself further or even stop talking to her entirely, so she really didn’t want to do that. Instead, she just hoped that one day the two of you could be as close as you were when you first met.

After a while, you found yourself thinking about Yizhuo less and less, and you wondered if it meant that you were finally starting to get over her. Before you could think about that too much, though you decided to try putting yourself out there once again, hoping that you could speed up the process of getting over Yizhuo by getting under someone else.

On a night that you felt particularly lonely, you went to the same bar that you’d met Yizhuo, but instead of actually meeting someone, you went home completely alone. So, you decided to try again the next night. Your second attempt was also unsuccessful, so you went home, collapsed onto your bed, and sobbed, wondering what was wrong with you that no one wanted you.

At some point in the night, amidst the depression threatening to swallow you whole, you thought, “Fuck it,” and texted Yizhuo to see if she was busy. Sure, you knew that you had no chance with her, but you figured that it was about time for you to fix your shit and accept that she only saw you as a friend. Hell, maybe the two of you could even go out to the bar act as wingmen for each other.

One night, while Yizhuo was thinking about the sudden shift in your relationship, she finally realized that her feelings for you weren’t strictly platonic, like she’d always thought. It all started when she allowed herself to actually wonder why she even cared so much, and all it took was a surprise text from you to realize that she was indeed falling for you.

Y/N: Hey. Are you busy tomorrow? Yizhuo: No, unless you count work. Why? Y/N: Do you want to go out tomorrow? Yizhuo: Sure!

Yizhuo’s heart started to race at the idea of actually spending time with you again, and she recognized the giddy feeling from when she first met Shotaro. As she thought about the implications of that, she wondered why her feelings changed when they did and why she had to have the realization that they’d changed after you’d already distanced yourself from her. In the end, though, all she could do was hope that you didn’t change your mind about hanging out or start dating someone else while the two of you weren’t talking as much.

Before Yizhuo went to bed, she spent a long time wondering if she should just tell you how she felt. In the end, she didn’t exactly make a concrete decision one way or the other. Instead, she decided to wait and see how your plans tomorrow went. If you seemed interested in her the same way she was interested in you, and you didn’t mention dating anyone, she would tell you. If you mentioned dating someone else or seemed uninterested in her, she would keep her mouth shut.

The next morning came, and you and Yizhuo agreed to meet at a local park after work. The moment you arrived at the park and sat down on a bench next to her, the feelings that you’d tried so hard to get rid of came rushing right back. You wanted to run away the moment you realized, but a strange feeling in your gut told you to stay. Maybe it was hope that Yizhuo would reciprocate your feelings. Maybe it was desire to not lose your friend. Most likely, though, it was a combination of both.

“So, how have you been?” Yizhuo asked, hoping that the small talk would ease some of the awkwardness between you.

You thought for a minute about how you wanted to answer her question. Did you want to lie and tell her that everything was fine, or did you want to admit that you missed her and felt like an idiot for pushing her away? In the end, you chose the latter and said, “Truthfully, I’ve been a goddamn mess. I’ve missed you a lot.”

“Then why didn’t you talk to me?”

With a sigh, you answered, “I was hurting, and I thought that I was doing the right thing by stepping back until I had time to heal.”

“All this time I thought I did something wrong,” she said, seemingly deflating as she spoke.

“I never meant to make you think that. I am so sorry.”

There was a moment of silence before she asked, “So, we’re ok?”

“Yes. We’re ok. I’m so sorry for ever making you think that we weren’t.”

There was silence for a while after that, but neither of you seemed to mind. It was like the need to fill the space with words was gone, with only the joy of finally being in each other’s company again remaining. After a while, however, Yizhuo felt like she was going to explode if she didn’t find out how you really felt about her. So, with a deep breath, she asked, “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, of course. What is it?”

“What was going on that you felt like you needed to distance yourself from me?”

You sighed at the question, unsure if you wanted to admit to your feelings. After all, what if she didn’t feel the same way, and you lost her again? But then again, what if she did feel the same way? In the end, you decided to just bite the bullet and quietly say, “I realized that I like you in a not-strictly-platonic way. I thought that distancing myself would make the feelings go away, but I was wrong.”

Yizhuo was silent for a minute as she processed your words, and you started to worry that you’d fucked up your friendship permanently. Before you could worry for too long, though, Yizhuo turned to you and said, “I also like you in a not-strictly-platonic way, you know.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I realized it at some point while we weren’t talking as much. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out, but I’m happy I did.”

There was another awkward silence before you started to ask, “Does this mean that-”

Before you could even finish your question, Yizhuo wrapped her arms around your neck and kissed you. You melted into her hold, and you couldn’t help but feel like an idiot for not just telling her how you felt sooner. In the end, though, the fact that you waited so long to tell her didn’t really matter, because you two still found your way back to each other in the end.

When Yizhuo pulled away from the kiss, the first thing she said was, “In case that didn’t make it obvious, the answer is yes.”

With a smile, you asked, “In that case, are you busy on Valentine’s Day?”

“I don’t have anything planned right now, but I can definitely change that. Why do you ask?”

“Why don’t we go out that night? It’d be nice to go on a proper date with you.”

“Is this not a proper date?” she asked with a laugh.

“Let me rephrase. It’d be nice to go out with the intention of it being a date. Despite the way things worked out, I really didn’t intend for today to be a date.”

Yizhuo smiled as she responded, “That does sound nice.”

The two of you continued to enjoy your time at the park until it got dark outside. At that point, you each went your separate ways, but not without Yizhuo kissing you one more time. It was early in your relationship still, but as you drove back to your apartment, you had a pretty strong feeling that the two of you would be ok.

Valentine’s Day finally arrived, and you spent most of the day worrying about whether the restaurant you’d picked was good enough or if Yizhuo would like the gift that you’d bought her. When you actually met your now girlfriend at the restaurant, however, you realized that you didn’t have anything to worry about. She greeted you with a grin on her face and a bouquet of flowers in her hands, the exact same pink roses you’d bought for her.

When you both realized that you’d bought each other the same flowers, you shared a laugh, and you put the flowers in your car before the two of you walked into the restaurant together. As the two of you were seated at a table, you found yourself wondering how you got as lucky as you did meeting someone like Yizhuo. Her smile made even your darkest days brighter, and she never let a day go by without telling you just how much she cared about you. Valentine’s Day, of course, was no exception. As soon as the two of you finished ordering your appetizers, she said, “I love you.”

You were caught off guard, since she hadn’t explicitly said that she loved you before, but you still smiled and said, “I love you too.”

The rest of your time at the restaurant went by in silence for the most part, with both of you enjoying each other’s presence too much to worry about talking beyond the occasional comment about your food. If you’d been out with anyone else, you would have been upset about the lack of conversation, but since you were with the woman you loved, you didn’t really mind.

After you left the restaurant, you went home to put your flowers in a vase. Then, you drove to Yizhuo’s apartment, just like you’d planned to do earlier. When you finally got there, you knocked on the door, and she answered, though she looked disheveled. You wanted to ask if she was ok, but before you got the chance, she said, “Hi, honey. You got here faster than I thought you would.”

“Are you ok, baby?”

“Yeah, I’m ok. Just setting something up.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll see. Can you wait here for just a minute?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Yizhuo shut the door, and you waited outside for her to be ready. While you waited, you heard her walking around her apartment singing the same song she’d sung at the bar the night you met, followed by a crash and a string of curses. After a bit more noise, she opened the door and said, “Come in.”

You entered her apartment and saw that she’d decorated her entire apartment with lights and balloons, and “Howl’s Moving Castle” was ready to play on her TV. With a smile on her face, she led you to the couch. Once you found a comfortable position, she sat down next to you, leaned her head on your shoulder, and started the movie.

About halfway through the movie, you noticed that Yizhuo was asleep. You really didn’t want to wake her, but you knew that her bed would be far more comfortable than the couch. So, you gently shook her and said, “Baby, wake up.”

“What’s going on?”

“You fell asleep during the movie.”

“I’m sorry honey,” she said with a pout.

“It’s ok, baby, I just figured you might be more comfortable in your bed than on the couch.”

With an exaggerated pout on her face, she asked, “Will you stay here tonight?”

“Yeah, of course. Do you have an extra toothbrush?”

Yizhuo nodded and stood up before helping you off the couch. After that, the two of you got ready for bed together. After you both brushed your teeth, Yizhuo gave you an extra set of pajamas to change into. Then, you both changed your clothes and went to bed. Your lover held you close the entire night, and you couldn’t help but think that you wanted to fall asleep next to her every night of your life.

Thank you for reading! If you liked this, please like and reblog! If you wanna be tagged in future works, fill out the taglist form here! If you want to check out my other works, check out my main masterlist. If you want to see what else is in the works, you can check my upcoming works list! If none of that interests you, or there's something specific you want to see, feel free to send a request via my asks or dms!

Thank you again for reading. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day!

[megapteraurelia]

sibling!bokuto. | 2

a/n | he is smarter than i give him credit for, but stupid bokuto is my spirit animal and will forever be written as such (at least in this series)

“KOUTAROU!”

the house suddenly fell silent, even though there had been laughter and yells just before. the sudden stillness settled heavily over the air and the taste of fear was faint in the air. 

no response from your brother. absolutely none. 

if you hadn’t heard him screech about something senseless and probably silly just a couple seconds ago, you would have thought he truly wasn’t there. after all, having bokuto koutarou make no noise is impossible. the fourth of newton’s laws of motions dictated that where koutarou went, chaos followed.

so, you decided to pay him a visit.

slowly, you stamped your way to the living room, where you had heard him last. him and some of his friends from school; some guy who kept apologising to you about your brother’s antics, which you found highly unnecessary since you knew exactly the type of person koutarou was, as well as some other guy who seemed to pathetically be full of himself (it didn’t even work). 

you found two of the three sitting on the couch, junk food strewn on the table in front of them, empty bottles of iced tea and half-drunk soda standing on coasters that you knew akaashi had put underneath the glasses, because koutarou never would. that was partly why your mom loved having akaashi over, you mused.

unsurprisingly, though, no sight of your brother.

“hey, younger bokuto-san,” akaashi waved at you from the couch, and konoha also shot you a grin at seeing you. absentmindedly, you murmured a hello back, eyes swiping over the chaotic living room to find a certain white-black haired individual. 

it wasn’t hard to find him. 

koutarou never had any new hiding places even though you told him that you found him all the time; all his brain cells were needed to survive day by day, so he barely used them for anything else. school could attest, at least. 

your eyes zeroed in to the dining table set up on the right wall, and the feet peeking out from behind the farthest chair. he wasn’t completely visible, but because he continuously forgot how big he actually was you could see the tip of his spiked hair peer out, the curve of his shoulders, his feet. 

“koutarou,” you said again, your voice hard.

he didn’t move, but the hair trembled. konoha’s muffled laughter cut through the air, and akaashi sighed out, shaking his head, mumbling something about koutarou having it coming for him.

“oh, it seems like my dearest brother isn’t here,” you still stared at the spot where he was hiding, but spoke to his friends, “well, if he isn’t man enough to face me — “ his hair perked up at that and you knew you had him, just another…push: “ — then i suppose i just have to make him understand in a different way.”

“what’s that then, younger bokuto-san?” akaashi’s voice sounded void of emotion, having already mediated enough times between you two to know the spiel and the dramatics between you both, disinterested as he drank his soda, slightly regretful at his indulgence. 

“easy!” you pointed at koutarou’s hiding place, pointed hard at the person hiding behind the furniture, willed your entire annoyance into it, “i just have to throw away all his photocards that he hid in his bird of prey nature book!”

like an explosive, bokuto koutarou jumped out from behind the chair, his finger pointed back at you accusingly; deep baritone  of his whiny as he cried out, “that is so cruel of you! how dare you?! girls’ generation did nothing to you!”

“here we go,” konoha cackled gleefully, hand coming down hard to clap akaashi’s shoulder. the latter looked like he was contemplating his existence hard, more so than usual.

“no, but YOU did. how dare you eat my last yoghurt?! you don’t even like the flavour??”

koutarou had the decency to blush, but his eyebrows shot up until they disappeared in his hairline, anyway, looking at you like you were stupid. again. would anybody really question you or mind if you were to clock him one right now? 

“no, but i was hungry? have you ever been hungry in your life before? why would i not eat when i’m hungry?”

“because it was mine.”

“i’ll buy you a new one,” he shrugged, a grin on his face as if that solved anything.

you narrowed your eyes and akaashi stared at his drink as if he would rather be anywhere else but konoha was loving it, “liar. you never bought me any of the food you stole from me.”

“okay, hold on a moment,” he said seriously, his hands held up in the air like a timeout, “i’m not a thief. we spoke about it, remember? mom forced you to tell me that my hair colour doesn’t make me into a robber.” 

he aggravated you, so you lied to him, “i lied.”

“no, you didn’t!” he gasped, eyes wide open and he looked to akaashi and konoha for help; a louder burst of laughter from the latter, wheezing as his hand slapped akaashi’s shoulder again, and this time, his friend, wincing from the hits, decided to step in, “bokuto-san, you’re not a robber. there’s no need to worry about that, though you should apologise for taking your younger sibling’s food without asking because that’s not very kind.”

koutarou gripped his hair tightly between fisted hands, a constipated look on his face as he tried to understand the many different opinions and facts thrown at him, “wait, i’m so confused now. what’s happening, what am i now?” an idiot, all three of you thought, deadpanning.

[waxworkdaughter]

@randomfoggytiger replied: @waxworkdaughter Was thinking on your post and came back because I'm doubly curious: do you think Scully's bent as described above is due to the lazy writing as the show went on, or more... how do you say, CC wanting to be smart and sounding vastly unintelligent? I noticed in the Revival he wrote most of the scripts as if he had something to prove (I mean, after IWTB I can see why...) but there was so much negligent nonsense that, somehow, those few episodes were leagues worse than the 90s-early 00s (and with looser deadlines, apparently. Or hypothetically.) I might not concur with your final conclusion, but your observation does speak to an issue I think we can both agree on: garbage quality control. So! In short. XDDD What would you say is the root cause-- is it part of the roots' system, or did it get grafted in later? o.o

So I wanted to clarify that what I meant by 'conspiratorial' is actually kind of what you said "They reject basic facts because those facts are too rational for them." I don't mean the part of conspiracy theory where the person has started blaming (((someone))) for why "no one knows XYZ" or "here's what's really going on" but the start of it, linking disparate, half reasonable-half fantastical dots that don't really link and stating it as 'absolutely why such and such is happening." Her "rational" explanations are correct for our reality In Real Life. Sort of.

However, due to the structure of the show, where they decided early on that "Mulder is always right" (ish) and that the dangers of the conspiracy and the monsters had to be substantive and visible to the audience and the characters, the real world explanations are observably and basically incorrect. Her theories for the 'earthly' explanation using the basic facts of our world only feel rational for a certain amount of time, until the number of repeated, personal experiences she had and experiences that Mulder had (which, while the writing states "she trusts him more than anything, with her life, she trusts his judgement" her plot related actions show that she would have to completely distrust his judgement to dismiss all of it) begins to make her arguments seem irrational and half baked. Instead of using her scientist's mind to accept the improbable that is backed with consistent experience in waking life, at least around the syndicate/the greys/the hybrids/the oil virus/her abduction experience and others, plus a number of the mutants, she leaps past the 'basic facts' of their X-files reality to use conjecture and barely related pseudo science to come up with a more 'plausible' answer. It becomes "of course it's not [paranormal phenomenon that's not true irl but was just seen on screen] it's [also wild pseudo science of half understood concepts linked in ways they aren't meant to be linked, written by someone on a deadline who grabbed enough buzzwords to get through the episode]" and, it's scifi, it's technobable, it doesn't have to make sense or be 'real' science! but you cant then frame the character saying the equally bizarre things that are denying the reality the audience can see as, 'the rational reasonable one speaking for real world science" without that framing tarnishing, and quickly, in the audience's eyes.

In some ways it falls back into the old trope of the nag-wife tbh. Which is very unfair to how Scully was originally conceptualized, and the immense gentleness and empathy and curiosity that was part of her character at first.

I think it's a combination of the worldbuilding for the show (the monsters and aliens are real, and we should see them to prove mulder isn't a pathetic paranoiac) and the formula of "skeptic vs believer" plus the impulse to show that Scully is intelligent and grounded in our reality, to function as the 'voice of the audience' kind of character clashing in an unexpected way that makes her seem to be in denial of her own reality. You can come up with characterization based reasons for this, definitely, but it does seem to be basically a function of preserving the plot function ahead of everything. Even a basic understanding of occam's razor and a willingness to move the character arcs along could have tempered this, because sometimes the simplest answer in the X Files reality is that it was aliens or a mutant, and having her deny these basic facts in order to preserve the real-world-audience/skeptic voice ironically makes her begin to seem irrational and unscientific by the given values of the warped X-Files reality.

And also yes, the desire from CC (and others, but him especially) to sound really smart and broadly educated without really understanding a lot of the scientific concepts, or the theology, or the philosophy of science he's talking about. It makes her 'research and science' based conjectures sound more out-there and bizarre than they are intended to be (though from an in character point of view, tbh i do find this endearing). It also makes me wonder if there was an accidental or intentional conflation that happened between the regular-colloquial concept of being rational/reasonable (clear thinking and grounded in reality, educated reasoning) and the philosophical-epistemological rationalism (believing in systems of reasoning and that innate knowledge of what 'feels true' via previously established logic is what is true, sometimes even superseding experiential and physical evidence). Which is something interesting you can work with in watsonian characterization, too. Or ignore it completely, which is also fair lol.

But basically I think it comes from the fact that by s4 they were a big hit, and CC knew it and the network knew it and the personal relationship between M & S and the work banter formula got put into a holding pattern for a few seasons because that's what the people at the top of the food chain thought had made them a hit. It's just that we as a fandom tend to talk about the personal relationship side more... I personally find them more linked tbh. And then for a little while there, there was a lot of turnover in who was writing scripts. And it also seemed like in the last 3-4 seasons of the show CC was more and more entrenched in his own ego and his battle of wills with other writers, DD, and fans about how much the character arcs, Mulder's especially for some reason but of course this effected Scully too bc they're not separable characters, should be allowed to grow and change, and he kept hitting the reset button on their personal and professional positions.

everyone in the writer's room working on Scully past about season 4 had a really weird idea of what "logic" meant. and "science." and "rational." It's not even a colloquial vs epistemological issue it's this weird belief that scientific thinking = prescribed and traditionalist, instead of exploratory and evidence based and subject to change.

I've talked about this before but it gets so frustrating, because Early Scully has a very different and more open viewpoint. Her goal is to vet and find evidence and won't vouch for anything short of that as verifiable fact, but she does also judge by the evidence of her eyes and ears and Mulder's eyes and ears and says 'obviously something is going on here that's beyond the norm, we just can't define or swear to it what' and reels off theories that have some basis (...ish) in established scientific canon to give them more directions to investigate. It read as alternately a sincere effort play her part and work out what was happening, or as a running joke as part of a partnership, knowingly reeling off some largely absurd theory based on obscure research because they don't have anything more concrete to work on and the meeting Mulder's eye with a tiny shrug.

Later Scully has been trapped in the cultural box of """scientific""" and """skeptical""" so completely that her scientific theorizing -- aside from in the rare episodes that focus on her on her own and free her to play both the skeptic and the believer roles -- ends up feeling like she's re-imagining reality to fit her preconceptions of what "should" be happening, instead of trying to come up with some testable theory for what is happening. Because it's a show where the aliens and psychic powers and cryptids and mutants are visible, literally extant, and doing things in front of them more and more definitely as time goes on. Both the audience and the characters see the things at least to some extent in more cases than not.

This means that Scully's "rational explanations" end up feeling more like reality-denying conspiracy theories, even more so than Mulder's wild guesses, which are also usually wrong at first pass but as they work within the TXF reality that the audience can observe, they feel more accurate. With the later tone and framing ends up feeling like her role is to obstruct and poke holes, even ridicule in some instances. The banter and the "opposites" became more important than the collaboration, and being "scientific" was replaced by the irrationality of clinging to commonsense over experience.

I mean, I choose to ignore it entirely most of the time but can see where some of that kind of 'mean sarcastic scully' fanon comes from, and I think it's really unfortunate. it's not about how Scully's personality is framed or who she's meant to be as a person, it seems to come from basic misunderstanding in the largely turned-over writer's room about how scientific reasoning works and how their partnership felt so equal and well matched at first. And it's understandable that that kind of underpinning would get compromised in the absolutely brutal pace of writing for a 22+ episode season. It's just a shame that this doesn't really course correct until the last couple of seasons where there are so many other issues with the main plot that it gets lost in the shuffle. Thus, Mean Scully is essentially cemented in certain parts of pop culture and fanon perception.

[atomicjellyb3an]

“the Undercity was just her charity project in season 1 and was just to defy her parents”

“she 100% wouldn’t have cared if she shot Isha”

“it’s been her plan all along-“

BANG

i’m going to need you to never speak on Arcane ever again

[bayetea]

seeing non-black people critique rick's portrayal of black characters is interesting sometimes. only like 30% of the critiques I see make any sense to me to be honest

[right-there-ride-on]

Gyjo in the fandom

cw: light discussion of ableism

Gyjo… what am I thinking about gyjo…

I like them. I like them a lot, actually. They have paralleled narrative arcs, they complement each other nicely, the romantic subtext is incredibly obvious to the point that even the most homophobic fan you know will admit they understand why people ship it… so why do I also have a problem with it?

There’s a lot of good fanart. Hell, I’ve reblogged plenty. Maybe it’s just something that’s more pronounced in fic.

I’m trying to word this correctly. My issue with gyjo has nothing to do with the text itself. I think my problem is just how people portray it in the fandom.

Maybe it’s because it’s so popular, or maybe it’s the sheer prominence of applying ‘Character A’ and ‘Character B’ dynamics without considerable regard for the characters involved, but I feel gyjo is very prone to flanderization. I believe the intersection with how ableist people are toward Johnny (intentionally or not, subtly or not) and the old tropes these two get shoved into makes it so I have trouble enjoying fics in the fandom.

I’m not saying it’s bad to enjoy certain tropes. I’m not saying headcanons are bad either. What I am saying is that writing is hard, but if you’re going to write fanfiction please have consideration for the characters you’re writing. The arcs of these two are complex and multilayered, which is why I think they have such staying power, but I also think they also provide a good opportunity for us as writers and artists to examine our biases when it comes to the portrayal of certain groups, personality types, mental illnesses, queerness, disability, etc. and maybe come out better people for it.

[agirlinthegalaxy]

It's been rolling around in my brain the last few days for some reason, but I still hate the family backstory reveals for Sophie and Eliot. I've seen some of the meta for it, but quite frankly, it still makes no sense. If it had been something actually thought of and intentional in the original, I think it could have been so fascinating. I mean, Sophie's willing abandonment of Astrid to contrast with Nate's loss of Sam or Eliot's adoption in contrast with Hardison's and Parker's? Could have been excellent! But they came out of nowhere in Redemption and don't work with these characters.

Sophie was still actively using the fucking alias that she met Astrid under! She met with someone from her past on the show! Like. Quite frankly, that one is unequivocally bullshit that they made up and threw in and pretended could fit with the established canon. (And I'm sorry, but the idea of Sophie abandoning Astrid and never telling Nate about her just... So much of Nate's trauma was rooted in the loss of Sam, and I think that introducing this element after he's gone and unable to respond to it taints Sophie and Nate's relationship in a way bc I'm not exactly sure how Nate would've responded to learning about this but I think that it's something he'd have needed to know. I don't know how to fully express my thoughts on that but yeah.)

As for Eliot, I don't like the adoption aspect literally at all. The way that he would interact with his family and the memory of his family would be different, and I think that it's flat out ridiculous to think that he'd have never mentioned it to the team in the original show, especially when dealing with the kid cases. (I also dislike the biracial adoption as its own element because if Eliot was actually raised by Black parents in the... idk what 80s/90s? That just. doesn't feel congruent with how they write Eliot interacting with PoC, not necessarily in a bad way, but babe, he's written like a white southern man raised in a specific kind of culture that does not jell with that. It also makes Eliot look... really bad that he was apparently raised with the knowledge of how fucked up the military was and his parents' history and made the choices that he did.) Like the show may not have explicitly stated it but the implication of that relationship was vastly fucking different throughout the original show.

Just. These were not backstories that were congruent with their depiction and characters in the original show, and they're also just moves that I don't particularly like or find interesting directions for those characters. There's also something to be said about how it was apparently unacceptable for a woman to not have kids or someone not reconciling with their biological family when that was something that the original show handled a lot better. Out of all the directions to take Sophie and Eliot's stories, that's just not really one that I think was a good idea.

[seventh-district]

again and again i find myself lamenting that audio roleplay isn't taken more seriously by some people. like yeah, they often have a romantic element, and by nature they usually directly involve/address the listener- and i totally get that those things aren't to everyone's taste. no art or entertainment is universally appealing, and that's okay! but.. it still makes me a lil sad that the "cringe" reputation of asmr/audio rp precedes it. there's a whole lot of talent and creativity being poured into these audios by so many people that i feel goes unrecognized and/or disrespected simply due to the medium that the stories are being told through.

[whenthegoldrays]

It will never cease to be baffling and beautiful to me when I see a character look at someone for the first time and immediately sense Good and Worth in them and just. get close to them. pursue them.

[skitskatdacat63]

Do you ever get super enamored w some writer(s)'s work and it's like ...how do I read any other fics for this fandom after this

[chuchayucca]

Discussions of implied fictional CSA & SA

I recently been wondering if there’s a chance Richard thinks Roy’s aggressive and distant behavior is normal and not a sign of CSA because he acted similarly to Roy when he was younger

Reasonings in the tags

[nonsensical-nonsence]

It’s because we write what we know

something they don’t tell you about being autistic is that every character you write WILL end up autistic/autistic-coded whether you like it or not