#literally unstoppable force x immovable object

[allpromarlo]

unfortunately the everything they touch dies x immortal trope is always peak to me so i’ve been on the castordei train since day one

[justafriendofxanders]

so most of the db cooper job is. a lot. but the ending in particular where nate confides in sophie that he's the siren, not odysseus, is genuinely going to make me start shooting eye beams. nate's whole Thing is that he understands people and what they want/need. it's how he pushes the team and encourages them, and it's also how he manipulates them and their marks. it's one thing to want others to suffer the harm you most fear -- physical, social, emotional -- but it's another to try and get inside the other person's head to understand what would hurt THEM the most. because at that point it's premeditated! it's not about catharsis, it's about sadism! but as always it's a double-sided coin, because that same talent lets him see what his team most needs and wants, and it lets him see the good in them that he can't see in himself. he's the siren, not odysseus, because odysseus has his own wants and needs and the siren doesn't. it just reflects back at people what THEY want, because all it wants is to destroy. and now we get to find out if nate's going to use this power constructively or get all new testament about it, and i assume attempts at both will happen by the end of this season. cool cool cool.

[falllpoutboy]

brienne meeting tywin in jb fics are my favorite genre

[darjeelinh]

Dreamling x EEAAO

In the context of EEAAO historic win today, I want to dump my brain about this dreamling fic I am writing that unexpectedly resembles a lot of the themes in this beautiful movie.

(Sandman comics spoilers from here, and TW for suicide mention, sr)

(And EEAAO spoilers, I guess)

TL;DR: Bringing Dream back from his own catastrophe would be almost impossible. Hob's love alone cannot save him, but it can give him enough strength to want to save himself.

(tag: Established Dreamling Relationship, Canon Divergence)

So we all know by the time The Kindly Ones came around, Dream is fully in his self-destructive, suicidal mode. And maybe I am projecting but in a time like that, it is nearly impossible for anyone, especially himself, to pull out of his own catastrophe, his spiralling. Doesn't mean that he doesn't love Hob, you must understand this.

Hob would not be able to hurt/comfort Dream back from his self-destruction even if he wanted to. Even if we as readers and fic writers were desperately hoping that he could. But one thing we can know damn sure is that he will try. That man has the stubbornness that could last longer than this earth, I believe so.

So he will try. But he will fuck up trying, because he is not Dream's personal therapist (nor should he be), and I kinda believe Hob to not be the most wise and empathetic and sensitive of man. We all saw him fucking up constantly throughout the ages, him being obnoxiously wrong. He would panic in the face of his lover's self-destruction, and he would hold on to him tight, desperately begging for Dream to be better, but that can be suffocating.

Depression and suicidal ideation cannot be cured just through loving someone harder, true. But damn can love make a difference. It is a lifeline amidst a shipwreck in the storm, but only if the person wanted to hold on to it. And in The Kindly Ones, Dream had believed that there is no lifeline. That there is no other choice. But what if he had been reminded?

Think of Evelyn, ready to destroy her own life, only to be reminded of her kind and relentless loving husband.

Think of Joy, determined to walk into the black hole, only to turn around and realize she was being held back by her mother, her father, her grandfather, and everyone else.

Think of Joy, spending her life seeking understanding and love, only to run away, cannot bear it when it is offered to her.

Think of Evelyn, refusing to let her daughter go. Her words were clumsy, maybe she was not the most sensitive about it, and maybe she didn't really know what to do. Besides holding on.

You cannot forcibly love someone back to being whole again. But you can say: I will not give you up, I will always choose you, I will always be here, even though it is hard, even though it is impossible. And offer the rope again: maybe this time they will hold on to it.

Hob has no idea what to do, and he would be very afraid. He had tried everything to save Dream, and he had failed. After all, he is only human, dealing with hubris of cosmic entities, unfathomable forces beyond his comprehension. And for once, Hob learned what it really meant to be hopeless, and helpless. He might have been able to pull himself out of the wretched 17th century, but that was because he had wanted to. And so Hob had to reckon with the fact that he cannot save someone who does not want to be saved.

So maybe Dream would still try to push Hob away one last time. He is too far gone, beyond saving. Giving up would be easier than to endure. Easier than to accept that he is loved, or believe that he deserves a chance at redemption.

So, empty handed, Hob can only do what he does best. He would not budge, despite all of Dream's exasperated attempts to fight him off. He would hold Dream in his arms, gently this time, and say: I know. I know you think so. I have no idea how to save you, and I don't think I can. But I will be by your side anyway. I can love you, for it is the only thing I can do. This is my choice as much as it was your choice to destroy yourself. I won't give up even if you do.

Finally, something clicked. It would be like waking up from a nightmare (which is kinda ironic for Dream, isn't it). He would finally look around him and see all who have tried to hold him back from the metaphorical (and literal) cliff. It's Matthew, refusing to leave his side. It's Lucienne, his faithful advisor who had not lost faith in him, who had always had his well-being in her mind. It's Merv, ready to go to war for him. It's Nuala, using her only boon to try and save him. It's Delirium, desperate to pull him away from his own spiraling. The list goes on.

And maybe, maybe, it is simple like that. Let yourself be loved. To be loved, is to be changed. And to change, Dream found out, is to learn how to live and earn his redemption. Not by walking into the abyss. (Thanks @ennas-aesthetic for this point ❤️)

And only then, could he find away to stop the destruction of the Fates. It would be an uphill battle, and he might lose still, and there is no guarantee that he will not spiral into depression in the future. He would never have all the right answers. But now he knows he has his lifelines. And fuck it, he wants to try.

All we have is others. All we have is love. It is the corniest of story, perhaps, but it is never less true. And maybe it is just enough.

(There will be much more to this fic but here is the philosophy, I guess, behind the fic I want to write. Will update this post once the fic is out.)

[dragonanon]

As added bonus points, you wear shirts and hoodies that have shit like this on them lmao:

Imagine using Gen Z humor and insults with the red hair pirates part 1

Shanks: *talking with the new crew about how he met luffy the first time* so I grew up on a pirate ship and it was kind of terrible and not something I'd put someone else through. My childhood was fun in a lot of ways but overall was bad.

You: *one of the older crew members he's talking to* oh I know

Shanks: what do mean?

You: look at you

Shanks: what?

You: look at the way you stand, people who had good childhoods don't stand like that.

Shanks: what?

Later

Shanks: *flirting and joking with you* you know I'm pretty famous guy

You: no matter how famous you are, you'll never be more famous as cheese.

Lucky: *laughing* you'll never be more famous than cheese *laughing more*

Shanks: that's a gouda point (y/n).

Yassop: god no make it stop

Benn: *smacks shanks* that was bad even for you

Shanks: *shrugs* I'm just a simple murder himbo, what do you expect?

You: I'm not wrong about the murder himbo thing

Shanks: I know you're not, and I don't like it

At a bar in some random port

Random man: *buys you a drink you didn't ask for*

You: *looks at him for a moment* thanks, I hate it *slides the mug over to Shanks*

Shanks: *spits out his drink laughing* (y/n)!

You: what? He's being awfully presumptuous thinking I'd want a drink, and he order one I don't like. Like I know I'm lookin like a snack right now, but still.

Shanks: *holds his head in his hands*

At breakfast

Shanks: (y/n) how are you this morning?

You: I woke up with a big ol case of the fuck-yous this morning

Shanks: I hate that I know exactly what you mean.

Later on the ship

You: *holding Mon Key* stinky brat bastard man

Benn: you're a little weird, kid

You: * holds Mon Key up to Benn and sings* little lord fat boy

Benn: I thought you didn't like Mon Key

You: I have accepted him as a fur baby.

Benn: *pats you on the head* at least the two of you are getting along

That night

You and shanks: *drunk*

You: oh my god, we share two brain cells

Shanks: what?

Benn: I think they're trying to say you're both idiots of the same caliber

You: that's what I said, we share two brain cells

[leighsartworks216]

Being Sick HCs with Zayne + Sylus

Zayne x gn!Reader x Sylus

Part Two

Imagine dating both Zayne and Sylus in a poly relationship and you get sick and have to quarantine. Basically just how they'd handle that (I'm projecting)

Warnings: fluff, domestic fluff, polyamory, sickfic, cuddling, mention of food

Word Count: 500 (hell yeah)

Main Masterlist

First Love and Deepspace Masterlist

Second Love and Deepspace Masterlist

AO3

Tag List Form

Having to quarantine which means you can't see your partners :(

Sylus is more than happy to call, facetime, sit outside the door and chat, literally anything that will make you feel better

Zayne is enforcing all the caution 100%

"I don't get sick" unstoppable force Sylus vs "If you do, you'll make things worse for all of us" immovable object Zayne

I do think Zayne would want you to quarantine at Sylus's manor or one of his villas tho, so there's more space for you to exist in without fear of contaminating something (like by going to the bathroom or smth)

Domestic moment of both of them cooking together in the kitchen to make dinner for you while having a tablet/laptop set up nearby video calling with you 🥺

Sylus is more open about missing being able to hold you, but Zayne isn't immune either

He's way more cuddly with Sylus than usual, but neither of them bring it up cuz they both know why that is

Mephisto brings notes and treats to you through the window

If you're craving anything at all rn? Ask and ye shall receive

They each leave one of their sweaters outside of your door for you to wear and cuddle

You bet your ass Zayne is badgering you about checking your fever and taking your medicine

If you start feeling really bad, like can't bear to move at all and feeling like you're dying, type bad, they will put on masks and go in there to take good care of you

Indulge in touching you a lot then, even if it's all hidden behind excuses of helping you

All three of you in masks, cuddled up in a sandwich in bed, both of the lads on either side of you absolutely wrapped around you as much as possible

Zayne disinfects Sylus and himself thoroughly after that, reinstating the quarantine again now that you're "stable" once more

Sylus staying during the day and Zayne staying during the night

Whether that be sitting outside the door or literally sleeping while on the phone with you

Best believe that as soon as you're out of quarantine, you're all cuddling together and just being physically affectionate

Even tho physical touch isn't high up on Zayne's list as far as love languages go, he really does crave yours, especially after so long (like, a week) without it

Just imagining Sylus ruining his sleep schedule to take care of you while Zayne's at work and staying awake to try and fix it, just watching you two as you sleep and being swarmed with so much affection

You, still recovering from the weakness and fatigue from being sick, sleeping during the day with Sylus. Zayne admiring you both as he gets ready for work or even just getting up early cuz his circadian rhythm just in time to see Sylus off to sleep

Okay this is just turning into normal poly hcs and not just sick ones so I'm done

---

Tag List:

@the-golden-jhope @deepzombieyouth @huen1ngk41 @armycaratlover @sylusfluffymeow @cheesemachine44 @nyx2021 @angel-jupiter @thelittlebutton @pikachuzhc @pomegranatepip @cordidy

[jaembun]

this moment with you.

unstoppable force (opening shift) vs immovable object (sleepy boyfriend mark) ！⠀⸻⠀mark lee x gnr ⠀ fluff est. rs ⠀ wc 1.4k ⠀ now playing . . ☆

생각⠀blonde mark gmfu he’s literally the love of my life

the sound of your phone’s alarm had never been a particularly welcome thing, but that morning the harsh vibrations coming from where it lay face-down against the wood of the bedside table seemed to irritate you more than usual.

a flailing hand of yours reached clumsily up to grab the device, hoping you wouldn’t drop it and risk waking up the boy still currently sleeping behind you, with his arms wrapped snugly around your stomach and a leg lazily tossed over your hip. once it had been successfully stopped you flopped onto your back to stare up at the ceiling, contemplating whether you really wanted to get to your opening shift on time or if you could get away with staying in bed just a little while longer.

the sudden thought of your manager’s condescending questions about where you’d been when you finally turned up, however, was enough to put a sour look on your face and act as the incentive to make you peel back the duvet and gently extract yourself from mark’s arms.

which, as it turned out, was a decision that almost immediately was met with objections from your boyfriend. while you were busying yourself with finding clothes to wear for the day he had seemed to sense the distinct absence of you in his arms (despite the pillow you’d hastily replaced yourself with) and made a whiny noise of displeasure, catching your attention. you couldn’t help but crack a smile at how unaware he still looked of everything, hardly opening his eyes but pouting all the same, face red from the warmth you’d shared, and a mark on his cheek that looked suspiciously like the pattern on the collar of the sweater you’d worn to bed to sleep in (nights were cold in december, after all, and the heating in mark’s apartment could use some work to say the least).

“hey, sleepyhead.” you hummed, taking a few quick moments to debate with yourself over which shirt to wear. “i’m opening, so i gotta run. you’ve got your day off today, though, so why don’t you go back to sleep?”

he only groaned again in answer, and you snickered as you left him to complain into the sheets while you ducked into the en suite bathroom to wash up. when you returned you found that mark had not in fact gone back to sleep, and was instead trying to blink himself awake—the opposite of what you wanted.

“don’t want you t’go.” were his first words of the morning, voice still a touch gravelly from sleep. you tried to hold back your laughter when he only became more indignant as he continued. “i hate your job. for real.”

that made you laugh as you struggled mildly with the fiddly buttons of your shirt, seeing as your job in question was a relatively harmless convenience store gig. “coming from kpop idol mark lee himself? i don’t think i’m as bad as this whenever you’re on tour.”

a blatant lie, but you hoped it would sneak past him in his half-asleep state. you were just as bad whenever he had to leave early (or late—it seemed the idol life didn’t have much consideration for whatever their stars may be doing in the times they called on them) for schedules, and probably worse whenever he was away in different countries performing to millions.

thankfully mark didn’t notice the untruth, only huffing in annoyance before making a motion alike to grabby hands in your direction, beckoning you back over to the bed. “c’mere. please?”

“so clingy,” you teased, running a hand through his blonde hair as you complied to his wishes and sat down to tug some socks on. “what would your work husbands say about this?”

“screw my work husbands.” he mumbled, bleary eyes finally opening fully (albeit slowly) as he took the opportunity to ditch the pillow he’d been reluctantly hugging in place of you and snake his arms around your waist again. his tone melted into the whine it’d been when you’d first left the bed, fingertips curling into the fabric of your shirt and syllables dragging on when he spoke. “why d’you have to go? it’s cold without you, and my bed’s too big for just me.”

“woe is you,” you deadpanned, reaching down to gently pry his palms off of you. but before you let him go completely you pressed a quick kiss against the cold metal of the rings adorning his fingers that he’d forgotten to take off the night prior. a giddy-sounding noise bubbled out of mark at the sensation, and you bit your lip to stop a smile spreading across your face, one that would make you look so obviously in love it be would be embarrassing.

the bed creaked as you stood, and you found your eyes drifting from cabinet to cabinet, the open wardrobe to the (near overflowing) box you crammed all your jewelry into. if there was just one more thing you could add to your attire, one more ring to slide onto your fingers or a last minute change of your shirt, then maybe you could linger a little longer. 

stay with mark a little longer. 

you didn’t know who you were fooling with your nonchalant act, because it certainly wasn’t yourself. you wanted to crawl back into bed with him just as much as he did, wrap your arms around his waist and drink in the warm feeling of his skin and faint smell of his cologne. 

a second glance at your phone told you that wouldn’t be allowed, though, so you turned to say goodbye to the boy currently led right where you’d rather be. it took less than a second to meet his gaze, finding his large brown eyes already staring up at you, cheek squished and held up by one of his palms. 

it tugged at your resolve, a sudden feeling clutching at your heart so fiercely it was all you could do not to melt through the floor. what you did instead was let yourself indulge, leaning down to place a kiss on his lips instead. the curve of his grin pressed against your skin and the warmth of his hands skirting up to hold your arm as you cupped his face was a comfort, the tingling feeling it still gave you even after all the months you’d been together refusing to fade even after you pulled yourself away; far too aware of what you knew would happen if you let yourself get too caught up. 

mark was still looking at you when you straightened up again, like you held the whole world in your eyes, and you poked his cheek in a weak attempt to get him to stop. your heart was going to beat itself out of its chest if he didn’t. when that didn’t work you turned to a verbal reprimanding, although your tone was anything but scolding—instead unbearably fond, mirth dripping through your every word.

“stop looking at me all gooey. i might start to think you like me, or something.”

his lips curved into a pout, the hand supporting his cheek falling back onto the mattress and words coming out muffled as he spoke half-buried in the soft pillow underneath his head.

“i do like you. i love you, actually. and you’re leaving me cold in bed.”

you rolled your eyes at his continued dramatics despite the smile on your face and your own obvious want to stay, avoiding looking back at him in place of shoving things you thought you’d need for the day in your bag because you knew one more pleading look from mark would make you give in. “and you know i love you too. i’ll be back later, baby. then we can laze around all you want, promise.”

“m’holding you to that.”

his words were interrupted by a yawn, and when you’d finally gotten all your things together and stole one last glance at your boyfriend you found him with eyes that were now struggling to stay open again, blinking slowly and remaining closed for longer each time. you huffed a laugh and opened the door with as little noise as possible so not to disturb him from slipping back into slumber, stopping before you stepped through to pull a stupid sappy smile at the sight of the thin streams of sunlight pouring in to paint mark’s sleeping body gold as his chest rose and fell with each breath.

“see you later, yeah?” were your last whispered words before you gently closed the door behind you and left your lover in peace.

you hoped he’d still be right there lazing around in the warmth of the duvet when you came back home, ready for you to collapse onto and fall right back asleep with. the only good thing about leaving at all was knowing you could come back to mark at the end of it.

[wannaeatramyeon]

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!! IM NOT SURE IF YOUR REQS ARE STILL OPEN OR NOT, IF NOT, PLEASE IGNORE THIS!

its been like 2 or 3 days since i found your account and your fanfics and they are just perfect like they r literally the defination of perfect

and since i love reading ur fanfics, i wanted to ask if it was possible for you to write a gun x goo fanfic where they both realize that they slowly fall in love to each other, but they r too scared to admit it.. just idiots in love, yk. you write them so good and im here for it hehe.

love you, take care of urself<33

Oof Gun x Goo? Gotta admit, I love this pairing. Thank you so much for reading anon and getting back to your ask like... 8 weeks later (maybe 8 weeks of MORE reading heh). 🫶 Take care too!

Gun Park x Goo Kim: Equals

What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force? Two lives fated to entwine for better or worse? Not souls to be saved but dragging each other to depths of depravity and then some.

Gun's ears pricked when he heard the name from Charles Choi. A weapons prodigy, someone meant to be his equal.

And on their first meeting, all Goo could say at first glance was 'woah' to the man standing before him. A legend built through rumours of ferocity and power on the grapevine.

What better way is there to prove everything than with a test of strength?

It didn't take long for them to bring out the brutality in one another. A bloody battle resulting in no clear winner but perfectly matched equals, lasting scars and permanent steel pins.

The beginning of a partnership.

.

.

An object of mutual hatred speeds up their bonding.

Mr. Carpenter. Tom Lee. Someone who tests the limits of their patience and what they are willing to do to achieve their goals.

Day after day, both put through their paces until their bodies are beaten and spirits almost broken.

Gun is the first one to offer a helping hand. A truce. Held in his palm a healing balm developed by the Yamazaki clan to ease the muscles and numb the agony.

It's not much. Though it means at least Goo can go to sleep instead of lying awake, brain kept sharp from his body and limbs pulsing with pain.

Goo calls him a bastard and takes it.

.

.

Opposites in so many ways yet different sides of the exact same coin.

Forced to spend minutes, hours, days, in one another's company. Until they know each other's habits like their own. Know every single button to press. Can predict the next words out of the other's mouth. The time together, the company becoming as natural as breathing.

It was Goo's idea.

After the training, after they both started working formally for HNH.

Cabin fever building from seeing each other day in day out. Partners during business hours, sharing a home during the rest.

Why not prove dominance in other ways Goo had suggested, thinking there is no way Gun Park would say yes to this.

But when all the constant fights only lead to dead ends, what else is there to do? Why not chase a little pleasure with the pain too.

Gun agrees.

It doesn't mean anything. Why would it? It's a means to an end (though the victor is never decided) and a way to fulfil a human need.

.

.

The first inkling of something blossoming is thanks to Sinu Han.

The Boss of Big Deal breaking Goo's glasses and him sulking all the way home.

After listening to his incessant whining for what feels like hours, Gun takes a detour; pulling up straight outside an optometrist and marching the blonde in.

He even pays the bill.

"Aww," Goo places the black frames on and Gun has to admit that his broken ones, the gold pair, never did him enough justice, "A gift for your boyfriend. How kind."

.

.

Little adventures together add up. Nights in a bathhouse. Natural springs. Sailing vast oceans. Drifting under the open sky.

Training and eating and fighting. Against each other or back to back, Gun looking out for Goo and Goo looking out for Gun.

Honing their skills, unknowingly, to fight with a very specific partner by their side.

Hours upon hours upon hours together.

Sunlight following as they drive along highways, experiencing the highs of summer and lows of winter and everything in between. 

Moonlight illuminating dark corners in shady warehouses; casting a glow on all the skin torn open with violence and blood they have spilled.

It's a twisted sort of romance. One that would never be remembered as any great love story but fitting for demons that have never known anything else.

.

.

Karaoke in Ansan is never part of the plan.

(Neither was falling into bed together.)

Completely destroying the place and crew was but not the staying behind, surrounded by broken bodies and singing.

Goo pouts and frowns so much that Gun, even with the vein throbbing on his neck, acquiesce.

And when Gun suggested they make a move back to Seoul soon, and Goo scowled even more, saying he's having fun?

Fine. They stay for another song.

Which turns into 3, into 5, into the whole night.

Gun never gives in to the duet Goo asks for. He considers that a small win.

.

.

Goo is not familar with jealousy. Simply put, he’s an attention seeker. Loves the limelight, seeks it out and demands all eyes on him.

When Gun first started obsessing over Daniel Park, it doesn't affect him. Not really.

But when they're together, Gun is still distracted. Well, that's when it irks him.

On seeing Gun's broken arm, Goo laughed himself silly. It's what that bastard deserves.

Daniel Park should have broken his other one. Maybe snapped a leg too and his neck.

Goo continues to laugh even when he holds up Gun's phone for him.

Even when he knots that asshole's tie.

Even when he follows him to check ups and appointments.

Goo laughs especially hard when he offers to feed him and receives a dirty look in return.

It's only half a joke.

.

.

Everyone knows of their fights, the way they constantly butt heads and gripe at each other.

What no-one else sees are the moments of tenderness. That neither realise they are capable of giving and also could accept.

Goo, one that always prefers to run his mouth, stays quiet. Sitting in the gloom with Gun whenever a successor doesn't work out.

Eagerly takes the brunt of Gun's frustrations with his back arched and whimpers falling from his lips.

Then when finally, the storm passes, Goo is still there. Full of smart quips and sassy remarks until Gun cracks. A smirk, a tiny thing.

But it's there.

.

.

Debt is repaid and so is kindness, though no one is keeping count.

And neither would admit that it's kindness.

The night Goo returns home, shovel in hand after the run in with Charles Choi and Tom Lee, Gun is the one that offers to fight Tom Lee together.

Goo doesn't know how serious he is. Nevertheless the idea makes him cackle. Maybe they would win, maybe they would die together.

It’s kind of poetic, in a way.

In the morning, he wakes with Gun curled around his back and an arm flung over his waist.

.

.

Cards are still held close to their chest; Gun and Goo both keep their secrets. They're at each other's throat as much as they're on each other's lips.

It's an unconventional relationship that would likely doom anyone else but for them, it works.

They never tell one another how they feel, they don't have to. It's not in their nature to say I love you, anyway. Their actions speak for themselves.

.

.

Gun watches his partner, his equal, driving. Humming along to a pop song, windows down and breeze fanning his hair.

It really is strange how they have managed to slot all their broken edges together.

How the line has blurred and turned fuzzy, yet now he can't recall if there was a line in the first place.

Goo, feeling Gun's eyes on him, looks over and snorts when he sees his expression. It's become soft, softer still with each passing day. He would make fun but sometimes he catches himself wearing the same one.

And. Well, he doesn't want to be a hypocrite. Not with this.

Goo grins, wide and a little wild, "We have fun, don't we?"

Gun barely even needs to think about his answer.

"Of course."

[waves-against-a-cliff]

hi, for the WIP game:

can you share a bit about "WIP idea 3: König x Reader, enemies to lovers"? Naturally, I am intrigued but no pressure if you are not in the mood.

Ah, its just been a thought floating around my head. Unstoppable force meets immovable object AND THEY HATE EACH OTHER (read; are jealous of each others abilities and attributes.) König wanted to be a sniper but was turned down due to being too tall and fidgeting too much. What if the reader wanted an insertion specialist but was turned down due to size? They're paired together and reader is just >:( and König is just >:( (but with a dose of anxiety).

Btw, getting an ask from you was literally the highlight of my day, you are one of my favorite authors of tumblr.

[asteriskism]

the consensus seems to be that gay sex would not fix either of them (hiram or archie). would anything?

look it depends on who they’re having gay sex with. i think if archie had gay sex (was gay en géneral) with jughead, i think that would’ve fixed him. archie is fundamentally a representation of ideal american masculinity (white, “straight”, strong+hot) with the added on characteristic of being a Good Guy. it tracks that archie’s prime directive is To Protect. protect who? his father, his mother, his girlfriend, his friends, gay kevin, etc. 90% of the story is moved by the fact that archie wants to protect people. hell, even the thing with grundy is in the ballpark of “protect/save/rescue” because she had an abusive husband (?) (i don’t remember). mostly, each season has archie’s rescue+protect instinct running through it all times. considering all of this, it makes sense that archie usually has a girl on his arm - someone that he can “protect” (not in the way that reddit incels fantasize about putting a woman in a saw trap so they can save her, but in a genuine, sort of expressing-his-affection kind of way.)

unfortunately betty and ronnie are both pretty independent women, as are josie, valerie, tabitha and most of the other women archie encounters. which means whenever archie is in a relationship with one of these women, he’s fundamentally standing on the side unable to really do anything. it’s why reggie+veronica don’t work out either in the end, in line with the idea that reggie is essentially a darker mirror of archie.

but you know who ISNT an independent girlboss? jughead! from day one jughead’s story has been attached to archie - from the moment archie didn’t show up for the trip, jughead started seething and frothing at the mouth thinking about archie and girls. even then, jughead does not go on the trip. jughead does not do anything, actually, unless he is partnered with one of the other riverteens. betty in season one, toni in season 2, archie in season 3, betty&archie in season 4, etc. jughead, left to his own devices, becomes the wettest most pathetic boywaif ever known to man. he camps out in a drive-in theater projection box. he lives in a cupboard under the school stairs. he gets beat to near-death. he gets beat to near-death again. he gets buried alive, conked on the head, fake-murdered, eaten by rats? made deaf? and whatever the hell else goes on with jughead. jughead exists in a perpetual state of distress, a Someone Who Needs Saving.

arguably, this is perfect for archie. archie needs someone to love him completely without him having to change anything about himself, and there is no one more devoted to the idea of archie than jughead. jughead, on thé other hand, needs someone to stick by him unconditionally, without abandoning him for “something better”. there is, quite literally, no one who embodies man’s best friend (see when i say man i mean it; the instances of him cheating on ronnie are. well) better in the entire town. archie would provide jughead with someone to protect+serve, and jughead would provide archie with someone who loves him no matter how “bad” he gets. unstoppable force x immovable object ygm

hiram, on the other hand. gay sex in the hirarchie dynamic would not fix anything for either party, i fear. i do think hiram is aggressively “male”, the same way that archie is, but in a bad light. there is obviously the racial angle there: mark consuelos is mexican, and hiram is implied (?) to be cuban (?). obviously he contrasts archie very significantly, who is the all-american teenage boy, to hiram’s latam-immigrant-drug-dealer-cartel-leader thing. inherently the story says that all of archie’s “acts of aggression” are either for good, pure reasons, or they’re “mistakes”. hiram’s aggression on the other hand is always villainous - it’s the rules of the context riverdale is set in. (this is obviously in line with their character histories, i’m just pointing out the obvious, because the racial context does indeed matter.) “corrupting outsider” being a brown man does in fact get turned on its head in the last season when the thesis of the show is stated outright “the threat is here, at home, in wholesome, suburban america”. but still. hiram existing to follow genre conventions contrasted against archie who is following his own genre conventions is just interesting to me. point being that i think gay sex to hiram would be like the homosexuality of greek military legend or homosociality taken to the next level (i.e. women are for having children.) i think fundamentally he wishes veronica had been a son; i think that hermione and veronica (and hermosa) having a majority role in his life makes him long for the male-only spaces of the mob - in the sauna, in the private meetings, in that one scene where he brings archie into his study and shuts the doors on veronica. i think perhaps fishing-trip-esque homosexual relations for hiram might fix him, in the way that beating up people in dark alleys “fixed” his “disease” in s4, but between hirarchie it would only further sexually traumatise poor archie and severely depress hiram.

(i think also half the fun of archie, to hiram, is the fact that he cannot stop him, so he keeps having to take bigger swings at archie. if in-show he really did want to take advantage of archie for sex reasons alone, it wouldn’t have been hard considering archie was already very vulnerable. this is not to say that hiram did not use the same tactics as grundy - trust/secrecy/validation - but it was for a different outcome. hiram’s prime directive is competition - to have archie under his thumb so completely would have bored him.)

the inherent comedy of “mob boss in competition with his teenage daughter’s boyfriend” is really lost if it turns into something sexual; to me it just becomes tragic and has some really disturbing connotations vis a vis the racial context of the whole setup.

ANYWAY what i think would REALLY fix the both of them is daily affirmations and recreational wood-chopping. channel that “masculine rage” into something productive. go chop some firewood for the murder chalet in the woods!

[odukora-lore]

Man imagine if Cindy had a romance.... like w Nyx or smth... wouldn't that be insane.....

Anyways for the alternate love interest thing, how about Lio with Truffs, Rei with Truffs, and Jingle with Jun? (If you're chill w these ofc)

Hoi am gonna answer this first cuz the other is longgggg as fuck lmaooo

Anyways w Cinnyx I've dumped pretty much everything I can w them lmao and it's kinda ironic that Nyxper isn't getting as much development (though POE as a whole hasn't gotten much updates lately), I do have the temptation to recreate their dynamic through other chars thou but that's a thing for another day

Onto the real question lol, ngl literally a while ago I thought abt Lio and Truffs lmaooo, it's actually on my mind quite a lot as an alt ship considering it is pretty much a Cindy/Nyx equivalent esp when considering the Lio + Cindy and Truffs + Nyx parallels, essentially the protagonist ™ x the first of the ancient wretched bloodline that chooses their own destiny, and said ancient bloodline is what the protagonist eventually defeats in the end so there's some sorta cinematic poetry to be found here, and w Truffs being Lio's first friend throughout their journey in the main arc it only makes sense that there's gonna be ppl that will ship them lmao esp w how friendly Truffs is towards them from the get go, pretty much their No. 1 hype man rlly, though in my head it's still more compelling as a platonic bond but I'm also biased cuz I've always saw them this way lmao, they're best friends in the cliche main guy and the sidekick way but also much more layered ofc, cuz usually the sidekick is played off as comic relief but obviously Truffs is much more than that, in some AU scenario where Jingle refuses to be redeemed and is actually too far gone I can imagine Lio/Truffs to be quite compelling cuz they already have a solid friendship but alas my enemies to lovers suckerass will always have extremely specific tastes lmao a man can only dream

Rei/Truffs is a funny one thou cuz I just knowwww it's the kinda ship that ppl will assume to be canon at a first glance, cuz if sidekick isn't gonna end up w the main guy then sidekick is gonna end up w the girl™ lmao, which is again another overdone trope that I didn't bother w, though the two couldddd have an interesting dynamic as a ship esp w Truffs being very go w the flow and Rei being a stubborn ass lol, unstoppable force and immovable object ordeal but also I feel like they're both unstoppable forces in extremely diff directions they end up butting heads more than they agree on a plan, it's pretty much a common scenario for Truffs to do things onna whim when he feels like it cuz he's known to have spontaneous bursts of energy whilst Rei usually has the one goal™ she's seeking and she will do anything to do the thing without giving way to any other alternatives, basically in a romantic context they rlly aren't gonna work lmao, which is ironic cuz Rin and Jun while being similar in demeanor pair better w each of them cuz Rin whilst seemingly stoic is very free spirited and adventurous at heart that being w Truffs doesn't feel like tying her life down to a single spot, and Jun is literally knownnn for being the meticulous planner of a single thing to the point of overthinking and not executing it except now Rei is gonna steal the plan and execute it flawlessly with no fear in the world lmao

Jingle and Jun is funny in this regard having dumped that previous paragraph cuz Jingle in my head always reeked more like a Truffs core guy, there's a reason they get along so much, this is also why Jingle and Rin were rlly close during their childhood to begin w, and why Jingle butt heads w Rei pretty much during every single encounter in the earlier arcs of the story lmao, Jingle complains abt Jun being too overbearing in a sense and while they care deeply abt each other and actually have a rlly funny ass dynamic when they bicker I can't imagine them being w each other long term esp romantically when they're such total opposites, I know opposites attract™ and many ppl can interpret the bickering as an old married couple thing like a Skyble core thing lol, ig it can work but they will have to compromise a shit load, which is also funny cuz Lio and Jun are actually also very similar except Lio is a lotttttt more lenient when it comes to miniscule things and Jun is the exact mf to hinge on a small detail and never put it down lmao, they need a Pepper to dilute the contrast and funnily enough in my head Jingle/Jun/Pepper is more likely to happen in an AU than pairing any of them individually w each other LMAO, but Pepper is too gay for this shit you will never pry that lesbianism from her cold dead hands, that is unless I trans beam the other two, the rest is up for imagination, you can add Mallow in there too Pepper has at least three limbs + a tail

[variousqueerthings]

some other things about the last few episodes we’ve had

1. Charles is autistic. I already said that, but I just sit here like “you don’t understand yes he’s abrasive and unfortunately rich and often a dick, but some of his behaviours are changeable and some deserve to be accommodated” (in the same way Hawkeye’s “waves hands” Stuff is accommodated for... dare I say it... that thing where an autistic and an adhd’er come across one another in the wild and unfortunately have Literally Nothing In Common and so it’s like unstoppable force/immovable object kinda situation)

Anyway, the way he made a mistake. I liked that. I need to think about it more in terms of phrasing, and I’m sure more data will appear as we continue onwards, but I guess the TL;DR is that Charles probably will find his way towards balancing the things that he needs to function, with being able to see beyond his own nose and care for others’ needs beyond the functionality of a patient and his own ego

also him wanting Hawkeye’s attention, even if that attention was negative. Hawkeye genuinely being angry at him for fucking up with the patient. Understanding the limit, and trying to understand it. RIP I will be a Charles apologist (just like I’ll always be a Margaret-from-day-one apologist)

2. Hawkeye loving and losing (and crying). I have nothing deep to say. I thought it was a good episode. I thought Kyung Soon was a great character and I loved that part of what made this work was that she was controlling the narrative, even if Hawkeye was the POV character. You can write believable romance in 25min and make it tragic in a way that isn’t heavy-handed (I’m glad she didn’t die -- and in a way that may have been easier, because you can romanticize death in a way you cannot romanticize making the adult and correct decision that there are more important things). And I love when he cries. Alan Alda clearly loves these things too, because he wrote and directed the episode

bonus for this episode is Hawkeye talking about it... with Margaret! I’m not sure if he’s been this emotionally vulnerable with her before. And she, in turn, is vulnerable with him, because her new husband has probably been cheating on her. Telling ya these two are friend-soulmates (and they’ve been fighting it every step of the way!) (I am not a fan of “soulmates” as a concept, I merely mean they had that potential and rather than move towards it, they decided to hiss at each other for x amount of seasons, while occasionally giving in to the fact that maybe... they actually really like each other)

3. BJ is still partially an enigma to me. They’ve followed up on the idea of him as a prankster in the episode with the guy he studied with (my partner and I clearly brought something to that episode because we were not entertained by his friend at all, and felt quite on edge whenever he was onscreen), and in the way he was messing with Charles’ uniform. his interactions with Hawkeye have a lot of different -- probably more interesting -- textures than at the beginning when they were getting to know one another as well

I mean in the sense that sometimes Hawkeye annoys him, which we first saw in the episode where Hawkeye and he had a fake -- and then a real -- argument. I don’t think it’s intended as that deep (although who knows), or that it will lead to an actual temporary split between them, I just noticed it. He’s moved from the place he was in s4, but again, he doesn’t have so much POV, so I’m still placing him rather cautiously. I’m guessing he won’t become a Trapper 2.0, because otherwise he wouldn’t be so beloved in his own right, so I’m looking at the pieces of him I’ve got at the moment and squinting at how they’ll end up fitting together. I still think “observational” was something right I said, but maybe, currently, not as Solid as he was at the beginning (but that may be because Hawkeye also feels more on-edge... I do tend to read BJ in connection with his relationship with Hawkeye, so I think that’s what I’m not getting as much info on this season as previously...)

I think there’s something interesting there in terms of knowing a character’s place and/or journey, and I feel like BJ is moving with the changing tides more than any other character and I don’t quite see where he’ll end up (yet)

[godblooded]

@afraidofchange (x)

the good doctor is not, she cannot emphasize this enough, not a person who has any sort of patience for her own weakness. her literal career is built upon assisting those as fragmented as she, and for them she has nothing but moving, loving, doting kindness. for herself?

well, she dislocates a hip trying to have sex and it’s both incredibly embarrassing and frustrating.

but alice is quite the dashing prince of a darling; she doesn’t panic and she helps alana to a level where she can recuperate and deal with the issue. she handles it with the sweetness of a good woman and the patience of a good soldier, something alana tells her with a hand presses against her cheek and her forehead tapped softly to the other’s. oh, to love with a love that is more than love.

( alana, for the beauty she inspires in others, herself is not a gentle thing. she wants to be and learns how to be— finds the weaker underbelly of her nature pink and wanting. but it takes learning. it takes learning. her wolfdog guinefort, having accepted alice as part of the pack, is most alana.

ser guinefort is the only catholic saint officially canonized who was not a human. the dog had stricken a serpent from lashing out at a farmer and been awarded love and shelter. he would later die having been killed by the very farmer he saved. the man would be aghast when he saw it— his squalling baby girl and the cradle, a serpent bloodied just as he remembered. he wept and held his baby and the dog alike. the church chose to recognize the animal as a saint. and guin has saved her in near the exact same way��� literally and physically. he loves alice most, guinefort bloom, and recognizes her respectfully in regards to being his momma’s mate. it’s unusual.

(the real secret is that alana is most like applesauce— the smallest of her pack and the most trusting.)

and she won’t let one thing get in the way of the possibility of what she wants so badly— it’s a clarity between them to begin with, this slowly electric sensation that’s difficult for either side to ignore. unstoppable force, immovable object. alana is increasingly verbose.

she feels her hips respond because she doesn’t have a choice. they lift, seek out a closeness to press nearer and nearer. it’s a need to feel on a far more intimate level— alana’s endless need to be as close as close can possibly get. it’s an almost whining nerd, one that grips alice’s hair lightly with the clenched fist that is its mere extension. want is who she is, and the core of her proves that, slick beneath alice’s touch. her stomach trembles in a shudder, thin and laden with surgical scars, pinions of tissue like a baby bird’s flight feathers— places glass had embedded. she bucks up further and her breath hitches in a soft whimper.

and who could deny those big, sweet, blue eyes?

“ much better. “

it’s a hot breath out, now, hipbone a sharp curve dotted with ink— an ouroboros tattoo, marked with a scar like a bite from a mouth belonging to a very particular species of animal. the way she flushes pink at the highest points of her cheeks. she trembles and eases at once, finds a rhythm after a minute that she keeps time with somewhere in her head.

“ jesuschrist’spetgoldenretriever. “

it’s what she mutters breathlessly, a non sequitur of a sentence squished into a very wrong compound word.

[sepublic]

Kraid!

KKKKKRRRRAAAAAIIIIIIDDDDD

I was trying to avoid as much of Metroid Dread as possible to be surprised... But then I learned KRAID is back, in glorious HD as part of a mainline game and...

Oh, he’s beautiful!

Seriously, I’ve always wanted to see more of Kraid! Dude was one of the OG Space Pirates alongside Mother Brain and Ridley, who are present throughout the series; And as someone who is apparently Ridley’s Brother-in-Arms, I’m just really curious on what he could be like?

I doubt we’ll get much if anything in terms of personality, but that’s how Metroid games work anyway! Hopefully we get more lore on Kraid, how is he still alive? Does he have regenerative abilities, is he just really incredibly durable? An X-parasite imitation? Fake Kraid has grown up and this is Sclayd? Did the Chozo clone him, maybe even somehow resurrect him from a dead body, or even the afterlife considering their borderline mystical abilities???

Either way, that’s clever of the designers to have Kraid be restrained, as a meta explanation as to why he doesn’t just charge forward- Thus allowing the developers to start off with a traditional take on the Kraid fight... But since he manages to break an arm free in the trailer, the fight might progress and get more deadly, as Kraid becomes more free.

His neck brace will probably be the last to go, to show a sort of natural transition from the traditional style of Kraid fights, to a more modernized take and I am all FOR it! Everyone’s wondering if Ridley will return, but Kraid alone would MORE than make up for his absence, especially since Ridley is already so prevalent while Kraid has only gotten bread crumbs and the Brinstar Depths stage in recent years!

This is like a dream come true... And obviously Kraid is set up to fight Samus, but it’d be kind of neat to see an arc where him and Samus recognize a mutual enemy in the Chozo, and work with each other over it? Probably not, but I feel this would be more plausible than Samus and Ridley working together; A fun thought exercise I’d always entertained, but there really isn’t that personal vitriol between Samus and Kraid.

...I mean, there COULD be if Kraid takes Ridley’s death personally, but who knows, he might hold off on revenge just long enough for a practical escape! Regardless, I utterly adore just how gnarly and twisted this guy looks, it reminds me of Ridley’s Smash Ultimate renders that really modernize his look, breathe a new and alien life to it while still being the same! And the added, slimy body horror, borderline insectoid, like Smash Ridley!

But yes, I appreciate Metroid Dread taking the opportunity to be new, instead of trying to cater to the mainstream audience as an official return to pull them back, especially since we already had Samus Returns do that, especially with Proteus Ridley being thrown in! And with how Proteus was by far the best Ridley fight in the series, I can’t WAIT to see how Mercury Steam gives a new action to a Kraid boss battle!

And it looks like there might be a passageway behind Kraid that he’s guarding... Kind of like his previous appearances, I love Kraid being a giant guard dog- His girth and weight alone makes him an impenetrable wall! Plus he gives immovable object vibes, VS Ridley as an Unstoppable Force.

Ridley moves fast and aggressively leads the charge, while Kraid is less mobile, can’t even fit through most passageways; But holds down the fort and line of defense, tanking damage and shrugging it off compared to someone who heals from it!

Seriously, this is great seeing this under appreciated Space Pirate represented! I’ve always been salty about Meta Kraid being left out of Metroid Prime... And Kraid’s got a distinct identity of his own as one of the biggest bosses in the entire series by a long shot!

His big, colossal, green and chunky frame, that brutishness to Kraid, the size and brawn- It’s a nice contrast and foil to Ridley’ who is memetically huge in general, but from a relative standpoint averagely-sized as a boss, and MUCH scrawnier than the Awakened Behemoth; But he makes up for it wit speed and agility, flight, etc.!

Plus the concept of taking on a full-on Kaiju of the series, Metroid’s Godzilla... I always felt like there was a wasted potential to Kraid and how he stood out as a counterpart to Ridley’ more of the lumbering mountain to scale compared to the acrobatic Cunning God of Death! His Kaiju size, the way the ground could easily tremble from each footstep like Jurassic Park...

If Ridley is a Xenomorph, make Kraid into Godzilla and Rexy and every giant monster whose sheer scale inspires a horror based in awe, one that is huge and grandiose and demands attention and seizes all of it, gloriously basking in full view, in contrast to the more stealthy and subtle Ridley!

They’re both reptilian Space Pirates who debuted with the franchise, serve Mother Brain alongside one another as the two guardians to Tourian. And just like Ridley taking one of the recurring boss themes from Super Metroid and adopting it as HIS theme, Kraid seems to have done the same by Zero Mission!

Plus, Brinstar Depths, AKA Kraid’s Lair, is SUCH a metal soundtrack! It doesn’t necessarily apply to Kraid himself, but I feel like there’s an enigmatic personality hinted with the eerie, melodic tune of this theme... So as someone who’s tried to write him, mostly in my head;

What kind of person is Kraid? What archetypes and roles would he fit? As a more casual type of arch-nemesis, compared to the personal intensity of Ridley? A dumb brute, or smart in his own way? What personality and vibes would make Kraid’s Lair fit as a theme for him?

At the very least, I wonder if we’ll get Space Pirate lore, maybe even origins as to Kraid and Ridley’s species? They’re both huge dragons who took over Zebes... Could there be a connection between Ridley’s species and the Chozo? Will we get a bit of sympathy for Kraid, seeing him captured like an animal by the Chozo, perhaps to test experiments upon and clone?

Will Dread encapsulate the realization of just how much of a bigger scope villain the True Chozo are, experimenting on Kraid the way the Galactic Federation did with Ridley’s clone, another parallel between them? Will we explore the dark past of the Chozo, and a potential tragic look into Kraid’s species- So Samus has a better understanding of how her people have been terrible in many ways, even if that doesn’t at all justify Kraid the person’s actions?

Just... Imagine a storyline where Samus realizes that Kraid was made by the Chozo, or his species was, or they were genetically augmented or massacred, or something like that. Just a twisted moment of realization that explains but doesn’t justify. Which could lead to Samus and Kraid teaming up for a prison breakout at a pivotal moment, Kraid’s girth would make him a helpful ally.

Perhaps Samus could weaponize Kraid in the background to take the brunt of the True Chozo’s attacks, while she takes on the leader? Could he help with environmental terrain, blind to the background as a colossal feature of the environment, a kaiju briefly on your side?

Could we get a Kraid fight where he attacks from the background, instead of to the right? Will he ultimately die helping Samus- More for his own gain and revenge, but still? Maybe even leading to a reluctant salute from Samus as she recognizes them both as people captured, as experimented upon by the Chozo? Apologies for all of the fanon conjecture, my mind is racing...!

I think there’s SO much potential with Kraid and seeing him full, unadulterated HD glory... It’s glorious. It’s magnificent! This is a dream come true, and I hope Kraid finally starts to get the recognition he deserves! Even if he’s just A boss fight, I’m already sated and content here- And I can only imagine the new wave of fan content that will spawn for Kraid, as he’s recognized a defining moment of Dread!

Plus, I’d love to see people characterize and give lore to Kraid... All in all I am LIVING and in triumph here!!! I know I keep using this meme but

Literally this alone, just these shots... Are ALL I really want and need, in the end! Bless you Mercury Steam for this food, for breathing new life into this franchise while renovating what really needs it! I don’t even care if Kraid’s return is never really explained, I’m incredibly happy here!

This new design... It just FITS and works as a new, evergreen design for Kraid honestly! Compared to Ridley who is a lot more varied and arguably inconsistent, even with his Smash render... THIS is the new and definitive Kraid for me, now! I am having the time of my LIFE here!

Ridley the Cunning God has cheated death... is Kraid the Behemoth has reawakened!

(With the idea of Prime Kraid being reused for Metroid Prime 4... I’m wondering if we’ll begin to see an all new Kraid renaissance? 👀 More frequent content as Nintendo starts giving him and more appearances and attention, including in other media and advertising, alongside Ridley???)

[kikuism]

fuck it. chainsaw man x jujutsu kaisen headcanons

aki explaining to megumi the various parts of his body he's had to sacrifice in order to use the services of various devils. megumi: that's rough buddy. they compare their animal familiars and techniques and discuss life as a devil hunter and jujutsu sorcerer respectively.

power and nobara having an absolute field day going out shopping and roasting their teammates about what turds they are. nobara is immediately smitten with meowy and she's obsessed with power's fangs and her blood powers and power immediately manifests a giant blood hammer for her. nobara introduces her to instagram and they both become insta baddies.

denji says to yuuji what he says to literally everyone he meets: "man....i just wanna touch some boobs and eat good food, ya know?" so he and yuuji immediately hit it off. yuuji takes him out to all kinds of cafes and diners and shows him the jennifer lawrence poster in his room and that's it, denji's found a friend for life. they also talk about shounen manga and denji shamelessly shows yuuji some of his questionable magazines.

gojou and makima are so powerful that you swear the air slightly ripples around them when they're together. they're always subtly trying to get the upper hand on each other during conversations but they do find points of common ground—movies. gojou takes makima to every kind of movie under the sun trying to elicit one emotion out of her. he sees it as a challenge. makima accepts. unstoppable force vs immovable object.

[the-truest-sentence-i-know]

The Irresistible Force Paradox

Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Characters: Skye (Daisy Johnson) x Grant Ward (Skyeward)

Rating: T (mild smut, nothing explicit)

Summary: Skye's feelings about Ward are complicated. Ward's feelings for Skye are very simple. Immovable object meet unstoppable force. Set somewhere in the first half of Season Two.

Word Count: 1.6k | 1/?

ao3 || ff.net || wattpad || quotev

The moment Skye kisses Ward, she knows she’s screwed – figuratively at the very least. Because if she’s close enough to literally have his lips on hers she should be trying to bring him in, or kill him. Instead, she’s letting him crowd her up against the dresser in this dingy motel room, thanking all the powers that be that she turned her comm off.

Because she’s supposed to be on a stakeout right now, waiting for a guy claiming to be selling SHIELD tech, but now she’s hoping he won’t show up. Ward is kissing her in his all-consuming passion concentrated to a single point way, and as much as she hates him – and she does, she really does – he’s good at it. He’s brazenly desperate, the way his hands grip her body, the way he pulls her lower lip between his own like he might die if she stops him. Which she should, of course she should. Then he lifts her so she’s sitting on the dresser and slips his tongue into her mouth and fuck.

She opens her legs so he can stand between them and tangles her fingers through his hair.

His hand finds the gun tucked into the waistband of her pants and seems to make a grab for it. Skye pushes off the dresser, using her full body weight to tackle him to the floor. They land with a thump, but before Skye can react, Ward has moved to pin her to the ground.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“Think you can distract me that easily?” she says, trying and failing to push him off. “I’m a lot harder to kill than I used to be.”

“I’m not trying to kill you,” he says, simply. He’s only slightly out of breath and Skye tries to curb her heavy breathing.

“Then what are you trying to do?” She already knows of course; it’s very difficult to miss it in his eyes.

“You know,” he says because he’s still too good at reading her for comfort.

“Yeah, well, that sucks for you,” she says.

He looks at her for a long moment, then slowly stands up, steps back, not taking his eyes from her for a moment. Skye rises, cautiously, watching Ward in return like he’s a wild animal she came across in the forest. She steps to the side, toward the door, making sure to keep her back away from Ward.

“You can leave, or call the team,” he says. The team, not your team, as though he still has some connection to them. “Or you can stay.”

You can stay, if you want. Words he said to her forever ago. He had been reaching out to her then too – or, in actuality – doing what double agents do, getting her to like him. But here, now, there are no pretenses. She knows who he is. So really, if you look at it that way, it isn’t as bad as it seems.

She takes out her earpiece and sets it on the dresser. He raises his eyebrows.

“Don’t make me say it out loud,” she tells him, and he shrugs and closes the distance once more.

Before finding out about Ward, she had imagined scenarios similar to this one; being on a stakeout with Ward, things getting a little steamy. In her fantasies, this would eventually lead to them being together – but in secret of course, because agents aren’t supposed to fraternize. Coulson would give an overprotective dad speech, May would give an overprotective mom stare, and then she and Ward would plot to get Fitzsimmons together.

In reality, it’s different because none of them can ever know. She wouldn’t be able to stand the way Fitzsimmons would look at her if they found out she had spent the afternoon with her tongue down the throat of the man who had tried to kill them. Who had killed so many people. And, god, May and Coulson, too, they’d all be so disappointed… She would never forget the time they had caught her with Miles – and this is so much worse.

She pushes them from her mind because if she’s going to do this stupid, terrible, reckless thing, she might as well enjoy it. Because even though he’s evil, Ward is also hot. And he’s a spy, which means that he’s had a lot of experience – obviously – and confidence has always looked good on him.

Another thing that looks good on him: no clothes. Like, she knows what he looks like, but seeing through x-ray glasses is very different from seeing in the flesh.

He’s seen her before as well. The shower on the Bus is only a short dash from her bunk, but the Bus is only so big, and she has a bad habit of forgetting a towel and risking the skimpy scurry, and Ward has a bad habit of being in places unexpectedly. So the sight isn’t exactly new.

But that doesn’t stop him from looking at her the way people look at the stars, or sculptures in museums. He actually pulls back to look at her, and it’s pissing her off a little because this is supposed to be hate sex. They’re on opposite sides here – and not in the star-crossed lovers way, but in the diametrically opposed sort of way.

He’s not supposed to touch her gently or adoringly, he’s supposed to grab her hard and fuck her fast while they trade insults. He’s supposed to leave finger-shaped bruises and mouth shaped marks on her, not brush her hair behind her ear.

So she sets her jaw and shoves him toward the bed. He tilts his head, as though to say Someone’s eager.

“I don’t have all day,” she says, climbing onto the bed. “They’ll worry.”

He approaches the side of the bed. “If you don’t want t–”

“Shut up,” she says and pulls him down on top of her.

His weight on her is perfect and he wastes no time now. He takes her apart with skill and the utmost concentration. With every touch, Skye realizes how much he knows about her, things he has intuited that she likes. And it’s agonizingly intense, but not in a we hate each other and need to fuck out the tension way.

Skye tries to avoid his eyes in the beginning but finds herself seeking them out as she bites back a cry at her pinnacle. Then she pulls him into a kiss so she can avoid them again, as though eye contact is too intimate.

He might whisper three terrifying words as he comes. She isn’t sure, or maybe she’s just choosing to mishear him.

Ward rolls over, lies beside her, as Skye comes back to herself. She stares at the ceiling, hearing his breathing even out. She swallows hard and waits for him to say something.

It’s quiet for a long time.

He reaches out for her, and she pushes his hand away. She can feel his eyes on her but refuses to look at him, keeping her gaze on the ceiling. He shifts and sighs deeply.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” he asks finally.

Skye rolls her eyes. She steals a glance at him and immediately regrets it. His hair is messy and his eyes are soft and he looks… like a guy. Like just some guy. Some guy who she just slept with, who likes her, who hopes she likes him back.

“I’m gonna shower,” she says, getting up. She collects her clothes from where they are scattered on the floor and closes the bathroom door behind her. She hugs the bundle to her chest and leans against the door, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She expects herself to feel sick, to have an adverse reaction to sleeping with a man she should, by any logic, despise.

But the truth is that she doesn’t hate him. She hates what he does – and what he did – but she doesn’t hate him. She understands him, more than she would admit to anyone. Hell, under different circumstances, she could’ve been him. It could’ve been him standing in this bathroom, conflicted, while she lies in bed, loving him.

Because he does. Love her, that is. And doesn’t that mean that he’s not totally evil and irredeemable?

She still doesn’t know what to say when she steps back into the room, dressed, with her wet hair soaking through her top.

In the bed, Ward snores quietly, arm outstretched to where she had lain. And he still looks like a regular guy. His features are softer in sleep, more open. She watches him for a moment, finding herself wishing for the billionth time that they’d met under different circumstances.

Outside, the sky is getting dark. She crosses the room and puts her comm back in her ear. To her relief, there are no voices worried about her.

“Hey, guys,” she says quietly. “I don’t think this guy is gonna show.”

“You’re probably right,” Coulson says. “Why don’t you drive back, and we’ll regroup.”

“Sounds good.”

“Skye?” he asks, and she finds herself glancing over at Ward’s sleeping body. “Are you alright? You sound…”

“Nah, I’m fine,” she says quickly. “Stakeouts just make me sleepy, that’s all.”

“All right, see you soon.”

“Yeah, see you.”

She can’t tear her eyes away from Ward. The fact that he let himself fall asleep with her here. It’s unfathomable. And stupid. She could call for backup and they could take him in. She could kill him, shoot him where he lies.

He could be faking, to see how she’ll react, but somehow, she doubts it. This is just how he operates with her. He makes dumb decisions because of how he feels about her.

And she’s about to make a very dumb decision as well, but not because of what she feels.

Because of how she doesn’t feel.

She doesn’t hate Ward.

It’s about the only thing she knows for sure when it comes to him.

She looks back at him one more time and then closes the motel room door behind her.