#comes after the quote about his blue eyes in the novel

[iwt-v]

🕸️ The Vampire Lestat & Queen of the Damned references/foreshadowing (season 2)

[stupidlovergirl]

TL;DR He's HOT! In which you get caught gushing about how into them you are, by them

Feat. Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan,Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor Dateables Version not edited

"What do I like about Lucifer?" you repeat back. "What is there not to like? He has a pretty good fashion sense, a mature vibe also-" you kept rambling, naming qualities you like about the eldest demon, from his physical qualities to his personality. 

He honestly couldn't believe his ears. He had just come to drop off some documents and ask questions. He didn't suspect that you and Diavolo would be talking about him, much less what you supposedly liked about him. The list must be quite great, as you have barely taken a breath and kept chattering off things.

"To sum it up, Lucifer is one the hottest men I've met. Mature with the just right amount of playfulness. Not to mention easy on the eyes" you finish, love sick look in your eyes

He stopped and waited before appearing a little while after. Diavolo could tell he heard, by the smug smirk he wore. You felt awkward, I mean you were literally JUST singing the man's praises. Giving the documents to Diavolo, Lucifer chatted a little before saying goodbye.

You immediately got called to his office after you came home. Man literally started quoting what you said as you rotted away in the chair in front of his desk. Don't worry, he's just having his fun before he tells you the feeling is mutual.

Mammon catches you talking to Asmo about him on one of your spa days. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop! Honest! You were just kinda loud and he could hear all that you were saying about him through the door.

“Have you SEEN his eyes Asmo? They are the prettiest shade of blue! Ugh, and his hair is so freaking soft. I have never been so in love. He can rob me blind as long as he just keeps smiling. I am so down bad. AND ANOTHER THING-!” you said, going on another tangent. 

Mammon is blushing sooo bad. He is so pumped you like him back! As you should, he IS your first man!!! He has no preservation instincts, so he yells in victory, fistpumping the air. Asmo gets on to him and they have an argument about how he needed to learn to stop that. You, on the other hand, are trying to hide.

Mammon kidnaps you (against all of Asmo's protest) and tells you that you should feel that way about him! He is the Great Mammon after all, your first man! He also stutters out that he likes you too. 

Leviathan does not know how the stars aligned, but he heard you and Beel talking in the kitchen. Well, you were talking as Beel scarfed down the entirety of the fridge and pantry. (He's hoping that his rainbow pizza is a survivor).

"He is just so dreamy, Beel. I don't know how he doesn't see it. His sunset eyes, his devotion to his games? Ugh, and when he goes on his nerd rants? Be still my beating heart!!" You exclaim dramatically. 

Through a muffled mouth of food, he hears his younger brother reply 

"Just tell him. I'm pretty sure he likes you back" 

"He's like a wild animal! Can't approach him to fast or he will run away!! Ugh, but I wanna kiss him so baddd"

He squeaks at that comment, quite loudly. The two of you come out of the kitchen, but Levi is GONE. He might have given away someone who was listening in, but he will not get caught.

Later in the week, he invites for an anime marathon, and makes it very obvious he knows. Just tell him there, he'll freak out, but accept anyways.

Honestly, it was your fault for talking about Satan in a library, especially quite close to the mystery novels.

He was looking for a novel, when he heard you and Mammon talking. He recalls that earlier in the week you two got in trouble for low quiz scores, so you must have been forced to stay here for so many hours.

"Ugh, he is so cute. I love him sooo much. He is so cute when he plays with the cats in the street. He looks so at peace and comfy I lose my mind. Not to mention, his ability to remember things? Iconic. He is the only reason I pass history. I have never felt this way before! I think Satan is, like, my perfect match."

"Good for you. Did you find a cheat sheet online?" Mammon replies boredly.

"I don't think Lucifer would appreciate you not even attempting the work, Mammon" Satan replies, startling both of you.

"Satan!" the both of you yell, in shock.

"H-how long have you been there?" You ask nervously. Oh, how cute is all Satan can think.

"Long enough"

He ignores it till Mammon and you finish your work, with his help of course. He tells you the feeling is mutual, and that he appreciates all the compliments.

Asmo was running late. It was usual, beauty takes time you know! It's also tasteful to be fashionably late, keeping suspense up. He does feel a little bad, as it is Solomon and you kept waiting. It was a cute new café that he had seen all over Devilgram, and just knew that the three of you had to go together.

He was about to yell out for you two, but he saw you passionately talking about something so he decided not to.

"He is just so pretty, Sol. Do you ever think he would be into me? He is completely out of my league, but maybe there's a small chance?? I could be, like, his funny little significant other who hypes him up!! I think Asmo would appreciate that, don't you?"

Solomon, who had noticed Asmo approaching, just shrugged. 

"I dunno, you ask him" is all he says, pointing at the object of your affections with a smirk.

Asmo is soooo happy!!!!! You and him are gonna be the prettiest couple to ever exist, and he tells you that right then and there. He announces that you're dating right on the spot, as you and he both obviously want to. You three have a good day out, and when you go home, Asmo spoils you as you both talk about how the other one is prettier.

Beel had just gotten out of a shower after a workout. He, you, and Belphie had a movie night planned. Aka, Beel gets snacks, Belphie sleeps through the entire thing, and you get to see something you have wanted to for a little bit while hanging out with the twins. It was a perfect win-win -win for all three of you. You and Belphie we're doing prep(you were while Belphegor slept the whole time) for when he came back in their room. So, when he heard you giggling in their room, Beel couldn't help but smile.

"He is so perfect, Belph! He cares so deeply for everyone, and is so kind. I dunno if I ever met such a sweetheart before. I think I should go for it, but I don't know. I figure I should ask you how he feels since he is your twin"

"Go for it" is all Belphegor replies with, sleep obvious in his words. He hears you laugh again, and then decides to open the door.

You look a little pale, and Belphie looks a little smug. He probably heard him coming down the hall, with his better hearing.

"Hey! So I thought-"

"You really feel that way?" Beel ask.

"Oh! You, uh, heard that. Yeah, I really do"

Ecstatic, he smiled so big when you said you were serious. Puppy boyfriend aquired baybee!!!!!!! You two watch the movie while holding hands and cuddling as best you could. Belphie appreciates you two being together but he's not giving up the best cuddle spot to indulge you two.

Belphie, Satan, and you had a scheduled Anti-Lucifer League meeting. The plan was to move everything in Lucifer's office half an inch to irk him. Belphegor had fallen asleep, so he came in a little later than you two. 

"He is so cute when he sleeps Satan! He literally acts like a cat! When he snuggles his head into my stomach I lose my mind!!! I might be reading into it too hard, but I think he might also like me back? Maybe I'm delusional, but it seems like it! I like Belphie so much, he makes me crazy"

"Criminally insane, crazy does not fully describe how in deep you are" Satan replies boredly, like he had heard this rant time and time again.

Belphie, is of course, happy. You like him! Him! Oh man, this is such a good day. He obviously acts like he doesn't know anything when he enters the room. You look awkward, and Satan is tired. After a day or two, he brings it up. He wanted to make you feel like he hadn't heard you. He makes fun of you for being so down bad, but accepts your feelings and tells you he feels the same. He might not show it, but he is also so into you it almost hurts.

[bogleech]

bog please help me which specific book is this i'm interested

It's Dirge, the second book in a trilogy about how humans and thranx came to form a single integrated civilization, though technically there are four books about this history; one standalone novel about first contact, and the trilogy that begins 20 years later. I'm gonna quote their wikipedia synopses:

Nor Crystal Tears: "The story follows a Thranx, Ryozenzuzex (i.e. Ryo, of Family Zen, clan Zu, Hive Zex) who came from an odd-numbered hatching (thranx offspring almost always come in multiples of two) immediately making him somewhat different from his brethren. Setting himself aside as different Ryo decides that he has to know what is the secret of the new space-faring race that supposedly wear "their skeletons inside".

Phylogenesis: "Desvendapur is an anti-social Thranx poet native to the colony on Willow-Wane who believes he can find new inspiration for his poetry by coming in contact with the physically repulsive humans, an intelligent mammal race that is unlike the insectoid thranx."

Dirge: "The Pitar are a close human analog to humans, appearing to be perfectly human except for a wider variety of hair and eye colors (including blue and violet among them) along with nearly god-like physiques. Most humans almost immediately view the Pitar as perfect. This complicated matters for the insectoid Thranx who wish to form a closer alliance with the humans. Some xenophobic humans go so far as to invade the small Thranx colony in the Amazon, killing many of the insect colonists. While this causes a political nightmare for both humans and Thranx, it also brings together the human chaplain and Thranx spiritual advisor who form the United Church."

Diuturnity's Dawn: "In the third and concluding novel of this trilogy, an uncomfortable archaeological alliance of Thranx, humans, and AAnn, explores the well-kept secrets of the lost civilization of the Sauun on the frontier world Comagrave. After a series of accidents that occur where the AAnn are convenient for helping an injured or stranded human, the chief Thranx scientist starts suspecting an anti-Thranx conspiracy." The AAnn are major antagonists throughout this continuity; they're its "war-loving" race ala the Klingons but they're desert dwelling flesh eating "reptiles" (it IS acknowledged that things like mammal, insect, bird etc. are just human colloquialisms for convergently evolved aliens, though) who look down humans and thranx in part because we both look like and taste like their favorite staple prey. For some reason however an AAnn has never been officially illustrated outside an RPG module:

In case you want to know going in what the lovable bastard asshole dinosaur people look like.

[add1ctedt0you]

Novel quotes: wei wuxian having feelings/thoughts about jiang cheng

Under the cut because it's long

However, Jiang Cheng was gone. Holding steamed buns, flatbreads, and fruits in his hands, Wei WuXian felt his heart skip a beat. He forced himself to calm down. Even after he searched through the neighboring streets, he still didn’t see Jiang Cheng. He finally began to panic. Grabbing a cobbler on the side, he asked, “Mister, there was a young master about the same age as me sitting here. Did you see where he went?” The cobbler licked the thick end of a thread, “The one that was with you?” Wei WuXian, “Yeah!”

The cobbler, “I was in the middle of doing something so I didn’t really see. But he kept on spacing out, staring at the people on the street. And then when I looked up at where he was again, he suddenly disappeared. Maybe he left.”

Wei WuXian murmured, “... He left... He left...”

He probably left for Lotus Pier to steal the bodies!

As though he had gone mad, Wei WuXian sprinted immediately toward the direction that they had come from.

[...]

He gave himself a harsh scolding in silence—he was stupid, useless, ridiculous, it was bizarre, unimaginable. Yet, he was alone, without a sword or any tools, and on the other side of the wall there were thousands of Wen Sect’s cultivators, perhaps Wen ZhuLie as well.

He wasn’t scared of death. He was only scared that after he died, he wouldn’t be able to save Jiang Cheng and betray the trust that Jiang FengMian and Madam Yu left him. In such circumstances, the only one he could place his hope on was a person of the Wen Sect whom he had met only three times in total!

[...]

Wei WuXian’s gaze turned from Wen Ning toward Jiang Cheng, whose body was covered in blood and eyes were tightly shut. His fingers couldn’t help but clenched into fists.

Chapter 59 Poisons—Part Four

Jiang Cheng’s expression was rather strange. It was calm, almost too calm. He stared at the ceiling, as though he wasn’t at all interested in the situation that he was in, as though he didn’t care about where he was either. Wei WuXian didn’t expect him to react in such a way. Sadness, happiness, anger, shock—he had none of these. His heart skipped a beat, “Jiang Cheng, can you see me? Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?” Jiang Cheng glanced at him. He didn’t say anything. Wei WuXian asked him a few more questions. Arm supporting himself, he finally sat upright. He looked down at the mark of the discipline whip on his chest before laughing bitterly. If the discipline whip struck, it’d be impossible to wipe away the mark of shame. Wei WuXian comforted him despite this, “Stop looking at it. There has to be a way to get it off.” Jiang Cheng slapped him. His strike was so weak, so powerless that Wei WuXian didn’t even flinch, “Hit me. As long as you’ll feel better.”

[...]

If Wei WuXian were the one injured or if somebody else had saved them, he’d immediately say farewell and leave at once, full of determination. However, right now, Jiang Cheng was the one who had been injured. Not only was he injured, he had lost his core as well. He wasn’t in his right mind. No matter what, Wei WuXian couldn’t find any determination.

Chapter 60 Poisons—Part five

Out of the blue, Jiang Cheng spoke up, “Not to do what?” Wei WuXian paused in surprise, turning to him along with Lan WangJi. Jiang Cheng covered his wound with one hand, his voice chilly, “Wei WuXian, you’re such a great, selfless person. You did the best things possible, and you swallowed all the suffering and didn’t let anyone know. What a touching story. I should kneel down and cry in gratitude, shouldn’t I?” Hearing the mocking tone that lacked any courtesy, Lan WangJi’s face grew cold. Jin Ling saw the displeased expression and immediately stood in front of Jiang Cheng, scared that Lan WangJi would kill him with one strike, “Uncle!” Wei WuXian’s expression worsened as well. He never expected Jiang Cheng to make up with him after he found out the truth, but he didn’t think his tone would be as unkind as ever, either. With a moment of silence, he replied, voice muffled, “I never asked you to thank me.”

[...]

In the beginning, it was precisely because he didn’t want to see such a Jiang Cheng that he decided not to tell him.

He remembered every single thing he promised Jiang FengMian and Madam Yu—to help and take care of Jiang Cheng. If someone as unhealthily competitive as him found out about this, he’d be dispirited his whole life, too tortured to face himself. There’d always be something he could never overcome, reminding him that he could only reach where he was because of another’s sacrifice. It wasn’t at all his cultivation and his achievement. No matter if he won or lost, he’d long since lost the right to compete.

Afterwards, it was because Jin ZiXuan and Jiang YanLi died for him that he had no face to let others know. To tell Jiang Cheng after what happened then would be like shirking responsibility, hurrying to demonstrate that he’d contributed as well. It’d be like telling Jiang Cheng, don’t hate me, look I’ve contributed to the YunmengJiang Sect too.

Chapter 102- Hatred - Part Five

At this point, somebody on the side suddenly called, “Wei WuXian!”

Wei WuXian answered immediately, “What?”

Only after he answered did he realize that the one who called him was Jiang Cheng. Wei WuXian felt somewhat surprised. Jiang Cheng didn’t respond directly. Instead, he took something out from his sleeve and tossed. Wei WuXian caught it by instinct and looked, only to find a black, gleaming flute along with a crimson tassel.

It was the ghoul flute, Chen Qing!

As he felt the flute that he was more than familiar with, Wei WuXian didn’t even have the spare time to feel surprised.

Chapter 108: Concealment - Part Two

After a pause, he asked again, “How have Sect Leader Jiang and Jin Ling been?”

Lan JingYi pouted, “They seem pretty fine. Sect Leader Jiang is the same as before, always lashing out at people with his whip. Young Mistress’s temper has been getting better. In the past he could talk back thrice to his uncle after he scolds him once. Now he can do ten times.”

[...]

Hearing Lan JingYi say so, Wei WuXian relaxed slightly. In truth, he knew that these weren’t what he really wanted to ask. But as it sounded like Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling had been doing quite well, there was nothing left to say.

Chapter 116: Extra—Banquet - Part Three

[intothedysphoria]

Billy was looking particularly majestic that night but maybe it was the edible Steve had taken.

Squinting through the slightly blurry see-saw the world had briefly shifted into, Billy was wearing a t shirt for The Jam and was dancing like a 1980s punk. He was sober in a way Steve wasn’t, amped up more on adrenaline than drug use. Flailing wildly back into the crowd, arms swinging.

That was just college, Steve supposed. Previous small town popularity by an abrasive Marxist(?) who used words Steve hadn’t heard outside of 1950s detective films. The lustre of Steve “The Hair” Harrington had been relegated to watching Guardians of the Galaxy on a Friday night and ignoring the horror of the Disney corporation.

They’d somehow all gone to the same college after high school, all of Steve’s old crew and adversaries (bar Nancy who went Ivy League and Jason who Steve was pretty sure had become a moderately successful drag queen.)

So, Steve could see everyone from the class of 2023 scattered across the club, particularly Eddie who had assigned himself as Billy’s best friend and was shouting Lord Of The Rings quotes at anyone who looked at him funny.

And of course he could see Billy, but really who couldn’t. The man was hard to miss.

Deciding to just ride the high out, Steve snunk off to the bar and decided to scroll through tiktok, occasionally snickering at a particularly ridiculous video, sending them to Robin or Carol and generally trying to not fall off the bar stool. That shit hurt.

He was content staying there until Carol wanted to go when he felt someone behind him, a little to his right. Judging by the cologne just dripping off him in spades, Steve immediately knew who it was.

Billy took a seat next to him and ordered a water. His hair was held up into an unruly bun by a pin with an opossum on it. Frankly, he was a weirdo but so was Steve.

They’d both gotten over the animosity in high school like 9 months ago so Steve wasn’t expecting a fight. Neither was he expecting what the part of his brain that watched too much porn wanted.

Billy inched slightly closer towards his seat and turned to him, clearly expecting to make some sort of conservation. Steve’s high brain scrambled to keep up.

“So, how’s things been Harrington?”

The tone was casual. Casual was Steve’s middle name. Not Joshua.

“I’M FINE HOW ARE YOU!” Steve shouted, then realised he’d shouted it as Billy and about half the club winced.

He then repeated what he’d just yelled, but in a whisper.

Billy looked both slightly stunned and heavily amused.

“I’m good Harrington, you seem like you’re a bit spacey though”

Steve attempted to nod but got distracted by the colour of Billy’s eyes. They were such a pretty blue.

“Come on Steve, time to get you back to your room.”

He grabbed Steve’s hand in a firm grip and suddenly they were moving. Billy made some hand signals to Carol, she sent a thumbs up and Steves face was blasted with the night air.

It was probably about midnight. The only other people out were students walking to and fro from bars and campus. People like Billy and Steve.

The lift wasn’t working so they had to walk up four flights of stairs, Billy semi carrying Steve by the third floor. Steve briefly felt like the lead in a romance novel then felt stupid for thinking that.

Billy led him into his room and they played Mario Kart with a large pizza for a good hour before Steve passed out. On Billy.

He was still there when Steve woke up. Hovering next to the bed with a slightly worried expression on his face, presumably because he’d thought Steve had greened out last night.

Steve gave a thumbs up to indicate that yes the high had pretty much passed.

They stood in front of each other, Steve still in his pyjamas and then Steve’s dumb brain decided to give Billy a remarkably chaste kiss.

As a thank you.

Because he was an idiot.

Evidently Billy didn’t mind because he kissed him back, very intensely.

That morning was Steve’s favourite in college thus far.

[oceansprompts]

Daredevil: Cutting Edge Quote Starters 2

quotes taken from the Marvel novel, Daredevil: The Cutting Edge (1999) by Madeleine E. Robins // adjust pronouns and lines as needed.

I'm just a business woman, I don't need the trouble...

I don't want to cause trouble. Maybe you could ask your patrons to cooperate?

Why do the bad guys go to the same bar?

Anyone got anything they want to share with the class?

Are you just a discipline problem in the making, or do you have something useful to contribute?

Naughty, naughty.

Look, I'm not in here looking for you, so why don't you just stop being an idiot.

Keep those ears to the ground.

You never know when Imight take it into my head to come back again.

No breakage, this time. They're learning.

No one knows anything! Least of all me!

That, I'll never believe. You always have the latest word.

A little judicious flattery can work wonders.

He's got no gig, he's a flipping wild card.

You're all flipping wild cards. That's partof your charm.

You'd think you and your playmates would be all over yourselves trying to help.

I don't like lawyers!

He gets like you out of jail after guys like me have put them away.

Call any hour of the day or night.

Don't throw the card away, I'll know.

Bad move, bringing this into my neighborhood.

You don't get to hurt one of my people and walk away.

Wherever you are, whoever you are, this ends.

It's hard to tell over the phone.

Don't worry, I have a lot of practice finding chairs.

Your face, are you okay?

This? I walked into a door. Nothing to worry about.

Okay, hero, play brave, competent, [disabled] person.

What's going on here? Keep your mind on the problms at hand.

That would be none of his business, now, wouldn't it?

I suppose the supply of peetty criminals has to come from somewhere.

If I get distracted by this now, it won't help anyone.

The smell is killing us, I can imagine what it's doing to you.

Nah, just stands to reason. Besides, you told me so yesterday.

The paint fumes are eating my brain cells. D'you think I have case if I sue?

Geez, most big-money people think that, but they won't say it out loud ⸺

It's hardly likely she'd be an humanitarian.

That guy is a piece of work, you're going to love this!

Oh, I already do, but make me love him more.

He sounds like the kind of guy who pulled the wings off butterflies and tortured puppy dogs.

Basically, your overprivileged sociopath.

I wasn't always the polished gem you see now.

He has the business ethics of a piranha.

Judiciously applied, the business ethics of a piranha can be very useful.

Time to use my power for good.

Make it good, boyo.

Hey, we're working on it.

In other words, hurry up and forget it!

Yer just jealous 'cause the department didn't issue you any tights!

Look, you cannot say or think anything nastier about those S.O.B.s than I have myself but that's not constuctive.

If you like it hot, but I gotta say, man, you oughtta use a little caution.

Could'a been a flippin' army on your tail, man, and you'd'a never known it 'til it was too late.

I'm touched by your concern, but I promise you I'm well armed.

It wouldn'ta done you any good for me to get taken in for questioning.

Nah. Onee of those Irish names. Shee-vahn.

It's frightening to have a madman on the loose.

Well, the only thing to do wwith a bully and a coward is face him straight on!

Now it's time for bed, close your weary eyes and dream of me.

You get to do this every night?

You're a darling, but I'm too tired to argue about it.

In five minutes, I'll be laughing at myself for an hysterical fool, and brushing my teeth and falling into bed.

In this weather? He must be so hot!

This is where I'm going to die.

I have to remember every detail. If I live, I'll tell someone his eyes are blue. If I live.

You have great bone structure.

My job isn't to punish, but, where the hell is he?

Well, look. The neighborhood avenger. Come on, you wanna play?

Can't aim for flesh, connect with the knife, disarm him. Then you can take him out.

Isn't as much fun when you're picking on someone your own size, is it?

Spread the word, sweetheart.

I couldn't... fight him...

You stayed alive, you did the right thing.

Bullies... never give in to... bullies.

You didn't give in, you were very brave.

You did good, remember that.

Oh my, really bad night.

I don't deserve you.

You roll in here looking like someone shot your dog, so I figure I can be self-absorbed and ill-tempered some other morning.

Oh, my god. Oh, god, how badly was she hurt?

It's my fault, I knew it was a mistake, oh my god.

My god, it must have been like waving a red flag at him.

Listen, sweetheart, whatever you did, it's not your fault.

If anyone's to blame, it' me.

She's one of the most arrogant, self-serving, insincere women I've ever met.

Physically, she made me feel like running in circles and baaying at the moon.

Mentally, I wanted to pitch her out the window.

That was the effect she had on me, physically.

Maybe that blow to the head I took the other night?

I've got tickets for Turandot tonight at the Met. Will you be my guest?

Voice-mail. Curse or blessing?

I find I'm old-fashioned enough to prefer talking to a live humaan being.

Old-fashioned is the last word I would apply to you.

Well, maybe old-fashioned in the right ways.

I can't tell you how much I look forward to evening. Seven o'clock.

Hey, counselor. Time to get up. You have places to go and things to do, yes?

Lies. All lies.

I don't think they're ever leaving. I think they like it here.

It's air conditioned, the coffee's free, they get to point and laugh at the poor people trying to work.

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Group E Round 1

[image ID: the first image is of Randy Rosebud, a humanoid character with tall, pale pink hair, and a pointed nose and chin, making his head resemble a crescent moon. his skin is pale and shaded in blues. his shirt is blue and white striped. behind him are images of himself. the second image is of the book cover for Honeycomb by Joanne M. Harris. the cover is blue, and all of the art is outlined in gold. it depicts a being with lacy wings, many insect legs, but a human-like face and hands, reaching down to a more human-looking figure, who appears to be holding something up in the air. bees are swarming around the creature, appearing as if they come from him. end ID]

Randy Rosebud

In the video game Maggie's Apartment, Randy Rosebud is a pop star, cultural icon, and sex symbol whose character explores the weight of parasocial relationships, the commodification/objectification of people for the sake of entertainment and substitution for genuine human connection. His songs are good and in one of them he talks about pissing his bed

The Lacewing King

He's one of the fae, the son of mother nature, who grows up to be a horrible, tricky bastard. He's spoiled, arrogant, and cruel at the start of the novel but after undergoing many trials and tribulations he grows to be more personable. He is not a hero, but rather a force of nature. The book is made up of many short stories which piece together into one larger story which for the most part follows TLWKs journey. To quote the author, "A;...The Silken Folk, who are shapeshifters, but can also appear as humans, is part of that: and it ties in with one of my favourite themes, which is that of perception. We look at the Silken Folk as we look at so many of the things that frighten or disturb us; sometimes from the tail of the eye; or some cases, not at all." At the end of the novel, TLWK trades his title of king for the title of Death and resides over the afterlife. There's this nostalgic sense of longing. Highly recommend the book if you're interested in modern, rather dark fairy tales.

[rwrbmovie]

RE: Red, White & Royal Blue

Quotes from interviews on #RWRBMovie about the book & film's story

This post will be updated as content is released

Click here for the other roundups

Notice something missing? Here's my inbox

Last updated: August 7

From Glamour

Says Galitzine, “We were all aware that we wanted to make one a classic rom-com but with a sort of new spin. Matthew's a very sensitive, very feeling person, and we obviously wanted to inject our movie with that kind of emotionality. He had a great balance in being able to facilitate both lightness and emotion within his work.”

Zakhar Perez tells Glamour he knew the movie “could be something special” as he read the book—a feeling that only amplified after seeing the script.

Galitzine continues, “It's a really heartwarming story. Not a lot of films like this are made, and I hope it's important for the LGBTQ+ community because there needs to be more films like this. I hope it resonates with everyone. I've been really touched to hear how widespread the book became and affected many people from many different backgrounds. I hope our movie can do the same because a lot of love went into it.”

From Entertainment Weekly

"I first read the book in early 2020 and I decided I wanted to make the movie by page 100," he tells EW. "I fell madly in love with the characters and I wanted to bring them to life on the screen. I also was excited at the prospect of filming scenes set in the world of the presidency and the British Royal Family. I shamelessly harassed [producers] Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schecter into backing me with the studio to direct it. The idea that someone else might make this movie filled me with unbearable jealousy."

But now Lopez gets to turn his eye to a happier gay love story. "[I found] in the book something I had rarely seen on screen: a love story between two young men that is hopeful, funny, and deeply romantic," he adds.

From People

Perez, 31, tells PEOPLE it's "a classic fairy tale with a twist for all generations," adding that he hopes viewers take away "joy" after watching it.

Shahi, 43, says it was a "no-brainer" to sign up, as she "fell in love with" the screenplay for the film, in which she plays Zahra, President Claremont's deputy chief of staff and right-hand woman. "I was floored by the dialogue," she says. "It didn’t matter that it was a gay love story — it was a bottomless well of relatability. Love has made a fool of us all at one point or another, and it was nice to see myself in both characters."

From What to Watch

"I mean, it’s a fairytale, right? It’s just an absolute fairytale, there’s something aspirational about it, and when I read the books, it just felt like a wonderful bit of escapism. I think the reason people love these characters so much, in the book, and hopefully when they see Taylor and Nick in the film, is that these two people can only exist together in fiction, right? The rarefied world that they live in, that these two rarefied worlds would collide like this, can only happen in fiction — that’s what makes it so delicious. For me, there’s something so beautifully ludicrous about how sort of unattainable their lives are, and it allows us actually to go full circle with them and deeply humanise them in some ways. That’s the other thing too, they live these extraordinary privileged and sort of high-flung lives, but what I’ve always loved about the book and what was really important to us in creating the movie was that there are two beating hearts at the centre of this book. At the end of the day, you actually end up forgetting that they’re two princes, basically, and you really do, in the novel, and I hope in the film, just fall in love with these two people."

From Vanity Fair

“I read the novel back in early 2020, and I fell madly in love with Henry and Alex,” López says from his home in the UK. “There are a lot of projects that have come and gone in my career that I have had the ability to let go of,” he continues, “but if I wasn’t able to make this movie, it would’ve cost me something. It was really a very, very irresistible passion.”

From Out Smart Magazine

With the film’s highly-anticipated release approaching, López reflects on the imaginary world that his cast and crew created in this film, and how this story of queer love can impact people of all ages who yearn to see more representation on screen. “It’s aspirational. We knew we were very consciously making a fairy tale. But I think it’s within fairy tales that we we express our truest desires in some way. I think that, for me, seeing this kid living this life is something that, if this book had been around when I was 18, 19, 20, or maybe even younger, it might have helped me. I’m hoping that the movie can do that, as well.”

From TV Times

'Beyond the LGBT love story itself, this is about two people who are trapped by circumstance and responsibility, and how that can get in the way of love,' says Nicholas. 'I think that's a very universal feeling.'

From BroadwayWorld

I read the book in early 2020 and I fell madly in love with Alex and Henry. It was the two characters. Everything else I loved as well, but those two people, that love affair that they have, it just turned all of my imagination on. I really wanted to make this movie in order to tell their story.

This movie isn't designed to address the issues that you mentioned. It isn't designed to fix the problems. That was never what this book was intended to be and this film isn't. What I hope is that this film does in some ways give solace, in some ways bring joy. I think at the end of the day, bringing joy to people who are under siege is a very valuable, valuable tool in the arsenal. I think Alex being someone who sort of sets a goal for himself and his family politically and that in the fairy tale version of it, he pulls it off. That these two people, through their queerness, can change the world. I think the other thing that you learn from this story is that like the best way to challenge the preconceived notions or to challenge authority is to be yourself. I think that you see that happening in America where in response to these draconian laws, it's like, instead of don't say gay, we're gonna scream it. I think that defiance, which has always been a hallmark of the queer community, is going to serve us well. In a very rom-com fairy tale sort of way, Alex and Henry do the same thing.

From The Queer Review

“I actually discovered the book a long time before most other people did because I was sent it pretty early on. I fell madly in love with it and I knew very quickly that I wanted to make this movie. I started lobbying for this job very soon after the book was published. When I started working on it I didn’t really pay attention to what the book was doing in the world because I was already focused on the movie. It wasn’t until September 2021, when it was finally announced that I was directing it, that I noticed something. Overnight I got about 15,000 new Instagram followers. It was right after the Tonys, so initially I thought that maybe it was because I had just won a Tony. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of new Instagram followers for the Tonys!’ Then it started to dawn on me that it was down to Red, White & Royal Blue. I remember saying to Casey McQuiston at one point, ‘You know your book is really popular, right?’ She was was like, ‘Yeah, I know. Thanks for telling me that!’ I think I needed to work in that place of ignorance because if I had understood just how popular the book was I probably would have frozen up.”

From Tatler

'I read it – like most people in America – and fell madly in love with it,' says the film's director, Matthew López. 'There was something very hopeful, romantic, funny and sexy about it. And I thought, "Well, if I can't turn this into a movie, then I should just stop doing anything productive with my life."'

[ohtumbly]

Top Object Summit (TOS): A Tumblr Novel Object 'Show'

Members of The Sky Team cast their votes on the slips of paper and sat around the campfire. Chilly the snowman rolls in and read the slips one by one.

Jelly.

Jelly,

Magnifying Glass.

Zipper,

Lamp,

Jelly,

Magnifying Glass,

Jotter Book.

Magnifying Glass.

Chilly's coal eyes look at Jelly and Magnifying Glass.

"Now this last one could be either of you two."

"Magnifying Glass started out pretty disturbing asking questions all the way, but soon improved and showed her kind side of her." Skiffle Board stated. "Jelly on the other hand is kinda flimsy to deal with, but she seems innocent."

"The last vote is on..."

...

...

"Jelly."

"It was unfortunate for Jelly" Skiffle Board sighed.

"Did she even try to help?" Asked Jotter Book.

"So far, no."

Jelly went down the ski lift and back to the warm, gren grass where she met contestants eliminated before her.

The other members of The Sky Team went to their campsites, tucked into their sleeping bags and slept soundly.

The Land Team

Birthday Card

Buoy

Cash Register

Lapis

Nut

Orange Pop

Potato

Reflector

Sugar Cube

Yo-yo

The Sky Team

Ice Cream

Jotter Book

Lamp

Magnifying Glass

Microwave

Nine of Hearts

Skiffle Board

Tape

Zipper

Day 5

The next morning, the objects woke up.

"Brrr! This mountain air is no joke!" Reflector hugged herself as she shivered.

Chilly rolled in. "Rise and shine everyone! Take some of this."

They had a meager breakfast of rations and a leftover fish or two.

A gust of wind whips through the camp, sending Sugar Cube tumbling.

"I'm so cold!" She whimpered.

Reflector cuddled her crystally texture. "Don't worry little one, just huddle close."

Buoy patted his belly. "Ah! Now that's what I call a meal! Don't you think the same Nut?"

"Boy it sure is." Nut quoted as he took out a fish bone out of his mouth.

Chilly's booming voice called them down.

"Today, you're doing a snowman contest.

It's simple. Build the best snowman, and the winning team gets to return back to their warm and fuzzy camp! And the losers... well, let's just say it won't be too pleasant."

"Get building everyone!"

The objects rushed to gather snow. Some rolled snowballs, some used a pile of snow as their base, and the rest patched up unstable gaps with more snow in their hands.

"Phew." Skiffle Board broke a sweat, the sweat drop now frozen in the snow, after she rolled her snowball.

Lapis rolled her snowball up the mountain. She let go of it and it rolled down chasing her. Bless her heart, it hit a tree before it swallowed her whole.

The Sky Team made a simple snowman at about their height.

Nine of Hearts puts small stones from the mountain as eyes and a mouth for the snowman.

"All done!" She cheered.

The snowman, however, dropped its face.

Jotter Book stepped in. "Okay, I think you should try to keep it on the face like this."

The face fell off the snowman again.

The Land Team on the other hand made a big snowman with a tall body and a round head.

"All done." Reflector put her arms on her hips (if she has those).

The head slipped off the body and planted itself on the floor.

"Oh no!" Sugar Cube cried.

Chilly from far away looked at the contestants panicking and struggling with their snowmen. "It seems that both teams encountered structual difficulties. Wait for me!"

Birthday Card looked at what's ahead. "Chilly's coming back!"

Lapis thought of something she can do. She hopped onto the body of the snowman and tucked herself in it.

Chilly rolled back to the building site.

"Alright everyone, time to show me my new friends!"

It looked at The Sky Team's snowman first before The Land Team's.

Chilly finally got to look at The Land Team's spectacle of a snowman.

"That's odd. This one seems to have a heartbeat...and a blue head sticking out?

Then Lapis' arms and face popped out of the snowman's body. "Hello there!"

Chilly confirmed his final result. "I'll admit it. Land Team, You have won the contest!"

"The Sky Team is up for elimination once again. We'll come back tonight!"

[allegra-j-joann]

The Will to Write

My writing life is such a strange concept to try and summarise. My Writing life, my inspiration and will to write, is like a cat, fickle and demanding, it’s always been such an enormous part of everything I did, and yet it was so inconstant. It shone in the starry eyes of a four-year-old, learning in the early morning to read of the lands above the Faraway tree, it mirrored the Cheshire grin of a six-year-old falling in love with the land down the rabbit hole, it pawed at the heart of a fourteen-year-old hiding notebook under her pillow, throwing herself away in favour of a fictional personality, and purred in the arms of a sixteen-year-old with more stories than friends. It was there, warm and soft through some of the worst times of my life, baring its claws as I brought myself to the brink of disaster, yet abandoned me when I wanted it, leaving me with notebooks full of scratched-out lines, scribbles in the margins, and undirectable rage.

My first novel was Enid Blyton’s whimsically beautiful ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’, I remember my copy, bound in gold and blue, almost as big as myself, I remember bouncing on the end of my parents' bed at 7 am on a Saturday, nagging them about the words I didn’t understand, about things, I couldn’t make sense of, I devoured that story, again and again, I read it until its spine gave out until I could near recite it, but it wasn’t enough, not for me. Barely a week after I started primary school, I had decided that I too wanted to visit the land of toys and the kingdom of pots and pans, and so I took to pencil and paper and wrote my first fanfiction. The story was a paragraph long and told the story of a kitten escaping his backyard to befriend the tree fairies and the man in the moon, that was the beginning of Will, the beginning of my life as a writer, but I wouldn’t meet him myself for another year and a half.

Not long before my sixth birthday, I received my mother’s copy of ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ and it was love at first sight, that was the day I met Will, an ink-stained cat with a Cheshire grin, the embodiment of every story I ever had, or ever would write, an imaginary friend, true, but one who represented something very real to me, who I still see today. By this point in my life, I had been diagnosed with Severe Anxiety and Obsessive tendencies, I fixated more than a normal child, I found a single thing, a hobby, a colour, a concept, and devoted myself entirely, before returning to somewhat of a hollow state, I would spend hours, sometimes entire days, ordering and reordering my books, and even with counselling, I found myself unable to make friends, I couldn’t keep up with the other kids, they changed so quickly, but books, characters, they were so constant, I could come back time and time again and always know them, I prefer them to people, I started believing there was something wrong with me, defeated, I stopped trying to communicate with the people around me, it was in this state of radio silence that I came across the most life-changing quote I have ever read, in which the Cheshire Cat quotes “I’m not Mad, you see, My reality just differs from yours”. Enid Blyton may have led me to write my first stories, but it wasn’t until Lewis Carroll’s work that I fell down the Rabbit Hole, I realised that I wasn’t broken, there was nothing wrong with me, in fact, one of the most beloved books of all time was filled with characters just like me, I wanted to be part of that, I wanted to be like Carroll, I became obsessed with creating something that could reassure and inspire others the way Wonderland had for me.

My creative bliss managed to last several years after that, Will and I communicated freely, there was a lot of fanfiction involved, small scenes, and even the first draft of a novel, I even adjusted to being alone. It couldn’t be maintained though, Will abandoned me, I spent weeks being lost, I became angry and destructive, I shut people out, and I burned months' worth of notebooks and sheets. I’ve never quite been sure what possessed me to do it, but One day, when we had the bonfire in the backyard, I took my draft, I took my notebooks and pens, my sketchbooks, my references, and I threw them all in, I stood by, watching everything I loved turn black and disappear. I didn’t forgive myself for months, and I didn’t see Will for almost a full, icy, lonely year. I was about to finish year nine, I’d self-destructed and barely passed, I’d driven away my few friends, I was in a long downward spiral, and there he was, sitting on my arm, purring and grinning, the very next day, my aunt bought me a new notebook and pen, I remember staying up until three in the morning, writing everything I could remember, writing anything and everything that came to mind, I filled the book within a week, then another, soon I had a shelf in my bedside dedicated to notebooks.

Year ten was where things peaked, I stopped completing projects, I stopped doing homework, I stopped talking, I had more notebooks than I could count, none of them filled, none dedicated to a single project, written in fifty different pens, one page could have me in an epic fantasy land, the next I’m a sci-fi rebel on the run, the next I am a detective on a murder case, then nothing, another book abandoned, more cursing at myself at unhealthy hours of the morning, Will became bitter and demanding, he would lie across my shoulders and yowl, he’d fill my head with incomplete ideas until I couldn’t focus, I tried stringing them together, but they faded away, he stayed stubbornly this way for two years, trapping my in an inane routine, I began to wish for the days when he was nowhere to be found, and then, I graduated, suddenly I could be who I wanted, do what I wanted. Looking back on it, I realise how much damage Will caused in the first years of high school, and how much he saved me in the last few, I didn’t see him in the first semester, but then there he was in that first Tutorial, grinning his Cheshire grin anew.

[percontaion-points]

Clawless chapters 29 & 30

Today's review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Click here for the rest of the series

Chapter 29

At the sniff test, Cal had said she smelled like nothing. He’d been the one to proclaim her a dud, and since he had the best nose in the clan, I hadn’t argued with him. It was also one of the reasons I believed the lab report that said she was a void. When she’d come out as an omega, my dad’s theory was she’d had to hide her wolf so deep because of her human upbringing, and was only now able to let her shifter side rise to the surface. Which meant her wolf had to be tough. And maybe a hell of a lot stronger than anyone suspected.

Against all better judgement, I’m STILL waiting for the other shoe to drop in regards to Vail and her power. 

“You had a reaction to the medicine they used. It made you sick. You remember that?”

I refuse to believe that it was the actual medicine that they used, and more the medical abuse they forced upon her. 

“Whatever he does, it’ll be on me, not you. And I’ll make sure he knows my wolf and I are all in.”

Chapter 29 summary: Reed lies in bed with Vail while she sleeps. When she wakes up, he tells her briefly that she had a “bad reaction to the medication”, but I’m not sure if he even believes that. He gives her the food he ordered before she fell asleep. 

Then she suggests that they go to the pools so that she can heal. But Callum is already there. He’s quick to call out the findings that Vail herself is an omega, and is still of the opinion that he was right about her after he did the sniff test, back in the start of the first novel: that she’s not only a dud, but a void. He also says that Reed’s father would sell his own son out for the, and I quote, “chance to sniff the Marrow Alpha”. 

Reed and Vail drip all the way back to his room, since they wanted to get away from Callum as quickly as possible. Once in there, she asks him what it would be like for them to mate… Not the physical act, but the politics of it. Reed says that her grandfather would never allow for an arranged mate, but proposes a blood mating instead. That he’ll convince his two alpha friends to endorse the mating bond between them, so that it’s legitimate. That they’ll do it after the packball game this coming weekend, right in front of Jasper. Obviously, she’s worried about Jasper, but Reed says that any shit will fall onto Reed, not her. 

Chapter 30

I shuddered at the memory of walking into the principal’s office and realizing I was about to relive one of my worst nightmares. “They did it early in the morning after our movie night. Jasper, Principal Bregman, a couple of the security guards. They were all in on it.” 

Marnie shot forward on her seat with a cry. “What? Carter said he found you collapsed in the hall. He told me you were sick, but not because of that!”

I feel like his lying about it indicates that he knows, even if not subconsciously, that what they did to Vail was wrong. That if he tells others that he simply “found her sick and collapsed in the hall”, then maybe he himself would eventually come to believe it. 

A man in his late twenties looked back at me, but he wasn’t what I was expecting. He had a slight build and sharp cheekbones, emphasized by his swept-back hair. I couldn’t tell what color it was, but in every picture his beautiful blue eyes were the centerpiece. He looked kind, and thoughtful, and nothing like me at all. 

Let me guess: also not her bio-dad?

“You didn’t even warn me! Do you know what I thought when I walked into that office and saw the doctor there? All those medical instruments? And your asshole guards, holding me down? I thought it was going to be the same as the pack lab -.” 

He screwed his hands into fists, and I saw golden fur gleaming at his wrists. “Never! I would never let anyone hurt you like that again.” 

“What do you mean? You hurt me. With this!” I grabbed the collar at my throat, then turned to show him the scar behind my ear. “And this!”

Good. It’s about time that she finally grew a goddamned spine!!

“And the collar?” His face shuttered. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but that’s for your protection.” 

“What?” I gaped at him. “It didn’t protect me from Trey! Or from your goons shoving me face-first into that bench!” 

He looked so furious, I expected his wolf to leap right out of his skin. “They’ll live to regret ever touching you.” 

“It’s not enough.” I got my hands between us and wrenched myself free. “You can’t just say stuff like that and think it makes it all better.”

 “That’s because you’re not listening to me!” He shook his head like he was as frustrated as I felt. “I’ve done it all to keep you safe!”

He complains that she’s not listening to him… Yet when she tells him of all of the shit that she’s been through BECAUSE OF HIS SHITTY ACTIONS, he shuts down and insists that this is “to protect her”. 

“But don’t worry. I’m with Reed now, and he’s promised to do all that and more.”

Chapter 30 summary: In order to make people believe that the Reed/Vail relationship didn’t spring up out of nowhere, they have to let people see them, and for them to act like they’re totally in love. 

Marnie comes to Reed’s room when he isn’t there. And Vail basically gets her to talk about how difficult it’s been to have been labelled as a dud for most of her life. Vail is obviously still angry about the way that the system is intentionally designed against the duds, and promises Marnie that she and Reed are going to change everything. 

The next day, Vail goes to classes like usual. Reed walks her to each of her classes, and kisses her on the cheek at the door. In deportment, Reed ditches his own class so that he can be her dance partner. 

During a break in cheer practice, Vail talks with Nadia. Nadia doesn’t believe for a second that Vail’s relationship with Reed is real, claiming that she’s known him forever. Then she complains about a stomachache, so she goes to sleep in Ms. Costa’s office. She wakes up to the teacher pulling out some photos of Parker West, her supposed bio-dad. However, Parker doesn’t look anything like Vail, but she takes the photos anyway. 

Vail goes to the locker room, bracing herself for another encounter with Pearl. However, it’s instead Jasper who’s waiting for her. She’s quick to call him out on his abusive shit, although he insists that it was his mom who ordered the tracker to be put in Vail. Vail obviously doesn’t believe that, since the dude literally put the slave collar on her. Jasper insists that he’s going to take her to get the tracker cut out, but then the two of them start fighting about how he won’t remove the collar. That him promising to get the tracker out is an empty thing, seeing as how he won’t stop harassing her. She says that Reed is going to take care of it, because he’s actually a nice person who wants to be with her, regardless of her pack status. 

[booksandwords]

Best of Both Worlds by N.R. Walker

Read time: 2 Days Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Quote: “Because you’re the best thing in my life,” he answers softly. “Because I want to give you my heart.” — Ryland Keller

Best of Both Worlds is a novella that I think is too good to be free. I found it to be too creative and well-executed for that. While I do get the feeling that N.R. Walker wrote this either as a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project or combined slightly edited daily writing practices/ warm-ups. That doesn't lessen the enjoyment available from the story of the continuity. The format is the most important thing about Best of Both Worlds, it is written in two untitled parts with the second part set six months after the first. Each chapter is 100 words long, an author can fit a lot of emotional punch into 100 words when they try. And oh boy does N.R. Walker try. There are moments where you realise all of that only happened in 100 words.

The novella follows Sebastian Gilman and Ryland Keller as they meet, come together, fall in love and deal with life's struggles, primarily Ryland's struggles and trauma. Ryland has a past and many scars some physical, mostly emotional. Texan Ryland is stunning with his blue eyes, accent, light jealous streak and general attitude. That jealous streak is really on display at one point really on Marcel looks at him, challenging. “Can I help you?” Blue eyes never leave mine. He answers low but direct. “Yes. You can leave.” (Sebastian) Honestly it's a moment. Sebastian is the sole narrator of the story, we see the world through his eyes but we also see his concerns and insecurities. I do appreciate Sebastian's empathy and his ability to play dirty when that is what Ryland needed to force him to make a move (see above with Marcel). Better yet when we meet Sebastian's family you see echoes of that empathy, where that comes from, his parents nurtured that skill in their sons. It is something that is often missed in writing, the origins of our personalities. The same could be said about meeting Ryland's family, especially Justin, you see where some of Ryland's core personality traits come from. Ryland and Sebastian don't just fall in together they do have to work for it. There is an easy chemistry between them, their whole relationship is built off weekly dancing, no names no intimacy just dancing. I see him and he looks at me with those blue eyes that have owned me every Friday night for the last four weeks. My hands are on his hips. He licks the sweat off my neck, and I shiver. (Sebastian) This from the first chapter before we know names, before we know the first thing about either of them. and I like the way everything works out. There is a whole lot of pain first though.

Given the word limit per chapter, all the details are revealed in an almost natural manner. The setting of the book, Names (both Christian and Family), ages, histories, and family stories. It was the only logical way to do the background There are mentions of homophobia and gay-bashing, but they are handled with grace and not raised just to gouge wounds it's still brutal though. I would recommend Best of Both Worlds as something a bit different style-wise, it is also just a good story.

Have some quotes because this is another well-written one for me.

I trail my lips up his neck and I can feel him shiver. I run my nose along his jaw and his breath stops in his throat. He gasps like he’s drowning. — (Sebastian)At this point, my thought was 'touch looks like is going to be a big thing for these two'. But also this line... you can see it. Christ, I can almost feel it.

“My choice to live my life, to not lie about myself or to myself anymore—to come out—cost me everything.” — (Ryland) This from a character who lost his family. Who got gay-bashed. Ryland broke my heart in this moment and this was before we knew the whole truth.

“Sebastian,” he says with a laugh. “Just fucking kiss me.” I chuckle, a little embarrassed. But I kiss him. Sweet God in heaven, do I kiss him. — (Sebastian) This is all in the presentation. The emphasis. This is an important moment for them but that's not why it's here. I like passionate, intelligent phrasing.

I tell Hamish with my eyes to be nice as I make introductions. Hamish just grins his stupid fucking grin and says, “Mom’s gonna fangirl when I tell her Seb’s got himself a man.” — (Sebastian) Hamish is of course Sebastian's brother. Look this line made me smile. Because damn straight Allison fangirls.

Mom pats his arm and says, “You can kiss him, Ryland. He is kinda cute.” — (Allison Gillman) See also the previous comment about Allison fangirling

[npdclaraoswald]

Made these for instagram and figured I'd crosspost here

[Image: a series of edits all with a background image of an old book lying open with blue lights emanating from it and a transparent white square overlaid so that the text is more legible. The first image has text that says “Magic schools that aren’t racist and transphobic.”

The second image has the cover of Lobizona by Romina Garber, which depicts a Latina girl with yellow eyes and star shaped pupils whose hair turns into plants. She is standing in front of the moon. The title, author, and a tagline reading “Undocumented. Unprotected. Unafraid.” are also on the cover. Next to the cover is text reading “While fleeing after her mother was detained by ICE, a young girl comes across a magic school where girls are witches and boys are werewolves, but her existence as a girl werewolf proves there’s more to the magic world than there seems.”

The next image has the cover of In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, which depicts a black and white sketch of two mermaids. One mermaid only has her tail visible and the other has long hair covering her naked chest. She stares off to the side. The title, author, a tag calling Brennan a New York Times best selling author, and a quote reading “Brennan delivers witty, nervy, romantic adventure that fizzes with feeling and giddy imagination” which is cited as being from Leigh Bardugo. are also on the cover. The text next to the cover reads “An obnoxious teenager discovers a magical other world enrolls in their school to learn how to be a diplomat and try to bring peace to the warrior world while balancing his friendship with an elf girl and son of a warrior family.”

The next image has the cover of Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, which shows a forest during sunset and a freestanding door in the middle of a clearing. The title, author, a tag calling McGuire a New York Times best selling author, a sticker declaring the book a Hugo and Nebula Award winner, and a quote from Charlene Harris reading “Seanan McGuire has long been one of the smartest writers around... we know this story isn’t true, but it is truth.” are also on the cover. The text accompanying the cover reads “A boarding school for kids who return from portal fantasies to readjust to this world and wait for their portals to reopen. Series alternates between the school and flashbacks to the fantasy lands and alternates character POVs between books.”

The next image has the cover of Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, which depicts an albino Black woman with her hair up and wearing a black outfit. Her face is covered in glowing runes and a bug is on her forehead. The title, author, a tag calling Okorafor a World Fantasy Award winning author, and a quote reading “There’s more vivid imagination in a page of Nnedi Okorafor’s work than in whole volumes of ordinary fantasy epics” from Ursula K LeGuin are also on the cover. The text next to it reads “A young American Nigerian girl discovers she has magical ancestry and becomes involved in the world and customs of the Leopard People while carving her way as an albino newcomer and hiding her magical life from her otherwise ordinary immediate family.”

The next image has text on top reading “Not a school to learn about magic, but a school in a magical world.” It has the cover for Bethany C Morrow’s A Song Below Water, which depicts two black girls standing back to back underwater with seaweed in their floating hair and bubbles surrounding them. The girl on the left has an afro, a blue shirt, and an earring shaped like a seashell. The girl on the right has braids, hoop earrings, a white shirt, a necklace with a small bottle hanging from it, and scales along her cheekbone. The title, author, and a quote reading “Riveting storytelling. The best YA novel I’ve read all year.” by Daniel Jose Older are also on the cover. The accompanying text reads “A siren and her vest friend of unknown magical heritage work to hide her siren status as they reel from a very public murder trial where the victim was a siren and deal with the political fallout and the discrimination against sirens.”

The final image has text on top reading “Not a school to learn about magic, but following magic users in college.” It has the cover of Legendborn by Tracy Deon, depicting a black girl with an afro in a black tank top with her arms positioned in front of her. One arm glows with red magic and the other with blue magic. The title, author, a tag calling the book a New York Times bestseller, and a quote from Dhonielle Clayton reading “A searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery.” are also on the cover. The text next to the cover reads “A student witnesses magic and discovers the secret magical society at her college. Suspecting her mother’s death involved magic, she befriends a member and joins the society to learn more.” End.]

[n0bamak1s]

whisper of the heart- megumi fushiguro x reader

summary: you begin to take notice of the name “megumi fushiguro” on all the tops of your library checkout cards. a semi-retelling of whisper of the heart featuring you and megumi. (genre: fluff, high school au, meet cute)

warnings: none! except maybe slightly ooc megumi

word count: 3.2k

a/n: hi everyone! ty all again for being so patient with me publishing this. i’ve been very busy with college apps lately, but i’m gonna try to keep this blog as active as i can while balancing it with school life. anyways, i had a lot of fun writing this, but i’m definitely not used to writing megumi, so feel free to leave feedback ^^ i also changed some details from the original movie and left it a bit open ended, so feel free to let me know if you want a part 2!

“who the hell is megumi fushiguro?”

your gaze was fixed on the faded ink reading the now all too familiar characters. the characters spelling out a name that managed to keep showing up on the yellow tinted checkout cards tucked into the books you borrowed.

nobara glanced over your shoulder, inspecting the piece of cardstock tucked between your fingers. wrinkling her nose in disgust, she plucked the card from you, holding it closer to her face.

“whoever it is, they have terrible handwriting.” she stuck her nose up, turning back to you with a playful smile. “i don’t know how you managed to get ‘megumi fushiguro’ out of that chicken scratch.” a face of mock distress crossed her features as she did air quotes around the name, as if she couldn’t believe such a delicate name would be given to someone with such handwriting. she’s always had a tendency to be a bit over dramatic about trivial stuff like this.

with nothing more than a huff in response, you snatched back the card, tucking it neatly back into your library book. your fingers grazed the worn down cover for a moment, gliding along the slight tears around the corners and the stiffness of the yellowing pages.

‘i wonder how many of these creases came from megumi fushiguro?’

“whoever it is, it seems like that name shows up in every book i check out in the library.”

nobara kicked a rock as she walked, leaving a small cloud of dust around her feet. “maybe you’re just imagining it. you always stay up so late doing whatever the hell it is you do in your free time that you’ve probably begun to hallucinate.” she nudged you playfully, eliciting a dead pan expression from you.

“i’m serious nobara. i mean, i’ve never really believed in fate but there’s no way it’s completely coincidental!”

she raised an eyebrow, as if to say you can’t be serious. “i think you’ve been reading too many romance novels, for all you know this person could totally be just some weird old guy with nothing better to do than visit the library.”

“hey!” you acted as if that last bit was a personal attack on you, and knowing nobara it probably was. “i’m not saying this megumi fushiguro person is my soulmate or anything, i just think it’s a very strange coincidence.” you shrugged off your backpack as you talked, putting away your book. noticing the suspiciously light weight of your bag, you rummaged your fingers around for a moment to find that your sketchbook had gone missing.

crap.

nobara turned to you, perceptive as ever of your suddenly altered demeanor. “forget something again?” it was almost annoying sometimes how well she knew you. was it really that obvious?

“just my sketchbook,” your hands rifled through your bag one final time to make sure you really didn’t have it “probably left it on the park bench or something, it’ll just be a minute to get it.” you turned to her with a sheepish smile, silently pleading her to follow you there. she stared blankly at you for a moment, probably having one of her internal monologues about how lucky you were to have her as a friend, before rolling her eyes and following suit.

“this better be quick, i have places to be you know!”

“no you don’t.” you turned around before you could meet her melodramatic glare.

behind you, you could hear her huff of dissatisfaction, though she made no move to leave, reassuming her position next to you, giving you a gentle nudge as she brushed next to you.

as you walked, the sunlight peeking between trees framing your pathway began to warm your face, highlighting the ends of your eyelashes and the tops of your cheeks with the warm glow of the first hints of summer time. for a moment, you closed your eyes, letting yourself be enveloped in it, before your fleeting thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bike coming in your direction. you felt as if you’d jump out of your own skin in that moment, hearing a “move out of the way!” from a husky, disembodied voice.

it probably looked pretty ridiculous how you jumped out of the way, kicking up a fleeting cloud of dust as you avoided the sudden presence of the biker. grounding yourself, your eyes flickered up to the source of the voice, being met with the gaze of stormy blue eyes, framed by long, dark eyelashes that nobara would most definitely be envious of. taking in the boy’s whole figure, your eyes were drawn to the messy black hair atop his head, formed at the ends into contradictorily gentle looking spikes. the sleeves of his white button down were rolled up taut around his forearms, leading your gaze to his hands wrapped tightly around the bike handles.

oh, right. he’s still biking.

you turned your focus back to keeping to your side of the path momentarily, before the sight of your name written atop the sketchbook peeking out of his bag came into your field of vision as he continued to move past you. before you had time to think rationally, you turned to his now retreating form, breaking into a jog, kicking up a few more dust clouds as you did.

ignoring nobara’s incredulous calling of your name, you tried to call to the boy who had no intention of slowing down. “excuse me!” you cupped a hand around your mouth, hoping to project your voice louder. “hey!” the irritation in your voice was clear, but you breathed a small sigh of relief as the bike slowed to a stop, and the spike headed boy turned to your direction.

after an awkward moment of your continued jogging to him while he stood with a blank expression, you stopped in front of him, an accusatory look grazing your features.

“i think you have something of mine.” you tried your best to imitate the confident attitude you always admired from nobara, placing a hand on your hip and using the other one to point to his bag. his gaze followed the direction of where you pointed, his eyebrows raised while the rest of his face remained stagnant.

“oh, this?” he tugged the cardboard covered sketchbook out of the pocket it had been placed in, examining the cover. his eyes flickered between your name written in the top corner, and your currently annoyed looking face, as if he was playing some sort of word association game. you simply nodded in response, anticipation clear in your actions.

as he held out the sketchbook to you, he leaned down so his face was closer to you, as if to tell you a secret, voice low and eyes trained on you. “you should be more careful next time. you’re lucky i’m nice enough to not just steal this from you right now.”

you didn’t have an explanation as to why your heart began to race.

taking your silence as a response, he pushed it into your hands, his fingers brushing against yours gently. “nice drawings by the way, i recognize your friend over there from the portrait you drew of her on the first page.” his face remained stoic as he pointed at nobara, who was tapping her foot in boredom.

face warm from embarrassment, you snatched the sketchbook from where his hands lingered on it, muttering a bitter sounding “thanks” before stalking over to nobara once more, who looked relieved that she’d finally be able to go wherever it was she was going to.

“what an asshole.” you glared at him over your shoulder as he biked away, your gaze lingering a second too long for someone so insistent on hating him. nobara shook her head in response, clearly annoyed at your own obliviousness after witnessing the whole interaction.

a smug smile crossed her soft features. “maybe that’s megumi fushiguro.”

you raised a brow as you glanced at her. “as if!”

despite your insistence on your distaste for the mystery boy, he managed to have flooded your thoughts. ‘he must be using sorcery or something to keep himself on my mind, weirdo.’

still, you couldn’t deny how just a few more of your portraits were accented by ocean blue eyes, or pointed ends to the different mops of hair you sketched. how did you manage to keep attracting mystery people into your life?

when you returned to the library, you gripped a thick science fiction novel, the pages brushing your soft fingers as your marched it up to the checkout counter. as the librarian wrote the date on a small piece of cardstock, you took note of the fact that your name would be the first one there. had megumi fushiguro missed out on this one?

a pleasant smile stretched across your face as the librarian handed the book back to you. scrawling your name at the top of the checkout card, your eyes flickered to a stamp of ink beneath the slot for it.

donated by fushiguro.

of course it was.

the library door squeaked quietly as you pushed it open, one hand on the door, and the other placing your new book in your backpack. zipping it up and throwing it over your shoulder, you were met with the feeling of a dog sniffing your leg. your eyes trailed down to a dog almost akin to a small polar bear brushing its nose against your calf. reaching your hand to scratch softly against the back of his head, you coo gently at the not-so-little little guy.

“what’s got you all by yourself buddy?” an involuntary smile creeps onto your face at how he calms at your pats.

wordlessly, obviously considering this is a dog, he turns and walks a few steps forward, before pausing and tilting just his fur covered face toward you, egging you on to follow him just as you had the other day with nobara. you considered for a moment, before shrugging and giving in to his pretty minimal amount of convincing. nobara would be out getting lunch with maki today anyways, so you could use something to do today. after all, it could be fate.

it was almost as if you were one of those people who walked their dog without a lash, but in reality, it was more like the dog was walking you as it lead you down tall, sidewalk-lined hills and through parks filled with young parents having picnics with their children and couples going on walks. you wondered to yourself if this was a worthwhile excursion, was he just leading you to a dead end, or worse, was he some dog trained by a gang to lure people into danger?

after walking a few minutes more, you found out the spot you were being lead to was, in fact, even worse then both the possibilities you’d been brainstorming in your head, when you were met at the bottom of another hill with the stoic expression of that spike head. his eyes softened at the sight of the dog, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips that quickly vanished as he met your gaze, his eyes hardened in contrast with the bashfulness that shone on his cheeks.

“oh, you found him. thanks for that.” he cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting his gaze back to the dog. you shifted your weight from one foot to the other. to be fair though, what did you expect you’d do when you found where the dog was leading you?

“i should probably go.” your usually collected demeanor had been replaced with that of a puppy with its tail tucked between its legs. with a stiff wave, you took your leave, turning on your heel.

“wait.” his voice wavered, as if trying to catch himself before he spoke. “i can walk you home if you want. it’s the least i can do after you got him home.” he forced a smile onto his face, though it made him look more constipated than inviting. what happened to the snarky, aloof boy who had handed you your sketchbook just a few days ago?

still, you nodded, lips pressed into a line that you hoped resembled somewhat of a smile. surely, you should have been more worried about his sudden change in demeanor, but the relieved expression on his face seemed to soothe your nerves a bit. he assumed a spot next to you, tucking his hands in his pants pockets.

“your little buddy there lead me all over the city trying to find you, so i don’t exactly know how to get home from here, but maybe you can just lead me to the library.” you turned so you faced him, now aware of the close proximity between you two. nobara would probably laugh in your face if she could witness the moment you paused, stunned by the eye contact he made with you under his thick eyelashes. had you been perceptive enough in the moment, you may have noticed the blush creeping up his face. he nodded his head, which was already tilted down to face you fully, with eyes hazy and lips slightly parted.

“it’s just this way, i’ll show you.” he removed his hand from its pocket to point up the hill that had brought you to him in the first place. you gripped the straps of your backpack and faced in the direction he pointed to obediently, hoping to ignore the weird tension in the air. what could you talk to him about?

before you could continue your internal dilemma, he cleared his throat again. “you seem to like the library a lot, huh?”

by god was this boy terrible at small talk.

“i guess i do, but i don’t know how you came to that conclusion considering i only just brought up the library.” you cocked an eyebrow as you looked at him, probably sounding more annoyed than you’d intended.

he smiled knowingly at you, a hint of disbelief on his features as he raised his eyebrows. “i guess you wouldn’t know since your nose is always buried in a book, but i see you there like every day.”

your eyebrows furrowed so they practically touched, trying to rack your memory for seeing him in the library. “i’m sure i’d be able to recognize you if you did.” you were completely oblivious to the implications of how memorable you found him that laced your statement.

he shrugged nonchalantly. “believe it or not. i even tried sitting down in front of you a few times, but you were always too focused on your books to notice.” his smile was almost bittersweet as you waited by a stoplight. before you could respond, he continued. “it’s kind of admirable though. i think it’s nice that you’re so passionate about your books.”

you took a chance to look at him, really look at him, for the first time since you’d glared at him biking by. he held your gaze, eyes gentle. there was absolutely no way this was the same boy carrying your sketchbook in his bag from a few days ago.

“well if you think i’m so nice, what was with you trying to be all smart about my sketchbook?” ever the stubborn one, you were.

he shrugged his shoulders, shoving his hands back in his pockets. “you really should be more careful of your stuff. i was just letting you know. it’s not like i would have put in that effort for just anyone’s sketchbook. i guess i was just trying to make sure you wouldn’t lose it again. sorry if i offended you.”

the way he was blushing would have made any bypasser believe he’d just asked you to marry him.

“it’s just…” he continued “after seeing you in the library all the time, i thought you were really impressive. i thought if i tried to return your sketchbook, i could impress you too.” he kicked a rock that touched the edge of his sneaker.

“why would you wanna impress me?” your obliviousness was excruciating for the poor boy, though it was completely sincere on your end.

“you know, for someone so smart, you really are dense.” he pursed his lips, feigning annoyance. “and here i was thinking i was so obvious.”

at this point, you were nearing the library, and suddenly desperate to continue this conversation that you would have been dreading at the start of this walk.

“when it was obvious you weren’t gonna look up from your book, i tried checking out as many books as i could to get on your radar.” his smile had a weird hint of sadness behind it. you stayed silent, piecing together facts in your head.

“recognize the name megumi fushiguro?”

oh.

it pained you for a moment to know you’d have to tell nobara she was right.

“you’re megumi fushiguro?” your eyebrows shot up in surprise, mouth slightly agape. he seemed to stifle a laugh at your expression.

“i mean, what were you expecting?” he looked a little too smug for someone who was too scared to talk to you in the library.

“some weird old person, probably.” you shrugged, still with an incredulous look on your face. “i’m glad it wasn’t though.”

“oh?” he really did have a nice smile. “i guess you’re glad it was me then.” even he was unsure of this sudden confidence.

you pondered his question for a moment, but your body moved before your brain did, nodding your head slowly. he seemed to loosen up then, hands out of his pockets again, making you aware of how close you stood to him with the way his fingers brushed yours every few steps. a slight sadness filled your being as you stopped in front of those squeaky library doors that suddenly seemed so uninviting.

“i’ll tell you what then,” he started confidently, juxtaposing the bashful way he avoided eye contact with you all of a sudden “come to the library again tomorrow, and i’ll meet you there. really meet you this time, not just walking past your table. i can show you my favorites there and you can show me yours, it’ll be…fun.” he looked up almost worriedly for your reaction, slightly angry at himself for his sudden shyness, you seemed to have quite the effect on him.

there was a beat of silence, and he almost cut the tension in the air by taking back his request and booking it back home. before he could fully hatch his master escape plan, you reached over to grab his hand, his slender fingers lacing through yours. you gave it a light squeeze, and swore you could feel him jump a little at the contact.

“i’d like that a lot,” you looked in his eyes, which had gone from defensive to doe like in just your five words “megumi fushiguro.” he loved the way his name sounded coming from you. his anticipation cracked into a smile as he squeezed your hand back, and you prided yourself on getting to make him smile again.

“i’ll see you tomorrow, then.” he leaned down slightly as he said it, reminiscent of how he had scolded you about your sketchbook just a few days ago. you nodded in response, unable to stop the giddy smile stretching across your face.

tomorrow couldn’t come any faster.

[edosianorchids901]

Think of You Always

@flashfictionfridayofficial prompt - "A False Confession"

“We have nothing whatsoever in common. I don’t even like you!”

It was the opposite of what Crowley hoped for. When he’d imagined Aziraphale making a confession about their relationship, he’d dreamed about soft words of devotion, of love. He’d hoped that Aziraphale wanted a future together as badly as he did.

And in all those fantasies of confessing their feelings for each other, he’d imagined holding hands after. Maybe hugging and kissing each other gently. And instead…

“It’s over.”

As Crowley turned and walked away, utterly alone, his heart broke. Well, he’d wanted Aziraphale to confess his feelings. And now he had.

---

“When I’m off in the stars, I won’t even think about you!”

Aziraphale had often thought of what might happen if it seemed he and Crowley had reached an impasse. They were on Opposite Sides, after all, and it was inevitable.

The thought worried him, but he’d found comfort in all those romance novels he loved so much. In most of those, when one party tried to push the other away, that led to dramatic confessions of love. Declarations that no matter what, they would never leave. Or, at the minimum, I’ll never forget you.

He’d never imagined this. That he would be standing on the pavement, world crumbling around him. Crowley driving away without a backwards glance.

Crowley would go now, would go back to his stars. Would live his life, always looking forward.

And Aziraphale would be left back here, alone, forgotten.

---

After helping to save the world, Crowley and Aziraphale stood together in the quiet flat. Their hands still clasped together, clammy and trembling.

Crowley shoved his other hand deeper in his pocket and stared at the concrete floor. He should get rugs. Make things cozier. And blankets, loads of blankets. Aziraphale loved blankets.

He glanced sideways at the angel’s hand, still tightly linked with his. “So, uh… I guess you do like me.”

Hazel eyes darted sideways to him, then fell back to the floor. Aziraphale gave another weak smile, looking as exhausted as Crowley felt. “Yes, I suppose I do. And… You didn’t go to the stars. You did think about me.”

“Think of you always,” Crowley murmured, quoting one of the songs that often got stuck in his head. He smiled at his angel, heart lighter.

“Well.” Aziraphale straightened up a bit, shoulders relaxing. He turned to Crowley, hand coming up to brush against his jaw. “Now that our false confessions are out of the way… perhaps that clears space for some true ones?”

“Yeah. Hope so.” Crowley searched his face, uncertain where to go. If he said everything he felt, would Aziraphale think he was going too fast? Would he chase his angel off, trigger another rejection? “Look, m’ sorry for—”

Aziraphale stopped him with a finger on his lips and a slight head shake. “My dear boy. Both of us could apologize forever; I think we’re rather past that now. And there are more important things to say, such as…” The angel drew a shaky breath, hand tightening on Crowley’s. “Such as… I do like you. I love you.”

Legs wobbling with emotion, Crowley caught Aziraphale’s hand. He pressed a long, tender kiss to his palm. Half a bid for time to think, half pure adoration. He followed it with another slow kiss, this time to the inside of Aziraphale’s wrist.

The angel let out a soft whine, leaning forward, and Crowley gazed into the gorgeous eyes. Almost blue in the cool light of the flat, shining with tears of emotion. “Love you too, angel,” he managed, voice coming out gruff. “So much. I could never leave you behind.”

“I know, my dear. No more than I could stand to be without you.” Sniffling, Aziraphale settled a tentative hand on his hip. His eyes dropped to the floor again, then slowly rose. Gazing up with vulnerability and need. “Crowley…”

“Yep?”

“Could we…” Aziraphale’s throat rolled in a hard swallow. “Could we hug?”

Too choked up to answer with words, Crowley reached out. He pulled his angel close against him, one hand sliding through his soft curls to cradle his head. He brushed a kiss to Aziraphale’s neck, breathing in his familiar smell.

Aziraphale trembled against him, but his own arms found a secure hold around Crowley’s waist. Their breaths synchronized, calming from rapid and anxious to slow and settled.

This was where they belonged.

[jaybird-redhood]

propinquity

wc: 2.2k

pairing: jason todd // gn reader

The first thing you think when you see him for the first time is that he has the cutest smile.

That’s a lie, the first thing you think it that he is so incredibly in shape, and it looks great on him, but the smile thing sounds better in your head.

He's moving into the apartment across from yours a month after you moved into yours. Weird, because the two people in your building closest to your age are 2 and 63, respectively.

You suppose that some wicked twist of fate must’ve brought this upon you for missing your cousin’s birthday party last week, because the guy standing across from you is crazy hot. And looking right at you. And you are in the huge neon Wonder Woman t-shirt that your best friend got for your birthday last year.

Yeah. Karma.

“Nice shirt,” the guy offers, holding in a grin. “You’re really making it work.”

“I-”

“See you around, neighbor.”

And with a shut of a door and an awfully charismatic smirk he’s gone.

The next time you see him is a week later, and this time- luckily, you think- you’re dressed somewhat put together. You run into him while unlocking your door.

"What's got you in a twist?" he asks.

"Um," you start, "I just. Ugh I have so much to do. Like 3 hours of homework, a lecture tomorrow that I cannot skip, and I'm completely out of bread and eggs and can't even you to the store until, like, Thursday at best."

Once you start rambling you can't seem to stop. You slouch against your door. You're not entirely sure why you're telling a stranger all this, but he seems to be listening, so you suppose that’s a good sign

"I get the feeling," he offers, and you look up at him. "I'm majoring in English Lit and my classes are kind of kicking my ass."

You give him a small smile, "Glad to know someone in this building is struggling as much as I am."

"Jason," he says, and he reaches his hand out to you. "My name."

You shake it and tell him yours.

As you both turn back into your respective apartments you think that he maybe isn't as intimidating as you thought.

~

The next day goes by with a really boring lecture and another 3 hours of work you need to do.

The ride home from uni isn't that long, but it's long enough for you to contemplate all the ways that your life went wrong after moving to Gotham. And, maybe as payback for thinking mean things about the city, rain that you think should belong to a category 3 hurricane starts to whip around your car 10 minutes into your drive.

Your clothes are dripping water in literal puddles by the time you get back to your apartment.

Groaning, you start fishing for your keys in your purse while walking up the last flight of stairs.

When you get to your door you stop. Right in front of it there’s a grocery bag. Picking it up and looking inside you see a loaf of bread and a small carton of milk.

You pick it up smiling.

“Jason?” you ask, knocking on his door.

No response.

You shrug and turn around. Remember to thank him the next time you run into each other; you think.

~

That next time doesn’t happen to be that long and thank goodness for you.

“You know, we really need to stop meeting like this,” he says to you.

You’re sitting on the floor outside of your door looking rather pathetic, and he’s giving you the most awful smirk you’ve ever seen. (Not that it looks bad on him though. You seem to think that nothing could really look that bad on him)

“I swear I’m usually more put together than this,” you sigh to him. “You moving here jinxed me!”

“Yeah yeah. You’re locked out, aren’t you?”

You give him your best withering I’m going to kill you stare, but it must not be working because he just laughs even harder at you.

“This is completely not my fault it’s just I lost my second set of keys like right when I moved in and then today when I got home, I accidentally left them in my car, but my second set of car keys is in my apartment so now I can’t get them out, stop laughing at me!”

“God you’re a mess,” Jason says- finally finished laughing at you and maybe taking a bit of pity on how disheveled you look. “You couldn’t call anyone to get you in?”

You shake your head.

“My friend is the only other person with a set, but they’re out of town, and our landlord is being a dick and telling me it’s my fault in the first place, so I need to deal with it. I’ve been sitting out here for like an hour.”

“All I’m hearing is that it is your fault and now you’re just moping about it feeling bad about yourself.”

You tilt your head against the door so hard that it makes you wince a bit.

“Ok fine,” he says crossing his arms.

“What?”

“Wait right here.”

He goes into his apartment and comes back out with a skinny metal thing you don’t recognize.

You look at him in confusion and he just motions for you to scoot out of the way as he sticks it in your locks and starts to pick it.

You sigh in relief.

“Thank you thank you thank you. For everything. I swear I will get my life together, so you don’t feel like you have to keep cleaning up my messes.

“I don’t mind,” he says with a small smile, “Take your time.”

And with that he opens the door to your apartment and turns back to his.

“By the way, you should really get better locks. That was way too easy.”

You make a note in your head to get that done sometime. As you’re lying on your couch that night, you’re AirDropped a photo on your phone. Saving it up you see it’s a piece of paper with neat handwriting on it: a phone number and a smiley face, Jason’s name at the bottom.

You smile too and add the number to your contacts.

~

Over the next few weeks, you and Jason start talking more, both over text and through the various times when you run into each other outside your doors.

Each interaction is better than the next, and you soon start to realize that Jason isn’t just some hot guy with no brains. He’s sweet and charismatic, has a whole wall full of bookshelves, could probably quote any classical novel by heart, has incredibly good taste in music, and best (or worst) of all, would make incredible friend material.

It’s just that as you become closer friends, you start to realize that that might not be all you want.

It’s a stupidly cold Friday morning when he texts you, and you’re covered in blankets and wrapped in sweatshirts in your bed. Movie at my place tonight?

You text back your approval and a quick be there at 6 before getting ready for classes.

The day goes by slower than you hoped.

It might be the anticipation of seeing Jason again, or more likely the hours of lectures you have to sit through, but you’re elated when your final class for the day gets let out.

The hours in between are a blur.

A blur which leads to the two of you sitting on his couch watching Romeo and Juliet together, a blanket thrown over your bodies.

You have the obligatory bowl of popcorn resting on your legs, and every few minutes Jason reaches across your lap to take a handful.

The way you’re laying half on top on him is completely deliberate, as to take as much of his body heat as possible. Your landlord had turned off heating 3 weeks prior to ‘save money’ or some other bullshit.

Jason’s not complaining though.

Once your popcorn bowl is finished and your head is in his lap, he runs his fingers through your hair absentmindedly. It might be the nicest feeling you’ve ever felt.

Throughout the movie you exchange snide comments about the plot back and forth. You start trying to say funny things whenever you can just to hear how sweet his laugh sounds to your ears.

By the end of the movie, you’re only slightly in tears, or so you tell yourself.

“Are you crying right now?” Jason asks incredulously, wearing a teasing smile.

“It’s not my fault,” you half say half moan, “Leonardo DiCaprio just has that effect on me.”

He just laughs and pulls you upright until you’re sitting on his lap.

His eyes are a shade of blue green that you’ve never seen before, although you could swear their getting greener by the second.

You watch his gaze drop down to your lips before staring you right in the eyes again.

“Can I kiss you?”

“God yes,” you tell him, and kiss him right back.

~

The next week is somewhat uneventful, even though you and Jason had been meeting each other almost every night, rotating apartments based on whose house was warmer each particular night.

Tonight is your night, and you’ve been waiting the whole day to show him the film you had rented to watch together.

The walk up to your door is easier than usual, and you have a bounce in your step that’s making you feel even more elated than normal taking out your keys to unlock your apartment.

You open your door and your bag drops. The keys clatter when they hit the hardwood, and the silence that follows is deafening.

“You’re bleeding on my carpet,” is the first thing that comes out of your mouth.

There Jason is, bleeding quite profusely, and using your kitchen counter to keep himself vertical. He’s wearing what looks to be a torn half of a domino mask and an extremely hot leather jacket.

(Not that this was the time for noticing his fashion choices, but you filed that thought away for later.)

What really catches your eye though is the huge red bat symbol on his chest, and the red helmet next to it sitting on your counter.

He shifts a little to the side before stumbling through saying, “Um, so, I know this isn’t ideal and I’m really sorry to put you in this situation, but I seriously do not feel like bleeding out tonight and-”

“Oh my god this is great,” you cut him off with. “I thought you were a hit-man!”

“Wait what.”

“Shit no that’s not what I meant- kind of, hang on we should probably stop you from dying before having this conversation.”

You walk over to him to get a better look at his wounds.

“God Jace, you look like death warmed over.”

He just stares at you.

“You have a bunch of stuff in your bathroom, right?”

At least this elicits a reaction. He grimaces in pain but gives you a nod of his head in conformation.

“Ok I’ll be right back, don’t move.”

He gives you a look that says seriously, where would I go.

3 minutes later you’re back with a needle and thread, and some sterilizing spray.

“This should be fine,” you tell him, “I took a first aid class last year with my friends and passed with flying colors according to the nurse.”

“Just try to keep them tight and neat. I trust you,” he says, and your heart pounds just a little harder.

You respond with a nervous laugh but take a deep breath and start working.

~

An hour and a half later you’re done.

The combination of pain meds, bandages, and a whole lot of stitches eventually led to you and Jason laying in your bed together, both completely exhausted.

He turns his head to face you.

“Could we maybe go back to the hit-man thing?”

“Oh uh. Well I saw a bunch of shirts covered in blood in your laundry in the bathroom, not to mention all the weirdly specific first-aid you had,” you tell him.

“And also the assorted guns and knives you have hidden all over. I guess I just assumed? But the whole Red Hood thing is so much better,” you reassure him.

“You found all my knives?”

You smile up at him.

“I love that that’s thing you chose to focus on.”

“And you’re really not mad that I didn’t tell you about the whole vigilante thing before?” he asks.

“Jay, I had already resigned myself to life forever with some shady hit-man that also happened to be incredibly good looking. Red Hood is ten times better than that. I’m not going to run away from you just because you’re incredibly intimidating and probably could kill me. I see that as an added bonus,” you say, with as much charm as you can muster without yawning.

“Just. Be careful, ok? I’d hate to make this a routine.”

He responds by pulling you closer to his body.

“I promise,” he whispers into your head. “You really to remember to get better locks by the way, breaking in was still way too easy.”

You let out a small laugh and finally you let yourself give into sleep.