#anyway I love them they’re the cp of all time for me

[canayams-art]

[WIP] ⚠️

Long time no Governor’s Illness brainrot 📿✨

[locution-youngster-enjoyer]

💗Granny May

💗The Narrator

💗Leslie

💗Charlie and Meatloaf

Oh sweet Jesus Christ /hj

You’ve opened a whole can of worms with that one, ESPECIALLY for the Narrator

Granny May

I don’t have a lot to say about her because I don’t care that much about her overall, so I don’t have that much to say about her backstory-

She’s been in the villain business for a long long time and was more respected in her younger years. Her husband was also a criminal, but before him she dated Hal Hardbargain, who made her the mech suit she uses. They’re now bitter exes, and constantly fight because they’re cranky old people. Unfortunately, Granny May’s husband passed away, but she Carrie’s on her villain career because it fulfills her.

Granny’s mom is not a villain, and didn’t exactly approve of Granny’s career, but still loves her a lot.

Eugene and Granny don’t really talk anymore after the shorts. Granny is disappointed he gave up on his villain career so early, but otherwise doesn’t focus much on him.

Uhhhh yeah that’s all I got for her, I haven’t really given her much thought lol-

The Narrator

HAAHAHHAHA oh god

Ok so- in my AU headcanon thing (Idfk at this point), there’s three different levels of reality. There’s the irl world (aka us, yes you person reading this), the middle ground, and any fictional world. Narrator’s live in the middle ground, aware they’re fictional but also living out there own lives in some strange form of free will. This means that it’s possible that any narrator from any media could interact, though it’s typically separated between film/tv show narrators, and game narrators.

Also, most of them without canon names just go with whatever name their VA has, so the Narrator would be named Chris.

Chris is happily married to the Powerpuff Girls Narrator (aka Tom)

Time works differently in the fictional reality (aka the whole show of Wordgirl) then it does in the Middle Ground. Time skips that are shown in the show aren’t actual time skips to the Narrators. Chris will literally just walk off and do something else until whatever time is being skipped to. While he can just stick around after an episode, there’s no real reason to, but he sometimes does so anyway because he actually likes his protagonists.

Tom is a whole separate thing so if y’all want me to talk more about these two please let me know. I love ‘em :))

Idk what else to mention, I just like the silly voice guy

Leslie

MY GIRRLLL. I have so much to say about her

In my au, Leslie and Victoria Best have a strange mentor and student relationship.

This is because that Leslie had a very similar childhood to Victoria. The reason she seems to be so multitalented is because as a kid, her parents put her through so many tournaments and extra curricular activities. Kids viewed her as either weird or mean because she was working all the time. Unlike Victoria, Leslie didn’t constantly boast about being the best, but she did have a silent air of superiority.

Until around 8th grade, when a teacher called CPS on her parents. They lost custody of her (because of the horrible shit they would do to her), and she started living with her grandma.

No longer having the constant force telling her to be perfect, Leslie’s mental health and self confidence tanked. It why as an adult she gets stage fright easily.

She went to a really prestigious high school filled with several people with rich families (including some other characters). One of said characters was Claire McCallister, who she quickly befriended (they also dated briefly, but it didn’t really work out, with them leaving on good terms)

Eventually, her high school and another high school participated in an event where they competed with each other, and that’s where Leslie met Lady Redundant Woman, Ms Question, and Mr Big (pre-transition). She specifically hung out and befriended Shelly, and helped him realize he was trans, so for a while they were absolute best buds.

After school, Leslie started working in economics, but was pretty bored with her life, until she heard of a job opportunity as a secretary for an up and coming company. To her surprise, she ends up reuniting with Mr Big.

Mr Big didn’t originally have Mind Control is his company statement, he suddenly got the idea from a random joke Leslie made that he took way to seriously.

Over time, Leslie started to lose her energy for the job and her self esteem started to sink again. The lack of credit and the overworking she received do nothing to help her.

Charlie and Meatloaf

These guys are so silly :]

Meatloaf’s actual name is Joe

These two were roommates in college and were best buds ever since. They both got a job at a construction company together, and they began to befriend a certain Dr Boxleitner who kept calling for their help because he kept blowing up his lab.

Post the accident, Two Brains ‘hired’ them to come work for him, since they were the only people who he knew and who were willing to help.

They’re also in an asexual relationship with each other

[feuqueerfire]

FirstKhao Content Index

Started: Sep 12, 2022 || Updated: Nov 11, 2022

this is... a content index? idk it’s like random compilations and dynamics and thoughts, so not like my other content indices 

I love that they and their fan service remind me of kpop shipping which is like “we’re besties :) i love you a lot best friend” because I’m not really into “ooh are we dating? maybe” fanservice/dynamics, so I hope it doesn’t change.

First crying or getting emotional during sentimental moments

First crying when they pranked(?) him about Toe Laew breaking up

First Birthday IG Live last year where Khaotung wishes him well: "It will be emotional. No. stop." Didn't cry but was basically like stop before I do

First and Khaotung Workshop where they develop emotional intimacy. Khaotung's doing fine but First starts crying. This was the first time I'd seen him cry and was slightly taken aback wondering why he was crying when everybody else was chill but after following him for like 1 month, I was like ah

First and Khaotung event that was live online where Khaotung was wishing First birthday wishes this year and First was like "Tears are coming. Enough."

First expresses wanting "to build a house with the same fences as [Khaotung's]." This is the only time I've seen where Khao's crying too, wonder what the full video will be like.

First getting emotional when reading Tay’s comment to him in Safe House 4 + trying to not cry later when the group sings together

I think it's so endearing that First gets emotional/cries so easily and will sometimes put a stop to sentimental things before he ends up crying.

My longass thread of Khao taking care of or helping First because of his injured arm. It’s sooo important and pleasant to me when people just casually are helpful and attentive to someone’s needs T.T An NCT J/J fic made me realize it and wow I’ve not been the same since because Jeno quietly looks after Jaemin and just... so arrow to the heart fr (the spring i've been waiting by forlilcrickee). Anyway, Khao helping First with everything is adorable.

Safe House Season 4

They’re just cute and together all the time

First’s voice in his head saying Khao is cute and the older guys hosting an interview about it 

Not KhaoFirst but Tay and First are soooo cute and clingy and kissy together. With OffGun, I fell into OffGunTay and GunTay and seems like it’ll happen here too lol KhaoFirstTay and TayFirst. Anyway, here’s a reddit post about it on r/ThaiBL, search up tayfirst on the blog for more, I liked some tiktoks as well. This "tay thought first was asking for a kiss on his cheek when he was telling there's something on this face” TayFirst kiss is sooo good, especially because it’s practically what happened in 21 Days Theory recently like seriously straight out of a BL.

Also Tay/First/Khao are good and cute too. 

IG/Bilibili Lives

The Aug 26, 2022 IG live was a whole Time, spawned some iconic moments as shown in these tiktoks that got hella lotta views/likes and are high up in the firstkhaotung hashtag one two

[Fave] April 29, 2020 Bilibili live. Saw this clip where they’re extremely flirty for no freaking reason, they’re not even a cp, absolutely unhinged. this other clip of first calling khao handsome and them having a mini crisis

May 22, 2020 This Ohm and First IG Live before The Shipper ep 1 release where First is at Khao’s house. They got questioned and teased about it lol like hello it’s supposed to be Ohm/First because of The Shipper yet this KhaoFirst stray agenda T.T Khao didn’t even appear much in the live

Times When First Says Khao Plays Tricks On Him

I think people generally tend to think First would be the one playing pranks on Khao and my mans is on a mission to let everyone know that Khao is, in fact, a trickster and a prankster behind the camera.

Sep 1, 2022 Galaxy A53 live: “First’s happiness is teasing Khaotung, right?” “ Actually, he teases me. I don’t tease him. This is him in front of the camera that everyone sees. He’s not acting but this is a part of him when he’s working. When he's behind the camera, he likes teasing.”

Safe House 4 Day 5 clip: Khao pushes First, First tells the audience to look and see First isn’t the one teasing, Khao drags First out of frame

Before Becoming CP

The IG lives they did before then

July 7, 2020: first tweeted he wanted to see the stars and tagged khaotung

Twitter thread by  swwwwii: A thread of #firstkhaotung 2018-2021

To Watch

StarStruckxFirstKhaotung - It’s an English interview, so I can actually watch it instead of catching a few translated tweets here and there

Praew Magazine Interview of FirstKhaotung

KAZZTalK Interview

เมาท์เรื่องเกินคาธ จากกอง "คาธ" กับ เฟิร์ส ข้าวตัง หลุยส์ นีโอ 

Oct 12 ArmShare KhaoFirst

(ENG SUB) ชวน “เฟิร์ส-ข้าวตัง” มา REACT

Watched

Let’s Talk BL Interview - another English one and this time for a podcast I regularly listen to!

Episode 0 Eclipse

ชวน “เฟิร์ส-ข้าวตัง” มา REACT ซีนสุดพีคในซีรีส์ คาธ The Eclipse - Watching this after the LITA Cast reactions. Interesting to see First point out certain things like Neo flexing his muscles or Khao tilting his head a certain way to make a tear fall. First is soooo cute here, my babygirl

[paranoidgemsbok]

how i feel about skimanririank

1. i liked it :)

2. i would like to watch it again while im in my house with my gamer headphoens on

3. it was made on 15k canadian and you need to be aware of that and accept that beforehand

4. dont take other people to see this they’ll hate it

under here, there is more information that may contain content

its got the vibes of an arg.  think marbly hornets or the mandela catalogue, almost entirely long, static shots of floors and hallways and a fuzzy tv.  the audio is a lot of droning and loud old cartoons playing.  the dialogue is difficult to decipher whispering, sometimes with subtitles, sometimes not.  if youre a horror dipshit like me, all of this is great

of course i love the house of leaves/impossible space aspect to it, even beyond the fact that doors and windows disappear;  i felt like you never quite get a good feeling for the house’s layout, instead you get this, half an impression of how its supposed to be.  it really feels like a nightmare.  i like how much the viewer is left to figure out, through audio and through the simple dialogue, like when the kid says ‘i think its time to get up’ -ie. they cant tell what time it is because the windows are gone.  there were a lot of bits i really liked that made my skin fucking crawl.  what the fuck was that crunchy noise.

anyway this movie does kinda defy explanation or definite linear description, i got three possible conclusions from it. there are for sure more interpretations, and probably more accurate ones, but this is where im at just on my own: 

1. its a ‘wouldnt this be fucked up’ movie; a nightmare.  things change and you dont know why and time skips and nothing makes sense and you are so scared about everything and you try to get help and it doesnt ever ever work

2. its about child neglect.  very young children who are left to fend for themselves, leaning on one another and not understanding things happening around them because no one bothers to teach them.  i dont mean this in a ‘KIDS ARE ALWAYS JUST WATCHIN THE TV’ kind of way, i mean like genuine neglect where someone should fucking help or call CPS or something.  not having appropriate food or hygiene, being hurt and not getting help, seeing something horrible happen and not knowing what to do or how to process it

3. its about when people get ‘exotic’ pets like parrots or monkeys or like, give their small child a hamster.  they’re confined to a space that doesnt make sense, they cant find other members of their group, the light is wrong the enrichment is simple and repetitive, if its there at all, the entity taking care of them doesnt know or seem to care if they are getting hurt, etc.  this one is definitely 100% incorrect and not in the ballpark of the filmmakers intention but i got struck with a lot of similarities anyway

all that said, the version that i saw in theaters had a very intense ‘film grain’ filter over it, that i do not see on screencaps of the movie.  im assuming that was added to the theatrical release, but i really did not like it and you could see where the effect looped at times and it was very distracting when you caught it.  

i will say, now that im home and catching lil glimpses of the tops of doorframes leading to dark rooms in mirrors and shit im like.    HEUGH.

[jakeowen]

I posted 3,771 times in 2022

That's 1,583 more posts than 2021!

1,531 posts created (41%)

2,240 posts reblogged (59%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@kimberly-wexler

@mariacallous

@thisistemporaryiguess

@jakeowen

@uncahier

I tagged 1,773 of my posts in 2022

#spotify - 74 posts

#prev - 8 posts

#me - 8 posts

#yeah - 8 posts

#a man can laugh but a woman may only chuckle - 5 posts

#literally - 5 posts

#👀👀👀 - 5 posts

#litchrally - 5 posts

#literally though - 4 posts

#thanks i hate it - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#he was like ‘i’m moving to the south’ and i was like ‘me too’ and we were like ‘aight let’s be intentional and meet up in october’ lmao

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

35 notes - Posted January 5, 2022

#4

See the full post

54 notes - Posted November 2, 2022

#3

i just would like to say this: teachers were and are some of the staunchest advocates for in-person learning, and the first people to tell you how vital it is for students’ wellbeing. but it’s blatantly hypocritical the way that governments (at various local & federal levels) suddenly care about students’ wellbeing in this one aspect after years and years of ignoring schools and children. ctu wasn’t striking because the teachers didn���t care about the kids, they were striking because their schools did not meet the standards that would ensure in-person learning would be safe for students, teachers, and other school staff. the concern was never “i don’t want to go to work,” it was schools that have been ignored for decades to the point where they have serious ventilation issues, overcrowding, and inadequate resources to provide ppe or meet appropriate cleanliness standards. public officials have been ignoring student wellbeing for a very long time and it’s disingenuous for them to turn around and accuse teachers of doing the same when they ask for basic health and safety in their workplace. ctu said “we are prepared to teach remotely for the next two weeks out of safety concerns” and cps said “if you won’t come to work we’ll suspend your email access and all online teaching/learning resources” rendering students unable to turn in work, contact their teachers, or access any instruction in the last 3 weeks of their semester. so tell me who in this equation cares about student wellbeing

72 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

#2

leftist men who describe themselves as cynics are truly so annoying, especially because they are fucking lying. sorry, but actually the belief that if things get bad enough the revolution will finally come to free us all is just grimdark idealism. talk to a woman once. the true cynics are the moms who turn out to every single legislative meeting of their city and state to lobby for a gun reform bill that will maybe make gun violence 1% less deadly, and then gear up to do it all over again for the next bill. they don’t hold out hope for a mythical revolution (of which by the way, they’re smart enough to know they and their children would suffer more consequences than they’d reap rewards). they’re the cynics. they know that they are near powerless in a system that’s against them. but instead of believing in fairy tales they use their fragments of power to fight back anyway. cynicism is key to any successful movement, which is why women power movements.

130 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

reblog if mike i love you because you’re gay and cause you’re dangerous

156 notes - Posted January 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[lamonnaie]

hi!! gmmtv anon again ✨. i’m sorry for disappearing but real life was kicking my ass

the amount of fanmeets a lot of them do in general is insane. i do understand that this is how the company and the actors make a lot of their money, but come on they are overdoing it at this point. they are actors after all and not idols even tho p’tha called them “idols” 🗡️🗡️🗡️

i remember gem saying that he will have two shows next year, but idk if they will pair him up with a girl for the second one or if it will be another show with fourth. tbh before part 1 aired i was so sure they were gonna give winnysatang their own show with gemfourth as a side couple plus their own show as mains lol

i might check out some of joong’s scenes, but since it’s focused on the girls those scenes will very likely always involve film in one way or another. ugh it’s so annoying 😩

oh speaking of joong, a fan asked him at a fansign if he will have a show with dunk next year and he was like “no <3. Or maybe?” (https://x.com/allaboutnia_jd/status/1716433598008684595?s=46). i know they can’t spoil anything but this made me want to fight him hahahahah

so true! i’m glad we got a lot of new faces and that they’re actually giving them lead roles!!! you go gmmtv!!!

yeah mark was doing the most this year, and i love that for us and because i do5 think i would ever get tired of seeing his face. i’m still a bit sad about him having to drop out of cooking crush because getting more of neomark would’ve been epic. but it was also understandable because he had OF promo and shooting for last twilight going on at the same time. anyways, i do hope he will get offered more serious and maybe even lead roles now that he’s established himself an actor who can do more than just play the comic relief.

i’m praying for part 2 having even better shows than part 1 and pls it would be so funny if they gave taynew and offgun another show 😭😭😭

Hii!! :) Don't worry about it anon, no pressure at all to reply, life happens sometimes <3

nah the idol thing is so funny actually 😭😭 like some of these people are amazing actors, but extremely mediocre singers/dancers/etc at best hajskdj. i swear as soon as someone is even slightly marketable, off they go. i remember there were a couple markford intl fanmeets, even though i dont think they're gonna pair up again for a show

I definitely was expecting a het show for one or both of gem4th, but since the lineup's in 2 parts, it would make sense to save that for the 2nd installment (can already see the delulu fans not being too keen on it... gemini hung out with bimbeam recently and some people on twitter were.. yeah 😬) hopefully we get my love mix up soon after to kinda calm that 😂 (and then i'm completely wrong and we get another gem4th show 👀 i wouldn't be opposed either)

and another gem4th wnst show sounds so cute actually !!! i was honestly expecting a wnst leads show (not an ensemble), is it bad to still have hope for pt 2 🥺 at the very least, they seem to be going the full established cp route with wnst, they're gonna be in LOL next year + the logo. soooo if not pt 2, at the very least we'll surely get a wnst show in gmm2025 🤞

real, and given how many characters there are in ploy's yearbook, i can't imagine they're all gonna get a lot of screentime anyway. Also i didn't realise joong was paired up with film?? not the biggest fan of film (i'm sure she's lovely, i just don't vibe), sooo not looking too good for me 😅

JOONG WHYY 😭😭 he looks so smug, i dont know what to make of that <//3 ppw essentially spilled everything about their series before pt 1, surely he can give us some crumbs, not cryptic nonsense like that LMAO althoughh we've technically gotten a jd show 2 years in a row so maybe they're giving it a rest??

(also i was so confused by the person repeating himself in the background in english, took me way too long to realise it was dunk 😭😂)

(also anon, my bestie, this is kinda embarassing so keep it a secret for me <3 but i've been watching way too many of those jd tiktok compilations on yt lately 😭😭 i am the fan and i am being serviced 😌😅 hopefully we get another show soon tho)

i'm so glad mark's managing to make that jump!! he's such a good actor, both in comedy and more serious stuff :) i do hope we get more neomark at some point, i wouldnt want them to become a fixed pairing but i do wanna see them act together again

yesss i always see people not too happy about the lineups, maybe my expectations are too low but i'm pretty optimistic for pt 2 !! i rlly loved a lot of the shows in part 1, so hopefully they can match or top that :]

also anon did u see the last twilight trailer getting delayed 😭😭 gmm why (seem to be asking that a lot lately ajskdj) i rlly like jimmysea but i know they aren't as popular as other cps, and this isn't helping :((

[thekimspoblog]

"Far From Civilized" (One of my crossover fanfics where Kim and Love are frenemies. Also this one is set in AHS Season 6)

The Toyota Camry pulled up the windy dusty road, and slowed to a stop. The volume on the radio dipped and then went completely silent.

“Oh wow!” Love Quinn peeled her sunglasses off of her face as she stepped out of the car. “When they said this place was special, they weren’t lying. Can’t you feel it? The energy is just different around here. The air is charged!” She held her hands out in a phony psychic gesture as she sashayed up the front steps and turned the key in the lock.

Once her ex-husband had joined her in the grand hall, she took him by the hand and beamed at him, “Welcome home!”. Joe craned his head backwards to take in the way the spiraling staircase climbed to the second story of the imposing old farm house, “Where did you say you found this place again?” he asked skeptically.

“My friend, Kim said she was planning to use it as a tax haven, but then the IRS got wise. She sold it to me for $20!”

“I do recall saying something about wanting to move to a cabin in the woods,” said Joe, “but this wasn’t quite what I had been picturing”

Love had left the front doors wide open, and now a second engine could be heard shutting off outside. Love bounded back down the stairs to meet a pick-up truck decorated with confederate flags. Two burly men climbed out of the flatbed, followed by an old woman with long gray hair and a dirty nightgown. For all three of them, dental hygiene seemed to be a foreign concept.

“That must be our neighbors stopping by to greet us”

“The Clampett Family?” Joe continued to carp.

“Don’t be rude!” Love elbowed him hard in the side, “At least I don’t have to worry about you sleeping with any of them”

“You must be Cain Polk,” she extended the first hillbilly a firm handshake, “And you’re Lot Polk, is that right?”

“You made a mistake buying this property” Lot began his grim spiel, “Should’a asked the last five city people who moved here whether it was a good idea first. Only you can’t… ‘cus they’re all dead”

“Ghosts, right?” Love dismissed them, “Don’t worry. I know we don’t look like it, but we can hold our own against butchers. Trust us… we didn’t do well in the suburbs either!”. She surprised the old woman by going in for a hug; “Mama Polk! I heard what the Millers did to your boys. It breaks my heart to hear that; the Millers had what was coming to them. My son was taken away by CPS too, you know. My only consolation is that he’s in a better place now”

“Did you do it in the lake, or did you use a pillow?” Mama Polk asked through a rigid jaw. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was prepared to lower her defenses, if only an inch.

It took Love a moment to realize what Mrs. Polk was asking, but then she laughed, “Oh no! No! He’s with a gay couple who’s raising him. Well anyway, as far as I’m concerned, this is your forest. My fiance and I promise to tread lightly, and I can only hope that with time, the respect will be mutual. We haven’t done any hunting yet, but once we do, I’ll bring you over some fresh bear. There are a few recipes I’ve been meaning to try”

Cain spat on the dirt in front of their house in response, and the Polks climbed back into their truck.

“Honestly, I expected that to go worse,” she sighed. As Love brought the suitcases into the house, she found herself still wondering if Mama Polk had really meant she had found the children which had been put in foster care, only to kill them herself.

The cupboard had been left stocked with the previous owner’s dishes. She retrieved the bottle of Merlot she had brought with her, filled two glasses, tore off the white sheet covering the sofa, and sat down. She watched Joe with intense interest for a few minutes.

“Whatcha thinking about?” she cocked her head playfully.

“Nothing”

“Nothing at all?”

“Ever since Rita put that chip in my head, it’s like she hit the mute button on my internal monologue. And honestly? Ever since she did, I’m happier. It was a burden”

Love wiped away the drool that was pooling at the edge of his mouth with her thumb. “I guess as long as you’re happy. That’s all that matters. I wish we still had Henry, though. This is the kind of place we should have been trying to raise a family all along”

“I was a fool. I set impossible expectations for you, and then blamed you when you couldn’t meet them,” Joe’s apology was monotone and robotic, “I wasted both our times chasing some pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, when I couldn’t see that I already had everything I wanted. Everything I deserved. But now I’ve come home, and I see it so clearly now; we’re soulmates”

“Is that really what you think?” Love pouted. Somehow, hearing him say it wasn’t as satisfying as she had hoped.

“Yes. We’ll do better this time”

His vacant stare still bothered her, but she decided not to dwell on it. She handed him the glass of wine and made a toast, “To… remarriage? Things are always better on the second try, when there are no more skeletons left in the closet. When we can’t say we ended up getting more than we bargained for. Marriages can come apart so easily, unless you’re prepared to work at it. Unless you can say you don’t just love someone in spite of their flaws, but because of them. Unless you decide that there’s still so much good left to have, that you can’t just sit by and not try to salvage it”

Her voice echoed through the caverns of the farmhouse. Joe simply smiled, nodded in agreement, and took a sip. Love threw her head back and defiantly swallowed half the glass in one gulp. Even though the sky was still blue, she could see the outline of the moon rising through the window overlooking the back porch. In autumn, the moon would turn blood red. She’d been warned about the hauntings, but she wasn’t afraid for that time of year. She looked forward to it! She and Joe would beat the ghosts back together, as a team. Fear was for the herbivores of society; bunnies and lambs and deer. For wild animals with sharp teeth like themselves, there was nothing scary about the nights getting longer. Autumn was a time for harvest.

“I mean if Kim Wexler can get a happy ending,” she bitterly asked her empty glass, “then why the hell shouldn’t I?”

[originalkid-basement]

I had a dream that my mom, my brother, some random dude, and I were watch a tv show that was something like that one show about the kids who have like dead beat parents and one of them has to raise everybody and some of them are adopted which is a little fucked up if you think about it cause why would the adoption agency let these parents adopt these kids when there is like no stable housing situation, the parents are like drunk as fuck all the time, the place is a fucking pigsty, and theres already like a million kids in this house. Was there no background check done? Anyways everyone leaves the house but me as soon as I started watching. Then some guy just walked right inside and it turns out that he was from cps and he wanted to take me away because of the show. And he started asking some questions of what it was about and I was like, “idk man, I just started watching it before you came inside.” So he was like, “oh ok, sure.” He did not believe me, but he left me off but he said I had to go to a theme park with a bunch of other kids. I was totally fine with that cause like, free vacation? I would not turn that down. Anyways the dream shifts and I’m waiting to be picked up to go to the park, and some massive hunk came up to me. Apparently he was my bodyguard/watcher, but he didn’t tell me that because I guess he didn’t speak in full sentences but he spoke enough to were I could understand him just fine. Anyways the bus comes and we’re placed into a group with two other people. They’re both a little older than me apparently. Nobody else got a bodyguard and it was just me cause I’m a special little prince. (Not actually a prince, it’s like special little princess but for boys) We eventually get to the theme park and on the way to pass inside this guy won’t let me out of his sight even for a second, and he would even get like physically aggressive with me and the other people in my group to make sure that that didn’t happen. The only time he didn’t watch me was when I was going to the bathroom. Anyways, sparing you the long, boring details, we finally get into the park and it’s so much fun. There are water rides and normal roller coasters and I go on all of them. Anyways eventually we all leave and I fall in love with the bodyguard for some ungodly reason. The next day the bodyguard and I wait for the bus together and at that point, since it didn’t seem like it would be coming soon, I decided to go to a school that wasn’t super far away to go to the bathroom. We get there and I realize that it’s a school day and people are taking classes. I start to leave but then I see the bathroom. When I’m done with the bathroom I realize that if I didn’t exercise right then that I would die, so some kid points me towards the roller skating room. I decide not to roller skate though cause I didn’t want to be late to the bus. We make it back to the bus, go to the park, blah blah dream ends

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

In your latest post, you said that Dumbledore MEANT to put Harry in a abusive household. That, or when he found out he did nothing to stop it. Why is that?

You’re going to get a lot of people angry with me. Well, I suppose they’re already angry. Somewhere out there, on the wider internet.

Right, anyway, the evidence of Harry’s abuse is so overwhelming that it seems improbable to me that Dumbledore wasn’t aware of what was happening. More, every interaction he has with not only Harry, but characters in similar circumstances, lends me to believe that in the event that Dumbledore does know he’d take no action.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Scene 1

We start out the entire Harry Potter series with Minerva and Dumbledore waiting in the early dawn for Hagrid’s arrival and to place Harry with the Dursleys. Minerva immediately announces her discomfort with this, 

She specifically says the following:

"You don't mean — you can't mean the people who live here? Dumbledore, you can't. You couldn't find two people who are less like us."

Lily Evans’ relatives are infamous enough such that Minerva McGonagall, who is presumably not as close as her like aged peers (i.e. Sirius, Remus, and Peter) knows about them.

Granted, some of this is anti-muggle sentiment. Minerva isn’t sure that suburban muggles raising a magical child like Harry Potter is a good idea. Nevertheless, she has deep misgivings, and relays them to Dumbledore.

We know from further evidence that Dumbledore is perfectly aware of what Petunia and Vernon are like as well. He gives Harry to the Dursleys anyway.

Dumbledore, for his own reasons, chooses not to listen.

Dumbledore’s Letter to Petunia

Dumbledore writes a letter to Petunia, knowing it is highly necessary, as he gives Harry to the family. The letter is... vaguely threatening but in a very polite Dumbledore way. It pretty much implies “Take Harry, or else, also be nice to your dead sister.”

The point is, Dumbledore is aware that this letter is highly necessary. And then... other things happen.

Dumbledore Sends Hagrid

Dumbledore sends Hagrid to pick Harry up.

Ordinarily, in such circumstances, Minerva is sent to introduce muggleborn children to the Wizarding World. “Perhaps she was busy,” you say, too busy for Harry Potter? Wizard Jesus and the child of perhaps her favorite students who she openly favors throughout the series?

“Perhaps Dumbledore was being nice to Hagrid, and he had an errand to do anyway,” well, it’s all well and good to be nice to Hagrid, but is he really the best guy to introduce anybody to the Wizarding World?

This is Hagrid, the likelihood of him having taken Harry to an exotic pet shop where Harry then gets eaten by the Chupacabra is 95%. The 5% where it didn’t happen is because Hagrid went to the pet shop alone and some, distant, rational part of his brain told him that Harry would want the pretty owl vs. the one-eyed blood sucking rat demon in the cage next to her.

You don’t send Hagrid if you want a child returned to you with all its limbs intact.

So why do you send Hagrid?

When you want someone who’s so painfully oblivious, loyal, and stupid that they could stare a hellscape in the face and wouldn’t even notice.

Hagrid gets a firsthand view of Harry’s living conditions. He learns that Harry’s relatives have been actively blocking Harry’s letters, that they have run across the country to avoid them. He sees the state of Harry’s clothing in comparison to Dudley, how thin Harry is in comparison to Dudley, and the way the family interacts with each other.

Harry’s child abuse is staring Hagrid right in the face.

Minerva would demand that Harry be placed somewhere else, they can find some other means of protecting him.

What does Hagrid do?

He gives Dudley a pig’s tail illegally and proceeds to tell Harry that Dumbledore is the greatest man who ever lived. 

Other Evidence Comes to Light

Other characters start getting pretty big warning signs that all’s not right at the Potters.

Ron and Hermione know the situation is “bad” and that Harry’s relatives “hate magic”. They’re also kids and don’t really understand what this means, the idea of being abused and hated by your guardians is unthinkable to them and Harry doesn’t come out and just say it.

That said, they’ve seen enough that they drop hints to those around them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are told about the bars on Harry’s window. Ron was so concerned about Harry in the summer after first year that he steals his father’s car with Fred and George to go pick him up. That is not normal behavior, that is deep concern for your friend.

Despite all of this... nothing happens.

Hermione spends far more time at the Weasleys then Harry ever does. Every summer, he returns to Privet Drive, and it’s likely if Arthur and Molly did have concerns Dumbledore told them off.

Arabella Figg

Arabella has been keeping an eye on Harry for years. She’s noted some very disturbing trends and been witness to years of the Dursleys interacting with Harry Potter.

She passes this information on to Dumbledore.

He knows how bad it is.

Harry Potter

Harry tells Dumbledore he does not wish to remain at the Dursleys, he notes that they don’t like him and he doesn’t like them. Now, he tries to downplay it, but this is a child saying some pretty disturbing things. You don’t brush this off.

Dumbledore does.

Dumbledore Visits the Dursleys

In book 6, Dumbledore visits the Dursleys and sees, in person, how bad it is. However, he shows no surprise, only vague disappointment in Petunia. Tsk, tsk, Petunia, I thought you were better than this.

He offers a few threats and then he and Harry go on their merry way.

Severus Snape

Snape is Dumbledore’s spy who reads Harry’s mind for half a year. Granted, Snape is a bastard who loathes Harry Potter, but he sees evidence of the Dursleys abuse of Harry.

We know, from what he relays to Dumbledore later, that he had at least some concern for Harry and was very disturbed by Dumbledore’s plan to murder him in cold blood due to the horcrux.

I think it’s very likely Severus Snape knew and told Dumbledore that Harry was being abused. I’m sure Albus’ response was, “Bitch, I know, would you like a lemon drop?”

Point being, there is no conceivable way that Albus Dumbledore, even if he was the world’s dumbest man, didn’t know exactly how bad it was. He let’s it happen anyway.

But What About the Blood Wards?

Dumbledore eventually tells Harry that the reason he can’t run away from Privet Drive is because of the blood wards created by his mother. They can only be applied if he lives with blood relatives and protect the Dursley house as long as Harry considers it home.

Now, this is a bit suspect given that Harry really considers Hogwarts his home, Privet Drive is just that hell hole he has to go back to every summer. Even the Burrow is more his home than Privet Drive so... That doesn’t sound right.

More, though, there are other means of protection.

There’s the Fidelius which Dumbledore casts on Sirius’ house in book 5. Given that, Harry really could have lived with Sirius (well, Sirius is not in a good place to have a kid around and that would be a disaster and a half). Point being, Harry could be raised elsewhere and there are wards that could protect him.

More, Voldemort and the Death Eaters are out of commission for thirteen years. Indeed, we see Dumbledore up Harry’s security detail by secretly assigning the Order to tail him after fourth year.

So, for a very long time, it’s not about Harry’s protection and when it does become that we see Dumbledore make significant changes.

So, what could it be?

Well, let’s look at Dumbledore’s other actions. Dumbledore prevents Harry from becoming prefect because “he thought it would go to his head”. Which, Harry should absolutely not be made prefect at all, and Ron’s a laughable candidate too but...

To me that’s very telling.

I hate to say this, but this is Dumbledore, but I think he has a very similar reasoning behind Harry going to the Dursleys.

He doesn’t want Harry to be corrupted by the Boy Who Lived persona. He wants him in a certain state of mind when he enters into the wizarding world and... Frankly, he wants him vulnerable. Dumbledore, in time, will need to either murder this boy or have him kill himself. If Harry has a halfway decent guardian, that task becomes a hell of a lot harder.

Harry has to love the wizarding world so much, trust Dumbledore so much, that these things are worth dying for.

You Mentioned Something About Dumbledore’s Other Actions?

Dumbledore has no sympathy for victims of child abuse.

Tom Riddle, an impoverished orphan loathed by those in his orphanage, he thinks is the very devil and sends him back into the Blitz with a smile and a wave. Enjoy the bombs, Tom, hope you die.

Severus Snape, the half blood child of an abusive muggle father and absentee mother, who is nearly murdered by Sirius Black via Remus Lupin, is told to shut the fuck up and sit down before he ruins the lives of his betters.

Dumbledore has a very bad track record with this and, well, Harry Potter is not an exception.

To be fair, I think the wizarding world has not concept of CPS or even child abuse. There’s no hint of a foster system, you go to the closest relative of the godparents. So, I think to them, you’re stuck with whoever you’re stuck with and if your uncle rapes you then it sucks to be you.

[shyshitter]

yea so i wrote a ficlet for this post bc i couldn’t stop thinking about it. also this really went off the rails bc it has been a phat second since ive written anything so enjoy i guess

Abigail likes Jack Kline. He’s quiet and sweet and doesn’t ask questions when she sometimes doesn’t bring lunch; he just subtly slides over his apple and chips with a smile. Sure, he’s a little odd sometimes (like how he talks like a thesaurus or says hi to everyone in the hallways) but she doesn’t believe he deserves the way the other kids make fun of him behind his back. They whisper about his mysterious and sudden appearance, how he’s been picked up after school by three different men, and his odd fascination with religion. He’s not like the other christian kids who are always trying to recruit kids for their church; he just--really likes Jesus and talks about Him like he knows Him personally. 

“My dad saved humanity,” he says constantly. “He’s died a few times but it’s never stuck. The most recent time was by nail but that was a misunderstanding.” 

So he’s an odd kid and Abby knows it but she just doesn’t care. Her friends have accepted this but even they are still confused by Jack’s odd behavior. Her friend Martha has history with him and talks about him all the time. 

“For the heritage project, he said his mother is dead and his father a son of God so he doesn’t have any ancestors to write about,” she says one day at lunch. “I think he thinks his biological father is Jesus Christ.”  

It takes a while but Abby finally works up the courage to ask him about it. Jack’s in the middle of a story about how his dad was healing someone when she interrupts him. 

“Do you think your dad is Jesus?” 

Jack frowns and tilts his head in confusion. “No Jesus is my cousin. My father hates him but my da doesn’t really care about him.”

Jack has two dads? 

“You have two dads?” she asks.

He pauses to think. “Technically I have four dads but my real father was killed by three of them because he was trying to take me to space.”

Abby’s head spins. “Your dads are murderers?” 

“No, they’re hunters.” 

“But you just said they killed your real father.” 

Jack frowns again. “Yeah but my real father was the devil.” 

Abby remembers a girl she met at camp who said the same thing about her dad. She later learned that the girl was taken by CPS and her father went to prison. Suddenly, images of Jack alone and scared in a group home flood her mind and she grabs his arm in alarm.

“Are you safe?” she asks desperately. 

He just smiles and pats her arm. “Of course; he’s dead now.” 

She shakes her head. “I mean are you safe with your dads now?” 

His eyes light up like they always do when he talks about his family. “Of course! My dad was prophesied to save humanity and has, my da is an angel, and my pa is the leader of an army of hunters so I’m in good hands.” 

By the time Abby’s processed this comment, Jack has already moved on to his favorite types of cars and the conversation is over. 

She forgets about Jack’s crazy family situation until Spring Formal. Abby and her friends are standing in line for the photo booth when she sees Jack across the gym with a beautiful girl on his arm, both of them talking to a giant man with floppy brown hair. Without explaining, she leaves her friends to walk over and gets a better look at the three of them. The girl has long curly blonde hair that bounces when she laughs but her eyes are sharp and harsh, constantly scanning the room as if looking for threats. The man is wearing a white button-down with blue jeans and just smiles warmly as Jack talks animatedly to him. The man spots her as she approaches and for a moment, the warmth in his eyes is replaced by cold suspicion but as soon as Jack notices her and smiles, the man relaxes. 

“Abby, this is my pa,” Jack says with a grin. 

Jack’s ‘pa’ offers a hand and Abby shakes it. “Sam,” he says politely. “Jack talks about you a lot.”  

“Yeah,” the girl cuts in. “I was wondering when I was gonna meet you.” Her eyes trail up and down Abby’s body distrustfully. “This punk never shuts up about you.” 

Jack just keeps smiling. “This is my sister Claire,” he introduces. “She’s in college!” 

Overwhelmed by the introductions, Abby just smiles and offers her hand to Claire as well. “It’s nice to meet you,” she says, relieved when Claire accepts the handshake. 

“Have you met Dean and Cas yet?” Claire asks. “You’re not officially accepted by the family until Dean okayes you.” 

Sam swats a scolding hand over Claire’s head. “Don’t scare her--my brother isn’t that bad.” He looks back at Abby with a smile. “Don’t let my niece worry you, Dean and Cas are gonna love you.” 

Trying to do mental gymnastics in her head, Abby attempts to figure out how Sam is both Jack’s dad and Claire’s uncle while Jack and Claire are siblings. Dean and Cas are the other two fathers who killed Jack’s real dad and apparently Dean is also Sam’s brother. 

She doesn’t finish her thought process before Jack is dragging Abby across the gym, leaving Sam and Claire. 

“Dad, da,” he calls out over the music. 

Abby tries to spot who responds to Jack’s call and notices two more giant men by the food table look up from their conversation. They’re even more intimidating than Sam and Claire. The taller man has broad shoulders and hard eyes like Claire and despite this being a formal dance, he’s wearing a green canvas jacket and jeans with holes in the knees. The shorter man is a tad more formal with his too-big suit and tan overcoat but he watches them approach with a blank face which is almost more threatening than the hostile look the other man has. 

“Da, dad, this is my friend Abby,” Jack says as soon as they’re in earshot. 

The taller man looks her up and down like Claire did earlier before nodding shortly. “Nice to finally put a face to the name,” he says gruffly. His voice is rough and low but not unkind so Abby relaxes slightly. 

The other man smiles and it suits him much more than the blank look did. “It’s lovely to meet you, Abigail,” he says and holy shit his voice is even lower and gravilier than the other guy’s. “Jack speaks very highly of you.” 

“Yeah, thanks to you he listens to shitty music,” the taller man gripes but Abby can tell it’s more teasing than genuinely upset. 

“Dean,” the other man scolds as he nudges him. “Megan Thee Stallion is not shitty music.” 

If the taller man is Dean, the other is Cas and as Abby watches them, she can see the resemblance between Dean and Sam in their sharp jaws and teasing smiles.  

She turns to Jack. “You listen to Megan Thee Stallion?”

Jack nods excitedly. “You were humming her songs in English and I liked it.”

Cas leans in to Abby. “I’ve been trying to get him to branch out from 70s rock for ages but he never wanted to disappoint Dean so thank you for helping him.” 

Abby nods, dazed. “Are you Jesus?” she blurts after failing to come up with a response. 

Dean barks out a loud laugh and doesn’t stop until Cas swats him. Once Dean settles, Cas turns back to Abby with an embarrassed smile. 

“That’s very flattering,” he says, “but no. I am simply Castiel. If anything, Dean shares more in common with the Messiah than I do.” 

Instead of elaborating, Dean just snorts and humbly shakes his head. “Babe, we’ve talked about this--” 

But before he can finish, Cha Cha Slide blasts through the speakers and the gym falls into pandemonium as all the students rush to the dance floor. Jack, confused but excited, grabs Abby’s hand and drags her over to join in, leaving Dean and Cas for the rest of the night. 

Abby doesn’t consider herself a selfish person but even she has never thought so much about another person’s life than Jack’s. Her confusion keeps her up and night and prevents her from being fully present whenever she talks to Jack. She’s tried talking to her friends about it but even they have moved on from the enigma that is Jack Kline. 

One month after the formal--after she met Jack’s family--she finally snaps. She’s at lunch with him in a cafe downtown and he’s telling her about how his brother Kevin is visiting from college and is teaching Jack how to talk to angels. 

“What the fuck is wrong with your family,” she interrupts. 

Jack stops talking and tilts his head in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

“You said you have four dads and one of them was murdered by the other three. Dean and Sam are brothers and Dean is with Cas. Claire is your sister but Sam is her uncle and your brother has a mom but none of you are related to her.” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “You keep saying your dads saved the world and that they’ve died and come back. You said one of your dads was an angel and now your brother is teaching you how to talk to angels? Are you lying or are you just plain crazy?” 

After the last sentence slips from her lips, she gasps and a cold dread fills her. Jack just stares, shocked at the outburst. 

“You think I’m crazy?” he asked softly. 

Abby feels a lump in her throat form. “No, no, no,” she babbles, “I didn’t mean that. I’m just confused that’s all.” 

Jack brightens. “That’s ok, life is confusing. Anyways, I tried shawarma for the first time yesterday--like in the superhero movie!”

Abby sighs and let’s Jack rant about shawarma, resigned to the fact that she’ll never get a straight answer from this confounding boy and his unnatural family. 

[potteresque-ire]

Hello. I just turned to be a turtle recently after being a solo fan mostly because of toxic atmosphere of solo fans. May I ask, were relationships between XZ and YB solos always so intense and also bad attitude to BJYX even during the promotion “the untamed”? Or did this conflict start after the events of 2020? Thank you in advance.

Hello, and Happy 2021! I’m a super new fan of the fandom, and so these aren’t questions I’m qualified to answer at all. I’m more comfortable providing some wider sociopolitical contexts to fandom-related events because I’ve been reading about Chinese news for a loooong time. My “investigative interest” (oh dear, that sounds so pretentious) is also more on understanding the CP culture in general, how it ties with the country’s state of affairs rather than focusing specifically on Gg and Dd. While I’ve read back on some history re: gg and dd’s fandoms, Tumblr is the only site where I’ve interacted directly with fellow fans.

But I’ve written up what I’ve understand about solo and CP fans for c-dramas so far, mostly for my own benefit (I have a ridiculously poor memory!). Maybe it can offer some insight? This is very new information to me as well; so, if anyone spots something wrong or wants to supplement, please jump right in!

Wars between the fans of the leads of a CP (“ship” in English; stands for “couple”) aren’t new. Conflicts between solo and CP fans also aren’t new.

Competition is the most obvious cause of wars between the fans of the leads of a CP. Especially in the case of M/M pairings, the person “bound” to each idol by their CP is also, by default, about the most “direct” competitor one can have. They’re likely to be of the same age group, share similar fan demographics. Popularity of young male idols (often called “Little Fresh Meat” 小鮮肉, a nickname I’ve abhorred for the decade or so it’s come to existence) also isn’t expected to last, so the two CP leads must make the most of their newfound fame within the same time frame. The competition is more than fighting for similar roles; in China, another major arena is endorsements, in which an idol’s popularity is by measured by 1) the number they hold and 2) the units they sell. Here in the US, stars choose their endorsements based on how well they fit their image; there, stars take as many as they can as long as the negotiated terms are satisfactory. Hence, dd is the spokesperson of 25 products / services in 2020 (including an insurance company (!!)).

I’ve also read about this norm in the industry, which I have yet to verify: in China, if two stars compete for the endorsement of the same brand product, the one who loses will not get endorsements of same products from different brands — at least, not in the short term — because any brand who uses the star who lost would be seen as inferior. Hence, to lose the competition on one endorsement deal can mean losing the endorsement deals for an entire category of products.

(Someone on Weibo has pointed this out: while Gg and Dd have often endorsed competing brands of the same product: Budweiser (gg) and Yenching beer (dd), for example; they have never fought for the endorsement of same brand product. Again, I haven’t verified this.)

This part is easy to understand.

The next question is: why are solo fans against CP fans? “Girlfriend fans” — solo fans who can’t bear to seeing their idol paired up with anyone other than themselves — only make up a fraction of the fandom. How are CP fans generally perceived? 

My key findings so far: CP fans are *perceived* to be more likely to express negative views about their idol paired up with other actors / actresses, which will affect viewership and ratings, restrict the kind of roles their idol will be invited to play. More importantly, CP fans are *perceived* as fickle — more likely to walk away after their favourite CP drama has ended, because as CP lovers, they’re thought to be equally in love with the romantic gestures as with the stars who perform them on/off stage. ie, When another drama comes along featuring the same romantic gestures, the CP fans are expected to jump ship.

I highlight the word “perceive”, because while it doesn’t matter how solo fans see CP fans, it does matter how the business side of c-ent view CP fans and it appears to share this view. The c-YiZhan fandoms have been unhappy with the publicity of the upcoming adapted BL dramas for this reason — aside from their allegations that it’s copying The Untamed’s BTS, the thing that has offended them the most, perhaps, is the very idea that the marketing departments thought a few “leaked” photos of the leads acting intimately close are enough to woo them away from YiZhan, from Gg and Dd.

Given this, perhaps, prevalent view of CP fans, CP fandoms have been viewed as something disposable, almost, to be made, used and discarded quickly. 

Before and during the airing of the drama, the marketing / publicity teams fuel and encourage CP fandoms, reap the benefits in viewership from the ensuing discussions and hot searches. Solo fans usually aren’t threatened by CP fandoms in this nascent phase—CP fandoms have been far smaller in size and only grow during the broadcast.

More importantly, the norms have been that CP fandoms do not last.

CP fandoms do have a tendency to “self-combust” over time: fans * within * the fandom accusing each other of being partial to one of the leads — spending more money on A’s endorsements, for example, or buying more copies of B’s music. However, this isn’t how many CP fandoms die. Instead, once the show is over, the process of “Breaking the CP” begins. I’m not sure who gets this process going, but my guess is the leads’ management companies, with consent (willing or unwilling) from the actors. Breaking the CP means having the CP leads avoid each other as soon as the drama is done airing, and for as long as it takes for the CP fandoms to dissipate. It means no more appearing in the same drama and shows; no more sharing a stage; and if they happen to be at the same event, they are to communicate as little as possible. This “loosening the bind” between the leads is designed to free the actors up for the next CPs, and its way of execution can be very abrupt, very … cruel for the CP fans. For one of 2020 summer dramas (Love and Redemption 琉璃), for example, a popular character (het) CP pairing was broken up in the last fan meet, 10 days after the final episode had aired. The fan meet was marketed as a CP event (there was even merch for the CP); CPs fans bought the tickets, perfectly aware of the unsaid “CPs are made to be broken” rule and it’d likely be the last time they’d see their CP together. But the organisers denied them even this last chance; the leads of the CP had no interactions, not even eye contact during the entire event. The actor didn’t acknowledge the actress in his farewell speech. The fans understandably got upset; even outsiders sympathised, stating that the CP-breaking could be handled with a little more consideration. Word on the street was that because the male lead already had other dramas lined up, the CP had to be broken up as quickly as possible.

(Weibo Night from almost a year ago was seen as a “Break the CP” event for Gg and Dd. Some turtles still cry at the memory of it.)

There’s a term related to the breaking of CPs: 提純 (“increasing the purity”). It describes the ultimate goal of breaking CPs: increasing the proportion of solo (”pure”) fans by breaking up the CP and having the solo fandoms of each lead absorb the CP fans. Because solo fans are *perceived* to be more loyal (won’t jump ship the next romantic drama comes along), less likely to draw criticisms (especially if the CP is M/M and/or affect the RL lives of their stars), and have more purchasing power (as CP fans have to divide their resources between the two leads and equally).

How does this affect how solo fans see CP fans? Another way to say the above is: one CP fan is one fan the two solo fandoms fail to capture. One more CP fan is one less solo fan. “CP fan” should be a temporary identity. CP fandoms sequester resources from the solo fandoms until they’re broken up.

This sets the stage for conflicts if the CP fandoms refuse to fade, if the CP fans refuse to turn solo.

The conflict between solo and CP fandoms is, of course, even more heated for real-person CP’s, which can, indeed, pose a significant threat to the leads’ life and career. An easy example of the former is if one of the CP leads are in a RL relationship, and/or if the lead is straight but the CP is queer (this is the case for The Guardian (2018), the first popular adapted BL “dangai” drama). Another major issue with real-person CPs (queer or not) is that the media will make frequent comparisons of the leads’ follow-up career. If the CP “bind” remains, the lead perceived as less popular may be viewed as using the more popular one to sustain their popularity. Fans of the more popular lead do not take that well. The management company of the less popular lead takes that even less well, and its PR team will work even harder to eliminate the CP from public discussion.

Overall, the “breaking the CP” strategy works as intended. As long as the CP leads stop interacting, no more new candies are generated for the CP fandoms, and even the best candies have an expiration date. The CP fans move on, often to other CP pairings—the CP breaking process often leave them hurt and disappointed at the leads—and further propagating the perception that they are fickle souls who prefer candies over actors.

With this background, it doesn’t surprise me that the relationship between the fans of Gg, Dd, and Yizhan has been so intense since the airing of the Untamed… it would actually surprise me (much) more if it isn’t.

First and foremost, if I take away my YiZhan-tinted lens (as much as I can anyway!), the competition between Gg and Dd automatically becomes The Battlefield in c-ent. Gg and Dd are among the most popular idols right now, and there’s a strong urgency in this competition as idol popularity is perceived to have a limited shelf life. Now, 18 months after The Untamed, Gg and Dd are not only vying for survival in the same industry—which may encourage cooperation between the two solo fandoms—they’re vying for the throne.

Things are already extra tense that way. Here’s an analogy I can think of—it’s easier to accept losing a lottery by getting every number wrong than getting a single number wrong, and by one count. It’s harder for solo fans to accept being number 2, when number 1 was a co-star, the other half of their idol’s CP.

Now, into this unresolved tension, throw in a huge curveball known as the YiZhan fandoms. A curveball that isn’t even supposed to exist — CP fandoms are all supposed to fizzle out quickly after the show is over. Instead, the BJYX supertopic on Weibo (by far the biggest of the three Yizhan CPs) had 1.5 million members in January 2020. It now has 2.8 million (January 2021).

(For reference, dd’s supertopic has 5.4 million members and gg’s, 7.7 million.)

These YiZhan fandoms aren’t merely living on their last breath, their stale candies. They’re thriving. Self-combustion hasn’t happened. CP fans of Gg and Dd keep finding fresh candies, keep having new things to rejoice and scream about.

If I put myself in the shoes of a solo fan, what does this continued growth of the YiZhan fandoms mean? It means the “binding” between My Idol and That-Other-Idol-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, each a contender of the c-ent throne, is strengthening instead of loosening. It means more and more fans of My Idol are exhibiting signs of wavering loyalty, by becoming fans of both My Idol and That-Other-Idol. Fan culture in China is highly organized, requiring strategy, cooperation and obedience when it comes to generating the best numbers for their idol (sells, ratings, viewership etc). Having to rely on the fickle CP fans to generate these numbers means uncertainty and anxiety.

People behave differently when they��re nervous. Some chew on their fingernails. Some attack.

2020, of course, make the solo fandoms even more nervous about each other. Gg, post-227, isn’t a safe person to be “bound to”, and also to have one’s career compared against—given the bad publicity that has circulated around him, given the fact that he has managed to stay on top in spite of it. Dd, meanwhile, has grown in popularity while Gg goes into hiding—while I personally do not, for a moment, believe Dd has anything to do with 227, it is within human nature to ask: if one loses—and in a manner so publicised, so catastrophic that even the Western media reported on it—who has the most to gain? Work culture in almost every industry in China is extremely cut-throat, and securing victory by not-so-clean methods isn’t uncommon with the immense pressure to perform. Fans are bringing in their experiences from RL in how they view their idol’s competition—with suspicion, with defensiveness. With swords sharpened and ready for counterattacks.

The ultimate cherry-on-top when it comes to causing conflicts between Gg’s, Dd’s and YiZhan fandoms is, of course, the fact that YiZhan is no garden-variety, heterosexual, character CP. It’s a M/M real person CP, in a society where homosexuality, while legal, is still considered “non-mainstream values” and explicitly censored from TV; where personal freedoms have overall been tightening and laws can change overnight. It’s one thing if their idol is truly in a queer relationship and chooses to announce it themselves; it’s a whole different story if it’s some fans of another idol who “out” them—who publicise their queerness that, in the eyes of these solo fans, may very well be fictional. 227 has already confirmed that in c-ent, idols pay the price of their fan’s wrongdoings and in this case, all it takes is for the YiZhan fandoms to make a single mistake—to celebrate one candy too loudly, for example (“to dance outside the circle”), and catch the attention of the wrong government official — to not only cost their idols their popularity, but their whole career. To the solo fans, therefore, the mere existence of the YiZhan fandoms pose a huge risk to their idol that should’ve been avoidable in the first place. And when they check out the new candies, what do they see? They see Gg leaving hints suggestive of Dd; they see Dd doing inexplicable things that can be linked to Gg. c-Turtles joke sometimes that solo fans are even better than they are at spotting the connections between Gg and Dd. But while turtles see these connections as evidences of a romantic relationship, what solo fans see is the other idol latching onto their own, whose fame makes it a reasonable act; they see it as the other solo fandom carelessly jeopardizing their own idol’s career for the sake of more noise and popularity.

The solo fandoms end up fighting. They have few reasons NOT to do so without the YiZhan-tinted lens.

That said though, I’m not sure if the wars between Gg’s, Dd’s and YiZhan fandoms are truly getting worse. As I write this, my thought is: perhaps it’s not that the fans are disliking each other more, but rather, more and more people are getting involved, and the stakes, the risks are becoming higher and higher. Gg and Dd both had fans during the filming of The Untamed, but they were a small fraction, quantity wise, to what it is now. Even if, at the time, 100% of Gg and Dd fans hated each other, they still wouldn’t have generated the noise than, say, if 0.01% of Gg’s fans are arguing with 0.01% of Dd’s fans now. The arguments then, however ugly they could be, would’ve stayed off hot searches, and largely within the two fandoms. These days, however, when even Gg shaking a pen can make it into hot search (as he did during the Tencent Awards), every heated exchange is amplified by passer-bys, by antis, by done-for-money re-bloggers. Quarrels snowball exponentially to the number of mouths pitching in; so does the antagonistic sentiments behind the hurtful words purposefully or accidentally spilled. Meanwhile, the c-YiZhan fandoms have reached the size that as much as they’ve tried to keep everything away from the public eye, it’s not really possible anymore. Search BJYX online, and videos after videos pop up for any outsider who wish to get a primer—and there’s no control over that content. Gg and Dd’s commercials hint at it. The Tencent Awards show host cued it. Before, the YiZhan fandoms may still be able to get away with a mistake or two. Now, they can make half a mistake and all the info already floating around will make sure that half a mistake will round to one.

If I were a solo fan, perhaps I’d scream my lung out too. Think of how terrible this all is, if Dd(Gg) is actually Gg(Dd)’s most fierce competition, as his being the other half of the CP is meant to be. Think of all the damages these fantastical speculations can do, if My Idol isn’t queer and tomorrow, the government comes down with a decree that outlaws queerness. Maybe My Idol will be spared if he isn’t at the top. But My Idol is at the top. Everyone will point to him. The hot searches will show his name, make sure the powers-that-be see it. He … his downfall… can be made an example …

Okay, okay, I’ll stop playacting here. Phew. That was scary * pats turtle shell to confirm its presence * :) . But can you see how deep that fear can go, for a fan who really, really loves and is therefore protective of their idol? How this fear, which stems from love, can turn into hate and generally loud, angry yelling across the internet? 

[accio-victuuri]

Hi V, I'm in my early stage of stanning zhan and yibo, they're the first rps I'm stanning so sometimes I feel like it's wrong to ship them together. Like sometimes it makes me think what if I'm misgendering them. I would start to feel guilty. I love them both and I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable and thinking about shipping them makes me guilty sometimes. Have you ever felt this way in the beginning of stanning them? Like I can't help but ship them but then I can't help over thinking if this is right. 😂😅

Hello Anon! Welcome to the Fandom! 👋🏼 As with anything new, we have questions and feel uncomfortable — and I guess it’s the same with GG/Web. I can understand the guilt, especially when you see alot of people saying it’s wrong. that it’s not how it’s supposed to be. or you really just don’t have any similar experience to compare it with.

In my case, I didn’t have a hard time ‘shipping’ them. I’m talking about just thinking they are “cute”together. This was me enjoying the content and thinking everything is for show. Happy that WWX/LWJ irl get along too. What took some time & back/forth was going SZD. That was a different story. I had to decide and find my peace with that on my own. Despite all the issues, what you’ve mentioned being one of them. there were times I thought that it would be much easier to be a so/o and be cp friendly. But no. I can’t. I would be lying if I pretended to be a so/o. So I didn’t. I had to be cpf, with all the baggage that comes with it.

Anyway, What I can advice ( for someone new like you) is that— stanning them both is not mainly about the relationship. I know. Shocking. We love them together. We wanna see them again together. We have Candies left and right. That’s not gonna sustain you tho. You must support them individually. You have to genuinely stan them as people. I think the guilt can come from the question of feeling like you’re treating them as fictional characters to pair up. but they’re not. it will take some time. Set boundaries for yourself if you must. Don’t dwell too much on the guilt 😌

[fbfh]

dear baby; strawberry milkshakes - leo x reader parents au

words: 1.8k

summary: You and Leo are getting used to adulting together, when Chiron asks for your help. Next thing you know, there’s a little demigod for you two to take care of - and you’re not going to let her down.

warnings: almost boning but getting interrupted, shit is said twice, one use of fucking I think, mentions of orphanages and the foster care system, mentions of CPS, being at a CPS building, adopting a child, leo has trauma, leo and reader take in a child when you’re both 19, technically teen parents but not really, the kid has some trauma too, everyone has trauma but literally what’s new

au: sort of college + parents au

song recs: raining in new york mix - the bootleg boy (tw for some sort of sad dialogue samples), falling in love with love - bernadette peters in cinderella (1997)

a/n:  I saw a kids book called Sophia Valdez Future Prez and I know nothing about it but immediately knew I had to do a parents au where you and Leo have a daughter named sophia???????? also I accidentally gave myself baby fever whoopsie

also I was barely able to proof read this and had no brain while writing half of it so if the beginning feels rushed at all that’s why teehee

Straddling his lap, you start to take off Leo’s shirt. He tilts his head to the side as you nip at the skin gently. He moans softly, then tenses. 

"Shit!" He hisses, sitting up and pulling your shorts back up. You look at him bewildered, and he nods his head to the side, and you see a shimmery cloud that says that you have an incoming iris message from Chiron.  

"Oh shit," you echo, moving to a reasonable distance away from him, a thick throw blanket tossed gracefully across your legs and pulled up to cover your chest, and you're grateful your shirt hadn't been thrown across the room already. 

He pulls his shirt down and you toss him a throw pillow to cover his very obvious excitement. You give each other a ready as we'll ever be look and accept the call. 

"Hey Chiron… what's up?" Leo asks nonchalantly. 

"You must pardon my intrusion, dear children, I hope I'm not - er - interrupting anything.” “No, no, not at all,” you answer, hoping what you had been doing wasn’t too obvious in spite of how both of you are looking particularly flushed and deschevled, “we were just watching a movie.” 

Leo nods in agreement, and you list two different movies at the exact same time, the dark knight rises and moonstruck.

A beat passes, and you continue, “Double feature. Just finished Batman and we’re about to start Moonstruck.” 

Leo agrees. You can’t tell if Chiron is buying it, but he seems to move on relatively quickly. 

“Right. I’m afraid I must ask for your help with a rather time sensitive situation.” your brows furrow in unicen as he continues. 

He tells you about a young demigod a satyr found, not even four years old yet, but they haven’t been able to get her to camp. Apparently there were some complications, and CPS was called, now they’re looking for her parents to see if she’s going to a foster home or orphanage. If they can’t get to her before the CPS finishes processing her, she’ll be lost in the system. He’s asking older demigods and demigod families in New York, since processing time will go the fastest if the family or guardians are in-state. 

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but please consider taking her in, at least temporarily.” You and Leo share a look, hearts already hurting that life has gotten to this kid so soon. 

“I’ll give you some time to discuss this, please call me back as soon as you have an answer.” 

You agree, and the shimmery image of Chiron dissipates.

“... Oh my god,” you breathe. 

You turn to each other again, the same thing mirrored in each other's eyes. An immediate, unspoken conformation that there’s no way you can’t help this kid out passes between you. You know Leo, especially, will do whatever needs to be done to keep another orphaned demigod out of the foster system. The scope of the impact you could have on this kid’s life starts to dawn on you, and you lock eyes with Leo again, his face set in determination. 

“Estrella,” he starts, and you know what he’s going to say. 

“I know,” you confirm in agreement.

His leg is bouncing, and you lean over, grabbing a notepad and pen from the coffee table. Your mind is already racing, and you begin scribbling down a list of everything you’d need to do; get her a bed and clothes, research where she is in her developmental stages, put together a meal plan or at least some foods she’ll like - what do toddlers even eat? He starts pacing around the coffee table. 

“We gotta help this kid, we-” he cuts himself off, overwhelmed with determination. 

“We will.” you confirm, equally determined. You grab your laptop and start copying your list digitally so you can get everything organized. You stare at your reflection in the black screen while you wait for your computer to boot up. Once again, the reality of your situation hits you.

“We’re 19…” you state, in disbelief. Your mind is racing with doubts. What if you somehow make everything worse, what if you can’t handle it? He crouches next to you, placing his hand on your cheek.

“And we have a lot of love to give.” The smile in your eyes tells him that you know he’s right. You transcribe your writing, surprised that you’re okay with how fast this is all moving, and you let out another breathy laugh of disbelief. 

You go through your hastily made checklist, switching between tabs about child psychology, parenting advice, and kid’s furniture and clothes websites, strategizing with Leo on how you can pull this off, and a plan gradually comes together.

“I mean, this is a two bedroom,” he says as you look through pages of bed frames and mattresses, “we can clear out our studio and turn it into her room.” 

“And…” you add, checking yet another tab, “there’s a building nearby that rents out studio spaces and workshop areas. Ooh, and free parking.” you read on the website. It’s already late, but you send them an email anyway. Hopefully they’ll get back to you tomorrow. But for now… 

“We can get a bed tonight, but we’d have to hurry. We can probably get some pjs and maybe a stuffed animal while we’re there- toothbrush!” You exclaim, adding it to your list, “I knew I was forgetting something…”

 Leo stops pacing, and looks at you. “So… we’re doing this?” You can’t fight the smile on your face, and he already has his answer. 

“We’d better call Chiron back,” you say, excitedly bubbling out. You both enter the bathroom, and iris message chiron with mist from the shower. He answers almost immediately.

“We thought it over and…” you trail off, letting him finish.

“We want to help.” 

After changing into some presentable clothes and swinging by the store for a car seat and some other essentials (you almost forgot tooth paste this time), you’re driving with Leo to meet Chiron at the CPS office where they had Sophia - the girl Chiron told you about. You call the Ikea store not too far from your apartment, thankful you’re able to reach them before they close. You arrange to have them deliver a toddler bed to the spare bedroom in your apartment, your neighbor agreeing to let them in. Luckily, you had the presence of mind to get most of your and Leo’s stuff out of there, the corner of the living room now holding your desk and his drafting table. 

You’re still a little blurry on the details of how you’re going to get custody of this kid when you’re barely legal and have no ties to her or her family, but Chiron said he could work everything out. You assume the Mist will come in very handy. You and Leo discuss this on the way over. 

You can tell he’s worried. Knowing the horrors he went through in the foster system would be bad enough without all the demigod bullshit on top of everything. You take another deep breath. 

“This is what’s best for her,” he says matter of factly, “she needs to be with people who understand her.” You agree, and he continues, very fired up.

“She needs to be in an environment where she’s not going to be ignored and ostracized; she needs to be part of a family, not a fucking meal ticket.” 

You squeeze his leg supportively, and he takes another breath. 

“You’re right. And she’s going to get all of that.” He scoffs in agreement.

“There’s not a better place for someone like her than-”

“With someone like her.” you finish. He pulls into the parking lot and you enter, meeting Chiron in the building. Your hand holds Leo’s tightly, unsure of who’s shaking more. Chiron explains that he already had a discussion (wink wink) with the social worker, and knows that he has the perfect couple to take little Sophia in, and all you have to do is meet with her and sign some papers. 

So that brings you here, waiting outside the office door, holding each other’s trembling hands before finally entering. She doesn’t look up at you at first, until the social worker introduces you. Leo squeezes your hand, and she finally looks up, her eyes speaking a language you and Leo know. You know there is absolutely no going back from here, and you both sit down across from her. 

“Hi, you’re Sophia, right?” She looks away, clearly and understandably overwhelmed. 

“Don’t be rude, Sophia-” the social worker starts, but you cut her off. 

 “It’s okay, she didn’t do anything wrong.” you turn back to her, “You know, me and Leo have an extra bedroom at our apartment, and a kitten that I think would really like you. Do you want to come stay with us?” 

She doesn’t look back up right away, but she turns her head towards you. 

“Is it a boy or a girl?” she asks softly. How is she so precious already?

“A girl,” you reply, “named Jackhammer, because she purrs so loud.” 

She giggles, and you and Leo squeeze each other’s hands in unison.

“Really?” she asks. 

“Oh yeah,” you reply, “I’m sure she’d love to play catch the mouse with you.” She considers for a moment, then looks over at the social worker, who gives her an encouraging nod. After a moment of consideration, she replies quietly, “...Okay.” 

She hops down from her chair, and you both follow suit. The social worker hands you some papers, and you both sign. You guide her to the lobby, let Chiron know it went well and promise to update him soon, and bring her to the car. You pull out of the parking lot. 

Not long after leaving, you see a fast food place. 

“Are you guys hungry?” you ask, nudging Leo gently. 

“Yeah, I could definitely go for some fries. How bout you Sophia?” 

She nods, then asks quietly, “Can I get a milkshake?” 

Her expression is hesitant, and you get the sense she’s expecting a no. 

“Of course kiddo,” you say.

“What flavor do you want?” Leo finishes, turning to look at her. Her eyes are bright with hesitant excitement. 

“Strawberry, please.” 

After leaving the drive through, you have Leo search through your phone for any kid friendly music, and discover the only thing you have saved that’s appropriate for present company is the soundtrack to the Cinderella musical from 1997.

That’s how your little family started; driving late at night, singing along to Bernadette Peters, and drinking strawberry milkshakes.

[gamergirl929]

Life Is A Song (Love Is The Music) (Christen Press x Reader)

Anonymous Request:  Hi, would you do a Christen imagine? Where R is like a wellknown singer (who is known to be in a relationship but not with who) and the USWNT is always like thirsting over R and you know CP's calm and collected persona finds it amusing and for some reason one day the team meets R, Christen's gf/wife, where CP has to "come clean" about their relationship after actually joining them on their thirsting over R. It's okay if you can't or don't want to do it. Hope you're ok with everything happening!

I’m doing alright my dear anonnnn! <3 

Incredibly brief smut aheadddd!

Emily jumps from her seat at breakfast, her hazel orbs wide as her chair falls to the floor, scaring every one of her teammates.  

“Y/N HAS RELEASED A NEW SONG AND IT’S LIT.”  

Alex claps her hands excitedly.  

“Oh! Oh! Let me see!” Mallory beams, jumping up so she can stand behind Emily, her brown orbs on her phone.  

Tobin glances at Christen the green-eyed forward giggling as she sips her latte innocently.  

“She always looks like a SNACK.” Kelley stares at her phone, a hand on her rapidly beating chest.  

“Yeah, whoever she’s with is one LUCKY bitch.” Emily adds, Lindsey, Mallory and Rose fighting to look at her phone’s screen while Sam easily has the best view, towering over them all.  

Meanwhile, Ashlyn, Ali, and Megan are ogling the singer on their phone’s, the others grinning at their screens, though Christen Press’s grin rivals them all.  

“Your girl has moves.” Tobin whispers in her ear and Christen giggles as you sing, your voice as enchanting as the day the two of you had met.  

Christen had been able to keep her and your relationship a secret, of course, Tobin knew, because Tobin knew everything and Christen couldn’t keep a secret from HER to save her life.  

She shook her head, watching as a number of the women in your music video hung all over you, something that would make her jealous, if she weren’t 100% sure that you were hers and ONLY hers.  

The song ends, the camera fading to black as you kick the kickstand up on your motorcycle, a beautiful blonde on the back as you drive off into the sunset.  

Kelley starts a slow clap, the others soon to follow in.  

“Platinum.” Ashlyn places a hand over her heart, wiping at a phantom tear.  

“You know...” Emily hums, everyone turning her way.  

“We could always extend an invitation to a game.” She shrugs. “A congratulations on the new song.”  

Alex snorts.  

“You just want to invite her so you can stare at her.” The forward rolls her blue orbs and Emily shrugs.  

“Guilty as charged.”  

Tobin gives her best friend a nudge, green orbs locking with Tobin’s browns.  

“Looks like you’re going to have to tell them about Y/N sooner than you thought.” 

                                                           ***

Graciously, you accept the USWNT’s invite to their next game, why wouldn’t you accept when you’d be able to see the love of your life?  

In all honesty though, you’d already planned on surprising her by attending a number of her upcoming games, the two of you had been separated for FAR too long in your opinion.  

You rub your hands together, watching as the stadium fills with fans, most of them donned in their favorite player’s jerseys, face's painted and makeshift signs in hand.  

Seeing so many little girl’s wearing Christen’s jersey makes your heart soar, so many looked up to her, she inspired so many, including you.  

“Excuse me, Ms. Y/L/N? May I get a word?”  

                                                           ***

“Oh my god she’s here, oh my god she accepted our invite.” Rose flails excitedly, a grin stretching across Christen’s face as Tobin gives her a nudge.  

The two of you hadn’t seen each other face to face in a while, considering the two of you were incredibly busy, but now, now the two of you were together again and Christen couldn’t wait to hold you in her arms again.  

“You guys remember Y/N is taken, yeah?” Megan asks, every one of her teammates, even the married ones, sending a glare her way.  

“Stop trying to take our eye candy away.” Mallory flaps an arm at her and Megan’s brows furrow.  

“Aren’t you straight?”  

Mallory glances at Sam and Lindsey, before turning to Megan with a shrug.  

“Hey, we can appreciate a fine lady now and then.”  

Megan glances at Ashlyn and Ali, the two shrugging.  

“Hey, we can still appreciate a good-looking woman now and then too.” Ali shrugs and Megan snorts, shaking her head.  

“I’m sure Sue won’t mind.”  

Christen giggles, glancing at her phone, grinning at the blush on your cheeks when a fan comes out of nowhere and wraps her arms around you.  

“Do my eyes decisive me!?”  

Christen picks her head up, her eyes widening when she realizes every one of her teammates are looking her way.  

“What?”  

“Are you thirsting over Y/N too?” Kelley asks, eyes narrowed and Christen shrugs.  

“I mean, if you all can appreciate her, I can too.” She grins and everyone laughs. 

“I knew you had it in you Pressy.” Julie ruffles her hair before she’s turning her attention back to your ongoing interview, a small smile on her face.  

                                                           ***

Watching Christen make her way out of the tunnel made you beam, the sight of her making your heart skip a beat.  

If you were being honest, Christen Press always made your heart skip a beat.  

You loved her, loved her more than anything in the world, and seeing her, being in the same vicinity as her, made you want to leap out of your seat and run onto the field.  

Of course, this wasn’t a rom-com and you weren’t about to get tackled by security, so for now you’d watch from afar, a massive grin on your face as Christen’s green orbs locked with your Y/E/C orbs, nothing but love in her gaze. 

You stand, your hands tucked behind your back as the anthem’s play, your eyes locked with Christen’s, the woman biting back a grin the entire time.  

The second the anthems end the team gathers at the sidelines, a number of them glancing your way, but the only person’s eyes you see are Christen’s.

You send her a wink, the forward blushing as she makes her way onto the field, ready to show the world exactly what she can do.  

                                                           ***

As per usual, Christen Press was on absolute fire, so much so that your voice was hoarse from the amount of time you spent cheering for the woman and her team.  

The whistle blows, signaling the end of the first half and you grin, clapping as the women make their way towards the locker room, one of them unable to keep their eyes off of you.  

You cross your arms across your chest, butterflies flapping their wings rapidly in your stomach, butterflies that were always riled up by the sight of Christen Press.  

“Excuse me, Ms. Y/L/N?” You turn around with a grin, the same reporter from earlier giving you a smile.  

“I’d love to hear how you’re enjoying the game so far...”  

                                                           ***

Christen was absolutely giddy, the prospect of holding you, kissing you making her wish the game was already over, in a sense it was considering the USWNT were literally trampling Canada.  

“Someone looks excited.” Tobin whispers, giving her best friend a nudge, the woman grinning excitedly.  

“I am, I just... I miss her.” She shrugs, her cheeks flushed.  

“Oh, she misses you too, she couldn’t take her eyes off of you.” Tobin winks, her best friend unable to bite back a smile.  

She couldn’t wait until the second half ended so she could hold you in her arms again.  

                                                           ***

Unfortunately, Tobin was saddled with the job of lookout, standing outside the door where you and Christen were currently behind, doing less than appropriate things, things Tobin could unfortunately hear.  

Christen body twitches with aftershocks from a powerful orgasm, the woman chuckling as you lean in, your lips meeting hers over and over again, a massive grin on your face.

“Fuck I’ve missed you.” Christen whispers, gasping as your fingers slip out of her. She watches with wide green orbs as your digits slip into your mouth, cleaning them of her essence before your lips meet, your tongue slipping into her mouth, the taste of her slick on your tongue.  

“YOU GUYS OWE ME FOR THIS.” Tobin yells, the two of you parting with a snort.  

Christen buries her face in your neck, nuzzling against your collarbone.  

“I’ve missed you so much.” She whispers and you grin.  

“I’ve missed you to.”  

You turn, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, anywhere and everywhere you can, the woman giggling as you playfully nibble her neck.  

“I have a confession to make.” You whisper, Christen pulling back with a furrowed brow.  

“Oh?”  

You grin.  

“Yep.”  

                                                           ***

“WAIT, SHE’S HERE AGAIN!?” Emily squeals when she spots you in the VIP seating again, she and rest of the team staring at you with googly eyes.  

“You know she’s totally here for me.” Kelley smirks, earning a dramatic scoff from Alex.  

“She’s here for me.”

Julie lets out a humorless laugh.

“Nooo, you’re both wrong, she’s here for me.”  

“You’re both married!” Megan throws her hands in the air, but still, her eyes too linger on you.  

“Hey, don’t act like you’re not appreciating the view.” Emily scoffs, earning a shrug from the veteran forward.  

“Ehh, guilty.”  

“It doesn’t matter anyway, she’s here for me.” Emily smirks, she and the rest of the team bickering while Christen and Tobin stand side by side, silently watching the women argue.  

“Are you ever going to tell them you’re together?” Tobin whispers, earning a shrug from her best friend.  

“Maybe...”  

“It better be soon, I’m not being the look out again...” She pouts, brown orbs wide when Christen turns to her with a grin.  

“Actually...”  

                                                           ***

You wrap your arms around Christen, the woman burying herself in your embrace, kissing the curve of your jaw over and over again.  

“Are we ever going to tell your teammates we’re together?” You ask, the forward smiling as she nuzzles into you.  

“Yeah, I guess I just like messing with them.” She confesses and you laugh.  

“So, they’re still being thirsty?” You ask, the forward snorting.  

“They’re trying to guess which of them you’re there for.”  

You throw your head back with a booming laugh.

“Just wait until they realize we’re staying at the same hotel.” You grimace, Christen’s eyes widening.  

“You are?” She grins, eyes shining and you beam.  

“I am, I want to spend more time with you, not just in a backstage room in the arena.” You snort, the woman cupping your cheeks, pulling you down into a kiss. 

“I want to spend more time with you too.” She whispers and you smirk.  

“I’m pretty sure Tobin would RATHER not stand guard anymore, RIGHT TOBY!?” You yell, the forward groaning through the door.  

“YES.”

Christen giggles, burying her face in your chest.  

“I suppose we are torturing her...” She laughs.  

“YOU ARE.” Tobin yells and you snort.  

“Well, meet you at the hotel?” You ask with a smile and Christen grins, pressing a kiss to your lips, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth.  

“Definitely.”  

                                                           ***

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Lindsey mumbles over and over again when she spots you in the hotel’s lobby, a smile on your face, a smile you direct at her, at least, she thinks at her.  

“She smiled at me.” Mallory whispers, earning a loud snort from Kelley.  

“In your dreams Mal.”  

“Okay, we’ll settle this...” Emily turns to Christen, the forward’s brows arching.  

“Who was she smiling at??” She asks and Christen shrugs.  

“Me.”  

Her teammates grin.  

“WE KNEW you’d eventually join us.” Ashlyn pats her back. “Welcome to the club.”

You smirk across the lobby, making your way towards the elevator, passing the USWNT.  

“Hi ladies, big fan.” You grin, each and every one of them staring at you wide eyed.  

“Yeah, us too.” Emily says, eyes going comically wide.  

“Yeah, us too?” Rose snorts, Emily’s bottom lip jutting out into a pout.  

“I know okay!”  

Christen shakes her head with a giggle, her phone vibrating in her pocket. She reads your text with a smile.  

“Room 407. Also, Emily is adorable and I love her, she needs to be cherished and protected.”  

                                                           ***

Later that night you open your door with a grin, Christen’s grin just as wide.  

“I’m sorry, do you have the wrong room?”  

Christen giggles as she shoves you into the room, kicking the door shut behind her before she pulls you into a kiss.  

Christen cups your cheeks, the woman sighing as she stares into your Y/E/C orbs.  

“I’ve missed you.” She whispers, pressing another sweet kiss to your lips. “I missed this.”  

You cup her cheeks, gently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.  

“I’ve missed this too. Now get in bed so I can cuddle the hell out of you.”  

Christen giggles, climbing into bed, opening her arms expectantly.  

You look up at her with a smile, your lips splitting in a grin.  

“What?” She asks, her smile just as massive as yours, her beautiful shining green orbs making your heart skip a beat.  

You climb into bed, wrapping your arms around her, the woman burying her face in your neck.  

“I just love you so much.”

Christen smiles, pressing a tender kiss to you neck.  

“I love you too.”  

                                                           ***

“SHE TWEETED ABOUT US.” Kelley screeches the next morning at breakfast, everyone turning to her, wide eyed.  

“She did not...” Emily snorts, choking on her OJ when she sees you had in fact tweeted them, tagging her specifically.

“@emilysonnett is adorable, and deserves to be cherished and protected.”  

Emily squeals.  

“She said I was adorable.” She claps her hands, Christen giggling as she shakes her head.  

Tobin leans her way with a snort.  

“Better be careful, Em’s about to steal your girl.” She whispers, earning a raspberry from Christen.  

“Childish.” Tobin mumbles, getting smacked in the chest with a packet of butter.  

Christen nearly jumps out of her skin when Emily appears out of nowhere, phone in hand and cocky grin on her face.  

“Did you see Y/N tweeted me?” She asks, waving her phone around and Christen nods.  

“I did.”  

Emily shrugs.  

“Yeahhh, I think it’s OBVIOUS now who she’s here for...” She shrugs. “It’s okay though, I’m sure you’ll find someone.”  

From out of nowhere a jelly packet flies across the room, hitting Emily square in the face, the blonde scowling as she glares down the table at Lindsey.  

“YOU’RE JUST MAD BECAUSE SHE TWEETED ME.” Emily yells as she races down the table to dive on Lindsey, the two wrestling on the dining area’s floor.  

Tobin turns to Christen with a shake of her head.  

“You HAVE to come clean, before they kill each other.”  

“I know. I know. I’ll talk to Y/N.”  

                                                           ***

���You’re uhhh, sure you’re ready for this?” You ask, swallowing hard, the forward nodding as she takes your hand, giving it a squeeze.  

“What if they get mad?” Christen mumbles.  

You give her a soft smile as you duck down, kissing her forehead.  

“If they love you, they won’t be mad.” You smirk cockily. “Jealous maybe, but not mad.”  

Christen smacks you in the chest.  

“Chris?” Tobin jogs towards the two of you, the woman grinning. “Everything is ready.”  

Christen turns to you, taking a deep breath.  

“Are you ready?” She asks and you nod, smiling as you lean in, pressing a kiss to her lips.  

“I am, are you?”

Christen swallows hard, clearing her throat.  

“Ye-Yeah.”  

Your eyes narrow as you glance at Tobin, the woman’s brown orbs already on you.  

“Are you sure?” Tobin asks, noting the way Christen’s cheeks flush.  

“I am.”  

                                                           ***

Christen wasn’t sure if she was ready at all, and it turned out that she wasn’t.  

Looking into the eyes of her teammates she can’t find the words she’s searching for, the woman eventually blurting out whatever comes to mind.  

“I just wanted you all to remember that tonight is my night to pick a movie.”

Everyone looks at her in confusion, the forward nodding before she makes a beeline for the locker room, Tobin on her heels, the two zooming passed you.  

“Did I miss the signal?” You ask, Tobin grabbing your arm, dragging you to the locker room.  

“No, Chris chickened out.”  

“I knew she wasn’t ready.” You shake your head, jogging beside Tobin towards the locker room.  

“Looks like we’ll have to come up with another plan.” You shrug, the forward screeching to a halt, snapping her fingers.  

“Wait...”  

You stop too, a few feet ahead of her.  

“What?”  

“I GOT IT.”  

                                                           ***

"You seemed pretty excited about movie night earlier, hope you picked a good one Chrissy." Kelley gives her a nudge, the forward's cheeks flushing.  

"Ohhhh, she did." Tobin sends her a wink, the forward's cheeks further darkening.  

"Shut up." She mumbles, giving her best friend a nudge.

Tobin leans towards her, voice dropping below a whisper.  

“So, we’re ready?” She asks, Christen turning to her with a furrowed brow.  

“I thought you and Y/N were handling it.” She mumbles, Tobin shrugging.  

“We are, just making sure you don’t flake this time.”  

Christen gives her stomach a smack, the woman grunting.  

“I’m not flaking.”  

The door swings open, Emily and the other youngsters rushing in, bags of food and candy in their arms.  

“How did you get all that by Vlatko?” Megan snorts, swiping a bag of Doritos.  

“Very. VERY carefully.”  

Emily rubs her hands together.  

“Alright, I need a potty break, then we’ll start the movie Christen was so excited about.”  

Tobin’s eyes widen in horror as Emily pulls the door open, the forward unable to stop her.  

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Emily lets out a scream, hazel orbs wide when she sees the silhouette of someone in the shower.  

“SOMEONE IS IN YOUR SHOWER.”  

Christen’s green orbs widen before they narrow, turning to Tobin, the woman cringing.

“We thought it was a good idea?” She shrugs.  

“COME OUT.” Ashlyn yells, the woman wielding a lamp.  

“Wait.” Christen holds her hands up, putting herself between you and the armed goalie.  

Everyone watches wide eyed as you clamber out of the shower, nervously rubbing the back of your neck.  

“Ummm, why is there a famous singer in your shower Press?” Kelley asks, brown orbs darting from you, to Christen and back.  

Christen takes a deep breath, the woman gently grabbing your hand.  

Everyone watches, eyes as wide as saucers as Christen intertwines your fingers.  

“I can explain...” Christen shuffles nervously from foot to foot, a smile stretching across your face as you turn to her, finding her nervousness endearing.  

“She’s giving you heart eyes, why is Y/N Y/L/N giving you heart eyes Chris.” Megan asks, her eyes growing immensely.  

Christen turns to you, swatting a hand at you.  

“Stop that.”

You shrug, biting your bottom lip to stave off a grin.  

“Hey, I can’t help that my wife is adorable.”  

Everyone’s mouths drop open at roughly the same time.  

“YOUR WIFE?!?!?!”  

                                                           ***

“Let me get this straight...” Alex starts, Kelley letting out a snort.  

“Well, I wouldn’t say straight... OW!” She winces when Alex slaps her in the back of the head.  

“ANYWAY.” Julie throws her hands in the air, everyone turning to her wide eyed. 

“WE’VE BEEN THIRSTING OVER YOUR WIFE THIS WHOLE TIME!?” She squeaks, your brows furrowing.  

“Wait, the MARRIED members of the team have been thirsting over me, that makes me a HOMEWRECKER CHRIS.” You whisper in shock.  

Emily pouts.  

“So, when you tweeted that I was adorable...”  

You grin.  

“I still stand by my statement.”  

Emily turns to Christen with a grin.  

“Your wife thinks I’m adorable.”  

Christen shakes her head.  

“BACK to the matter at hand.” Julie yells again, everyone shrinking away from her.  

“You let us thirst over her for MONTHS!” She grumbles, snorting when you shuffle to hide behind the forward.  

“I’m scared.” You whisper, peeking over Christen’s shoulder.  

“We just weren’t ready to come out publicly, and you guys KNOW you can’t keep secrets.”  

Ashlyn scoffs.

“That’s not true! I never told Alex it was Emily who ate the waffle that was on her plate while she went to the bathroom.”  

Alex’s turns towards Emily with a growl, the blonde hiding behind Lindsey.  

“IT WAS YOU?!”  

“I rest my case.”  

Mallory giggles.  

“That still doesn’t explain why you were so excited for movie night.”  

Christen’s cheeks flush, you and Tobin snorting.  

“She was supposed to tell you earlier, but she chickened out.”  

The room fills with laughter as Christen hides her face in your chest.  

“So, you guys JUST planned this?” Crystal asks, consoling an angry Julie Ertz, the woman still grumpy that Christen hadn’t told them the two of you were together.  

“Tobin and I did.” You grin, the forward holding her pinky and thumb up.  

“Yeah, I NEVER would’ve had you hide in the bathroom.” Christen rolls her eyes. 

You shrug.  

“Well, I wasn’t about to hide in the closet, I did that for a LONGGGGGG time.”  

Everyone again laughs, Kelley and Emily nodding.  

“Well, I like her.” Kelley grins.  

“Me too!” Emily adds.  

“Well, the Frat Daddy’s love you.” Carli shrugs, with a smile. “So how could we not?”  

You attempt, and fail to bite back a grin, your arms wrapping tightly around your wife.  

“See? That wasn’t so hard.”  

“I guess.” Christen murmurs, the brunette smiling as you duck down, kissing the top of her head.  

“Wait, so what was the plan then?” Ali asks curiously.  

You and Tobin share a glance.  

“It’s in the DVD player.”  

Christen’s brows furrow, as do everyone else’s, you and Tobin sharing a grin as everyone scrambles to see what is in the DVD player.  

The second the DVD starts to play Christen’s heart swells, the sound of your singing your wedding song filling her ears.  

The woman turns in your hold, tears in her green orbs as she pushes herself up on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to your lips.  

“I love you.” She whispers, the woman giggling as you kiss her cheek over and over again playfully.

“I love you too.”  

Kelley lets out a sudden wolf whistle.  

“Damn Y/N, you look like a fox.”  

You hear a smack, the defender wincing.  

“Stop thirsting.” Alex growls.

“Shit, sorry Y/N!”  

You laugh, shaking your head, bumping your nose against Christen’s.  

“Come on, let’s go relive the happiest day of my life.”  

Christen beams, pressing another kiss to your lips.  

“And the happiest day of mine.”  

You turn to Tobin, the two of you high fiving.  

“Worked like a charm.”  

“They found you in the bathroom and Ashlyn nearly killed you with a lamp.”  

You shrug.  

“Well I’m not dead, sounds like it worked like a charm to me.”  

Eventually, you end up on the floor at the end of the bed, Christen’s back against your chest as you watch the day you married the woman of your dreams.  

“Does that mean we’re going to tell the rest of the world soon?” You whisper in her ear, Christen grinning as she fishes her phone out of her pocket.  

“Is tonight too soon?”  

You grin, eyes filling with tears.  

“It’s never too soon to tell the world I love Christen Press.”  

[washymylifeaway]

Haikyuu fanfic recs but it’s just more of my faves pt 2 LOL

Hiya loves! My other fic rec (linked here) did well enough that I decided to make a pt 2 :D Here are some more of my faves that I didn’t get to recommend last time!!!! Again the rules are the same, two per ship and no cp (but of course I AM SUFFERING UGH) :’(((

As always, pls check WARNINGS, TAGS, and SUMMARIES for fics before reading and make sure you’re taking care of yourselves (since mental health is key!) Stay healthy loves <3

IwaOi (I made a top ten linked here):

darlin', your head's not right by aruariandance (T) 13.6k // AJKFFJA THIS ONE!!!! I really love this one and unconfident Oikawa is THE MOVE. I really liked the portrayal of Oikawa in this one, it’s done SO WELL :D Everything about this fic is amazing and the ending was SO CUTE,,, I love recursive endings!!!!!

nevermind (but i mind) by seabear (M) 9.9k // TELEPATHY. Okay prefacing this with the fact that there is SMUT in this, so be careful as you read! But the communication in this one? Nonexistent. And like Iwa’s mom? The mfing mvp. It’s a great fic and the ending was FLUFF.

KuroKen:

Addiction and Attachment by eevaeon (T) 41.8k // I’VE BEEN WAITING TO REC THIS OMG. You want a Kenma taking care of Kuroo? HERE IT IS :DDDD The feels in this one are high and it’s just SO GOOD. And they’re so cute the fluff is just so fluffy in this :D

Step by Step by dgalerab (M) 14.7k // inclusivity!!! I really like this one and it’s another where Kuroo gets kinda comforted by Kenma and Kuroo’s a bit desperate in this as well LOL. Also some BokuAka plot and poor Akaashi with the shirt omg. There’s some homophobia and smut so be careful as you read! 

BokuAka:

In the Absence of Light by meeks00 (E) 50.7k // WITCHES AND WITCH HUNTERS LETS GOOOOO. I really love this one because 1. Akaashi and Kenma’s friendship is one of my favorite hc! And 2. because of MAGIC AHHH! It’s a whole mess, but it’s such a good fic omg. CHECK TAGS AND WARNINGS cause fighting and SMUT!

Karma by dgalerab (T) 9k // PETTY AKAASHI? Sign me up. But no really, I love how Akaashi is in this fic and I think he’s characterized SO well! Also I too would get distracted as Bokuto does yoga with me ahaha. Anyway, I love the dynamics between everyone in this fic and it’s CUTE.

DaiSuga:

butterfly in the subway by bigspoonnoya (T) 62.8k // please, I’ve said other fics are a big mess BUT this one might just take the cake. It’s a mixture of ships with DaiSuga being the main one, so read it even if you don’t love DaiSuga (and then you’ll love them LOL). It’s like everything that could go wrong, goes wrong but the AsaNoya in this was SO cute!

you can only take what you can carry by skittidyne (T) 4.2k // Suga is strong. That’s it. That’s literally the whole fic LMAO. But no seriously, I wish I could’ve been there in person to ogle at the muscles cause like think about it. ANyway, Yachi is best. (if this made no sense, go read the fic LOL)

KyouHaba:

if not, winter by knightswatch (M) 54k // YES THIS FIC. THIS ONE RIGHT HERE. I love the development of their relationship,,, IT’S SO GOOD. Like when our boy Yahaba goes on that really friendly field trip and Kyoutani takes matters into his own hands? UGH YES. And when they visit? CUTE OMG. Yes this fic is it.

Isolated Parts by darkmagicalgirl (T) 3.3k // I love this fic cause old men KyouHaba are funny (fight those refs) and I love the nonlinear plot. It really adds another layer to the fic itself, and slowly unraveling the plot through the different years was SO IUAHFJF. I really loved it and piecing everything together :’)

MatsuHana:

Magical Mishaps and How to Deal by plumtrees (M) 10.9k // I lost this fic once and I searched for it FOR THE LONGEST TIME. But that’s cause I wanted to reread this masterpiece. IT’S SO FUNNY AND CUTE AND DOMESTIC AND UGH. Also the small angst made me SO SAD. But the ENDING? THE KISSES AHHHHHHH. (I’m yelling a lot BUT that’s cause I really love this fic <3333)

hang out fall in love by carafin (T) 8.6k // I love the Makki hates Mattsun initially but then falls for the irresistible charm he posses trope. It might be my favorite trope for MatsuHana specifically LOL. Like I really love this fic and it has MAGIC. It’s like a magical version of the VA one LOL. But like no radio shows or reunited best friends in this one :(

SakuAtsu:

the 28 postcards you left me by wheelspokes (T) 8.3k // Okay the whole concept of this fic made me laugh ngl. Like I hate exes to lovers but this concept made me read it and I don’t regret it. I felt Atsumu’s panic when he sent the first one and then later LOL. I loved Omi’s side too OMG, also there’s a timeline at the end :D

the home we built in hell by awkwardedgeworth (T) 5k // I love this fic. I love the execution of this fic. It’s written so well and the development they go through IS SO GOOD. Like the plot is just AMAZING and I literally cannot express in words how much I adore this fic. PLEASE READ IT! But be mindful of the tags FOR SURE!

SunaOsa:

Even forever is too short of a time with you by miyarinnnn (T) 53.8k // C U T E!!!! I really like this one and the way it went through all the time from the beginning. Technically this is the second fic and you SHOULD read the first one! But I loved seeing the references again and being able to read this from Osamu’s POV. I liked how it went in depth into everything,,, IT’S SO GOOD UGH.

Heart Reign by tookumade (series) 42.3k // ngl, I hate the second fic cause it makes me so angry AHHHHH. JK but seriously, it made me angry. Like my favorite is the last one (for obvious reasons), but every time I reread this series, I skip the second one cause I don’t want to GO THROUGH THE EMOTIONS. AGAIN. Like I hate Chuo now AHHHH. But read this series cause it’s AMAZING and makes me happy. The running and catching was the perfect touch to the end of the first fic and there’s a pov swap (the fourth one!) but I love the reminiscing in the third one too :D (but like I said the fifth one is my favorite!!!) 

(Also cause I can’t help myself, if you want another one I love that I’ve recommended before by tookumade, but not for spring to well up is literally my favorite fic of ALL TIME. Like out of all the fics I’ve read, still will be forever in love with this one ok bye. post where I yell about how much I love this fic linked HERE)

Random:

In Good Faith We Swap Our Aces by WInger (G) 15.1k // what’s a post without a chaotic fic? This is just a meme fic, essentially. It’s so funny and all the aces stories made me laugh like,,,, Yeah it’s literally just a crossover event with the schools and it’s just super lighthearted so I liked it LOL.

[unmaskedagain]

Sorry, it’s reserved

  Honestly neither Marinette nor Chloe had been surprised when Bustier caved to Alya’s insistent requests that the two girls not be allowed to go on the class trip to New York City. Lila had been subtly hinting about how much friendly better thing would be if they weren’t there.

           Mostly because just two weeks ago, Marinette had presented her class trip idea presentation; complete with a potential itinerary, pictures of the grand hotel could stay at, the fantastic tours they could go on, and exciting places they could eat. The class had been suitable wow’d.

           What was surprising was when, after Bustier announced in front of the class that Marinette and Chloe couldn’t go to New York much to the smug faces of the students, Adrien said, “Cool. Then I’ll skip the class trip too.” He then turned to his two best friends. “What do you two want to do instead?” Adrien was sick and tired of the other students in the class. He had been trying to get them to believe Lila was a liar for months but no one, not even Nino, would listen to him.

           Instead, they turned on the two most awesome girls in the class. Well, Adrien wasn’t going to deal with it anymore.

           The look of horror on Lila’s face was priceless. However, there was no backtracking now. The dream of a romantic trip to New York, walking hand in hand with Adrien, burst into flames and was now nothing more than ashes.

“Yeah, I won’t go either,” Nathaniel stated. “Doesn’t seem fair. Marinette worked really hard on the idea for the trip.” He never bought Lila’s crap, and he never understood how anyone else did.

           Marinette smirked, “I’m up for whatever.” She shrugged. “I’m actually looking forward to now having to organize the trip. Or fundraise for it. And to think I was going to start working this weekend.” The bluenette made sure to look directly at Bustier and Alya, her ex-friend when she said this. “Its only October but believe me, you’ll want to start making reservations fast. Nothing was done but the presentation; which you can have by the way. And just a reminder, a lot of places do require a down payment. Also, don’t forget approval from the school board.”

“Which takes like three months btw,” Chloe said with a vicious smile on her face. She was the last class president. She knew exactly how hard getting a fabulous trip approved of was. “Paperwork has to be filled out in triplicates and if you mess up on even one form, they’ll make you fill out the entire thing again.” She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. “I just let Daddy know that he won’t have to make his annual donation this year for the trip. If you don’t want us there you obviously don’t need it. And to think, he usually funds thirty percent of it. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

           By the looks on the other students’ faces, it was clear that they didn’t know that. However, pride wouldn’t let them back down. Besides, Alya thought, they had the moral high ground. Who wanted to hang with bullies anyway?

           To the other students’ credit, they did manage to raise enough money for the trip to New York. Granted, it wasn’t nearly as much as they usually did. Alya, the new class president, also forgot to make most of the reservations until the last minute, and it was hard to find a fancy hotel willing to accommodate an entire class of rowdy teenagers at the last minute. So they would stay at a Holiday Inn just outside of New York City. The glasses-wearing girl wished Lila had been so busy with her charity work so she would’ve had time to help and maybe they could’ve gotten a much better trip.

           By the end, the class trip the class would be getting wasn’t nearly as were or amazing as the one Marinette had presented at the beginning of the year. However, most were just happy to be going to New York.

           Lila shot four exiled students a victorious look as she bragged about all the things and people she’d get to see in New York. She had spent months trying to get Adrien to agree to go on the trip but he wouldn’t budge.

She sighed dramatically, “I love New York. The only bad part are the superheroes. Last time I was there Robin and Speedy practically got into a fistfight over who’d take me on a date. I hate getting in the way of friendships.”  Marinette snorted. “We leave for New York in three weeks. What will you three be doing then?”

“Waiting for a house to fall on you,” Marinette said easily.

           Adrien chuckled, “We leave for L.A in two days.”

           That got the classes’ attention.

“Sorry, What?” Alya asked; suddenly getting a bad feeling in her stomach.

           Chloe leaned back in her seat, “L.A. It was my idea. We decided since we couldn’t go on your trip we’d go on our own. Let's see… our first stop in L.A, we’ll be there for about a week; we’ll tour some movie studios, go on set for the Star Trek movie that filming. Attending the movie premiere of the newest Marvel movie. Then leave for Indio; it's not that far from L.A, I think. But who cares. We have to be at Coachella, even if only for two days. Then we go to Metropolis. And I can’t remember… Marinette what did you plan for us to do? It was her idea to go there.” She told the class who had looks of sheer dismay on their faces that got worse and worse as the four described the trip.

           Marinette smiled, “Tour of LexCorp, a tour of Daily Planet, reservations for the grand opening of Gordon Ramsey’s new restaurant, we got backstage passes for a 5 seconds of Summer concert-” She was cut off

“Why couldn’t we go see Selena Gomez again?” Adrien frowned.

           Marinette rolled her eyes, “Because you couldn’t beat Chloe in an arm-wrestling contest.”

“She is freakishly strong,” Adrien protested. “And she plays mind games!”

           Chloe blew a raspberry at the other blond.

“We’ll be in Metropolis for about a week,” Marinette continued, as her two friends bickered and Adrien declared he would have his vengeance. “Then Adrien got to pick where we next.”

“Disney World!” The blond shouted. It was his biggest childhood dream and it was becoming a reality. “We’re going to Florida to Disney World, and then Universal Studios; where we’ll get to see the Magical World of Harry Potter.”

“Geek!” Chloe sniped.

“Slytherin!” Adrien hissed back at her.

“And proud,” Chloe crossed her arms. “But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Hufflepuff?” She said the Hogwarts’ house like it was a dirty word. “Most notable thing a Hufflepuff ever did was die. And then somehow ended up in Twilight.”

           Adrien stood up angrily, “You take that back!”

“Make me!”

           Adrien looked at Nathaniel, “Ravenclaw, do something!” Their two houses went together like PB&J.

           Nathaniel put down his pencil, “No.” And went back to writing. “Make the Gryffindor do it!” He motioned to Marinette.

           Marinette just looked up at the ceiling, praying to gods’ for patience.

           Adrien, she was suddenly reminded, was loyal enough to help hide a body.

           Nathaniel was smart enough to have already come up with an alibi.

           Chloe as conning enough to ensure they got away it, after goading Marinette into doing it in the first place.

           Marinette would eventually snap and kill Lila. She would need them. “We’ll be in Florida for about four days; enough to see both amusement parks. Then all four of us agreed to go to New York next. First, stop Gotham; we’ll be touring Wayne Industries and attending one of the Wayne family annual galas.”

“Then we go directly to New York City,” Chloe said examining her nails. “Mama arranged us a tour of Vogue and Mode. We’ll be going to a few of the runways for Fashion Week. Adrien’s father arranged for us to go see Hamilton on Broadway.”

           It had taken a lot of time, effort, threats of going to the police, press, and CPS regarding child labor laws broken concerning Adrien to get Gabriel Agreste to agree to let his son go on the trip (as well as allow him to actually have a childhood). But there had been several conditions; mostly to do with security and proper supervision; which all the parents had, though not to Gabriel’s extremeness.

           Still, the four kids agreed to the terms.

“We’re going to a baseball game!” Adrien added excitedly. “A real one. I’m going to eat a hot dog the size of my arm. And cotton candy the size of my head.”

           Marinette nodded slowly, already picturing herself patting Adrien’s back as he whined about as stomach ache from eating too much.

           Chloe frown, picturing the same. She had lost a pair of Jimmy Choos after one disastrous trip to the carnival that involved way too much greasy food and rollercoaster with two loops. She shook the nightmarish memory away, “Thanks to Marinette, we’ll be touring the Stark Industries and the Avengers tower. All the hotels we’ll be staying at are 5 stars. Also, we’re going to three, three Michelin star restaurants. I can imagine what would’ve happened if she had made the reservations late. We might have ended up in some god awful Inn.”

“Come to think of it,” Marinette paused thoughtfully, “We should get to New York about the same time you do. What are your plans? No! Don’t tell me. I’m sure they’re amazing and I don’t want to be jealous. I mean you kicked us off the trip so you had to have something out of this world lined up.”

           Alya’s mouth was dry. She tried to come up with something to say; something to brag about but she knew that come September she’d have to pony up the pics. Because Pics or it didn’t happen. Chloe was active on social media; she’d be updating on a daily basis and scooping out her competition. She’d know instantly if they were lying and they’d never live it down.

           Lila fought the urge to throw the biggest tantrum of her life. At the beginning of the year, after Marinette’s trip presentation, she thought getting the bluenette and Blondie off the trip was the perfect plan; even when Adrien said he wouldn’t go. However, it was soon clear that Alya and the other students were in way over their hands. The dream trip that Marinette had spun them would be realized as only a dream as it was clear they wouldn’t manage it without Marinette’s organizational skills and Chloe’s funding.

           The trip they got was the standard tourist one. A look around the city, the statue of liberty, Time Square, and a museum or two. Honestly, Lila took better trips with her grandmother.

           Maybe there was still a way to save things…

“You know,” Lila smiled sweetly. “Since we’re all going to be in New York anyway, we should do everything together-“

“Can’t,” Marinette stated firmly. “Reservations are reservations for a reason. Tickets were bought. You know how it is.”

           Bustier frowned. This had ended the way she thought it would. When Alya and the other students beseeched her to disallow Marinette and Chloe from the school trip, she thought it was for the best. Chloe had always had a hostile attitude that Marinette seemed to have developed as well. It left the rest of the class with negative energy that wasn’t helpful for nurturing their growth.

           However, she couldn’t have predicted just how badly things would go. Alya had come crying to her several times about having to fill out and re-fill out multiple forms for the school board. She seemed to get something wrong every time.

           The children could barely raise enough money for the trip. And it wasn’t nearly as wonderful as the one Marinette had come up with at the beginning of the year. Still, they were going to New York which was what counted. Most classes wouldn’t even have gotten that far, She thought smugly. It would be a good trip. (Caline had dreamed about accidentally running into Steve Rogers or Thor and being swept off her feet. And she thought that dream wouldn’t even be possible if she was too busy trying to reign in her to most troublesome students which were one of her reason her telling the two they couldn’t go.) However, even that trip paled in comparison to the one the bluenette had planned for her and her two friends. 5-star hotels, trips to galas, fashion week, going to the Avengers Towers, possibly meeting Captain America, Thor, and the rest! It all sounded too good to be true.

“There must be something you can do,” Bustier said. “It would be nice if all my students were together.”

           The other students looked at the tour with hope clear in their eyes.

           Adrien, Marinette, and Chloe just looked at the teacher like she was dumb. Each fought the urge to remind the teacher that she was just fine with the three not going less than ten minutes ago.

           Adrien rolled his eyes, “There isn’t. Everything was bought and paid for. They are only expecting four kids which is why we get to go to so many places. Turns out, not many hotels and restaurants want to deal with a bunch of teens at the last minute.”

Marinette nodded, “Besides you wouldn’t want us crashing your trip anyway. We’d hate to get in the way. We know you guys wanted a drama-free trip.” She through the term back in their faces. “But I wouldn’t mind meeting up one day. You guys are doing time square right. Let us know when and we’ll see if we can do it the same day.”

“If we can fit in our schedules,” Chloe snapped. “It's pretty packed.”

“Not as packed as theirs, I’m sure,” Marinette smiled kindly, though inside she was doing a victory dance worthy of a champion. “I can’t wait to see the pictures.”

           The four left that Friday. By Sunday, the social medias were filled with dozens of pictures of beautiful hotel rooms. The next three weeks were the worst in the class’s entire lives. The other students in the class tried their best not to look but it was hard. Particularly when the picture of Marinette, Adrien, and Chloe on the red carpet started to make waves. Pictures of the four meeting various celebrities like Lex Luther and Chris Pine, superheroes like Superman and Batman, of them at Disney World and Coachella had left more than a bit of envy in their hearts.

           Their own trip had started out terribly. Alya hadn’t book enough rooms so they had to triple bunk, with some people having to sleep on a cot. And it turned out that the only tours she had secured was to Elis Island and the New York Art Museum; nothing nearly as exciting as they hoped. So they had been mostly left on their own for sight-seeing.

           Still, it wasn’t a terrible trip. They ate great good and saw the normal New York tourist attractions.

           However, when the time came for them to go to Time Square and meet up with Adrien, Alya, Chloe, and Marinette, Bustier was ready to pull her hair out.

           Bustier never had trouble on any of the previous trips, as they were always organized to the minute, but this one had so much free time the kids didn’t know what to do with themselves which resulted in chaos. And being threatened with being kicked out of the hotel. She didn’t understand what was different. The students were usually so well behaved.

           Sure on previous trips, there had been two more chaperones but Bustier always thought they were unnecessary. Her students were the best and most well behaved in school for the most part. She was positive that they only needed their teacher to watch out for them.

           She was wrong.

           And Bustier was very surprised to see Mendeleiev there with her four wayward students, looking very much like the Cat that got the Canary.

“Demetria,” Bustier greeted politely. “What are you doing here?”

           Mendeleev didn’t bother to hide her smirk. “I was invited as a chaperone. It just me and Gorilla. Between the two of us we keep the delinquents in check,” She said Delinquents at the four who playfully hissed at her. Each of the four wore a black shirt with a different Hogwarts house on it.“Best decision I ever made. I was reluctant at first as it’s not school-related and I wouldn’t be paid for it. But Agreste and Bourgeois are paying me nine times my usual amount an hour to watch the kids like a hawk. Luckily their goods kids. What about you? How is your class trip going?”

           Bustier forced herself to smile, and not bite out angrily that it was driving her insane. The kids were driving her completely up the wall. And Caline was more than a little aware of how amazing her four students trip was and to think Mendeleiev had gotten to do it all with them made her blood boil and her eyes practically turn green with jealousy. “Extremely well. We are having… the time of our lives.”

“I’m sure,” Mendeleiev said. She and the rest of the teachers had never been happy with how Bustier ran her class. Or just how much she and Damocles got away with. However, it didn’t matter. Come September, things would change. Damocles had already gotten fired for taking bribes, breaking procedure, and being a complete idiot.

           Bustier, while technically, hadn’t done anything wrong would still have to listen to the school board tell her everything that was wrong with her class. And there was a lot.

“Have you gone to the Avengers tower yet?” Bustier asked, not subtly at all. She still hoped that if there was time she and her class could tag along.

“We have,” Mendeleiev told her, bursting the bubble of hope that had sprung in Caline. “It was quite wonderful. I had a wonderful debate with Doctor Banner; it turns out he’s read several of my papers and me, his. While the kids are at the baseball game tomorrow, the two of us will be having a lunch date and going over our scientific hypothesis tomorrow.”

“Get it, Ms. Mendeleiev,” Chloe laughed.

           Mendeleiev shot her a stern look but her mouth twitched as she fought a smile.

“Perhaps my class could go with?”

“Sorry, we have a reserved seats.”

Envy flared in Caline Bustier more than ever before in her entire life. If they had been still in Paris, Hawkmoth would’ve had a field day. “Oh but what about watching the kids. Won’t they need you? What would their parents say about this?” A vicious smirk appeared on Bustier’s face. She always thought Mendeleiev needed to be knocked down a peg or two.

Mendeleiev didn’t bat an eye, “Already covered. Already cleared with their parents. After all who’s going to say no to Captain America and Iron Man babysitting their kids. Steve hadn’t been to a game a while and he really wanted to take his son Peter and the rest of Tony’s interns. The kids should have a blast.”

Adrien shot a bright smile at his bodyguard, “Natasha is going too! I still don’t understand how you two know each other.”

Gorilla’s face burned a red color but he remained silent. He wore the bright yellow and black Hufflepuff scarf Adrien had begged him to wear as a show of support, particularly when Mendeleiev revealed herself to be a Ravenclaw (So did Bruce Banner). Captain America and the Winter Soldier high-fived Marinette over being Gryffindors. And Pepper Potts, Iron Man, and the Black Widow introduced themselves as Slytherin alumni.

Where was the Hufflepuff love?

Adrien had looked at Hawkeye with hope but Clint had shrugged and said, “Gryffindor.”

The blond boy huffed and pouted (the pout was how he got Gorilla to wear the scarf). He bet Thor was a Hufflepuff.

           The rest of Bustier’s class still steer clear away from the four; out of pride and envy. Lila had attempted to go near Adrien but was stopped by Alya who didn’t want to risk her bestie getting bullied by the meanest girls in school.

           Alya had decided after seeing the pictures of the four with Superman, The Avengers, Batman, and THE LOIS LANE that life just wasn’t fair. If it was Marinette and Chloe (Maybe even Nathaniel) would be stuck in Paris, crying their eyes out over not being allowed on the trip. It was what they deserved for being such bullies.

           The preplanned tour of Times Square, which was mostly just the kids walking around and awing at the pretty lights. It was actually a bit boring, once the excitement wore off. They found themselves on the highest building there, looking over New York City in its entirety, along with a bunch of other tourists.

           Suddenly all the electronic billboards and every ounce of electricity turned off. Crowds up people looked around confused.

           The giant monitors blurred and a face appeared, “Greetings citizens of New York, I. AM. THE. Electrocutioner!” Lights were centered on the highest building there, and it was clear the villain stood on top of the building. The building of Bustier’s class was on.

           One thought echoed in the minds of each Parisian citizen, “Fuck.”

           Before any of the Paris heroes’ could figure out if they should act or not, another team of heroes arrived.

           The evil-doer had with him a dozen or so henchmen, each more menacing the last.

           The sight of Kid Flash zooming up the side of the building was incredible. Seeing Young Justice kick butt left Marinette a little breathless.

Was this what it was like, she wondered, seeing Ladybug fight.

           When some of the henchmen were ordered to take hostages; Marinette, Chloe, Nathaniel, Adrien, Gorilla, and Mendeleiev fighting back much to the shock of Bustier and her class. Chloe rolled her eyes as she, and the other three pulled out miniature pens from their pockets; did they really not know how often New York is attacked by Super Villians. Seriously.

           With a click of the button, the pen turns into a long whip. Chloe refused to be taken without a fight. Her and Marinette, who now wielded a fighting staff, nodded at each other. The blonde snorted when she looked at Adrien, “A shield, really?”

“I don’t want to hurt people too much,” Adrien defended.

“This is why you’re a Hufflepuff.”

           Nathaniel spun his trident around. It worked like a Taser and could shock people. Luckily only the villain had electricity powers.

Marinette didn’t know how it happened but suddenly she was fighting back to back with Robin.

“Nice moves,” Robin said after Marinette knocked out a henchman with a high kick. He knocked out a henchman with his staff.

“Not too bad yourself.”

           Nathaniel nearly had a heart attack when Aqualad jumped in to help him protect several tourists. When biggest henchmen came rushing at him, the redhead fired up his trident and within seconds the underling was down for the count.

           Kaldur paused, “…Can I borrow that?”

           Chloe used the whip with ease and grace. She has been practicing with it ever since she saw Shadow Hunters for the first time. Isabelle Lightwood was an icon.

The blonde didn’t know how it happened. But one minute she was fighting off two lame minions then she saw an Arrow guy fighting and then falling off the roof, and the next thing she knows she’s jumping after him. Then they both were dangling off the roof with only Chloe’s whip for support.

“You call this a rescue?” Arrow guy snorted.

“You call yourself a hero?” Chloe snapped.

“Meow!”

           Chloe didn’t see how he did it but one moment she was hanging there; the next Arrow guy was swinging her up back onto the roof.

           He smirked at her, “You’re a pretty one.”

           She waved him off, “Oh go save someone!”

           When Superboy crashed down next to him after taking a brutal hit, Adrien gripped his shield and stood in front of him. Adrien was able to block most of the attempts of the underlings to reach the boy of steel. But it wasn’t long until they had them surrounded. Just when Adrien thought he was a goner, red lasers blasted the henchman back.

           Superboy stood up, “Thanks for the assist.” He smiled at the blond boy. “Nice shield.”

           Gorilla and Mendeleiev handled their own really well. After seeing Gorilla fight, Adrien started to have some serious suspicions about just how his bodyguard knew the Black Widow.

           When the fight was over, and the villains detained, the small group stood with the rest of the civilians until the all-clear was given.

The Bustier and her class stared in awe as the members of Young Justice walked over to the six with large smiles. The heroes didn’t even spare the class a glance. Not even when Alya pushed Lila to the front but Robin and Arsenal never even noticed her.

Dick Grayson, Robin, smiled at the pretty bluenette with bluest eyes he’d ever seen and did his best to ignore Batman in his ear about bringing in the Heroes Ladybug, Chat Noir, Queen Bee, and Bright Roar in to Watch Tower stat. He knew all about Ladybug and, thanks to Batman, knew her civilian identity. But to see her in person was a whole different experience.

No, there was a time and place for everything. And right now the time was to flirt with the Gorgeous Superhero who a skintight red suit.

“You’re amazing,” He told her honestly. “What are you doing for the rest of my life?”

“I swear to god if you propose!” Batman hissed in his ear.

           Marinette blushed a bright red.

           Kaldur handed the trident back to Nathaniel, “This is an amazing weapon. You use it well.” He told the redhead. This must be the new Hero Bright Roar “I wish for one just like it.”

           Nathaniel flushed but handed the weapon back to Kaldur, “Keep it. I’m not that good with it.”

           Kaldur smiled, “Then perhaps you will let me teach you one day. One on one sessions.”

“Really Kaldur,” Aquaman chastised. “This is a mission, not a dating show.”

           Aqualad ignored him.

           Superboy nodded at Adrien, “You’re good,” he told the smaller blond boy. Though from the reports he read about Chat Noir, he was only a year younger than him. “Cool shirt by the way. It's nice to meet a fellow Hufflepuff.” He said and then suddenly his arms were full of a blond boy thanking him for existing.

“Breathe,” Superman chuckled in his ear. “Just breathe, Connor.”

“For such good finders, we’re so hard to find,” Adrien said. “I could kiss you!”

           Superboy turned the brightest shade of red anyone had ever seen.

           Arsenal eyed the hot blond girl, “At least you know how to stay out of the way.”

           Chloe glared at him, “Next time, I’ll just let you die.”

“Then who be the man of your dreams.”

“Freddie Kruger would probably take his job back,” Chloe said with a hand on her hip. “Though his face isn’t as terrifying as yours.”

“That girl will eat you alive,” Oliver warned in his ear.

“So you admit you dream about me,” Roy stepped forward.

           Chloe huffed, “Get real!”

“Hey,” Alya called. “Robin, Speedy, don’t you want to say hi to Lila Rossi.” She motioned to the Italian girl who had gone pale.

“It’s Arsenal now,” Roy corrected.

           Dick nodded, “And who’s Lila?”

           Marinette smiled, “Oh I’d totally marry you now!”

           Robin grinned and raised his arms in victory.

           Batman cursed in his ear.

            Robin, Arsenal, Aqualad, and Superboy kept their attention on the on the four. No matter how much their superhero mentors protested. No matter how much Bustier’s tried to intervene.

              No, their attentions’ were reserved