#but also them oggling each other was hilarious

[nspolaris]

read the sunshine court and have never been more impatient in needing a second book my god

[sunlightandsuffering]

I can imagine Hisu being such a little shit in the sizequeen au, finding it hilarious that 2 of her friends so clearly have a thing for each other and trying to get reactions out of them by teasing/provoking how attracted to each other they are.

Like she'll be hanging out with Eren one day and is like "So me and the girls went to the beach the other day. Mikasa was there as well. You should've seen her! She was wearing this cute new bikini Sasha bought her but I think it might've been a size too small for her, her boobs were practically spilling out of it." All while Eren is trying to act uninterested just hmming and nodding as he mindlessly scrolls through his phone for a distraction. Historia knows this so she makes sure to throw in that "So many guys were oggling Mika at the beach, and some even tried flirting with her, she might've even gotten one of their numbers". Eren keeps up the facade but she can tell that he's clenching his jaw and gripping his phone in frustration.

She then tells him that she took some pictures while they were there and whether Eren would want to see any of them, to which he finally looks at her and tries to act as nonchalant as possible while also pushing Historia to show him. She loves seeing him so desperate and in the end tells him in exchange for her sending him the pictures he either has to pay her upfront or buy her all her drinks the next time they go out drinking together. To which Eren agrees to immediately because he just really needs to see those pictures of Mikasa, for entirely personal reasons ofc.

And the next time she's with Mikasa she'll be like "So I was at a house party with Eren the other day and these 2 girls were all over him. They were being so obvious, twirling their hair, laughing at everything he says, running their hands up his arms. They were both practically sat on his lap by the end of the night. I caught one rubbing his crotch through his sweatpants, and I'll just say she seemed very impressed by what she felt if you know what I mean. Eren later picked up that same girl with one arm as if she weighed nothing and took her upstairs to one the spare bedrooms. Let's just say you could hear the bangs and screams even over the music blasting downstairs. Poor girl, if you ask me I doubt she was capable of handling a guy like Eren. She was a similar height to me, barely over 5ft so I don't think she was built to handle a guy as blessed as Eren in a certain department.".

Historia saying all this to Mikasa with a knowing look on her face while Mika is blushing and squirming in her chair a little bit, digging her nails into her thighs. Covering up her flushed feelings by instead acting outraged "Well I generally don't like girls like them, who just throws themselves at guys at parties just because they find them a bit hot. And the same goes for Eren, I expected better of him but he seems like a sleazy guy who'll just fuck any short thing in a tight dress. I have no intention of getting familiar with a guy who sleeps around like that." All while Historia's just like righhttttttt because whenever Eren comes up in conversation Mikasa's breath hitches and she gets a lil flustered regardless of the context, she's so obvious and oblivious about it but in a cute way.

tbh i feel like HIsu is a little shit in every AU I put her in, she's jsut there being so sweetly chaotic no matter what she's doing lol!! but in size queen AU 100% more so ! I can totally see her doing this especially once she realizes that they like each other lol. Like rn, she doesn't know yet, but she realizes pretty quick Eren has a thing for her new bestie! But as soon as she finds out BOTH of them like each other, cue chaos! her bringing Mikasa back to Eren's place after spin classes so he's forced to see her in her tight little biker shorts, see her ass in HD, forgetting to meet both of them for lunch lol so they're forced to just hangout together, and of course jealousy! she's such a devild child.

[wwitbeyondmeasure]

Summer at the Burrow: r.w. fan fiction

Previous Chapters

Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match 

Chapter 7: Girl Talk

Lunch passed by in a whirl. Numerous freckled hands snatched sandwiches off plates and scarfed them down. Jokes were played on family members as messes were made on the wooden table. The atmosphere of the dinning table in the Burrow was as it always was: chaotic and wonderful. However, you had a hard time enjoying the usual festivities. Your mind, and heart, with both still upstairs with Ron in that tiny bathroom. You wished more than anything to be back there, leaning in to the one person you wanted more than anything.

You risked a glance at Ron. He was unusually silent, not bothering to jump in when the discussion turned towards Quidditch. His eyes met yours and your heart skipped a beat. His cheeks reddened as he looked away quickly. You couldn't help but think that his thoughts were also focused on the same moment that had been replaying in your head.

"Y/n, do you want thirds?" Ginny asked from across the table. She had always been clever, and her steady look let you know she noticed your absent disposition. Her arched brow and knowing eyes told you that you needed to talk- soon. You shook your head to answer her question, despite how good the sandwiches were.

The rest of the day was spent doing chores. With most of the Weasley family home this summer, along with some additional guests, the house got messy very quickly.

"Couldn't you just magic everything clean?" George grumbled at his mother when she gave the list of chores to the group.

Mrs. Weasley's tone was as cold as ice. "Maybe if you children wouldn't have dragged mud all over the house after your Quidditch game, I would be happy to use magic. But since you did bring the entire garden into this house, you will clean it yourselves!" Her narrowed glare lessened as she looked upon you and Hermione.

"Of course, I don't blame you dears. You can rest while my children- yes Harry that includes you- clean the house," she told you with a loving smile.

Despite the offer, Ginny forced you and Hermione to help her sweep and mop the floors. The twins were tasked with putting away all their joke items and Harry and Ron were outside degnoming the garden for the second time that week.

To lighten the mood, you ran upstairs to retrieve the muggle radio you brought from home. You spent a lot of your time listening to it while you were lonely, dancing around your room when you knew no one would be watching. Turning the dial to your favorite station, you placed the radio on the shelf so everyone could hear it. Then your chores begun.

Sweeping wasn't so bad while you were doing it with your best friends. You joked and laughed the entire time, singing badly and off-key to your favorite songs. Ginny used her mop handle as a microphone to dramatically serenade Hermione. The twins even joined in on the fun by dancing next to you, feather dusters in hand. You threw your head back in a laugh as Ginny fell to her knees for her final solo.

This is what family is, you thought to yourself.

You didn't notice when Ron stopped in from outside to grab water for him and Harry. You didn't notice his gaze softened as he watched you dancing with his family. You didn't notice his eyes dropping to the way your hips swayed to the music, and you didn't hear Harry mumble, "Mate, you're whipped," to his friend.

                                                            ...

The sun set as you completed your chores and you found yourself cornered after dinner.

"Sleepover. Tonight. My room. You, me, and Hermione" Ginny said with a tone that made it impossible to argue with her. Not that you wanted to argue that, you actually missed having sleepovers with your dorm mates.

You made your way over to Ron who was just finishing up washing the dishes. You tried to ignore the way his broad shoulder muscles moved beneath his thin cotton shirt. You also tried to ignore the freckles peeping out from behind his hairline. Everything about him made your head feel dizzy and you suddenly felt the need to chug a large glass of water to cool down.

"Hey," you said gently, standing next to him and picking up a dish rag to help dry the plates.

"Hi," he responded, his voice alone making butterflies erupt in your stomach.

The next ten minutes passed without either of you saying a word. You fell into the familiar comfortable silence that only best friends can experience with one another. The rhythm of him washing the plates, you drying them, and then them magically floating back into the cabinets felt good. Everything you did together always just felt right.

"So," you said, speaking up once the dishes were done, "Hermione and I are sleeping over in Ginny's room tonight." You don't know why you brought it up, maybe as just another excuse to stay around him for longer.

You were surprised by the grin that immediately spread across Ron's face. "So I don't have to sleep on the couch tonight? Wicked."

Your smile subsided slightly. Ron didn't assume you and him would share a bed again tonight like you did the night before. You were silly to have hoped that would become a regular occurrence. Confused thoughts swirled around you in a whirl as you tried to hide your disappointment.

You nodded, and as you turned to walk up to Ginny's room, you felt Ron's hand reach out to catch yours.

"Y/n- wait..." he began. You looked up to meet his eyes and your insides melted when you saw him looking at you differently. He looked at you with determination and absolute attention- the same way he looked at you earlier that day, when you thought he was going to kiss you.

"If you have nightmares tonight, you know where to find me. My bed is always open for you" he said with a cheeky smile. His smugness and arrogance took you back for a second. Fred and George must be getting to him. You blushed as you turned back up the stairs.

Was that an invitation? Or just a flirty joke that friends say to one another?

These questions filled your mind as you changed into pajamas and made your way to Ginny's room. The moment you approached her doorway the door swung open and you were yanked inside. Ginny swiftly closed the door behind you to ensure privacy.

"Talk," was all she said.

You blushed as you sat down on her worn blue carpeting. Hermione was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed with a book in her hand. The redhead plopped onto the ground next to you, laying on her stomach as she propped herself up on her elbows. This was the usual procedure for girl talk back at Hogwarts- Ginny leaning in, eager to hear your gossip as Hermione pretended not to notice but eventually gave in and joined your discussions.

"About what?" you asked innocently. Ginny rolled her eyes as Hermione shut her book, her attention now focused on you. They were two of the smartest witches you ever met, and knowing you couldn't fool them, you decided to come clean.

"I think Ron and I almost kissed," you blurted out.

Hermione's mouth hung open as Ginny exclaimed, "Shut up!"

You nodded at their reactions, closing your eyes for a brief moment to relive the moment.

"When? How?" Hermione asked, scooting closer to you.

"Upstairs, he was helping me clean my cut after the game and then I guess...we started leaning in. I don't know if the kiss actually would have happened though- we were interrupted before I could tell what was going on" you explained.

Ginny's eyebrows knit together with anger. "Who interrupted? I swear if it was Fred or George I'm gonna beat their-"

"You did, genius. Your voice carries throughout the entire house," you said with a hint of humor, cutting her off.

"Oh," she replied, her ears turning pink.

Hermione grinned at you, "well this is good! Maybe you didn't kiss that time, but there will be other opportunities."

You smiled at your friend's optimism. As much as you loved your friends for supporting you and being interested in your love life, a part of you wanted to keep a part of the interaction between you and Ron to yourself. You wanted to keep a part of him close and secret to only you, so you switched the topic of conversation.

Turning to Ginny you asked, "So, how's Harry?" You wiggled your eyebrows in a teasing manner. The question made her launch into a hilarious story about how she caught him staring at her during Quidditch and managed to knock him off his broom.

"That's what boys get for not keeping their eyes to themselves, right y/n?" Ginny joked.

You laughed, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please! You should have seen the way Ron oggled at you while you were dancing today! His eyes were practically glued to your arse. I almost would have told him to get a room, it was so intense," Hermione said with a giggle.

You rolled your eyes, pretending this new information didn't make your heart race. If he really watched you the same way you watch him, maybe this fantasy of yours wasn't so far-fetched. Maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way.

The rest of your girls sleepover was filled with laughter and chatter as you talked into the wee hours of the morning. As Ginny and Hermione drifted off to sleep, you couldn't help but wonder if Ron was in his room right now- waiting for you. Each time your eyes closed, all you could picture was Ron, leaning closer and closer and closer... You fell asleep to your imagination wondering what his lips would feel like against yours.

[anteroom-of-death]

Life, For Dummies p10

a/n: ta dahhhhhhh. i want to thank my hormones and sacha’s ass for this one. enjoy!

You moved back in and went on adventures again. The careful ownership he took of you was heartwarming. He’d obviously didn’t want a repeat of the last cycle of your relationship. The Master also was oddly always at the back or forefront of your mind, like he rented real estate there. Or rather a permanent residence. You didn’t know if it was him playing mind tricks or you being a bit more soft and submissive to his actions. 

Today, after a particularly close call involving a tiny race of people on a high gravity planet he wanted to publicly humiliate then take the resources from, you got a few minor cuts and scrapes and a shallow head wound, so he had you sat on the kitchenette counter, applying bactine and a thin layer neosporin to your forehead, it was yet again so tender. His emotive eyes glittering with rage and triumph after having to eradicate them for trying to harm you, but yet so filled with angst as he swabbed a Q-tip over you, a grimace passed over his entire face when you shrunk back from the sting of the spray. 

“Pet…” he uttered, washing his hands and tucking a strand of hair behind your ears and cupping your face. “You have to be more careful.” You leaned onto his hand and closed your eyes. You let out a small but heavy breath. His hand on you and touching you in such a tender way turning you into all-too-willing putty. He took you gingerly in both hands and stroked your chin before taking your jaw and pulling you forward for a forehead kiss. 

It was a scold, but not like the usual. And you were all too willing to obey.

Obedience was getting easier. 

The further you went as a threat to the universe and a bigger bitch you were, the more tender and soft you became towards Him. Give and take, maybe, you figured. 

You enjoyed it. 

You were either feared and respected for the Threat of You, or beloved as a liberating ruler. One or the other. The Master let you choose. 

The sex was getting more avante-gard. He was playing with all the secret fetishes that you hadn’t even told him about yet- you guessed he’d deeply read your mind and made sure you had no corners he hadn’t infiltrated. 

Not that you minded.

He slightly twirled your hair and looked at you again with those eyes. Those beautiful, hypnotic eyes. 

He was really designed by some wild fertility god to turn you into a pile of mush. Everything from those feet you kneeled at, to that wild hair that tousled so effortlessly in his face. His ass was a treat to oggle as he sauntered to kill someone that pissed him off. His thighs were enough to make you want to punch a wall. He was just so damn beautiful.

You had it bad. 

“I think tonight I’ll cook you something…” He said, “Why don’t you work on your Gallifreyan work I’ve given you.” He pulled you off the counter and smacked you bottom. You smirked then conceded, “Yes, Master.” You went to the table and picked up a pencil and started drawing the circles and lines and writing what they said in your “human-ish” as the Master put it. You were learning quickly, and it was always a blast because he’d hide cheeky little slutty notes to you in between the real life knowledge. 

You shook your head and blushed as you saw, “I belong to the Master, I suck his massive horse cock.” A sardonic giggle came out of you once you finally wrote the message down.

The scent of pici cacio e pepe started to fill the room as well as an uncorked wine starting to breathe. Other scents you couldn’t name started to fill your nose. 

Like his recent dabbling into your fantasies and anything, he was an avante-garde chef as well. He liked mixing the alien with the Earthy and training your tastebuds to accept more. 

Life was always about some sort of training or learning, he told you once as you begged him to go ice skating with you at Rockefeller Center. He’d never ice skated before and you taught him. It was hilarious, the usually effervescently graceful Master flailing on ice, a scarf choking him as you pulled him off the sides of the ramp. He was so scared and when he fell, he ended up thwacking the back of his skull hard enough that a supervisor came and was extremely worried about a concussion. After a check that he definitely wasn’t, but the back of his eyes were oddly reflective in the penlight’s light. 

Just another reminder that he wasn’t human in the slightest. Despite his looks.

Soon your work was done and you moved your way over to the stove and hugged him from behind, pressing your weight as he stirred a pot. “Smells good.” You admitted and inhaled both the dish and the scent of him.

“You’ll really enjoy this!” He lifted a wooden spoon into your mouth and you eagerly took it. You didn’t know how to describe the taste besides “Yes, I need more!” You wiped a bit off your lip and sucked on it. It was great.

“Stir this, I’ll go check your work…” He ordered and went over and produced a red pen to grade you. You weren’t lying to yourself when you admitted it. Kind of like a hot professor/Daddy thing. He was so serious and he sucked on the pen and it just drove you so crazy.

You observed the sauce and worried about it for a second. 

Then he came and pressed his body onto you and breathed, “Good girl, you got it mostly correct. Maybe I’ll teach you paragraph structure next.” He took the spoon and stirred it and added a glowing pink spice into the pot. He snaked a finger down your panthem and worked a finger into your cunt as he stirred it in and blended. You moaned as he somehow managed to finger fuck you and keep tempo with the stirring. He bit into you as the timer on the stove buzzed and he shoved you aside and pulled off the pot and started to get dinner ready. 

You were put out because you didn’t cum, but soon a delicious meal was in front of you.

The food and you edging, plus the heady wine paired with both made you both languid and about ready to have an aneurysm. 

He knew what to do to get you especially needy. Your abdomen was flooded with warmth and you were sopping wet, glad you just were wearing a simple jogger set and crop top today. You kept crossing your legs and trying to focus on what you were talking about.

Dinner dragged on too long, almost like he knew what a needy greedy little whore you were becoming by the second. 

You decided to roll for initiative and make a move…

You straddled him and lightly kissed his neck and worked the way up to his lip, lightly licking and biting after each kiss. You felt him stiffen as you made it finally to said lips and pressed hard enough to feel his front teeth through your lips. Wrapping your arms around him, you kissed harder until he opened his mouth to say something, you silenced him with your tongue down and licked the top of his mouth. You let yourself scrape your lips across the firm beard hairs and prickle up your sensitivity. 

With one hand bracing on the back of the chair, you worked his clothes off slowly, grabbing and wrapping your fingers around the Master’s chest hair. His eyes were closed and the lavender of his veins in his eyes fluttered erratically. You let him pull forward and take the lead for a little bit as you grind your ass over the fabrics of both your pants. You gently tried hiking down your pants and unbuttoning his. 

His cock was rock hard and very easy to squirm your way onto. He was very accommodating as he thrust into you as you rocked gently back and forth, still pressing your lips onto the hollow of his throat as he traced a pattern on the back of your neck. You squoze your legs gently on his hips and sped up the rocking motions and started to bite him and suck on his neck, tracing your own little pattern with teeth and tongue. 

He grabbed the nape of your neck and a bit of your hair and forced you onto the table, disregarding the lovely setting he made sure was nice beforehand. He then fully took over. He forced his way deeper into you and smacked your face gently a few times before fully enclosing his lips onto yours. He was not playing lightly with the thrusts and moving slightly side to side. 

You were looking him directly in the eyes and goaded him, “Hit me again! Harder!” You laughed. 

He dipped down midway through a thrust and kissed your forehead. “As you wish, my little whore…” You shuddered as his hand stung your face. You felt a tiny corner of a nail cut your cheek, you were oddly into it. “Again!” You goaded harder, and he was an obedient Master and hit you, “My little pet…” He shook his head and pressed his weight upon you and thrusted, hitting your cervix, you felt yourself getting more turned on by the pain given. 

You were really becoming a pain loving slut, weren’t you?

“Again!” 

He grabbed your cheeks, “Ask me, ask your Master…” 

“Please...please…” You begged even though your cheeks were squished together. “Please, Master! Hit me harder!” 

“Good girl!” He purred and smacked you completely silly then kissed the oncoming bruise gently before wrapping a hand around your neck, speeding up his thrusts until he came, cock twitching inside your now throbbing hole. 

He worked on playing with your clit, flicking and rubbing gently and bringing you to a delicate, but well deserved orgasm. 

“Has my little pet enjoyed her time?” He picked you off the table and placed you onto the seat, divesting himself of what remained of his clothes as he went and got a bendy ice pack and applying it gently to your cheeks. 

“You already got hit in the face enough today.” He chided and smiled sadistically. 

“Nah, never enough, I’m tough. I can take it.” You defended yourself crossing your arms and pouting. 

He rolled his eyes and followed up, “Duly noted.” He let you have your momentary invincibility. 

“And on that note, I think it’s time for me to go to bed.” You stuck out a petulant tongue.

“Go ahead...I’ve been planning on some things for soon. Might be tomorrow if you go to bed now…” He cryptically waved you off. 

You laughed and shoved him, kissing his forehead and waltzing away.

Laying in bed that night, you wondered what the surprise was. You wracked your brain and blinked yourself asleep. 

What was that man up to?

[popculturebuffet]

Prince of Wishful Thinking: A Tom Lucitor Retrospective and Character Study: Part 1: Firey Little Shit

Star Vs the Forces of Evil is a .. complicated subject for me. When it started it was somewhat hit and miss but the premise was intresting: Star Butterfly is a magical princess, having just got her families ancestral wand.. and a few days later, or a jumpcut in the actual episode later materials revealed the actual time span, sets everything on fire and is sent to earth. There she meets best friend and, to my delight that eventually turned into “OH GOD JUST END THIS WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY SHIT ALREADY” I haven’t seen since the likes of Ross and Rachel that warrants it’s own damn article, and gets into various shenanigans while battling a gang of “monsters”, a general term for most non-mewmans  on Mewni, lead by a spoiled king, Ludo, who wants the wand. 

Things got turned on their head quickly, as “Mewnipendance Day’ revealed that the Mewmans (Humans in all but name really) took mewni by force, using magic to cast the monsters into poverty, which as the series and “Magic Book of Spells” would reveal, caused a cycle of death and bloodshed with no defendants. It changed the show for the better, as the plot, while heavy handed is a necessary one given these prejduice filled times we live in and how well it’s crafted. And it’s into the show slowly coming into it’s own a new character was introduced: He had been announced by the crew in the show’s press junket was in the title but took most of season 1 to show up... and he’d end up being one of the sho’ws saving graces as it dived into bullshit and go through one of the most through character arcs of the show. HIs name was Tom Lucitor, Star’s obsessive demon Ex-Boyfriend, and this is his story.

THE MAGIC BOOK OF SPELLS

Before we get there though, we have to take at rip down side material mountain... this time to the Magical Book of Spells. The Book of Spells was a real life verison of a book we’d seen in the show itself that recorded the previous queens of Mewni’s spells and held Glossarcyk, a magical being who assited the queens throughout the decades. The real version was used to tell each of the Queens, even the three we see on screen’s stories.. star included. As such it not only gives us some, if sadly not enough, more of his actual relationship with star pre-series, but also the full background on his kingdom’s relationship with hers. See while the Butterflies control the majority of mewni, their Kingdom isn’t endless and there are half a dozen others, most of which aren’t really that fleshed out. But The Lucitor’s are somewhat of an exception: The Lucitors rule the underworld, basically Mewni’s hell where all sorts of skeletons, demons and ghouls exist. You know funny little ghouls. 

I had to. Anyways the Lucitor kingdom also has Mewmans, due to some demons kidnapping a bunch years ago. Whoops.

Despite you know, kidnapping a bunch of their people, the Lucitors and Butterflies ended up close allies. This is thanks to the efforts of Mewni’s ambassador, Jushtin who was supposed to be Mewni’s first King to wield the wand... but his mom was pressured into having a sister. Said sister Solaria, to not mince words, was a genocidal monster who slowly descended into madness and tried to kill all monsters declaring outright war on them, but things were tense at first and they needed allies. So the Lucitors, along with the Cloud Kingdom of the Pony Heads which are exactly what they sound like, helped turn the tide. So things were cool for a few decades, and then we get to the reign of Rhina the Riddled. Rhina, who the book all but says is aromantic and likely asexual as well, was shoved into an arranged marriage with John Roachely, a second cousin who had no impact on the Lucitor side of the Genepool whatsoever and thus Star and Tom aren’t really related at all. I bring this up only because if I don’t tackle the incest allegations, someone will try and use that against me. I’d say i’m being paranoid but i’ve seen the rabid shippers use far less to attack Tom, so no. Rhina, to make things go smoother, cast a spell to make her love him.... it didn’t work longterm and, to get him to leave her, cast a heart break spell on him.. which LITERALLY broke his heart, and thus she was left a widow and the demons were not happy about her you know, whoopsie daisy murdering one of them likely set up with her a bridge between both sides and soured things for a while. Now you may all be asking: “Kay, intresting.. but what’s all this game of thrones but with flying pony heads, so better game of thrones, stuff gotta do with tom?” Well wait no more. Luckily for me, Star has a section in the book, and thus she spills the tea on her first metting with Tom. The two met at the Silver Bell Ball, an annual ball where the royalty of Mewni gather and the princes and princesses all dance once each as a good will gesture. The reason I went through the Rhina stuff is I’m guessing Star, who attended the ball every year according to the book and likely since at least she was old enough to dance, didn’t meet Tom earlier because his parents hadn’t been on good enough terms to bring him till he was 13, and River and Moon, Star’s parents, had succeeded in winning them over. The book nor the series dosen’t outright say this but given what we see later and what we have, it’s what i’m going with. We’ll get more into Tom’s personality when we get to his first in series appearance, but being a charming young man, and the first person her age at the ball Star found remotely attractive, they quickly set up a date for the boardwalk in the underworld for Cornshakes, because Mewni loves corn as much as I love Galarian Meowth. He looks so adorably homeless. But naturally if a snowball can’t last in hell, a shake can’t either, but even melted corn can’t ruin their good time and Tom even buys star a gift. I bring this up because said gift is star’s signiture devil horn headband. (Though Star is quick to announce she isn’t one of those annoying people who comes back from a trip thinking their a local). A real steal too at 14.99 or your second born’s soul. Most demons go for the first born, it’s a classy change of pace. The two eventually end up making it official, and star even gets a helpful pamphelt about Demons’ love of mascera, their anger and their tendency to tell their mom’s everything... the latter two will actually be really important as we go. But due to Tom’s anger as we’ll find out, the two end up breaking up and frustratingly we don’t learn the exacts just star was sad.. and that said depression lead to said kingdom distruction and the rest of the series. And since I covered the premise of the series above we can basically scoot right onto Tom’s first apperance.

BLOOD MOON BALL

Before this ep, Tom made a small cameo in another ep when her magic mirror, basically portrayed as working as a person sized video phone, accidently called him when she said call Mom. As a nice little bit of foreshadowing Tom flew into a rage at her preparing to hang up on him , even though it was a wrong number and they’d been broken up for a few   months at this point. But it’d be an agonizing wait for Tom. I was curious about the character, given not much had been revealed, I missed the episode with his cameo, and the animatic for BMB’s first scene was released months before the episode came out and was really funny and intresting. Said scene has Tom making one hell of an entrance, landing from the sky in a cool carriage with a skeletal horse, floating in and catching eyes and floating up to Star’s desk in class to ask her out with the moon.

Star.. has no interest and shoves tom, hilarious as while they just cut to the front of school, she had to have been mildly shoving him all the way from her class up a hallway, and outside. And passing Jackie, marco’s crush I bring up because why not and Janna, Star’s future close friend who we’ll get to more later, since he did earlier and they now have to go from oggling tom to wondering what the hell their seeing. She also tells him to take his dead horse back, which leads to one of my faviorite gags of the series  as said horse says “Wait, I was dead” and later, mid conversation about her going to said Ball, randomly interjects with “why didn’t you tell me I was dead?” That poor poor horse. You should come live with me. I don’t have a car, I could use a skeletal horse and I would tell you if you were dead man. Hit me up. But Tom tries to convince star he’s changed, he’s got an anger managment bunny, a counselor Brian (voiced by my guy Stephen Root, who you may better know as the voice of Bill Dautrive, the mayor in Amphibia or Bud Gleeful), and he’s doing fine.. then Marco goes and Karate chops his hand off, thinkign he was a danger. Tom gets really angry, to Star’s horror, which tells me she saw this sort of thing a LOT: tom getting this level of pissed at someone and likely leveling either them or everything around them. Thankfully Brian calms him down and Star introduces them and Tom , like the gentleman he is , gives her a bell to take her to the ball and time to think. Star, impressed by him calming down and trying, takes him up on it over Marco’s objections and worries about her safety, including the amasingly radar busting line “Never go with a predator to a second location” and the dance is on. As it turned out, Tom toned things down, ,less death and murder and more prom, to try and impress her and is annoyed when Star turns down his corsage.. which is a live spider. Which i’m generous to her on because spiders scare the shit out of me unless their pokemon. Seriously look at this sweetheart:

Who could be terrified of that face? Such a sweetie. Anyways, Tom is angry about it and his anger only increases when he wants to dunk himself and star in unicorn blood.. because while on earth dumping blood on someone makes them go on a psychic rampage you brought on yourselves, in the underworld is just a teen dance thing. But since one of Star’s best friend is a unicorn, something Tom has no excuse for not knowing as Pony is close to her and a princess in her own right and he had to have met her in his months dating star, and gets pissy over.. and star catches him having to pet his therapy bunny over it and walks off annoyed to get some punch.

And it’s with this Tom’s problems become apparent: He has charm, grace.. but he isn’t really TRYING to change, nor does he see WHY Star hates his anger. Sure he has a counsler, he has coping mechanisms things that would actually HELP him get better.. if he WANTED to. He dosen’t want to control his temper, he dosen’t want to get better he just wants Star back, and that’s why it’s not working: He’s making an effort, but it’s for the wrong reasons and without trying to tackle the root of his issues. He’s just trying to take the easiest way out, which is a problem that will crop up again next time. His second one is easier to illustrate when his plan becomes clear: turns out there’s a magical binding curse thing, it was clarified more in Season 4 but I feel no reason to leave it vauge here, and tom wants to bind his and Star’s souls together forever. He later admits he assumed she knew about that going in.. but it still dosen’t excuse his actions entirely and brings us to that flaw I was building towards: He’s selfish. He changed the ball to impress star, he shoved a corsage on her she didn’t one, got ANGRY, visably angry, at her turning down something he shoudl’ve known just by having dated her before would be a non-starter and worst of all he wanted to bind her to him forever without asking, just assuming she agreed by going. Star can be selfish at this stage too, especially this early on.. but underneath it she cares about people, even if she sometimes goes about it in the same fashion tom does here, she comes from a good place. Really both of this seems to come from them being royalty: both have had privlage their entire life and been insulated from a lot of things.. and Tom being raised in an environment where anger is normal and he gets whatever he wants from two loving parents and an army of servants, probably meant he never HAD to think of anyone else and as the series goes on, never had any friends except a Dog that we never see and probably sadly died. My theroy is Little Lord Fooleroy got ran over by Deatruk, the truck what runs over people, but i’m stupid like that. This winds up costing Tom his soul binding thing as Marco in disguise, being goaded by.. something that’s never remotely explained seriously what exactly the fuck was that creepy deep voice to crash the ball, ends up dancing with her. Shippers squeed, this was probably used in a jillion AMV’s.. and Tom naturally is pissssseeeed and ready to flambe Marco... until star takes him out with zero effort. They go home, Star berates Marco for not trusting her , end of episode.. oh and they speak in unison for a quick gag but i’m sure that won’t be important. As you can probably see her Tom was origianlly supposed to be a recurring pain in the backside for our heroes, showing up to win back Star, pull some “Nice Guy” Crap and then get his ass kicked most likely.. but after the end of Season 1, it was a fairly short season, the writers for whatever reason, and for the better decided to have Tom slowly change a bit.. but since him becoming a better person would be abrubt he has to do one lass dickhole thing first...

MR CANDLE CARES

And now we’ve come to Tom’s worst act, the thing that had he not fixed it the way he had at the end, made him an outright villain. Star and Marco have meetings with the new guidance counselor, who gives eveyrone else great career trajectories but for Star and Marco? Star gets a rather overbearing lecture on how she has to be queen when she grows up and probably shoudln’t date Marco and should be picking a future husband, ewwww, and Marco gets the unitetinonally, given Tom probably knows only about enough about earth to concot this scheme, offensive career path as janitor.. for an honor roll student with a bunch of extracurriculars. Yeah but Tom’s accidental racisim aside, while what he did to Marco was petty , what he’s trying to do to Star is creepy, basically using someone else to gaslight her into trying to get back together with him. But as noted above, Tom is selfish and as I haven’t noted yet he lacks some empathy.. so instead his advice sends Star spiraling not helped by her mother, Moon, basically telling her she has no choice in being queen and being happy dosen’t matter.. because Moon was kind of a dick at this stage. So while star gets a punk makeover and prepares to do something terrible to prevent her miserable future, Marco decides to confront candle and, as I didn’t even try to hide, Tom is behind this. Granted Tom wasn’t great at hiding it either, it’s just star was understandably concerned about her future and too distracted by that to pick up on how weirdly intrested Mr.Candle was in her dating life. But no i’ts Tom who is, and Marco baits him by pretending he and star are “Smooch Buddies”.. something the trailers for Season 2, and this episode was pretty early, used as a bait and switch, but I’m okay with it as most could probably tell something was up by the delivery. Naturally this proves to be a terrible idea, and i’d say it’s the dumbest thing Marco ever did if Season 3 didn’t take a sledgehammer to his character, but that’s an essay for another day, and Tom takes Marco back to his place to murder him... but Marco stands strong and Tom challenges him to a battle to the death, with Marco choosing ping-poing. Tom naturally destroys him.. but Marco uses the game to point some things out: After calling tom out for bascially cheating, since his powers give him the upper hand, Tom talks about Star doing the same, basically making up her own rules as soon as she looses. Marco then uses this to make tom see what a butt he’s been: The ping pong thing is just another example of how Star functions, doing whatever she wants and going her own way. It’s why being forced down the path of queen scares her so much, it’s responsiblity and rules and no fun as far as she can tell with no benifits. It’s why she rebels so much.. she can’t be told what to do.. which Marco makes Tom realize means he can’t control her, nor would he want to, and that he’s made a huge mistake. Tom forgoes killing Marco, and the two rush to star who’s on the edge of cutting of a mermaid’s tail to prevent her from ever being queen.. but just can’t do it. Star can be selfish, the above cheating shows that.. but she’s a good person deep down. Tom admits what he did.. and throughly apologizes for it, agreeing basically to let Star go and stop trying to force her back with him. Star does punch him for good measure, deservedly so, but they part on good terms and Marco reassures Star when she’s Queen she can rule her way, and they hug.. and notably Tom dosen’t get the least bit upset. Mr.Candle Cares is a good second ep. I’ve made no bones about how this is the worst thing Tom did: The controlling stuff at the ball was just selfish, the blood moon thing while not GREAT was asbent minded selfishness. This... it nearly broke star and ruined her future. However it comes from the same place as Blood Moon and his reaction at the end shows he simply didn’t consider star’s feelings.. and likely realize he HADN’T been. it wasn’t Marco’s fault they weren’t together, it was Tom’. While the Apology is a minor thing, it’s still a step in the right direction. As I said had he NOT backed away here he probably never would’ve gotten better or even if he tried, gone so far in trying to get star back he couldn’t walk it back. Here he hit his lowest point.. but thanks to Marco, he had a chance to turn it around before it was too late and grow as a person. This is where Tom gets compelling: he goes from a spoiled selfish douchey rich kid, to someone who clearly WANTS to be better, but has issue, social and otherwise, that make it an uphill battle. And with that we get to tom’s penultimate apperance for Season 2, and his last full one...

Friendenemies:

Tom shows up again and while Star tries to shoo him off before she has to get the shooing broom, Tom reveals he’s not there for Star but Marco. See he feels bad about you know, trying to kill him twice and wants to take Star’s Marco out tonight he’s gonna show him what he’s all about, he’s gonna get jacked up on some cheap champagne and let the good times all roll out. Marco understandably does not want a night out with a guy who was creepy to his best friend and tried murdering him twice, so Tom uses a bribe: tickets to the Mackie Hand, a martial artist that Marco is a huge fan of, film festival that Marco failed to get tickets to. With some encouragment from Star, who while not wanting to date Tom sees he’s genuinely making an effort, Marco agrees They hang out in Tom’s carriage which goes by tardis logic, if only, and to the creator’s credit, just so, and the two soon bond, finding a shared love of both Mackie Hand and the pop band love sentence, and Marco genuinely earns tom’s respect when some shades wearing piles of smug challenge our heroes, which Tom now counts as at this point, to a race, Marco agrees... then has them do nothing while the idiots speed up and get arrested and we get the blessed image above. The good times get interrupted though when it’s time for the marathon but tom locks him inside. And no this isn’t the start of some angry makeouts, as it turns out this was part of tom’s anger management therapy, but once again his propensity for the easy way out means he fails at it and burns up the tickets.. but Marco is more upset that Tom lied to him and pretended to be his friend and like mackie hand, though the love sentence thing was real> The whole thing plays more like a breakup than the end of a blossming friendship, which ties into how this episode got people shipping Marco and Tom with each other.. and rightfully so. While I don’t really ship it myself, I can see why as it has great chemstry and a great dynamic. Tom’s behavior here is part of why I say he has social issues, something I can relate to as a cave troll living in my mother’s basement: Tom dosen’t seem to have any real friends. Oh sure he can charm people, he has servants, two loving parents, and a screeching grandpa whose on the wall of my own personal heroes along with Ric Flair, My Mother, Stan Lee, Peter David, Rebecca Sugar and many more, but he dosen’t have FRIENDS. Star seems to be his first relationship and the first thing resembling a true friend he had, so while his behavior was a tad creepy it makes sense why he clung to her. And that shows here: He tries superfically bonding with marco, faking an intrest, giving him gifts, partying.. but it’s both forming a genunine connection over something, Love Sentence, and just sharing some memories that ended up making them friends. But yeah after Marco sings a sad pop ballad, or part of one. Tom decides to do a three point grand romantic gesture and raises Mackie Hand from the dead, and when Mackie isn’t allowed into his own film festival he fights the ticket guy and tom and marco watch and while they say they hate each other, the two’s friendship is forged. Marco finally has a friend outside of two doofuses and .. does Janna count? I dunno. She’s less of a friend and more of a gremlin who steals his things constantly while being actual friends with his bestie. Before we close out this leg there’s one final episode for season 2 with Tom in it to cover and dive into: Naysaya.

Naysaya comes literally just before the mid-season finale and Tom sadly disappears for the rest of the season, though he’ll be back and in greater numbers  in Season 3. I’m not covering it full because it’s not a full on tom episode, he only has a short cameo, but he is important to it and his one brief bit shows off his  character. In short Marco is finally asking out Jackie Lynn Thomas, his crush and a great character in her own right who sadly all but vanished from the show shortly into season 3 after something we’ll get to in passing next time, but got some great closure and was revealed to be Pansexual, so good for her. Marco had been building up to this for the last two seasons: first realizing thanks to time shenanigans he never made a move, then actually talking to her, and then not only telling her how he felt but realizing he didn’t know her but he’d like to. So now he’s ready to ask her out but every time he tries, written or spoken, it comes out as his most embarrassing secrets before the little neck tumor man comes out up there and does it for him. Thanks to Janna, local roustabout mentioned above, who after teasing Marco as is her usual response to anything with him, uses her knowledge of the spooky oooky to find out what that thing is: a Naysya, a curse born creature that spills it’s target’s most embarrassing secrets at whoever they try to court. Naturally, given Tom was an insanley jealous ball of asshole until a few episodes ago, it’s his fault though showing his slow growth, while he’s entirely suprised Marco asked no one out since the ball, says the guy who did two schemes and a shenanigan trying ot get star back, he’s also sorry and assumed it’d worn off or he would’ve told him sooner, and tells him how: he has to let all his insecurities out> Marco nearly withdraws over this due to being 90% insecurity, but eventually buckles down and tells jackie every embrassing thing about  him and.. it works. Naysaya leaves and he and Jackie go out on a group date. And with that Tom is gone for a while but he, and this retrospective will be back.  I owe a huge debt of grattitude to @jess-the-vampire​, a dear friend, and wish her a happy belated birthday. She was a willing and helpful resource and worth a follow. And if you want more stuff like this, comics reviews, and what have you, feel free to follow or comisson me. Until next time, keep the home fires burning. 

[lululawrence]

lululawrence’s May 2018 Fic List

Click here for previous months’ fic lists

And we’re back for another month of reading! I didn’t do a lot of writing this month, but I read a LOT so this list is long! So buckle up, and let’s look back on the amazing fics I read this month! (There’s a lot of Tomlinshaw, but I promise there’s Larry too! Keep reading and don’t give up on me pls hehe)

but tonight (you’re on my mind) by @allwaswell16 / allwaswell16 There’s a lot of Tomlinshaw on this list this month because I was wanting some awesome banter and high angst due to lack of communication and who does that better than Tomlinshaw? ANYWAY, this fic was almost too much for me hahahaha! Anitra has a way of writing that makes you feel every bit of pain and the anticipation building up to where I knew it was going was killing me, but DAMN was the resolution of it all amazing! If Tomlinshaw is your thing, defo give this one a try.

Know You Know You Got It Bad by @taggiecb / taggiecb This one had me cackling but also horrified at the amount of WOW THAT TOTALLY CAME OUT WRONG and misunderstandings, and that is exactly what made this such a fantastic ride. Another fab Tomlinshaw to read, should that be your thing!

Do You Smile To Tempt A Lover by @allwaswell16 / allwaswell16 A MUSEUM AU WHERE NICK PAYS HOMAGE TO PAINTINGS OF MAGGIE SMITH AND JUDI DENCH AFTER OGGLING LOUIS? Yes please. Featuring matchmaker Zayn. AND Louis secretly writes erotica during his lunch breaks? This fic is sooooo fun. A defo Tomlinshaw read.

A Royal Wedding by @reminiscingintherain / reminiscingintherain This short ditty is SO CUTE!!! A short and sweet Larry meet-cute surrounding the royal wedding. It is the best little fic snack to leave you feeling good!

We Used To Wait by @magicalrocketships / sunsetmog I read this as I was on my period and started it around 1 am. Both of these life decisions I do not recommend, because I ended up just shoving a tissue between my face and my pillow so I could keep reading without creating a puddle on my pillow as Nick freaked out in the hospital over Louis possibly not surviving. All the same, the fact I kept reading despite all of this should be one of the highest recommendations. This fic destroyed me and put me back together again in all of the best ways. A Tomlinshaw must read.

Somebody Hurt You (I Know A Place) by @writsgrimmyblog / writcraft I...well looking back on this I thought this fic was a lot shorter than it actually is because I devoured it so fast and it reads so well I had no idea it was 20k. ha! So, that being said: Tomlinshaw featuring amnesia. There’s a few of these coming because I NEEDED IT sorry not sorry. The structure of the fic was beautiful too!

loose lips sink ship all the damn time (not this time) by @mediawhorefics / MediaWhore THIS FIC OMGOSHHHHHHHH I loved it. Gosh I loved it. Secret relationship AGAIN, forced outing, exes to lovers, ALL THE EMOTIONS! The way Nick was written too just had me in LOVE. Sigh. Another fab Tomlinshaw with some incredible structuring that allows you to watch the relationship begin and fall apart all while seeing them come back together again. (I promise, there’s more Larry coming, please don’t give up on me lol)

The Disgruntled Novelist's Bodacious Pornographer (or, that time Nick and Louis were rival romance writers) by aliferuined This fic had me laughing so hard on my porch while my son played with bubbles he actually climbed on my lap to see if I was watching a funny video. I was crying and wheezing. This was just... the most hilarious. Tomlinshaw, again hehe

wait for me to come home by carissima TOMLINSHAW TIME TRAVEL!!! And it’s done in such a beautiful way! It completely satisfies all desires for knowing what happens where and I just LOVE it! 

Once every day your life starts again by blackmustache This fic also features Tomlinshaw amnesia (see a theme for me? lol) and soccer aid and secret relationships and Jay helping them find each other again, which is lovely!

Nobody compares to you by @headband-husbands / fallenflowercrowns (meggiewrites) Larry returns! haha It’s all Larry from here on out on the list, promise :) Tumblr AU! Canon Compliant! Best Friends to Lovers! What more could you want in a fic? I honestly don’t know, which obviously means I loved this one lolll

Seeing Blind by @sugarbabyomega / zedi BLIND ALPHA LOUIS, SAUCY OMEGA HARRY! Gosh this fic just. WOW. It flips between POVs and gives such a full and lovely feel for the entire thing. Involving surprise early heats! No Strings Attached hook ups that turn into Feelings! What could go wrong?? hehehe A new favorite A/B/O for me!

Stay Close, Hold Steady by @jaerie / jaerie THIS FIC FAM! It is one of my fic babies that I didn’t write. hahaha My random ramblings to Jenna as I drove in the car back in March might have helped form this amazing fic and I love it so much. “Brothers” A/B/O Larry fic involving finding your lost family, gender presentation, and so much more. Read while listening to The Tide. It’s a good choice. Promise.

Among Friends by @theficwritersblock / secretswekeepxx This fic, y’all. I’d never seen the film it was based on, so I was a bit wary going into it but IT WAS SO GOOD! SOOOO GOOOOOD!  Be prepared for the pain, the ridiculousness, stupid boys, and love conquering all. Duh.

And I Will Steady Your Hand by @icanhazzalou / kiwikero Another great A/B/O fic! Keri pulls out all the stops with late presentation support group amazingness and the changes and confusion/frustration that come with them, especially at a time of life where it feels like EVERYTHING is changing. It’s such a great fic. Defo read it.

All That You Are by @iamasphodelknox / asphodelknox Y’ALL. This fic. It’s historical fiction at it’s finest. WWII soldier OT5 and Shawn friendship and period typical homophobia and dreams and relying on each other and love and I keep talking and it’s just not enough. All the love for this fic. It is art and beauty and wow. Defo read it.

Getting Naked on Camera (NOT CLICKBAIT) by @velvetnoodle / velvetnoodle (goldfishsunglasses) This little thing had me giggling. A great, light little fic to help you smile on a hard day!

Bijou by @fullonlarrie / FullOnLarrie Lauren did such amazing things with this! Micropenises. Who knew? I didn’t until now, but I can’t wait for the other fics that will eventually be a part of this!

my favourite colour is you by @velvetnoodle / velvetnoodle (goldfishsunglasses) SO CUTE. MUCH CUTE. ALL THE CUTE. It’s so soft and lovely and a happy place to escape.

Slow Hands (Slow Days) by @londonfoginacup / LadyLondonderry This fic, y’all. Farmer Harry, Vet Louis. Softness. Country living. Good friends. It feels so lovely and yet I couldn’t stop giggling at the slow hands aspect of it. haha Defo recommend reading this to understand what slow hands has to do with any of this. 

Your Shadow Running Round by @harrystanslouis / harrystanslouis This fic is lovely! So lovely! Stupid boys who made stupid decisions and have to fix things are a soft spot for me, and that is definitely featured in this fic.

Run With Your Mind by @larryandgaystuff / larryandgaystuff (cnd8544) Another great story with such a great connection to the song it was written for! Full of stupid boys with feelings they aren’t talking about even though they really should. Maybe that was this month’s theme. Next month’s should be communication. HAH! 

Took Me by Surprise by @becomeawendybird / QuickedWeen This is a fic that Molly teased me with the idea for AGES ago and when it finally came to fruition I was not disappointed! Such an amazing read and a fic all around! The kid aspect was so believable and wonderful and just a lovely added bonus to the entire thing.

All My Friends Are Here by abrighteryellow This was the cutest fic! Pub quiz hosted by Harry becomes more than just a little appealing to Louis, despite the fact he doesn’t want it to be. A short little meet-cute to make you smile!

Mars Needs Irishmen by @fakedeepplantjerker / kassio Listen. This is a fic where the relationship tagged is Niall and Space. It’s got a great narrative structure and the story is so lovely! I really enjoyed it. So fulfilling and a great read!

maybe by @gaycousinlarry / momentofclarity This story!!! Two little nerdy boys who don’t think they have a chance with the other falling for each other anyway? Yes please. A beautifully fulfiling story considering how few words there are!

Beat the Odds Together by @ireallysawanangel / crimsontheory Cute! That’s all I can really say. It was so cute! A short little thing with surprising amounts of emotion packed in. 

walk down our aisles first by @jumperlouis / musketrois (B_kate) THIS. WAS. SO. SWEET. I keep saying that, but these short fics for the short fic fest gave me life when I was dealing with stress from my mom’s big open heart surgery and the aftermath of that. This was was particularly lovely as a meet cute with a slight twist to it that I really enjoyed.

Redwood Seedlings Prefer Full Sunlight by @polkadotsvstripes / polka_stripes Girl!Direction short fic featuring a meet-cute! I really enjoyed this one too. A fun quick read that also makes you hope they make it work hehe

Sea of Love by @kinglouisxxviii / theweightofmywords Mermaids and Princes! What more could you ask for?

If Anyone Knew by @marastarfar / StarFar Listen. This was one of the first A/B/O fics I ever read, and it was a WIP. A WIP I thought had been abandoned but then the amazing Mara almost made me cry by completing it! This fic is so great. Please be warned though, there are a LOT of triggers and it very much is a dark!fic in many ways, so be cautious before jumping in. Worth it if you can handle it, though! A great read, as StarFar’s stuff always is.

tell me what you need by @disgruntledkittenface / disgruntledkittenface This fic!!! I laughed hard enough to have my husband pause his movie and take out his headphones to ask me what in the world was going on lollll The pacing of this fic! It had me gasping and having to pause reading on numerous occasions so I could see clearly enough to keep reading. Definitely up there as one of the funniest fics I’ve ever read. 

Not yet a breach, but an expansion by @kinglouisxxviii / theweightofmywords GOSH THIS FIC! Heartwrenching and beautiful and so powerful in so few words! How?!?! I have no idea. Gorgeous and an amazing twist on soulmates.

when i'm pipe and slippers and rocking chair by nightwideopen Whoops. I lied. Another Tomlinshaw. Whatcha gonna do? This was such a cute little thing, though. Such a fun little established relationship fic hehe

head over feet by @kinglouisxxviii / theweightofmywords This fic was so good I went yelling in my GCs until I could find someone who know the tumblr associated with this AO3 and then I immediately ran and began screaming at Caryn, okay? Please read it. Love yourself. Read this fic.

Wish You Were Here by @undersummerstars / alittlewicked SELKIE HARRYYYYYYY!!! I need all the selkie Harry fics. Amazing. This one absolutely did not disappoint. I loved it and it made me crave more. 

Surrender to Seduction by @laynefaire / Layne Faire (HisDarlin) Layne’s tag “fast and loose with canon” had me giggling but those giggles stopped as I read this fic because the way she writes has such power and draw I was immediately in the story. A great read!

Until You Use Me Up by @fullonlarrie / FullOnLarrie OKAY LISTEN. Before I knew this was Lauren’s I read it and was just like FANNING MYSELF. It was so hot and so well done and amazing. It was just...amazing.

AND THAT, in reverse chronological order (because apparently that’s how I roll today), is a list of the fics I read and loved this month! Thank you to all of the amazing writers who shared your amazing works with us! You provided me with so much help in difficult days and entertainment. 

Please spread love to the fandom writers and leave them comments and kudos on their fics! I’ll be back next month with what will likely be a much shorter list lollll

[all-about-wannaone]

3/100 Ways To Say I Love You

Pairing: Ong Seongwoo x Reader

Genre: Fluff 

Prompt: “No, no, it’s my treat.” 

Words: 3587

A/N: Hello readers! I know that I have been pretty inactive in the past week and that is because I was in Japan and did not take my laptop with me for the week’s getaway. :( For those who are still waiting for your ships and requests, I have started working on them and will post them soon so this Ong Seongwoo scenario would serve as the easing into the motion as I get back to my usual activity. :) Thank you all for being so patient and supportive with me and I hope that this does not disappoint. :) Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more of this series coming up soon! 

“I hope the study session was productive today. I know it’s a little heavy on the content, but I bet you could at least remember one concept… right?” Seongwoo asked, sounding slightly concerned.

“Y-yeah,” I stammered, taking a while to comprehend what he was saying. You see, Seongwoo and I had just spent 5 solid hours in the school’s library, focusing solely on the many concepts of Chemistry (whose names I could never remember) and Advanced Mathematics. And these were the two brain draining subjects that I neither loved or hated, but what I did know was that these were my worst subjects in the recent examination. In fact, I was far from the passing mark and it was as if my entire world had come crashing down on me when I received my results.

My parents went ballistic at my grades, breathing down my neck and telling me the importance of doing well in my studies, just so that I could aim for the top 3 universities once I graduated. They had begun to research on well-known cram schools and tutors, who charged an arm and a leg, but they were willing to do anything at this point to make sure that I pulled up my socks and score the grades that they wanted.

Unfortunately, cram schools had only given me even more pressure, especially when I was surrounded by students from the elite high schools such as Daewon Foreign Languages High School; they could conquer the entire Ivy League if they wanted to; or Anyang High School; they could get into the local universities easy, just with their grades alone. Hence, perhaps this was the reason why my grades fell even more, just due to the immense pressure alone.

“Hmm,” Ms Jung, my homeroom teacher, pondered during a short check-in session, as she looked at the possible options I had to improve and look ahead, “If cram schools do not seem to be aiding you in your learning, how about asking one of your classmates for help? Considering that all of you are students, and what more in the same class, perhaps the both of you could empathise and understand each other better.”

“B-but I don’t really talk to the class very much though…?”

“I know you’re soft spoken, I really do,” Ms Jung replied in an empathetic manner, “but this is the best way, in my opinion, for you to get a grasp of your learning gaps before moving onto the second year.”

I sighed at the thought, and even though I hated to admit it, I had to agree. It was probably the most effective way, especially when I had gone through too many experiences with teachers who gave no two hoots towards those lagging behind.

“Okay, the most I could do for you is to consult a student from the class. I’m pretty sure they’ll be more than willing to help you.” She said in an assuring manner, patting me on the back with a warm smile.

And so she did, and I had to admit that she was probably the most efficient teacher that I had ever met, because it only took me 4 days to receive a message from an unknown number.

“Hey. This is Y/N right? Ms Jung just consulted me this morning about advanced math and chemistry, asking me whether I was more than willing to tutor you. When do you want to start?”

I was beyond confused when I saw the message, so I replied, meaning no harmful intent, “Uh… yes this is Y/N, but who is this?”

“Wow, do you not save your classmate’s numbers? I’m offended.” The reply came in a flash, followed by another message, “Anyway, this is Ong Seongwoo.”

Ah… Ong Seongwoo.

Truth be told, he was indeed the epitome of a true surprise and the reason why one should not judge a book by its cover.

He was popular with the ladies (shouldn’t it be extremely popular), the volleyball team’s ace libero and could easily charm his way through a woman’s heart. It was a given that the students would oggle over him; the ideal man for the girls and an object of envy for the other boys. Sometimes, it was often rumoured that even the teachers loved him, especially when he was truly “drop dead gorgeous”.

Hence, to most, he appeared as the resident’s “fuckboy”, perceived to lead wild lifestyles, have an affluent background and probably flunked every single class in the process. However, Seongwoo was pretty much the opposite. He was, what we called, a closet mugger, and he studied hard and well. In fact, he was probably born brilliant since he could understand concepts effortlessly, and could probably score stellar grades despite having no sleepless nights or experiences of burning the midnight oil; which was a norm amongst high school students.

I suppose that was the reason why Ms Jung had assigned me to Seongwoo. He was the top student of the class in terms of his overall grades, second in the cohort and the A-star student in both Chemistry and Advanced Math. There was no other way around it, and besides, even though I had not spoken a single word ever in the year, he was still nice enough to offer his help anyway.

Therefore, we scheduled a time, making an appointment on a Wednesday at 3pm, and I had to say that the first meeting was extremely awkward. I knew he was good looking, but seeing his sharp features up close would make anyone turn into a blushing mess. However, the vibe that he gave was one filled with seriousness and it was intense, but he had every right to, especially when he was going to teach a student who was “significantly weaker” than him.

Indeed, he was baffled with what I did not know, asking me what I did not know from the syllabus first. In retrospect, I was probably confident in 10% of the entire syllabus and the rest passed by like a blur to me throughout the year. Like I said before, there were many teachers that I met who cared nothing for the weaker students, accounting for the state that I was currently in.

Nevertheless, he kept his cool (surprisingly) and sighed, before saying in a slightly dejected, but determined tone, “So… I guess we’ll just refresh your memory on the basics for today. Your foundation, as of now, is nowhere near stable, so before we can advance any further, these are all the things that you would need to know.”

Wow. Harsh.

As time went by, we started to meet more and more often, especially with me having to sit for a foundation test to see if I needed to change classes or not. Hence, for some strange reason, he was all the more determined to teach me, making sure that I knew everything to the point that I could spill all the information in the textbook, word for word.

Thankfully, in that span of time, I had also gotten to know Seongwoo a little better than what I had already known from all the gossips and rumours that were often present in the corridors. When he was not burying his head in the books, he loved to joke around with his friends, showing me videos of all the pranks that he had elaborately planned out, just to capture all of their reactions. God knows what ran through his mind at times, but he would show all these videos to me in the quiet library and it took me all not to laugh out loud at all of them.

There were days when we had forgotten where we were, only to realise the librarian staring daggers into our souls, but all Seongwoo had to do was to reciprocate with a small polite smile, which had also caused her to get a little flustered.

Indeed, behind that suave exterior, Seongwoo was just like any other teenage boy; playful, fun-loving, spontaneous and it was indeed a mystery to how he could excel in school without even trying.

At the end of the day, we ended up becoming pretty close friends and study sessions soon escalated to spending time with each other during lunch, sharing little snippets of our lives and laughing at all the embarrassing and hilarious moments that we captured. Sometimes, it went beyond the superficial and he was there throughout the triumphs and tribulations.

When I was sick, he came over with warm chicken soup in a thermal container. When I was sad, he was a shoulder to cry on, and all he had to do was to provide a comforting arm placed around my shoulder, assuring me that things will get better. When it was my time of the month, he knew exactly what cheered me up; dark chocolate (lots of it), caramel ice cream bars and instant noodles. Eventually, my mother had begun to approve of him, and it was clear that he too clicked with my mother.

“He’s such a nice boy, Y/N. Is he your boyfriend?”

Yep, she was that straightforward.

“Eomma, of course not,” I would laugh awkwardly after that, and she would only squint her eyes at me saying that there was no way she was going to believe it, “He’s… a little too out of my league and besides, isn’t grades more important now?”

She nodded in approval, but that was after she had given me a hint of what she had hoped for, “I understand how you must be feeling, but then again, I can’t stop your heart right?”

Feelings aside, after months of hard work and progress monitoring from the sharp eye of Seongwoo, I had taken my foundation tests quite smoothly and it was finally the day when I would find out whether I needed to be transferred to another class. As Ms Jung read out the names of the students who had taken the tests, Seongwoo closed his eyes and kept his hands together, possibly praying to all the Gods out there that I would pass it. I chuckled at the sight, but kept it together when Ms Jung called my name.

“And finally, Y/N…” I was still standing at this point, anxious to find out how I had performed. My palms were clammy and I swore I could have broken out in cold sweat at the anticipation. Ms Jung sighd at first, and it was as if all hope was lost, but her lips began to curve upwards and she said in a calm, yet proud, manner, “Good job Y/N. You scored the highest in the class for Advanced Math and second in Chemistry. Congratulations.”

That was when I heard loud cheering and a resounding applause from Seongwoo. Despite the fact that he was now faced with judgemental and surprised gazes from my classmates, he paid no attention, shooting me a thumbs up and a proud expression for my performance.

I mouthed a “thank you” to him and smiled at the rest of my class, bowing here and there to all who had congratulated me. Sitting down, I whipped out my phone immediately as I felt a vibration from my pocket.

“Good job Y/N. I’m so proud of you. Keep aiming high and just know that I’ll always be here for you when you need me. Let’s go out for dinner soon as a celebration okay? Indeed, never underestimate Mr Ong’s intelligence.”

I scoffed and shook my head, shooting him a glance and there he was, still with a cocky grin plastered on his face. On the contrary, I could still tell that he was proud of my achievements, and the same went for his own milestones, considering that he had mentioned to me that he was a terrible teacher. Hence, I was beyond grateful that the fruits of the labour was worth it after all, and it was mutual too.

Sadly, we started to lose touch eventually, especially when we were out of class. Sure, we still met up to study and acknowledged each other with an energetic wave in class, but that was about it for the initial start of the second year. We never really shared a common lunch break anymore, especially when our teachers started to band us according to our grades. When he left the class, he would shoot me a sad smile, and I’d just reciprocate the gesture, but wished him all the best through text anyway. Furthermore, he had started to prepare for his the upcoming volleyball tournaments anyway and they trainee for 6 days a week, juggling both their academics and ready for the big games ahead. He preferred to catch some shut eye, and in all honesty, I could not blame him.

After what seemed like an eternity, I had finally received a text from him, asking if I wanted to study with him and without hesitation, I replied with a “Yes!” and I felt my spirit brighten at the thought. Indeed, when one had a friend who brought a drop of happiness to one’s life all the time, it was a little difficult when they were not around anymore, even if it was just temporary.

So here we were, seeking refuge in a traditional korean fast food restaurant, flipping through the brightly coloured menu to see what they offered. I looked up, and noticed that Seongwoo was clearly ogling at all the pictures that the owners had so strategically placed. It made one’s mouth water with the sight of tangsooyook, wholesome doshiraks and golden chicken tenders, and it was clear to see why this was a popular food chain amongst all the high school students of Seoul.

“Good evening sir and welcome to our restaurant! Could I start you off with anything?” A chirpy waitress with the brightest smile greeted.

“Actually… We are ready to order.”

“Oh, of course, what would you like to have then? I can assure you that we only serve top-quality products and if you would like some recommendations, I would not mind to give the both of you some suggestions as well.”

Hearing that, he rattled on his order and I was a little surprised to hear how much he could eat, and most importantly, the price of the items he had ordered. They were not expensive individually, no, but with the seemingly endless list, it was hard to tell how much it would cost in total.

“So that will be 1 serving of tangsooyook, 2 servings of premium doshiraks, 1 serving of mixed mandoo, 1 serving of kimchi jjigae, 2 bottles of Chinsung Cider and finally, to end it all off, an Oreo bingsoo with chocolate and vanilla ice cream?”

He nodded and I was already fumbling for my wallet in my bag, but I was way too slow to possibly go dutch, especially when he had already handed in his debit card before she could even tell us what the price was. He smiled at me when he did so, eyes turning into two crescent moons and whipped out his phone to scroll through his Instagram and Twitter feed.

“Hey… Uh.. How much is it? It’s only right if I pay you back —“

“No, no. It’s my treat. Don’t worry about it. You deserve it, especially after working so hard for those stellar results.”

“T-thanks Ong but it was all thanks to you really. Without you, who knows where I would have been at this point?”

“Sure, I would like to take some credit for your great success,” he said proudly, but reverted back to his soft and gentle tone, “but at the end of the day, you were the one sitting for the papers anyway. Until now, I’m still proud of you and it’s good to know that you’re doing well now.”

And that was when I looked to see a beautiful smile that just made him even more handsome than he already was. Despite knowing him for so long, I still felt a familiar warmth spreading through my cheeks and ears and I cleared my throat awkwardly. My heart started to palpitate against my chest and I leaned back against the booth, attempting to calm myself down.

“Hi! Here’s your food and enjoy your meal!” The waitress was back again, holding onto a huge circular tray of food probably fit for a king. She arranged the food gently and nicely, but she was quick and said before running back to her station, “Here you go, picture worthy, don’t you think? Anyway, have a great night and if you need anything, just give me a call!”

It was amazing how she was still so enthusiastic, even if she was just simply serving customers and taking down their orders, without even stopping to rest for a bit and catch a breather. How I wish I was like that when I attended school too.

“Here, eat up.” Seongwoo said, proceeding to stack my side plate with two serving spoons full of tangsooyook and I thanked him for his kind gesture, “Like I said, you deserve it anyway.”

And that was how our sumptuous meal had gone as we spent time relishing in the taste of the food and caught up with each other at the same time. I knew of the fact that his team had attained a gold medal at the recent interschool games, but it was a whole different story hearing it from the player itself. He opened up about his highest moments, as well as his lowest, and told me hilarious anecdotes throughout the course of the dinner.

As for me, there was nothing much to say, especially when I was only a member of the school’s editorial club, publishing magazines containing updates of the school as well as taking photographs for the magazine itself. Hence, I resorted to spending most of my time actively listening to Seongwoo’s stories initially, before opening up about my recent experiences in the editorial team. In fact, I had also mentioned that the copies were well on its way, showing him a picture that a friend of mine had managed to catch from his volleyball finals.

“Oh wow, could you take pictures like that too?” He asked, after the photograph had piqued his interest, with a curious tone.

“I… can try, I guess? I’m still new to the whole photography notion, but I suppose I could try it sometime.”

“Could I be your model then?”

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, nodding, and once again, he exuded the vibes of a boy who had just gotten his very first christmas present. It was clear he was excited, chewing on his food happily with a wide smile on his face.

In the end, we ended up spending more time in the restaurant than we should have, surprised to find out that they were about to close for the night, as well as the fact that we had sat in the restaurant for quite a long while too. After an enthusiastic goodbye from the waitresses, we took our leave and made our way to the train station to get home.

We were in a state of comfortable silence as we walked, taking in deep breaths of the cool spring air and feeling the gentle wind against our faces. The city lights had also attracted our attention, and hence, we spent a little bit of time admiring the sights around us in silent awe. Furthermore, I had never been to this area of Seoul, hence all these sights seemed to give a different vibe, even if they could be selling the same things at the end of the day.

Now, it was the time to part ways, simply because we were going in two directions now. I was heading towards Myeongdong and beyond, while he was heading off to Apgujeong. Thankfully, our trains were not arriving so soon, and we took a seat right in the middle of the vast and relatively empty train station.

“Thanks for the dinner today.” I said, breaking the silence, and he smiled in response, “I’m glad you enjoyed it Y/N. Let’s… come back again, shall we?”

And I nodded, before hearing the sudden familiar whirring of the train tracks, signalling that my train was going to come any minute now. I stood up, but I only felt a tug on my wrist and turned around, only to be faced with an endearing gaze from Seongwoo. Strangely, I could sense a tinge of shyness, which was unlikely from a boy that confident.

“B-before you go,” he stammered, “I j-just wanted to tell you to be safe, get home as quick as you can and… uhh… text me once you’re home. If anything happens, j-just g-give me a call.”

“Sure,” I replied, and started to move away as he loosened his grip, “Don’t worry Ong, I’ll be home before you know it and I’ll be sure to get home in one piece. Be safe on your way home too and I’ll… see you tomorrow?”

He nodded with a small smile, finally realising that he needed to let me go so that I could get onto the train. Nevertheless, I faced the station anyway and noticed that he had made a heart shape with his arms as the train took its leave. Hence, I reciprocated the gesture shyly and gave a final wave, before heading back home to retreat for the night.

[alifeenrouteblog]

a week in ireland: recap and travel tips

I went to Ireland for a week with my family! Here are some things I saw, did, and learned. Maybe it will be helpful for you if you ever go!

Overall, I loved it. It was way more beautiful than I thought it would be. I was kind of expecting it to be just green. It is very green. But there's also a lot of mountain views, ocean views, a lot of bodies of water actually. The green pastures are full of sheep, cows, and horses, and since we were then in early May, we got to see a bunch of baby animals on our drives. IT WAS FREAKING ADORABLE! 

The best part of Ireland? The people are so effing nice. So nice. Not in a creepy, fake way like in the Midwest of the US. No one really approached us. Men didn't oggle me. But if we ever approached someone to ask for directions, help they were very very helpful and never acted as if they were annoyed or we were inconveniencing them. Same for servers and bartenders. I couldn't believe how kind they were for people who don't make their living off tips. The service was usually a bit slow compared to the US but if you're not in a rush and just relax, it's not a big deal. At one point, my brother asked a bartender for a "Jameson and Pep", a coworker told him it was really popular in Ireland. The bartender didn't know what it was, but he was so nice abou it and we could tell that he genuinely wanted to find out what it was so he could make it. When I'm at a bar in the US and need something somewhat obscure from the bar, and bartenders are so sassy or dicks. The Irish bartender's response surprised me, it wasn't what I was used to. He could've easily made Ryan feel uncomfortable but he was a total pro. That's just one example of how the people were so, so, so nice. We had some freaking hilarious taxi drivers, who were also incredibly helpful.....The Irish people truly made the trip.

Currency: Euro. A lot of places took cards. But if you want to go to the old, small pubs be prepared and bring cash.

Tipping rules confused me. You always hear, “They don’t tip in Europe”, but it doesn’t seem to be completely absent. To be safe, I would say leave 10%. Note: If you’re paying by card there’s usually not a way to tip on your card. Try to leave a 1 or 2 Euro coin.

How expensive Dublin is surprised me. A pint of Guinness was about $8. I couldn’t find an AirBnB (whole flat) for less than $200. A private room was at least $80. Groceries were really expensive.

Helpful Tip: They use the UK outlets, i.e. the three-prong outlet.

Transportation:

·      The Irish Rail system, which goes all around Ireland was great. Very clean and on time. I can’t speak for the entire system but all the routes I looked at had times starting at 6:30am and leaving every two hours after.

·      However, I only ended up taking one train, from Killarney to Dublin. We ended up driving around the country, which I recommend if you don’t mind driving on the left side.

·      Uber operates in Dublin, but it uses regular taxis and its metered. Or they have UberBlack, which is obviously more expensive. I requested a car on the app a few times. Just one time it worked. The other two or three times, no one responded.

Helpful Tip: Speak quietly. Apparently, Irish people generally speak quietly and a lot of times Americans embarass themselvesw by being loud in public places. This was hard for me. I'm a very loud person. :)

Helpful Tip: public transportation and the train system have wifi. Most restaurants and pubs have wifi. A lot of times its open. If not, just ask your server or the bartender what the password is. Everyone is more than willing to give it out.  

Dublin

Grogan’s Castle Lounge – a fantastic, authentic, very old school pub. Its carpeted, which gave it a cool 70s vibe. Bring cash – they don’t take cards. And be prepared for it to be packed.

Temple Bar area is the area where young, hot people party. Soooo many bars. It was very sunny in Dublin when iw as there, which rare, so the bars were packed especially the outdoor areas. People were spilling into the sidewalks. I even saw folks take stools out to the sidewalk or street. I saw that multiple times, so I think it’s pretty normal and acceptable. As busy as the area is, it’s not rowdy or gross. Everyone holds their liquor well. It's not too loud. Definitely worth going during the day time or evening.

Storehouse – in the Temple Bar area - this place felt and looked newer but still had the set-up of a traditional Irish bar/restaurant. They do have a full menu, which looked awesome and full of Irish meals, and take credit cards. They have live music, but it's more contemporary, not the traditional Irish music.

Walk along the River Liffy. We were so lucky to have fabulous weather. It was sunny and in the 70s every day. We walked along the river and stopped at a little café (almost like a little snack shack) on the river for coffee.

Walk around Trinity College. It’s gorgeous. Go on a Saturday and watch a cricket match at the park adjacent to the campus. It is so fun to watch – even if you don’t know what’s going on. Cricket matches have long breaks throughout when the teams went to their locker rooms (?) a bunch of dads took their little kids on the grass and pitched a cricket ball to the kid, who had a cricket bat. The kids were like two to four years old, so it freaking darling.

Trim: Great day trip when staying in Dublin: Less than an hour drive from Dublin you can go to the city of Trim, to see the Trim Castle. Trim Castle is a special place for the DeLacy family. Hugh DeLacy, kind of the patriarch of our family, built the castle in 1172. The DeLacys were the lords of Meath (now County Meath). Three generations of DeLacy's lived here and were kind of royalty. Pretty dope right?

 The town of Trim is really cute. You could hang out there for a few hours, walking around and eating and drinking. The castle is also surrounded by really beautiful grounds that would be a nice stroll.

After 3-4 days in Dublin, I recommend leaving and going to Galway or Clare Island, both across the country. We did not go to Clare Island but a lot of people recommended it.

Galway

If you go to Galway, drive first to Connemera National Park. Spend a few hours there and hike along the trail.

Galway surprised me. It’s kind of a kitschy beach town. A cuter and more sophisticated version of a Jersey Shore or Myrtle Beach. And much smaller. They had small (very small) amusement parks, with some thrill rides. It was a very cute town.

We stayed at the Salt Hill Hotel, which was really pretty and right on the water. It’s about a 10 min taxi to the busy part of town with all the restaurants and pubs. All the restaurants and pubs looked good. It’s a busy place, so if you go for dinner you might have to try a few places to find a table. I don’t think you could go wrong with many places here. But a few recommendations:

Neactain Bar – old, authentic, small outside patio. Great place to have a pint and a cigarette. Inside, they have these cool little closed off rooms for each table. There’s no door but they have walls between tables so you get some privacy.

 ‘Tis Coilis – for great, authentic Irish bar

I heard Dough Brothers Pizza is good (from a pizzeria owner) but we did not go there.

 When you leave Galway head to the Cliffs of Moher for the day, before heading to your next hotel or AirBNB.

Cliffs of Moher:  A must see. Very beautiful. And a little scary. Try to skip the entry fee by parking far away. The tickets you pay for in the lot are for the visitor center and not for the Cliffs themselves.

Doolin: Cute town we stopped in to go to the bathroom after leaving the Cliffs of Moher. But it ended up having a very cute town center, with shops and cafes, and of course pubs. It looked quiet so if that’s your jam, this would be a great place to stay for a night or two when you visit the COM.

Go to Dingle!: We did not go but everyone I talked to in the U.S. and in Ireland said to go to Dingle. It’s supposed to be beautiful.

We also stayed in Ennis. I didn’t do much here. I opted out of dinner with family – I needed some alone time to rejuvenate. I didn’t hear strong opinions from them either way. It looked like it was more on the boring side. Its significantly inland, so I would not recommend it unless it’s on your route or there’s something you know you want to do around there.

Killarney:  Very cool town. I was underwhelmed we drove up to our hotel – it just looked like a bunch of hotels and houses. But when I met my family in town for dinner, I saw that there was a great town center. Lots of pubs, restaurants, shops. I don’t remember any restaurants or pubs we went to, but they all looked great.

Not far from the town center, there’s the Killarney National Park. My family went on a hike here after I left for Budapest. My brother said it was brutal - straight rock climbing for 1,500 feet.

Helpful Tip: When departing Dublin, take airport security rules seriously. They are very strict about them here. Over half the bags got pulled to the side, including my suitcase. There were so many bags pulled off to the side it took about 15 minutes for someone to even look at mine. I know that you’re supposed to take out your liquids, but I never do. Ever. But I just assumed that theyd look through my bag and see that all my liquids met the size requirement and I would get my bag back. When the gentleman did bring my bag back, he handed me a sandwich bag, and told me that I had to put all of my liquids, creams, and aerosol cans into the bag – AND IT HAD TO CLOSE. It took me about ten minutes and the dude watched me the whole time! I had to throw out lotion, body wash, conditioner, and something else. He watched until I sealed the bag to make sure each centimeter was sealed. It was so annoying. And it totally ruined my adorable makeup, toiletry bag. I can’t put them in a plastic baggie – I need to use my awesome cosmetic case!!!

Make sure you follow these annoying rules from RyanAir.com: “Liquids carried must be in a container of no more than 100ml (3.4 ounces) All liquids should be carried in a single, transparent, re-sealable plastic bag of up to 20cm x 20cm with a total capacity of up to a litre. You must be able to completely close the bag and be able to fit it in your hand baggage.”

I also saw a lot of people get pulled for computers, iPads that they left in their bag.