#maybe shes right. i can be my OWN sexist boss!

[bishopony]

I have to hear a lot of crap from people IRL about me working as an artist from home because so many people don't see it as a "real" job if I'm not on that soul-sucking corporate grind. but getting called anti feminist is a new one LMAO

[merp-blerp]

So… Rachel Zegler and Snow White… (My Thoughts)

(This is a long ass post, but I wanted to make myself clear)

Disclaimer: I just wanted to express my opinions on the controversy, as the Disney princesses, fairytales/folklore, and their influence on kids and adults is very important to me as someone who grew up with them and wants future generations to as well in the best way possible. My opinions are mine, so I can only speak for myself and my experience with girl-boss-feminism and other related topics. It’s okay if you feel differently and have different experiences than me. I’m not trying to tell anyone how they “should�� feel. Just express yourself civilly and do not harass anyone, please.

Opinions under the cut ↓

If you don’t know the situation, in short, Rachel Zegler, who is cast to play Snow White in Disney’s remake of the animated film has made some statements on the original that have angered fans. Some of these statements include: “I just mean that it’s no longer 1937. We absolutely wrote a Snow White that ... she’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love…” and “There’s a big emphasis on her love story, with a guy who literally stalks her. Ha, ha—weird! Weird! So we didn’t do that this time!” and “Cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. All of Andrew’s scenes could get cut—who knows! It’s Hollywood, Baby!”

I recommend watching the clips of her in these interviews. I can’t possibly give every controversial quote here.

Let me state right out of the gate that I have no issue with a WOC playing Snow at all, as a WOC myself. I’m not here to say she can’t. Yes, the fairytale traditionally states that she’s named after her white skin, but this is an adaptation and things can change in adaptations; they could easily change the reason for her namesake, like maybe she was simply born around winter. Outside of her name, Snow being white doesn’t have much bearing on the story. Even if you want to pull the historical accuracy card, fairytales aren’t meant to be history lessons like that. They’re fantasy, where any kind of reality is possible. Last I checked queens owning literal magic mirrors wasn’t very historically accurate to any place at any time. And of course there are other countries where people of ethnicities other than European ruled.

I also don’t enforce hate or harassment to Zegler for any reason. Just fair, constructive, criticism. I think she’s misguided, and I want to unravel that in this post, but I don’t hate her. I don’t suspect she’s sexist, just mistaken.

The issue many are having with these statements is that Zegler not only comes off as ungrateful to some, but that she disrespects and misrepresents the original movie. I personally don’t agree with her statements. There was nothing wrong with Snow being saved by the prince and he was definitely not stalking her. They had one conversion at the beginning of the film, he exits the film for most of it’s run time, with Snow barely mentioning him outside of the two scenes where she sings “Someday My Prince will Come”, and then he comes back at the end of the film once he hears of her death and kisses her goodbye when he thought she died, only for her to wake up; then she goes to live with him in his (likely metaphorical) castle in the sky on horse back (live with, not marry him, we never actually see them marry if they do). Due to sexism, AFAB people are often shamed for enjoying feminine types of media and activities , such as romance and princesses, so this has led to the “girl-boss” or “not like other girls (NLOG)” mentality in some AFAB people, causing an often aggressive rejection of femininity. This also led to the “Strong Female Character(s)” trope, which often preaches rhetoric similar to Zegler’s statements. Though I’ll of course never know, I suspect this rhetoric could be what’s going on with Zegler to some capacity. She’s somewhat around my age (Zegler’s 22, I’m currently 19, I’ll be 20 in Dec. 2023), so she and I grew up right when this girl-boss rhetoric was becoming popular. Snow is a very traditionally feminine character, so maybe that has made Zegler feel negative towards the character. Maybe—I’m not a Jiminy Cricket inside her head. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a man, you just shouldn’t be co-dependent on one, and Snow was not; as mentioned before, she spends most of the film getting along without him. Snow’s prince, along with most princes from this era of Disney, are more symbols of freedom rather than actual characters by todays standards; this is reflected in the fact they don’t even have names, apart from Prince Philip, who is more of a character. And of course Snow wants love, she has an abusive step-mother, with her biological mother and father out of the picture; the dwarfs and prince (and maybe the huntsman—if you count him) were her only true company. Her only source of love and kindness. I personally see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a story of survival. Snow’s vulnerable, being a princess who’s likely only ever lived in castle walls, and she’s been mistreated by a woman who was supposed to mother her, to the point of her having to run away to live on the woods for safety on a whim (as well as maybe due to her age if you believe she’s 14 years old, but Disney has never confirmed this odd internet rumor, so I don’t personally believe she’s 14—nor her prince being in his 30s—no clue where that comes from). But she adapted by coping with her fear and pain by calming herself by singing and finding refuge in her found family of the dwarfs and animals. She found the love she lacked in her life though the dwarfs and the prince. That’s strength if I’ve ever heard of it! She doesn’t need to be a “Strong Female Character” type to be strong. It’s sexist to imply that femininity equates to weakness. The new Snow White can be strong, but so is the original in her own beautiful way, as well as the other subsequent Disney princesses after her. I find that people who tend to have these sexist takes on the Disney princesses, especially the original three (Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora), tend to have not seen their films much if at all, and/or have only watched them passively, not truly computing the story because they feel like they know every beat from memory or cultural osmosis. Zegler has admitted to having only watched the film once when she was a little kid, being scared of it, and then only recently watching the film a second time after being cast for the remake.

She also seems to disregard the original film’s importance in history. Snow White as a character was seen as a beacon of hope during war times and the Great Depression. It was one of the first, if not the first feature-length animated film ever. And so much more! There Will Be Fudd has a great video essay on the importance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a film and also expanded on this topic I’m discussing here (I don’t claim any of this as a purely original opinion, I know many also view Disney Princesses this way, just throughing my own personal tidbit to the conversation). I think Zegler had failed to consider how she subtly insulted women who are more traditionally feminine by speaking of Snow this way, as well as people who enjoy this movie. I know that girl-boss-feminism made me feel really bad about myself as a kid who was naturally a bit more of a classic Disney princesses type of person rather than a kin to the newer Disney princesses that were coming out at the time, like Rapunzel or Anna. I just wasn’t super spunky or outgoing like them (not that they are bad at all—I love them). The Disney princesses have so much variety between them, so any kid is bound to relate to at least one of them a little bit; I should’ve been able to relate to Cinderella or Snow without shame, but the girl-boss rhetoric told me that they were bad and therefore I subconsciously thought I was too since I saw myself in them more. I attempted to force the more feminine traits away from myself and kind of become a blank slate, till i realized in my late teens that I didn’t know who I was. I’m still in the process of reclaiming myself from that phase of my life, trying to remember who I am. I’m not saying every personal issue I have was birthed from girl-boss rhetoric, but it did have an effect early on, and I don’t want anymore people to feel this way. I think Zegler’s statements can be harmful. Girl-boss-feminism is not what people need anymore if it was ever needed at all. We should let every person of every gender live as feminine or as masculine as they please, as long as no one’s harmed. Femininity is beautiful. Masculinity is beautiful. Just don’t be toxic.

Another thing I wanted to mention that I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone else bring up: the way she spoke about Andrew Burnap, her co-star playing the prince (EDIT: Apparently he’s actually playing a character replacing the prince… okay I guess…?), in one of the quotes I mentioned above, which was pretty bad. Another thing this kind of pseudo-feminism can enforce is putting down men because women are “superior” in someway, because they’re girl-bosses, all in the name of “feminism”. Burnap is just as worthy of having his work get displayed on screen as Zegler is. It would be really unfair if all he’s scenes were cut. It’s very… strange at best that she said that. I don’t think people are in the wrong for being upset at her words and I don’t think people are getting mad at her “over nothing”. It’s something.

[EDIT: I wanted to acknowledge that I am currently aware, and also was when I made this post originally, that other live action Disney Princesses cast members have said similar things akin to Rachel Zegler’s statements before. The reason why I didn’t initially mention it in this post was because I didn’t think it mattered to Zegler’s controversy as it had to do with other films, but after some thinking, I realized it does add some context and it could be debated in this conversation. I also don’t care for those statements for very similar reasons I don’t care for Zegler’s. I think the reason why Zegler’s words are being so scrutinized in comparison to the others is because 1) the pop-feminism movement as a whole being scrutinized in some aspects is something that’s happening only very recently, in the very late 2010s and early 2020s so far. It seemed like this girl-boss stuff really began to be condemned hard around when Mulan (2020) came out, which in part caused that film to flop. Zegler is only the third live action princess to have a film come out in the 2020s, if I’m correct. These ideals weren’t being so criticized when say, Lily James, made her statement(s?) on my favorite princess Cinderella in 2015. Zegler’s just happened to make her comments at the worst time. 2) It could also be the way Zegler’s said her comments. It’s not just the words but the way she said them that rubbed people the wrong way, and maybe that’s not fair, as tone can be very hard to fully decipher in a true way and sometimes your tone doesn’t match how you feel. I don’t agree with the idea that “Rachel HATES Snow White” as some have said, but I see how people think she does based on the really taunting tone of the viral clips, but a few clips don’t paint a full story; she probably doesn’t hate Snow White. 3) It might be racism for some people. A lot of people are upset to see Snow White being played by a WOC, especially since in the standard version of the story it was stated specifically that Snow was white, unlike, for comparison, the The Little Mermaid where Hans Christian Anderson never stated what race the mermaid was. Evil people want to be racist, but not called out as racist, so Zegler’s outdated sentiments gave a very easy scapegoat for hating her and her casting without being overtly racist. If Halle Bailey said something similar to Zegler she might’ve experienced the same hate train as Zegler is, not just because it's a sexist view, but because people also hated seeing her play Ariel as a black woman and wanted to do so openly, but couldn't without showing they're racist and being called out. Not saying every person criticizing Zegler is racist, however. 4) It’s the newest remake and people hate those. I don't think the concept of remaking films is bad at all, as if you don't keep telling stories they die. Many of the fairytales that Disney has adapted like Cinderella, Aladdin, Snow White and more wouldn't have existed in any way if people didn't tell them over and over in different countries and time periods till they were written down over and over. Remaking them over and over is a modern option to do that. Everyone has the right to remake Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, etc. if they want to because that’s how stories stay alive for generations to come (and because versions of those particular stories I mention are in the public domain). But the reason Disney’s remaking their films at the moment doesn’t seem to be so they can bring something new to the stories or showcase it to a new generation, but to make money, as a lot of these films have been making bank for some unholy reason. That's why so many of them fall short quality-wise. This is really an overall problem with Hollywood right now and Disney is arguably of how the biggest perpetrators of the issue. We are all overexposed to these low-quality remakes to the point where a lot of people hate the concept of them at all, calling them “unnecessary”, but I personally think this is a bit too pessimistic. The idea of remakes isn't bad, the executions of them are.]

There was also some controversy on the fact that they cut the seven dwarfs from the film; the remake is actually simply called Snow White, not Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs like the original. This was done (allegedly?) to not offend little people. They will be replaced by some magic creatures. Now, I am not a little person, so I can’t decide what’s offensive to little people, but I can repeat what I’ve heard from some little people online who’ve spoken on the topic; I recommend looking up more testimonials from them if you want more opinions from little people. It is very odd that, in order to not offended little people, Disney excluded them from one of the few roles Hollywood would allow them to play. It would’ve been better if they evolved the dwarfs from being mostly comic reliefs to being characters who were treated more like characters, along with hiring actually little people actors and having little people writers in the writers’ room. That is all I’ll say on this topic to the reasons I mentioned before.

It’s worth noting that Zegler has addressed the situation (yes, that link to an ET TikTok vid is the best place I could find it—I guess it’s the original source? If I find a better video I’ll change the link) and I don’t really know how to take it. (EDIT: I've been notified by an anon that this video was actually a response to something else; If so, sorry for the incorrect info. My feelings forward still stand when it comes to the idea of pardoning her actions.) While I understand she’s young and was pushed into notoriety very quickly, I feel like, specifically when it comes to her comments about Burnap, she should know better. You should know at age 22 that comments like that aren’t seen as very appropriate. I suspect Zegler wanted to come off as a down-to-earth and playful, cool girl, and assumed that the girl-boss takes on the Disney princesses from the 2010’s were still popular, not realizing that they’re more often condemned rather than uplifted, and rightfully so. All I know is that will likely be hard for Zegler to come back from this behavior. The internet is pretty hard on people who they see as “mean girls” and other phrases like that, sometimes to a really unwarranted level that leads to things like doxxing and death threats. Zegler doesn’t deserve treatment like that, but she does deserve constructive criticism, as does everyone when they do something that’s arguably wrong.

It’s statements like Zegler’s that are making me somewhat worn-down on Disney, or rather Disney-corporate, as I feel that this pseudo-feminism they’ve sprinkled in some of their modern films has been a problem for a while now. In highsight, I feel like in the early 2010’s Disney could’ve been on their way to another renaissance, with hits like Tangled, Frozen, and Wreck-it Ralph, plus adult interest in Disney sky-rocketing with social media. But the remakes got in the way of that. It doesn’t come off as Disney wanting to retell stories in a new way, but as Disney, due to the cynical takes on their past works from the 2010’s, trying to fix what wasn’t really broken out of almost shame. Like they want to prove a Buzzfead article from 2014 wrong rather than make a good story. They don’t seem to understand that this line of thinking is dangerous and sexist in and of itself. This isn’t an improvement, but a downgrade. You’re supposed to make characters, not walking, talking political statements; you can totally make political statements in film—they’ve always had them—but you need to do it carefully because they’re important topics, especially when you’re including it in media made for a general audience, as it could be someone’s first exposure to the topic and you want it to be correctly done. And you need to make the characters who make or represent these political statements well-rounded or you end up coming off as still offensive, but in a different way. Think about all the Disney original concepts for animated movies based on older fairytales such as Gigantic, Newt, or Hiawatha that were canned, with these often try-hard-y remakes in there places (I know Hiawatha was cancelled decades ago, but I still would’ve preferred Disney revive that in a more culturally sensitive time rather than what they’re doing). With the exception of Cinderella (2015) and maybe The Little Mermaid (2023), I feel like all the remakes are just Disney’s attempt at besting critics who either lacked media literacy or were just critiquing for shits and giggles. Other than the exceptions I mentioned, they all range from not awful but meh (like the 2016 The Jungle Book), to insultingly bad or bland (like the 2020 Mulan or the 2019 The Lion King). Even though this film is still in development and I know I can’t/shouldn’t truly have an opinion on it’s quality yet, I fear it’ll be more a kin to Amazon’s Cinderella rather than a good film. Amazon’s Cinderella had many of the issues with pseudo-feminism Zegler’s statements had. I don’t think this movie will be very good if Zegler’s sentiments reflect how the film’s themes will be. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m admittedly not too optimistic.

I don’t think it’s wrong that people care this strongly about Disney and the quality of their films. I’ve seen people ask “Well, when did people start caring about Snow White?” And my answer is that people have always cared, this situation is just making people speak up about it. That’s normal. And saying “It’s just a movie” negates it’s importance to the history of film, not just animation, and it’s role in the lives of people who enjoy it. It might not be important to you, and that’s okay, but it is to other people and you should respect that.

Well, I think that covers my thoughts, If you’re still here, thank you for getting this far. I appreciate that you seemingly care about my opinion that much. I just wanted to get these thoughts off my chest.

[popcornpieispissedoff]

idk the full story of everything in your latest helluva boss post about apologizing to the fandom so feel free to correct me (i do remember your initial post and actually did agree with parts of the meme which summarized some of my own frustrations with viv, but i also felt parts of the meme as well as your post description went beyond a critique and into a personal vent.)

but i just wanna say this…

it’s ok for both sides to have opinions on how much of a “fraud” or “spoiled” viv is or isn’t. bc at the end of the day *none of us know her personally.* not even her fanbase.

we can each only theorize based on how she acts, what she creates, and what we see. some ppl see behavior they perceive as spoiled or fraudulent while other ppl see behavior they perceive as selfless or hard-working.

maybe you acted unnecessarily angry, but the angry behavior is what should be called out, and the only thing you need to assess about your opinions is whether or not they were influenced by bias. if they weren’t, you’re allowed to have them. if they were, reconsider where it comes from. having angry feelings is valid, blaming others for that anger is not, but good on you for acknowledging it.

alla y’all should let ppl express their opinions regardless of “what side” they’re on. bc even those believing in the best of her are still making a judgment based off their own opinions/feelings/perceptions.

none of us know the full story.

Yeah, I fully acknowledge that it's over for me.

I let my mask slip. I called out Vivzie never changing, but this is how I have always been. The amount of communities I have been kicked out of is more than I've let on. I've been sexist. I've been ableist. I have been banned from Tumblr before for being prejudiced against members of the right-wing.

What I said wasn't okay. Period. Ableism IS NEVER OKAY. Sexism is NEVER OKAY. What I called the Spindlehorse team was never going to be okay. But nothing I can say can save my skin. Tumblr has seen who I really am. I can basically never take that back.

Time to start thinking of my new internet name.

[two-sides-samecoin]

So I was thinking some more and this is in addition to my previous ask, Nancy's antagonists are her sexist bosses. Jonathan's antagonist is Nancy. Let me explain.

I was transcripting Nancy and Karen's talk and Karen is encouraging her to show her bosses wrong by continuing with that story and selling it to a bigger paper. The force that Nancy needs to overcome is her bosses (and to a smaller extent the doubt that Jonathan has in her), at least that's what the narrative is telling us.

But in Jonathan's arena, Nancy is his antagonist in that fight - what Jonathan needed to learn was that's it's ok to say no to Nancy for his own sake. They can't blame Jonathan on losing his job on the sexist bosses, it's him being unable to say no to Nancy directly that loses his job. At least in my opinion the scene where Nancy says "You can stay." comes off as very peer pressurey and I am 90% sure that she would hold it against Jonathan if he didn't come. Nancy's apology completely ignores that she doesn't understand where Jonathan is coming from, but also that ending line, "I just look forward to you never doubting me," makes it 10 billion times worse. Because what Jonathan should have gotten out of this fight, other than he might not understand Nancy's struggles but he shouldn't belittle them, is that it's ok for him to say no to Nancy.

Ohhhh I love all of this. Because honestly you're so right about this and I think it also heavily shows because we don't see Jonathan (also i think i spelled his name wrong before lol) having any personal scenes with the bosses - at least not until the fight in the hospital. But other than that Jonathan has no personal issues with the bosses so Nancy being Jonathan's antagonist does make sense. Because she is the main one that he does have issues with and is fighting with on a personal level. And it's interesting because it's in the work place like I think season 3 shows how maybe Jonathan and Nancy are not able to work together in a work place - in the past they have worked well as monster hunters but here in work the have different goals. And more specifically Nancy and Jonathan not being able to say no to Nancy is the antoginsit and issue here.

Nancy saying that line honestly seems like an ultimatum even if it's posed as just "you can stay," it still seems like she expects him to come and if he won't then well it's a major problem where she might shame him. I'm remembering the scene where Jonathan and Nancy are with the kids in the Wheeler basement and Jonathan says he's here now which Nancy then says "halleluiah" as if the fact that he is there means nothing because he wasn't there for one moment. But also I could be wrong and reading this wrong so idk. Yeah that one line makes everything so much worse and yes Jonathan should have gotten out of the fight that he can say no to Nancy. Which also is sort of the problem to in season 4 where Jonathan isn't saying to Nancy that he doesn't want to go to college with Nancy or that he is having a crisis because of the college situations. While yes there are more reasons to Jonathan not wanting to tell Nancy about this and him struggling but I feel like him not being able to say no to Nancy is also clear in season 4 even though they are states away from each other.

[risingsouls]

5, 6, 7!

It's Time to Choose Violence || Open!

5. worst discord server and why

[I'm not really part of many discord servers lmao. Probably the worst one (that started out as really great!) was a group RP one that was a sort of hub world with a DnD style RP element for "campaigns" and a more casual RP style for general interactions in the hub. It was SUPER fun, but, long story short, the mods were MASSIVE hypocrites. They and their faves could do whatever they want (like have their characters fuck in a bathroom when apparently nsf.w stuff to that extent wasn't allowed) but anyone else could not (and would get in trouble for very, very mild footsie playing under a table). Not sure what happened to it as I left but it is what it is. Maybe someday I'll create my own like that because it was a really fun concept.]

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

[You're definitely new here, but I'll straight up say it's Vege.bul fans. Not just because I don't like the ship in canon. It's because they REFUSE to be honest about the ship. In any capacity. I have seen ONE good comic take that gets their relationship dynamic right. Everything else is usually garbage, and all these garbage ideas seem to be what the fans have adopted as what they love about this trash pairing.

While not as bad (and this isn't me throwing shade at any moots that ship it because ya'll Ain't This), Kaka.vege fans can be pretty bad, too. The crimes with this ship are less egregious, but, a lot of times, it's kind of the same thing: they don't want to really approach the relationship in a way that's realistic (and I semi-ship these two if done right and well). In both of these cases, the shippers want to act like this relationship would be all fluffy fun times with both character so traditionally in love when it wouldn't be. In short.]

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

[While Super writes her like shit and I do hate Super!Bulma because of canon, I didn't have as strong of eugh feelings for Bul.ma in general as I do after dealing with the fandom/rpc more often. Don't get me wrong: I wouldn't say I actually HATE Bul.ma, so much as I hate her WRITING, but her fans are...a lot, and they don't help. They give me some serious Swifty vibes where you basically can't critique her or you'll get called sexist/told that you don't understand that it's her WRITING that's sexist which is why she's awful while they never take any type of critical stance on the stuff she does in canon that DESERVES it (like abusing the dragon balls or, yes, I'll say it again, not being great to Veg.eta [and for clarity: he treats her like shit too WHICH IS WHY THEY SHOULDN'T BE TOGETHER]). They just shout how she's a total queen and a boss bitch girl boss and can do no wrong ever and I just...can't with that. 😂]

[darlingsfandom]

Hiii pookie🫶🏻how are you today? I hope everything goes better and that you feel better than yesterday. 🥹🤍

So i have a situation lmao :( I asked everyone around me but i think I need a few more people's opinions!

I work in an accounting firm, i am the administrative assistant, which means that I do a bit of everything, I have this man called Nicolas, who makes sexist and homophobic comments all the time,I'm literally a feminist and bisexual girl,i've been fighting with him so much about this because maybe his comments are for me but they're for my community and it's still annoying.

Here's what happens: a few weeks ago one of my friends she is about to become a mother and a dispute arose over whether she had already discussed the birth plans with our bosses,although she has to do so, there are personal things that she should not do if she does not want to comment, then we had a little debate about it where I did not agree with him because she is my bestie at work and does not have to share absolutely all her life at work and he got upset, In the end he stopped talking to me and it's not like it affects me because he's not my friend thank God for that🙏🏻

A few days ago a coworker told me that the reason he is upset with me is basically because i am a woman who did not let herself be trampled by him. 🫠

Plus he's literally twenty-nine years older than me.

And now he's out there telling lies about me, everyone tells me to leave it like that but this can really affect my work): and I like my job but I also feel that for my mental health i should not continue in this place):

My mom tells me that i should consider agreeing with him sometimes just to keep him in line, but I don't want to do that if it's going to affect me, i have no problem agreeing with someone when they are right, i can acknowledge my mistakes, but i don't want to do that if it's hurting me or affecting my work:(

In the end my question is, am i really wrong?, because i don't think I'm completely wrong, but I have so many people saying the opposite that i don't know what to think anymore :(

I wanted to tell someone without them saying that it's my fault that I'm in this situation because I don't know how to keep quiet):, but it literally cost me a lot of pain and tears to be the powerful woman iam today

I hope this doesn't bother you, you have the right to ignore it,I'm sorry to bring my problems here🤍🤍

I hope you get better soon,i send you all my love🥹💘🫂

Ps.He's the boss's favorite. 🫠

Ps2.English is not my first language and right now i'm little angry so i used a translator just in case something is wrong i'm so sorry):

Hi tulip !

I am feeling better today than yesterday. A little stressed but that’s what happens when you work with kids!

Okay so what it sounds like is he’s an asshole! I agree that your friend’s business is her own and that no one besides her boss needs to know about her birth and how much time she needs off because that’s a given with any job. As far as leaving goes that’s totally up to you! If you’re not happy try to find a job quietly and then just be like “oh by the way I’m leaving you suck bye!” But in a more professional way! If they ask why just be honest and say you don’t feel safe !

Or if you’re job has a HR department I would talk to them first and see if they can help but then it all ends up back to your boss who clearly doesn’t appreciate you since he’s siding with the asshole!

At the end of the day you have to do what’s best for you!

Also never worry about English with me(: yes I speak and teach English but it’s not a big deal. The English language is very confusing ! Sometimes I don’t even get it!

I hope this helped a little 💕

[oncetherenowhere]

I don't know what to do about my job. There's so much about it that should be GOOD for me- it's very flexible, and I have a four day work week. It's predictable, generally. The rhythms are the same. It's really close to where I live, so it's really accessible for me.

Work vent under the cut.

But I'm so overworked. Worse than that, it seems like everyone who isn't in my department thinks that my job is "easy." The coworker I've been having problems with kept saying that, on top of micro-managing me (he corrects me about mistakes that HE makes but forgets about making...and doesn't believe me when I try to explain the truth of the situation. Or maybe he's being obtuse on purpose? I can't tell). My boss doesn't believe that this coworker is actually giving me issues, because, to him, this coworker is "one of the nicest people he's ever met!"

My coworker M, who is in charge of our tiny department, believes me, and is pissed. She said that someone once quit because this micro-managing guy behaved the same way towards them.

It's gotten to the point where I don't want to work here either. At first, it was annoying. After months of this getting worse and not better, it makes me dread going into work.

I keep looking for other jobs, but options right now are bleak.

It's getting to the point where, the day before I have to go back to work, I spend it completely stressed out and scared for the upcoming week. I work so hard that I spent my weekends recovering. I can't slow down because we're in busy season.

I just don't want to do it. I don't know what else I can do. The problems would be manageable if I didn't have someone constantly sneering at me.

The horrible thing is, the coworker I'm having problems with is VERY outspoken about his politics- he brags about punching sexists and homophobes (though I think this is rhetorical on his part), and how much he cares about different things. It almost feels like he's using it as a shield for criticism- like he feels as though he can't be bad or mean, because he believes in good things.

I just don't want to work here. I feel like such a baby. At every job I've worked, there's always been someone who has singled me out like this. I've always taken the proper steps- talking to them, then talking to management, documenting their behavior- but it always gets worse and not better. People generally don't believe me when I speak up, then the person being mean to me gets worse since I snitched. At my very first job, it went into genuine harassment and sabotage. I'm not open about my autism diagnosis, but it's like someone can always tell and pick on me for it anyways.

I'm scared that if I tried to get a new job, it would happen again, and even be worse. Maybe this is the best it can get for me. I should take the good things about this job, and get a thick skin about the rest.

Thick skin...I've been told to get one my entire life. I've genuinely tried. I don't think I have it in me. I want it, believe me, I don't want to feel this hurt and sensitive, but it's never worked for me. I know the only behavior I can control is my own, but it's so frustrating to be a sensitive person, and constantly told to deal with everyone around you, to accommodate them because you can't change them- but at the same time, you yourself are expected to change. Why do I always have to "deal with it?" Why can't someone else change their own crappy behavior for once, take a look at their own personality?

I know that isn't fair. I'm just complaining.

I just don't want to go to work. I wish I had enough money to focus on a hobby for once. My life feels like work, home, self care/chores, sleep, constantly, with very little in between. The monotony is making me incredibly depressed.

I just don't want to do it. I don't want to go. I want to cry.

[kinetic-elaboration]

April 19: Coyote Ugly

I did a lot of sleeping today, which I suppose is something I needed. I fell asleep on my couch last night, so that’s like not great is what I’m saying. But I think this was good for me and I hope to feel better tomorrow.

After dinner, I watched Coyote Ugly, which I had never seen before although perhaps I would have been better off seeing it when I was 11, when it first came out. I think it’s the sort of thing that needs to imprint on you early and then its extremely timely look and sound will make you feel nostalgic forever. Not that it takes much to make me nostalgic for the late 90s. That was about half the reason I watched it: I wanted some lighthearted stuff from that era. The other half was that I wanted to see hot women dance on a bar.

Overall, I liked it. It was fine. I think it had too much romance and general drama centered around Violet and too little hot women dancing on the bar. That’s actually a semi-serious critique. Like, Violet’s underdog chasing a creative dream story is fine, very standard, very common in that era of teen/young-adult-centered film, but it’s also just not that complex. I wanted to pretend to be at the bar, I wanted to see more of the other coyotes, I wanted the whole found-family feel around the bar itself. Truly. Those were the best parts. Although it was very obvious that the dancers and the actors were not the same people and the frenetic cutting to separate face shots from body and feet shots was a little dizzying. I liked Lil a lot and I wanted her to be my scary/hot boss/older-sister-figure. And I want to hear more about Tyra Banks in law school.

Also I don’t think she got enough credit for running a successful business as a woman, and for all of the work she and the other women did in like… fighting back men who are always on the edge of assaulting them. Like….girl, you couldn’t make this in 2024, there would be #discourse. Instead, we have the two biggest male roles judging Violet for her job—a job she’s good at, where she’s kept safe by the power of her female boss, and where she pretty obviously isn’t doing anything with which she’s uncomfortable. And neither of them really apologizes for it? Like maybe there is sort of a critique to be had of her choosing the bar over her chance to play live and further the career she actually wants. But she’s fired the same night so there really isn’t any resolution to that idea, any chance for her to actually choose priorities. I suppose it comes belatedly in her choice not to return to the bar—but that’s an easier thing to do than to quit, or to scale back, or to recalibrate her priorities on her own. Neither she nor Kevin really apologizes or resolves anything. Both Kevin and Violet’s dad are at the bar at the end, so I guess they basically got over it. But that works with the dad more in my opinion, because he really got into it, he saw just how ultimately it was harmless fun, and that was rather heartwarming. Kevin just kind of… sails along as “the boyfriend” and tbh I feel like he’d pulled out the sexist critiques in a moment if given the least provocation.

I think the implication was that he was an undocumented immigrant and I was sort of curious why they walked right up to that but never actually said it. I don’t know. Even though the romance was probably fully 40% of the film, it still felt very obligatory and paint by numbers to me. The men in these films are never worth shit.

But I did get my 90s aesthetic for sure. Random actors I fully did not expect to see showing up (Melanie Lynskey’s Jersey accent… I’m glad she chose a different American voice for Yellowjackets because can you imagine). The fashion. The color scheme. The music. The music! That list of bands appearing at the Bowery alone SENT me. Vertical Horizon. Edwin McCain. Suicide Machines. I need my 90s playlist immediately.

[tempusart394]

So I did something crazy - I can't decide if it was a good thing to do or a bad thing. I am actually pretty awkward, and don't have the best social skills. I've been diagnosed with ADHD, Bipolar, and PTSD - so I am always open to the idea that I am the one misconstruing things (it has DEFINITELY happened before)

We have two staff meetings every week (I'm the receptionist and I record the minutes). Today, my boss made a comment that I thought (maybe incorrectly) was sexist.

Context:

There are 3 women (F/40) (F/27) (F/80) in our office of 8 people.

Our boss (M/73) was telling (F/40) to assist me (F/27) by taking client calls if I am not available. Both she and I pushed back - She doesn't have the time, and I suggested setting up our voicemail so they can leave a message, and we can call clients back when there is time. His response was that it had to be her, because she had an advantage over everyone else, because she's a woman and it's better for a woman to talk on the phone.

Good thing (maybe): I was really put off by that, and I interrupted and said that comment was sexist.

Bad thing (maybe): He was upset by this, and said that I went too far.

Maybe I did go too far? I've had issues with how he talks to his staff and clients for a while, but haven't said anything as I've wanted to remain professional and not put myself where I don't belong. But maybe I should have said something to him in private, rather than in front of everyone at the staff meeting? But he is so unapproachable (and I'm so afraid of him I think I should have witnesses). He has a LOT of pride - too much to be honest. But that doesn't mean he was wrong to say that.

I don't know. Something about this situation isn't sitting right with me. Was I in the wrong? Was he in the wrong? Am I only upset because I upset him and didn't mean to? Did I prioritize my own put-off feelings over how everyone else might have felt/reacted? Was I being too sensitive? Did I overreact?

I'm not looking for validation - I'd really like to know what you think. And I don't really have anyone I can talk about this objectively to.

[galadhir]

I'm finding it's a weird position to be in. 99% of the time I go to listen to a YouTube vid about why ROP is not great it's some angry young white man claiming that ROP is bad because it's too woke, what with girlboss Galadriel/Miriel/Bronwyn and the inclusion of Black elves.

And I'm like 'this is not the company I want to be keeping!' When the truth is that ROP is bad because it is bad storytelling. It's bad because it's shallow and unimaginative and its characters are barely fleshed out enough to be more than ciphers.

The dialogue is written by someone who thinks they can write Tolkienien prose, but they can't.

Nothing ever slows down enough to matter. Time and distance have no meaning. And everything is *so* derivative of the LotR movies that you wonder if they'd have anything left without them.

And yeah, it's getting kudos from impressionable people by having some token female characters and some token characters of colour. But you know what would have really been non-sexist? Having an equal number of male and female parts.

(It might have been hard to make them female speaking parts given Tolkien, but if they're just making it up wholesale like they are, then they can add some more women so we can have girl bosses and mature women and sages and dupes, and it wouldn't have all rested on Galadriel.)

Likewise, you know what would have been genuinely non-racist? Having some of the big name elf parts played by people of colour.

Perhaps, owing to the casting in the movies, we want Elrond and Galadriel to be white. Okay, we'll make the Noldor white and the Sindar Black, and we'll make sure to have Galadriel's Sindar husband a big speaking part (as he should be because he is - I stress - Lord of Eregion while all this is going on.)

People of colour should get to have some of the Heroes of the First Age for their own.

Meanwhile Tolkien said the people of Numenor were more like the Egyptians or the Byzantines - so we cast Greek and North African actors for them.

And then we remember that Rhun is the East, so the folk from there can be played by Asian actors. And to avoid racism and to honour Sam's observation that perhaps they never wanted to be ruled by Sauron at all, they get their heroes and at least one storyline to themselves, instead of being relegated to strange - suspiciously-evil-Non-binary - Sauron cultists.

Going back to Celeborn (who I'm afraid is my area of specialist interest) I can't really agree with @wilcze-kudly that he's just a token husband.

In fact this point in the second age is one of the points where Celeborn and Galadriel appear to be at odds. When they are deposed from their rule of Eregion by Celebrimbor -

(that's got to be worth a plot thread, surely! Particularly as Celebrimbor is jealous of Celeborn for landing the girl Celebrimbor wanted - lots of juicy drama there, surely)

_ Galadriel (who is friends with the dwarves) goes through Moria and flees to Lorien, just in time to convice Amdir of Lorien to strengthen his defences. Meanwhile Celeborn is all "I'm not setting foot in there!" about Moria and goes and retires to a villa in the country. From which he is very much in the right place at the right time to lead the army of Eregion against Sauron when Sauron reveals himself and Celebrimbor commits suicide.

You could do so much with this! There was no need to invent unconvincing drama in Mordor. You've only got to unpack it. Maybe add a few embellishments (Celebrian goes with Galadriel to Lorien, but maybe she's a rebellious girlboss like her mum and goes back just in time to save her father from an axe in the back. She's a fantastic warrior and this leads to a certain overconfidence that betrays her later.)

Oh God, I've been going on. I'm sorry. But yeah:

It's a thankless task being a Celeborn fan

It's an odd ambiguous thing to be a ROP anti because you find all the wrong people agreeing with you.

But nevertheless we endure.

Rings of Power is Insidiously Sexist

And I’m tired of pretending none of us can see it.

If you enjoy the show, please don’t take this as an attack on you. All media has problematic elements and we all do the best we can in a messed up world. My ire is reserved strictly for the people making these “creative” choices.

The way the show treats Galadriel is misogynistic.

Turning the kind, matronly sage imbued with divine wisdom by the light of the two trees into a naive, selfish hothead who gets ship baited with both the villain AND her son-in-law for titillation is incredibly sexist.

They wouldn’t have had Elrond kiss his father-in-law to “save” him. Everyone would’ve rightfully been disgusted. So why is it okay to do this to Galadriel?

Elrond wouldn’t kiss Gil-Galad, or Celebrimbor, or his bff Durin to “save” them. We would all recognize this as sloppy OOC writing just meant to stir up shippers. So why is it acceptable to do to Galadriel? Being a female character is not an invitation to use her as fan service ship bait. Not once but TWICE.

The way the score swells and the kiss is deep and framed as romantic (even though he’s handing her something and didn’t need to shove himself on her like that at all!), despite the fact that Galadriel is married and elves are by nature monogamous (so much so that forcing yourself on them can even KILL them). As if everything about the narrative framing is subconsciously telling you to ignore Galadriel’s POV and the discomfort she would be feeling and be moved by how “meaningful” this kiss is. But also it’s a deception so don’t get mad! So incredibly transparent.

The fact that they also made her an arrogant idiot that fell for Sauron’s manipulations, when in Tolkien’s canon she is described as one of first to see through him, is also a telling choice. Especially when it would’ve made more sense to have Celebrimbor be the one manipulated and fooled.

So why have it be Galadriel? Why not do their weird ship-teasing bullshit between Annatar and Celebrimbor? At least it might serve the story then.

It’s because she is “female elf”, and therefore she has to be mean, violent, selfish, and stupid. But she isn’t allowed to be criticized either! That’s their idea of a “strong” female character.

So yeah. Personally I find that incredibly sexist.

So for that, I rate ROP a big old “cast it into the fire”.

[yuzukult]

acquitted love || sjn & reader

title: acquitted love pairing: johnny suh x reader genre: fluff, angst, co-workers!au, lawyer!au, one-sided enemies to lovers word count: 8.7k warnings: some language/cursing, brief mentions of sex but there's no actual discussions or explicit conversations of the topic, but generally pg-13 prompt: you absolutely hate johnny suh. but when your boss pairs you two up together for one of the highest profile cases, you’re left working close with your enemy but he doesn’t seem to think that way of you. a/n: tada!! i wrote this for the @/ficscafe fic exchange event!! so @urlocalnctstan​ , hope you enjoy this !! i tried to write it according to what you put as your preferences, but honestly T_T it was so hard bc i was just not getting any ideas!! hopefully this is something you’d like :D enjoy !!

“God, isn’t he just… so attractive?”

Along with a click on your tongue, you feign a hit in Hyeri’s direction, whose reflexes have gotten so much faster in the past couple years of knowing you and it shows when she cowers underneath your arm. She gifts you that not-so-apologetic smile, full of mischievousness because she knows no matter how annoying she can be, you’ll still love her nonetheless.

“Why do you keep talking about Johnny? You know he’s banned as a topic of our conversations.”

Hyeri rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her white frilled blouse. You know that she doesn’t actually inhabit any romantic feelings for Johnny, but she has a problem of thinking without the usage of her brain when she sees a hot guy.

Not that you think Johnny is hot.

No.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t think he’s at least an ounce of smokin’ hot.” She’s unraveled her arms by now, poking your shoulder incessantly to grasp onto your attention as you're tapping on the buttons of the copier machine. “I bet if you asked him out, he’d say yes.”

You briefly glare at Hyeri. “You realize that he and I don’t get along, right? He keeps finding stupid loopholes in the system to win his cases. He thinks with his heart, not his head, and sometimes, with whatever that thing was in his pants.” And, not to mention that he walks out the court with that big grin stretched from cheek to cheek, giving the ‘good news’ to your well-respected boss (who you desperately seek the approval of but that’s a different story for another time). And every single time, she gives him that nod of appreciation, that ‘nod of approval’ if you will, when it should be given to you and not to some asshole who fucks his way to victory.

“But he’s so hot—”

You narrow your eyes at your friend, and with a stern voice, you call out, “Hyeri.”

She shrugs. “Honestly, though, he’s hella smart. He’s got a job here, and works under your boss. It’s Park, Kim & Associates—notice how Park is first, because she’s a fucking genius. She only picks the intelligent ones to work under her. Why do you think I’m still working for Mr. Kim?”

Park Seohyun and Kim Gonghyun—one of the biggest lawyers in the region, decided to join together to build their own law firm from the ground up. They were both highly respected in their field; Kim Gonghyun spent years of his life being mentored by one of the most famous judges, and as for Park Seohyun, she was, simply put, admirable because of the obstacles she has overcome to make her dreams of working in law to be real. Being a woman, young, and beautiful, she’s had her fair share of encounters with people who disregard her potential, that is until she met Gonghyun—who, admittingly is an old man who seems like he’d be traditional, sexist, even, but he proves to also make people realize how wrong they are with their impression of him.

But, as Mr. Kim is getting older, he’s gotten a bit… lazy.

In fact, he’s been slacking so much that he’s gotten a new rep in the office—if he was your direct supervisor, or your supervisor was under him, you were on the side of the office where all the easier, uncomplicated cases were assigned. Which meant that there was a slight possibility that your talents and skills weren’t as sharp and exceptional as you thought they were.

And well, Hyeri works directly underneath Mr. Kim.

Hyeri doesn’t want a heavy workload, despite the fact that there’s a plethora of files on her desk, stacked up one onto another as tall as her PC tower, and they were all open and closed cases—needless to say that she didn’t mind it.

“Okay, but you got offered a position under Seohyun. Do you really think you’re not wasting your potential?”

Hyeri scoffs. “Never. At least, not now. I’m still in my twenties, I’d like to enjoy my youth while I can, for your information.”

You quirk a brow. “And does any of that pertain fucking Johnny? The hot guy, so you claim?”

She immediately has her hand covering your mouth and you scowl. “Shhhhh, he works here!”

You bite the flesh of her hand and Hyeri instantly retracts. “You think I don’t know my archenemy works here? He sits directly across from my office—I get the best view of the guy and I’m not even one of his fangirls.”

“You’re not gonna be one of those girls who claim they’re different because they don’t like him but then end up falling for him anyway… are you?”

Your hand goes up and Hyeri crouches down.

“Stop it.”

“Seriously though! It’s the classic e2l love story,” she has her hands gesturing in front of her like she’s making an imaginary rainbow, “Two lawyers, constantly butting heads, accept each other’s differences and learn to love—“

“The fuck is an ‘e2l’?”

“Enemies to lovers.”

“Are you high? Stop spitting nonsense.” This time, you’re waving the stack of papers that finish printing in front of her face. “Meet me for lunch later. But if you keep talking about my archenemy and I falling in love, you can kiss a free meal goodbye.”

Hyeri gasps.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Maybe. Just maybe, Hyeri might be a tiny smidge right when she says Johnny is handsome. Just a bit though, because she can’t get credit for something like that.

He’s dyed his hair this shade of brunette that sort of reminds you of roasted chestnuts on a cold, winter day, sitting inside of a cooker outside of your childhood home, baking along with some sweet potatoes your mom had gotten from a farmer’s market nearby. Johnny has this focused gaze attached to the screen of his monitor; there’s a dip in the fronts of his brows, lips tightened into a straight line, and constant switching back and forth from the computer while taking notes down in a book that’s laid open in front of him.

You wonder what’s running through his mind, or well, you’re more interested in what files he has sprawled out on top of his desk.

Truthfully, if it hadn’t been obvious enough, you weren’t quite a fan of Johnny Suh and it’s mostly due to his work ethic. He’d been notorious for his reputation of sleeping around—especially with the opposing side—so it’s hard to convince yourself that he didn’t win the case because of his actual capabilities, but it’s because he pulled some strings.

And Johnny doesn’t put much effort into denying it either.

Albeit deep down, you were a teeny bit envious of his confidence. He struts around the courtroom with ease, and when he presents his position, there’s no staggering in his voice—it’s always crisp and clean, weighted with nothing but credence, and never straying from his initial perspective. It’s never a lack of poise, it’s consistently the look he goes for; from the hand gestures and the furrowed brows, to the rhetorical questions in the end of certain statements that has the speculators and jury sitting at the edge of their seat, Johnny had a talent for performing in the courtroom, but that doesn’t mean anything when the way he gets to the success isn’t ethical.

Just at that moment, his eyes lift from the screen and meet yours.

There isn’t any hesitation when you scramble to grab the remote controller, and the shades drop over the windows instantaneously.

“Fuck,” you mutter underneath your breath, tossing the remote onto your desk and shaking your hands after. What if he thought you were admiring him? Maybe he didn’t see. Yeah. It was for a brief second, and with how close your offices were to each other, it would be common to accidentally lock eyes… right?

Interrupting your thoughts, the office phone rings and it nearly startles the living soul out of you. But before you reach for it, your head tilts to the side curiously because the extension number is familiar—it’s Park Seohyun’s, your boss.

What could she be calling for?

You don’t remember fucking something up—but to be fair, half the times, you never really know if you’ve actually fucked up until someone with steaming ears and a crimson face comes storming in. So… did you do something good? Again, you don’t think that’s right either, because other people would’ve made comments about it.

Deciding to swallow your nerves, you pick up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” Seohyun never fails to be bubbly, and you could never mimic her energy. You definitely had to be born with that kind of enthusiasm. “I have a favor. Hop into my office.”

Leaned back in her leather swivel chair, she had her fingers laced with each other while resting over her stomach. Johnny stands beside you (and you do your best to not look directly at him, especially after that weird staring thing), and you both feel like kids being lectured by parents from how still you are. Her office is huge, probably the size of both yours and Johnny’s combined; with ceiling to floor windows, cases of books that line the perimeter, not to mention the humongous ass couch that practically covers the other half of the room, and her desk was so wide, you estimate about four monitors would fit on there with still additional space for work. That wasn’t even the best part—the view of the city looks almost like a generic lockscreen of a Windows computer, and you’re not even sure why she goes home at night when she basically has a penthouse here.

“As you know, I have a favor.”

“Right,” Johnny retorts, mostly as a filler in the awkward silence. “So… what’s the favor?”

She pulls a box from her purse; square, black and made from a leather material with a lock pad stitched into it, something you’ve never seen before, and she slides the passcode in, then it pops the lid open. A key (a… very small one) sits in the velvety cushion, with nothing else occupying the space with it, and it looks comical. She uses this to open the very top drawer of her desk, and as she pulls using the handle, there’s another box inside, but this time, metal instead of leather, but still black.

What the fuck?

It seems Johnny shares the same thoughts, because he sneaks a glance over at you.

“You see,” Seohyun begins, pressing on the digital keys of the box until there’s a beep at the end and the case hisses open. “There’s a lot of security for this. Which means you understand the importance of it.”

Then, she picks up four manila envelopes and lies on the surface of her wooden top desk. “I have a family emergency to attend to this upcoming week. I’m boarding a flight tonight. So I’m leaving the Hwang v. Yoon case to the two of you.”

“Fuck—”

“The what?”

You and Johnny are sputtering out of shock. The Hwang v. Yoon case is the biggest case that the firm is involved in currently, and the only people involved in it have been Seohyun and Gonghyun. It’s been on every social media platform you could think of; from Facebook to Twitter, TikTok to Instagram—there’s even this weird website for emo/grunge teens or strange kids that like writing fanfic called Tumblr, and whatever that is, it’s discussed on there too.

“What about Gonghyun?”

Seohyun scoffs, closing the drawer and dropping the key back into her special box. Where do you even get a box like that? “He can’t handle this alone. So I’m kicking him off until I come back. I thought about letting the two of you work with him, but his ego is so inflated, it’ll get in the way of our chances of winning. It’s easier if it was just me and him, but seeing that things at home aren’t well, I’m going to need you two to step up to the plate.”

The room goes quiet. The only sounds you hear are the muffled noises of a typical bustling office outside the thick walls of Seohyun’s office, and at first, excitement rushes through your blood because Seohyun thought of you taking over a special, high profile case.

Albeit, another realization gets soaked up, and it’s that Johnny also came to mind, and that because it’s such an important case, the two of you would be… working… many… hours… together.

Maybe you should back out of it—but then again, this is such a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Imagine winning this— it wouldn’t be good for just the law firm, it’d be good for you too. Your name, in articles on these big fancy news websites, perhaps even on new channels, talking about how you, this amazing lawyer, won the Hwang v. Yoon case.

But then you’re snapped back into reality when Johnny leans over to take the envelopes from Seohyun.

If your name is on those platforms, so is Johnny’s.

God, this guy just ruins everything, doesn’t he?

“We’ll take care of it, Seohyun. You can trust us,” he says assuringly, a smile tugging on each corner of his lips with that dazzling gaze. “We’ll be at our best.”

Kiss ass.

If you had the option, you wouldn’t be spending your Saturday night here at work, in one of those conference rooms with a long table in the middle, a big projector that displays on the wall, and a random black leather loveseat couch that lines the one corner in case there’s too many occupants.

Especially since the person who’s accompanying you is Johnny Suh.

There’s probably a lot of people who would kill to be in your position (Hyeri being one of them), but you dread it. Not to be that person, but what’s so special about him anyway? What? He’s tall, has some muscles, long luscious hair that he can slick back with that sultry stare—wait, what?

“Alright, moving on…” From what? You guys just started? It’d been clear with Seohyun that the mornings would be dedicated to other cases, but nights would be considered overtime and where you’d zoom in your focus on Ms. Hwang’s justice. “Let’s take a look at the facts here.”

Johnny slips off his blazer, hanging it on the back of one of the chairs as you’re seated in another, leaning back comfortably with an arm resting on the table. He loosens the first few buttons of his dress shirt before folding up the sleeves, and that’s when you notice a little thing in the inner crook of his elbow—is that a fucking sunflower? Is that what he uses to reel girls in? That he’s soft enough to have a pretty little flower etched onto his gentle, silky and supple—

“Okay,” he says, interjecting into your thoughts with a laser pointer in his hand. He taps on the space bar of his laptop that mirrors what’s on his screen, but then, that’s when you realize what’s on the slides.

There’s a collage of pictures, mostly street, casually walking themed ones, but the common factor was that they were of Yoon Changmin, the man you guys were up against. They were all paparazzi-like photos, which begs the question, how did he get pics like this, and why did he get them?

“What’s the point of this?” you ask, voice laced with nothing but suspicion.

“We gotta get into the mind of the enemy.” You wanna get into the mind of your enemy, too.

You gesture to the one image of Changmin with an arm around his girlfriend and a finger up his nose. “Seems like he’s trying to reach inside of his head instead of us. These are just everyday pictures, Johnny. What’s that going to do for us?”

“Well,” he begins, turning to look at the wall of ‘evidence’. “You see—wait, holy shit.”

Freezing in the midst of reaching for your coffee, your head jolts in the direction of your partner. “What? What is it?”

“Holy shit,” he exclaims, “Hoooooooooly shit. Why didn’t I see this before? This changes everything.”

Furrowing your brows, you’ve given up getting your drink and dropped your hands onto the table. “Tell me, what is it?”

“This is a game changer.”

“Johnny,” you call out sternly, and his eyes link with yours before he instantly points to a particular picture with his red laser pointer.

“Look at that.” There’s pride saturated in his words, but when you look at what he’s indicating, your body slouches in disappointment.

Why the hell was he directing your attention onto Changmin’s thighs? Surely, there’s no denying that they were attractive—you recall that his alibi was at the gym that very night of the crime.

“What? He’s guilty for showing off his toothpick legs?” They were lean, you never said they were muscular.

“No,” he retorts, slightly irritated by your response as he rolls his eyes. “Look at his pants.”

“Okay…”

“They’re jean shorts.”

There’s a pregnant pause, but the expression on your face is so loud it can’t be hidden.

Johnny continues, “That’s a fashion crime.” He says it as if it’s an obvious fact known by many. “Not to mention that it’s fucking raw hem. He should be arrested.”

Suddenly, your opinion of him thinking too much with his heart dissipates because it seems like he’s thinking out of his ass instead. Did he win those cases out of pity? How did this guy even pass the bar? How about law school? How the hell did he even get into law school?

“I don’t think—”

“Listen, alright, just hear me out,” he’s got the palms of his hands resting flat on the surface of the table, doing his best to gain your full undivided attention. “Only assholes wear jean shorts. They flaunt that shit around like they own the place, but they’re horrendous pieces of clothing that should not be on a male’s body. I don’t care what you say, what your opinion is, because that is a fact.”

Puffing your cheeks, you feel at a loss. If Johnny is who you had to get this done, it feels like you’re not going to be finding much evidence any time soon.

“Okay, if… if that’s how you want to play it, then show me the evidence—other than those 2012 cut off denim shorts.”

He reaches over to hit his space bar again, then with a wink and a slide change, he leans closer to you and says with that deep, honeyed voice, “Gladly.”

You hate admitting when you’re wrong.

Ironically, you concede and will confess when you actually are, but it doesn’t mean that you enjoy it. For example, when Hyeri claims that the intern Mark had a crush on you, you quickly waved her off, stating something along the lines of, “I’m too intimidating; there’s better chances of him being scared of me than ever finding me attractive.” And then a week later, you owed Hyeri free lunch at that hip ramen place downtown because Mark had approached your desk that very morning with a bouquet of red roses flowers for you, a cheeky grin glued to his face with pools of hearts in his eyes, and ready to ask you on a date because it was the day after his internship had ended. Naturally, it wasn’t fun rejecting that poor college boy.

But, you won’t say you find Johnny interesting or handsome. Or that there’s potential when it came to possibly (just barely the slightest smidge) that you’d ever consider asking Johnny out. He’s your enemy here, you’ve mentioned that a multitude of times, and you stand firm on that very declaration, despite the fact that sometimes when he gets too close, your breath gets caught in your throat and you feel like you can’t get whatever’s lodged in out.

Albeit it’s not the whole “you guys are gonna end up together” comment that Hyeri makes and resulting in you denying it afterwards, it’s that Johnny might… be a decent lawyer.

He’s not the best one you’ve seen; the stupid revelation he had on the first day working on the case about the jean shorts is evidence for it, but it’s the days following that were slowly changing your perspective on him.

When you said, “He thinks too much with his heart more than with his head,” it was 100% correct.

When meeting with potential witnesses, you recognized that Johnny empathizes with people often; when they cry and start panicking from being overwhelmed, he's quick on his feet to put an arm around them, share reassuring words, and have them back to normal in record’s time.

And, well… you? You’re the one making them cry in the first place.

You don’t want to fully take the blame for being the cause of their tears, but people need to hear what’s happening, and the very detail that they can’t even handle this information probably means they’re not worthwhile as a key witness.

Johnny, of course, thinks otherwise.

He believes that these people should have a voice (although you’ve alluded that they might be more useless than helpful), and putting them on the stand with Yoon Changmin there would change the view of the jury to supporting Hwang Naeri.

“Listen, if we get these people to sign the form, we’d get witnesses and it’ll help Naeri,” Johnny claims, frantically moving his arms annoyingly as he talks, trying his best to express the gravity of the situation, “and maybe, maybe, money wouldn’t be how Changmin wins, but how he loses. We can’t have another person with jean shorts walking on the streets of our city like this—they deserve to go to prison.”

You scrunch up your nose. “Why does this always revert back to the jean shorts?”

“It always has to do with jean shorts,” he snaps back matter-of-factly. “Any straight guy wearing jean shorts with that much goddamn confidence has done some wrong in their lives.”

“Right, but I’m pretty sure that the crimes he did are mainly the reason why he’s being prosecuted against.”

“Jean shorts are the windows to the soul.”

“I’m almost 100% sure that eyes are the windows to the soul, but whatever. If you genuinely believe that the women we met today would benefit our case, then… okay. Let’s bring them to the stand.”

On the contrary to you, Johnny doesn’t have a hard time convincing witnesses to testify. You see the way that he works; those kind eyes directed at the participants, the pools of chocolate were sweet, saturated in nothing but tenderness and warmth, then he does that weird thing where he reaches for their hands and cups them before the words that escapes from his lips are enough to swoon them to stand in front of a courtroom.

Maybe, just maybe, there’s a method to his so-called madness.

Aggression and bluntness don’t work, it seems, because when you’re the one attempting to convince these people to go against the man that had done them wrong, they’re less willing to do it. Something about ‘moving on,’ and ‘not wanting to relive those memories again,’ but if it was you, you’d want justice. Then again, not everyone is like you, and not everyone thinks like you, and spending this abundance of time with Johnny is slowly getting you to ease into that perspective.

So… the initial impression you had of him may have been wrong.

And maybe, just maybe, you’re developing some feelings for him, just as Hyeri predicted.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

His abrupt personal question is enough to have the coffee spill into your mouth to slide down the ‘wrong throat’ because you’re choking, hand on your chest as you’re tackling to regain your breath again and Johnny only stares in disbelief, blinking blankly. “Are… are you okay?”

You glare at him through a hooded gaze. “Well,” you clear your throat once more. “Now, I am.”

“Cool.” He nods, retracting his hand so he could rub your back soothingly, deciding it’s best to stay away. “Are you going to answer my question?”

Quirking a brow, your head tilts slightly in puzzlement. “Why are you asking this?”

Johnny shrugs. “Isn’t it weird that we’ve hung out with each other for a whole week—stayed here for nights and we both don’t know anything about each other?”

Tapping your fingers against the wooden top table, you sigh. Maybe he’s got a point; after all, “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer,” right?

“No, I’m single.”

Johnny’s face suddenly brightens, ears perked, and his body straightens its posture in his seat at this revelation. “Oh, uh, I didn’t know that. You seemed busy in your personal life, so I, uh… was just wondering.” He looked anxious, but you couldn’t pinpoint why. “I, um, I’m single too, by the way, in case you’re wondering.” You weren’t.

The plethora of cardboard and plastic boxes scattered across the table was a representation of the night. It’s been long, exhausting, and messy, mostly because it’s a Friday night, the hearing was on Monday, and the two of you were nowhere near close to having enough to present to the court. In fear of disappointing Seohyun, the two of you agreed to stay over the office for the weekend to cram work for the case. There’s no denying that the atmosphere is weirder on the weekends, especially since, well, no one really comes here on the weekends. Johnny had to use the bathroom earlier and ran into the cleaning lady and she nearly shit her pants because she didn’t think anyone was here, so she had music blasting in her headphones.

Johnny is… interesting. He makes you laugh—or well, want to laugh, but you don’t give him that sense of satisfaction—and he’s smart but in his own weird way. He’s not like the other lawyers you’ve met, or any of the law students you attended University with because he’s more lighthearted and free-spirited than the rest, taking life in strides instead of just overwhelming himself in the abundance of stress that work brings.

He’s entirely the opposite of you.

And maybe you could learn something from the guy, but there’s something in you that brews hatred toward him. Possibility that you resent how easy he makes being a lawyer seem when you’re struggling in your day-to-day life to make things work.

But it’s way too fucking hard when he’s just… like that.

Despite all of that, he’s very generous and kind toward you. On rough days, he delivers your coffee order, the one you always get because he remembers what you asked the intern to get for you the last time, and he’s good at identifying when you’re just having that kind of day. You eventually learn he has a photographic memory (fucking show off), so when he saw that crumpled napkin with scribbles of what you want in that dumb intern’s hand, it wasn’t hard to remember. Which, by the way, is how he’s able to get into the most prestigious school for undergrad, manage to pass the bar so easily, and get into law school effortlessly.

And knowing this information sort of angers you more.

You know this isn’t his fault—he’s been blessed with a trait that people desire, one that you also yearn for, but the lucky ones get handed a lot of things in life. You wonder if he’s the type of guy who wins girls easily after matching with them on dating sites because of this stupid ass ‘photographic memory.’ Does he sleep with them right after? Does it ever get serious?

You shrug your shoulders and shake your head. You shouldn’t even let these strange thoughts haunt you, especially when you don’t even like him.

He’s a spoiled brat who gets everything handed to him on a silver platter.

So you’re left counting the remaining days until the trial so you don’t ever have to work with Johnny Suh this closely again.

Okay, well, it’s evident that bad luck is glued to your side because after you win the Hwang v. Yoon case for your law firm with that asshole, Seohyun is so impressed. So goddamn impressed that she insists that all the high profile cases are to be given to both you and Johnny.

To work as a team.

Together.

Jesus, this is Hell for you.

Surely, the promotion and raise that came along with it was definitely a plus, but it has you wondering if it’s even worth it. He’s been your unspoken enemy since the first day, and although you think you’re pretty forthright about your hatred for this guy, he can’t seem to read social cues.

When you’re pushing the double doors into the conference room the two of you often spend working on cases in, you expect Johnny to be ready for another day. But strangely enough, Johnny doesn’t have his laptop out or any of the notebooks sprawled across the table.

“Um,” you slide the strap of your bag off your shoulder and onto the spare chair. “Did you come late or something?”

He takes in a deep breath like he’s been holding back something. “We need to talk.”

There’s worry inscribed into his features; from the crease in between his brows, to his pursed lips, and eyes soaked in concern, almost like he’s got bad news to share and it has your stomach in knots. Was it that the case was thrown out? It couldn’t be, right? You both worked hard, presented your stance to the point that the jury and the judge were in awe with your findings. Sure, you had to cover Johnny’s mouth right before he was about to go off in a tangent about jean shorts, but overall, it was a good win, a hard one to go back on and pull out the wrongs of it. So what was it?

“I’m quitting our partnership.”

You blink. “What?”

He gestures to the room with his hands as if there’s anything out to reference. “This thing. Our work. The big profile cases. The famous stuff. I told Seohyun that I won’t be doing it anymore and she can revoke the promotion and the raise.”

You’re still not catching on. “… Why?” Was it something you did? Yeah, you weren’t a big fan of Johnny either, but were you so bad that he decided to not go through with the raise because of you?

“Because,” he pushes his blazer back, hands sliding into the front pockets of his navy blue trousers. “There’s a policy put into place. Those who are on the same cases cannot have any personal relations with each other that extend past friendships.”

“We’re not even friends?” With confusion written across your face, your head tilts to the side. “I’m not… I’m not catching on here.”

“I like you.”

Startled, the words you want to say are stolen out of your mouth. You’re left with a mixture of perturbation and bewilderment, uncertain where to go from there because Johnny asked for the removal of both a promotion and additional money that could be so good for his career… and it’s all because he has a crush on you?

“You quit the best thing that could’ve happened to you because you like me?”

“Yeah,” Johnny states calmly, sucking in his cheeks for a brief moment. “Ain’t that romantic?”

You scoff. “No. Absolutely not. You’re insane! Why would you do yourself dirty like that? Use your head, Johnny, you’re constantly thinking with that stupid heart of yours, and hate to break it to you, but it won’t get you anywhere.” Combing your hair with your fingers, you let out a sigh. “Go ask Seohyun for the position back. Say you made a mistake and—”

“I’m not asking her for the position back.”

Johnny doesn’t make any sense to you. “What? Why wouldn’t you do that?

“Because,” he laughs in disbelief, not because he thinks you’re funny. “I’m not going to force myself to work with a girl that I keep falling for. That’s self-inflicting, you realize that, right? You’re amazing, but you can seriously be so dense sometimes.”

“I’m dense? You just told one of the best law firms in the city that you don’t want to work on the important cases anymore because you have a stupid crush on your partner!”

“If we were on a team with more people, maybe it’d be different. But it’s just us two. You think I won’t fall any harder? That’s not easy. Every time I see you working, I swear I could be hopelessly in love with you one day.”

Your heart stops for a second.

This is Johnny Suh you were talking about here. One of the claimed best lawyers in your office, one of the most intelligent people that Hyeri has ever met, and Seohyun evidently backs this up because she’s given him so much recognition for his work. He’s the guy who worked with you to win the Hwang v. Yoon case, he’s the one who brought up the stupid jean shorts that seemed so far-fetched at the time, but they were a crucial detail everyone missed—it so happened that when Changmin bought those dumb shorts, there was evidence of at least one of his crimes in that store from the security cameras.

Any cis-gendered male who wears jean shorts can’t be trusted, according to Johnny.

And candidly speaking? You couldn’t even deny that. Your past two ex-boyfriends both wore jean shorts and the one cheated on you and the other one was caught money laundering.

“Listen,” he begins, interrupting your foggy thoughts. “I’m not asking you to tell me you like me back. I’m telling you because you should know, and that I can’t go on any further without letting you know. I’ll, uh, be in my office. Seohyun said she’d find a replacement for me.”

Hyeri is his replacement.

She’s great company and does a good job of helping you with whatever you need, but that was just it. Hyeri followed you, she never led with you, just as Johnny does. Agreeing with everything you say, mindlessly trailing behind everything you do—Hyeri was smart, but she couldn’t figure out how to think for herself when it came to these bigger cases because she’s never been given such a responsibility. But you couldn’t even blame her because it’s what she was told to do under Gonghyun.

“You said that you think Maeri snatched the bracelet?”

“No, I said if you watched the security video that the jewelry store submitted, it clearly shows that Maeri snatched the bracelet. Not that I ‘think.’ The proof is right there, Hyeri.”

She nods, resuming back to her work on the computer. Truthfully, Hyeri felt more like an assistant than a co-worker, someone to bounce ideas off of and to see from a different perspective. And as much as you hated Johnny, he had decent points. He had ways of making you put yourself into the shoes of people you never thought you were; although the guy was obnoxious, at least he actually was… good at his job.

Deciding you can’t take it anymore when Hyeri asks for the tenth time that hour about your beliefs rather than her own, you abruptly stand from your seat.

“Where are you going?”

“Out,” you reply shortly. “I’ll be back.”

It was just a spontaneous thought. It’s after hours, and although there are some people who stay behind to get some work done, you had your doubts that Johnny would still be here. He seems to have a better grip on that work/life balance thing people talked about (unlike yourself), but it didn’t hurt to check his office, right?

It’s a good thing you went with it. Because right across from yours, there’s Johnny.

There’s one single lamp that shines over the tabletop of his desk, and the other sources of light in his office are from his computer screen and the ones from the city skyline from behind him. It has him seemingly angelic like this, so serene, calm, and collected, only focused on what’s laid out in front of him. The sun has gone down, people have gone home, but Johnny remains, hardworking as always, despite your previous observations that he’s a lazy, unprofessional guy who gets everything handed down to him.

With a knock on his glass door, he flinches, head raising up and eyes meeting yours.

Were his eyes always this sparkly?

Opening the door, Johnny drops the pen in his hand and crosses his arms before leaning back in his seat. “What’s up?”

“You’re here late,” you state the obvious, and Johnny only nods in return, without a rebuttal in sight. “You aren’t normally here late. At least, before the Hwang v. Yoon case.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But Seohyun dropped something on my desk this morning. Wanted to work on it. What brings you here?”

Inhaling in a deep breath of courage, your hands bundle up into a fist by your side. “Please come back.”

Johnny raises a brow. “What?”

“Come back,” you reiterate, this time, it’s less tense and releases with ease. Caving in isn’t usually this effortless to you, but something about Johnny makes you feel… comfortable enough.“Come back and work with me again. Yes, I’m not supportive of how you do things—”

“Then let’s go out on a date.”

You freeze. Legs rooted into the floors of Johnny’s office, you’re left immobile and diffident on how to react next. It wasn’t what you were expecting, although you weren’t quite sure what you were hoping to anticipate, but it most definitely was not this.

“I—”

“I said my terms,” he retorts, shutting the book in front of him before shuffling up from his seat. He’s leaving, you realize, and Johnny’s ready to head home for the night and you’re not sure if you could handle an entire weekend with Hyeri here. “And, I meant what I said. One date, and if it really doesn’t work out, I’ll stay on the case.”

Chewing on your bottom lip anxiously, the next words that come out are out of character for you. “And… what if it does?”

A soft smile tugs from each corner of his mouth. “Then we’ll figure it out from there. Promise.”

This is… awkward. It shouldn’t be, but yet somehow, it remains awkward.

You’ve spent weeks with Johnny before, and those moments were in a room, in the middle of the night, and alone. Hours and hours were dedicated to work, yes, but it was just the two of you and nobody else.

So why is it so weird being in a five Michelin star restaurant with him?

Maybe it’s the atmosphere. The dim lights, the white clothed tables in lieu of the scratched up wooden one back at the law firm, and instead of leather seats, there’s a neutral beige chaise cushion for the dining chair, slightly less comfortable because it doesn’t recline like the one in your office. Instead of an array of photos and evidence disseminated in front of you, there’s a laminated menu with a multitude of options of what to have for dinner.

Johnny gets the steak with mashed potatoes and string beans, and you order something similar but seared salmon for the main protein. The waitress offers wine, babbling on about the age of the red, where the vineyard is located, and the dryness to sweetness—to be honest, you could care less; you’d rather have gin and sprite with a squirt of lime. A couple glasses of that and you can almost guarantee that the night would end with a deep slumber.

Oddly enough, Johnny seems nervous. Ever since he pulled up in his midnight black Audi in front of your apartment complex, he’s been acting strange. He keeps wiping his sweaty palms off the material of his trousers, occasionally swiping off the droplets that fall on the side of his face.

“Are you… okay?” you suddenly ask, adjusting your dress in your seat. Deciding to go with a black silk dress with a slit up the leg and your hair let down, it’s not a look you often sport but since you’re going on a date (one you haven’t been on in quite some time), you figured it would be nice to at least play the part.

“I’m, uh, honestly, I’ve never really asked a girl out before.”

You quirk a brow curiously. “What? You’re telling me you never asked a girl out before?”

He lets out a bashful laugh with a faint nod, making an attempt to swallow his nerves after. “Honestly, I’ve always been asked out and not the other way around. Not to sound like that guy, but I never really had to put effort into trying for girls. They kind of just…”

“—Throw themselves at you?”

He beams. “Yeah! Like that. I don’t really know how to react half the time, but it makes the whole dating scene a little bit easier.” Geez, he called you dense, but he’s over here acting clueless.

Either way, it feels like whatever opinion you had about Johnny remained true. He never had to try when it came to the dating scene, and you could only imagine what that means for work and the relationships he has with the women in your career field.

“Mm, does that usually happen with work too?”

Befuddled, Johnny leans back in his chair. “What do you mean by that?”

With a shrug of your shoulders, you’re poking the meat of your salmon that falls off easily. After the first initial bite, the fish practically melts on impact when it touches the tip of your tongue, smooth like butter and bursting with flavor that couldn’t be described by any common person because it wouldn’t do the salmon justice. Johnny seemed to put a lot into this date, and you’re left pondering what the point of this was. Did he actually like you, or was he trying to get into your head? “Just seems like you get a lot of special treatment.”

“Are you jealous?”

“In what way?” you snap back.

“Are you jealous of me because I’m getting this so-called special treatment that you think I’ve always had, or were you jealous of the girls that seemingly got my attention?”

You’re left without anything to say.

It was a good observation he made because truthfully, you never saw it like that.

In actuality, you often saw Johnny as your rival. He climbed the ladder in the field with ease, and it wasn’t hard to quickly blame his success on the fact that he was a guy in a male dominated industry, but the fact that there’s a possible interpretation for your hatred may be from these feelings you might’ve been harboring for him this entire time… that can’t be it… right?

“I mean, look at where you are now,” you begin, trying to defend yourself. It can’t be true that the reason you’ve been bitter about Johnny was because of the girls that got his attention, and one of them not being you. “You got a high position from—”

“—From hard work,” Johnny interjects with his brows furrowed. “I didn’t get to where I was because I slept around, if that’s what you’re insinuating. I knew you sort of always hated me, but I’ve always admired you. I like your work ethic, I like your style, even though we’re both on opposite spectrums, I like the way you think and I wanted to know what it was like being partners with you. Getting to be on that case with you showed me more than just who you were as a lawyer, but who you were as a person. I like you, but I’m trying to put my finger on why you hate me so much.”

“So you noticed.” Sucking in your cheeks, your eyes trail elsewhere—from the fork that lays beside your plate, to the glass filled halfway with wine, to the little candle that sits in between the two of you that flickers the way he has your heart when he expresses once more how he feels about you.

“Yeah, of course I noticed. If you like someone, it’s kind to miss details like that about them. So… you really hated me because you thought I slept my way to the top, huh?”

“I mean…” shoulders dropping in exasperation, you run your fingers through your disheveled hair. “All those rumors—”

“Again, they’re just rumors. I worked hard to get here, you know. And I’m kind of offended that you thought of me that way.”

You scoff. “They’re rumors, Johnny, it’s kind of hard to ignore all the office gossip when that’s all you hear. Plus, it wasn’t hard to believe either, with the whole flirtatious act whenever you encounter anyone who’s breathing and has a vagina.”

“I wasn’t flirting.”

“You need a book for dummies that elaborates on what’s flirting or not, because Johnny Suh, whatever it is you do with your body language in front of that chick who sits by the front door.”

“You mean Siwoo? The pregnant one who’s married to her highschool sweetheart? Also, how do you not know our receptionist’s name?”

You throw your arms into the air. “How am I supposed to know her name?”

He tilts his head to the side, genuinely baffled. “Do you… not talk to anyone outside of Hyeri?”

Your silence answers his question.

“I… honestly, I don’t know if I should be offended or if I should be honored. You think I didn’t earn anything that I have now, you think that everything I have was handed to me. On one hand, it’s flattering that you think my looks and my bedroom skills could do that but at the same time… I’m offended because you think I’m incapable.”

“I never said you were incapable—”

“But you implied it.”

Hands falling onto your lap, it’s your turn to gulp. His words come shooting at you, but you’re without a shield to protect yourself, and with the new experience of working with Johnny, there comes the realization at times that Johnny is a hard worker. There are some things that he says and does that aren’t like the people you’ve encountered, and being put on new cases with Hyeri only proved it. He’s thoughtful in the sense that whenever you’d bring up your stance on something, he challenges you with what the defense might counter.

Johnny makes you want to be better. Not just against him, but to brush off the dust on your skills and enter into the battlefield of a courtroom to showcase them.

“Well, if you’re staying silent, I just want to say that I tried,” the crinkle in between your brows makes another appearance because Johnny is great at leaving you stunned and confused. “I really like you. I love how your head works, and I wanna be with someone like that but I also can’t be with someone who doesn’t respect me.”

Why is it that when you’re in that conference room with him, you’re not afraid and never running out of things to say, but now you’re empty handed?

“I’ll pay for dinner. Grab you an Uber. I honestly thought I could overlook those things, and maybe your perspective for me has changed, but I could see it on your face. It’s the same.”

After that date with Johnny, his life turns back to normal.

Yours? Not so much.

Candidly speaking, part of you missed working with Johnny. You were wrong about him, so wrong, and even when you wanted to apologize at the dinner for what you thought of him, the pride in you was like a vicious plague that blackened your insides, preventing you from ever saying those words.

Oftentimes, you’d still be able to sneak a glimpse of him in his office with that same look on his face—full of concentration and nothing else in his mind other than the task at hand.

The cases you have with Hyeri entail a head like Johnny’s. Someone who could question you, to protest against your stance when there could be flaws in it. It feels like deja vu each time you think about it, each time you open a new case file and Hyeri sits there, perched in that seat beside yours, eyes sparkling with what you have in mind next, instead of what she has going on in hers.

Although you’ve tried convincing yourself that maybe, just maybe, what you feel for Johnny is purely professional but when you see him standing by the water cooler with a couple of your coworkers, eyes mimicking the moon crescents in the skies, replicating the ways his lips curl in elation—it was beginning hard to believe that it was all platonic feelings.

So maybe you should be bold for once. Pull off that exterior that displays you as someone who isn’t just independent and assiduous, but someone who’s stubborn and aggressive in getting what they want—and not in a good way.

This time, you’ll show it in a good way.

Or at least, you’ll try.

Johnny is a routine kind-of-guy—he grabs an iced americano every morning at the coffee shop downstairs at the edge of the street, he does his daily 11:00AM drop-by at the water cooler to refill his Hydroflask (which was his prized possession, by the way), and parked in the same exact spot in the parking garage of your building, despite there being an abundance of places he could choose.

That’s why you decide to stand by his car after work that day. Bouncing on the balls of your feet, hands shaking because it’s your turn to feel anxious. That blazer that once fit so comfortably in the morning suddenly feels tight and hot in the afternoon, and the weather hasn’t even changed. Your bag slung over your shoulder weighs ten times heavier than an hour ago, and you can’t stop your jaw from tightening.

Before your thoughts could spiral off all the possibilities of what the outcome may be when you tell Johnny how you feel, he’s already standing there, feet away from you with that dip in the fronts of his brows that you want to smoothen out the crinkles of with the pad of your thumb.

“Hi,” you greet, faint and peculiarly different from your other approaches. “Um, I just… was waiting for you.”

“Hey,” Johnny says back, the first few buttons of his shirt already unraveled, his blazer hung over his forearm and the sleeves are rolled up. “I see that. What’s up with you?”

“Um,” your leg was jittery, hard to control so you spat everything you had to say out as fast as you could before he could see right through you. “I just wanted to apologize. For everything. You’re admirable, kind, and I wish I inhabited those same characteristics you have. I think professionally, you’ve got great ideas, one that could be implemented into mine and what we did together for that case was just… yeah. We could do something big if we put our heads together.”

Johnny nods in agreement. The relationship between you two work-wise was obvious, he knew that much. “And what about… outside of that?”

“I like you,” you choked, barely getting the words out. “More than just coworkers, um, I guess, more than friends but I’m not really sure since you walked out on our first date,” inhaling in a deep breath of courage, you continue on, “and I don’t know how you feel now after I’m standing before you like this, asking for another chance and that I’m sorry.”

He stares at you blankly, and it leaves you unsure whether or not he accepts your apology. “You know why we ended that date early.”

“Well,” you start again, “can we… start over and try again? I promise I won’t tempt you to end the date early this time.”

And with that, there’s the signature smile that Johnny sports that swoons girls, makes their knees weak, and heart clench but this time… it’s just for you.

“I’d really like that.”

[writings-of-a-hufflepuff]

Prompt List #10 - Plus Size/Fat character

For the sake of this prompt list Character A is always plus size/fat. I mostly made this because I think we need more plus size reader inserts and character fics. For those who want to write them but aren’t sure of ideas, don’t know where to start I figured this might be worth while. 

I’d love to see more people create plus size/fat character specific prompt lists tbh.

All my Prompt Lists

Character A is grabbed/physically assaulted as a joke/way of laughing at their body. Character B is the one person who steps in.

“I’m too heavy...baby…”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

Character B digging their fingers into Character A’s hips, soft waist, stomach, sides etc. enjoying the tactile nature of their partner.

+ (You may like to add to this) Character A pulling away from Character B due to feeling self-conscious/uncomfortable with Character B touching those parts of them they’re usually admonished for.

Character A is forced into wearing something tighter than normal, maybe they haven’t had time to do their laundry and it’s the only thing they have left, or it’s a last minute formal event and the only dress they have is something they bought and never felt confident wearing. Character B is there to remind them every step of the way how lovely they are.

“Has it ever occurred to you that I find all of you attractive? That i’m not ignoring anything, not picking and choosing parts of you that I like and ignoring those that I dislike? That I like all of you?”

Character A walks past a mirror and feels unusually (or not) self-conscious, it puts a damper on their mood. Character B takes note and aims to correct this.

Victorian AU: Character A has spent their life being told they’re unmarriable, unlikely to find a spouse because of their size, that they don’t fit the mold. Character B has a few choice words for Character A’s parents and a proposal.

Victorian AU: Character B soothing the marks left on Character A’s skin from wearing an ill fitting corset in an attempt to conform to societal expectation. Lots of tender love and care.

Character A decides to wear a swimsuit to the beach/pool for the first time in years, they’re self-conscious but trying not to show it. Character B is just there hyping Character A up, showering them in love and appreciation because damn!

Character A is confident, feeling it, has worked so hard on their body confidence. Character B isn’t quite there yet with their own. Character A is here to remind Character B that they are wonderful, lovely, deserve to feel confident and good in their body.

Character B is proudly showing off their partner Character A, not afraid to show everyone how much they love them.

(You could add this) Character B is asked why they’d even be with Character A, derogatory comments are made about Character A’s size. Character B is not having it. This is their baby and they love them.

“I don’t want you to hide from me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to, ever.”

“I love you for you, for all of you. I don’t think you’d be pretty if you were smaller, I don’t think you’d look better if you lost a few pounds. You’re all I want and all I need, just as you are.”

Character B takes comfort in just cuddling with Character A. In resting their head against Character A’s soft stomach, wrapping their arms around their waist/hips.

Character A has begun distancing themselves from Character B as their insecurities take over and they worry Character B is bored of them or no longer attracted to them. Character B is determined to set the record straight

“I’m not asking you to compete with anyone, you don’t need to. You’re the best person for me, the only person for me. I think you’re the most beautiful/handsome/attractive/etc. Person i’ve ever met. I don’t want them. I don’t want anybody else.”

Soft kisses to the soft rolls of a soft stomach

Soft kisses to the soft dips and curves of hips and love handles

“I love your double chin. I love your round cheeks. I love you. I love how your cheeks dimple when you laugh.”

Kisses to stretch marks, trailing fingers over the marks in Character A’s skin.

“You’re so soft.”

Character B is kind of obsessed with Character A’s butt

Soulmate AU: It’s terrifying having a soulmate, growing up to believe that they’ll reject you, that your body will disgust them. Character A is petrified of meeting their soulmate, scared they’ll be rejected, that they won’t be attractive enough. The moment they meet Character B those fears are washed away.

“I love your stomach, have I ever told you that?”

Character A gets dressed up for the first time, Character B is a little bit starstruck

Character A takes Character B with them to go clothes shopping. Character B is having the time of their life seeing all the different outfits.

Alternatively, Character A can’t find anything that fits right/they feel good in and is getting really down. Character be is here to save the day and change their perception.

1980s/70s/60s/90s AU: Character A (fem. presenting) works in a male dominated office, she is constantly dealing with the day to day sexist comments added to that are the comments about their body/shape/size. Character B usually works out of office, but for the first time they’re in house long enough to notice. They decide to put a stop to it.

Mob/Mafia AU: Character A isn’t what people expect a mob boss's favourite gal/guy/person to be like, too sweet, too soft, too big. But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re the favourite and no one can say a bad word about them.

Character A has been in past abusive relationships where they’re shamed for what they eat. Character B is here to make sure they eat what they want and don’t feel bad about it, they refuse to let Character A fall into self-destructive patterns.

Character A is soft, sweet, runs a bakery, (massively cliché i know), character B is rough around the edges but melts around character A.

“I’m not like other girls/guys/people you’ve dated. I...look at me? I don’t look anything like them. How can you...I don’t...I don’t understand why you’d want to date me?”

“I’m not your type.” “Who says?”

Character A poses for Character B nude for a life drawing session

Character B is always drawing character A in their sketchbook when they’re not looking. Character A finds the sketches.

Character B tries to write poetry about Character A, it’s bad, but it’s also sweet.

“I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to be hidden away like some sort of dirty little secret. I can’t… I won’t.”

[maschotch]

I know I'm super late on commenting on the scene with hotchs worst qualities but the anon talking about how they categorized hotch as sexist made me want to bring it up again lol.

Like you said, the show has a lot of casual sexism that has to be kind of excused sometimes but it strikes me as so odd that the writers would point out this one specific instance and imply hotch is sexist instead of the many other times on the show.

Like. I love them but Derek and Rossi have way too many sexist moments on the show. Like just plain womanizing or objectifing or slut shaming or anything else. And as a woman it doesn't bother me too much, you kind of have to expect a bit of that from an early 2000s crime show, but it does strike me as odd that the writers would choose to make Hotch the one called out for sexism.

I'll also admit that I'm very very biased because I am a Hotch Girl™️ lol but I don't get him being sexist. I know Emily said it because he didn't trust her as much as the rest of the team, but it's very clear he trusts Penelope and JJ a lot, even Elle before Emily. I think the writers were trying to point out how Emily viewed hotch and how there relationship was weird but it still bothers me a little lol like how is that man sexist.

I can appreciate the writers giving him some character improvement, like going after that one case because he respects and trusts JJ and saying nobody "asks for it" or not to call a r*pe victim lucky and all that but I will never understand that dialouge with the team.

As for the rest of them, dereks comment about him being a drill Sargent makes a little sense but the other two were just. Really wrong if not kind of mean lol. Don't get me startedddd on how wrong the bully comment was. I know you've talked about this scene a lot but I was curious on how legitimate you think the things the team says are

Love being offended on my boring white man's behalf <3

yeah honestly i think that comment is more about emily and his relationship w her at the moment than an actual valid criticism. he still doesnt trust her yet so maybe its easier for her to think that its a general thing rather than admitting he doesnt like her specifically. plus this is right on the heels of jj and hotch ganging up on her and forcing her on the spot with the question of “how come none of this gets to you” like its a less than subtle way of saying “mind your business and dont fucking worry about it.” its an attempt to maybe give him second thoughts when he starts to doubt her—why would he be suspicious unless he didnt trust women???🤔

and tbh i think he knows it too. like i dont think this one bothered him too much bc he knows why shes saying it… he cant bring himself to feel bad for making her feel distant when he still doesnt trust her. hes not sorry for questioning her or doubting her bc she hasnt proven herself in his eyes yet.

tbh i dont think anything the team says is accurate lmao. hes clearly not a bully. i dont even think jj means it necessarily, but its not the first time she’s thought it. hes not even much of a drill sergeant? hes “strict” ig but he does all their paperwork for them, reaches out when one of them is struggling w smth (he stops trying to help so directly after this for a while.. almost like he’s afraid of being overbearing or tyrannical… of being a bully), lets them goof off and have their fun, etc. there are definitely worse bosses who are way more tough and by-the-book. and honestly i dont think derek meant it that way either: i think he was referring to how pushy he can be sometimes—like now when he’s urging them all to name his worst qualities. i think thats what he’s trying to get at anyway

and i almost like it more that none of them quite mean what they say? bc this IS him crossing a line, forcing them to come up with critiques and insult him. his own self doubt and insecurities are getting in the way of being the leader they all know he’s capable of. they scramble to find the closest thing to mind. for jj its the way that she feels small. for morgan its the way hes worried ab hotch demanding for his question to be answered. for emily its ab her own fears and frustrations from him not trusting her. i think it says much more about all of them than it does about him. but i dont think hotch would ever see it that way. he’s gonna take everything to heart—just another type of failing to look out for

[ladyhindsight]

Yes, First Crusade routes doesn't align with place where Idris should be. If I would want to write fix-it fic. I would move Idris.

You are right. Imagine you are 1000 years old warlock and some nephilim teens try to boss you around. I don't understand how can teens judge and punish downworlders for crimes. When they don't reach legal adulthood yet. Why downworlders care about peace with shadowhunters anyway? Clare made all downworlders overpowered in comparion with nephilim. It's ridiculous how weak shadowhunters are, and Clare want us to believe they hold authority over downworlders?

Good point with re-building of Alicante. It isn't easy thing to build a house. I also wondered about their clothing and who make it. Who sew hunting and ceremonial clothes?

There are Waylands who did smithing as trade and Wrayburns who own shop with weapons. Therefore there is some textual evidence to support the idea of families with traditional trades outside demon hunting. I can imagine in history the city was run by women. Women didn't activelly fight (how Clare stated, but then she made to fight women in 19th century).

I can imagine men were focussing on fighting and women did all trades, maintaining city, sewing, food production. It would be very interesting fic to write about shadowhunter women in history, who builded Alicante as architects, designed canal system and public baths, women-only guilds of different trades. History was sexist, but shadowhunters were in different position than rest of humanity. They fight eternal war and need everybody to work towards their goal. I have no idea how it work now, when everybody fight.

Speaking of eternal war. I was very disappointed with Clare and her writing regarding the more grim parts of nephilim's life. I feel like the war with demons, keeping world safe from them doesn't look like big deal in books? Forbidden romance of Clary and Jace is more important than war. I'm sure Clare wanted to write it as serious issue, but she really failed with keeping the stakes high and actually showing the contrast of beauty and pain of life. Shadowhunter's life experience and culture is unique, they are living for 1000 years in constant war and death is surrounding them from all sides, Clare still portray them as more or less normal teenagers.

When in reality they don't even have hope to win the war. There is no winning, nobody can stop demons from entering the world. They can just fight and die to slow the process. I don't think they can maintain this forever. I think the demons will win sooner or later. She also missed the opportunity to show the other side and what the demons think. Princes of Hell must have some strategy. I don't remember shadowhunters ever actually think about it. Creating distrust and hate between shadowhunters and downworlders would be my priority number one, if I was demon trying to win war. Yet nobody seem to notice or think about possible motives and strategies of demons.

Shadowhunter training doesn't even sound difficult. If I remember correctly Clary didn't train very hard in books. I remember it was one of the most disappointinng things when I read the books. Clare made killing demons and training so easy. How is Jace (and Emma) best fighters out there? They are both teenagers and Clare try to tell me they are best shadowhunters?

I'm curious about Alicante pastime activites. There is no electricity, what shadowhunters who live in Idris do in their free time? I think maybe hunting demons for sport in forests around Alicante? Training with others in public arena? I think lack of describtion of activities people can do in the city is one of problems which contribute to shallowness of Alicante. Is there theatre in Alicante? If not what do you do in evening? I remember Clare said something about balls.

I like how Clare switched traditional roles of men and women with Iron Sisters and Silent Brothers. Maybe Abigal can still be alive. I think there isn't any textual evidence against it. I had headcanon about sisters and brothers and how they age. But Clare ruined it with her information later. :D I think she miss opportunity with connection of shadowhunters and fire element. Fire seem to be very importnat, heavenly fire, true nephilim forms burning down. I would point to their connection with fire more.

My headcanon is the Iron sisters and Silent brothers go through special rituals to enhance the heavenly fire in their veins. Becoming less and less human over time. Fire slowly eat their mortal bodies which become only a shell for their spirit. Until their soul can't be hold inside body anymore and it just shed it like butterfly shed chrysalis, their body burn down in fire and their spirit is free to fly away. I think it would be interesting if the community of Iron sisters and Silent brothers celebrate their deaths as the end of transformation, death being symbolical beginning of new life or more accurately - new existence.

Yes, sadly Clare dig her own grave. She made SH world so small and shallow. She could put some worldbuilding into vampire and werewolf culture, more thought out fearies and build the nephilim culture and history before she start to write the books. What's the point to have many different races when she doesn't do anything with them. The Circle and Cohort plots both felt very forced to me. Creating nephilim civil war between different factions in response to creation of portal in 19th century would feel like real conflict.

Thank you. :) I'm glad you like it.

It’s a general theme in the series that the sense of proportionality is completely off in every facet. You can see just from the world-building alone how little Clare cared about her own fantasy world and developing it. Instead, in the beginning especially, it’s more of a backdrop to a romance with fantasy elements in it. Clare’s mindset seems to sort of reflect her fanfiction days, which now shows in the published series. Also there’s this clique type of aspect to the main characters, a group everyone wants to be part of and be liked by, similarly how Clare herself belonged to a similar fanfiction clique before becoming a published author. It may be too much speculation, but going back to that, these aspects seem to somewhat reflect one another.

There’s that weird thing with the fact how the Nephilim women weren’t taught to fight because it was omitted from the later edition of City of Bones. Like you said, the Nephilim lived and still live an isolated live from the rest of the world, so how was their history equally sexists as the mundane one? Considering that they are fighting a war with no end. There was a female shadowhunter from the very beginning, Abigail, and from what I’ve understood the second pair of parabatai were also women. So there’s a gap there too.

Sometimes fighting and killing demons seems to be rather easy when it doesn’t serve a purpose like one of the characters getting hurt because reasons. It seems as if it isn’t that big of a deal so it wouldn’t loom over their lives. Beauty and pain of life are never true in Clare’s writing, it rather pretends they are, but there isn’t really lasting pain of loss. I’m not saying that characters dying and other characters grieving isn’t that, but what was really lost now that Max, Robert, Livvy, Hodge or anyone even slightly bigger character has died? What remains unchanged forever now that they are gone?

Beauty and pain of life would’ve been Clary having such an amazing friend as Simon and then losing Simon when he lost his memories—Clary having to let Simon go to pursue his mundane life and her the Nephilim one. It would’ve been Tessa having two great loves but able to only have one, because Jem would’ve become a proper Silent Brother, bald and scarred and forever silent. It would’ve been Emma and Julian dying because of the true Nephilim form, dying like the others like them have died and not getting a convenient way out of it. Okay, the last one might be a bit harsh considering they are the main couple and there needs to be some sort of happy ending in these books. 😂

It’s weird also that there isn’t this big Nephilim Hero type of a character, an older Shadowhunter whose skills are almost legendary because of the years of experience and training. Instead it’s just a couple annoying teenagers. What even? You’ve made the Nephilim world far more interesting, meaningful, and detailed in just couple messages than Clare has done in all of her writing. And she isn’t coming even close.

[lilacprincessofrecovery]

A Stark Halloween Party // Tony Stark x Plus Size Reader

Word Count: 1788 Warning: Light insecurity

There's this one girl. She wasn't a girl. She was a woman. She was bigger than other women. She was different. She loved herself. That's what drew big time tech billionare Tony Stark to her. He liked that she was confident. She was sometimes sarcastic under her breath when she thought no one could hear her. Tony realized that she was very similar to him. Tony didn't treat her like he treated Pepper. Pepper had actually decided to go to a law firm instead of working with Tony.

He knew y/n would be slower than Pepper in heels. He would only order her to stand beside him and write his work notes while he was in his lab. She would make him laugh. That wasn't easy for him since the New York incident. He loved to see her every day at 10am. Being confident was a great thing to be around Tony Stark.

Another thing about him, Tony always loved parties. No disaster would get him down when it came to a celebration or charity. Halloween was a big shen-dig for him. He was a man who liked costumes, too. He made everyone's costumes better yet he had someone else make the costumes; not that he didn't have an idea of the costumes but he couldn't sew. He decided after the computer generated the costumes to go and switch them up himself and give everyone Tony Stark appointed costumes.

He had called everyone in the compound to the main conference room. Everyone was surprised that Tony called everyone since there was nothing on the news or on the tv monitors hanging around the place, lately. He explained that he wanted to throw a Halloween bash. He started giving everyone their costumes and that their outfits will be sent to them when they get made. It was 2 weeks until Halloween. He could do it. He even thought about making them dress up as each other but after he chuckled about that he decided to go with traditional costumes.

Tony named off announcing the costumes explaining he used a generator so they won't guess he chose legitimately to give him and y/n similar matching costumes. or get annoyed if they didn't like the costumes he picked.

Steve. Sailor.

Natasha. Angel.

Y/n. Princess.

Clint. Ghost Face.

Thor. Pro Wrestler.

Peter Parker. Vampire.

Sam. Police Officer.

Scott. Devil.

Rhodey. Storm Trooper.

Wanda. Jessica Rabbit. (Mostly because of the hair)

Vision. Michael Myers.

Bucky. Werewolf.

Happy. Superman.

Loki. Plague Doctor.

and himself. Prince Charming.

It was a bit harder than he thought to give them all costumes. They all practically live in costumes. He chose the most ironic costumes he could. He however made sure he and y/N were matching. He wouldn't tell he didn't generate the costumes. Only FRIDAY knows.

Once everyone got their costumes, they're of course was arguements of why they got the costume they got. Tony rolled his eyes. "Deal with it." He smiled at y/N and went and left to go to his office. He ordered a famous designer to create the costumes except the princess one. He wanted to design that one himself.

"I can't believe I'm even coming to this party," Loki complained.

"Your face will be covered, Brother," Thor responded.

Loki groaned.

"I am stronger than any wrestler," Thor thinks. "I do not trust technology."

Steve looked at Natasha. "I considered joining the marines. I preferred to be an army soldier though."

Natasha was in shock and crossed her arms. "I am no angel. I would rather be a ninja."

Steve chuckles, "Tony's not going to change his mind."

Natasha rolled her eyes, "I blame the computer more than him."

Wanda looked to Steve and Natasha, "My costume is the most sexist outfit..."

Vision looks at her with a soft smile, "I would love to see you in that costume."

Wanda then forgets all her worries about being so sexy and caresses his cheek, "You ok with your costume babe?"

Vision nods, "I will wear whatever is given. I haven't ever celebrated Halloween before."

Wanda smiles, "Ok."

Vision tilts his head, "Who is Michael Myers?"

Wanda calmly describes the psycho to him.

Vision thinks, "I see..." He said that a lot.

Scott looks to Clint, "I'm just glad to be a part of this team."

Clint nodded, "I was going to take my kids trick-or-treating this year..."

Scott laughed, "Well maybe it won't be on actual Halloween."

Clint nodded, "Hope so." He wasn't too fond of his costume. The devil? Really? He disapproved.

Natasha looked at Clint, "Really? you think you got it bad? I've never worn a dress before. A white one at that."

"Computers aren't against you," Happy interrupted Nat and Clint.

Happy liked the idea of being Superman. Finally, he is a superhero like everyone else around him.

Happy looked at Peter who was over excited for being invited to his first Avenger/Tony/"Adult" party. "Are you alright kid?"

Peter nods and flops down on the couch. "Oh yeah. I am excited! I also love that Tony is making our costumes. He always makes me great costumes. You think I can invite MJ? and/or Ned? Do you think Mr. Stark would mind?"

Happy shrugged, "I don't think he would mind."

Bucky was quiet standing in a corner not caring either which way. but trying to think of what a werewolf costume would look like.

Rhodey thought a storm trooper would be cool. Star Wars is a classic afterall.

Sam was neutral about his outfit. He didn't care one way or another about being a police officer. He was trying to imagine himself in it. He could be a police officer. He loved helping people and saving the day. He felt like a police officer anyway. Just with the metal wings.

y/N was being quiet. She was worried now that her costume wouldn't fit once Tony gives it to her. Talk about embarassing. She hurriedly rushed up to her room to avoid anyone else. She wasn't an insecure person since middle school. She was surprised her confidence was currently faltering.

"Looks like the computer thinks you and I should match," She bumps into Tony.

"Tony... I didn't see you... sorry," y/n told him.

"Are you alright?" Tony arched his brow.

"I was wondering if... maybe I could pick my own costume. I mean I'll still be a princess... I just..."

"What are you afraid of... you don't want to match with me?"

"Tony... I'm not feeling well. I am going to my room," She left.

"Hmm... hey... y/N, wait!" Tony didn't understand why she wasn't happy or glad they matched.

She looked in the mirror and immediately went to bed after sighing loudly. She needed to get her mind off of the party. She wasn't even happy that she was even invited to one of the biggest shen-digs of the year.

She was very quiet during her work the following days. Tony was concerned. He had FRIDAY keep an eye on her for him. She was just anxious and didn't try to keep up with him anymore. She wasn't even wearing heels anymore.

The costumes came in from the designer. Tony already had everyone's measurements so he had sent them out. He didn't have y/n's so he tried scientifically to decide the size of her costume. She would never tell him or let him near her with a measuring tape. She would rather disappear than have ANY of the Avenger's Family know her size, especially Tony. She had a crush on her boss. Who wouldn't? He was Tony Freaking Stark. Tall, dark, handsome, rich, smart, and a superhero.

Everyone is glad how their costumes turned out. They fit just right and were amazing. Tony definitely appreciated the styles and the designs worth every penny. Everyone was happy with their costumes.

The night of the party y/n didn't come to the party hall. He went to her room and knocked on the door. She was crying on the edge of her bed with the dress in her lap, makeup running down her cheeks. "Why aren't you dressed?"

"I can't fit it."

"W... did you try it on?" She shrugs then sighs and shakes her head. "No..."

Tony just stared at her. "O....k. Come on I'll help you. If I have to wear poofy sleeves you have to wear the poofy dress."

She blushed nodding and stood up and he helped her dress into her costume, sucking in her stomach as much as she could so he doesn't see her 'girth'.

As a Prince and Princess, Tony and the reader smiling

"You look sexy in that costume," Tony smiled softly at her.

She blushed deep, "You're drunk and that's inappropriate Mr. Stark..."

"Call me Tony. Please... You've been here for 6 months... You're always with me. You know me better than anyone... You have pretty hair, y/n... and such soft, delicate figure... You are so beautiful. Now will you come downstairs and be with me at the party?"

She giggled, "We are at the party."

He smiled, "I made sure we matched."

"What...really?"

He nodded, "I wanted to be with you. I chose all the costumes. The generator was just me. Don't tell." He laughed. "You are my date on purpose."

y/N's eyes widened, "You wanted me to look like a giant marshmallow?"

Tony looked offended, "I wanted you to be mine."

"Wait... like me... and you?"

"Me and you..."

"What why? I'm not as hot as the other women you..."

"NEVER say you are less than anyone else. Where's the y/N I am used to that doesn't care what others think about how she looks? and Especially bimbos from my past. They don't matter. It's the past. This is the future." He takes her hand and puts a palm against her palm and smiles down at her.

" You know... you are such a catch. I'm attracted to you and all your beauty and snark. Yeah, I notice you. You have an old timey type of beauty like a princess... and I am your Prince. Well, I would call myself a King. You do everything for me. You know me better than anyone has ever..."

"He is so egotistical," Bucky said.

Tony rolled his eyes. "She is a Queen. My queen; not a princess."

Steve smiled soft. "She is sweet as can be. Princess was a perfect outfit for her. She better watch out for him. He will corrupt her." He laughs.

y/n grinned wide at Tony insecurities all gone and leans up and kisses him. "My Tony?"

"My y/N..." Tony kisses back passionately.

Everyone claps.

[libraryofloveletters]

Ok awesome so I kinda want an angsty young to present thing with hotch and the reader? (If that even makes sense) Like hotch was a bit older than her but they went to law school together? And she was always sorta bratty and sneaky but he loved her anyway? And like a past scene with him bailing her out of jail because she got in a fight and then present she gets mad at the unsub and he has to 🌌discipline🌌 her? Sorry if you don't understand or don't want to do it, and thank you for your time!

Let’s Do It Again  

Aaron Hotchner x Reader 

Warnings: Fem!reader, cursing, use of the word “slut”, mentions of prostitution, being in jail, illusions of sex/hooking up, a little steamy making out.

Category: Angst

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Hopefully I've written it the way you liked hun! 

*Bolded Italics are flashbacks*

----

15 years ago. 

That’s when you met Aaron Hotchner. He only had a year left of law school while you had just started that year. He was the TA in your ethics of justice class, he always left snarky remarks on your papers even if you got an A. You were tired of his sarcasm so you went to go see him. 

“Come in” he called from the other side of the door. You walked in and shut the door behind you, 

“Y/n, what can I-” 

“What’s your problem ?” 

He looked up and nodded towards the chair in front of his desk, you sat down. “Is something wrong?” he asked, tapping his pen on the inside of his palm. “What’s with the comments on my papers? There’s literally nothing wrong with them. You give me an A and then write about how I haven't figured out how to write it properly. How does that make sense?” Aaron laughed. 

Is this guy seriously fucking laughing right now ? 

“I wondered how long it would take for you to come see me. The first time was a mistake, I thought your paper was Mr. Shelby’s and I meant to scribble it out but I forgot. When I saw your face, I had to keep doing it. It was too funny not too” He told you. You weren't sure if you should laugh or be embarrassed, you just yelled at your TA because he made a mistake.

“Okay well.. stop that shit” you picked up your bag and walked out before he could say anything else to you. 

From that day on, you and Aaron developed a strange friendship. You fought constantly but you supported and helped each other whenever you could. 

The two of you worked together at the BAU. He was the unit chief and your name was up for a position on the team. You had forgotten that you applied, but when you got the call, you accepted the position without even questioning it or asking for details. 

You walked in on your first day to be greeted by a brightly dressed woman. “Oh! You must be y/n! I've heard so much about you!” She gushed as she walked you up to the unit chief’s office. She introduced herself as Penelope, you automatically knew you’d like her.

“Really ?” you looked at her, “from who?” you asked. 

“Well, the boss man of course!” She walked you to the door, knocking on it before opening it. The name on the door read Aaron Hotchner 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Aaron was going to be your new boss ? You’re in for a hell of a ride. 

“Sir, the new agent is here” she smiled, letting you step in before stepping out herself. “Y/n, good to see you again” He smiled at you from his desk. “Aaron” you nodded before sitting on his desk. “Still hate chairs huh?” he chuckled, making you roll your eyes. 

You were in his office watching him mark papers. You wanted to see your mark before you left for the holidays so he told you to come with him and that he would mark yours first. You paced back and forth in his office, moving things around and flipping through the other papers. 

“These suck major balls. I feel bad that you’ve got to mark these” 

“Yeah, yours is the worst.” 

The two of you chuckled. “Can you sit down? I can’t focus with you moving around constantly” you rolled your eyes at him “yeah whatever” 

You moved your bag off the chair and went to sit down

“y/n! not there!” 

Your ass had already hit the floor, “WHAT THE FUCK DUDE!” 

“Yeah, that chair is broken” he said, trying to hold back his laughter. “Fuck you Aaron” you rolled your eyes, laying back on the floor. “I know you want too but this isn't the time darling” 

His eyes were on the paper, he couldn't see the blush his words brought to your face.

----- 

3 weeks into your job at the BAU and you’re undercover at the bar. You just happened to fit the unsub’s type and somehow Hotch convinced you to go undercover. You’re sitting at the bar flirting with the unsub when he asks you to join him in the bathroom. You mentally groaned, you glanced over at Derek who gave you a nod before you walked off. 

You were in the hallway with him, he walked past the bathroom door. “Hey, you passed the bathroom” you shouted to him, he tugged on your arm and pulled you out the backdoor. You really hoped that Derek and Aaron were out there. 

“F.BI! Put your hands up!” Aaron shouted as Derek tackled him. You stepped over to Spencer who had a jacket waiting for you, “thank you bubba” you smiled at him as he held the jacket for you to put on. Aaron glanced over to you when you called Spencer bubba

Back at the station, you were sitting at the desk as Derek pushed the unsub into the interrogation room. 

“You’re up” Aaron looked at you, 

“Didn’t I do enough tonight ?” you got up and walked to the room. 

“Hello beautiful” the unsub smiled at you, you pushed back the urge to throw up. “It’s actually agent l/n” you said as you sat down, he nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. You're too pretty to go to a bar dressed like a slut” 

“Tell me something” you looked over at him

“Anything darling” he leaned forward. 

“Why’d you do it? They were innocent” he sat there for a minute, taking in what you said. “They were worth nothing, selling their bodies and for what? They’re nothing but a bunch of sluts” he spat. You nodded and chuckled, “what’s so funny agent?” he looked up at you. 

“Just like your momma right?” you asked him, he looked at you confused. 

“Oh you didn’t know? All those nights where she left you to go to work, she was, what did you say? oh yes “selling their bodies and worth nothing” Do you know what I think ? I think that you’re just a sexist son of a bitch that isn’t worth the air he breathes” you smiled at him sweetly before getting up. His face was expressionless, “You’re just like them too agent l/n, a slut that’s worth nothing. I’m sure you only got your position by sleeping with someone” 

You were tired and angry, you weren’t in the mood for his shit. “Shut up” you mumbled. “Oh did I hit a nerve agent ? Why don’t you go relieve some stress with agent Hotchner ?” You looked up at him. 

“What did you say?” 

“You heard me agent” 

You couldn’t handle his attitude, you picked up the chair and threw it at him. Aaron walked in “enough. y/n, get out” you rolled your eyes and pushed passed Aaron. 

You had been helping Spencer pack up the evidence boxes. “I’ve got it bubba, go get something to eat. I’ll put these away and come join you.” you picked up the box from the table, “are you sure?” Spencer asked you before picking up his jacket, you nodded and walked out of the conference room and into the storage room. 

“Y/n, what the hell was that?” Aaron asked you as he walked into the storage room, shutting the door behind him. “What the hell was what?” you asked, pushing the boxes up onto the shelf, “you know exactly what I'm talking about, this is exactly why I had to bail you out years ago” 

---

“I want my phone call!” you shouted at the cops, “I know my rights! I’m a lawyer!” They didn’t listen to you, so you did the logical thing and kept yelling. Eventually, they got fed up of your yelling so they let you have your phone call. You called Aaron even though you knew he’d be pissed. You were sitting in the holding cell for what felt like eternity, “L/n! bail’s been posted” the cop called as you stood up. 

“Hey Hotch” you smiled at him, your heels were in your hands and your hair was a mess. To be completely honest, you were still kinda tipsy but you weren’t going to tell him that. “Stop smiling, let’s go y/n” he took your shoes from you and walked towards the door, opening it for you. 

“Okay grumpy pants, I'm going” you walked to his car, getting in and making yourself comfortable, not before grabbing the sweater he had on his backseat. He tossed your shoes into the back of the car

“Hey! Those are red bottoms, be careful!” 

“I don’t care” he grumbled as he started driving. 

“Who pissed in your cereal?” you asked him 

“Y/n, it’s 4:36 in the fucking morning and I had to come bail you out of jail because you threw a chair at someone. I’m sorry if I'm not in the mood to talk” 

You glanced at the clock in his car, you didn’t realize that it was already morning. “How much was bail?” you mumbled, looking out the window. 

“2 grand” he kept driving.

“WHAT! I DIDN’T EVEN HIT HIM!” you shouted, your head whipping around so fast you probably gave yourself whiplash. 

“Stop yelling. I only paid a grand. I pulled some strings so you own me.” 

----

You chuckled when he brought up that he bailed you out all those years ago. 

“If I remember correctly, I paired you back didn't I?”

“That isn’t the point y/n. What you did in there was wrong, you can’t lose your cool like that.”

You rolled your eyes again. Aaron always had that effect on you, a constant state of eye rolling. “Stop that” he stepped closer to you, you took a step back, your back was against the shelves. “Stop what?” you knew he was talking about your eye rolling, he had always hated it. You love to do it whenever he filled in for the professor, you hated when he taught. He took forever and never let you leave early. 

“Don’t roll your eyes,” he whispered. His lips pressed right to your ear, his cheek against yours. 

“Make me stop”  you challenged him.

He just chuckled “you really don't want to see what I can make you do” 

“Maybe I do” your hands made their way to his hair, tugging on the back of it. 

He kissed you, it was rough and needy. His hands were all over you, the two of you wanted this, you needed this but you were both too stubborn to say anything. He grabbed your ass and squeezed hard enough to leave a small bruise, his lips attached to your neck sucking on your sweet spot. 

You and Aaron had always had a connection between you guys, it was more than sexual. You genuinely cared about each other, the sexual attraction was just a plus. 

30 minutes had passed and the two of you were still in there. The top button of your shirt had come off with Aaron’s tugging, you could see all the hickeys Aaron left on your neck down to your breast. His hair was a mess with a few hickeys on his neck too. There was no denying that you two had just had sex, it was so obvious. Even if you came out at separate times, the team would figure it out. 

“Well, that was fun” you ran your hand through his hair, trying to settle it from all your pulling. 

“It was” he gave you a small kiss. 

“Let’s do it again sometime ?” You smiled at him before walking out and shutting the door. 

----

tagging: @iconicc cause she was super excited