#but its. bad. in such a wonderfully awful fun way

[legovasavouchi]

did you know you can watch the animorphs tv sereies on amazon prime. if you know anyone with prime that lets you piggy back well. let me tell you

the show is awful there are points where i am laughing so hard i cry, the camera work, the editing, the acting, it’s bad i’m having a great time

i’m on episode 4 & when jake shoves human!visser 3 over then runs over to cat!rachel in her little cage with NO plan on how to get her out because he is currenlty a dog & then of course gets Grabbed & he’s all “they got me rachel” i pretty much broke down sob laughing

[curlicuecal]

playing science telephone

Hi folks. Let's play a fun game today called "unravelling bad science communication back to its source."

Journey with me.

Saw a comment going around on a tumblr thread that "sometimes the life expectancy of autism is cited in the 30s"

That number seemed..... strange. The commenter DID go on to say that that was "situational on people being awful and not… anything autism actually does", but you know what? Still a strange number. I feel compelled to fact check.

Quick Google "autism life expectancy" pulls up quite a few websites bandying around the number 39. Which is ~technically~ within the 30s, but already higher than the tumblr factoid would suggest. But, guess what. This number still sounds strange to me.

Most of the websites presenting this factoid present themselves as official autism resources and organizations (for parents, etc), and most of them vaguely wave towards "studies."

Ex: "Above And Beyond Therapy" has a whole article on "Does Autism Affect Life Expectancy" and states:

The link implies that it will take you to the "research studies" being referenced, but it in fact takes you to another random autism resource group called.... Songbird Care?

And on that website we find the factoid again:

Ooh, look. Now they've added the word "some". The average lifespan for SOME autistic people. Which the next group erased from the fact. The message shifts further.

And we have slightly more information about the study! (Which has also shifted from "studies" to a singular "study"). And we have another link!

Wonderfully, this link actually takes us to the actual peer-reviewed 2020 study being discussed. [x]

And here, just by reading the abstract, we find the most important information of all.

This study followed a cohort of adolescent and adult autistic people across a 20 year time period. Within that time period, 6.4% of the cohort died. Within that 6.4%, the average age of death was 39 years.

So this number is VERY MUCH not the average age of death for autistic people, or even the average age of death for the cohort of autistic people in that study. It is the average age of death IF you died young and within the 20 year period of the study (n=26), and also we don't even know the average starting age of participants without digging into earlier papers, except that it was 10 or older. (If you're curious, the researchers in the study suggested reduced self-sufficiency to be among the biggest risk factors for the early mortality group.)

But the number in the study has been removed from it's context, gradually modified and spread around the web, and modified some more, until it is pretty much a nonsense number that everyone is citing from everyone else.

There ARE two other numbers that pop up semi-frequently:

One cites the life expectancy at 58. I will leave finding the context for that number as an exercise for the audience, since none of the places I saw it gave a direct citation for where they were getting it.

And then, probably the best and most relevant number floating around out there (and the least frequently cited) draws from a 2023 study of over 17,000 UK people with an autism diagnosis, across 30 years. [x] This study estimated life expectancies between 70 and 77 years, varying with sex and presence/absence of a learning disability. (As compared to the UK 80-83 average for the population as a whole.)

This is a set of numbers that makes way more sense and is backed by way better data, but isn't quite as snappy a soundbite to pass around the internet. I'm gonna pass it around anyway, because I feel bad about how many scared internet people I stumbled across while doing this search.

People on quora like "I'm autistic, can I live past 38"-- honey, YES. omg.

---

tl;dr, when someone gives you a number out of context, consider that the context is probably important

also, make an amateur fact checker's life easier and CITE YOUR SOURCES

[steviewashere]

Orange Slice for All My Lovin'

Rating: General CW: None apply for this one! Tags: Established Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Future Fic, Sharing Food, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Peeling Oranges, Tooth Rotting Fluff

For the @steddielovemonth prompt: "Love is sharing food."

💕—————💕

Eddie hated peeling his oranges. Didn’t like jabbing his thumbs into the peel. Or the juice that sprayed out. Because then he was sticky. And he didn’t do sticky as a texture—not on his skin. It was gross to him. Usually, he’d have Uncle Wayne peel his oranges for him. But, he doesn’t live in Indiana anymore, doesn’t live with Uncle Wayne.

He lives with Steve Harrington in Chicago, Illinois. In a little apartment with two windows that don’t open fully, a fridge door that has to be shut with their hips, and the air conditioner that always gave out mid-way through July. But it was theirs and it was snug and they loved being away from the past that haunted them.

The fun thing about Steve, his wonderful and beautiful Steve, is that he absolutely adores oranges. Always has one for his work lunch. Eats one with his breakfast. Has an orange ready for his study sessions and an hour before he sleeps. He’s very intricate in the way he peels his oranges. And, the thing Eddie never thought to do, he uses a little pocket knife.

That’s something Eddie likes watching. Steve will grab fruit from their fruit bowl on the counter. He’ll hold it out in front of him. And lift the pocket knife to its skin, slicing it away from his body. Sometimes, depending on the fruit, he’ll eat the slices off the blade of the knife. It made Eddie think about somebody rugged like Indiana Jones. And, he won’t deny it, Harrison Ford had been one of his first celebrity crushes. So that says something, he’s sure.

But that’s not the point. Eddie hates peeling his oranges. Steve loves doing so.

They’re sitting at their dining table the next time either of them wants an orange. Steve’s got the newspaper folded over to the crossword puzzle, a mug of steaming coffee to the left, and his pocket knife and orange dutifully staring up at him from the table. Eddie simply has a plate of toast, a mug of coffee, and his orange. His stupid, vicious, sticky orange.

He watches Steve peel his. All intricate, delicate, and juice free. Eddie slumps in his chair, orange between his palms, thumb gliding over the textured skin. He wants his so bad. But he will not put himself through the torture of having sticky fingers. Not when he has other stuff to eat and things to do this morning. Yes, absolutely, he could wash his hands afterwards. But even when he does so, it’s like the sticky feeling resonates with him, it quite literally sticks to him.

He resigns himself to having a banana instead. Though, just as he’s passing by Steve to get to their kitchen, Steve’s palm shoots out and lands in the center of Eddie’s stomach. Effectively stopping him. He hums at the contact, orange in his grip, the citrus of Steve’s own filling his nose.

Steve’s hand travels south to Eddie’s fruit. He sets it in front of him, where he’s still leaning over the crossword puzzle, and gestures to Eddie for him to sit back down. So, Eddie sits down, intrigued. Until, wonderfully, Steve begins to peel Eddie’s orange, too.

Away from himself. The skin in long stripes. Barely any juice trickling down his fingertips. He reaches across the table for Eddie’s plate of toast, rearranging them, and setting the orange in the middle. And then he just slides it back over.

All without saying a single damn word. Eddie wonders how he just always knows.

“I don’t know how you do that,” he says in awe.

“Do what?” Steve murmurs, nose to his newspaper.

“Just peeling my orange. Like it’s no problem.”

Steve, the bastard, just shrugs. Nose down, glasses perched on his nose, tongue poking out between his lips, filling out the paper. Free hand gripped to his mug. Surrounded by stripes of orange peel. But noticeably, there are no slices of oranges.

Eddie picks his own up. Twisting it around in his hands.

Now, Eddie doesn’t like the juice dripping down his fingers. But Steve doesn’t like the white pulp. So, Eddie does the only logical thing. He gets up from the table, wanders into the kitchen, and sits back down with a fork in hand. And he peels as much pulp off as he feasibly can.

And when he’s done, he reaches across the table, unwrapping Steve’s hand from his mug, and plops down the pulp free slices in his hand. Half the orange in Steve’s beautiful palm.

Steve looks up to Eddie. His eyes wide and his mouth agape.

“Thank you for helping me, baby,” Eddie whispers.

The view from across the table could be compared to every painted sunset. Steve smiles softly, his eyes crinkling with it, smile lines deepening, his nose crinkling. He sets a slice of orange on his tongue. And he wiggles in place in his seat. He’s such a dork, Eddie can’t help himself from thinking.

“You’re cute, sweetheart,” Eddie mutters, going back to his food.

“Love you, too,” Steve whispers.

💕—————💕

[whumpshaped]

Helle and beckett, but they are dancing (i know, crazy.)

anywho they're dancing and having some fun. genuine fun and afterwards helle feeds off beck but takes care to be gentle... Idk I thought maybe there shouldn't always be a bad time, maybe a less awful time at least

masterlist

tw vampire whumper, idle whump, intimate whumper, emotional whump, memory loss

"It is such a beautiful night tonight." Helle was jumping around on one of the classical music playlists, skipping forward, changing their mind, going back. Beck didn't know any of the pieces, but the vampire seemed very intentional. They were looking for something. "The kind that brings up memories."

"Of when you were still alive?"

They tilted their head just a little, lost in thought. They skipped another piece. "I think so. I wish I could say for sure."

Beck didn't really understand whenever they said something like this. More and more, he was beginning to think Helle barely remembered their life. And while he wasn't terribly sympathetic towards a demon like them, this thought always made him a little sad.

"What memories?" he asked gently.

"Maybe memory is the wrong word to use." They finally settled on a soft melody, one that reminded Beck of old movies and ballroom dances. "It is more of a... feeling." They turned around and extended a hand to him, paired with a smile that seemed quite genuine compared to the mocking or condescending ones he was usually given. "I can show you what I mean."

"Ah, uh..." He swallowed nervously, realising Helle was definitely asking for a dance. "I've never... um... I've never done, uh–"

They rolled their eyes, but without any real malice behind the gesture. "Yes, I figured. Lucky for you, I can lead wonderfully."

They pulled him up from the sofa despite his protests, guiding his left hand to their shoulder and taking the right one in their own. He flinched a little when they put a hand on his waist, and they murmured a soothing 'relax' in response.

"You do not have to worry about anything," they reassured him again, and really, Beck was trying not to; new situations simply weren't his strong suit.

But Helle wasn't lying when they said they could lead. It was... strange, to trust them so unconditionally. Maybe it was the fact that it was already late into the night and he was tired, but it barely took him a couple minutes to start believing that Helle wasn't about to use this opportunity to completely humiliate him in some way. It was so easy to to allow them full control over his movements.

"This is the memory," they whispered. "Dancing in the moonlight, carefree and... happy, I think. My body remembers the steps and how it felt to hold someone... But I cannot actually remember the night, nor the person I was holding."

Beck felt a pang of compassion, an emotion that always scared him when it came to Helle. He couldn't help it. The moment was so intimate, even between the two of them. He couldn't imagine what it would've been like to have shared it with someone he loved, then forget about it so completely.

"I'm sorry," he said without thinking, and it made Helle chuckle.

"For what? Whoever it was, they are most likely dead by now. It is better for me to forget."

As the piece was coming to its end, Helle stopped and changed their hold on his hand. He didn't say a thing when they slowly brought it to their lips, biting into the soft flesh on the inside of his wrist. It was almost gentle, the way they did it. Careful. As though they didn't want to break this spell of calm.

Beck was thankful that he could lean on them, and even more so for the hand still resting on his waist, steadying him. It was almost comforting. The playlist moved on as Helle fed, and the room was filled with another melancholic tune. He could've easily fallen asleep to it.

"You should get some rest," Helle said when they finished, and Beck could hardly believe his wishes were coming true. He didn't need to be told twice.

"Thank you," he said quietly before he turned to go back to his bedroom. "It was... a nice evening. And night."

"All I hear is that you want to slow dance with me every night from now on," they teased, and Beck huffed out a laugh. As if. "You are right, though," they went on, their voice taking on a more serious tone that made him stop and hear them out. "It was nice. Thank you for indulging me, dear."

~

taglist: @whumpsday @the-scrapegoat @hidden-dreamland @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @delicateprincepaper @whumppmuhw @florissimps @nicolepascaline @oliversrarebooks @the-cyrulik @pirefyrelight @there-will-always-be-blood @pigeonwhumps @echo-goes-mmm @whumpycries @morning-star-whump @d-cs @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @tauntedoctopuses @blueyellow8green @typewrittenfangs @whumpsoda @steh-lar-uh-nuhs

[jacksgreysays]

I'm going to 1) boost this absolutely fantastic webtoon because i love it so much and i really would love to see other people interact with it and 2) so it makes sense for it to be on this particular blog, do a little brainstorm for what kind of fanfic i would theoretically write for it

And ao3 is down right now anyway, so you may as well, lol

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD READ MY IN-LAWS ARE OBSESSED WITH ME:

Season 1 just finished (75 chapters total) with Season 2 scheduled for next year (presuming translation time) so if you're worried about starting something that isn't complete or, conversely, jumping in to something that is dead in the water, do not worry this webtoon will take care of you

I consume a lot of garbage media so trust me in knowing what is and isn't garbage. Yes the title is weird and also it initially looks like a cheesy vampire harlequin but trust me it's not.

It's got everything I love and, hopefully, if you're reading this post you love some of these things too: time travel, political ramifications for things, DRAMA, beautiful fashions, the slowest of slowest burns of yearning, supernatural mystery revolving around a blood curse, a female lead who is more concerned about SURVIVAL and VENGEANCE and BUSINESS than romance (but also the romance is very cute eventually, emphasis on the eventually)

The art in general is stunning (again, kudos to the fashion) and the story telling in the visual medium is absolutely heartbreaking. Slight spoilers, but there's a part where it gets into the ML's PTSD from being at war and the way it's portrayed is absolutely devastating. Actually a lot of the FL's anxieties and self doubts are also portrayed wonderfully in this medium. It's THOUGHTFUL in its usage of imagery. There's also a fun recurring bit where every time the FL is framed weirdly in the shot it's because the ML is right next to her right off screen being devastatingly handsome

The side characters are great. The titular in-laws are fantastic. I weep thinking about the residence manager who is so bad at his job and openly cries about having to do work. Celphius would be my son if he weren't so enamored by having Pereshati as his mom instead.

All of the characters are SMART. Or, at least, they're logical. I never ask "why are they doing this?" because everyone is acting rationally for what information/abilities/biases they do have. And yes, the biases are important also (because god knows I hate the villains but they are, unfortunately, rational in their cruelty).

They're also proactive about things? Like, very often protagonists are just reacting to the next awful thing thrown their way, but both the FL and ML are taking steps to achieve their goals even if a lot of it is off-screen.

Please. I beseech thee, read the first ten chapters at least, if you've gotten this far in this post, just read the first ten chapters.

Anyway, so as to at least maintain the thinnest veneer of this being a writing post, the theoretical fanfic I'd write for this series is under the cut and does contain SPOILERS:

It would appear, at first, like a straightforward AU, beginning with the characters at the age they are in the canon. So ~early/mid-20s(?) ish?

But, just straight up, Therdeo is not the grand duke and Pereshati is an imperial secretary(?/scholar?). But Therdeo is probably head of the knights of the grand dukedom, so he has to be in the capitol for ~reasons~ especially since he's probably still the "hero" of the war.

The fic appears to be a straight forward meet-cute romance between elite knight, third son of the Lapileons and imperial secretary, only daughter of the Zahardt countdom. The levels are not exactly equal, but it's a lot more evened out than in canon. Maybe there's still a "please pretend to marry me so I don't get trapped in an engagement with the 4th princess" but her vibes are SO RANK I don't even want to deal with that :/

So now why does it only APPEAR to be a straight forward meet-cute romance?

Double time travel.

Well, possibly quintuple time travel depending on how deep into it we get, but basically: Pereshati and the four Lapileon in-laws who are older than her (Therdeo, Saoirse, Phineas, Gloria) all travel back to the first time someone died from Gen's blood being sold (not Islette's) which is at least several years, if not over a decade from the canon start time.

Maybe the Lapileons coordinate with each other about this, but regardless, since it's from Pereshati's view she wouldn't get to see that.

On her side what changes is: unfortunately, I don't think she can save her mother. But maybe she can prevent her father from re-marrying and emphasize cherishing the family they already have (ie, each other and her uncle+his family). And because she does now have so much experience running a household and is, you know, a fully educated grown adult in a child's body, when she goes to the academy she does EXTREMELY well. Like. Imperial Scholar well.

And, yes, she is her father's heir. But he's healthy and not married to someone who will kill him, so she sort of has the freedom to have this imperial scholar job for a while until he decides he wants to retire and have her take over, etc.

So she's working in the capitol, and Therdeo's also in the capitol.

Or maybe she works at the academy as a teacher now?

If Celphius didn't still exist, I would cry. But maybe his father is still alive and that's why Therdeo isn't the grand duke. Or even if Celphius' dad is dead (RIP) then Saoirse's family is definitely still alive and so SHE'S the grand duke(/duchess) and Celphius has an older cousin that he has to be VERY CAREFUL WITH.

Regardless, at the very least. Saoirse's son goes to the academy. Maybe the meet cute is, now that Celphius is old enough, he ALSO gets to go to the academy. And as a Good Uncle (This Time) Therdeo will be there to support him and also bring him to the Academy and be an extra set of eyes for whichever of his older siblings is the grand duke and anyway he meets Pereshati and they are both trying to hide the fact that they know each other because of time travel while also falling in love(?)

Maybe.

I just really liked the idea of re-leveling their respective statuses so they can stand on more equal footing when they meet T_T

ANYWAY PLEASE READ IT. I KNOW AO3 IS DOWN NOW ANYWAY, SO YOU MAY AS WELL

[macawritesupdates]

I reread historically inaccurate and its so good I love the way yuuji is able to thrive in the past so much and the way you show the present as painful and grim hurts so good. I love his time in the past but I still find myself wishing he'd find a way to move forward in the present despite how painful it is. I love how it makes you think about how and why you should try to persist in a world that feels dark and doomed when you have the option of escape into an idolized dream instead. I have a tendency lose myself in daydreaming when I'm bored or upset and it's obviously not the same as time travel but just like yuuji i have to work to keep myself grounded because if i spend all my time in my own head I'll miss out on my chances to make life better. It just really hit me that when you take away the fantasy element yuuji's struggle in the fic is actually a really good portrayal of real feelings people go through. I hope he's able to find his footing in the present and move forward because even though it sucks the only way for things to get better is to push through. And that's just the yuuji side of things sukunas side is wonderfully written as well the past version of him meeting someone who isn't afraid of him and treats him like a person leading to him falling in love vs the present version who tried to destroy yuuji only to fall for him after good lord that man is going through it I can't even imagine how awful it must be on his end. I think it's great that they both humanize each other so much. Yuuji treats sukuna in the past like a person not a walking calamity, and sukuna treats yuuji like a person not a martyr or a vessel to be used and thrown out. Thats what makes their relationship so special to me. Dehumanization is such a strong theme in jjk its so beautiful to see how important it is to treat others like fellow people and how just doing that allows for deeper connections. Even the people who like sukuna in the past tend to keep barriers up with him like uraume who is delightful but who plays the part of the servant which is a different dynamic then a close friend and equal (I love uraume this is not a criticism I'm just saying) or yorozu who claims to like sukuna but clearly sees him as a prize not really a person at all, I get the feeling she sees him as more like a fancy new car to brag about owning than a person(oddly enough I also like yorozu she's a badass woman in a notoriously harsh and very sexist society who is unapologetically herself I just do not think she's good for or with sukuna) . Yuuji meanwhile shows up and plops right into his lap and sasses him and talks openly with him before inviting him to do fun stuff together. He shows sukuna how letting himself be a bit ridiculous is freeing and that it's OK to try something new and be bad at it. Like damn no wonder the man fell hard has anyone else ever treated him that way. Whoops I started writing this ask right before I had to start meal preparations which means no time to go through and edit it at all it's either delete the whole thing or send it fully stream of consciousness unedited. ... well if I had planned this out better this might have been more eloquent but I hope you enjoy my ramblings on your delightful work.

The struggle to move on despite how bad things are is a big theme in this story for sure! Why I take my time with writing it as want to make sure the struggle stays the center of the story and also gives both feels good and bad ; w ;

Next chapter is going to really touch upon a lot of things you said here about dehumanizing and humanizing <3 but wont' say more as don't want to spoil the chapter!

I always like getting long comments like this! Thank you <3 <3

[2n2n]

ch 106

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LETS GO!

kind of showstopping never been done before. Its impressive just how mean AidaIro-sensei can get, isn't it? They are always calling him "useless Amane"... and here it is .... ah, wonderfully inconsolable. We can never take back Tsukasa's first kiss, can we? That's his flower....! His kiss flower....! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Well, unfortunately, you can't sit on your hands forever with Nene-chan or Tsukasa, so you do deserve to feel this bad about it~~

funny and hypocritical for you both, Teru and Akane, though!! Honestly, especially you, Teru... lol.... just so recently you were whining about being left behind, you know....

the brocons are pathetic! and yet, this moment made me earnestly accept and like Teru....

comatose with it.. ah. You're making an interesting face, Amane...

anyway, Amane can feel as bad as possible about it, naturally, he should, it's only right, but Nene-chan, she doesn't have to feel bad about it at all... ♥ it's interesting to be kissed, isn't it, Nene-chan? It isn't scary... it's fun to think about, isn't it?

he can be pretty nice with it sometimes, can't he?

the Yugi..............

Godbless Nene-chan. She can't stay focused on the right things ... she's our daydreamer ever and always. Can't control her slut rot. I reaaaally awaited this reaction aha, she can't POSSIBLY think normally about this circumstance....! She's Nene-chan!!!!

you're so flattering Nene-chan lol... ♥ you love this kind of narrative, dontcha? My, well... I guess, you already imagine Amane like this, so the treatment just rolls over onto Tsukasa so naturally and easily.... for your mind.... and he's Tsukasa, devilish or something like that....

not the classic "I'm not interested, but................" Nene-chan glancey-glance... ! ♥ you're nooooot interested, of course of course....!

meanwhile, the Yugi in her imagination look so much like the Ambrose twins its making me laugh... and all this visual novel stuff... kind of too funny....

I'm sorry... the Yugi, you know, well... you're back to square 1 with Tsukasa....💔 more like wolves, right... wild animals....

Nene-chan...... 💔....

dirty little not-your-type rat boys..... 💔they are weird-looking and weird-acting, they're rude and accosting, they are creepy and they don't ask your permission to touch you.... they are not princely , and, you fantasize....

um. he's vanquishing me...... the evil spirit.

PEAK TSUKASA MOMENT

is she having a good dream....? she's smiling....! AHHHH WONDERFUL idiots!!!!!

control the slut rot. dooon't think about Tsukasa making out with you!!!!! dooooon't think about it ♥♥♥♥ it's serious, you have to stay focused, Nene-chan! does he like you? IT'S-- NOT THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT!! hahahaha.....! quick--! get your distance--! state your purpose!!! it's not the time for ravishing thoughts!

what a delight... ♥ Isn't it all about what you want or don't want, and fighting for what you want to happen....! That's Tsukasa's way....

I love this pointing gesture, and stating their roles... it's all so simple! It's all such a little game.. I'm on the 'other side' ... so we're competing... ♥ I have my thing I want to do, you have your thing you want to do.... give you a fair shot! I love how ambiguous "I'll take the arm" is, it's just like "need you to disappear now" from the Tea Party... Tsukasa, he says things in an awful way (like when he says Mitsuba is 'in the way' lol.....), it makes you think bad things, but I wonder what he really means! I'd love Tsukasa to possess or manhandle you into doing it....! ahhh I'd love to see a panel of his hand over Nene-chan's, looming behind her, now wouldn't that be distracting, Tsukasa's belly pressed to your back...? Or if Amane had to come into the scene, Tsukasa in Nene-chan's body? ahhh the mind runs wild at all the ways Tsukasa could 'make' Nene-chan do something.....

♥ delightful!!! aren't we so glad we have such a shenanigans-crafter in this manga? Let's keep it so interesting! It's fun to read!

wonderful panel love it!!! Tsukasa-chan is having soooo much fun!!!! so much fun that I think.......

he's lost his focus aaahahahaha, UGHHH favorite panels!!!!! DONK!!!! a rare Tsukasa-face of complete shock and hurt!!!! our little... masochist... lol.... ♥ this guy liked to be murdered by Amane and wants it again.... how rare is it that someone is this rough with him, haha, and yet not seriously trying to do anything, like Kou or whatever? Sakura might do a bonk in a serious way, but what a fun and delightful game, and Nene-chan isn't as held back with him as others might be haha..... silly girl....

I feel like it's making him waaaaay too happy immediately hahaha, time of his life, baby plaaaay!! love to plaaay ☻♥

getcha getcha getcha!!!

♥♥♥♥ ahhhh biiig laugh, legs spread out, blushing, Tsukasa-chan is enjoying it all toooo much!!!! well,

Amane likes making you cry and whine too.... the Yugi, man!!! They're little boys who like to pick on a cute girl!!! It's best when a girl's reactive....

They both really like to scare you too much.... it's too fun to make you scream and wail 'noooo!!' .... these are just your boys, poor sweet little heroine! You're in AidaIro-sensei's sick world! The boys will do as they please, smiling and blushing all the way! SCREAM LOUDER FOR US, lol!

T-Tsukasa-chan... you had too much fun, didn't you...? Must think about it....? Wonder things to yourself....? What are you feeling, Tsukasa-chan? Playing with Nene-chan is fun.... you didn't think you'd have so much fun, right? I hope we see this panel from another perspective or get into Tsukasa's head here, later... haha ... I think his heart is fluttering, and he's the type to observe and ponder that kinda thing....

It's interesting how most Boundary have some sort of Guys in it... No. 3 originally had those mannequins, No. 2 had her dolls, No. 5 had the butterflies & whatever those other crystal-eating bug things were (which Tsuchigomori advised her to not touch...), Hakubo had his little minion things speakin minionese... now these owls for No. 1... it is fun lol. I really love this boundary! We're in such a crazy playground. Mario clock level stuff.

my God. When This Happened-- Bird and I-- huddled over his phone screen to read the MangaUP updates cheek to cheek-- were jaw dropped, shock and awe, unfathomable, cannot predict this manga, fucking.. WHOORE MANGA SLUT MANGA, STUPID FETISH MANGA!!!!! UNIMAGINABLE, THE SORTS OF CONTRIVANCES WE CAN INVENT, TO GET TO SEE SOME SORT OF NEW AGE COMBINATION!!!! middle school GIRLIE WHIRLIE!!!

intermediate girl of unknown aaage!!!!

showstopping. jawdropping. crazy. madness. AidaIro-sensei are mad with power . They're crazy. We're going to grant Tsukasa such a privilage, to interact with such a reduced Nene-chan?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?! MASTER HAS GIVEN DOBBY A FEAST... MASTER HAS GIVEN DOBBY A PRICELESS EMERALD... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!! For Tsukasa-chan??? You let Tsukasa-chan touch this, precious little Nene-chan, who even Amane has never seen before????? I wonder how old she is here!!!!!!!!! Maybe 3 or 4, like Tsukasa....? It's an age AidaIro like, since Neige meets Rasphard at like 3...

Her shoooooes are so biiig and cute! I can't believe it.... I wonder how long we'll have her-- likely until the yorishiro is destroyed, right....? Ao-chan's status effect remained in play up until Hakubo was unseated..... I'm sure the clockkeepers could reverse it, but hmm..

I BELIEVE IN YOU, TSUKASA-KUN!! You can totally win her over.........

YOU HAVE A CARETAKER QUALITY ABOUT YOU! Don't you? You care so well for Mitsuba! and you cared well for Amane, when he was a sickly, fussy child!! You're a little messy and rogue, but, so was Hakubo,, and he still had such the honor of protecting Sumire from her little rat troubles as a child, falling from branches, getting in trouble, breaking things, and such!!!!! I think we here at the AidaIro, can enjoy a rather messy, but sweet, innocent caretaker!! Yes!!! And Nene-chan.... she might be a brat, after all....!

The recent header of kitty-owner-ryokan-Tsukasa, it has such a powerful vibe, doesn't it?? and then, the recent events of feeding Mitsuba, petting and soothing him, hmmmm!! We're contemplating Tsukasa's rather soothing nature!

Of course, everyone's discussing Monster Nursery... that event was determined by a ladder poll, which may as well have been randomized; I wonder how funny it was to AidaIro-sensei that it turned out in that event, that Tsukasa and young Nene-chan would be the pair... if this was always destined to happen....

INSANITY . CRAZINESS!!! I will remind you that 15-year-old Nene-chan flirted with and kissed 8-year-old Amane, you know!!! He told that onee-san she was his TYPE!!! It's obscene, AidaIro-sensei.... the Yugi and Nene-chan really play some sort of crazy swap game with their ages!!!!!! Nene-chan gets to meet Tsukasa at 4, now Tsukasa gets to engage with tiny Nene-chan..... it's like a dreaaam!! But how and why??? It's a crazy manga made to entertain .... AidaIro-sensei are unbearably impressive. I'm on the edge of my seat every month. And what the hell will Amane feel, if he gets to see this? Uhhghghgn please... these circumstances for TsuNene to bond.... yes.. PLEAAAAASE!!!!! FANTASIIIEEEESSSS!!!!! deeper into the thrall you both FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[loonarii]

Melanie Martinez - 'Portals' REVIEW

“Follow the tunnel, into the portal, lay all your burdens to rest”

Track 1: DEATH

This was a poor choice for a pre-release single. The verse and pre-chorus lyrics are beautifully crafted and much of the production is otherworldly and alluring, but the chorus falls down the same pitfalls that several of the ‘K-12’ songs fell down. It’s undeniably repetitive, and it gets old very quickly. It’s not a bad song, but to start a new era? 6.5/10

Track 2: VOID

This song is EVERYTHING I wanted from this album. The lyrics are poignant, the melodies are wonderfully weird and addictive, and Melanie’s vocal performance is just perfect. I have been singing ‘pipe down with the noise I cannot bear my sorrow’ since I first heard it. Her theatrical style suits the magnitude of her songs beautifully. ‘VOID’ is Melanie at her best - definitely a highlight of the album, and my joint favourite. 10/10.

Track 3: TUNNEL VISION

The opening????? FLAWLESS. The vocoder distortion is straight from the 95th dimension. Beyond the opening, this song doesn’t really do much for me, and the sample from her first album just serves to remind the listener of a great album they could be listening to, which isn’t really a good thing, even if it is from the same person. It’s not awful, but it’s not great either. 6.5/10.

Track 4: FAERIE SOIRÉE

Major Sabrina Carpenter vibes from the instrumental, which I love, obviously. This song suffers from a similar plight to ‘TUNNEL VISION’ - lack of separation between sections, and a lack of journey from the start of the song to the end. The last 45 seconds that transition to the next song however are really fun, but the song is generally quite forgettable. 5/10.

Track 5: LIGHT SHOWER

Through the lens of an interlude, this song is incredibly successful. It sounds like faerie incantations, and the instrumental builds just enough to convey the anger in the serenity. I can definitely see this song majorly growing on me, but it is a shame it’s immediately after some of the worst songs on the album. 7/10.

Track 6: SPIDER WEB

The ingenious way Melanie crafts her melodies is put on full display in this song - it lyrically describes being stuck in the chain, hive minds, and feeling like a puppet, and the production and melodies reflect this perfectly. A fun listen. 7/10.

Track 7: LEECHES

Biggest snooze of the album - very little new is explored, very little is memorable. Everything ‘Leeches’ does, ‘Light Shower’ does already and better. Perhaps it will grow on me, but I doubt it. 3/10.

Track 8: BATTLE OF THE LARYNX

‘Battle of the Larynx’ works for me, but I doubt I will seek out to listen to it on its own. I thought it a little weird at first, but now I love the use of ‘larynx’ in the chorus - in the context of the song it gives Melanie’s voice an almost ethereal, mythic quality - like her words are as powerful as an ancient gorgon. Its themes feel like a sequel to ‘Alphabet Boy’. 7/10.

Track 9: THE CONTORTIONIST

A spiritual sister to ‘Detention’ from K-12, ‘The Contortionist’ is one of the most sonically creative songs on the album. It’s classic Melanie in all her glory. I love the layering in the chorus, this song is easily one of my favourites from the whole album. 8.5/10.

Track 10: MOON CYCLE

This song knows it’s a little goofy, and after a couple listens I’m really okay with that. It’s easily confident, and was clearly written to be a big middle finger to frustratingly common experiences of period shaming. I’m actually glad Melanie shoves the themes in your face in this song, it says that stigmas around such a common experience are ridiculous. 8/10.

Track 11: NYMPHOLOGY

‘Nymphology’ is such a classic genre of Melanie Martinez songs - that nursery rhyme sound with some comically lude lyrics thrown in to keep it fun. I can see it being an easy hit amongst her long term listeners. The ending/transition segment is so fun as well - it reminds me of old Hollywood - it’s very Marylin Monroe. 7.5/10.

Track 12: EVIL

Easily one of the best songs on the album, ‘EVIL’ is a punch up in every sense. This song is cathartic and cleansing, but it’s also raging and just a tad psychotic. The line ‘See the horns on my head? They’re from goddesses, on God’ is so unbelievably good, and I'm not entirely sure why I love it so much, but I do. All the lyrics are extremely well crafted, and the song as a whole has very big ‘STFU - Rina Sawayama’ vibes. My joint favourite song on the album, 10/10.

Track 13: WOMB

A more lowkey track to close the album, ‘Womb’ is an understated bop to inspire another album listen. I don’t especially love it right now, but it’s just a little addictive, so I can definitely see myself coming back to this one. 7/10,

Conclusion:

I think ‘Crybaby’ remains her magnum opus, but ‘Portals’ feels like a really fun experiment for Melanie. It’s a world away from ‘K-12’ and ‘Crybaby’ thematically, and I can tell that she has so much more to do in this industry with Crybaby’s story. Using my individual track rankings, this album has a mean average score of 7/10.

[rhymingtree]

As promised. Here I aaaam! I vow never to be late for any more releases (at least until the break ends). I'm just so glad school is over and I get to do fun things without worrying over deadlines. 😌😌

Time for my cathartic suffering to recommence.

They’d planned on closing her in, tightening their circle until she was trapped in their line of sight.

She's gotten very good at squeezing her way out of tight circles. I thought they'd know that by now.

Literally it doesn't matter how much tighter the circle gets, she has either squeezed out of it or she just cuts through.

— “You wanted to play a game of death and destruction, eh, Doc?” — Bucky flinched, the voice shooting through his head at the same time a headache pierced behind his eyes. A wince rocked through him at the sound. He bowed his head, avoiding the sun as it broke over buildings.

hmmmm what

Now is a very not good time for good ol Soldat to be making himself known

Who the hell was that?

bro its your giiiirl

“You need some sleep.”

you don't get to tell him what he needs and doesn't need, oliver

Ooh Nat is doing some very stressed out detective work

I mean, she's always doing stressed out detective work, but now she's super stressed

this whole ordeal is giving me trust issues too. Which is a lot considering I already have trust issues.

I love how absolutely oblivious Sam is.

And everyone bullies him for it. It's okay though. he'll get there.

oooh they're figuring something out

 “Where are you going?” “Away from you,” Sam said, “You’re gonna get me in trouble. Again.”

Im sorry Nat I laughed at your expense

Yes Nat, you're onto something.

Come on and figure it out, the more the merrier.

If merrier was the right feeling.

YEAAAH SPIDERMAN

And... the New York... Shadow?

Omg I forgot his name

His smile widened as he knelt to unlace his boots before he silently kicked them off and crossed the room in a pair of strides as he tossed off his mask. He was under the blanket before he could blink, wrapping his arms around his husband as he slept.

They're so fucking cute.

“You’re back late,” Duke croaked through half-lidded eyes. A smile curled to his lips as Jack pressed a kiss to his jawline. “Early,” he hummed lowly, “It’s early.”

My excuse when I go to bed an hour before sunrise

“I’ve missed your eyes. Fuck me, they’re beautiful.”

I'm going insane about this

Am I envious and awed by the connection and unmoving love and affection these two share with each other that is a perfectly kept constant in the entire series? Yes. My jaw is on the fucking floor.

Am I terrified that all of this is going to amount to one of them dying or getting hurt or getting brainwashed (as you have threatened to do you devil) and tainting every happy memory I (and they themselves) have with blood and pain and destruction? YES ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY

These two make me cry.

When I finish this chapter I'm going back to their wedding so I can have a proper weep.

The sticky one EW

“You’re Spider-Man’s sidekick?”

Yes, Jack the full grown, adult, married, taxpaying(???) man is the 15 year old's sidekick. Ain't the craziest thing I've heard.

He was older…But Spider-Man had been a superhero for longer…right?

Bro you've been fighting bad guys in New Orleans and beyond before Peter even lost his Uncle Ben. 😐 You've got seniority. It's fine.

After weeks of chaos in his head and physically around him, it was like he’d finally figured out how to find peace. Even if his brain was going a million miles a minute—even if all his senses were picking up things he never knew existed—the instant he was with his husband, it all slowed down. And everything made sense. Even in the unfathomable, unpredictable world they had been thrown into, they made sense.

Right yeah I'm full on crying now.

Fuck you Darke.

Oh no... Sleepy Boone's a cockblock.

“I don’t know if she will.” “You did.”

Y'all are being wonderfully optimistic about this.

He still didn’t understand how that worked.

Does anyone really get how it works, though...

This may be because I haven't read BS:A in a month and I might have forgotten some things, but I have never related to Sam more than I do in this moment.

He’d been confused for the past month and a half. And, once he’d thought they’d figured something out, he was confused again.

Same bro.

Maybe everyone was simply stressed. Or sleep deprived.

This is either a high-stakes confidential investigation into a suspected HYDRA spy... or a day in my life trying to survive exams season.

SHE'S NOT A NAZI OH MY GOD

I love how close everyone is getting to answers but then it all blows up in their faces just before they could come to a solid conclusion...

Are all these trust issues going to lead to a Civil War-esque conflict

because if it is, I'm excited

And maybe that was what someone was counting on.

YEAH 👀👀👀👀👀 You could say that again

No really say it again, a bit louder this time so some ginger asshole 😐👀👀👀👀 prancing around Europe 👀👀👀👀 can FUCKIN HEAR IT

You know what I never understood about Peter Parker

He's a conventionally attractive intelligent kid in a science school. And yet he's getting bullied and isn't getting any attention from anyone (except probably MJ)

Sure he's scrawny and a bit awkward but I'd have thought that would be endearing and attractive.

I mean, I'd have a crush on him if he went to my school... to be fair, if you were to put him in my school, the bar would be so fucking low.

But STILL

And now he was dismantling the weapon himself. Mr. Stark wouldn’t mind. Peter would just do most of the work himself and then take the pieces to Stark. If anything went wrong…he’d say that he’d found it like that. Yeah…that’s it.

Wow. That's really fucking stupid, Peter. Congrats, you've reached the first of many lows.

“Some guy tried to vaporize me with it.” “Seriously?” “Yeah.” “Awesome,” 

Never change, Ned.

Okay, so he was called Shadow ok.

I still can't get over how serial killer-y the New York Shadow sounds to me

Yes, Ned should meet the Shadow.

i think the Shadow would like him.

Anyone in the right mind would like Ned. And the Shadow.... is not necessarily in the right mind right now but that's okay he'd still like him.

“Ned!” he whisper-yelled at his friend as Ned looked around in confusion. He waved him closer, “Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.” Ned raised a brow in bewilderment, shuffling slowly toward him as he glanced between Peter and the two men that were sneaking down the hall.

Never change.

He swallowed thickly, reaching for his web shooter and switching the settings from shooting web fluid to a tracking device he’d gotten from Agent Romanoff after the fiasco in Colombia.

I never really thought about how or why Peter got all this cool stuff in his suit that he knew how to use before he disabled the trainwing wheels protocol but now I know.

It's not canon in the actual MCU but not even MCU writers gives a fuck about what's canon in the MCU now.

What Darke says goes. Her will is final.

The Shadow was definitely right. He was gonna need some help with this one.

The delinquent teeager with a growing hero complex admits to needing an adult supervisor. Fun.

Yay time for Ghostie and her psychopathic buddies fun trip through Europe again woohoo

I think we can safely say that Ghost is displaying signs of a personality disorder that is definitely trauma-related and it gets my gears turning.

It's also so daunting to see her fall apart mentally like this, contrasting her with Ghost from the flashbacks and especially Ghost from Origins.

And, when they did decide to shut up, Athena decided that you needed to be informed of something.

Hehehe ok that's funny. She's an instigator.

Travel Trip number god-only-knows-what-number: make time to rest and eat... also maybe don't stray too far away from your planned accommodations because now you're trapped in the middle of Europe being chased down by a rat and your very persistent boyfriend.

Doctor Novak has impeccable timing... don't tell me he was just watching her have a breakdown in the corner like the creep that he is.

Omg that mental image reminds me of the baby lizard in the corner of my room that was staring at me at 3am while I was crying.

He is now baby lizard. A very evil, coldhearted lizard.

Oof, I'm now imagining him as Silco. Not a friendly mental image.

 A large binder was set on the table, marked with an array of tabs and spattered with red pen.

He's just getting help for his research thesis is all.

Trying to make light of the situation right before reading a really graphic torture flashback made my stomach churn and I'm sorry.

A little too… Obedient.

I'm gonna puke.

No but I'm actually gonna love this scene aren't I

I am I definitely am

“You look perfect.”

Knowing how emaciated and downright ghoulish she proabbly looks right now, that's just... disturbing.

Even if he saw her as a weapon, she isn't in her prime right now. His idea of her being perfect is when she's close to breaking down, inches away from dying because of self-inflicted damage, which in this case was still being inflicted by him. All of what she is now is just the long term effects of his handiwork.

Ew. But also woah.

Oh he bought her coffee?? Novak knows his way to a psychopathic woman's heart.

Or at least my heart but I don't wanna think about that.

As you…A-As you did what you were told.

Darke what the fuck...

“And you think you can control me?” “No, no. Of course, not. Even I cannot control you, Ghostie,” 

The thing is, he is in a way, still controlling her. He knows it. She's in denial about it. He's enjoying it.

But your fingers couldn’t wrap around the object. You couldn’t reach it…even if it was within your reach. A pained gasp left your lips as you tried again, “What are you doing?” The words came out in a panicked huff as you began to shake. “I am doing nothing,” he said, watching you carefully as he lifted his pen and began jotting down notes.

Ooh the first thing that came to mind is the pheromone lock thing that Dreykov put in the Widows, but I don't think that's what's happening here.

The second thing that came to mind was that scene in Moon Knight when Steven was trying to hand the scarab to Arthur Harrow, and one of the other alters (probably Jake) was physically stopping him from handing it over.

You could kill Ollie before he even knew you were there. You could kill him and everything would go back to normal. Then you could go home.

But it never ends with going home, does it?

Darke, that was one of the best scenes I ever read.

What the fuck are you doing to your poor protagonist

The Shadowman 😭😭 What, is he some washed up magician in Las Vegas now?

If Mr. Stark was so busy, Peter would take care of it himself.

PETER NO

NO NO NO NO NO

🙂

If this was a very persistent canon event unfolding, at least Miguel would be happy about it.

Ugh I hate that I'm now annoyed reading Bucky's POV because Ollie IS ALWAYS NEXT TO HIM AND HE KEEPS OPENING HIS FUCKING MOUTH

Oh no

She didn’t move, staring at their car as it came ever closer. “Move. Move. Move,” he whispered under his breath, the word coming out like a prayer. She stayed where she was, staring them down without any emotion. No. No. No.

oh wow...

“Maybe she has someone inside Aftermath,” he cut him off with a shrug, ignoring the glare he got from the man. “What—” “She’s been one step ahead of us from Colombia.” He licked his lips nervously, “Maybe you need to check your seals.”

Yes well about that...

“She was aiming at you. And, to be fair, you kinda deserve it.” “Who’s side are you on?” “At this point? It’s varying.”

This would be a really funny fight if I wasn't so stressed out

She wasn’t thinking. She was following orders.

Well, they're figuring this out, at least.

All this stress is making me miss Wakanda even more...

Oh Peter... you child.

Honestly, Jack, what did you think was gonna happen, trusting a kid to hand over a highly hazardous alien technology to a very busy sleep-deprived old billionaire who's got a lot on his plate

Before Jack could get away from the kid, a shot of white webbing went hurling at him. It wrapped around his wrist and sent it into the wall, trapping him there. A growl echoed through Jack’s chest as he pulled against the webbing and it didn’t give, “Seriously?”

HAHAHAHA

What makes it funnier is that it takes hours for webbing to dissolve so if Pete leaves him there, he's really not going anywhere

HAHAHA

aw dang super soldier got out of the webbing too fast. What a killjoy.

Oh no... now Peter thinks he's one of Ollie's guys

Which means he could tell Ollie about the Shadow guy... who's trying to help him take down the people providing Ollie with weapons...

Oh. No.

“Spider-Man and the Shadowman ride again!” “I already regret this.”

Oh god if this becomes a mentor/mentee thing...

Darke, you know what happens to Spidey's father figures!

IT'S A CANON EVENT

WHAT ARE YOU DOING

“I-I don’t know!” You cried, “I-I don’t miss. I-I never miss. I can't miss. I didn’t miss. I swear.”

So.... Jinx?

Psychosis?

Borderline insanity?

Hmmmm

He was your mission. And you weren’t going to fuck it up again.

Girl I'm scared.

I'm feeling a lot of emotions right now but scared is the overwhelming feeling.

You write her breakdown so well though... the way she's scared of what she's becoming, of how she reacted to Novak. It's great. I love it. I'm terrified.

The stress you're putting your characters under... oh my god.

Bucky's persistence to getting to Ghost and helping her, even though he's thought of all the possibilities of what's going on, why she's doing this; like, he's considered that she was genuinely a sleeper agent and he's still trying to help her... where do I find a man that dedicated?

WHERE!? I need one!

And the Homecoming Arc is going so well!! I love it!! I love how now that the Avengers are genuinely busy and stressed out trying to find Ghost, them not paying as much attention to Peter and the concerning shit he's getting into doesn't feel like them being assholes towards him.

Like we know what they're going through. They're not just ignoring him and sweeping him under the rug for no reason. Idk, that kinda bugged me watching Homecoming, because Tony's not that busy in the movie. Now, he's got valid priorities.

I'm just scared you'll hurt Jack now. I can hear Miguel's theme in the back of my head.

I'm heading into ch93 nowwww woohoo

Still scared though.

CHAPTER 92: SINS OF THE FATHER

To all my live reactors,

Please, please, please, hide your reactions under a Read More cut. I don’t want any spoilers floating around. 

&

To all my Anonymous Avengers, 

If you want to react in my asks, feel free. However, I won’t be answering any of them until at least Wednesday if they contain spoilers. 

Thank you,

Darke

┍━━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━━━━┑

No. No. No. No. No.

It couldn’t be him. No.

Athena would have told you if he was in the city.

He wouldn’t come anywhere near you. Not when you were like this. He was smarter than that.

Your chest tightened as the crowd around you brushed past you and you slowly turned to face the man in the window. His dark, nearly black, eyes met your and, in an instant, your mouth went dry. Your body went rigid. Your breath was caught in your throat as your stomach tightened in endless knots.

— “You think he is going to save you?” he asked, staring down at you as you fought against your restraints, “You think he is going to be the one to release you?” —

— A screech tore through your throat as the Soldier simply watched the blade slip across your shoulders. He didn’t move. Didn’t react to your pleas for help. —

— “He is not a hero,” the Doctor whispered, slashing the blade through more skin, “He is a weapon. And weapons, my dear, they do not weep. They do not scream. They do as they are told.” —

┕━━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━━━━┙

» CHAPTER 92: SINS OF THE FATHER

✪ Bᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ Sᴄᴀʀʀᴇᴅ : Aғᴛᴇʀᴍᴀᴛʜ

♜♠ Tʜᴇ Sᴏʟᴅɪᴇʀ & Tʜᴇ Sᴘʏ

⧗ Tʜᴇ Rᴇᴅ Rᴏᴏᴍ

☞ Bᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ Sᴄᴀʀʀᴇᴅ: Oʀɪɢɪɴs

»Jᴏɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇ sɪᴅᴇ Tᴀɢʟɪsᴛ

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[medlilove-fandom-brainrot]

Sun shines in, you have awoken

Rating:  Teen And Up Audiences

Relationships:  Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Additional Tags:  Angst with a Happy Ending | Hurt/Comfort | Implied/Referenced Child Abuse | Past Child Abuse | Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence | Eddie and Max live | Hard of Hearing Steve Harrington | Mild panic attack | Stops before it starts | Fluff and Angst | Steve Harrington Needs a Hug | Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents | Eddie Munson Lives | Trauma | Song Fic - Black Sabbath - Behind the Wall of Sleep | Sensory stuff | Vecna is dead!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve’s neck is Eddie’s favourite place to devour when they were alone. All freckles and soft skin.

Though it took a while for Eddie to gain access to this most adored place…

The door was locked tight. Eddie didn’t know why but he respected it. It was hard for Steve to explain but he couldn’t bear the sensation of anything on or around his neck. He could not be touched there without it triggering a visceral reaction.

A sort of song fic to Black Sabbath's - Behind the Wall of Sleep

Finally managed to put together a little scene or two, got a bit too poetic but I’m having fun, enjoy!

After that awful week falling in and out of the upside-down, after the miracle that was Vecnas death, when he could actually stop and assess what hurt and where. The sore welts, stinging and bruised around his neck, it was overwhelming, suffocating. He couldn’t look at himself in a mirror, couldn’t touch it, treat it, clean it. Not without his heart tormenting him, battering his rib cage, lurching and jumping...

The perfect family, straight-laced, proper, well-behaved, clean-cut, normal, perfect. Perfect or face the wrath of reputation, of image. Those moments when Steve’s father snapped, really snapped, when he got in the way, said the wrong thing, screwed something up again, when it took over, rarer now, but still paralysing. Hands, bigger than his. Easiest target, small neck, moments of the perfect suburban family shattered, only behind a closing door. Skin, bruised and red for days, sick out of school, he had a cold again, slipped by the pool. Its okay, he had a tendency for solitude anyway.

Hadn’t happened in years. As their son grew up, he learned to be an ideal child, to make no waves and stay out of the way. Though, if his mind was idle, more often than not after a fight, he felt it again. The weight of a heavy-handed touch. Reciting bible verses with an iron fist.

Fights that he found were becoming more and more common as his life went more and more off skew. The bats, repulsive and cursed, diving and tearing, latching onto his throat of all places.

Sweet irony around his neck like a noose. They had not helped. Luckily, in the heat of it all, there were wonderfully horrible distractions from his stinging skin. Cold and familiar, lost in time.

Hope to god that would be the last of fights like that.

But after it ended and the world went back to normal, the tentacles, the hands, their weight would hit him in flashes. Not all the time, not all the time…but my god, did it remain.

Visions cupped within the flower

Eddie had no idea of course. No one did, not Nancy, or Robin, no one. Max and Eddie dragged themselves back into the world of the living, slowly and painfully, but they did it, and are still doing it. That little girl who didn’t really talk, El. She had endured it all again, again, again. Nancy and Jonathan, both witnesses to more horror than anyone could ever comprehend, both so tough. Dustin, Robin, he was the reason they had both been so caught up in it, he could never burden them with anything more.

Hopper knew something, the man had a way of looking right through him the few times they spoke. He picked up on Steve’s left ear being pretty much useless before anyone else after all.

Steve avoided being alone with him just in case. It was easy enough to do once things had calmed down. The police usually had at least an idea of the true characters of mothers and fathers when in such a small town like Hawkins. Though Steve still hoped that he was the exception.

He didn’t need to be reminded of nearly getting found out, lying to a police officer at just six years old, had a cold, slipped by the pool. The more time went by the more Steve started to realise, to his absolute horror, that that cop he lied to might just have been a recently returned to town, Jim Hopper. Something about the voice he used when talking to the kids, had given Steve such a deep sense of Deja Vu…

Regardless, everyone's got enough on their plates, he didn't need them worrying about him. No, this was just a passing thing, some small thing that is just…what it is. It never came up. Though he was fully aware of what Vecna would have shown him if he had wanted to.

But Vecna was dead, and they were alive, and he could taste cigarettes on Eddie's tongue and his curly dark hair tickled Steve’s ringing ears, making him wriggle and laugh. How comfortable he found himself, with the weight of Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson on top of him, he almost couldn’t believe it.

-

As summer began, slow and dry, and they first began to explore each other, it didn’t take long for Eddie to recognise the responses to his touch.

As ringed fingers reached up to his neck, soft and loving, tension rippled through Steve’s body beneath his. With a jump and sudden shift in tone, the room dropped in temperature. A sharp gasp, involuntary and jarring. A sound of anxiety? Fear? Or literally pain…? Of something, from somewhere deep down, but not forgotten.

Eddie had moved his hand at once, the atmosphere shifting. He pulled up, concerned. What had he done? Alarm bells rang through him at that sound. Alarm bells in the corner of Steve’s eyes, in the tension in his face in the work he was putting in to try to push it all down again. The hand that gripped the blanket beneath them hard, then let it loose almost forcefully, hoping it would go unnoticed. But Eddie caught sight of it when he pulled back. His own body wincing a little, scars still tender, moved too fast, instinctively.

He stared down at him as Steve tried to compose himself, eye’s squeezed shut, red flush on his cheeks, but not in the familiar way that Eddie adored. In a way that carried shame.

Eddie’s mind raced through the last few minutes, tracing every movement, trying to read the face of the man beneath him. But Steve wouldn’t look at him. He blinked heavily, flustered, attempting to push something back down quickly. Steve wasn’t in his bed anymore, not in his trailer, he was somewhere else.

“Hey, hey!” Barely more than a whisper, he went to touch Steve’s shoulder but hesitated. His mind spun.

Deadly petals with strange power

The sore red blisters from the bats, diving and tearing into his skin? They had long since healed. Did it still hurt? Or was too close a touch, too much of a ghastly reminder of what they had endured? Were his rings just really cold? Had Steve reacted this was in the Spring, when the world was dying? Had he been too busy with his own fear to notice? Doubt crept in on that last one, this felt a little closer to home.

A flicker of self-disgust washed over Steve’s face as just about caught Eddie’s eye at last. He ran his hand over his brow then brought it down to rub his left ear as he often did, brows knotted. "Sorry…I…" his voice was raw, and his face was full of some twisted thing left unsaid. Strained, the words stuck, stubbornly.

Eddie just stared at him, eyes wide. He was momentarily speechless for the look Steve was giving him, one of shame, of guilt. What could he say to look like that? How could he say that he loves all that there is to him, that he wanted everything Steve was willing to give? That it was okay, that it was fine? That he wanted to look right at everything, look it in the eyes, the good and the bad? Look at it on purpose. That his body is his alone no matter how close anyone gets to it? That he will always listen? That he could never and would never ask for more? His mind was racing.

Steve’s breath catching in his throat, shifting up on his right elbow, trembling, grounded Eddie. Steve looked away as though burnt. This brought him back to what was happening in front of him

“Steve, it’s okay, it’s okay!” He said, with all the sincerity he had in him.

They looked at each other again.

Eddie smiled and shook his head softly, leaning down to bring their foreheads together silently, his hands in Steve’s hair, where they had been so many times before, as Steve closed his eyes again, still struggling with himself. “You’re okay, I swear man, you’re fine. It’s all fine” Eddie felt Steve nod very slightly at his words, swallowing again.

The metalhead slid over back onto his mattress and stretched out on his back on Steve’s left side, reaching for a pack of cigarettes. Steve leaned into Eddie's outstretched arm, which soon enveloped him, giving a slight rub of his shoulder in an attempt to lend him a bit of reassurance. He fiddled with the pack with his free hand as Steve cleared his throat faintly, rubbing his eyes, breathing deeply.

They settled into a comfortable point together on the bed as Eddie lit a cigarette, took a drag, and then placed it softly between Steve’s waiting lips.

Chills and numbs from head to toe.

Eddie made a mental note that night to avoid that particularly sensitive area, no explanation needed ever. But his mind did wander…

-

Months pass. Mercifully peaceful. Bodies healed and all kept in each other's good company. There are some things you can’t go through without becoming closer.

Hawkins was creeping into that frost of early November, that not quite Winter weather. It would snow soon, but it wasn’t quite cold enough yet.

The sun was setting lazily behind the trees that lined the trailer park. If it could stay ahead of the grey clouds in the south it would have the chance of being beautiful. The tape deck hummed with a familiar soft rattle, balancing upon the cluttered desk. Strategically positioned so it would be on Steve’s right side, his good ear. The oldest tape Eddie had, Black Sabbath’s first album, self-titled, sang through the room as a whisper. Strange and pagan. Each song a long-lost spell that was unearthed in some old world forest in western England.

Icy sun with frosty glow

The back room of the trailer had kept surprisingly toasty. Small spaces were good like that. It had been a day where time moved at its own sleepy pace. Lying together upon old blankets and pillows, all day they had read comics and books, napped and listened to the same album on repeat. Steve’s fingers wandered idly in long dark curls above him as he lay on his back listening to the mystical words and raw cries.

Eddie leant over him from his silent left. At some point Steve could not recall, his shirt had been unbuttoned. Black nails, chipped with drug-store polish, tracing moles like constellations, past the scars and chest fuzz, touching every one like a blessing, like a prayer. Up and down through his face, arms and torso, brushing over his favourites with his lips, tongue, teeth, to be answered only by divine little gasps as the man under him quivers, book beside him abandoned. Fingers orbiting over the ones on his neck like a satellite, having never touched him there again.

Look upon you at your trial

Eddie paused his voyage across the stars. His left arm draped over the other man's chest, with the right hovering fingers over those two moles on the left side of Steve’s neck, little vampire bites, those were his most favourite of all. Eddie hummed absentmindedly as he admired them. Quiet content to watch the sun from the window shift slowly across Steve's skin as it sunk lower and lower.

Steve’s left side shifted and his hand went to Eddie’s then, causing Eddie to look up at him quickly as though snapping out of a stupor. Warm fingers upon cold knuckles suspended just above no man's land. His hands were always cold, Steve’s always warm.

They watched each other for a second, not speaking. Eddie questioning while Steve’s eyes were hard to read. Then, in one steady movement, Steve lowered Eddie’s whole palm down against his neck. This caught Eddie completely off guard, gazing down at him with that look that Steve just loved, eyes shining, questioning, adoring. He held his breath.

The metalhead knew that this thing, this issue, whatever it was, was more than bats diving and tearing in the upside-down. He had his suspicions, but Steve had never talked about it.

With movements so delicate that Eddie did not know he was capable of until that very moment, he brushed his hand across Steve’s flushed skin, hoping his little green ring wasn’t too unbearably cold. Steve’s eyes flickered as a cold palm, tingling and radiating, sent shivers down his spine. His mind caught up to his body, processing the touch. Eddie felt goosebumps, and he waited, watching him.

Steve blinked and looked at him, heartbeat reverberating on his chest and he swallowed thickly, Eddie felt it. Eye on eye, hand on hand.

Steve’s fingers slipped away down his wrist, passing his watch and his chain, brushing over the wretched bats, diving and tearing, upon his forearm, resting on his elbow. Slowly, slowly the constellations aligned. His thumb brushed against that jawline, up to his lips and back down again. Settling upon a sacred treasure.

With a nervous certainty, Steve finally let out a breath.  “Wanted to see what it felt like.” Half laughing, eyes searching again.

Feel your spirit rise with the breeze

Feel your body falling to its knees

Eddie cocked his head teasingly, mouth ajar, shining eyes burning for an answer he already had, something rising within him. Steve let out a snort at the reaction of the other, breaking into a grin. “It feels…I like it.” Breathless with relief, of passing a test of one's own design, his grin shifted sheepishly as Eddie remained quiet, looking for his own answer.

Eddie just blinked down at him silently, with those eyes like galaxies, full of mirth. His smile broke through like the sun, laughing, the centre of it all, all big teeth and dimples and unrestrained joy. Beaming, wild, fit to burst. Thawing whatever was left of Steve’s apprehension, replacing the warmth of the sunlight that had disappeared from the windows as the sound of rain hit the trailer at last.

His fingers gently traced his new favourite part of Steve’s body over and over, with both hands. It was a sensory experience that neither could get enough of. Eddie kissed him. Unhurriedly and deeply, leaning into the eager figure he was now completely on top of, softly at first, then harder, pushing open those fine lips with an eager tongue.

The holy trinity of rings laced up over his right ear, into thick messy hair. Eddie chuckled as he shifted down to finally kiss that neck, slowly, desperately. All of this at once prompted a round of hungry gasps and enamoured hums through a still open mouth. Feeling Steve’s hand tighten on his elbow, he grinned into the skin of his throat, pleased with the sounds he was hearing. Steve gasped again, and wrapped his arms around his neck and shoulders, through his curly hair and pulling at his shirt, melting into him. A loud, unrestrained laugh burst out of Eddie as he heard Steve swear softly, overwhelmed.

He still did not have all the answers, but it did not matter.

What pride he felt, to be granted access to this consecrated place. To have it be out of choice, to choose to have hands, soft and loving, returning, replacing the fear of touch with the joy of it. Will this wipe away what came before? Eddie had no idea, but it didn’t matter right now. To relish in it was enough for him. More than enough. To be allowed through a door locked so tightly, Eddie was sure he could fly now.

Now from darkness, there springs light

Wall of sleep is cool and bright

They woke to the early morning sun. Icy with a frosted glow. Pale, wet and weak, hitting the dew on the windows of Eddie's trailer. They had shifted in their sleep, the weight of Steve’s head on his heart, coconut in his hair and in his nose. Eddie had never slept so well.

Wall of sleep is lying broken

Sun shines in, you have awoken

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Durza

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Ah, Eragon. A series as wonderfully creative as it is wonderfully cheesy. Yes, the first book is horribly derivative of stuff like Star Wars, but Christopher Paolini threw in just enough spice to make it work, and overall the series does come into its own in later installments. One of his more interesting ideas was Shades, which were basically a sorcerer whose body was turned into a shell containing multiple evil spirits. Yes, it’s not wholly original, but it did give us the badass antagonist of the first book, the red haired, red eyed Durza. He even ultimately had a pretty tragic backstory, and inspired a truly cringeworthy poem that Eragon wrote to try and get some elfussy (elf pussy).

Now imagine taking that, draining everything interesting that I just mentioned, and turning that into a generic evil sidekick and you have Film!Durza, pictured above reading the original novel and wishing he got that badass final fight instead of whatever happened here.

Eragon is a bad movie. Sure it’s not the worst thing in the world—really, it’s just dreadfully dull—but it managed to miss the mark on adapting anything from the books without sucking the creativity and fun out of it. The Urgals probably have this the worst, going from hulking horned humanoids to just unwashed barbarian hordes, but Durza got hit pretty bad as well. Losing any sort of compelling characterization or explanation for his existence, what we’re left with is a shade itself: an empty husk filled with awful things.

Motivation/Goals: He’s the evil emperor Palpatine’s Sauron’s Galbatorix’s right-hand man following the death of Morzan, his previous right-hand man. To this end, he has to do evil right-hand man things like torture elf girls until they start getting way too into it (Arya looks like she’s about to bust it at any minute in the film) or steal the kills of other characters from the books because the filmmakers didn’t think through who they’d need in this series. There’s really not much too Durza, I’m afraid; he’s really a bland antagonist.

Performance: Look, Robert Carlyle is a cool guy. He was in Trainspotting, he was in Once Upon a Time, this man has a great resume! And I imagine when he turns that resume in for a new job he leaves this film off, because he does fuck all with his performance here. Oh, he’s certainly trying, that much is clear, but the dismal script and the fact they fucked anything interesting out of Durza really just hampers what should have been a deliciously hammy villain role. At least he’s having fun and clearly seems to get how bad the movie he’s in is.

Final Fate: He dies, sure, but in a way that is unbelievably lame compared to the book. We don’t get a cool moment where Arya and Saphira explode a giant gemstone to save Eragon’s ass and let him deal the killing blow, followed by him absorbing Durza’s tragic backstory; no, here we get a crappy CGI smoke monster battle. Cool. Great. This is so totally better. Kind of like how it’s so totally better that the Ra’zac were made into gross mummy ninjas Durza created who die halfway through the movie, ruining any chance of a sequel making sense (not that this film ever had a chance of getting a sequel with how dismal it is).

Final Thoughts & Score: Durza somehow manages to be one of the lamest villains ever despite getting a massive boost in competency from the books. Here, he’s way more badass, constantly having the heroes on the ropes, never really losing a fight, and even creating the Ra’zac out of bugs; in the books, the dude is an absolute jobber. The thing is, in the books he still gets more characterization that makes him an interesting character, while in the movie, the most he gets is progressively uglier as the film goes on. It’s just so incredibly insulting to just about everyone.

Still, Durza isn’t the absolute worst villain ever or anything. Much like the movie itself, he’s really just a bland, forgettable waste of good ideas and talent. I think that Carlyle is at least trying his best with what he’s given, even though what he was given is basically nothing, and Durza at least still looks pretty cool. It’s not really enough to save him or make me be more generous with the score or anything like that, but he’s not the bottom of the barrel. He is, however, about an inch from it.

The movie version gets a 2/10, while the book version deserves a nice 7/10. It really is bad when you give a character the role of killing the hugely important mentor figure, the one who is a badass former dragon rider and the secret daddy of the protagonist, and he still fucking sucks.

[dangermousie]

Hello !

I was wondering whether you could rate and tell us of your top 5 favourite webnovels/cnovels of all time ?! (Sorry if this has already been answered lol😅)

Thank you, stay safe and have a nice day🖤

Awww, thank you and that is such a lovely ask!!!

From n1 to n5, here they are (they happen to be all danmei.)

1. The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha) - my n1 forever and ever.

Taxian Jun, the horrific cultivation emperor of the world who razed cities and destroyed sects, is surrounded on his mountain. The righteous sects are terrified to confront him but tired of living, Taxian Jun consumes poison and dies by suicide at the age of 32. And opens his eyes as 16 year old Mo Ran, Mo Ran long before he became Taxian Jun, Mo Ran who is excited at a chance to save the one person he loved and lost. Oh, and to deal with his loathed shizun, the unapproachable and strict Chu Wanning, his past life’s biggest enemy.

I have no idea if it’s objectively the best on this list but it hits every trope I love, its bleak worldview (the world will change only incrementally but that’s enough, average person will not appreciate the sacrifice but it’s still worthwhile, and love is worth everything) mirrors mine, and the sheer complexity of the plot and cascade of plot twists each of which is insane and yet completely logical, is amazing (this is a rare novel where it’s even more fun to reread than read for the first time because you keep seeing all the hints and trail crumbs laid out that you did not see the first time.)

And the characters!!! I mean, this novel has multiple universes/timelines, a side trip to the Underworld AND the demon realm, a plot more twisted than a store’s worth of pretzels and yet the thing that hits me the most are the characters. Mo Ran is my favorite web novel character of all time and I love Chu Wanning so. All the secondary characters are wonderfully written (and some of them made me bawl) and they are all complex. My opinion of all of them changed many times over; the novel doesn’t make it easy to love some of them but then you do and it’s so worthwhile! That slow change is one of the delights of the novel - I started out disliking the unpleasant, superior Chu Wanning and cruel, callow Mo Ran and then I loved them so so hard and cried for them so so hard and was in awe of their heroism and sacrifice and selflessness and capacity to love.

Oh, and the fact that this novel does something almost impossible - it has its protagonist start out as so clearly irredeemable and then slowly and painfully and thoroughly redeems him (without ever letting the reader forget what it is he needs redemption for.)

Also, for a novel that made me cry so hard I felt ill, this book is just so damn funny with the most sarcastic sense of humor imaginable (the serious angst doesn’t even kick in until 90+ chapters!)

Anyway I should stop or I will write a dissertation. But this is the one web novel that I would put in my top 5 not just web novels but any novels in any shape or form. The plentiful trigger warnings are there for a reason so stay away if they are an issue, but if not, if anyone hasn’t read it yet, what are you doing with your life?!

2. Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - another novel by the author of 2ha. Clearly she just pushes all my buttons every time. This one is much shorter and has a plot that is twisty but less twisty than 2ha. Still, all that means is that intensity and the pain are more concentrated.

Aristocratic Mo Xi and former slave Gu Mang were both legendary generals of the empire and lovers. But Gu Mang betrayed the country and switched to the enemy. Now he is back as a peace offering by that country and Mo Xi has to deal with the fact that his feelings are as strong as ever.

This novel!!! So much pain and intensity!!! So many amazing plot twists and supporting characters. The same bleak world view, the same unjust society, the same protagonists doing right things despite the cost. Mo Xi’s intensity and inability to let go (he’s imprinted on Gu Mang and that’s it) is romantic, bone-shakingly intense, and tragic all at once. And oh Gu Mang! So many times I just wanted to reach into the book physically to protect him. The novel deals with unjust societies, memory versus personality, what it’s like to be good in a bad universe etc. And it both made me sob and giggle, repeatedly, and sold me on literally death-defying (but not honor-defying!) love.

Oh, and special shout out to the fact that like 2ha, you may start out hating some characters and end up a rabid fangirl (cough Murong Lian!)

3. Qiang Jin Jiu - a dense political tome that takes a while to get going but then it’s a runaway train.

In a fictional dynasty, Shen Zechuan, the only remaining son of a disgraced aristocratic family and Xiao Chiye, the younger son of a family of generals guarding the border join forces (and then something else) to get power and pull down the dysfunctional system.

This is so elegant and smart (a rare web novel I’d recommend to anyone who just loves solid period fiction) and you probably need a notebook to keep track of the politics and military strategy. These characters are very very smart not just because the author says so.

As to the characters, there is a large cast and I love many of them, but for me the novel is made by Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye. SZC is gorgeous and delicate and icy and can kill you before you have time to blink. Saddled with the sins of the family he had no pleasant interaction with, he claws his way out of hell (seeing the sinkhole he was trapped in, literally as well) to take down those who wronged him but also to amass power so all the tragedy and corruption won’t happen again and the whole rotten system comes crashing down. XCY is a military genius who is trapped as a hostage in the capital because the court doesn’t trust his family. He longs to return to the plains of home and to take his rightful place. The two men start out as bitter enemies, then reluctant and sniping allies, then as friends and eventually as one of the most gorgeous, tender, swoony OTPs.

Anyway this is one is a bona fide masterpiece, equal parts smart and emotionally intense.

4. Wu Chang Jie - are you an emotional vampire? I am and this novel is a banquet.

In a highly fantastical setting, we meet our protagonists - the sunny Xie Bian and the intense and surly Fan Wushe. Xie Bian is a human who assists his master in conveying souls to the underworld and making sure no mishaps happen. Bian is concentrated sunshine in human form and to meet him is to love him. When the novel opens, his drunk master brings back another human to be his shidi and assist with duties - said human is uncommunicative, intense and surly Wushe. Bian is excited to have a shidi but little does he know that a story dealing with the horrors of past lifetime is about to start.

Anyway, why WCJ? So many reasons. It has such a dark bleak worldview - this world is a horrifying system where powerful cannibalize each other’s cores for an impossible chance to ascend, where gods have sealed off their realm and all that’s left is neverending human misery and hell (the only way you’d see a deity is if they’d been sent down to suffer over and over and over), where even reincarnation doesn’t fix things and bad acts are often unpunished. And the novel then asks - is it worth being a good person in such a world? More, is it worth being a good person in such a world when nothing good has ever happened to you and you have been repeatedly betrayed due to your goodness? And the answer, on Bian’s part, is an uncompromising yes.

Ah yes, the other reason to love this novel - the protagonists and their fucked up fucked up relationship. Bian (who was Prince Ziheng in the past life) is so genuinely good. But he is that rare thing - good but not saintly, noble but not cloying. So much of the novel is his getting taken apart over and over and barely able to put himself back together every time but his soul is still as amazing as ever.

And then there is Wushe (who was Prince Zixiao in past life, Ziheng’s not-bio-related brother.) Wushe is not a good person. He is a monster. And he loves Bian/Ziheng more than his life and his soul and the entire world but he’s also the one who hurt him more than anyone else ever could and did it over and over. His love survived a literal century of torture in the worst kind of hell and refused the usual memory loss of new life. But it also humiliated and broke Ziheng down to his constituent parts.

One of the things that is so fascinating to me about this novel is the question of what can be forgiven/what should be forgiven/what kind of expiation is enough/can you ever love someone who you loved so much and then he hurt you so badly and is now repentant? And it never sweeps trauma under the rug or hand waves it away but deals with it head on.

If you want healthy relationships, you should stay far away from this novel but if intense insane ones with a feral barely human one capable of destroying the world leashed by love and guilt to the sane deeply good one is your bag, come right in.

There is also the world building and the fact that yes, the big fall out between Ziheng x Zixiao is based on not knowing all the facts but it’s not “why can’t you talk?! This is dumb!” But is totally in keeping with both events and their characters. It’s reasonable for Ziheng to do what he does and for Zixiao to misunderstand and decide Ziheng is now his biggest enemy (but still one he’s fixated on) and for Ziheng to never be able to clarify.

Anyway, once again this is trigger warning central so please heed those, but if they are no issue, this one is wonderful.

5. OK, this is hard and switches between Sha Po Lang, Heaven Official’s Blessing and The Golden Stage depending on my mood. So what the hell, I am gonna write about all of them.

Sha Po Lang - so smart and so much clever world building. There is enough politicking to satisfy a Qiang Jin Jiu fan, it’s steampunk, and our two protagonists - Gu Yun, the empire’s most powerful general, who’s loyal to the empire despite being badly wronged by it, and Chang Geng, a cursed prince with barbarian blood and horrifying childhood - are wonderful separately and together. This is a huge slow burn but it’s totally worth it! They fall in love with each other’s hearts and brains and ability as much as anything. (Yes, this is the one with the yifu thing. Gu Yun is made Chang Geng’s foster father when he rescues him and brings him back to the capital as a way to keep CG safe in imperial strife. They are 12 and 19 at the time so clearly it’s never a parental relationship.)

Heaven Official’s Blessing (TCGF) - I love it’s sprawling narrative and cast, I love its inventive setting and picaresque story. It’s hilarious and can make me cry. But the novel’s place on this list is due to Xie Lian who is part Kenshin part drama WWX part pure goodness wrapped in heartbreak and trauma wrapped in sunshine.

The Golden Stage - two smart and principled (yes, they both have principles different though they may be) men navigate their arranged marriage, their past friendship and their past break up, become a super couple (one of the healthiest danmei couples I’ve ever read and proves healthy doesn’t have to be boring), save the country and bring down the emperor or two and just generally this is my rainy day book.

I guess I didn’t write as much for the three n5 candidates as I did for 1-4 but my brain is beginning to curdle so...

[luvdsc]

mark lee sucks at technology.

tap the heart if you have a big, fat, embarrassing crush on your best friend!

pairing :: lee mark x reader genre :: fluff / best friend + social influencer au word count :: 5,883 words warnings :: none playlist :: dumb stuff (lany) ⋆ feeling (coin) ⋆ so far so good (gabrielle aplin) ⋆ electric love (børns) ⋆ love by mistake (bad suns) author’s note :: i was debating if i should post it on his bday instead, but i decided to drop it earlier, so uh, happy (approx. one week early) bday to mister absolutely fully capable (except when it comes to tech stuff) !!!! thank you for blessing us with your god tier raps ♡ ↳ part of the not clickbait series.

In your required upper division business course aptly titled “Essential Marketing Strategies,” you had learned about a concept called personal brands. A personal brand is explained as the first impression a person wishes to perceive based on their own experiences, qualifications, and achievements. Your professor had told you and your classmates to pick three words to define your own brand. For instance, you chose to label yourself as charismatic, fun, and creative.

Your best friend’s brand would be awkward, endearing, and technologically challenged. 

Okay, so that is definitely more than three words, but who’s counting? You might as well tack on “Y/N’s big fat crush” at this rate because everyone and their mother knows that you carry a torch—or more accurately, a blazing wildfire that can easily be spotted from Pluto—for your best friend.

Well, to be more precise, you should probably say everyone, except Mark, knows. And that’s not for lack of trying either. You completely dropped the art of delicate subtlety months ago already. Maybe you should add “hopelessly oblivious” instead.

The rolling end credits to the sixth Harry Potter film are playing on the screen in front of you, signaling the nearing end of your magical movie marathon. You’re seated on the worn down couch in Mark and Donghyuck’s shared apartment, watching the former make his drink with the fancy, gently used Keurig newly settled on the scratched countertop. Johnny dropped it off a few days ago because he had splurged on a better coffee machine (“It even makes Instagram worthy whipped frappuccinos!”) and didn’t want his old, but still perfectly functioning caffeine provider going to waste.

“What’s wrong with this thing?” Mark slaps the side of the machine, and it starts to emit a low whirring noise. “Oh, that’s good, right? That sound is good, you think?”

His question is immediately answered by the sad squirt of hot water speckled with coffee grinds falling into his mug for a few seconds before the machine shuts off.

“What the hell?” he mutters angrily, carding his hand through his hair in frustration, and you finally decide to take pity on your best friend. Getting up from the comfy spot you know you sadly won’t be able to recreate perfectly again later, you stride over to where your best friend stands and flip open the top of the Keurig.

“Hyuck didn’t take out his used coffee pod,” you say, pulling out the incriminating evidence of your best friend’s roommate and disposing it in the trash can next to the refrigerator. “Where’s the espresso one you’re gonna use? Why didn’t you put that in?”

His jaw slackens, and he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, avoiding your gaze and mumbling, “I thought I’d just open it later and pour it into my hot water.”

“Mark,” you start, placing your hands on his shoulders firmly and staring into his eyes with a serious look on your face. “Please know that I’m saying this in the most loving way possible, but you are an absolute idiot.”

You release your grip on his shoulders and grab the espresso pod dangling from his fingertips before slotting it into the Keurig. You remove the mug he placed underneath the spout and wash out the accidental coffee water before placing it back in its original position and pressing the start button on the machine. With a sigh, you lean against the side of the counter, glancing at your friend who looks like a child being scolded for stealing from the cookie jar.

“If you pour the pod into your mug, are you just going to chug all the loose coffee grinds, too?”

“... I didn’t think that far ahead.” His lips start to unintentionally form a tiny pout, and your eyes (and your heart, too) soften.

You’re very relieved that Donghyuck is off filming with your friend because he definitely would be making fun of your heart eyes that frequently make an appearance around a certain Mark Lee. Which you always deny. Because you certainly do not have a gigantic crush on your technologically inept best friend.

You glance over at him again and have to physically fight yourself to resist the urge to kiss his cute pout away. Okay, so maybe you harbor a very respectable, medium sized crush. But it's no big deal. It’s completely under control. Unless you’re counting the fact that your best friend is still unaware, and you’re running out of ideas to try and see if he likes you back before you actually shoot your shot. Then it’s very much not under control because you’re losing sleep over it and you don’t know what to do to be any more obvious without stating the, well, obvious.

“Well, now you know. If you forget, you can FaceTime me and I’ll give you instructions on how it works.” You pat his shoulder reassuringly before pausing. “Wait, you do know how to FaceTime, right?”

“Yes!” he exclaims, sulking even more before confessing in a quieter, defeated tone, “Hyuck showed me last month.”

Mark grabs his finished drink and follows behind you, settling back onto the couch next to you. The streaming service already has Deathly Hallows Part 1 in the queue and ready to go, and your best friend is ready to click play until he notices your attention being focused on the smaller screen in your hands. He wonders if you’re about to post another one of your popular cooking videos on that app that shares a name with the most iconic song of the 2000s (hint: the name of the song’s singer is made up of four letters and a dollar sign).

“Are you uploading one of your videos?” he implores before taking a sip of his drink with a satisfied smile. Somehow, it always tastes better when you make it, and he can’t figure out why for the life of him. When he went to Johnny’s place, his older friend uses the exact same pod and water ratio for his espresso, and yet, it’s never as good as yours.

“Nah, I’m ordering my grocery delivery before I forget. Do you want anything?” You select the option to load your usual grocery items into your cart before debating on whether or not you should splurge on buying several packages of those seasonal Pillsbury sugar cookies that only come in stock during certain holidays. It seems like such an insult to the entire premise of your Tiktok account based on baking and cooking, but you’re an absolute sucker for those soft pastries.

“Yeah, can you get me a Shin Ramyun ten pack? Hyuck ate the last one two days ago and didn’t tell me.”

“You sure you don’t want ten boxes again?” You decide to get those Pillsbury sugary delights, happily adding three boxes to your cart. Everybody has a weakness, and yours just so happens to be a premade one way ticket to diabetes. You’re here for a good, delicious time, not a long time.

“No! That was an accident!” He objects, flailing his hands around, before falling back against the couch cushions in defeat. “But Hyuck does all the online grocery shopping now.”

“Thank god. You guys finally have quality toilet paper again.”

The past month of bathroom occurrences was plagued with scratchy tissue that felt more like goddamn sandpaper from the horrible depths of hell. To be honest, you probably would have rather used actual sandpaper, given the choice. You even made sure not to drink too much water any time you came over, but today, you decided to splurge on a venti passion fruit iced tea with sweetener from that very popular franchise sporting a mermaid logo and fiscally cosmic name. To your pleasant surprise, your trip to the toilet this time was wonderfully padded with Charmin Ultra Soft, not that absolutely awful off brand one with the gross texture of a dried pinecone from inferno.

“Hey, that toilet paper was a good steal! It was a three for one deal,” Mark protests, and you narrow your eyes at him.

“Wow, I wonder why it was priced so low.” You deadpan, and Mark blanches, recalling all those restroom incidents that were rather rough. Literally.

“Anyway, do you think my viewers wanna see me make chocolate crinkle cookies or mochi doughnuts?” You bring up the two recipes you managed to perfect and add your own spin to on your phone, eyes scanning the ingredient lists.

“Both. And tell me when you’re making them, so I can come over and eat them.” He gives you a wide grin, and you let out a snort at that. His smile only grows as he says happily, “I love your job.”

“You only love it because you can freeload off of me,” you jest, but nevertheless begin to start to add all the ingredients for both recipes to your shopping cart. You always film cooking videos on Tuesdays, edit on Wednesdays, keep Thursdays free for last minute touch ups and emergencies, and post one every week on Fridays with other various random videos uploaded whenever in between. With that in mind, you schedule your upcoming grocery delivery for Monday.

“Hey, you need me. I’m the best taste tester.” He puffs up his chest proudly before hastily tacking on a more genuine reason. “And because I’d starve without you. I can’t live off of instant ramen and frozen chicken nuggets forever. Gordon Ramsay already confirmed my shitty cooking skills. I need you to survive.”

“Oh my god, when I uploaded those pics of your scrambled eggs on Twitter, I lost like a hundred followers in less than a minute.” You confirm the delivery and place your phone on the coffee table, picking up the opened bag of Cheeto puffs before settling back in your seat. “My cooking credibility was completely shot. I had to explain to my fans that I didn’t make those.”

“Yeah, but now everyone calls me Eggy Boi online!” he whines, and you laugh. You have to admit, it’s quite a funny play on the whole “edgy boi” terminology. You wonder if Mark will find it amusing if he discovers his roommate is the culprit behind his new online persona (He probably won’t, and you reckon Donghyuck enjoys living in a safe space where he doesn’t have to sleep with one eye open, so you stay quiet about it. You’ll use it as leverage some other time).

“Okay, Eggy Boi, come by on Tuesday because I’ll be baking in the afternoon,” you say casually, grabbing the remote control from your best friend and pressing play. 

You very narrowly avoid a green gummy bear to the face. It lands somewhere behind the couch, lost forever to the dust bunnies and other snacks that missed its target. You know for a fact that it’ll stay there until the boys decide to move to a new apartment. Mark grumbles at the miss, biting off the head of a red cherry flavored gummy bear perhaps a little harder than necessary.

“I hate you. But I’m still coming over next week because I want a doughnut.”

“No cookie?”

“... and a cookie. Maybe two.”

Wednesday comes faster than you expected, and you’re currently holed up in your apartment’s second bedroom—which you had transformed into a snazzy office space—completing the edits to your second video on mochi doughnuts. You already finished polishing the one about the cookies earlier, thank goodness. If you had to stare at your computer screen for another three hours, you would rather eat those pastries Mark tried to make two months ago, but had mistaken salt for sugar. Adding a cup of salt to any baked good is an extremely effective way to make anyone who tasted your best friend’s brownies experience a trip to the beach. Because they essentially just swallowed a mouthful of sand and ocean water. Because it’s salty as heck. Just like Mark was when you told him.

Speaking of your best friend, he’s currently puttering around in your kitchen doing god knows what. He knows better than to try another recipe and possibly blow up your number one moneymaker—your prized oven—in the process. Your heart nearly drops when your ears pick up the faint chopping sounds of a knife against your wooden cutting board. Is he going to try to temper chocolate again? He nearly burned through your entire stock of dark, milk, and white chocolate last time.

After much contemplation and deciding that you deserve a good procrastination break and a fully intact kitchen, you’re about to go out and see what he’s up to when Mark timidly appears in your doorway, clutching onto a white bowl of watermelon cubes with a fork tucked neatly in it. He shuffles in, dropping the snack on your desk before turning to walk out without a word, not wanting to disturb your work mode. 

Your heart warms up at the sight, and you speak up, a small smile slipping into your face. “What’s this for?”

“Knowing you, you probably haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.” He pauses in the doorway and adds on sheepishly, “And I can't cook anything, so this is what you get.”

Your heart swells tenfold, and your smile widens even more as you spear a piece of fruit with the fork and quickly pop it into your mouth. “Thanks, Marky.”

His cheeks flush with a pretty shade of carmine, and he fails to suppress the little giddy smile that appears on his face at your nickname for him. He walks out of your office, reddened cheeks still rising up higher than ever. “Y-Yeah, of course. No problem.”

By the time you finish adding the final few touches to your edited video, the bowl of watermelon has been picked clean. You save your video and transfer both of your completed projects to your phone, making a mental note to schedule their uploads and add them to your account’s posting queue later. Shoving your phone in the pocket of your sweats after ensuring the successful transfer of your videos, you pick up the empty dish and walk out towards the kitchen, the silver fork clinking against the side of the bowl with every step.

As you wash the dish and utensil, Mark wanders over from his spot on the couch, leaning forward and casually placing his chin on your shoulder. Almost instantaneously, you feel the heat rising to your cheeks as you briefly fantasize about your best friend wrapping his arms around your waist and how domestic and sweet the two of you would look, like one of those cheesy couples the two of you always made fun of.

“What’s up?” you ask, making a conscious effort to hold your voice steady and not waver over the fact that Mark is basically draped over you. After you place the dish on the drying rack, you turn around to face your best friend, sorely miscalculating the distance as mere inches separate your face from his now.

“I—” Puberty decides to make an ugly appearance in the form of an ill timed voice crack, and he internally curses as he takes a step back, willing the incoming blush to go away. Letting out a small cough, he tries again, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“I, um, Jisung sent me some kind of dance video. He said it’s a challenge? I kinda don’t know what to do with it? Like do I make a new dance, record myself, and send it back? Actually, isn't it easier to just do a dance battle face to face?”

“Can I see the video?” You already have a good idea on what the video will be, but you want to confirm it. Mark fumbles with his phone, pulling up the video in his text messages. He angles the phone towards you for you to see, and you grab his hand, bringing the device a little closer to you for a better look and clicking play.

“Oh, it’s a Tiktok challenge! He’s doing the Say So dance!” you exclaim, recognizing the song almost immediately as your eyes follow the fluid dance moves, completely enthralled. “So a challenge isn’t going up against someone, like a battle. It’s just some kind of trend or concept that you try to copy yourself. You’re supposed to learn the same dance and record yourself for this one. I can show you some other challenges and help you practice and record this one tomorrow if you wanna drop by after work!”

“O-Oh, okay, sounds good.” Mark stumbles over his words, attempting to focus on what you’re saying and the dance Jisung is doing, but all he can think about is the way your body is pressed against his side, hand comfortably wrapped around his. He freezes up as the tips of his ears grow redder and redder with every passing second, and his face sports a similar color. He silently prays for the telltale crimson to go away by the time the dance is over.

When the video ends, you once again realize the close proximity between you and your best friend. Your face burns at this revelation, and you awkwardly take a step back. Clearing your throat, you hastily release Mark’s hand (He inaudibly lets out the breath he’s been holding in this entire time, yet he also already misses the way your hand felt grasping his).

“Uh, anyway, I’m gonna make a latte. Do you want a drink, too?” You walk towards the other side of your kitchen with Mark trailing behind you. You take out a floral, peachy colored mug from your cupboards before pausing and looking at your best friend. “Wait, do you remember how to use a Keurig?”

“Yes!” He says, slightly exasperated as he picks out his own cup from your cabinet. He always uses the same one—a cerulean blue mug with squiggles all over it—and all of your friends and guests know not to use it because it’s unofficially officially Mark’s mug (And perhaps, you did indeed buy it from that overpriced kitschy tableware shop down the street two years ago with your best friend in mind).

“Really?” You select the latte option and press start after you had already positioned the mug beneath the spout and inserted a green tea matcha pod. He finally relents, shoulders sagging and a defeated expression on his face.

“... No.”

You chuckle, taking the mug from him and carefully putting it on the counter. You grab the espresso pod you know he likes from the drawer below and place it next to the cup. “It’s okay, I’ll teach you again.”

Mark tries. He really does. He tries very hard to concentrate on memorizing the simple process, but he keeps getting distracted. His eyes are focused on the correct button to push before they start to trail up to your fingertips. And then, they go from your hand to your arm, then up to the elegant curve of your neck, and finally, to the way your lashes frame your pretty eyes and how the tip of your tongue sticks out slightly as you concentrate until all he can focus on is you, you, you.

Suddenly, in what feels like a blink of an eye, you’re done and handing him his finished drink, complete with a perfectly whipped milk foam on top. You ask him if he knows how to make it now, and all he can do is lie and nod with a barely convincing smile.

After all, how can Mark tell his best friend that the reason he never remembers is because you’re the biggest distraction?

Mark should be here in five minutes, according to his most recent text message. And in the text message below that, your friend had sent you a challenge. More specifically, it’s the one she completed with Donghyuck a few weeks ago. When you said you wanted bold suggestions on how to figure out if your best friend feels the same way about you as you do about him, you didn’t want one this bold. 

Yet, the video link to your friend’s “today I kissed my best friend” challenge along with a winky face from her is staring mockingly at you. While you aren’t one to back down from a challenge, the mere thought of kissing your best friend causes vast colonies of butterflies to erupt in your stomach and your ears to feel as if they have caught on fire. You’re already tongue tied with your head in the clouds, and he isn’t even here yet. How utterly fantastic.

However, your mother definitely did not raise a quitter, so you spring into action when you hear the faint jingling of a key being inserted into your apartment’s door (You had given Mark a copy of your key almost immediately after you had moved in). You move the pretty indoor fern given to you by Jaemin as a housewarming gift last year closer to the edge of your towering bookcase, leaning your phone against it. You quickly position the device to capture a good view of the couch area in your living room and press the record button, arranging a few of the leaves to hide as much of your phone as you possibly can without obstructing the lens.

You run full speed to your bedroom, letting out a sigh of relief when you’re safely inside and hear Mark finally unlocking the door successfully and shuffling in. When he calls out to you, you try to even out your breathing, walking out of your room with your tripod and laptop in hand.

“Hey,” you greet him in the most casual tone you can muster. You place the tripod down and sit before opening your laptop and setting it on the coffee table. “I thought we could watch a few challenges for fun before trying the Say So one. Have you watched Jisung’s videos before?”

“Um, well, no, not really,” he confesses sheepishly, taking a seat next to you on the couch, leg pressing against yours. He squints at the YouTube video you pulled up earlier before he had arrived, reading the title before clicking the space button to start it. “Savage Tiktok dance compilation part two?”

“Wait, hold up.” You pause the video and then turn to face him with an incredulous expression on your face. “You’ve never watched any of Jisung’s dance Tiktoks?”

“No… I don’t even have an account.” His cheeks are dusted with the lightest shade of pink as he quietly admits, “I watch all of yours though.”

Your eyes widen at his confession, face heating up as you stammer out, “O-Oh, well, I can help you make an account later to upload your video.”

“Sounds good.” There’s a few seconds of silence as you mull over his previous words before he speaks up again awkwardly, “Should I, uh, play the video?”

“Oh! Yes, right! Of course, hit play,” you laugh nervously, twisting and playing with the hair tie around your wrist. He starts the video again, and the two of you watch the compilation, slowly relaxing once more as you tap your fingers to the rhythm of the song and he bobs his head to the beat.

“Do I have to change outfits like that?” he questions a few minutes later, eyes growing round as he sees the girl on the screen switch between four different outfits throughout the dance. His closet basically consists of the same five black shirts that he stole from Jaehyun. Even if he did do an outfit swap, there would literally be no difference at all.

“You don’t have to,” you assure him, clicking the enter key to play the next video that’s recommended: another Tiktok dance challenge compilation. “All you have to do is copy the dance.”

Mark nods, taking a glance at the laptop screen before his hand shoots out and he pauses the video, leaning forward to take a closer look at the little recommended video title banner at the top. “Wait! What’s that one?”

He clicks on it, the new video now loading up. The two of you wait patiently for it to begin, waiting for the spinning disc to stop. But it doesn’t. In fact, the whole chrome page goes blank and then, the little pixelated Google Chrome dinosaur pops up on your monitor, announcing that you have no internet connection. Furrowing your eyebrows, you try to reload the page before trying to re-establish your laptop connection to your wifi. Unfortunately, you cannot find your appropriately named “drop it like it’s hotspot” wifi anywhere to connect to.

And that’s when it hits you. Your landlord had sent out a notice to the entire apartment complex last week about the electricity being powered down today from 4 to 6 p.m. for a maintenance check, and a quick glance at the digital clock on your laptop shows that it’s a little past four.

You groan, closing your laptop and flopping back against the couch cushions dramatically. Mark cocks his head, slightly confused, before he pokes you in the arm. “What’s wrong?”

“I completely forgot about the scheduled electricity shutdown for the entire building. We won’t have any wifi for the next two hours.” You pout, your bottom lip jutting out in the slightest, and Mark doesn’t think it’s fair that you get to be this cute and have this much of an effect on his racing heart rate.

“That’s okay, we can… play some board games?” he suggests offhandedly, pushing away the embarrassing thought and nudging your leg with his, and you smile before a sudden idea occurs to you. 

“Or we can still do some Tiktok challenges! What was the challenge you clicked on?” You quickly sit upright, turning to face your best friend, eyes sparkling in excitement. “I memorized a few of the dance ones already! Was it Renegade? I can teach you that one. Jisung showed me how to do it.”

“Um,” he starts, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. His eyes dart everywhere, except you, as he lets out a feigned cough. “It wasn’t a dance one. It was about, uh, going up to your boyfriend… and um, hugging him... when he’s playing video games.”

“Oh.” You answer lamely, not knowing what to say. You unsuccessfully try to push away the image of you attempting that challenge with your best friend. “Those are really cute.”

“Really?” He says doubtfully, wrinkling his eyebrows and fiddling with the frayed sleeve of his sweater. “Wouldn’t the dude get mad?”

You don’t know what suddenly possessed you to do this (you’ll have to ask Renjun and his paranormal loving ass later), but you thank whatever demon did for that split second because you find yourself gently grabbing Mark’s arm and slipping your head underneath it. You swing one leg over his lap and settle down until you’re securely sitting in his lap, bent legs on either side of his hips, hands curled around the soft fabric of his sweater on both sides and resting on top of your thighs. His arms instinctively go around your waist, wrapping around you securely.

You tilt your head to the side slightly, studying the flustered boy in front of you with a teasing, albeit a little anxious, smile on your lips. “Are you feeling mad?”

Splotches of red litter his cheeks and decorate the tips of his ears, but your best friend furiously shakes his head at your question, bashfully ducking his head afterwards and muttering a soft “No.”

You swallow hard, heart pounding erratically in your chest as you timidly ask, “Would you be mad if I do this?”

Mark looks up at that, confusion written all over his face. His arms start to loosen around your figure, hands now resting on your waist. “If you do what?”

You take a deep breath. “This.”

You lean in and gently press your lips against his. Mark freezes in shock, and you quickly retreat soon after, gnawing at the inside of your cheek as you wait anxiously for his reaction. Your heart feels like it’s about to fall out of your chest and be buried six feet under.

A tiny noise of surprise belatedly escapes from him and crimson spreads across his cheeks like wildfire. His doe eyes are wide and sparkling, staring at you in bewilderment. Your best friend lets out a small laugh of disbelief before a full blown smile breaks out across his face. He gazes at you adoringly, breathing out softly, “I’m not mad at that.”

You perk up at that, draping your arms around his neck as you lean forward, beaming. “Really? You’re not?”

“Definitely not.”

This time, Mark meets you halfway, his lips slotting against yours perfectly and making you feel tingles up and down your spine. Your eyes are closed, and you are so hyper aware of the way his hands grip your hips, how he tugs you closer, and how his lips chase after yours. The number of butterflies from earlier multiply in your stomach, and you have ascended past cloud nine by now.

When the two of you break apart, your eyes flutter open, and you nudge your nose against his affectionately. The brightest grin blooms on his face once again, and he buries his face in the crook of your neck, muffling his little giggles and hiding the awfully vibrant cerise that rapidly blossoms on his face.

“Is this a good time to tell you congrats for completing your first challenge?” you say, resting your cheek against the crown of his head. You pull away when he lifts his head up, surprised.

“I wasn’t playing video games though,” he says slowly, processing your words and thinking back to the challenge that started this all.

“It was a different challenge. It’s the one that Hyuck did a few weeks ago,” you confess, and realization dawns on him, his face lighting up for a split second before a look of horror takes over.

“Oh, no. Is that why you had your phone recording on the bookshelf?” Mark asks, dread beginning to cloud his mind.

“Yes…” you say slowly, a little perplexed. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Oh my god, I ruined your video,” he moans, dropping his forehead onto your shoulder. “I saw your phone when I walked in and thought you were filming earlier and forgot to turn it off, so I turned it off for you.”

When the words finally register in your mind, you can’t stop the laughter from bubbling out of your throat, and he raises his head up to look at you with wide doe eyes at the pretty sound. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

You can’t stop laughing at the situation, and he looks at you worriedly, gnawing on his bottom lip slightly. You force yourself to calm down, a soft chuckle leaving your lips before you beam at him, leaning in and placing the softest kiss on the tip of his nose. “It’s okay, Mark. I’m not mad. That video wasn’t important anyway.”

“But still,” he whines before letting out a groan and slapping his hand against his forehead when the realization sinks in even further. “I’m such an idiot.”

“But you’re my idiot now, right?” you say teasingly, albeit a little shyly as well, as you reach over to tug his hand away from his face and lace your fingers with his.

“I mean, I kinda thought I was always your idiot,” Mark laughs softly and a little embarrassedly, eyes averted and cheeks turning pinker than ever. The largest grin spreads across your face at that, and you turn away slightly to hide it. You didn’t think your best friend can possibly be any more endearing, but he manages to prove you wrong every time.

“Well, then now you can add ‘Y/N’s boyfriend’ to your resume,” you say, and he fails to suppress the pleased smile appearing on his face at your remark, his rosy cheeks rising even taller than skyscrapers.

“So, uh, what sort of job description does that have?” He gazes at your intertwined hands in wonder, still completely giddy at the reality of you being his best friend and something more.

“Sharing hoodies, giving me attention, kissing, holding my hand, going on dates, you know, the basics,” you answer, squeezing his hand tenderly, and his doe eyes instantly light up. Mark feels a little bolder than before, and it shows when he grins widely and says:

“Can we do number three again?”

“Yes, we can, Eggy Boi.”

He wrinkles his nose at the name, disgruntled and unimpressed, as he crosses his arms over his chest, sulking. You let out a laugh before leaning in and crashing your lips against his. He immediately relents at that, enthusiastically responding and hugging you closer to him, and you can’t help but smile into the kiss as you feel his own smile appear as well.

At that moment, you decide that you want to change Mark’s personal brand. Because his should be “absolutely wonderful, positively amazing, a cute kisser, your boyfriend, and your bestest friend.” And yes, that is most definitely more than the allotted three words, but again, who’s really counting?

Certainly not you when you’re too preoccupied with kissing your best friend. Correction: best friend and new boyfriend.

One new notification: donutkillmyvibe uploaded a new video!

moominjun commented:

so you’re saying the reason why we didn’t get the highly anticipated best friend challenge video is because @ marklyrawr turned the camera off?

donutkillmyvibe replied: yes 😔 I’m sorry to disappoint everyone 🤧

nanaislove replied: omg no bby it’s ok 🥺🥺💞💓💓💝💗 you didn’t have to make an apology video for that 🥺💗💓💘💖

goofys.chuckle replied: yeah it’s mark’s fault. he’s the disappointment here 🥴

morklyrawr replied: hahahahaha stfu hyuck

tytrack commented:

mark is going through puberty. I apologize

dobunny replied: @.@

goofys.chuckle commented:

are we getting whip(ped)lash pt 2 by eggy boi?

morklyrawr replied: YOU’RE THE ONE WHO STARTED THAT NAME?????

goofys.chuckle replied: uh gotta blast 🚀

showmethemonet replied: @ goofys.chuckle does this mean you’re staying over again?

goofys.chuckle replied: @ showmethemonet yes if you want your super cute, mega talented, very handsome boyfriend to still be alive 🥺

showmethemonet replied: @ goofys.chuckle oh my god I didn’t know I was dating bts jin???

moominjun replied: LMFAOOOOO

goofys.chuckle replied: heart 💔 been broke 📉 so many times ⏰ i don’t know 🤔 what to believe 💯 mama 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 said 🗣 it’s my fault 😢 it’s my fault 🤦🏻‍♂️i wear my heart ❤️ on my sleeve 💪 i think it’s best 👍🏻 I put my heart ❤️ on ice 🧊

jenojam commented:

why am I not surprised……

itsmebetch replied: just mark thingz 🍉

suhprisemf commented:

mark your head looks flat af

jungjaeprince replied: 😂😂😂

10vely replied: @ jungjaeprince be quiet don’t cry

letswonwon commented:

whoop whoop

junguwu commented:

OMG CONGRATS ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP SWEETIE 😍😍

takoyaki_prince commented:

MARK!!!!! you look handsome !! 😘

jisungpwark commented:

rip to @ donutkillmyvibe ’s future videos that mark will ruin. press f in the chat to pay respects 🙏🏻

bigheadking replied: F ✊🏻😔

peachyangel replied: f 🥺🥺

yoitslucas replied: F 🤪🤪🤪 but glad you’re happy, man ❤️

donutkillmyvibe replied: F 💔

morklyrawr replied: @ donutkillmyvibe wtf babe????

officialgordonramsay commented:

didn’t i tell you to get back on tinder ?

apado_god commented:

nice 😎👍🏻

[hivequest]

Taking a Risk » Mallek Adalov/Reader

Wordcount: 2.3k words

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, stressed out reader, chillboy Mallek. TYping quirk only used when texting cause I could not be bothered lmao Originally posted on AO3

A/N: One of my favorite things that I’ve written, ever. I love Mallek and he’s for sure one of my favorite Friendsim characters. When I wrote this I was really feeling those Quarantine Woes

You didn't know what you were doing here. You felt out of place in the worst possible ways. It was a weird, squidgy feeling like stepping on wet grass. But not like the fun kind where you were running around in a sprinkler on a hot-as-balls summer day. No, this was the bad kind of wet grass that you stepped on without knowing it was wet. Why weren't you wearing shoes?

This analogy is stupid. The point is, you're feeling bummed out.

And what better way to not have to deal with that than hang out with someone you knew wouldn't push you into talking about all the ways crashing on this planet sucked! The point is, you're on your way to see Mallek. Mallek is absolutely the kind of friend who can tell when you just need to sit down and veg out. You had been so caught up in everyone else's bullshit that you weren't looking after your own damn self. So now you were doing that.

All it took was a quick text, asking Mallek if he had any company. He texted back only a moment later with a no, obviously not. You asked him if he wanted any. Not really. You ask him if you can come over anyway. Obviously.

You smiled at the palmhusk in your, well, palm. You could already feel the chill vibes of your hacker friend. Friend? Was that the right word for it? You didn't know anymore. When you first met there were definitely some sparks there. You could still feel them now and it made weird butterflies flutter around in your stomach. When you slapped his phone out of his hand and he sent you ass over applecart into the slimy depths of sewer water and he saved you, tits out and all.

You shook off the weird wistful feeling of maybe possibly crossing the friendship barrier and told him you'd walk to his hive. You'd been moping in some bookhive, not your usual hang-out spot with Tagora or Tyzias. This was some upper caste bookhive with purple bloods and some indigos and definitely not where you were welcome if the looks you were getting were any indication. They ranged from snooty to downright murderous. Yeesh.

Your phone -palmhusk, stupid troll names- beeped again. You got another text from him and those cheery fucking butterflies were back. God, you had it bad.

yeah were not doing that lmao;

im not going to let my robobuddy walk out in the sun

do you even know what time of day it =

just stay put ive already got your location ill pick you up;

And like a good little friendsimp. You park your ass on a chair and wait. You hadn't released your moping had taken up most of the night. But with the quick look around, yeah, no, this place was nearly empty by now. Just some older bluebloods trying to cram before their Ordeals and get shipped off-planet. Again: Yeesh.

You kept your ears open for the telltale sound of Mallek's limo. It was a sound you were getting used to these days. He always seemed ready to drop whatever coding shit he was working on to come to see you. You tried not to think too hard on what that might mean. No need to get your hopes up now. It's probably just your bad mood making you imagine some context where there's nothing. Yeah.

Damn, that shit hurted.

Just as you were about to add that to the reasons you were considering just screaming your lungs out who cares whose listening? you heard the wonderfully familiar sound of an approaching elongated scuttlebuggy. If that wasn't enough of a clue as to who the ride was for the quiet of the bookhive was very abruptly disturbed by a series of rhythmic beeps.

Holy shit was that the Tetris theme?

You shoved your palmhusk into your hoodie pocket and yanked the hood over your head. Even if the sun was only out a little bit you didn't want it anywhere near your freshly healed skin. You had no kind cowgirl to nurse you back to health right now if you got your asscheeks baked by the flaming death orb. You peeked your head out and even with the blinding light of Alternia's suns you could Mallek had opened the door and was waiting for you.

Aw. No, shit. You're in a bad mood don't get all heart eyes at him. Don't make it weird.

You took a few steps back into the bookhive, ready to make a run for it. You turn to a sitting indigoblood, who is just staring at you disdainfully for keeping the door open. You give her a two-fingered salute. Godspeed young cosmonaut. She gives you a one-fingered salute. Close the door you insufferable bulgebiter. Fair.

Taking a running start, you book it out into the heat of the Alternian sun and dive for the open car door. It's then that you realize he's halfway parked on the sidewalk to lessen the amount of time you'd have to spend in the sun. Aw. That also means that you came barreling like a cannonball at something that was like two feet out of the door. FUck.

Your face meets carpet and you can already feel the rugburn starting to set in. You hear a startled wheezy laugh from above you, a sound you know better than anyone else on this planet. You smile. It's not like you had any dignity to begin with.

You say hello to him as you peel yourself off of the floor of his car.

"Hey, there robobuddy. You stuck the landing this time," He smiles down at you as he reaches over you to shut the door, closing the space out from natural light and leaving you both lit by his colorful LEDs. You shrug and tell him you've been getting a lot of practice landing on your face these days. The look he gives you is still smiling but there's some level of disbelief at the dumbassery that is your whole existence.

"I know you can get yourself into it. Nothing too bad this time, though, right? No drones or broken bones?" He sounds concerned which is nice but he doesn't drown you with his concern. He leans back on the bench of his limo, keeping an eye on you as the vehicle begins to move on its own. You've been staying out of big messes but the little messes are starting to mess with you. He makes a sound of understanding the sounds as it comes from deep in his chest. Whoa. "Believe me, I've been there. Glad you're not cracking under it though."

He smiles and you can see his little fang and you can feel your heart melt a little. And also you're getting a bit teary-eyed and now Mallek looks alarmed. Shit. You try to quickly explain that you're fine, just, alien allergies am I right? He must be using some new air freshener to mask the musty smell of his limo. Since doesn't use it enough. Ha ha?

He isn't buying it.

With a rare show of cerulean prowess, he lifts you up off of the shitty car rug and sets you on the seat beside him. He feels uncomfortable and you can tell. Ah, goddammit you made it weird. You didn't mean to. Fuck. Fuck now you're feeling even worse. You thought you were starting to balance out. You're with Mallek now, shouldn't everything start to quiet down like it always does? Fuck. He doesn't say anything at first, just leans back against the seat and stretches his arms across it, letting you lean on him if you choose to.

...You choose to.

Your head finds itself somewhere between his shoulder and his collarbone, and you just. Shove your face there. Then scream.

To his credit, Mallek doesn't even flinch. He doesn't wince or shy away from you as you let out every bit of anger, sadness, and frustration out against his sweater. He just sits quietly, staring straight at the blacked-out windshield. You get the feeling he's needed to do this more than once.

Screw this planet. Screw everything about it that makes all of your friends suffer. Why can't you just get them away from all this bullshit?! Why do you have to deal with everyone's bullshit! You love them, you do but holy fuck they're looking to you like you can undo all the damage this place has done to them when you've got literally no god damn idea what's happening at any point ever!

And then, just like that, it fades into the background. Your throat hurts. Your head hurts and you think you might be crying. But it feels lighter. Better now that you've gotten some of that aggression out. You aren't like the trolls on Alternia. You can't kill people when you experience an Emotion™. But that doesn't mean you don't get pent up with rage.

Mallek realizes that now. He lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and his left hand slowly moves down from the back of the seat the rest against your back. His thumb brushes against your back, the claw drawing little patterns against the fabric of your sweater. His sweater. He tries not to think his sign your chest. This isn't the time.

"Feeling any better?" He asks and you don't know how to answer. You kinda don't want to. But you nod anyways, and you feel some tension leave his body. You knew he was worried about you. You apologize for making him witness your meltdown but he just makes another deep-chested hum. "Nothing to apologize for. I got the feeling you weren't feeling great. I could tell from the texts, you didn't use nearly enough ugly emojis."

You scoff and smack a hand against his chest and once again you hear that wonderful laugh from him. Hey! Your purrbeast emojis are adorable, thank you very much! And you'll not hear another word of it or else you'll send him pictures of rocks and rocks exclusively. No more memes.

"Jokes on you I'm into that shit." You laugh and thump your head against his collarbone. You thank him for being with you when were needed it. And picking you up to make sure you didn't deal with it alone. You don't want to make it weird but...yeah.

He doesn't respond this time, just letting you both enjoy the silence and the comforting sound of the engine. You should almost be at Mallek's apartment by now. It's as you're settling in for the last bit of the drive that you notice that the limo isn't moving. And hasn't been for a while. Your head pops up in confusion and the little GPS display on the back of one of the seats says... yep.

You're already at Mallek's.

But then why is the engine still on? That can't be good for the environment. Do these things even run on gas or is it bugs? Bug gas? Gross.

You notice then that the rumbling is coming from behind you. Like. From where Mallek is sitting. He doesn't look away when you turn to him, just kind of tilting his head to the side with a little bit of a cerulean hue to his cheeks. Oh. Oh, the sound is coming from him. He's purring. That's.

That's adorable.

You feel yourself soften even more when he lifts his arms, silently offering a hug if you want it. Is this platonic? Is this more? You've never had too much trouble identifying what people wanted from you. (Debatable.) If was overtly flushed you could shut it down or divert it to something very much friends only. (Like your every exchange with Zebruh.) But did you even want to do that to your hackerman? You could feel yourself screaming, no, absolutely not. But at the same time, you didn't want things to change. You didn't want to make his issues any worse than they already were. He didn't have too much longer on the planet and you knew it would tear him apart.

But then he turned those blue eyes to you. He looked just as unsure as you were but he was willing to take the risk. He shoved himself so far out of his comfort zone for you and was asking you to be selfish. To want something for yourself and do something for yourself. Not put him or anyone else's wants first. Just your own. And so you did.

You crawled up into his lap, pressed yourself as close to him as you could and clung to him. His arms didn't hesitate to wrap around you and you could feel a shuddering breath from above you.

"We don't have to put a label on this... not yet. Or ever. Either way is chill with me. I just... yeah." He gave up with a little shrug of his shoulders but you knew what he meant. Unless you could find a way to fight fate he was going to go off-world. He was going to leave you and you doubted you'd be able to go with him. You'd probably get gored by a drone for even trying.

But even if it was just for now, just for a moment, you were going to take it. You were going to let yourself have something, have someone who would care for you no matter how long or short your time was. You'd take it. You had stomached some of the most horrible things on this planet but Mallek had always been a constant. And you got the feeling he thought the same way about you.

So, you'd take it. Whatever comes next, you'd take it. You listened to the sound of his purring, in no hurry to move to get inside the apartment. Mallek felt the same.

You exhaled.

You would be okay.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

Gen and Sapphic ATLA Fic Recs

I’ve been meaning for some time to put together a list of fics focused on under-appreciated characters, relationships, and pairings, and here it finally is! Split into gen and sapphic pairs, including some rarepairs, rangshi, mailee, yueki. I’ve mentioned just one story from each author for brevity's sake, but plenty of these writers have many awesome atla fics to check out

general, character studies, and worldbuilding

The Hand of Kyoshi by TehRaincoat, 23,000+ words 

MY FAVORITE SUKI FIC. You want in-depth, culturally appropriate worldbuilding of Kyoshi Island? Suki’s fleshed out backstory? Maybe a look into her relationship with her mother and how she became the leader of the Kyoshi warriors at such a young age? This is it. This is IT. 

you were never supposed to leave by windupclock, 2500+ words  

Exploration of Sokka and Kya’s relationship and Sokka’s grief. This fic makes me want to punch a wall. I love it. I hate it. It’s incredible and you should read it.

you are any way the wind blows by suzukiblu, 1000+ words

Beautifully written fic about secret airbender ty lee. I think about this story all the time. 

to hold the breeze by purplecresent, 4000+ words

“tiny vignettes about aang's tattoos, his culture, and those who love him”. This story is beautiful, and heartbreaking, and so loving. My favorite Aang fic.

(many more below the cut)

Encounters of a Swampy Kind by meetmeatthecottage, 1000+

Aang meets Ikki in the Swamp. Pretty sure I cried reading this. As ya do :’)

Long Long Time Ago by Lisse,  2000+ words

One of my absolute fave fics. The story features great OCs, worldbuilding, and Haru. It is part of a series called “Swampverse” that features an alt-universe where the war went differently (badly). Short series, worth reading all of it. I’m always in awe that this was published waaaay back in 2006. Cw for heavy subject matter, including some mentions of violence. 

Sands of Time by starsofgems, 64,000+ words

OH MAN. THIS STORY. IS. INCREDIBLE. Features amazing worldbuilding focused on the sandbenders, Toph and Zuko friendship, and the story of Avatar Yangchen and her girlfriend! Many moving parts, yet it all works together perfectly. Part of a larger series but I did jump into this without reading the previous parts and could follow the plot without trouble.

a tale I know well by undergrounddash, 6500+ words

My favorite ‘Zuko making amends and getting to know the gaang’ fic! Set at the Western Air Temple, Zuko reads a story to Toph, which becomes Zuko reading a story to everyone. 

rarepairs 

Tide Locked by ambyr, 9000+ words

One of my all time favorites. A beautifully written story about Kanna and Hama, and how war changes people.  If you’re at all interested in either of their characters, it is a must read.

The Eyeliner Incident by spacemagic, 14,000+ words

I can’t say I’m a Katazula fan, but this breaks the mold for me! Canon-divergent modern AU set in Ba Sing Se, wonderfully written, delves into serious themes, and all the characters are wonderfully written!    

Rangshi!!! 

all i ever wanted was a life in your shape by axsun, +3000 words

It’s sweet but not just sweet, ya know? Kyoshi and Rangi are so true to character. Somehow the author manages to pack in excellent modern worldbuilding in a little over 3000 words. Incredible, must read. (It is part 2 of a previous story which is also wonderful.) 

come back with gravity by frutescence, 7500+ words

THEE Rangi fic of all time. Her relationship with her father is fleshed out beautifully and heartbreakingly −  all Rangi’s relationships are explored so well. So so good!!!!!

Steel, Moon, and Fire by rivensilk, 3000+ words

A tag for this fic is “rangi is an assassin but still harps on about her honor”, what more can i say? What’s not to love???

where we go for each other, we go together by city_of_suns, 2000+ words

GOD. I think it was one of the first rangshi fics i ever read and it cuts me deep every time. Fic summary is “In which Koko grows up idealizing one mother and being raised by the other”. Yeah. YEAH. 

Mailee time! 

to the moon and to saturn by wearealltalesintheend, 10,000+ words  

Mai centric mailee story!! Love love love the exploration of Mai, it has a cool plot, great structuring, and JUNE makes an appearance <3 

bad girls by airnomadenthusiast, 11,500+ words 

So this is mailee but it’s also just the atla girls all together having a good time! They start a band! It’s hilarious and heartwarming, a great feel good story along with the cute mailee.

the language of flowers (aka- how you get the girl) by i_love_your_light, 3000+ words  

I am not immune to flowershop fics and if you aren’t either, this is for you! It’s inspired by the tumblr post about saying 'fuck you' in flower, and if that doesn’t scream mailee idk what does

second star to the right and straight on 'til morning by whattheelizabeth, 11,500+ words

MAILEE ROAD TRIP FIC. It’s cute, it’s fun, it’s sweet, and at times it’s hilarious. LOTS of pinning but they figure themselves out eventually :) 

hello yueki nation

A Tale of Love Letters and International Incidents by theknightlybisexual, 4000+ words

Another favorite! Chief Yue and Captain of the Kyoshi Warriors Suki become friends while exchanging letters. It's a great take on their leadership roles post-canon, and its SUCH a fun read; I laughed out loud so many times.

moonstruck by zeitgeistofnow, 1000+  

Also explores Yue and Suki's leadership roles post-canon. It's beautiful! And it kinda hurts! And I love it!

[tokyokookmin]

I really loved your explanation regarding vmin it was retable. kanmom51 anon, Im using a little of your ask for @tokyokookmin to explain and narrate a lil about JIMIN shes a JM biased too so I felt that it would be appropriate to ask her.

"Because it’s no secret that JM doesn’t get any praise from the company, the choreographer, and all."

"When it comes to the members it’s a different topic. They hype Jimin up. We have J-Hope constantly praising JM. Jk completely in awe with JM dance. Jin thanking him for helping him rehearse."

"So for me Bighit for some reason doesn’t do anything for JM, no credit in his work, no acknowledgement, nothing."

I felt that every single word that this anon has said is pure truth and this remark deserves much more attention. We all know what's currently going on with JM, the situation is really bad and its getting worse, toxic solo stans are bashing him and they are comparing him to other members from every perspective + even the hate that he's getting bcuz of him "annoying jk" in that memories 2020.

I need you to explain on how a wonderful person JM is. Your impact makes a huge difference on people mindset. tysm keshhh.

Hey there anon!, I deeply understand your emotions. The hate that JM is going through is really bad and I have personally reported those accounts on twt etc. I even took a few snapshots of a tiktok video comment section... I will surely share them some day or another. Well then lets get started! I can't compare J-HOPE TO JM because they are my biases and both of them captivated my eyes, I just can't resist their flawless moves and they make a great dance unit... it would be incomplete without one of them + JK lol.

Most armies would say that JK is the golden maknae or he's the best overall in the team, well y'all took JM for granted, he's capable of doing so many things as well. But before that we need to talk about his dancing skills, I have made one blog about the 3J. Here's the link if you would like to know about their achievements/viral moments https://tokyokookmin.tumblr.com/post/654670945252933632/a-guide-to-the-dance-line..... this blog was mostly just me collecting info's lmao-.

1. DANCE ☝️

Well I found this incredible video from tiktok and I thought that this video would be perfect to describe his contemporary skills. Utmost respect to the creator for creating such a masterpiece!

Jimin Van Fleet Award!

Do we really need to talk about this? We all knew what impact he had given to audience with his remarkable traditional korean fan dance.He is extremely talented, after all he trained in contemporary.

“I received many really big awards today. I sincerely appreciate it, and it was a day when I thought I would like to share it with you with better music and stage in the future. Thank you all for your support. #JIMIN# We have been unclear” #JiminWorldwideLoved 📷📷📷📷

"As emphasized by the ballet dancer, being lifted is not easy, just like in the case of Jimin in the said stage. A strong core, glutes, and chest are vital for the one being lifted." https://youtu.be/3RW91KT3bXw - another review from a japanese dancer.

He is extremely versatile and he can master any sort of genre.He excels in dancing,his moves and fluidity of his body is astonishing they way he moves every tissue in his body to perfectly to complete the cheoreo is just mind blowing, he is truly the embodiment of dancing! Believe me or not, you should pay more attention on his facial expressions... he keeps it graceful. His fingers and angle are on point.

From MAMA 2016 Lie meets Boy meets evil to MMA 2020 black swan 🦢..I wonder what's coming up next.

2. Loving member

Jimin is the member that I connect emotionally to, he's a sentimental person but he just doesn't show it you just have to pay attention on his behaviour and actions. He consoles many of the members and he provides comfort for them. The picture I attached below sets a great example.

1. BTS MAMA 2018... It was a tough year for them. They were close to disbanding, and the members were emotionally drained. My heart sank when I saw hobi breaking down in front of the crowd, you can find tons of fancams but you should take a close look at Jimin. He handled the situation very well and I love the way he gives his subtle touch of love towards the other members.

2. Taehyung grandma death announcement

I don't think that I need to explain the about the situation. Taehyung was really sad and felt guilty as he couldn't mention his grandma name. He broke down and Jimin immediately noticed him and ran towards him and just gave him little pat/huggie.

3. The Final

Even by looking at the picture you can see the comfort. You know that GCF-TOKYO song “there for you’ which implies that Jk means he will be there for jimin but "you gotta be there for me too” which means jimin gotta be there for him too. So yeah, JM just know jungkook well and he comforts Jk pretty well.It was so cute and i wished i was a part of the audience, i would have had a panic attack looking at them being so cute,fluff,intimate ON STAGE . Too bad it’s impossible now .

3.He's a badass [ athletic/ physical ]

Jimin has often talked about his experience in kendo,japanese fencing,Geomdo (검도, 劍道) “Way of the Sword” & hapkido. HAPKIDO: electid korean martial arts .It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks.

https://youtu.be/oUcHghZQxiw - a video you may refer to.

.4.Academic excellence

After Namjoon Jimin has the most remarkable academic achievements in bts. He was one of the top students in junior high and was THE top student in Busan arts high school from ALL the departments. Fun fact Jimin IQ is 128! He was valedictorian too.

"When he was in junior high, he was one of the top students so Jimin's dad thought of enrolling him in a foreign language school. When he decided to go to an arts school, his teachers tried to stop him and were disappointed. He was accepted as the top of his class and attended Busan High School of Arts. He was doing really good. Then he switched to K-pop dancing and decided to be a trainee in Seoul. Teachers also tried to stop him and were disappointed. Park Jimin's life is really something.

36. Our Jimin didn't spend a lot of time preparing for the arts school. He was dancing popping when he decided to go to the arts school. He then learned modern dancing for a little over a year and was accepted at Busan High School of Arts as the top of his class even though he was a dance majorπ TT TT Every member in this group could've been successful at anything. That group is our pride, BTS.

60. Wow! If there's only one dance class, it's really incredible~ It's hard to get a top student from dance department. And it was achieved by a male student and it's Park Jimin TTTT

67. That's what I know too.. I was looking into Busan Arts School before and one class for dance is probably correct. It was mostly music and art classes that I remember. So from Busan Arts School, one out of ten classes and a male student from dance department getting accepted as the top of the class...the percentage is just incredible. I know that the dance class has about 40 students? And male students could be 25:15 or 30:10. Jimin broke through this and became the top.

Namjoon and Jimin really made a huge gamble. They could've went the easier way. Truthfully, if they went their way, they both would have succeeded. But becoming an idol and not knowing what their future will be and BTS not being successful from the beginning must have been really hard for them. But now I'm glad they're successful and they can realize they've made the right choice."

cr @artimitatesjimin

I really respect and idolize him. His personality is unique and its different.He's been through alot. Being kicked from BTS for 8+ times, the members ranking his looks as the last and being called fat and ugly, that's really disturbing. He starved and went on diets just to please the audience and to have a jawline. He works his ass of and he really deserves more. He's obviously cutie,sexy,lovely,sweet guy! He prioritize his career, family and fans before anything. He has absolute heavenly vocals (+crazyyy high notes) and he is the definition of stage presence. PARK JIMIN IS THE STANDARD. Solo toxic fans are definitely going to attack on me but this is the reality.Jimin deserves more and he's such a sweet person. He performs with his whole heart and expresses it wonderfully,he goes all out and each performance comes out from his soul. He loves to perform. I MEAN FOR THE LOOKS, JIMIN IS THE FIRST FOR JUNGKOOK~.

He once even wasn't able to attend THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW due to his sore muscles.

He went through alot and he deserves the #1 in brand reputation, who doesn't admire his determination?

Each member is unique in their own way. I want no hate or malice on my platform ~

Bits and pieces I collected anon! love ya ~ stay safe.