#but man. sometimes. books need to be complex for me to enjoy them. and YA lacks that complexity

[sniffanimal]

no shade to people who read YA, i don't really see it as a cohesive category anyways so even my opinion on it is flawed to begin with, but man. any time ive tried reading a distinctly YA book in the last ~3 years, ive hated it and been completely unable to engage with it. i dont even feel like books i read need to be dark, or mature, or anything. i dont really read books with like, sex in them either. but things written for the 16-20 age group always falls so short of me now. students keep asking if ive read [insert random lgbt YA book] and i have to keep my trap shut because usually i did try to read it and i hated it. but i dont want to crush their little middle schooler sensibilities or squelch their joy of reading or anything. but man. sometimes books for grown ups are better

[ginwalt]

For Heather requests:

Um, ChanDuke. Heather and Heather bonding over nerdy things they secretly enjoy.

I was thinking Spider-Man for Heather Chandler and Homestuck for Heather Duke. But I don't want to make it hard for you, so whichever interest you want for them is fine.

Thank you in advance))

A/N: this is a super cute idea. Chanduke has always been a sleeper hit of a ship.

--

Despite what most of her classmates may think, Heather Duke had a life outside of her clique. The studious girl often found herself losing hours of the day reading. Whether at school, home or in the passenger seat of Heather Chandler’s car, she could almost always be found with a book in hand. Her taste leaned toward dense and wordy novels such as Moby Dick, Les Misérables, Crime and Punishments, etc. However, recently, Duke has started to grow weary of the complex and often depressing literature she tended to enjoy. She supposed it was a temporary burnout, something every bookworm must face after exhausting their favorite genre. 

           This naturally led Duke to search for new books. She picked up memoirs, fantasy, YA, and various other genres. While she liked a lot of the books she read well enough, it didn’t spark her interest like the stories she usually read. This led her to feel oddly a tad stir-crazy. She needed new books to read. This led her to the second biggest bookworm in Westerburg, Veronica Sawyer. Duke decided to pop the question at lunch.            

“You want to ask me for book recommendations? Heather, you literally never take my advice,” Veronica scoffed, jabbing at her salad with a plastic spork. 

           “Ugh, I know. That’s how you know I’m desperate.” 

           Veronica rolled her eyes, “Go fuck yourself, Duke. Let’s see… Have you read A Little Life? It’s super good, plus I know you’ve always liked that intense, sad shit.”          

            Duke sighed, “I need something different, Veronica. Like we’re talking way out of my usual preferences.” 

           Veronica forked a tomato into her mouth and pondered for a moment. “Well, sometimes when I’m really bored, I read my old Spiderman comics.  

           Duke wrinkled her nose and immediately began to shut down the idea, “Comic books? Veronica, what the fuck are you talking about?” She glanced over at the other Heathers, who had been remarkably quiet up until now, for backup. 

McNamara seemed just as put off by the idea, “I agree with Heather. Aren’t comics, like, weird?”

Veronica scowled, “It is not weird; a lot of people read and collect comics all the time.”

“Weird people,” Mac shot back playfully. Veronica gave her girlfriend an unamused look.

Duke turned to the silent member of the table, “Heather? What do you think?” 

Her girlfriend had stayed unusually quiet, given how opinionated she seemed to be on every other possible topic. Chandler had been silently eating her salad, watching the exchange with indifference. 

“I’ll be honest, there are about a million other topics I would rather be talking about,” Heather replied dryly.

“You’re no help,” Duke shot back. Heather gave her a mocking pout alongside a patronizing pat on the head. 

Veronica clicked her tongue and shook her head, “See, this is why I don’t bother,” she paused to fish through her backpack. She whipped out two comics, both with Spiderman posing or fighting on the cover. “Take these, just in case.”

Duke rolled her eyes and accepted them from her, “Fine, but I won’t read them. I hope you know that.”

--

           Heather read both comics. Twice. Then she promptly ordered the rest of the series, consumed all 50 volumes in half a week, and ordered more. Heather Duke was not proud to admit that she was infatuated with the comics. It had taken her a week to work up the courage to read Veronica’s books, but when she did, she found she was unable to stop. She didn’t tell Veronica this, of course, she simply returned the comics with a short “not my thing.” The brunette dropped the topic after that, and the Spiderman matter was dropped and forgotten by the posse. Or, at least, it would have been. To put it simply, Duke was caught with her pants down by the worst possible person: her girlfriend. Heather had gotten leagues better about being unnecessarily cruel to Duke when they confessed their shared feelings. However, Chandler was still by no means an open-minded person. Duke recalled the time she saw a classmate wearing a pair of unsightly striped overalls to class. She had told the kid straight to his face that “if he wanted to dress like a shitty train conductor, he could go jump in front one.” 

           Duke had been reading in her bed. It was a Saturday afternoon, and she was free for the entire day to do whatever she pleased. This led her to indulge in her guilty pleasure. For far longer than she cared to admit, Duke lay atop her covers, idly reading a volume. Until her bedroom door burst open. Duke nearly leaped from her skin as she dropped the comic and looked up. 

           Heather Chandler stood at the entrance of the room, arms crossed. “So, I guess you don’t answer your texts now?”

           Duke’s eyes widened as her hand shot to grab her phone and pull it towards her. Her girlfriend had been texting her… for a while. Various texts asked her if she could hang out or if she could come over, which became increasingly snappy and whiny as the thread progressed. “Oh shit, Heather. I’m sorry, I lost track of time.” 

           Heather walked closer and focused on the book she had dropped. Her eyes widened, “Reading Spiderman comics?” Duke’s face flushed as she quickly stuffed the comics under her pillow. 

           “Heather, can you please forget you saw this? I know it’s probably funny and weird, but I really like them and- “Duke was cut off with a soft kiss on her cheek. She rubbed her tingling cheek in baffled silence as she looked up at her lover. Heather was giving her an amused smile.

           “Chill, Duke. I’m not going to spill about your geeky ass pastime.” She grabbed the comic from under the pillow, despite Duke’s weak protests. “Who is this anyway? Mysterio?” 

           Duke paused. The man fighting the titular hero on the cover was indeed Mysterio. But… “How did you know that?” she questioned, snatching the volume from her girlfriend’s hands. 

It was Heather’s turn to pause. She opened her mouth slightly, looking uncharacteristically flustered. Her freckled cheeks flushed, “Well I- “ 

Duke’s eyes widened, and an ear-splitting grin took over her face. “Do you like Spiderman, Heather?” 

Chandler’s jaw dropped, and her face was now beet red, “Duke, you can’t tell anyone. I’ll be ripped to shreds.” 

Heather felt a pang of pity for her girlfriend. For all her bravado and fuck you attitude, the Queen of Westerburg had an anxious streak, specifically when it comes to her image. Heather Chandler is borderline militaristic when it comes to her physical and social image. She spends over an hour grooming herself in the mornings and schmoozes with college kids until she inevitably gets invited to a party. The idea of anyone finding out about their shared guilty pleasure probably caused the girl to feel hysterical. Duke laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Heather, you’re my girlfriend. I would never do that. Plus, we’re kind of in the same boat,” she cracked a smile. 

Chandler’s shoulders loosened slightly as she nodded. “Right,” She cleared her throat and glanced at the comic for a moment as if she was working up her courage, “Who’s your favorite?” Duke’s smile grew at the unusually nervous demeanor.

“Honestly? Gwen Stacy, I really like her comics. 

Chandler’s glowed as she sat on the bed; Duke quickly joined her. “She’s my favorite too.” The two looked at each other, seemingly taking in the new information together. 

Duke broke the silence, “Why would you think I would make fun of you for something like that?”

Heather gave her an exasperated look, “The same reason you would.” 

Duke winced, “Right. Still, it’s a little sad that we can’t share that sort of stuff with each other.”

She received a sharp laugh in reply, “Can’t or won’t? Duke, we aren’t the most forthcoming people in the world.” 

Heather let out a guffaw, “That’s true. However, now that we do know about this…would you like to read some comics with me?” Chandler’s eyes shone as she gave her a soft, toothy grin that made Duke’s heartbeat funny.

“I would be honored, Heather.”         

[mallowstep]

Hii! Previous shipping discourse anon here after doing some Thinking(tm). I think the problem that people see in proshippers is not that it *is* dark or deals with sensitive topics, but that's its weirdly...fetish-y? Like, there's a specific breed of anti that I don't like that's that's kaeluc antis(basically, sworn bros v adopted bros)(because their entire argument is a bit sinophobic) but there are ppl who will go out of their way to make them adopted bros anyway so. You can Tell it's a fetish

Oh man I vaguely remember when we were talking about kaeluc on here. Still know Nothing about it but I remember it (for some reason) came up.

…or I read about it on another blog?

Whatever. More to the point.

I’m a strong defender of “it’s cool to like dark fiction just because you enjoy it.” I don’t think anyone needs a justification. We don’t demand people explain why they like watching action movies with blood and death, do we?

But also I know exactly what you mean. Like. Eurgh. I am way too tired to explain my very complex thoughts about human sexuality. But for one thing, adopted siblings falling in love is like. A really old trope. Do I like it? No. Is it a thing? For some reason! (S/o to Cassandra Claire for letting me accidentally read her weird incest fantasy books.) But okay, I think I can say…

There are people who write things purely for porn purposes. I try not to judge those too much, with a few exceptions, mostly what I referenced earlier.

Then there are people exploring themes etc. Which is like. That’s what I do. Actually it’s funny that you used that example because one of my fic ideas includes the line “Why do I want to call you my brother when we’re having sex?” (It’s a joke in context, but explaining that context is beyond the point.) So like yeah they are generally speaking fine in my book.

And then there’s the middle ground where things get murky. It’s clearly not someone just writing something for the purposes of getting off, but it’s also not a sincere exploration. It’s…yeah, it’s something else.

I’m too tired to really wrap this up. Lemme try anyway.

I think a lot of people…okay, this goes back in part to media literacy, but there’s also some current cultural factors here, but a lot of people struggle to separate their intrinsic disgust from actual risk. It’s like — there was a spider living in my bathroom for a while. It kind of terrified me at first but the spider is just chilling. The spider is not an actual harm to me.

And as an author, sometimes I just want to make people feel revulsed and disgusted. God knows I’m familiar enough with the feeling.

Okay I am literally falling asleep as I type. Hopefully this makes sense? I am so exhausted, it’s been a Rough Ass Week in ya boy.

Maybe like. In reference to my previous comment on Lolita, I want people to understand the disgust they feel in response is part of the stories. Stories are meant to be felt. Sometimes horror is part of the feeling.

Oh my god I cannot keep my eyes open why did I think this was a good idea.

I really don’t have a label in the discourse. I don’t care what I am labeled as, so as long as it doesn’t involve misinformation.

K that’s all for tonight but I’ll check my inbox for you in the morning nonnie

[breannasfluff]

Thank you @bokettochild and @wizard-finix for the tag! Sorry I got to this a little late haha.

How many works do you have on AO3? 197!

What’s your total AO3 word count? 857,197. Wow, more than I thought! My goal this year is to write less, actually, so I can focus more on other hobbies. My therapist once asked if I'd want to write a book someday and I said nope! I've got a job and I want to keep writing a hobby, something I enjoy for me.

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they? Zelda and all the related ones, Encanto, The Sandman, and Nimona! Other fandoms were before the AO3 days.

Top five fics by kudos:

Eldritch Echoes - Yep, it deserves it.

A Cat Called Dream - The Sandman fandom. Also proud of this one!

Gerudo Town - While cute, I don't know if I'd agree with it being so high.

Eldritch Deity - This one I think I get.

Animal Sounds - This is like...one of the first Zelda ones I posted in the LM series? So it's just been around the longest. IMO I've done MUCH better writing since. Little sad none of the Wing Bois fics made it into the top five...

Do you respond to comments? I was very good about responding to all of them, but recently I've fallen behind >< Sometimes the choice is, do I answer contents, or do I write something new? And writing usually wins. That said, I THRIVE on reading comments!

What’s the fic with the angstiest ending you’ve ever written? A Little Time to Kill. MCD, Time dies from a silly, stupid thing. Malon is left to mourn alone. For Whumptober.

Do you write crossovers? Nah, I like my fandoms separate. I don't really read crossovers either.

Have you ever gotten hate on a fic? Nope, my readers are lovely. Every once and a while there's an odd comment, but never hate.

Do you write smut? Nah, I stick to the family vibes. Even ravioli doesn't get very spicy. Just no interest in that, ya know?

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge

Have you ever had a fic translated? Someone started a translation for A Cat Called Dream!

What’s your all-time favorite ship? All time?? That's a hard one. Hiccup and Astrid from HTTYD, maybe...? More recently, Ravioli (Zelda), Ineffable Husbands (GO), and Dreamling (The Sandman).

What’s a wip that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will? I'm not sure I have a good answer, as I always try to wrap up fics now. TF&TF I wouldn't say is dropped, just on the back burner as I work on another fic.

What are your writing strengths? Character relationships and arguments. It's usually one of the main plot conflicts I use in stories. I'm also a big believer in both sides having valid points, at least from their pov. It makes characters complex!

What are your writing weaknesses? Drama. I don't like leaving long-standing, unresolved conflicts. Someone noted once that I tend to resolve conflicts with conversations, which is true. Therapy leaks through haha.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics? That was a whole thing in Encanto and honestly, don't need to get into it again lol.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for? Oh man...Eragon or Bridge to Terabithia, I think. I used to write a lot more original fiction when I was younger than I do now.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written so far? It might be The Lucky Rabbit Cafe? It's not very popular, but it was so much fun to write. Otherwise, a good chunk of the WB fics.

Tagging @tashacee (if this peaks your interested) @marcusdoodlesalot, @undertheopensky

Ao3 tag game!

THANKS @ragecndybars FOR THE TAG I APPRECIATE IT

*cracks knuckles* lets do this

How many works do you have on AO3?

24 works! I would have never expected to have that many 5 years ago, hahaha

What's your total AO3 word count?

186,291! oh wow, almost 200k!! (unsurprisingly PT minato takes up over a third of that LMAO)

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

10 fandoms! I'm counting Persona 3, 4, and 5 and separate, but I'm grouping all the Zelda fandoms together since it's all Linked Universe fic.

Here's the breakdown!

The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms (6)

Persona 5 (5)

Persona 3 (5)

SPY x FAMILY (Anime) (3)

Wizard101 (Video Game) (3)

SPY x FAMILY (Manga) (3)

Runescape (Video Games) (3)

Pirate101 (Video Game) (3)

Persona 4 (2)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (2)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga (1)

Star Wars - All Media Types (1)

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors (1)

Top five fics by kudos:

The Ghost of Mementos/Stygian Ringlet (Persona3/5) - to the surprise of absolutely no one, since this is currently my longest fic. I'm very happy with Stygian Ringlet being the top because I love my boys :)

True Crime Special on the Midnight Channel (Persona 4/5) - my Ren has a TV Dungeon fic! also very proud of the dungeon concept for this one, I really need to finish the last two chapters

Dark Clouds on the Horizon (Linked Universe/TOTK) - I feel like this one got a lot of momentum partially because it was directly in the wake of TOTK's release, but I'm happy with how it turned out :)

Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven't Met (Persona 3/SPY x FAMILY) - this was a collab series with mewrose and a few others in the marigolds discord! we were throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck and I really had a lot of fun with Shinjiro-related prompts, because I LOVE him and hitting him with the isekai baseball bat into a universe with Anya brings me great joy

Salt Tears and Raindrops (Linked Universe/TOTK) - directly related to Dark Clouds, and I'm glad people enjoyed good ol' fashioned angst >:) (I do need to post more of my wips, I do have a couple more roleswap AU wips that I want to post)

Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I almost always do because I really appreciate them and its my way of saying thanks for the comment! If I don't comment it's because I lost track of it or because I can't think of a response.

What's the fic with the angstiest ending you've ever written?

Probably Salt Tears and Raindrops. I was in a Mood and decided to go for the tried-and-true method of putting fictional characters I like through the emotional wringer. That's how I got the rough draft for this fic :)

Do you write crossovers?

*looks at my persona fics and recent LU fics*

...I think it's safe to say most of my fics these days fall under crossovers lmao

Have you ever gotten hate on a fic?

I wouldn't say I have? One or two comments that came off as rude, but no actual hate, thankfully. If I did, I forgot about it. I've been blessed by wonderfully nice readers <3

Do you write smut?

Nope. I don't read it, so I wouldn't know how to write it anyway.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of? I sure hope not.

I have seen a couple short fics slightly imitate Ghost of Mementos though, which I thought was really sweet that they liked it enough to inspire their own writing.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but I'd definitely be open to it!

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

RYOMINA. Hands down. I love them so much, I am so mentally unwell about these two

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will?

My two Runescape fics, Whispers in the Temple and Welcome to the Jungle. I absolutely loved going hogwild with rewriting old quests in Runescape, but I psyched myself out of Welcome to the Jungle because I got overly anxious about accidentally doing bad representation.

(in hindsight, it probably wouldn't have been as big a deal as I thought; it's hard to make it worse considering how bad Legend's Quest was with the british-african stereotypes. that quest DID NOT age well.)

I also want to finish Snake in the Grass; that was my first attempt at a genuine mystery plot and I really liked playing with Warriors in that fic in the context of the gang trying to figure out who the heck is trying to murder him.

What are your writing strengths?

I feel like I'm pretty good at dialogue! I try to make sure it matches the character's speech patterns and personality. Really well-written dialogue can tell you who's speaking without actually telling who it is. (For example, the way I write them: Minato speaks as few words as possible and has very little filter with his observations when he does share them, and Shinjiro is pretty rough around the edges, with shortened words and the occasional swear. Warriors is good with words and wit, but he has a certain military-esque directness and doesn't dance around the topic.)

I do try hard to keep the plot clear and understandable over everything else, so probably that as well.

Also, now that I think about it, maybe fight sequences? I don't do them much, but I do enjoy the challenge of making a clear sequence of what happens in a fight and trying to make it understandable. Fight sequences are easy to skip or gloss over, but I think of them like their own miniature plot. What happens? What surprises are there? What are their movesets? How do they get the upper hand? (and of course, what looks cool as fuck)

What are your writing weaknesses?

Time management. I tend to over-proofread since I beta my own work, and often I'll go back to tweak stuff if I had additional thoughts to add to it, or extra insight. Lately, it takes longer to write chapters than I'd like.

Also, dialogue-heavy scenes often get very chaotic in my WIPs because of the way I rough out fics. I'll throw together a bunch of dialogue bits I think would be cool to include, and sometimes they'll clash or get really messy, especially if there's lots of characters (looking at the latest two chapters of Stygian Ringlet)

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics?

I think it's cool! It adds flavor to fics. If it's more than one short phrase though, or if it's story important, then I do prefer that there is a translation in the author's notes. I haven't done any non-English dialogue in fics, save for one memorable adventure into trying to figure out how Latin grammar structure works for a character that didn't speak English.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Wizard101 and Pirate101. I was obsessed with those two for YEARS. I really, really liked pirate stories in high school, and having a cast of crewmates that accompany you throughout the game really inspired me to write my first fic featuring my OC. (I was also into One Piece at the time, but I never wrote for it.)

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written so far?

Stygian Ringlet. It's really dear to my heart. I have poured so much love and effort into that fic, and the reception on it has completely blown me away.

THANKS FOR THE TAG!! Uhhhmmm for tags I'm going to go with @skyward-floored, @catreginae and @breannasfluff (but only if you want to!! no obligation of course)

and of course any other writers that want to do it as well!! go forth

[kailyn-writes]

The One Where JT Moves In

Word count: 2.9k

a/n: don't let the title fool ya, this is a Tyson fic!! Based off of the episode of Friends "The One Where Ross Moves In"!! Hope you enjoy!!

Moving to Colorado on a whim had been the craziest thing you'd ever done. You had been pretty stable all of your life, staying relatively close to your family and friends. You went to college an hour away, you saw them practically every weekend. The day that you announced that you would be moving to an entirely different state was a shock to them.

You had managed to get a job in Denver, though, and everything seemed to fall into place relatively easy. You made friends with your neighbors in your apartment building, found a coffee shop not too from your place, befriended the baristas. You carved a spot for yourself in the city, even though you'd only been there a few weeks.

A couple of weeks after you'd moved into your apartment, you were heading out to go for a walk after work when you saw a young man moving boxes into the apartment three doors down from you. Your feet stuttered as you passed the open door to his apartment and you backtracked, knocking on the door to alert him to your presence. He turns around and you wave, smiling.

"Hi, I'm Y/n. I live in 26, right down the hall. Just wanted to introduce myself. If you ever need anything, feel free to stop by." You say and he grins, shaking your hand.

"JT. Nice to meet you. Okay, yeah. Same goes for you, though I'm not home much." He says, chuckling. Your eyebrows furrow, but a chuckle falls from your lips.

"Do you travel a lot?" You ask and he nods sheepishly.

"Yeah, work keeps me busy." You nod, grinning.

"Okay, well, like I said. If you need anything, I'm right down the hall. Have a good day." You say, before stepping back out into the hallway to leave the building. As your exiting, you pass a group of guys heading in. They're all tall and very attractive and it only takes you about five minutes into your walk to realize why JT looked so familiar, and why a couple of the guys walking into the building looked familiar.

You had just introduced yourself to a player for the Colorado Avalanche while wearing a Colorado Avalanche sweatshirt. You could not have been more mortified at yourself as you walked to your coffee shop, knowingly exactly how to cheer yourself up.

Later that evening, after a coffee and several good chapters in your book, you made your way back, slowly, to your apartment complex. The entire way there, you prayed that Jt's door would be closed and that you wouldn't have to face him. Your prayers were answered that night because as you walked towards your door, Jt's stayed closed.

You and Jt don't cross paths much over the next few weeks, thankfully. You're up early most days and out the door just after 7 am. Because of that, you're also usually in bed pretty early, sometimes just minutes after watching Colorado finish a game.

This evening, though, you had gone to watch the game at Ball Arena with some friends and those friends had convinced you to go out for drinks after. Before you knew it, it was two in the morning and you were drunk, trying to get your locked door open with the wrong key.

"Y/n? You okay?" You turn, eyes wider than necessary as your vision settles on the redhead poking his head out of his door.

"Mmhmm. 'M fine." You slur, turning back to try and get your door open. You're still wearing your Colorado jersey and you can feel your face flush as you fight to get the door unlocked.

"You're drunk. You know how I know? You're trying to open your door with the mailbox key." Jt says, moving closer to you. He holds out his hand, a soft smile on his face. "Let me see your keys."

You hand over your keys, sighing as you sway softly in your spot. He gets the door unlocked on the first try and holds the keys out for you. You take them with a huff, opening the door.

"Are you going to be okay? Not gonna choke on your own vomit or anything?" He asks, reaching out to grab your elbow gently before you get all the way into your apartment.

"Ew. 'I'll be fine. 'M not that drunk." You say though you know he doesn't believe you. Your feet aren't moving, but you're swaying in your spot, eyes half-open. "'M gonna drink some food and eat some water before I go to bed."

It takes you much longer than you would like to recognize the error, and it's only after you catch Jt's look, a chuckle just waiting to fall from his lips. You don't have the energy to argue, so you just shake your head.

"I'm really okay, Jt. Go, 'm sure you're tired after the game. Good night." You're not slurring your words as bad anymore, and you seem slightly steadier on your feet so Jt nods, moving to go back to his apartment. He falters and looks back, but when he sees that you're already inside your apartment with the door shut, he heads back to his own place, shaking his head with a chuckle.

The next morning, you wake with a pounding headache and very little recollection of the events that transpired with Jt. You remember having a conversation with him but the memory is too hazy to make out exactly what either of you said. You crawl out of bed and head for your kitchen, gathering some headache medicine, a water bottle, and brewing a cup of coffee. You take the medicine and chug the water, tossing the empty bottle in the trash. Once your coffee is made, you pull a pair of sweats over your pajama shorts and a sweatshirt over your t-shirt. You take your cup of coffee out to your balcony, settling yourself into the hammock chair you kept outside.

It was a calm, quiet Saturday morning in Colorado and you took this time to just relax and feel the peacefulness around you. Across the street from your apartment, movement in one of the windows catches your eye. When you squint and strain your eyes, you realize it's Jt, waving at you from an apartment several stories higher than yours. You wave, smiling at him. Someone steps up behind him and you strain your eyes to see who, though you don't recognize the guy immediately. You go back inside a few minutes later, once the cold starts getting to you.

Tyson's POV

"Who are you waving at, dude?" Tyson asks, moving to stand behind Jt, who's staring out Tyson's apartment window, waving like a madman.

"My neighbor, Y/n. She’s three doors down from me." Jt smiles when she waves, turning back to Tyson who is now staring at her.

"She's cute." Tyson says softly, his eyebrows raised. JT's eyes go wide and he chuckles a bit.

"She's a fan. Came home from the game last night drunk, wearing a Mackinnon jersey." JT says and Tyson turns back to him, grinning.

"She'll be wearing a Jost jersey in no time." He says confidently, causing JT to laugh loudly.

"If you say so, Josty." JT responds, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna go over there, introduce myself." Tyson says, grinning as he moves to grab his coat.

"Right now?” JT asks, shooting Tyson a confused look.

“Yeah. I’ll be back.” Tyson says, pulling his jacket on and hurrying out the door, letting it shut behind him. He wastes no time in walking to the building across the street, heading right for apartment number 28, three doors down from JT’s.

He knocks three times, confident without being obnoxiously loud. He waits for several minutes before knocking again, less confidently this time. He waits another few minutes before he sighs, running a hand through his curls and heading back to his apartment.

He opens the door to his place just a few minutes later, huffing as he shakes off his jacket and puts it in its usual spot.

“She didn’t answer.” He says, moving to sit beside JT.

“Huh. Maybe she didn’t hear you knocking.” JT says, but Tyson just shrugs, pulling out his phone.

A couple of weeks later, once Tyson’s slightly bruised ego has healed, he tries again. He was waiting for JT to give him a ride to the arena and while he had some time, he walked two doors down from JT’s place and knocked, grinning as he waits.

“Can I help you?” A man asks, swinging the door open.

“Uh, sorry, wrong apartment.” Tyson stutters out, eyes wide as he shakes his head. He walks back to JT’s apartment, running his hands through his hair. When he walks in, JT is standing in the living room, finishing getting ready.

“Hey, does Y/n have a boyfriend?” Tyson asks and JT shrugs.

“I’ve never seen a guy over at her place but we’re not exactly best friends, Tys.” JT says, grabbing his coat.

“Well, I just knocked on her door and some big burly dude answered.” Tyson says, moving towards the front door.

“Maybe he’s just a friend. We gotta go, Tyson.” JT says, grabbing his keys. “Maybe she’ll be at the game and we can see if he’s with her.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. I’ve got a plan.” Tyson says and JT scoffs.

“Yeah, cause your current one is going so well.” JT responds, flinching as Tyson reaches out to smack him on the arm.

Your POV

It had been about two weeks since your drunk run-in with JT and you, thankfully, hadn’t seen him since. You were working a lot and the Avs had been out of town for the last week, playing games across the country. You had stayed at work late today, wanting to finish up a project at work. You were unlocking your door when JT walked around the corner.

“Oh, hey, good game last night.” You say, smiling over at JT. He smiles over at you, pulling out his own keys.

“Thanks, it was a hard win. Glad to be home.” He says, and you nod, opening your door. You’re about to walk in when he steps over, getting your attention. “Hey, I’ve got a buddy that has a crush on you. Tyson. Would you even be interested in meeting him?”

“Tyson as in Tyson Jost?” You ask and he nods. You pause, take a moment to think about your answer before you nod. “Yeah, I would be interested in meeting him.”

“Okay, great. We’ll make it happen sometime.” He says and you nod, smiling softly.

“Okay. Good night.” You walk into your apartment and shut the door, taking a deep breath and releasing it with a soft chuckle.

A couple of days later, after a very crappy day, all you wanted to do was relax. It had started snowing just after you had gotten home and had continued to fall pretty heavily for the last hour. You had just showered and changed when you decided to bake some cookies in an effort to make yourself feel better. You gather all of the necessary ingredients, starting the quick process of making the dough. You are just about to add the eggs, grabbing one out of the carton when you pause, looking at it suspiciously. You get a cup of water and drop the egg in, sighing when you see the egg floating. You only had 2 eggs left and this one is most definitely not safe to eat. You test the other one, breathing a sigh of relief when it sinks. You think for a moment, before you go to slip on a pair of shoes and walk out your door. You knock hesitantly, a couple of light rasps of your knuckles on the door barely being heard by the rowdy crowd in the apartment.

JT is not the one to answer the door, though; You recognize him almost immediately, a lazy smile on his face as he swings open the door.

“Hi.” You say, a soft smile on your face.

“Hey. You’re JT’s neighbor, right?” Tyson asks, leaning casually on the door frame.

“Yeah, you’re Tyson, right?” You ask and a grin forms on his face as he nods. JT interrupts the two of you, stepping up behind Tyson.

“Hey, Y/n! Everything okay?” He asks and you nod, smiling softly.

“Yeah, yeah. I was just going to see if you had any eggs? I’m making cookies and only have one but I need two.” You explain and he nods, gesturing for you to come in. Tyson steps back to let you inside, though he stays close, following you and JT towards the kitchen.

“Making cookies, huh? You gonna share?” Tyson asks and you smile over at him, shrugging.

“We just met and you’re already willing to break your diet? Man, I didn’t know JT’s friends would do anything for love that early.” You joke, chuckling as you watch Tyson’s cheeks flush pink.

“Uh - no, I mean, I just -” You cut him off with a wave of your hand and a chuckle.

“I’m joking, Tys. My cookies are amazing, though. Just ask JT, I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason we’re friends.” You say, smirking

“Not the only reason, but definitely one of them.” He jokes, grinning as he reappears, holding three eggs out to you.

“Uh, JT, I only needed one egg.” You say, brows furrowed in confusion.

“Last time you made cookies you promised you would make me some. You’re going to want to make extras if you’re sharing with me and Josty.” He says and you nod, smiling.

“You’re right, you’re right. I will make the two of you a batch and then make myself a batch.” You say, grinning.

“Can I make them with you?” Tyson asks, smiling softly.

“Sure, why not?” You shrug, nodding. “Thanks for the eggs, neighbor. I will be back in a bit with your cookies and your Tyson.”

Tyson steps ahead of you, opening JT’s door for you. You step out, smiling as you thank him. You lead the way to your apartment, opening the door for Tyson this time. He steps inside, glancing around at your apartment.

“Nice place.” He says softly, smiling as he follows you into the kitchen.

“It’s the same as JT’s.” You say, shrugging. You set the eggs down gently as he seats himself at your breakfast bar, watching you.

“No, yours is definitely decorated better.” He says with a chuckle, as you move swiftly around your kitchen.

“Oh, for sure. Boys don’t know how to decorate.” You tease, smirking at Tyson.

“Hey, my apartment is decorated pretty nicely.” He says and you raise your brows at him.

“Oh yeah? Who picked out the decorations?” You ask and he pauses, clearing his throat.

“My mother and sister.” He responds quietly and you laugh, nodding.

“I knew it.” You tease, cracking an egg into the bowl in front of you. You’d turned the oven on to preheat already, all that was left was to make the dough and grease the cookie sheet.

“Can I help at all?” Tyson asks and you raise your brows at him, smirking.

“Sure. There is a baking sheet in that cabinet,” You point, watching as he finds the right one immediately. “Spray it with this.”

You hand him the non-stick cooking spray, smiling as you watch him spray the sheet before setting the sheet beside the oven, putting the spray back in its spot.

“Now what?” He asks and you smile.

“Now, we finish the dough, measure out the cookies and then bake them. We can only bake twelve at a time so we’ll have to do three batches.” You explain, adding a splash of vanilla to the dough.

“Three batches? That’s like, “ He pauses, thinking. “Thirty-six cookies.”

You chuckle, nodding. “Yeah, you and JT will get 24 and I will get the other twelve.”

“That’s a lot of cookies.” He says and you roll your eyes.

“If that’s too many cookies, you can just share with your friends.” You shrug, smiling.

“Oh, no, if these are as good as JT says, none of the other guys are getting any.” He says and you chuckle.

“Whatever you say, Tys. The dough is ready, will you hand me the scoop that’s on the counter?” He nods, reaching to grab it. His fingers brush yours as he hands it to you and you shoot him a soft smile, biting your lip.

There’s a lull in the conversation as you measure out the cookies, though it doesn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable. Tyson watches you, a concentrated look on your face as you place the cookies on the sheet. You pop the first batch of cookies in the oven and set a timer before moving to sit on a clean area of the counter.

“So, is what JT said true?” You ask, watching as Tyson leans against the counter across from you.

“Depends on what he said.” Tyson responds with a puzzled look.

“He told me that you’d been knocking on doors trying to find me.” You respond, biting your lip gently. Tyson chuckles, nodding sheepishly.

“Yeah, it is. To be fair, though, it was only two doors and I had it right the first time, you just didn’t answer.” He says, pointing his finger at you.

“Well, I’m glad we finally got to meet.” You chuckle, watching as his cheeks flush pink and he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Me too.” He responds, smiling softly at you.

[simonsnowichooseyou]

This excellent essay was posted by @goodbyedandelion and reposted on Instagram—however their account sadly seems gone now. But it is in rememberence of their Tumblr spirit that I post a continuation to their essay!

EVEN MORE Reasons Why Carry On is so groundbreaking as a YA Fantasy/Romance

Misconceptions/Character Complexity

A large topic in YA Contemporary is gossip, but I feel like fantasy doesn’t touch on this as much. Think of how others perceive one another in Carry On. Early on we learn that Simon, for example, saw Penny as different because of her race. But of course, we quickly know this isn’t true.

But what about Agatha? In Harry Potter, for example, Lavender Brown and other feminine characters are often looked down upon because of their femininity. We often as a culture perceive beauty as overcompensation for what’s inside. Sometimes Agatha is looked at in the same light in Carry On, but when we see things from her POV, we realize that Agatha is perhaps the smartest one there. Maybe she’s not Penny Bunce-smart, but she has the survival instincts that Penny lacks.

Agatha isn’t the only one. Baz looks cold and unfeeling from others’ POVs, but we quickly learn that he is a boy with a soft heart that’s been hardened by his past. Everyone thinks he cares about nothing but we know he cares about his mother and how she’d feel about him; his father and step-mother and siblings; Simon, of course; Bunce, in his own way; he even cares about flowered suits and dramatic entrances! We think Bunce is nerdy and perhaps annoying, but we learn she’s very sweet and like a mother to Simon. And the mage. Ugh, the mage. We think he cares about Simon but we learn that for every bit he cares about Simon, he cares about the war more.

Rowell doesn’t allow any character to be simple, stereotypical, or as they appear. My sister, for example, was saying that Baz sounded like a stereotypical gay man in the media. But he’s not, is he? He might love fashion but Rowell does not make him simple or stereotypical. Everyone is so complex, and she uses the multi-POV to not just show us their complexity but also the complexity of how they are viewed by others.

Woman on Woman Drama/Anger

For years and years, only one woman was allowed to have a true seat at the table in films. Take Indiana Jones, the original Avengers, and Star Wars for example. This woman was often made to be the sex appeal or romantic interest, but I’ll save that for another day. Because of there only being one spot, it set a precedent that women in media needed to fight with each other to take that spot, thus depriving us of women getting along!

At first, I was worried Rowell had fallen into this trap. Bunce thinks Agatha is simple and too feminine, Agatha thinks Bunce is a major pain in the ass. Their dislike for one another is complicated in that they’re essentially two different types of feminism battling it out, and half of their fight was about Simon and their roles in his life.

But in the end, Penny and Agatha create a relationship that exists outside of their relationship with Simon. Penny sees Agatha’s strength and resilience; Agatha recognizes Penny’s harsh exterior for what is is. When Agatha moves away, they text without his even knowing. Penny is the one that decides they need to check on and save her. In the end, penny and Agatha fight alongside one another.

Rowell didn’t just give us a feminine friendship—she showed us what we’ve been doing, and how to get from Point A to point B. I think it’s the most underrated part of the series.

True Friendship

It might sound bad, but I truly believe a lot of today’s media ruins the idea of friendship. I just feel like none of the portrayals are realistic. Friends are either joined at the hip and have never fought (toxic) or never get along (also toxic). The fact that Baz and Penny and Simon and Penny and Agatha and Penny can get into fights but still continue to love one another platonically is really heartwarming to me.

Trauma/Mental Illness

I remember getting to the end of Harry Potter and thinking “he went through all of that and we’re just supposed to leave him now?” We see some remnants in the most cursed play ever: The Cursed Child. But more than trauma we see someone who looks back on the days they risked their life everyday with *longing.* While that’s about the most Harry Potter thing Harry Potter has ever done (and the most canonical part of that play) it’s so unrealistic. You’re telling me Harry grew up with nothing and was an amazing father—minus a few spats with his son. You’re telling me Harry was able to hold it together emotionally after fighting for his life from ages 11-18 without a therapists help? You’re telling me Harry lost two father figures in the ministry of magic AND spent 7 years going through what amounted to a lesson titled “the government is corrupt” just to be a part of that government!?

Wayward son isn’t like that. Wayward Son shows us what happened to Simon afterwards, and it’s not peaches and cream. He had therapy, he quit therapy. A lot of us have been Simon on that couch, and we all needed the Baz in our life to drag us across a metaphorical America. Wayward Son is hands-down my favorite book. Realistic depictions of mental illness, check. Subverting our expectations of after the end, check. Reading it feels like taking a road trip, check.

As OP mentioned, Simon is a beloved chosen one because he’s just so wrong for the role. He’s not levelheaded where he should be, he’s bold in all the wrong places, he couldn’t possibly maintain a professional relationship with the coven. Meanwhile his super-hot enemy Baz was the absolute perfect choice to be chosen, but he was completely passed over. And part of this chalks up to how Simon became so powerful—fate isn’t twisting its whims this way and that. Simon is only chosen because he was a Petri dish experiment-gone-wrong baby. When Simon asks the fates why, really he should be asking the mage. There’s something delightful about the fact that Simon was made. The chosen one was made, and in the same process, so was the greatest threat.

De-escalation

I think it’s clear by now that Carry On is a great book, Simon Snow is an amazing series, and Rainbow Rowell sure can write. But I feel the need to point out that the end of Carry On wasn’t well-received by everyone. I recommend the series to everyone I know and some people are really disappointed you don’t get a big magical battle at the end. Some people think Simon filling in the humdrum was a cop out. But I disagree. I felt it was thrilling to witness a book where war was as stupid in fantasy land as it can be in real life. This is the first fantasy I’ve ever read where they find a better way to handle conflict than senseless fighting. It’s emotionally rewarding, to me, to see de-escalation. To see conflicts fixed before they start to be huge problems. It was a risky choice for an end, you have to admit. But Rowell pulls it off amazingly.

Nothing is Wrapped in a Bow

A day will never go by without me thinking about the fact that Simon Snow Salisbury doesn’t know who his parents are. Or how Baz will never know what exactly happened with his mother—whether she really ended herself to avoid vampirism and whether she would’ve done it to her too. We’ll never even quite understand the mage’s plan behind fix the humdrum and get an all powerful boy wizard on his side. Rowell doesn’t wrap everything up. She gives you closure as often as she gives you something to ponder. The ending of Harry Potter was so controversial, I think, because it spelled out so clearly much of what was happening. And what you didn’t learn in that epilogue, Rowling released later through Pottermore and interviews. That’s fine and dandy—but there’s something to be said for ending Simon Snow’s books with questions. Not infuriating questions but rather things that I’ll always ponder—that will shed new light on different situations depending on how I look at them. Rowell sets a precedent that you can fill in Simon’s world with your imagination while also reminding us that life doesn’t have endings. Not really, the way books to. Rowell is one of the few writers of today’s fantasy, I’d argue, who’s okay letting things go unanswered. There’s always a thread of fantasy and magic going. It’s something that will keep Simon alive in my heart for many, many years to come.

So yeah, that’s what I think about when I think about Simon Snow. It’s not nearly as coherent as the original post but I hope you enjoy it.

[jlalafics]

Modern Au dabble where Everlark connect on the roof of one of their houses and then cute kiss leading into ya know? Thanks! You and your books are amazing! -Zeffie ♥️♥️

Hey love! Thanks for this amazing prompt. I hope you wanted this ficlet with a good amount of spice...

Enjoy @hungergamesfangirl02 (Zeffie)!

_____

The moment she steps onto the roof, Peeta spots her.

She is circling the space with her roommates; the sharp-tongued woman with blunt bangs and crimson lowlights and the blue-eyed blonde wearing a crown of flowers. His roommate, Gale, had a one-night thing with the blonde. Peeta can still remember the muttered moaning of her name through the thin walls of their apartment: Madge…Madge…Madge…

Peeta drinks from his red cup, trying to quietly observe the girl in the middle. She’s wearing a cropped jean jacket and a shift burgundy dress with embroidered straps. The ankle boots lengthen her rich-colored legs and he wonders, albeit briefly, what he would see if a sudden gust of wind were to sweep through.

However, it’s summer in the city.

Balmy and warm, the sun just going down and it’s practically another day.

“Peeta!” He turns, spotting Finnick, his other roommate, and Annie, Finnick’s girlfriend. It’s his friend’s birthday and a possible engagement party. Annie doesn’t know, but Peeta and Finnick just picked up the ring from the jeweler this afternoon. “Why are you hiding in the corner?”

“You know that I’m not the party type,” he tells them with a smile. Peeta eyes his friend. “So…anything interesting going on?”

“Not quite,” Finnick responds, throwing an arm around Annie’s shoulders. “Maybe a little later.”

Peeta nods, trying to suppress his smile. It’s not often that his friend is uncertain; he’s known Finnick since they were in diapers and his bronze-haired friend has always moved forward, unafraid of what was ahead of him.

However, when it comes to Annie, the man is total mush.

“You need to circulate,” Annie tells him, her green eyes full of kind concern. “It’s been a year since Delly.”

“Who’s Delly?” comes a brash voice.

They all turn to find the woman with red hair standing before them.

And, right next to her is—

“Katniss!” Annie is rushing towards the pretty girl to give her a hug. Then she goes to Miss Blunt Bangs, embracing her as well. “Johanna!”

They all pull apart and Annie introduces them to Finnick and Peeta.

“I’ve seen you before on campus,” Finnick says to Katniss—Peeta is already in love just hearing her name. “You’re a voice major, right?”

Katniss nods. “Yup, but more song writing and composition than singing.”

“Well, you should talk to Peeta here.” Finnick waves at hand at him, clover eyes sparkling. He knows Peeta well enough to identify when he’s interested in something…or someone. “He’s exceptionally talented when it comes to playing. I don’t think there’s an instrument that he hasn’t experimented with.”

Katniss turns, grey almond-eyes on him. “I’ve seen you around before.”

“I don’t go to Juilliard,” Peeta stammers out.

“No!” She grins and he finds himself smiling back at the way her face completely blooms with loveliness. “I’ve seen you sitting on this roof. You play out here sometimes.”

“Yeah, Katniss has been mini-spying on you,” Johanna informs him.

“Really?” He eyes her and Katniss’ cheeks color—geez, now she’s even more gorgeous. “I’m flattered.”

“I actually live over there—” Katniss points to the adjacent building. It’s at few floors higher, but just enough for someone to look over and see clearly onto their roof. “—sometimes I go up to write or to look at the stars.”

“Don’t lie to the man,” her friend retorts, earning a glare. “At least tell him that you’re a little hot for him holding a guitar.”

“Johanna—” Annie thankfully interrupts. “Thresh has been looking for you.”

“I gave him a blowjob last month and he’s been hitting me up ever since,” she replies. Looking over at Katniss, Johanna winks. “Have fun with your mystery man.”

The two girls walk off, leaving Finnick, Peeta, and Katniss standing together.

“Oh!” Finnick looks around. “I think I better make sure that we still have enough ice and prepare for my birthday speech.” He pats Peeta on the back. “Have fun.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen a more obvious setup,” Katniss tells him when they’re finally alone.

“They mean well,” Peeta replies. “At least, Annie and Finnick do. Johanna is a bit of a mystery.” He looks over to the bar. “Did you want a drink?”

“Sure.” They head to the bar; Peeta tries to keep cool as Katniss joins his side. Their hands are a muscle movement away from touching and he stiffens his hand. “I’d love a Corona and lime.”

“Very summer of you,” he replies before requesting it from the bartender. “How do you know Annie?”

The bartender places the tall neck bottle, placing the lime wedge at the opening, before handing it to Katniss.

They find their way to a spot at the far corner of the party and settle down together on a lone bench. Finnick is talking to the DJ and he sees Annie talking to Madge, whose arm is around Gale’s waist. Johanna has found Thresh and they are dancing, both decently tearing up the floor.

It’s the perfect summer night.

“She works with Johanna,” Katniss explains. “I think they’re EAs for the two CEOs, so they’re always working together. I’ve known Johanna my whole life. When I found out I got into Juilliard, I didn’t hesitate to ask her to come with me. She didn’t hesitate to say yes. Her home life was less than ideal.”

“That sucks.” Real smooth, idiot. His tongue is so tied around her, but Peeta takes a breath and searches for another topic. “How about you? What’s your family life like?”

“I have one sister. Sweetest girl you’ll ever know.” Her smile goes soft and sad, lost in thought. “My Dad passed away when I was five.”

“I’m sorry.”

His hand goes unconsciously to hers resting between them. Peeta motions to pull away, but her fingers entwine with his.

Their eyes meet, silently agreeing that it feels right.

“It’s fine. He was sick for a long time,” Katniss explains. “When I was 12, my mom met Haymitch and we all kind of loved him from the start. They got married when I was 13 and have been thoroughly happy ever since.” She moves closer. “And you? Tell me about your family.”

“My Dad’s a businessman,” he starts. “Have you heard of Mellark Bakery?”

“Yeah, they have that huge factory across the bridge,” Katniss replies. “Your Dad work there?”

Peeta holds out his free hand, wondering if he should have open this can of worms. However, if this is going anywhere (is it too early to propose?), he should probably tell her about his family.

“Nice to meet you. Peeta Mellark.”

Katniss let out a laugh, putting down her Corona to shake his hand.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was meeting with a son of industry!”

“My Dad is actually pretty cool,” he tells her. “He’s always been very encouraging and supportive of me and my older brothers, Emmett and Noel. Emmett is an artist and Noel is a chef.”

“And your mother?”

“Pretty opposite.” Katniss squeezes his hand, listening intently. “She’s a society woman. Very beautiful, but very cold.”

“Oh, she is going to hate me,” Katniss replies.

Peeta grins at her words. “Already planning to meet the parents?”

“Of course. We’ve connected, you know?” she proclaims. “Now that I’ve seen you up close, there’s no going back.”

“And your family?” he counters. “Would they like me?”

“They’re going to love you,” she says, her grey eyes on him. “You seem so easy to care for.”

Peeta looks at his feet, overcome by her words. “How do you know?”

“Last month, I was coming home from school and you were walking out of your building. There was a little old woman coming out of her taxi and she seemed to be struggling to even open the door. So, you opened the door for her, and you helped her set up her walker on the sidewalk. Then, you paid for her cab and helped her inside your building. Nobody does shit like that anymore. Everyone always seems to be looking out for themselves, nowadays.”

“Mags has lived here the longest, so she’s kind of building royalty,” Peeta explains. “Also, her husband died a while back and she has no kids. The people in this building are her family and we take care of one another.”

“I like that,” Katniss tells him.

“I like you,” he blurts out. “I mean, if it hasn’t been obvious enough.”

Katniss doesn’t respond, but she shifts a little bit closer to him as she stares into his eyes.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

Peeta is intrigued by her abruptness. “What did you have in mind?”

She pulls him by his hand to stand up. He rises and their chests brush against one another. It is brief, but it is enough to light a fire in his belly at the feel of peaked nipples against his thin flannel button-down.

“We’re going stargazing.”

++++++

“For some reason, Johanna has a deal with the maintenance crew in the building,” Katniss recounts as they step onto the roof of her apartment complex. “No one else but myself, Johanna, and Madge are allowed up here.” She leads him over to a set of lounge chairs. “I don’t really know what kind of deal she cut, and I’ve never bothered to ask.”

“That’s probably for the best,” he tells her. “Are you allowed to bring people up here?”

“I’m pretty sure that Johanna and Madge have brought guys up here before.” Katniss turns to him, her eyes glowing under the light of the moon. “You are the only person that I’ve ever brought here��the only person I want to bring here.”

Peeta isn’t sure if it is the moon…or the Corona…or the heat of the night…but something dances inside his chest, telling him to go to her. Her eyes are on him, hunger so intense in them that there is nothing he could do but go to her. Katniss follows suit, marching towards him with determination.

A groan escapes her lips at the feel of him hard against her pelvis. “Peeta, please…”

They meet in the middle of the roof, breaths heavy and Katniss reaches to cup his cheek. His arm rounds her slender waist, pulling her close to let her feel what she does to him.

“What would you like?” he asks, voice roughened with need. His free hand moves along the lines of her body and she whines, pressing closer to him. “Tell me what you want, Katniss.”

“I want you to kiss me.” Katniss’ mouth grazes against him and he nearly crumbles at the feel of heat between her legs. “Then, I want you to fuck me until we both see stars.”

His mouth is on hers, slotting them together. He sucks harshly at her upper lip as her hands reach for him, holding his face in place as she bites at his lower lip. They both moan into one another, tasting lime and alcohol and the fire between them.

Katniss moves them towards one of the chairs, her hands traveling down and reaching to the buttons of his shirt as her tongue sweeps into his mouth. His own hands move to yank at her jean jacket until she shrugs it off.

“Touch me, Peeta,” she says into his mouth. His shirt has been tossed to the ground and her hands roam unabashedly against his heated skin.

Peeta reaches for the hem of her dress and Katniss complies, lifting her arms up so he could pull the dress over her head. Once it is off, he steps back and looks at the beautiful woman under the summer moon.

Every inch of her skin is caramel and Peeta licks his lips ravenously as his eyes rove over lush breasts with rosy nipples…the graceful dip of her waist…full hips…and nude mesh panties that cover a thatch of dark hair.

“You are beautiful,” he rasps.

Katniss slowly sits down on the lounger, resting back. Her chest heaves, nipples pointed in the warm air, as she waits expectantly for him.

Peeta kneels before her. Carefully, he takes her boots and places them next to the lounger. Then, he is at her center, mouthing her through the mesh and sampling the honey pleasure of her core. Her hands go to his hair, fingers running through his hair and nails scratching at his scalp as he sucks and tongues her through the scrap of nothing.

“Fuck! Peeta!” Her wails are like gold and he moans, vibrating against her cunt. “More, please!” He moves the scrap of cloth away from her quim and plunges his tongue inside her. “Oh my God!”

Part of him is thankful for the party next door, the vibration of music sheathing her cries in the air. Peeta loves the sound of her, unabashed in showing him how good she feels. Katniss pushes herself against his tongue, legs wrapping around his head as she humps his face.

He is drenched in her; his new favorite drink for a summer’s night.

Peeta’s hands move to his jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping them quickly.

Pulling away, Katniss whines at the motion until she sees his pants undone. Her eyes, already smoky, have gone obsidian at the sight and he pushes his briefs down, his erection jutting out.

She sits up, one hand pressed to the seat as the other reaches to his length, wrapping her fingers around him. Her thumb moves to the mushroomed head, spreading the precum and he almost seizes at the sensation.

“You’ve given me what I want,” she tells him, her hand stroking him slowly. “What do you want?”

“I want to show you the stars,” Peeta replies, his hand reaching to her panties and she lifts her hips, letting him slide them off until it joins their pile of discarded clothing. He stands before her, reaching for the waist of his jeans and boxers before pulling them off in one motion. His shoes and socks followed, joining her boots.

He stands before her, naked and obviously wanting.

Katniss lays back, pushing herself up onto her elbows, admiring the sight before her.

“I did watch you from here,” she says, her voice strained. “You’d fiddle with your guitar and I’d fiddle myself.”

The image of Katniss, hands on herself…fingers dipping into that dripping cunt is just too much.

Peeta falls to his knees, yanking her down until ass is at the edge of the chair, the backs of her legs pressing along his front.

Then, in one motion, he thrusts roughly into her sodden quim.

The moment Peeta slides into her, her whole body growls.

He can feel her contracting around him and he begins to move, savoring the feeling of being surrounded by her slick. Peeta leans down and their lips meet, her body practically folding in half so he can taste her.

Katniss moans into their kiss, tasting her essence against his tongue as they move against one another. The chair creaks under the pressure of their fucking and he can’t imagine that it feels very comfortable.

He attempts to lift her in-between thrusts, but Katniss frantically shakes her head.

“No, just like this,” she gasps into his sweaty skin. Her legs spread away to wrap around his waist. “Won’t be long now…”

She feels too good, silk and sopping around his cock. Her grip on him is the perfect pressure and as he thrusts, Katniss arches up, bottoming out.

“Holy fuck, you’re amazing,” he groans. “There is no way in hell that I’m letting you go now.”

Hell, Peeta is already convinced that this woman with the dark waves and smoky eyes is the woman that he’s going to marry. In his mind’s eye, he already imagines her in a white dress…carrying her over the threshold of her dream home…of fucking her against every wall of the house…of filling her to the brim until she’s swollen with his child.

“Don’t let me go,” Katniss cries out, her insides beginning to flutter around him, and he juts his cock shallowly knowing that he’s going to spill inside her at any moment. “I wanted you since the moment I saw you…fuck….oh…” Her muscles pulsate around him and her pelvis rises to meet his thrusts.

Her cries are swallowed into the starry sky above them and Peeta watches her in the beauty of her climax. Her hair flows behind her, her skin glistening, and she’s smiles up, her eyes full of love.

She’s watching him, jaw clenched, as the sky above is suddenly illuminated by fireworks, creating a halo around him.

Peeta comes undone, filling her, his pelvis pressing to hers until he is spent.

After, he lays, pillowed against her chest, her hand smoothing down his mussed hair.

“I see stars…” she whispers against him.

“Annie must have said yes,” he explains. “I picked up the ring with Finnick today.”

Katniss snorts. “When Finnick does something, he goes hard.”

“So do I,” he tells her.

She kisses the top of his head. “What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll see.”

They are married three months later.

 FIN.

[phoebehalliwell]

Pls write mini essays about phoebe + next gen and paige + next gen!!

word i’d said i’d to this then i forgot i’m doing it now i’m gonna start of with both phoebe & paige + their kids and then i’ll burn through the list

okay so for starters phoebe i think phoebe’s family wins like the “most functional” award it’s not like a landslide win y’know it’s not like piper and paige’s families aren’t function but this family is comprised of an empath advice columnist, a cupid relationship therapist, and three cupid-witches. like, they’re all kinds experts of communication and self-awareness and understanding and relationships and bond blah blah blah they being said of course they have their issues but in general it’s relatively smooth sailing there is of course the flipside when friction usually generate from the kids starts to spiral out of control and phoebe & coop will be like let’s use our words help us to understand you and where you’re coming from do some breathe exercises and the girls would be like no!! can’t we just argue like a normal family!!! can’t you just get angry at something!! but those are um few and far between. and of course like phoebe really really wanted to be a mom we all saw we all didn’t enjoy it but that’s very much canon she really wanted three daughters she got that so i think phoebe was very much like Prepared for motherhood (like as prepared as one could be). like it wasn’t like she thought it was going to be smooth sailing but like she was ready to face any challenges that could be thrown at her she was ready to put all of her love and effort into this one thing and i think for her like Mama Era from pj’s birth in 07 to peyton starting preschool in 2013 i think she really like almost exclusively worked from home she was really hands-in she was in all the mommy groups and the pta and the whatnot but like. y’know that’s like 6 years. and phoebe really loves her job. so i think she’d really have a career renaissance once all of the kids were in school i think she’d slowly start to dive back into column work i think this is when she’d start to write her book after the success of that one i think she wrote another one i think she has a fiction series posted under a pseudonym that is more of a ya magical adventure series (which paige designs all the covers for) i also think she and coop have a podcast together maybe run through the bay mirror maybe independent the point is she’s really popular (i also think she’d be the wealthiest out of the three sisters bc she makes bank and so does coop as a therapist for those not in the states therapy is like really fuckin expensive as i recently learned y’all do not know. it’s a bitch. but yeah they got money. but that’s not the point here. the point is she’s really popular). book tours, doing stuff with the podcast, guest appearances on a variety of tv shows, i think phoebe’s not like. at home a lot. or at least she’s home the least out of piper her and paige. and it’s not like her kids really mind like she is just a beam away and she always makes it to important events (and unimportant ones!) like she takes photos before every school dance and she throws birthday parties and she really dos try to make it to all of the kids soccer games but like. she’s not always just like. home all the time. and i think she’d really love to have a lot of emotional heart-to-hearts with her kids but that doesn’t always happen. if pj needs an emotional heart-to-heart, she’s gonna talk to her dad. is parker needs an emotional heart-to-heart, she’s gonna talk to pj. is peyton needs and emotional heart-to-heart she’ll position herself on the couch late at night when she knows phoebe will be coming home and just sorta sit there like waiting for phoebe to show up and go oh honey what’s wrong bc uhh peyton will not like. go to someone to talk about their problems. she has to wait to be asked. that’s just the type of person she is. lucky for her, phoebe’s an empath so she can like tell when baby peyton’s in distress but lbr she usually doesn’t need it because like peyton perches in such an Obvious manner like hi mom come comfort me please : ( even tho she’ll never like say it out loud. i think phoebe’s also like proud of her girls and their practicing of the craft bc she remembers how she felt about magic hell how she still feels about magic and she’s always telling them like follow ur heart and love is ur greatest strength (and the power of three will set you free, of course) bc her girls are cupitches y’know it’s more true than ever but like. lowkey tho. it fucking terrifies her. magic like takes, man. a lot of people she knows have died. and she just like. she doesn’t want to tell her kids no bc it was grams controlling nature that made her rebel so much so like she wants them to be able to come to her when they have a magical problem and she knows that if she tries to stop them or tells them they’re out of their league they’ll probably just stop telling her things so she doesn’t she tried to be supportive but jesus fucking christ he gets so scared sometimes. she gets so scared.

paige on the other hand had nowhere near the same experience with motherhood as phoebe bc well i think paige has the most complex relationship with motherhood set aside the fact that her kids are the only unplanned ones out of the entire next gen, she also like. she was a shit child. she was mean and violent and an alcoholic. she had committed so so many crimes before she was even 17. and she had a really good mom!! she had a mom who loved her and tried her hardest to support her and keep her from falling off the deep end who loved her unconditionally she had the best mom and she was still just a little shit! and i think that really fucks her up. like, looking back on it, she can’t imagine half the stuff she put her mom through. she was really cruel. and like!!! her mom was a good mom!! so paige doesn’t know she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do. how she’s supposed to stop her kids from turning out like her. what can she do so she doesn’t have kids who end up exactly like how she was. henry isn’t like a load of help her bc henry Also never knew his parents and he jumped around from foster home to foster home and like never really felt like had a family until paige. and then like in his whole parole schtick he was definitely a hard ass he was definitely an Authority Figure bc hell that was the only way adults could get him to listen to them when he was a kid so he just kinda emulated that. however after meeting paige and really getting a feel for her whitelighter side and how she handled these situations i do think henry switched up his vibes he made the necessary changes. i also think like henry like no he wasn’t planning on having kids but i think he was really excited to become a father like he was gonna have a family like god he always wanted a family he was gonna teach his kids to play catch and he would host birthday parties stupid birthday parties with themes and balloons from safeway and friends there and goody bags the full kit and kaboodle like henry would fuckin go to bed each night dreaming about how he’s gonna do all these familial things he never got to do. bc he didn’t have a family. but paige did. she got all those things. and she was still fucked up!! so i think the conkclooshun paige landed on was that her mom tried to hard to like. like her mom saw her potential and always strived to push her to be that perfect version of paige that she saw her wonderful little angel when paige really wasn’t that paige wanted to be seen for what she was not some vision in her mom’s head and maybe that’s why she would like get drunk and steal a cop car bc she wanted her mom to see the girl standing right in from of her not an angel just paige. so paige was like. okay. i’m no gonna project onto my kids. they’re gonna be like “charmed ones” (there’s only two of them but w/e they’re really powerful witches) but i’m not gonna. i’m not gonna see them as that. i’m going to try to see them as they are and i’m going to be their Mom. i’m not gonna be some distant ethereal figure which is kinda how she felt a lot of the charges she brought to magic school viewed her bc she was this mythic charmed one and she was this she was that i think paige didn’t want to be her daughters’ whitelighter bc she didn’t want a “professional” relationship with them. there was no way she could advise her own kids the way she could advise her charges, she’s simply way too close to the situation. and she doesn’t want her kids to view her like that. she doesn’t want to be their whitelighter, she wants to be their mom. and um this really does work for the most part like she & her kids will like sit on the couch and just like yuck it up you know like the mitchell clan really is a tight knit they do all love spending time with her but. like her method of parenting really works with tamora. not so much with kat. kat’s a lot more witchy than tam is she’ll actively go out and seek out trouble she pursues the craft with a very similar hunger to what we saw in paige s5 and paige kinda hates it. like. god okay she gets it she gets it she really does. but kat’s a kid!! she’s just a kid and if she keeps looking for trouble she’s gonna get herself killed and i think whenever out god knows where doing god knows what paige just remembers that time she had to watch chris bleed out on the bed with nothing she could do. and how she- how if that happened to kat- she- she couldn’t go on anymore. that’s basically the fact of the matter. if she lost a child, she doesn’t know what she would do. give up. probably. and it’s again sorta like the inverse we see with phoebe’s free range demon hunting where paige gets so overprotective about it that kat just stopped telling her things. this gets doubled by the fact that you’re not my whitelighter, so why should you even care! and kat does view it as like a lack of faith from her mother (which is one of the reasons why kat and chris are so close) and she just wants to. she wants to prove herself. she wants her mom to see her for all that she could be, instead of just the place she’s in right now. and i do think as time passes paige learns to sort of let go of this control i think her and kat have the most difficult relationship but paige letting kat leave to take a gap year and explore the world was like a major step and kat acknowledges this to an extend she gets it was difficult for her mom but she really has no idea how much paige panicked how much it took every inch of her self control not to go out and drag kat back home because yes baby birds have to leave the nest eventually but these baby birds have a very high stab rate. um jumping over to her relationship with henry jr i think she does encourage his studying of the craft he is the most well read out of any of the next generation with wyatt taking a close second hell henry jr even knows like a bit of latin this kid is wicked smart And bonus round he’s aware he’s mortal. like yeah paige can kinda sense that it does ruffle his feather, but henry jr knows when to step away. again, henry’s really well-read. he’s brushed up on the family history. he knows the warren line is close friends with death. as a bit of a bonus round but also to give paige some peace of mind, she did give henry a basic charm that grants him the same high resistance that all witches are born with as well as cloaks him from magic bc like paige and henry sr both knew this mortal baby was gonna have a wicked high kidnap rate so they figured y’know best do all they can to Stop That from happening. the enchantment that henry jr has is a necklace it’s the same one paige wore throughout the show. bc i’d like to bring that back.

okay next gen time wyatt i think wyatt likes paige more than phoebe it’s not like a competition or anything it’s just gun to his head that’s who he’d chose bc paige really is like this witchlighter she walks the line between being charmed and being a whitelighter that wyatt can really take a lot of inspiration from he just doesn’t have that with phoebe phoebe’s a little bit more of like a love guru and wyatt’s got a weird relationship with love bc he keeps flinging himself headfirst into it and keeps getting bruiser bc of it what wyatt actually doesn’t know is almost all of the advice that has gotten him out of these troubling times has almost all been sourced from phoebe piper usually goes to her with advice when it comes to all that i mean i don’t think wyatt would like to know that post-breakup wyatt is just like kinda embarrassing he doesn’t want to know that’s being shared with the family of course he already knows he just doesn’t want confirmation

chris surprisingly closer with phoebe probably bc she’s an empath and again she has this whole free range witchcraft style that she has going if chris has a question he needs to ask somebody he’ll usually ask phoebe bc she’s the only one who won’t report back to leo bc again she’s an empath she gets it she knows what’s going on and she knows he just needs time and he and leo need some good honest communication paige also gets that but paige also watched chris die so yeah no she’s gonna snitch

melinda about and even tie melinda gets a lot of witchlightering advice from paige on finding harmony there but she’s also an empath she she spends a lot of time learning her craft from phoebe and how to focus that and apply that power to her witch/whitelighter abilities in ways paige can’t really teach her bc paige’s power is more physical that psychic/emotional. but it is like paige who gives her the groundwork on like. getting it. i think gun to her head if she had to choose she’d choose phoebe just because of those times they’d go out and do “field practice” where they go somewhere interesting and crowded and sense the wave of emotions and go out and try to pick out people from the crown it’s an art of drowning out the din and finding one you need to find a way of not getting lost in the sea of everyone else’s everchurning emotions which is nice bc it grants melinda a much wanted and needy control over empathy but it’s also nice bc it’s like. fun. phoebe always makes it fun they can always have a laugh.

tamora’s not like hella close with phoebe there’s really no reason for her to be however she is baby peyton’s favorite cousin (don’t tell the rest) simply because tamora’s both like studious and cautious and baby peyton’s tired of everyone running around trying to fight demons like what about normal life irl and stuff so i think tamora would definitely like tutor baby peyton this that and the other and so like phoebe really has like a sense of respect for tamora and tamora likes being over at phoebe’s y’know it’s not like peyton’s some snot nosed kid it’s fun she likes the vibes

kat has an appreciation for phoebe bc she definitely knows phoebe had a hand in helping her mom let go of her y’know that being said it’s not like she loves to spend time with phoebe phoebe’s both an empath and paige’s sister so like she knows that anything of note’s gonna be passed onto her mom (which isn’t like. entirely true. but it is kinda true). if kat’s gonna hang out with an empath she wants it to be one on her side so she’ll always pick melinda

henry jr okay so phoebe’s actually the opposite with henry it’s kinda like her and paige swapped places here bc paige trusts her son she knows he’s really well versed in magic blah blah blah and that he’s got y’know. common sense. he’s not gonna run into some situation half cocked and get himself killed he’s aware of his mortality. phoebe on the other hand did not raise henry so she doesn’t get him the way paige gets him; a large part of her free range ideology is the fact that her kids are basically little power loaded god their charmed and as an added boost they’re also half cupid they’ve been raised in the craft they’re insanely well trained so like. she knows that they’re capable. henry does not have their advantages. so i think phoebe really tries to hold him back isn’t quite the right word but like. it kind is. she doesn’t want him doing anything magical.

pj’s in the 07 baby squad even though she’d at the younger end of the scale so she was a grade behind mellie kat and tam but that little barbershop quartet’s p tight knit i don’t think she has like insane exposure to paige as i think cupids and whitelighter work very differently like at the most basic magical level and therefore paige’s halfling experience really doesn’t do that much to help her i think she likes paige alright but like. it’s nothing compared to like wyatt relationship with paige

parker always like runs towards danger she’s got an insane amount of energy and like a fire within her i think she’s always trying to push boundaries and break the rules eg with her cupid ring becoming an athame i don’t think she straight up asked paige bc like parker definitely views all adults as narcs but with this of that ilk parker bounces questions off paige which paige just always answers like really honestly like if parker asks a question that’s like really complex and strange paige won’t give her a roundabout answer she’ll just tell her what’s up and for that parker respects paige

peyton i think sees paige the most through tam i think she likes paige i think she’s definitely privy of the whole paige/kat situation bc like who is the family isn’t but i think she really kinda takes paige’s side her peyton thinks the real worlds insanely dangerous she doesn’t like looking for trouble and her heart lowkey goes out to paige bc she knows the whole thing with kat is a matter of love it’s just something that’s hard to work with

[atinydise]

Ateez trying to make up to their s/o (2/2)

❦ Genre: Light angst/Fluff.

❦ Pairing: OT8.

❦ Word count: Around 2k.

❦ Masterlist.

Part 1 / Ateez saying something hurtful to their s/o 

SAN - “And why are you so flirty? Why are you so easy?”

His jealousy was something that he couldn’t handle. The stares that boy give you when you are walking with him is too much for him.

But it’s not your fault if you are pretty. He’s glad to be your boyfriend. But when he saw you wearing this short and tight dress, he saw red. You looked good of course. The problem was that everyone would notice that too. San’s jealousy has 3 steps that we could call “warning”. When there’s the last one, his jealousy explodes.

The first warning was the stares that the ATEEZ members gave to you, when you entered the car. Even if he knew that none of them would flirt with you. His jealousy increased so much at the party. Non-stop he gave dead looks to all the boys that were biting their lips seeing you. That was the second warning. San tried to enjoy the party, dancing with his members. But all he could think was you. Your boyfriend was surprised and confused to see you talking with the bartender. He escaped of the crowd so fast, to reach you. When he heard the other man asks your number, that was the last warning. Everything happened so fast. 

Now you were on your bedroom, staring at the ceiling. All the pictures frames of San and you was facing down. Since the party, you were over-thinking. Trying to know when this mess started. Was your dress really short? It showed your knees and legs but that was okay. You went to your wardrobe and pulled all the skirts and dresses on your bed. Analyzing if your style was provocative. You were about to try one of your favorite skirt when your phone rang. San was calling you. “Yeoboseyo*?” you heard San with his little cute voice. “Hi san” you answered coldly. “Y/N, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t treat you the way I did.” He confessed. You sighed, “Yes, you shouldn’t have to. But sorry I have many things to do today, like call the bartender, since I’m an easy girl.” You felt him tense through the phone. 1-0 for you, you thought. “You are not an easy girl Y/N… You are a lovely and funny one babe.” “That’s not what you said yesterday.” You didn’t want to give up so fast and forgive him. “I was really upset when I heard him asking for your number.” “And you thought I would give it to him? Please San…” you said angrily. “No, I know that you are faithful. But I don’t know… I just…” he sighed of frustration. “My jealousy is something that I can’t control Y/N. I just saw you there talking and smiling with this man.” He took a break and continued, “I just want to be the only one to get your stares and your smiles…” You could feel your heart race, it was too cute for you to handle it. In the other way, you knew how San felt. You are a bit jealous too when he’s talking with Atinys and give all his attention to them. But it’s his job. “Y/N are you still there?” asked San saying that you didn’t say anything. “Yes San.” “Can I come to your apartment? I will be there in 20 minutes!” “Okay, see you in few minutes then.” You both need to talk face to face and try to solve his jealousy issue.

*Yeoboseyo : Allô/Hello when you answer a call in korean.

MINGI -”If you can’t at least make me relax then leave! I don’t need you here.”

It was dark and cold outside. Mingi was walking after his doctor appointment. All he could think was the sentence that the doctor said, “you can join back, kid”. He was so happy that he wanted to cry or scream at someone. Finally, after 1 month of hiatus he could join back the group and perform for MAMA 2019 and their world tour. Mingi was so happy that he almost bumped into an old man. He couldn’t wait to tell the members and to... you. He stopped when he remembered that you weren’t talking to him anymore. For 2 weeks now.He got mad for the popcorn pack, that was honestly a stupid argument. The only news he got from you, was when you sent him a text at exactly 7 pm every day, to remind him to take his medicine. He always asked you how you were, if you were still mad at him but you didn’t answer. He knew that what he said to you was mean and hurtful. You just tried to comfort him since his members were doing their promotions. He sighed. He needed to fix this and get his friend back. 

Your relationship was complex. You were friends, since Seonghwa introduced you to the members. You instantly crushed on Mingi and he did too. You started to hang out without the boys. You exchanged kisses but none tried to define your relationship statut. He loved your presence and the way you made him escape from the idol world. He ran toward your apartment. Mingi wanted you to be the first person to know about his back recovery, even before the members or the staff. He knocked at your door, hoping that you would open it. But nothing. He tried again. Seemed that you were not at home. He sat in front of your door and texted you, “hi are you okay?” You left him on read. “I’m scared, at least tell me something, Y/N.” He saw 3 dots on his screen, “Hi. Take your medicine Mingi.” His head bumped on the door, your ignorance is torturing him. Suddenly, you exited the elevator, “What are you doing here?” as you saw him. He stood up straight, “Y/N!”. “What are you doing here Mingi?” “You ignored my text.” “And?” He blinked, “And... I don’t know. I want to apologize.” You stared at him, “and?”. “And... I’m sorry, I shouldn’t treat you the way I did.” “And?” You repeated. He was losing his temper and you knew it. “And sorry for not giving you attention.” “An-“ you started. “If you said “and” again I will pinch you.” You giggled. “What are you doing here Mingi, you could just wait that I text you back,” he raised his brow, “one day”. “I’m here too because I got good news today.” He smiled, “I can perform again!” You hugged instantly, finally he could join back the group and see Atinys on tour. “I’m so happy for you Mingi-mango!” “Thank you, Y/N, for supporting me no matter what! I didn’t give up thanks to you!” You smiled at him, “then... movie tonight? We could celebrate your recovery!” “Yes! It’s a really good plan Y/N!” Said Mingi.

WOOYOUNG -”I’m distant because you are so clingy! Can I breathe without you being around?“

It’s been almost a month, Wooyoung didn’t get any news of you.

He didn’t search to join anyway, to ashamed of his behavior. Every day he was thinking of you. It’s true that both of you were really close to each other, always texting, calling for at least 2 hours, hanging out,… This month for him was just practicing and promoting Wonderland, since it finally came out. He missed your comments. “Wooyoung-ie! Wow! You are incredible! Look it’s my boyfriend!” you would shout at the TV. Atinys comments were always good but he needed to get your opinion. The group was attending a fansign in Seoul today. They loved to interact with their fans. They could talk about everything and give them few advices as they can. Wooyoung wasn’t feeling it. He couldn’t stop to think about you. Hongjoong noticed it, “Wooyoung, what is happening?” “Nothing hyung.” He couldn’t say that he missed you, it was his fault if you were gone. “It’s about Y/N?” He finally nodded. “Listen, I’m not a pro in relationship but you need to talk to her, you can’t stay like that.” Said the leader. “But how? What about she doesn’t want to talk to me or even see me again?” Hongjoong stayed quiet. Relationship was useless to him. So many things to do or not. He prefers to stay with his laptop and compose few songs. “Did you even tried?” He stayed quiet. “That’s what I thought.”

After the fansign, they went to their favorite restaurant. But they didn’t expect to see you there, reading a book in a quiet corner, with a bibimbap. San pushed Wooyoung toward you, “it’s your time to shine man!”. “I can’t! She hates me!” Freaked out your ex-boyfriend. Hongjoong rolled his eyes and decided to help his member. “Hey Y/N!” He shouted at you. “Ya! Hyung!” Said Wooyoung as he was trying to hide somewhere. “Oh. Hi guys.” You bowed to them. “Stop acting like baby and go talk to her!” said Jongho. The boy took a deep breath and walked toward you. “Hi Y/N.” “Hi.” Your eyes didn’t leave your book, even if you were too confused to read it. “How are you?” “I’m fine, thank you.” You hoped that he would leave. But he sat in the chair in front of you. “Y/N, I’m sorry.” No response. “It’s been a month and I really miss you… I think I’m going crazy.” he started. “I just needed to breath a bit. I was exhausted mentally and physically. It’s so much pressure, you know.” You put your book on the table. “Listen Wooyoung, I don’t want to be a punching bag for you.” “Y/N…” “You could just say “Hi Y/N, I just want to be alone tonight.” “Y/N….” “But no, all you did was screaming at me in front of everyone!” “Y/N! Listen me oh my god! Yelled Wooyoung. All the members were looking at your table. Most of them facepalmed when they saw that the boy was messing up again. “I made a mistake and I really regret it. The only thing I need in my life is you. You are not clingy, it’s just that couple need to be a part sometime. I know you can understand that. I messed up.” He explained to you. “I love spending time with you my love.” Your heart raced at the lovely nickname he gave you. “I just want to spend all my entire life with you, Y/N…” He was tearing up. He felt worse than you thought. You stood up and hugged him soflty. “I’m here with you Wooyoung, I won’t leave you. But you will need to apologize a bit more.”

JONGHO -“I wish sometimes that I didn’t fell in love with you! Especially when you are like that!”

“I wish I didn’t fell in love with you”. It’s been 2 weeks now and his words were still stuck in your head. Jongho tried to talk with you about the situation but you declined his calls and ignored his texts. Seonghwa tried to join you one day, to explain the maknae’s situation. [”Y/N, he’s really sad. He’s not coming to your practice anymore. He’s just here for promotion on show and go back to the dorm and barely talking to us.”] You felt bad that your boyfriend was depressing about your issue. You typed back the eldest member. [”He wished he never fell in love with me Hwa*, I can be upset and depressed too.”] Seonghwa took few minutes to answer. [”I know that you miss him too Y/N.”] [”I won’t do anything I’m sorry…”] [”At least can you meet Yunho and me for a lunch? We miss you…”]. You hesitate, you were close to the other members as well. Maybe that was not the best idea. Finally, you answered, [”Okay! See you at 1 pm in Incheon”]. [”Cool, see you there!”]. You sighed, could you give a chance to Jongho?

It was 1 pm, you were already in front the restaurant. [”Where are you boys?”] You texted the eldest member. You saw 3 dots on your phone screen as you were trying to warm up your hands. You sent another message when you didn’t get any answer. “Y/N.” You turned back and saw Jongho with your favorite flowers. “What-“ you blinked, confused. “Seonghwa-Hyung helped me to talk with you. They won’t come. Or not now.” He explained. That was a trick. The only one you were meeting was Jongho. “I will kill them.” As you started to walk back to your apartment. “Wait Y/N!” he grabbed your wrist. “Please forgive me.” “I don’t think I want to Jongho. You hurted my feelings and made me insecure.” “That’s not what I want. I was really awkward in front of my hyungs. I don’t want them to feel like that too, around us.” He sighed. “I’m the maknae, I need to work hard and show a mature look. “Then you mean that with me you can’t do that?” you asked confused. “No no!” he facepalmed, “I don’t how to say…” he gave up. “Well Jongho, I can understand you are not a lovely guy and that you need your space but kissing with moderation of course, just peck for example and hugging, won’t kill you.” You explained. He nodded, “I will always respect our privacy Jongho.” “I’m sorry.” He said quietly looking at his feet. “I can’t express myself good, but you are understanding me so well, everytime.” You giggled. “I’m really sorry about what I said. Falling in love with you is the best thing that happened in my life. You are my little and lovely treasure Y/N.” He hugged you. You hugged him back and offered, “Should we eat? If we are here.” “I would love to!” he gave you the flowers. As he walked in the restaurant, you sent a message to your friend. [Thank you so much Hwa!].

*Hwa : a little nickname you give to Seonghwa.

Part 1 / Ateez saying something hurtful to their s/o 

[iwantitiwriteit]

Love Lockdown - Part 3

Lovesick

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Summary: Chris braces himself for his FaceTime with you.

Warnings: Angst, Pandemic backdrop, Profanity

Notes: First In My Feelings Monday™ on books! Hopefully there’ll be more musings as the weeks go on, but I loved the whimsy the mindset added to me day! 🥰 This part was kind tough to write cos it required me to get into an opposing mind frame from the Reader, but a fun challenge nonetheless! Read the previous part here!

As much as he loved Winter in Boston, it was Spring that really captured Chris’ heart.

He’d been watching the beautiful day pass by outside his home office window while he took a few remote meetings with his team. Lockdown didn’t mean shutdown, for Chris at least, as he’s in preparation mode for an upcoming virtual press junket.

However, as soon as those glorious words, “That’s all for today,” were uttered, he upped and gathered his jacket, Dodger and headed for the front door.

“Going for a walk!” He called over his shoulder, his way of saying he’d be back soon.

“Alright, let me grab my jacket!” Scott said in response. Chris sighed and laughed to himself as he waited by the door for his brother. “What?” Scott asked when he got to Chris, who was shaking his head at his brother’s self-invite. He just laughed lightly as they bounded for the street, locking the door behind them.

It took Chris some growing up to appreciate this season. Truly appreciate it. But he’s so glad he does now. There’s a polarity in its elements that make it unique from the other seasons. 

The bright sun peeks from behind thick clouds every so often, fully exposed and giving light gloriously. The flowers, shy and budding in March, are now in April, with just a little time, bold and in bloom. The trees billowing in the cold wind are unaware of their own fierce presence, so gentle in their saving grace that is their shade.

Kind of complex, Spring in Boston. Could be perceived as annoying in its inconsistency of temperature within a 24 hour period; cold one part of the day then hot the next. But he loved that not everyday or every hour was the same. Kept him on his toes in a way.

 He couldn’t help but imagine how you’d like it here at this time of year. How he’d like you here with him. To have you on this walk right now. To hold you close when the sharp wind cuts through, chilling you both. You’d say what you always say when you snuggle up to him for warmth; that your southern bones feel the cold more than he does.

Maybe it’s true. Or Maybe it’s a lame excuse to be closer to him. Either way, he’d never complain. He loves it. He loves you.

Chris smiles to himself at the thought. Yeah, you’d love it here in the Spring. Definitely more than you did in December. What a start to a shit show that turned out to be. Chris hates to think about it. But his brain can’t help but go back there sometimes.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Scott asks, walking alongside his brother.

Chris lets out a long breath. He’s back there right now. But it doesn’t start and stop there. December makes him think of January. January makes him think of February. Then March, and before he knows it, he’s been through the chain of events that led you two here: Him in Boston, and you in Tennessee. In love but hurting from it. In the midst of a pandemic? Your relationship is just as uncertain as the end to the world’s madness.

Chris kicks himself at the painful memories. Shaking his head, he looks over to Scott who is patient as his brother finds his words.

“I’m thinking that despite the craziness of the last few weeks, months even, and being on lockdown...”

“Uh-huh…” Scott says knowing there’s more

“In an odd way, I’ve felt more free than I have in a while.”

“How’s that?”

“Well… hasn’t it been kinda great being, ya’know, solo...?” Chris eludes, not wanting to say the actual words.

“Huh? Oooooh!” Scott says as he catches Chris’ drift.

Chris won’t lie; the last 3 weeks away from you have been headache free. The bachelor lifestyle coming back to him with ease. He’s spent enough years on his own to know how to revel in the perks of singleness. No side eyes when he’s yelling at CNN or football, no being told to do stupid, necessary chores that can wait til he’s ready, and no one to get hurt when he’s inevitably fucked up in some way or another.

“Only problem is, I’m the only one of us who’s actually single.”

“Right… I know, and don’t get me wrong! I feel really lucky she hasn’t left me yet, and that she’s stuck it out with me for this long. I really can’t imagine my life without her.”

“But…” Scott prompts.

Chris is hesitant as he starts again. “But lately, guiltily...I wonder if that would be such a bad thing. If we were to… ya’know,” Chris makes weird hand motions that Scott eventually interprets as “breakup”.

“It’s a wonder you’re any good at charades.”

As much as he feels bad and knows he could’ve done some things differently, handled some things better, Chris is sooo frustrated with you.

“Why won’t she just tell me what she’s really thinking— exactly what she’s feeling. I’m not a fucking mind reader! You would think it’d be easy for her, considering what she does for a living, I don’t get it man.”

Scott waits for his cue for Chris to ask the golden question, but when he doesn’t hear it, he looks over at his older brother. Chris looks every bit a boy that’s absolutely lovesick, kicking the rocks in his way, pouting down at his feet. “You want my opinion?” Scott eventually offers.

“Please. I don’t think Dodger’s gonna give me anything good.” Chris bends down to pet the pup quickly before continuing their walk

“I think she has told you what she’s feeling— just not explicitly from her mouth.”

“If that’s the case, then her shutting down every time we’re addressing an issue is supposed to mean…?”

“You’ve got to give her some room to emote, cos you can be a bit, well, you know.” Chris did know, but it didn’t make it sting any less.

Accusations from past girlfriends of him not listening, only hearing, what’s been communicated have not gone unnoted. That, coupled with his bubbling emotions have led to many a breakup in his life. Relationships demoted to damn near flings the way women have come and gone from his life. But what he has with you couldn’t just be another relationship for the books. Chris wants to break the cycle with you… for you.

“I thought I was doing that when I suggested we social distance separately. Then last night she made it very clear that I was very wrong.”

“I could’ve told you that you were very wrong. Tax free.” The two men make their way back to the house. Looking at his brother before him, all sad and distraught, Scott was not going to let him start his own pity party.

“I don’t want to lose her. She’s the one. She’s my one. I know it.”

“Then don’t lose her.”

“When’s anything EVER been that simple?”

“I’m not saying it is, but if you know she’s the one, don’t give up so easily bro. Try everything in your power to give her the relationship she deserves. And she will do the same for you. But, if the problems still persist, then maybe, it would be for the best if…” Scott trails off as he sees his brother’s eyes start to look like those of the dog by their feet. “Look, I’m just telling you from personal, very recent experience, that it isn’t all that bad being friends on the other side of it all.”

“Ugh, God! I think I’d rather have a limb caught off and force fed to me than try to be friends with her if we ever… I can’t even say it.” Chris pokes his tongue out like he’s tasted something awful.

“You’re being hella dramatic right now.”

“But bro, I’m not even exaggerating!” The brothers laugh as they walk up the driveway. As they cross the threshold of the front door, Chris’ reminder for your FaceTime call sounds off, echoing in the foyer. He turns it off and looks up at his brother. “That’s the call to my love’s fate” he tries to joke.

Scott wears a soft, empathetic smile “Everything’s gonna be just fine. No matter what.”

Chris tries to wear some optimism, but the possibility of this being the end of your relationship tugs at him. He won’t let it get a hold of him. “Thanks, bro. I’ll see you later. And DO NOT eavesdrop.”

“Whaaaat??? I would never!” Scott feigns offense. Chris looks unconvinced. “Dodge and I are gonna enjoy an afternoon movie, isn’t that right Dodgey Wodgey?” 

“Dodger’s not even buying it. Stop it.”

“Yeah, that was weird. See ya later, man.”

Chris takes the stairs to his bedroom two by two. He sets up his laptop, making sure to plug in its charger; wouldn’t want it to die on this call.

He paces around the space in front of his desk. As many video calls as he’s done the past few weeks, none of them were as important as this one. Nervousness washes over him. He decides to embrace it; it’s natural, and a good sign. He still cares. He can only hope you do, too. 

The digital clock strikes 2. It’s time.

He calls you, the laptop ringing for a while longer than his beating heart can take. His heart sinks and doubts creep in. Is this is it? Is she done with me? No fight, no… nothing? This can’t be it. But then the ringing ceases and the screen says “connecting”, a sigh of relief involuntarily escaping him.

He can’t help but beam, proud he knows you better than his negative thoughts do. Happy that you wouldn’t leave him high and dry. 

Then he sees your face. Your beautiful face. The natural lighting of your room bouncing off your gorgeous, brown skin. Your hair is the perfect combination of defined curls and loose wisps, neat but not overly so. You are the epitome of effortless, natural beauty. He almost feels like he’s seeing you for the first time.

“Hey baby! For a second there, I thought you wouldn’t answer,” he nervously chuckles. 

You smile at him but it doesn’t reach your eyes. He senses your apprehension, even through a screen. He hadn’t done a good job of setting up this conversation with peace of mind for you, now that he thinks about it. “We need to talk” is almost always followed by some heavy, unwanted shit. Not that this talk will be easy, but he most certainly doesn’t want you thinking the worst. He genuinely wants to talk; explain his fuck ups and frustrations. And try to listen.

He figures since he’s put you two here, it’s his job to steer this ship to calmer, nicer waters. Here goes. He tries some small talk, anxiety making him ramble. “So, how’s the… weather? That’s a stupid— ugh, I’m sure it’s, like, hot. You’re down south, where it’s hot—”

“Chris?”

“Yes honey?”

“I don’t wanna do this with you.”

There it is; his worst fear. Losing you. No. He was determined to let his optimism win. Determined that his ears were deceiving him in this moment.

“What do you mean?”

Chris is too all in to go down without a fight, and  fight for you he was prepared to do.

Part 4 | What’d you think?

[thoughtfulfangirling]

January 2021 Books

I tend not to come to dislike or hating things very easily. Generally, the things I try, I can find a lot I like in them and go with the flow. I feel like it doesn’t make me very good about recommending things because I’m not too picky once I get invested in things, but here are my takes on the books I’ve read this month. (I can be super picky about what I pick up in the first place, but once I overcome that and get a foothold in something, the above applies.)

Anyway, belatedly, here’s last months reads and blurbs on my thoughts under the cut (long)

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

I somehow didn’t realize this was YA. It has the plot simplicity I’m used to seeing in YA but it definitely got darker and more sexual than I would have expected for the genre. I actually rather appreciate this series for that reason. It did some things alternatively I didn't expect and was quite delighted by it. Fantasy, romance (f/m), fairies, light political intrigue (setup for book 2), etc.. I have since read book 2 and would have caveats about this depending on who was interested.

2. This is How you Lose a Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

This was amazing! A quick read of poetic language and dark love across sci fi warring factions. Primarily told through a series of letters exchanged back and forth between protagonists and focused on the characters.

3. Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire

What a great ghost story! it's told a lot like a series of short stories that come together into a winding narrative of a ghost's journey through the roads of America. Heavily American mythology vibes. Fascinating world building, intriguing characters, and beautiful message and arc. I'm thinking I might pick up more from this series in October. I got pointed in this book's direction due to how the way the book is structure feeling like a great depiction of trauma and how things get segmented and out of order and intangible, and it was just a really neat book. Would definitely recommend.

4. No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder

I’ve now read a fair amount on the topic of domestic abuse, but they have largely focused on the individuals involved, and while this book does pick particular individuals as an example of extreme DV, this book zoomed out and looked at this problem from a broader perspective, talking about stats and looking at environmental and systemic factors. It’s a dark book that gets heavy and dissects sensitive situations but didn’t feel like it failed to humanize the issue, sometimes more so than a reader may expect. I definitely found it an insightful and interesting read. It’s the first book in quite a long time that was a physical book I held in my hands. I expected I might struggle too much between it not being audio and being nonfiction, but I moved through it quite quickly.

5. Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

This was a re-read. It’s a cute little wlw class romance. I think I read it in 2018, and it was fun to revisit. It’s a quick read with some enjoyable characters, and for those who do audiobooks, some cute accents. 

6. The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett

This was a beautiful story about grief and the way our connections open us up to new possibilities and changes in our lives if only we’ll reach out grasp them. It’s a slow paced story, functioning mostly in the internal monologue of our protagonist dealing with the loss of the man she’s loved and the things she comes to find out she didn’t know about him. 

7. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

This was another reread, doing a chapter an evening with Empty. It helped so much to listen to this a second time between being able to see the pieces put down and not listening to it at such stressful times and in such a fragmented way. I love how it is somehow a puzzle, a haunting, and a journey of growth in an old relationship that seemed doomed to fail in so many ways. Plus I love big, sarcastic, sentimental butch disaster Gideon so goddamn much. XD 

8. Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

This was very enjoyable, but I can definitely tell that I’ve outgrown a lot of YA. It’s not that there’s anything wrong these stories-I would have loved to have grown up with this book-it’s just that it lacked a complexity I’m getting used to and that I look for in these stories. I’m so glad though to be seeing more writers of color writing experiences and characters more like them getting attention in the literary world, and I will continue to find reading these stories worth it to get glimpses into that, but I wish I saw more of this sort of hype for these writers around more adult books. It’s out there I’m sure; I just have to find it yet. Working on it! But for a YA reader I think this is a great story. I like the worldbuilding so much and the costs of the magic and the journey. I might still have to check out book two when I need an easier read. 

9. Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist by Franchesca Ramsey

I’ve been holding onto a hard copy borrowed from a friend of this for well over a year now. I got this book around the same time I got my hands on So you Want to Talk About Race and thought they were going to have very similar contents. I was incorrect. Well, That Escalated Quickly is much more about what it means to have a popular online presence. It was a really great read in a time when being online is, right now, for many of us, the only consistent way we can interact with others. I really appreciated her sharing her stories of her mess ups both as someone who needed to be called out and as someone who, for a time, was considered a ‘call out queen’ and her thoughts on community responsibility and bearing responsibility on both ends of those spectrums: it’s not just a person who messes up who bears a responsibility to act with community goals in mind to reduce harm, but also the responsibility of those who call out and when and how those might look for most effectiveness for change, personal wellbeing, and community responsibility. (The term community responsibility I’m using probably comes more from Conflict is not Abuse than this book, but I could very well see this book being a great primer for Conflict is not Abuse and might rec this to someone not yet ready for the later.) 

10. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

This book was a roller coaster. I started off really excited about some ideas and themes it was exploring that I don’t really see done hardly ever and was really intrigued. About a third of the way through, it did something that I felt very much undermined one of the themes I was enjoying a lot, and up until the very end, I was very close to deciding against reading book three. At pretty much that last minute though, it intrigued me enough to want to see how a thing would be played out and a resolution would be found. I don’t even know if I’d say I super liked the book and thus series by the time I was done reading this one, but I was intrigued. Sometimes I get the feeling the author doesn’t trust her audience and spells certain things out way too much, sometimes to the detriment of the plot, and I’m really not a fan of the ‘so totally outclassed, all odds staked against the heroes’ thing that’s pulled in this book that comes out of nowhere and when this time we actually have powerful characters but here we are. I don’t think I’d actually recommend the series to others unless I knew their tastes aligned well, but I think I will be finishing it. 

[mycupoffanfiction]

A Real Sweet Guy Part 1

A biker!Bucky x shy!Reader Series 

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6

The reader lives on the same street as Bucky, the leader of a biker gang, which everyone in her building is afraid of, except for her. When Bucky makes a simple act of kidness to the reader, she realises she was right to not be afraid of him.

Warnings: None - just fluff, a nosy and rude neighbour (screw you Gladys).

Word count: Approx 2000

Masterlist

Hi! Hope you all enjoy this little oneshot of biker!Bucky. I can’t get enough of a tough, bad boy looking Bucky who’s really just all fluff on the inside. Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list! 💕

_________________________________

The crisp, early morning air filled your lungs as you stepped outside onto the pavement, leaving your apartment building. The low rumble of motorbikes filled your ears as the bikers across the road convened, ready to go about their day. You weren’t like the other tenants in your building, you didn’t hate the biker, Bucky Barnes that lived across from you, or that his gang of bikers would show up every morning. You were afraid to admit it even to yourself, but you enjoyed it, seeing all of the bikers around. They had never once been rude to you or bullied you like the people in your building said they would. You’d never even seen them be the bullies everyone made them out to be. You were painfully shy, you kept to yourself and you usually didn’t gravitate towards other people, but those bikers really didn’t seem like the type to hurt you.

 Your rude and annoying neighbour, Gladys was on old woman that lived across the hall from you and every time you saw her around the building, she would talk your ear off about how unsafe you were every time you stepped out of your building to walk to work while those bikers were there, but you didn’t see them as a threat. Maybe that made you stupid, but you just couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t as tough and scary as everyone made them out to be.

 You turned to walk down the street, catching a glimpse of Bucky leaning against his bike facing you. God he was unbelievably handsome, his long hair effortlessly falling from behind his ear, his stubbled jaw, the obviously well cared for leather jacket he lived in, the roughed up black jeans he wore and those combat boots. Maybe it was bad that someone so small, shy and innocent was so attracted to him. You’d barely spoken a word to him, aside from the odd greeting here and there. You realised you had been looking at him for way too long when you came out of your thoughts and saw that he was looking right back at you with a smirk playing on his lips. You flash him a shy smile and continue walking down the sidewalk to the bookshop you worked at.

 At the end of your shift, just after lunch, you headed over to the grocery store to do your weekly shop. On your way home, you cursed yourself for buying way more than you could carry. Rounding the corner to your street, you see Bucky out on his driveway tinkering with his bike. The clumsy movements you were making with the overly heavy load of bags digging into your hands caught his attention and he looked up from his crouched position. Dropping his tools, Bucky stood and eyed you for a moment, catching your line of sight. He was no longer wearing his jacket and had a red flannel shirt on and his hair was tied back in a loose bun, strands of hair cascading around his chiselled features. “Hey, uh, do you need some help?” He calls across the road to you. Pausing in your step, you look down at your bags. The thought of hauling them up three flights of stairs made you feel tired already. Imagine the gossip that’ll go around the complex if someone sees you with Bucky Barnes. What if Gladys sees you with him? Screw Gladys. “If it’s not any trouble.” You smile sweetly at him, caving to his offer. At this point, you didn’t give a shit what Gladys thought, you arms felt like they were about to drop off.

 Bucky jogs across the road and stops in front of you, holding out his hands to relieve you of some of your bags. “What’s your name, doll?” Bucky asks, taking one of the heavier bags from you. “(Y/n), (Y/n) (L/n).” You introduce yourself, looking up at him sheepishly. “Nice to meet ya, (Y/n), I’m Bucky.” He smiled, it seemed like a genuine smile. His voice was deep and gravelly but sounded so nice. “Here let me take all of them.” Bucky grabs the last few bags from your hands but before you could protest, he gives you a beautiful grin, his teeth are perfectly white and well aligned. God why did he have to be so attractive? “I’ve seen you around, you live in that old apartment building, right?” Bucky nods his head to the old red brick building. You nod and glance up at your apartment balcony. “I see you out there in the evening sometimes while I’m out here with my pal, Steve.” Bucky admitted, following your line of vision up to your balcony. “Everyone in that building looks at us like we’re…” He pauses. “Criminals?” You suggest, Bucky nods in response. “My neighbour is terrified of you.” You scoff. “Are you?” Bucky walks you up to the front door of the building. “Scared of you? No. You’ve never done anything to make me feel like I should be.” You shrug, unlocking the door and pushing it open for Bucky to pass through. “Glad there’s at least someone isn’t scared of us.” Bucky chuckles to himself as you approach the stairwell.

 “You work nearby?” Bucky strikes further conversation as you begin your climb. “Yeah, the café bookshop a few blocks away.” You nod, pointing in the general direction of it’s location. “Maybe I’ll drop in some time.” Bucky smiles down at you as you reach the first floor and continue the climb. “I didn’t take you for a book and coffee type’a guy, Bucky.” You smirk. Bucky hums a response. “There’s a lot of things about me that’d surprise ya, doll.” He nudges you.

 You eventually reach your apartment and you feel a pang of sadness that you have to end your conversation with Bucky. “Would you like to come in and have a coffee? It’s the least I can do since you carried all of my shopping up for me.” You suggest, fumbling nervously with your keys. “I just might take you up on that offer, doll.” Bucky grins at you. At that very moment, your neighbour’s door is flung open and Gladys steps into the hallways, staring at you both wide eyed as you unlock the apartment. You’re facing your door so you don’t see her, but you know she’s there, the dramatic gasp coming from her confirms its Gladys. You push open your door and reach for your bags, but Bucky gently pushes away your hand. “I got it, doll.” Bucky says, collecting together all of your groceries again. You shoot a look across at Gladys who looks like she’s about to have a heart attack.

 “Afternoon, Gladys.” You sing song to her. “What are you doing with that man in our apartment building?” She fumes, pointing angrily at Bucky as he enters your apartment. “Bucky? Oh he’s just helping me out, he’s a real sweet guy, Gladys.” You say, hoping to dear god Bucky didn’t hear you say that now that he’s disappeared into your kitchen. “But, he could kill me, the man’s a criminal!” She shouts, her voice reverberating off the hallway walls. Bucky certainly was not a criminal. “Well if he kills anyone, Gladys, it’ll be me over coffee in my apartment.” You scoff, turning to enter your flat. She grabs your arm and yanks you back, surprising you with the strength she had since she always seemed so frail. “He is the devil incarnate.” She hisses. “You know what Gladys?” You frown, backing into your apartment. Before you can continue, Bucky sidles up to you and looks over at Gladys, her eyes fill with terror. “Is there a problem here, doll?” Bucky asks you, looking over your shoulder. “No, Bucky, Gladys was just on her way back to her apartment.” You say curtly before closing the door and letting out a deep sigh.

 “She the neighbour you mentioned?” He asks. “Yeah, that’s Gladys.” You confirm. “She throws her newspaper at me when I’m working on my bike.” He shakes his head. You can’t help but burst out laughing. Little old Gladys throws her newspaper at Bucky Barnes. “So, I’m a real sweet guy, huh?” Bucky recites what you said and you feel a blush creeping onto your cheeks. He chuckles at your silent reaction. “Don’t worry doll, it was sweet of you to defend me, I appreciate it.” He grins and you practically melt under his gaze. “Let me help you put your shopping away.” Bucky moves over to the kitchen where he had neatly placed all of the bags. “No, no, you’ve already done enough, let me make you a drink while I unpack it all.” You shake your head, but Bucky insists and somehow, between his charm and the sweet looks he gives you, he manages to get you to agree to allow him to help you put away your groceries.

 The two of you are lounging out on your balcony, with a coffee each. “You ever been on a motorbike before doll?” Bucky asks, breaking the comfortable silence. You shake your head, taking a sip of your coffee. “You wanna go for a ride with me sometime, doll?” He asks, sitting forward in his seat, the chair creaking slightly as he moves. “I’d love to, I am a bit afraid though.” You admit, your cheeks heating up again. Bucky flashes you a sympathetic smile and tucks some of his loose strands of hair behind his ear, reaching behind his neck to adjust his bun slightly. “I’ll make sure you’re safe, doll.” He reaches forward and pats your hand gently. “So what d’ya say?” He questions, gripping the handle of his mug. “I’d love to.” You decide on the spot, knowing you’ll probably regret agreeing to that, but you also know it’s good to force yourself out of your comfort zone once in a while. Bucky gives you a satisfied hum in response but looks down onto the street when he hears the low rumble of a bike approaching.

 You both sit and wait, seeing his friend Steve pull up outside of his house, looking around at the empty garage. Steve turns off his bike and pulls his helmet off, his blonde hair landing in a messy mop on the top of his head. “Hey bud!” Bucky calls down. Steve turns around and looks up at the two of you confused. “I’ll be down in a few.” Bucky informs him before taking the last sip of his coffee. “I’m sorry, I gotta go, but thanks for the coffee, doll, perhaps we can do it again some time?” Bucky asks. “Sure.” You nod. “Great, how about coffee at mine tomorrow? Ride included.” He adds on the end, winking at you. You giggle and nod. “Sweet, I’ll see you after your shift tomorrow then?” He proposes and you nod immediately. “Thank you for your help, Bucky.” You grin up at him as he takes both of your mugs inside, putting them on the counter for you. “Anytime doll.” He responds. Bucky goes for the door, but before he can leave, you grab his hand and pull his attention back to you. Reaching up on your toes, you plant a gentle kiss on his cheek and Bucky chuckles to himself, the low deep rumble in his chest ignites a little smile on your lips. “See ya tomorrow, doll.” Bucky winks at you, backing out of the doorway, keeping eye contact with you until he turns to walk away.

 You close your apartment door and smile to yourself. Bucky Barnes, the tall, muscular biker everyone was terrified of, is a big soft guy who likes to drink coffee and read books. Who knew? You couldn’t wait to see him the next day. You almost wanted Gladys to see you hanging out with Bucky again, god help her if she ever saw you on the back of his bike.

 A little while later, you peaked out of your still open balcony door, seeing Bucky outside talking to his friend Steve. They laughed about something and Bucky turned to point up at your balcony, a wide grin on his face and then his features softened when he caught sight of you and waved up at you, Steve following and also waving at you. You smiled and waved back and wondered what your coffee with Bucky had in store for you tomorrow.

[shesmyplusone]

i’ve been seeing just endless number of posts on this webbed site lately about villains. and i am Tired. So much endless discourse about “all villains don’t need redemption arcs” or “this villain is evil and i know and i don’t care” or “this villain is evil and i care so much that you like them/ship them with someone else” or “giving this villain depth is just as good as saying they are flawless” or “disney, one of the largest companies in the world, is making movies and i have nothing better to do than complain about it on the internet”  and i am. tired.

as someone who’s been around the block too many times with this level of discourse, here’s my two cents: villains/antagonist/whatever you want to call them are important aspects of any story, and most stories need them. depending on the genre of the media, the length, the audience, the creator, the villain(s) will be treated differently, and different people will react to them in different ways. Some people will love them just as they are, a character who creates conflict for the protagonist, and want them to keep doing that. creating chaos. Some people will like the villain and want them to keep making chaos and also maybe kiss someone on the mouth. Sometimes people will want them to be explored more, to see them what put them on a path to create so much conflict. Some people will want to see them grow from antagonism, to either work with the protagonist, or at least not actively attempt to stop them. Others will hate their guts, no matter which of these stories they get, and will not be quiet about it.

the real issues come when people who interpret the character differently interact, which makes sense at some level- “the version of character i’ve made is my head is right and yours in wrong” and all that- but man. i’m tired of generalizations about villains. i saw a post that was saying all villains are being romanticized and named two situations- Kylo Ren (because really, all this villain discourse started with him and it always goes back to him) and a YA series I haven’t engaged with. I would argue back, as i always do, that a star wars character, famously the grandson of a character who died preforming an act of redemption, was ALWAYS going to be redeemed in a sci-fi fairy tale. so, obviously. But there was nothing in the text that “romanticized”his actions as a villains. He only got the girl when he STOPPED being a villain! If anything, that’s the opposite of the argument. People thinking he’s hot does not equal the story itself telling you what he’s doing is to be idealized.

And the YA series I haven’t engaged with, well (It was Sarah J Mass, for reference) I can’t speak to that, but I can speak to another YA fandom, which currently has a mess of a situation going on with their own villain- Shadow and Bone/Grishaverse. I read these books many years ago, and while I always found the Darkling engaging as a villain, I never wanted him to end up with Alina. Their dynamic, while really fun to read about, never had read to me like a healthy dynamic for Alina in the long run, which is one of the most important qualities for me when engaging with fictional relationships. Obviously- plenty of people disagreed! I’ve never (for this pairing or any other) gone out of my way to bug/go after people who liked it, which man, i do wish other people on the internet would also do the same, and honestly, i have no issues with people who like a fictional relationship that i don’t-everyone has different tastes! It’s fine!

The only real complaint I have here isn’t even with people who enjoy Alina and the Darkling, but with people who treat the author of the series like she’s the real antagonist for not getting them together. She had actively written this relationship to parallel her own abusive relationship, and while i don’t think this means you can’t still engage with them differently, it seems. bad taste to me to tell her she wrote her own characters “out of character” in a series of YA novels. This is a case where the text doesn’t romanticize the villain, but the readers/fans do.

the solution here might be to engage with more complex texts, or maybe simply stay out of fandom spaces, or pray for everyone on the internet to gain the ability to see nuance in stories.

I’m not holding my breathe for the last one.

[floosies]

Trouble Ch.10

paring: mob!bucky/mob!frank x oc!reader

summary: Elizabeth’s brother Frank, was man who looked for trouble and Bucky was just that. As much as he tried to make sure she didn’t get involved trouble, he knew it wouldn’t stop her from getting involved with it.

warnings: assault, violence, and blood

A/N: This will be the final part. It has been a rollercoaster, and I’m thankful if you stuck around. There may be an epilogue but I’m not too sure yet. I hope you enjoy this last bit.

Song Inspiration : Some Unholy War - Amy Winehouse

Series Masterlist

Lizzie sat on Karen’s couch with a beer in hand. The anger in her dying down a bit but not enough to where she felt like a burned out candle. There was still some flames that couldn’t stop burning bright. Men were assholes 99 percent of the time and the one percent where they weren’t was when they were sleeping or dead. At least that’s how she felt about them as a whole at the moment.

Peggy had decided to go with the girls for the night, “can you just explain what happened?” Again, explaining herself she saw Peggy’s face go from no emotion to the same scowl that Elizabeth wore. Karen, sighed not out of boredom but of disbelief. After finishing explaining the situation, she chugged whatever of the beer was left. 

There was silence. Karen came back from the kitchen with a couple more cans. Peggy took one before speaking  “you should have killed him then and there. I understand why you didn’t but I probably would have.” The girls shrugged in agreement at the statement. The guy was dead now anyways so it didn’t matter anymore. It was getting late, and Peggy had to leave. In coincidental turn of events, Frank showed up as she opened Karen’s front door. Rolling her eyes she sighed, “look what the cat dragged in.” Lizzie turned around to see her brother with a box of pizza. 

He could tell he was still in deep shit from earlier, “listen I come bearing gifts. Please, I just wanna talk.” The girls rolled their eyes but agreed to let him in. Peggy said her goodbyes and wished him good luck. He looked at the girls he loved, they wore their anger well. The pizza box was set down on the coffee table, “firstly imma apologize. ‘Lizabeth you’re my blood you gotta understand the moment I found you, I didn’t wanna lose you again. Karen, you had every right to give her that gun. You two are smart without a doubt but I’ve lost a lot and I can’t afford to lose you two.” By now he was sat on the edge of that coffee table starring at his sister and girlfriend.

She could see her brother’s eyes getting glossy, she couldn’t stay mad at him forever. For what it’s worth he’d always tried to give her some kinda decent life. Giving him a soft smile, she leaned in to hug him. “Don’t go all soft on me Frankie, you gotta scare off people for me.” He chuckled into the hug. Looking up he saw a smiling Karen, “c’mere you.” Lizzie pulled away letting them have a moment, it was both awkward and sweet seeing them kiss. 

Safe to say he ended up staying with them. They ate the peace treaty pizza and ended up making fun of some tv show that was on. It was a light moment that didn’t come often. Maybe it was what could be, if things evened out with their lives. The moment couldn’t go on forever though, Karen had work in the morning and Frank had to report back. So the night was called short after the show ended.

The morning was groggy, Lizzie didn’t want to wake up but Karen shook her awake. Through hazy eyes she looked at the blonde, “what? It’s like 7 am probably.” Rolling her eyes Karen spoke, “Bucky’s at the door. He’s looking for you.” That woke her up, she didn’t care for how she looked at the moment. Getting up, she looked around. “Frank is still asleep, trust me his snoring is a good clue.” Nodding, she walked to the door, opening it entirely. He stood there looking all suave and put together with flowers in his hand.

He thought she looked cute when she just woke up, “good morning.” She looked annoyed, “is it?” He chuckled at her attitude, she was still pissed though. “Okay, okay, listening I wanted to apologize about last night. Lemme take you out to breakfast? Please, I just wanna talk.” She thought about it, he handed her the flowers with a stupid smile on his face. Sometimes she wondered why she loved the idiot. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking but she took the flowers and let him in. 

Karen was grabbing some things for work, when she saw him taking a seat on her couch, “wait there. I’m gonna get ready.” She looked at Lizzy confused, “he wants to talk.” Lizzy shrugged to which Karen nodded, “i’m heading out. Please let Frank know when you guys are leaving.” Fuck, he knew Frank was going to be here last night but he didn’t think he’d stayed the night. By the time all that was said, both the girls had left the room. Hoping for the best Bucky distracted himself with making some business calls.

Was it the best idea to have him wait in the apartment? She really hoped her brother didn’t try and fight him like they usually do. The fear of them messing up her friend’s apartment made her hurry getting ready. When she got back to the living room, she saw them talking. Frank smiled at her, “bring me back some coffee would ya?” She nodded not sure what happened that made them so chummy but she wasn’t complaining. 

They left her brother on his own, Bucky had a calm sense about as he drove back to Brooklyn from Hell’s Kitchen. Something was off though, they passed a couple restaurants as the car went along, “so we’re not getting breakfast.” She tried to stay calm wondering what he was planning, “we are doll. First I wanna show you something though.” The black Impala he drove pulled into a parking lot. Before curiosity could set in, he was opening the car door for her. 

It was a gloomy day and the parking lot was empty, they stood by the car hood looking around. Bucky had a smile on his face as he thought of the past fondly, “they used to be an apartment complex. There was eight floors, I lived on the seventh.” He pointed to the end of parking lot where there was a fence, “that was the back of it. That’s where I used to meet some wise guy and run shit errands for my old boss. It’s also where my ma found me and gave me my first beatin’ for messing around with those guys.” She listened intently as he went on, “the tree stump on that sidewalk on the other side of the fence is where I saved Steve’s ass, he was gonna get robbed.” He walked over to the fence that separated the stump from them. Looking back at her, he could see her confusion. “My ma and pa kicked me out when they found me carrying some snow around. It just needed to be hidden. I chose the life I have now because I was tired of living in the two bedroom rat shit covered hole we were supposed to call home. In return my blood turned their backs on me. Anytime I tried to do anything kind for them, it was either returned or never received. Both my sisters refused my wedding gifts, or money for the celebration. I’m nothing but mob scum to them. After that, I realized most people gave no fucks about me Betty.” 

She neared him and with a soft voice she uttered out, “I give a fuck about you.” He didn’t look at her,”I know you do. Which is why I got scared I lost you after you stormed out last night. I don’t have that much trust in the people who work for me. They only know how to fear me, if I died they’d cheer. Betty you wouldn’t though, that’s why you’re holding me like this. That’s why my heart races when I see ya mad at me. I can’t afford to lose you. You get this fucked up life, and you don’t judge.” Her hold on him was strong enough to where he felt like this was the affection he was refused for so long. 

It was understood why he brought her here, “yeah maybe the shit you do isn’t right but you don’t mess with people who don’t already have it coming. James, you’re an alright guy, you got heart. That’s why I love you.” They shared a kiss after that, something that had so much feeling in it. When the pair pulled away, he walked her back to the car.

Before they left the lot he asked her something, “would you open the glovebox?” She nodded doing so, inside was a black velvet box. He nodded for her to grab it, “open it doll.” The box opened like a book, inside of it, laying in silk was a customized gun. It was wine red with her initials engraved on the grip. There was also yellow diamond necklace laced with rubies. He could see the surprise on her face, “you’re out of your mind Barnes.” It was followed by a happy laugh.

The breakfast meal was at his favorite diner. The one he grew up at as a kid, where everyone knew him as Barnesy. Except now they also called his Betty, Ellie which was fine with her. They sat at a booth for a while after, just talking. not about his old mob days, instead they chose to talk about who they were as children, when innocence was still there. Before trouble came and messed up everything. Before they found each other’s safety.

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @that-english-nerd (she/hers)

what are you working on right now? Three things!

My next chapter for my witch!AU where Bellamy is the son of a witch, and Clarke enlists his help to find out what happened to her father and his sister.

And a prompt for @bellarkefic-for-blm  with princess!Clarke and knight!Bellamy. It's a little outside of my comfort zone but I enjoy writing it. I currently have stumbled upon some technical difficulties where I lost everything I wrote for it so now I'm back to square one.

I’m also looking for the next chapter of a Voltron fic I’ve been working on. It’s super silly but it’s ridiculous amounts of fun, I want to write so much for it.

what’s something you’d like to write one day? I think it's been a pipe dream of mine to write a novel that captures the spirit of the YA books I grew up on but that people of all ages can enjoy. I want it to be my ultimate self-indulgent fantasy where I combine all the things I loved as a reader. A fantasy/sci-fi, action, a good satisfying romance, complex emotions.

It's also important to me that the main character is brown-skinned like I am, and that the book discusses different philosophies and cultures without ever saying one is right. Growing up as the child of immigrants, I've always struggled with clashing cultures and it took me a while to learn that neither culture is more right than the other, and that our differences in how we think are what makes being human meaningful. I want something that acknowledges those parts of the human experience without villainizing or glorifying its existence.

what is the fanwork you’re most proud of? Honestly? It's this moodboard I made for my Winx Club!AU. I really like how it came out aesthetically speaking, and I'm fond of the story. I do have some things I'd change about the story stemming from the fact I wrote it one sitting but I don't know if I'll ever make the changes. Still. It was a fun piece to write.

why did you first start writing fic? I really, really just wanted to write some more scenes for my favorite couples who I felt were robbed in books. I just wanted to write some cute shit, man. Since then I’ve written for 39 Clues, Maximum Ride, Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Powerpuff Girls, Hush, Hush, Danny Phantom, Giver, Legend of Korra, Jimmy Neutron, Code Lyoko, 100, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Lucifer, and Penryn & the End of Days.

what frustrates you most about fic writing? plot. specifically, non-emotional plot. like what even is that. If the plot is driven by emotional development, it’s still hard to come up with specific structures for moments but like if things need to happen outside of their emotions, oh whee boy do I struggle. For me, emotions tend to naturally evolve from one thing into the next and it’s easy for the characters to lead me where their emotions take them. It’s harder when things need to develop outside of that.

Other than that, motivation is a big roadblock. Struggling with depression, anxiety and my other responsibilities, I can go without touching a piece of writing for months. I feel the itch very often but it’s one that goes unindulged.

what are your top five songs right now? - Experience by Victoria Monét with Kahlid, SG Lewis  - BALI by Rich Brian with Guapdad 100 - Etch by RILEY THE MUSICIAN with Iker - Culver by Mac Wetha

what are your inspirations? Usually pictures or stories! My witch!AU was inspired by an aesthetic picture I saw on tumblr and most of my other stuff has been inspired by other stuff I read. It’s not necessarily specific plot points—though, sometimes some plot threads are too good to give up—but rather the emotional journey the characters go through. Poems and other media also feed the old noggin.

what first attracted you to Bellarke? what attracts you now? It turns out I have a thing for reluctant partners turned lovers. I really liked how the two shouldered responsibilities that no one else really had, and that despite their differences, they had the capacity to understand and empathize with each other when no one else would. It would've been so easy for Bellamy and Clarke to fall into an endless cycle of blaming each other for their decisions. We see it in the other characters, in other TV shows--a constant battle where only one person's philosophy can prevail. But with Bellamy and Clarke, they have always shown empathy and accepted each other. It might not have been right, maybe they themselves would've done something different, but at the end of the day, Bellamy and Clarke try to understand and accept each other for who they are. Present tense. I think that kind of, frankly mature, love is something we don't see in media all too often.

BESIDES Bellarke, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? hmmmm

I do enjoy memori, they make me happy. I also have a soft spot for Raven and Roan. Anything with Wells is gold bc I really want to see how he could've changed the show. Oh, and Minty. This wonderful idea will always be a favorite of mine.

why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? I’ve been wanting to do more for a bit because I, personally, avoid social media activism. @bellarkefic-for-blm  is an amazing way to leverage whatever platform I have to incite awareness and action by using my strengths. I can do this really cool thing that I enjoy to help something critically important.

what’s your writing process like (esp for prompts, chopped!, etc)? it’s a hot diggity dog mess. I kind of do whatever I feel like. If I want to write a scene, I’ll write a scene. If I want to write dialogue, I’ll write dialogue. If I want to write an outline, I’ll write an outline. Chronological order is not guaranteed. Because writing tends to be an extremely emotionally exhaustive task for me, it’s easier for me to write more if I let go and follow whatever whims I have so that I don’t compromise my urge to write. My guarantee is that I try to milk the whim for whatever it’s worth. If I start an outline, I’ll finish it. I’ll have music in usually but I’ll pause it often to think about whatever it is I need to say.

what are some things you’d like to recommend? Some bellarke fics that’ll make you chuckle: So put your hands down my pants and I bet you’ll feel nuts by Chash You know you drive me up the wall by coffee_grounders The (Bullet Pointed) Life and Times of Bellamy Blake by crystalkei, dirtytrix

Other than that:

-       Albums: Ungodly Hour by Chloe x Halle, SAWAYAMA by Rina Sawayama, Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers -       Musicians: Matt Nathanson, Mat Kearney -       TV Shows: Nikita, Code Lyoko -       Books: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

You can find her on here on Tumblr @that-english-nerd, or on her AO3 here. Request a fic written by her via @bellarkefic-for-blm.

[echo-inthevoid]

Season 2 q&a and overall reaction

Jonny stealing everyone's names XD 

Is martin going to be ok!? I also need to know! 

He said no;-; 

ok ya, no one's gonna be ok. 

Ya, he must do sooo much research. 

Ya, except for "fatigue" lol.

Eyyy the mechanisms!! 

What's the red string brigade? Ok, I guess a group of fans theorizing about stuff. 

Oh ok so someone else did martins poetry. Ooh, there's more martin poetry out there! *grabby hands*

Ok ya, Alex clarifying that Jon isn't stupid he just makes poor decisions. Probably if he'd paused and thought about it (like I did lol, I had to go do some stuff in the middle of that ep and thought about it a whole bunch lol) instead of immediately going out and buying an axe and further isolating himself and panicking immediately he probably would have figured it out. This is why it's bad to panic in a crisis guys. 

Eyyy! Jonny's parents voiced Gertrude and Leitner! That's so cool. 

XD Jonny grumbling about having to work with his parents. 

Hmm, I hadn't really thought of Gertrude being like a mother figure in the story? She just seems very cut-throat I guess from what Leitner said. Idk so far I've been very suspicious of her. Especially since that one statement where her photo burned a whole bunch of people or something. She just seems very shady... 

Alex chortling over Jonny's pain. XD

Side note, Every time there's a q&a I just can't stop noticing Jonny's voice going in and out of archivist range? Like most of the time I'm just listening along and then he'll say a sentence a bit grumblier and my brains immediately like "ARCHIVIST! That's THE ARCHIVIST!!" 

Martin would be the last one alive in Friday the 13th! It's official! 

(Is it bad that this gives me hope)

Jon likes Nonfiction, documentaries, and probably collects something just a little bit weird. *writes down for use in potential fics* 

also while im at it I remember jon saying he dislikes coffee at one point,  and so many people have him liking coffee in their fics! This has been your daily reminder of that fact because ever since then it keeps bugging me lol. (But also do whatever u want.)

Alex's spluttering sounds so much like Martin.

Yes!! I want to hear jon sing!! Yes! Musical Episode When!!?

Ah yes yes yes! All the characters are so unique!!? How does he do it!! 

Ya, it being in audio format sometimes makes it hard to understand what's happening in the live-action bits. (Live-action is the wrong word but u know what I mean.)

Oh ok ya, how he mentioned he got a pipe was quite clever I didn't realize that that's why he mentioned it at all. 

Ooh, there's a manga where there's something similar to Michael? I'll have to look that up later...

XD Alex and Jonny arguing about apples. 

Ok, so all the statements we're hearing ARE for reals. I kinda assumed but good to have it confirmed.

They used to hang out together!!? Work function curry nights!! ;-; 

Ya Ya! Who made the leitners!?

"You are assuming a book needs to be written" ...ok then. (but it has to have been created somehow??? Did they just spring fully formed from the powers? why? And why take the form of books?)

Alex's mischievous laugh about whether jon has friends *trembles in fear*

Yes!! Micheal is so good! I'm so happy they love him too! Yesyes! His laugh! 

Ah Yes!! Mary kaey was so creepy! 

XD yes yes yes fatigue was written on zero sleep, I knew it! 

Akskdjdkd I love them so much. Also, I've looked up Michaels voice actor luke booys and he does some other horrory type sketches n stuff and I kiiinda want to do a little animatic with some of those but it's Michael like annoying some poor soul lost in his halls... I think that'd be fun. I wonder if anyone's done that yet? If so someone send me the links I neeeed iiitt :3

Season 2 summary:

Uuuuu ya so this season was really good. I kinda listened to it in bursts of about ten episodes every couple weeks and then have been saving up the reactions to post later so these are usually going up about a week or so after I actually listened to the episode just FYI. 

I also do have a lot of spoilers cause I can't keep myself away from fanfic and people don't always tag for spoilers and I kiiinda wana know what's coming beforehand anyway? Idk it's hard man I get very stressed about what might happen and then also listening to too much at a time is too spooky for my poor little heart so I gotta read the less spooky fanfic to fulfill the hyperfixation you see. (If anyone has fanfic with spoilers only up to season 2 that'd be great btw) 

Anyway, I try not to take spoiler type stuff into account unless I'm just so sure of it I can't really not acknowledge that I know about it. 

Also, can I just talk about Michael for a minute?? Cause he's such a unique character? And I guess maybe there are other characters like him but I haven't ever seen one -tho to be fair tma is only like the third horror thing I've ever really got into (the other two are the SCP Foundation in its various forms and Little Nightmares. Hence why I keep making reference to SCP it's really the only thing I know similar to this.) But he's such a cool concept!!? Like someTHING that still has a personality? He's so not human? Like I get what he says but also I don't really? Idk im pretty sure he's an avatar right? Right?? Idk if that means he was a person at some point? But all this to say that he is probably the most inhuman character I've come across so far and I'm trying to figure out what it is about him that's so "other" to me? Like... I don't really know what Micheal's deal is? he seems to want to be sort of a neutral mischief-maker but also it seems like he keeps getting invested. But also I just love the way he talks about himself. Like he's a monster that has a personality and is fully intelligent but isn't just evil but isn't neutral either and certainly isn't benevolent. Like he's so complex and just,,,, the idea of a "thing" that's got a personality?? I love it? Kind of like dryads or spirits of things? Like the idea that after a long time things gain personality just by existing? Not that that's what Michael is necessarily? but that same sort of concept applies to him I think. Like the way he IS the maze and wants to help but wants to just watch but wants to kill them all. He's just so interestinggggggg. (And another vision of what jon could become?)

 also "es Mentiras" is a beautiful name 💕

So are him and not-Sasha avatars? Not-Sasha also seems completely inhuman and I was under the impression that avatars were (or used to be) human? Or are they like personifications of their power? Do all the powers have personifications of themselves. not-Sasha seems even less human than Michael? Like she seems to just really genuinely enjoy causing fear? Tho I guess we didn't really get to hear a lot of her. She just seemed kinda gleefully angry most of the time we heard from her. Was she... Human once!???

Anyway. Also, can I just talk about leitners line about jon belonging to the eye!!? Just..*chefs kiss* hnnnngg I need more jon grappling with that. I just need more everyone dealing with the fallout post all of the finallies ok? I still need more of jon angsting over his worms scars and stuff and now I also need jon freaking out about belonging to a fear god power thing. 

Also Martin! Is Martin ok? He sure did a lot of yelling which he doesn't usually? Look I love him and he actually thinks before he acts (unlike SOME people *looks at jon*) and he writes poetry and it is pretty good poetry ok!! And he cares about everyone and just wants a happy ending and aaaaa😭

Petition to get some statements from Martin's pov tho? I mean that's not gonna happen cause Jon's the archivist but I want more martin pov!! Maybe we can get some of his poem tapes??? Pls????? 

I feel so bad for Tim. It sounds like he's kinda fallen into despair.

Also Elias!!? Is showing his spooky side!!? He can control cameras and beat a man to death with a pipe!!? This is his "place of powerr"!!? I am afeared!!? At least jon knows he shouldn't trust him now. Oh jeez, I wonder if jon will listen back to the tape and know what happened. Thhhatsss rough. Oh dear, I hope he doesn't feel guilty cause Leitner did keep trying to hurry him and now everyone thinks it was him. Even martin thinks he did it? Wich like I kinda want to hear more of his thoughts on that? How much does he believe that jon did it? Tim certainly seems pretty certain but he's a bit biased and cynical right now so. 

And they were in the maze for DAYS? 

Now I need martin recovering from being stuck with Tim in Michaels maze for days being angry and worried and hungry etc... Dksjdksa knowing jon could be dying RIGHT NOW and there's nothing he can do. Please someone give me the fic links if this exists!! I've already written like 5 drabbles based entirely on spoilers/other fics (which I'll probably post (w/ links to their inspirations) once I'm caught up and can make sure I'm not just completely demolishing cannon lol. 

Leitner didn't even scream or yell or anything when he was murdered. Literally the chillest dude ever. F

Overall super great, Elias is terrifying, let's dive into the next season!!! I've got 2 seasons to finish in like, less than 2 or so weeks(?) if I wana be caught up by season 5 hhhh,,,

Better get started I guess.