#i am the best horror author lmao

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

I uhh… I that naga story awakened something in me when you were describing the readers friends being digested.

[enidtendo64]

I just finished Wednesday today and I'm full on the wenclair ship!!!! so I'm glad to have seen your art just as I'm done lmao. if you read wenclair fics do you have any recommendations?

OOOOH Okay nice nice!!!

I'm so sorry this is so late but I hope you still want some recs, bc I def got some for you! I tried to keep these pretty succinct and not too many bc a lot of these are pretty long reads but these are some of my fav Wenclair fics to read and reread! I made sure to put different types/genres of fics in here too so there's a diverse list of flavors on here! Most will be complete but I'll throw in some WIPs i've been keeping an eye on!

If We Make It Through December by overnights: If you love FLUFF and Enid interacting with the Addams Fam! A wenclair STAPLE tbh, fake dating, Enid being invited to the Addams Mansion, and CHRISTMAS fic all in one! The dynamics between the Addams and Enid are always sweet, and Wednesday and Enid just teeter on that close friendship to oh, maybe it's love??? thing and it's so sweet to see. It's just very lovely and wholesome! A great execution of that 'fake dating but oops you were in love all along haha' trope!

Magus et Lupus by wigglewyrms: Ok like I had to rep one of my pals in here but in my defense this is genuinely so good and one of my favorite wenclair fics before we even became friends! It's a fun fantasy Wenclair with dialogue that's just so fun and snappy and witty! You're gonna have fun reading their conversations and then you're gonna get caught up into the world and the story! The plot is very fun and the end is a very fun payoff! I think I might have overused the word fun a lot for this fic but like that's just what this fic is--It's entertaining, it's engaging, and it makes you feel like you're having fun reading wanting to know what's next or what's this person gonna say or etc. It's a fic you read and you feel good! 100% Recommend! I even drew art for it if you're interested (which I should honestly repost on here soon)

I'd recommend their other stuff too-- Stubborn, Single Minded, and Obsessive is great if you like the slasher horror genre with a dash of Addams Family Values Lore, and their most recent one that's a WIP, When The Moon Shines Red is a very fun fic focused on Enid's werewolfisms but dangerous, with a very sweet friendship to relationship evolution between Enid and Wednesday!

i know the end by thriftedstars: If you're an angst lover like I am, you're gonna LOOOOVE this! A sort of groundhog's day type of fic, it focuses on the day of the last episode of the first season--Enid, Wednesday, Tyler, Crackstone, all that entails in that night. It's a really fun read just to know what happens next and how Enid gets out of the situation but also to see the girls' relationship grow in this terrible situation. Lots of emotion! Listen sometimes you just need the hurt for the ending to be sweeter! Recommend wholeheartedly!

curtain call by hanjisgirlfriend: on the complete opposite side of the last fic, Curtain Call is an enemies to friends to lovers Wenclair that does an amazing job of capturing that kind of high school love story kind of vibe but like also a dash of youthful nostalgia. It gives me the same vibe of like, if I was listening to the Kids album by Mac Miller--They're kids and they're friends and they're growing up and they're growing up together. I HIGHLY recommend as well, like it genuinely makes my heart lighter thinking about how sweet this is.

raven in the den, wolf in the nest by Barbara_Lazuli: So you might be familiar with the author's name--Artist, Comic maker, Writer, literally what CAN'T she do!!! This fic is another fake dating fic but a different flavor from the first one! This one really dives into both Enid and Wednesday's relationships with their mothers, as well as the building feelings they already have for each other. Their bond in this fic is nothing short of sweet and heartwarming, and I genuinely think this is one of the best fics in the tag! Just got so much substance! Also all the Addams family media references and the Loona refs-- like Barb if you read this you're a champ for making Wednesday play Sonatine and also listen to Hula Hoop and just for making this in general????? Seriously how are you so talented bro

queen of the night by heyfools: Look, a flower shop AU hits okay? And this? THIS HITS. Wednesday is an owner of a flower shop, Enid needs a job, and we know where this is going. But man the way you get to know both characters a little more--their histories, traumas, likes and dislikes and their personalities beyond "appropriately polite cowoke" (well, polite for Enid, not so much Wednesday at first) it's soooooo good! You have a journey along with the characters and you really get invested in their relationship! A great read, especially if you wanna read something like in the afternoon light with a nice lemonade maybe, or like just a very relaxing fun read!

Forged in Blood by RiseAboveTheAshes_203: Okay so this one is a HEAVY HITTER! We're getting into the big bois! It's a 100k fic about Wednesday and Enid basically dealing with the consequences of Enid becoming a blood wolf-- and bro you are seated, belted, strapped into the ride every step because PHEWWWW what a RIDE! It has really interesting lore building upon werewolf society in the show and also witchery and magic from the Addams family. And all of that is great and amazing but the real star of this is just Wednesday and Enid being Wednesday and Enid--they are DEVOTED to each other! Even if they don't quite understand the full means of it yet, and if it gets them in trouble sometimes. It's amazing to see their relationship grow and them understand what they truly mean to one another and it's a captivating love story that also happens to have fun world building for the show and amazing moments that just leave you so tense to know what happens next! I was so tuned in when this was still a WIP I remember refreshing the tag every lunch time for a while for a chapter I was HOOKED, and I'm sure you will be too!

A Kidnapping By Any Other Name by Ravenmoon33: So bear with me this is gonna be a long one; Ok! So this is the other WIP I've put in here (aside from When The Moon Shines Red) and let me tell you--this fic changed my life fr. Some TLDR lore about it tho--the version I linked above there is a revised version! They have an old version they still have up on their account and honestly I also HIGHLY recommend that version too bc it had me in bed giggling kicking my feet like ROMANCE. ROMANCE WAS MADE in these ao3 walls!!! (The flower scene???? No spoilers if you know you know but OOOOOOOOGGHHHH I would not shut up about it for WEEKS Im so sorry to my friends and my poor gf) but I also highly recommend the new version as well! If you've read the first version and are keeping up with the new version, the new things are also so good and you can tell the author is so locked in and excited with what they've added and what they've changed, I honestly recommend both;

So onto what it's actually about-- Enid is "kidnapped" by Wednesday and is "forced" to stay at her best friend's mansion for the summer. And you know what happens? LORE. So much worldbuilding on Addams family lore like it's AMAZING!!! You read about new characters the family past and what it means for Wednesday and Enid, and if that's not enough, there's also the MYSTERY aspect too because Weds and Enid will have to deep dive into that lore to figure out a problem in the present and it's so much FUN to like try to figure out how things go together! I love that aspect of both the versions so much that it's only rivaled by my immense love of how everyone's relationships are written! Enid's relationships with the other members of the Addams fam, especially Morticia, is so healing and heartwarming, and we see Wednesday's different dynamics with her family and how Enid affects her and helps her grow and you see those relationships with her family members grow because of it! And of course, the obvious, Wednesday and Enid basically having a love story for the ages cause JESUS, this is ROMANCE. Wednesday BIG FUCKING ROMANTIC Addams!!! It's amazing omg I wanna say more but I also don't bc I don't wanna spoil but I absolutely cannot rec it enough, even if it stays unfinished it will still be genuinely one of the best wenclair fics for me.

Tumultuous Waters: Wednesday Season Two by KrackenoftheDeep: So we're here at the last one. I didn't really list these fics out in specific order but I did save this specific one for last bc I genuinely think this is my favorite Wednesday fic. This is like a full ass season 2! It's a telling of how season 2 could happen, continuing from season 1 and picking up the ball the first season threw with stuff about the Morning Song cult, a deeper dive of Crackstone and Goody, more worldbuilding about the outcasts and the school, and best of all-- THE Wednesday and Enid dynamic that to me would be so fucking ideal for season 2 if Timothy Burton wasn't a COWARRD!!! /j /maybe

The growth Enid and Wednesday have in this fic, along with the exploration of the other characters, more investigations not just by Wednesday but also the other nightshade members helping and getting involved as well! You really get to feel so many things for these characters, and all of that pays off in one of the most satisfying endings for me in a fic like the author really fucking knocked this out of the park I felt like giving a standing ovation!

I genuinely don't think the Wednesday writers could like, live up to this. At least for me, it's that good. This is everything I've ever wanted for a Wednesday s2 honestly and I honestly, HONESTLY could not recommend this enough.

And after you read this, you can follow along the author's sequel to this fic, The Infinite Black Sea: Wednesday Season 3. Again, also highly recommend! A new mystery afoot!!!

I'm so sorry I didn't expect this to get super long but sometimes you just gotta give tens where tens are deserved!!! There are so many more great wenclair fics out there that deserve a reading and loving, like I know the tag can look a little scary sometimes but seriously there's some great gems there underneath all the scary stuff lol

These are just some of my personal favs, and honestly thank you to all the authors here yall are doing God's work fr!!!

[thefrogdalorian]

The Best of Both Worlds - Chapter Nine

Din Djarin x Female Reader Modern!AU

❁ Series Masterlist ❁ My Masterlist ❁ Read on AO3 ❁

Word Count: 9146 Rating: Teen Summary: Despite a messy evening which led to you waking up in an opulent hotel which you have no memory of falling asleep in, memories of kind brown eyes and breathless kisses soon come flooding back to soothe your soul. Your relationship deepens as the two of you spending time together whenever your busy schedules allow. But one night, a turn of events causes you - despite Din's reassurances - to wonder if everything you have been working so hard to build together has just come crashing down around you... Content Warnings: Alcohol consumption, description of hangovers, alcohol induced memory loss resulting in brief panic and some smooching! Author's Note: This was so much fun to write, although I am teetotal now so putting myself back into the headspace of being hungover was kind of weird. I've never woken up in just a swimsuit, though... although I did once fall asleep on a box of McNuggets which I found squashed under my pillow lmao. BUT more importantly, our dear reader finally has her own nickname. Hope it was worth the wait! Also completely unintentionally, releasing this almost coincided with Lunar New Year which is fitting given some events in this chapter hehe. It's the Year of the Dragon which is meant to be very lucky! Happy New Year! 🐲 Hope you enjoyed this one. Reader and Din's relationship is really starting to develop now and I'm excited to continue editing and writing their story!

9. Have I Known You Twenty Seconds or Twenty Years? - (Reader's POV)

The first thing that alarmed you when your eyes fluttered open was not the pounding in your head, nor your adverse reaction to the light that was streaming in from a curtain that had not been closed fully. No, it was the sheer luxuriousness of your surroundings. The hotel room was unlike anything you had ever seen before. How did you end up here? The furnishings, like the opulent chandelier in your room and the sheer scale of your bed – which was far too big for one person, an entire family could have fitted into it – made you feel intensely out of your depth. 

Then, you lifted the soft sheets that were covering you and peered down to ascertain your state of undress. The jolt of anxiety that was sent straight to your stomach when you saw what you were wearing almost sent you sprinting to the toilet because of how shocking it was, but mercifully, the sensation quickly passed. Somehow, it seemed that you had woken up in an impossibly high-class hotel, the opulent surroundings were completely alien to you, and you had never before witnessed such an embarrassment of riches. 

And to your horror, you had woken up here dressed in nothing but a swimsuit. A garment that you had no memory of dressing in…

Amongst the panic, your mind started racing with questions. You attempted to move your head off the pillow but soon groaned and your head abruptly fell back onto the impossibly soft surface. That slight movement alone had sent an excruciating shock of pain shooting somewhere behind your eyes.

As you adjusted to the various sensations as your body gradually awakened, the next thing you noticed was how your mouth felt as though it had been viciously attacked by sandpaper. Combined with the bitter taste that lingered on your lips, it only indicated one culprit: alcohol. That explained your combination of symptoms and amnesia.

You lay there for a few moments and struggled to piece together the events of the previous evening, beginning with when Din had picked you up after work. You remembered that part perfectly clearly…

* * *

Noticing the unmistakable outline of your date, complete with his dark curly brown hair, immediately made you feel calmer as you stood at the top of the steps that led you out of the museum. You began descending the stone steps, heaving your overnight bag with you as you went, before you placed your bag and weary body down on the bench next to him.

“Hi, Din,” you smiled after you finally emerged from the stunning building you were lucky to work in and took your seat by his side. You tried your best to sound far happier than you were. The last thing you wanted to do was to worry the man who had promised to take you on another incredible date. 

It seemed as though Din had been quite happy to sit there and watch the world pass him by, looking on as visitors of all ages and nationalities filed out after another busy day at the museum. So much so, that he seemed a little taken aback by your sudden presence at his side. Fortunately, his expression soon brightened and his lips curved into a smile as he greeted you. You adored the way your name sounded when Din’s voice said it, the way his mouth moved around the syllables. 

Din noticed you staring at his mouth for a beat longer than was appropriate and as he leaned in, you realised that he had read your lingering gaze on his lips as a desire to be kissed. You weren’t one to refuse and you certainly welcomed his enthusiasm as you sighed contentedly when Din’s lips met yours. You couldn’t help but smile against his lips, still a little in disbelief that you got to kiss this ridiculously handsome man. It was the first genuine smile that had spread across your features all day. 

Then Din pulled away and you couldn’t help the way your face dropped back to the weary and drawn expression that you had been wearing when you sat next to Din on the bench. You averted your gaze nervously and played with the hem of your shirt, hoping that Din wouldn’t question your mood. The last thing you wanted to do was ruin the plans that he had made for the two of you. You felt Din shift next to you and you looked up at him, offering a weak smile in an attempt to reassure him. 

“Are you okay?” Din asked, the concern instantly apparent in his deep, rich voice. Despite your best effort to put on a brave face, it seemed that Din knew you well enough to notice that your smile did not quite reach your tired eyes. 

“I’m fine…” you sighed and then paused. You had vowed to be as honest as possible with Din, and you knew there was no point in putting yourself through something that you didn’t want to for the sake of pleasing him. You decided to be upfront about how difficult you had found work this week, hoping that he’d understand since he seemed to have an equally demanding job.

“It’s just been kind of a hard week with work. We’re a bit understaffed at the moment and one of the managers has been putting my team under a bit more pressure than I can handle currently,” you explained as you massaged the bridge of your nose with your thumb and forefinger.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Din offered, ��but I hope you’ll enjoy the evening I planned for us. I thought I could show you to my hotel and you could change there if you wish before we head out for dinner,” Din suggested, but you could not find it in yourself to pretend to be enthusiastic about sitting in a fancy restaurant that you would probably feel wildly out of place in. You sat there in silence, contemplating how to play it. You never wanted to lie to him, but would he accept your honesty or think you were rude?

Your inner turmoil had not gone unnoticed by the man at your side though, as before you could make a decision the comforting sound of Din’s deep voice was reverberating through your ear drums once again. 

“Unless there’s something else you’d rather do?” Din suggested, thankfully putting you out of your misery.

“Look, Din, to be honest with you: I had a terrible day,” you sighed. “I have no doubt that you have an incredible evening planned for me, but this entire week has been awful and I’m exhausted. I just… I would feel out of my depth at a fancy restaurant right now,” you admitted. The thought of pulling on fancy clothes to dine somewhere surrounded by snobs with pretentiously worded menus was causing you to feel more than a little queasy. 

“That’s completely fine with me. I’m sorry to hear you had a hard week, I don’t want to do anything that would push you out of your comfort zone,” Din said and you exhaled and visibly relaxed, all fears of disappointing him had vanished. 

“I would love to show you to this noodle bar around the corner. It isn’t fancy, no steaks wrapped in gold leaf or whatever, but it’s honestly amazing. I know the owners, they make the best dumplings and noodles you’ve ever tasted,” you suggested, hoping that Din was convinced. 

“That sounds excellent!” Din nodded enthusiastically. “Honestly, I'm not exactly at my most comfortable in places like that, either. I asked for a reservation there because I thought it was the proper thing to do when dating someone. Taking them somewhere fancy, you know.”

“Exactly! I think with the right person, you can take them anywhere and it feels like the best thing in the world. I had so much fun with you and Grogu on those stupid swings at the zoo a few weeks back, I think that’s far more ‘us’ than a fancy dinner,” you admitted and Din laughed at the memory. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I would have had fun and I’m flattered you thought of me for something like that. But I’m just far more comfortable in places I’m familiar with. I can’t stand pretentious menus either, why do things always have to be drizzled in or on a bed or something? At my noodle place, you just go in, give the numbers of what you want and that’s that. No fuss.”

“Well, that sounds very low effort and relaxing. Perfect,” Din smiled at you. Your insecurity proved to once again be unfounded. “I am in complete agreement with the pretentious food menus, by the way. I’ve been exposed to a lot of them in my uh… recent line of work. Before that, I just saw food as fuel and didn’t understand how people could get so caught up in it. And I still don’t to be honest.”

“Oh, good! You know, when I heard your background, I mean… When I first walked up to greet you at the museum I thought oh great, here’s another person with more money than sense, to rent out an entire museum that has free admission,” you admitted, amused by how wrong you had been. “I knew you were different, though… especially when I saw you with a baby. Well, at first I thought you were kind of selfish because he wouldn’t even remember it! But I get it now. I get you know. We’re far more alike than I first thought…”

“We really are. But we really need to communicate better, don’t we?” Din smirked. “It seems like we’re pretty similar in preferring a quiet life and also in not doing things by the book.”

“I think so,” you smiled, grateful to have found someone who was seemingly so on your wavelength. “You don’t need to do anything extravagant, expensive or fancy for me to have a good time with you, Din. I enjoy your company regardless.”

“Thank you, that means a lot. So, noodles?” Din said as he stood to his feet and reached for your hand, pulling you up off the bench and linking arms with her as the two of you walked down the London streets towards the noodle bar.

* * * 

Your head was still pounding, your vision blurry as the opulent surroundings seemed to be swimming around your head. At least you had remembered that it had always been the plan for Din to bring you here. He had offered to spend a couple of days with you in central London, in this luxurious hotel to treat you after a hectic week of work.

With that settled, you tried your best to focus on trying to recall the events of the previous night, but the dull ache made everything far too painful to concentrate on for too long. Your memories were hazy, but amongst the white-hot pain that was pulsing behind your eyes, you thought you began to recall some things…

You remembered kind brown eyes peering at you over a table filled with noodles and later, a stroll through a park. There was a taxi at some point and lots of giggling in a hot tub. That probably accounted for the swimsuit, at the very least. And then you remembered just how wasted you had been, all of the embarrassing things you had surely said to Din. The strings of syllables came flooding back to you, words and actions that made you cringe so much that it sent a stab of terror to your queasy stomach. 

At that moment, you wanted the ground to swallow you up, fantasising about the bed you were in falling through the floors of the hotel until it was swallowed up by a gigantic sinkhole that had magically appeared in the Earth’s crust. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Things were not going to be that easy. You were an adult, you had to sit here with the consequences of letting yourself get so wrapped up in the giddiness of the reality that you were dating Din and he was treating you to a stay in such a luxurious hotel. 

The shame came in droves, the questions assaulting your fragile head from all crevices of your pain. The anxiety was almost overwhelming. What must Din think of you? You groaned. And then you panicked. Had you and Din done anything the previous night? You were that wasted, you truly couldn’t remember. 

You wondered if he was suddenly regretting inviting you here, certain that you had made an idiot of yourself and that he was now remembering the age gap between the two of you. He was a father, after all. A man with his own life and responsibilities. In comparison, you were just an immature child.

You reached your trembling hand over to your phone which was thankfully right next to you on the dark wooden nightstand. Even though you knew she would likely be asleep, you needed to rant to Ria about what an idiot you were. She would surely offer you some sympathetic words and light teasing that would cheer you up. As you grabbed your phone, the harsh white light of the screen made you groan and recoil in pain at such a violent assault on your fragile senses. 

For some reason, seeing the picture of you with Mando on your lockscreen made you feel almost tearful. Memories of a happier time when you had pushed through your fears and resembled a functional human being. You wondered what Mando would think of your behaviour, he would surely be disappointed at your lack of control. Mando seemed so certain, so deliberate in his actions and always in absolute control. You groaned, it was ridiculous to feel bad for letting down a man who didn’t even exist when there was a man in the suite next door who was real and probably disgusted at you.

Before opening your messages, there was another app that you felt yourself incapable of avoiding. Despite fearing what you would find there, you couldn’t resist opening your camera roll and looking through your photos of the previous evening, hoping that they would absolve your tortured, anguished brain of any guilt and panic that Din hated you.

The photo that stood out to you the most sent real tears spilling down your cheeks, for the real man that you saw there. It was a photo of Din that you had snapped from across the table. The location was the tiny, cosy noodle bar where you had headed at your insistence. He looked so handsome, the warm glow of the lights bathing his dark features. Din’s brown eyes practically twinkled, even through the screen. 

It was then you noticed the culprit for your current state, right there on the table. It was a bottle of baijiu, that potent beverage which had caused your temporary amnesia. With its square shape, blue label and the colourless liquid inside, it almost looked like a bottle of medicine. It had not cured any ailments though, far from that.

You stared at the picture of Din some more. Then you remembered. Oh, you remembered. The conversation came flooding back to you in vivid detail…

* * *

A warm ache settled somewhere in your stomach. The bottle of baijiu was practically empty and it had evoked a warm, fuzzy feeling in you that your date appeared to also be experiencing. You and Din sat together in the noodle shop, giggling at whatever it was that had amused you so much. Whatever it was must have been pretty funny, given the way your ribs were aching. But you couldn’t remember… baijiu had a habit of making everything equally hilarious and forgettable in equal measure.

The lethal libation had been on the house. Mrs Lau, the owner of the shop who always greeted you with a smile whenever you visited after work, had placed the bottle on the table with two glasses when she realised one of her regulars was here on a date. She grinned and wished you much happiness together. The strong, Chinese rice wine had certainly helped the two of you lose your inhibitions slightly, as you sat there in the dim light of the small restaurant, both breathless after your latest fit of giggles. 

“Diiiiiiiiin,” you sighed. “You have such a pretty face, with those big brown eyes… it’s, like, unfair,” you whined, gazing at him adoringly as you grabbed his stubbly chin and cheeks with your hands.

You noticed the way Din’s cheeks grew hot underneath your touch as he looked down at the table, blushing furiously.

“Fuuuuuuck. I’m drunk,” you observed, eyes suddenly widening in horror at your predicament.

“You certainly are, sunflower,” Din sighed, then cleared his throat as though he had not meant to let that affectionate nickname slip.

“Sunflower?! My name isn’t sunflower!” You slurred, giggling loudly.

“No, but you remind me of one,” Din admitted, shyly bringing his hand to the back of his neck.

“Because I’m awkward and wobbly?” You said theatrically flailing your arms around.

“No. Because you’re vivid, bright and you stand tall, just like a sunflower,” Din smiled at you softly, but there was a seriousness, despite the intoxicating liquor, to those soulful brown eyes, too.

“Shit, you’re so cute,” you said, placing your hands on his cheeks and squeezing the flesh there between your thumb and forefingers, like one might do to a cute baby. Except Din Djarin was not a baby. He was a grown man, one that suddenly seemed concerned for your welfare.

“Maybe we should get some fresh air and perhaps a coffee before we head to the hotel?” Din suggested, grimacing slightly after the thorough pinching you had just given his cheeks.

“I’m fine!” You said, perhaps a little too quickly for Din’s liking.

“You just admitted you’re drunk!” Din laughed, folding his arms and rolling his eyes playfully.

“A bit,” you shrugged. Then you burped. Loudly. You clapped your hand over your mouth, eyes widening in horror at your lack of decorum before exclaiming “Excuse me!”

But Din just laughed at you again. He was probably silently wondering what he was going to do with you and maybe concerned at the optics of taking someone so drunk to such a high-class establishment as the hotel that he had booked for the two of you.

“Okay, okay. Maybe I do need that coffee,” you finally conceded.

“I think so,” Din agreed, raising an eyebrow at you. 

Din stood up from the table and settled the bill with Mrs Lau. Your head was swimming and the sounds felt a little distant, but you gathered that the owner of your favourite noodle spot seemed to approve of how handsome your date was. You smiled as you heard the two of them interact, Din thanking her for the drink… even though it had rendered his date a giggling and slurring, uncoordinated mess. 

You emerged into the fading light of the warm London night, blinking slightly as your eyes adjusted to being back outside and leaving the warm glow of the restaurant behind. You laced your arm through Din’s and rested your hand on his strong, muscular arm, smiling slightly. Somewhere, deep down, there was a self-aware part of you that realised that taking care of you in your intoxicated state was probably not how Din had envisioned the evening unfolding. But you couldn’t bring yourself to feel so guilty. You felt as though you were floating through the air, not just from the liquor but from the realisation that Din was all yours. He was so breathtakingly handsome and here he was, wanting to date you. It thrilled you, sending electricity pulsing throughout your body. The knowledge that this magnetic man was attracted to you, wanting to spend time with and treat you to luxurious overnight stays in fancy hotels was a heady prospect. One that you would never stop being grateful for.

The two of you strolled through the quiet, residential North London streets, your overnight bag slung over Din’s shoulder as he insisted on carrying it, ever the gentleman he was. It was a warm summer evening and there were a few people around, enjoying their Friday evening in the city. But this was not the hustle and bustle of central London and it was pleasantly busy, rather than being overwhelming. 

Eventually, you came to a large park with plenty of space. There was a food truck still open and Din went to get you a coffee, to help you to sober up as you took a seat on an available bench, swaying slightly and grateful not to be weighed down by your bag as you wandered to the bench on unsteady legs. You looked around and waited for Din to bring the dark brown caffeinated liquid that would hopefully go some way to sobering you up…

* * *

A firm, even knocking sound at the door brought you back to the present. 

Mercifully, you did not have to torture yourself over what Din thought of you for too much longer. The comforting, soothing sound of Din’s voice sounded on the other side as he informed you it was him. Despite the initial wave of calmness that hearing his voice brought, your stomach soon dropped in anguish once again as you remembered that he was probably coming to admonish you for your actions, to tell you that you had disappointed him and embarrassed him in such opulent surroundings. That your dates had been fun but you were too much of a child for someone like him

It made your heart ache all the more when he appeared in the room, his dark brown hair slicked back and wet from the shower he had presumably just taken. He was wearing a tight, black henley and dark grey jeans. In the soft light of the sunny afternoon that was streaming in through the errant section of blinds that you had failed to close properly last night, he was truly breathtaking. His shoulders looked impossibly broad, the material of his shirt straining as it struggled to envelop his muscular frame. Din was certainly a sight for sore eyes.

“Good morning. Or afternoon, rather,” Din smiled at you as he approached your bed.

“Hi, Din,” you croaked out, mouth still dry as you struggled to look him in the eye. You opened your mouth to begin a string of profuse apologies that you were sure you owed him, but the rich sound of Din’s voice cut you off before you could manage to get a word in. 

“How’s your head?” Din asked with a slight smirk.

“I… it hurts,” you sighed, barely meeting his gaze. 

“Good job I brought you these, then,” Din offered, holding out a glass of water and a pack of painkillers. You gratefully accepted his offering.

“Thank you, Din,” you said as you appreciatively took the pills and gulped down the water. It was the greatest beverage that had ever passed your lips, you were convinced. 

“You’re welcome, it can’t be much fun,” Din said, almost wincing as he noticed your level of discomfort after making such a small effort as taking some pills.

“It isn’t,” you agreed. “But I have no sympathy for myself, this was entirely self-inflicted.”

“It was, but not without a little encouragement from Mrs Lau and me, with the baijiu,” Din smiled. “I’m glad you’re finally conscious. Mind if I sit?”

You nodded with a shy smile to where Din was pointing as he took a seat on the edge of the impossibly enormous bed. It was the most comfortable bed you had ever slept in. It was almost embarrassing how vast the thing was, how luxurious the soft, silken sheets were. You felt certain that it was going to make returning to your poxy single bed in your flat tonight somewhat unbearable. Yet, equally, there was something stiff and uncomfortable about it. It didn’t feel as homely as your little bedroom. Despite the opulence, it would never hold a candle to how safe and warm you felt in your bed at the end of a long day, beneath your beloved Mando poster. 

“I’m so sorry for getting so wasted, I must have made a fool out of myself,” you said apologetically. “I don’t know what you and the other guests must think of me…” you admitted, feeling your cheeks warm in embarrassment. 

“Well, you were pretty drunk,” Din sighed, and you felt your heart constrict at the hint of disappointment you were sure that you heard there. “But, I know that I’m not mad at you. Plus, I think these walls are soundproof… so I can’t imagine any of the other guests would have even realised how much you indulged in the baijiu.” Din said, reassuringly.

“But I thought we went down to the spa?” You questioned, unable to shake the memory of the hot tub that you were sure you had.

“The spa?” Din asked, confusion sweeping across his features. 

“Wait. I swear I remember a hot tub?” You asked, frantically.

“Yes, but that was here in your suite, in the bathroom. It’s a sophisticated bath with jets and some other cool features. When you realised that, you insisted that you had to get in to wash, I quote: ‘You and your clothes,’” Din recalled, raising an eyebrow at you. Thoughts of that hole in the earth’s crust that you yearned for returned. “I managed to persuade you to change into the swimsuit you had packed after I told you about the spa here. Luckily you did so and when I returned to the bathroom, you really went to town. Including splashing me until I got in alongside you,” Din said with a chuckle.

“Din… I’m so, so sorry.” You said, in disbelief.

“Don’t worry about it!” Din exclaimed. “It was honestly hilarious. I haven’t laughed like that, until my ribs hurt, for a long, long time.”

Visions of Din without his shirt on in the bathtub next to you came rushing back. Memories of breathless kisses, laughter and grazing your hand along his tanned, muscular skin. You would have felt a pang of desire, were it not for the sheer embarrassment of the fact you had behaved like such a child in front of him. Knowing that you and Din had been in such proximity in a state of undress left you with another burning question, one that you were unsure you wanted the answer to, but knew you needed to ask.

“Did we uh…” you cleared your throat slightly, unsure of how best to phrase it. “Where did you sleep?” You added, your voice barely above a whisper. 

You didn’t want to ask him directly about whether you had slept together, but fortunately, Din understood the implications of your words and you didn’t have to press him for more details. You couldn’t imagine that he would have taken advantage of you in that way. But then again, you had not known him for too long…

“After putting you to bed, I went back to my own suite and slept in there with Grogu. You were uh… pretty wasted and I didn’t want to take advantage of you,” Din said solemnly. You believed him entirely and let out a deep sigh of relief that he had behaved exactly as you would have expected. You didn’t have a way to respond with words yet, so Din moved to reassure you further. “Please, don’t be too upset or embarrassed. I’m not mad at you. I’m just glad that I had my own room so you didn’t disturb Grogu. There’s no harm done. It was a Friday night, and we both overindulged a little. I had a great night with you.”

“Thank you, but I am still mortified,” you groaned, grabbing a pillow and holding it over your face. Try as Din might to reassure you, your embarrassment was not going to dissipate that easily. 

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, sunflower,” Din smiled, using the adorable nickname he had informed you of the previous night. “Honestly, I had a great time with you. I enjoyed our meal in the little noodle bar far more than some fancy restaurant. The hot tub was fun too, I’d like to revisit it with you, now that we’re both sober…”

“Thanks, Din,” you smiled up at him, feeling significantly less embarrassed than you had when he had first entered the room.

“Plus, now that you’re sober, I did want to do….” Din leaned in and joined his lips to yours in the most gentle, almost timid, kiss. “...This,” Din whispered as he pulled away from you and rested his forehead against yours, smiling softly.

You exhaled sharply at the contact. You marvelled at his gentle touch, despite his hulking, muscular form. A muscular form that you once again remembered you had seen with your own eyes the previous evening in the bathroom, your eyes drinking him in hungrily as he had torn his soaking shirt off and swung a toned leg over to join you in the hot tub. You remembered too, the sloppy breathless kisses that you had given him as you sloshed around together in the warm waters. Clearly, Din was not mad at you. He had not taken advantage of you. Sure, he probably thought you were a little strange, but wasn’t that kind of true? And wasn’t Din himself more than a little unconventional? You tried not to panic and just let yourself enjoy the moment that was happening between the two of you.

“Din, my breath stinks!” You giggled as he pulled away from the sweet kiss.

“I don’t mind,” Din said sweetly, a smile that made the little crinkles at the edge of his eyes more pronounced. “But… Why don’t you get yourself ready and then we can think about sourcing some food? We can either go out. Or, I hear this hotel has pretty fantastic room service with all expenses charged to my company’s account…”

“Sounds perfect,” you purred like a contented cat, leaning up to kiss his stubbly cheek.

“Okay. See you soon, sunflower,” Din leaned down to give you one last kiss before he left.

You were embarrassingly giddy as he left. Not least because of how handsome he looked in the tight black henley he was wearing, which pulled at his broad shoulders and chest in all the best ways. No, you were so amazed by how comfortable you felt around him. The previous day when Din had met you outside of work, you just knew that you couldn’t face a fancy restaurant with all its pretension. So many times in your life, you would have felt terrified to vocalise your true emotions. You would have pushed aside your discomfort for the sake of satisfying others and not hurting their feelings.

Yet, the way Din had looked at you, his brown eyes regarding you as though you were the most remarkable sight in the entire world, you knew that you could vocalise how you truly felt to him. You just wanted to hang out with the man who had such kind, gentle brown eyes that had been the object of your daydreams near-constantly since the first time you had laid eyes upon him in the entrance hall of the museum. 

It seemed that Din wanted the same for you, to be comfortable and happy with him. You were communicating your feelings surprisingly well which was a change from all of your other relationships, talking about those things did not always come so naturally to you. Yet, somehow, with Din… it just did. You had just clicked with him in a way that you couldn’t quite explain. He felt thrillingly new and comfortingly familiar all at once. The way he had just spoken to you, the gentle kiss that he had given you, it was intoxicating – as intoxicating as the Chinese liquor you had overindulged in the previous evening. You didn’t want to mess this up.

You tried not to overthink what had happened between the two of you the previous night, tried not to devote too much of your energy by driving yourself crazy by trying to fill in the gaps of your memory that had been filled by the almost full bottle of champagne that you remembered drinking when you had made it to your room while Din went to check on Grogu. Drunk you did not remember things for a reason. It was better to take Din’s word for things and not stress yourself out over what had come before.

Now, you would enjoy the rest of the day in the company of the man who made your heart soar whenever you were close to him. You were determined to push those distressing, depressing thoughts about your drunken antics to the back of your mind and trust Din’s word, that he was not mad at you and that you had nothing to worry about. You couldn’t wait to brush your teeth and have a shower to hopefully feel more human before you went next door to greet your boys.

But not before you had pulled out your phone and texted Ria, though. She wouldn’t believe all that you had gotten up to… 

[ilovemando] 13:14: riaaaaaa… so i ended up in a hot tub with din last night

[thisistheslay] 13:15: BESTIE?! SPILL IT ALL RN!!

And you did. Your best friend was more convinced than ever that the man you were dating was involved with some type of organised crime. You just laughed it off. If Din was hiding such a big secret from you, then he must have been the greatest liar who ever lived.

* * *

You spent the next couple of weeks seeing Din whenever your schedules allowed. He had come to your neighbourhood a couple of times and you had had dinner together, or taken Grogu to the park. He was still slightly vague on details of where he lived and worked, but you tried not to overthink it. If he was the boss of an organised crime gang he was a very caring, sweet and handsome boss of an organised crime gang and you were not inclined to bite the hand who fed you. Din had treated you to nice meals in restaurants close by, but now you felt like it was time to repay the favour, by treating Din to dinner. 

You had never professed to be the best cook in the world, but cooking a meal for someone you loved was one of your love languages. You wanted to show your affection and appreciation for everything Din had done for you by making him a nice meal in your cosy little flat. Regardless of Din’s line of work and how lucrative it evidently was for him, he was still a long way from home. Even though you hadn’t discussed any friends and family that Din had, apart from Grogu, you were sure that he must miss them, if he even did have any. Din seemed like a naturally caring person with a lot of love to go around, it seemed impossible that he would not shower his loved ones with affection.

Din had never really talked about friends or family and you had not pushed him for details, sensing that his silence must be for a reason. Perhaps it was too painful to think about how far from home he was. So you did not broach the subject, even if you were a little curious. 

It was the main reason that you wanted to welcome him into your home and cook a nice meal for him, but it was not your only motivation. Besides that night in the hot tub, which was initiated by you while drunk, you and Din had not done much physically together yet, besides some passionate goodnight kisses outside restaurants or your flat when he had dropped you off. Things had never been able to escalate as he always needed to return home to be with Grogu. But tonight, Grogu would not be around – he was being cared for by Kuiil at Din’s cottage. It would just be the two of you in your flat. Tonight, you hoped that things would finally change.

Your meal preparations had gotten off to a shaky start once you had realised that in your haste to return from work and begin cooking, you had forgotten to pick up your favourite cheap wine and a slightly more indulgent cheese to serve with the pasta on the way home. Fortunately, you lived in an enormous city and the nearest shop was less than a two-minute walk away so you had managed to grab the missing ingredients without setting yourself behind schedule too much. It seemed a bit intense to have a to-the-minute schedule, and you supposed it was really, but you could be so scatterbrained sometimes that it seemed a necessary step for the two of you to have a nice evening together. With a detailed list of everything, you could fully relax, safe in the knowledge of when every course needed to go in the oven to be ready. It kind of felt like something from one of those awful reality shows where people took turns to host dinner parties that you watched as a guilty pleasure sometimes. Tonight, you were determined to get a 10 from Din… in every department.

Back home, you began chopping the ingredients and frying them. As you wandered back through the living room, you found yourself stopping and staring at the black screen of your TV. You marvelled at how long it had been since you had watched an episode of The Mandalorian. This was the precise occasion when you would have ordinarily had an episode on in the background. Somehow, the thought of turning it on had not even crossed your mind until now.

The show that had formerly had such a hold of your life seemed to be having diminishing influence as you spent more and more time with Din. You still talked to your internet friends every day, especially Ria, but you had found once you had started dating Din that your thoughts of Mando had slowly been replaced by daydreams of Din’s broad shoulders enveloping you in a tight embrace and the way his kind brown eyes always gazed at you so adoringly. It was probably a positive change, you mused. Living in the real world was undoubtedly healthier than the fantasy world you had occupied with Mando. Nonetheless, you were sure that as soon as the first trailer for the third season dropped, you would return to the height of your Mandalorian obsession. Perhaps you would have even discovered Din’s feelings towards the show then and the two of you could watch it together, cuddled up on your couch. 

You poured yourself a glass of wine as you cooked, sipped it slowly and savoured the fruity flavour as you simmered the sauce. You had cheated slightly, with store-bought garlic ciabatta to start with and tiramisu for dessert. But it had been a long week of work after all and you wanted to be able to spend time with Din once he arrived. You looked at your watch and realised that it wouldn’t be long until he arrived, so you hastily got yourself ready to welcome him, practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of finally having some alone time with the handsome man you were dating.

You were checking yourself over one last time in the mirror, making sure that you were happy with your hair and make-up, when your eyes widened in horror. There were the Mando figures on your dresser in your room that you did not want Din to see. You strode across the room, opened the top drawer and swept them in there with your arm, out of sight. You breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that you had spotted them. You weren’t sure what Din would think if he saw that you had figures, perhaps he’d think you childish. There was your poster too, hanging above your bed, but there was nothing you could do about that. You were less embarrassed about that too, it featured art from the first season which was tasteful and not too immature. Din probably wouldn’t even notice it, given that he was apparently not a fan of the show.

You returned to the kitchen and continued cooking, with one eye frequently drifting to the clock on your oven, counting down the minutes until Din would be with you. You had told him to come at seven p.m. and sure enough, at seven on the dot, there was a knock at the door. You checked your reflection in the mirror, adjusting your hair and shirt slightly, wanting to look your best for Din as always. Then you practically galloped down the hall, towards the door.

“How long have you been standing there?” You asked with a laugh after you had excitedly flung the door open. His timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.

“Five minutes. Didn’t want to freak you out by being early, but didn’t want to be fashionably late because I couldn’t wait to see you,” Din replied as he entered your flat. He placed his arms around your waist and kissed you passionately, you groaned in response, having missed the sensation of his lips on yours after not seeing him for a few days. 

Once you were released from his embrace you were able to take in his outfit choice. You approved of it completely. Din was wearing a light blue button-down shirt that accentuated his broad shoulders due to its form-fitting cut and tight black trousers that showed off his muscular legs perfectly. Somehow, despite the tight embrace that he had enveloped you in, you now noticed that he was also holding what seemed to be an expensive bottle of red wine in one hand and a bunch of flowers in the other. You noticed, with a smile, that the flowers he was holding were sunflowers. He was the sweetest man in the world, you were convinced.

“I brought you these,” Din smiled, shyly holding up the bottle and sunflowers so you could get a proper look at them.

“Thank you, Din,” you replied, placing a kiss on his cheek as you took the sunflowers and placed your nose against the soft petals, inhaling deeply. They smelled gorgeous and you were so grateful for how thoughtful he was.

“You look stunning, by the way,” Din complimented you, making a point of trailing his eyes up and down your body so you could see how much he appreciated your outfit.

You weren’t used to going out of your way to make yourself look nice, especially not on a Friday night after a long week of work. Yet you had found that you actually appreciated the routine, that little bit of time you had taken to make yourself look and more importantly feel good. Din certainly seemed to appreciate the effort you had made, given the way he was gazing at you, warm brown eyes darkening with desire. If you didn’t return to the kitchen soon, it seemed that things might escalate before you could serve the meal you had devoted so much effort to. 

“Thank you for the flowers,” you replied as you took the sunflowers and hunted for a vase to place them in. They would be the perfect centrepiece for the small table in front of the window in your kitchen that you and Din would sit at to enjoy your meal.

“You’re welcome, sunflower,” Din smiled, using your nickname freely now, no longer embarrassed after the way he had blurted it out in the noodle shop that evening when you had both indulged in perhaps a little too much baijiu. 

Din followed you into the kitchen as you successfully found a vase and filled it with some water, before placing it in the centre of the table where you would eat. Then you flipped the switch on the kettle so it would boil for the pasta and fished out a pair of glasses for the cheap wine that you had already enjoyed one glass of. It would allow you to chill the bottle Din had brought in the fridge while you made a start on the first bottle.

“You know, you kind of look like that actor who advertises this wine,” you observed as you poured Din a glass, reasoning that you should start with the cheap wine you had bought and work your way up to the nicer, more expensive bottle that Din had brought, to be savoured with your meal. 

“Everyone says that, but I can’t see it myself,” Din said with a small pout.

“Really?” You said in surprise. “Seriously, you do. It’s kind of uncanny, actually.”

“Hmmmm, whatever. I think I’m more handsome though,” Din said, raising an eyebrow as he took the first sip of the wine. You thought you saw him wince slightly at how it burned a little, which seemed a little ridiculous after the strength of the alcohol that you had observed Din drink like it was nothing back at the noodle bar.

“You are,” you smiled adoringly at him from across the kitchen.

It was time to salt the water and put the pasta on. You had thought Din might relax in the front room while you cooked, but you were mistaken. The man seemed perfectly happy to just exist in your orbit as you pottered around the kitchen, making the dinner that the two of you would soon share. It was comforting how much the two of you were at ease in each other’s presence, despite the short amount of time you had known each other. It was hard to believe that it had been a matter of weeks, rather than several months, since you had met Din on that fateful night in the museum, it felt as though you had known him for much longer. Din and Grogu had wormed their way into your heart with alarming quickness.

Later, after finishing your meal – which Din had assured you was delicious – you sighed in contentment as you cuddled up to Din on your couch. The two of you were watching a cheesy rom-com that had been suggested to you on Netflix. Well, watching was an overstatement. You soon lost track of what was going on in the movie. Din’s lips had proved more entertaining to you than the same old rehashed romance movie. You moaned softly as his tongue explored your mouth, his hand cupping the side of your jaw while another rested on the back of your head, the two of you wrapped in a tight embrace. Din’s kisses were rendering you more and more breathless with their increasing neediness, and it was difficult to find a comfortable position on the sofa without sacrificing the closeness that the two of you ached to feel. You decided that it would be best to take this elsewhere. If Din was up for it, of course. 

“Do you want to take this to my room?” You panted, breath hot against the shell of his ear. You had surprised even yourself with your boldness, but Din was seemingly waiting for you to make the first move.

“Show me the way,” Din whispered, his brown eyes dark with lust as he met your gaze.

You stood up from the couch on trembling legs and offered him an equally shaky hand, which Din gladly took. You helped him to his feet, admiring the size of his hand against your own. You were constantly stunned by how impossibly large Din seemed compared to you, with his broad shoulders and looming presence… you wondered if that was true of every part of him. Mercifully, it was a short walk down the hall to your room, where you hoped you would finally have your questions answered. 

“Din, please,” you whined, you wanted him badly as you had barely pulled him into your bedroom before his lips were on yours again.

Your kisses continued for a few more seconds before you found yourself taking the lead somewhat, pushing him against your bedroom door as you kissed him ardently. Despite how much bigger and stronger he was than you, Din seemed more than happy for you to take control like that. You placed your hands underneath his shirt, moving them across his muscular abdomen, admiring how firm yet soft the skin you felt was there. You began to wonder about removing clothes and leading Din to where you had always wanted him to end up since the first moment you ever saw him, your bed. 

But then everything changed.

The moment that had been developing as a simmering heat between you and Din, that tension that had been apparent since he had first walked through your door earlier didn’t just stop in its tracks. It derailed into a ball of fire. 

Your heart sank as you felt Din stiffen all around you and break away from the kiss. You felt terrible, clearly running your hands across his skin like that had been a step too far. But your guilt turned to confusion as you noticed the way his eyes were fixated on a spot somewhere over your shoulder. It was as if Din had suddenly seen a ghost. He pulled away from you immediately, standing to his full height. 

You felt incredibly small and unimportant; suddenly he had gone from looking at you as if you were the only thing in the world to not even being able to look you in the eye. Was this too much, too soon? Or was he just not that into you?

“I’m sorry, did I push you too far?” You said, awkwardly. You felt mortified that you had presumed something that he clearly didn’t want, despite how passionately Din had been kissing you, only a few seconds ago.

“I just… I can’t do this…” Din said, closing his eyes and swallowing deeply, refusing to look at you.

“Din, I’m sorry,” you said, eyes filling with tears. “If you aren’t attracted to me, I get it, I’m so sorry if I was forcing you to do something that you didn’t want.”

“No, not at all!” Din exclaimed, a look of horror in his eyes as he placed his hand under your chin and tilted it up towards him. “You are beautiful. So gorgeous, so funny, so intelligent. I don’t know what’s up with me. Maybe it was the wine… I just…” Din sighed. There was more that he wanted to say, but for some reason, he was holding something back from you.

“Okay, Din,” you said quietly, still unconvinced by his response.

“Look, sunflower, I really messed this up and made things horrifically awkward. It’s nothing you have done, nothing at all. The time I’ve spent getting to know you recently, it’s the happiest I’ve felt for years. Will you please let me make it up to you, maybe come and visit me and Grogu next weekend? I promise I’ll get a handle on things. I promise it’s nothing you’ve done.”

“I’d like that.” You nodded.

“Good,” Din whispered as he leaned down to kiss you softly again. “Please don’t ever doubt how attracted I am to you. You’re beautiful. I had the best time tonight. I love spending time with you, this kind of intimacy is just… it’s new for me, I suppose,” Din sighed in frustration. “I really am sorry about ruining our night.”

“It’s okay, Din. It’s new for me too… or well, I’m out of practice I guess,” you confessed. The most romance you had had for a few years longer than you’d like to admit came in the form of fanfiction, which made the prospect of having a man that you were incredibly attracted to right here in your room suddenly somewhat terrifying, now that the moment had passed.

“I should probably go, I know I was planning to stay a little later but I’m needed on s– uh… at work – early in the morning, anyway,” Din informed you. It sounded as though he was going to say something different than he was just going to be at work, but he had corrected in time and you hadn’t quite caught what he meant.

“That’s fine, Din. Thank you for the flowers and the wonderful evening. I really enjoyed having you over,” you smiled at him, cupping his chin in your hands again.

“Thank you for having me,” Din smiled, kissing you softly.

You walked to the door, hand in hand. Din said he would head downstairs and call his driver. The fact that he had an entire driver at his beck and call and could take a ride whenever he desired was still slightly absurd to you. But you were mostly done with being surprised by the embarrassment of riches that were at Din’s disposal. After all, you were rarely reminded of his financial situation when you spent time with him. Despite everything, Din was still incredibly humble and down to earth. So unlike snooty members of the aristocracy that you had unfortunately encountered several times at work.

“See you at the weekend,” you smiled as you leaned in for one last kiss.

“Goodnight, sunflower,” Din replied. Then he was gone.

As you cleaned the dishes from the dinner party you had to deem it a success, despite whatever had overcome Din in your bedroom. You vowed not to overthink it, you know he wouldn’t want you to do that. He had made it perfectly clear that he was attracted to you. You were excited for the following weekend when he would let you into his life a little more by inviting you to his house. It was a very sweet gesture from him, a sign that he was loosening up a little.

With the dishes washed and stacked, it was time to get ready for bed. As you went about your nightly routine, you found your mind wandering to the warm skin that you had felt beneath Din’s shirt and the way his eyes had darkened with appreciation at the sight of you when he had first walked through the door. 

You pushed the door open to your bedroom and glanced at the poster of The Mandalorian which hung above your bed. You sighed as you shut the door and mourned at how you had been so close to finally ending up in bed with Din. Although you mused, perhaps it was for the best that your first intimate encounter would not be underneath Mando’s steely, unrelenting gaze…

Next Chapter

Taglist: @toxic-seduction @survivingandenduring @readingiskeepingmegoing

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

I love this so much!!! Thank you @introverted-author for tagging me 💖💕 (also I think it's adorable that your last song was by Maya Hawke)

Last Song: Some Kind Of Disaster by All Time Low (I love everything off this album omg) (also this is inspo for the fic I am currently working on)

Favourite Colour: Bubblegum Pink or Teal Green (Or Mint Green?)

Currently Watching: Modern Family (and I've also been watching a lot of horror movies lately. I recently just watched The Barbarian for the first time - amazing. And I rewatched Creep with my sister)

Sweet, Savoury, or Spicy: SWEET! I am a fiend for sweet things. Sometimes I eat chicken just as an excuse to scoop up sweet barbecue sauce. And imo no drink or dessert can be too sweet

Currently Reading: Um... my own fics? While I am trying to write them 😂 I am also reading @gintsukiauthor 's latest novel as he writes it chapter by chapter. I have the inside scoop

Last Movie: Creep (2014) - such a good movie! Literally the best found footage movie ever imo. It keeps the twists and turns coming and it's not at all slow like some other found footage can be. If you love the psychological aspect of Criminal Minds, then you will love this. (But TW for a scene where someone describes committing a rape - not in super graphic detail? But yeah I just thought I would warn for that.)

Relationship: I am in a poly relationship - happily dating three amazing guys. One of them is the first tag below

Current Obsessions: .... over the past 24 hours I have actually been getting back into The Maze Runner, which was one of my obsessions from early high school. And I am writing a Maze Runner fix in another tab right now. Other than that, I am still working on some TWD fics, and I have been into miniature craft videos on YouTube? Like crafts for dolls. I'm not planning on making any of them, but I really like to watch the process

The Last Thing You Googled: "creep movie" because I wanted to see the year it came out lmao, "(my local area) forecast" because I wanna know WHEN THIS FUCKING HEATWAVE IS GONNA END, and "deaths in the maze runner movies" as a reference for my fic

Currently Working On: A Gally x Fem!Reader TMR fic (yes, it will have smut)

Tagging: @nctzenkane @star-mum @makeyouminemp3 @lukereiter @reidsdaisies

[a-door-to-somewhere]

Ok watched spiderverse 2 again here's some thoughts in no particular order (spoilers and long post ahead):

- peter b is reading a book called "how to talk to kids" at the very end. Presumably because may can't speak yet and Gwen and Miles were zapped away I choose to believe he was reading this so he can go talk to Miguel LMAO

- I fucken love the way spot, after he powers up, move around via just like... sliding around in the air basically with his bad posture like he's hung from strings like a puppet

- when gwen is drumming at the opening and when spot gets zapped both are intercut with frames from later in the movie and also later in the future. I'm guessing spot got a glimpse of canon events but when Gwen was doing her intro it was phrased like a retrospective- but unlike most intros it didn't have a shot of a new spiderman comic being thrown on the pile. So when was she doing this retrospective? I hc she'll pick back up at the end of the third movie

- someone needs to make procreate brush packs for each universe/character PLEASE

- ok the "watercolor" effect being a mood ring is incredible but I havent seen anyone talking about the sort of abstract animation?? It almost reminds me of like experimental film from the impressionist/dada/supremetism eras, you can see it synced to the drum in the intro and also in some of the backgrounds during her big speech

- also during the Guggemheim fight when the Renaissance Vulture was like "you call this art?" And Gwen was like "well we're talking about it aren't we" YOU'RE SO RIGHT GWEN I AM KISSING YOU ON THE LIPS

- the shaky 1st pov cam when Gwen's dad sneaks up on her both times reminded me of when Miles accidentally watched kingpin kill perfect Peter? Idk if it was exactly the same I'd have to go back and rewatch but UGH it really gets that Gwen's dad has two sides too and the cop side isn't really human almost, lurking in the shadows, silhouetted

- also Gwen's dad just being a shit cop, giving her mixed instructions, raising a weapon at an unarmed person who is trying to communicate, firing warning shots, yelling the Miranda rights over her which is not how its supposed to be given

- contrast that with Jeff who literally never pointed a weapon at anyone and went charging after spot with his bare hands, is casual with his spiderman. I mean even when Jeff was talking about Miles not capturing Spot correctly it was lighthearted and joking, he's actively not going by the book, he's keeping the squad off of Spiderman's back, he apparently talks to spiderman about his family troubles???

- have I mentioned I LOVE MUSICAL MOTIFS????? Seriously they’re always good (fuck Wagner everyone knows Toby Fox invented the leitmotif) I mean everyone noticed the horror style Prowler stinger but even more characters got some: Gwen got a Little Rock theme with a guitar lick that echoes the ‘spi-der-man, spi-der-man’ song, Miguel’s distorted synth whine, the interesting mouth and bells percussion that Pav gets (good job Hollywood avoiding the exotic Asian pentatonic lick for once), at the end when the 42 prowler reveal slowly changed the prowler stinger into a human scream???? There’s probably more but I’d have to go back and watch it again again lmao

- I really love how Miguel is kinda goofy. He’s aloof and over serious but he makes mistakes and shows other emotions despite his best efforts. His flaws are shown off in his very first interaction, with his unwillingness to ask for help despite the fact that he knows he needs it. He’s frustrated. He’s got group object leader energy. It makes it so much more lovable that he’s susceptible to quips and he also gets knocked down and messes up and shows up and has his quirks that everyone puts up with. THATS how you make an interesting, relatable, lovable antagonist. Perhaps it worked too well LMAO

- I am an Oscar isaac simp I gotta go rewatch moon knight

- when miles was swinging around with gwen he passed a truck called "redex" bc gwen rejected him lmao

- theres an 8 clearly visible in the background of earth 42? Wacc

- the Spread Your Wings, Man scene focusing on the plastic wrap on top of the Alchemax flowing in the wind like it’s an ocean?/??? I really hope they call back to that imagery later because it clearly means something and I need to know what

- I’ve got an inkling of something that specifically revealing one’s spider-dentity to a loved one is some kind of anti-canon event, like maybe it’s the thing that fixes the destabilization? I mean we’ve seen that it’s ok if loved ones figure it out themselves (or if they then die, like uncle Aaron) like it’s a clear theme that miles keeps trying to tell his parents, and then Gwen tells her dad, which causes him to quit the force, thereby averting the canon event of him dying indirectly??? Also, it’s implied that the MJ of 1610 sold out Perfect Peter Parker to Fisk, leading to his death, ALSO also, gayatri probably figured out Pav’s identity right before HIS world destabilized??? Idk lmao

- I hope spiderbite/Margo and Jess get proper intros I can’t wait

- the background spider hockey girl has my heart, I couldn’t stop looking at her during the chase scene

- God I need to watch moon knight again

- when mj moved into mays room to greet them she lifted a picture frame back up as she moved in the door? What's up with that???

- not Spanish originally starting as a too-relatable joke that Miles gets a B in despite his mother speaking Spanish at home as well, not living up to his expectations, and then 42!Miles presumably speaks more/better Spanish due to being closer to his mom because his dad died???

- not miles aceing ap physics and ap studio AT THE SAME TIME in his SOPHOMORE YEAR free my boy from grounding he’s done nothing wrong

- btsv’s main villain is gonna be the sat I’m telling you

- most importantly: what was up with the Comic Code Authority’s seal being shown after the studio logos at the beginning??

Did that happen in the first one??? Why would it be there??? The cca has obviously been defunct since before superhero movies were really a thing. Famously, the cca seriously censored a ton of content, causing Marvel to be unable to portray darker stories involving drugs and other more mature themes, which they wanted to do with many superheroes including Spidey??? Is the Spider Society secretly the cca, censoring storylines that they think shouldn’t be portrayed, including darker timelines like 42? There was also issues with the convoluted Spider-Man comic lines going through unsatisfying ‘resets’ to keep Spider-Man relatable, without evolving the character into anything too far away from the OG Spider-Man, ie young, relationship issues with MJ, nerdy, tragedies etc. this is the detail that had me wondering the most because it was so clearly displayed right at the beginning, and the cca was generally a shameful part of comic book history in which publishers submitted to satanic moral panic. Like, not really something that reads as a cute little callback to an era of comics like he use of Ben day dots or misaligned printing or the onomatopoeias??

[astroboyanalysis]

7. The Greatest Robot on Earth

oh boy here we go

As a warning, this liveblog may take me multiple days (or like, a week, I literally don't know) to get all the reblogs on. The way you will know I am truly done is 1. I will say so on that reblog above the readmore and 2. I will post the next story. Won't do that until I'm done with this one, obviously.

Let's get started.

(I begin the first panel and am immediately affronted with what I must acknowledge is racism) ah

I am not the best person to speak on this. I am also likely not the first (although a quick google search has not revealed essays to me) to see this and recognize its heavy anti-arab racism and caricature. Because I am not the best person to speak on this, aside from pointing out that I do in fact recognize this and asking that you as the reader of this blog also recognize this, there is not much I am planning to discuss on it. I can't imagine there's much that hasn't already been said. It was wrong to portray a person or culture this way then, and it's wrong now. That's all I'll say for now.

Glad he has such a convenient visual for us. Also, I'm so fond of these robot designs. I love Pluto but boy are these silly and fun.

This sounds both normal to want and achievable as a goal, yeah

This is one of those just actually horrific moments, lmao. The gore of it all. The fact that his horns seem made to simply pass current through whatever touches them, or to arc electricity almost, is just wild. If I'm understanding the visual correctly and its meant to bring forward arcs of electricity like a taser, but at such a large scale, I'm fairly certain it would simply melt one of these robots if it didn't blow them up.

I'm glad we've moved past this visual.

I am somewhat curious if it was meant to be received as funny at the time. It must have been, right...?

Atom's characterization in the original manga is so starkly different to how its developed over time (and especially with multiple authors at this point). He's so ready to fight and doesn't stop to think at all - I'm so fond of the (cough, 2003, cough) idealistic and pacifistic Atom who only fights when there is no choice we've come to love now. The parallels between his appearance (childlike) and his views on the world (naive) are clear and the way that clashes with the events in the world around him and pushes him into these really difficult situations is just so much more compelling to me, idk. I really do love the "I don't want to fight you, I want to help you, I want to be your friend" (and actually meaning it) approach.

Some of what I really love about Astro Boy is that Atom's idealism has truth to it, but it puts him in conflict with others. The truth is somewhere in the idea that everyone has a right to exist, that everyone has value, that robots and humans can coexist - But just because it's true doesn't mean it's uncontroversial, and his existence being in opposition to others interests is what pushes him to make hard decisions. He's being shown again and again these conflicts that arise when humans make robots with bad intentions, when humans mistreat robots, when they try to live together, etc. etc., but his childlike and naive approach to the world LETS him keep hope that the better future he believes in will come to pass. His permanent youth is paralleled by his permanent optimism and the fact that he simply won't become jaded - or at least, not for long.

Gosh I can't wait to get to 2003 again.

I could talk about how the antidote to apathy and becoming overwhelmed with the horrors of the world is in what kids bring to the table forever. But it's all there, isn't it?

Anyway "I'll teach you to make a fool of me" while being inches away from certain death is very funny. "You think that's funny? I'm about to be hilarious"

Can't argue with that!

I love when Ochanomizu gets to have a moment like this.

This moment directly parallels something Atom said earlier, actually:

Anyway. "If it was only about strength" is a very important quote here and I'll probably come back to it at the end of the story. He really sums it all up right at the beginning though. What a good father figure. Although he does say ""only"" 100,000 horsepower which seems silly.

Uran what the hell lmao. He's clearly upset why are you egging him on like that.

Ok I do love how angry and ashamed he is here. The Atom we see in this comic specifically seems to base a lot of his value on his ability to win a fight through brute strength, which is kind of interesting. It's also interesting when we see this sort of character be so submissive to authority - It indicates there's a heirarchy beyond strength that they do have to acknowledge (social capital, respect of elders, something in there), yet they value strength so highly maybe because it's the heirarchy they can control, somewhat. And yet here he's been told he's not allowed to get stronger to win.

(Guy that likes bugs) I'm getting some real bugs vibes from North #2's design

He's shaped like a praying mantis to me, sort of. I'm about to say the same thing when we see Gesicht as well, but he looks more like a fly.

The idea of this being impersonal is very strange to me, but also very compelling. I will ignore how much I love Pluto's approach to this manga because I'm not commenting on differences here, and I'm just going to talk about it as its own characterization. Like a normal person.

Why would Pluto have any amount of hatred towards the robots he's meant to destroy? They're more alike him than the one commanding him to kill them. There's a kind of tragedy in this, I suppose - although he's not particularly against hurting them, either. But the fact he feels a need to tell them it's not personal is interesting.

Uran also having the same idea of Atom's value that he himself does, but having very little care for Ochanomizu's wisdom on the matter (while Atom dejectedly accepts it as fact) puts them in conflict here - She expects more of him than he's showing - Why is he bowing down now? But Atom also values his own niceties, his deference to power, and his acceptance of the authority of the one who, in a way, owns him.

We do see that Ochanomizu tells Atom he's free in the first comic, yet Atom continues to treat Professor Ochanomizu as if he created him, and values his authority above all else. As of yet, we haven't seen him directly disagree with Professor Ochanomizu or his authority, and he does act basically the way any owned robot (or a child born to a parent) would (seems to stick around Ochanomizu, listens to what he says and obeys, etc.), just with far more freedoms and independence.

Basically, in this first iteration, their relationship is very difficult for me to parse out. He's certainly paternal, he's certainly a guiding figure, and he certainly has authority over Atom that Atom does not question, but Atom is given a full family unit outside of the Professor, and the Professor is not his creator.

We have not (yet) seen a reason for Atom to understand that Ochanomizu's authority is earned, like, for example, him disobeying and then finding that Ochanomizu was right all along. This iteration of Atom lacks the tendency of children to push boundaries or to think independently, it seems.

her pajamas are just so cute

CONFIRMED they're pants in this iteration and not a permanent part of his body.

Great question, Uran! It'd be awesome if we had any introduction to you or your creation before reading this comic so that this would strike us in any way at all. But alas, that is not the order of the omnibus.

Still, she has a good point as far as we're concerned. Why didn't he do that? Why aren't there a bunch of Atoms flying around all the time? I'm curious if the manga itself will actually answer this.

Pluto himself is so deeply interesting to me. He does smile while he fights the robots he's been ordered to fight, and while he kills them, and yet he seems to value robots in general on a basic level. He made it clear it was not a personal issue and was because he was ordered to, but it's still interesting to me that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other about violence. He doesn't like it enough to enact it when he hasn't been ordered to.

Ochanomizu has the authority to Forbid Atom from fighting. It's clear Atom is choosing not to, at Ochanomizu's request, so taking a hostage to force him into it also indicates to me that it's a choice to obey that can be overriden if Atom wills it (and that, without this motivation, he simply doesn't, or prefers to defer to Ochanomizu out of respect, obligation, or otherwise).

"Baby sister" is so cute considering that she never was a baby

His kindness.... What made him like that. I do love him so much

I do love that Atom's mercy plays a major role here. I think it's interesting that Pluto asks in the first place.

"That's what I was designed to do" is an answer that isn't immediately rebuffed by Atom with anything about freedom to choose your path or anything. He seems to mostly stay quiet on what other robots do in their positions, from what we've seen, and doesn't particularly care to help anyone liberate themselves if they don't already want it in the first place.

Can any Astro Boy scholars let me know what the original text says in Japanese and what the meaning of the word used is? Tomboy just seems so strange here and I'm curious how faithful the translation is to the original text. I'm not even sure how to go about finding a copy of the story in Japanese, frankly, because it's so old.

But why....? His father doesn't even seem to have his own take on this or care that it's dangerous, it's all about the fact that Ochanomizu told him to.

He's just very flylike to me

Again. horrific.

Okay I don't have anything to say but Cobalt's really cute in this panel. Anyway I'll continue this in a reblog because I've run out of images!

[stellewriites]

questions about books! thanks for the tag @mikichko @pricegouge 🫂

1. the last book I read

i’m glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy

so fucking tough but i really enjoyed it

2. a book I recommend

the martian by andy weir

i’d previously struggled with first person in books and i was never into science but this changed my whole view on both,, mark is so funny and down to earth (badum tss!) you can’t help but get invested and the science is so easily explained - also i liked that a lot of it could genuinely be done except the initial sandstorm like it wasn’t bullshit for the plot. if you’ve seen the film then still give the book a go bc it goes a different way and it’s worth it imo

3. a book I couldn't put down

the book thief by markus zusak

it’s been a fair few years since i read this (ten i think? shit) but i remember coming back from college and reading it every day as soon as i got home and absolutely bawling all the way through. it’s on my reread list

4. a book l've read twice or more

despite watching things over and over i struggle reading things twice even when i really want to - but!! if graphic novels/comics count then ive read the watchmen a few times

5. a book on my tbr

my family and other animals by gerald durrell

one my grandma recommended years ago that i never got around to but im determined to read at some point. only short but it’s meant to be funny

6. a book l've put down

the first harry potter - tried before all of the author’s bullshit but i really struggled to enjoy it as much as people said i would. didnt even get halfway

8. a favorite book from childhood

a lot of these have been from my childhood lmao that’s when i did most of my reading but ill go further back into my niche zombie phase as a young teen and say world war z by max brooks (also loved his zombie survival guide,, it was like a special interest pls don’t ask)

9. a book I would give to a friend

i don’t really read anything similar to my friends? they either like practical craft books or band biographies,, i recced im glad my mom died to a co worker if that counts?

10. a fiction book I own

my best friend’s exorcism - i couldn’t tell you if it’s any good, ive not yet read it. a lot of my books are bought for me and it takes me like at least five years to get around to them

11. a nonfiction book I own

battersea’s a cat a day

a book where this pet charity has put together 365 tiny true stories about different cats to read every day 🥲���� it’s very cute

12. what I am currently reading

none atm - need to get on one i’ve been recommended soon

13. what l am planning on reading next

the one i’ve been recommended as mentioned above! it’s a romcom so a lil new to me for books,, i usually stick to fics for this type of thing and go more sci-fi/horror in published books but i think ill enjoy it

14. my shelfie

not an accurate shelfie on the left because it’s about 5 years old but i wanted to include my cat here

the covers are so sun bleached now in comparison on the right ahsjajkls - got maybe three shelves for books and one for art books/comics?

no pressure tags: @jackrabbitem @sentientcave @madstronaut @valkyri @boolger @noicedog @w00lgathering @xxdrixx @ohlawdthebirds

[batemanofficial]

tagged by @gayassbenaffleck (thanks!!! :3c)

1. are you named after anyone? yes! im named after one of my moms favorite authors

2. when was the last time you cried? uhhhh tbh i don't really remember but probably when i was cramming to finish my thesis film LMAO

3. do you have kids? no human children but i have a very large and very stubborn dog and a very judgmental cat and i love them both very much

4. what sports do you play / have you played? i played every sport under the sun as a kid (soccer, basketball, gymnastics, cheer, fencing) (not all at once tho!!) but didn't really enjoy any of them for very long bc i am a couch potato at heart 👍 i love to take long walks tho so that's how i get my exercise

5. do you use sarcasm? me? no! never! [lying]

6. what’s the first thing you notice about people? their sense of style! i really enjoy expressing myself through what i wear (<- girl who is wearing sweatpants and a t shirt i got for free) so i love to see how other people do the same!

7. what’s your eye color? grey! they used to be bluer when i was a kid but now they're kind of greenish grey. i have that yellow/amberish ring around the center which i think is kinda cool

8. scary movies or happy endings? scary movies!!!!! im rly into 70s/early 80s horror atm (david cronenberg my best friend mr. cronenberg)

9. any talents? writing, cooking, drawing, sewing, video editing, haterism

10. where were you born? kentucky! im on a mission to erase that horrible banjo riff that everybody seems to use in films abt kentucky from existence

11. what are your hobbies? i do a lot of crochet, and im getting back into cooking now that im out of school! im in my hashtag bread era :^) i also draw (im rly into écorchés atm) and sew (im making a jumpsuit as we speak! dont tell my boss that i sew on the clock)

12. do you have any pets? see number 3!

13. how tall are you? 5'8" :P

14. favorite subject in school? english and history! i am not a stem girlie by any stretch. i just got my degree in film production tho!!

15. dream job? anything where i get to work on a film set (i do post production/video editing right now and it SUCKSSSS) or anything in a kitchen! i could be a line cook for the rest of my life and be satisfied tbh

tagging: @bat-bestie @brainde4th @keevan @adelidae @sleepingfancies @shelbybunny @elevatortheory

[beevean]

Passing this on ~

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💞

Aww, thank you! 🥺

Let's see...

Remember: this was a ton of fun 💖 the idea of Black Doom rewriting Shadow's memories wouldn't leave my head for the sheer implied horror, made even worse in the game as you can choose if to let BD win or resist. I used HTML (and replayed the stage more times I'm comfortable to admit lol) to convey Shadow's fragmented state of mind. I'm still proud of this one :)

Let Go: the power of spite compelled me lol. This was basically me putting my money where my mouth is and rewriting IDW #50 to make Sonic more IC and Surge less of an author's mouthpiece and more of a genuinely tragic character, who is aware of being brainwashed but can't do nothing to fight it. Writing from the POV of a character you don't like is a surprisingly useful exercise. And I still like the idea of Sonic (wind) and Surge (electricity) creating a storm while fighting.

Grip: I will finish it. I promise lol. While it's a little outdated in terms of headcanon (thankfully I can still adjust the draft of the third chapter, but it's not going to be easy), I am proud of my first in-depth analysis of Hector and how he'd suffer from the trauma of living in the Castle for most of his life. It was meant as a very simple contrast between Isaac and Rosaly, but, uh. It ballooned lmao. I just love Hector a lot :P

What We Lost and What We Gained: a sort of fix-it fic, but made with love lol. I poured a lot of personal feelings into this one so it's particularly dear to me, but I also just like how I managed to find a, in my opinion, more suitable happy ending for Hector. Also I like writing Julia <3 i have a fluffy wip from her pov but inspiration isn't coming to me :<

Anima: yes it's very recent lol. Of the uhhhh about to become 20 Hecula fics I wrote (jesus what's wrong with me), it was a toss up between this one and Cold - you can see how much my perspective has shifted in less than a year lmao. Anyway, I think this one has nearly everything I enjoy in my vision of the ship: an obsessed Dracula whose love is intense but self-centered, a sassy Hector so painfully victim of grooming but trying his best to push boundaries and break free, uncomfortable wholesomeness, power games, vague ties with canon (my idea that Hector will soon grow brave enough to openly challenge his beloved Lord), a warped version of the soulmates trope, bottom drac...

[iantimony]

last tuesday of 2023!

i thought about making this my Yearly Roundup for last tuesday of the year but i think instead i will make this a normal tuesdaypost, and do a big yearly reflection on friday or saturday for last shabbos of the year :)

listening: twilight mirage, still in that holiday special, episode 23. the way that there are eight fuckin episodes for that special........in part 1 or 2 they make a comment how they might have to do three parts and i was like. lol. lmao, even. i'm in the bit right now where they're doing an election and it's very funny. thisbe as the debate moderator made me laugh out loud.

reading: the best part of the game awards this year was the fashion, alyssa mercante: i looooved some of these looks. love the art corset on slide 4, jay-ann lopez on slide 15, the pleated dress on slide 17, the MATCHING BABY ON SLIDE 19, and the author's whole everything on slide 20.

sff's big fat problem, r. k. duncan: i was already aware of some of the stuff talked about here but i am definitely guilty of having less overt things - i.e. goblin emperor reference in there - totally fly by me. i feel like i saw a lot of people talking about rowling's fatphobia after she went mask-off but she is definitely on the more malicious end of the spectrum, it's a much much much more baked in problem than people give it credit for. thinking also about the locked tomb, which i love, but also makes some very weird comments about ortus that i did not clock at all until someone else pointed it out. just something i'm thinking about lately.

the world is hard, dinner doesn't need to be, julia turshen: what it says on the tin. some recipe ideas, cut down to mental bare essentials.

old growth, brawlite: saved the fanfic for last. obsessed with this. it's so so good. the format is a really neat idea that i don't know if i've seen done before. like, using the 'comment section' to point out 'things in the background of shots'? genius. i am eating it up. i should have signed up for this exchange. maybe next year.

playing: fallow. i might buy some games that are on sale tho lol, i've seen both pyre and ghostwire: tokyo recommended this week. latter is no longer on sale unfortunately but i am noting it down for later.

watching: the fashion industry hates older women, mina le

history of bathing, bernadette banner

aaaand a short film that a grad student in my department made as a project. it's. not good. like i'm happy that he's doing hobbies or whatever but this short film commits the cardinal sin of being neither good nor bad, Just Boring. 2/10.

making: the [redacted project] is almost done!! i have 10 rows left. each row takes me about 15 minutes. i will definitely finish it by the end of the week, fringe and all. no pictures yet for obvious reasons but it will be in the first tuesdaypost of the year for 2024! the biggest challenge now is the point of contact on my left hand where i rest the knitting needle against my middle finger is aggravating on a sensory standpoint from overuse, so i have been knitting with one glove on that hand which has helped a lot.

there was a preview of these last week, but i added finishing touches to my gavle goat holiday cards! i used a metallic sharpie to add some horn embellishments and wrote a little note on the back, and mailed out a bunch :)

misc: the first christmas eve/day of my life where i didn't get chinese food!!! shock, horror, etc. i'm at my roommate's family's place so i experienced a real christmas situation. it was fine. her family & their home is like ... hallmark card vibes and idk how i feel about it. i want wonton soup :(

[moonchildreads]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

aaaaaaa this one's hard!!! i've only written small town so far (which you can read here lol thank you for giving me the chance to shamelessly promote my work losty 🤎) so what i'm gonna do is share my fave five chapters instead!

chapter 3 - tonight she comes - this is when we meet our girlie dot, and it was my first time writing the hellfire club all together in the same room. here's where we start to explore their dynamic as a group and it's full of foreshadowing for things that haven't happened yet 👀

chapter 10 - that's what friends are for - this chapter has everything i love: the hellfire club spending time together, the gentle will they/won't they between eddie and dot, deep conversations with chrissy, dnd, and a lot of bickering. i consider this one to be one my best chapters and it was the longest i'd written at the time! 💕

chapter 13 - you give good love - another entry into one of the chapters i'm most proud of and, again, it includes a lot of the things i love about small town: wayne being a menace, chrissy being eddie's biggest supporter, dot and eddie realising that it isn't them individually vs the world. this was their first big fight, and i had been working on this fic for around a year by the time i posted this specific chapter so it'll always be special to me. got 3/3 laughs with the sponge bit amongst my friends so that's a win to me! 🧽

chapter 15 - don't you want me - the whole sleepover at gareth's will forever be one of the bits i've enjoyed writing the most about this fic. i adore that little gremlin and so much of him (and the rest of hellfire, really) is based on friends i've had throughout the years. there is something so very pure about a platonic friendship (stobin, am i right?) and if chrissy is eddie's steve, i wanted to give dot her very own robin in gareth. this was me officially confirming that both eddie and dot are bi/queer and bonding over rocky horror, which felt important to me as a queer girlie. it's my fic and i can do what i want, lol 💗💜💙

chapter 20 - self control - the moment everyone was waiting for!!! the love confession!!! it was messy, and so uniquely them, you can't take it and give it to anyone else because it's so dot and eddie that there's just no other way around it: if it had to happen, it was going to be like this. other things i loved about this chapter were allowing nancy to dip her toes into dealing with her grief over barb (more on that later lol), the hellfire class of '86 being there for one another, and finally getting to kick andy's bitch ass down!!!! 😈

honourable mention goes to chapter 14 - missing you, which is the mother's day chapter and deals with eddie and dot's mothers who passed away when they were children. i wrote this one while actively mourning someone i'm still thinking about every day and while i will probably be dealing with this for a long time, this chapter helped me purge a lot of my inner demons and helped heal more than i thought it would. it's my love letter to my person who isn't here anymore, and i know that she'd be proud of it because one of the last conversations i got to have with her was about me writing small town, and she was so happy and interested about it.

i'm in the process of writing chapter 23 right now and hopefully i'll get it out this week if i can stop crying at work for more than five minutes lmao. again thank you losty for giving me the opportunity to talk about small town, i love this fic, and i love writing it and talking about it. 🥰

[grewaren]

A Beginner's Guide to Ronan Lynch:

Have you never read The Raven Cycle but you want to write with Ronan? Below the cut is a basic layout of his past, what he goes through in canon, my canon divergencies, and what he's doing in the future, as well as some tidbits for you, the author, and things that your muse will not know about him unless explicitly plotted between us. As I am currently reading the series, this will be updated based on what I've read.

Ronan is something called the Greywaren, an eldritch horror - esque being that is capable of going into his dreams and pulling things out of them. After finding himself enthralled with humanity, he was able to join them and joined Niall lynch's family. However, having the Greywaren as his son wasn't all it cracked up to be. Instead of his parents caring for him, the task was left to his eldest brother Declan. Declan and Ronan were ordered by their father not to discuss the dreaming Ronan did, which led to a contentious relationship developing between the two. This also led to Ronan dreaming himself a brother, who was named Matthew who would love him unconditionally, something he didn't feel from his father or older brother.

Ronan's life changed forever after finding his father's body, dead in a pool of blood with the murder weapon in view. After that, he became the cold and bitter Ronan that we see in the series.

Throughout the series, Ronan and his friends are searching for someone named Glendower, a project of his best friend, Gansey. During this search, Ronan comes into his own as the Greywaren and learns how to hone his skills with the help of someone called Kavinsky. despite disliking him deeply, Ronan acknowledges that he wouldn't be nearly as adept at dreaming ( the process of entering a dream and pulling an object out of it ) without his help.

Richard Gansey is someone that Ronan will always have a somewhat codependent relationship with. They were each others' first friends and Ronan is often called Gansey's lap dog. Regardless of the plot, this friendship will remain important to Ronan.

I've heard The Dreamer Trilogy is kind of a mess LMAO I'll add my canon divergencies once i've actually read them and am able to articulate my thoughts properly.

Things to know about Ronan: he is not a nice person. He is brutally honest, he's mean on purpose, even to those he considers friends. Despite this, he doesn't tolerate rudeness or disrespect back, especially when it comes to his friends and family. He knows he looks scary and he WILL use it to his advantage.

He likes to drive his car, and race it in particular. He's been known to get in lots of trouble after a race.

If you're going to find him anywhere, it will either be at The Barns, the place he grew up, Monmouth Manufacturing, a factory where Gansey lives, or St. Agnes Catholic Church, where he can be found praying or dreaming.

He is a binge drinker. He typically does it to help deal with the trauma of finding his father dead, but also uses it to help him sleep. He is an insomniac.

Things you can know about Ronan but your muse cannot unless we have expressly plotted it: Ronan is a dreamer, Ronan is the Greywaren, Niall was a dreamer, the entirety of his relationship and circumstances with Declan, Matthew is one of ronan's dream creatures, more to be added.

[emeritus-fuckers]

Hiii, I'd like to request a match up !!

First of all, sorry if it's written weird, English is not my first language and I'm in need of a few days of sleep lmao :') also this is very long because I have no idea how to write concisely to save my life, so, sorry for your eyes? brain? Idk but sorry

1 - I'm AFAB genderqueer, might be a demigirl ? idk gender is confusing. anyways, I use any pronouns because I'm extra like that lmao, and I prefer my sexuality to stay unlabelled for now

2 - Papas !! (they're so silly I love them)

3 - I'm rather small (163cm/5'4") and kinda pudgy. I would not say I'm plus size but I'm definitely thicker than average, especially around my hips and thighs (stretch marks n cellulite gang WYA). I used to be very insecure about it but thankfully I got better at loving myself (still working on it but I'll get there eventually). I'm also getting a tattoo on my upper left arm very soon (inspired by Kafka's Metamorphosis because yes) and hopefully some more piercings (I only have triple lobe for now). my hair's light brown and very short, I buzzed it back in August and I'm growing it out. Yes, I do have a terrible case of bed head. I also trim my eyebrows to be very short, makes it easier to do my makeup. Almost forgot to talk about my eyes, but basically they're blue-ish green and usually overshadowed by the huge dark circles I have. I don't dress according to one particular style, although I enjoy being in full goth fashion, makeup and all. I would probably describe my style by 'satanic grandma' because as much as I love my band shirts and inverted crosses, I also cannot live without my extensive collection of grandpa sweaters and ugly ties.

4 - I'm an introvert - and an awkward anxious ball of nerves at that, but I don't mind stepping up to the task in social situations if the people I'm with are not comfortable ordering food/asking a question. I usually am very cautious of how I act with new people I meet as I am autistic and don't want to 'scare them off' or make them uncomfortable. However, if we vibe, you get to know the still anxious but also very silly me. I especially love coming across other people that are on the spectrum, because we usually have a certain understanding of each other's way of acting and just be silly together. Speaking from experience with my closest friends, at least (not generalizing autistic people !!).

5 - I've been hyperfixating on Ghost for a good while now, but apart from that I'm very much interested in art. Learning about it of course, but also making it (I'm in art prep class rn and it's kicking my ass, send help). Drawing, writing, taking photos, making zines and stuff... hopefully after prep class I can get into a proper art school and study illustration, and maybe look into becoming a graphic novel author. My favorite artists would probably be Dora Maar, Gustave Doré and Gustav Klimt tbh. I also have an interest in geopolitics and history, especially in the Middle Ages' witch hunts and black death, but also in more recent topics such as the satanic panic. Basically all things occult and satanic. I also love internet horror media such as ARGs, like My house.wad or the Hypnagogic Archive. Music taste wise, I listen to everything, but my favorite genres are hard rock and metal. I'd say my all time fav artists are Ghost, Slayer (South of Heaven walked so that Year Zero could run, change my mind), Iron Maiden, SOAD, Twin Temple, Radiohead, alex g and Mitski.

6 - I'm a huge cat person but I also very much love crows and rats and reptiles and overall all the animals that would seem weird to keep as pets. Also I love love LOVE having deep conversations about complicated philosophical topics at night in a calm spot at a party or smth, specifically while drinking off-brand soda. Idk why I included this, I just thought of it and I'm too tired to question how my sleep deprived brain thinks right now.

Sorry again for the huge wall of text, y'all are the best !

Have a good day/night !!

This post is part of the 1000 followers match up event. Entries for the event are now closed.

Your match is...Copia

He's all for helping you love yourself, he'll kiss any part of your body you are insecure about and everyday he tells you how amazing you look. The thing that really makes it work is that he means it, you can see the sincerity in his expression.

He can also be an awkward anxious bundle of nerves. But what is so cute is that both of you try and step up for the other in social situations. You see Papa Emeritus IV come out a lot at those times.

You vibed immediatly with him it was just an instant connection. He just got you, and you him. He treasures that so much.

He will help all he can with your art class prep. Like whatever you need. If you want him to just keep you company he's there, if you need models he'll get his rats to pose with him (it's just adorable). Or if you need to work super hard he'll bring you food and drinks to keep you going.

Sometimes he joins you but drawing isn't his strongest skill so it's a good giggle, he can laugh at his mistakes and he enjoys seeing you smile at them. Other times he'll sit and write songs as you work, he wrote one about you just the other day.

He got so excited when he found out you had an interest in the middle ages, witch hunts and black death. He literally squeaked with joy and you discussed it long into the night, while drinking lots of off-brand soda.

He also finds some really cool books for you to read from the clergy library, occult, satanic panic and so on, it's all there.

~

Written by Nyx

[servicereward]

A little late getting to this, but 18, 36, and 48 for the fanfiction ask game!

18. Do you enjoy research?  Which fic of yours required the most research?

I loooove. Research! I love it love it love it. The fic of mine which required the most is an unfinished WIP I've partially posted on AO3 for the Downton Abbey fandom - Three-Fold. It's a time-loop gothic horror story where I stick my three faves (Thomas, Phyllis, and Anna) into a big old pringles can. They are sent from the year 1927 back to 1914, just before the start of WWI. I worked on it right before Covid happened, and then spent a lot of time during Covid reading memoirs and non-fiction books about medical care on the front during that era. Also a lot of things generally like, what is someone's coat likely to be made out of in this era? Downton Abbey is the most research-heavy fandom of all my writing, because 1. I am not English 2. I want it to feel right and accurate to the period and shit changed stupid fast between 1890 and today! Also whose face was on the coin they bought milk with. Did they buy milk with coins? Was milk delivered? Etc.

But Gargoyles-wise, my most research heavy fic has been my WIP for Owen / Fox / Xanatos. I spent 45 minutes researching this one specific hotel in London only to discover it opened the year after I was setting the story...so I'm going to pretend in Gargoyle's universe it opened a year earlier lmao. The strangest thing I've ever researched wrt to writing is why people are into pretending to be furniture as a sex thing, among other fetishes. I think one of the best things you can do to make your p*rn better is to try and figure out why a certain thing might get someone else off (especially if it's not your thing in particular). Also if you had an upbringing where sex was shameful it's a good way to kill the puritan that lives inside your head.

36. What fic are you proudest of?

I am proudest of, at this moment in time, my Downton Abbey Magnum Opus, lol. But when I finally publish it, I think Orders of Service will be my proudest. One reason will be because I will have gotten my erotic writing to a place I feel comfortable sharing it and the other would be because I'm planning on waiting to publish until - get this - it's all done. Then I'd do weekly / bi-weekly updates on A03. I'm even planning on keeping my vintage author's notes since I wrote some of them multiple years ago, lmao.

48. Who is your favorite character to write for?  Has this changed since you’ve started writing for that fandom?

My favorite character to write of all time is in fact OwenPuck. I've been writing for him more or less consistently and the longest of all my writing projects. My first fic I ever posted online (which is not up anymore) was about him! I typically shy away from writing from a character's POV unless I feel like I can fit inside it like a glove. Walking in their shoes, so-to-speak. So for me it feels like it takes a lot of study. :) He's just so fun to me. And as I've gotten older, gained perspective on adult life, it's been fun to "upgrade" the OwenPuck-in-my-head, so to speak. It goes like this -> I file taxes -> how would OwenPuck feel about filing taxes? -> I decide -> OwenPuck update.

[lannisterdaddyissues]

Hello it is a day later and I am STILL thinking about EoT and getting distracted at work because wow. I thought you might appreciate more thoughts?

One of the things that made me consider EoT was seeing someone call it "secretly the best video game movie" and in the first 20 minutes I was like "Ah okay yes I understand what they meant"

NO I DID NOT because the creeping horror of the movie didn't really kick in until after that introductory sequence when I realize oh no this isn't an aesthetic thing or a cinematography thing, no. EoT is secretly the best video game movie because Bill Cage is basically "what if the character being speedran understood that he was in a speedrun." The sequence breaking, the mashing through 'cutscenes,' the literalization of deathwarping.

I am frankly desperate to ask the original author or McQuarrie if they are familiar with video games because this movie took a lot of rote, basic facts of games and turned them into this rising suspensive drama. As I was watching with @interropunct I kept going "OH WE ARE GONNA HAVE SUCH TRAUMA FROM THIS HUH" and "these two are Same Trauma buddies for life now" and "oh my god he's deathwarping."

Anyway yeah I feel like the real pitch of this movie is "Bill Cage is a Titanfall 2 character and experiences the existential terror of being part of a massive speedrun reroute and its amazing."

Literally the only bad thing I can say is the final 20 minutes were so poorly lit I stopped trying to track the action and was like "See if McQ was directing, I'd be able to see shit."

ALSO THAT MUSIC CUE TO THE CREDITS, WHOEVER THOUGHT OF THAT NEEDS A HIGH FIVE AND A HANDSHAKE. That music cue honestly acts as an epilogue through implication, letting me know what's next for Rita and Bill. Huge fan.

YES????? YES!!!!!!!! ARC YOU GET IT THIS MOVIE IS SO URHSGHASKLFJHRKGASDJFKLSAJGKJSFDK

it's so fucking... chilling.... like the first couple scenes where we see bill trying to cut in through the whole battle is the great redeemer speech? that's like a gamer's horror film right there: not being able to skip cutscenes. add to that the fact that there's only one save point AND the AI is self-aware and knows what you're going to do before you do it, AND it has the ability to take away all your lives? absolutely horrifying. i cannot imagine a gamer and going through what bill cage went through.

i found the letterbox'd page for eot recently and this one review on it was like. something out of r/TwoSentenceHorror if it was more like r/TwoParagraphHorror. just read this:

i mean. this fucked me up. what could take 2 hours in a game could take years in real life........... utterly chilling to think about!

re: titanfall i have never heard of that game before bUT YOU'RE RIGHT IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE EOT ON THE COVER LMAO

AND THE SOUNDTRACK!!!! THE SOUNDTRACK!!!! i get goosebumps every time the end credits roll i swear. there's never been a more perfect outro to a more perfect movie. doug liman i am in your goddamn walls.

excellent thoughts, 10/10, i LOVE to hear this kind of thing!!! i hadn't thought much about the underlying horror implications of eot being video game-esque before but honestly it is so fucked and i will be sending my therapy bill to tom & mcq for it <3

[itgirlgyu]

fav authors?

surprise to literally no one i actually don't have one because i don't read much in real life, (like the ones I ever bought in real life were horror stories compilations) but i really like sarah hogle's humor, and rick riordan oh and!! diana wynne jones!!!

i also like humayun ahmed's short stories and anuja chauhan's novels ( funfact i read all of them) are my guilty pleasures tbh.

never forgiving red chillies for ruining the zoya factor by casting sonam WHEN THEY CASTED MY BABES DULQUER?!? (ik im going off tangent lols)

now now COMING ONTO THE REAL DEAL!!!

my favourite author is my inspiration, my muse, my mentor, my lover, my best friend—my rahrah!! no like fr tho i don't think i would have taken up writing seriously if it hadn't been for her. i got into writing as a means to like extend my overactive imagination onto somehwere so i didn't care about making it sound coherent or like organised until i met my favourite author. i read her stuff and it made me realise ah well fuck i gotta pull my shit together and took a hiatus from writing while trying different genres ( i had never wrote a drop of angst before that) and tried to replicate her writing by reading dozens of romantic era poetries because when i tell you her writing is literally flowing poetry while heavily based on action. like. you're behind the camera with her as she effortlessly narrates what is happening ad though youre experiencing it herself. it's safe to say ill never be able to reach her level but i geneuienly feel so blessed that i can call her my best friend and send my stuff to her bc like i dont think world recognition would as much her word does to me.

now onto TUMBLR,

who else other than @wildernessuntothemselves i had stopped reading on tumblr becase everything I was reading was getting boring and so many people were deactivating, UNTIL I stumbled across like this one drabble of yeonjun from them and oh my GOD WHEN I SAY SOME EMOTIONS WERE UNLOCKED IN ME it's like i had opened this whole new fucking chest of wonderful things—this is when i realised how much into dark stuff i am. and I feel like I really clicked with their writing because their dark writing, the obsessions and themes stems from the things like love which is like the best kind of motivation ever lmao ( it sounds so weird trust me im not a coherent person) and SO I READ ALL DO THEIR WORK, and again and again so i finished the loser lover series, the enhypen series they had and it was during yaqmn when i realised im into this shit for like i was SO FREAKING INTO IT like beomgyu is my favourite character ever from them ( close second to taehyun in hogwarts au sshhhhh) but yeah yaqmn made me realise that i wanna stay on tumblr but like also interact with them and be active in my own writing endeavours. also the author gave legit introduced me to so many cool authors with similar writing tropes and I am so so so thankful that I have found this side.

@hyewka gotta thank mort for introducing me to THE WONDERFUL WORKS OF rana like fr tho, like from the first story it was a hit on the nail on me. i love love love the way rana writes so so so much like they way they articulate their works, the whole situation and the emotions and their TROPES AGH CHEFS KISS. i love that their works are so long because it leaves room for me to see the development between the two characters making it feel so much worthwhile when they fuck in the end lmao like even their toxic works ( BRO HOW DO THEY ARTICULATE THEIR TOXIC CHARACTERS SO WELL) LIKE I'm literally always in awe bc it doesn't ever come off surface level? it's always so so detailed in the plain sight like whatever fucked up shit they do it notion they have it comes off genuine like this person isn't a caricature which is so hard to pull off. i can only ever wish to ever plot a detailed one shot like rana.

@itz-yerin the angst queen fr she is. okay but i know yerin is quite literally famous for her angsts( I'll come back this later) but what drew me to her stories were the fluffs. as someone who doesn't write fluffs because i feel i come off phony ( wow go off edgelord) but dude i read works and the way it's crafted with so much simplicity and love that you genuinely feel the love the characters have for each other and its done in the most mundane situations of life and i love that so much!!!

and her angst too omg, like i think ive never seen anyone tumblr yet use the trope she does in her angst and it's such a wonderful touch that makes me wanna keep reading ans ik most of her works don't really have a happy ending but it creates such a bittersweet ending that leaves this biting feeling in your heart. yerin truly the queen of hurt-hurt genre.

@channoticedmeuwu i know i haven't read much of kai's works YET BUT BRO listen the drabbles that ive read from like the flow of them genuinly makes me believe it's like those pretty lores and fairy tales that you are meant to narrate out out. the vocabulary choices and the way she structures her sentences gives me so so much joy like a number of time. ive literally sat there in awe rereading her sentences again and again. ALSO PACING!! the pacing makes me feeling like I'm walking the character, sometimes they way it indulges you into storyline is literally so magical. i swear to god i wish i could write like that man it's so so so soooo pretty!!

@ox1-lovesick was legit gobsmacked by sav's writing the first time i read them. it's so beautiful, and it's like so soft that makes you feel like. you have something swirling on the pit of the stomache—the fluff is so genuine and it doesn't come off performative at all WHICH IS LIKE SO FUCKING HARD TO DO?! bc you're reading stuff so you feel like ah yes I need to make them look like they are in love BUT NOT SAV even if it's the shortest passage the way they write genuinely makes you see the love the characters share and im out here shoving a pillow in my mouth or SHOVING IT IN THERE TO STOP laughing like THEY ARE SO FUNNY?!? SO FUCKIN FUNNY LIKE THEIR ONE LINERS GET ME SM OR SOME SHIT THEY WRITE LIKE got me giggling and cackling like a witch.

i actually don't read much but I'm trying to change that so when that happens this list will get WAY MORE LONGER!!!