#not everyone scrolls the whole dash they see a few posts and move on so is hard to be seen | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

seraphica · 2 years ago

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Welcome to Tumblr

I haven't found a single masterpost intro to tumblr, so i made one. I'm loving all the memes and 2012-era jokes, but for those who do actually move over it'd be nice to have something helpful. Below is a non-exhaustive, alphabetical reference list of tumblr things that might be helpful to a newbie or returnee.

Disclaimer: Links to posts are to versions I reblogged, so they will have all the additions and no risk of linkrot if someone deactivates or changes their username. Also sorry this shit is so long. I’m sure I missed stuff too.

Activity - the little lightning bolt at the top of the page is your activity log. If you click on it, it will show you recent notifications for your blog - you can filter to mentions, reblogs, or replies, and you can also change which blog's notifications you're looking at. It will show notes both for posts you reblogged that people liked and reblogged from you, or posts you originally made that people liked or reblogged somewhere along the line. If a person you're following likes or reblogs your post, it'll be shaded a slightly different color.

Ads - historically Tumblr Ads have been their own genre of hilarious - not at all targeted, generally completely insane. Some genuine advertisers are now getting in on it which isn't as fun. You can go ad-free for a fee. (Or use Firefox + UBlock origin on desktop)

App - Tumblr has an app. I only use desktop. Someone else will have to help you here.

Asks - you can send people 'asks' that they can respond to privately or publicly. You can have asks turned on or off, allow anonymous or only logged-in users, etc. Asks you receive will trigger a notification on the 'envelope' icon.

Blacklist - a feature on XKit (see below) that allows you to filter words and phrases you don't want to see on your dashboard. You can customize it to include words and phrases, whitelist words that would allow the blacklisted phrase to be shown, choose how filtered posts behave, etc.

Blaze - When you make an original post, you'll see the option to 'blaze' it. You pay a set amount of money to have it show up on the blogs of a certain number of people. There's no guarantee of interaction, and there are some restrictions on what can be blazed. You also shouldn't say, blaze a fanfic and then be shocked when all the people who see it aren't in your fandom and are very confused. You SHOULD blaze pictures of your pets because tumblr loves that shit. As a whole, tumblr users aren't a fan of brands or marketing, but we do like the option to support the site while causing a different kind of chaos. You can't blaze reblogs.

Celebrities - very few celebrities are on this site (that we know of) and frankly we like it that way. If they come here, they need to follow the example of Neil Gaiman and act like everyone else on this hellsite (affectionate).

Censorship - you can say things like 'kill', 'dead', etc. on here. Don't censor words like 'd3ath' because it will then show up on the dashboards of people who have the word 'death' blacklisted. If you censor, do so only to keep yourself from showing up in the searches - i.e., if you're complaining about Celebrity X, you might use a pseudonym like Bumblebee Cucumber to keep your post from showing up in searches for their real name. You won't get shadowbanned for saying 'fuck' or 'abuse'. If you're talking about something and want to help people avoid it, you can also use tags like tw: abuse or cw: violence that people can blacklist.

Community Labels - a relatively new feature, this is designed to allow more types of content on tumblr by giving a vehicle to mark them as mature content - featuring violence, addiction, sexual themes, etc. You can choose to show, blur, or hide items marked with these labels. I believe they're hidden as the default on the app, to align with apple's restrictive app store policies.

Dashboard (Dash) - this is the name for your homepage. You can set it to be endless scrolling or pages. I highly recommend the latter, both for loading purposes and so you don't lose your place. Your dash contains posts from people you follow, the option to make new posts, etc. More on settings.

Deactivating - some people deactivate their blogs. If they do, you can no longer find posts on their blog - but the posts they made will still exist if they've ever been reblogged. It'll show their username as something like usernamedeactivated20221031.

Deleting - deleting a post will get rid of the version on your blog, but reblogs will survive. If you say something really stupid and then delete it, but someone has reblogged it already, it will always be out there.

Drafts - Drafting a post allows you to save it and edit later before posting or queueing. To save a post as a draft, click the arrow next to Post and select ‘Save as Draft’. You can also queue, schedule, preview, or post privately.

Editing - You can edit your post even after it’s been posted. However, if someone has already reblogged the post, the edit will not impact that reblog or any reblogs that come from it. You will occasionally see people editing their own old posts to claim they were clairvoyant about something 10 years ago. The ability to edit other people’s posts when reblogging was limited a few years ago, though there are workarounds if you’re REALLY trying.

Following - following someone will set it so their posts show up on your dashboard/homepage. If you're having a hard time, a good starting point is to search tags and blogs to find some that share your interests. Keep an eye on blogs that they reblog from, as well - those might be blogs you'd enjoy. And don't be afraid to unfollow! Maybe they're spamming your dash with content about something you're not interested in, or failing to tag things, or are making posts constantly insulting something you like. Curate your space and unfollow. You don't need to make a call-out post or confront them, just press the button and move on.

Likes - Hitting the heart on a post adds it to your likes, and adds to the total notes count, but doesn't really boost it in any other way. You can have your likes public or hidden. You might choose to like posts to go back later and choose which to reblog, or use them to send a bit of love to the person who posted it (such as a mutual's personal post).

Linking- you can use in-text links on tumblr! And you should! Linking is a great way to cite your sources or share relevant information. Within this post you'll see several links to more information.

Memes - Tumblr has a lot of in-jokes, and humor here is a bit different than some other social media. Memes pretty much never die, and many of the ones you've seen on other sites got started here.

Messaging - Tumblr's chat feature. You can have this set to allow anyone to message you, or just people you follow. It's a nifty way to share a post directly with someone, as well.

Missing E - you were here once and have been gone a long time. See XKit.

Notifications -See 'Activity'. You can also enable notifications via email, or presumably on the app (again, I don't use the latter). I recommend turning them off for email.

Porn Ban - Tumblr used to be a lawless place, with a common refrain being 'go nuts, show nuts'. A few years ago came the infamous porn ban, which led to a large exodus of users and the unfortunate phrase 'female presenting nipples'. While the content rules have relaxed a bit recently, 'We still don’t allow hate, spam, violent threats, or anything illegal, and visual depictions of sexually explicit acts remain off-limits on Tumblr'. The CEO talked a bit more about the restrictions, as well.

Posting - You can create your own posts on Tumblr. They can be text, quotes, videos, photosets, or a mix of the above. You can even use limited HTML to edit them in html mode.

Post+ - literally no one does this. It's the concept of paywalling your posts. No one on tumblr is going to pay to see your posts. No one.

Queue - one of my fave tumblr features. The queue lets you set up posts for later. For instance, mine is set to post 10 times per day between 8 am and midnight my time. You can still post outside the queue, but it's a great way if you want to avoid reblogging everything at once, or if, say, you posted something and want it to self-reblog later in case your followers missed it on their dashboard. To queue a post, select the arrow next to 'Post' when posting or reblogging, and select 'add to queue'. If a post is in your drafts, click the clock icon to queue it up.

Radar - Tumblr radar is posts that staff have selected to highlight. Generally this will be art, occasionally photos. It might be brand new or years old. You don't get on radar by using magical tags and hoping the algorithm selects you. Radar also only shows the first image in a post - you'd need to click on it to view any other images or associated text.

Reblogging - the lifeblood of this site. posts are shared via reblogging. The vast majority of posts on most blogs will be reblogs, and often the original poster isn't someone they even follow - it's just traversed through the tumblr ecosystem over time. Reblogging puts the post onto your blog, and thus the dashboards of your followers, while keeping it connected to the original poster. You can add your own tags, engage in a conversation, etc. If you laugh at something or enjoy it, reblog it to share it! Reblogging with tags also means you can search your own blog later to find a post again easily. If you don’t want people to reblog your original post, you can also turn reblogging off.

Reposting - don't do it. Reposting is when you take something someone else posted on tumblr - art, graphics, a screenshot of text, etc. - and make a new post with it. If you want their content on your blog, reblog it. If you want to share something from elsewhere that isn't on tumblr, make sure you cite your sources (and if an artist elsewhere says 'no reposting to other sites', DON'T post it on tumblr).

Replying - clicking the speech bubble below a post will allow you to reply to it. Replies will show up in the notifications of both the person who put the post on your dash, and the OP. You can have conversations in the replies. It's also possible to turn replies off entirely - if the button is greyed out, the original poster turned off that function. (Sometimes for the better).

Search - using Tumblr's search function will search both the content of posts and their tags. It's a notoriously questionable feature in the results it returns and their order, but it can find some hidden gems. you can also search within a specific blog - such as by going to seraphica.tumblr.com/search/cats, you should find posts both tagged 'cats' and with 'cats' in the content.

Settings - Settings lets you customize everything for your blog, including appearance, whether anonymous people can message you, password-protecting a blog, hiding it from search results, etc. You should customize your blog a little or people might think you’re a bot.

Sharing - clicking the share icon allows you to send a post via messages right to another blog. It also gives you the chance to copy the link, embed, share to specific other sites, etc.

Shortcuts - there are a whole bunch of keyboard shortcuts to make your tumblr experience smoother - posting, reblogging, and viewing. Click the little person icon and then 'Keyboard Shortcuts' to view a full list.

Sideblogs - You can create multiple blogs from a single Tumblr account. Your main blog is the one that will show up as following people or liking posts, or in replies, but you can sort out the kind of content you post into specific themed blogs. For instance, I use @blue-sky-sapphire for fandom blogging, @disneyesque-dreams for Disney-related content, and @fuckyeahneopia (mostly dead now) for Neopets. I can access all of them from this blog, and view their notifications and messages without having to log in and out. There isn't a magic button that tells you all of someone's other blogs, so it's possible to have a main blog and sideblog that aren't obviously related to each other.

Sourcing - When you make a new post on tumblr, there's a nifty gear icon on the top right. You can paste a source link directly in there. (You can use this same button to make custom post URLs, change the editor type, etc.). It's also good to add source links in the text - for example, if I share a photo from Flickr, I may set the source as the original image link, and the below the photo put 'Photo Title by Photographer [via]' with the via linking right to the source.

Submissions - You can choose to allow people to submit things to your blog. For instance, you might share pictures of other toasted-marshmallow cats with @straycatj. When posted, those submissions will also automatically credit you as the submitter, and should be tagged 'submission' by default. You can also turn submissions off if you don't want people sending you things.

Tagging - unlike other social media, tags on tumblr aren't part of the post itself. They allow spaces and punctuation (bar commas, which mark the end of a tag). They are also a much more important factor here, IMO. Tags are used to:

Sort things on your own blog (i.e. I can later go to seraphica.tumblr.com/tagged/cats for all posts that are tagged 'cats')

Show up in tracked tags (if you're the original poster)

Allow blacklist to work

Follow content you're interested in.

add commentary or jokes without clogging up the original post

The first ten(?) tags you use on an original post will allow it to show up in that 'tag'. If you're following a tag, you can set that following topic to show up on your dashboard - or just have it as an easy link for the future, without crowding the dash. Tracked tags only include original posts that actually have that specific tag, rather than searching the full content of a post or what tumblr thinks is tag-related.

A rule of thumb is that you only use tags that are actually relevant to the post. If you're posting a picture of your cat sleeping, you might tag it 'cats', 'black cat', 'pets', but it'd be out of line to tag it something like 'destiel' 'epcot' or 'rabbit'.

It's polite to use a consistent tag for things you reblog frequently. For instance, a mutual of mine recently got into Formula One racing. Because she uses the tag 'f1' consistently, I'm able to blacklist that and have them hidden on my dash without having to unfollow her (which I didn't want to). Conversely, if she'd used the tag 'formula', i'd run into an issue - EVERY post on my dash that had the word formula in it would be hidden, whether talking about baby formula, math formulas, etc.

Any tags you use on a reblog show up in the notifications of the original poster and the person you reblogged it from. They can be a great place to add mini-commentary like 'beautiful work op' to art.

More on Tagging.

'Spoilers' is a good universal tag to use. You can tag something 'Movie X Spoilers', but unless someone has 'movie x spoilers' blacklisted, it won't be hidden unless you also tag it 'spoilers'. The second tag can be useful for telling someone what the spoilers are about if you've also tagged it spoilers, but it won't trigger the 'spoilers' block.

Themes - you can completely customize your blog to have its own theme and page - for instance, seraphica.tumblr.com uses a theme from @magnusthemes that has been customized with my own info, images, links, and colors with minimal coding knowledge.

Timestamps - you can enable these both via Tumblr itself and via xkit. It allows you to see when something was originally posted, and is super helpful for figuring out how recent and relevant information may be - particularly news items.

Tipping - you can enable tipping on your blog, and an icon will show up on your original posts even when reblogged. Most people on tumblr do not have money to send you, so don't expect much at the moment.

Username - Your username can be anything untaken, and include letters, numbers, and the - dash. You can change your username easily, but that will make it available for someone else and any links elsewhere that went back to your blog will be dead. (Though posts you made should be updated with your new name). Restrictions are pretty minimal, and you'll see people with usernames like 'officialcompany' that are not actually connected to that company. As long as their blog is clearly a parody (and not genuinely impersonating), it's fine.

Verification - not a thing here, and we don't want it.

XKit - currently 'XKit Rewritten', this is an add-on for Firefox or Chrome that allows additional customization

... Menu - on the top right of posts, you'll see a '...' aka meatball menu. Clicking on it will bring up a selection of options relating to the post, the person who reblogged it, etc.

Miscellaney....

Don't put a bunch of identifying information out there. This is one of the last bastions of actual online anonymity and we like it this way.

Curate your experience. Unlike most other social media, that is actually possible here. You can turn off suggested posts and only see things from people you actually follow.

Reblog. Most blogs are majority reblogged content before they are original posts. That's the way this place works and thrives. That's how you see posts from outside your orbit that have been selected for sharing by other people.

Don't screenshot posts and repost those screenshots. You can reblog the same thing a hundred times. You can bring old posts back to life. Screenshotting should only be used if you're using it as a reaction image or like... compiling an archive of November 5, 2020.

Unless you have something genuinely valuable to add, keep it in the tags. If someone things your tags are funny, they'll add them to the post in their reblog. Think of it as peer-reviewed humor.

Share your sources. In-text links, the built-in source option, etc. Don't just steal stuff from the internet and call it a day. And remember, Pinterest is not a source.

We post bullshit here. Get used to it.

Feel free to add on if I missed anything important.

#long post #tumblr #intro to tumblr

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evening-starlight · 3 years ago

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Warm Beers

Taglist is OPEN! DM or comment to be added.

Posting Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday

This is set before season 1

All Works Master List

Warm Beers Master List

Word Count: 1496

Victor watches as Kenzie slumps down the stairs, wiping sleep from her eyes. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," He jokes. Kenzie groans in response and shuffles her way into the kitchen. "Why are you up so early?" Victor asks, looking at the clock on the microwave reading three in the morning.

"John B. wanted to go fishing, and now I'm suddenly regretting that decision," Kenzie mumbles, laying her head on the side of the fridge as she glances inside. "Why do I do the things I do for my friends?" Victor laughs and pours her two thermoses of coffee.

"Does John B. like cream or sugar?" He asks while he makes Kenzie's the way she likes it. Kenzie groans again with a shrug, grabbing the food she packed last night. Her father laughs at her with a shake of his head. "When did you get to sleep last night?"

"Like eight or nine," She says, piling her food and drinks on the counter. "Is my rod in the garage still?" He dad nods at her question, and she goes out looking for that and her tackle box. She finds them propped up on the wall near her dad's squad car.

"Is John B. picking you up?" Victor asks as she gets back into the kitchen. Kenzie nods again and goes over her mental checklist of fishing gear. She's got her fishing rod, the tackle and bait, and the food for their morning. "Be safe out there, okay?"

"I know, Dad. I'll make sure John B. behaves," She says. The father and daughter hear the Twinkie pull up, and soon after, Kenzie's phone starts to vibrate in her pocket. "John B. is here. I'll see you after work." Kenzie states and hugs her dad goodbye. John B. meets her at the door and helps her carry her gear to the van, greeting Mr. Shoupe on the way.

Kenzie leans her head against the door frame, closing her eyes once John B. starts the van. "Tired there, Shoupe Jr?" Kenzie whines in confirmation, trying to get a few more minutes of shut-eye before they go fishing. John B. lets Kenzie rest until they get back to his house.

They load the boat up and are soon off to their favorite fishing spot in the marsh. The friends sit in silence while they wait for the fish to latch on. "So, what's going on with you and JJ?" John B asks after what feels like an eternity of silence. Kenzie chokes on her coffee, not expecting such an outright question.

"We're friends like everyone is," Kenzie says. John B. rolls his eyes and looks at Kenzie, unamused. "Don't give me that look. He's just my best friend and nothing more. What's going on with you and Kie?"

"Don't flip this on me, Shoupe. This is about that stupid tension you and JJ have." McKenzie rolls her eyes and ignores John B. as he presses again. "Come on, Kenz. We can all see it. You're always touching and flirting with each other."

"Flirting?" Kenzie laughs. "If you consider hitting and yelling flirting, sure."

"The way you two do it, yes. It is," John B. fires back, smirking at the annoyed look Kenzie wears. Kenzie waves off her stupid friend and goes back to fishing in the tranquil silence of the early morning.

After nearly three hours of fishing, John B. and Kenzie walk up the dock, back towards the chateau. "I need a fucking nap," Kenzie complains, dropping herself on the couch in his living room. John B. hums in response and walks into his room, closing the door behind him.

Kenzie is rudely awoken from her nap when the front door slams shut. "Jesus Christ, what do I have to do to get some fucking sleep?" She mumbles into the cushion, opening a single eye to look at the intruder. Pope stands over her, smiling brightly down at her with three books clutched to his chest. "What is it? Book club?" She asks, closing her eye again.

"No, but it could be," Pope says excitedly. He moves her legs so he can sit under them. "I remembered these books I had, and I thought you'd like them."

"I'll only listen if you get me coffee," Kenzie says as she sits up. She rubs the sleep out of her eyes as Pope dashes into the kitchen to get her a cup of coffee. Kenzie thanks Pope when he returns with her caffeine.

Pope's shoulder sags when Kenzie lays her head on his shoulder, ready to listen to the books Pope brought over. He talks about the plots, his favorite characters, and twists. Kenzie listens intently, excited for the new books Pope will share with her when he's done rambling.

John B. comes out of his room, shirtless, and sees the friends raving about their favorite book series. "Jesus, I didn't know I walked in on a book club," John B. teases.

"You'd probably enjoy it if you weren't illiterate," Pope shoots back. McKenzie laughs and takes the books from Pope's lap. John B. flips his friend off as he enters the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal. "How was fishing?"

"Fine. I'm still tired as shit because somebody needed to wake up at three in the fucking morning," Kenzie groans. John B. smirks when she gives him a dark, pointed stare. "How was your morning, Pope?"

"I cleaned out my room and then figured I'd stop by because I have no other life or friends," Pope sighs.

"Sounds like a loser," John B. comments through a mouthful of cereal. Kenzie stifles a laugh and watches as Pope tosses a coaster towards their friend. "When are the other fuckers coming?"

"Kiara should be here soonish. She worked an early morning at the Wreck. Ask JJ's girlfriend when he'll be here," Pope says, glancing at Kenzie. She groans and throws her hands up in agony.

"I'm not his stupid girlfriend," She whines, punching Pope's thigh. "Why does everyone think that?"

"He looks at you the way John B. looks at playboy magazines and the way Kiara looks at new shoes. JJ never lets anyone touch him, let alone cuddle him," Pope starts, making Kenzie roll her eyes.

"JJ looks at you the same way he looks at food, and Pope looks at books," John B. intervenes with a smirk. Kenzie throws her head back and groans loudly. Kiara walks in, arms full of take-out containers, and sees the boys smirking and Kenzie in anguish.

"Woah, what'd you idiots do to Kenz?" She asks, putting the food in the fridge for later.

"Telling Shoupe that JJ loves her," John B. answers quickly. Kiara giggles and joins in.

"Have we told her that he looks at her the same way John B. looks at his porno mags?" She asks, making Kenzie groan again.

"I will murder all of you and get away with it," She huffs with a roll of her eyes again.

"JJ looks at Kenzie the way Eugene looks at Rapunzel," Pope adds, making the group laugh. "Oh! Or the way Rafe Cameron looks at coke." Kenzie can't help but laugh at that one. Nothing could come between Rafe and his cocaine.

Kenzie continues to sit through their annoying remarks until they're all laughing up a storm at their friend's expense. Pope leans a head-on Kenzie's shoulder as his laughter dies down. "You know we love you, McKenzie."

"Shut up, Heyward," Kenzie shrugs Pope off her shoulder and moves to turn on the TV. Kiara parks herself next to Kenzie as she hears the intro to her favorite guilty pleasure, The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

It started when both girls were bored out of their minds one afternoon when the boys weren't around. They sat in Kiara's living room, channel surfing for something to watch together. They ended up on reality TV and fell in love with criticizing the women who had it all and yelled for more.

Kenzie is nearly asleep on Kiara's shoulder when JJ bursts through the front door, holding a game case in his hands. "Kenzie, get your ass up. I got the new Call Of Duty." Kenzie sits up quickly, not feeling tired anymore.

"Put it in. Put it in," Kenzie chants as she grabs the gaming controllers from the coffee table. JJ rushes to change over the TV to the gaming system and practically shoves the DVD in. "Be careful, J. It's a baby," Kenzie whines.

"Shut up," JJ mumbles back when it finally slides in. He jumps over the coffee table and squeezes between Kenzie and Pope.

"You know there's a whole other couch, right, JJ?" Pope huffs, shifting uncomfortably against the arm of the couch.

"Yeah, so why don't you go sit over there?" JJ bites back as Kenzie scrolls through the opening menu. Kenzie elbows him slightly, a warning to play nice, and starts a game with the two of them.

Taglist: @Gwenlovesharrystyles @x-lulu @gviosca @cognacdelights @queenofallhobos

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mieohmy · 4 years ago

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𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗋 | 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 (𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅)

part one | part two

PAIRING: CEO boss! jeon wonwoo x secretary! reader

GENRE: fluff, ANGST but i swear its a happy ending ;;;;

WC: 3.4k

NOTES: mentions of death, angstyy ?

❋

Oh my god.

You’re screwed.

You panic, swiping past to see pictures of you and him on the balcony from last night. You kissing him. Someone must’ve seen you two and taken pictures...

‘Y/N!!’

‘U awake????’

‘Someone saw you guys last night and took photos!!’

‘Leaked them and now I’m pretty sure everyone at work knows now’

‘What are u gonna do?? Maybe u shouldn’t go to work..’

‘You better respond !”

You sigh, scrolling past all of seungkwan’s messages and throwing your phone somewhere. Great, now everyone at your workplace knew. There was nothing from wonwoo.

Was going to the office a good idea? You contemplated for like 10 minutes. Maybe pretending like nothing happened would be professional. You are a professional, you are a professional..... you repeated that several hundred times before finally getting out of bed.

And so, you got ready like a regular day of work but took the bus instead of normally being driven to wonwoo’s house. (You couldn’t bear to face the driver or wonwoo either)

Arriving at the entrance, you steeled yourself. Immediately after you entered, there were whispers and stares from everyone around, almost as if they were waiting for you to come in.

You bite your lip, continuing to the elevator. When the doors open, there are already two other people inside. They quickly shuffle away from you, moving to the other side in the small space, and you can obviously feel their eyes on you.

Arriving at your floor, you can hear the whispers of the others. “It’s them...” “they’re the one that’s dating Mr. jeon?” Ignoring them, you slump down at your desk, burying your head in your arms. You knew you should probably talk to wonwoo, but what would you say? The secret was out already.

You feel something soft touch your head. You groan softly. “It’s me.” Glancing up wearily, you see dokyeom looking down at you with concern. “So... I guess everyone knows now?”

Your head falls back onto the desk. “Dokyeom, what am I gonna do?” you moan. “Nothing. I mean, so what if you two are dating? It’s your personal life, not other people’s.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t bother me. Who cares, right?” You say absentmindedly.

That was a lie. You cared. And it did bother you. For weeks, people would stare and whisper behind your back. All the gossip was getting to you. To the point where you would purposely hide in the restroom until the coast was clear.

There were a lot of people who did stand up for you, all your close work friends that overheard others gossiping. You were extremely grateful for them, but it didn’t make much of a difference.

You’re staring at yourself in the restroom mirror when you hear the door open. Panicking, you quickly hide in a stall, closing the door.

Two voices grow louder and louder. “-you hear CEO Jeon is dating his secretary?” “Of course, the whole building knows now.” “I can’t believe it, still. His secretary of all people?” “I heard that they don’t have a father, no one to support their family.” A gasp echoed in the restroom. “That explains why they’re using him. It’s always money...”

You can’t move. Even after the others come and go, you can’t seem to budge an inch.

❋

You kept your distance from wonwoo after that. It didn’t help that wonwoo was getting increasingly busy with work. No matter how much you wanted to see him, the words replayed in your head.

“He’s rejected so many people but chose them?“

“You just want his money.”

“How can someone like them be dating someone like him?”

“You’re nobody.”

The worst part is, you agreed. You were no one, just a lame secretary working to support their family. You didn’t even have passions, interests, you were always too busy trying to make money. And you didn’t even have a family to go home to. Yes, you had your friends, but you felt like such a baby for complaining to them.

The only person who truly knew you was your father. And he was gone. Maybe you deserved to be alone... Maybe they were right, wonwoo didn’t deserve you.

❋

You tried to limit your contact with him as much as possible, strictly talking for work purposes only. Every time wonwoo would ask you out (on the rare occasions he could), you would make an excuse. you were tired or had something else to do.

Wonwoo tried, so hard, to talk to you but every time you did, the hurtful words resurfaced. You wondered if he had heard what other workers would say- probably not since they were too scared to even speak in front of him. And you didn’t tell him because you knew he would make a big deal out of it, and that was the exact opposite of what you wanted.

Also.... maybe because you were ashamed. Ashamed at the fact that you let those words hurt you. That they cut deep into your heart and sunk into your skin. Others would probably ignore it all, but you were different. It’s like all those people knew your weakness, how to sneak into your brain and make all your insecurities stronger.

It was horrible, affecting your mind, your life. Sleep barely came. You were a living zombie. With feelings. Feelings that were beaten down and crushed, ones that couldn’t even get back up.

Seungkwan noticed, but luckily he didn’t pry too much- probably because he knew the reason behind you shutting wonwoo out-everyone out. You were so grateful for him and the others for attempting to cheer you up.

One day, you drop off wonwoo’s schedule at his desk, immediately spinning around to leave when he grabs your wrist. You can’t move, his grip tight. “Y/n, please.. tell me what’s wrong? Is it something I did? Is it because people know now? Just tell me, I can fix it. I-I just need to know..” your boss pleads.

You hated hearing him like that. And still, you remove his hand from yours. “Mr. Jeon, don’t. Let’s stop...maybe this is for the best.”

You walk out without looking back, biting the inside of your cheek hard so you can’t feel the pain in your heart.

You can’t focus the rest of the day, moping around. You don’t even realize the time, Dokyeom comes by (knowing you were still here) and forces you to go home. You were secretly extremely grateful he didn’t try to ask anything. You didn’t want to have to say anything, telling others about all the insults and remarks would just cause more of a problem.

❋

Opening the door, you drop all your stuff on the ground of your apartment, instantly going to change into comfortable clothes. And sulk some more.

Your past self would be laughing at you now. Or extremely shocked. To find out that you are? were? dating the one person that you hated. Some time ago, you were crying over losing your job because of your boss, and now here you are, moping over the same person.

Crashing into bed, you fall into a weird sleep-state, flowing in and out of sleep. A bunch of notifications at once finally awakens you fully. It usually wouldn’t bother you, but there were so many at once you had to check.

Huffing, you wearily look at the screen. Right away, you jump up. An article post was sent to you by Seungkwan.

“Jeon Wonwoo’s-CEO of one of the largest printing companies in Korea-Mother has passed away this evening.”

Horrified, you quickly scroll down, skimming through it all. The only words echoing in your mind are ‘funeral held in an hour’ and ‘son is nowhere to be found.’

Immediately, you dial Seungkwan. He picks up almost instantly. “Y/n?? Did you see what I sent?” You nod as though he can see you. “What... what’s going on?”

You can feel seungkwan’s frustration pouring out from his side of the phone. “Didn’t you read it? Mr. Jeon’s been missing for hours. He just disappeared after finding out. No one knows where he is. Except you.”

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “What? Me?” You hear a sigh come from the phone. “Yes. You, y/n. No one knows him better. You have to find him.”

You hesitate, knowing you weren’t in the best conditions with him at the moment. “But....” Seungkwan cuts you off. “No, y/n. There are no buts. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but our boss is literally missing. You’re the only one who knows where he could be. “

It finally hits you. “You’re right, oh my god, Seungkwan. what if he’s dead? His family was always a touchy subject, and I don’t know what’s happening and-“

“Trust yourself y/n. You can find him. Go.” The call abruptly ends with a beep. You stare at the screen for a second, brain loading until you crash out of bed, scrambling out to quickly put on any pair of shoes.

Even in your ratty old pajamas and dirty sneakers, you dash outside, going to every single place you can think of. It’s tiring, getting on and off buses, running around and searching each place. After about an hour and a half is when you stop. Panting, you slump down next to a bench, head in your hands.

Wonwoo, where are you?

After a couple minutes of rest (and maybe an internal crisis), you finally get up, resolve burning.

You’re not sure why, but your feet bring you to the mart- yes, the one where your view of jeon wonwoo completely changed.

Dragging your drained body to the entrance, you open the door, the familiar ding to signal your entrance sounding above.

Quickly, you glance around. It wasn’t a huge place, you could almost see the whole store from the front.

He’s not here either? For some reason, you feel disappointed. Like he was gonna be here. Deflating, you turn towards the exit, hand reaching for the door handle when you stop.

“Wonwoo?”

He was outside, standing by the railing over the river- the one by the bridge right next to the store. You could only see his silhouette, it was dark, but his body seemed small, familiar but small.

You burst out, exhaustion dissolved. You stop a few feet away, breathing heavily even though it wasn’t far.

“Wonwoo.”

The figure shifts, slowly turning to you and his face comes into the light. You first notice his red, pained eyes, barely holding back so much emotion. His handsome face showing nothing but everything at the same time.

You stare at each other for a split second before you rush to him, throwing your arms around him. It’s only the sound of both of your breathing until his arms slowly wrap around your waist, head burying into your shoulder.

You hold him. Until you hear the quiet sobs. And then feel the wet spots on your shirt.

Rubbing his back comfortingly, you let him grip you tighter, allowing all the emotions and feelings to flow out.

After who knows how long, he quiets down. You wait for a little before softly speaking. “Do... do you want to talk?”

He gradually loosens his grip, moving back to look at you. Your heart pangs at the sight. His red, swollen eyes. Darker eye circles than you recognized. His lips were chapped, probably because you weren’t there to nag him about wearing it.

Slowly, your hand comes up to wipe his tear-stained cheeks. When you drop your hand, he finally speaks, his voice quiet and raspy.

“I wasn’t close with anyone growing up. I told you that. Except for my mother. She loved me the most. Stayed by my side and supported me always. I.... I just..”

You hug him again, squeezing your eyes shut. “You don’t have to say more. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

You know there’s tension between the two of you, but decide to bury it. Now’s not the time to bring it up.

“How are you feeling now?”

He rubs his eyes. “Better. It was just a lot... at once. But I’d rather not go back now. I don’t want to.”

You nod. “Okay.”

You bring him to your place, no questions asked. Knowing he didn’t need to be alone, and your place was close.

It was a little awkward, but wonwoo was stubborn even when he was upset and slept on the couch. You’re pretty sure he passed out in three minutes. To be honest, you did too, the day’s events taking over.

❋

Awakening with a start, your eyes focus on the ceiling. You stretch for a good couple of minutes before tottering outside.

Your feet come to a halt. Right, wonwoo.

His body slowly rising up and down signaling he was still sleeping.

For no reason, you move to sit in front of him, on the ground, to just look at him.

Wonwoo looked so peaceful, reminiscent of a little child- it was shocking how different he seemed in his sleep.

You admire his face for who knows how long, starting when his eyes suddenly flutter up at you. You give him a tiny smile. “Good morning?”

You prepare breakfast. It isn’t much, but you didn’t think the two of you were that hungry anyways. There were other things to discuss.

It’s silent until you finally speak. “Wonwoo. where were you? Why did you leave for so long? Everyone was so worried you know, it was all over the news..”

He clears his throat as you wait patiently. “Everywhere. I just needed to leave, get out. So I drove around, not necessarily going to one place. Then... you found me.”

You bite your lip, “wonwoo. I think you need to go back. Everyone’s worried, waiting. I-I think you need to talk to your family.”

There’s a pause. He says your name softly and you look down, not able to look him in the eyes...

“Y/n.... we’re the ones who need to talk.” You cut him off. “I know. I know we do. But I can wait. You need to go back first. Then I promise we can meet up and explain.”

You can tell he’s reluctant to leave, but eventually, he’s at your door, about to go.

He faces you once more.

“Y/n, promise me. You’ll meet me today at seven? After I sort everything out?”

You nod, squeezing his hand. “I promise. After you sort everything out.”

And after he leaves, you sort everything in your head too. All your feelings that had been stuck for weeks. Wonwoo deserved to know everything.

❋

It feels like an eternity until seven comes. You feel anxious, a queasy feeling in your stomach. When the familiar knock on the door sounds, you flinch. Quickly opening it, you see him.

“Hi,” you say nervously. Wonwoo gestures out, and you follow him to his car. It’s a silent ride. You’re not sure where he’s taking you, but you let him lead on through the night.

“Did... did everything go okay?”

“Yes. I... I explained myself. It was shocking, seeing my father show so much emotion towards me. It was just nice to talk, about the old days. Thank you, y/n. For making me go back.”

You smile sadly, deciding to focus outside at the passing lights. It’s a surprisingly peaceful drive. You turn to him when he stops the car.

“The park?” He only nods.

You follow him along the path, sitting down at a bench. Wonwoo follows you, sitting next to you.

Gazing at the scenery, you lick your suddenly dry lips. “Wonwoo, I want to apologize first. You did nothing, and I never told you why I was acting like that... I wasn’t acting truthfully in our relationship, and I’m sorry.”

He shifts, gesturing for you to continue. Inhaling, you resume. “It started after everyone found out the news, but you probably figured that already. People started saying things, about our relationship. I know it’s dumb, most people probably don’t even care, but I did. And I got self-conscious. Like I wasn’t good enough for you. I believed everything the others were saying. That you didn’t deserve someone like me.”

You pause, voice suddenly shaky. “I-I didn’t want to tell you, so you wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. I didn’t want to seem affected by all those words. But I really was.”

You laugh, quickly wiping away your tears so wonwoo wouldn’t see. But of course, he did. He always saw you. “That’s all. It’s a horrible reason for me acting that way, so I understand if you want to break up. I can find a new job too.” You hated how your voice cracked at the end.

You didn’t want to look at him, see his expression probably filled with disdain. But he speaks up instead. “Do you know why I hired you?”

You whip your head towards him, confused. Wonwoo’s doesn’t face you, looking off into the distance, but he proceeds.

“Because you’re strong. Compassionate. Kind. I saw you on the day of your audition, and you helped some person even though they were extremely rude and didn’t want a low person like you to help them,” he chuckles.

“I kept you by my side for so long because you’re hardworking, stubborn, and like me.” You open your mouth to speak, slightly offended, but his eyes flick to yours, and your breath hitches.

“And I asked you out because I love you. I understand why you felt and acted that way. But it’s okay to complain about your problems. It’s okay to feel upset and tell me. You don’t always have to be the strong one.”

You stare at him with wide eyes, wiping away tears you didn’t even notice falling.

“I’ll always be by your side. You don’t ever have to feel being alone, because I’ll be next to you. You can talk to me, I’ll listen. You can whine, I’ll deal with it. Because it’s you. And I’ll be there. ”

You process all his words, feeling yourself about to cry harder as you continue to look into his eyes. Hesitating, you fidget with your hands, freezing when you feel his warm arms wrap around you. You close your eyes and just enjoy his warmth.

He breaks the hug, standing up. You watch him, bewildered. Wonwoo suddenly falls to his knee, and you only watch him, furrowing your eyebrows.

When his hands move to inside his jacket, your breath hitches, hand flying to cover your mouth.

His gaze is so tender, soft, you never felt so loved.

“Y/n, I promise you that I’ll love you, forever until the end of the earth if it’s possible. So, will you accept this?”

Wonwoo pulls out a box, opening it. You’re greeted by a sparkling ring, the gem on it your favorite color. You’re frozen in shock.

He scratches his head. “I- uh, got it a while ago. Never had to time to really give it until now. It’s a promise ring..D-do you like it?”

It takes a second before you can move again. You smack him. several times. Wonwoo splutters, trying to avoid your painful hits.

“Are you serious?!?! How much did this cost??? If it’s more than a hundred and fifty then I’m not taking it!! Scratch that, a hundred!!”

Wonwoo stops, looking up at you with a dumbfounded expression. “Are you serious? I thought you were about to reject me!! And why are you worrying about the price? I’m literally the CEO of a huge company!?”

You cough. “Right. Well then, I like it.” You reach for it, but he holds the box up high above you. Whining, you stand on your tippy-toes, trying to grab it.

“Wonwoooo, I thought you bought this for me!” “Maybe I don’t wanna give it to you anymore,” he teases.

You pout, flashing a cute face. “Please??” Wonwoo pretends to think, tapping his foot. “If you give me a kiss. It has to be a real one. On the lips, too.”

“Ugghh, fine,” you fake scowl. And of course, he can see right through you. “Stop acting. I know you want to kiss me.”

“And so what if I want really to, Mr. CEO? Like I said before, you're stuck with me forever.”

❋

“Oh my god y/n is that a ring? Does that mean there’s gonna be a wedding?!?”

“Yes, seungkwan. A promise ring. And no! We’re not getting married.... Yet.”

-fin-

author’s note: ngl I cringed writing the ending scenes anlkfjenfdn anyways thank you to anyone who actually read all three parts from start to end :)! I’m sorry if this is not what you were expecting- this story changed so much I struggled honestly but I’m just glad it’s done before I ruin it more uhu

#seventeen #wonwoo #jeon wonwoo #seventeen wonwoo #wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo x reader #wonwoo scenarios #wonwoo imagines #seventeen x reader #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #jeon wonwoo scenarios #jeon wonwoo imagines

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fantastic-bby · 4 years ago

Text

Maive

Pairing: (F)Reader x Chan

Word count: 2.7k

Genre: Fluff || Guardian angel!Chan

Summary: As your guardian angel, Chan’s supposed to protect you. Rather than hiding himself, he becomes your best friend instead of simply hovering around you secretly. Only when years pass does he realise that maybe you’re more important to him than he thought you were.

Warnings: Demons bcs there’s fallen angels

A/n: Hi sorry I’m posting the start of the angel series so late but like heyyyy here it is uwu. Happy October, everyone!

Masterlist || Minho - Kira || Changbin - Skye || Hyunjin - Nova|| Jisung - Blair || Felix - Lia || Seungmin - Raisha || Jeongin - Avia

It’s a simple task; one that Chan is so used to. He just has to watch over a human and keep them safe. His human just happens to be you. Chan uses one of his typical approaches which is hiding his wings and becoming your best friend. He remembers the first day he popped into your life; it was the middle of the school year. You were 16—the age where humans are unknowingly assigned their guardian angels.

Chan did the approach of sitting beside you. Knowing well how to interact with humans, the angel was quick to become your friend. Chan made it a point to hang out with you everyday and was soon acquainted with you and your best friend, Lia. It took a year later before another person was added to your friend group. The fourth addition being a guy from Lia’s class—Chan knows him as Lia’s guardian angel.

“Felix! Stop!” Lia squeals as he picks her up bridal style and runs straight into the swimming pool. You and Chan laugh as you watch from the side of the pool, legs swishing around in the water. Lia and Felix had seemed to form a different kind of bond compared to you and Chan, but it didn’t change your friendship even after you all moved into college. Felix and Lia ended up in a different college from you and Chan.

You’re still amazed that the both of you had gotten accepted to the same university which meant that you could both just move in together since you’ve known each other for so long. You certainly weren’t expecting having to accompany Chan jogging every morning.

“Come on, (Y/n), it’s just a little more,” he chuckles when he sees you struggling to keep up.

“Easy for you to say,” you pant, “you have muscles the size of my face.” He lets out a laugh.

“Would you feel better if I carried you back to our apartment?” Chan suggests. You look at him and nod, outstretching your arms and making grabby hands at him. He never declines whenever you ask him to carry him around. Honestly, Chan knows that even if he really was a human, he would still be best friends with you. You’re one of the few humans that he actually enjoys protecting.

You make it easy to be around and you’re fun. The time Chan’s spent with you is nothing compared to his many centuries of being alive, but he finds himself enjoying your company more so than any other human.

“Look at those stars,” you point towards the sky, bringing Chan’s attention to the stars that scatter the night sky.

“What about them?” he hums questioningly.

“Those constellations tell stories of Greek mythology,” you turn to him and he nods. “Do you think they’re real?” Chan can’t help the smile that breaks on his face. He finds you so unbelievably adorable that he can’t stop himself from feeling all giddy and happy around you. “What?” you ask when you just see him smiling at you.

“I mean,” Chan looks up to stars that scatter the night sky, “myths have to come from somewhere, right?” He turns back to see you looking at him with a pleased smile. He likes your smile a lot, but he’s a guardian angel—your guardian angel to be exact. Guardian angels aren’t supposed to fall in love with their humans. The ones that end up pursuing their humans get their wings ripped off.

Chan doesn’t think much of it. He pushes aside whatever feelings he has, blaming it on the connection he’s allowed himself to build with you. No matter what happens, Chan is supposed to protect you until your time comes; nothing else. That’s why when he comes across a fallen angel trying to stray you away, Chan’s mind goes into panic. How is he supposed to sneak out and fight the fallen without you being suspicious of his sudden disappearances.

“I met someone,” you announce shyly as you step out of your bedroom. Chan looks up from the cereal he’s eating to give you a questioning look. “His name’s Minho.” The angel stops moving completely at the mention of your new friend. Minho. Minho. Minho. He knows that name too well; the name of the fallen angel who almost pulled Chan down with him.

“Is it that dance major from the dance club?” Chan doesn’t want to show that he’s bothered, but how is he supposed to keep you away from a fallen if he’s already got you falling. You nod, lifting your phone to show your best friend Minho’s Instagram page.

“He seems nice,” you hum as you watch him scroll through Minho’s posts.

“I get a bad vibe off of him,” he mutters out as he hands your phone back to him. You give Chan a weird look. “I don’t know, (Y/n). I don’t think he’ll treat you right.” Your expression doesn’t change.

“It’s not like it’s anything serious... yet…” you trail off. You find Minho really cute. He had somehow managed to win your heart just by working at the coffee shop you usually go to before your morning classes.

“Yet,” Chan points out. You roll your eyes as you take your phone away from his hands, scrolling through Minho’s Instagram on your own.

“He can’t be that bad,” you stubbornly mutter as you stop to look at a picture of Minho and his cats. “See? A cat man! Cat owners aren’t bad,” you show your best friend the picture like it’s evidence.

“(Y/n), just because he has cats doesn’t mean he’ll be a good partner,” Chan claims. You turn to him and scowl, bringing your phone away from him.

“You don’t know that,” you grumble.

“You don’t know that either,” he pushes himself off of the counter. “(Y/n), please think about this. You can’t just go around flaunting your heart around for people to just play around with. You’re smarter than that, and you deserve more than what half of these dumbasses have to offer. Please, trust me this once—I just don’t think this guy will treat you right.” Chan’s eyes are pleading. He honestly wants to tell you the real real reason he doesn’t like Minho, but how are you supposed to believe that Chan comes from a world of angels and gods?

“I’ll try to stay away from him.” Your words cause relief to wash throughout his body. “But he’s very charming and I can’t make any promises.” Your followup only makes Chan chuckle.

“I can see why he’s charming. At least try and stay away from him. I get really bad vibes.” You nod with a small smile. Chan really does a huge influence on the decisions you make. But his influence just isn’t enough to get you to fight off Minho’s magic.

Chan can tell something’s off while he’s sitting in his bedroom, shirt off with the door locked. His wings move around behind him. He can feel a shiver running down his spine when he feels the vibe in the apartment shift. The moment Chan hears it, he’s dashing out of his bedroom and slamming into yours. Not only had he woken you up, but he had caught Minho off guard, sending the fallen angel out of the air and to the ground out of shock.

“Get out,” Chan growls. Minho hisses at him before turning back to you, your face holding pure horror as you look between your best friend and the fallen angel.

“C-Chan?” you stutter, torn between staying in bed or running into the arms of your best friend who has wings. A pair of big, white wings are hanging from his back as he stands at your doorway, staring straight at the man that asked you out for dinner a few days before.

“Do anything to her and I’ll bash your head in so hard that even Satan wouldn’t recognise you.” Chan’s tone is the scariest you’ve ever heard and you’re not sure whether you’re more scared of the intruder or him.

“C-Chan.” Your voice has resorted to a whimper out of fear. Even through the whole situation, your instincts still reach out to Chan for comfort.

“I’m here, (Y/n),” he soothes as he carefully makes his way over to the side of your bed, all the while keeping his eyes on Minho. Once beside you, Chan grabs onto your arm and pulls you behind him, guarding you from the fallen angel.

“You can’t protect her forever, Chan,” Minho snorts. “Humans are fragile beings. I don’t get why the angels just can’t let us feed off of them. What’s the point of protecting them?” The fallen angel chuckles darkly as he rounds your bed, stepping closer to your guardian. “May I remind you of Kira? How fragile she was to just slip past your fingers so easily,” Minho giggles gleefully at the memory.

“Kira’s a lost cause,” Chan mutters, his grip around your hand tightening. “Get out or I’ll banish you instead.” The threat makes Minho’s face contort in annoyance before his form disappears completely. You’re still shaken when Chan turns around, his hands moving to cup your face gently. “Are you okay? He didn’t get to you did he?” His brown eyes flick across your skin to make sure you’re okay, but you don’t answer because your eyes are glued to his wings.

“W-Why do you have wings?” you question softly as your eyes meet his.

Chan lets out a frustrated sigh as he shuts his eyes tight. He’s only then realising the weight of what he’s done. “I can explain, but I don’t think you’d be able to understand. You’re quite shaken up.”

“Of course I’m fucking shaken up,” you scoff, “the guy who asked me out to dinner appeared in my bedroom and you have wings. What a totally normal Friday night.” You roll your eyes as you sit on your bed. “So, what? Are you just not going to explain that?” you gesture to his wings.

“Well, I’m your guardian angel,” he simply claims. You blink a couple times before sighing and sitting at the edge of your bed, hanging your head.

“There’s no way I can’t believe that since you already have the damn wings.” You look up and watch as Chan takes a seat on your bed beside you.

“I was assigned to protect you when you turned sixteen. I chose to show myself and protect you because you were sleeping a lot during class and I didn’t want you to fail,” he sheepishly confesses. “I decided to just stick around since you were pretty fun to talk to. It’s been awhile since I’ve actually connected with a human like this.” Chan turns to you with a small smile. “But now that I’ve revealed myself, I’ll just leave so you can calm down.” The angel stands up, his eyes reassuring you softly before he heads to leave your room

“Chan,” you stop him. He turns around and gives you a questioning look. You don’t want him to leave. The fear that runs through your veins yearns for the comfort of your best friend. “A-Are you going to disappear, too?” Chan’s features soften. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“No, no, (Y/n),” he quickly moves back to sit beside you. “I meant that I was just going to head to my room to give you time alone to process it all.”

“Minho’s not just gonna pop up out of nowhere again, right?” Your eyes are scared and that much Chan can tell without having to look into your thoughts.

“I’ll keep him away from you if he ever tries to come back,” he gives you his signature smile, “I promise I’ll keep you safe, (Y/n).” You know he’ll keep you safe. You’ve already concluded in your mind that he’s the only person that makes you feel as safe as you do.

“Can you stay here with me?” Your request is simple and Chan understands why you’d be scared. It’s not exactly an everyday thing when your best friend has wings and someone from your college appears in your bedroom in the middle of the night. You climb into bed with Chan, his wings protectively caging around you while his arms hold you close to him. His embrace is as warm as it usually is, but the added warmth from his wings wrapping around you just makes his hold more comforting.

“Just stick with me and I’ll keep you safe,” he hums softly as his hand runs up and down your back soothingly.

“What did Minho mean when he said humans are fragile?” you question as you look up at him. For a moment, Chan doesn’t speak. He stays silent and you know that he’s debating whether or not he should tell you about it.

“About...2 humans before you, I was protecting a girl,” Chan starts. “Her name was Kira. Like every human, they’re assigned an angel when they turn sixteen. She was one of the first few times I chose to show myself. The only reason I did was because I was still learning the ropes of being a guardian angel and one of the few ways I hadn’t tried yet was showing myself without giving away my identity.” He pauses for a moment, his hand still running up and down your back calmly. “But Minho showed up that time. He got into Kira’s mind and took her away from me. He corrupted her and now she works in the Underworld because of him.” Chan’s hand stops moving, his hands balling into fists before he calms himself down. “She was the first human I ever lost to a fallen angel.” There’s many things he doesn’t tell you about her.

The first being that Kira was the first human he had fallen in love with on duty. He would never tell you how happy she made him even when he was hiding his feelings from the higher ups. Chan thought about dating her secretly. It was when Minho came around that he realised he was in bigger shit than he thought. The fact that he had not only thought about courting a human, but he had lost one to a fallen angel.

The second thing he would never tell you is that you make him feel the same exact way Kira did. He sees only purity inside of you, bringing your smiles to light and your laughter to life. Chan doesn’t know when he did, but he’s fallen in love with you. As he lays in your bed with you in his arms, Chan can’t help but wonder just when did he fall for you.

“Chan, your mistakes can’t be repeated,” the deity advises. “We’ll let it pass on one condition.” Chan looks up at the omnipotent being. “If (Y/n) is good enough, we’ll make her an angel. Because Lia is good, we’ve made an agreement with Felix. He has to make sure she’s good enough to become an angel only then can he romantically pursue her. Felix has been an exceptional guardian, which is why we’re granting him this one opportunity. You, on the other hand, not only have you lost a human to a fallen, but you had secretly pursued her.”

“I-I tried to fix that,” Chan stutters as the memory replays in his head. “I was so close to saving her.”

“Yet you failed,” the deity cuts him off. “This is the same fallen angel as then. Prove that you’re fit to protect (Y/n) and only then will we have a discussion on your romantic interests.” Chan returns to his bedroom with trembling hands. He can’t lose another human—not to Minho again. Chan makes it a point to stick around you. Being a guardian angel, he just manipulates the world around the both of you to make it easier for him to keep an eye on you at all times.

“Is it necessary for you to change your major for me?” you ask softly. To say that Chan’s announcement of him changing a whole major just to be with you is a shock is an understatement.

“I can’t let Minho get to you,” he gives you a reassuring smile. “Either way, I’m an angel. I won’t be affected by any of these decisions. I just do what I can do to protect you.” You purse your lips into a straight line as you take it into thought. Chan could honestly just do whatever he wanted with his magic, he just wants you to be his. By being your guardian, he’ll make you an angel; an angel that he can finally love.

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fansofvow · 4 years ago

Text

im here to clear up some things.

edit: just scroll to the bottom for the tl;dr cause this is a lot but i think its necessary so it doesnt seem half assed or glossed over.

if you can’t tell by the perpetual lowercase here, its mod galen! i figured i should address the drama coming on here from a different perspective. no, this isn’t mod atlas dumping all her problems on me, she’s already tried talking abt it herself - its me deciding to speak up on my own accord after seeing the shitfest my dash has become.

keep in mind - i will be happy to discuss any of this with you guys civilly, but im not going to be kind to nasty anon hate. dm us, or just send us a polite ask, and we can sort things out! if we’ve done something ignorant, i promise you we will educate ourselves and apologise sincerely.

the galen thing

first and foremost - i saw some people saying its sus that i, an nb mod, was added to the blog right after the galen debacle. it was not to save face or hide behind me! ironically, the reason i got added now of all times was because mod atlas and i were discussing what was going on, i gave my thoughts on the matter, she asked me if id be interested in being a mod!

mod atlas then thanked me for my insight and educated her on the issue and figured it would be a good idea to actually have someone in the lgbt+ community on the blog - that way, these silly ignorant mistakes will not happen again. i wont let it happen. not to mention she’s getting pretty busy in her personal life so she thought itd be a good idea to bring someone else on board.

i believe that people can learn from their mistakes - i was also hurt by that misgendering galen post. i bitched about it too. but i saw that everyone involved apologised, genuinely didn’t mean it, and promised to do better. and i’ll hold them to that! but im not gonna start talking trash abt them on other peoples blogs just bc they made a rly ignorant post. if you’re cis, i really don’t want you speaking up on this matter anymore. its not your fight. youre not in the position to forgive nor condemn any of these people. trans folk, im not going to tell you that anyone deserves your forgiveness, that’s up to you, but what they do deserve is your decent respect. unless they say theyre blatantly against trans people - aka make a deliberately transphobic statement rather than one made out of pure ignorance - in that case, all bets are off lmfao. i dont take that shit lightly and ill come for you too.

to the person who made the misgendering galen post - you know who you are, i dont want to send you any more hate than you’ve already been getting so im not going to @ you, but please. reupload your apology about the post, cause i scrolled through your blog for ages and didn’t find it - if i didn’t see it reblogged on this blog, i wouldn’t have known you apologised. i wouldn’t have felt like your blog is a safe space for nonbinary folk. its important you own up to mistakes and keep the apology there.

the nahara thing

look. im poc. im also straight up sick and tired of lovestruck’s mistreatment of dark-skinned characters, especially black characters (why do half of them look like recoloured white people....?) like nahara. its important for our representation that she does well! that way, we can get more diverse li’s on our roster in the future instead of every skinny white person getting the spotlight and 9238428903 seasons. (i love you onyx and juliette, but what the fuck.)

that being said - i dont think what mod atlas said was that bad, especially considering it wasn’t here on fansofvow, the only thing reblogged onto here being her english lesson on galen’s route with a relieved comment abt how thats a series started right.

please understand - we’ve been afraid of the new characters’ routes ever since the strike. a lot of writers left, a lot are likely to be leaving, and we’re concerned about the status of the app. this wasn’t to shoot down nahara, but out of pure relief that we’re not seeing a downwards spike in the writing quality post-strike.

that being said - if you think nahara’s route is well written, and great - thats awesome! please give her all the love for us, cause we do want her to do well. she’s just not our cup of tea. can we please respect that instead of slamming this blog’s name? nahara is still doing well, im seeing hype for her everywhere- one or two negative opinions wont change that. we’re not even going to a leave a review in-app, which is the most important form of community feedback to lovestruck.

the posts have been deleted. please, give it a rest. keep loving nahara. quit the drama.

the nikolai’s route in school thing

all the students that saw the screenshots were 18+, and none of the examples were sexual in nature. teenagers get shown romeo and juliet in school, a play ending in a double suicide, but showing adults a few lines of good writing from a 17+ app is bad? its not like she showed them a scene from a straight up porno, its just a story that happens to have sexual themes in it. its up to the students whether they read the whole story or not, and they’re mature enough to handle it. that’s all im going to say abt the matter, cause im no teacher,

and lastly...

i see a lot of people saying that we, fansofvow, need to “set an example” cause we think we’re a “fandom leader” or somehow think we’re on some high horse cause of clout? i have no idea where this started because ik for a fact mod atlas has never referred to herself as a “fandom leader” or anything like that, and guys, we’re not that up ourselves. we don’t even have tons of followers! we’re just doing our thing to support VOW. please don’t put words in our mouths.

with all that out of the way, i hope we can move on and make the community a happier place for everyone.

-mod galen

tl;dr: people make ignorant mistakes sometimes. mod atlas has apologised for reblogging the post abt misgendering galen, wants nahara to do well, only showed non-sexual writing examples of nikolai to 18+ students and never called herself a “fandom leader.”

#long post #mod galen #discourse #pls let this be the only time we have to use that tag

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rpbetter · 3 years ago

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Anyone doing the Post+ Protest this weekend?

Anyone want to, but you're not sure what you'd do without tumblr for 48 hours?*

Here are some suggestions:

work on your drafts off of tumblr - gather what you owe (it doesn't have to be everything if you owe a lot or do very lengthy replies, but it's better to grab more than you end up needing than running out) and write them using google docs or whatever program or app you like best outside of a browser. Then, you can move them over and format them as usual when the protest is over

work on your inbox - same deal! Just take what's in your inbox and write your replies off of tumblr (if your mutuals don't send the whole prompt or just looking at it, you can't remember what the full context was, find the memes and copy that, too, first)

get some headcanon prompts - pull them from memes, character development questionnaires, writing prompts, etc. and paste them into a doc to pick from and write later while logged off

write down headcanon topics until this weekend - just that, be thinking of things you'd love an opportunity to talk about but usually don't have the time or drive to tackle over the remainder of the week, and write them up while logged off

grab some writing prompts - use them as inspiration for writing some open starters or stand-alone things like doing the full month's worth of spooky, October prompts this year starring your muse, getting a head start this weekend

have a canon or an OC in specific fandoms? Of course, you do! And, I bet there are some thoughts you have about those universes and/or events involving your muse. You can write some meta, some discussion on how your muse differs from canon, or even a one-shot to fill in gaps with your muse or revisit an event from their perspective

make/learn to make those icons, edits, or graphics you've been meaning/wanting to do

anything you need to get caught up on or have been wanting to work on for a while, this is a great time to do it! Most of the things you do on tumblr as a RPer don't actually require you being logged in to work on

What happens when you have the impulse to check tumblr, though?

it's habitual, that's how habitual things work, don't feel bad about it or anything! You're not critically addicted to tumblr, and even if you are, it's not meth, it's okay

message friends instead - see ahead of time which friends/mutuals/writing partners are intending to do the logoff, you can help each other out by being around to DM each other instead

find something else ahead of time that satisfies the same habitual sort of needs - browser games are great for this, they often have the same elements of click, scroll, refresh

games games are great, too, it's just that we often still check tumblr on mobile while playing them and that might also be habitual for you

decide you're going to learn how to do something this weekend - make it something you can accomplish, but that is personally complex enough to be occupying for you while not being boring or feeling excessively like work

I've seen a lot of suggestions, this time and the last time around, but they're not specific to RPers...and a few of them are at least mildly insulting with an attitude that this is your time to realize that you're addicted to tumblr and need to go outside, this will be a life-changing experience for a healthier you.

Yes, totally read a book, have a movie weekend with friends, do various social activities (that are safe and responsible for you to do in your area, obviously), go on a walk, go biking, whatever the hell you want to do. However, I'm not comfortable implying that no one does this shit regularly as it is, or that everyone is physically or psychologically capable of doing it. Honestly, if you simply don't have a driving need for "a healthier life" and/or do not feel like you're leading an unhealthy, unhappy one because you have online hobbies, you're 100% valid as well.

So, I'd rather give some suggestions specifically geared toward RPers, that might be closer to normal for your downtime online, that are not negated by real-life limitations, and that aren't things that are your actual, daily responsibilities (studying, engaging with your pets, laundry).

If you participate in the protest, it's best to have some ideas before you log out, so I hope this helped!

*by the way, if you can't make it that full 48 hours, just fully logging out for as long as possible makes a difference! While the full 48 is the best and would be great, the whole point is demonstrating that we're really serious about how not alright with many aspects of this we are - if you never log off of tumblr or are usually logged in for several hours a day, logging off for as long as possible during the hours you're usually here does say something. Please remember that it is important to actually log out! Not simply not visiting your dash or interacting with posts, but literally logging out of your account(s).

-No one is judging you for not being able to participate, either, and there are a variety of reasons why you might not be able to. Maybe, if you have to remain logged in for the duration, you could help out friends who are protesting by keeping them busy, saving things for them to view on tumblr until after the protest is over so you're not reminding them, and generally being supportive of the effort in whatever way you can. This post is a suggestion post, it isn't meant to guilt or push anyone into protesting or shame them for not doing so. Neither is it a perfect listing of everything you could do - you can and should consider what will work out best for you as an individual!

-if you have questions about the protest, the link in the first sentence takes you directly to the blog for it. In the pinned post, they have information like what date and specific timezone time the protest will run for. They also have answered numerous questions, so, check out the blog, please! However, if you want to ask me why anyone is doing this: it is neither about tumblr or content creators making money, everyone is realistic about the former and supportive of the latter. The issue is tumblr advertising this feature to fandom content creators, refusing to listen to its userbase ever, and offering no legal protection will assuming no legal risks with this feature. There are other issues, but these are the primary ones, that the feature is incredibly harmful and legitimately dangerous to those it is being marketed to.

#post+ protest #suggestions #queued

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monabela · 4 years ago

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hey uhh..... advent denest!! this is just the first chapter, every day from now until christmas there will be a new one featuring a christmassy/wintery prompt for that day, but I won’t bother you with that here--check out the ao3 link! :D (maybe I’ll get some other chapters on here too, just to remind everyone, but I’ll think about that)

Snowfall Music

pairings/characters: Denmark (Søren)/Estonia (Eduard), mentioned Finland (Tuomi)/Sweden (Torbjörn), Sealand (Peter), Ladonia (Lars), Vietnam (Vinh), Czechia (Kveta) word count: 4782 summary: Eduard has enough to occupy him this December without having to look after his young cousins, or trying to organize events on his radio show, or having to field strange phone calls day after day, but it seems the end of the year has it out for him.

And somehow, Søren manages to brighten every dark day. Hopefully, he'll stick around for a while.

also on AO3 - further chapters posted there!

“Today on Radio 8, I have some pretty special guests on the show. Now, this was a surprise for me as well—” Eduard opens the audio channels of two of the other microphones in the studio— “but I’m excited they’re here, so welcome to my cousins, Pete—”

“Once removed,” Lars interrupts, raising his eyebrows and wrinkling his freckled nose as if he thinks Eduard is a bit dim. He probably does, come to think of it. The boy is just at that age.

“Alright,” he amends anyway, “my first cousins once removed, Peter and Lars. They’re my first cousin Tuomi’s sons. Is that better?”

“Yes,” Lars replies imperiously. Peter is rolling his eyes, and Eduard has to stifle a laugh while he turns on some background music.

“Their parents are on a trip out of town for the week, so Peter and Lars have been entrusted to Uncle Eduard for the time being—first cousin once removed Eduard, I know, Lars, but I’ll start saying that when you start calling me that.”

“I will.”

“I don’t doubt it. Why don’t you two introduce yourselves, and then you can think of a song you’d like to hear.” He prays Tuomi hasn’t managed to instill too much of his taste in music in his sons just yet, because although they’re ostensibly a rock station, he doesn’t think his listeners are quite ready for metal that heavy.

“I’m Peter,” Peter all but shouts into his microphone, so Eduard lowers his volume slightly. “I’m twelve, and I, ah, I play hockey, I guess?”

That sounds about right.

“And Lars?”

“Well, I’m Lars, I’m also twelve, and I have a podcast.”

“A podcast, really? What’s it about?”

“School and things,” he replies, and nothing else.

“That’s great,” Eduard enthuses anyway, because he does think it is. “You must be excited to visit the studio, then. Would you like to work in radio someday?”

Peter is shaking his head quite frantically and making slashing motions with both hands, but the damage is done, as Lars huffs, wrinkling his nose again and leaning in close to the microphone.

“Radio is very different from podcasts. You just talk around the music.”

Eduard blinks. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“It wasn’t.”

Eduard looks helplessly over at his production assistant, who seems uncharacteristically amused by the whole exchange, her eyebrows twitching ever so slightly.

“Where did you get that sass from?” He knows it must be Tuomi, unless his husband, Torbjörn, has very deeply hidden depths. And, before Lars can actually reply, “Peter, what should we listen to? What music do you like?”

Lars is opening his mouth, but Peter forestalls him, yelling, “Imagine Dragons!”

So Eduard starts a jingle as he lines up an Imagine Dragons song from the station’s playlist and an older rock song to play after that, pushing the slides for the microphone channels down. When he looks at Lars, the boy is just glancing away, attempting to seem disinterested in everything going on by crossing his arms and pressing his lips together. Eduard shakes his head fondly as he scrolls through some of the messages people have sent the show, including some asking if his cousins will help him judge his weekly dumbest pun contest, which he doesn’t imagine will benefit the already low bar for that one, so that’s perfect.

When he asks the boys about it, Lars starts to say something undoubtedly disparaging about how his podcast never has puns, but Peter quickly interrupts again. Eduard is around them enough that he knows this has been their usual behavior for the past few years, and more often than not, the brothers remind him strongly of himself and Tuomi at their age. They always were more like siblings than cousins, and when their older cousin Erzsébet was asked to babysit, she never seemed inclined to stop them.

Granted, he wasn’t doing podcasts when he was twelve, but he does remember using the house phone to call the local radio station multiple times until his parents started threatening to take the phone bill out of his allowance, and then how was he going to buy CDs? The radio show hosts actually wondered what happened to him after a couple of days without word and his parents had to call in to explain. It’s a fond if embarrassing memory.

The show continues in a slightly messier fashion than usual, mostly due to Peter’s attempts to interrupt every single sentence his brother starts to say and Lars stubbornly talking over him, but it’s fun. Eduard reminds himself to make a compilation or something to give Tuomi and Torbjörn when they get back home.

He lets Lars pick a song as well, as his afternoon show nears the end of its first hour. While the mildly surprising requested obscure progressive rock plays, he becomes aware of movement out of the corner of his eye.

Turning, Eduard huffs a laugh when he spots the sheepish-looking freckled face peering through the studio’s windowed door.

“Boys,” he says, ignoring that Lars just glares at him for daring to interrupt his very intent listening, “looks like your uncle finally showed up.”

Peter’s face lights up when he sees the man on the other side of the door, waving enthusiastically. Søren waves back, face splitting in a grin. Although he is Torbjörn’s brother and not a cousin, he doesn’t bear much more resemblance to his brother than Eduard does to Tuomi. He’s tall, but not as tall as Torbjörn is—or Eduard, for that matter—and his eyes are a darker blue pronounced by nearly-black eyebrows that don’t match his coppery hair at all. Eduard has always thought of him as not handsome necessarily, but definitely interesting, and he’d be lying if he said he minded having to look after his cousins with the man.

They’re not close, but he and Søren have spent some time together, albeit mostly when Tuomi and Torbjörn needed someone to look after their sons for a while.

Now, Peter is moving his hands in a flurry of signals Eduard can’t make much of, except that he points at him at the end, and Søren is quickly signing back, his eyebrows jumping wildly.

“He can come in, you know,” Eduard tells Peter, slightly bewildered. He ignores the annoyed look his production assistant is giving her soundboard. At least, he thinks it’s annoyed. It can be hard to tell, with Vinh.

Peter dashes to the door to let in his uncle, who ruffles the boy’s unruly blond hair, waves at Lars—who ignores him—and grins at Eduard with a sheepish edge to it.

“Hey,” he says, “thanks so much for looking after ‘em! Sorry I couldn’t get there in time. Hope they didn’t cause too much trouble for you.”

“Lars is having loads of fun,” Peter declares, then proceeds to duck out of the way when Lars throws a wad of paper at his head. Eduard shrugs at Søren.

As Lars’s song ends, a commercial break begins, and Vinh wanders away to grab some tea and probably gossip about him with the other hosts, so Eduard puts his headphones down and turns his attention fully to Søren. The man is dressed in the same leather jacket he always seems to be wearing and a T-shirt, but doesn’t appear to be cold in the slightest. He has stuck both hands into the pockets of his jacket, but he still moves them wildly when he speaks. A backpack is slung over one shoulder.

“Thanks again. I really couldn’t get out of work, so I’m glad you could take the boys to yours.”

“Of course, no problem.” Eduard pushes his glasses up. “We did have fun, right, boys?”

Predictably, the response is lackluster, since Peter and Lars are too busy swatting at each other with Eduard’s papers.

“I promise we did,” he tells Søren a little forlornly, receiving a full laugh in response, blue eyes glittering in the studio’s bright lights and crinkling up at the corners.

“One day, they’ll learn to appreciate us, Eduard.”

The dubious expression he pulls in return must be funnier than he imagined, because Søren laughs again, extracting a hand from his jacket to clasp his shoulder. He smells pleasantly like the winter air outside, and like hair gel.

“I aspire to help ‘em keep as many secrets from their parents as possible, so they’ll be forever in my debt.”

“You have to wonder if that’s worth incurring Tuomi’s wrath.” Eduard turns back to his soundboard and patches the newsreader in from another location.

“I can take Tuomi.”

“I think that’s your brother’s job.”

Søren makes a strangled sound that might be a laugh and that makes Eduard grin, shaking his head.

“Are you staying for a while? The boys have a pun contest to judge, and I’m sure my listeners would like to hear from you.”

“Sure, sounds great,” he says, his grin softening surprisingly. “I just gotta ask you to keep the background music to a minimum, if you can.” He gestures vaguely at his ear, and Eduard remembers something.

“Right, you don’t hear so well, do you?”

“Practically deaf without my hearing aids, kind of a bummer when you’re on a radio show, I imagine.” He smiles, his eyes crinkling up.

“That’s why pa taught us sign language,” Peter pipes up. “Dad is so bad at it. Uncle Søren, I’d like it if you stayed.”

“Sign language,” Eduard repeats, because of course that’s what that was, but also, how has he never realized that before now? He’s more-or-less known Søren for over fifteen years by now. “Well, I’ll watch the music. Let me know if it still bothers you.”

Vinh returns just as the short second commercial break is ending, inclines her head towards Søren, who waves and does not seem the least perturbed by her lack of outward response, and they set off on the second hour of the show. Eduard lowers the volume of the background music to nearly zero, gesturing at Vinh to leave it.

“While we were away, my first cousins’ once removed actual uncle finally showed up, after he promised he’d pick his nephews up from school—”

“Hey,” Søren interrupts, “you’re painting me in a bad light here, and I don’t appreciate it.”

“It’s the light of truth.”

Astonishingly, Lars snickers at that. He apparently doesn’t care who gets made fun of as long as it’s not him.

“Well, he’s here now, so hello, Søren. He works for the same company my cousin does, so… Is it your fault that we’re saddled with these kids now?”

“Well, I did introduce their parents to each other, so I suppose…” Søren winks at Peter, who sticks his tongue out. “Hey, Eduard, I hear these two got to pick a song to listen to. Do I get a go at that?”

Eduard laughs. “No, no. You need to do a better job of picking them up from school for that. Maybe next time. Actually, I think we’re overdue for some Christmas music. It’s December, after all!”

Peter crows triumphantly. Søren just grins, shaking his head at Eduard, who shrugs in turn, amused.

The hour goes by fairly quickly. Søren animatedly asks the boys questions about their school day during songs that even Lars answers sometimes, and Vinh doesn’t seem to mind him, which is high honor.

By the time the host of the early evening show has arrived and is setting up her stuff while the last song of Eduard’s show plays, he has received quite some messages asking if his cousins or their uncle, who, according to one of his frequent listeners, ‘sounds like a rad dude’, will return. He gestures Søren over from where he’s now already making merry conversation with his colleague, who looks more bewildered than anything.

“What’s up?”

“Well, it seems my listeners like you more than they like me.” Eduard gestures at his computer screen, and Søren grins as he leans over next to him to read the messages. He’s taken his leather jacket off. There are freckles on his bare arms too, and he is making Eduard cold just by looking at them.

“Y’know, the only way to make ‘em rethink that is if I do come back, ain’t it? I can just be an all-round terrible co-host.”

“I like that idea,” Eduard replies, before turning his microphone on as the song ends. “Bruce Springsteen and Born to Run, and it’s the end of another afternoon. Kveta just got here—” he turns his attention to the next host, who nods— “Kveta, anything we can look forward to today?”

“No family members, I think, unless anyone wants me to prank call my stepbrother again.” She laughs. “I’ve got some great new tracks, and there might be some live music going on.”

“Very nice.”

“Of course. So, Eduard, are your family members coming back?”

Søren, who is still next to Eduard, pokes him in the side, then leans further forward to speak into his microphone.

“I’ve always dreamed of being a radio star.”

“I think he’s coming back to usurp me.” Eduard turns to Søren, almost poking his nose into the man’s spiky hair. “He’s already using my mic. And who knows what Peter and Lars will do, they’re twelve.”

“I guess that’s true,” Kveta replies. “Wow, Eduard, he’s really up in your face. I feel like someone should be shielding your cousins’ eyes.”

Peter laughs from where he’s now standing next to Vinh, peering at her screen. Vinh raises her eyebrows at Kveta, who smiles, bites her lip, and looks away. Eduard has to smother a laugh.

“Again, they’re twelve. And I think it’s time we all start heading home, so I’ll leave you to it, Kveta. Please don’t bother your stepbrother too much.” He tilts his head towards Vinh, quirking his mouth, and Kveta glares but sounds upbeat as ever when she replies.

“Can’t promise anything. Now, next hour, we’re starting off with some new music, so stay tuned. Eduard will be back tomorrow afternoon at four.”

The commercial break starts, and Eduard sets about packing up his things, gesturing Peter away from Vinh so Kveta can talk to her a bit before her own production team takes over. Most days, he’d stay at the studio for a while, but he decides to go home right away—Lars and Peter left some of their school supplies at his house that they’ll probably need tomorrow. So, after saying goodbye to Vinh and Kveta, he herds his cousins and Søren out of the studio and towards the elevator, which they ride down to the parking garage. Søren swings his backpack around and pulls out a knit red scarf.

When they reach the garage, the man grasps Eduard’s shoulder as they exit the elevator, stopping him in his tracks. The boys are already racing towards the car, which Eduard also wouldn’t have taken on most other days, preferring to use the bus, but he figured it’d be smarter to take his cousins that way.

“Hey,” Søren is saying, “I biked here, so—”

“In this cold? Do you want a lift?”

He blinks. Scratches his temple.

“There’s a bike carrier on my car,” Eduard adds. “It’s pretty new, I—”

“Uncle Eduard!” Peter calls, waiting by the back door of the car. Eduard holds up a hand—while Lars reminds his brother it’s first cousin once removed Eduard—and pulls the key fob out of his bag to unlock the door for him, then turns back to Søren.

“It’d be no problem; I could take you all over to your place after we stop by my house.”

“We should do dinner,” Søren says, à propos of nothing, his face bright in the gloom of the garage. “Yeah? I owe you one. What kinda food d’you like?”

“I… No, it’s fine, they’re my cousins, it was no trouble at all! I don’t need anything, Søren.” Eduard laughs awkwardly, fiddling with his glasses and looking towards his car. Peter is peering over the backseat.

“We could take the boys out somewhere—this weekend, maybe, before Tuomi and Torbjörn get back. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy.” His hand, still on Eduard’s shoulder, squeezes gently with every other word as if Søren is trying to get his usual gestures across that way. Or, now that he thinks about it, those are probably actual signs. He smiles.

“Well, maybe. I don’t have a show on the weekends.”

“Yeah?” When he pulls his hand back, Søren’s fingers glance off Eduard’s neck. They’re warm. “I’m sure we can find something even Lars will approve of.”

That sounds dubious, but Eduard will hold out hope. Søren agrees to a lift, though, and they figure out how to put his bike on the carrier without difficulties before piling in and driving over to Eduard’s house.

Søren traipses inside after Lars and Peter, peering around curiously.

“Nice place,” he tells Eduard, who waits in the hall while his cousins collect their things. And, “Hey, you should stay for dinner at mine.”

“Søren…”

“Just sayin’, why eat here all by your lonesome when there’s plenty of food at mine? You gotta go there anyways.” At this, he pokes Eduard’s arm gently. “I mean, if you need some alone time after dealing with those two, I ain’t judging.”

Huffing a laugh, Eduard shakes his head. “I don’t know how Tuomi and Torbjörn do it.”

“Together, and with practice, I guess. Wanna come?”

Eduard contemplates it for a moment, looking into the living room and thinking about the leftover spaghetti he has in the fridge.

“Alright. Thank you, Søren.”

Søren smiles, softer than seems to be the norm for him, his cheeks dimpling gently. It’s like a little ray of sunshine on a December day.

“Boys!” he yells, clasping Eduard’s shoulder again when he winces. “Sorry. I’m no good at regulating my own volume.”

Lars is glaring at his uncle, having already been standing in the doorway to the living room with his school bag in hand and having heard him loud and clear.

“Sorry,” Søren repeats, this time signing it as well, putting his hands together as if in prayer.

“What?” Peter yells back from somewhere else. Seconds later, he skids into the hall, his sneakers leaving black marks on the wood floor. “What.”

“Eduard’s coming over for dinner. Got everything?”

They both nod, and Peter claps Eduard on the back as they all head back out. Søren laughs. He takes his scarf off when he gets into the car this time.

“Hey, are you allergic to anything? Or vegetarian?”

“I’m not, don’t worry.” He checks over his shoulder that his cousins have their seatbelts on, then starts his car. “I mean, I don’t eat a lot of meat these days, but I won’t say no.”

“Hm, yeah, that’s good. I oughta be better at that.”

With Søren’s instructions—gestures included—Eduard finds his building on the outskirts of one of the older suburbs easily. Søren tosses Lars the keys to his apartment and the boys run off while Eduard helps him get his bike down from the car, then waits while he parks it somewhere in the shared storage space.

“Alright! C’mon, Eduard, I don’t really want ‘em to break my kitchen down.”

After taking the stairs, they reach Søren’s apartment on the second floor. The door has been left open, and little lights twinkle around the frame.

“Hey!” Søren says, surprised, as Eduard curiously looks around the narrow hall. It’s much neater than he somehow expected, probably just because of Søren’s slightly chaotic mannerisms. Since he sees that his cousins have lined their shoes up by the door, he takes his own off as well, putting them next to Peter’s.

Entering the living room, he understands Søren’s surprise. Peter and Lars are rushing to set the table, apparently trying to outdo each other in speed. There is a tiny Christmas tree on a dresser that suddenly seems quite precarious.

“Be careful,” Eduard says, a little feebly, and Peter grins at him, his hands stacked with far too many plates for four people. It seems to be going alright for now, so Eduard leaves them be to seek out Søren.

“Uh, Søren?” He walks into the kitchen. It’s a surprisingly large space, and Søren already has some pans out and is reaching up for a cutting board. He doesn’t appear to have heard Eduard over the clattering happening in the living room.

“Are you sure about… That?” Eduard asks, when the man has a hold of his cutting board and spots him.

“What, the boys? They’ll be fine.” Something crashes loudly, and Søren pulls a rueful face at the door. “I jinxed it.”

“We’ve got it, Uncle Søren!” Peter yells.

“I’m gonna just… Hey, Eduard, can you get some water boiling while I go check on that?”

“Of course,” he replies, holding a thumb up. Søren pauses on his way out of the kitchen and smiles.

“Of course,” he repeats, moving his hand forward while he first holds just his pinkie up and then opens his whole hand. He does it again, slightly slower, and Eduard tries to replicate the sign. “Hey, great!”

Before he rushes off to assess the damage, he makes an okay sign with one hand.

Eduard fills a pan with water, assuming it’s for the rice Søren’s put on the counter, and turns the stove on to heat it. Søren returns quickly, carrying almost all of the plates Peter was hauling around.

“I think Tuomi and Torbjörn are raising ‘em too well,” he says, putting the plates away. “I don’t think I ever voluntarily set the table until I moved out. Can you slice these peppers?”

Eduard can, while Søren pulls some chicken out the fridge to fry it.

“They’re just hungry. Besides, didn’t they just break a plate?”

“Just the one, it’s fine. I definitely wouldn’t have done a chore if I was hungry. Gotta wonder how Torbjörn turned out so decent.”

“Keeping you in check?”

Søren laughs heartily at that, leaning his hands on the counter so that his shoulders shake visibly. He’s just in his T-shirt again, and Eduard can see now that it is merch of a band he plays sometimes and likes well enough, although he wouldn’t call himself a fan. He slices the bell peppers and some cauliflower, and smiles as a delicious spicy scent fills the kitchen a while later.

Peter sidles into the kitchen as Søren covers the pan to let it simmer for a while. He looks like he’s about to lift the lid again.

“Hey, hey, watch out,” Søren says, pulling his hand away. “That’s hot.”

“I just wanna see.”

He’s always done that, as far as Eduard knows. He can clearly recall a load of pictures of toddler Peter pressed up against the glass of ovens and washing machines and microwaves. He wonders when he’ll grow out of it, or if he’ll be like Tuomi, who still watches whatever he’s cooking for at least ten minutes, but then Tuomi is bad at cooking and might just be making sure it’s not going to explode.

Peter stubbornly crosses his arms and stares at the pan.

“Are you planning on staying there?” Søren asks.

“Probably,” he replies brightly, turning his head to address his uncle. Søren throws a fond smile at him and ruffles his hair before he can duck away.

“Eduard, by the way, I still think we should get dinner this weekend,” he says, pointing a finger at Eduard, who accepts that with a helpless gesture, mostly aimed in an amused Peter’s direction.

“Is that where you get that stubborn streak from?” Eduard asks him, and both Peter and Søren burst out laughing at that.

“It’s like you’ve never even met his parents!”

“Pa says no one is allowed to play Monopoly anymore.” Peter shrugs. “Not that I wanted to, Monopoly’s boring, but Lars got real upset about it.”

“Dad stole all my hotels!” Lars yells from the living room, sounding extremely indignant. Tuomi really is that sort of person, Eduard thinks, glancing at Søren in amusement, but Søren is narrowing his eyes and looking at Peter questioningly.

“Dad stole Lars’s hotels,” the boy relays, and Søren nods, now returning Eduard’s look.

“No Monopoly, got it. I’m sure I got some other games, though, we’ll check it out later.”

Peter grins, nodding. Eduard fears that both his cousins have inherited Tuomi’s competitiveness.

Dinner is good. Eduard is used to eating by himself, or sometimes with Vinh or another coworker, often the early afternoon duo—he tends to spend that time looking at his phone, or, in the latter case, trying to mediate yet another argument between them. It’s nice to have someone to talk to instead of just listening to music or reading news articles.

Søren still gestures wildly while he’s eating, cutlery and all, sometimes even half-forming signs, but he somehow manages to avoid flinging any food as he does so. He says it’s an acquired skill, then launches into a story about throwing soup into Torbjörn’s hair when they were teenagers that has Peter laughing so hard he nearly chokes and Lars, in turn, yelling at him not to throw up or he’ll kill him.

“I’m not,” Peter replies, glaring fiercely even as he breaks out in a hacking cough again, and then quickly signs something at his brother that makes Lars glare back. They definitely inherited that from Torbjörn. Eduard gently claps Peter’s back, and even though he doesn’t think it’s helping much, Peter eventually quiets. His breathing settles back into a normal rhythm, and he takes a large gulp of his water.

“Peter, don’t confuse your cousin,” Søren says, making a downward slashing motion with both hands.

“Sorry, Uncle Eduard,” Peter tells him. He picks his fork back up.

“It’s fine,” Eduard replies, after realizing Søren is talking about Peter using sign language, which he doesn’t understand. Lars, on the other side of the table, rolls his eyes and touches his hand to his shoulder, which makes Søren sigh and shake his head at him.

“It is difficult, Lars.”

Eduard gestures for him to leave it be—wondering as he does so what his gesture might actually imply—and Søren doesn’t say anything else about it, but he does grumble, later, while they load the dishes into the dishwasher, that he knows his brother made it a point that they shouldn’t use sign language to exclude anyone on purpose.

“Probably ‘cause our parents had the same rule,” he explains, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms. His T-shirt stretches across his shoulders, quite nicely, Eduard thinks. “Although that was mostly ‘cause we were better at it than them. Still are, and my mom would still put me in timeout too, 39 years old or not.”

“That sounds fair. I really didn’t mind, though.”

“It’s the principle of the thing, y’know?”

There is a ruckus from the living room. Søren raises his dark eyebrows questioningly.

“They’re, ah… They’re arguing over which game they want to play.”

“Yeah, that seems about right. Are you staying longer or are you heading home?”

“I should probably be going, I like to do some preparations before I go to sleep.” He adjusts his glasses. “Thank you for dinner. You’re always welcome at mine, too.”

“Might take you up on that, Eduard.” Søren runs a hand over his hair and pushes away from the counter. “I’ll probably see you around before the end of the week, I need your help with those kids.”

“Like I said, their parents do it together too.”

That gets him a lopsided grin and a wink that he doesn’t know what to think about but quite likes anyway. Eduard goes to collect his coat and shoes, bids his cousins a good night before they both try to convince him their choice of board game is the right one, and heads out. Søren walks him down to the parking lot.

“I’ll see you, then,” he tells the man, biting his lip when he gets another lopsided smile.

“See you ‘round, Eduard.” He waves shortly when Eduard pulls up in his car, illuminated for a moment by the headlights as he turns off the parking lot. Still just in his T-shirt.

Back home, Eduard leans over to get his papers out of the glovebox, and his hand brushes against something soft. Blinking, he picks it up from the passenger seat and lets the soft wool run across his hands. Søren’s scarf, he realizes, and takes it inside with him.

He’s sure he’ll have the opportunity to return it soon enough.

21 notes · View notes

ssuibian · 4 years ago

Text

ssuibian’s mdzs fic rec

It looked like there was a few interested in some mdzs fic recs so here I am. I’ll divide this into mdzs verse and modern au so scroll to what you like. Some of these will be the infamous ones, but they’re known for a reason so on the list they go.

Before we begin some info about my preference’s: I read a little bit of everything, almost exclusively completed works and mostly wangxian-centric.

Code: personal fave - ♛ / explicit, contains smut - ♞ / fluff - ✿

All of these are on ao3, so check them out on there for more info.

Mdzs verse (set in the same era as the novel/cql)

Tame by rikke ♛✿

Tags: teenage wangxian, canon divergence, humor

Length: 11.7k words, oneshot

Summary: When Wei Wuxian wakes up in Lotus Pier after the Xuanwu Cave it’s with a souvenir in the form of a Xuanwu egg. Wangxian end up as young parents.

A civil combpaign by ariaste ✿

Ariaste has a lot of good fics and is a wonderful writer so check out their other works too!

Tags: Jin Ling x Lan Sizhui, background wangxian, humor, teenage drama

Length: 19.6k words, oneshot + a sidefic from wwx’s pov

Summary: Jin Ling tries to arrange his own marriage and thinks Lan Sizhui could be a suitable match. One problem: he’s a teenager, the matter is handled accordingly.

The lotus defense society by mondengel ✿

Another good writer with a lot of content!

Tags: humor, background wangxian, background yanxuan

Length: 3.4k words, oneshot

Summary: Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji start a club to help them ensure the Jiang siblings stay single until they can confess.

Phantom leashes by mondengel ♛

Tags: vampire au, horror elements, set in canon

Length: 3.1k words, 2/2 chapters

Summary: Lan Qiren can’t help but be cautious of his youngest nephew who inherited his mothers bloodthirstiness.

An effect (without a cause) by astrobandit

Tags: post-canon, amnesia

Length: 15.4k words, 10/10 chapters

Summary: Lan Wangji knows that something is wrong. Maybe the black and red clad man saying his husband is missing has something to do with it.

Unexpected by nanodayolo ✿

Tags: princess and the pauper au, wangxian, mo xuanyu x xue yang, humor

Length: 68.2k words, 22/22 chapters

Summary: The Jin clan is on the borderline of bankruptcy and arranges a marriage between their third son Mo Xuanyu and the second master of Lan, Lan Wangji. Sabotage is in the works and Mo Xuanyu is kidnapped, luckily they have look-alike Wei Wuxian to step in as a stand in. No one will notice, right?

Baby of mine by pupeez4eva ♛✿

Tags: time travel, humor, a-yuan

Length: 3.3k words, oneshot

Summary: A-yuan has time traveled to his parents teenage days in Gusu. Cloud Recesses is in chaos by what their visitor from the future implies.

Another writer with many good works. My personal faves also include The haunting of Wei Wuxian (ghost’s follow wwx around post resurrection and are witnesses to wangxian)

and the Wangxian’s time-travelling shenanigans series (they time travel to Gusu school days in the middle of the Guanyin confession. doesn’t stop wwx)

Where the winds of change blow by merakily

Tags: post-canon, humor and a dash of angst, hurt/comfort, juniors, family

Length: 17.4k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng is always a second away from stabbing the other. Who would’ve know a discussion conference and sect leader Yao’s loud mouth was what it took to make them get along.

The twin jades’ mother by drjlecter

Tags: post-canon, mild angst, twin jades, canon compliant, TW! mentions of suicide

Length: 11.8k words, oneshot

Summary: Wei Wuxian does some experimenting and somehow manages to use inquiry to call upon a very dear spirit.

The father trap by jinko ✿

Tags: post-canon, juniors plotting, humor

Length: 3.6k words, oneshot

Summary: The juniors are frustrated that wangxian isn’t together. They start plotting to make it happen, overlooking the fact that they might be engaged.

Asympotic by chinxe

Tags: canon divergence, pining, angst w/ happy ending

Length: 26.6k words, 3/3 chapters

Summary: Lan’s have a history of having tragic love stories. Lan Wangji follows tradition by falling in love with a ghost.

Some days. by jollytortoise ✿

Tags: emotional hurt/comfort, post-canon

Length: 8.3k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian is sick, and the entire Cloud Recesses is thrown into disarray. It’s a bad day and all he wants is his husband.

Conversations: this mending fences thing by alcove_words ✿

Tags: post-canon, moving on, family

Length: 4k words, oneshot

Summary: Wei Wuxian and Lan Sizhui have to stop at Lotus Pier when wwx is injured on a night hunt. Jiang Cheng tries to pick up the pieces of the relationship he once had with his brother.

Lan Sizhui sees dead people by darkbrokenreaper ✿

Tags: background wangxian, canon divergence, humor

Length: series, 7 stand alone works, ongoing

Summary: The time a-yuan spent in the burial mounds has left its mark by giving him the ability to see ghosts. As a result he shocks the people around him when he talks about things he shouldn’t know.

Recompense for the martyr (wicked nights howl) by anemonii ♛

Tags: post-canon, family, emotional hurt/comfort, memories, brotherhood, forgiveness, canon typical violence

Length: series, 3/3 parts

Summary:

Part 1: Jin Ling is cursed by a sword and witnesses the owner’s memories. As a result he’s taken back to the Lotus Pier of his uncles’ childhood, their teenage days in Gusu and their fallout when the Yiling Patriarch appeared.

Part 2: Wei Wuxian decides it’s time he and Jiang Cheng talked.

Part 3: It’s time to lay Mo Xuanyu’s body to rest.

The Yiling Wei clan by scifigeek14 ♛✿

Tags: canon divergence, family of choice, fluff, everyone lives/nobody dies, getting together

Length: series, 6/6 works

Summary: Lan Wangji decided to stay at the end of the visit to Yiling. It changes everything, for the better.

Modern au

Unstrictly ballroom by ariaste ♛♞

Tags: competitive ballroom dancing au, background songxiao

Length: 47.5k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: 13 years ago Wei Wuxian was involved in a scandal and thrown out of the competitive ballroom dancing scene, and Lan Wangji never stopped looking. Faced with the heteronormativity within the field, Lan Wangji and his dance partner decide to make a change. It’s something so fitting Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji really wishes he was there now.

Lightning in a bottle by bigbabyjeno ♞

Tags: photographer lwj, wedding crasher wwx

Length: 10k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji is the photographer for a wedding and catches Wei Wuxian sneaking in, claiming to be the bride’s brother. They disguise him in as Lan Wangji’s assistant so he can see his sister get married. The night ends with some smutty times.

By mistake or design by allurie ♛♞

Tags: fashion designers au, slow-burn, sexual tension

Length: 51.7k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji is the head designer of the haute couture division of the fashion house Nuage, while Wei Wuxian is the head designer for ready-to-wear. Circumstances have them end up working together, and the result is an explosive collaboration.

The best of you by sysrae ♞

Tags: university au, mutual pining, emotional hurt/comfort, mental health

Length: 41.9k words, 17/17 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian rents Lan Wangji’s spare room after being thrown out by the Jiang household. Living together makes Lan Wangji learn to know Wei Wuxian on a much deeper level.

So take my hand (take my whole life too) by cicer ♛✿♞

Tags: university, kid-fic, accidental baby acquisition, mutual pining, humor

Length: 92.3k words, 13/13 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian was waiting for his package. What he finds on the doorstep instead is a baby in a car-seat with no one else in sight. Wei Wuxian juggles taking care of a baby and being in love with his co-parent/ roommate/ best friend Lan Wangji at the same time.

Let’s you and me go for a ride by rinsled05 ♛✿

Tags: racing au, a-yuan, brotherly love, fluff, hurt/comfort

Length: 21.4k words, 5/5 chapters

Summary: Competitive motorcyclist Wei Wuxian meets his very handsome sponsor Lan Wangji, who despite not liking racing still comes back to watch. He wonders why.

Love wakes me by dea_liberty ♛✿♞

Tags: childhood sweethearts, famous lwj, coffee shop owner wwx

Length: 42.8k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: A teenage bet was all it took for Wei Wuxian’s life to fall apart. As an adult he’s working in Yiling cafe, and he’s doing fine in his new life. That’s until Lan Wangji walk in the doors and make his heart ache again for everything in the past.

B-side by suspicious_popsicle ✿♞

Tags: band au, metalhead wwx, music teacher lwj, juniors

Length: 47.3k words, 15/15 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian disappeared right after graduation and Lan Wangji never saw him again. That’s until Lan Jingyi’s favorite band is performing nearby and Lan Wangji sees his first love again.

My dreams are playing softer now by fleurdeliser ♛✿♞

Tags: modern w/ cultivation, drunk lwj, humor, fluff

Length: 8.2k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji is drunk and his older brother decides he doesn’t want to deal with that and makes Wei Wuxian take responsibility. What follows is a cupcake date.

Congratulations, get rich by attila ♛✿♞

Tags: party, sibling shenanigans, big dumbass energy, humor

Length: 9,2k words, oneshot

Summary: Wei Wuxian really wants to kiss Lan Wangji at the chinese new years party. If mixing traditions and making his siblings go along with his scheme for it to happen, so be it.

The simplest way forward by harriet_vane ♛✿♞

Tags: kid-fic, accidental baby acquisition, green card marriage (except not), pining

Length: 71k words, 8/8 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian wakes up with an a-yuan in his care and he has no idea how. Lan Wangji helps out and Wei Wuxian tries not to fall in love with his husband.

Operation old men by chiharu ♛✿

Tags: juniors, matchmaking, family, doctor wwx, scheming

Length: 37.6k words, 6/6 chapters

Summary: It turns out Lan Sizhui’s father Lan Wangji and Jin Ling’s uncle Wei Wuxian know each other after a chaotic parent/teacher conference. The juniors decide to do some investigating that soon turns to matchmaking.

Your heartbeat, across the grass by fakeplasticlily ♛♞

Tags: football player lwj, photographer wwx, a-yuan, mutual pining, sexual tension

Length: 44k words, oneshot

Summary: After graduation Wei Wuxian has done his best to avoid everything to do with Lan Wangji. Not easy when Lan Wangji has become a world known fotball player and a-yuan’s favorite.

Other faves by this writer: Love on 35mm (lwj is a film student and anonymous famous vlogger who’s in love with his best friends younger brother)

and When we’re full of stories to be told (wwx went undercover for an article and cut contact with everyone. years later he ends up meeting childhood best friend lwj who has become a famous author.)

Wei Wuxian is the actual bogeyman (no really) by chatonnerie ♛✿

Tags: rise of the guardians crossover, humor, juniors, mystery

Length: 57.3k words, 6/6 chapters

Summary: Literal bogeyman Wei Wuxian was exiled by the guardians 1300 years ago. A mystery à la mdzs canon welcomes him back to the world for some buddy-cop holiday fun.

Our reflections as seen (when the water stills) by chatonnerie ♛✿♞

Tags: tokyo ghoul crossover, university, gore, humor, mystery

Length: 121k words, 10/10 chapters

Summary: Lan Wangji attends university and works for the ccg. His new course brings the annoyance that is Wei Wuxian into his life, who eventually turns out to be his new best friend. Lan Wangji is very concerned for his friends safety when he finds out Wei Wuxian’s brother is a ghoul. But that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

[This one is hands down one of the best fic’s i’ve read ever. Incorporates the mdzs and tokyo ghoul verse so well.]

And they were roommates... by harriet_vane ✿♞

Tags: fem wangxian, college/university, roommates

Length: 41.2k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian is without housing for the semester and fellow student Lan Wangji has a room available. Based on infamous reddit post "I (21f) have a crush on my roommate (20f). I can't figure out if she actually likes me back or not or is just being friendly. She cooks for me and knows all my favorite foods, and brings me lunch. (...)”

Jiang Cheng’s terrible summer by hellohln ♛✿

Tags: camp rock crossover, getting together, humor

Length: 3k words, oneshot

Summary: Jiang Cheng tells his therapist about the disaster that was summer camp. Mostly because he had to witness his brother getting together with fellow camper Lan Wangji.

Let the streetlights guide you home by tellthemstories ♛✿♞

Tags: street racing au, pining, sexual tension

Length: 22.6k words, 5/6 chapters (steady updates so far so it should be done soon)

Summary: Wei Wuxian was the best street racer of his time and he was known for danger and recklessness. A fateful night with his sister beside him turns out to be his death. 10 years later Mo Xuanyu enters the scene.

Window shopping by thunderwear ✿♞

Tags: quarantine fic, single dad wwx, a-yuan, “long distance”, phone sex

Length: 18k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji looks out of his apartment window to see a sign from the neighbor across the street asking what his bunny’s name is. The interaction turns into more than a one time occurrence and introduces him to the attractive single dad and his adorable son.

A perfect match by elliemoran ♛✿

Tags: juniors, college/university, humor, gossip

Length: 2k words, oneshot

Summary: Professor Wei Wuxian overhears the students discussing in the library. It’s less about academics and more about how good he looks with professor Lan. But which Lan?

Make it count by wearing_tearing ✿♞

Tags: actor wwx, lawyer lwj, pining, fluff, light angst, background songxiao, background yanxuan, TW: attempted rape, stalking

Length: 46.9k words, 12/12 chapters

Summary: Actor Wei Wuxian makes his way back into the acting world and prepares for his new role by working at a lawyers office. It brings him back to an old acquaintance.

Grandmaster of demonic party games by trickster_angel ♛✿

Tags: college, paranormal, occult, light horror, mutual pining, humor

Length: 50k, 27/27 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian likes to try out paranormal games but is always interrupted by Lan Wangji. He keeps wondering how the other knows what he’s up to.

Scienter by synonemous ♛♞

Tags: serial killers au, dark, explicit, smut, flirting, crime, murder husbands, murder siblings

Length: series with multiple verses within the au, most can be read as stand alone’s

Summary: Serial killer Wei Wuxian aka the yiling patriarch has been flirting over text with the infamous fellow serial killer hanguang-jun. He has no idea who he is, but that doesn’t stop him.

#700 followers \(^_^)/#mdzs fanfic #mdzs fanfic rec #cql fanfic rec #mo dao zu shi fanfic rec #chen qing ling fanfic rec #the untamed fanfic rec #ssuibian.txt #my faves

61 notes · View notes

lavenderek · 4 years ago

Text

i have a thought to express, feel free to scroll past.

i’m gonna discuss rape and sexual abuse in this post. it’s also long because i don’t really have a conclusion, it’s just some thoughts.

so i was looking into that reality show that facilitated shane dawson’s horrible movie “not cool” and i stumbled across a reddit thread posted by someone who was a fan of his as a preteen. the OP alleged that shane’s content contributed to them developing some serious issues including body dysmorphia and the normalization of sexual behavior involving children.

some of the comments were in support and agreement, but a large amount of them were like, “where were your parents? it’s not shane’s job to police what you see online. it’s not his fault you were too young for his content.”

now, shane was well aware from the jump that his fans were mostly kids and teens - he talked about it multiple times - but that’s not what this post is about. this post is about that particular argument, which does not sit well with me.

it reminded me of a couple years ago when i made a very critical post about c*ptive prince.

pause: i want to make it crystal clear that i am not drawing a comparison between people who like cp and shane dawson. i’m not mad anymore, so i am not making this post making a value judgment on cp or fans of it, positive or negative.

specifically, i was really bothered by the way cp content was posted and shared with no mention of or reference to the actual material. people were calling it a queer romance. it was a little-known series by a little-known author, so there were no synopses anywhere online, only the summary you’d see on the back of the book. so people would seek out cp thinking it was a romance and be blindsided by the fact that, spoilers, the story is set in a fantasy world where child rape is a major tenet of society. the scenes are explicit, detailed, and many. it’s not a thing that happens once or twice and is a major plot point, it’s a thing that happens multiple times in every chapter and is just kind of a thing that’s going on. if you’ve ever read twilight, i would compare the presence of rape in cp to the presence of rain in twilight.

like, that’s how often it happened, that’s how it was treated. sometimes with indifference, sometimes with a negative opinion, sometimes it caused problems, bella talks about it every two pages. it is a very rapey series.

and people like, did not want to discuss this. they were like, “the characters decide the rape is bad in the end. and that’s not even what the story is about, it just happens in the story. i don’t know what to tell you.” like... people were not receptive to any kind of conversation about this topic lmfao, it was very touchy. they wanted to acknowledge that rape itself is bad, and then they wanted the subject closed.

now, why is this a problem? i read the books. there were parts i enjoyed, and there were parts i didn’t enjoy. i’m not gonna reread them, but i’m still game to talk about it. ultimately i wanted to be able to talk about books with a friend of mine, and while i was like, “yikes, this is a lot of rape, was not expecting the volume of rape,” it didn’t occur to me this would be a pervasive issue at all until a different friend of mine happened upon it. this other friend was a rape survivor, and i happened to know she would find this content very upsetting. when she said she was thinking of buying the book, i was like, “halt, you know what happens in it, right?”

nope! she didn’t. she saw cute fanart and a ficlet on her dash, somebody told her it was a queer romance. nowhere was there any indicator in summaries online or the posts she was seeing that the book would describe a person being drugged and sexually abused. she was pretty relieved that i’d warned her and shaken that that’s what happens in the books lmao. she would never have guessed. the cp fandom was made up of people who loved the main pairing, and they’d talk about them being in love and draw them being in love, and it felt like everybody was just acting like the rape wasn’t even present in the books lmao.

pause: i didn’t go in the tags. this is not representative of the fandom as a whole. this is just my and my friend’s experience of it as passive internetgoers.

people got uncomfortable and a little defensive if i brought it up. they’d agree to tag for cp, but if you don’t know what cp is about, that isn’t helpful information. like that post that’s like, “waterboarding at guantanamo bay sounds like a lot of fun if you don’t know what either of those things are” lmao. if you don’t know what cp is about, tagging for it just tells you what it’s called. and it very clearly ruined everyone’s fun if i talked about this.

so that’s what i was mad about, i was mad that i felt as though there was no recourse here, and i was mad because i felt like the cp fandom was the emperor’s new clothes. nobody was acting like it even existed and everybody got uncomfortable if i brought it up, like, i legitimately wondered at some point if i had somehow accidentally read a kinky rewrite of it, that the real version did not have rape in it and nobody knew what i was talking about. i felt like i was going crazy and i got shitty in the middle of the night one time, and wrote that post.

i ultimately deleted it, so i do not remember how it was worded; but i do recall that it was a venting post, it was not intended to reach a wider audience. i was not trying to convince anyone in that moment, i was just talking shit. so i can bet that it probably came across as very judgmental and unkind.

i made a bunch of people very angry with that post. somebody got thousands of notes by reblogging with an impassioned smackdown saying basically what those redditors were saying about shane - it’s not their job to police what people see online. it’s not their fault you were unprepared for cp.

i do not think this is a nuanced enough argument because i do not think it acknowledges that not all content is created equal.

i even got an anon ask in good faith saying, well, a huge trigger for me is body horror, and people will draw or reblog stuff with body horror in it, and i can’t hold that against them.

and like, no, you can’t, but body horror is not the same as rape or child sexual abuse. body horror isn’t the same as sex trafficking. right? like those things aren’t comparable in the way that i think the anon was wanting them to be. they were saying that both of these are common triggers that people would want tagged and be unable to move past in media, you know? and i get that, i got what they were saying.

kind of like that cartoonist who wrote a spooky horror comic a while ago and somebody sent them an ask being like, “that was really scary, you usually post fun comics, this was damaging, unfollowed :/” like obviously a stranger’s fear of spooky things is not something he should be expected to take on on his own blog lmao. i am deeply afraid of ghosts, by the way.

but according to rainn.org, 1 in 5 women experience rape in their lifetime. 1 in 5 women are not frightened by literal ghosts in their lifetime. 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys aren’t body horrored. body horror and ghosts aren’t used on a global scale as tools to control and abuse people and they do not have the same connotations of shame, degradation, and control. the things are not the same.

i don’t have an easy answer. i can’t wave my magic wand and make people not enjoy the rape erotica, nor was that my goal in the first place. i wasn’t clutching my pearls like, “how dare you! do not draw this art! think of the children!” and i don’t know how else i would have solved the problem, aside from having a weird disclaimer under your art of two dudes cuddling that says “warning, these dudes are from a book that’s got several thousand words of explicit rape in it, and i know that, you’re not the only one seeing that,” like that’s a lot and i get it.

i don’t have an easy answer because there isn’t one. i felt like “well, that’s not my problem” was an easy answer.

as i get older, the more responsibility i have as an adult online to maintain boundaries between me and minors, for example. i am not responsible for their internet experience and they can’t get mad at me for cussing or writing about gay werewolves on my blog, but i do have to be mindful of that context if i’m interacting with someone online. that’s where the complexity comes in. you can’t wash your hands of the context of the things you say and do online.

just how to solve these problems, i did not know then and i do not know now. i guess we take it on a case by case basis.

if you’re curious about shane dawson and his horrible movie, by the way, this guy did a few funny videos about the horrible movie and this guy did a not funny but comprehensive breakdown of shane and his career.

and i tried to tint my eyebrows for the first time the other day, i have red hair and my eyebrows are darker than my hair for some reason, so i tried to use an eyebrow tint to lift my brows just like, a shade, so be closer to my hair? but in doing this i discovered that my eyebrows are a mixture of red and brown?

so the red hairs lifted to a sunny orange, and the brown hairs stayed brown. so my eyebrows are fully like, calico right now. boom, orange juice, that’s life

#diary post #long post

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sassy-pelican · 5 years ago

Text

Curse Words

Pairing: 40s!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Premise: You and Bucky meet under very sarcastic circumstances.

Warnings: language, fluff, humor, a lot of nothing

A/N: I was casually scrolling through my dash and then this post popped up and all I could think about was writing something similar for Bucky. So, thank you random persons (@psychoticpingouins - won’t let me tag) grandparents, your actual life experiences have inspired me to write fake life experiences. This is also an AU in the sense that Steve and Bucky both came home from WWII in the 40s. Angie is the same Angie from Agent Carter.

It was unfortunately a normal day for you. Men looking down at you simply because you were a woman who didn’t get their food to them fast enough. Time and time again you and Angie grumbled over the sorry excuses for humans that graced you throughout the day. Time and time again you wondered if you should take up Peggy’s offer to join her office. Although, from the second-hand stories you heard from Angie, Peggy didn’t fair much better than you.

Perhaps it was the fact that your boss continued to harp on you about gaining weight, saying that they didn’t supply uniforms any larger. Maybe it was lousy tips you’ve been getting simply because the cook couldn’t cook fast enough. It could even be the fact that you spilled someone’s entire meal down your front when an arrogant customer rammed into you. However, by now, even at only seven, you were ready to crawl into bed and have a black hole swallow you whole.

“I know it sucks but you have to keep tryin’, otherwise you couldn’t afford to live,” Angie says as the two of you walk back to your apartment.

“You didn’t get all the sleaze balls today,” you comment. “Besides, you complain just as much as I do on the bad days.”

“I’m an actress, meant to be on Broadway, I’m overly dramatic. You,” she says, looking you up and down, “are a hot mess.”

You don’t even bother responding, only give her a scalding glare. “Why am I friends with you again?”

“Because I’m the only gal you didn’t scare away with that mouth of yours.”

“Oh,” you feign surprise, “you mean to tell me the other waitresses can’t handle a little cursing.”

“Not the way you do it,” she smiles.

“My ma cursed just as much as I do, I got it honest.”

“At least Peg don’t curse as much, she has the sense to keep it quiet.”

“You think your Peggy doesn’t curse? She spent the war with hundreds of men who sound far worse than me, she picked up a few things.”

“Oh! Pish,” she says, waving you off. Devilishly, you smirk.

“Can’t handle a few assholes, bitches, cunts, bastards? Not even a few shits and hells?” The more you mock her the bigger her smiles gets. “Oh-” you heel slips on a paver and before you know it it’s broke, “oh fuck me.”

“At least let me buy you dinner first!” However perfect the timing for that comment was, you don’t have the slightest idea who the man was who said it.

“Excuse you?”

“I said, at least let me buy you dinner first,” he says, and as he comes closer you can make out the day-old stubble and blueness of his eyes.

“Awfully presumptuous of you,” you reply. “Maybe I don’t want to go to dinner with you at all, nor fuck you for that matter.”

“Y/N!” Angie scolds, hitting your arm.

“So that’s your name? Y/N, pretty.”

“Do I get your name?”

“Bucky Barnes,” he says, “at your service.”

“You’re Steve’s best friend!” The words are out of your mouth before you can stop them.

“You know Stevie?”

“Not really, Peggy just likes to talk about him and his imbecile of a friend when she visits the diner.”

“Must be talking about Dugan then,” he says.

“No, she mentions you by name,” you smile.

“Would like to go to dinner with me sometime?” Bucky asks, Angie looking frantically between the two of you, hopeful.

“Ask me again in ten days and we’ll see,” you reply, his smile not dropping.

“Deal.”

10 Days Later

You can practically feel him when he walks in, his presence huge in the relatively empty space. Although, you could kill him for coming in this early in the day. Not that you expected anything different, he’s been coming in every morning for breakfast since that night. It’s not helping his cause.

“Hello darlin’,” he says, smiling as he takes a seat.

“Hello Bucky,” you reply, “same as yesterday?”

“Nah, I think I’ll have pancakes today, give myself a treat.”

“Celebrating something are you?”

“Maybe,” he says, looking you in the eye.

“I haven’t said yes yet.”

“Please,” he smiles.

“Your pancakes will be cold if you keep this up.”

“Oh, come on sugar,” he please. You roll your eyes and slap the back of his head with your notepad, cringing when you realize that Frank is here today.

“Y/N!” Frank yells from the back. “No assaulting customers!”

“Yes Frank,” you say, dropping your shoulders. You see his head peak out from the kitchen window as you turn.

“And for God sake’s girl, suck it in. I can’t have fat waitresses at my diner, it’s bad for business.”

“Jesus,” Bucky mutters. “Does he do that all the time.”

“Yes.”

“Well don’t just stand there givin’ doe eyes to every man! Get to work!” You know it isn’t right, but at this point, you’re far more used to it than not. Unfortunately, Bucky never got the chance to meet the wonderful Frank.

“What’s she done to you?” Bucky asks, loud enough that Frank can hear him clearly.

“And what’s your problem boy, the little shank getting on your nerves?”

“You are,” he seethes. If it were possible, you could swear you were seeing steam come off him. “You should treat your waitress better.”

“She’s my waitress, I’ll treat her as I damn well please.”

“Bucky,” you plead.

“She’s a woman! She deserves some respect.”

Without a word you throw your apron on the nearest chair and walk out the back. “I’m going for a smoke,” you lie, “Angie cover for me a minute.”

Everyone knows damn well you don’t smoke, but no one dares correct you at this point. Only Angie knows what you really do; you go out there and cry. The cold brick doesn’t help you this time, it only makes you feel worse. Still, the tears come in droves. If you didn’t need the job so bad, you’d quit on the spot, but Ange was right, you need the money.

“Y/N,” Bucky whispers as he clothes the back door. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not you,” you reassure. “I just, I hate this place. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done and all I get for hard work is shit on.”

“Then quit,” he says.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I need the money Bucky!” He suddenly seems to realize just how upset you really are.

“How often do you come out here?”

“About every three days, it’s a guarantee when Frank’s here.”

“Quit,” he says. “Come stay with me. I’ve got an extra bed I can pull out.”

“No.”

“Set up a meeting with Peggy and you can stay with me while you get it sorted out.”

“Bucky I can’t.”

“Why not?” He genuinely sounds baffled.

“Can you imagine how I’d look! I’m already hated for not fitting in and now I’m moving in with a man I’ve known for ten days! Bucky I’d be labeled a harlot.”

“Oh, fuck them!” he shouts. “We know what happens behind closed doors, as do the people you care about. That’s all the matters.”

“Bucky,” you start only to have him stop you.

“Let me take you on a date tonight, you can come back to mine and check it out then decide, okay?”

“Okay.”

1 Year Later

The smell is heavenly when you open the door, just the thing you needed after today. “You know,” you say slipping off the shoes that are currently cutting off circulation to your toes, “you didn’t tell me you could cook when I moved in.”

“A man never reveals all his secrets on the first date darlin’,” Bucky says from the kitchen. Making your way over to him, you place a kiss on the side of his neck. “How was Peggy today?”

“Same as always,” you say. “Harping on about Steve and his stupidity. Although, the job of ordering men around suits her.”

“I’m sure it does you too,” he mocks.

“Right, because that’s what I do.”

“Sweetheart, you’re the analyst. Peggy asks you to look at cases and tell everyone the most likely scenarios and how to proceed before she makes a decision. It’s your job to boss people around.”

“I suppose,” you smile. “Whatcha cooking?”

“Nothing special, just some grilled cheese.”

“You bastard! That’s what I was gonna fix tomorrow.”

“We could always go out,” he suggests.

“We sure as hell are now, I was plannin’ on fixin’ that for days.”

Quickly he turns and slips his arms around you, hands resting on your ass. “Such a shame.”

“You are something else Bucky,” you joke.

“I’m your something else,” he says, squeezing his hands and dropping his lips down yours in a frenzy. It’s all tongue and teeth, your hands grabbing at his shirt as his slip up your sides, bringing your skirt and blouse with them.

The slow movement backward into the counter has you gasping, enough that he slips more of his tongue in your mouth, devouring you with everything he has. Jumping up, your ass hits the cold counter as he trails kisses down your neck.

A hiss and a burning smell knock you out of your lust induced haze. “Bucky,” you moan. “The soup.”

“Dammit,” he yells, pulling away to clean up the ruined dinner. “How about we go out tonight instead?”

“Sounds good to me.”

#Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #40s!bucky #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fluff

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mahalkitajohnnysuh · 4 years ago

Text

With Family (Part II)

This installment will be the last for now, but rest assured that I will write more of this since it’s something I have fun thinking scenarios of.

One of my many inspirations for this part aside from my personal life was Johnny’s outfits when he went to America late last year.

Heck, I even made a collage of it with one of Adam Driver’s looks in Marriage Story because both looked so similar but had different tones! Please see image below:

In short, I really like big and tall guys. Dude has to be since I’m also like that in real life. Well, I’m not that tall, but others think that’s the case.

Anyway, mahal ko kayong lahat! :)

–––

Summary: After meeting Essie’s mother and sisters, it’s time for Johnny to meet her estranged father. Also, read more about the couple’s dynamic at home. Can you relate to them, especially those who have been in a relationship or are in a relationship? Please let me know by commenting on this post!

POV: 2nd person

Word count: 1,600 + words

Warning: Italics are for foreign terms. Since we have songs mentioned here again, please scroll down to the bottom of the post to listen to them while reading or whatnot.

–––

“Baby, wake up,” you stirred at the husky voice of your boyfriend who was gently shaking you.

“I’m awake,” you mumbled, slowly opening your eyes. You saw him in his usual brown hoodie and sweatpants, and he looked worse for wear like you are right now.

“We have to leave the house at eight,” he pulled off the covers from your body, “since we’re going to have Mass with your family.”

You stood up straight immediately and shrieked. “Oh my god, I almost forgot about that!” You covered your face in your hands, ashamed that you were almost running late and at the thought of Johnny meeting your father for the first time.

He had already met your sisters and your mother a couple of weeks ago, but now he was going to meet your estranged father.

You and your father didn’t have any beef. It was just him and your mother who had a complicated relationship. You grew in a dysfunctional family because of that, but that doesn’t mean that you love one parent more than the other.

“It’s okay, baby. I’ve already met your family except…” His voice trailed off, afraid that you might not like what he was going to say next.

“Yes, you’re going to meet my father,” you dropped your hands on your lap and looked at him. He was concerned at how antsy you were feeling and kissed your forehead. “Don’t worry. I can handle him. Maybe he’s not going to handle me,” he chuckled, his hands taking in yours.

“Well, let’s see about that…” you squeezed his hands, “but we better get moving, shall we?”

He nodded and led you to the bathroom, wherein you saw your towels hanging next to each other on the rack.

“So, who’s going to take a bath first?” You let go of his hands and placed them on your hips. “Of course, I’ll be the one who goes first,” he pointed a thumb to himself as he went to the sink and plucked his toothbrush from the holder.

“Okay, why did I have to ask,” you grumbled, tugging on your shorts as you plunked yourself in the toilet. “And don’t look, just focus on brushing your teeth,” you pointed a finger at him as you shimmied yourself out of your panties.

Good thing Johnny was intent on brushing his teeth while you peed. Since he was intent on brushing all corners of his teeth, he didn’t notice that you were done until he heard the flushing of the toilet.

“Call me when you’re done with that, okay?” You said as you went back to the bedroom.

\\\

A few minutes later, Johnny was done and went back to the bedroom to tell you it was your turn to brush your teeth.

But before words came out of his mouth, he was speechless at the sight of you just in his shirt and your panties. Your butt was on full display for him as you lied on the bed scrolling through your social media feed.

He slapped your butt, and you immediately turned to see him smirking at you.

“You just had to do that, huh,” he whispered, pinching your thighs this time. You swatted his hands away from you and got up, pulling down your shirt, so he doesn’t see your panties anymore.

“Take a bath now, please,” you said as you got your toothbrush and squeezed a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. “Yes ma’am,” he purred as he removed his hoodie, revealing his perfectly sculpted body.

You tried your best to look away, but he didn’t let you – instead, he winked at you as he flexed his body in front of the mirror.

“Like what you see, baby?” He said, slowly approaching you.

You rolled your eyes in response, but deep inside you could feel your insides warming up. “Just take a bath now, please,” you said in between brushing your teeth.

He slapped your butt again before he cackled his way to the shower. “If only we weren’t in a hurry, I’d want for us to take a shower together.”

“Younghooooo!”

\\\

You returned to the bedroom again and groaned as you listened to him sing in the shower. At first, he sang ‘A Whole New World’ and you were singing Jasmine’s part silently. Then, he sang ‘Change the World’ (by Eric Clapton) and even did the guitar sounds of the song. The last song he sang was ‘True to Your Heart’ from the Mulan soundtrack, which you couldn’t help but sing along to loudly as well.

Once he was done, he emerged in the bedroom with his towel wrapped around his waist. “It’s your turn now,” he said at the doorway while holding a seductive pose. You flipped the bird on him before removing your shirt inside the bathroom.

“Damn baby, you’re looking finer each day,” he howled, his eyes focused on your chest. “Johnny, please! Get dressed now!” Your cheeks were burning as you stepped inside the shower.

“But really, your boobs are getting bigger and your ass firmer!” You heard him say from the bedroom, and you screamed in annoyance.

\\\

You left the house at exactly 7:45 a.m., and both of you wore burnt orange. You rocked your favorite corduroy skirt in that autumnal color while he wore it in a turtleneck, which fit him snugly.

“We totally look like a couple,” you said while you eyed your skirt and his turtleneck. “Well, aren’t we?” He replied, his hand slipping into yours as he drove with one hand as always.

“I know,” you looked at him in the eye, and he winked, earning giggles from the both of you.

“You’re such a flirt! Do you know that, my love?”

“Yes, I know. But only to you.”

\\\

You arrived at the church right before the Mass started, and you saw your family waving at you at the far right corner of the place. Your mother was beside your father, who looked dashing in his black shirt and jeans. Sitting beside your mother was your elder sister and her girlfriend, while beside your father was your eldest sister and her American husband. You decided to sit beside your elder sister and her partner, with you sandwiched between your boyfriend and your sister’s partner.

After the Mass, you had lunch at the nearest Korean restaurant, and Johnny was gushing how cute your parents were.

“It looks like your mom’s totally in love with your father still,” he whispered as you waited for the meat to be cooked on the grill.

“I know, but he doesn’t really feel that same anymore,” you whispered back, tightening your grip on his arm. You saw that his face fell, and you pecked him on the cheek to cheer him up.

“Don’t be sad, but that’s the truth. It’s rare for me to see my mother this happy though,” your eyes were focused on how your mother was feeding kimchi to your father, who took it hesitantly.

“I want us to have a loving and long-lasting relationship, baby,” he kissed your hand after he whispered those sweet words to your ear.

“Me too, love.” But before you could look at each other with goo-goo eyes, your elder sister cleared your throat and raised an eyebrow at you two.

“Some of us are trying to eat here, lovebirds.”

You and Johnny mouthed your apologies and went back to eating.

\\\

The day went by fast – everyone took a walk in the park and enjoyed what nature had to offer. Johnny was quick to assist your parents when they had difficulty walking or moving, and you followed suit. You endured the teasing you got from your family while your boyfriend tried his best not to join in and defend you.

But the highlight of today’s event was his bonding with your father. You overheard them talking about photography, and you couldn’t help but smile at their interaction.

“Essie, why don’t you set up a photo walk in all of the parks in the city? I know you did that before,” your father said as he noticed you observing them.

“Yeah, I know, but I’m not sure if all of my photographer friends are still in the country,” you replied sheepishly.

“Nonsense! There will always be people who love photography and would love to get to know people through it,” your father eyed Johnny with a smile on his face, “and let’s do it next week?”

You glanced at your boyfriend, who looked ecstatic at attending his first photo walk.

“Sure, Dad. I’ll do that.”

\\\

On the drive home, Johnny was beaming with all the things he learned from your family.

“Your dad’s so cool, baby! You never told me he’s like a master photographer of sorts! I can’t wait to borrow his medium format camera next week!” He was squealing like a teenage girl as he went into the nitty-gritty of photography.

“Well, now you know,” you grumbled, looking at the car window. “I’m glad you enjoyed today.”

“Yes, I did. I hope we’ll get to do this next time with my family,” He looked at your reflection on the car window and saw a panicked expression on your face.

“Baby, don’t worry. Eomma and Appa love you already,” he squeezed your hand gently. “And they can’t wait to see you again.”

You cried silently on the trip home as he held your hand. Although you have already met his parents, you still felt afraid of them. Your heritage was something that you thought they would have issues with, but they said that it was okay.

What mattered most was that Johnny was happy with the woman he loves, and they could see that whenever you were around him.

It was after that second meeting with his parents that he admitted of his plans of settling down, and you fainted because you knew what would come next.

He was going to propose to you eventually. You just had to prepare yourself when and where he was going to do it.

–––

FIN

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qqueenofhades · 6 years ago

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So, it’s Friday evening, and it turns out I have more thoughts about things that happened this week. I almost never do Discourse on this blog, on whatever subject, but sometimes even your friendly local depressed historian gotta say things. If you’re not in the mood for a long-ass meta-y text post, just keep on scrolling, no hard feelings.

In the wake of the Notre Dame fire, which obviously a lot of us were upset about, and profoundly relieved that it did not end up being completely catastrophic, the usual spate of posts began to pop up, alleging that people only cared about Notre Dame because of the loss to Western/European/Christian history, that nobody had been this upset about the National Museum of Brazil or the outbreak of arson at three black churches in Louisiana in the same week, and so on. I don’t blame anyone for making those posts, because I know they cared about those issues and wanted to ensure that their importance was communicated, especially when something major like Notre Dame was getting all the airtime. However, I couldn’t help but notice how that followed the same pattern as all Woke Tumblr Discourse (tm). An event happens, people express reactions to it, and are then attacked or indirectly shamed for not expressing reactions to another event. Or there’s the usual cycle of “nobody will care about this because it’s not happening in America”-style posts, or passive-aggressive insinuations that “you don’t care if you don’t reblog this.” And -- I say this with the greatest kindness possible, because I know, I know you guys care -- it’s... not helpful.

The culture of Tumblr and other left-wing sections of social media often rests on enacting performative wokeness, on showing that you care about the most Progressive (tm) issues, or that you have thoroughly scrutinized your fandom tastes or political beliefs for anything Problematic and/or can prove yourself to an imagined moral standard (and there have been some great metas written on how this essentially replicates conservative evangelical purity culture, with the goalposts switched). This is why we keep having to circulate (and doubtless will have to do so with increasing frequency) those posts reminding the left not to eat its young and flame all prospective Democratic challengers to Trump in 2020 to a crisp before the right wing, which is only too happy to let us do the work of sabotaging ourselves, even gets a chance. This is also why you see the posts responding to said angry “nobody cares about this!” posts, in which people mention the fact that not visibly reacting to all the (vast and terrible) injustice in the world does not mean they don’t care. The world is a big place. So is the internet. I can guarantee you that people do care, and just because you didn’t see immediate evidence and response to it when you opened up your Tumblr dash is not proof of a collective nefarious conspiracy.

Take me, for example. I am a thirty-ish academic and historian who considers myself well-informed and literate in current events. I read national and international news every day to find out what’s going on (because I live in England, the answer is Brexit, and the status is Failed). And yet, there are plenty of things that I only hear about for the first time on Tumblr, often attached to one of those “nobody cares about this!” posts. And you know what? I do care. I care a lot. And I’m guessing that most other people do as well, because no matter how it may feel, the majority of individuals are fundamentally decent people with basic empathy for others, even if our whole system is a nightmare. But the urge to demand why nobody is Discoursing about this issue (again, among a vast and exhausting sea of them) needs to take a few fundamental things into account.

First, the American media (as a large portion of readers are relying on) simply does not report this stuff. Look at what’s happening in that godforsaken country right now; does it really seem like the kind of place that’s eager to tell you about Brazilian museum fires or black-church arson? I’m someone who makes a conscious effort to read the news no matter how depressed it makes me, and I still miss tons of stuff, because it’s not there. The Western media reported on Notre Dame, people knew about it, and were upset. But when those of them who did not know about the National Museum of Brazil learned about it, they were also upset. We can definitively say now that the National Museum was a bigger and more irreplaceable tragedy in terms of what burned. But we were also apparently 15-30 minutes away from losing all of Notre Dame. You can be upset about both these things. You can express empathy for the history lost in both cases. There is not a greater moral value attached, and you’re not racist for caring about Notre Dame if you heard about it first (unless you’re only upset about Notre Dame for reasons related to race or perceived cultural superiority and are peddling vile conspiracy theories about Jews and Muslims intentionally burning it down, in which case you are a racist). Almost everyone who learned about the National Museum fire was just as horrified.

2019 is a hard and monstrously unfair and tremendously difficult place to live. The internet has made exposure to both all the information and no real information at all simultaneously possible. Not everyone can display active engagement and empathy with every tragedy everywhere. People have jobs, lives, kids, work, school, other commitments, mental and physical health to look after and even when they read the damn news, there’s no guarantee whatsoever the news is going to report it. If they haven’t made the conscious effort to search out every scrap of terribleness that exists in this hellworld, they.... really should not be shamed for that. If they don’t care even after they learn, that’s another debate. But again, in my experience, most people do. But if they are first exposed to it by someone claiming they won’t care, that makes them less likely to engage with it, and to want to enact meaningful change. Firing wittily sarcastic takedowns at easy targets on echo-chamber liberal Twitter is one thing. We all enjoy a good roast and venting our frustration at times. But as a long-term engagement strategy, it’s going to actively backfire.

I talk a lot about being a teacher, and my experiences with my students, but it’s relevant again, so here goes. The kids in my classes come in believing some pretty strange things, or they flat out don’t have a clue even about what I consider basic historical knowledge. If my reaction was to shame them for not knowing, when they have expressly come to me to learn better, I’m pretty sure I’d be a bad teacher. My strategy, whenever a student can actually be nudged to answer a question, is to pick out whatever correct thing they said. Even if the rest of the answer is wrong and we need to work through it, I start by highlighting the part of it that was right, and to build their confidence that I’m not just going to tear them down when they respond. Freshmen are scared of not knowing things and to be made to look like an idiot, so I try to assure them that I’m not going to do that and I will constructively engage with their contribution and treat it seriously. You can then move to dealing with the other parts of it that may not be right, or even Mmm Whatcha Say side-eye. It is a long and often frustrating process and sometimes after reading their essays, you wonder how much of an impression you made. But if you actually want to get people to care about things, you can’t mistake Ultimate Wokeness or Look How Progressive/Anti-establishment/Enlightened I Personally Am for the simple requirement of being a decent person. You can have the greatest and most necessary beliefs or value systems in the world, but if your response to people is to lash out at them even before they begin the conversation, you’re setting yourself back. And I know that’s not really what you want to do.

This should not be interpreted as some wishy-washy “everyone just needs to be nice to each other!!!” kindergarten-playground-rule. I frankly think the whole system could use a good nefarious dismantle, and you sure as hell don’t get there by mistaking insipid moral equivalence for necessary action. But accepting the existence of people different from you, and considering how you want to engage with them, and understanding that issues are complicated and people are flawed, is a fundamental part of being a mature adult (and this has nothing to do with chronological age; there are 15-year-olds who are plenty more mature adults than 50-year-olds). I honestly do love the desperate desire to make people care, and that, for the most part, is why people who identify as liberal or left-wing do so, because they want to (and they do) care. But it’s also why they can be bad at winning elections and getting into meaningful positions to enact this change. The right wing stays on message and sticks together. Even if they absolutely hated Trump, plenty of Republicans held their noses and voted for him anyway. The left did not do that. The greatest virtue of liberal thought, i.e. its determination to include multiple perspectives, has increasingly reduced it to smaller and smaller camps where only the purest survive, like some kind of ideological Hunger Games. It might be great for making yourself look good to your hall of mirrors, but.... not so good for actually doing something long-term.

Once again, this is not to blame anyone for being upset and worried about things, for wanting people to know about them, and so forth. But I am gently-but-firmly suggesting, in my capacity as old, salty, queer spinster academic aunt, that perhaps you consider how you start the conversation. Once again, it’s my experience that most people want to know and want to care, but there are countless factors that mean not every bad thing in the world will be acknowledged everywhere by everyone at all times. You can care about different things for different reasons. That is okay. You can care about something because you have a personal connection to it. That is also okay. You can not care about something because you just don’t have the capacity and are emotionally exhausted and there’s so much shit in this world that you have to compartmentalize and set boundaries. That is also okay.

For example, I was obviously very upset about Notre Dame, and still am, though I’m relieved it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Am I happy it’s going to be restored? Yes. Am I unbelievably angry that a half-dozen of the elite uber-rich could just suddenly throw billions of euros at it for its restoration, when it had to struggle for years to get funding for crucial renovations? Yes. Do I feel as if that if the vaults have suddenly been opened to restore one major European Christian landmark, it’s incredibly heartbreaking that that level of instant capital just won’t be addressed to actual endemic, long-term issues like global warming and social inequality and the Flint water crisis and whatever else, and that this is a sad and troubling message for our society in many ways? Yes. All of these things exist together. And I imagine most people feel the same way.

In short: I realize this is the internet, and therefore just is not designed to do that, but maybe we can give each other a little bit more of the benefit of the doubt, and think about how we would like to educate and engage those we come in contact with, whether virtually or in reality. We can do it wherever and whoever we are, with anyone that we meet, and I wonder what it would be like if we did.

#hilary for ts #history #notre dame #Le Discourse #anyway yes #i just felt like it needed to be said #nothing particularly original perhaps #and it has been said before #but still #long post

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spiderman-homecomeme · 5 years ago

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Day One - Hidden Connections

AN: You guys!!! Spideychelle week is finally here!! Ahhhh I’m so excited to see what everyone else as written and to share my stuff! Here is my contribution to day one! It’s a little short and quick, and there’s a fair amount of non-romantic stuff in it, but I just thought this idea was really funny and had to write it down! A huge thank you to @spideychelleweek for putting this together!

Prompt: Secret Relationship AU/College AU

Pls enjoy some 2.4k of humor, fluff, and a dash of angst.

“To whom it may concern,”

“Dear Sir or Madam,”

“Dear Mr. Bugle,”

“Hello,

I hope your day is going well.

My name is Peter Parker, and I happened to film the altercation between the criminal known as Rhino and the heroes Luke Cage and Spider-Man on the intersection of 42nd Street and 11th Avenue. I have some screencaps of it attached, if you are interested in the video for a blog post, let me know. I am willing to sell said footage for a discounted quick-sale price.

Sincerely,

Yours Truly,

Love,

Thanks,

Peter Parker

Releasing a puff of air through his lips, Peter hits send.

The clickable ad he’d seen while scrolling through Facebook said: SEND VIDEOS OF SPIDER-MAN. $1 PER SECOND*. It was only after he’d clicked did he notice the fine print: Spider-Man must be within the frame for the whole second, otherwise the dollar is void.

But that doesn’t matter. Peter has a full five minutes that Dronie had so graciously recorded for him of Luke Cage and him kicking Rhino’s ass.

And he really needs the money.

MJ’s birthday is four days away, a day which also coincides with his rent being due, so in other words: he’s essentially broke. While he does have money in his bank account, he only has enough for one of those things, not both, and he can’t really afford to be evicted at this point. He knows MJ won’t leave him if he doesn’t get her anything…

But she at least deserves something nice.

This video should net him roughly $300; he can take her out to a nice dinner, maybe buy her something actually decent for a change. Not another scarf.

And who knows? She might not even want to go out to a fancy restaurant, seeing as she’s turned down every offer he’s given to take her out in the six months they’ve been dating. Every date night, it’s either been take-out, a quick slice, or some kind of fast food. Not that he’s complaining about hanging out with his girlfriend; every minute spent with her was more than enough. And he’d be a liar if he said it wasn’t a little easier on the wallet.

But there was still that seed of doubt. Why did she never want to leave Queens? Why was it always such a rush to get back home? Why hadn’t she introduced him to her parents? The intrusive, relentless thought that her being embarrassed of him might have been a factor whispered darkly in the back of his mind. He knows he can be immature at times, both with his sense of humor and overall behavior, so, albeit shamefully, he could understand where she was coming from.

Maybe a nice present accompanied by a fancy dinner could help to prove that he can act like a grown-up.

Maybe.

The next morning, while happily munching on a bowl of Hulk O’s, he’s genuinely surprised to see a reply in his notification bar from none other than J. Jonah Jameson himself.

“I want to see that video. Will talk about your payment after I have it analyzed by my team.

Your appointment is today at 9am. Don't be late.

J.J. Jameson

Editor for the Daily Bugle Heralding Your Daily News │Tel [212] 555-7109│Fax [877] 555-0971

Sent from my iPhone.”

Peter only allows himself a moment to be put off by the the informality of Jameson’s response, brows crinkled as he turns to check the time.

8:30 AM.

He drops his spoon into the bowl, milk and soggy cereal splashing.

Well, shit.

He stuffs whatever clothes he can find into a backpack before roughly yanking his suit on; he flings himself out of his fifth story window, cereal bowl abandoned on the kitchen counter. Phone in hand, following along on Google Maps, he wonders how super heroes were able to find their way around big cities before GPS.

The next thirty minutes fly by in a blur, and Peter honestly doesn’t know how he’s able to put enough brain cells together to find a place to change into his civilian “interview” clothes. It’s a wonder he made it there in one piece.

The lobby doesn’t have any kind of directory, or any indication of where J. Jonah Jameson is supposed to be. In fact, Peter isn’t even sure where he’s supposed to meet the guy, unable to recall if there’d been anything like that in the email.

He gingerly approaches the front desk, ducking his head down slightly as he offers a smile to the receptionist. “Uhm, hello! I’m here to see Mr. Jameson?”

The woman gives him the the quick once over, visibly unimpressed. “You got a delivery, kid?”

“Uh, n-no.” Peter shifts awkwardly, smile fading. “He, uh, he sent me an email. To meet him at nine? Today? Right… Right now?”

“Hold on,” she says, her voice monotone, turning to the phone on the desk and dialing a four digit number with freshly manicured nails.

Peter starts to say, “Thanks,” but is cut off by the woman holding a finger up.

“Hey Ted, I’ve got a kid down here. Says he’s supposed to meet with Jameson. Do you know anything about it?”

She listens for a moment, nodding. “Okay, thanks.”

Click.

“Okay, kid, go over to that elevator. 17th floor. Someone will meet you.”

Peter smiles again, throwing a quick, but polite, “Thank you,” over his shoulder as he moves.

He’s met by who he assumes to be Ted, a slight middle-aged man with tired eyes. “Peter Parker?” He asks.

Peter nods.

“Alright, follow me.”

Peter isn’t taken directly to the office at first, only being seated in the waiting area just outside.

For thirty minutes.

9 AM, he said. Don’t be late, he said.

The door to the office is ajar, the sound of Jameson yelling at and berating some poor unfortunate soul over the phone almost as loud as the clacking of Ted’s typing on his keyboard.

“I don’t care what that weasel said, I want it done right this time! And if you had done what I’d told you to, we wouldn’t be having this conversation!” There’s a pause as Jameson presumably listens to the person on the other line begging for mercy. “Fine. Go with the lilac. It’ll clash with your comforter, you’ll see. Don’t come crying to me when you have to buy a whole new bed set.”

Another beat of just Ted’s typing passes.

“Okay. Love you, Mom. Buh-bye.” Jameson hangs up, before yelling out the door. “HOFFMAN!”

“Yes, sir?” Ted answers quickly.

“MY 9:00 IS LATE. IT’S 9:30!”

“No, sir, he’s here sir. He’s been here since 9.”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME? I COULD’VE HAVE ENDED THIS CONVERSATION SOONER. MAKE A NOTE OF THAT, HOFFMAN.”

“Yes, sir. Will do, sir.”

“NEXT TIME, INTERRUPT MY PHONE CALL. STICK YOUR HEAD IN HERE. GIVE ME A SIGNAL.” He sighs. “Okay. Send him in.”

Ted looks over. “You can go on in. Good luck.”

Peter falters for a moment, wondering if he’s really willing to go through with this.

No. He is. MJ was more than worth it.

He says a quick, “Thank you,” before walking in to the lion’s den.

Jameson sits at his desk, looking up briefly, chewing on an unlit cigar. “Well, quit your dawdling, get in here.”

Peter picks up the pace.

The man glares at him for an uncomfortable few moments, sizing him up, before extending his hand. “You got the video?” He asks, skipping introductions entirely.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah.” Peter swallows, handing him the drive.

Jameson hums. “I was expecting someone… More… professional.”

It’s then that Peter realizes he’d left his apartment without even combing his hair or brushing his teeth. He hadn’t even bothered put on deodorant or to change out of his The Mighty Thorgi t-shirt. He’s wearing a pair of the day before yesterday’s and yesterday’s jeans, and to make matters worse, he’s wearing two different shoes; one grey converse and one blue.

“You homeless or something? Because there’s a soup kitchen around here.” Jameson spends the next few moments trying to plug in the USB to his computer, flipping it over and over. “Damn thing. HOFFMAN!”

Ted practically sprints in. “Yes, sir?”

Peter tries to speak. “I can do it if you—”

“—Don’t patronize me, kid,” Jameson snaps. “Hoffman. Plug this in.”

Peter watches in silence as Jameson’s expression never changes as the video plays out on his computer. Peter knows what’s on the video, he knows it by heart, in fact. He fought in it. When the video ends, Jameson leans back, his blank expression now seems thoughtful.

“I’m gonna give it to you straight kid,” He says. “It’s a good video. Now I can send this down to my lab nerds. They can calculate the exact amount of time that Spider-Man’s in a full frame. I’m guessing it’s gonna be around $120 to $150. But, that’s if we give you credit, of course. If you wanna sign the rights of this video over to us, we’re looking at, say, $350 upfront. You won’t be credited, though.”

To Peter, that actually sounds pretty good; he gets a good amount of money, more than he thought, and his name won’t be tied to his alter-ego. It’s a win-win. “Oh, yeah! That sounds great!”

Jameson’s smile is shark-like. “Great. HOFFMAN! GET ME CONTRACT A27!”

“Do you mean A63, sir?” Ted asks from the door, contract already in hand, placing it on the desk.

“Yes, yes of course. A63.” Jameson shakes his head. “Can’t get decent help around here,” he mutters.

Peter signs where Ted indicates. Jameson signs the last page and hands back the contract.

“I’ll be back with your copy,” Hoffman says as he exits the room.

Jameson then opens his drawer, retrieving a thick check book and grabbing a pen. “Parker Peterson, right?”

“No, no. Just… Peter… Parker.”

As Jameson writes the check, Peter takes the time to take in the office around him, his eyes drawn immediately to the portrait on the desk. His stomach drops as he realizes who it is.

No doubt about it.

That’s a picture of his girlfriend.

Why is there a picture of MJ… on Jameson’s desk?

“Pretty, isn’t she?”

Jameson’s voice startles Peter, and he looks over, the older man glaring right into him. “Huh?” Peter asks.

“She’s pretty, right? It’s okay. You can say she’s pretty. Beautiful even.”

Peter nods, voice soft. “Yeah. Really beautiful.” And he means it, more than anything, nervous as he is; MJ is the most beautiful person he’s ever known.

With the flick of his wrist, Jameson deliberately flips the portrait away from Peter.

In the amount of time Peter’s been in the office, Jameson has had two volumes: Loud and VERY LOUD. There seems to be a third setting, however. In a hushed, threatening tone, Jameson seethes. “Listen here, kid. I don’t need no smelly, grubby, unemployed jackass drooling all over my daughter.”

Wait, what?!

Fuck.

“I don’t know what thoughts were going through your sick little mind, but that’s my little girl, and I will be damned if she fuels your pervy little spank bank! Do I make myself clear?”

Oh, if only he knew...

Even though Peter could easily take down the older man, he still finds himself shrinking back slightly.

He nods profusely. “Yes, sir, of course sir.”

“Good.” Jameson roughly shoves the check at Peter. “Now get the hell out of my office.”

Peter doesn’t need to be told twice as he dashes through the door, nearly running past Hoffman who expertly passes him the contract copy.

“Have a nice day!” Hoffman calls as Peter disappears down the hallway.

Omw, the text read from MJ.

Luckily, Peter had already planned for arrival; the apartment’s clean, the floors vacuumed, Febreez has been sprayed. Conditions were perfect. All he needed to do now was sit and wait, mindlessly tapping his fingers against his thigh, the events from earlier replaying in his head on some kind of torturous loop.

The sound of the key turning the lock fifteen minutes later had his pulse quickening. She was here. “I brought Chinese!” She called as she set the bags down on the dining room table.

Peter cuts right to the chase, barely lasting a second. “So. I met your dad today.”

MJ nearly drops the lo mein, her eyes blown wide. “Oh my God.”

Peter shrugs.

“I am so. So. Sorry.”

He tilts his head a fraction, brows wrinkling in confusion. “Why?”

“I don’t know how he find out,” She says, almost to herself. “I tried to keep this— us— hidden from him. He chases away any guy who comes close to me; friend, colleague… One time a teacher said I was a remarkable student and he— It doesn’t matter. I’ve tried explaining this hetero-normative, misogynistic bullshit to him, but it just goes right over his head. He’s always had this… toxic paternity complex. Like, I know that he loves me, I guess, but that’s no excuse.” She folds her arms across her chest, glancing away, her eyes welling in frustration. “And I just didn’t want him to scare you away.”

Peter puts his hands on her arms. “Woahwoahwoahwoah. Hey. It’s okay.” She looks up at him. “He doesn’t know about us. I just went to the Bugle today to sell a video of Spider-Man… and I saw your picture on his desk.”

Relief washes over her, and she puts a hand on her chest. “Oh, thank God.”

“Nothing to worry about.” Peter grins, before growing confused again, expression crinkling. “I thought your last name was Jones?”

“It is.”

“Then…?”

“So’s my Mom’s,” she elaborates. “They just never got married. Or stayed together, really.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Peter nods.

A comfortable silence fills the room, the food on the table surely getting colder by the minute. But MJ finds that her curiosity is growing too strong. She has to know.

“What did he say?”

Peter snorts, face scrunching as he scratches the back of his neck. “A lot. He totally freaked out when I said you were pretty.”

“He yelled at you for saying I was pretty?”

“Well… It wasn’t really yelling. Just angry whispering. And...” Peter turns bashful. “I said you were beautiful.”

A small smile cracks MJ’s expression, and she looks back down at their now intertwined hands. “Gross.”

“I know.” He cups her cheek, thumb caressing the soft skin there as he stares deeply into her eyes. He leans in, placing a loving, lingering kiss against her lips. As he pulls away, they both sigh. “Just so you know…” He starts, voice barely above a whisper.

Her eyes gaze adoringly into his; she’s not even trying to hide how mushy she feels at this moment.

“You’re always the star of my spank bank.”

“Wait, What?”

#spideychelle #spideychelleweek2k19 #peter parker x michelle jones #petermj #fic #ahhhhhh here it is!!#hope you enjoy!

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