#i see gay links i pair them together

[p3r1b0t]

my four swords shipping diagram drawn on my teachers whiteboard. i didnt erase it ft. my wife’s commentary

[ghostofthepresent]

Why I think Shiguang can be canonically read as romantic

(I will only be using the donghua for reference, so no Studio Lan retweeting those fanarts (lmao) nor those especially gay manhwa panels (lmao x2) nor even the songs ("chase you to the end of the world, just to say your name once more" my beloved).

It's important to start off by saying that I'm aware Director Li said they ended up not making Lu Guang a girl because they didn't want romance to be seen as a must in Shiguang's relationship by the audience (and because he feels that "bros can have a good heart-to-heart connection with each other"). In my opinion that was a great move since it allows more freedom with how they write them than they'd have otherwise. I also think viewing Shiguang as queerplatonic is a great read too and it doesn't diminish their love for each other nor the importance of their relationship at all.

With that said, despite Director Li's words, there's been things that had me going 🤨 as someone who likes to adhere to canon relationships and read into the writer's intentions, so I wanted to share why I personally see them as romantic.

EPISODE 2

We've all seen this coming, right? Most obvious parallel ever, and in the second episode no less. We all know the similarities between both relationships, so I will just touch on those I consider the most important ones.

Lin Zhen and Yu Xia have gone to college together, and since then decided to start a business of their own - named after a mix of their names. They've been shown as being really close and having no romantic relationships. Lin Zhen also says that Yu Xia's happiness is her own, and then it's shown to us that she's gone through years of unhappiness just for Yu Xia. I believe you can replace their names with Lu Guang's and Cheng Xiaoshi's in your head without me writing all this again. And I'm not even going to get into the most obvious parallels like the special noodle recipe for each pair.

I think it's safe to say that Lin Zhen and Yu Xia are implied to be romantic. From that "one noodle" scene, to the close shot of Lin Zhen grabbing her hand, etc.

Now, I want to get into a writer's point of view and pose two questions:

1. What's the purpose of this episode, when even those which seem episodic connect to the overarching plot of season 1 (even the missing kid's case, as it leads to the involvement with the police)?

2. If we answer the previous question with the conclusion that it's meant to show us the nature/development of Cheng Xiaoshi's and Lu Guang's relationship, what does that say about it?

"Partner" in Link Click

Continuing with episode 2, what really got me thinking about the romantic intentions in their writing was the constant mention of marriage and anything in relation to it.

(may I remind everyone that the driver's comment was said when Cheng Xiaoshi was complaining about Lu Guang lmao)

They're telling us through "show don't tell" (for example, when Lin Zhen kept on eating the noodle despite knowing they'd kiss) and, also, connotations. They are presented to us as business partners, but then the entire episode goes on to tell us that there's more to them by tying their relationship to things percived as romantic. So what they want to really tell us is that beyond simple business partners, they're life-long partners.

And then, after establishing this kind of connotation to the word partner, Cheng Xiaoshi says this to Lu Guang in the next episode:

This doesn't stop at them. While it's the most obvious example, I think partnership in Link Click is intended to be seen as romantic, or at the very least dancing somewhere close to it. Let's go even further and take a look at our fully canon, heterosexual relationships and see briefly how their story is written:

1. Dong Yi and Xu Shanshan: both of them chose the comfort of each other's presence over moving on with their respective futures. Dong Yi had so much faith in their relationship and their love that he couldn't choose a life/future that didn't have Xu Shanshan - choosing to not go back to his family home nor go to that interview, and instead waiting for Xu Shanshan to define their relationship.

2. Liu Siwen and Ouyang: Siwen spent his entire life training with the purpose of getting his father-in-law's respect and marry Ouyang, going every year over and over to fight him. His perseverance and his undying love for her allowed Siwen to do the (seemingly) impossible.

3. Chen Bin and his wife: they're a tragedy. His wife understood Chen Bin the best, enduring feeling lonely because she loved him and wanted a future with him. But their relationship was cut short, so they promised each other to be together in a future life to make up for the time they wouldn't be in this one.

With this + the pictures I attached, it seems like Link Click has set this theme of "love is a life with you" for its romantic relationships, a partner that will fight to stay because they can't see a future that doesn't have their beloved. Going back to episode two, this applies even to the noodle ladies. When Yu Xia remembered what actually matters to her, she went back home - to the start, to her hometown. And, most importantly, to Lin Zhen.

So why is Shiguang romantic? Why aren't they queerplatonic, or just best friends, or bros or whatever else? Because besides what I said at the start of the previous paragraph, Shiguang's relationship mirrors a lot of the romantic ones. Each story and author writes romance and other kinds of relationships differently, portraying them in the way they perceive "this is what this kind of love is like". And beyond life-long partners, I think that the key elements of romantic relationships in Link Click are the ones I highlighted in bold above in the 3 canon relationships part - which Shiguang shares, too.

(I didn't mention this before with the het couples, but I find it a little amusing that season 2 happened because a man wanted to go to the past and get his wife back (still fuck you Qian Jin) and then we find out Lu Guang did go back to the past and got his boyfriend partner back lmao).

"Friend" vs "Partner"

So where is the boundary between platonic and romantic? What marks the difference between a (best) friend and a partner?

There is, for example, Liu Xiao and Li Tianchen's relationship. They aren't shown to have any kind of romantic undertones and there's even the very real possibility of manipulation on Liu Xiao's side. They're also never labeled as nor call each other partners, but instead Li Tianchen says he "met a new friend" and Liu Xiao says he's "going to meet an old friend" years later. So we could say for now that they have a somewhat close relationship (we see Li Tianchen go against Qian Jin to give the phone to Liu Xiao), but never cross that "friend" label.

We can even bring Qiao Ling and the boys' relationship. She's never labeled as a partner despite taking part in the side job and, more importantly, being super close to both of them. She is very important and a cherished friend to Shiguang, so why not call her partner too? I think it's intentional. Since she's been given a familial role already (calling Cheng Xiaoshi her brother when talking to Li Tianxi), she can't fill a partner role. I wonder why? because it's supposed to be a synonym for a romantic relationship. who said that.

So even best friends (Qiao Ling, arguably what Liu Xiao is to Li Tianchen) don't enter this close space that is being a partner. It's different, it's beyond platonic. Or at least that's what they've been showing us for the past two seasons.

I could go soo much more into this honestly, because I do think the little hints thrown here (the music videos) and there (tiny seemingly inconsequential details) are worth to be looked at too, but I wanted to get into the core reason that makes me go "woah so they're In Love fr". I hope I expressed myself well ^^

tldr; the series shows us a divide between having a (best) friend and a partner, giving "partners" romantic connotations.

[chiocchi]

If you don't mind answering, why do you ship Tom Riddle and Harry Potter? Besides the whole issue that they are enemies, and the age difference, both characters are heterosexual. It's canonical fact. If it's the dynamic you like... Have you thought about Tomione's ship? They have a lot of potential together. And in the right direction, they would be a couple that could make it in the books.

JDKLJKLFJSDLKFJA This kinda feels like people knocking on your door and trying to get you to believe in their religion. It's pretty funny.

I don't know why are you calling issues to a part of the pairing's appeal lkajdsjfs (And Hermione is Harry's age and they are on the same side too?). And not sure about that canonical fact. Harry can be read as bisexual quite easily and Voldemort|Tom... idk he seems more obsessed with power, immortality, and Harry. But even if that's the case, I don't see why it should matter. We're in fandom after all.

I don't know if I'll be able to convey why I like this ship so much. For starters, I'm really into the unique connection they share. There was a piece of Voldemort's soul inside Harry's; they had a mental link; a whole language they're the only ones to speak (for the most part); Voldemort chose him and marked him; and there's even a prophecy that linked them together. There aren't two people more connected than them. They're soulmates, and the fact that Voldemort didn't intend it and Harry hates it adds another layer of complexity.

But not only that, they're like a broken reflection of each other, which I find fascinating. In his second year, Harry was worried about the similarities between them. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles, they both considered Hogwarts their first real home. I feel like they would have really understood each other in other circumstances. They would have been friends. Because one of their key differences is that Harry found friends and adults that loved him while Tom was probably bullied and, y'know, the whole Dumbledore thing.

Not to mention that Harry would die for everyone whereas Tom would kill everyone. They're insane in their own way. I love their similarities and differences, but more than anything else, I love when they're together. The fanfics and fanarts are awesome.

And the whole thing of being enemies feels quite gay sometimes klafjdlskfja. Harry can't help but think Tom is handsome and, despite everything Voldemort did, Harry wanted to give him one last chance to show remorse. I have no doubt Harry is crazy enough to actually forgive him.

I've thought about Tomione and I've come to the conclusion that I don't like it. pinktom has a really good post about it and I agree with it. Besides, Hermione liked Ron and had something with Krum, and they're nothing like Tom. Just because she's heterosexual doesn't mean she's attracted to any man, y'know? klajdlfkdjs I don't think they would have been a couple in the books, no matter the direction. If it's the dynamic you like, have you thought about Tomarry? More believable, more intense, and a wider range of wholesomeness to fucked up in the fics. It's really interesting. Unless you don't like men being together? Hmm? Suspicious (just kidding. To each their own. So no need to go to other people's asks to try to change their minds :kek:).

Also Harry is my favorite character and he's not replaceable. I kinda don't care about any other character tbh. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[juiice]

The Locked Tomb Fic Recs (8)

Part 1+ Links

Lots of people dont have time to read a lot of long fiction. so i'm going to make a list of my fave long fics, so you can pick out one to read! (hint: its most of the tag lol)(if your long fic isn’t on here i probably read it so long ago i forgot what happened so i can’t put it on this list until i read it again and that will take forever)

The criteria for this one is any hits any time. The Theme is..

… Double Novel Length! (over 100,000 Words)

Four very different roommate stories!

And They Were (the Worst) Roommates! by anotherpassingfancy Rated: E (yes sex) Finished

It’s her second year at Canaan University, and Gideon is finally coming into her own. She has a full athletic scholarship, best friends Pal and Cam, and a found family with the Pents and Terrible Teens. She shares a locker room with her hot teammate Corona, who even knows her name. 

Gideon is happy.

And then she meets her new roommate, Harrowhark Nonagesimus.

I actually need to reread this one because i dont remember what happens BUT i do remember it was awesome. Read if you want fun college AU (i sure am after finishing this list!)

semi-charmed kinda life By: strangedelight rating: E (sex as plot points) WIP

Gideon asked questions. Harrow surprised her with answers. They reached an agreement; they decided to be smart, to be patient. Gideon made a promise, Harrow gave her one in return. Wait and see.

semi charmed kinda life is like when you finally find a good anime thats NOT about teens.(is that just me? Ok) i love the deep characterization in this one, and the rich setting of the 1990s that’s familiar but not too familiar. and it has my favorite thing in it: cam :) more serious than ATW(TW)R, and not completed, but it's Worth It to get into. And it has art! X/X/X/X/X/X @griddlebait is the author on tumblr idk if hes active but!! awesome fic we love it! Read if you want realistic AUs feat team 69 and gay thoughts.

We Have Always Lived in the Apartment By: labyrinthineRetribution rating: T (gore heavy, id say M) WIP

     It is Harrowhark Nonagesimus' birthday, and it only gets worse from there.

WHALITA is crazy. LR always writes the craziest gideon/harrow ever, i think even more dysfunctional than canon, and it’s great to see them struggle with basic things, like… having a roommate. And not so basic things, like living out a horror movie. This one has some art too X @thatneoncrisis is the authors tumblr. Read if you want to be fucked up, and then abandoned because its not finished yet.

Let's Make The Most of this Beautiful Day (Since We're Together We Might As Well)  By:  br0ken_hands, jpnadia Rated: E (sex as major plot points) Finished

    “Harrow?” Gideon does a double-take and grips on to the nearest solid object for support. The keys on the entryway table give a forlorn jingle at the impact. “Harrowhark Nonagesimus?”

    The wraith stops dead partway down the stairs with her hand on the bannister. “Griddle?” (“Griddle?” asks Cam, incredulously, which is about how Gideon feels about that nickname, too.)

    Palamedes gives them a very narrow look. “Harrow, my undergraduate study partner, Camilla Hect. And you’re Gideon Nav, I presume? I’ve heard about you; it’s a pleasure to meet. I take it you already know my roommate, Harrowhark Nonagesimus?”

    Three best friends unsuitable roommate pairs buy adjoining properties and rip down the fences and have a shared garden. There is a goat.

    This fic does not contain spoilers for Harrow the Ninth.

LMTMOTBD (SWTWMAW) is one hell of an acronym for one hell of a story. Thats probably why it's called 4gfs. these are the types of stories i want to print out and put on my shelf. Fun and sexy, not as serious as SCKL or WHALITA. I love everyones problems in this one. does that make sense? Read if you want smut and found family.

Four Empire Griddleharks

 Cataclysmic Variable Star by: Elldritch Rating: M Finished

A continuation of the Harrow Nova AU from chapter 40 of Harrow the Ninth

     CVS is like its own book. Pretty sure i’ve put this on lists before. I love reverend daughter gideon, and how the canon beats are twisted to fit the altered characters. Harrow nova Is… i'm kissing her and she has killed me. Read if you want more canon adjacent. 

Attack on Ninth by: cmdrskip Rated:E (yes sex) Finished

Failing numerous times to escape the Ninth, Gideon gave up the ghost and settled into her forced servitude. The Emperor made no request for the Houses to attempt the Lyctor Trials. Gideon’s miserable life went on in the Ninth House, plateauing into a tedious rinse and repeat cycle of waiting for the seemingly unattainable sweet release of death. The monotony is broken when someone makes it their mission to murder the Ninth House scion. Somehow this becomes Gideon’s problem.

As if it was a universal rule, Gideon’s pitiful life gets worse in the drill shaft. (Get it? The Ninth is a pit and it sucks- whatever).

AU- Gideon becomes the Ninth's cav and tries to keep Harrow alive, without it killing her first.

This one was pretty good. I love the middle part of gtn when our girls are reluctantly working together. They are a little older in this one than canon, and managed to interact with people, and this has changed them just a bit. Read if you want that sweet enemies to lovers slow burn, and interesting plot to go along with it.

Resurrection By: N1ghtWr1ter Rated: E Finished

The Ninth House needs an heir. A little bit of flesh magic later, and its cavalier primary is set up to provide.

And then the Reverend Daughter manages to *ruin sex.*

 This one is 100,000 words of delicious porn. Read if you want 100,000 words of griddlehark fucking nastey on every surface of the ninth. It also has a 20,000 word unfinished prequel in the same universe, reading not required. 

The Flip Side By: No1fan15 Rated: M Finished

Gideon Nav is alive, resurrected by the King Undying, and she's having a hell of a time.

From a now embarrassingly protective Harrow, to her newly gained powers, to a Ninth House repopulated, shit is going down. With her sword, her wits, and her deeply buried feelings, she fights to keep this new life long enough to ensure her adept is safe. But Harrow's talking to herself, the Emperor is lying to them, and Gideon keeps fumbling every chance at a real conversation with the girl she died for.

Worst of all, the River is calling her back, and she doesn't know how long she can stay afloat.

This one is like an alternate HTN if gideon was immediately resurrected. Kinda similar to attack on ninth,in setting, but less sex. Read if you hated when gideon died and pretended like she was magically resurrected in your head. 

Three Earth AUs.

Yellow Card By: Moonblastbitch Rated: E WIP

Harrowhark had 3 things she would always be grateful for: her two cousins, and her son.

Everything else was…fine. Work? Fine. Dealing with the gossipy PTA moms? Her marriage? Not great, but it was fine.

But her son’s big, ginger soccer coach? That butch is FINE.

  What’s discretion compared to new discoveries? What’s loyalty and faithfulness when you’ve just found exactly where you belong?

Yellow card is immaculate. Read if you want to meet Kevin, and love him. Read if you want some steamy sex.

Ask A Ginger By: Rohad Rating: E  Finished

Of all her gigs, writing advice for a column in a skin magazine is probably Gideon's favorite, though walking Noodle for Cam and Pal is a close second. Even when it brings her within glaring distance of their across-the-hall neighbors. The Nonagesimus sisters. The younger, a little weird but fine. The elder? A pit viper.

At least on the surface.

AAG is so funny and gives that good good gideon POV that i love. Read if you love Gideon.

I Will Not Die For You By:ghost_maiden_of_delphi Rating: M Finished

Gideon Nav is a mid-level enforcer for the Nonagesimus Crime Family, and all she wants is out. Luckily, she has a ticket: if she can ferry the don's daughter, Harrowhark, across the country to a meeting of The Nine Families.

There's only three problems: they can't fly, they can't use any of the Family's resources, and Harrowhark is the last person Gideon wants to spend two weeks trapped in a car with. But now it's up to her, alone, to keep Harrow safe and keep herself from losing it on the long, lonesome road ahead.

Read if you love… i'm running out of taglines. It's mafia, guys. Read it. 

+ One Non Griddlehark Adventure

Everything Goes On By: cato_universe Rated: E Finished

In a different time and place, Mercymorn remembers.

or

2,000 years later the Lyctors are born again, to finally get it right.

This one is wild. This one’s not about our main cast at all and instead follows mercy, in another life. I really like it, it’s refreshing to follow her for so long. Read if you want something thats not griddlehark. Gideon is just barely in this one.

OK, if youve made it this far, congratulations! and goodbye.

[twstfanblog]

*~Thanks Give Me~* Pt 3

A/N: Third part ready and served! Yes I passed out writing this at least twice. So you can probably see it but at this point it's just gonna have to be. I have plans to do what I'm gonna call 'Winter Cleaning' since I wont be doing a Christmas fic this year. So lots of time to look back at all of my posted fics to fix typos and the such XD Word Count: 3.3K Pairings: Ruggie/Leona, Cater/Idia, Vil/Rook, Trey/Jade, Riddle/Floyd, Epel/Ace/Deuce/Jack Warnings: Swearing, Trans-headcanons, Drug mentions, Lying about pregnancy

Prev

The dinner was surprisingly pleasant. It was a possibility, Trein knew that. His students, if push came to shove, could act civilly to each other for extended periods of time. It still made his heart soften seeing them all around the table engaged in conversations. If he craned his head a little to the left he could see Lucius seated at the ‘Kids Table’. Demeaning? Possibly. But he knew his familiar wouldn't complain if he was receiving human food, not to mention the small tumbler of cream he had in place of the fruit punch the other children and Grim were given.

Looking to his right, Trein watched Cater take photo after photo of his plate. It was filled to the brim, a little tasteful piece from the most colorful dishes. But seeing him only pick at the food, Trein realized that was only his ‘Photo Plate’. The redhead was routinely picking off of Idia’s plate who was to Caters right. 

Thinking over the conversation he had with Yuu earlier that week, Trein placed his utensils down. Dabbing at his mouth to make sure no food was on his face, he cleared his throat, “Cater?”

The redhead in question snapped his head up, the flash of his camera flickering as it took a photo, “Yes? Sorry, is the flash bothering you, sir? I'm trying to see what lighting is better.”

"Nothing is the matter Cater, I wish to speak to you on other matters.”

“Oh?” Cater leaned his arm on the table, “Spill the tea.”

Trein linked his hands together, leveling Cater with a steady gaze, “You were given the a title as a task I believe?”

“Lol, yeah. Yuu says I'm ‘Gay Cousin’. Wont really tell me what I'm supposed to be doing though.”

“Oh, well this works out perfectly. Yuu alerted me as ‘Grandpa’, it was my task to ask you certain questions.”

“Oh, thank the Seven. Actual direction…”

Trein pulled his phone from his inner robe pocket along with his reading glasses. Putting his glasses on, he opened the notes app, “Now, I've heard you children say a few terms that I'm not aware of…would you tell me what a…’Gyatt’ is?”

Cater turned to Idia, grabbing his attention from his tablet, “Switch seats with me.”

“There's two T's.”

“Switch with me right the fuck now.”

Leona ate as much from his plate in big bites as possible. Ruggie was no better, the hyena basically shoveling food down his throat without even closing his mouth. Looking to his other side, he had to hold back the urge to smirk.

Malleus Draconia, the bane of his existence and the most aggravating thorn to ever find its way to his side.

When he had visited Ramshackle to offer more monetary support, Yuu had given him a second task. They had revealed to him that they told Malleus Thanksgiving was a holiday of compromise and togetherness, meaning you weren't allowed to fight on the day. They then told him to do everything in his power to piss Malleus off.

Taking a sip of his beer, Leona glanced at Malleus from the corner of his eyes, “So, gargoyles…”

It almost made him feel bad seeing how quickly Malleus perked up, green eyes wide and sparkling.

“Yes? what did you wish to discuss about them?”

“What's your favored style? I can admit to having a soft spot for animal pieces, but the Savanna uses more geometric and plant designs.”

Malleus could have vibrated out of his seat and into the sun from how excited he became. He quickly launched into a lecture, noting the various styles and the positives of each one. Leona spoke up at points, giving actual opinions and thoughtful insights on the topic.

“I will say Kingscholar, I didn't expect you to have such knowledge on gargoyles! You must come to my club at a later date to speak on them farther.”

“I just might. Talking about grotesques is enjoyable-”

“Gargoyles.”

Leona raised an eyebrow, humming as he took another sip of his beer.

Malleus was still smiling, though his pupils had dilated into slits, “Gargoyles. We are speaking on gargoyles.’

Shrugging, Leona could barely hide his smirk from behind his glass, “Same thing.”

Leona watched in hidden elation as Malleus’s face slowly dropped the longer he talked. It was worth the days of learning gargoyle architecture just to give wrong definitions and terms, each new avenue of knowledge torturing Malleus in his urge to argue and correct him.

Soon Malleus was leaned on the table, head resting on his hands to give himself support while Leona kept talking.

Leona smiled, leaning closer to Malleus, “And you know what really gargles my goyles?”

Malleus gags hard and quick, managing to cover his mouth and steel himself.

“...Did you almost throw up?”

“I did. A little…”

The laugh Leona let out could only make Malleus more frustrated. 

Kalim had completely forgotten about the conversation topic Yuu recommended he try. He remembered as the plate of grilled and buttered corn made its second pass in front of him. Grabbing a cob, he looked across the table, “Hey, Azul. What's your opinion on The stalk market right now?”

Azul paused, closing the note app on his phone to give Kalim his full attention, “Kalim, have you been taking note of the stock market?”

“Yeah. I've only started checking on it the past week or so, but man! It's pretty wild, huh?”

Smiling, Azul moved to place another scoop of pasta salad onto his plate along with a third slice of turkey, “True. The stock market can be a bit of a wild west to the untrained. Do you have any predictions for the new year? My stepfather and I love to place bets on which company will have the worst spring quarter.”

"Hmmm. I don't know. I can't remember the companies by name still. But man, I read about one that lost half of their product due to outside issues. I'm just worried that prices will increase since they had such a bad production period. Other companies deal in their certain type of stalk, but this company was the biggest provider…”

“...” Azul placed his utensils down, giving Kalim his complete attention, “Kalim what sources are you getting this information from?” Azul doesn’t watch the stock market obsessively but he’d at least notice something so severe.

“Oh, I just Miraed ‘Stalk Market’ and started reading. You should really look up some stuff…”

“Jamil-”

Jamil didn’t even look up from his plate, grabbing a second helping of food, “Don’t involve me with this.”

Sighing, Azul turns back to Kalim, “There is no way, such a large shift happened without me noticing. Plus, if only one company is affected in production, then it wouldn’t raise prices if there are other competitors. What is this stock in?”

“Stalks.”

“Yes…Which stock? Do you remember if this company was in electronics? Services? What ddi this company do?”

“Stalks! Azul, do you know what the stalk market is?”

“Kalim, let’s not start that conversation. Tell me, in plain words, what kind of stock you were researching.”

“Corn stalks.”

“...”

Jamil had turned to them, looking at Kalim across the table, “Are you fucking serious?”

Cater had his head in his hands, Trein still beside him listing off old and newer slang that he wanted definitions of. The professor growing more and more disapproving with every new term he learned. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could do this.

“And…’boofing’, do you know what boofing is?”

WHO WAS BOOFING- “Pregnant. I’m pregnant.” Cater nodded to himself, using the trap card Yuu had given him to shift any conversation in his favor.

Trein raised a brow, “Is that what boofing is?”

Idia had locked in the second Cater said pregnant, looking at him in terrified confusion, “How are you pregnant?”

“...” Cater played with his hair, looking away from his boyfriend, “It’s not yours.”

Ortho quickly leaned over to narrow his eyes at Cater, Idia still stunned in silence, “Who’s the father?”

“...” Cater shifted his eyes across the table, silently watching as Trey contently ate his food.

Jade took notice, his own amused smile slowly falling from his face as he realized Cater was focused on Trey.

Feeling more and more eyes on him, Trey looked up mid-bite, “...What?”

Cater sighed, fully committing to his bit, “Trey, I’m pregnant.”

“...” Trey made the mistake of looking to his side, catching the unblinking stare of Jade’s barely contained emotions before looking back at Cater, “Why are you telling me?”

“It’s yours.”

Trey quickly reached his hand out, pinning Jade’s wrist to the table just as the mer tightened his grip on his knife, “Cater, we have…never slept together.”

Rook spoke up from Trein’s left, pouting at Cater, “Monsieur Magicam, how are you not sure it’s mine?”

Vil lost every ounce of amusement, glaring at Rook as though he was poisoning him with his eyes alone, “Why would it be yours?”

“Oh, mon amor. Love is a flighty and fickle predator, it hunts and snatches its prey with little to no warning.” Turning back to Cater, he placed a hand over his heart, “Are you sure it’s not mine?”

Cater could barely keep his face start, nodding as he watched Trey start struggling to hold Jade down from stabbing either of them, “I’m pretty sure. I’ve been craving violets and worrying about the teeth of children-”

Jade hissed under his breath, glaring at Trey and trying to grab his knife with his other hand, “How dare you impregnate someone else!?” 

“I didn’t!?”

Vil said nothing, glaring at Rook as the wine in his hand slowly started to bubble and turn black. His eye twitched as his boyfriend continued to lament and plea for Cater to tell him he was the father of his child.

Idia, breaking out of his spiral of despair and confusion, mumbling out, “Wait, you don’t even like vaginal sex. How’d you get pregnant?”

“...”

Trein spoke up, turning to Rook beside him, “Do you know what boofing is?”

Four glasses deep in the wine he brought, Crewel swirled his glass and picked at the ham on his plate. Eyes roaming the table for someone to target.

“Oi, Beakfish, hand me the red sludge.”

Riddle sighed, glaring at Floyd, “Don’t be rude to our professor and it’s cranberry sauce. Red sludge is very unappealing…Plus, it’s more of a burgundy color.”

“Eh? It’s a sludge though? It’s got chunks and everything.”

Silver raised an eyebrow, pouring more gravy onto his food, “It looks more like a jelly to me.”

While the three students were debating on what to call the condiment, Crewel grabbed the small platter but kept it close to himself, “I’ll pass it if you can tell me the boiling point of a frost potion, Floyd.”

“That’s a trick question. Frost potions don’t boil but they heat to temp.”

“Hmmm. Odd you know that but left it blank on your last test. Along with a number of other questions.”

Floyd groaned, rolling his eyes and moving to reach across the table and grab the platter in Crewel’s hand, “I didn’t wanna! Tests are so annoying, be happy I even wrote on it this time…”

Riddle glared at his boyfriend, “Honestly Floyd. You have to learn to put in more effort in your schoolwork. Your grades would be better for it.”

Crewel turned his eyes to Riddle, raising an eyebrow, “Like how you should be doing more cardio and strength training outside of Physical Education?”

“...”

“You can’t do five pull-ups, Riddle.”

Silver spoke around the spoonfuls of mashed potato in his mouth, “Riddle is able to lift a saddle during club.”

“By himself?”

“...” Silver looked back to his plate, poking at his side of vegetables, “The horses are much taller than him…”

Lilia laughed, his glass full of sangria having been drained for a third time already, “Oh come now Crewel! Children tend to try to avoid difficult things like schoolwork or exercise. We’re having a lovely meal, let’s drop the topic.”

“You have two essays you’ve yet to turn in.”

“...Um-”

“You’re aware that your Mistcord* status is public and shows you play Mortus Behind* for hours on end every night?”

“Well-”

Yuu spoke up, looking over as Deuce went back for a third helping of mac and cheese, “Slow down there, Deuce. Leave some for the rest of us.”

The spade soldier blushed, stopping from getting a second scoop before passing the dish over to Ace, “Sorry. It’s just really good, how many cheeses did you use in this?”

“Four. I call it Mac n Coma for a reason.”

“...You call it what?”

Epel hummed, biting into a deviled egg topped with a piece of ham, “Yur deviled eggs are really good, Deuce! Ah’ve never had them with chili powder before.”

Deuce smiled, “Thanks! My mom always made them with chili powder instead of cayenne. Cater confused me so much when I was making them…”

Taking another two eggs, Epel started to load his plate up again, making sure to refill his glass of apple juice, “This was a great idea. Ah’ve been meaning to get y'all together. Plus, Ah get ta really chow down without Vil bothering me about manners.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, watching Epel pile his plate high, “Eating is important, but you’re kind of…eating a lot. You know we can take leftovers back with us right?”

Ace looked from the side of his eyes, watching Ruggie eat without so much as stopping to breathe, “I mean, if there’s anything left…”

Epel had patted a hand on his stomach, “Well, you know. Eatin’ for two and all.”

Jack hacked and choked, an aborted spit take going down his windpipe. Sebek had dropped his fork onto his plate, looking at Epel with wide and terrified eyes, while Deuce seemed to buffer.

Ace sputtered, his half-chewed food falling out of his mouth, “You’re what!?”

“Oh, it ain’ yours.”

“Thank the Seven…”

Deuce held his head in his hands, staring at the table, “My mom is gonna kill me…”

“It ain’ yurs neither, Deuce. It’s Sebek or Jack’s but Ah’m not sure which…”

Jack still looked horrified, hitting his chest to clear his airway, “E-either way. I’ll step up to be there for you and the baby…”

“...” Sebek glares at Jack, “Why do you assume I wouldn’t be stepping up as the child’s father?”

“Why do you assume you’re the father?”

Slowly, Jack and Sebek’s tension escalated into an argument, the two larger freshmen moving to stand from their chairs or just leap across the table at each other. Both loudly proclaiming they’d be a proper provider for Epel and the child, unknowingly insinuating the other would not be.

While the two of them bickered back and forth, Yuu slipped Epel a twenty note bill under the table.

Sam finished off his second plate, looking around the the table. His task wasn't truly something he had to do, it was more of a get out of jail card for when the table was too rowdy for him. With two separate conversations at each end of the table dealing with possible pregnancies, a debate on if the production of corn counted as the stalk/stock market, and Draconia slowly coming to terms with the idea of manslaughter Sam decided he needed a little air.

He elbowed Crewel, stopping the wine drunk man from verbally dragging his students through the trenches, “I'm gonna go for a walk, you wanna come with?”

“To what? Have sex?”

“...” Sam shrugged his shoulders, “I mean, I was going to just…walk but we'll see how we feel afterwards?”

“...Yeah, ok.”

Floyd perks up, “Ah! Wait, shrimpy told me what your job was. I wanna come too!”

Lilia smiled, finally free from Crewel's judgemental glare, “Oh, a walk? May we join you? I even have my own…walk enhancers.”

Sam shrugged again, already standing from his seat, “Might as well.”

Their small group was barely noticed leaving, only Riddle and Silver taking account. Riddle raised an eyebrow, watching them walk out of the dining room without a goodbye.

“Where do you suppose they're going?”

Silver took the time to grab the cranberry sauce from Crewel's table space, “A walk. They should be back in about ten or fifteen minutes…”

“Why in the Seven would they go for a mid-meal walk? Once they were done eating I could understand, but Floyd's barely touched his second plate…”

“...” Silver looked over to Riddle, brows creased in confusion, “Riddle, They're going to do drugs. That's what taking a ‘walk’ means.”

The gasp Riddle gave was small but clearly horrified.

Dinner had ended, while a handful returned to their dorms (Idia of course, leaving the second Cater asked if he was ready to go, and Vil who finished his plate and dragged Rook out with him) most had decided to stick around Ramshackle.

The only reason he had stayed was the fact he did not have his phone for some reason. He tried to retrace his steps, checking around the now empty dinner table he found nothing but the nearly empty serving platters all covered again. The stray fairy watching him from little spaces, waiting for him to leave so they could pick at the food left improperly covered.

He checked the kitchen, finding only Crewel and Trein standing at the Island both nursing glasses of wine. Pouting, seated at the smaller dining table across from Vargas was Crowley. The headmaster begrudgingly eating from a plate, no doubt cursing Yuu under his breath for not actually inviting him to their massive friends and family dinner.

“Apologies for interrupting, professors. But have any of you seen my phone? White case with a rose popstand on the back?”

While most of the teachers shook their heads, Varga hummed before snapping his fingers, “The lounge! I think one of the kids had it.”

“Oh no…”

Walking into the lounge, Riddle had to hold in a snicker. Yuu had told him their family recipe for macaroni and cheese was known as ‘Mac n Coma’ and he could see why. Leona was passed out on the couch, snoring loudly face down in the cushions. Wedged between the back of the couch and Leona’s side was Ruggie. The hyena silent but sleeping just as hard with an arm draped over the back of Leona’s head.

The children were asleep too, each of them piled on top of Leona and Ruggie in a mass of limbs. Jack’s twin siblings squishing Cheka between them, the grey tipped twin sleepily gnawing on the lion cub’s tail. Deuce was also in the lounge, unfortunately unable to reach a couch or chair as he slept on the floor using a throw pillow as a blanket.

Looking around, he couldn’t see his phone anywhere. Groaning under his breath, he walked out to the back and to the patio. He quickly walked by Trey and Jade, the third-year quietly trying to calm his boyfriend who kept glaring at him. Walking around the garden, he finally saw his familiar white case.

The downside was that it was in Yuu’s hands, Floyd squished tight beside her in the pillow filled hammock swing. The two were whispering to themselves, giggling and pointing at the screen. 

He stood in front of them, hands on his hips and already tapping his foot in annoyance, “I would like my phone back, if you two delinquients wouldn’t mind.”

Floyd looked up, his eyes still rimmed in red from his ‘walk’ earlier, “In a minute, Goldfishie~. We gotta do something real fast.”

“What could you two possibly need my phone for?”

Yuu giggled, tapping on the phone and moving to place it against their ear, “We’re callin' your mom and seeing who can make her say a slur fastest.” “GIVE ME MY PHONE THIS INSTANT!”

*Twist version of Discord

*Twist version of Left 4 Dead

[ender1821]

re: shinyduo/gempearl being so not normal about each other after life series. other anon was so right why are they freaky.

pearl is definitely just as at fault imo. gem’s excellent at innuendos and tone of voice (“your red skin is my favorite~”) but pearl’s yes and filter falls apart in front of gem. the pickles a prime example, and the ren stream disaster wedding of course. she’s also very genuine and i love that for her. but that results in crazy lines like the “love you gem. always will. even if you dont want me, ill still be there.” TO STREAM WHEN GEM WASNT EVEN THERE.

and i need to mention the latest stream. Pearl “I only get asked if im gay when you’re in the picture” and how they both have to take a minute of silence to process that flejelejwkej. whose fault is that pearl? whose fault ?? to her credit she seems genuinely confused by the extent of her actions. the most damning evidence for her straightness i fear. rip gem though, she seems to be having fun anyway.

theyre both professionals and follow up in that stream with how the fandom will always play around with them as characters etc etc. good communication, very healthy, good for them. but this post is about why they graduated from shenanigans and innuendos to 2 hours of fanservice and it doesn’t even feel intentional half the time.

as for next life series, i would be shocked if they didn’t keep up this befuddling yuri bit. theyve mentioned seeing all the tierlist maker dream team posts and pearl had to ask her chat “OTHER than gem, who should I team with” so theyre well aware demand is there. theyre fantastic as enemies and well aware of that, but they could get some scarian level drama by teaming together, and i dont say that lightly. since pearl keeps stalling pvp on hermitcraft, theyre never getting that 1v1 without cosmic intervention or a declaration of love 😭

rambling now. love to hear your thoughts xoxo

yippee i love anon rambles!!! im glad we’re all unwell

im NOT gonna go on another rant about the life series alliance situation because as i’ve just demonstrated yesterday i can literally rant. for hours. and we don’t need that lmao. at this point whether or not they team up in the next one SOMETHING will happen. i have that much faith in them. they’re bound to run into each other and do something and that’s the shiny duo connection speaking god bless

like the other anon said, i do think they can work with just about any dynamic and it’ll be insanity-inducing either way. one of my favourite things about them just as a pairing (in any context, platonic, romantic, etc.) is just the way they will drift towards one another, to be linked in a way that’s indescribable, to always carry a piece of each other with themselves wherever they wander because the influence they’ve had on the other is irrefutable— and okay yeah they’re getting way too freaky about it get out of my fan fiction-esque rant. what are you doing here. why are you like this. what. like there’s something going on when what they’re getting up to creeps more and more into being what i usually read in fics. i. hello???

i really, really want to give them the benefit of the doubt. okay. listen. for every mention of feet and poking at pearl’s straightness, there’s a chat message behind it that warranted it, i’m sure. this isn’t the post to be getting into how fans are with cc boundaries and how we’re STILL bad at figuring our tags out, but i feel like this discussion eventually HAS to touch on the fact that it’s been made clear that they don’t want to see shipping stuff, and bringing it up in chat crosses that boundary just as well. i think they’ve handled it well in acknowledging that they’re aware it’s for their characters, drawing clear lines between what they’re comfortable with and what they’re not, etc. i think just the muddled lines from people continuously bringing stuff from a fandom space up to a cc contributes a lot to why we got. whatever happened on that wednesday stream. honestly, from these instances on stream i think it’s been shown that they just find this stuff amusing, and good for them, y’know? still doesn’t mean we should be regularly poking them about ships and. well. i dunno. literally bringing it up in chat?

but still. BUT STILL. god the ways they “yes, and” each other just keep getting worse. stuff like the pickles and the wedding (and the SL ep 4 ender dragon fight! still one of the most baffling “yes, and”s i’ve ever seen from them, i swear to god) were almost completely just them. that was just them. there’s no blaming chat for gem saying “wait, i don’t have a beard” right after pearl rejects ren for having a beard, and CERTAINLY NOBODY ELSE TO BLAME when pearl takes that and literally proposes to her. that was all them. and why. girl. huh??? i do believe, at least to some extent, that pearl is oblivious to the implications of what she does/says. but that only goes so far. sorry man i can only give so much benefit of the doubt for like 2-3 streams of 2 hour fan service. good lord

i was texting a friend who isn’t into mcyt about this whole. thing. and the way i described it was: imagine being a gempearl shipper, and you’re enjoying life, driving this train with fanfics and fanart and everything’s all good… and then for some reason gem and pearl jump on the train, hijack the conductor seat and starts directing the train elsewhere. nearing the end of that stream i was questioning my life and screaming for a way off this train. that’s how it felt to me. of course i’m exaggerating but like. genuinely how did we get here

[celaenaeiln]

Please talk more about B & D’s “unable to be defined/labeled dynamic/relationship as it encompasses many labels yet at the same time cannot be fitted to just one label” dynamic 🙏

I'd be delighted to!!

Link to original post

In the previous post I had included a panel where Bruce is referred to Dick as his "surrogate father, mentor, friend, and partner." These words could not be more different from each other and while they should not be used in conjunction with each other, they have never suited these two people more. In fact I don't there is any character pairing in any fandom that has the same dynamic that these two have. Dick and Bruce's relationship has a complicated depth to it that Bruce and the rest of his children don't have.

I think the most confusing thing is when Bruce constantly confuses Dick being a son and a partner.

First thing I want to start off with is that Dick and Bruce used to sleep in beds so close together it looks like one bed. In the 1950's this arrangement was known as the "twin beds" which were typically used for married couples. Children slept in a separate bedroom which begs the question why Dick and Bruce had a sleeping arrangement similar to that of marriage partners. This is the first weird thing about their relationship.

Not to mention, the romantic boat rides they used to take together. But was this normal then between father and son or is it just a romantic thing now, I don't know. As well as when they decided bronzing themselves naked next to each other. Not really sure what was going on there, if it was acceptable during that time or what but I do know that the reason that creators decided to send Dick to college in 1970 was because they wanted to beat the gay batman and robin allegations. It's weird as hell that they even came up with these ideas. Also the robin crossdressing. For justice, am I right?!

I feel these instances are important because it breaks any barriers they have between them. They're so (platonically for me) intimate that there's nothing but each other in their souls. One of the key reasons that their relationship is vague and intense and encompassing.

Dick is also considered Bruce's partner intellectually.

Instead of Dick listening to Bruce and following behind, as it's often shown in robin comics, they talk on equal terms. There's other moments of this shown too:

I think this is the reason why Bruce considers Dick a partner. He's not only exceedingly intelligent, but he even at a young age he's able to keep up with Bruce's thought process as an equal when even the justice league and other major adult heroes fail to do. Bruce's inventions are Dick's inventions because they played an equal role in creating them. This is why he's called the Prodigal Son.

Now onto him being a best friend and a son mix.

We know the classic example of Dick expecting to be Bruce's best man and Bruce thinking the same. But there are other moments that indicate that too.

But it isn't one sided because Dick also sees Bruce as his best friend:

Dick punching Bruce in the throat and single handedly carrying him like a sack of potatoes is just funny as hell.

Also including the fact that Dick and Bruce embody sleepover, besties behavior:

BUT HERE'S WHERE IT GETS JUICY.

Having your child act as your bestfriend is terrible for your child's mental health.

I'm speaking from personal experience but when your parent trauma dumps their life onto you at a young age, you mature emotionally much faster than you're supposed. You start becoming aware of people's thoughts and emotions at a deeper level and you start attuning yourself to others. In layman's terms: you change yourself to be able to meet your parent's high expectations and act as an emotional sponge for their anger, sorrow, disappointment, and frustration about their own life.

I'm not hesitant to admit that Dick's manipulation tactics most likely stem from this behavior. He knows what he wants and he will do anything to get it. This doesn't mean he's a bad person though. In fact I give him the highest level of respect of any character because all his intentions are good. He doesn't cheat, lie, or trick people into killing themself or harming others or bringing them down. He does it to make their lives better which is-I'm sorry, I don't have the proper words to express the multitudes of emotion I'm feeling for that.

(I nearly went into a massive monologue about how other people view his manipulation but that's for another post. )

This is also where things get complicated, and why we know Bruce and Dick as the way they are.

Dick has become so emotionally and mentally adept that he's able to pick up on others' thoughts and attitudes (Bruce specifically) before they even realize them. This is why Bruce is so dependent on Dick for everything. In one comic Garth says "Dick's a good listener."

I'm going to deviate for a minute here and include a panel that shows how this personality trait affects Dick's other roles:

Speaking more about Bruce's impact on Dick, there's this:

Aside from the huge ass painting on the wall of just the two of them-the panel is another perfect example of the complicated depth to them. They see each other as equals and when something interferes with that perception, then they start having problems. It haunts Bruce that the 8yr old he took in is equally matched to him in skill and ability but he also recognizes that Dick is too young to be able to do so. He should not have to experience the pain and responsibility of an adult but Bruce can't just get rid of him because Dick is the only one capable of keeping up with him. His heart also breaks when Dick is away (he starts crying in a panel multiple panels as Dick is leaving). For Dick he's already far used to the roles and responsibilities that he doesn't consider his age a factor as to why Bruce refuses to let him do the same things. This is a source of miscommunication between them. Bruce knows Dick can succeed at anything given to him but feels he shouldn't have to deal with those things. And Dick doesn't understand the hesitance when he's proven to have accomplished those tasks and greater before.

To expand, Dick's relationship with Bruce reminds me of Slade's relationship with Billy Wintergreen when Deathstroke tells him "You've been with me through everything...but now I have to say goodbye when you're unconscious or else I can't do it." Or something along those lines, the vibes are the same.

Oh yes, and this scene too:

Which mimics a lot of the confusion other characters have over Dick and Bruce's relationship.

But the difference between Slade and Billy vs Dick and Bruce is that Dick and Bruce's relationship is blurred on ALL fronts. There's not a single moment where Bruce has viewed Dick strictly as a son.

This leads me into the mentor aspect.

Note: while Dick knows Bruce the best, Bruce also knows Dick the best of all his children. There's a certainty to the way he speaks about Dick's abilities that he lacks when discussing his other sons'. That doesn't mean he doesn't know what they can do-he well aware and knowledgeable-it just means that his relationship with and understanding of Dick far exceeds what he has with the others.

Holy crap there's so much I'm bouncing all over the place-let me go back for second to partners.

Everyone knows this iconic scene whether you're in the fandom or not:

But few people know what comes next-

From the dawn of Batman and Robin comics, Batman has been obsessed with controlling Dick. I don't understand why he doesn't use his manipulative tactics on anyone else. There's a comic panel where Dick tells Barbara, "...you and Bruce don't need to manipulate me into doing what you guys want." It was always his way or the highway with him and Bruce reflects on this again in Batman and Robin Eternal. Dick also tells Bruce he's being pig-headed during the 1966 comic version of the Warner Brother's film and when Bruce asks him "Am I really pig-headed?" Alfred goes "hell yeah." Essentially.

(Also going to sneak this in as another example of why Dick wasn't an angry robin to a previous post

)

Ofcourse Bruce seems him as a son too:

THE FULL ON SMILE HE HAS ON HIS FACE JUST LISTENING TO DICK TALK!!!

Also in the linked previous post there's the panel of Bruce begging the judge not to take away his son from him. "Dick is like my own son!I've even changed my will so that incase of my death, Dick will get my entire fortune! You honor, I...I love that boy! Please don't take him from me!"

We already know many references about Dick being labelled Dick's son so I'll leave this aside for now.

Now here's the main point- the way Bruce and Dick interact with each other has so much history they're unable to explain themselves to others or each other. There's so many complex emotions between the two of them that sometimes even they're confused.

But seriously. What is your obsession with Dick, Bruce?

Lemme explain.

As everyone knows Dick and Clark are best friends. They are so close to the point where Bruce actually sweeps the stuff off his desk in the batcave and says "LET ME JUST GET RID OF ALL OUR TROPHIES. I'LL JUST MAKE ROOM FOR THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN AND ROBIN INSTEAD!"

WTFFFFF BRUCE. WHY ARE YOU GETTING JEALOUS OF YOUR 15YR OLD'S FRIENDSHIP?

Oh, yes, what trophies am I talking about? Trophies of their battles together of course!

Which means the batcave is memorabilia of their time together. You know what that also means? It means that Bruce sulks in the Batcave because in the cave, he can literally surround himself with the time he spent with Dick.

Bruce is so abnormal about Dick. He sees Dick as an all in one. Every single relationship category you can think of, Bruce has bundled it up and put it into Dick. If all their various relationships became a physical string, Bruce would have a leash on Dick that resembles a thick, corded rope. So if you cut one thread of, say, friendship, the rope won't tear become the other threads of partnership, family, and other ambiguous threads would still hold them together.

Bruce has a leash on Dick but something Dick doesn't know and Bruce won't admit is that Dick has a leash on him too.

HERE'S THE INSECURITY WITH DICK AGAIN. THE MAN THINKS THE WORLD OF DICK BUT HE'S HORRIFIED AT THE THOUGHT, AT THE POSSIBILITY, THAT DICK DOESN'T FEEL THE SAME OF HIM.

He's constantly seeking reassurance of his place with Dick through the only way he knows how-manipulation. While Bruce consistently distances himself from his son, he's doing it on purpose so Dick will come running back to him. I mean-isn't that what he did with Jason? Expelling Dick in fury and fear and not telling Dick about taking in a new robin?

In the comic Dick drops by and tells him "I found out through a newspaper and since I haven't been robin..." to which Bruce responds horrified and guilty. He knows what he's doing. He just doesn't want to get caught as to why.

Others have picked on this obsession he has with Dick too:

Someone clearly knew the importance of Nightwing to Batman. They knew what his death would do to him. And in response Bruce went out of his way-to a foreign land-just to take revenge on the man who almost took “his boy” away from him. Leaving with a parting promise, an oath, to hunt down the other one and leave him crippled for life too. Did Batman know KG Beast would survive or did he just leave it up to fate?

In the previous panel, apart from KG Beast calling Dick "your boy" to Batman, it's only implied though. So how do we know if Dick really does have that much weight to Bruce? Well not only is it confirmed, it is engraved in stone:

And when the blast nearly kills Dick, Bruce nearly kills the man who did it. WITH A GUN.

Also him trying to strangle Lex Luthor to death before Lex chokes out in between stolen gasps that Dick's not actually dead but he will be if Bruce continues.

Did you know that the dead Robin in the Superman vs Batman movie was confirmed to be Dick? Yeah. That says a lot right there.

Brothers

I'm not going to get into their brother relationship because that involves how Alfred treats Dick as a son rather than a grandson and is opening a whole new mansion of stuff so I'm going to wrap this up here and say the two of them are a LOT.

Bruce and Dick's relationship is impossible to define and that's why they keep ending up fighting. Their relationship doesn't have clear boundaries and since each type of relationship (brotherhood, father/son, partnership, friendship, colleagues, idols&pedestals) has it's own unique problems, and because the two of them alone are all those things, they have all the problems of each of these categories combined. But they also have all the benefits. Inseparably entwined these two.

[canisbrutus]

PLEAAAAASEEEE DUMP ABOUT OLSENWIIIICCKKKKK🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

your wish is my command i adore these stupid faggots

Kirby & Trent 🍰🎬

inhalesssssss

these two are incredibly bonded despite everything.

but they damn sure didnt get off on a good start.

following my personal timeline trent had just broken things off with cornelius. and neither of them were particularly closeted or reserved about their faggotry.

so for a good minute kirby didnt even want to be seen talking to his gay ass at all in case it gave him a Reputation.

by some miracle they started talking, or rather, hurling insults at eachother thanks to trent spilling punch on kirby at the jock's halloween party.

the jocks love hosting shitass parties for a number of stupid reasons, you see. and trent likes getting wasted.

after a rough encounter at the punch bowl the two continued taunting eachother every time they made eye contact.

for entirety of one whole week, at least. then trent decided 'hey he's kinda cute when he's angry'

and so began the incredibly arduous task of: flirting with kirby until he stops yelling slurs (and throwing hands).

thankfully this Also took about a week and they moved onto just mumbling slurs inbetween smooches because of how insanely, well, sexually frustrated they were.

these teens are fucking insane but thats just how bullworth is.

trent then worked up the nerve to ask him on an actual date, kirby begrudgingly agreed, jimmy busted them while getting on pinky's good side, aaand trent got his ear chewed off for it.

they fought about kirby's whole internalized homophobia at this time cause he damn sure wasnt the only faggot in school.

(and it was really getting under trent's skin because he was practically hatecrimed out of his last relationship)

they weren't technically boyfriends at that point due to kirby's insistence. but it felt like a breakup all the same.

they got back together at the jock's christmas party though. something something 7 minutes in heaven i dont know and i dont want to particularly put much thought into that.

point being shit was messy for a hot minute but trent showed kirby things about himself he could Not ignore.

so he wanted to try again with him. and this time he chilled out on practically Hating the guy he was macking on.

trent also cooled it with how, well, Bold he could be. actually made an effort to not embarrass kirby in public and whatnot.

things had to be lowkey in order to not be harassed of course.

but trent's mere presence was enough to turn kirby's ears pink sometimes.

in the bleachers, across the cafeteria, walking down the street, etc.

and god help him when they're paired up in class.

kirby loved the rush all the same though. and trent just found him fuckin incredible if i'm frank.

trent spoke highly of him to his friends, and sometimes just outright dragged them to see kirby on the field or in the arcade absolutely killing it on DDR.

they were much more forward in private of course, even if kirby was incredibly slow to open up about most of his interests and genuine self.

trent helped with that from the start; showing him how to be authentic and happy with himself.

same as all actors allow others to Reflect on their performances.

and over time kirby started to see through trent's own act.

grounded him, tried keeping him sober, etc.

if he had to keep it real and face his own reality, well, so did trent.

and honestly kirby wasnt a fan of the concept of getting shitfaced in general. didnt smoke, seldom drank, didnt huff anything.

that being said trent and him Did bake some edibles once or twice.

split one, went to the movies again, trent got shushed by old people several times because he wouldnt stop rambling.

now That was a fun time.

experimenting with formatting, hope this isnt Awful to read thru lol. also fun fact i hate spotify but i hate youtube links more.

[hc masterpost]

[formula1fanfiction]

Max Verstappen / George Russell

Title: Last call casualty

Pairing: Max Verstappen / George Russell

Characters: Max Verstappen, George Russell, Alex Albon

Prompt: Max thinks a good fuck will help George not be so uptight, but it turns out they are in love

Ao3 Link

Alex smiles at George from where he's sat on a small table behind the bar, he's already got George's favourite beer waiting for him. He had called Alex during a fit of tears, Carmen walked out on him. Somehow Alex had convinced him to go out for a drink and by some miracle he managed to pull himself together enough to actually leave the apartment. Although honestly, he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Oh Georgie." Alex stands up and pulls him into a hug, he quickly becomes aware of his surrounding's and sits back down again, pressing the pint of beer into George's hand. “Why did Carmen dump you anyway.” George feels his cheeks heating up. “She had enough of fucking me with a strap on” Alex bursts into laughter, he laughs so hard tears roll down his cheeks. “Seriously George tell me… wait, you’re serious?” The look on his face must have said it all. “That’s not even the worst part, she walked out saying if I wanted to fuck people, I would have been a Lesbian, but I know I’m straight unlike you” 

Alex stares at him for a long moment. “And are you gay George?” It’s a serious question, he takes George’s hand and gives it a light squeeze. “I don’t think so, I can’t cum without having something inside of me, I think that was the problem if I’m honest” Alex walks around the table and hugs him tight, he doesn't seem to care who sees them this time. “Oh Georgie, what are we going to do with you?”

He agrees to meet Alex again the next morning in a small coffee shop overlooking the Monaco harbour. The bells on the door twinkle as he pushes it open he's not only met by Alex's smiling face but Max's too, seeing the Dutchman almost makes him want to walk back out again, the end of the 2024 season has not been forgotten, by George anyway.

"Why did you have to invite him?" George snaps, reluctantly taking the seat next to Max, so he can give Alex the death stare. "Hello to you too George." Max raises his eyebrow, a small bit of cappuccino foam is stuck to his upper lip, it's almost endearing, at least it would be if it was anyone but Max. "Sorry Max, hello, how's Kelly?" It's a cheap dig, a low blow even for George. Max is the only openly gay driver on the grid, his sexuality only coming to light once her pregnancy was revealed. Max smile doesn't falter. "She's doing very well thank you, we're having a girl by the way."

"Sorry, that wasn't ok." Max only shrugs at him, spinning around in his chair so they are face to face.   “The problem with you George, you’re sexually frustrated, what you need is, a good hard fuck.” Max smirks at him, giving intense eye contact which sends shivers down George’s spine. “And not from your girl- sorry Ex girlfriend” 

George almost chokes on his espresso. “You told him” George snaps at Alex over Max’s head who at least has the audacity to look sheepish. “I told you all that in confidence” Alex reaches over and squeezes George's hand. “I’m sorry George, but you do need a good fuck, you're all tense and angry all the time.” All the time? His relationship has only just ended.  “But why did you have to tell him, he was a dick to me in the media” Max chuckles standing up and massages George’s shoulders. “The real thing feels so much better than a strap on Georgie” His breath tickles his ear, his cock gives a little twitch in his jeans, it makes him feel disgusting and dirty.

"I'm not gay." George stumbles over his words, earning him an eyebrow raise from Alex, Max chuckles again his lips still pressed against his ear. "Who said anything about being gay? I fuck the tension out of you, then you loosen the fuck up, and it's a win for everybody." George remains silent, his mouth falling open from the shock of it. "Just think about it George, i'm not going to make you kiss me, or suck my cock or anything like that." Max licks the foam from his lip, George is memorised by it, he imagines having that mouth on him, wrapped around his cock." He shakes the thought out of his head. "You're not going to hurt me or anything are you?"

"Sweet Georgie." Max mocks. "I want to fuck the tension out of you, not add even more. Just think about it okay?" George does think about it, for a whole three seconds, he must be out of his mind because he says yes.

They agree to do it in a hotel room, somewhere neutral. Max pays for the room, it's a huge suite. George finds himself sat on the edge of the bed. "Here drink this, it will help loosen you up a little bit." Max hands him a glass of wine from the mini bar. George takes it and stares at the clear liquid. "It's not roofied or anything is it?"

"Look George." Max kneels down in front of him, cupping George's face in hands. "We don't have to do this, Alex thinks it will help you, I want to help you too, but I want you to be comfortable" George sniffs back the tears threatening to fall, he didn't expect Max to be so soft and gentle.

"No I want to do it." George says it a little bit too eagerly. "It's just, it really hurts a lot and Carmen's strap is only small." Max nods, reaching for the bag pack behind him, of course Max would bring Red bull merch, to whatever this is, it eases the tension a little bit. "It shouldn't hurt George, it can be uncomfortable but never painful. Are you using enough lube? Maybe you're doing enough stretching, it's fairly straightforward.  

"We don't do any of that? We just go in raw I guess." Max's eyes widen. "No wonder it hurts you fucking idiot, i'm surprised you didn't give yourself an injury." Max takes a bottle of lube and condoms out of the bag and tosses them on the bed. "What are your thoughts?"

"Can I see your cock?" George blurts out. "Sorry, I just want to see how big you are." Max doesn't say anything, just unpops the button on his jeans and lets them pool around his ankles along with his boxer shorts. He's hot hard yet, he squeezes his cock which makes it twitch in his palm. He's smaller than George but it's a lot thicker. "What do you think?" Max asks, sounding unsure of himself for the first time. "I'd better show you mine too." Max chuckles, that seems to bring his confidence back. "I mean you could have left your shirt on George, 'i've seen your abs before."

George lays himself in the middle of the bed, cock in his hand. "I take this means you want me to fuck you?" George can only nod, he feels a little bit too embarrassed to admit it out loud. Max settles himself between George's long legs. "And you're sure you want this?" George nods again. "I need verbal consent, George."

"Yes. fuck me please." Jesus, why did he have to sound like a desperate whore? Max places a pillow underneath George's hips. "I'm going to show you how it's done, but please tell me if it does hurt, ok?"

Max raises George's leg and bends it towards his chest, exposing his hole. "You're cute." Max says while coating his fingers with lube, he uses far too much, George watches as it drips from his fingers. "Are you ready?" George nods, gripping a fistful of bed sheets in anticipation.

Max slowly pushes in his first finger to the knuckle. "How does it feel?" Max asks while stroking George's thigh with his other hand, it feels so nice a small sound escapes out of his mouth. "Good, just strange, but not painful or anything" Max nods. "Just tell me to stop if it hurts." Max experimentally twists and turns his finger before slowly pushing the digit in and out, going quicker as George loosens up around him.

It feels nice. "Do you think you can manage another one?" Max asks? Kissing George's tummy this time, it feels strangely nice. "Please." Max slowly sinks the second finger inside, scissoring them apart. Max slowly works his way up to four fingers and soon he's pounding them in and out of George  with ease. It feels like Max is never going to stop, he keeps on thrusting into George. "Max, please." He pulls his fingers out slowly, with a smirk. "All you had to do was ask."

"How do you want do this, George?" He shrugs, Carmen makes him lay on his front and assaults his insides until he cums all over himself embarrassingly fast. Max must sense his hesitation. "Are you ok on your back, I would like to look at you while I fuck you." George nods. "Yes please."

George watches as Max rolls on the condom. "Are you ready for me? You can stop at anytime ok." George nods. "I want to feel you, Max please." Max takes George's long, skinny legs and wraps them around his waist. "Tonight is all about you, sweetheart?" It was a slip of the tongue, Max probably hasn't realised he's said but George's heart flutters. Fuck he's down bad.

Max takes George's hips in a gentle grip and slowly enters, filling him up an inch at a time. A small whine escapes George's throat, as he throws his head back into the mountain of pillows and waits for the pain to arrive, but it never does even when Max is balls deep inside of him. Max stalls, reading the look on George's face. "I'm good Max, you can move."

"Fuck George, you feel so perfectly wrapped around me like this, I-" George cuts him off, leaning up and presses their mouths together, he doesn't know why he does it, but it feels so right. "Wow." Max pants, pulling away from George's lips and starts move, pressing slow and shallow thrusts into George's body. George groans it just feels so good, he loses his head a little bit and lays back and enjoys what Max is willing giving to him, he can worry about his feeling later, all he wants right now is Max.  

Max snaps up his hips and speeds up a little bit and change the angle ever so slightly, whatever Max did, it causes George to see stars. "Fuck, do that again." Max chuckles and does as he's told, but this time he takes George's leaking cock into his hand and strokes him to the same pace as his thrusts. "Think you can take a bit more, George?"

"Please Max, Please." Max holds George's hips in a tight grip and speeds up his thrusts, making sure he hits George's prostate every time. It feels amazing, George is pretty sure nothing in his life has ever felt as good as this. Max keeps slamming into him until George can't take it anymore, he cries out Max's name as he cums, spilling himself over his stomach and Max's hand.

"You looked so good falling apart for me sweetheart, you're going to make me cum." "Oh baby boy, you look so good when you fall apart." Max chuckles,and speeds up a little, as he reaches his own climax. Max smashes his mouth against George's as he cums, filling the condom with his cum George can feel the heat of it through the latex and wishes it could be inside of him.     

"How are you feeling now?" Max speaks softly, as he eases out of George, he hesitates for a few seconds, then pulls George against his chest. Fuck what has he done? Fuck fuck fuck. "Less tense, I hope."

"I'm sorry Max, I don't know what happened to me." Max stares at him for a moment, contemplating his words. “Do you think you might be gay George? Max asks while drawing on George’s chest with his finger, goose pimples pricking up. It feels different to when Alex asked him, he feels more sure that he is but he's scared, it's something he's never even admitted to himself before. “I don’t know” 

“You were really into it George, I think you might be.” George nods, sniffing back the tears “hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, I’m openly gay and proud” Max's eyes sparkle. "Yes and I really respect you for that, but I only have a handful of fans everyone else hates me, it feels like it will be just another reason for them to send me horrible comments." George sniffs again, why is he such a cry baby? 

“You don’t have to come out until you feel ready, how do you feel about me? Would this be something you want to do again? George’s heart speeds up seeing the hopeful look on Max’s face. He wants to do this again, more than anything but dare he admit it out loud? "I like you George." Max blurts out in one mad rush. "That's part of the reason Alex arranged this."  

George thinks for a second, ok that's huge news and he thinks he likes Max too. “I would like to do this again would you be fucking me?” Max shrugs “sure if that’s what you want, do you think you’re a bottom?” George bites down hard on his bottom lip “I can’t come without something in me, are you a top?” 

“You're a definite bottom then, I’m not really anything to be honest, I’ll happily top for you, if you were a top I’d happily bottom for you, it’s not even a switch thing I just like pleasing my partners and making them happy”

"So what do you think George, do you like me too?" Max looks so scared and shy it's adorable. "Shut up and kiss me." Max chuckles. "I'll take that as a yes."  

[me-saw-hoo-dini]

Okay so some background info on why I made this account to begin with. I started watching the Banana Bus Squad/Vanoss Crew back in 2012 when they were playing Black Ops 2 and then I stopped watching them sometime in 2018 because I had simply lost interest. I still kept up with them when I would hear things (drama, allegations, relationships, children, etc) and then I actually started watching them again in 2023.

I blame Nogla for this because I stg he literally did start all of this (unless I dreamt it. If so I blame dream Nogla CUZ IT WAS SOME NOGLA) but back when I was first watching them there was some early GTA 5 video (IF ANYONE CAN FIND AND LINK ME THIS VIDEO with timestamp if you would be so kind I WILL LITERALLY BE FOREVER GRATEFUL) and Vanoss and Delirious were doing something stupid. From what I remember they were in a yellow industrial vehicle like a cherry picker basket and they were like falling over each other and laughing and in the background you can hear nogla repeatedly calling them gay. Not too long after that Nogla made that fucking “New YouTube Couple: H2OVanoss” skit (https://youtu.be/bT_tq_Xkg34?feature=shared) and I really started thinking about it and ya! Noglas right! These mfers are gay (not fr I’ll get into it at the end)! Anyways that delved into me “pairing” them up with each other and reading fanfics (H2OVanoss, Terrorsnuckel, DathiDeCalibre, and MiniCat. I no longer ship MiniCat ofc cuz MiniLadd can rot in hell and honestly DathiDeCalibre is alright but just kind of fell off for me after lui’s accusations and the 12 years it took for me to find out if they were true or false) I had an account on instagram where I would post about bbs/vc and I made friends with people who also watched them AND also shipped them. Eventually we all grew apart and then like a year after that I stopped watching bbs/vanoss crew.

In March of 2023 I had stopped watching another group of YouTubers I had been watching since 2020 when a Vanoss video was recommended to me. I watched it cuz “holy shit how are these guys doing?” And they were still hilarious like I remembered them to be and I’ve been watching them again since. That also means that I’m back into “haha silly ship” but I thought that the shipping side of this fandom had died cuz if I did see any fanart or fanfics they were from 2015-2020 but then Vanoss uploads his 2024 Christmas GTA 5 video (https://youtu.be/O5QusxUHZ6k?feature=shared) and BAM H2OVanoss moment, the comment section starts freaking out, and I check ao3 later to see if anyone is fast to write a fanfic and my god y’all ARE still writing fanfics! I didn’t see one last night about that video BUT YALL ARE STILL AROUND?? Not only that but one of the fic authors (I didn’t even read it yet I just really like the description and disclaimer) has a tumblr account (WHERE THEY ALSO POST FANART AND VIDEOS) and YOU GUYS ARE ALIVE IVE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YALL BUT IN THE WRONG PLACES

IVE MISSED BEING HERE I AM SO BACK BABEYYY HIIIII

——————————————————————————

I just wanna clarify the basics before I go since this post and account is mainly going to be about shipping and even tho I’m crazy I’m not THAT crazy. It goes for all irl ships but I’ll mainly be talking about it as if it’s just bbs/vc

1) People ship different things and as long as it’s legal and or isn’t against someone involved’s boundaries idgaf what you ship. There are totally ships that I hate/don’t like of course but I know to avoid them/keep scrolling without saying anything.

2) If the people I ship together are in their own relationships irl I can not stress to you enough how happy I am for them. I love literally everyone’s irl partners like if they’re happy I’m pretty much overjoyed! I LOVE LOVE! If it makes sense to ship a literal irl relationship I do. I cried at Wildcat and Kelly’s wedding photos because I was/am so happy for them and I need Terroriser and Lanai to get married NEOOOOWW!!! (No actual pressure). Even with Delirious and Liz I, once again and even tho I wasn’t even watching him at the time, cried when Delirious announce they were going to have a kid; BOTH TIMES because I was/am so excited and happy for them and even tho they aren’t together anymore I still wish Liz nothing but the best and hope she is doing well. I am never gonna be one of those weirdos going “their irl partner is in the way of my ship” or “how dare you break whoever’s heart” cuz wtf is wrong with you that fucking WEIRD?? These are irl people and they’re happy and I’m not one of those freaks getting reality and fiction confused. And course break ups suck ya but that’s not anyone’s business to make their own; that’s between the people who were in the relationship!

3) If ever any of these guys come out and say they are uncomfortable being shipped, having shipping fanart of them, or any anything specific they do not like I will stop. Once again I’m not going to get reality and and fiction confused

4) I AM going to make some batshit parasocial (if I’m using that word correctly) posts like “I truly do believe that Vanoss does have a soft spot for Delirious” or like “Vanoss’s best friend (in the group) is probably either Lui, Terroriser, or Delirious” or stuff along those lines were I’m doing like a deep dive analysis and even tho YES I believe that I don’t really mean anything by it? I am DELUSIONAL and I like playing with and organizing my delusions. It’s more of probably going to be something that explains why I ship something like the first example I gave. It’s never gonna be like drama starting like “I believe the reason so and so and so and so don’t do this anymore is because so and so did this and-“ like nah nothing like that. I might talk about my personal feelings on some of them but I’m never going to make a random ass “call out post” unless there’s legitimately a serious problem ya know. If you ever see a deep dive know it’s all for the sillies and that I know that I’m being delusional and reading too much into things that aren’t there (“struck by a flying ice cream truck— AND LIVE” head ass)

[homeofatlas]

You Called

Authors note: I was truly inspired and had to write this. Also all the physical touch in my fics can you tell what my primary love language is? Also if i wasn't writing fanfic for a female athlete you'd be able to tell i'm gay from all the "I like you" "like platonically?" in all my fics. Anyways enjoy and have a good week!

Word Count: 1.2k

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

It’s 10:30 pm when Elisa texts you. You’re used to receiving messages that say “this reminded me of you” or the occasional meme but this was out of the ordinary. You’d been close friends for a year and while you knew how close you two were, you honestly thought she would have gone to someone else if she needed them. When you needed someone to calm you down she was the person who stayed with you but that was because she was the one who brought you the most comfort. Typically when Elisa got riled up the team was always there to help her. So when you got a text late at night from her asking if you could come over, you were worried. 

You swear you’d never gotten ready so fast in your life. Throwing on the closest pair of acceptable but comfortable pants you found and a sweater you walk so fast to the car you’re basically sprinting. Through this process she texts you asking when you’ll get there, as soon as humanly possible if you can do anything about it. If you could go any faster without breaking laws you would, you’re debating even breaking those laws. She needs you right now and there’s nothing that will keep you from her. Pulling up in front of her apartment you park and get out of the car. Texting her that you’re there the closer you walk to the door way you can see she’s already in the lobby waiting for you. Head hung low and hands stuffed deep in pockets. It's so far from her usual demeanour, you know something is very wrong. 

Walking up to the door as you begin to pull she’s pushing it open and helping you in from the cold. The first look into her eyes tells you how bad it is. She greets you with a hey but it’s different from her usual ones and you can see how stressed out she is. Before you can say anything you hug her and pull her into you. Sometimes there aren’t any words that are more comforting than being held. As you pull away she begins to speak. 

“Sorry I called so late I needed someone and I got into a fight and I should have left it alone but I didn’t and I need a distraction-”

“Elisa, even if you just wanted to hang out I would have come. I’m here when you need it. That’s what friends are for.” It breaks your heart a little to say those words but it’s true. Even if your feelings aren’t purely platonic it is what good friends do for each other.

Her shoulders sag with relief as you two wait for the elevator. She asks you how your day was despite having been together only 5 hours ago. You link your arm through hers to continue offering her comfort while you chatter away so she has something else to focus on. Coming into the apartment you take off your coat and sit on the couch ready to talk with her about what happened or happy to speak about anything else. She joins you on the other side of the couch. 

“Why don’t we put on a movie? That’s always a good distraction.” You say. 

She nods silently. You pick one of your favourite comfort movies and beckon her to come closer to you. She lays her head down on your shoulder and you wrap an arm around her so you can draw soothing shapes on her shoulder. You know she’ll want to talk about it and right now you can’t push her. The best thing to do right now is be there for her and let her know she has someone. 

You feel her intake of breath to speak before you hear her. 

“I can’t believe you actually came.” She says sitting up and looking at you. 

You shrug and struggle to keep looking at her, if you don’t get a grip she’ll know you love her. 

“You called.” 

She continues to look at you with an unreadable expression. Sometimes you feel like you know her better than yourself and other times you feel like you don’t understand her at all. 

“Sometimes,” She starts and licks her lips as if trying to convince herself to say what’s coming next. “I wish I had a coping mechanism I knew would soothe me like drugs or a cigarette. But sitting here talking to you I realized I do have a coping mechanism to soothe me when I'm distressed. It’s talking to you, it’s looking into your understanding eyes, it’s the way you know without me saying anything,” She pauses, hanging on the last word. “It’s you. I need you.”

She’s looking at you with the most vulnerable expression you’ve ever seen on her.  Elisas energy often feels raw and powerful, like she’s made of passion, the storm clouds, and metal. You can feel the truth spilling out of her. She’s so good in her soul, she’s the realest person you’ve ever met. 

Her hand reaches out to grasp yours on the couch and swipes her thumb back and forth on it. Her other hand hooks around the bend of your knee dragging you closer to her until your legs are practically across her lap. She bumps her forehead into yours gently, nuzzling the side of your head. Coming back to your face she nudges your noses together so the bridges slide across each other. A shiver goes down your spine. You can feel the burning heat of her palm on your thigh. Damn her, she knows how you love it’s one of your favourite things about her but right now it’s really biting you in the ass. You can’t do this if she doesn’t like you too. You can’t know what this feels like if you can’t have her, it’ll ruin you. It’ll make you sick to know what you might’ve had. You put your hand on her chest keeping her where she is. 

“Don’t kiss me if it’s because of the heat of the vulnerable moment Elisa because I won't come back from this. I’ll fall in love with you.” Oh it’s all falling out now. “If I know what you feel like- what you taste like i’ll dream of you. No worse I’ll think of you. I’ll never escape you so please don’t if you don’t mean it like I do.” You finish pleading. You never thought you'd be begging her not to kiss you. But everything you’ve said is true. Except you’re already in love with her. You’d do anything for her. Your breath has stalled in your lungs. Breathing feels like your lungs are coated in molasses. It’s so much work to get your chest to breathe up and down. 

Elisas paused. Oh god oh no, you’ve gone and ruined everything all of it you shouldn’t have said anything-

“What part of I need you didn’t you get?” she murmurs, lips ghosting above your own. 

“Oh.” Your breath punches out of you. You hadn’t realized that was Elisas idea of a confession. You’d think back on it but you’ve got the rest of your life to do that and right now there is a hot french football player who wants to kiss you so it’ll have to wait.  You push your lips together and it’s better than anything you imagined. Because she’s actually here warm and solid beside you, hands coming up to your waist. Your hands on her neck bringing her closer to you. Everything falls out of your head except one thought, I love you.

[kyuusberry]

kitty | ive liz - oneshot

pairing: gf!liz x gn!reader

genre/theme: fluff, non idol au

warnings: none

ib: nothing

notes: all of my stories, oneshots, drabbles, ect are all fiction (fake/made up) except for the idols!! my stories do not depict how these idols actually act or their sexual orientation (straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, aromantic, ect). the only time you'll ever read semi-true things is if it's my headcanons then i do use some facts from kprofiles and sometimes youtube videos but that's it.

a/n: special ive oneshot series because i'm seeing them on the 16th <3 they won't be in order by age, just by whoever i want! link to all of the parts will be here!

cis men, homophobes, racists, 20+, smut accounts dni

liz gasped, "look at him! the cat is so cute!" she smiled, looking at a small, gray-ish cat named seok.

"he is cute," you smiled.

you, and your girlfriend liz were at a pet shelter, just looking around and playing with the animals there. liz always said she didn't want to adopt, but you could tell she did. she always liked helping the staff out with the animals, it made her happy.

you liked seeing her happy, and that was usually when you took her to an animal shelter. and today, that's exactly what you did. but what she didn't know was that you took her to the shelter today to see which animal she took the most interest in so you could adopt the animal tomorrow and surprise her.

obviously, she didn't suspect anything because you two go to the shelters so often together, she thought you were just taking her because she was really excited to go to the shelter again that weekend. the only hard part was that she took interest in every animal there. you had no idea which one she would like the most.

liz gasped again, breaking your train of thought, "babe! look at the cute pug! she's so tiny!" she cooed, petting the puppy and giving her a treat before leaving.

you laughed a little, "i can see that, love."

when you two left the shelter, she was pretty upset, but you took her to her favorite ice cream parlor before heading back home. by the time you got back, you were sure which animal you were gonna get her. that small, gray-ish cat. sol? sun? no- it was seok. that was the cat's name.

the next morning, you said you were going to go on your daily morning jog, but that was a lie. you went back to the shelter to get seok. you bought him online the night before, when liz was asleep. you felt bad for lying to her, but it was a surprise, you kind of had to.

"thank you for purchasing seok. he just got here not too long ago, so he is still a little feisty, but don't worry too much. we've trained him and helped him get used to humans the past couple months he's been here," the lady at the desk smiled.

you had seok in your arms, petting him and smiling, "thank you as well. see you soon," you set seok in his pet carrier, waved and left.

there was no traffic that day, so it only took you about 8 minutes to get back home. you opened the door and softly set the cage down. thankfully, liz was in your shared bedroom so she couldn't see.

"liz! come here, i have a surprise for you!" you called out and liz came out pretty quickly.

"close your eyes and hold out your arms for me, love."

she did as she was asked and felt something somewhat heavy and fluffy in her arms, "what is this?" she laughed.

"open your eyes."

when she opened her eyes, she was excited, happy, and shocked all at once, "you bought me a cat?! seok from the shelter yesterday! oh my gosh, thank you so much!" her eyes were tearing up and she gently set the cat down on the couch before hugging you tightly.

"this is the best gift ever, thank you y/n," she cried.

you hugged her back, "of course, my love. i love you," you whispered in her ear.

[matriayawrites]

The Hot Zone

wordcount: 30k

rating: e

pairings: travis konecny/nolan patrick, travis konecny/ofc, (tk/pat endgame!!)

tags: covid times, pat has an onlyfans, friends to lovers, omg they were roommates

a/n: i finally finished it babyyyyyy!!!

Ao3 link

Preview of ch 1:

Travis is worried at first when the whole fucking world goes into lockdown for COVID and he gets trapped in a two bedroom Philly apartment with Nolan, but honestly, it’s been kind of fantastic. Like sure, half the time they get on each other’s nerves. Nolan has threatened to toss him off their 11th story balcony on more than one occasion, and once, Travis was a little worried he actually might. 

But overall? It’s pretty great. 

Nolan’s been his best friend since they were in middle school, which makes them the perfect lockdown buddies. They had more sleepovers growing up than Travis could count. This is sort of like that, only with adult money. And they have to work from home for 8-10 hours a day. And Travis’s mom isn’t around to bring them snacks. Whatever. The honest truth is, if Travis has to be stuck in an apartment for an unknown amount of time with any person, he’s glad it’s Nolan. 

Travis’s job working at Valvoline is on hold since no one needs their oil changed when they don’t go anywhere, but the company was able to transfer him temporarily to online support, which he can do from the comfort of his living room. Nolan? Nolan makes his money a different way:

On OnlyFans. 

Travis will admit it’s kind of weird at first. It’s not like he doesn’t know Nolan is gay. Travis was the first person Nolan came out to back in high school when he developed an inconvenient crush on the football quarterback. Nolan having sex isn’t a surprise either. He picks up more dudes than Travis ever has ladies, and Travis isn’t exactly a slouch in that department - (or wasn’t, before a global pandemic squashed his sex life like a bug.) 

But sex work? It was weird at first.

He’s come to terms with it. Now it’s just…a thing Nolan does. After Travis gets off work, they have dinner, play some video games or watch a movie or something, and then Nolan goes into his room, shuts his door, and jerks off in front of strangers. A lot of strangers, if his paychecks are to be believed. Travis hasn’t ever looked him up. Sure, he’s been curious. Who wouldn’t be? Sometimes he has to wear earplugs at night to keep the sound of Nolan moaning to a minimum. But actually looking always felt like crossing a line. 

He supports his best friend no matter what, and if that means getting a white noise machine and industrial-strength Loop earplugs to sleep at night, then that’s what he’ll do. 

It doesn’t affect Travis much, other than the sleep concessions, until one day it does.

Eight pm looks like a fucking dream across Philly, with the sun splashing everything in a beautiful orange. Travis keeps one curtain open, and there’s a slant of sunlight across the living room that’s starting to leak onto the TV screen, which is kind of annoying, but is also so pretty that he doesn’t mind. Yet. 

He’s not even really watching ESPN, just has it on in the background while he’s scrolling his phone. Instagram is the same damn thing over and over. This depressing/hopeful see-saw of people moaning about their cooped up state, mixed with exotic pictures of foreign locales they all wish they could be at. 

There’s one of Sanny and his girlfriend, tucked up all cute together on the sofa with their dogs. Hashtag quarantine, hashtag blessed. Another of Travis’s brother Chase with his wife and their little girl, all masked up and giving the cameras thumbs up. Hashtag mask up for life, hashtag covid strong. It makes something in Travis’s chest ache. He sees his friends and family pretty frequently over Zoom. He and Sanny had lunch over Zoom this afternoon, even. But it’s not the same. He fucking misses everyone. 

Nolan emerges from his room wearing a ratty pair of basketball shorts and a scowl. Travis looks up long enough to register the grumpy expression, then looks back down at his phone again. Honestly, if he’d had to do this whole quarantining thing without Nolan, he’d have gone insane ages ago.

Nolan drops down onto the couch beside him, one arm slung over the armrest, and props his bare feet up on the coffee table. 

“They know who you are.” He doesn’t look at Travis, keeps his gaze on the Sixers highlights reel. 

“ That’s cryptic.” Travis says, reaching over to punch Nolan lightly on the arm. “Who knows who I am? The mafia?” 

Nolan is unusually pink-cheeked for eight pm. He blushes like a motherfucker a lot of the time, and Travis has run into him in the hallway in the middle of the night before when he was taking a break from streaming to find him so fucking red he’d looked like he’d smeared lipstick on his cheeks, but normal Nolan doesn’t always ruffle easily.

This Nolan? Sitting next to Travis right now, avoiding his gaze? This Nolan looks ruffled.

“My fans.” Nolan mumbles. 

That makes Travis put his phone down.

“Your what?” he asks.

Nolan lets out a long, dramatic sigh and rolls his head along the back of the couch to look at Travis.

“My fans. My subscribers. I was streaming from a different angle the other day and the door wasn’t totally shut and you walked by. Now they know who you are.” 

Travis laughs. “So? Did you tell them you live alone or something?” 

It earns him another even bitchier sigh.

“No. I didn’t tell them anything about that, but they…I don’t know. Assumed? And now they think you’re my boyfriend or whatever.”  Nolan’s words go decidedly mumbly on that last bit, and Travis laughs even harder.

“Bud, you wish you could pull someone as hot as me.” He leans over and jostles Nolan with his shoulder. Nolan’s a solid wall, deeply entrenched in the cushions by this point, so he barely moves. He gives Travis a small smirk, which they both know means Nolan can and has pulled people way hotter than Travis before, but he gives Travis the small victory. 

“Just tell them we’re roommates or whatever. Who cares.” Travis tells him.

It’s sweet of Nolan to worry, but Travis doesn’t give two shits what a bunch of horny men and women on the internet think about him. He doubts it’s enough to identify him if push comes to shove, and the people at his work aren’t likely to subscribe to Nolan’s channel. Maybe. Probably not. 

“I get it dude.” He reaches out and pats Nolan’s thigh. “You like to keep it separate. You want me to come on and do an AMA? Ask the Straight Best Friend?” 

Nolan grins.  “They’d eat you alive,” he snorts. 

Travis may not know what Nolan’s fans are like, but he follows a few women on OnlyFans. He knows what people can be like in the comments section. The sunset is turning half of Nolan’s face orange now, and it’s kind of pretty. He’s just so pale, and it makes him look like an ethereal modern art piece. 

“Yeah, probably. But if it makes it easier for you…” he trails off.

He knows Nolan’s been struggling. Fuck, everyone on the planet is struggling right now, but beneath his gruff hermit exterior, Nolan’s a bit of a soft nugget. They don’t exactly talk about this shit because duh, but Travis has heard him talking to his mom over Zoom, getting weepy when he thinks Travis can’t hear. And like… maybe they should talk about this shit, because it’s a big deal! Anything he can do to make Nolan’s life better, he’s going to do, no questions asked. 

Nolan doesn’t answer for a solid two minutes, just stares at the basketball players as they run across the screen, and lets out a huff of derision as Embiid misses his free throw. Just when Travis has decided Nolan’s going to ignore his suggestion entirely, Nolan turns his head again to look at Travis. 

“Yeah.” Nolan says with a small smile. “That would be cool.” 

[jackactuallywrites]

Drunk and Disorderly Chapter Five

Pairing: Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley x you

Rating: It’s still fluffy, no sex

Warnings: Ghost dances

Summary: You and Ghost go out to the gay club together

Notes: @xxven kicking my feet and giggling 🤭

Word Count: 2,280

ao3 link

What the fuck were you supposed to wear on a date— no, not a date, just a night out with Ghost.

The first time you’d seen him out at the clubs, it had been a complete coincidence, so you’d quite happily dressed up to the nines, half your rack hanging out, your dress short enough to risk giving everyone a good look of your arse every time you forgot to pull your dress down. This time, it would be a deliberate choice, a choice you were making fully knowing that Ghost would see you in it. Whatever you chose, he would know that you’d chosen it for him. Hence the conference call.

“I, for one, think you should go all arse and tits. You have jugs that could knock a man out. Tits out for the lads!” “Yes, I know your opinion, Elle.” She leaned into the camera, so all that was visible from her end was her large green eyes, “TITS.” You decided not to continue arguing with her, “Katy, help me out here.” “What part of your body do you want to show off?” Elle drew out the word ‘tits’ again, but she had a point. Other than your eyes, you did like your chest the most. “I mean, I guess tits, yeah, but there’s a limit.” Katy considered your words carefully, nodding sagely as she thought. “That strappy metallic gold dress, with those heeled golden sandals. Metallic eyeshadow, smudged black eyeliner.” Elle oohed, “Yes, bitch, that’s the one!” “You think?” Katy nodded, “That’s the one. It’s flirty but not entirely going into outright ‘fuck me’ territory. There’s plausible deniability.” “Plausible deniability. You say it like he’s going straight to HR afterwards to dissect everything.” “Better to be on the safe side with fraternisation.” Katy glanced away from the camera, “I’ve gotta go walk the dog with my mam. In a bit.” Elle followed after Katy’s example, but she gave you a final encouragement of, “Tits, babe, tits!”

You still weren’t entirely sure how you felt about wearing such a short dress around Ghost, but you were never one to question Katy’s sage fashion advice; she had a knack for picking the perfect outfit, so you just had to trust in her choice.

When you’d decorated your eyelids with a beautiful sparkly gold shimmer, lined your eyes with black, curled your eyelashes and darkened them with mascara, you were done. You could feel the anxiety already beginning to spike in your veins, your leg bouncing as you text your girls. Unfortunately for you, Elle was absent, no doubt busy canoodling with her partner, and your texts didn’t even deliver to Katy. If you hadn’t already scrubbed your lips until they were buttery soft and smoothed them over with lip balm, you might have chewed your lip bloody, but as such, you were unable. What bothered you most was that you hadn’t been all that specific with Ghost. There was no time, no meeting place; all you’d told him was that you’d see him at the club, so infuriatingly vague.

As it happened, you ended up at the club early enough that it was still light out, the sun just beginning to sink below the horizon. It was practically empty, though patrons were starting to trickle in, so you didn’t look too pathetic sitting in the corner by yourself. You knew it would be too early to even consider Ghost showing up within the next few hours, so you soothed your nerves with an early drink of vodka lemonade and settled in the corner.

You only managed to hang on for one hour and twenty-five minutes before you were already out the back door, cigarette in hand. It would ruin the warm, sweet scent of your perfume, but you were desperate for the soothing that you could only get from nicotine. Thankfully, it wasn’t windy, so your cigarette took up quickly, flooding your system with relief, the slight anxiety in your fingers already quieting. At the very least, the club had opened up more, finally beginning to pulse with music and people, so you weren’t so obviously alone, a few stragglers outside smoking nearby. Still, you couldn’t keep your eyes from nervously scanning the streets, desperately trying to pick out Ghost’s figure from the mingling people.

About halfway into your second cigarette, you finally caught sight of the tall, hulking figure coming down the pavement toward the club, that familiar white skull on his balaclava seeming to almost float in the darkness. It was impossible for you to not be excited, but you did your best to downplay your eagerness, lifting your hand in a casual wave beckoning him toward you. Naturally, when he caught sight of you, he made a beeline to you, slipping through the small crowd of people.

When he finally came into the glow of the orange streetlight, you finally saw him properly, dressed in his usual outfit of black boots, black cargo trousers, and a black jumper, yet he had a second jumper draped over his arm. You couldn’t imagine a man like that getting cold, but then again, you couldn’t judge; every soldier had their quirks.

“Sorry I’m late,” were the first words out of his mouth, and you smiled, lying through your teeth, “Don’t worry. I haven’t been waiting long.” He looked over your outfit, silent, and you could feel the slight prickle of uneasiness underneath your skin, unable to tell what exactly he thought of it, finally prompting him, “What do you think?” Ghost’s head snapped up from where it had been lingering on your waist, and he cleared his throat, “No, I- uh, yeah, you look nice.” You gestured to the jumper over his arm, “You planning on a snowy night?” He shook his head, “I had a feeling you’d come underdressed. I wanted to come prepared.” The gesture surprised you, and you tilted your head, “You brought an extra jumper for me?” He tilted his head back at you, “Did you bring a jacket?” You pursed your lips, “No.” He held out the jumper to you, “Well then, here you are. Add it to the collection.”

It wasn’t until he used those exact words that you remembered you still had his jumper tucked safely underneath your bed, and you cringed a little, “I never returned that jumper to you, did I?” “You did not.” “I can get it-“ He snorted softly, shaking his head and pushing the jumper at you, “I have dozens. Don’t worry about it.” You weren’t about to deny the opportunity to take another jumper from the man, but nor were you about to cover up the outfit Katy had picked out for you. “We’re going to be inside; it won’t be cold enough for a jumper there.” He paused in holding out the folded jumper, then shook it out, draping it around your shoulders and tying the sleeves loosely around your neck. “There.”

Even the gentlest touch of his fingers brushing against your bare shoulder sent thrilling tingles up your spine, and you spoke the first words on your mind, “Do you want to grab a drink, then?” “Are you offering to buy me a drink?” It was impossible not to grin at that. “I guess I am. You gonna take me up on the offer?” He considered it for a moment, then nodded, “You know what, I think I will.” He offered his arm out to you, a surprising gesture of chivalry, and you wrapped your arm around his, amused at the way you could feel his biceps flexed as you laid your hand on them, allowing him to lead you into the club.

You’d never thought about what a bonus it was to have a large man like Ghost around; the crowd in the club was usually an irritating thicket barring you from easy movement, but Ghost carved a wide path for you both, the crowd seeming to part easily before him. Once you reached the bar, Ghost caught the attention of the bartender then gestured for you to order the drinks. You looked over at the masked man and then decided, smiling at the bartender, “Two strawberry daiquiris.” The bartender left to make your drinks, and you smiled up at Ghost, expecting to see at least a little bit of frustration from him, but he merely looked amused, his eyes crinkling in the corners, “What? You think I’ll be embarrassed? Please.” You pursed your lips at him, and he leaned down so you could hear him better over the chatter, “Love, I come here almost every other weekend. By all means, order me something sparkly in rainbow colours. Does not bother me.” Only one question popped out in your mind, but Ghost cut you off before you could verbalise it, “I’m not gay. I just feel more comfortable here.”

It took at least two drinks for you to get over the humiliation and another drink for you to finally feel at ease once again, and by that time, you and Ghost had found yourself a little booth in the corner, away from the loudest speakers. He’d pushed his tumbler of bourbon over to you and was trying to convince you to try it, “Come on, love, this is premium Kentucky bourbon. You ought to try it at least once.” “I know it’s going to be gross.” He’d pulled the edge of his mask up long ago in order to drink, so you could see when his lips quirked in a smile, “Come on, darlin’, do it for me.” You rolled your eyes, but you were still amused, “God, you use that charm on everyone?” That made him smile again, and he nudged the glass closer to you, insistent. Usually, you liked to be stubborn, but you were too tipsy to bother this time, so you acquiesced and took a sip of the bourbon, feeling it burn your throat as you’d expected it to, coughing a little as it went down. “Gross.” Ghost laughed, taking his drink back, and you wrinkled your nose at him, “Right, that’s it. You owe me. You’re coming with me to dance.”

You’d expected Ghost to put up some sort of resistance, but he seemed happy, allowing you to take his hand and lead him to where the music was strongest, his gloved hand gently wrapped around yours. Everywhere you looked, there were people, but then Ghost pulled you over to him, where there was a slight gap in the people, twirling you as you went. You wouldn’t have thought that a man like that could be so playful, but he seemed greatly elated to spin and dip you, at one point taking up your hand and leading you across the room, his other hand resting on your waist. It became clear to you that where you were pleasantly buzzed, Ghost was far more intoxicated, to the point of having set aside his usual formidable persona in favour of a far more relaxed and playful self. He gave you another little spin, turning you so your back was to his chest, and then he let go of your hand, his hands encircling your waist, his cheek resting on the top of your head.

Perhaps sober, your heart would have fallen out onto the floor, but in the pleasant haze of being tipsy, all you could focus on was how cosy and secure you were with his arms around you, his chest warm against your back. If you were able to fall asleep standing up, you might have drifted into a peaceful slumber, but as such, you could only let out a tired yawn, leaning back into Ghost, resting your arms on top of his. His fingers lazily stroked across your bare arm, his voice soft, “You tired?” “I don’t usually dance so energetically.” His arms shifted from around your waist, linking one with your arm, “Come on then.”

The tiredness seemed to have snuck up on you, and you nodded along to his suggestion, allowing him to take you by the arm and lead you out of the club into the cold night air. Goosebumps touched your bare arms as soon as you left the heat of the building, and Ghost paused, taking off his jumper and holding it out to you with one hand as he undid the jumper still tied around your shoulders with the other. His was perfectly warm as you pulled it over your head, and you got a delightful glimpse of his well-muscled arms and the intricate tattoo that snaked around his forearm before he covered it up with the spare jumper. Then, he offered his arm back out to you, and you took it, allowing him to lead you back down the dark streets that led to the base.

When you’d finally reached the barracks, Ghost seemed to have sobered up a little; his mask pulled back down into place, his arm held out almost stiffly for you to hold onto. He seemed to look at you searchingly as you turned to say goodnight to him, but he didn’t say anything more detailed than, “Drink some water before you head to sleep.” You weren’t about to let him leave with such curt farewells, so you reached out to touch his arm. “I had a really fun night with you tonight. We should do this again sometime.” He seemed to soften a little, his voice little more than a murmur as he looked down at you, “Yeah..” His hand reached out to gently brush across your cheek, and then he was gone, striding off across the base to wherever he lay his head.

[imaginarylungfish]

Hello, if you don't mind, can I ask, who are your top favorite romantic relationship's couples in any media, like anime/manga, tv series, books, etc (can be canon or non-canon)? Feel free if you want to write the reasons or not of why you love them....Thanks if you want to answer....

Ooh how fun! I should just screenshot my ao3 dash lol. Let's see... almost all of these are all animanga (and not canon), but in order of my love for them at this particular moment in time:

TodoBakuDeku

BakuDeku

KilluGon

MatchaBlossom

SatoSugu

ShiGuang

TigerGhost

SasaMiya

ShunMio

KazuRei

Now, explanations, *spoilers*, and honorable mentions below the cut!

TodoBakuDeku (My Hero Academia)

Obviously not canon and never will be but oh does this ship have a chokehold on me. I just think this trio is so balanced in every way. Like we have our precious TodoDeku who connect by being nerds and the sweetest boys. Then we also have TodoBaku who are just lovely little menaces. And, of course, BakuDeku--can't beat friends to enemies to lovers. And then they all come together to form a masterpiece. Idk I just love this ship so much.

BakuDeku (My Hero Academia)

So I honestly really wasn't into this ship too much until reading the final war arc and meta. Other people's viewpoints changed my mind! Hori has done a really great job of portraying BakuDeku's complex relationship in the manga (for however you view their canon relationship). So like idk how can I not ship For-the-Rest-of-Our-Lives Katsuki with Control-Your-Heart Izuku?

Sidenote: I almost didn't include this on the list because I tend to only really ship this pair while reading the manga. I never shipped them in the anime unless it was TodoBakuDeku with Deku as a hinge. And I don't even read many fics with just Katsuki and Izuku. I just feel like fandom BakuDeku feels incomplete without Shouto for some reason. Like I'm Team BakuDeku for the manga, Team hinge TodoBakuDeku in the anime, but throuple TodoBakuDeku in the sanctuary of my mind/on ao3. (Maybe that'll change once I start watching Season 7 though.)

KilluGon (Hunter x Hunter)

I only watched this anime this year but ohmygod I immediately fell in love with Gon and Killua. They are so precious. I mean, Killua is just a little smitten kitten. And Gon? He's in it. Anyway, love their dynamic and of course I ship them. Gon is Killua's light after all!

MatchaBlossom (Sk8 the Infinity)

Literally just started shipping this so I'm in the throes of obsession rn but their dynamic? *chef's kiss* (hehe, you like what I did there?) Childhood friends? Pining while the other falls for another? Realizing feelings? Already married bickering old couple? Give me all the headcanons please!

SatoSugu (Jujutsu Kaisen)

I mean, c'mon. Tragic gays are my weakness. They're gonna be OG for me. No one can compare. They're on a different level. All I want is for them to have hopped on a plane and gone somewhere they can finally find peace, is that too much to ask? (Gege??)

ShiGuang (Link Click)

Again, I said I like tragic gays. But god, I do hope they don't end up too tragic! I love this pairing. They balance each other out well. We have puppy dog Cheng Xiaoshi and cat Lu Guang. Perfection thx.

TigerGhost (Nicktoons Unite)

Ok so this crackship was brought on by my serendipitous viewing of Nicktoons Unite fanart on this beautiful app and subsequent reading of all their fics on ao3 (a grand total of four, btw). And I'm obsessed. I was a diehard Danny Phantom fan as a kid (we stan our queer/genderqueer/bisexual/trans ghost boy). And I never watched El Tigre as a kid, but the way the fandom portrays him and Danny together just hits. Salty and sweet with a lil bit of darkness? Yum.

SasaMiya (Sasaki to Miyano)

First canon ship on this list lol. You want fluff? You got it. Give me some good pining, consent, and mutual respect, thank you.

ShunMio (Stranger by the Shore)

Second and last canon ship on the list! Love me some good ole sun and moon. Idk their story is so cute. Plus, I like how Kii Kana portrays Shun's feelings regarding his sexuality and how that affects his relationship with Mio. It's relatable.

KazuRei (Buddy Daddies)

I mean, this is practically canon, right? Well, at least queerplatonically (which we stan). Love our little found family. This anime had such a cute and goofy premise, how could I not fall for this ship?

(Honorable mentions: TodoDeku, TodoBaku, Labru, DabiHawks, Renga, VashWood, Kappa x Siren, Boyfriends, EraserMic, ItaFushi, InuOkko, ShokoHime, HaiNana, LeoPika, KudoIchi, TogaChako)

[noahs-white-calvins]

I didn't watch the video you linked (and I don't plan to since videos about ships make me cringe a little bit) but I want to give my perspective on queerbaiting and whether or not byler is queerbait. I think when shows do queerbaiting, they do it to attract a new audience and save the ratings. stranger things doesn't really need that, it's the most popular show in the world right now, s4 alone broke a lot of records. and we also must not forget that mileven is a very beloved het ship. yeah, we love to shit on s3-4 mileven but there is still a lot of GA viewers who adore mileven. and s1-2 mileven was so beloved that even I heard a lot of good things about this ship back in 2016 and 2017 and I didn't know anything else about the show. (fun fact: even after s4 came out, mileven still had more fics on ao3 than byler, and it took a few weeks for byler to overthrow mileven). why would they destroy such a popular and beloved ship just for queerbaiting? if they wanted to queerbait, they could have gone for steddie instead, give them more interactions, make them flirt, etc. and the thing is, the strongest byler proofs is literally the way the ship is written. it's not blue and yellow colors, or the way byler was paired together in a lot of ads and posters. byler is literally written to become endgame. s4 alone makes it very clear. another outcome just doesn't make sense.

I agree when all is said and done. It’s no effort on my part to discredit her either, as those opinions and feelings come about from the same evidence and experiences that we have, but come to a different conclusion. I’m curious on what she thinks now, if she’s even thought about it at all. Of course we don’t need to base our hopes on anyone else’s validation of our ship, even if it always feels good to be validated.

Its funny too, I celebrate your assertion that its not the more niche and deep theories of the case that suggest Byler Endgame as you point out at the end of your ask. It’s there in the writing and I agree. I do my best to be objective on this and try not to just “see what i wanna see”. For example: the hose innuendo? not there for me, a reach, a scene far too short to satisfy my idea of suggestive undertones.

Its in watching literally how Mike and Will are together, the way Mike tries so hard to work it out with El, and yes i do accept that there are moments where Mileven works for a bit. I just woke up so picking those precise scenes isnt active in my brain right now, but the rewatch is fresh so i know one or two happened in S3.

And to your point on the queerbaiting and destroying Mileven: i think (and mostly hope lol) that youre right because again, we see in the writing that Mileven is done. Since S4 aired we now have some insight into the makeup of s5 and, while we dont have certainties, we know how much time Mike and Will spend together, their pairing with RoVickie (why else would that happen! ).

And seeing that while Mike does care for El and loves her as he does his friends, maybe to a grander scale, this second watch had me battling what ST shows me, tells me, and the hetero expectation complex i, even as a gay man, still work against. Its true that when a straight couple is on screen and we arent in scrutinize mode, we’re often like “yup this is it theyre together and will be till the show ends because thats how it is!”

But i’m more hopeful lately, and like you said, we have to see how the show is actually written. Mileven is up in the air now and Byler has been on the mend. The painting needs to be addressed, why was Mike so stand offish at the aiport, and you cannot now tell me that they dont have a flirtatious streak.

anyway, thats a ramble and a half haha. wanted to match your length energy and i have a lot of thoughts