#doesn’t mean they won’t tease or antagonize each other from time to time but it’s all in good fun it’s not malicious

[sweetandglovelyart]

A little art/comic announcement: While Knightfall in Dream Land is still in progress and I’m still working on that I’ve also started plotting out the storylines for both the Daroach backstory comic and the Susie redemption arc comic that I want to do.

Before I started drawing Knightfall in Dream Land I did some very simple pencil sketches with dialogue written on them to get an idea for the direction the story of the comic would go in and get an estimate of how long the finished comic would likely be/how many pages it would likely have. That’s the stage I’m at right now with the Daroach comic and Susie comic. I’m planning to start posting actual pages for both of these comics in January 2025, because I want to get a little bit further into Knightfall in Dream Land first before I launch the new comics. The final length may vary a little bit depending on whether or not I decide to add more stuff or change some of the dialogue I’ve plotted out, but when Knightfall in Dream Land is finished I’m estimating that it’ll be around 34-36 pages, so I’d like to maybe get to page 20 or so before I start posting the new comics. Knowing how slowly I update I’ll probably hit page 20 around late December of this year so January is likely when I’ll be launching the new comics.

Like I’ve mentioned before I’m also still very busy with grad school stuff (I’m working very hard to finish up my PhD in the next year and hopefully get a job lined up if I can so I don’t have to live with my parents when I graduate) so comic updates might get even slower than they already are in the coming months. Thank you to everyone who’s been reading the comic even though I update it really slowly, it really means a lot to me to see people enjoying what I’ve created, and I hope you’ll enjoy the new comics too when I eventually start posting them.

[plus-size-reader]

Talent

Eddie Brock x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1897 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Eddie being assigned a co host after his first outburst on national television in hopes that it won't happen again, but it doesn’t exactly go as planned

—————————————————————————————————

If there was ever a professional rival to Eddie Brock, it was you.

Personally, he didn’t see it.

You were too buttoned up, like you were reading from a set of cue cards whenever you found yourself in front of a camera, and he would never do that. That sort of reporting was inauthentic and if he ever had to act that way, he’d surely quit.

It just wasn’t who he was.

Really, the comparison between you two was sort of insulting for him.

If nothing else, it was a blow to his ego but none of that mattered after what happened with the Daily Globe.

No one would let him work solo again, which was how you’d ended up here in the first place. Both his colleagues and the general audience seemed to think that the two of you would make a perfect pair.

For some reason, the man in question couldn’t keep his mouth shut and needed a babysitter out in the field so that he didn’t make a fool out of everyone at The Eddie Brock Report.

That was something you couldn’t and wouldn’t allow.

In all honesty, the only thing you and Eddie seemed to have in common was the fact that you didn’t quite care for the other, but you didn’t get much of a choice in the matter. Jack made it perfectly clear that Eddie Brock was your meal ticket, and you couldn’t rightfully toss that away.

You loved your job, and you were good at it, so if you had to take care of the man child that was Eddie Brock for a while, you would do that. All you had to do was keep a tight lip and get this whole thing over with.

Once the interview with the Life Foundation was over, and you got paid, you could request a transfer.

It wasn’t like working with him for a few months was going to kill you. Though, he was definitely going to challenge that notion.

This morning, for example, he was already more than an hour late for your meeting.

“Nice of you to join us, Mr.Brock” you sighed, turning around to find Eddie standing in the doorway, finally. He was meant to be here at eight am sharp, just like the rest of you, but evidently, he was too good for that.

Not that you had been expecting much more than that from him.

After all, if he was all that good at his job and showing up when he was supposed to, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. 

Whether Eddie realized it or not, he had developed quite a reputation in all the time he’d been on the air.

At this point, you weren’t even sure if anything he did was going to surprise you. You knew exactly what you were dealing with when you signed up for this.

What he was doing was incredibly unprofessional.

Not only did it make your life more difficult for the time being, but more than anything, he was just getting on your last nerve.

It was like he didn’t even realize that his job depended on how well this interview went. The Life Foundation was a monster of a company, and Carlton Drake had incredible influence over what happened in this city.

If this interview went poorly, it would reflect negatively on both of your careers.

You couldn’t let him ruin this for you.

Still, even from where he was standing in the doorway, terribly late and under-prepared, Eddie couldn’t have cared less about the obvious weight of this assignment.

“How are you already mad at me, I just got here?” he hummed, not even bothering to look at you as he sat down on the other side of the table, a teasing smile on his face. 

You two had only ever been around each other a few times, and never under such terms.

You just didn’t know what to expect.

In your entire career, you had worked with plenty of other people but you had never encountered anyone like Eddie Brock. He was as stubborn as an ass and arrogant even when there was no reason to be.

It just didn’t seem like this was going to work.

If anything, you and Eddie brought the worst out in each other, and because of that, you were sure that this whole thing wasn't going to work. 

Having the two of you work together didn’t make any sense, and you couldn’t imagine anyone would think it would work out.

All in all, working with Eddie was a terrible idea.

“You were supposed to be here two hours ago” you reminded, doing your best to keep a level head. It was becoming clear that if anything was going to get done here, you were going to have to be the one to take control of this.

One of you had to be an adult about this.

If you knew anything about Eddie, he was likely just doing this whole thing to get under your skin, but this wasn’t about that. He had a job to do, and you weren’t going to let him get out of it.

After all, he was the reason you were in this position in the first past, and he wasn’t going to bring you down because of his big mouth.

You had a lot riding on this too.

“Honey, I’m the talent. Last time I checked” he laughed, looking between the rest of the people in the room as if to verify, not that anyone wanted to get into it between the two of you. 

Most of them had worked with you before, and had a lot of respect for you, but that didn’t mean they wanted to go against Eddie either.

He had a reputation as a bit of a drama queen and wouldn’t hesitate to throw a bit of a tantrum regarding whatever happened here.

“Oh, you’re right, I’m so sorry. How could I be so dense? I actually expected the talent to show up” you grumbled back, folding your arms across your chest. You were frustrated, of course, but there was no way he was being serious.

First of all, Eddie wasn’t the talent.

Neither of you were the talent, that was the whole point. He did his job like he was playing a game, or just messing around, like the job itself didn’t matter. In fact, you didn't even think he understood how serious this was.

Clearly, this was all a joke for him.

“Woah, we’re a little snippy today, aren’t we?” he jabbed, still keeping that casual air about him as he antagonized you. There was this snide attitude about him, something that showed you just how much he was enjoying this.

He thought it was funny.

“I’m not, actually. I just give a damn about my job, something that I’m sure you couldn’t understand” you huffed, deciding that you needed to just take care of this yourself. 

Obviously, you were going to have to figure this out if you wanted to get out of this without completely throwing away your entire career.

Having this conversation with him wasn’t worth anything, and it certainly wouldn’t make the Life foundation interview go any more smoothly.

Without missing a beat, you started gathering your things and stuffing them into your bag. 

You had been sitting here for far longer than anyone ever would have for an appointment and seeing how Brock was acting now, you realized just how much of a waste that was.

This really was a mistake.

However, once Eddie realized that you were planning on leaving, the arrogance that you had seen before started to fade away. Whether he liked it or not, he knew that he needed you and if you didn’t help him on this, he wouldn’t have a job.

The only way he got to do the Life foundation interview was if he did it with you by his side, and he needed it.

After everything he’d messed up as of late, he needed someone to take a chance on him so that he could prove himself to everyone who didn’t think he could do it.

“Hey, hold on!” he called, a light jog closing the space between the two of you, where you were now walking away from the meeting room. You had no desire to talk to him, of course, not after how he was acting, but you did stop.

You didn’t move to look at him or ask what it was that he wanted, but you stopped moving so that he could get out whatever it was he was so determined to say.

“I’m sorry if I struck a nerve, I just don’t know how this whole thing is supposed to work out. You know as well as I do that the Life Foundation is a fraud” he sighed, his words little more than a whisper through his teeth.

The truth was right there.

You were a journalist and while he may not have had a ton of respect for you in general, he knew that you could see it. Anyone who had been doing this as long as you had couldn’t possibly be blind to what was going on.

Drake was killing people, and the fact that you were still willing to go through with this interview as if he wasn’t just proved everything that Eddie believed about you to be true. 

You were just another spineless icon without any morals or ideas of your own.

It wasn’t real journalism if you hide the truth.

“Even if that was true, you don’t have any proof. How are we supposed to prove it?” you asked, unsure what he was getting at. You wouldn’t be surprised if there was something wrong with Carlton Drake and the mammoth foundation he’d created.

What he was suggesting was much more than just the usual drama that came along with hiring Eddie Brock but when you looked him in the eye, you noticed that the usual mischief in his eyes was nowhere to be seen.

He was serious.

Wherever this was coming from, Eddie seemed to believe what he was saying.

“I don’t know, but I know that something is wrong and I think we need to figure out what it is” he tried, finally going for broke as he stood in front of you, acting like a crazy person.

By all accounts, you should have turned around and walked away. He was paranoid and completely determined that he was right, in a way that only someone who’d lost their mind would be. However, you couldn't help but believe him

As much as you disliked Eddie on principle, you had a lot of practice figuring out if someone was lying and you knew that whether he was right or not, he believed what he was saying and was telling the truth.

Now, all that was left to do was figure out if there was any truth to his wild claims.

“Give me a few days to ask around. We’ll meet up at the start of next week to talk, but don’t make me wait again” you decided, confident that if he was serious about this, he would show up at the right time.

After all, if he was right, you’d be risking your own career on this.

[commander-diomika]

[Image ID: Screenshot of a tumblr reply from user @weareallfromearth ​​ saying “Holy shit I would V much like to know what you’d do with ZolfWilde.�� End ID]

This was in response to me tag rambling that if Alex “I don’t Actually Have That Much Experience in Courtship” Newall and Ben “I just Realised I’m Too Straight For This” Meredith don’t know what to do with Zolf/Wilde, they should hand the ship over to me. 

*rubs my gay little hands together.*

I initially characterized them offhandedly as Enemies-to-Lovers but that’s not quite it, is it? On reflection I would say it’s more of an Opposites Attract situation.

Oscar Wilde, as re-imagined in the RQG universe, is a homme fatale; a dangerous, attractive man, skilled in encouraging people to underestimate him, wearing different masks, never quite being able to trust or be trusted by anyone.

There is NO personal/professional line for Wilde. He lives his work, and his work is subterfuge and interpersonal manipulation. (whether or not he started this way in his field as a journalist, or was forced to become this way by the changes in his world, is another post.) He is a person who either cares very deeply what people think of him, or is has decided that manipulating what people think of him is the way to get what he wants, and from the outside it makes no difference.

Zolf Smith does not care what people think of him. He isn’t even skilled at being kind and empathetic to people he cares about; he has no time for emotional manipulation or genuine charm. He doesn’t even have a fantastic grasp on his OWN feelings, let alone other people’s. He’s grounded, disinterested in frippery or appearances. Which is why Zolf and Wilde started out so deeply at odds with one another.

Despite the differences in the interpersonal approaches, they have plenty of common ground.

They are both deeply dedicated to a cause. They care about their work to the exclusion of all else. They are both pragmatists who have their own internal moral code, and are willing to bend or break other people’s rules in order to get the job done. They are fundamentally good people. Despite their rocky beginnings, they can respect each other because of these things.

And they might have maintained their mutually disdainful, begrudgingly respectful working relationship and that could have been the sum total... Except then the world fell apart. The Meritocratic organisation was initially compromised, then disintegrated. The blue vein plague isolated everyone and made it even harder to trust supposed allies. The Cult of Hades was on everyone’s ass making their life difficult, the other PCs disappeared off the face of the planet. Zolf and Wilde ended up in a situation where they had no one else they could trust.

Familiarity breeds contempt, but maybe if the contempt is already there, it builds Something Else. Wilde was stripped of his magic in a way that made it much harder for him to keep people at a distance and (pardon the pun) project the illusion of the debonair playboy. Zolf would have had the chance to see through Wilde’s masks, and get a better understanding of what parts of Wilde were a calculated tactic, and what was his genuine self.

Whatever betrayal transpired that gave Wilde his scar and hardened him, Zolf was privy to. He was either there and saw it happen, or he was close enough in the aftermath to see Wilde properly vulnerable for the first time in their friendship. Hell, maybe Zolf was the one who rescued him and patched him up. That was a chance for Zolf to realise that this insufferable man is a friend who he cares about deeply. At this point, he’s cared for awhile, but has been too wrapped up with his own spiritual difficulties to have space to admit that to himself.

And Wilde, oh Wilde, he’s desperate to be seen and known and loved, but he’s never allowed himself. He’s never felt SAFE to. He doesn’t let people get close, treats every conversation as a battle to be won. His safety and his power lies in being admired, but never loved. So even as trust and fondness for Zolf blossoms within him, he won’t for a second allow himself to hope that the fondness is reciprocated

With all that out of the way, this is my version of events.  

Wilde is a slut (affectionate), and Zolf is gray-ace, so if there’s any bridging of that gap in terms of physical intimacy, it has to be from Zolf’s side. Giving canon a tender massage into place, that first instance of Zolf grabbing Wilde by the collar changes. (This happens on the Vengeance after Zolf has taught Wilde to steer the ship). Zolf drags Wilde down to say “I’m glad to see you perked up.” That moment now involves a whiskery kiss on Wilde’s cheek, and the man would be absolutely FLOORED by it.

I’m talking slow-mo glittering lights as Zolf stomps off blushing, unsure what just came over him; Wilde touches his cheek in bewilderment for a stretched moment before realising he’s completely agog, and he let go of the wheel for a dangerous length of time. Every interaction, every moment they’ve spent together over the last two years is flashing before Wilde’s eyes and a new context is being applied rapid fire. I’m talking the italacised oh kind of moment.

(on top of Zolf being witness to The Betrayal, throw some other moments of almost-intimacy into said flashbacks. I’m talking late nights, Zolf doing his gruff-yet-kind caretaker thing, cooking for Wilde, maybe sharing quiet and rare downtime with Zolf reading a Campbell novel on a couch in Wilde’s office)

Wilde is realising, “Oh this is allowed, oh this is reciprocated, this is possible.”

And of course they don’t talk about it, because what’s a slowburn if they immediately go and TALK about their feelings? No, the kiss goes completely unremarked upon, and Wilde continues to needle and tease and get under Zolf’s skin, except now with an added warmth in his eyes because he finally gets it. He finally understands that Zolf cares, that Zolf loves him, he’s just not the kind of dwarf that knows how to express it.

And Zolf, frustrated by feelings he can’t express but is beginning to understand, can hear the undertone of “haha, you looooove me,” shining through Wilde’s deliberate antagonism. They continue their time on the Vengeance just a little easier and closer to one another.

And we continue on to the death/resurrection arc, and Wilde’s spirit pushes for Zolf to open up about his feelings, because if not when he’s literally past death’s door, then when? When Zolf finally manages his “I need you,” it’s like a dam has broken for both of them. The second collar-grab and “We’ll go on a holiday or somethin’,” is now followed by a full kiss on the lips, not particularly erotic but passionate, (it’s the epitome of kissing someone to shut them up) and Wilde makes a surprised and delighted squeak that he would be glad he can’t quite remember when he returns to land of the living.

Once returned, Wilde might not remember everything that his spirit said or did, but he remembers the kiss. The comfort and ease that the two of them share in 179 (Eat Drink and Be Merry) is there, only instead of the two characters still being in a place of questioning their feelings for one another, it’s been answered.

Whether or not this relationship is sexual in nature is kind of up to you and what kind of fan works you like to read/write. I think there are wonderful scenes to be written an explored in many directions.

Wilde allowing himself to enjoy sex for intimacy and closeness instead of using it as a tool/ Zolf not being one for sex but Wilde’s never slept more soundly than when he’s being held in Zolf’s arms/ Zolf realising that the unfamiliar feeling he’s been struggling to express is the desire to rail Wilde til he cries/ Wilde realising that if his partner doesn’t want it from him, he’s actually quite content without sex/ The two of them being mean, antagonistic bastards to each other while fucking but Make It Kink (of the trusting and RACK kind). There really isn’t a single bad interpretation.  

So really, I’m not doing anything different with them other than reading between the lines, giving canon a little nudge, and sticking the landing. This isn’t to disparage the concept of queer platonic partners. (I’ve got one!) or to talk shit about Ben or Alex (I DO respect their craft).

It’s just to say I find these two characters , and everything they’ve been through, PAINFULLY romantic, tropey, and delightful. I’m looking forward both to how Ben and Alex play the QPP, the fanworks I’m gonna read and hopefully write, and the inevitable tragedy that you KNOW Alex is gearing up for.

[mego42]

good girls appreciation week 2021: day 2 // places and spaces: pwp in the paper porcupine

for places and spaces day, i’m going back in time to celebrate one of my fav show locations: the paper porcupine, specifically the back room.

if there is one thing above all else i am a truly desperate heaux for, it’s a good art room. what can i say? i spent my formative years haunting them and there’s something about a paint/ink/god knows what splattered work table that does it for me. add in a mechanical printing press? nirvana, truly.

so without further ado, allow me to rec some fics that use the space as god intended.

one thing that always stands out to me about this fic is how well it captures the snap, crackle and pop between beth and rio

it opens with them literally giving each other the silent treatment while still hanging out alone for hours on end in the paper porcupine while beth prints for weeks

yes that weeks includes the mutual stubborn silence

iajs that’s the kind of petty that really makes this ship shine

and then when they break, the nasty, bitter reckoning that spills out only serves as foreplay for a hookup that perfectly captures that half bitter antagonism, half desperation to reconnect dichotomy that characterized their s3 dynamic

in addition to a fantastic hook up, the back and forth banter and energy is really what makes this fic shine

1000000/10

fav quote:

“You’re a shit shot,” he says instead, so close now their chests are grazing with every intake of breath.

“I had a shit teacher. Kinda full of himself.”

Read on AO3

is it that i love pp back room hook ups or the post 213/rio’s return from the dead angsty tension? who can say, really

(both, both is good)

whatever it is, have another!!! this fic is specifically a take on the missing scene from the infamous 304 money-making promo i mean montage

what DID they do while they waited for the pulp to dry?????

the tone of this one leans a little more heavy than the previous rec as beth and rio grapple with the bitter weight of everything between them and how it’s made that much more complicated by how present the good parts of their history are as well, and how much they can’t/don’t want to escape either

idk guys, that juxtaposition is the specific flavor of angst i live for

i also love love love that in this one rio’s the one poking at the open wound of their relationship and i love that it’s the key to beth unlocking and airing some of her own grievances. communication! who knew!?

fav quote:

“I like watchin' you work.”

Me too. She wants to say. I like you watching me too. She wants to say. But her mouth is dry and her voice doesn't work so she‘s silent.

“I fuckin' hate that I like it.”

Read on AO3

how do i love this fic, let me count the ways (jk we’ll be here all day bc i love it a lot)

remember how i said my favorite flavor of angst is the kind that runs on a combo of bitter and poignant memory? well boy howdy does this fic nail that like whoa

while this fic is much more sprawling than just hooking up in the pp, that is both where it starts-ish AND a returned to feature including an A++++ negotiation for a new and better blender

points deducted for mention of the keyhole sweater (I KID!!!!!!!) (not about hating the keyhole sweater, it looks so itchy idk why, but about the points deduction)

basically, to cap it off, this is one of my fav rio pov fics, it does such an incredible job capturing this completely exasperated, vaguely pissed off about it, but also kind of desperately into it vibe that feels so exactly right for a later s3 era rio starting to realize how deep his feelings for beth may in fact go and losing his mind about it and i love it a lot

plus the anti-beth list of hook up criteria remains i think one of my favorite things in any brio fic ever, so

and this is all just ch 1, i’m still not ready to talk about ch 2 but just know i think about the bit in the shower a normal amount

fav quote:

No women between 5’7 and 5’10, ‘cause Elizabeth’s height fluctuates dependin’ on her shoes.

No women with doe eyes, doesn’t matter the color, ‘cause she’s all he sees when he looks into ‘em.

They can’t drink bourbon or tequila shots, and shit, it’s not even the things she likes, but the things she doesn’t, too—which means no women nursin’ a chard or a rosé, either.

If they’re got a flower printed or embroidered or embossed anywhere on their person, they’re out.

He’s left women in parkin’ lots for drivin’ vans, and said goodnight ‘cause they carry a large brown purse.

Read on AO3

like i was gonna leave the iconic brio try butt stuff fic off of the list

what i really love about this fic, aside from the fact that it’s hot af, is how well it captures the competitive aspect of beth and rio’s dynamic and how they’re always playing a game and trying to score points against each other

in this version it’s on the playful, almost, dare i say, affectionate end of the spectrum and the way it’s woven throughout gives the fic an extra spark that makes the story an absolute delight

this is also like, the peakest of peak beth, i.e. blurts out something she didn’t mean to and then not only will she gnaw her own arm off before admitting a mistake or defeat but she’s actually gonna flip this whole thing around and lean in as hard as she can and be the absolute best

i also love how rio immediately gets on her level and takes it just as seriously as she is but still finds ways to tease her, without like, teasing her (this makes sense shut up)

what i’m trying to say is the characterization is flawless throughout and captures all of the best things about them and their dynamic perfectly and i love it thank you and goodnight

fav quote:

It’s playful, more of a game than anything else. It’s just that he tends to be a bit more agreeable when she’s sucking him, just a bit more willing to be persuaded when he’s inside her. Usually, she’s asking for something small, like a new blender or a larger supply of singles, something she knows he won’t say no to. Beth has fun with it, daydreaming up some pretext or another while she’s printing. It’s easier this way, to pretend that what they’re doing is nothing more than a transaction.

To pretend it really is just business.

And if he lingers when they’re done—to kiss her and hold her and laugh with her—well, it means nothing if she doesn’t think about it.    

Read on AO3

[ahomeganeyatsu]

So I read 144-145 and I have some thoughts

‼️Spoilers ahead.‼️

Okay, so after the latest chapters, we now know that there’s a world awakened academy.

Since Kayden’s past still more blanks than anything and we don’t know much about the establishment of the world academy, it’s an interesting thought if Kayden had been invited to study with them. This institution wants strong awakened. That’s their main pitch. It also looks like a good ground for recruitment.

I just have this thought of teen!Kayden going with them coz he’s curious. We already know how he finds learning more about awakened abilities fun. The dude literally finds ways to fight in his cat form and is actively training himself. Ngl, I thought he just wanted to shed a few pounds when we got that first panel of him doing pull-ups(?).

So teen!Kayden eager to research other awakened ones’ abilities just so he could beat them? Yeah, it isn’t far from his personality.

I could also see him getting bored there but mainly getting annoyed at being constantly pestered to join their group that he just leaves altogether. There’s a lot more awakened ones around the world. This Academy doesn’t even hold all of them. No one in the school can stop him from leaving. He’s already the strongest student and he’s only getting stronger as time passes. (Offended groups in that academy? Each already planning to contain him? Yeah, this is only the beginning.)

Also, imagine Cartien and Kayden actually being classmates and this is when the rivalry started? But unlike Kayden, Cartien has enough sense not to antagonize other groups but he doesn’t want to be shackled to any one of them. He and Kayden are similar that way. I haven’t said this enough, but I love the contrast in their abilities. I love that the first friend we meet from Kayden is someone who’s main ability is healing. Like I just love the idea of Kayden who’s still getting injured in fights and it’s Cartien there scolding him and mother-henning him.

But the latest cat interaction between Kayden and Cartien? Like that is adorable AF. Cartien just so eager to learn, and his kitty face just telling Kayden to “bring me somewhere sunny I hear it’s good for you”. And friggin Kayden just finding it troublesome but he still does it. I MEAN, THEY LEFT JIWOO. The two just went off together. And this is why I think Kayden kept in contact with him. Other than how useful knowing someone of Cartien’s caliber and his ability, they both understand each other. They watch, learn and challenge each other. And they are ridiculous when they tease and goad the other into doing shit. Just imagine the two messing with each other when they were still students. (And now I’m thinking of how their dynamic reminds me a bit of Subin and Jisuk. But I’m not gonna get into that here.) Kayden won’t admit it coz he’s a tsuntsun but Cartien is definitely his best friend. Or the closest he has to having one.

[mfingenius]

sultania. tumblr. com/ post/ 619029544852144128 would you be able to write a small thing from this drawing and premise ? I just love the idea of Harry so infatuated with his future husband, remembering how they used to antagonize each other. and he finds dracos behavior quite funny now he knows the real him. Thank you :))

You can find the lovely art by @sultanahid here :D

***

“Truly odd,” Dumbledore is muttering, staring straight at Harry. “Truly, remarkably odd.”

Harry doesn’t shift under his gaze; he might be back in time, but he’s not fifteen again; he’s an Auror, and he’s faced down much scarier wizards than Albus Dumbledore. He trusts that, in the future, they’re already working on bringing him back, but he needs to help from here, too. Dumbledore is his best bet to get back to his Draco - and really, he’s not looking forward to how furious he’ll surely be that Harry’s gotten himself sent back in time - so Harry told him what happened.

“I need to get back,” Harry says. “I’ve important things to do.”

Dumbledore’s lips quirk. “I’m sure you do, Mr. Potter. Is this to intimidate me?”

He waves a hand at the ceiling, in which storm clouds thunder loudly, pouring rain so heavily Harry can hardly see through his glasses. His shield charm is keeping him dry, and so is Dumbledore’s, but the rest of the office is drenched in water and beginning to flood.

“No,” Harry says honestly. “I don’t mean to be doing that.”

After he defeated Voldemort, his magic did change, and he had to learn to control it; sometimes, if he’s particularly angry or sad, it still slips his grip, but not like this, not anymore. 

Not since Draco. 

It seems that returning in time has done something to it though, because he can’t manage to stop the storm.

“Interesting,” Dumbledore says.

“So you’ll help me get back?” Harry asks; if he says no, he doesn’t know what he’ll do. Manage on his own, probably - he’s had to do it before, after all, since the Headmaster’s cryptic warnings were never as much help as he seemed to think they were - but it will most likely take longer, and he’s hoping to get back before dinner time so Draco won’t know he’s gone.

“I will,” Dumbledore agrees. “I’ll have to do some research, and talk to some friends, but we’ll fix this. In the meantime, though, we have to keep you hidden and figure out how to stop this. Your younger self cannot see you.”

Harry nods; Dumbledore casts a charm that makes Harry look like he did when he was fourteen, and, together, they walk out of the office; the storm is raging on outside just as hard as it was in the office, water flooding up to his knees, and Harry’s surprised. He’d assumed it was kept to the room he was in.

“Headmaster, there you are!” McGonagall is soaked from head to toe. “We cannot figure out what’s going on - Flitwick has been casting everything he can think of, but he doesn’t know what to do.”

“Harry, there you are!” Suddenly, Harry’s being pulled away from Dumbledore by Hermione. “Where were you? We were worried you’d drowned somehow!”

“Oh, hey, ‘Mione,” Harry says; it’s odd, looking at her and Ron. A part of Harry cannot believe any of them ever looked as young as they do now; even at twenty five, it seems that at fourteen they were just children. It’s odd to think of everything they’d already been put through.

“Where were you?” Ron asks; his teeth are chattering. “You said you were going to the library, but you weren’t there!”

“I wanted to speak to Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore says calmly; Harry doesn’t remember where he was this particular night - or what he’d have done if a storm had suddenly raged - but they need to find his past self and make sure no one sees him, because no one can figure out what’s going on. If he sees himself, there’ll be serious consequences. “And now I have to go with Professor McGonagall to help Professor Flitwick.” He gives Harry a meaningful look. “Be careful, Mr. Potter. Things could go wrong.”

Harry nods, and then the three of them watch as Dumbledore and McGonagall walk away; Harry wants to laugh. McGonagall was at his wedding.

“Come on,” Hermione’s trembling, too, and her hair is plastered down in drenched strands against her skin. “It’s raining everywhere, even outside, so we’re all supposed to go to our Common Rooms.”

Harry nods, and, together, the three of them make their way towards Gryffindor Tower; the water is rising, up their thighs by then, which makes them move very slowly. 

They make their way through the halls, struggling against the pull of the water, and suddenly, Harry hears a familiar voice.

“This is impossible,” his husband - or not-yet-husband, Harry thinks - sounds frustrated; Harry had not forgotten - because how could he? - how he looked when they were younger, but it’s something else to see it again.

Draco’s drenched, like everyone else, and his nose, cheeks, and ears, are red because of the cold; his hair is messy and dripping, and his clothes are clinging to his skin uncomfortably; he’s scowling, that pretty, pouting scowl that he used to wear often. 

He doesn’t often scowl at Harry anymore, and seeing it brings a silly smile to Harry’s face.

Draco sees him and his frown deepens.

“What are you smiling at, Potter?” he snaps coldly. “Enjoying that the rain is finally making the rest of us look as awful as you do?”

“Shut up, Malfoy.” Ron rolls his eyes.

Harry grins, however; a late night, after Harry had gotten back from an Auror mission, Draco had admitted to always liking his hair, and now Harry teases him about it often.

“You don’t think I look awful,” he says simply; Draco blinks, surprised, and then his cheeks turn even redder. 

“What?” Ron and Hermione ask.

“You like my hair,” Harry continues, a little smugly, because this is his husband, and he doesn’t know it yet; he simply cannot help the grin on his face.

“I don’t!” Draco defends weakly, evidently caught off guard. “You’re insane, Potter.”

What would he do if Harry called him Potter? He is, after all. He half wants to try just to see how he’d react. Even while they’re married, teasing each other is still a favorite for both of them.

“I’m not,” Harry says. “In fact-”

“Look, the rain’s stopped!” Hermione cries.

Harry looks up, and, surely enough, the rain’s stopped and the clouds are fading.

“Interesting,” Dumbledore says; he’s standing a few paces in front of them with the rest of the professors, staring between Harry and Draco with shining eyes. “I didn’t see this coming.”

“What?” McGonagall asks.

“Nothing,” Dumbledore says. “Nothing at all.”

*

Seeing himself in a magically induced coma is oddly uncomfortable.

“So I’ll just... stay here?” Harry asks.

Dumbledore nods. “When we are able to get you back your time, I’ll wake your younger self up. Meanwhile, we need to control your magic.”

Harry nods; though the rain had stopped, as soon as Draco had been out of his sight, it had returned. Then, after the rain, it had been darkness; no one could see a thing without a Lumos, and after that had faded it had been plants and flowers growing out the walls. All of this accompanied by small periods of calmness whenever Draco was close to Harry.

“Draco helps,” he says; he hasn’t offered an explanation why - and he doesn’t quite know, either - and the headmaster hasn’t asked. 

“I’ve noticed,” Dumbledore says. “Can you stay close to him for as long as it takes to fix this?”

Harry nods. 

*

“Potter,” Draco squeaks, stiffly. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Harry grins, from where he’s sat down next to him in the library. Thanks to future Draco, he knows all of past Draco’s hiding spots, and he’s taking advantage of it. “Just wanted to sit next to you.” 

Draco doesn’t speak.

“Something wrong, love?” Harry asks innocently.

Draco stares at him. “You’re insane.”

Harry laughs.

-----------------------------------------------

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Commissions

[artificialqueens]

Drunk in Love (Gottrosenali) - Writworm42

A/N: Mik gets very, very drunk and acts even dumber than usual. His boyfriends come to reign him in. TW for heavy alcohol use/drunkeness. Thank you x1000000 to Holtz for beta-ing <3 title from Drunk in Love by Beyonce.

Rosé had never thought of himself as old, not really. Sure, he jokes about it, especially on days where he sleeps wrong and strains his neck or his back hurts for no reason, or nights where he just can’t keep his eyes open past eleven. But he can still party, still drink, still recovers quickly from even the most stunt-heavy gigs. So he’s not old, or so he used to think.

Then he and Denali started dating Mik.

Mik isn’t unreasonable; he’s happy to spend a quiet night at home now and again. But ninety percent of the time, even when he’s not working, he wants to go out to the club or the bar, some friend’s party or some event he saw on Instagram. And that’s fine; Denali and Rosé will come along, make an appearance and have fun for a few hours.

It’s when it’s the fourth night in a row that Mik expects them to be out until 3 AM that’s the real problem. As young and hip as both of them still claim to be, keeping up with Mik is like trying to play tag with the energizer bunny. The kid can drink them both under the table and still be up the next day with only a mild headache, and he can dance in heels for the entire night without needing to take them off. Hell, Rosé has seen Mik up at 4:30 AM before while looking completely unbothered, and when he wakes up at noon the next day he’s not even so much as a little bit groggy.

So it’s no surprise that sometimes, Denali and Rosé have to bow out to recover from the adventures Mik drags them into, instead staying home to watch the news and head to bed early.

Not that that makes them old. It doesn’t.

Really. It doesn’t.

Unfortunately, his body doesn’t seem to agree with him when he’s snapped out of sleep one night by his phone ringing, his eyes sore from the strain of being kept open as he gropes around in the dark for the source of the blaring noise.

“Wha—Rosie?” Denali stirs beside him, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he sits up and watches Rosé answer the call.

“It’s 2 o’clock in the morning, Kandy, what could you possibly need?” he hisses, too tired and pissed to care if Kandy hears him clearly over the thumping music in the background.

“You need to come get your man!” Kandy practically screams, causing Rosé to jerk back and bring his phone away from his ear. “Like, now!”

Jesus Christ.

Rosé is about to ask what Mik has done, but he’s cut off by screaming in the background, a very familiar one that he instantly recognizes as his boyfriend’s.

“ Whozzat Kandlee whozzit whozzit OH MY GOD IS IT PIZZA? Gagged oh my gag, I want pizza can you call pizza make it extra pep—Pepe—fuck, just make it cheese—“

Rosé pinches the bridge of his nose when the next thing he hears is a series of thuds and then a little WHOO followed by peals of Mik’s drunken laughter.

“We have to go get him, don’t we?” Denali flops back down onto his pillow with a groan, and it almost pains Rosé to nod, poking his partner to get him up again.

“Send me the address, we’ll be there ASAP.”

—

The club is loud and dark, flashes of coloured lights exploding every few seconds but still not quite managing to illuminate much more than the silhouettes of people packed into every square inch of the room, dancing against each other or standing with drinks in hand, yelling over the beat vibrating the floor under Rosé’s feet as he walks. Behind him, Denali’s hand squeezes his shoulder, the other man holding on tightly so as not to get lost as they scan through the chaos to try and find their boyfriend.

Not that they have to look for long; they’re only about halfway through the dancefloor when Mik’s voice catches their ears, loud and hoarse and slurring so much they can hardly understand what he’s screaming.

One look at who he’s screaming at, though, and they already know that whatever’s going on can’t be good.

“Hey, hey, asshole! Hey, I said fight me! Come on, you afraid? Fight me fight me fight me!” Mik is screeching in the face of a man twice his size as he fights against Kandy’s hold, trying to get closer to the guy. To his credit, the stranger doesn’t even bat an eye, just ignores Mik like he’s a fly buzzing around him. Which, size- and muscles-wise, Mik pretty much is.

“Oh, fuck, thank God you guys are here,” Kandy grunts as Rosé and Denali push themselves over to the scene, sighing deeply in tandem as Mik continues to wriggle in his friend’s arms. “I don’t even know what his problem is, he just saw this guy and decided he want to fight him--”

“That’s right, that’s right-- HEY!” Mik catches sight of Denali and Rosé and immediately stills, grinning widely, and for a moment, Rosé thinks it’s over, that just the sight of them has tamed drunk-Mik enough that he won’t antagonize the meathead still miraculously ignoring him any more.

It’s wishful thinking, though, because not even a moment later, Mik is turning back to the guy, eyes narrowing as he hisses, “My boyfriends are here now, they’ll fuck you up, you wait and see--”

Of course, it’s just their luck that it’s that threat that finally wakes the troll, the guy turning to stare at he and Denali and frowning deeply before he puts his drink back down on the bar and stands up from his seat, immediately towering over them.

“Listen, I don’t know what your guys’ problem is--” the man clenches his jaw, fists balling by his sides, and wow , his pecs are huge, like size-of-Mik’s-head huge, and if one of them doesn’t say something fast, Rosé just knows that all four of them are gonna wind up getting thrown through a wall.

So he smiles, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply before stepping forward and laying a hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Listen, mama. I’m gonna level with you, okay?” He locks eyes with the man, who doesn’t look particularly impressed, but who nonetheless listens as Rosé continues, “It’s two-thirty in the morning. I just got here. My back hurts just standing right now, and I’m going to wake up with a splitting migraine tomorrow. My boyfriend is drunk out of his mind, and between you and me, even when he’s not, he’s an absolute idiot. Neither of us came to fight you. We just wanna take him home, put him to bed, and then possibly ground him for the rest of his life after he wakes up and has nothing but Advil for breakfast tomorrow. What do you say, baby, can you let us off scott-free just this once?” he winks, hoping that seals the deal, and either it works or the man just doesn’t care enough, because he rolls his eyes, breaking free of Rosé’s touch and climbing back into his seat with a huff.

“Whatever, man. Just get his drunk ass home.”

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be a satisfactory answer for Mik, who finally breaks free from Kandy, surging forward and pointing towards the man.

“Hey, asshole! This isn’t over, I’m gonna--”

Before he can finish, though, Rosé picks the younger boy up and tosses him over his shoulder without another word, ignoring the kicking and screaming and tossing one last apologetic smile and wink to the man before following Denali back through the crowd and out of the club.

The ride home is tense, Denali having to turn up the radio all the way to keep himself awake at the wheel while Rosé attempts to keep a singing Mik from unbuckling his seatbelt to climb up front. Thank God the club isn’t too far from their apartment; by the time they’ve parked, Mik isn’t even singing the same songs as the radio anymore, and the not-so-dulcet screeches aren’t exactly music to Rosé’s ears, especially not this late, when he’s this annoyed.

“Can you just please, please be quiet?” he growls as he unbuckles the younger man, scooping him up again to carry him towards the building’s door. There’s no real need for the request, though; because the minute they reach the elevator, Rosé realizes with a jolt that Mik has gone completely quiet.

“Is he asleep or dead?” Denali peers over as Rosé looks down at the man in his arms, genuinely wondering the same. But then Mik lets out a quiet snore, and both Rosé and Denali breathe out a sigh of relief.

Good; it means tomorrow they’ll be able to kill him themselves.

—

It’s almost eleven o’clock the next morning when Mik finally trudges out of bed, squinting and frowning against the sunlight that trickles in through the kitchen window.

“Well, if it isn’t sleeping ugly,” Rosé teases, grinning in petty delight when Mik doesn’t respond, only flips him off before collapsing into the seat beside him at the table. “Feeling good after last night?”

“I legitimately feel like I’m going to die.” Mik groans, putting his head down on the table in front of him.

“Here, have some water instead.” Denali suggests kindly, coming around the kitchen counter to put down a large glass full of ice water in front of the younger man, followed by an extra-strength Advil and extra-strength Tylenol tucked in a napkin. Mik takes them both in one big swig, gulping down the water like he’s found a stream in the desert and not stopping until the glass is empty save for the few cubes he hasn’t sucked into his mouth to crunch on.

“Was I really that drunk?” Mik asks, wincing at the tiny thump the glass makes as he sets it back down on the table. “‘Cause honestly, you guys, I don’t remember any of it, but I don’t usually get this hungover--”

“When we came to pick you up, a dude the size of Everest was about to pound your ass into the ground, and not in the good way, so yes, you really were that drunk.” Rosé snorts, and he has to admit, it’s kind of satisfying to see Mik’s eyes bug out of his head when he realizes the trouble he’d caused, the danger he’d put himself--and, by extension, Rosé, Denali, and Kandy--in.

“Holy shit,” he starts, “Guys, I’m—“

“We know,” Denali ruffles Mik’s hair before walking back into the kitchen, opening the fridge and scanning its contents, “It’s okay.”

“As long as you’re safe.” Rosé affirms, and as much as he wants to keep being bitter, he means it—he really would take a thousand sleepless nights for the man sitting beside him.

“Thanks for understanding.” Mik sighs out in relief, leaning back in his chair.

In the kitchen, Denali begins to take food out of the fridge, placing coconut oil, flour, and vegan bacon on the counter, and Rosé can’t help but roll his eyes and smile when he sees Mik eye the ingredients hungrily.

“Tell you what, baby, how bout you go back to sleep, and we’ll call you when breakfast is ready, ‘kay?”

Mik just nods, licking his lips, before standing up and beginning to head back towards the bedroom. He stops, though, when he hears Rosé’s voice piping up one more time.

“Oh, and Kade?” Rosé’s petty streak comes back just a little when Mik freezes at hearing his real name, satisfaction tickling at Rosé’s chest when Mik turns around to face him again, swallowing hard.

“Yeah?”

“You ever pull that shit again, Kandy’s stuffing your ass in an Uber and you’re sleeping on the couch.”

[mira--mira]

Madara and Hashirama for the ask meme 👀

Hashirama

What I love about them:

I really love Hashirama's stubborn optimism. I say "stubborn" here bc I think after a certain point of pain in misery in someone's everyday life, in some way it is a choice to remain optimistic despite that suffering. I don't characterize Hashirama as constantly happy and he can recognize the more realistic/pessimistic possibilities, he just refuses to accept them. I have it in my notes for OoT but haven't worked it in verbatim but Madara would call him "ruthlessly optimistic " and while that's tinged with Madara's own bias, I think it fits quite well.

What I hate about them:

Hashirama is stubbornly optimistic LOL. It's a double-edged sword and I think by the time he reached adulthood in a canon setting, Hashirama was so desperate for there to be peace he maintained his "everything will work out" attitude when he otherwise shouldn't have. There were the concerns with Madara and the Uchiha, his own brothers views that he certainly should have recognized could become a problem, and, after depending on when Tobirama took on students/how old they were, the possibility of biases being passed down and a Danzo like figure coming to power. However this was not Hashirama's responsibility alone to fix. I don't think, despite his love, Hashirama alone could have kept Madara in a village that hated him and a clan that distrusted him. Tobirama was an adult and let his own bias pass under a veil of "logic" and passed that, either intentionally or unintentionally down to his students. None of this is Hashirama's fault, but I think part of the canon story being a tragedy was he was blinded by a bright, hopeful future that he failed to see the early signs right in front of him.

Favorite Moment/Quote:

"To me, Madara was like a gift from the divine."

Even thinking about it makes me melt. It's so sweet and really emphasizes how much Madara means to him. 🥺

What I would like to see more focus on:

In fics? Hashirama's mental health and how his childhood affected him. Most of the long fics I've read focus on Madara. Which I understand, Madara has an arc into becoming a villain while Hashirama is just kinda "there" and it's easy for him to fulfill a support role to helping Madara in canon Au fics. A sort of unshakeable, always optimistic stone for Madara to depend on and stop his downward spiral into villainy. But, what makes hashimada so great for me is that Madara and Hashirama are equals. There will be times one falters and needs to depend on the other, and they're capable of giving each other that support. It'd also be great to see Hashirama struggle yet continue to choose optimism and compassion time after time because that feels more weighty and important than an eternally optimistic characterization that never wavers.

Headcanon wise...this isn't something I've found but desperately want to see (and will come up in all of my own aus) is the connection between the god tree and the god of shinobi who's famed ninjutsu is wood release and who's cells can be used for everything under the sun and are specifically needed to control the gedo statue / ten-tails. 👀 Look when I got back into Naruto and only vaguely knew about the war arc plot I thought Kishimoto was Doing Something with that. He was not. I am.

What I would like to see less focus on:

This is pretty much mentioned above but Hashirama as mainly a support for Madara rather than getting his own (non romantic) arcs in long canon Au fics. Headcanon wise, this is such a small nitpick, but Hashirama constantly being the one described as warm whereas Madara is cold. The big tree can *retain* heat, but he pales in comparison to Madara's ability to *generate* heat.

Favorite pairing with:

Hashimada (Hashirama x Madara)

No one should be surprised. I can wax prose about this for days but it's about ultimately finding someone else in a terrible world that *understands* you that you can grow with and support. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers and battle couples so guess what's right up my alley?

Favorite friendship:

Canon/BoaF- Hashirama & Mito

I know Madara & Mito is more popular, and I do love their dynamic but christ Hashirama needs friends outside Madara and Tobirama and I think they'd be good friends. Canon!Mito would provide a good level-headed perspective and wouldn't have the messy, complicated history like the three founders have together and it'd be good for Hashirama to get a break from that. BoaF!Mito and Hashirama are cousins their relationship eventually progresses to a sibling-like bond. They’re quite protective of each other and gossip endlessly together. Mito’s not as good as gardening, but they do it together and incorporate Uzumaki sealing techniques for certain houseplant decorations. Mito also might know about Madara 👀 

OoT-Hashirama & Sakura or Hashirama & Sai

His and Sakura's relationship is p similar to how I would characterize his and Mito's but with the added hilarity of Sakura being his "student" yet having 0 deference for him once they actually get to the "teaching" part (surprise: Hashirama's most uttered lines are "you do the thing, you know the thing, you know you just...do it. The thing. Madara "translates" a lot of their sessions.) Hashirama and Sai antagonize each other constantly and he *will* tease Sai into oblivion as any older brother would. Tobirama never reacted to Hashirama's mischief in ~fun~ ways and he felt bad about messing with Itama, who was even more emotional than he was and Kawarama, who hero-worshipped him. Sai is the perfect "if anyone messes with you I will personally make them regret being born yet *I* will tease you mercilessly to my hearts content" kind of little brother.

NOTP:

Hashitobi (Hashirama x Tobirama)

I don't do incest. At all. Even "non-incest" aus where they aren't technically related squick me out.

Favorite headcanon:

Hashirama can Speak to the trees.

Either humorously or seriously, I love this kinda, sorta, maybe not quite human power.

.

.

Madara

What I love about them:

Madara is kind and does his best to do what he thinks is right. The “kind” point is a lot of Hashirama talking/flashbacks and the “good” intention behind the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Making everyone a “winner” in the dreamworld, while absolutely insane and full of holes, is odd for a villain’s motivation. His role in the war arc is mostly focused on watching him wreck absolutely everyone he comes into contact with but I love Hashirama’s flashbacks and the glimpses of kid!Madara we get. Madara believed in his philosophy from a lifetime of pain that ended in him losing everything and being manipulated but he was still seeking a way to “help” the most people he could. He’s such a rich character that makes it easy to want to imagine other what-if scenarios where things turned out just a bit differently.

What I hate about them:

Madara takes all responsibility onto himself. This is more speculation because we don’t get Madara’s POV of his childhood or any significant scenes with the clan. However, I think this is one of the primary roots of most of Madara’s problems. If he blamed himself for mistakes that weren’t technically his, he could get into a cycle where he only blames himself and doesn’t seek help/support when he should have and purposefully reduces his support circle because he becomes paranoid that he won’t be able to protect them. A smaller issue that is both about Madara and not is he didn’t fall victim to the Talk no Jutsu, but was Madara aware of what was happening when he was possessed(?) by Kaguya? I forgot but if he wasn’t...I don’t think he’d agree Hashirama’s way was the right way at the end, merely his way was wrong. Because, in Madara’s point of view, the village may have been “better” (used very loosely) than becoming food/power for an alien goddess but it wasn’t good. It wasn’t the solution. Hashirama saying they were both wrong in some way saved the scene but Madara still jumped back to Hashirama’s dream being the right one too quickly imo. 

Favorite Moment/Quote:

“What are you going to do about the second [meteor] Onoki?” 

I’m sorry, that was just hilarious. We see this man slaughter an entire division and drop a meteor from the sky...two kages desperately try to stop it and it looks like they managed to succeed and he just...cool. What about the second? Really cemented Madara is Here and he is Dramatic. A close second fav is him flying across the battlefield to confront Hashirama only for the “I’ll deal with you later” line. 

What I would like to see more focus on:

I really love it when fics fill in the blanks of Madara’s childhood/his time with the Uchiha so that’s always a plus for me. The other thing is Hashirama calls Madara a “fundamentally kind man” and according to Tobirama the Uchiha feel love “too deeply” so I like fics that do focus on these aspects of Madara’s personality while staying true to his prickly demeanor. For headcanons I love, love, love exploring kekkei genkai/ninjutsu/genjutsu and how they individually affect people/clans. Digging deeper so that “fire affinity” means constantly running hot/pushing into possibly having fire resistance/unable to distinguish “too hot” / or even affinity acting like a secondary blood type so even if two people had AB blood if one had a water affinity and the other fire their blood would be incompatible. Also the mundane ways powers can be used (I have some Ideas for non-combat genjustu applications that the Uchiha use and those will come up in OoT 👀)

What I would like to see less focus on:

This again kinda ties into the Hashirama segments, but Madara completely depending on Hashirama and Hashirama alone for happiness. Especially in long AUs where he’s still in Konoha but has a poor relationship with the Uchiha. That’s fine starting out! But if the fic ends or doesn’t seriously work on improving that relationship it just sits a bit weird with me bc I don’t think Madara could be truly happy in that situation. (NSFW start) The other thing I see commonly is Madara is extremely passive/submissive in bed with Hashirama which is...weird to me? There’s also a reoccurring thing where he doesn’t have a lot of experience but Hashirama does and this leads to embarrassment and the aforementioned passive/submissiveness. I understand lack of experience can be embarrassing and I do believe Madara could be embarrassed, but instead of withdrawing into himself I think he’d push through it with something close to bravado and his usual single-minded intensity, for better or worse. I do think Madara usually bottoms in his and Hashirama’s relationship but both of them are as enthusiastic about sex as they are fighting and neither is especially submissive or dominant. (NSFW end)

Favorite pairing with:

Hashimada (Hashirama x Madara)

See absolutely everything else 😂 

Favorite friendship:

Canon/BoaF- Madara & Naori or Madara & Hikkaku 

I really like focusing on the Uchiha clan and exploring the dynamics within it. We get nothing about Madara’s early life outside of Hashirama so this is almost completely speculation. For the angst of canon, I like Madara being close to his clan only to lose them after his friendship with Hashirama is revealed bc he awakened his sharingan over Hashirama and that can’t be easily hidden. For BoaF, a large part of it is exploring the clans’ cultures before they made the village so this necessitates actually fleshing out said clans. Naori and Izuna are v similar in personality and both live to prank Madara and annoy him, but they hardly ever team up bc they start squabbling amongst themselves. Hikakku is stoic and calm in contrast to Naori’s mania and Madara’s intensity but he keeps track of every little favor and Madara dreads the day he’ll act on them because he knows it’ll result in something embarrassing for him. But like all BoaF!Uchiha, they’re fiercely protective of one another and you really don’t want to insult the wrong person. 

OoT - Madara & Naruto or Madara & Sai

I really Madara and Naruto’s dynamic, it’s very entertaining and fun for me to write and they’re both positive influences on each other. Madara gets more people to smother with his brand of affection and Naruto gets early recognition and training. Their weird non-training shenanigans (coupon collecting, gaming, etc.) also is p amusing. Madara and Sai have a similar relationship but I really like writing theirs from Sai’s POV bc he insists that he doesn’t feel close/like when Madara treats him like a little brother when he really does. 

NOTP:

Madatobi (Madara x Tobirama)

Logically, I know why this pairing is popular. Fanfic is saturated with the enemies to lovers trope yet emotionally I Do Not Understand it. Personally, I don’t enjoy toxic relationships, to read or write. And, to me, that’s what a close canon Madara and Tobirama pairing would be. Tobirama tried to convince Hashirama to kill him, he killed Izuna, even if it was in war, and I don’t think Madara could or would get over that. If Tobirama has similar attitudes about the Uchiha it makes it worse. AUs exist to rewrite this, of course, but I still don’t enjoy their romantic chemistry. At best, I like Tobirama and Madara as reluctant frenemies who insult each other and try to one-up each other. 

Favorite headcanon:

Madara is fire proof. 

I have a whole rant about this in OoT’s author notes 😂 Sasuke’s Amaterasu should have been a serious threat when it hit him. Instead the man just lets his clothes fall off then kicks their asses. He’s fire proof.

.

In response to the ask game:

[lukealvezhimboextraordinaire]

Daphne+ simon

okay this took me way too long and i apologize! i could seem to find the right theme for them but must admit i had fun writing this one.

so here it goes, a little snippet into simon and daphne's life

As most things in Daphne’s life, it all started with a conversation with her siblings. While she didn’t exactly have many complaints regarding her life as a married woman, she had to admit that she missed the loud family at Bridgerton House. The multiple conversations going at once, the having to make sure Colin was the last one to get to the food or else no one after him would get to indulge in that dish, the ongoing antagonizing game between her youngest siblings, the yelling from across the table, the savage teasing paired with the sarcastic and always on point snarky comments coming from Francesca and Eloise’s witty remarks.

Speaking of Eloise, she was the sole culprit. Well, her and Hyacinth.

Ever since Amelia had been born she had been the centre of every conversation around the dinner table whenever the Bassets had enough energy to put on semi-decent clothes and drive all the way down to Violet’s house. Having a baby was exhausting. Daphne was slightly surprised she had never quite realized how much work babies were considering she had seen her parents go through the same four times. But Amelia was older enough for the hype to have died now and the Bridgerton brand of chaos was slowly returning to the table.

It had started innocently enough. A casual comment about how they barely saw Daphne anymore. Then someone had mentioned that she was probably too busy with the baby. And then it happened. Eloise had leaned back in her seat with a huff, shrugging one shoulder before very solemnly looking at her sister.

“Daphne is no longer fun.”

That seemed to catch everyone’s attention as all conversations died down and the room suddenly grew quiet. Eight pairs of heads turned to look at her. Daphne raised her eyes from her plate, stared at the eight pairs of wide, expectant eyes and pulled her shoulders up into a casual shrug. A dismissive wave of her hand before focusing back on her food sealed her half-decent performance at pretending to not be bothered by it.

“Hey leave Daff alone, she is busy!” Between mouthful and mouthful of food, Colin tried his best to defend his sister. He had a special bond with Daphne and had decided a long time ago that the only person allowed to tease her was, in fact, him.

“Busy being boring,” added one of the younger voices from across the table. Eloise chuckled, pleased, and high-fived the youngest of the clan.

Colin tsked his tongue. “At least she is doing something with her life!”

“I am eleven, Colin.” There was so much resignation in her voice that the room erupted in laughter.

“You are one to talk about wasting your life away,” Anthony mumbled pointedly, biting down a smile.

With an air of resignation to it, Colin let his fork fall against the wooden surface of the very old, very expensive family’s table. The action earned him a cautious look from his mother. “I have a career! I have fans!” At this point he was waving his hands in the air with indignation. “You just love to antagonize me!! Why are you not telling Benedict to go take a shower? He hasn’t showered in three days. He stinks!”

“Me and my body odor would very much like to be left out of this conversation, thank you.”

“Suspicious that you know that, Colin,” Francesca interjected, leaning on her elbows as she looked intently at him.

“Yeah, Colin. Do you keep track of our hygiene routines?” Unable to resist having a go at the easiest to rile up Bridgerton, Eloise joined in the fun.

“I bet that’s why he has so many journals....” Of course, Hyacinth had to get her revenge.

Colin’s ears turned red. He tossed his head to the side and then, in what could be described as the most immature move in men’s recent history, stuck his tongue out at his younger sisters while making funny faces.

The rest of the night went by without any other major conflicts. No one seemed to notice that Daphne had remained quiet for the rest of the evening. Or if they did, nobody dared point it out.

Simon, however, noticed.

He always paid attention to her. Even when seemingly he was entranced by some other activity, a part of him was always watching over her. Not in a creepy or possessive way, no. Just in a… in a need her around way. Daphne was his anchor. Her presence brought him a peace and calm he had never known were possible let alone imagine himself craving. She and Amelia were his whole world and it was only fair to take care of the two more important people in his life. He watched over her to make sure she was okay, to give back a bit of all she had given him.

Simon knew his wife. And knew that when she was silent for so long it could only mean a thing; something was bothering her.

“Princess.” His hand found her thigh and gave the softest of squeezes to it when she didn’t address him. Hopefully, it would make her turn to look at him. There was only so much he could do when his whole attention was supposed to be on the road.

“Huh?” Daphne seemed a little startled to hear his voice, as if she had just been shaken out of a reverie. On any other occasion, the look of bewilderment on her soft features would have made him chuckle. But the worry was starting to set at the bottom of his stomach.

“What is going on in that mind of yours?” His voice was cautious, soft, as if he was taking to a wounded animal.

Daphne pulled her shoulders up only to let them fall back into place. “Nothing.”

Simon opened his mouth to talk but Daphne beat him to it.

“Do you think we are boring?” The despair in her eyes made his stomach churn. He had to ponder it a second before giving her an answer.

“We are not boring,” he sent her a quick glance before returning to the road. “I know we have barely left the house since Amelia was born but that doesn’t make us boring.” It sounded bad even to his own ears. The groan his wife produced confirmed his suspicions. He chuckled. “Okay, maybe we are a bit boring.” She huffed and he laughed loud. Amelia protested in the back and he was reminded that his baby didn’t appreciate noise when she slept. “But we can change that, okay? Let’s go out this weekend. I’m sure your mom won’t mind keeping Lia for a couple hours.”

Daphne’s whole face lit up. “Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

Violet was delighted to spend some quality alone time with her first grandbaby. But it turned out Daphne and Simon were a bit more hesitant about leaving their baby with her grandmother than either of them had anticipated. As excited as Simon had been all week about the prospect of going on a date with Daphne, as soon as he woke up that morning a strange pressure had settled in his chest. And as the time to leave came closer, it became more and more suffocating. His whole world had revolved around Amelia for months. She was his last thought before falling asleep and the first thought in the morning. He had taken paternity leave under the premise that Daphne needed help but the truth was that he could not fathom being away from his baby. And now that was exactly what he was about to do; willingly spend time away from his daughter.

“I don’t want to see you before midnight,” Violet warned, practically pushing them out of the door of their very own house, Amelia secluded to her hip, happily sucking on her thumb. “Amelia and I will be fine. I raised eight babies and most of them turned out fine.”

Simon sighed. His mother in law was right. They could do this. They had to do this. They needed time for themselves.

“Be good to your grandma, eh,” he placed a sweet kiss on the top of the baby’s head, taking in her scent before moving to kiss Violet on the cheek. “Thank you so much, Violet.” With his arm wrapped around his wife’s waist, Simon watched as she said her own goodbyes to their baby before gently dragging her away when it became evident they would miss their reservation if they didn’t get going soon.

Daphne’s eyes were clouded with tears by the time they got to their car.

“She is going to be just fine,” he tried to reassure her even if he himself wasn’t very convinced.

Daphne nodded, sniffing her nose loudly. “But will we?”

Simon didn’t have an answer for that but he really hoped it was a yes.

Ten minutes into their date and they had already called Violet twice. It was funny how they had become those parents. Especially Simon, who had never cared to picture himself as a dad. Prior to Daphne the life that waited ahead of him was pretty lonely. Hedonistic, yes, but lonely. Filled with parties and luxuries but always an empty house and cold bed awaiting him once his bacchanals were over. Ever since his wife had prompted him the question of if they were bored, Simon had not been able to stop thinking about it. A few months ago no one would have dared call Simon Basset any variant of the word boring and now all he wanted to do was spend his afternoons cuddling his wife and baby on their blue couch. The long nights out, getting drunk and taking strangers back home seemed like something a different man had enjoyed. The thrill he used to feel now turned to disbelief that he had convinced himself that life was enough for him. Now, he looked forward to bath time, to nap time, to any and all those special moments he planned on sharing with his baby. Because he was going to be present in every step. He refused to be half a dad. He refused to only be there for the good, easy parts of fatherhood and let Daphne bear with the weight of raising their children. And oddly enough, he was fine with that. He was content with his life, happy, enraptured. Even if that meant having to endure being called a bore by his new found family.

They called Violet one last time before being escorted to their table. She hung on them, threatening to turn her phone off if she received one more call before they were done with dessert. They looked at each other surprised and then laughed.

“This is weird,” Daphne commented, hiding her face behind the glass of wine for a brief moment. “We are here without Amelia and I miss her but I am also having fun.” As if suddenly a thought had struck her, she froze in place, furrowed her brows and frowned. “Are we terrible parents?”

Simon laughed, shaking his head. He reached for her hand across the table and laced their fingers. “We are great parents. Great parents also enjoy some adult fun.” That mischievous expression she had come to know so well framing his features.

Daphne sighed, feeling the thrill of the unknown starting to bubble up in her stomach. “Adult fun?”

Slowly, Simon nodded, eyes burning into hers.

“Wh-what are you thinking?”

He looked around them and then leaned forward, urging her to do the same. “Do you want to do something bold?”

Daphne nodded. Simon grinned.

“On the count of three, we run.”

Her eyes grew wide with shock but a devilish grin spread across her face. She nodded, eyes shining with excitement. The wine in her veins making her bold.

“One, two...three!!!”

Simon held his hand out to her grinning like an idiot, Daphne took it with a smile so big it rivaled the sun and together they stormed off the elegant restaurant, laughing and screaming, the manager hot on their heels. They ran and ran and ran until they were sure no one was chasing them. Breathless, they took refuge in a deserted alley.

“I can’t believe we just did that!”

Adrenaline rushing down their bodies, they looked at each other for a long second before their mouths crashed one against the other in a hungry kiss.

The next morning Simon dropped by the restaurant to pay for their food. He left a very generous tip.

Nine months later, they welcomed Belinda Basset into the world.

[oumakokichi]

Do you think that Kokichi had any remorse for Gonta during trial 4 or did he actually not care? I've seen a lot of people saying different opinions from both sides of the argument. But I'm really confused because there was a moment where after Gonta was executed, correct me if I'm wrong but Shuichi asked Kokichi if he could reveal the secret of the outside world (?) But Kokichi replied with something like “I don't want to....” and seemed generally upset? But then a few moments later he snapped out if it and began acting like he had no sympathy whatsoever. I just really wanna know how Kokichi actually, truly felt about Gonta and if he regretted manipulating him. Sorry if you've already been asked this and have already given an answer, thank you!

Hi anon—I actually wrote a pretty big master-post on chapter 4 not too long ago which I think more or less sums up my thoughts on Ouma’s behavior in the post-trial! You can find it here if you want (it’s pretty long and I tried to answer a whole bunch of questions about Ouma in chapter 4 specifically, since it’s the chapter I get asked about the most).

More specifically though, I’m afraid that there is no easy, definitive answer to that question. I can only share my personal opinions about how I believe Ouma felt in that scene. And personally? I do think he was genuinely upset and distraught about Gonta’s death, that he even momentarily considered giving up all his plans and being executed alongside him, and that he cared about Gonta and deeply regretted using him as a sacrificial pawn in his plans.

I’ll discuss what I mean in more detail, but it’ll probably get pretty long, so I’ll put the rest of this post under a cut as always!

The thing is, though, I’ve shared my personal thoughts about the chapter 4 post trial many times, including my reasoning and all of the textual evidence that shows how much Ouma cared about the rest of his classmates. But ultimately, there will probably always be some people who disagree, because their reading of the text will always be a little bit different. Unless we ever have an interview from Kodaka in the future where he directly says, “this is what Ouma was thinking and feeling at this exact moment,” there really won’t ever be a way to know what was going through his head with 100% certainty (and I do feel like leaving it open-ended is something of Kodaka’s intention, anyway, especially since Ouma is supposed to be a very polarizing character).

That being said, I do think it’s worth analyzing the text and drawing your own conclusions, because ndrv3 is a game that changes a lot depending on how you interpret it, and Ouma’s character is included in that. It’s really easy on a first playthrough to get wrapped up in what Ouma says or does without really looking at why he says it, or at his underlying motivations. Going back through the game on a replay though, I do personally think it’s possible to guess at what he might have been feeling during those super conflicting scenes in chapter 4.

In my opinion, I think Ouma did truly care about Gonta as a friend, and that his guilt and remorse over what he did was genuine. Not only did Ouma and DICE have a very strict taboo against killing (mentioned directly in his motive video in Japanese, though the part about it being an actual rule was stripped from the localization), but we don’t see Ouma’s façade crack like this very often. Most of the time when he does his trademark “crocodile tears,” it’s with his very loud, exaggerated crying sprite, and he bounces right back to acting normally within a moment or two.

There are a few exceptions to this, of course—he uses the “crocodile tears” sprite to cry at Kaede, Amami, and Toujou’s deaths, but it’s still very likely he was shaken up by seeing them dead). Nonetheless, we don’t see his much more subdued crying sprites more than a handful of times, particularly in the chapter 4 post-trial just before Gonta’s execution, as well as in Momota’s flashback in chapter 5 when he talks about how Ouma actually hated the killing game the whole time.

I’m aware that some people simply brush these moments aside and assume that Ouma is lying though all of them, but I personally just can’t agree with that interpretation. Assuming that Ouma is lying whenever he shows remorse or guilt or hatred for the killing game means assuming that he’s telling the truth in pretty much every other scene—which doesn’t make much sense, given that his entire character is centered around the concept of lying, as well as moral ambiguity and subverting expectations. Assuming that Ouma actually means what he’s saying 100% of the time unless it just happens to involve showing any kind of guilt or remorse turns him into a very boring, predictable, uninspired character (none of which are words I would use to describe him personally).

Ignoring those moments where Ouma shows genuine attachment to his classmates and distaste for the killing game also means ignoring several key pieces of evidence and clues about him that we are directly provided in the game, including his motive video and Momota’s flashback in chapter 5. Personally, I don’t feel like there’s any reason to include these scenes at all unless it’s to help shed light on Ouma’s motivations and provide players with a clear reason to try and go back through the game again to look at Ouma’s actions through a new perspective.

I also feel that Ouma genuinely cared about Gonta because to put it simply, there was no incentive for him to lie in that scene. He got absolutely nothing out of it—and considering he turns around and starts playing the villain on purpose all of 5 minutes after Gonta’s death, he definitely wasn’t trying to earn sympathy points or trick the rest of his classmates into trusting him. In fact, he could’ve easily tried to make himself look more sympathetic by putting all of the blame on Miu for trying to kill him, or even on Gonta. But instead he fully admits to coming up with the plan to kill Miu and spends the entire post-trial trying to convince everyone not to hate or blame Gonta.

If he was truly as sadistic and horrible as he pretended to be, I think he would’ve pulled a 180 and started throwing names and insults around while Gonta was still alive to hear it, not after he was already dead. If he didn’t care at all about Gonta’s feelings, he had no reason to try and take all the blame on himself while insisting that none of what happened was actually Gonta’s fault. If anything, revealing himself to be this horrible, evil villain who enjoys seeing other people suffer or die would’ve really been adding insult to injury, and probably would’ve crushed Gonta completely, even before his execution started.

But… Ouma doesn’t do any of this. Despite having every opportunity to either portray himself as more of a victim and fling all the blame on Miu and Gonta, or else to completely embrace being a villain who loved seeing people suffer, he doesn’t do either of these things. The way I personally see it, Ouma waits until Gonta is already dead, and when the rest of his classmates begin pushing him for answers about the outside world and demanding to know what Gonta saw, that’s when he finally snaps and resigns himself to acting like a villain in order to make everyone hated.

You could argue that trying to make everyone hate him had a twofold effect: it helped set the stage for him to pretend to be the ringleader in the next chapter, which he clearly wanted, but it also was a way of taking things out on himself and shows just a small glimpse of how much he hated having to dirty his hands in chapter 4. After all, Ouma even says it himself: that the “role of a villain is perfect for him,” because he’s already made everyone hate him. We see Ouma occasionally tease or antagonize the rest of his classmates plenty of times throughout the game, but it’s true that he doesn’t really step into that “villain” role until the end of chapter 4, once he’s crossed a line that he can never come back from by manipulating both Miu and Gonta to their deaths.

None of this is to say that what Ouma did to Gonta is okay, by any means. I think he definitely did care about Gonta and even thought of him as one of the few trustworthy people in the killing game, even someone close to a friend, but that doesn’t mean that manipulating him and using him like a chess piece was okay in the end. I just also think it’s important to realize that there were plenty of extenuating circumstances that led Ouma to act the way he did—including the fact tha he knew Miu was going to kill him, that he already suspected she had measures to prevent him from fighting back or killing her himself in the VR world, and the fact that he did not want to die or get everyone else killed in the trial.

It’s possible for people to care about others without necessarily treating them the best or doing the right thing. A huge part of Danganronpa, something that’s been evident from the very first game, is that sometimes characters can and do hurt each other, even when they care about each other or wouldn’t be a threat otherwise.

It’s the existence of the killing game itself that causes so many characters to go to extremes that they normally wouldn’t, whether it’s Maizono trying to frame Naegi in dr1 despite caring about him a lot, Kaede deciding to try and commit murder under everyone’s noses despite trying to unite the group and wanting everyone to trust her, or Ouma using Gonta as a pawn to kill Miu in his place because he didn’t want to die.

At the end of the day, people are still probably going to have very polarizing opinions about Ouma and the things he did in chapter 4, and that’s honestly okay. In my own opinion, Ouma definitely isn’t a completely flawless, innocent baby who “did nothing wrong”—he absolutely is manipulative, cold, and calculating when he wants to be, and it’s a fact that he got two people killed, even if he didn’t want things to reach that point. But I also personally don’t think it’s fair to write him off as the exact kind of “evil villain” he pretends to be; not only is it a shortsighted interpretation of his larger motivations, but it also completely ignores any replay value and completely shoots down the appeal of trying to interpret Ouma’s thoughts and actions because “he was lying about feeling bad anyway, what’s the point in analyzing him.”

Tl;dr: I do think Ouma cares about Gonta, that he probably even thought of him as the closest thing he had to a friend in the killing game, and that what he did to Gonta in the end wasn’t okay. I think he really did respect Gonta for being such a sweet and kind person, but that he also knew Gonta was extremely naïve and that he would be one of the easiest people in their group to manipulate, hence why he decided to rely on him instead of anyone else. Their friendship is an important part of both of their character arcs, but it’s definitely not what I would call “on equal footing.”

I understand why Ouma’s actions might make some people really resent him, but I also believe that kneejerk reaction of anger and dismissal is exactly the point: Ouma does feel terrible about the things he did, but he doesn’t want anyone’s sympathy or forgiveness, not even the player’s. This, in my opinion, is why he starts embracing the villain role so completely from this point on, and why he’s never quite able to make the same sort of cold, calculating sacrifices in chapter 5 that he did in chapter 4.

I hope this helps answer your question, anon, along with the other chapter 4 post I wrote! Thank you for all your support!

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Thanks for replying! Could you possibly link the rp blog? I love your headcanons! What do the Cobras and Miyagi-Dos think of them? I like to think one of the characters in canon came up with their ship name, who do you think it was?- Cherry

But of course, Cherry!!! Those headcanons were so fun to write :D It’s honestly one of my favorite headcanon/ask posts that I’ve done, I think. I love thinking about how Johnny would react to Hawk and Demetri dating XD And writing that paragraph about how I think Demetri and Eli met was honestly the most fun ride haha

@sipping--snowflakes runs a Demetri RPG blog I think, it’s @binarybrother1! Idk if it’s still active, you’ll have to hit them up about that. I also think @hawkxatxheart​ RPs as Hawk and ships the binary boyfriends, if you want to hit them up too!

Aight screw it, Imma do the most complete analysis I can XD

Miguel ships it SO hard XD Like Miguel is a very smart and intuitive person who seems pretty good at picking up on emotions and such (he was able to almost instantly call bullshit on Kreese’s war stories, IIRC), so I’m almost certain that he picked up that there were Some Kinda Vibes going on with those two from day fucking one. But obviously he doesn’t wanna outright say anything, especially not at a school where kids will get bullied for literally ANYTHING and something like kids being gay for each other could legit put a target on both their backs if it got out. So he lets these boys figure shit out on their own time but is also like “...yeah, they’ll realize it eventually, I’m sure.” XD And you dun best believe he just went “ohhhhh my godddddd” when they fell out and developed a super intense rivalry because he’s like guys??? Do you NOT realize being that obsessed with fucking with each other...kinda means you’re obsessed WITH each other??? Even though you both have other friends now??? Doesn’t seem like normal best friend behavior :/ But of course our boy doesn’t want to interfere unless it gets really bad--and he’s got his own issues to deal with, anyhow. I imagine after the dojos join and Demetri and Eli start dating after a while, Miguel is just like “FUCKING FINALLY!!! Sam pay up, you owe me 20 bucks!!!” He’s so happy they finally dragged their heads out of their asses and realized they loved each other, because man, you can bet your ass Miguel knew they did from the get-go.

Sam I think I’ve touched on a fair bit in my other posts so I won’t get into a whole big long thing, but she’s...certainly leery of them dating at first, mainly because she remembers Demetri’s issues with Eli are what pushed him to join Miyagi-Do in the first place, and she witnessed him breaking Dem’s arm so she’s pretty...not crazy about Eli XD But Miguel and Demetri both vouch for Eli a LOT, and reassure Sam over and over that he’s a good guy at heart and just let Kreese get in his head and fell victim to his brainwashing for a while. Sam comes around to the idea after a while, and she can see how happy he makes Demetri and ultimately trusts Demetri to be smart enough to not date someone who’s going to treat him badly. Then eventually she and Eli bond over what a fuck Kyler is (he bullied Sam too, don’t forget!!! And they DATED, so the thing he did with the blowjob rumors was a HUGE violation of the pretty intimate trust you have with a partner) and after that she is VERY on board with him and Demetri dating XD

Chris is...Not A Fan, to put it lightly XD Like he saw firsthand how much of a fuck Hawk was to him and Mitch when they first joined Cobra Kai and how he basically hazed them both for funsies because he let the tournament win get to his head. And hell, HE was one of the ones who got sicced on Demetri in the mall and tried to get Hawk to back down, and SAW that he wouldn’t. And when Hawk was about to go after Demetri at Moon’s party, Chris was the first Miyagi-Do to step in and protect him. And, of course, he saw Hawk break Demetri’s arm, too. So he’s no stranger to the antagonism Hawk has always had for Demetri in particular, and doesn’t trust that it’s completely gone. However, Chris is a pretty down-to-earth and reasonable dude, so with a LOT of vouching from Demetri, I can see him coming around eventually. Also if he was willing to give Mitch a second chance, ain’t no reason he can’t do the same for Hawk. And Mitch would probably vouch for Hawk too, after he and Chris became friends again--after all, Mitch DID end up becoming pretty good friends with Hawk after all the hazing stuff. So ultimately Chris ends up being at least civil with Hawk, but he sometimes glares at him when no one’s looking like “I’ve got my eye on you, you’d better not hurt my bro or there’s gonna be hell to pay”

Mitch is fairly indifferent, I think, although he DOES find the irony of Hawk now being head-over-heels smitten with the same dude he sent him to beat up in the mall and the same dude who told everyone Hawk wets the bed to be IMMENSELY hilarious. He loves to tease Hawk about it, like “Man, what would you have done a year ago if you’d known you’re now regularly making out with that shrimpy little nerd???” and Hawk is like “oh my god shut UP” but then he turns away and smirks because the joke is on Mitch--he TOTALLY still liked Demetri through All That Mess Last Year, he just...had a very poor way of processing it XD

I imagine Bert kinda looks up to Hawk as an older brother figure (there’s a snippet I’ve seen some gifs of of Hawk teaching him how to block and it’s actually really cute--huge Big Bro/Little Bro Energy) and probably also admires Demetri quite a bit for trying to protect him and Nate during the Christmas party fight, so he’s definitely on board!!! His two honorary big brothers dating--he’s thrilled!!! Nate not so much, since you dun best believe he still remembers Hawk and his goons “kicking the fucking shit out of him” XD Nonetheless, Nate probably also has a soft spot for Demetri for trying to protect him, so with lots of vouching from Demetri (and Bert too, once he and Nate are friends again), he eventually comes around to the idea of Hawk and Demetri dating.

ON TO THE SECOND QUESTION, FINALLY!

I actually think Aisha is the one who comes up with their ship name!!! XD Allow me to elaborate--so at some point Aisha comes back (because fuck it, I miss her), either to join the new merged dojo or just to visit, because ain’t no one telling me she didn’t keep in touch with at least SAM and visit occasionally if she was still in the city or general area. So she walks into the dojo to go see Sam and her other friends and start catching up with everyone, and--oh, Sam and Miguel are in the same weird, combined karate dojo now that isn’t Miyagi-Do OR Cobra Kai??? Super wack, but okay. Then she sees Demetri and Hawk holding hands and her eyes get really wide and she’s like “Wait, you two are DATING now??? That’s...kind of gross :/”

And Demetri and Hawk just freeze up for a hot sec because is Aisha of all people about to be judgmental??? But then she immediately follows up with “Well, aren’t you the binary brothers? I don’t know if I can get behind incest, guys.” And Hawk just breaks out snickering and is like “Shit, man, she’s right. We should probably update that.” And Demetri’s like “NO WAIT I GOT THIS” and then he just goes “dEmEtRi aNd eLi, BiNaRy BoYfRiEnDs” complete with the super cringey robot arm and Eli is like “Oh my GOD I am GOING to kill you” as the entire dojo proceeds to Lose Their Shit.

Also you dun best believe that literally every picture Aisha takes with Hawk and Demetri after they all start hanging out again (because I WANT THEM TO, FIGHT ME) is captioned things like “Chillin’ with the binary boyfriends!” “Eating tacos with the binary boyfriends!” “Doing karate with the binary boyfriends!” and before too long she refuses to refer to Demetri and Eli as anything else XD

Also yes I know Moon was also there during the Binary Brothers scene but she most likely wouldn’t be cheeky and tease them about it later. Aisha absolutely WOULD.

[yongiefilms]

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE.

pairing: huang renjun x reader

genre: fluff; boyfriend!au; established relationship!au

warnings: swearing; endless bickering from all sides

word count: 1.8k (my longest yet wow)

summary: yes, you loved them with your entire heart, but why did they have to be so damn annoying?

author’s note: shoutout to all my proofreaders for being utterly amazing. i love you all so much and thank you for your help, my loves. @jensungf​ @wooqzi​ @bumblebeenct​

“Renjun, I swear if you hit Donghyuck one more time I will personally smack you myself,” you exclaimed, setting your black pen down on the table before turning your head to look at him.

Renjun scoffed at your threat, meeting your eyes as he himself stopped what he was doing. His own pen was set between the big crease in the book, near the lined sheets of paper. “What? Why me? If anything you should be smacking Hyuck.” He glanced over at Donghyuck who sat a few inches away from him on your bed, rapidly scribbling down notes before he mumbled lowly under his breath. “He doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up.”

“Hey!” Donghyuck loudly hollered, suddenly lurching his head upwards, sticking the pen stuck between his thumb and index finger up in the air. “I heard that, you motherfucker.” He flipped Renjun off with his free hand while jutting his chin out to serve as a challenge.

You settled your two fingers on your temples and closed your eyes, giving a smooth rub to the skin. You could detect a headache coming on and you had to retain some level of tranquility amongst the chatter of the two arguing boys that would soon come, despite the fact that it already started. Once the digs were spewed by either one of them, chaos would arise.

Slap! There it was, the physical aspect of it all. There weren’t squabbles between them without the direct contact. The resounding echo was heard throughout the room along with the small whine that followed. You furrowed your eyebrows further at the harsh sound, just your luck, but continued to focus on your breathing. 1, 2, 3...1, 2, 3…1, 2, 3…

You had assumed—no, you knew that Renjun reached over to swat Donghyuck on his thigh subsequent to insulting him. The boy still hadn’t learned to keep his mouth shut after the countless times Renjun attacked him for his remarks. It was rather typical.

“Didn’t you hear what Y/N said? You’ll get your ass whooped if you hit me again and see—“ Donghyuck jerked his head towards your direction, where you were trying to regain back some level of peace. “Y/N is trying to remain calm and you are disrupting her.”

Renjun outstretched his arm once more and thumped the back of Donghyuck’s head. “Idiot. Don’t you see you are distracting her with your babbling?” He whispered aggressively. “If anything you have to be silent and she loves me so she isn’t going to resort to violence with me.”

You opened your mouth to speak and peeked through one eye to take a good look at them before closing it, while you dropped your hands in your lap. “Both of you are disturbing me so please do be quiet.” You let out an exasperated sigh, twisting around to face your desk as you placed your forehead on the cold edge. “I’ll whack both of you…dumbasses.” You mumbled.

“See what you did.”

“What I did? It was all you.”

“No it wasn’t, you fucker. You were rambling while Y/N was taming the migraine—”

“That has nothing to do with it. It’s all your fault. You are the one always punching me and for what? Me teasing you? Get over it.”

“Get over it? You are the one that annoys me and provokes me. If anything you always have it coming.”

“You don’t have to beat me though.”

“I do because what else will make you stop talking?”

“How about—“

You couldn’t take it anymore. “Donghyuck shut up.” You heaved your head off the desk, opening your closed lids and spun your chair around to focus on the wide eyes of the two boys who were shocked at the outburst. It was quite funny you do admit.

“Yeah, Hyuck,” Renjun snickered.

The humor vanquished as you gave Renjun a blank stare. “You too, Jun.”

Donghyuck let out a rowdy, mocking snigger. “Y/N told you. Take that, Renjun.” He stuck his tongue out, vaguely shaking his head.

“Do I have to remind you again? Shut the fuck up,” Renjun glowered at him.

Donghyuck glared right back and uttered out in an antagonizing tone, “Make me.”

You could tell Renjun wanted to strangle him. “Oh I will, asshole.” He leaned forward, most likely to push Donghyuck onto the bed to give him a proper beating.

You raised your hands up in the air right when Donghyuck fell backwards on the silky cushion, his hands in front of him to serve as defense. “It’s no use.” You spun back to face your desk to get on with the multiple assignments you had to complete. “I am trying to do work, but every time I invite you both over to do so, you guys always find a way to give me a headache with all the endless bickering.” You heaved a forceful sigh as you rearranged your materials to see if you could pick up where you left off several instants ago, that is if they allowed you to.

Renjun stopped short right then before he laid his hands on Donghyuck. He momentarily paused so he could move his head back and forth to glance between your clothed back and Donghyuck’s smirking face. He then pinched Donghyuck’s sides abruptly as the boy let out a squeak, until he decided to maneuver off the bed and towards your desk.

His feet padded against the carpet as he stood by your right side to see you staring blankly at the open textbook with sheets of lined paper scattered about.

He bent his head forward to whisper faintly in your ear, placing his hands on your shoulders. His warm touch spread throughout your body. “Sorry, babe. You know how Hyuck always gets on my nerves and sometimes I can’t help it, but I’ll try to refrain myself more from now on, okay?” He reclined to take note of your face as you peered up at him. His gaze was tender as you slowly nodded your head. “Okay…but please do be quiet this time.”

He smiled charmingly at you. “Of course, my sweet Y/N. Now finish your assignments, we‘ll try to be as soundless as possible to not divert you from your studies.” He kissed your cheek and gave your shoulders a reassuring squeeze. You gave him a smile in return. He stepped back, ready to go back to his spot on the bed, but you had other plans. You hastily lifted your hands up to pull at his hoodie strings in order to bring him closer to you. You leaned ever so slightly to peck his lips, withdrawing quickly so he didn’t have enough time to react. He blinked his eyes swiftly to try to process what happened as he chortled at you. You thought he was going to possibly let it go, but he proved you wrong with his next words.

“No,” He waved his index finger up in the air. “I don’t think you’re getting away with that this time.” You tilted your head to the side, pondering what he meant. Renjun was a wonder, he always surprised you in the most beautiful ways and maybe even in the most frightening ways, since his sharp tongue was mostly to blame. He extended his hands out to your sides, tickling you as you jolted in your seat and started to giggle.

“Renjun,” you gasped in between your titter, moving your body side to side. “Stop it.” More chuckles from you and him. He was enjoying your little dilemma, it brought him joy. “I…can’t…breathe.”

His fingers immediately came to a stop, and he gently gripped your sides. You could feel your breath steady and your heartbeat resound to its normal hammering. His thumbs moved up and down the clothed skin at your sides, before his arm circled your waist and he tugged you up out of your seat. You stumbled on your footing, muttering a low, “What?”

Your bodies were touching each other as he brought his other arm to encircle your waist to interlock his hands. Your own hands made their way to his shoulders as he swayed you both side to side, resting his forehead on your own. He delicately whispered, “How about a proper kiss this time? Then you can go back to doing your work unless you want me to tickle you a second time, which I would be more than happy to do.”

You leaned back from him to properly glimpse into his star filled eyes and smirked. His eyebrows crinkled at your reaction and he opened to his mouth then proceeded to close it. You shook your head lightly at him, the smirk morphing into a wide beam. “Come here,” you said, moving your hands so you could place your thumbs on his cheeks. You rubbed the soft skin and finally closed the gap between your two lips.

The kiss was too short for your liking, but even so it managed to bring your spirits up and a fluttering in your stomach to blossom. When you both pulled apart, his dazzling grin greeted you, making your heart race even more. He detangled himself from you as he grabbed your hand to give it a squeeze. He moved backwards in small steps as his grip loosened the further he became. Your hand dropped to your side. “Now that was a proper kiss.”

He winked and then pivoted on his heel to situate himself back on the bed, where Donghyuck had finally decided to sit up in the wake of laying down for several long minutes. Your laugh echoed in the room as you wheeled the chair around to face them so you could settle down yourself. You forgot Donghyuck was there for a moment, too immersed in the other astonishing boy you called your own.

“You guys are disgustingly cute. I think I’m going to puke.” Donghyuck made gagging noises at the back of his throat and situated his hands on his knees, leaning forward to pretend he was actually going to vomit.

The grin that was on Renjun’s face grew into a scowl. “Just because I won’t slap you now doesn’t mean I won’t do it later so keep your mouth shut.” Renjun threatened and poked Dongyuck’s chest.

You laughed to yourself yet anew, and shook your head, prior to spinning in your chair to finally get back to the tasks you so desperately left alone for too long. It was indeed predictable for those boys to quarrel to no end regardless of the occasion, but you didn’t mind, especially after being with them for so long. You got used to it. You got used to their dysfunctional antics as a duo. However, as much as you loved them individually, they were far more special together. For one of them would always have your heart and the other would always have your back. That’s how it goes when one is your lover and the other your best friend. You had one and got the other free, so who were you to complain?

[thecaffeinebookwarrior]

The Dos and Don’ts of Writing Smart Characters

Since I started this blog, one of the most common questions I’ve received has to do with the portrayal of intelligent characters.  This is also one of the most difficult to answer -- excluding questions about characters with specialized knowledge sets, which are fairly easy to answer with source compilations.  Most of the questions have to do with:  how do you portray a smart character believably?  How do you make the audience relate to them?  Can I still make them likable?  How do I avoid the pitfalls of popular media?

Well, I’m finally here to answer, utilizing examples from some of my favorite (and occasionally, not-so-favorite) media.  Let’s jump in to the dos and don’ts of smart characters!

1.  Do let the audience follow the character’s thought process.  

As demonstrated by:  Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders

Albert Einstein allegedly once said, “If you can’t explain it to a five-year-old, you don’t truly understand it.”  And the sentiment rings true:  true genius doesn’t need to dazzle with big words and technobabble.  Instead, it makes the complex appear simple.

The same rings true for brilliant characters.  BBC’s Sherlock (more on that later) ceased to satisfy in its later seasons because it began to rely too heavily on visual glitz to avoid actually explaining its mysteries and how they were solved.  Similarly, the biggest complaints with block buster franchises -- Star Wars, The Avengers, Game of Thrones -- is that they became obsessed with “subverting expectations” cleverly instead of leading the audiences to their most logical and satisfying conclusions.

Meanwhile, the smartest and most satisfying media dazzles not by staying over the audience’s head, but by illustrating how simplistic the solutions can be.

Let’s start with my boy Tommy Shelby, the charismatic, swaggering protagonist of the charismatic, swaggering crime drama Peaky Blinders.  Using only his intelligence (and complete disregard for his own life/suicidal tendencies, but that’s not the point here), Tommy claws his way up from the near-bottom of the social ladder (an impoverished Romani in early 20th century Birmingham) to being a decorated war hero, to being the leader of a feared razor gang, to dominating the race track business, to becoming a business mogul, to becoming a member of parliament and trying to assassinate the leader of the fascist party. He’s also one of the paramount reasons why I’m bisexual.

So how can such a drastic social climb be conveyed believably?  Because Tommy -- as the viewpoint character -- is placed in seemingly inescapable situations, and then proceeds to demonstrate that the solutions to those situations have been there the whole time.  I recently watched a brilliant video on how this is done, which can be viewed here.

Early in season one, for example, he responds to aggressive new methods by the police by organizing a mass-burning of paintings of the king, and uses the press this garners to publicly shame the methods of the chief inspector who’s been antagonizing him.  In the next season, he talks his way into a deal by bluffing that he planted a grenade in his rival’s distillery.  My personal favorite is in season four, when he responds to being outgunned by a larger, American gang by contacting their rival -- none other than an Alphonse Capone.

All of Tommy’s victories are satisfying, because they don’t come out of nowhere -- we have access to the same information he does, each victory is carefully foreshadowed, and we are reminded at every turn that failure is a very real possibility (more on that later.)  So when he wins, we’re cheering with him.

Other examples:  Mark Watney from The Martian, who explains science in its most simplistic terms and with infectious enthusiasm.  He would make every character on The Big Bang Theory cry.  

Also, Miss Fisher from the AMAZING Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.  The dazzling, 1920s, female Sherlock Holmes of your dreams.  I cannot recommend it enough.

To apply this to your own writing:  Remember you won’t dazzle anyone if you smack them in the face with a “brilliant” plot twist.  They want to take a journey with your character, not be left in the dust.  

Also, for everyone in my askbox concerned that they’re not smart enough to write intelligent characters, just remember how simple the problems confronting smart characters can be.  Put them in a difficult situation, and provide them with a means of getting out.  Then, just let them find it. 

2.  Don’t assume the audience is too stupid to keep up (or try to make them feel too stupid to keep up.)

As demonstrated by:  Sherlock Holmes from BBC’s Sherlock.

Say what you will:  there were reasons why everyone was so captivated by this show during its first two seasons.  It felt fresh.  People had yet to become frustrated with the inescapable thirst for Benedict Cumberbatch.  The writing was sharp, and the editing clever.  And it wove a tantalizing web of mysteries that demanded solution.  The problem was, there weren’t any.

The most frustrating for many was how Sherlock faked his death at the end of season two, after which devoted fans spent two years creating intricate theories on how he might have pulled this off.  The creators responded by mocking this dedication in the opening episode of season three, by showing a fan club spinning outlandish theories (one of which included Sherlock and Moriarty kissing.)  This might have been laughed off -- at the time, many seemed to consider it quite funny -- if the creators had bothered to offer their own explanation of how Sherlock survived.  They didn’t.  And so began a seemingly endless loop of huge cliffhangers that promised -- and consistently failed to deliver -- satisfying answers.

The most egregious examples occur in season four, which provided answers to questions no one asked, and withheld answers for things everyone wanted to know.  For example, did you know that the real reason Moriarty engaged Sherlock is because he was hypnotized by Sherlock’s secret evil sister?  The same one who killed Sherlock’s best friend, whom Sherlock convinced himself was a dog?  Yes, that was a real plot point, in the climax of the series.  It’s an effort to befuddle the audience with brilliant and unexpected writing, but instead pulled them out of a story they were already invested in and made them far more critical of its pre-existing faults. 

It’s pointed out in the brilliant (if bluntly named) Sherlock Is Garbage, And Here’s Why that Moffat can be a great writer, but is a consistently terrible show runner, because he’s more interested in dazzling the audience with cleverness than actually telling a satisfying story.  The video also points out that the show often implied Sherlock’s brilliance, without ever letting the audience follow along with his actions or thought-process in a way that DEMONSTRATED his brilliance.  

I highly recommend giving the aforementioned video a watch, because it is not only a great explanation of how Sherlock Holmes can be best utilized, but about how writing itself can be best utilized.

Other examples:  The Big Bang Theory.  As Wisecrack points out in their wonderful video on the subject, the punchline of every joke is “oh look, these characters are smart nerds!” which is repetitious at best and downright insulting at worst.

How to avoid this in your writing:  Treat the audience as your equal.  You’re not trying to bedazzle them, you’re trying to take them on a journey with you.  Let them be delighted when you are.  Don’t constantly try to mislead them or hold intelligence over their head, and they will love you for it.  Also, cheap tricks do not yield a satisfying story:  readers will know when you went into a narrative without a plan, and they won’t appreciate it.

3.  Do remember that smart people can be kind and optimistic!

As demonstrated by:  Shuri from Black Panther.

Yes, brilliant people can be unhappy and isolated by their intelligence, or rejected by society.  But remember that intelligence isn’t synonymous with a cantankerous attitude, or an excuse to be a pugnacious ass to those around you!  

Part of the reason why Shuri of 2018′s Black Panther was such a breath of fresh air was the fact that she subverted almost all preconceptions about how a genius looks, acts, and regards the world.  And it’s not just the fact that she isn’t a sullen, middle-aged white man that makes her stand out:  Shuri has an effervescent attitude, and genuinely loves contributing to her country and family.  She referred to sound-proof boots as “sneakers” (and then explained the pun when her brother didn’t get it.)  She’s fashionable.  She teases her older brother, and cries when he is apparently killed.  She’s up on meme culture.  This makes her unlike pretty much every other genius portrayed in the MCU.

Except maybe the Hulk.  He can dab now.

Shuri is also allowed to take pride in her genius, and can be a bit insufferable about it, which makes her more enjoyable and rounded.  But she is an excellent example of how genius can be explored and portrayed in fiction, and I will forever be embittered that she was underutilized in Infinity War and Endgame.

Why, for example, are all geniuses portrayed as arrogant misanthropes?  Albert Einstein battled depression, but he is also said to have enjoyed blowing bubbles and watching puppet shows.  He was kind to those who knew him.  Similarly, Alan Turing behaved little like his fictional counterpart, described as “shy but outgoing,” with a love of being outdoors.  Nikola Tesla fell in love with a pigeon.  Why do we have to portray these people so damn gravely?

Other examples:  Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds.  Also an excellent portrayal of an intelligent person on the autism spectrum, as he struggles to interface socially but cares profusely for his fellow human beings.  He is brilliant, and completely precious.

Also, Sherlock Holmes -- the original version, and all faithful adaptations thereof.  Anyone who thinks Sherlock is an austere, antisocial jerk isn’t familiar with the original canon.  He blushed when Watson complimented his intelligence, for God’s sake. 

Then there’s Elle Woods from Legally Blonde and Marge from Fargo.  Brilliant, upbeat, optimistic geniuses.

To apply this to your own writing:  If you have a smart character who hates everyone around them for no identifiable reason, ask yourself why this is necessary and what this adds to the plot.  Are they angry about injustice, towards themselves or others?  Are they frustrated with an inability to relate to people?  Do they want to protect themselves or their family at all costs, including politeness?  If not, question why your brilliant character can’t also be kind to those around them.

4.  Don’t make your character perfect at everything they do.

As demonstrated by:  Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Ah, Wesley.  Some call him the original Mary Sue, and it’s one of the only times I’ve seen the term applied with some accuracy.  He is somehow the most gifted and least qualified person on The Enterprise.  He’s Hermione Granger without the charm, jumping in to answer questions before any of the trained officers in the room have the chance to, always in the right.  His only obstacle?  Why, the boorish adults he’s surrounded with simply don’t understand his brilliance!

As early as the series’ very second episode, Wesley -- inebriated by an alien illness -- forcibly takes over the ship from Captain Picard, only to later save it from a threat with a reverse tractor beam of his own design.  

Wesley was obviously inserted as a means of attracting younger viewers, but failed egregiously, because he was too annoyingly perfect for kids to relate too, and not cool enough for them to be invested in.  I binge-watched the various Star Trek series in my youth for Spock, Data, and my wife Seven of Nine, not to watch seasoned military and scientific officers get lectured by an adolescent.  Even Wil Wheaton, who had the misfortune of portraying this character, expressed a dislike for him.  

Precocious children are great, if you get them right.  But get them wrong, and they can easily become your most annoying character, marring the face of otherwise great media.  The most important thing you can do for a brilliant character is endow them with weaknesses and flaws -- even something as small as Shuri’s fondness for teasing her older brother made her enjoyable, as anyone with siblings could relate to their dynamic.  

But, what if you want a supernaturally talented character who not only fails to be a ray of sunshine, but is something of an arrogant, antisocial jerk?  Can they still work, especially if they also happen to be a child? 

Yes, under one extremely important condition:

5.  Do keep your characters out of their depth!

As demonstrated by:  Number Five from Umbrella Academy.

Okay, he’s not exactly a child.  He’s a fifty-eight-year-old trapped in a child’s body, who’s traveled back in time from a post-apocalyptic future to warn his siblings of an incoming Armageddon.  In other news, Umbrella Academy is a weird show.  Unlike the comics, however, the apes don’t engage in prostitution. 

 The effect, however, remains the same:  a preternaturally talented child who talks down to everyone around him, including his (apparently) older siblings.  So why does he work while Wesley fails so egregiously?

For one thing, it’s demonstrated early on that Five has the skills to back up his sanctimonious attitude, with the delightfully ultraviolent Istanbul (Not Constantinople) sequence.  It also helps that he lacks Wesley’s squeaky-clean moral code, to the point at which he can get drunk in public or kill without remorse.  

But:  the element most vital to his success as a character is the fact that he’s kept completely, and consistently, out of his depth.  He knows the world will end in eight days, but he doesn’t know how this will transpire or how to stop it.  Ultimately, he fails again to stop the apocalypse, and must travel back in time with his siblings for another chance.  

Most authors have the impulse to demonstrate a character’s brilliance by allowing them to succeed against insurmountable odds, but the Umbrella Academy writers show tremendous wisdom in allowing Five to fail.  This allows the audience to empathize with him, and countermands the effects of his arrogant attitude.

This advice isn’t just true for pint-sized prodigies.  Look back over this list, and take notes of how often the most successful characters are allowed to fail, to have flaws, and to ascend past their comfort zone.  

Other examples:  Virtually every successful example on this list.

Tommy Shelby, a character of limitless ambition, conducts a new, perilous climb outside of his social rank each season, which almost always puts him in positions of mortal danger.  He faces threats both external (rival gangs, evil priests, and rising fascists) and internal (hello PTSD, suicidal tendencies, and crippling addiction) but either way, we understand that his fast-paced climb is not for the weak-willed or faint-hearted.  

Mark Watney is a brilliant scientist who has been stranded in an utterly impossible situation for which absolutely no one could be adequately prepared (spoilers:  it’s on Mars.)  We are drawn in by his plight, and how he could possibly escape from it, and there we come to admire him for his courage, optimism, and humor.

Shuri, though not the main character of Black Panther, is allowed to show off both tremendous gifts and vulnerability, as she is powerless to stop the apparent death of her beloved older brother.  She watches Wakanda’s takeover both as an innovator and a young woman, and a large reason for her success is that she is allowed to be both.  

How to apply this to your writing:  When portraying intelligent characters, take stock of how often they fail, their level of control over their surroundings, their vulnerability, and their flaws.  We don’t want to read about flawless deities.  We want to read about characters who embody and personify our humanity.  So remember they need to fall down in order to pull themselves up.

Happy writing, everybody! 

[dweetwise]

Headcannons about Ace interacting with other survivors in the realm? Thanks!!

[yess trash husband! these all got weirdly wholesome sksksk just let me have this ok]

there are too many survivors lmao this is so long

Ace & other survivors headcanons

In general Ace is a friendly guy, trying his best to stay on good terms with all the survivors and avoid drama. He’ll joke, tease and flirt to keep things lighthearted in camp. 

He’s a lot more perceptive than he seems, and what initially seems to be an ill-timed quip or a joke in poor taste is often well thought out to lighten the mood and shift the attention away from an argument or tension between the others.

Dwight

Dwight was the first survivor to make him feel part of the group when he initially arrived in the realm. Where the others saw a shady man twice their age lacking any sort of tact, Dwight saw a potential ally just trying to cope with a shitty situation.

Ever since, Ace has made it his mission to act as Dwight’s #1 cheerleader. When the other gets wrapped up in his own head, Ace will offer cheesy compliments until Dwight can’t help but laugh at his antics, forgetting his insecurities at least momentarily.

Ace likes Dwight well enough despite their completely different personalities, but mostly recognizes how important it is to keep their leader’s spirits high.

Meg

Meg is a bit of a loudmouth and Ace likes that she gives as good as she gets. He’ll often tease her and she’ll insult him in return, the others not understanding why the two are grinning like idiots while seemingly arguing.

When Meg has a bad day, she’ll sometimes just flop down next to Ace and sag against him without a word. He knows not to say anything and just lets her rest against him, maybe shows her a neat card trick if she looks like she needs a distraction.

Meg pointedly never talks about any father figure in her life, only her mother, so Ace is happy to fill in for any paternal affection she needs. He’s not sure he deserves the trust she's placed in him, but tries his best nonetheless.

Claudette

Ace thinks Claudette hates him at first, since the girl rarely laughs at his jokes, sometimes even interrupting to defend the person he’s bantering with. It takes him a while to realize that Claudette just has trouble reading his tone, tending to take his words at face value.

He makes a conscious effort to be more genuine with her, and actually ends up opening up more to her than any of the others because he can’t hide behind wit and sarcasm.

Even though he loves being the life of the party, when he needs a breather he seeks out one-on-one time with Claudette and listens for hours while she talks about plants or her family in her soothing voice.

Jake

Jake is an ongoing project for him. Ace has caught glimpses of Jake’s wonderfully dark sense of humor and is determined to see more of what’s behind the stoic exterior.

So Ace pushes more than any of the others, teasing and joking even when it’s clear Jake wants to be left alone. Usually he gets an annoyed grunt or an eye roll for his efforts. Sometimes, he gets punched. But every once in a while, particularly when nobody else is around, he’ll get a small smirk and an amazingly witty quip in return.

So he keeps pestering Jake, hoping that one day the other will be comfortable enough to let his guard down around him and the rest of the survivors.

Nea

Nea is a huge brat and is Ace’s favorite partner is trials, as she’s always up for doing dumb shit with him and doesn’t care if he gets distracted and loots a chest or five.

In camp, she’s like an annoying little sister, constantly getting up in his business, calling out his cheating in card games and booing at his less than stellar jokes.

Ace is her go-to confidant for her girl troubles. She always pretends to be annoyed at his shitty advice and the cringy pick-up lines he suggests she use, but she’s grateful to have someone to talk to who never judges.

Laurie

Laurie doesn’t approve of Ace’s previous lifestyle, not to mention some of the impulsive decisions he makes in trials, and she’s not afraid of letting him know. He doesn’t mind being lectured by her and will be the first to admit she’s leagues more mature than he is despite her young age.

She pretends to hate his jokes but still catches her smiling when she thinks he doesn’t see. Though he learned the hard way that she’s not receptive to flirty comments when she wrangled his arm back for calling her “sweetheart”.

She has cried on his shoulder multiple times, especially after trials against her brother. Ace thinks it’s because he’s open to a fault compared to her reserved nature, and she knows he won’t push her away or make a big deal out of it. Afterwards, she’ll be embarrassed and threaten violence if he tells the others, and he’ll go back to cracking jokes.

Bill

In many ways, Bill is Ace’s polar opposite; he’s serious, grumpy and sarcastic compared to Ace’s lighthearted and over-the-top demeanor.

They make a good comedy duo, with Bill being a reluctant participant most of the time. Still, the other has yet to actually ignore his goading, taking every chance to try to knock Ace down a peg.

Bill’s true colors shine through in bad trials, when he’ll ask Ace to help him save their younger friends, trusting his skill and moral code at least momentarily. After all, there’s a certain kind of solidarity that only comes from bleeding out next to each other on the ground after having successfully bullied the killer away from their teammates.

Feng

Some of the others dislike Feng and how selfish she is in trials, but Ace has a soft spot for her and her erratic behavior, quick to jump in and defuse situations where the others are ganging up on her.

Feng eventually recognizes Ace as her equal and not a “pleb” like she sees most of the others. She’ll even almost look happy to see him if they spawn together in a trial, before pestering him until he hands her his item.

Feng’s competitive nature sometimes makes her take out her frustration on the others in a gamer rage. Ace often intentionally makes himself an easy target by teasing her, not minding being her verbal punching bag as he knows it’s all bark and no bite and it helps her de-stress.

David

Ace finds David’s complete lack of filter and dirty humor amusing. The two have the most bizarre banter, egging each other on with gags that consist of 90 % of obscenities and that cause some of the others to cover their ears in second hand embarrassment.

Ace likes that David doesn’t take himself too seriously, and often uses the Brit as the butt of a joke, knowing the other won’t mind and will most likely be the one to laugh the hardest.

If David gets in one of his moods, pent up after a trial and looking for a brawl, Ace is one of the few who can snap him out of it with one of their tasteless jokes. Sometimes the joke falls flat and he gets punched or wrestled to the ground instead, but hey, at least David’s not sulking any more.

Quentin

Ace goes easy on Quentin at first, because the boy looks so tired and seems like he’s struggling with the realm. Quentin eventually notices the special treatment and starts giving him shit for it. Ace goes full force with the banter and Quentin is more than happy to dish it back, displaying a delightfully quick wit and dry sense of humor.

He still recognizes that Quentin might have an aversion to older men so he keeps a healthy distance between them, consciously resisting his natural inclination for playful shoves or flirty jokes.

Proud member of the Protect Quentin / Kick Freddy’s Ass squad. He wishes he could do more for Quentin, but hey, at least he can make the sleepy boy crack a few jokes at Ace’s expense.

Tapp

His relationship with Tapp is tense at first; as conman and cop, they have a lot of prejudices against each other.

Tapp eventually drops the antagonism, recognizing the real threat in the killers and realizing the benefits of teamwork. That includes accepting petty criminals like himself and Nea.

They’re not the best of friends by any means, but it’s kind of nice to play cards with the man and be able to chat with someone his own age. Ace doesn’t even cheat in their games, and in return gets to hear about some of Tapp’s more colorful cases as a detective.

Kate

Ace values Kate a lot in their group; she’s hearty, genuine and he’s never seen her angry. She radiates charisma in a way that’s completely different to his own, and Ace feels like he can relax and drop the “entertainer” act when she′s around.

He’s not actually close to her personally, as they don’t have much more in common than being the token happy person by the campfire. Still, they have a silent understanding of one another.

Ace will sometimes call her obnoxious pet names like honey, sweetheart and pumpkin, and she’ll just laugh in her melodious voice and shoot back a “yes, darlin’?”.

Adam

Adam is well-read and sophisticated to a point where Ace feels a little bit intimidated. Adam will frown at some of his jokes and correct him, and Ace will feel dumb.

Ace starts having his guard up around the other, until Adam seems to notice and makes a conscious effort to befriend him, confessing that he’s just a little awkward and never meant to be rude.

Ace is always quick to forgive and forget and goes back to joking full force, also making an effort to ask the other about some useless trivia every now and then because it makes Adam’s face light up.

Jeff

Jeff is just so chill even Ace feels himself mellow out in his company. They have pretty much nothing in common but Jeff always chuckles at his jokes and has some pretty good one-liners of his own.

He’ll sometimes just sit with Jeff and talk about anything and everything, appreciating the other’s interesting worldview that’s so different to his own. It always feels kind of like he’s just out having a beer with a bro.

Jeff is the one Ace is most comfortable with asking advice from, because the man never judges and his advice often offers a whole new perspective.

Jane

Jane and Ace butt heads a lot. She doesn’t like some of his more questionable jokes and won’t hesitate to call him out. In return, he’ll claim she just needs to lighten up.

Eventually this dynamic becomes a joke of its own, with the others commenting on how “mom and dad are arguing again”.

Ash

Hoo boy. These two are so much alike and it usually ends in disaster. Will bully killers together and get facecamped while the other is slugged next to the hook.

Ash is more of an adrenaline junkie than him, and Ace actually starts finding himself being the voice of reason that tries to talk Ash out of sucker punching the killer.

Ash is somehow also even more of an attention whore than Ace, so when the man is telling a crazy story to the rest of the camp, Ace is content to quietly slip away from the commotion and go chill with Claudette or Jeff.

Nancy

Nancy is one of the smartest people Ace has ever met and he loves how flustered she gets whenever he tells her as much.

He’s happy to let her take the lead in trials, as she, like Dwight, seems to be a natural leader. She’s always surprised by his acceptance of her as an equal or even superior, and he can tell she’s had trouble with being taken seriously in the past.

That being said, he can’t resist messing with her every now and then, cracking jokes and trying to get her to loosen up and realize that the fate of the world does not rest on her shoulders.

Steve

Ace sees a lot of himself in Steve; the goofiness, the troublemaking, and the cockiness that sometimes verges on arrogance.

He goes along with Steve’s dumb ideas in trials, feeling decades younger every time the teen eggs him on to have flashlight lightshows or make farting sounds with the gauze rolls instead of doing the objective.

When Steve inevitably gets caught trying to pull a dumb stunt, Ace will be the one to save his ass while giving him shit for it, all in good nature.

Yui

Yui is a badass if he’s ever seen one. They’ve pulled off so many end-game rescues together that should have been impossible, but with her determination and his luck they always seem to defeat the odds.

In camp, Yui is a wiseass and they give each other so much shit for the smallest of things. Yui is painfully blunt and thrives on good banter, and Ace is happy to indulge her.

Yui has a filthy mouth that will give David a run for his money and has even managed to make Ace blush and gape on a couple of occasions.

Zarina

Zarina is not amused by Ace’s flirting and flamboyance. Zarina values actions, not words, and somehow seems to sense all the empty promises Ace has made in his past.

Each time he’s about to engage her in conversation is predated by one of her eye rolls or exaggerated sighs. He starts greeting her with the same gestures to mess with her, annoying her further.

Nevertheless, when push comes to shove, she’s there to pick him up off the ground at the expense of her own health state and reluctantly compliments him for running the killer for three gens.

Cheryl

Cheryl keeps surprising Ace, her shy demeanor hiding a dry sense of humor and a rebellious streak.

She plays along with his banter without missing a beat, throwing in some jokes at his expense for good measure, causing Nea and Yui to basically insta-adopt her as one of their own and bond over his shitty sense of humor.

sorry there’s only 2 for jane and cheryl!  i’ve done a hc with ace&jane before and i still don’t have a good grasp on cheryl/heather’s character ;w;

[lovelyirony]

Can you do winterfalcon13 (idk if that's the ship name for the trio but I'm going with it) and a college au where a some jerkbag won't leave Sharon alone, and Sam and Bucky, who she shares a class with but hasn't really talked to them, come along and scare the guy off. And Sharon is like 'thanks but I had that covered tbh' and then they become this trio that does like everything together and the rest of their friend group just thinks they should date?

It was Bucky who first noticed Sharon, honestly. She was always early to the class, sat in the middle section but on the edge of said-middle section, and she took notes and left promptly. She rarely asked questions, always had ear buds in, and wore the same pair of beat-up, white Converse shoes every day. 

“You have got to stop staring or she’ll catch you one of these days,” his boyfriend mutters. 

“I’m not staring Sam,” Bucky hisses. “Quit it.” 

“Okay sure, you’re not staring. You’re just looking at her all the time and I guess we’re not gonna call it staring.” 

“I hate you,” Bucky grumbles. 

“Oh really? Because I didn’t get that feeling last night when-” 

“Class is beginning, shut it.” 

Sam laughs and rolls his eyes, but stays quiet. 

- 

Well. A guy starts sitting next to Sharon every single class. 

Sam and Bucky are annoyed. They think she is too, judging by the different seats that she’s tried out. But the guy won’t stop talking to her and she seems to be trying to let him down gently, but it’s not working so far. 

Sam is worried that it may escalate to homicide with witnesses, so he decides to take the initiative (because god knows Bucky won’t) and sit next to her the next time that they have class. 

“Hey,” he says. “Noticed you have a guy who bothers you every class. Can’t promise Bucky here won’t be a royal pain in the ass, but we’ll keep him away.” 

“I had it handled,” she says. “But thanks. I’m Sharon.” 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sam.” 

“Bucky.” 

And then the guy comes in. 

“Hey, uh, this is my seat?” He asks, way too much confidence brimming. “So if you could...?” 

“Not your seat,” Sharon answers boredly, flipping to her notes. “And these are my friends Sam and Bucky. If you bother me again, I’m kicking the shit out of you.” 

The guy nervously laughs. 

“You wouldn’t.” 

“She’s done it before,” Bucky answers, rolling his sleeves up. “And she’s usually the one to leave ‘em worse than I do.” 

This time, he pales. 

“I suggest you find a new seat,” Sam says coolly. “Maybe write your name on the back or something.” 

“O-okay.” His legs shake as he goes to the exact opposite of where they are, and Sharon snorts. 

“You two...are okay. Hm. You wanna get lunch with me after this?” 

Sam and Bucky look at each other. 

“Sure.” 

-

From there starts a great friendship. Where Sharon is, Sam and Bucky can’t be too far behind. 

They all enjoy time together. When Sharon’s roommate turns out to be nearly-crazy, she asks if she can use their spare room. There’s no complaint there, especially not after she lugs her candle collection in and reorganizes the bowls in the cabinets. 

“She’s a wizard,” Sam swears as he’s cooking breakfast. “I’ve never felt more efficient in my life.” 

“She’s a dream,” Bucky mumbles from his coffee cup. “I’m serious.” 

“I know you are, idiot,” Sam says, chucking an orange at him. “Now eat some goddamn food before you complain to me at ten-thirty in the morning that you want an early lunch.” 

Sharon wanders into the kitchen, sleepy as hell and already moving towards the coffee pot. She frowns when there isn’t any more. 

“Chill with your frown, sugar,” Bucky drawls. “We can make you more.” 

She grunts again and nearly slams her head into Bucky’s shoulder. 

“Oof,” he gets out, moving her closer to his chest. “You have a hard head, but not that hard. You’ll get a concussion next time you slam into my shoulder like that.” 

“Better than my stupid fucking ceramics final,” Sharon says. “I hate that fucking class and all the stupid bowls.” 

“Hey, we value your bowls,” Sam says. “Especially the one with the thumb rests so that we always have a hand on them!” 

Sharon glowers. 

“I don’t know why you always keep my fucked-up bowls, Sam.” 

“They’re funny,” Sam says. “And a conversation starter.” 

Bucky sets Sharon down where he was sitting and moves towards the coffee, getting a fresh pot started. 

“You’re too nice,” Sharon says. “Good morning, Sam. Are you making eggs?” 

“Already made some for you.” 

“You amaze me every single day,” Sharon says. “Seriously.” 

Sam and Bucky grin at her, and Sharon grins back. 

- 

Natasha, Bruce, and Thor all think that Sam, Sharon, and Bucky are the stupidest people alive. 

Not just those three, however. But they’re the ones who talk about it the most. 

Sharon will not date Bucky and Sam because she thinks that they are perfectly happy together and they don’t need a third person, and she’ll fuck it up. 

“If anything, she’ll be the best thing that’s happened to them,” Thor says. “Why can’t they see that?” 

“Because they’re all stupid as shit,” Bruce says. “And they think that everyone doesn’t like everyone, or something. Very messy. We haven’t seen this much mess since Tony and Rhodey, and even then it wasn’t that bad.” 

“Yes it was, Rhodey was convinced that Tony just liked him as a friend even when Tony kissed him,” Natasha deadpans. “We can get them together. We’ll just have to be sneaky.” 

-

They are not sneaky.

-

At least, not according to Sharon. 

“You have got to stop telling Bucky and Sam that I look gorgeous and that they need to compliment me,” Sharon hisses. “They think you’re being weird.” 

“You’re being weird,” Natasha responds. “Besides, you should ask them out!” 

“They’re in a relationship,” Sharon hisses. “And they don’t like me like that, they have each other for that.” 

“You don’t know that!” Natasha argues. “You literally have no idea if they don’t like you romantically, you’re stupid!” 

“I’m not stupid!” 

“You kind of are,” Tony says, breezing into the kitchen. “Also, if you two don’t shut up then Rhodey’s going to spread lies and he’s been bored for like two months.” 

-

Meanwhile, Bruce is challenging Sam and Bucky. 

“You ask her out or I swear to god I’ll convince Steve to ask her out on a date.” 

“You wouldn’t dare, you banned Steve from talking to you for five months!” 

“I banned him from talking to me, I didn’t ban myself from talking to him.” 

“Still, you would never stoop so low,” Bucky says casually. “I’m getting another drink.” 

Steve stares. 

“You know, I’m right here.” 

“Silence!” Bruce announces. “Go fetch me some chicken nuggets.” 

“No.” 

“I thought you weren’t allowed to talk to me!” 

Steve extends a middle finger, getting up and going to find Clint. 

-

Sharon watches as Bucky wanders into the kitchen, grabbing his glass and reaching up for the drink. 

“Hey, how’s it going out there?” 

“Bruce is trying to antagonize Steve into causing a fight, I think.” 

“That’s my cue to go get him,” Thor sighs. “He’s been trying to cause trouble for like a month.” 

“Have a good time,” Nat teases. “I’ll go find Steve and talk to him for a bit.” 

This leaves Sharon and Bucky alone, at least until Sam comes in. 

“You doing okay, Sharon?” Sam asks. Sharon nods, stirring her drink around. 

“Yeah, Nat’s just giving me shit.” 

“About?” 

“Relationships,” Sharon responds glibly. Bucky and Sam share a look. 

“You wanna be in one or something?” 

“I mean, sure, but like? I don’t know,” Sharon shrugs. “Guess it would have to be the right people.” 

Bucky spills his drink. 

“Oh shit,” Sam curses. “So you like...more than one person?” 

“Depends,” Sharon says. “But yeah, I do.” 

She swivels off of her bar stool. “I’m gonna go challenge Pepper to a game of Mario Kart if you two wanna join. But I think we’ll be ready to go home soon.” 

Sam shoots a look to Bucky. 

Home may have a different definition quite soon. 

[louisapennyfeather2021]

Can you do a newsies JoJo x reader where JoJo was self conscious bc all the other boys thought he was a pushover, so the reader comforts him

I did it! I finished this before Friday! Successfully, I think!

Anyway, here is a nice little Jojo x reader fic!

Reader is referred to in They/Them pronouns.

Warning: just the Newsies doing something really dumb.

A/N: I wrote this in about an hour because I have not a lot of school work(unless we're talking about updating Welcome to Camp. Then I have tok much school work and very little inspiration)

***

"Betcha won't do it!"

"C'mon, Jo, ain't gonna be that bad!"

"You ain't scared, are ya?"

"'Course I'm not!" Jojo huffs, briefly narrowing his eyes at Ike as he silently mocks Jojo before him and the others start cackling again.

"I can give ya a pass out, but it'd cost ya." Race jabs his elbow into one of the other fellas, keeping up a cool exposure. While the others keep on laughing, Race gives Jojo a look. It's the look Race always gives him whenever the other guys try to get Jojo to do something. Race is no stranger to antagonizing and teasing, but it's no secret that he's willing to keep his really close friends from doing something that makes them too uncomfortable. No Newsie purposefully oversteps boundaries, but there are a few like the twins who just don't know where the boundary line is.

"It's just a bet, 'less you're too scared you'll get stuck!" Mike grins. Of course, his outlandish bet has something to do with climbing a fire escape and then jumping to try and swing on a lamp post.

"I told ya, I ain't scared!" Jojo snaps, clenching his jaw before stalking towards the fire escape. He climbs it, focusing on the fellas cheering and laughing still as a distraction. Jojo gets to the platform level with the top of a lamp post and he clenches his fists. It's just one of the posts outside the lodge, but for some reason it seems miles away.

"Don't chicken out now, Jo!" One of the guys yells from below. Jojo, despite the feeling in his stomach telling him to stop, squares his feet, takes a deep breath, and launches himself at the lamp post.

***

"Of all the idiotic, no brain things ya could'a done, it had to be jumpin' off a fire escape?" Jack shakes his head and crosses his arms.

"Keep your pants on, Kelly. Jo was just tryin' ta get the fellas to shut up." From next to Jojo's bunk, the one and only Y/N of the Manhattan Newsies uses a damp rag to wipe at Jojo's scrapes. They use a cleaner rag to wipe around the huge bump on Jojo's forehead, making the newsie flinch and wince.

"That ain't no excuse, Y/N! He jumped from a freakin' fire escape. The Newsies of Manhattan are many things, but fire escape jumpers ain't one'a them!" Jack paces back and forth, throwing his hands up. Jack mutters to himself while Y/N shares an exasperated look with Jojo. This goes on until Y/N had a bandage around the knot on Jojo's head. Well, it's more like torn fabric from old bed sheets and not a bandage, but it does the job. Jack comes to a stop with his hands on his hips. "They make ya do it?"

"No one made me do anythin'." Jojo mumbles, his head bowed in what can only be assumed as embarrassment. Jack raises an eyebrow at Jojo and stares at him until the boy looks up and huffs. "They bet me, but have me a way out b'fore I did anythin'. S'my fault it happened. Just let it go Jack."

"Uh-uh, no way. I'm gonna go have a chat with the fellas about not makin' each other do dumb stuff that gets ya hurt." Jack storms out of the bunk room and Jojo groans in annoyance. Y/N has to bite back a laugh when Jojo starts trying to rub his forehead and he flinches when he hits his bump.

"Maybe take Race up on his offer on an out next time." Y/N offers with a tight smile. Jojo sends them an unamused look. This isn't the first time Y/N has had to deal with the aftermath of a bet gone wrong with the fellas, specifically Jojo. It just so happens that Jack somehow found out and is now mother bearing out on everyone.

"I ain't gonna look like a baby in front'a the fellas. S'ides, I've been through worse." Jojo mutters. Y/N silently wonders why Jojo keeps putting himself through so much, specifically when it comes to taking bets. Maybe he thinks he's being brave or something. Suddenly Jojo's standing and moving towards the door to the bunk room. "M'gonna go get Jack b'fore he gets too upset 'bout it." Jojo calls over his shoulder. Y/N follows, knowing from experience that Jojo could get dizzy and fall on his face from the hit to his head. Y/N can't figure out how he was so alert when Race brought Jojo into the bunk room. When Race told Y/N what height Jojo jumped from on a bet, Y/N had a panicky feeling that maybe Jojo's head had taken too much damage.

"Slow down b'fore you make yourself sick!" Y/N calls after Jojo. The boy keeps walking, briefly rolling his eyes. Y/N has always tried mothering the rest of the Newsies, although their habit tends to be heightened with their more frequently hurt newsies. To put it simply, Y/N sees a lot of Jojo.

"M'not gonna get sick, i-" Jojo stops at the door of the lodging house. It's cracked open with the warm evening breeze of July giving some relief to the heat of the day.

"- you fellas gotta stop with the bets, someone's gonna get seriously hurt." Jack scolds from outside. He's not too far from the door, but he's not right in front of it.

"Hey, it ain't our fault Jo's such a pushover!"

"Yeah, this wouldn't be a problem if he'd just grow a pair 'nd tell us t' stop!"

"It ain't got nothin' t' do with that. What it does gotta do with is that you guys don't know when t' stop." Jack goes on to scold the fellas even more, but Y/N is more focused on Jojo's deep frown and the way his eyebrows turn up.

He turns quickly and hurries through the lodging house towards the stairs. He skips steps to the top and disappears behind one of the walls. Y/N doesn't follow him, being more focused on the other side of the door. They don't hesitate to grab the metal handle and pull the door open. Jack stops mid-sentence and all eyes turn to Y/N.

"I hope you fellas are happy. Blamin' Jojo instead of yourselves 'cause ya don't wanna take responsibility for your friend gettin' hurt. It ain't his fault you guys tease him 'till he gives in. And don't pretend like this is the first time this has happened." Y/N snaps. They wait long enough to see everyone's bowed heads before they turn around and hurry back inside. They hear Jack make some weird noises before his voice gets louder, asking about how this isn't the first time this has happened. Y/N just shakes their head and hurries up the steps after Jojo.

They don't find him in the narrow hallway, but they do notice one of the windows leading to the fire escape is open. Y/N sighs and hurries over to the window. They peek out of the window before squeezing out of the window. Jojo sits near the railing with his knees pulled up and his arms resting on top of them. He's looking down the alleyway with his cheek on one arm.

"Ya ain't gonna jump again, are ya?" Y/N asks. Jojo jumps and his head whips around to Y/N. He huffs and rolls his eyes before looking at the wall of the building on the other side of the alley.

"Wouldn't dream of it, don't wanna be a pushover, right?" Jojo scoffs and starts picking at his pant leg where his knee bends. Y/N sighs and walks closer to Jojo. They slide down the brick wall of the lodging house until they're sitting next to Jojo, mimicking his position. Y/N picks at their nails as both newsies sit in silence, Jack's voice from occasionally echoing from the front of the building. Y/N snorts a laugh, shaking their head.

"Jack's gonna go nuts once everyone fesses up to all the dumb bets you fellas do." Y/N smiles at the wall across the street. Jojo scoffs quietly, making Y/N sigh. "Ya know, we've told you a lot that you don't listen to the fellas. They just say what comes into their heads and don't think about it."

"Hard t' ignore when they're right." Jojo mumbles.

"They ain't right 'nd you know it. The guys tease at folks 'nd don't stop 'til they get what they want. 'Nd if you don't do it, they tease you more. No crime to tryin' t' get a newsie t' shut up." Y/N briefly leans over to bump their shoulder against Jojo's. Jojo glances over at Y/N and seems to ponder the thought. Y/N huffs and quickly shrugs. "You tryin' tell me it's easy t' get newsies t' shut up."

"We both know that ain't true." Jojo snorts a laugh and Y/N starts laughing. The two laugh for a few seconds before taking deep breaths and relaxing into temporary silence.

"Listen, the fellas don't mean t' be the way the are 'nd we both know it. Just gotta ignore 'em, y'know?" Y/N reaches over and gently shoves Jojo's shoulder. They stand up and straighten their pants before looking down at Jojo. "I'm gonna go do damage control with Jack. Don't stay out here too long, don't need the fellas findin' you and gettin' anymore dumb ideas."

"Will do." Jojo mock salutes Y/N, receiving a half-hearted glare. "'Nd thanks, Y/N."

"S'no problem." Y/N grins before turning to the window and squeezing back inside.