#but i love reading fic even more lmao

[mistress-light]

Why do those writing ideas come when I am totally tipsy? I just added 2 more wip's. 💀

[blossoms-phan]

guys can someone reassure me that you want to read phan smut

[eybefioro]

Weekly fic rec, by yours truly...

Even after all this, you still have time. It's cold, but soon enough, the season will change. We watch the snow fall, the days going by. We share stories, we get warm by the fireplace. There's still time, and there's still your favourite restaurant down the road. There's still your favourite show, there's still the hug from a loved one. There's still everything that makes time worthwhile.

on the same page by Chekhov

Rated E, ~118k words.

My tags: satisfying, entrancing, hopeful.

Summary

Aziraphale Z. Fell is a rising star of the spiritual literary genre - the next Eat Pray Love guy - and his version of Chicken Soup For the Christian Soul is flying off the shelves. It's not that he's not grateful, but it's one thing to enjoy a career in writing and another completely to be pigeonholed into a specific genre, so much so that you are almost forbidden from writing anything else. So yes, maybe he has a bit of a secret. An outlet for his less... appropriate urges. And yes, if his typical readership got word of the sort of paragraphs he could put out on a particularly inspired night, they might suffer some form of heart attack typical for their age. But all of that is well hidden, and there is absolutely no way anyone would ever find out about his Arrangement with A.J. Crowley - the most debaucherous romantic fiction author of the decade. That is... until they have to pretend to be married to each other.

I love me some long human AU. I love to read these long ones and let myself just fall into the story, see how everything develops, really dedicate some time to it, and immerse myself in this new universe. See the characters that we know so well in a complete different context but still being somewhat the same.

And this one does it so, so well. Crowley and Aziraphale are so true to their characters in this fic, and it's spun in such a way that even though it's a completely different background and situation, it's still so them. It's still the same story. Still the same absurd longing and dancing around that we see, and that's so wonderful! Idk how the author did it, but it's so impressive. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's necessary to be accurate to the characters for a fanfic to be good. I feel like in every fic, they will be different, and that's GOOD. Fandom is a sandbox for us to play in. Nonetheless, I will say it again, this fic is impressive in that sense; their motivations, their story, their situation, the way they talk, how they think... it's very true to them. Besides that, the characters are all so well written. They feel real.

I love how the story is told. You don't get the whole picture at first, you don't understand their whole situation and relationship. You get feed details slowly, in the moments where they are needed, and just by the end you actually are able to sit and see it all. It's so engaging, and makes you understand both points of view. Why and how they endured all this time, all this longing.

Also, the thing about both of them being authors and writing each others books, and meeting through fanfiction? That was so genius. It scratched my brain so well. It's just so fitting, the whole arrangement is so well constructed. Aziraphale’s relationships with Gabriel, church and family is so well described. You can really get his way of thinking, and the choice he and Crowley constantly make to Not Talk About It, the one that makes you want to shove them in a room and make them fucking communicate, is... is totally understanble by the end. I was like, yeah, if I was in this situation I'd probably do the same, even if it makes me mad. I could relate a lot to Aziraphale and understand his thinking (although that may not be a surprise lol).

On that note: the use of the fake marriage trope is so well implemented and fits with the characters in the story in such a way that is uncanny. It really feels like something they'd think it's reasonable to do. This is such a idiotXidiot story it's infuriating in the best fucking away. It's so in sync with both seasons of the show, and it was written before season 2! But don't worry they end up together. It's like the author spun that and actually gave some closure, and made them fucking talk LMAO

Also, this fic deals with some sensitive topics, especially homophobia and its consequences, but it's done in such a sensible manner. Yes, they face some pretty bad shit (especially Aziraphale in the past), but they aren't told in a violent (?) manner? Like, the violence is not romanticised, it's not there for us bawl over. The characters deal with it and are triumphant in the end. They are resilient and strong, and even if they suffer because of homophobia, they get to rebuilt their lives and be happy. They get their good ending, and they win.

The writing in this fic is also incredible. I metaphors are delicious, the way the feelings are described, and how everything develops. It's just such a good read, keeping you on your toes. It's funny, it's sad, it's infuriating (as I said before, in a good way), it's hopeful, it's beautiful, it's hot. It's many things at the same time, but above all, it's satisfying. It makes you go through all those emotions with the characters, but by the end, you get to see them happy, free, and communicating. It's delightful writing. Really. There are some paragraphs that I will be thinking for a long time because they hit HARD.

This fic is like balancing craving and indulgence, like having a bar of chocolate that you just eat a little piece every day, because you want to make it last, only to then notice that you can buy more if you want to. It's like a good, deserved piece of cake that tastes like happiness.

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

I always think about how in multiple episodes it's basically canon that Blanche is bi but considers dating women to be more hassle (which is a whole rabbit hole to go down - does she struggle with societal homophobia when she's with women? Has she only been with fellow high maintenance femmes when shes really after a Dorothy type? Has she internalized the idea that her attraction to women isn't 'real'? Her reaction to Clayton adds to these questions). Not to mention how this goes together with her relationships with the girls; making to kiss Rose that one time (and Rose multiple times seeming very aware of Blanche's proclivities), begging Dorothy for 'relief' and being convinced she's attracted to women too.

Yes, anon! It’s really interesting to delve into Blanche’s psyche about all this stuff!

I started writing down my thoughts and ended up with a long ramble -- allow me to place it all under a cut, so I don't clog up anyone's dash, haha.

Personally, I think she has some strong mental blocks when it comes to her sexuality because of the way she was brought up. I mean, she grew up in Atlanta approx in the 1930s/1940s — I’m sure I don’t have to detail the kind of casual bigotry she must have seen around her during her formative years! Just look at the story she recounts in S1E13 A Little Romance:

“Now, you have to understand that in those days in the South a lot of things were still taboo. Certain people were not to mix. So Benjamin and I had to meet in secret. Oh, we knew if any of the bigots in town found out about us, there’d be a terrible scandal.”

And all of this because Benjamin was a yankee… can you imagine what ‘the bigots in town’ thought about homosexuality? Yeah, I’m pretty sure Blanche learned to suppress that part of herself very early on. We know she turns to denial when she’s faced with uncomfortable truths and emotions she can’t deal with, so I think she likely just refuses to acknowledge that part of herself most of the time, and it only comes out (pun intended!) when she’s not paying much attention to things, or when there’s something more important going on. See the two examples you point out: when she tries to kiss Rose she’s concerned with not being kissed at midnight, and when she propositions Dorothy she’s, well… she’s desperate to get some, if we can be frank.

When she’s in a more rational state, her reactions tend to be more measured… but not by much. She does advise Rose not to date women (S3E10 The Audit):

“Oh, no, honey, don’t do that! No job is worth having to date women!”

But she’s also really flattered at receiving lots and lots of phone calls from women, after her appearance as a ‘lesbian’ on TV (S7E15 Goodbye, Mr Gordon):

“By the way, Dorothy, if I were a lesbian, I sure would be a popular one. Look at this, 20 calls.”

And of course we can’t forget her reaction to finding out that Jean has a crush on Rose in S2E5 Isn’t It Romantic?:

“Jean has the hots for Rose? I don’t believe it, I do not believe it! […] To think Jean would prefer Rose over me? That’s ridiculous! […] Now you tell me the truth: if you had to pick between Rose and me, who would you pick? Who?”

All of these are (likely) intended to be jokes about her vanity and her libertine nature (in the same way as Rose’s observations are), but considering a lot of the writers of this show were queer themselves, it wouldn’t seem strange to me if they were intentionally peppered in to suggest that Blanche might be a bisexual in denial. It certainly fits her character!

I haven’t spoken about her reaction to Clayton’s coming out yet, but that’s immensely interesting too, of course. I think Blanche has the same attitude towards homosexuality that I see in a lot of (mostly older) people in my Country nowadays: it’s fine as a general concept, but when it comes to her family (or, God forbid, herself) then the problems come out. See for example what she says about Jean:

“Well, I’ll never understand what Jean doesn’t see in the opposite sex, but if that makes her happy, that’s fine by me!”

Which isn’t a homophobic attitude at all! If anything, if you take her upbringing into account, it’s pretty accepting. But then, when Clayton comes out to her (S4E9 Scared Straight) and tells her he wants to get married (S6E14 Sister Of The Bride), this is what she says:

“Oh, Clayton, please be serious. You're just saying that so I won't set you up with any more women. […] Well, then you're saying it 'cause you're trying to get back at me for something. Clay, I know you too well for this. After all, I know it can't be true. You're my brother. […] Clayton Hollingsworth. You look me in the face and tell me you really are… what you just said you are.”

“I'm having a little trouble putting this all together. Clayton, I just feel like I don't know you anymore.”

“[…] Dorothy, that's different. We're talking about going out in public. Oh, what are people gonna say?”

“Will you tell me why you want to put yourself and Doug through this? You know how people can be.”

“Oh, look, I can accept the fact that he's gay, but why does he have to slip a ring on this guy's finger so the whole world will know?”

Quite the difference from her attitude towards Jean, wouldn’t you say? I think there’s three elements at play here.

1) When Clayton comes out to Blanche, she feels disoriented because this is life-changing information Clayton has never shared with her before. While her reaction as a whole isn’t ideal, personally I think it’s understandable. Clayton is her baby brother; she’s known him as straight all his life, he’s been married to a woman for years before his divorce, and she recounts an episode from their adolescence when he was on a date with a woman and very clearly implicated having a physical encounter with her. He's done everything in his power to pass as straight until this point in time -- I don't find it strange that Blanche would be shocked at his coming out, especially given her upbringing (and the fact that this is set in the 80s! We can't expect modern sensibilities from the characters!). Once again, her reaction isn't the best (she can't even bring herself to say the word 'gay' at first...), but the shock per se isn't that surprising, imho.

2) Blanche is scared because of societal implications above all. She doesn't necessarily see being queer as something wrong, but she's been taught it's not socially acceptable and acts accordingly. Notice how she's worried about what people are going to say, and she struggles to accept that Clayton wants the whole world to know about his relationship with Doug.

Societal expectations in general are a big theme for Blanche's character, and often drive her development; another big example of this is her attitude towards Rebecca's decision to get artificially inseminated, but it's a bit of a baseline issue for her, I feel. She has this whole thing about her beauty and her (supposed) youth and her attractiveness that has some inherent elements, but it's mostly an issue of how other people perceive her, I think, and her response to her brother's coming out is easy to relate to this theme. I mean, she even says it to Rose in S7E15:

"Well, I don't mind being labeled a lesbian, honey, but since I'm not, you just ruined my social life."

So yeah. I think it's safe to say her main concern is societal disapproval of queerness: she wants to be accepted and celebrated by the people around her, and she thinks that being openly queer will destroy her place in her social circle (and she's worried about the same happening to Clayton too, of course).

3) This is sort of related to point 2, but it felt distinct enough to treat it separately. I think she might have reacted so badly to Clayton's coming out (and especially to his showing up with a partner) because he's open about his sexuality, and she's not ready to face what that means for her. My lovely mutual @\hecatesbroom recently published her latest amazing work the odd one(s) out, on the relationship between Dorothy and her brother Phil and how Phil's open queerness might have impacted Dorothy; I think a similar situation might have occurred between Blanche and Clayton after his coming out.

Blanche has a sort of advantage on Dorothy because of her bisexuality, in the sense that she has 'passing privilege' (I really dislike this concept, but allow me to use it to make a point): it's painfully clear that she loved her late husband with all her heart, and she's obviously attracted to men as well, so she can pretend not to like women without too much of a hassle (whereas, if you believe Dorothy to be a repressed lesbian, her situation is much more complicated).

The issue with this is that this 'advantage' is a double-edged sword: she might have the comfort of being socially acceptable, but she's had to suffocate a big part of herself to obtain that comfort. And so, what happens when Clayton -- her baby brother Clayton, the one who's always been just like her, who's grown up with her same environment and influences -- begins openly living as a gay man? I'm sure the situation must have had a strong impact on her, even if just on a subconscious level; I've always found it curious that she seems to have a harder time accepting Clayton in S6E14 than she does in S4E9 (she even calls his sexuality a phase), and while a part of it may be attributed to the higher social exposure Clayton's commitment to Doug brings, I think this may be a result of her inner conflict, provoked by watching her brother live openly while she's been suppressing a part of herself all her life.

Here I'm assuming she's never acted upon her attraction to women before, but there's some space to believe she has done so and has decided it's too much of a hassle, as you say -- likely because she'd for sure do it in secret, given her fear of societal condemnation. If she has been with women before, and decided to give up on it, I still think she'd be greatly impacted by Clayton's coming out: it means her baby brother is a) braver than she is, and b) going to openly face (and likely suffer because of) the same social issues she's run away from. In this lens, I find it interesting that she cautions him about how people can be, almost as if they've both experienced it.

Whew. Wow, this was a lot more than I'd originally meant to write, haha! Seems you sparked a big train of thought, anon! I think all of the Girls (with the possible exception of Sophia) are really fascinating to analyze with a queer lens, and Blanche is always interesting to me, of course. As a final note, I'd like to point out that she does come around to Clayton's sexuality and his relationship, in the end: as often happens, she just needs the Girls' help to put things back in perspective, understand she's hurting someone she loves, and correct her actions. I'd like to think living with the Girls might lead to her becoming more accepting of herself, too.

[jrueships]

This is lowkey a stupid ass question but is your username jrue ships like different ships involving jrue or is it jrue’s hips 😭😭😭

yes !

[frankiebirds]

JJ: It's something we call the buddy system. That means, you always go everywhere with a friend. MORGAN: That's right, because bad men and women are more likely to talk to us only when we're by ourselves

this is likely unintentional, but i like to read into things, so.

for context, they're speaking to a room full of children in a town with a serial child murderer, and are giving them some precautions to follow to stay safe (on a lighter note: the scene is intercut with a scene of gideon doing the same to a room of adults, which i really like)

jj addresses the children as "you" while morgan addresses them as "we". i dont like the term "freudian slip" because i hate freud, but thats the shortest way to describe what i think/headcanon is happening here. im sure they had a script, and i think morgan's part was "bad men and women are more likely to talk to you only when you're by yourself" and the "us/we" came out accidentally. or i could believe that morgan wrote his part of the script and wrote "we" because he sees himself in the victims.

obviously the way morgan was victimized during his childhood was very different to what's happening here (there is no sexual assault and we later learn that the violence was done by a peer, not an adult) but it's made clear several times that morgan takes any case where children are harmed very personally. they all do, because that's just how people are, but again, morgan specifically sees himself in the child victims they encounter. he was victimized differently, yes, but he knows what its like to face violence as a child, he knows the fear they felt, and, considering in this case they profile that the children know their attacker, he knows the feeling of betrayal

[angel---eater]

i kinda wish sometimes that i had more ppl to just like discuss and jam about meat&candy but im having way way way too much of a good time vibing on my own

[stabbyfoxandrew]

oh... gods i just realized i have ao3 comments that are two months old...

[epiphainie]

my silly phone sex operator fic i wrote in one day almost has the same amount of kudos as my beloved character-study-both-ways fic... harrowing

[cosmicdenro]

hey so i completed How to Court Your Life Partner

you don't fucking understand how much that hit so good. the descriptions of the weather are my top fucking favourite and the way it was implemented was like it was 100% made for me im gonna kms NOW.

Again not a big fan of pet names that often but it wasn't that big of a deal with overall how well it was written. The conflict was insanely good because for one it never was something out of the blue for the reader, you knew this was bound to happen because Reg was so far up his ass he didn't see it coming and the way his words affected RHM. I fucking adore conflict when it isn't mindless and badly executed, it's so good and you could absolutely fucking see how much it build the character of Reg upon fucking up big time, despite even if he was still not able to get through to RHM right away. and just the issue RHM was having about his past?? my god that was written carefully too even if some things went over my head beacuse i kept getting distracted *@&@*! but hooooooooooly shit man . oh my god. the character build up was so good im ripping my sheets apart as we speak. THE SNOW CABIN CHAPTER MADE ME 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

also the sven chapter help help help that poor fucking boy did NOT see that coming

[essektheylyss]

I am writing a thousand words of this wip a day and ONLY a thousand words of this wip a day, dammit. This year I will enforce some goddamn moderation if it kills me (and frankly, it might).

[alchemiclee]

I hope someone writes a good fic about the high cloud quintet with all the messy pieces of lore we have because i'm very unsatisfied with what we got and I want MORE OF THEM. don't know why i'm so obsessed with this tragic group of friends but 😭 IM SO FEELINGS ABOUT THEM but also empty because they didn't satisfy me with what they gave us lmao I require more. but that was the end and i'll never get more....unless someone writes a great fic about them.....!

[catboy-jupiter]

my favorite niche (is it niche?) romance... trope? is body sharing. whether that's bc smth happens and two people who are in love fuse or have to share one of their bodies for one reason or another, or two strangers end up sharing a body and end up falling in love.. gods it makes me INSANE. i think it's peak romance that two people literally become one (or come as close to becoming one as they can. whether they recognize themselves as different identities or one, shared new identity.... yummy!). ultimate levels of insanely-in-love imo and i LOVE it

[planetkiimchi]

7 minutes in heaven

inspired by: this post by @creativepromptsforwriting

pairing: wayv members x gn!oc

summary — you’re best friends with the wayv members, and they all react differently to being stuck in a small space with you for 7 minutes

kun

prompt 14. "please tell me this is not why you woke me up."

Kun looks at you and sighs heavily. The two of you have (un)fortunately been selected for 7 minutes of what, in Kun's opinion, is a waste of time which could have been used for sleep.

Earlier on, Kun had been upset with the commotion your friends were causing. He didn't say it aloud, just gave you a pointed look before tossing and turning on his bed.

It was partially your fault, after all, you hadn’t made any move to try and keep your friends quiet, nor had you let him try and catch some shut-eye.

He was tired; he had busy working on his song arrangement the entire day and dealing with his members.

Despite this, you'd managed to convince him, after some persuasion and lots of pleading on your end, to join the sleepover you were having with your friends. "It'll be fun!" you'd promised.

He had dragged his feet, groggily climbing out of bed.

With an irritable look on his face, he had tugged a loose T-shirt over his head and pulled on a pair of shorts.

There was an air of storminess around him as he followed you out of the room and into your room, which was just next door, to see what was going on.

Your friends had been extremely immersed in a game of "7 Minutes in Heaven"—and when they saw the two of you coming, they broke out into loud giggles while you glared at them suspiciously.

That should have tipped you off into knowing that they were doing something, especially when the way they folded up the paper with Kun’s name on it looked different from the rest of those in the cap.

Your suspicions that the game was rigged were confirmed when your friend drew out the names with a flourish, and somehow both your and Kun's names were selected.

Before you knew what was happening, the two of you were shoved into a closet—a small space—and you were stuck with a cranky Kun who wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.

"Please tell me this is not what you woke me up for."

"It's not what I intended, I suppose."

Kun brushes the stray strands of hair out of your face, tucking it behind your ear with a wry smile.

"But you would have enjoyed this? If I wasn't being a killjoy?"

You nod, averting your eyes. "It's usually a fun game-"

"-I'm just not going to kiss you, so that makes it less fun." Kun finishes.

You shrug. "Kind of."

"Come here." Kun opens up his arms wide, drawing you into a hug. There's some clattering as you struggle to manoeuvre your legs around in the small space, eyes not yet adjusted to the dark. You wince as you accidentally knock a hanger down, and it falls on your foot.

You end up falling, legs tangled, onto the floor, and he falls on top of you, hands braced against the closet walls.

"Oops," you smile sheepishly. He flicks your forehead playfully, drawing your legs around his waist so that there's enough space for the both of you to sit comfortably. The way your legs fit around him is familiar, much more comfortable compared to drawjng your knees up to your chin.

His hands on you are warm and welcoming, and his voice no longer contains hints of irritation.

"Will you wake me up again tomorrow morning to tidy up your closet because you sacrificed it for this game?" You imagine that he’s raising his eyebrows as he asks this. You know he hates the work, yet you nod happily as he draws you into a hug.

"I love you so much," he murmurs into your ear.

You nuzzle against his warm embrace, he's always been the kindest friend you had. He plays with your hair, rubbing your back and you smile quietly.

The door suddenly draws open, and he flinches at the sudden influx of light. "Is 7 minutes over already?"

ten

prompt 4. “let's just kiss and see where it takes us."

warnings: drinking, use of (one) vulgarity, vomiting

You have no idea how you ended up in a closet with Ten, one of your closest friends—and also one you had been secretly pining after for a long time. 

The sounds of the club are still fresh in your ear, and you remember hot breath on your neck as you danced without a care.

But now your legs are weak from all that dancing you've done, and your head's spinning slightly. I'm going to have a massive hangover tomorrow, you think.

You've had too many drinks, and hopefully you haven‘t divulged any confidential information during the heated Truth or Dare game the group of you were playing.

Speaking of having one too many drinks, Ten also seems to be drunk, which you can tell by his lightly flushed cheeks, pink and rosy, the look on his face, and his tipsy giggles as he brushes a thumb across your cheek.

You're not even in a closet—there were none available, so you're stuck in a toilet stall. It's kind of unhygienic, but at least it's easy for you to vomit if you suddenly find the need to.

"Let's just kiss and see where it takes us." The bold statement coming from Ten makes you think twice, especially because you've seen him regret things he's done when he's drunk. After all, you're often the one helping to clean up his messes when he’s sober the next day.

"You're going to hate yourself in the morning."

"I've drunk so much, I'm going to hate myself anyway. Might as well make it worth it." Ten’s eyes darken, so quickly you almost might have imagined it.

He toys with your wrists and pulls you in, and your lips crash against his. You pull away and grab his wrist, causing him to pause for a bit. "If you don't want to, it's fine. Just don't hold back because you've mistakenly assumed I don't want to."

Now you're the one hesitating, because you do want to, of course, but you're also not in the mood for ruining friendships.

"You're quite certain it'll be okay?"

He nods, and then his lips are on yours, sloppier than you thought they would be. There seems to be a hunger in him, like this is something he’s been wanting to do for a long time.

It might seem like he's had a lot of practice when you catch him stealing hidden kisses in dark places, but drunk, unguarded Ten is a huge mess. It’s absolutely adorable, just like how he always is with you, the soft side of him overriding the flirty, confident him.

You lose yourself in the kiss, oblivious to the sounds of the club and the pounding in your head as his hands wrap themselves around you. They move slowly down, from your chin to your neck to your back and finally rest on your waist.

He knows exactly what he’s doing and you love it. But something in you is causing you to hold back, telling you it’s dangerous to fall in love with someone like him.

You pull away, and Ten cocks his head in confusion. "You don't like it?"

You press one finger to his lips. "No, but whatever you drank earlier on tastes like shit. Maybe we should continue this another day, preferably when we're both sober."

He knows you're lying—he always does—but he humours you anyway. “You're right.”

You feel bile rising in your throat, and clutch your neck as you rush to the toilet bowl, throwing up the contents of your stomach.

Ten tangles his fingers in your hair, supporting you as you continue to retch in a most undignified manner.

You wipe your mouth, washing your hands as knocks sound rapidly on the door.

Ten opens the door and you smile weakly at him. "You get my point?"

lucas

prompt 23. “why won’t you let me braid your hair?”

“Why won’t you let me braid your hair?” Lucas whisper-yells and you look at him through your eyelashes.

“I don’t want to go out with my hair all tangled and in a mess. I took time to style it today, okay?”

Lucas frowns and leans against the door, which creaks dangerously and you can almost hear the wood cracking into splinters. You push him into an upright sitting position, and breathe a sigh of relief when you see that the door isn’t broken.

Lucas makes a move towards you, hand outstretched towards your hair. By instinct, you jab your knee upwards and it just misses his crotch, your joint coming into contact with his torso.

His face contorts in pain as you feel his body crumple, spine curling up as he pulls himself into a ball and rolls around, groaning softly.

You’ve run your hand over his abs enough times to know how muscle-y and defined they are, and yet the softness of his stomach shocks you, and you apologetically hug him, rocking him in your arms.

“‘M injured, don’t you think I should get injured privileges?” You wait for the catch, and when he says hopefully, “Like braiding your hair?”, you smack him lightly against his stomach like you always do, and he yelps in pain as you belatedly remember that you’ve injured him.

The “wounded” happily turns your shoulders around, giving him full view of the hair you’ve so painstakingly curled and sprayed earlier that afternoon. You cringe inwardly as he begins separating your hair into different parts, a bit reluctant to let him do what he wants to do.

You feel your hair being tugged as he weaves it, hands working expertly as you wonder how he’s so experienced, and who he’s been practising on.

Lucas hums under his breath as he braids your hair, and you join him, familiar melodies being hummed in harmony.

When he’s finally finished—you’re surprised he managed to finish before seven minutes were up—, you twist around, and try to catch a glimpse of yourself. But it’s too dark to see your reflection in the mirror, so Lucas assures you that it looks absolutely stunning.

This is corroborated by the reactions of the others when the door is open and you blink, eyes adjusting to the light again as you hear audible gasps coming from your friends.

The person who unlocked the door admires your hair as you step out, and you see some of your friends whispering to each other. You take your phone back and immediately use the camera to look at yourself, and you gasp as well.

The braid looks unexpectedly beautiful, trailing down your back. Lucas has left your bangs alone and they frame your face, preventing you from looking too bald. The curl at the bottom of the braid, a result of your curling iron, really ties up the entire hairdo, giving it a nice, very you finish.

You can’t help but to hug Lucas tightly and tell him how amazing it is.

He stands there proudly as you praise him, and he says triumphantly, “Next time you really have got to just trust me.”

winwin

prompt 28. “just seven more minutes."

Winwin is gorgeous, even when his mouth is set into a hard line and his bored eyes roll, barely lit by the small crack between the doors of the closet.

He doesn’t even wait for a minute to pass before he takes out his phone, and you marvel at the capacity of men’s pockets. Had Winwin not taken his phone out, you would never have known that there was anything in that seemingly bottomless pocket. 

To be fair to him, you don't want to be here either, because your skirt's too short for you to be crouched in this uncomfortable position, and you would love to be back outside, talking with your friends.

However, you, unlike him, posess something called ‘manners’, which prevents you from taking out your phone and ignoring him as well.

"Just seven more minutes," Winwin mutters under his breath as his fingers swipe left and right and up and down. You have no idea what he’s doing, but he seems pretty immersed in it, lips pursed in concentration.

"You look pretty today," you offer, laying the table for more conversation topics to take hold.

"I look pretty every day, princess. I dressed up today so that you could hang me on your arm like a trophy prize."

His reply takes you by surprise, and your eyebrows furrow as you feel the temperature in the room drop with the coldness of that statement. However, Winwin seems to be sticking with it, and makes no attempt to take it back.

"Don't say that." You smack his arm, pouting unhappily. "You wanted to come."

He laughs softly, eyes crinkling up as he smiles. You must’ve blinked twice, because the sudden change in his demeanour is giving you whiplash.

"You're right. I wanted to be with you."

Even though he’s smiling, you refuse to let it go. "Then what's wrong with spending 7 minutes in here with me?"

A moment of silence hangs heavily in the air, his hesitation leading you to leap to several undesirable, albeit admittedly wild conclusions, like the possibility that Winwin might secretly hate spending time with you.

"I'm- I'm scared of small places." He says this quietly, avoiding your eyes. If you didn’t know any better, you might think he was afraid of what you would say. It’s almost horrifying that your best friend might be afraid to admit that he’s claustrophobic, but you sigh in relief at the simple answer he gives.

“Pretty boy, I’ve taken you to so many small places! You should've said it earlier.”

Winwin flushes, looking down at his fingers. “Didn’t want to interrupt your fun,” he mumbles.

You throw your arms around his neck and hug him tightly, whispering his name over and over again. He’s so considerate, always putting you first even in situations when he shouldn’t, or doesn’t have to. This might just be the reason that you’re growing to be more self-centred.

Winwin stiffens like always, not used to being touched, but softens after a while. You can feel him melting in your arms as he snakes his own around you, slender fingers stroking your back in a pattern you can’t quite decipher.

“My pretty, pretty boy.”

“Princess,” he counters.

“Did I ever tell you that I love you?” you ask. His cheeks redden further as you pull away from him and study his face. He fumbles with the ring on his index finger; the one you two got together a year ago.

The promise ring indicates the promise you made, that the two of you would stick together through times rich with good fortune and pleasant circumstances, and times thick with struggles and difficulties.

“Not enough times.” You can feel him smile as you press your cheek to his, smoothing down your skirt consciously.

You bring his hand to your lips and purposefully kiss his index finger, the cold stone chilling your lips. “I love you.”

xiaojun

prompt 5. "idiots. they're all idiots."

You feel yourself being jostled from your comfortable position, head lifted from Xiaojun’s lap. You peer through your eyelashes as Xiaojun carries you, bridal style, into the closet. His arms feel stronger than usual, because he typically refuses to lift a finger to pick you up off the floor.

Through your half-opened eyes, you catch a glimpse of some people watching you intently, but you can make nothing of their expressions, only noting that they’re looking at you oddly, in something resembling jealousy.

When Xiaojun sits down in the closet, with you in his arms, you take the opportunity to find out what’s going on. “Dejun, what on earth is happening?” You ask, rubbing your eyes groggily. He looks at you as if you’re somebody completely different, like the two of you haven’t just spent half the night together.

“Have you been sleeping this whole time?” You nod sheepishly, and he sighs and shakes his head. “We’re playing ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’.”

“I see… And what’s that, again?”

Xiaojun explains the rules of the game, and gently reminds you that you’ve already watched three couples go in. Although your memory is foggy, you do seem to recall watching people enter the closet in pairs, excited and giggling. The same people came out some time later with their faces flushed, clothes untidy and untucked, hair all mussed.

“So… what are we meant to do?”

Dejun leans in, dangerously close, and you lock eyes with him, waiting until he’s hovering just above your lips to slot your hand between the two of your faces, palm facing him as you push him away.

He laughs to himself. “That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“But we’re not going to do that, right?” His silence scares you for a bit before you realise he’s trying to get a reaction out of you. You scoff, prodding his biceps. “Right?”

He finally nods, and then silence falls.

“You’re a bit awkward, you know that?” You snuggle deeper into his embrace, and mumble, “Dejun?”

“Only a bit? I would’ve thought you would say I was extremely awkward.” He’s too used to your teasing by now, but he does sound a bit drained. His voice lacks its usual playfulness, and you only hear his exhaustion as he speaks.

“I wanna go home… ‘m so tired.”

He runs his fingers through your hair and both of you sigh softly. You stretch out as much as you can in the confined space, careful not to hit him, nuzzling your head against his chin.

You lean back into Xiaojun and he smiles softly. Sprawled across his chest, you can hear his breathing as you stare into the darkness.

You lean back into Xiaojun and he smiles softly. Sprawled across his chest, you can hear his breathing as you stare into the darkness.

“Idiots. They're all idiots.”

hendery

prompt 17. “let's grab the food and get out of here"

When your and Hendery’s names are drawn from the unlucky bowl of torn paper, you’re frozen in place, mouth pausing as you crunch down on the chips. Hendery glances at you conspiratorially as he looks down at the bag of chips in your hand, the fruit punch in his, and the cupcakes on the table.

He grabs two in the palm of his hand, and chugs his drink, setting the plastic cup back down on the table so heavily that the empty cup topples. He wipes his mouth dramatically and whispers, “Let’s grab the food and get out of here.”

You know he’s not joking, and it sounds like a mighty wonderful proposition, so you clutch the chips tightly and hightail it out of the room, leaving your friends staring at you in shock as you hurriedly rush out of the apartment. It’s not long before you realise that your friends are chasing you, and you run to the lift lobby and frantically press the button.

However, the screen indicates that the lift is still ten stories away, and your friends are gaining on you.

Hendery makes a dash for the stairs, and the two of you run down, flip-flops slapping against the steps loudly as you make your getaway. When you finally reach the first floor, Hendery takes the lead, and you follow him to his car, which he unlocks with a flourish and motions for you to get in.

You climb into the back seat, and Hendery locks the door behind you.

Your friends surround the car and glare at both of you, hands on their hips, trying to intimidate you into coming out. You stick your tongue out at them in triumph, and turn back to Hendery.

You’re both giddy from all the adrenaline, and he’s panting as he tries to catch his breath between bouts of laughter.

When he has finally calmed himself down, he offers you a cupcake, and you take it gratefully. A quick sniff informs you that it’s red velvet, your favourite cupcake flavour.

You bite into the cupcake at the same time as Hendery, but he’s overestimated himself, and you can see him regretting it as bits of cake batter overflow from the sides of his mouth.

You rummage in the car for some tissue paper, and wipe away the crumbs from his mouth with a grin.

You lean your seat back and take another look at the people outside the car. Most of your friends have given up and left, so you roll open the window and call a goodbye to their retreating backs before hastily shutting it again.

“That was a good workout,” you say, and Hendery nods, mouth full of food.

He swallows it and says, “We definitely burned the calories we’ll gain back from all of this.”

You agree, chomping down on the chips. As soon as you swallow, you realise how dry your mouth is, and you open your mouth to ask, “Do we have any water?” at the same time that Hendery says, “Do you ever realise that we never stop tasting our own tongues?”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Dry mouth forgotten, you insist on pursuing that train of thought. “No, you’ve got me hooked now. So, we never stop tasting our own tongues?”

“Yep. So, how about I taste yours for a change?”

You let out a gasp, clapping a hand over your mouth. That was�� actually pretty smooth, especially compared to the other pickup lines that Hendery likes to torture you with.

“I- I mean, sure, if you wanna.”

Hendery leaned in, but neither of you shut your eyes, both staring the other down until you cracked up laughing, shoving him away.

“Nah, I can't do this,” you choked out.

Hendery shrugged and held up a singular potato chip. “Want to recreate that Lady and the Tramp scene?”

You take the bait and bite on one end of the potato chip, shutting your eyes this time as Hendery’s face closes in, your noses touching. You break off your half of the potato chip just as you hear someone knocking on the car window.

Hendery turns away, burying his flaming cheeks in his hands.

yangyang

prompt 10. “are you wearing my chapstick?"

“Are you wearing my chapstick?” Yangyang asks with a sniff, looking oddly at you. He swipes at your upper lip, and brings his finger up to his nose to smell it.

“Yup, you definitely are.” You nod sheepishly, acknowledging that he is, in fact, spot on. Yangyang has this lemon-flavoured chapstick which he probably bought from some expensive brand (you never bothered to check, because you didn’t feel like making yourself feel broke). You love how it smells, but he never lets you borrow it.

Just for tonight, since you two were going over to a friend’s house, you decided to sneak into his room and apply the chapstick.

Obviously, Yangyang did not fail to realise, but he decided to only confront you when the two of you were alone, which, in this case, was during the game of “7 Minutes in Heaven” the Jun line had started.

“Really? You could’ve said something like, ‘Hey, I like the way your chapstick smells, is it lemon-flavoured?’ But no, of course you decided to accuse me of a crime,” you frown.

“Firstly, stealing my chapstick isn’t really a crime, so calling it as such is exposing your guilty conscience. Secondly,“ Yangyang leans forward and brushes his lips against yours, flicking it with his tongue. “I like the way my chapstick tastes on your lips. Is that better?”

You’re sure you’re blushing furiously, bringing one hand up to your lips. For other first time in your friendship with Yangyang, you’re struck speechless, completely dumbfounded by what Yangyang just did.

“Did you just kiss me?”

Yangyang is smirking, you don’t need any light to see that. You know him a bit too well sometimes, from the way his hair sticks up when he’s just woken up or taken a shower, to the way he loves speaking German to you, to the way he smiles when he’s interacting with fans.

The two of you have been friends since forever, and you’ve never set any hard boundaries with him. It’s perfectly okay with you when he flirts with you, or calls you up at night for a drink and deep talks while you stare up at the moon.

Sometimes, he forgets about you, getting caught up in his work and schedules until you obtain his schedule from Xiaojun and “surprise” him.

He gets you presents whenever he accidentally forgets one of your meet-ups, and you kind of just get used to it.

He’s Yangyang, the idol you’re best friends with who buys you gifts and forgets to call you, who flirts maybe just a tad too much and looks absolutely gorgeous 100% of the time.

Of course Yangyang has kissed you a million times—on the back of your hand, on your forehead, on your nose, on your cheek, and several times on your neck and belly.

But never on your lips.

It’s not like it was a real kiss, anyway. Your lips were shut, and he only lightly brushed his lips across yours. But it makes you blush all the same.

“Earth to Y/n, paging Y/n. Are you alright?”

“Sorry, just spaced out for a bit.”

Yangyang breathes a sigh of relief. “Whew. I got worried for a second there.”

Then, a bit hesitantly, he looks into your eyes. “Should i not have done that?”

“Done what?” You enjoy teasing him, but more importantly, you need him to confirm that you didn’t just imagine what had happened.

“Kissed you, you silly.”

“I honestly have no idea.” You’re so confused by what you’re feeling and the constant mixed signals that Yangyang has been sending since the beginning of time that you can’t even answer.

“I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

You shake your head. “No, do it again.”

“What’s that?” He furrows his eyebrows.

You lace your fingers in his hair and pull him towards you in a kiss. “I said, do it again,” you murmur.

And Yangyang obeys, kissing you until you’re both gasping for air as you tear away from each other. The door to the closet is opened with a bang, and you instinctively pull away, but Yangyang possessively pulls the back of your head closer to him.

When you finally draw away from him, you turn your head to see Renjun’s shell-shocked face, and you grin.

“Want to see more?”

[orcelito]

I'm actually appalled at how much naruto shippuden filler I've skipped before. Like the prior two arcs were whatever. Kind of interesting, gave some extra perspectives on a few characters, but Eh

This third one, though. It's really going into Utakata to the point where I'm like. I can't believe I've always skipped this??? It's so interesting!!!! I really do hope that Naruto gets to learn he's a jinchuuriki too, bc even tho he's gonna get slurped up by that statue too, for Right Now at least, there's another jinchuuriki here. And Naruto has only met one before now (since he hasn't met Killer Bee yet). I think he deserves to get to know his fellow jinchuuriki.

[springs-hurts]

Lmao I hate these fics(little things, single sentences, I'm so overwhelmed that I start crying ffs...) And yet I want to read them all the time