#but writers are the bad guys when they ask politely for people to please show their works some love

[lavenderspence]

you know, I find it extremely funny, how some of you all come on here whining about the smut to angst and fluff ratio, but don't bother to engage with the content you all demand writers write for you.

I don't know if anyone's noticed, but there's been a big ass drop in interactions for angst and fluff fics (fluff specifically, and I speak from experience).

so, before you all bash on smut writers, and make demands, how about you show some love to the already exciting fics that writers push out for you every day.

and before you all come to bash on writers for wishing people interacted more with their works, remember. fanfic is a free labor, the least you can do as a thank you, is show the writer some love. Okay?

woke up and decided to be controversial today, go me

[lemonsprite]

Hello can I ask for BG3 Halsin x reader?

Usually people depict the reader as ageless but I was wondering if you can do anything with a reader that's also up in their 300s? They could probably relate on many thing that come with a long lifespan and stuff

Thanks and have a nice day (I know this is like probably brainless time from me but the summer heat is getting me my brain left me)

Thank you guys for all the Halsin ideas I luv my bear husband TT

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 || 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐱 𝐆𝐍! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Summary: Halsin can’t remember the last time he’s met someone like you

Word Count:

Warnings: NOT BETA READ!!! nothing!! Just pure silliness

A/N: I had SUCH bad writers block with this one so I apologize if it’s actual doodoo TT but I love writing the bg3 party dynamic sm ugh

Halsin was used to being a pile of dust when compared to all his friends and companions. Despite only being in the middle stages of his life for an elf, he’d lived much longer than those around him.

Part of that knowledge made his heart ache in a weird bittersweet mixture of emotions. Living as long as he did caused him to see the rise of fall of friends and lovers and there was nothing he could do about it. It seemed like a cycle he was doomed too, one that would unfold the same as always.

Halsin knew almost no elves the same absurdly old age as him.

“Karlach I don’t think the camp really needs another cantaloue… we haven’t even finished the other two Wyll bought three days ago…” chided Halsin, placing a hand on top of Karlach’s and slowly guiding the round fruit in her hands back into the market stall.

“Yeah but mate, what’s gonna happen when shadowheart gets her midnight cravings and eats both cantaloupes in one night?” Pouted Karlach, gripping tightly to the fruit. “What will I eat then…? If you think about it… this purchase is just a tactical strategy…”

Halsin gave her a look, one he was all too familiar with when dealing with those much younger and less wise than him.

Karlach sighed and dropped the cantaloupe, making her way to another stall that sold hand made yarn woven weapon sheaths. (Not the best in terms of practicality but very aesthetically pleasing)

“Do you have this in a size Large?” Asked a voice and before Halsin could catch himself, he found his gaze landing on the stranger beside him. Also an elf from what he could tell with their pointed ears.

“The smithy by the Rivington general store sells the same armour for a cheaper price.” Suggested Halsin, moving slightly closer to the new bystander.

“I could…” he coughed, clearing his throat. “Show you the way if you need?”

Halsin had no idea what he was doing. One second, the elf was scolding Karlach and the next he was flirting with a complete stranger. Something in your eyes, the way you held yourself made him want to know you better, hear you speak his name.

“That would be nice…” you smiled, politely putting the not purchased armour back on the market stand and turning to Halsin.

A large crash resounded behind Halsin and he whipped around to find Karlach standing above a pile of shattered porcelain. Like a large dog unaware of how big she was.

“Hey you gotta pay for that!” Angrily shouted the storekeeper as he looked incredulously from Karlach to the shattered pottery.

“That one yours?” You asked, nodding your head in the direction of the destructive tiefling.

Halsin nodded, watching as Karlach tearfully handed over the little money she had.

“I’ve got nine of them back at camp.” He said wistfully, thinking back to the ruckus and chaos of camp.

“I’ve been on my own for awhile now…” you hummed, walking with Halsin as he began to lead you to the nearby smithy, Karlach jogging to reach up with the two of you.

“I’m Halsin.” He smiled. “And this is my friend Karlach.”

“Oh I know you! I spent a century with the emerald enclave, they spoke very highly of you.” You grinned, stuffing your hands in the pockets of your tunic as you walked.

Karlach smiled brightly, nodding her head eagerly. “You should see when he wildshapes! The bear is quite cute.”

“You were apart of the emerald enclave?” Halsin asked, pleasantly bemused as the city surroundings grew less and less frequent and more bursting countryside surrounded him.

“Not apart.” You explained, giving Halsin a sheepish smile. “Just lived with them a good while, even during that big battle with Ketheric Thorm back in the day, helped as much as I could.”

“I can’t remember the last time I’d met an elf who can recall such a time.” Halsin smiled gently. “Say… would you like to join us for dinner at our camp?”

Karlach gave Halsin a knowing smirk.

“That sounds amazing.” You grinned. “I’d love too.”

Despite the scene of utter chaos unfolding around him, Halsin couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes from your thoughtful gaze.

Shadowheart and Lae’zel were currently arm wrestling for dominance while Gale fought back Astarion, telling him dinner wasn’t quite ready yet.

Halsin had brought you to a quite hill nearby, overlooking all the drama as you two had a quite chat.

“Can’t remember the last time I had a dinner like this.” You quipped, causing the grass to rustle as you leaned back.

“Would you… want to stay…?” Halsin asked shyly, weirdly awkward for a man of his calibre. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time, his usual confident and wise facade slowly melting. You made him feel like a dumb kid again, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

“It would be nice to have someone older with a little more wisdom join the party… I don’t think me and Jaeheria can last another day…” he added with a soft laugh, joining you in the grass.

“Jaeheria’s here?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. “I haven’t seen her in two hundred years.”

“You should stay.” He urged. “I also… just really want to know you better.”

Halsin gently placed his hand on top of yours in the grass, giving you enough time to pull away if you need.

“Yeah… yeah I’d like that.” You smiled, running your thumb over his knuckles and lifting your face to meet his rich hazel gaze.

[royboyfanpage]

Hello, please don't take this the wrong way but when I first started getting into comics I really disliked Ollie for how he treated/reacted to Roy and the whole drug thing but many years and more experience later (I know the characters a bit better now and stopped reading bad takes on tumblr) I'm realising that theres a lot more nuance and apparently they've got a really close relationship these days?? So I was just wondering if you might be able to explain that to me because I'd love to get into more arrow stuff (honestly mostly fanficton because lbr comics are crazy confusing and expensive) but I'm struggling to shake the assumptions I made about Ollies character when I was younger

Hi anon! Thank you soooo much for this ask, I've been looking forward to answering it for hours and now I finally have the time. Ollie's one of my favourite fictional archers, and I adore talking about him at any opportunity because he is SUCH a nuanced character. So here's-

Why Oliver Queen Doesn't Suck

Mandatory disclaimer that this is my own opinions, other people may have different interpretations which is totally fine! Ollie's been around for over 80 years, there's a lot of content to read and a lot of conflicting characterisations, so other people may see him differently than me. Also disclaimer that much of this was written from memory. I fact-checked the date of Nixon's declaration of the War on Drugs and the Denny O'Neil quote, but the rest of this was from memory. Apologies for any innaccuracies, both for comics and context.

Now that that's out of the way, lets talk Snowbirds.

In order to discuss Snowbirds Don't Fly, one of the most important things to factor in is context. I understand it can be difficult to see through the historical lense of a time period in which the majority of people on this website, myself included, were not even born let alone reading comic books. However, it's still crucially vital to discuss what was going on in the real world at the time of its publication in order to engage in a rich discussion of the comic. Snowbirds was published the year that the War on Drugs officially began following Nixon's declaration of drugs as "public enemy number one" on June 17th 1971, just under two months before the release of Snowbirds part 1 in August of that year. At the time, drug addiction was very much seen as a moral failing, and the war on drugs focused heavily on the incarceration of drug users (particularly ones that the US Government wanted an excuse to lock away such as people of colour and pacifists against the war in Vietnam, but that's not relevant to Snowbirds.) While Snowbirds was absolutely not a perfect comic, it was created to show a more humanising side of addicts than the usual demonisation seen on the news. In the words of writer Denny O'Neil, “we chose Roy [...] to show that addiction was not limited to 'bad' or 'misguided' kids.” It was created to show that addiction was not a moral failing, and that anyone could fall into it due to circumstances, even someone we've already accepted as 'one of the good guys' for the past 30 years. Roy was used as the symbol of a good kid who made a bad mistake in order to humanise real young people who'd gone through similar circumstances. And where there's a kid, there's a parent, which is where Ollie came in.

Now, I very strongly believe that Ollie was not written to be the bad guy of Snowbirds. Not only was he also an established 'good guy', but he was a symbolic stand-in for much of America at that time, including the people who would be reading it. And, while Green Arrow is very much a character who brings with him a lot of strong political takes, villainising their readerbase would be a step too far. Ollie was a stand-in for the concerned and ill-informed parent, a character who's consumed all the anti-addict propaganda being spread at the time and internalised it. That's why the fact that it was his own ward struggling with addiction was so poignant to the story. Ollie was forced to re-evaluate his worldview after seeing someone who he knows isn't what the media says addicts are struggling with addiction. Snowbirds has such an interesting character arc for Ollie, seeing him struggle to combine the ideas of what he's heard and what he's actively seeing in his mind.

Now, the most infamous part of Snowbirds is, obviously, the slap. Full disclaimer, I am not saying that Ollie is in the right for that. He was 100% undeniably in the wrong for how he responded to Roy's addiction. However, I think a key component of comic books that people tend to ignore is the component of marketing. The writers wanted this comic to sell. It was a very important story for the time, and with the amount of comics being released it was crucial to them that people actually found the comic and read it, especially since it was one of the first comics released outside of the strict rules of the Comics Code. And what would catch readers' eyes more than seeing a superhero hitting his sidekick whilst said sidekick is surrounded by drugs? I'm not trying to discredit the panel, it was obviously a very significant part of the story, but there were external factors at play too.

A lot of the development of Roy and Ollie's relationship is seen in comics released post-Snowbirds, but even in the comic itself there's clear development, particularly at the end. Snowbirds Don't Fly is a character arc for Ollie of him adjusting his worldview in order to grow and better himself after recognising his own biases. And people tend to forget that Snowbirds ends with Roy hitting Ollie back, and what does Ollie do? He listens. He lets Roy get his frustrations out, and listens to Roy's perspective, and he's proud of him by the end of it, proud of the young man he is.

Okay, now that we've gotten Snowbirds out of the way, let's talk about-

Post-Snowbirds

There's a common misconception that Roy and Ollie having a close relationship is a recent development, which just isn't true. While it could've absolutely been explored in more detail, it's clear that Roy and Ollie reconciled post-Snowbirds. The earliest example that comes to mind is 1993's Green Arrow vol 2 #75, wherein Ollie and Roy refer to each other as father and son.

Keep in mind that this was written by Grell who is, at least in my opinion, one of the best references for Ollie. While they did have some issues in the later issues of the run preceding Ollie's death (the causes of the conflict I'm unsure of, they were on rocky terms during Connor's introduction but I don't know why, if anyone has context for that please let me know but that could've just been a choice Dixon made), it's clear to see that Snowbirds was not something that permenantly damaged their relationship. Ollie put in the effort following his actions, to better himself both as a father and as a person, and Roy recognised that and forgave him. Parent/child relationships are hard anyway, let alone under the circumstances Roy and Ollie are under as heroes, and the fact that Ollie actually recognised his own flaws is far more than many parents do.

If we go later, we can see Roy talking fondly about Ollie whilst Ollie was dead in Titans (1999), fondly recalling memories with him from his youth, as well as keeping a photograph of him on his wall.

While Roy does recognise that things with Ollie weren't always perfect, he does also acknowledge the good times between him and Ollie, and it's clear from the way he speaks that he holds a lot of love for him.

Later still, when Ollie returns from the dead, the duo reunite with fondness

One thing particularly that stands out to me is that, at this point, Ollie was missing many of his memories and Snowbirds was still fresh in his mind, with him bringing up Roy's addiction multiple times throughout Quiver as if it happened within at most the span of two years. Despite this, he still embraces Roy and treats him with love, making it clear that Ollie loved Roy even near to the Snowbirds era. There are more instances I could go into in Green Arrow (2001), but I'm running out of free time, so I'd highly recommend reading it :)

Aaaand later still, Ollie openly admits to having fucked up with Roy during Snowbirds.

He admits his failings, and demonstrates that he's got Roy's best interests at heart. He's not being selfish, he's letting Roy have his moment in his initiation as Red Arrow and staying in the background because he believes that's what's best for Roy. And-

He openly states that he loves Roy.

There's more in the current continuity I could reference, but I don't have the time to go through them right now and I'm definitely more familiar with content pre-52 (particularly 1994-2004 is the ten years I'd say I know the best), so hopefully this is enough.

Roy and Ollie's relationship isn't perfect. It has clear ups and downs, which is what makes them so interesting! Oliver Queen is a very loving, yet very flawed man, and to go either way of "evil abuser" or "perfect father" discredits who he is.

Anyway, your faves don't have to be unproblematic to love them. Ollie has a really compelling character arc during and after Snowbirds, and I like him a lot :)

For further reading, check out my masterlist on my pinned post, particularly Oliver Queen's B- Parenting, Snowbirds (1), and Snowbirds (2)

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

What? Am I finally rewatching season 3 of Stranger things? And is this me watching s3e1? Yes, yes it is. Why did I take so much time between seasons 2 and 3? Broken brain, innit?

1.) I understand they must have done so much work for the opening sequence of the Russian scientists turning the keys and starting up the thing that spins and does electric shit and opens a portal but I’m mostly focused on how there’s a noticeable difference between the portals and tentacles/vines between each season. Like really obvious if you’re watching them as closely together as I have been lately.

2.) I forgot the machine fucking explodes after failing to hold a gate open and they slow mo a bunch of randos dying.

3.) I also forgot how absolutely cartoonish the Russians are in this. That soldier went full Darth Vader on a random scientist for no fucking reason. God, the Duffers are boring.

4.) Oh yeah, this is the season when Hopper becomes annoying.

5.) Steve is adorable in his cute little Scoops Ahoy outfit. His shorts are longer than the kids’ shorts are. How do people think those shorts are slutty? Literally even Mike is wearing shorter shorts than Steve.

6.) I forgot there’s a power outage to the mall in episode 1. IDK how since Steve flipping the light switch a bunch and Robin calling him dingus for the first time in the show is referenced by like so many steddie writers.

7.) I forgot that dirt moving on its own is a plot point here.

8.) ‘Let there be light’. Steve Harrington is a dweeb.

9.) Will’s spidey senses are tingling

10.) I never noticed that Mike and Will have almost the same hair this season.

11.) Oh yeah, the beginnings of the duffers not actually understanding feminism because they don’t understand the intersection of sexism and classism.

12.) I forgot Dustin gets back episode 1. Maybe it’s because steddie fics space things out differently, but I thought I remembered it being like, episode 2 or something.

13.) I forgot all of Dustin’s toys lure him out thanks to El and it causes Dustin to spray Lucas in the eyes with hairspray for like a full 15 seconds.

14.) I want to force feed Billy Hargrove his own goddamn hair. Karen Wheeler, I still think you probably have really shitty politics but you deserve better than Billy.

15.) Hopper seems to have forgotten literally all his character development from season 2 just so Duffers can do the overprotective dad bit. Like what the fuck do you mean Hopper doesn’t know what a heart to heart is? I’ve seen the flashbacks to how he interacted with Sara. I saw the goddamn time he contacted El over the radio to apologize for being a shithead at the end of season 2!!!!!!!! Please stop acting like this grown ass man doesn’t understand what an apology is at this point.

16.) I love Max with all my heart

17.) Steve really is so bad at flirting. I would die for him.

18.) I really hate that suddenly Joyce has to teach Hopper, the guy who has comforted and sweet talked his way into literal government facilities, how to fucking talk to people nicely. Like DID THEY WATCH THEIR OWN SHOW? THIS MAKES NO SENSE. This characterization only works if you literally forget seasons 1 & 2.

19.) So many rats. So many really obviously fake rats. That’s not to say I’d want the exploding rats to be real, but something about the lighting on them or something is off.

20.) Will just wanted to play D&D but this season he’s Foreshadowing instead.

21.) Joyce is so goddamn sad and I would be too. RIP Bob Newby.

22.) Hopper really is a cartoon character of himself this season. Also why is he still in his work uniform this late at home?????? WHY CAN HE NO LONGER TALK TO CHILDREN AT ALL????? Suddenly he’s lying about a child’s grandma.

23.) Okay but Max is a genius and is super pretty.

24.) I think Will constantly asking for D&D and everyone blowing him off is why they think he’s the DM even though he isn’t

25.) IDK if I noticed before that the Russian code is literally translated in the subtitles

26.) I’m still shocked the fandom loves Billy as much as they do since he’s obnoxious, racist, and definitely up for being a cheater, and usually at least one of those things is a dealbreaker for people on tumblr to think he’s fuckable. Usually the ‘fucks married women’ part.

[winderlylandchime]

2/2 Emmett just popped up on screen with that black eyeliner look ‘OKAY EMMETT! LOOK AT HIM! This might be the only good part of this fucking episode’ Em/Ted tell Brian he must be sad over the break up ‘of course he’s sad! And i am too! Finally someone acknowledges his feelings! (Brian says he’s not devastated and theyre not sorry) you know he might be onto something there besides that one little lie. Why is Emmett being passive aggressive towards Brian about Blondie? Bri Bri isnt gonna be happy about Mike and Ben. Fuck them both. This is partly their fault’ And we are now at the Lindsay dinner scene ‘what the actual fucking fuck is happening this season?! Did i have a fucking stroke? What the fuck is happening?! SEE I TOLD YOU HER MOM IS A BITCH’ And we are at the second worst scene aka Brian/Mikey ‘Brian! And he’s drunk. Fuck you Ben! He has every right to want some answers. CALL HIM OUT BRIAN! FINALLY! Whats wrong with enjoying clubbing at 30…..5? TELL HIM BRIAN! EXACTLY BRIAN! HE WAS PERFECTLY HAPPY! Yes, he was happy! What the fuck would you know Mike?! Oh Mike is still upset because Brian never told him he loves him in that way?! (Mikey says Justin left because of Brian) *gasp* what the fuck? (Mikey says who wouldnt) *bigger gasp* WHAT? (It shows Brian’s face) you can tell mike is the last person he thought would say that. Punch him again please. He looks completely broken(It shows Justin) *even bigger gasp* oh i just lost a very tiny bit of love for him because why would you allow him to say all that? What the fuck? *looks at me with teary eyes* why would they say that to him? Who would write such horrible things? Why is everyone okay with people talking that way to him’ Lindsay comes on ‘oh get lost with your bad haircut! I need Brian to make sure he’s okay’ ‘BRIAN! Ignore what Mike said, he doesn’t know anything. (It shows Brandon getting head on the dance floor) HA HA he’s getting kicked out. Fuck you baywatch’ Ben shows up on screen ‘i will pay to never see Ben and Mike again’ and we are at the scene with Jen/Justin and his loft(?) ‘This is an infection waiting to happen. I MISSED JEN! He wants to live here?! (Justin says jen wasnt happy when he moved in with brian) but now they are best friends and that’s all that matters. EXACTLY JEN I ALSO WISH THEY WORK IT OUT! And they will! So he is fully aware of everything Brian did for him but it somehow isnt love? And he still allowed Mike to say all that to him?’ Justin says thats not love it’s sacrifice *long pause* ‘damn it, i hate that he’s right BUT Blondie’s change came out of fucking nowhere this season and Brian’s change doesn’t count cause clearly writers are on drugs.’ And the Brian/Brandon scene is up ‘fuck off Baywatch. HE IS THE HOTTEST GUY! THATS RIGHT! Were? Brian hit him with the stick, i am begging you! Baywatch, on your best day, you are still less hot than Brian on his worst. Theyre gonna bet? Im confused (Mikey pops up on screen) man, fuck you’ ‘i dont wanna sound rude but why is the show political again? Cant we focus on Brian and Justin? I get it was real life cause I remember that…kinda..but we kinda did this already’ and the Britin scene is up again ‘BRIAN! JUSTIN! Please make up! Im begging you. (Brian says hes not rage and justin looks away) okay but why does everyone expect him to save the world all the time? (Brian asks if Justin is okay) no, he isnt! He lives in a dump! Hepatitis C waiting to happen!’ *he pauses the episode after justin says he has to go and they just look at each other and he puts his cast to his face* ‘look at them! Look how theyre looking at each other! LOOK AT BRIANS FACE! That is not a person who is okay. He looks broken.’ *you are my sunshine starts playing and he immediately gets teary eyed* ‘DO THEY THINK THIS IS A FUCKING JOKE?! HES HIS SUNSHINE AND THEY TOOK HIM AWAY! WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH?!’ He then looked at me and just went ‘i can’t continue this shit if they dont get back together in the next episode. I cant do this, man.’ And then he got up and went outside

Sure Brian's not devastated. I mean he does just want Justin to be happy even if it's at his expense but also god forbid he even think about what he wants (in terms of a relationship, obviously when it comes to material possessions Brian is in the Donna and Tom camp of "treat yo'self.")

His commentary about the Brian/Mikey scene is completely and totally correct. It is such a heartbreaking scene. And yet everyone can look at Brian and somehow still believe he has no heart and that it cannot break.

Jen defending Brian this season is everything! I am glad we get that AT LEAST.

Blondie’s change came out of fucking nowhere this season and Brian’s change doesn’t count cause clearly writers are on drugs. <- I need that on a t shirt, thank you.

OHHHH AND BROTHER'S HEART IS BROKEN with that last scene. I am so sorry.

[darkmulti]

Hello I love your work so much, you are my fav writer I love your style and the way you paint your ideas! <3

I know you must have a lot of requests but could you please do a hard dom CEO jungkook, with innocent reader. Would be nice if you can add corruption kink, degrading and non con. Thank you!

⚠️: NON CON, DEGRADATION, CORRUPTION KINK, INNOCENT!READER, VIRGIN!READER, slapping, choking

-> I’m glad you like my work!! Sorry for the wait tho😭

-> I didn’t “add” too much corruption kink because it’s kinda hard to incorporate corruption kink and non con

-> sorry for any mistakes

“Y/N! In my office now!”

The moment you sat down on your chair, your boss called you again

You quickly stood up and hustled into his office

“Yes, Mr. Jeon. Is something wrong?”

You politely asked

“What the hell did you put in my coffee?”

“Regular, sir. Two milks and one sugar.”

“Did you check the expiration date on the milk?”

“Uh… no”

“God damnit! Are you trying to poison me, Y/N?! You can’t do the simplest tasks right! Get out of my sight.”

“Sir, I can make you another-”

“I said get out!”

You immediately left his office and sped off into your own

You closed the door gently before covering your mouth and bursting out into tears

The constant yelling and degrading was slowly breaking you down

He never appreciated any of your hard work, instead he focused on the small flaws you made

You knew you deserved better so that night you went home and wrote a resignation letter

The next day you went to work and gave it to Mr. Jeon

“Mr. Jeon, this is my resignation letter. I can’t work here anymore. It’s not good for my mental health.”

He poked his inner cheek with his tongue and crumbled the letter

“You have to give me a two weeks notice. That way I can start looking for your replacement. However, I have a business trip next week and you have to come with me.”

“What if I find someone that can take my place?”

“No, I want you to go with me and that’s final.”

Next week

You were at the airport with your carry on bag in hand and your passport in the other

Jungkook was in front of you, leading the way to the private jet

Once you both were seated, he poured himself and you a drink

“So, tell me why you want to quit.” He said, taking a sip of his Blue Label whiskey

You didn’t want to tell him the real reason, which was because of him

You thought it’d make the trip more awkward if he knew that you were quitting because of him and you also didn’t want to sound mean

So the best excuse you could come up with was that you found a more suitable job

You told him lies after lies, thinking that he was believing you

Little did you know, Jungkook could see right through you

He knew the real reason you were quitting was because of him

He was purposely cruel to you and you’ve finally reached your breaking point

It was amusing to him

Did you really think that you could trick him?

How cute

Jungkook knew that whole suitable job excuse was a lie because he keeps his eyes on you all day and night

While you were asleep, Jungkook broke into your apartment and installed tiny cameras all around

So he could keep an eye on you

He also hacked into your phone and installed a tracking app, just in case

He got access to all your emails, social media, phone calls, photos, text messages — ect.

Anyways, back to the private jet

You were in the back of the jet sleeping since it was a long flight and you get air sick

You felt something around your waist so you looked down and see a tattooed arm

You immediately recognized who it was and got up, waking up Jungkook in the process

“I- I’m sorry, sir. You should’ve woke me up and I would’ve given you the bed.”

“It’s fine, we’re about to land anyways.”

After you guys landed, you both headed towards the car in the hangar

The driver took you both to a luxury hotel

The building itself was super unique

The transparent, rooftop pool was definitely something you were looking forward to

Jungkook had paid for your hotel room

You guys had rooms right next to each other so it’s more convenient for him

It was still 10 in the morning, so Jungkook allowed you to sleep for a little while but by 12pm, you guys had to leave for an important meeting

The afternoon was packed with meetings, presentations & preparations for a small business party

You were exhausted because Jungkook kept you running back and forth while he was sitting on his ass

By the end of the day you were tired as hell, but luckily everything went smoothly

Jungkook seemed to be okay with how everything turned out

You were relieved to say the least

He’d usually find something to complain about

It was 10pm when you both arrived at the hotel

Jungkook said he was going to go shower and sleep so you bid goodnight and went into your room

Even though you were physically and mentally exhausted, your mind couldn’t fall asleep

You figured it was because of the amount of coffee you consumed

Since you couldn’t fall asleep, you decided to put on your swimming suit and go upstairs to try out the pool

Once the elevator doors opened, you were surprised to see so many people on the rooftop dancing and drinking

You still went to the pool even though it was loud and packed

On your way to the pool, you accidentally bumped into a group of guys

They notice your somewhat revealing swimming suit and offered a drink

You were going to reject but all of them were pressuring you to have at least one drink with them, so you stupidly agree

One drink turned into two and so on

You started dancing with the guys and they were all cheering you on

This was it

This was the attention you were craving for

You were a little wasted but still had your senses

You held one of the boy’s hand and took him to the swimming pool

“You said you were good at swimming… so make sure I don’t drown.” You drunkly said before jumping in

The man chuckled at your behaviour and jumped in afterward to make sure you don’t do anything dumb

After swimming, you had more drinks and danced more with everyone

The night was going so well until someone pulled you away from all the chaos

“Heyyyy, what’re you doing man? The party’s over there.” You said, pointing back to the crowd

He wasn’t responding so you tried to look at his face but the lights were burning your eyes

You looked down at his arm and recognize his tattoos

Once you realized who he was, it was too late

“M- Mr. Jeon, why’re you up so late?”

He brought you back to his room and shoved you in

Jungkook pushed you against the door and slapped you hard

It brought you back to reality real fast

“Are you dumb, Y/N?! Going upstairs without telling me anything, drinking and dancing with men you don’t know— do you know how dangerous that is?! Is your head hollow?!” He yelled in your face and hit the side of your head a couple of times, checking if it was hollow

“Do you know what they would’ve done to you if I didn’t come?! Let me fucking show you.”

He pushed you towards the bed and you slipped because of your wet feet

You started backing away from him, but you knew you were doomed when your back hit the side of the bed

“Mr. Jeon, please. I was just trying to have fun-” another hard slap landed on your cheek and this one was enough to make you tear up

“Fun? You want to have fun? Okay then, let’s have some fun.”

He pulled you up by your wrist and pushed you down on the bed

“Mr. Jeon, please! I’m so sorry! I don’t know how it all happened!”

You were sobbing at this point because Jungkook looked terrifying

He was beyond pissed and his eyes were showing it all

“You think a “sorry” can fix what you did?! You’re so fucking stupid! This is why I yell at you all the time because your dumb, little head knows nothing. Without me, you wouldn’t be living so comfortably. I give you a good pay, so you can pay rent, buy food and clothes without worrying about money. But, what do I get in return? A resignation letter…” he scoffs before continuing “… You’re just a dumb, naive, whore that would be homeless right now if I didn’t take care of you. Maybe this is why your parents abandoned you.”

Your bottom lip started to wobble and before you knew it, you were bawling your eyes out in front of him

His words were so harsh, you weren’t ready for it at all

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

You apologized over and over and over but he still wasn’t satisfied

“H- how can I make it up? Please, give me a chance.”

His hand went towards your private area and you started shaking your head profusely

“No, no, no… anything but that please…”

“Well, there’s nothing else that you have that I want.”

“I’m n- not comfortable though.”

Jungkook grabbed your face and stared deep into your eyes

“Does it look like I care?”

Jungkook continued on

He ripped your swim suit off and pulled down his pants

“Please be gent-”

You screamed when you felt him push into you

You grabbed his arms and tried to push him away but he easily dominated you

He pinned your hands above your head and spat down on his cock for some lube

Without any warning, he pushed his full length in, causing you to squirm around and cry

Your purity blood dripped down onto the bed sheets while you kept pleading for him to stop

“Mr. Jeon, please! I- I was sa- saving till marriage.” You sobbed

“That’s even better. Now we can get married.”

“No! No! I don’t want that.”

Jungkook pushed your legs apart and started going at a fast pace

“You don’t want to get married to me? Well, that’s too bad because I don’t care about what you want.”

Each of his thrust were powerful and rough

He wrapped his hand around your neck so anytime you rejected him in a way, he’d squeeze until you’d shut up

Your face was hot and red from all the slapping and choking

He covered your neck in hickeys

All night, he was fucking you

The headboard was banging against the wall so hard, it left dents in the wall

There was cum overflowing out of you, but Jungkook still didn’t stop

He pounded you until your body gave up on you

You couldn’t fight anymore

You weren’t talking, crying or moving

All you could do was whimper softly when it really hurt

Jungkook noticed you were on the verge of passing out, so he quickened up his pace and came into you before collapsing on top of you

“You would’ve been in so much more pain if I didn’t save you from those guys. So what do you say to me?”

You weakly open your eyes and look into his

“T- Thank you.” You whisper softly before falling unconscious

Decided to end it here bc I don’t have the brain power to continue writing. Sorry for any mistakes. It’s 2am

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. i see LO stans defend it as "it gets some people into myth! thats good!" like?? i dont think ive seen a group of readers less interested to learn the actual mythology than lo readers because theyre convinced that IS the truth and RS is so accurate about it. yeah they know it doesnt take place in modern times but why would they question hxp being consensual, demeter being the bad guy, apollo being a [redacted], and so on? they tried to edit the actual gods' wiki pages to match LO for gods' sake!

2. I remember awhile ago there was an ask about heads being used for height and I would like to add 7 heads is used for realistic height and proportions, so yeah, it's a bit weird LO Persephone only averages about 5-6 heads best with even shorter limbs that are not proportional to her (especially her legs for some reason? Her torso is usually too long too) while LO Hades sometimes goes beyond 8 heads (which used to show extreme fantasy proportions) with too long limbs. RS has an art school degree!

3. it really seems at this point lo artemis will end up a villain too because shes framed way too much as anti hades and close to her brother to not be. i can def see rachel pulling she's a "tragic" villain who didnt get enough love as a child and shes so jealous of poor persephone and what she has over her that we'll have to pity her while also wanting her to suffer for being the first person to stand in hxp's way. rachel loves her "twist" villains after all.

4. LO sees more and more clear to me it's about trying to make us feel bad for Hades and show he "deserves" Persephone as a symbol of his desires (a wife to not push back against him or his actions, a wife who does whatever he wants, a wife who is dedicated to giving him heirs and will drop everything for him, etc) while she's just ... there. RS can claim all she wants it's a story about Persephone but it's really about how Hades should get what he wants with Persephone being the ultimate "prize".

5. so persephone who was originally studying biology (which makes perfect sense for a spring goddess to study) now wants to give that up to align even more with hades??? rachel please stop claiming youre "empowering" persephone when you have literally ripped every unique feature from her to make her just hades 2.0. she has NOTHING left to her that was her own while he's given up nothing for her. Hades gets his perfect, docile wife and everything he wants while she has noting and bends to HIS whims.

6. i think rachel also thinks over-complicating the story makes it "deeper" which is not the case?? theres nothing wrong with a simple story (and tbh the hxp myth is straight forward in what to do with it) that overcomplicating it with politics, courtroom drama, attempts coups, and a full out WAR really?? adds nothing to it?? like its supposed to be about hxp getting together too so it even more is just filler that she doesnt have the skill to tackle.

7. i realize the assets arent the same between CSP and Photoshop but you can google greek photoshop brushes or greek architecture in sketchup and find countless free assets?? like theres so many resources at her disposal to at least make LO look aesthetically like it's greek (even superficially) but even that's too much of her. Like why make it a story about "greek" characters when she clearly just wants to make a story about NYC socialites hate poor people 🤔🤨

8. RS really desperately wants to come across as some deep, complex writer who is so well versed in genres and tropes and how to 'twist" them as if the majority of her writing isnt just playing the tropes completely straight with zero change, tumblr posts, memes from 2015, being overtly sexual in how how horny P is, and "borrowing" theories from fans who have more creativity than she does. rachel, honey, youre writing juvenile smut for kids, youre not reinventing the wheel here.

9. I swear white women like rachel and miller are convinced theyre ~subversive~ for depowering powerful goddesses to then "empower" them, putting a gross emphasis on them being sexually abused by random men to excuse them being "dark', then having them be obsessed with and throwing away their lives for the sake of a man. also a dose of hating mother figures. how is rick riordan a white cishet man who shows more respect and nuance in his series for kids than two women writing for literal adults??

10. The thing with deconstruction in lit is that it's used to look at other interpretations of a story's meaning, but H/P's myth was very set it only had one meaning? RS is basically claiming she's found a secret better meaning in the text which was never there and claiming it as fact. That's why most call their H/P stories a "retelling" instead of deconstruction, bc retellings has the leeway to change whatever they want, but deconstruction means academic dissection, which LO very much is not.

[pale-silver-comb]

So I know absolutely nothing about Leverage except what I've been seeing you post lately and I have to admit you're making it look tempting to watch! Can I ask what are some of your favorite things about the show/reasons you would suggest people watch it? And is there really a poly relationship that is canon?

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I am going to do my best not to just “asdfghkjl” at you and answer coherently.

In a nutshell, Leverage is about 5 people. 4 are criminals (Parker, Hardison, Eliot and Sophie) with different and unique skill-sets and 1 is an ex-insurance investigator (Nate) who, at one point or another in his career, has tracked down (or at least attempted to) the other 4. The whole show is essentially: man reluctantly reforms 4 criminals to use their criminal powers for good and 4 criminals move into man’s life and stubbornly refuse to leave because, goddammit, now they have morals. 

I’ve got a lot of favourite things about the show but the main ones are as follows:

1. Found family. And I’m not talking about loners who come together to fight crime and happen to co-exist to the point where they realise they happen to have found themselves a family. I mean, Nate and Sophie are the Drunk Uncle and Wine Aunt who somehow become Mom and Dad to 3 beautiful criminal children. Mom and Dad love their criminal babies and the kids love them (as well as each other, but we’ll come to that in a moment). You get amazing family moments such as: Mom and Dad packing the kids lunch before sending them out to kick corporate greed’s ass; Mom and Dad giving the kids ridiculously expensive and personal Christmas presents causing their most Grumpy Kid to go very very quiet and soft as he runs off to gleefully play with his new murder toy; the kids interrupting Mom and Dad’s big Movie Style Kiss to ask if they can please keep their new underground layer and huffing and puffing when Dad tells them no.

2. Found family: the OT3 edition. To answer your question, the OT3 is indeed canon, confirmed by the creator. Now, usually, “confirmed by the creator” infuriates me because most of the time it’s a way for a creator to be seen as “progressive” without doing anything to actually be progressive. That isn’t the case here. The OT3 are built up carefully and while it is obvious the creators didn’t originally intend for all 3 of them to become a relationship in the romantic sense, by mid-season 5 we are given a very clear picture of where Parker, Hardison and Eliot are heading in their relationship. There aren’t any kisses at the end to signal this but there are solid marriage vows in not only one but two episodes. (And by marriage vows I mean literal equivalents of marriage vows: “for better or worse” and “’til death do us part”. I’m not even exaggerating). The OT3 also doesn’t need explicit romantic narratives to convey how much they love each other. Their love is laced through the whole show, from the way they teach each other things to the way they respond to each other and work as a unit. The way they fiercely protect and admire each other. Like someone once said, if you need characters to kiss or say I love you to let the audience know they love each other, you are writing them wrong. 

Aside from that, each of the parings in the OT3 are just. Gah. They are so well done, with friendship being the solid basis for them all. The creators never expect the audience to assume anything about them or fill in the gaps. They give us their relationships on screen and reference many things off-screen to show us how these relationships continue to build in between episodes.

Hardison and Parker are a canon couple and date in the show: it’s approached slowly and they are so goddamned sweet. They are basically every fluffy slow-burn trope with a healthy dash of mutual pining in the mix. They are basically that quote “love is patient, love is kind”. (I would like to add their romance never becomes the focus of the show or overrides the importance of any other relationship they have with the other characters, especially Eliot.)

Hardison and Eliot are the Old Married Couple and from day one are already bickering and looking at each other/making comments that are found in every UST fic ever (not to mention Hardison has a very good knack for making Eliot grin like a little kid, when usually he’s basically an Angry Little Chef Man). They argue, they play, and love each other plain as day. 

Parker and Eliot are more subtle but every bit as wonderful. They have an unspoken connection and understand each other on a level no-one else can. Parker and Eliot are not good with giving themselves over to affection for different reasons (and Hardison plays a central role in helping them realise it’s okay to want it and have it- that boy has endless patience) but there is something so beautiful in the way the two of them come together on their own and develop their own special bond that works for them. Parker and Eliot are that trope where the characters don’t need to speak to understand each other perfectly. They just do. Their love language is a lot of the time non-verbal but speaks volumes. (Parker also likes to annoy the hell out of Eliot and Eliot....just.....lets...her. Because he’s soft. The softest, grumpiest boy.) 

I could go into so much depth for each pairing and their dynamics as a 3 but that's for another post.

3. Subverting stereotypes. There is the occasional hiccup in the show regarding stereotypes but ultimately, Leverage gets an A+ when it comes to writing characters and making them 3 dimensional people who are not defined by certain characteristics or events. Nate could so easily fall into the White Man Pain trope where he uses the trauma of losing his kid as a reason as to why he is entitled to act like a dick. Nate is a dick but he doesn’t use his pain to excuse it and I appreciate that. Hardison is a black man who is soft and nurturing. Easily the most empathetic and patient of the group. He’s nerdy, an actual genius, and has the biggest heart of all the characters. Nate is maybe the glue but Hardison is definitely the heart. Media’s usual aggressive, amongst other, racist stereotypes can fuck right off. Parker is canonically autistic (I am sure this was confirmed by one of the creators) and she is not defined by it. It’s not written as some kind of singular personality trait. It’s part of what makes up Parker but it’s only one facet of who she is and not once is her actions, thoughts or feelings treated like a joke. Sometimes people don’t understand why she does and says the things she does but it’s met with patience and fondness over the course of the show. Equally, it’s not met with over-caution. Parker is just Parker. No-one tries to change her. The other nice thing is Hardison, who always makes sure Parker knows she’s amazing because of who she is and not in spite of it. Finally, Sophie is in her 40s. She’s not treated like she’s past her prime. Ever. She’s sexy, smart and never is she pitted against or compared to Parker (who is younger) for anything. Sophie is amazing and there’s never even a conversation of “I may be older but I am still *insert adjective typically associated with younger women here*”. Sophie is possibly the first female character I’ve ever seen who isn’t just unapologetic about her age but has never had to apologise for her age. It’s a non-issue and that’s that. The women on the show are written so well, right down to secondary characters and it’s beyond refreshing.  

4.) It’s just fun. The show has a “monster of the week” type format. Except instead of a ghoul or a ghost, the monster is some corrupt wealthy and powerful individual or organisation. The show draws on real-life individuals to do this and therefore closely parallels real-life people and events. It addresses important political, economical, social and environmental issues while at the same time remaining fun and light-hearted. The characters constantly get the chance to play dress up and by GOD do they have fun with it. You get to watch Eliot beat up bad guys in the most delightful of ways, usually after a witty non-sequitur and with a weapon you’d never think could be a weapon. The dialogue and back and forth between the characters is everything. And finally - my favourite thing- the team can never resist striking a dramatic pose after they’ve taken down the bad guy, making sure the bad guy sees them. I mean, they COULD just walk away, satisfied they’ve taken the person down, but nope. They gotta be dramatic bitches 24/7 and pose like they are models for every single month of this year’s Criminal Calendar.  

5.) Competence Porn. So. Much. Competence Porn.  

Honestly, I could list a thousand reasons for why Leverage is amazing but to list them would to be spoiling so many amazing moments you’d get to discover for the first time on your own if you do choose to watch it. It’s the kind of show you can watch with an eagle-eye and sink your teeth into. But it’s also the kind of show if, you would prefer, put on in the background for something entertaining while you do something else. Each episode is about the job at hand but it’s made up of so many moments between the characters that show how much the creators and writers care about them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll do whatever it is you do when something Soft and Wonderful happens that makes your heart melt. I am so beyond grateful for Leverage. It’s everything I always wanted in a show. Nearly every show I’ve watched in the past 10 years has disappointed me in some way, usually either because the writers run out of steam or characters who I love are treated poorly or given some kind of unnecessary “shock value” arc. Leverage doesn’t do that. Leverage is what it says on the bottle. Fandom isn’t something I joined because I needed canon fix-its. Fandom only enhances and celebrates an already excellent canon. 

[olderthannetfic]

Ah, I do see your points, anon. I'm not going to post all your asks publicly because if you really feel that unsafe, it's probably best not to have a bigass chunk of your text for people to analyze and try to guess your identity from. I think one of the best points you made is about how close to home it hits when the non-fave is not only your fave but is similar to you in some way like demographic. You're not wrong for having those emotions. I do wonder if they make it hard to see how some other people feel similarly embattled on other axes.

TBH, I think one of the big problems here is that the large aggregate patterns you're talking about are racist, but most individual fics and fans are not really the problem. It's hard to know how to talk about this or who to tell to "fix" it when we're looking at free, hobbyist art.

A lot of people's tastes are certainly formed by shitty society, but once they're formed, they don't change fast if at all. Asking someone to rewrite their libido is a big ask, yet tumblr does it all the time as though it's as simple as snapping your fingers.

This leaves me with the sense that a lot of tumblr is... like... the political lesbians of porn fic or something: desire is not real, only choosing based on logic and politics. Or maybe people are so asexual that they just don't understand the lizard brain's "YES!" at some porn things and complete indifference to others?

I don't think it's great if great swaths of people feel like bottom!Nicky is super hot and top!Nicky fundamentally isn't, but I also don't think they can necessarily just turn it off like flipping a switch.

(If someone reading this doesn't like their current tastes and wants to attempt to alter them, I do think it's possible. What you should do is line up a large slate of media that prominently features characters of the ethnicity or whatever that you don't find hot/interesting. These should be leads whose emotional development drives the plot and is supposed to be central to the audience's enjoyment of the media. Watch/read/etc. this media all the time. All. The. Time. Try out many pieces because you won't like every character or every show, and we're looking for genuine enjoyment, not the fandom equivalent of a pity fuck. Spend enough time on this, and your unconscious sense of who's hot and interesting will eventually shift somewhat. This is a project you should expect to take a few years.)

But I digress.

The one tweet thing is a very toxic pattern. If TOG fandom is doing that, guys, please try to be more conscious of holding the actors of color to a higher standard (or the women or whomever). I know this often comes from a place of paying more attention to our own and wanting to set a good standard, but the effect is that minorities can't fuck up ever while white dudes get infinite passes.

Okay, on to the fic thing... Gotta say, my instant reaction to that description is "Ooh!"--as it would be for the same scenario with the characters reversed. (Ships who start out trying to kill each other are my favorite! x1000 if they're resurrecting style immortals and they literally do.) I can see how it would feel like slamming into a brick wall if you aren't kinky in just the right way and you didn't know it was coming though.

Part of why I react so strongly to a lot of discourse that runs along these lines is that I am a naturally extremely kinky person. It's not so much about what I do (which as a deeply lazy person in a long distance relationship is essentially nothing), but it's absolutely how I'm wired.

And I can tell you that my quotidian experience in fandom is sharing something I don't even realize is a big deal only to have someone I like, respect, and trust react in horror and tell me that it's triggering and awful and should not be allowed in fandom spaces because it makes "people" unsafe. It's such an instant, kneejerk reaction they don't even realize I was sharing it because it spoke to the very core of me. Lesson learned, friend. Lesson learned.

That sounds a bit off topic, I know, but bear with me: The point of that anecdote is that it's pretty common for me to get people trying to raise my awareness of things I have already thought deeply about while denying my essential humanity and not even realizing. As a kinky person who likes to make my fave the top (and generally a conflicted sadist), this constant request to explain and justify is exhausting.

I doubt most of the top!Joe fans have this precise problem simply because people who make their fave the top are much less common in fandom than people who make their fave the bottom, but I see a similar pattern with fans who are just fundamentally wired for rape fantasies (one of the most common fantasies that exists) vs. fans who just don't get rape fantasies at all. Or substitute your BDSM/kinky/messed up fantasy trope of choice. Covertly radical feminist attitudes towards kink and power are on the rise in fandom, and as a naturally kinky person, boy do I notice it!

I know that it feels like crucial activism to share these insights about why the ratio of top!Joe is hurtful, and the pain you feel is real. But it's also the case that it's a big ask to want people to listen. (Not me. Obviously, I routinely choose to engage with discourse. I mean overall.) The reason for that is that you're only seeing a fraction of what they do or who they are, and you don't know how many previous people they've listened to how many previous times. It's a very different situation from someone whose job is making some major TV series or movie or something. That person does, in my opinion, owe you some amount of listening.

Now, I'm not saying no top Joe fan was ever a jerk. I'll bet they were. There's a tendency to be rude and to publicly air your schadenfreude when you feel like everyone has been yelling at you. What I am saying is that a lot of the problem here boils down to conflicting needs, and that means there isn't a good solution. It's a situation where people are genuinely hurt, but I don't necessarily agree that other people have harmed them.

I like that you did an actual count of the explicit fics, btw. It's good to look at the real numbers. I see too little of that in these situations. My off the cuff reaction is that 2/3 to 1/3 is not a bad ratio at all compared to many fandoms, but yeah, it definitely shows a strong trend, and that can be painful. (I have a fandom where I think there's maybe like 1 bottom so-and-so fic in the entire zine era fandom. One. It's pretty extreme.)

I guess my thinking here overall is: What is the practical solution? What are we hoping to gain? What is reasonable to ask of people?

And it can't be "Well, if they would just listen..." That's just a sneaky way of saying "If you haven't done it my way, it's because you haven't listened to me yet."

So the question I would ask of people is this:

What does a non-racist fic where Joe tops look like?

What does a non-racist sex pollen, dubcon, or even noncon fic where Joe tops look like?

And if you say the latter is impossible... well... sadists exist everywhere in the world. So do doms. So do people who prefer to top in a purely physical sense. People with rape fantasies where they're the rapist exist (people who are not actually rapists, I mean). None of this is restricted to any one group. We can't categorically say fic like that about Joe is coming from a place of racism without denying the fundamental humanity of kinky MENA people who'd want to make Joe like themselves or like their ideal partner. (Yes, I agree this won't be the majority of fic writers writing top!Joe, but this is a place to start for figuring out what the better version would look like.)

IDK, maybe you're that kinkster yourself, but your asks gave me the vibe that you don't really get the drive towards those darker kinds of fics and what might be motivating it besides stereotypes and shittiness.

If we can answer these kinds of questions, we can better critique the way people write what they write without telling them all of their taste is bad and they should just stop writing. Even if we think the latter is true, it isn't going to get us anywhere. Figuring out how to make Joe more multidimensional in the fic they already want to write or finding very specific wording that should be avoided might actually work.

Beyond that, the actions I think are productive would be running prompt fests, exchanges, or other events for bottom!Joe or for top!Joe where he's the main character and the fics are required to be from his POV. Themed collections and recs lists are great. (I've seen a bit of this going around in TOG fandom in the past, and that's an excellent approach! Keep it up!) Positive actions tend to work better here. Make more of what you want. Promote what you want to see.

I don't mean this in some fluffy magical thinking way: you aren't going to change that ratio radically just by the power of positivity. But I've seen this kind of thing play out in many, many fandoms, and going after the people who write what you don't like, even in a well-intentioned effort to educate and even in a polite, kind way doesn't do much. A few people feel guilty. A few feel defensive. A lot ignore you. The overall fic doesn't change. It's not a good use of your limited time and energy.

I'm off to look up that fic to see what I think of it in practice, but I'm going to post this before tumblr manages to eat it.

[vs-redemption]

This piece was written for a collaboration event hosted by @sightoru and @anarchicmartyr . Please check out the masterlist to read and support the other writers participating in this event. Some pieces from the event contain adult content, so minors please proceed with caution!

Prompt: College AU Character: Atsumu Miya Word Count: 3,586 Warnings: None!

With a nod of satisfaction, you look around at your tiny new dorm room to admire your work. The space was small, but you’d made the most out of it. The twin sized mattress on the wooden frame was now fitted with a new set of sheets and comforter, the TV and mini fridge were set up and working, and all your clothes were hung up on hangers in the narrow closet by the door that led out to the main living area where your suitemates were already making themselves at home.

You try to keep an optimistic mindset as you hear them giggling and skipping up and down the hallway, gossiping about this and that with a playlist going in the background, surprisingly loud despite the small size of the Bluetooth speaker. You could already tell that you weren’t as much of an extrovert as the girls you’d be housing with, but it was your first year of college and your first time living away from home. You imagined it was the same situation for the rest of them, and you couldn’t blame them for taking advantage of the new taste of freedom.

After a moment of debating what to do next, you sit at your new desk and open up your laptop to log in to your campus email. Classes would be starting the next morning, and you wanted to make sure you were as prepared as possible. Maybe you’d already read each syllabus multiple times, but it couldn’t hurt to review the buildings on the map you’d printed out and covered with notes and highlighter just one more time.

A commotion from outside your room pulls your attention away a few seconds later and you hear a few male voices mix in with the music and giggles. The conversation was a little muffled, but you heard bits of what they were saying. Apparently they lived on the same floor and wanted to come introduce themselves. You let out a small laugh and shake your head, content with listening to the shenanigans from a safe distance until a particular question caught your ear.

“So, is this all of you?” one of the visitors asks, something in his voice making you apprehensive from the start.

“Um, no,” one of your suitemates answers. “There’s one more, but she’s in her room.”

“Great!” was the enthusiastic reply, “Let’s go say hi!”

You turn to look at your door nervously as the sound of footsteps comes closer. It wasn’t that you were opposed to meeting new people, it was just overwhelming when it was so many in a short period of time. It was only day one after all, and you were still trying to process being in a new place, sharing a living space with a group of girls who you’d just met a few hours before. It was all a bit draining and you just needed some time to adjust and recharge. You’re already shuffling towards your bedroom door though when the sound of the knock comes.

You weren’t sure what you’d expected to find when you pulled open your door, but it wasn’t the person standing in front of you. The first thing that registered in your mind was that his smile was far too bright and genuine for someone meeting a completely new face for the first time, and there was just as much raw emotion in his excited brown eyes. You could tell his hair was dyed since the blonde locks falling over his forehead didn’t match the shorter dark brown hair revealed by his undercut. The simple black t-shirt that he wore showed off arms that were just muscular enough to clue you in that he was probably some kind of athlete. Overall, he was everything you’d expect from a typical hot college guy, and you were sure you’d never been this close to anyone who had so much confidence in their presence before.

“Um, hi?” You greet him softly while going up on your toes to look over his shoulder, expecting the rest of his friends to be around but they were still in the living area chatting up your suitemates. It seemed your existence hadn’t been as interesting to them.

“My buddies and I live right down the hall, so we just came by to say hello,” his eyes soften a bit and he tilts his head, making you avert your gaze awkwardly. You were no match for the pure energy radiating off of him.

“Oh, that was nice,” you nod your head. Your ability to make small talk was usually better than this, but words seemed to be failing you at this inopportune time. “Thanks.” Confusion blooms in his eyes briefly before his lips tug up into a handsome smile, different from the toothy expression from before.

“My name’s Atsumu Miya!” he tells you, “What’s yours?”

For a moment, you can only stare at him, wondering how you’d even held the attention of a guy like this for as long as you had. Whether he truly cared to know or not, you mutter out your name while fiddling awkwardly with the handle on your door. There’s a beat of silence before a different male voice calls from the living room, almost in monotone and barely loud enough to hear.

“Leave her alone ‘Tsumu, you idiot. You’re bothering her.”

The comment was clearly extremely offensive, or maybe it was just the person who’d said it, but there was an instant reaction from the boy at your door. His relaxed face suddenly contorts in annoyance, his nose scrunching up childishly and his lip curling almost as if in disgust. It was such an extreme change in demeanor, you couldn’t help the small giggle that escapes your lips. Atsumu’s eyebrows perk up at the sound and his attention turns back to you in an instant.

“Oh,” you shy away a little, eyes darting toward where the comment had come from. “It’s fine.” And really, he wasn’t actually bothering you, but he didn’t seem to know how to proceed either from that point. “It was nice to meet you though,” you offer a smile and he seemed to understand that the conversation had come to a natural end. He nods politely, but still manages to hold your gaze for a moment as you slowly close your door.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The first couple weeks of college passed in a daze as you figured out your class schedule, learned where different places were on campus, and got to know your suitemates and their habits. You spent a decent amount of time with them, sometimes going to get meals together at the campus cafeteria or making plans to study for the classes you happened to have together. It was easy to get along with them, and they didn’t make you feel bad when you went to bed earlier than they did or retreated to your room if things got too rowdy. It was a comfortable friendship, and you appreciated that they didn’t try to force you to go out to any wild parties when you had classes the next morning. Honestly, you didn’t know how they could do that, but it was amusing to watch them have their fun.

“You’re just in time for the movie!”

You walk into your dorm after your last class of the week to find your suitemates huddled around the TV with a group of friends, which was a little unusual. They were almost always already out by the time you got back from the ridiculous Friday night, three hour lecture. Even you weren’t crazy enough to want to take a class like that, but it was required for your degree and only offered at that particular time. You look around the living room to see who was there. You recognized some of the faces, including the blonde guy who’d visited your room on the very first day. You hadn’t seen him since then, but he glances over his shoulder and gives you a wave, the smile on his face just as open and honest as you remembered.

“Come join us!” He offers happily.

“Uh, sure. Just a second.”

You head into your room to drop off the bag of books you’d been lugging around all day. What you actually wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep. Your classes had reached the point where the professors expected you to be comfortable enough to start having exams and writing papers, and you felt the work load starting to take a toll. Still, despite being on the more introverted side, you weren’t antisocial. Hanging out and watching a movie sounded like a nice way to relax after a particularly challenging week. So, after getting changed into a pair of sweats, you head back out to join the others, finding a free spot on the floor where you can lean against the side of the sofa without killing your back. The movie starts and at about five minutes in, you feel a tap on the top of your head. You tilt your chin up and see Atsumu smiling down at you.

“Hey,” it was the loudest whisper you’d ever heard and you let out a laugh. “Were you in class?”

“Yeah?” You still couldn’t wrap your mind around how unguarded his body language was when he didn’t know you at all, and you wondered if he was genuinely just super friendly and wanted you to feel included or if he was setting some kind of trap for you with those big handsome smiles.

“Wow, you’re pretty serious about your studies, huh?” He folds his arms over the armrest of the sofa, and you recoil a bit, wondering if that was an insult. Atsumu just lets out a sigh though and continues talking. “I’m already struggling to keep up with my classes. I have volleyball practice in the evenings three times a week and games on the weekends.”

“Shut up, will you? Your annoying voice is ruining the movie.” It must’ve been the same person that called him out before because Atsumu’s face pulls into the same comical expression, nose scrunched up and a look of disturbance in his brown eyes.

“What did you say?!” he narrows his eyes to glare at the person who you couldn’t see from where you were on the ground. “Your annoying voice is ruining my conversation!”

“For it to be a conversation, she’d have to want to talk back to you.” The retort came in a bored tone, but the swiftness of the delivery only riled the blond up even further.

“Well maybe if you hadn’t interrupted…” One of the decorative pillows that had come with the dorm room comes flying out of nowhere and smacks Atsumu right upside the head, cutting off whatever he was about to say.

“Just be quiet and watch the movie…”

You see Atsumu’s long fingers grip the pillow, obviously weighing the pros and cons of throwing it right back. You can’t believe the friends were bickering like children, but the reactions from everyone else made it seem like this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence.

“Actually,” You reach up and tug the pillow from his hands. “Can I use that?” He releases his grip and watches you tuck it behind your back to use as extra support. His smile returns and he leans back over the armrest.

“Sorry about my brother,” He continues to talk, still not having learned his lesson. “Even though we’re identical twins he’s not nearly as fun as I am.”

“Atsumu!” It was a different voice this time, “Shut up!”

“Okay!” He finally gives in with a grimace, rolling his eyes in your direction before turning his attention to the movie. He was extremely obnoxious, but in an endearing way you supposed. Out of curiosity, you lean forward and instantly find the identical version of him sitting on the other end of the couch. He looked exactly the same, aside from his hair which was dyed an ashy grey color. The bickering made sense to you now though, knowing they were siblings. The rest of the movie passed quickly, and you excused yourself to head to bed as soon as it was finished, not being able to keep your eyes open a moment longer despite the others whose night was just getting started.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

With so many people on the same campus moving from building to building as they followed the same schedule every week, it made sense that you would run into and see the same people occasionally. A quick ‘hey’ or even just a simple nod seemed to be the generally accepted way in which to handle these situations by most people, but evidently Atsumu Miya was not most people.

“Good morning!” His tall form appeared next to you while you were standing in line for coffee one day. You’d just gotten out of one class and were in desperate need of caffeine before your next one.

“Morning,” you mumble back. When you turn your head, you’re met with the sight of him in an oversized hoodie and his blonde hair all tousled as if he’d just rolled out of bed. You can’t help but glance around you to see if anyone else was seeing him and wondering why he was talking to you.

“Don’t worry,” he misunderstands your wandering eyes. “Samu’s still sleeping so he can’t yell at me for talking to you.”

“That’s your brother’s name?” you ask and he nods his head in confirmation. You still weren’t sure what he wanted, but he continued to chat your ear off as you made your way to the front of the line. “What are you getting?” You ask him after you place your order.

“Oh no, I’m good.” He waves his hand, “I just wanted to say hi. Enjoy your next class!” You stare after him in disbelief as he walks away, unsure of what to make of what had just happened. Strangely enough, it hadn’t just been a random occurrence either. You seemed to run into Atsumu a lot over the next couple weeks, and he always stopped to chat for a while before going back to his day. He led the conversations mostly, ranting about his brother, classes, and volleyball club a bit before expressing a curiosity about your life since the previous encounter. Part of you felt that maybe he was just the type of person who needed to talk to everyone he meets to feel popular, but his genuine interest in you was making it hard to lock him into that category.

Little by little, Atsumu weaved himself into your routine until it was normal to stop and talk to him between classes at predicted times each day. You hadn’t even realized how used to the interactions you’d become until he didn’t show up while you were in line for coffee one day. At first, you couldn’t figure out why something felt off, but then you caught yourself looking around as if something was missing. When it dawned on you that the thing throwing off your normal coffee buying experience was Atsumu’s absence, you felt a little awkward. It wasn’t as if he was obligated to be there, but the slight feeling of disappointment followed you around for the rest of the day. You knew it was stupid, but worries kept popping up in your head that maybe he’d found someone else to talk to at that time, or that you had perhaps become too boring for him. By the time you got back to your dorm in the evening, you were sick of the drama you’d invented and tortured your own sanity with. You make sure to greet your suitemates before heading to your room to unload your books and maybe get started on some homework.

It was just about time for you to think about getting ready for bed when there’s a soft knock on your door. You assume it’s one of your suitemates until you hear the familiar voice whisper your name from the hallway, asking if you’re awake. The nervous butterflies that erupt in your stomach surprise you, and for a moment you consider pretending to be asleep to avoid whatever weird feelings you were starting to have for the overly friendly twin. You know you can’t just leave him out there though, so you shuffle over to the door and pull it open.

“Hey,” he has a weird guilty smile on his face, but you’re too busy processing the sight of him in a track jacket that hugged his upper body in the most distracting way and a pair of athletic shorts that showed off just how muscular his legs were. You weren’t used to seeing him dressed this way.

“Um, hi?” you drag your focus to his face, noticing for the first time that his hair was wet as if he’d just gotten out of the shower not too long before. “Did you just get out of practice?”

“Yeah,” he nods his head. “I tried to get here as soon as I could. I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“No,” a heat was raising to your cheeks as you tried to imagine what he needed from you so urgently.

“Oh, that’s good,” a boyish laugh escapes his lips. “I wanted to apologize for standing you up today.” When you just continue to stare at him he clarifies, “You know, at the coffee shop.”

“Oh,” you answer as if it hadn’t been on your mind the entire day, “Right.” There’s a short lag in the conversation, and Atsumu starts to bounce on his feet, looking nervous.

“Yeah, it’s just that my class this morning got canceled,” He offers up an explanation despite not being asked for one, “So the volleyball captain made me go and do a bunch of extra practice since I’m new to the team and stuff. I would’ve let you know, but I realized that I never got your number.”

Surely if Atsumu had only been talking to you for the sake of popularity, he wouldn’t be standing at your door looking like a sad puppy when he could’ve just waited until the next day to apologize. It made your head spin that he seemed to be so considerate of your feelings, even over something as miniscule as missing the couple minutes he usually spent with you while you waited in line for coffee. Putting a label on whatever he was to you was getting more and more difficult as time passed.

“That’s okay,” you tell him softly before offering a smile. “Thank you for letting me know. You didn’t have to rush over after practice though.”

The comment seemed to confuse the boy and he tilts his head. “But, I like you,” the confession comes from him so easily that you could’ve almost overlooked it completely. “And I missed seeing you today.” The butterflies from before seem to double in intensity and your find yourself struggling for words.

“I… missed you too,” it felt embarrassing to say out loud, but it wouldn’t be right not to tell him the truth when he was being so honest. Your awkward response is enough to bring that bright beaming smile back to his face and you see an eagerness bloom in his eyes.

“So, let me make it up to you?” He asks while pulling out his phone, “I don’t have a game this weekend, so I’ll be getting out of practice a little earlier than usual. Do you want to grab lunch with me after I’m done?”

“Yeah, sure.” You wished you didn’t sound so flustered, but you couldn’t help it. Even after all the exchanged conversations you’d had, Atsumu was still a bit overwhelming with the way he wore his heart on his sleeve. He hands you his phone so you can put your number in, explaining that you could work out the details of the date as the time got closer. Your heart flutters in your chest and you can hardly believe the excitement in his big brown eyes is for you.

“I should probably let you get to sleep now, huh?” He asks once he tucks his phone back into his jacket pocket. “Sorry for bugging you.”

“You’re not bugging me,” you assure him, feeling brave enough for a moment to meet his gaze. “I’m really looking forward to spending more time with you.” Atsumu’s eyes light up even more at the simple comment and he nods his head.

“Me too!” He bounces on the balls of his feet a couple more times before making up his mind to test his luck and lean in a bit. “Do you mind if I…” He doesn’t finish his thought, instead just taking the risk and pressing a quick kiss to your cheek before backing away sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” You promise and you see the nervous tension leave his shoulders. After a slightly awkward goodbye, Atsumu heads back to his own dorm and you hurry to finish getting ready for bed. Just as you get tucked under your covers and turn out the light, your phone chimes with a message from Atsumu to wish you goodnight. You text him back right away, wondering if you’d even be able to sleep with the way your mind and body buzzed from the unexpected visit. Slowly though, the adrenaline died down and you manage to drift off to sleep, the feeling of Atsumu’s feather light kiss still lingering on your cheek.

[astaroth1357]

Locker Room Talk- A Beelzebub Fanfic (BeelxGN MC)

(I’m not much of a whole-ass fic writer, so I don’t think this will be a regular occurrence, but I just had a scenario play out too perfectly not to give it an upgrade. I would hope this goes without saying, but harassment is not okay, I do not condone it, and if you are experiencing it you should look into what legal options you have available to report it. Please don’t try the Beel method. You’ll go to jail.)

Warnings: Sexual harassment, unwanted innuendo, implied possibility of sexual assault, vulgarity

"Locker Room Talk” isn't really Beel's thing. In all honesty, he’s never understood the appeal since saying gross stuff where only your friends can hear doesn’t make what you’re saying any better. Because he’s been playing sports for nearly all the time he's been in the Devildom, he’s been around his fair share of these kinds of conversations. Most of the time he just keeps to himself and tries to tune out whatever the other guys have to say. It gives him a bit of a reputation as the “innocent” one sure, but he just prefers not to play along with their pervy antics. If they wanted that, they could talk to Asmo for all he cared.

That’s not to say he didn’t like his teammates or anything. Most of them were pretty good people on the court and got their acts together off of it. And Beel really loved playing sports. He needed the physical outlet as a distraction from his hunger… If he had to put up with a little vulgarity from time to time, it seemed like a fair enough trade… Or. At least it was at first.

When MC came to the Devildom, they turned his whole world upside-down. Things between his brother had always been tense before and even Belphie had grown more distant with him after what happened to Lilith, but it felt like in only a couple of short months they were able to soothe everything over. His family has never been happier and neither has he… Plus, it helped that they were a good, and eager, cook.

His teammates sniffed out his crush for the little human fairly quickly. To be fair, he wasn’t exactly hiding it very well. The first time they ever came by one of their practices, a pouch of homemade cookies in hand, he could have kissed them on the spot. No one, not even Belphie, makes the time to go check on him during practice like that... He must have made his happiness pretty obvious because the human started making it a regular habit. At least two, sometimes three, times a week they would drop in with some kind of food for him. Store-bought, homemade, a small snack, or packed meal, it honestly didn’t matter to him. Anything that came from their hands felt three times more filling than it should have. 

He’s a little embarrassed to admit that after a few weeks the anticipation would start to show in his performance… If they were on their way he could usually smell whatever they had packed heading his direction and he’d play extra aggressively just to get to a break faster. He'd mow everybody else over just to have an excuse to go meet them at the gate. He’s been more than a little reckless before and thinking back on it can make him wince, but he usually forgets all about those little mishaps as soon as he’s met by their smiling face. 

“Hey, Beel! How is practice going?” They’d ask him. And no matter how he answers, all he’d think would be, “Never as good as right now…”

It was around the time that his teammates put it together that the teasing started. It was innocent enough at first. They’d pick on him for having a little crush on the exchange student but it was always lighthearted. Nothing worse than maybe the occasional,

“Oi Beel? Did you get yourself a housewife/husband? Good for you.” or “They’ll cook for you?? What a steal!” Nothing that bad. At least, nowhere near as bad as it would get.

As the weeks passed it seemed like his teammates were expecting something out of him... Like, was he supposed to make a move on them? Though Beel really did want to be with the MC, there were a lot of complications… His brothers being a big one. Most have made no secret that they’re also pretty fond of them too, Mammon especially, and it felt wrong to make another rift in the family right after it took so long to patch the first one… Of course, his teammates didn’t know that. And they didn’t care. All they wanted to do was amp up the pressure…

“Hey, Beel, did you see what your honey was wearing today? I think they’re sending signals. You should probably jump on that, you know?” When it first started, he couldn’t actually believe what he was hearing. Sure, their little jokes sounded like innuendo but they kept things just veiled enough that he could have been reading into it. He’d get uncomfortable, but brush it off easy enough. However, it only ever got worse from there.

“Yo Beel, you boning that human yet? What? No?? What the hell are you waiting for? We see you like them so just do it!” It would grate on his nerves...

“Beel, how’s your sweetheart been doing? Still not fucking, right? Bet they’re getting lonely…” He’d tell them to stop. At first politely, then more forcefully.

“Look, man, if you don’t start taking charge then they’re going to get antsy. Plenty of other guys are here looking to get their dicks wet… Just look at your brothers, am I right?” After a while, he started shouting. But his aggravation only seemed to fuel the fire.

“I bet someone will have them bent over and forgetting all about you by the end of the week.” Eventually, he went to the coach but he didn’t care. “It’s just ‘Locker Room Talk.’ Grow up,” is all he got in response. It didn’t feel like it was just that anymore, but he started to doubt himself anyway... Was he overreacting? Every bone in his body wanted to go on a rampage whenever they started to pester him but wasn’t it all just words? He could endure words, couldn’t he? Besides, RAD has a strict no-violence on school grounds policy on its athletes. Even if he did get a good slug in, then he’d been thrown out of future games for the rest of the season.

Their words were just words. Gross, awful words, but words nonetheless. Sure. Whatever. He could endure that… but only that.

On the day he nearly lost it completely, it was right after their last practice before a big game the next night. The whole team was amped to go, but Beel was trying to keep to himself. Get in, get out, and go back to the House where MC was probably waiting. He’s long since stopped sticking around for socializing with the others. He had just finished changing when one of his teammates cornered him by his locker, the slimiest grin already plastered on his face.

“Look, Beel… We’re going to do you a favor, alright? Since you’re taking so long with this… The guys and I have decided to invite your little human to an “after-game party” tomorrow. To celebrate our victory and all that. Bet they’re dying for some action since you’re not giving any. You’re free to come if you want. Though… they might not be paying much attention to you.” Beel could feel his eye twitch as he watched the scumbag’s snickering face. That face. That fucking face. He'd never seen or heard anything so revolting in his life and-

For a few seconds, all he could see was red.

When he came back to his senses, he already had the sleazebag pinned against the lockers by the windpipe, fingers gripping his neck so tightly that his nails drew blood. At some point, he must have slipped into his demon form because the vibrations of his wings behind him made a sound not unlike a warning growl. His expression must have been ferocious because in the guy's eyes he saw nothing but pure terror. He’d never felt this much rage and hatred together before. Surely, at this moment, he ought to look more like Satan or Lucifer on a rampage than he does himself.

“If you say one more thing about that human, I will kill you. Touch them once and I will eat you. Are we clear?" His hand clenches further, making him receive a gargled cough in response. At this point, he could have probably flicked his wrist and snapped his neck in two. "Then pass it on." He tossed the man back into the metal lockers and watched him sink to the floor, clawing at his own throat and gasping for air. Oh yeah, his sporting days for this semester are over. But if it keeps him away from this trash? He’ll take it.

Of course, he made sure that he doesn’t stick around much longer. He left the scumbag to sort himself out, grabbing his gym bag quickly. He barely remembered to hide his demon form again before walking out of there, his nerves are practically shot already. Thankfully, though, he didn’t make it three steps out the door before a familiar face stopped him in his tracks. MC, who must have been waiting patiently for him this entire time, is leaned next to the bleachers with a backpack in one hand and a deli sandwich in the other. The perfect smile they got when they saw him signaling their blissful ignorance of all that just went down before.

“Hey Beel! How was pr-Oomf!” His body colliding with theirs cuts off their question. Beel’s gym bag lies already forgotten in the dirt, ditched so his arms could embrace them fully. It’s just a hug, a tight hug, but there’s a certain desperation to it. Though he knew it was ridiculous, a part of him was terrified that his teammates may just come up and try to snatch them if he let go…. After some time to process, he felt their head settle against his chest. He worried that they can hear his raging heartbeat... Would they pick up on how pissed he was just a moment ago?

“Ah… Not that great then, huh…?” His arms tense, pressing them closer against the fabric of his shirt. Should he tell them what he's been putting up with…? Does he even have the stomach for it? Letting out a sigh through his nose, he simply grunted out, “No…” 

“Well, what’s wrong then?” So many things… He just wanted to pick them up and fly them away from all this crap. He wanted to rip the tongues out from anyone who's said a bad word about them. He wanted to keep holding them in his arms, shielding them from anything and everything that could possibly take that perfect smile away… But they probably don’t know that, do they?

“Beel? Are you okay...?” He let a slow sigh draw out from his nose, resting his head atop theirs. All too soon, he'd have to let them go. But, for the moment, he could just hold them and wish this feeling would never end...

“Only if you are…”

[hellpotter]

for the prompts thing, 6 for percabeth during like after BotL but before TLO?? thank you so much and and you’re an absolutely amazing writer!!

you're in love with her  | percabeth

“Percy? Are you even listening to me?”

“Huh?"

He isn't.

In theory, Annabeth is helping him with his bow and arrow technique. He’d always sucked at it, but the children of Apollo really had no patience to teach him anymore. He didn’t blame them. The last time, he’d almost made an incidental sidecut on Will Solace’s hair.

So, Chiron had asked Annabeth to help him. It made sense, since she wasn’t very good in it either. She was only good enough not to die if that was the only weapon she had, and that is what she’s trying to teach him.

Trying, and not actually teaching, because in truth Percy isn’t listening to a single word that comes out of her mouth. It isn’t his fault. The sun is starting to go down on the horizon, and the light makes her hair glow and her eyes brighten in a constant mix of silver, golden and bronze. She’d also forgotten to bring water, and her lips are slightly dry, which makes her lick them, unconsciously, every now and then. Percy wishes “every now and then” meant “rarely”, but, for that, it means “all the time”. And, of course, every time she does it he loses any trail of thought that might be starting to form in his brain.

So yeah, between her hair, her eyes, and her annoyingly distracting habit of licking her lips, there isn’t much space in his head for him to listen to her archery tips.

“Sorry,” he finally says, facing the ground. She has her arm extended, as if offering him the bow she has in hands. Like she’s telling him to take it so she can show him something. It's the first time in almost half an hour that Percy is able to make himself turn his gaze away from her face. Mostly because she’s clearly mad, and he doesn't want to see it.

She huffs. “Really, Percy?”

Uh-oh. This isn’t a good sign. If she was just slightly annoyed, she would call him Seaweed Brain. But she didn’t use the nickname when she was truly and terrifyingly mad. He keeps staring at the ground.

“That's just… You’re just so.. Ugh!”

Yeah, that’s bad. He tries looking at her, but only slightly.

“You come here, and we make all the arrangements to optimize your time here, only because, first of all, you choose to stay here the least you can… Even though you know you’ll be 16 in less then two months, and you know what that means, and you know Kronos is out there gathering an army… And you know he’ll probably kill you-” 

She stops herself for a second, blinking to try to clear the tears that threaten falling from her eyes. He freezes. She’s crying, and even though he’s seen her cry before (not that he knows how to handle it), it breaks his heart, because he knows that it’s his fault, even if he has no idea of why and how.

“And still,” she continues, voice raising. “You don’t even have the DECENCY to pay attention to what I’m saying?”

She clenches her jaw and sustains her look, chin slightly raised and eyes, still shiny with tears, pointed directly at him. He faces the ground besides her, and she waits for him to say something.

“I'm sorry, okay?” He finally looks at her face, and his voice weakens when he sees it so… hurt. “I didn’t mean to ignore you, I just… Zoned out for a bit. I know this is important and I appreciate you taking your time to help me, as well as everyone else. But I’m tired, and there’s too much going on and- And you’re distracting.”

He blushes furiously at the end of his sentence, but her cheeks also turn red as her expression softens slightly. At last, she nods. “Well, you can have archery lessons with someone else, then. Let’s find Beckendorf.”

“Annabeth, that’s not-“

“Percy. Forget it,” she stares at him and her eyes are like storm again, all the magical glittering from before vanished. “Please.” 

She’s hurt, and he knows it, the same way he knows she’ll never admit it. And it hurts him too, specially because he doesn’t understand it completely and doesn’t know how to help. Lately, it seems like all he does makes it worse somehow.

She starts walking towards the stables without saying anything else, and he has no choice but to go after her. They walk in silence the whole way there, and Percy’s sure that facing Medusa wide eyed would’ve hurt less.

When they finally get there, they find Beckendorf brushing one of the pegasi with a slight smile on his face. Percy doesn’t need to ask to know Silena’s been around recently.

“Hey man,” Percy greets his friend, but before he can say anything else, Annabeth interrupts him.

“Hey, Beckendorf,” she says, assertively but still politely. “Everyting alright?”

The son of Hephaestus puts the brush he has on his hands down and walks towards them, smiling.

“Hi, guys! What's up?”

Annabeth answers so quickly that Percy doesn’t even have enough time to process it. “I was wondering, do you think you can give Percy his archery lessons from now on?”

“Annabeth, don’t-“ Percy tries to contest, but she stares at him so fiercely that he almost feels like being a guinea pig again.

Beckendorf frowns. “Have you two been fighting?” They keep quiet, facing the ground. “Okay, I get it. It’s fine, Annabeth, I can… do the archery thing with Percy.”

“Thank you so much.”

At first, Percy thinks she’s just being mean. But the way she looks at their friend, biting her lip and straightening her eyes slightly, is truthfully relieved and thankful. His heart sinks even lower than he though possible.

“We'll talk later,” she says and turns away before Percy can think of something that’s worth saying to her.

So he just stays there and watches her leave for what seems like forever, until Beckendorf cuts though the silence, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You're in love with her,” he says, before turning around to finish organizing the stables.

“What? I-Uh… Um?”

Now that’s a sentence to be proud of, Percy.

Beckendorf snickers and puts the last things to its places before turning back to Percy and leading him to the doors. Reluctantly, Percy walks besides him, startled.

“Percy, it’s not a secret that you two like each other, not even for yourself, I think.”

Percy considers. He’d never put it in words, but deep down, he knows it's true. He nods slightly and looks down at the grass they’ve just stepped on.

“Okay then. But you’re in love with her,” Beckendorf repeats, and Percy fights the urge to choke. He doesn’t know why people call the feeling having butterflies in your stomach because, really, he mostly feels like throwing up.

He finally manages to speak. “Why do you say that?”

His friend only laughs and faces the horizon. “I have my reasons. But let’s say… The way you looked at her as she left. Like she was punching you instead.”

“I think I would feel better if she punched me. At least I’d know what to expect.”

Beckendorf laughs loudly for a few moments, before they fall in a comfortable silence.

“What did you fight about anyway?”

“She was trying to teach me and I wasn’t paying attention.”

“What- Why?” 

Percy can feel his cheeks turn red and he groans uncomfortably, considering what to say. “I, um… The sunlight on her hair, and her eyes were glittering and her lips-“

The son of Hephaestus stops suddenly in front of him, facing him, open-mouthed, amused for a while.

Percy didn’t think it was possible, but he blushes even harder and puts his hands on his pockets, shrugging slightly.

Finally, Beckendorf smirks and shakes his head, knowingly. “Ohh, man,” he pats Percy’s shoulder slightly. “You’re so in love with her…”

With that, he turns around and starts walking away. 

“Wait!” Percy shouts almost too late. “What do I do with that?” 

His so-called friend shrugs and throws his arms in the air. “Take her to the fireworks!”

Oh. Yeah, the 4th of July.

Percy can’t help but thinking the fireworks do seem better than archery lessons.

[mmvalentine]

The Pianist pt 4 | Jurdan

Modern AU. Part 1 part 2 part 3 part 5

Jude woke up with a bad taste in her mouth and cotton wool in her brain. She groaned, groped around on the night stand for her phone and had to look at the screen through one eye because the light hurt her.

Does Cardan wake up like this every day? Jude wondered. And if so, how was he not dead?

Cardan. Shit.

Jude had a vague memory of kissing Cardan at Locke's party, but she was not entirely sure that she hadn't dreamt it. Fuck it. Cardan had been with so many girls she very much doubted one drunk kiss at a party would even register for him. Jude refused to be embarrassed.

In fact she was pretty sure that what she was actually feeling was annoyance, since he a) had managed to get under her skin even though she absolutely didn’t want him there and hadn’t invited him and b) was now striking up some exercises on the piano that sounded like he was playing them on the inside of her skull. Since when did Cardan start anything before lunch?

Jude tried to roll over and go back to sleep. Luckily for her, this was her one day a week off from all three of her jobs. Unluckily for her, Cardan was only just getting started.

Twenty minutes later, there was a pause. Jude sighed her relief as the infernal exercises finally stopped- only for a furious Baroque piece to begin. “No no no no,” Jude yelled. She flung back her covers, still dressed in the black dress from the night before, with bed hair and yesterday’s makeup, and stalked out the door barefoot.

Through the fire door, up one flight of steps, and down the hall to Cardan’s flat. She hammered her fist on his front door.

"Cardan!" she barked. "Cardan you insufferable ass!"

The piano stopped, and before he could get to her she yanked the door handle. It was unlocked, and Jude opened the door to a very surprised Cardan who was himself just reaching for the knob.

"Jude?"

"Yes Jude, hello it’s me your downstairs fucking neighbour who cannot sleep through this racket!"

Cardan just stood and stared at her. Some quiet part of Jude’s mind was sure she looked like a madwoman, but the louder part ignored it and continued the tirade.

"I mean for fuck’s sake Cardan what do you have against sleep?" She flung the words at him. “You keep me up all through the night because you refuse to operate during daylight hours like a normal person, and then the one time I want to sleep in, the one time- Cardan do you know I never ever ever sleep in? And then this one time I think maybe I’ll just relax a little, here you are like you’ve got some kind of personal vendetta against me getting a full eight hours!"

She paused to draw breath, and still Cardan just stood there. It was infuriating.

"Well?" She demanded.

And then Cardan put both his hands around her face, and pulled her mouth to his.

The heat was instant. Jude burned up under it in for a second, then realised what was happening and cut the kiss off.

But Cardan was having none of that. He pulled her right back to him, and Jude did not have enough willpower to break away a second time. The shocking fever of it wiped out all logical thought and the next thing she knew she was folding her arms around his neck. Cardan wrapped his own around her waist, stooping a little to reach her and then pulling her up against his body. He took a step back and Jude let him lead her into his apartment, the door closing softly behind them.

Cardan moved his mouth against hers and when his tongue lashed out she was only too eager to meet it. She scraped her nails against his neck as his hands slid into the tangle of her hair.

Jude took another step forward, and Cardan backed into a lamp. It toppled over noisily, but he didn’t let her stop the kiss. Just moved them to the side, where Jude’s back hit a shelf and two books fell out. Cardan didn‘t seem to care at all. Pushed her further into the wall while his teeth found her bottom lip, and knocked a frame down as his hand hit the plaster behind her.

Jude tugged him closer at the waist, and returned every one of his kisses. She might have kept kissing him all day, he tasted so good, but then in between one breath and the next he whispered her name, and she realised.

She was making out with Cardan.

Jude shoved him away, hard, and stormed out the door without a word.

////

Cardan didn't see Jude for a week after that.

It was strange, they had been in each other's proximity for a long time now and not had a lot to do with each other but now, somehow, he was quite sure she was avoiding him.

He didn't know quite what to feel about that kiss.

In his defence, she had started it. That night of Locke's party- no, before that. The night she started singing him to sleep through the air vents. She had floated into his life through his ears and now her absence chafed like a burr in his shoe. Of course, in the past days there was no singing. Not even when Cardan lay there for an hour, waiting to hear her voice.

Locke had seen her.

In spite of the mess that had been that party, and the morning after, it seemed that Jude had taken on Cardan's advice and agreed to meet with Locke for the play.

And according to Locke, things were going very well. He raved about Jude's voice, which irritated Cardan to no end. He had put his ear to the carpet just to hear her, and now he had to share her with Locke? Prick.

Locke, as always, had an easy time of assembling the rest of his cast. Cardan did not think him a bad writer, but he did suspect the queues for his casting call had more to do with who his father was than with his skills as a playwright.

He had been auditioning for a couple of weeks now, and with Jude in place, he was ready to call his first cast meeting. Cardan, Nicasia and Valerian were expected to attend too- Nicasia and Valerian never missed a chance to be on stage, and Cardan was invited for his "musical ear."

So there they all were, on a Friday evening, in the old theatre Locke's dad let him use. Waiting for the last few people to arrive. When Jude walked through the door she nodded to Locke, but avoided Cardan's gaze.

Fine, he thought. If she didn't want to talk to him, he certainly wasn't going to force her. He thought of the rant she had loosed on him that morning last week, and figured it was probably better this way.

Finally, Locke called them all to attention, and Cardan sat in the back row with Nicasia and Valerian as Locke addressed them all from the stage. Cardan put his feet up on the chair in front of him, and let Nicasia doze on his shoulder while Valerian picked things out of the soles of his boots with a pocket knife.

"So without further ado,' Locke was saying, may I present to you our stunning leading lady, Taryn."

Cardan looked up. The small group were politely clapping as a tall, thin woman stood and nodded at them all. She was all blonde hair and heroin chic, just Locke's type. But what about-

"And of course our vocalist, discovered by yours truly and pulled from the bowels of the subway tunnels, Jude!"

The group applauded mildly again, but Jude did not stand up. Locke continued. "Jude is going to provide the singing voice for Taryn, although I haven't decided whether we're going to pre-record or get her to sing live backstage."

What?

"What?" Jude demanded. The cast went quiet. "You want me to sing for Taryn?"

"Yes, of course," Locke said. "You've got a lovely voice, Jude, but Tarym looks more the part, don't you think?"

"Well you didn't fucking tell me that when I agreed to do this, Locke."

"Jude," Locke held up his hands. "Please stay calm. I'm sorry if you misunderstood."

"If I misunderstood? You lied to me. Why in the hell would I want to stand around behind a curtain so that someone prettier than me can get the credit?"

"Aw come on, Jude. It's not like that. This is a very common practice in show business," Locke insisted.

Now that the drama was amping up, Nicasia and Valerian were suddenly paying attention.

"Yeah come on, Jude," Valerian called down. "It's a compliment, you have a great face for recording!"

"Darling, these are all Juilliard trained performers," Nicasia added. "You didn't actually think you were going to be on stage did you?"

"I didn't ask to be here," Jude said, picking up her bag. "Fuck this, and fuck you guys slowly with a fork."

She strode out the door, right past their row.

"Jude, wait," Cardan said, scrambling out of his seat.

"You stay the hell away from me," Jude hissed, then the door slammed behind her and Nicasia burst into hysterical laughter. Cardan looked back down toward Locke, who was shaking his head tragically.

"This is why you never hire amateurs," he said sadly, and in that moment, Cardan hated them all.

****

Hooo boy okay a lot happened in this chapter! We are in a two week lockdown after a COVID break out so I guess you get lots of writing this weekend. Someone please hug them for meee

JURDAN MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @asteria-of-mars @swankii-art-teacher @loosingdreams @feysand-loml @cityofbookish @story-scribbler

[vanaglori-ah]

eternals (a review)

spoilers ahead in case anyone hasn’t seen it!!

disclaimer: this is my opinion so please do not come for me (especially if you’re a cishet yt male marvel fan).

keep in mind: eternals means i’m talking about the movie, eternals means i’m talking about the ensemble

so i finally watched the eternals and i procrastinated in actually writing this review so this is a few days late. but here’s everything i have to say about it.

general impression

i had a lot of fun! eternals was a fun movie! not necessarily a good movie but a fun movie!! idk i enjoyed going “omg jon snow” “omg robb stark” “OMG SALMA HAYEK” every time the respective actor was on screen. it was a fun movie and i think the cinematography was absolutely stunning!! the pacing was...slow. the pacing was BAD guys. i hated the cuts and how they went about the flashbacks. like they were poorly placed within the story. like WHO WROTE THE STORY LIKE THIS IT HURTS MY HEART AS A WRITER!!! eternals also could easily be a 4 hour movie with 3 hours dedicated to the characters ALONE. on a more technical note, the movie is TOO DARK! can’t see shit. the cast of characters was definitely too big for this film to cram within 2 1/2 hours. i wish we got to see what their lives were like before reuniting. like imagine makkari overseeing sites of archeological excavations, gilgamesh’s daily routine in caring for thena (can you imagine him asking her what kind of pie she likes and she doesn’t know so he ends up making multiple for her to try!!), phastos everyday routine, kingo getting up early so he can film (cue montage of him getting ready on set). i also remember a lot of people on my tiktok fyp going crazy over the ships and i expected to see...more and got crumbs. i partially think that’s because of filming restrictions which, in turn, doesn’t let the movie fully flesh everyone out. the only person’s routine we see is sersi and speaking of the ensemble...

ajak

my god my jaw dropped when she died because why? WHY KILL AJAK OFF SO EARLY? it makes me so mad because we don’t REALLY see her connection with the other eternals? we don’t see her fall in love with earth and with humankind. i think they severely underused salma hayek and i would like to see her return at some point because she’s amazing and marvel really missed out.

sersi

listen i love gemma chan but sersi? sersi was boring. i was not interested in her in the slightest. i’ve never read any comics with the eternals in them but sersi is boring. i think her character development is small and a lot more subtle but it’s not interesting to watch. her powers are definitely very interesting and i would like to see her use them more in daily life. like a daily routine with a superhero twist. i’m also curious about her relationship dane. what’s different? what comparisons can we make to her relationship with ikaris? does dane remind her of ikaris sometimes or never at all? how did they meet? how did they start dating? i think they showed sersi’s compassion for humanity well in the flashbacks and her love for humankind. i would imagine her to take part in political movements and yeah i want to see more of her throughout modern history.

ikaris

oh no! a white man! all jokes aside ikaris just fits as an antagonist, as a white man. nothing much i have to say. he doesn’t exactly leave an impression on me other than him being with sersi. he also killed ajak. will not forgive him for it.

sprite

i think we all hate sprite. “ikaris you’re the strongest! ikaris you should lead us!” really gonna turn on sersi like that? who you live with? no surprise she’s a white woman too. sprite’s reasoning for turning on sersi, too, sounds unbelievable. like you want to experience everything humans experience? then how about they show us sprite envying other humans? i guess the scene of sprite at the bar shows us but i just want more. also why even fall in love with ikaris? like what makes ikaris SOOOO special?

makkari

sweet beautiful makkari. i wish to see more of her! her powers are simple and there isn’t much to say about makkari because she’s only a side character. i would watch a whole show of makkari trying to get the emerald tablet and finding different archeological artifacts. and her and druig? please give me more!! that’s all i ask!

druig

i didn’t expect to find druig so attractive but he’s very attractive. and i wish we saw more of him. i am more excited to see him in the potential sequel because he is going to have a bigger role in rescuing sersi and the others. i think his personality fits with his powers, being that he can control the minds of humans and generally doesn’t want to be near them which, i think, makes him an interesting foil to sersi in a way?

gilgamesh

i cried when he died. enough said. this man is so gentle and he cares for thena and i just want what they have honestly because he’s sweet. i felt so sad when his pie fell from the skillet.

phastos

i think phastos is the more human eternal. i think he represents cynicism with stem and scientific development in general. seeing his reaction to america using the atomic bomb on japan was heart wrenching, gut wrenching. and why shouldn’t he be disillusioned by humankind? we’ve committed so many atrocities against one another and all of them have been justified by some bullshit reasoning! i do love him and his husband and family and i would love to learn more about phastos after world war 2, how he met his husband, what kind of college major he was (definitely can see him turning to humanities after world war 2).

thena

i am gay for a reason! i did cry at gilgamesh’s death but what got to me the most was thena’s clear expression of pain. she’s perfectly played as a tortured warrior and i think this contrasts well with a lot of angelina jolie’s characters (since she’s more known to play stoic action heroines with no depth and are victims of the male gaze). she’s given insight in small scenes which is why i would like to see more of her in the future. what i don’t like about thena’s character is just how mahd wy’ry seems to be an afterthought with her. i would like to know how she came to terms with her illness, if there was a way for her to control it without continually wiping away her memories, how gilgamesh helped her managed if possible.

kingo

there’s not much to kingo that i can give insight on since i haven’t dipped my toes into bollywood. but i think he’s funny, he’s fun. a little superficial but that makes a lot of sense considering he’s been bollywood’s leading man for like a century.

conclusion

eternals would’ve been better as a tv show than a movie. about 13 episodes with 10 episodes being more episodic to showcase each eternal (so one episode per eternal) and about 3 episodes dedicated to the plot. the first episode, i would start off with the death of ajak and the eternals reuniting and then the second one starts with sersi, her life with the eternals and, most notably, after they separated. go in whatever eternals order you want (ajak should go after sersi since she is dead) and then at episode 12 you pick back up with the plot (or something) having caught up with all the eternals AND having gotten to know them personally. this is definitely a film not for the standard cishet yt male marvel fanbase. also i’m sorry but WHY EARTH? WHAT MAKES EARTH SO SPECIAL?

final score

6/10

[mangodelorean]

Bad and Crazy - Ep 01 recap/musings

Some stray thoughts through the lucid lurgy of my covid booster jab (please get it if you're able to) that turned into a recap of sorts:

The opening credits are suitably mental.

...As was that trippy opening sequence with the Fight Club-esque boxing nightmare (I'd thought it was real from the previews) that sets up the Anti-Corruption Unit's Senior Inspector Ryu Su Yeol's social positioning nicely: He thinks he's got (literal) clout, and it seems like people are in his corner, but they just want to use him for their own ends.

Writer: How do we show how reckless this idiot is? Let's have him wake up in a bathtub FULL of water, then traipse around his flat in soaking wet clothes and then fall over like a dickhead:

Su Yeol finds his car damaged, so he Karens off to the security office to demand to see the CCTV footage... which shows it's actually him that did it. I'm glad we're already touching on this.

[Why would you go to work right after not remembering that you trashed your own car? Did he just think he was that wasted?]

He whines to himself about still having to make car payments when he runs into his ex Hee Kyum, who immediately calls him out about screwing over her captain just so he could get promoted. When he tries to make her feel small by bringing up their break-up (ew) and that he's her senior (double ew), she tells him he's the problem. He tries to snark his way out of it but she's not having any of it and flips him effortlessly to the ground. I love how she flips the back of her jacket like it's a superhero cape as she leaves. Like a cat pretending it didn't fall over, he jokes that she was "practicing her kicks" outside. Yeah, no-one's buying that.

At work and he's late (obviously). His partner Jae Seon asks if he drank last night. "Hey, that's not important." Ha.

The man they've brought in for questioning is already there, and Su Yeol makes up a flimsy excuse for his lateness about the cafe being busy. [He really is the person who shows up late with a Starbucks.] But at least he brought coffee for everyone. Iced americanos, though. Cheapskate. The man they're questioning is Kim Gye Sik. Su Yeol extends a hand but it's met with an icy stare from Kim Gye Sik, who points out that this "isn't exactly an honourable situation, is it?".

Su Yeol tries to look like he's defusing any tension but with the emotional expertise of an external HR consultant coming in to fire everyone. He offers condolences for what happened to Gye Sik's slain colleague Tak Min Su, but he's watching the other man's behaviour. Gye Sik recalls the situation: he saw Min Su fall from a height, saw the suspect fleeing and shot him, but the suspect, too, fell to his death. Cut to the present and Gye Sik is distraught, but Su Yeol has this look on his face that he can't wait for the other guy to stop crying. Out of context, he looks like the world's biggest arsehole.

Su Yeol mentions that the suspect, Sim Sang Ho, was close to Min Su, even helping him get clean from drugs. Gye Sik dismisses this by mentioning the suspect's drug history (implying potential for violence), and that he only shot him in the leg. But Su Yeol pokes holes in his story - the suspect had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time, and was on the edge of a rooftop with no railings, and that any DNA evidence of the killing was washed away by the rain - effectively accusing Gye Sik of murdering his own partner and covering it up. Whoa - that's a really heavy accusation. Two older cops - the Chief and the Commissioner - on the other side of the room's two-way mirror mention in the same breath that Gye Sik is the best cop in narcotics, but that his ego was getting too big and that he pissed off the Commissioner's nephew. So this is all politics.

In what's probably not even midday yet, Su Yeol drinks expensive whiskey in Chief Kwak Bong Pil's office, the latter stringing the former along with talk of promotion. He calls Su Yeol a "fox" (heh) for pretending not to know he was drinking with the Commissioner's nephew last night.

Drink every time Su Yeol complains about his back. But, at the sauna, he complains to himself about Hee Kyum's silver-spoon upbringing and why she can't just live comfortably and quietly. On the verge of a steam-room haze, he notices a dude in full motorcycle leathers and a bike helmet, and his first instinct is to think it's a delivery man. Ha. He is here to deliver, but not food - he silently walks up to Su Yeol (without slipping), and immediately beats the shit out of him - throwing him on the floor, hurling him against a sink so hard it breaks, rubbing salt in his eyes, garrotting him with a shower hose and spraying him with scalding hot water and, finally, sucker-punching him into the pool. He sinks into the water, and we're right back where we started.

It's the perfect place to put that title card. Chef's kiss!

Time to meet our wholesome cinnamon bun character: Officer O Gyeong Tae, whose presence is so threatening that a gaggle of tiny children smash into him and almost knock him over, but he responds with a genuine smile. He spots a young girl putting up a poster and is about to gently tell her it's not allowed when he notices it's a missing poster - and that the missing person is the girl's mother. Oh :(

Gyeong Tae takes her to the station and meets Do In Bom, the detective assigned to the mother's case, who dismisses the woman as a runaway drug addict because of her past. He asks Gyeong Tae why he cares. That's like asking a rainbow why it's so colourful.

As a palate cleanser, we're back to this dickhead Su Yeol Karenning it up at the sauna's front desk (he legit asks to speak to a manager), complaining about the man in the helmet and why they can't find him on their CCVTV, and keeps repeating that the attacker even wore his shoes in there. The poor minimum-waged employee apologises repeatedly and tries to placate him with a refund, but Su Yeol is insulted by the offer and argues that it's not about the money, it's about the principle of running a business properly. He's interrupted by a phone call from Bong Pil and, sensing he's about to get promoted, his mood/ego lifts. He brags about how busy he is, berates the employee for treating a long-term customer this way and repeats his disgust at the offer of a refund as he storms off... only to return seconds later to change his mind. When he can't produce the original credit card he paid with, he ragequits, stage left. Ha!

Back to Cinnamon Bun Gyeong Tae, who's walking the little girl home while carrying her little purple backpack for her. She tells him that her mother would always message her every day, even when she was abroad, but that she's never been to her mother's place because she's "busy". If that implies what I think it does, I wish things were safer for that line of work. He promises to find her mother and she offers a clover leaf she found and an adorable smile in response. Please protect these two at all costs.

Back again to our favourite dickhead, whose day is marred by the arrival of an even bigger dickhead, Senior Inspector Ju, in a garish yellow Porsche ("I bought it to celebrate my son's first birthday."). Su Yeol teabags Ju with his impending promotion, only for Jae Seon to maniacally run over to him and basically break it to him that... he's not getting promoted. It's Ju, and it's the only reason he's here.

In Bong Pil's office, Su Yeol is seething. In what seems to be an office tradition of saying abject bullshit and expecting the other person to believe it, Bong Pil explains that Ju's father is childhood friends with the Commissioner. An enraged Su Yeol points out that there's no way that's possible since the two grew up around 3 hours away from each other. Bong Pil just deadpans "Good point". Lmao. Su Yeol isn't happy, but Bong Pil negs Su Yeol with a rundown of his history: He got the highest score on his entrance exam, but he only graduated high school, never went to college, and wasn't born with wealth or any of its connections. He tells Su Yeol he needs a "reality check", and I don't think I've seen anyone want to chew off their own lip so angrily.

Gyeong Tae and his colleagues discuss the girl's missing mother, named Jeong Yu Na. They, too, write her off as a drug addict/runaway that doesn't need bothering with. Sigh. They joke that they usually just deal with missing cats (is that a Strangers From Hell reference?). A diligent Gyeong Tae isn't giving up, and forgoes a rather sad-looking bowl of jiajangmyeon to rush off when he gets a lead: He's found the building where Yu Na lived.

The night-time security guard tells him he doesn't remember Yu Na and that he doesn't have time to help (hmm). He then runs into a resident who tells him Yu Na's unit number, and he has a locksmith come to basically break in, while the security guard dobs him in over the phone. O, Officer O, can you please be careful?

Inside, the flat is quite homey. I like the set details: plenty of stiletto heels in the hall, a full bar cubbyhole stacked with top-shelf booze, a cozy couch and cute photos of Yu Na and her daughter, but a sad little kitchen area with run-down, stained appliances. Gyeong Tae smells bleach in the bathroom and, on instinct, lifts up the drain to find a clump of hair mixed with blood. Bingo.

In pops Detective Do who doesn't say anything - but instead brutally, and I mean brutally - attacks Gyeong Tae. It's horrifying to watch.

The next morning, Bong Pil calls Su Yeol into his office and, picking from a box of colourful macarons, offers him the yellow one (heh). Su Yeol declines, his ego still bruised from before, but perks up when Bong Pil tells him of an opportunity to curry favour with Assemblyman Do - yep, the cousin of that Detective Do. Su Yeol declines, citing Detective Do's famous reputation as a "ticking time bomb", but caves when he finds out that the Assemblyman specifically requested a meeting with him.

I understand networking among people who rank higher than you but, fuck me, I wasn't prepared for the level of second-hand cringe in this scene. At his brother's pizza shop, a simpering Su Yeol greets Assemblyman Do with a drink on a tray. Assemblyman Do sits but Su Yeol remains standing, snivelling, bowing, bursting out fake laughs, and the already existing, significant height difference between the two makes this darkly comical. It's like watching a giraffe squash champagne grapes for a hamster.

Su Yeol promises to smooth things over and sees him off with another bow. In walk his older brother Dong Yeol and mother, and Su Yeol chides the both of them for having her come in when she's still recovering from the back surgery he paid for. Mother Ryu replies that she said she'd pay him back, and Dong Yeol mentions that Su Yeol is so caring and technically the family breadwinner since he also opened up the shop for him. Su Yeol seems exasperated by all of this talk, as does Mother Ryu, who starts swatting the older brother with a rag. Su Yeol hands Mother Ryu a menu and tells her to "hit him harder". Ha! I don't think there's a lack of love in this family.

Su Yeol and Jae Seon arrive at Gyeong Tae's substation, and the former yells at the latter for making the station head wait outside for them. Su Yeol tries his "it's just a chat" line but his face drops when he sees Gyeong Tae's - it's so bruised, bloodied and swollen that on such an innocent-looking face as Gyeong Tae's, even a wankering bastard like Su Yeol feels a twinge of sympathy.

Thankfully, for Su Yeol's ruthless assholerypirations, this goes out the window when he "chats" to Gyeong Tae about what happened. When Su Yeol becomes yet another voice to ask "Why are you bothering?", Gyeong Tae can only answer with the truth: that he's a police officer, and that he just wanted to help because he's a police officer. Su Yeol dickheads back with "You think you're the only police officer?", pointing out that Detective Do is also a police officer, as is he, and snarks that maybe Gyeong Tae thinks he's better than everyone and that everyone else should quit. Unfortunately, Helmet Man does not show in this scene to kick him in the balls. But Su Yeol does listen when Gyeong Tae says he saw blood in Yu Na's flat. Off they go!

But nothing's there. Gyeong Tae swears on what he saw, but Su Yeol dismisses him as an American crime drama addict.

Su Yeol meets Detective Do at a cafe, where the former tells the latter to offer an apology. Do balks at this, and Su Yeol pulls rank, saying that the only one he has to be nice to is Assemblyman Do, not Detective Do. He thanks Do for the drink and then leaves. It doesn't seem like the detective's ego will let Su Yeol handle things quietly, though.

Back at the station, Su Yeol is flummoxed by Gyeong Tae's spotless work record. There's nothing he can use against him, so he tells a weight-lifting Jae Seon to get some dirt, no matter what. But Jae Seon isn't having it (yay!) and, weights still swinging, he has a go at Su Yeol and gives him shit for working this hard for such an ignoble cause. Su Yeol claps back and scolds Jae Seon for bringing in his weights and tries to lift just one of them, but his shoulder pops with a disgusting crack. You deserve it, you dickhead! Jae Seon mocks him for being out of shape. Ha.

Meanwhile, Gyeong Tae can't let this go, and stops by Yu Na's unit again, where he runs into a neighbour. She starts telling him info, but cuts herself short and runs into the bathroom. When he follows her, he finds her pretending to be fighting him off - even hurting her hand with broken glass - while the aforementioned shitty security guard arrives and turns him in. It's a set-up.

Now Gyeong Tae's being questioned by Jae Seon, who actually offers sympathy via food. But Gyeong Tae's facing a serious accusation of sexual assault by the neighbour. What a mess.

In the hospital, Su Yeol questions the neighbour, but his body language is just that of someone who does not give a shit. And we know why: The neighbour can't answer a single question without changing her story multiple times, prompting Su Yeol to phone Detective Do and tell him to stop muddying up the process with his shitty attempts to handle things.

Back home, Su Yeol tries to relax with a beer in his boring flat but realises this case isn't going to be as morally straightforward as he wants it to be: Detective Do's attitude is complicating things, and Gyeong Tae is far from the egotistic pariah that Gye Sik was being painted as.

But there's little time for more thought as in comes Helmet Man, who boops Su Yeol with said helmet until Bathrobe Dickhead falls unconscious.

He wakes up groaning in Yu Na's bathroom, which is UV-lit to show a myriad of blood stains. But, wait? UV light? How? Cut to Helmet Man, still in full leathers, swinging a UV light like he's at a school rave. Su Yeol tries to fight him by punching his bare fist onto the helmet like a fucking idiot, to which Helmet Man responds by kicking him back into the bathtub and knocking the shower curtain over him like a raccoon he's just cornered in his garage.

Su Yeol chases his attacker outside only to find him on his motorbike, running literal circles around him and terrorising him with the bike until he wakes up, back in his chair in his flat. Alone again, Bathrobe Wanker tries to convince himself that it's just a dream.

At the disciplinary hearing the next morning, Detective Do rattles off some bullshit about how bad he feels for hurting Gyeong Tae, who sits silently next to him. The disciplinary committee uses Gyeong Tae's breaking and entering, along with the sexual assault accusation, as negative points against him, but adds that the Anti-Corruption Unit "sorted it out". Like shit, they did. But of course a naive trusting Gyeong Tae runs into Jae Seon and Su Yeol outside, where he thanks the latter profusely. Out of earshot, Jae Seon rightfully berates Su Yeol for even including the sexual assault accusation in the report, to which Su Yeol arseholes back with "What was I supposed to do? Hide something that actually happened?" Fuck you.

Outside, Detective Do "thanks" Su Yeol and shows him footage of what appears to be Yu Na using her credit card at a convenience store, implying she's alive. Hmm. Su Yeol gets a positive-seeming call from Assemblyman Do.

Despite everything, Gyeong Tae has gone back to Yu Na's flat again - and alone, again (I'm going with brave and determined instead of stupid), where he discovers the unit has been emptied and renovated. He remembers the birthday present the little girl had mentioned and clocks it as the giant bear toy he saw previously, and he rushes out to the bins to scramble for it. He finds it, and I swear it looks like he's holding it like it's an actual child.

Su Yeol arrives at Assemblyman Do's estate - it's a party for his daughter, but there seem to be mostly adults there. Poor kid. Su Yeol grabs a flute of champagne and does the aimless "fuck I don't know any of these people" shuffling about that you're lying if you've never said you've done it.

The first person to greet him is, to his chagrin, Detective Do, who offers to get drunk with him to defuse the awkwardness but then deliberately makes a beeline to some other random person. Ha. Su Yeol spots the Commissioner who he thinks is greeting him, so he bows, only for the Commissioner to walk right by his bowing arse to say hello to Assemblyman Do. Ouch.

Giving up (I would, too), Su Yeol necks the entire glass of champagne, only to be spotted and called over by Assemblyman Do. In a moment of panic, Su Yeol spits out everything and rushes over to be introduced. The Commissioner: "Oh, it's you. I know you, of course." HA!

Assemblyman Do excuses himself to put his daughter to sleep (not like that) and leaves the two men to chat. The awkwardness is painful. After some silence, Su Yeol tries to break the ice by mentioning what a pleasant night it is, only for the heavens to choose that moment to crack with such loud thunder that the Commissioner visibly jumps. Pfft.

Assemblyman Do overhears his wife talking about one of the gifts, a giant teddy bear with a nannycam... and remembers, ten days ago, at Yu Na's flat, while half-dressed, yelling at Yu Na's body (corpse?) for "bleeding so much", that there was a similar bear there.

Luckily that bear, as we cut to it, is in the arms of Gyeong Tae, who tries to reunite it with the little girl at the place he last dropped her off. But the woman who lives there said the girl and her grandmother left without a forwarding address. On his way home, he's knocked over by a passing biker, and it's then that he notices the hidden camera in the bear. Bingo!

He sprints home and plugs in the camera's memory card. But he's interrupted by Detective Do, who brutalises him even more horrifically than before. Sob.

Meanwhile, a drunken Su Yeol is being driven home (by a designated driver, in his own car) while he swoons over the business cards he's collected.

Gyeong Tae tries to swallow the memory card, but Detective Do literally reaches into his throat and yanks it back out (jesus christ), before sloshing petrol over the entire place. He stops to stare at Gyeong Tae's bloodied, gasping face. Conscience?

Back to Car Dickhead, who's feeling a bit sick, so he asks the driver "not to drive so rough"... only to find that he's alone in the car and someone is actually just shaking it - guess who?

Su Yeol leans out of the car to vomit and Helmet Man taunts him, saying that it's fate they met again. Su Yeol tries to punch him but is no match for Helmet Man, who swiftly grounds him with several kicks and breaks his phone before he can call 112. Helmet Man drags him around like a ragdoll and brings him to Kyung Tae's rooftop flat, demanding he apologise. But when they open the door: KABLAMO!

Su Yeol tries to flee, but Helmet Man knocks the wind out of him with a stomach punch, and forces him into the flat. Su Yeol sees Gyeong Tae lying unconscious and tries to revive him, but he's out. A pillar collapses and blocks their exit, and Su Yeol yells at Helmet Man, asking how the hell they're going to get out. Helmet Man smashes a nearby window and gestures downward. Without much choice as the fire creeps closer to the stove, the trio make a calculated leap and land, back-down, on top of a car. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Gyeong Tae is still unconscious, but Su Yeol's arm under his neck broke his fall.

But Helmet Man not only pulled off a superhero landing, he did it while literally on fire. Facing an utterly astounded Su Yeol, he brushes the fire from his arms like it's just dust, removes his helmet, and smiles.

"It's nice to meet you, Ryu Su Yeol."

Su Yeol, a crumpled, bloody mess, grimaces, but Helmet Man grins broadly in reponse.

And that's episode 1!

Bloody grand stuff so far. To say it's living up to its title is an understatement, but there hasn't been a slow moment. We've seen snippets of side characters but enough to create intrigue, and I'm curious to see where this murder case goes.

As for Helmet Man/K: I don't think it's a secret that he's a split personality, but how is he manifesting? Is he a real entity brought into existence, or is he entirely in Su Yeol's head, like in Fight Club?

With the duality of Su Yeol and K, the concept so far feels like a bit like a reverse Venom (good making bad good), but with the both of them being unhinged in some way, I can't wait to see how crazy this will get. I always love a redemption story arc, but I hope they don't rush it - it's awfully satisfying at the moment seeing such a dickhead of a lead character getting his shit handed to him throughout the episode.

I'd thought we were getting 16 episodes, but perhaps the pacing would be more manic in just the 12. Can't wait for the rest!

Stray thoughts:

So many of the non-dialogue shots are so screenshot-worthy. What a grand DP!

Credit to Lee Dong Wook for making Su Yeol watchable despite the fact that the character, so far, is an utter bellend of a piece of shit (by design). And props to his physical comedy - that spit-take was gold.

"You're a fox" I see what you did there.

Su Yeol's flat is DEPRESSING. Most of those shelves are empty, there's nothing on the walls, and he has a single-seat chair with no other living room furniture.

The four-leaf clovers on Yu Na's bathroom mirror :(

Helmet Man/K seriously uses the front end of his bike like a sword in the chase scene, coming so close to practically dismembering Su Yeol.

I'm loving Jae Seon as what could be the show's voice of reason while Gyeong Tae is the moral compass.

The rain/water scenes introducing Helmet Man/K are absolutely a reference to Blade Man and I refuse to believe otherwise.

That bowing clown at the party a stone's throw away from giant Su Yeol and his hunched, ready-to-bow shoulders. Heh.

I have misophonia-triggered OCD, so it pains me to realise that K definitely punched Su Yeol so that he fell backwards onto his own vomit.

I have been in a house fire. This is accurate.

Maybe Su Yeol just drowned in the bathtub and this entire show is just a dream.

[mrsblackruby]

Hey👋🏿 hope you’re having a nice day 😊

Sorry for cross tagging but the harassment is getting out of hand. Okay I’m a Billy Hargrove fan willing to make a cross tag post [which turned into a 5 part series ] discussing how to treat and respect fans in the strangers things community. I’m hoping to showcase behavior we shouldn’t engage in when we see someone who likes a character who we dislike. I’m also hoping to start a respectful discussion to help anyone on tumblr who doesn’t understand Billy fans but wants to understand them.Let’s hope this doesn’t become overwhelming 😳

I’m open to fair criticism. Let me know if you interpret a post differently than me if you want. Please let me know your opinions if you have them.

Don’t worry I also want to be respectful to those who don’t like Billy because you have ur reasons to not like his character and connect to fiction however you want to connect to fiction. I want to make things clear I’m not trying to make a moral condemnation of anyone who has engaged in the behavior I critic in this post. There are much bigger problems in the world but I’m so passionate about this one because I’m a person of color who connects to Billy’s story arc and the way some antis treat Billy fans is just cruel. Billy fans are real people who exist and their stories have real life consequences. Online harassment in fandom is not excusable because it is still harassment.

This post is long as FUCK and will have different parts but even tho it’s long I find the conversation to still be interesting so keep that in mind if you read I’ll try to reblog it and pinned it on my blog for ease. There’s a lot to discuss and this conversation should be dealt with care. I will also have the different parts linked at the end of each post. ( I’m also a stupid teenager pls be kind)

I worked so hard on this.

Please share this if you want because I believe our fandom can combat the environment of harassment online we see. Nobody deserve this type of treatment for hyper-fixating on a fictional character that gives them comfort!

Tw for all parts// harassment, racism, discussion of abuse, and abuse apologia, death threats, spoilers for strangers things season 1-3

Tw for this part// harassment, racism, fictional suicide mentioned

I have taken screenshots to reference and prove the behavior I critic but I have gotten rid of all identifying content as to avoid further harassment. Please don’t go out looking to harass anyone. Let me know if I need to add any warnings. this is a somewhat serious, heavy, and layered discussion. We are talking about how humans connect to fiction here so it’s bound to be complex.

[important Note for entire series] All these posts are recent by the way just to show case the harassment is still and ongoing issue even tho Billy has been “ dead” for quite a while now. He might have killed him self but Billy is still my rat man. let me love 😍him.

The Harassment of Billy Hargrove Fans #1

“Okay let’s get started”

Assumptions and cruel judgments of Billy fans

In this Twitter post someone makes the assertion that being a Billy Hargrove fan is a red flag. I’m aware that this is not a tumblr user but I have seen some of this sentiment on tumblr. I will begin by criticizing this post because someone being a fan of a fictional character doesn’t make them and inherent threat to anybody’s personhood. I get that the person who posted this may even agree with what I just argued, that Billy fans aren’t a real life threat, but that’s not what is being communicated at all when someone reads this especially when a fan of Billy reads this. And if someone out there does believe this for one reason or another I’m going to continue to dispute your claim. Some Billy fans might engage in problematic behavior but to hold a layer of apprehension towards all fans of a character because of this might be something you need to reevaluate. Making a moral judgment on real human beings because they like a character is not okay especially if you don’t even know the reasoning.

Just because someone likes a character that might be a mass murderer in fiction doesn’t mean that now they support massacres, correct? Same logic applies here if someone does interpret Billy as racist but still likes his character that does not mean they think racism in the real world is okay ( or bullying, harassment, or anti feminism either) and that does not mean they can’t organize against real world problems effectively.

This is a crude assumption

First things first not every who likes Billy ships Harringrove

As a Harringrove shipper I can only speak for myself and say I could give less of a fuck if Billy is “good” or “bad”. That’s doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to smash king Steve. That’s also doesn’t mean he can’t be queer and it doesn’t mean I can’t like the ship. And it doesn’t mean that I can’t connect to Billy on a disastrously queer level ( got that phrasing from a grade A post on this hell site)

Believing Billy can see the errors in his ways and can heal and become a “good” person… doesn’t have to be a byproduct of being a shipper. it can just be a read someone has of a character so “anon” no disrespect to ya but your thinking is wrong.

Okay this is gonna be lengthy

Fine some Billy fans ignore the shit he did… but that’s not inherently bad. Fans can headcannon Billy into a completely different portrayal than what we see on screen and love him I don’t see a problem with that especially when they aren’t excusing any abuse.

The Duffers brothers failed at exploring racism in their show if that was their intention. Point blank period since this is a form of art it can be interpreted in many different perspectives. Especially if it is not tied to any explicit themes on racism in the text. I interpret Billy’s actions as racist but no one has to do so if they connect to the story in a different manner. I felt the weight of Billy’s “ certain type of people” comment. However it was only and implication not a confirmation. Stop being mad at people for not interpreting something left up to interpretation.The writers didn’t explicitly tackle the issue they wanted to tackle.

This might be helpful 2 know …I interpret Billy as racist, I’m also black, I also Stan Billy Hargrove.

Okay here we go… no-one has to interpret Billy’s actions as being racist so why assume that if someone likes Billy it’s because they’re racist just like him… if they don’t even think he’s racist. I hope that makes sense

I think Billy is racist 4 sure the story flows better for me that way and it makes a lot of sense to me. Now let’s talk about racism in the real world … racism is something that is taught. Racism is a big large system we are all conditioned into. Racism is something we must all unlearn in the real world. So in the fictional world I think there is an entertaining plot line that Billy can go down and unlearn his racism +stop beating up on children Billy 🤦🏿‍♀️. Because I see that potential growth that is why I like his character. Oh and no one ever talks about this but I head cannon Billy as fat phobic because of the “lard- ass” comment so my version of Billy is working through that as well.

I don’t wanna sound all high and mighty I can understand why someone might express this sentiment. I’m not gonna demonize someone who is black like me (black people have dealt with that enough). I also get why you would not even like Billy if you interpret him as racist. [Someone could have the same analysis of Billy as me and still not like him because how we connect to fiction is somewhat irrational.] I would just ask that we don’t jump to conclusions about anyone’s politics because of how they like a fictional character. That we treat other members in our fandom with respect.

I can never and will never excuse racism because if I do I would be turning a blind eye on a system that kills my loved ones. Your allowed to not like Billy Hargrove honestly I don’t see any Billy fans who care? Stop making crude assumptions about people who do Stan Billy Hargrove ur “ joke” is a hurtful misrepresentation.

Lol like #notallbillyfans am I right guys 👉🏿

*crickets sounds and booing*

okay sorry let’s move on…

The problem I hope i highlighted is that you can not make inherent claims to thy morals of a human being because they like a fictional character.😂

Stand alone post: Me reading to much into the politics of Billy Hargrove/ Harringrove

THE 5 PART SERIES ON HARASSMENT:

#2 #3 #4 #5