#god. this is what i get for not having the habit to check my inboxes regularly

[fingertipsmp3]

The last like 12 hours have been one disaster after another tbh and I think I am mostly to blame

[wanyinchen]

Hello, I am Nesma from Gaza. I apologize for what I am about to ask. I have a heavy and exhausted heart. I want you to help me spread our story and campaign link. Unfortunately, the situation became difficult after my father and brother were injured, and my father’s health condition deteriorated. I want you to help me spread our story.

Please, my father needs treatment. It is slowly dying before our eyes

https://gofund.me/5ab6d135

You are my only hope of survival

My campaign has already been verified

@\sayruq @\nabulsi @\el-shab-hussein

@\appsa @\ibtisams

I do not know whether I will survive or die in this war, but I know that your help will contribute to saving my family from death.

signal boost! please support them in any way you can. (I'm so sorry that you and your people are victims of this violence. I hope for you and your family's safety and continued health).

[sh4wty18]

i want you.

pairing: johnnie guilbert x reader

summary: you and johnnie have been mutually pining for each other for months, and it finally comes to fruition at a party.

cw: angst, fluff, language, alcohol

word count: 2.0k + edited

---

author note: so unfortunately i accidentally deleted this request from my inbox, but i have a screenshot of it and will attach it below! i really hope the person who sent the request sees this, so if you're the requester pls comment or message me to let me know you saw it! i hope you all enjoy <3

---

You check yourself out in the standing mirror in the corner of your bedroom. Make up fresh, hair done, sporting your favorite black mini skirt and tank top. A little booby, you think. But that’s okay. You’re going to a party tonight, and Johnnie’s picking you up. You wanted to look your best. 

You hear your phone ding and you reach down to check it. A message from Johnnie lights up your screen:

J: i’ll be there in five :)

You exhale deeply. Although you and Johnnie had been close friends for months, this was the first time he was driving you to a party. You’d met at a party and clicked instantly. If there was one person in the world you felt the most comfortable opening up to, it was him. You had known from the moment you met him that you were going to end up falling for him. But you’d also known that Johnnie hadn’t been in a relationship in years, and he didn’t seem like a person to fall in love at first sight. So instead of allowing yourself to be hurt, you decided to try to snuff out your feelings and settle for friendship. Because a friendship with Johnnie was better than nothing. And you couldn’t imagine your life without Johnnie in it. Your phone dings again:

J: here!

You take one more deep breath in and walk outside your apartment building to meet Johnnie at his car. 

“Hey!” You wave through the rolled-down passenger side window, before opening the door and sliding in next to him. 

“Wow,” Johnnie gasps. “You look…”

He trails off, turning to stare straight ahead. 

“What? Do I look weird?” You ask, so embarrassed you’re ready to run back inside and change if that’s what he wants. 

“No! You look… beautiful.” Johnnie struggles to form his sentence and continues staring at the dashboard. His cheeks take a rosy hue. 

“Oh. Thanks,” you respond, looking at your shoes. 

He clears his throat, “So… um… you ready to go?” 

“Yeah! Um… who’s party did you say this was again?”

“Oh it’s Jake and Tara’s. It’s at our house,” Johnnie smiles toward you.

“Johnnie…” you can’t help but let out a laugh, “Why would you come all the way here to pick me up if it’s at your house??” 

“Because, y/n, I happen to enjoy spending time with you. I never thought I was going to have to defend myself for wanting to hang out with one of my best friends, but I guess stranger things happen every day.” he says with a tone of faux sarcasm, adding a loud, dramatic sigh at the end for good measure. 

“Oh for fucks sake, Johnnie!” You laugh and swat him on the arm, and he blushes again as he grabs your hand and laughs with you.

You glance down at your hands, your fingers still interlocked. He notices your eyes shift and quickly lets go, clearing his throat again as he grips the steering wheel, “I guess we should go… can’t leave Jake waiting for too long, he gets feisty.” He smirks at you, and you jokingly roll your eyes. In all the time you’d been friends with Johnnie, you'd gotten to witness his and Jake’s dynamic firsthand. It was a sight to behold. If you didn’t believe in platonic soulmates before, you definitely did after meeting the two of them. 

“Yes, John. Let’s go.” You had recently made a habit of calling Johnnie “John”. He hated it. That’s why you did it. Playful banter was your favorite form of flirting, and you didn’t want to get your hopes up, but you could swear the nickname made him flustered. 

“Oh God not this again,” Johnnie complains.

“You’re never escaping the John nickname! You will always be John to me! Muahahaha!!” You laugh evilly and poke his cheek as he pulls out of your driveway. His cheeks go red and he laughs, he could never truly be mad at you. “I hate you,” he says.

“You love me,” you smirk and bat your eyelashes at him. 

He glances at you out of his peripheral vision and smiles, “I know.” 

Ten minutes later you arrive at Jake and Johnnie’s house. The ride hadn’t been nearly as awkward as you’d anticipated. In fact, it hadn’t been awkward at all. You don’t know why you had been so worried— you were friends. You cared about each other, and liked spending time with each other. You could always make conversation, whether it be about your days, existential dread, hell, you could even have a conversation about your favorite colors. As long as you were together, you both had fun. 

It was already 11 when you arrived, and you hadn’t had anything to drink yet. So when you got into the house with Johnnie, you beelined it toward the alcohol covered island in the middle of the kitchen. Johnnie steps behind the opposite side of the countertop, “What can I get for you tonight, ma’am?” 

“Oh, I didn’t know you were the bartender for the party tonight?!” You joke.

“I’m not the bartender for the party, just for you,” he winks, and you feel your cheeks get hot. Was he flirting with you? 

“Well in that case… surprise me,” you lean on your elbows and place your head in your palms, giving him the big, toothy grin you knew he couldn’t deny. 

“You always know how to get what you want from me, don’t you?” He asks, before pouring you up a dirty Shirley Temple, your favorite. “One Dirty Shirley, extra strong, just the way you like it.” 

“You know me so well,” you smile, taking the drink from him and helping yourself to a long gulp. He crosses his fingers and squeezes his eyes shut, dramatically awaiting your review. “Mmm, Johnnie, this is so good.” 

He exhales, “Oh thank God. I was honestly just fucking guessing on all the measurements, I have zero clue how much of anything is in a Dirty Shirley.” 

You stare at each other for a second, before breaking out into a fit of laughter. You grab his arm as he finishes pouring a drink for himself, “Let’s go dance, c’mon!” 

He pauses, looking across the room at a girl. He recognizes her. You wonder who she is, and feel a shot of jealousy course through your veins. Then you feel guilty. He wasn’t yours to be jealous for. “Can we dance in a minute, y/n? I just wanna run to the bathroom real quick,” he asks. But you can tell he’s lying. You drop your hand from his arm. He looks at the space where your hand had rested, and disappointment floods his face for a split second, before he straightens his posture, and makes eye contact with you again. 

“Yeah… sure Johnnie,” you walk off to socialize somewhere else, not wanting to be around him when you feel so full of anger for something that doesn’t exist. 

He stares at you as you walk away, feeling like he screwed up, but not knowing how to fix it. Instead he walks up to the girl he recognizes. 

You watch him from the other side of the party. He looks perfect. With his hair falling into place in front of his eyes, his red button down slightly hanging open, and a strong hand gripping his drink. And he’s smiling at her. He’s laughing. How could he look at her, and laugh, and be so perfect? All you can think to do is down the rest of the drink he’d made you, and walk up to the kitchen island to grab a couple more shots, which required you to walk past Johnnie and the girl. 

You hear them laughing again, and you watch as he pulls her into a hug. You turn away, trying to stop the tears from stinging your eyes and ruining your makeup. Upon reaching the island, you bump into someone.

“Oh sorry!” A man’s voice shouts, turning around to greet you, “hey, are you okay?” He asks, catching you frantically wiping tears from your cheeks.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine!” You say, forcing a smile, “just having a shitty night and I wanna get drunk!” 

“Understandable,” he affirms, pouring two shots of rum and handing one to you, clinking his glass to yours, “cheers to shitty nights!” 

You laugh, and down the shot with him. “Another?” You tilt your glass towards him, and he pours.

You clink your glass to his again and smile at him. “Cheers!” you say this time, and you both down a second shot. You’re definitely starting to feel buzzed now. 

You turn to see Johnnie’s eyes already fixed on yours. He’s not with the girl anymore, and he looks mad. Maybe he’s mad she left, you think to yourself, clenching your jaw and forcing yourself to look away. You can sense his presence disappear, and you turn around to watch him walking upstairs, presumably to his bedroom. He’s glaring down at his feet, refusing to look up. 

You’re pissed. What the hell did he have to be angry about? It’s not like he was watching the person he’s in love with flirt with someone else! You’re the only one who should be mad. And you needed to tell him. 

“Thanks for cheering me up, you’re sweet,” you say to the kind stranger, and he smiles at you. 

“Any time!” He says, before giving you a friendly clap on the shoulder and walking away. 

You run up the stairs after Johnnie, knocking on his closed bedroom door. “Johnnie? It’s me. Can I come in? I need to talk to you.” 

“Fine,” he responds dryly, which pisses you off even more. 

You open the door and close it behind you. Turning on your heel to meet his gaze. He’s sitting on his bed, staring at you with his arms crossed. “Better make it quick, I know your boyfriend’s probably waiting downstairs for you.” 

“What?!” You yell, “Boyfriend?? I don’t even know the guy. He was just there to cheer me up, unlike you! God forbid I’m just a little upset after you lied to me about going to the bathroom to talk to some random girl!” 

“You saw that?” He cringes, a look of guilt washing over his face. 

“Yeah and you looked awfully cozied up to her.” You spit out. 

“What?! No! Y/n she’s my friend!! A childhood friend, and I didn’t know Jake and Tara invited her! I saw her and wanted to catch up. I shouldn’t have lied to you about it, and honestly I don’t know why I did it. I guess I just didn’t want you to think I was ditching you to hang out with someone else. I’m sorry.” 

“Well I was pissed, Johnnie. I was. And I know I shouldn’t care. I have no reason to care. We’re not together. But I do. I do.” 

Johnnie stands up and looks at you with understanding. He reaches out with both hands and pulls you towards him, so you’re staring into his eyes. “Say it.” 

You scoff and look away, “Say what, Johnnie?” 

“You know what.” He pulls your chin towards his face again, and says in a softer, weaker tone, “Say it… please.” 

You gaze up at him, the words are on the tip of your tongue, “I don’t want anyone else. I only want YOU.” 

“Then fucking have me.” 

He closes the gap between your mouths in the most desperate, messy kiss you’ve ever had. It was as if he’d been waiting for your entire friendship, and everything he’d done during that time led up to this exact moment. You understood then that he’d always wanted you. The feeling was always mutual. And it always would be. 

He pulls away just to breathlessly say, "I've loved you since the day we met.” 

He continues kissing you, quicker now, giving you longer, full kisses on the lips, followed by quicker pecks all over your cheeks and jawline.

“So have I,” you let out, grasping his face in both your hands and pulling it back up to lock eyes with him. “It’s always been you, Johnnie.”

He smiles and kisses you again, except this time you can’t help from smiling against his mouth, and neither can he. 

He breathes out, relieved, “Finally.”

---

i love this so much! as always likes and reblogs are so appreciated!! :)

[its-time-to-write]

Hi there!! I absolutely adore your writing, and I was wondering if I could request a little something about Jamie being your guest to a wedding?? Just something sweet and fluffy because I feel like he’d be a spectacular wedding date. Love you!!

Here you go! Haven’t been able to write as much this week, I had finals and in between tests and papers, I’ve been pretty much living at the doctor’s. My brain is feeling a little fried, so I hope this is a coherent fic because I’ve tried to proofread a bunch and it all just looks like squiggles to me, so… anon, if you read this, send me your honest feedback in my inbox. Love ya!🍊💚

i’m glad you exist

“What’s this?” Jamie asks from his position on your kitchen island. 

You glance up from the stove. “What’s what?” 

He holds up an envelope rimmed in gold. 

“Oh, that’s an invite to my old roommate’s wedding. Remember I told you about her? Calls everyone ‘queen?’”

Jamie’s face shows recognition. “Right, yeah, she the one dating that motivational speaker?”

You laugh. “Yeah, they got together a month after I met her. He lived one floor down. Anyway, their wedding’s in a few months so I left the invitation out so I’d remember to RSVP.”

Jamie’s engrossed in the details on the invitation. “Says you can bring a plus one.”

“Yeah,” you reply, “probably won’t though. It’s back home, so, it’s not just a weekend-type deal. My mom and dad want me to come stay for like a week and a half.” You turn back to the stove and narrowly avoid burning the food. “You like your dinner a little crispy, right?”

“Babe,” Jamie says slowly, “you stayin’ with your parents?”

“Nah,” you say, transferring the food onto plates, “too crowded. And loud. My mom always has all the grandkids over all the time.” Your older sister has two kids, and your older brother has three. “She offered, but I told her I’d just get an AirBnB or something.”

“Y’know,” he says, taking the plates and moving to the table, “it’s on the off season. Don’t have any branding deals that week either.”

“Jamie,” you begin, a smile beginning to spread across your face, “are you offering to go to this wedding with me? And meet my parents?”

Jamie shrugs nonchalantly. 

“You are!” you say gleefully, “Oh my god, my mom is going to lose her mind. You know she absolutely loves you, right? She talks about their trip out here all the time. And this time you can meet my whole family, like my sister and her husband, they’re definitely my favorite because my niece and I have the same middle name. Plus my brother is always busy with work and his wife is cool, I guess, but we don’t have a lot in common? Except one time we watched High School Musical together, and she knew all the dances and all the words! It was crazy. And we’ll definitely have to go to the beach, do you know how to surf-?”

You ramble on happily as Jamie just grins at you, digging into his food. 

—

It’s wedding week, and your dad picks you up from the airport. You and Jamie are on your way to your parents’ house before checking into your own house and you’re confident that most of your family is going to be there. Your parents are the only ones who have met Jamie in person, and right now your dad and Jamie are in the front of the car chatting on about who knows what. You just know you’re tired, and you’re grateful that your dad picked you up a coffee. You’re probably going to steal Jamie’s too, because he does not need more energy and yours is gone way too quick. It’s nice to be home. The sun is shining, and the streets are familiar. You’re looking forward to seeing your old friends, and showing off your gorgeous footballer boyfriend.

They’d all heard about him of course, and were more than thrilled that you had finally found someone who actually liked being around you. That sounds terrible. You’re not annoying. You just have a habit of being with men who see you as a chore, not for the wonderful person you are. The person Jamie sees you to be.

You’re pulling into the driveway, and just as you suspected, the entire family is there. You notice your brother’s Range Rover and your sister’s Jeep. You smile to yourself. How very like them.

You hop out of the car, grab Jamie’s hand, and the door is open before you even make it all the way up to it. Your mom’s arms are open for a hug which you reach for except she turns away at the last moment and hugs Jamie first?

“Mom!” you say, laughing, “I’m your literal daughter and I haven’t seen you in forever!”

She smiles and pinches Jamie’s cheek. “I’ve spent more time with you than with him. You’ll survive.”

She wraps you in a warm hug then says, “Come meet the family, Jamie! And you’re staying for dinner. You can get to your house after you’ve taken a break.”

You shake your head and Jamie just grins. Poor boy has no idea what he’s getting himself into.

—

Jamie was thoroughly interrogated by your family, including your nieces and nephews (“Why do you call it football instead of soccer? Did you bring us candy?”). You’re both so exhausted that as soon as you walk through the door of your AirBnB, you collapse onto the bed, fully clothed.

—

It’s the day of the wedding, and you’re stressed. You’d been fine until the exact moment that you and Jamie began walking up to the venue. Everything is fine, you’re walking hand-in-hand, but then you just stop. 

“Jamie,” you say, tugging on his hand, “Jamie I can’t do this.”

He turns to you in surprise. “What d’you mean you can’t do this?” 

“I mean, it’s a lot of people I haven’t seen in forever and I don’t know, I’m just freaking out.”

Jamie laughs of all things. “Babe, it’s all right. Look, you’re with me, yeah? And I’m fucking amazin’. And you’re fucking amazin’. So whatever you’re worried about, ain’t a problem.”

Sometimes you forget how cocky Jamie can be. And how much it can boost your confidence. 

You blow out a breath. “Thanks babe. You’re right, it’ll be fine.”

—

It was more than fine. Like, way more than fine. Your friend looked lovely, and she was overjoyed to see you, and Jamie was the absolute best. He befriended your entire table and insisted you dance with him for every song. He was weirdly good at it, too. 

“It’s all in the hips, babe,” he said.

It definitely was.

Your favorite part, though, is the last dance. 

It’s a slow song, and the only people left were couples. The bride and groom had left, sneaked out a back door because she hated send-offs, so everything was winding down. 

Jamie has your hands in his, and brings them to loop around his neck.

“You alright?” he whispers. You nod. “Good,” he says, voice still low. “Wanted to make sure you had a good time. I fucking love weddings. The dancing, the food… you.” He grins and you smile back. “You look fucking gorgeous, by the way. Not sure I mentioned it earlier.”

You’re blushing now, swaying to the music as his hands circle your waist.

You say, “Thanks for coming with me, Jaim. I don’t think I would’ve had as much fun without you.”

Your hands are on the sides of his face now, thumbs tracing his cheekbones.

You lean up to kiss him and right before you do he whispers, “Gonna be us someday, yeah?”

You forget how to breathe for a moment, opting to nod instead.

Jamie smiles, and leans down to finish what you started. 

[joanofexys]

now that youre done with school, im setting up camp here (your inbox), hope you dont mind.

soooo

i need you to yap about merrrick and jude's relationship

okay okay so,

firstly i'm so sorry i took so long to get to this i had to vist with like a million people and people kept dropping by the house for some reason to give me money

you are also so so welcome to set up camp in my inbox, you can even build a little house here if you want

anywayyyyyy Jude and Merrick

So Jude's a golden child and Merrick becomes a media darling partly because oh my god a fox went pro and they're not a complete disaster and also partly cause he's an attention whore and he ate it up once he went pro

So yeah they meet officially when Merr's 25 and Jude's 26. Jude makes court and they're eyeing Merr but ultimately decide to pass on him. He's a good player and he's good in front of a camera but any of his coaches past or present would tell them they don't think he's a good fit cause of the shit he's carrying and the pressure being court would put on his shoulders.

They had of course met in the past for college exy events but really had no reason to interact and didn't pay much attention to each other at the time

So yeah they meet when team USA is sort of eyeing Merr/scouting his still unnamed pro team and somehow ended up striking up a conversation (Jude saw Merr's tattoos and decided to compliment them and start rambling about/showing off his own). Jude asks for his number for completely professional reasons, obviously, and it largely starts with Jude texting him random shit at the weirdest times and Merrick either not responding or giving odd as shit answers because he doesn't know how to text. So Merr gets passed up on being court and Jude teTchnically has zero reason to keep in touch with him because they're actually not going to be teammates but now he's going a little bonkers. He's watching games, he's watching interviews, he's watching that one thirst trap edit that has a clip of Merr pouring water over himself after a game. He pulls back on the random texting a bit but still tells him good game and checks in regularly and well when they end up in the same area for an event it only makes sense to ask him to get coffee.

At the end of the night they end up in Jude's hotel room just sitting on the bed. Merr asks about Jude's scars, at the end of the day he's a fox, he's used to it but still curious, and Jude answers honestly. Merrick thanks him and offers nothing in return. And it's okay. A Fox and Trojan is an odd combination and for the moment they're content with what they have. Merr's glad to have finally made a friend after the foxes and well he doesn't know what Jude gets out of it but he's glad that it seems to be enough.

They go their separate ways, keep in touch sporadically, and keep a close eye on each other's careers. Team USA takes gold that year and Merr's team does well enough to keep him going and stop him from falling back into bad habits. They both tell each other good job, Jude's hand hovers over the call button, and Merr types a million sentences unsure of what he wants to say.

After that Jude has to sign with another pro team and he signs with Merr's. They're not the best team or the biggest but they're consist players, solid, and slowly working their way up the ranks. Jude has his pick of the litter and no one really knows why he chose that team when all his court teammates went on to one's with much better chances of winning but he seems happy with his choice so they don't push it.

Seeing Merrick on the court this way and how he interacts with his team is completely different from the Merrick he's seen in their brief moments of existing together. Merr's aggressive on the court, he hits hard, and in practices he doesn't tend to care much for the fact that he's often pissing off his own teammates. Off the court, in locker rooms and at team meetings he's not outright rude but he's not making any active effort to make friends and it's obvious his teammates aren't either and they've likely never tried. So Jude pushes. It starts with press duty together and they develop a good banter, a strong back and forth, and if the press adored them separately then they love them together.

It's furthered by Jude joining him for his workouts and for drills. They start running together in the morning. Jude never asks him what's wrong enough with him to have made him a fox. Merrick never brings up his scars again. They talk about movies and music and local places that Merrick has never visited and Jude is excited to see. Jude stops bringing up local bars and the club the team loves to frequent after the third time Merr goes oddly silent in the middle of a conversation.

Then Jude starts complaining about how his dog is across the country staying with his family cause the only apartment he could find at the time doesn't allow pets. Merr mentions his place does. Jude doesn't push. A few weeks later Merrick comes up to him in the locker room after practice and tells him if he wants his dog out here and can find a way out of his lease that Merr has a spare room.

So they become roommates. And they have to set ground rules. Merrick's rule number one is no substances in the house. Merr doesn't even keep over the counter pain killers, he'll call a team nurse if he needs them. Jude tells him he takes prescription medication for his adhd and depression. Merrick asks him to keep them in his room and expects that to be the end of it. This time Jude pushes. He figures he's given and Merr owes him nothing but he might as well ask if he can take a little in return. Merrick doesn't give him everything, doesn't give him much at all, but he admits he's struggled with addiction in the past. That he's been in rehab, he's clean, but he prefers not to take the risk of having anything around. That even if he's not tempted he doesn't like the reminders. Especially since he was living alone.

They fall into a routine and Jude asks for a little bit more over time. They have the same nights off so now they have movie nights. Stevie (Jude's dog) starts to join them on morning runs. She learns she likes Merrick's bed more and Merr learns that too when he's woken up by her nudging his arm one night waiting to be pet. He walks her back to Jude's room every night for a few weeks before he gives up. They switch off cooking and eventually start to cook together. Merrick will ask Jude questions. How has therapy worked for him? What does he do to cope? Has talking about things really helped? Jude answers and asks questions in return. Do you have someone to talk to? Do you need me to listen? Tell me something about you?

They become friends long before they're lovers. They like to exist together before they choose to be together. And something odd about them just works. I can't really articulate it well myself.

I don't know when they cross that line quite yet. I only have bits and pieces of what Jude learns about Merrick and when. But it all comes together, slowly but surely. Merr introduces Jude to Wymack instead of introducing him to his dad. Introduces him to Bee instead of his mom. Jude brings him home to California, they roadtrip so they can take Stevie with them and have a great time. Their team makes it to semifinals and they end up kissing on camera and falling down on the court holding each other, kissing each other over and over again. They hold hands in public and let the paparazzi take photos, they answer all the questions after games, and they make their own posts addressing it all. And it's truly time to wrap this shit up though there's much I could delve into I think and if there's any specific questions I will happily answer them but they end up as two very content dog dads to one very spoiled Stevie

[goodneighborxfallout]

Sole getting caught by Hancock by pickpocketing him or stealing his caps which leads to a misunderstanding as sole gets turned on by the thrill of the situation which Hancock didn't know about.

Thank you for requesting! I'm not too happy with how this turned out, but my god this request has been in my inbox for literal years so it was about time I answered it. Sorry it took me forever!

It was a random Tuesday evening. You and Hancock had just gotten back to Goodneighbor to check how the place was holding up without their mayor present. Hancock had gone off to talk to some of the more important people in town while you decided to just hang out in the Old State House. You were tired from traveling and your legs were heavy, but you weren’t sure about sleeping arrangements. Before Hancock became one of your traveling buddies, you’d stay in Hotel Rexford whenever you spent the night in Goodneighbor. You weren’t sure how things would go tonight, so the only thing you could do was wait for the mayor to return from his business talks. In the meantime, you were walking around the second floor, checking out the decorations of the place while twirling a canister of jet in your hand. However, suddenly a hand wrapped around your wrist and with a hard tug your body spun around to your captor: Mayor Hancock himself. Took him long enough. 

“What’s that you got in your hand, sunshine?” the ghoul asked, his voice low and raspy. 

You didn’t notice yet that something was up. 

“Just some jet,” you answered plainly. 

“Some jet that doesn’t belong to you.” 

Your eyes narrowed slightly. Was he pissed? Sure, you found the jet on his coffee table but you didn’t see the problem. He frequently gave you chems while traveling so why would this be any different? However, you also didn’t mind angering him. 

“Of the people, for the people, right?” You mocked him. 

Hancock chuckled, and your heart jumped in your chest. 

You and Hancock had a strange relationship. At first, you didn’t really like him. The way he towered over people from his balcony, and rewarded them with free chems for answering simple questions as if they were dogs doing tricks he taught them rubbed you the wrong way. So when Bobbi tricked you into raiding Hancock’s strongroom, you stuck with her. You thought you’d no longer be welcome in Goodneighbor after killing Fahrenheit, but Hancock was strangely chill about it. That was when your dynamic changed: He ordered you to kill Bobbi. It was intimidating, threatening even. But it was the first time you understood why people were attracted to him. You’ve been traveling together ever since and unfortunately, you never saw that side of him again, until now maybe?

“You know damn well I don’t tolerate people stealing from me. Now if this was your first offense against me, I’d let it go, but it’s not, is it? Can’t have this turning into a habit.” 

Your heart was racing now. 

“So what will you do about it?” You said it in a challenging way, but you were full-on ready to obey his every command. 

“Good question.” Hancock took the jet from your hand and created some distance between you two. He leaned against the couch and crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze was stuck on you. “How about some community work, huh? Heard Daisy could use help dealing with some bigots.”

Community work??? If this was a movie scene, the music would now be cut off abruptly by a record scratch. 

“You’re joking,” you deadpanned. 

“I’m not. Now get out of my sight.” 

You didn’t move, however. Stubbornly, you crossed your arms over your chest and pulled your eyebrows up at him. “And what if I refuse?”

Hancock chuckled and looked down to the ground. Your heart was racing, anticipating his every move. You knew you’d be in real danger if you pissed him off too much, but this entire argument was about 1 canister of jet, so you were pretty sure it wasn’t going to escalate. “I’m tired, sweetheart. Let’s not do this.” 

“Come on, Hancock, it’s one canister of jet that I didn’t even use. You’re the one making a big deal out of this.” 

“You know what, you’re right,” he said. No. No, no, no. “I guess I really am tired. I’ll let it go this time, just don’t do it again.” 

You almost sighed out loud. This was not how it was supposed to go… Guess you’d have to steal from him again… 

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

A few days passed. The two of you were still in Goodneighbor and random chems kept mysteriously disappearing from Hancock’s stash. Of course, he suspected you, but you deliberately had been sneaky about it to rile him up. 

Now it was finally time to let him catch you. You took some jet - as that was the chem that had started this all - and kept it in your pockets to use at the perfect time. That time was now: You were hanging around Hancock’s bedroom, door wide open, and had just heard him come up the stairs. 

“Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?” 

You turned to Hancock who was leaning against the door post with his arms crossed over his chest. You had just taken a hit and let out a relieved exhale before throwing the empty canister of jet to the ground. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Hancock chuckled lowly and pushed himself away from the doorpost, after which he started to approach you. Your heart was racing in your chest. This time, you couldn’t screw up.

“Which part of ‘don’t steal from me’ is too hard for you to understand, sweetheart?” 

“Oh you said ‘don’t’? I must’ve misunderstood,” Your tone was dripping with dishonesty. “Thought you were all about sharing.” 

“Do we have a problem here?” It wasn’t clear if it was supposed to sound threatening or if he genuinely wondered if things had gone south between you two. But one thing was obvious: He still wasn’t catching on. 

“A problem? Us? I don’t think so,” you said innocently. Then you took a step towards him. Your bodies were almost touching now and you let one of your hands rest on his chest. You were done being subtle. You thought he’d figure things out quickly, but so far it had failed so it was time to just make things plain obvious. “But it seems you’ve been having trouble with some chem thief. You should do something about that.” 

Hancock hummed. "And seeing as you're always so helpful, I'm sure you've got some suggestions for handling this thief?"

You bit your lip and let your hand slowly travel down his body. Though you were behaving confidently, deep down you were a nervous wreck. "I guess you could punish them."

You could see it in his eyes: a sudden realization. He had finally put two and two together, but his reaction wasn’t what you had anticipated. You thought he’d get a bit cocky, instead, his nickname for you quietly left his mouth and he took a step back. Or well, he tried to, but your hand that was now close to his abdomen took hold of his shirt and pulled him back. “Don’t you dare back off now,” you growled lowly. “I keep trying to piss you off because it’s hot as fuck, but you keep forgiving me.”

Hancock chuckled. “What can I say? It seems I just have a soft spot for you.” Then he turned serious. “You sure you want this, sweetheart?” 

You nodded eagerly. “Please.”

“Ever been with a ghoul before?”

“What’s it matter? I-”

“We look different.”

“I’m aware,” you said with a small smirk and raised eyebrows but it clearly didn’t set him at ease. 

“Everywhere, Sole.” 

“Okay, let me spell it out for you: I. Want. You. That clear enough?” 

Hancock let out a small chuckle. “Fine. But you suddenly change your mind? I do something you don’t like? You tell me, okay? We’ll stop immediately.” 

“Okay. Now can you please go back to threatening me?”

[goldenempyrean]

Maybe one with a sick Kate x reader with “I’m just a little under the weather that’s all” and “Did you come home just to look after me?” You always write Kate so well 💕💕💕

Dork-A-Saurus-Rex

〚 Notes - I wrote this last night just because honestly this req was collecting dust in my inbox and it deserved to be done :) Also God the level of hate on here rn is unbelievable :,) Still doing my 1k fics too dw!! 〛

〚 Pairing - Kate Bishop x Reader 〛

〚 Summary - When Kate decides shes gonna go home to rest, you already knew that you were going to be right there beside her. Cute, dorky comfort ensues. 〛

〚 Wordcount - 1600 〛

〘 Check Out My Masterlist! 〙

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“Hi Kit-Kat.” Your cheery voice chirped down the phone, as you sat in the break room of your office, “You on you’re lunch break now too?” You asked before taking a bite from the sandwich in your opposite hand. 

“Yeah I’m on my break now too.” Kate responded only her voice sounded different - it lacked her usual energy and excitement. But there was something else too and it wasn’t until you heard her sniffle quietly that you finally registered what was wrong. 

“Are you feeling oka-“  

“Hh’utshhiew!” Her sudden sneeze cut you off from your question and you could practically hear the embarrassment in her tone when she quietly mumbled out a small, “Excuse me.” 

You shook your head out of habit and gave a sympathetic sigh, “It’s okay, bless you. I was going to ask if you were feeling alright but I think I’ve already got my answer. I guess that lil’ nose of yours jumped ahead to reply.” 

She hummed in response and you heard the sound of tissues being opened in the background, “I’m just a little under the weather that’s all. There’s been something going round all week.” 

That part was true. You remembered her saying something about being short staffed due to everyone being out sick, if you’d been a little wiser you would’ve taken that as the hint to stock up on some medicine and tea. 

“Im probably gonna go home early.” Your girlfriend’s slightly congested voice said finally and you couldn’t help but worry a little.  

She was usually so stubborn about these sorts of things, there’d been that once time when she’d spent the night throwing up and had still insisted on going into work the next day. So for her to admit she was thinking about coming early was definitely a sign that she really wasn’t feeling too good and that she definitely needed some TLC. 

“That’s probably a good idea baby, you go home and rest, okay? Oh, did you have your lunch yet?” You asked softly, she sometimes had a habit of forgetting to look after herself properly and you knew that this would only make her feel worst. 

There was a second a silence followed by a quiet, “Not yet, I’m not really in a mood for it. It’s like I- Hih- shit, my nose fricken itch-Hh’iiitshoo! ‘tschioo!” She sniffled, giving a small stuffed, exhausted exhale as you heard the sound of more tissues being drawn, “Sorry sweetie, s’cuse me. What I was trying to say is that I don’t really have an appetite. It’s just like food has no appeal whatsoever.” 

"Aw, my poor baby," you cooed sympathetically. "I'm sorry you're feeling like this. It's no fun being sick. You get yourself back home and into bed. My lunch is almost over so I need to go but I want you to go straight home, alright?” 

“I will.” She stopped to cough a couple of times, whining a little afterwards, “I lodes you.” 

You smiled, finding her congestion-hazed words utterly adorable as you teased her a little before ending the call, I ‘lodes’ you too.”  

It wouldn’t just be her going home early though. You’d just finished typing out the email to your boss asking if you’d be allowed to call out early, offering to take up some extra hours in return later in the week.  

With the email sent, you quickly finished up your lunch, feeling a mix of concern and anticipation to see Kate. You gathered your things, bid your colleagues farewell, and headed out of the office, making your way to the parking lot. 

As you drove home, your mind raced with thoughts of how you could take care of Kate and make her feel better. You made a mental note to stop by the pharmacy on your way home to pick up the supplies and you tried to make a list of things you would need: cough drops, some medicine, tissues, and definitely some ice cream (for her throat of course, not just to satisfy your carvings. 

Arriving at your apartment, it wasn’t long before you found Kate curled up on the couch, wrapped in a cosy blanket as she wore your go to ‘lazy day’ outfit. She looked even more tired and worn out than you had expected. 

Setting down the bags of supplies on the coffee table, you approached her and gently placed a hand on her forehead to check for fever. It was slightly warm, confirming your suspicions. "Hey there, sweetheart," you murmured softly. "Let's get you more comfortable, shall we?" 

“Y/N? What time is it?” She mumbled quietly and you showed her the screen of your phone to answer, “Did you come home just to look after me?”  

You nodded, a tender smile gracing your lips. "Of course, my love. I couldn't bear the thought of you being sick all alone. Plus, I missed you, even if you're a little under the weather." 

She let out a weak chuckle, sniffling and rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. "You're such a sweetheart.” 

"Anything for my Kit-Kat," You replied, using the endearment that always brought a smile to her face. "Now, let's get you settled in bed. I'll make you some tea and bring you a bowl of soup. How does that sound?" 

She nodded but then stopped when something else came to mind, “Do you think we could shower first? I’m kinda sweaty.” She grumbled in a disapproving manner earning a small giggle from yourself. 

“Of course baby, come on my dear, let me escort my fair lady to thy holy shower.” Your hand was offered out to her in an exaggerated, medieval manner resulting in a small smile from the feverish brunette as she took it gratefully.  

Kate sniffled as the two of you reached the bathroom and you curtesy’d with a welcoming smile as you opened the door for her. 

“You’re such a dork.” She giggled a little even though the action had left her coughing hoarsely afterwards.  

Turning on the shower, you let the hot steam fill up the room as you began carefully undressing her, making sure to shower her with kisses and love as you did so. You’d just gone behind her to unclasp her bra when Kate turned her to head to look back over her shoulder a little. 

“Y’know what you are?” Her words were a little blurred by both congestion and fever, maybe that steam was a little too hot. You’d make sure to turn that down before she got in. 

But still, you gave into her babble, “What am I sweetie?” 

“A dork-a-saurus-rex.” Katie smiled before ducking her head down into her hands as she sneezed loudly, which was quickly followed by a displeased “Ew… Gross-a-saurus.” 

You couldn’t help but laugh at the situation, “Come on then lil’ dino. Let’s get you washed, ey?” Your encouraging words were enough to coax her into the (now a lot colder) shower. 

As the water cascaded over both of you, you began slowly massaging her knotted shoulders. When you lowered your hands to your surprise l she turned as if she was going to hug you but instead she let her heavy head rest of your chest before ultimately wrapping her arms around you (turns out she wanted that hug after all). 

"You're taking such good care of me," she murmured, her voice muffled by the sound of running water. "I don't know what I did to deserve you." 

"You don't have to do anything to deserve my love," you replied sincerely, pressing a tender kiss to her temple. "Taking care of you comes naturally to me. Now, let's get you all clean and refreshed." 

Carefully, you reached for the bottle of shampoo and squeezed a small amount onto your palm. As you lathered her hair, massaging her scalp, Kate let out a contented sigh.  

"Mmm, that feels nice," she murmured, closing her eyes.  

You smiled, continuing to work the shampoo through her hair with gentle strokes. After rinsing her hair, you reached for the body wash and started lathering it up. As you began washing her back, Kate tilted her head back up to look at you. Her eyes were filled with gratitude and affection, despite the fatigue she was so desperately trying to fight. 

But to nobody’s surprise her fatigue won and you helped a very sleepy Katie climb out of the shower and get dry. 

Once she was wrapped up in a fluffy towel, you guided her back to the bedroom. The room was cosy and warm, the soft glow of the bedside lamp casting a soothing ambiance.  

You helped her into fresh pajamas, carefully tucking her into bed. "Alright, my sweet Kit-Kat, it's time for some rest," You whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed and stroking her damp hair away from her forehead.  

She looked up at you with drowsy eyes, a faint smile on her face. "Thank you, baby.” She whispered, her voice hoarse and weak. "I don't know what I would do without you." 

You leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You don't have to worry about that, my love," you reassured her. "I'll be right here by your side, taking care of you until you're back to your vibrant self." 

She closed her eyes, leaning into your touch as you continued to stroke her hair. "I love you," She murmured, her words barely audible. 

"I love you too, Kit-Kat," you whispered back, your voice filled with tenderness. "And I’ll be right here when you wake up.” 

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[atalossofwords]

YOU TASTE THE SILVER - IvanTill WIP (PART 1)

Hi y'all. The brainrot took me with no warning, and I've written 5k for these two just the last two days. I've no idea how much I'll write, but I'm going to squeeze the serotonin for as long as I can lmao

Anyhow, this is a streamer/actor AU that somehow evolved into a sugar daddy AU. Till is a streamer, and Ivan is a famous actor who found him when he was a small streamer and fell in love; he's been sending donations for a good while now, but they've never communicated outside of it.

Until Till opens his PO box and Ivan's need to spoil Till is too much, at least. Then all bets are off, and Till finally starts thinking more about the stranger who keeps sending him gifts. I have a basic outline for it all, but I'm going with vibes first, since I mostly just want to write them and torture Ivan.

I'm going to be posts little snippets of what I've writer so far over the next few days, so please don't be afraid to come to my inbox to ask about them!

This was inspired by this fic! Check it out!

Till wasn't the most famous streamer there was. Not anything near that, actually, though he thinks he does well enough.

He has an established fanbase, almost 500k of them, he's sold some merchandise and collabed with some pretty nice people. He likes streaming, varying between his songwriting and recording processes and any new video game that catches his fancy.

When he started, he didn't think he'd do this for a living. He probably wouldn't be able to afford it, being a struggling musician as he was, for once.

He couldn't blame his comfortable living situation solely on one person, no, since that would be incredibly inconsiderate of the rest of his fans, but this one Navi person definitely funded Till's move from his old apartment mostly by themselves.

Case in point.

NAVI (TILL'S ATM) DONATED $100: Hyung, how's the new house?

Till reads the donation out loud, ignoring his chat going a little crazy over Navi's donation. By now, Till is used to Navi only ever sending messages through donations. He'd be so flustered, in the beginning, and worried enough he almost disabled them. Luckily Hyuna talked him out of it.

"It's going well. As everyone can see, my studio isn't done yet," he says, gesturing behind himself into the empty expanse of freshly painted wall. At least he'd painted it black already. "but the rest is going okay. I'm really sorry for the week I had to take off, everyone."

He quickly scams the chat, his heart feeling warm as all the people watching rush to reassure him that it's not a problem, he should take care of himself, and how glad they are he managed to move from his shitty rented apartment.

"Actually, I have some news for you all." He scratches his neck, a nervous habit, and looks to the side. Hyuna convinced him to do this, so he knows it's something streamers do, but he can't help being anxious about it. "Since I moved, and this place needs some decorations, I was thinking of opening a PO box and doing an... what's it called? Unboxing?"

The chat is going crazy, he can barely keep up, oh god. He feels his cheeks heat.

"An unboxing live and then decorate my stream setup with some stuff I get. Would you guys like that?"

His chat is a mess of "yeses" and incoherent screams, and Till can't help but smile a little. He's got to say, he's looking forward to this.

The following weeks are a bit of a mess. He streams less than normal, still setting up his new apartment; he goes with Hyuna to buy electronics she swears will make his streaming better.

Dewey, his brother, goes with him to buy a new shelving unit and help him set up all his new furniture. Isaac is strangely fixated on saying Till needs rugs and other things, otherwise his apartment is "just a place, not a home, bro", apparently.

He checks in with his PO box frequently, each day more excited by all the packages he got. After two weeks he announces on twitter he'll be closing the PO box in a week since he wants to be able to open all the gifts on stream and he's already got a good amount of them.

The day after his announcement, he goes to pick up any new packages to store in his living room since he doesn't want to burden the office workers and finds a package that makes his stomach twist in itself.

It's a large box, clearly packed by hand instead of the usual post-service stamps. And it has a large sticker reading "FROM: NAVI" on it.

Till doubts anyone would use the name to get his attention, since he does treat all his viewers equally, so this really is from Navi. He wonders what is in it, since Navi clearly has money to spare and intends to spend it on Till.

"It's probably a maid dress." Hyua says, helping him lug it all to his apartment.

"It's not!" He splutters, mortified. Hyuna raises an incredulous eyebrow. "It's probably snacks, or something like that. Navi's said they travel a lot." That, somehow, just makes the eyebrow twitch higher.

"You remember what your viewers say?" She asks, hip-checking his door open. He follows, frowning a little. He always remembers what his viewers say.

Navi, obviously, since they only talk in donations, but also a few other regulars. Kirby has an older sister they're sharing the computer with; Siren started learning the guitar because of Till, and is doing well for himself; Jaewoon – with the username Till's Merch Overlord – draws and is currently suffering through art university, BonBon who has a one-year-old and listens to Till while doing his household chores.

"Yeah? I mean, there's only so many people who regularly chat. And out of those, a good part are my mods." He says, shrugging. He knows Hyuna pays someone to mod for her, but Till didn't think he'd need a mod, since he never expected to get so many views. He kept going without mods for so long that the most active members of the community ended up auto-modding the rest, at which point Till just reached out and asked if they wanted to mod, and now he pays them for it because he felt bad otherwise.

(Of course, Navi isn't a mod. They'd fit Till's criteria, but they never chatted normally, so it was kind of hard to ask.)

"Aaah, you're just too wholesome, heartbreaker." Hyuna says, sighing, the old nickname that still makes Till confused coming out with a teasing lilt. She waves him off before he can say anything, though, plopping the box on the couch and grinning at Dewey. "Hey, this one you'll definitely want to check!"

Till rolls his eyes as his brother 'oohs' and 'aahs' over the package, Isaac peering over with a pocket knife ready to pry it open. When Till mentioned opening a PO box, he insisted on checking the gifts beforehand, just to make sure they were all stream-appropriate and, most importantly, not dangerous for Till.

He was grateful his brother cared, but he was less amused by the teasing and hint-dropping they'd been doing over the content of the packages. He leaves them to it, moving to the kitchen to get some much-needed coffee.

Looks like Isaac bought bungeo-ppang, so Till fills a mug and picks one, nibbling at it and looking into his fridge. He should go buy more food, but there's a seven-eleven right across his street, so he almost never bothers stocking up. He does need to get more tea, though, since he dislikes drinking water, and for reasons unknown, his chat enjoys it when he drinks on-stream.

He finishes updating his list and walks back to the living room, where Dewey has already closed the package back up, but is holding a small parcel in his hand, frowning. Hyuna looks over as he approaches, a complicated expression on her face.

"The rest of the package is fine to open on-stream, but I think this one might be best off-stream." She says, and the lack of any teasing or barb makes him worried. She must've read that in his expression, because she grins. "Do you happen to know why this Navi person likes you so much? I wouldn't mind getting some of these myself."

Till can't help but scowl, snatching the parcel from Dewey's hands. He doesn't know Navi, not really, but they're still one of his first viewers, and they do kind of give Till a lot of money.

"Keep your hands away from my viewers, hag." He has to move fast to escape her grab, which soon develops into a little keep-away with the parcel, soon ending up with Dewey on the ground howling with laughter as Isaac tries to haul Hyuna off him, curled on himself on the ground to keep the parcel to himself.

"Ugh, you brat! Just open it!!" She exclaims, sitting down on Dewey's lap, making the older man yelp. Till huffs, but sits up to analyse the gift.

It seems to be an envelope, like many of the letters he got, but there was something inside of it, making it weirdly bulky. Till folds it open, tipping the envelope so whatever it is can fall on his open hand, and stares.

There is a pair of... earrings, on his hand.

Diamond earrings, to be precise.

That the fuck.

Till stares at it, then peers inside the envelope. Nothing weird falls out, like a damned credit card or pure gold, but a little recipe with the return address of a high-class jewellery store makes itself known. The rest of the envelope contains a certification for the damned diamonds.

Till curls up back again, head in his hands, groaning. His face is so hot you could cook an egg in it.

Navi got him diamond piercings because Till complained once, months ago, that he wanted to switch out his piercings but didn't have the money for it.

"C'mon Till! You didn't tell me you had a sugar daddy!" Hyuna jeers, and from the hiss and yelp, Dewey just dropped her. The sound of them bickering – Hyuna insisting this Navi person has to be after Till's virtue, and Dewey being insulted by the thought of someone going after his little brother like that, plus Isaac googling the store to throw fuel on the fire – is enough to distract Till form his own freakout.

He sits back up, his face still red, to study the piercings better. There are six items in total. One is a simple diamond stud, a tiny and delicate stone, probably for his second hole. A pair of bigger stones, with four elongated asymmetrical spikes, making it look like a shining star, probably for his first hole. One's a series of round stones inlaid together in a belt, forming a hoop, for his helix piercing. The final ones are two silver loops, delicate and silver, for his double auricle piercing.

He thinks if he puts any of those on, he's going to spontaneously combust.

(Later that night, after Hyuna and Isaac went home and Dewey crashed on his couch, Till locks his bedroom door and tries them on. The pair of star-shaped earrings go on both ears, the tiny stud on his left, alongside the helix, which he takes a while to get on since it is so finicky, he pierced it himself with a safety pin in high school. The hoops go on his right, looking a little lonely with just the earring, remembering Till that he really wishes he had money to get a constellation on that ear.

He's wearing a simple white shirt, ready for bed, that slips off his shoulder to show off the simple moon covered by clouds on his clavicle, clashing with the TILL tattoo he has over his neck. He turns this way and that, watching the diamonds shine, and feels almost bad for using them.

Why did Navi send this to him? What did Till do, to deserve something as delicate as this? He's not the kindest of people, he's kind of an asshole actually, all shouting and side eyes. He's not the kind of guy that can properly appreciate such nice jewellery, not the kind of person that should be appreciated like this.

Still. The diamond shines against his skin, the silver compliments his white hair. He takes most of them off, only keeping the simple snake bites. He doesn't want to somehow dirty up the diamonds.)

part two

[serpercival]

Putting this here both for my convenience of remembering things and also because if YOU THE READER have any particular episodes or just general concepts you'd like to see get the foxtrap treatment I would genuinely love to hear it. Drop me an inbox. Disclaimer ahead of time that there's a particular late season Trapper John, M.D. episode that I will not be touching with a ten foot pole because I would feel so rude introducing people to the series with it and I'm not going into any more detail than that.

SO. Fics currently on the docket for whenever the hell it is I finish Mating Habits because I'd really like to do a bunch of episode fics:

Misc. pre-canon traphawk relationship development

MASH 1x03 Requiem for a Lightweight

MASH 1x06 Yankee Doodle Doctor

MASH 1x09 Henry, Please Come Home (weird choice I know but there's some major traphawk relationship stuff slotted to happen in this one)

MASH 1x13 Edwina (Trapper/Edwina fic :3 no really trust me. R came up with 90% of this one and hey future Percy fully deserves a co-author credit)

MASH 1x23 Ceasefire

MASH 2x03 Radar's Report (you know why)

MASH 2x06 Kim (you also know why)

MASH 2x12 The Incubator

MASH 2x16 Henry in Love

MASH 2x22 George (I just need to. Been wanting to write something for that episode for ages and this is a great opportunity)

MASH 3x07 Check-Up (again you know why)

MASH 3x19 Aid Station

MASH 3x21 Big Mac - Five-Star Expectations

General beejtraphawk and the kids stuff

Trapper gets his job as chief of surgery in 1969-70 depending on if we want to stick exactly to the TJMD timeline or not - in 1x12 Boom! he has his ten year anniversary

TJMD 1x01 Pilot

TJMD 1x17 If You Can't Stand The Heat (the children's zoo pcp explosion episode guest starring Ed Winter as a guy who gets pcp exploded. no seriously. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this I just know I need to do something)

TJMD 2x07 Earthquake (Gonzo and Trapper rent a cabin together. again no idea what I'm going to do with it but I need to do something)

TJMD 2x09 Have I Got a Girl For You (Trapper proxy-dates Gonzo by taking a girl who's interested in him on a truly weird number of dates. Coincidentally aired Feb. 1st, 1981 which is prime timing for that in the foxtrapverse. Also I made reference to it in Professional Courtesy so come on I've gotta do something with it)

TJMD 2x16 King of the Road (Gonzo daddy issues episode)

TJMD 4x08 Thanks for Giving

TJMD 6x02 My Son the Doctor (JT's introduction to the series)

TJMD 6x07 A Fall to Grace (I have not seen this one yet but it's a Big One and I'm sure I'll be able to do something fun with it)

TJMD 6x18 The Unholy Ghost (JT sees an actual real ghost. again seriously. this show is bonkers)

oh my god that's so many things. that's like twenty things not counting the fact that "general beejtraphawk and the kids stuff" is at minimum five separate things. I will not be doing them in order lmfao they'll just be as I feel like it and god knows if I'll ever get to all of them but WE TRY because with the exception of things I've noted there are very specific ideas behind all of these.

[blackestnight]

manifests in you inbox: alphabet meme. **L**

additional Alphabet meme: all the letters in Hanami Hagane

it's fine, we'll just pretend that hanami has a middle name, and that it starts with L. hanami louise? hanami lynn? hanami lviolence?

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

she, uh, really doesn't do hugs. hanami has an impressive bubble of personal space. if she wants contact, it'll generally be on her terms, and even then she prefers things like a friendly pat on the shoulder. elbowing someone in the ribs is her equivalent of a side hug. by now people know to leave her to her own devices, and if she wants physical contact she'll initiate it herself—sort of like a cat.

there are a handful of people who are standing exceptions to her unspoken "keep hands off" rule, but out of all of them the only one she really hugs is mune. he'd describe it as feeling like a big stone statue giving you a hug, and like all of his joints are popping, but in a good way! he loves auntie hana hugs.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

BANGS POTS AND PANS TOGETHER. HANAMI LOVES SO MUCH AND SO DEEPLY AND SHE'S SO PARTICULAR ABOUT HOW SHE SHOWS IT. SHE SHOWS HER ADORATION WITH BARED TEETH. SHE SHOWS HER AFFECTION WITH NO ONE WILL HARM YOU BECAUSE THEY WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME. SHE SHOWS IT WITH I WILL KILL ANYTHING THAT FRIGHTENS YOU. SHE SHOWS IT WITH YOU MAY WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH AND FEAR NO EVIL BECAUSE I AM THE SCARIEST MOTHERFUCKER IN THE VALLEY AND YOU ARE UNDER MY PROTECTION.

it's about devotion!!! it's about living her entire life as an act of service!!! that's her love!!!

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

quiet. she keeps a farm kid's hours, so being early to bed and early to rise keeps her...uh, well, healthy, but her hours have nothing to do with being wealthy, and no one's ever accused her of being wise.

she likes winding down in her pajamas, after a long bath, with a soft blanket and a warm cup of tea and time to ruminate. being allowed to witness this ritual is a privilege very few will ever earn.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

perfunctory. she wakes up generally right before dawn (habit). she doesn't like to laze around and would much rather get up and going once she's awake. if she's home, though, aymeric at least gets a good-morning kiss on the forehead (he's usually not entirely awake for it). he can convince her to stay in bed longer, assuming she has no pressing business elsewhere, but he better be doing something to keep her occupied. otherwise it's breakfast and boots and time for whatever adventure she's going to make of her day (even if it's a mundane adventure, like grocery shopping or polishing silverware).

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

glacially. she still doesn't say it. if she is, something's wrong.

it's fine. love is something she shows, not something she says. the people who have learned to recognize it will never doubt it.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

not at all. she can be when it suits her (which is rarely). physically, she is, quite literally, covered in spikes and calluses and comprised mostly of muscle and spite. like i said earlier, she's not outwardly overtly cuddly—even with aymeric, with whom she can be very gentle and (her version of) sweet in private, she's more likely to hip check him as a sign of affection if they're around other people. emotionally speaking, she's a steaming hot mess. she's curt and can seem cold, until it bubbles over into steaming rage.

love and anger tend to get mixed up for her, so she shows her love in the things she does for people, not to them. if she shows that anger with her back to you, that's gentleness.

(with an exception. we'll get to that.)

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

she's done it before, even if (gods willing) she'll never need to do it again. in this, again, she's her version of gentle: straightforward and honest. this isn't working. this isn't what she wants. this needs to end.

she really only had one long-term partner before she came to eorzea, but she was a long-term partner, almost four years. for some reason people are always surprised to hear that she and her ex parted on good terms. she's not cruel about it, and she won't draw it out.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

BANGS POTS AND PANS, AGAIN.

remember i said there was an exception to her not being gentle? hi. we're here. hanami loves kids. she adores them.

her mothers are her heroes. she learned how to love from them. they taught her from an early age that, having made the choice to be responsible for children, their children were their world. being raised by them—and then, as she grew older, being tasked with caring for her younger cousins, and eventually helping to raise her nephew—resulted in hanami having very strong opinions on what constitutes good caretaking. (she has been known to express those opinions violently, see also: that time she socked thancred in the jaw after he made ryne cry.)

i like to joke about her just...collecting a duckling brood of wards throughout the story. obviously she has mune, whom she cares for deeply (and, file under things everyone knows but does not acknowledge out loud: mune thinks of hanami as more of a mother than an aunt to him). rielle definitively does not think of hanami as a mother figure, but mostly because she has no interest in having another mother after All The Bullshit That Happened. she took on more of a mentoring than a mothering role with ryne and gaia, too, mostly because thancred and urianger got a head start on her. whatever they call her, though, those kids are her kids. thancred frequently refers to mune and rielle especially as her "little ones." hanami adores her kids and is never, ever ashamed to show it. she's very careful and attentive with them—they get food and hugs and gentle shoves of encouragement when they need it and patience when they don't. hanami has no patience for ignorant adults. but children? they need guidance, not castigation.

i have a fic i'm going to write eventually about lv 85 thavnair msq, because a) it's not hanami's first time saving a drowning child so she does a better job of it than video game mechanic constraints allow, and b) afterward she really gets to flex her babysitter skills and help matsya out a lot. estinien, seeing this, is like "if aymeric ever catches wind of this he's fucked."

[therealvinelle]

Excellent post, I have a few points which may or may not be helpful.

First, one not-so-small addition the reading section: you are what you eat. If the literature you consume is homogenous, published recently, or all within the same genre, or all of it YA, odds are you're not going to improve much as a writer. By all means, read the novels you're into, but it's my recommendation to anybody whether they want to be a better writer or not to broaden their horizons. The classics are classics for a reason, older literature or literature from different parts of the world will confront you with people very different from yourself, and when you don't like something you learn you didn't like that, and you get to figure out why.

(I used to have a habit of... I want to call it a witty comparison-ism, the "he stood tall like a ship's mast, which is to say he was very rigid and silly-looking", "she had hair like a cocker spaniel who had entered a car wash, which left Dave, a dog owner and expert dog show groomer, with an inexplicable urge to find his brushes and shampoos. Smiling britishly as he tried to repress this unwelcome thought, he asked if she wanted to go for a w-a-l-k" type. You'll find it in my earlier writing on Ao3, even the first chapter of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream has traces of it.

I thought I was brilliant and so funny, until I read much better authors doing the same thing and hated it. I realized my writing was a thousand times better without. Thank you, British author who shall go unnamed.)

In that same vein: if you want to write people from a different period, or a specific culture, try the best you can to find literature from people who lived there. No amount of wikipedia, statistics, period shows, or general preconceptions of "what it was like" will help you as much as what the people who lived there thought of their world. (Important note: you can literally just Bridgerton it, that's fine too and your readers won't mind, but this particular bit of advice is for people who don't want to be writing Bridgerton.)

Now, a brand new section:

Be confident (and find a cheerleader or two)

I see this in fanfiction channels on discord, I scroll past it on reddit, I've received it in my DMs, I see it in author's notes. Authors have an idea, they want to write it, but is it a good idea? Should they do it? Will it get readers?

I regret to inform you that the reader gods are cruel and your story can be great, just fantastic but you're not netting any readers, just as unsalvageably bad fics will have tens of thousands of kudos. And no, self-advertising doesn't work, I follow authors who self-advertise better than social media reps at big companies and whose only faithful readers are their friends. You have to find sufficient joy in writing for your own sake, because the readers may never come.

I'm not immune to wanting praise and validation for my writing: however, I have the rare blessing of a cowriter whose opinion I respect, so I know anything we post has already passed that elusive "but is it good?" test, and for reader praise I have the lovely @franzias-cave. In that, additional readers lavishing comments and kudos are a happy bonus but not something I need to motivate myself. And this brings me to the headliner advice: get yourself a cheerleader. A friend you can discuss your writing with, whom you can share your joy with so it's not just you giving yourself pep talks until you run out of pep. If you don't have cheerleaders, my advice is to consider prewriting the story because it's much easier to remember you're writing for yourself when you're not checking your inbox every other hour and finding it's still empty.

Hopefully you will get readers too, but you really shouldn't rely on them for a myriad reasons (a very pertinent one being that if you do get readers, you're not guaranteed they'll be nice to you. Basically, if there's a large reddit community for your chosen fandom/subgenre/pairing, you'd best have thick skin.)

Yes, this was a discouraging few paragraphs, but I see so much advice on reddit and tumblr going, "The readers will come!!" or "Write for yourself!" and the repeated-ad-nauseam "Remember to advertise for yourself!" when the readers sometimes never come, writing for yourself is a lot easier said than done (and really only advice you need if you're wondering how to cope with not having readers, in which case it's the "just think positively!" of writing advice), and while I haven't tried to run statistics on this (and wouldn't rely much on any statistics presented to me as most fan-run surveys I see are poorly designed), I don't think there is a significant enough correlation between popular and well-advertised, or unpopular and poorly advertised fics, for the advice to be sound. I'd much rather give honest advice and realistic expectations.

I know practise is the one true way to get better at something: but what other tips do you have for others to improve their writing? What has worked for you? What hasn't?

How long have you (and Vinelle) been writing?

All my writing tips are here.

Generally though, here's a few things off the top of my head.

Just Do it

You got it, the only way to get better is practice, and that means sit down and write. Don't get intimidated by a blank page, something is better than nothing, but also don't be afraid to rewrite an entire thing if you need to.

Just sit down and do it.

Get Someone to Look at it, Get Their Real Opinion

Get someone to look at your work and ask for honest feedback. Ideally, this is someone whose writing you admire/think you can learn from. Regardless, though, you have to make it clear that you're not afraid of honest to god criticism and do actually want to improve.

A lot of people I see asking for advice substitute it for asking someone to a) validate their writing b) tell them only when they have a few typos. This encouragement is nice, crucial even, but it won't help you improve.

You have to be willing to be honest with yourself and have others be honest with you in turn.

Read Everything

Read things that are good, read things that are bad, think about why you find them to be good or bad.

What Doesn't Work

Any cheap trick that will tell you "all you need to be a good writer is to do A, B, and C, and always avoid D" if it was that easy, everyone would be Shakespeare.

Character sheets are nonsense. They turn whatever character you have into a 2-D pile of waffle. If a character is only a pile of traits, likes and dislikes, they fail to be real on a page. And you can almost always tell what quirky character came from a character sheet.

There are no golden dos or don'ts. Having a character more powerful than other characters isn't always bad. Having a character with 'flaws' doesn't always make them good and complex.

The Hero's Journey and other plot structures are helpful only to a limited degree. Yes, you need a climax and catharsis, but don't marry yourself to a particular outline and tell yourself that you can't stray from it because you have to follow the structure.

You got anything, @therealvinelle?

[bunny-rambles]

eh, unfortunately life can be stressful and all. (as a university student close to finals God if i know rip—) but no matter what happens, at least we can look at the sun and try to find a reason to smile. that's what i try to do, at least.

and yeah, diluc does look like he'd be perfect husband material. sure, sometimes you'll wake up at night and he won't be there next to you because he went on one of his abyss raids and you'll be worried to death, but don't worry, he can handle it, and then he'll come home and kiss your forehead and will give you a soft apologetic smile when you'll tell him how worried you were.

and then he'll make sure to hold you especially tight the night after because he cares a lot about you being well

aaa i'll try to keep up with my new job then :' (jkjk)

the dates went well enough! if you exclude that as of like three days ago all my friends are now dating and all that's left for me is to look at them while they kiss and hug and such, it's still been an enjoyable experience, ahah. mostly, i really like to have an excuse to be with the people i love.

have a great week buns!!

- 🍓

🍓,

I know you sent another ask recently, I’ll get to it don’t worry, but I’m not just going to leave this one hanging around in my inbox either.

Hm yes, Diluc would be the type to have you fall asleep in his arms and then in the middle of the night when you wake up he wouldn’t be there. And when he comes home late the next night, even though he looks okay physically, the pure worry running through your veins that had been going strong for over a day take over. He’s assuring you he’s okay, that he’s sorry for being gone so long, but you’ve got his face in your hands, checking him over and over until you’re absolutely sure he’s okay. He finds your caring rather adorable, but he’d never voice that when you’re this close to tears. Another, much larger part of him feels incredibly guilty for stressing you this much. Maybe sooner than later, the habit of just disappearing whenever he likes starts to dissipate over time.

The abyss is still one of his priorities, but ever since he’s met you, you’re at the top of that list now. Making you happy is far more important, and honestly more enjoyable than slaughtering abyss mages. (You’re also probably Kaeya’s favourite person for actually convincing his brother to be safe and well instead of sacrificing his safety to go after enemies. He definitely buys you a drink whenever he sees you, as a small thank you for keeping the only family he has still alive)

As you know the weeks not been very good, but I’ll get to it on the other ask. I hope your week was better than mine

[princessselene126]

Can u bring kai head canons like how he is,what he does as a friend,emperor,husband,father and all that like I am badly in love with him,I am seriously not kidding I need to read more of him to feel his presence u know and I have no Kai in my life not even as a friend,Am I sounding desperate? Idc ,it's a bad case of fictophilia I'm sorry I sound mental....but help

I, too, am hopelessly in love with Kai, and I cannot even begin to express how fucking valid you are. You get all the headcanons, my friend. Come to my inbox literally whenever you want to talk about Kai or want hcs for him. Also sorry it took me a little bit to get to this, I have life shit going on.

I can also talk about Jacin all damn day... the snarky and dry humor bois hold a soft spot in my heart

In Friendships

He's that friend who messages people out of the blue to check up on them. Like it's been a week since he's heard anything from Cress and that's not normal. Five seconds later he's sending her a reeeeeeeally long text asking if she's okay.

He created a gc with the rest of the crew (excluding Thorne) where they just send random pictures of Thorne doing weird shit.

Is the only person other than Winter and Cinder who has gotten Jacin to genuinely laugh. Spoiler alert, it's because he had the sassiest comeback when President Vargas was being a dick.

Because he's rich--literal emperor--he'll randomly buy gifts for his friends and really anyone he cares about. The other day he bought Winter a really cool sewing kit where all the needles were glittery (but wouldn't get glitter on whatever she's making). And it doesn't even have to be expensive things. He noticed that Scarlet complains about losing hairbands and makes a habit of sending her a pack once a month. Little things like that. He's a giver.

Despite the fact that he likes buying his friends presents, his love language is actually quality time. It's very hard for him to be able to carve out time for others, but that's what he does to show his friends and family he cares about them.

As the Emperor

Goes down as the most beloved emperor in the history of the Eastern Commonwealth. Yall can fight me on this. Because just in canon he's helped to end an international war and plague. NOT TO MENTION the fact that he tried to do this single-handedly (before being kidnapped by Cinder and joining them) by marrying Levana. Did he want to marry her? No! Nor did his people want him to, but he put the good of the nation above his own wants and needs when he was only 18 fucking years old! I could go on and on about this, but I'll stop with this point now...

now post canon Kai? A fucking god, okay?? Let's be honest, Cinder opened his eyes to a lot of problems he didn't know existed before. Kai passes bill after bill after bill reforming cyborg rights.

Hearing about stuff Cinder experienced also got him invested in making sure that foster kids, wards, etc were being better-taken care of. Passes laws protecting children in those situations, doing his best to make sure they're not taken advantage of, abused, used for labor, and so on.

Kai frequently goes out in disguise with Cinder so that they can get a sense of public opinion. It's one thing to read reports and statistics, it's another thing to see those experiences, to witness the needs of his people with his own eyes. As more and more people are getting BSBs implanted, more people notice him on the streets. In New Beijing there becomes this unwritten rule that if you see the emperor and empress wandering around without security and/or in "disguise," you're supposed to pretend that you don't know who they are.

When it comes to his public persona, he's viewed as extremely charismatic I mean, come on, he's prince charming and kind. He's sort of like Obama. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, citizens can admire him because of how well spoken he is.

However, it's well known that he will not stand for bigotry, racism, etc. If someone behaves that way in front of him--whether they're a dignitary, diplomat, reporter, or citizen--he will either shut them down or put them in their place (like I had him do in part 2 of WotE). People know not to fuck with him.

As a Husband

He's also the best husband ever, let's be real here. He's patient and kind, but also willing to have harder conversations when the time calls for it.

We all know how the proposal scene went, but this got me wondering... how long do we think he's been holding onto that ring? SOSN happens about 2 years post Winter, and, knowing what a romantic Kai is, he's probably been holding onto that ring for a good year. He was just patiently waiting for 1) Cinder to be ready 2) her to abdicate and 3) Luna to be well enough off that Cinder didn't have to be there constantly supervising the transition into a republic.

Anyway, onto how he actually is as a husband...

When he can't find Cinder in their suite, the first place he looks for her is the palace garage. Nine times out of 10, that's where she is. If she isn't there, she's either out in the gardens or in her office. Sometimes he'll just stand there and quietly watch her work for a little while. She knows he's there, but never says anything.

Though they're both busy with royal duties, Kai makes a point to carve out at least one night a week where they can just spend time together without any distractions, whether it's sneaking out to roam the city, have dinner together on the balcony, watch a movie on a big sheet hung up between trees in the gardens, etc etc. Unless there's a national emergency that needs immediate attention, no one, not even Iko, is allowed to disturb them for those few hours.

He makes a point to kiss Cinder's metal limbs all the time. Every chance he gets.

He sits on Cinder's lap while they read over documents/laws/bills together. You can fight me on this too. I will die on this hill.

As a Father (In my second gen universe Kaider has two kids so I'm sort of going off that for these hcs)

The most doting father. Will spoil his children rotten while also making sure to raise them to be the best possible versions of themselves.

He and Cinder always tuck their kids into bed. It doesn't matter if they're in the middle of a ball or an important dinner party. They will both drop everything to read a story and then tuck their kids into bed. Even when he's halfway around the world for something, he'll wake up at three am to call Cinder so they can tuck the kids in together.

Kai will take his kids out on father-child dates all the time when they get old enough (around 5-6). Sometimes these father-child dates are with both of the kids and sometimes it's only with one. If it's with one, he makes sure that the other child has alone time with him sometime soon too. As the kids get older and busier, it's harder and harder to do, but it's a tradition that still continues when they're adults. It's only a couple times a year, but he and his children make the time for it.

When they're teens... they have snark wars. Who can politely say the best insult. Cinder is the judge. Winner gets to pick what they watch for family movie night. Kai wins almost every time for the first year, but the first time one of them beats him, he cries tears of joy and hugs them so tight they can barely breathe. "My baby is all grown up! I don't have anything left to teach you." "Dad... I'm fourteen and the heir to the throne. You have a lot to teach me still."

[thewordworrier]

I Mean This - I’m Okay

Word Count: 6k and change. Notes: ~ Title from: I’m Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance [obviously] ~ Yup, Shelly’s still Tour Manager. That’s her job! ~ This is my second Reader attempt. This one was a little easier! ~ Still not an easy thing to write, these definitely come out slower than other stuff I write, so please, continue to be a bit gentle with me. ~ I’m pretty sure this is gender neutral, and reasonably vague on age, but you can assume that Reader is old enough to maybe travel alone? I don’t think it really matters too much there. ~ I’m not sure if I’ll put this one on AO3 either.

- - - - - 

Setting: The Black Parade Tour - possibly before ProRev - I think. Your day was dragging, and nothing overly interesting had happened. This was normal. Everything was normal. Until you started to make your way home that is. As soon as you found yourself a seat on the bus home, you pulled your phone out of your pocket. The amount of notifications on the screen made you nearly drop it. You never had that many notifications; what on earth was going on? You spent a few minutes combing through the mentions, you managed to finally get to your inbox, where there was at least one new message waiting for you. Before you had the chance to investigate it though, your bus reached your stop and you had to finish making your way home. After a quick stop at the nearby grocery store for something quick for dinner and, because the day had been a bit sucky, a little sweet treat for yourself. And maybe a savoury one too. It had been A Day. After changing into something comfier, you decided to sit and relax for a little bit before starting some dinner. You settled on your couch with a drink and your savoury snack before pulling out your phone to finally check your social media inboxes. What you saw actually made you drop your phone in your lap. Thank god for your habit of always sitting with a pillow or blanket on your legs, because that meant that you didn’t have to move much to scoop the device up again. There was a message in your inbox from the official My Chemical Romance account. “What the…?” You muttered, tapping the message to open it. Hi there! We’re reaching out to you to let you know that you won the last competition - we’d like to upgrade your concert ticket to the meet and greet package! “Holy balls!” If you could reply to this message with the best way to contact you; an email address would be good to start with, we can go from there and we can make sure you have all the details you’re going to need! You were pretty sure that you had never replied to a message so quickly in your life. You replied with a quick; Oh my god, really? That’s amazing! Thank you so much! before sending across your email address as well. Once that message was sent, you put your phone on the arm of the couch before sinking into your spot, staring at the tv but not really taking anything in. Not too long later, your phone sounded loudly with a notification, making you jump before you groped for it, seeing that you had a reply. Awesome, thank you. I’ll gather the information and email you back; I’ll message you on here once the email’s been sent so you know to look out for it. Congratulations again! Truthfully, you were a little floored. You didn’t even really remember entering the competition, but you guessed that you had? The message was coming from the official band account after all? You didn’t think that it had been hacked so this can’t have been a hoax… It probably wasn’t from the band themselves - they all had their own social media; they probably had someone who ran that account for them. Of course. There was no way you were actually conversing with the guys themselves. Just as you’d thought that, something made you frown, and you double checked the messages from the account. Yeah, they’d switched from using “we” to “I” - as you expected, someone else was running the account. You weren’t surprised - the guys were busy after all. They were true to their word - not too long later, maybe half an hour at most, your phone pinged with a social media direct message alert. Hey, just letting you know that I sent that email across. You can either shoot me a message here to let me know it arrived or just reply to it. A quick swipe and tap later, and you were looking at the email in question. You shifted in your spot on your couch to sit up a bit better so you could concentrate on reading it properly.The email started with a simple introduction of; “Hi, I’m Shelly Sketcher, and I work with MyChem, and that includes maintaining the main band social media accounts, so it was me that you were talking to via DMs.” You were familiar with that name, quite a few people in the online fanspaces that you frequented were too. She’d been working with the band for long enough now, and the guys would frequently sing her praises during interviews. The online fanspaces seemed to like her - she did her best to get the band more time with their fans, or to get the gifts from the fans to the band, and most people appreciated that. Of course there were always one or two who didn’t but… That was to be expected. You just hoped that she didn’t have to see some of the utterly vile and nasty stuff that you had seen about her. Or, if she had seen it, you hoped it didn’t get her down too badly. You emailed her back, and sent her a direct message on the band’s social media to let her know that you’d received her email and sent a reply. She said to let her know if you had any questions - either via email or a direct message; she’d reply to either as soon as she could - she’d have notifications on as the whole thing was a little bit time sensitive. After sending her one more message, thanking her and letting her know that you’d let her know if you had any more questions, you sat on your couch, staring at the first message in your social media inbox. Truthfully, you were still in a little bit of a state of shock. It had taken you a bit of effort to get the ticket you had managed to get, and you had been incredibly grateful to finally get your hands on the one you did, even if it had been one of the cheaper ones. But now you were being bumped up to the freakin’ meet and greet package? Unbelievable. You spent the time between getting the messages and the date of your show, in a little bit of a daze, to be honest. You just couldn’t believe it. You were going to meet your favourite band. Nothing felt like it could touch you during that time; not even events during your everyday life that normally would have ruined your day, or at the very least your mood, had much of an effect on you. You were going to meet your favourite band. Like, what? What did you do to get so lucky? How? How was this your life? You just couldn’t make it up. ~ ~ ~ You arrived at the venue early, like it had been suggested, although you would’ve done that anyway. Nervously, you approached one of the venue’s staff. You knew that they were working the gig because they were wearing an MCR t-shirt, and they had a lanyard. They looked the part. She greeted you with a friendly smile and listened as you explained what you were there for. When you mentioned that you were a competition winner her expression brightened and she beckoned you to follow her. She led you through another set of doors before you had to go through the security procedure of having your bag checked. Once that was done, she gently pulled you aside and let you sit down. “I just need to make a quick call, okay? I’ll be right back.” She waited for you to nod before taking a phone out of her pocket and moving down the corridor a little. You were starting to feel a little anxious, like maybe you’d done something wrong? But you’d followed the email’s instructions… It was probably fine, it was probably just nerves. You were (hopefully!) about to meet your favourite band after all. The sound of heels on the flooring made you look up from your phone a little while later. The member of staff had returned, with a familiar looking, well dressed blonde in tow. They got close enough before the staff member said something to the other woman and got a nod in reply before heading off. The blonde turned back to you and smiled, holding out her hand when she got close enough. “Hi! I’m Shelly and I work with MyChem. You must be the competition winner I’ve been messaging?.” You felt your shoulders untense a little - she was who you thought she was and that meant that this whole thing was legit and not some elaborate prank. You hesitated for a second before taking her hand and shaking it, introducing yourself. “I’m so pleased to meet you, and that you got here okay,” Shelly said with a bright smile. “Pleased to meet you too,” you managed with a smile in return. “You do an excellent job and the fan base is very lucky to have you look out for the guys, and us, the way that you do.” She beamed and went a pale shade of pink. “I… Ah, that’s very nice for you to say, but I’m just doing my job.” “Yeah, but!” You protested. “Not every band has an assistant manager like you; I’ve been to other bands’ concerts and there’s never anyone running around to gather things from the fans like you do.” Shelly shook her head slightly, clearly not really believing you. “You’re very sweet.” “It’s true though.” “Mm, maybe,” she cleared her throat quietly and hummed for a moment as she pulled out her phone. She tapped at it before reading something and sliding the device back into her pocket. “Okay, right! So, the first thing is grabbing you some merch! Have you had the chance to see the merch stand yet?” “I…” You had actually forgotten that part of the upgrade included some free merch. “No, I haven’t. I was a little nervous about getting here and making sure that people knew that I was here.” Shelly nodded sympathetically. “I get that, I still get a bit nervous about being late or getting lost.” “You do?” “Sure I do,” she smiled and gestured for you to follow her. “Then again, I have to be very careful, as if I mess up with times, I could make the whole band late. But I’m like that in my personal life too, not just for my job.” “Oh,” you followed her to the merch stand, a little amused and amazed at how quickly and easily she moved through the building and through the manned doors. Then again, she was with the band; that was the ultimate VIP pass. You stayed close to her as you arrived at the merch stand, but you stood aside a little as she conversed with the people manning it. As to be expected, she was polite and everyone was really friendly with each other, but that was to be expected when the tour had been going this long. You were pretty certain that it was the same merch team. “Okay,” she turned back to you before gesturing to the stand. “Pick your poison.” You hesitated, wanting to ask a question but not quite sure how to. Luckily, she found the words for you. “Whatever you like, no real limit but try not to go too insane.” She grinned at you. “Insane would be like, one of everything.” “I, ah, wouldn’t do that, really…” “Some people might try it,” Shelly shrugged gently before pulling out her phone to give you some time. You took a few minutes to cast your eyes over the selection before picking out a couple of things - a shirt with the dates on it was the main thing you wanted, but you picked a couple of other, little things too. Once the guy behind the stand handed those over to you, you decided to use the money you’d set aside specifically for merch to actually purchase a few extra things. “Miss Shelly,” the merch girl called. “They wanna buy things too.” Shelly looked up from her phone before taking a few steps forward to stand next to you. “What did you pick as part of the upgrade?” You hesitated before opening the bag to show her, watching her nod and smile. “Hey, good choices.” “I don’t mind spending money,” you reasoned. “I have been saving for this since I got my ticket. I never expected to win the upgrade and I forgot that the upgrade included merch, so I’m really not against spending money.” “And, if I may,” the blonde continued. “What are you interested in purchasing?” You hesitated before pointing out a couple of extra things you liked before watching her out of the corner of your eye. She looked between the items before nodding. “Okay, but you’re getting a discount. We take care of our VIPs.” “I… I can’t ask you to do that,” you tried to protest as she gathered together the things you wanted to buy. “You’re not asking,” she double checked the size labels before giving the things to you. “Are these right?” You checked too. “Yes, thank you, but I -” “You’re getting a discount,” she said, her voice taking on a sing-song tone as she smiled. “And there’s nothing you can do about that.” You tried once more to protest, but she wasn’t having any of it, and neither were the merch staff, so you sighed and accepted your fate. Once that was all taken care of, you followed the blonde back through the doors, thanking her profusely along the way. “Honestly,” she said after using your name to interrupt you. “It’s really not a big deal. You didn’t try to take advantage, and I admire that.” “I… Oh. Um… Thank you?” “Don’t mention it.” She led you down another corridor before speaking again. “Did you bring anything for the guys to sign?” “Er actually, yeah, I did.” “That’s great; they’ll be more than happy to do that,” she stopped outside a door, and before knocking, she turned to look at you. “You okay?” You shook your head. “No, I’m a little bit nervous.” “Hey,” she said, turning her whole body to face you. “It’s alright, I promise! They’re not that scary! They’re really just a bunch of nerds!” This made you laugh and honestly, it did help a little bit. “And I say that with the most love possible,” she giggled as you laughed. “But they really are.” You grinned at her before exhaling deeply. “I know you’re right. But I’m still a little nervous.” Shelly nodded. “I know you are, I get it. Meeting them is a big deal to a lot of people. And that’s okay, they understand.” You exhaled again and she smiled gently at you. She was waiting patiently but you didn’t feel rushed at all; she just didn’t have that air to her. “I think…” You started carefully. “I think I’m ready.” “Awesome.” You watched her move to knock on the door; her knock was almost tuneful, and you were willing to bet that her knock stood out against any others. She waited a second before opening the door enough to stick her head around it. She must’ve said something and gotten a reply because you heard her laugh before she opened the door properly before turning to you and gesturing for you to follow her. She closed the door behind the pair of you before clearing her throat to get the attention of the band. Holy balls, you thought, this is actually happening. You listened to her introduce you to them, which you were grateful for because you had suddenly lost your voice. “I don’t think I need to tell you their names,” Shelly said with a slight grin as each member shook your hand. “Thi- Think,” you swallowed as your voice came out as a bit of a squeak. “Think we’re good on that one.” Frank laughed and Shelly gestured for you to sit down  as the guys did. Once everyone had settled, Shelly trotted around the room while the band asked you questions - how far you’d travelled to get there, how your trip was, had you seen them before; questions like that. You managed to answer them well enough, still feeling a little bit nervous but starting to feel a bit more relaxed. There was a pause in conversation as Shelly came back over to put some markers, Sharpies, on the table. You noticed that Gerard watched her a bit more closely when she returned, smiling and speaking softly to her when she was near enough. She smiled at him before clearing her throat softly. “Hey,” she said to them. “You guys wanna sign some stuff?” “Sure thing,” Mikey reached for one of the markers before the others copied him. “I like seeing what fans bring for us to sign, to be honest,” Frank added. At these words you pulled your bag onto your lap to go through it. “Um, hang on a minute…” Eventually you pulled out your item of choice as well as a small notebook, both of which you passed to the blonde who had moved to stand by you. “It sounds strange, but can you each maybe sign a page in here as well, please?” “Of course,” Gerard gently took both items from Shelly when she passed them to him before uncapping the pen and holding the lid in between his teeth, passing the first item around after he’d signed it. “I’m sure you’ve got your reasons.” “Is it something arty?” Ray asked, looking from where Mikey was signing one of the two items over to you. “A lot of our fans are very artistic.” “There’s a lot of talent in the fanbase,” Shelly agreed. “I… Um, kinda.” “If you ever share it online,” Shelly lightly slapped Frank around the back of the head for a reason you didn’t catch. “You’ll have to share it with us. I’m sure whatever you’re planning will turn out great.” “I hope it does, maybe I will share it,” you nodded once, taking the items from her as she handed them back over. “Thank you so much.” “You’re more than welcome,” Frank grinned over at you. You felt like you might be blushing so you focused on putting your things back in your bag until Ray started asking you a little more about yourself; what you did for work, what your hobbies were. Normally, talking about yourself made you feel awkward, but he (and the rest of the band) seemed so genuinely interested that you found yourself not really minding. When they ran out of questions and you’d run out of steam, a few minutes of silence followed before Shelly cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “How about we get some pictures?” She said before turning to you. “I can take them on your phone, if you like? Or I can take them with my phone and send them to you via social media?” You hesitated. “Either is honestly fine,” Shelly continued. “I promise.” “Ah, um…” You pulled your phone out of your pocket before unlocking it and, after a second, shyly handed it over to her. The blonde smiled and took it, checking it over. “Go over with me how to use it really quickly?” You obliged, and when you were close enough to her, Shelly whispered to you. “Don’t worry, you’re doing great.” “I am? I’m not awkward?” She shook her head and took a test photo of the pair of you before she showed you. “How’s that?” “Great, actually. That’s a great shot.” “You can delete that later if you want,” she gestured for you to go and post with the guys. “I won’t be offended. If you share these online, make sure you tag the accounts and we’ll reshare them too. If you’re okay with that.” You nodded to her and she took some photos of you with the band, letting you see them to make sure that you were happy. “If you’re not happy, I am more than willing to take more,” she said quietly to you. “I just want you to have a good experience, and bad photos are not a good keepsake.” “I don’t want to put the guys through -” “They won’t mind,” she grinned at you. “I won’t let them. Don’t worry.” “You…” You shook your head at her. “You’re too sweet.” “That’s part of my job honey. I’m like a liaison between the fans and the band as well as an assistant to,” she waved towards the guys. “The Lords over there.” The slightly posh accent she added made you laugh and she shooed you over to take a few more pictures. When that was over and everyone had settled back down, you put your bag back across your body - it was like a security thing. “You… Look like you want to say something else?” Mikey piped up. “Um… I…” You swallowed, hesitating. Well, he wasn’t wrong but… You were pretty sure that they’d heard everything you wanted to say before, and would probably hear it all over again. And again. But you knew that you’d regret it immensely if you didn’t say it. “I… Um…” You swallowed and clutched the cross-body strap of your bag, glancing down at your lap. “It’s okay,” Gerard said gently from opposite you.”Take a moment.” You felt like you’d rehearsed this about a thousand times - exactly what you’d say if you ever met them, but now you were actually here, your tongue was tied up in knots. The cushion next to you on the couch moved and you looked up to see their blonde assistant sitting beside you, placing a cup of water in front of you. She smiled softly. “Sorry,” you stammered. “I just…” “It’s okay,” she repeated softly. “Really. Hey, ignore them for a second -” “Hey!” Frank said. “Shut up Frank,” Ray rolled his eyes, throwing a balled up piece of paper at the short guitarist. Shelly eyed them, shook her head before turning her attention back to you, taking your hand. It was only when she squeezed it gently that you realised that you were shaking. “Talk to me. Tell me what it means to you.” You noticed that her nails were neatly French manicured using a shade of pink polish that reminded you very much of cotton candy. And you only picked up on this because you were quite focused on the way she was holding your hand; the gentle squeezing was really calming actually. “I… Okay.” You noticed her smile before taking a small breath, giving yourself time to try and get the words straight in your head. Once you were… Happy enough you nodded slightly and started talking. You managed to talk about how much the music meant to you, how beautiful you thought the lyrics were, how masterful the guitar and base notes were and how harmonious everything sounded together; how obvious it was that the other three were such masters of their instruments. You managed to get out much you loved all three albums, all for different reasons; the rawness of Bullets, the emotion of Revenge and the creativity of Parade. This made Gerard smile brightly; he always loved it when other people recognised just how amazing the rest of the band were at playing their parts. You took a breath, and a sip of the water that you’d been given before managing to talk about how strong you thought they were because they’d all battled their own demons and come out the other side, and just how inspiring that was - not just to you but to so many other people. As well as it being especially inspiring for the fact that they always seemed to want to fight for the underdog; that they wanted to give a voice to those who felt like they didn’t have one. Including yourself - you had your own struggles that their music had helped you through; it made you feel less alone. You managed to speak without stuttering and that made you think that maybe Shelly had been right - it had been much easier to talk to her (or maybe that should be at her…) than to talk to the band themselves. Even though you knew they were listening, it had been much easier to focus your attention on someone other than them. “You’re alright now?” Gerard asked when you took a moment to breathe. “You mentioned your own struggles? Are you okay now?” You nodded. “Much better, I’m doing pretty good, actually. There’s obviously still a few bad days, but coping with them is easier.” Gerard nodded and smiled a little. “Good.” “I know you’ve probably heard all of that before,” you said quietly, managing to look over at them. “But -” “We never get tired of it,” Ray said gently with a shake of his head. “It’s kinda amazing how many people feel the same way about our music.” “And about us,” Mikey added. “It’s incredible that four nerdy guys from New Jersey have had such an effect - a positive one, on so many people.” “You have done since the first record,” you said. “And I think you will until you call it quits.” “And even then,” Shelly added. “As long as your music is available, you’ll keep being that inspiring to anyone who listens to you.” “Yeah!” You nodded enthusiastically at the blonde’s words. “Exactly that.” Frank almost giggled and Gerard cleared his throat softly before speaking. “Ray’s right, we don’t get tired of hearing it. I think sometimes we still can’t believe that people feel that way about us,” he looked at the others for confirmation, getting nods in response. “I keep telling them that they really need to get used to it,” Shelly shrugged once with a smile. “But they don’t listen to me.” “Well, they should, because you’re absolutely right.” Shelly looked at the band and gestured to you. “See?” The guys laughed and that made you smile. “But thank you,” you managed. “For letting me get that out, even if it’s not the first time you’ve heard it.” “It would be rude not to let you speak,” Frank said with a small nod. “We appreciate the fans, we appreciate you, for appreciating us.” You nodded slowly and it was as if a lightbulb flickered on above your head. You turned your attention to the blonde still sitting next to you, which seemed to surprise her as she tilted her head. “I just wanna say again,” you started quietly. “We appreciate you, too. So many of us do, for what you do for them,” you gestured to the guys a little. “For what you do for us as fans, for the running around you do to get our stuff to them, for interacting with us, for everything.” Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Gerard lean forward, his forearms on his legs, as he focused his attention on the woman next to you. This made you remember that there had been some rumours rumbling around about there being a relationship between the two of them, but there hadn’t been anything officially said by anyone from the band, or from either of the pair directly. Their behaviour in front of you didn’t sway the arguments either way, really. It wasn’t really anyone’s business, you thought, but it was something the online fanspaces debated every so often. (Privately, your opinion was that they might be cute together.) Shelly, meanwhile, was looking at you with a very… Soft but surprised expression on her face. When she started to speak, her voice broke a tiny bit - she had to stop and clear her throat before trying again. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “That means a lot to me. Because I do work very hard, I do try and get you guys the most time with them.” “We’re nothing without our fans,” Ray added. You noticed the others nod. “We’re also not much without her,” Frank nodded to Shelly with a grin. “I mean, she’s the reason we eat and she’s why we’re on time and all of that.” “Behind every herd of cats is a woman rolling her eyes while she attempts to wrangle them to get them to behave,” Shelly muttered. You laughed. “You do an excellent job.” She smiled brightly. “Thank you.” “See? Mikey said with a small grin. “Not just us that say so.” “Shush you.” You joined the guys with a quiet chuckle before Gerard cleared his throat. “So, what’s your favourite song? We like to shout out one to our VIPs if we can.” A part of you had expected this question, and you really had truly thought about it. It was a difficult one to answer. “Um, that’s tricky. I feel like every time I think about it, I have a different answer, um…” “Way to put them on the spot,” Shelly rolled her eyes a little but she was smiling so it was clear that she wasn’t mad or anything. “Give them a minute.” You smiled at her gratefully before continuing to answer Gerard’s question, also managing to give them all a reason without waxing lyrical for too long. The band listened intently, nodding a little. “Well,” you said, after taking a moment. “It’s either that one or Disenchanted, really.” Mikey fist-pumped and the others groaned playfully. “See?” He said. “I told you it was a good idea to put it on the album!” Frank rolled his eyes and Gerard shook his head. “I’m not the only one who thinks so!” You added hastily. “No, you’re not,” Shelly added. “It’s a fan favourite, and one of mine too.” “Because you’re a woman of good taste, clearly.” Shelly grinned at you. “Thank you.” You chatted with the band for a little bit longer before it was time for them to start getting ready for the show, so you said goodbye, getting hugs as well, much to your delight, before Shelly led you out of the room. “You alright?” She asked gently as you both made your way down the corridor. You exhaled loudly and nodded. “Y- yeah, I think so.” “It might not sink in for a little bit,” she said with a nod. “And when it does, it’ll be a really inappropriate time.” “That sounds about right.” She laughed quietly. “Right, I think maybe you’re in the higher tier, closer to the stage area with the others who paid for those tickets but not the VIP thing, let me check…” You watched her pull her phone out to double check the details. “Mm hm, you are, which is good as your bag and everything will be safe there too, but if you weren’t I would’ve figured something out about keeping your things safe…” “That’s very sweet of you.” Shelly just smiled and took you to get a drink first - not that she let you pay for either of them, because she made you get a bottle of water alongside the other drink of your choice. Then she led you to where you’d be watching the show from. There were a few people there already, which surprised you, but it was actually a bit later than you thought it was. One of the other fans there called Shelly’s name before making their way over to her. They chatted quietly for a moment before the fan handed Shelly something; they must’ve been asking her to pass it onto the band, which Shelly obviously agreed to do before the fan smiled, got a hug from the blonde and went back to their spot. Shelly turned back to you and shook her head slightly. “Sorry about that, are you all good?” “Yeah, I get it, you’re still working after all,” you nodded. “I’m good, thank you so much for everything.” Shelly brushed it off a little. “Oh, psh, you’ve been a delight! I’ll be about during the show, I always am, so if you need anything, there’ll be a security guard nearby - get his attention and he’ll get me. Don’t be afraid to do that, the security is here to help, and so am I.” You nodded and offered her a hug, which she accepted. “Thank you, again,” you said to her as she hugged you back. “So, so very much.” “You are so welcome,” she squeezed you gently before taking a step back. “I have to get back to the boys. Have a great time during the show, in case you don’t need me for anything. And please, let me know that you get home okay?” “Oh, sure I can do that,” you nodded, touched at her concern. “Message the main band account,” Shelly said. “I’ll get that.” “Okay, I’ll do that, promise.” “Good, I’m glad,” she checked her phone again and winced. “Okay, I really gotta get back to the guys. Have a great time, remember that security is here to help, okay?” “Yes ma’am,” you mock-saluted and grinned as she narrowed her eyes at you a little - but she was smiling so she wasn’t mad. “Thank you, so much, again.” “You’re so welcome,” Shelly smiled at you and waved to another fan further down the section before going to grab something from them. She waved to you and headed off in the other direction to return to the dressing rooms. Naturally, the support act was amazing - but that wasn’t really much of a surprise as MyChem’s support acts always seemed to pair well with the main band themselves. Then the main event happened; the lights went down, the curtain at the back dropped to reveal the staging and… Boom. The cheers were almost deafening as the guys came on stage and only got louder as the first notes played. Much like Gerard had, not promised per se but had said, you got a bit of a shout out for your favourite song. And he stopped just before Disenchanted to make a comment about “well, we’ve been told by almost everyone else that putting this next one on the album was a good idea. Everyone say thank you Mikey Way.” And the crowd echoed back; “Thank you Mikey!” MyChem were incredible obviously. They always were. And major props to the lighting techs, who properly spotlighted each of the guys at the best times; Ray during the opening of Disenchanted for example, Frank during his best solos (you swore he winked at you during one of those and you’d put good money on the fact that you probably blushed). The show must’ve gone relatively smoothly because you didn’t see the Tour Manager come down to help out with anything, until the encore started. That’s when she appeared down in front of that first barrier. She stopped to check in with you, squeezing your hand before heading down the line to check in with the security guards. The encore finished, the band took a bow and Gerard told the crowd to get home safe before they left the stage, the lights coming on not long later. You decided to wait a few minutes to let some of the people behind you head out first before heading outside yourself. When you got home, you sent the band’s official account a quick message, like you promised and then decided to upload some photos from the evening; just one or two for now. One of you and the whole band, the slightly silly selfie you’d taken with Shelly and one or two you’d taken while the band were performing. You tapped your chin for a moment before typing out a caption, making sure to tag any appropriate accounts; Best night of my life! Massive thank you to not only the guys but also Shelly for taking care of me and giving me this amazing opportunity. I'll never be the same after tonight and I am very much okay with that  - I promise!

[hyunsuks-beanie]

Come With Me

Culinary major! Soobin x food vlogger! reader; just some teeth rotting fluff

Word Count: 3.35k words

Mellow speaks: So I finally completed this long overdue and super fun request!!! Honestly, writing this was just so amazing, and I kinda drew Y/N based on my own self, so I hope you enjoy reading it!!

Rushing into his apartment, Soobin didn't waste a single minute in discarding his bag on the floor, rushing towards his laptop and turning it on. As the screen booted, the final-year culinary major prayed to the gods for the livestream to not have started yet. The winner of the contest from last month was to be announced at the beginning of the stream, and even though Soobin didn't have any hopes of him winning, he couldn't help the tiny voice at the back of his head saying, "What if?."

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a voice, sweet and velvety as always. There you were, on his screen, the biggest of smiles plastered on your face, making him feel warm all over. Y/N L/N, his favorite food vlogger in the world, ready to start another livestream. Soobin had always been more of a silent supporter, his introverted self being too shy to even post a comment under any of your videos, partly because you had a habit of replying to as many of those comments as possible, and he knew for a fact that he would combust on the spot if you were to ever reply to his praises of you.

You see, he greatly admired your love for food and your wanderlust. He was also a great fan of the way you spoke, and the way you articulated your ideas and thoughts. Truth be told, he genuinely liked you, and not just your voyager self. Watching your videos over the years, he had found himself developing a small crush on you, knowing full well that it was probably just him being starstruck. So, gathering all the bravery he had, the boy had finally pressed "Send" on the application form for the competition on the last day, after contemplating it for God knows how long.

There had been only one question on the form, asking respondents to describe what food meant to them. A smile had graced Soobin's lips as you answered it, pouring in his most sincere thoughts on everything culinary. What had pushed him to participate, you ask? It had been the prize, of course. A chance to hang out with none other than you yourself, through a one-on-one video call. He had always wanted to see you in person, to tell you how much your vlogs meant to him. How they had helped discover his own love for food, had helped him find his happiness in the kitchen.

And that had brought him to right now, biting on his fingernails as he listened to your regular introduction, one that he knew by heart and repeated after you, subconsciously. "Hey my food-holics! How are all of you doing today? Hale and hearty, I hope!," you said, following up quickly with a brief overview of the contest, before announcing the winner, as Soobin waited with bated breath. "All your answers were amazing, and I could relate to so many of them! It really sucks that we can only have one winner, since you're all winners to me!," you smiled, and he caught himself copying your expression. "So now, the winner of the contest, and the person who gets to be my new friend, is @aglio_olive!!," you exclaimed, clapping your hands as your eyes crinkled up in joy.

The fact that you had just announced him as the winner of registered belatedly, as Soobin was busy gushing over how adorable you had looked while clapping. He felt his mouth drop open, finding it hard to focus on what you said next. "I'll be contacting you via email shortly," you had said, and that was all it took for the rest of the livestream to go by in a blur for him, as he waited for your mail, checking and re-checking his inbox every two minutes. But it wasn't until the next day that he finally received what he had been peeling his eyes out for. An email from your official account (or that's what he figured), informing him that the meeting would take place on the coming Saturday, at 6:00 pm. Now all he had to do was wait three days, but it was easier said than done.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Soobin was equal parts bubbling with excitement and panicking with nerves. Reluctant to trust his own fashion choices, he had called over his best friend, Yeonjun, hoping to get some much needed guidance. "Should I wear this suit? Or will simple tracks be better?," he had asked, making the older boy shake his head as he patted him on the back. "My friend, Y/N's neither your professor, nor your friend. You're meeting them for the first time, so why don't you just wear something comfortable, that would make them feel at ease too?," he smirks, throwing a plain blue hoodie his way.

As the clock struck 6:00, Soobin found himself seated at his study table, ready to start the meeting. He had even prepared cue cards to help him if he got stuck, and they were propped conveniently next to the laptop. He reached out for them, but just at that moment, his screen came alive with someone waving at him with a smile on their face. Awestruck, he simply waved back, too tongue-tied to say anything. "Wow," he thought to himself, "They look so much better without makeup." A couple seconds later, a new kind of panic set in. "Am I staring too hard? Is it creepy? Should I look down? No but I need to keep eye contact!"

Little did he know, you were having similar, if not identical thoughts. "Wow, no one told me he was gonna be this cute. Blue suits him so well! I'm no staring, am I? Should I speak first? Or should I wait for him to say something?" This finally resulted in the both of you speaking at the same time, something you would later smile about. Because saying "How are you? I'm Soobin," and "I'm Y/N! How are you?," helped you crack into laughter, breaking the ice and easing the awkwardness. Once you had gotten past the niceties, it was time to get to know each other better. The cue cards lay unused, as Soobin just spoke about whatever came to mind, praising your vlogs and thanking you for teaching him more about cuisines. You, on the other hand, took the time to get to know him better, asking him questions about what it was like to study culinary science, something you had never gotten the chance to do.

The hour-long virtual meeting flew by in the blink of an eye, or so it seemed to the both of you. Talking to you, Soobin didn't once feel that you were a stranger or that he was just a fan. You seemed like a genuine and warm person to him that he couldn't help but admire you even more than he did before. To him, somewhere during the meeting, you stopped seeming like a famous vlogger anymore, and instead, all he saw you as was a friend. You, on the other hand, had made up your mind about him being the most interesting person you had ever met, and couldn't stop a sad sigh from escaping your lips as you looked at the time. "Well, Soobin. It's been a pleasure meeting you," you had said, making him smile wistfully.

The moment he had logged out of the meeting, he found himself missing you. He thought back on how nice you had been, smiling when he pictured your face, your hair slightly messy but not too unkempt, an oversized hoodie thrown over your body. To him, it had honestly felt like he was conversing with a friend, and he couldn't bring himself to let such an amazing person walk out of his life. So, without thinking, he began typing out an email to your account, his finger hovering just above the "Send" button. He stopped short though, realizing that your official account wasn't meant for personal mails, and realizing that he had no other means to contact you. Pouting, he fell face-first onto the bed, his energy going down all of a sudden.

He woke up to a "ping," indicating an email on his phone. Unlocking it, he noticed a mail from an account he had never contacted before. Clueless, he clicked on it, the phone nearly falling out of his hand as he read through it. It had been you, after all, reaching out to him through your personal account, and telling him that you had loved talking to him, and would like to be his friend. And thus began the most beautiful friendship either of you had ever forged, full of memories even though you hadn't met each other.

Late night video chats and good morning calls became a ritual, and Soobin found himself busily typing away on his phone every free second he got. You told him all about your escapades and trips, sending him photos and urging him to try cooking whatever you ate and whatever you liked. He, on the other hand, would teach you to cook, sending you tips and giving you suggestions on what to eat. Food was an intergalactic part of the relation you shared, but it was far from being the only thing.

When things got hard for him, you were there to push him towards his dream, reminding him day in and day out that he would have to give in his all to achieve it. "You'll be the greatest chef one day, Soob," you'd giggle, causing him to let out a whine as he said, "How would you know? You haven't even tasted my cooking yet!" He too, was there to provide you a taste of what it felt like to be grounded to one place, to have everything you wanted right next to you. He was there for you to cry to when someone posted a nasty comment under you video, and he was there to virtually feed you when you missed a home-cooked meal. Inside jokes became a thing, as did bitching about classmates and complaining about managers.

Over time, your friendship started blossoming into something more, as Soobin found himself catching feelings, real feelings, for you. The way you smiled, the way you would bite your nails just like him as you went through what people had to say about your videos, the way you cracked stupid jokes and laughed at them alone, he found himself loving them all. He had given his heart out to you, and he didn't want to take it back. You, meanwhile, had been a bit more careful of your feelings, wary of harboring any hopes for a long-distance relationship. But over time, you too, found yourself drowning into the oceans that were his eyes, watching the way his lips moved through the screen, imagining them on yours. Over time, you too, felt your feelings grow, but being your stubborn self, you didn't act on them.

Days turned into months, and soon enough, you were keeping Soobin company through his late night study sessions, talking to him in the hopes of keeping him awake. Helping him prepare flashcards, and letting him teach you a full four-course meal so that he could practice for his practical exams. "What are you gonna do once you graduate?," became a regular question you posed towards him, and every time, it was the same reply. "I don't know yet, Y/N. I want to do something like you. I want to travel the world and learn about different cuisines first-hand."

As Soobin's exams drew nearer, you found yourself bring just as worried as he was, worried about how he'd fare in the examinations, worried about what he'll do when he gets his degree. But keeping your concerns aside, you did your best to push him to do his best, study that last chapter, practice that last technique, memorize that last recipe. "I just wanna sleep, Y/N," he'd whine, only to have you let out a giggle at how adorable he looked. "It's for your own good, bub," you'd reply, your smile somehow managing to give him the strength to put in just a little extra effort.

Seeing him work so hard, you couldn't help but want to give him a surprise by congratulating him in person when he graduated. So, you decided to plan a trip to Seoul, shooting a film vlog just an excuse to finally meet your closest friend, and the person you had a crush on. You had initially wanred to keep the plan a secret, but soon realized what a waste it would be to not use it to your advantage. And so started your ingenious way of getting Soobin to hit the books. "I'm coming to Seoul after your exams, but I'll meet you only if you put in all your effort," you'd tell him, repeating it like a mantra day in and day out.

In response, the boy would pout and whine about how he "hated" you, but started putting in double the effort, just to make you proud. Your tactic seemed to work, but Soobin was still nervous. Nor about the theory, but about the practical exams. "What if I don't do well on the exam? It happens all the time on Masterchef," he said one day, looking into your eyes as you attempted to calm him down. "I know you'll nail it, Binnie," you replied, smiling at him through the screen. "Just think about what makes you happy while you cook, and you'll be good to go." As if on a whim, Soobin muttered out a soft, "You," causing your breath to hitch as you asked him to repeat. "You make me happy," he said again, looking down as he felt his cheeks growing warm. You couldn't help but smile at his sudden confession, sending a virtual kiss his way. "Now go study, you idiot," you giggled, proceeding to tell him about your day as he pored over his books.

The day of his practical exam rolled by, and as you had said, Soobin decided to cook while thinking of something that made him happy. He thought back on the day when you had told him about a delicacy from a city you had visited, and had convinced him to teach you how to make it. The memory alone made a smile appear on his lips, reminding him of how happy the two of you were. And so, that's what he cooked, passing his exam with flying colors. He was so happy he could have kissed you if you were there, and he told you that, causing a laugh to escape your lips. "I'll be there soon," was all you said, fighting to control your excitement.

Soobin passed with flying colors, earning his degree fair and square. And the one person he wanted to thank for it, was you. As you had promised him, a week later found you roaming the streets of Seoul, as you hurriedly made your way towards his college, ready to finally meet him at his convocation. Climbing up the stage to accept his degree, his eyes were busy scanning the crowds, eager to see your face. When he couldn't find you, however, he felt his smile falter, as he took in a gulp.

"Where are you Y/N?," he thought to himself, hand itching to check his phone that was lying in his back pocket. You had told him you'd be here on time, so then, where were you? Just as he feels himself falling deeper into his thoughts, he (like everyone else in the hall) hears footsteps running down the corridor, finally revealing you standing at the entrance, out of breath and with a huge smile stretching across your face. "You're here," he mouthed, his smile matching yours, as you replied with a simple nod and a "Congratulations," your eyes brimming with tears of joy for the boy.

Accepting his degree, Soobin walked off the stage to sit with his classmates, eyes meeting yours every so often as he tried to fight the urge to rush to you and hug you. Once the ceremony ended, neither of you wasted a second in finding each other, throwing yourselves into a hug long overdue. It didn't feel weird as you snuggled your face into his convocation robe, and it didn't feel weird as he did the same into your hair. Pulling away, you just couldn't hide the smiles that threatened to take over your entire face, taking each other's hand as Soobin left you to his parents. "Mom, Dad, this is my friend Y/N," he introduced, and his mom didn't miss the spark in her son's eyes as he looked at you.

Once you were done with the niceties, the two of you made your way out into the city once Soobin had handed his robe over to his mom. Walking the streets with him, with you cracking jokes and him pointing out tourist sights to you, you felt something you had never felt, no matter how many cities you visited. A sense of comfort, a sense of belonging. You felt like you were home for the first time in ages, and it was all because of the guy walking next to you. As if on a whim, you whipped out your video-camera, switching it on and turning it to yourself. Soobin belatedly realized what you were doing, when he heard you recite you introduction. Looking at you in shock, he felt his mouth fall open as he heard you say the words, "Friend," "Soobin," "Featuring," "Guide," in quick succession, piecing the sentence together in his brain.

"Y/N! What are you doing??," he whined, looking down to hide his face. "Awww Soobinnie is shy!!! Sorry guys, it's his first time," you cooed, a giggle escaping your lips as you turned your camera off, trying to convince him to feature in your vlog. "But I won't know what to say!!," he retorted, making you snicker. "Just take me out to eat somewhere tell, and tell the camera why you like the place you like and the food you like. It's not that hard!," you replied, and after much convincing (and some borderline begging), he finally agreed.

He showed you all his favorite eateries and restaurants, gawking at the insane discounts you got him, and just enjoying watching you eat in person, sharing his food. By the time evening rolled out, the two of you were full to your throats, looking out over the river from the bridge. "Thank you Y/N," Soobin said, turning to look at you. "For today, and for everyday. For being there for me, and for being the best friend I have ever had, and more." "Thank you too, Soob," you replied, your eyes stinging as you looked up at him. "Thank you for making me feel at home. Thank you for becoming my home." You hadn't noticed just how close your faces had become, both of you having leaned in subconsciously. Finally, Soobin closed the gap, your lips meeting his in a kiss that's full of the pent-up love and emotions.

His lips were soft against yours, molding with yours like two pieces of the same puzzle. Pulling away, a smile graced your lips as you looked up at him shyly, whispering an "I like you," causing him to repeat your words and adding a "too," cheeks rising up in a smile. Biting you bottom lip, you say, "Come with me," making him tilt his head in confusion. "You said you wanted to be like me. To learn about cuisines first-hand. Then come with me. I don't want to be away from you, I want to be with you 24/7, and not virtually. I want to talk to you in person, to hug you, to kiss you." You notice his smile growing wider, and so you ask, "So, what do you say?," as he replies by placing his lips back on yours.

[andypantsx3]

subtle | 2 | Shouto Todoroki/Reader

pairing: Todoroki Shouto / Reader

status: complete

length: 2,265 words

summary: Someone leaves chocolates on your desk. You’re determined to track down the sender, certain it’s a mistake, and Shouto Todoroki makes himself as unhelpful as possible.

tags: romance, reader-insert, fluff, valentine’s day

warnings: aged up characters (no smut though!!)

notes: Hi all! Happy Valentine's Day! I'm posting a follow up chapter because so many people asked for it in my inbox. It's completely unedited because I just decided to write it today, and I wanted to get it up before the holiday was over! I promise I will come back and edit at some point in the next few weeks.

No one had come for the box.

You’d made a point to be out of your office as much as possible throughout the day, leaving plenty of opportunity for whoever the sender was to sneak back in and correct their mistake. But every time you reentered the room, there the box was, crowning a pile of your paperwork like a coronet of ineptitude.

You’d checked in with Shouto several times as well, anxious to learn whether or not he’d overheard anything as he changed out of his uniform from patrol, but he proved just as unhelpful as he’d been earlier this morning. He simply leaned towards you, looking almost conspiratorial--spiking both your heart rate and your hopes--only for him to murmur in his low voice, “No one is coming for it.”

Which was so fucking unhelpful.

So you’d set about the office yourself, lingering hopefully on the fringes of people’s conversations, peering about for clues on the agency staffer’s desks, but there was nothing to give the sender away, no whispered snippet of conversation or receipt laying amongst some expense sheets. You might have resorted to sifting through people’s garbage cans, if only Shouto hadn’t taken to suddenly appearing wherever you were investigating, watching you with a wry little smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

You knew he hadn’t the slightest modicum of romantic interest in you, but that didn’t mean you wanted him to witness you digging through people’s garbage either. That would have to wait until you could get him out of the building.

Which was also proving to be an impossible endeavor. He usually had a habit of lingering after his shift, coming into your office to make queries about one thing or another that almost always devolved into conversations deeply unrelated to work. But today he was especially resistant to leaving, seeming content to lounge around in the chairs you’d set out for clients, draping one distractingly muscled arm across the backs and watching you intently with those heterochromatic eyes.

“Shouto, get out of my office,” you hissed, coming back in at the end of the day to find him still in one of the chairs, his phone clutched in those long fingers.

He glanced up at you, eyes fastening to your features in that attentive way he had. “I work here.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” you asked, trying to suppress a small spike of irritation with him. “Because it looks like you’re scaring off the box sender to me. How are they supposed to sneak in here and take it back if their boss is looming in here like their worst nightmare?”

Shouto looked unconcerned. “I’m not.”

“Not what?” you asked. Maybe he wasn’t their worst nightmare, but being caught by your boss in the middle of correcting a romantic mishap was probably at least a nightmare.

“Not scaring anyone off,” he said, putting his phone away into his pocket. “I know who the box belongs to.”

You stopped short, your attention snapping fully towards him. A thrill of excitement went down your spine, even as regret poured through you. A little part of you had maybe hoped you would end up getting to eat the chocolates, even if they weren’t yours. But this was good news.

“You do? Why didn’t you tell me?” you demanded.

Yor feet guided you to the chair where he sat, and you stood, looking down at him expectantly. He watched you through his long lashes, eyes glinting strangely.

“It’s mine,” he said finally, after a moment that stretched long and slow, like warm taffy.

Your breath caught in your chest, a swell of confusion rising within you. The box was his?

Was he being truthful or was this another attempt to make you take it? Why would he have tried to make you think it was from a secret admirer, then? Why have let you run around all day, attempting to find the sender, if the chocolates had been his all along? Unless...

Unless he was embarrassed. You didn’t know why he might have left them in your office, but you suspected maybe force of habit had drawn him here. Maybe he was operating on autopilot after his distracting shift this morning, since he usually spent so much time in your office, and then you’d come in to find them before he’d had a chance to realize it. And the rest had been history.

But then that begged the question of who he’d really meant them for--your heart sank as the thought occurred to you.

Obviously, you had known since you’d first met him that he wasn’t interested in you. You’d spent years with your thoughts all muddled around him, quelling every blush, never straying into his personal space or staring at him longer than was appropriate. You’d been so, so careful around him, but you’d never had any indication that Shouto was as careful around you. On the contrary, he was always calm and intent--he never looked away from you in a fit of bashfulness the way you had him, and he seemed to have no qualms about getting into your personal space, leaning over you as you looked through reports together, putting a hand on your back to guide you through publicity events.

So yeah, you had known he was basically immune to you. You had known it for a long time. But it still smarted to think of him giving that box to someone else.

God, how embarrassing for you. How mortifying, really, that Shouto had been thinking of someone else all those days that you had been nursing your crush on him.

But you were a professional, you could deal with this.

All you had to do was play it cool, give him back the box and laugh it off like it hardly affected you. And then you could head back to your apartment and binge ice cream and be all wistful and embarrassing for one evening. You could allow yourself that before you had to come back and be doubly professional, smile and congratulate whichever analyst or support staffer or fellow hero had caught his interest.

You could be happy for him. You’d miss the chocolates though.

Drawing yourself together, you looked down at him, pulling out a small but genuine smile. Shouto was your friend, and he was going to nail it with whoever the box was meant for--you could give him your support. But then Shouto was unfolding himself out of the chair, standing up so he could look down into your face, taking a step closer to you.

You tried to ignore the flutter in your stomach at his sudden proximity, the hint of his clean cologne and the lick of warmth coming off of his left side.

“They’re, uh, they’re yours?” you managed, forcing yourself to meet his eyes. “You are in such big trouble for coming in here and peddling conspiracy theories instead of owning up to it. You at least owe me a coffee for being such a brat.”

Shouto watched you quietly, saying nothing.

“But we can hash that out later,” you said, waving what you hoped was a casual hand at him. “You need to move quickly. You should try to catch whoever you meant these for before they leave--daytime shift is over in a couple minutes.”

Shouto’s brows knitted, a small frown pulling at his mouth. “You still think they’re not for you,” he said.

It took a minute for you to register the words he’d spoken. The comment struck you dumb when you did, a thrill of disbelief going through you. Was he trying to be tactful now? Now, of all times?

“Shouto, seriously, you can make it up to me later. This is not the time to fuck around, the day’s almost over,” you said.

His eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to you, close enough that you could feel him exhale. You took a step back in surprise, your hip bumping your desk.

“You promised me,” he said in his deep voice, “that if no one came looking for them by the end of the day, you would take them.”

You stared up at him, your mind churning wildly with all kinds of insane thoughts, wild insinuations that brought heat to your face. He absolutely could not mean what you thought he meant.

There was literally no way.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say,” you admitted. “But if you’re telling me I can take them just because you promised them, I don’t want them. I think you should give them to who you meant them for.”

That wry little smile played about his mouth again, and Shouto took another step closer. The back of your thighs dug into your desk and you wobbled, putting a hand down to keep your balance.

“To think I trust you with my career,” Shouto intoned, ducking his head to look into your face. You felt the heat of his left arm at your side as he placed it gently on your desk, caging you in. “Let me be plain, then. I did give them to who they were meant for.”

Your cheeks went hot, both with his proximity and the implied insult. But the rejoinder died on your tongue as the implication of his last few words sank in.

He had meant them for you? Shouto Todoroki, number four hero, your coworker of several years and your most patient, attentive, and mind-numbingly handsome friend, had gone to Grégoire Chardin, for Valentine’s Day chocolate, thinking--of all people--of you?

For a moment, it felt like the earth was sliding out from under your feet, but then you realized it was just you, tipping backwards on your desk. Your elbow banged into the side of the chocolate box, and you accidentally sent a small pile of papers fluttering over the side of your desk. You cringed, embarrassed, but then Shouto was over you, both arms braced on either side of your head.

“You don’t need to accept them if you don’t want,” he said quietly, watching your face. The intensity of his focus made your head swim, and you tried to focus on what he was saying, rather than the shape of his mouth as he spoke, the heat from his skin. “But I wanted you to know. I like you.”

You gaped at him, the words feeling like they were embedding themselves in your brain.

“You...like me?” you echoed in disbelief.

Shouto grinned, the expression so disarmingly charming that even your nose went hot. “Yes. Very much.”

A swell of emotions welled up inside you, like the unstoppable tide of a coastal flood, and you were gripped with the sudden desire to lean up and kiss him, to press your mouth to his and see if he meant it, if any of what he’d just said to you could possibly be real. Suddenly, that was the only thought in your entire brain.

“I’m gonna kiss you,” you heard yourself utter stupidly.

You hesitated for just a second, realizing that maybe you should pinch yourself first to see if this was actually happening, but then Shouto was already there, covering your mouth with his.

His kiss was hot and soft and utterly perfect, and very quickly there were no thoughts in your brain at all, nothing but the feel of him over you, one muscled thigh pressing insistently between yours, his long fingers tangling gently in the hair behind your ear. You clutched him to you tightly, an embarrassing little sound escaping you, and Shouto groaned, pressing more of his weight down on you, licking firmly into your mouth.

You were half-delirious with the feeling of him by the time he let you up for air, and you could feel yourself grinning like an absolute fool.

“I had a secret admirer,” you said. “You were being serious.”

Shouto smirked, leaning in to press a hot kiss to your throat. Your thighs clenched involuntarily. “Yes, I had been secretly admiring you for a while.”

For some reason, the words embarrassed you, and you tucked your face into his broad shoulder. “I...this is so embarrassing. I’ve been...admiring you, too.”

You heard Shouto huff a soft laugh, and then his calloused fingers were gripping your chin, angling your face back towards him so he could seize your mouth again. You went slack and pliant underneath him, enjoying the press of his mouth on yours, your toes curling when he did something particularly talented with his tongue.

“I did tell you,” Shouto said after a while, pulling back, one of his hands gripping your thigh.

“Tell me what?” you asked absently, wondering how you could get his mouth on yours again.

His eyes caught yours, the blue of his left glittering at you conspiratorially. “That I could be subtle.”

You laughed, feeling stupid--but more than that, flushed and completely pleased. You didn’t know if subtle was exactly the right word, but you weren’t going to argue specifics at the moment. “I guess you can be. Though you might have been a little bit more overt before now.”

“Then if you don’t mind,” Shouto said after a while, something like amusement in his voice, “I’d like to take you home and admire you quite overtly now.”

You were answering before he could even finish. “Yes, oh my god, yes.”

Shouto laughed again, smoothing a large palm down your side.

And then he did. And not even chocolates from Grégoire Chardin could compare.