#cus there are some memes for entertainment

[bugslaststraw]

I was struck with a powerful vision a few days ago and I *want* to put this in fic form but I wouldn't know where to start finding those spoons so just hear me out okay: what if we straight removed Humanz. No hear me out I don't mean remove the stuff that happened in Humanz, I like what happens in Humanz, I just mean like. I know this couldn't ever have been canon, as the writers are making the story as they go, and I don't blame A&H & co. for the wonk, but the Humanz period of time existing makes the character progression/arcs feel iffy in some areas, and fucks with the pacing, so I still like to entertain this idea, what if Humanz was sort of... integrated elsewhere. This should've been a 15k word fic and I am so so mad that it can't be but here goes

Humanz happens during and after Now Now. Sandwich the two together and you get one longer period of time.

The hiatus is probably also longer, so it takes more time for the band to find their ways back to London.

This is crucial: Murdoc goes directly from Plastic Beach to exiled at sea to eventually jailed, and stays jailed until freemurdoc happens. When he's found floating around in a leaky submarine and taken in for whatever list of petty crimes they've managed to pin him for, he's drunk out of his mind rambling on about how nothing matters, the world's already ended and he's stranded in hell; that is, until someone informs him "if this is about your bandmates, they're fine. They recently went on air saying they're going to start playing again" and he goes "oh........wait without me?" Cue jail time.

I always preferred the idea that Noodle or Russel brought in Ace, mostly because imagine how pissed Murdoc would be about that. Being replaced is like his kryptonite (to be fair he has a lot of kryptonites) and I just find the mental image of him ranting to his cell partner about how they got another green guy so they CLEARLY miss him funny

Things seem to be going well for the New (Now) Gorillaz. They're playing again, a sudden flood of creativity leading them on. They're basically making two albums at once; Humanz, which had a political concept and a vision that was there from the start, and the Now Now, which started out as a sort of b-side that grew to develop its own personality as 2-D especially became enamoured with it. They dithered about which album to put Strobelite in.

Cont. under cut cus long ass post:

The Strobelite music video does happen, minus Murdoc side plot of course. Not sure about Saturn Barz. No I don't care about the stupid meme.

However, Russel and Noodle can't find peace. Originally they think they're alone in that feeling, until they come together to talk about it one night and realize that they both feel on edge and uncomfortable. They can't really figure out why; not being equipped with quite enough emotional intelligence to realize that failed suicide attempts, getting dragged to Hell, almost dying at sea twice, spending years in self imposed exile chasing demons or being stuck in a glass tube for five years might leave you with some mental scarring. Rather than feel warm and welcome, the bright sunlight on LA beach gives them both headaches, and although they try to hide it, and do so very well, they find themselves never quite being able to enjoy their newfound peace.

2-D on the other hand genuinely feels on top of the world. As with regular Now Now he has time to regain his ego during this period, "reset himself and get back on track" after Plastic Beach, as he puts it. He's free now, properly, and revels in it, getting to learn and re-learn new skills, and he writes a lot during this period, proper creativity finally coming back to him.

That's not to say that Murdoc is forgotten; anything but, in fact, Murdoc has gravity, and the rest of the band (and 2-D especially) still subconsciously orbit around his absence. Big difference is; 2-D is aware of it. He knows he can't get rid of Murdoc and he knows, with a light-hearted, almost smug sort of resignation, that he's probably not going to stop forgiving him either. Maybe I'm some kind of a masochist, he thinks to himself. Oh well.

So he takes to taunting Murdoc every chance he gets, like with Humility, for example. Strutting around his absolute freedom from outside the prison walls, asking how does it feel, huh? and almost daring Murdoc to come get at him again, knowing that he can't ("calling the hunter with the rifle; if you're coming back to find me you'd better have good aim.")

This is all obviously sort of subtextual, but it's the vibe I get from Now Now anyway: Memory famously gains rose tinted glasses, so 2-D finds himself thinking back on Plastic Beach more fondly than he knows it should be remembered, almost feeling sorry for his ex-captor. Although he knows that's probably not a healthy mindset to have, it makes him feel really good for some reason, so he indulges in that too, occasionally fantasizing about the day Murdoc's let out of jail and comes back to them, because saying "I forgive you" after all this would be such a power move, wouldn't it? He can hardly wait, yet in a way loves the wait as well, trying to savour the last few moments (years) just before catharsis.

Obviously this all drives Murdoc absolutely up the walls, and his fellow inmates have a fond memory of that one time he threw a fit in the cafeteria about it (eg: that's MY thing he's fucking STEALING MY SIGNATURE MOVES don't be fooled by his stupid innocence-play and pretty face ok this smug piece of SHIT is TAUNTING ME LET ME OUT I NEED TO KILL HIM)

When not raging, he's usually begging Noodle to let him help them make music over the phone. He sends her blocks of lyric/hastily scribbled notes when he can, and wrote most of She's My Collar, which the others picked up, found a guest for, added to, and in 2-D's case practiced obsessively for (implied to be because he knew killing the performance of such a mature song (with his very wholesome, innocent public image, no less) would, again, drive Murdoc nuts.)

Mudz also still tries to pull the whole "I was framed by a demon thing" lie, which none of them believe, for obvious reasons.

Noodle is vaguely aware of 2-D's agenda and angrily side-eyes him every time he comes up with a lyric she finds suspicious, which is more often that he actually means anything by it (eg; the mirrored world lines in Saturn Barz and the like.) She's slowly developing a persistent urge to shake her friend/adoptive brother by the shoulders and shout "STOP GIVING HIM ATTENTION HE FEEDS ON IT LIKE A LEECH. YOU DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS" until he stops.

Noodle and Russel are also still wondering if the guy's possessed by something, and the idea that it might be El Mierda feels logical to them considering his mood.

Ace, not being very close to the rest of the band, picks up on almost none of this; assumes Noodle and Russel are doing fine and that 2-D genuinely hates Murdoc rather than whatever the hell is actually going on. He is never let in on the possession thing and bugs Russel about tripping 2-D up in Humility. He's there to be a little shit and enjoy the good vibes, he says, and that's what he'll do, but there's no need to fight now, is there?

Everything is, apart from that, going just fine. And then Murdoc, at least to the knowledge of the world in general, drowns in a sewer. Which obviously is bound to become a bit of a problem.

More accurately; it grinds everything to a halt. At this point Noodle is already out of England, looking for El Mierda, and finds out when her plane lands and she can call her band. She tries to get ahold of 2-D first, but he doesn't pick up, so she calls Russel, hoping he can help her. They talk a lot that night, over the phone, her sitting bent over the table in an empty cafeteria at the airport.

Russ has known for a day or so at that point, while she's just found out. He tries to explain things to her and sort of distance himself from the conflict as a whole while she's fuming, absolutely livid, because how dare he, how dare Murdoc send her into the mountains on a dangerous mission and then just die in the most ridiculous way possible on top of that? He tells her 2-D's gone very, very quiet since he found out.

They come to the same agreement eventually. "He was such a shithead. Literally not worth being stepped on like a bug and I hate him. And I'm gonna miss him. How fucked up isn't that?"

To Russ and Noodle's knowledge, no more music is really produced at that point.

There's one (to Russel very memorable) instance where Ace makes a misplaced attempt to lighten the mood ("yeah, but, c'mon, the old man was pretty awful, no need to get all teary over someone like that, c'moon let's just get back to what we were doi-") and 2-D breaks his nose over it.

Aside from that, that handful of weeks is slow, silent, and confusing.

On the plane from England to Patagonia, Murdoc listens to Souk Eye exactly once and has since avidly refused to ever do it again and won't explain why.

Cue the ending of freemurdoc, Noodle kicking snow for half an hour to stop herself snapping her awful adoptive father's spine like a toothpick, "you're like a family to me!! You're the daughter, Russel's the son, an' 2-D is uuuhh. The uh. The. House cat," etc etc

When they make the trip back home, a week or so later, the world already knows that Murdoc isn't dead, and so does the rest of the band. Ace dips, stating that he "would rather not be around when ol' Muddy shows back up if you catch my drift."

2-D, who's romantic idea of a triumphant reunion is shattered, is conflicted and nervous up until the point Murdoc shows back up, ("heyyy gang, sorry we're late; I almost drowned in a sewer and the trip back was awful, they didn't even have drinks on the plane, also sorry about lying, hope you don't mind, also here's a yak") when he goes from blank staring to a fit of laughter that makes everybody involved worry for his sanity to "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD YOU PIECE OF SHIT HOW DARE YOU BE SORRY NOW" to the four of them eating takeaway noodles on the floor of their studio in dead silence as Murdoc tries to avoid eye contact and 2-D stares at him as if he's imagining eating him

Humanz is finalized, and Murdoc happily partakes in some of the interviews and promo for the album. Seemingly, everything is normal again. But upon any kind of closer inspection he comes off as almost nervous, jittery, raw and easily upset. Something has changed, and he hasn't caught up yet. There's a tension still among the group.

When Humanz is finally released, they all swear to each other they have no idea where Busted and Blue even came from. Well, three out of four swear, and the fourth just sort of gives them a weird look and mutters something vaguely denying.

And then it transitions directly into Song Machine, which directly deals with the set-up we already have! The power dynamics in the group have changed, everyone is confused on how things work now, Noodle is annoyed with 2-D and how easily he's forgiven Plastic Beach, Russel is resigned about the same, and Murdoc himself tries to claw his way back to the top but can't, as 2-D has finally slipped through his hands to join the others well out of his direct control. And we all know what happens in Song Machine, so I hardly need to recount that

Ok done now :)

[fumifooms]

oh, sorry for so many asks, i also wanted to say too though i really agree so much with your chilchuck thoughts so far, even down to your personal headcanons about how things might go post-series. and you're absolutely right, i'll defend that little guy any day myself. you understand him so well and it's kind of relaxing to have someone else dish out this kind of analysis and already agree with all of it cus it's just so real, so thank you again for the Meal <- perhaps the perfect thing to say about dungeon meshi analysis when i think about it

i know you have playlists and stuff so i wanted to share a song i've been listening to that that reminds me of him: divine loser by clem turner

No worries, they’ve been a lot of fun! I do plan on getting back to each one btw, just gotta get through some other things first hopefully. Aaaah that’s really nice to hear 🥺 I do know the feeling haha, it’s always fun to have posts that Get It that you just nod along with 🤝 I’ve thought sooo much about Chilchuck I rotate him in my brain like rotisserie chicken more often than not, glad it all ended up being productive haha. Y’know recently my friends have been calling me a Chilchuck superfan/scholar jokingly and it actually made me have a realization moment of…

Bc I’ve always said Laios was my fave and like, he does mean everything to me idk if I’ve ever felt so seen as with Laios, I relate to him sooo much, but then. Okay alright that can be a different thing than a character being your favorite fine FINE I admit it Chilchuck’s my top blorbo. He’s so.🧍‍♂️I can’t even describe. He’s so….. He’s a clown but he’s also perfection in its best imperfect form I will not be taking further questions today. My friend called him my silly rabbit like that one meme and it makes me laugh sm

Thank you for the music rec!! I listened to it and yes agreed, sent straight to my Chil playlist. Songs are my bread and butter when I have character brainrot bc like with web weavings I feel like there are so many emotions and thoughts you can communicate about something so simply through one… (Which for anyone interested here’s my web weaving tag, got 2 about Chil). Gonna link all my dunmeshi playlists while I’m here: Dungeon Meshi, Chilchuck & his wife, marchil, Mithrun.

Ok everyone saw this coming but this ask ran away from me and I ramble about some song lyrics I associate with Chil & different facets of his life below the cut. Some people find my, ehem, heated rambles about Chil entertaining, this is your cue to get out the popcorn.

When thinking about songs for Chil I have 3 angles I take: About Chilchuck, about him and his wife, or about him & Marcille. Marchil is so engraved into me with their arcs together, that they’re like the concept of closure and letting go and letting yourself live again to me, sorry for all the non-enjoyers… But his dynamic with Marcille is a large part of his character arc so still fits, rock on.

I think currently my top song for him is Jackrabbit by San Fermin, because it combines all three it makes me go wild. It’s about trepidation… Throwing yourself into it even despite the fear (working with traps, survival in poverty where you have to rush & hustle), or just staying there paralyzed(not reaching out to his wife). Flight or freeze!! Saying goodbyes and saying hellos!! Not dying alone!! The life cycle of a wild rabbit living and dying, the baton pass race of life from generation to generation!! Chil and his daughters even!!! Going through life at a frenzied pace!! It is so Chilchuck and so marchil, and the music does give that hurried and scared energy to me too, and sigh the Marcille side to it with fear of death too…

Extra fun context but the other day on the discord server we were talking about what animal each character’s fursona would be as we do and I thought of a rabbit for Chilchuck: Quick footed, ‘cowardly’, small and frail and seen as weak 🙃, athletic and slender, pulls stunts, stressed out, has very fine hearing and has good instincts, etc. And ofc that fits really well with Marcille since she’s kinda associated with dungeon rabbits hehe~ But I think while Marcille’s 100% the cute round rabbit Chil’s more like a brown hare, more wild and like, more like a jackalope if we’re still doing monsters... I do lowkey find it more fun than his associated monster being mimics because he’s crabby, because they’re clever (with where they place themselves) and because of how he has a soft shell but soft insides, lol.

OKAY so that’s my song pick with the main 3 facets sure, now I’ll share some lyrics for each 3 sides separatedly 😈 Kinda summarizing my web weavings for him thus far. If we start with Chilchuck by himself we have… Enter One by Shelby Merry and Drunk by The Living Tombstone

With his wife, we have the bad end, and the good end for if they get back together with Lost Kitten by Metric and North by Sleeping At Last… Okay okay plus Love Like Ghosts and My Heart is Buried in Venice… Little Soldier by The Crane Wives for them also RUIN me

And Marchil… Marchil oh my beloved. Another buddy also made a full analysis on discord about Soap by The Oh Hellos for them lol, but these are Not I by I Fight Dragons and My Heart is Buried in Venice again~

Okay okay two more. Boats & Birds by Gregory and The Hawk, and Tummy by Tamino.

Finishing it up with quotes from, in order, A Softer World by Joey Comeau, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Acknowledgements by Danez Smith, The Letter by Richard Paul Evans, and last but not least posts from dead tumblr account flintcoded. I keep looking around and finding MORE fitting quotes. Someone stop me- In loving me you hold a knife at my throat, in loving you I tell you exactly where to cut. Forgive me, memory is a rope around my neck. I need you to be happy, I need one of us to be happy.

Hand in unlovable hand…

In conclusion;

[p-receh]

I'm very curious for 2, 7, and 12 :]

Would love to hear your hcs!

Alright! Which character btw? How about Boboiboy as a starter? 😅

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

The fact that he's ambidextrous is really really amazing as a character. Not only he wields two weapons but also can constantly switching between right and left handed side in the midst of a battle.

And I be honest, the fact that Monsta keep that movie 1 white hairline glitch as canon is what people called a "Serendipity" or happy accident. Another serendipity glitch in animation media for me is the iconic nose touch scene from httyd 1.

Who knew this bug could become his sole identity? It doesn't lesser his image but it does made 10x better as the result of a genetic mark within generations. Thus it creates "the Butterfly Effect" in designing Amato and adult Tok Aba.

In sense, Oboi become a shonen character since child with that look lol

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I don't follow much with what happened to Boboiboy's fandom recently, still making me a headache whenever I visit, but I always appreciate when fandom united to correct blatant hoaxs. It's often surprised me.

Oh and memes lol. Screenshot memes whenever new episode arrived is a never not entertaining cus it was usually flooded in my timeline. 🤣

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Since I only made headcanon for elementals, I think it's not fair that the real main protagonist has not yet get his headcanon. My bad :p

Oboi may or may not able to make a clear communication with Amato after all these years and I have two scenarios:

If Tok Aba still alive, Oboi might be more comfortable and more open to Tok Aba about his daily life rather than Amato. He still talks to him, but struggles to keep up a simple conversation from both ways, and eventually Oboi starts to make excuses to end it by "Helping Atok at his shop".

If no. 1 doesn't happens, Oboi might a bit cold to Amato at first. He try so hard to avoid any conversations with him and just focus on continuing the Kokotiam Shop as an escape route.

One of my questions regarding him, "How does he remember every events during split/fusion/3rd tier?" My deduction to this headcannon is this: firstly after he wakes up all memories will be blur due to his dizziness in the aftermath. He might remember some of it but his brain is not yet fully capable to comprehend all of it quickly. Then, all those event will be shown during his sleep. It sometimes disturbing his sleeping schedule and wakes up abruptly in the middle of night from a lucid dream.

Idk why, but between Audio sensory, Visual sensory and Action sensory Learning technique. Oboi is the person who learn and solve problems by practice it in real time. He may not the guy who absorb a quick information, but when he tried to think about it, he implements his thoughts by action such as moving hands or walks around. (I onced very obsessed with psychology especially with self learning types during my high school days but now I forgot most of them lol)

He has a hidden fanatic side of him all over the news as a hero with the evidence of all his photos from movie 1. He might eventually remove them when he gets older. He doesn't want to admit his embarrassment with his obsession publicly lol. (Of course he treasure it somewhere )

I forgot where's the source of it, but I read a post that Oboi once tried to cut his white stroke hair but it grew back. He never knew why but he eventually let it be afterwards. Maybe he wears that hat not only as a gift from his dad but also to cover his white hair? Idk :-\

That's maybe all headcanons I got so far. I guess I'll admit I might need to dig for more Boboiboy magazines and older post of his social media ones. There's still so many trivias that I missed throughout my life. :(

[has-gilgamesh-doneanythingwrong]

Gilgamesh for ask meme!

Hi!!! Thank you for messaging me ☺ I really appreciate it! It's been a long time since I did askmeme on gilgablog so thank you for requesting him (i keep most fate thoughts private)! Sorry I will probably write a whole massive paragraph about him XD

My Gilgamesh opinions are very subjective here so they may not all be accurate, which is why I enjoy this ask a lot ^^

Sexuality Headcanon: I headcanon him as bi/pan, like yeah there's no denying he is also attracted to women, but his devotional relationship with Enkidu and kinky pleasure yuetsu time with Kirei is every bit as canon in my opinion!!!

Even his creepy obsession with Saber really hints to me personally that Gilgamesh may not discern his initial sense of attraction primarily by gender- I believe he may be attracted to people based off intangible traits that link to his personal sense of values as well; which cannot be as simply measured as gender.

So in my opinion GILGAMESH IS RATED E FOR EVERYONE!

Gender Headcanon: Though he is masc, man he/him I also feel as if Gilgamesh's gender is also just 'GILGAMESH'. Sometimes I wonder if Gilgamesh would see himself as beyond the convention of gender.

Also I heard from someone that gender can be very diverse in Ancient Mesopotamia so it would be really cool to see where Gilgamesh would slot his gender identity there... also can his pronouns be king of heroes/ king as well! I feel like he really defines himself by his role more than gender per se, and in one fate hanafuda game he says gender doesn't matter ☺👍

An OTP: ohh I love Gilgamesh ships so much 😊😊 Gilkidu is just so amazing in many ways I cannot even describe, Kotogil is incredible in their twisted dynamic .. and GilHaku is just so beautiful! And I love Gilgamesh x Merlin for the shenanigans... to be honest most Gilgamesh ships are my otp. I even really like Gilgamesh x reader/ oc fics and Ritsuka/ Guda ones depending on what the ocs are like! Oh I also like Gilgamesh x Cu as they can clash head on and go wild, as well as Gilgamesh x Ozymandias!

And a mutual introduced me to Achilles x Gilgamesh. I think it is a beautiful pairing as they have so much grief, love, power and arrogance in common.

A NOTP: I'm sorry Gilgamesh x Saber fans. I respect those who ship it but Gilgamesh is such a creep to Saber in my opinion, I like it when she doms him to smithereens and stomps on his pride though ☺🥳🥳🥳

BROTP: This is a hard one as I feel like his otps can be good otps, but seeing him hang out with Iskandar is always hilarious. Love how he actually listens to Taiga in the spin off games as well, so they could maybe enjoy a few drinks together. And Gilgamesh/Solomon/Merlin makes for great chaos.

Gilgamesh/Siduri/Enkidu is a powerful alliance and err what else... I feel like as long as they can entertain one another then Gilgamesh has the potential for many BROTPS.

Random Headcanon: He has golden nipple tassels that he unleashes whenever he has an urge to go full sexy, also I feel like though yes he does love pleasure and decadent desires the way he so tightly constrains and punishes himself sometimes makes me wonder if some of his hedonism is also used as a way to appear as an overwhelming figure to others.

I feel like Gilgamesh is definitely tyrannical and extremely powerful and charismatic... yet also has a side to him that is insecure as hell, his larger than life and genuine powerful and wise sides overcompensating for a side of him that is plagued with all sorts of self loathing and grief.

General opinion: I love this asshole!!!!!!!! Endless joy can be created from researching his character and reading, watching his materials, he is entertaining in such a wide variety of ways, and every side of him is a marvel to witness (though i wanna punch him sometimes too cuz holy crap is he horrendous at times).

He's a very complex and nuanced character that can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways so I am really irritated by how some people try to gatekeep Gilgamesh's character and throw him into a box, when Gilgamesh is such a versatile character! I hope that there will continue to be a space where people can enjoy Gilgamesh in as many different ways as possible, without there having to be some sort of 'fandom consensus' on which Gilgamesh opinions are most valid.

[tornrose24]

Heyo. For the Memorable fanfic scenes, the ones that come to mind would be Second Braid where the townsfolk start to attack CU with one throwing a brick at him. It was such a change in mood and how horrifying the people turned on our favorite hero. That was good. Oh, and the play scene in the Heart Made of Pine story with George and Harold's friends putting on a show for the orphans and Edith. That was super cute.

For that one question.... which I guess is a meme.

‘Second Braid’ (The Tangled Au that we made together, as found on Archive of our Own and Fan fiction dot net.)

I’m sure NONE of my readers were expecting this moment. I knew I would be getting into some deep, dark territory with that. 

So there is a bit of how reality might play out when it comes to CU as a character. There’s bound to be people who would NOT be happy to the accidental destruction he causes in fights. Sadly we as humans are prone to lashing out at things we don’t fully understand or its going to be in our nature to just lash out period. So the question was ‘what if people were angry enough at CU to try to physically harm him?’

As much as I wanted to explore that scenario… it is heartbreaking to imagine. He wouldn’t MEAN to cause that kind of destruction, but as a child’s creation who sees things as if the world is one big comic book, it probably limits his understanding. God forbid what would happen if we had set this AU in our modern day Piqua.

It was also important to establish a crucial plot point long before it would be mentioned–while there’s people who would hate Krupp, there’s also people who would hate CU. There’s very few people who equally love both sides to this person regardless of if they knew the truth or not. It was going to be obvious with Krupp, but it REALLY needed to be clear with CU…. And yes, it was really harsh. Even mores when the best CU stories require us to see him as his own person capable of feelings, choices, and desires.

And one of the scariest things about that scene was the fact that the boys almost got hurt as well by these same people. But it was also a chance to show that CU WOULD take those blows for them if they were to be at risk too, because that is in his nature to do anything possible to protect them.

‘A Heart made of Pine’ (as found on Archive of our Own’)

In contrast to heartbreak, we go into heartwarming.

I remember that was one of the very first ideas I had when it came to that AU (since those drawings came out first back in January or February…. Uh… 2019 or 2020). That was partly inspired by the ‘Little Wooden Head’ song in Pinocchio and I could see the boys recreating their stories with a CU puppet if they ever had their hands on one (as we could see in those segments in The Epic tales of Captain Underpants). 

I liked having the boys show off both their creativity and their kindness. In fact it was one of the first scenes I was looking forward to writing due to the charm and innocence about it. There’s something pure about writing a scene with children where they are having fun and just being themselves. And to just get swept up into the fun of imagination and story telling. (And in real life there is something so wondrous and pure about being able to capture a child’s attention when you tell them a story.) There was something sweet about the kids and even Edith regarding the puppet as a real person and to thus be able to escape into a better world, even if it was just for one moment.

And given the time period this fic is set in, that personal, interactive kind of entertainment has an additional importance. In the bleakest of times, those moments of light will always shine the brightest.

 I also had Edith included because there’s such an odd charm about meeting the person who is about to become your love interest as a work of fiction/a creation before they are made into a real being that will directly interact with you. A cute way to set up the irony before it would all finally pay off as story wise, I wanted to have something sweet and innocent that could play into how that relationship would develop. However there’s also tying into who she is as a character since I’ve always seen her as someone who gets along with kids, so she would likely enjoy being a part of make believe. (Also I recall a reader comparing her involvement to that one scene in Robin Hood where Marion is playing pretend with the kids, so I think that might have served as some inspiration too.)

[fadebolt]

So I've filled in the "How would a fandom actually treat you" quiz, and....

I feel like I should be pissed, but honestly, it's kinda justified XD I don't know what is causing this, but the people that haven't interacted much with me, will often end up getting horribly irked by my stuff. Hitting this balance between being fun and entertaining, while also being nice and respectful is stupidly hard. Especially because it's often difficult to tell whether I'm the one who messed up, or if it's the other side that was in the wrong all along. And it certainly doesn't help that we now have this modern culture where you have to walk on eggshells to make sure that you don't accidentally offend anybody, or accidentally send anything to a public server/forum that might be ""harmful to minors"" as if my old school wasn't completely filled with 14 year olds that were regularly smoking, drinking alcohol and watching porn on their own volition. Because somehow, there's this misconception on the internet that teenagers are "pure" and "innocent", and we all must work hard to make sure that it stays that way. And for some reason, this ridiculousness is spreading like wildfire, because people apparently just forgot what they were like between ages 12-18. ....... Yeah, I just turned a meme quiz into... me venting. I can see why I got this result. There are some specific things that have been frustrating me for a while during recent times, and I've decided to stay quiet, cus I don't want to make people feel bad, while also creating a conflict where I'll very likely be overwhelmed and defeated (... as is typical for the annoying side character). I'm frightened that most people would disagree and attack me for this, so I've been doing nothing, but silently smiling and nodding. But it does feel great to let some of my thoughts out, for the sake of my own sanity. I know I shouldn't be using my personal blog for this, but it's much preferable to dropping it onto a public server, or to one specific person. For now, I'll just be trying my best to not be the annoying side character. I might often fail at achieving this, but all I want is to try and make everyone happy, and I'll make sure to keep working towards that goal. If anyone has actually read through this, thanks a lot. I might end up private-ing this, and just sending only the image, if what I've written will end up causing some negativity, but I truly hope that won't happen. I'd very much like to believe that I'm not a disgusting person with reprehensible worldviews that I must hide if I want to be part of an internet community. Feeling like you have to hide who you are and what you think sucks, and it's an experience that I haven't been enjoying too much. Hope you all can understand. (And in case anyone wants to do a dumb accusation - no, this has absolutely nothing to do with age of consent. Agegap stuff is gross, fair and square.)

[pelideswhore]

I posted 1,605 times in 2021

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#incorrect greek mythology - 154 posts

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#greek gods - 106 posts

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

436 notes • Posted 2021-04-22 15:02:43 GMT

#4

454 notes • Posted 2021-04-07 14:33:54 GMT

#3

482 notes • Posted 2021-08-22 17:00:59 GMT

#2

659 notes • Posted 2021-08-05 16:31:08 GMT

#1

1282 notes • Posted 2021-04-13 15:34:23 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

okay i'm gonna bitch about the purpose of fandom thing more cus it's stuck in my craw and what is tumblr if not a blogging platform and what is a weblog if not a log of my shit so anyway

lately when i peruse my internetian wares i see ppl going all "why dig", "that's not meant to be dug up", "you're enjoying your digging wrong", "you're working so hard to achieve nothing" and yeah i could bitch at them directly.

...

so anyways

my entertainment is not nothing???? rude????

genuinely and with sympathy, if your life has ruined imagination or asking questions of something or your efforts for you, or told you there's a 'wrong' and a 'right' way to do those things to the degree that there's a concrete, absolute, definitive way to fail at reading a story, i'm sorry, because that was not kind. listening to your personal integrity and considering feedback is one thing, like, "If I say this, will it do more harm than good", but that's a conversation. "Don't dig" is, IME that's someone telling you to shut up. That's not a conversation.

because it's not just a fandom thing.

nature is a story teller. it's not even just human nature, it's nature, which we are a part of. it's how we teach, it's how we explain, it's how we innovate, it's how we understand and make sense of things, it's how we grow.

2+2=4, right? That's just the way it is. When I was learning math and I asked, "but why", that's what I was told. "That's just the way it is" with the implication, "don't ask, don't dig, because no. Stop spending your time here, you're wasting it by thinking about it. Accept it. Move on." And it makes sense, right? Obviously 2+2=4.

Except when it doesn't. Except it took a lot of history and a lot of big brains reading into things and imagining shit to decide that, usually, 2+2=4. Except when it doesn't.

So. I 'hate' math now. If I see a string of numbers my eyes glaze over and my brain coughs out a puff of air like an empty wallet in a cartoon. The story I was told in response to my poor aptitude was that it was okay. I'm a 'girl'. "Girls are bad at math anyway." Also, "people who are bad at math are naturally more talented in art and language."

I know I have some mathematical aptitude. The clincher is that I wasn't allowed to ask questions. I wasn't allowed to use my imagination. I wasn't allowed to ask "but why does the apple fall on my head" and intuit and test answers over time with the brain eons of fine-tuning resulted in. And now I 'hate' math.

TLDR I wasn't allowed to dig there, but I was allowed to dig elsewhere. Encouraged, even. Something something, Emily Dickens was a lesbian, five points, something something that punchy witticism encapsulates that idea better than anything I could come up with and I'm mad about that something. Anyways, guess what two of my reasons to live are, now?

My curtains are blue. Literally. They're blue. Probably. Depending on who's looking. So the new memes add an extra layer of hilarity to this. Why are they blue? There's reasons, I'm sure. Maybe many and myriad, with and without the dimensions my presence (empty wallet) adds to the equation.

Are they relevant? Well, I look at them every day. I've got a blue house and a blue window. Blue is the colour of all that I wear. So why shouldn't they be? Can they simply be blue? Sure. But there's reasons why they're blue.

Are the reasons why they're blue relevant? That's a decision to make. Decisions are not meaningless. Time, and consideration, and effort, if they give you a tomato when your assignment was to bear fruit, you bore fruit. Unless you're in school, in which case you might get failed because the teacher thinks a tomato is a vegetable ergo your tomato is wrong, valueless, etc, and that's bullshit.

Some will say it lays in the boundary between reasonable interpretation and overinterpretation. I don't exactly care where that boundary lies. I'm enjoying myself by asking my questions and working out my imagination and taking things as far as they'll go until they snap. Ever tried to huck something just to see how far it'd go? There's very few windows here to break, you better goddamn believe I'm gonna huck that bitch and see if I can make a shiny star on the horizon that does a 'ting' noise. I don't fully understand why some folks are trying to erect a glass house in an open field but I guess if that's what works for them... It's just not what does it for me.

Bury your seeds in damp blue curtains. Make a grow bag. If you want to. If you can. Why should you? Why shouldn't you. Want food for thought?

Start digging.

Why dig?

HOLE FUN.

[angryjojofrog]

Bugsnax: 🎥💔🏳️‍🌈💢

"You. Are. A. Lifesaver buddy!" - Copyright Filbo Fiddlepie

Thanks Roka, now I won't be so bored ;)

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

I do! One of them is where you meet Floofty for the first time. You, the Journalist who has zero clue what even is Snaktooth Island, meets an even more confusing and rather rude grumpus. But honestly they're kind of charming trying to convince you to give them a Strabby. And then Floofty just runs away in their silly manner, paws behind their back. I've tried catching up to them multiple times, hilarious how they just go through the player and slam the door in front of you

Another ones are any scenes with Snorpy and Chandlo really, mostly Snorpy tho. I heavily relate to his personality, so watching him stomping his feet in excitement or from being nervous, telling the player his plans is extremely entertaining. Oh and Chandlo is straight up goals. As Roka once said: "He's the peak of masculinity and we both gotta get to his level"

Oh and meme scenes as well, can't forget 'bout "THAT'S WHY YOUR WIFE LEFT YOU!". Still cracks me up

💔  tell us about one of your LEAST favorite characters and why you dislike them.

There are barely any characters that I dislike. Every character is unique in their own way and that's enough for me to love them. Not to say that my fav characters can change after time(fun fact I used to absolutely despise Floofty... can you believe that?). I do think we could've gotten more lore on Lizbert and Eggabell, it's hard for me to relate to them. Except for Eggabell maybe

🏳‍🌈  do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

OMG OMG OMG THIS ONE'S GONNA BE SO FUN!! I'll start with my favorites

Floofty: Autistic lesbian (their special interest are robots, but they don't talk about it very often). They listen to heavy music on occasion, which they enjoy. Horror movies fan, tho complains about some parts not being realistic (Reanimator is on their favorites list for sure)

Snorpy: Lemon Demon enjoyer, autistic, oversized sweaters and color green are everything to him (you can guess why😏), gets pretty muscular after Snaktooth, but you can't really see it, so he surprises people with his strength

Filbo: Adhd, agender and doesn't mind he/him prns and masculine terms as long as you're being respectful ;), also gay gay gay in love with the Journalist gay gay gay

The Journalist: Agender (they/them or no pronouns, name instead of pronouns), queer and constantly stressed. Stays good friends with most of grumps from the expedition

Triffany: Pansexual, autistic, absolutely loves dinosaurs! Another hc of mine, more as a joke is that she likes the band Sabaton. Y'know, 'cus their songs are about historical events

Chandlo: Bi and adhd swag haver

Cromdo: Bisexual (denied it for some time lmao), Oingo Boingo liker, has a son but can't see him often bc of well, divorce

Shelda: Demigirl (she/her and one/oneself), autistic, good friends with Cromdo after the events of Snaktooth

Wambus: Bisexual (preference for men), trans man but only his wife knows, carves figurines of bugsnax and grumpuses out of wood in his free time. Chewed at rocks as a kid (he still might be doing this till this day, who knows)

Wiggle: Pan, still together with Gramble (he's unlabeled)

Beffica, Eggabell, Lizbert and Clumby: Lesbians❤🧡🤍💖💜

💢  what do you NOT like about your hyperfixation? is there something you would want to change about it?

I both hate and love how little attention this game has gained. It has a lot of potential, the fandom is pretty small and extremely comfortable. I've met so many nice people because of Bugsnax :) I think it's for the best, if it stays this way

Many people've touched on this topic already, but some characters really need more screen time than showed in the game. Where's our gramma and lemon-nosed scientist content???

Another thing is how hard it is to explain what this game really is. I'm pretty vocal about liking Bugsnax, anything really, but as soon as I want to tell someone new about it, i'm met with confusion at the "bugs combined with snacks" and "these muppets' limbs turn into food" part

[humanlighthouse]

The Adventures of Bastard Zhang

A conversation between @s1utspeare and i that we have decided to gift you all :) prompted by my liveblogging of Mystic Nine and the Zhang naming traditions

humanlighthouse

I have had this thought since the very first moment i read their names on tumblr, but i think it's the first time i actually write it out: qishan rishan makes me wonder if we have a rilin somewhere.

Can you imagine

Tiny XG with big bright eyes

OR

Tiny XG with like. The WORST personality

Full on emo brat

A complete teenager

Does Li Cu have someone? I want him to meet my new OC, Tiny Gremlin Rilin

And then to fight the fuck out of him

Enemies at first sight

XG grabs him by the scruff of his neck

Tired.

s1utspeare

they're like "xiaoge control ur sON" "wu xie control UR SON"

humanlighthouse

They threaten to get divorced over this and it's the first time the boys agree to behave

He looks like a smaller XG with longer, even more emo hair, dresses like an eboy, has nunchucks or however the fuck you write that

He often tells XG stuff like You’re not my dad

s1utspeare

xiaoge's like "yeah i fucking hope not"

humanlighthouse

"How would i even know"

WX is sitting beside them like 😱😱😱

"Does that make me a dad??"

LC kicks him

He is The Worst and they all hope he grows out of it but No.

Liu Sang meets him once and swears never to come back if he is in Wushanju at the same time

s1utspeare

Rilin eats Liu Sang's whistle

humanlighthouse

Just swallows it whole

He hates it and is in pain for a whole week but he had a point to make!!

Even Kanjian tries to be nice about it but is like "He sure looks...troubled? 😬"

s1utspeare

the only one he likes is huo daofu for some disturbing reason, and huo daofu Does Not Like Him Back

humanlighthouse

HE FOLLOWS HIM

Not with stars in his eyes but with a very disturbing fixed stare

He breaks and enters regularly into his place

He doesn't do nice caring shit or anything, he just gets in and sits on the couch drinking stuff he stole from his fridge

Pangzi thinks he is hilarious until the moment he messes with his cooking, and he has to run him out of Wushanju with a wooden spatula and/or his shoe in hand

s1utspeare

The first time HXZ meets him it’s an exact recreation of this gif

humanlighthouse

He and XH come in with bucketfuls of popcorn every time he's in town

They just sit in a corner and observe the mess

s1utspeare

at one point the go to the Wu house and Zhang Rilin meets the dogs and Wu Xie is like "haha this'll teach him" but Rilin just growls at them and they immediately make him their leader

humanlighthouse

Sanshu hates him for some reason (very hard to manipulate) but Ershu thinks he is refreshingly honest and generally delightfully entertaining

s1utspeare

he bites sanshu

no one is sympathetic

humanlighthouse

LC high fives him

XG gives him 50 bucks

s1utspeare

pangzi: wait where the shit did you get fifty bucks??

xg: wu xie

wx: i didn't give you fifty dollars

xg: not on purpose

humanlighthouse

pz: oh so that's where he got it from

s1utspeare

like father like son 😊

humanlighthouse

XG still refuses to consider that he could be his dad instead of a close cousin or long lost big brother, so ZRL plays "you’re my dad boogie woogie woogie" under their bedroom window for an entire week

The sexual frustration forces him to sign adoption papers

They're fake, thankfully, HXZ procured them

s1utspeare

Li Cu taught him “you are my dad”

He teaches Rilin all the memes (after he bites Sanshu they have a tentative alliance)

humanlighthouse

They're a FANTASTIC TEAM is the problem

XG, getting hot and heavy with his husband, hearing the first word through the wall: I'm gonna kill him.

WX, a whole bastard, 10% less sexually frustrated than his husband: Oh honey you can’t kill your own son :)

XG: he can’t be my son! I'm gay!

WX: 😱 really? Why didn’t you tell me? 😱

_

LC, referring to eventual friend ZRL: Wu Xie, i want a brother

WX: go to your room and turn on the music loud, we'll get to it :)

LC: EW!!

s1utspeare

wu xie takes rilin to the xinyue hotel

WX: zhang rishan! Look! Your grandson!! 😊

ZDRS: oh hello rilin

ZRL: hi zhang fuguan

ZDRS: how is your exchange student program going

ZRL: pretty good, Im learning a lot

ZDRS: excellent. study hard

ZRL: yes sir

WX: what the fuck

later

WX: wait wAIT WHO DID HE EXCHANGE HIM WITH

meanwhile, at the zhang clan

Su Wan: i am very afraid :)

[milkacchan]

Request for anon: Ah!! My bad!! Didn't know you couldn't write controversial stuff!! I'll be happy to resend the ask!))May I have Enji, Bakugo, and Deku with a very punk S/O?-Anarchy anon

Bakugou:

• He thinks its very entertaining.

• V e r y

• He likes what you wear 🥺🥺

• He thinks they suit you

• they match your skin

• and your body

• thigh highs?? Yes.

• skirts??? He loves it

• tight jeans?? Baby pop the duck off

• studded collar? Y e s

• all your bracelets? Shits dope as duck

• Listen I know his parents literally work in fashion- but he did not inherit the genes needed to be good at it

• so you're gonna have to help hi

• and your make up blows him away

• You teach him how to do eyeliner

• bc we all know he abuses the power

• so you sit him down and you show him how you do yours

• and then you give him an extra eyeliner pen and he copies each step

• Now his eyeliner is sharp as fuck

• its great

• he'll help you dye your hair

• which you love because the feeling of him playing with you hair or running his fingers through it to even out the dyed strands feels like heaven

• you've fallen asleep from it before

• he thinks its funny

• bc here you are

• big scary punk babe

• falling asleep bc he's playing w your fucking hair

• HE LOVES YOUR ATTITUDE

• There just this ion give a fuck attitude that punks have

• and he lives for it

• except when it comes to school

• or anything else productive

• so basically just when you're dealing with other people

• bc he's absolutely on your ass about grades

• he'll come w you to get new piercings

• stick n pokes are a no go tho

• seriously he'll flip lmaoo

Deku-

• Bro you and Dekj are literally the opposite

• he's ✨🧚‍♀️🥰😍💋💫❣❣

• a fucking bottom

• and youre 🤬👺😈💢♠️⛓💉🩸🗡

• its very amusing to see a babey decked out in black and blue and purple with crazy fucking hair, screamjng profanities at some bitch who had the misfortune of messing w ur bf

• and then a broccoli boy w green hair panicked and trying to pull you away from the fight

• :)

• he's enamored with your makeup tho

• heavy eyeliner?? Yes

• blush??? Yes.

• eyeliner in places thats not your fucking eye? Yes.

• Black lipstick? Yes.

• Babey wants to try and to it 🥺

• its harder than he thinks

• he's looking at the best he just made on your eyelids and he's like 😓

• he likes to try on your jewelry too!!

• just chill with it throughout the day

• like he'll walk into class one day wearing your spiked choker and no one bats an eye

• bc they just know

• its a deku thing

• or he'll come in wearing your cool hand chain things on days they don't have to train

• or your bracelets!

• also?? He sees your coping method of piercings

• and that you do them yourself

• and he'll watch as you do it like 🥰🥰

• he'll make sure its all safe tho!!!

• just because you're punk doesn't mean you can't be safe!!!!

• he likes to see all your cool pins :(

• he'll steal those too

• @ arthur making a fist meme pin

• your favorite one

• he SNATCHES

• HE JUST TAKES IT

• AND YOURE LOOKING FOR IT

• UNTIL ONE DAY YOU SEE IT ON HIS MOTHER FUCKING BACKPACK

• n your like sir??????

• whomst??

• you can't take it from him tho 😔

• he's just too cute and he'd be sad if you took it

• he'll sometimes pick your outfit to go out

• or he'll have you style something he can wear so he looks 😤😤 too

• and its a vibe

Enji:

• You'd never think

• THE Enji Todoroki

• would end up

• w someone

• like

• you

• He's a very composed man

• He dresses well, expensive designer brands

• he's always put together and well-mannered (for the most part)

• and then there's you

• the fucking gremlin from hell that runs on caffeine and energy drinks that looks like a hottopic advertisement

• Its awesome tbh

• Shouto LOVES you

• Bc you're in your late 20's- Early 30's and you fr just living not giving a shit

• Not acting like his mother

• knowing you have like 0 authority over him

• just fucking vibing

• And somehow you managed to snag his dad??

• youre the embodiment of ill marry your date and make you my stepson bitch

• he's like yo, I see you

• Enji lowkey (highkey he just doesn't think its obvious) finds it hot

• that you dress the way you too

• and your attitude

• it just does things to him

• he just really really likes the vibe

• theres an excitement of finally just letting go and saying fuck it after a long day of being composed

• and it appeals to him

• I feel like lowkey part of the punk vibe is making/thrifting/mismatching clothes and just good hard as fuck

• like

• I got these pants from Walmart, this shirt from 7/11 that I cut up and I found these shoes behind the dumpster of an Arby's so here we fucking go

• so when he buys you fancy and expensive punk shit you're like 😤😤😤

• but also like 👁👁

• bc get that bread sis

• mans just watches you kill your hair with bleach and hair dye

• "Would you like me to call and schedule and appointment with Fuyumis hair stylist?" He asks with confusion

"No!! We're fucking shit up is what we're doing. We HAVE to do it this way!!!!"

"Okay, would you like help? I can try the best I'm able to,"

"Aw bby, help is for the week."

• you end up needing help to get the back lmaoooo

• you do your own haircuts

• bc like I said

• fucking shit up

• thats the vibe

• m u l l e t

• PLEASE

• or you know the girls that cut lil bits of their hair so short it looks like lil horns??

• please do that

• I promise he'll get rlly soft about it

• "I believe it suits you," he'll say softly, running his fingers through the ends of your hair

"Thanks, I fucked it up and went for it."

• he tends not to curse as much

• so

• :)

• you'll curse for him

• some shit goes wrong? You're right next to him?

• get ready for the storm bb

• "oh you mother fucking cu-"

• he honestly doesn't mind the mouth

• bc like I said before

• its refreshing for him to know he can come home and not be expected to be composed

• He will absolutely be willing to pay for whatever tattoos you want

• and honestly just take him up on it bc tattoos are expensive like

• 3 letters is like 150 bruh

• but!! Piercings are done at home!

• unless they're in your mouth :)

• tongue piercing or that peircing above your teeth

• he won't let you do shit like that at home

• when you did get them he helped you take care of them

• but esr piercings are free game

• overall he's very very supportive in the way you dress and act all around• he really doesn't mind at all

[lockawayknight]

❤️ of-forossa and yellowfingcr <3

from send ❤️ + a url for some positivity [accepting!!]

HEY OKAY U WANNA SEND IN TWO OF MY MOST FAVOURITE PPL IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD HUH I SEE HOW IT IS my GOODNESS where do i even begin,,,,

listen @yellowfingcr was one of the first rp blogs i ever followed, like i think the second ever fjdkd even before i was writing or in the community like i just loved their heysel so much i couldnt NOT follow it was like a Requirement, THE TALENT,,, THE RANGE to muse heysel and licia AND NITA listen im gonna scream,,,, i could go off about each individual muse i really really could cus each one is so fuckin unique and developed and feels so real and my GOODNESS i just am obsessed

and that WRITING TALENT and the energy and passion and love that goes in it like?? keep my dash ALIVE babes every time heysel pops up to ask what the mood of the day is i know it’s gonna be a good day,,,, such drive and love gets put into everything u can tell, GOD i wish i could keep up with stuff that diligently and passionately anD UGH IDK i just am full of such a baffling amt of admiration

AND THE ART?? HELLO 911 IM HAVING A HEART ATTACK THIS ART IS SO STUNNING??? every character is so unique and so beautiful!! the striking features, strong and defined, the range of style, the beautiful paintings and crisp comics, i just!!! i scream every DAY i look at every gift i’ve been given with so much love i just am blessed to have had my stinkman drawn by someone so talented BLESSED i say

and literally the nicest person ever??? hello??? we muse in the dms a lot and it is the most wonderful thing in the world to have someone i can just go off memeing abt the fingers with it is SO GOOD AND NICE i always feel like such a burden when i send ppl random posts but they just always help with confidence and positivity and always check in on health and it is so nice like i cannot BELIEVE how kind they are hhhh im gonna freicken cry just thinking abt it….

—

AND @of-forossa LISTEN can we just talk abt this dude’s skill with the english language like??? everything is PURE POETRY every post every drabble every reply every OOC POST literally this mf could talk abt his dog chewing thru ethernet cables and it’ll make me feel like i’m back in oregon at the shakespeare festival, he words everything SO GOOD AND NICE

and the passion behind the writing??? so much thought and love and dedication to the craft, so much imagery and thought, so much emotion through location and everything, i really just cannot express how incredible it is. who else takes simple meme prompts and turns them into goddamn vignettes like literally he is a PAINTER OF WORDS yr inbox is a canvass whenever he touches it literally it is like a little blessing every gd time i can’t even explain,,,

and brom??? hello brom the best man in the fuckin world??? and all the hcs abt forossa and the lion knights and everything that comes with it??? this man is a WORLDBUILDER who the FUCK else can craft not just an oc detailed and complex enough to feel completey human but also craft them an entire world that feels real enough it’s like i’ve been there. so much intricate knowledge and lore, and written with so much carefully detailed crafting, it’s so effortless to insert your own char into the world bc it is so fleshed out it feels like home. AND BROM IS ONE OF MY FAVES EVER ngl me and my partner are always talking abt brom just in our everydays we just have entirely replaced the cursebearer with brom in our lexicon cus he’s so fucking good he is the BEST

and the mun is just generally such a sweetheart? while STILL being a poet, every ooc message and meme and musinng feels crafted by gods but still is so sweet and entertaining like i CANNOT give this guy enough props for how sweet and wonderful he is,,,,

hey did i mention the language by the way. what about the language. and the language?? listen i’m a fangirl ngl cjcnsks

god there is so much more i could say abt both these wonderful folks but i’m already super over my break JFNFMSMSK ty ty sm!!💕💕

[luvdsc]

hey there bub! i was going thru ur masterlist and i saw in the "about" section that u made eye contact with taemin OMG how did that go AAAAA u got to make eye contact with THE lee taemin? soo lucky :") i bet this happened prob awhile back but how was the superm concert? i'm sure it was amazing n so much fun AAAAA sadly they didn't go here in my city :( but i was able to see NCT dream live during their dream show tour and i tell you WHEW GOSH those boys are so ethereal??? like they look so good in vids and in pics but they're 1000000x better in person??? like pictures don't do their beauty justice?? gosh i could write a full on essay abt this. until now i still cant believe i got to see the dreamies live?? its feels so surreal like a dream, its crazy. i remember the lights dimming and 'dear dream' started playing in the background and i just lost it lol i was shaking and bawling my eyes out n the show hasn't even started yet djkfkjn i first noticed jisung n when i saw him the first thing that popped in my mind was: "he is SO tall and he's soso cute dear lord :")" and the way he dances, a frickin dance king?? he's rlly such a born performer. AND OHMYGOD JENO, the man is rlly WOW, ngl he kinda looks intimidating with his sharp features and smooth dance moves but his eye smiles make my heart mELT. i remember during the encore stage, the show was about to end and the boys were saying goodbye to us, jeno's face was showed on screen, he was tryna eat the confetti LMAO. renjun,, i will never shutup abt this but renjun is confirmed to be a FAIRY!! the prettiest boy :") #RENJUNFAIRYAGENDA he has such sharp yet delicate features and his aura is just so warm n comforting like he just captivates u n lures u in, and when he sings, like u can feel the emotion, hes so talented. all throughout the show, hyuck was just GLOWING (lives up to his name, fullsun uwu) . he's soso pretty n he's my bias so i literally was just in awe when i saw him, i was speechless :') he was rlly entertaining to watch n he was also so attentive to the crowd esp when he saw some ppl that got hurt, he kept telling us to move back a little. OMG HOW COULD I FORGET NANA, jaemin was soo sweet n charming and the way his eyes lit up whenever he looks at the crowd gosh my heart was abt to burst he rlly adores czennies :") jskfvkds hes also super tall lmao hyuck was tryna lift his shirt up tho and of course chenle, ngl but all throughout the concert, my eyes just keep coming back to chenle. out of all the dreamies, he caught my eye the most. like,, THE POWER THIS MAN HOLDS IS CRAZY?? THIS MAN DIDNOT COME TO PLAY!! his stage presence is crazyy ohgod esp during 119 performance, and he looks like a prince in real life. he also played the piano and i remember everyone was just in awe as he played like the whole crowd had heart eyes for him. it was such a fun n amazing experience, the boys were so amazing n talented, they rlly know how to put on such a great show. they work tirelessly n they're so good, like their voices and dance moves, srsly amazing :") ++ it so memorable cus it was my first kpop concert hehe. buying tickets were such a pain in the ass ngl it was so stressful but SO worth it 🥺 i knew jisung was tall but i didnt know he was THAT tall, idk if im just small but they all rlly look so tall JKDFSDJVFF sadly mark wasnt there :( sorry if i made this long, i just got excited and i thought it'd be nice to share my concert experience w/ u as well hehe 😅 i hope you're doing great bub!! <3

- 🐼 anon

omg hi yes, i was lucky enough to score tickets to see superm last year, and i was right up against the main stage railing !!! 🤩 so ten made eye contact and smiled at me, baekhyun also made eye contact and smiled and waved at me (he’s my exo bias and i was like the heart clutching meme when he did that), i yelled “you’re doing great sweetie” when taeyong took a pause during commentary time and he said thank you 🤧, and god taem looked at me for a good 20 seconds smiling at me and i couldn’t handle it and had to blink and look away and he laughed at me 😔 akslhflakshdfla but oh my god, lucas is so goddamn attractive irl it’s insane, and ten is sooo so pretty like i didn’t even pay attention to what they were saying during the commentary time sometimes i was just staring at ten who was in front of me and i was the starry eyed emoji (baek and ten were right in front of me, lucas was next to them), and pictures don’t do taeyong justice at all like that man is absolutely ethereal ✨✨  also!!!!! seeing ten perform his solos, hearing taeyong and mark rap irl and of course BASS GO BOOM BY LUCAS BECAME MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WHEN ARE THEY RELEASING THAT SONG??? and i was in tears when taemin performed right in front of me like 16 year old me would be shaking in her boots if she knew she would see god taem in the flesh. actually current me was shaking askdjfhalksjdf i cherish all the videos i took so much (i accidentally deleted the entire jopping video except the mark rap part when i was trying to snip it to post to my insta story and cried rip 😭😭)

YOU GOT TO SEE THE DREAMIES IRL OH MY GOD I’M SO JEALOUS 😭😭 I WANNA SEE THEM PERFORM SO BAD!!! i keep rereading your entire experience and i’m living vicariously through you now aklshdflakjsdhfda oh my god, i wanna see jisung and fairy prince renjun perform live so bad 😭 i got to see hyuck perform three times now with 127, and he’s absolutely amazing, i couldn’t stop watching him dance like he’s my number one favorite performer in nct and the way he dances is heavenly and wonderful and his voice is insane 💖 he truly was born to be an idol 🤧💞💞 i want to write a proper response to each of your description of the dreamies but right now i’m just like no thoughts head empty just heart eyes for every single one of those boys 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 aaaa thank you for describing them all, angel, i’ll keep this in mind as i write fics :’) omg and this was your first kpop experience???? you’re so lucky!!!! 💓 also i feel with the buying tickets omg i always have to get up early and keep refreshing on every device to get decent tickets and it’s so stressful askljdfhaksd but it definitely is so worth it in the end! my only regret is opting out of seeing skz last year and going to a party instead rip and omg no need to apologize!!! it’s really fun to hear about your concert experiences, sweetpea!!! 💞 thank you for taking the time to share that with me 💘  i’m doing wonderful and enjoying my weekend, and i hope you’re having a good weekend and doing well also, angel 🐝💛✨

[ani-miki]

Hey! Could you make a todoroki x reader where the reader (shoto's s/o) has been a volunteer at the hospital Rei lives (being there to talk and give joy for the patients) for some years and ended up on a friendship with his mom cus they have ice quirk (but like Elsa's), and shoto finds that out when he went visit his mom and saw then laughing together? The reader didn't told him bc they were scared of shoto would think, fluff and happy ending pls ♡

hey :))) here you go bb!

word count: 662

todoroki x reader

You loved your job. You weren’t sure how many people your age would choose to spend their days with strangers in the hospital, but it was something you enjoyed.

Spending time with patients was a joyful experience for both you and them. You got to talk to them, make friends with them. You’d listen to the older ones’ stories and wisdom, and use your quirk to entertain the little ones.

You tried not to pick favorites, or get too overly attached; you knew that for a vast majority of them, they’d either be discharged or, something you didn’t like to focus on too much.

There was one woman, however, that you’d grown especially close too, despite your attempts to have a slight barrier between you and the patients.

Todoroki Rei. A beautiful woman, who was a fellow ice user like you. She had wisdom well beyond her years, and you felt a somewhat motherly connection to her.

“You remind me so much of my youngest son. He’s around your age, you know.”

You laugh, “Maybe that’s why you dote on me so much. I’m the one who’s supposed to be caring for you, you know?” She chuckles, squeezing your hand like she always does.

———————————————————————

When you start dating your boyfriend, Shouto, you tell her stories about him non stop. How much you loved his hair, his eyes, the way he got confused at memes and modern slang. It wasn’t until she made a remark about wishing she’d set you up with her son that you realized their relation to each other.

“It’s a pity you have a boyfriend now, y/n. My Shouto would love you. I talk to him about you on the phone all the time.” She sighs.

You froze when you heard it. You didn’t know how you hadn’t realized it. There were lots of Shoutos in the world, in Japan especially. But there was only one Todoroki Shouto that you knew of, and that was your boyfriend. You managed to muster a weak laugh and breeze into another topic of conversation, but the fact never left your head.

How could you tell Shouto? He’d think you were hiding it from him, or using him because of his family connections. Rei would be disappointed that you didn’t say something when you realized too.

You didn’t have time to ponder too long though. The next day, as you laugh at a joke Rei made, a knock sounds at the door and it opens; revealing none other than your boyfriend, Todoroki Shouto himself.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?” He asks, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I work here. I told you I worked in a hospital, remember?” You respond shyly.

Rei gasps audibly.

“My, y/n? Our Shouto’s are the same boy?”

“It seems like it, Ms. Rei.” You chuckle awkwardly.

The air in the room gains an awkward tinge, Shouto looking between you and his mother incredulously.

“Y/n can I talk to you for a second?” he asks.

You look to Rei for approval and she nods, shooing you with a smile on her face.

“My mom’s your patient? Why didn’t you tell me?” He asks, almost sadly.

You rub your arm in embarrassment, “I only found out yesterday that you too were related. I would’ve told you first thing but I was worried you’d be mad.” You mutter, casting your eyes to the floor.

Shouto grabs your chin, causing you to look into his bicolored eyes.

“Why would I be mad? This is great.” He smiles.

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Now I can visit both of my favorite girls at the same time.”

You snort at his cheesiness and push his chest lightly, before pulling him into a hug.

“You’re a dork.”

You can hear the smile in his voice when he says, “I know.”

“Now can we go back inside? Everyone is staring.”

“Okay.” He concedes, but not before planting a kiss to the top of your head.

[mudwingprince]

im not exactly sure of why i started to think of this, but i felt like sharing it XD

ONE THING TO NOTE:

IF I WERE NOT OVER THIS, I WOULD NOT BE POSTING ABOUT IT, MY MOM AND I HAVE MOVED ON FROM THIS, IT IS A THING FROM THE PAST

this happened... 2 or 3 years ago, so a while ago

and it was my mom's birthday

and for SOME STRANGE REASON THAT I DONT UNDERSTAND we (my mom and i) were upstairs (i think we were looking for something)

and i had a balloon with me too (idk why XD)

and the EXTREMELY IRONIC part of this story, is that my mom said to me "don't trip and fall on the balloon string" (i dont remember her saying this to me, but she said that she did, so imma take her word for it)

and saying that probably gives away what happened to her-

yeeeeahhhh, she fell down the stairs

and my stairs are hella huge, like wtffffff

(here's an image for reference and dogs, but please ignore the mess XD)

now, to a 10 year old, watching your mother stumble down the stairs like this meme, is terrifying

so, like someone who's heart isnt stone hard cold, i start sobbing stuck in place :)

my mom was sobbing on the floor, BUT NOT BECAUSE SHE FUCKING FELL DOWN THE STAIRS, BUT SHE WAS WORRIED ABOUT HER TEETH????

I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND THAT BUT ITS VALID-

but my dad came rushing over (along with my brother) and helped her and bandaged her up

i wasnt really there for all of it, kinda 'in shock' i guess? im not sure XD

but i was crying in a different room for a while and then i got up to see my mom CUS YA KNOW I JUST WATCHED HER FALL DOWN THE STAIRS AND I WANTED TO MAKE SURE SHE'S OKAY-

turns out that her head was bleeding and her teeth were messed up

(how did she know what would happen to her teeth is what i want to know-)

aaaaaaaaand my dad waited until my grandparents and my uncle showed up just to watch us to take her and my grandma to the hospital

and in the couple hours that they were gone IT WAS LIKE A ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS

like, my uncle and grandpa just kept trying to entertain us and like I WOULD BE ENTERTAINED AND HAPPY and then FIVE MINUTES LATER I WOULD START SOBBING

(this happened one other time before, but idk if im ready to share that story yet)

uhhhh wtf happened next XD

uhm, my mom came home with stitches aaaaaandddd some more crying happened aaaaaaand we finished celebrating her birthday...?

idk really the only things that i can remember from that day is her falling down the stairs and my mental breakdown afterwards

other than that, everything is really fuzzy

[mosylufanfic]

Some Rules Are Meant to be Broken

Killervibe Week Day 4: Free Day

So . . . a little background on this. A long time ago (looooooooooooong time ago) some lovely nonny sent me a request for a matchmaker AU. I went OOOOOO. My brain started popping and fizzing with thoughts and before I knew it I had a whole multi-chapter story in my head. Which was where it stayed, because I think I was working on other multi-parters at the time and there are only so many hours in the day. I maybe wrote one scene, and then it sank into the depths of my Gdocs like a dinosaur succumbing to the tar pits.

This happens way more often than I care to admit.

Then I was whining on Discord about how I was suffering from choice paralysis for Free Day. Too many ideas, not enough words. And I realized I had a whole bunch of partial fics just sitting around, waiting for me to actually finish them up. So what did I do? Went back to the matchmaker AU and wrote the end. From scratch. In about a day and a half. In my defense it was all in the primordial ooze of my brain-meats, I just had to find the words and put them in the right order.

Anyway I hope if that very patient and long-denied nonny is reading this, you like it.

Some Rules Are Meant to be Broken

The offices of Connections were dim and shadowed as Cisco unlocked the door. He didn't bother hitting any lights, so familiar with the layout that he could navigate the waiting room by the dim light of the Central City skyline outside the windows.

He walked down the hall, past a wall of framed pictures that gleamed faintly in the low light. Happy couples, wedding invites, birth announcements, even the occasional letter or printed email thanking Connections for matching the client with the love of their life.

There were more inside his office, some of his personal triumphs. He turned away from them and felt around until he released the catch on two doors set into the wall. He pulled them open to reveal a small but well-stocked bar.

He ignored the glasses and the minifridge full of ice and chilled drinks, and grabbed a bottle of Scotch right off the shelf. A couple of steps took him to a small sitting area arranged by the window, and he dropped into one of the comfy chairs. Scowling, he worked the cork out. It released with a pop, and he tossed it aside and drank right from the bottle.

He didn't normally drink at work unless he was entertaining a client, but this was a special occasion. 

Twenty minutes later, the lights in the waiting room flicked on, and then his door opened and his overhead lights blazed. He squinted and said, "Hey."

His business partner, Iris West-Allen, leaned in the doorway. "Well, don’t you look pitiful."

He slouched in his chair, looking up at her.

"You gonna share?" she asked.

He swung the bottle in her general direction. "Have a snort."

She looked at it, shook her head, and got up to grab a glass from the bar, as comfortable in his office as she was in her own. She poured herself a couple of fingers of scotch and sipped. "You're chugging this?" she asked. 

"Yes," he said. "What’s the problem?"

"Nothing, if it was flavored vodka from Safeway. But this is a Lagavulin that's old enough to drive."

"Time it got drank, then," he said, and took another slug straight from the bottle, while she shook her head. "Great party," he said when the silence threatened to drown him.

"One of our best," she replied. "I saw at least five couples pairing off."

He stared at the label on the bottle. "Uh-huh."

"Even Caitlin Snow seemed to find someone she liked."

This time, the answer was much slower in coming. "Uh-huh."

"I don't know why we didn't think of introducing her and Ronnie before."

He shut his eyes and saw again the way that Caitlin had smiled and laughed with Ronnie Raymond. One of Iris's clients, not his, but Cisco knew him anyway because they matched up each others' clients all the time. Tall, good-looking, nice, smart, a go-getter, and on top of all that a genuinely good guy. Perfect for Caitlin. One of his better matches, honestly. 

Shit.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "They were perfect together."

Iris stared at him, then shook her head. "You ding-dong," she said. 

He rubbed his eyes and didn't offer a defense. He had none. 

"What's the first rule?"

"Don't talk about Fight Club?" When she glared, he sighed. "Figure out what the client wants, and give it to them."

"And the second rule?"

"Don't fall in love with a client."

"I told myself you were fine," she said. "I told myself you were a pro and have been for years. I thought, hey, Cisco really likes this client. She's a challenge, and he likes a challenge. You're meeting her week after week, talking over her dates, texting with her, but that's no big deal. We've all had clients we just clicked with."

"Yeah." Some of his best friends were former clients.

"And then Caitlin and Ronnie hit it off at the party, and I look over expecting to see you doing a goddamn happy dance. Instead you look like someone ran over your dog."

He remembered that moment. Not that he'd noticed Iris looking at him. But the moment he'd seen Caitlin laugh at something Ronnie said, touching his arm, smiling up at him, he hadn't had the bright zing! of a match successfully made.

Instead, it had been like cement pouring into his gut, as he realized that he was watching the woman he loved fall in love with someone else.

Iris swirled her Scotch and stared him down. "Did you sabotage her intros?"

He sat up straight. "No!" 

"Are you sure?"

"I - " He stopped.

What if he had? Maybe, subconsciously, he'd been in love with her since the moment she'd come into his office, grumpy and uncooperative because her mother had bought her a package of five introductions through a matchmaking service. What if he'd been finding matches that he could tell himself were the right guys for her, but in reality, were just wrong enough for her to keep coming back?

Keep seeing him. 

Keep talking to him.

Keep smiling at him with those big beautiful brown eyes. 

"I don't know," he muttered finally. 

Iris held out her hand. "Her file. Now."

Cisco slumped down into his chair and drank again. "Top drawer."

She went and got it, and refrained from pointing out that Caitlin's file was the only one in the top drawer. She flipped it open to study his notes for a moment. "She's got one more intro."

He took another drink. "From the looks of it, she won't be using it."

She shrugged. "We deposited the check for the full package. Until she uses it all, she's still a client."

"Right." Caitlin could come back years from now, asking for her last intro, and she would be entitled to it. 

What would he do if she did? Would he smile at her fondly, remembering that long-ago time when he'd fallen in love with her, the feelings soft and faded like old flower petals?

Or would they still be simmering away? Rising up in him like a volcano?

He didn't know which to hope for.

Iris tucked Caitlin's file under her arm and came back to the sitting area to give him a hug. "I'm sorry," she said in his ear, her voice gentle.

He leaned against her. "My fault," he muttered back. "I should have known what was going on sooner."

"Love catches us all unawares." She ruffled his hair and he ducked away from her, scowling and finger-combing it back into place. 

"You want to come over and watch terrible horror movies with my husband?" she asked. "I'll supply the ice cream and the tissues."

Tempting, but he knew that the whole time, he'd be remembering an evening he'd spent with Caitlin in much the same way. She'd been down because she'd gotten stood up for a third date, and Cisco had been the one supplying the ice cream. They'd ended up snuggled together on the couch - that exact couch right here, across from the chair he sat on - giggling helplessly over a cheesy sci-fi movie cued up on his laptop.

(He'd also taken great pleasure in calling Julian and ripping him a new one the next day. No spark or not, Connections clients did not stand up other clients without so much as a text.)

"I think I'll go home and wallow on my own for a day or two," he said, re-corking the Scotch and setting it on the coffee table. "Maybe crack open some Safeway vodka. I got a bottle of caramel flavor that's calling my name."

Iris eyed the level of the liquor. "Want me to drive you?"

He got to his feet and gulped when the floor tipped under his feet. "Maybe you'd better," he said.

He felt a little steadier when she dropped him off at his building. Steady enough to get up to his loft, anyway. She leaned over from the driver's seat, eyes compassionate. "Call me if you need me. Don't drink yourself to death."

"No promises," he said. 

"You gonna be okay?" she asked.

"I've fallen in love before," he said. "This is just one heartbreak. I'll survive, and I'll fall in love again someday."

But none of them would be her.

A week later, Cisco had clocked several hangovers, lots of empty Kleenex boxes, and about a million calories in ice cream. The sharp slice of pain had dulled to an ache in his chest. 

Three or four hundred times a day, he picked up his phone to text Caitlin. Sometimes it was an absent-minded, Oh hey, she'd enjoy this meme and sometimes it was what would it hurt to say hi? 

Sometimes, when he was being honest with himself, he was about to declare his love and beg her to be with him. 

She hadn't contacted him. Obviously, too busy being wildly in love with Ronnie Raymond. 

In his weaker moments, he pictured them holding hands as they walked by the river, dining by candlelight, kissing on a balcony before slipping inside to a darkened bedroom.

That was usually followed by more drinking, more tears, and more ice cream. 

He managed, somehow, to keep the messier moments out of the office, if only because he was intensely aware of Iris's compassionate and piercing eye. It helped that he'd given their office assistant the key to his liquor cabinet, with strict instructions not to give it back unless he was with a client, and threats of death and dismemberment if he caught Ralph with liquor on his breath at work. 

So Cisco was unfortunately sober as he sat at his desk, riffling through index cards with client names and brief notes on them, trying to figure out who would be enough of a match for each other to set up intros. 

Usually it felt like a jigsaw puzzle, moving people next to each other, making guesses at who would click into place. This guy would love that girl's quirky sense of humor. That guy would gel nicely with this guy's freewheeling lifestyle. That girl would be impressed by this girl's high-powered job. 

But for the past week, it had felt like shoving paper dolls around. The client cards sat on his desk, click-less. Not buzzing or fizzing in the way that meant this could be true love. Just . . . two people standing next to each other. 

He shoved his hands through his hair and let out a deep groan. 

This is what you do. You're good at it, and you love it.

"Not right now, I don't," he said to his empty office. 

His phone dinged with a text. He picked it up. Iris had written, Running late. Not going to be back for my 2:30. It’s an intake. Can you do it for me?

No prob, he wrote back. Here?

She'd prefer to meet at Jitters

Sometimes people asked for that. They didn't want to feel so much like they were contracting a service. More like they were chatting with a friend, asking for a casual setup. Cisco was happy to let them feel that way, even as they were John Hancock'ing the contract and promising to pay their more than healthy fee. 

And it would be good to get out of here. Stretch his legs, get some air and caffeine. Who knew - maybe a new client would kickstart his mojo. 

He tapped out, Has this new girl got a file?

On my desk 

You're the best

Damn right I am

He glanced at the time and realized he was going to need to book it in order to get downstairs to the coffee shop on time. Damn, Iris had cut it close. He dashed across the hall to his partner's office and grabbed the manila envelope that sat on her otherwise pristine desk. "Client meet at Jitters," he called out on his way through the waiting room. "Text if you need me."

"Got it, boss," Ralph said cheerily, scrolling through Facebook as he did a basic background check on a prospective client. 

"And don't call me boss."

"You betcha, boss."

Cisco rolled his eyes and yanked the door shut behind him.

He'd planned to have a quick look at their new client's file on the elevator, but it was occupied by a guy from the next floor up, someone he'd successfully set up last year. Cisco smiled and glad handed and made appreciative noises over the pictures of the house the couple had just bought together, but he stepped out of the elevator with the envelope still sealed. 

Jitters was on the street-level floor of their building. When he walked in, a barista waved to him and started making his usual without asking. He waved back and looked around. Nobody was obviously waiting, so he grabbed a quiet corner booth and settled down to open up the client file.

Instead of the usual intake form with attached picture, there was just a sheet of blank printer paper with Iris's scrawl dashed across it. 

Remember rule one.

He gaped at it. 

Then the heaviness of the envelope registered. He put his hand in and pulled out the sparkling starburst pin that they issued to all their clients, so they could identify each other at an intro. Worlds away from a chrysanthemum and a copy of Wuthering Heights. 

"What?" he whispered.

The bell over the door jingled, and he looked up. "Caitlin," he said numbly.

It felt like a year, not a week, since he'd seen her. He drank her in. God, she was so beautiful. But pale. She looked pale. And there were shadows under her eyes, even though she'd tried to hide them with makeup. 

Had she been lying awake like him? Or . . . maybe she'd been awake for a better reason, with Ronnie.

She smiled. Was it his imagination or was it a nervous smile? "Hi, Cisco. Can I sit down?"

"Hey. I actually - uh - I'm meeting a client here -" He saw the starburst pin on her blouse, identical to the one he held, and stopped. 

"You're meeting me," Caitlin said, taking a seat across from him.

"I don't - " Maybe he wasn't caffeinated enough, even though he'd downed three or four cups since this morning. "Did Iris talk to you?"

"Yes," she said, twisting her hands together on the tabletop. "You didn't text."

He avoided her eyes. "No, sorry, we've been busy - "

"You usually text the day after a date to see how it went, but you didn't, after the party. And you left that night kind of quickly, without saying goodbye. So I -  I waited a day and then I called the office, just in case you weren't feeling well. And Iris told me that she was going to be my matchmaker now."

"We do that sometimes," he said. "Shuffle things around. To redistribute the workload."

Lie and a half. They never, ever did that. They matched clients with matchmakers as carefully as they matched clients with each other. 

"Yes," Caitlin said. "That's what Iris said." 

"So - um. What's this all about? You just wanted to talk?" 

Was this Iris's idea of closure? Did she somehow think this would be good for him?

This was very much not good for him. He was already mentally selecting which flavor of vodka was going to destroy his liver tonight.

"I met with Iris here yesterday," Caitlin said. "We talked for awhile and then she asked me what I want. And I told her." She bit her lip and held his gaze. "I want you."

"Me," he said.

She nodded. Her hands twisted around themselves like a nest of anxious worms. "Not as my matchmaker. As - as my match."

He felt his mouth fall open. "But . . . " he said numbly. "But Ronnie. You were totally into Ronnie at the party."

"Ronnie was very nice," Caitlin said. "He asked for my number and we had dinner the next day. And if things were different, I could see us becoming something. But there was already you."

He swallowed hard. Him.

Him over Ronnie. Tall, hot, good-guy Ronnie. 

She twisted her hands again. "And I know I'm a client and you're a professional and there are rules about this kind of thing. But the best part of this whole experience has been you. Every date I went on, I was just thinking the whole time how to tell you about it. Every time your name pops up on my phone, my heart skips a beat. Every day I just want to come by the office here and see you, talk to you, and the days I could were just . . . better, Cisco, they were better."

She gulped air, as if the cascade of feelings had drained her lungs to the bottom. 

"Maybe this is like therapy where transference is a risk, and maybe you're just like that with everyone, but I -"

"I'm not, though," he said, reaching out across the table for her hand.

She stopped dead, her eyes going big. "You're not?"

He shook his head. "Only with you."

"Oh," she breathed.

"And I am a professional and we do have rules, but I was just - I was in the middle of it before I even knew what was happening."

"The middle of what?"

"Love," he said. "I'm all the way in the middle of love with you, and I've been a complete wreck trying to find my way out."

Her hand tightened on his. "Don't," she said. "Don't try to get out. Just stay here. With me."

She was too far away, a continent of table in between them. He scooted around the booth and took her face in his hands, asking a silent question.

She answered it by leaning forward and kissing him. 

Joy bubbled up, floating him away until his only anchors to earth were her lips on his, her arms around his neck, the curves of her body pressed up against his.

Something thumped, and someone coughed.

They broke apart and found the red-faced barista setting two coffees down in front of them. "Both on the Connections tab?" she asked.

Cisco dug in his pocket. "No, this is personal." He wiggled his brows at Cailtin. "I know how you feel about the first date, but seriously, let me get this."

She leaned into him. "Fine but I'm buying the ice cream later on."

The barista took his credit card away, still blushing, and Cisco took a sip of his latte. It was the same thing he always got, but it tasted like ambrosia. "So, ice cream?" he asked, taking Caitlin's hand.

"Well, or dinner, or . . ." She trailed off. "You're not going to get in trouble for this or anything, are you?"

"Considering Iris set this whole thing up like the scheming schemer she is, I'm gonna go with no."

"But what if you get your license revoked, or something?"

"Just how organized do you think we are?" He kissed her knuckles. "No, I'm not gonna lose my license. No license to lose. There are a couple of rules in the matchmaking biz, but they're kinda like the pirate code."

"Guidelines," Caitlin said, and he grinned hugely at her. 

"Exactly. There is a rule about never falling in love with a client, and that's a grey area for us, but technically you're Iris's client now, not mine."

"Mmmm. Seems like splitting hairs."

"I'll gladly split a few hairs for us," he said. "But the very first, most important rule is, get the client what they want." He squeezed her hand. "And you already told me what you want. Which is coincidentally what I want, which . . ." He paused. "Hang on, does that make me my own client now?" How much did he owe himself? Hmmm.

"Oh! Iris asked me to give you this," Caitlin said. She dug around in her purse and handed over an envelope with the logo of Connections in the return address corner. 

Somehow knowing what he would find, Cisco opened it anyway. Inside was an invoice. Iris's name was neatly typed in the Matchmaker line, and on the line where they would put the client's name, he saw his own.

One introduction, the invoice read. And down where the price would be, Iris had written I totally expect to be your best man.

Cisco grinned at it and tucked it away. "Hey," he said, reaching out to touch the starburst on Caitlin's shirt. "You can take that off. You're not going to need it anymore."

Caitlin peered down to undo the pin. "No, I most certainly won't."

FINIS