#i just needed a video to exist where there was *that* kiss rejection with the line 'my love is yours but your loves not mine'
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absolutelyarealperson · 2 years ago
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youtube
Show: I Told Sunset About You
Song: Featherstone - The Paper Kites
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billfarrah · 8 months ago
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One of my favourite things about Young Royals and its characters is how much it romanticizes being utterly ordinary.
Stories often focus on characters who are exceptionally good at something or who are more ambitious than the average person. Even in the teen shows I’ve watched, these young characters always seemed to have their dream career and dream university figured out at a young age and I could never relate to that because I had none of those things figured out as a teen. It always felt like pushing this narrative that teenagers need to have their entire lives figured out before their brains are even fully developed.
None of the characters in YR seem particularly ambitious and in fact, the main character’s journey is a story of anti-ambition. When he is introduced to Simon, it is precisely Simon’s ordinariness that draws Wille to him. Sure, Simon is a very talented singer, but it’s never indicated within the series that he has dreams of being a pop star. It’s just something he likes to do. Simon is motivated by very ordinary things - he wants to do well in school so he can have better opportunities for himself, he wants to take care of his family, he wants to hang out with his friends and play video games. He’s a dedicated student but not necessarily valedictorian. It’s not his ambition that Wille is drawn to but his integrity and kindness and warmth.
Wille had a chance to be extraordinary - to be Sweden’s first gay king - but being extraordinary has never been Wille’s ambition. Wille’s ultimate goal and dream within the series’ narrative is to be free to make his own decisions and live his life as he pleases. He just wants to kiss his boyfriend and get drunk at parties and live his life one day at a time instead of spending every moment of his life preparing for an inevitable future he doesn’t want. In the end Wille is extraordinary not for his ambition, but for his bravery to reject the expectations thrust upon him and throw himself into the unknown and see where it takes him. Wille had a whole future in front of him as crown prince and future king - he’d never have to work a day in his life and would have people advising his every move - and he rejects that. This lack of ambition is not portrayed as a moral failure, but a necessary step in Wille’s journey to personal self-discovery and fulfillment of his own desires. His desire right now is simple - be free with Simon, but that doesn’t mean his dreams end here forever. He deserves peace and tranquility after all the trauma he’s been through without having to worry about where or who he’s gonna be in a few years. He deserves time to just exist.
None of the characters know where they’re going when they drive away at the end. We as the audience don’t know what careers if any these characters will find themselves in, but that’s also not important to this story. The series is saying you don’t have to have everything figured out when you’re 17 and you don’t have to do something just because your parents think they know what’s best for you and even if you don’t know exactly what you want to do, that doesn’t mean you don’t have the agency to know what you don’t want.
It’s not a moral failing to want the simple things in life or to be ordinary, and I love that Young Royals celebrates that. It shows the beauty in simple moments that feel revolutionary to a person - touching the person you love, forgiving someone and making amends after a hardship, whooping with your friends in a car as you drive into the summer and celebrates them. Ultimately these are the moments that make life worth living.
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simping-on-the-daily · 3 months ago
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Claws, Katanas, Compassion and Ketamine
Summary: You were the link between Vanessa and Wade during their breakup. They get back together, creating the perfect triangle. And then Wolverine shows up too, because you totally live in a suite apartment that can fit everyone.
Notes: God I love poly, mutant!reader, gn!reader, I wrote this in one day and thirty minutes last night and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be obvious
Warnings: Gets real suggestive near the end but it's a fade to black, typical Deadpool content, from swearing to sex, reader does drugs and is very unhinged Wade’s just worse, not betaread we die like Worstie’s X-Men
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The three of you ‘broke up’ in your shitty but homey apartment. Vanessa knew that her death caused Wade to try and kill himself numerous times, and dying shook her up a bit. After being rejected by the Avengers, Wade spent too much time hating himself and wondering where he went wrong, unintentionally neglecting his relationship with both of you
You were the red rope, the link, the buckle on the belt, it seemed. Shit got messy, Wade assumed too fast, but Vanessa wanted to be with you and you still loved Wade, vice versa. Vanessa tried to work stuff out herself, moving out, you stayed at the apartment, and Wade went to live with Blind Al again. You video chatted and texted everyday, and did your darndest to be by both sides.
Vanessa called you one day. She'd gotten the therapy, she said. Wanted to get back with Wade, try again at the least. You encouraged her to try and ask at Wade's surprise party, an extra present to add to the love in the late mutant’s life. Vanessa blew you kisses through the computer, and you mimicked catching them and placing the kisses on your cheek.
Then Wade got kidnapped, and came back two days later, claiming to have saved your entire universe, with some extra company.
“You must think saving the world's sexy, huh, Vanny?” You joked to Vanessa, lightly elbowing her after she and Wade made the promise attempted to try again over his second birthday dinner.
“Shut up and kiss me.” Vanessa put a finger to your chin in jest, and you accepted, embracing her with a gentle kiss to the lips.
“Already getting on it without me?” Wade interrupted, a metaphorical eyebrow raised in light-hearted query, poking in from the room you were in. Your response was simply to blow a kiss, which Wade quickly grabbed and pressed his hand against his cheek, swooning like a teenage girl. Vanessa simply giggled, and dragged you both back to join the party.
You all moved into Blind Al's apartment, in truth because you wanted to take Blind Al's coke. Wade said you couldn't, however, because that was the one thing Feige said they couldn't do. “What a pussy.” You grumbled, throwing the stash back into the floor where it belonged. And then Mary Puppins pissed on your leg, because apparently the nicest Deadpool hadn't potty trained his dog for some reason. Dick.
Oh, and the motherfucking Wolverine was here for some reason.
“Disney's gonna make him keep at this until he's 90, so we gotta give the senior citizen a house otherwise we'll get canceled for elderly abuse.” Wade 'explained’ to you in a whisper, and you nodded intently like you understood. Logan gave a middle finger in response.
He existed, that was for sure. You found him napping in the cupboard once because apparently Logan thought he was too good for the floor. He minded his business, staying out of the way. You accidentally caught him showering with the sweet smelling pink soap Wade and Vanessa shared and good god, those man’s abs were carved by Michalangelo. Fucking beautiful.
You, Wade and Vanessa sat down one night, Logan out at the bar that was full of football obsessed lunatics. And at the same time, you all spoke.
“I need that werewolf cock in me.”
“My god you guys, we need to get Peanut into bed with us, have you seen him?”
“We shouldn’t let him fourth wheel us, ask if he wants to be included.”
Vanessa glared at you both. You shrugged, while Wade did his best to look innocent.
The timing could’ve been worse, with you offering the deal with a Logan who was nearly hungover. Wade on the sofa like ‘one of those French girls’, Vanessa wore a casual hoodie with those really short shorts, and you were snorting heroin. Vanessa explained everything, and you’re pretty sure you hallucinated cartoon birdies as you spoke. Turns out, Wade did the same thing too, once. 
Logan accepted anyway, so he knew what he was going to get himself into.
Eventually, you grew to accept that Logan was a weasel, not a werewolf (which is so much cooler), and that you liked seeing him smile. Made you feel good, especially when he smiled because you were running his hands through his hair.
Like some fucked up hivemind, Vanessa and Wade shared your feelings too. However, unlike last time, Logan was the one who ‘confessed’, when the dude straight up purred in contentment when you tried to sit him down at your shitty table and well, you didn’t need to do much to gather the context as to why.
You and Logan shared the ‘Good’s Cabinet’, containing your most precious drugs and Logan’s more costly drinks, both saved for the most special occasions. You offered to take him to different bars that weren’t full of football frat-bros, and both of you found a new enjoyment in clubbing.
You would wear your best jewelry and drip, while Logan would wear an oversized jacket over his ‘wife beater’ shirt, worn over his Wolverine suit. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
“They asked for no pickles,” He hovered above you like your evil shadow clone, the worker at the front desk sweating on their head and probably under the collar.
“Haha, reference.” You jokingly poked Logan’s chest, before turning to the employee. “Don’t mind him. Never worked a day of retail in his life, doesn’t get the struggle.”
“Fuck you.” Logan added compulsory, though with the vitriol of a man whose moments of swearing have entirely lost their impact. You did get a new meal, no pickles included, so maybe the guard dog privileges are necessary.
Wade and you would often go out to the park on weekends, chilling on a bench as you gave your very persuasive remarks on all the cars Wade would sell on his job. He’d challenge you to get more ridiculous, and you'd do so with a wink and excessive references to sex.
“Get the boss to add truck nuts to all your autobots,” You suggested as you and Wade both got ice cream cones from the greatest truck of all time. “Would add some blitz to your bis, yaknow?”
“You wanna have a fivesome with our Honda Odyssey?”
“Give the objectums something good.” You shrugged, and Wade responded with a look to the audience, cosplaying as a bunch of trees in Discount Central Park.
Vanessa liked to drag you shopping, and you were content watching her search for the perfume bottles with the most ornate casing. God, she was so pretty, her hair put into that messy bun and casual dress.
“This bitch is ugly.” Vanessa said, holding up a silver bottle with a diamond bottletop. You heard a crunch, and tears quickly welled up in your eyes.
“Oh, so sorry sweetie, I wasn’t talking about you-” Vanessa held up her hands and shook them in a panic, putting the bottle back.
“It’s not that,” Your voice was barely a whisper. “I think I stepped on a ladybug.”
Vanessa looked down at the red flakes on the floor near your foot. “Sweetheart, that was an M&M.”
“Oh.” You stood there in silence for a few seconds, before turning back to Vanessa in the unnatural, freakish sort of way. “You getting anything from here?”
Vanessa smiled. “I think we should have an early lunch.” And you grinned too, as she rushed you over to the food court.
Your nights were chill nights, all four of you curled up on the bed, Mary Puppins curled beside Wade’s leg as he kept changing his position every few minutes. You would braid Vanessa’s hair as she scrolled through her phone, and Logan would lie down and accept head pats and bellyrubs with a content purr. Apparently weasels can do that.
Movie nights were great, too. Logan always got the best popcorn and you all had your designated seats. With a combination of heroin and ketamine you called ‘ketarin’, you snacked on your stash while you were all forced to share two bottles of Pepsi.
“Try it, babes,” You gestured your bucket of drugs towards Wade and Logan, the former sitting on the weasel’s lap as he tried to get comfy. “You’ll be able to smell sounds and taste colors. Stereotypical, I know, but life changing.”
Logan glared at you. “Get this fucker off me and I’ll consider it.”
“Wade, get off, I want Logan to taste my ketarin.”
The mercenary huffed in exaggeration, arms crossed. “No can do, sugar tits. Peanut here needs to learn his lesson.”
“What lesson?” You huffed. “Anyways, I forgive Logan, now get off I need him to try it.”
“He was a very bad boy today, and you know this, Y/N.” Logan rolled his eyes.
“Get off him, Wade.” Vanessa spoke in that stern voice, and even though it was not directed to you, your collar was getting hot already. “We’ll sort it out later tonight, mkay?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Wade gave a mocking salute before getting off of Logan with a grumble.
“She’ll be making ya say that seriously later, you know?” You raised an eyebrow at the mercenary, who made a heart symbol with his hands as he winked.
You thrust your special bucket towards the huge, jacked man (hehe), his demands met. Logan sighed before digging his hands in, and shoved it down his mouth.
“I prefer corn starch.”
“You fucking take that back, you little slutty shitter-”
You would’ve beaten him to a pulp for disrespecting your recipe, but Vanessa gave a mock cough, getting you, him and Wade to look at her. “Legally Blonde or Die Hard?”
“It’s August, the fuck are we suggesting Die Hard for?” You huffed, arms crossed, snatching your ketarin back.
“Yeah, too early for festive cheer, sweetcheeks. And I can’t miss out on international girlboss Ms. Woods, who do you take me for?”
“Die Hard is barely a Christmas movie,” Logan scoffed, but didn’t oppose when Vanessa selected Legally Blonde with the remote.
You all relaxed, in your own fucked up way. You and Vanessa arm-wrestled over who got to have a sip of Pepsi (she won, you were trying to hold your bucket in the other hand). Wade’s commentary was louder then the movie, causing Logan to punch him, and Wade let out a murmur of ‘harder, mummy’. You snickered at Logan’s look of repulsion and confusion, looking over to Vanessa, who was most likely the mummy in question. Unfortunately for Logan, she was going onto the balcony to let Mary Puppins piss, so he looked at you.
“Something something we’ll deal with you later, something something what would Elle Woods think?”
Wade seemed to think Elle Woods thought badly of him, standing upright and flopped onto his seat. You put your hands through Logan’s hair, watching him relax from your movement, before yelping when Vanessa came back and accidentally sat down on your hand.
“Shit, so sorry.” Vanessa gave a quick kiss to your hand, and you dramatically swooned as you watched Elle Woods be a girlboss.
“Forgiven, honeybuns, for I could never be mad at such an exquisite princess, who’s hair was made from silk that Willy Wonka once commissioned-”
“Shove your Shakespeare-ass monologues up your ass and get a room.”
Blind Al spoke up, and all four of you turned to see her standing behind you, having just come home.
“This is our room, Al,” Wade countered. “We rented it fair and square while you played poker with all the other little old ladies like you.”
“You’re early.” Logan noted, holding onto a bottle as he turned back to the television.
“Wilson’s clients took a car on a joyride and crashed into the club. Drunk on that high, I reckon.”
“Were they driving with the truck nuts?”
“How the fuck would I know, stupid?”
“Ah.” You hung your head in exaggerated shame, before Al grabbed the wall and let it guide her towards her room.
“Your clients?” You asked Wade with a raised eyebrow after she was gone.
“Karen, Kenny and Twinkletoes.” He ‘answered’. “Now, back to our regular scheduled program of Elle Woo-......and the movie’s over.”
Logan snorted, and Wade gasped, turning to face him. “I’ll have you know that it was a sacrifice I made, I tell you! I gave it all up!”
“You’d give anything up for a cornchip,” Logan shot back, but Vanessa gave a loud clap that stopped the conversation. You placed your empty bucket in the sink halfheartedly before turning to your girlfriend.
“Back to bed. We’ve got some behavior to correct.” Vanessa commanded, heading to your shared room.
“Yes, mummy.” Wade answered in his most ‘uwu’ voice, leading you to groan and Logan to shove him lightly as he followed Vanessa.
“A bit too early on the petnames, buddy.”
Wade stuck his tongue at you, and you flipped the bird before following Logan, who was following Vanessa, and Wade then followed you like some fucked up, freakish line of baby ducks crossing the road.
And you would change none of it.
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arealphrooblem · 2 years ago
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Mutually Assured Destruction Part 11 -- The End!
This is the last part everyone! I may right little snippets after this one if the inspiration strikes, but this is the definitive end to the series.
Synopsis: Villain x Civilian. Civilian can sense other people's powers through auras but hides this ability. They are terrified of the most boring person at their office job, who hides the most powerful aura Civilian has ever felt.
CW: Mentions of death, low self-esteem thoughts, brief vague mention of sex at the end, two kisses
Part One Here
Part Ten Here
At first, they thought he was sick. Jonathan didn’t ever give them a cell phone number, so they couldn’t call and check on him. By Wednesday they drove round for three hours after work, trying to find the neighborhood that housed his apartment, with no luck. By Friday, worry stayed a constant pit in their stomach.
Monday morning brought the news that Jonathan had “transferred” to another in another part of the country. Civilian had to suffer all day through the cloying sympathy of their coworkers. Gloria had even hugged them. Everyone assumed a breakup occurred so horribly awkward that it drove Jonathan to move several hundred miles away a week before the holidays.
For the rest of December, Civilian kept up religiously with the news, looking for something big enough to fit the plans Jonathan had hinted at — massive art theft, large scale arson, hell even a government coup.
There was nothing save for constant Christmas ads that Civilian tuned out.
Eventually they had to accept the truth that Jonathan had just got the fuck out of dodge and didn’t look back. Fine. Civilian knew their ‘relationship’ had an expiration date, that it had never existed in the first place. But they had expected some kind of goodbye, even if it had been a threat to stay quiet — not this slipping away in the dead of night like a ghost.
Maybe his plans fell through and he had to leave before someone else discovered him. Maybe the Agency had found him despite his best efforts and he had to abandon everything. Both scenarios were more likely than the one echoing cruelly in Civilian’s head at night:
That they had driven him away; that he couldn’t take their needy loneliness anymore and bounced.
It’s a thought that hounded them for the next six months, followed them as closely and loyally as their own shadow. As the weeks drifted by, Civilian burrowed further and further inside themselves, rejecting offers from Gloria to eat lunch, rejecting their mother’s requests to call or visit, rejecting drinks after work with the other members of their department.
It wasn’t that Jonathan broke their ability to trust anyone — it was the stubborn, naive belief that if Civilian chose to be alone then they weren’t lonely, that it didn’t count because it was self-imposed, a choice, a preference. And being around other people reminded them so sharply of feeling not alone that they couldn’t handle its absence once the night was over.
The whole thing was ridiculous, and Civilian berated themselves at each night for it. They were acting childish and silly. Jonathan was right: the only thing stopping them from having friends was their own fear. They could find a new job, move to a new city, find a place where Jonathan had never set foot in and build anew.
But they didn’t.
And six months later, the bank went under.
Ironically, the one thing Civilian needed to watch the news for, they had ignored in favor of a Buzzfeed shopping list. Their mom had sent a text with a link to a video and a series of question marks.
Isn’t this your bank????
The video explained how the entire board of directors had been arrested for fraud and embezzlement to the tune of billions.
Billions with a B.
After that number, Civilian’s attention went a little fuzzy. The explanation of the complex series of fund transfers and shell corporations and blah blah blah faded to the background as Civilian tried desperate to work out just how the hell Jonathan made it happen.
Over the weeks, each man screamed his innocence of course, but camera footage and witness testimonies — even ones from the other board directors, all eager to stab each other in the back — denied those claims. Each director passed a psych test with flying colors, despite their protests of their body moving with out their consent. It all looked very much like a bunch of disgustingly wealthy men got caught trying to illegally make themselves even more disgustingly richer.
After a certain point, Civilian could have spoken up about Jonathan, and no one would have believed them anyway.
It was the perfect crime and now Jonathan was walking out there will several billion dollars in his pocket and Civilian . . .
Well Civilian was now out of a job, living off a pathetic severance package, and trying to find a solution to their problem that did not involve moving back in with their mother.
It happened in the middle of the night. The ear-popping pressure of a powerful aura dragged them from sleep. In the soft darkness of their bedroom, they could just make out a shadowy figure looming over them.
In seconds confusion crystalized sharply into fear. Civilian’s hands dove under the pillow for the knife they kept there and yanked it out. Their hand froze in the air, gripped by invisible fingers Civilian knew all too well.
“Did you just pull a fucking knife on me?” The figure asked incredulously.
The familiarity of his voice hit them like a physical ache, like a thumb on a bruise.
“Jonathan?”
The lamp switched on, bathing the room in a dim glow. Civilian squinted and blinked against the sudden light. Standing there, eyebrows raised and dressed in all black, was Jonathan Anderson.
The knife gleamed between them. He glanced between it and Civilian and shook his head.
“You should give me that before you hurt yourself.”
He took the knife gently out of their forcibly relaxed fingers and set it on the nightstand, far out of their reach.
Their chest was a swirling maelstrom of too many emotions to count — joy and fear and anxiety and relief.
But most of all anger.
How dare he just show up after ten months of nothing.
“You should go fuck yourself,” they retorted, sitting up and swinging their legs over the side.
“Awww, Civilian, did I upset you by leaving?” He gave them a mocking frown. “Did you miss me?”
The truth of his words pierced them, sending a hot flush of humiliation up their neck.
“No, I did not miss you, you sick on of a bitch — ”
Jonathan bent down, cupping their face in his hands and cutting them off with a fierce, almost desperate kiss.
“I missed you,” he breathed. “So fucking much.”
Civilian’s heart pounded like thunder in their ears. How often did they daydream this kind of moment happening, and yet now that it was here, they couldn’t help but doubt it. It felt dangerous to believe it.
“How am I supposed to believe that?” they demanded. “For all I know, you could be here to kill me and — and tie up loose ends.”
Jonathan had the gall to laugh. “Where do you think we are — a mobster movie? Do you think I’m going to tie cinder blocks to your legs and throw you off the pier?”
“You wouldn’t need the cinder blocks to make sure I drowned,” they said mulishly. “You wouldn’t even need a pier. You could make me smother myself right now with my own pillow.”
Why they were arguing this, they had no idea. Perhaps stubbornly clinging to the belief that he didn’t care about them protected them from hope. Jonathan’s grin faded into something more somber as he studied them. Then he slowly sank down on one knee before them, putting him at just under eye level.
“Why would I come here to kill you after everything I’ve done to protect you?”
“Protect me? Is that what you calling taking off with no goodbye like I didn’t mean anything?”
“Tell me, Civilian, how suspicious it would have looked if I had stolen all that money and then skipped town? How many people would be scrutinizing the newest hire that suddenly disappeared and anyone who associated with him? How long before the Agency would come sniffing around, looking for someone with my skill-set, and find you and your glorious little secret? Hmm? Tell me.”
Civilian glared at him and his tight, unbeatable logic. How dare he make sense.
“Some warning would have been nice,” they said instead, crossing their arms. “I thought I had — that you ran because — ”
They couldn’t finish the thought, it was too embarrassing. How stupid they had been, obsessing over a silly kiss, when Jonathan was executing such grand larceny on an unheard of scale. Like he had even spared it a second thought.
He gave them a knowing, crooked smile. “You thought I took off because you kissed me and I flipped out.”
“No,” they lied. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It is ridiculous,” he agreed. “It’s the one thing that made it hard to leave in the first place. And I couldn’t let you know, in case someone did question you. You were my insurance, not my accomplice.”
The one thing that made it hard to leave. Staying angry at Jonathan was getting more and more difficult. Civilian tried to hold onto it, but it slipped through their fingers like an eel.
“So the bank . . .that really was you?” they asked.
This time his smile widened into a full smirk. “Beautiful, wasn’t it?”
“Beautiful? It fucked over a lot of people — including me! I’m out of a job now, you prick.”
He shrugged. “People will move on just like they always have. As for you . . .that’s why I’m here.” He reached out and traced the pad of his thumb down their jawline. “To spirit you away.”
Civilian fought and failed to hold back a shiver at the light touch. “You mean kidnap me.”
“It’s only kidnapping if you don’t volunteer for it,” he said. “You’re being very stubbornly angry with me. You must have missed me quite a bit.”
They swallowed thickly. “I hate you,” they lied.
He smile, soft and gentle, his thumb swiping over their bottom lip. “You wish you did.”
Civilian’s pulse fluttered. They wanted very badly to kiss his thumb, his hand, anywhere they could reach. “And where would you take me?” they whispered instead.
Jonathan turned his hand so the back of his knuckles brushed over their cheekbone. “Where do you want to go? I have more money than God, Civilian. We can go anywhere in the world and disappear and never have to look over our shoulders again. What say you to that?”
“What happens if I say no?”
As tempting as his offer was, they had to ask the question, regardless. His answer determined everything.
“You will never have to see me again,” he said, taking his hand away. “And I will find a way to anonymously give you enough money to do whatever you wish in a way that can’t be traced. With me or without me, you will have the same freedom from the Agency that I do. I had planned for that for a long time.”
Whatever resentment for their months alone evaporated in an instant. This time Civilian took his face in their hands and kissed him, long and fierce.
“Take me to Greece first,” they said. “I want to see the ruins.”
Taglist: @those-damn-snippets@heroes-villains-side-blog@anonymousewrites@follow-me-into-the-fog@sunnyside-world, @rivalriotrenegade@trappedgoose-in-a-writblr-room@midnightsillusions@villain-obsessed-word-nerd@deflated-bouncingball @pickleking8 @cesspitoflove@to-sneak-away-and-hide@im-a-wonderling@hasel-anne@ghostly-writer@moonknight-s-cumdump@valiantlytransparentwhispers@galactic-squiddo@boomimhere@organizedchaos03@dungeon-roomba@vidiaka@powerflower119 @cbiom @meltedgallium@skevethefool@sarcasticlittlebook@lisapicklemagick@dragonfirephoenixflame, @royalmuffinsworld@sillypeachduck
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thecameronchronicles · 2 years ago
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Blackmail 2
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PART 1!
TW: Blackmail. Smut. Cheating. Language. 
SUMMARY: The aftermath of JJ's blackmail brings you into his arms once again...
WORD COUNT: 1900
REQUESTED:
I’ve never sent in a request, so I hope I’m doing to right. But for your march return, would you ever think about a sequel to Blackmail? I’ve been wondering what their dynamic became after the whole thing
Blackmail 2
You wish everybody knew that behind that smile wore the most devious intentions to ever exist. Words no girl, especially the girlfriend of his best friend, should ever be subjected to. All because of some video you'd made when you were too incoherent to understand your implications. And even though he wore that sadistic grin with eyes too kind to contrast as they'd cast to you as you often took him on your knees, as this was his preference in the brief time you were allowed, you denied every ounce of approval that came in being used to this new normal. No matter how satisfied you would be left as he learned your body after exploratory fingers and a skilled but wicked tongue, you wouldn't grant yourself or him the satisfaction of "getting used" to this. 
You loved Pope. You loved the life you could have with him. You loved...
"JJ..." You groaned behind tensed teeth. His hands gluttonous to your hips as he pinned you deeper into the sheets of the bed. Your eyes flashed to the hallway with the voices of your mutual friends just beyond the thin door. But no matter the girth of any wall separating you from them, nothing could contrast the noises JJ pulled from you. 
He was animalistic and passionate. Depth and force in equal measure as the bed threatened to give way beneath every brutal thrusts he'd make prior to now. But in this instance, he used only his tongue to pull such belting responses from you. You bit into your arm when he removed the pillow you'd used to try and keep quiet. Noticing this, he groaned in disapproval before pinning your hands just over the mess he made between your thighs. Your eyes met for only a moment before he noticed the desperation in your strained expression. 
"Isn't it better when you stop denying me?" He questioned as your mind flashed to the last few weeks. 
The first interaction since that fateful night had been met with full rejection. The reminder of how he could shatter the perfect illusion you'd made with Pope leading you to your knees for him in the nick of time to your boyfriend's return. The time after this would be spent in submission for the sole purpose of getting yourself within his good graces. As he lay asleep as the rest of the pogues were at work, you slipped out of bed and to his phone, finding a picture of him giving you the middle finger as his background. You glared at him as he lay awake once being made to wake by your eager steps. The small moments between them and now had become a game of cat and mouse of sorts as you had become as obsessed with the thrill as he was with the result. Of course, you'd deny this. But each and every time, your body would ultimately betray you. Losing yourself to him more and more. 
"Don't tense up on me now..." He kisses softly into your thigh, a soft and almost romantic sentiment before he returned to devour you. When your hands fought for freedom beneath his grasp, he gave a compromise by leading you to his hair. 
"Pull...As hard as you need." He explained hovering over your sex, a grin glistening with your excess. A symbol of his commitment to what your own boyfriend wouldn't entertain in even the most selfless of instances. It was this contrast that silenced the guilt against Pope. He was good but JJ was better. He was sweet but JJ was a sugar rush. And he was a good listener where JJ was devoted and attentive. 
"Harder..." He spoke behind closed teeth, sucking your clit in rapid fire pulls as you nodded into you. Your fingers were merciless to his locks, the sunkissed tresses that knew this hold well. Familiar to that if a song you knew be heart came that rush of pleasure he'd optioned for. The same that coated his lips and fingers in repetition. 
"Turn around." He spoke as you were too blissed out to notice his order. When you didn't oblige, he removed himself from the comfort made between your thighs. Shamelessly, he looked to the evidence of his talented tongue dripping down your core and onto the sheets beneath you. 
"Delicious...." 
Your eyes moved to the door as the steps passing throughout The Chateau left you trembling. Although by now, you couldn't tell if that was solely from fear or pleasure. 
"Sweetheart...You've made such a mess for me..." His hands came slowly down your thighs at the beginning of your knees, inching closer and closer to that needy clit begging for more. Throbbing and summoning him. 
"I don't think there's anything we haven't done-" Your mind flashed in memory to validate this. Every position and angle thoroughly exercised in the brief and even sporadic exchanges. Yet, each one leaving you with a thorough ache of the memory of what only he could offer you. 
"But one thing..." Your eyes raised in horror as he smirked, eyes cast to your ass. 
"Okay two things...But this one is all about you, princess..." He led your fingers to your entrance, guiding you. 
"You keep denying this....And it's only hurting us both. So let me show you how good it can be..." Your eyes came closed to relish the pleasure before they shot open to the abrupt cessation made in the grip around your wrist. 
"Turn over." You fumbled as he pulled you to the headboard of the bed. His dominant hand was used to part your lips. 
"Touch right here. Small circles," His breath was hot at your ear. 
"Don't come." You repressed a moan as you heard him undress behind you. Your peripheral gaze catching the door with the thought you could leave. And yet, you were too curious to stay. To know he would be sweeter now. Helpless to compare it to Pope as that was the vast comparison. Where Pope was cool ice to soothe you, JJ was the heat that ignited within. One could easily outweigh the other, and you wanted to be consumed either way. 
"I can be sweet. Fuck you in the Twinkie after a date, putting candles in the cupholders to make it romantic and shit..." You fought a smirk to the idea. "Because it should have been me." He directed your hand faster. 
"God, you must have been so deprived before me...You're touching yourself like I didn't make you come yesterday…" He craned around your torso to watch you continue. He pulled you to an angle to which he could watch. 
"I could come just by watching you...Knowing it's because you're thinking of me..." He grinned. "But goddamn, you make it look so good...Keep going..." You obeyed, torn between rivaling and relishing as both have a reward incomparable to a release. The latter would prove more seductive however. 
"Please..."
"You wanna come?" You hesitated. 
"How about we..." He began to twist your nipples softly, making you groan. 
"Try this for a bit?" But the second he began to show kindness to you, a looking question took precedence. 
"Has he ever made you come?" You nodded, hoping this would be enough for JJ to understand this would never be any more than what it was. A continuous mistake. But he only used it as fuel against an apparent fire within. 
"Since I have?" He almost scolded what should have been a question as you answered in an earnest shaking of your head. Im truth, you could only manage to look Pope in the eyes long enough to say goodbye, one which always brought relief. 
"Is that because I'm better or because you don't love him anymore?" You hesitated, a question that had remained on your mind since the day that damned video was taken. But the soured expression came from your confusion. 
"Let me make it clearer for you." He was suddenly inside of you, a single jolt made against the wall of the bed as it was a tattle to this afternoon delight. 
"You love how I make you come, I know that. But you don't even have to love me..." He grunted into your ear. "But you always let me...sure, you fight it at first..." 
"The video...." To this, he pulled his phone from the pants left within reach. Withdrawing his phone, he showed you the file. A deletion you'd craved for months now allowed. And yet, you couldn’t shake the disappointment in your expression as he remained inside of you. 
"But you always need it…No more excuses, sweetheart. You can walk away right now and keep lying to yourself. Or you can stay and let me show you yet again why it should have been me..." He flexed inside of you. 
"Won't you just tell him?" He paused, removing himself from you completely as he sat on the side of the bed. 
"Like he'd believe it..." JJ scoffed. "A smart, pretty girl like you...the way you make me laugh and want you in the same sentence...thinking of all the ways I want to-" he paused. Your heart twisted as Pope has once complimented you every hour on the dot. And now you couldn't remember the last effort he'd made. But JJ did. A glance over the edge of the hottub when the pogues collected to celebrate their fuck-it lifestyle. A crush beneath any table or when crossing in any proximity. Not to mention the sensations once he got you alone.
"Just go..." You were on your feet, already halfway towards the door before feeling victory within your reach. Your hand came to the handle as his eyes fell in defeat. 
Click. 
"Now we won't have to worry about any potential interruptions." His eyes flared as you moved to his knees, standing between them. 
"I don't know what this is and I'm going to hate myself for staying...but..."
"I won't let you hate yourself..." He pulled you over his lap in a straddle. 
"I'll make you come until you love that feeling more than the hate..." He teased you with his cock before looking at you,marveling at home your face twisted for him. A snarl made of your lips, parted and needy and wide eyes nearly animalistic only to fall heavy when his hand cupped your breast. 
"I'll show you why I love you " His words surprised you as you were suddenly filled with his thick shaft. 
"Why I had to blackmail you because I couldn't take it anymore."
He paused in speech, pulsing into you. 
"And why you won't ever have to fake it with me. A girl like you should never have to fake it. Now you won't have to...because you're mine-"
"Yours."
'"Say it again..." He begged, a pang of pain in his expression as he flexed inside of you. You weren't Able to obey immediately as he spun you onto your back, pounding into you as your submission was what it took to swell his lust into the threat of expulsion.
"I'm yours, JJ " 
Your body fell apart beneath him as you felt his warm release spurt, his body shuddering in accordance to this. Your own high shared through this as you came down at the same moment. But it was short lived.  He pulled his phone again. 
"What are you doing?" 
"I want to make a new video..." 
TAGLIST: @hopebaker @drewspisces @penny4yourthoughts @magnificantmermaid @pickingviolets @lovedetlost @trikigirl271 @maybankslover @slut4tangerine @slvtherinseeker @obxiskewl @bluesongbird @slut-era @ailee-celeste @camilynn @sweetestdesire @onmykneesforrafe @jjmaybanksangel @phildunphyisadilf @mashdan0916 @pankhoeforlife @pankowperfection
MASTERLIST
JJ MAYBANK MASTERLIST
JJ MAYBANK 2ND MASTERLIST
MARCH MADNESS MASTERLIST
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valaenatargaryensdragon · 1 year ago
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Hello, can I request a video where Daemon meets a pentosi lady during his time in Pentos and falls in love.
She's soft and sweet, compassionate and romantic. Daemon finds comfort and acceptance and genuine happiness with her.
But they refrain from having any affair cause Laena is alive and it's wrong. So they never try anything more than friendship.
After Laena's death though, when Daemon returns to Westeros for her funeral, he meets the mess that is his family. He sees Rhaenyra's mistakes one after another and actually gets angry when she tries to later blame him for her stupid choices.
He refuses to return when she asks and rejects her advances.
He grabs his daughters away from the fight with Aemond and Jace and Luke, takes them and leaves.
He returns to Pentos to a happy home. Reader and him can actually have a relationship now, Baela and Rhaena like her and she says she wants to build a happy home with him, no drama or anything.
Daemon is so happy and the two marry and live happily. He never looks back at Westeros or its mess ever again.
Thank you so much!!
This is a whole story itself and I love it so freaking much!
Daemon just could not handle Rhaenyra and her whining all the time as if she is not the most privileged woman in the entire Seven Kingdoms being heir and all. As if Viserys does not do as she wishes and always listens to her, the man only forced her to do one thing and that was to marry Laenor Valeryon and she could not even stay loyal to the man.
Daemon is not blind and he was too old and too tired to deal with the aftermath of Rhaenyra's poor made choices, he was not going to pick up her mess, he was not her servant. All that mattered to Daemon was his two grieving daughters, the bane of his existence, he loved them too much to let them stay in this mess, he could smell the war miles away. How dare Rhaenyra blame him for her mess? How dare she even look him in the eye and tell him it was his fault that he fell in love for Laena, for challenging for her hand and wining, for losing the woman he loved with all his heart. How dare she even speak so freely of her mistake as if she was above all else and deserved his respect when she was nothing more than a cheating, lying whore mad at a queen who had no choice and doing the same, the only difference was that Rhaenyra had a choice.
So Daemon mounted Caraxes with Rhaena and Baela following with her own dragon and off they were back to Pentos where you were already waiting. Standing on the shore in a light cream coloured dress moving with the calm breeze, a smile on your face that was worth the world to Daemon.
Daemon loved Laena, dearly and she was probably the woman he loved the most in the world after his daughters but you were the only woman to compete with that love. Love he never acted on out of respect to Laena unlike Rhaenyra. It looked like you were waiting for him, something he knew was not possible, there was no way you could have known he was returning so soon.
The girls being traumatised by the incident with Luke and Aemond they ran straight into your arms crying, their mother's only friend in this foreign land. Your hugged them close to your heart as if they were your own and let them cry their hearts out in your arms, whether it was from the incident or their loss you did not know nor did it matter to you.
Once they were put to bed it was Daemon who pulled you into his arms, hugging you close, crying on your shoulder over the loss of Laena, Viserys and the life he always dreamed to return to only to find it worse than ever, to find that life would never return to the way he wished. He kissed your lips and begged you for solace and you were more than happy to give it to him.
He married you without a second thought, he loved you and you loved him, you knew what he needed without him needing to say anything, he loved you and you loved him - you loved his daughters, the most important people in his life.
You were everything he ever wanted, a fierce but calm woman, you put him in his place and always stood by his side even when he was wrong. You gave him sons, three of them - Aemon being the eldest followed by Baelor and Vaeron. You raised his daughters and made sure they had the best education.
You held Rhaena in your arms when she would mourn the fact that she had no dragon, you stood your ground and demanded Daemon fly to the crownlands and bring Rhaena a dragon egg for yet another attempt at getting a dragon, not even mentioning your children so he returned with four eggs and tears in his eyes. He found the seven kingdoms in chaos, war everywhere. He had half a mind to join the war but you held him back, held his face in your hands and told him he will die if he goes, he was too old for this mess.
You told him you would support him if he went but if he goes and dies you were going to follow him and beat him up. He laughed and held you close. Never thinking of returning ever again no matter how brutal the war ended up being. The only reason he returned was because of the fact that he was the only heir left after Aegon who was on his dying bed burned to a crisp almost. He made you his queen and held you high in rank with no else with authority higher than yours but himself.
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harryssweetie · 1 year ago
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Afterglow
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where you and Harry broke up, but the feelings didn't go away.
warnings: none just total angst.
word count: 714
if you have any requests i’m always open!
You was never ready for him to leave. You have been in a relationship for over five years. Being without Harry was as hard as quitting smoking for someone who had been smoking since their teenage years. It was hard to wake up in the morning and not feel the warmth of his body nearby; the pillow next to you was always cold, and the shelf where his things lay was empty.
Everything in your apartment reminded you of Harry, as if you had lived here all your life. There is a vase in the kitchen that you bought at the first fair. There is a picture from your first date hanging in the bedroom. On the bathroom shelf is his shaving cream. Hanging in the hallway is a garland he brought from Japan because it reminded him of you.
Part of you wanted to put all those things away so you could move on. Another part of you screamed that these were memories that couldn't just be taken and thrown away.
Sometimes you pulled out of the closet the only thing that reminded you of the existence of Harry in your life. The blue shirt he once gave you. It still smelled of his cologne, and despite the fact that it had been in the closet for more than a month, this did not stop you from inhaling Harry's slight scent.
“Can I really take it?” you asked, looking at the shirt in Harry's hand.
“Sure, darling” he smiled and flipping his shirt aside, pulled you to him by the waist. “Did I mention that you have a cute smile?” he asked thoughtfully, looking at your face carefully.
“Seems to have happened once” you said seriously enough, touching his lips with yours.
“Then I will remind you of this more often”
You saw Harry a lot more than he saw you. You may have looked like a stalker, but Harry was famous. It was impossible to go to YouTube and not see the tab with his video. You loved to watch his new interviews before going to bed, realizing that while he was happy, you were also happy.
It was painful to understand that he was moving on, unlike you.
He was smiling as wide as before, his eyes were shining and he was excited about what awaits his fans on the new tour.
His life has not really ended, but only begun.
As you begin to let him go, it makes you think about him and who he really where. Your mind wants to think about all the good parts - the parts that you’ll miss the most. You think of the parts of you that made you feel so happy. You focus on that so much you forget why are you letting him go. You forget the things you need to remember.
You really missed him. You just didn’t know that he also missed you. As much as you did.
His house, like your apartment, smelled of you. Every thing reminded him of you and that you were here once. In the kitchen you cooked pancakes, in the bedroom you watched movies and discussed your future together. In the garden, you ran after each other like little children, and in his car in the back seat you often kissed, forgetting everything.
He remembered everything just as you did.
But he didn't try to forget - he tried to keep every memory. Harry tried not to forget the smallest details. How does your hair smell? Do you have freckles on your face? Do you wrinkle your nose in the sun? What does your voice sound like when you're embarrassed?
He wanted to call you so many times and tell you that he is waiting for you every day. So many times he wanted to come himself and say that he could not live without you, but all the time he was stopped by the fear of being rejected.
He was afraid just like you.
You both knew from mutual friends that you were both single. But you were just as afraid to hear the opposite. Because then it will mean that you are definitely late.
But maybe one day you’ll meet again when you’re different people. Maybe then you’ll be better for each other.
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another-lost-mc · 10 months ago
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hi hi hi hi!!
I LOVE YOUR WORK SO MUCH MWAH CHEF'S KISS
anyway this is a little angsty but I was reading your mammon mortality story and it struck ne:
What if MC rejects the characters or it hits them that they won't be there for a majority of their partner's life. For example Mammon or Karasu are crows that only mate once. For what is basically a small period of their life they'll be in a loving relationship but for a majority they'll just be alone after MC's passing. I also have a feeling that if MC were to pass they would just not find the strength in them to get into another relationship.
I WANTED TO KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS BUT THIS IS KIND OF SAD NOW DAMMIT
love you (non creepy)
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It's stuff like this that gets to me. I refuse to think about it. Nope, no way, MC is gonna live forever with their chosen and they're all gonna be one big happy family. Honestly, I write most of my fics under the assumption that MC will at some point find a solution for their mortality.
Even if the demons or angels can't find a way to save MC from that fate, do you think Solomon's going to let his adorable little apprentice die? No way. In the very least, it'd be a horrible waste of talent to let MC pass way so soon with so much untapped potential. But the truth is, he loves them too much (platonic or otherwise) to just accept living the rest of his long life without them in it. He'll find a way. If immortality is a curse, then it's a curse he hopes they can endure together.
But since you asked, let's keep going with the angst fuel and assume that MC's life is limited to their intended human lifespan. Even if MC dies, that doesn't mean that love dies too - not quite, not completely. (I'm a sap at heart, forgive me.)
Most of the demons eventually move on and go back to living the way they used to before knowing MC. The ones that were fond of casual sex before meeting MC return to that slowly, at their own pace - there's a lot of remorse and memories and guilt to work through first. Even if they indulge in physical intimacy, the idea of loving someone like they loved MC feels like a faraway dream. Is it even possible? They all go through a phase - or multiple phases - where they act out in their own way. There's no human around to remind them that they're better than this. The brothers that never entertained pacts with humans before MC aren't tempted to do so again.
There are traces of MC that linger behind: old video games that end up in Levi's possession, their pillows and blankets Belphie keeps selfishly for himself in the attic, Asmo claims their accessories and jewelry. Lucifer keeps his own mementos locked way in his private study to look at when he thinks the others are sleeping. Satan re-reads MC's favourite books until the spines are cracked and splitting at the seams. Beel cooks the recipes MC wrote down and he squints to read them when the ink on the worn pages starts to fade. It gets to a point where Asmo might have trouble remembering MC's face without looking through his old photos first, but out of habit, he keeps buying the scented bath products and candles they liked the most, and he buys nail polish that matches their eyes.
Mammon's gambling and spending habits are the easiest bad habits for him to fall back on. He desperately needs the distraction, something to fill the void MC left behind. When he goes out, there's always a part of him that thinks, what would MC think of you? Because even when MC's gone, it hurts to think he would disappoint them if he does something too stupid. And if he gets carried away, he suffers Lucifer's punishment and remembers that there's no gutsy human around to cut him down from the ceiling anymore.
MC is a part of Devildom history now. Diavolo remembers them - or sees their name in books, or comes across old photos of them from the exchange program perhaps - and it's bittersweet. He knows the Devildom is a better place because they existed, but sometimes he sees the demon brothers and wonders if it would've been better that they never met MC at all if their loss could impact them so much.
Barbatos is one of the few demons that seems less affected by MC's passing, and those that don't know him very well would think he's not bothered at all. His closest friends recognize the neutral mask that falls into place to hide the smallest changes in his expression. Everyone seems to forget that time is a tool at his disposal - he has his own mysterious ways of soothing his grief.
The angels that loved MC and were loved by them don't find that sort of love or companionship again. Perhaps MC's death is a reminder to them that life is fleeting and their feelings are wasted on the temporary lives of the sheep in their flock.
For the OCs? Karasu's nest remains empty after MC passes and he lives out the rest of his days alone with nothing but memories to keep him company. He's not seen in public much anymore. Azra drowns his grief in booze and sin the way any lust demon would, but he doesn't know what to do with the heartache that remains. He gets a new tattoo in the place where MC's pact mark with him used to be. Zee distracts himself with work to avoid going home because the loneliness there feels suffocating. When he's too exhausted to keep working anymore, he collapses into bed and pretends he can still smell their shampoo on their old pillow.
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More angsty reading if you're interested:
Too Late Now (Lucifer x Reader, angst, major character death)
Mammon + MC's mortality
MC's death and their rebirth in the Celestial Realm
Watching over MC's descendants
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homo-sex-shoe-whale · 3 years ago
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Online shipping, the fetishisation of gay men, and the romanticisation of queer trauma
An essay by me!
Word count: 2.8k
A link to the Google Doc version of this essay.
A big thank you to my friends Nathan @themeerkatnate, Mav @not-mavv , and Duke @dukedark-ness for reading this essay and giving me their thoughts as mlms on the topic. Make sure to check out their blogs and give them a follow!
So I was on a lovely website by the name of Twitter.com yesterday, just scrolling through while having my afternoon cup of coffee, when I saw that viral post of a girl reading a Larry fanfic through a classroom projector. I'm sure most of you have seen it. It's gone viral on Instagram, TikTok, and likely Tumblr too, and if you haven't come across it I'm positive you will soon.
Now, after getting through my initial reaction to that post which was, holy fuck, that's so embarrassing, I had a second reaction of... wait, this ship is still around?
And after I had some thoughts on the incredible permanence of some online ships and the weird obsolescence of others, I did get to thinking of how lots of these popular ships seem to stem from the same types of perceived relationship dynamics and homophobic stereotypes.
These online fandoms often seem to have an obsession with objects of queer trauma, such as having to hide a relationship, lying about sexuality for self-preservation, and even social rejection. So, after some opinions from my followers and the great archive that is the internet, I've decided to discuss some of the most popular examples of online shipping and the particular nuances they came with.
NOTE: Out of respect for all these people, I won't be sharing viral images or videos of them in perceived romantic proximity (or even kissing, as is applicable for some examples), but I will be describing certain moments I deem to be relevant. So even if you're unfamiliar with them, you won't be confused as to what I'm talking about.
NOTE 2: Although not all people within these fandoms were/are toxic, this essay is focused on the overall toxicity of the fandoms, and how they are toxic more so as a "hive" than as a group of individuals. When I refer to a fandom I don't mean every person involved in the fandom, but rather the collective impact of the group.
 1. Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson 
This is arguably the most popular example of online shipping. The absolute permanence of this ship, and how its fandom never seems to fully die off even beyond the lifespan of One Direction as it once stood, is downright impressive.  
I'm going to be the first to admit I was never in the loop with this fandom. My childhood best friend was actually a massive Larry shipper and asked me to beta read one of her fics, but that was before I even knew who tf Harry and Louis were! Not because I avoided the fandom or even because I rejected the online shipping, but just by coincidence, I delved into the world of pop punk music right when One Direction began gaining its popularity. I bought my first ever album, Riot by Paramore, in 2011- only a year after One Direction made their X-Factor debut. So, this fandom just bypassed me by a sort of weird coincidence.
But I don't need to be in the loop with this fandom to know the astronomical obsession with these two men, no, these two BOYS, was extremely toxic. In 2010, when One Direction made their debut, Harry Styles was only 16 years old. And Louis Tomlinson wasn't much older at 19! This made the two of them incredibly young when this unprecedented wave of shipping hit the internet, and although that must be traumatising for anyone, I cannot even fathom how overwhelming it must've been for two boys that young.  
I'm 18, almost 19 now, and I cannot begin to imagine how scary it was for the two of them to have their every interaction nitpicked within an inch of its life by thousands upon thousands of people online. I do not know this myself, but from numerous recounts by some of my followers, this massively impacted Harry's and Louis' nondescript relationship in real life, seemingly driving the two previously close friends apart. 
Now, before we move on, there's something we need to talk about. And that is the obsession with the dominance/submission dynamic within the world of gay shipping. 
With almost every popular mlm (an acronym meaning man-loving-man) ship based on real people, it seems that fandoms have a particular fascination with power imbalances in these relationships. You don't even need to look at the insane amount of fanfictions based on BDSM to figure this out. In almost all of the examples I'll be citing today, there is an age gap within the perceived relationship and a person the fandom has seemingly decided to be the top/dominant figure. 
Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are 3 years apart in age. Although it isn't all that relevant now, an age gap of 3 years when you're in your late teens is a lot more significant. In 2012, for example, when this shipping really started gaining traction, Harry Styles was 18 and Louis Tomlinson was 21. That power imbalance, albeit not that significant, is enough for a fandom to latch on to. We'll see this a lot more in the coming example with Dan and Phil.
 2. Dan Howell and Phil Lester
It's impossible to have a discussion about internet shipping without talking about Dan and Phil.
 Dan Howell and Phil Lester, although being popular YouTubers individually, are arguably one of the internet's most iconic duos. The two creators published their first videos together in 2009, and while their relationship was already a motive of speculation back then, the peak of the "Phan" shipping definitely came in the 2013-2016 era of Tumblr.
Now, I'm going to admit… I was actually on Tumblr when that happened. 
The 2013-2016 period perfectly aligns with my middle school days (I started middle school in 2013 and high school in 2016), and I was not only on Tumblr back then, but I was on Wattpad too! Again, this wasn't a fandom I had much contact with as I had a huge anime phase in middle school and I was on Tumblr posting mainly photography and Soul Eater content more than anything. 
But I did watch some of Dan and Phil's videos! And the occasional "Phan" content did not completely evade me as one of my closest friends in middle school had a fanchat for them. I wasn't involved in the fandom myself but they were actually one of the few English-speaking YouTubers I watched once in a blue moon (back then I watched mainly Brazilian YouTubers). One thing I did in fact notice over the years, around 2014ish perhaps, was that the two of them seemed to grow increasingly "awkward" around each other, in a way that many folks on the internet thought was reminiscent to Markiplier/Jacksepticeye, two YouTubers who also dealt with extraordinary amounts of shipping.
I'm not the only one who thinks this. The change in Dan and Phil's relationship, at least to the outside world, was clear to almost anyone who watched their videos for a while. I cannot blame them at all. The shipping was nuts. Between the countless fan videos, speculative comments, and insurmountable number of fanfics, there's no way the two of them didn't feel the weight of the shipping. The term "demon phannie" made its way into internet vernacular and there it stayed for years. Even Shane Dawson, who was one of the largest creators on the platform at the time, made several videos speculating on the nature of Dan and Phil's relationship and their sexual orientations. 
There was even porn made in which actors with similar appearances to the creators were made to have sex on camera. 
Now, this is actually a rare example where the two people involved in the ship actually came out as gay once the shipping seemed to die down. I'm incredibly happy Dan and Phil both reached a point where they were comfortable being publicly out, but I hate to say I'm shocked this day ever came. If I'd gone through what the two of them did, I don't know if I'd ever trust the internet. 
And again, this ship's fandom definitely had an obsession with the power dynamics they thought existed between the people within the ship. Dan Howell is 4 years younger than Phil Lester, and was only 18 in 2009, when they started making videos together. From my personal understanding, the shipping was often quite focused on this dominant/submissive dynamic especially in discussions from their early relationship. And this is in no way exclusive to Dan and Phil.
This general fascination with the older man/younger man dynamic, in my opinion, plays into the homophobic stereotype that gay men are predators. The idea that gay men usually seek younger men, and somehow "convince" them to engage in homosexual relationships, is popular homophobic rhetoric. The popularisation, exaggeration, and fetishisation of these power imbalances, in age and/or in relationship dynamics, is directly harmful to the mlm community. 
Not only that, but the romanticisation of a "hidden/forbidden relationship" is also detrimental not only to gay men and the mlm community, but to queer people as a whole. Queer people face huge trauma having to hide their relationships; queer attraction is already a societal taboo. And acting like this is good, or even desirable, is harmful to queer people as a whole, regardless of whether or not it's actually applicable to the people being shipped. It normalises this trauma not only to cisgender, heterosexual people, but to impressionable queer youth who grow to believe this type of trauma is to be expected. 
3. Frank Iero and Gerard Way
This is another example where the perceived power imbalances between the two subjects of the shipping were directly exploited online. Now, this ship did precede the others mentioned above. If we're looking at this topic chronologically, this particular ship did come first in the shipping timeline. It's closer to the origin of the shipping extended universe, if you will.
In case you aren't familiar with them, Frank Iero and Gerard Way are both members of the American emo band My Chemical Romance. This ship is the first one here of which I don't recall the full popularity. It really peaked in popularity around the late 2000s, circa 2008. And I don't remember this moment online as in 2008, I was only 6 years old and believe it or not, I wasn't really all that concerned with rumoured homoeroticism as a first grader. 
However, the popularity of this ship did carry over into the 2013-2015 Tumblr shipping boom. The emo fandom (or "bandom" as it was called) involving not only My Chemical Romance but other similar bands such as Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and Pierce the Veil, found its hub on Tumblr. 
During this time, I did in fact listen to this style of music, but was focused a lot more on the anime side of Tumblr as mentioned earlier. Of course, I wasn't 13 years old like, "hey, this type of content might be harmful and can inadvertently perpetuate homophobic stereotypes," I just happened to care more about my silly little anime and ended up not getting involved. 
This ship does involve a discussion that the others don't, however. With Frank Iero and Gerard Way, there is quite often a certain sentiment of, "Oh, they brought this upon themselves!" as the two band members very famously kissed during a show in 2007. In my opinion, though, this doesn't really justify all the obsessive shipping. If you look at Green Day, a band often grouped in with MCR as another famous pop punk group, the members don't follow too different of a trajectory. Billie Joe Armstrong has, on numerous occasions, kissed both of his fellow band members onstage- particularly Tré Cool, the drummer. And Billie Joe Armstrong is openly bisexual, which none of the members of MCR seem to be but some, or even all of Billie's bandmates, are too. 
You'd think Green Day would face a lot more shipping as the more persistent onstage homoeroticism and Billie Joe's openness about his sexuality would warrant more "substantiated" speculation. However, Green Day faces nowhere near as much shipping as My Chemical Romance. Why is this? I actually don't know. It might've been because Green Day has been around for over a decade longer and generally has an older fandom, but I really am not that sure. 
 It could also be because of the lower lack of potential for forced relationship dynamics. The members of Green Day are all less than a year apart in age and are even similar in height. However, Frank Iero is 4 years younger than Gerard Way, who is not only the frontman of My Chemical Romance, but also considered to be the group's intellectual and creative "leader". Even beyond that, Gerard Way is quite visibly taller, and the perceived power difference between the two of them definitely did not elude their fans. 
This difference could even be partly due to the lack of a "mystery" with Green Day. There's not as much to speculate as, well… the members of Green Day are already open about their sexual orientations. It might be that shipping in the Green Day fandom has less of a forbidden appeal for most people. 
Of course, I won't just keep repeating myself, but my previous points about forced relationship dynamics still stand.
4. Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch
Better known for their roles in BBC Sherlock as Sherlock and Watson, Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch unfortunately had their roles follow them well into real life. This is the example I know least about, so have these thoughts from a follower by the name of @indubitably-a-goblin, who had the following to say:
"the main issues i had with it were:
a) they were both married at the time, freeman to amanda abbington and cumberbatch to sophie hunter (in which both had children)
b) the main reasoning for it was their chemistry in the many projects they've done together. which is, shockingly, their Whole Job. They're actors! That's what they're supposed to do! if they weren't good at interacting then they wouldn't be good actors! i don't know how people can't understand this.
c) they're real people. we don't know them. we aren't friends with them. we aren't their family members. we have zero right to be pushing this onto them and ruining their friendship by doing so. (this one relates to most of the ships you've mentioned though)
d) healthy friendships between two men are ignored so plainly in most medias and in fandom. its obvious that these two men have a relationship, but that doesn't mean it's a romantic one.
e) its fine to ship their characters, but actors shouldn't be treated as less-than-human or some sort of prop. they're doing a job, and once they are off-screen, they aren't here for your entertainment."
I believe she did a great job of summing it up on her own, and for the sake of avoiding redundancy, I'll leave it at that!
5. Corpse Husband and Sykkuno- an emerging yet subtle example
I am absolutely positive you remember how popular the game Among Us was a couple of months ago. And with the popularity of this game, some of its most prominent content creators became the targets of online shipping- as is the case with YouTubers and streamers Corpse Husband and Sykkuno. 
Although the shipping involving these two creators is nowhere near as strong as it was/is with the examples above, I do think there is once again a reemergence of a common theme here. Whilst Sykkuno is known for his happy-go-lucky, almost "innocent" persona, Corpse Husband is the antithesis of this, known for his much darker and moodier personality. 
Do I even have to mention what the common theme seems to be?
Again, although the popularity of shipping - at least with real people - seems to have died down a bit since the Tumblr shipping boom of the early to mid 2010s, I do believe this example is worth mentioning. Even though the creators are still close, they have in fact expressed discomfort regarding the shipping, and I can only hope the internet as a whole lets their friendship blossom and exist naturally without obsessive speculation. 
My final thoughts
As explored in the essay:
The romanticisation of objects of queer trauma as a part of online shipping normalises queer trauma to both cishet and queer youth. 
Online shipping, especially at a high intensity, can end up negatively impacting the very relationships they pine over. 
The relationship dynamics often forced on mlm ships perpetuate homophobic stereotypes about non-heterosexual men. 
If anyone else has thoughts on this matter, do share! This essay is moreso an opinionated observational piece and isn't meant to be taken as fact but rather just as my thoughts on the matter. I hope it was useful as a reflective piece regardless!
Date of posting: June 16th 2021
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shotorozu · 4 years ago
Note
fem!reader who’s usually introverted and reserved, being an affectionate drunk
like she’ll want to give kisses to everyone but particularly katsuki/denki/shinsou (sep)
WARM HUGS!!!!!!!!!!! and more that you’d like to add <333
introverted reader being an affectionate drunk
character(s) : bakugou katsuki, kaminari denki, shinsou hitoshi
legend : [Y/N = your name] aged up because you need to be 21 to drink, f! reader at the request of anon, quirk not mentioned
note(s) : i’m sorry if i don’t write denki properly 🧎 but i tried my best here. anyways— i’ll be editing the ENTIRE blog, and i might even change up the theme. i just want to organize the blog :))
»»————- ♡ ————-««
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bakugou katsuki
he likes that you’re not too affectionate, well.. with pda anyway. you guys only hold hands in public
and even in private, you’re pretty tamed too
so when former class 1-A take their first drink of alcohol, celebrating their one year anniversary in the hero industry.
bakugou doesn’t really drink, because hello?? someone needs to be sober and take you home. it’s not safe to be at bars alone
he’s kinda shocked to see that when you’re intoxicated, your entire personality takes a 180
though yeah— bakugou isn’t visibly shocked when he sees you drunk
but he is surprised when he sees you starting to cling on him, in public??
yeah. you guys have been together since your second year in highschool. but that doesn’t mean he’s actually seen you like this
he’s groaning from this sudden action, gripping on your shoulders and shaking you— asking you to “get the hell off of him” but your response is to lean further into him NANDJW
katsuki’s very contradictory though, so don’t be mislead by his harsh words that easily.
while his nature is just being brass, and harsh— katsuki bringing you closer to him, enjoying the sudden affection you’re showering him in
his face only bloomed with red when you started peppering kisses on his forearm, but he decides to act smug about it until
“yeah, they’re affectionate. so what, extras?” he says that with a smirk, but his cheeks are crimson
but then you start cuddling onto yaoyorozu, rubbing your cheek against her shoulder, and he’s just there like 🧍‍♂️
that’s when he decides to take you home, because only HE can get your affection >:T
and he’s left surprised when you start kissing him
but he kisses back anyways, despite the strong alcohol in your mouth
“damn Y/N, didn’t know this side of you existed. it’s a good thing i fucking love you”
he doesn’t do anything though. he loves your affection, but he knows you’re just like this when you’re drunk
and he rather get your kisses when you’re sober anyway so 🗿
he makes sure to take off any makeup on your face with a cleansing pad (if you’re wearing any) and dress you in proper sleeping wear.
oh and he’s definitely gonna yell at you the next day, saying things like “you didn’t tell me you were like that when you’re drunk, shitty woman.”
and you’re just like ❓ not remembering anything at all.
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kaminari denki
he’s over the moon
he was kinda down at first when he found out you weren’t so affectionate in public
but he gets it because not everyone has physical touch as their love language
so you guys just stick with quick touches and kisses (which is totally better than nothing.)
so you guys are drinking casually on a friday night with the bakusqud,
and you guys are talking— denki’s making you laugh, you and mina are just talking while you guys take in some beer
but then you start to get a little tipsy, which kinda lead you to do the funniest things he’s ever seen
and kaminari’s like “🤠 something to tease Y/N for!”
but he’s immediately silenced when you throw your head down on his lap— giggling as you hold onto his hand
kaminari’s like :00 but he’s also like.. omg.
we’re in public?? this is public affection
he takes this moment to accept the touch, as he’s drunk himself. but he never actually brings it to the next step because he wants you to be aware of your actions
and he doesn’t wanna take advantage of you! he may be drunk but he’s still conscious of himself
so yeah— he’s very surprised though because you’re usually collected with physical affection.
but ugh! mina and the others are teasing him about your sudden change of demeanor, and denki’s like..
“yeah! i didn’t know this side of Y/N existed!” denki says, his hand massaging your temple
but you start chasing after everyone in the bakusquad, starting with mina
and denki’s like “woah there :0” and bakugou’s just begging him to take you home
eventually he does take you home, but he’s kinda laughing his ass off because of the things you’re saying— it’s so different.
he does your skincare, because you’re nearly blacked out. and he can only laugh at your intoxicated reactions
and when you guys are finally relaxing on the bed, he’s cupping your cheeks— wondering the next time he’ll see that side
oh, and he’ll definitely teased you the day after— WITH VIDEO EVIDENCE!
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shinsou hitoshi
you and hitoshi prefer staying at home more than going to bars every single weekend
but you were a little agitated from the excessive amount of hero work— so mina invited you to go out and get drinks with your friends!
and you think “hm.. why not. it might make me feel less pissy.” and you decide to go with them for drinks also.. don’t drink too much— especially when it’s a coping mechanism
hitoshi accompanies you because he wants to still be with you, and he ends up going for drinks with the rest
hitoshi drinks a bit, but i headcanon his alcohol tolerance to be VERY high. so even with 4 shots, he’s still very much sober.
so he doesn’t get drunk, not even the slightest bit of tipsy.
and he looks over at you, and he sees that you’re staring to become drunk.
so he slides over to you, asking you if you’re okay, as the good boyfriend he is.
your response was to wrap your arms around his shoulders, burying your face into his arm— hiccuping
hitoshi’s surprised at first. the usually introverted Y/N that steers away from public display of affection
is clinging onto him
he’s fine with the fact that you’re not very big on a lot of physical affection, since he’s not very into a lot of pda too
so you guys just stick to holding hands and resting a hand on your back. but HUGS?? LIKE THIS?? he’s ascending
he immediately regains his composure, grinning and admiring you that signature smile of his— holding onto you with one hand
denki’s just on the sidelines like 👁👁 “they’re hugging!” and he’s just so proud
but he gets concerned for you eventually, since you start wandering around— latching onto midoriya
midoriya’s literally red. but he’s also really apologetic, and shinsou can’t even be mad because you’re literally drunk to the point you don’t know where you’re going.
so shinsou takes you away, walking over to get a cup of water— and handing it to you, rubbing your back as he urges you to drink some water
“i know you’re agitated, kitten. but you had too much to drink.” he tells you calmly— as he assists you with walking, holding your hand as you guys walk home
he takes off your makeup (again, if you’re wearing any) and he finds himself admiring you when you cling onto him like a cute little kitten
then, he plops you on the bed, throwing the covers over you— whispering the sweetest things in your ear
“sleep well, Y/N.”
before he could walk away, you call after him— you sit up as your hand grips on his wrist. “toshiii.”
“what is it?”
“please kiss me.”
can he reject your request? no.
he walks over to you and kisses you, his hand resting on your nape— and he feels exhilrated from the sensation
but he pulls back, “you smell like alcohol still.” he teases
you frown, and go under the covers “good night.” hitoshi can only chuckle by this action.
but he sneaks into bed with you, spooning you— as he luls you to sleep
(he doesn’t go to sleep though, because he’s using this time to be thankful for having the privilege to date you.)
no shinsou, we’re lucky to date you
»»————- ♡ ————-««
likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!
i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei. i only own the writing
do not plagiarize my work :))
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miraculouscontent · 3 years ago
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Who wants more sad statistics~?
Because say hello to the color-coded guide to Marinette blame/mistakes! Obviously there’s some room for debate (even I struggled with how to color an episode from time to time), but it should be mostly accurate.
Blue = "Marinette wasn't really blamed for anything notable and didn't really suffer from Adrien" Cyan = "Marinette was blamed for something unrelated to Adrien that she didn't do/she shouldn't be made to feel bad for" (this one is probably the most subjective) Green = "Marinette was blamed/made a mistake but it had nothing to do with Adrien" Yellow = "Marinette doesn't technically make a mistake or get blamed, but is negatively impacted by her crush on/relationship to Adrien" Red = "Marinette either was blamed for/made a mistake that related to Adrien."
"Negatively impacted by her crush on Adrien" could mean generally anything, but it leans towards Marinette embarrassing herself in front of Adrien, characters making snippy/unnecessary comments about her crush, and things that wouldn't have happened if her Adrien crush didn't exist. In the case that Marinette makes a mistake/is improperly blamed for something not about Adrien (cyan/green) but also is negatively impacted by her relationship to him (yellow), whatever is given more attention will take priority. There could've easily been a lot of cyan+red episodes had I allowed myself to use two colors.
Now look at all that red, which is easily the most frequent color, and then try and tell me that Marinette's crush isn't just a tool to humiliate her and force her to make mistakes in order to fit the "Marinette makes a mistake" quota.
I've put the explanations below on my decisions for each episode, as well as the tally for everything together:
Season 1
"Stormy Weather" (red) - Marinette blames herself for leaving Manon, and they're only at the park in the first place because of her Adrien crush.
"The Bubbler" (red) - Marinette uses Lucky Charm explicitly to stop Chloe and Adrien from dancing together.
"The Pharoah" (green) - Ladybug drops her schoolbook; relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, but seems to be why the show forces Marinette to awkwardly try to keep Alya in the museum instead of just having Tikki directly point out where to go.
"Lady Wifi" (green) - Marinette overslept while doing homework and was late for class
"Timebreaker" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for not being home to give the cake to Nadja... who came early and thus Marinette shouldn't have been expected to expect her
"Mr. Pigeon" (yellow) - Marinette embarrasses herself in front of Adrien, with Alya making faces at her all the while
"The Evillustrator" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for ditching Sabrina when she has an akuma to worry about, accused of "being like Chloe" (i.e: the person who Sabrina immediately goes back to anyway)
"Rogercop" (red) - Marinette, after being accused, states that everyone has the potential to be guilty, but sidesteps Adrien when someone suggests it
"Copycat" (red) - Marinette, panicked by an embarrassing confession she left on Adrien's phone (thanks to Alya), steals it to delete the message (also thanks to Alya)
"Dark Cupid" (red) - Marinette forgets to sign the love letter addressed to Adrien, which Alya laughs at her for
"Horrificator" (red) - Marinette is pressured/convinced to play Mylene's role instead when Alya throws out that she'd be kissing Adrien
"Darkblade" (cyan) - Marinette doesn't want to run for class representative because she already has enough on her plate (...what a monster?); both Alya and Alix make snarky comments at her for this
"The Mime" (green) - Marinette deletes a video on Alya phone and spends the rest of the episode trying to recreate it
"Kung Food" (cyan) - Marinette blames herself for defending her great uncle and insulting Chloe (again... what a monster?), which leads to Chloe sabotaging Wang's cooking
"Gamer" (red) - Marinette enters the gaming competition solely for Adrien
"Animan" (yellow) - Marinette offers to get Nino a date with Alya, an event that wouldn't have taken place if not for Marinette's crush (either there wouldn't have been a zoo trip at all or Alya wouldn't have been there); in addition, Alya tells Nino about Marinette's Adrien crush, which Marinette is distraught by
"Antibug" (cyan) - Ladybug is blamed for "not accepting help from others" (except she did at the beginning of the episode) and not listening to Chloe (who is a habitual liar)
"The Puppeteer" (green) - Marinette folds to Manon's "baby doll eyes" and gives her something that Nadja insisted she not have
"Reflekta" (green) - Marinette tries to steal Guiseppe's SD camera card so Juleka's picture will need retaken
"Pixelator" (red) - Marinette shirks her job as Jagged's gopher in order to get back to Adrien as soon as possible
"Guitar Villain" (blue) - Not much happens, just cool Marinette stuff; there are technically scenes of Marinette embarrassing herself around Adrien, but either no one else was there to witness it or there wasn't any significant reaction to it
"Princess Fragrance" (red) - Alya forces Marinette to go talk to Adrien, which results in Marinette tripping and losing Tikki
"Simon Says" (cyan) - Marinette... I guess is at fault for struggling to keep up with schoolwork and hero duties? That's what you get for wanting to help people, Ladybug
"Volpina" (red) - Marinette is mocked for being jealous, her following Adrien is presented as her doing it jealously (she literally says that she's going to warn Adrien about Lila stealing the book from him before Tikki stops her, but okay), and she yells at Lila as Ladybug, which is also presented as being "only about Adrien."
"Origins - Part 1 (Ladybug & Cat Noir)" (green) - Ladybug neglects to capture the akuma, having forgotten that detail
"Origins - Part 2 (Stoneheart)" (green) - The mistake from Part 1 carries over... the episode also may or may not blame Marinette for encouraging Ivan.
blue - 1 cyan - 6 green - 7 yellow - 2 red - 10
Season 2
"A Christmas Special" (red) - Marinette's "Adrien blindness" causes her to jump to conclusions and believe that a Santa Claus lookalike is an akuma
"The Collector" (red) - Marinette lies to Master Fu in order to protect Adrien, not able to believe that Adrien could be Hawk Moth
"Despair Bear" (red) - Marinette goes to Chloe's party for Adrien and is repeatedly mocked/teased for this
"Prime Queen" (cyan) - Ladybug "makes a mistake" in getting upset at Nadja for trying to pry into her romantic relationships and her potential romance with Chat Noir
"Befana" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for "lying" to her grandmother about going to a birthday party with her friends (she didn't) and "not wanting to spend time with her" (she did, Gina is the one who neglected Marinette for literal years)
"Riposte" (cyan) - One of the more subjective ones, but going frame-by-frame, Adrien's saber bends first yet the episode calls Marinette "flustered" and "new to fencing" to say that she's wrong in her choice
"Robostus" (blue) - Mostly free of crush and mistakes, episode focuses primarily on the main plot of the akuma being caused (if I had a color for Marinette just normally being mocked/embarrassed though, it'd be here)
"Gigantitan" (red) - Needs no explanation: Marinette is embarrassed in front of the girls multiple times and the entire subplot causes the akuma that almost hits Gorilla
"The Dark Owl" (green) - Ladybug orchestrates a situation in which the Dark Owl could save her so as to not hurt his feelings, which ends in him being found out, humiliated, and akumatized
"Glaciator" (red) - Marinette is upset because Adrien didn't show up to get ice cream with her, which leads to her blowing up on Andre
"Sapotis" (blue) - Marinette goes largely blameless for everything; not much here
"Gorizilla" (yellow) - Multiple "jokes"/"mocking" about Marinette revealing skin/being in her pajamas in front of Adrien
"Captain Hardrock" (blue) - Surprisingly void of blame on Marinette despite her being depressed over Adrien; if anything, Luka apologizes for making a teasing comment when she was upset
"Zombizou" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for being upset with Chloe for ruining her gift for Miss Bustier
"Syren" (cyan) - Ladybug is blamed for keeping secrets from Chat Noir (look at the Adrien stans for reference)
"Frightningale" (red) - Marinette is bothered by Chloe being Ladybug, but Adrien is involved so the fandom can easily put blame on her concerning her Adrien crush (see Marinette salters for reference)
"Troublemaker" (red) - Marinette's Adrien pictures are intentionally inflated/exaggerated to humiliate her more
"Anansi" (green) - I wouldn't argue if someone suggested that this is a cyan: Marinette "makes a mistake" in cheating Nora's arm-wrestle with Nino since Nora was being unreasonable
"Sandboy" (green) - Marinette agrees with Tikki that they should do something to help Nooroo without asking Fu
"Reverser" (cyan) - Marinette peeks at Marc's work and tries to help him work with Nathaniel (I see, so when Alya meddles to push Marinette past her comfort zone, it's fine, but--); she also embarrasses herself in front of Adrien over this
"Frozer" (red) - Marinette suffers because Adrien's an idiot and has tons of people in relationships to ask advice from, and he chooses to ask Marinette; Marinette appears to be "blamed" for either wanting to move on (due to the girls fighting) or agreeing to go with Adrien, along with a "bonus" (almost earning a cyan) due to Chat throwing a hissy fit over her rejecting him
"Style Queen" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for thinking that the magic ladybugs would bring the miraculous back to Fu (see "Sentibubbler" covering for Chat for reference on how the narrative sees this)
"Queen Wasp" (cyan) - Carried over from "Style Queen"; Ladybug is blamed for losing the miraculous
"Malediktator" (red) - Marinette is made to feel bad for being glad that her bully of many years is gone (almost earning a cyan here, or even a yellow), and this is all due to Adrien; he also unintentionally convinces her to give Chloe a miraculous (her "mistake" according to future episodes), which sets off a slew of events that makes her suffer
"Catalyst" (cyan) - Alya not believing Marinette due to her Adrien crush carries over from "Volpina," almost earning this a red, but Marinette also lies about her gift for Heroes' Day. However, the fact that she is completely sleep-deprived from the night before and was being made fun of for only bringing macarons is largely ignored by the narrative and treated too much as her fault
"Mayura" (red) - When going to correct her mistake from last episode, Adrien throwing a pity party for himself makes Marinette go back on it
blue - 3 cyan - 9 green - 3 yellow - 1 red - 10
Season 3
"Backwarder" (red) - Marinette gives Adrien the wrong letter (due to each slip of paper she has conveniently looking the exact same but the episode clearly indicates it to be her fault); she's also humiliated over this
"Weredad" (cyan) - Marinette lies to Chat Noir in a panic to protect her identity. The fact that Chat Noir is an idiot who wonders why Marinette might be on her own darn balcony and that Tikki doesn't offer a better solution for the situation is given no attention
"Chameleon" (red) - Alya believing that Marinette is only upset with Lila over Adrien presumably carries over from "Volpina" and "Catalyst;" Marinette's relationship with Adrien also seems to make her more inclined to believe in what he says about doing nothing about Lila
"Animaestro" (red) - No explanation needed; Marinette's Adrien crush makes her more inclined to believe Chloe (remember "Malediktator" and "Zombizou"?) when Chloe claims that Kagami stole her seat next to Adrien, which convinces Marinette to team up with Chloe against Kagami, and this leads to Marinette being embarrassed over her crush
"Bakerix" (green) - Marinette makes a mistake in... I guess riling up her grandfather? (this one's pretty subjective and I wouldn't argue with anyone who says this should be cyan)
"Silencer" (blue) - Regardless of what "Crocoduel" says, Marinette isn't blamed in this episode for challenging Bob Roth
"Oblivio" (cyan) - Marinette seems to weirdly be blamed/punished for getting upset with Chat Noir if the smugness of Chat+Alya about the taken picture is to be believed (perhaps """explained""" in "Reflekdoll" about Chat having his role to play as the "sense of humor")
"Stormy Weather 2" (yellow) - Marinette spends a portion of the episode sulking about the little progress she's made with Adrien
"Reflekdoll" (red) - Needs no explanation: Marinette's anxiety is caused by Adrien and she's blamed for it despite Alya orchestrating everything
"Oni-Chan" (red) - Marinette chases after Adrien and Lila, which is made to be completely about Marinette's crush on Adrien despite Marinette telling Tikki about her actual concerns (which end up coming true as Kagami gets akumatized)
"Miraculer" (cyan) - Chat gets snippy with Ladybug for not telling Chloe right away (apparently assuming that Ladybug doesn't have other obligations to attend to like school; she even tells Chat that she "wouldn't have time that day"), and Ladybug was literally about to before the sentimonster and Miraculer show up
"The Puppeteer 2" (red) - Marinette repeatedly pushed and punished for liking Adrien, then punished again in front of Adrien (who she thinks is a statue) when she was actually just taking the advice that Tikki gave her
"Desperada" (red) - The guitar scene (i.e: "huh, who would've known that my wingwoman for Adrien was actually trying to wingwoman me with Luka one time!"), Aspik (i.e: "wow, the guy who I thought was perfect because that's what the narrative is always telling me actually doesn't fit what the narrative was telling me!"), and that's all I need to say
"Startrain" (blue) - Mostly mistakeless on Marinette's end; the focus is on other characters/plots (again, if I had a color for Marinette being mocked/embarrassed though, it'd also go here)
"Kwamibuster" (blue) - Marinette isn't blamed for anything; even though Master Fu isn't aware of the events at first, Tikki apologizes to Marinette in front of him later
"Feast" (yellow) - Marinette is briefly distracted by Adrien until Alya chides her so that she can show Marinette the information she might as well have hand-delivered to Hawk Moth
"Ikari Gozen" (red) - Marinette tries to sabotage her and Kagami to prevent Kagami from meeting up with Adrien
"Timetagger" (cyan) - Tikki notes Marinette's bad excuses (which are due to the sheer amount of akuma) to the point where Alya had replaced her as babysitter before Marinette explained that she couldn't show up (I wouldn't argue with anyone who said this should be blue instead)
"Party Crasher" (red) - Marinette tries to crash the secret boys-only party in order to spend time with Adrien
"Gamer 2.0" (cyan) - Marinette+Ladybug is blamed for being upset that they have no time for anything, with Ladybug in particular "making the mistake" of taking over and failing due to Chat constantly goofing off despite her urging
"Chat Blanc" (red) - Marinette is pressured/threatened by the girl squad (specifically Rose) enough that she decides to sneak into Adrien's house
"Felix" (yellow) - Marinette, after "finally" confessing to Adrien (for like--the fourth time), ends up running off and rambling in front of Luka (not knowing that he's there), which embarrasses her
"Ladybug" (red) - Alya's doubts of Marinette's hatred of Lila (implied in "Volpina" and stated in "Catalyst" to be about her crush on Adrien) carries over as Alya chides Marinette for blaming Lila, and had Marinette not listened to Adrien in "Chameleon," Lila may have been stopped early on and she wouldn't have gotten expelled (otherwise, the episode would've gotten a "cyan" because how dare Marinette be emotional at being accused of cheating and get angry at Lila)
"Christmaster" (red) - Marinette lies to Chris (in the exact way that Alya does to Manon in "Stormy Weather" but sure) in order to protect her darn privacy so Chris doesn't find out about her chest full of Adrien gifts, which leads to Chris getting akumatized
"Heart Hunter" (red) - Ladybug neglects to detransform due to being distracted by Adrimi happening, which leads to long-lasting and overly harsh consequences
"Miracle Queen" (red) - Ladybug's mistake carries over from the previous episode
blue - 3 cyan - 5 green - 1 yellow - 3 red - 14
Total: blue - 7 cyan - 20 green - 11 yellow - 6 red - 34
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youryanderedaddy · 3 years ago
Text
Love Fuel
Summary: You were Jason’s first love before you broke his heart and rejected him. It’s all your fault that he can’t move on.
Tw: female reader, obsessive behavior, incel behavior, nice guy behavior, self - hatred, threats of non-con, implied non - con, implied masturbation, bullying based on appearance (not reader), deregatory language, kidnapping, misogyny, generalizations, stalking
this is a hot mess but its 1 am and i am tired, ik that incels are bad irl (obviously), but this is fiction and I kinda wanted to explore the dynamic and shit. 
Everyone used to call him JJ or The-Big-Jay back in high school. Well, most of the time his classmates weren’t really calling out to him or even talking to him, the names were whispered behind his back, after he had just passed the hallway, or on bad days - right to his face. The jocks, these dumb motherfuckers, would beat him up, mock him for whatever stupid reasons they had chosen to use as an excuse to torment the smaller and weaker. The popular girls would giggle like brainless bimbos as Kyle or Brad or any other football player stole his glasses or continuously punched him in the guts until he threw up all over the floor. Even the nerds, the kids at the bottom of the school hierarchy, messed with Jason from time to time when they wanted to feel the oh - so desired rush of power they so rarely managed to experience. 
Looking back, Jason could see why his classmates hated him so much - he was everything that society deemed as wrong and unattractive. He was thin, pale, “scrawny” as the others called him, on the shorter side, and on top of that the teen was terribly shy and introverted, never having the guts to stand up to his bullies or even tell someone about the abuse. The male spent most of his free time at home, playing hours upon hours of video games, watching anime and reading books he was simply too young to understand or look critically at. As he grew older, the man began to view the world as it trully was - a dark, miserable place that ate up sore losers like him. Men were primitive and foolish, which somehow managed to soften their faults. Women, on the other hand, were  calculative and manipulative, greedy and sinful. His whole life they had done nothing but reject him when he needed love and support the most. Of course, there were many other reason why the brunette detested the weaker sex. In his eyes women were evil two - faced sluts, showing off their bodies yet acting innocent and hurt once someone finally decided to use them for the only thing they were actually good for.
But you Jason hated the most. You reminded him that no matter how much he hated the outside world, he would always hate himself the most. He had to admit you were pretty, painfully so, with a perfect little body to match your looks and a sweet sugary smile that almost deceived him years ago. As much as the man regretted his weakness, he had fallen right into your trap at the time.
You weren’t the most popular girl, but you had your fair share of friends, all nice and loyal like puppies. You weren’t the smartest either, but unlike the other stupid giggling sluts you always tried to do your best. You were beautiful just like them but you were actually kind to the pathetic bullied kid no one else bothered to acknowledge even existed outside of being a punching bag. You always asked him whether he was alright and often took him to the infirmary when he looked paler and sicker than usual. You talked to him as if he was a normal human being and despite the initial doubt, Jason appreciated it. 
It was the last day of your senior year when the teen finally gained the courage to confess. He was shaking the whole time and by the end of his little speech there were small tears in the corner of his eye. You were the first girl the male cared about, the first one to show him kindness, to offer him friendship without asking for something in return. You were the only one who could make him feel deserving of love, worthy of affection. And then you took it all away in a matter of seconds.
“I am sorry, bud.” You had said that day after giving him a  half - hearted hug and an apologetic smile, that started to seem more and more like a mocking grin the longer the teen started at you. “I already have a boyfriend, but I am really flattered. I am sure that you will find a lovely girl once you start college.” You had added quickly, cheerfully, rubbing the salt all over his wounds, honey dripping from your plump red lips. He had wanted to kiss them, bruise them, bite them until your stupid lying mouth was filled with blood. Obviously you didn’t have a boyfriend or he would have known by now, he stalked your social media religiously after all. Even if you had one, he probably treated you like shit. And how could you even suggest him finding another woman? As if he wanted any of the stupid money - grabbing sluts out there. As if some of them could replace you.
The boy was too furious to form a proper response besides “Fuck you, bitch”. His cheeks turned red and he didn’t realise that the bitter words had escaped his lips before he could stop them, then his legs took him far away from that shithole of a school. He didn’t manage to see your reaction before running away but it didn’t matter anymore. You were just like the others. 
***
That day Jason swore to show you just how small and insignificant you had made him feel. He wanted to see you crumble, cry and beg for forgiveness, desperate for his love but never good enough to get it. The man formed a plan to change himself and come back for you once he had erased each and every trace of his past. The brunette came to terms with his terrible social anxiety and decided that he needed to gain social abilities more than anything. That’s why, as much as he dreamt of working from home as a boring programmer with an even more boring, but flexible working schelude, the male chose to study something that involved a lot more human interactions. The next step was to hit the gym for the first time and get a monthly subscription. It wasn’t hard to see that females nowadays liked brain - dead athletes with defined jawline and cheekbones, toned chests and strong muscled bodies, so if he wanted to impress you, he had to look his best. It wasn’t easy at first - it felt like everyone in the fitness salon had their eyes on his weak frame, laughing and pointing their fingers at his imperfections, but things gradually got better as time went on. The trainings became easier to get through and from time to time they even helped the man forget about his loneliness and nihilism. 
Jason soon returned to his old habbit of spending hours looking through your accounts - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, he knew all of your usernames, each post, every picture and text. He couldn’t believe how much of a desperate attention whore you had become over the years. The male remembered you in your long brown skirts, cozy sweatshirts and pure-white shirts, all the gray buttons closed to the very top, blushing, laughing, smiling like the adorable Goody-two-shoes you were. Now you were smirking seductively in every photo, overconfident and vibrant, flaunting your tits for every man to see and wearing tight little dresses that barelly covered your ass combined with heels so high and sharp they could be used as a weapon. You were such a stupid slut it was disgusting, and he couldn’t stop himself from jerking off every single time he saw your pretty little face on the screen. He wanted to cum down your throat so badly it was ridiculous, and even after knowing that you had probably already had hundreds of cocks shoved deep inside your pussy, the brunette still wished to see you split open on his, taking his lenght like a good little cocksleeve. 
***
The moment when he could see you again finally came. How many years had passed since graduation - five, ten, fifthteen? It hardly mattered. Jason was successful, at last. The male had his own business that was doing surprisingly well, there were some guys from the gym he could call friends and the best thing, he looked absolutely unrecognizable. There was nothing left of the tiny scrawny kid with quiet voice that everyone stepped over, he was now replaced by a strong capable man, determined to get what was rightfully his and his alone.
It wasn’t hard to find you since the brunette knew everything about you - where your job was, what time you finished, how long it took you to go home and what path you took. You lived alone and worked as a barista in a small local cafe even now that you had finished your studies in your dream faculty. Turns out the princess wasn’t so great and smart after all, having to resort to working a minimal - wage job day and night just to be able to pay her rent. Jason was absolutely delighted though, he loved your stupid dead - end job and your endless struggles to survive in the materialistic world honestly and fairly without selling yourself like a common whore. On one hand the male was happy that you had clung onto your last bit of innocence and on the other your pitiful lifestyle gave him the chance to snatch you away much easier. And that’s exactly what he did.
 ***
You woke up confused just like he had expected, bombarding him with questions, asking him who he was was, begging him to let you go, to at least explain what’s happening. You were so dumb, but God, you were still so pretty, if not prettier than before. You cried so beautifully when Jason told you you belonged to him now and you cried even more when he slammed his cold rough lips over yours in a deep wet kiss. You whimpered and whined while the male sucked on your lower lip and bit down, good, he wanted it to hurt. The stalker couldn’t wait to be inside you, he couldn’t hold back anymore. 
He climbed on top of you and pinned your wrists to the floor before tying them up with delicate red rope and tightening it. It wasn’t like the man was scared of you slipping away and hurting him, you were too weak and tiny to stand a chance against his years of power - lifting and muscle - training anyways, he just wanted you to be as uncomfortable and squirmish as possible. Your tormentor wished for you to be in worse pain than he had been during his youthful years, and he knew exactly what to do. Next thing you knew Jason had ripped your dress apart, leaving you vulnerable and exposed in just your plain old panties and bra. Cold shivers ran down your spine when the chilly air hit your naked flesh and you finally realized there wasn’t getting away from this. You had to stay there, limbs bound together, unable to move or fight back, the stranger’s hands caressing your neck before moving dangerously close to your clothed breasts. You felt so sick you were going to throw up for sure if your abductor didn’t step back so you decided to use your last resort.
“Jason, please stop!” You screamed out of the blue, forcing the brunette to freeze instantly at the use of his birth name. You had already called him a pervert and a psycho which didn’t seem to faze him, but the name clearly caught him off guard. This only seemed to prove your theory further - the man really was your former classmate, despite the only similarity between them being the dark distant look in his eyes. “I beg you, don’t hurt me!” You continued, hoping to at least buy yourself more time before the assault took place. 
He gulped loudly and stared at your quivering form. The impossible had happened, you had recognized him and now together with fear, there was also pity in your gaze, the one emotion your captor absolutely despised. You used to be the only one who pitied him, and even now that he was bigger, better and stronger than before, you still had the guts to pity him. It drove him insane but any attempt to hurt or touch you was fruitless now - your soft skin was suddenly burning his fingers like hellfire. 
“You must be thinking that I am a monster.” Jason started out dryly, chuckling bitterly, humorlessly even. He clenched his fists unconsciously and brought them to the floor in a fit of rage, missing your head by mere inches. Your heart was beating like crazy and you only hoped the mandman couldn’t hear it. “A freak.” The man spat out the word like it was a curse and for a split second his eyes softened before turning into two spinning torches. “Right?” You were sure that if looks could kill, his would have you dead by the end of the night so you quickly nodded your head no.
“You are lying to me again, pretty girl.” The brunette replied feisty, "pretty” rolling off his tongue like an insult. Then he broke into hoarse maniac laugher and lowered his head so his face leveled up with yours, so close you could feel his warm breath on your tear - stained cheek. “When I am done with you, you wouldn’t be so pretty anymore, darling.” Your captor growled and attacked your neck, sinking his teeth deep into the flesh. “You will see exaclty how ugly my love is.”
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nethercomfies · 2 years ago
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Okay and you tell me about your normal day-to-day life with Albedo. What's it like to live with the genius alchemist? As many details as possible please 👀
Ohhh boy, better prepare for A LOT hehehe
Thank you, this was so fun to write... I should write self indulgent Albern more often, I love brainrotting about albern hehe 👀👀
Pairing: Albern (selfship)
Content: FLUFF
It’s just… The feeling of comfort and safety all around. We have a space where we can both just exist, be our truest, purest sleves without fear of judgement or rejection…
Actually, Klee lives there with us too, so it’s that for all three of us. And Gismo is there too because of course my cutie is!! We’re a big happy family and it’s just nice.
Mornings consist of one of us getting Klee ready to go to school, while the other prepares breakfast and lunch to pack for all of us. No matter if it’s me or Albedo, we make one of those super cute lunch boxes that has everything in it you could dream of.
The mornings can get a little hectic sometimes, but it doesn’t feel that bad when Albedo dances around the kitchen to pack everything, giving me small kisses in passing while I make coffee or tea for us.
For lunch Albedo and I try to meet up as often as our schedules will allow it, either eating what we packed earlier that day, or one of us decides to treat the other to go eat at a restaurant. It’s nice, it’s comfortable, it leaves us super refreshed to get back to work again afterwards.
We text each other throughout the day, sometimes just reminders that we love each other, sometimes quickly asking for advice,or ranting about something annoying that just happened at work, giving each other encouragement on stressful days, whatever is needed at that moment.
In the evenings Albedo usually picks me up from work, then gets Klee from daycare or whichever friend she’s currently hanging out with and then we head home.
Sometimes we go grocery shopping first before heading home. It’s actually kind of fun, Klee and I begging Albedo to try out the latest snacks, while he acts like a mom telling her kids that no, we already have enough snacks. He always gives in tho because he just can’t resist the charme of his two favourite girls (And because he secretly wants to try the snacks as well)
At home, we’re greeted by Gismo, who then gets elaborate cuddle sessions from Klee while Albedo and I prepare dinner. We just make a really great time in the kitchen, so cooking together is always fun and comfortable. Sometimes Klee decides to help us as well, so she gets to stir the pots with Albedo holding her while I cut the vegetables and all
At dinner we talk about our days or just whatever we come up with at the moment, then we wash the dishes all together (Or load the dishwasher I guess haha)
In the evenings we either watch some shows on tv, or play video games together. Klee joins us for a while, cuddled up between us.
We usually bring Klee to bed together and take turns reading stories to her (Or making up our own stories about the great adventures of Dodoco… She especially loves those, because when Albedo and I get REALLY into it, we almost put on some kind of spontaneous little play where we make up funny voices for the different characters, etc.)
Once Klee is asleep we go back to watching tv/ video games while cuddling on the couch. Most of the time we just fall asleep there and then go to bed whenever one of us wakes up. When it’s Albedo waking up, he doesn’t even bother waking me, he just picks me up and carries me to bed. There we tend to just cuddle until we fall asleep (Or make out if we’re in a more spicy mood hehe… Sometimes we make out on the couch too, but usually only when Klee is on a sleepover with a friend sksnfjin)
We have a pretty big bed, but only take up half of it because I’m super clingy and just snuggle up to Albedo as close as possible (Who doesn't mind it either, because he thinks it’s cute and loves cuddling just as much as I do)
Throughout the night, we AT LEAST have Gismo joining us, who’s pretty happy he essentially gets half the bed for himself lmao
But Klee also likes to join us when she wakes up and can’t fall back asleep or had a bad dream, so then it’s me holding her in my arms with my back to Albedo, who has his arms wrapped around the both of us. Very comfortable, very snuggly.
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carnationcreation · 4 years ago
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Can you do Luke Patterson fanfic where the reader is Alex sister and is in the band who’s been in love with Luke all this time but he never noticed her. And ever since they met Julie she has seen them together has gotten jealous.So she hatches up one finally plan to make him jealous to get him to see her . And Luke realized he had been in love with her and confess to her . Sorry if it’s too much this is my first time asking for a request 🥺
TITLE: Unrequited (Luke Patterson x reader)
✌🏻Masterlist Taglist, Requests, and Works in progress!
Requested: Yes!
Prompt/summary:  Reader does one final attempt at getting Luke to notice her.
Word Count: 1,615
Authors note: appear I just write a lot of angst. Again Where’s my Love by SYML is the vibe lol
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The day we woke up on the floor of the garage in the year 2020 was the worst day of my life.
Or that’s what I decided at least.
Apparently we had spent the past 25 years in a dark room, with Alex crying for most of that time. The girl who found us, Julie, quickly became our only tie to the real world. We could only be seen playing if she was playing with us. We soon found out that we had unfinished business that we needed to attend to before we could properly cross over to the other side. We figured it was simple. Play the Orpheum and we were done. But getting to the Orpheum was going to be a lot harder than we thought.
Slowly we had started to build up a following on a thing called ‘YouTube’ where people share videos, I never thought such a wide library of videos could exist for free every single day. Practices became a daily thing, though I didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. 
I really shouldn’t be jealous. Luke has chemistry with everyone he sings with. Alex would kill me if he found out that after all these years I was still crushing on his best friend. I couldn’t help the feeling in my throat when I saw Julie and Luke singing together though... the feeling like I couldn’t breathe. Like all the air was being sucked out of me while I tried to keep the feeling of anger from bubbling over.
Why can’t he look at me like that?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I never meant to get him jealous, because I always thought making crushes jealous was unhealthy and only ever worked in the movies. But as soon as I started only talking with Reggie and Alex at practice Luke started to notice how I didn’t go out of my way to talk to him like I used to.
As time went on I started only singing with Reggie on stage for the harmonies. Every time I would look over afterwards I would see Luke staring at me with an almost blank expression.
The next few days were miserable for me.
My only desire then was to go up to him and tell him why I had been avoiding him. That I had seen every glance, smirk, smile, and laugh he and Julie had shared and say it was breaking my heart in two. I just had to watch in silence. The fear of causing drama within the band had taken precedent over my unrequited love. 
I never meant for it to be taken this far. After Caleb branded us I truly began to wonder if my place in the band really meant anything to anyone. My feelings poured out over a page as I explained everything to them in a letter. A stupid letter that I didn’t know if I actually was going to deliver or not. 
My worst fears soon became a reality after I saw their interaction outside of Luke’s house on his birthday.
Tears fell out of my eyes as I slipped the letter into his songwriting notebook and poofed out of the garage. I knew they would find it. I knew my brother would know the first place to look for me, so I avoided it.
I stood in the alleyway behind the Orpheum, tears falling down my face as I held onto my brother’s sweatshirt he had given me a few days prior. Hopefully I could still keep it.
“Are you ready?”
I turned around and saw Caleb standing in all his elaborate glory, “I guess so.”
He smirked, “Why so hesitant little dove?”
“Um,” I mumbled, a shiver went down my spine at his awkward nickname, “I’m just going to miss them.”
“Miss them? You’re going to miss them? Oh (Y/n), they haven’t even noticed you were gone. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
Tears began to form in my eyes. Breathing became hard as I realized I had been sitting here for hours, and no one came yet.
“Poor (Y/n), in love with a boy who doesn’t even notice her. A brother who was rejected by even his parents, and a best friend who doesn’t even notice her feelings. You can leave all that behind, just shake my hand.”
I stood there, debating on if I really wanted to give it all up. Did I really get a choice in this? I slowly lifted my hand, still hesitating.
“(Y/n), look around. They haven’t even come for you yet, and I’m sure that rat Willie already told them what you were doing. They just don’t care-”
“That’s not true!”
I turned around and saw my band running towards me.
“(Y/n) don’t listen to him? He’s manipulating you,” Alex said.
Tears fell down my face as Caleb grabbed my shoulder, “You’re too late. (Y/n) just look at them. They didn’t even notice as you drifted further and further away.”
My eyes flickered up, Luke locked eyes with me. Tears were forming in his eyes, “(Y/n) please don’t do this.”
I looked back down at the ground.
Julie spoke up, “(Y/n), you really don’t realize how much you contribute to this band. We all care about you so much.”
“I doubt she wants to hear from you,” Caleb scoffed, “Seeing as you stole the one thing she most wanted away.”
The boys looked at each other confused but the look on Julie’s face told me that she knew exactly what Caleb meant.
“(Y/n) I promise you, Luke and I are just best friends. I’m so sorry you felt like you weren’t important to us anymore,” Julie said.
Luke looked up at me but I tried not to meet his gaze.
“(Y/n),” Alex said, “You’re my sister. I can’t lose you too. Please.”
Tears ran freely down my face as I pulled myself away from Caleb. Luke ran forward and caught me as I began to fall.
Caleb let out a frustrated yell and disappeared. I didn’t even bother to look up as I sobbed into my hands.
“I’m so sorry,” Luke whispered to me. Alex pulled everyone into a group hug.
“Guys I’m so sorry,” I sobbed.
“This isn’t your fault,” Reggie said.
I brought my hands down to wrap around Luke’s shoulders, “I just didn’t feel good enough. I wanted to know if you guys really cared. I’m so sorry I should have said something.”
“We’re just happy we got here in time,” Alex said, he ran a hand through my hair, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
My tears came to a slow stop, and eventually we began to walk home.
“Guys, I’m taking (Y/n) somewhere. We’ll catch up.”
The guys waved as Luke grabbed my hand and pulled me in a different direction. It soon became clear where he was taking me. 
“Do you remember this place?” he asked.
“Barely,” I said. I looked around the park I had always gone to, it had changed so much since 1995, “They tore the gazebo down.”
He looked over to where the rickety white structure used to be, a bathroom area was there now.
“I remember, you used to always go there after there was a fight at your house.”
I nodded, “Quiet, secluded, free to go to. Can’t tell you how many songs I wrote here.”
He pulled me over to sit on the benches near the playground. 
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he said. 
I looked up at the clouds, trying to get the answer straight in my head, “I just… I had seen how you looked at her. I wanted you to look at me like that. Once I started to pull away, no one seemed to notice. Caleb offered me his help, he said I’d be famous…”
“What made you hesitate?”
“I realized… I didn’t want a million admirerors, I just wanted one. Nothing could compare to that.”
I jumped as he reached over to grab my hand, bringing it over to sit in his lap as he covered it in both of his, “I want to be that person.”
“You always were.”
He smiled. He brought my hand up and placed a kiss gently on my knuckles. In a quick moment of bravery I leaned over and kissed his cheek quickly.
He placed both his hands on my cheeks before pulling me into a real kiss. The boy I thought I had lost was kissing me. The kiss I had always dreamed of but thought I could never have. 
We both pulled away breathing heavily. I looked up and giggled at his swollen lips and tousled hair knowing I probably looked the same. 
“I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to say this. I love you (Y/n). I’ve loved you since the day I met you, I loved you after we died, and I loved you every moment till now. I guess the only reason why I didn’t do anything is I was so scared of you not liking me back, or how your brother would react.”
I sighed as he rubbed his thumb across my cheek, “How do you think he’ll react?”
“He told me while we were looking for you I should’ve asked you out weeks ago. He knows,” He laughed.
The sun had started to set, the light illuminated him making him look ethereal. I pulled him into another quick kiss, “I wish I had done this sooner.”
“What? The kiss or trying to sell your soul to a dead magician?”
I laughed, “Either.”
He smiled and wrapped his arm around me, “Don’t do the second one again anytime soon.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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herinsectreflection · 4 years ago
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Faith, Buffy, Dreams, and Secret Kisses
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This is one of my favourite scenes in the series. Partially because it’s just my personal jam - I admit that I am Fuffy trash, and I have a real love for dream sequences. Buffy had great dream sequences, but this is where they take a step up. It’s a precursor to Restless in this regard and others. It feels weighty and meaningful, but also a little off and incongruent with itself, in that way that only dreams are. Lines are exchanged that don’t quite follow as direct responses to each other, clashing in interesting ways. It’s packed with foreshadowing, metaphor, and other juicy things. And beyond that, it’s a conclusion to Buffy’s entire arc this season about dealing with her shadow self, and it leads to what I think is the single most romantic moment in the series. I want to talk about this scene and unpack some of what I think it’s saying.
First of all, let’s talk about the setting. We’re in Faith’s apartment, bought for her by the Mayor. Essentially, the villain’s lair, where the two Big Bads plotted their evil plans against our hero. But it’s also a set where we saw most of the bonding and semi-familial love between Faith and the Mayor. A place of both evil and love. And for Buffy, a place of trauma. This is where she makes the decision and takes the action to kill another human. I don’t think she was unjustified in doing so, but it’s still an immensely traumatic act for her, and I think she loses a little part of herself when she does it. The location is very much a reflection of Faith, and Buffy’s relationship to her. I don’t think Buffy loves Faith romantically at this point, but I think she cares about her, and remains concerned about her, and I think it’s fair to call that a kind of love. Faith is also evil, a figure of betrayal but also temptation to the “dark side”. And she is also a figure of trauma, clear deep-seated trauma that she fails to resolve, and just gets worse over the course of the season. Buffy is essentially inside her own relationship to Faith, inside a stadium of sin, trauma, love, and shattered glass. Faith looks out of the broken window that they fought through, and we are reminded that their relationship too is broken, unrepaired, littered with the detritus of conflict. There’s no going back from this - even in dreams that window remains broken, and their relationship will always have this damage.
The props too are an interesting choice. TPN’s video on Graduation Day pointed out the painting of a giant snake with a man’s head on the wall. More conflicting feelings here - the Mayor is Faith’s closest connection to humanity and love right now, and also the reason for her betrayal of Buffy. Her redemption and damnation. We also see boxes of various things piled up - including the crossbow that Faith stole in Bad Girls. The image of packing up a room into boxes makes me think of moving away as a student. We must remember that Buffy is graduating today, on the verge of packing her life away and taking it somewhere else, and this reminds us of that.
The first thing of real substance we see is the cat, which jumps up on Faith’s bed. This is one of the aspects of this dream in direct conversation with Restless, where a cat symbolises the Slayer - a specifically feminine, solitary predator that stalks the night. In Restless, we cut to Miss Kitty stalking the camera from shots of the First slayer stalking Willow. Here though, the intercut images are between the cat and Faith, lying bruised and helpless in a hospital. The cat (and the Slayer) is, as far as Buffy is concerned, not a danger but a creature in need of help.
Buffy: "Who's going to look after him?" Faith: "It's a she. And aren't these things supposed to take care of themselves?"
They’re very clearly talking about their respective approaches to slaying, and to life in general. Buffy tries to encourage ties to humanity, telling Faith back in Revelations that she is on Faith’s side. Faith retorts that she alone is on her side, and she repeats that sentiment here. But Buffy is obviously proved right - Faith is lying almost dead because she rejected all help and care.
Buffy: "A higher power guiding us?" Faith: "I'm pretty sure that's not what I meant."
If the cat is the Slayer in this conversation, then the “higher power guiding us” could refer to the Watchers. It makes sense that Buffy delivers this line with a little wry smile, given that she’s just resigned herself from the Council. This allows a little bit of ambiguity in their debate - Buffy has taken on a little bit of Faith’s advice in emancipating herself and so making herself as the Slayer more self-reliant. The show agrees that that too is the right move. A little independence is good and healthy. What Faith means when she talks about “taking care of herself” is not self-reliance or independence, but emotional hardness and self-marooning to avoid hurt. This is something that Buffy will continue to struggle with for the rest of the series. Faith is kind of right when she states that the Slayer is alone and must take care of herself, and it’s up to Buffy to find a healthy way of dealing with that.
"Oh yeah. Miles to go - Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0.”
The scene shifts a little, and we get some foreshadowing for Dawn (Little Miss Muffet), and for Buffy’s death (730 days from now). This is done with the the lighting too, as Faith faces the camera, and the light of the dawn hits her face, in a shot extremely similar to the end of The Gift.
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Interestingly, Faith is repeatedly used in this way. In This Year’s Girl, Faith talks about “little sis coming” as she and Buffy make the bed in her first dream. In Restless, that scene gets a callback (”Faith and I just made that bed”), in a scene that ends with the most anvilicious foreshadowing (”Be back before dawn”), as well as a callback to the 7-3-0 line (”Oh, that clock’s all wrong”). In Graduation Day, Faith refers to Buffy as being “dressed up in big sister’s clothes”, however to me Faith has always felt more as being the “little sister” in this relationship. She looks up to Buffy yet is also deeply jealous of her. She wants to be Buffy, to have her friends, her life, the love of her mother. She’s kind of a precursor to Dawn in this respect, so it makes sense that she’s a prophet for her coming.
Slayers having prophetic dreams is well-established, so it makes sense that a dream shared by two slayers would allow them to prophesise a little further ahead in time. Faith hints at this, remarking "Sorry, it's my head. A lot of new stuff.". You have to wonder what other “new stuff” Faith is becoming aware of. Perhaps a new perspective on everything Buffy’s been saying all season. Sharing a mind temporarily is often helpful in seeing another’s point of view. Faith does seem unusually thoughtful as she looks out of the broken window and remarks "They are never going to fix this, are they?".
This is perhaps my favourite line in the scene. It’s a slight mislead, as it comes right as we get a flash of the cat-as-Faith in the foreground. So we assume it’s a reference to her own injuries, which she is expected to never recover from.
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But the Faith that’s talking isn’t looking at her own body. She’s looking at the broken window. The symbol for her broken relationship with Buffy. She has become us, the audience, looking at Buffy and Faith and saying “boy, those crazy kids really are never going to work it out, are they?”. It’s true for Faith, it’s true for Faith&Buffy, and it’s true for Buffy herself. When that knife entered Faith’s gut, all three were irrevocably changed forever. You can never put back the life you had before after it’s broken like that. All you can do is take what you can work with, and try to make something new.
Buffy: "What about you?" Faith: "Scar tissue. It fades. It all fades." Buffy confirms that the previous line was not about Faith specifically by asking “what about you”, in a lovely expression of concern. After everything, Buffy does still care about Faith. Faith’s reply of “scar tissue” is an obvious reference to the literal wound she is now carrying (emphasised by the shot of the knife that Buffy sees afterwards), but it’s interesting that she gestures to her face when she says this. It feels like a reference to her entire self. If we accept Faith as Buffy’s shadow self, then “scar tissue” is an accurate description of her. As Buffy herself says, Faith is who she could be if her life was worse (or, perhaps, who she would be if she allowed the tragedies of her life to rule her). She is the part of Buffy’s unconscious self that is revealed after receiving violence. She is the physical proof of trauma. The self that remains after pain. 
Buffy: “Is this your mind or mine?” Again, hitting that note of symbiosis; emphasising how inextricably tied these two characters are. The lines between their psyches are blurred to the point of no longer existing. This is such an intimate moment, almost sexual, with Buffy and Faith unable to tell where their own mind ends and another begins. Imagine the intimacy of that - entering another’s mental space and allowing them into yours, so wholly that they become one and the same. It becomes a mutual recognition of unity and shared pain, and an affirmation of the eternal divisions between them.
I love the ambiguity of the “human weakness” line too. One way we are invited to read it is that Faith is doing a heel-face turn, and intentionally giving Buffy the means to defeat the Mayor. But we’re not allowed anything that easy, to wash away Faith’s sins with a quick redemption before the climax. Faith has miles to go before she can achieve that. It’s just as likely that Faith is talking about herself, and the human weakness that led her down a dark path, or that Buffy is talking about Faith through the Faith in her head, or Buffy is just working it out on her own, etc, etc. This is the information that saves the world, and I like that it remains an unknown. A permanent “maybe”, just as Buffy and Faith’s relationship is. 
Buffy: "How are you going to fit all this stuff?" Faith: "Not gonna. It's yours." Buffy: "I can't use all of this!" Faith: "Just take what you need. You're ready?"
As the scene reaches its climax, we see the most obvious recitation of the season’s themes. S3 is about Buffy coming into conflict with her own shadow self, and here the show tells us how she does that - by taking what she needs. I mentioned earlier that we saw the crossbow from Bad Girls, from the “want/take/have” scene. Here, Faith is telling her the same thing, but in a more healthy way. She cannot just hedonistically consume everything like a crazed id-monster, but she also cannot deny herself things that she needs. 
Most importantly, the “stuff” they are referring to is Faith’s, but as Faith says, it’s also Buffy’s. Everything that Faith is, Buffy is too, because she is her shadow self. Buffy must recognise this, accept it, and incorporate the shadow self into her own identity. She cannot be consumed by the shadow self and simply become Faith, allowing her shadow to consume her conscious personality (”how are you going to fit all this stuff?”). Instead she must recognise her dark mirror, and take the healthy parts, and integrate them into herself as an individual (”take what you need”).
It is at this point of healing and merging between Buffy’s self and shadow self that Faith reaches out, almost touches her in an action that feels so tender, and Buffy becomes conscious. She literally becomes her conscious self by making peace with her dream (unconscious self). She stands up, and walks over to Faith’s bed. This is the moment that their relationship all season has been leading to. She leans over, and places a kiss on her forehead.
This kiss is everything. It’s an act of thanks, as Buffy realises Faith may have given her what she needs to save the day (at the cost of Faith’s one familial figure). It is an act of service, as Buffy literally gives Faith the kiss she asked for when they started to fight in Graduation Day. It could also be an act of forgiveness. We know from I Only Have Eyes For You that forgiveness, Buffy learns, is done not because somebody deserves it, but because they need it. Faith at this point probably does not deserve it, does not want forgiveness (she wants to be punished), nor can she recognise it in her current state, but Buffy gives it anyway, adding another layer of heartbreak. It is given not for any purpose, but for its own sake.
Above all though, this is an act of recognition. We must consider the previous forehead-kiss that these two shared, back in Enemies, and Faith’s words directly before: “What are you gonna do, B, kill me? You become me. You're not ready for that, yet.” And in Graduation Day, just after Buffy stabs her: “You did it. You killed me.” And her words in the dream, just a few seconds ago: “You're ready?"
Now I don’t think that Buffy stabbing Faith to save Angel is morally equivalent to Faith voluntarily killing people to help an evil guy become a big snake. I don’t think the show wants us to think that either. But the line is firmly blurred. Angel says in Consequences that the act of taking a life will change Faith irrevocably, and Faith agrees. She sees herself as tainted from that point on, and if Buffy took her life, she would be tainted too. And though it’s understandable and morally defensible, there’s no doubt that a part of Buffy - her innocence - dies on that balcony when she sticks that knife in. That act is forever. The choice to do violence is permanent. 
So when Faith says “you killed me”, she is saying “you have become me”. She identifies a common nature in them. And when Buffy kisses her, returning it in the exact same way as when Faith first said those words, she is saying “I know”. She recognises and responds to Faith’s mirror by holding up one of her own. She matches similarity with similarity. She is finally “ready” to assimilate her shadow self, and does it by telling her shadow self that she sees her, and that she was right. 
The beautiful part of all this is that it is silent. Faith would’ve been aware of their unification in the dreamscape, since it was happening in both of their heads, but she has no way of knowing about this. I wonder if Buffy would ever tell her. I doubt it. This is the core of the Faith/Buffy tragedy. This is why I find this relationship so compelling. Buffy performs this act of recognition and devotion entirely in secret. It is a stolen kiss and a private confession. A whisper made to a sleeping lover. A letter written, sealed, stamped, and set on fire. It is an act of love and tenderness made entirely for its own sake, without witness or reward. 
This is the single most romantic moment of the show for me. In this show that in many ways about how when nothing you do matters, all that matters is what you do, what could be more romantic than this gentle kiss that changes nothing against this aching hole of violence and betrayal between them, but exists anyway, just because Buffy felt it needed to be done. It’s a silent moment that nobody but Buffy and us are privy to. Neither Faith nor the rest of the world will ever know it happened, but I know I for one will never forget.
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kyun-toast · 4 years ago
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[MONSTA X] Changkyun - Happy Without Me
word count: 3.8k warnings: alcohol, suggestions of smoking, swearing, suggestions of sex summary: I don't think about you sometimes 'Cause I think about you all the time a/n: I’ve been listening to the All About Luv album a lot recently and Happy Without Me hit a little different the other day. I hope you don’t notice how I slacked off near the end 💜
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“Yerim what are you wearing for tonight? I wanna look cute but not like ‘I’ve put effort in’ kinda cute, you know? Like I’m always this cute.”
Yerim laughed as she replied, “You’d look hot wearing a bin bag so shut up and let me know what drinks you want. It’s ‘bring your own booze’ so I was gonna run to the store for extra before we go.”
“Umm, vodka? Tequila? Maybe rum? I’m getting smashed tonight and you’re all going to carry me home, just letting you know.” Soobin winked and blew kisses at the both of you with a coy smile on her face, as some form of ‘thank you in advance’ for the troubles that you would be going through later that night. As much pain she put the both of you through, it was hard not to love her.
“Yeah, you say that as if that’s not what happens every week, you psycho.”
You smiled from the comfort of your sofa as you witnessed the two of your best friends bicker. You were never really one for parties, but you decided to let yourself go after an unfortunate night maybe five? six months ago. You thought that you could vent your frustrations into your notes app and be done with it, but your friends took pity and introduced you to another option. One where you could numb your mind with alcohol and crashing bass, and you figured that it was somewhat more enjoyable than cry-writing shitty poetry on a Friday night. Notes app therapy was now a thing of the past.
Changkyun had become such an integral part of your life that you couldn’t help yourself from unconsciously replaying memories that you had attempted to bury. A simple look at the most irrelevant objects would have him running through your mind before you could even stop yourself. Oh, we bought this mug together. You were surprised he hadn’t taken it with him when he left. It was his favourite mug to drink whiskey out of. Speaking of whiskey, you needed a drink. It had only taken days for him to make himself at home at the forefront of your thoughts but how long was it going to take to rid of him?
As much as you tried to keep those thoughts at bay, no amount of alcohol could ever stop them from crashing back over you whenever you saw that little smiley face appear at the top of your Instagram feed.
imnameim. When had he posted a story? You hadn’t seen the pink circle earlier. Would it be too early to look at it now? You couldn’t risk tapping on it only to see that it had been posted 12 seconds ago, just like you had done the other day. And the day before. And the day before that. Should you just make a burner account? No, that’s too far, we’re not going there today, bitch... Maybe tomorrow.
You hated how much power that tattoo face held over you, looking straight into your eyes - almost mockingly. Oh, did I look like a smiley face to you six months ago? Well, I’m a sad face now and that’s all you’re ever going to see.
“Y/N! Hey! You’re going to stare a hole into your phone.” Soobin clapped in your face, trying to get your attention. You looked up, softening your expression to meet Yerim’s eyes.
“Soobin was asking what you’re going to wear tonight.” Yerim said.
“I don’t know, probably that top I got yesterday?” you shrugged, unbothered by your friends’ question. You weren’t going to parties to impress anyone; you were going to drink the last of your braincells away.
“Y/N, ‘that top’ you got yesterday is a free t-shirt you got from the Domino’s pop-up stall on campus. I’m not letting you do this again.” Yerim dead panned.
“OK and...?” You met both of their concerned faces only to have them grab each of your arms.
“Come on. Up. That’s it.” You made unintelligible noises as they dragged you up off the sofa and into your closet. The thoughts about Changkyun’s story were left on the sofa as your mind was now filling with an excited buzz. “You act like you hate this, but I know you love getting trashed with us, Y/N.” Yerim laughed and you knew it too.
-
Changkyun lay in Jae-in’s bed, with her nestled in his chest as he looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Being careful not to wake her, he slowly squeezed his arm out from under her head to lay on his stomach to scroll through Instagram.
He had posted a story over an hour ago, half hoping that you’d see it – a cover of Dean’s Instagram. How ironic.
He shook his head at how pathetic his efforts seemed, whispering to himself, “What the hell are you doing?” He refreshed his feed for the last time to see that you had posted a video of the three of you dancing to a song in your walk-in closet. Probably drunk. Upon re-watching the video on loop for the third time, he concluded that you were most definitely drunk.
Seeing you having fun like this had him torn between being happy for you, moving on with your life and probably on to other men too. Being attractive plus the endless number of parties you went to now was just the perfect recipe. You were bound to have found someone.
And this is where the hatred washed over him. He despised it. Hated seeing you have fun without him, moving on as if he had never existed. Was it that easy for you to just forget? It seemed unfair that he was still struggling to keep you off his mind while you were out having the time of your life, letting your followers know of that fact too.
Deep down, he knew that he wasn’t happy for you at all. He was just trying to kid himself into thinking that he was. Be mature and everything. That was what both of you had agreed to be when your relationship came to an end. After days of what could probably be called a verbal equivalent of a nuclear war, the two of you had given up.
Crying, shouting, complete silence, you had done it all and there was no end in sight. On day three of radio silence, you felt as if you could do without speaking to Changkyun at all. When you brought it up, he admitted he felt the same. Exhaustion making both of you devoid of any emotion, you agreed to disagree and act like the fight had never happened. You were tired and wanted nothing more to do with it. Or each other. Thinking of yourselves as somewhat grown, you decided to be civil since you were in the same circle of friends, not wanting to burden them with any of your problems.
With so many things left unsaid and ties still loose, there was no way that you could just cut clean. But you never so much as bumped into each other since.
You hadn’t blocked each other though, as you both felt that it was some sign of weakness. Yeah, I’m tough enough to keep them on my socials. They don’t bother me. Not at all. But in the small hours of the morning, you were on each other’s profiles, hoping for a glimpse of what they were up to. Wondering if he had finished that song he was working on. If you were eating well. If he was really seeing Jae-in seriously. If you were well and truly happy.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
Y/N’s doing just fine for themselves, everyone can see that.
“Did you finish that essay?”
No, that’s too random.
“I think about you all the time.”
Shut up Changkyun.
Though you had both agreed to be ‘friends’, there was no easy way in going about messaging one another when you had fought so explosively. Changkyun also felt that he had missed the right timeframe for him to salvage whatever there was left of the relationship. Whether it be platonic or romantic. No matter how much he wanted to message you, his pride falsely masked as maturity stopped him from ever doing more than wish for you to call him and say that everything was going to be ok. That you can start over.
“Do you wanna go to Minhyuk’s house party?” Jae-in’s voice was heavy with sleep, squinting her eyes at the bright screen of her phone. Changkyun was startled from his thoughts, not realising that she had been woken up by a text.
“House party…?” Changkyun was dubious.
“It’s ok if you don’t want to, it’s just that we don’t ever do anything besides fuck, and I thought we could do with a change of scenery.”
“I mean yeah it’s just that we’ve never hung out with other people before. Like together.”
He had met Jae-in at a bar a few months ago. Holed up in his studio after the breakup, Changkyun got to channelling his anger into working on his music until his course mate Minhyuk persuaded him out for drinks. Minhyuk had flirted with the girls from the table over to get them to join in on the pity party. Jae-in had seated herself next to Changkyun and a few drinks later, they had quickly bonded over their childhood obsession with Death Note to which she followed up with an invitation to watch it at her place. Who was Kyun to reject? With all this pent-up energy to spare, music wasn’t quite cutting it.  
“I doubt anyone will care that we arrived together.” Jae-in shrugged. “Let’s go.”
-
“Yeah, I invited Jae-in and I think Changkyun might come with her too.” Minhyuk stated nonchalantly over the phone. You choked on your wine and thanked God that the music in your room was loud enough to cover the unnatural sound you had just made. “Y/N, is that ok? I should have asked you befo-”
“No, I don’t care.” You replied a little too quickly, “It’s been months and we broke up on good terms anyway, remember?”
“MINNIE! I MISS YOU!” Soobin drunkenly shouted across the room as Yerim held her back from throwing herself at the phone.
“I MISS YOUR FACE TOO, BINNIE! I’LL SEE YOU LATER!” Minhyuk chuckled as he didn’t hesitate to match her volume through the phone.
“Ugh, you two make me sick”, Yerim rolled her eyes, “You literally saw each other this morning. Just get together already.”
As Soobin and Minhyuk continued to chat, engulfed in their own little world, you reached to grab another drink. If Minhyuk’s predictions were right, you were going to need something stronger than wine to get you through the night.
-
Stepping into Minhyuk’s apartment, Changkyun could feel the bass rumble underneath his feet already.
“Hey! You made it! I thought you guys weren’t going to come, it’s so late! But we have drinks and snacks in the kitchen. Oh, and Jae-in, the bathrooms just through the hallway on the right…” Minhyuk’s voice trailed off into the loud music. Changkyun followed behind Jae-in as his friend gave the newcomer a guided tour of his place.
Though he was familiar with the apartment, it felt a little weird for him to walk through it with someone else by his side. A pack of cards strewn over the floor jogged his memory back to a particularly warm night in June. With the sun just beginning to rise, you both stood below Minhyuk’s balcony at 4am. You shouted,
“HEY MINHYUK, WE’RE GOING TO PLAY UNO AT YOUR PLACE, D’YOU WANNA JOIN?”
“THOUGHT WE’D ASK IN CASE YOU’D FEEL LEFT OUT.” Changkyun added. You both snickered as Minhyuk opened his window to shout back at you, regretting that he had ever given you two the spare keys to his apartment.
“ARE YOU REALLY INVITING ME TO PLAY CARDS MY OWN HOUSE RIGHT NOW?!” Birds fluttered away startled, as a neighbouring window flashed on a light in annoyance. Your shouting combined could never top the sheer volume of Minhyuk’s voice. Changkyun grabbed your hand as you ran into the building laughing before the neighbour could join in on the screaming match.
With classes finished for the year, you had what felt like an infinite amount of time on your hands. Kyun smiled to himself as he was reminded of those summer nights that he had spent with you. Stargazing, pillow talking, daydreaming on repeat.
“Yeah, so you can get to the outdoor space through the living room but I’m giving you special access to my little balcony through my room because you’re uh, Changkyun’s friend.” Minhyuk grinned as he ended his tour.
Upon entering the actual party in the lounge, Changkyun stopped in his tracks at the sight of you on the other side of the room. For a moment, the smoke in the room seemed to clear as his eyes trained on you throw your head back in laughter at Yerim’s animated storytelling. Hearing your voice so crystal clear made his heart swell with something that he couldn’t quite put into words. Half a year had passed since he had last seen you, sat broken on the floor of your apartment, explaining that it would be best to part ways. You had looked so drained of emotion then; it was such a stark contrast to what he was seeing now. He stood frozen, heart beating hard against his chest like a hammer.
“Kyun! Why are you so late?” Wonho, another friend of Kyun’s appeared out of nowhere with a bottle of tequila in his hand. “You gotta catch up on the drinks now, come on, open your mouth.” Wonho went to grab his face with one hand as he proceeded to try and pour some alcohol into his mouth jokingly. Changkyun chuckled as he play-fought with Wonho only to stop midway when he noticed Jae-in smiling at the sight.
“Oh, this is my friend Jae-in.” Kyun straightened up and brushed off his clothes.
Wonho went to shake her hand as Minhyuk snuck up behind him.
"Yeah, friend.” He giggled as he raised his brows suggestively and left as quickly as he appeared shouting, “Binnie! Where are you? We gotta go make those s’mores you wanted!”
Changkyun rolled his eyes and smiled as he guided Jae-in to the nearest table of drinks and set to introducing her to the rest of his friends, hoping that you wouldn’t notice him.
-
At this point, the three of you were beyond gone. Soobin had already passed out with a s’more in her hand as Minhyuk hauled her over his shoulder to put her to sleep in the guest room.
“And she.. she was telling me to sythensi.. she was telling me thynsenise, no, synsi.. she wanted me to synthesise, there we go, snythi…” Yerim tripped over words, dead set on getting her pronunciation right while Hyungwon sat and nodded with his signature painful smile on his face. She was determined, hand on his shoulder with a grip that let him know he wasn’t going anywhere until she had finished her story.
As for you? You were sat next to Yerim, a vacant smile on your face as you struggled to keep your eyes open. Day drinking followed up with a house party in the evening really wasn’t the best idea for the lightweights that you are but there you were, listening to your friend repeat the same sentence over and over again. An urgent voice in your head piped up, letting you know that you should probably go for a breath of fresh air.
“Yerim, hey, Yerim, I’m.. going for some air… stay with Hyungwon okay? Hyungwon, call me if anything happens?” You stood up, struggling to find your balance and teetered across the room to get to Minhyuk’s balcony.
The thing about you is that you are one of those blessed people that can sober up as quickly as they get smashed. You felt refreshed, taking in a deep breath as if to cleanse your alcohol ridden bloodstreams with the cool evening air. Your head still spun a little but as long as you kept your eyes anchored on the moon, you’d be fine in no time.
As much as your body needed a break from the party, it wasn’t the greatest timing for your mental state. Once you had assumed that Changkyun wasn’t coming to the party, you let go of the anxiety holding you back from enjoying yourself. You had been overstimulated from the alcohol, music, and people, not giving yourself a chance to think about anything else. But once those factors were gone, it was just you, alone with your drunken thoughts on a balcony looking up at the moon. And just like that, those suppressed memories regarding a certain boy couldn’t help but unpack themselves from your unconscious. Oh man, this was going to be such a good cry.
-
Changkyun was beginning to feel a little too tipsy for his liking. Though he was having a great time, it felt as if he wasn’t entirely present at the scene, like he was watching and laughing along through a TV screen. He slipped away from the kitchen island to get a breather.
“Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t realise anyone was here.” He apologised, going to close the door of Minhyuk’s balcony to a figure hunched over the railing. You looked up from your hands at him and tried to focus on the blurry face.
His movements faltered when your eyes met, door still open. Just one look at you was enough for that knock back into reality Changkyun had needed. God were you a sight for sore eyes. He drank up the way your cheeks and nose were flushed pink, how your eyes were glossy in the moonlight, eyelashes thick with tears, and the way the softly coloured city lights behind you framed your face. With the night air stained with your perfume and the sounds of muted traffic perfecting the scene, he had never felt so in the present until now. He wanted this moment to last a lifetime.
“Changkyun?” You replied, as you wiped your eyes clear of the tears blurring your vision. You could tell that voice apart anywhere, you only questioned in the slight chance that you were just hallucinating, going insane.
“Are you ok? I can leave if you want, I-” He began hurriedly, knowing that you hated having anyone see you cry.
“I’m fine.” You sniffed.
“Bad day?” He asked softly, bringing himself to stand next to you, looking over at the cityscape.
“Yeah, something like that.” You replied, letting out a small laugh as you wiped the last of the tears from your face. 
Tension hung so thick in the air you could feel it weigh down on your shoulders. Changkyun hated that you, the person he had once shared the deepest parts of his mind with, was someone he was now so uncomfortable with.
You both stood there awhile, looking out at the blinking lights of the cityscape. As quiet as it was, you could almost hear the sound of your brains whirring, going back and forth over whether or not you should say something to break the silence. Changkyun had spent months thinking of questions he wanted to ask you for when this moment came, but the alcohol and nerves fogged up his mind. All he could think of doing was holding you in his arms, hoping for you to be able to feel his apologies, sincerity and promises through the beating of his chest.
A heavy pressing in your lungs only intensified, as you thought about how the present situation had become the outcome of those few perfect years. You regulated your breathing, trying to break down the lump from coming up in your throat, on the verge of tears again. Thinking back, you realised that you probably could have been a little more understanding, could have softened your sharp words, could have opened your heart up some more to allow for Changkyun to do so in return. These thoughts and emotions bubbled up inside your chest to spill out of your mouth before you even knew what you wanted to say.
“Changkyun, I-”
“I found a really nice place for nights like this. Y/N.” he cut across with an anxious tremble in his voice. He could feel the apology ready to tumble from your lips, he had to stop you from apologising for things that you really didn’t need to. He hated that your heart was so big and so loving that you were willing to start trying to mend this relationship first. But he hated himself more for not having the courage to try to be even half as loving as you are.
He continued, still looking out over the balcony, worried that he’d start to tear up if he met your eyes again, “you can see the stars so clearly, it’s insane.”
You turned to him, tears welling in your eyes again. Despite having cut each other from your lives for what felt like a lifetime, it broke you how he could still read you like his favourite book.
“Can we go? Y/N? I’ve waited so long to show you.”
Hot tears fell down your cheeks again as Changkyun noticed and turned to you, pulling you into his chest as you cried out the mess of emotions you had amassed. 
The person you had wanted to talk about your breakup with Changkyun the most, was so ironically Changkyun. He’d know how to calm you down, how to sort out your problems with ice cream in bed like any other issue you were facing. But what were you supposed to do when you had cut the one who understood you the most so bluntly from your life? Who were you supposed to turn to when you wanted to talk about that?
Your cries pierced into his heart deeper with every second that passed, feeling the hurt in your voice in the deepest parts of his soul. He replied by holding you tighter, and you could feel all those things he left unsaid that day you left in the warmth of his chest.
“We don’t have to rush,” He whispered into your hair, “I have all the time in the world for you. Let it out.”
He brought a hand up from your shoulders hesitantly, feeling almost undeserving of comforting you after the pain he had caused you. But to you, his hand stroking your hair was where you found your solace.
So, there you stood, in each other’s arms having poured out your hearts to one another without having said a single word. But you both knew that you felt every single one.
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