#just gonna stick this in there in case anyone was interested

[puppy-the-mask]

Couldn't decide if i wanted to keep my initial idea of having her only have purple legs or if i wanted her to be fully purple since the outfit washes her out. Either way this is what she'd look like if Cas got caught by the Spider Queen! She is now 'Recluse*' the experiment. {* Name has since been changed to 'Fiddle')

{THE COLORS LOOK WAY DARKER ON MY PHONE- on my comp the purple looked more lavender. I don’t wanna edit it rn though cause I put my comp away :/ I’ll see about color picking from a different ref or something idk}

She isn't treated the best by the spider crew since she doesn't want to help them take over the world, constantly using her brain to figure out loopholes in the Queen's orders. Her personality is very casual despite her situation, constantly making jokes and teasing the others. If she wasn't so good at her job then spider queen would've gotten rid of her ages ago- the two have a very strained relationship because recluse will call SQ out when she thinks her plans are bad and find any way to challenge her that she's able. Despite this she's actually pretty nice towards the other spiders!

She has a love-hate relationship with Syntax. He finds her really annoying and thinks she's stupid- like the queen's own personal jester- she never takes anything seriously and it bugs him. Meanwhile Fiddle finds his insults funny and informative and actually likes his company- he's the one who she spends the most time with since he's trying to fix the venom she was injected with, constantly running tests and keeping her close in his lab. When it's later revealed that the venom is actually working as intended and she's been acting this whole time he's floored. He thinks his data is off or the tests got tampered with because there's no way that she could have been playing them this whole time. When she confirms this he suddenly sees her in a new light- drawn to intelligence he wants to know how smart and crafty she Really is. She becomes a puzzle he wants to solve. Fiddle is more open to letting hints of her true self slip in front of him because she relates to him, she wants to save him from the queen and help him lead a normal life again. She also just thinks its funny to see his face when she corrects him or adds onto a theory when he's thinking out loud- especially when she's Right.

Goliath is her buddy, her favorite spider of the bunch. He's the only one who goes out of his way to visit her in her little corner of the lab since she is/is going to be part of the group soon. He wants to make her assimilation into the group easy so they can work together flawlessly. Where with Syntax she purposely drops hints, with Goliath she legitimately is slipping up and letting her walls down. She talks about her past and hobbies and anything under the sun when they're having their private chats. They also work out together- both being brawlers they share tips and their routines. He's the only one of the group she'll sing for- though it's just small jingles or a couple lines whenever a song gets stuck in her head. He's the only one who can get close when she's going berserk- physical proof that she's starting to trust/care for him. He helps her look after her cat since she's cooped up in the lab almost 24/7. He gives me big bro of the group vibes- strong and silent but when he talks he can definitely talk some shit/sass. I feel like he'd make quiet offhanded comments when Syntax and Huntsman are bickering that Fiddle would pick up on and laugh with him about.

Huntsman is interesting because they don't have much to do with each other at first. He doesn't really interact with Fiddle unless he has to and finds her to be a waste of time and resources. An opinion he Loves to share with Syntax and hold over him since the new venom and experiment fall under his responsibility (Queen got tired of dealing with her even though the venom is supposed to be Her thing while Syntax is computers- she figures he's smart he'll figure it out) Though when the two actually talk he finds it kind of hard to keep an aggressive or mocking attitude, either his jabs roll off her like they're nothing and they end up having a semi-normal conversation after she steers him away from insults and into an actual topic. Or she's so weirdly positive that it infuriates him, he's not used to people reacting to him with kindness and positivity- especially when he's Trying to be Mean. He ends up leaving in a huff and sulking that He's the angry one now or finding something else to do to distract himself. After his encounter with Sandy is when things start calming down with him- he's nicer to her cat and even offers to look after it when Goliath can't. She still infuriates him but now it just reminds him of how Sandy was acting and gets him thinking about their encounter again... he kinda ignores her to avoid thinking about it too hard. But it'd start keeping him up and so he ends up coming to her to ask some questions and share some thoughts. She's completely blindsided that somehow Huntsman of all people has been sent down a redemption arc/is becoming self aware but wholeheartedly supports it and encourages him to come back and talk to her ("or this new person who's got you thinking- no? ok ok i don't mind the conversation anyways!"). She becomes something of a confidant to him since he feels he can't share this with the others and it's not like Fiddle would call treason considering her position, plus nobody would ever believe her if she tried!

I see Fiddle as their gofer- since her upper body looks normal enough she can go into town and buy (or steal) things for them without much fuss. Of course she's heavily monitored through a tracker and surrounding cameras but she likes doing grocery runs since she gets to go outside and have a couple minutes to feel like a normal person again. She also takes over chores and some of the cooking since they can't reliably make her do anything else. Spider Queen would've made her into her handmaiden, but doesn't trust that she won't ruin her clothes or hair or Something just to spite her.

And then there's LBD, Fiddle doesn't trust her and the only time she gets openly serious or actually acts like a part of the group is when she isn't around. She's constantly trying to advise SQ against having her around, she can Sense the power in her and does not trust it for a second. She's spent lifetimes dealing with demons and there's no way someone with that much power is just here to help SQ of all people. She doesn't know who she is, the true extent of her power, nor her motive, but Fiddle avoids LBD like the plague. Once SQ finally gets wise to LBD's true nature Fiddle doesn't hesitate to tell her they should run- where Huntsman chokes Fiddle is standing up and saying it without a hint of fear for her queen. She may not like the woman but the venom compels her to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and there's no way they can take LBD on while still sharing the underground caverns. They need to get far away and regroup because she obviously wanted Something from them and the mech isn't complete yet. In this Au the spiders survive at the cost of Connie, Fiddle unleashes the full might of the consumption to hold LBD and the Mayor off so the others can get away and gets captured. idk if they needed SQ specifically or just a powerful demon's soul so i'm going with the latter in this one. There's specifics to what happens exactly for they to get connie without killing Fiddle- who ends up getting away thanks to a last act by Connie- but that'd be a bit graphic so lets just say the jacket used to have sleeves 6-6 anyways during the fight Fiddle gets to help by tapping into her connection with Connie- who was used to make the mech- and waking them up so to speak- having them help destroy the mech from the inside, then after LBD's defeat Fiddle reclaims the lost shards and her little sibling. Lots of character development could happen in the time they were apart, relationships could change and the spiders could become more of a closer knit group- maybe pull a DBK and chill out on the world conquering idk. this is just a base idea but a fun one to consider. i could just let lbd have sq but there's no way the others would let her get captured without dying first and the venom still affects Fiddle so she can't leave her either (even if she really wants to)

[toxycodone]

𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 !

𝘤𝘸. 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘰𝘴, 𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘶, 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬

Laios:

I genuinely think Laios is attracted to the unconventional or stereotypically attractive. Anyone with unique features, personality quirks, etc. If you don't fit in, you're more willing to catch his eye.

He finds it difficult to really like? Gain an interest in someone who doesn't really "stick out". I think it's clear with the way he treats Kabru that like! People kinda are a blur to him! So! anything that makes someone stick out will catch his interest and he'd be more willing to remember them + actually continue to think about them.

MUST. Share his interest in monsters/animals. This is very important. Like there must be a shared interest there whether its just about anatomy, behavior, etc. I just think he needs to be accepted to talk about this and share fun facts. He likes it. Cooking or an interest in food would also be another plus.

Also just? He likes really easygoing people who aren't super judgemental. Laios is really unapologetically himself and he gets chewed out for it by his friends enough. He's very self aware when it comes to his own issues (esp by the end of the manga) so. Yeah. Just someone who he doesn't feel the need to mask around.

Honestly, maybe someone childish would fit his vibe too? I mean this in a more lighthearted sense. Like someone he could play tag with or goof around in the woods with. He missed out on being a kid for a while, and he's still kinda interested in stuff like that (bug collecting, cool rocks, etc.). Even in post manga he still wants this.

Also uhhhh beastkin/monsters/whatever of any kind get bonus points. Do they have to be this way? No. But. It would definitely do some favors to be feral/wild in some way like this.

Kabru:

Okay I am not saying this is healthy or anything, but Kabru is ridiculously attracted to fixer-uppers. The main character/savior/hero complex kicks in and he cannot help it.

This can either be super good for him if the person is like. not terrible and is actually okay with this. but uh. that isn't always the case. Bro is often setting himself up for some sort of situationship most of the time. He cannot catch a break.

But he totally needs to be confronted about this to have a relationship work out. Hope you can be at least a little assertive!

Oh and the people pleasing. It's going so far. Please, I-....

He needs to be stopped.

Ultimately. He's gonna go after the people who show the least interest in him and this SPECIFICALLY comes from his own insecurities as a person.

But in the end he's gonna truly fall for someone who can put their foot down and confront him about these issues. He's so insightful and perceptive when it comes to others and can easily point out and help you with you're own shortcomings. But he is super blind to his own faults. Legit does not. Even realize.

He honestly needs someone to help him grow, because in my eyes I can see him like even post manga being pretty stagnant here so . Yeah. You don't need to be like some badass assertive person either. As long as you can just sit down and have a serious conversation w him about this I think it'd go well.

And he'd fall for you because I think it's the first time he genuinely sees someone who recognizes things that are bad about him + still loves him despite that + wants him to grow as a person and assert his own wishes and needs more. Yeah. I just have a lot of feelings about that.

Chilchuck:

This goes two ways.

Non Toxic Route

He'd easily see himself falling for someone mature and responsible. It would start out as just a professional admiration but it would slowly become more intimate as Chilchuck starts to enjoy their more unique personality traits (and even ones he'd consider annoying) --like being feisty, or maybe they're picky, or they can be silly sometimes. That type of thing.

It's a total slow burn with him.

But he also likes people who are more lowkey. Chilchuck is not a "falls for you immediately/puppy love" kinda guy. He's jaded and has a past and has KIDS so. He needs to be treated gently and not rushed into things. Anyone who lets him come to them and start to be more affectionate without demanding it...yeah. Handle him with care PLEASE.

And speaking of this...he wants to keep up appearances since he does value his professional life and has kids and an ex-wife. So he wants someone that can blend into this life without causing drama or more headaches (his party gives him plenty. pls.)

"Toxic"/Not Gonna Last Route

Chilchuck is easily motivated by the more basic pleasures of life, so I can definitely see him having a bootycall that becomes some weird "what are we" type of vibe.

He's like...in the back of his mind the type to enjoy a "dirty little secret". Something he thinks only him and this person know about. But as time goes on he eventually gets emotionally involved with them and is like "we need to cut this off".

It is an extremely painful breakup on his end for sure and makes him more jaded when its literally! His own fault.

[vaultdwellerbarbie]

hcs: going on a chase (twisters)

ft. boone gabi, javi, kate, lily, scott, and tyler (addy was barely in the movie but let me know if y'all want me to write about her too - i'm totally down! just not sure if anyone is interested)

content warning for tornadoes, imminent danger

divider credit to saradika!

boone

boone is probably the most fun person to go on a chase with! he definitely has a lot of fun with what he's doing and likes to try new things, he'll always keep you entertained.

he's very energetic, so he might get a little overexcited and tease you if you get nervous during it

but, if you genuinely are in danger or terrified of the chase, he'll stop teasing and make sure that you're doing okay. his personality can come off as a bit much sometimes, but it's so clear that he cares

boone for sure gets a look in his eyes during a chase - no matter how many times he's gone on one, he's still in awe of it

also, if it's your first time going on a chase with him, he's going to go all out to impress you

and i mean all out

he's going to make sure that there are rockets and fireworks, he's going to sing and blast music, and he's going to act incredibly confident even if he feels a little bit nervous (most of his nerves are coming from the fact that he wants to impress you)

even with how overzealous he gets, you're still going to be a top priority for him. if you somehow get hurt, he's going to do everything in his power to make sure that you recover

maybe, a bit too much! he'll try to keep you out of chases for a little while over a scratch, but when you finally convince him that you're fine, he'll praise how strong and independent you are

after chases, too, if there are any people to help in a wrecked town he's going to be the one that tries to make the people smile. in turn, your spirits are going to be lifted quite a bit from sticking by his side

gabi

the first thing about gabi going on a chase is that she's for sure going to give you her hat for 'good luck'. in theory, she could buy you a hat (and probably has) but she thinks that it's better luck for you and for the case if you're wearing her hat

every time, she's going to take a moment to make sure that she places her hat atop your head and adjusts it to make sure that it's not covering your eyes

she's also somewhat protective. even though she's been around the bush with chasing, and she knows that the team is doing everything in their power to keep things as safe as possible, things can go wrong. she'll blame herself if anything happens to you, so she makes sure to do her best to keep you safe.

that can include something as simple as putting her arm in front of you, to buckling you into your harness yourself. or, it can be something like her refusing to let you go in a car without her because she's not comfortable with you being out of her sight

if you are, for whatever reason, in a different vehicle during a chase, she's going to make sure that you're safe the moment that you're away from the action.

she also hypes you up! if you make a prediction about something, she's going to make sure that everyone listens and that she supports you!

if you make a mistake, she'll comfort you and let you know that everyone on the team has done so. she's made mistakes, even tyler has made mistakes. gabi will ensure that, no matter what, you know that you did nothing wrong.

if you're right, well nobody will ever hear the end of it. she's going to make sure that you get to speak again, that everyone thanks you, even if strangers know that it was you who predicted something, she's gonna tell them too. she'll make you feel like the smartest person in the world.

she's also so sweet when helping towns and victims of tornadoes recover. somehow, around as sweet as she is with you.

if you get injured, she'll quite literally nurse you back to health. she'll insist you go to the hospital for anything worse than a bruise, but she might be even a bit more concerned for your health than you are.

bonus, she'll tease you if you hold her hand during it but secretly she very much enjoys it.

javi

having previously lost three close friends to tornado chasing, javi is often worried about you. however, his perspective is a bit different than the others.

he stayed back to collect data when he lost his friends, and that arguably saved his life. but, he also remembers how terrifying not knowing was, and he doesn't want you to feel that. so, he agrees but makes sure that you stay with him so neither of you feel that anxiety.

going on chases with javi, he makes sure that his vehicle is equipped with anything he may need to keep you safe. whether that be investing more on more secure seatbelts, making sure that the glass is as reinforced as possible, or simply keeping an eye on you.

there is always a somewhat distracting air about how he feels after a chase if it effects other people, because it's clear that he wants to do more and feels like he can't. you often end up trying to comfort him after a chase, especially because you know that he already lives with a lot of guilt.

if you get hurt, there are some issues beyond his worry that comes along with it.

scott doesn't think it's that big a deal, and gets especially upset if it gets in the way of data collection. but javi will do everything in his power to not lose any more people that he loves. he'll take any amount of heat if it means making sure that you're safe - he'd ultimately rather put his funding in danger if it means that he doesn't lose you.

when things go well, and he doesn't need any comfort, you always feel like the ending of the chases are the best part. his wide smile, his bright eyes, the way that he looks at you if indescribable, but it makes your heart feel so warm

kate

there are two versions of chase kate - pre-losing her friends kate is a totally different person to chase with. for this, i'll be focusing on post-trauma kate.

kate is protective to a fault. she really doesn't even want you going on a chase, even though you insist that you're going to be okay. ultimately, you understand why she's so apprehensive and let her find peace with the idea herself. she needs to be the one to invite you on a chase, and she ends up coming around to the idea of it after a while of contemplation.

kate will make sure that you know exactly how to stay safe. what to do if the car flips, what to do if the tornado is stronger than expected, what to do in the event of you not being able to see through the rain, or hail, or any other event that could take you by surprise.

she's incredibly thorough, but you understand why. she doesn't want to lose anyone else because of these things.

seeing her in her element is absolutely beautiful, though. you always knew that she had a gift, but you had never been able to see it up close and personal. finally being able to see it, to see the awestruck look in her eyes, makes you wish that you could go on a million chases with her.

seeing her smile afterwards, knowing that she's made a difference in some way and that you're both safe, is also a beautiful experience. her smile is like sunshine and rainbows to you, especially after witnessing a tornado first-hand.

kate being able to go on chases with you is therapeutic for her too, after she gets past the initial fear. but, if you do get hurt in some way, she's going to be incredibly worried for you. though you understood the risks, as she did, she also can't help but think back. it'll take some convincing to let you back with her on a chase, but she ultimately does end up feeling more comfortable with you close to her during a storm than away from her.

lily

like boone, lily can be a little eccentric at times. she says things that can make you laugh even during the worst situations, and she always sticks her neck out to make sure that you're safe

granted, she might be more nervous than anyone else to go on a chase with you. the first time you ask her to take you on a chase, she's going to be apprehensive. i doubt she'll even be the deciding factor, it will probably be boone or gabi who convinces her that you're going to be okay.

seeing her during chases is always fun, though. hearing her crack little jokes that make nobody but you laugh, watching her in her element, speaking so expertly about the weather, is something that makes your heart feel warm.

she's going to keep you close, too. even though she won't insist that you ride with her, she prefers it when you do. she likes to keep an eye on you, sure, but she also just loves having you physically close.

holding your hand, wrapping an arm around you, letting you rest your head on her shoulder until you see the tornado and after you're out of harms way. she likes having you close to begin with, but it gives her a bit more confidence than she otherwise would have.

also, having you on camera holding her hand when she can naturally be a little awkward in front of the camera? it relaxes her, even though you're both still on the edge of your seat because of the work that you're doing.

lily does tend to be protective - naturally - but she's a little more shy about it so she doesn't always express it. she doesn't want you to feel overwhelmed, so you often reassure her that you don't mind if she's a little protective.

in the event of you getting hurt, she'll do everything she can to make sure that you get to a medical professional and that you're tended to in the meantime. though, i think she enjoys patching you up herself sometimes.

scott

this man will tell you straight to your face that he doesn't care if you get hurt if you ask him about it, and honestly, he probably believes that he's telling the truth.

he's going to spend most of the time worried about the numbers, worried about money and absolutely nothing else. he doesn't even seem awfully invested in the weather or storms, so much as he is in the dollar signs associated with them.

when you go on a chase with him, you don't often enjoy it at first because he can come off as so emotionless and because he really doesn't seem all that bothered by the idea of you not making it back.

things change when something actually does go wrong. if a storm is stronger than usual, he's going to be a little bit on edge. he's worried about himself, sure, but he's making sure every other second that you're not hurt and that you're alive. for someone who doesn't care, he certainly comes across like he does.

if you end up injured, he's going to insist that you never go on a chase again, and will only change his mind after you've recovered. but, after that, chases are different because not only do you know that he cares if you're hurt, but he also has found out that he cares if you're hurt.

he'll become almost overbearing with how protective he is after that, but you won't be able to be upset about it. after so long of him acting like he doesn't care at all, it's nice to have concrete proof that he'd be upset if something happened to you.

he also insists that you ride with him. he doesn't trust anyone else to keep you safe after the incident, even if it happened when he was around. he isn't going to let anyone put your life in harm's way, so he insists that you're with him at all times.

tyler

tyler is so fun to go on chases with!

he seems incredibly calm about it, even though you know for a fact that he's still just as scared of tornadoes as he was the first time that he ever saw one.

if it's your first chase, he's going to feel responsible for showing you the ropes and making sure that you know what your doing. meaning: he may as well have a binder of information that he's going to present to you.

it can be hard to forget that he's so educated with how he acts sometimes, but that fun persona is barely there when he's teaching you everything about 'chase safety' and 'what's in the truck' and 'what not to touch' and 'when to get out of the vehicle' and literally everything under the sun. some of these things are just common sense, but he's touching all his bases.

when he knows that you know what you're doing, he brings you along but makes sure that his predictions are a baby tornado. something so small that he knows you're not going to be at risk.

when he eventually lets you level up to bigger tornadoes, you get to see more of his personality. he also, like boone, likes to go all out to impress you. he totally makes sure to stock up on rockets, fireworks, flares, anything that he can really think of so he can impress you and make you smile.

but that's another fun thing about him on chases, he absolutely loves making you smile. he'll say the most out of pocket stuff out of no where just because it makes you laugh.

if you get hurt, he's absolutely petrified and will volunteer to patch up your wounds even if your injury is something as small as you twisting an ankle on the way out of the truck or your knee smacking into the glove box.

[strawbeelemonade]

ROMANTIC HEADCANNONS: Hobart Brown

i don't know much about Hobbie, just what i've seen of him in the trailer. i think he's fun! :D this was made before the movie's come out by the way, so we're going off the barebones research ive done on the wiki and my silly brain impulses.

🕷- If Hobart has a crush on you, you will probably not know about it.

🕷- But there will be signs.

🕷- He doesn’t project a lot of his feelings on the surface. He keeps his cool in most cases. But you WILL get little smiles and hums occasionally.

🕷- When you mention you liked one of his guitar picks, he’ll give it to you.

🕷- He’s not afraid of eye contact, especially with you.

🕷- While he randomly practices he might catch you watching him in awe, and when your eyes meet he won’t look away.

🕷- He starts playing faster.

🕷- He’ll greet you first out of anyone in a group every time. Even if he has to walk passed someone else to say hi.

🕷- He seeks you out first and gives you a little “hey.”

🕷- If he’s sat and you come over he’ll pat the spot next to him.

🕷- “C’mere.”

🕷- Is comfortable sitting in complete silence.

🕷- If you you don’t have any spider powers and you guys have to run he will grab you.

🕷- No questions asked. YOINK.

🕷- His outfits are full of sharp edges and spikes, so he’s mindful. But there’s a sweet spot tucked right at his side with a space between his collar and jaw for your head to rest.

🕷- He likes it. Keep your head there.

🕷- He’s always coloured his nails in with sharpie, but If your lucky he might even let you do it.

🕷- If you have nail polish on hand he’ll let you paint his nails instead, which he ends up preferring the look of and might make the switch.

🕷- Polish is way messier, though. So he was hoping you’d do it whenever he sees you.

🕷- He’ll do yours. Give him your hand.

🕷- No matter how tall you are, Hobart will almost certainly be taller.

🕷- while holding a conversation he’ll get closer to you then he would with other people.

🕷- He’ll greet you by locking your fingers with his in a high five format… if that makes sense

🕷- His hands are huge, and unusually warm. You tell him it’s nice.

🕷- His reaction time is crazy, if a projectile is headed your way, and he can stop it? Best believe he’s gonna catch that shit. And chances are he’ll be close enough to you to just stick his arm in front of your face and stop it.

🕷- He will opt to stay close to you.

🕷- If you give him any band pins or patches he will put that on the front of his jacket. If there’s no room he’ll make some.

🕷- He has an affect on the emotional environment in a room.

🕷- If someone tries to intimidate or square up to him chances are they are gonna look pretty stupid. He’s just unbothered.

🕷- If someone tries to bother you he’ll let his presence be all the message they need to get lost. He won’t budge, no matter what. He’ll look out for you, Dw.

🕷- He will stand behind you and just watch them with this foul, unimpressed look on his face.

🕷- Canonically Hobart is super politically active, so his moral compass is strong. he stands up for what’s right and defends what he believes in. If he defends you, it will mean a lot.

🕷- If you’re anxious, scared or stressed you can hang out with him for maybe like 5 minutes and you’ll immediately feel better. He likes that you come to him for things like that.

🕷- You make him relax easily. You’ll have no idea, but you have a huge affect on him.

🕷- I can imagine he writes music in his free time, he might play a song or two for you if your interested…

🕷- He’ll get a little shy, so make sure to tell him how cool you think it is!!

🕷- You make him go shy more than you realise.

🕷- In his universe Hobart has canonically experienced homelessness, so basic amenities that you might take for granted mean a lot to him. He’ll share what he has with you, no matter how small of a thing it is.

🕷- If you packed a little lunch or grabbed a snack from somewhere and share some with him then he will smile a bit.

[l-in-the-light]

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Dressrosa (part 6)

Two long posts in one day?? I guess I really wanted to get into "carrying Law like a bag of treasure" mini-arc that badly haha. Love is a hurricane so let's go!

Luffy's back to his "I don't have time for this" antics. He wants to save Torao, there's no time to be idle or to waste, alright!

Luffy's done with being patient and sticking to plans. He was interested in his life to stick to only one plan anyway, which he believes is shattered now. Too bad, Viola. You're just not Law.

Luffy has enough of waiting! Faster, faster! And again, not interested in any other plans, unless they're Law's. (yes, he asks about the plan, but only to complain. He's not gonna listen)

Torao's fine! Luffy looks really happy and he calmed down a bit and does he have a slight blush here or what lol. But like I told you all, he's not interested in listening to plans and idling around. He wants to go, go, go and he isn't even trying to understand what they're waiting for. This is the Luffy we all know, the "before Law" Luffy lol.

To understand why Law says that the alliance is finished, we need to rewind to his fight with Doflamingo. He said that to protect the Strawhats. In case Law gets captured and loses (and he expected to be defeated), cutting his ties with Strawhats should make them all leave the country, right? After all they will have no more business here because the whole alliance was focused on Law's plan, and once that is no longer their business, in Law's mind it means they will leave. After all that's what pirates do. They don't care about countries, old allies etc.

I mean, if it was anyone else than Strawhats, Law would be right, wouldn't he? He just didn't know them well enough yet at this point. He probably thought saving kids at Punk Hazard was just a whim on their part, a precedence, and normally they would only do such things for their friends. And Law isn't their friend, neither is anyone in Dressrosa.

Luffy: Omg Law I missed you so much!

Law: Not this again!

Luffy wastes no time anymore and is so, so happy to be able to rescue Law it's unreal. Meanwhile Law tries to push him away, shocked that he's here.

He tries three different tactics to push Luffy away: 1. You were supposed to take care of the factory, did you do it already? 2. The alliance is no more, scram from here 3. If you rescue me, I will be your enemy!

This is probably The Moment when Trafalgar Law realized Luffy treats him as a friend, someone to risk your life for to help. Law isn't having any of that. Luffy risks his life for friends, and Law wants the exact opposite: protect him no matter what. Those two desires clash here.

Luffy almost fell for it, to be fair. But then decides he will rescue Law no matter what he's saying. He did the same for Ace in Marineford, despite Ace screaming this is not his business, so why would Law's words stop him now?

I love how Luffy calls Law selfish. I mean, he's kinda right about it. Law doesn't take into account Luffy's feelings here. And Luffy also doesn't take Law's feelings into account here. It's a battle of who will rescue the other, lol. They're so hopeless, I swear...

Law's last attempt gets completely ignored. He again is dragged into Luffy's pace here and he knows it. He lost to Luffy, again. Hence why he will allow himself to "get saved" from this moment on, which I think makes Luffy actually happy - after all Ace didn't allow himself to be saved.

And yes, the "I'll kill you" is a lie. All things Ace said at Marineford to keep Luffy away were also lies. Those are all hints for us to connect the dots here. Not that anyone believed Law here anyway lol. There's just no way he would actually harm Luffy after trying to protect him for freaking two arcs now. But he would and will say just about anything, if it has even a slight chance of pushing Luffy away.

Now we have to address the elephant in the room. Does it all mean that Trafalgar Law was suicidal and actually expected Luffy to leave him to die? Well, yes and no. Yes, because he does care for Luffy more than he cares for himself, for multiple reasons (low self-esteem might be one of them actually). Let's not forget Luffy is the life he saved in Marineford. Saving lives means everything to Law.

No, because did you notice Viola magically spawned a key to Law's cuffs? Did you notice how prepared she was in this whole arc, even handing Sanji a map to secret factory, almost like she knew that's exactly the thing they're missing in their plan? Well. I think Law lied and did visit Dressrosa before. And made Viola his secret ally, a great chess piece on the board that's capable of making her own decisions and prepared in case Law needs a backup plan (remember fake cuffs in Punk Hazard? It's the same logic applied here. Law always covers ways to recover from precarious situations/possible emergencies/mistakes). In other words, getting captured by Mingo and rescued with help of his ally, was a part of his backup plan. Yes, he planned his own capture, you heard me right. It wasn't his plan A. Just a backup plan B or C.

You're welcome if that turned your understanding of Dressrosa's plot upside down. I'm always happy to deliver! Oh if you only knew how much of Law's plan was probably obscured from us. Because I don't think Viola is his only secret ally. Ofc you're free not to believe it and just accept the old truth fandom believes in, which is Law being a selfish suicidal idiot. Let's move on for now!

Important to remember: this is Law's narration here. After all he's the only one in this group that knows what Doffy's birdcage is, having experienced it before. He has a clear PTSD moment about it and speaks his actual mind here. Which is him being terrified that innocent people will die, all because Law's plan went to shit. He's most likely already blaming himself for that. This is definitely not the result he wanted, which might be one more reason why his original plan was so indirect in dethroning Doflamingo. He was hoping to avoid stuff like this.

Luffy taking care of Law's sword <3 Busy talking with Zoro over some stuff, meanwhile Law pays attention to Doffy's broadcast, because Luffy doesn't. Those two really fill each other's blank spots, and they do so naturally.

First time Law hears that Luffy is now after Doflamingo. He reacts to it, trying to make Luffy understand that it's a dangerous decision, assuming Luffy is just swayed by emotions.

And their wishes clash again. Law tells Luffy it's better to give it up and scramble. Law no longer tries to push Luffy away, he realizes he lost that battle already. But he's still not giving up on keeping Luffy safe. Ironic, considering he's practically helpless and cuffed here (but the key to the cuffs should be nearby). Just moments ago he clearly regretted the fact innocent people got dragged into this deadly game, but here he is trying to downplay it and even disregard it as not important.

Luffy's not having any of that. Either he heard his regret before and connected the dots, or he still deeply believes Law to be a good person. He expects him to want to help this country too. If Luffy doesn't doubt Law even once, no matter what Law has to say about it, why should we? Luffy's usually the best at reading people, their emotions and judging if they're good people or not. I definitely trust him when he calls someone a good person, and i think you all should as well.

What Luffy and Law are actually communicating here is this:

Law: "This is going too far, we should stop. We might lose our lives here" (as in: I don't want you to lose your life here).

Luffy: "This is no time to be worrying about that! We're already dragged in this!" Or even... "I'm not letting you give up everything just to protect my life! I will carry your wish to save Dressrosa!" (but I doubt Law understands it this way)

Of course Law is taken aback here. He doesn't understand why Luffy is so attached to this country already or why he made his final decision already (and we might also question it with him, because we saw how Luffy respected the plan before! Not even Rebecca or fake peace could sway him! And Law apparently was more aware of it than we expected him to be). It was less than a day. He will find out eventually though, because it will keep bugging him and be constantly on his mind, hence his immediate reaction:

And now he finally gets it. Yep, it was because of food. And it will be because of food again in Wano. It's not the full reason, but oh god it is hilarious. Neverending cycle of suffering for Law continues on.

I guess Luffy's deep interest in Law is reciprocated after all. Law is also unusually interested in things concerning Luffy and stuff about Luffy seems to be always on Law's mind.

Law already knows what's gonna happen, just by hearing "the direct one!!" answer. He still is in disbelief.

Neverneding cycle of suffering. No wonder he becomes a zen monk by Wano.

And it continues. He clearly doesn't enjoy the freestyle jumping off the cliff while being at someone else's mercy or being tossed around. Luckily for him, Luffy holds him tight.

Considering how he was just so heavily manhandled, you can't hold it against Law here that he's kinda petty. Also Luffy's panic is adorable, he's like "oh no, I totally messed it up" which he usually wouldn't care much about, but now he's literally carrying Law with him, so it's no longer about his own safety (he doesn't care) but Law's (he cares about that a lot). And can I just point out since Luffy grabbed Law he never lets him go anymore? Yeah, he loses him occassionally, but never lets Zoro carry him even for a second. Nope, Luffy's gonna carry his own treasure the whole way all up to Mingo's castle and no one's gonna put hands on it!

And I believe this to be the reason. Luffy knows that the whole Doflamingo's Family got a beef with Law, but also normal citizens would be trying to get Law, and Law is still wearing seastone cuffs so can't do much. So Luffy takes it upon himself to take care of him now! And he's so overprotective he won't let anyone else do that!

And again, it's mutual. Law, despite his position, will still fret over Luffy's wellbeing all the time. My god, can they just stop being so obvious? Worry for yourself for once, Law!

He worries and worries some more and doesn't even complain when he lands face first on the ground.

Special mention for Luffy caring about innocent people, because this proves to Law that Luffy actually does care deeply about things like that! By Wano Law will accept it as the truth and Luffy's general MO.

I wonder how it felt when Luffy laughed while holding Law on his arm like that. Law must have felt him laughing through the vibrations in his own body. It's just... so casually intimate between them. Of course Law doesn't miss the chance to actually scold them both, because they do attract unneccessary troubles on them and they're already in bad spot. Law's worrying never ends!

I just wanna point it out: Luffy is falling here, but he still holds Law close, refusing to let him go.

This is here just so you can also stare at both of them lying down at the same time, because that's so rare, whenever Luffy's not on guard, Law usually is, but not here. Here they're just both little sheeps and Zoro has to step up his game instead. Maybe on some subconscious level, Law actually feels safe when Luffy carries him, because he felt safe when Corazon carried him forever ago as well.

I just love how Luffy realizes what Cavendish is up to and rescues Law. And there we go, the infamous "crewmate" debate. Let's start with Luffy. Many people assume Luffy just lied here to protect Torao, because that's the easiest option. But it doesn't take into account Luffy's personality. Luffy never jokes about crewmate's status and if he calls you one, he actually means it (yes, I do believe he tried to seriously recruit zombie tree and Kinemon's legs. He was so deeply disappointed when he found out Kin's legs aren't a seperate entity!). Luffy means every word he said here and he only voices it outloud exactly because it will help keep Cavendish away from Law. And it's not the first time the "nakama" thing is hinted at:

He says it here as well. "My crew's life is more important than flame-flame fruit". But at this point none of the Strawhats is in any immediate danger. Law though, is, indeed.

But when did Luffy start to think of Law as his crewmate? Punk Hazard? Dressrosa after he saw Law being shot? Well, my personal bet is right after Marineford. Because by rescuing him Law proved to Luffy he's a good person. And that's all Luffy needs to want someone as a crewmate. It does help though that he saw Law fight and must consider him really strong.

There's one interesting thing here though. Usually when Luffy declares someone his crewmate/nakama, he would pursue them no matter what. But in Law's case, he just... waits. Seems he wants Law to be the one to make the final decision, and until he does, Luffy will wait for him forever. You think I'm reaching? Watch till we get to Wano haha.

Funny thing is, Zoro caught up on that before Luffy even put it into words. Let's remind ourselves of Zoro's sword languague in Water 7 for a moment:

He explains he doesn't pick sides and he draws his sword a bit and closes it again ("clicking" it) to make the point. He also gives his friends a choice: they need to decide now whether Robin is an enemy or a crewmate (original uses the nakama word). Now fast forward to Dressrosa:

Zoro does the same gesture from Water 7 and it's meant for Law. He's telling him basically the same message here "choose your side, are you with us (nakama) or against us (enemy)." It's right after Luffy and Law quarrel about fleeing or staying and helping the country. Law is also a swordsman, he most likely understood the message, hence his shocked reaction, because he was faced with an ultimatum from Luffy's wingman.

And what's Law's stance on it? He clearly refused there, right? "I'm not!" but that was before he was ready to give his actual answer, so of course he would be mad, he semi-expected this is Luffy deciding things for him. He realizes just a moment later that it's actually not the case and why Luffy said it, hence he shuts up. He shares his final decision only after Zoro leaves to fight Pica and I bet you anything it was on purpose, he was avoiding giving his actual answer in front of the other. Maybe he just thinks Zoro's crazy and might indeed treat him as an enemy as the result... or maybe, just maybe, he is actually torn. I mean, he's allowed to feel confused, he just evolved from a friend to a crewmate in a matter of one hour or less.

Law's hat is on and so is Luffy's, at the exact same time. Shared solidarity <3

Law isn't often taken aback by Luffy, but here he is. I guess it's the first time he sees Luffy so stupidly stubborn over something and the realization hits him like a truck. Yes, Law, Luffy can be just as stubbornly petty as you, are you up for the competition? Seeing your face I would assume that's a "no" haha. He might later on.

Law: Too close! (he's making a very uncomfortable expression and Jeef is leaning all over him).

Luffy: Hands off and get off!!

It looks like Luffy wants to protect Law, but actually I think he's just trying to literally push the guy off so he can win the petty competition of who reaches Doffy first. I'm sure Law appreciated Luffy pushing the guy off.

But it can be also because Luffy wanted Jeef and Abdullah to get away from his treasure that he tugged on Moocy right behind himself lol.

Should we ask ourselves another question? Why is Law allowing himself to be handled this way? There are actually multiple possible reasons for that: 1. He decided that no matter what Luffy wants he will tag along with it, there's no way he's leaving Luffy alone to face Mingo 2. He actually likes being carried around (we have Corazon to thank for that) 3. He's actually too weak in those cuffs to get himself to that palace. Which would explain why he doesn't even try to sit up while on Moocy or why his guard wasn't on around Cavendish, normally he wouldn't allow himself a mistake like that, no matter how much Luffy manhandled him. Though like I said before, I don't exclude "trust" as the partial reason as well. I just don't think it would be enough to make Law stop fretting and worrying.

The love adventures of Luffy carrying Law around will continue in next part!

[gallapiech]

Some of the art I've done for the currently released chapters of Highway of Hedonism :) [READ IT HERE]

+ some wip stuff in case anyone is interested in that lol

I'm a very visual person (duh) So I struggle a lot with getting my thoughts across through words, so sometimes while discussing the drawings with rory, I had to quickly doodle them with stick figures on my phone to get my idea across. It certainly made some, masterpieces !

The club drawing was initially gonna be different! But I struggled too much with it lol so we decided to change it.

It makes me think of that one image of the stick figures playing basketball and then one sucks out the other's soul through its face lmao (yall know which one im talking about?)

This is a sketch I found of the bed drawing :) Pretty self explanatory !

The car one was also gonna be a bit different at first! I rotated it because i figured with the smoke that would be more atmospheric or whatever lol

The sketch of Ian w/ his hand out in the car was created by Rory! So I'll give her the honor of posting that if she desires :) If y'all want to see more of these for the other drawings of the fic please lmk!!! I always enjoy seeing progress stuff, but maybe that's just a me thing lmao ♥

[sam-the-pancake]

I wasn't gonna make a post about this anymore because it resolved, but I still want to talk about it. My writing style is long and rambly so TL;DR at the bottom.

Yesterday was the first day of the college course I'm taking (I'm getting my master's in Special Education if anyone's interested). It's a class from 5pm until 8pm, and most days it's after a full day of work for me, so I've elected to mainly use my wheelchair. But since I'm ambulatory I decided to bring my cane in case I needed the bathroom or something so I don't have to struggle with the doors. This classroom of course didn't have a desk without a chair attached so as we sat in a circle I put my bag on the desk behind me and rested my cane against it.

Anyone who uses a cane knows that they fall over. A lot. I kept telling both the professor and the students next to me to please just leave it on the floor when it falls over but of course they didn't listen. They had to "help" the poor cripple. Well class ends and I grab my bag and head home. When I get to my house I realize that I don't have my cane with me to help me down the stairs to my apartment. It wasn't with my bag when I left class so I forgot it. I tell my partner that I'm going back to campus to get the cane I forgot. This is my only cane. I use it any time I leave the house. Even if I'm planning on using my wheelchair when I get somewhere I like to have the cane in the car.

In the 20min it took me to drive home and back the cane is gone. I look all over the first floor of the building without an aid since I expected it to be quick. I sit down and email the professor and campus lost and found before making my way back to the car.

AN HOUR LATER, an hour and a half after the class has ended, I get an response email from the professor and a girl from the class. The girl saw that I forgot it (I still don't know where it had been) and took it hoping to see me before I left. She probably felt like she was doing her good deed for the day. Except I have a medical exception letting me park in the teacher parking lot right outside the building, and she probably brought it to the student parking across campus in the other direction. And then when she didn't find me she didn't reach out!

If she had wanted to be helpful she should have stayed in the classroom with it, or gone back to class when she couldn't find me, and sent me an email. I know that to ableds it's just a stick, but a month ago that was my only mobility aid. I have not left the house without it for 2 years. I'm not leaving the house until I get it back. I'm in pain today because I walked around for 10min without it. She waited for me to reach out about it to let me know she had my mobility aid. And I know she waited because she told the professor she had it. If she had wanted my email she could have asked the professor for it or for my full name to look it up in the directory.

In her email she said "I was really worried someone would take it." Guess what! YOU took it! Again, I understand that it wasn't her intention, but it's the reality of what happened. She removed it from the room and didn't reach out to tell me where it was (neither did the Prof!).

Non-mobility aid users don't touch our aids! Don't move our aids! DONT FUCKING TAKE THEM HOME WITH YOU! This wouldn't have been a problem if during class people would have respected me and left it on the floor with my stuff like I said to.

TL;DR: My cane was falling over in class and the people kept touching it and eventually must have moved it. This caused me to forget it when I left in my wheelchair. Some girl from class took it home with her "so no one would take it" so it wasn't there when I returned. She didn't reach out to me so I didn't know where it was. Prof let her know I emailed asking about it. She's bringing it back to me today, but I can't comfortably leave the house until I get it back because I'm in pain from looking for it without an aid. ABLEDS RESPECT MOBILITY AID USERS BOUNDARIES AND DONT MOVE OUR AIDS OR TAKE THEM FUCKING HOME CHALLENGE

[the-himawari]

A3! Sakisaka Muku - Translation [SSR] MANKAI Treasure (1/3)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

Muku: Thank you kindly for listening…!

*claps*

Kumon: That was totally awesome! Now I wanna read all the manga you introduced. Let me borrow ‘em, kay!

Izumi: Yeah, I’d like to read them too.

Sakyo: Sakisaka’s presentations are great ‘n easy to follow.

Kazunari: I know, right! He totes got the charm of the all stories and the characters across!

Taichi: The Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club’s recommended manga presentations aren't held that often, but they're a blast every time!

Sakuya: We can get to know an interesting work every time we attend. It’s exciting to hear what everyone has to say.

Izumi: Hey, now that I think about it, all the manga that Muku-kun introduced this time had a jewel motif.

Sakyo: Is there a reason why you decided to stick to a jewel motif as the theme?

Muku: There is! My birthday bromide photoshoot is coming up soon, so seeing as the outfit I’m going to wear sparkles like a jewel… I figured it might be nice to introduce manga with a jewel motif for the next presentation.

Kazunari: Ooh, I see~. That choice screams Mukkun, alright!

Kumon: I can’t wait to see your bromides too, Muku!

Muku: Thanks. I’ll try my best to shoot some lovely bromides.

Kumon: Speaking of bromides, one fun part of the project this time is definitely the “treasure hunt”. Am I right!

Sakyo: You mean that project you started ‘cause the outfits are shiny and remind you of treasure?

Taichi: Oh right. The birthday boy looks at a note with a hint on it and goes searching for their present and the person who prepared it!

Kazunari: Right-o! Btw, we’re asking each birthday boy to film a video. But it’s just gonna be like a home video for your own records and memories.

Sakuya: They’ll make wonderful keepsakes.

Muku: Before this, I prepared a present for Misumi-san. It was fun waiting for Misumi-san to come with my heart racing in my chest. It’ll be my turn to go searching this time, but I wonder if I’ll be able to find my presents…

Kumon: It’s fine. If it’s you, then I’m sure you’ll be able to spot them!

Muku: Ehehe… You think so? I’m really looking forward to it though.

Kazunari: This treasure hunting project was your idea, Mukkun. You gotta enjoy it more than anyone else, ‘kay!

Muku: Right!

-pause-

Izumi: Here you go, Muku-kun. Here’s the camera, and here’s the sheet with the hint.

Muku: Thank you very much! I’m going to film myself while searching for the treasure, right? Since I’m here, I guess I’ll try filming from the moment I open my hint.

Izumi: In that case, should I hold the camera for you right now?

Muku: Is that alright? Please do!

Izumi: Okay, I'm starting. …And action!

*beep*

Muku: Director-san gave me the present hint sheet, so I’d like to open it right away. The hint says… “the beginning of the presentation”. Ah, could this mean…! I have an idea where this could be. I’m going to head there now. I’ll be off then, Director-san!

Izumi: See you, and take care!

---

| next

[thefanficmonster]

Are you still doing Carmy requests? Can you do one where he maybe goes to the the pharmacy with Richie or someone else and he develops a crush on a worker?

Hi dear! Yup I'm accepting requests for all characters from The Bear. Thank you so much for your request! I hope you enjoy the fic 💌

Happenstance

Carmen Berzatto x Reader (Gender Neutral - They/Them) [The Bear]

Warnings: Swearing, Minor Injury, Minor Spoilers for The Bear

Genre: FLUFF

Summary: see request above

NOTE: This fic takes place during season 1

He's driving without a license, sweating profusely. His hands are clenched tightly around the wheel, his eyes tranced on the road ahead as he tries his best to block out Richie's annoying rambling as he wills muscle memory not to fail him now. He never got his license, never really needed to, considering everything was within walking distance in Chicago growing up and whenever he needed to get anywhere further out of the walking radius, transport was always easily accessible. New York too. He can't remember if anyone he worked with even had a license.

Michael and Richie both got their hands on a license and a steering wheel as soon as they could and tried talking Carmy and Sugar into doing the same. The former never showed any interest but still listened to their freely offered lessons just in case the skill of driving could come in handy one day.

Today happens to be that day.

It's been years since these aforementioned lessons took place, though. So, it's safe to say he's struggling.

The day started off like any other, the usual chaotic monotony of The Beef running through the motions. And then, suddenly, it was interrupted.

A man Carmy did not recognize approached the restaurant with a rigid demeanor, hostility written all over his face. Unlike him, Richie was all too familiar with this asshole. He was a debt collector, a grifter almost, one of many breathing down Mikey's neck while he was alive and Richie's now that he isn't.

To be fair, Richie could've approached and maybe even handled the situation with just slightly more tact. But come on now, we're talking about Richie, so of course he didn't.

That's how he ended up here, in the passenger seat of his own car, with a swelling black eye he can't see out of, still yelling stubbornly.

"Cousin, shut the fuck up! You're literally half blind right now and you still wanna argue?! You don't wanna see out of neither of your eyes!?" Carmy finally snaps, the adrenaline and anxiety of the situation getting too much to bear. He has to put up with the loud-mouth next to him, focus on the road and keep them alive with what little memory he has of driving lessons he barely paid any mind to, and be wary of a potential fine and legal trouble if he gets caught.

He can't remember how or who convinced him to drive in the insanity of the brawl's aftermath. He hates whoever it may be, although he did this to himself.

"Oh what?! You're gonna punch me, asshole?!" Richie provokes him further, poking the bear - no pun intended - with a stick.

"Maybe I fucking will if you don't shut your trap!" Carmy's voice booms in the small space in the car, somehow managing to out-yell his cousin who has now miraculously actually shut the fuck up.

They drive in peace for a solid five minutes before a voice once again fills the car.

"Can you pull up to that pharmacy? Grab me some painkillers?"

Given that what's coming out of his mouth is reasonable for a change, Carmy obliges with nothing more than a nod. When the car comes to a stop, he unbuckles his seatbelt with still shaky hands, "Stay in the car. I don't want you traumatizing the workers inside."

He feels a hand give him a light shove as he gets out but he lets it go, retaliating with a slam of the car door before heading inside.

The bell above the entrance dings, alerting the clerk to his presence. They give him a polite nod and smile, greeting him with their standard professional and courteous "Hello, how can I help you?"

"Uh, I'm supposed to get painkillers." He says, suddenly a little flustered. The extent of his life outside the restaurant only involves his commute to and from it. He hasn't exactly had any proper human interactions without the usual workplace yelling and disagreements.

Luckily the pharmacist, who he'll admit isn't helping his nervousness with their attractiveness, meets him halfway in his panic, their warm and comforting aura shining through their smile, "Ok, no problem. What kind?"

"Whatever kind is best for a black eye." His response breaks their professional composure, making them laugh a little before they catch themself, clearing their throat.

"Give me a second." They smile, shaking their head before briefly disappearing out of view, behind a shelf of medication one their side of the counter. When they return, they set down a bottle of pills, an ice cold water bottle and some cloth bandages. "Knock two of these back..." they begin, pointing to the pills, "...then soak the bandages in cold water and apply to the wound. And, lastly..." They take a pause to chuckle, "Drive to urgent care, please."

"All sound advice. However..." A loud honk of a car horn interrupts him, causing him to cringe, "....my cousin is a little particular."

The pharmacist laughs again, shaking their head in understanding, "I see. Well, hope you sort it out." They ring up his pills and tell him the price. Only seventeen dollars, which causes him to glance at them with a quirked eyebrow, evidently puzzled. They immediately pick up on what he's confused about, "The bandages and water are on the house."

Expressing his gratitude with a bright grin and nod, he takes the items and leaves the pharmacy, waving a quick goodbye to the clerk. The smile doesn't drop from his face even once he enters the car to more yelling from Richie, asking what had taken so long. He quiets him down by tossing the products at him, all thankfully avoiding his face and falling in his lap. All the while, he remains grinning like an idiot at the luckt happenstance of finding his new go-to pharmacy.

Who cares that it's forty-five minutes from his place? That's a small distance to travel for a man who believes he might have just developed a little crush.

[sufferu]

Did you read that WHDAAA spin-off fic by Vyazov23 called Watching Arc 4 in The Theater of Despair ? Any things you liked and have problems with?

I did! I appreciated that the guy managed to actually FINISH a react fic lol: I’m realizing more and more that these things are a pain and a half to actually write. SERIOUS props to the one who actually managed to pull it off, I’m not even being sarcastic.

Though, to be entirely honest…I disagreed with the entire main premise regarding how the characters would react, lol. I actually don’t want to shit on a singular work, though — especially not one that had so much effort put into it, like goddamn the guy actually FINISHED that one — so I’m gonna go ahead and use this as a segway to talk about the most common usages of this trope that I disagree with in this fandom.

The idea that anyone would learn about Return By Death and go “Okay! This is a good thing, and Subaru is a hero!” — I feel like it goes against the themes of Re:Zero, as well as a lot of established characterization. (And also the harem subplot that often seems to go alongside that idea, lol.) And I feel like a react fic that goes over the experiences of Return By Death, furthermore, should be centered around the characters coming to terms with (or grappling with, anyway) the fact that they FUCKING KILLED HIM. Like, SOO many times. Rem and Ram, in particular, should be characterized as absolutely, irreconcilably devastated by what they did in Arc 2. In fact I actually have a lot of criticisms about how these fics tend to characterize a lot of these characters in general, especially Julius, Ferris, Wilhelm, and Rem. Rem is simple — I don’t agree with the idea that she is actually a good influence (or that the other characters would see her as such, more on that in a sec) — but for the other three…I think a lot of these fics tend to twist themselves in knots trying to make them approve of Subaru’s self-destructive behavior, despite all three of them having canon moments contradicting it.

Julius’ first appearance was him desperately trying to save Subaru from getting slaughtered and most of the subsequent scenes with him have included something about him either trying to be a good role model (that will help Subaru Not Die Horribly) or taking some step to actively keep him safe (whether that be going out of his way to teach him a hands-on lesson about self-awareness the moment they meet up again post-Whale or quietly sticking Ia on him without letting him know). Hell, it’s heavily implied that he associated Subaru with his beloved, sickly, baby brother pre-Gluttony. The knowledge that Subaru has apparently been not just getting regularly put in mortal danger, but not even getting out of it ALIVE in a lot of cases — I think he’d have a way worse reaction to that than is normally shown.

Wilhelm, too — not enough focus is given to the fact that Subaru’s situation is basically just a worse version of the one that Theresia was forced into by being the Sword Saint. Wilhelm went and dueled his wife specifically to free her from the shackles of being forced to wield a sword when all she really wanted to do was care for flowers. Hell, in canon he already has a scene where he refuses to keep training Subaru because he realizes that Subaru has no actual interest in the sword and does not want to facilitate that kind of self-destruction. Wilhelm would have a fucking seizure if he learned that his beloved not-grandson was being forced to die repeatedly in order to keep his loved ones safe. And he’d probably have a really horrible reaction to the idea that some of those loved ones were straight up RESPONSIBLE for some of those deaths. This is the man who spent 14 years hunting the White Whale, he’s second only to Otto when it comes to revenge schemes (and even then it’s debatable who comes out on top over there).

Ferris, though, gets it hands-DOWN the worst. First reason is that the fact that he would almost certainly have the absolute worst reaction to the PREMISE of Return By Death out of the entire cast (due to his strong value of life and pride as a healer) is — often completely glossed over. This is the same guy who grieved suicidal Witch Cultists, was referenced as one of the two bleeding hearts of the Witch Cult elimination squad (the other being Subaru), who (in the LN) had what sure looks like a breakdown at the idea that Subaru wanted to die during that one Arc 3 loop where he went into shock, to the point where Crusch had to step in and speak (even joke) on his behalf as he basically sat in the corner with his head in his hands, cursing Subaru for not valuing his own life. If Ferris ever finds out about RBD he’s gonna fucking kill himself. But then, on top of that, he so often gets reduced to this — purely antagonistic force that just hates Subaru for no reason, who needs to learn to respect Subaru as a hero for his sacrifices, in a way that just — not only is kinda mean spirited, but completely glosses over some of the most fascinating parts of his character.

Also — I feel like a lot of these fics have the characters reacting like Subaru is an anime character to them rather than their friend, if that makes sense. Like, some of the reactions we see end up being like…the typical fan reaction to scenes? Instead of how someone would react if that were a Real Person up there doing that shit. Rem, in particular, is cut WAAAAY too much slack in most react fics, with everyone pretty much losing their anger towards her after hearing her tragic backstory and then glossing over everything she does in Memory Snow and Arc 3 with “Hah, that’s cute.” Like — I’m sorry, I think there should be a bit of a reaction to the revelation that the person who tortured Subaru for HOURS on end spent the next month sneaking into his room to watch him while he slept, following him around constantly, and enabling all of his bad behavior (which is now very obviously just a collection of trauma responses) like the world’s most dedicated Yes man (with the singular exception being the “From Zero” speech). Also, so much of what she does to him pre-Gluttony is just — horrible? And would be seen as such by the other characters, who do not have the same sense of naïveté/love of waifus/lack of self-preservation instincts that Subaru does to prevent him from seeing Rem for the danger that she is.

And well — I don’t think there’s enough consideration given to the fact that, most of the time, these characters already know how things are going to end, since they have their own memories to use for reference. Most of the time, they already KNOW whether Subaru is gonna survive or not, and that should impact how they respond to what they see next.

[herondalesbooklover]

I have a new theory yall!!!

Disclaimer: This is gonna be long, but you should stick around I make some fair points...

I know most of us think that Lyra was one of Avery's players, even more now that we have read Jameson's reactions to Lyra and Grayson's interaction. Now, I was thinking that MAYBE this is not the case and that actually someone found the wild card and put it in Lyra's p.o box with the message.

I know that Jameson was looking rather suspicious with his "this should be fun," and it makes sense that he would pick Lyra to mess up with gray, but these are not his picks, these are Avery's and she wouldn't just pick someone to put gray on edge. I think Jamie's reaction has more to do with the fact that gray looked visibly shocked to see her than about him knowing anything about them, I mean it is rare for THE grayson hawthorne to show his emotions, Jameson was obviously going to be intrigued.

Also, I think Grayson wouldn't be the type of person to reveal Lyra's story to anyone, not even his brothers, it is something rather private. We know that by the end of tbh he hadn't said a thing, he might have considered it his mystery to solve, and he probably tried it, but got nowhere, Lyra doesn't have her father's last name, maybe he didn't even sign her birth certificate or smth, so he probably couldn't find her. Grayson definitely didn't tell Avery, so how would she know about her??? It would be a pretty great coincidence that she just choose Lyra randomly and she ended up being the girl that called grayson...honestly, it doesn't add up. It could be that Avery choose people that had been wronged by Tobias, but still choosing lyra would still be big coincidence.

Then, I was thinking that the way in which Lyra got the ticket was pretty specific. A note "you deserve this" and the ticket. The note got destroyed within seconds, which is a Hawthorne trick, it makes sense that we thought Avery or a Hawthorne invited her, but what if it is not? It could be A Hawthorne, just not the boys... It could have been Alice or smne who knows their tricks (maybe not eve, I just don't think she knows anything about lyra ...yet). Then, Lyra mentioned feeling like someone was watching her, none of the other povs has mentioned something like this which makes me think that someone is indeed watching her, not Avery or the boys, they have boundaries (it would be weir if they followed her), but you know what... the epilogue is narrated by the watcher or smth. So I think that the watcher is the person who gave Lyra the ticket.

Considering the fact that lyra is a dancer and Avery is the knife. I think the person who put the ticket in Lyra's mail wants her to be the ballerina, this person wants Lyra to play the game for them, just like Tobias wanted to Avery to do. Honestly, this feels quite dangerous for her. The game is obviously not gonna go as it is planned and someone is definitely planning to manipulate Lyra to do as they want.

This makes the perfect sense when you realize that lyra has a bigger role in tgg than only being gray's love interest.

[heyhihellosworld]

𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿

Lewis Hamilton x reader

Word count: 4,2k

Summary: Your first assignment in your new business seems to be a little too good to be true thanks to one British guy.

Warnings: Fluff, smut

Notes: First time I wrote for Lewis but it was pretty fun. I think this is my first fic without angst, wow. This has been in my drafts for months because I never seemed to be able to finish it but finally I did, its not the best. The smut is horrible as well, sorry x

"Are you ever gonna let that camera go?"

You rolled your eyes at your friends remark, she had been a pain in the ass the whole day. Nagging you about seeing the real thing but you didn't mind her. Photography was why you where here in the first place.

"No, this is what I do, remember?"

You watched up just in time to see her eyes roll, your own almost hurting to not do the same. "Can you at least put it down so we can go and eat, I'm starving" she tried, a whining strain to her voice.

"Only if it makes you shut up" you grumbled, giving her a grin to let her know you were joking with her. "Yeah yeah" she chuckled, clapping her hands together as you put your camera down in its case gently.

"Finally"

You shook your head at her, flinging an arm around her shoulders as you let the camera dangle from your neck "so what do you wanna eat?"

-

You settled for a sandwich in one of the cafeterias around the paddock, sitting in two of the chairs close to the track while chatting. There was nothing going on at the moment, practice two was just done here in Silverstone.

Your friend seemed in a much better mood after your food and didn't bat an eyelash as you told her you had to get some more photographs around the track. She was more interested in going around to look for drivers since you had access to all the space thanks to your job.

"Then we will go around the garages" you promised, smiling as her face lit up. She had agreed to come this first time since you were too nervous to go alone, she din't know shit about f1 but she found the drivers hot, of course, so she had agreed and despite her ranting and whining from time to time you were grateful she was here. This whole experience was gut wrenching as it was and to be lonely all weekend would have made it even more so.

She stayed in the seat on her phone as you started to move away in the paddock. Getting some close ups on the track and facilities. You had just started in the business, driving your own photography company. It had been rough in the beginning and really scary but with the support of your family and friends you had thrown yourself out there and gone for it and it had already paid off.

So far it was all good, you had gotten multiple assignments, surely pretty small ones like a one to one photo shoot and a couple shoot but it was rolling. This was your first bigger assignment, an assignment taken on from a magazine regarding Formula one and so here you were, photographing and plating their magazine and website.

You pull your phone out to text your friend to meet you by the garage while you walked into the corner. You didn't know a lot about formula 1, probably even less than your friend but you had googled the basics in panic the day before you went to not look like a complete fool, but it was still very new.

You leant against the wall in the far corner, it was pretty calm in the paddock right now, most people being inside their garages, eating or just relaxing in their motor-homes. You flicked through some of the photos you had taken, you were really happy with the result so far. You had all you needed of the race-track and the paddock ones were almost done. Now you needed more inside photos, something that couldn't have been taken by anyone.

You angled your camera again zooming in on the person that where now walking straight to you. He was looking up in the sky as he walked, his cap low and hair sticking out from the back, he was smiling lazily, hands in pockets and he looked amazing, at least through your lence.

You quickly snapped a couple of photos, seeing how the action got his attention, now looking straight at you as you snapped some more before his face turned confused and the pictures didn't turn out as great anymore.

You lowered the camera again, flicking through the few pictures and you couldn't help but smile at how good they looked. This was what you needed.

"Uh, excuse me did you just take pictures of me?" Your head snapped up, falling out of your happy bubble as you were face to face with the man. You swallowed, not really knowing what to say. "Uh-I yeah? Is that not okay?"

The man shook his head "No no, it's all good just weren't prepared for it"

You nodded, smiling up at him, he was definitely as good looking in reality as in your lence. You forced your eyes down, flicking the first pic up on your screen "They got really good, look"

He reached down, a smile making it's way on his face as he hummed "It's really good actually, you think I can get that?"

You thought it over before shrugging "yeah sure"

He got stuck in thoughts, "eh, I can't really give you my phone number..."

You chuckled "Well then it's gonna be hard"

He nodded, "Are you gonna post them somewhere, maybe you can send them on Instagram?"

"Yeah sure, can't guarantee the quality but sure, what's your name"

He blinked at you, one two three times making you feel stupid. "What?"

"Aren't someone who is here to photograph supposed to know the drivers?" he chuckled teasingly, his eyes sparkling as he showed his perfect line of teeth.

"Oh"

Heat covered your cheeks as you realized your mistake

"Lewis Hamilton" he grinned, chuckling as he saw you write it down. "Well that's actually fantastic" you hummed, impressed by yourself even more now, not only a good picture from the inside but an amazing picture of a driver, well done.

"Not to be rude or anything but it dosen't seem like you belong here on a daily basis"

You smiled at him, loving how natural he was to speak with. "Well no not really. I have just started my new assignment to take photos for a magazine and website about formula 1 so here I am. I have never seen the sport before and I have absolutely no clue on what's going on"

He smiled sweetly. "Well, if you want too I can take you around into Mercedes and maybe show you this side of the paddock?"

Your eyes flicked to him, surprised over his offer "Really?"

"Yeah of course, consider it payment for the nice picture"

You chuckled, humming at him "Then it's better be good"

His smile widened as he nodded "It will, come on"

You followed him on the way, it was still fairly empty. Your eyes got stuck on his side profile, he was gorgeous in a way not many where, everything about his face fitting perfectly together, his eyes the softest ones you had ever laid eyes on and his whole person was just.. beautiful.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, looking at you as you quickly moved your eyes to your camera, flicking and clearing through the pictures. "Y/N" you hummed

"So what's this job you've got?"

"Well actually it's my own business. I created my own company a few months ago to be able to do what I wanted to but under my own terms"

"Wow that's really cool" he hummed making you scoff. "What are you saying, you're a freaking race driver" you chuckled, seeing him flash a smile "It's different things"

You arrived at the Mercedes garage and you immediately snapped your camera up, you had gotten strict directives that you couldn't photograph any details nor while they where working on something specific. You could photograph staff and drivers but all photos had to be gone through by the teams before being posted.

You took some stray photos of the workers, the car and on Lewis's back as he walked further into the garage. You pointed the camera down for a little while as he showed you through the area, he told some stories about Mercedes, showed different mechanical things and talked you through the basics of a race weekend. You didn't know whether it was because it was an actual interesting sport or because of the guy who was telling you about it all but you were intrigued.

Lewis dragged you around, watching as you stopped to take pictures every now and then before you left the garage, going out on the street again where your friend was waiting with a sour look.

"Shit i'm so sorry"

She only raised her eyebrows with a small shake of her head but the smile betrayed her. Her eyes snapped and face fell as her eyes landed on Lewis behind you, mouth slightly open as she stared at you. "That is why you left me here?!"

"He showed me around the garage" you chuckled, leading her towards Lewis who looked at the two of you "Right, okay if my friend comes along for the rest of the tour?"

"No of course not" Lewis smile, showing his perfect line of teeth. "Lewis"

Your friend introduced herself, still looking at him like he was from another world.

"Right, I will just run in and grab my water bottle, wait here" Lewis smiled, jogging back into the garage whilst your friend turned to you.

"Wow" she breathed, looking at you with big eyes whilst you chuckled "Who is that?!"

You grinned at her, pursing your lips "Lewis Hamilton, a driver"

She whistled, shaking her head "unbeliveable"

You couldn't help but laugh at her astonishing look. "Calm down, I took a picture of him, we chatted for a few seconds and he offered to take me on a tour around the paddock so I could take some more pictures" you explained, her smile only widening

"Seriously? He offered?"

You shrugged at her excited face "Well yeah, but only because he wanted the picture"

"Sure only because he wa-"

"I'm back, let's go" Lewis smiled as he jogged back up to you. You flashed him a smile before looking at your friend in warning before following Lewis along the road. "If you see any drivers tell me" you hummed, taking your camera in your hands to have it ready to shoot.

"One coming up" Lewis smiled, pointing at a red clothed man standing outside the garage he probably was a part of.

-

He took you both around the circuit, pointing out in different garages and telling you about them. You sneaked shots here and there, found many of the drivers and filled your camera with perfect photos.

It was really funny to talk with him and it shocked you how humble he was and how natural it was to talk with him. You felt satisfied as you returned to the Mercedes garage.

-

"He totally wants you" your friend grinned as you watched Lewis walk back to his motor-home to attend a briefing.

You scoffed, looking at her with an eyeroll "absolutely not"

"He does and you totally want him too" she giggled clapping her hands together dramatically. "Shut up"

"I mean I don't blame you, he is fucking unreal but don't try to deny it"

You were just about to talk back to her as your phone interrupted you, hands as a reflex taking it out from your back pocket.

"Who is it?"

Your eyes searched the screen, a smile threatening to break through as Lewis had texted you his number on Instagram.

"He sent me his number"

"And you said he doesn't want you, dummie" she said seriously watching as your face broke out into a huge smile as you read Lewis text

"Thank you for today, it was lovely x"

You saw Lewis the next day as well, after he had texted you to say thanks you had continued texting, the conversation ending in him asking for you both to eat lunch the coming day. An offer you gladly accepted.

The lunch had been smooth, conversation had flowed and after your friend had gotten an unexpected call that lasted for a suspiciously long time you had continued on your own with the British man, learning a few more personal things and having to stop yourself from staring him down as he sat so casually in his chair, looking too good.

It was going towards the end of the weekend and all your photos were done, having today to choose which ones to use.

"So, how many should you have on the track?" Lewis questioned, looking over the exemplars you had printed out of the material "Uhm I can choose but I thought like five?" you murmured, feeling his eyes on you as you scanned over the pictures.

He nodded, humming as he weaved through them, "this one?"

"Nah it's too dark" you disagreed, picking up two other instead "do you think these two goes together?"

A nod confirmed what you had asked and you smiled up at him. "Thank you for helping me this weekend, it's honestly been so much fun" you admitted bashfully, looking down on the chosen pictures with heat covering your cheeks. "No worries, it's been a pleasure" he smiled, watching as you divided the chosen pictures to the others in different folders before putting them back in your bag.

"Anyway, I won't hold you up anymore since i'm guessing you should go get ready for the race?"

"Probably should.." he admitted "but there are no rush" he added, his eyes looking over you intently.

You didn't really now what to say so you stood up, watching as he did the same with an unsure expression over his face before he turned confident, grinning at you as he walked so he stood before you.

"Hey, I forgot to show you my drivers room. I'm sure it would be a big plus if you could get that onto the layup" Lewis suggested, his eyes boring into yours seriously. You knew exactly what he initiated and were his thoughts were going but it didn't face you because it was exactly what you'd been thinking to, what you had wanted since the second you landed your eyes on him.

You thought it over for a second but it was not hard to know what you wanted. "Yeah maybe that would give me a favor" you hummed, looking up at him with a smug grin. He flashed you a quick smile before grabbing your arm and leading you over the paddock and to the Mercedes garage.

This time he didn't talk nor show you around just ushered you into his drivers room, closing and locking the door behind him

"Just for some privacy" he grinned as you jokingly raised your eyebrows at the man.

"Of course" you chuckled meeting him as he walked towards you. "You need to say no if you don't want this"

"I want this" you hummed, loving how his breath fanned your face and how his eyes sparkled in the light.

"Fuck your so sexy" he groaned as you bit your lip, blinking up at him innocently.

You couldn't stop your huge grin as you let your hands crawl up his body to his hair, one hand pulling him down to you so that you could meet his lips.

He answered the kiss immediately, not hesitating a single second before absolutely devouring you, kissing you with a brutal force. His teeth clashed with yours, his tongue swiping over your lips before fighting its way into your mouth, challenging yours for dominance.

His body pressed into you making you feel all of him. He walked you backwards until you reached the couch where he spun you around, sitting down on the couch before urging you to sit on his lap.

You stared down at him, his intense look almost daring you to sit down and take control.

You bent your head down, tilting his chin up with your hand before your mouth met his again. This time you put up a fight, trying to gain the dominance but he had the upper hand, slowly guiding you to straddle him, getting all the control back. He pulled back slightly, looking into your eyes with an amused glint, lips tilting into a smirk.

"I let you straddle me and suddenly you think you can take control?" he tutted, stroking your chin with his thumb. "That's not how it works here sweetie" he murmured, his voice making your eyes roll in annoyance.

He tutted again, his fingers brushing up over your chest, teasingly running over your collarbone until he wrapped his fingers around your throat, not squeezing but just holding while he stared into your eyes.

One of your hands came to hold his hand over your throat, staring back at him, challenging him but deep down you knew you didn't stand a chance.

He kissed you again, holding you still with his hand as he took control without a problem. You hummed into the kiss, letting your other hand travel up his body and to his neck, combing your fingers through his hair and pulling him more firmly against you. Your hips started to move against him looking as his face faltered for a moment, lips parting slightly and eyes falling close at the stimulation.

"Hmm" you teased, grinding against him again, even harder than the first time, loving the small sound he let out as you did so. His hand squeezed around your throat, like a warning to not get ahead of yourself, but you loved that little control you'd gained from your movements.

The other hand that wasn't around your throat flew to your hip trying to control your movements. This time it was you who tutted, taking his hand of your hip and holding it down. You knew you didn't stand a chance if he really wanted to keep it there but he let you do as you wanted at the moment.

"Enjoy it whilst it lasts" he said lowly squeezing your throat again but it only made you smirk. Lips catching his again, moving softer against them this time, sweetly licking his bottom lip before entangling your tongue with his, humming into his mouth.

He had enough as you sucked down his neck, small purple marks littering his throat, his eyes closed involuntarily, his breath getting heavier as you found the right spot.

"Okay okay I think you have gotten enough" he growled, standing up with you before close to dropping you down on the couch again, quickly climbing on top of you, completely controlling you body as he gripped your neck and slammed his lips against yours, hips grinding roughly into yours making you pant. You were so so ready for him to do something, anything.

Lewis felt the same, dick impossible hard straining in his jeans. His hands tugged at the fabric of your shirt snatching it off your body simply and quickly, a gasp leaving your mouth at the rough movement.

He unbuttoned your jeans but before he could tug them off you stopped him, his eyes snapping to yours with worry he had crossed a boundary but you just smiled, stroking his chin before tugging on the button of his t-shirt. Feeling slightly vulnerable being the only one bare.

He immediately caught on to what you wanted and tugged the shirt over his head, throwing it down on the floor.

You drank in his bare torso, fingers reaching out to touch his stunning body. Fingertips tracing his many unbelievably sexy tattoos, sliding over his defined muscles slowly. Slowly teasing his torso before slowly sliding down to where his jeans sat, fingers dipping in the hem of them, Lewis watched your every move, letting you take your time to touch him and feel him up. He didn't actually have that much time but he didn't care, he would take the time.

Your hands reached his zipper, his eyes trained on your hands, a deep breath exhaling as you unzipped and pushed his jeans down.

He stood up, stepping out of his jeans before snapping back into action. His fingers unzipped your jeans and helped them off of you, drinking in your bare body with widened eyes.

"You're really really beautiful" he murmured, leaning over you again as he mouthed wet kisses up your side. "You are too" you murmured back, meeting his lips in a soft sweet kiss.

He gently rolled on top of you again, helping you crawl up so you were half sitting against the arm of the couch, his hands gently squeezed your boobs through the material of your bra and soon one of the hands abandoned your torso, moving down to your thigh.

His eyes met yours with a serious question hanging in them but all you did was nod, it was what you wanted, what you needed. With that his hand slid upwards, gently rubbing your sensitive clit over the rough material of your lace panties. Your eyes closed shut at the sensation, lips parting as a heavy breath came through.

You opened your eyes long enough to see his cocky smirk but you didn't feel like stopping him to put him in his place, not when what he did felt so good.

You bucked your hips, trying to signal for him to take them off. Lewis looked at you with hot eyes, licking over his bottomlip before his fingers moved upwards, slowly peeling your underwear off.

You couldn't help but let out a small huff as you core was exposed to the cold air. You'd never felt so needy before and especially not after only seeing the guy for barely a weekend. It was like your body was on fire from his touch and you were drunk on the feeling

When he didn't move into action again but only looked at you you lost patience, grabbing his wrist to make him touch you again.

The deep chuckle he let out was set to annoy you but when his fingers circled your clit again it was all forgotten.

"Fuck Lewis" you whined, your hips moving on their own accord to make him touch you just right. "That's it?" he murmured, eyes searching for yours. You didn't answer with more than a hum eyes glazing over.

"Okay stop" you breathed as you felt your orgasm coming, not wanting to come already.

Lewis looked at you confused, not seeing why he couldn't make you cum like this but he didn't question it, stopping as you wished.d

"Can you tell I haven't been laid in months?" you chuckled, trying to gather yourself from the overwhelming feeling.

Lewis chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear before connecting his lips with yours again. You let your hands explore again, feeling him down his stomach, loving the way his tense muscles felt under your fingertips.

You let them dip into the hem of his boxers, teasing him before snapping the clothing back onto his skin. You loved the way he looked at you, the way his eyes dilated and the way his tongue stuck to the side of his lips. He was mesmerizingly beautiful but he was just as hot.

He quickly discarded his boxers, tired of the material stopping you both and you gave him a cheeky grin as you watched him before your hand started to stroke him gently.

The moan he let out stuck in your ears as you continued. Not getting to carry on for too long as he soon pushed your hand away "need to be inside you" he breathed, your skin fluttering in anticipation.

-

"Fuck, fuck fuuuck" you groaned, your whole body arching as he bottomed out inside of you.

It felt timeless as he thrusted inside of you. Your eyes fluttering shut every other moment and all that left your mouth was moans and whines.

You felt drunk on him, something you hadn't felt in a very long time and something you wouldn't expect to feel after the pretty causal weekend you'd spent together. But it was all pent up tension and excitement.

You couldn't tell how long time had gone as Lewis trusts became erratic, his small moans and breathy breaths getting more and more pressured and his head fell back more and more. When he lifted your legs over his shoulders it was a done deal, your moans getting stuck in your throat, your eyes rolling as you came hard, making Lewis cum with you only moments later. His deep groan filling the room.

You didn't know where he had went, to tired to care as he had murmured something after pulling out of you but when you felt the bed dip you opened your eyes, turning to look at him.

"You're really beautiful" he murmured lowly, one hand stroking your face lovingly as your eyes felt to heavy to keep open

"You are too"

[fluffyfantasticducky]

Mischievous Matching

☆ Pairing: Loki x Mutant!Reader

☆ Synopsis: Loki is a trouble maker, always one to cause trouble, but he meets a mortal that is even worse than him and he finds himself absolutely powerless and victim of your stupid outdated pranks, but he finds himself to be putty in your hands.

☆ Word Count: 7,656 (good thing I didn't know what to do with this prompt, eh? This is just the second longest fic I've done.)

☆ Notes: My first request! Yay! 🥳Loki is a smitten little lee. I'm really bad at doing pranks so I did the worst and oldest pranks I remembered, because it's funny Loki not growing up on earth wouldn't know any of them. Also, it's not said outright, but in case of doubt the reader's mutation is super-elasticity because guess who started watching One Piece 👒🏴‍☠️.

☆ Warnings: Very bad and outdated pranks, other than that it's just pure fluff and flirting.

Loki thought he was smug. He had always been the smart brother, growing up constantly tricking an entire realm of Gods and Goddesses, he was very little used to people being smarter than him. Of course, he knew a couple of them existed, his mother was one he could never lie to. Odin more often than others saw through his deception and caught him playing pranks on Thor. But when you grow up in a Realm that values more your physical strength and at most your ability to come with war strategies… You come to believe you’re bound to become complacent, and it becomes a matter until… well, what always happens.

Loki would’ve never expected his match would come from Earth. Quite frankly, he had expected humans would always stay the same, kind of like Asgardians did. But they didn’t. Humans (for the most part at least) didn’t have magic or supernatural skills, so they chose to be inventive, they created modern civilizations purely thanks to the fact that humans chose to play smarter.

He wouldn’t admit it, now that Asgard settled on Midgard, and he got to see what humans did with technology… it was sort of admirable how much they had made purely with ingenuity. Only a bit.

There was Stark, who had made a technological empire and entire armies just with just machines, humans like the sanctuary where Strange lived or the Maximoff girl that had learned magic despite their incompatibility with it, or the bug hero’s mentor that figured a way to alter the size of matter itself. Not to mention the Avengers had managed to take him down, a God his ancestors used to venerate without question.

Perhaps some humans were in fact, formidable.

Still Loki could get away with a ridiculous number of things simply because a lot of humans were just that gullible. His illusions had already started wreaking havoc in small towns where his illusions had turned into rumors of what he learned humans called UFOs… although, to be completely fair, he was, by definition, an alien.

But the true meaning of formidable he found in you.

He met you one night he was allowed to visit New York and he decided to mess with passerby Midgardians. He simply sat on a bench of the park casted the illusion of a Ratatoskr and let humans do their thing. Truth to be told, while the creature wasn’t necessarily scary, it was gonna be interesting when the young ones noticed a talking squirrel and he saw some children excitedly trying to catch it, which may or may not have been actually endearing. But the real fun came when the parents became hysterical. Chaos ensued and Loki couldn’t hide a smile.

“That’s yours, isn’t it?” a voice asked, and you sat beside him.

He looked at you perplexed.

“It’s just… it kinda sticks out that you seem even more amused than the actual children playing with that. It’s supposed to be Ratatoskr, right?”

He didn’t expect anyone to notice, he had sat at enough distance that he couldn’t be related to what was going on, and he had a book on his hands so no one would relate his amusement to what’s going on.

The illusion vanished as he lost focus, surprised that you noticed him. He couldn’t hold back a soft laugh through his breath when a woman in her middle age let out a screech threatening to call the cops on an invisible talking squirrel. And to his surprise you laughed too.

“Man, I enjoy seeing your everyday soccer mom lose her marbles at whatever, but actively seeking their wrath takes courage.” You laughed.

You stretched out your hand and introduced yourself with a firm handshake which Loki surprised himself returning and giving away his actual name.

“W-Wait… like the Loki, Thor’s little brother… The Asgardian that… you know… over a decade ago did… you know?” you asked perplexed, not daring to say the actual thing.

Loki tense up, not knowing how you’d act next. For all he knows maybe the police force would end up showing up after all.

“Damn, so what they say is true” you shrugged. “You are a softie now.”

“What they say?” Loki gasped out indignant.

“Yeah, it was over the news a bit after the second snap, Ironman and your brother gave a press conference to explain you were in peace with Earth and it was Thanos’ brainwash.” You explained as a cheeky grin formed on your face. “Ergo, you are a softie.”

Loki was speechless. You knew who he was, you knew what he had done to New York, and yet you were poking the bear with a stick without an ounce of fear in your expression.

“Listen well, mortal, I–” Loki huffed.

“Pfft! I didn’t know Gods blushed.” You laughed heartedly.

“Hang on just a minute!” Loki protested as he became aware of the heat on his cheeks “I am–”

“Surprisingly fun to be around.”

He opened his mouth and closed it again as he found himself with no witty retort for your teasing.

“Thank you, I suppose” was all he could say, with less spite than he usually had when he spoke with mortals.

“I was gonna go grab a bite, wanna join? It’s a bit boring eating alone” you offered.

His stomach growled and he took the offer, partly because he was very hungry and both you had caught his curiosity. You were an odd one, that was for sure.

“So…” you wondered. “Is it true you’re staying with the Avengers?”

“Why do you wanna know?” he asked back.

“Curiosity” you smiled.

A question like that could’ve easily triggered an alarm, but for some reason it didn’t. And you didn’t lie.

“Yes, my brother decided to join the quarters to live with his friends and he took me with him” Loki admitted.

“Took you with him? Like an updog?” you arched an eyebrow in a way that made him feel slightly sheepish.

“Excuse me? What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“Updog.”

“What about it?”

“What is updog?”

“Not much, what’s up with you?” you wheezed before letting out a dorky laugh.

Despite the fact that the All-Speak did not allow him to understand a place’s lingo he understood he had fallen for a stupid Midgardian joke.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I had to try, oh… oh god, I hadn’t met a anyone who didn’t know that one yet, but I had to try. I like you already.”

Now he was convinced, you were definitely an odd one. Not only did you not fear him, but you were bold enough to pull practical jokes on him and teased him for falling for it. It got on his nerves.

But he couldn’t help but follow you around. You kept teasing him the entire trip to a sandwich shop.

“What do you want to eat?” you smiled.

Loki stared awkwardly at the menu, he recognized some of the ingredients, but he had never been to a place like this. And he wasn’t used enough to human food to make an informed choice.

So, you stepped up and asked him a couple of questions about the food he liked and made a choice for him.

“You can punch me in the arm if it’s not good” you winked at him.

Loki surprised himself smiling at you.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

But it was really good. It wasn’t anywhere near as refined as what he was used to eat, but it was surprisingly good. And you even paid for his food, which spared him the uncomfortable conversation over why he had no money despite leaving in a millionaire’s house.

“Hey, I live a bit far away, do you mind accompanying me home?”

Loki wasn’t sure why he accepted, but he found himself following you around, risking getting lost in New York City since he didn’t really know the area that well just yet. But he got on the bus with you and followed you home.

Which to his surprise… was the compound he himself lived in.

“Wait… D-Did you…?”

Loki felt betrayed. Of course. He should have known Stark would send an agent to find him, no one really trusted him, and they had to assign him a nanny to make sure he–

“I’m glad I ran into you” You spoke, interrupting his train of thought. “I still feel anxious coming so far out of the city alone, sorry if I cut your trip short.”

That caught him off guard. Were you not follow him? He didn’t sense a lie, but perhaps he was still a bit distracted.

“You mean you found me by accident?” Loki asked.

“Yeah, I’m not used to the headquarters being a home, so I need to get out to stretch my legs every once in a while. Otherwise, I feel… I don’t know.”

“Imprisoned.” You finished, as Loki’s lips let out the exact same word in almost a perfect synchronization.

Again, no lie.

“Hah… yeah” you smiled. “Sorry, I probably sound like a brat, complaining about living in such a big place.”

“No, I understand perfectly.” Loki found himself say in soft tone.

Loki walked with you inside and accompanied to your room. The sight when you opened the door was rather dismal. Just a small bed, a desk. But the bed was interesting, or more like what was on top of it. A stuffed little bear with a green bow on its neck, and a travel bag. He assumed they did go with Director Fury’s intention of having the trainees educated like soldiers until they completed their training.

After that day he felt more interested on helping with the training of newer recruits, thing he crushingly refused to do before meeting you. But it was his excuse to see you more. And as he imagined, you were among the best recruits. You weren’t the strongest, nor the fastest, and definitely not the tallest given some mutants came to be even taller than him. But you were agile and flexible, and you worked harder than anyone else to make up for any shortcomings you could have.

And you were smart, the smartest in the group. Loki had seen Stark give tests to the recruits and your results always came among the best, and more often than not, you were on top of those results.

“You did it again” Loki would congratulate you.

“It’s just a number on a paper” you always replied back, “that doesn’t mean I am going to be good on the world out there.”

“And yet your leg is bouncing with excitement” Loki pointed out.

You laughed and placed a hand to your knee to make it stop.

“The ego boost is still appreciated” you replied, a bit sheepish.

You were his favorite of all the recruits. Not that it was a title most competed for, a lot just gave him wary looks when it was his turn to train recruits, after all who wanted to have the man who once terrorized Earth as the class teacher. But you always helped to control the group, willingly volunteering for sparring with him for demonstrations and even while everyone else got a partner you chose him, even when that meant it’d be ten times more difficult than picking another mutant.

But once again, that allowed him to get closer to you.

“I’m telling you, it’s magic!” you assured him pointing to the water bottle as you sat next to him.

“Sure, it is.”

He knew you had no magic. He had read your files –for purely professional reasons, like personalizing– and knew of your abilities. But he also had no clue how you had shoved a coin bigger than the bottles neck all the way to the bottom.

But he didn’t like that playful giggle of yours, it always meant trouble.

“Look inside if you don’t believe me.” You said placing your eye on the bottle orifice to get a better look at the coin.

He sighed and mimicked what you had done, pressing his eye to the bottle’s finish to get a better look and see if he could figure something to get it out.

“I don’t see–”

In a second you had squeezed the bottle and splash him in the face. Which was noticed by a few recruits that let out quiet laughs, unlike you who were giggling shamelessly at his expense.

“You! You... traitorous, cheeky, despicable, insolent–” Loki huffed as he latched onto your ribs and squeezed them repeatedly making you double over in laughter.

You batted his hand gently after about a minute as you regained his composure.

“Oh god, you’re my favorite thing ever, it’s been years since these pranks stooped working on everyone else” you laughed.

Loki huffed. “I wasn’t living here years ago.”

“Oh, I know that’s what makes it funnier” you laughed and patted his shoulder.

Other trainees were looking at him amused, but he noticed they seemed a lot less tense now. As if some of that fear they had was gone. It was… weirdly nice. So, he just sighed and rubbed his face with sleeve to dry himself off.

“You cannot expect me to go easy on you after your little stunt” he asked as he stood up.

“Mm, it’s already, I like rough treatment anyway” you winked at him.

That made some other people in the room as Loki’s cheeks heated up lightly. But he still smirked.

“We’ll see about that in a few minutes, won’t we?”

You were also what humans called, the class clown. And your favorite thing was to prank him. It was all harmless stuff, like when you started a game the entire class to start a game every time, he used Asgardian or just outdated expressions like “Norns” or “Heavens.” Or that time you taped giant googly eyes to your chest, so he had a hard time giving a lecture as he got the urge to laugh every time he glanced at you, and even had the audacity to tell him, “Hey, my eyes are up here!” as you bounced, making the googly eyes bounce all over the place. That time where you filled his locker with confetti and balloons.

It was embarrassing because despite he’s nature, he had no way to get back at you. His illusions didn’t faze you one bit, and the concept of pranks for a god weren’t particularly safe for humans, your style was weirdly benign, and he couldn’t match it. And everything he tried repeating from your pranks wasn’t really surprising.

He used to think nothing could ever bother you at all… Until he was wrong.

He found you one night by the roof, sitting with your legs hanging on the edge, but the little border made a secure railing that kept you safe. You had been gone for hours, even skipping training, and he saw a half empty bottle of Vodka behind you.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as he sat beside you.

“Wasting time, and Tony’s reserves” you joked bitterly. “Watching the forest.”

“It is a lovely night” Loki admitted. “But you were missed at today’s sparring. It is obvious I’m not nearly as tolerable without you around.”

“Just relax, they’ve already warmed up to you” you sighed. “No one likes a stiff teacher.”

It was true hay whenever you made him laugh everyone else seemed to ease up as well. He always attributed to your natural charm and that you relished embarrassing him. But… people were a lot less wary around him lately.

“What made you skip?” he asked.

“It’s the 13th anniversary since my mutation manifested” you sighed and you reached your arm into the sky, it stretched for a few meters before it regained its normal shape.

“I thought people here celebrated that” Loki inquired. “You act as if a partner abandoned you.”

“I don’t know, I think I miss being normal… well, more normal” you chuckled humorlessly. “Not feeling like an actual monster.”

Loki could relate to that, realizing that you are different means you will never wake up with the same concept of yourself, because as it turns out, you are a mistake, a cosmic improbability and turns out, you’ve never been like anyone else around you.

“You are not monster, you’re a–”

“Oh right, because mutant sounds so much nicer.”

“Does it upset you?” Loki asked. “Being the way you are?”

“Yes. No. A little? I don’t know, it’s like a dream living in the Avengers home.” You sighed. “But… don’t you ever get the feeling that rather than wanting to have you around they’re just don’t want you to go rogue? I mean, I get it, with all that’s happening with the Banshee black market…”

Loki couldn’t help but laugh at that. If anyone understood what you felt, that was him. You were a mutant, which granted was becoming much more transcendental these days. More with the mutation enhancing drugs circulating, SHIELD and other organizations were putting a lot of energy to make sure less mutants went on a rampage. But none of you actually had major lists of crimes on their backs, unlike Loki. If anyone was being monitored that was Loki.

Even if he was technically an official Avenger already, it always felt like it was all because of his connection with Thor and at most that he was already highly trained, better than most other Avengers.

“I assure you that they do not think that of you.” Loki spoke reassuringly. “The Incorporations of Mutants Program is simply to remove mutants from a dangerous environment.”

“Yeah, free of Banshee and even add some mutant soldiers to their ranks, it’s a win-win situation” you spoke bitterly.

A part of him felt weirdly nostalgic. His mind took him back to the treasure vault of Asgard, his words reverberating on the walls: «So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up, here until you might have use of me?» And now, more than a decade later, he found himself defending his father. This was just the same, you weren’t necessarily wrong… but it only a piece of the picture, the hurtful bit of a picture.

“You’re right to feel that way.” Loki spoke reassuringly. “But know that these people care about you… even if their original intentions aren’t as selfless. Trust me, I would know.”

“That’s surprisingly mature for a prince that’s technically younger than me.”

He felt his cheeks warming up to your comment and scoffed out a laugh. Of course, even in a vulnerable moment you wouldn’t let the chance pass to tease him.

“What can I say? I am not just devilishly handsome, charming, and tremendously intelligent,” he smiled, “there’s gotta be some wisdom to balance it all out.”

That made you laugh in that way that made his heart flutter in his chest. And before he knew it, you had rested your head on his shoulder. He felt his cheeks heat up and a smile make its way to his face. Had it always been so difficult concealing his excitement?

“You forgot humble and down to earth” you chuckled and rolled your eyes.

“What can I say, darling?” he smiled, “I’m a perfect man, I am completely irresistible.”

“And you still can’t get a date” you smile nudging his side.

“Not my fault there” Loki chuckled, “I’m quite particular when choosing a lover.”

“Right, and you being insufferable has nothing to do with it” you smiled as you grabbed his side and gave him a few squeezes.

The feeling made him jolt and let out a strangled gasp. Of course, you little brat always took advantage of this silly weakness of him ever since you found out.

He remembered the day you found out, quite vividly.

It was a holiday, so most recruits were out for a couple of days with either family, friends, or a new fling. Even some of the Avengers with friends out of the compound left for a few days. So, it was the super soldiers, the Maximoff twins, Vision, Thor, Loki, and you.

Your family had left for a trip, so you had no reason to leave the compound. Loki was thrilled that he would have you practically to himself. He felt those butterflies deep within his chest every time he saw you alone in a room. Of course, he kept his cool as best he could, still being the same mischievous charmer he’s always been, despite feeling like a giddy kid at the sight of you.

Even the most ordinary of mornings were blissful with you around. Even things like breakfast you could always make a monotone activities fun. Like right now, making Thor and the Maximoff twins laugh and sing around with you while you were whipping pancake mix on a bowl. It was some sort of little dance party while you cooked.

Loki couldn’t help but stare and chuckle softly.

“Loki, good morning” you smiled as poured some mix on a frying pan. “Wanna join us for breakfast?”

“Is it required for me to squirm around like a possessed worm like you’re doing?” he joked.

“Yes, it is imperative that you do, otherwise the pancakes will come flat” you quipped back with a cheeky smile.

“Come on brother, I know Midgard dancing is very different from what we used to see at home,” Thor intervened, “But it is quite fun, give it a try!”

“That’s the attitude, Thor-nderstorm” you grinned as you continued to dance.

“In that case I think I’ll just do with some coffee” he cleared his throat as he spoke.

“Come on, brother” Thor insisted, shameless —or rather, clueless— as usual. “It’s fun!”

“Hey, no shame if he can’t do it” you said, “Not everyone can dance.”

Loki laughed.

“If you call that «dancing», I’ll let you know I am actually a great dancer” he stated, just so you knew.

“Loki, if someone has to inform me of their traits, I have learned not to believe that.” You challenged him.

He looked away, focusing on the black liquid dripping into the coffee pot, trying to think of anything else that wasn’t you. Just the coffee, dark, bitter, that he had to keep himself from drinking before bed or it’d deprive him of sleep... Just the way you…

“ACK—!” he was brought back by the squeeze on his sides that made him jump and hold back a yelp.

He was ready to yell at Thor, when he saw the outstretched arms and you looking at him from the other side of the kitchen, the hands returned to your hips. Everyone was looking at him.

“Oh, you’re back” you saw his rosy cheeks a bit confused. “Honey?”

“Excuse me?”

“What do you want your pancakes with? Honey?”

“Uh- I… I- no… Um, I didn’t— I…” he couldn’t even look at you.

But you gave him a reassuring smile.

“I recall you like them with honey” you smiled, “It’s Thor that likes them with maple syrup.”

“That’s correct” Thor beamed happily.

“Don’t finish it all you hoarder” Pietro quipped as he wrestled with the blond for the bottle of syrup.

He sighed quietly, thankful that they had moved onto the next subject. He served himself his cup of coffee and just when he was going to turn around, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and that gently traveled all the way down his side and caused him to shiver.

He looked at you with daggers in his eyes before checking on the rest that were focused on eating and didn’t notice anything, thankfully. You just look at him and chuckled, before handing him a plate with neatly piled up pancakes with honey and some a small mix of berries you knew he liked.

“I didn’t know all Gods were so ticklish, I thought it was a Thor thing” you whispered. “…Good to know.”

You might as well have buried him alive after that. But, to his surprise you didn’t tell anyone. No one brought it up, not even Thor, who was already painfully aware of how cripplingly sensitive Loki was. No, and the anticipation killed him for the next day or two.

You didn’t bring it up once until one night you had the entire compound to yourselves. The doctor Foster had invited Thor over to «watch movies», not that anyone bought that for a second, the Scarlet Witch had gone on a date with the Vision, Barnes and Rogers were out on a party thing and had taken the Maximoff brother with him to further introduce him as part of the team. So, it was you and Loki completely alone.

You were reading on the couch on the weirdest positions, with your head upside down and the book inelegantly hanging on the air as you red upside down with your back arched as it seemed you’d fall out of the couch any second.

He grinned. It was the perfect chance to get you back. He made sure to be very quiet as he approached you and moved very slowly so you wouldn’t notice him —human earbuds were a blessing for his mischief, but they were not infallible— and right when he was towering over you. He squeezed both your sides.

“AAAAAAHHH!” you screeched as you fell off the couch.

Loki looked over to where you were laying on the floor where you had a hand over your heart.

“Loki! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” You scolded him.

What? No blush, no squeaky voice, no stuttering, no nervous shifting or even a giggle? No nothing? Were you that good at playing dumb? No way.

“What was that for?”

“I am sorry, I simply can’t resist when someone is vulnerable like that” Loki shrugged it off and sat on the couch, hoping you wouldn’t ask him to elaborate. “What are you reading?”

You sat back up next to him and showed him the baby blue book with pink letters and a couple kissing on the cover. One of those romance novels you liked.

“Is that the one you told me about?” Loki asked.

“It’s the one” you grinned and noticed the book beside him. “What are you reading?”

“Just old Asgardian poetry” he said, showing you the book, despite knowing you don’t speak Asgardian. He noticed the look you gave him, with an arched eyebrow and a smug grin, “It’s old even for me. Just old love poems.”

Your eyes sparkled like absolute diamonds, and you scooted closer to him, your face just inches from his. “Can you read one to me?”

He felt his cheeks flush at your excitement, and the clumsiness. But he cleared his throat and opened it on the poem he was reading. But he decided to be smug and read it just like it showed, in old Norse.

“Oh, so funny.” You growled and jabbed his sides.

Loki nearly jumped out of his skin and barked out a laugh. A laugh that didn’t go unnoticed given you quickly followed that same movement that had made him squirm. He very did a very poor job at concealing his reaction.

His brain quickly felt fuzzy, he could feel his restrained laughter echoing in his chest, and even still a few snickers were slipping out. His arms felt like worms just clumsily trying to find your hands to push you away. His face was impossibly hot and surely a dark shade of red at this point. His mind was on its knees begging for him to succumb and allow his body to laugh. And that’s exactly what he did when your hands sneaked past his arms and gently wiggled against the skin on his armpits.

“Wahahait! Stohohohop that!” he laughed.

“So that’s what your laugh sounds like” you teased him. “Hm… it’s actually kinda cute.”

“Stohohop this or ehehehehelse!” he latched his hands to your forearms but found that he didn’t even have the strength in himself to push you away.

Maybe it was that subliminal fear that he knew how fragile humans were. Maybe he was just that stupidly ticklish. Or… maybe your fingers were warm, and soft… and you had never given him this much attention.

He had fallen back on the couch, and you sat on his waist, straddling him with your legs on each side, and your hands were now exploring every bit of his torso to see what got him to laugh the hardest, your eyes were looking for every reaction, and your words were dedicated solely to tease him. He truly had you all for himself right now.

And it was driving him crazy.

“Mohohohortal! Cease this ahahahahat once!” he cackled. “It’s ahahahahan ordeheher!”

“Oh?” you smiled in a made that made his insides tingle, “I don’t think you’re in any position to make that call~”

Your thumbs dug into his hipbones that made him arch his back as he let out a loud screech and followed by a stream of guffaws. You laughed along with him, and it almost made this torture worth it.

Worth it, not more bearable.

“Plehehehease, no more! I surrender!” he laughed as he clumsily slapped your forearm in what he had learned was a sign of giving up.

“Wait, seriously” you asked, a bit surprised that you had actually gotten to him.

“Yehehehes, please, I yieheheheld!”

And thank gods it worked. You immediately stopped tickling him and helped him sit back up.

“You okay there?” you smiled at him, and his only response was tackling you to try getting some well-deserve revenge.

Ever since that night you had tormented every once in a while, by tickling him silly whenever you felt like it. But somehow you always had the decency to make it behind closed doors, where no one could see him laughing like an idiot at the mercy of a mortal simply tickling him. And… laying on your bed at late hours was very much worth it, the books he brought to read for you could always wait.

Loki and you chatted for a few hours and soon you sober up enough which relaxed Loki enough, but he noticed your conversation turned more melancholic, contrasting with your grumpy drunk rant earlier. You talked about your family, old jobs, and a department you owned before moving in on the compound.

“Can I tell you something funny?” you smiled sadly, and he nodded. “I miss being ticklish.”

“Well darling, I think that’s been enough alcohol for you.” Loki said as he grabbed the bottle and made it vanish away from you.

“I mean it!” you laughed.

“You’re insane.”

“It’s… I used to laugh so easy… Now every poke, every squeeze, every jab…” you poked your side and your finger sunk in your skin. “It’s… I don’t know… absorbed? I don’t feel anything like I used to.”

He remembered, the time you tickled him silly, how he attempted to get revenge, and how poorly it ended for him.

He latched his hands to your sides and squeezed you thoroughly. He crawled his hands over your belly, he pinched your ribs, and skittering his fingers under your arms. He experimented on every inch of your body.

But at most you gave him a soft breathy laugh, more amused than ticklish induced.

“Sorry Loki, I’m not that ticklish” you smiled trying to be apologetic, but you seemed more amused.

Your armed stretched and wrapped in circles around his bicep to pin his arm upward and still stretched enough to reach and tickle under his arm.

Needless to say, this time he didn’t get a break so easily.

“I doubt there is any actual downside to being the way you are” Loki encouraged you, “I’d give anything to not be… you know…”

“Cripplingly ticklish?” you smiled and elbowed his side making his face flush.

Norns, where had the days gone when he used to be a charming silver-tongued flirt? He used to be swooning men, women, and mythical beings alike, but your silly teasing for some reason had him blushing like a young boy.

“I-It’s… not how I would have phrased that…”

“I would” you cut him off with a giggle and poked his ribs, making him jump and barely hold back a squeak. A squeak.

“Right… Nowhere near the point I was trying to make” he sighs.

“I know… I just miss that intimacy” you sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, tickling was fun when I was little, it’s a nice way of being close to others” you sighed as you rested your head against his shoulder. “And I wish I could have that. Usually I get «no, it’s unfair since you’re not ticklish» and well… No more fun for me.”

Close to others.

He gulped at the warmth of your body as you leaned on him. His heart was racing, his hands were sweaty, his face was burning, he felt a knot in his throat and his breath was hitching.

“Tickle me then.”

“What did you say?!”

What did he say?!

Loki had been through the toughest training regimes growing up, he’d been deadly injured in battle countless time before he even turned 1000 years old, he’d withstand the most merciless tortures, and had been clinically dead more than once. But ever since he was little the one thing he couldn’t stand, was getting tickled. It was so bad to the point where the only people who could tickle him were his parents and Thor… who also had the advantage of being about three times stronger than Loki.

He remembered vividly the last time he was tickled past his limit he had lost control of his magic and unintentionally sent Thor to the healing room for two days (although he had been too proud to admit it had been an accident). The fact that you had left your last encounter tickling him unscathed was a miracle.

“Are you serious?” you asked him, looking at him suspiciously.

Truthfully, he didn’t know if he was. He was so convinced he hated being tickled, that he couldn’t understand why the idea actually felt… Exciting? Appealing? He tried convincing himself it was just the idea of having your hands on him.

“Yes, how bad can it really be?” Loki nearly wanted to die when he felt his voice crack in nervousness, and he had to clear his throat. “You’re just a human, after all.”

“Oh, is that so?” you chuckle. “Mm, I might take you on that offer then.”

You squeezed his side and his breath hitched.

“W-Wait, don’t!” he gasped and grabbed your hand.

“Oh, here better?” you grinned and used your other hand to squeeze above his knee, which made him jolt and grab your other hand by reflex.

“Gods, you do not make this easy” he chuckled softly.

“We don’t have to do this if you’re not comfortable” you smiled genuinely. “I still appreciate the intention.”

The disappointed look on your face was all the motivation he needed, he pulled you towards him and sat facing you, guiding your hands to his sides as he felt his face burning. How terminally insane had he gone?

“Do it before I change my mind” he said firmly.

“Pfft!” you giggled, “You’re crazy.”

“It would seem so” he smiled. “Let’s get this over with…”

You chuckled and you started skittering your fingernails along his sides. Loki’s jaw tensed immediately as he felt his lips started twitching upward.

“Aww… you’re so ticklish, Loki” you smiled as you kept tracing your fingers up and down his sides, from his hips to his upper ribs. “It’s so charming.”

He cursed his choice of wardrobe today, and Midgardian fashion in general, he could have used a good layer of his Asgardian leather armors. Now a cotton shirt and black jeans served him very little as your finger tormented his sides.

And he was starting to giggle already.

“Yohohohou’re such a pehehehehest!”

“C’mon… it is pretty cute how you laugh,” you smiled, “your voice is so deep but your giggles are so light.”

“I’m nohohohot cute! Hehehe- Hey! Dohohohn’t touch thehehehere!” he giggled when your hands wiggled towards the sides of his belly.

“Oh, your pwetty tummy is so ticklish, isn’t it?” you cooed doing bloody baby talk, “You so cute~”

“Stohohohohop!” he guffawed. “Do nohohot patronize mehehehe!”

He hated how well you had learned how sensitive his stomach was. You had tickled him about three times total prior to this peak of insanity, but the weak spot that was his entire abdomen didn’t go unnoticed from the first time.

“I’m sorry, it’s so hard not to tease you when you have such a cute way of laughing.”

“I’m nohohohohot! Stop sahahaying that!” he protested between laughs.

“You should see yourself” you smiled at him. “The way you scrunch up your nose and stick your tongue out ever so slightly is so endearing!”

“Shuhuhuhut up!” he laughed as he bent over to try protecting his belly from your fingers.

You were being so gentle to him, simply skittering your fingers over his shirt. Being anyone else, that might have just gotten a few giggles out, but he was so ridiculously ticklish, especially there. That this delicate taunt to the skin had him hysterical.

“No mohohohore!” he pleaded, “Not thehehehere!”

“Not where?” you asked innocently. “Here?”

And you poked gently over the patch of skin right below his navel.

“Cuhuhut it out! Gehehet away from my stomahahahach!” he cackled, “I’m behehegging you!”

For some reason you decided to listen and move from his gut, moving to poke and knead his ribs, even doing those unbearable ticklish pinches around him.

You had a hellish ability to have him in stitches.

It kept going for a while, you would explore a spot, have him giggling like a child and then move onto the next to start over, not giving him a chance to get used to any sensation or spot.

“Dahahahahahahahaharling, plehehease!” he laughed, “thahahat’s so bahahahad!”

Seemingly that phrased worked and it stopped you giving him the chance to catch his breath, he placed a hand over his chest, feeling it rise and fall as he tried refilling his lungs with air.

“You little imp!” Loki panted “I was being so nice to you!”

“So was I” you smiled, “I’ve tickled you before, you know how bad it can be.”

Surely you were right, but the way you said it, almost like a promise, made Loki’s cheeks flare up, not that it would’ve been noticeable given how his face was flushed from laughing.

“You’re a menace” he chuckled, as he ruffled your hair “How come I’ve grown so fond of a little nuisance like yourself?”

“What can I say? I’m irresistible like that” you laughed as you rested your head against his arm.

He chuckled as he felt a lingering warmth spreading from where you were resting against his arm to his chest.

“Maybe you are” he sighed with a smile. If only you knew.

“Loki… can I ask you something?” you looked up at him.

“What is it?”

“Are you happy… living here?” you asked. “Or… have you never thought of running away?”

His face darkened. It made sense, but the idea of you thinking of him as a potential traitor stung worse than every awful thing said to or by him in stupid fights with Thor or his parents when the arguments got heated.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, you lived in a castle, with luxury, prestige, fame and power” you spoke, “isn’t this too little for you? Don’t you feel trapped?”

Now that reasoning he didn’t expect. He smiled at you fondly.

“You make me sound like a spoiled brat” he chuckled.

“Aren’t you?” you chuckled.

“Of course not, I am the epitome of humility” he claimed, making you laugh. “But… answering to your question… I used to feel trapped, every day I’d be plotting my escape, how to make my great escape.”

“And we won't hear a word they say…” you chuckled.

“What?” he smiled.

“Nothing, The Great Escape is a song, continue” you smiled.

“And trust me… at first… I tried, they didn’t take long to catch me analyzing their security systems and patrolling schedules in a chance to sneak out. I was given so many last warnings and caused Thor so much trouble. Until… eventually I realized… I had nowhere to run to” Loki spoke sadly, “And eventually I stopped trying, this was all I had, and I had to make the best of it. At least my brother was around…”

“Aw, so you do care about Thor” you smiled as you nudge his side.

“I did not say that, and you are not to tell him that” Loki spoke in a fake seriousness. “His ego is big enough as it is.”

“Oh, you’re criticizing him about his big ego.” You laughed, and Loki’s heart fluttered, “You should tell him, he would be very happy that his little brother loves him.”

“Perhaps I will one day” Loki smiled, resting his cheek on the top of your head. “Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…”

“Diva” you muttered under your breath, making Loki chuckle.

“…Eventually I resigned to living here,” he continued. “And one day, the Incorporation of Mutant Program was introduced.”

“I’m still not over the fact that we were named the IMPs” you laughed, making Loki snicker.

“Are you kidding? That was the only thing I considered salvageable of you all at the time.” Loki joked, earning a poke on the ribs from you, “…Among the other Avengers I was requested to instruct the recruits. Which I refused to do.”

“And then you met me” you smiled.

“And then I met you.” Loki agreed. “Which made it all more bearable, you at least provided me with some challenge and entertainment.”

“That’s a really twisted way to say you like me” you chuckled.

If you only knew…

“Would you believe me if I said I did?”

“That’s fair.”

The triggered something in him, a moment of bravado that made him want to risk everything and tell you.

“Are you sure of that?” he asked, as he gently placed a finger under your chin, and pulled for you to look at him. “Even if I said you drive me completely crazy?”

Oh, the look of shock that adorned your now blushing features was delicious.

“Even if I said that I think about you on every waking moment, and that just for the sake of that smile of yours I’d withstand the most barbarous tortures… That for the longest time now you’ve had my heartstrings wrapped around your fingers, playing me like a puppet at your will just for the sake of you one day maybe looking at me the way I look at you.”

“What…? Wh— L-Loki… I— you—!” you stuttered.

Your face was red, but you didn’t seem repelled by his confession. Thank goodness. He thought maybe giving you some time to organize your words was the best thing he could do.

“Why me?” you finally asked.

“Why not?”

“I’m not particularly strong, powerful or attractive” you stated. “Even among just the other recruits.”

“I beg to differ, it takes a lot to render a god helpless like you did earlier.”

“Because you allowed me to” you retorted.

“Because I am crazy about you” Loki said gently.

“Why?”

“You’re stubborn, you get on my nerves all the time, you question and defy my authority every chance you have, and you have no fear of the consequences of crossing a god, especially one with my history.” Loki chuckled. “That takes a lot of courage.”

You smiled at him shyly, and oh gods, the amount of self-control it took not to tackled you and kiss the daylights out of you was ridiculous.

“You are funny, and witty, you have these innocent eyes that make me want to blindly believe you every time you pull one of your stupid pranks on me.”

“And you fall every time” you smiled as the pink shade returned to your cheeks.

“I fall every time” he whispered with a gentle nod. “I fall every time you smile, every time you laugh and every time you look at me as if I was someone interesting and worth getting to know better.”

“You are worth getting to know better… Hell, you’re worth risking a friendship for…”

“Risking a friendship— Mmph?!”

Before he could process what you had done he was already melting against your lips that were sweetly pressed against his.

He felt your fingers sneaking behind him, brushing gently against his neck, which made him laugh softly against the kiss before they continued their journey to his head, where they started playing with his hair in a way that caused him to swoon. In return he placed his hands on the small of your back, brushing his thumbs against you.

And you let out a giggle.

“What was that?” he asked amused.

“W-Wait, do it again!” You smiled brightly.

Loki smiled and brushed his fingers gently across your back and you let out a little giggle.

“It tickled!” You exclaimed.

“Oh did it…?” he smiled and experimented by gently scratching your sides and belly, just soft caresses with his blunt nails over your skin.

And you were giggling like a happy kid.

“Would you look at that…” Loki taunted you. “The little springy mortal is ticklish after all.”

You just rested against his chest as he tickled you, not protesting or squirming at all, just happy giggles. He supposed it made sense, pokes, squeezes, and jabs did nothing, but your skin was still sensitive enough to react to caresses, and it turned out it was all he needed. He took his sweet time exploring every little spot on your body that made you giggle.

Perhaps tickling was fun after all.

| Masterpost |

[mage-ical-character-person]

You know I was wondering what the heck the Vees thought they were talking about when they mention a power vacuum in their bit of the song in The Show Must Go On. Like what are these idiots hoping to accomplish?

and I just now realized.

They say “Overlords hanging by a thread”. “Overlords” plural. Which is weird, because that would mean they’re not just talking about Alastor, but the battle was entirely focused on the hotel.

The only other Overlords even slightly involved are Rosie and Carmilla. So let’s take a look at that for a second! Both of them put a lot of resources into the battle, even if they weren’t present for it themselves.

First of all: Rosie

Rosie’s entire population was sent to the battle. When she’s talking to Charlie before Charlie’s first attempt at her speech, Rosie says

“I can’t exactly command all of Cannibal Town to follow someone else into battle”

“This group sticks together, so in order to convince any of them, you’ll need to convince all of them”

So it seems pretty clearly implied that all of Rosie’s Cannibals were sent into battle. We know that some of them perished, and more were probably injured, which would probably leave Rosie at least a little vulnerable. We don’t know exactly how many Cannibals were lost, and saying she’s “hanging by a thread” seems like a stretch, but the event likely did set her back, and her Cannibals will need time to recover.

I do also feel like the fact that they all ate angel meat will have some sort of effect. Not sure what kind, but angel blood glows and it seems like there would be some weird properties there. Not sure if it’s good or bad.

Either way, Rosie loosing some of her Cannibals would leave her more vulnerable than usual after the battle, even if only slightly. And her association with Alastor means Vox probably has beef with her, so it makes some sense for the Vees to see this as an opening, especially coupled with Alastor being injured and, at the time, missing. He wouldn’t be able to provide Rosie with much backup in that state. (Alastor’s back now and pretending to be fine but I doubt that.) Having both of them in a weakened state at the same time is probably unheard of.

And with how weird Vox is about Alastor, targeting Rosie to mess with him is something I could see happening. I don’t know if that would go well for the Vees, because we haven’t seen what Rosie is capable of, and we haven’t seen much of what Vox is really capable of when facing off against anyone other than Alastor, who has a talent for making Vox act stupider than usual.

Then we have Carmilla, and her case is very interesting, because while she only provided weapons for the battle, that’s still a big investment of resources. Angelic steel is very, very hard to come by in hell, and she provided quite a lot of weapons. While she’ll probably get a good number of them back, there’s a bigger issue here.

Carmilla’s business and by extension her status as an Overlord relies on selling weapons made with angelic steel. Carmilla gets angelic steel from weapons left behind during exterminations.

and uh

Yeah I’m not sure how that’s gonna go for her. Cause it seems like her supply of the materials she needs to stay in her position of power just got cut off completely. Especially since Heaven now knows that leaving behind weapons is what provides the only method of killing angels. After Adam’s death I really don’t think they’re making that mistake again.

So Carmilla seems to be on a track that leads to her power dwindling as she runs out of resources. Sure, she can just work in dealing normal weapons with high craftsmanship, but without her claim to fame of selling weapons that can permanently kill, she will lose a lot of power and influence.

I’m sure Velvette will enjoy that.

Overall, though, while I still think the Vees are dumb and impulsive and biting off more than they can chew… their part of the Finale song makes just a little more sense to me now. Three Overlords in weakened states might leave them some sort of opening.

They really shouldn’t mess with Alastor, though, because not only does Vox lose all logical thought around him, but Charlie considers Alastor a friend by this point. And she is the Princess of Hell, and very protective of her friends. Though she probably wouldn’t hurt the Vees unless she absolutely had to. She’s definitely not a fighter except in extreme circumstances. Katie Killjoy notwithstanding.

[darkstarofchaos]

Okay. Now my more in-depth thoughts about the latest EarthSpark drop. I'll be going more plot point by plot point than episode by episode, so all my thoughts about a particular character or plot device will stay together. And of course, spoilers ahead.

I guess I'll start by giving BreakBee shippers my sympathy. For a minute there, I thought Breakdown was actually going to switch sides. And the fact that he didn't would have made a lot more sense if the Decepticons had ever had any positive interactions after being freed. But outside of a couple pairs, they only ever seemed to (barely) tolerate each other, so Breakdown's line of "they're my family" rings pretty hollow. Turns out you need to actually treat your villains like people for emotion-driven beats to make sense. Who would have thought?

Once again, the Decepticons were the most disappointing part of the show. Like, I thought Shockwave's thing about the Decepticons being more trustworthy under his command was going to go somewhere, but no. Next episode the Cons appear in, they just bail. No more Decepticons for us Con fans, because now there are only two left known to still be on the planet. And one of them is back in jail. Which could go somewhere interesting now that the bots are forced to deal with him directly instead of humans overseeing imprisonment, but I don't even know if the show is getting any more episodes, so I'm not gonna bother hoping.

Also, I was undecided last night about whether Shockwave was actually a better leader than Starscream or not, because we see almost nothing of his command. Now that I've slept on it, though, I think he was actually a worse leader. Because he did the equivalent of bet one's life savings on a horse race. Only the life savings in this case was the freedom of his troops (who are stuck with no known means of acquiring energon, by the way). Betting your freedom on a race isn't logical, it's stupid. The logical thing to do would have been to refuse to bargain, because unless the kids and Bee decided a comic wasn't worth releasing the Cons over, Shockwave had all the power. So yeah, with nothing else really known about his leadership, I have to say he's terrible at it.

Moving on from the Decepticons, this family has no boundaries OMG. The movie night episode was a nightmare to sit through, because everything about it was so unhealthy? Quirky family movie night! With no empathy, no communication, and no lesson being learned. Robbie never once tells anyone to stop trying to "help", he just passive-aggressively takes it. And as usual, that stupid emotional connection thing is nowhere to be found when it's inconvenient to the plot, because no one ever picks up on the fact that they're upsetting Robbie. This kind of humor does not have a place in a show that's supposed to be about family, especially when there's no lesson about setting boundaries or thinking about others instead of yourself involved.

Episode 3 was a nightmare Twitch had. That's why everyone was so weirdly dependent on her, and why things grew progressively more absurd as time went on. That's my headcanon and I'm sticking to it. Also, I'm not convinced magnets work that way, but it seems to be within the realm of plausibility based on a search for DIY magnets, so sure.

On that note, I'm still salty that Nightshade isn't being allowed any standalone episodes, but this batch was almost entirely ensembles, so that's fine, I guess. At least someone actually referred to them using their pronouns, unlike the last batch. But I would like to know what they've been up to lately, because I would swear they didn't have that stereotypical "scientist constantly uses technical words" speech pattern before.

Okay, frustration and tedium done, let's talk about Prowl. Actually, first we need to talk about Optimus and Megatron, because they appear first, but hey, we made it to the Prowl episodes. Otherwise known as my main reason for watching this batch.

Starting off, was Optimus always this... Mean? Like, don't get me wrong, I like an Optimus who has flaws and isn't just a saint, but I would swear he was nicer in S1. I mean, he yells at Megatron for not following his orders when Megatron didn't even do anything. He was literally just standing there, in the place Optimus left him. And in both this episode and the next, Optimus is constantly snapping at him? I kinda like the dynamic, but it feels OOC based on Optimus' character from S1. I don't remember following orders being this important to him, and I don't think we've seen anything that would lead to him putting more emphasis on it now?

I dunno. I spent those couple episodes being torn between, "I like this take on Optimus" and "pretty sure he wasn't like this before, though".

Anyway! Prowl.

I generally liked Prowl. I wish he'd been a little more socially awkward, but overall, he's almost exactly what I would have hoped for: brusque and rude when you first meet him, and rather blunt in his speech, but fundamentally a good person, and pretty okay when you get to know him. Also, he's a flying car, which is awesome. He gets to join Tracks in the cool bots club.

Was really hoping he and Optimus would have a more antagonistic relationship, though, for exactly the reason Megatron said: Optimus needs someone to question him, and he needs to listen. And Prowl does question Optimus on a couple things, but it doesn't matter because he decides Optimus was right in the end. And that's the biggest issue I have with him, because he adjusts to the status quo way too quickly. Mistrust of Megatron? Gone. Concerns about relying on human children in life-or-death situations? Gone. Four episodes and the one reasonable Autobot is already drunk on the Kool-Aid.

Like. He's right about the kids. These ancient war veterans rely way too much on literal children. Sure, they have special powers that make them uniquely qualified to solve the kind of problems that keep cropping up, but the correct response isn't, "I guess you were right, child soldiers are fine in this context". The correct response is "Who the fuck put this kind of responsibility on children." Prowl was right and I am so mad that he just shrugs and accepts it in the end.

And yes, I know this is a kids' show, and that kids' shows like to have kid characters doing cool things. But "these kids are the only ones who can do what needs to be done" and "these kids shouldn't have to be in that position" are storylines that can coexist. You can put them in a position where they're forced to take on too much responsibility while acknowledging that it's a pretty messed up situation. But no, Quintus was a good person, so obviously there's nothing wrong with him choosing a pair of kids for whatever!

Moving on.

I don't remember how the Hate Plague was handled originally, but as far as EarthSpark's handling goes, I have. Issues. The biggest of them being that this is an actual disease with cells you can study under a microscope, so how in the world does contact with an infected bot lead to instant and guaranteed symptomatic infection? And why is it defeated by cold water of all things? The instant transmission would make more sense if it was some sort of energetic virus or something, but the old "spray them in the face with water to snap them out of it" trope? Really?

Loved the thing with Izzy, though. I hated every scene she was in and was surprised she didn't end up being evil in her debut episode, so it was a massive relief that she ended up being evil and we don't have to see her ever again. Technically we could see her again because she's in Autobot custody and stuff, but whatever, I never want to see her again.

The Quintessons were disappointing. Again, I don't know if there will even be any more episodes, so maybe the writers had to rush to wrap up the storyline, but considering they were being foreshadowed all the way back at the end of S1, the payoff was just. So boring. As usual, everything revolves around those stupid cybersleeves, and I'm beginning to miss the days of TFP when almost every episode after S1 was a scavenger hunt.

Speaking of TFP, that Starscream? That was late TFP Starscream. That was not the Starscream we met in ES S1. Considering he's been completely isolated with no apparent access to fuel and no company except a couple of dead bodies for weeks or months, it's completely understandable that he's not doing well, but they really threw away everything that made this Starscream stand out, didn't they?

I have nothing to say about the Chaos Terrans. They're alive again, yay. Please tell me the magic resurrection key is gone now, because nothing makes me stop caring like the ability to just restore the dead on a whim.

Overall thoughts. I don't know if this batch was actually better than the last batch, or if it just felt that way because my standards were lower. But as far as enjoyment, I honestly like S2a better. I unironically liked the body swap episode, I perked up every time Starscream was onscreen (until the last 20 minutes), and I was at least interested in what was going on, even if I was mentally yelling at the characters half the time. But watching these episodes, I was bored. If Prowl hadn't been a steady presence after his introduction, I don't know if I would even have finished the episodes, because I just didn't care. The Hate Plague was laughably simple to cure, the Quintessons showed up just to blow up, and things were just happening to the characters instead of because of them. Aside from one or two episodes, there were no plotlines initiated by the characters.

EarthSpark has truly lost its spark.

[lartmasterl]

The Topic of Romy

I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really like the romy ship, for either Rogue or Gambit. It feels like both characters get the short end of the stick somehow.

Rogue is allowed to be a character but only because shes with Gambit, and that’s the only time anyone will pay attention to her, if she’s with/pinning over Gambit. Her entire character in recent years has just revolved around Gambit and if she isn’t with him, she’s a whore apparently.

And Gambit isn’t really that much better off. He’s been written as the “Dumb wife guy” since they got married it feels like and he hasn’t really been allowed to be competent (because if he’s competent then they can’t write badass Rogue) or an actually cool guy who’s been an expert thief his entire life.

Idk, it just kinda sucks with what is being done with, or lack of, the characters. Like if they divorce, that would probably be the most interesting thing that’s happened to either of them in over a decade.

And the Romy fandom doesn’t really help the ship’s case either. Most of what I’ve seen of them is “punching down”(used lightly) at other ships involving the characters (rogueneto most recently) and claim some sort of moral superiority because of a perceived fault with the other ship. Or they claim that creators won’t let them have anything because they’re… not immediately getting married in media outside of the comics?

It just feels hollow and a very large/loud part of the fandom behaves like spoiled children who can’t figure out how storytelling works.