#i hate when romances are shoved down my throat randomly

[hikarielizabethbloom]

Tolkien's work is about grief and loss. And it's about love in all its interpretations.

And the writers of Trop got it. The show opens with Galadriel and Finrod. It's their love that sets everything in motion.

Everything that Galadriel does is a direct consequence of that loss. Her season 1 journey is about accepting grief and dealing with it (in a healthy way).

And I think it's beautiful.

[quirklessidiot]

title : minazuki [2: zen’in] pairing : gojo satoru x f!y/n Genre: angst, arranged-marriage au, mystery/thriller, romance, mature, enemies-to-lovers-ish, and very slow burn (canon compliant-ish for ch-0 to the anime) Summary: In which Y/N L/N is placed under a union she has no choice but to partake for the sake of her survival. Warnings: language,mild sexual themes, mild mentions of sexual harrasement in public (very brief non-con dry-humping), heavy sexualization, super mild mentions of breeding kink, mentions of death, mild mentions of violence, misogyny, bridal market, small mentions of prostitution, heavy manga spoilers (!)

Notes: ive got this on queued before i went on leave to not disrupt posting scheds  bcos yes ive sorta finished minazuki already (just some harsh reediting left) and also bcos i enjoyed writing this chapter lolsz ill answer everyones asks when i get back hopefully soon ily kith kith!

series masterlist || taglist closed ||

Chapter summary: Maki Zen’in comes into the picture, a brief reminder of you’re supposed to be life, Satoru ends up having to cut the meeting short along with an interesting wager to benefit you both.

When Satoru used to think of love, affinity, and marriage as a child, the first thing he’d do then was crinkle his nose in disgust and then with pride, he’d puff out his chest, saying things like, “I don’t need a woman in my life. I’m happy being alone.” he ends up receiving a lesson as to why procreation was very much needed especially for someone like him. Mind you, he’s ten at that time with absolute zero care as to why people needed to have babies when they were all just smelly, disgusting, noisy, and very much annoying.

He’s the strongest.

Questions keep ringing as to why would he ever need an heir and why would he want someone when he’s fine as is?

It doesn’t stop there. By twelve, he hears that he’s being set up with someone. Apparently she was bound to him as soon as she was born. A girl, one who is apparently two years younger than him. He remembers throwing a fit then especially when they said they were perfect and that they were a match made in heaven. Ironically, he’s mad because he still wants to be alone. He hates the idea of having another person in his own home with him but they said that it was the will of his father who had passed. He ends up cursing the elders for the first time then and there for forcing him with such things.

Again, he’s the strongest. Why were they always pushing a lot of things to his plate? Can’t they leave him alone? Why was there a constant need to shove things down his throat?

Satoru could finish them off if they didn’t follow his words. Did they not know that?

At that moment, a resolution was born, he’d find ways to break off this vexing engagement. He’ll spite them all.

He doesn’t want anyone in his life and that was final.

Fast forward to when he’s sixteen and losing his virginity to some unknown woman, one whose face he barely remembers. At that time, he had randomly asked one of the servants in the estate about something he saw from a magazine (looking back, he wondered what was going on inside his head and why he had to ask a servant about it), this had reached the ears of one of the elders of the Gojo Clan and the geezer must’ve thought something else about it because the next thing he knows, a woman was sent to his room a night after. She’s around his age and she looks at him with a provocative gaze and kisses him with her soft pillowy lips, he’s not even sure if this was legal in the twenty-first century but she reassures him that she was honored and that she could prove it by kneeling down and worshipping his cock and putting it in her mouth.

But even after that pleasurable night, Satoru wasn’t one to delve in sex nor anything connected to that sort of intimacy, that was more of Geto’s department     when he was still alive and hadn’t defected yet. Occasionally, he’d admit that he did indulge himself with partners and random rendezvous but he was still never comfortable with anyone getting too close to him. The idea of having anyone too close to comfort and shutting off his infinity for something so fleeting, especially after what happened with Toji Zen’in when he was eighteen, not only irked him but disturbed him as well. It brought evocative and graphic memories to light. Ones he doesn’t want to remember.

A god.

Ha.

He had conquered death at one point in his life but why did it feel like it still haunted him when he tried to put his infinity off sometimes? 

He recalls his first night with another after that Zen’in bastard had stabbed him right at his vital points. It was quite the hazy memory itself but he remembers that one specific moment wherein the woman had tried to run her hands through his neck. Satoru had felt something snap inside him and had stopped the whole thing almost immediately, walking out and leaving her there to dry. His hands lingering on his neck the whole time on his way home.

God’s don’t get scared but Satoru, at one very cursory point in his life, after getting rammed in the head and perforated right at his neck and thigh repeatedly to the point of mild incapacitation, did not feel like a god.

Gojo Satoru felt like a man on death’s door.

And although he was a man who had conquered death and felt enlightened right after, that one moment was more than enough that he did not want to experience that again.

His grip on the shower knob tightens at the abrupt thought of your empty eyes suddenly hovering above him during the new year’s party, your closeness, your pulse, your smell, your breathing, everything.  

Yet it was those empty eyes he could never forget. Ones that wouldn’t tell him anything. He’s never seen such empty eyes. Usually when you look past murderers, shamans, bounty hunters and such, you’ll see different things like ambition, pride, courage, clemency, or something along the lines of that but yours were too empty as if it held no empathy or emotion. 

He’s not scared, god knows he’s seen worse but when he’s under the same roof and sleeps right across your room, he admits that it unsettles him.

He ran his hands through his wet hair as he left the bathroom, the moon hung in the sky and the cold wind was slowly wafting through the room since he liked to keep his windows open. Your low cursed energy was a reminder that you lied two doors down from him.

Satoru had made it a mission to simply just avoid you after that heavy air in the breakfast table. He didn’t even want to come home but Ieiri had reminded him that you were pretty unguarded since the spy-later on bodyguard, had suddenly disappeared. 

The shaman places his hands over his mouth and cups it for a brief second. The sudden thought of that was an odd thing that he still needed to investigate too. It was a peculiar occurrence that he couldn’t simply wrap his head around it because not only was the spy’s phone out of service but apparently she hadn’t come home either.

He opens his door, glancing at yours, his jaw clenching at the sudden thought of what has been going on between you two. Arguments after arguments, walls upon walls built against each other. He and you were more similar than he thought except unlike him, you were more guarded with yourself and seemed more hostile.

He’s heard that before your life here, you grew up pampered and spoiled. Even when you were a student back in Kyoto, you barely went and did missions. He’s not entirely sure what went on and why you acted like this when all you experienced in life was the good things.

Satoru walks in a slow and lazy pace towards the kitchen, wanting to grab a midnight snack before heading to bed but is all of a sudden stopped by the presence of one of the servants.

“Gojo-sama,” the servant’s jaw turns slack when she realizes who she had just bumped into, immediately bowing down.

“What are you doing here?” He eyes the young woman carefully.

“I-I…” She mumbles, “I was going to check on the madam, Sir.”

He cocks a brow at her words, were you sick? Was that why you hadn’t come out of the room that much today and he had the pleasure to not see you? You’d usually be at the gardens, staring at your now dead plants and trying to revive them (it is still the winter, after all) but he noticed that you weren’t there nor were you at the library, reading a book and drinking your tea.

“What happened?”

“I-I can’t say, Sir.” the young maid paused, “S-She told me not to say what had happened a few days ago.”

“What happened a few days ago?” he suddenly pressed, seemingly very interested by the maids jittery disposition, a unfriendly smile on his lips as if telling her that she needed to be honest or he wouldn’t hesitate to tell her to pack her bags and go,  “I believe that I’m the master of this house and if something happens to her, a lot of you are responsible.”

The maids face turns pale at the threat, “I-It’s-”

“A doctor came.” your steady voice cuts her short, there you stand, covered in your haori and your hair down, “Please don’t frighten the young girl any further. I didn’t think it was important to tell you.”

“Y-Y/N-sama.” The young maid gulps, bowing down once again at the sight of you.

“Go, I’ll handle this.” you dismiss the young maid and she bows down to the both of you in good graces and leave you two standing there in the dim-lighted hallway.

Satoru isn’t stupid, he’s pretty quick to piece out what’s going on. From your stoic eyes to your empty smile to the small bags underneath your eyes and lastly, to the maid’s frightened expression during his interrogation. The doctor wasn’t someone you called for. It could only mean that his little reaction at the New Years party had brought quick judgement to your part.

“What would happen to me then?” your words suddenly rung through his head like an alarm blaring violently at the untimely hours of the morning, “Tell me, what would happen to me then, Satoru?”

“Household affairs especially the servants are my part,” You cut his train of thought short, “I believe you shouldn’t concern yourself with that.”

“She was scared shitless when she saw me.” 

“Probably because you have a habit of doing that.” 

“It’s my own home and my wife hasn't come out the whole day.” He shrugs, leaning on the wall, his observing gaze not even leaving you. Unlike the New Years, he tries to keep his composure this time, “I was curious.”

“I was feeling under the weather.” you maintained, “If that’s what you’re so curious about, then I hope you’re satisfied with that.”

Satoru is quiet for a moment, his taut gaze glances at your clenched first, one closed tight enough that he swore your nails were digging through your bare skin. He noticed that whenever you were trying to hold yourself back or when you were lying, you’d always be gripping something or grasping your fist tightly to the point where he felt like blood could be drawn from it.

It’s something he had caught on during the New Years, one when he laid in bed that night as he rewinds your conversation.

“Tell me, what would happen to me then, Satoru?”

This makes the white-haired shaman walks past you, the hint of vanilla and lavender suddenly invading his nostrils as he closes in on you, “I won’t push since you seem to want to gouge my eyes out whenever I do that,” He suddenly stops in his tracks, back still turned on you, “But I think you keep forgetting that you’re a Gojo, Y/N. If anyone, even the elders, does anything to harm you, don’t hesitate to strike them down. You have my permission to do whatever you want and I won’t get tired of repeating that until you’re able to do it.”

And he leaves you alone there once again, the conversation ending on a more pleasant note compared to other encounters you two had.

Yet as Gojo Satoru enters his room, he’s quick to dial Ieiri Shoko’s number with one question in mind, “You’re aware of the bridal market, aren’t you?” Satoru asks as soon as his best friend picks up, not even caring if it was nearing midnight, “Tell me, what do they do to the women there?”

You disliked the cold.

It not only reminded you of harsh winter training where you got frostbites as a child but it was also when the flowers refused to bloom as well. Your gaze dithers at the hot tea on the table along with a sweetened treat right next to it and the chrysanthemums in front of you, deliberating last night's events with your husband and what had happened with the doctor had come into mind. Your hand slowly ghosts through the rim of your teacup and your lips part to a small sigh.

A Gojo.

He kept saying those words but did he ever actually mean that?

You were still thinking about what to do about the other spy for the elders and how you’re able to deepen the charade between you and Satoru without needing to get too close to him and the need to put a child there to shut everyone up. 

You had your hands full now, your chessboard and the moves within it were looking harrowing and bleak. One wrong move and you could lose your king.

A sudden feeling of high cursed energy registers, one that wasn’t your husband yet still a mildly familiar one. You turn to the door as Hana comes in right after, bowing down in greeting, “There are some guests for Gojo-sama by the door but he isn’t home yet.” she informs you.

“I see.” you note, “Who is it?”

“Students, Y/N-sama.” she blinks, slowly looking up to meet your gaze, “From the Tokyo Academy, Gojo-sama is supposed to give something to the boy. A katana apparently.”

“A boy?” You mused, “You should prepare something nice for them.”

Hana’s gaze flickers to her master’s face, mild worry laced in her features as she nervously chews on her bottom lip, “Are you going to greet them?” she asks, “I apologize but I had mentioned you were home.”

What you don’t expect when you head out is a young woman whose expression seemed to be buoyant and a young boy who was glancing anywhere but your face, a blush tinging his cheeks, you could only come to the conclusion that by the boy’s demeanor, he’s Okkotsu Yuta, the boy who was on death row.

It seemed like he had danced out of death’s clutches. 

How lucky.

The young girl, on the other hand, has her gaze still on you, “Gojo-san.” She suddenly greets, “It’s nice to see you again.”

You don’t recognize her yet she seemed to be looking forward to seeing you, so you try to reciprocate the same energy, “Good morning,” You greeted, maintaining the same energy, “I apologize but my memory has been getting very hazy these days. Have we met before?”

Her smile doesn’t dissipate as if you were a fond memory in her part,  “I was very young then and I was with my twin when I met you in the Zen’in estate.” she recounts, “I’m Maki.”

You’ve only been to the Zen’in estate once and you were only eighteen at that time, by then, your family was already letting you meet the top prospective partners in the Kamo and Zen’in estate     from a maid’s hearsay, they apparently paid extra to see you.

The memory itself is very dim since you had always tried to forget it but when the young girl mentions it, it splashes you like an ice cold bucket of water that you have trouble keeping a calm composure as your mind flashes back to the repulsive events you wanted to forget, “I see.” You try to smile, the vague memory of two young girls slowly forming in your head,  “You’ve grown into a charming and beautiful young lady, Zen’in-san. How’s your sister? I believe she was the one whose leg I treated?”

Her face lights up as you recount the memory, “She’s at Kyoto! I’m sure she’d be happy to see you, Gojo-san.” she replies, “I’m actually happy you didn’t end up with my cousin.”

Your gaze suddenly twinkles at her funny words, slightly calming yourself down that she was happy with where you were now, “I’m happy to be married to Satoru-sama too.” You turn to the young man right after, “And you must be Yuta Okkotsu. It’s finally nice to meet you.” 

The young man is hesitant and turns even redder as you say those words as he tries to stutter out a nice to meet you. This makes you lightly chuckle at his familiar reaction, ones you’d usually garner from boys and men, “My husband is currently out but he’ll be home soon, I had someone prepare refreshments for you tw-”

“I’m here.” a loud voice interrupts you, you turn to find your husband standing there in his usual attire. You watch as his subtle gaze slowly trails from your face then towards your hands and his grin turns even bigger, “That’s enough disturbing my wife, kiddies. She’s been feeling under the weather these days.”

Maki’s eyes suddenly widens as she starts to apologize on her part but your husband remains behind her, his same shit-eating decorating his features as he starts to usher the two inside, “Go take a rest,” Satoru whispers as he passes by you, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

And maybe you did because the memories at the Zen’in estate weren’t very pleasant to begin with. 

At that time, Naoya, who was twenty, had expressed his admiration for you in your first meeting, proclaiming he was very much happy that you were going to be his wife. Of course, you hadn’t let your guard down but you continued on with your guise and approached him with ease, saying things that you were just as happy as well.

You recalled how intrigued he was the whole time, even sitting right next to you on the luncheon table, asking you questions about your life. One may think he was interested but you knew better than that. Patiently answering question after question thrown by your way with a graceful and poised smile, even laughing at his unfunny jokes, the worst part of it all was when your father had recommended Naoya to take you out for a walk for a little more private time between you two.

Your father favored Naoya Zen’in very much because of the bid he had thrown in before Gojo Satoru came into the picture and a part of you knew where this was leading to. It was as if your father was saying, ‘go on, take a small peak at your prize.’ to the devil incarnate right next to you.

You tried to walk three steps back but there were other thoughts in his pervasive mind that time. 

How he suddenly stops in the middle of nowhere at their garden and turns to you, how he slowly inches in to the point where you can smell his disgustingly expensive perfume, how his hands start to slowly linger a bit too low on your waist or for the worst part, how his hard-on is suddenly pressed on your womanhood in public as if he was garnering some relief for himself while he leans in and grazes his lips on your ear whilst complimenting how well your yukata looks on you and how you especially look good for him today.

Your frozen on the spot, praying for something, anything to come because you know you can’t make a scene.

And by some saving grace, your gaze catches two girls exiting a room, one had been limping with an injured ankle, and you suddenly take Naoya’s hands and softly push him away from you, your hands mildly shaking, “I-oh my, who are those adorable girls?” you suddenly say, leaving him there.

It was definitely something that was deemed impertinent and you were well-aware that you might get reprimanded for your actions since you were always told to receive everything given to you but you couldn’t stomach it. The bile at the back of your throat was just waiting to come out and the sudden feeling of heaviness is present that you felt your heart was going to get crushed. It had been the first time you were physically assaulted like that and you wondered, just what was ever going to happen to you when you aren’t successful with your plan on Gojo Satoru. You’re very sure that this scumbag wouldn’t hesitate even if you said no to him.

What made it even worse was that it isn’t even over yet because as soon as the girls are told to scram and leave after you heal the injured one’s ankle, he bends down to your level, tucking a strand beneath your ear and with a smile as if he just hadn’t violated you in public says, “You’d make a great mother to our children.”

Naoya Zen’in had not only blatantly disrespected you in broad daylight but reminded you of what you were right at your face for the first time in your entire life, a breeding whore.

Never in your 18 years of existence at that time were you told what you were. It was always underlying sentences and contexts, mostly even whispers, but to be said, right at your face, by the man who you were supposed to marry and sleep next to for your whole life,  what your apparent ‘purpose’ here on earth is, was a big spit on your face. 

The memory itself had brought a number of emotions, one you wanted to get rid of and scrub off your body. Had it been legal, you wouldn’t hesitate to grab your hair pin that day and repeatedly jam him by his arteries until he was drained of whatever substance in him.

You hesitantly look down at your hands, marks of nails from all the clenching you’ve done. Some scratches are even slowly starting to form from that bad habit. 

You watch it engulfed in a red substance, the small lesions slowly disappearing in your line of sight as you mumble some curses underneath your breath. The nightmare is sure to stick around for the next few days.

Satoru, meanwhile, after seeing his students off, decided to give you a visit before he leaves again.

“Tell me, what would happen to me then, Satoru?”

“I thought you knew.” Ieiri points out, “I mean you did buy her off from that sort of thing. Weren’t you aware of the lengths they’d go through to prove a woman’s worth there?”

The shaman lingers in front of your room for a brief moment, not entirely sure how to approach the whole thing. His head couldn’t really comprehend what was going on and why you still had to undergo those sorts of procedures, it added to the list of contrasting thoughts about you in his head yet he knows by now that you wanted anything but his pity or his sorry’s.

The door opens right at his face and he is greeted once again by those empty eyes yet this time, he looks straight at them, not minding that unsettling feeling bubbling on his chest, “You good?” he asks, mild awkwardness laced in his tone.

“I always am.”

Normally, you would find yourself ready to argue with the shaman but the events of today left a mild strain on your part that you couldn’t talk back anymore.

“You know,” he paused, looking down at your hands, eyeing them carefully, “We’re about to celebrate a year as a married couple in June. I couldn’t help but notice how you like tightening your fist when you lie or hold yourself back.” he starts to raise his hand, motioning a weird fist clench, his knuckles turning white as he tries to imitate you.

“Really?” you mused, you didn’t sound mad at his assessment instead, you sounded quite drained by a lot of things. 

Satoru starts to grin while Ieiri had told him about your status, he had his own plan going through his head and it seems like it will be him this time who’ll be putting his hand out. It’s some plan for sure but if he wants to lessen the headaches and pressing thoughts about you, he might as well give it a shot. 

“Yeah.” he agrees, “Just a weird habit I caught. Don’t stop on my account though.”

“Are you going to start lecturing me again? You seem to make it a habit whenever you see me doing anything.” 

“Actually no.” He slowly bends down, a small and good distance between you two as he peers through his sunglasses, his sapphire eyes staring right at your (e/c) ones. You catch a whiff of the perfume he was usually wearing, spice and wood, along with the smell of sweets that he had probably eaten a while ago, an odd yet very fitting combination for your husband, “I did say I’d like to keep my pretty eyes safe.” You narrow your gaze at the shaman’s sketchy and teasing tone whilst he looks down once again on your hand, “But if it makes you feel better, I suggest you go for the neck. May I?” he asks, awaiting for your consent to give him your hand and hesitantly, you nod, not entirely sure where this conversation was going since once again your husband was acting differently. 

The shaman grins, grabbing ahold of your wrist and slowly placing it right at his neck, the sudden warmth of your fingertips jolting throughout his body when he feels your hands right where Toji Zen’in had skewered him with the inverted spear of heaven when he was eighteen. Adjustments are needed to make this work between you two, what better way than to stake his life alongside yours? 

“Right here, Y/N.” he nonchalantly points out, settling your warm fingertips there.

“What are you doing?” You narrowed your gaze, your fingertips softly brushing on his warm skin.

“A weakness. I’m telling you mine.” he beams, not minding the action as if he just hadn’t revealed one of his vital points,  “I believe its fair and it’s pretty good for our new partnership.”

You continue to eye him, seemingly still confused as you hesitantly take your hands off his neck, “A new partnership?” you repeated.

“A real one. I want to change the terms. One where we both benefit and we both don’t get the short end of the stick.” slowly letting go of your hand, “I don’t want a kid, you don’t want a kid. We both kind of can’t stand each other, blah blah but in the end, we both have a common enemy.”

“Which is?”

“The council and the elders in my clan. They both give me a bad headache.” he points out, a tit for tat, “I’ll give you my name, forever. Guaranteed protection, you continue being the perfect wife and lady of the Gojo Clan. Whatever bullshit it is you’re doing like before.”

“How do I guarantee that you won’t change your mind?” 

He continues to put on his shit-eating grin, seemingly amused that you still can’t trust him. The very essence why he needed this to work is to lay a foundation. If you both had a common ground, it won’t be so hard for the both of you in the long run,  “There's a spear that’s able to kill me.” the shaman had a glint of wildness behind his eyes as if he just wasn’t waging his life in this contractual partnership, “Do what that Zen’in bastard couldn’t do then and cut me right here, I suggest cutting off my head. It get’s the job done pretty quick.”

“You’re gambling with your life.” you state, theirs no concern in your tone nor softness laced in it as if you were not worried for the hazard that he had suddenly threw in.

“I appreciate the concern,” he tilts his head in a sing-song voice, mild sarcasm lacing his tone, “Yet your life is technically on the line too if you get back in the bridal market.”

Ah, this was why. So he knew.

“You’ve done your research.” You dryly replied, eyeing him carefully. The unanticipated deep involvement of Gojo Satoru was a new piece added to the chess board. Just where is he going with this?

“Can’t go empty handed.” He acknowledged, scrunching his nose in disgust and contempt, “And you said so yourself, another nosy woman who’d force me to sire some brat along with doing the elders' bidding. It’s pretty bad on my part too.”

“Let’s say I agree to this...Do you know what’s at stake here?” you tilt your head, walking closer as if you’re reminding him and giving him one last out when all you wanted to do was gouge out his bare thoughts about all of this, “The Gojo clan might end up with no heirs. You could end the bloodline with you. Are you sure you’re willing to do that?”

“Technically little Yuta is there, he’s a far off relative and a part of the Gojo Clan.” he points out, shrugging, “And I don’t think a child is very wise for someone like me right now.”

The unconventional and rather empathetic words he had given was quite bewildering but a small fraction of you understood what he meant, “I see.” it seemed like he knew the risk of bringing a child into this world especially in this family, “Then I believe we have a deal then.”

“That’s it?”

“I’ve weighed out the pros and the cons,” You mused, slowly holding your hand out towards his neck, Satoru’s barrier acts like a barricade for you to be unable to touch him, “A life for a life. It’s perfect.”

The shaman feels his grin turn even bigger at the mention of your gamble, it seemed like every other sorcerer, you were just a tad bit crazy,  “Till death do we part, Y/N. literally. ” he states, repeating your vows.

Satoru may not have the strongest emotions on love, affinity ,and marriage even until this day but he believes in commitments and contractual partnerships.

And although your empty eyes may not say much and at times, unsettle him because he had just given you his weakness, he believes that this marriage-no, this partnership would finally succeed.

A foundation built on a wager of both of your lives and mild trust.

Just what lied beyond that?

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[robin-nightwing-agent37]

Hello! I'm a new anon, and I'm saltyyyy because It seems even the White Knight AU has to keep shoving the DickBabs endgame down our throats. I've been enjoying that AU story but it's getting really frustrating how not even elseworlds now can escape that thing.

I suddenly feel like I can't fucking avoid DickBabs no matter what story I pick with Dick in it. The only ones that come to mind are the Injustice AU (in which Dick is dead) and Kingdom Come but I guess it's been a long time since that one came out. I don't mention Nightwing the new order because that character barely resembles Dick. Even the DC vs Vampires story that's supposed to be for the action and fun has to have some nasty teen romantic subplot between those two characters (that totally takes me out of the story because they seem frivolous af when flirting while their friends and family are dying around them!)

What's the problem with having him single and NOT THINKING constantly about some romantic interest for just one storyline? Seriously, why? Isn't there anything about his character worthy of exploration anymore? To me, everytime they try to write him in a relationship with Barbara they make him a frivolous character (Also Is sickening how they seem to want to give Donna's place as Dick's bestie to Barbara)

I swear I'm gonna main Red Hood or Robin only on my Gotham Knights gameplay so THEY CAN'T SHOVE DickBabs content down my throat without my consent. Sjsidjfsjfkd. I will fight for my right to stay away of that ship to the end

*deep sigh* thanks for reading me! I'm going to sleep now :)

Hello! I'm a new anon, and I'm saltyyyy because It seems even the White Knight AU has to keep shoving the DickBabs endgame down our throats. I've been enjoying that AU story but it's getting really frustrating how not even elseworlds now can escape that thing.

So White Knight AU has Dick Babs in a toxic, really shitty relationship. They had that variant cover which portrays them somewhat happy but we know that it ends pretty rerribly. Plus, the way Babs talks about Dick and forcing him to marry her because "he was too slow" didn't sit right with me. I wouldn't put too much thought on it.

I suddenly feel like I can't fucking avoid DickBabs no matter what story I pick with Dick in it. The only ones that come to mind are the Injustice AU (in which Dick is dead) and Kingdom Come but I guess it's been a long time since that one came out. I don't mention Nightwing the new order because that character barely resembles Dick. Even the DC vs Vampires story that's supposed to be for the action and fun has to have some nasty teen romantic subplot between those two characters (that totally takes me out of the story because they seem frivolous af when flirting while their friends and family are dying around them!)

I feel the same way. It was literally dead for 15 years until Dick Babs fans literally bullied Castelluci when she did Babs Bard (her canon love interest) over Dick Babs, despite the fact that Castelluci couldnt use Dick because he literally had a girlfriend. Castelluci then made Dick Babs a thing again randomly in Death Metal. its funny how these fans hate people like Dixon, Grayson or Castelluci but they are the ones who write Dick Babs.

I have no idea about the teen romance in DC vs Vampires? When was this mentioned? I know its hinted that Tim has been with Starfire? Its so odd.

What's the problem with having him single and NOT THINKING constantly about some romantic interest for just one storyline? Seriously, why? Isn't there anything about his character worthy of exploration anymore? To me, everytime they try to write him in a relationship with Barbara they make him a frivolous character (Also Is sickening how they seem to want to give Donna's place as Dick's bestie to Barbara)

Fanfic I guess? Dixon's run started going down hill fast once Dick started to be more involved with BOP. Dick feels very OOC in romance, but its more evident with Babs since the writers, for some reason, like to use him as a obstacle or stepping stool for her. Like in Young Justice how he was introduced as the tech/hacker/detective, but they need Babs to do something so now they have Dick downplay his own damn skills just so that they can have Babs come in and do something. Im so happy that she barely had any part in season 4. Because for some reason a lot of times when her character is around, his character is treated like hot garbage.

I want Dick to be single so bad it hurts lol i don't want Dick Kory, i don't want Dick Babs. I want Dick x good writing. lol I want to be away from this shipping shit. But his fandom is so freaking engulfed in it to the point it's all we ever talk about 90% of the time. And then, it sends a very bias and skewed message about the character because, depending on the spaces you go to; they be pro babs or pro kory. Like i stopped going to reddit because DickBabs/Tom Taylor fans have pretty much invaded the DC Comics subreddits and don't talk about anything else. They even LITERALLY started a ship war on the young justice forums. It's so bad and cringe. Y'all do know we can talk about Nightwing without having to bring up his shitty ass romances, right?

I swear I'm gonna main Red Hood or Robin only on my Gotham Knights gameplay so THEY CAN'T SHOVE DickBabs content down my throat without my consent. Sjsidjfsjfkd. I will fight for my right to stay away of that ship to the end

TBH I've thought about jumping ship a few times. Im not gonna lie. The Nightwing fandom has been very toxic lately since the start of N52. It's been very racist, ableist, and hypocritical sexist towards Nightwing, Nightwing fans and certain other characters, and it's starting to get to the point that im uncomfortable. Ive never been so uncomfortable within a fandom than I am right now. Even Tom Taylor's run makes me like feel very wrong. Like Nightwing right now feels very wrong, like if i support it I feel like im part of the problem? It just doesnt feel right and I dont know if DC will ever fix it.

I like Red Hood and I hate how the shipping problems that have infected the Nightwing fandom have literally crossed over to the Red Hood fandom. Now Jason cant do anything without it being "Nightiwng's sloppy seconds" Like my dude freaking chill.

*deep sigh* thanks for reading me! I'm going to sleep now :)

We all need a release sometimes. And I believe I just got mine. Atleast your being honest about how you feel.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

I just want to say, before I say anything, I'm not accusing you of saying this and I understand that you feel how you feel. I'm just asking this in a very general way and was wondering your thoughts. Why is it so verboten to think Zuko might have had a slight crush on Katara? There seems to be a rush to not just deny it but to treat it like it's some sort of horrible thing to even suggest it and I'm not sure why that is?

Katara is presented as a beautiful, lively girl who is a powerful bender. Why wouldn’t Zuko be a little starry eyed over that? It doesn’t mean she likes him back. Idk, I’m not exactly sure where my point is, except that being shouted down for just advancing the idea that maybe Zuko had the hots for Katara is a little frustrating? I’m not saying he was wacking off in his bunk thinking about her or expected to get some while they were hunting Yon Rha.

Also, unrequited crushes happen in ATLA-verse? Toph/Sokka anyone? Why does that never get screeched on but saying “Hey, Zuko loved Mai but he was probably looking at Katara and thinking ‘noice!’ a couple of times” the worst thing in the world? Is it the Water Tribe/Fire Nation thing? I mean, if it’s that, I wish people would just say that and stop screaming at people for their headcanons and whatnot. [theend]

Lol do not worry anon I know this isn’t an accusation!! Not only have I myself never perpetuated this rhetoric, but I don’t think I’ve really heard it before! Maybe once or twice?? I might just keep to chill parts of fandom, lmao, and that’s why I’m not very familiar with it. But I’ll do my best to theorize what may spark conflict based on the info you provided me!

(I’ve talked very briefly here about Zuko having/not having a crush on Katara before, if you were wondering.)

My main guess is that it’s not the headcanon itself that makes people frustrated, but how some shippers probably treat the HEADcanon as canon-canon (not an issue exclusive to Zvtara, btw; all big fanon ships have this problem - Zvkka, anyone? lmao). I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with headcanoning that Zuko had a crush on Katara! But in that same vein, there’s nothing inherently wrong with others acknowledging that the headcanon has no basis in canon either, if that makes sense. And headcanons don’t need canon basis! Headcanons are fanon! That’s why they’re so much fun! I ship Kuzaang like there’s no tomorrow, but I can also acknowledge that there wasn’t anything in canon that demonstrated Aang having a crush on Kuzon. Kuzaang is strictly fanon, and I love that about the pairing! It means I have incredible free reign, hehe.

But yeah. I don’t think it has anything to do with their different nations! Like I said - it’s probably solely an issue of some shippers (and undoubtedly just a loud minority) treating the headcanon as canon.

I don’t think saying “Hey, Zuko loved Mai but he was probably looking at Katara and thinking ‘noice!’ a couple of times” is the worst thing in the world, lmao. I do want to make a distinction here, though; this example you provide is actually an example of aesthetic attraction, which is not the same as a crush (crushes are indicative of romantic attraction)! So saying/headcanoning that Zuko thought Katara was pretty (as anyone with a brain would say, let’s be real) does not actually equate to him having a crush on her.

But back to the crush headcanon. I mentioned that I (personally!) don’t think it has canon basis. I will admit that I am not alloromantic, so crushes in themselves are a little confusing to me (I mean,, people just randomly like someone?? based on their appearance?? without even knowing them?? hell nah), but even disregarding that, I don’t think it would make much sense within canon for Zuko to have had a crush on Katara.

Again, disclaimer: there’s nothing wrong with the headcanon! Fanon is meant to contradict canon! To expand canon! To rewrite canon! Fanon is transformative. That’s the entire purpose of fanon. Go wild with that headcanon!! Make art!! Produce fics!! Support content creators!! Hell yeah!!

So what do I mean when I say that I personally feel there’s no canon basis for Zuko having a crush on Katara? Well, for one, he joined the Gaang in episode 12 of Book 3. That’s episode 52 of 61 overall. So in everything prior to that, Zuko not only has no idea who Katara is but he is also neck-deep in imperialistic rhetoric (you know, racism, superiority complexes, all that jazz. not fun for anyone non-FN). No possible crush there. In “The Western Air Temple” episode itself, Katara (understandably) threatens Zuko. She means what she says, and I think Zuko recognizes that. A crush there wouldn’t make sense - they’ve only properly met this second time and Katara (understandably) hates Zuko’s guts for what he’s done to the Gaang and to her personally.

Episode 53 is “The Firebending Masters” - Zuko’s too hung up on his firebending not working to think about anything else (Katara obviously still does not trust him yet, either, meaning Zuko is pretty much on edge around her. again, she threatened him, and Zuko no doubt took her threat seriously).

54 and 55 are “The Boiling Rock” episodes; not only are these Maiko-heavy but also in general… I mean, Katara’s not really in them. At least not from Zuko’s POV. So nothing implies a crush there. And then after those episodes, it’s worth considering that Zuko probably thinks Mai is dead. That he left her, the girl he loves, to die at Azula’s hands. We know Zuko tends to hold guilt to his chest, so concluding he blamed himself for Mai’s “death” is not illogical. Why would he all of sudden switch his sights to Katara, even if it was just a simple crush? While he’s grieving? That doesn’t track to me.

And then, of course, “The Southern Raiders.” This episode has been talked about to death, so I’ll keep it brief, lmao. I will draw attention to only one line, spoken by Zuko:

This isn’t fair! Everyone else seems to trust me now! What is it with you?

As we all know, TSR was not a flattering episode for Zuko. He was a racist asshole to Aang and - as aforementioned - acted as if he was entitled to Katara’s trust. Obviously, Zuko grows through the episode, and we see by the end that he respects Aang’s wisdom and respects Katara’s decision to walk away from Yon Rha (which is awesome!! I adore this brief but incredibly crucial arc of his!!). But my point is that nothing demonstrates romantic interest from Zuko to Katara. If anything, his initial motives are pretty damn selfish (i.e. demanding her to trust him because he feels like he “deserves” it already).

Emphasis on “initial” motives, of course. Obviously he grows more sincere!! (Tis the point of the episode for Zuko.)

So they end TSR on new, peaceful terms. Personally, I don’t think their relationship would be magically sunshine and roses after that (Zuko did some fucked up shit to the Gaang, lmao), but I do think things are getting better between them! Still, there is nothing indicative of a canon crush.

Next episode, in EIP, they scoot away from each other at the possibility of being together, yk? That doesn’t mean they hate each other’s guts, lmfao, but EIP is meant to depict imperialist Fire Nation propaganda - who wouldn’t be uncomfortable with that? Like, the entire Gaang is demeaned in that play. There’s nothing romantic about it. It’s a similar situation later with June - this is a lady that doesn’t know anything remotely personal about Zuko or Katara. Of course they’d react in a horrified and flustered manner when this - for all intents and purposes - total stranger suggests that they’re together! That’s creepy as hell! Definitely not indicative of a crush, lmao. And considering that the Gaang never teases Zuko about having a crush on Katara (compared to how I think Toph teases Katara about Haru?), i.e. the people who know them the best, there’s no reason for the audience to think anything is going on between them.

For other references, here are a few addressing EIP, June, etc.

And after all that… Well, now we’re in the finale. What time is there for romance? There’s a reason the canon couples don’t reunite until after the war is won! (Minus Sukka, I guess, but they’re not professing their love on the battlefield, per se, lmao.) Zuko chooses Katara to go with him because she’s a powerful waterbender and the only person who’s been able to handle Azula in the past (besides Aang, arguably, who’s obviously occupied with Ozai), not because he “likes” her in a romantic sense.

All of this is to say that to me, Zuko having a crush on Katara is strictly fanon. Which is awesome! Fanon is fantastic, and I actually really like these types of headcanons (like, Teo having a crush on Aang? GOOD SHIT). Some people are just jerks about it. That said, I can still understand why people might get frustrated by those who preach this headcanon as if it’s pulled straight from the text itself. I absolutely think it’s ridiculous to harass others over a headcanon (which unfortunately you see on both sides of the ship war), but in that same vein - of course it’s frustrating when those loud few act like their fanon is canon and proceed to shove it down others’ throats, lmao. It’s an imperfect situation, basically.

TL;DR - The headcanon in itself is great, and no one should be getting freaking harassed over it. But it is strictly fanon, so when some shippers treat it like canon, that’s understandably going to frustrate the rest of the fandom. Headcanons are a double-edged sword, lmao.

So that’s my personal theory as to why people get pressed over this headcanon. If anyone else has a different idea, please feel free to rb/comment with it!

[xillveart]

Summer Solitude pt. 2

Main Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x Koge Naegi (OC)

Story Rating: Explicit

Genre: Fluff / Romance / Domestic 

Story Warnings: Cursing, brief sex (vaginal) and fingering, A LOT flirting, playful spanking, vague mentions of kinks, mostly fluff and just silliness

Words: 4,047

Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3

Written for the @bnhabookclub​​ ‘s members bingo event!

Crossed off: Trickery (not on my card, replacement of an accidental repeat)

Bingo Masterlist

Art in banner by me

“Get your hand off my booty. You’re gonna mess up my tan.” 

“Tan? Utsuro, you don’t tan. You burn. You’re already pink, you know. You need more sunscreen.” Bakugou’s hand ran down along the back of Koge’s thigh, the pressure of his grip and natural roughness of his palms bringing a small sigh of pleasure from her lips. Laying on her stomach, she had sprawled out on a blanket the couple had placed in the grass near the water, soaking in some of the hot summer sun. Sitting beside her, Bakugou was content to munch on some watermelon, stabbing squares of the juicy fruit with his toothpick before bringing it to his lips. Along with his munching, he was a tad handsy, unable to really help touching Koge or stroking her skin, which was something the petite woman loved. 

“I just put some on, like… ten minutes ago.” Turning her head, Koge rested her cheek against her folded forearms, eyes scanning his bare back. Each movement he made to pick up another piece of fruit flexed his broad shoulders and caused his muscles to ripple, bringing a heat to Koge’s cheeks that wasn’t at all related to the sun. Even his arm as it moved with his continuous slow stroking of her thigh had her stomach fluttering, nearly mesmerized by his form. What was worse, his skin was shiny and wet with remnants of the lake water, as he had just come back up from a quick dip while Koge soaked in the sun. 

And as she watched a droplet of water slide down along his side, she knew that she had made a mistake making that bet earlier. Now she was really paying the price. 

Koge knew that Bakugou could tell, too, and he wasn’t taking this challenge lightly. Sure, he wasn’t jumping her bones every second he could, but he was still doing exactly what Koge had expected. In between his more casual affection, he’d randomly toss in a more sensual touch, a lingering of his lips, or a flash of his crimson glare that could set Koge off in seconds. Even now as he focused on eating, his fingers trailed along her inner thigh, lightly brushing against her clothed sex. If he was doing it on purpose at the moment, she couldn’t be sure, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to ask and give away that she was struggling. 

“Gimme a bite?” Koge smiled up at him as he glanced over his shoulder in response to her words, his cheek puffed out as he chewed. Compliant, Bakugou stabbed a new piece, leaning back and supporting himself with his elbow to easily bring the fruit to her lips. Koge was quick to open wide and hold it between her teeth while Bakugou pulled the stick back, humming softly in happiness as she ate the juicy treat. “Mmm! That watermelon is really sweet!” 

“I can think of a few things that are sweeter.” Staying in his laid-back position, Bakugou licked some of the watermelon juice from his fingers, once again sending a heat rushing through Koge like a fire. 

Jerk! He’s too good at this. 

“Yeah, me too. Like grapes. Or just candy.” 

“Sure, Utsuro.” Smirking in his silent, smug victory, Bakugou pushed his still damp hair back out of his face, the water slicking it back and causing it to cling to itself. “If that’s what comes to mind.” 

Unable to handle gazing upon his glistening chest and abs, Koge shoved her face back into the blanket as casually as she could, silently screaming in her mind and cursing herself for being so stupid. “Is there something else that should have come to mind?” 

“I already know something else came to mind.” 

“I’m not saying it!” 

“What? Struggling not to lose?” 

Koge could hear the smirk in his voice, her skin tingling as his fingers lightly and slowly trailed down her spine. Huffing, she rolled over on her back away from him in hopes that he couldn’t reach her anymore. “I won’t lose!” Glowering at him, she pushed herself up to sit on her elbows, having to control the screaming urge to look down at his body. “You promised you wouldn’t try hard!” 

Bakugou scoffed, taking a large bite out of a larger slice of watermelon, since all the little pieces had been eaten. It was as if he were purposefully showing off his impressive bite and teeth, which was just another turn on for Koge, who couldn’t help but imagine those teeth sinking into the skin of her inner thighs. “Utsuro, I’m not trying hard,” Bakugou paused to lick his lips, ignoring the juice of the fruit that dripped onto his chest from the slice in his hand. “You’re just horny. You can’t win.” 

“I’m not. You are trying hard, everything you’re doing is so extra!” 

“I’m just eating watermelon. It’s not my fault you’re seeing that as sexual.” Taking another bite, the blonde munched away before tossing the slice back into its large bowl, searching for a napkin that he used to wipe his mouth and chest of the dribbling juice. “Fuck that shit gets everywhere.” 

Huffing, Koge flopped back to lay down, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared up at the blue sky. “I hate you.” 

“Sounds like a you problem.” 

“See, now you’re just working against yourself, jokes like that will get you no pussy.” 

“Shut up,” Leaning over, Bakugou caressed her flushed cheek, kissing her lips softly. “You’re too cute to argue.” 

“Don’t pull that with me,” Koge gripped onto his forearm lightly, not wanting him to back away. “You know I can’t resist your sweet talk.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Bakugou kissed her again, scooting his body in closer to half-hover over her easier, one of his legs coming to rest casually between hers. “All I have to do is call you the B-word and you’re gonna lose that bet real quick.” 

“Calling me a bitch only works in certain situations, love.” 

“I don’t mean that B-word.” 

Cheeks growing hotter, Koge narrowed her eyes at him, nudging his nose with hers lightly. “Don’t you dare. That’d be cheating! Especially with your voice still being a little raspy from losing it the other day while you were sick… You’d make me cum just from your voice.” 

“Yeah?” Bakugou chuckled, letting his hand slide down from her cheek to instead rest on her stomach. “Then what? I’d make you cum with my voice, but that’s not enough for you.” His lips still dangerously close, Bakugou didn’t break eye contact with her as his fingers trailed down across her skin towards her hips. His touch was so light it made Koge’s entire body tingle in ticklish pleasure, almost finding it hard to not twitch away. “You’d need more.” 

“You don’t know that.” The involuntary waver in her voice didn’t go undetected, a new smug smirk spreading across Bakugou’s lips. 

“I do know. I know, because your slutty little body craves my fat cock inside you. It can’t be satisfied until I’ve fucked you into a crying stupor.” His lips were right up against hers now, brushing as he spoke and only teasing Koge’s parted mouth with a hint of a kiss. She knew exactly what he was doing, yet she couldn’t pull away or resist him, her breathing growing heavier with her anxious energy. She wanted him so bad, but how could she give in already, only a couple of hours after their bet had been placed? Instead of any protest, only one word could slip from her strangled throat. 

“Katsuki…” 

“That’s right, baby,” Bakugou’s smirk only grew more wicked at Koge’s physical reaction to the pet name, her body arching up into his touch as his hand slipped beneath her bikini bottoms, two of his fingers stroking along her already soaking wet cunt and teasing her clit just as the word left his mouth. “Say my name and give into me.” His lips crashed down onto hers without any resistance, her mouth even opening eagerly for him to completely take control. Suddenly, a rush of pleasure as his fingers dug into her needy pussy snapped Koge out of her haze, making her squeal and wiggling out from under him, fumbling to her feat. 

“No, no, no! No! You aren’t allowed to do that! That’s SUPER try hard mode!” Pointing an accusing finger at him, Koge was only made more flustered as his smirk returned, her heart nearly leaping out of her mouth at the sight of him licking clean the fingers he had put inside her. “Katsuki!” 

“Mm, delicious. Sweeter than watermelon.” 

“Ugh!” With a stomp of her foot, Koge stormed off towards the lake, not looking back at her tease of a husband in hopes it would keep her away. “You’re not gonna win!” 

“You know I like a challenge, Utsuro. That cute little ass of yours is going to be tied up tonight. Just wait.” 

“No, you will be buying us a hot tub! That’s what’s gonna happen!” 

Chuckling, Bakugou sat up, doing his best to ignore the aching of his cock, speaking quietly to himself. “I wonder if I should tell her they’ve already ordered one? Hm… Nah.” 

…

“Katsuki, you’ve really gone all out on this! When did you have time to bring all this food up here? When you said we were going on a date, I didn’t expect all of this.” Koge couldn’t resist the bright smile on her face as she munched away on a delicious slice of seasoned beef, the light twinge of Bakugou’s favorite spices tickling her lips. “Yum!” 

“I didn’t. I haven’t been here before, remember?” Bakugou glanced back at her over his shoulder, though most of his attention was on the pan where he had a variety of vegetables sautéing. Holding on firmly to the handle of the pan, he used quick and precise movements to flip the contents about, reminding Koge just how dwarfed her cooking skills were compared to his. “I had my dad help.” 

“You’re so sneaky.” Koge narrowed her eyes at him, her stomach fluttering in happiness from his effort and attention to their needs for the weekend, as well as making sure she was truly enjoying herself. “You’re not trying to butter me up for something, are you?” 

With a click of his tongue, Bakugou brought the still sizzling pan over towards her, using a set of tongs to grab and place the veggies onto her plate. “And what if I was?” 

“Then I’d say yes no matter what.” 

“Damn right.” After giving himself a portion on his own plate, Bakugou placed the pan back down on a cold burner of the stove, turning the other off while he was at it. “But no, I’m not. You deserve this.” 

Cheeks flushing, Koge grew a bit timid from his words, pulling her legs up into her chair to sit cross legged. “Thank you, Katsuki… That means a lot to me.” 

A kiss to the top of the head was given to her before Bakugou took his seat beside her, beginning to chow down on his food. “What do you think of this outdoor kitchen set up?” 

“I like it!” Koge glanced around them, eyeing the covered patio they were sat under and the row of cabinets that sported an oven and sink. From their chairs at the round metal table they were eating on, they both had the perfect view of the lake and setting sun, which painted the sky with lilac, cream, and coral hues. The glistening water reflected the masterpiece, bringing about such a calming sense of serenity. It truly was heaven, made perfect by the delicious food and the love of the man beside her. “I love everything about this place. Especially just getting to be alone with you.” 

“It’s been a long time. I don’t think we’ve gotten a full day to ourselves since Natsu was born. It’s so different from how it used to be.” Bakugou paused for a moment to eat, carefully shoveling some meat into his mouth with his chopsticks. “But, it just makes this more special. Reminds me of why and how much I love you.” 

“Aw, Katsuki,” Koge scooted her chair up close to him, resting her head against his shoulder. “I love you. I know adjusting to being parents and being married is really hard, but… We’re getting through it together. And even though I know you don’t think you have, you’ve been as wonderful as always, to me and the kids. Sometimes I miss it being just you and me, but I wouldn’t trade what we have now for anything.” 

“Me either. Here, you have a little-” Since Koge had been looking up at him, Bakugou took a moment to wipe her bottom lip lightly with his thumb, wiping away some stray sauce. Koge giggled, her face flushed and eyes never leaving his face. 

“Sorry, I’m a bit messy.” 

“Mm, yeah you are.” A deep hum rattled in his chest as he kissed her. “Messy, cute little sexy thing. If you get that sauce all over you, I’ll just end up having to clean you up myself.” 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Some extra sauce.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get some extra special sauce later.” 

“You won’t!” Koge got one more kiss before she returned to eating, which Bakugou mimicked. “You’re not going to win. I’ve done so good. You haven’t gotten me since that nonsense with the B-word.” 

“For now.” 

With a roll of her eyes and a playful nudge to his side, the two fell silent to eat in peace, listening to the rippling water and the sounds of nighttime creatures around them. Once the two were done eating, Bakugou presented Koge with her favorite dessert of matcha mochi ice cream and chocolate syrup, which had her drooling and beaming with delight. By the time dinner was complete, the sun was set, blanketing the lake with darkness. The little backyard paradise was flooded with crackling light, however, as the firepit had been brought to life. Poking at the smoldering logs with a long poker, Bakugou shuffled them around until he was content, leaving it resting close by before approaching his wife. 

With a gentle stroke to the top of her head, he flopped to sit down beside her on the bench she had picked, letting one arm rest around her shoulders. “How’s that?” 

“It’s perfect.” Koge pulled her legs up into the seat, cuddling into and resting against his side. “I love this. I want everything to be just like this when we retire. Just at the coast instead.” 

“Hm. I can see that. A private oceanfront place. Though up in the mountains would be fucking nice, too. Surrounded by trees.” 

“But the bugs.” 

“Fuck the bugs, they wouldn’t be that bad.” 

“Hmm…” Koge turned a bit to rest her head against his shoulder, her hand sliding up his torso to his chest. “You know they would be. You’d have icky creepy crawlies all over you.” 

“I already do. Two icky creepy crawlies that always climb all over me.” 

“Only two?” 

“Well, three. Counting you. The biggest creepy crawly.” Taking hold of her chin lightly to lift her head up, Bakugou placed a tender kiss on her lips, bringing a happy hum from her chest. “Grossest, too. I’ve never seen such a gross bug.” 

“I’m like your flea. Always attached to you.” 

Chuckling, Bakugou leaned back comfortably again, looking up at the night sky. “You are tiny like a flea. Damn, Utsuro, did you see the sky?” 

“Hm?” Resting her head back down, Koge turned her gaze to look up at the stars, a small gasp leaving her lips. “Wow! You can’t see this back home!” The night sky was more magnificent than Koge had seen in many years, with twinkling stars and swirling streams of color within the inky and never-ending blackness. It made her feel so small to stare up into the unknown, yet she felt comforted by Bakugou’s strong arm around her, knowing that even if aliens did suddenly come down to attack the planet, at least he would be there with her though it all. 

“Do you believe in aliens, Katsuki?” 

“Do you think we’re the only living thing in the universe?” 

“No.” 

“Me either. Unless we’re nothing but a simulation.” 

Koge giggled softly, still mesmerized by the sky above her. “Oh yeah? Then what would all the stars be? A hologram. Geez, that one start is really twinkling, you see it? Oh look! There’s the Taurus constellation! That’s your western zodiac sign, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah. I don’t really know a lot about them though.” 

“They’re assholes.” 

“Tch, oh yeah?!” Bakugou pinched her cheek playfully, making her whine and attempt to push him off her. “And what’s yours, huh? The one that’s a little bitch, I bet!” 

“Scorpio! And that’s not a little bitch sign, that’s a bad bitch sign. Don’t make me have to prove it to you.” 

“Oh, and what would you do, little flea?” 

“Don’t you know anything about fleas, Katsuki? They bite,” In one fluid motion, Koge sunk her teeth into the side of his neck as she crawled up onto his lap, ignoring his curses. Although the first bite was the roughest, they grew significantly less visions as she trailed them down his neck to his shoulder, though she was stopped by the strap of his tank. “I’ll bite you all over!” 

“Then I’ll just have to squish you, won’t I?” With one strong arm wrapped around her torso to keep her from squirming away, Bakugou brought his full palm down onto her ass, making her burst out into giggles and squeals. “No, no, you little bug, you’re not getting away!” Another slap had Koge struggling with all her might to get away, but her strength was nothing compared to the muscular man that had her trapped. A single glance at his face told her that he was enjoying it, too, the amused and malicious smirk on his lips giving it away. 

“Katsuki! This isn’t fair! You can hold me down with one arm!” Koge retaliated with another rough bite, this time right below his earlobe. At first, a hiss was Bakugou’s only reaction, until he released a low growl deep in his chest, his large hand switching from spanking to groping. With his fingers splayed out across her cheek and a firm grip, he pulled her hips in up against his, presenting to her his very obvious and eagerly twitching cock beneath his shorts. 

“You’d better watch it, Utsuro, or I’m going to make you lose that bet real quick.” 

“You won’t.” Smirking against his skin, Koge nibbled her way along his jawline, ending with a bite and a tug to his earlobe. “You like it when I bite you, huh? You like to be bit just as much as you like to bite.” 

A deep grunt escaped Bakugou’s throat as she pressed her hips tighter against his, putting pressure on his strained member in the same moment that her teeth sunk into his neck. “This is considered giving in, isn’t it?” 

“Nope. There’s nothing in the rules about me teasing you. I have to give in to you enticing me.” Holding back a sigh of pleasure at the pressure against her clit and the feeling of his cock twitching between her legs, Koge let her fingers snake up into his blonde locks, massaging and tugging in time with her bites and rolling of her hips. “You’re so submissive today.” 

“Don’t fucking call me that. You’ll regret it.” The slight whine in his voice immediately had Koge feeling rushed with a sexual power that she very rarely got to experience with him, and the thought of getting to push his buttons a bit clouded any other thought in her mind. 

His grip on her hips have loosened, Koge was able to maneuver her hands down between their bodies, easily slipping his hard cock from his shorts. Taking hold of him, Koge’s heart nearly leapt out of her throat at the hitching breath he took in, her thumb rolling around his tip to tease him with the precum that had been dribbling down his shaft. “Poor thing.” Koge hummed, her lips and teeth sliding along his skin. “You’ve been trying so hard all day, and this is what happens? You end up whining and just letting me do whatever I want.” 

Her touch became more aggressive, slipping one of her hands into her own shorts to coat it in her own slick while she pumped his cock. “Seeing you like this really gets to me, Katsuki. I just want to eat you up.” 

Bakugou’s breath grew heavier the longer she pleasured him, until his hips began to buck up into her touch. “C’mon!” He hissed between his teeth, his face shoved into her shoulder. “I want to stick my cock in you so fucking bad. Let me fuck you!” 

“I don’t think so, Katsuki.” 

A trembling moan left his lips, his hands gripping onto her hips tightly in hopes that she wouldn’t move. “Yes! Baby, please,” Speaking directly into her ear now, his low and desperate voice had Koge’s head spinning, unable to think about anything else but him. “Please, baby. Let me fuck you. I need it.” 

Moving on impulse, Koge shifted her clothing out of the way, shifting her hips up and sinking his entire cock into dripping, aching pussy all the way to the base, the pleasure immediately making Koge tremble and bite down onto her bottom lip. Though, before she could even think about moving her hips, Bakugou’s grip on them grew tighter, and a triumphant chuckle rattled in his chest. 

“I fucking got you, Utsuro.” 

“Wha- a-ah!!” Koge’s voice cracked into moans as Bakugou began to thrust his hips up into her, his entire demeanor flipping like a switch. Behind the hazy pleasure, Koge began to realize that he had been doing. He had used her craving for a bit of dominance against her, making her think that she was the one in control the entire time. “K-Katsuki! That’s mean!” 

“You lose, Utsuro. Now shut up and take my fat cock like a good little slut.” His threatening growl in her ear immediately broke her into submission, gripping onto his shoulders tightly as she took over bouncing on his cock, slamming it within her from tip to base. “Good girl. Show me how much you’ve wanted that fucking cock.” 

It was true that Koge had been craving him since the early morning hours, but with the bet they had set so early on, she had been pushing back against him so intently that she was sure she’d win. Yet, he was able to break her without even having to really touch her himself. Sure, she was frustrated with that, but there wasn’t a single thought in her mind that told her to stop. Just feeling his cock inside her, filling up every inch of her cunt had her feeling like she was going completely mad already. She wanted more. She needed more. 

“Katsuki-!” 

“What’s wrong? Fucking yourself on my cock not good enough for you?” Using his strength, Bakugou stopped her from bouncing, his dick slipping out of her and leaving her aching. Whining, Koge looked down between their bodies, able to see glistening threads of her slick still connecting them together. She was so horny she’d do anything for him at this point just so he would keep fucking her. 

“I-I want you to fuck me, Katsuki. Please!” 

“I won the bet, you know. Don’t you think I deserve my prize?” 

Koge’s heart skipped a beat, growing nervous just from the thought of what he had wanted. A rough session of light bondage and a bit of knife play, which was something they had never tried before. They had researched it before, but never got around to it with children at home, but now they had an entire house and night to themselves. Yes, the unknown was scary, but how incredibly hot it made her had her answer slipping from her lips before she could really even think. 

“Please do whatever you want to me, Katsuki.” 

[honhonluigi]

Rantaro x Ouma,Maki x Kaito,Naegi x Kirigiri?

Rantaro x Kokichi - 1. I hate to be so negative in all of these, but I hate this one too. There’s just no dynamic here. They never talk, they never interact, they never even spend free time events together. They have no relationships. I’m honestly not sure why this is such a popular ship for them both? It’s just two random characters mashed together. Plus, Rantaro seems like he’d get tired of Kokichi’s shit real fast. It says in his bio that he hates immaturity. 

Maki x Kaito - 0. Ew, gross, no thank you. This is a terrible ship in my opinion. It’s super forced, rushed, and the writing is really shitty. Kaito has absolutely no reason to like or trust Maki, he just does for plot convenience. They fall in love instantly and it’s disgusting and obnoxious. Then it’s shoved down your throat more than any other couple in DR has been. The game FORCES you to focus the entirety of the plot on KaiMaki’s stupid love story, which completely drowns out and ruins Shuichi’s character development and just...him existing, in general. They have NO REASON to fall in love but they just, do? Randomly? Instantly? And then you have to sit there and watch NOTHING but KaiMaki as it rushes towards some dumb conclusion you don’t care about that comes on too fast, including a bunch of Maki being a dumb Mary Sue and both her and Kaito making stupid OOC decisions. There’s no reason for them to like each other. They don’t even talk before they fall in love. Also, this one’s mega abusive. Maki hits and punches Kaito constantly, calls him stupid and worthless, even when she likes him. And Kaito makes fun of her and pries into personal details even when she’s clearly uncomfortable and asks him to stop. It’s a terrible dynamic, and watching them interact is painful. It’s shitty for Maki’s character arc too. Instead of becoming friends with other characters and opening up more, she just focuses in on Kaito. She becomes a bitchy stuck up snob who refuses to talk to or care about anyone else, and just gets meaner than she was originally. Then in the end, she turns into this super creepy yandere-type who’s obsessing over Kaito and then wants to kill everyone for revenge about him dying, when that was completely her fault in the first place, for doing something everyone told her not to do. None of it made sense. It was all written badly, and it ruined both of them, especially Maki and Shuichi who wasn’t even a participant. Their dynamic was awful and obnoxious, and also a stupid hyper-hetero romance trope. ‘We hate each other and don’t get along, but we’re in love too, for some reason’. 

Makoto x Kyoko - 10. This is one of my favorites! I love it so much. It’s so interesting to see the girl be so clearly the dominant one in a hetero relationship, and for the guy to be okay with that instead of acting like a dick. Their dynamic is adorable. She protects and helps Makoto, but he’s always surprising her with how capable he actually is. She trusts him more than anyone else. It’s also adorable because he’s clearly not the kind of guy or girl Kyoko wants, but he’s so damn nice and cute that it’s impossible not to love him. Their interactions are SO adorable, their relationship is SO interesting and one of my favorite parts of the game. Plus, they’re both favorite characters of mine on their own, too! I love the idea of how different they are, yet they come together over the principals they have in common, and actually have a real friendship. 

[anuknowha]

In Love with Post

Title: In Love with Post 

Genre: Fluff, Romance

Pairing: Post Malone x Reader

Word Count: 1,892

Characters: 9,854       W/o spaces: 7,964

//Heads up. Sorry if this isn’t as good, I wrote it a few months back and sadly, I kept switching between 1st and 2nd person. I hate this but I wanted to get it out here anyway. And if you want me to add you to any taglist let me know. 

It's been a while since I started my career and I still haven't been able to hit my expected level of love from my fans. Yeah, people from all over the world are listening, but it's not as many as I want it to be. Hard work pays off eventually, just takes time and effort, and even some expectations that are randomly plotted into the situation. A few months into my journey as a musician, I finally got to meet someone I've had my eye on for a while, Post Malone. He was an idol to me-  someone to look up to with backstory, but most importantly he caught my attention because of his outgoing personality and his emotional expressions in front of and behind the audience. He wasn't afraid of being himself, speaking his mind, and definitely showing off the tattoos that seemed to cover him from head to toe. For some reason I loved that about him, and because of that, I worked my way to get signed under the same record label company. And I wouldn't take no for an answer. From behind curtains on the stage I heard the voices of screaming, raging fans that were excited for tonight's show. A sigh came left my lips as I peeked through in awe before quickly turning my head in his direction. He was still getting ready, and I watched from afar as I waited for him to finish getting his "good luck" wishes. As he walked towards the stage he stopped in front of me, "Good luck out there Austin. I know you'll do great." He pats me on the back, "I told you to call me Post" he chuckles as he waves goodbye and walks past the curtains and front center stage. I haven't called him Post is weeks, mostly because I knew my dream was finally coming true and was hoping he'd get the hint some, but even without it, he never let me leave my guard down around him. The music starts, and from my spot backstage, it's obvious my favorite song of his, Psycho. I hum along to the beat, before mouthing the words so subtly. A few more songs from his recent album played before he took a break. When he came backstage he was drenched in sweat. Those working for him gave him a towel and a beer to help him cool off an relax. During the 15 minute intervention, he sat next to me and just continued to sip his alcoholic beverage. And when he wasn't looking I'd take a quick glance over his direction and smile some before letting it fade away quickly. Before I knew it they announced his reappearance and he leaves to go back on stage. Tempted to follow, I don't, instead I just watch as he walks back towards the curtains to continue his concert. I could tell he threw me a small smile, or maybe it was just him be excited to live out his dream once more. After about another 40 minutes of performing I finally hear him dismissing himself from the display of the fans. He walks back, looking a little tired, but I can't help but giggle. "You did great Post." "Good job man, you had the crowd going wild." Comments like such were raining from his fellow security as he received many high fives, pats on backs and hugs. Afterwards he came over to me holding out his hand. I took it, and felt him use his strength to lift me off the floor. "Great job Austin. I don't think I've seen a better performance of yours." He seemed to let it slide by him at the moment but, he didn't seem to mind about me calling him Austin. "Thanks." His voice sounded more tired than anything as he started walking towards the exit with the rest of his men, with me following behind quietly like a baby duck. Arriving in the tour bus, he started taking pictures with his friends as they started playing beer pong. I watched from the other side, knowing I was still too young to drink. Cheers and sounds of encouragement were heard for about 30 minutes and discontinued, at least that's what I thought as I realized a slumped over Post Malone, sleep on the chair. It made me laugh some, and snort under my breath as if not to wake him. Within minutes, we were back at the hotel and I found myself about to separate from him, that was until I heard him call out my name, which suddenly caused me to turn around. "Wanna come to my room to play a few games?" I tilted my head, "I thought you were tired, you worked hard today and you were sleep on the ride here." Though spending time with him was my main purpose I couldn't help but consider him first out the kindness of my heart. Before responding to me, he gestured me to his room and I decided to follow. He plopped down on the bed and handed me a controller before taking one in his own hands. "I'm not really that good at video games, I loved them but never had the systems to play them." Cracking my knuckles I got prepared for said game, and to my pleasure it was a fighting game. "Well that's fine, you have enough to afford them now right, or do I need to get them for you?" He suggested playfully. "No thank you." I say in almost a huff that he shrugs off instantly. Us two play a few hours and now it's 1am and a slightly drunk Post is frustrated at me beating him, so he calls it quits. A victory laugh in triumph erupts from my throat as he falls backwards onto the bed. I remained on the floor, not wanting to wake him as I listened his breathing become shallow, and therefore just wait until the morning. I awaken before him, and rub my eyes glancing up at him behind me. I don't bother to wake him since today he had a break, instead I let him sleep off the alcohol and start playing the game against the computer on a low volume. Within the next three hours he wakes up, and I feel him watching me but say nothing until he gets up to go to the bathroom. "Good morning sleepy head." A groggy, "Morning" drifts past his lips as he lifts himself out the bed and shifts towards the bathroom. "What time is it?" "About 12 or so, I didn't bother to wake you because you seemed so tired." Before I could finish my sentence I heard the toilet flush, which means he probably missed some of the things I just said, but it didn't really matter to me at the moment as I was so concentrated on the game. He started washing his hands and within the next few seconds I heard the shower running, he drifts past me to grab clothes but my eyes are still glued on the game. Another 30 minutes pass and a fully clothed Austin walks in your view of the TV preventing me from playing well. "What are you doing...?" I question, an eyebrow raised slightly. "Rematch" sitting down next to me he scoops up the controller and starts to set it to two player. Playing 5 rounds, in which I lost 4, he decided to smirk in victory and put down his controller. I looked over at him, and put mine down as well, and that's when I felt my stomach growl. "Hey, you hungry...? I think I'll go out to grab us something really quick." He nodded softly and I left the room only to be stopped by his "employees" outside the hotel door. They were wondering what happened, but I just waved "hi" and continued walking past. Within 20 minutes I return back to his room to see him playing a different game. I toss the bag of food on his bed and put the drinks on the nearby nightstand. "I'm back." I say almost presently. "Got some late breakfast. I really had a taste for bacon is all. Sorry if it's not what you wanted. Oh, I also wanted to buy you beer but they had to check me of course, and I'm still not at the minimum age-" I stop in my track of words as he was finishing up his round. I sit next to him stuffing my face and letting out a deep sigh. Moments of silence elapsed and I had finished my food along with my drink. I curled into a small ball on the floor and watched the TV change colors as he stopped his gameplay. He gently put down his controller to grab his sandwich and start eating. "Austin I..." I trailed off, but he commented, "How much do I owe you?" I was almost taken aback by the question, confused some, even. "O-owe me for what...?" I stutter. "The food. You bought my food, right?" Thinking for a second I violently nod, "Oh yeah-! Don't worry about it, I don't mind spending money on you." He stopped chewing for a second but still had a mouth full of food, "Why is that?" he questioned. An awkward silence dawned the room, and it stayed that way for what seemed like hours. I avoided eye contact with him and still did even after I was able to get my thoughts together. "I love you..." I say as I bite back tears that begin forming in my eyes. He seemed to have almost choked on his food in disbelief. "I love you Austin Richard Post. Not for the money or the fame but because of you being you. I don't care that you have millions are your expense but I don't see that as important. I'd still love you even if you were still at home playing guitar as a hobby. I don't care where you are or where you're going. And yes it's hard to believe, but you're so funny whenever I see you around. Your positive attitude hits everyone in every concert hall you enter. You're caring and generous. Especially when you helped that girl who was being pushed and shoved in front of your face. Your smile, your laugh, your voice is what attracts me to you. And I've been wanting to at least confess regardless of how much you believe me. I just know I wouldn't let you fall apart between my fingers. And I know I'm not a Nicki Minaj or Demi Levato, I'm not the most attractive I'm the bunch, but I do have genuine feelings and I was hoping one day you might give me a chance to prove it to you." With that I took a deep breath, sweat blaring down my face and neck, I turned my head in the opposite direction so that his blue eyes weren't able to meet mine. I could tell he was shocked though, I was just glad to get out my confession to the guy I loved and admired for the longest, Austin Post.

“I love you too, Y/N” he stated, eventually smiling at me with one the biggest and brightest smiles I’ve ever seen on a person.

[i-am-the-inksinger]

My entry for The Purple Room's 2019 Random Romance Challenge, wherein each participant was assigned a randomly generated romance title and asked to write a PG-13 fic based on it. My prompt was, "Nymphs with Blonde Hair."

Warnings for recreational drug and alcohol use, aphrodisiacs, allusions to public sex, morally bankrupt elves, and a dash of mild fantastic racism.

___

Somewhere between his third puff off the hookah and sixth (seventh?) glass of plum wine, Thassarian had become convinced that Koltira had invited him to Quel'Thalas largely in an attempt to kill him.

Now, he couldn't say for sure why the ranger had decided to kill him, or why he couldn't have just slit his throat and been done with it, but between Thassarian's sudden hypersensitivity to sound and the warm, increasingly uncomfortable throb of his loins, it was the only logical conclusion to be drawn.

Normally neither of these afflictions would be any big deal - the sound sensitivity could be taken care of easily enough by simply removing himself to someplace quieter, and the sudden rigidity in his trousers could have been dealt with either on his own or with Koltira's expert assistance. In fact, both could have been managed, under normal circumstances, by simply absconding with Koltira to some quiet, out-of-the-way little nook or backroom for an hour or three. Surely Koltira would have paid mind to the way Thassarian winced at every word or sound that went beyond the acceptable volume for a private conversation. The elf could be a sadist in bed, but he wasn't a monster.

Or… so Thassarian had believed, in any event. Now, settled in a back corner of a pleasure house whose name he couldn't recall - one of dozens littered throughout Dawnspire, if Koltira was at all to be believed anymore - with his ears ringing, his pants becoming more uncomfortably tight by the minute, and surrounded on all sides by laughing, canoodling elves (and one dwarf, who looked not at all as terrified as Thassarian felt,) he was beginning to wonder if perhaps he had been mistaken all along about Koltira.

Maybe this had been Koltira's plan all along: Seduce some poor, helpless young soldier until he was practically eating out of the elf's hands, then lure him to his death by hookah smoke and drugged wine in the middle of an elvish brothel as some sort of mad ranger sport.

At least… he thought the wine was probably drugged. Then again, he'd never had plum wine before, so maybe it was just the tobacco in the hookah that he was reacting to - only he'd had tobacco before, chewed it and smoked it through wood pipes, so that couldn't be right, could it?

Perhaps the tobacco was drugged. Could hookah tobacco be drugged…?

There was a chuckle at his side, low and sultry in a manner that did nothing at all to help the… issue… in his trousers. Equally unhelpful was the languid shift of the warm, lithe body next to him, or the sudden wash of warm, wine-sweet breath across his ear as Koltira leaned much too close to him.

“Still with us, Thassarian?” Koltira asked, and Light, if his voice didn't sound like so much warm honey being poured from a perfect, handcrafted jar…

“Oh, he's with you, certainly,” another elf said - Jarrod, Thassarian thought. Another of Koltira's ranger friends, redheaded and ruddy-skinned and too damn loud. “Look at him. He's practically falling apart at the seams.”

“Maybe we should have warned him about the hookah.” That was a woman, speaking from somewhere behind Koltira. “Smoulder is a pretty strong blend, and you said he's new to this.”

“He's fine,” Koltira said, leaning away from Thassarian just enough to let a burst of cool air blow between them. Then he leaned close again, and asked in a softer tone: “You're fine, right? Still in there?”

His head felt light, and for some reason he had a bit of difficulty tracking movement with his eyes, but somehow Thassarian managed to turn to look at Koltira and, with all the dignity and poise he could muster, actually answered his question.

“Uhm,” Thassarian said, sounding quite confident to his own badly ringing ears. Then, because it felt important that this be clarified, he added, “Should I… be able to smell the color purple right now?”

It was a nice smell, purple, only he was relatively certain he hadn't previously been able to smell any colors. He was also relatively certain that this new development should perhaps bother him significantly more than it currently did.

“That depends,” another elf commented from across the low table, scratching his honey-colored goatee thoughtfully. “What's it smell like?”

Thassarian considered that.

“Kind of sweet,” he said after a moment. “Like… like honeysuckle and sandalwood. And tobacco.”

“Purple smells like tobacco, hm?” The elf - Thaerin, wasn't it? Saerin? Saeros? - nodded very seriously. “We've learned something new today.”

The dwarf across the room whooped suddenly, her fiery braids flying wildly about as she and a black-haired she-elf went toppling sideways across the cushioned booth they shared.

The ruckus they stirred up carried easily over the din of the bustling pleasure house and was soon followed by a swell of drunken leers and laughter, and Thassarian's ears rang painfully with the noise - though he was pleased to see that he didn't seem to be the only one unhappy with the commotion. Three of his four elvish companions cringed, as well; if the lady elf with them reacted, Thassarian couldn't see it with Koltira sitting where he was. They'd all smoked off the same hookah, though, and for all the wine Thassarian had drunk, at least two of the elves had had more still. He knew Koltira had downed at least an entire bottle on his own.

“Maybe we should go somewhere a bit… quieter,” Koltira said, still wincing. His long, slender ears were pinned back against his head in clear agitation, and his body no longer lay slumped quite so fluidly against Thassarian's side.

“We have a room reserved,” the lady elf commented. “Upstairs - if nothing else, we can try to wait out all the noise,” she added, and somehow she sounded doubtful.

“It'd be a waste of a room,” Jarrod snorted. “Sit around and do… what? Play pachisi until everyone else screws each other into a drunken coma?”

The throb in Thassarian's loins picked up at that, deep and intense enough that he was sure he could feel his face twisting in response - not so much from the discomfort, but from the sudden need that came with it.

Was sex an option…?

Koltira twitched beside him, and his long ears began to turn a wonderful, peachy shade of pink at the tips as he shot Thassarian a pointed look.

“Well, we could always have a go at each other,” the lady elf was saying. She still sounded uncertain. “Only… we went and got Koltira's human all turned about. I'd hate to take advantage.”

“I wouldn't,” Thassarian heard himself say through the low thrumming in his ears.

Four elvish heads craned about to fix him with looks that ranged from incredulous to deeply contemplative, and Thassarian found himself thoroughly distracted by their gleaming, crystalline eyes. Like stars, they were - bright, clever stars, far too clever for something so very pretty--

“Wouldn't… what, exactly?” Koltira asked, leaning close again and looking up at Thassarian through his long, pale eyelashes. There was something endearing about the expression on his face, and Thassarian suddenly had to work very hard not to lean down and plant a soft kiss on the elf's full lips… though, at the moment, he wasn't sure why he was resisting the urge at all. Propriety was a foreign, half-forgotten concept, and nothing else occurred to him at all that might be a decent reason not to simply pounce Koltira and be done with it.

Perhaps it was muscle memory. Damn the thing.

“I wouldn't mind,” Thassarian said, low and careful, “being taken advantage of, just at the moment.”

Koltira's eyes darkened with lust, and Thassarian very nearly lost the battle to refrain from snapping forward and pinning Koltira back against the cushions. He succeeded only because Koltira beat him to the punch, lunging forward and claiming his lips in a kiss that was mostly teeth while his momentum sent them both tumbling across the booth in a heap.

Like a dam bursting, the throbbing, driving heat in his loins spread into his limbs all at once, inflaming him as all the world began to blur away into a thick haze. All he could register now were the sharp teeth at his lips, and the hands sliding up his shirt and down beneath the waistband of his trousers, and the swift-burning heat that seared his flesh in their wake.

“Well, isn't this a lovely sight to stumble across.”

Koltira startled, then shoved away with a hiss. Thassarian followed suit; he didn't quite recognize the voice that had spoken, but he was in elf lands and trusted Koltira enough besides to follow his lead when the ranger started acting like a cat on a hot tin roof.

The other elves at their table were as stock-still as Koltira, and when he followed their guilty looks to the cause Thassarian understood why. It probably wasn't every day that a ranger captain came along to watch them canoodle in the back of a pleasure house, let alone their own captain. Halduron Brightwing might be rumored to be one of the most laid-back elves among the Ranger Corps, but he was respected and feared in equal measure - with good reason, if any trace of Koltira's horror stories were to be believed.

That Halduron was smiling gently down at them didn't help matters one bit.

“Captain… Brightwing,” the lady elf managed to choke out. “Er… Good afternoon, sir.”

“And a happy Feast to you,” Halduron returned, and his gentle smile widened to show perhaps a few too many teeth as he turned his attention squarely on the lady elf.

The lady elf's ears flicked nervously, and she couldn't seem to manage more than an uncomfortable fluttering of her eyelashes before Halduron turned back to the group at large.

“You certainly seem to be making the most of your holiday,” Halduron said, sliding down onto a cushion between Saeros and Jarrod and looking so at ease that, for just a moment, Thassarian decided the other elves were simply overreacting. Surely their captain was just here to check in, or perhaps toss back some wine or take a drag from the hookah.

And then Halduron's sharp, silvery-blue gaze flicked to Thassarian, and Thassarian dazedly marveled at the speed with which his life passed before his eyes.

“And I see you've invited a friend along this year,” Halduron continued, and the winsome, ostensibly welcoming look he trained on Thassarian sent a prickle of genuine unease racing down the latter’s spine. “Thassarian, wasn't it? How wonderful to see you again! I hope the festivities haven't been too… extravagant for you; we tend to be rather enthusiastic about our springtime holidays, and you wouldn't be the first outsider caught off guard by it all.”

Thassarian blinked.

“I, uh…” Damn the drugs and damn his tongue. Maybe Halduron would be merciful and kill him quickly if he stammered long enough.

Halduron grinned, and again Thassarian was struck by the impression that the expression was toothier than it strictly needed to be as the captain laughed and said, “I see you've already had a hit or two from the hookah. I hope my men haven't given you anything too potent; you don't strike me as the smoking type.”

“Naw,” Thassarian said, slurring his consonants and slipping into a light drawl as he scrambled to sound as relaxed as Halduron looked. “I smoke a wood pipe back ‘ome. ‘M jus’ not used to… uh… think they called it ‘smoulder’…”

Four elvish heads ducked back as though they'd had flicked with cold water; beside him, Thassarian distinctly heard Koltira make a soft, keening little whine in the back of his throat, sounding like nothing so much as a dog nursing a bad leg as Halduron's eyes flashed with sudden interest.

“They gave you Smoulder?” Halduron asked, leaning forward just a hair. “Really? How do you find it?”

Thassarian considered that for a moment, largely because he had to figure out what the grinning elf sitting across from him meant by “finding it.”

“Kinda sweet,” he finally said. “Smoky-sweet. Pretty good stuff, actually; think I took a couple hits of it,” he added with a grin. There; surely that would put Halduron at ease, right? It wasn't like his rangers had forced anything nefarious on Thassarian. He'd sucked down whatever blend they were burning all under his own power, completely of his own volition.

Halduron grinned again at Thassarian's companions.

“This must be a gentler blend of Smoulder than I'm familiar with,” Halduron said, catching and holding the gaze of each ranger in their turn, “if you all thought it a good idea to let him take multiple draws of it - alongside a serving or three of wine, no less, from the looks of your table.”

The silence that settled around the group became thick, nearly palpable, and suddenly none of the other elves seemed able to meet Halduron's bright eyes any longer.

Thassarian frowned as he took in their behavior, and slowly began to wonder if perhaps he should not have mentioned what kind of tobacco he'd been smoking. Somehow he had the impression that Halduron wasn't as unconcerned by the information as he looked, and by now Koltira and the other elves all looked as though they were about twenty second from receiving a death sentence.

Maybe it was wiser not to correct the captain's guess about the amount of wine he'd had to drink…

“Shall I take your silence as a ‘no,’ then?” Halduron asked, and for all he sounded friendly, even conspiratorial, Thassarian imagined he heard the slightest edge to the captain's voice.

Four sets of red-tipped ears pinned back uncomfortably, but it was Saeros who ultimately spoke up.

“It, ah,” the blond stammered. “It's… the usual stuff, Captain. Same amount. Same, ah… potency.”

Addled as he was by the heat still slogging through his veins, even Thassarian could guess that this was a bad thing to have admitted to Halduron. They should really have tried lying to the captain, although it was probably too late to change tack now.

“In their defense, they all smoked it, too,” Thassarian put in, because surely if he knew everybody here was intoxicated, Halduron would be less inclined to think badly of his rangers.

Koltira made the whining noise again, and this time Thassarian distinctly felt a long fingernail jab him urgently just under the ribs.

Halduron turned another gentle smile on Thassarian, and this time the prickle it sent along the human's spine was one of fear.

“Oh, dear, we have been naughty,” Halduron said once the silence had grown uncomfortable, and now his voice was soft, too - soft like steam coming off a cup of hot cider, soft like the clearest and last warning anyone was going to get before one wrong word brought disaster down upon their heads.

Thassarian chewed down on the inside of his cheek and resolved to stop talking.

Halduron shifted, drawing one knee up to prop under his arm and leaning back on his other hand as he watched the group squirm for another moment. Desperate not to meet the man's shining gaze again, Thassarian let his attention wander to the rest of the pleasure house. Nobody else seemed even to notice that Halduron was here; the rest of the place was still alive with rowdy laughter and drunken canoodling. The dwarf lady was sandwiched now between two very enthusiastic elves where she lay sprawled across a low table, and yet it still seemed that she was the one in control as they…

Thassarian swallowed hard and looked away, but the look had already done its damage, stoking the warmth in his loins once more and making his limbs feel at once leaden and weightless as he looked down at the innocuous table before him.

It was a nice table. Good, sturdy wood, well-polished and soft under his calloused hand, low enough to the floor that it might almost be a bed frame rather than a place to eat - although, of course, there was quite an array of delicacies surrounding him either way, and he could imagine they were all simply bursting with warmth and sweetness…

There was a loud slap of skin against wood, and Thassarian jerked out of his spiraling thoughts to see Halduron leaning forward and smiling at him again, starlike eyes glittering from under a pair of delicately sweeping eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline.

“Stay with us, Thassarian,” the captain ordered, and… and yes, it did register as an order, just enough for Thassarian's spine to straighten of its own accord, though the throbbing lower down didn't relent in the slightest as Halduron continued, “We don't want you making a mess of yourself out in front of the whole house.”

“…Right,” Thassarian muttered, scratching at his jaw in an attempt to distract himself from thoughts of messiness.

“I would imagine the same is true of your friends,” Halduron added, though his gaze rested squarely on Koltira as he spoke. “I'm quite certain none of them intended to drag you into a drug-addled orgy in the middle of such a crowded space. Behind closed doors, maybe, but certainly not in the middle of the lounge in one of Dawnspire's busiest pleasure houses - on one of the most ardent days of the year, no less.”

Somebody whooped from the dwarf’s table, and one of Halduron's long ears twitched ever so slightly towards the sound.

“We aren't dwarves, after all,” Halduron said, the corner of his mouth twitching for an instant. “Nor noble-bred idiots with more silk than we know what to do with. We ought to at least pretend to have some scrap of dignity.”

We. He kept saying we, and try as he might Thassarian couldn't help but be distracted by that tiny little detail.

“We did have a room reserved.” That was the lady elf, speaking up again for the first time since Halduron had arrived. “We were about to head for it, only…”

“We were… distracted,” Koltira said.

His voice seemed to shudder through Thassarian's very bones. With its passing, what little sense Thassarian had left evaporated again, and he moved to close with Koltira once more - only to stop as Koltira placed a firm hand against his chest and shook his head. Confusion, more than any conscious decision to behave, kept Thassarian pinned in place. Why was Koltira stopping him…?

“Ah,” Halduron said, though he sounded much farther away as Thassarian stared hard at Koltira's reddened face. “I see the problem: We have a mated pair in our midst.”

Koltira's blush spread down to his lithe neck, and were it not for the hand he kept against Thassarian's chest the human might lean down to steal a kiss or three along the corded muscles there. Koltira certainly didn't look as though he would have minded…

Someone clapped their hands, once and loudly so, and the sound was just enough to startle Thassarian back to reality, even if only for an instant.

“Right then,” Halduron said, rising to his feet and beckoning for the group to follow him. “Let's us be off, hmm? It seems as though Thassarian can't hold out much longer, and I think it might be cruel to try to make him. Show me this room you've got, and let's try not to take the scenic route, if it can at all be helped.”

“You're… coming along?” Jarrod asked, pausing as he helped Thassarian to his feet to stare at Halduron.

“I think it might be wise,” Halduron replied, and for once his smile seemed more roguish than faintly menacing. “Someone has to play the responsible adult - which is to say, poor Thassarian may need some help keeping the four of you at bay, and if my holiday must be impacted by my own foolish rangers, I think I deserve at least some sort of compensation.”

Koltira began towing Thassarian away then, laying his warm, sharp-nailed hands on the bare skin of Thassarian's arm, and whatever hazy compunctions Thassarian might have had about Halduron tagging along vanished in another heady undertow as he let himself be led into the bowels of the pleasure house.

Strange creatures, elves - but beautiful enough it didn't matter, he supposed.

[you-and-i-for-forever]

10 Things I Hate About You AU Chapter 1

Fandom: Be More Chill, Dear Evan Hansen                                         Characters: Michael, Jeremy, Evan, Connor, Rich, Jake, Alana, Zoe, Chloe, Brooke, Jenna, Jared                                                                                   Ships: Boyf riends, treebros, richjake, Zolana, Pink Berry                              Word count: 4.2k                                                                                   Summary:  Evan and Jeremy both get their fair share of love, romance, lies, and ploys by the end of the year.

Feel free to read this on ao3 instead! 

Jeremy Heere was sitting in the guidance counselor’s office at his new high school. He had walked in several minutes ago but the counselor, Mr. Reyes, was busy tapping away at his computer.

“Come in! Come in!” Mr. Reyes had called in a strange, theatrical vibrato from his desk when Jeremy had knocked on his door.

“Sit down, please, Jeremy, I’ve been expecting you.” Mr. Reyes had said with an almost sinister looking smile.

“Uuuuuh…okay,” Jeremy had said, doing as he was told and took a seat on the chair in front of the desk.

10 minutes later and Mr. Reyes was still tapping away at his computer and Jeremy was glancing around, taking in the office, not really sure what else to do.

Mr. Reyes office was small and cluttered. It was decorated from floor to ceiling with posters of musical theater shows like Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady, Cabaret, A Chorus Line, Hamilton, and many, many more. A microwave sat precariously on a stool in the corner, something inside it being heated. Jeremy hadn’t seen what it was when Mr. Reyes shoved it in a few minutes ago. The timer only had about 2:00 minutes on it now.

“Now, let’s see.” The guidance counselor said, finally closing his computer and opening up what Jeremy could only assume was his school file. He started skimming over it and making interested humming noises that made Jeremy nervous.

“My, my…changing schools in the middle of high school? I certainly hope nothing went wrong at your last school.” Mr. Reyes smirked at Jeremy and peered at him over the top of his glasses.

Jeremy glanced around the room. This was uncomfortable, to say the least.

He cleared his throat. “Oh no, actually my dad-”

“That’s enough.” Mr. Reyes said, putting his hand up to stop Jeremy, “I'm sure you won't find Middleborough any different than your old school.”

Jeremy raised his eyebrows and nodded.

It had all happened so fast. Jeremy’s dad had met someone when he was in the middle of his freshman year. Jeremy was just glad that his dad was able to get over his deadbeat mom and find someone new. She had left a few years ago and his dad hadn’t seemed okay for a long time after that.

His dad’s girlfriend was Heidi Hansen and she was really nice. A part-time nurse, part-time law student and she made his dad happy. She had long blonde hair, kind blue eyes, and Jeremy liked her smile and the way she spoke.

Heidi also had a kid, Evan. He was 1 year older than Jeremy but was nothing Jeremy had really expected in a big brother. Jeremy always pictured himself with a super cool older brother who played on the football team and was super smooth with the girls. He’d be tall with good hair and always have the best clothes and everyone would like him. And Jeremy would be just like him and his cool older brother would invite Jeremy to all the cool parties in town and everyone would be all “Dude, that’s your brother, he’s so cool. And you’re so cool too!”

When Jeremy first met Evan, after his dad insisted that things with Heidi were getting serious enough for their kids to meet, Evan was kind of the opposite of all of that. Evan didn’t play any sports or go to parties or had never dated anyone. He was shorter than Jeremy with okayish hair and nervous eyes. He wore the same weird combo of a blue polo and khakis every day and he stuttered and he spoke way too fast at times. He played with his hands and was hunched over a lot, and he was never able to stop moving. Always pulling at the bottom of his shirt or picking at his cast or wiping at his face. Evan had never dated a popular girl or date anyone…he didn’t even really have any friends. Jeremy was disappointed, to say the least.

But Evan was nice and Jeremy liked him enough.

Just before Jeremy’s summer break between sophomore and junior year, Heidi and Paul had bought a house together and the Hansen’s and the Heere’s moved in together. It was still pretty close to Jeremy’s old house and much bigger so he wasn’t complaining. In fact, Jeremy was pretty excited because the new house was within a different schools districts limits and Jeremy was going to get to transfer schools. He was extremely lucky because it just so happened that Jeremy’s best friend was going to be at his new school.

His name was Michael and he was the coolest dude Jeremy had ever known. They had become friends back in preschool. At the time, the town was a bit smaller with only one preschool nearby. 4-year-old Jeremy had randomly sat down next to 4-year-old Michael on the first day and talked about how fast they could run on the playground and what Gameboy games they liked. They made sure to sit next to each other every day after that and had been inseparable ever since.

…Until elementary school hit and they were each carted off to their respective schools. They had wound up in the same summer camps and Jeremy had begged his dad to let him join the Boy Scout troop that Michael was in when they were in 4th grade. When they were both old enough, they played video games online together and spent a majority of their free time texting once they both got cell phones in middle school.

Michael had freaked out when Jeremy had told him he’d be switching schools. They stayed up all night talking on the phone about what it was going to be like being in classes together and living closer to each other.

A new school with Michael sounded amazing, but a new school meant new everything. Jeremy dreaded thinking about how this school was going to be just like his last school; there were the popular kids and then there were the non-popular kids and then there was Jeremy. Jeremy wasn’t even considered a non-popular kid. He was sort of just invisible to everyone. He wanted to be noticed and popular and cool, but he really had no way of knowing how to do that.

But at least he had Michael and Michael was his favorite person, so the next 2 years were going to be totally fine.

Jeremy was pulled from his thoughts when Mr. Reyes turned his head and stared out the window, a longing look in his eyes, murmuring, “Same little asswipe shit-for-brains everywhere,” under his breath.

Jeremy blinked rapidly, not knowing how else to respond to the off colored comment.

The microwave beeped, and it shook Mr. Reyes from his weird trance. He stood up and walked over to it.

“Well, I’ve got deviants to see and a hot pocket to eat. I have a student who’s going to meet you by the school entrance to show you around, so go find him. Good day, Mr. Heere.” Jeremy didn’t move a muscle.

“Good day!” Mr. Reyes said and Jeremy jolted from his chair.

“Okay. Thanks.” Jeremy said, slightly dumbfounded at everything that had happened in the office.

He turned and saw someone standing in the doorway. A guy with long hair and dark clothes. He was intimidating, to say the least. Jeremy squeezed past him and headed towards the school entrance, trying to understand how that man was supposed to be a guidance counselor.

-

Connor watched a wiry kid leave the office before his eyes slid over to where Reyes was standing. He was eating a hot pocket and some of the filling was dripping down into his beard. Connor’s top lip curled up slightly in disgust.

“Connor Murphy. I see we're going to be making our visits a weekly ritual, just like when you were a sophomore.” Reyes gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

Connor didn’t respond to his invitation to talk or sit, just stared at him from the doorway arms crossed.

How was he already in trouble? He hadn’t even done anything yet, he had literally just shown up to the first day.

“Your mother called earlier, wanting me to just…check up on you, make sure everything was going well.”

“I’ve been back for about 20 minutes now so, yeah it’s been great,” Connor replied with a sarcastic smile.

It was obviously already a disaster. Kids parted like the red sea when they saw that everyone’s favorite freak had returned. Connor had just glued his eyes to the floor and let his hair fall around his face while whispers followed him everywhere.

“Well, this year, we’ll get it right, won’t we Mr. Murphy?”

“Can’t wait,” Connor muttered, leaving without a second glance toward Reyes.

-

Evan was extremely nervous to have a sibling. He had hung out with Jeremy a lot after their parents had started going steady but he was worried about spending a lot of time with another teen boy. What if Jeremy didn’t actually like him or what if he thought Evan was lame? What if he was just being nice while his dad was around but was actually really violent and would go berserk on him?

After meeting him, Evan knew Jeremy wasn’t like that at all, but Evan couldn’t help but feel that way at first. He had never had a brother or a stepbrother before and he didn’t really know what it was going to be like.

Jeremy was funny and nice and asked Evan to play video games with him all the time. Evan really wasn’t good – his hands trembled too much – but he liked spending time with his new little stepbrother. Plus it made his mom happy to see Evan interacting with someone around his own age.

When Evan had heard that their family was all going to be moving in together, he had only freaked out a little. He liked Mr. Heere and Jeremy but spending some time with them was totally different than living with them.

Moving in had gone better than expected. Heidi and Paul had picked a 2 story house within driving distance of the school and Jeremy and Evan each got their own bedrooms. (Evan’s bedroom was painted a soft blue color, while Jeremy had each wall a different color; red, dark blue, light blue, and green.)

They had all worked for several weeks at the end of August; painting, installing, and moving furniture into the house before they were finally able to move in themselves.

The boys had helped carry in each other’s stuff up to their rooms and unpack. Evan had handed thumbtacks to Jeremy when he was putting up his video game posters while Jeremy helped try to fit Evan’s extensive book collection on trees and plants into just one bookcase (it hadn’t worked, there was still a few piles sitting on the floor next to Evan’s bed).

That night they had ordered pizza and sat around their new IKEA dining room table, Heidi and Paul discussing what they should do for curtains and if they should get a mirror for the upstairs hallway.

-

Evan wasn’t looking forward to going back to school at all. It was his senior year and he hated being here. Most people just sort of pretended that Evan didn’t exist, which for the most part, he was happy about. He was so awkward and weird and shaky that it was probably better than people just looked right through him. But…he did kind of wish that he was less like that and maybe someone would see him…if only a little. But that hadn’t happened in the past 3 years, and it wasn’t going to start now.

Jeremy had seemed like a great first step. Evan could show him around the school and they’d sit together at lunch and work on homework in the library. But that all fell apart when Evan learned that Jeremy already had a friend at school. Evan didn’t want to get in the way of them so he resigned himself to keeping his distance so Michael wouldn’t have to deal with Jeremy’s weird older stepbrother.

Evan would just go to school with his head down and try not to draw any attention to himself and hopefully, this last year would go by quickly.

-

It was the morning of the first day of school. Mom called up to Evan, who was sitting on his bed, fiddling up the cast that was wrapped around his left arm and scrolling through his Facebook feed.

“Evan, the counselor wants to see Jeremy before school starts today, would you show him where to go?” Heidi asked.

“Y-Yeah, sure, sounds great,” Evan responded, his mind suddenly deciding to forget where the counselor’s office was in the school.

“Hey, champ, your mom and I were talking and we think should let the other kids sign your cast today at school,” Mr. Heere said from down the hall.

“Okay, Mr. Heere,” Evan laughed awkwardly, a sinking feeling in his gut when he thought about the rejections he was going to face if he tried that.

“Don’t forget about those letters, sweetie! You need to be writing those letter!” Evan’s mom reminded him.

“I know, I’m gonna finish one at school,” Evan replied.

Jeremy appeared at his door.

“You ready to go, dude?” He asked

“Ye-Yeah let’s do it,” Evan said.

Evan and Jeremy agreed on walking since it was better than riding the bus or having one of their parents drop them off. Evan couldn’t drive yet. Or rather he could be, but driving sent Evan into a panic, so he tried to avoid it as much as possible. It was embarrassing, being the only senior at school who didn’t drive in.

Jeremy and Evan had talked for a bit while walking to school, but both of them were too nervous to really hold a coherent conversation.

Once they go to the biggest building on campus, Evan led him down a few hallways until they headed into an office that had a handful of smaller offices inside it.

Evan turned to him and gave an awkward half-smile, before sputtering out, “O-Okay, so, here’s the guidance counseling center. Mr. Reyes is in –uh yeah he’s in that room.”

Evan pointed to a room that said 439, the door was wide open, “He’s really nice but kind of –kinda weird but everything should be all good. You can text me later if you want…or you don’t have to.”

“Okay, thanks, Evan.” Jeremy said, “See you later?”

“Yeah, see you later.” Evan nodded and waved, looking at the ground, before turning around and leaving the office.

Evan walked out into the hallway and kept his eyes locked on the ground until he saw a pair of brown boots stop in front of him. Evan looked up and saw Alana Beck, the overachieving Harvard bound student, standing in front of him.

“Hey! How was your summer?” She asked with a bright smile.

Evan looked behind him for a second, making sure she wasn’t talking to someone else.

“Mine was-” He started but Alana cut him off. Evan’s summer wasn’t that interesting so it was okay.

“Mine was productive. I did 3 internships and 90 hours of community service. I know, wow.”

“Wow, that’s really-” Evan tried again.

“Even though I was so busy I still made some great friends, or acquaintances, and even started dating someone.”

Evan pressed his lips together. Alana had started dating Zoe Murphy, Evan’s long-time crush. Well, ex-crush. Ever since he had found out about Zoe and Alana, his feelings had fallen away and he accepted that Zoe would have never wanted him, even if Alana hadn’t swooped in.

Evan tried to clear his head of the thoughts and suddenly remembered what Mr. Heere had said this morning.

“Do you maybe wanna – that’s um – I’m sorry I don’t know what you’re um if you have to – do you wanna just sign my cast?” Evan pulled a marker out of his pocket and stuck out his injured arm out in front of him.

“Oh my god,” Alana exclaimed, very concerned, “What happened to your arm?”

“Oh well, I broke it. I was climbing a tree –” Evan started to explain.

“Oh really?” Alana interrupted him again, “Zoe, my girlfriend, told me that she broke her 3 of her fingers while playing lacrosse a few years ago.”

Evan stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to say. He already knew that, but he didn’t want to let Alana know then have her tell Zoe then Zoe think he was a freak. Evan if he didn’t like her like that anymore…he didn’t want her to think that.

“Happy first day!” Alana’s smile returned to her face and she walked away. Evan waved as she went but he was pretty sure she didn’t see him.

Evan blinked and Jared was in her place, poking his chest.

“Is it weird to be the first person in history to break their arm from jerking off too much or do you consider that an honor?” Jared asked.

Evan blushed and recoiled slightly from Jared’s touch.

“No, stop, no, I wasn’t-I wasn’t doing that.” Evan’s words stumbled awkwardly out.

“Paint me the picture, you’re in your bedroom, you got Zoe Murphy’s Instagram pulled up on your weird off brand cell phone...”

Evan shushed him, “That’s not what happened. Obviously, I was just well, I was-”

“That’s a great story Evan, but I actually gotta go. Some new kid needs me to hold his hand around campus and last time I skipped my detention work, Mrs. Mooney called my mom.” Jared rolled his eyes.

“Oh, must be Jeremy…how’d you have detention?” Evan asked

“You mean your new little brother your mom adopted cuz she needed a son that doesn’t jerk off to younger girls?” Jared asked with a toothy grin, ignoring Evan’s question.

“I don’t even like Zoe anymore” Evan blushed, “Besides she’s with Alana now and there’s no way I could compete with someone like her anyway…she did 90 hours of community service.”

Jared snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Great well, while you have a meltdown, I’m gotta piss like a racehorse.” Jared started to walk away.

“Do-Do you wanna sign my cast?” Evan asked, pulling the marker back out of his pocket.

“Why are you asking me?” Jared said, his face looked almost disgusted.

“Well, I just thought cuz we’re friends.” Evan’s voice broke a little on the last two words.

“We’re family friends. That’s a whole different thing and you know it.” Jared explained to him for about the millionth time.

Evan hated when Jared said that. If he didn’t, at least Evan could pretend they were actually friends. Jared said something else but Evan didn’t even really catch it, mind still harping on “family friends”. He slipped the marker back into his pocket, resigned to the fact that no one was going to sign his cast and he’d have to explain it to his mom and Mr. Heere.

“Cool. I’m gonna go now.” Jared said and Evan gave a small wave as he watched him leave.

-

Jeremy finally made his way to the main entrance of the school. It was hard getting through the crowded hallways. Jeremy looked around for a second, realizing he had no idea what this person looked like that he was supposed to meet. Maybe he should go back up and ask Mr. Reyes who he was looking for?

Jeremy shuddered at the thought and shook his head. He’d just wait over by the wall with the trophy cases and hope that the person would find him. Maybe it’d be a cute girl and she’d show him around and maybe she’d think he was cute and ask him to sit with her at lunch or maybe –

He felt a tap on his shoulder and he jumped.

Jeremy spun around to find a guy wearing a purple button up with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt on underneath. He wore large-framed glasses, blue headphone around his neck, and a smug smile.

He stuck out his hand and Jeremy almost jumped at the quick movement.

“Jared Kleinman. Hi. I’m supposed to show you around.”

Jeremy shook his hand and nodded. “I’m Jeremy.”

“Great. Well, Jeremy here’s the breakdown.” Jared rubbed his hands together and led Jeremy down the hall.

“To the left, we have the overachievers. Get a 4.0 and join the chess club and you can be a loser just like them.” Jared laughed, gesturing towards a group of kids, waiting anxiously in front of the library, the librarian looking like he was taking forever to unlock the door. They were all carrying textbooks, handfuls of flashcards, and oversized Starbucks coffee cups.

“Over here we have the theater kids.” Jared pointed at a group of people animatedly talking over each other.

“Who uses On My Own as an audition song anymore? Like God, can you be any more basic?!” A boy from the group asked loudly and the group roared with laughter.

“One-way ticket to getting called gay.” Jared snorted and led him further down the hallway.

“Let’s see, who else do we have?” Jared said glancing around before leading them out a side door that led to an open courtyard of sorts.

Jared led him over to a table full of kids on laptops, “This is the hyperintelligent, insanely cool computer and graphics club.”

The group seemed to glare at Jared, but he only responded with a half-smile and a, “Hey guys. How ya doin’?”

No one responded and Jared’s smile dropped as they walked away.

“Yesterday I was their God,” Jared muttered

“What happened?” Jeremy asked.

“One of those assholes started a rumor that I…use Artweaver instead of PhotoShop,” Jared grumbled.

Jeremy raised his eyebrows, “So they kicked you out?”

“Hostile takeover.  But don’t worry.  They’ll pay. Now over here...” Jared pointed to a group of teens clad in dark clothes, “Are your basic burn-outs. Skip class, bully others, sell drugs, but mostly…”

“Smoke a lot of weed?” Jeremy asked with a laugh.

Jared stopped walking and his eyes widened. Jeremy stopped as well and tried to find what Jared was fixated on.

“Hey, Connor! Loving the new hair length. Very school shooter chic.” Jared called to a kid walking across the courtyard in front of them.

The kid stopped and turned to look at Jared. Jeremy recognized him as the guy he almost ran into when leaving the guidance counselor's office. The kid, Connor, didn’t respond to Jared, just fixed him with a frightening glare.

“I was just…kidding,” Jared said, with a smile, trying to play it cool, but Jeremy could tell he was at least a little freaked out, “It’s a joke.”

Connor just glared at Jared then turned away.

“You such a…freak,” Jared called after him with a smirk before grabbing Jeremy’s arm and pulling him back towards the building.

“That’s the school’s resident sociopath, Connor. Stay away from him at all costs or he’ll probably murder you.”

Jeremy nodded, honestly believing him. That dude seemed like he had serious issues.

“I guess there’s really only one important group I haven’t gotten to yet,” Jared said gesturing towards a group of people standing around a water fountain, all talking and looking beautiful and popular.

A pretty girl on the taller side with long brown hair was talking to a cute girl with blonde hair and a large yellow sweater hanging off her arms. Next to them was another girl with long brown hair furiously texting on her phone and looking like she was going crazy not getting to talk in the conversation that was going on between the first two girls.

“So Jenna said Madeline was all “I’ll only have sex with you if you beat me at pool.” And then she lost at pool. Deliberately.” The tall brunette explained

“That is so cool” The short blonde replied in a dreamy voice.

“Brooke!” The other girl scoffed.

“I mean slutty!” Brooke, apparently, corrected herself.

The girl who stood off to the side quickly interjected with an “and then Madeline was all –” but she was quickly cut off by the first girl.

“I’m telling this story, Jenna!”

Jared snickered at the interaction that was playing out in front of them.

“Over there you’ve got your basic beautiful people. Now listen. Unless they talk to you first, don’t bother.”

“That your rule or theirs?” Jeremy said, trying to joke.

“Cute,” Jared said, giving an unamused smile.

Jeremy stopped in his tracks. Jeremy couldn’t tear his eyes away from a guy that had turned the corner and was making his way down the hallway. He was tall, his hair was styled perfectly, and he dressed in a sporty red jacket and tattered jeans. He swaggered and exuded confidence and it was obvious every single person was watching him. Jeremy felt his face heat up just from looking at someone so attractive.

“Who is that?” Jeremy whispered in awe

“Dude, that’s Jake Dillinger, he’s pretty cool,” Jared explained with yet another smirk.

“What group is he in?” Jeremy asked

“The “don’t even think about it cuz it’s never gonna happen” group.” Jared laughed and slapped his hand against Jeremy’s shoulder.

Jeremy blushed and watched Jake strut down the hallway. He thought he heard Jared say something under his breath about everyone at the school being gay, but he couldn’t be sure.

[scripturiently]

i needed a break from writing papers so i wrote some one shot about princess rover. i miss them and was in a huge mood to write something insanely fluffy. prompt is from @wlwprompts “person A is drunk and decides to randomly call that cute girl from biology class to tell her she’s pretty”

enjoy :)

Amberle Elessedil is insanely pretty. Eretria hates her.

‘Hates a strong word’ she can hear Wil say when she sits next to her in the bio lecture. It’s nine in the morning and she’d much rather be sleeping in. Amberle’s soft face makes it worthwhile, she supposes. They don’t really talk throughout that first day of lecture, mainly because Amberle is really absorbed into what the professor is saying and Eretria is on her phone the entire time.

They don’t continue to talk for the first week of lectures either. It isn’t until Eretria comes in late that second week that Amberle says something to her.

“Why do you come to lecture if you never pay attention?” It’s bitchy and pious sounding and Eretria just scoffs.

“Why do you care?” She retorts back and Amberle sends her a little glare that makes her heart jump a little. They stare one another down for a good minute before someone behind them coughs and Amberle’s back to her notes. Eretria pulls out a notebook and just doodles.

She does try to listen to the lecture a little better after that.

The first test comes after about three weeks of lectures. Eretria groans at the professor’s announcement that it’ll be the next class and Amberle just rolls her eyes at her. They leave together and that’s when Eretria decides that maybe the nerdy bio girl can help her study.

She may also just want an excuse to spend time with Amberle out of class. Not that she’ll admit anything. “Hey, princess,” she grabs at Amberle’s arm before they’re separated, “wait up.”

Amberle jerks her arm away and turns around, crossing her arms. “What?”

“Tutor me?” Eretria means for it to come off flirty, raising her eyebrows a little. She notices that Amberle is slightly taller than her and almost pouts. What the hell.

Amberle’s cheeks go pink but she scowls at the other girl. “Why?”

“Because you obviously enjoy this nerd shit and I can’t afford to not pass class.” Eretria shoulders her backpack.

“Well, maybe you should pay attention in lectures more often.” Amberle walks away without another word and Eretria’s never really been rejected before so she just stands there dumbfounded for a couple minutes.

She’s trying to study with Wil when Amberle Facebook messages her. They aren’t friends, but somehow Amberle has found Eretria online and has reached out to her. It makes Eretria grin like an idiot for a moment until she remembers their previous conversation.

She opens the messages regardless. Amberle’s sent her a photo of her notes with the caption I was a bitch earlier, I shouldn’t stop you from passing the class. Here.

Eretria immediately saves the photos and scrolls through them. Later that night she messages back I owe you one, princess.

Amberle friends her on Facebook an hour later.

Miraculously Eretria passes the test and Amberle’s the first to know but only because their results are handed out in lecture and Amberle’s nosy. They talk more after that and okay Eretria maybe starts paying attention and taking notes.

She comes in hungover during the fifth week of classes. Amberle actually physically makes a noise in disgust. “You could have at least showered, gods.”

“Fuck you, Elessedil.” Eretria’s not in the mood. She puts her hood up and tries to sleep. Amberle mutters you wish and Eretria’s kind of thankful she’s got her head buried in her arms.

She arrives hungover every Friday after that and soon Amberle just starts accepting it.

They get lunch together about six weeks in, on a Wednesday. It’s accidental really, Eretria’s just stumbled upon Amberle’s little safe spot on campus.

“Are you stalking me now?” Amberle jokes, putting down her fork. Eretria laughs, smiling.

“Nah. You’re the one stalking me, princess.” she sits across from her and Amberle doesn’t complain. Just warns Eretria not to start making her regret allowing her to hang out with her outside of class.

They exchange numbers at some point, especially since Amberle only responds to Facebook messages when she’s on her computer, which is rare. It makes setting up study sessions easier. Eretria hates and loves the study time together. For one, she’s around Amberle more. For another, she’s starting to realize she’s crushing hard on the nerdy bio girl and she knows she’s setting herself up to get hurt.

But she tells herself to let it be. At least she has some time with Amberle before the semester ends, the class ends, and they’re going their separate ways.

She learns that Amberle has shit taste in music. Mostly mainstream sad songs and hipster bullshit. She learns that Amberle wears a pomegranate smelling perfume and she suddenly can’t get enough of that smell. Amberle’s her year, she’s studying marketing and communications, with a minor in science. She makes Eretria laugh at the stupidest shit, even when Eretria doesn’t get it as well as she could because it’s a science joke. She lives with her grandfather, who is a professor here, she constantly drinks coffee and watches dumb romance comedies on her free time. She’s smart, drives a rather old looking mustang, and is really pretty.

Eretria’s so fucked.

Eretria’s about five shots of fireball and some good awful sweet rum when Wil dares her to call Amberle.

And of course Eretria does. Of fucking course. She’s used to getting drunk but that doesn’t mean the no self control while drunk ever gets better. She shoves her phone into Wil’s face and he starts laughing, leaning against the counter and scrolling through her contacts till he finds Amberle’s number *’really, you put emojis next to her name?’ ‘shut up Ohmsford’* and hands it back to her when he hits the dial button.

“Get some, ‘Tria.” Wil teases and Eretria grins wickedly back at him before stumbling out of the frat house to get some fresh air.

Amberle picks up on the third ring, voice sleepy. ”Hello?”

At first, Eretria chickens out. She freezes, realizing as she’s starting to sober up in the outside air that this is a stupid idea but then Amberle says her name in the sweetest voice, asking if she’s alright, and Eretria just says it. “You’re really pretty.”

She’s drunk, but she knows she’s not imagining the little gasp Amberle takes on the other end of the phone. She smirks. “You gonna do anything about that?”

Amerble’s silent for a while, contemplating. Then there’s the rustle of sheets and the click of a light being turned on. “Yeah, I am. Where are you?”

Damn, okay. “You serious, princess?”

“Oh don’t get too excited, I’m picking your drunk ass up so you don’t hurt yourself. Wil obviously can’t take care of you,” Amberle says quickly, voice a little breathless but laced with annoyance. Eretria sighs.

“You ruin all the fun.”

“You just hit on me.”

“Touche,” Eretria hums, sitting down in the grass. She can feel the headache coming on now, her mouth getting dry. “I’m at Pykon. You know that one, right?”

There’s the clattering of keys being picked up from a ceramic bowl. “I’ll be there in fifteen, just hang tight.” Amberle promises and Eretria feels a rush of relief.

“I owe you, princess.”

“You’re always owing me.” Well, that’s true.

“Yeah, shut up.” Neither hang up immediately, even as Amberle’s car is started up and the seatbelt notification dings. It’s quiet, the only sound of them breathing. Finally, “I’m hanging up now,” Eretria concedes.

“Hang tight,” Amberle repeats.

Eretria ignores the swell in her heart, the rush of heat to her cheeks. She just hangs up, jabbing the end call button faster than humanly possible.

Amberle is thirteen minutes, not fifteen. Eretria has long since gone back inside to retrieve her leather jacket and let Wil know she’s leaving. When he asks who with, she doesn’t give him the pleasure of knowing, just shrugs and winks at him before heading out. Amberle is on her phone, scrolling through her music playlist and switching songs as Eretria clambers inside the passenger seat. “Hey,” Eretria starts, nonchalant.

“Hi.” Amberle’s voice is soft, like the music reverberating through the car. She hands Eretria a plastic water bottle. “Drink.”

Eretria scrunches her nose up. “I’m fine, princess.”

“Your voice is scratchy and I’ve seen you hungover in class one too many times to know you can’t take care of yourself when you’re drinking,” Amberle retorts, uncapping the bottle and handing it over. Eretria takes it, letting their fingers slip against one another’s for a brief moment. “Are you hungry?” Amberle asks.

Eretria shrugs. “Not right now.”

Regardless, Amberle drives to the shitty burger joint on campus and orders two burgers and a shake to share. “It’s mostly for me though, since you’ve fucked up my sleeping schedule tonight anyways.”

Eretria feels bad for a moment. It is midterms. But it’s Friday night and when Amberle takes them to a little hill near the football stadium, she starts to feel a little less bad and maybe a little bit more hopeful.

They sit on the hill munching on the greasy burgers in silence. Amberle’s still playing that hipster crap that Eretria can’t stand until now. Amberle’s leaning back on her hands, humming and looking up at the sky.

Eretria’s sort of ditched the burger, eyes glued to Amberle. She’s wearing a soft gray Arborlon U sweater and leggings, sneakers long ditched to run her toes through the grass. Her brown hair is in a braid, leaving her neck more exposed than usual. Eretria selfishly thinks about marking her neck for a moment, but it leaves quickly. She blames the buzzed state she’s now in.

“Wil texted you,” Amberle hums when Eretria’s phone buzzes between them. Eretria grabs the phone and shoves it into her back pocket.

“He’s probably just asking if I’ve gotten laid yet,” she jokes but it doesn’t stop the lump forming in her throat. Amberle laughs.

“So did he dare you to prank call me?”

“Not really,” Eretria mutters, picking at the grass. Amberle turns her head, eyebrows furrowed. Eretria quickly elaborates. “It was more my idea. Like, ‘hey, how can I make nerd princess panic a little tonight?’ kinda thing.” She shrugs.

“Well, you certainly did that.” Amberle admits. She smiles adoringly at Eretria. “Have you sobered up?”

“Yeah,” Eretria’s been mostly sober since she called Amberle, “but I kind of just want to lay here for a while.”

Amberle nods, looking down at the football field. “Okay.”

It’s quiet and not uncomfortable and Eretria starts counting the stars to get her mind off how badly she wants to kiss Amberle right now. Amberle’s out of her league, Amberle’s too prim and proper for her, too smart. Eretria gets drunk every week while Amberle’s finding her career at the age of 22.

Amberle kisses her first and Eretria’s so shocked that she doesn’t kiss her back at first. Amberle’s quickly pulling away and Eretria’s mind is short circuiting. She just wants to kiss Amberle again right now.

So she does. She hurries forward before Amberle can get up from her spot and her right hand comes to rest against Amberle’s, the other cupping her jaw. Amberle tastes like chocolate shake and American cheese, the smell of pomegranates overwhelming Eretria’s senses. Amberle hums into the kiss, pushing her forehead closer, letting their fingers intertwine. It’s not hurried and as much as Eretria wants to push it, hungrier than ever, she doesn’t. She wants to savor the moment, wants to lock it away in her mind forever. It remains soft and sure and gentle and Eretria’s never really been into that until now. Until Amberle.

Amberle’s giggling, breathless, when Eretria finally pulls away. “Why do I taste cinnamon and… is that coconut?”

“Don’t ask,” Eretria mutters, smiling goofily. Amberle doesn’t, just pulls Eretria into her lap and kisses her under the stars until dawn.

[rachelbethhines]

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 131

“Hero to Zero In No Time At All” Sink or Spin I - Sonic the Hedgehog #150

Great, now I got that song from Hercules stuck in my head. 

Today’s story involves Sonic taking a sudden interest in the ladies. Only it’s not really Sonic, it’s Scourge the Anti-Sonic. He hits on a bunch of the women of Knothole, including Bunnie. 

I see Bunnie’s self esteem issues popping up again.

 Also, why do you care Tails? What does “Sonic” and Bunnie dating have to do with you? Do you secretly have a crush on Sonic as well? Or are you just a hard core Buntoine shipper? 

Now, logically you would think Bunnie would call things off here insisting “Sonic” go talk with Tails. But nope. 

Now there’s a pretty popular interpretation of this scene, suggesting Bunnie and Scourge had sex during the time skip. It’s an interpretation that I fully reject for several reasons and here’s why. 

I don’t give two shits what Penders’ original intent was, what he said after the fact, and/or weather or not he failed to deny this headcannon. At the end of the day I’m the one reading this. At the end of the day it’s my head cannon that counts when I’m reading. Not the one someone else came up with. And at some point you have to separate the author/artist from the work itself. 

If sex was the original intent it’s very poorly presented. Like, I was a full grown adult when I first read this scene and it didn’t occur to me that that was what the writer was trying to convey, and I highly doubt any little kids reading at the time would have considered it as well. 

I mean Bunnie’s not an idiot. Sure she makes knee-jerk decisions at times but sex on the first date seems pretty off. Especially when she was just berating “Sonic” for trying to make out after Tails got upset. What kind of sense does that make? Also, I’m no expert, but I don’t see any articles of clothing removed or mussed up hair or any of that messy stuff that comes with sex. It just seems like a leap in logic to me to automatically assume they did it, is what I’m saying. 

We’re not even sure if Bunnie can have sex. Like we do find out later she is physically intimate with her husband, but in what way or to what extant is still left in the air. This is in part due to comic’s target audience being children and also because Bunnie’s robotics have never been clearly defined in how they work. And granted there is an interesting discussion to be had about her cybernetics and how they effect her love life but I’m saving that for a future review when its more appropriate.  

This is still a kid’s comic! If Scourge did have sex with Bunnie it would qualify as rape because of false pretenses. Rape has no place in children’s media. Now I fully realize that Penders is oblivious to that fact and can’t tell his ass from his elbow, but the rest us know better. Why make yourselves more miserable then you have too by insisting this a thing that happened? The comic by no means shoves this interpretation down you’re throat, nor does it make any claims to be edgier than it is. If you see something that isn’t actually there than that’s all on you. 

Now a head cannon is still a head cannon, and you’re allowed to keep which ever ones you want. Even if it flummoxes me personally as to why you would keep this particular one. However for myself, personally, I just see it as Bunnie and Scourge making out and nothing more. Sure it’s still sleazy on Scourge’s part and it’s still a stupid decision on Bunnie’s end, but at least it’s something everyone can walk away from with some amount of dignity.  

Anyways now that that’s out of way, let’s get down to the real reason why we’re here. No doubt, if you haven’t figured it out yet, Ken Penders is today’s author and we finally get the reveal that “Antione” has been Patch all along. 

Also pretty convenient that you shaved off his goatee with that sonic spin as well.

Now this is where I was getting at when I said you have to separate the creator from the work sometimes. I’ve noticed a growing trend where people let what an artist did or say in real life retroactively ruin a piece of art that they once enjoyed. Does that mean we should give creators a free pass when they do awful shit? Of course not! By all means continue calling Penders out on his bullshit, don’t let anyone forget that Woody Allen is a pedophile and a rapist, and always let the Chris Brown apologists know they are in the wrong. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop watching Annie Hall if you like it, or that you can no longer sing loudly to "No Air". (Note: I hate Annie Hall and I enjoy “No Air” but I don’t really listen to Chris Brown regularly. I’m just providing examples) 

Nor does it mean you have to rip to shred every single thing Penders writes. I don’t care if Penders made a sexiest comment about Lupe once, I still think  "Lupe: Family" is a decent story. I don’t give a damn if he claimed Rotor is gay, I’m still going to headcannon him as ace anyways. And I will always defend Ken’s decision to retcon Evil-Antoine into Anti-Antoine. Even if the way he went about it was extremely douchey. 

Ya see, Penders didn’t “win out” because he had the best idea, he won because he went behind Bollers’ back and published this story before Bollers could even start on his original plans. Like, is that not the epitome of dickbaggery you’ve ever heard of? Hell yeah! Does that mean I wish Bollers got fair chance to tell his story? Hell no! 

I’ve discussed in length back in issue 137 why Bollers plans for Antoine were crap, but the long and short of it is; if Bollers had his way Antoine’s character would have been assassinated beyond repair. Years of character development down the drain all for the sake of cheap, forced drama. But with Penders idea, not only does it keep Antoine’s development intact but actually builds upon it; adding new backstory to potentially explore and new hardships for Twan to overcome and grow from. 

There’s also the added bonus of creating a new and very effective villain in Patch, while simultaneously giving Ant an arch nemesis. The fact that this all can be traced back to Scourge seeking revenge on Antoine for his embarrassment in #122 is just icing on the cake. 

Now that doesn’t mean this story is without flaws. I’ve already talked about Tails’ weird freak out and that poorly laid out scene involving Bunnie and Scourge, but there’s also an icky romance between Rouge and Locke (eww) made even worse by later writers trying to pair her with Knuckles, and a confusing lack of continuity. Like with Sally suddenly having short hair or this scene.....

Umm...Antoine was trapped in Anti-Mobuis for at least 6 months or more and Scrouge only just now got the idea to come over to Mobius and take Sonic’s place. It also took Patch several months to earn King Max’s favor. Why would Twan just randomly be in Scourge’s room spying on Patch? Shouldn’t the scene with Patch receiving the promotion from King Max be after the whole threatening Ant scene? Doesn’t that flow better? Or is Scourge just torturing poor Antoine by forcing him to helplessly watch Patch ruin his life. Yeah you know, I wouldn’t put it past him to do that. 

Oh man, does this mean Scourge has been forcing Twan to keep the disguise on this whole time? Like I just thought he did it as a way to keep the Suppression Squad from killing him out right, but nope apparently Scourge has been threatening him all for his own personal amusement. I guess that explains why he didn’t just run away or try to receive help from the good Doctor. That’s kind of horrifying, especially considering that he would have been forced to join in on the Suppression Squad’s escapades. And considering that they’re villains, well you can imagine that their idea of fun involves lots of violence.  

That’s sadly why we’ll never see Antoine’s time in Anti-Mobius fully explored. To do so would get very dark and disturbing very quickly. But still, my poor baby! 

The second story this issue is the second half of “The Chosen One” arc. The whole Tails is the Chosen One thing started way back in the Tails mini-series. Penders and company thought it would be a good idea to wrap up the sixth milestone by concluding this dangling plot thread and tying up the loose ends of the Zone Wars series. Not a bad idea in of itself, but it falls apart when the whole thing turns into a retread of “Night of a Thousand Sonics”. 

I can fully understand why someone would hate this story, but for me it’s one of those “so bad it’s entertaining” type tales.   

I mean just look at this! That is a thing of beauty right there! You couldn’t ask for a more shitposting meme worthy image even if you tried! 

Next week will do the usual 25 recap and then continue on with the Sink or Swim arc after that.  

[ryujitatsuya]

Heyyo minna, It’s Ryuuji Tatsuya! We guys always talk about stereotypical views of non-anime fans and how they look down upon us; and also don’t miss a chance to hate us. But while talking about all those external hates and differences in thoughts, we tend to forget some of the orthodox thinking that we often say to a fellow anime lover.

I don’t know about you guys but I have witnessed some people say that:

If you don’t like <<Insert anime title here>> then you have no decent taste in anime.

If you don’t have a Waifu/Husbando then you cannot be a true part of the community.

Romcoms and SoL anime are for girls; Action and Psychological anime are for guys.

You cannot be a true anime lover if you don’t slip in any random Japanese words in your sentences. (Seriously, this one is just cringey)

If you like Dub more than Sub, you’re not a true anime fan.

While we all know that these kind of thinking needs to be changed, the truth is that we have somehow accepted these rules, just to stay in this community. But today, I will be talking about one of the point which has been bothering me for a while.

So, a few days before when I was reading the first post of the ’30 Days of Anime Challenge’ by Shokamoka (By the way, do check them out), I found out that he also prefers SoL or Romcoms more than other shounen genres. But back in the days when he was new in the anime community, he was randomly recommended a shounen anime (I think we all know that the reason he was suggested that series is because he is a guy). Look, I’m not saying that the anime that was recommended to him, was not good, but we will have to understand the fact that it’s up to us whether we decide to like a series or not. I don’t know if he was ever teased or a little frowned upon when he started liking the SoL genre more, but I know that I was and am still experiencing that.

Just because someone likes shounen genre more doesn’t makes him/her more masculine and the same goes for those who prefer the shoujo genre; it won’t make them more feminine. In the end, it all comes down to whether or not we are comfortable with what we watch, because in the end, we all are watching and appreciating anime.

My emotions right now…

I know that I don’t usually write about these kinds of topics, but I got triggered to someone about me liking romance genre and well, I just had to let it out somehow. I, of course, won’t write the name but yeah I just want to share these screenshots of my conversation with him just so you know what kind of mindset some people have about this.

I could have fought with him for hours on this topic but just wasting my time on one guy wouldn’t make any difference, and that’s the reason why I’m here, trying to put my complex feelings into words.

You guys know that I love the romance genre and I can’t resist myself from binge watching a series which is executing that element really well; but at the same, I avoid watching anything near the gore element. Why? Because I’m not comfortable with it. The same is true for those who love gore more than romance, or just hate the romantic genre in general; we can’t force someone to love something.

But yeah, that doesn’t mean I won’t check out some excellent works even if it’s from a genre I don’t usually watch. If I am curious about any series then I will watch it. However, if it’s shoved down my throat only because “I should watch action because I’m a guy” then I’m sorry, I can’t…… and I won’t!

In the end, all I want to say is that, flexibility in checking out works from all the genres is important, but we should all respect the kind of story others want to read/watch too. Just because I like light hearted romance doesn’t makes me any less of a man, and just because a girl like hardcore gore doesn’t makes her any less of a woman. We all are anime lovers and we ought to respect each and every work that deserves it.

Forgive me if I fail to convey my feelings…. Tee hee~ 

So, if you guys feel that I have been wrong in any of my points or if you want to add onto this small rant of mine then be sure to do so in the comments below. Until then, I hope you guys have a great time and as always, thanks for reading!

Let’s Talk About Preferences Heyyo minna, It’s Ryuuji Tatsuya! We guys always talk about stereotypical views of non-anime fans and how they look down upon us; and also don’t miss a chance to hate us.