#i had to drop everything and find the exact episode he was on so i could watch alan get excited about stingless bees in panama | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

wordsofwhimsy · 17 days ago

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˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴

Pairing: Main!Mark Grayson x f!Reader

Warnings: None

Tags: Angst, post-breakup blues, eventual payoff tho

Word Count: 2,299

Synopsis: Three weeks after a breakup he can’t shake, Mark finds himself aimlessly nursing milkshakes and regrets—until William drags him out for a night at the club to help him “move on.” But no amount of drinks, dancing, or pretty strangers can quiet the echo of what Mark lost.

Inspiration: 'All the Pretty Girls' by fun.

a/n: i’ve been sittin’ on this for a hot minute and figured might as well drop it in the chat – hope y’all don’t mind 👀

The Burger Mart smelled like fryer grease and teenage dreams deferred.

Mark sat in the booth by the window—the one you two used to claim like it was yours by birthright—hunched over a milkshake he hadn’t touched in twenty minutes. Chocolate. Your favorite. He wasn’t even thinking about it when he ordered it. His body just… remembered.

He stirred it absentmindedly with the straw, head propped on his fist, eyes unfocused. He hadn’t shaved in a couple days. His sweater was riding up just enough for his suit to peak out and show off a stain, probably from when he crash-landed into a taco truck mid-patrol. He hadn’t cared enough to clean it.

William slid into the booth across from him with a heavy sigh.

"Okay," William said, dropping his phone onto the table with a dramatic clack. "I let you sulk. I let you eat your feelings. I even let you cry while watching that one sad episode of Avatar—which was kind of weird but whatever. But Mark, it’s been three weeks. Get your head out of your ex’s hoodie."

Mark didn’t look up. "It's not hers," he mumbled.

William gave him a pointed look. "You literally only bought that hoodie because she said you looked hot in dark blue."

Mark opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but then closed it again. Fair.

William leaned forward, voice softening just a little. "You miss her. I get it. But sitting here rewatching your relationship in your head like it's a Friends DVD collection isn’t helping. You need to get out. Meet people. Let someone buy you a drink. Or at the very least, force you to smile."

Mark scoffed. "I smile."

"You grimace," William corrected. "Like you're doing emotional taxes."

Mark finally looked up, eyes tired but still warm. “I don’t want to meet someone new.”

“Then don’t. Just… let someone meet you.” William gave him a look that was way too sincere for how casual he was trying to act. “Besides, I’m an excellent wingman. And if I can get you out of this mope-fest, maybe the rest of us can sleep at night again.”

Mark sighed. He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to feel like he was moving on. But maybe sitting in the exact place you used to laugh across the table from him wasn’t doing him any favors either.

“…Fine,” he muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. “But I’m not dancing.”

William grinned like he’d just won the lottery. “You say that now, but we’ll see.”

Mark shook his head, but he couldn’t stop the ghost of a smile from twitching at the corner of his mouth.

—

The club pulsed with bass so heavy Mark could feel it in his teeth.

Neon lights cut across the dark space like strobes, catching on sequins, jewelry, and sweat. He wasn’t sure if the drink in his hand was his third or fourth—William kept handing them to him, and he hadn’t been keeping count. The burn in his throat helped, though. It made everything a little blurrier. A little easier.

He was standing in a loose circle with William and two girls they’d just met—Talia and Jess, or maybe it was Jenna? It didn’t matter. They were cute, confident, clearly into the whole “tall, sad, broody” vibe Mark had going on tonight.

And Mark was… trying. He really was.

He laughed at their jokes, nodded along to stories he only half-heard. His smile was soft around the edges, his eyes still a little distant. But he looked good. Alive. Normal.

“So what do you do, Mark?" one of the girls asked, leaning closer to hear him over the music.

He scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, college. I go to Upstate U. Technically an English major but don’t ask me why—I guess I like pain?”

William snorted into his drink. “This man hasn’t read a single book for class since week two.”

Mark shrugged, flashing that crooked little smile that made people lean in. “My ex was a lit nerd. I thought if I read her favorite book, I’d understand her better.”

“Did it work?” the girl asked, grinning.

He looked into his drink. “Nope. Still trying.”

He didn’t realize what he’d said until the girls blinked at him.

“Oh,” he added quickly. “Sorry. That was—yeah. Anyway.”

They moved on. Kinda. For a minute.

The conversation drifted toward the topic of favorite music, and Mark’s face lit up just a little.

“She used to play this indie playlist every morning while she got ready,” he said without thinking, swaying a little with the beat of the club's current song. “Had this dumb little dance she’d do while brushing her teeth. It was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.”

Another blink from the girls.

William’s eyes narrowed like he was watching a slow-motion car crash.

“So, uh, any siblings?” one of them asked, clearly trying to steer the conversation somewhere else.

“Nah, just me. But her family kind of adopted me for a while. Her dad grilled me every time I came over. I think he secretly liked me, though—he let me have the last slice of pizza once.”

“Mark,” William hissed under his breath, elbowing him.

“What?” Mark blinked at him, genuinely confused. “I’m just talking.”

“You’re reciting your relationship timeline, dude.”

Mark blinked again. His buzzed haze shifted just enough for the realization to land.

Oh.

“Oh.”

The girl—Talia, he was pretty sure now—laughed, trying to keep things light. “Wow, she must’ve been something.”

Mark looked down at his drink again, swirling the melting ice around with his straw. His voice dropped just a little when he answered.

“She is.”

For a second, the noise of the club felt distant. Like the music was underwater and the lights were just colors bleeding together behind his eyes.

He wasn’t even sure why he’d come tonight. Maybe he thought being surrounded by people would help. Maybe he thought he’d forget how your laugh sounded when you were tired, or how you always ordered fries after saying you weren’t hungry.

But he didn’t forget. Couldn’t.

Because none of these pretty girls could measure up to you.

The night had worn on like a pair of shoes half a size too small—just enough discomfort to remind Mark he didn’t belong here.

The drinks had dulled the edges, but not enough. The music was still too loud, the lights too bright, and the ache behind his ribs just wouldn’t shut up.

William had drifted off somewhere—probably flirting with the bartender again—and Mark found himself leaning against the railing by the upstairs lounge area, drink in hand, trying to look like he wasn’t mentally replaying every dumb inside joke he used to share with you.

“Hey,” a voice came beside him. Soft. A little hesitant.

It was her—the girl from earlier. The one with the easy laugh and kind eyes. Jenna. Or maybe Jess. Definitely a J.

“You looked kinda lonely over here,” she said, smiling in that way people do when they’re trying not to scare off a sad dog. “Thought I’d come rescue you.”

Mark blinked. “Oh. Thanks. Yeah, I guess I… wandered.”

She leaned her hip against the railing next to him. “You wanna dance?”

He hesitated. His gut reaction was no, but then he remembered William’s voice in his head, practically begging him to try. Just give it a chance. Let someone meet him.

“…Yeah,” he said quietly. “Sure.”

The dance floor was slower now. Not as packed. The music had shifted to something dreamier, bass still thumping but with more space between the beats. Moodier. Intimate.

They found a spot under a flickering pink light, and she stepped in closer, hands grazing his arms.

Mark moved with her. Gentle, unsure. Her fingertips slid up to rest on his shoulders. She was smiling, looking up at him with that cautious sort of hope. Like maybe tonight could mean something.

“You’ve got one of those faces,” she murmured, “like you feel everything really deeply.”

Mark huffed a breath, almost a laugh. “Yeah… that’s kinda my curse.”

Her smile widened. “Well, maybe you just haven’t met someone who feels the same way. Yet.”

Mark’s breath hitched. He didn’t mean to think of you. But there you were.

The way you’d look at him when you thought he wasn’t paying attention. The quiet comfort of your hand in his. That time you whispered “I think I’m falling in love with you” so softly, like you were afraid of the words, but even more afraid they were true.

She stepped a little closer. Her head rested gently against his shoulder. It should’ve felt nice. It did. Kind of.

But not in the way he wanted.

Because even now—this close, this warm, this quiet—all he could think about was how your head used to fit there better.

She pulled back just enough to look at him. Her smile faltered at whatever expression was on his face.

“You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?”

Mark didn’t answer right away. He didn’t have to.

“I’m sorry,” he said eventually, voice barely a whisper. “You’re… you’re great. Really. I’m just…”

“Not over it,” she finished for him, nodding softly. “I get it.”

He stepped back, running a hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have—this was a mistake.”

She touched his arm lightly. “Hey. Don’t beat yourself up. Sometimes we try to move on before we’re ready. It doesn’t make you a bad person.”

Mark gave her a grateful, sad smile. “Thanks.”

As he turned to leave the dance floor, he glanced over his shoulder.

She was still standing there, watching him go, that hopeful expression faded into something quieter. Understanding.

Mark barely heard William over the music, his head still spinning from the failed almost-something on the dance floor.

“Dude! Where are you going?” William called, jogging up and grabbing Mark’s arm before he could disappear into the crowd. “You said you’d try. That was not trying. That was—I don’t even know what that was.”

Mark exhaled sharply. “I did try. I talked, I danced, I smiled. I mentioned my ex so many times I probably traumatized that poor girl. I’m done.”

“No, no,” William said, spinning him back toward the dance floor with all the force of a drama teacher trying to save the spring musical. “We came here to get your groove back, not to spiral in a parking lot. One more song. Just one. Then you can go do your sad-boy brooding in peace.”

Mark sighed deeply, already halfway to saying no. But William was giving him that look—the one he only used when he meant it. The “I care about you too much to let you rot” look.

“…One song,” Mark muttered, defeated.

“Atta boy,” William grinned, grabbing both their drinks from a nearby ledge. “Now pretend you’re not dying inside and maybe I’ll even buy you fries on the way home.”

They were only on the floor for about thirty seconds before Mark knew he couldn’t do it. The bass thudded in his chest, people bumped into him from every side, and all he could feel was wrongness—like he’d wandered into someone else’s life.

He turned to William, eyes apologetic. “I can’t.”

He didn’t wait for a response. Just pivoted, already pushing through the bodies, ready to find a wall to lean against or maybe just the nearest door—

And then it happened.

He crashed right into someone. Hard enough to stumble. He blinked, startled, ready to apologize—until he looked up. And the world just… stopped.

You.

Your eyes locked with his like magnets snapping together. Your mouth opened a little in surprise, but no words came out.

Mark’s breath left him like someone had knocked the wind out of his chest. “Y/N?”

Your eyes were wide. “Mark?”

He looked around for a second, almost like he was checking the sky for signs of divine intervention. “Are you real? Am I—?”

You gave a stunned half-laugh. “Yeah, I’m real. I came with my friends. I didn’t know you were here.”

“I didn’t know you were,” he said, heart beating so loud he could barely hear himself. “Jesus. This is—”

And then, right on cue, the next song started.

Your song.

That one you used to scream-sing in the car. The one that played the first night he kissed you. The one he hadn’t been able to listen to since the day you walked out of his life.

His mouth opened. Yours did too.

Neither of you moved for a second.

But then—like gravity had finally remembered what it was supposed to do—he stepped forward. You did too.

His hands found your waist like they never forgot how. Yours curled into the fabric of his hoodie like it was still yours.

He searched your face, not for permission—he already had it—but for something real. A signal. A yes.

Your lips quirked—barely. Just enough to say, I’m still here.

He kissed you.

And the world, for once, got it right.

The lights blurred, the bass fell away, and the only thing either of you could feel was the truth humming between your mouths: You hadn’t moved on.

Not really.

Because how could you, when nothing else felt like this?

You melted into him, arms looping around his neck, and it wasn’t desperate—it was homecoming. It was the breath you didn’t know you’d been holding. It was everything crashing back and still somehow fitting together perfectly.

The song kept playing.

And somewhere behind you, William saw it happen, and just raised his hands to the sky like, Finally—thank god.

#invincible fanfic #invincible x reader #mark grayson x reader #mark grayson fanfic

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bratzkoo · 23 days ago

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WGM episode 6 | dk

episode 6: the argument

Author: bratzkoo Pairing: seokmin x reader Genre: fluff Rating: PG-13 Word count: 3k~ Warnings/note: fluff, fake marriage, and real feelings. cursing, seokmin curses a lot in his head.

summary: WE GOT MARRIED is back. Seokmin and Y/N pairs up to shoot 10 episodes for a special. Turns out, there are more things happenings off-camera than what meets the eye.

taglist (hit me up if you wanna be added): @ateez-atiny380 , @aeerio . @vernons-wifey12 , @odevote118 , @btskzfav , @codeinebelle , @syluslittlecrows, @minghaofied , @ikbennatas , @armycarat2612

requests are close, but you can just say hi! | masterlist series masterlist | previous episode | next episode

[Opening sequence: Highlights from Episode 5, focusing on their successful cooking adventure and scrapbooking]

Narrator: "Every marriage has its challenges. Today, our newlyweds face their first real test as they work on decorating their shared home!"

---

Seokmin arrived at their apartment carrying a small bag of personal items the production team had requested he bring for their "home decoration" episode. The PD had been suspiciously vague about the exact nature of today's filming, only telling him to bring "things that represent your personal style" and that they would be "making the space more personalized."

It seemed innocent enough, but something about the PD's too-casual tone had set off warning bells in Seokmin's head. Six episodes in, he was starting to recognize the signs that the production team was angling for drama.

DK Junior was thriving on his windowsill in the dorm, having received possibly excessive attention from not only Seokmin but all twelve of his members. The tiny succulent had become something of a group mascot, with Hoshi insisting on talking to it daily about his tiger agenda and Joshua carefully monitoring its watering schedule.

"You're overthinking this," Joshua had told him that morning as Seokmin fretted about what to bring. "It's just decoration."

"But what if my taste clashes with hers? What if she hates everything I bring? What if—"

"Then you'll have your first fake argument," Joshua had replied pragmatically. "Which is probably exactly what they're hoping for."

Seokmin's stomach dropped at the thought. He and Y/N had been getting along so well—maybe too well for the producers' liking. Reality shows thrived on conflict, after all.

I'll just be agreeable. Go with whatever she wants. No drama necessary.

The production crew was already setting up when he arrived, arranging cameras to capture every angle of the living room. The PD greeted him with that same suspicious smile.

"Today should be interesting," the PD said, practically rubbing his hands together with glee. "Couples often discover a lot about each other when they decorate together."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Seokmin replied, aiming for casual confidence but landing somewhere closer to desperate hope.

"We've provided some décor items to choose from," the PD continued, gesturing to several large boxes in the living room. "Plus whatever you and Y/N brought personally."

Seokmin peeked into one of the boxes and immediately grimaced. Who would voluntarily put a neon pink flamingo lamp in their living room? Were they decorating a home or a tacky tourist gift shop?

The doorbell rang, and Seokmin felt the now-familiar flutter in his chest that appeared whenever he was about to see Y/N. Six episodes in, and that feeling hadn't diminished at all. If anything, it had grown stronger, which was becoming increasingly problematic for his mental wellbeing.

He opened the door to find Y/N looking casual and pretty in jeans and a loose sweater, carrying a tote bag that presumably contained her own personal items.

"Ready to channel your inner interior designer?" she asked with a smile that made his heart do that stupid skippy thing it always did.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Seokmin replied, stepping aside to let her in. "Though if you've seen my dorm room, you know design isn't exactly my strong suit."

"I haven't, actually," Y/N said, and there was a brief, loaded moment as they both registered that she was referring to his actual living space, not their fake apartment. A reminder of the reality that existed outside this manufactured marriage.

"It's basically just posters and piles of clothes," Seokmin said quickly, trying to dispel the sudden awkwardness. "With the occasional abandoned water bottle for artistic flair."

Y/N laughed, and the tension dissipated. "Sounds like art to me."

The PD approached, clapping his hands to get their attention. "Let's get started! Today's mission is to decorate your shared living space in a way that reflects both your personalities. You'll each have areas you can personalize, plus common spaces you need to agree on together."

Seokmin and Y/N nodded, both seemingly fine with this concept.

"One more thing," the PD added, his tone far too innocent. "We've divided your decorating budget unevenly to simulate real-life situations where couples might have different resources to contribute. Y/N, you have 70% of the budget. Seokmin, you have 30%."

Wait, WHAT?

"That seems..." Y/N began, looking uncomfortable.

"Realistic!" the PD finished for her. "Many couples deal with income disparities. It's all about how you navigate it together."

Seokmin could almost hear the production team's thought process: Let's create an artificial power imbalance and see if they fight! BRILLIANT TELEVISION!

"We'll be fine," Seokmin said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Right?"

"Of course," Y/N agreed, though she still looked uncertain.

And with that ominous beginning, their decoration challenge was underway.

---

The first hour went surprisingly smoothly. They divided the apartment into zones, agreeing that each would have primary say over certain areas while consulting on shared spaces. Seokmin would focus on the entryway and balcony, Y/N would handle the bedroom and bathroom, and they'd collaborate on the living room and kitchen.

"These options are... interesting," Y/N said diplomatically as they sorted through the décor items provided by the production team.

"That's one word for it," Seokmin agreed, holding up a lamp shaped like a monkey. "I personally would have gone with 'nightmare-inducing,' but 'interesting' works too."

Y/N laughed, setting aside a particularly garish vase. "I think they're testing us."

"Or trying to ensure our apartment looks terrible on camera," Seokmin suggested. "Maximum embarrassment potential."

They managed to sort the items into "maybe" and "absolutely not" piles, with the latter being significantly larger. The atmosphere remained light as they worked together, making jokes about the worst items and finding a few genuinely nice pieces among the chaos.

Then came time to actually start arranging things, and that's when the trouble began.

"I was thinking we could put the bookshelf here," Y/N said, gesturing to a spot along the main living room wall.

"What about over there instead?" Seokmin suggested, pointing to the corner. "It would open up the space more."

Y/N tilted her head, considering. "But this wall is completely empty. It needs something substantial."

"We could put artwork there instead," Seokmin offered. "Something colorful to brighten the room."

"But then where would we put the books?"

It was such a small thing—the placement of a bookshelf—but Seokmin could sense the PD perking up at the first sign of disagreement, like a shark smelling blood in the water.

Stay calm. Be agreeable. This is just a TV show.

"You know what, you're right," Seokmin conceded quickly. "The bookshelf would look great on that wall."

Y/N gave him an odd look. "You don't have to agree with me just to avoid an argument, you know."

"I'm not," Seokmin lied, his ears immediately betraying him by turning red. "I just... reconsidered."

"Uh-huh," Y/N said, clearly not buying it. "Well, now I want to hear your idea properly. Why the corner?"

Seokmin hesitated, caught between his desire to keep things harmonious and the challenge in Y/N's eyes that suggested she wouldn't respect him if he just caved.

"I thought it would make the room feel bigger," he explained. "And we could use the wall space for photos or artwork that would add more personality."

Y/N considered this, then nodded slowly. "That's actually a good point. Let's try it your way first, and if it doesn't work, we can move it."

The compromise felt like a victory, and Seokmin relaxed slightly. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

But the bookshelf was just the beginning.

---

"A cactus garden on the balcony?" Y/N questioned, looking dubious. "Don't you think one plant child is enough responsibility for us?"

"DK Junior needs siblings," Seokmin insisted. "Plus, cacti are basically impossible to kill. They're the perfect plant for neglectful parents like us."

"I am NOT a neglectful plant parent," Y/N protested. "DK Junior was thriving under my care!"

"He was lonely," Seokmin countered. "Look at his little spiky face and tell me he doesn't need friends."

Y/N tried to maintain her serious expression but cracked, laughing despite herself. "You're ridiculous. Fine, cactus siblings it is."

Another crisis averted. Seokmin was starting to believe they might make it through this episode without the drama the PD so clearly wanted.

Then came the living room rug debate.

"The blue one," Seokmin said, pointing to a navy patterned rug they'd found among the options.

"The red one," Y/N countered, gesturing to a burgundy rug with a subtle design.

They stared at each other, both surprised by their sudden impasse.

"Blue would complement the couch better," Seokmin argued.

"Red would add warmth to the space," Y/N replied.

"Blue is calming."

"Red is energizing."

"Blue matches the curtains."

"We can change the curtains."

They were at a standoff, neither willing to budge. The PD was practically salivating in the background.

JUST AGREE WITH HER, Seokmin's brain screamed. WHO CARES ABOUT A STUPID RUG?

But something in him rebelled at the thought. Why should he always be the one to give in? This was supposed to be their shared space—even if it was fake and temporary. Didn't his opinion matter too?

"I really think blue works better with the overall design concept," he said, trying to sound reasonable and not stubborn.

Y/N crossed her arms. "What overall design concept? We've barely started."

"The concept we've been building," Seokmin insisted, gesturing vaguely around the room. "The... cohesive aesthetic."

"What cohesive aesthetic? The 'whatever Seokmin wants' aesthetic?"

Okay, that stung a little.

"That's not fair," Seokmin said, his voice quieter. "I compromised on the bookshelf. And the kitchen backsplash. And the bathroom towels."

"And I compromised on the balcony plants and the entryway mirror and the dining chairs," Y/N countered.

They were actually arguing. A real argument, not just the manufactured conflict the PD had tried to engineer. Somehow that made it worse.

"Fine," Seokmin said, feeling a knot form in his stomach. "Let's go with the red rug."

"No," Y/N replied, shaking her head. "Now you're just giving in to avoid conflict again."

"What do you want from me?" Seokmin asked, frustration edging into his voice. "If I disagree, we argue. If I agree, you're upset that I'm not standing my ground. I can't win here."

The cameras were capturing every word, every expression, and Seokmin hated it. This felt too real, too raw to be entertainment.

Y/N took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm herself. "I want you to have an actual opinion and stick to it. Not just go along with whatever I say because it's easier."

"I do have opinions," Seokmin protested. "I just... I don't want to fight over a rug."

"It's not about the rug," Y/N said, and there was something in her tone that suggested they were suddenly talking about something much bigger than home décor. "It's about being equal partners. Even in disagreement."

Seokmin felt something shift between them—a new understanding forming beneath the surface of their staged marriage.

"Okay," he said finally. "I want the blue rug. Not because it matches everything or for any practical reason. I just like it better. That's my honest opinion."

Y/N looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "Thank you for that. I still prefer the red one."

They stood at an impasse, both holding firm to their preferences but neither wanting to escalate the tension further.

"So what do we do now?" Seokmin asked quietly.

"What real couples do," Y/N replied. "We find a third option we both like."

Together, they went back through the remaining rugs, searching for a compromise. Eventually, they found a purple rug with a subtle pattern that incorporated elements they both appreciated.

"It's not blue," Y/N conceded.

"And it's not red," Seokmin added.

"But it's nice," they both said simultaneously, then looked at each other in surprise before breaking into laughter, the tension finally dissipating.

The PD looked disappointed by their resolution, but Seokmin couldn't bring himself to care. This felt like a genuine victory—not just avoiding conflict, but working through it together.

---

As the day progressed, they settled into a new rhythm, more honest in their opinions but more creative in finding middle ground. The apartment gradually transformed from a sterile, generic space into something that genuinely reflected both their personalities—bright and warm, with touches of whimsy and comfort throughout.

"It actually looks good," Y/N said with surprise as they stood back to assess their work.

"Did you expect a disaster?" Seokmin teased.

"After seeing that monkey lamp? Absolutely."

"I still think we missed an opportunity there," Seokmin said seriously. "Nothing says 'sophisticated adults' like primate-shaped lighting."

Y/N laughed, bumping his shoulder gently with hers. "Maybe for our anniversary. Nothing says 'I love you' like a monkey lamp."

Our anniversary. The casual reference to a future milestone in their fake relationship sent a pang through Seokmin's chest.

Remember, this isn't real. There won't be an anniversary. This all ends after episode 10.

The thought was more painful than it should have been.

"One final touch," the PD announced, bringing in a photographer. "We need some couple photos for the walls."

They posed for several pictures—some formal, some silly, all creating the illusion of a shared history that didn't actually exist. Seokmin found it increasingly difficult to remind himself that this was all for show as Y/N laughed in his arms, her smile genuine and warm against his chest.

When the photos were printed and framed, they worked together to arrange them on the wall above the sofa—the same wall they'd debated using for the bookshelf hours earlier.

"You were right," Y/N admitted as they hung the final frame. "This is better than a bookshelf would have been."

"We were both right," Seokmin corrected gently. "Just about different things."

Y/N smiled at him, a soft, private smile that the cameras probably couldn't fully capture. "Look at you, being all mature about conflict resolution."

"I'm a very mature person," Seokmin insisted with mock seriousness. "Just ask anyone. Except my members. Or my manager. Or anyone who's spent more than five minutes with me."

Y/N laughed, and something warm settled in Seokmin's chest. Their first real disagreement, and they'd worked through it together. It felt significant somehow, even in the context of their manufactured relationship.

"That's a wrap for today!" the PD called, looking disappointed that their argument hadn't escalated into something more dramatic. "Great job, everyone!"

As the crew began packing up equipment, Seokmin and Y/N stood in the middle of their newly decorated apartment, surveying their work.

"I'm sorry I got frustrated earlier," Y/N said quietly, when the nearest microphones had been turned off.

"I'm sorry I wasn't being honest about my opinions," Seokmin replied. "You were right—it wasn't fair to either of us."

"We figured it out, though."

"We did," Seokmin agreed, feeling oddly proud of that fact.

There was a beat of comfortable silence before Y/N spoke again. "This place feels different now. More like..."

"A home?" Seokmin suggested.

"Yeah," Y/N said softly. "More like a home."

---

Later, after the crew had packed up and they were preparing to leave, Seokmin found Y/N standing by the photo wall, looking thoughtfully at their pictures.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, coming to stand beside her.

"Just thinking how weird this is," she replied. "Creating all these memories for a show. Sometimes I almost forget it's not real."

The admission sent a jolt through Seokmin. Did that mean she sometimes felt it too—that blurring of lines between reality and pretend?

"I know what you mean," he said carefully. "It's kind of surreal."

Y/N turned to face him, her expression more serious than usual. "Today was good, though. Real. Even the disagreement part."

"Especially the disagreement part," Seokmin agreed. "At least it was honest."

"I'd rather have honest disagreements than fake harmony any day," Y/N said, and something about the way she said it made Seokmin wonder if she was talking about more than just their on-camera relationship.

Before he could pursue that thought, the PD called from the doorway. "We're all packed up! You're free to go!"

The spell broken, they gathered their belongings and headed for the door. As they stepped outside, Y/N paused.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she said, digging in her bag. She pulled out a small object and handed it to Seokmin. "For your cactus garden vision."

It was a tiny ceramic pot with a cartoon face painted on it—the perfect size for a baby succulent.

"For DK Junior's first sibling," Y/N explained with a smile. "I saw it at a shop last week and thought of you."

She thought of me. When cameras weren't rolling. When it wasn't for the show.

"It's perfect," Seokmin said, turning the tiny pot in his hands. "Thank you."

"See you next week," Y/N said, her smile softening his heart in a way he couldn't afford to examine too closely.

"Next week," he echoed, watching her walk away.

Later that night, as he placed the empty pot on his windowsill next to DK Junior, his phone buzzed with a message.

Y/N: Our place looks good. You have better taste than you give yourself credit for.

Our place. Two simple words that shouldn't have affected him so much.

Seokmin: We make a good team. Even when we're fighting about rugs.

Y/N: Especially when we're fighting about rugs. That's when you finally got honest.

Seokmin: I'll remember that. Next time I'll start with a strong opinion about curtains.

Y/N: Looking forward to it. Goodnight, opinionated husband.

Seokmin: Goodnight, equally opinionated wife.

He set his phone down, smiling despite the complicated emotions swirling in his chest. Each episode, each text, each moment spent together was making it harder to remember that none of this was real.

And as much as that terrified him, Seokmin couldn't bring himself to wish it was any other way.

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percheduphere · 1 year ago

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LET'S TALK ABOUT "HE'LL MAKE IT BACK"

Special thank you to @mmobiuses, @starrose17, and @stevenrogered whose gifs make-up the lion's share of this post. Thank you to all the other amazing gif artists as well, without you, my metas won't be possible.

This might come as a surprise to a lot of people, but I actually wasn't big on Lokius until Season 2. I thought Loki and Mobius made a cute ship in Season 1, but that was the extent of it. In truth, I lost interest in the Loki series by the S1 finale and had 0 interest in watching S2. I didn't give the series another try until I saw positive reviews on Tumblr. I therefore started watching S2 when S2E4 dropped.

LOKI SEASON 1

Enjoying the potential love story between two characters is a deeply personal and subjective experience. So take what I say as my personal experience observing Loki and Mobius's relationship.

I fully believed Mobius loved Loki in S1 in the platonic sense. Tom Hiddleston has given a few interviews on Loki's and Mobius's relationship and seems to believe in this sentiment as well [see 5:30-7:30 and 10:57-11:00]).

That is to say, in S1, I didn't feel, "Oh, my god ... he loves him." It was more, "Yes, he loves him", there is no question, his actions prove it.

There is wiggle-room for unrequited love in the S1E4 interrogation scene, but the jealousy Mobius exhibited could have just as easily been a combination of anger on behalf of his murdered colleagues and platonic jealousy.

However, I felt the first hint of unrequited love from Mobius occurred during his goodbye scene with Loki in S1E5. Specifically, this look:

I had no expectations for that look to pay off in any way. Season 2 surprised me.

LOKI SEASON 2

S2E1 is amazing episode because, through subtext, it reframes how Mobius's S1 emotions may be interpreted with stronger evidence for romantic motivation. In this episode, there appears to be a subtle, gradual build-up to the moment that Mobius's love for Loki may be viewed as fully romantic. Let's break down the episode and look at the progression:

First, learning that Loki is at the TVA: *sigh* I can't find the "Loki's here?" gif.

Second, and perhaps the most infamous, the reunion and whole-body support Mobius provides Loki in the TVA War Room (physical comfort):

Third, Mobius bringing Loki somewhere safe and quiet, assuring him that "it's okay" (emotional comfort):

Fourth, Mobius insisting that Loki's condition must be fixed, not once but twice, in two different scenes. A third (writer's magic 3s!) instance occurs in the Heart of the TVA, just before the gangway scene (prioritizing the other):

Fifth, Mobius's admission that Loki's timeslipping looks horrible, and he can't look at it anymore. He repeatedly stresses to Loki how serious this is (emotional and physical empathy):

Sixth, Mobius taking Loki to exact right person who can help. This is particularly significant, because Mobius is the only person in MCU canon who has verbally expressed concern for Loki's physical well-being and took immediate action to stop the pain (act of service):

Seventh, the third time Mobius prioritizes Loki's wellbeing. He scolds Loki and reminds him they have only one shot at getting his timeslipping corrected before the temporal radiation becomes too high (prioritizing the other):

Eighth, Mobius interrupting Loki, insisting that he will make it back. The subtext here is that no other outcome is acceptable or thinkable for Mobius (emotional comfort):

Finally, Ninth, the clincher: "He'll make it back." (self-comfort)

This scene is everything to me. Moments 1 through 8 build-up to this singular moment. Let's do a micro-analysis on it.

After Loki timeslips, the camera stays on Mobius. It tracks him as he kneels down to pick-up the time sick, the last thing Loki touched. The camera then pans up as Mobius rises.

@stevenrogered, THANK YOU for this gifset. It's literally the only one I could find that captures the camera tracking Mobius after Loki disappears, and this is my all-time favorite Mobius scene.

Mobius stands for a moment, motionless, and the camera holds on his facial expression. He's staring at where Loki WAS for extended period of time (keep this in mind for later). He's holding his breath. He's worried, scared, and hopeful, not for himself and the danger he faces on the gangway, but for Loki.

Finally, he exhales as he says to himself, "He'll make it back".

This entire sequence--particularly the moment when Mobius picks-up the time stick and holds it in silence--made me feel, "Oh ... Oh ... he loves him."

The camera stays with Mobius, capturing his reaction to this high-stakes situation for a significant amount of time (@loki-us, maybe you can get this timed starting from the moment Loki disappears and Mobius starts to kneel to pick-up the time stick?). Cinematographers don't do this type of hold unless they want to illicit a strong emotion from the audience regarding the character we are focusing on in the moment.

My insides swooped, which rarely ever happens when I view film or television.

And this camera hold, this pregnant pause, is mirrored by Loki's stare in S2E5:

#loki #mobius #lokius #loki series #loki season 2 #loki meta #my meta #loki analysis #my analysis

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ivegotyourbackbuddie · 3 days ago

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The Wrong Buckley. Part Six of Six. Ao3 Link. Part One. Two. Three. Four. Five. FINISHED

“Your clothes better be-”

Chimney’s words die when he sees Maddie and Eddie in bed, and it’s… quite a sight.

Eddie is cradling a half-empty glass of wine propped up on Maddie’s stomach, eyes tired and damp, the muscles in his face tight as if he’s longing to put his fist through the nearest wall. Maddie is doing her best to comfort him, cradling his head to her chest as she runs a hand through his hair. It’s the exact thing she does whenever she comforts Jee after a particularly bad day or nightmare. Buck’s eyes glance toward the TV.

Chimney asks what Buck is thinking, “Is that Bluey?”

Maddie sighs and pauses the episode. “Apartment hunting went that well?”

Chimney glances toward Buck, obviously conflicted about confronting them when they’re not exactly doing anything too suspicious. Buck glances down at the covers they’re under, wondering if they’re just fast changers and good actors. Or maybe this is Maddie’s way of comforting Eddie after rejecting his booty call.

Either way, he needs to be strong for Chimney. He gets right to the point. “We know about your affair.”

Maddie looks blankly at Buck, then gives Chimney a look of complete disbelief. Eddie rolls his eyes and puts his glass on the side table. “Buck-”

“No!” Buck says, holding his hand up. “Stop with the lies, Eddie. I know. I know about the brunch dates, the secret pictures, the birthday wish, the love confession after your wine night and in the mirror, and the fact you’ve been trying to hide this from me!” He takes a quick glance to his left, Leo coming to mind as he stutters out, “A-And Chimney.”

“The what?” Maddie asks, sounding genuinely baffled.

Buck groans, looking toward Chim for support, only to find him eyeing Buck suspiciously, as if he’s made this all up! Buck widens his eyes at him, trying to get his support, but Chimney crosses his arms and takes a step back, taking in the scene before him as if he’s just a spectator in this whole thing.

Buck takes a deep breath and looks back at the pair staring at him, looking more confused than confronted. But a quick glance at the picture of Jee on the nightstand reminds him why this all matters. “Think of the kids, guys. Jee, my unborn nephew, and Chris–”

“Okay, no one is having an affair,” Maddie says, gesturing to her stomach as if that is an automatic excuse.

Buck shakes his head, staring at his sister, trying to get through to her as he gestures to Eddie. “You’re saying that you’re really not in love with Eddie?” The question sounds a bit more surprised than accusatory.

“Yes, Buck,” Maddie states firmly. “I’m not in love with Eddie because I happen to be in love with Chimney, you know, my husband.”

Chimney’s chest puffs out a little bit at the statement, but Buck ignores him to look at Eddie.

“And you–”

Eddie shakes his head, taking the covers off his sweatpants-clad legs. “We’re not doing this here.”

“Yes, we are,” Buck says through his teeth.

“No, we’re going home. Right now.”

The way he says it sends a jolt of electricity down Buck’s spine that he tries to ignore. “See, you’re avoiding it because you are.”

“I’m not!” Eddie practically yells, arms wide.

Buck points at him angrily. “We have a no lying rule, Edmundo.”

Eddie straightens up, arms crossing as his tone and volume drop, taking a step forward. “We do. And you know why that is? Because I fucked up. I fucked up my kid so bad that he had to flee the state and run eight hundred miles away from me and let my parents play their fucked up version of house that literally made him sick. All because I lied to him.” He points an accusatory finger at him. “I just got him back, and you think I would do something that would risk destroying everything we have now?”

He makes a good point, but Buck knows what he’s seen. “Maybe for Maddie, you would.”

Eddie’s finger curls back into a fist as he takes in a deep breath. He lets his fingers open as he exhales. “Why are you doing this, Buck?”

“Because I’m trying to fix this before it can ruin what we’ve created – what you’ve created – with Chris.” Before Eddie can argue, Buck explains, “I saw the text messages, Eddie. How you’re thankful I don’t know about this, that I was onto you, and how you hate sharing the bed with me.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up. “You went through my messages?”

“You were passed out.”

“And that’s supposed to make it better?”

Buck folds in on himself.

“Dios, Buck,” Eddie breathes out, shaking his head. “You got it all wrong.”

“How?” Buck asks, exasperated. “How can this be anything other than you being in love with Maddie?”

“Because I’m gay,” Eddie chokes out.

Buck’s heart stops.

It takes longer than three minutes and seventeen seconds for it to start again as the whole world comes to a halt.

“Oh my god,” Chimney whispers as if realizing something, reminding Buck that they aren’t the only two in the room.

Buck blinks once, then twice. He shakes his head.

“No, you’re in love with Maddie.”

Eddie stares at him, his brown eyes beyond hurt, but he doesn’t say a word. He just shakes his head and scoffs, a humorless, silent laugh, before he grabs his keys and wallet from the side table, walking past Buck and out of the room.

Buck glances up at Maddie who looks angry on behalf of her friend but disappointed as Buck’s sister. We don’t hurt our friends, Buck can practically hear her say.

“I’m sorry,” he breathes out as he turns around, following Eddie, catching up to him quickly as he puts his shoes on by the door.

“Eddie…”

Eddie holds up a finger to him – surprisingly, his pointer finger and not the middle one.

Buck takes the hint and shuts his mouth.

When Eddie is done tying his shoes, he looks right at him. “I’ll see you at the house.”

Buck tries not to focus on the way he says the house instead of our house. “Eddie, you’ve been drinking, let me drive you back.”

“I’ll get an Uber.”

Buck’s jaw tenses, but he takes the hint. He nods once. “Venmo request me the amount.”

Eddie just stares at him.

Buck tests his luck and asks, “Can I wait until it gets here?”

Based on the way Eddie’s eyes try to burn a hole through his head, Buck’s going to take that as a no. He clears his throat. “I’ll, uh, see you at home.” He doesn’t waste time leaving, afraid that it’s Eddie’s turn to maim him, not that he wouldn’t deserve it.

He drives home in silence, not even beginning to process what has happened.

When he gets to the house, he checks Eddie’s location to see if the Uber has picked him up yet, but he finds that he’s already been dropped off somewhere. Bobby’s house.

He wonders if Maddie drove him there.

Buck heads straight to the kitchen and starts baking just about anything that he has the ingredients for when he finally lets himself think of everything that went down with Eddie.

Eddie, who is not straight.

Unless that was just a lie to cover the affair.

Buck shakes his head, and, for the first time since he’s been made aware of this friendship, he takes Eddie at his word.

He goes back to Maddie’s birthday, thinking about the thing Eddie wasn’t ready to tell him that Maddie was pushing him to say. And Maddie, being Buck’s sister, would know how hard Buck would take it if Eddie came out to her first instead of him. She was just delaying the inevitable crash out Buck would have, especially since Eddie had apparently drunkenly come out to her months ago.

He thinks about their messages and how Eddie needed to tell Chris first. How he didn’t want to tell his parents about what Buck thought was an affair when really…

He sighs and puts his head in his flour covered hands. He has to be the worst friend in the entire world to have forced Eddie to come out when he wasn’t ready.

Oh fuck, so that’s what Eddie wanted to talk to him about tonight. So, maybe he was ready, but… that’s no excuse for how it happened. Especially compared to how Buck had come out to him and was met with a hug and reassurance that it would change nothing between them

And now Buck has to live with the fact that when Eddie came out, he told him he wasn’t gay because he was actually in love with his sister.

It’s all a mess.

He glances in the direction of their bedroom, wondering if he really needs to go apartment hunting now. God, he’s going to miss waking up in Eddie’s arms every morning.

Wait. Eddie had panicked about sharing the bed with Buck. He also had to lock himself in the bathroom to get away from massaging Buck. Plus, Maddie had told Eddie not to tell Buck he’s gay, after seeing right through Buck’s poor excuses as to why he couldn’t be in love with Eddie.

It all makes sense now.

Eddie’s gay, but he doesn’t have feelings for him.

It explains why he’s been waiting to tell him. Clearly, it would be hard to continue living in their cozy, domestic world that has teetered on the not-so-platonic side after Eddie came out. They live in each other’s bubble more often than not, and although Buck being bi didn’t change anything… Eddie being gay does.

How hard would it have been for Eddie to explain to Buck that he doesn’t want him to misinterpret his actions, that even though they could be seen as romantic, it would never work out, not because he’s straight, but because he just doesn’t feel that way about Buck?

It all adds another layer to the complexity surrounding Eddie coming out, which, once again, Buck is reminded that he’s added to even more.

He digs around his spice cabinet, trying to find his natural food dyes.

Buck shakes his head and closes it. He’s pretty sure a six-layer rainbow cake would result in a justifiable punch in the face or eviction notice. So, he grabs the bag of flour and stares at it, wondering if he has enough to make a batch of those scones Eddie liked.

It’s going to take more than baked goods to fix this, but Buck has to start somewhere.

At some point mid baking spiral, the front door opens and closes. Buck jumps.

In a few hours, he only managed to get two different trays of muffins, a pan of brownies, and the scones in the oven, and he’s certain that it isn’t enough.

Maybe he should’ve started making bread instead.

Jesus, what he should’ve done is think about what he’s going to say to Eddie.

“I hope you don’t expect me to help clean this up.”

Buck startles again, turning away from the flour covered counter to look at Eddie. He leans against the doorway, arms crossed, face carefully neutral.

Buck wipes his hands against his apron anxiously. “You’re back.”

“Had to make a stop.”

“At Bobby’s,” Buck fills in.

Eddie’s brow furrows, lips pursing as he stares at him. “You’ve been watching my location.” It’s a statement more than a question, so Buck doesn’t try to deny it. Eddie sighs and shakes his head. “Jesus, Buck. My messages and now my location.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” Buck retorts. He may have gone about it wrong, but his heart was in the right place.

“I know,” Eddie replies, surprisingly calm. He takes a few steps into the kitchen, pausing at the table and glancing down at the various bowls. He takes a swipe at the leftover brownie batter and lifts a finger to his mouth, tongue darting out to taste it.

“There’s also muffins and scones in the oven,” Buck says dumbly, mesmerized by the sight.

Eddie glances up at him. “Well, it’s a start.”

Buck frowns. “A start?”

“To your apology.”

“Eddie–”

He holds a hand up to Buck. “I know, Buck. You were trying to do the right thing, you already said that.”

Buck takes a tentative step forward, ducking his head down so it’s level with Eddie. “I’m sorry,” he says sincerely.

Eddie glances away.

Buck feels desperate to get through to him. “I should’ve believed you. I should’ve known better than to assume you would do something to hurt Chris, especially after all the work you’ve done in therapy and with him; I completely undermined all of that. I just saw you and Maddie together, and I panicked. I thought you were replacing me, but I went to the extreme thinking that you were putting Maddie in a role that’s even more important than mine in your life. I- I thought you were going to leave me again, and I couldn’t handle it.”

He takes a step closer, and Eddie looks up at him. “But I never should’ve reacted like that to you coming out. And I can’t believe I have to say this, but I know you wouldn’t lie to me about that. I’m sorry that I wasn’t a safe person for you to come out to, and I proved why.” He looks away and rubs his hands on his apron again. “And I’m sorry I’m making this about me again, but this doesn’t have to change a thing between us.”

Buck’s not sure what he expects, but it’s not for Eddie to grab one of the dirty bowls, bring it to the sink, and start rinsing it out. He opens the dishwasher and starts loading it with the bowl in his hand and other dishes in the sink. When he runs out, he reaches behind him, hand open toward Buck.

“You don’t have to–”

“Dishes, Buck.”

Buck’s stomach twists, and he immediately begins handing things over. Dishes are never something Eddie does on his own voluntarily unless he needs to think.

Buck would love to know what he’s thinking about, or else he’s going to spiral.

Hell, he’s already spiraled. He might end up spontaneously combusting.

Luckily, there’s two firefighters in the house, right?

Buck gives him five minutes – he keeps track on the oven timer – but right when Buck is about to say something, Eddie stares out the window and asks, “What if I want things to change between us?”

The words make Buck’s blood run cold. He remains frozen until Eddie turns around to gauge his reaction. His nostrils flare involuntarily, and it takes everything in him to make sure the corners of his lips aren’t entirely downturned. He nods. “Yeah, man, of course. I get it. I’ll start looking for apartments.”

To make this easier for Eddie, he makes a beeline for the living room where Eddie left the iPad on the coffee table in front of the couch. He’s about to grab it when Eddie calls out, “Wait, what?”

Buck turns to Eddie standing in the kitchen doorway, eyes wide and frantic. “I’ll get out of your hair. It’s been a long time coming, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable anymore.”

“Uncomfortable?”

Buck nods, resisting the urge to take a step closer to him. “We’ve been closer than ever recently. And now that you’re out, it’s harder to keep doing what we’ve been doing without it coming across as… romantic.” He raises his hands and frantically shakes them, heart racing. “And I’m not saying that just because you’re gay that means that you would have feelings for me, in fact, I know it’s the opposite. But it would be hard to explain that to other people or me, so I’m okay to take a step back. Go back to the way we were before. I wouldn’t want us to confuse Chris or anything.”

During Buck’s whole rant, Eddie grows increasingly more and more serious. By the time Buck is finished, Eddie’s face is carefully blank except for the way his mouth is slightly agape. He takes a deep breath and says, “Evan Buckley, I will never understand the way your brain works. First, Maddie and I, now this?”

Buck feels like he should be a little offended. “I don’t understand.”

Eddie ducks his head and mutters, “Dios.” He glances up at Buck slowly and takes a few steps past the doorway into the dining area. “Bobby said that he wasn’t surprised that you had jumped to such extreme conclusions about me and Maddie. Talked about your fear of abandonment, general impulsivity, and need to fix things. That all combined with the fact that your heart is infuriatingly big and the driving factor behind your decisions leads to things like this happening. And Athena…”

“What did she say?” Buck jumps to ask.

“Buck’s gonna Buck,” Eddie breathes out with a laugh.

Buck feels a shift, but he tries not to let himself think too hard.

It doesn’t work because he immediately goes to a state of slight panic, thinking about the people he loves talking about him behind his back. Except, it’s not entirely a bad thing necessarily since Eddie’s telling him exactly what they said, and it doesn’t sound bad, but–

Before he knows it, Eddie’s right in front of him, hand resting on his shoulder, thumb right above his collarbone.

Buck’s vision comes back into focus, and he takes in the concern in Eddie’s brown eyes. “Buck, I need you to listen very carefully. I wouldn’t hold hands with my other friends when I’m falling asleep, I wouldn’t do something like wake up spooning Hen and beg her to stay a few more minutes, and I wouldn’t prepare a candlelit dinner for Chimney.”

Buck snorts. “Yeah, because they’re not your best friend.”

“Oh my fucking god,” Eddie says, cupping Buck’s head with both hands. “Buck, I can’t believe I’m going to have to spell it out to you.”

The phrasing hits Buck very suddenly, envisioning the open crack of the bathroom door, he’s reminded of the reason he’s here now.

I can’t believe I’m in love with a Buckley.

And if it’s not Maddie, and Eddie’s gay, then… Well, he can’t imagine Phillip Buckley would be all that appealing. Which can only mean…

Buck takes a sudden step back and stares at Eddie, eyes wide and searching.

Eddie’s cheeks are pink.

The way they are around Maddie.

The way they are around Maddie because Eddie’s been talking about him. Just like the server told him.

“I need to sit down,” he announces before flopping down on the couch.

Eddie, his best friend, is gay. And in love with him.

He tries to go back over everything he’s managed to overlook, and, yeah, maybe the whole bed sharing and cuddling in the morning should’ve been the first sign. And then the almost kiss. And… “Eddie, were you trying to seduce me when you were washing my car?”

Buck doesn’t think it’s possible, but Eddie manages to turn a little redder. “I-I mean. I wouldn’t say that.”

“You totally did,” Buck says, smile growing on his face. His best friend, the one who was flirting with him when he was drunk, and Buck managed to overlook the whole thing with the damn condoms and Eddie wanting to help him undress after promising to be quiet. Buck’s cheeks turn a similar shade of red.

He frowns suddenly and holds out his hand. “Phone.”

Eddie rolls his eyes but gets it out of his pocket, handing it over.

Buck easily unlocks it and opens his and Maddie’s messages, scrolling past the big apology Maddie sent on behalf of Buck for his behavior today, and goes all the way up to the message from Maddie thanking Eddie for telling her something.

He scrolls up only two messages sooner and sees it. Maddie had sent a photo of Buck in the midst of his rant about how he’s not in love with his straight best friend who is a renter, and Eddie had gotten back to her a few hours later.

m so in lovwith him it hruts

???

call me!!!

He turns off the phone and puts it on the coffee table.

A single scroll up, and Buck would’ve known.

Actually, it’s entirely possible he would’ve come up with some excuse to convince himself that message was in no way about him.

“Not the best way for me to have come out for the first time, especially since we’d only talked a few times, but…” Eddie shrugs. When Buck looks at him inquisitively, Eddie explains, “Like we said, we talked a bit when I moved to Texas. She helped with some renovations and answered questions about how you were doing. The deepest talk we had was about my PTSD and her own trauma surrounding the kidnapping.” He gestures toward his phone. “But that was what really got us talking, which was why I didn’t know how to tell you we were close. What was I supposed to say? I drunkenly confessed my love for you to your sister and cried about it to her for hours, and even when I’m sober, I can’t shut up about you, and she was the only person I felt like I could go to?”

It's… a lot. And Buck’s not entirely sure he’s not dreaming or in yet another weird coma dream. So, he asks, “Can you hold my hand?”

Eddie nods and nearly closes the distance between them as he sits next to him on the couch, offering his hand, palm up to Buck in the space between them. Buck takes it quickly, noticing the tremor in his best friend’s hand. He looks up at him, seeing Eddie’s own panic taking over him. But Buck has to be absolutely sure, “You’re in love with me?”

Eddie squeezes his hand, running a thumb over the back of his hand. “Yes, Evan, I’m…” he trails off and scrunches his nose up. “God, is it weird to call you that after…” he makes a vague gesture, spinning his pointer finger around.

“Tommy?” Buck guesses.

Eddie groans, “Please, don’t bring up the ex who you slept with in my house.”

Buck laughs, getting a little cocky as he asks, “Are you jealous?”

“Yes, I’m jealous because I’m in love with you.”

Buck already knew this. He did. He just found out with enough evidence that it’s honestly nearly impossible to dispute.

But hearing the words out of Eddie’s mouth is the final piece of confirmation that he needs.

Eddie’s in love with him.

He sits with it for another moment, but his mind is stuck on one thing. Buck can’t help but ask, “Is that why you threw my mattress out?”

“Yes,” Eddie answers immediately. “You’re lucky I didn’t burn the whole house down.”

Buck laughs, relaxing for the first time that day when Eddie laughs as well, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he drops his head on the back of the couch, his canines on full display, so beautiful.

“I love you,” Buck says suddenly.

Eddie’s laughter dies, but the joy on his face grows. “Yeah?”

Buck nods.

“I had a feeling.”

Buck laughs and knocks his shoulder against him. “Shut up.”

“You shut up.”

“Make me,” Buck says, voice low. He takes a pointer from his Buck 1.0 days and licks his lips to draw Eddie’s eyes to them.

He’s fully expecting Eddie to laugh at the cheesy line, but he seems transfixed by him, eyes lingering on his lips before darting to his eyes, looking over his face as if seeing him for the first time. “Okay,” he whispers, as he lets go of Buck’s hand to drape it over the couch behind Buck, shifting closer. His other hand comes up to cup Buck’s face gently, thumb tracing over the stubble there, and Buck mirrors him only for Eddie’s hand to slowly trace down his neck and cling to his shoulder.

His thumb slots into the spot reserved on Buck just for him, and he finally pulls him in.

Their lips brush together gently before slotting together in a chaste first kiss.

When Buck secretly pictured this moment – before scolding himself for letting himself think that way about his straight best friend – he always imagined it would be something wildly intense and devouring. They had never really done anything in the right order before, so he hadn’t expected their first kiss to feel like a first kiss.

Except, this kiss feels less like a question of what’s to come but instead a confirmation that this is it – each other’s last.

Buck pulls away from the soft kiss first, letting Eddie take the time he needs to fully process this very-

And he’s kissing him again.

Buck’s positively overwhelmed with the fact that Eddie Diaz knows how to kiss, and Buck’s not sure if he’s ever had someone make his toes literally curl from a kiss and steal his breath. He manages a breath when he opens his mouth, which Eddie takes as an invitation to deepen the kiss, and Buck thinks this has to be a coma dream or he’s died and gone to heaven.

He groans when Eddie shifts on the couch and straddles him. Only breaking away for a second to grunt, “Fuck, I’m so gay,” before kissing Buck again.

When Buck has to come up for air, Eddie presses their foreheads together and whispers, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Buck whispers, out of breath.

Eddie pulls back suddenly and reaches behind him, patting at the coffee table, and nearly losing his balance, making Buck steady him as he finally gets what he was looking for. He holds his phone up triumphantly. “I’ve got to tell Maddie about this.”

Buck groans and throws his head back against the couch. “If this is what you two being friends is going to be like, I’m still not going to like it.”

“You don’t want me to be close to my future sister-in-law?”

The question makes Buck's heart hammer in his chest. “You proposing to me, Diaz?”

Eddie glares at the last name but turns an interesting shade of pink.

Buck sits up a little straighter, bringing them closer together.

“Chris has the ring in his room, and I may have gotten Bobby’s blessing today.”

“Yes,” Buck says immediately.

Eddie throws his head back with a laugh. “Buck, I haven’t even asked. Plus, Hen, Karen, and Maddie wanted to help plan something big that was going to be perfect with everyone-”

“I don’t care,” Buck insists. “So, unless you want me to ask first, you have to ask right now.”

Eddie raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms, which looks a little funny considering he’s still on top of him. “You want me to explain to Chris that he missed our proposal because you were impatient?”

Buck pouts, especially when Eddie climbs off him.

But then Eddie drops to a knee in front of the couch, and Buck’s heart skips a beat. He takes Buck’s hands and tries and fails not to let his amusement bleed into his exasperation. “Evan Buckley, will you please wait to say yes to my proposal?”

Buck laughs and cradles his head in his hands. “Yes, but only for Chris.” He joins Eddie on his knees to kiss him, but Eddie ends up complaining about them being too old to be kneeling on the hardwood floor.

They stay there for a little while longer anyway.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“So, Buck thought you were having an affair with his sister, but, really, you were just sneaking around with her to talk about how much you were in love with Buck. Then, after he found out that wasn’t what was happening and you came out, he thought you didn’t want to be with him, although you two were sharing a bed and doing everything married couples do. But as soon as he realized you had feelings for him, you two kissed, and then Buck begged you to propose immediately?”

“Yeah, that sounds right,” Eddie replies with a big smile, watching as Buck chats with a slightly ill looking Maddie.

Ravi shakes his head. “So, why did you two break up in the first place?”

Eddie frowns and finally looks at him. “What?”

“Oh, sorry, is that a touchy subject?”

Eddie shakes his head. “No, we never broke up.”

Ravi tilts his head. “So, Buck thought you were cheating on him and suddenly fell out of love with him? Wait, I thought he dated that Tommy guy. Oh, are you in an open relationship?”

“No, Buck and I only started dating recently, monogamously.”

Ravi stares at him like he’s grown a second head. He walks away muttering something about, “I will never understand the whole Buck and Eddie thing…”

Eddie doesn’t blame him, honestly, because sometimes he barely gets it either. He wouldn’t change it for the world, though.

He makes eye contact with Maddie and winks at her. She winces slightly but winks back at him.

Now’s the time.

He looks around Bobby and Athena’s backyard, making sure everyone is there as he pats the inside pocket of his jacket where the small box is sitting. He waits for Maddie to stand up and lead Buck to the middle of the yard, where everyone can see them.

As soon as she stands and carefully guides Buck toward him, Eddie’s heart hammers in his chest. He glances Chris’s way and sees him trying to hide his huge, suspicious grin, but he gives up to give his dad a thumbs up.

There’s a loud gasp behind him and the sound of water hitting the ground, and Eddie’s head whips around, watching as a puddle collects under Maddie’s feet.

Eddie completely throws away his plans as he races over and grabs her hand. “You were having contractions this whole time?”

“I didn’t want to ruin the moment,” Maddie whispers back.

“Whatever moment that is, it can wait until after we get you to the hospital,” Buck says, oblivious as ever.

“No!” Maddie practically yells, getting everyone’s attention in quite a different way than was planned. “Edmundo Diaz, you better get on one knee right now.”

Eddie does just that, digging into his pocket as gracelessly as possible, but Buck doesn’t care based on the way his eyes are already wet.

“Evan Buckley, the first day I met you was… a lot. You immediately hated me, but I knew I would do just about anything to change that. And I did.” He gets a laugh from Buck and a slight groan from Maddie. “We promised that we would always have each other’s backs, and, somehow, through everything, we’ve kept that promise.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie can see Chimney’s about ready to throw Maddie over his shoulder and run her out of there.

“This also means having our family’s backs, which means speeding this up so we can get Maddie to the hospital. But, Buck, I love you, and I will make up for all of this in our vows.” He takes a deep breath and smiles. “But first, I have to ask, will you marry me?”

Buck nods, a few tears streaming down his face, beautiful as ever. “Yes.”

Their family cheers around them as Buck kisses him quickly, slides on the ring, and pulls Eddie to his feet. He turns to his family and announces, “Let’s get Maddie to the hospital! Chris, you’re with us!”

On the way out, Maddie asks Buck and Chimney if they’re okay with Eddie driving her. They both share a look, and Maddie teases, “You two can have a fun Bro Day moment with Chris.”

Buck looks like he would rather get struck by lightning, but Chimney nods and turns to Eddie. “You better take care of my wife,” Chimney says tensely before kissing Maddie. “I’ll see you at the hospital, where I will immediately be stealing you back.”

Buck tosses Eddie the keys to the Jeep and winks. “I’ll see you later, fiancé.”

A very red Eddie quickly gets Maddie in the car and drives carefully to the hospital.

She reaches over and squeezes his knee. “I’m so proud of you.”

The words tug at his heart, and Eddie sniffs a bit as tears sting his eyes again. “Again, thank you for sending me that picture and being there to listen to me pine after your brother. I’m sure it was painful to witness.”

“A little,” Maddie jokes with a giggle. “But it was worth it. Even the part when Buck thought we were in love.”

Eddie laughs loudly and squeezes her hand. “I do love you, entirely platonically though.”

“I love you entirely platonically, too.”

A comfortable silence settles between them until Maddie’s next contraction, which Eddie tries to distract her from by asking, “So, why exactly were magnets banned in your house growing up?”

“Maybe we should save that for our next brunch when I’m not about to have a baby in your car.”

“Right,” Eddie says, luckily approaching the hospital, spotting where Chimney is pacing back and forth around the front entrance with Buck and Chris, who are trying their best to calm him down.

When Maddie gets out of the car, she calls out, “I love you!”

“I love you, too!” Eddie yells back.

Buck turns back to him, jaw dropped as he gestures to where she’s walking off.

Eddie rolls his eyes. “I’m going to find parking.”

“Uh, I’ll go with you,” Buck says.

Chris smiles. “I’ll be in the waiting room, Dads.”

Eddie watches Buck try not to vibrate out of his skin at the comment as he kisses Chris on the head. “We’ll see you soon.”

Buck climbs into the passenger seat, and as soon as Eddie has pulled away, he jokes, “Should I be concerned that you’re confessing your love for my sister right before she has her baby?”

“Is this going to be a thing every time we interact?”

Buck leans across the center console and drops his voice. “I mean, there’s definitely a way to prove me wrong, and part of the solution is right under my seat.”

“Buck!”

“What? It can take a while to have a baby.”

Eddie parks and turns to him. “We are not going to miss the birth of our nephew because you wanted to get it on in the parking lot.”

Buck frowns. “Not even a little makeout session… with my fiancé?”

The words almost have Eddie convinced until Bobby and Athena pull up next to them.

“Sorry, future husband, maybe next time.”

Buck perks up. “Future husband…” he trails off, getting all teary-eyed.

“Future husband,” Eddie says again, leaning across to kiss him one time.

There’s a loud knock on their window, and they look up to find Hen looking at them, unimpressed. “Your sister is having a baby, let’s go.”

They both get out of the car, making their way to the waiting room, hand in hand.

Buck leans in, “What about the supply closet?”

“I swear to god, Buck…”

“It’s actually ‘Future Husband’ to you.”

Eddie glances at him, thumb tracing over the ring as he smiles at his fiancé. “It sure is.”

The two of them settle into the uncomfortable seats, Eddie pulling out his phone to pass the time. He grabs Buck's hand when he sees his knee bouncing.

He can feel Buck watching him out of the corner of his eye, so he pulls up his contact, staring at the contact picture that brought them here before editing the name to “Buck (Future Husband).”

Buck squeezes his hand.

Eddie goes to Maddie’s contact and changes the name to “Maddie (Secret Lover).”

Buck shoves him lightly, rolling his eyes and moving to pull their hands away.

Eddie only holds on tighter, bringing their hands to his mouth to kiss the back of Buck’s.

His phone buzzes, and they both glance at the message from Maddie.

(M) brunch tuesday at my place with your fiancé? 😉

“Isn’t she supposed to be having a baby?” Buck asks.

Eddie laughs.

(E) Can’t wait!

(E) Buck will bake whatever you want.

“I’ll do what now?”

Eddie nudges him and stands up. “Come on, we’ve got to get something Maddie left in the car.”

Hen gives them another put-out look, but Karen winks at him and mouths I’ll watch the kids.

For once, Buck knows exactly what’s happening.

As soon as they’re out the front door, he nearly starts skipping. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Eddie says with a laugh.

And for the first time, Eddie knows this is something Buck-related he definitely won’t be telling Maddie about.

#buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911 abc #911 #911 spoilers #kind of #5 + 1 fic #buddie fic #buddie fanfic

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suddencolds · 18 days ago

Text

excavation of habit

hello! i honestly didn't think i still had it in me to thirst-write a fic, but on friday i watched the only 3 aired episodes of To Be He//ro X and had to whump the main character immediately 🫡

if you haven't watched the show yet, i highly recommend it! with that said, this fic can be read w/o any context if you do not mind ep1/ep2 spoilers.

(3.5k words, ft. a secret identity, a cold, a popularity-driven hero society, and a two-way character study)

—

It’s only a sore throat, at first. Barely registers, between the carefully choreographed morning appearances Miss J shepherds him through.

Something Lin Ling is learning is that she always has something new ready for him. We live in a digital age, she said to him the other day. There is no such thing as privacy. If you want to stay relevant, you need to make yourself seen. He had been puzzled about that, at first. He’d asked her: “Haven’t I already been to enough interviews this week?”

“I’m not talking about interviews,” Miss J had said, and then refused to elaborate.

That’s another thing Lin Ling is learning about her. Despite her curt attitude, she is only non-communicative when she thinks an answer is self-evident. He found out what she meant soon enough. People’s trust, as it turns out, relies just as heavily on Nice’s actions out in the open. He can nail every interview and every game show and every celebrity appearance, and it won’t be enough. This is part of staying relevant, too—that he masquerades himself as just an ordinary citizen from time to time, that he shows himself to be remarkable even in ordinary circumstances.

Last week, he waited in line at a coffee shop downtown for thirty minutes, even though Treeman has more than enough money and resources to get an assistant to get coffee on his behalf, just so he could—with Nice’s strength and superhuman reflexes—1) rescue a cup of scalding hot coffee from being nearly-dropped onto someone’s open laptop, and 2) offer to help the workers haul in a heavy shipment of new machinery.

Compared to normal hero work, these sorts of appearances aren’t really that hard. There was even minor press coverage of it—some girl caught it all on video and posted it to Weibo—and everyone in the coffee shop left charmed.

Well done, Miss J had said, clapping him on the back. The people need to know what Nice is like on a day-to-day basis, you see? If you wait in line for coffee like everyone else, it makes you just that much more relatable. And that had been that.

It does not occur to Lin Ling to ask the question until lunch time, when he swallows again and feels it again: that flash of pain. He reaches for the energy drink on the table—Double VVoltcharge, a brand Nice has recently been sponsored by, which they have excess stock of lying around—and finds that his throat is still hurting when he gulps it down.

“Miss J,” he says, setting the bottle back on the desk, in the exact corner he got it from. Makes sure his tone comes out sufficiently unassuming. “What was Nice like when he was sick?”

She regards him, scrutinizing. “Why are you asking?”

It’s a trap. She’s trying to gauge if anything is off, so he pretends not to notice. “Oh, you know, just—all this conversation about what he’s like as a normal person, like, what his coffee order is and everything, and I was like, huh, it’s strange that Nice drinks coffee. Like, since he’s so perfect and everything, I wouldn’t have been that surprised if I found out he never got tired.”

“Everyone gets tired,” Miss J says, rolling her eyes. “Even heroes.”

“Yeah, I guess so, or maybe he just liked the taste?” Lin-Ling-as-Nice shrugs. “Just wondering if he ever got sick, too, or if the public’s trust in him willed that away.”

“Of course he got sick,” Miss J says. “He’s not some kind of robot.”

“So what was he like? If I’m supposed to be him, shouldn’t I know these kinds of things?”

“Hmm.” Miss J seems to consider this for a moment, worrying at her lower lip. Lin Ling wonders if he’s happened upon a touchy subject.

He’s about to provide more justification—shouldn’t she be happy that he’s taking interest in Nice’s habits?—when she responds.

“...Excessively polite,” she says. “You know, always wearing a mask, coughing into his elbow, apologizing about it, that kind of thing. Sometimes he would even wear gloves or bring disinfectant spray around with him, if he really had to be somewhere. Though mostly he would stay in.”

“Ah,” Lin Ling says. “Okay. I guessed as much.” That doesn’t sound too difficult to emulate, on the off-chance that he is getting sick. The disinfectant makes sense, considering Nice’s borderline-obsession with neatness and cleanliness—the same tendencies Lin Ling feels as a static buzz at the edge of his consciousness more often than not, these days, whenever there’s clutter on the table or a cup is in the wrong place.

“You aren’t asking for any particular reason, are you?” Miss J says.

“Of course not!” Lin Ling says. “Just making conversation, is all.” He downs the rest of the energy drink, makes sure he doesn’t let the wince show on his face as it goes down.

—

The sore throat doesn’t get any better.

If anything, it gets worse. By the time dinner rolls around, Lin Ling finds that his nose is running, too, and even though he’s cleared his throat about a hundred times, it’s starting to take on a slight rasp. It’s strange and disconcerting to hear Nice’s smooth, low baritone marred by anything at all.

At the very least, he has confirmation now that Nice did get sick, even as a hero. The fact that Lin Ling is coming down with something now is not going to be the thing that exposes him as a fraud. That alone is a small comfort.

But the comfort ends there. Despite Miss J’s earlier descriptions, Lin Ling has no idea what kind of person Nice was when he was sick, aside from the usual obsession with cleanliness, and he has no idea how much the public knows about it either.

He isn’t sure how he’s going to break the news to Miss J. He’s never been—well, blatantly unfit for work before, ever since he took up Nice’s identity. Up until now, he’d like to think he’s been pretty good at taking up whatever she’s thrown at him. He still isn’t quite sure what her response to this might be.

There was one time, a couple years back in December, when he’d come down with something when he was still working the advertising job. The heat had gone out in his apartment, and he had picked up this bug he couldn’t quite shake, had just about lost his voice with all the coughing. He’d finally worked up the courage to ask, meekly, for time off work.

His old boss had said, Do you think that just because you’re sick, Nice doesn’t need any more advertisements? And then, The proposal for next weeks’ advert needs to be emailed to me by 7am tomorrow morning. If it’s even a minute late, consider yourself fired.

In the end, Lin Ling—well, Lin Ling had apologized, put his head down, and gotten back to work. The week passed, and the week after that. That was just the life he led, then.

Things are different, now that he’s Nice. Now that he’s someone the public cares about, someone the public might miss. Nice’s public persona is damn near spotless, which makes sense at the surface, seeing how Miss J keeps virtually everything about Nice’s life squared away under lock and key. She probably has a collection of all of Nice’s favorite things, listed alphabetically, for God’s sake; she probably picks out his damn cologne for him based on market trends. But Lin Ling knows, deep down, that part of it has nothing to do with Miss J at all.

Part of it is this: Nice was Nice before he was a hero, too. Before he earned the trust of the people, before he was taken under Treeman’s wing, he was probably good at all of this: at appearing effortlessly charming and likable, which are things that Lin Ling has never been in his entire life. These days, he thinks he’s just one misstep away from having the entire foundation to his fake identity crumble under his feet.

“Not to your liking?” one of the agents says, casting a pointed glance towards the braised pork and steamed eggplant in front of him. Like all of the other agents, he’s dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses.

“Ah… sorry,” Lin Ling says, tightening his grip around his chopsticks. “I was just lost in thought. It’s delicious.”

The agent nods, gruffly but not unkindly. “Then eat up.”

This, too, is foreign—having the agency be responsible for all of his meals, or even beyond that, having someone who cares whether something is to his taste. Lin Ling isn’t sure if it’s something he’ll ever get used to. He doesn’t have much of an appetite, but he makes himself eat, nonetheless.

The steam makes something shift in his sinuses, prickling, like the static edge of noise on the radio. He sniffles, leans forward to take a bite. Then the static edge sharpens into something he can no longer ignore.

“hh-hEh—!”

Remembering suddenly Miss j’s description of Nice, he ducks into an elbow. “—’IKkTSH’iIEw!—iihhh!”

The sneeze, when it finally comes, is surprisingly vocal. It’s the kind of sneeze you can hear the ending in, all high-pitched at the end, and it scrapes at his throat in a way that makes him want to cough afterwards. It sounds… well, markedly different from how Lin Ling is used to sounding when he sneezes. Then again, his voice has sounded different—less like his, and more like Nice’s, low and honeyed—ever since he made his first public appearance under the new identity. If he thinks about it, it isn’t all that strange that his sneeze sounds different, too.

He looks up, a little anxiously, to see if anyone’s noticed. Thankfully, the agent who stopped by earlier is on the other side of the room now, and none of them have so much as looked up at him.

He resumes eating. The rice is steaming hot, and he’s been cold all day, though he’s only known the agency to set the thermostat at reasonable temperatures. He wonders distantly if Nice was ever susceptible to the cold.

Aside from Miss J, there’s only one person who might know.

—

Lin Ling texts Xiao Yueqing after dinner, from the privacy of his room on the tenth floor. After the incident at the wedding, he’d resigned himself to never speaking to Xiao Yueqing again—he didn’t know where she was anymore, and she’d changed her number—Miss J was very clear about not leaving behind any digital evidence. There was no reason for him to contact him again.

But it turns out that she had Nice’s phone number memorized. She texted him from a new number a week later, with a photograph of a tropical white sand beach, the line of water blue and sparkling from a distance, and followed it up a cheery: weather’s rly nice here ✌️u should come visit sometime, when you’re not so busy :p

He knew it was her immediately. The relief he’d felt, receiving that text, was nearly crushing.

They’ve been talking on-and-off ever since: Xiao Yueqing sending him pictures she’s snapped of the different cities she’s been to, accompanied by offhanded comments on what she’s seen, what she’s found surprising, and what she’d like to see; Lin Ling texting her whenever anything particularly amusing happens on the job.

Now, he sends off the text with no small amount of self-consciousness.

LL: Quick question, if you aren’t busy

These days, he never quite knows which country she’s in, so he doesn’t know what time it is for her, though she’s usually pretty good at responding if she’s awake and if he’s asked her a question. This time, Xiao Yueqing responds almost immediately.

MOON 🌺: ?

Lin Ling pulls the tissue box a little closer to him and extricates one carefully—he’d nabbed one from the agency storage room right before Miss J had driven him back to the Hero Tower. That is proving to be a wise decision now, considering that he’s gone through nearly a quarter of the box already.

LL: What was Nice like when he was sick?

MOON 🌺: wdym?

LL: Like

LL: When he had a cold? assuming he did at least once when you were living together

LL: Idk did he act any differently or

MOON 🌺: ohh

MOON 🌺: haha. yea i think he did get sick a couple times

A beat. Xiao Yueqing’s typing indicator vanishes on the screen—probably she’s been pulled away to talk to someone in real life. Then, after a moment, it pops up again.

MOON 🌺: he was toooootally

Lin Ling waits with bated breath.

MOON 🌺: insufferable :/

He very nearly falls out of his chair.

Nice, insufferable? The very Nice who Miss J described as excessively polite, the very Nice who couldn’t seem to make anyone hate him, even if he tried? That Nice? Insufferable?

LL: Come again???

LL: You’re going to have to elaborate, I’m not following

MOON 🌺: well u alrdy know nice was like a bit of a neat freak

MOON 🌺: when he got sick it was like cranked up to 200%. he was soo fussy abt everything

MOON 🌺: brought him tea once out of pity and he nearly bit my head off bc i made the water 15 degrees too hot for the type of tea or smth??? like there’s no way u can even taste the difference when ur congested???

LL: Oh

Lin Ling doesn’t quite know what to make of this information. He’d never thought that Nice might be anything other than pleasant, especially to Xiao Yueqing. Even learning that his entire relationship with her had been scripted hadn’t changed that.

LL: Maybe it was too bitter for him?

MOON 🌺: extremely rude

MOON 🌺: dont start taking his side now

LL: Sorry, sorry, it was nice of you to make him tea

MOON 🌺: ur on thin ice 🫵

LL: I’m sure it was delicious

LL: Please go on

MOON 🌺: this other time i caught him rearranging all the medicine in the agency cabinet

MOON 🌺: like some crazy organization system based on strength and symptoms targeted and duration and wtvr

MOON 🌺: he was at it for like an hour. and when i asked him why he was there it turned out he was looking for

MOON 🌺: cough syrup and he just got distracted. but he got annoyed at me and insisted they had to be sorted for some reason and so i left him alone

LL: That’s heroic

LL:Do you think he was delirious?

MOON 🌺: honestly that would be giving him too much credit

MOON 🌺: hey

MOON 🌺: why r u asking abt this anyways =.=;;

He freezes. He isn’t quite sure how to justify himself, other than the fact that it’s natural that he’s curious about the very person he’s supposed to be replacing. But she’s right—usually, he would go to Miss J with questions like this. Not Xiao Yueqing, who he’s learning seems to be happiest when she’s avoiding thinking about the old Nice altogether.

LL: No particular reason

MOON 🌺: hmmm~

MOON 🌺: you just happened to be curious abt nice for no particular reason?

LL: He seemed so put together all the time

LL: I just wondered

LL: Wasn’t sure if he could even get sick in the first place

For a long moment, she doesn’t respond again. He lets himself think that maybe she’s gone for real, now, offline to haggle with some vendor or book some kind of ticket, or maybe she’s found someone to have lunch-or-dinner-or-whatever-meal-lines-up-with-her-timezone with. His head feels heavy. He’s more tired than he usually is at this time of night. Maybe he should call it a night early.

Then his phone vibrates in his hands. Onscreen, in bright white characters: INCOMING CALL.

He scrambles to pick up the call, nearly drops his phone in the process.

“You are not a very good liar,” is the first thing Xiao Yueqing says.

It’s his first time hearing her voice in weeks. It sounds a little tinny through the speakers, the higher frequencies a little harsher than the crystal-clear recording quality he’s used to from her advertising livestreams. He holds onto it like it’s a lifeline.

“Sorry?”

“I said what I said. Are you going to tell me how long you’ve been sick?”

For a second, Lin Ling feels a flash of anxiousness in his chest—could she tell, just from that one word of his? Did she know, even before he picked up this call? “...I don’t recall ever saying that I was.”

“Uh huh. So you’re just studying what Nice was like when he was sick for fun,” Xiao Yueqing says. “Just as a trivia question, nothing more.”

Lin Ling bristles. “I’m supposed to be him,” he says. Winces when he can hear the congestion in his—Nice’s—voice. “Learning about him is part of the job.”

“Yeah, so that’s why you texted me to ask about it. That’s the only reason.”

“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t— s-seriously missing the mark…” Lin Ling really doesn’t want to be interrupted. His nose has other plans. This time, the action of turning to shield the sneeze with his elbow comes reflexively, even though there’s no one else here. “hH… Hhii-HH-GZSCHh-Hiiew! -hhIh… Snf-! IIh—!!!’KKTSHh-EwW!—-iiih…”

His face feels like it’s aflame. The phone speaker is right there, he berates himself. He really should have moved it away, who knows how loud those were on her end, who knows how close she was holding her phone to her ear, who knows what she might be thinking now—

“Bless you!” Xiao Yueqing says breezily, sounding utterly unfazed. Her voice has taken on a different turn, now—something closer to concern. “Man, you sound pretty rough. How are you holding up?”

“I’m not—” Lin Ling starts, and then breaks off into an undignified cough. “It’s just—”

His voice cracks on the syllable. As if there could be anything more embarrassing.

“You can say, you know,” Xiao Yueqing says, a little softer now. “However you’re feeling, you can say. It’s like I said. I’ve seen Nice sick a handful of times already. It’s not anything new to me.”

Lin Ling considers this for a long moment.

“...In that case,” he says, with another sniffle. “I’m–I’m probably getting a cold. I didn’t mean to bother you at—ahh, I don’t know what time it is there. I don’t even feel that siIIhh… iIhh’ii’DSHhH-EEew!—hh… snf… hhEh…!”

“Bless you again! Times two?”

“—-G’KTTSSHh—IiEEw! ugh… thanks.” He takes a tissue out from the tissue box, folds it in half, buries his face into it. “I’m sorry I’ve been doing that so much. It’s probably right next to your ear.”

“You sneeze differently from him,” Xiao Yueqing says, with a breathless little laugh that makes something tighten in Lin Ling’s chest. He can’t help but feel like he’s making a fool out of himself in front of his longtime—well, crush is probably the right word for it, just going off of definitions, but it seems laughably inadequate in the face of everything.

“Oh,” Lin Ling says, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “I can fix that. How did he sneeze?”

“Don’t fix it,” Xiao Yueqing says, sounding gleeful. “I think it sounds cute.”

He definitely heard her wrong there. “Cute?”

“The more ways in which you differ from Nice, the better.”

He shakes his head, despairing. “I can’t accept that. If I happen to sneeze in public—”

“No one will notice any difference,” she says. “It’s just a sneeze. You’re so concerned about acting in character, but have you stopped at all to think about how you’re feeling? Like even once? Did your own health ever once factor into your concerns?”

The defensiveness he feels—the defensiveness he’s felt, this entire conversation—gives way for something else, something like resignation.

“...I don’t know why it would,” Lin Ling says, honestly. It’s more than he means to admit.

Xiao Yueqing makes a noise that’s somewhere between exasperation and understanding. There’s another moment of silence. Lin Ling wonders how it’s possible to feel so strangely exposed over a phone call, even though she can’t see him, even though this is their first time talking in weeks.

“I called to tell you there’s this herbal tea in the kitchen of your flat, in the third drawer from the right side,” she says. “It’ll work wonders on your throat, if it’s hurting. You’re still early into this cold, so it probably is, right?” Lin Ling doesn’t have the time to process how she knows this. “Oh, and there are extra blankets in the storage closet, to the opposite side of the elevators. Three, I think, but the yellow one with white stripes is the warmest. Text me if you can’t find them.”

He blinks, a little overwhelmed. “How do you know all this?”

“I did live there for years, whether I liked it or not. Oh, and Lin Ling?”

“Yes?”

“Take care,” Xiao Yueqing says, sounding sincere. The call goes dead.

Lin Ling sits there for awhile, his phone dark in his hands, contemplating the feeling in his chest, the strange weight to it.

Then he gets up to head to the kitchen in search of tea.

#sneeze fic #sneeze kink #snz kink #snz fic #(reposting bc i screwed up the formatting 🙇‍♀️)#if anyone is reading this and checks the show out i highly rec the orig cn audio! it's very nicely voice acted and i think #the eng subtitles are translated well :') tb//hx is by the same animation studio and same director as l//ink cli//ck #(though the genre and execution are very different) and i think the pilot ep is a lot of fun!!#((will blow up your inbox w weekly reacts if you'll let me))#now to the a/n ------> i feel a little shy posting fanfic on here again 😭 i don't expect anyone to be familiar with this show #i think it's been awhile since i wrote something totally for myself 🧎‍♀️ and awhile since any fandom sparked this feeling in me #it was nice to feel like thirst could take the wheel again #i wrote this bc ni//ce can get it. and by it. haha well. let's justr say. the worst cold ever #also i love xyq (🌙) very much... cannot decide if she has the kink here or if this is just her being her. up to viewer interpretation 🙂‍↕️#(full transparency: ep 4 came out while i was in the middle of writing this and i made the mistake of watching it 🙂#i am not acknowledging it)#i def intended to be meaner to LL going in but i guess i just like him 😭#ok posting this before i lose my nerve ‼️

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lxclerc · 2 years ago

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𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 | 𝐜𝐥𝟏𝟔

summary... charles' lonely call breaks your heart further requested... yes! warning... angst pairing... charles leclerc x reader

note... a little drabble requested back in november 2022. i'm so sorry for it being super super super late but if whoever requested it is still here then i hope you enjoy it! feedbacks are very much appreciated and encourages me to write more! extra note... also i'm taking a semester gap year so i will be trying to post more and get through requests so let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

you’re exhausted, having just got home from a forty eight hour shift. being a surgical resident is absolute hell and you’re not quite sure how you’re managing but somehow you’d manage to drag yourself back home, frowning as you reach for the light switch only to find the wall empty.

right. you’re in your own apartment, a place you hadn’t really lived at for months. mostly you’d come here when you needed something but more times than not, you go home to his apartment. it had been your home rather than this sad, lonely place void of his laughter.

you sigh, letting your bag drop to your thrifted couch. you suddenly wished you’d stayed in the hospital on call room instead of here. being back in this place reminds you of all the things you no longer have, of the person you no longer call yours.

god the self pity is getting tiring and you’re far too tired for another midnight crying session and so after washing the grime off your skin, you’d settled on your sofa with a bag of chips, flipping on the TV to some trashy american series to drown out your loneliness.

however, as fate would unfortunately have it, you hadn’t even reached the second episode before your phone started ringing, his smiling face displayed on the screen. you’d frozen on your spot. you remember the exact date you’d taken that photo of him and you still had the ringtone you specifically chose for him.

you’re haunted, your body full of memories and his fingerprints imprinted in your soul. even now, three weeks, two days and twelve hours since he’d called it off, he still haunts. you wanted to let out a bitter laugh as the ringing stopped. who’s counting right?

you refused to be his lonely call. you might be absolutely miserable and pathetic but you respect yourself enough for that. you won’t be his lonely call just because his friends and his girls are gone. you’d been his six am good morning but you will never be his midnight number whenever he starts wondering if he’d made the wrong choice.

your phone lights up again but you let it ring. if he had more things to say to you then he can say it after the beep.

he calls more times after that, keeping you awake as you stare at your ringing phone. a few times, you catch yourself reaching for it, reminding yourself that he’d been the one to make this choice. he’d been the one to make excuses about both your schedules being too much. and it was so unfair how he tormented you for it. this entire thing was unfair. you were willing to give everything to charles. you loved him far too much and you’d been under the impression that he felt the same but if he was willing to give you up so easily, did he really love you as much as he claimed he did?

he’d made his bed and now he needed to get used to sleeping on it.

it was around two am when he finally stopped calling and you’re sure you’ll have a headache come tomorrow morning from staying up too late. you decide to call it a night and end your self inflicted torture, putting your phone on silent as you turned off the TV and chucked your empty bag of chips in the trash. you were just about to turn off the light when the knock came and you knew without checking exactly who it was.

you sigh, frozen in your tracks as the knocks became more and more insistent.

“y/n,” his voice is rough, scratchy as though he’d spent the entire night screaming at the top of his lungs and you felt a tear slip down your cheeks. he sounded so broken. maybe as broken as you felt. “s'il te plaît, mon amour.” please, my love.

you stay rooted to your place. this is unfair. this is so fucking unfair. he’d been the one to give up. charles gave you up. how dare he come crawling to you now?

“Je suis désolé. Je suis désolé. Je pensais que je pourrais apprendre à moins t'aimer. Tu me manques,” he rambles. “i miss you so fucking much i didn’t even think it was possible, baby.” I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought I could learn to love you less. I miss you.

a sob rocks your body as you fall to the floor, clutching yourself as though you’re trying to hold yourself together.

“please, baby,” he begs and you can hear the way he’s crying too. “J'ai besoin de toi.” i need you.

and then you open the door. because you loved him too much. because you could never give up on him.

taglist: @ricsaigaslec @dragon-of-winterfell @coffeehurricanes @privcherry7 @miniminescapist @sebsdaniel @writing-about-current-obsessions @bisexual-desi @cialovessirlewis @multilovebot @lovelynikol16 @troybolton-14 @dr3lover @myescapefromthislife @sunf1owerr @t-nd-rfoot @navixfr

#formula 1 #f1 #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x reader #formula 1 one shot #formula 1 x reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc angst #charles leclerc fanfiction #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc imagines #charles leclerc one shot

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jasperandhenryslovechild · 5 months ago

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dude i gen can't stop thinking about how shit everything went for ray throughout henry danger / danger force because JESUS CHRIST IS THAT MAN A WRECK. i love it so much it makes him such a good character but GOD....

like. he's always been a narcissistic, irresponsible, self absorbed man child and he has blatantly ADMITTED IT by the end of hd. but at first? at first it wasn't as bad. like we see in episodes like the indestructible henry 2 parter that ray did have some sense of that this was too dangerous for henry (ie: "youre just a kid! what right do I have to take you around with me and put you in all kinds of dangerous situations?"). we see him be genuinely concerned for his safety and well-being but, at the same time, episodes like tears of a jolly beetle (where ray sends henry to fight crime alone for days after being hired less than like what, 2 weeks ago? maybe a month??) show his negligence and lack of awareness about how this could be affecting henry

as henry grows older and matures more, so do the class of crimes he has to get through— as would be expected, but at the same time, that fact is putting more stress on him and therefore he can't really pursue an education because of being constantly at the man cave right? and ray doesn't see it at all. he doesn't notice a decrease in school stories from henry, etc, because he himself never had to worry about school. he didn't even go and he turned out fine, why wouldn't henry? and as henry grows and matures, ray feels less responsible to take the upper hand and protect the kid because he can protect himself— his responsibility for him dwindles and he finds himself "putting henry through all kinds of dangerous (and irresponsible/lwk stupid) situations" anyway (ex s4 ep 2 henry's birthday, when ray mentions he took like a week off to go ride every rollercoaster in texas but did not let henry take his birthday off, or s5 ep 33 rumblr when ray falls into a sort of depressive episode over not having any new criminals to fight and letting henry & team danger take on the responsibility of pulling him out of it). almost constantly throughout both shows, the kids take care of him rather him take care of them.

and sure, it's genuinely all because of his upbringing. like s1 ep 17, caved in, shows us how neglected ray was as a child. he had a lack of knowledge in things kids did because he never got to be a kid himself due to his forced crime fighting career. he's too into his head to realize that's genuinely the exact same thing he's doing to henry— at a young, fundamental age in his life, he too is pulling a kid out of basic education and fun teen stuff to get him to instead fight crime for him. because of this, he loses the chance at a life beyond it. what seperates him and ray in a way that i don't think ray would ever truly grasp is that, unlike him, henry actually cares about what he's lost. he knows its weight and wants it back. ray never has. ray has never seen a reason to change the way he is because he refuses to pick up any answer dropped in front of him.

when henry ends up quitting (and everyone goes with him) ray loses a support system. he's too fucking fragile to have adult friends beyond schwoz for whatever reason, so the one place he had for people to actually care about him or listen to him was team danger. and now, that duty's passed onto danger force because they're the ones who are gonna have to stick with him now.

and then, at the end of danger force, ray hits his midlife crisis a bit early, marries his ex sidekicks wife that he met like 9 episodes ago, buys a boat, retires, and never comes back. like. WHAT?? without even giving df any proper warning before like what, the 2nd to last episode? are they even trained to handle all this on their own? will they be fine? and like, did you think about anybody outside of yourself before making this choice.

NO!

no, because that's the entire point of him as a character— he is aware, but he is still in denial. he still refuses to change because everything has worked out just fine for him thus far. he's never had a normal life— he's never owned his own house, he's never had a normal job, he's never had anything outside of what his father and the government have molded up for him so he believes that is all he is and can be. retiring is a realization that he can finally sever those ropes and become something like normal, but not quite. retiring is ray manchester's form of closure from all the things his capitan man alter ego have kept him from in the past.

ray, inherently, is not a good or bad character. he does good things, but he is irresponsible with how he goes about it. he cares about people, but above that cares about himself. i think that makes for SUCH a GOOD FUCKING CHARACTER. he is supposed to be this hero character archetype— loving, kind, strong— and while he is all those things, he's also got fundamental flaws that he cannot see or change that set him apart from that. he wrecked the lives of his sidekicks because he didn't have a concept of what should and shouldn't take priority when it came down to training them. when he had to take responsibility for how they turned out because of it, either they fled or he did. he always ran or found a way out of having to think about the affects of his actions— and that's probably most likely kept him up at night.

like jesus christ his character evolution is less of an evolution and more of a devolution/j

but that's what i LOVE about him. ray is not normal and never will be! #! #!

thank you for coming to that unexpectedly long rant i only expected to write like 2 paragraphs and then i just kept going

#and don't get me even more started about credenza #because istg her entire like evolution with ray confused me so much #like.. wouild that even happen??? would ray ever really do that if it werent for df getting cancelled?????#idk its odd #then again i hsvrnt fully watched the df finale so that probably explains it #this js why me and my friend made a fix it oc for ray to end up with instead because dear god credenza do i have a bone to pick w you #ray is a bi man you cwnt convince me otherwise #ray x jamie truthers rise! 2! 2! 3! $! $ (its just me and my friend) /j #anyways jm done im done i swear #henry danger #danger force #dangerverse #ray manchester

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bugeater77 · 2 years ago

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Nandermo things u probably forgot about

not in any order(i wrote them whenever i remembered them)

(scroll down for images, the ones pictured are highlighted) - Nandor holding guillermo up to make him feel like he is flying multiple times (quite possibly nandermo hug)

During the simon the devious episode where nandor once again takes him flying, they hold hands (last image)

Nandor telling guillermo to stay by his side until he falls asleep in the curse episode, then going to grab his hand but stopping (5th Image)

"you'll probably have to take it in the waist and out the shoulders" - guillermo knowing Nandor's exact measurements

Nandor getting so frustrated while talking about the other vampires wanting to kill Guillermo that he kicks and destroys a box

"take a picture of me having fun and then send it to guillermo so he knows how much I do not miss him" - nandor

Guillermo DROPPING EVERYTHING ON THE GROUND when he hears about nandor's engagement

"it's not gonna last." -Guillermo SHIT EATING GRIN after realizing that gale and nandor are not gonna be together

Guillermo PUTTING HIS ARM AROUND NANDOR AFTER THE GAIL EPISODE he thought he had a chance :( (4th image)

Sean calling Guillermo Nandor's boyfriend and lazlo not questioning it not one bit

pulling guillermo back way before he was supposed to after trying to use him as bait for the sire

this was also while he was shaking his money maker if i might add

like the second he did it...

entire scene where Nandor tries to convince guillermo to come back from celeste

ENTIRE HOMOEROTIC FIGHT SCENE

might i mention that nandor obviously thinks guillermo fighting him is hot??!

Guillermo gripping nandor plushie after he leaves (3rd image)

Guillermo has silver lined seatbelts in his car, meaning he was planning to rescue nandor for a while

"traveling the whole world with my nand- master" - guillermo

ermmmmmm glitter portrait ?!!

Nandor wishing to be human the SAME AMOUNT that guillermo wishes to be a vampire, seeing him as an equal

"my furry little friend" - nandor

Marwa, who likes EVERYTHING nandor likes, kissing guillermo all over his face

The wwdits cast interview about nandermo, which to me feels like a deep extreme very canonization

Nandor's pure jealousy after finding out about guillermo becoming a vampire

Him waiting for SO LONG outside of panera bread

Going to guillermos house to look at his baby pictures

talking about his goth phase with his mom...

"if i'm lying, kill me now" - nandor

Nandor being so upset and holding guillermos body after thinking he was dead

Nandor grasping guillermos sweater

speaking out against the baron to keep guillermo safe, which if you watch season 1 again you'll see that he is TERRIFIED of the baron

so excited to talk about guillermo killing vampires.... wtf is wrong with u nandor but we're not gonna get into that

"I will fix"

PUTS ON GUILLERMOS CAPE

he is so excited to kill derek, not to turn guillermo human, but literally just to kill derek out of jealousy

Nandor's face while guillermo is talking about his love life(second image)

Guillermos face after Nandor turns Gail into a vampire (first image)

guillermo hammering the door as hard as possible to wake nandor for his super slumber.

duh nandor knowing every part of Guillermos thank you card

The entire last episode actually?

theres absolutely more but this is all i remember just from my brain

(new additions) In another cast interview, Kayvan Novak says “I think he’s coming to the realization that his type is Harvey Guillén flavored.” about nandors type

Nandor makes guillermo spin around in his wedding cape

Nandor says he got the idea of having a wedding ever since him and guillermo "watched the wedding planner on that rainy sunday together"

ok listen closely, the wedding planner is about a woman planning a wedding falling in love with the groom causing him to leave the bride

he did NOT CARE WHO HE WAS MARRYING. BUT HE KNEW HE WANTED GUILLERMO TO PLAN IT FROM DAY 1

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starryalpacasstuff · 1 year ago

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Last Twilight Episode 12;

Like most people, I did not like the ending of Last Twilight. It took me a while to gather my thoughts and find time to write on the episode, but in the meantime, I've been reading what others have had to say about the show, and I have a few thoughts.

As @waitmyturtles talked about here, discussing whether or not Day should have gotten his vision back presents an ethical dilemma. I've seen a few posts of people who dislike the fandom's outrage against Day getting his vision back, talking about how his getting his vision back does not undo all that he learned and did while he was disabled. Setting aside the fact that Day did not grow through the series, (which @chalkrevelations wrote about here) a big problem for me is feeling like the narrative did a complete 180 post-episode 10. A massive portion of the show was spent with Day learning to accept his blindness and learning to work with it, and although we knew that the surgery was on the table from episode one, it ended up feeling like it came out of nowhere in the final episode. One of the main reasons for this, I think, is because the show barely brought up the surgery in the first 3/4ths of the show (I can think of like 2 instances where it was mentioned) and then it's dropped onto us by Mhon and Night crashing Day and Mhok's date, after which everything became about the surgery. Up till the third quarter of the show, I had enjoyed that the story had such a tight storyline, with such clear intentions. But then the show veered into a very different direction post episode 10, which made the show feel completely different to what it was.

As @waitmyturtles says in her post, it could have been so much better if Day was able to actively choose the surgery, and that we, as an audience, got to see him actually consider the various paths that lay before him. For the surgery to have made sense, narratively speaking, the story would have to be slightly different. You don't just spend 10 episodes of a show working towards a theme and then end the show with the exact opposite of the theme. The final two episodes felt like they were of a completely different show (now, doesn't that sound familiar).

While we're talking about feeling betrayed by the narrative, I want to talk about Mee, and Last Twilight the book. They managed to fuck up Mee's story, and I am aghast. The significance of Mee's story, especially the ending, was completely thrown out by the episode, in particular the montage, which had me fuming. What happened to Day understanding what the author meant to convey by Mee's ending while Mhok didn't, because he felt a sense of kinship with the author's daughter, who Mee was based upon? Mee's story had reliably predicted Day's almost to the end, so what happened? They tried to subvert the ending of the novel, with Day 'reflecting' on Mee's story in the background of the montage. But all that it did was completely go against everything that the show and the novel had stood for.

Life amidst that dilemma caused me to forget what it was like to live a normal life, or how happy I could be.

Sincerely, what the fuck? A huge part of Last Twilight was Day finding, creating a new normal with Mhok. Day learning that his blindness didn't make him abnormal. But this completely erases that. It's saying that living as a blind person, Day wasn't living a normal life, nor was he truly happy.

When Mhok finished reading the story to Day, Day understood. He understood why the author chose to end the story that way, because he understood that being blind for the rest of his life wasn't a curse. He understood Mee, understood her joy, understood that she hadn't disappeared, understood that the ending of the book wasn't tragic.

What Day says here, is that he was heartbroken about Mee's fate because he related to her and felt like they shared the same fate, but he realizes that his story doesn't need to be the same as Mee's.

Isn't Day feeling pity for Mee here? Isn't he doing exactly what he broke up with Mhok for, viewing Mee as some tragic figure, when 6 years ago he had understood that Mee was not someone he needed to feel sorry for? I've posted about how important it was that Mee's story's ending was written with Mee rejoicing, rather than being written as a tragedy. It was so important that Day understood the author's intentions, rather than viewing it as a tragic story. So then, what changed? I don't know, this may be a bit of a stretch, but these lines just seem so wrong, and hypocritical coming from Day.

The intended purpose of this message seems to have been hope for a new, better life. But, if Day's blindness was the worst chapter of his life, what was the point of him learning to accept his blindness, to live with it, and what was the point of showing it to us?

Before the final episode aired, I had said that I hoped that we'd get a nod to Mee's story in the end, to add onto the impact and relevance of Mee's story in Day's. What we got instead, was a preachy reflection that went against everything that the first 10 episodes of the show had stood for, accompanied by a useless montage that completely upended the significance of the stories of both the show and the novel.

In the few minutes this montage lasted, it managed to successfully tear down everything that the first 10 episodes had shown us, everything that Mee's story had told us. Borrowing this one from @lurkingshan's tags in this post, how can a creator misunderstand their own narrative so badly?

I hesitate to use the term ableist to describe the last episode. But what I'm getting from this montage is that Day believes that he was neither normal nor happy while he was blind, and believes that it was the worst chapter of his life. Mee's story, one that is based on a little girl who was going blind, is shown as tragic, in contrast to Day's 'happy and normal' life. And that message seems pretty ableist to me. Which also makes me wonder, how much did Day really 'learn' from his time as a blind person? Because from what I'm getting from this montage, it wasn't a whole lot.

#not talking about anything about mhok or mhon yet #because i don't know if i have the capacity to just yet #they fucked it up with the speech on mee's story #i didn't fully process this part when i was watching the episode #but when i went to rewatch this part when writing this #i was raging mad #how could they fuck this up so bad?#the montage alone made it about 7x worse #last twilight #last twilight the series #last twilight meta #last twilight mee

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1218-814 · 1 year ago

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Twst Loop Theories/Analyses … (Mostly of Leona Oji-tan's)

Savannaclaw’s the deepest and most mysterious theory I have translated tbh...

This time it’s ALL of the people that are from the Savannaclaw Arc (Even Cheka!)

Jokes on you if you haven't dissected the op like I have. We (as players) have made a contract with Azul :3

Leona is an important person in the Loop Theory, aka Rapunzel theory. And one way is by looking at his hair.

Leona’s hair is brown, unlike Scar’s black mane. Most characters have a main villain base and other characters as a sub-base. Leona’s is Scar main and possibly Kion as a sub base. (more on that later in the bottom) But a lot of characters have more than 2 bases so what if the base is in his looks?

Leona’s hair is brown with braids. So, in the Disney’s franchise there's only one specific person, or princess that would fit this description. Rapunzel. These two have a lot in common if you look for them.

Leona is 20. Rapunzel is 20 by the 3rd season of the TV series.

Like I said, looks Rapunzel did have brown hair as well as green eyes. When she has long hair in the tv series, she did braid her hair sometimes. But in the end she did cut her hair again, like in the end of the movie. So Leona might cut his hair in the end. (I will miss his hair)

The Fairy Gala had lilies in Leona’s SSR. In the movie, there are similar lilies when Rapunzel gets out of her tower.

And the buddies of his card are the light trio, Rook, Silver, and Kalim. All three of them have a part that is based off of the ‘good’ characters.

His tarot card is the tower; if the tarot card theory is true, then it does fit in with the description. Especially the part that Rapunzel was trapped inside a tower. In the story Leona (Rapunzel) is trapped in the tower (NRC)

Both of them also share a similar power (kind of not but). Rapunzel has a power that is called the “sun drop”- it came from the sundrop flower. The power of the “Sun Drop” can help slow down aging, heal, and as well as recover what was once lost. Leona’s power is King's Roar. His power “dries up the opponent and turns everything into sand”. (I don't fully believe it because of my last post but this is this) We are going to assume “in the end” it will become sand.

In the world of Rapunzel. There is a stone called the “Moonstone Opal”. This stone is the exact opposite of the “Sun Drop”, and it- kills and takes away life. In the 14th episode of season 2, Rapunzel finds an old scroll and chants the “Reverse Inaction”; it makes the animals decay and the people around hard to breathe. This was only the first half of the lyrics so the power of destruction was probably not complete. Half of the lyrics can kill, but unlike Leona’s power, it can’t fully destroy the shape.

Cassandra, the daughter of Gothel, did use the powers (her hair and eyes became different) and if she touched anything they would decay; like Leona’s powers of drying the things he touched after using “Kings Roar”. And in the end of season 3 Rapunzel did absorb part of the Moonstone Opal’s powers.

So what will Leona do in the story? If you look at the prologue 0-0 in the end title you’ll notice it either

turns to sand

or the fire went out.

In the movie of Rupunzle the antagonist, Mother Gothel (Evil Queen is the motif), and in the end, she loses the power of Rapunzel’s hair and drops from the tower and becomes dust leaving her robe behind. I did say this before of him being “The Tower” card. But what if in the end... He uses his magic and makes the person/thing Crowley revived into sand?

(Personally I think there's a chairman or someone that Crowley will revive. Mallenoa? IDK, there's a person or something I think)

But before the soul disappears, Crowley flies into the mirror and uses his magic to rewind time, which is what might happened, and he tries to find his “Happy ending”

But Leona doesn’t lose his memory, and the Messiah, Lilia, is probably the one who knows and is teaming up secretly. It was especially suspicious when Leona purposely overblotted, which I think, was because of Lilia’s words....

It would make sense if it was the fire going out, because it can also ties in with Rapunzel. Leona is probably going to break the loop with MC.

I did say that Leona does have chess pieces in his room that tie in with the Light trio. (below)

Rook: Rook Hunt’s name

Knight: Silver thinks he has a talent for a sword and “silver sword”. Also Malleus’s knight

Pawn: Kalim is a pawn to Jamil (He tried to use him to become King in the movie and in the arc)

Also, Leona would be the “king” chess piece

And Leona’s best subject is “ancient curses”, like Rapunzel he can use harmful ones, like his unique magic too. What if he knows a spell that can “go back in the past?

If he did It would make sense why his memories aren’t lost. So in conclusion Leona is the Rapunzel trapped in the tower called “Twisted Wonderland”

But other than the pieces what gave away that he is the traveler?

Something with Azul’s contracts and the scar on his eye is still not clear. But, first let’s look at his name.

Kingscholar can be seprated into King (ruler) and Scholar (a specialist in a branch of study). Scholars usually point to social sciences, or humanities. These branches of study study the human values and how they express the feelings; they require knowledge from phycology to history. If the word “scholar” is in his name, then it can be reasoable to think that he may be “observing and analyzing a person or a thing”

Leona’s best subject is “ancient curses”, and he is good at protection spells as well as pharmacy (the study of medication). Those do require a lot of knowledge to be good at. Why would he need to repeat the grade if he is so smart?

On Youtube (とろちゃんねる), Leona broke the loop in between his second year and third year.

In the 4th arc, Mickey’s third remark in the dream is the reason the number “3″ is really weird, almost incompatible.

Leona is 20 he’s in his third year for the third time (if the loop theory is true). If I am correct then the time MC came is when the “3″s (triple)overlapped. He also asked how many stones Grimm ate after the third arc.

This is where Jack’s origin comes in. Jack most likely originated from the author of “White Fang” (Jack London), but there’s more. In my other theory, I said that the MC’s body is not there, that Jack may be referenced from the TV show of the Lion King, Lion Gard’s, Ray-ray. In the show, they defeat Scar, who died and came back to life. Maybe this is also a clue...

In a personal talk, Savannaclaw was talking about the King of Beasts (or whatever they called it). People usually thought “Oh, it's about Scar” but, it's not. It’s not Simba or Mufasa either. It's not Kion as well. If I summarize the traits of the king they were talking about then it becomes like this:

He ruled with his power and fangs, and rejected his older brother to become the king in an attempt to great a good country with wisdom and order to change the affiliation of the strong bullying the weak

The King of Beasts does not discriminate

“The King of the sky that guides the stars” was called “firefly” and “Great King from the Past”

The nephew of the king was not at the king’s coordination ceremony (Leona and Jack’s conversation)

Leona’s scar on his eye and the King of Beast’s scare are the same. But, Leona avoided answering the question when Ruggie asked him when his scare was from. (Ruggie and Leona’s conversation)

The anecdote of the king; he can apperently talk to hippos, giraffes, lions, and monkeys. (Jack and Leona)

The hornbill, who served the royal family, noticed the change in the country and gave their opinion to the king of beasts infromed. The king is very considerate and king and listened to the opinions and advice. (Ruggie and Leona)

Most of it is describing Scar

but 3,6,7 are far from matching him.

3 is taking about the “ The King of the sky that guides the stars”. This description is very fitting to “Roar of the Elders” from Lion Gard. Yes, there is a time where this kinda happened in the main story. (also Leona’s unique magic is referenced from “Roar of the Elders”

6. We do have a hippo friend in “Lion Gard”, but not any other animals in the original ones. (The giraffe is missing)

7. the Hornbill is Zazu from lion king, who does serve the royal family. He is present from the original “Lion King” and is with Kion in the show. Something seems off to my guts.

“Why are they favoring Kion?”, you may ask. But Kion and Scar have a trait they share. They are both second born. Also Kion’s roar becomes the strongest; there is a story when he got the cobra venom in his eye and became violent and couldn’t control his power. His scar is as the same as Leona and Scar’s left eye. In season three you see Kion with two lines as a scar on his eye.

In conclusion, what the Savannaclaw students were talking about is either “Kion” or “a lion other than Scar and Kion”.If it is Scar the King, number 1 explained, then the flow of the story is too convenient. It’s also unclear if it is Kion as well; if it's the conversation after season 3 then I would have no idea.

The Key part is his Tattoo and Azul’s contract (Bet you didn’t see that coming)

In “Lion Gard”, the guards all have a tatoo. Leona does have powers and has a tattoo on the same left arm (technically) as Kion. But unlike Kion’s, the tatoo is a different color. We’ve seen this shade of color. Yes, it’s the same as Azul’s ink.

(Pull out Azul’s Dorm SSR, after Groovy)

We can’t read the contract, but Lin Channel (on YouTube) is doing gods work and translated into actual words (English cursive) it reads:

Contract:

I am wishing mate

I wishes senior siring

nephew smiling

inwhere inway amaging waiting

winner winter welcoming

where wide whichever via where wiser anniversary

For all eternity (For all eternity is from the original “Little Mermaid”’s contract)

Let me explain how she’s doing the work, Google (yea, teachers) She looks up people’s hand writings and can conclude things (the long curve after “i” may be the ending “ing”) But, if I clear it up and make it normal English it would look like this:

I want a companion

I wish my brother and nephew a smile

I am ambushing and waiting

Anywhere in the place where

the winter of victory comes

This is just my thoughts, but “brother and nephew” may be Cheka and Leona’s brother, which would be reasonable why such a minor character like Cheka got voice acted.

Winter could be meaning Hades, who kidnapped Persephone and made winter. So, maybe Idia could be the key to our victory here. And this would expain why Savannaclaw was between Ignihyde and Diasomnia

Winter could also mean Cheka and Leona’s brother’s heart. They could be lonely (Grim asks Leona about his family, and Grim replies with “They must be lonely, being in a dark cold place” or something like that)

I’m sure that Leona made the contract for Cheka and his brother. He is the only character with a nephew. The tsun-dere side of Leona would explain why he didn’t want to tell anyone about what the contract is about.

Just by the contract and the loop theory we can tell that he is important. But what if he is not based off of Scar... But rather, Kion from “Lion Gard”? If I look into the original characters of what Leona is based off of, then I would forget about “Leona”. Yana Toboso is twisting our brain like that, such as in “Black Butler”, and maybe thats another reason why the game is called “Twisted Wonderland”

So what we all we know about Leona is:

Leona’s tattoo

he is aware of the loop or he is suspicious of the loop

Jack’s position (We don’t know as much as I would like about his power)

Cheka will appear again (he does get Voice acted, and maybe that’s what the second arc will be about. He also said something about having a fiancée so maybe an event?)

Leona overblotted instead of Ruggie (my other theory)

I do think the tattoo may be made by Azul in the other loop, and he is aware of the loop or will remember of the loop because of the tattoo

But it is Yana Toboso sensei so... I may be wrong~

~~~

Posting this after Leona's magic is aeration theory bc his unique magic makes no sense.

Multiverse or Azul theory next?

If you can comment that will be appreciated (likes and reblogs are appreciated.

I also wrote this 2 years ago

Idk if its right but I did make some changes :3

#twst #twst theory #twisted wonderland analysis #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland theory #leona kingscholar #twst leona #azul ashengrotto #twst wonderland #twst azul

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kingkaliban · 2 months ago

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ughhhhhhh

they were doing. so well

no beating round the bush: i did not like the finale of Win or Lose and it felt rushed. having Coach's ep serve as both his POV on everything going down and the ridiculously over the top finale that's supposed tie everything together just didn't feel...right.

the rest of the show is still really good tho and i do think it's worth a watch overall

thoughts below the cut. I'll post about Kai's ep later but i have to sit with that one for a minute

The ending of the show feels like it was written for a different show entirely. For a series that I appreciate for its ability to dramatize/visualize the struggles of its characters while still remaining grounded, the ending felt... ridiculous!

...which is especially interesting because I think the setup of Coach's eventual blowing up followed the exact same principles, and I found the first half of the episode to be incredibly compelling. Just like most of our main characters, Coach (I'm not calling him Dan) is presented as appropriately flawed while not being pure evil: he has a love for the game and those that play it, but his damn near toxic positivity/fresh divorce/detrimental commitment to the team all come out in emotions he doesn't express that eventually come to a head. That was good.

Personally speaking, if Coach remained the focus of the episode, it woulda been fine. Certainly not my favorite or anything but it would have him enough time to breathe (especially compared to Frank and Vanessa, who both remained the focus of their episodes throughout).

But instead, we all had to tie up every other loose end set up at the end of every episode coming before in the span of... ten minutes.

Rochelle and Vanessa reconcile offscreen, Yuwen and Taylor just kinda fizzle out, Ira drops the bleacher creatures, and Frank...eugh. At least Laurie and Kai got semblances of proper closure (the latter bringing a tear to my eye). But because it all happened so fast, I'm kinda left wondering what the point even...was?

Because of how overly dramatic and cramped the finale was, not only does Dan not get to fully develop into his role as the supposed core of the team, but there's also very little in proper resolution for most of our characters.

In a vacuum, I don't mind this, because I find most of the episodes individually to still be some of Pixar's best work. Laurie, Rochelle, and Yuwen all have great stories to tell, Vanessa and Ira are great supporting episodes, and Frank's is fun in a vacuum. And also Kai. But I don't think the finale for Coach serves as a good finale nor a good short that properly explores his character.

also im not going into specifics but the ending reminds me of Turning Red which also had a really stupid overdramatic ending but y'know

this is for kids at the end of the day. and i think the vast majority of the series can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. even if i don't like the finale, i still really like this series, and i am excited to see what Pixar does next

... kind of. Disney's meddling very clearly interfered with one of the character's stories and i can't conclude my thoughts on this show properly before talking about her.

tl;dr dumb finale good show

#kali said what #win or lose #at least the rest of the show is very good #pirate this show but still watch it

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colonelpancakes · 9 months ago

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Watching the dragon prince season six episode four: The Starscraper. Under the cut as usual.

I love Callum but how is he not frozen solid. Those fingerless gloves may be stylish but they are NOT insulating. Give my boy a coat.

Ooh that’s a beautiful building. It does look a tad like a Minecraft beacon but, it's a very pretty Minecraft beacon

Callum, why would you just stick your hand in? For all you know it’s like a forcefield or something and it zaps you!

Okay, my question is what is the benefit of an elevator partially activating once you’ve read half the runes? That seems like a real safety hazard, like that seems like a magic bug that needs to be fixed.

Woah, wait a minute! Interesting, some of the Celestial Elves seem to have wings that aren’t bird wings. That one in the back looks like they have bug wings. Can that happen with skywing elves? I guess bugs are also flying creatures that inhabit the sky so that would make sense. Hmm… I wonder if you can get Mage Wing bug wings…

Aww. The leaflynx kitten is adorable but also the music is giving major flashbacks to the baby deer at the end of season two. Claudia. Claudia don’t you dare.

Also, glowing butterfly motif!

CLAUDIA NO.

Okay good. It seemed like her hand was almost acting out of her control, I wonder if this much dark magic is starting to like, impact her reflexes? Like she instinctively reaches for things even if she doesn’t consciously want to? Or maybe she’s just snapping herself out of it who knows.

“Are you feeling alright?” “No, I’m not. I’m so messed up, Terry. I’ve been stuck, just staring, for over an hour now.” Oughhh Claudia, honey. Its good that she’s at least able to admit she’s not okay, that’s a good start.

Oh, hey is Claudia starting to lean away from dark magic? Or, like, recognize that it’s not a good thing? That’s interesting, previously she’s been very adamant that dark magic is a good and useful invention, but now she seems to be realizing the negative effects it’s had on her? …Claudia redemption arc? 👀

Skjslkajfdkl that is the exact same face that she made at Zym when she first met him. Some things never change.

I love the little pose Callum does when he’s introducing him and Rayla, he’s so dorky I love him.

Oh my God that escalated quickly. Not a friendly lot got it.

No! Gosh dangit pearl stop rolling around!

CLAUDIA REDEMPTION ARC?! Let’s GO! YES GIRL! SELF-IMPROVEMENT!

I find it interesting how after losing her dad, Claudia turns to Terry, her only present loved one, for instruction. She needs someone to tell her what to do, she needs someone to do things FOR. She went from following her dad's orders to working to save his life and now she doesn't have him to give her direction, she looks to Terry. When was the last time she did something for herself without someone's instructions?

“Only you can decide the path you’re going to walk. You won’t be alone. I’ll clear out the thorny brambles if I see them, I’ll hold your hand as we trudge through wet, mucky leaves. But… you have to choose the way.” I love Terry so much he’s such a sweetheart. He clearly loves Claudia so much and he’s willing to stick with her through everything and anything, whatever happens.

Claudia... Again, it's interesting, how, because she doesn’t know what she wants for herself, she defaults back to finding what her dad wants, thinking that if she looks at him, she’ll find some clarity and she’ll suddenly know what to do. She doesn't know what to do without her family because she's been doing things for them for her whole life.

Aww. Okay, the leaflynx kitten is adorable but. Was I the only one alarmed by how big it is? Something about the perspective in earlier shots made me think it was a lot smaller somehow.

Also, I love the butterfly landing in Claudia's hair in the previous shot.

No, I think Callum has a point here. They did just drop you from the top of the tower.

Oh, hey! Kosmo has vitiligo! That’s cool, yay representation!

Also, I haven’t mentioned it yet but I love Sneezle’s hanging out in Callum’s scarf it’s so cute.

I love Sol Regem’s design he’s so big and menacing. Plus the lighting in this location is so beautiful, the way it illuminates him from behind like a dusky backlight is *mwah*

Sooo, what are we thinking Sunseeds smell like? ‘Cause personally, I’m thinking freshly popped popcorn.

Karim, man, he literally told you that his sight was unrelated to his lack of hope. I don’t know how you are surprised by this.

Sksjlfakj poor Rayla.

Ohh wow. This episode is really going off with the gorgeous scenery and lighting. The Starlooms are so beautiful and I love the name "starweaver spider".

Oh! So that’s what the bug wings are! That’s really cool and such neat worldbuilding.

Hey! It's the intro galaxy!

Okay, that sounds cool in theory but I feel like in practice being Timeblind would kinda suck. I feel like that would just be like. Too much information at any given time it’d be hard to make connections with other people or like, enjoy day to day life.

Continued in reblogs as per usual!

#TDP #The Dragon Prince #TDP S6 #TDP S6 Spoilers #TDP Spoilers #The Dragon Prince Season 6 Spoilers #The Dragon Prince Spoilers #Mars Watches TDP #My Posts #Mars yells into the void #Bugs #Tw: Bugs #Spiders #Tw: Spiders

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absolutelyfibulas · 2 months ago

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Dutch's Terrible Toku Takes

Much later than I said I'd do it, because of reasons. Gonna do them in chronological order, and I'm splitting them into different posts because jesus it's a lot - Rider first because that's what I got into first. I've tried to avoid being too specific about spoilers.

A note: if I absolutely shit on a show/character/concept you love, this is not a personal attack. If any mutuals find me dragging a show/character/concept they love, this isn’t a callout or plea for you to stop posting about that content or whatever. I am an adult who knows how to curate my dash. Also I’m a hater who loves hyperbole.

Go in peace, etc, etc.

Kuuga

One of my top five series, and one of the few phase one shows to really balance the grimdark with hope and silly antics well. Very different vibes to later stuff and that’s not a bad thing. It does take a while to really get going though, which I can understand people dropping it because of (there’s a period between like episode 5 and 15 where I myself was going “nothing is FUCKING happening auughghgh”, and then bam, all of a sudden it clicked).

Godai and Ichijou walked so other Heisei gay ships could run, and has one of the few het pairings I quite like, albeit one that took me a bit by surprise.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: If someone says they couldn’t get into it because of the special effects, I immediately assume they were born after 2000. I guess this isn’t a take so much as me being over 30.

Agito

Inoue at his most “normal”, and honestly, not a bad showing for it. Plot is…Inoue. But as with most Inoue things, it’s got interesting characters (save for my One Lukewarm Take) with distinct personalities and motives. Definitely trying to lean more into the grimdark hinted at by Kuuga, but not really succeeding at it, beyond the odd “dude, this is for kids” moment.

Still, funny and entertaining enough. Shouichi remains one of my fave lead riders.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I cared so little about Ryou that I straight up forget he exists, post watching.

Ryuki

It’s fine ™. I’m not a big fan of the battle royale series (ironically, given my teenage obsession with the Battle Royale film), and I consistently got extremely bored about 20 episodes in with Ryuki.

Outside of the first four or so guys I couldn’t tell you which rider was which, because they were all some variant of “oh hey some new little shit signed up for power/money/general dubious motivations”, with no real difference in how they were disposed of or dealt with.

It has its moments, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed most of the sillier stuff with Ore Journal, and I REALLY liked the choice to [REDACTED] in the penultimate episode. It just didn’t really do anything for me otherwise.

Kitaoka and Goro are a married couple of all time, Shinji and Ren’s whole deal is amusing…but I also was annoyed that one of the only characters to permanently [REDACTED] was the sole female lead.

Basically, I think it’s objectively decent, just really not for me.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Eri could have been a potted plant and Ren’s story would have had the exact same emotional impact. Not that she’s the only female character this applies to in toku...

Faiz

I love it. I hate it. Both are true.

The good: characters are fun and distinct. As infuriating as they may be they generally act on consistent motives and attitudes, and outside of the het nonsense their dynamics are fun and interesting. I really like the orphnoch as antagonists and creatures, as well as the show’s occasional touching on themes and questions in the ballpark of “hey is a group actually evil if they’ve been treated like shit before they ever did anything vaguely in retaliation?”.

The bad: do I really need to say it? The romance bullshit, the Inoue of the women - hell, the Inoue of everything. I would gladly rewatch a cut of this show where everything involving romance was removed. The show would be maybe half the length, but significantly improved.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I strongly read Mari as aroace. Her crush on Kiba absolutely reeks of “well I guess he’s the most appropriate guy who is a) not Takumi or Keitaro, and b) not horrendous to women?” comphet. Some folks take this as "she's a lesbiab" thing which is fair, but it just never rang that way to me.

Blade

The tl;dr:

I will only give the long version if specifically asked because, to be honest, I get mean.

Okay, now let’s note things I liked: Suits were decent. The Inoue two-parter was pretty funny. Show is very memeable. The resolution of creating a permanent stalemate in a battle royale where its end means APOCALYPSE was neat.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Coming out of this show where I could barely believe any of them were friends, never mind Comrades And Cuddlers, then seeing how widespread and passionate the Hajime/Kenzaki ship is, was uh.

I mean, ship what you like, but that was a real “running face first into a wall Wile E Coyote style” moment for me, fandom speaking.

Hibiki

Shouldn’t have been a Rider. It’s pretty apparent it was intended to be its own thing and I think it would have been better off for it. That said, I liked what it was! Nice, gentle coming of age thing, with nice suits and sweet relationships.

…Then episode 30 onwards happened and to be fair, that last chunk would have been fine in literally any other show (for a certain measure of “fine”, I guess), but in Hibiki it was just sort of amusingly out of place.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Tbf, the finale DOES do one thing right, which is to have Asumu decide to become a doctor instead of an oni. It was clear from the start he wasn’t going to be one and I don’t know why they bothered trying to pretend he wanted to. Doctor is the perfect role for him to help out and stay involved without fighting.

Kabuto

I mean it’s not good, but it’s not awful either. Tendou and Kagami being extremely funny and gay cover a lot of sins.

The initial Big Thing (the Hiyori thing) I actually quite like! It’s done sort of competently, and introduces a really interesting situation for Hiyori! Sadly they don’t do much with it (which I appreciate is partly because the actor had to leave for a while), and pretty much every plot after that reveal is very sloppily put together. It strikes me that they probably only had that initial plot planned, and then kind of went “shit, we’ve still got half a show to do”, which would explain some of the things I found unsatisfying. Didn’t stop them being unsatisfying though.

Basically a series that is saved entirely by its characters. It’s not terrible but I also wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, you feel me?

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Daisuke and Gou bored me to tears pretty quickly. I am DONE with the whole “minor girl acts like an adult man’s wife-mother-maid and this is treated as cute rather than weird as fuck” thing they keep doing. Been done with it since Amane and Hajime’s whole fucking deal.

Den-O

Bottom half of my top five. Very sweet and funny, though that’s kind of a barrier to enjoyment too - if you’re not into Japanese comedy tropes and slapstick stuff, you’re not really going to gel with it.

Another one where the plot is second to the characters and cast, but not terrible by itself. The imagin steal the show though, let’s be real. Excellent work from the suit and voice actors. Ryotarou is the lead rider I most want to give a hot chocolate and blanket.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I ship Yuuto/Airi pretty much exclusively because they didn’t get them together.

Kiva

This is…a weird one. It’s not wildly, terribly, incompetently made, but also, it sucks.

Inoue at his most Inoue (dropped concepts, ignoring the more interesting themes in favour of het nonsense, love triangles, shitty about women) and also, his least Inoue (characters are forgettable, there’s no whimsy, just rehashes plot points from 555 that 555 did better).

I liked Wataru. I liked Jirou because Kenji Matsuda (also, I’m sorry, he was being Weird About Breeding for sure, but the attempted rape was very obviously a “shit, Yuri has more chemistry with this dude than the one we want to get her together with, come up with a reason to not support it that we will then completely ignore afterwards as if it never happened QUICK :)” choice). Everyone else is just kind of a mass of characters melded together to me.

The suits, music, and general aesthetic FUCK. That much is unarguable. That…was about it. I found it paternalistic as hell, and honestly just kind of annoying past a certain point. BUT, it was at least occasionally funny.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: (This might be an actual hot take for once lol)

Getting to henshin once because the men around you decide to let you have a try does NOT mean the show has a female rider. Those IXA transformations were some of the most condescending horseshit I’ve come across in toku re: women and that’s saying something.

Decade

I wish this show had been given a full episode run, because you can see exactly where the potential for a decent, coherent plot lay. It’s funny, I love the foursome, but look, yeah, it’s. It’s not exactly good.

Tsukasa is my favourite lead rider because he’s such a shit. I would still watch Zi-O for him over Decade itself, though it’s criminal Natsumi and Yusuke didn’t get to turn up even briefly in that show.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: They needed to go all in on the AU thing if that’s what they had to do, instead of occasionally tip-toeing into the originals. All or nothing, baby.

Another one of my top 5, another one where it’s mostly the characters over the plot, and another one where the women are treated Weirdly.

Plot is okay, not amazing and a bit messy/rushed towards the end, but the noir-esque framing was charming. I loved the gimmick of the two-in-one rider, and the characters were good fun! Akiko in particular is one of my fave female characters, because she got to have an actual goofy personality, rather than being kind of generically nice but occasionally nagging to show she’s the designated Love Interest (in fact, she HAS a love interest rather than BEING the love interest, which was a nice change).

I was…not really big on Wakana. I was much more interested in Saeko, and wish the show had ended with the two of them going off to sort out their issues together as sisters, but y’know, it’s a toku. What the fuck did I expect.

Philip and Shoutarou’s whole deal is some of the gayest shit I’ve seen, bested only by Banjou/Sentai and Ichijou/Godai.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Akiko not becoming a rider is the sole reason she survived to the end. You KNOW if she’d been a rider they would have killed her off like their lives depended on it.

OOO

Very fond of this one, for its flaws! Also in my top 5. Something about it just hit right when I was in the middle of lockdown induced mental breakdown.

Plot is generic but competent, the characters are memorable and likeable. Suits are good and the villains are entertaining. My only real complaint is that the Big Bad is kind of meh, though at least amusing throughout.

Was also pleasantly surprised to see a show like this basically all but use the words “depression” when talking about a character’s mental health. Baby steps and all that.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I’m not opposed to Eiji/Ankh but lbr. Date/Gotou are the real outstanding homosexuals here.

Fourze

Saying this feels like kicking a puppy, but…it’s not my bag. Pretty much entirely because I’m just not really into high school stories.

The characters are fine, the plot is. Well. It is what it is. The suits are excellent. I just never really clicked with it or felt any of the emotional beats. That one scene that everyone seems to cry over just had me sat there waiting to move on. I think the strongest emotion the show ever elicited from me was bewilderment at the last minute het hookup.

That said, I don’t think it’s bad. It’s just, like with the battle royale series, not for me.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I actually don’t think I have one for this series? I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this one and often forget it exists > . >;

Wizard

I went into this knowing that it was a series people were funny about, and fucking loved it. Not quite in my top 5, but top 10 for sure.

I loved Haruto as a contrast to his predecessor, Beast is my favourite secondary, and hey! First female rider treated decently! (Her suit sucks, but that’s a separate issue.)

Rinko is fine, but they obviously kind of stopped knowing what to do with her. Koyomi was so clearly signposted for [REDACTED] that I didn’t really feel any reason to care about her, which was then exacerbated by her not being as present as a character with her level of import should have been. Shunpei mostly felt awkward to me. He’s clearly the kid appeal character, which, fine. Whatever. Not for me to enjoy.

That aside, it’s otherwise a sweet, funny series, and the aesthetics pop the fuck off. The main issues are balancing the cast, the pacing, and the fact that for some reason, the last two episodes are just Random Antics.

Look, I love getting more Decade any goddamn time, but those 2 episodes should have been Wizard’s last two episodes, not “hey let’s show off the new guy and harken to nostalgia!”

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Shunpei shouldn’t have been a Main Character, he should have been Recurring. Specifically, he should have been given his finale role MUCH earlier as a reason for him to be around.

Gaim

Woof.

Battle royale, so meh. Dance battle concept should have been committed to but they were COWARDS, in which case they should have not bothered with it at all.

I am not a huge Urobuchi fan (I loved Thunderbolt Fantasy for the puppets, and have zero interest in Madoka), so this series wasn’t really a great advertisement for him. I also found this series more offensive about its women than any Inoue series, which is saying something!

Inoue shows seems to recognise women are people. They might not care much for the Brand Of Person they are, but they are very much under the “person” category. Meanwhile Gaim is so dismissive of its women that you can hear the “UGGHHH I GUESS IF WE HAVE TO” every time a female character gets a line of dialogue.

The female rider’s only selling points are that her actor seems cool, and that she’s a female rider (I can’t even remember her name which kind of says it all). Mai is so disrespected by the plot that they literally turn her into a prize to win - and anyone who tries, unironically, to argue that that it’s ~satire~ of other media doing the same thing, needs to remember that it’s not satire if you just bloody do the thing.

Ending sucks, while clearly thinking it’s doing something subversive. Has way too many characters it expects me to care about. Worst wigs in toku, somehow.

…And yet, parts of it compelled me. There are moments of potential, of interesting ideas! Kouta is great fun as a lead rider because he’s that specific brand of idiot that everyone is at 20. Long live the buff short king, etc, etc. Oren is Iconique, and deserves to kick the ass of all these annoying teenagers hanging around.

Which is to say, god I hate it, but I was willing to suffer it all for Kouta and Oren. Oren and Kouta are worth any and all suffering.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Kouta/Takatora have more chemistry in their around 4 scenes than Kouta and Kaito did in the entire show.

(On which note, godspeed Kaito’s actor, I hope you’re living your best life.)

Drive

A mixed bag. Has good moments, has crap ones. Weird vibe due to the whole “state sanctioned superhero basically commits genocide” angle. Has one of the rare het pairings I’m okay with, except for how they got them together which is one of the stupidest two episode plot arcs I’ve seen a Rider shoot itself in the foot with - mere episodes before the end!

Chase best boy. Gou is a little shit of the “oh, he needs therapy therapy” variety. I can’t talk about Kiriko without devolving into the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream monologue aimed squarely at the writers. The little cars are weirdly cute and made me care for them.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I hate when people do the whole “it’d be good/okay/whatever but you know, COPS” hand-wringing. We’re grown ups here, I think we can take it as read on toku tumblr, of all places, that none of us are watching this thing going “well golly gee I sure do love policemen they seem like reasonable fellows who can do no wrong ever!”

Make actual criticisms if it’s relevant, otherwise it’s just weird and performative.

Ghost

Nowhere near as bad as various other toku sources seem to think it is.

Takeru is a sweetheart, Akira is a great Science Badass. I love the team in general, and it’s a rare series where a good monster of the week gets to live.

It’s also a bit muddled, and the plot does meander somewhat (based on Saber, I suspect this is an issue the lead writer has in general), and the big bad escaped my brain the minute the show ended.

I’m not touching the incest shit because it doesn’t deserve the energy wasted on engaging with it.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: I'm almost impressed at how this show managed to make non-incestuous potential pairings seem incestuous.

Ex-Aid

When I first watched this show I came away really unsure how I felt about it, and figured I’d rewatch it to determine if I liked it on a second viewing. Candidcantrix said she wanted to watch it, which was a perfect opportunity, and I did indeed get my answer!

I don’t like it 🙂

Plot is very standard battle royale-esque stuff. Every single character under 20 is annoying as hell (Nico faintly improves when she and Taiga become the shithead siblings, but it takes them a while to get there), to the extent even Cantrix - who I generally deem much nicer than me - was going “let the little fucker die then” at the multiple plots involving kids being shits to Emu.

Suits are cute. Gaming stuff is funny. Kiriya and Kuroto are fun, though sadly not present for enough of the show to make up for the other dudes.

Emu is…fine. He’s a perfectly okay lead, just not particularly outstanding. Taiga I didn’t care for until he and Nico became a duo. Hiiro is...hm. Let’s just say it’s always rough when you don’t like the character who seems to be a fandom darling/bicycle. Which is a shame because I actually really like his actor.

Poppy I wish was treated halfway decently by the writing. Also, while not a surprise, it was still infuriating as hell that Nico “COMPETITION IS MY LIFE AND ALSO I’M RICH AS FUCK” Saiba says “I was inspired by you doctor guys with your doctoring!” and becomes…a nurse.

Not to knock nurses, but y’know. It was a very clear "Boys Become Doctors, Girls Become Nurses uwu" message, that immediately brought to mind the news story of that medical school that fucked with applications from women and made me want to commit violence.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: …I don’t care for Parad either.

Build

Current top 1? Definitely vying with Kuuga for that spot. Characters good, story good and better written than it had any reason to be.

Not much more to say, really.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Kazumi/Misora are fine.

Zi-O

Where’s that “Zi-O is good, you all are just mean” meme?

Basically fun. Plot is…certainly an attempt at a plot. Made the mistake of trying to instigate rules about the Other Riders (none of which were good), then realised the rules suck and dropped them quietly about halfway through. Which, y’know, I will at least give them the fact that they realised the rules should be dropped.

Suits are good, the core gang are fun, DECADE IS GOOD, and it’s very funny.

Unfortunately it doesn’t balance tone very well, so the more serious stuff towards the end felt very unearned and disingenuous.

Also Tsukuyomi should have got more than 20 seconds in-suit.

Otherwise? I quite enjoyed it. Was nice seeing the older riders who came back, and the team having Antics.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: NEEDS MORE DECADE.

Zero-One

I have a category called Forgettably Inoffensive, and Zero One falls into it.

It’s fine. It’s not terrible but it’s not brilliant. Aruto is fun. Fuwa is a mixed bag who gets better as the show goes on. Yua is a blank slate they completely fumbled, to the point of frustration because they could have done some really interesting things with her, but waited 10 episodes too long to break her out of [REDACTED] which was the main source of the issue.

The good suits are very good. The plot is average, but does at least handle its synthetic characters with a bit more decency than Drive. Yet another show where the only character to permanently [REDACTED] is a woman (I am biased by my personal views on consciousness here so some people might disagree with my definition of [REDACTED]).

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: This is one of the rare media where I prefer fandom’s version of the female lead to the canon. This is mostly because canon’s version doesn’t actually get to have her own motives and agency until about 4 episodes from the end.

Saber

YOU DO NOT NEED 800 RIDERS.

Plot wanders all over the place, and I assume the pandemic was responsible for a chunk of the issues but also, like. Fucking make sure your writing team are vaguely aware of what everyone is doing. The lack of direction is painfully apparent, resulting in various half-baked ideas that don’t really go anywhere (did Touma need a 2 episode berserk suit arc? Really?), and characters treading on each others’ toes. Too many chefs spoil the broth, etc, etc.

Reika didn’t need to have her brother be an actual character in the show. She didn’t need her only characterisation after Evil Arc (which was, itself, NOT GREAT) to be more of Ghost's weird incest shit. She DID need actual focus and a personality, but she’s a girl so fuck her, I guess.

Touma, Rintaro, Mei, and Kento? Grand, love ‘em as a core squad. Rintaro/Mei is one of the few het couples I’m fine with. As much as I think Mei should have been given a sword too, I also wasn’t particularly upset with her handling when compared to uh. Other Female Characters.

It’s a mess. It’s an entertaining mess, but I won’t be watching it again. Perfectly okay if you turn off the part of your brain that handles comprehension.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Didn't need more riders past Ogami. Daishinji was fine as a tech, Ren was a waste of time, and. Well. I've touched upon the Reika And Reika's Brother issue.

Revice

Revice is Fine. It’s literally Fine. It is the definition of average which is, by Kamen Rider standards, fine.

It’s not amazing, but it’s also not terrible, and I'm not really sure why tumblr toku fandom acts like it is, beyond people deciding to dislike it before it aired because Vice's VA is a known cunt. Which he is but like, he wasn't in charge of the show.

The main problems with it were Vice (who is massively toned down fairly quickly), pacing (not a unique problem), and being somewhat muddled towards the end (also not unique). Otherwise it’s a perfectly okay series that isn’t even remarkable in the issues it does have.

Would have benefited from the writer’s original intention of having a female lead - Sakura is basically the main character after a certain point, and it’s irritating that they keep having to call Ikki back to do The Big Shit despite him not really being involved. I remain convinced the show would have been improved with Sakura as primary, Daiji as secondary, and Ikki as a surprise Meddling Big Brother third.

George was funny. Hiromi was adorable, as was Lovekov. Kagerou was hilarious.

The weird plot with the doctor towards the end baffled me because it tried to act like she was part of the gang all along, and she hadn’t been in the show for like 20 episodes by that point? I didn’t even know her name.

Same for that one guy from Weekend who they clearly wanted to be a love interest for Sakura - I spent pretty much every moment he was on screen going “who are you again?”

(Meanwhile they tried to sister zone Hana in the Girls Extra which was fucking hilarious. True equality is getting no homoed with the same level of effort as any given dude ship, I guess.)

I shall stay in my “Revice Is The Defintion Of Okay, You All Are Just Annoying” cave without digging too much deeper though, because it descends into conspiracy and me being a miserable cunt.

Dutch’s Lukewarm Take: Better written than Saber. That's it, that's the take.

Geats onwards:

I’ve not watched any Rider past Revice, mostly because Geats and Gotchard really didn’t grab my attention. Geats for being a battle royale AND a Takahashi show.

Gotchard mostly put me off by being a high school type thing, buuuut I was further put off by the fact that there was hubbub about having a female secondary…and then I've seen exactly zero screenshots, gifsets, or clips of her in-show. Which does not bode well for how she was treated.

Gavv I’m faintly interested in, due to me generally enjoying the lead writers’ shows, but I’m waiting until it’s done (and I have more time) to watch it.

So.

Tl;dr: There's a reason I only have a few toku mutuals, and it boils down to me being a miserable old coot sitting on my porch going

#dutch rambles #let this kamen ride

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