#like I’ll just be honest that I have a bias here

[amethystwrytes]

Also doing this unsolicited bc I want to lol

1. What’s your current bias line?

Lee Minho, Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin - but honestly lbr, it’s whoever I’m looking at at the moment 🥴

2. Who’s the one that made you stan?

Changbin, no question, and it was the “I’m so sensitive because I’m so hungry” clip that got me because same sweetie, same.

3. What song was your first?

The first SKZ song I ever heard in full was Gods Menu. And yes, I just wanted to see that part with Felix cookin’ like a chef lmao.

4. What’s your current favorite song?

Man, they’ve been killing it lately, but I’m still not over my little Chk Chk Boom moment.

5. What members personality resembles yours the most?

Minho, I’m pretty sure anyway.

6. If you had to pick a specific racha, which would you choose?

Ugh. I feel like 3Racha is the correct answer but my heart says DanceRacha 💃🏻❤️

7. Which attribute of the members do you like the most?

I mean, Changbins biceps, duh.

8. What’s your favorite album?

I’m going to be honest here and admit that navigating KPop albums is not my strongest suit - it’s a lot lol - but ATE has bops on bops on bops and is currently my fav.

9. Do you own any albums?

Nope. Lmao. Sorry🙃

10. Have you been to a concert?

Also no. I just really hate spending so much money on concert tickets these days just to go get knocked around, not be able to see, and get lost in the screams just to breathe the same air as my favorite artists. It’s a sensory/me issue 🤷‍♀️

11. Who’s your favorite duo?

Hyun…ho? Minjin? Hyunjin and Minho lmao

12. Favorite cover/solo song?

It’s not a straight up solo - but I do really like the song Drive.

13. Favorite SKZOO?

Leebit 🩷

14. If you had a day with one member what would you want to do with them?

I would want to cook with Minho, and just eat and watch movies and veg out on the couch all day. He could cook us up a meal and I could bake something sweet 🥰

15. Who’s your favorite singing voice?

Seungmin and Minho but honestly Han has a beautiful voice, so does Chan…fuck it… all of them lmao

16. Who’s your favorite to watch dance?

Hwang Hyunjin. With my sweet Minho coming in a close 2nd.

17. Do you have a favorite SKZ Code?

I’ve not seen them all, but I laugh every single time I see the clip of Seungmin losing it during flying yoga. Every single time 😂

18. Favorite MV?

Hmm. I really couldn’t pick so I’ll say Gods Menu since that’s the first one I ever saw and a girls first time is special 😂

19. Who do you think you’d be best friends with?

Probably Minho or Hyunjin tbh

20. Let’s feed those delusions, who are you picking for a date and what are you doing?

I’m picking Lee Minho and we’re staying in on a chilly day and watching movies and cuddling.

.·:*¨ 𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝑻𝒐 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒚 ¨*:·.

20 Questions for my fellow Stays!

Making a little tag game because I love them and I’m nosy tbh. I also just love interacting with yall!

1: What’s your current bias line?

2: Who’s the one that made you Stan?

3: What song was your first?

4: What’s your current favorite song?

5: What members personally resembles yours the most?

6: If you had to pick a specific racha which would you choose?

7: What’s one attribute of the members do you like the most? (Example: Chans dimples)

8: What’s your favorite album?

9: Do you have any albums?

10: Have you been to a concert?

11: Who’s your favorite duo?

12: Favorite cover/solo songs:

13: Favorite SKZOO?

14: If you had a day with one member what would you wanna do with them?

15: Who’s your favorite singing voice?

16: Who’s your favorite to watch dance?

17: Do you have a favorite SKZ Code?

18: Favorite MV?

19: Who do you think you’d be best friends with?

20: Let’s feed those delusions, Who are you picking for a date and what are you doing?

[wren-writes-things]

You know the more I think about it, the more I really want to know why Andrias was the one they decided to focus on the emotional arc of in season 3. Like I’m sure there was a reason, but it’s just odd to me. You have Anne, Sasha and Sprig who all have potential emotional arcs and backgrounds that would make sense to explore in preparation for the finale.

[emmyrosee]

You’ve been sneaking into Kenma’s room for years.

It started when you were very young, having left your gameboy at Kenma’s house after a few rounds of Mario. You managed to toss a few rocks at his window, and once he silently unlocked the door and let you in, you quickly scurried back out hours later with a grateful smile.

Then, you started to sneak through his window. Seeing the flashes of lights at god knows what hours was something you knew meant he was awake, and you’d climb out from your sheets and crossed the street to his place. Again, you’d throw rocks at his window, and when he’d tried to go open the door, he hadn’t expected you scale up the large tree just a few feet away.

Tonight was no different; he’s tapping away wildly on his console while you scurry up the tree in your slippers, smooshing your face against the glass when he finally sees you and opens the window.

You’d finally tumbled in, and he gave you a tired sigh, “you’re annoying.”

“And you’re still playing. I wanted to watch you play.”

“You could’ve just texted me. You left marks on my glass.”

“I needed the exercise. What time do you need me out of here?”

“Kuroo drags me by the ankle out of here by 06:30. Be out beforehand.”

You smirk and nudge his shoulder with yours, causing him to send you a glare before sitting back down on the floor. “Sleep on the bed, help yourself to pajamas.”

“You like him, kenma,” you tease. You see him tense up before he shakes his head.

“No,” he says simply. “I don’t. Not like that anyways.”

“Just not used to you having other friends besides me,” you hum. He huffs in annoyance.

“Are you gonna watch, or do I have to kick you out of my room?”

“Fine,” you sigh. “I’ll behave. Only because I hate climbing your tree.”

Kenma doesn’t like Kuroo. Honest! He thinks he’s cute, sure, gets why the girls like him and boys follow him around, he’s fine enough on a scale of emotional and physical attraction.

But Kuroo’s not the one Kenma’s eyes stay focused on. It’s you.

You’re funny, he likes the way you eat foods that you don’t like first, before diving into the favorites after to savor them. You’re cute, and you’re bad at the differences between contexts of words, and you have a little eye twitch that bestows you in a moment of quick thoughtfulness.

You don’t ask him why he’s up so late, you ask him the answers to homework and give him gummy worms as a thank you. You never overstay a welcome, always either leaving before the sun comes up, or staying quiet while you sleep on the bed.

He likes the way your eyes shine when you’re excited, the roll of your eyes when he tells you “no” when you want the answer to be “yes”, the little snickers that slip out at Kuroo’s expense at Kenma’s quick thinking.

“Kenma?”

“Im busy.”

“I want to cuddle.”

The way you want physical touch when you’re tired.

Yeah. As your best friend, he really is bias to that one.

With a groan, he pauses and saves his game under slot 3, shuts down the console before crawling up and into his bed next to you, the cold sheets shooting his nerves until they warm under your shared warmth. You bury your nose in his collar and he takes out his phone for you both to watch tiktok.

“Kenma?”

“Go to sleep.”

“When you marry Kuroo, can I be the ring bearer?”

“If i marry Kuroo, I want you far, far from my ceremony.”

He practically hears you pout, “you’re no fun.”

“I sure am not.”

For someone who has no fun, not one fun bone in his body, he’s amazed at how comfortable you are in his grip and he in yours, fingers fisting his nightshirt until his own eyes grow heavy.

And if Kuroo walked in just a few hours later at 06:30, only to see his best friend cuddling with someone he loves most, he didn’t say anything and closed the door softly behind him.

[seonghwaddict]

ateez fic recs!

🧸 lilo’s notes! here is a collection of works that i loved and thought everyone should read! works marked with a bear emoji are some of my favs. i’ll be updating the list, of course. this list contains both sfw and nsfw content, minors please interact accordingly.

hongjoong

he’s kinda hot — @ohmyamor

“After a decent run with your boyfriend, you finally decide to end it when his paranoia becomes too much. Except, maybe he wasn’t crazy. And now you have demon who refuses to leave you alone.”

demon!hongjoong, fem!reader, fluff, slight angst, please see content warning before reading, suggestive

lilo’s notes! i absolutely love demon!atz aus and i can testify that this is definitely one of my favs. everything about this was absolutely fantastic and i may or may not revisit it every few weeks

you’re hongjoong’s bias — @jnginlov

“when you and your group go on idol radio to promote your latest comeback, you don’t anticipate one of the hosts to be completely enraptured by you”

idol au, fluff, gn!reader

lilo’s notes! listen… idol aus are usually not my cup of tea (though several fics on here prove that wrong), but this is absolutely one of the cutest things i’ve read.

seonghwa

new horizons — @fivestar-outlaw

“Attempting an all-nighter while playing Animal Crossing alongside your bias, you didn't expect your turnip prices to be such a high amount... nor did you expect Park Seonghwa to actually accept your offer to sell his turnips on your island.”

completed series, FLUFF, idol!hwa x nonidol!fem!reader, nsfw

lilo’s notes! EEEEEEE THIS FIC IS SO CUTEEEEEE

🧸 honest (but happy) accident — @ad0rechuu

uni student!hwa, gn!reader, fluff, slice of life

lilo’s notes! y’all are gonna get so sick of me cuz you’re gonna see multiple of zero’s fics on here. jokes aside, this is genuinely so fucking cute i was rolling around and giggling while reading it.

🧸 12:25 time of love — @jaehunnyy

kindergarten teacher!hwa, mom!reader, meet cute, fluff

lilo’s notes! imagining seonghwa in a job like that genuinely makes me so soft. whenever i’m in that Emotional mood i like to read this.

🧸 impressionism — @hwaightme

“a post-graduate student specialising in impressionism, you were a regular visitor to the many art galleries in the city. who knew that among the paintings you would encounter your favourite, timeless work of art?”

vampire!gallerist!hwa x art historian!gn!reader, fluff, soulmates

lilo’s notes! as an art history nerd, this fic is so beautiful especially when combined with a vampire au like AHHHH some of my fav things in one fic

yunho

early hours — @honeyhotteoks

“you run into him in the hallway of the hotel, it's late and you're exhausted from the concert, but he thinks you should grab a drink and you can't help but agree”

idol!yunho x nonidol!fem!reader, one night stand, nsfw, some fluff

lilo’s notes! HDJSJDJSJKF the way this had me glued to my phone and giggling should be studied.

🧸 principia and opticks — @bro-atz

“you're struggling with a specific class that's required for your major; but, luckily, your professor, professor jeong, has no problem helping you out outside of class” // “you and professor jeong yunho decided to continue your relationship secretly, only to almost get caught one day”

professor!yunho x student!reader (legal), nsfw, fluff

lilo’s notes! don’t judge me but i think professor x student (COLLEGE. LEGAL.) is such a good trope it’s always gonna have me running laps around my room.

bottle service — @bro-atz

“all yunho wants to do is fuck the bottle girl's brains out.”

big dick!yunho x small!afab!reader, nsfw

lilo’s notes! i have nothing to say for myself other than size kinks are hot. even more so when it’s related to yunho

christmas dinner — @a1sh1teruu

“it didn't just end with one dinner.”

ceo!yunho x secretary!fem!reader, fluff

lilo’s recs! THIS WAS WRITTEN FOR ME AGHHHHHHHH i love it so much i think about it at least once a week

🧸 summer nights — @honeyhotteoks

“he's your best friend and roommate, but during the heat of summer and the confinement of quarantine, you just can't seem to help yourselves.”

roommate!yunho, nsfw, fluff

lilo’s notes! i reread this yesterday and realised there’s a sequel. TRUST i will be devouring that as soon as i can

track 3: cyber sex — @highvern

whipped loser!yunho x camgirl!reader, nsfw

lilo’s notes! STOPPIJDIDJ yunho was so cute and shy in this i wanted to scream into a pillow

yeosang

🧸 lessons in intimacy — @honeyhotteoks

“you didn’t mean to actually meet the man who’s audio porn was single handedly getting you off every night, but you do”

camboy!yeo, nsfw, fluff

lilo’s notes! absolute perfection this was so sjsjjcjsjd i could feel myself slowly losing my mind

evolve — @nebulousbrainsoup

“more often than not, a life lived in Night City is carefully crafted, slotted firmly between preapproved lines—or it is if you value keeping it. whispers of freedom float just beyond the city's neon lights, and it's only through a chance encounter with the most unlikely of characters that you finally start to hear them.”

biker!yeosang x fem!reader, fluff, nsfw, some angst

lilo’s notes! despite it being 12k words i gobbled it up in a single sitting which is crazy tbh, it didn’t feel that long at all and i was so invested

san

🧸 prelude in e minor — @bro-atz

“your brain tells you to focus on your education, but your heart tells you to focus on professor choi”

professor!san, CELLIST!san, nsfw, angst

lilo’s notes! back at it with the professor aus yupppp y’all know me so well. i felt so many emotions while reading this i thought i was gonna go insane.

mingi

🧸 slowly, i’m going down — @yutasbellybuttonpiercing

“mingi hates studying, but what he hates way more than that is being perceived as stupid. what mingi loves on the other hand, are pretty people getting flustered about his voice or mingi shows you exactly what he hates and loves.”

college au, tutor!reader, nsfw

lilo’s notes! not only was this written so well, but it was so fucking entertaining. mingi is just so silly in this i love it.

angel eyes — @binniesbang

“Yunho teases Mingi when he trips over his words infront of a girl, he needs a little loving to make it better:((“

coffee shop au, fluff, comfort

lilo’s notes! AHHHHHHHH sobbing crying screaming this was so cute and soft i love this mingi

🧸 untitled — @teasteeper

“kissing practice with your best friend mingi”

best friend!mingj x fem!reader, nsfw

lilo’s notes! GRRRSGHDJDJD OH MY GOD mingi you ain’t slick at all- anyways, my turn when?

wooyoung

ribbon — @wooyoungmybelovedhusband

“You just love Wooyoung's dick, and maybe you wanted to make it look pretty like it truly is.”

daddy!wooyoung, nsfw

lilo’s notes! they be fucking but somehow it’s so??? cute?? really enjoyed this one 10/10

spiderman! — @cherrysoojins

“being spider-man comes with a lot advantages, but those advantages can have their disadvantages. like jung wooyoung not being able to show up to study groups to be able to see the girl he’s crushing on big-time.”

spiderman!wooyoung, smau + written, fluff, angst, crack. ongoing(?) series, last updated: july 7th, 2023

lilo’s notes! this was actually such a cute and fun fic and i really wished there were more chapters :c

backstage rockin’ — @a1sh1teruu

“after a late night of practice with the band, and with you lounging in the background. when his friends finally left, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself any longer.”

bandmate!wooyoung, nsfw

lilo’s notes! i think this was THE fic that awakened my love for bassists, that’s how good it was. zerda’s writing always has me giggling

jung wooyoung’s superpower — @ad0rechuu

best friend!wooyoung, fluff fluff fluff

lilo’s notes! ik i’ve probably said this a lot but this is ACTUALLY one of the cutest fics i’ve ever read i adore it so much

🧸 i’m just bein’ curious — @teeskz

“in which your friend wooyoung invites you over for a movie night”

pervy best friend!woooyung, nsfw

lilo’s notes! it’s short but if i said this didnt awaken something in me, i’d be lying. i reread it this morning and that’s what made me start this rec list

jongho

🧸 adorable — @i-luvsang

frenemy!jongho, gn!reader one bed trope, fluff, comedy

lilo’s notes! AHHHHH I LOVE RIA’S WRITING SO SO SO MUCH fluff by ria is genuinely so djdjdjsjd it’s got me giggling

untitled — @nateezfics

nsfw, fluff

lilo’s notes! i’m sorry but idc if they’re going at it, it’s so cute and soft?? they’re just so silly

multi

🧸 milky way — @ad0rechuu

“It’s not everyday that your friends childhood friend turns out to be the girl that you literally have a fan account for, but for Seonghwa, San and Mingi it’s become a reality. being able to get close to your bias is great! even if she does have a raging crush on someone else…”

fanboys!hwasangi x idol!reader, smau + written, fluff, angst, suggestive, slow burn. completed series, 60 chapters + 3 different endings

lilo’s notes! i will never not be grateful that this series exists. it’s funny, cute, and angsty and i absolutely love it with my whole heart. i think it’s one of the first fics i read on tumblr, so it’s really special to me + i think this was part of the reason i got close to my lovely zero

🧸 blurred lines and lies — @yuyusuyu

the synopsis is really long

best friend!yeosang x fem!reader x best friend!jongho, love triangle, romance, slice of life, angst. completed series, 10 chapters + 2 different endings

lilo’s notes! words cannot describe how i felt reading this but i think it’s comparable to going through every stage of grief possible plus more. genuinely, one of the best fics i’ve ever read

strawberry mocha — @pirateprincessblog

“your favorite café has a new barista, and he seems oddly familiar, especially when you see his hands move when he prepares your favourite beverage”

barista!camboy!wooyoung x fem!reader, ft yunho, nsfw, angst

lilo’s notes! my thought process while reading was a cycle of “oh my god” and “what the fuck” in the BEST way possible. the writing is so good i wanted to reach through the screen a smack some characters, and hug some others

clair de lune — @atzfilm

“you’ve finally gotten the chance to enter “clair de lune”, a infamous night club to see the band hiraeth. but why did you feel like their eyes only watched you?”

yandere!ot8 x fem!reader, angst, fluff, nsfw. completed series, 8 chapters.

lilo’s notes! so iconic. if you haven’t read this, you better and that’s a threat.

murphy’s law — @atzfilm

“according to murphy’s law, everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Black holes circle each other until they collide and merge, a cataclysm so fierce, sends ripples soaring through the fabric, crossing thousands of kilometers within a fraction of a second, leaving behind a wave on the space-time continuum. That’s the simplest way you can describe meeting him. And yet, even that is an understatement.”

alien!ot8, multi x fem!reader (not ot8), soulmate au, fluff, angst, nsfw, check other warnings. completed series, 5 chapters.

lilo’s notes! another iconic fic by an iconic writer, we love to see it

mists of celeste — @hongism

“Sneaking aboard the ship of a renowned space pirate may not have been the best idea, but you’ll have to make do with what fate has handed to you.”

space pirate!ateez, multiple pairings, angst, fluff, nsfw, check other warnings. ongoing series, 49 chapters + additional content

lilo’s notes! i’m pretty sure everyone on tumblr who reads atz fics has seen this one at some point and it definitely deserves its hype. this is probably one of the best, well thought-out fics i’ve ever read and i believe it can definitely be considered better than many published books

🧸 hotel california and paradise gardens — @mint-yooxgi

“You can check out any time you’d like, but you can never leave.” // “Eternity means nothing if I don’t have you.”

yandere!demon!ot8 x fem!reader, horror, fluff, angst, nsfw, check other warnings. complete fic, 42 chapters combined

lilo’s notes! yeah i reread this every few months and i’m not ashamed to admit i’m obsessed with it.

outlaw miniseries — @hongism

individual parts for each member/unit, nsfw with a side of fluff and angst. ongoing series, 4/6 chapters

lilo’s notes! hi no i won’t shut up about hongism i think ive read everything she’s published and if i didn’t want to make this list diverse i would’ve just put a link to her masterlist and called it a day. seriously, highly recommended. my fav on this is the 2ho one.

from storm to sunrise — @ad0rechuu

“you and your boyfriend yunho wake up to find your other boyfriend mingi no where to be found”

fem!reader x bfs!yuyu and mingi, fluff, mild angst

lilo’s notes! zero try not to write something i’ll fall in love challenge, go! oh no you already failed because everything by user ad0rechuu is a masterpiece

🧸 hooked — @songmingisthighs

“A freshman hookup rekindled into something new. With an incentive, of course. But what would happen if your ‘relationship’ led you somewhere you never thought would happen to you?”

ot8 x fem!reader, smau + written, college au, fluff, crack, nsfw. completed series, 91 chapters

lilo’s notes! this is also one of the first fics i read on tumblr!! it’s definitely one of my all-time favs and it’s just such a fun read

🧸 unconventional first encounters with ateez — @bluehwale

ot8 headcanon, fluff, humour

lilo’s notes! i also reread this occasionally, the humour tag really is accurate

hongwooho — @yourfatherlucifer

idols!hongjoong, wooyoung, jongho x fem!reader, nsfw

lilo’s notes! the first time i read this (and all the times after that) i was giggling and rolling around on my bed. this kind if scenario is something i’d LOVE LOVE LOVE to see more of

sway with me — @luvt0kki

“former noble turned space pirate, wooyoung was now part of one of the most revered and hunted group of pirates of the galaxy. sure he’s only known them for six months but there’s only so much you could do in a ship when you travel from one planet to the next. the ship was their home, his home… and the members of this crew were friends that he felt he was fated to meet. // but he hasn’t met one person of the crew… and he didn’t know that.”

ot8 x fem!reader, space pirate au, nsfw, fluff. ongoing series, 5/?? chapters + 1 interlude

lilo’s notes! i gobbled the posted chapters up in a single sitting and it was honestly sososo good 10/10 recommend. i can definitely see this being added to my favs as soon as it’s done!

🧸 ¡arriba! — @teeskz

“being a bookworm, you’re used to your regular schedule of simply studying, eating, oh, and the occasional sleeping. it isn’t until one night, you find yourself at the wrong place at the wrong time, and soon get swept up in one of the craziest games you’ve ever heard. in hindsight, maybe you should’ve declined. but it was only supposed to last for one night. one, dirty night.”

hongjoong, yunho, san, mingi, wooyoung x fem!reader, college au, nsfw, part of a series (“T!TS UP”)

lilo’s notes! NO YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND I WAS GAGGEDDDDDD the way i had to pause multiple times to cool off while reading this it was so hot and something i didn’t know i needed in my life until i found it

[oddballwriter]

Reader fangirling over moon knight not knowing it was steven/marc/Jake? 🎃

Under Your Nose

Warnings: Not much other than the moon boys lying to you and keeping a secret from you. Also the idea of walking alone at night while drunk. 

Author’s Snip: I am so sorry, I literally forgot that this was in my inbox. Sorry for the long wait.

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

Word Count: 764

They found it kind of funny. In a sense. You had no idea that the vigilante that you've been fixating on is actually your boyfriends. You didn't live with them so you wouldn't know that them leaving for something was actually them going on a mission. It also kept you from connecting the dots that whenever they leave, Moon Knight's out and about.

They liked to hear your praise. In a way, you not knowing that it's them made your positive comments more genuine because, to you, Moon Knight was just a crime fighter that you would hear about, and so the influence of them being your boyfriends didn't make way for a bias. There were, however, sometimes there were cases where they barely managed to keep the secret.

One night, there was a gang that the boys had to take care of that put up more of a fight than they thought they would and left the system sore from having to fight back and defend. When the next day came, Steven, who was fronting at the time, decided to pay you a visit. But you were able to tell that he was stiff. When you asked, Steven threw the explanation that Jake was fronting last night and he had done an intense workout. You took it and so it was left at that. "Well, then how about we lay down and watch something so you can feel better, yeah?" you recommend. Steven just nodded with a smile,

Next came the time that you had gone out with friends to a bar and had more drinks than you usually do. You decided to walk to the boys' flat since you were not sober and didn't have a ride, and it was closer to the bar than your place. Maybe you should have texted them as a heads-up to your sudden arrival, but by the time you thought of that you were already going up in the elevator.

When you knocked, there wasn't an answer. Maybe they were asleep, it was pretty late after all. After remembering that they had given you a spare key, you unlock it and let yourself in, trying to be as quiet as you can. But looking around, no one was even home. You figured that maybe Jake was cabbing around town or Marc was on a late-night walk. With that idea in mind, you shot them a text telling them that you were at their place and why before taking a quick shower. changing into some clothes you had there, and promptly falling asleep in their bed.

Marc was there in the morning making you some breakfast. He of course, just confirmed that he was out for a stroll around the block because he couldn't sleep, even though he was patrolling. If anything he seemed more concerned that you walked there alone drunk in the dead of night. "I'm fine. It was just a ten-minute walk here." you shrug off. "Still, I don't like the idea of you walking alone like that when it's dark out." Marc said. "I'm surprised we didn't run into each other to be honest." you remark.

And then there was Jake. He had to deal with getting information out of someone and he figured that the best way was the old 'talk in a chair' way. But as it turns out, that guy was more of a hassle than he thought too. He put up a good fight and actually got him good with a punch to the face that damaged his nose. But they always, lose when it's Jake so he got his way in the end. But when you came over the next day, again, you say the bandage and got worried. "It's nothing, beba. I had this guy in my cab. He was drunk off his ass and being a pain. When I looked at him to tell him to knock it off he socked me in the nose." Jake lied. He could still see the concern on your face as to gently touched his bandage. "I'll be fine." he said as he kissed you on the forehead.

It's not that the boys want to keep lying to you. If anything all three hate it. But they feel this air of worry when thinking about you knowing too. They know it's dumb. And they know that they can't keep up the secret for long since they want you to be in their lives. But they just need to think of how to bring it up to you at some point.

[toppersjeep]

Part 5 Where Do We Go Now- Lando Norris X Reader

Masterlist

(pretend you are bia for this ig post)

y/ngasly✔️: orange has always suited me better 🧡

-tagged landonorris

liked by 2.5 million

f1wags: the shade in the caption I’m living for petty y/n

y/nfan: f1wags right!! she slays

mclaren✔️: you always look good in orange we love you 🧡

y/nxlando: THE MIDDLE PICTURE IM SCREAMING

charlesleclerc✔️: hard launch ??

y/ngasly✔️: charlesleclerc 🤭👀

landonorris✔️: 😍 the first picture

lilymunhe✔️: WIFEY

lewishamilton✔️: 🤭

danielricciardo✔️: picture credits to me for the second one!

landonorris✔️: I think I’ve fallen for my race strategist

y/ngasly✔️: landonorris I think I’ve fallen for my racer

_____

Your POV

“Hi beautiful” Lando said hugging me from behind. “Oh hi” I said. “What are you doing” he said kissing my cheek. “Trying to work on this strategy but your distracting me” I said. “Oh I’m a distraction” Lando said.

“Mmmh” I said he sat beside me. “Can we at least do lunch baby” Lando said. “We definitely can” I said. “See your always working though” he said. “I mean I think my racer needs a good strategy” I said. “I think he’d win either way” Lando said.

“Oh really” I said. “Mmmh he’s got his lucky charm” he said holding my hand. “That’s sweet” I said he then kissed me. “Are you two working or making out” Oscar said.

“Working” I said. “Yeah she had something on her face” Lando said. “Oh I just wanted to tell you Max is downstairs” Oscar said. I sighed. “Want me to go with you” Lando said.

“No I think I’ll be okay” I said getting up. “If you need me I’ll be there” he said. “Thank you” I said kissing his cheek. I then walked downstairs to find Max. He was standing outside waiting for me. I walked over to him.

“What” I said. “… Lando seriously you tell me there’s nothing and” Max said. “My love life isn’t your concern anymore” I said. “It is when you sit there shading me” Max said showing my post. “… Max” I said. “It’s just I don’t get it” Max said.

“You broke up with me remember Max” I said. “Yeah I do remember that” he said. “Then don’t come to my place of work.. and tell me who I can’t date” I said. “So it’s that simple for you huh” he said. “Max I wanted everything with you.. then you let me down” I said.

“And he’s gonna give you that” Max said. “Yes I am Max” Lando said. “Of course” Max said. “You had your chance to give her everything she wanted” Lando said. “I…you don’t understand” Max said. “Oh no I do.. Max” Lando said.

“All those years you got to be with her and I waited on the sidelines” Lando said. “Do you want me to be honest cause you never deserved her” he added I looked at him. “And now that I have her I’ll never let her go” Lando said I smiled.

“Max you messed up and that’s something you have to live with” I said. “So don’t come here trying to ruin our relationship” Lando said. “I was actually coming to apologize to Y/N for the way I spoke to her” Max said. “But then I heard about you two” Max said.

“Then apologize” I said. “Look I’m not perfect nobody is and I’m sorry for .. calling you names” Max said. “And treating you terribly okay.. I’m not gonna fight with you guys” Max said.

“I appreciate your apology but it’s gonna take a lot more than that” I said. “I know I just wanted to say sorry look I gotta go but.. I’m glad your happy” Max said putting a hand on my shoulder then walking away.

“That was interesting” Lando said. “Yeah it was very interesting” I said. “So wanna grab that lunch instead” Lando said. “Yes I think I need a cute distraction” I said smiling.

[caeslxys]

I am SO fascinated to get your take on BH's reaction to Ludinus and Downfall.

*****SPOILERS FOR 102 BELOW*****

As someone who left Downfall with a very negative view of the gods, it's interesting to me that BHs (in particular Imogen) kept saying "but you're just like them" about Ludinus and then not realizing that she was saying that the gods are no better than Ludinus fucking Da'Leth. Yeah, Luda is a hyprocrite. Do you realize that the gods are no better? The GODS.

And BHs comparing themselves to the primes/betrayers as this "fucked-up family" completely ignores the power differential. "They're just little guys! We all make mistakes" but you're saying that about entities that can literally sling 9th levels every 6 seconds without using any resources.

Nothing that can feel and be motivated by loss, rage, fear, and revenge should have that much power. Respectfully.

Sorry this took me so long to answer! I’ve been letting my own thoughts simmer and rewatching the episode in pieces to grasp the Many Many different things that happened on my own because it was Quite A Lot and some of it (the delilah of it all, funnily enough) left me immediately with an overall sense of disappointment that I wanted to sift through before talking Thoughts so that I could determine analysis from bias lol. BUT. I DO HAVE THOUGHTS

Long answer under the read more, but tldr: Apart from Orym, Ashton, and Dorian (simultaneously the most and least surprising!) I don’t think we’ve gotten the full breadth of BH’s opinions at all. In part because this a topic of discussion that requires them actually, well, discussing it to form fully rounded opinions on but also, crucially, because they were expressing opinions and emotions in front of Ludinus. This is important, because Orym/Ashton/Dorian make the most sense to have no reason for holding their true thoughts back in front of either him or the party (obviously in Orym and Ashton’s case, but I’ll be honest in not considering what is now obvious—Dorian has no idea who this guy actually is! Of course he wasn’t opposed to raising his perspective!), whereas other characters—namely Imogen—have many more internal steps and hurdles to actually reaching a conclusion that must happen outside of Ludinus’ eye.

Alright. Long version.

I think it truly speaks to the characters that the ones who reacted the most immediately decisive were Orym—the one whose opinions wouldn’t have changed regardless of what was held within that orb (which. sigh)—Ashton—the punk, anti-authoritarian character who has had an established perspective of the gods and their power for quite some time, perspectives that were in many ways cemented in viewing this piece of history rather than dispelled—and Dorian—someone who, as mentioned earlier, has the least amount of context for who Ludinus is, but who also himself was raised in a comparatively high position of social power so as to understand exactly what Ludinus is saying about the gods’ misusing theirs.

And, of course, Imogen. I’ll admit: I was immediately shocked at her response, but in hindsight of course she responded the way she did. I have talked and gushed and wailed before at how deeply empathetic Imogen is, and how it is also her ultimate fatal flaw (demonstrated explicitly here), so of course her first thought was how she saw the feelings and motives behind the decisions made in downfall and not how it was also an extreme over-reach of power and influence. Of course she did. I think the only person she’s incapable of empathizing with is Delilah lmao.

And to that point: A lot of that seemed, on a rewatch and to me, posturing on her part. So much of Imogen is defined by her guilt and shame and self-loathing and its especially prevalent when she is playing leader—a role she is naturally very good at, but doubts constantly because she does not consider herself “good”. So, often, she does what she thinks others perceive as “good” and “right” and keeps her more complex thoughts to herself until she is in a safe space (often with Laudna), and projects who she thinks others need her to be in the moment.

Laudna, in the same vein, also shocked me that she didn’t push the breach of power here. But, again, she is also right next to Imogen in “bells hells characters most driven by/capable of empathy” (though hers is, unlike Imogen’s, often in conflict with her desires in really compelling ways) so on further reflection—and especially taking into consideration the massive amount of shame she is feeling from swordgate—of course she focused on the empathetic side of it all.

Ultimately we didn’t get much time at all for them to actually discuss and dissect their take-aways on all of downfall in a setting and context that would be free of bias and performance. If i’m honest, I think those conversations need to happen individually instead of in a group, though maybe Dorian’s inclusion and obvious clear decision on his stance being more in line with Ludinus’ may just be enough for Orym alone not to break the conversational thread again with his personal grief (and guilt, but that’s another post lol). I think their real opinions have yet to solidify even for themselves, and we’ll see them truly form in the coming episodes. The Delilah of it all notwithstanding.

Speaking of Orym’s refusal to think about anything—I think he and Imogen both are suffering from Predathos tunnel vision. Honestly I’d argue a good portion of fandom is as well. None of that conversation is ultimately about Predathos, it was about the gods and the role they play and the power they use or over-use or deserve. By focusing so intently on what we all already agree is the wrong and bad solution to this problem, we ignore the problem entirely. It’s one of my main issues with Orym’s stance this whole campaign. If we don’t ask what is to be done with the gods, and the campaign just wraps up with “we defeated the bad guys, yay!” well. What of the ruidusborn, who we know are treated unfairly and unkindly and who suffer through no fault of their own. What of the young vanguard members—the kids—who, also, are only guilty of caving to the idea of peace. What of Aeor, what of Ludinus—what of the cycle that birthed them both. To not engage with the questions being asked for hyperfixating on the Predathos of it all is to leave this campaign, in my opinion, on both a deeply unsatisfying but also deeply hopeless note. The cycle will continue. We may not see it—it may be another thousand, two thousand years before another Ludinus rises—but another Ludinus or Aeor or both will rise, because ultimately no change will have been implemented in the problems which resulted in them.

And—final note, promise—I was talking to a friend about this yesterday but when it comes down to acknowledging the societal implications of downfall, especially in Imogen’s case, I do think it’s going to have to be pointed out first. A lot of Bells Hells are characters who have suffered at the very hands they are trying to save, but also suffered in part and specifically due to a lack of access to knowledge about it all. It does not escape me that the very first scene of campaign three is Imogen attempting to gather knowledge on powers that have made her miserable for a decade and being unable to access them in a library due to her station. That is, to me, more and more becoming the underpinning theme of this campaign—especially as all Ludinus is doing in this moment with the Occultus Thalamus is displaying it; again, obviously Ludinus is wrong in his means (and arrogant in his assumptions that just because of his failures that no one else could find a solution) but this, specifically, the spreading of knowledge—that, I 100% find myself in agreeance with. So it’s not that they won’t understand what characters like Ashton and Dorian, both hyperaware of the implications of power here, are or will be saying. It’s that they literally do not know to think about it like that. Why would they. It has been intentionally kept from them.

Anyway I have no idea if that was uh. Sufficient Enough of an answer adksfjd at some point I just started yapping but! I’m intrigued, especially because of Dorian’s adamant belief, in what conclusions they’ll draw moving forward as the discussions truly begin! Hopefully! Hopefully they will discuss it!

[brucebocchi]

Winter 2024 anime roundup, Pt. 1: Ongoing/returning shows and the trash heap

hey y'all, this is also up on my ko-fi! it's free to read both here and there, but i'm struggling financially rn so i could appreciate if you'd throw a few bucks my way if you liked it!

I wasn't expecting to watch nearly this much anime in just the past three months, but life completely failed at getting in the way. So here's everything I either watched or tried​ to watch for the Winter 2024 season, and a short review for each.

I'm not going to bother with trying to rank them, so instead they're sorted by category, as follows:

Continuing series from Fall 2023

Returning series

What I dropped

Mixed reactions

On hold

New series that are actually good

With this first entry, I'll be covering the first three, with the back half arriving in another couple of days. As with the 2023 rankings, the OP for each show is linked in the corresponding title.

Here we go.

Ongoing shows:

The Apothecary Diaries

Looking back at my 2023 rankings, I think my placement of The Apothecary Diaries’ first cour at #11 may have belied how much I love this show and believe it to truly be one of last year’s greats. If anything, it was hampered by its status as an ongoing show making it incomplete by nature, and I worried myself over the possibility of recency bias taking over my top ten (Frieren is in the same boat, so its top overall ranking should really highlight how damn good it is). Make no mistake, though: The Apothecary Diaries fucking rocks, and it continues to fucking rock. 

It’s largely more of the same, and that’s what you would want from another cour of this show. At the same time, though, more and more is uncovered about Maomao’s background and Jinshi’s status as the proverbial camera continues to pull back and the mysteries adorning the edges of the frame become clearer. I got a sense at the end of the Fall 2023 cour that the show was moving on from its episodic nature into something more serial and plot-driven, and I was mostly right: While several episodes of the Winter cour still revolve around various mysteries of the week, they all start to converge before you even realize it. It’s the same flywheel-effect approach to plot development that Kaguya-sama did so well: While so many of the events seem like one-off curiosities in the moment, these almost-imperceptible movements eventually barrel forward into an unexpected but perfectly logical momentum. The show teases out several plot threads that may not seem relevant at first, and it trusts you to be patient enough to see them play out.

I’m not at all exaggerating when I say that, along with the next entry on this list, The Apothecary Diaries is one of the best anime of the past five years. I had a feeling that this could end up being the case as 2023 came to a close, but I’m sure of it now. Watch this show.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Last year’s best anime continues apace into 2024 as we get an honest-to-goodness story arc: Frieren, who has been around too long to bother taking any magical governing bodies seriously, needs a certified mage in her party order to continue on the journey north. She decides to take the necessary exam to be certified as a First-Class Mage, a rarefied status in this world, and has Fern tag along to do the same in order to double their chances. 

And it’s still incredible! Great action, brilliant animation, wonderful character moments, and a beautiful score. It is still the top-rated anime ever on MyAnimeList, and by a significant margin. I’m not sure I agree, necessarily, but I can say with all sincerity that this has been a perfect season of television and my Fridays now feel empty without it. 

That’s all I’ve got on this one. What else do you want from me? I’ve already written nearly 2000 words about this show alone since it premiered. You’re asking me for more? I’ll kill you.

Shangri-La Frontier

If the low placement on my 2023 list was any indication, I was pretty fed up with Shangri-La Frontier by the end of its first cour, and the first couple episodes of 2024 being little more than plot set-up had me teetering on the edge of dropping it entirely. But I’ll be damned if it didn’t reel me back in once shit actually started happening and the plot really began to move forward.

Well, for a bit, at least. The height of the series so far has been the Wethermon arc, in which Sunraku teams up with his fellow shit-gamers, Pencilgon and Katzo, as they vie to be the first to take down a notoriously difficult unique boss. As the fight plays out, we get to see the feeling-out process of a tough action-RPG boss, rife with attack pattern memorization, skill timing, and buff stacking as the margin for error grows ever thinner. As always, the animation is on point, the soundtrack rules, and the action sequences are exhilarating.

But my major gripe with the series remains: There’s hardly any actual story here, even after 25 episodes. There are broad gestures towards a larger plot (“the truth of this world,” as the NPCs call it), but they are too vague to even resemble anything enticing. Everything in between the major fights is just set dressing, and there’s a lot of in between. There’s decent stuff in there, to be fair; the adorable rabbit NPCs are always a delight, and I love the commitment to depicting our top-level gamers as smug, preening shitheels. These are long walks for short drinks of water, though, and much of the main cast isn’t likable enough to make the downtime tolerable, to the point where watching the many set-up episodes feels like more of a grind than the actual grinding in the show. Even in the best fight sequences I still had moments where I found myself yelling “STOP TALKING ALREADY” at the screen. Internal monologues are a constant in battle shonen, I know, but if there’s any demographic whose internal monologues I want to hear the least, it’s gamers.

I kept watching this show despite myself, and six months later I’m still not sure how much I actually enjoy it. I haven’t seen any of the lousy VRMMO anime that people favorably compare it to, so at least it isn’t Sword Art Online. Yay, I guess? Yet here I am, still plugging away at a show I can’t strongly recommend to a lot of people. Shangri-La Frontier has turned me into a Steam reviewer.

Undead Unluck

The stakes continue to rise exponentially in one of last year’s more underrated shonen hits (or it would’ve been a hit if Disney gave a fuck about marketing the anime on its own platforms). The Union neutralizes a threat, gains a new Roundtable member, and then shit hits the fan.

The scope of this series goes into absolutely buckwild directions, and all I will say is that “Kimi no Todoke predicting the future” was not a piece of worldbuilding I would have ever expected. But at the same time, it never loses focus on the human element, which only gets more poignant as it goes on. There’s a really beautiful message in the last arc about how people can live on through the memories of others, well past their bodies dying, which hits nice and hard considering this season aired at the same time as Frieren.

This is a show that I tended to watch sporadically (because I just plain forget to open Hulu just to watch one show every week), and I would say that it was the ideal way to watch it, except the pacing issues from the first cour only got worse during a monumentally consequential sequence in the middle of the second. There was an episode that had, I shit you not, 90 seconds of new content in the first seven minutes of runtime, and at the exact point in the series where you’re salivating for something, anything new. In a season where so much goes on in just 24 episodes, I’m baffled that they felt the need to pad the runtime so much.

That’s the worst of it, though, and the momentum fortunately builds up from there and barrels downhill until the end. The story becomes incredibly meta, which was a very ballsy move for a Shonen Jump series that was still relatively early into its run. The gamble pays off, though, and the debut season ends on several incredibly strong episodes, and now I want more. I’ll be hopping on the manga soon.

It also struck me towards the end of the season just how goddamn cute everyone looks. For all of the spraying blood and grim marching towards Armageddon, it says a lot that I still wanna pinch everyone’s fat little cheeks.

Returning shows:

The Dangers in My Heart, season 2

The first season was absent in my 2023 rankings but I decided to pick it up while the second was still airing, and I’m so glad I did: The Dangers in My Heart is an almost-too-precious middle school romance that is endlessly endearing and bluntly honest (if a little exploitative) about what middle schoolers are actually like, warts and all. Insecurities are amplified, they struggle to figure out their identities, and mental and physical development run on different schedules from one kid to the next. And amidst all this raging hormonal nonsense, we have ourselves a lovely little romance story.

Kyotaro has (mostly) kicked his chuuni tendencies and realized that he’s madly in love with the beautiful, cheery Anna. He’s as aware as anyone of what a mismatched couple they’d be, though, and continues to self-sabotage any progress in the name of maintaining her good social standing. To pile onto his loner’s perspective of middle school politics, Kyotaro also gets a front-row seat to Anna’s part-time work as a model-slash-actress and he wonders if an underdeveloped shrimp like him should be seen anywhere near someone so obviously more mature. At the same time, though, he’s a growing boy, and we see lovely moments of progress as Kyotaro takes initiative both for her sake and to achieve what he wants. To both ameliorate and complicate these situations, Anna reciprocates his feelings towards her, and we creep ever closer towards what we want to see, in increasingly awkward and precious fashion.

So much of this anime is just gorgeous. Even setting aside the visuals and music (which are on point at all times), there are really lovely themes in here about insecurity, teenage perceptions of maturity, and self acceptance. On top of all of that, though, this is just a delightful slice-of-life romance story. You can probably guess where we’ve ended up by the end of the second season, but it’s the getting there that makes it all worth it. The manga is still running (and I plan to pick it up), so there’s clearly plenty more of the story to tell, but if this is where the anime ends, it ended perfectly.

Holy shit, though, did the first season really air at the same time as Skip and Loafer and Insomniacs After School? Dentists must have made a mint that season because every single one of these shows is so unrelentingly sweet that my teeth start to itch. Not that I’m complaining.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles, season 2

I honestly think I might’ve been too hard on Mashle in my 2023 rankings. I gave up on it a few episodes in when it’d initially aired, but I eventually came back to finish out the season and ended up having a pretty good time. I’ll cop to having forgotten that latter part when I mapped out those rankings, but that enjoyment quickly came back to me when I picked up season 2... even if the season begins with a ton of table setting.

Plenty of battle shonen take time to find their voice, both in manga and anime, and Mashle really seemed to hit its stride fairly quickly into the second season. Mash Burnedead’s lack of magical quality is no longer a secret, and now magical society has to find a way to deal with it, so the series’ initial stakes are raised and Mash HAS to become a top-level sorcerer lest he lose his life. Also, the bad guys are back. Unfortunately, just as I started to genuinely appreciate the ensemble cast, most of Mash’s friends took a backseat to the larger plot (Lemon is nowhere to be seen almost all season) as the villains raise the stakes with increasingly JoJo-esque magic abilities. There’s still plenty to like, though, and some of the new characters help. Props for having an openly nonbinary character play a major role.

The music is a real highlight here; a surprising amount of hip-hop paints the backdrops during dialogue, and any show with an OP by Creepy Nuts will immediately grab my attention. "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" actually turned into a bona fide hit single, much like Oshi no Ko's "Idol" and Jujutsu Kaisen's "SPECIALZ," and I'd say it's well earned (seriously, it fucks, please click the link above). The animation has also started to really pick up where it felt like it kept falling short in the first season as well, and I found myself looking forward to action sequences more as the season went on.

And hey, it might’ve taken 21 episodes to get there, but I finally laughed at a cream puff gag!

Urusei Yatsura (2022), season 2

I really don’t have much to say other than it’s more Urusei Yatsura, and that’s just swell. We continue the modern adaptation of the classic gag manga as the OG anime babe and her piece-of-shit “darling” get caught up in yet more bizarre hijinks. Despite the 48-episode run being touted as an “Urusei Yatsura all-stars” cherry-pick from Rumiko Takahashi’s 34-volume opus, not all of the segments hit on the same level, but the stories that last entire or even multiple episodes have been killer. Lum and Ataru, despite their myriad flaws, genuinely do care for one another, and this series is at its best when those feelings get to shine through. Takahashi remains a legend for her expert balancing of comedy and heart, and while this particular adaptation doesn’t have the built-in benefit of 300+ chapters of familiarity, those moments still feel earned.

It’s Urusei Yatsura. It’s a classic for a reason. Watch it.

Dropped:

Gushing Over Magical Girls (dropped after one episode)

For the TL;DR version, consult the image above.

All I’d heard about this show going in was that the manga it’s based on was good and that there would be boobs. I wish I’d known more than that before watching, though, because if I’d known that said boobs would belong to middle schoolers, I wouldn’t have bothered with even the one episode I did end up watching.

I was drawn in by the initial premise, too: The protagonist, the conspicuously-named Utena (who looks enough like Bernadetta from Fire Emblem that I was immediately endeared to her), is an enormous fan of the magical girls who keep her city safe, so when an adorable maho shoujo mascot approaches her with an offer, she immediately takes him up on it. As her sinister-looking (and unnecessarily revealing) costume suggests, though, Utena doesn’t get to live out her magical girl dreams; she actually got roped into—and blackmailed into keeping—a role as a villainess. The magical girl team she idolizes quickly finds her, and to stave off their assault, Utena is forced to summon a monster to bind them. As they continue to struggle and squeal, Utena goes further with it by ripping their clothes and spanking their bare bottoms red, because it turns out that she’s actually into this stuff, sexually. The title, it turns out, is a double entendre.

Credit where it’s due for a clever concept: On paper, this is really goddamn funny! My issue is with the execution: I don’t really care to see someone’s sexual awakening if it involves repeated violations of consent, and much less so if I have to see nudity of ostensible middle schoolers (Japanese middle schools are the equivalent of seventh through ninth grade, meaning these girls are 15 at most). After 100 Girlfriends, I thought I could handle whatever trashy bullshit any anime could throw my way, but the longer I chewed on Gushing’s premiere, the worse it sat with me. I have no intentions of playing morality police here, but I can’t bring myself to watch any more of this than I already have. 

Early teenage sexuality is a very difficult subject matter to handle delicately, especially in a comedy milieu, and I can levy plenty of criticisms on that matter towards series I otherwise enjoyed, like Call of the Night and the aforementioned Dangers in My Heart. And although there appear to be some coming-of-age elements here, Gushing doesn’t seem interested in handling it without being exploitative. Maybe it gets better, but I don’t plan to find out for myself. 

I just feel like it’s a shame that in a season with some actual halfway decent LGBT representation, the breakout yuri hit is about middle schoolers performing dubiously-consensual BDSM on each other. And maybe that speaks to something for some sapphic viewers, and I have no intention of speaking over them, but I do know that this isn’t for me. I would’ve gone fucking feral over this show when I was like 13, but I haven’t been a 13-year-old boy for a long, long time. 

I may not have a leg to stand on here as someone who watches Mushoku Tensei (and frankly, that one’s on strike two with me), but I have to put my foot down somewhere. For me, that “somewhere” is borderline pornography involving 13-15 year olds. I try to meet media where it is, even the squicky stuff, but I cannot put myself at the level Gushing Over Magical Girls sets for itself. 

Sasaki and Peeps (dropped after eight episodes)

This show is frustrating to even process postmortem. After a mildly intriguing hour-long premiere that introduced a whole lot of concurrent concepts, Sasaki and Peeps somehow managed to not only continue heaping new ideas onto the pile, but also fumble every single one of them in a way that wasn’t even entertaining to watch.

Sasaki, a lonely 40-something salaryman of modest means, decides that instead of living vicariously through adorable animal photos on social media, he should pull the trigger and get a pet of his own. He settles on a reasonably-priced and suitably adorable fat little Java sparrow, who as it turns out speaks human language and is actually named Piercarlo the Starsage (Sasaki settles on calling him Pii-chan, or Peeps in English). The bird was reincarnated from another world, where he is able to take Sasaki at will, and the man realizes he can use the other world’s relative dearth of technology to his advantage and sets up an interdimensional trade full time so he can make coin on his own watch and help Peeps try the delicious beef he heard is the best food in Sasaki’s world. To the latter end, he also invests in a restaurant. Peeps also helps teach him magic, which Sasaki is forced to use in a pinch in the real world. He is quickly found out and gets roped into a secret government bureau of psychics, because the agent who caught him using ice magic decides he’d be a perfect complement to her water powers (think Kanne and Lawine from Frieren, but stupider). Sasaki now has to balance these multiple lives, which hardly ever interact with one another, as the stakes rise in Peeps’ world in the form of palace intrigue and in Sasaki’s world in the form of a growing threat of evil psychics or something. Also, there’s magical girls, because why the fuck not at this point.

If you actually managed to process all that and went “wow, that’s a lot, I wonder how they can tie all that together,” it brings me no pleasure to report that Sasaki and Peeps completely fails at that task. This is a work of fiction with entirely too many ideas, to the point where it feels like it has no ideas. There’s a saying in football that a team with two quarterbacks is a team with no quarterback, and Sasaki and Peeps has, like, six on its depth chart. You ever hear a band that managed to cram multiple genres in the same song and you get whiplash every time it switches up? Those are bands with a lot of influences, but no identity or vision to call their own, and that is Sasaki and Peeps to me: It is the Twenty One Pilots of anime. A lot of shit got thrown at the wall, and none of it stuck: This show, conceptually, is shit-stained drywall with a pile of turds adorning the moulding. 

For a show about a 40-year-old man, it gave me serious pause that there was not a single named adult woman in any of the episodes I watched, and I grew even more frustrated waiting for one to show up. Sasaki’s partner, Hoshizaki, seems to be a driven, professional young woman, but it turns out she’s a 16 year old high school student, for some reason. The daughter of the viscount doing business with Sasaki is a young girl who likes to tag along with him, and Sasaki’s neighbor is a latchkey high school girl who may or may not have a yandere-ish fixation on him. The magical girl we meet is also definitely a kid. The female psychics they face off against don’t appear to be older than teenagers, though the one who appears to grow fond of him turns out to be several hundred years old, which especially gave me pause because we all know that unfortunate trope and the type of person who hides behind it. Before progressing any further, I found out that the light novel series upon which this show is based was written by someone with the pen name “Buncololi,” which told me the rest of what I needed to know.

That part made me increasingly uncomfortable, and I became less and less convinced that this show was capable of sticking the landing as it continued to pile on new, contrived ideas. This was a waste of an excellent voice cast, but more than that, a waste of time.

Tales of Wedding Rings (dropped after nine episodes)

I can’t believe how much goddamn isekai I ended up watching this season. That Tales of Wedding Rings wasn’t the worst one (see above) was a minor miracle, because boy howdy was this one a dud.

Satou is just a normal high school boy, blah blah blah, his childhood friend he’s in love with is actually a princess from another world and she has to go back to fulfill a political marriage, he follows her into the portal to pull a Benjamin Braddock. But then, gasp, the palace is under attack, so the princess (her native name is Krystal, but growing up in Japan she was known as Hime, which means… princess) instead decides to marry Satou, bestowing upon him her kingdom’s ring, which gives him powers that he uses to fight back the demons. It turns out that her ring enables him to use one elemental affinity out of five, so of course now Satou has to collect the rings held by the other four kingdoms in order to become the Ring King and save the world, and to do so he has to also marry each corresponding princess.

This is basically Tolkien’s Rings of Power but as a harem isekai with bonus nudity. What I saw of the season was basically a MacGuffin hunt that had waifus of various fantasy races attached. Fine character designs for each, to be fair, but it wasn’t enough to keep me interested.  It’s funny on paper that (to paraphrase Geoff Thew) our protagonist’s power level scales with the size of his harem, but Tales didn’t do enough to make me actually care what was happening. And I wanted to! There were elf titties and I didn’t care. That’s criminal.

What makes Tales especially difficult to watch is that this show is fuck ugly. The color palette is muddy and unappealing, everyone looks uncannily shiny, and there’s a smudgy Vaseline filter over everything. The action sequences are uninspiring, the animation is lousy, and every character looks terribly off-model unless they’re naked. Watch the OP I linked if you don't believe me; that's the best of it. The aural element isn’t much better; ecchi scenes are punctuated by a Cinemax-caliber smooth jazz score that I pray was chosen ironically, and most of the show’s humor consists of “an old guy is screeching.” And if you’re wasting Shigeru Chiba’s talents on that one lousy joke, you’ve fucked up catastrophically.

What completely pushed me out of wanting to see any more of this show, though, was how hard it doubled down on the worst elements of harem anime by having Protag-kun be a wishy-washy little ninny even though he’s openly declared his love for and is literally married to Hime/Krystal. And I wanted to care about her; the narrative made me want to care about her, and her jealousy of the other princesses is warranted, but alas, the harem demands bodies. To his credit, Satou recognizes her mixed emotions and makes extra time for her to make it clear that she’s forever number one in his heart, but every single time their shared romance and emotions actually push them towards consummating their (all caps for emphasis) MARRIAGE, the show goes Rent-a-Girlfriend on us and finds a cheap excuse to ruin the moment. No thanks, I’m out. Nothing else about this show is good enough to make me wade through that shit.

Honestly, the only thing that had me coming back after my Persona 3-induced hiatus was that I wanted to see the dragon girl, and that alone was almost worth it, but there really isn’t much of a draw otherwise. There were better isekai, better romances, better fantasy settings, and even better uncensored harem shenanigans this season. I might pick this back up as the second season approaches, but I’m not in any hurry.

[blossominghunnie]

𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩

Pairing: Ricky x fem!reader

Summary: Ricky and Y/n go on a holiday trip with their friends and fortunately, or unfortunately, they have to share a bed.

Genre: F2l, fluff

Warning: None

Notes: Ricky has been bias wrecking me lately so I thought about this for a few days now and since I love this idea, I had to write my own jsjs. 🥸 A little bit longer than what I usually write but I had inspiration. :)

“How could they have gotten the reservation wrong?” Y/n asked while gripping her hair in a distressed manner.

She and Ricky were standing side by side looking at the big hotel room in front of them.

“I don’t know, maybe because they have too much work?” Ricky tried to reason. “Anyway, I tried to talk to the front desk to change it for a suite or whatever room that had two beds but the hotel is fully booked because of the holidays.”

The girl sighted and walked towards the furniture that was by the door, placing her stuff there. Ricky doing the same.

“Okay, that’s okay. We can make this work.” Y/n tried to be positive. “You can take the bed and I’ll sleep on the sofa, it looks cozy enough.”

“No, no, don’t be a dummy.” The blonde shook his head. “I’ll take the sofa and you take the bed.”

“Why don’t you just share the bed and problem solved?” Another voice joined the conversation, it was Gyuvin, who was standing by the door.

“When did you get here?” Ricky questioned. “And how long have you been listening?”

“I got here like two minutes ago, while you were flirting or arguing or whatever.” He shrugged.

“We weren’t flirting, Gyu.” The girl rolled her eyes.

“Why did you come?” The blonde asked, a little irritated with his best friend.

“Oh, yeah. Just came to tell you that we’re all going to the pool later on and then we’ll get dinner, so be ready soon.” They both nodded and the brown haired exited the room.

A silence followed, the pair in deep thought.

“Maybe Gyuvin is right, it would be easier for us to share. Only if it’s okay with you.” Ricky spoke.

“Y-yeah, sure.”

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Y/n was laying on a sun lounger by the pool, by her side were Zhang Hao and Matthew, they were talking and joking; the boys teasing her.

“I can’t believe you got stuck in that situation and to make matters worse, with your crush!” Matthew giggled. He found the situation hilarious.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh at my misery all you want.” The girl pouted.

“Things would be so much easier if you confessed to him, but you’re a coward.” The oldest spoke, rolling his eyes.

“I’m sorry I’m scared of being rejected, okay?” Y/n crossed her arms. “Things would be so awkward if he didn’t feel the same.”

“I’m almost 100% sure he likes you. Like, he laughs at your jokes, which are awful by the way.” He got hit on the arm while Zhang Hao laughed. “It’s true!”

“He also blushes when you smile at him, which never happens with other people. And haven’t you noticed how he’s super sweet and attentive with you?” The Chinese questioned. “I could go on and on.”

Both of them made good points. To be honest, she had noticed some things like how he liked hugging her a little longer or how he held her pinky when there was a crowd around.

Y/n never thought much of it since they had a very close and tight friendship.

But now she started to wonder for how long he’s been acting like this and if it had another meaning than only been a good best friend.

“Maybe you’re right, maybe he likes me and I’ve been clueless the whole time.” Y/n looked at them while getting to that conclusion.

That conversation gave her courage to talk to Ricky.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

After a day full of fun and delicious food, the friend group returned to their hotel rooms.

Ricky and Y/n said goodbye to Taerae and Hanbin, whose room was across, and entered theirs.

The pair took their shoes off and the accessories they wore and sat on the bed, a little bit far from each other.

“Do you wanna watch something?” The blonde asked after a minute of silence.

“Sure.”

He grabbed the tv remote and turned the tv on. He searched until he found a Christmas movie that he knew she loved, The Grinch.

They watched it for a while, well, Ricky was, Y/n was lost in her thoughts trying to find the right moment to confess to the cute guy next to her.

She finally decided it was now or never and spoke.

“Ricky?”

“Yeah? What’s up?” He looked at her, all her attention was on her.

“I have something to tell you.” She fiddled with her shirt’s sleeve. “I-I like you.”

The boy was stunned, he was processing what he just heard. He was hopeful that his crush liked him back but it still shocked him.

Meanwhile, Y/n couldn’t even look him in the eye, a lot of scenarios were running through her head since he didn’t answer right away.

“I like you too, Y/nnie.” He took her hand and caressed her cheek. “And I have for a while now.”

The girl was red, not only because she was lucky enough that she wasn’t rejected but because of the placement of his hand.

“You look so cute when you blush.” That only deepened her blush.

“Stooop teasing me.” She whined making Ricky laugh, she was adorable.

“I’m sorry, princess, but it’s the truth.” He moved closer and hugged her. Y/n melted in his arms.

“Would you like to be my girlfriend?”

“I would love to.” They smiled and the girl took the initiative and kissed his lips softly.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Zb1 masterlist || Main masterlist

[joonggphilia]

💛🖤Chasing That Feeling🖤💛

———————————————————————

Pairing: Soft dom! Huening Kai x Bttm male reader Genre: Fluff, Smut. CW: Praise kink, Cheating, semi-public sex, ass eating A/N: The high school boyfriend bit may be a little cheesy, but I like it! Huening Kai is the best person on this planet. Hands down.

———————————————————————

You lazily sat on the couch, scrolling through your phone. Your roommate, who also happened to be your boyfriend, sat next to you, doing the same. If you were gonna be honest, you didn’t like him. He was rude, boring, and so terribly lazy. “Hey, I want to do something together. Let’s go get lunch or walk in the park. I know it’s a big ask, but TXT is coming to our city and I wanna see them. With you.” You stated, trying to get your boyfriend to except using your pleading eyes. “Fuck no. Are you for real? Babe, I just went grocery shopping, I’m comfy here on the couch, and I don’t know what you see in those guys!” He said, not even looking up from his screen. “Then I’ll go on my own.” You stood up, stretching out your legs. “You’re not going to have a good time without me. We can have a nice time being here, it’s your turn to do chores anyway.” He protested, finally looking at you. “It’s always my turn to do the fucking chores. I’m seriously going out.” You snapped, throwing a pillow in his face, then storming off to get ready. You quickly bought tickets online, not wanting them to sell out and somehow, some way, you managed stall seats! You loved TXT, they were your favorite idol group, and best in your opinion. Your bias was Huening Kai. One thing that was special about him, that no one would ever know, was that he was your secret high school boyfriend. The two of you grew apart once he got into the industry, but you still had strong feelings. Tonight, you were chasing those feelings.

———————————————————————

Your seats were amazing, right front and center. Sure, they were a lot of money, but you have been saving for a while and you deserved something special. You tried to snap a picture of the stage to send to your asshole boyfriend, but lights began to dim, immediately catching your attention. The music began, the group appeared on stage, the choreography was spot on, you were in bliss. The song ended, but the fan service started. You were ready to catch Huening’s attention. As soon as he passed, you two made eye contact, and sparks flew. You had your phone out and he quickly grabbed it and began talking into it. You had no clue what he was saying, but you were excited. Maybe he still loves you, maybe he can make time for you, maybe he can get you out of your shit relationship. He came back to the side of the stage and handed you back your phone, but not without his fingers lightly grazing against yours. And the show went on.

———————————————————————

You made your way to out of the stadium while checking the videos and pictures you took. You made it to the video of your ex boyfriend, and your stomach immediately began to burst with butterflies as you hit play on the recording. “You still a fan? I’m sorry for just up and leaving you, but I couldn’t have my phone on me a ton when I was a trainee. Wow. I can’t believe you’re a fan! Come to the dressing rooms after the show, I’ve still got feelings. M/n….your all I know.” Say no more. You were on your way.

———————————————————————

You made your way down dark, deep, winding halls, finally turning a corner to see a certain blonde haired someone. You ran at him, hugging him. “Woah! I’ve missed you too.” He said calmly. You quickly realized what you were doing and let go. “Sorry, too pushy? You’re an idol and all now.” Huening Kai laughed at your comment, confusing you. “It’s fine, we’re close. I may be an idol, but your moa.” The taller male reassured, patting your shoulder. “Come one back, I want you to meet everyone!” He said playfully, breaking his cool idol character.

———————————————————————

You sat in Huening Kai’s private dressing room, catching up with him, laughing together. It felt so right being with him. “Kai. I need advice. My roommate is a complete, and total asshole. I want him to move out, but I need him to pay rent. He doesn’t do his chores and he has friends over to party all the time.” You suddenly became serious, but this didn’t bother the other male. “I’ve never had a roommate like that before. I think the best thing you could do is be honest with him, confront him. Sorry I don’t know much about roommate stuff.” Huening Kai muttered, scratching the back of his neck. “Oh, and he happens to be my boyfriend. I’m in a little bit of a situationship.” You half joked. The taller male suddenly got up from his seat and crouched in front of you. “I don’t know much about roommates, but I do know a thing or two about boyfriends.” You blushed at the amount of space that was left between you and him. The space closed. Your lips molded perfectly with his. “M/n, let’s keep chasing this feeling.”

—————————NSFW———————————

Huening Kai was the innocent, sweet type, but damn did he have you undressed fast. He sat down on the couch, then put you on his lap and kissed up and down your neck. “I wish we did this more in high school. I wish we didn’t grow apart. You’re so perfect.” Huening persistently praised you. Just the words that spilled from his lips made you moan. “You’re an angel. Keep making those sounds, I like to know when I’m doing good.” Huening continued. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.” You shakily breathed. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pulled him back into a kiss. The kiss was hot and mouthy, but it felt so sweet. “M/n, will you trust me?” Huening didn’t even have to explain before you barked a quick “Yes” And at that, he got to work. He quickly flipped you onto your knees and elbows, ass up. “I’ll make you feel good, I promise.” He said gently rubbing hearts into your thighs. You suddenly felt a hot sensation by your lower half. Huening’s tongue was circling your rim, causing you to emit lewd noises that became louder as he began eating you out. Your length dripped with precum, as Huening Kai began to give it some much needed attention. “Please, please….Kai, I-I need you more than ever.” You begged. “How could I deny such a polite request” he hummed flipping you over onto your back. “I wanna see your face, I wanna hear you, ok?” He said spreading your legs apart and aligning his dick with your entrance. “Anything for you.” You gasped out as Huening Kai slowly entered into your welcoming walls. “You feel so good for me, M/n.” He loved saying your name, it felt good on his tongue. You could only hum as a thank you, your mind fuzzy. You couldn’t think straight while being praised, stuffed, and loved by your biggest idol. The taller only sped up, and each time he thrusted in, he hit that spot. Never missing. Before you knew it your thighs were shaking, palms were sweating, and your mind was going even more blank. “Huening! I’m cumming!” At this point, everyone heard you, you felt too good to be quiet, and neither of you cared. Huening came inside of you, riding out his high. “M/n, come back to the hotel with me. Travel with us, don’t go back to that so called boyfriend, just stay with me. I love you.” Huening pleaded, holding you to his chest. “Of course. I’ll go with you. I love you too.”

[ivrousae]

✧ S.HB Bilingual SMAU snippet!

Where in a junior architecture major got together with her senior who’s also the leader of one of the organizations in campus, Sung Hanbin, or who she likes to call “kak abin” !

- languages: bahasa indonesia & english

- pairings: sung hanbin x fem!o.c

- featuring: Liz & Rei IVE, Gunwook ZB1

- warnings: cursing in b.indo, the personality i gave Liz IVE in this story DOES NOOOTTT apply to her actual personality irl AT ALL, i love her guys, she’s my ive bias, it’s all for the story😁😁😁🙏🏻🙏🏻

- a/n: this is still beta, so anything can change because it’s bilingual, just tell me if you want some things to change or if you have any requests❤️❤️❤️

- find the english chat translations at: @mioujon !! (SUPPORT HER GUYS)

( english version of the chat )

After Hanbin went downstairs to the meeting room, he saw Liz and Rei talking to Gunwook, when they saw Hanbin approaching, Liz walked closer to him, “Bin, look! Prop kita buat besok di jatohin cewe kamu” ( “Bin, look! Your girlfriend broke the prop for tomorrow” ) She pouted, trying to get Hanbin’s attention “Ga mungkin, aluna dari tadi di perpus” ( “No way, aluna has been in the library the whole time” ) “Ya aluna rusakin nya kemaren kali, dia doang yang masuk ruang meeting” ( “Well maybe aluna broke it yesterday, she’s the only one who came in here” ) “Dia masuk kesini karena aku suruh ambilin handphone, dia ga bakal berani nyentuh prop, Liz.” ( “She only came in here because i told her to take my phone, she wont be brave enough to even touch the props, Liz.” ) “Just because she’s your girlfriend, you don’t have to defend her like that” She scoffed.

“I heard my name, did I do something?” Aluna asked when she entered the door “Hello? knock?” Liz rolled her eyes “Lo kenapa sih?” ( “Dude what’s wrong with you?” ) Gunwook whispered, gently pushing her shoulders, Hanbin glanced at Liz, but his eyes quickly softens when he looked at Aluna, “Did you break a prop?” he asked nicely “Huh? Which prop?” Aluna asked confusedly, “Aduh jujur aja sih, kemaren kamu ga sengaja ngerusak prop event kita kan?” ( “Ugh just be honest, You accidentally broke a prop for our event yesterday right?” ) Liz said to Aluna, trying to make Aluna cover up her mistake.

Gunwook saw Liz coming out of the meeting room all panicked yesterday, and he came inside to check the room and saw that she have broke the prop, but she’s putting the blame on Aluna now. Being the good friend he is, Gunwook told Hanbin about what happened the other day, giving him a clear explanation of the truth.

“Oh..Iya, itu aku ga sengaja rusakin” ( “Oh..yeah, I accidentaly broke that” ) Aluna spoke out hesitantly, Liz have always been like this towards Aluna, the reason being that she has a crush on Hanbin like all the other girls in campus, and she thinks that she deserves Hanbin more than a stupid junior, meanwhile Aluna has never been the brave type, especially towards her seniors, meaning that she’ll take the blame when it comes to these situations. “Tuh kan, udah dibilang!” ( “See, I told you!” ) Liz scoffed, showing a satisfied expression, “I’m sorry, I’ll make up for it” Aluna sighed, Hanbin could only look at her, it hurts him to see his girlfriend being like this, “Yaudah aku pulang duluan ya? Besok aku gantiin kok kak” ( “I’ll be heading home then? I’ll make up for it, It’ll be done by tomorrow” ) Aluna forced out a smile before giving a bow to Liz and the others, walking out the room to go downstairs.

Hanbin sighed at Liz, chasing his girlfriend out the room, “Aluna, kamu harusnya jangan mau disalahin terus” ( “Aluna, you shouldn’t take the blame all the time” ) “Gapapa kok kak, daripada tambah ribet” ( “It’s fine, just get it over with” ) Aluna replied “Aku aja yang nganterin, udah gelap di luar, bahaya kalo kamu pulang sendiri” ( “I’ll take you home, It’s already dark outside, it’ll be dangerous if you go by yourself” ) “Udah gausah kak” ( “No it’s fine” ) “I’ll just order a cab” Aluna smiled, walking down the stairs, “Babe, be careful, yeah?” Hanbin spoke out “Iyaaa kak abinnnn” ( “Okayy hanbinnn” )

Hanbin aggressively opened the door of the meeting room, “Maksud lo nyalahin orang gitu buat apa ya?” ( “What was the purpose of you blaming things on others like that?” ) Hanbin shouted, “What do you mean?” Liz acted shocked, “Gausah pura pura goblok, kalo besok lo masih gabisa ngaku, gue bisa aja ngeluarin lo dari organisasi, ngerti ga?” ( “Don’t act stupid, if you still can’t admit that you’re wrong by tomorrow, I have the power to kick you out of this organization, understand?” ) Hanbin spoke out aggressively, showing a panicked expression on Liz’s face “Prop nya benerin sendiri, gausah nyuruh-nyuruh cewe gue ganti” ( “Fix the prop yourself, don’t ask my girlfriend to do it for you” ) Hanbin sighed, walking out of the meeting room before taking out his phone to text Aluna.

( english version of the chat )

────────────

[sanjisblackasswife]

If You're Smart You'd Read This:

I’m in my 20’s.

I write adult shit so children shouldn’t be interacting with me or my posts.

Blank pages /Ageless pages /Minors get blocked. Like 90% of the shit i post is not suitable for yall lmao.

Don’t ask me for tips/advice on anything such as art, your writing, anything. Google it. Thats what I did.

I speak my opinion. And if you don’t agree idc.

It’s very easy to be blocked by me. So don’t try out the theory of it.

YOU CANNOT BE ANONYMOUS WHEN REQUESTING ONLY NSFW If you want a nsfw request you have to unanon yourself so i can see ur age in ur bio.

Do not ask me super personal questions.

Do not ask me why I will or wont do something.

Do not be annoying and send long mf hcs in my ask. It’ll get deleted.

Do not try and keep having a whole convo w me in my ask (unless ur my mutual) esp. if u anon.

Speaking of Mutuals. I have mutual bias. So theres some things I let them do/say to me that my followers cant.

I will not write: Piss play, rape, incest, furry stuff, Alpha/Omega verse, pet play🧍🏾‍♀️ and will ABSOLUTELY NOT write anything blasphemous about God or other religions

Please only use my ask box for request or genuine questions

I don’t do emergency request

I do not write catgirl or catboy stuff or anything w furries ig (all humans only)

I will write for other fandoms besides One Piece! An example (but not limited to): Jujustu Kaisen, Naruto, Fire Force, Gangsta, etc

Speaking of One Piece my page does contain MAJOR spoilers (ill try to put warnings if i can)

I mostly write for POC/Black Fem Readers but it’s not limited most of the time. Any girl can read.

If you request something please give me time :( I can only write so much in a day.

I hate like 99% of ships people have made in all fandoms so please don’t tell me yours, and if you ask me opinions on them I will be brutally honest with it.

I do not tolerate any form of racism, bullying, or homophobia here. It’s annoying go away.

I also don’t gaf if you don’t agree with my HC…I just…bro go write em yourself I’m not writing these for you.

Please don’t trauma dump on me…just don’t I’m not a therapist.

If you want something specific BE SPECIFIC

I don’t really care for dark content(?) I’m not really sure what it is exactly it is (because I’m stupid) so if your request dark content lmk and if I feel uncomfortable with it ill decline lol

I will NOT Write NSFW for characters like Chopper, Brook, etc

I will NOT Write for demons like Sukuna or characters from Obey Me

If your share repost/blog my writing please give credit!

I really only write female x male NSFW. (I will however write fxf or mxm platonically) That’s just personal preference and what I feel best writing :) please respect that decision.

I don’t do character x character writing unless it’s canon (…or if it’s eren and Mikasa i—)

I do NOT age up characters for nsfw writing. If they’re not canonically already an adult or have a pre timeskip I’m not doing that. I’ll do SFW ones though!

I do have to right to not write for a character I just simply don’t like so don’t get mad if I don’t.

Remember: this is mf FAN FICTION writing. Just a bunch of ideas I have in my weird head so if u don’t like or agree with it dip.

I’ll keep this rule list updated (ill reblog when i update the list) when I can if new stuff comes up. I’m relatively new on here so bare with me :(

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hello, you're someone I've come to respect to give honest and thoughtful answers to questions that may not be 'the general consensus' and I hoped I could get your opinion on the following. I was watching a translated version of an interview JK did during his solo era and I know we need to be cautious about accuracy of tone and meaning. He said he missed being on stage with BTS but instead of it coming across as ‘I love being solo but sometimes miss them' it was more 'thanks for the solo opportunity but I still prefer being with them'. I’m a newer fan – Dec 2019 – so I don’t have years of perspective insight on their personalities like some other fans but I sensed that this moment was at odds to the ‘I want to be the biggest popstar ever’ we got shoved down our throats recently. It niggled at me to the point that this last week I've been looking back on a lot of JK content and I'm a little startled by how much evidence there is that JK hasn't ever wanted to be a soloist. It's nothing major, just lots of little comments and behaviours that paint a big picture if you look for it. I know that confirmation bias happens, that once you have an idea you look for evidence and convince yourself you're right when you find it. But the more I look the more I see JK not being the 'cocky soloist bts sell-out' that many horribly seem to have tagged him with recently but as possibly the biggest OT7 in the group who was forced into a solo project. Looking back through BTS content, I'm actually a little startled how many times he says he prefers being on stage with the others than doing a solo performance. We all know he’s said he wants to be in BTS till they are old men, that he wants RM to always be leader (a little strange for the supposed soloist), he looked almost terrified when he found out that Dreamers was a solo project, he always hovers in the background in BTS content (again strange for THE soloist), and there is an overall impression he hates being on his own and is very much an introvert. He seems happy to show off his voice for solo material providing it’s mainly in a studio or a familiar/homely setting and he can get back to the group activities asap. There are many other things out there but I’m glossing to save word count. Now, looking back at his latest solo venture with an idea that maybe he didn’t even want to do it, the story becomes very different but I’d argue makes as much sense as the (horrible) current rhetoric. For years, the expectation from BigHit/Hybe/Armies is that JK could and should be the new global superstar. And let's be absolutely honest here, JK has the talent to be the biggest artist in the world if he wanted. I'm just wondering if he doesn't actually want it? That he just wants to sing and be the main vocalist for BTS – and while he enjoys being told he has the best voice and ‘could’ be a global superstar – he actually doesn’t want that, for whatever reason. If he didn’t want a big solo career and he put in some resistance to keep his career from going astronomical it explains some of the weirdness around his solo era – and choices. I’ve seen others mention a weird dichotomy with some of the choices made and I wonder, now, if it was down to a push and pull between JK and Hybe. Hybe wanted to rocket launch him into stardom and JK wanted a limit that didn’t put him in jeopardy of losing BTS as his main focus. I have to admit I get a chuckle out of the idea of JK dragging his heels writing an album to the point Hybe are like you will have a global solo project even if I have to get a western producer to write it for you. Then JK coming back with the trump card of, well, you do that and I’ll play along but oops I’ve applied early for the military so *timelimit* but hey I’ll be back in time for the promised BTS comeback! Obviously that’s some serious conjecture and I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek but I guess, what I’m ultimately wondering, is if this kind of conversation has ever hit your radar? Or if it’s something you’ve wondered yourself?

***

"Obviously that’s some serious conjecture and I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek"

I'm grateful for the small show of self-awareness. Really.

Thank you for taking the time to write all that. It helped me better understand your point of view, and while I can see where you're coming from, I disagree with many of the assumptions you've made and what you conclude.

First off, why is it so difficult to imagine Jungkook as a global pop star while active in BTS and fitting seamlessly in a group that keeps reaching new heights? Why must it be a zero sum game of one or the other? Why is it so difficult for people to believe this is a reality Jungkook might envision and work towards?

I've said before that I think Jungkook is a very simple and honest person. When he says something it's usually what he means. If you want to understand Jungkook, the easiest way is to simply listen to him. Anon, you said you don't get the impression that Jungkook wants to be a global pop star, but I think he does. There's an interview from 2020 that I strongly suggest you read in full. It explains so much of the kind of person Jungkook is. It made me fall a little more in love with him. The article is linked here but the excerpt I want to highlight is this:

Jung Kook: I think my heart’s telling me to. BTS was able to climb this high thanks to the group members, the company and our fans. But there’s always the question of whether I could receive that kind of recognition by myself, so I have this feeling of wanting to throw myself at some challenge alone. There’s a lot I want to do, and a lot I want to achieve.

By gradually improving yourself, what kind of person would you ideally want to become? Jung Kook: A person who’s crazy awesome in their field. (laughs) Those kinds of people look cool even when they do something different. I still have a long way to go. I feel like I could be more captivating and draw more out of people by improving any number of things, by trying hard to be confident about my singing, or the way I dance and perform. BTS is way more important and meaningful to me than I am to myself, so I’m not saying I want to do anything alone. But I hope I get to the point where I can perform alone for three or four hours in a venue full of people.

Italicized for emphasis.

Like I said, I honestly think anybody who is shocked by what they're seeing in Chapter 2 for any member, probably just wasn't really paying attention before. That's not a diss it's just what I think.

We agree that Jungkook has more than enough talent to be a global pop star; we agree that at the end of the day, going by his choices to enlist so much earlier than he needed to, among other things, Jungkook indeed prioritizes the group. But it's only in a fandom filled with insecure twats that Jungkook simply saying he wants to be a global pop star is treated like he denied the holocaust. In my opinion. Jungkook could be the biggest pop star and Jimin would be right there with him. On his own merits. Owning the world with him because they are BTS. Solos are obsessed with sorting out the popularity of the members within the group, but they forget that BTS are too ambitious to ever make it easy for the world to care about anything but them. I take issue with the very idea that Jungkook being the biggest pop star is somehow problematic for a group like BTS. Even more so when this is apparently the reality BTS have all agreed to, enough to renew their exclusive contracts early, twice.

I think you have a point about all the times Jungkook appears kinda reluctant to do a solo gig though. I mean, he's said it himself that he's actually kinda shy and feels most comfortable with the guys. They're all like that, you know? That's the thing about BTS that it seems only ARMYs get. BTS actually want to remain together, in a system designed to pull them apart. That's why they're one of the few anomalies in this ecosystem, an anomaly the system keeps trying to both replicate and eliminate.

Jungkook feels most comfortable performing with the guys, but he also has a desire to establish himself as a solo artist. I assume this is something everybody in BTS, Bang PD / HYBE, and Jungkook himself understands. Rather than the company dictating solo goals for Jungkook, I think this is something Jungkook is involved in and partly responsible for. As are the other members.

I'm already rambling but what I mean to say is that I think a lot of the discourse around Jungkook's actions in Chapter 2 have been either ignorant or in bad faith. And I think that's unfair to him given it came from his own fandom.

The only real disappointment I got from Jungkook in Chapter 2 is that his solo album didn't have a song he wrote or produced, especially when I know he'd done both several times before. I understand writing a song in a language he doesn't speak can make a difficult task even more intimidating. But I also think he just kinda choked. He'd been building expectations for his solo debut for three years and had to deliver something epic. But between the Busan concert, World Cup, OSTs, enlistment announcements/planning, etc I wouldn't be surprised if he just got overwhelmed and by the time he got his bearings he felt he didn't have enough time and got stuck. That sounds kinda long-winded but it's something I've seen happen often and a feeling I've experienced myself.

Sometimes people just get stuck. It takes a mini-intervention to get the ball rolling again. In this case, and to use a reference from the article above, Jungkook decided to tackle the idea of introducing himself as a solo artist, a bit at a time. In Golden we're given a selection of his pop tastes, songs that he feels represents him, in his beautiful voice. Bang PD gave him a challenge of an all English album and Jungkook more than delivered. Would I have preferred more direct involvement from him? Of course, and it's what I expect in his next project. But for his first work I'll excuse it given he does such a phenomenal job in his vocal delivery and the songs are bops.

Anyway, I appreciate that you felt there was something off in the bad rep Jungkook has been getting, and actually did the work of going back to watch original content. I just disagree with some assumptions you've made along the way because in my view, it's unneeded. Jungkook is very clear about the kind of person he is and what he wants for himself and BTS.

[booksandabeer]

Hi,

First of all thank you for all the recs you do, it couldn’t be easy doing all that. I just wanted to ask you about your favourite fics where Steve and Bucky were already together during first avenger and get back together in the future? Once again, thank you so much. Even if you don’t answer this I would still be grateful because I got so many of my favorite fics from your blog. You’re amazing and take care.

Hi!

Thank you very much for your kind words. It's lovely to hear that I could help you find some of your favorite fics. 🥰

I've sat on this ask for a few days now because it's actually a really difficult one for me to answer/find recs for without getting into things that can be quite, uh, awkward to discuss "on main." But I will try. As always, I'm going to ramble, so I'll put this under a cut.

(There will be fic recs in here, I promise. Just scroll down if you want to skip the waffling.)

So. When it comes to fics set in canonverse, I mostly stick to either stories that end before the war or stories where Steve and Bucky only get together once they meet again in the future. I hardly read fics with the premise you've described in your ask because—and this is where it gets dicey—they are rarely ever done in a way that I personally find satisfying.

Here’s the thing: If you read a story set in canonverse, inevitably, at some point the war will arrive and with it: Peggy. Now there’s a much larger, much more complex discussion to be had here about Steve’s perceived sexuality, societal expectations of what constitutes "successful masculinity" in the 1930s/40s, and self-repeating and -reinforcing cycles of fanonization that I don’t want to get into right now, so I’ll just say this: Unless the author goes the polyamory route (which I personally don’t care for and therefore don’t read; at least not in that particular combination), usually none of the characters involved come out of such a scenario looking their best or like they haven’t received a personality transplant from one chapter to the next. I know that some people love that kind of conflict and are really into the angsty drama that comes with it—and they may find my stance on this boring and square—but to be honest with you, there’s already plenty of angsty drama in any story involving Steve and Bucky to begin with; I don’t need this on top of it.

And also—look, to be very blunt about it: If I click on a Steve/Bucky story I want to read a Steve/Bucky story, and decidedly not a story about Steve falling in love with Peggy halfway through—especially not when he’s already been practically married to Bucky for years. I'm okay with scenarios where Steve falls in love with her (or the idea of her, really) because he cannot or thinks he cannot be with Bucky for reasons ranging from very reasonable to entirely idiotic, but in a world where they are already together? Honestly, no thanks. I don't want it.

(Also, let's not even pretend that I don't have a huge Bucky-bias.)

But! you asked for recs and not 500 words of waffling, so I went through my lists and bookmarks to find stories that either try to grapple with this *problem* in a sensitive and thoughtful manner, find elegant ways around it, or simply skip over it entirely.

Here we go:

(Note: The exact meaning of 'Being Together' can vary greatly from story to story)

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by newsbypostcard | 6 parts, 146K, T-E

Author's summary: "You keep asking me what I want," Bucky manages, eventually. "But on any given day, my number one priority is to get through the day alive and myself, and to do it without killing anyone. Everything else is extra." Each work is a standalone.

-> A Post-CW AU that also tells Steve and Bucky's history with each other through flashbacks. Apart from this series, you can really read any story by this author because they do this neat thing where they use roughly the same pre-war/wartime backstory and then depending on when they wrote it and where MCU canon was at the time, the fics branch off from there. Plus, all of their stories are simply wonderful and I will alway recommend them any chance I get.

The Good Morrow by Hark_bananas | 75K, E

Author's summary: Every night, Steve falls asleep and finds himself dreaming about a diner, and every night he finds Bucky waiting for him there. But in the waking world, Bucky has disappeared, gone on the run after the fall of the Triskelion and Project Insight, and the strange dream that they share may be the only way that Steve has to bring him home.

après nous le déluge by tomorrowsrain | 9K, T

Author's summary: After us, the deluge. Steve and Bucky break, mend, and try to find their place in the world without the mantles of Captain America or the Winter Soldier. AU, post Civil War.

-> Part 1 of gale song series, the second part of which which I recced in my Road Trip Rec List. In fact, there are quite a few fics on that list that fit the premise of 'together before/during the war and getting back together in the 21st Century,' so if you haven't already, you might want to take a look at it!

Roll On by jaxington | 3 parts, 306K, T-M

Author's summary: In 1938, there's a bar in Brooklyn called Sully’s where people are safe to be themselves. Behind the bar, a girl pours drinks. She's always got a big smile for Steve and she says queer like it's a good thing. On a regular basis, she takes his shoulders in her hands and tries to shake sense into him, saying, "When will you do something about that best friend of yours?" In 2012, Bucky’s gone, but Steve’s not, and the girl’s hands are too old to shake him. She does her best to make him see sense anyway. Steve had people who loved him before the war, and it turns out a few of them are still around when he finally comes home.

Practice Makes Perfect by nekare | 10K, M

Author's summary: And it’s just. It’s too much. Weeks of pain and months of missing Steve and his mouth and the stupid shit that comes out of it; years of molding himself to his back at night and pretending there’s nothing else to it apart from sharing warmth; a decade of his stomach twisting with the foolish desire to make Steve laugh.   It's August and sweltering when Steve asks, out of nowhere, if Bucky wants to try kissing. Just to see what it's like. Bucky then spends far, far too many years pretending it didn't mean anything at all.

a hat, a horse (a Hyundai), and the will to ride by synonym4life | 67K, E

Author's summary: After Steve and Bucky rescue their pals from the Raft prison, they decide to dig deeper into Zemo’s involvement in the UN headquarters’ bombing which sends them on a backpacking trip across select European countries. Steve and Bucky believe this is a story about their mission. Scott Lang and Sam Wilson, who join them halfway through, believe it’s a story about their Eurotrip (and they’re probably right). This writer, however, has been waiting to tell you that the fic’s true mission is Steve and Bucky missioning towards missionary. Follow them on their journey across Europe in tiny cars, packed subway trains and even on skis as they tumble down the Swiss Alps (in a fun way this time!), all the while reigniting untold feelings of the past through inappropriate sexual encounters and terrible communication skills.

Five times Steve kissed Bucky by paragon | 16K, T

Author's Summary: (+ once, finally, it was the other way around)

-> I'm very amused by how short this summary is, but the fic really is exactly what it says on the tin: Steve and Bucky kissing, pre-war to post-CA:TWS.

I Wanna Live in the Hidden Parts of Your Skin by Voylitscope_speed | 10K, E

Author's Summary: Sometimes, Steve looks at Bucky across the floor of their apartment or in the middle of the sidewalk, and it's not goddamn fair how good Bucky looks. It's not fair how Steve, who's spent his whole life fighting with his lungs for air and his heart for a steady beat, sometimes looks at Bucky and his breath and pulse are wrong for reasons that aren't his lousy health at all. And ever since the day with the purple ink, Steve can't stop thinking about people being canvases, like the models at that exhibit. Steve keeps thinking that Bucky'd be the most stunning canvas a guy could ever ask for. (Or: Steve and Bucky discover a kink in 1940. They find a reason to come back to it 80 years later. )

All The Angels and The Saints by Speranza | 48K, E

Author's summary: In which Steve Rogers loses God and finds God and loses God, and also: Bucky.

-> Look, this fic does some of the exact things I said above I usually try to avoid, but (1) it doesn't really do it (kind of, it's hard to explain), and (2) it would be *absolutely ridiculous* to not include it when putting together a list of fics with a pre-war to post-WS arc. This fic is legendary for a reason. It rewired my brain. It was one of the first Stucky fics I read that made me realize and appreciate the full potential and beauty of this ship, and to this day, it remains one of my absolute favorites.

▶ I'm really sorry that I didn't write something for every individual fic like I usually do, but I'm moving back to my home country in less than three weeks, so time is very limited right now. I hope this is still ok, and that you'll find something on this list that you like!

▶ There is a series that would've been perfect for this list but unfortunately it was deleted without warning a few months ago. If anybody has a saved copy of apricotcake's long is the road that leads me home that they'd be willing to share with me, I would be forever grateful! I'm still so sad that it's gone and angry with myself that I didn't download it when I had the chance. :(

[lildoodlenoodle]

How I would have personally wrote the villains in Marvel Spider Noir

First my bias (that’s a little controversial), didn’t enjoy the carney gimmick. Now don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of critiques they could’ve made of the 1920-30s treatment of disabled people and ‘carney culture’ that they didn’t do that would have made me like it more. I could get into the ‘why’ more but for now I’ll just say I didn’t like it.

Black Cat/White Widow - not a villain, but she’s here. Honestly I just wish we got more of her, she is such an interesting character and unlike the majority of Felicia’s we’ve met. I would have definitely leaned more into the White Widow thing AND given her a storyline with Daredevil and Electra(Eliza).

Chameleon - No notes really. The like melting face scene was awesome, just wish we saw more of it.

Doc Ock - Let’s get it out of the way: Making the two disabled villains also nazis was very ableist, and very much villainized the disability.(I’m making a post going more in depth dw) And to be quite honest, dude did not need to be disabled. You could change very little and still have the same story with him not being disabled, the only thing is we’re less likely to get the multiple arms. So I also would have had him come back. I would’ve had his boat go down and him have a ‘transformation’. I’d probably keep it in the same mystical eldritch god vein, but like an octopus god so we get freaky octopus Octavious.

Goblin - The fake skin thing was kinda a stretch for me(of all things ik lol) but whatever. Again, leaning away from the carney stuff and leaning into curses and eldritch god horror. I think him making a deal makes the most amount of sense, cause in other comics HE HAS! I’d still keep him a freak and I’d consider not killing him off and actually sending him to jail in the first run. It just feels like a cop out by the narrative so Peter can avoid truly exploring his morality and the consequences of working with a corrupt system(sending Norman to jail). Would I also have Peter eventually kill him when he gets out of jail? Yes.

Huma - she’s an interesting character, not one of the typical Spider-Man villains… but that whole comic was kinda a mess so it’s kinda hard to pick apart what she actually was and what her relationship towards Peter was supposed to be. The concept of someone else who is embodying a god but using it for evil is a nice contrast to Peter and the spider god.

Kraven - honestly I feel like they kind of wasted the character. Like I do get what they were going for but there is sooo much potential there. I would have had him come in after Peter felt established as the Spider to hunt him. Maybe he was after the spider statue and came across The Spider instead? There’s just a lot you could do there with the whole mystical aspect too. Like he could’ve been a monster hunter and Peter is just another monster to him.

Lizard - Again with the disabled Nazi thing but whatever. His appearance was very much blink and you’ll miss it in EWAF. And I believe he’s one of the scientists who gets apprehended(?). I saw in a fic recently the idea that the US gov. cuts a deal with him where he can still do science but for them, and I agree with that a lot. It makes sense, cause the US actually did that A LOT before and after WW2 with Nazi scientists. And I could see an interesting Lizard story line coming from that, where he gets to be a freak of his own creation.

Mysterio - Making him a two bit magician who stumbles across actual magic and immediately uses it for evil is so funny to me.

Sandman - I liked this more than I thought I would. Making him just a condensed hulk of a man is so funny to me but absolutely brutal.

Shocker - again hard to judge but whatever, dude’s kinda meh. His steroid version tho was crazy.

Venom - We’ve gotten 1/5 of a comic of this guy but I do not care. I think what the comics have set up is super interesting, because this a symbiote that didn’t contact Peter before Eddie, AND Eddie is a priest. One who fully believes all the bad things he does, including his gambling addiction, is in service of god and the greater holy good. AND WE’RE EXPOSING A SYMBIOTE TO THAT? As it’s FIRST HOST? Not going to end well. Ik I’ve been saying symbiote but we don’t actually know if that’s what this is. With the things we’ve seen in this universe it is very possible that this is some form of mythical or eldritch creature rather than extraterrestrial. And personally I’d go with the former.

Vulture - … it’s weird in how many universes he’s a cannibal. But anyways, again I would have moved away from the carney thing and more into the mystical thing. We have god like creatures chilling in the wings in this universe, USE THEM. Maybe he was chosen, more likely he cut a deal of some sort and became a monster from that. I also would have made him more of a monster, not just the teeth but also vulture eyes and talons/scales, maybe even some patchy feathers on his shoulders and arms.

[jigsawkillings]

John. I think we deserve an explanation. And don't hit us with any evasive answers, I'm fed up with this. Hes important? Whatever. But do you see how much he acts like a conceited piece of shit? That he behaves as if no responsibility could reach him?He literally threatens us with more traps. And Larry? He threatens to hurt himself if Larry leaves him. He says all this like he knows the fuck all even though he only knows superficial information. We can't work with someone who is toxic and doesn't have even the slightest respect for... Anyone.

I just want to know why. And maybe it would be nice if you could talk some sense into him if you really want him here. Because if he continues to have this attitude, I won't stop Mark. I won't hold back either. And I want to hear the answer from you, I'm not going to listen to that piece of shit.

- @jigsawsfavorite

╰➛ ❝ I’ve been reading all of these… Posts. His behavior won’t be defended by me, since I don’t agree with what he’s been doing. In fact, I’d say it’s a tad bit… Dramatic. However, I’ll discuss all of this with him once things cool down. He did just get... kicked out after all. It's not the best time for that. ❞

╰➛ ❝ What he said was correct. I hadn't told any of you due to me believing that there was no reason as to why you all should know. If there's someone you all can be mad at, have it be me. I don't care, really, I have other things to worry about and handle besides all this. Adam has his right to act however. I may not be a fan of it, and I'll talk to him about it like I said prior, but he can still act. Same for all of you. BUT, did I ever say directly, word for word, that I'd immediately put you all in a trap without any discussion first? No. I only stated that if you all wouldn't LISTEN to me or even ATTEMPT to talk to me, I'd do so. And I know you would do one or the other. If it even got to that bad of a situation, I don't think I'd even do a trap, just a strict talk. I'll be honest. There's merely nobody in the right here. Yes, there's reasons for frustrations, but there's absolutely NO excuse for how everyone here is acting. Immediately resorting to anger, insults, murder, and threats? You think I'm not going to at least partially defend someone from that? If you all were to go against each other I'd do the damn same for any of you. It's just simply a shame I haven't been around enough to do so before if it has happened prior. There's other ways to handle things like this, such as a calm discussion. ❞

╰➛ ❝ Don't assume that all of this is based on him either, I've seen all the other fights you all have had before. Even with smaller things. There's naturally going to be a bias based off of what has happened before and after the situation, even behind the scenes of all this. ...All of you have been starting issues among each other and it's tiring. It's not the first time I'm going to have to handle this, and I'm sure it won't be the last. If I need to resort to other measures to discuss this, wether it is a group meeting, or some form of other plan, I will. Don't assume I won't do anything for you or anyone else. I needed to make a statement anyway, it just took me a while. You all need to take a step back from this and take time to relax, that's all I will say. ❞