#love coming up with little stories to go along with illustrations

[j-tee]

Nobody wants to guard the civilian sea-gate.

It’s not that it’s a difficult job- hell, it’s barely a job at all. Nobody wants to swim in the water, it’s bad luck- so nobody ever comes to the gate. It’s a grueling 48 hours spent standing watch, watching nothing, bored out of your skull.

But still, two knights must stand at the ready just in case some poor idiot shows up- lost and confused, and always panicky to find themselves so close to the shore.

You make friends fast though, you and the other knight you’re stationed with. Often folks will bring cards, dice, or some other manner of distraction- or you’ll get talking, gossiping, it’s almost fun.

And yet, nobody wants to guard the civilian sea-gate. Nobody ever wants to be that close to the water.

[fishfingersandscarves]

I don't even bother scrolling the ao3 armandaniel tag anymore, I just wait for your glorious art and then read whatever you illustrate...

That being said if you had any recommendations I'd happily take the o' knowledgeable one

ah nonnie i am happy to pull some from my meticulously vetted list

remember to read and mind all the tags

a haunting just for company by valkyrisms

"I know what a breakup looks like," Daniel says. "The better question is, why are you coming to me about it? I'm the one who broke up your little sham." "This is what humans do, don't they?" Armand asks, letting his voice drop. "Crashing on their friends' couches when there's a blip in their romances?" "Except we're not friends. We're actually very much not friends." Daniel shrugs, as if it's all the same to him. "And I can't imagine the great vampire Armand deigning himself to sleep on my fucked-up sofa. That thing's been here since the nineties." "Well," Armand only says. "I saw you have a guest bedroom."

Lie Back and Let Me Unlock You by Thunder_Puss

Independently wealthy man, early 30's, seeks arrangement with young male aged 18-25, not too muscular and no more than 200lbs (anything more would be most unmanageable) to share my apartment and affection with for 1 year until slaughter. All needs up to that point will be met -surpassingly so, I must admit, as I can be rather doting. There will be no need to consider expenses as they will be covered entirely by myself- "-There will be a rigorous interview process consisting of correspondence by email..." Daniel shook his head, laughing. "Of course, buddy. I'm sure I'll have a lot of competition." He raised his whiskey glass to his lips and wet them. "If this sounds like an amenable blah blah... Christ, this guy is verbose. I'll have to bring along a thesaurus to keep up." Daniel Molloy was 24, not too muscular, and no more than 200lbs. He was also steadfast and enterprising -when he could keep his nose clean- and had nothing more interesting to do than chase a story about an independently wealthy man with the screen name Botticelli_Angel who seemed to have the world's most taboo kink. Daniel could play the part, see where the story took him for a while. If shit got too weird, he'd dip. (Spoiler: He doesn’t dip.)

the sin and this mess we're in by ringfinger

He’s sitting on a beach he hates, trading shitty jokes with a centuries-old monster whose body count would put Ed Gein to shame and who is almost certainly also plotting to turn him into a flesh lampshade. “Don’t be dramatic,” Armand says, picking up on that thread, “I do wish you’d stop returning to that.”

how memory makes monsters into myth by blueskiddoo

“I said I’m fine, Alice,” Daniel snaps, and time itself grinds to a halt. Not literally. Ha. The things you have to specify with vampires. Daniel wishes he could laugh, but the sound is stuck somewhere in his throat, along with his heart. Now, of course, his hand chooses to be perfectly still. Why the fuck did he say that? * daniel keeps slipping up and mistaking armand for his ex-wife and the more he looks back on his memories, the less reliable they get. he's pretty sure he married alice molloy, but how do you marry a woman who apparently never existed? armand is armand about it.

chase away my heart and heartache by sahwen

With nowhere to go and an eternity ahead of him, Armand decided to work his way backwards. Or: Armand's Tour de Divorce in six acts.

to stretch the night, to fill it fuller with dreams by typefortydeductions

Armand and Daniel return to Venice to confront some of Armand's oldest demons. Louis comes with them, trailing ghosts of his own.

I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love. by cannibalenthusiast

“Did we call each other boyfriend? Surely not. Sounds weird even saying out loud.” “You were my beloved,” Armand says. “My lover. My boy.” “Your human pet. Your mortal fool. I get it,” Daniel says, not neglecting to notice his use of the past tense. “You want to go see a movie?”

such a pretty box (all fancy wrappings, and a bow on top) by snuffreel

“That is a fascinating shade of scarlet. In the dark, now, it almost matches the color of her blood.” Or: Armand, Daniel, and the age-old question of what's really inside a girl.

flash the camera (you're a star) by exastris_scientia

Daniel is starting to think he should put a little more thought into the promises he makes in the heat of the moment. He’d qualified it a little, sure, so technically he doesn’t have to do it. And it’s not like he needs the money, not after Louis and Armand had thrown his that’s my whore number comment back in his face by actually paying him ten million fucking dollars. But a promise is a promise, even if it’s one literally no one would expect him to follow through on. Whatever. He said he would, so he will. It might be fun. So he starts an OnlyFans.

bang it up inside by leavethebes

"Come on," Daniel goads. "Come the fuck on."

she will be your living end by kanxie

Daniel reaches his hand out for Armand to take. They wait a few moments in silence as the world stops moving around them. The animals hush. The air stills. A faint smell of smoky dust drops from the sky and lifts from the ground. Rural Armenia has always been too quiet for Armand, but this is to a level where noise itself seems to atrophy into a cold, nightmare-like state. Armand takes his hand, and the usual dampened sounds of movement are stark in this nothingness. “It's okay to admit you're scared,” says Daniel. His deep and rumbling voice. Armand keens for it in the lamplight.

Armand and Daniel are at home when the bell tolls.

Backroads to Sonoma by burntcrimson

Where the hell have you been, Daniel wonders, and why me? A bloody American summer in the belly of the AIDS crisis.

open eyes and behind your teeth by tisiphones

It wasn't fascinating, the way the boy didn't know whether to lean into the touch or away from it, confused by the comfort and the pain it offered in equal measures. It wasn't. Armand could do the same thing — did do the same thing, whenever Louis deigned to touch him at all — and Louis still thought he was boring. It couldn't be this that had captivated him. But that didn't mean it wasn't fun. --- Armand weighs the pros and cons of dog ownership.

[curio-queries]

Are You Sure?!

Episodes 5 & 6 Notes

It was very fortuitous that I've been so busy over the last couple of weeks as I really needed both of these episodes together to make sense of my thoughts. This post is definitely far more conceptual than my last ones so if you're up for it, click on though the cut!

AYS's Main Character?

I would like to propose that AYS has a main character OTHER than the individual humans we're following along on screen. (I warned you, this post was going to be conceptual.) And the main character is the relationship itself, how each of the members relate to one another.

Here's Google's AI overview on what this concept means:

A story can center on the relationship between characters as the primary protagonist, with the dynamic and evolution of that connection acting as the main driving force of the narrative, rather than the individual characters themselves.

Key points to consider:

Relationship-centric stories: Many genres, particularly romance, often focus heavily on the relationship between the main characters, exploring its complexities, challenges, and growth throughout the story.

No single protagonist: In such cases, the "character" is the bond between the individuals, not just one person's perspective or journey.

Exploring the dynamic: The narrative would then focus on how the relationship changes, adapts, and reacts to external situations or internal conflicts.

Examples:

"Before Sunrise": The entire plot revolves around the single night encounter between two strangers, with the developing connection being the central focus.

"Brokeback Mountain": The story primarily explores the forbidden love between two cowboys, highlighting the complexities of their relationship in a restrictive environment.

"Steel Magnolias ": A group of girls in a small town in Louisiana experience grief together, including weddings, fatal illnesses, and the loss of loved ones.

Now before anyone comes for me saying I'm just pitching an argument for xyz fanwar, please note that I included the above just to illustrate the concept of a non-person main character rather than stating any of the above are comparisons to the individual member's relationships. We're talking about a show that was produced and distributed for entertainment, nothing further.

Episode 5

My main feeling after finally being able to watch episode 5 was overall unsettled. There was something sticking with me about that episode and I could NOT figure out what it was.

I knew I was feeling like the entire episode was stretched well beyond what the footage wanted for a complete episode. I'm all for getting to spend more time with our fellas but the Jeju trip would have benefited from being cut down to 2 episodes rather than 3, in my opinion.

There was just a whole lotta nothing happening. The guys eat, travel around a little bit, and eat some more. I had some vague thoughts about how I could quantify some data for y'all to explain this point but then it was time for the next episode...

vs. Episode 6

And what an absolutely lovely breath of fresh air this episode was. I know there have been some Run eps that I review with a smile on my face throughout the whole episode but AYS6?? That was 73 minutes of pure bliss.

So I started thinking about what must be different between the two eps. The guys eat, travel around a little bit, and eat some more...wait, that's exactly what I said about ep 5! Lol

But I think the main difference between the two is episode 6's plot points continually focus on the relationships between the members, while 5 falls a little stagnant.

Some examples:

JM/cat & JK/dog. I'm ALWAYS down for more footage of BTS with pets but this is frankly too much time spent on these scenes. It's honestly footage I would have expected in the bonus content instead of the main product. It's not just an establishing beat or a setup for a callback, this is supposed to be a scene but since it doesn't contribute to the journey of the main character aka the relationships. It could maaaybe work if they'd cut it to highlight the juxtaposition of how JM is calm with the cat vs JKs energy with the dog but that would have shortened the time it occupied and they were clearly trying to keep absolutely everything in that would lengthen the episode.

JKs stew. The ONLY thing that ties this plot point into the narrative of this show (other than it happening while he's in Jeju and Jimin is nearby) is the offhand comment he made that Jimin would like it while he was in NY. I'm going to talk more about this footage below but this was absolutely crucial for this whole beat making it into the episode. This is also why the footage of JM eating it and randomly taking off his shirt was kept in. The cut they chose is actually pretty bad story-wise but they used it anyway. We hear JM saying how much he loves it and how glad he is that JK is a good cook. It ties all of this time we spent watching JK do something alone back into the real main character of the show (the members' relationships between eachother in different circumstances).

Anyway, I won't belabour the point any further. With Tae constantly disappearing from scenes and the slightly diminished lack of focus on the member's relationships, episode 5 left me on an odd note.

A Little Production Note

I was completely thrown by the footage of JK in NY that we got this episode. But not for the reasons you may be thinking. (I do wonder if the anon that was sending in asks about the financing behind the documentaries is still around because we're getting into some of tidbits finally.)

So, all along we've been trying to sus out as much as we can, just a few details about how AYS came to be. We've had some hints but the inclusion of this footage may be another indicator.

The facts as we know them:

AYS is distributed by Disney.

Jungkook's documentary is being distributed by Trafalgar Releasing NOT Disney (at least not now, maybe it'll make it onto streaming after cinematic release but who knows?)

Questions due to the footage of JK in NY:

Was this footage captured as part of JKs documentary?

If so, when was it pulled to be utilized for AYS? Did the editors find it or were the writers involved?

We know that HYBE gathers behind-the-scene content without always having a full plan of how it will be used. But there are times where it did seem intentional for a specific purpose. Where did JKs Golden footage fall in?

Once upon a time, production houses would make deals with distributors about quantities of projects that would be delivered. Was that the case with the Disney deal or has every single project been negotiated separately and we only heard about it once there was a confirmed quantity. Somewhere in the middle perhaps?

And that's all I've got to say for now. I do have some more thoughts about things I've gleaned during these last couple of episodes but it'll likely keep until the end.

Anyway, this footage bumped me because it broke the rules of cross-project production. They got away with it for JKs SEVEN footage in ep 1 because they likely were using the same production crew since it was literally the same day so it doesnt feel like they're'breaking the wall'. But the NY-Jeju crews could have been completely different.

Editing to add further clarification to this point in this ask.

On a sidenote, do y'all remember the last time we got footage of jikook in a hotspring?? I'll jog your memory if not, it was in BV:4 and they 'washed each other's faces'. I can't even imagine what we're about to see in episode 7.

Link to my AYS MasterList

[achaoticeternal]

he has beautiful bones | a.t

AEMOND TARGARYEN x FEM!STARK!READER

summary: after your quarrels with alicent and aemond, you and aemond must come to terms with his actions.  word count: 2.3k warnings: internalized misogyny a/n: i love this little war criminal and i don’t know whether to fix him or join him in his madness - but this is a fix him fic lol 

part one | all that he sees

Three full suns had risen and set since you last lay with Aemond in your room, much less spoke with him. Rather than accompanying your husband where ever he be in the walls of the Red Keep, you took up the company of youthful noble ladies and your lady-in-waiting. And while you laughed and soaked in their kind company, the ache in your heart remained. 

You had only seen Aemond, even Alicent, in passing through halls and gardens. Alicent would keep an eye fixated on you during the brief encounters, but you paid no mind to her as you passed by. You had nothing good or kind to say to the woman, so it was better that you keep your mouth shut. When Aemond would catch a glance of you, his expression became slightly hopeful, only to fall as you brushed past him. Instead of attending dinner, you took them in your maiden chamber within the presence of your lady-in-waiting and personal guards. 

There was no doubt in your mind that Alicent had plagued your husband's mind with terrible thoughts and words about you and your behaviors. A small part of you hoped that he would retaliate against the unkind words, but you truly expected him to silently accept her words or even laugh along. Cruel thoughts...

You had taken to a daily habit of checking in with the maesters to see if words had come and go from your brother, Cregan. At first, it shocked you to hear that there was no correspondence from either side. Only one response from the Greens, requesting time to deliberate while a swarm of Lords from the Southern region congregated at the Red Keep. There was some relief on your part that Aemond had not just simply acted on his mother’s wishes... yet. 

Currently, you were to be found in the grand library of the Red Keep. There was a pile of books on one of the desks closest to you; organized by records, stories, and histories. During your courtship with Aemond, he would often read you the histories of the Targaryen line and even the tales of Old Valyria. He thought it important that you knew and understood the family you would be marrying into. Admittedly, it was a kind gesture and a privilege that very few people who had married a Targaryen had ever received. 

The love both of you had for your separate heritages was what helped to plant the seed of love in your marriage. While he taught you small and loving phrases in High Valyrian, you would tell him of the fables that your parents told you as a little girl. Stories of the children of the forest and the first men in exchange for the history of Valyria before the Doom. Such a small act of love was what truly made you, a Northern lady, feel welcome in the Southern kingdoms.

In your searches for the next book you would be mulling over for the next day or so, you came across a children’s book with stories of the Sigils of each house and how they came to be. The illustrations were silly and you even giggled at the depictions of the Mormont bear and Greyjoy kraken. You flipped through the pages, continuing your amusements until the wolf of your own house came into view. Ironically, the pages for Stark and Targaryen were next to each other in the section of the great houses. You read over both pages...

House Stark - the Direwolf: a house of ice and honor

a man of the north is an honorable man as there ever was he is strong he is fierce he does what is best, right, and good

House Targaryen - the Three-Head Dragon a house of fire and blood

a man of the dragon with fire in his veins he is steadfast he is regal he does what is best for the house

Your forefinger traced over the words as you compared the descriptions of both houses to the men you honored most in your life - your brother and your husband. But then you dismissed such comparisons and thought of yourself - how you embodied such traits of both houses. With a firm nod, you closed the book and turned on your heels... you knew what to say to your husband now.

As if divine timing was on your side, one of Aemond’s personal King’s Guard entered the library and announced himself. 

“My lady, Prince Aemond requests your presence.”

“Thank you, ser,” You spoke with a curt nod as you began to exit the library, “And it would do you and others good to address me by my rightful title — Princess.”

The guards escorted you through the halls of the Red Keep until you came upon the familiar oak doors of your marriage chambers. As you approached, you waved the guards off to dismiss them and knocked at the great doors. There was a pause, and then Aemond opened the door.

Your husband, though still stoic and tall in posture, looked utterly exhausted. One might even conclude that he had barely slept since you were last properly at his bedside. This surprised you - as Aemond rarely showed any emotions outside of his amusements, teasing, and eagerness in training. His shoulders were even slightly slumped as his good eye met your gaze.

“My wife,” His tone was far softer than when you had last spoken with each other. His eye then trailed to the outskirts of the door, “Where are the guards?”

“I dismissed them,” You spoke bluntly, “We are speaking as man and wife, are we not? What reason do they have to be posted outside your door?”

There was no reason. Both you and Aemond knew that. He simply nodded his head, but there was a pause hanging in the air. It did not release until you broke it yourself. 

“May I come in? Or will be speaking at each other through opposite sides of the door?” You questioned, cocking your head to the side. 

Aemond’s eye trailed over your body before he fully opened the door and stepped out of your way. You could now fully step into the chambers and see what a disheveled mess it had become. 

“Have the attendants not been coming in? It looks a full mess in here. They-”

Aemond quickly cut you off, “No one has been in these chambers except myself since you took the bed in your maiden chambers.”

There was another long silence. Your eyes flickered across the room and looked anywhere but at Aemond.

“Why?”

“Because even if you left my side in anger, I did not want to see you erased from our marriage chambers,” Aemond spoke softly, truthfully. His stature was wavering, you could tell that he wanted to grab your hand but fought against his touch-starved desire, “My mother tried to send in maid after maid to clean and tidy, but I sent them all away. I would not have her commands pull you from me - even in the smallest of details like your soft scent upon the bed pillows.”

Your brows furrowed, not in hurt, but more in surprise at his words. Your heartbeat picked up with each honest word. Though he was never an overly affectionate husband, especially before others, he did have his own special way of always taking your breath away.

“Aemond...” You breathed out...

You shook your head, knowing that you wouldn’t betray yourself by returning to his arms with just a few kind words.

“I’m glad to hear that you dismissed Alicent’s requests, but why not have avoided any of this?” You ask him with a twinge of hurt in your voice, “Why not defend me to her in the first place?”

Aaemond thought for a moment about your question. He thought over the consequences of his lack of action and how throughout his life, he rarely stood up to or disagreed with his mother. It weighed heavily in his heart - the comparisons he made between his mother and his wife. 

When he thought of Alicent, he saw a woman who fought for her children. A woman who deeply loved him and cared for him when he lost his eye. A woman who admittedly helped to build him into a far better Prince than his elder brother. A woman who did her best to give him what he desired.

When he thought of his lady-wife, he saw a woman who seemed a direct foil of who young Aemond imagined he would marry. You were an engaging and intelligent young woman. You never wanted to simply bear the heirs of the Dragon Prince, but rather love him in the ways his family could never. You had taken the parts of himself that he hated or others had damaged and loved them.

"I am sincere in my apologies, my love." Aemond began, "I have... neglected my duties to you; made you feel undermined, underappreciated; and bit my tongue when I should have defended you."

He began to slowly approach you. As he came closer and closer, he reached out his hands to gently take one of your own between his palms. His gaze focus on your hand, more specifically the golden wedding band, as he collected his thought to continue his apology.

"I love my mother dearly — but I love you more..."

"When I was growing up, my father dismissed all of his children except for  Rhaenyra, so I depended on my mother who was fighting her own battles. Aegon was... he is just Aegon, and Helaena had to process her own life. I did not feel so open to cherish or love anyone until you came into my life," he raised your hand to his lips and pressed a tender kiss to your knuckles. 

"I should have corrected Alicent instead of allowing her to brush you off. Your council is something that I deeply cherish and require with this matter. Please, join me tonight at the meeting of the small council so that we can finally provide an answer to Cregan."

 A smile twitched at your lips with each word. You could feel the sincerity in each word and tell how much thought he had put into such. This was the man whose hand you had accepted in marriage. With his lingering question, you answered with a grateful smile, "Thank you, Aemond. I would love to be at your side tonight, and to return to bed with you after."

Aemond chuckled and fully pulled your frame against his chest, "Good," he whispered. He pulled you into a soft kiss, glad to have you back in his arms.

A chair had been drawn up next to Aemond's seat at his orders long before the pair of you arrived at the meeting. As a couple, you both were the last to arrive before the top of the hour. You had other catching up to do outside of apologies...

 Once you entered the room, a small gasp could be heard — obviously from Alicent. The other Lords of the table held similar shock in their eyes but did not reveal their opinion with their words or faces. Arm in arm with Aemond, you approached your seats. Aemond pulled out your chair from the table like a gentleman and you stood in front of it. All members were standing, awaiting the arrival of King Aegon. 

Your eyes shifted about the room, looking from Lord to Lord. Based on their expression, you knew Aemond had a look on his face, daring them to say something.

"It is good to see you back by your husband's size, my lady." Alicent finally broke the silence, "But may I ask why you are present?"

As you reached for your chalice of wine and sipped from it, Aemond answered his mother's questions, "My wife is originally a lady of the North and Lord Cregan is her brother. She is an excellent resource for us in this current predicament. She is here to provide us with useful insight which we may be unaware of."

Alicent did her best to maintain a composed smile as her eyes flickered between Aemond and you, "Interesting..."

As you returned your chalice to the table, Alicent quite noticeably cleared her throat, "My lady..."

"The Prince is smart to bring in your assistance for this meeting. I do encourage you not to make many interruptions as there is much to discuss this evening. In fact, your advice should only be to your husband and not the council, my lady."

The Queen mother seemed content with her backhanded words as she finished with a nod. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Aemond's knuckles go white as he clenched his hand into a fist. Though you appreciated his refusal to back down, you rested your hand softly atop his fist, insinuating that you would handle her words.

"My Queen, it is an honor to join the small council this evening and provide my insight where it is needed," You spoke with a smirk, "but I must say - much as I respect and even admire all the hard work you've poured into the ears of these fine Lords, I expect that you acknowledge my words as well. For as you, I believe it would be appropriate for you to reciprocate the respect that you expect of me."

"My lady—" She attempted to interject. 

"My Queen, I wish for you to address me with my proper title — Princess..." You stopped her with a smirk.

All eyes were on you in shock that you had corrected the queen. However, your eyes glanced over to Aemond for a moment to see him smirking, clearly proud. 

Before another word could be said, King Aegon finally entered and the meeting finally began. As you took your seat, you felt Aemond's hand reach under the table to grab your own. He squeezed it affectionately and kept it there the entirety of the night.

|| thank you for all the wonderful comments on part 1 

|| i’ve tagged below those [the ones i could] who commented to part one

@violet2507 @malfoytargaryen @melsunshine​ @lol-im-done​ @thenovelcarnival​ @xoxo-pepprmnts​ @sl-ut​ @hoziersfairy​ @merovingianprincess​

[damianbugs]

Batman: Universe (2020) written by Bendis and illustrated by Nick Derington was one of the most charming and lovely batman comic i have read in a really long time. it's a silly time travel story!!! and only six issues long!

SPOILERS AHEAD, here are some out of context panels that just really amused me;

i really enjoyed how casual batman is with the people in gotham. like yeah, bruce regularly spooks residents when he grapples up the side of their building, and stops for a quick chat. the young new cops aren't exactly sure how to handle batman while others are too used to him to care anymore.

then the whole interaction with green arrow (issue 2) was SO fun! i am so fond of them and they're rarely in enjoyable comics together anymore. i particularly loved this little detail:

at first bruce calls him oliver, but as the situation becomes increasingly more dangerous, he switches to calling him ollie! i am very normal about this.

THE BATLANTERN MOMENT. this whole part of the story (issue 3 & 4) was just, very sweet. it was a perfect balance of them being prickly to each other, while also sticking close and working really well.

this part of the story also features cowboy bruce and hal (sort of)!

...and then bruce was really worried about hal when he lost control and vanished from the past (he's fine), so much so that later in the story when he's dying, he mentions that he hopes green lantern is okay (in the present, hal leaves bruce a voice message to say he is okay, and hopes bruce is safe too).

oh right yeah so bruce dies (for like, a page, thank you confusing time travel mechanics) and THIS IS WHAT HE SAYS TO ALFRED:

I AM SORRY YOU CAN'T HEAR ME.. TELL YOU.. HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU.. I REALLY DO........ bruce wayne when i get you (issue 4).

AND THEN!!!! DICK ARRIVES (issue 5)!!!!!! i was hoping we'd get to see damian when bruce returned to the present, or that robin would come along on the time travel shenanigans, but this moment happened and i didn't even mind. it was so lovely. the duo of all time always.

a lot happens after this moment (issue 6), but these little panels really spoke to me. look at him. sitting criss cross apple sauce in the face of absolute doom. the pastel coloured eternal hell was also very funny to me, as was bruce then literally jumping between different periods of time during the final fight — but i have run out of space to share those. you need to go look at them for yourself.

so idk, READ IT !!!!!!

[what-eats-owls]

I’m trying to explain the world of Little Thieves to my friend, and I realized I don’t really know the time period. Because the Blessed Era doesn’t really translate to our Common Era/Before Christ thing, I was wondering what period in time Little Thieves is closest to.

This is a really fun question to answer, because the answer is "approximately yes."

One of my favorite things about fairy tale collections is that the time period is all over the place. You'll see illustrations with outfits that doesn't belong in the same century, and other mismatches in names, technology, locations, etc. and it's really a lovely reflection of how these stories have traveled through time and space to reach us, and picked up souvenirs along the way. Fairy tales don't take place in the now; we hold a separate world of Once Upon A Time for them, which is full of potential in its timelessness.

When I set out to write Little Thieves, I wanted one thing to come across above all, and that was the sense of what I lovingly call "fairytale bullshit." Of course there's a talking horse, why not. Of course there's power in rhymes and herbs and the right metal at the right time. And grounding it in any one time period would have clashed with the sense of timelessness. I also feel strongly that any magic system is going to have a tangible impact on the technical progression of a society, and of course, the Blessed Empire has a fairly robust international trade economy to bring in influences from beyond its borders.

So there's an approximate period of 1400-1699 AD that I mostly try to stick to, but I'll cheerfully own to pulling from the 1200s, and I think a few things from the 1700s/1800s? (And one notable transgression from the Suez Canal in 2021. Time is a construct anyway! Might as well have fun with it.)

[tonyspank]

CHAPTER ONE | THE PARTY & THE AFTER PARTY

Warnings; Uhhhh idk?

A/N: I never had to actually make coffee at my job, I kinda jus put the filter then dump out the coffee bag so… my apologies if it sounds crazy. (For all my professional coffee makers.)

Jenna Ortega x G!P Reader

series masterlist | main masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

"I have a medium lavender ice latte with oat milk for, Ana?" You call out to half full coffee shop. A blonde in about her twenties walks up to the counter, you smile before handing her her drink.

"Have a wonderful day," She grins, "Thank you so much, you too!" Your co-worker speaks up from behind you, "I still don't understand why you're not somewhere strumming your guitar."

You've been working at Hughes Coffee since you can remember, you just happened to be walking by the place and noticed the Now Hiring signs on the door, of course, you had to go through an interview process but you landed the job and became close with the owner and his daughter.

Once she had officially turned eighteen he changed the shop name in honour of her, and she absolutely loved it.

You playfully roll your eyes before turning around to fully face her, "Alora," You begin causing her to hum in response. "I literally have to stay here to keep you in check. Ever since Mr. Hughes changed the name to Alora's Coffee you've been acting a little bit stuck up." You joke, illustrating how much with your thumb and pointer finger.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," She points behind you, "Take care of that customer. I have to use the bathroom," You jump up in the straightest position ever, saluting to her. "Yes! General!"

She laughs, walking to the back. Turning around you're met with a familiar face, "Jack."

He smiles raising his arms, "Bestie!" You chuckle, smiling at your indeed best friend. "Hey, Jack. What's up?"

He smiles, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, nothing. Just checking in on you—" Suddenly he slams his hands on the counter, you jump and eye the shop as some customers as staring at the two of you.

"YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU WOULD GET AWAY WITH LEAVING WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE?" He practically yells, leaning into your face. You bite down on your lip, furrowing your eyebrows as you try and hold in your laugh.

"Uh? I thought I gave my goodbyes to my best messenger, did you not receive it?" Jack leans back, hands still on the counter. "Oh! You mean Jenna?" You nod your head, waving your pointer finger at him. "Yes, yes! Jenna, yup."

"And the same Jenna that couldn't stop talking about you." Your ears perk up at this, and your heart drops, but in a good way.

"Really?" You question, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Oh, yeah!" He continues. "She was like, she has the cutest laugh ever. She's so funny where'd you meet her at? Y/N this, Y/N that! Oh, Y/N! Blah, bleh, blah." He mocks with a high-pitched voice.

"Really?" This time you can't hide it, and you're smiling like an absolute idiot. "Really. I was going to give her your Instagram but you know, you left early. So insteadddd," He drags out, and you listen in.

"I told her that you're already dating someone, but don't worry! I didn't be specific and tell her that it was me." You blink, and when Jack doesn't say anything else, you blink again.

"You're lying, right?"

He thins out his lips, shaking his head. "No, why?" You go back to being nonchalant, not wanting Jack to have this over you.

One time you had liked this girl freshman year and Jack would not stop talking about it. And every time he'd see her he'd tell her why won't she go out with you, or how she should give you her number. The girl would always laugh and shrug her shoulders.

Or Jack would come up with these fake stories about how you saved an entire family from a burning building, or how you had found the cure to cancer, the girl surprisingly played along, and would say stuff along the lines of, "Oh, I remember that." Or, "Oh yeah! I was there too."

"No reason," You say shrugging your shoulders, Jack nods staring at you a bit longer to see if he broke your shell of nonchalantness, if that was a thing.

Accepting defeat, but not fully he sighs out. "Welp, I have to go now. I promised Mason I'd stop by his place to try out his new sugar cookie recipe."

You send him a thumbs up, "Alright! Have fun!" You shout out, as he walks out the double glass doors.

You turned around grabbed a rag, and wiped down counters. It was rather late in the morning so it wasn't so busy, well, it wasn't as busy as it was earlier this morning, you were dead-ass sweating.

It comes back to you that Alora never came back out, so you decide to head to the back and go inside the employee break room. You're met with Alora laying across two chairs eating a bag of chips.

"Is this what you do every time you say you're going to the bathroom?" She jumps in surprise, sitting up she removes her left airpod. "Hello, friend." She grins cheekily. You send her a wave.

"Don't you think you should go back to the front?" She starts shooing you off with her hand, you back up, but remain looking at her.  "What about you?" She shushes, continuing her shooing motions."

You sigh out, leaning against the counter as you watch the customers in the store talk to their friends or type away on their computers.

You're so into the view you didn't hear the door open nor see the customer walk up towards the counter. Until you hear a ding noise come from the bell sitting on top of the counter.

"Shit," You mutter to yourself, you reach behind you, tying your apron tighter before walking over to the woman. "Fucking Jack," You slightly hear from her and it finally hits you once she takes off her glasses.

"That fucking sneaky bastard." You mumble to yourself.

"Hey, Jenna." You smile, Jenna smiles back placing her glasses in her purse. "Hey," She looks into your eyes, hating to admit she missed them, and so suddenly.

"Now I see why Jack told me to come here." You scratch your head, nodding. "He is a sneaky little bastard." She laughs at your words, "He actually called you the same thing when you left without saying goodbye, well technically you did, but.. I don't know." She catches herself rambling, making you smile.

"Did you want anything to drink?" You ask, drumming your fingers on the countertop. "It's on the house."

"Oh! Sure," Her eyes scan the menu, then you, specifically your name tag. You don't miss the smirk that slightly appears on her lips.

"Surprise me." Just as you're about to respond, Alora walks back out. "Good morning, how are you today?"

Jenna sends her a slight smile, "I'm great, thank you." She gives you one last look before going to sit down. Once it's clear that Jenna is no longer focused on you, Alora grabs your arm, her jaw-dropping. "Was that fucking Wednesday Addams?" You roll your eyes, moving to make Jenna's coffee."

You prepare one shot of Espresso Roast, and as you wait you pull out your phone, opening your messages with Jack.

i hate you

BESTIE

BESTIE DON'T SAY THAT?

i'm not the one who left w/o saying goodbye

I ASKED JENNA TO SAY GOODBYE?

whatever

don't you have to go like

impress her w your barista skills?

you're welcome by the way

goodbye jack

OH NOW U WANNA

SAY GOODBYE

You laugh before putting away your phone. And pouring your Espresso Roast into the mug.

"Her name is Jenna. But yes, she has played Wednesday Addams." Alora watches you, and her smile increases. "You know... I'm very happy that you work here."

You chuckle, preparing your froth milk. Using the Nespresso Aeroccino, you put the milk on the medium froth setting. And add in a bit of vanilla syrup, stirring it in the coffee. "You're only saying that because every now and then Jack will recommend your shop to one of his famous friends,"

She throws her hands up excitedly, "One of his very attractive famous friends!" You lean against the counter waiting for your milk. "Could you watch the counter while I talk to her?" Your voice is lower than usual.

"I fucking got you!" You can't help but laugh, taking your milk and gently pouring it inside the cup until it's almost full. Alora packages up a cookie before softly handing it to you.

"Go get her tiger," Rolling your eye playfully, you make your way toward Jenna, cookie and drink in hand. She sets down her phone and her face lights up seeing you make your way over to her booth.

"A blonde vanilla latte and a chocolate chip cookie for the one and only," You place her order in front of her, sitting down across the table.

She eyes you as she takes a sip, humming in joy. "Wow, this is good." She licks her lips, placing down the cup.

"So... Y/N," She begins. You fight back a smile, looking down at your name tag. "How long have you been addicted to cigarettes."

If you had something in your mouth you definitely would've spit it out. But instead, you're taken aback, "Uh? I don't know? A while,"

She hums, taking another sip of the drink you made her. "Not a lot of people know it but, I actually specialize in helping people with addictions."

You chuckle, "Really?"

"Of course, I'm a professional." You tap your fingers on the table. "So how do your services work exactly?"

"Usually I charge a hefty amount of money, but since we're such good friends. Money is not a problem, instead.." You raise your eyebrows in anticipation.

"Let's make a deal." You nod, telling her to go on. "You let me take you out on seven dates, if I don't manage to at least help you fight your addiction then you don't have to worry about seeing my face ever again. But if I do, then I get to take you out on more."

A huge smile has appeared on your face, "You're going to take me out? To help fight my addiction?" She nods, again sipping on her drink.

"Do we have a deal?" You hold out your hand, and she quickly shakes it.

"It's a deal Ortega," She smirks but doesn't hide it this time.

[anystalker707]

Tea at 9pm

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x [gender neutral] Reader Words: ~ 4 100 Summary: You're not aware the cook had feelings for you. Tags: babygirl sanji / wholesome relationship / reader is a writer who keeps a journal with the crew's adventures / extremely fluffy ending

a/n: comfort fic once again lmao i had an existential crisis

MASTERLIST

          If anyone asked what you did, it would feel like you were just a minor part of the crew, presumptuous, even, but things were different when they saw you actually get in action. In the first place, you wrote. You were a writer, author of some great novels that spreaded across the Grand Line, and secondly, you now were a Strawhat who kept a log of the crew’s adventures and fought when needed. The day Luffy recruited you was still fresh in your mind.

"So you’re a writer? You wrote all of this?" Luffy had asked thoughtfully with a hand on his chin as he eyed the piles of books. "Riiight... I need someone to write it down when I become the King of the Pirates! The news’ people always tell things wrong! Come with us!"

A smile traced your lips as you shook your head, now working on the illustration of the last island you'd been to, adding details and a little color. Sure wasn't the best drawing, but you still wanted to keep some sort of reminder from the lovely place.

The soft knock on the door came as it usually did, religiously, and there wasn't even the need for an answer before the door swung open. The click of shoes against the ground resonated through the small office-bedroom as he approached you and finally set the tray on the free space of the desk. Your and his cups were filled with hot tea as they were every night, the flavor declared by the strong smell that came along with the steam escaping from the drink.

"A lot of work today?" Sanji asked you as he took a seat on the armchair, crossing his legs.

"Not really." You shook your head. "We've been in the open sea for a couple of days already, so I'm just updating some old stuff." The drawing you showed him had been finished earlier, already properly inked and depicting part of the crew interacting at the island.

Sanji raised his eyebrows and slowly nodded, a smile decorating his face. "Does it still give you time to work on your personal stuff, though?" He took the unlit cigarette off between his lips and slipped it back into its case that belonged to the pocket on the inside of his blazer, which he ended up taking off and folding to leave it across the armchair’s arm.

“Sort of.” You shrugged a little. “I use a lot of my free time to work on it. It only gets difficult to manage when we’re down to things like when in Spypiea, Sabaody or Marineford. Even afterwards, I still need a couple of weeks to organize everything, interview you guys and stuff. We genuinely go through a lot of stuff, and you only realize it’s that much when you need to register it all down!” You chuckled a little, throwing your arms above yourself to stretch with a soft sigh. “My priority is to keep the crew’s log, though!”

“Oh? Not your career?”

“Of course not!” You shook your head. “You guys are wonderful people who once saved me and now we take care of each other. I can’t let you die—all of this die—without the story being properly told. It’s a great responsibility to keep a record of the adventures...” The words trailed off until you were lost in your thoughts instead, but you just shook your head and closed the few books you had opened after you marked all the pages, leaving untouched only the one that had the drying watercolor. Carefully, you took the still warm cup in hand, inhaling the sweet and rich smell of the tea. “Fruit?”

“Something from that island, but a fruit, indeed,” he justified, momentarily standing up so he could also get his tea. “I haven’t tried it yet, thought it would be best for the both of us to have it together. It’s important to me.”

“What if it’s bad?” You joked,  turning your chair so you could face him.

“Then we throw it out the window and you write down how terrible it was so we never try it again!” He clicks his tongue in a feigned annoyance that has both of you laughing until forced to fall quiet to finally try the drink. “Well, I actually like it! You?”

You took a sip of the tea, giving yourself a moment to analyze the taste. “Good! Still not better than my favorite, but it’s still something!” The comment brought a grin to Sanji’s face as both of you shared a look.

Silence filled the room again quite comfortably, allowing you to hear the waves crashing outside. You took a look out the window and then at the clock on the table. “Who’s on the night watch today?” It’d been a while since you last left your room, probably only having done so for dinner during the last hours because Sanji wouldn’t leave you alone otherwise.

“That’s me!” His voice didn’t carry the same excitement as his face did as he looked into the cup.

“Want some company?” You offered. “I’m always up until late messing with my things, either—”

“Don’t think about it!” Sanji shook his free hand as he took a sip of the tea. “You had to wake up early today and take care of your writing this whole time, so you better have a good night of sleep! I know how those can be tiring! Mentally tiring!”

“Sanji!” You furrowed your eyebrows with a pout, but ended up just rolling your eyes once he shot you a glare, compelling him to snicker. A sigh escaped your lips as you leaned back on the chair. “I just wanted to keep you company. I want to show you some story ideas along with some drawings! Your night watch wouldn’t be so boring.”

“As much as I like your company, your rest comes first. I promise I’ll come check out all of that stuff tomorrow, okay? Besides, keep that night energy for when it’s your turn for the night watch!” Sanji lectured you despite the unfazed look you shot him before rolling your eyes—it was almost as if you weren’t the one who would take care of him during the night, either telling him to go to bed already when he cooked until too late or throwing a blanket over his shoulders because he fell asleep in the galley.

You were the first one to finish the drink, putting your empty cup away and wetting the watercolor again until Sanji stood up and placed his cup back on the tray as well.

“Don’t forget to go to sleep,” Sanji said, his face a few inches away from yours as he bent down with a hand on the back of the chair. “I’ll come here and put you to sleep if I notice you’re awake!”

“It’s not happening,” you promised him with a smile.

“Great!” Sanji wrapped an arm around your shoulders in a hug you awkwardly returned as you could, with a hand on his shoulder whilst leaning into his touch. He took the tray in hand so he could leave, wishing you a good night. His blazer was still on the armchair; you shook your head with a chuckle.

The next day, Sanji was still awake when you had breakfast. You quietly observed him swooning over Robin and Nami despite how tired he was, but your attention was on catching up with Luffy, Chopper, Franky, Brook and Usopp. Most of the day, you were locked in your office, reading in the library or drawing one of the tables on the desk, so they wouldn’t lose the opportunity of talking with you during the meals to know what you’d done so far. They loved to see the drawings of themselves, no matter how they were, always bugging you to take a look at something even on days you took off to yourself, so it was easy to spent the morning with them and later talk with Robin and Nami as well, not forgetting to go up to the Crow’s Nest for at least a few minutes to spot Zoro on a rep or two while chatting.

A little after lunch, Sanji knocked on your room’s door. “Hell, I’m really tired!”

You glanced away from your papers to see him kick off his shoes before collapsing on your bed face-first, grabbing one of the pillows to rest his head on, sort of hugging it. “Did you take a nap? You left your blazer here last night, by the way!”

“Oh, so that’s where it was this whole time, thank you! And no! I ended up preparing breakfast during the night then prepared lunch after breakfast was served,” he explained, muffled by the pillow until he turned his head to face you.

“Should’ve tried to get some sleep.” You sighed, dipping your pen in ink again.

“It’s not like that,” he groaned. “I left some food ready just in case, though, just so I can rest now. I thought I’d come talk to you first since I promised.”

You furrowed your eyebrows as you looked at the cook, pausing so you could ruffle his hair, which made him close his eyes for a moment. “Nonsense. You could’ve just gone to sleep, I’d understand it! You don’t need to sacrifice yourself.”

“Shhh, I promised.” Sanji narrowed his eyes a little. “Tell me, what did you want to show me?”

“Right... First of all, I had some retouches on the drawings I’d made for Sabaody, so I wanted you to take a look at them to make sure I’m not forgetting anything,” you mumbled while you flipped to the pages where the drawings were and handed the book to him. Through time, your chat grew slower, with sporadic and distant answers coming from Sanji until you looked at him and noticed he was actually asleep. The sight made a small smile stretch your lips before you went back to working quietly as always.

A knock on the door pulled you away from your thoughts and you looked back to see Nami’s head peeking him from the slightly-open door. “Hey, (y/n), have you seen—” She looked around for a little and fell silent.

“Seen what?”

“Actually, nevermind!” She shot you a smile. “Sorry for interrupting!”

“No worries!” You smiled, waving as she quietly closed the door once again.

          The new island was filled with casinos, clubs, markets and stores with the most peculiar things that had a great part of the crew voting to stay for longer than a day since there weren’t any worries that tied you down to dates or time. Usopp, Sanji, Nami and Robin seemed excited about a particular club after you took a look at it while getting to know the city, so they invited you and Brook and it was almost impossible to refuse; you easily found yourself getting ready in front of the mirror before you left to go wait for the others with Nami and Usopp. Sanji was the last to show up, covering Nami and Robin with compliments that they already learned not to give much attention to, instead already moving to leave the ship.

“You’re looking extra good today, (y/n)!” Nami smiled, hooking her arm with yours and discreetly distancing from the rest of the group with you. “Trying to catch someone’s attention?”

“Maybe?” You chuckled. “It’s been a while since we last stopped at such a nice island, so I thought a one-night thing isn’t gonna hurt!”

Nami blinked a couple of times. “One-night thing?”

“No new crewmates!” You shook your head, contributing more to Nami’s confused look, which you also didn’t quite understand.

She hummed, looking away for a long moment. “Um, and Sanji?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well...” She breathed and shrugged a little, about to say something when she was hit on the back of the head by something and it was enough for her mood to change completely. Her teeth were gritted and eyes practically white while a vein popped on her temple as she slowly looked back to see the three men stand there quietly, pale, ready for the shouting that promptly came from her along with hits. Robin brought a hand to her mouth as she chuckled, and you sweatdropped, continuing to walk.

The night was long. You’d drunk, not a lot to do things you regretted, but enough to rather easily accept hanging out with people you’d just met, exploring the city and talking bullshit.

“Just a little longer,” the girl said as she waved at you and the two other people that trailed behind, carefully walking through the woods until you made it to a rock on top of a mountain. “It’s gonna be there.” She pointed to a spot behind the mountains of another island in the distance, where it was already lighter and it did seem like the sun would start rising in a few minutes, just as she had promised.

Even with little to help, the four of you made yourselves comfortable on the cold rock; you used one of the guys’ sweatshirt as a makeshift pillow, observing the sky quietly while they talked with each other. Despite the alcohol still in your system, what made you groggy was mostly the lack of sleep.

“Hey,” the girl said as she lay down next to you, on her side, holding herself up with an elbow. “Do you... Okay, I won’t waste time. Can I kiss you?”

You almost choked on your spit, your cheeks immediately growing warm at the question that sent your thoughts racing. At first, all you could do was sputter half words, unable to connect thoughts, until she chuckled and you decided to take a deep breath. “Okay, so, um... I’m... Well, not right now. Actually, I like someone else, a lot. I can’t picture myself kissing another person.”

“Oh. That sucks,” she sighed. “You look really nice, but I don’t think you’re staying around for long, anyways. Say more, though. Tell me about who you like.”

The time your cheeks heated up again was for another reason, with a softer feeling stirring in your chest. “He’s... I think he doesn’t like me, y’know? He’s a real flirt, but not with me. I feel like we are just great friends and it ends there. We are really close, but not the sort of close I wish it were.”

“Did you even tell him you like him?” She raised an eyebrow and you shook your head. “You should!”

“I don’t want it to hurt.” You smiled a little, but without humor.

She furrowed her eyebrows a little as if she understood your situation. “Well, maybe hurting is not a bad thing. It makes you stronger, and it would make you free to kiss other people!” She started to chuckle at the same time you did so, shaking your head a little.

          You had a hand over your brow line to keep a shadow over your eyes while your shoes hung from your other hand when you returned to the ship later that same day, already tired and feeling like you’d never get back to Sunny, feeling as if you’d been run over a thousand times. All you could do once you arrived back to the ship was to sleep, only waking up again when it was already late in the afternoon, mumbling something about something being different in your bedroom before you could go for a shower.

“Whoa, look at who’s alive!” Usopp announced once you walked out to the deck, attracting a lot of pairs of eyes to you.

“Good night?” Zoro teased with a chuckle. “Even forgot you had a home!”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as you took a seat at a table with Robin. “Shut up, Zoro, you don’t even know how to get home by yourself!”

Given how you’d practically slept all day long, you decided to change turns with Robin and take the night watch for the day. It was a nice, warm night, so you didn’t bother staying outside with your books, illustrating the island during the night. It felt like something was missing, still. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked at the galley’s direction. There was no tea that night.

Brook took over the nightwatch halfway through the night, allowing you to sleep and wake up at a reasonable hour in the morning. Nami was the first person you ran into once you left your room, happy for finally feeling well after partying all night a day before. “Nami!”

“Oi, (y/n)!” She smiled as she approached you. “Good morning!”

“Morning!” You smiled in return. “Have you seen Sanji? He didn’t bring me tea yesterday. Actually, I didn’t see him at all, now that I think about it.”

Nami’s face fell in a way you didn’t really like, almost taking a step back as you watched her. “Hm, you see...” She sighed, with a hand on her hip. “You didn’t come back to the ship that night, so he was worried. He even tidied up your room so you didn’t need to do anything when you arrived.”

“Right...? Explains a lot.”

“And he thought you were with someone else. Like, hooking up.”

“I wasn’t but...” You shrugged. “What’s up with that?”

The expression across Nami’s face was the same as when she had seen Luffy let himself fall for Usopp’s lies for the first time. “That made him feel bad.”

“Sanji and I aren’t something, Nami.” You furrowed your eyebrows, reminded of the talk you had with the island’s residents that night.

Nami seemed as if she would explode. “Well, maybe he wishes there were?”

“I—”

“(Y/n), Sanji likes you!” She just gave up with a sigh, taking a quick look around before she continued. “He adores you! He doesn’t flirt with people anymore, he just compliments and does things for them because he’s always believed he needed to, mainly to women! Still, he doesn’t make tea for everyone, every night! He doesn’t stay up until late for anyone or makes them company during the night! I’ve never seen Sanji leave his clothes anywhere else rather than in the male quarters! Besides, he keeps one of your novels and a picture with you under his pillow! I saw it!”

That was a lot to take in. You didn’t know Sanji treated you differently in that sense, in the first place, let alone know that he liked you. It made sense now that you thought about it, of course, because he wouldn’t be spending the same amount of time with the others as well if he was there making you company for most of the day. Some nights, he would be there asleep on your bed while you worked on your books.

“Sorry,” Nami exhaled. “I really didn’t want it all to fall upon you suddenly like this, but you needed to know it already! Sanji doesn’t deserve this! Either reject him already or take care of him. He deserves someone to love him.”

You quickly nodded. “I know.”

Not a lot needed to be said. There wasn’t a lot to be said. You looked at Nami a last time before you walked right back into your room, taking a deep sigh as her words still echoed through your mind, each of them connected to a memory you held and you couldn’t help but to feel a weight in your chest—Sanji must’ve felt terrible when he noticed you disappeared at the club after you refused to dance with him so you could leave with your new friends. It would be easy to fix, at least theoretically, because your stomach churned at the thought of facing Sanji right now.

Your morning wasn’t a lot different from the others, locked in your room and staring at a white page, but the purpose of your writing was different this time. Your feelings were going to be spilled, bleeded all over a page without any filter or restriction because they needed to be understood so no one would be hurt anymore. In the end, it was beautifully folded and with Sanji written in your gold ink while sealed with wax.

Sanji was serving breakfast and chatting around, out on the deck—you double checked—when you sneaked into the galley and left the paper in a safe place, where you knew he’d find it. Hell, it was pathetic. You needed to declare your feelings through a little letter because you didn’t have the guts to face the guy yourself after unintentionally hurting his feelings. In your defense, writing was the best thing you could do.

At the same time it was relieving, you could feel anxiety bubbling under your skin. The situation would slip away from your mind at times, but at others, you felt like Sanji would show up out of sudden saying that you were going crazy. Hopefully not.

When it was night, however, the knock finally came, as it always had done before, without missing a single day, for months straight. You tensed up this time, letting him walk in and watching the tray be placed on the free space of your desk—you didn’t even know when it became instinctive to leave that side clear for the tray. Aside from the mugs, this time, there was a bite-sized sweet as well, your favorite.

“I read it.” Sanji’s voice was small, practically vulnerable. His hand was shaking when it retreated from the tray.

“Sanji—”

“I’m sorry I just concluded things!” He cut in quickly.

You furrowed your eyebrows, turning on your chair, but he didn’t meet your eyes, instead looking at the ground. “No, you did nothing wrong! I should’ve paid more attention, I just... I wasn’t communicative enough as well...” You couldn’t find the right words, express the right things, so you took a pause, standing up. He didn’t take a step back when you approached. “I’m sorry, Sanji. Don’t leave me, please. Nami helped me realize things. Sorry for the time we lost.”

Sanji was almost in the same state, with thoughts roaming around his mind without order, but lacking the courage to be voiced, though he knew he couldn’t lose the opportunity—he couldn’t lose you. “(Y/n).”

“I love you, Sanji. I know I’ve told you this before, but now I mean it in another way.”

Sanji’s face was impossibly red. His hand twitched as he reached out to you; it was as if you two were sparkles searching for each other, looking for the right time to go off, which happened exactly when you took his hand in his and let him pull you closer in a tight hug.

“I love you,” he mumbled in response, and it almost felt as if you’d explode, with your heart skipping beats and fluttering in your chest, not even knowing what it does.

It was a relief, really. A relief and a sea of happiness simultaneously because your doubts and anguishes were extinguished at the same time you were finally able to do what you’ve longed for for so long. You let your nose brush against his before your lips met. The taste and smell of tobacco was undeniable, but it still didn’t erase the fact his lips were soft, returning the care and want that you felt for him.

Sanji seemed giddy, blushing and flustered, but also excited to the point he almost didn’t know what to do with himself. He pulled you with him to sit down on the bed and took a look at you, grinning wide before taking your hands in his; he left kisses all over your knuckles then did the same over your face, needing to pause to smile because of how you giggled, and your lips were pressed together again.

You had to place a hand on his chest so you were able to pull away, climbing on the bed properly to push him down and straddle his hips, taking a moment to observe him look at you with wide eyes. “You’re beautiful,” you whispered, still feeling your heart beat strongly in your chest. Sanji’s cheeks felt warm against your palms when you cupped his face, caressing his cheeks and carefully brushing his bangs away from his face; he swallowed dryly, but never stopped you, hands placed over yours softly. “I love you, Sanji!”

Sanji’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times without saying anything until he finally said it once again. “I love you.” There wasn’t a ‘too’ because his love was independent of yours, he loved you and would do it even if you didn’t love him back. He grinned as the excitement bubbled up in his chest, making him feel all giddy again, in a way it was even hard to contain himself when you leaned in for a kiss once more.

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

[fourmula1]

thinking about a maxiel take on good luck, babe! by chappell roan where daniel is scared to commit to max despite the fact that they’ve been sleeping together for like, a couple years at this point, and that includes actual sleeping. spending the night. ordering food. laying on the couch together. 

but it’s not SERIOUS, right. it’s convenient. they travel the world for work and it’s just easier this way to have someone always there to take care of each other’s needs. it’s just blowing off steam and getting a primal need met. that’s all. right? a person needs to be touched and they’re such good friends as it is and it’s just easy to translate that to the bedroom. the hotel room. the private jet. 

and max has kind of tried to broach the topic a couple of times now. putting a label in this. exclusivity. they have such incredible chemistry in and out of the bedroom and max is ready to make this more serious than it’s been.

and Daniel’s like ‘ahh maxy you’re so young don’t settle down this is all good fun yeah?’

and max has heard daniel say something along those lines so many times and each time he just brushes it aside and carries on because it’s really nice to fall into bed with daniel and forget it all when they’re sweaty and spent and basking in the afterglow.

but it gets to be too much at one point, doesn’t it? max doesn’t want to break up (can he even call it that if they were never together to begin with?) but like. they have been. label or not. so he tells daniel that he doesn’t want to keep sleeping together if that’s all it is (and he knows that isnt all it is but daniel is scared and ashamed of himself and it used to be sad but now max is over it). 

so he cuts daniel loose. but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t see and hear things. they run in all the same circles and he’s heard stories about daniel sleeping around and driving to Nice to hit up gay bars and kiss and fuck all kinds of pretty boys and it fucking hurts every time max hears another anecdote but that’s life, isn’t it?

and max minds his own business and eventually he meets a really nice guy in monaco who isn't involved in racing at all. he’s just normal and nice and into max and going on dates and cooking dinner for him and happy to welcome max home during time between races and it’s good! it’s good. max is happy (as he can be. he’s pretty sure daniel is always going to be the one who got away but that’s just it, isn’t it? daniel wanted to get away and max had to let him).

so it’s two years later and daniel retired a year ago and fucked off to australia and max hasn’t seen him since and he hasn’t really thought of him in months either because: he’s getting married to his nice normal boyfriend who tells max he loves him openly and happily (something he never got from daniel). max is retiring the end of this season and though his boyfriend has been an open secret he’s officially come out for real in the sports illustrated story about his retirement and what he’s planning to do (“lots of eating good food and wedding planning!” and the journalist asks how that’s going and max says “always he asks me about this flower or that colour palette and I anyhow don’t care so much but it’s nice to look forward to the day”). 

and daniel of course hears about the one little pronoun, the “he” heard ‘round the world and he gets obliteratedly wine drunk on the farm and he calls max at whatever ungodly hour it is in australia and it’s he first time they’ve spoken in over a year and max didn’t expect to hear from daniel ever again really but now he’s suddenly stuck trying to talk him off a ledge basically and max, bitterly, tells daniel “there was a time i wanted to be doing all of this with you and you always with the excuses ruined it" and daniel chokes on a sob and max reels back a bit when daniel says “I know” because daniel admitting that was never on his bingo card ever.

but max knows, too. daniel did this to himself. to them. 

and max is getting married next month on summer break and daniel’s going to see pictures on instagram and throw his phone against a wall and be alone and hating himself for hating himself so much that he lost the only man he ever loved and no amount of regret is going to change the way max’s beautiful fucking face was lit up in a brighter, happier way than daniel’s ever seen in those fucking photos of his wedding day, kissing his husband in front of their friends and family and the fucking world.

and daniel is a world away in australia. drunk. and crying. and alone. staring at the dusty dirt road and into the horizon - vast and empty. just like him, now.  

[nadvs]

Bestie idk if you’re interested in sharing a little about this but I would love to hear about your writing process, especially when it comes to smut because (as I’ve said before) I find good smut incredibly difficult to write and you do it so well, especially when it comes to story-driven, intimate smut. Like I was thinking about the scenes in WAL where they get progressively more intimate and emotional and complicated with each chapter and how you were able to build it slowly to match where the characters are in the story. Also in OOB when the first time is actually so kind of innocent and giddy, the second time is passionate and but still sweet and the third time is fueled by heated emotion (and even just a little bit dirty in the best way). Like all 3 scenes are the same two characters in the same room and yet somehow so distinct and critical to the story development. Like how do you decide what they’re gonna do and say and how do you approach actually writing and editing it? No pressure I know I’m asking a lot haha but if you wanted to share a little about your process I personally would be here with a pen and paper soaking up any advice or insight you have 📝 🤓

aaa YES bestie i’m always happy to talk about writing!! i could go on forever 🙂‍↕️ thank you so much for asking ugh you’re fr such an amazing writer so any compliment from you is like WAIT, ME?? 😭💘

regarding process, i’m not ready to write until i feel like i know my characters inside and out. i start every story noting their qualities, flaws, fears, and motivations. i reference these notes as i outline and write. when i know the characters well, it helps me feel like there’s direction in the story and i don’t get stuck wondering what should happen next.

knowing who the characters are helps me so much with determining how a smut scene would go. i think every scene in a story should reveal something about the characters, whether it be their personality or their feelings or their history, and intimacy, to me, is such a vulnerable and telling way to do it. even a single line of dialogue during a smut scene can say a lot about a person and how they view their partner.

along with characterization, for a smut scene to feel ‘complete’ to me, it needs to have these elements:

• a sense of what the characters feel for each other and how much emotion is involved. i write these details between action paragraphs, so there’s a balance of what’s happening and the emotional undercurrent. i think it makes the scene feel more real when you’re showing both what’s happening and what the characters are thinking and feeling during it.

• an idea of where the relationship is going. i try to make every smut scene story-driven (so you saying that MEANS THE WORLD) by knowing exactly how and why their connection is growing. between the smut scenes, i try to illustrate how their bond is strengthening through conversations and the things they do for each other, and then the smut scene is sort of the ‘result’ of those conversations and actions. they know each other better, their feelings for each other are stronger, and every time they’re intimate, they’re more vulnerable and loving with each other. i like to mix up smut scenes to stay interesting so they’re not doing the same thing every time, but i also decide what they say/do based on what i think would line up with their current level of intimacy, regarding where they are in their relationship.

• sensory descriptions, even down to what they can hear happening outside of the room they’re in. in my opinion, it makes the scene feel more realistic and easier to imagine when you write more than just what’s happening in the bed (or wherever they’re getting freaky 🤪).

OK I YAPPED A LOT but that’s me 🙂‍↕️ ily nat!!

[mtkay13]

Qi Ye cast poster!!

This had started as a sketch, waaay back as I was still reading Qi Ye. The original is pretty different from this (I considered adding it in the post but I actually don't like it anymore haha), but the plan was already to make this big spread with most of the -more or less- important cast.

I will add here some thoughts about the whole piece, and I guess, Qi Ye itself. My main goal was probably to express my deep and intense feelings for Qi Ye, its grandness, and its awesome cast-- and along with that, flesh out my mental image of each of them, their personality, their style. Here is a table with the names, so we know who is whom, and so I can add some details about my perspective on them and their design.

Jing Beiyuan has always come quite naturally. I just go for the "prettiest face" I ever came with in terms of : my own taste, and the features I find the most delicate. I'd argue he's the easiest character to draw for me across both QY and TYK. On this image, he's probably around 16 or 17. I find his expressions to be very fun to work on in general.

Ping An is also quite an easy character to draw, just for how specific Priest is when describing him.

Wu Xi's design is mainly inspired by a discussion with my friend Hanya, who talked about how, in SHL, Wu Xi more resembled a northern shaman than a southern shaman. It made me want to explore the designs and characteristics a bit more, and come up with more colourful fabrics, patterns, and darker skin color. Same goes for Ashinlae and Nuahar, to have them matching Wu Xi's aesthetic.

Ming Hua was included in this just because of the mess the mention of his name caused in the story. The two jealousy tantrums are just so delightful!!

Su Qingluan was made to resemble Jing Beiyuan, of course. What I wanted to reflect in her face was her frustration, mainly.

Ji Xiang and Hua Yue... Well. Nothing particular about their design either, but they had to be there. Of course, of course they had to be there.

Finally, an opportunity to draw Zishu with his fan and henchmen! Not mad that he kinda looks like a villain, here.

Lu Yu!! I drew him with an Ashinlae mask, since he disguises himself as Ashinlae. I included him because he matters a lot in my headcanons about Siji Manor. (it isn't specified, in Qi Ye, whether or not he's actually part of the manor, but I like to consider that he is for various reason that I may detail if I ever make a Siji Manor post)

I'll skip Jiang Xue and Liang Jiuxiao because their designs are steady for me, now.

I hesitated a lot for Helian Pei's pose, but ended up going for this one (looking bored, out of his depth, lost in the distance with his birds around him). I considered showing him with a bird in his hands, but I guess that's not the main vibe I get from him. And then, well, golden, flashy clothing, suited for an emperor.

Helian Zhao had to be in a showy armor, and I hated making it because it's so much work, haha. I took inspiration from an armor in NiF. I'm quite happy with how he came out in terms of both vibe and showiness.

I tried going full out on Helian Qi. Making him the villain that Qi Ye deserved. Dark, showy, elegant and horrible.

Helian Yi is also pretty solid for me, by now.

About the illustration itself, the main challenge was definitely to make a nice colour palette while still differenciating all the characters. I wanted to go with something intense, eerie, that could also complement the main tones I would go for (= red, purple, blue and green). I'm quite happy with how the golden tones, along with the green and reddish lights, make the whole thing come together. I struggled a little bit with the composition at first, but once I got the flow and the main figures down, it just happened quite easily. Anyway, I'm quite proud of this, and hope it conveys the love and admiration I have for Qi Ye well.

[writerswhy]

hi, previous anon here! i wanted to ask if my question offended you since it's been a while. if it did im sorry, i didn't mean to come off aggressive or anything lol

If you’re the anon who asked me why I believe Hinamori would try to push forward and “over” her anger and hurt towards Aizen and turn it into something along the lines of transformative justice:

Then no, I’m sorry!! Life has really picked up and I find that I don’t have much time to do most of what I enjoy. I’m not going to lie, the more times passes, the more unhappy I am with that post. I feel like I didn’t get my point across, and that’s in part because I’m really self-conscious about my place in any fandom, and if it’s something I enjoy or something I should finally let go. 

But that’s not what you’re asking. Onto Hinamori:

When thinking about her, I get the feeling that she’s someone who’s always wondering:

“am I feeling this right?” 

Because I know she’s often characterized as very, very naive - sheltered even - and I mean, sure, everyone has been naive at least once in their life, but I think it’s more about how earnest and empathetic she is coupled with this sense of justice that drives her. (Interestingly, I think the lieutenant with whom she has the most in common is Hisagi.)

I think her course of action doesn’t necessarily align with the Seireitei’s tools - and as a result her peers, and that’s such a specific brand of loneliness. I always go back to these panels:

They just scream disillusionment to me. Like she knows not all is as it seems.

(I mean, I think Hinamori wanted to join the gotei because she thought maybe it’s a way to continue her story and oh look, it just so happens that it’s now the only way to continue her story; look at how the stars aligned. Until she learned it was all by design.)

I feel like Hinamori is someone whose entire moral code, the principles that guide her, are constantly being invalidated by their very existence.

She’s seen how that very attitude is used to hurt others, and most importantly, her participation in upholding the status quo, are what weighs on her the most. What about her Rukongai ghost friends? What about the students who are going to be fed to the machine? (I know it would break Hinamori’s heart if she ever found out about the guy from the 12th who joined to get closer to her only to get blown up by his own captain.) What about her subordinates? What about her friends? I feel like Hinamori bears a sense of responsibility to all of this and so much more. As a shinigami, she participates in othering ghosts like her friends (like herself at one point), and perpetuates the inequality. As someone who illustrates for the academy (and whose own subordinate is now an instructor at the academy), does she feel like she’s legitimizing their teaching? And Hitsugaya! I think she feels like she is in one way responsible for him joining the academy and how everything that came from it takes more from him than it gives. 

Grappling with what to do with all this, I think, is an important part of her story. The after. What to do with all you know (the memories that haunt you, memories that have been used to hurt you), all you’ll never know (haunted by memories that will never be and could never have been), and proceeding in a responsible way. Maybe Hinamori could learn to distance herself a little more, to stop believing just a bit, but Hinamori also knows what that could do to others (as it has done to Aizen and Hitsugaya), and while it may not look the same for her, I think, she’ll lose more than what she’ll gain. For herself and for a better tomorrow. 

Hinamori is not just a dreamer. She dreams big and works twice as hard. If she wants to follow a captain she believes embodied all that she was looking for outside Seireitei’s framework (because remember, it was emphasized that Aizen treated everyone equally, that his students loved him, and that’s something I feel Hinamori was losing hope in ever seeing within Seireitei’s walls), she is going to train until her hands bleed and study until she passes out.

(Top 👏 of 👏 her class 👏. Ki-👏-do ma-👏-ster.)

I know the translations vary, but I remember Unohana saying something like “Hinamori is waiting for someone to call her”, and maybe Hinamori is someone who needs to believe there are parts worth fighting for…and maybe those parts start with the people. She can grow bitter and follow in the Seireitei’s footsteps, like Aizen; she can rage until she hurts parts of herself more than it’s hurts her enemies, like Hitsugaya; she can bury her head in the sand and ignore the creating of another enemy; or she can trust her ideal and learn to work in and outside the Seireitei for the sake of Soul Society. She’s not a pacifist - she has and will continue to disrupt. That could mean being the one dissenting voice. That could mean planting trees that will grow beyond her time.

(That could mean reflecting off of all you hold close.) 

[goldfish-or-smthing]

The Updated Tedependent Masterpost

Disclaimer: Same as last time! I have no problem with people who ship other things, don't ship anything, or ship Tedependent but don't want/expect it to be canon! This is just a theory... (a TED LASSO theory 😎)

Quick notes:

original post here!

Some of this stuff is new, some of it is old, some of it is my observations, and some of it is from other people... I was just getting annoyed at the old post missing stuff and wanted to have all the Tedependent evidence in one place

I’ll be updating this post if new evidence comes along 😊

PART 1 - The Evidence

Car park/similarities with Michelle

In 1x05 when Ted tells Michelle he’s ready to get divorced, he talks about how their relationship began —at school, in a parking lot. Not only did Ted and Trent visit a school on the day they began to get to know each other, but their last scene of season 2 takes place in the Richmond parking lot, which draws even more parallels between their relationship and that of Ted and Michelle. This post also illustrates some connections between the scene between Michelle and Ted and the one between Ted and Trent at the end of 3x02.

Ted’s focus on Trent

From the very first time he calls on Trent in the press room, we see Ted act differently towards Trent than the other reporters. He makes jokes with him, and Trent responds in turn. Ted also makes Trent’s daughter biscuits, which we never see him do for any other reporter and which also implies that not only has he interacted with Trent outside of work but he’s also met his daughter too, something that he doesn’t appear to do with other journalists.

Parallels between Roy/Keely and Ted/Trent

This is a list within a list! The parallels are: - Roy and Keeley have their first big romantic moment in the Richmond parking lot, which is also where Ted and Trent's last scene of season 2 is set (and connects to the Michelle parking lot speech too). - When Roy first invites Keeley on a date, they do a sort of press room roleplay thing. Not only are they just generally mirroring Ted and Trent, but Keeley literally introduces herself as "Keeley Jones, The Independent Woman", announcing herself in the exact same way that Trent usually does, even down to her joking newspaper name, which is literally.... The Independent Woman... It couldn't really be any more on the nose. - The first scene where we see Roy and Keeley begin to fall for each other is at the end of 1x03, after Roy headbutts Colin in the club and threatens everyone to stop bullying Nate, and we get Keeley and Roy nodding at each other in acknowledgement. As this is happening, Trent is reading out his article about Ted, which could be considered the first time we see Trent beginning to fall for Ted. - Roy and Keeley also have Phoebe, who's almost their pseudo-daughter in some scenes, similar to how Trent has a daughter.

Twelfth Night

In 2x07, at around 31 mins in, we get a scene with Trent going up to Ted in the pub to ask for a quote. At the beginning of this scene, right before Trent shows up, Mae says to Ted "If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it", which is the opening line to Shakespeare's romantic comedy Twelfth Night. In Twelfth Night, this line is said by Orsino, who is lamenting about a woman named Olivia, whom he loves but who doesn't love him back (I take this to be Ted and Michelle). Orsino then moves on and falls in love with Caesario, a man who is actually a woman called Viola disguised as a man. To cut a long story short, the relationship between Orsino and Viola/Caesario is considered to be a homosexual love story. Bear in mind that lines in this show are rarely said for no reason, and that this line serves no other purpose (and frankly seems a little out of place) than to hint at a romance between Ted and Trent.

Casablanca

At the beginning of the same scene, when Trent sees Ted, he says "Of all the pub joints!". This is a reference to the line "Of all the gin joints in the world, she walks into mine" from Casablanca. As well as this, episode 8 of season 3 is titled “We’ll Never Have Paris”, another reference to Casablanca (although so far some of the suspected titles have been slightly different from the actual title). Casablanca is, of course, an incredibly famous (perhaps the most famous?) romance movie, and it’s interesting to me that not only does it get referenced in a scene between Ted and Trent but it comes up again in season 3.

Also to note: Raja Casablanca is the name of the football club Edwin Akufo invites Sam to join in season 2. Because of this, some people have speculated that the episode title’s reference to Casablanca is actually meant to link back to Sam. I find this unlikely though, as the episode preceding it is titled “Ola’s”, which is the name of Sam’s restaurant, so it would be unlikely to have two Sam-centric episodes in a row.

Trent’s Date

On the same scene of season 2 (we got a LOT from that scene...), we see Trent leaving someone at the door. Many people have speculated that this is his partner or someone he’s dating, which is very likely when you consider Trent’s not-very-platonic tone and way of touching the man. An interesting detail about the man Trent was dating is that he has a moustache, much like someone else we know… 🤨🤨

Higgins

In 2x05 Higgins describes to Rebecca how the first time he met his wife, he embarrassed himself by spilling beer all over himself, and the first time Ted and Trent interact, Ted also embarrasses himself by spitting water everywhere.

Similarities between Trent and Rebecca

There are quite a few similarities between Trent and Rebecca- they’re both very icy to Ted in the beginning, are won over through food (Rebecca through the biscuits, Trent over spicy Indian food), are almost the exact same age according to the pilot script, have strangely similar hair, and the only people Ted makes biscuits for on the show are Rebecca and Trent’s daughter. As well as this, in 1x03 Ted says to Trent “Watch your back, Gay Talese there’s a new iconic profile about to be typed up by one Trent Crimm” then in 1x09 Ted says to Rebecca “Watch your back, Kate Moss there’s a new bad girl on the British modelling scene”.  I believe this is a way of twisting the expectation that Rebecca and Ted are going to end up together to have Ted end up with someone similar, but not who people expect.

Final scene of season 2

Ted’s final scene in the whole of season 2 is him with Trent, which is especially interesting as this scene is sandwiched between scenes about the other major romances on the show (the scenes go Rebecca and Sam, then Ted and Trent, then Roy and Keeley). The significance of Ted’s last scene of the whole of season 2 being with Trent can’t really be overstated. Ted Lasso is a show that loves its parallels, and it would’ve been satisfying to have both season 1 and 2 end with Ted and Rebecca having a debrief about the season in her office, but season 2 instead breaks this expectation by having the scene between Ted and Trent after this.

Trailer/last episode release dates

The trailer for season 3 was released on Valentine’s Day, which was likely a deliberate choice hinting that this season will include more romance. As well as this, the last episode airs the day before pride month, which, although less likely to be deliberate, is also an… interesting coincidence.

The Trent trailer

In the run-up to season 3, Apple TV released a sort of trailer/teaser thing on their website featuring Trent narrating the events of early season 1. This is a very strange video- it was released shortly before season 3 but doesn’t contain any new footage apart from Trent’s voiceover and a couple of shots of Trent’s desk, so it’s not really a trailer. It’s also not a summary- it doesn’t contain any information about season 2, or even the events of season 1. It’s also not spoiler-free though- it includes many shots from late season 2 that give away the plot and even has Trent sign off as “Trent Crimm, independent”. So what on earth was this video made for? And why is it displayed on the website with this photo, of all things, as the icon?

I don’t have the answers to those questions. But what I can say is that this video gives off very rom-com journalist falls for main character vibes. And seems to exist for no other reason than to have Trent wax lyrical about Ted for 3 minutes.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

In their last scene of season 2, Trent tells Ted that he doesn't know how to ride a bike, which seems to me to be a very deliberate hint that at some point in the series we’ll get him learning to ride. We know episode 6 is set in Amsterdam, aka the bike capital of the world, and during this episode the song Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head plays, which also plays during a bicycle riding scene in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. As well as this, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who play the titular characters of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, are referenced in 3x03 and 3x04, respectively, so it would make a lot of sense for episode 6 to have a romantic bike riding scene referencing the film, definitely with Trent in and most likely with Ted there too. On top of this, the film has a lot of queer subtext, which makes it all the more interesting that it’s referenced in season 3 and most likely referenced in a scene between Ted and Trent. Thanks to @crimmcast for bringing this connection to my attention!

11:11 wishes

At the beginning of 3x02, Ted states that 11:11 is his wishing time, and then at exactly 11:11 in the episode, Ted says "Trent Crimm is writing a book about us". While I don't think Ted wished for Trent to write a book about the club since he already knew that was happening, I think that between this and Trent being in the scene where Ted first talks about his 11:11 wishing tradition, Ted’s wishes and Trent are somehow connected. Thanks to this post for pointing this out!

"Goodnight Sport"

Ted says this to Trent at the end of 3x02, and it's significant for a few reasons. Firstly, Ted gives other members of the Diamond Dogs nicknames such as "sweetheart", so this cements Trent's place as part of the group. Secondly, in the scene preceding this, they talk about how sport is an excellent metaphor, after Roy uses it as a metaphor for his relationship with Keeley. This means that, having just used sport as a metaphor for relationships and love, Ted then chooses to apply this word to Trent. Thirdly is the connection to The Great Gatsby, in which Gatsby frequently refers to Nick as “old sport”, with the relationship between Gatsby and Nick often considered to be queer coded.

La Cage aux Folles

Shortly after the first episode of season 3 aired, Apple Music released the playlist, which included all the songs in order in season 3. The final song on the playlist was I am what I am, which is the last song of Act 1 of La Cage aux Folles. La Cage is a musical about a gay couple who run a nightclub, and this song is about Albin refusing to hide his sexuality and go back into the closet. It’s the final song of the show, so if this season follows the precedent set by the previous two and closes with the same character it started with, this song will play over a scene with Ted in it. Apple has recently removed all the songs from the Ted Lasso Season 3 playlist from episodes we have yet to see, which indicates that the playlist probably includes spoilers, which this song, if it’s used as expected, definitely counts as. I’ve seen some people express worries that I am what I am will be misused and that the writers/showrunners may not understand the significance of the song to the queer community and end up using it to express Ted’s acceptance of his mental health or something similar. I severely doubt this- I don’t think a show like Ted Lasso, which so carefully puts in lines that hint at things that happen several seasons later (think the way Roy’s anger at Trent was laid out from the start of season 1), would be so blind as to overlook the cultural significance of the final song used in probably the entire show.

The songs get more romantic after Amsterdam

The songs get considerably more romantic after the Amsterdam episode, and although this could technically be for other couples on the show, it’s a CONSIDERABLE increase—over half the songs post-Amsterdam are romantic, which leads me to believe that Ted either gets into a relationship or things ramp up romantically during/after Amsterdam. Technically, this piece of evidence isn't specifically for Tedependent, but more for Ted having some sort of relationship in S3.

The infamous James Lance interview

These are some quotes from an interview James Lance did after season 2 had just finished airing. I try not to read too much into what actors say in interviews as it can easily be misinterpreted, but his insistence that there’s “something there” in the way Trent looks at Ted as well as that there is something about Trent, to do with Ted, that is yet to be revealed in season 3 is certainly intriguing. He also refuses to answer whether Trent is gay or not. I feel like this is most likely because if viewers knew about Trent’s sexuality, the Colin outing storyline would not be as compelling, as knowing for sure that Trent is gay would essentially rule out him outing Colin.

Season 3 is far more queer than the previous seasons

Season 3 is considerably more queer than the seasons before it, and not just because of the Colin storyline. Concepts like changing your name being integrated into episodes (although I hate Zava and have a lot of opinions about the Zoreaux/Van Damme storyline), Zava’s line about gender being a construct, and even Ted correcting Rebecca about West Ham in the first episode (which, although Ted is technically correcting her on using they/them as a plural pronoun and not singular, is still very queer coded) all make this season have a lot more queer undertones. As well as this, Ted has had multiple… suspicious lines this season. His comment in episode one about the “muscular thighs” of rugby players, telling Beard/Roy to “just KISS”- Ted this season so far has been far more overtly queer coded than in previous seasons.

Height as a metaphor for masculinity

This point isn’t entirely about Ted and Trent themselves, but rather an interesting thought I had about the season’s portrayal of height so far. We’ve had both Ted and Trent comment on other men’s heights—"He’s tall" and "You’re tall" respectively—as well as Nate, whose masculinity was constantly undermined throughout his time at Richmond seen struggling to reach the believe poster. Both Beard and Roy laugh at Nate’s struggles, two men who are confident in their own masculinity, but Ted and Trent do not, as men who, in Ted’s words, have had “guys underestimating me my entire life”. Neither Ted nor Trent are particularly short, and their comments about other men’s heights seem a little out of place, but they are both unconventionally masculine, and the men they direct these comments to are the opposite—Zava in particular, as a successful football player, is masculine in the most typical sense. Taking these lines as nods to Ted and Trent’s unconventional masculinity also makes them queer coded, with non-typical presentations of masculinity often synonymous with queer men.

Unconventional families

A big theme in the whole show is family, particularly found family, but this season doubles down on that with the idea of unconventional families coming up a few times in the first few episodes. Ted tells Michelle that "I love our family, no matter what it looks like", and there's also Higgins' joke about the boy and his father, which elicits a few responses about different unconventional families (gay, sperm donor). As well as this, in this interview, Jason talks about Ted finding “another way to go about living this life” and the idea of moving away from the nuclear family structure, which is all very interesting. 🤔🤔

The House in the Cerulean Sea

As I said earlier, I try not to reference things the actors/creators of the show say or do on social media too much because there’s often a big scope for misinterpreting or reading too much into things. That being said, when Jason Sudeikis likes a tweet comparing Ted Lasso to my favourite book ever, I can’t not say something about it! Because wow was that a moment. Embarrassingly, I somehow never noticed the connections between two of my favourite pieces of media until I thought more about it after seeing this tweet, but WOW, are there connections. I’ll try to give as spoiler-free a synopsis as I can… Linus Baker, the main character, is trapped in a morally dubious job that he tells himself is important and something he enjoys, until he gets sent to observe and report on an orphanage run by Arthur Parnassus, who’s very Ted-coded and shows Linus kindness that he’s never encountered before, making him think more about who he is and what he’s doing with his life. If the Trent connections aren’t already blaringly obvious, consider the way Linus starts the story as an observer and over time slowly becomes a part of the narrative. I’ll stop there because I don’t want to get carried away and give spoilers, but the whole book is SO Ted Lasso coded! (Not just in the relationship between Linus and Arthur, but literally the whole book) I really encourage everyone to read it. Also, um… did I mention? It’s basically a slow-burn queer love story between Linus and Arthur.

The Kinks

In 3x02, we get Trent entering the clubhouse to the tune of A Well Respected Man by The Kinks. Later in the show, around episode 11, Strangers plays, which is another Kinks song. This is a romantic song, and considering the Kinks are already connected to Trent through his entrance in episode 2, this song could be used for a moment between Ted and Trent.

Robert Redford

After Trent shows the coaches the security footage of Nate ripping the believe sign, Ted says to him “May a young Robert Redford portray you in a film someday”, and Trent responds, “Probably Dustin Hoffman”. This is in reference to All the President’s Men, a film about journalists uncovering the Watergate scandal, where Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman play the main two journalists of the film. The strange thing about this line is that Ted decides to compare Trent to Robert Redford, pictured here on the right, despite him clearly looking much more like Dustin Hoffman, especially with the hair. By comparing Trent to Robert Redford, Ted is essentially saying “Hey, I think this incredibly attractive man should play you in a movie!”. And if that isn’t a gay thing to say, I don’t know what is.

PART 2 - Conclusion

I’ve talked almost exclusively so far in this post about connections between specific lines and other character’s arcs/pop culture references and mostly avoided analysing the chemistry and compatibility between Ted and Trent themselves. This is because I wanted to present as solid evidence as I could, and things like romantic glances are far more subjective and up for interpretation. Something that can seem romantic to one person can be seen as completely platonic by someone else. That being said, I do think the two of them have a lot of chemistry, and their arcs fit together so well: Ted as someone who often hides his feelings and puts on a mask of positivity, and Trent as someone who can see through people’s masks and get to what they really mean. They have had a few romantic moments as well: their last scene of season 2, as well as at the end of 3x02, which both contain lingering looks, and the latter is literally overlaid with a romantic song. As well as this, they just get each other; Trent understands and responds accordingly to every single reference Ted throws at him, and he even enjoys his puns (in contrast to Sassy’s denial of Ted in which she cites his “dreadful puns”). The two of them work so well together, and it would be so beautiful to see a queer middle-aged love story, especially if it tells the story of discovering your sexuality later in life.

The idea of Nate’s downfall was hinted at in season 1 with a few lines and subtle moments, not enough for a casual viewer to notice the first time around but just enough to see it clearly laid out on a retrospective rewatch. We have a lot of season 3 left to go, and a lot of reveals are still yet to be… revealed, likely ones that will be just as surprising as Nate’s downfall was but will, like Nate’s arc, have had just as much subtle set up. Set up like referencing Shakespearian romantic comedies, or building up the idea of wishes at 11:11, or references to unconventional families, or drawing parallels between one relationship and another, or slowly introducing more queer concepts into the show, or referencing one of the most famous romantic drama movies of all time, or—you get the gist. No one can say for sure whether Tedependent will become canon, but it’s undoubtable that the setup is there. Whether the show will actually have the balls to go for it... only time will tell.

Thank you for reading :)

Before I go... In no particular order a huge thank you to @thedanceronthestreets, @crenttrimm, @garaksrod, @firefam, @mandiffe, @wrong-energy, @ishouldbedoingalright and @strawberryswords (as well as others I've probably missed!!) tysm for listening to my delusions and sharing all of your own <3

[neuroprincess]

Abbott Elementary - Melissa dating a foreigner (Headcanon)

Melissa Schemmenti/Reader

Classification: Fluff

Warnings: Alcohol consumption

Word count: +1000

- When she hears your accent for the first time, Melissa is delighted and immediately starts trying to guess where it's from, if she can't figure out the origin on her own she'll ask you personally. You are the new temporary teacher and are at the table talking with Janine when the woman, whom you have never talked to before, sits down next to you, scrapes her throat and with a hoarse voice asks "What's up? What part of the world did this angel fly from?"

- Curious, she will ask everything about your country, from history and culture to your favorite things, this is how you slowly get closer, learning about each other during lunch breaks while enjoying company and food. She is extremely excited to try the cuisine, even more so when you describe it;

- And the food is what brings you even closer together, she rarely invites people from work over to her home, but she has simply become obsessed with a couple of typical dishes you have brought, practically begging you to come over and teach her some. It's a nice evening, drinking wine and sharing recipes;

- It becomes routine to have these evenings, on Fridays you meet in her kitchen, alternating between Schemmenti family recipes, Italian ones and your own. After enjoying the meal you have cooked together there is nothing better than watching romantic comedy movies, playing board games, doing jigsaw puzzles, or simply having a good conversation while finishing a bottle of wine;

- On one of these evenings, while you are showing pictures of your respective families and having a good time telling stories, she leans over to pour you a third wine glass, laughing at a joke with funny words in your language, and loses balance falling on top of you, eye to eye, breathing unevenly, body and breath hot. In a millisecond Melissa's soft lips are on yours, in a gentle and tender kiss that soon becomes passionate, lustful;

- After that, you can be sure, she will officially ask you to date her. Two weeks after the first kiss/night, you are at another Friday dinner, this time is different, there are candles on the table, a rose in the center, Melissa has prepared your favorite dish and is wearing a red dress that highlights each curve of her. With a cheat sheet under the table, she is asking you to date her in your first language, some of the words come out funny but it's very cute and makes your heart melt watching her roll the tongue in pronunciation. Very nervous;

- If you have trouble with english she will make sure to help whatever you need, so dedicated that she spends hours redoing exercises and reading books together, teaching you tips and tricks. She also creates ludic games for practice, personalized cards with words that you have difficulty with or want to learn;

- And she will want to learn your language, it's cute when you find her using an app, repeating the pronunciation and writing down each new thing she learns, the redhead secretly uses a children's activity book to learn the basics, it's simple, didactic and with fun illustrations;

- You will have to learn Italian anyway, at least the basics to be able to communicate with her family. She is going to teach you the essentials, like good morning, greetings, basic questions, and, especially, swearing. All Schemmenti are dirty-mouthed and also like to swear in Italian, knowing how to swear defines survival within the family;

- She loves to find out little things about you and always wonders if some habits are cultural or just something unique to Y/N, curious about every aspect of you. When you speak expressions, in less than a week she starts using them, along with usual phrases and sayings. Melissa loves to learn about your culture's typical dishes, favorite songs, hobbies and dressing customs, and may or may not acquire some of your personality by osmosis without noticing;

- If you travel to your home country she will love to know everything, taking with her travel guides and an, by the way, inseparable dictionary, the teacher refuses to ask for help with the language because she wants to show you how dedicated and good she can be speaking the idiom... but at some point Mel will, after you let her screw around while locals talk fast or expressions she doesn't recognize. It's fun and cute;

- It's a culture shock if there doesn't have a local Football team , she will question ten times if you are sure until she finally accepts. But will support whatever other sports your country has, that's what she does as a big supporter of sports in general;

- She will try everything from tourist attractions to cuisine, you might imagine that restaurants would be her weakness, but no, she will be completely obsessed with little shops and fill a bag with souvenirs for herself, family and friends. Key chains, small decorations, T-shirts, in short, everything that can remind her of your trip will be bought;

- If you bring her to a farm or something similar, well, your girlfriend becomes a total cowgirl, she likes the idea of country life, taking care of animals, enjoying the view, the nature, and, if there are crops, feeling the freshness and the taste of natural food while cooking. Maybe in the future, at some point and with someone who wants the same thing as her, Melissa will consider living somewhere like this or at least having a country house to get a taste of this tranquility;

- Pictures, lots of pictures! She will register every moment and will for sure make a special album when returning to the US, frame some of them to put on the walls, maybe even put one in her wallet along with a copy of the first picture you took together;

- And on this return trip Mel plans to ask her to move in with her, there is a special copy of the key with a keychain placed in a velvet box and when you see it your heart skips a beat imagining being asked to marry her, but you both laugh at the misunderstanding. To be clear, she is probably using a dictionary for this too... and a lot of courage.

[drawonescenet]

Hi! long time with no uploads from me, so here you go!!

3 sketches and 1 complete illustration! Hinata during the "Poor Unfortunate Souls " scene. In my AU Fanfic, both Hinata and Sakura give up their voices and become human, but it is also at this moment that they get separeted in the story, so the scene is told from Hinata's perspective. I will add a little fragment from the story, I hope you like it.

Than you all for the support, likes, rebblogs and comments.

I would also appreciate if you could visit my Deviantart account :

Now, for the story, enjoy.

" There has been a beautiful duet echoing at the witch's lair just a moment ago.

Hinata, princess of the underwater kingdom of The Hyuga, had reluctantly signied her name to a magical contract along her best friend Sakura, her lady in wating, to give up their voices in exchange of becoming humans for 3 months. Sakura's desperation to be with a human prince she had fallen in love for and her own unwillingness to marry Prince Toneri, of the Otsusuki Kingdom, had led them to the sea witch lair. Orochimru, powerful in magic as rumor had him, made a special incantantion:

Beluga, sevruga, come winds of

the Caspian Sea

Larynxes, glossitis

Et max laryngitis

Le loro voce to me!

Now, sing! Compelled by the magic at play Hinata started singing against her will, as if a force was pulling at her very vocal chords, she and Sakura sang loud and beautifly. unabel to move or stop. Two pairs of hands appeared from the cauldron menacingly moving towards each of the singing mermaids. Fear gripped Hinata's heart as she tried to resist the magic suronding her. She couldn't see Sakura, but she could hear her her loud and clear as she also sang. Then one of the hands brushed away her hair, Hinata flinched at the ghostly apparition's touch, but her voice did not waver. Sh eopened her eyes, facing one of the two hands that had stop right in front of her. Keep Singing!! The witch shouted. Hinata knew that her voice was now under the complete control of the witch, she no longer had any way of resistng her, being able only to watch as the gosthy hand went for her moth, her eyes closing as she felt it dive dow her throat. It lasted but a moment, hearing hers and Sakura's singing, when she felt the hand leaving her. Hinata had gently closed her lips the moment she felt the evil apparition exit her mouth. Opening her eyes she saw it. Her voice in the form of a shinning golden pearl, singing her song and trapped in the hands grasp. Clutching her neck in absolute shock, Hinata could only watch as her voice  was captured in a seashell with another one for Sakura's voice. At that moment, it began. The cauldron erupted in light and smoke creating two bubbles that encapsulated the mermaids. Hinata squirmed inside her magical cocoon, her face twisted in pain as she silently scremed. Her tail split in two forming two beautiful legs and in a last pulse of light, her bubble burst, realising her of the pain, but leaving her helplessly trying to swim as she was now unabel to breath underwater. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sakura struggling to swim to the surface. Meanwhile the witch was laughing out of control, an insane look in his eyes. He made a gesture with his hands and Hinata felt and impuls pulling her upwards, almost unconsious she reaches the surfece and emerges, fliping her hair as she brakes waters, breathing in the so needed air. Fortunately the witch had sent her near the shoreline, so she swam as best as she could reaching for the lands. her last thoughts where of Sakura and what had been of her, she wasen't here in the shore, so maybe the witch had capture her? Hinata could only wonder as the last of her consiousness slipped and everything went dark, the moon and the stars bathing her new human form with their light."

[ottoslab]

(Shakes you) otto you've GOTTA tell me more about the freelance mystery solvers I GOTTA KNOW ABOUT EM WHAT ARE THEY DOIN !!! I love your designs sm btw your SO REAL FOR THIS AHH

HEEHEE ohhh ok cracks my knuckles. Im gonna be writing this right before passing Out for the night so apologies in advance if this isn’t very comprehensible but i will GLADLY explain the funny freelance mystery solvers o7

EDIT HI This got so long im putting it under a readmore KGJFNGKJSGK.

Also! I didn’t draw anything to go with this ask because i told myself id give my hand a break, but I do actually have some recent doodles of Vern and Kitty i was doing in between the lineup so I’ll put them here for a little display ^_^ theyre not in context of anything im about to mention, just some dynamic exploration stuff that are their own whole other rambles

Ok! Readmore time! Paragraphs of nonsense! For your viewing pleasure!

So!! Vernon and Kitty are both employed by True Psychic Tales independently of each other when theyre older. Vernon is an illustrator/interviewer for the graphic novel division and Kitty works in special effects makeup for the more-recent live action film division! They don’t end up crossing paths for a while until being assigned to work together to research stuff for an up-and-coming TPT film project or smth. They become work buddies after reconnecting (though they choose to mostly ignore the fact that they knew each other as kids due to How They Were back then. They’re both very embarrassed about it for numerous reasons)

It becomes commonplace for them to help each other out with projects, and eventually through their research (fact-checking and digging through old psychonauts mission archives) they start to come across old psychonauts files of unfinished or ‘suspicious’ looking missions, ones that normally didnt get the green light to be told in graphic novel form due to the fact that they were inconclusive and, as a result, don’t make for good stories.

Kitty and Vernon end up sort of… picking up on these old missions in their spare time. It’s not psychonauts work but its also not not psychonauts work, you know? They team up to try and work out what lead to dead ends in missions and cross-referencing possibly related stories with other stories, and go out into the field to try and get answers. I picture it a lot in my brain as an episodic mystery series vis a vis scooby doo. They pick their archived mission log of the week to check out, go out, get some answers, and get a conclusion to bring back to TPT and a new graphic novel is made of the story they were able to uncover! With some more overarching plots where they get a little in over their heads here and there.

Franke’s got a bit less of a fleshed out role in all of this atm, mostly because i havent thought of him as much as the other two? My current vague-idea i have is that she and kitty had a falling out during their teen years, and Franke calls Kitty and Vernon falsely claiming to have a lead on a mystery theyve been working on, in order to try and reconnect with Kitty after she stopped talking to him. He has to come clean when whatever she leads them to actually ends up being a real psychic issue, and she has to explain that she doesn’t know what’s going on because she hadn’t actually called in about anything legit.

Franke does end up being a good help despite technically being the reason they got into deep shit in the first place, and Vernon’s probably the one who asks her to stick around (Kitty isn’t against it, but definitely isn’t really all too welcoming about it either.) They definitely have a whole thing where they all get closer and Kitty and Franke get to mend fences (a character arc along the lines of franke realizing he was kind of a hardass who wanted to make up without actually accepting any faults, and some other super impressive character arcs along the way im sure.) And all three of them continue to go on mystery deep-dives and uncover unfinished psychonauts missions!! Wahoo yahoo!!

Mystery incorporated asses! They’re fun, i enjoy them a lot! Hopefully this is some good tidbits of detail for u thank u for asking about them :]