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dreamcatcheratdawn · 5 months ago

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Luffy x mermaid reader please

I'm so happy to see this I've set the story as the Fishman Island arc, for an equally obvious reason. In advance, I hope you enjoy the story ( ꈍᴗꈍ). And, I don't know who made this amazing fanart one, but if you do, please let me know immediately so that I can give due credit.

"Like Ocean"

Luffy x Fem!Reader

Warning: nothing, just fluffy.

You were living another monotonous day on Fish Man Island, trying to find any crumb or spark of adventure to give you a good laugh and a bit of adrenaline. Pappag and Camie tried to cheer you up with the idea of shopping and eating Hachi's takoyakis, but you had done the same thing three days ago.

It wasn't a certainty, it was a pure fact that nothing interesting was happening on this island for you. Until you, exhausted by boredom, went to Camie's house to see if she had any news. And that was a great idea, a really great idea.

As soon as you entered her house after a couple of knocks, you saw that there were three people and a strange being, apparently new to the area. On closer inspection, there was a blond man with elegant hair, who, as soon as he saw you, came running towards you, blood gushing from his nose. Speaking of noses, there was a big-nosed man next to a boy in a straw hat. But none of them interested you. What really caught your attention was the tiny creature that you had no idea what animal it was.

-Is that even an animal? - you asked yourself, your thoughts speaking aloud as you deliberately poked at the creature's antlers.

-I'm a reindeer! - the reindeer exclaimed, backing away from you angrily, covering its antlers with its fluffy paws.

-Y/N, I want you to meet my friends. This is Sanji," Camie approached you, pointing at the blond with the heart eyes.

-Oh, miss, I've never seen beauty as fascinating as yours. When can we get married? - the blond in question asked, kneeling down in front of you and holding out his hand to you.

Camie just laughed, ignoring the whole show, while you followed his finger-pointing.

-That's Chopper over there, isn't he cute? - you went over to the so-called Chopper, pulling his cheeks and feeling his soft fur.

-So cute… - you blushed, pulling Chopper into a hug, to which he responded not very pleasantly.

-That's Ussop, he's got great adventure stories. - the word "adventure" rang an alarm bell in your head, making you turn your head so quickly that anyone watching would be afraid you'd break your neck.

-Ho ho, people keep coming after the great Captain Ussop to hear his fantastic stories. - Ussop struck a superhero pose, as if he were looking towards the horizon.

-Captain Ussop, can you tell me about your adventures? - you asked, hoping to get a positive response from the big nose.

-Oh, but of course, I'll always be available to tell you all sorts of stories about my adventures! - he thickened his voice, nodding outrageously to say the least.

You were delighted, excitement electrifying every part of your body.

-Finally, this is Luffy, the captain of the gang. - Camie concluded, pointing to the boy who was looking at you, grinning from ear to ear.

On closer inspection, you found the brunette attractive, not to mention handsome, right off the bat.

-And I'm going to be king of the pirates! - Luffy concluded, his smile widening, his eyes closed tightly, making him cuter by the second. "So they're pirates," you concluded, thinking. Incredibly, that line moved you, burned you up inside, but you didn't know why or how. It was the first time you'd felt your heart beat so fast in so long. Oh, and that wasn't adrenaline. It wasn't the fear of being caught. It wasn't any of those things. It was something different, quite different from the usual. And from that moment on you silently decreed that you would find out what that strange feeling was, your eyes focused only on Luffy, who never tired of smiling at you.

-Nice to meet you - you smiled, Chopper kicking you in the face begging you to let go while sparks flew from his eyes from staring at Luffy.

-Hihihihi - Luffy just found the situation amusing, always smiling as long as he could.

-What about walking around? There's a lot of cool stuff you need to see! - Camie decreed, already tugging at her colleagues' hands, you going along out of sheer instinct for fun.

You all visited Pappag's clothing store, and you even met other members of Luffy's gang, who were just as kind. As you looked around, Luffy made a point of always catching your eye in any way, with anything. From some stuffed animal that, according to him, looked like you, to how the food was prepared, and even though you knew all this, you lent yourself to learning it all over again, just for Luffy.

-Look, it suits you. - Luffy came up behind you, putting on a straw hat with a purple scarf adorning the hat. - Now we're matching - he said, standing behind you and putting his hands on your shoulders, smiling as you looked at yourselves in the mirror in front of you. - Isn't it?

You agreed slowly, fascinated by Luffy's pure beauty. And it didn't stop there. Everywhere you went, Luffy always kept those warm hands on your shoulders, clinging to you like a tick. Did he… Liked you? Or was it just a figment of your mind?

After a whirlwind of confusion that you unfortunately didn't take part in because you were "investigating" the sudden disappearance of your mermaid friends, you were directed by your pet seahorse to where Camie and the others were.

Your eyes popped out of their sockets at the sight of a giant mermaid, or rather, the princess of the Ryugu Kingdom, Shirahoshi.

She and Luffy were laughing together, like old friends seeing each other after so long. That unsettled you, and strangely your heart squeezed. What could it be? Were you ill? Something you ate or drank for breakfast?

-Oi, Y/N, over here! - Luffy's voice caught your attention, making your heart pound. It made you recall a vague memory of something Pappag told you.

"If your heart races when you interact with someone, it's because you like them."

Of course, you were inexperienced in this field, you'd never even considered dating. But you didn't give up easily. Oh no, you'd figure it out on your own.

Swimming over to Luffy quickly, you sat there, next to him. He was in a bubble to make sure he didn't drown, and quickly slung his arms over your shoulders, resting right there. He introduced you to the princess, to whom she was delighted to meet you, and you felt the same.

Looking around, you saw that you were in the sea forest, and it soon became clear that both Luffy's boat was there, and also the princess wanted to see her dead mother, to make up for the time she hadn't been able to see her.

Meanwhile, Luffy was already snoring on her lap. It was adorable to see him so vulnerable around you. Until his pet seahorse started to catch his eye, heading towards the pile of coral.

-What is it, Koryu? - you asked him, watching him point frantically at the pile of coral.

Koryu gave up and started pulling you towards it, waking Luffy up in the process. Koryu only let go of your arm when you could see a dolphin calf with its tail all bruised to the point where it could no longer swim. Perhaps the dolphin had run into predators and narrowly escaped.

You carefully picked up the dolphin and put it on your lap, and thought of a way to take care of it. You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn't even see Luffy coming.

-Huh, a dolphin? - he asked, right next to your ear. You turned abruptly, so that your faces were right next to each other. Your lips were millimeters away from meeting, and your breaths danced together. Let's pretend there isn't a bubble separating you. You turned your attention to the dolphin, your heart almost bursting out of your mouth and your face turning into a blushing mess.

-A-ah, yes it's a…dolphin. He's hurt, so he needs to be looked after.

There was a moment of silent tension between you, and you wouldn't dare look at Luffy's face now, you felt like you could die from an attack if you did.

-If you keep avoiding looking at me like that, you'll never know if you really like me. - Luffy said, catching your eye. You widened your eyes, and turned to him, shocked.

-How did you know? - you asked, your stomach churning with that familiar feeling.

-Well, it's easy to tell when you keep saying your thoughts out loud. - he shrugged, smiling.

You closed your mouth, cursing internally. That was your weakest point, speaking your thoughts out loud without even realizing it. You must have done it at some point when the two of you were together and he must have heard it. Lucky you.

-Well, I like you. - Luffy said without blinking, giving you a quick kiss right after he declared himself.

It caught you off guard, and he just smiled, leaving the pile of coral and going back to where the others were. After your brain short-circuited for a few seconds, you smiled, bringing your fingers to your lips, where seconds ago they were being kissed by the first boy you ever liked.

Feeling his lips was the thing that gave you the most adrenaline in your entire life. And yes, it was addictive. And yes, you wanted more.

The truth is, Luffy, from the first moment he met you, he liked you. No, that's incorrect. He fell in love with you from the very first moment. Of course, he didn't know the first thing about love, God, hours ago he just wanted to be king of the pirates. Now he has another goal, and that goal is to love you until the day he die.

(At some point I was even going to describe the color of the tail, but I left it to your imagination)

#one piece #luffy x reader #shirahoshi #island of fish man #shanks x reader #trafalgar law x reader #luffy #monkey d. luffy #mermaid #love #love quotes #strangers to lovers

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kittycatasaurus · 9 months ago

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Love Flavoured Chocolates (2023 Willy Wonka/Reader)

(Cross posted to my AO3, I'm obsessed with Wonka and wanted to share this purely self indulgent reader insert because there simply isn't enough out there and hey it might encourage me to write some more if other people can also enjoy my writing!)

Word count: 3.2k

Willy had come to the Galéries Gourmet with nothing but his love for chocolate making, a wish to once more see his mother, and a hat full of dreams. One thing he certainly hadn’t accounted for was falling in love. He’d first had the pleasure of meeting you the first time Noodle smuggled him out of Scrubitt’s.

You'd befriended the young girl in passing on the street after she’d bumped into you with her laundry cart while neither of you were paying quite enough attention to where you were going. Though the collision was soft enough to keep you both on your feet, she had knocked the book your face was buried in straight to the ground causing you both to startle. Immediately the pair of you burst into apologies (which had made you laugh, despite the girl’s sincere panic), “You’re alright little missy, that was entirely my fault for not looking ahead of me, I simply can’t put this one down, I’m so close to finishing this new tale of a young detective!” You attempted to ease her worry with a big smile, it seemed to work as the girl’s face shifted from concern to interest. “Is-is that the latest Nancy Drew story?” She asked eagerly, trying to get a better look at the book in your hand. With a simple nod, keeping the easy smile on your face you answered, yes. From there the pair of you spent at least a half hour chattering excitedly about the fantastical feats of the young investigator until a nearby clocktower chimed, making her realise she was falling way behind schedule and would soon have to return to the wash house with a few deliveries still to make their destinations. “It’s been wonderful talking to you miss, but I’m afraid I really must hurry along, I hope I run into you again, my name is Noodle in case you see me before I see you!” The girl, now known to you as Noodle, what an interesting name, jumbled out as she made off to scurry away to wherever she needed to be. “I hope I see you again as well Noodle, you’ve been a delight to talk to! The name is Y/N” You called out after her and continued your stroll once she was out of sight, only somewhat more aware of your surroundings this time.

After that initial encounter you had run into each other a few times, eventually budding a wonderful friendship wherein you shared books and life stories with one another. Gradually you learned of Noodle’s more than unfortunate living situation and provided her comfort and reassurance in any ways you could, be that a book from your collection which she hadn’t yet read or a warm hug and shoulder to cry on, the girl became a younger sister figure to you.

This was where Wonka came into the picture, you and Noodle by this point had been friends for the better part of two years and saw each other frequently so you were understandably concerned when you hadn’t seen her around for the last couple of weeks. Just when the worry was getting to the point of you preparing yourself to storm into Scrubitt’s and demand to know about the wellbeing of your friend you saw her, tucked away from the main roads and pathways, talking to her trolley? Now that is upsetting, such a beautiful young mind lost to the madness of her circumstance. As you were about to approach, rounding the corner of the wall you’d hidden behind, a man emerged from the trolley clearly in conversation with the young girl. If not for your sheer confusion, you would have hastily approached the stranger as instinct kicked in to keep Noodle away from any potential danger. She didn't appear frightened or startled so logic told you this was no stranger to her, and therefore not a threat. Upon the realisation, you called out to your friend whom you’d missed in the two weeks of absence, “Noodle! Where’ve you been, little lady?” Immediately, both heads turned to face you and your breath caught in your throat as the mystery man turned and you finally caught a glimpse of his face. It was a beautiful face too, puppy-like hazel eyes, framed by fluttery long lashes, thick full eyebrows sat above them, complimenting his slender, pale face. Both pairs of eyes were wide upon you but you were still taking in the gorgeous man before you, to the point you failed to hear Noodle as she repeated your name, asking “Y/N? What are you doing here?” At the lack of response, she followed up “Earth to Y/N?” with a somewhat exasperated sigh after. Seeing the man turn to face Noodle shook you from your reverie and you let out a sharp little “Hmm?” “I said, what are you doing here Y/N? Were you following me or something?” Her look caused a twang of guilt for a second until you registered that, no you hadn’t been following Noodle, just actively looking out for her as you’d thought her to be missing. “Of course not you numpty! I heard your voice coming from a sketchy alley and saw you talking to your laundry pile, I only wanted to check you were alright, especially considering I haven’t seen you in a few weeks kid! It’s completely understandable for me to be at least a little worried, even more so after seeing a strange man come out of your trolley,” Your voice was taking on a bit of a scolding tone as you softened it to turn to the aforementioned man “No offence.” He shook his head as though to imply none taken as his eyes flitted between the two of you, the friendly smile never once leaving his face. “I take it this is Y/N, Noodle?” his eyes remained on her this time as she nodded back to him. Well that was unexpected, this mysterious dreamboat knew who you were courtesy of Noodle, and while you were flattered she told this new ‘friend’ about you, you worried over what she said in order for him to deduce your identity.

Together, the pair of them explained their plan to get the money to free themselves of Scrubitt’s unfair debt, going into detail about the wondrous and impossible chocolates made by who you now know to be ‘Willy Wonka, future chocolatier extraordinaire’. In all honesty your mind is positively racing to keep up, but with such bright smiles on their faces you can only nod your support and shoot a smile back, albeit a smaller one.

———————————

That had been a while ago, though it felt even longer. By this point, you had collectively put a stop to the chocolate cartel and Scrubitt and Bleacher. Wonka’s chocolates were doing better than ever and with everyone from the wash house going back to their old lives, Willy was alone again, well mostly. Abacus Crunch had been happy to remain the financial adviser for Willy and the group would do their best to stay in touch thanks to Lottie Bell and her phone operator gig but it was definitely lonely, going from all those people around him, that warm environment to nothing again. Although, you were still around weren’t you? You and Noodle? While you both saw her often, upon finding her mother and the library where she stayed, it was less and less that you found yourself in the young girl’s company, she had years of catching up to do after all. You wanted to believe that was why you were seeing less and less of Willy too, but the pair of you had no reason not to see each other often, after all, you’d quit your boring old job to help out and work with Willy at his shop as soon as it had been acquired. So then why did it feel like he was avoiding you, or attempting to shut you out.

This is where you find yourself as you sit with Noodle outside her mother’s library one warm evening. “I don’t understand Noodle, he seems lonely, it's simply a fact that he thrives off of being around other people so I don’t understand why he’s shutting himself away” a too big sigh leaves your mouth. “I miss him, I miss his cheshire grin, the confusing way he talks, even just seeing his garish purple coat” “Hmmm, kinda sounds like you love him” “Yeah, I just don’t know what’s u- WHAT?!?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOODLE?” Your face burns red as your brain takes a minute to register what the young girl chimes in with. In response she holds up her hands, palms facing you, “I’m just saying it as I see it.” With a shrug she shakes her head. Though her words do make you stop and think back to the many months you’ve known the eccentric chocolatier.

The first day you’d successfully sold Wonka’s chocolates on the street had resulted in a quick getaway where you and Willy had ended up lost in the tunnels below the city, escaping the corrupt chief of police for an hour or two as you attempted to meet up with the others to get Willy back to Scrubitt’s with the others in time for roll call. At this point you hadn’t yet been alone together, and the lack of familiarity seemingly made Willy nervous to the point his breathing got panicked and you shared a rather intimate moment where you helped ease his discomfort with a simple breathing exercise and hand massage. “Willy, give me your hand please,” you spoke in the most gentle tone you’d ever mustered after his laboured breaths stabilised, he acquiesced rather quickly as you reached out to him, gently cupping his hand. “I’m gonna trace the lines of your palm okay? It might tickle but I promise you, you’ll feel better.” The smile on your face eased any remaining nerves and once you started to caress his palm with your thumb he seemed to lose the last of the tension. “See,” your voice was still incredibly gentle, but now you were both smiling though his was significantly smaller than usual, “You’re okay, sweetie, I’m here” The pet name left your mouth so naturally neither of you reacted, though a moment later you flushed realising the implied closeness of calling him such a name. With level heads you managed to safely navigate your way back to the others in time and wished Willy a restful night. In retrospect that may very well have been when you first started to develop feelings for the man, you could no longer tell, in the objectively short time that you’d known him, you could think of at least a dozen other times that may have stimulated this apparent crush of yours. Though one particular memory comes to mind more often than the rest. The most recent to boot, the day you reunited Noodle with her mother!

It was the day you’d put an end to the cartel, Willy would finally be free to run his chocolate shop and live out the dream he’d shared with his late mother. The celebration in the Galéries Gourmet seemed to go on forever as everyone enjoyed the chocolate fountain filling up cups seemingly endlessly. A group effort had the shop back together in no time, looking as good as new. As the sun was finally descending from its high perch, your friends from Scrubitt’s all said their goodbyes and well wishes to Willy, Noodle and yourself. Leaving the three of you to lounge about in comfortable silence for a while. “We have a surprise for you, Noodle!” You said excitedly to the young girl who was almost falling asleep where she sat. Exchanging eye contact with Willy, you rose with Noodle in tow. Wide awake after jolting her about, she rushed to keep up with both of your longer legs as you sped away from the shop. Stopping abruptly outside of the library, Noodle gathered her bearings with a confused expression on her face and heavy breaths leaving her lungs, “The library?? What could possibly be so important in there you felt the need to sprint AND drag me along too no less!” She was understandably irritated, but you knew it would be worth all the effort soon enough. “Close your eyes for a second for me Noodle-dee!” Willy told her cheerfully as you approached the door holding onto the girl’s hand to bring her with you. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. “Now open them…” You whispered just loud enough for her to hear and comply. Before her, stood her mother, finally reunited after years of wishing and hoping. Immediately the two shared the warmest embrace you’d ever witnessed as you backed up and gave them their space, returning to Wonka’s side and overlooking the tender moment. A soft sniffle from beside you reached your ear and you glanced over to see Willy’s eyes glossy with unshed tears, the poor boy must’ve been reminded of his own mother in that moment, your heart hurt for him. “Come here sweetie,” you hummed to him, pulling the chocolatier into a comforting hug. “She’d be so proud of you right now, you know?” You got a teary chuckle in response to that as his arms wrapped around you. Noodle and her mother looked over to you now and you raised your arm in a wave to let them know you’d be heading back to leave them to catch up on all the time they’d spent apart.

The walk back wasn’t far, but it felt much longer without Noodle especially since you’d run practically the whole way there and were now strolling very leisurely. Neither of you said anything but you were touching in some way the entire time, holding hands for part of the walk, then switching to linking arms, even simply resting your hand on Willy’s back. Eventually you made it back to the shop, with the lights off, it was as though the magic was sleeping. As you entered ahead of Willy, you looked back to examine his expression, he wasn’t upset, of course not, he just reunited his dearest friend with her mother whom she thought long lost, perhaps forlorn was more accurate. The cogs in his head were clearly turning as he wrangled with his feelings, particularly regarding his mother and the seemingly impending loneliness he was soon to face. He stopped walking as soon as he entered, eyes still downcast as though expecting you to turn around and leave right then and there as well. With a low sigh you finally broke the silence “Willy, I’m not leaving you, not after that, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I just walked out after seeing those tears in your eyes.” He looked up, this time they had escaped and he had a sad pout on his beautiful lips. “Can you tell me about her? Have you got any pictures?” You’d not heard much at all about his mother from him aside from how much he loved her and that she was the inspiration for his dream turned reality. Willy gave a little nod and led you through the store to his makeshift office/home/break room, and on the desk sat a framed photo of a beautiful woman with a very familiar smile. “Wow this is her then? She’s beautiful Willy, you look so much like her.” You said the last bit somewhat under your breath as you realised the implication of what you said (as much as you meant it, it seemed a bit forward). You picked up the picture and sat down on the sofa in the room, patting the seat next to you for Willy to sit beside you, the rest of the night was spent listening to stories of his childhood and asking questions. The pair of you laughed, you cried, and eventually Willy fell asleep with his head on your shoulder. Getting as comfortable as the pair of you could, you let yourself join him in the land of dreams shortly after.

Now, it had been a few weeks since you and Willy had experienced the almost intimate exchange of life stories, as well as your chat with Noodle and you had the day off. Willy was on a break from work and went to visit Noodle at the library to tell her all about that night and how great a person he found you to be, gushing over how ‘kind, pretty, sensitive, and funny’ you were but somehow avoiding the ‘L’ word and seemingly ignoring his feelings for you. Eventually, the girl could take it no longer and burst out “Either ask her out, or I will do it for you! You’re such an idiot Willy, it's so obvious you love Y/N and I don’t understand how you’ve danced around it for as long as you have!” Noodle’s frustration was apparent from her face alone, if her words somehow hadn’t conveyed exactly what she meant them to. Willy’s eyes went wide at her outburst and his face started to resemble a tomato almost in how brightly he was blushing. As he opened his mouth to make a retort, Noodle interrupted him with a raised finger and a look that shut him up before he could even make so much as a noise. “Go see her now Willy, or I will.” Was all she had to say to get him standing up and practically sprinting out of the door.

A hurried knock at your door startled you out of your thoughtless stare out the window, you sat up abruptly, I’m not expecting any visitors, you thought to yourself as you walked cautiously over to the door. Through the peephole, you spotted the one and only Willy Wonka, pleasantly surprised, you opened up the door to be pulled into a tight embrace. Despite the initial shock, you quickly recovered to hug your dear friend back, “Heya, what’s gotten into you, sweetpea?” Genuinely confused as to the context despite reciprocating the affectionate action. Pulling back from you to look into your eyes, Willy responded, “I love you, Y/N.” Cue the widening of your eyes as you started to stammer out a reply, “Wh-what, huh, I-” “I love you, Y/N, I can’t believe it took Noodle calling me an idiot to realise it but I’m hopelessly, wholeheartedly in love with you.” He affirmed with a fire behind his gaze. You realised then that he wasn’t joking, this wasn’t a prank or him using the word in a friendly sense. “You, you do?” Tears started to well up in your eyes as you looked into his, “I love you too, Willy Wonka.” Not wanting to keep him in suspense, you confessed right back. A laugh broke free from your mouth as the tears started to fall from your eyes. Gently cupping either side of his face, you brought your lips together in a sweet kiss that felt like it could last forever, his hands finding a comfortable perch on your hips as you held each other close. Breaking apart for air, you both giggled, and leaned back into each other for another kiss, this one escalating a little past wholesome as you softly tugged at his bottom lip with your teeth. Breathing heavily now, you separated once more to stare into each other's eyes. Willy Wonka had confessed his love to you and you were ecstatic to say you felt the same. This would be the start of something beautiful, of that you were sure.

#willy wonka x reader #willy wonka #wonka 2023 #wonka movie #wonka x reader #timothée chalamet #timothee chalamet wonka #reader insert

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xjulixred45x · 11 months ago

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Platonic! Korra Gang x Chef! Reader

This is the Request of @chantillymoon i hope You're doing good with your Cooking, i'm sure it's fantastic😋! I hope this give you a little motivation💞

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: neutral

Warnings: none, pure fluff

Korra

Korra probably met you in the events of book 1 (did you see the Gala where Mako went with Asami? one of those), you were in food service.

and since Korra was a bit moody and in a new city, you were friendly with her and they got along quite well. You tried to entertain her a little with your cooking (like the chefs in certain Asian places, if you're a firebending master or something like that, even better).

Thanks to this Korra was going to see you when she needed to talk and generally let loose a little. You guys became friends pretty quickly.

If you have your own place, Korra tries to promote you when she interacts with important people and the topic of Catering comes up.

She firmly believes that your food is much better than the holidays food honestly. especially those of Unalaq.

I have a feeling that in the water tribe, especially in the south, there is not a very complex gastronomy thanks to literally living at a pole.

It's a more personal hc, but I think Korra grew up eating mainly fish and its variables (maybe rice and vegetables)

Obviously, she ate more things in her training to be an avatar, but it's not like it was food as such to "eat" but rather those for nutrition purposes.

so when she becomes a friend of yours (cutie) and you give her VERY varied and VERY delicious food, she is delighted.

like “FINALLY something that is nutritious and TASTES GOOD!”

Besides, you cook a lot of variety, so Korra doesn't know where to choose. but she has a big appetite, so it's not unreasonable to think that you probably won't run out of leftovers with her.

If you're stressed about a particular recipe, she may try to help you by giving you a hand with things in the kitchen that she knows she can't screw up, like reading you the recipe book or handing you things, all while trying to joke with you to relax you and make you laugh.

If you want a definitive break, flour war! Whoever ends up completely white loses and Naga will have to clean it up!

Now, apart from improvised or high-survival food, Korra doesn't cook shit, she doesn't know how to handle herself very well, so seeing you be so fluent in that habit is something new for her. Of course, she was used to her parents cooking. but not at your level, so there's a lot of excitement on Korra's part about how you learned all this.

If you try to teach her, can she go either very badly or...decent? which cannot be said whether it is good or bad.

Since at first Korra may even, trying to make things easier (or imitate you, if you use your elemental control to cook) use her avatar skills in the kitchen, which since she has no experience ends very badly 😅 with muddy dough everywhere.

or even with BURNT water in some way??

but after a few attempts and several burnt bouls, Korra gets the hang of it and manages to start improving her cooking skills!

She can make simple meals now at least.

but she always prefers yours, you make them much more delicious, according to her.

Korra is not going to tolerate any destructive criticism of you, who does she have to hit?she's going to scare them with the fucking avatar state🤣😅

Sure, she can TOLERATE constructive criticism because it's not malicious, but she doesn't understand why people eat your products if they're not going to like it anyway?

do not understand.

In general, Korra encourages your vocation a lot and encourages you to try new things with her :3

Asami

Asami knows you because of Varrik, he needed as many staff as possible, including the kitchen, so he hired you as soon as he liked one of your meals without thinking about it.

Asami needed a break from all of Varrik's antics, so she went to the staff areas for a while (without realizing it) and you noticed her state.

So you talked to her while you prepared something simple for her to eat and get energy back.

It was kind of nice, since you didn't feel intimidated by her or what had happened with her father, a breath of fresh air, so you continued seeing each other after that (in a platonic way).

Asami is used to eat in High Quality and/or fancy places before this, and still doing it.

which most of the time is not bad, on the contrary, it usually produces rich and delicious food.

but there are also times when for some people (ahem VARRIKahem) it just needs to be prettier and tasteless to be considered "gourmet" and even if it's not high quality food, Asami sometimes misses the feeling of having a normal meal. .

That's when you come into her life, her bubbly friend, to make things way better.

Asami probably never had a home-cooked meal as such (no, it doesn't count if CHEFS make it for you Asami) so it was a new experience for her. In the good sense.

Instead of eating aesthetically impressive but disgusting food, with you I could eat things that were really modest but that TASTED GOOD.

If you are having problems like not finding someone to give you more advanced cooking classes, don't worry! Asami will give you a hand with her contacts and help you find a good tutor.

If you already have your own place, rest assured that Asami (and in general the entire Avatar team) will come to see you and buy you food often no matter what you sell.

Even if you have any financial problems with the place, Asami has your back and helps you as much as possible. You may even become a constant Catering associate for the company!

Asami also tries not to let her friendship with you affect you so directly, especially when scandals arise with her father.

He goes to you for advice when they go out to eat, your food gives him a certain feeling of peace after all, so when you both go out he can be with a cooler head.

It's a feeling of familiarity that she hasn't felt in a LONG time.

You can definitely see Asami especially liking food with meat or more complicated things, but then again, he also really likes it when you make really simple things, like pasta or pizza, for example.

She says that it is because "you do it with love" and it is partly true, that you put so much effort into the preparation makes it much more special and she appreciates it a lot.

but in general I think she doesn't usually give you negative comments.

I mean, if you happen to screw up some food and it tastes REALLY bad, you know it just by looking at her face, even so she will never give you a "bad" word so to speak, she use very sweet constructive criticism and still assure you that you did a good job.

and you can also guarantee that if there is a particular food that she likes, she will pay you to make a couple of reservations for her ;) she can't help it! She loves how you cook!

If someone tries to criticize you in a non-constructive way and is simply Bullying you, she will directly kick their ass and deal with the consequences then why would someone be mean to a little sun like you? It doesn't make sense to her.

In general, a friend who supports you financially, emotionally and psychologically is always willing to give you a hand in the kitchen.

That's right, don't let her cook☠️ she may hace good intentions but she'll burn everything.

Mako

OMFG he LOVES THE FOOD YOU MAKE FOR HIM.

Now, let's get a little sentimental.

Mako and Bolin growing up on the streets probably never really had much to eat, not to mention they probably didn't eat every day.

especially Mako, I imagine that he probably even gave what little they had to eat to Bolin.

It's a habit for him.

So when he meets you and you give him a taste of your food, for FREE, he thinks you're too good to be true.

but he appreciates it very much.

but seeing how much his opinion matters to you. warms his heart.

For the same reason you could feed him the most disgusting thing you could cook and he would eat it like a big child.

He will tell you the truth, but he doesn't leave a crumb.

For the same reason, I have two possible versions of how the two of you met and became close friends.

One, the one I like the most, is that probably when you were younger and trying to cook on your own, Mako and Bolin tried to steal your food, failing miserably.

But from then on you started leaving food scraps on your window for them to grab so they wouldn't die of hunger.

Thanks to this little by little they began to interact more and even began to help you to apply seriously in the kitchen!

and the other possibility is that he knew you thanks to Pro-control, being the one who will be in charge of the food at the events.

In this scenario at first he would be colder but eventually either because of Bolin or because of your adorable personality, you end up liking him.

other than that he can see that you can't swing a fly, and that you're REALLY passionate about your job, so he respects you a lot for that.

We all know that Mako is more of a tough guy or expresses that he cares through actions, so he shows that he cares by showing interest in your hobby and helping you as much as he can.

But when he already has a stable job and can give you a hand.

When something specific goes wrong, he tries to cheer you up in an unconventional way, such as telling you something about his work to distract you a little or even inviting you something to eat to de-stress.

Maybe even Mako himself has learned to cook from you, of course, he is not at the same level but when you are very stressed or tired he has your back.

and when you manage to do what you want, he sincerely congratulates you, he knows that you deserve it after all.

Similar to his other friends and Bolin, Mako is quite protective of you, especially if you can't control any elements.

It's like the dynamic of "Sunshine + Sunshine protector" basically.

It also tries to help you accept criticism well, which is necessary to improve after all.

Although of course, if there is someone who is telling you shit just because and without really wanting to help you, give them the names, they will not tolerate it.

In general, he is a friend who is a bit rude but who defends you, appreciates you and supports you in your tastes, hobbies and career. regardless of how You two met.

He knows that you are as good a person as you cook well, and you are a VERY good cook ;)

Bolin

Again, HE LOVES THE FOOD YOU MAKE FOR HIM.

Bolin, similarly to Mako, has two possibilities for how he met you.

one more painful than the other.

the first, in which he knew you for trying to steal something from your leftovers when he was little, in itself, living on the streets of a republic city is not nice.

but at least you took pity on him and started leaving him leftovers. which left him EXTRACTED because (according to him) YOU COOKED AMAZING. even if at that time you were just practicing.

Even if you try to tell him that he was probably just saying that because it was his first meal in god knows how long, he still thinks the same thing.

and the second way, unlike his brother, is that he simply found you working somewhere he likes.

Maybe even with his amorous nature, at first he had a crush on you, but over time he realized that it wasn't what he really felt.

In general he is your personal cheerleader.

No matter how many times you fail to make a particular meal, Bolin eats it like his life depends on it. unlike Mako, he doesn't have the heart to say anything even remotely critical of your food :,)

He's also the kind of friend who constantly gives you ideas for new recipes. some good, some not so good, and some quite extravagant.

ex: some dessert based on Pabu.

It breaks Bolin's heart to see you sad when you don't get a particular recipe, but he will immediately move on to a session of giving you compliments and reminding you how you made other recipes to motivate you.

I can definitely see him recommending you to the important people he hung out with when he worked with Varrik, both to do you a favor and to be able to see you in those moments when Mako couldn't pay attention to him.

Bolin's favorite food is definitely desserts. cakes, cupcakes, pies, candies, anything that is sugary.

and if you get to practice making animal food (like for Pabu) Bolin is OVER THE MOON.

I can see Bolin trying to learn cooking things with you, both to spend time together and to be more independent, to help Mako out.

Apart from that, he would have the opportunity to try more of your food :D but he makes a great effort to listen to your advice and follow the instructions you leave him.

The results are quite promising! along with Mako, he is the best cook of the group (hc personal).

Similarly to Asami, he seeks advice from you when he feels left out of the group and doesn't know what to do.

Normally you prepare something hot for him so he doesn't feel so bad. It would probably be his second favorite food of yours, hot soups. In general they remind him of you, a warm and comforting presence.

Bolin is more passive when it comes to criticism and when it is constructive he makes sure to remember it and even writes it down so as not to forget it and thus apply it in his own attempts.

but eventually you can better distinguish between constructive and destructive criticism.

and when someone like that shows up, no matter how strange it may seem, they usually just ignore it. He wants to believe that he is better than them after all...

...only to launch Pabu on the attack in defense of your honor. Although well, didn't you see it coming?

He is generally a very sweet friend, he does not distinguish in social class or how or how long the two of you have known each other. He is convinced that you have genuine talent for cooking.

and he is very willing to show you that you have that talent and support you through everything.

Conclusion: They all love your food but they love the person behind that food more and how you support them in difficult times :,)

Shares, reblogs, and comments are very welcome!

Thank you very much for this Request ❤️❤️❤️❤️

#headcanons #neutral reader #legend of korra x reader #legend of korra #the legend of korra #korra #asami sato #lok #lok mako #lok bolin #lok asami

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spaceorphan18 · 2 months ago

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So I am doing the ABCs of Bridgerton. For my dear friend @coffeegleek to help her out. Because she’s still getting confused. That’s okay! Shonda did her casting well and they all do look like brothers.

Here we go!

A is for the amazing and awe-inspiring Anthony played by Jonathan Bailey.

This Anthony! His season was season 2 and his love interest was Kate (played by the lovely Simone Ashley) !

Here’s Jonny in real life! And you’ll see him in Fellow Travelers and Wicked and the new Jurassic Whatever movie. He is just kind of fantastic all the way around. 😉

****

B is for the beautiful and brilliant Benedict played by Luke Thompson.

He’ll be the lead for the next coming season and his love interest is a woman named Sophie (played by Yerin Ha).

Here is Luke Thompson in real life. I know zero things about him but he seems like an utter delight and I’m looking forward to him owning it in season 4.

C is for the charming and captivating Colin played by Luke Newton.

His season is Season 3 and you know his story is with my beloved Penelope (played by the brilliant Nicola Coughlan)

Here’s Luke IRL - dude is pulling a Colin and living his life traveling and relaxing and more power to him.

Now you know your ABCs 😉. Stick this post in your back pocket for future reference. Hope that helps!!

#bridgerton #anthony bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #colin bridgerton #polination #hopefully we don’t have to do this again in another three months lol

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fuckyestherest · 5 months ago

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Creator Highlight Week 11

Welcome to our Creator Highlight Week 11!

Every week, we’ll use this space to recognize the amazing individuals in our fandom who kindly use so much of their free time and creative energy to share their work with us and bring our imaginations to life via writing, art, visuals, and many other creative mediums.

This week we want to highlight @thesistersarcheron, a massively talented creator for fic within the fandom. Honestly, we got so many nominations for her that it’s clear how well-loved she is. If you aren’t obsessing over @thesistersarcheron yet, what are you doing?

Her stories have romance, intrigue, plot, and fluff, all while being imaginative, creative, and leaving a long-lasting emotional impact. Her smut is WORLD CLASS. Her nominators (who are all kind and like 70% unhinged also) said the following:

“I WOULD LAY DOWN OVER HOT COALS SO SHE COULD WALK ACROSS ME TO SAFETY”

“Just say a secret admirer who would betray her country, her own blood, to pledge her sword in her service…”

“I was NOT aware of ACOTAR threesomes before I heard about v&i, and now, holy shit. I think about that fic more than is healthy, if we’re all being honest”

“Everything she puts out is a work of art, and honestly she writes the rarepairs as well as any of the mainstream couples. Everything is immaculate.”

“She has a real way of really getting the character voices right. I think it’s really hard to accomplish that while still making new scenarios both hot and believable, but she always does a wonderful job.”

As evident from these submissions, she is also a one-of-a-kind creator, and her works really bring out a whole new side of these characters we’ve come to love. Anyone who knows her outside her writing also know what an absolute delight she is to be around, and what a genuinely hilarious and fun person she is, too.

Your contributions are always fantastic, and we hope to see much more from you for a long time to come!

Below are some of our favorite creations.

viciousness & intelligence | Nessriel

Crimson Clover | Elriel

Breathless | Elriel

Tiger Lillies in the Sun | Gwynlain

To Everything a Season | Casslain

Thanks so much for bringing such incredible, creative, and lovely works to our fandom, and for just being a really wonderful and lovely friend. You’re such a bright spot in this community, and a friend anyone would be lucky to have. We’re so glad you’re here!

You can find more of @thesistersarcheron on her Ao3 and Masterlist!

#creator highlight #acotar #fic recs #nessriel #elriel #gwynlain #casslain

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lavellenchanted · 17 days ago

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having watched the final episode and thinking about the season as a whole, overall I still have very mixed feelings - it's still very enjoyable to watch, the animation is beautifully done and the acting is fantastic, but I think this season is definitely weaker than the previous two and I have a lot more criticisms than I had of them

I think that's for a mix of reasons: there's the inevitable issues with compressing an improvised campaign of hundreds of hours into seasons of 12 half-hour episodes, and I think this season shows that the chroma conclave arc could easily have stretched to another season (though I can understand why they wouldn't want to push that when they didn't know if they were getting a season four), but while I never expected the show to be a 1:1 of the campaign and certain changes were always going to be necessary, I do think some of the more significant departures they've made this season don't actually help the greater narrative and in some cases have actually been harmful to characterisation and the emotional beats of the story

I also think we're seeing the butterfly effect of choosing to start s1 with vox machina building their reputation in emon and then skipping ahead in the narrative rather than introducing them as an already established and competent group - they're just not in the same place they were for these story beats in the campaign, and that has an overall impact

as said I still enjoy watching the show, it is overall a positive experience and it's nice to spend any time back with these characters I love, and I hope s4 will be tighter because it's not as sprawling as the chroma arc, but we'll see

more specific thoughts under the cut - spoilers ahead, ye be warned:

starting with positives:

loved seeing keyleth's earth trial, I think the way they've folded her class features into the story and her arc is great

raishan managing to achieve her goal with thordak's body was fascinating, I really enjoyed getting the sense of what a genuine threat she really was

same with thordak, you could really feel his menace and what a genuinely terrifying enemy he was

the songs were great this season and kaylie's song was beautiful

I actually really liked the change of scanlan being in a coma rather than dead and how kaylie brought him round, as well as her encouraging him to go and join the fight against raishan

lots of nice little references - grog "blacking out" to be smart because travis just couldn't hold back that one time, anna's men playing uko'toa, keyfish reference, "do you spice?"

laura broke my heart with vex's confession during percy's resurrection

and while I wasn't a fan of different order things happened in, every perc'ahlia scene was still a delight to watch

seeing inside orthax's realm was very cool

dis was rightfully horrifying and will haunt my nightmares

I did also love them folding in some of the wider exu lore through zerxus

the fight choreography was always fantastic

as was the cinematography

and now on to negatives

my biggest disappointment this season is the complete failure to really showcase any of the group dynamics outside the romantic pairings (and occasionally the twins and pike & grog, and even they suffer), to the point that vex seemed to be the only character grieving for percy or even wanting to avenge him, when ripley's death was one of the rawest, most emotional moments on stream because it was the entire team coming together. would anyone watching the show only even know that keyleth was percy's best friend? or that one of her biggest struggles with her aramente was knowing she was going to outlive them all, not just vax?

don't get me wrong, the boat fight in ep11 was very well done and enjoyable and I loved getting some 1 on 1 moments with the twins, and vex using percy's arrow was still an emotional moment but taken in context overall it felt very anti-climatic - especially when the only comment anyone had about it was keyleth saying "I saw".

just at this point I don't know that I really buy that the show versions of vox machina really do consider themselves to be family, so the "break up" at the end wasn't as impactful as it could have been, nor was keyleth's anger at the group when raishan took thordak's body

and honestly I think you could keep most of the changes and still show those dynamics with just a few tweaks like,

have percy be the one keyleth really butts heads with over raishan - his cold practical logic vs her morals and emotions, remind us of their friendship (which was shown so well in s1) and have her regretting their fighting when he dies

keep grog and keyleth's conversation about anger; it's a beautiful character moment for both of them, and grog's assurance that they will stand with keyleth against raishan if need be would make her anger at the team and running away from them instead of relying on them echo better later

especially if that's following up with keyleth holding herself back because of her fears of outliving everyone and letting herself rely on all her friends, especially when her best friend just died, instead of making it all about committing to vax (even though he was the one with the aging fears this time)

let pike and vax talk about religion - vax suddenly finding himself the champion of a god when he's never been religious turning to the group's cleric, who can be honest with her own struggles. let pike threaten the raven queen! let it be clear why vax tells her at the end, "you showed me the way"

have scanlan talk to vex and vax about kaylie, because they grew up with a shitty father and can offer some perspective on how kaylie might be feeling (and depending on the conversation that could either play into the bard's lament or help play into the softer ending they went with)

if they were really set on not having the "how do you, vox machina, want to do this?" moment then at least let the others express gladness that ripley's dead and disappointment that they couldn't be there for it

if they're also set on having percy stay dead (which I hated purely because it means he was left out of the two major endgame fights) have pike try to resurrect percy and fail because she can't find his soul, let her feel like she failed him and have that play into her questioning storyline

although I have to say on that note I am also overall disappointed in how they've handled pike this season - which obviously to some extent is because she was in and out of the campaign so much, but even so it really didn't feel like she had a complete arc this season and I'm hoping they do properly follow up next season

because it is very unclear how she actually feels faith-wise at the moment. I'm interested to see where they take this bloodline personally I'm not a fan of giving her another crisis of faith storyline when she had that in s1 - I would have preferred to see her faith in herself growing as a reflection of the strength of her faith in her everlight, understanding that the everlight chose her because of who she is - and as it is I'm not sure if she's doubting the everlight, or just doubting whether a life of faith is for her, or if that's going to have any knock on impact on her magic

and part of that is because apart from one or two very cool set battles like using the plate of the dawn martyr against thordak . . . pike's powers have very much been nerfed. to the point that she can't even handle percy's resurrection on her own. even though in stream she's performed multiple resurrections and got a goddess to punch a fucking dragon for the team (no I'm still not over that being cut, I never will be)

she's not the only one. I feel like vex's powers have been downplayed a lot (like has she cast a single spell ever?), and so have scanlan's.

other things that I wasn't thrilled with:

really don't like where they seem to be going with vax saving percy being the reason he ends up a revenant, not least since it implies that percy's soul being taken by orthax was his pre-ordained "fate" not actually a complete perversion of the natural order

also very sad we lost all the aftermath of percy's resurrection, especially percy and vex's forest walk and long talk about forgiveness and that he heard her, and percy and cass's reunion

grog seemed to just be there for comic relief and to punch things this season, I'd really like to see him given more moments to show his deeper characters

sad we didn't get j'mon sa ord joining the fight against thordak

I do feel like gilmore's relationship with the whole team but especially vax is shortchanged a lot in the series, and I'd love them to give us a bit more of his character the way they did kima and allura

very 'mmmm' on them including vex's line about not getting married which is contextually very different than it was on the stream - mostly I'm worried that between that and her then eloping with percy, plus vax's doom being because he saved percy for vex, that there's going to be a lot of fandom blowback on vex (it was bad enough just on stream when vax hadn't yet died)

still absolutely furious that they killed kash

name checking cabal's ruin but not getting it? like, what was the point

things I'd like to see in s4:

taryon darrington. they cannot rob me of him.

kynan appearing as a whitestone guard or cass's personal guard (if jarret can be a guard in emon then why not)

more spotlight on the platonic dynamics beween the group

following up on percy looking at the dragon scales by having him make vex's armour

some unambiguously positive depictions of the gods, especially the everlight

kash being resurrected. or just like ... turning up somewhere like, "yeah I got better, it's cool".

#tlovm #tlovm spoilers #also #tlovm critical #in case anyone wants to filter that #these are very initial thoughts and a bit messy #I might have more once I've sat with them for a bit #vox machina

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gangplanksorenji · 2 years ago

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19:01

Pairing: LE SSERAFIM Kazuha x Male Reader

Word Count: 3670

A/N: Hello Orenjideul! I was really consdiering writing this and after listening to "7PM" by BSS, I knew that this was the time so, here it is! Hope you enjoy this short fluff piece with Zuha (btw, she looks very stunning this comeback) and it's clearly inspired with that song in mind. Enjoy!

-----------------------------------

“Come meet me at seven,

And stay ‘til eleven

But won’t go to bed then,

‘Cause this feels like heaven—”

---

Time is ticking as you watch the busy metropolis lights emitted from the distance, so as the moon appears in the night sky that's once emanated by the bright sun.

Rustling leaves and the cool breeze match the silence of your unhurried footsteps, determined to meet someone that’s exceptional, way beyond exceptional—you just can't seem to define the exact word but it'll do.

Taking a look at your watch, it displays “6:54”.

“I don't need to rush getting there, there's still some time left.” you said to yourself.

You hurriedly get your phone from your pocket and read the last messages with her and you're glad your memory isn't failing you.

---

zuha_kang: “Come meet me at 7 PM, Oppa. In the usual restaurant we've been eating at, see ya! <;3”

Well, what is she having in store for you?

You'll never know as sometimes, she's unpredictable. Looking for patterns can't even let you read her like a book, not even the tiniest bit.

She does invite or text you to spend some time with her somewhere and same as you also do it to her but this time, it's out of the blue—knowing how she's with her friends today until, maybe, the end of the day.

Knowing the latter was none of your business but you just can't let these thoughts out of your head.

Have you done something wrong? Is she preparing a surprise for you? And way a lot more.

These are just one of the many thoughts but you won't let yourself overthink this much, not when she's all over your mind after another exasperating day of school and to deal with such boisterous and annoying classmates.

Kazuha—that's her name. The girl that you've been scared of when she's staring blankly and sternly towards you and the girl that made your heart beat a trillion times. She's such a sunshine and a clingy girl whenever she's near you and also with a flexible and clever mind—maybe her years of ballet helps with the way her brain coordinates things. Also, her beauty is way too captivating for your eyes—her simple-yet-so-elegant visuals always makes you in awe.

Your eyes wandered around the spacious conglomeration of concrete and grass all over the park, finding her as your eyes now focused on the benches, on where she’s sitting.

Not here, not there, oh! There she is—

Your eyes automatically averted to her—knowing it’s her and it’s probably your instinct recognizing her distinct features, even from a mile away.

“Hey Oppa!” her tone is surprisingly vivid, unlike the casual, cold greeting of her whenever she sees you.

Her face is also enthusiastic, her delighting gaze and her wide smile making you feel butterflies on your stomach—it almost feels surreal yet you’re loving every second of it. She then rushes to hug you tight as you quickly reciprocate the hug, making her squeal softly and silently, almost inaudible.

“Hey Zuha… You came to s—oh wow…” Your words were cut by the sight of her mesmerizing beauty, admiring her and stunning you on the process—her features on-tact as the gray-colored blazer-like coat compliments her looks very well alongside the black long sleeves and the pearl necklace being the cherry on top.

“Like what I wore, Oppa?”

“Yes, Zuha. You look fantastic. So incredibly fantastic…” Your eyes are still spacing out, as you’re still star-struck by her beauty.

“Uhm, anyways. You came to see me now, huh?”

“Yeah, I suddenly like, I don’t know, like—uhm, hmm, just want to hang out with you, y’know?”

Did she hit her head or something? Something doesn’t feel right; there’s a disturbance within the force—

“Well, you’re lucky that my boss is in a good mood today and agrees to let me leave work earlier, heh.” You scuffed a breath out, making sure that Kazuha knows how lucky she can be to meet her at this exact moment.

“Well—” Kazuha held both of your hands as she looked at your eyes, endearing enough to make your heart melt like butter and pouts right after. “—I’m sorry about that then, Oppa.”

“Nah Zuha, you ain’t sorry. It’s alright.” You scoff and smile right after yet you then feel unnerved suddenly. You don’t exactly know the reason but maybe it’s just the fact that Kazuha is acting not-so-herself today and you can’t help but notice it and she’s not even hiding it, even the slightest bit. You didn’t really mind it as you’re liking this affectionate and clingy version of hers.

The both of you then walked your way around the park as you continued to blabber and chat about multiple things like “How did your day go?” and more.

Within a couple of minutes of strolling, Kazuha stopped from her tracks and looked at your eyes, staring endearingly right into your soul as a serene smile painted her face.

“Oppa…”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really know why I suddenly called you to come here?”

“Zuha, tsk—” you clicked your tongue as you feigned confidence, knowing why she called you here suddenly as you let your intrusive thoughts win.

“—you said that you wanted to see me and… oh…”

Kazuha taps your shoulder, raising her eyebrows as she smirks with that sudden realization of yours, maybe her thinking the same thought as you were thinking.

“Maybe you know now? And why did I sit on that specific bench?”

“I know, I know. Ahhh, this is where we—first met. Yeah…”

The both of you shared laughs alongside the sincerely delightful smiles as you reminisced those times when you first met her.

---

Speechless. You're just speechless on a single minute of eavesdropping about your parents' quarrel over the front door.

It was supposed to be one of the best days of your life as you'll get to see them after a year of living away from them because of college and to your surprise—well, you're going to surprise them yet the tables have turned pretty quickly—your mother found out that your father is cheating with another woman and with that single information, you felt stabbed at the back.

You've never felt this much pain and anguish in your life—you feel defeated and angry at him, and even, yourself. You had nothing to do with this yet you feel guilty of making your father do such a cruel act—because you chose to pursue your dream, to study the course that he never wanted you to—yet you tell yourself that it was never your fault.

Yelling and loud thuds can be heard inside the house as you feel the presence of them going near towards the front door. You swiftly hid behind the white brick-chiseled concrete post as tears involuntarily came out of your eyes, another stream following as you can just inevitably hear them argue. You then heard your father starting the engine of the car from the garage, knowing that he's going to leave your mother alone. This then sent you into your breaking point.

You were driven by your own emotions and so are they as you quickly ran away from the house and even though if you try to stop them or even appear, things may get even worse.

You just don't know what to do at that point.

You're scared.

Confused.

Broken.

Defeated.

Angry.

More emotions run down your veins as you can only think of running away as far as possible where you can't hear nor see them.

You curse yourself as you wail on how unfair life could be.

How unfair life could be…

The nimbus clouds are getting darker, signaling that it will rain soon. You didn't care to say the least as you feel enervated and sad. You then sit at a bench on the park where you are right now as you lay your head down and possibly think of what you could've done wrong.

Rain starts to pour as you feel droplets of water meet your skin as the rainfall gets heavier all of a sudden, you crying alongside the weeping clouds of nature.

You just sit there, lost and done as you feel nothing but pain when suddenly the feeling of the raindrops meeting your skin stops.

Did it suddenly stop raining? Or…

“Hey, sir. I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold.”

A voice. A voice lingered to your ear as you’re not hearing the voices inside your head but rather, a person holding an umbrella, preventing you from getting wet even though you’re soaked in it.

You looked up and saw a feminine figure with her grayish-colored blazer alongside her black denim pants. You can’t clearly see her face as your eyes were fogged by the raindrops and your tears but you instantly felt a magnetic connection between her.

Oh, love, that’s what you call it—more like it’s called “love at first sight”.

You never really believed in that saying once you heard it from the start, not until it happened today. You heart beats a trillion times more than what it should be—it can maybe surpass tachycardia at this point—and you can’t help but feel a little bit of hope on what this angel did.

“Sir, are you alright?”

She still keeps looking at you, still holding her umbrella up as concern is evident in her tone. You just kept your head down, not even bothering her yet deep inside, you feel butterflies to your stomach—a feeling you’ve never imagined was true.

“Sir?”

“No.” A cold “no” was just your response. Your tone wasn’t anywhere near being intimidated nor being uninterested but rather nearly just monotone. You can sense that she wasn’t bothered by your current mood as she knows what’s up with you—she respects and knows how she can make you unprovoked even though she’s practically just a stranger in your eyes.

Within that awkward minute, she lends a hand to you, reassuring you with her saccharine smile as you momentarily smile back at her, yours is more vexed considering what you’ve been feeling today. With a little bit of hesitation, you held her hand as you stood up, you then wiping your tears to see her clearly and time went slow as you saw her enticingly beautiful face. You were starstruck and in awe as her sharp and distinct visuals sent your brain into haywire.

“Thank you…”

“No problem sir. Oh, by the way, I’m Kazuha.”

“I’m Minsung. Nice to meet you, Kazuha.”

The both of you then bowed at each other as you smiled at her, a little bit more gleeful than before. Feeling comfortable with her all of a sudden, you then started another talk with her as you initiated to hold the umbrella for her. She finds it rather flustering as your gentlemanly actions made her shy, earning yourself a delightful grin.

“Why did you bother talking to me?”

It’s singlehandedly awkward with what question you spat out of your mouth and even Kazuha remained silent yet smiled even though you radiated a gloomy aura—she rivaled it.

“Uhm, I just saw that you’re the only one at the park and, I said to myself, “Why not approach him and maybe do something?”, so… yeah, I just suddenly felt bad.”

But who on Earth would mind approaching you while it's raining? Apparently, it was her, and you can’t help but be enlightened with just her simple action.

“Oh… thank you I guess…”

You feel like you don’t deserve to talk with this angel in front of you but you definitely deserve a girl like her.

A girl like her is someone you can talk to when you feel alone.

A girl like her is someone that can cheer you up whenever you're feeling down.

And, a girl like her is someone that you can always lean on whenever you're struggling.

She's maybe the one you've been looking for and she's maybe checking the boxes of what your type of girl would be.

Even though she's still a stranger in your eyes, it uncannily feels like the both of you had been best friends for years and that feeling could never be better.

“Mingsung, don't you mind going to a shade there at the corner? The rain may get worse and we can't afford to be wet, and you, to be wetter.”

“Oh, sure.”

The both of you then waddled your way to that concrete shade at the exit of the park as the both of you sat down comfortably.

“Oh, I'm kinda shy of asking this but, I think you're older than me—are you older than—uh… me?”

“Oh, I'm born in 2002 and how about you? I'm very sorry I called you without honorifics—”

“It's alright, Oppa. Also, I'm sorry too for not calling you with honorifics. Anyways, I'm born in 2003.”

The both of you sighed in relief as you laughed it off about your earlier mistakes. She didn't mind your mistake and so is she, and that makes the guilt in your heart loose.

“Hmm, Kazuha—”

“Yes, Oppa?”

“I suppose that you're not from Korea, right? Or am I missing something coz' like your name isn't Korean at all, maybe for me.”

“Oh, I am really not from Korea, Oppa. I'm originally from—”

“Japan?” you precede her actions as a knot in your brain tells you that she's Japanese but are you really right though?—

“Yeah, I'm from Japan, Oppa. Mainly in Kochi but I grew up in Osaka most of my years.”

“Ohhh…”

The both of you converse for a little while as delightful laughs and giggles emanated around the area. You didn’t mind the time passing and so is rain pouring as the both of you share your common traits, wants like music and hobbies and a lot more. You became so hooked on your conversations with her that you didn't even notice that the rain was slowly fading in intensity and eventually, it stopped.

“Oh, the rain has already stopped, Oppa and oh, I gotta go right now, sorry…”

She hurriedly readied herself as she was about to leave until a voice escaped from your mouth.

“Oh, Zuha…”

“Yes, Oppa?”

You fidget your fingers on to the hem of your shirt as you're uneasy and shy to ask her the thing you’ve been longing for since the minute you’ve engaged in a conversation with her.

“Ah-ha-ahh, if you don’t mind this Zuha—uhhh—can I get y-your number?” It may seem haphazard and out of the blue for you to do this as that’s what you hoped on what Kazuha may feel yet it absolutely had an not-so-unanticipated turn which you’re not sure on what to feel about.

“Sure, Oppa.”

You couldn’t be happier as this feels oh-so-surreal. Tell yourself that you’re overexaggerating but you can’t help but feel butterflies on your stomach. It has been awhile since you asked for a girl’s number and at the end, you even got rejected. With Kazuha’s simple action, that previous anxiety and scar of yours slowly healed into its original state—your heart filled with bliss and assurance that everything will be fine, again.

You rushingly gave your phone to her as she typed the digits onto your contacts and saved it there. A smile paints your face as this is a sign of further reassurance to the test that broke you earlier. You waved goodbye to Kazuha as she hurriedly waddles away, waving back to you as you can see her getting farther and smaller from your peripherals.

Zuha-yah~, thank you for entertaining me…

Yes. You’re thankful for her entertaining you despite the awkwardness in the rain earlier. In both ways, you felt a sudden connection, a magnetic one towards her. You felt the raising of your heartbeat and the thrill of excitement and you just can’t get rid of it. It must’ve been hard today after such an heartbreaking sight earlier but with a sudden angel, like her being the shining light of your abyss full of darkness, it was everything you could’ve asked for and you're grateful for that.

------

“So, did something happen when you got home, Oppa?”

“I was really hesitant on going home, like, really hesitant but I had no choice—I didn't want to sleep in the streets since it was cold back then, so… yeah, I did go home and to my surprise, they were acting all along!!”

Kazuha was in shock as a puzzled expression was shown on her face. You giggled because of her as she scrunched her eyebrows, still can’t process and believe what she just heard.

Yes. It is surprising. Roller-coaster of emotions, huh? I’ve felt that too, reader. Well, it was out of the blue, to say the least because everything felt more than real. You completely unravel the truth to Kazuha as it was unbelievable as the first listen, let alone to you, ingesting the sudden happenings at that moment. Your parents acted on a heated quarrel in order to surprise you because they know you’ll come. How did you know that they were a plan ahead of you? Well, there are two things to consider: the first one is that they told you right after they surprised you and second, it’s just the knot in your brain telling you that it’s an instinct that you’ll plan to surprise them. It was a sudden relief of a weird predicament that happened, and you couldn't be any better realizing that it was all just an Oscar-worthy performance from your parents.

“Oh my gosh, Oppa. I can’t believe they did that! Woah… I wouldn’t expect that too if I were in your shoes…”

“If you only knew how real that was, you would bawl your eyes too.”

“Yah, Oppa. Stop making me think about that~”

“Sorry—ahh… Come here, Zuha.”

You invite her in a warm embrace as she quickly joins you. Kazuha’s cheeks hint a rosy pink as she gets shy from your affection. It was nothing new but nevertheless, it just makes her way too endearingly pretty. Still in your embrace, she hitched a breath as she prepared herself to say something.

“Oppa, back to when I was saying, you know the other reason why I suddenly called you?”

“What is it, Zuha?”

All you can see is Kazuha reaching from her back pocket, handing a small, red, rectangular box towards you and then flashing a smile.

“Open it, Oppa. It’s just my small gift, for you…”

You knew from the moment you saw the box that it was a gift from hers, yet not knowing what kind of gift it is. It could be anything small that you could think of: a necklace, a bracelet, a ring, a watch and the list goes on and it just pushes you into further anticipation. You then gently untie the ribbon and open the lid on the box as you can see Kazuha’s vivid expressions: her smile full of glee, her eyes sparkling in anticipation and her hands fidgeting and uneasy.

“Woah, Zuha…”

“Do you like it, Oppa?”

Before you could answer, your eyes scan the distinct details of the bracelet as the metallic sculpting of a cursive-like calligraphy of your name luminates from the dimness around. You can clearly see your favorite colors in the bracelet—which is blue and gray—which make it much more appealing to you as you appreciate Kazuha's efforts in giving you one.

“You've played a big role in my life, Oppa. I'm just so grateful for meeting a guy like you, so, I reflected on myself and I wanted to give you something that would be memorable to you.”

Kazuha's eyes hint a glint as the emotions run down her veins, letting it speak for herself. She still anticipates your reaction as her furrowed eyebrows are one of the evidence of it.

“So, Oppa, did you like i—”

“I love it so much, Zuha.”

You suddenly hugged her with the only aim to show how grateful and thankful you are for receiving a gift from hers. You pull out of her embrace as you cupped her cheeks, adoring her and flashing a blissful grin. This moment leads to something magical, bizarre from the usual bonding the both of you have been into like playing some arcade games or more likely, watching the movies. Sure, it is heartwarming but nothing beats this moment on how it feels everything you've asked for, and you're loving every second of it.

“Thank you so much, Zuha. I'm grateful for meeting a girl like you too. If you only knew how much I love you, only if you knew…”

“But I always knew it, Oppa… Here, in my heart, I know it.”

You felt moved by her sentence as you kissed her forehead, letting her know how much you love her and how much you appreciate her. Without any time to waste, the two of you then waddle your way out of the park as the faint hum of the metropolis and the sound of crickets can be heard—it’s just so tranquil and you wish that this would last forever.

You mean the world to her as she does to you, so you're willing to spend your time with her, no matter what happens, just to see that oh-so-sweet smile of hers—it makes you happy more than anything, and you're willing to protect and cherish that smile.

“Will you stay until eleven o'clock with me, Oppa?”

“Of course Zuha-yah~ More than anything.”

A sudden smooch to her forehead brightens up the dimness brought by the night. Her smile is enough to illuminate the darkness of the trail that follows and enough to light up your world. She's all you can ask for and that's what the cherry on top—just her being herself, nothing more, and nothing less. The night is still young and you'll be with her until the dawn of tomorrow comes, or maybe be with her, forever.

“'Cause at seven you will be, be here with me.”

#le sserafim #kazuha #le sserafim fluff #le sserafim scenarios #le sserafim x male reader #le sserafim fic

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redgoldsparks · 9 months ago

Text

January 2024 reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

Electric Bones volume 1 by Hazel and Bell

Lucian is the son of a minor nobleman and the CEO of the galaxy's biggest AI company, but he's not so rich that he can't get in trouble. After being fired as a programmer from Echo Station he joined a startup with a couple friends and is now fishing for funding at an elite tech expo on board an expensive and exclusive space vessel. There he sees someone he thinks he recognizes- Ezra, a grey robot, an fully sentient AI who worked on Echo Station as a researcher and partially cost Lucian his job. So why is Ezra now working on the space vessel as an escort? Unless it's not Ezra, but just a look-alike robot model? These questions drag Lucian into the beginnings of tangled web of intrigue which include kidnapping, AI-hacking, and murder. I've been reading this story online as a webcomic for years; you can still read all of volume one here: https://electricbonescomic.com/index.... But last year I also backed the kickstarter, and just sat down to re-read the whole story in print form, including a sexy little bonus comic. I love these characters, I love the rich colors, the lovely sense of flow and design of the pages. I can't wait for volume two!

The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha

Action packed and exciting, this family drama is full of unexpected twists and turns. I loved the focus on female characters: passionate Kai, whose love of martial arts and sense of justice cannot be contained by the normal rules of Joseon society; her mother, Meorhu, a fragile woman with a surprising past; Sura, a thief turned mercenary; and the Gumiho herself, the deadly but alluring fox spirit who impacts the lives of all the others with her magic and charisma. The art is rich with historical details, beautiful nature scenes, and fast paced fight scenes. Lovers of ghost stories, kdramas, and queer re-tellings of fairy tales will find much to enjoy here. I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this book! Pre-order it now, or look for it in bookstores in mid-February 2024.

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles read by Martyn Swain

What a delightful return to Romney marsh! This book picks up 13 years after the dramatic conclusion of the previous installment. Luke Doomsday is now a secretary, looking for a new position in a large house were he can keep books and solve his master's problems. Rufus, the recently minted Earl of Oxney, formerly a major in the army and son of a draper, has problems. For one, he never expected to inherit and his uncle is doing everything he can to prove Rufus illegitimate in court. For another, the previous Earl of Oxney was a selfish old bastard who let the estates fall into terrible disrepair, while Rufus' timid cousin kept poor account of the estate's money in a chicken scratch handwriting. Rufus struggles to read at the best of times, and he can barely make sense of his newly inherited account books. When Luke shows up on his door, it feels like a godsend. The men are immediately attracted to each other, though both have reason to be wary. And Luke, in seems, may have come to Stone Manor looking for more than a job. This series is such a fun mix of spicy romance, action, mystery, and danger. I'm really enjoying the setting and time period, which is just after the end of the Napoleonic wars. I really hope there will be more books to come!

Translation State by Ann Leckie

No one is doing it like Ann Leckie! This sci-fi novel uses six different pronoun sets (actually kind of seven, except one is the same set just used culturally very differently by different groups of people). It’s fantastic. We’ve got they/them, e/em/eir, sie/hir, it/its, he/him, she/her, and she/her again except used as a universal pronoun regardless of gender (which works great inside the Radch Empire and badly outside of it). I'm on the fence about whether this book can be read as a stand alone, or if it would only really make sense after having read at the Imperial Radch trilogy and Providence. I suppose it depends on what level of baffling alien customs and politics you are willing to tolerate. This book opens with Enae attending hir grandmaman's funeral, only to learn that the seemingly wealthy old woman had sold her entire estate to a stranger before her death. For the first time in her life, Enae leaves home with a Foreign Affairs job: to see out a fugitive who left Presger space some 200 years prior. Enae isn't expecting to succeed, but sie gives it hir best shot- and in doing so completely upends the lives of a widening circle of bystanders including Reet, a man of unknown parentage, and Qven, a juvenile Presger. This book finally begins to explain this inhuman and terrifying species, and the reason why the Presger-Radachii Treaty defines the rules of so much of this universe. I deeply enjoyed this installment; it makes me want to go back and re-read the original trilogy.

Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo Duvall

Set in an alternate 1930s, Mississippi, this story follows a group of friends and found family who have to hide their magic from the restrictive and racist government. They survive at the margins, but they don't let the fear of prosecution stop them from doing what they love: racing together as a team. Deep in the woods seers and witches host carnival like events where racers on brooms compete for prize money and glory. Each of them has reasons why they need to win; lives and futures depend on it. This book is deeply queer with a diverse and magical cast. If you're looking for historical fiction where the trans and lesbian brown witches win, this one's for you.

Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky

Sammie is a recently out nonbinary transfemm but their college friend group has not picked up on that fact yet. When Sammie is invited to be the "best man" at their friend Adam's wedding and attend a bachelor weekend at a high-tech, no-laws resort built on top of the Pacific Garbage Patch they decide to go in stealth mode. The resort is a pyramid scheme mutated with a strip club, business conference, all you can drink brunch bar, pro-gamer, most-dangerous-game corporate nightmare. Also, the waters around it are infested with terrifying flesh-eating monsters and someone is trying to raise an eldritch god. It takes every bit of queer resistance Sammie possesses to survive this bleak, hilarious, and surprisingly moving tale. In both their fiction and nonfiction comics, Lubchansky continues to hold up the black mirror to our own dystopian times.

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa

A very queer high school rom-com comic with a satisfying message about growing into yourself and seeing others truly for who they are. It opens with a love triangle, but subverts that form into a more complicated shape by the end of the tale. Strong character designs and very effective limited color palette.

The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neill

In a desert village, a group of folks choose to live a nocturnal life to keep the moon company, and to care for a small group of magical moths, the only creatures who can pollinate a magical tree which helps sustain the whole ecosystem. One youngster, Anya, volunteers for the important but lonely job of Moth Keeper. She yearns to be of service to others, and feels she must earn her place in the village. In reality, help and friendship are only an ask away, and in this space everyone is cared for. This is a very beautifully illustrated and brief tale of responsibility, community, and resilience.

Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls

What an accomplishment! I savored every page of Feeding Ghosts, absolutely floored by the labor and courage that went into the writing of this book. The inking is gorgeous, the history is clear, digestible, and devastating. This book threads the line between honesty and compassion in a way that I appreciate so much in any memoir, but especially one dealing with family. Hulls lays out the story of three generations of women starting with her grandmother, Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist who faced intense persecution during the rise of Communism in China, who penned a popular and scandalous memoir and then suffered a mental breakdown. This left her only daughter, Rose, a student at an elite boarding school with no parental figures and no other family to lean on. Eventually Rose earned a scholarship to an American university and in the end moved her mother into her California home. Sun Yi haunted that home during the author's own childhood. The unexamined trauma and codependency of Sun Yi and Rose drove the author to the extreme edges of the Earth, seeking freedom from their ghosts. But in the end, she stopped running from her family history and turned, instead, to face it. Shelve this book with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis and The Best We Could Do.

I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane read by Bailey Carr

I really struggled with this book. I almost DNFed at 25%. Ultimately, I did finish it, and I am glad I did because I think the final act was my favorite part of the story. However, I think the title and cover set me up with expectations of what this book would be which were very different than what the book actually delivered. This is not science fiction- despite the fact it was nominated in the science fiction category in the Goodreads Choice Awards. It is only barely speculative. This is a book about grief, depression, and parenting a baby and then a young child as a single mom struggling with loss and borderline alcoholism. There were passages of the book which struck hard, individual observations and lines which rang like bells. There is also nearly no plot and I was frustrated by the lack of world building. I wanted to know more about the laws governing extra shadows- were Shadesters allowed to vote, hold passports, travel across state lines? Had anyone experimented with the removal of Shadows? When and how did cameras get installed in apparently every home in American, and how did the government hire and pay for a workforce of seemingly 1:1 surveillance agents to citizens? Also, how on earth did Kris manage to pay for a whole apartment on a single salary working a call center job, especially when as a Shadester she had to pay extra taxes? I understand that this is literary fiction, and these questions are obviously not the ones the book was interested in answering. But it felt strange to me that a book so focused on parenting would not include a single passage about struggling to pay for or arrange childcare. The "pop quizzes" that break up the text did not work well in audio, and did not add anything to my experience of this book. Ultimately, I would only recommend this novel to a vary narrow audience of readers who enjoy lit fic, and are willing to spend a lot of time in the POV of a character teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown through much of the story.

Atana and The Firebird by Vivian Zhou

Atana is a mermaid, but she was banished from her home to live alone on island for a reason she doesn't understand. One night a curious young firebird leaves her flock in space to come down and visit Earth, and she convinces Atana to go an adventure. They are soon pursed by magic hunters, but they also make friends, and end up as invited guests in the Witch Queen's palace. She makes them welcome in her massive library and gardens, but she also has ulterior motives. This is a fast paced story of magic, friendship, and young people slowly learning about the forces larger than themselves that shape their world and their lives. I really enjoyed the art, it has a very active, energetic line which serves the action scenes particularly well. I can tell the author came from an animation background! I am glad that the ending set up potential future installments in this world.

Portrait of a Body by Julie Delporte

I really loved the colored pencil illustrations of this book, especially the botanical drawings, and the kind of abstract relation of the text and images. I thought the drawings paired extremely well with the hand lettering even if at times I struggled with some of the cursive capitals. This is a candid memoir of recovering from sexual assault and a dysfunctional relationship to ones body and sexuality, of stepping into queerness and self-acceptance. I couldn't really relate to the author's journey, but I appreciated the honestly and thoughtfulness with which the more challenging themes were handled.

Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb read by Nick Taylor

This book, and this series, has earned Robin Hobb a permanent place in my list of favorite authors. This story goes so hard, weaving together threads that are 9 volumes and 30 plus years of in-story history in the making. The final confrontations, reunions, and farewells at the end of this story were hard earned and so well written. This very much felt like it could have been a final volume of the Realm of Elderlings series, but I know that there are 7 more books to come and I can't wait to see what else this series has in store for me!

System Collapse by Martha Wells read by Kevin R Free

This book picks up right after the end of the previous volume and I had, unfortunately, completely forgotten most of the previous plot. Once I got myself oriented I still had a great time with it. Wow, I just love watching Murderbot learn and grow and solve problems in unique and interesting ways! I kind of want to go back and re-listen to the whole series.

The Chromatic Fantasy by H.A.

This comic blew me away. One of the most beautiful, strange, artistically ambitious and deeply trans books I've read in a while. Aesthetically, its as rich as a stained glass window or illuminated manuscript. Its narrative is psychedelic but emotionally it rings so tender and true. The story opens with Jules, a transman trapped in a nunnery who accepts a deal with a devil who promises to help him live as a man. Possessed and impervious to physical harm, Jules turns to a life of debauchery and crime. Then he meets another trans criminal, the poetic thief and thespian Casper, and they begin to fall for each other. They see each other as no one else ever has, they validate and treasure one another, but Jules' devil is a jealous master. The devil would rather see Jules burn than thrive. This is one of those books that made me want to draw, made me want to write, made me want to be bolder, weirder, freer, wilder in my story telling. An instant favorite, I expect I'll return to this over and over.

Mall Goth by Kate Leth

Liv's parents are on the verge of divorce; they've just moved to a new town and Liv will be starting at a new high school. At her last school, Liv was bullied for being openly queer and an unapologetic mall goth, and she is understandably hesitant to accept friendship overtures at the new school. However, a supportive male English teacher and a fellow goth gamer boy start to make Liv feel welcome. The goth introduces her to an MMORPG and the English teacher praises her essays and gives her Lolita. Both of them start regularly DMing Liv late into the night, more than is appropriate for the relationships they have. This book is in large part about a teen navigating confusing advances and how and when to disclose things that make her uncomfortable but feel hard to speak about or define. I thought that aspect of the story was handled very well. Some of the pacing in the friendship plot lines surrounding it felt a bit rushed, a few sections underdeveloped, but ultimately I think this book tackled an important issue not often seen in YA comics. It is also steeped in early 2000s Hot Topic/emo music/pop culture references- if you were there, you'll know.

What’s Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine by Erin Williams

Williams illuminates, through memoir, interviews, and mixed media illustrations the extreme failures of the US healthcare system to address chronic pain. These failures are especially common for patients of color, patients who struggle with addictions, patients who are queer or survivors of assault and trauma. If you had any illusions that the systems of medical care are working in this country, shed them now. This book is half cathartic, half infuriating to read. I really appreciated the honesty and vulnerability of the interviewees and the trans and nonbinary inclusiveness of the language surrounding pain tied to the reproductive system.

#maia kobabe #reading #books #book reviews #comic book reviews

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velvetwyrme · 2 months ago

Note

transformers one is out now!!! have yuo watched it yet?? how was it?? c:

HI ANON i hope you dont mind that i kept this in my askbox for a couple days because I hadn't watched it yet (wanted to make sure I was No Longer Sick, because being sick in the cinema is Not Great) and also technically it hasn't released here yet,,,? BUT apparently they've got advance preview weekends for like. the same price so Obviously I went.

ANYWAY I HAVE WATCHED IT NOW AND IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!! THANK YOU FOR ASKING.

AHHHHHHHHHH hold on I've been talking nonstop about it for like the last. 4 hours. fucking help me. or dont. I love to chatter and will continue to do so under the cut shjfkgnwmbfks so if you count this, it'll end up nearing 6. I'm... probably going to talk about this as if you know the general premise of the movie, but if not. Google it. Or just go watch it!! (Can recommend) I talk too much to summarise it fhfjfbskdnfkf

Vague spoiler warning because I don't know what I'll talk about rhdjfbekntkr,,,,

Edit: If you've been following me for any amount of time, you know that when I say this got long, you really do have to believe me on that.

My mom liked it as well???? She came with me because I didn't want to subject any of my irl friends to my tf rambling and she didn't want me to go alone fbfkfbkd I thought she wouldn't, but SHE LIKED IT.

Okay so first off: going into the theatre, I was so so afraid that I was going to have the same thought I had after watching Puss and Boots: The First Wish, which was- "I REALLY liked that, and it would have been one of my favorite movies if I was still a child." (Still a really good movie!!)

BUT I DIDN'T HAVE THAT. I JUST REALLY LOVE THE MOVIE FULL STOP.

Anyway, onto my wild rambling.

The visuals were superb!! Gorgeous. No notes. Freaking amazing animation and character design and world design !!!!! I'LL COME BACK TO THAT I COULD YELL FOREVER ABT WORLDBUILDING. The characterisation is so so good, so tasty.

Also because I'm a huge honkin nerd...

The movie is largely focused on the dynamic between Orion Pax/Optimus Prime and D-16/Megatron, but the other characters also shine through really well, and they show off a lot personality even with the ones with very few scenes. Elita-One is a fucking delight I wanna kiss her!!!!!!! She's so cool and pragmatic and it SHOWS in what she does and how she acts. She IS better than you, and she knows it. Even Starscreams confident yet cowardly nature is shown with him lounging on a throne and slinking off after his fight with D-16, and he's barely there!!! RAHAGGHHH I love what you can do with characterisation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also my god this movie was funny. Even when the pacing is fast it's a GOOD fast. Comedic moments are used really well in this, and it flips smoothly between that and the more serious and heartfelt bits.

AND HRHFJFJDK okay so maybe its just my sense of humor, but I found Bee to be really really really funny. He's just like me for real!!! Talks too much, excited as HELL about everything!!!!!!!!! HE'S JUST LIKE ME. I also told my mom this and she was like. "Yes! He is jist like you!! He talks a lot. You would do the knife-hands thing. Also, you're wearing yellow." And. I was. I am. hrhfjfjfkkghdk 💛💛 Shockwave in this movie is ALSO very funny. He gets punched <3 Many other characters also get punched, but he complains about it. He reminds me somewhat of TF Animated Shockwave but less intimidating sgdjfbdjfbdmfbmd

Speaking of characters... Airachnid was so pretty. I love her design so much!!!! She's alien and COOL and I love her!!!!! She has so many eyes... (I'd ALSO love to know more about what her deal is. But... her lack of a motive/story is made up infinitely by strong screen presence and personality) Sentinel was ALSO very pretty and I loved seeing him on screen but I (spoilers) loved seeing him get ripped in half more. Those were LOVELY shots.

I brought my mini Soundwave along with me!! I liked Soundwave in the movie even if he didn't play a big part <33 The "there sure are a lot of waves" joke was VERY funny because I had the exact same thought moments before.

There are a LOT of cameos in the film and I kept going "AHHHHH [CHARACTER]". I get why they didn't add more as main characters- there were a loooooot of characters running around already, and only 2 hours!! Even so, I still wish we saw more of the other characters that cameoed (JAZZ!!!!!! MY BOYYYY!! I WAS SO SCARED THEY'D KILL HIM OFF) or had minor appearances because I just. I want to know what they'd do with the characterisation........ but that's what fanfic for for ig ehfjfhdk,,

And on the topic of lovely shots, theres a series of scenes near the end of the movie with no dialogue, only music and sound and. It's SO good. It's so impactful and beautiful and ausuaiaiurhrgh...

The whole movie is inherently sort of a tragedy since it's a prequel. We all know how it ends; what these characters become. But the build up to that is so SO good. I loved the character progression- D-16'S PROGRESSION TO BECOMING MEGATRON IS!!! AHHHHH!! I loved seeing him shift from one perspective to another and they made it believable.

His anger and betrayal giving way to violence- there's this one bit shortly after they are given the ability to transform where you See that violence in D-16 fir the first time, and it's shot so starkly in comparison to the other characters (who also fight to get away) and it's just like. Oh. There's the potential for something dangerous there.

It is so so interesting to me to see how that violence is framed in comparison to the others- all three of the other protags have their moments of violence- Elita-One is very very intimidating and used violence/threats to get her way, and Bee has this lightheartedness/innocence to his violence... Orion Pax is just. he's doing what needs to be done, he takes no joy from the destruction- he's fighting back, but I think most importantly all of them know when to stop.

There are the fights and punches that get thrown around, and then there is D-16 wailing on Starscream. Megatron RIPPING SENTINEL IN HALF. God that scene was good.

Anyway, sometimes in media a character goes through a Big Event that changes or breaks them, but here? There is no breaking point for D-16/Megatron. It's a slow spiralling descent and you see him taking one step after another, deciding to continue down this path. This is shown in a more literal way with his eyes slowly changing colour through the movie (fucking SICK SHOTS!!!!!!!) but there are a dozen more moments where you can see him decide who he is becoming.

IT WAS REALLY GOOD, I LOVE SHIT LIKE THAT.

And as audience!! Though we know this change is inevitable!! (This is an event in the past- the end of this is already written!!!) It's still tragic!! I feel for him!! I want him to keep getting back up in the face of Sentinel's cruelty!!!!!!!!!!

Orion watching his friend change, seeing them grow further apart... and he still hangs onto that hope right up until the end (and even after that!!!!!! He banishes him, because he will not kill him!!)

imo, they did Orion Pax/Optimus Prime really well in this one- he gets into a lot of trouble and it somehow works out. I think they do really well in making him feel down to earth in this- he's punchy and dynamic and has this unwavering respect for the people around him, but he's also good at being tricky and manipulative to get interesting outcomes that nobody else could have considered- he knows how people tick on an individual level and he knows how to use that. He thinks differently, and it's fantastic. Most importantly, Orion can see something nobody else can: a world where things are better.

Orion becoming Optimus... ough. aough. It's so!!!!!! AHHH. I loved all of the sequences that follow after. When his signature axe made an appearance I was so excited it was REALLY COOL. ALL OF IT WAS SO COOL.

The fight choreography is FANTASTIC and while it was a little messy at times (so much... going on........) it was fluid and dynamic and mwah mwah mwah I love it.

ALSO I SAID I'D YELL ABOUT WORLDBUILDING but this is really really long already so like. I'll keep it short as I can

The glimpses of the society that exists is FASCINATING to me. We don't get to see much of it, because our main characters are purely of the lower classes, so what's available to us is quite limited, but the class structure is INTERESTING to me. Unlike IDW, where form dictates function, this universe is driven (ha. ha.) on the idea that some Cybertronians can't transform (and thus work in the lower classes, as miners and waste management etc.) but as it turns out, (spoilers) they actually get their transformation cogs removed before they come online. And like... I can't help but wonder how they pick who gets that treatment?? Luck???? I'm dying to know.

ALSO I really like the Quintessons (sad they're not the the horrible five faced creature things. I wanna see the Weirdos!!!!) but I still think these fuck hard. They're really buggy and organic and cool (I adore their ship designs holy shiiiiiiiiit- just yesterday I was admiring all the bugs and monsters and crabby things in Guild Wars 2, and now THIS?? BLESSED.) And the CYBERTRONIAN DEER ARE COOL!!!!!!!!!! I like them. That's all. I wished we got to see more of the bio-mechanical parts of the planet...

AND AND THE PLANET ITSELF HOLY SHIT AHHHHHH!!!!! The city is gorgeous- the spires going up and down is mwah amazing. The roads and rails appearing/disappearing as they are used? PEAK. The MINES and the surface of Cybertron. They're shifting, moving, alive. I legit was staring slackjawed when they were in the mines- it's just SO COOL to watch!!!

OKAY. IM DONE NOW.

...

AUGH I want to watch it again. I probably WILL watch it again.

If you got all the way down here, thank you for reading (?!) and please tell me what YOU thought of it if you've seen it 🥺👀 Or if you're going to. I definitely recommend it.

#inbox #anon #velwy.txt #transformers one #AUUUUUAHHHRHHHHHRGHG #used up all my words in the post for once.#also hey. in the unlikely event any of yall are in nz. did you know reading cinemas do movies for $10 #SOMETIMES $5.#i saw the newest alien movie for $5 and i was like WHAT A STEAL #ANYWAY THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ASKING AND GIVING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO YELL FOREVER #i dont (....think) i talk unprompted too much on here but. i do that sooo much around people irl #or if u think i talk a lot here unprompted then imagine i do that More.#as i said in the post. i relate so hard to bee because he just Keeps Talking.#ANYWAY I SAID I RAN OUT OF WORDS BUT EVIDENTLY NOT RBRJJTKMGNKS #BYE. IM STOPPING MYSELF NOW.

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jimblejamblewritings · 11 months ago

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Our Violent Delights Will Not Have Violent Ends: The Twilight Saga Rewrite (Book 1, Twilight) | Part 1.

Summary: Y/N Swan is just like every other girl and she likes it that way. Normal is fantastic. Normal creates a functioning member of society. Normal is the reason she moved to a small town to live with her police officer father... only to find out that she gets the farthest thing from what she wanted. \\ This is a re-write of Twilight. Basically if I had been Stephenie Meyer and wrote Twilight. I will be combining some of the movie and book and the pace will be more like the movies. Not terribly high word count like the books. We might equal one book's word count when we finish doing all four of them. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings for the Series: light violence, light angst, light smut

Warnings for the Chapter: none

Pairing: Edward Cullen x reader, Jacob Black x reader

Word Count: 3.5k

Author's Note: If there are "I" written anywhere in the story, please let me know. I'm posting this story on Wattpad in the I form so I might forget to erase one or two here. Enjoy being casted in the feature role of Bella Swan. Let's go:

A police car pulled up in front of you as you waited outside Seattle-Tacoma International. To think, only four months ago you were trying to purchase plane tickets for spring break. Only you wanted to go to New York with the rest of your classmates. The last place you were ever thinking of was Washington. The state, not even D.C.

And more importantly not Forks, Washington. But you promised your mom that you could handle this. The only thing worse than that small town for the entire year was traveling so much you might as well be homeschooled. When your mom remarried her now husband, Phil, he played baseball for the Phoenix team.

Phil’s good but he wasn’t good enough to be traded around. You thought your whole life would be Arizona. Until Florida called. And your sweet stepfather and lovingly erratic mother packed up everything before suddenly remembering you had school. So moving to Forks had been a you decision but you're not sure how good of a decision that was.

The car in front of you rolled down its window until you could see your dad. Charlie flashed a smile that you struggled to return. He’s great. You've spent every single summer with him and almost every one of those summers was in Forks.

But two months is a lot different from the entire school year. You knew only a few people that would be going to Forks High School. A pang hit your heart when you thought about your friends again. You guys promised to call but you'd probably fall out of each other’s lives anyway. But you tried to smile once more, putting your suitcases in the back of the police car and pulling on a thick wool sweater over your shirt and overalls.

As soon as you slid into the passenger seat, it started to rain — a stark reminder that this wasn’t Phoenix.

You could feel Charlie’s head keep turning to the side to look at you. Like your dad in more ways than one, the start to small talk was awkward for you. The two of you went back and forth in a silent dance until Charlie saved you from speaking about the weather.

“Your hair has gotten longer.”

You grabbed a piece of your now shoulder length hair. Two years ago, in the spur of the moment, you had shaved your head to start over. It was the moment after that you decided you would never do that again. Charlie had to suffer the period of you not being able to look at yourself in the mirror. You looked like an egg. It took dedication but your hair was now long and damage free.

“Yeah, I’ve tried to stop using heat completely. Except the blow dryer.”

While starting small talk might have been difficult, once Charlie and you were talking no one could get you to stop. The conversation was still going as the car passed the ‘Welcome to Forks’ sign that should have read population: too damn small instead of an actual number — and even when we got out of the car and into the house. Your room wasn’t terribly different from other summers but you noticed drawers and wardrobes that weren’t there before. You guessed when one permanently moves they suddenly need storage for their things. Charlie even cleared more bathroom space.

That was probably the one thing you hated about this house. One bathroom. Someone should have slapped the architect that ever suggested this… and then slap the builder that followed through anyway.

You only unpacked the bare essentials for the next week or so. The rest could be slowly unpacked as time went on. Charlie helped for a few hours before doing his shuffle he does whenever he’s uncomfortable. All he could say was okay before leaving the room.

Even though you two can talk for hours, he’s still awkward to his core. You supposed that you should be happy as a teenager that he doesn’t hover. He never has. You used to think it was because being a cop made him busy all the time and he just developed the habit. As the years went on, it became more apparent that it was just his personality.

A car honk right outside the window caught your attention. You looked through the glass to see an orange pickup truck and some of the only two faces in town that were familiar to you. Your feet carried you out the door before you were even aware until you crashed right into a boy with hair longer than yours, roughly your height, and only a few months younger in age.

“Woah, Y/N/N, slow down before you hurt yourself. You know you can't be trusted on your own two feet. I'm surprised you're still standing right now or is it just because I'm holding you up.” Jacob said as he gave you a smile.

“Whatever, dick."

"Whoa, Y/F/N. Language when you're standing right in front of me," Dad interjected but he didn't look that offended.

"Sorry... Hi, Billy.”

“Hi, Y/N. Glad you’re back and here to stay. Charlie wouldn’t shut up about it since you told him.”

Your dad rolled his eyes. “Keep talking and I’ll roll that wheelchair right into the middle of the road.”

“Not before I ram you in the ankles.”

You and Jacob’s dads abandoned you to play fight in the road. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

“I’m glad to see they’re still behaving like that.”

“Oh, yeah. Days go by and nothing’s different. It's getting worse with old age actually, I'm convinced that's why Mom is always on business trips… So, do you like your present?”

You turned to face Jacob. “Hmm?”

He patted the truck just as your dads came back. Your eyes went wide and your lips twitched until they formed a large smile.

“Are you serious? This is perfect! Dad, you didn’t have to get me a car.”

Charlie shrugged. “I work late sometimes and thought that your personal autonomy was very important.”

He’s trying to sound like a parent that actually read the child psychology books. The why he bought me a car didn’t matter. It was the fact that he just did. A truck didn’t exactly fit my aesthetic but something about vintage ones totally did.

"Don't worry, I worked on it myself. Everything's perfect," Jacob said.

"You did this? By yourself now? Jake, what the heck. That's crazy you're doing it on your own now. Why are you so amazing?"

Before anyone could actually answer you, you whipped open the door and sat inside. You remembered this truck very well from playing in it since you and Jake were four. Billy had this thing for at least seventeen years. The first thing you noticed were the new leather seats. They were pink instead of gray. The second thing you noticed was the engine’s sound. Smoother than it had ever sounded before.

Jacob opened the passenger door, hopping in to show you how the car operated. He was a genius at fixing cars and trucks. You wouldn’t be surprised if he owned his own mechanic shop some day.

“And that’s it.” He patted the steering wheel. “If anything breaks, let me know.”

“Thank you! God, I’m so glad I have one recognizable face at school.”

“You’ve only been missed two summers. Did you already forget I don’t go to Forks?”

“Right.”

Jake, like most of the Quileute kids, went to a high school on the reservation in La Push. People weren’t as judgmental when they all shared something common. There they could wear their hair long, tell folklore stories without getting made fun of, or try speaking little words here and there of Quileute so the language doesn’t die with their great grandparents.

All things you would have loved to be part of or just sit on the sidelines and observe. Maybe you should have complained to Charlie until you went there. Now you couldn’t leech off of Jacob and had to actually make friends on your own. Disgusting.

Your sentiments didn’t change as you got in the truck and headed to school. You were assigned a parking space the moment you transferred. Unlucky you, you were stuck in the front parking lot.

So much for leaving to go get a better lunch than whatever grub they were going to serve at the cafeteria. Charlie worked too much to even think about asking him to get you something. And you couldn’t ask him to cook either. He’s not really shit at it. It's just his taste buds suck. So unless you wanted to text him a specific lunch menu each Sunday, it was Russian Roulette of lunch. That was too much work. Charlie thinks salami and grapes belong on the same piece of Nutella and butter toast.

When you finally found the parking space, after three circles around, you turned off the engine and found a bunch of eyes greeting you. Lots of them. That’s what being the new kid in a small town gets a person. The eyes stopped staring once you got out of your truck — they needed a face to match the name Bella Swan.

“Nice ride,” a black boy in a red hoodie said as he nodded at your car.

“Thanks, just got it.”

“Cool.”

You didn’t exchange any other words before you entered the building. You stared at the paper schedule, trying to memorize classrooms and the stupid tiny map in the corner. An arm suddenly tapped your shoulder.

“You’re Y/F/N Swan, right? Our new girl.”

You turned to your right to see an Asian boy with a black polo shirt and the most emo haircut you've seen in a while. You took a double take at his outfit and then at the outfits of your peers around you. Suddenly, you were feeling terribly overdressed.

Your thrifted Burberry monogram poncho doubled as a blanket that you would inevitably need because it sat on top of a long sleeved black mini dress. Was it impractical for January in Washington? Probably. But fashion made everything work. At least you had worn snow boots.

“Yeah. It’s just Y/N by the way.”

“Just Y/N. Got it. Well, hi, I’m Eric and your eyes and ears of this place. Anything happens and I know about it. If you need a tour guide, shoulder to cry on, or lunch date then I’m your man.”

Eric made conversation naturally, no small talk in sight. Kind of like Jacob. You chuckled. “I’ll take a rain check on the lunch date but I do need to find room 33C.”

“Let me lead the way.”

He started to lead you down the hallway and to a set of stairs. “So, why move to Forks?”

“I’m not a baseball girl.”

Eric snapped his fingers. “Perfect tagline for your spread. I’m the editor-in-chief of the paper and you are front page news.”

“Oh… Just the front page right? I mean I don’t mind the paper but more than two pages and I’ll transfer.”

“Got it. Spread killed, feature only. And here’s your stop.”

“Thank you so much.”

“I’ll be back for whatever other classes you need to find.”

True to his word, Eric came back and led you to all my morning classes, including the dreaded P.E. You didn’t hate exercise. You just hated whatever wasn’t pilates or a Jane Fonda workout. Besides, you were never good at P.E. anyway. The testament to that was the gym teacher thinking you should do the volleyball exercises with some of the other girls.

You flinched as the ball came towards you. It didn’t go back over the net. Instead, it hit my calculus desk partner, Mike Newton, in the back of the head.

“Sorry!” you yelled as you sped away to hide in the locker room until lunch period.

Mike seemed to forget about it when lunch came. He talked your ear off all the way into the cafeteria. You had forgotten that a small town wouldn’t be like Phoenix. Everyone wanted to talk to the new kid. Whether they were friends or not was yet to be determined. But Mike was a gentleman. He pulled out your seat for you.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Madame.”

Eric laughed. “Mikey, glad you met my girl Y/N.”

“Oh, your girl?”

“Excuse me, my girl. We even bonded over cars,” The black boy from earlier rubbed your hair in fake affection before pulling the chair out from under Mike.

“You’re so dead, Tyler!” he yelled as they ran after him.

The two girls at your table gave a mix of a laugh and a scoff. A girl with a chunky pink headband slid over a juice carton from her tray.

“Sorry about that. It’s like kindergarten all over again, isn’t it? You’re the shiny new toy. Hi, I’m Jessica by the way.”

“Oh, almost forgot,” the other girl with glasses picks up a camera. “Smile!”

The flash blinded me for a moment. “Woah.”

“Sorry, I need some candids for the spread.”

“The spread is dead, Angela,” Eric said in an oddly defensive tone. “Don’t bring it up again… I got your back, babe.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped from your throat. Eric left, leaving you, Jessica, and Angela at the table. Angela set her camera down.

“Great, now what am I supposed to do about filling up the rest of the newspaper? I can’t do another editorial on teen drinking. It’d be the third time.”

“You could always run a psa on eating disorders,” you tried to offer an option. “Or um… padding on the swim team?”

The other girls looked at you and for a moment you thought you said something completely wrong but they began laughing. You caught bits of the conversation as you focused on my food: some of the guys bragging about their sizes that seemed totally fake, speedos fitting improperly, and wondering if they only pad for school pictures.

Going back to the conversation, a glimpse at the window caught your eye before you could speak. Five people walked like this school was a runway.

“Who are they?” you asked.

Jessica dropped her fork on her tray, ready to tell you everything. “The Cullens. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen’s foster kids.”

The names were ones you couldn't remember hearing while visiting over the summers. They were either new kids or never came around La Push. One thing you couldn’t deny was that they were all attractive. And the shorter girl had wicked fashion sense. She strutted by like the rest of them in her thin and flowy white maxi skirt with a chunky black sweater and heels entirely too high for you to ever try wearing. You felt almost entranced just looking at them.

“They’re all like together,” Jessica continued. “Rosalie, the blonde one, yeah she’s with the big one, Emmett. Like a thing.”

“Jess, they’re not actually related,” Angela quickly interjected.

“Yeah I know, but it’s still kinda weird that they live together, don’t you think? Anyway, the small dark-haired girl Alice is with Jasper. He’s the one that always looks like he’s in pain. The two blondes are actually siblings, Mrs. Cullen’s niece and nephew or something like that.”

“Dr. Cullen’s like this foster dad matchmaker.”

“Maybe, he’ll adopt me,” Angela said.

You chuckled. If Dr. Cullen was such a matchmaker then you’d have to tell Charlie goodbye.

“What about him?” you motioned to the last guy left. He walked ahead of his foster siblings like he was the leader or something.

“Edward? Totally hot, supposedly single. No one here seems good enough for him. Don’t waste your time. Like I care, just don’t waste your time.”

“Trust me, wasn’t planning on it.”

You knew that Jessica could have a skewed perspective. Maybe something happened between the two of them but Angela seemed to agree with her. This Edward probably was nothing but bad news and trouble.

You dared myself to look at their table again. Your eyes squinted when you saw their trays. Nothing looked touched. When you looked up, all five of them were staring at you. You whipped your head around and didn’t dare look back again until after lunch.

Thankfully, the classes you had right after lunch didn’t have any of them… until bio class. The teacher, Mr. Donoghue motioned for you to sit at the only empty seat that happened to be next to Edward. You nodded and began moving to the chair. A chill ran down you spine and you shivered as the chill pierced your back. Edward stiffened up at the same time.

You scowled as he held his hand over his mouth and nose. You had taken a shower, put on nice perfume, lotioned, and wore nice jewelry. There was absolutely no way you smelled. His hand stayed over the lower part of his face the entire class period. Even when he had to hand over material, he pushed them to you with a pencil. The moment the bell rang, Edward was gone. Good riddance.

Mr. Donoghue signed the last spot in my slip saying you made it to class successfully and now you could give it to the receptionist. You paused in the doorway after seeing someone’s back but it was too late. The receptionist had seen you.

“Just a moment, dear.”

The person with the back turned around to reveal a troubled face. He grabbed his coat. “Never mind, I’ll just have to endure it.”

You rolled your eyes, handed in you slip and went to your truck. Edward was a total douche. Yet you couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d be seeing each other more often than you’d like. Probably more often than he’d like as well.

Charlie wasn’t finished working when school was over but had enough time for a dinner break. His friend, Waylan, brought takeout from Subway. You didn’t remember Waylan very well. He left for most of the summer each year to visit his kids and grandkids that left Washington. You all moved stuff around on Charlie’s desk to clear space so you could eat. You had a Spicy Italian sub while the two of them ate BLTs. The two of them shared a different sentiment about the Cullens when you asked them.

Unlike the kids at school, they had nothing but praise. The Cullens weren’t weird but mature and well-rounded teenagers. And Dr. Cullen was the best surgeon they’ve had… and he stayed past one year which is an accomplishment. Certain jobs like doctors and lawyers always come from out of town. Most leave after one or two years, not able to handle the slow pace of this green and gray town.

Soon, Charlie and Waylan talked in the most stereotypical old man fashion that you had actually checked out of the conversation. Your cellphone rang as you grabbed a potato chip from the small bag that came with your sandwich.

“That’s Mom, I’m gonna take this.”

“Tell your mom I said hi, Y/N/N.”

You nodded as you walked away.

The next day at school, Edward wasn’t there. You had planned to confront him and find out what his problem was when he didn’t even know you. You weren't exactly popular back in Phoenix but no one had any issues with you. Never.

However, his siblings were there. Not that you were going to approach them. Your problem was their brother not them and you weren't trying to make enemies in such a small town. You watched them walk into the building as you leaned against your truck. You turned when something hit your back.

“Y/N!”

You laughed as you looked at the Twizzler on the ground. “Seriously, Tyler? How dare you waste good food,” you said as you grabbed your bag and walked over to where the kids you met yesterday were all crowded around what you assumed was Tyler’s van.

He shrugged. “I would hardly call Twizzlers the peak of fine dining.”

We all walked inside at the start of a bell ringing. The day had been pleasant without your science partner. And the next day was the same when he didn’t show up again. And the next day until the entire week had gone by without Edward showing his face.

Your first week of school was lucky. You had missed any torrential rain. But you couldn’t say the same for that Monday. The only thing worse than rain was rain when it was below freezing outside. Your front steps were covered in ice. Your phone rang as you closed the house door.

"Hey, Jake... First week done, somewhat a success. Hey, when is Spring Break for you guys? We should totally start coordinating now if we want to try and leave town."

Despite being careful as you talked, you must have stepped incorrectly because before you knew it, your butt had gone down the last three concrete steps leading away from your door and to your driveway.

“Woah, woah, Y/N/N. Are you okay?” Charlie asked as he helped you up.

“Yeah, just fine, Dad. Ice isn’t exactly helpful to the severely uncoordinated.”

“That’s why I got new tires for you. The old ones were getting pretty bald.”

“Thank you.”

You both high-fived before getting into your respective cars and leaving. It felt like you were already used to the routine of Forks when you pulled into your parking spot and found yourself automatically going to Tyler’s van. You sat with Jessica, Angela, Eric, or Mike whenever you had class and swapped snacks with Tyler in between every morning class because your lockers were right next to each other. And the group always walked to lunch together.

“Salad or Sandwich… Hello? Earth to Y/N?”

You blinked to see Jess snapping her fingers in front of you. “Sorry.”

“We wanted to know what you wanted? The lines are backing up so we’re splitting up and tackling stations.”

“Nice, divide and conquer the cafeteria.”

“The Vikings got nothing on us.”

“As long as the only thing we’re conquering and pillaging are those sandwiches.”

“Absolutely. They might have had great hair but I'm not interested. So, ham and cheese, turkey, or those stupid cucumber ones that no one likes?”

“Hey, I like them!”

Jess laughed and walked to her designated line. Mike and you were in charge of gathering everyone’s desserts and soups. Three wanted brownies and three wanted chocolate chip cookies, four wanted tomato soup and two wanted chicken noodle. You all wanted saltine crackers. Every now and then, you looked over your shoulder at what made you stop in you tracks. Edward was back.

And your biology class was the first class after lunch.

(part 2) ...

THIS FIC TAGLIST:

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@venomsvl @peaches-n-sunscreen @summerellaz @supernaturallover2002 @sambucky8 @9daykrisr @thebitchinleo @23victoria @scarlets-widow @pagetpagetpagetpaget @lovexnatasha @awesomebooklover17 @1234-angelika @imatrisk @blackreaderatrisk @princess-jules47 @alexloveskili @a-marie-a @siriuslysirius1107 @i-have-no-life-charlie

#twilight fic #twilight #bella swan #edward cullen x reader #edward cullen x black!reader #edward cullen #jacob black x reader #wolf pack

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patchworkgargoyle · 1 year ago

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you are all my symmetry 💕

Happy birthday to the fantastic, hilarious, talented, and wonderful @steves-strapcollection 💖💖💖 It's been such a delight having you as my friend, I hope you enjoy this very fluffy and smutty celebration in your honour! You deserve all of it and more.

Many, many thanks to @scarcrossdlvrs and @sidekick-hero for your cheerleading and excellent beta skills!!

Pairing: Steddissy || Rating: E || CW: PWP, unsafe sex, Dom/sub undertones || Words: ~5.6k || Ao3

It started like most good ideas: as a joke.

Eddie groaned and let his head fall on the back of the couch, wincing when the worn down cushion did nothing to protect his skull. “I just don’t get it! It’s cuffing season. I wanna get cuffed!” His hands flailed in the air before landing on Chrissy’s thighs with a slap that made her jump.

“Ow,” she grumbled, and he gave her an apologetic look where she was tucked up against the arms of both the couch and Steve.

“I just can’t believe you’re both still single,” Steve said.

Eddie snorted. “Me? I believe it.” Though he’d said it quietly, both Steve and Chrissy smacked his arm.

“Don’t say that, Eddie. You’re a catch, that asshole wasn’t worth your time.” Chrissy took his hand in hers, her Christmas-themed manicure sparkling in contrast to his usual chipped black polish. Every time he looked at their hands together he was amazed at how small Chrissy’s were.

While what she said might’ve been true, it gets pretty fucking demoralizing when each and every person before him hadn’t been “worth his time” either. Eddie couldn’t seem to get past a second date, unless they were hitting him up for a booty call, and god, he was tired of that too. He was craving more. Something like this, but–

But not like this this. He told himself the answer didn’t lie in Chrissy’s soft hand in his and Steve’s thigh warm along his own. Or in the way Chrissy relaxed across both their laps while Steve stretched his arm across the back of the couch to touch Eddie’s shoulder. No matter what his stupid, traitorous little heart thought. Because they were friends.

“You’re a catch too, Chris,” Eddie said instead of what was actually on his mind. Her shy smile in reply made his heart skip.

“Exactly,” Steve said definitively, “you’re both great. Gorgeous, funny, smart. I don’t understand why neither of you are taken yet.”

Chrissy raised a teasing eyebrow at him. “Says the guy who’s also currently single.”

“Yeah, well.” His fingers fidgeted with a loose thread on their shared couch. Eddie remembered the day he and Steve hauled it home from the thrift store because Robin took the old one when she moved in with Vickie. Turns out, moving furniture in the middle of summer was hell, and not at all because seeing Steve’s hair fall into his face and stick to his sweaty forehead drove Eddie a bit insane. Not at all.

“I’m not looking right now, I think,” Steve finished.

Taking a hit from his joint, Eddie let his thoughts collect while the smoke sat in his lungs. On the exhale, he said through the smoke, “Maybe Chris and I should stop looking too. Don’t they say something about that?” The two confused expressions levelled at him made Eddie shrug. “I dunno, something about love happening when you’re not looking for it or least expect it or some shit.”

Steve’s lips pursed in a thoughtful–or possibly a more confused–frown as he nodded slowly. “Sure…”

“That’d be nice,” Chrissy sighed wistfully. Her head tilted, landing on Steve’s shoulder, and he squeezed her closer.

Eddie watched as two of his best friends and the most gorgeous people he knew curled up into each other. They looked so good together it was almost unfair, like the sun and the stars, and Eddie’s chest ached like a greedy black hole. He saw how they looked at each other sometimes. Glances taken when they thought no one was watching. Eddie watched, though, even when he didn’t want to, often didn’t realise when he did. Maybe now that they were both single they’d finally get together like he always thought they would. The thought left a sour swirling in Eddie’s gut that he mentally berated himself for.

He would be happy for them if they became a couple. Truly, he would. That churning jealousy could go fuck itself. In an effort to smoke it out, Eddie took another hit.

Fingers tapped on his shoulder, so Eddie passed the joint to Steve at his wordless demand. Chrissy nicked it from Steve’s fingers after he was done and wrapped her pretty lips around the filter. Quietly they sat in their collective haze of smoke and sluggish thoughts while sinking further into the couch. Until Steve took a deep breath, then giggled.

“I could help, y’know. With your dry spells.” He stared at Chrissy, then Eddie, then wiggled his brows twice with a dopey smirk.

Eddie barked a laugh while Chrissy giggled, but Eddie couldn’t deny that the idea was tempting. He didn’t have the mental fortitude to shove those not-exactly-friend-shaped feelings away like usual, blooming in his chest when he couldn’t bury it. Fuck. The images were… sexy, all the ones that he tried to ignore late at night with his fingers on or in himself. He coughed to hide the rising flush in his face.

“You’re funny, man,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes and hoping the butterflies died an inglorious death.

“Hey, I mean it. Come knock on my door if you guys get desperate enough.” Steve had a clearly fake salacious look on his face, sending them all into fits of laughter again until Chrissy started talking about their Christmas plans, the previous topic all but forgotten.

Or that’s what Eddie thought.

The next few weeks were, well, interesting. Eddie kept catching himself looking more often, watching Steve and Chrissy. Whether they went out in a rush to find last minute presents or try to scrounge up party decorations for the New Years bash they’d been strong-armed into hosting, Eddie couldn’t stop being drawn to his friends more than usual. Like that black hole in his chest had a gravitational pull.

He bumped shoulders with Steve more, or whacked him with the back of his hand; really, Eddie found any excuse he could to just touch him more. Or make him laugh.

Eddie told a joke–a pun awful enough that it’d make even Dustin groan–and Steve laughed, a full on head-tilting-back, echoing guffaw that made Eddie’s insides light up like fireworks with delight. Time felt like it slowed down. He could see the snowflakes catching on Steve’s long lashes, the rosiness on his cheeks that was probably just from the chill in the air all while bundled up in a soft, navy blue scarf Eddie had given him a few years ago. It was devastating.

He flitted around Chrissy like a moth to a flame–or, more like a gentle bedside lamp. Darted in to sweep her up in a big hug and spin her around, or made funny faces that made her let out those chime-like giggles of hers.

When they’d wandered through Millenium Park, Chrissy gasped at the giant glimmering tree that they set up every year, her awed “Wow” so precious he ached with the need to wrap her in his arms and bury his face in her neck. Eddie hated the holidays, but her wonder and joy at every single part of it made him want to be less of a Grinch. It didn’t hurt that she looked so beautiful with the lights sparkling in her blue eyes and her hair a little mussed from the wind.

God, Eddie wanted them so badly. It was like Steve’s words had turned Eddie’s guilty, furtive desires up to eleven.

And while he noticed all of that, he also saw that Steve and Chrissy were watching each other as well.

It makes sense. Steve has mentioned a few times how pretty he thinks Chrissy is, and she’d joked with Eddie about how hot Steve looks at the gym. They yell about their sports, and work out together while bitching about their least favourite professors, and rave about the same music; so, of course, they’d be a great couple. Eddie’s the odd one out, as is his niche. Though the growing jealousy gnaws at his bones, he’s determined to face their inevitable getting-together with endless support and happiness. He’ll get over the dark, selfish parts of himself eventually.

What Eddie doesn’t notice, amongst all his observations, is that sights have been set on him, too.

The holidays came and went in a blur. Eddie visited Wayne over Christmas, a quiet affair with just the two of them. Like every year they gave each other weird novelty mugs–Eddie’s, a bat hanging upside down that says I’m Fruity; Wayne’s, a remix of Women Want Me, Fish Fear Me so ridiculous Wayne nearly dropped it while cackling–and a few other gifts. He practically lived in the soft, deep green sweater Wayne gave him, and that Steve and Chrissy gushed over when he sent a selfie to their group chat. The pics he got in return, of Steve beaming with Robin, and Chrissy equally happy with her grandparents’ ancient dog, made Eddie grin so wide Wayne shook his head with an all too knowing roll of his eyes.

Steve stayed with Vickie and Robin at the Buckley’s house, and Chrissy visited her grandparents down south, so they all got some distance. Breathing room. It wasn’t like Steve’s offer was serious. They were all high, and lonely during one of those times of year when anyone who’s single feels at least a twinge of yearning. Eddie, personally, blames the Hallmark shit that gets shovelled down their throats, even though Chrissy and Steve both glare at him when he rants about it.

He knew he was right, anyway.

By the time Eddie got home he figured he’d gotten over the feelings that had been winding their sticky tendrils throughout his rib cage. He dragged his luggage and weary feet up the narrow stairs of their third-floor walk up, looking forward to collapsing on his bed after a seemingly endless flight, and let himself in with a grateful sigh.

“Honey, I’m home!” he warbled. Soft laughter from the living room greeted him, and when he glanced over he saw Chrissy and Steve cuddled up on the couch.

“Which one of us is honey?” Steve asked with a wink that made Eddie’s face heat and his heart sink to his toes. So it happened. They were together. Cool. Shit. Great. He could improv when D&D went off plan, he could handle this.

“Whichever one of you is sweeter,” he replied, though even Eddie could tell his heart wasn’t in it.

“I think you’re both pretty sweet.”

Chrissy’s tone made Eddie pause. She said it slowly, syrupy, and just suggestively enough to make his face blush even more. Fumbling through getting his boots off, Eddie let out a reedy laugh. “Well shucks, Chris,” was all he could think to reply with.

“How was your flight?” Steve asked.

“Oh, y’know, nothing more luxurious than economy seats on a Delta flight. Really the pinnacle of air travel. I could write a song to the beat of the kid kicking my seat.” Eddie flung his keys into the bowl by the door and started for his room.

They both laughed with sympathetic smiles. “Sorry man.” Steve nodded at the TV, before looking back to Eddie. “Do you wanna watch a movie with us, celebrate being home?”

Chrissy nodded encouragingly. “Please, Eddie? We missed you.”

The way they looked at him made something ping in the back of Eddie’s mind, something that had him wanting to run. “Uhh, nah, I think I’m gonna hit the hay. Really tuckered out. Enjoy the movie though, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” He winced internally at his stupid choice of words and scurried off to his room without another glance at the couple.

Shutting the door with a sigh, he leaned against it and wished he could let his head thunk on the wood. Maybe a few times, just to knock the irritating turmoil out of his brain. Lacking that option, he chose to unpack, giving his nervous energy something to do while he corralled his stupid pining. Through the slamming of his dresser drawers and the woosh of clothes slammed into his laundry basket, Eddie didn’t hear the discussion going on in the living room, nor the pair of footsteps approaching his door until a polite knock sounded.

He paused. Waited. Worried. Then, through the door:

“Eddie? Sorry, we just. Um. We wanna talk to you?”

While Eddie could be a stubborn bastard at times, he could never resist Chrissy when she sounded like that, concerned and hopeful. He could imagine her puppy dog eyes, pretty and pleading, after years of them being wielded against him for the last of whatever treat they’d been sharing. Swallowing, he walked over and opened the door.

Their relief was obvious. Steve’s shoulders lowered and Chrissy beamed. “Hey,” she said softly.

“What can I do for you fine folks?” he replied.

Steve looked at Chrissy for a moment, then back to Eddie when she nodded. This was it. Eddie braced himself for the news of a happy new couple, drew up the remains of his energy and prepared to shower them in excitement and encouragement while trying to desperately hold the leash of the snapping, ravenous maw of jealousy inside him.

“Do you remember my offer?”

Eddie frowned. Huh? Steve had texted him about getting take-out before Eddie got home, but he’d slammed back a sandwich before the flight. That couldn’t be–

Oh.

Sputtering, Eddie said, “Wait, y-you mean that offer?” They nodded, and Eddie could only blink.

“You don’t have to, of course. Chrissy and I talked yesterday, though, and–”

“And you’re including me?!”

Chrissy giggled. “Of course we are. Steve did proposition both of us. And…” She turned shy, fidgeting with her nails. She’d gotten them re-done for New Years in black and gold and, Eddie noticed with a flash of heat, the nails of her index and middle fingers were both left short. “We both want you to join us if you’re comfortable. We wanted to ease you into it I guess, but you just looked kinda…”

“Bummed out.”

She snorted and gave Steve’s chest a very light smack. “Steve.”

“What?” he complained.

Struggling a little, Eddie blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I thought you’d already started fucking.”

They both blushed a little, while Steve rubbed the back of his neck. “No, we waited for you.”

Eddie mouthed the word waited. They waited for Eddie to get home so he and Chrissy could take Steve up on his offer and, and–fuck each other? Had he entered the horniest Twilight Zone ever? Had the plane crashed and he’d landed in a coma with his best wet dream playing? On a whim, Eddie pinched himself and hissed when it hurt. Steve took Eddie’s hand away from his arm with a roll of his eyes.

“You’re not dreaming.” He said it so evenly, confidently, that Eddie had no choice but to believe him. Then Steve wound their fingers together and started tracing his free hand up Eddie’s arm, leaving sparks in his wake. “We want this, with you. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I offered, honestly.”

Chrissy took Eddie’s other hand, turned it over in her delicate grip and brushed her fingertips along the sensitive skin of his palm. His knees, surprisingly, didn’t buckle when she gazed at him through her lashes. His knees deserved a fucking trophy. “I haven’t either,” she said.

“Holy shit,” Eddie mumbled eloquently. How else was he expected to respond when his two absolutely fucking stunning friends just told him they wanted to have sex with him? Every bit of tiredness left his body at the thought. He felt like he might vibrate so hard he’d go into a quantum state and fall through the floor.

When he took too long to respond, they started pulling their hands away, but Eddie stopped them with a fumbling grasp. “No, no wait. Holy shit. You’re serious.”

Steve’s hopeful smile turned leisurely sinful. Stepping closer, he replied in a low tone Eddie had heard snatches of through their shared, thin wall, “Dead serious, baby,” and Eddie shivered.

“We can talk more about it, if you want,” Chrissy said as she laid a demure hand on Eddie’s chest. “There’s no rush.”

He shook his head fast enough to send his curls flying. “God no. Fuck, I haven’t stopped thinking about it either. It’s been driving me up the wall. Like, you can’t just go and waggle your eyebrows at us like you did and say that shit and then do nothing about it for weeks and then expect me to wait–”

“Eddie. Shh.” Slowly, Chrissy’s hand slid up to Eddie’s neck, her fingers curling around the back of it while she stared at him with a desire he’d never seen directed at him before. His mouth snapped shut. “I don’t want to wait either. I want to kiss you.”

“Fuck yes,” he breathed, then ducked down to capture her lips in a heated kiss. Freeing the hand she held, Eddie wrapped it around her waist and pulled her close, earning a small sound of surprise. She tasted sweet, like lingering hot chocolate, the softness of her lips addicting.

She was so small compared to Eddie. If it weren’t for the steely command in her voice when she told him she wanted to kiss, he’d almost be tempted to wrap her up and worship her like the princess she deserved to be. The way she gripped his sweater and yanked him closer, though, told him he was in for a very different ride.

There was a slight tickle at the hem of Eddie’s sweater. Steve’s hand started to sneak under the soft wool, his blunt nails scratching softly along Eddie’s pale skin and making him shudder deliciously at the feeling. Steve was a solid presence beside them. Drawn to him, Eddie leaned a little of his weight against Steve’s body, delighted in the way Steve returned the gesture, holding Eddie up as he began to nuzzle Eddie’s hair.

“Missed you so much,” Steve rumbled as Chrissy broke away from Eddie with a soft moan. From that point on Eddie refused to give his doubts any more room. Even if this was the one and only chance he got, he’d take it now and leave the consequences for later, no matter how risky. Without hesitation, he turned and met Steve’s waiting lips and revelled in the hum he pulled from Steve’s chest. It wasn’t long at all before Eddie felt Steve’s tongue against the seam of his lips, and hungrily he parted them, letting their tongues slide together in a way that turned filthy so quickly.

Eddie wanted to float away on cloud nine and drag them both into his bed immediately. Given that only one of these things was even possible, the decision was easily made. Groaning, Eddie pulled back and said, “If I don’t get you both in bed right the fuck now, I’m throwing a tantrum.”

“Then move, you goof,” Chrissy said, shoving him, and Eddie grinned wolfishly as he guided them both further into the mess that was his bedroom.

Stepping right on his clothes without a care, Eddie, Steve, and Chrissy all pushed and pulled each other to Eddie’s bed. Laughter and kisses followed as they couldn’t keep their hands off one another. Chrissy tripped on a hidden shoe and ended up against Steve’s chest, and he swooped in to pepper messy kisses to her cheeks before licking into her mouth. And fuck, wasn’t that a sight.

Eddie needed them all to get naked, and he needed it now. He started tugging at their shirts to distract them, or grab their attention, anything to get this started. When they looked up, he wiggled his eyebrows like Steve had all those weeks ago and whipped off his shirt. “C’mon, let’s go!” he said at the sight of their slightly dazed expressions.

From there it was a whirlwind of clothes flying. Belts flopped to the floor, zippers unzipped, and underwear was lost amongst the mess as it was flung away in their enthusiasm. Eddie flopped across his bed, panting after having Steve’s greedy hands all over him as soon as Eddie had shed his jeans. To either side, Chrissy and Steve descended, hands pawing and limbs tangling. Eddie was overwhelmed in the best, most exquisite way. Steve had a possessive arm around his waist while Chrissy’s thighs wrapped around one of Eddie’s. Steve delved down to Eddie’s mouth, devouring the whine that escaped his lips as Chrissy’s teeth grazed one of his nipples.

He tried to keep up, he really did. Eddie wedged his free thigh between Steve’s and ground it upwards, smirking when he heard Steve’s breath hitch and felt how wet and hot his cunt was against his leg.

“You’re so fucking hot,” Eddie groaned. “How the hell are you both here?”

“Someday we’re going to make you see yourself how we do,” Chrissy threatened.

Honestly, Eddie believed in this moment that they could convince him that the sky was purple. Having them in his arms, naked, kissing him, kissing each other, felt like a fucking miracle. He’d believe anything they told him right then.

After some moments of slowly, deliciously rocking together, starting to learn each other’s tells and buttons, biting gently at newly discovered freckles and supple swells of skin, Steve guided them to lie on the bed properly.

“What do you need tonight?” he asked them both.

“I, um,” Chrissy looked down at one of Eddie’s tattoos. She’d been tracing it with the tip of her finger and making Eddie shiver under her touch. “I’ve always fantasised about riding one of you.”

Both men’s breath hitched as the words registered.

“Do you want me to grab my strap?” Steve offered.

“Do you want to get up?” she asked, and he shook his head ruefully.

“Don’t wanna miss anything, honestly. But I’ve got an idea.”

Following Steve’s direction, Chrissy stood up while Eddie stretched out along the messed up sheets, taking a few deep breaths in the hopes of controlling himself. If he came before Chrissy and Steve did he’d never let himself live it down. But, fuck, it was hard when they were so fucking hot, climbing into position over him.

Steve let Chrissy go first with a gentlemanly hand gesture. Giggling, she swung up onto Eddie’s hips and hovered over his leaking cock. The mischievous grin that graced her lips was all the warning he got before she took him in hand and slid his head between her folds. Eddie whined at her teasing.

“Chris, please, wanna be inside you, please,” he babbled, his hips jolting when he felt his dick nearly slip into her alluring heat. “C’mon, c’mon.”

“He’s so pretty when he begs,” Steve mused. He tilted his head as he looked down at them, reaching out to trail his fingers down Eddie’s tense, twitching stomach.

“He is,” she agreed. “Maybe next time we could explore it more.”

Eddie inhaled sharply, his eyes flying open. “Next time?”

“Yeah, of course.” Chrissy stopped her teasing and sat down on Eddie’s thighs. “You–did you think this was a one-time thing?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I kinda did. I thought this was just, like, getting it out of our systems. Clearing the air.”

Steve tucked a strand of curls back behind Eddie’s ear, his expression closed off despite the tender touch. “Is that what you want?”

Anxiety made his heart clench, but he figured this was as good a time as any to admit to the bullshit that had been driving him insane, and not just in the weeks leading up to this.

“Fuck no. I want more. If, if you want that, too. I think it’d kill me if this was it for us. A-and not just sex.” Eddie propped himself up on his elbows, nervously chewing on his bottom lip. “I wanna go on dates. I want picnics in the park where people wonder what we’ve got, and fancy dinner dates, all that romantic shit because I’ve turned into a sap in my old age.”

Twin gleaming, relieved smiles shone down at him. Chrissy squeezed his hip, and Steve pulled Eddie in for the softest kiss any of them had shared that night. When he pulled away, Steve said, “You know I’m the king of romantic shit. I can’t wait to wine and dine you.” He took Chrissy’s hand in his. “Both of you. I’m gonna show you off, make people so jealous.”

Steve leaned over and kissed Chrissy softly too, and Eddie’s heart swelled at the sight. How he’d gotten so fucking lucky he’d never know. He already loved them both as friends, and the shift into something else was as earth-shattering as it was perfectly natural. Judging by the heartbreakingly tender expressions Chrissy and Steve wore when they parted and faced him, they seemed to feel the same way. Desire surged and burned like a bonfire in Eddie, for both of them. He needed them both. Now.

“Chrissy. Please,” he begged breathlessly. With a frantic nod, she sat up again, lined up Eddie’s cock, and sank down slowly with a delicious gasp. Eddie hissed, eyes screwed shut, as each rock of her hips brought him deeper into her heat.

“Open your eyes, Eddie,” Steve said, but Eddie shook his head. He couldn’t, if he watched her he might blow his load too early. But then Steve wove his fingers into Eddie’s sweat-damp hair and tugged, making Eddie buck up into Chrissy and whine. “Watch her. Like you have been for weeks. See how beautiful she is sitting on your cock.”

Swallowing, Eddie opened his eyes, and god, she was fucking perfect. Chrissy’s hair was wild, swept away from her flushed face. Lips parted, she moaned as she finally sank all the way down onto Eddie, clenching around his length as she adjusted to the size of him. Her breasts heaved as she breathed deep and Eddie craved touching them again, wanting to know if she’d squeeze his cock if he pinched and caressed her dusky pink nipples.

“See?” Steve asked. He sounded winded. “Beautiful.”

“Amazing,” Eddie panted.

For a moment Chrissy ducked her head, shy, but took a steadying breath before saying to Steve, “Now you, baby.” Steve climbed up over Eddie’s face, bracing himself on the headboard, and the fucking glorious view that greeted him made his dick twitch. “Oh, he’s excited,” Chrissy giggled.

“He better be,” Steve responded with a smug look down at Eddie.

“Of fucking course I am, I’m about to get ridden within an inch of my life! This is the best goddamn present I could ever ask for.”

“Good answer.”

Eddie watched hungrily as Steve’s cunt came closer. As soon as Eddie could reach, he dove in, dragging his tongue over Steve’s dick and moaning at the taste of his slick. He could feel the groan vibrate through Steve’s body as he licked between his folds, dipping into his hole before going back to his cock, latching on, and sucking.

“Oh fuck.” Steve gripped Eddie’s hair again. “It’s like you’re starved for it. Already pussy drunk, huh, good boy?”

Whimpering, high and desperate, he nodded against Steve’s cunt. He was fucking ravenous. If he could, he’d have his face buried between Steve or Chrissy’s legs for hours, until his lips were raw and his jaw was sore.

Chrissy began to move too, slowly at first, circling her hips in a way that made Eddie’s stomach clench and tremble. When she finally rose up, then down, he met her with a thrust that punched out a high, lovely whimper.

Not wanting to shift Steve, Eddie wrapped his arms around his thighs and held tight as Chrissy picked up her pace. Sheer, hedonistic pleasure surged through Eddie’s body, setting his nerves alight. The tight, slick feeling of fucking into Chrissy, while Steve ground down on Eddie’s clever tongue, the wet sounds of sex filling the room; Eddie wanted to bottle it all up, live in the moment forever, record it on video and watch back the first time he got to feel and taste and savour these two perfectly imperfect people he loved.

Fuck, he loved them. Was in love with them. That, though, was something he’d face later. He was busy right now.

Steve’s hips sped up, moaning as Eddie simply opened his mouth and let Steve ride his tongue, his cock rubbing Eddie’s nose. The hand in his hair tightened, held Eddie in place, and he had never been happier being used for someone else’s pleasure. Chrissy fucked him faster too. It was maddening. He could die here, happily.

The angle of Steve’s hips changed and Eddie opened his eyes to see Chrissy wrapping her arms around Steve’s chest, her fingers skimming his top surgery scars reverently.

They both admired the sight between Steve’s legs. Eddie wondered if what they saw was as mind-blowingly hot as what he saw as he watched one of Chrissy’s hands trail through Steve’s chest hair and downward, until she could get her knuckles around Steve’s dick.

“Look at him watching us,” she said, her voice thin and unsteady.

“He’s so happy being used, isn’t he?” Steve replied. Being talked about like he wasn’t there made the coil of bliss in Eddie’s stomach tighten. Steve also sounded shaky, and Eddie, determined to make it good, memorable, pointed and curled his tongue inside Steve’s cunt while he renewed his thrusts. The desperate sounds he wrung from them both boosted Eddie’s ego, and his efforts. He’d be good for them, make them both crave this again, so next time he could see just how condescending they could be while they railed him until his brains melted.

Chrissy’s moans grew quieter, choked off, her pace starting to falter. Thank fuck, she must be close. And judging by the way Steve was getting louder and louder, his groans and gasps and the desperate way he was bucking down on Eddie's face with more and more slick and spit smeared on Eddie's mouth, he must be too. Their sounds were fucking divine, pushing Eddie to the edge. He dug his nails into Steve’s thighs, hoping they’d leave marks. The hand that had been in Eddie’s hair flew to where Eddie was holding onto Steve possessively. Eddie grasped it back in a bruising grip, his heart soaring when Chrissy’s free hand joined them.

“Chrissy, oh god, mnh, Eddie!” Steve’s thighs started to shake and clench around Eddie’s ears. Tilting his chin, Eddie let Steve take and take and take until he shouted and shook apart on Eddie’s tongue, slick gushing and dripping down Eddie’s chin. Like a good boy, Eddie stayed put, kept his sore and aching tongue in its proper place so Steve could ride out the rest of his orgasm until he was truly satisfied.

When Steve moved away, Eddie drew in desperate gulps of air, taking one more worshipping lick that made Steve gasp thickly before, wobbly, he flopped onto the narrow space between the edge of the bed and his lovers.

Free to move fully now, Eddie’s hands flew down to Chrissy’s hips to hold her in place. She keened when Eddie pistoned into her, her nails pinpoints of delicious pain in his arms.

“E-Eddie, Steve,” she moaned, over and over and slurring together. “Fuck, oh, please, please!”

Steve reached between them and got his fingers on her clit, rubbing expert circles in time with Eddie’s thrusts. “Come for us, Chrissy, c’mon sweetheart.”

With a surprisingly quiet cry, Chrissy clenched around Eddie’s cock, her whole body shuddering as she came, her face falling into bliss when Eddie followed her right over the edge.

His orgasm ripped through him like lightning, so intense he barely heard his own needy whimper. Fuck, fuck.

He slumped into the mattress with a hollow groan, finding his hands once again clasped by Steve and Chrissy. All he could hear was their ragged breathing, until Chrissy shifted and he slipped out of her with a hiss. She hummed, then, a curious sound, and Eddie opened his eyes to see her dip her fingers into her pussy, drawing them out to see them coated in his come.

Steve leaned forward. Taking her hand gently, he closed his lips around her fingers and sucked them clean, moaning quietly at the taste.

“Holy shit,” Eddie said with wonder. Giving Eddie a sly side-eye, Steve pulled Chrissy in for an open mouthed kiss they both groaned into, and if it were possible for Eddie to get hard again right there and then, he would’ve.

But, regrettably, he was only human. All he could do was watch in awe as his lovers made out before they joined him in lying on the bed. Like vines their limbs twisted together again, unable to resist the need for contact that drove them close. Their bodies were cooling with sweat, but they cared little when there was so much warmth between them.

After a few minutes where they simply enjoyed existing in the same space, letting their mutual, sated exhaustion wash over them, Eddie finally broke the silence.

“I’m so glad we got high.”

The resulting cackling made Eddie grin. He loved making them laugh.

“Me too,” Steve said, nuzzling into the crook of Chrissy’s neck while he reached across her to hold Eddie’s hip.

Chrissy hummed. “Mm. Me three.”

Eddie and Steve groaned despite their begrudging smiles.

“I am glad, though,” Eddie continued. “I don’t know if I would’ve ever thought I could have you both. Still feels like a fucking dream.”

Steve’s hand traced along Eddie’s slender waist. “It’s real.” He repeated the words with tired wonder. “It’s real.”

Curled up together in the same bed for the first time, Eddie smiled and wrapped his arms around Chrissy and Steve, his stars and sun, orbited by the moon.

dividers by @/saradika and @/cafekitsune

#steves-strapcollection #steddissy #eddie munson #steve harrington #chrissy cunningham #transmasc steve #stranger things #fanfic #niko's notes

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battlemaiden13 · 4 months ago

Note

(I've read the majority of your most, from Master list 1 to 6. And I'm really invested and impressed. It's also really nice to see that this fandom is still active and alive. And you're genuinely doing a fantastic job with your asks. I like who intricate each one is. Last night on the 31st of August I spent until 5am reading your lists. I'm getting back into Undertale again, and I'm re-playing all the games, from the OG, to underfell and the UT!Underswap game that still in development. So it's all very wonderful! ) Though I did have an ask, if that is alright with you. Could I get Gory Yandere House UT, UF, US, And SF reactions to there S/O being being kidnapped. The kidnappers are on the phone, demanding a price. S/O fed up with being kidnapped, that when they make her speak into the phone, she looks them dead in their eyes and says, "They're going to kick your ass." Before she is audibly hit across the face and the line goes dead.

13: gore is something I haven’t practiced in a while so sorry if I’m a bit rusty but I hope you enjoy. These are also Longer so I only did 4 , sorry! I might do the other four another time but I got a tad carried away

WARNING: Yandere, Blood, gore, toxic Relations

Sans -Well their big mistake was calling. Sans could track them down by a vague description if needed but the kidnappers called making his job a lot easier considering he was already honing in.

Sans would normally simply systematically ruin peoples lives but these assholes pissed him off enough to take a much quicker approach. Violence really isn’t his thing though, but why would it need to be when he has dirt on every single psychopathic skeleton he lives with and they are always more than happy to get their hands dirty.

The screams echo through the facility long before everything goes eerily quiet. Sans walks into the room you are being held in, adjusting his gloves as he smiles widely at the last remaining captor. His hood is up but the only signs of blood are on his shoes as the thick red liquid begins to pool through the door as if the rooms outside had been flooded with it.

Your capture points his gun at Sans with a shaking hand but the skeleton doesn’t react. His smile is still uncomfortably pleasant as he begins to talk to you, apologizing for being late and the uncomfortable screaming but promising the two of you can go home, cuddle up in his room with comfort food and your favorite movie.

As he talks your other roommates enter behind him, each painted more red than the last. Orange is lighting a cigarette as he leans against the wall, Edge whipping blood off his skull as if someone had coughed it up on him. Red and Blue both come in laughing. Berry is cleaning his knife with his tongue as Papyrus fiddles with a device, dislodging a finger from it with an unpleasant crunching sound.

Your captor says something before you hear an upsetting gaggle and he falls to the floor. Syrup appeared behind you, slitting his throat. Blue squeals in delight as Sans gives his nod, the skeleton descending upon the man as Sans takes your hand and leads shortcuts you home with a kiss to your forehead.

Red -His phone shatters in his hands as the call disconnects. He was pissed before but hearing the unmistakable sound of you getting hit has him blinded with rage. He stalks to Blue, demanding the skeleton assist him with a new ‘job’. Blue is more than happy too of course and your new friends are about to find out why these two are called the bloody twins despite no blood relations.

It takes a while for Red and Blue to find you. Neither are great at subtle tracking but Red bides his time and bites his tongue, knowing that this is going to be perfect, although a few people lose some fingers in this endeavor. It takes at most three days for them to put everything together, Red hating knowing you are not being treated like the royalty you are and prepared to die in order to right that particular wrong.

The twins do not go in quietly. It’s loud, it’s obvious and there is plenty of death or worse. While Red is normally content to kill on sight he takes a leaf out of Blues book and begins to take his time, playing with his victims in brutal ways. Breaking limbs, cutting off appendages and forcing them down throats, revealing in the screams and when you are brought out looking roughed up and being held by someone Red sees black.

You are suddenly freed when Red slams your captors head into the hard concrete below. He had shortcutted across the room in silence and grabbed their face, cutting them off mid sentence. Slamming the back of their head down Again, and again and again before lifting them up by his grip on their face and growling. Red snaps their arms, their legs then drops them from the rafters so they hit the ground with a sickening squelching sound.

Red is by your side a second later, checking you over for marks and bruises and cursing that he didn’t let “that filthy fucked up human” suffer more. You have to assure him several times that you are ok as Blue continues to brutally massacre whoever's left right behind him.

Edge -He is uncomfortably calm as the phone cuts out and he gets to work. He’s called in a favor with Sans to track you down while he prepares his concoctions. Mindless bloodbaths were never really his style but he can do something far worse.

There were only three idiots who dared to take you, figuring you lived in a mansion and have the dark prince doting after you like a love sick puppy, so you must be worth something.

When he gets to the apartment you are being held at he simply knocks, the scum open the door only to get sprayed in the face by a nasty little poison that has him coughing and will liquify his insides painfully within the next few minutes. As he sputters and coughs Edge walks right into the room as if he owns the place. The other two turn to him as he greets them in a formal manner before he asks you if you are ok.

He is fuming on the inside and although he seems put together you can tell he is pissed off. His hands are clenched by his side and his jaw is tight.

There’s a silence in the air as Edge tells the men he unfortunately cannot let them live and this will be a painful experience. As he monologues he lets a vial shatter to the ground and the air is soon filled with a thick poison that burns and scratches just beneath the skin. The men are screaming in pain long before you are thanks to the little doses that Edge has been exposing you to ever since you met. It still itches like bugs are crawling under your skin though and you can see how it is going to escalate as one of the men tears through his own flesh with his teeth to stop the sensation.

Edge has strided over to you, pulls you to your feet and smashes his teeth against your lips. You feel the thick liquid trickle down your throat with an unpleasant bitter taste as the skeleton pulls you closer, shaking ever so slightly. He pulls back from the kiss as you feel dazed, running his hand down the side of your bruised face and he swears nothing like this will ever happen again.

Your kidnappers falling to the floor with gaggle screams as he picks you up to carrying you out of the still smog filled room.

Orange -These idiots fucked up so badly and they don’t even know how until it’s to late. Within an hour Orange knows where you are, two hours and his plan has been set in motion, a day later is when they find out they messed with a true psychopath.

Some small, not so accidental, issues caused your kidnappers to change locations to a warehouse. There was a surprising amount of them for what appeared to be a simple job but with the amount the skeletons could apparently pay for you it wasn’t overly such a surprise.

The screaming was horrible, the set up precise and the results quick. The whole horrid event probably only took 10 minutes but could leave you scarred for the rest of your life.

Orange had set up multiple gruesome traps to brutally take out your assalants before swooping in and getting you out.

It was like you were living in a saw movie. One room trapped a small horde inside before compacting and crushing all inside, the floor opened up to a spike trap impaling others and then there were the few who were burnt alive in a walk-in furnace, acid fell from the sprinklers and you had to watch in horror as the floor was coated in a thick layer of blood that pooled around your feet.

The screaming was horrible but the silence that followed was so much worse. You had no idea how you just ‘happened’ to be situated away from all the dangerous traps but your exact location was the only place that was unaffected.

After a minute you heard the footsteps of someone calmly approaching only to see Orange come around the corner. He has a panicked expression as he quickly changes stride to approach you quickly. Asking you a million questions about if you're hurt as he unties you before pulling you into a hug and declaring you must have been so scared and he’s sorry he couldn’t be there sooner.

He set the whole nightmare scenario up to seem like one big accident going off one after another in the hopes that you wouldn’t get suspicious but if you are smart and paying close attention to the skeleton you would be able to tell just how please he is that his plan went off, prehapes don’t point this out to him though.

#Undertale #undertale Imagines #undertale sans #undertale papyrus #underfell #underfell papyrus #underfell sans #underswap #underswap sans #underswap papyrus #swapfell #swapfell sans #swapfell papyrus #yandere #yandere skeletons #toxic relationships #gore

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ndas-sraom · 1 year ago

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Mirage, what's in a title. Here's some thoughts. Spoilers follow.

I haven't followed AC since Revelations but the introduction of Basim and Hytham in Valhalla interested me. I watched the cutscenes on YouTube and really enjoyed the character of Basim. I was happy to see Mirage announced soon after.

First off, the characters. The whole cast is fantastic, Basim and Roshan are obviously the standouts here. Their dynamic is a pure delight. Basim being the idealistic young man and Roshan being the tempered, disciplined older woman. To see the street thief with a heart of gold come into his own and find a wider purpose is a story old as time but beautifully done here. And to see Roshan with her cold as steel exterior soften around Basim at moments was touching. She is a battle hardened warrior but took Basim under her wing as her personal charge, and I hope in her upcoming book we get to see what drew her to Basim to take him as her apprentice when she knew how troubled he was.

The story. After watching the digest version of Valhalla I feel that I had a pretty decent understanding of who Basim is going into Mirage, but it turns out I knew nothing at all. Basim is idealistic to a fault, the perfect Hidden One, believing in the right to choose your own destiny. He loves his friends. He always tries to do what he believes is right. And all of these things play into this tragic, almost cruel irony as he finds out that his destiny is not his own, that his closest friend never existed, and he was deceived into being a pawn. I've compared it to the story of Anakin Skywalker, where the young man enters a new world with great ambition and the best intentions, and it ultimately leads them to a fate worse than death.

The last hour of the game is honestly devastating. To see Basim's fall in real time was hard to witness. To watch him betray his only real friends, his creed, to follow a shadow and a false promise, playing right into the hands of his sworn enemies... you wish you could do something to stop it. The final battle with Roshan is heartbreaking, you can hear the emotional strain in both of their voices as they refuse to give way to one another. When Roshan is defeated she opens her heart and shows how much she actually cares for Basim, begging him to leave the temptation of being "more than a man" and come back to his family as an equal. When he merges with Nehal I don't think he exists anymore as the character we came to know and love. What sealed it for me was the final scene with Enkidu where Basim earns the scar on his face. He ceases to be Basim and becomes the reincarnation of an Isu, where even his trusted companion for years is hostile towards him. He expresses a couple of times in the game how he is afraid of ending up alone, and he is utterly alone in the end.

Would love to discuss the game with any fellow fans, so many swirling feelings that haven't settled even days after finishing the walk-through. That's good media.

#ac mirage #assassin's creed #basim ibn ishaq #roshan #roshan bint la'ahad #basim

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ploppythespaceship · 5 months ago

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Doctor Who Series 14 / Season 1 Review

Man, it feels good to be enjoying Doctor Who again. I haven't been keeping up with the show in years, but I caught up to see Tennant's return leading into Ncuti's run and I am so glad I did. This season is far from perfect, but it gets a lot of little things right and is consistently fun to watch, even if a lot of the details fall apart.

What I Liked

Ncuti Gatwa is simply phenomenal. He settles into the role so quickly and so easily, bringing such a fresh energy to the character. I love how distinct he feels, too -- when you're playing the fifteenth iteration of a character, it can be hard to find a new spin on things, but he's done it. He's also a fantastic actor, getting to show an incredibly wide range in just a few short episodes. I truly think he'll be remembered as one of the best Doctors.

Millie Gibson is also very good as Ruby, and her dynamic with the Doctor is a lot of fun. I appreciate having another Doctor/companion relationship that isn't romantic. They're just best friends, and it's very cute.

The show looks great. It's very clear that they've had a budget increase -- the costumes, effects, etc. are noticeably improved since RTD's first run.

Murray Gold's return as the composer is extremely welcome. His stuff isn't quite as bombastic as before (or maybe the episodes just have better sound mixing), but keeps a lot of the same leitmotifs. The result is a more subtle score that perfectly suits each scene.

Mel is so cool now. She was one of my least favorite classic companions, so seeing her worked into these storylines and feel more compelling is an unexpected delight.

What I Didn't Like

Ultimately, I think the season is just too short. Council of Geeks has an excellent YouTube video on this -- because there are only eight episodes, and a lot of them are going for bigger ideas and weirder premises, it feels like we don't really settle into a status quo.

The Doctor and Ruby's relationship also isn't as developed as much as I would like. If you pay close attention to the dialogue, there's actually a six month gap between "Space Babies" and "The Devil's Chord" -- we could have used another episode or two in that time period to really flesh out the beginnings of their friendship better. Instead the show jumps straight to them being best friends, without really showing us why that is.

I don't think the mystery box format of this season really worked. The mysteries were built up to such an extent that no answer could really be satisfying, and the finale really almost entirely on the big reveals that ultimately didn't amount to much. Ruby in particular feels like an underbaked companion, and I hope she gets more time to get properly developed.

Individual Episode Thoughts

Space Babies — This is easily the weakest episode of the season. It's not bad by any means, but it does remind me of some of the sillier episodes of RTD's first run. It felt like we were speedrunning the companion introduction, when things could have been slowed down and spread across a few episodes to feel more natural. The baby VFX also do not work and fall very firmly into uncanny valley territory.

The Devil's Chord — This one makes very little sense, but is entirely saved by Jinkx Monsoon being so iconic as Maestro. If you just go along for the ride, it's a ton of fun.

Boom — This episode is proof that Steven Moffat truly is at his best when he's writing self-contained stories under someone else's guidance. I don't think it's as iconic as Moffat's previous stories, and I felt like Ncuti was getting a lot of dialogue that better suited Matt Smith, but the entire concept was interesting and the execution was solid. Also, Ncuti acted his ass off without even being able to move.

73 Yards — Honestly, I'm mixed on this one. The setup is fantastic and eerie, and I enjoy the exploration of Ruby's character, solo from the Doctor. I like her experiencing this inexplicable thing, and deciding to find purpose in it to help others. But the story does fall apart for me at the end when it doesn't explain anything. I don't need every single thing handed to me, I understand the value of leaving things to the imagination, but the fact that the episode's last impression is "wait what?" does leave a bit of a sour taste. That being said, I do respect how weird and different this episode is, and how much discussion it prompted afterward.

Dot and Bubble — The trailers looked like a Black Mirror ripoff, and I was prepared for a shallow "social media bad" episode. Instead, we got something far more nuanced about the dangers of trapping yourself in a bubble of like-minded people and refusing to ever look beyond it. And the ending reveal that it's a society of white supremacists is so, so well-handled, because all the clues were there for you. If you're like me and didn't piece it together until the very end, it really challenges you to ask yourself why you didn't notice sooner. Also, another episode where Ncuti acts his ass off. My personal favorite episode of the season.

Rogue — Another with mixed feelings. Rogue himself is tons of fun, and I enjoy his dynamic with the Doctor, even if parts of it are pretty rushed. I really hope he comes back. The episode plot itself is serviceable but nothing special. My main complaint is the severe lack of Ruby. Her relationship with the Doctor doesn't feel sufficiently established, so the emotional beats don't really land.

The Legend of Ruby Sunday — This was an underwhelming finale, unfortunately. The first part barely even qualifies as an episode. It launches right into starting to answer the season's mysteries, but does so in an uncompelling and heavy-handed way. The Sutekh reveal is pretty epic in isolation, but...

Empire of Death — The Sutekh reveal doesn't really lead to anything satisfying. He doesn't have the presence of Toymaker or Maestro, he's just a CGI dog monster. This second part finally answers some questions, some of which are vaguely interesting, but it's happening in a plot so dull and so dry that I just can't bring myself to care. The episode is also just confusing? The plot points don't seem to flow naturally together, like multiple stories were smashed together with little rhyme or reason. The resolution is some of the most nonsensical nonsense that Doctor Who has ever come up with. Then we get to the reveal of Ruby's mother, which is so forced and it becomes clear in retrospect that things were added to seem more mysterious than they really were. And capping it all off is the Doctor's farewell to Ruby, which falls flat because, as I've said, their relationship is rather undercooked. It really does end the season on a downer, which is a shame because so many of the preceding episodes were pretty good.

#personal #whoniverse #doctor who #new who #doctor who spoilers #dw spoilers

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