#anyway very excited for when that fandom finally goes away and i never have to see their bad takes and unhinged entitlement ever again
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laurelwinchester · 8 months ago
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at some point a certain fandom within the spn fandom is going to have to do some self reflection and figure out why they're so
a) wildly entitled for no reason
and b) utterly obsessed with portraying themselves as victims because they didn't get what they wanted out of a fictional ship on a cw television series.
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wwillywonka · 1 month ago
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two for you, if you like!
🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now
🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character
hiii thank you so much for the ask!
🪐 - i definitely have a hard time being positive so i'm always grateful to have an excuse to tell my brain to rewrite itself for a while lol.
1. made a new friend recently and we've been hanging out a lot! i've been pretty lonely post-college, and this person and i not only have so many overlapping interests but also happen to be the same ethnicity, and i genuinely don't know how we never managed to meet before this, especially considering they grew up in the next town over. it's been wonderful. we went to a record store yesterday, and i was perusing the soundtrack cds, and my friend goes, "omg i see something. how did you miss it???" and it was the fucking charlie and the chocolate factory broadway soundtrack. my beloathed. and yes i bought it. we also spent the entire car ride talking about mcspirk. really good.
2. i might be (maybe) getting a full time position (hopefully)! i don't want to jinx it, but i've been doing part time work for a bit now and it's finally looking like it might turn into something more! i'm tentatively excited.
3. overall, i am once again just so grateful for all my friends (both online and especially off) in fandom spaces and having the ability to share my love for these stories with others. the star trek fandom especially has been such a welcoming and loving place, and after years of pretty much only being obsessed with very niche things, it's been such a breath of fresh air. kissing you all, mwah!
🍬 - oh god, completely different vibe. i tend to steer clear of fandom discourse unless i feel like a story reaaally messed up (aka the way racism was handled in the newest season of doctor who...), so i don't really like to bash on characters specifically because i know what it's like to be on the receiving end of someone's hatred for your fav. most of my opinions tend to be unpopular anyway a) because my favourite characters are always the morally grey ones who i like precisely because they're controversial, and b) because so many people on this site don't understand nuance. it's just... so frustrating when people can't see beyond their need for a ship to be canon/a ship is the only reason they're interested in the story. arcane, for example, is not only incredibly nuanced, detailed, and, yes, full of morally grey characters, it exists to raise questions about politics and history that intentionally are not meant to be solved in 18 episodes because humanity has been trying to answer them for thousands of years! i agree that the writing felt rushed, but what people can't seem to grasp is that just because a story doesn't answer every one of life's questions doesn't mean it's a bad story. aaaahhh. anyway, sorry for the rant, that didn't really answer your question.
i'll say this: (arcane spoilers!!!)
i think jinx dying was a perfect way to end the story. i literally predicted way back when i first watched s1 that one of the sisters was going to die. i thought vi was going to kill jinx to be honest. it wasn't a cheap ending or a cop out; in the same way silco had to die in order for the story to move forward and for change to occur, the same goes for jinx. the cycles!!! they only end when we find the will to walk away!!!! that line has stuck with me since the finale premiered because it's so goddamn true. what if the people trying so hard to force the world into their own empire just... stopped. why can't they see that it doesn't fucking matter, that all that matters is loving one another and making sure we're all okay. like aaaahhh. change is necessary for us to move on and stop having the same arguments we've been having for thousands of years.
that being said, i don't think runeterra is going to necessarily be a better place post-jinx's death, especially because it keeps caitlyn in a respected position of power and i reaallllyyy hate how much the show makes you sympathise with her. i really don't like her... or vi... aaannnddd that's all i'll say about that because this is not an invitation for people to start yelling at me lol.
anyway!! thanks for the ask and sorry for turning it into an arcane rant lmao
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divinemissem13 · 1 year ago
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Friendly Competition
Flufftober, day 13: Wrong (game) Fandom: Star Trek Strange New Worlds Ship: Pike/ Una Rated M for implied sexual content (could probably be T but I like to rate cautiously) AO3 link
Game night for two in the captain's quarters. Rules TBD.
“You do know I’m the boss, right? I could just order you to fold.”
“Mmhmm” Una replies smugly as she lays down her hand: a full house, queens over kings (of course). She raises an eyebrow and smirks at Chris, a silent challenge to beat her hand.
Chris reluctantly shows his hand, one card at a time: 7 of hearts, 4 of hearts, 6 of hearts. He glances up at Una but she doesn’t seem ruffled yet, his seemingly random placement of his cards luring her into a false sense of security, just like he had hoped. 
8 of hearts. Chris looks up again and sees Una’s jaw tighten. It’s the only sign he sees that she is getting worried, but it’s enough. 
“Wanna guess what this last one is?” Chris asks, trying to feign innocence but doing a terrible job as the corners of his mouth are already curling toward a smile. 
Una rolls her eyes. Leave it to a man to make such a big deal out of one little hand while she sits fully clothed and he’s in nothing but boxer briefs and knee socks, the rest of his clothing having been shed piece by piece with each hand he lost.
“A joker?” she quips sarcastically.
Chris is so excited, he doesn’t even acknowledge her biting tone. He stands triumphantly and throws down the final card with a flourish: a 5 of hearts. “Straight flush beats your full house! Scant, please!” he exclaims gleefully.
Una leans one elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand, taking in the ridiculous but adorable sight across the table. The dissonance of his manly, muscular physique against his boyish excitability is one of the things she finds most enticing about him. 
“Are you sure you don’t want to start with something a little smaller? A boot, maybe?” she purrs at him with a gleam in her eye that tells Chris she is definitely up to something. 
“Oh, I’m sure. The scant. Hand it over,” he confirms, holding out a hand and wiggling his fingers.
Una stands and walks close to him, her finger tips playing with the hem of her very short dress. She doesn’t remove it though. Instead, she leans in and whispers in his ear, “Here’s the thing, Captain: I never said we were playing strip poker.”
Chris stands there with his mouth hanging open as Una struts away toward the bedroom, still fully clothed. He replays the evening in his head and realizes that, in fact, she had never once requested an item of clothing from him. He had eagerly removed something of his own volition each time he lost a hand, blinded by the anticipation of when she would have to do the same. 
And now, standing alone in the middle of the living room in the oh-so-attractive combination of mismatched underwear and socks, he only has himself to blame. 
Feeling defeated and more than a little bit embarrassed, Chris begins to gather the pieces of his uniform from the floor. One boot has ended up near the bedroom door and he goes to retrieve it, wondering why the hell he was throwing clothing around on top of everything else.
Suddenly, a yellow piece of fabric hits him directly in the face. Once he shakes off the shock, he realizes he is holding Una’s scant. 
He squints into the darkened bedroom and can only just make out her silhouette stretched out on the bed. The starlight gleams against her skin, highlighting the ample curves and lithe limbs so that she almost seems to be glowing. 
The pile of clothes drops to the floor and before he has fully processed the situation, Chris vaults to the bed and lands on his hands and knees straddling his Number One everything. She looks up at him with a seductive smirk and he leans down to kiss it right off her face. Just before their lips touch, he murmurs “Now this is the type of ‘poke-her’ I’ll always win.”
Una bursts out laughing, right in his face, but he kisses her anyway, swallowing her howls until they turn into sighs and moans.She rolls them so that she is on top of him and Chris can’t help but think smugly (before he stops thinking completely) Yep, in the end, I always get her to fold.
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boyfrillish · 2 years ago
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playground kisses
Fandom: Pokémon Black 2 & White 2
Pairing: Hugh x Nate
Word count: 800
Summary: Nate and Hugh confess their feelings on a playground.
Notes: I wrote this back in November as a birthday gift by me for me and one thing led to another and now I'm posting it like, half a year later. Better late then never, huh? Another pair of childhood friends rivals may have taken over my life in the time between, but I've been fond of these two for 10 years now they are still very special to me 😔✌
Anyway, enjoy the fluff!
~
Nate sits on the swing, just basking in the evening glow. It gets chilly once the sun goes down, but for now, he enjoys the remaining warmth and feels the breeze ruffling his hair. Maybe he’s too old now to be playing on a playground, but that doesn’t stop him from having fun. It helps dissipate any worries or second guesses creeping up and keeps the mind refreshed for upcoming Pokémon battles.
With his eyes closed and nose toward the setting sun, he doesn’t notice someone’s approaching until he hears a voice calling out from the playground’s entrance. “There you are, Nate!”
Nate’s smile widens and he opens his eyes. “Hugh!”
Hugh stops in front of him and Nate stops swinging, though he remains seated.
“I was looking for you,” Hugh says. His expression is the typical resting frown, but Nate sees the telltale twitch of his lips and a spark in his eyes. When you’re close to someone since you both were kids, you learn how to read each other.
More than that — he feels the warmth emanating from Hugh, and his heart feels warmer too, complete with a fluttery sensation. It’s the familiar sensation he’s had when thinking about or spending time with Hugh for too long to count.
“Something wrong?” Nate asks.
“No, not wrong,” Hugh replies. “I just wanted to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
But instead of an answer, Hugh just stares at him, face all serious. Nate smiles up at him, encouraging him to speak. Hugh is usually so unwavering, straightforward with what’s on his mind, and bursting with passion; this nervousness is a rare sight.
Hugh finally takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and sighs, opening them again to look right into Nate’s. “Can I show you instead?”
“Sure.”
Nate tilts his head, curious to find out what Hugh planned to do. Hugh stays silent, closing the remaining step between them, and pulls Nate’s visor askew before taking hold of the swing chains, his gloved palms over Nate’s fingers. Nate holds his breath at the intensity of his gaze until—
Hugh closes his eyes and leans in, pressing his lips against Nate’s.
Nate gasps and regrets it immediately when Hugh pulls away, his eyebrows crinkled with concern.
“Sorry. Was that too straightforward?”
“No, no, I was just — you caught me by surprise!” Nate scrambles to explain, adjusting his fingers to link with Hugh’s, the swing chain between them. With an air of mischief, he adds, “Can you show me again? I’m not sure the message came across just yet.”
Never one to say no to a challenge, Hugh huffs a breath and his lips pull up into the grin Nate loves so much. “Sure thing, Nate.”
He closes the gap once more and this time, Nate is ready to kiss back. They kiss once, twice, three times, maybe a hundred — Nate loses count. His smile widens with each kiss, and they laugh softly every time they stop for breath.
Eventually, Hugh pulls back, though he stays within an inch, almost touching foreheads, his red eyes sparkling and a grin playing on his lips. Nate can only guess how wide his own smile is.
“So, did you get now what I was trying to tell you?” Hugh asks.
Nate hums in confirmation. “Did you get what I was trying to say in response?”
“I think so.”
“I could kiss you again to make the point more clear,” Nate says, grinning.
Hugh huffs a laugh. “Oh, I’m not gonna stop you.”
And in his excitement to close the gap, Nate forgets he’s still sitting on a swing — and promptly loses his balance.
But Hugh is there to catch him.
“Woah! Careful, Nate!” Hugh heaves a sigh, not letting go of him. “Jeez. You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Oops. Sorry, Hugh.”
“Don’t sweat it. You really are…” He trails off.
“Really am what?” Nate asks, pouting.
But he senses not even a trace of annoyance nor anger, just — warmth, overflowing.
Hugh touches his forehead to Nate’s. “Nothing. I’m just fond of you, that’s all.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Oh, good. I got your message right, then.” Hugh grins.
“Aw, so I don’t get to kiss you again?”
“You get to kiss me whenever you want, as long as I get to kiss you again, too.”
Nate lets out a cheer and throws his arms around Hugh’s shoulders, standing on tiptoes to kiss the corner of his lips.
Hugh laughs softly, tightening the hug and kissing right back.
They may not have said those three words yet, but the love between them is crystal clear. And until they’re ready to say it, they’d keep expressing it with actions rather than words. Nate is excited to enter this new stage in his relationship with Hugh, and the excitement and love within Hugh’s heart resonate back to him.
ao3 link
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thisbuildinghasfeelings · 1 year ago
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Hello, I’m new to the Tarlos fandom ♥️ bing watched all seasons and I’m not okay 🥹 anyways I wanted to ask: are Rafael and Ronen usually more active on socials? Do they give bts footage when they are filming? And are their joint lives a regular thing?
Anyways, excited to be here, these two together, on and off screen, have something so special. It’s a joy to watch them! Thank you :)
Hello, welcome!! It always makes me happy to see new people enjoying the show and falling in love with Tarlos! It's very easy to do--you're so right, they really do have something special!
Ronen in particular is usually a whole lot more active on socials. He goes a little quieter at times during the summer, but this summer he's quiet on a whole new level, and I'm assuming that can mostly be attributed to the strike. He's not able to talk about the show/Tarlos right now, so it's probably keeping him off social media a bit. Aside from that, he's probably busy traveling, working on music, relaxing, etc. Once they finally do get back to filming (or even well before then), I'm confident he will be back to posting regularly.
Rafa used to be more active on socials, but in the last couple years, he posts a lot less. However, he drops in from time to time to destroy us with gorgeous vacation photos, workout selfies, etc. And he usually posts about events he attends, though often after the fact rather than in real time.
During filming, Rafa doesn't usually post too much about the show/filming, though he will occasionally do a post or two to promote important episodes. Ronen posts a lot during filming and he loves to tease and hint at future Tarlos content. He doesn't post actual bts footage...I don't think he'd be allowed to share anything from when they're actively filming. But he posts selfies from set/his trailer frequently, and we can usually get little hints based on the outfits he's wearing and things like that. He usually interacts with fans a bit, talks about Tarlos all the time, and he'll sometimes live tweet episodes when they air. If it weren't for the greedy, soulless studios refusing to pay writers and actors what they deserve, we'd be mere weeks away from season 5 behind the scenes content...sadly, there's no telling when they'll be back to filming at this point.
The joint Tarlos lives are incredible but do appear to be a thing of the past. They haven't done one since before season 3. During season 3, they mentioned trying to organize another live a couple times, but it never happened. Then I don't think it was mentioned by either of them at all during season 4, and the only live Ronen did to promote the show was with Julian Works. I get the impression that Rafa doesn't want to do them anymore. He's a fairly private person and he's become less active on social media as the show/Tarlos got more popular. As an introvert who barely uses social media myself, I understand and respect that 100%...though I can't deny that I would love another Tarlos live more than almost anything! Who knows, it could still happen in the future someday, but I'm not expecting it. Regardless, we got a lot of great promotional content with both of them during season 4 and there are always the old lives to rewatch. If you haven't watched them all yet, I highly recommend it! As well as all the promotion they did for the season 4 finale! There are some great interviews and photoshoots out there to enjoy.
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tractorbeamofwoe · 2 years ago
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Hi do you think you’re done with writing or do you think you’ll ever come back to it? If you do pick it back up again who would you write for?
Hey, thanks for asking :)
This is gonna be a long ass answer so strap in lol. I’m not done with writing at all, or at least I don’t want to be done. There is still so much I want to say and get out there that I want to share with you guys. I still have so many WIPs and I’d preferably like to finish them before I die lmao even if you have to wait 40 years. Ik I’m kind of on a hiatus rn as far as writing goes (or at least writing for catfish anyway) but actually I am still writing behind the scenes. I do try and add to WIPs and chapters and I’m still having so many ideas. But it’s a long slow process and I just never feel like I can get these WIPs to a good enough standard to post them, or find the motivation/inspiration to finish them. You have no idea how much I’d love to continue Tyrants and the things in my head I have planned for it, but I’m just finding it super difficult and I feel awful for kind of abandoning you guys and abandoning all these projects for months at a time. I mean hell some of my fics haven’t been updated for at least a year. Maybe I need to bring back WIP weekends, if that’s smth you guys would like?
So to answer your first question, no I’m not done and yes I absolutely would love to come back to it when I’m in a better place. I’m also super super busy rn with final exams coming up and I’m starting uni in a few months too so lots of preparation going into that as I’m moving into an entirely new city. I’m just super tired all the time and I really do not write well when I’m tired I have all these thoughts but I get two sentences in and I’m out like a light.
To answer your second question, I truly don’t know tbh my fandoms have changed so much since I started this acc there’s so many people I would have loved/would still love to write for but I feel like obviously I have followers from a specific target audience it’s very hard to move into something else. Like I don’t wanna make people unhappy by writing other stuff yk? Basically I just don’t know what sort of reaction my writing will get (I mean the interaction on my fics are already bad as it is, I dread to think what it would be like if I posted something that appeals to absolutely none of my followers lol).
Ik I said I’d write some Stranger Things stuff and I actually have been! I’ve written a good chunk of the first chapter of a series I wanted to start, but again I just struggle to find inspiration anymore to finish it, but once I do I’m really really excited for people to see it. I’m still really into britpop too and I’m sure some of my mutuals absolutely wouldn’t object if I wrote about damon 😂 but I’ve just never really committed to getting any ideas down in writing yk? But I also kind of wanna move away from rpf sort of only because I find it kind of limiting with what you can do because there’s like an unspoken line you shouldn’t cross yk? Whereas fictional characters can kind of have endless possibilities. Especially ones that have their own universes and rules etc. And ik there’s nothing stopping me from writing AUs cause I’ve done several but idk it’s just not really quite the same. I kind of struggle with making original characters too which is not a handy weakness at all when writing series.
But ya then there’s the part of me that’s like hm I would’ve liked to have done some resdogs stuff, some bullet train stuff cause god knows there’s not enough fics of my fave films out there it would just be purely self indulgent tho.
but I also have like Leon Kennedy brainrot and my mate’s just gotten me on the mf wilbur soot/mcyt hype train which is a whole other can of worms I won’t get into in this post
But obviously I won’t do any of that until I finish all my old WIPs and requests for catfish, inhaler and Sam 💀💀
So basically if I came back it would be more of the same for a while and then suddenly just go completely off the rails. If you made it to the end I admire your patience I hope this wasn’t too boring to read. Love ya <3
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drangercore · 2 years ago
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Love and Other Historical Accidents by @pacific-rimbaud​
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy never intended to blow up their life's work, but that's rather what they've gone and done. Now they're trapped 200 years in the past, with a broken Time Turner, a missing snuff box, a handful of overly-eligible daughters, and a House-elf in a cable knit cardigan. It will require the combined power of their keen intellects to get them home, if they'd stop arguing long enough to use them. As it turns out, history is just one damned accident after another.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Relationship: Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy
Art by @gingerhuneybee​, @jjuuppiter​, @jaxxartbox​, & yours truly
My first fanbind! 
L&OHA is an impeccable story and is so very dear to me. This was the fic that made me go “I want that on my shelf!”, so here we are. 
keep reading for more binding info and to see my gushing on the fic.
QUICK SPECS
153,854 words | 571 pages | 5″ x 8.5″ 
Binding Method: 3 Piece In Boards Bradel  Body Font: Adobe Caslon Pro Decorative Font: IM Fell English
I am very proud of this book, having accomplished many firsts with it. My first book that I rounded and backed, sewed double-core endbands on, painted the edges, and used toner reactive foil and HTV on!
ON THE STORY
Sighs. What more can I say? It’s simply brilliant. A unique multifaceted story with incredible dynamics, clever foreshadowing, great character studies of Draco and Hermione, and such beloved original characters. It’s comedic and refreshing but it also takes on grief and goodbyes, and heartbreak. It’s fucking romantic and also So nuanced. I dislike stories that spoon-feed every little thing about the character, so the parlor tricks on this one? Ate every crumb of it. It was filled with implications and was misleading in the best sense. You’ve got to be an astute reader to catch some things the first round (which I definitely wasn’t). 
While it doesn’t entirely shy away from typical lovey-dovies, the regard for mundanity and the inconsequential, I just find more inherently romantic. The exploration on time travel and the vivid prose further underscores the depth of PR’s talent. She captures so eloquently, the mind of an extremely logical person in a very illogical experience. I saw myself in Hermione so many times. The story demands to be read again and revels upon doing so. Pacific Rimbaud is such an incredible writer *sobs* all her works are simply a masterpiece. 
That said, this beautiful story deserves to be turned into a physical book.
DESIGN PLAN (or lack thereof) 
This is my first fanfic project and my third book overall which I must say was quite a leap considering my very little binding experience. I think the demon small niggling part at the back of my head got the best of me and positively thought she could make a relatively fastidious book despite the lack of skill. BUT nothing can stop me when I am overly enthusiastic about something, thus began my 2 month research, soaking up every gobbet of binding info in reach. As far as my book binding journey goes, gathering supplies was the hardest part lol. Bookbinding is not a common hobby in the Philippines so it was tedious to to look for materials and/or to settle on alternatives.
I credit 70% of the 4 month stretch of this project to my indecision. The novelty and sheer excitement with a new hobby, I think, divested me to properly conceptualize heh. I redid my typeset 1 billion times because I kept switching softwares: Word→ Pages→ InDesign. I probably have 8 versions of the typeset that will never see the light of day. Anyway, I did finally get the stuff done. Here’s my little design dump:
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Nothing symbolic about the design really. I just worked around elements I thought were appropriate with the regency era and time traveling aspect: vines/ flowers and the time turner. I tried to reflect PR’s elegant writing in the book so hopefully I did it some justice. I added my fave works for this fic too and even drew fanart myself. Arts 1 through 3 are by yours truly, fourth art is by jaxx in a box.
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BINDING
I watched DAS bookbinding religiously during my research phase and I knew then that I wanted to someday follow his in-boards 3-piece bradel tutorial, but it wasn’t supposed to be so early on in my binding journey. One look at this book however threw me off course. It was incredibly ambitious of me, so I guess I deserved all the stress I endured in the process. I was supposed to trim the edges in between glueing the spine and rounding/backing, but I only had my poorly sharpened Php145 wood chisel to finish the task. That and nursing the finger my chisel wounded took enough time for the glue to dry, so I was fiddling with a stiff textblock the entire time after. I learnt along the way that a blow dryer and bone folder would be my best friends (and plenty of patience). I’d also like to apologize to my neighbors if they heard any hammering at 1am. 😳 
The covers were... finicky. For some reason, midway, I decided to make either covers differently, and all to the good because the one made following DAS’ tutorial ended up slightly warping. DAS’ was made with two 1.25mm boards glued together, while my experimental one was with a single 2.5mm board of which I peeled layers off of to reduce its thickness in half as needed.  (see pictures below for reference)
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A lot of how the book looks like now is either born out of impulse or a desperate remedy. The book in turn is very gold. Chapter headers were impulsively foiled with gold laser reactive foil (so much for illustrating the headers only to cover them up haha *eye twitches*). 
I accidentally stained the edges while smoothing with black sandpaper so I covered the mess with an admix of Sakura acrylic paint in black and Liquitex acrylic ink in iridescent gold (Paint order: 1 layer gold- 2 thin layers black- 3 layers gold).
 I am very proud of my sewn endbands as this was my very first attempt at doing a double-core. I used DMC cotton threads in cream (712) and gold (E3821). Below is a close-up because why not. (as you can see, I had some flaking on the paint, luckily this was on the bottom edge so I fixed the issue on the more visible sides.)
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I don’t like the bookcloth selection where I’m from (if there’s anything at all) so I made my own with pastel blue eco-ramie cloth, flour paste, and 80gsm paper. I ordered my fabric online and the shade was too icing-like. It looked tacky so I bleached to lighten. The white cloth also came from the same fabric which I bleached till it paled to white.
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Titling was one of my biggest worries because majority of binders I saw were using a cricut to cut HTV. I almost entertained the idea of cutting it manually or even painting or embroidery, but to my luck, I found a local shop that offers vinyl ! cutting !! service !!! I sent them my design and they cut and weeded the vinyl for me. I chose white for the title and metallic gold for the vine detail. I messed up applying the word “historical” though, but let’s pretend i did it on purpose for the vintage feel.
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Four months of faffing later, I have this story in corporeal form! Overall, I’m overjoyed with the outcome and I’d like to thank PR for the opportunity to have such a wonderful story on my shelf (and free to be read by anyone!)
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! 
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80s4life · 3 years ago
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God Help Me*
Word Count: 2,306
Status: Not Requested!
Fandom: Orange Is The New Black
A/N: Just watched some more of oitnb and felt that Joe was an underrated character. So, here's something dirty for the dirty dog!
Relationship: Joe Caputo x Female Reader
Summary: (Based loosely on S3:E7 (”Tongue-Tied”) where the new recruits for security are supposed to be getting the 40 hours of training, but denied by the new employers. Specifically, when Bayley makes his mistake with the pepper spray incident, Caputo is outraged, in the need of a break. Luckily, you know how to ease his tension.
Warnings: language, age-gap pairing, against laws, forbidden, smut, retardation name calling (once, not me though, a line from the show!)
Taglist: @intersellars-the-networks-of-eve @snapessecretdiary
Masterlist Orange Is The New Black Masterlist
{gif is not mine, credits to @thompsonconnors}
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"What the fuck was that?" Joe Caputo asks, confused and struggling to keep up with the messes every corner he turns. "You assess the situation and you respond with the appropriate level of force! And you never, ever, ever discharge your weapon unless it's absolutely necessary!" he continues, not done just yet. "And if you do, and that weapon happens to be pepper spray, you better damn well make sure you're upwind!"
Bayley, the new recruit, alongside Donaldson, a long-term member of this prison, look down, ashamed of themselves. Blinking their eyes every so often, the pain in their eyes searing with the combination of the regret in how they got in this position in the first place and the stinging pepper spray.
Motioning towards Bayley, Caputo continues with his mantra, "You are a trigger-happy knucklehead who just got out of diapers," now turning his attention to Donaldson, "But you, how could you let this happen?" he finishes, exasperated.
Donaldson, finding some courage, fires back, "Sir, with all due respect, I'm not a nanny." He may have screwed up, but he is not putting his life on the line for an idiot.
"No! You are an officer with 20 plus years' experience, and your job was to impart some wisdom on fucking Baby Huey over here!" Caputo spits, motioning towards Bayley once more.
"Well, this is what happens when you put untrained officers in gen pop," Donaldson says once more, although very quickly and almost fearfully. As if he were a child talking back to his parents.
"You don't think I know that? I fucking know that!" Caputo says once more, placing a hand over his head, letting out a tired sigh as he walks back behind his desk. "Bayley, I should be firing your ass," he motion towards the young man with two pointed fingers.
"I know," is all he manages meekly.
"But, it's your first day, so I'm gonna chalk this up to mental retardation. If you so much as look at an inmate wrong in the next week, you're out of here!" Caputo motions with a "whoosh." Now looking Bayley up and down in disbelief, he catches the small paper taped to his chest as well, "Take that stupid fucking name tag off."
As the men nod once more, he finishes with, "Now go! Get your asses down to medical and get an eyewash. And read the stupid fucking manuals!" he grunts, shaking the book in question and slamming it on his desk as the officers leave.
Throwing himself into his chair, he almost considers kicking and flailing around like a child in order to let off steam, but he is quickly denied the chance as you knock and burst through his office within a second.
“Sir.”
“What is it now?” he asks quietly, a hand holding his head up by his chin, fingers covering his now closed eyes.
“Well- uhm- well...” you continue, quite nervous as you don’t know where his hostility had come from, you being unsure whether it was your doing or not. It was uncharted waters you weren’t sure on stepping into or not.
“What. Is. It!?” he yells now, eyes wide open, hands clutching the ends of his armrests. Making you yelp and jump a bit, taking a few steps back into the doorway.
Seeing this reaction, he sighs once more, taking in your wide eyes and slightly tense posture, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. It’s been a long day, okay?”
“I-I understand sir.”
“How many times have I told you to call me Joe, or Caputo if that’s what floats your boat?” he says, an attempt to coax you out of your startled state.
“I’m sorry s- Caputo. I only wanted to tell you that I bought ya’ something. A little gift, I guess.” you say, a blush tinting your cheeks.
“What? You didn’t have to get me anything!” He smiles now, relieving you, and bringing a smile to your own features at his now somewhat upbeat mood.
“Well, ya’ know...I remember you telling me about a band of yours, right?” you ask.
“Yeah,” he smirks, looking back at fond memories and the new ones with his new band.
“Well, since your style of music was rock, and I just so happened to be in the area of a new music store, I found some goodies there!” Pulling a seat in front of his desk, you grab the wrapped presents from the waistband of your belt, having hidden it behind your back in attempt to completely surprise him.
He smiles at your childish antics, lightly taking the wrapped good from your small, delicate hands. Unwrapping the smallest one, he finds a box underneath the covers. Opening it, his smile grows bigger as his eyes meet a black guitar pick, a skull etched into it and painted white. 
His eyes meet yours for a second, a fondness there, looking back down once more as he admires it. “I love it,” he says after a second.
“That’s not all!” you say, excited now as he already likes one of the things you’ve picked out for him, pulling out a medium-sized present next. You take this sudden change of attitude as a sign, wanting to hopefully ease the stresses the guards and staff have been taking, especially Joe.
Taking it from your hands once more, your hands make contact, the blush on your face intensifying a little more. Unwrapping the present, he finds a black bandanna, his band name printed onto it, matching the guitar pick. He giggles at this, tying it around his head for your view.
You laugh as well as you go to hand him the biggest and last of the presents, his eyes lighting up once he finds what it is. “Nu-uh! You didn’t! This must’ve cost a fortune!” he almost yells now, a genuine leather guitar strap in his grip as he jumps up from his seat.
“No, actually they gave me a little discount on it. It took a lot of searching to get the one you’ve been specifically looking for, but the guy said I was cute- anyway! I just thought you needed these since work has been beating your ass,” you say, smirking lightly.
“You didn’t need to do this,” he says, settling back into his seat as he grasps your hands lightly, still star-struck as he looks at the strap still in his hand.
The gesture was innocent, but as time goes on, you blush a deep red, him still not letting go of your hands. Noticing this, he goes to pull away, clearing his throat, standing, and straightening out his suit. There, you notice a slight tent in his pants, igniting a flame in your belly. 
“Well, thank you Miss Y/L/N, these were very nice...”
“Anytime...” you say slyly, dragging on your words as you stand as well, not bothering to fix your pants as it sticks tightly to your ass and thighs. 
He looks down, gulping as he takes in your curves he usually tries to ignore, clearing his throat once more as his eyes meet yours. Only now did he realize the close proximity between the two of you, you intending to lean in and fix his tie. As you do so, he grabs your hand, pulling it away, “Don’t tempt me. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Oh, I’m pretty damn sure I do,” you say as you pull him down to your height by the tie, pulling at the base of his neck, kissing him now. 
Breaking apart for a moment, you make your way around the desk, perching yourself atop it as you pull him between your legs, kissing him once more. Tongues fighting for dominance, you tease him, sucking on it, and nibbling on his lips. He growls, the tent now very evident in his pants, the tightness an annoying constriction.
He pulls away once more, going to lock his office door, having placed a ‘On a lunch break’ sign above his name. Making his way back over to you, his lips attach to yours once more, moving to remove your weaponry belt. You do the same, unbuttoning the top of his dress shirt, moving to leave kisses, bites and hickeys. 
Continuing your attack, you move your hand to his belt, working quickly as he unbuttons your shirt, exposing your constricted, perky breasts. He grunts once more, adding to your eagerness as you finally get his belt out of the loops. Now both full of impatience, you unleash his cock, him doing the same for your breasts and pants. Completely removing everything from your being, leaving your half-unbuttoned shirt.
Not wasting time, he starts to work your clit, moisturizing ever bit of you as he collects it and moves his finger in all the most special parts, lubricating your core with ease. You grip his cock, teasing it as you run your finger along the slit at the top, precum already oozing. Looking him in the eyes, you notice his golden browns now a dark chocolate eyes, admiration sparkling them as he looks back at you. 
You moan as he enters a finger into your core, soon adding another as you loosen yourself for him. Finally, when he deems you ready, he reaches into one of the desk drawers, pulling out a condom. Motioning to him, he hands it over, letting you take over and do the honors. He simply places both arms on either side of your form, caging you in his embrace, smirking down at you.
Finally, once the condom was rolled onto his member, he goes to line himself up to your entrance, tip placed right at the beginning, not crossing the threshold just yet. “Are you sure?” is all he asks, wanting consent.
Knowing that this is wrong, you contemplate your options. You have already thought of the many ways he could take you, having been attracted to the older man for many years. Looking him in the eyes, you nod, “I’ve wanted this for too fucking long.”
With this new reassurance, he thrusts deeply, not giving you a chance to adjust just yet, pushing in and not stopping until he’s bottomed out. Taking a breath, you relish in the familiar sting of being stretched out, leaning back on your elbows for a minute. When you’re finally ready, you grab onto his shoulders, nodding once again. 
He starts slow, not wanting to hurt you, but, as you bite his pulse point, he jumps, taking the hint. Pounding into you mercilessly now, you moan and scream loudly, meeting his thrusts with the same momentum and speed, wanting this just as much as he does.
Instead, wanting to hold onto this feeling for as long as you can manage, you busy yourself with admiring and teasing the man before you. Specifically when he switches positions slightly, hitting your g-spot, your hands find their way into the tiny tufts of hair remaining on his balding scalp. Tugging lightly, he groans, pounding harder.
“Fuck!” you choke out, “I’m gonna cum! Joe! I’m gonna cum!”
“Just hold on a bit more, I’m almost there!”
Using his hands, he moves one to your clit, rubbing hard circles, intensifying the pleasure. You moan, the pleasure almost too much for you, settling for leaning your head on his chest. The chest hair tickles your nose, making you giggle between whimpers, kissing him there every so often.
With all your strength, you try to maintain your composure, the knot in your stomach begging for release. But, as you feel his dick twitch, the veins touching every inch of your walls deliciously, you couldn’t hold on any longer, milking his cock. With the sudden tightness and feeling of warmth bursting against him, he continues to thrust just a few seconds more, riding you through your orgasm as he meets his. 
As he slowly comes down from his high, he sighs peacefully, placing his head underneath yours and in the crevice of your neck. You kiss the top of his head as you take his weight, leaning back on your hands, one wrapped around his neck. After a moment, as he now goes soft within your being, he pulls out, disposing the condom.
Smiling, the two of you joke and throw clothes at each other as you get changed again. “So what are we now, Joe?”
“Well, it’d be fucked up to say nothing after mind-blowing-sex, now wouldn’t it?”
“I guess...So does that mean we’re together?”
“Do you want to? I would’a thought a young girl like you would want someone who can keep up with ya’?”
“I mean yeah...but they aren’t you, Joe. I want you,” you say honestly.
“Shit...” he mutters, smiling now, “This is the best thing that’s happened to me all day.”
“Is that a ‘yeah’?”
“Hell yeah it is!” he says happily, “Now how about round 2?”
“You’re on Old Man,” you say giggling, hopping into his lap on his desk, kissing him once more.
However your giggling and kisses get cut short with a knock on the door. You sigh, getting off of him not and making sure your clothes are straightened out.
“I guess not...” you say defeated.
“Well...Not right now,” Joe answers, going to the door, giving a sly wink as he opens it. 
Work is only temporary, you know this. You’ll get all the time you need with him tonight.
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trekscribbles · 3 years ago
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Cherry Juice
Fandom: Leverage Word Count: 1558 Pairings: Just Eliot and Parker friendship Cross-posted: AO3 and FF
Eliot had blood on his hands, and the fact that it surprised him... surprised him. The sight of it hit him like a punch to the face, the kind he hadn't been expecting—the kind that made him stumble when he needed to keep his feet. He sucked in a breath, feeling his muscles bunch in preparation, tucking his elbows against his body. Parker called it his Danger Mode, and he—
Parker.
Eliot took another breath, staring down at his hands. It wasn't blood, it was cherry juice. He was standing in his kitchen, making cherry chutney for a pork loin he was going to grill later. Parker sat across from him, perched on a stool with her elbows on his island, watching him like a cat studying a bird.
She was saying his name, her eyes all bright and curious. He gave her a wordless grunt and turned away, all but running to the sink, pushing up on the faucet handle with his wrist and scrubbing the red off his skin. It stained the creases where his fingers bent, running down underneath the nails and making his knuckles look bruised.
"Eliot?" Parker was next to him now, peering over his arms as if he was doing something interesting instead of trying to scour the skin off his hands.
He cleared his throat. "It's—the—the juice was sticking to the knife."
Parker's eyes followed the flow of pink draining from his hands. "It looks a little bit like..." Her eyes snapped up to his, and he looked away before he could tell himself not to. I hadn't noticed, he wanted to say, all gruff and confident and dismissive. It was just sticky. You don't want to use a sticky knife.
But he couldn't force the words out. He continued to wash until his skin burned under the steaming water, feeling the heat of Parker's gaze like a he was an ant under her magnifying glass. When his flesh was pink and raw and as clean as he could possibly get it, he turned off the water and reached for the towel hanging from the oven handle.
Parker beat him to it. "Is that what bothered you?" she asked, holding it out to him.
He took it roughly, ready to tell her to mind her own business, but he couldn't make himself say that when he couldn't even meet her eyes. So he nodded, and she nodded in response.
"It wasn't. It was just cherry juice."
"I know that, Parker."
"You wanted to fight something though."
He wanted to argue that too, but his still-tense muscles told him that denial was pointless. "It's a reflex," he murmured instead.
"Would you have fought the cherries?"
The question made him blink at her, and her face looked so sincere, like she'd just asked an actual question and was waiting for an actual reply. "No, Parker," he said, managing a little of his usual gruffness.
"Good. Then I'd have to tell Nate, and he'd have to tell Sophie, and you'd have to take a wellness quiz and—"
"A wellness quiz?"
"Yeah." She leaned away from him, plucking a pitted cherry from the bowl on the counter and popping it into her mouth. "You know, like How are you feeling today? and Why do you think there are monsters in your closet? and How did you find out the monsters had the key to the ice cream freezer?"
Eliot stared at her, trying to make sense of her words. "Did someone ask you those questions?"
She nodded. "You know, the questions they ask you when you're a kid. Wellness quizzes." Eliot shook his head, and Parker seemed to deflate a little. "Oh. Was that just me?"
"No one ever asked me anything like that," Eliot said. His hands were dry now, but he didn't want to put down the towel. "Did you get asked those questions a lot?"
"A few times," Parker said, and he got the impression that she was hedging.
Eliot sighed. The Question flashed through his mind again: How did he end up with these people, these damaged children with damaged pasts that wouldn't let them go? He used to be someone who wouldn't care about this kind of thing—about her wellness questions, about her childhood, about her. He used to be the kind of monster that would have hidden in her closet.
But he'd just tried to scrub the skin off his hands because of some cherry juice.
"Go ahead," he grunted, replacing the towel on the rack and picking up his knife again.
"What?"
"Go ahead and give me the quiz." He forced his fingers around a pitted cherry, focusing on relaxing his grip on the knife so it would glide through the fruit instead of chopping.
Parker tilted her head. "How are you feeling?"
"Hungry."
"And how did you sleep last night?"
"Fine."
"No nightmares?"
"No."
"No getting up in the middle of the night to check for monsters under your bed?"
Eliot looked up from the cherries. "Do you do that?"
"Not anymore. Hardison said you chased all the monsters away for me."
A mix of emotions drove his eyes down again—he was irritated that Hardison was making promises for him, and touched at the thought that his name was enough to banish Parker's fear. "Next question."
"Have you been spending more time alone lately than is normal for you?"
"Parker, you're in my kitchen right now. I told you I was busy and you came over anyway."
"I thought it was code."
"It was code for I'm busy, don't come over."
"Okay. Are you having problems with your teachers or parents?"
He expected the mention of his parents to bring the usual spike of guilt, but instead he only quirked up his eyebrows and scraped the halved cherries into their waiting bowl. "Teachers?"
She nodded seriously. "Or parents. Any arguments with Nate lately?"
"Nate's not my dad."
She rolled her eyes. "Obviously. You don't look anything alike."
"No, Parker, I haven't had any arguments with Nate or Sophie, and I got Hardison to write my term paper for me."
Though he said it as sarcastically as possible, Parker nodded in approval. "Are you taking unnecessary risks or getting hurt frequently?"
"All of my risks are calculated and necessary."
"You did get shot during our last job."
"It was a graze," Eliot argued, rolling his shoulder to prove that it had healed. "Next question."
He waited, but she was quiet for so long that he was able to cut three cherries in peace before looking up. When he did, her eyes were focused on the counter between his cutting board and the bowl. "Will you tell me the next time you go into Danger Mode when there's no danger?"
Eliot frowned, setting down his knife and wiping his fingers on the towel. He wanted to say no, because admitting something like tensing for a fight while he was cooking at home felt like an admission of weakness, but her face was closing off in anticipation of his denial and he hated being responsible for that reaction. So he picked up a cherry half and held it out to her, waiting to speak until her eyes crept up to his. "I will," he said slowly. "If you promise to never tell Hardison."
In a heartbeat, her expression lit up and she plucked the cherry out of his palm. "Deal."
"You shouldn't be this excited about keeping secrets from your boyfriend."
"I don't want to get out of practice," she said, shrugging. "Besides, I keep tons of secrets from you."
"Like what?"
"Like that time Hardison put a clip in your hair while you were sleeping and you didn't notice it and then he got scared that you'd find it so he made me sneak behind you and take it out."
"Parker!"
She winced. "Which he told me not to tell you. So now you have to keep my secret too."
Eliot threw another handful of cherries onto his cutting board, scowling, and his gaze caught on his stained fingers. His body didn't react to the sight this time—his heartbeat stayed even, his shoulders relaxed. He glanced up at Parker, busy stealing another piece of fruit from the bowl, and failed to contain the burst of warmth that spread through him. Maybe she'd been right after all. Maybe "don't come over" was a code, one he hadn't even realized he'd been giving her. One she'd read as effortlessly as she'd read his reaction to the cherry juice on his skin. Had she always been that good at reading him? Were Sophie's lessons finally starting to take hold, or was Parker just getting better at recognizing emotion in others now that she had accepted it in herself?
Or did it have more to do with him than her? Was he starting to let down his guard more than he'd realized?
"Ask me another question," Eliot said quietly.
Parker beamed at him. "Another wellness question?"
"No. Anything."
"What else goes into the chutney?"
Eliot smiled, thinking back to the dish he'd tasted on his last trip to India. "I don't have a recipe, but I think I tasted onion, curry, lemon juice..."
"You always taste lemon juice."
"Yeah, well," he shrugged. "It's a very distinctive taste."
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maraudererasmut · 3 years ago
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Life Update and All That
Hey all!
It’s T here!
I know it’s been a very long while since I’ve been around, and I figured I’m finally at the point where I can pop by and give a bit of an update, in case anyone was curious.
I left Tumblr and Discord for a bit to get my bearings and re-evaluate things. I needed some time to myself to sort through my mental health, figure some stuff out, and get to the point where I was finally at a better place to be able to come back.
A few things have happened since I’ve left that are actually kind of neat!
I published a book and wrote another manuscript!
I’m not going to share too much information about my book here, because I still do want to keep my smut-writing-pseudonym separate from my professional life, but suffice it to say that I published a novella, which got me started on the strange journey that is publishing! 
I’m currently in the process of querying my first full-length manuscript, with the intention of getting an agent and publishing it. Hopefully that will be able to go somewhere, but if not, at least I have learned a lot while on my journey!
I realized that I am trans!
To the shock and surprise of absolutely nobody, the person who wrote gay romance and focused on a storyline that predominantly featured a transmasc character is actually, in fact, gay and trans. Shocking, I know!
It took a bit of thinking and talking and self analyzing that mostly occured during the many, many hours of alone time provided by a global pandemic for me to realize that wanting to be a boy does, in fact, make you probably a boy. Who would have guessed.
Anyway, I’m going by he/they pronouns these days. And uh... I guess my descriptions of dysphoria in all of my fics were a bit closer to home than I was ever willing to admit. Funny how these things work.
I bought a house!
I finally did something that I never thought would be possible in my entire life: I actually purchased a house in my city, which is notoriously expensive. It’s the perfect home for me: a large backyard; my very own shop space, which will soon be filled with tools; a sunroom with tons of windows for writing; a roof that I can climb up to and sit on... It’s really such a great home, and I am so excited to start this new chapter of my life here.
One door closed and another opened!
When I first left, there was a job opportunity that was a bit up in the air that would’ve involved me uprooting my life. While it didn’t end up panning out, I was ended up stumbling upon a different job in my field. I almost forgot how much I love what I do, and I am so glad to be back into the thick of it!
I figured that I should probably also try to pre-emptively answer any questions that you may have while I’m here and typing this all out. So... here goes!
Will you be continuing *insert fanfiction*?
I’m honestly not sure. The best answer that I can give right now is: Maybe?
I definitely want to try to continue some of my storylines, tie up some loose ends, and actually put together those plots that I had swirling around my mind.
That being said, I also have other projects that are currently on the go that might take precidence. Most importantly, I have several original stories that I plan to eventually query (or even publish, if I can!). 
If I find that I am inspired to go back and write more Wolfstar, rest assured, I absolutely WILL. These boys will always hold a special place in my heart, and I honestly don’t know if I will ever be truly rid of them, even if I tried.
Will you still be making art for the fandom?
Again, I’m not sure. 
I’ve been doing a LOT of fanart, on a different account, just to keep up my skills while I was away. There are quite a few fandoms that I have been making art for, and I don’t know yet if I want to merge these two accounts.
That’s a decision for the future. :P 
But you can always try to pop into my ask box and send a request, and if I can get to it, I will try my absolute best.
You and I have unfinished business!! Will you be getting to that?!
Ah, yes. I remember now. I left the fandom while I was in a very BAD place, and most things fell by the wayside while I worked on my mental health. I’m sorry.
If we do have any kind of unfinished business at all that you need to talk to me about, please do! I want to try to resolve things and make sure that everyone is satisfied with whatever solution we can come to. Feel free to reach out, and I will try my absolute best to respond and rectify.
Rest assured, if we have had any kind of negative interraction in the past, I have absolutely spent the past year and a half allowing that to eat away at me. I’ve been feeling guilt up the wazoo, a ball of anxiety so tight, you could probably play baseball with it. 
I’m trying not to let these kinds of things bother me anymore. I’m trying to learn to let things go, and focus on the present and the future. I am truly sorry for things that I have done in the past, but I am finally at the point where I am ready to put my effort into making things better instead of dwelling on what was.
Will you be active on this blog now? Are you back for good?
I think you already know the answer to that question...
I don’t know. 
I haven’t made any decisions yet about whether or not I’m here to lurk and like and reblog or if I’m going to be actually producing content again. I have no idea yet how active I will be here. That really depends on how I’m feeling, how I’m doing mentally, and what the reception to this post looks like. 
So... Maybe?
DID YOU MISS ME WHEN YOU WERE GONE?
Yes. Yes, I did.
If you are actually asking me this question, chances are that I did miss you. Yes, you specifically. Yes, I thought about you a lot. Yes, I wished that I had the courage to go back and just say “HI, I MISSED YOU, PLEASE CAN WE BE FRIENDS AGAIN!” 
I am not great at reaching out, though. I’m not great at handling my emotions period. Hopefully, if you’re wondering if I missed you, you’d be interested in reconnecting, knowing that I did, in fact, miss you a lot. 
Are you okay now?
I will be.
Even when I’m not okay these days, I at least have the wherewithall to be able to say “while I might not be doing great right now, I know that I will be okay.” 
And isn’t that what we all want? :P
Anyway, if you made it this far, thanks for reading. I hope this was interesting and/or informative. 
And... I’m glad that I wrote this. It helped. 
With love,
T
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eldritchqueerture · 3 years ago
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Hello! This is a project for @summer-in-the-archives-event that I worked on with @horizonindigo! We came up with the idea together and based our individual works around the poem I wrote, included in the fic. You can find their absolutely amazing art here!!
I freaking loved working on this one and I got more and more excited as we progressed. I also surprised myself with the poem itself a bit, definitely didn’t expect it to end up quite as cool, if I may say so myself. It was incredibly fun to write.
Big shoutout to @sunflowers-and-frogs for beta reading, I love you bestie <3
I would like to thank all the mods that made this event possible! It’s my first time taking part in anything like this and it was really, really fun, so THANK YOU <3 Love you guys :3 Anyways, enough of my rambling kdfjgkjsdfg
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: M/M Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Relationship: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical The Lonely Content (The Magnus Archives), Kissing, Excessive Tea-Making, Set in Episodes 159-160 | Scottish Safehouse Period (The Magnus Archives), Poetry, Love Confessions Warnings: self-esteem issues, typical Lonely content, discussions of free-will and determinism, graphic kiss
Summary: As Martin fights the remnants of the Lonely's influence on their ride to Daisy's safehouse in Scotland, he focuses on his feelings for Jon to keep him tethered to reality. He watches Jon be himself in the safety of the cottage, share these small intimacies of domesticity and the words come to him as a poem weaves itself into the pages of his notebook...
He feels the taste of salt in his mouth, as he looks out of the car window at the rapidly falling away landscape, covered in the darkness of the night. He feels Jon’s presence next to him, focused on driving but glancing every so often at him with concern. Martin feels like he should say something, somehow fill the silence that has befallen them, but no words ever find their way to his mouth. He stays quiet, watching the trees pass them by, trying to ignore the anxious churning in his stomach. He’s always been pretty good at filling awkward silences with chatter; at least before the Lonely. Now… he can’t help but feel bothered by Jon’s presence, even though he did all of this for him, even though this is what he’s wanted all this time; it’s like a splinter, prickling at his mind, almost causing him physical discomfort. He swallows and feels the salty taste on his tongue; he discards the thoughts and tries his best to breathe through the discomfort, instead focusing on the sensation of Jon’s warm hand on his.
Martin used to be the warm one; he’d always been generating heat and his mind goes back to the early days in the Archives when the basement was cold in the winter and both Tim and Sasha used to gravitate towards him with their respective cups of tea during breaks. Now his whole body is cold, the chill of the ocean breeze and fog having settled in his bones so deep he thinks he’ll never feel warm again. The thought isn’t sparking any emotions in him though. It’s just a thing that he’s learned to accept, just as the fact that he’ll always be alo—
“Do you want me to put on some music?” Jon asks with another one of his glances. Every time, he raises his eyebrows a bit, and tilts his head to the side; Martin expects the concern in his eyes, but he sees something else there as well. He’s been afraid to put a label to the expression for the fear he’s reading him wrong, but the bolder part of his mind tells him it’s fondness.
Jon’s hand is warm, and his thumb grazes the skin of his palm just a little, as if not sure he’s allowed to. Martin looks down at their hands and feels warmth spark in his stomach; he smiles.
“I’m sorry I’m—I’m not really good at the whole, uh… small talk thing,” Jon adds with a flush, turning his head back to the road. “I should probably be talking about something, though, to, uh… to keep you here. I suppose.” He visibly cringes at his words.
“It’s—It’s fine, Jon,” Martin chuckles, and Jon relaxes, fixing him with a quick smile of his own. “I’m just… you know.” He looks down at their hands again and has a brief feeling they belong to someone else. Not him. Never him. “I’m not quite… out of that. Yet.”
Another look of concern. Martin feels heat prickling at his cheeks and he’s a little bit glad, because at least it’s a feeling. He interlaces their fingers and looks out the front window.
They spend the ride in relative silence. Jon tries a couple more times to start small talk and fails; they stop at a gas station at one point and Martin takes out his notebook when Jon disappears inside the station to pay for gas. He flicks through it and his eyes stop at an unfinished draft; he started writing it shortly before Peter took him down to the Panopticon, but he’d only managed to get a few first lines down. Despite still feeling the cold in his bones and his mind being clouded by the remains of the fog, words come to him, and he starts scribbling. He continues to do so even when Jon comes back with tea and an assortment of snacks, blushing just a little bit when Jon shoots a curious look at the notebook. He doesn’t ask and Martin is thankful for it. He’s not the sort to show his drafts to anyone, especially to the subject he’s writing about.
It’s 1am when they arrive at the cottage; they’re both exhausted and they quickly take their bags inside and lock the door. The cottage is small and practical, just Daisy’s style; it’s also quite dusty from months of abandonment. Martin yawns as he opens one of the bags to get the essentials. They should leave unpacking and cleaning for the next day.
He hears Jon’s footsteps on the wooden floor coming back from the initial run of the house and he turns to tell him that, but the somewhat sheepish look on his face stops him in his tracks. Has he ever seen Jon look sheepish before?
“So, uh, obviously this was Daisy’s safehouse when she was, well… Avoiding people,” he says, not meeting Martin’s eyes.
“I hope ‘avoiding people’ doesn’t mean killing them in this context,” Martin snorts, not sure if he’s entirely joking. The humour is lost on Jon, however, as he looks at him confused for a moment before he processes Martin’s words.
“Oh, no, no, I-I don’t believe she, uh… She just slept here.” Jon shifts awkwardly. “And that means there’s uh, there’s only one bed.”
Martin’s eyes widen and his lips form a little “Oh”.
“Of course, if you’re not comfortable with sharing, I can just take the couch, you need some proper rest and I’m used to running on low sleep” —Jon averts his gaze as he speaks. He grabs his bag and walks over to the couch, and Martin wants to stop him talking and just say that they should share the bed, but his voice seems to have left him at this crucial moment. He just stares as Jon places the bag on the couch and looks back at him, aware of the silence. “Martin?”
Martin swallows, a familiar cold freezing his toes. He feels the damp sand underneath his bare feet and a chill runs down his spine. He blinks and tightens his grip on the bag he’s been holding. This is real, he is real, Jon is real.
“You need good rest too,” he finally manages to say, and he’s surprised by how clear and normal his voice sounds; it makes Jon relax a bit. “We should share the bed, if-if you are comfortable with that.”
A small smile appears on Jon’s lips and a warm feeling fills Martin’s stomach again; he knows the smile is for him.
“Okay,” he says softly and picks the bag up.
They manage to keep the awkwardness of it to the minimum; they’re both very tired and at one point it just doesn’t matter anymore. Jon hands Martin a separate blanket and he pushes the disappointment down into a void inside him where he keeps feelings to come back to when he’s alone. It would be foolish of him to hope for cuddling since they haven’t talked about anything yet.
He expects to fall asleep as soon as his head touches the pillow, but he finds himself awake in the darkness after goodnights are said (Jon’s voice sounds so soft and tender Martin has forgotten all about his earlier disappointment). He’s laying on his back, eyes closed, and he feels Jon’s presence on his right. His breathing is steady, not yet slow enough to indicate sleep, but calm and relaxed. Martin peeks out through half-lidded eyes – he hasn’t gotten used to the darkness as much yet, but he can see Jon laying on his side, facing him, his eyes closed and his hair loosely framing his face. One of his hands rests close to his head on the pillow. Martin blinks, fully opening his eyes now and smiling softly. As his vision clears, Martin notices Jon frowning ever so slightly, and he wonders if the faint lines between his eyebrows smoothen when he’s asleep.
“Is watching people sleep a usual activity for you?” Jon whispers with amusement as he opens his eyes and Martin gasps with surprise and looks away, feeling heat prickle at his cheeks.
“Wha—uh, no! No, of course no—Sorry, I—” He rambles, and he thinks he might just die from embarrassment when he hears Jon laugh quietly.
“It’s fine, Martin.” He shakes his head with a sigh. “Really. I-- Sorry, I thought a joke would, um… lighten the mood somewhat.”
Martin risks a look at him and wonders if the red on his cheeks is visible through the darkness. Jon looks at him with that expression again, something Martin would very much want to classify as fondness if it didn’t feel so impossible. But now that he thinks about it… Would it really be thatfar-fetched? Jon had gone into the Lonely just to get him out. Would he have done that for anyone else? Martin rolls his eyes at himself in his mind, of course he would. He did go into the Buried, and it was for Daisy, a person who has threatened him multiple times, kidnapped and almost killed him. If Jon was ready to lay down his life for her, out of all of them, it shouldn’t be surprising he would do the same for his assistant; it says nothing about his feelings on the matter.
Martin’s memories of the Lonely are hazy. He remembers the cold, the dampness, and the loneliness. He remembers his thoughts, the lonely ones, and how they felt both alien and familiar at the same time. He remembers the comfort, the feeling of fitting in, but also the pain and the fear, just before they were numbed by the cold and the fog that made him forget. And then suddenly, Jon was in front of him, looking at him with desperation on his face, tears in his eyes glowing with a green light. Was it Jon calling for him, or just the Beholding?
“What are you thinking about?” comes Jon’s voice and Martin realizes he’s been staring into the air for a while. He blinks and looks back at Jon.
“Uh…” He searches for words before he gives up on trying to come up with an excuse. His voice is quiet when he speaks. “Why did you do it?”
Jon blinks at him a couple times and rises to lean on his elbow, to better look at Martin.
“What do you mean?”
“The Lonely,” Martin says, not meeting his eyes. Jon is wearing a blue t-shirt with a logo of a band Martin doesn’t recognize; the shirt is loose and it uncovers one of Jon's shoulders which would probably be distracting if Martin’s mind wasn't chilled by the remnants of the fog. “Why did you come for me?”
Even without looking at him, Martin sees Jon’s forehead ripple. A while passes as Jon searches his face and the thought that he shouldn’t have asked starts creeping up to Martin’s head. Shouldn’t have brought any attention to the subject, he should just be glad, he should—
“I care about you, Martin,” Jon says in a very gentle and quiet voice, like he’s afraid anything louder would take away the meaning of his words. Martin looks up at Jon and the hint of that intense blush from before makes it back to his face. “You’re… You matter to me. You will always matter to me.”
Martin can’t stop a small smile appearing on his face and Jon mirrors it.
“Thank you,” Martin whispers, feeling a warmth settle in his chest, finally driving the cold away.
“Anytime.” Jon lays his head back down and settles back with the right hand near his face. “Sleep well, Martin.”
Martin closes his eyes contentedly and he curls up on his right side, facing Jon, as if trying to keep this warm feeling from escaping his chest too soon.
“You too, Jon.”
---
Martin wakes up alone in an unfamiliar bed, the smell of foreign covers filling his nostrils and for a second he panics. He opens his eyes and the memories come back to him; their late arrival at the safehouse and laying down to sleep next to Jon.
He sits up, looking at the space Jon had occupied. It’s vacant now, just the curled up covers he left behind, but it manages to bring a blush to Martin’s cheeks, nonetheless. It feels so… intimate to know that they slept next to each other. It makes him feel warm and cosy.
Martin gets up and goes to the bathroom before he finds Jon in the kitchen. He’s humming quietly as he finishes cleaning the table and he looks up when Martin enters.
“Good morning, Martin.” He smiles and Martin’s afraid he’s going to melt. He takes a quick look around and notices that their sparse kitchen supplies are mostly unpacked, and the kettle is already on the stove.
“How long have you been awake?” He asks; some of the shock must have made it to his voice because Jon looks amused.
“Two hours or so. I’ve always been a morning person.” He shrugs and finishes cleaning the table. “Tea?”
A smile lights up Martin’s face and he gets swept up by the familiarity of the activity, while Jon busies himself with fixing up some breakfast. As both of them work in the kitchen, Martin notices the casual brushes of their skin and touches of the shoulders. He doesn’t know if he’s doing it consciously or if it just happens naturally, but he knows that Jon’s open demeanour is drawing him closer than before. He wonders if he’s been like this ever since he woke up from the coma, and there was just no one to appreciate it.
The morning is relaxed, the casual conversation flowing a lot smoother than the day before, and after breakfast they set out to clean the whole cottage and go down to the village to buy some actual supplies. The village is small, but the local shop provides all the essentials they need; for a moment Martin forgets about everything outside of that village and shopping for groceries with Jon, as if this is their life now, in the Scottish Highlands, living together in a cottage. They talk about cooking dinner, and the cows they passed on the way, and Martin thinks he could get used to that.
The bubble bursts when they finish up and Jon decides to call Basira. She picks up after a while and updates them on the absence of both Jonah Magnus and Daisy. Basira says she’ll send some statements up to them when the Institute stops being an active crime scene, and a shadow passes over Jon’s face. Wrapped up in a conversation about their taste in dinner dishes, it was almost too easy for Martin to forget food isn’t the only sustenance Jon needs. He finds it easier to forget things ever since the Lonely. They walk back to their cottage in silence, Martin grabbing Jon’s hand as soon as he lets go of the phone.
When they get back, Jon declares he’s going to take care of unpacking and cooking, and even though Martin knows Jon to be stupidly stubborn, he’s surprised by the strictness with which Jon insists he sit back and relax. Martin doesn’t really complain; he’s spent his entire life caring for others and, to be honest, it does feel rather good to be on the receiving end for once. He watches Jon from the couch for a while, before he takes out his notebook and looks over the poem he wrote in the car.
Wisps of mist conceal my eyes
A lone indulgence to lose one's face
And soothing a part inside that cries
With chilling sadness and numbing grace
The steadfast rhythm of waves ashore
As ocean breeze leaves a taste of salt
The words forgotten, erase what I swore
Until I hear your voice once more
I wondered many times what it might be
That we finally took to calling "us"
What would be left if we broke free
Of dread and horror's eternal grasp
The Eye looms aloft, ever-present dread
Watching all, eternal lids apart
You made your choice unaware you were led
By strings of web, against your heart
Jon starts humming under his nose in the kitchen as he cuts something on the board; the water in the kettle boils slowly and fills the air with a quiet whistle. Martin smiles while shooting a subtle glance at Jon; he seems to notice his gaze and falls quiet, but a smile lights up his face when he sees the fondness on Martin’s face. For all this talk about Jon “losing himself” in the role of the Archivist, this seems as human as you can get. Martin never favoured the approach the other archival staff took to the knowledge of the significance of Jon’s position, and he often wondered how they could look at him and see a monster. Of course he made bad decisions, but so did everyone. They’ve seen or read about so many avatars giving into the powers that fed them and yes, maybe Martin is biased, but Jon was nothing like them. They’ve all been caught in this huge web of statements that turned real; the more they struggled to break free the more tangled up they became, and it wasn’t Jon’s fault that he ended up in the centre of it. He knows Jon tried to make right choices every step of the way. Can you really blame a human being for failing to completely resist something that’s beyond mortality and human reality? One way or another they ended up here, together, and yes, maybe the Eye and the Lonely are still looming as very tangible threats, and Jonah Magnus is nowhere near being stopped, but at least they’re together now. Martin remembers thinking the Unknowing was the endgame, the last chapter of this horror for them, and he remembers the hopelessness of their story getting a bad ending that essentially pushed him into the Lonely; now he feels a different kind of an end approaching – he dares to be hopeful. Maybe everything works out in the end? Maybe, if they were safe and happy, it wouldn’t actually be the end of the world.
Martin looks down at his notebook and starts writing, sticking the tip of his tongue out in concentration.
What is a monster? Where is the line
That would separate us from the world
All I know is our paths align
And we together can battle the cold
You cut through the curtains of mist and See
The green glow fades when our eyes meet
My lips form a soft and quiet plea
To be loved has never felt so sweet
To be loved is a new feeling for me
I only know how to love from one side
But with you I hope we can once be free
Maybe ignore the whims of the tide
Although I know we're not nearly through
I taste and savour your voice, your breath
If only for a moment, we can start anew
And I will follow you even to death
As he stares at the last word of the finished poem, his hand with the pen hovering over it, he registers that his eyes have watered a bit. He blinks the tears away quickly as Jon sits down on the couch next to him, looking at him with a gentle worry. Martin looks up at the two mugs of tea he’d placed on the table.
“Did you make tea?” He asks with mock bewilderment, and Jon scoffs at him.
“I know how to make tea, Martin.” He nudges him with amusement, that gentle worry not quite gone from his eyes. “What are you writing about?”
Martin falls quiet, pressing the notebook to his chest in a knee-jerk reaction.
“Thought you didn’t like poetry,” he huffs out a laugh that’s only a little bit self-conscious. Jon shrugs, reaching out for his mug and taking a sip.
“I don’t understand it. And yes, I have been known to dislike it at times, but… Maybe I could be swayed to give it another shot.” Jon rolls his eyes fondly and looks at Martin out of the corner of his eye, a look that says ‘for you’. Martin grins, heat pricking at his cheeks once again.
“You see, i-it’s all about emotion.” He places the notebook gently on his lap face down and reaches for his own mug. “You w-want to put all of your emotions into words in a-an artistic way, that has a rhythm and, uh, and feels alive. And you want your, uh, your readers to feel that, that emotion through your words.”
Jon listens attentively and his eyes aren’t leaving Martin’s face; at one point Martin gets distracted by it and forgets where his explanation was going. Jon’s gaze has always been intense, in different ways throughout the time they’ve known each other. At first it was judgemental, the gaze of his boss, full of unmet expectations; then it was piercing, watchful and suspicious; as time passed, it seemed to gain more and more weight of the Beholding, something Tim always complained about. After Martin had joined Peter Lukas, the rare glances he got from Jon were full of yearning that Martin didn’t understand at the time; didn’t want to understand. Now, it’s that gentle fondness, interweaved with something intangibly sad and Martin feels an urge to hug him, to bring him close to his chest and never let go; to bury his face in Jon’s hair and protect him.
They move to place their mugs at the table at the same time and snort, amusement quickly turning into a fit of laughter. Jon throws his head back a little with it and Martin wonders if he has ever seen him laugh so openly before. He didn’t think it was possible for him to fall in love with the man even more, but once again, his heart proves him wrong. He stares at him with a lovestruck expression and thinks they should really talk about it. Martin doesn’t know where to start though and Jon seems to be thinking in a similar direction because his expression shifts into gentle seriousness.
“Martin, I…” He starts and bites his lip. “I need to apologize.”
Martin straightens a little; it’s not exactly what he expects.
“I—The way I used to treat you…” Pain and guilt flash through Jon’s face as he looks away for a moment to gather his thoughts. “It was not okay. None of it was okay. And I’m—I’m really sorry for that. It doesn’t—I know it doesn’t change anything that happened, but I” —he sighs. “I really am sorry. I hope I can, somehow, uh… somehow make it up to you.”
Martin reaches for Jon’s hand, and he looks down in surprise; Martin sees his eyes start glistening.
“I’m sorry for everything that happened to you.” He continues in a whisper and his eyes are locked on their touching hands. “I’m so sorry about the Lonely. I’m sorry that you’re trapped in all of this with me, and I would understand if you decided to leave—”
“Jon.” Martin squeezes his hand and Jon’s eyes shoot up to look at him.
“I’m sorry, that’s not an apology,” he sighs again. “I just… I’m sorry, Martin. About everything.” His other hand grips Martin’s. “I’m glad you are still here. I’m—I’m so glad, you d-don’t even know,” he laughs.
“I think I do.” Martin smiles gently. “Thank you for saying that. I’ve—I've forgiven you for a lot of it a long time ago. A-And the rest just isn’t your fault.”
Jon frowns.
“The Lonely was always there,” Martin shrugs. “Peter Lukas was just… a catalyst, I think. But now I have you.” His finger grazes the outside of Jon’s palm and his heart flutters in his chest when he sees that small smile appear on Jon’s face. “And you can’t be blamed for Elia—Jonah’s games. We’re all just… a bunch of people who didn’t know what was going on until it was too late.”
Jon’s eyes fall as he nods slightly.
“He’s still up to something,” he says quietly.
“Figures,” Martin laughs bitterly. “But we’re here now. And frankly, I don’t really want to think about him when we’re finally…” The word ‘together’ gets stuck in his throat, as if it would breach this fine line of ambiguity they’ve drawn between themselves. Jon seems to fill it in and his eyes land back on Martin.
He’s never wanted to kiss him more than he does right now. Jon's eyes are wide and glistening with something that looks suspiciously like hope, and his fingers gently graze the outside of Martin's palm. Warmth spreads in his chest and his eyes flutter a little, not breaking the eye contact. He wants to pull Jon close to his chest, to run his fingers through his hair and feel his breath on his own skin. To really feel like he's there, next to him, with him.
Before he can follow through with any of that, something sizzles in the kitchen, loud in the silence, startling them both.
“Food!” Jon chuckles slightly before he jumps to his feet and rushes to the kitchen, while Martin snorts and follows him. Jon stirs the pan with curry and sighs with relief when he sees it's not burned. He turns down the heat anyway and checks on the rice.
“Jon, this smells amazing,” Martin says, peeking into the pan with cheese and spinach. “I didn't know you could cook.”
“Well, contrary to the popular belief I was a functional human being. For a while,” Jon snorts and leans against the counter to look back at Martin. “It's Palak Paneer, my grandma taught me when I was a child.”
“It looks fantastic,” Martin grins, and Jon rolls his eyes in mock exasperation.
Even though the moment's lost, the remains of the feeling can be felt between them as they prepare the plates and take the food to the table. They easily fall back into usual chatter and, as soon as they’re finished, Martin jumps to wash the dishes. Jon relents after extensive affirmations from Martin that he's alright and he can definitely take care of a couple dishes in the sink, and he drops onto the couch with a content sigh instead.
Martin finishes up with the dishes and dries his hands on a towel.
“Do you want some tea?” He asks and hangs the towel back on the rack. When there's no response, he turns to the couch. “Jon?”
Something sinks in his stomach when he sees that the object that consumes Jon’s attention is the poem he’s finished; he scratches his neck, as his cheeks take on a pink tinge. “Oh…”
He walks up to the couch, unsure, trying to gauge Jon's reaction. His face seems tense, he squeezes the notebook in his hand so hard his knuckles go white, and his eyes are focused at one point on the page.
“Um... Jon?” Martin asks weakly, his heart drumming in his chest so loud he's sure both of them can hear it.
Jon jumps to his feet, startled, and looks up at him with eyes wide, like a deer in the headlights. Martin instinctively raises his hands in a placating gesture, as Jon registers his presence, looks down on the notebook in his hands, and quickly puts it on the table as if it stung him.
“Martin, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to look, it was just there and—”
“Hey, Jon, it’s alright!” It’s maybe a little not alright, since the poem is nothing short of a love confession and a wish Martin had no right to assume would ever be true, so Jon reading it is less than ideal. Martin rushes to gently place a hand on Jon’s shoulder but when he recoils from the touch, Martin withdraws his hand, cursing everything about himself.
“No, I, uh…” Jon runs his hand through his hair, eyes darting between Martin, his hand, and the notebook frantically. “I shouldn’t have— uh, it’s—it’s your private business, what you write about, so—”
Martin is sure he’s tomato red on the face by this point and hopes against hope that the afternoon light filtering through the curtains obscures it just a little. Jon, on the other hand, doesn’t have the embarrassed blush that usually darkens his cheeks; instead he breathes fast, his hands shaking ever so slightly. Martin sees him hunch just a little, making himself smaller.
“Um, yeah, I, uh—” He starts fidgeting with his fingers. Did the idea of—of love frighten Jon so much? He was stupid to leave it out in the open and now Jon knows, and it’s not how he feels, so he hates him… “I’m sorry.”
Jon’s eyes snap to him, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“For what?”
Martin huffs out something like a pained laugh.
“Th-That’s not exactly how- how I wanted to tell you.” He wrings out his hands and shoots Jon a pleading look. What’s done is done and the only thing he can hope for is for Jon to let him down easy and never speak of this again.
“Tell me?” Jon looks down at the notebook again and there’s the worry again, stark on his face. He breathes out, slowly, and looks at the floor. “I don’t—I don’t even want to think this is a possibility…”
Martin doesn’t need to imagine what it would be like to be stabbed, if he wanted to - he’s pretty sure the acute pain of his heart shattering in his chest is close enough. His mind tries to catch up to the emotions, slow them down just a bit, because something seems off, and isn’t this a weird way to reject someone you must have known had a crush on you? But his throat tightens with the swell of pain and shame and Martin blinks away the tears welling up in his eyes.
Jon sighs and plops down on the couch, hiding his face in his hands and pushing his glasses up to his forehead.
“We d-don’t have to talk about it, if—if you don’t want to,” Martin says quietly. He sits down next to Jon, careful not to touch him in any way, and puts his hands between his knees.
Jon lets out a bitter laugh.
“Isn’t that what they—the Web would want? Just… mindlessly follow, go with the flow until something… irreversibly bad happens?”
Martin turns to Jon with a frown.
“Wh—What?”
Jon looks at him with something glistening in his eyes and Martin can see the lines of pain and misery written on his face like they belong there.
“The web,” he says faintly. “Strings of fate. I—” He lets out a breath. “Was I just being manipulated this whole time? Was I ever really—Did I ever have a choice?”
“Jon... what are you talking about?”
“You—You said I was...” He reaches for the notebook and points at a verse with his finger. “’Made your choice unaware you were led by strings of web against your heart.’ How—W-Why did you say this?”
Martin stares into Jon's green eyes with concern, yet parts of his heart start to weave themselves back together. However confused and worried Jon seems to be, none of it is directed at Martin; he looks at him with desperation, almost pleading, and he realizes they’ve been having two different conversations at the same time.
“Oh-Oh, God, Jon, I-I didn't mean—I just, it's a-a metaphor, just that, you know,” he takes a breath. “It does remind me of a web, the-the way we got caught up in Elias' plans.” He looks down, his cheeks burning as he remembers why Jon would get caught at this specific phrase. “I'm sorry for, uh, using that, it was just the first thing that came to my mind and—”
Jon exhales next to him and Martin risks a look up. The uneasiness isn't gone from his face but he relaxes just a little bit, enough to stabilize his breathing.
“I'm sorry for this… this whole thing, Martin.” He gestures at nothing in particular and it's his turn to look at the floor, as if it's all of a sudden the most interesting thing he's ever seen. He starts fidgeting with the notebook. “I'm just—What if it’s true?” His voice goes higher at the question and he closes his eyes. Martin squeezes his arm. “What if I am just... Just a puppet? An inhuman, helpless puppet in the hands of—Of some spider pulling the strings?”
A tear rolls down Jon's cheek and Martin grabs one of his hands. It’s small and still shakes a little; he tries to put all the protectiveness he feels into this small gesture. Jon doesn’t recoil this time, instead taking a moment to watch Martin’s hand clasp around his.
“Jon,” Martin starts softly. “You're still you. You're not some—Some spider puppet that can't make choices.”
“But what if—”
“You've made a choice to go into the Lonely for me.” Martin bumps their knees together lightly and Jon looks up at him. “I don't suspect any webs would need me alive to push you into it. It was You.”
Jon looks him in the eyes and Martin barely stops himself from reaching up to his face to wipe away his tears.
“Or it just makes us think that we have a choice but are ultimately helpless against fate and everything we do is determined by intricately crafted circumstances,” Jon whispers. “Maybe free will is a lie.”
Martin blinks.
“Jon...”
“Maybe I was never able to stop it. Any of it.” Jon’s voice grows more horrified and even though his eyes are directed at Martin's face, he seems to be looking somewhere past him. “Maybe nothing we try to do really matters.”
“Jon.” Martin’s voice gains a bit of force, even though he feels all but sure. “What do you see?”
Jon frowns. “What?”
“Look at me and tell me what you see?” The force is gone; the sentence sounds more like a feeble suggestion than a request, but Jon's eyes refocus on Martin's in a frown of confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“We're here now,” Martin says quietly. “And yeah, maybe our decisions are all predetermined or whatever. I still think it matters that we try. I think our experience matters. And you're not a-a monster without free will, Jon. You care about people, and you’ve sacrificed a lot for other people. You've made your own choices and, no matter if they were good or bad, they were still yours. And I think that matters.”
Jon blinks at him for a moment, then his shoulders slump with a sigh and he interlaces their fingers. Martin doesn’t miss it and he feels warmth in his chest.
“I've always been afraid of—of my will not being my own anymore,” he confesses quietly. “Of, uh... of not knowing the difference.”
“I get it,” Martin nods. “If it’s any consolation, I see a lot of Jon in you still.” Jon looks up at him with surprise and Martin gives him a half smile. “I see a very changed Jon but it's still Jon.” He strokes Jon's palm as his heart picks up the pace. “The same Jon I've first fallen in love with.”
Jon exhales softly, his face caught in a soft surprise, and Martin smiles around the dull ache in his chest.
“You don't have to say anything. I'm sure you've known for a while, but I just... I wanted to say it.”
With every second that passes in silence, however, Martin's cheeks grow hotter, and he concludes that this might have been a mistake.
“I-I'm sorry. M-Maybe I shouldn't have said that, I… I don't want things to get weird or anything, so, uh, we can, we can just forget—”
“Martin.” Jon says his name in a soft and kind of inquisitive way that makes his heart bounce around and transforms the ache in his chest into swirling butterflies again. Martin looks up and Jon’s head is tilted to the side, his face still wet with tears, but he notices something hopeful glitter in his eyes. “I love you too.”
Martin frowns, suddenly wondering if he isn't dreaming. Is Jon really saying what he thinks he is? Did he hear correctly? Maybe he misheard—
“I have for a while,” Jon's voice is still quiet and soft. “I didn't want to say anything because I thought it was too early after the Lonely and you might not feel this way anymore, but...”
Martin swallows, acutely aware of how loud his heartbeat is. He squeezes Jon’s hand and smiles slightly.
“I... I didn't know,” he whispers, not trusting his voice to cooperate.
“As soon as I woke up from the coma, I wanted to tell you,” Jon says. “I thought I was too late; that it took me too long to stop denying the feelings I had because I didn’t know how to deal with them, and I'd missed my chance.” He laughs bitterly.
“So that’s what it was about,” Martin whispers, as Jon's actions towards him throughout his time as Peter Lukas’ assistant start falling into place. Jon looks at him with a frown, so he adds, “The ‘let's gouge out our eyes and escape'.”
Jon scrunches up his nose and clears his throat.
“Yes, well. Yeah.”
Martin chuckles quietly.
“I don't think I would have lasted in the Lonely if I understood then. But then again. It didn't really matter in the end. It didn't help.”
“But it was your choice,” Jon echoes Martin's words from before and their eyes meet again.
“Yeah. It was my choice.”
They stare into each other's eyes for a moment, losing track of time, before Jon smiles slightly and looks back at the notebook.
“I really am sorry for not asking your permission, though,” he says. “I got so caught up in the metaphor I didn’t even finish it.”
Martin blinks, the warmth from his chest spreading to his cheeks again.
“D-Do you want to?”
Jon smiles softly, this new smile that Martin has only seen in the past couple of days, always directed at him.
“If you’d let me.”
Martin needs to look away, unable to handle the affection in Jon’s eyes. He mumbles an ‘okay’ with a smile that’s not entirely under his control and gets up.
“But I am making that tea whether you want it or not, waiting for someone to finish reading something is a torture.”
He hears Jon laugh as he heads back to the kitchen.
When he comes back with two steaming mugs, Jon is waiting for him with a smile and his nervousness dissipates with his next words.
“I like it,” Jon says. “Apart from the, uh, web metaphor, obviously. It's hopeful.”
“Y-You do?”
Martin swallows; the pleasant tingling in his stomach is back. He places their mugs on the table and reaches out to join their hands again. Jon intertwines their fingers immediately and caresses the outside of Martin’s palm with his thumb.
Jon looks down at the verses again and smiles softly, almost sheepishly, a familiar blush darkening his cheeks.
“I—I don't know if there would be anything for us outside of. You know. The fears and all that,” he grimaces. “At least, for me. But, uh…” He looks at Martin again with a hopeful expression that makes Martin melt a little, and he gently caresses Martin's cheek with his free hand. “I really like the thought of it.”
Martin's brain might be short-circuiting at this moment and all of his thoughts take form of fuzzy static.
“Me too,” he says, suddenly breathless. Jon's hand rests cupping his cheek and, are they a bit closer than they were a second ago? Jon's gaze slides down Martin's face to his lips and he feels he might faint right there and then. He doesn't, instead gathering up his courage to take a breath.
“Can I kiss you?” Jon asks first and Martin feels his lips form a grin.
“Please,” he breathes out; the next second their lips meet, soft but urgent, desperate and sick of waiting. Martin's hand dives into Jon's soft hair, fingers scraping the delicate skin of his head and earning him a low sound from Jon's throat. They pull each other closer and find a rhythm to lose themselves in for just a moment; the sensation of Jon's tongue swirling in his mouth, of his slender fingers on his cheek and his neck, the pressure of his body against his chest; all of it making Martin dizzy with happiness.
Martin pulls away when his lungs painfully remind him breathing is still a necessity and he opens his eyes to look at Jon – His soft lips, his nose, his pockmark scars, and his eyes, green yet with no trace of Beholding in them. He takes him in whole, with all of his flaws and all of his virtues, and he feels seen in return, seen by the man he loves and who loves him. The weight of it all hits Martin like a crashing wave and he pulls Jon in for a tight embrace.
“I love you,” he whispers against his shoulder, and he feels Jon's arms tightening around his torso.
“I love you too, Martin.”
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elysianslove · 4 years ago
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Hello! I know this may not be your thing but I decided to give it a shot, if not no biggy!
I was wondering if you would be interested in writing Gojo and/or Sakuna with an asexual lover? (One that doesnt feel sexual attraction but doesnt mind kissing and cuddling etc and loves physical affection but nothing beyond that?) And like, how a relationship with that kind of person would come to be?
Because Sakuna and Gojo both give off *he totally fucks* vibes.
So how they ended up with an asexual lover would be interesting, maybe the MC rejects their advances because fear of being hated for being Ase? Because they know that the other person definitely fucks.
How would their relationship work? How would the guy react/comfort the MC.
(Maybe it ends with a epilogue with no sex(as in penetration and blowjobs to be exact but mc later in a relationship would be willing to do things like handjobs and other hands on/Using toys to pleasure their partner because they cant in that way) but lots of passionate makeout sessions/kissing/sucking and worshiping the mc's body? Especially the collar bone)
If you arent into it that's cool! I totally get it!
This is pretty self indulgent after all ahahaha it's hard being an asexual in fandoms lmao.
hi my love!! okay to start off, i’m really honored you sent in this request to me. idk just the fact that you’re trusting me with it is really sweet hehe. i’m fairly knowledgable about sexuality but i don’t like to write about things i’m not 100% sure about because i don’t wanna risk doing anything wrong or accidentally offending you! but!! thank you for going into detail with the request, and i hope this is what you were looking for, and that i didn’t do any mistakes <3
i wrote headcanons so i can go into detail and write for both!! 
some nsfw under the cut, my loves! <3
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ryomen sukuna 
i’d say, to begin with, it would take a small while for sukuna to even be accepting of his own feelings towards you. nothing having to do with your sexuality, just you in general, specifically that you’re human and so different from him. i don’t think sex ever crosses his mind, at least at the start, because he’s too busy being really angry over the way he can’t seem to control his reactions to every little thing you do. so he himself won’t actively work at starting a relationship with you.
but he will realize, over time, that you’re not doing anything either, even though he’s been noticing that you’re not pushing him or his advances away. like any act of protectiveness that involves him physically touching you intimately, you don’t reject, and you’re always ready to retort at any quip he had. he could tell that these feelings he had for you were mutual, he was just so confused as to why you weren’t doing anything about it.
sukuna’s a thousand year old cursed spirit. he does not know shit about sexuality. i think the way he’d look at it is fuck who you want and fuck who you like. i feel like nicki minaj’s said that before, has she? he doesn’t like thinking too much about it, you know? 
his confession would probably be a kiss because words? he doesn’t know them. when he feels you return the kiss he’s, deep down, elated, really, and this is simply because of his naturally sexual personality, he starts hinting at more, until you stop him. he’s really confused because you just kissed him back? you’ve been kissing him for so long why do you want to stop now? he can see the fear steadily growing in your eyes and he’s even more confused now he’s just. humans are so weird. 
when you cautiously tell him, “i don’t want to go further than this. is that okay?” you look like you’re waiting for the world to erupt in your face. he just frowns and shrugs like, “yeah but that’s not the point. do you not want me?” 
it takes about an hour and a half for sukuna to properly process what you’re saying. at first he’s so thrown off by it, not by you! he just can’t process the fact that someone doesn’t feel any sexual attraction towards someone or doesn’t crave sex at all. it’s not that he’s rude about it, it’s just a really foreign concept to him, you know? when you add that it’s just sex, and you’re okay with a lot of other things, the gears in his brain finally start working again and he just goes. 
*shrugs* ok. 
literally lmao. like i said earlier, sukuna doesn’t give a shit like whatever do what you want. 
because of the rush of emotions he’s feeling towards you, and the fact that this in itself, a relationship, and a relationship with a human too, he doesn’t really focus on the fact that he might want more from you. he’s easily satisfied with a lengthy make out session, and he admits it to you every time he sees you get a little anxious or unsure of yourself. 
however, his needs do grow with your relationship. it’s kind of clumsy, your transition into a proper long term relationship, especially with sukuna, but you two make it work. 
you agree to try different ways to pleasure him, even if he kinda rushes through them because he’s generally just excited to have your hands on him. at first he’s content with anything you’re offering, but it makes him feel kinda useless when you won’t let him touch you and you have to remind him that your needs are different than his and that you’re sated differently.
i see sukuna as a curious and experimental guy, so he would definitely let you use toys on him. nothing too extreme, because he still needs that sense of control, but you do use some toys like a fleshlight or a vibrator to rile him up. he likes using your hand too, because it’s always so soft against him and it feels a hundred times better than any toy. he learns not to overstep any boundaries though, and not to do anything that might make you uncomfortable even if it takes him a little longer. like i said, the whole idea is just different to him, so it takes him a while to understand, and he’s still learning as he goes!
he loves your make out sessions, especially after you establish your boundaries and your limits and what you’re willing to do for him. he absolutely adores leaving your skin a sky of blue, pink and purple it sends chills down his spine marking you like that. he’s always touching you all over, and just loves to grab and knead at your skin. 
in the proper long term, he doesn’t mind it at all tbh. the two of you develop a system, and he’s okay with it. the same way you would never cross his boundaries and force him to do anything he doesn’t want, he’d do for you too! it really never truly mattered, and it truly never will.
gojō satoru
different from sukuna, i think gojō would definitely be knowledgable about things like this. idk he just seems like the kind of guy that’s innately so aware of everything around him, and can read people exceptionally well.
he probably picked up on the fact that you weren’t comfortable with sex, or just didn’t experince sexual attraction, on his own, but never really brought it up because it was never his place. but the same way he picks up on that, he picks up on your obvious crush on him. he pays both details no specific attention until he starts to realize his own feelings for you, and begins on his subtle advances.
he tried to make his advances as sfw as possible, you know? just in case his suspicions were confirmed to be true. he was just extra flirty, sometimes touchy but never in an inappropriate way. very subtilely like always having your shoulders or knees touching or dusting of your jacket or feeding you a piece of his food. cute little things like that.
he gets super worried when he notices you start to distance yourself from him, because he can’t imagine what he might’ve did to push you away. he overthinks a little, worried that he overstepped his boundaries or made you uncomfortable in any way, but he isn’t afraid to approach you about it, to make sure he doesn’t repeat his mistakes, especially with someone like you, who he’s slowly growing more and more infatuated by. 
when you admit to him you’re asexual, he realizes he was right, but then he’s like, “and? did i do something?” and now it’s your turn to be confused because here you were worried about rejection but here he was worried about you? 
this specific incident is what makes you let loose and finally just freely admit your feelings for him. he’s ecstatic about it, seriously! all that’s on his mind is that he gets to go on a date with someone he really likes. sex is the last thing on his mind, and yeah, you’ll eventually have to talk about it, but not for now. it’s for later, when things get a little more serious. 
they do get serious, to both your delights, but the dreaded moment is approaching you. gojō definitely sits you down and says, “we’re only having this talk so i know never to do anything outside of your limits. everything about this relationship is 50/50, and i want to know ways to make you feel good, too.” 
please sir your hand in marriage.
i definitely believe gojō’s a kinky guy, and is more than willing to try out literally any sex toy you pull at him. genuinely, he’ll try anything you wanna try. if you ever offer a handjob, he’ll ask a million times over if you’re sure. usually, he likes to just do it himself, but have you there next to him. he won’t touch you, but your hands will be in his hair, and you’ll be kissing his neck, or just murmuring how much you love him in his ear, just spurring him on. he knows the last thing on your mind is anything sexual, but there’s just something about being under your watchful, almost bored gaze as he fucks himself.
anyways before i get too into it lmfao, he loves kissing you. loves loves loves it. not even full blown make out sessions, just gentle, serene kissing. he can kiss you for hours. 
he is also incredible at body worship and praise. paints your pretty collarbone pink and purple, whispers about how you’re perfect for him, describes all your features to you like poetry. he’s an incredible lover, really. nothing can make him fall out of love with you, absolutely nothing. 
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marlborodean · 4 years ago
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here’s my analysis of a 14-yr-old supernatural episode
so remember that episode where sam fucked a werewolf? because he related to her unwilling monstrosity? well that episode is actually just about dean starting to come to grips with his childhood and his sexuality.
if you ship w/ncest do not interact. this post is not anti-sam either btw. 
content warning: discussions of childhood trauma, internalized homophobia, guns, killing. 
does include some images with Image Descriptions following them.
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[ID: An over-the-shoulder close-up shot from the episode, focused on Madison, the werewolf, as she cries. Dean is standing behind her. They are both looking at Sam, whose shoulder is on the edge of the frame. End ID.]
Brief episode recap just in case u don’t remember. This ep is 2x17 “Heart.” Sam and Dean are hunting a werewolf. They discover that the woman they interviewed, Madison, is a werewolf (not THEE werewolf, but one of them). Sam develops a lil crush on her <3 I wrote the majority of this after watching it for the first time in almost SIX years, so i was just vibing the whole time UNTIL the last shot changed it all for me. So let me explain!
Three important points that i will refer back to:
1. The episode begins with Dean being excited to hunt a werewolf because "what about a human by day, a freak animal killing machine by moonlight don't you understand? I mean, werewolves are badass. We haven't seen one since we were kids."
2. Then the episode centers on Sam and his relationship with the werewolf woman and his own monstrosity: "[Dean: Sam, she's a monster and you're feeling sorry for her?] Maybe I understand her."
3. BUT THEN the last shot of the episode is of Dean crying as music plays (see below for the specific lyrics) and then Dean jumps at the sound of the gunshot. That's it! That's the end of the episode!
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[ID: For all three screencaps, Dean is looking torturously sad. Each one is zoomed a little bit closer to his face than the last. In the last image, Dean sheds a single man tear. The captioned lyrics for the first one say "Relax, child, you were there." The second says "but only didn't realize" and the third says "and you were scared." End ID]
Even though the story is supposed to be about Sam and his monstrosity, and partly about his relationship w/romance since this is the first person he’s slept with since Jess died (at least with what is shown on screen)...the Dean Sandwich tells us otherwise. We're supposed to be taking away something about DEAN here. Like, that's the whole purpose behind the last shot focusing solely on Dean instead of Sam who is AT THAT MOMENT, KILLING THE GIRL HE HAS FEELINGS FOR. It's literally a heartbreaking, devastating, super traumatic thing for Sam to be going through, but instead we're watching Dean as a single tear slides down his face lmao. It's because this episode is about DEAN, and furthering his story.
Let’s not queer this just yet. The death of the werewolf is about/representing his loss of innocence. It's a violent disconnect from his childhood. Point # 1 shows that he is fascinated by werewolves because since he was a kid he thought they were badass, not to mention all the werewolf films he references throughout. Then, through the music lyrics over that last scene, they mirror that theme of childhood. They’ve done this before, having the diegetic music directly reference what the characters are going through. No different here: Dean is the child they’re referring to.
I have to reiterate that that's the last thing we hear before the gunshot cuts the music short and then the cut to black. "You were scared" is the last thing we hear before the gunshot, as Dean cries. ALSO I have to reiterate that Dean was looking forward to killing a werewolf and shooting it himself. So it's super fascinating that, not only is Sam the one that kills the werewolf, WE DON’T EVEN SEE IT HAPPEN.
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[ID: A medium-close shot of Dean as he looks at Sam, who takes up the right half of the frame. The caption says, “Sammy, I got this one. I’ll do it.” End ID.]
Am i gonna have to say this now? The werewolf is a metaphor, okay? It's a metaphor for his innocence, which is long-dead, forever doomed. I mean, a lot of kids love werewolves because they ARE badass! It's a classic monster that anyone could easily obsess over, and with Dean's childhood it must've seemed even cooler, knowing they're real and having the power to kill this "mythical" beast. So the way he's looking forward to killing one is the way a child imagines themselves as a hero.
But what happens instead is a tragic mercy killing. It's flipping his fantasy completely on its head, and it makes Dean realize that.....his fantasies are just fantasies. They aren't real, never would be. There's nothing heroic about killing this werewolf. It's tragic as hell. When he offers to kill her himself, it's just to relieve Sam's burden, but he's reluctant still. Because, as he keeps saying, he doesn't want to be a hunter! He doesn't want this life! He's tired of killing! And that's also what he's mourning as he cries and startles at the gunshot. His fantasies will never be real and his childhood could never have been normal and he never got a chance to be a kid because being a hunter was thrust on him at such a young age. And now it feels inescapable.
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[ID: A gif of the slow zoom on Dean’s face as the single tears slips down his cheek. He jumps at the gunshot, then blinks and his lip wobbles. End ID.]
So now we can queer it :-) Of course all monster stories can be easily queered, but werewolves are popularly queered. The first example that comes to mind is An American Werewolf in London (1981) isn’t an overtly queer film (though it is Jewish!) but it’s definitely read that way by a lot of people!! Anyway the film was directed by John Landis which JUST SO HAPPENS to be the pseudonym Dean goes by in this episode. hmm. (Also, interestingly, the BTVS ep where the first gay character comes out references this film too)
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[ID: Sam and Dean are standing close to each other. Sam is in the foreground, not in focus. Dean, behind him, says, “Landis. And Detective Dante.” End ID.]
There’s this essay about the queer werewolf that you can read here (and they also talk about fandom in it! very fascinating), where they say in the intro: “the werewolf seems an obvious choice as a queer monster with its identity-disrupting hybridity, as well as its atavistic, and, thus, disallowable sexuality.” A lot like Kristeva’s theory of the abject body! which is popular in queer theory. 
This episode is then queering Sam—his attraction to the werewolf makes him abject—but it also queers Dean thru the way his attitude towards the werewolf transforms (get it?) throughout the ep. His desire and eagerness to kill the werewolves is obviously ingrained in him from John’s parenting. Consider what he said in 2x03 “Bloodlust”: “And the way he raised us, to hate those things—and man, I hate them, I do.” In conjunction with the monsters in the show being seen as queer allegories (the gorgon, as an example of an explicit comparison), Dean’s excitement to kill the werewolf can be read as internalized homophobia and repressing any of his own feelings. 
Remember, though, right before that line in “Bloodlust,” he also said, “What if we killed things that didn’t deserve killing?” He’s really beginning to question whether all monsters are bad, and what it means to kill them. Is he also questioning what he believes of queer people? What John believed of queer people? The loss of innocence and queering both slot together through that final shot, imo: he’s crying because he realizes his fantasies aren’t real, but he’s also mourning the fact that he never could have had the chance to grow up without John’s control, and now it’s forever tainted his worldview. What else could he have been without that? (The answer is evident in 4x17 “It’s a Terrible Life.”)
Dean was taught to hate queer people but he doesn't want to. He wants to get out of the life but it feels inescapable. He wants to kill a werewolf and then when he has the chance, he doesn't want to. He actually cries as it's killed. It scares him, having to confront that what he thought he knew was wrong, but he knows all the same that he’ll never have the chance to have grown up without that. 
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scabopolis · 3 years ago
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Author Self-Interview
I’ve had this saved for 5-ever to do and am trying to get in the writing headspace again, so thought I’d try on my ‘am I an author? sure...why not...let’s go with that’ trousers. 
Fandoms: I’ve written the most fics for Veronica Mars (Logan/Veronica will always have my heart), and then Dan/Blair for my ‘we could have had it all’ fandom space. Also, have written for Amy/Jonah from Superstore (not posted on AO3), Nick/Jess from New Girl and probably my most precious - one Will/Angie fic from the gone and never forgotten show Single Parents. Oh! And Emma/Killian from OUaT. I’ve done CS Secret Santa two years in a row and it was a very good time. 
Most popular multi-chapter fic: If we’re going by kudos then my most popular fic in any fandom is my first Dan/Blair Wrapped in Ribbons; a fic I will always love but sometimes dream of fixing.
Favorite story you’ve written so far: I Know That Face is the first fic ever wrote and it brought @scandalpantsstuff into my life (not to mention every single Veronica Mars fandom friend I’ve made), so for that reason it will always hold a special place. In terms of writing, though? Probably charts and graphs (should finally make it clear) which is one of my Nick/Jess fics. It is the one I get the most positive comments for related to strong characterization and I could see each moment in my head as I wrote it. There’s about a million things in it I want to fix, but it was a big ‘win’ for me writing wise. 
Fic you were nervous to post: Probably both of my CS fics b/c that’s such a huge fandom, and I’ve seen some pretty vicious reader comments. BUT! The beauty of a large fandom (I’ve discovered) is that your work isn’t really discovered unless you’re a known quantity. Each of my CS fics have around 100 kudos, and the people I gifted them to seemed to like them, and that is all I need for satisfaction. 
How do you choose your titles: I go through phases. Right now I’m in a real “random throw away quip becomes a phrase I use in the fic multiple times and BOOM now it’s the title” headspace. But 7 out of 10 times it’s gonna be lyrics of some sort. Always proud of the titles that are somehow neither! (e.g. the gift of gab, the gift of you)
Do you outline: Yes. Though, not in a hugely structured way. My outlines are a mishmash of bullet points, snippets of dialogue (usually there is a specific moment of line of dialogue that becomes my entire impetus to write something) and then statements like “I don’t know, and then figure out what they’re going to do???!!!” because I find some things as I go. 
Next to Complete: That would be the still without a title VM Sleepover Fic for Jennie aka @thelillykane. (Jennie. Don’t laugh at me. I’m working on it!) 
Do you accept prompts: Not at this time. I have an inbox full of them mocking me. Most of them are @cubbiegirl and she’ll get her fics WHEN I AM GOOD AND READY TO GIVE THEM. 
Upcoming story you’re most excited to write about: I’ve started an outline for a Dan/Blair fic that goes AU after 5x15. Basically in this AU they make out at the Valentine’s party but never date. It takes place 6-7 years after that, and they’ve remained friends who kind of just make everyone miserable with their JUST BANG ALREADY energy. 
Anyway, they get into a dumb fight where Dan tells Blair she’s an elitist who wouldn’t last a month in Brooklyn w/o her maid and her freshly pressed dresses and she calls him a hypocrite who enjoys all the trappings of wealth but acts like he’s so above it and, actually, he wouldn’t survive her social schedule for a month. Which leads to them making a bet which requires Blair to move in with him in Brooklyn for a month, and for Dan to be her date at all her social events for a month. Serena and Nate watch the whole thing and are like “uh...Dan...you just dared Blair to live with you for a month.” “And...uh...Blair...did you just make Dan agree to date you for a month?” It shall be very silly and very tropey. But...that’s kinda my brand, so I’m good with it. 
Stories you’re most excited to read: @scandalpantsstuff. My ticket is booked. I am going to see you in 50 days. Are we drinking that bottle of wine? (Yes. This is a Haunted call out post.) Anything @best-laid-plaids teases. I NEED TO READ the final two chapters of @lorelailorelai‘s Dan/Blair fic. I’ve procrastinated because the first one about made me lose my mind in the best possible way and I know I will want to leave a long, sprawling review. 
No pressure tags: @cheshirecatstrut, @mysilverylining, @thelillykane, @shireness-says, @hollyethecurious, @thisonesatellite, @theawkwardterrier, @lavellenchanted. 
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laceymorganwrites · 4 years ago
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The light behind your eyes
Word count: 2,665
Pairing: Nacht x reader
Warnings: MAJOR MANGA SPOILERS; READ AT UR OWN RISK, swearing, mentioned violence and death, this is sad, man....
A/N: I swear I wanted this to be fluffy....and yes, title´s a MCR song
Taglist (friendly reminder to send me an ask or dm if you want to be added, that goes for any of my fandoms^^): @nintendousimp @adrasteiaxandromedaa @serowotonin
Nacht never thought he´d envy his brother. Not in the least. They were both so irritatingly different and he thought he hated him for that.
But there was so much more to hate than just that.
Morgen got along with everyone, he was the perfect son, the perfect knight, the perfect husband.
All Nacht could ever do was watch.
Watch him make you laugh, watch him take your hand, watch him take you away.
He wasn´t jealous, he didn´t have time for a relationship anyway.
Still, he couldn´t help himself.
Falling in love with you was the easiest and most dangerous thing he ever did, it hit him like the biggest amount of mana he ever felt and there was nothing he could do to make it stop.
No matter how hard he tried.
And he did.
He couldn´t love you, it wasn´t right… it wasn´t fair.
So he tried to distract himself, to think of anything else but you, his delinquent nature only helped a little bit with that.
He loved you from afar since that was all he could do. Nacht never made any moves on you, why would he?
You were with his brother and he made you happier than he ever could. It was good this way, it was supposed to be like this.
After all Morgen was the shining star of the family, of the capital. He was the pride of the gray deer.
He was strong, always had a smile on his face, he helped people and enchanted them with his warmth and kindness.
Nacht wasn´t anything like that.
No, he was the complete opposite, he was a disaster. Like a storm that wrecked chaos all throughout the capital, leaving people whispering about him.
Him and Yami were the two people the townsfolk feared the most, they always were up to something and it never was good.
They were good friends and Yami did well in distracting Nacht from his heartbreak he never was ready to admit.
Nacht first met you when him and Yami were thinking about more fun ways to use their magic. This time they were quite interested in stealing and running away from the magic knights.
Your food stand was just another one of their victims, but instead of scolding them like everyone else you just laughed with them.
You weren´t mad at him for sneaking past you like that, for using his magic to steal some items, no, instead you complimented him for it, saying how clever it was.
Nacht didn´t know what to say, for the first time in his life he was speechless.
Even Yami teased him about it, but he didn´t care. There were no witty remarks or lame attacks from him. He was so lost in your presence, he just wanted to consume all of it. You made him feel things that were so new and exciting to him, he never wanted to leave you.
“Oh, (Y/N), Morgen wants to talk to you. He´s waiting at your usual spot” Yami informed you and you nodded.
With those words everything came crashing down for him.
So that was why.
It made sense that if you knew his brother you´d also recognize him. That was why you weren´t mad.
And your name sounded so familiar, Morgen talked a lot about you, someone from his squad he admired.
It seemed like he got everything he wanted then.
It left Nacht feeling utterly dumb and empty.
Your usual spot… so it was true.
Nacht had only speculated that you two were together but now he knew it was true.
And what a dashing couple you were, perfect really. He had no right to interfere or even think about you that way. He never had and yet he did.
Morgen was everything he wasn´t. He was the one everyone loved, the one who got everything Nacht ever wanted.
Of course you wouldn´t care about him, especially not in that way. You just were nice to him because you knew his brother.
If you didn´t you´d just pretend as if he wasn´t there and then talk behind his back about what an abomination he was.
Like everyone else did.
Little did he know that you weren´t anything like that.
You knew Morgen from the magic knight exam and immediately made friends.
Morgen was a nice guy but he had his own issues as well. He never got along with his family, which is why he took the exam: to make them proud.
To show them that he could be someone like that. Someone to admire.
He just wanted to be like Nacht.
You were the one he confined in when it came to those things, he told you how he envied the nobles in your ranks who complained about getting married. He´d give anything for something like that to be considered a problem.
He talked a lot about his brother, making you incredibly curious. You wanted to meet him some day.
And so he invited you over for dinner with his family.
Though that wasn´t the first time you saw him.
No, in fact you saw Nacht every day. He was always on the market where you had your stand, with his friend causing all sorts of chaos.
He was quite something and you couldn´t help but smile every time you saw him.
He never really noticed you until that day though, or so you thought.
You were excited to be able to talk to him and sad that it only lasted a little while.
Because of your meeting with Nacht you were in high spirits when you talked to Morgen that day.
You two always trained together and would walk to the headquarters together.
It was nice having a friend like this, it seemed like it would last forever.
You told him that you met his brother and he was happy about that. Tonight would be the dinner as well so you would properly get to know each other.
When you arrived you could already tell that his parents didn´t like Morgen very much. Sure, they tried, but it was all pretend.
They were nice to you.
And you were so happy to be able to talk to Nacht, though he seemed distant.
Therefore you decided to start the conversation with him, asking him about his magic, that seemed to be the perfect topic.
His eyes glistened in excitement as he talked about his training, of course he left out any details but just being able to talk about this to someone who cared that wasn´t his parents, it was amazing.
You understood him, told him he was strong and admired him.
It was everything he ever wanted and so he asked about your magic, about your family and life.
The whole night went by so quickly, you felt like you talked about everything but at the same time you just wanted to talk so much more.
You noticed the way his eyes sparked with excitement and how gentle he would look at you at times, though maybe that was just your imagination.
You really hoped that wasn´t the case though, you wanted him to look at you that way all the time.
The same way you looked at him, full of adoration.
Morgen felt conflicted, of course he was happy that you got along with his brother but at the same time he hated how jealousy clouded his mind.
He was scared that Nacht would take you away from him, scared of all those things his parents were hiding from him.
It hurt him so much, he told you, about the secrets everyone was keeping from him, making him feel so frail, small and weak.
Sometimes his mind wandered too much, as it did now.
All he ever did was bother you with his problems and concerns, you were kind enough to show him everything when he was recruited to the squad and yet he used you like that.
He felt awful.
You deserved better, the best actually. And that was his brother.
Morgen never had any romantic feelings towards you, he just felt so guilty for stealing your time and wanting you all to himself, he didn´t want anyone else confining in you, he wanted it to be your secret, something only you two shared.
He just wanted to feel special and wanted even if it was only for a moment.
If only he had never invited you for dinner…
No, that wasn´t fair and he knew it. Of course he wanted to invite you, he knew that Nacht loved you even if he wasn´t ready to admit that for some reason he didn´t know.
All he wanted was you and his brother to be happy, and yes, be happy himself.
He wanted a happy family, to be accepted the way he was, he didn´t want to cause any more trouble than he already had.
His relationship to his brother wasn´t how it used to be and he hated how he seemed to be the cause for it.
Couldn´t he ever do something right?
The training and the missions without you were the only times he was able to have a clear mind, without any worries.
That´s why he engaged in them so much, to distract himself from his thoughts. Why did he even have them? He loved both of you and didn´t want to come in between your romantic love.
Maybe he just wanted you two to be together so that you finally gained the happiness you both denied each other.
He always found that stupid, why would one deny happiness to oneself? But then again, he did the very same thing.
But for him it was because he was raised that way, he wasn´t anything special, at least not to his family. So he tried to make up for being a failure for his family with being useful to the kingdom.
And it worked, so long as he had something to distract himself from.
Everyone needed a distraction.
Nacht needed a distraction from his feelings, not only for you but also for his brother. He couldn´t bear even thinking about hating him. Hatred was also what he felt for his parents, though that realization came too late for him.
At first he felt so loved when they showed him the chamber, told him he was the pride of the family. Finally he felt accepted, something he had longed for all his life.
However they weren´t accepting him, they were praising his magic and wanted him to continue the cursed family legacy, something so dark and forbidden it made even the trees shudder.
Knowing that both of their sons didn´t matter to them made Nacht angry, what did they ever do to be unloved? What else were they supposed to do to get the attention they never got as children?
Maybe they were more similar than Nacht had thought in the beginning.
It brought a sad smile to his face, however he was determined.
Determined to fix things, he knew what he wanted: you by his side and his brother not to hate him.
However his plan backfired and he let himself be taken over by his emotions, by his rage and frustration.
When he went to the secret chamber with his parents like every day, he lost control, the forbidden magic was too much for him and he really thought that this would be his end.
“Nacht! Take my hand, we need to get out of here!” Morgen called out for him, he just got back from a mission when he heard the explosion.
“No...it´s too late for me, just let me die” Nacht replied, desperation in his eyes.
“Are you crazy? You´re coming with us” you appeared behind his brother, out of breath from running with him. Yami was there too.
What was everyone doing here? Everyone he cared about. His dear brother, friend and… love.
Nacht had given up, on everything, but you three reaching your hands out for him, to save him? The mere thought that there was still salvation for him made him cry.
He took his brother´s hand and let himself be pulled from the rubble.
You three let the house burn and sat down on your usual spot, the hill where you had a good view of the capital.
The sun was already setting, it looked beautiful and more peaceful than it actually was.
Nacht still had the blood of his parents in his face, after noticing you took a piece of cloth and quietly wiped it off.
“Why did you save me? I´m a murderer… and a psychopath” he quietly said, chuckling darkly at the realization.
“You´re pretty weird but I wouldn´t go as far as calling you a psychopath” Yami thought out loud.
“What you did wasn´t wrong, Nacht” Morgen placed his hand on his brother´s shoulder.
“Not wrong? I murdered our parents in cold blood!” he exclaimed, staring at them in disbelief.
How could you all forgive him just like that?
“I didn´t even felt anything during it! Not a single thing, not regret, not sadness or anger. And I still don´t. I don´t regret it, I don´t feel anything. That´s not normal!” he cried out.
“I guess that makes us all psychopaths then” you stated, no judgment in your voice.
Nacht turned his head to face you, a puzzled look on his face.
“Your parents were shitty people, nobody is going to miss them. And we´re not going to judge you for something that was out of your control. We´re just glad that you´re still here with us, you suffered so much… and we didn´t realize it sooner” you said, your tone so warm… so familiar. He couldn´t help but feel calm whenever you spoke.
“To be fair I also just realized… I used to love them, I thought they loved me too. But that wasn´t true. They only used me” he said sadly, letting his head hang low, his hair falling in his face.
You exchanged some looks with the others and they stood up.
“Nacht, you´re going to join us in the gray deer, you´re too talented to just waste away. We won´t let that happen. We´ll keep looking out for each other. Always” Morgen announced and Yami also patted Nacht´s shoulder before they both left for the headquarters.
“Who´d even want a guy like me? You make it sound so easy… as if I can just join…” he shook his head, sighing.
“You still have a place in this world. The world needs you. You´ll fit in perfectly, we´re going to work as a team, we´re going to be unstoppable. Trust me, you´re going to like it there. And you´ll also see that we´re not as perfect as you think we are and that it´s okay that way, more than okay” you told him to which he finally looked up again.
You looked so beautiful, the sunlight only highlighted your magnificence, he couldn´t believe he was alone with you in such a setting, if only the circumstances were different.
He sighed, if he didn´t do it now, he´d never… he didn´t have much else to lose anyway.
“Can I do something stupid?” he quietly asked, averting his eyes yet again, his hands fiddling.
“Not if I do it first” you grinned and hugged him tightly.
“I´m not going to let you die or get hurt. I´ll always protect you. Because… I… want a guy like you, not anyone else, just you. I´m in love with you” you said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.
You felt his body tremble against you as he started laughing, hugging you back even more.
“I… I think I´m dreaming!” he laughed and pulled away, smiling at you widely, his eyes full of adoration. Just like yours.
You took his hand into yours and he rested his head on your shoulder as you both watched the last rays of sunshine disappear.
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ravensbug · 4 years ago
Note
hi so i can came from another tumblr user and i wanted to ask if maybe you could do a lin x pregnant!reader? i completely understand if you’re not comfortable with that, because the other user wasn’t but i just wanted to ask. thank you!
Little One
Fandom: Legend of Korra
Ship: Lin Beifong x Pregnant!reader
Request: Yes
Prompt: No
Word Count: 1277
A/N: Ok, first off I am SO SORRY this took so long. This semester has given me an even bigger workload and then more stuff has started happening that’s just stressing me out. Totally am not trying to recall my mother’s stories about how her pregnancies were with my sister and me. I didn’t really know I needed this version of Lin in my life until now. Don’t know if this exactly what you were looking for, but I hope it is.
Summary: You’re in the last week of your pregnancy and you’re due any day now. Lin has been staying home with you for months, not even going to the station at this point. But of course, the one time she does go, you go to the hospital because of the baby. Thankfully everything goes the way it should and Lin arrives right after.
Lin had gotten Kya to come over to the house so you weren’t left alone. You told Lin that you would have been fine by yourself, but you knew having Kya there wasn’t a bad idea. You were due anytime in these next few days and having someone with you in case something happened is smart. Of course, Lin hadn’t left your side for the past 3 months.
You were surprised that Lin Beifong, the woman who was practically married to her job, hadn’t gone into the precinct in 3 months. It was flattering, but you knew the amount of work she would have to deal with when she got back. Even with Saikhan running things in her absence.
Lin hadn’t told you the reason she had to go out today, or how long she would be gone. You assumed it might be some time since she had Kya come over. However, Lin always wanted someone with you at all times. Like she didn’t say it 20 times a day anyways.
“I really shouldn’t worry about why she’s gone out, but I can’t help it.” You walked around and sat down on the couch carefully. You had grabbed a snack, even though Kya had offered to grab it for you.
“It’s reasonable why you worry, but she’s fine. I’m pretty sure she’s more worried about you than herself at this point.” Kya reassured you.
“Kya, like she’s ever worried about herself? That woman literally gave her bending away to protect the last airbenders and didn’t want an ounce of respect from it.”
“Selflessness. The main definition of your wife,” Kya playfully rolled her eyes.
“Yeah. Sometimes I love her for it, sometimes I hate her for it,” you sighed.
“At least you don’t have to add being her healer to all of that. I wouldn’t know how you two would be together if you were.”
“I’m very persuasive, Kya,” you smirked. She laughed in response, but she knew it was true. Lin’s told her a few stories while being healed.
You two continued talking and you snacked while Kya talked. It was nice to talk to someone different although you would never get tired while talking with Lin. You would let her go on endless rants about work or things she liked. She would apologize, but you loved it when she would talk about something so passionately, even if she was upset.
Kya was in the middle of explaining something to you when you felt an awkward sensation. It felt like a pop and you didn’t know why it happened. That was until a few seconds after.
“Kya….” you interrupted her.
Kya didn’t need to say anything when she looked and saw the expression on your face. You both knew your water had just broke.
“Right, ok. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“What about Lin? She doesn’t even know. What if she gets home and we’re not here?”
“I’ll make sure that someone finds her. Right now I just need you to worry about yourself and the baby. Not so much the baby, that’s more of my job.”
Lin knows you would scold her for going to the station when you were due any day, but she really couldn’t handle not being there anymore. Even if it was just to check in on things. However, checking in on things soon turned into her actually doing some paperwork.
“Chief, you should really be home with your wife. This paperwork can be done by someone else.” Saikhan was standing in front of her desk as she was working on a simple paper.
“Just this last one and I’ll be out of your way Saikhan,” Lin argued.
“Lin, your wife is due any day. Go home.” He waited for Lin to finish writing whatever sentence she was on and took the paper from her.
“Fine. But you better get that done correctly.” She stood up to leave the precinct. As she grabbed her coat one of the officers open the door with a face full of mixed emotions.
“What is it?” Lin and Saikhan responded at the same time.
“Cheif, your wife,” he had to pause to catch his breath. “She’s gone into labor.”
Most of the senior officers hadn’t seen Lin run out of that building so fast since the last time someone had tried to kidnap you. Even then, some thought Lin was moving even faster now.
Lin had promised herself she wouldn’t go speeding to the hospital if this had happened, but she wanted to so badly. She definitely cursed at the spirits for doing this to her because thoughts of things that could go wrong while she wasn’t with you were running rampant in her mind.
It had taken her almost half an hour to get to the hospital. She also cursed at whoever designed the city that way.
Lin practically barged into the main entrance and everyone looked her way. She wasn’t mad, she would never be mad about this happening, but most assumed that she was since they didn’t know her like you did.
She took a deep breath before asking the desk nurse where you were.
“She’s in room 204.” The nurse pointed down the hall. “Oh, Chief Beifong! They’re fine, just go in quietly.” That information was enough for Lin to put it all together and she smiled.
“Thank you.” She turned and started walking towards the room you were in. She had the widest grin on her face and she felt so giddy and excited.
When she turned the corner and got closer to your room she willed herself to calm her nerves. The nurse had said to be quiet when entering and she had a few guesses as to why.
The door to your room was slightly ajar, enough for Lin to see the edge of the bed as well as your feet under the blankets. She quietly knocked on the door before opening it more.
Kya stood up out of the chair she was sitting in at the sound of Lin knocking. You and she looked over at Lin, who had this wide grin on her face.
“Told you someone would tell her. Didn’t take too long for her to get here.” Kya smiled. She made her way out of the room to give you two privacy.
The baby was currently asleep in your arms so you couldn’t really move. You also didn’t want to move because you were still sore.
“You can come over here and look at her y’know,” you smiled.
“Her?” Lin asked but she didn’t need you to elaborate. Both of you didn’t want to know the gender of the baby because it could get out before it was born and then there would be expectations and press everywhere.
Lin walked over and finally got to see the baby’s face. Her daughter’s face. She was so beautiful and innocent. Lin said she hated little children and even babies, but right now there wasn’t a single bit of hatred. How could she hate anything right now?
“Did you decide on a name? I know you were still looking at a few for a girl,” Lin asked.
“Yeah, I did actually. Kya and I talked a little about it. She’s got plenty of experience helping narrow down names.”
“What did she help you pick?” Lin asked.
“I settled on Keena.” Lin smiled at your answer. That was one of the ones she had liked the most, but she chose to leave the naming to you.
“Perfect,” Lin smiled. “I love you both so much.” Lin gave you a kiss and lightly kissed Keena on the forehead.
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