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ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral · 5 months ago

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Thanks for tagging me @achillesuwu!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Only six right now! I put a lot of effort into the fics that I put on ao3, so I want to make sure they're all nice and polished before I put them up on there!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

96,945. I'm coming up quickly on 100k!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Merlin now. I used to write in the Batman fandom, and 3 of my fics on ao3 are Batman fics! I'm hoping that I can go back one day and finish them.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Second Chance | 3,227 Kudos (Batman fic, and my most popular fic overall, which I find funny because I wrote it a couple years ago and my writing was so much worse back then lol!)

Thomas Wayne's Adventures in Grandparenting | 1,504 Kudos (a spin-off of A Second Chance)

What to do When an Eldritch God Decides that You're Friend-Shaped: A Guide by Sir Leon the Long-Suffering | 1,170 Kudos (my current main project and my most popular Merlin fic! It's my longest fic and the one I'm most proud of!)

Blood (Red) Robin | 451 Kudos (Another Batman fic, and my first fic on ao3!)

I Would Find You, Darling, In Any Life | 217 Kudos (the fic I wrote for the Merlin Tournament of Champions challenge! I'm very proud of how it turned out!)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, mostly. I may forget to respond from time to time, but I try to respond to them all!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would have to be "I Would Find You, Darling, In Any Life". I left that ending open, and I there were lots of tears and broken hearts in the comments section (in a good way)!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well, on ao3, "I Would Find You, Darling, In Any Life" is currently my only fic that has an ending (all the rest are WIPs). 😅

Including my fics on tumblr though, I would say that the "Merlin Accidentally Conquers Camelot" au has the happiest ending!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. However, I did get a few nitpickers on my Batman fics arguing over the canon, for some reason. Why the hell would you argue over what's canon in the comments of a fanfic anyways? Canon doesn't need to apply here!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, I don't. I've tried to in a couple drafts, but I'm just terrible at writing it. It's probably for the best that I just stick to silly au's!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No, I've never written a crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet, but I would love it if that did happen!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but again, I would love to someday!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Merthur has had me in a chokehold for two years now lol, so I think I have to go with them!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

A Second Chance. I really want to finish it, but I don't really see myself having the passion for it that I once did. Maybe one day though!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think my strengths are both the scenarios for fics and character POVs! I try to make the ideas behind my fics unique and enjoyable, and I think I succeed for the most part. And when I write from a specific character's POV, I try to focus on what the character would focus on. For instance, when I write from Leon's POV, he's focusing on his surroundings and is on the lookout for attacks, while in Gwen or Merlin's POV, I focus more on the characters, since both of them are shown to be very in tune with the people around them.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Well, procrastination for one! 😅 I would also say that being unable to stick to my outline is another weakness. I'll have the outline ready and think that it's good, but then I get a great idea as I'm actually writing the story, and then the entire thing gets derailed!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I did this with Old English using an online translator in my archeologist Merlin au, and it took me a while to figure out a good way to do it! I figured that putting the dialogue in that language with the translation below it worked best.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Batman and DC in general

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Definitely "What To Do When An Eldritch God Decides that You're Friend-Shaped". It's my longest fic by far, and my passion for that project is still burning, even if life gets in the way of writing. I think it's my best quality of writing to date, and I've really enjoyed getting to explore the characters!

No pressure tags! @justaz @larluce @fabledfrog @griffonskies @guiltyscarlet

Twenty Questions for Fanfic Writers

Thank you @liviapeleia for the asks <3!!

Tagging longtime frond @breadkween, fabulous runner of @merlinmicrofic @queerofthedagger (thank you!) and reader and writer who's left me lovely comments @achillesuwu. @mythandmagic, Ao3 is down rn so I can't check but if you have any fics yourself, here's an ask game for you! There's no obligation, presh or time limit of course! Also like @liviapeleia said before me, consider yourself tagged if you see this!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

265,960

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now just Merlin. I've written for other fandoms in the past but each of those works have been standalone.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Always His Destiny | Merlin | A true love's kiss, resurrection and golden age AU written for Glompfest 2024.

Like Every Tree Stands On Its Own | Merlin | A longfic inspired by other Arthurian media/sources featuring Wildman Prophet!Merlin and a magical forest. This is my magnum opus.

What's Mightier Than a Sword and Robs a Prince of His Servant? | Merlin | Pre-slash Merthur minor canon-divergence in which Merlin's talents in speech writing land him a promotion and Arthur is Not Pleased™.

Only Human | Venom | A short gift/exchange fic about masturbation, lol. The fic I received in exchange was also about masturbation. In my defence this was a writing exercise (I promise).

The Sky Is Falling | Nightvale | Unfinished fic about alcoholism recovery, love, community and the complete collapse of reality.

...Okay wow what a mix :D

5. Do you respond to comments?

I really love comments and I love getting into discussions with readers! It really makes my day to see that someone has commented on one of my fics.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Am I allowed to choose a soon to be published WIP? Words Are Dead, a microfic inspired by the Agnes Obel song of the same name in which Merlin and Arthur are unable to communicate when Arthur returns. Merlin has lost Brythonic, his first language, and his capacity to relearn it. He's simply been alive for far too long and his mind has suffered :(

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Like Every Tree has a prolonged bittersweet kind of ending but I think Always His Destiny wins.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope/not yet!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, though so far it hasn't been the focus of any of my works, there's no reason why that can't change though (the Venom one doesn't count, I make the rules here). As to what kind I'd say loving and intimate, I guess? Sometimes with a bit of a hurt/comfort element to it. Again, no reason why I can't branch out in the future ;)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

While not labelled as a crossover, Like Every Tree was heavily inspired by Arthurian media both new and old, and one medieval Irish source. I did so much research for this fic and I'm still down those various rabbit holes. It was a homage to my favourite, janky cartoon movie from my childhood Quest for Camelot. Otherwise I don't write proper crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Don't think so.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also don't think so.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No but I would love to!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I guess it really has to be Merthur! I don't recall a ship ever having such a hold on me. Those two are doomed but made for each other. The way they interact is so much fun to read/write.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Damn, this is definitely Be Here When the Weather Turns, a Mushi-shi fic. It has a very soft, restful and liminal vibe and I adore it. I really do wish I can finish it someday. So sometimes like a song, you share a piece of media with someone, or you associate it with a particular chapter in your life, and that song/piece of media brings up feelings. I'd like to think it's still worth a read. If you don't know Mushi-shi, please consider checking it out, it was weird and quiet and beautiful.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I can't deny that I put a lot of love into this hobby. Also @breadkween has told me that they really like my dialogue :3

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm really prone to typos. I can re-read something a hundred times and just fail to see them. I'm a very slow writer; what I put out usually goes through months of edits and change-ups. Lastly I have embraced a faux-pas or two for fun, such as starting sentences with 'and.' And no one can stop me >:)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'd only be comfortable writing dialogue in a language I've formerly learned and have some level of familiarity with for fear of getting something wrong.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Okay I love this question because the answer is the highly formative Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, a YA series I was obsessed with, and have continued to read, and re-read as an adult and as unexpected prequels and sequels popped up in more recent years. I wrote it on a literal floppy disk :D First fandom I wrote for that I actually published online was Undertale.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Definitely Like Every Tree. I'm just really proud of it :3

#tag game #20 questions #fanfic

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peetapiepita · 2 years ago

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Katniss Everdeen and her complex links to cats

Never thought I’d write an entire essay on Katniss and cats, but here we are.

I got this idea from the fact that the male lead of my other favorite series His Dark Materials, Will Parry, has a cat Daemon. (It basically means his soul takes on the form of a cat and I think it might be the same case with Katniss.) He was compared to and linked to cats throughout the story. The same goes for Katniss and she has such a cat-like personality when you think about it.

I also got inspired by a stray cat who suddenly scratched me lightly when I was playing with it. It was getting along with me so well, but scratched me with absolutely no warning and got back to being friendly and purring in an instant. That reminded me of Katniss.

We all know how Katniss hates cats and cat-like creatures, specifically Buttercup and the lynx who was following her around the woods. They both had complex relationships with her as well. Buttercup had a reason to distrust her, yet they were the only ones who could really feel the loss of Prim the same way, so Katniss found comfort in Buttercup at the end of Mockingjay. The lynx was trusting Katniss for no reason and she was conflicted about it because she’s protective in nature and she hated she had to hurt it, but she did it for survival anyway.

This is true of Katniss’ relationship with herself in a way. She tries not to argue for herself ever and lists all her imperfections constantly.

Of course, her relationships with cat-like creatures is not the only thing linking her to cats. She has a very cat-like personality, especially when she interacts with Peeta.

People familiar with cats would tell you that with most cats, even when they act like they don’t give a shit about you and even avoid you, they actually take notice of the humans around them and when you’re kind to them, they’re drawn to you by default. They may try to act indifferent, but it shows.

It’s exactly how Katniss is in her relationship with Peeta. She tries so hard to convince herself that she isn’t drawn to him and doesn’t need him. But when she’s at her most vulnerable, she trusts him and wants him around.

For instance, when she hurts her ankle in Catching Fire, she trusts Peeta to understand what happened and leans on him for support. He in turn delivers a brilliant performance for the peacekeeper and understands that Katniss was hurt while the others are oblivious, even her family. When she’s under the influence of sleep syrup and at her most vulnerable, she’s finally willing to admit she wants Peeta to stay and hold her, even when moments earlier, she was like, I choose the rebellion and Gale. And when they’re on the train to the Quarter Quell, she finally lets herself get loose and initiates an intimate hug. She doesn’t want to let go and is annoyed when they’re interrupted. She’s practically purring when touched by Peeta because she feels safe with him. That’s so cat-like.

These are so cat behaviour to me. It also makes sense that I see a lot writers giving Katniss lines like “I’m not good with words, I work better with actions.” Yes, she’s like that and that’s very cat-like. And with cat-like people, when they get attached to someone, they don’t let go. This is also part of why Will reminded me of Katniss. He literally goes through a bunch of worlds in search of Lyra after losing her. Katniss is like that with Peeta. When she loses him, she’s inconsolable. She’d do anything to get him back.

Last but not the least, Katniss’ name is also very similar to “cat”. I’ve seen quite a few people’s head canons with other character nicknaming her “Kat”. Once you make the connection, you can’t unsee it.

#Will and Katniss have A LOT more in common actually #Peeta and Lyra also have a lot in common #that's probably why these two ships both have me in a chokehold #I'll post about the other things in the future #hunger games #the hunger games #thg #everlark #peeta mallark #katniss everdeen #his dark materials #hdm #will parry #thg meta

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char-lotteral · 4 years ago

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Look I'm not one of those people who believe Kishimoto decided to have Hinata and Naruto end up in the middle part of Shippuden. I believe he decided in the very last arc but he wanted to sound smart so he said he decided earlier on. Otherwise, they obviously would have more scene together. In Shippuden, they have only three scenes together ; when Naruto came back, the pain attack and the neji death scene. That's it. In the original Naruto, they probably have less than ten canon scenes not including fillers.

So I'm sorry I'm one of those who wasn't convinced by The Last. They literally had a basic villain go after Hinata who was cringe btw (the villain). They gave Hinata op powers which she doesn't have in the novel 👀. Despite having op powers, they made her the damsel in distress. Very "The hero saves the princess" cliche. Again, to justify them being together. I mean Naruto can't differentiate his love for ramen and romantic love so how??? He was just being nice to Hinata just like he does to everyone. He stood up for her just like he does for everyone.

Don't get me started on the Sakura Sasuke relationship 🤣. Cringe. They never knew each other. The whole Sakura's love for Sasuke saved him doesn't make sense. They spent barely a year in their genin year before sasuke left. Sasuke tried to kill Naruto and Sakura multiple times. Then at the end of the war, Kishimoto tried to do the "oh they have such a deep understanding between each other" which comes off as cringey. He gets her pregnant then leaves for years. She's literally a single mom who's broke.

Every relationship in Naruto is so cringey and forced except shikatemari. Kishimoto should've focused on the main story and fixed his potholes and leave the ending open.

Naruto would not have been perfect but at least it would've been remembered for staying true to its vision but instead it's remembered for cringey relationships, dumbass villain (except pain and madara) and a story that lost its core which is a shame coz I used to love Naruto. I was inspired by its messages but now....

OKAY LOL WAIT I ACTUALLY HAVE THIS LONG ASS RANT PREPARED XD

BUT FIRST Ive read what you said and I lowkey agree :p

HOWEVER

I DRAW THE LINE AT TONERI SLANDER. BECAUSE WHY

TONERI?? CRINGE?? THIS SEXY MOTHERFUCKER??

LOOK AT HIS WHITE FLUFFY HAIR AND HIS CERULEAN BLUE ORBS STARING DEEPLY INTO YOUR SOUL

SAY SIKE RIGHT NOW?!#*@*#&@*

okay lol now for the juicy part click readmore and beware I shall be brutally honest so yea enjoy

I mean, Naruto in general is a mess, not just the ships if we're being realistic. Alot of plotholes, rushed endings, this and that, the w a r a r c, Kaguya, the way they rushed Boruto ehhh. Honestly, getting into Naruto is literally my biggest regret of 2020 :"DD

Im an NH shipper as you can tell by my hotmess of a blog but i fully respect your opinion and understand your point of view. I also know a bunch of nh stans who have their complaints with their development. I wish Kishi gave more attention to his female cast really, thats all I fucking ask. If he did that one single basic thing, then maybe the endgame relationships wouldnt have been an asspull and theyd be given propper screentime with their love interest, both Sakura and Hinata. The Last tbh i think the writers played it safe and stuck to the whole Naruto shounen vibe thingy, so im not surprised it was plotted that way. Typical cliché shounen movie.

But does that bother me? No! The Last was a mess, their development was shit, they definitely needed more screentime but hey at the end of the day theyre cute as fuck, we have that kiss scene, flirting scenes, a shit ton of official art, three kids, Seiki's gif :33 and a whole ass arc for their wedding all that for just a shounen anime so eh. Compensates for it i guess xD theyre not toxic, unhealthy or whatnot. Theyre wholesome, soft and vanilla as fuck and exactly what i need in my hectic life rn. No drama, just two kind souls who are adorable as heck and theyre dynamic means so much to me and I will love them until i shall leave this earth.

Anon, im not even gonna waste my time and defend their development because i think it sucked too xD but if you wanna know why i love them so so so soooo much, Id be more than willing to tell you :33

Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand eeeehhhh i can see why people like them. Sasuke's hot, he's your typical hot bad boy aad Sakura's hot and pretty too. Basic blue and pink trope. Aside from their canon interactions, fans have all the opportunity to play around with their dynamic but for me, its just sooo basic and so hetero and can easily appeal to any 16 yr old teenage girl, no wonder it has an active fanbase on twt and---- AM I MAKING ANY SENSE? AHDBAJJE LIKE ITS SO-- BASIC, your usual bad boy x pretty girl trope that you get to read in YA and coming of age novels. Not only that, but going back to canon, they have too many negative interactions for me to like them together :p The least Sakura can do is put down her own foot and yell at him for not contacting them for god knows how long. I also dont like how he always gets easily forgiven >=[[. I mean at least He's compensating as a dad good for him but ehhhh i still dont like him and Sakura together :v And im not falling for that "Sakura is the reason why Sasuke isnt lonely anymore" because thats NARUTO AHHH. Sasuke said that Multiple times. HE LIGHTS A FIRE INSIDE OF ME. HES MY SUN. MY ONE AND ONLY FRIEND. LIEK?? THATS NARUTOOO romantic or not, Naruto was the reason for his not so lonely existence anymore smh >=[[

Sasuke almost murdered her and Naruto and made their lives a living hell but hey its all good!! He's my best friend and Sakura loves him!! So set him freeee into the worldddd~~

Sasuke left his family without even simply contacting them but can easily contact Naruto through a hawk but hey thats fine! His and Sakura's feelings are connected afterall! Sasuke gave her a ring and said thank you! Who cares about leaving your family. She loves him and he loves her so yey!!! All is forgiven :D

DID I MENTION SASUKE ALMOST MUREDERED HIS OWN DAUGHTER AND HE WASNT CALLED OUT FOR THAT@*#&@??!?#,*@#,#

Sasuke gets too many life points this isnt fair >=[[ But tbh he's nerfed so bad in Boruto manga and anime power wise. Like in that time travel arc and the manga. The rinnegan kunai thing was still so funny to me even if it was Borushiki. I just idk its so funny to me lmaoo

OKAY WHAT ELSE. I dont even know any more. Im tired of complaining about Naruto and just when Ive finally gone a little bit away from Naruto, Hinata fucking pulls me in again 😩 she has me on chokehold pls send help. Watch castlevania!!! and one piece!!!! ten times better than this anime about a loud blonde boi who wants to be president. Trust me

overall, i dont fully agree but i lowkey agree i guess. I do respect your opinion tho :))

EXCEPT WHEN YOU CALLED TONERI CRINGE. HOW DARE YOU CALL THAT SEXY MF CRINGEY---

#like at this point if you complain about naruhina to me id probably complain along with you #but at the end of the day #i really do not care lol #theyre CUTE AS FUCK AND I WILL COMMIT MASS MURDER FOR THESE PRECIOUS KIDS AND WOULD NOT FEEL AN OUNCE OF REMORSE #also i have like zero energy to find all those manga panels and debunk shit and stuff #i just say the first thing that comes to my brain and fart it out on my lonely tumblr blog #anon #hey hey anon ask me about why i love naruhina so much come on come on *aggressively bounces knees*#unpopular opinions

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motorghost · 5 years ago

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a prompt I hope you saw coming: McCree, sunning his butthole

I did my best to live up to this real-life comedy gold.

So this takes place very early on in the gang’s reunion, when they’re still training as a team and Hanzo/Genji are still a little tense with each other. (Hopefully I kind of conveyed that through context clues alone but just wanted to be sure since I didn’t want to spend a lot of time polishing this because I have lol zero time.)

I hope it TAINT bad. : - D

The simulation is set: nine opponents, fourteen hazards and two environments. McCree figures the first will be blizzard—why else would Mei be up in the box, waving down at them with that innocent smile?—but he has no clue on the second.Probably it has something to do with Genji, since he’s over half an hour late.

“It’s not like him,” mutters Angela, a little too opaque to show any judgment.Hanzo’s judgment, however, is very clear; he snorts loud enough for even Winston to look over, and he’s all the way up in the box with Mei.“I’m sure he’s just puttin’ the finishing touches on things,” Jesse drawls, nudging his boot into the concrete to scratch an itch on his heel.

“My brother is not one for keeping to a schedule,” says Hanzo. The effort to keep any bitterness out of his tone must’ve been monumental.

Jesse’s a quickdraw with more than a gun, so he’s a little miffed when Reinhardt gets to be magnanimous before he can: “I have seen people change in greater ways and in far less time than in our Genji.” He clasps a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder and Jesse feels even more miffed when the archer doesn’t bristle and brush Reinhardt away like his usual character would dictate. “Perhaps he will surprise you.”

Hanzo seems to hum and cough at the same time. Reinhardt takes his hand back and Jesse licks his teeth behind his lips. “Dunno ‘bout that, Rein. Dickin’ off to meditate is still dickin’ off.”But both Reinhardt and Hanzo give him looks of disappointment and displeasure, respectively. Jesse coos out air like the room is getting hot, looking up at nothing, then turns instead to Angela, who is masterfully ignoring the entire situation.

“You get those new bio-shots in yet, doc?”“Not yet. But the shipment should come any day now. It’s not unusual for that kind of order to take so long. I once tried to have two gallons of e-CTM delivered to a safe house in Bucharest and the driver—”“Oh thank Christ,” Jesse mutters when Genji jogs into the room.“Forgive my lateness,” says Genji. “Torbjorn had not yet finished our suits.”The whole team squints at him. “Suits?” says Reinhardt.

Genji sets down twin crates and hits a button on their sides to let them snap open. “Winston wanted me to set the environment today, so I decided on fire.”Hanzo scoffs even louder than before. Jesse gets the feeling there’s some joke he’s not in on.Reinhardt, ever doe-eyed, persists: “fire?”“Yes. But these suits are not fire-repellant. They are fire-attractive.”Angela actually sounds intrigued, if a tad apprehensive: “come again?”“They will attract fire.” Genji takes out a suit and holds it up; it looks like a Tour de France onesie, only with far shorter shorts. Jesse thinks he’d be shocked if they even cleared his inner thighs. “Particularly to the torso and head.”“Gotta be shittin’ me,” mutters Jesse, turning away, spurs clicking.“Ridiculous,” rumbles Hanzo.“I do not see why I deserve such dissent,” Genji says, his robotic voice a lofty, melodic drawl. “I have designed this course to mimic the eventuality of a burning building. Something most of you would have difficulty overcoming,” he adds with a carefree lilt and tilt of his head. He leans towards the room com link on the wall and holds down the button, carrying his voice to the box above as well as the entire room. “Winston, Mei—you’ll find the simulation code under command 12-A.”

“If you are selecting an environment in which you are already an expert,” Hanzo drawls back, his own voice the total opposite of carefree, “then what is the point of your participating?”“It will still be a challenge for me. I have not been in the position of having to assist other teammates during a battle for a long time.”“Yes,” Hanzo crosses his arms, and Jesse pre-winces before the man even finishes, “Your position is more often far behind enemy lines, getting yourself injured and then calling for help.”Genji crosses his arms, too, though he keeps his tone light. “Now, brother. That was long ago.”“So that has never happened, then?” Hanzo quickly fixes his intense gaze on Angela, who hesitates just one second too long; Hanzo looks back at Genji with the most superior smirk Jesse has ever seen.Genji rolls back one shoulder, seemingly unperturbed. It’s hard to tell with the mask. “Overwatch is based on teamwork. We have all been in the position of requiring help from time to time. That is the reality of working with others—something that you, perhaps, could benefit to learn.”“I have worked in groups many times, as you are well aware.”“And the general of a group, what is their position, often?”“I do not have to explain myself to you.”“No, you just need to adhere to the new order of things.”“You should adhere to—”“I can’t wear that!”Everyone turns to look at Jesse.

The gunslinger clears his throat—he hadn’t really meant to shout—and squares his hips towards Genji. “I can’t put that on.”Genji lowers his arms and puts one hand on his hip, obviously sensing another mutineer. “And why not?”“There’s no way those things ain’t gonna ride up my groin like they’re goin’ for a chokehold. You ever see those boxer-briefs where the legs are just a tad too short on a guy with big thighs? Turn into tighty-whities before you can—”“Oh, please,” says Angela, barely suppressing an amused, if a little grossed-out grin. “I’ve seen you wear far more uncomfortable things for a mission, Jesse. It will only be for a couple hours.”“Certainly!” Reinhardt half-lifts his axe, “Remember those wet-suits in the North Sea? I could hardly breathe! And we were in those all day. Also, my thighs are far—”“Well I wasn’t dealin’ with localized bodily damage at the time, Rein.”“Damage?” Angela looks him up and down. “Are you hurt?”“Naw,” Jesse pulls the brim of his hat down, which he quickly realizes he should not have done, because most of them know him well enough to take that as a clear signal that he is hiding something. “I mean… not in any… it wouldn’t interfere.”

“It seems to be interfering now,” says Genji.“Jesse, if you are injured, you cannot just keep it to yourself. What if we had to ship out today?”“Tell us what it is, Jesse,” says Winston over the room com. “Better to take care of it now.”“It don’t need takin’ care of!” Jesse grumbles, his voice growing louder without his consent. “I just… I can’t be wearin’ shit like that.”Genji looks at the suit still in his hand, then slowly back at Jesse, who feels all the hairs on his arms stand up. “Is it a…” He gestures vaguely to his own pelvic area.“No! Jesus. I mean… not in the way you’re…”

Jesse’s throat closes up as he realizes the deep, deep hole he’s dug under his own feet. Everyone is staring at him with varying levels of suspicion, except for Hanzo, whose face looks more like… alarm? Apprehension?

Jesse sighs. Just get it over with.

He mumbles under his breath.“Sorry?” says Angela. Genji takes a step closer.“I sun-burned my perinmhihmm,” Jesse mutters a little louder, still barely legible.“Wait,” says Genji, who physically removes the com-link from the wall and holds it up to Jesse’s mouth, holding down the button so that his voice echoes like God’s judgment. “Can you just,” the cyborg almost trips over his barely-suppressed laughter, “Can you repeat that please Jesse?”Jesse stares him dead in his green-lit visor and, in his most confident drawl, announces to the entire room: “my pucker hole is crazy burned.”

The laughter hits them all differently: Genji’s head flies backwards with a sharp bark that dissolves into ludicrous snorting, Reinhardt brays one loud note that bounces off the walls again and again, Angela covers her mouth and laughs until Jesse sees her whole face turn red, and Hanzo, also hiding his mouth with his hand, lets his chuckles mostly just shake around inside his chest. He’s the only one who doesn’t look away from Jesse.

“Alright.” Jesse looks up towards the box where Mei is leaning over a console as if having a heart attack and Winston is trying to make sure she’s okay through his own chortling. “Alright, now. Ain’t that goddamn funny.”“Are you shitting me?” Genji, barely able to stay upright, shakes his open hand fingertips-first at Jesse, “How? How could that have possibly happened?”“It’s… it’s a type a’yoga! Shit. You never heard of it?” Jesse puts his hands on his hips, decides he might as well own it. “S’called ‘perineum sunning.’” While Genji collapses into laughter all over again, he goes on, “S’all about absorbing the sun into your body through your… your grundle.” Genji is almost on the floor now, repeating the word ‘grundle’ to himself like it’s a holy mantra. “I been having, y’know, trouble sleepin’ and the like… thought it’d boost my auric field with the power o’the sun and whatnot. Keep my life force from leaking out and all.”Now Genji is repeating ‘leaking’ to himself in a very high-pitched voice while Angela, bless her, manages enough self-control to speak. “Joking aside… Jesse, that does sound serious. Have you… done anything…?”“No! What am I supposed to do? Stick a biotic emitter up there and hope for the best?”“N-no,” says Angela, still fighting giggles but blessedly stepping in front of Reinhardt and Genji, who are both using Reinhardt’s hammer as a kind of crutch for their hysterics. “But some burn ointment may help. Do you have any aloe vera?”Jesse snorts. “Yeah… probably in my kit somewhere.”“You should apply some. Perhaps… perhaps you should sit out this session to do so. We can… ping Lucio to replace you.”“God, yes, please,” Genji wheezes, “Please let’s bring Lucio out here.”Fully aware that Lucio is not really an appropriate replacement for what he brings to the table, Jesse grumbles a thank-you and turns heel for the door. But right before he exits (since Genji and Reinhardt are still laughing), he sticks his head back in to add: “it’s an ancient fuckin’ Taoist practice!”

An hour later, someone knocks at Jesse’s door. He almost ignores it, but at the second knock—faster, snappier—he gets up to at least see who it is. If it’s Genji and Lucio come to taunt him, he can at least open the door with his gun in his hand.But it’s Hanzo, standing all regal with his hands resting inside his kimono jacket. Obviously still amused but doing a good job of trying to hide it. A much more welcome sight, despite everything.

Jesse taps the door command and leans on the frame with as much swagger as he can muster. “Well hey there. Sim went by kinda quick, huh?”“Yes,” says Hanzo, those perfectly-shaped lips toying with a smirk, “It was difficult to achieve adequate team cohesion after your… announcement.”“Well, ain’t my fault we’re workin’ with a couple’a gigglin’ frat boys,” Jesse sighs, stepping aside.

The door hisses shut behind Hanzo, who immediately walks to the console. “Athena, cease surveillance of this room. Command three dash eight hundred and four.”“Confirmed,” says Athena.“Still don’t know how you managed to swipe Winston’s command codes,” chuckles Jesse.“It was a crime of necessity.” Hanzo comes up close, presses against Jesse’s front. Chin tipped up to smirk at him. “I don’t want anyone seeing or hearing what I do to you.”Jesse opens his mouth to agree, but Hanzo seizes that opportunity to plant his own mouth there, tugging down on the gunslinger’s chin to line them up. Their arms wrap, their bodies slot, and Jesse lets out a low rumble of pleasure. Hanzo kisses him slower and warmer than he has yet and the effect is melting. Time goes still and Jesse swears he hears a bird singing.

“Wha,” Jesse clears his throat, when it’s over, looks down at Hanzo from heavy-lidded eyes. “What was that for?”“For lying for me,” Hanzo hums. “I will admit,” He playfully unbuttons Jesse’s flannel shirt, “That was the most unorthodox way of getting out of having to show a hickey I have ever heard of, but I commend your creativity.”“Huh?”Hanzo gently pats Jesse’s cheek, still smiling. “Stay with me, cowboy. I appreciate you keeping our time together a secret. I do not know how the others would have reacted if they saw what I did to your thighs.”“Oh.” Jesse takes a half-step back, still loosely holding Hanzo by the elbow with one hand while the other scratches at a side-burn. “Well… yeah, Han. I know you wanna keep things quiet for now.”“It is for both our benefit,” Hanzo mutters into Jesse’s jaw. “It is… I have never done this before. Nothing like this. I want to take things slowly.”“O’course. I mean, I… y’know I’ve had a shaky run of things, too. Though I’d yell it from the top of the rock this afternoon, if you gave the go-ahead.”Hanzo chuckles, that warm, resonant rumble that Jesse is already falling a little bit in love with. “Perhaps someday.”As he goes to kiss down Jesse’s throat, the gunslinger coughs a little. “Well, there’s… I mean, there’s that, but…”Hanzo’s smile fades as he blinks up at Jesse. A shadow of worry crosses his face and Jesse’s heart spasms in pain. “But what?”Jesse sighs again, only with ten times more despair than in the simulation room.“But I really did burn my pucker hole.”There’s a moment in which Hanzo just stares with gently widened eyes, as if he doesn’t understand. Then a bubble of disbelieving laughter makes his chest contract. “You…” More chuckles bubbles up and Jesse thinks it’d be damn endearing, the way this usually self-controlled man can’t hold back his laughter, if he didn’t feel a very real burn of embarrassment spreading across his own face. Not to mention the burn between his ass cheeks.“You what?” Hanzo asks, as if he is really trying to give Jesse the benefit of the doubt here.

“I went down on you for nigh on an hour yesterday on the top of a cliff with my bare ass pointed at a 3pm sun in the goddamn Mediterranean, Han! What did you think was gonna happen?” Jesse pauses, his eyes fly off somewhere up and to the left, then come back to Hanzo with his tone even higher-pitched: “and you don’t think I’d come up with a better lie than that if I had to!?”

“I didn’t… I am sorry, I did not…” Hanzo is practically choking, his hand slapped up over his mouth again.Jesse sighs. He looks at Hanzo, with his shaking shoulders and his bouncing bang-hair, and a rueful half-smile breaks through his irritation. “S’okay, darlin’. You can laugh. It’s funny.”Then Hanzo lets out a bark of laughter even louder and grander than Genji’s, his head tossing back in a very similar fashion. His hands tremble as they hold onto Jesse’s shirt flaps for dear life. The sight is almost enough to make Jesse forget about the horrible, horrible pain.It’s not long before the archer comes back down to earth. “I,” Hanzo starts, wiping away a tear, “I am deeply sorry for this… for your…”“Yeah, yeah.” Jesse adjusts the waistband of his loose sweatpants, which is about the only article of clothing his ass can stand now. “Never gonna live this one down, y’know that? Genji’s probably gonna bring it up at my goddamn funeral.”“I apologize,” Hanzo says, both hands still holding onto Jesse’s shirt. “Why did you not say something sooner?”“Couldn’t find the right words, I guess.”“‘My pucker hole is crazy burned’ now seem like the only right words.”Jesse scoffs and rolls his eyes and cackles into his hand, then winces as the movement makes his thighs shift too much. Suddenly he turns boyish: “it really hurts, sweetheart.”Then Hanzo draws forward with a sound like a low, rough coo, and smoothes out Jesse’s shirt. “If you are truly in need,” his eyes sweep up to Jesse’s and Jesse can’t express how much that adds to his downstairs discomfort, “I can assist you with that aloe vera.”“Really, Han, you ain’t gotta—”“I insist. It is the least I can do after your…” Hanzo gets closer, smirks with those cat-like eyes dangerously narrowed, “…Skilled favors.”Jesse feels a very different kind of burning and chuckles, looking off to the side. “Aww, Han. I don’t think that’ll be as enjoyable as you’re makin’ it sound…”“I will make it enjoyable.” He lowers his hand and palms over Jesse’s cock to prove his point. Licks Jesse’s bottom lip into his mouth and lets it slide out between his teeth.Well, shit. “Alright,” Jesse sighs, “You insisted and all.”

“Mmm,” Hanzo purrs, still rubbing Jesse through his sweats. “And do not worry about Genji. I know many stories of his that more than overshadow yours.”“As nice as that is, darlin’, I really don’t wanna talk about your brother right now.”“Then stop talking and get on the bed.”

#prompt #mchanzo #asks #robocryptid #my pucker hole is crazy burned #robo-cryptid

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wzwrites · 5 years ago

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Like Diamonds in Space - Sakamutsu Fanfic

Chapter 1 - Uprising

Sakamoto still looks at her, smile still gone, and Mutsu turns around feeling as if she’d both won and lost something she could never get back. Something she didn’t know she even wanted for the longest time. But it’s his voice that stops her in her tracks, and his choice of words that makes her clench her hand so tight she can feel her nails tearing into her flesh.

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21703096/chapters/51767155

Mutsu wakes up to the sound of gunfire and muffled screams.

She’s up in a second, brain already caught up to her senses so that she’s just as alert as she would be had she actually gotten enough sleep for once. If there’s one thing her father did good by her, it was training his daughter to be prepared, at any time, any place, to fight for her life. And by the sounds of the thumping footsteps coming down the hall towards her room, this would be one of those fights her father had prepared her for.

Her assailants are four of the cargo (the people, whispers a small voice inside her head), armed with two guns between them they’d taken off some guards and a butcher’s knife probably from the kitchens. She dispatches them of their shoddy weapons with a few well-aimed kicks, swivelling behind one woman to lock her in a chokehold. They’re all taller than her, bigger than her, but even at the ripe young age of fourteen, there is no one who can match Mutsu’s battle prowess.

No one on the ship at least. But Mutsu likes to think that she would give even other Yatos, her father, cause to pause.

Humans however, even had Mutsu not trained her entire life to be a warrior ( a slaving warrior ), stand no chance against her. She’s shot two with the gun she’d appropriated from their appropriating grasps, the woman under her hold slowly dying of choked gasps, and when the last man charges at her with a reckless hopelessness, he soon joins his conspirators, leaving Mutsu alone.

She promptly shoots each corpse a second time, just to be sure, and sweeps out into the halls to assess her forces.

She does not need to change. She is always dressed, equipped, prepared for war. Even though this attack hardly counts as war , as slaver guards quickly assemble their forces after their initial surprise, leaving Mutsu to issue orders and gather reports.

This is not the first time the human cargo attempt to throw off their chains. This will not be the last.

The next uprising comes, in a way that Mutsu could never have predicted.

In the midst of it all is one man. The first thing she notices about him is just how clear and blue his eyes are. His gaze roams over his surroundings, his captors and their weapons pointed at him, and lands on Mutsu moving through the ranks to stand before him.

He smiles, brilliant and unguarded, and Mutsu is filled with an unbidden urge to knock that smile off his face.

“Thanks so much for savin’ me, ahahaha. You have no idea how terrible it is to be stuck in a haystack floatin’ in space. It’s not like I’m some elastic pirate searching to become pirate king, ahahaha. Say, this is a nice ship you have. I can tell by the engines thrumming just how well ya treat her. Say, did you have any food on hand? I’m mighty starvin’, it’s all that hibernatin’ in space you do…”

She hates how open he looks. She hates how kind his voice is. How curious and artless and unjaded he appears. He looks older than her, by a few years at least. How could he remain so cheerful and undaunted in the midst of slaving aliens?

“Ahahahaha,” he laughs when she threatens to keelhaul him in the middle of space.

“Ahahaha,” he laughs again, as Mutsu looks on impassively as one of the guards hits him with the butt of his rifle.

“Ahahaha,” he keeps laughing, talking and joking with his captors as they ship him off under Mutsu’s orders to the cells where the other slaves are held.

Mutsu’s hand clenches and unclenches, and her guards hurry to clear the way for her as she pushes down the urge to throttle a laughing, gregarious man.

She’s still irrationally angry when she makes her way down to the cells a day and a half later. Mutsu is a hands-on leader, learning from her father that the best way to ensure your underlings’ loyalty is to remind them, in person, that you see and hear everything they’re doing. The guards straighten up as she walks by, and Mutsu almost does a switch-turn when the sound of boisterous laughter comes floating down the hall.

It’s been a day and a half, Mutsu thinks, as she forces herself to approach the end of the hall where most of her prisoners are held. It’s been less than two days, so why is it that the slaves actually look bright, almost cheerful, almost hopeful , for once?

She knows the answer before she even thinks the question.

He’s there in the middle of a circle of humans, the slaves in the other pens leaning against their bars as if he’s fire, and they can’t get enough of his warmth. He faces the door, but turns his head so that he doesn’t exclude those behind him. He’s smiling and laughing and joking with them, his eyes creased with mirth, as if he has no worries and all the time in the world.

Mutsu clenches her fist. She digs her nails into her palm.

It’s also then that he notices her, and somewhere in the back of her mind Mutsu realizes that his senses are too sharp, too quick, for him to be a human civilian.

“Hiya Mutsu!” he waves at her. “Or is it Captain Mutsu? I’d call you Captain Yato but that’s more of your clan name rather than a family name in the way I’m familiar with, right?”

There’s no hint of mockery in his tone, which only makes it worse.

The other humans still, shrink almost, and the warm mood of camaraderie immediately dissipates, only to be replaced by haunted looks and swallowed breaths.

The man, if he notices, only continues to greet Mutsu as if they were long-time friends.

“I’m Sakamoto Tatsuma, I realize we didn’t get a chance to introduce ourselves earlier. The guards here were accommodating enough to tell me who you are, and from the respectful way they talk about you I’m sure you run a tight ship, captain. Ahahahaha. Grabulster here says he’s been serving under you for two years now. I can barely remember the shenanigans I got into when I was your age, ahahaha, never mind running my own ship. You have my admiration, captain.”

Mutsu looks at the two guards posted at Sakamoto’s cell doors, and realizes she does not know either of their names. She narrows her eyes, and they visibly gulp, one inadvertently trying to take a step back into the cell bars behind her. Mutsu turns back to the smiling man, realizing that he was redirecting her attention to where he wanted it, and was succeeding at doing so tremendously.

She’s disconcerted by all accounts, but if there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s masking her emotions into a schooled, stoic look. So why does she feel her facial muscles tremoring, straining to keep her anger in check?

“You seem to be adjusting to your accommodations rather nicely,” she blurts out, surprising herself at just how easy it is to slip into a near banter when she’s feeling so uncomfortable. He grins at her, lopsidedly. At least he’s not laughing that obnoxious laugh of his.

“I’m a merchant, you see, so adaptation’s all part of the schtick. In a way you and I are much alike, wouldn’t you say?”

“How so?” Mutsu asks, even as her mind reels. Is he comparing himself to a murdering, slaving alien? There’s got to be a limit to his compassion, right?

Sakamoto’s smile softens, and something inside Mutsu clenches , threatening to choke the breath out of her. She hates it. She can’t get enough of it.

“We’re both good at judging the value of merchandise, and the depth and breadth of people, don’tcha think?”

Mutsu’s eyes narrow.

“So how much would you judge to be the value of the merchandise around you?”

Sakamoto looks at the humans around him, heads bowed and eyes averted, and if he noticed her spitting out the word “merchandise”, he makes no show of it.

“Like a rock,” he says, softly, and Mutsu finds herself leaning in to make sure she’d caught that right.

“A rock?” she repeats, feeling stupid and hating herself even more because of it.

“A rock,” he nods. “Each and every one of us a rock.”

He does not meet her eyes, instead turning back to his human compatriots, and Mutsu leaves, feeling as if she’d been dismissed from a conversation she should have been heading in the first place.

She expects gunshots. She expects shouting. She expects the thump of corpses on the ground and the feel of flesh collapsing in as she kicks and punches her way through a mountain of bodies. There is none of that, no violence, no uprising in the way she’s used to, all proverbial pitchforks and eyes filled with murderous intent. Instead, rebellion creeps in through the pearly-white cracks of a mercantile smile, words of sedition and dissent riding in on the waves of a boisterous, obnoxious laugh. She should’ve seen it coming. She does see it coming, notices from the moment she’d gone to check on her prisoners how they seemed lighter, more buoyant, sunken faces lighting up in a way that no prisoner should have the right to. She knew it was him at the centre of it all, and try though she might, she cannot help but be pulled into the periphery of Sakamoto’s charm.

Perhaps that is why she felt so unsettled talking to him. She was angry at him, wanted nothing more than to reach out and tear out that kindly smile from his face, that smile that spoke of trust and growth and dare she think it? Redemption? Who was he, to offer her all this? Who was he, to make her want to project all her self-loathing and desires, especially when they’d just met?

But no, what she wanted even more than to hurt this man who brought life to those around him was to dig into her own palms and rip out her offending flesh for being the way it was. The way it was created. The way her father nurtured and beat into the seed of his own blood, so that it would sprout into his like image, another Yato bent on destruction, domination, death. Fighting is all Mutsu’s ever known. In fact, the years as captain of her own slaving ship were some of the least exciting years of her life. There was no challenge from her enslaved opponents, no thrill in marching down hallways and looking over inventory ledgers day in, day out. And as if the universe wanted to laugh at her pathetic existence, it’d sent this human, this Sakamoto Tatsuma, who smiles at her without a single trace of fear even with a dozen gun barrels pointing at his head, who speaks to her as charmingly as he would to a potential investor, and who now looks at her, gaze measured but with no trace of judgement, and offers her a crooked, boyish smile.

Of course she’d found herself back at the slave cells. The guards seem just as surprised as she doesn’t feel, and they struggle to recover quickly even as she waves them aside and tells them to leave.

No one questions their Yato captain, but from the looks of it, the other human captives look like they wished someone had, so that they wouldn’t have to be alone with their captor.

Mutsu ignores the bodies pretending to sleep, her attention zeroed in on the human in front of her.

“You’re a businessman,” she starts without preamble. “Tell me, how would you go about selling the lives of your companions for your own freedom?”

His smile falters, but his gaze does not.

“For the price of a rock?” she continues, feeling both pleased and sick at what she’s trying to do. And what is she trying to do? Get a rise out of him? Make him angry, afraid for once, force him to show the hatred he’s no doubt harbouring for this alien who took him and so many of his species captive?

Mutsu does not know, and she hates not knowing. She does not know how to stop now that she’s started, and she doesn’t know if she wants to stop even if she could.

“I wasn’t always a merchant,” he says quietly, the only noise in the space around them apart from the fabricated silence of dozens of breaths being held and bodies being forced into stillness. “Well I was, was born into a business-runnin’ family, but I was a soldier too. A warrior, like you. Fought in a war that went over my head where every day I traded the lives of my companions for a price that is far too precious, far too mundane, than a mere, magnificent rock. I saw friends cut down like boulders being split by pickaxes. I saw friends crumble into granite dust. And, I saw friends harden from the pressure of rivers of blood, until they would either crack into insignificance or bloom into the brightest of all rocks.

You asked how I would go about selling my companions for my freedom? I offer you a counter-offer. For the price of a diamond per head, and the ship’s weight in diamonds, I offer to buy this ship and all its slaves from you. You might be thinking that that’s too good of a deal, that no one would offer that many diamonds for a pirate ship and some valueless cargo, but where you see mundane stone I see diamonds in the making.

These people have potential, Captain Mutsu. All they need is for someone to take them off their shelf and polish them until they’re gleaming brighter than any star in the sky. Let me be the merchant here. Let me be the customer.” Let me save them, she hears, but does not hear him say.

Mutsu is glad her back is facing the humans, and that the guards are nowhere to be seen. She’s glad there’s no one alive to see the look on her face.

She forces a step forward, and then another, and then another. She cannot walk fast enough. She cannot walk slow enough.

She feels as if there’s a mountain of rocks weighing down her heels, just waiting for her to stumble so they can collapse and bury her in their avalanche.

He said rocks could turn into diamonds with potential? He was wrong. Mutsu would never be anything but a monstrous, loathsome Yato.

#sakamutsu #gintama #sakamoto tatsuma #mutsu yato #sakamoto x mutsu #wz

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iminyourhandskara · 6 years ago

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The Power Beyond Me - Psiturn One Shot.

WORD COUNT: 2902.

It is set after my first Psiturn os, but can be read on its own, just know that Imra is the new leader of the LOSH and she recruited Psi and now they’re dating.

Psi stomped her way into the main room of the Legion ship.

“It’s fine, we got him anyway.” “I don’t understand, my powers have never failed before.” “Psi, don’t worry! I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“What happened?” Brainy entered the room, confused by the loud chatting of the two women in front of him. “I should’ve hit Evillo with my powers, I had him right in front of me, but..I couldn’t do anything. Brainy, can you run one of your calculations on me?” “No, Brainy, there’s no need to do anything. She’s fine.” Imra interjected, hiding her worry under a careless tone: it was true, her powers had never failed before. “I assume this is one of those, mmh, couple disagreements. I’m going to exit this conversation.”

“Okay, do you want to train?” “What for? Just to see my powers flop again?” “Babe..” Imra sat down next to her girlfriend. “It can happen. Please, don’t frown, I don’t want to see you so unhappy.” “I was just thinking..” “About what?” “How it’d be to have a life without any superpower…How I’d feel being human again.” “It’s not any different from being a metahuman or an alien.” “If I lost my powers, I wouldn’t have a place here anymore; I wouldn’t be in the Legion anymore..I would lose you, too.” “Hey, hey, no; you’re not gonna lose me, ever. Okay?” The brunette caressed her cheeks, as she was still looking down at her hands, trying to console her. Psi and Imra kissed, their hearts always beating loud like it was the first time: “thank you.” She breathed out, “for what?” Imra smiled back at her. “For staying.” “Always.” They rested their foreheads on one another, “Listen, if you want, I can call my sister to check you and your mind, would that make you feel better?” “Yes, thank you so much.”

Prya Ardeen looked a lot like her younger sibiling, except for her blonde wavy hair. Unlike her sister, she had the power of telepathy and shielding minds: she was four years older than Imra and they were extremely close, especially after she fought so hard against everything and everyone to have her back. “But.. for the rest of the day, I think you should rest. Let’s go home.” “I’ll rest only if you’re there to cuddle me.” Imra looked into Psi’s pleading eyes, she knew well that she barely took days off since she had become the leader of the Legion of Superheroes. “Okay, I’ll guess they’ll survive one day without their leader.” “Oh, of course.” They laughed and joined hands, ready to cuddle their day away.

As promised, they snuggled the entire night and the next morning, Prya joined them on the ship: “Hello girls, how can I help you?” Before Imra even opened her mouth, Psi explained what had happened again: “Okay, have you tried using them again?” “Your sister suggested I should’ve rested for a while, so no.” “Okay, let’s go to the training room, I have an idea.”

The three women stood separately, Psi on one side of the room, Imra and Prya on the other: “Try to hit my sister, I’ll be shielding her, but if your powers hit the shield I will feel it, so you can know if your powers are fine again or not.” Prya ordered. “I- I don’t think it’s a good idea.” “Psi, you won’t hurt me.” “Prya, I know how strong you are, but just the thought of attacking her…” “She is my little sister, Psi. I know exactly how you feel, I’ve felt it for my entire life: I would never put Imra in a dangerous position if I didn’t know she was safe.” Psi’s worries were far from gone, quite the opposite, but she nodded anyway. “Okay. Let’s do it.” Imra stood in the middle, Prya slowly built a psychic shield around her sister and gave the other woman in the room the green light for the attack. Psi felt her powers working again and Prya felt it as well: “That’s enough, you’re okay.” Psi was so relieved to know that she didn’t suddenly lose her abilities, “thank you so much.” “I’m glad I could help. You know, when you’re sad, my sister gets sad as well and..that’s not a really pleasant feeling for a big sister.” “You’re the best.” The brunette hugged her, feeling a new wave of relief as well.

Later that day, the couple laid in bed, Psi had a notebook in her hands and looked like she was scribbling or sketching something: “what are you doing?” “Nothing.” “Mmh, sure.” “I’m drawing.” “I didn’t know you could draw.” Imra sat closer to her, trying to take a little peek at her work. “Because I don’t do it often. I haven’t done it in a couple of years, actually.” “Because you don’t have the time? Or you don’t like it as much anymore?” “No, because I only draw when..when I feel happy. And the happy moments in my life were really rare and brief, so in that sense you can say I didn’t have the time to do it.” “You’re happy because you have your powers?” “No, I’m happy because I have you, Matilda.” Her blue eyes pierced into her green eyes, she had never been so honest and open to someone before Imra, but how could she deceive those beautiful green eyes?

“I love you.” Imra blurted it out of nowhere, but she couldn’t keep it in anymore: one of the first things they taught each other, was to do everything without any regret and she was completely sure she wasn’t ever going to regret these words to her. “I- I love you, too. So much.” Psi took her in her arms, drinking in her smell, taking that moment and trying to keep all the feelings she was feeling clear in her mind, so she would never forget how it feels to be in love, and be loved in return.

But then, they got called by the Legion who needed their help: one of their latest enemies escaped prison and they had to catch her again. Emerald Empress’ powers came from the Eye of Ekron, which Psi had hidden after the Legion managed to have her arrested, that meant she didn’t have any powers now, but it was sure that she would’ve come for the ex-villain soon. When the group of superheroes reunited, they planned a very simple scheme: if the Empress had just human abilities now, it would’ve been easy to capture her. Imra decided to go after her with Ultra Boy and Ferro Lad, trying to keep Psi away from danger: they looked for her everywhere but couldn’t find her, until they went into the building where she used to work years earlier. “Well, finally, you’re here.” She said with a very calm tone, sitting down on a spinning chair. “There’s no need to hit me or knock me out unconscious, I just needed to take a walk. I didn’t like that prison much. And..without the Eye, I’m getting weaker minute after minute.”

Ultra Boy and Ferro Lad approached the woman, but she pulled out a laser gun and pointed it against her head. “I have nothing left that keeps me alive anymore. I should probably get this over with.” “No!” Imra yelled, “Please, don’t do it.” “Why? Why shouldn’t I? I’m going to die soon anyway. What’s the world without one more bad girl? It’s better.” “I’m not letting you do this.” She stepped forward, “You can get better.” “I won’t, trust me.” Emerald Empress sounded tired, panting at every pause, slightly trembling. The gun was still near her temple. “Just one question: why do you want to capture me again? You know I don’t have powers without the Eye of Ekron.” “We swore to protect the people from any harm, and that means both them from you and you, from them. Everyone would be safer this way.”

Her eyes got a sudden clearance, like she just realized something she had never thought about before. “Then I should probably let you arrest me.” Imra took out the handcuffs, but in a split second, the Empress made them fall down with a punch and got Imra in a chokehold, the gun was now pointed at her temple. “Uh-uh, boys. Don’t move, or your pretty little friend gets her brain splashed out. I might not have powers, but a gun like this is useful for anyone. Iron gets melted by heat, right, Ferro Lad? Ultra Boy, whatever you’re planning to do, just don’t, I’m just one click away from what I need.” “What do you need?” “The Eye of Ekron, obviously. I think your other friend knows where it is.” “Don’t you dare- don’t call her.” Imra stuttered, the thought of Psi being involved in this made her blood freeze. “Even if he wanted, he wouldn’t be able to- there’s no signal of any sort around this block. But..I’m sure she’ll figure out something to find you, sweetheart.”

Psi kept pacing around the room, she could sense that something wasn’t right and she knew she had to do something, but couldn’t let the others know: she sneaked out, not exactly sure on what to do, but she had to find her lover. First of all, she asked the agents that guarded her cell some information about where the Empress used to live, work, or just hang out; when they spelled out the address of her work place, she recognized that area and remembered that it had been abandoned years earlier. Psi connected the dots and figured out that there was no way for the earpieces her teammates wore to function in that block: they were definitely there.

The dread grew at every step she took, unsure of what she would’ve found once she got there, Psi had never been so scared. Gayle had never been so scared. “Oh, your princess charming is here.” Emerald Empress spitted as Psi took her first step into the room, and immediately stopped in her tracks seeing a gun at her girlfriend’s head, “Don’t worry, it will all be over soon: you just give me the Eye, and I’ll give you your girlfriend back.” “Psi, d-don’t do it, she’ll hurt everyone.” “Shut up, the decision is up to her: I’m sure she’d prefer having you alive, rather than anyone else.”

Psi was so frightened and confused, was she willing to ignore everything Imra and the Legion taught her just to save her? She stood there in silence, her hands shaking like never before, her eyes were icy, she couldn’t stop thinking about how much she wanted to hurt the Empress, she wanted to kill her for hurting the love of her life. It was like a spark got ignited inside of her guts, a fire was raging throughout her entire body, Psi knew that in a few instants her powers were going to strike, but she had never felt this much anger going through her veins and she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to control it: she was afraid she was going to hurt Imra, again.

Psi gazed at the Empress once again, Imra was shaking too: she felt the blast leaving her body along with a loud scream, there was no going back now. Imra was bracing herself to get hit like that one time almost a year earlier, when she realized that the psychic powers of her girlfriend didn’t even touch her, somehow: the same thing couldn’t be said for Emerald Empress, who immediately dropped to her knees and let her gun fall down, before raising her hands to hold her head; the three unaffected Legionnaires reacted quickly, handcuffing the Empress while she was still shaken up by whatever vision Psi’s powers had brought up. She ran to Imra to embrace her, “Are you okay? I was so worried, I-” she moved her brunette hair out of her face, hoping that she didn’t have to face her biggest fear once again. “I’m okay, Psi. You didn’t hurt me.” “I didn’t? How is that possible? You were right in front of the Empress, how did it not hit you?” “I don’t know, but it’s a good thing, right?” “Yeah, it is.” Psi held Imra even tighter than before and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Let’s go.” Ferro Lad had to interrupt their sweet moment, but there was a prisoner to take into custody. “You go home, I have to do something first.” “Psi?” “Don’t worry, I’ll be quick.” “Okay.” Imra kissed her knuckles and followed the other boys, back to the headquarters.

Psi walked to what seemed to be an abandoned theme park, and got into one of the last standing buildings: there was a box in there, containing the Eye of Ekron. She took out of her pocket that same laser gun that was pointed at her girlfriend’s temple, just minutes before that, and shot the box repeatedly, until everything inside had turned into dust. At the same time, Emerald Empress crumbled like sand and disappeared out of thin air: all the Legionnaires figured out what happened.

Prya rushed to Imra after finding out what her sister had been through: “I’m so happy you’re okay, you’re not even scratched, are you?” “No, no, I’m perfectly fine..thanks to Psi, even if I still don’t know how.” “What do you mean?” “The Empress was holding me hostage, I was literally in front of her: Psi’s powers got to her but not to me. Isn’t that strange?” “Maybe, but at least you’re safe. Where is she know?” “Considering that Emerald Empress just turned to dust, I’m pretty sure she went to destroy the Eye of Ekron that was keeping her alive.” “I would’ve done the same.. she must be really angry at that woman for threatening your life.” Imra smiled, grateful to have these two wonderful women in her life, who would do anything to protect her: her sister and her girlfriend. “You destroyed the Eye?” “Why, are you mad about it?” “No, no, I just wanted to know why, since she was going to die anyway, very soon.” “Well, let’s just say that..seeing you in that position, so scared and vulnerable, it took its toll on me: I just needed some sort of scapegoat, some way to take all my anger out on one thing.” Psi looked down at Imra, she almost looked like she wanted approval for what she’d done, afraid that she would be upset for it. “Thank you for protecting me.” “I will always protect you, Imra. Always.”

“Psi, can you come here for a second?” Prya called, as Brainy was standing right next to her. “Yes, what’s wrong?” “Nothing, I just explained what happened to Brainy, in regards of your powers not affecting my sister and he is pretty sure of this theory..” “I’m 98,7% certain that you’ve been able to channel all your negative emotions into one person in particular, so the other people surrounding the Empress weren’t blasted by your powers. I don’t know if you know, but your psychic abilities are fueled by your deepest feelings, the ones that seem easier to bury, like rage and sadness.” “That explains the failure of the other day..” “What?” “My powers didn’t work on Evillo because I felt happy, for once. I was at peace with my life. But does that mean that I can’t ever be happy, if I want to have my powers?” “No, no, that’s not it: you can still have your powers, you can channel them like you did today, use the affection and the love you have for Imra, and I hope also for the rest of the world, to protect them.” “Oh.” Prya interjected, “So, now that you know more about the source of your powers, you can use this information to use them even better.” “Thank you again, for helping me figure all of this out.” “No problem.” Prya patted her back.

It was night time, and Psi and Imra were having a sleepy conversation, with their eyes almost closing: “I was scared as much as you were, today. I was terrified.” “I know, I could see it in your eyes.” “Were you afraid that I was going to hit you again?”

Imra opened her eyes, now fully staring at Psi in front of her, “Yes, but not because I don’t trust you, but because before today, even you know that, you’ve never sent your blast to one person in particular.” “I get it..” she sighed and moved one strand of hair away from her face, “Can I ask you something? You can also not reply at all.” “Tell me.” “Months ago, you told me that when I hit you during the Fort Rozz mission, you saw your sister dying; now that Prya is here, what would be your biggest fear?” There was no doubt in Imra’s mind, “Losing you.” Psi was completely flabbergasted, “Are..are you serious?” “100%. I’ve never loved someone as much as I love you, Gayle.” “If today wasn’t a big enough proof of it, I would do anything for you, Matilda.”

She got closer to her, she kissed her nose and then her lips, with tenderness, knowing that no matter how difficult it got, their relationship was special and it was going to last for a long, long time.

#psiturn #psiturn one shot #psiturn one shots #psimra #saturnpsi #psi x imra #psi x saturn girl #imra x psi #gayle x imra #gayle marsh #imra ardeen #psiturn fanfic #psimra fanfic #psiturn ff #psimra ff

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thanksjro · 5 years ago

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Eugenesis, Part Four Scene Five: Prowl’s Self-Esteem Is Through the Floor At This Point.

Prowl’s sitting in an office, waiting for all the Autobots to vote on whether he gets to lead or not. It’s agonizing. He’s run out of things to organize.

Interesting that the Institute where the Headmasters worked might be doing some shady stuff. Guess it’s not all just frat keggers and failing sociology 101 at the Institute of Higher Programming.

Though I have to question the validity of a report written up by a guy who didn’t even exist in this universe until last month. Throwback, what are you even doing?

Perceptor comes in with the final tally.

108 for Prowl, 86 against. Oh hey, that’s the title of this Part!

Roberts really likes putting leadership positions to a vote. He does it again in MTMTE #26, when Rodimus invoked the Crisis Act on himself after the whole thing with Overlord happened. Good to know he supports democracy.

Prowl isn’t terribly thrilled about just how many folks voted against him, but at the end of the day, all that really matters is that Kup isn’t going to get his suicide mission.

While that’s happening, the Delphi medics are busy tending to an unconscious and bleeding Optimus Prime. Nightbeat’s in the way, pulling a Kup, until Siren pulls him away. Siren still can’t believe Optimus Prime is actually here. I’m in the same boat at this point, though probably not for the same reasons; his is an awestruck wonder, and mine a dulled exasperation.

Back on the Ark, Ultra Magnus is just plum baffled by the Enslaver having disappeared without a trace, but they don’t really have the luxury to think on it too hard, seeing as their transwarp drive is about to crap out. They’ve got to exit hyperspace.

Sorry if this post reads choppy, the narrative is jumping around a lot here. That usually means things are about to pop off.

Over in Haxian’s workshop, a Quintesson trooper- Q-6 is what he’s called- is watching one of his coworkers get outfitted for the teleport, as Galvatron is screaming his own name down the hall.

Oh, good, we’re finally getting back to this idiot.

Haxian tells Q-6 to go shut Galvatron up. He heads over to the cell block to check it out, when things suddenly go silent.

Curious just how the fuck that happened, but okay.

Galvatron’s gone missing. That’s a big problem.

One of the corpses makes a noise, and Q-6, not being terribly trope-savvy, takes a gander into the gaping wound that is Thunderclash’s chest.

R.I.P. Q-6. We hardly knew ye.

Back on Cybertron, the Micromasters Siren sent out for reconnaissance have just landed their ship, starting the walking part of their journey. We’re following Phaser, Sunrunner, Blastmaster, and Treadbolt.

Little character bung-up here: Blastmaster and Treadbolt’s name are spelled wrong. They’re supposed to be Blast Master and Tread Bolt, respectively. Treadbolt is especially glaring, seeing as there’s an actual character from TransTech with that spelling, and his whole thing is that he’s BIG. I know that’s a pretty minor thing, but after all the intricate character inclusions and references Eugenesis has thrown at me, it’s pretty glaring. I even checked to make sure the spelling wasn’t different for the UK comics. I LIVE on the Wiki for this breakdown.

Also, turns out Blastmaster wasn’t always a Micromaster. He got the surgery in the 90’s. That’s not a canon thing, just a funny little Roberts headcanon. Which makes it canon for this novel, it just isn’t… anything that was established by the source material.

It’s important to remember that, at the end of the day, Eugenesis is a fanfic Roberts sold out of a suitcase at conventions in the early 2000’s. Things start to feel a little crazy if you don’t.

ANYWAY.

There’s bit of banter- turns out Sunrunner can’t read a map- and then Blastmaster reveals that the mountainside they’ve been standing in front of is actually a hologram hiding the abandoned Manganese Autobase they’ll be traveling through.

The Micromasters enter Autobase and crawl into a vent, because Roberts is as obsessed with robots crawling through ductwork as he is with mechpreg.

Mechpreg that I have still yet to see, I will remind you.

The fellas move through the ducts for a while, until they hit the inside of the concentration camp. They take a look, communicating through the inter-Autobot radio.

That bodes well.

Back in Haxian’s workshop, our science-inclined tentacle monster is putting the finishing touches on the tele-armor, when Galvatron leaps into the room and attacks. He’s got Q-6 in a chokehold, which is really unnecessary, seeing as he’s very dead. Haxian immediately surrenders, and Galvatron demands to be sent home. He dons the armor, then makes to grab at Haxian to go with him- he’s still just as paranoid as ever, our Galvy.

Haxian refuses, seeing as the parameters this set of armor is set for won’t allow both him and Galvatron to survive the trip. Galvatron shoots him in the chest, and Sharkticons start pouring into the room.

Galvatron books it.

He’s still weak from the Inhibitor Chip, so he runs, only realizing the layout of the building isn’t terribly conducive to escape once it’s too late. The tele-armor then decides that now would be a good time to be ready to go. Galvatron punches the button, and is whisked away from the workshop

To the Kledji concentration camp.

Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.

The Micromasters see him pop into existence, smoking and red-hot from the teleport, and are understandably confused.

The Kledji guards, not knowing that it’s Galvatron under the armor, welcome him with open arms. Galvatron responds accordingly.

Himbo supreme defending his title, I see.

The Micromasters are a bit thrown by this development, but opt to stay on-mission, and merely observe.

Galvatron approaches the prisoners who were being transported when he showed up, and tries to ask what’s going on. He doesn’t get anything out of them, seeing as they’re under the influence of the Chips. Galvatron isn’t feeling too hot himself, but he can’t worry about that now, because more guards are coming his way.

As Galvatron fights more Quintessons, the armor he was wearing gets kicked around until it slams against the grate the Micromasters are hiding in, revealing the aqua fortis the original trooper was supposed to deliver.

Then the Quintessential Flying Fucks show up- looks like the gang’s back together again.

Galvatron is subdued, and Jolup decides that it would be very funny to inject him. Galvatron disagrees, turning into a gun to escape their hold. He skitters towards the grate as well. This grate must be magnetized or something.

The Flying Fucks stomp on Galvatron a few times, knocking him out before injecting him again. Now, they don’t know where the hell is neural cluster is in gun-mode, so they just kind of eyeball it before throwing him on the ground again.

They takes their eyes off of him for two seconds, and then he’s gone.

…

So, Galvatron’s missing, but the grate he landed in front of is off. The Quintessential Flying Fucks remember that Micromasters are a thing, and order the ventilation shafts be flame-cleansed to deal with them. Hope it was worth it to save the head of that faction you’ve been at war with for several million years, guys.

Back at the College of Knowledge, Chromedome and Perceptor are having a little chat about frequency calibrators, like the huge nerds they are.

…Criminy, what body part is that supposed to be? I’ve seen it used to refer to hands before, both in fanfic and canon work- hello, Animated- but here that doesn’t really fit. I’m going to assume arms. It’s his arms.

Chromedome, don’t you lie. You’ve never been happy a day in your goddamn life.

Then Chromedome realizes it’s been nearly half an hour since he last dragged Prowl, so he asks Perceptor why he voted against the guy.

Perceptor reasons that Prowl is level-headed and responsible, but just not…

Chromedome coming for his life. Jesus.

He then asks who Perceptor would want in Prowl’s place. Perceptor avoids the question, redirecting to a very interesting-looking staircase. The stairs lead to a downloading theatre, where lectures were once held. As Chromedome reminisces on his alma mater, Perceptor finds some pieces of equipment that might be of use. Very peculiar pieces, that belong to a teleport system, and certainly not at a place of higher learning.

But Chromedome doesn’t care about that, because he’s just found motherfucking SOUNDWAVE hiding and passed out in a pile of junked computers.

Back at the camp, the Quintessential Flying Fucks are having a meeting about Galvatron. Xenon called and said they’d be improving the Chip, soon as Haxian stopped being grievously wounded. The Fucks didn’t mention Galvatron having escaped, or the Micromaster infestation. With two escapes in as many days, it would really make them look bad.

Then Sevax brings up a really good point: nobody- not one of the prisoners, or Galvatron- has recognized their Decepticon bodies. They’ve seen that they’re Decepticons, but no sense of familiarity, no being called a Cybertronian name, has happened. Just what the fuck were the Fucks before they were Quintessential?

The other two can’t be bothered to care.

Returning to Prowl’s crisis of self, Soundwave’s been dumped on a table, just laying there while everyone argues about what to do with him. Prowl just sort of watches it unfold around him.

Kup, that’s not good gun safety.

Prowl makes the call to revive Soundwave. Kup agrees, much to everyone’s surprise. But there’s a problem! Soundwave needs an energon transfusion if he’s going to survive. A majority of the Autobots just straight-up leave the room at this point, not wanting to give the Decepticon anything. Prowl’s ready to donate all on his lonesome, when a few folks come back to help.

This is why he was dry in MTMTE; too busy giving it all away to Soundwave. The secret fifth Conjunx. Nobody tell Rewind.

Just outside, Kup watches the transfusion begin.

Okay, Kup, whatever. Be inexplicably creepy, I don’t even care anymore.

Credit to u/Araknidude on Reddit for the cursed transformation image.

#transformers #jro #eugenesis #part four #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #prose writing

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parkaiur · 6 years ago

Text

Starstruck - Hyunsuk

❀ Comedy + fluff ft. lil bro!Junhyuk

❀ Word Count: 7.2K

❀ When Hyunsuk finds a wandering fangirl of his in the mall, he doesn’t think much of it until he bumps into his childhood friend who happens to be babysitting the her. As pictures of you and Hyunsuk blow up, he is tasked with the challenge to dial down the dating news. But as he tries and calms the dating rumor, the shipping only grows... will it be too much for you to handle? Or will you eventually give into the flirty boy’s charms?

❀ A/N: aaahh i was excited to write this and i hope you all enjoy it!! I live for junhyuk and hyunsuk interactions : ‘ )

❀ ❀ ❀

Hyunsuk pov

“AAHH HYUNSUK-AH CAN I TAKE A PICTURE WITH YOU!?” The girl screaming my name was about 13 years old, probably my brother’s age, yet she was somehow here alone. I gave the girl my most charming smile and laughed.

“Of course you can! How do you wanna pose?” I put up the V sign and she squealed. That always got them.

“Like that! Now look at my mom.” I didn’t realize her mom was standing not too far from us, but I put on my best smile and posed for her.

“One... two... three!” I could tell she took like thirty photos, but I tried to stay still for all of them. “And done! Thank you so much, my daughter loves you.” The mom patted my shoulder as I gave her a tight hug as well.

“No problem, this is the best part of the job.” I gave her a reassuring smile and she blushed.

“Um, not to be mean anything, but where’s your brother? You guys always seem to be together.” The girl asked.

“Oh, he’s in the bathroom right now, sorry you missed him but I’m sure he would have loved to see a girl as pretty as you.” I gave her a small wink with a smile and I swear she almost fainted.

She placed her hand over her mouth to not scream and scurried away. “You’re so handsome too! Thank you!” I waved them goodbye, as the daughter probably had to scurry away and edit the photos to put in instagram. No hate in the game, I would do the same if I were her.

“Ah, another fan? I missed one?” The younger boy pouted as his big cheeks inflated. I ‘awed’ at him and pinched his cheeks.

I casually slung an arm over his shoulder and adjusted my hat so it covered more of my face. “Don’t worry, you’ll be here when the next one comes, and the next, and the next.” I teased and pinched his cheeks once more. The boy cringed away but he was still laughing.

“Ok, but ice cream is on you!” Junhyuk said before running off to the nearest Cold Stone that was inside the mall. I rolled my eyes jokingly and followed him.

“Kiddo, ice cream is always on me, I’m your older brother and provider.”

It wasn’t like our parents were out of the picture, but Junhyuk had moved in with me as his school was closer to me and our parents had work, so they couldn’t drive him. We weren’t that far from them that we never saw our parents, but we were far enough to go out and have fun whenever we wanted.

When my YouTube career kicked off, I had gotten more money than I ever imagined from just being myself-- it was a surprise to everyone, including me.

It was now my full time career, and yes, my parents supported my decision to drop out from college. Probably ‘cause I could make more money for doing YouTube than doing anything else.

Suddenly, as I was trying to catch up to my brother, I felt a small body hit mine. “oof!” The girl yelled. She was about ten years old, and I was confused as to why she was walking around alone.

“I’m so sorry, kid, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I bent down to the girl and as soon as we locked eyes, her eyes got as big as saucers and she took a few steps back.

Oop, this again.

I gave her a gentle smile and backed up. “I swear I’m not a bad guy, you don’t need to be scared.” I teased. Her cheeks turned a bright red and I couldn’t help but pinch her cheeks.

“Hyung-” Junhyuk called out before seeing the girl standing before me. He then realized the situation and smiled at her. The girl turned ten times redder.

How cute.

“Hey, do you want a picture?” I asked carefully. The girl gulped and took a deep breath, composing herself. “Yes please! B-but my babysitter has her phone and I lost her.” The girl pouted and I could see tears in her eyes. I immediately went into big brother mode and pulled her closer to me, patting her head.

“Aw it’ll be okay, this mall isn’t that big, she’ll find us soon, yeah?” The younger girl nodded. “And I’m Hyunsuk, this is my brother Junhyuk, what’s your name?”

The girl sniffled. “I know your names, I’m a big fan.” She croaked out. I gave her a cocky smile and fixed my shirt playfully.

“Aw, well shucks.” She burst out laughing and wiped her eyes.

“My name is Naeun.” She introduced.

I shook her hand sternly and Junhyuk shook her hand softly. “Well Naeun, nice to meet you. And by the way, we can still have that picture and I’ll send it to your babysitter soon.”

She nodded happily as I took out my phone. “Hey, can you take a picture of us?” I asked a random bystander as I posed for the pic. I wiped Naeun’s cheeks. “Smile so you’ll remember us happy.” She nodded and smiled widely.

“One, two, and three! There.”

“Thank you,” I said while taking my phone back. I then bent down to Naeun. “Look how pretty the photos turned out, your babysitter will-”

“KIM NAEUN! THERE YOU ARE!” Suddenly, Naeun was scooped up by another’s arms. “You meanie, you got me so worried! Why didn’t you use your phone!?”

I furrowed my brows at that statement. “Phone?” I spat out.

As if the girl just noticed I was there, she turned to me and I immediately recognized her.

“Hyunsuk-”

“y/n.”

Junhyuk pulled on my arm sleeve and I looked at him. “You know her?” I nodded quickly and gave my best smile.

I saw Naeun tug on y/n’s arms and she tried to not look irritated. How y/n of her. “You know him!? You never mentioned that to me!” She exclaimed angrily. Y/n bent down to her level and flicked her forehead.

“Maybe because I knew you would annoy me ‘til the day I died if I told you. And we barely know each other, so don’t start with me. You’re in big trouble, your mom is worried sick!”

The girl looked like I remembered with multi-colored hair and intense eyes. She had that same frantic energy to her... I guess losing a kid added to that.

“Aw y/n, barely know each other? We had chemistry together senior year. And English all our four years of high school!” I exclaimed, while the girl sighed. She then leaned over to me, as I now felt her heavy breathing on my neck.

“I’m lying, ok, I see this kid twice a week and she’ll literally talk about you nonstop, I mean, she already does, but still, Choi Hyunsuk!” The girl gave me a playful glare, as we used to have mutual friends in high school, therefore, making us talk to each other. I’ll admit, I had a big fat crush on back then, but it died down since I didn’t talk to her after high school.

“Anyways, nice seeing you guys, and I’ll be taking this little devil home now. Sorry about the trouble.”

Before I could speak up, Junhyuk used his dimples to good use. “It’s ok, noona, she was really nice to us!” He smiled, causing y/n to smile back. Every girl loved my brother, it was like in their DNA to like cute kids.

“Junhyukie, you’re as sweet as I remembered, but you’re so big now, aye?” She laughed and patted him on the head.

Then, I remembered something. “Wait, we took photos on my phone, give me your number so I can send them to you.” The girl nodded and we exchanged numbers. I tried not to look giddy while doing so.

“Cool, thank you for taking care of her by the way, nice seeing you again when you’re all spiffy and famous.” She winked at me and then ushered Naeun away. “Ok, bye guys, Naeun say bye.” The younger girl waved shyly as y/n took her away.

“Now, ice cream?”

❀ ❀ ❀

“So, how did you feel about seeing y/n again today?” Junhyuk asked curiously. I was preparing dinner for the both of us, aka, putting lasagna in the oven. It needed to be a quick dinner since we were going to film our Q&A later.

I laughed at the boy’s comment. “What are you trying to say, kid?” I put him in a chokehold as he tried to push me away. I gave up as he wiggled away.

He held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, hey, I’m just curious! You seemed to think she was cute.” I scoffed and turned on the TV.

“I think all girls are cute, Junhyuk.” I winked at him and turned up the volume, hoping the conversation would end. Junhyuk turned it back down.

“Ok true, but this girl was funny. And you flirted with her!” He pointed a finger at me and I slapped it away.

“I flirt with everyone, Junhyuk, it’s my job and it’s my nature.”

I turned the TV up, effectively ending the conversation.

We filmed the Q&A shortly after we ate. I set up the camera and lights, focusing the camera on Junhyuk while he drank a can of coke.

We always filmed in the same room, our art room. We had our friend Jihoon paint the walls with whatever he wanted, and he decided to paint a night sky. So that was that. It looked cool.

“Ok, ready?” The younger boy nodded as I pressed play.

“Yo, it’s your boy Big Bunny and...”

“Lil bunny!” I laughed and pinched the boys cheeks as he was just so adorable.

“Today, we will be answering your questions straight off of YouTube and twitter!” Junhyuk was already pulling up our Twitter while I went to our YouTube page.

“By the way, it’s about 11pm as we’re filming it, so the reason why it’s dark is because... it’s dark.” I noted, laughing at my own joke.

“Hyung! Someone asked what color are you dyeing your hair next?” I hummed and pretended like I was thinking.

“Um, I mean, I like the blonde, but probably a grayish, brickish color?” I said questioningly. Junhyuk glared at me.

“Dude, those were very different...” We stared at each other before bursting out into laughter.

“N e ways, let’s move on.” I scrolled down on YouTube, but most of them were thirst comments. I giggled lightly, but hid Junhyuk’s eyes away.

“EWWW I just saw that someone commented on our ‘eating without hands’ challenge ‘hyunsuk i want you to eat off of me next’ GROSS!” I shoved Junhyuk away and scrolled down further, not like that would help.

“I told you not to read those! But uh, to whoever said that.” I gave a sultry wink and lip bite to the camera as Junhyuk groaned uncomfortably. “Hyung~” He whined. I nodded, biting back laughter. “I’m joking, I’m joking, I don’t eat off of people.” I winked at the camera again, teasing the fans.

“Anyways, someone asked if either of us had a girlfriend.” I gasped and grabbed Junhyuk’s face.

“You better not!” I exclaimed. Junhyuk brushed my hand off, glaring at me.

“I’m only thirteen, I do not have a girlfriend, do you hyung?” He teased. I took my time, and then shook my head.

“Nope, single as single can be.” I then mouthed “call me” to the camera as Junhyuk punched my arm.

Then, his eyes widened in surprise. “What’s up?” I asked, letting my guard down.

Junhyuk then proceeded to shove his phone in my face. “LOOK!” I backed away and looked at what someone had @ me in.

It was a picture of me and y/n at the mall with the caption [omg who is she?? hyunsuk’s girlfriend?? friend?? what is their relationship?? I NEED TO KNOW NOW]

Then, I saw the comments on the post.

“what?? hyunsuk having a girlfriend? thought he was a player at heart”

“she’s so pretty thooo, hope theyre dating, he deserves someone so cute!”

“and she has a lil sis of her own??? perfect family <3″

“ew, she’s not even pretty what are you guys talking about? so bland”

“hyunsuk dating?!?! nooooooooooo he’s mine >:(”

I gulped and scrolled more, seeing the thread. “I just found her in Hyunsuk’s senior photo! Oh my gosh so they’re high school friends :o”

“Should we turn off the camera?” Junhyuk whispered. I nodded and shut it off, feeling the anger rush to my veins. “It’s okay, most of the comments are good, and it’s not like her info is out yet, it’ll be okay.”

I bit my lip and took off my hat, running my fingers through my hair. It was disgusting when my fans attacked every girl I even blinked at, yet when I was with a dude, they were shipping me left and right. It was so dumb.

“It’s fine, y/n is a tough cookie.”

I nodded and sighed, taking a big gulp of Coke. “Ok, I’ll edit this out later, let’s pretend I forgot to turn off the stove.” Junhyuk nodded obediently as I let out a scream to alleviate my anger.

“Ok we’re back!” I laughed fakely.

Junhyuk giggled and pinched me on the shoulder. “Yeah, Hyunsuk hyung forgot to turn off the stove-” I pretended to cover his mouth to keep him quiet.

“N E ways, let’s move on!”

❀ ❀ ❀

I always stayed up ‘til 4am to edit videos, alone. Junhyuk was always asleep by ten, my orders.

Then, I heard a knock on my door. I jumped at the sound since I wasn’t expecting anyone. The door opened, revealing a cheeky looking Junhyuk. “Hyung?” He called out.

I sighed and walked over to him. “Why are you still up?” I ruffled his hair and carried him over to my bed.

“Hm, I couldn’t sleep.” He whined, laying on my bed. “Can I sleep here?” I sighed and pretended to pout.

“Alright buddy, but you gotta leave some room for me.” I grumbled jokingly. He nodded and snuggled up to my blanket.

“Oh yeah hyung, I forgot to tell you, y/n accidentally dropped something while leaving, it totally left my mind.” I turned around in my chair, jaw dropped.

“Junhyuk.” I reprimanded, crossing my arms with a frown. Junhyuk whined and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I forgot! It was a makeup case though, she might need it soon.”

I groaned, running to my bed to tickle the boy. “Makeup case?? You know y/n is a makeup artist now?? She probably needs that!” I exclaimed furiously. I tickled him even harder, but he kicked me away.

“I’m sorry, sorry! Just text her now!” Junhyuk said with a cheeky smile. I rolled my eyes, wondering when my young, innocent brother had become so evil.

I grunted and stared at her number. “She’s probably not even up at this hour.” I noted lamely, different to my usual behavior. But, I knew she was up. It was winter break and I knew y/n didn’t sleep, like ever.

I sighed and whipped out my phone. Even if she wasn’t awake, she would see the message when she wakes up.

‘hey y/n, it’s hyunsuk. so my brother said that he found your makeup case on the ground and he didnt tell me til now cuz he forgot about it, so whenever you have the time, i can return it :)’ I sent the text without reading and set my phone down.

“There sent, she probably won’t-” Before I could finish talking, I heard my phone buzz. Junhyuk covered his giggle with the blanket as I threw my slippers at him.

‘omg thank you!!! i was looking all over for that!! are you free tmrw at noon? we can meet at the same mall’ -y/n

I gulped as Junhyuk popped out of bed to look at my phone. I pushed him away and started to text the girl back.

‘sounds good, i’ll meet you there’ I texted back simply.

She didn’t reply.

“Ah hyung, you got a date!” Junhyuk teased. I felt my face heat up and I tackled the younger boy. He screamed as I pushed him on the bed and I covered him up with the blankets. “Hyung, you should totally ask her about making a video, like one of those ‘my girlfriend does my makeup’-” I covered his mouth and rolled him over.

“Shut up, let’s go to sleep now, it’s WAY past your bedtime.” He pouted and pinched my cheeks, but eventually gave up. I yawned and hit the lights with some rolled up socks.

I laid in bed, listening to Junhyuk’s soft snores as I felt my heart race at the thought of seeing y/n again.

❀ ❀ ❀

I had good fashion.

Everyone always commented on it and ever since then, I started to buy more fashion magazines and look through different models online.

But right now, I felt weird for dressing so nicely to meeting y/n.

I was sitting in the mall, trying to hide my face with hat, but everyone always recognized me. I was pretty short and my fashion stood out.

“oh my gosh, is that hyunsuk??”

“No, no, that can’t be, he wouldn’t be here right now.”

I felt bad as they walked away, but I didn’t want people to know I was here. I didn’t want people taking pictures of me and y/n.

“Wow, I can see you never grew out of the hat phase.” I looked up from my phone and saw y/n smiling at me. I chuckled and shook my head.

“Well, not everyone changes from high school.” I teased, looking at her face. She scoffed and sat down.

“Just because I started to wear makeup after high school doesn’t mean that I changed completely.” She snapped, flipping her hair dramatically. I laughed and scooted in my chair so that we were closer.

Y/n was always good at doing makeup, but never wore it on herself. “I have to wear it because who trusts a makeup artist who doesn’t wear makeup.” She complained while putting her hand out.

I plopped the makeup case in her hand and gave her a flirty smile. “Here you go, next time you lose things, just call me.” She raised a brow and put her case in her bag slowly.

“I see fame did not change your flirty ways.” She commented while sipping on her coffee. I shrugged my shoulders and wiggled my eyebrows, something she always hated. She rolled her eyes, hiding a smile.

“Fame? Am I famous now?” I joked. She almost spit out her drink at my words.

“Excuse me? I hear your name about ten times a day from walking around, and I hear it a million times more when I’m babysitting Naeun. It’s crazy, Hyunsuk.” I blushed at all her compliments. I hid my red cheeks by sipping on my drink.

“But, I always knew you would make it. You’re a really funny dude.” She patted me on the arm, not thinking much of physical touch. I let out a forced laughter.

It was true, y/n always told me I should become famous. I thought she was joking, but I admit she went through my mind when I started doing YouTube.

“Thanks, but my good looks helped me as well.” She choked on her drink and laughed at me. I couldn’t help but laugh along with her as well-- it was contagious.

“Oh gosh, still the same ego, Hyunsuk. The same.” She rolled her eyes and stood. “As much as I would love to go down memory lane, I have to dogsit for my friends in an hour.” I nodded and stood with her.

“Um, it was nice seeing you though, and uh, also, I’m not sure if you saw pictures of us circulating... but uh...” She stopped walking and turned to me.

“I saw, and it’s fine, I mean, you’re famous, and things like that don’t bother me much.” She bit her lip, a habit she had when she as lying. “Don’t worry about it.” She patted me on the back and turned to walk away.

“Cool, bye y/n.” She waved back and smiled at me.

“Good luck.”

“You too.”

And I walked away as well.

❀ ❀ ❀

I woke up to Junhyuk jumping on my bed, shoving his phone in my face.

“Hyung, hyung, hyung!” He screamed, interrupting my afternoon nap. I groaned and tried to shove him off. “Look at the news, you and y/n are trending!”

That woke me up. I tossed off my hat and stared at his phone.

[BREAKING] Famous YouTuber, Choi Hyunsuk, found to be in a relationship with a girl from his high school, her name was revealed to be Y/N and she happens to be a well looked upon makeup artist on instagam and owns her own salon. Stay tuned for more info on this and if the world’s sweetheart and flirt, Hyunsuk, will respond.

My jaw dropped at the article, my mind spun with all this false information.

I looked at my phone and saw two missed calls from y/n. “Fuck.” I said angrily. I immediately called her back.

She picked up almost immediately. “HYUNSUK, AAAHH” She screamed in my ear. I held the phone away and pushed Junhyuk away.

“Look, I know, I know, it’s a lot! Lemme just think!” I said, trying to calm her down. Y/n was a lot when she was stressed, and it seemed like she was stressed right now.

“We literally were seen TWICE, and people think we are dating?? Do people think that going on 2 dates is in a relationship?!” She exclaimed. I heard her drinking water over the phone, probably one of her stress things.

“Look, I’m surprised too, but I can fix this, it’s fine!”

Before, I could finish my sentence, Junhyuk snatched the phone from me and put in on speaker.

“Hey y/n noona!” He called out. “Hey, Junhyuk, what’s up?” Her tone softened, but I could tell she was still tense.

“I have an idea actually on how to fix this!” He announced, looking at me with stern eyes. I tried not to push him over.

“Ok... how?”

“Come over and film a video with us, like a ‘my girlfriend does my makeup’, but instead of girlfriend, it’ll just be friend, and it’ll show that you guys are just friends instead of dating. And yes, it’ll make more people ship you, but at least people will know the truth and people will stop harassing you for answers.”

That... that was a good idea.

I heard y/n breathing through the phone, thinking of her response.

“Ok, fine. When should I come?”

❀ ❀ ❀

She was dog sitting until 7pm, so she was coming at 8. And right now, it was 7:30.

“Hyung, calm down, you should start writing a script.” I sighed and grabbed my flimsy notebook. “It’s gonna be okay, and if it all works out, she’ll actually be your girlfriend.” I grabbed for his cheeks but he flinched away.

“You lil punk!” I poked him on his side, but he ran away before I could do any major damage.

I set down my notebook, not needing to write anything out and instead worked on setting up my camera so we could start right as she came. I sprayed cologne on myself, making sure I didn’t smell like shit.

I fixed my shirt and made sure it looked loose, yet still stylish.

Why are you doing this? You’re such a loser.

Then, I heard the doorbell ring.

“I got it!” Junhyuk yelled, running down the stairs. Before I could stop him, he was already tossing the door open. That punk.

“Hey, Junhyuk, how are you?”

“Better now that you’re here.” The girl stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes at him. She lightly flicked his forehead and stepped in the house.

“You’ve been hanging around your brother too much, stop picking up his corny pick up lines.” I laughed as she insulted me.

“Well excuse you, those lines actually work.” She sighed dramatically and shook her head. “No it’s not the lines that work, it’s the face.” She shrugged and closed the door behind her.

“Anyways, let’s start, I’m kind of camera shy so...” She frowned and held out her big makeup case. I assumed the other case was just a backup. My eyes widened as I rolled up my sleeves.

“Well, this way, ma’dam.” She chuckled at my dramatic act, but followed me either way. “Your house is huge.” She commented while staring at our chandelier.

“Yeah, Hyunsuk likes to show it off to girls.” I punched Junhyuk on the arm as the girl raised a brow.

She was wearing a casual sweater with black skinnies. Her eyes were fierce as she her makeup was carefully and precisely done. It was amazing what she did with makeup.

I was lowkey jealous.

I showed her to our filming room and she gasped. “What?” I quickly said.

She shook her head in laughter. “Nothing, it’s just so weird to see this room since it’s in all of your videos. I feel famous, heh,” She chuckled before sitting on the bench we had for filming. “Let’s start!” She cheered.

I sucked in a breath at all of her products. I don’t know what I got myself into.

“Um, so just when we tell you to say your name, just say it. We don’t really write a script since we mostly vlog and do dumb challenges.” I said sheepishly. She nodded and brushed her hair out of her face.

“Great. I feel so secure now.” She said, sarcasm laced in her voice. I snorted and had Junhyuk turn on the camera.

“Good, we’re starting in three.. two..” The red light was on.

“Yo wassup guys, this is big bunny with,”

“Lil bunny!” Junhyuk popped his head in the frame.

“And today, we have a special guest...”

She paused for a moment, staring at me. “Oh, um, y/n.” I snorted and moved on.

“And today we’re doing a very the ‘my friend does my makeup challenge’ since I think it’s well known that you do makeup now.” Y/n rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure everyone and their mom has seen my works for now. I guess I can’t be too mad about that.” I laughed and clapped my hands together.

“So, uh, it’s sorta self-explanatory, y/n will be doing my makeup today and I hope I’ll look pretty afterwards.” I did the famous flower pose, and she pretended to barf. “Rude.” I mumbled, but I couldn’t help the smile that lit up my face.

“First, foundation.”

❀ ❀ ❀

It took 3 hours for her to do my makeup, and she told me that was her rushing. The filming process was tiring and hard.

“Ok, done with the eyes, not all we have left is lips.” She cheered, showing me my face with a small mirror. I saw the intense brown and smokey eyeshadow, which made my eyes pop. I burst out laughing, same as Junhyuk.

She gasped and hit my shoulder. “Shut up! You look hot.” She commented. I tried not to blush as she said that. I giggled instead and tried to kiss her cheek. She pushed me away. I expected that.

“Relax your lips.” I raised my brows in surprise, a cheeky smile appearing on my face.

“Excuse me?” She hit my shoulder, making me gasp in pain.

“Stop talking and do as I say.” I relaxed my lips, trying not to laugh as she applied lipstick to me.

I let my eyes run over her soft features. Her brows were knotted together from focus and she pursed her lips, scrunching her nose as well. She was even more beautiful up close.

“There, you’re all finished.” She said, clapping her hands together. I took one look at myself with lipstick on and wished I could burn the photo as fast as possible. She giggled as she kept staring at me.

“I hope you think you’re beautiful because this is some of my best work.” She pouted and shoved the mirror in my face. I could hear Junhyuk giggling in the background.

“You’re right, I look fabulous.” I hummed, appeasing her.

“And uh, that’s it for this video! See you all next week, hopefully I’ll look like me again.” I laughed in the camera’s face and sighed, my back aching from having her draw on my face for so long.

“Don’t be such a wimp, Hyunsuk. You look fine.” She said while putting all her makeup away. I took out the wipes and started to wipe away. “I need to sleep, I cannot have this all of my face. How do girls put this on everyday?”

“Because girls are stronger than men?” Junhyuk noted from afar. Y/n nodded and saluted him. “You were raised well, Junhyukie.”

I bit my tongue from saying he was raised by me.

“Well, this was fun, but I need to get home now. I have work in the mornings, see you sometime.” She walked downstairs, her makeup clanking with each step.

“It’s weird seeing you after high school, I feel like we’re so different, yet the same.” She nodded and leaned against the door frame.

“I feel like I see you everyday because of your vlogs, maybe that’s why your fans think they’re dating you.” She teased. I blushed and shook my head with a smile.

“Sorry, you’re probably gotten some weird messages.” She snorted and pulled out her phone.

“Look, some girl asked me what were your favorite things to do in bed, and asked me if I could show her.” My eyes widened at the message. “It’s disgusting. Like, why would I share with that with her pfft.” She joked and I hit her on the arm playfully.

“Just go, you have a long day tomorrow.” She sighed, like she was remembering the long day she would have.

“You’re right. Good night, Hyunsuk.”

I gave her a small smile. “Night y/n. Drive safely.”

She nodded and walked out the door.

I watched her leave, making sure she got out of the driveway safely.

“oOOoOOoO Hyunsuk’s got a crush!”

“Shut up, Junhyuk!”

But I couldn’t help but smile.

❀ ❀ ❀

I uploaded the video a week after we filmed it as editing had taken longer than usual and we had videos that were already planned.

I watched as the comments flooded in.

“omg, so theyre only friends? darn they look so cute together!”

“she’s hilarious!!! have her in more of your videos!!”

“her laugh is annoying and her makeup skills... yikes. how did she make it?”

“uhhhh can i marry this girl? she’s so cute”

“ugh shes so ugly i hate her.”

“omg did u see the way hyunsuk looked at her when she applied his lipstick?? he is in love omg”

“if hyunsuk doesnt tap that soon, i will LMAO”

“Hyung, are you reading the comments?” I immediately scrolled to a more age appropriate one.

I pretended to be surprised when I saw him. “Uh yah, I always do.” He pouted and sat next to me in my bed. “I hate reading them but sometimes I love reading them.” I nodded, knowing how he felt.

“Hyung, I like her, are you going to date her?” Junhyuk asked innocently. I patted his head, thinking about how to respond.

“Dating is a two way street, but I’m sure y/n would like to hang out with us again. She’s really fun to be around.”

Junhyuk nodded and yawned loudly. “Yeah, and pretty.”

I heard him start to snore, as I thought carefully about his words.

“That too.” I mumbled, answering his statement from before.

❀ ❀ ❀

‘omg hyunsuk you wouldn’t believe what just happened’ -y/n.

I jolted up at her text, reading it again.

‘what?? you finally admit youre falling for my good looks?? ;)’

‘...in ur dreams loser.’

I laughed at her response.

‘no, someone came up to me today, in the salon, and asked for a picture with me!!’ My eyes widened at her statement.

‘wtf... cuz u were in one of my videos??’

‘YES. she said she loved us two together and hope we start dating.... i didnt know what to say’

I bit my lip as I typed the next line. ‘uhhhh an ok wouldve sufficed ;)’

‘go away hyunsuk, your lady killer charms wont work on me’ I raised a brow at her text.

‘lady killer?’

‘yah, thats what people call boys like u >:(’

‘well i dont wanna kill girls, i wanna k*ss them :(’

‘..... i need to go back to work, later loser’

‘have fun~’

❀ ❀ ❀

Weeks had passed since I met up with y/n in person and I admit, I was going crazy. Somehow, we were texting daily and the conversations weren’t dry and boring as it was with other girls.

“Hyung, I miss y/n.” Junhyuk whined to me. I rolled my eyes, feeling my heart beat pick up at his words.

“Well, she has work right now. There’s nothing I can do.” I pouted, equally as sad as him. Junhyuk looked at me with puppy eyes.

“Let’s visit her.” He whined with bright eyes. “I don’t see why we can’t, she works in a public place and we can bring her treats.”

I thought long and hard about his suggestion.

One minute later, I spoke.

“Fine, let’s go.”

❀ ❀ ❀

I turned on the car camera we had and waved to the camera.

“Yo guys, it’s big bunny and lil bunny here today, and right now, we are on a secret mission to surprise y/n at work!” I exclaimed, pulling into the drive through window of Dairy Queen.

“So, what you guys don’t know is that y/n LOVES chicken strips and ice cream, so that’s what we are getting her...”

“And all of her co-workers!” Junhyuk added. I nodded.

“Uhhh hi, can I get-”

“OMG ARE YOU CHOI HYUNSUK? AAAHH AND JUNHYUK TOO??? OH MY GOD!!” The girl screamed as I approached the window. I laughed and flashed her a charming smile.

“Hmmm, well yes, do you know who I am?” I teased. The girl nodded, tears filling her eyes. “Aw don’t cry, it’s just me.” I smiled and tilted my head at her. She squealed.

“Oh gosh, what can I get you?” She said quickly. I answered quickly to ease her tension.

“Um, can I got 10 orders of chicken nuggets and 10 oreo blizzards as well?” Her eyes widened.

“Of course, anything else?” I shook my head as she started to take pictures of me. Of course, I smiled for the camera.

“Nope, thank you!” I cheered.

The same thing happened at the next window.

“This is a lot of food, are you guys doing a mukbang?” The girl asked curiously. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders.

“Hmmm not quite, you’ll see when the video airs next Wednesday, stay tuned.” I winked at her as she plopped the food in my hands.

“I love you!” She cheered as we drove away.

Junhyuk and I stared at the camera. “We love our fans, they’re so cute and passionate.” I noted. Junhyuk nodded. “And they’re always so nice.”

We arrived at y/n’s work shortly after and brought the bags with us.

“Damn, it’s so hard to carry the camera and this food at the same time!” I exclaimed, trying to balance everything.

Junhyuk nodded while carrying most of the stuff since I was carrying the camera. “Now, let’s go in!”

We walked in the makeup shop and immediately were bombarded by tons of screaming and yelling.

“OH MY GOD IT’S HYUNSUK AND JUNHYUK!!! AAAHHH”

I saw phones being pulled out and jaws dropping. I would usually pause and look for the cameras, but this time, I was looking for y/n.

And then I saw her.

She was sitting in chair with her eyebrows up to her hairline. “What are you doing?” She mouthed. I held out food. “I got you food, as well as your co-workers.” She wanted to glare at me, but she sighed.

“Oh my god, it’s y/n and Hyunsuk! OH MY OJGKSDFJG”

“MY SHIP! AAAHH! IT’S HAPPENING!” I saw girls whipping out their phones, but I didn’t care.

Y/n then stood up abruptly and guided me to break room. I had switched off the camera as she pulled me away, knowing my viewers would be curious about what we would talk about, alone.

She then pointed at the freezer. “Put the blizzards in the freezer.” She said while setting the chicken strips on the table. She looked stressed and I was quite confused. Most girls would be fawning over me right now...

Junhyuk was still outside, probably chatting it up with the older girls.

“Surprise?” I said sheepishly with a smile, but she only gave me a hard one back. “What’s wrong?” I asked quietly. She sighed and crossed her arms, which was a bad sign.

“Nothing it’s just... I don’t know, a little stressed out?” I tilted my head in curiosity.

“‘Cause of work?” She nodded and started to eat one of the blizzards.

“Yes, that and ever since our scandal blew up, business has been booming and of course, I’m happy! But it’s been quite overwhelming... and also, some people just come in my work to stalk me out and it’s quite annoying, and sorta scary. I don’t know... people aren’t always nice...” She trailed off, her eyes turning glossy.

I felt my heart pinch as I never meant to hurt her because of my fame. I took a step towards her, but she took one back.

“Ouch.” I spat out loud, coming out harsher than I had wanted.

“I’m sorry, Hyunsuk. Whatever you’re trying to do, I don’t want it. Actually, I just can’t handle it...” She looked into the distance as she said her next works. “You’re a great guy but...”

I nodded, gritting my teeth.

“Don’t worry, I understand.” I said a little too harshly. The girl stepped back, surprised because of my harsh tone.

“I get it, you’re scared. So was every girl I was interested in, you’re the same as them I guess. I was wrong.” I said impulsively.

Shit, why did I say that?

Y/N’s expressions dropped, making me regret my words. She scoffed and put the blizzard down.

“If you think I’m the same as every other girl, then you’re wrong.” She defended, crossing her arms, her eyes angry and stern.

I gulped, unable to say anything else. My blood was boiling and I felt like kicking something, but my mom raised me better than to do that.

Then, Junhyuk came into the room.

“Hey, um, sorry I got carried away.”

The atmosphere was tense as y/n and I were still breathing heavily.

“C’mon, we’re leaving.” I snapped, taking my keys out.

Junhyuk glanced over to y/n. “W-what, we-”

“Let’s go.” I raised my tone at him which meant I was mad. He knew I never would raise my tone for no reason.

“You can sneak out the back door.”

I nodded, not wanting to acknowledge her kindness.

“And Hyunsuk?” She spoke up. I took a deep breath before spinning around.

“Yes?”

“I hope the next girl is different. And I hope you toss the ego of yours out the window because it’s getting unattractive.”

I grit my teeth and tore open the door, practically tossing Junhyuk outside.

“What-”

“Nothing. I’m done. We’re done or whatever.”

❀ ❀ ❀

It had been two days since the event and I was still upset.

Was I being a prick?

How dare she say my ego was unattractive! I was confident, but never cocky. I knew my fame, but I never took advantage of it.

Soon, my door popped open and Junhyuk poked his head in.

“Hyung, are you okay?” He asked quietly. I snorted and grabbed my phone off the night stand.

“I’m fine.” I said harshly, immediately regretting it as he looked hurt. I sighed and turned on my lamp. “Come here.” I whispered. He ran over to me and laid on my bed, cuddling my soft blanket.

I patted his head as he closed his eyes.

“Are you and y/n over?”

I clenched my jaw, feeling hurt all over at her name.

“We never started, Junhyuk, never started.”

I thought Junhyuk fell asleep until he played with my sleeve.

“Hyung?” He whispered. I nodded and pulled him closer to me.

“Yeah?”

“She’s right, sometimes your ego gets a little much. And not because you walk around like you’re the hottest shit, it’s because you’re trying to throw her into this lifestyle too quickly and judging her when she couldn’t handle it.”

“You should’ve told her that you would fight for her when she told you to go away... girls like that stuff.”

I gasped and flicked his forehead. “You were listening.” He blushed and nodded quickly.

“I was... sorry. But I couldn’t help it. You guys sounded too scary to get involved.”

I gave him a tight smile and patted his head a bit harder.

“When did you learn what girls like?”

Junhyuk giggled and locked eyes with me. “You. You always told me that precious things should be fought for. And I think y/n can be a precious person to you.”

And at those words, he fell asleep.

Fuck, I screwed up.

❀ ❀ ❀

Was getting roses too much for an apology? No... y/n likes the color red. She’ll like these.

But she hates having so much attention on her.

But I’ll be the only one there... so that’s only a one person attention.

I sighed and adjusted my gray button up.

It was the end of her shift for the day, meaning there was no people in the salon besides. I remember her telling me that she stayed 30 minutes after the salon closed so that she could clean up.

I took a deep breath and entered the salon.

“We’re closed-”

She stopped talking when she saw me standing there with roses and with a suit. She dropped her broom and covered her mouth.

“Oh my god, you did not!” She exclaimed, surprise written all over her face.

I nodded and smiled softly. “I did though...” She stared at me with adoration and she crossed her arms.

“So... you finally put your ego away?”

I nodded and handed her the flowers. “Yes, my brother told me I was a dumbass, and I realized he was right. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, you were right to have your own feelings about being put in the spotlight. I was a prick for thinking everyone was used to the celeb life.” I smirked and poked her with a flower.

She huffed and pushed it away, glaring at me. “You’re an idiot.”

I nodded slowly.

“Only for you.”

I leaned in to kiss her, but the girl backed away slowly. “U-um, sorry, lemme try that again.” She whispered, scrunching her nose together.

I chuckled at her shyness, but leaned in once more, finally getting that kiss I’ve always wanted.

[BREAKING] Y/N and YouTuber Choi Hyunsuk confirmed to be dating! They were spotted locking lips in Y/n’s very own salon after hours! Congrats to the new couple!

#yg treasure box #ygtblbr #yg treasure box scenarios #ygtb scenarios #ygtb #ygtb imagines #yg treasure box imagines #choi hyunsuk #hyunsuk scenarios #hyunsuk imagines #choi hyunsuk scenarios #hyunsuk

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nathanmillers · 6 years ago

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tagged by @zavens!! thank you so much for thinking of me :)

rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. don’t cheat. tag 10 (or however many) peeps.

my shows:

1. the 100

2. teen wolf

3. shadowhunters

4. daredevil

5. stranger things

questions:

1. who is your favorite character in 2?

— scott!! he will always have a place in my heart because he’s so soft, courageous, and will 100% do anything for the people he cares about. he also has a strong moral compass that is unique about him in the show, because he honestly just wants to save everyone, even the bad guys. he was done dirty in his own show— constantly being overshadowed, made a true alpha but then barely being able to use his powers to their full potential because “reasons.”

2. who is your least favorite character in 1?

—i would say e.cho, but she isn’t really a character at this point (just a plot device), so i’m just gonna go ahead and say octanakin

3. what is your favorite episode of 4?

—probably 3x13 because it was an excellent finale and the acting was truly INCREDIBLE on everyone’s part.

4. what is your favorite season of 5?

— two, because they introduced some new characters really well while also making me love the recurring ones even more. the character-driven and action-driven episodes were well-balanced and babysitter!steve was iconic.

5. who is your favorite couple in 3?

— it’s a tie between malec and sizzy, i just love them both!

6. who is your favorite couple in 2?

—yeah i’m basic and ship stydia. i just wish we would have gotten more actual canon content than a kiss and then ... barely anything at the end of the last season.

7. what is your favorite episode in 1?

— day trip was thrilling, humorous, and also provided essential dynamic-building for bellarke, but i also love nevermore because it was INTENSE and lindsey’s acting was amazing! nevermind was incredible too. agh, there are too many to choose from

8. what is your favorite episode of 5?

— 2x09had all the best content: babysitter!steve, “yeah it’s me dont cream your pants”, amazing acting, el being badass, dad!hopper, will being cared for, etc

9. what is your favorite season of 2?

— season 3 is one of the best seasons in american television

10. how long have you watched 1?

— since june 2015 when only season 1 was on netflix and season 2 was still ongoing. i think it was on 2x06 when i caught up (it took me 24 hours to watch it all)

11. how did you become interested in 3?

— i was a big fan of the mortal instruments books, so of course i was ecstatic when it was going to become a tv show. i loved the cast (particularly how they actually made clary a redhead and not a red-velvet-head, added so much diversity, and made alec not look 35) and watched the pilot it when it aired. i ended up liking it a lot more than the books, which i have since stopped reading because there are way too many and i find them problematic and annoying

12. who is your favorite actor in 4?

— i’m gonna be a basic bitch and say charlie cox. his performance as daredevil is amazing and his emotional range is fantastic— he played matt’s dark side really well and is also capable of being the softest bean!! he’s also so funny in general

13. which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

—i like them all for different reasons, but i’m the most emotionally invested in 1 for now. it has me in a chokehold with no sign of letting me escape.

14. which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

—the 100 has had more seasons, so 1.

15. if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

—karen page because she is my MOM.

16. would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

—i feel like anything is capable in the marvel universe. matt encountering shadowhunters while fighting crime in hell’s kitcen?? discovering that there are demons lurking around?? it could totally work. i can see simon fanboying over matt’s fighting skills and i would love to see him obliterate “the infamous jace herondale” in a sparring match!

17. pair two characters in 1 that would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple

—remember during season 3b when people shipped raven and jasper? yeah, i was one of them (i still have their ship tag on my blog but i can’t remember what it is!). i think it had potential because jasper was so concerned about her and they bonded over their trauma (“nothing like a little pain to remind you you’re still alive”). they had such a great dynamic that was constantly overlooked!

18. overall, which story has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

—i’d say 3 because the worldbuilding is better. i don’t think we were ever given an explanation for the upside down or why hawkins is where the gate is, aside from the fact it’s a parallel universe (or something?). why did the demogorgan choose 1983 to strike? if these were answered, i forgot about it. also, shadowhunters does an incredible job giving each character a storyline and development, which i think was lacking for some of the characters in season 3 of ST.

19. which has the better theme music, 2 or 4?

—both of them are just instrumentals snjsjsjajs omg but teen wolf’s iconic DUN DUN, DUN DUN, DUNANANANANNANANANANANA will always make me go ham. daredevil’s theme music is beautiful but it’s also pretty long and i usually skipped it.

tags: @hostagetakerandhistraitor @clarkgriffon @thelightreflects @bellaarke @notsoplatonicsoulmates @kombellarke @cllarkegriffin @galaxyblake @blakes-griffin @bellamysgriffinprincess

#i was tagged

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justoneofthoseghosts · 2 years ago

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You bring up a really great point about most of the viewers of shows are casual viewers, I think that those of us in the fandom often forget this. At the end if the day, it's a business for them. PD is a very good example of this. I don't know what happened behind the scenes with JLS but it seems to me that both sides were not able to agree on contracts. Did it hurt the franchise, maybe to those who were big fans of Halstead and his relationship, but for a casual viewer not so much. The ratings haven't been terrible for PD, it didn't drop drastically as some have made it out to be. The show has still been able to move on with major cast departures, and this applies to Med and Fire as well, because a majority of the people watching are casual viewers, they have no stake in favorite characters or ships, it's just another show in a line up of shows they watch.

I also see where fan service can come into play and how it can help and hurt a franchise. For me that's a good and a bad thing, especially for those who only watch shows for ships.

Look at 'The Rookie' they finally got Chenford together but this often scares me because if the writers are not good at making the characters multidimensional, those two will only be tied together. With no growth for characters only the relationship and often times is the female character who suffers like Hawkami and the writers putting the ships growth before the character (Violet). Or they can scream dislike of the show until the end of the show like New Amsterdam fans.

It's going to be interesting how the absence of TK will affect CF and how NBC chooses to go forward should he decides to permanently step away instead of returning.

Sorry if this came off as a tangent but something I was thinking about after I read your anon.

I agree with all of this, Nonny! And no need to apologize. My inbox is always open to any thoughts you and others may have 🤗

While streaming has been on the rise, a lot of these network procedurals still draw in so many causal viewers and OC has Wednesday nights in a chokehold. It was a great decision for NBC to line them up in one night because that does increase ratings and I noticed how Fire's increased beginning season 7.

I am wondering though why they haven’t announced renewals yet but maybe Wolf Entertainment is still trying to negotiate a deal for another multi season renewal. Procedurals tend to run longer than other types of shows, in my opinion, because even with cast changes, people still tune in. Most viewers aren’t really tuning in for the ships. They want some type of entertainment through action or cases and probably something to take their minds off their busy day. CSI ran for 15 seasons even with a lot of the cast leaving and new characters coming in. I can honestly see the same thing happening for OC if NBC decides to keep the 10 pm hour after next season and if they continue to get renewed. For actors, while it is a stable, paying gig, sometimes they might want change or some new challenge. Playing the same character for x years can be tiring too, While we can’t speculate about Taylor and his LOA, and I hope he's okay, if he decides not to come back, they can look for another actor with a similar level of popularity and make him the lead. It opens up more writing opportunities (or maybe rehashing old storylines lol) but Jesse and potentially, Taylor leaving doesn't mean the shows are over. Same for PD with JLS (and I am quite curious about what went down with that) and Med with all the cast changes.

You bring up a good point on fan service too. Writers seem to scroll through fandom Twitter or social media to see what people are buzzing about. Love it when they give in to it but also, there’s a bit too much bad writing on these networks. 22 episode seasons are a doozy unlike shorter shows on streaming sites or UK shows that only have 6 to 10 episodes which leaves less room for error or lazy writing or fillers but again, the base the writers are playing too is less the fandom but more casual viewers who they need to keep tuning in weekly. Casual viewers don't really analyze when a character is OOC or if a ship tanked.

At the end of the day, we can scream, sigh, fangirl/boy about everything about TV and that’s just the roller coaster of emotions. TV shows should be fun and (maybe if it isn't all the time) a stress free way to unwind!

#answered #anon tag

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forest-of-stories · 7 years ago

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The “Evolution” of a Problematic Shipper

[I’ve been working on this lengthy post, which is about my early adventures in X-Men: Evolution fanfiction, for a very long time. So, here it is, friends. Please note a content warning for some discussion of abuse, mostly in fiction. Also, my individual recollections are my own, and extremely subjective; others might remember the fandom differently than I do.]

Quite a few years ago, I wrote about how X-Men: Evolution was “the first fandom in which I participated heavily: watching the show as it aired, obsessing with other fans about the stories and relationships within, and writing reams and reams of (mostly very bad) fic.” I still think that this is somewhat true; XME certainly inspired me to do all of those things more publicly and enthusiastically than I ever had before, especially where my One True Pairing was concerned.

For those who don’t know, X-Men: Evolution, which ran from 2000 to 2003, was essentially an animated High School AU of the X-Men comics in which our heroes lived and trained at the Xavier Institute but attended classes at their local high school. For the first couple of seasons, mutants weren’t public knowledge as they are in the comics or movies, so a few characters used their powers for the first time without understanding what was going on.

The second episode, “The X-Impulse,” introduced viewers to (this world’s version of) Kitty Pryde, a lonely, sheltered fifteen-year-old who was terrified of her newly awakened ability to walk through walls, and to Lance Alvers, a juvenile delinquent whose own powers caused him to make awkward faces and terrible puns (and also earthquakes, I guess). When they met, Lance seemed happy and excited to meet someone else with super-powers, but he quickly developed a plan to manipulate Kitty into helping him in his criminal shenanigans. He presented himself as helpful and supportive, gained her trust, and, when she refused him help him, became aggressive and violent toward her and her family. The episode ended with Kitty recruited by the X-Men and Lance joining the bad guys, and the two of them spent the rest of the season as enemies.

Watching this episode for the first time as a teenager, I knew that Lance’s behavior toward Kitty was wrong and abusive. And yet, there was something about their early interactions that captured my imagination. Maybe it was the fact that, whatever else might have happened, he was the first person to show her how to find confidence and joy in her powers. Maybe it was the hug that they shared, or his line, “Once you own it, nothing can own you,” or the possibility, thwarted though it might have been, that they could have formed an understanding despite very different backgrounds and attitudes. I liked forbidden romances, and I liked flipping the script to make unquestioned heroes seem villainous and villains seem sympathetic, and I liked when characters rebelled against controlling authority figures and communities, which is how I reimagined the X-Men when I first started writing about them. I’m not saying that I explored any of those ideas well, but they were what started me writing: at first in collaboration with a friend from summer camp, who still deserves a lot of the credit, and then on my own. I posted my solo stories on Fanfiction.net, where this fandom would enjoy some remarkable popularity that I’m not sure has ever transferred to any other platform.

I wrote about Lance infiltrating the X-Men (with psychic shields in place), and having to choose between his original mission and his romance with Kitty, whose own commitment to her team and its mission was starting to waver. I wrote about her trying to figure out her identity beyond her friends’ expectations of her, even as Lance tried to be a better and less destructive person. I wrote about Charles Xavier mind-controlling Kitty into dismissing Lance and falling back into unquestioning loyalty, giving way to several well-received sequels in which some of the characters tried to free themselves and each other from Xavier’s telepathic chokehold. I wrote without much direction or concern for established continuity and characterization, and assumed the whole time that the show would never explore what I saw as the unrecognized potential of my OTP. When canon actually went there, I was as surprised as anybody.

After Lance had spent the entire premiere of Season 2, “Growing Pains,” acting like a complete jerk to Kitty and her friends, his destructiveness endangered her life, and he saved her. They became romantically involved soon afterward, and he became noticeably less of a jerk toward her and slightly less of a jerk toward others. The series of fics that I was working on had decisively departed from continuity by this point, but I still incorporated elements of the season premiere into the installment that I was posting at the time. And my fellow Lance/Kitty shippers, believing that canon had vindicated us, were transported with joy.

If XME were popular today, I believe that there would be a lot more pushback against Lance/Kitty, in both good and bad ways. Even at the time, the pairing was not universally beloved. There were probably those who thought that its dysfunctional beginnings outweighed any potential for functionality or sweetness, and there were definitely those who thought that both characters would be better off with someone else. It’s tempting to rewrite history with claims that “in my day, we shipped and let ship,” and it’s true that yesterday’s shipping conflicts didn’t use all of the same weapons that today’s do, but the fandom was still full of snarky, self-important brats who, no matter which side of any given argument we were on, believed that only we understood these characters and this world.

I say “we,” because I was not exempt from these behaviors. I’ve sometimes thought that participation in this fandom brought out some of my worst habits. But a lot of positive things came out of it as well. It gave me the inspiration and confidence to write more prolifically than I ever had before (or maybe even since), and a chance to explore ideas that became deeply important to me: perhaps most importantly, I don’t think I’d written so extensively or publicly about the horrors of mind control. Mutual devotion to our show and its fandom, and mutual conviction that Lance and Kitty were meant to be, connected me with a number of friends with whom I started exchanging emails and IMs and LiveJournal comments, and I’ve kept in touch with a couple of them to this day. And even though I didn’t always respond constructively to attention and validation, XME fandom gave me what I think fandom has given a lot of creative young people: a wider audience for my writing, and a community who cared about the lives and feelings of cartoon characters as much as I did, and in many of the same ways. My experience in this fandom was as uneven and as flawed (dare one say… problematic?), and often as delightful, as the show that inspired it.

And, for me, it had all started with Lance and Kitty. As the show progressed, and for years after it ended, I continued to write more canon-compliant one-shot stories about them: missing scenes or predictions for the future. Their relationship was a given in more or less everything I wrote, whether or not they were the focus, and even when I’d fallen deeply into other fandoms, I still regarded it with nostalgic fondness.

I think that a lot of us have faced an uncomfortable tension between our social consciences and our nostalgia for the uncomplicated adoration with which we viewed our “problematic faves” as children. I can’t provide a one-size-fits-all solution for that conflict. I don’t know if one exists.

“Although I'm not going to say that I never thought that I'd be engaging with XME again in any way,” I blogged in late 2013, as my local cartoon-watching group began the first season, “I was somewhat surprised that I had any feelings about this show left, or anything else to say.” But I did, and I said a lot of it in short ficlets of less than 500 words, which - since I was in graduate school at the time - were usually all that my energy levels would allow.

At around the same time, I started reading fandom-related posts on Tumblr, including the ones that stated or implied that redemption arcs in fiction, and/or shipping characters with people who had mistreated them, were universally bad because they would increase the likelihood of real-life abuse. It’s not like I had never thought about that aspect of Lance and Kitty’s relationship (I’d addressed it more than once in the intervening time), but something about phrasing of those posts - or maybe something about my own mental state when I saw them - sent me into a spiral of self-doubt. I wondered I would have to publicly apologize for and cast aside my affection for a pairing and a narrative that had been so deeply formative for me. I wondered if my friends would consider me an abuse apologist if I didn’t, or even whether I might secretly be one.

One of the reasons why it took me a long time to write this retrospective is that I wanted to avoid too many lengthy tangents or blanket statements about critical consumption of media, the toxic elements of “anti-shipping,” and the relationship between fiction and reality. I do believe that such a relationship exists, but it’s much more complicated than “impure fiction is dangerous, especially if people might be enjoying it in ways that are not politically conscious or wholesome enough.” Anybody who reads my blog knows that I am intensely critical of purity culture, and I do not believe in being unkind to real people on behalf of fictional characters (and I say this as someone who used to do exactly that). Also, if you were going to ask, “So you’re saying you support [taboo and/or illegal act]?” please don’t. I am not saying that, and we are not having that conversation. Not all “problematic” stories are interchangeable or should be talked about in the same way, and all of the issues that surround them are bigger and more complex than any individual character or romantic arc.

So I am not suggesting that Lance and Kitty’s own romantic arc should not have happened, or that people shouldn’t enjoy it, when I point out that was built on some incredibly inappropriate behavior that reflects toxic cultural attitudes even if it doesn’t “normalize” or “promote” them, and I can understand why some people (including at least one of my Cartoon Night buddies) would see it as irresponsible storytelling. In “Growing Pains,” Lance harassed Kitty despite her trying to tell him off, used his powers in publicly destructive ways in order to hold her attention, and tried to keep her from leaving school with her friends. Even when his protective leap caused her to regard him as something besides an enemy, it seemed to be setting up an arc in which her love - or the possibility of her love - would make him a better person.

In reality, of course, it’s unrealistic at best for anyone to expect that they can “change” or “improve” the morality of a partner who has treated them (or others) badly. But it’s an enjoyable and compelling fantasy, as are the “opposites attract” and “forbidden love” aspects of the pairing, all of which we shippers ate up with a spoon. It’s vital for shippers to recognize the difference between reality and fiction, but it is not my place to assume - based solely upon the nature of the fantasy - that they’re unable to do so.

And, in-universe, I can absolutely understand why sheltered, idealistic Kitty might have given in to this fantasy. But it doesn’t play out in the way that she - or I - initially expected.

I’ve seen the Season 2 episode “Joyride” so many times that I didn’t have to rewatch it in order to write this essay. That’s the one in which Lance briefly joined the X-Men, in order to be close to Kitty and, hopefully, to become the kind of person that she might admire. The story was full of cute moments in which they flirted, bantered, and ultimately worked together to solve a crisis. It also spotlighted one of the biggest obstacles to their relationship, and despite what a lot of fanfic - including my own - suggested, that did not come from their respective teams’ objections. Professor Xavier even encouraged Lance’s potential for redemption (which didn’t stop me from reading, writing, and endorsing fic in which he regularly meddled in his students’ love lives), and the other characters reacted to the situation in a variety of understandable, if not always admirable, ways. No, the telling moment occurred when the team was running through aquatic rescue scenarios, and Lance cheerfully broke rank and “drowned” two other people in order to pull Kitty out of the water. Here was his entire approach to redemption and to their relationship, summed up in one gesture: he wanted to ensure her safety and well-being, but didn’t always care what or whom he knocked down in the process. This became even clearer toward the end of the season, when he tried unsuccessfully to chase her (and only her) away from a fight between their two teams, although her friends would still be in danger. This tension exploded in the third episode of Season 3, when Lance and his friends once again attacked the X-Men on school grounds, and Kitty shouted, “This is the real you, isn’t it?” Lance responded, “That’s right! I’m never going to be good enough for you!” (I typed that out from memory, too.)

Naturally, my fellow shippers and I were devastated by this development, and I, for one, wrote lots of angsty fic (often interspersed with the lyrics to late 1990s/early 2000s pop music) in which the former couple pined for each other despite having been Torn Apart By Circumstances. Years later, however, I’m proud of Kitty, and of the writers, for drawing that line in the sand, and for realizing that - although, as Charles pointed out, it would have been a good start - it wasn’t enough for Lance to be good for her. Whether or not this was an intentional writing choice, the later seasons reflected an awareness that he was primarily the one responsible for making himself a better person.

Yes, after Lance and his comrades joined the climactic battle even though he’d insisted at first that he didn’t care, he and Kitty got back together in the series finale. There were probably viewers who thought their reconciliation hadn’t been earned, as well as those who thought it had been. Obviously, eighteen-year-old Nevanna (by then in her first semester of college) was one of the latter. But I appreciate the time that they spent apart, and the fact that it came at least as much from from internal motivations as from external pressure, far more as an adult than I did as a teenager.

To be clear: you don’t have to like Lance/Kitty or pairings like it. When I say that I regard it differently now, I am not trying to assert that “my ship is Unproblematic after all, so there!” because it isn’t. Nor am I trying to suggest, “It’s okay that I had a Bad Ship, because I regret it now, and the rest of you are filthy sinners who should do the same.” I don’t, and you’re not, and you shouldn’t. Or, rather, how you feel about your past shipping, and what kind of person it makes you, is not for me to decide.

I loved and built upon this pairing both despite and because of its problems, and that is one of the reasons why I try not to condemn other people - as long as they maintain that all-important boundary between fantasy and reality - for loving and building upon stories that have similar problems, or different ones altogether.

I was sixteen when I first started writing XME fanfic. I’m thirty-three now. I can easily imagine some of you asking, “When are you going to get over these imaginary fake not-real cartoon characters and get a life, Nevanna?” That is, I hope that my friends, whom I love and who love me, aren’t thinking along those lines, but it’s certainly a question that I have asked myself more than once.

Even when I was cheerfully participating in fandom in my youth, I still feared that my obsessions with fictional characters were bad for me, a sign that I wasn’t equipped to deal with or care about “real life.” In one diary entry, I wrote with certainty that I would have to abandon my fannish interests entirely when I started college. If a large contingent of fans had loudly insisted that my interests were not only bad for me but bad for the world, that I was actively hurting others simply by writing about my chosen subject matter, that I was likely to enable or engage in actual criminal activity… I’m not sure what I would have done, but it probably wouldn’t have been what they wanted me to do, and it likely would have made me an even more unpleasant person to be around.

I tried my best to balance academic obligations with fandom and creativity when I did enter college, and sometimes failed spectacularly, but that owed as much to anxiety and poor time management skills, both of which are still everyday challenges for me, as it did to caring “too much” about stories. I eventually earned a master’s degree, and found a series of jobs, in a field that is just a bit concerned with making sure people get to read whatever they want. If I’m still “getting a life,” which I believe is an ongoing process, then my fandoms are just one part of it. And after all this time, X-Men: Evolution is still one of those fandoms. I find it easy and comforting and fun to write about these characters, and the only person who gets to decide whether I’m “over” them is myself.

The last time I wrote anything that focused specifically on Lance and Kitty was a little more than two years ago, and the fic didn’t shy away from the troubled history of their relationship. I have a preference for stories that at least acknowledge that history and the tension that comes with it, but I would never barge in and assume that because a content creator doesn’t check those boxes, they support real-life abusive relationships.

Would I still ship Lance and Kitty if I encountered them for the first time today? It’s difficult to say. Many aspects of their relationship are still things that I enjoy in fiction. But my early interest in them was based on a specific set of assumptions about the characters, their world, and even the purpose of fanfiction, as well as, yes, some amount of ignorance about how romance and attraction worked. I don’t want to enjoy their story, or others, solely in the way that I did when I was younger. Most of the time, I prefer the all the ways that I enjoy stories now.

As I said earlier, I’m not proud of some of my actions in the XME fandom. I regret sneering at the fanbase for another popular pairing that had dysfunctional beginnings, as if my OTP didn’t. (The two pairings didn’t even have any common characters, so it’s not as if they challenged each other as far as I know, not that my attitude would have been okay even if they had. I think I partly just enjoyed hating what so many people liked.) I regret participating in an LJ community that publicly mocked specific people’s writing. I regret sticking my nose into people’s reviews just to beg them to read my latest chapter, but not as much as I regret leaving at least one hostile review, with a very thin veneer of playfulness, when half of my OTP hooked up with another character in the middle of a multi-chapter fic. And, all of that aside, there is a much longer list of regrettable choices that I made as a writer. But I don’t regret looking at Lance and Kitty in their introductory episode and thinking, “There’s a story there, and I want to find out where it might go.”

#xmen evolution #all our faves are problematic #nevanna life #nostalgic fun times

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himbowelsh · 8 years ago

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“I’m calling it. We are lost in the woods.” + luztoye (im in love with the way you write those two)

grim grinning prompts (NO LONGER ACCEPTING)

AN: ahh, thank you cutie, i’m in love with this ship!

Every cell of Joe’s body is screaming that this is a horrible idea. The problem isn’t that he’s reckless, or stupid, or ignorant to the dangers involved in sneaking off into the woods alone at night... if he’s being honest, he just can’t make himself care.It’s hard to worry about anything else when he’s got Luz’s hand in his, dragging him along like a rider would lead a stubborn horse. Luz is a distraction all in himself. He is overpowering, all-encompassing. Sometimes Joe’s convinced he’s the most exasperating person he’s ever met.

He’s the most entertaining, the most resilient, and has one of the best hearts of anyone Joe’s ever met.

People tend to assume that Luz annoys him -- and a lot of times, yeah, he does. The thing is, Joe knows exactly what type of person Luz is, past the surface layer of wisecracks and silly voices. Perhaps that’s why he finds himself playing along, every single time. It’s very difficult not to dance to Luz’s beat, but Joe’s always been good at keeping himself from being pulled into other people’s orbits. With Luz, however, he finds that he doesn’t mind.Joe would probably do whatever Luz asked him to. He’s convincing, and adventurous; saying yes to him never seems as bad of an idea as it probably is... until it’s too late.As of right now, being dragged through the woods by a very determined Luz, that moment still hasn’t quite hit. Joe can feel it gnawing at the back of his mind. They shouldn’t have left the rest of the group; they shouldn’t have snuck into the woods at night; this is how horror movies happen, and how the stupid people die first. Right now, he and Luz are being the exact type of people who he’d be screaming at through a TV screen, and Joe knows it.For a second, turning back seems like the only rational thing to do — and then another sharp yank from Luz jerks him out of his wariness. Yeah, this is probably an awful idea, but who the hell cares?They came out here for a reason, after all, and no one has ever called Joe Toye a coward. He’s not going to backtrack because of some invisible threat in the woods when Luz is very present, in front of him, right now.Luz finally stops in the middle of a grove of trees, and releases Joe’s hand. Slowly, he turns to face him; an impish grin lights him up, the only thing brighter than the moon in this otherwise dark forest. Joe looks at him and feels a current of electricity twine around them both like greedy, starving hands.“It’s official,” Luz declares. “I’m calling it. We are lost in the woods.”“Whose fault is that?” Joe demands, taking a step close. Luz’s eyes sparkle.“Well, ya know, you could lay the blame wherever you want, but I think it really comes down on whoever decided camping out in these parts was a great idea, or maybe the idiot who decided to sneak away in the first place —“Joe rolls his eyes and reaches out, seizing George by the collar of his shirt. The other man’s words cut off in a short “urk”, but he doesn’t protest. Rather than straining, he sinks into Joe’s chest like he was craving this contact all along. Now that it’s finally here, he could not look more pleased with himself.

”You’re fuckin’ ridiculous,” Joe tells him, and ducks his head to kiss him.

There’s no protest from Luz; he’s getting exactly what he wants. As soon as Joe offers him a taste, he goes after the entire prize with fervor. He presses himself against Joe, kissing hard and gripping harder, until they are both breathing heavily and clutching each other like they are the only things on earth.

”Aah, Luz,” Joe hisses, tree bark digging into his back. “God --”

Luz detaches himself from Joe’s neck, looking as debauched as he does wicked. “Am I really hearing a complaint right now?”

”Come on,” Joe hisses, and they both know what he’s really saying. Don’t stop. Never stop. As long as it’s you, I don’t care where we are or what we’re doing. I could stay like this forever.They’re so lost in each other that even Joe, whose reflexes are sharp on a bad day, isn’t paying attention to their surroundings. He can not focus on the crackle of dried leaves beneath their feet when Luz’s mouth is attacking his. He cannot worry about the ever-present feeling of being watched when they are surrounded by darkness, and it is the one thing concealing the hand steadily inching up the back of his shirt.

He isn’t paying attention to anything except Luz, Luz, Luz.

Not until the noise.

It’s not the sort of noise you’d expect to hear in the woods, or one that can be explained away. It’s not the cracking of branches, or the whistle of the wind; it’s not the low groan that slips past Luz’s lips as Joe’s fingers dig into his back. It is a roar, the sort no animal could make -- a steady rumble that starts deep from the bushes behind them and embeds itself inside of Joe’s bones.

It lasts for three seconds, then stops. The world goes silent once more.

For a second, neither one of them move. They are both in disbelief, too caught up in uncertainty to process what actually happened. Then Joe pulls back, slowly turning so that Luz is against the tree, while he’s standing in front of him.

“Joe?” Luz’s fingers dig into his shoulders, hard enough to bruise. His eyes are wide; his skin looks translucent in the moonlight. “What was that?”Joe remains silent for a second, straining to her another sound, before he replies, “I dunno.”They both know what it sounded like, but neither wants to say it. Neither of them want to say “did that sound like a fucking chainsaw to you?” because saying it out loud makes it real, and let’s just say neither of them are prepared to face that.

It wasn’t a chainsaw, Joe tells himself firmly, even as every muscle in his body tenses up. It was a bird; a deer; a freaking bear, whatever the hell lives in these woods. It was not, by any realm of possibility, some maniac with a giant weapon lurking in the shadows.

Their breaths are heavy and rasping in the night air. Luz’s eyes are impossibly large, gaping up at him for answers Joe does not have. Joe can feel his heart pounding like a drum, hard enough to burst out of his chest.

“Joe,” Luz says again, and his voice is small. Joe’s fingers tighten around his shoulders.

That’s when he sees it.

A figure lumbers out of the shadows, faster than anything that size should be able to move. He is bulky, bigger than Joe with just as much muscle -- but the most alarming thing about him is the massive chainsaw he holds, which glints in the light when he moves.

Joe curses out loud and shoves Luz back. He hears him hit the tree hard behind him, but all his attention is focused on the maniac lumbering towards them.

He should have listened to the goddamn horror movies.

Logic says he should run away. Logic says the only sensible thing to do is to haul ass, if they want to avoid becoming the next skin suits in some crazy fucker’s collection. Logic has very little sway over Joe when he’s good and pissed off -- and nothing makes him see red faster than someone threatening the people he cares about. Especially George Luz.

Logic says you should not tackle the guy holding a chainsaw, but fuck logic.

They both go down, the chainsaw screaming all the way. Joe is on top of the dude, throwing punches into any vulnerable area he can reach. The chainsaw shrieks near his neck, not drawing nearer but definitely too close for comfort. Joe twists the man’s arm, hoping to force the weapon from his hands.

It doesn’t work -- the guy recovers fast enough to land his own punch to Joe’s face, sending him reeling back. He has just enough time to see the chainsaw swing before he ducks to avoid it -- but a blinding pain catches him in the shoulder all the same.

Joe hollers, falling back. This is the only thing that keeps the saw from severing his arm. As he hits the ground there is a sickening noise, and the agony that blinds him is enough to make him howl again. His arm is still on, but only just --and now the guy with the chainsaw is charging towards him.

The guy’s wearing a fucking football helmet, Joe thinks deliriously. This is the worst knockoff Friday the Thirteenth they’ve ever made.

He tries to stagger to his feet, but the blood loss makes him dizzy. He overbalances, a noise like a wounded animal escaping him as he hits the dirt once more. His leg comes out to try and catch the maniac in the knee, but he falls short. The chainsaw raises, glinting in the moonlight.

Then suddenly another howl echoes through the forest -- deranged, terrifying, like a thousand rabid monkeys descending all at once -- and Luz flings himself onto the maniac’s back.

What happens next is so chaotic that Joe’s distraught brain can barely process it, let alone believe it. Luz rains a volley of blows upon their attacker’s rock-solid back and shoulders, but the only place they have any effect are his neck. The man thrashes, trying to throw him off, but Luz is on him and won’t let go. A sold punch to the throat sends the chainsaw falling to the ground, and that’s when Luz gets him in a chokehold.

It’s over in a solid twenty seconds. A body that big needs air, and when it can’t get it...

As the maniac collapses to the ground, Luz falls off of him. He’s breathing hard, but still has the presence of mind to kick the chainsaw out of his reach. Their attacker looks like a massive fallen tree on the forest floor. He does not move, even when Luz leaps over him to get to Joe’s side.

“Jesus, are you okay? Joe, talk to me, buddy, come on --”

“My fucking arm,” is all Joe can say; then, after a beat, “Did you just fucking choke him out?”

“You’re damn right I did,” Luz replies, and flashes that grin -- the one that drives Joe crazy, the one he would do anything for, the one that made him fall in love with George Luz in the first place.

That grin is the last thing Joe sees before he passes out.

(”And that,” finishes Luz, “is why you gotta take those horror movies seriously. You might learn something one of these days?”

“Like what?” Guarnere snorts. “That you’re a fuckin’ liar? That didn’t happen.”

“Or did it?” Luz shoots back, fixing Guarnere with an intense stare. When Guarnere looks over at Joe -- alive and in one piece in his own bed, where he’s been struggling to hide his smirk throughout Luz’s story -- he gets only a raised eyebrow. Suddenly, he’s not so sure.

“Alright. You are the horror movie stereotypes,” he retorts, and that’s the end of the argument.)

#I FEEL LIKE THIS IS AN APPROPRIATE SENDOFF FOR THE HALLOWEEN PROMPTS #HAVE LUZTOYE FIGHT A MURDERER TOGETHER #WHY NOT #luztoye #tw injury #my writing #Anonymous

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minimin1993 · 5 years ago

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S/M 44 & B/L 37

Warning: Violence.

“Oh no baby, your hair.” Min pouts looking at her laptop screen staring at her boyfriend via Facetime.

“I know, its blond. Don’t even start with it. My hair right now feels like straw.” Sebastian touches his hair then cringes making Min giggle.

“I know how that feels, when Mystic first debuted they dyed my hair all sort of different colors. For a while my hair was starting to feel horrible. Until I told them I want to stick to my own color.”

“You looked good with Blond hair though if I say so myself.”

“Pft, I knew you were into blonds. I still don’t understand why the hell you want to be with me when my hair color is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE.” Min pouts.

“Yeah I did have a thing for blonds huh?” He teased knowing how to get a raise out of Min who rolled her eyes playfully.

“Whatever, then go find yourself a blond then. You won’t get your present for tonight then.” Min said turning the laptop away.

“Princess, you know I was just joking.” He begged making her giggle.

“I know.”

“I miss you soo much. Everywhere I turn I see you.” Sebastian said.

“I miss you too baby, uh huh? You probably see all the places we did the dirty.”

“You know me so well.” He winked. “The place is not the same without you babygirl.”

“Aww, just 3 more weeks baby, then you will be back here with me.”

“3 weeks tooo long.”

“Oh come on baby, you can do it.”

“No I can’t, you are like my drug. I am completely and utterly addicted to you.” He groaned.

“Yeah, maybe I should help you out a little then.” She said untying her robe before sliding it off revealing her naked body for Sebastian to drool on.

“Fuckk me…” He whispers causing Min to giggle before they both indulge in some adult fun over the cam.

By the time everyone buckled up onto the Rocket spacejet (Except tony), he turns around to the team and asks them a question making Linda smirk

“Okay, who here hasn't been to space?” Natasha, Rhodes, and Steve raised their hands.

“Why?” Rhodes asks.

“You better not throw up on my ship.” Rocket answers.

“Approaching jump in 3... 2... 1!” Nebula said when the ship jumps forward into a wormhole. Linda looks over at Steve who was holding onto his seat for dear life; she reaches over to grab a hold of his hand giving him a soothing smile which he returns. He then turns back staring at what was ahead of him with his eyes wide at the exhilaration of this new experience. The ship slows down, and the ship hovers in orbit of the planet seen in the hologram previously. Carol hovers in front of the Benatar.

“I'll head down for recon.” Carol said flying down to the planet by herself.

Inside the ship everyone was getting ready when Steve pulls out his compass with the image of Peggy.

“This is gonna work, Steve.” Natasha said looking over at him

“I know it will. Cause I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't.” He said before looking over at Linda who clutches onto the no longer bright soul binding crystal that tied her and Bucky together.

“No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind. It's just him.” Carol said returning to the ship.

“And that's enough.”

When they arrived at Thanos location he was retreating into his hut looking utterly pathetic right side of his body burnt carrying his fruit basket. Carol flies through the roof, knocking Thanos down, and grabbing his neck. Bruce in the Hulkbuster armor bursts from the ground, and grabs Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet arm. Thor flies in and slices off the Infinity Gauntlet. Rhodey flies down with Rocket and aims guns on Thanos' head. Steve, Linda and Natasha walks into the hut, staring murderously at Thanos. “Oh no.” Rocket said when he picks up the gauntlet realizing there was no stones in them.

“Where are they?” Steve asks.

“Answer the question!” Carol said tightening her chokehold on him.

“The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation.”

“You murdered trillions!” Bruce screams pushing Thanos onto the ground.

“You should be grateful.”

“Where are the Stones?” Natasha asks

“ Gone. Reduced to atoms.”

“You used them two days ago!” Bruce said.

“I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be.” Thanos said sitting up straighter. “I am... inevitable.” He said as

Linda walked right up to him and plunged her hand into his chest. “NOO!!” Everyone (Except Thor) screamed watching her rip out his heart seeing it protected by her blue energy.

“You think you are inevitable now?” Linda/Luna asks staring at his beating heart in her hand before looking at his pained face while he clutches his chest watching her in horror not knowing how he is still alive. “Oh don’t worry you won’t die yet, not when I have my energy surrounding your heart.” She said lessening her energy having him scream in pain. “You know you have taken the one good thing that I got in my life, and so many lives have suffered because you wanted to play god. "You think you know the definition of pain but let me tell you what you felt was barely a fraction of what you caused.” She said squeezing his heart causing him to scream louder making everyone in the room to wince watching what was happening in front of them.

“We have to tear this place apart, he-he-he has to be lying.” Rhodey said watching in horror.

“My father is many things. A liar is not one of them.” Nebula said.

“Ah, thank you, daughter.” Thanos said; Nebula looks down, a little uncomfortable. “Perhaps I treated you too harshly.” Thor filled with rage summon Stormbreaker, and before anyone could stop him, slices Thanos' head off splattering the smiling Linda/Luna with his blood.

“What... What did you do?” Rocket said in shock.

“I went for the head.” Thor answered looking more than broken after realizing what he has done before walking out.

By the time they got back to the compound everyone was quiet and mainly retreated back into their room but Linda. She stood there just staring at the grass replaying her memories of Bucky in her mind like its a movie reel. “Sweetheart, lets go inside. It's getting cold out here.” Steve said walking up behind Linda grabbing her hand intertwining their fingers.

“Stevie, I can’t.” She said pulling her hand away before turning to give Steve a tender kiss on his cheek.

“Linda?” Steve said as she walks backwards away from Steve. “Please don’t leave me too.”

“I am sorry Stevie, I won’t be able to be the Linda you always known anymore”

“Please.”

“I love you Stevie never forget that, but you will be fine without me.” Linda said turning around and runs off leaving the heartbroken Steve standing there.

Linda didn’t know where she was running too but it never stopped her, she just ran until she no longer felt her body. She fell onto her knees as her with tears running down her face, her mind still playing the happy memories of Bucky. “Fuckk.” Linda punches the ground her energy destroying everything around her, she opens a compartment in her belt and pulls out Bucky favorite knife and stares at it debating on what to do. She traces the blade with her fingertips only to turn the tip of the blade and points it right at her chest where her heart was located.

“You promised me that you wouldn’t do that.” She saw a bright figure walked towards her.

“Your not real.” Linda said not opening her eyes.

“Open your eyes my love.” The voice said as it touches Linda face causing her to open her eyes seeing Bucky kneel in front of her with a sad smile on his face.

“You are not real.” Linda said more tears running down her face.

“I am sorry my love.” Bucky said tracing her face like she traced the knife.

“I can’t do this without you.”

“Do it for me.”

“But I can’t be without you, don’t you understand.”

“But I am with you, here.” He places his hands around her hands holding the knife. “And here” He said placing his hand on her heart. “I will always be with you my love.” Bucky leans in and places a loving kiss on her lips. When they part Bucky slowly starts to fade away.

“James?”

“I will always be with you.” He said disappearing into the air.

#bucky x reader #james buchanan barnes #sebastian stan #sebastian x reader #steve rogers #the first avenger #originl character #chris evans #original character #winter solider x you #winter soldier #captain america #infinity war #marvel #endgame

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wordspin-shares · 5 years ago

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TVD Ship Thoughts

Long post to follow. *99% of the gifs aren’t mine!*

I was binge-watching The Vampire Diaries again recently, and I felt the need to share my thoughts on the probably most debated topic spawned by the show: Stelena or Delena?

Let me start off by saying I like all three characters – Stefan is considerate and respectful of others, Elena has a good moral compass (even if, by self-admission, it may malfunction when it comes to Damon), and Damon can be intriguing. When it comes to Stelena versus Delena, however, only the former constitutes healthy interaction. Being team Stefan or team Damon isn’t about why Elena got into a relationship with each brother, but about the aspects of each relationship and how they affected those in it. If a relationship is to be good and sustainable, the partners should support and bring out the best in one another; they should respect each other’s choices; open communication and honesty is a must, as is striving to resolve any issues; neither should compromise their core beliefs and morals; happiness should be a two-way street.

Let’s consider those factors in each ship.

Supporting and bringing out the best in one another

Being there through thick and thin, when the relationship is both at its highest and at its lowest, and making each other their best self, is a telling sign of a strong bond.

Elena connected Stefan to his humanity and helped him control his bloodlust.

She stayed by him in his darkest hours, urging him to keep fighting.

His love for her was what made him fight Klaus’s compelling him to kill her in early season 3.

Elena even enlisted Lexi to help her get through to him when all else was failing.

In season 5, even when Stefan’s memories were wiped, Elena’s presence calmed him.

Stefan helped Elena get over her parents’ deaths, helped her feel alive again.

In early season 1, when Elena feels like a quitter because she dropped cheerleading, he supports her by telling her that a new beginning isn’t quitting.

In season 4, he’s there supporting her when she feels she won’t survive being a vampire.

He tries to help her adjust to vampirism, even if the feeding part turns out to be ineffective due to the effects of the sire bond.

Support also means being there for and not giving up the other person, even when the romantic relationship is over. Although terribly hurt and angry at Elena and Damon for lying about being together, Stefan still helps Jeremy after Elena asks him to in season 4.

He’s the one who helps her through the emotional onslaught when all her feelings come rushing back after she regains her humanity.

Her bond and her feelings for Stefan are what make Elena fight Silas’s compulsion in season 5.

Damon does help Elena come to grips with being a vampire.

However, in contrast to Stefan, Damon, can’t resist Kol’s compulsion in season 4, even when she asks him to, and still tries to kill Jeremy.

And when he thinks Elena broke up with him in season 5, he lashes out by killing Aaron Whitmore.

His lashing out because he doesn’t know how to constructively deal with his emotions is a repeating motif.

Admittedly, there are moments when he tries to do right by her, but it feels as though that goes against his very nature, as opposed to him wanting to do right by her because she has actually made him a better person.

Damon does say Elena makes him a better man, but apart from switching from feeding on humans to feeding from blood bags, and having spells of non-violent behaviour, not much else is improved. And even so, he relapses so frequently that there is no permanent change in his character.

He kidnaps Jeremy in season 5,

and has Bonnie in a chokehold to stop her from destroying the Ascendant in season 6, even though she is one of his best friends.

When she is with Damon, Elena loses focus of her self, tries to defend his terrible behaviour, bending her morals.

She regresses from someone who wasn’t going to let her whole life revolve around one person,

to someone who does.

Respecting each other’s decisions

Stefan is always one to respect Elena’s choices. In season 2, although not wanting to, he lets her leave when she tells him she has to go back to Elijah after giving him her word she would return.

He respects her wanting to meet Esther alone in season 3, as requested by Momma Original.

He respects her wish to save Matt when the car they’re in drives off Wickery Bridge in the season 3 finale, even though her life means more to him than Matt’s, because he knows how much free choice means to Elena, even if it kills her, and he knows she would be guilt-ridden and resentful had she lived and Matt died.

Granted, his saving Matt instead of her may appear nonsensical; however, if Elena hadn’t become a vampire, the whole Stefan-Elena-Damon dynamic would have been completely different.

When it comes to Damon and respecting decisions, he starts to threaten Elena when she’s about to go back to Elijah,

and is prepared to forcibly stop her from seeing Esther on her own.

Yes, he believes he’s protecting her by acting the way he does, but depriving a sound-minded person of the right to free choice is controlling and even abusive.

He did respect Elena’s choice to go back to campus because she couldn’t deal with their unhealthy relationship in season 5, however,

and that was a most beautiful moment and highlight in their being a couple. He also respected her choice to join him on the suicide mission to kill the Travellers in order to bring back their friends from the Other Side.

Related to respect in general, however, there’s Damon name-calling his humanity-less girlfriend in season 4.

Open communication, honesty and issue resolution

Stefan and Elena have good communication throughout the series, trying to be honest with one another.

In season 1, Elena and Stefan hit a bump in the road when Stefan can’t tell her about himself;

he eventually opens up,

and when Elena wants to know more about vampires, he answers her questions and lets her decide what she wants to do.

When she tells him she can’t be with him because of what he is, even though she still has feelings for him, he lets her be, because the fear and uncertainty are still there, and deep down, he himself knows their relationship can be dangerous. Eventually that issue of trust is resolved when Elena realises Stefan is a good man after saving Bonnie, and he believes her when she says she’s walking into the relationship fully aware of the consequences.

Their being open with one another continues to show when Stefan shares what human blood does to him;

and in season 2 when Elena spills out her feelings and thoughts about the Sun and Moon curse and how she thinks the mess they’re in is her fault.

Stefan isn’t afraid to let her know what he thinks of her sacrificing herself in the ritual to break Klaus’s curse, and eventually that pushes her to fight for her life.

In season 3, after Elena confesses that she and Damon kissed, although Stefan is hurt, he eventually lets her know she should figure out what she feels about his brother.

And when her and Damon kissing in Denver weighs on her mind, Stefan doesn’t push her to talk.

After Elena becomes a vampire, when he accidentally learns of her lying to him about feeding properly and of her exchanging blood with Damon in early season 4, they have an honest conversation about it, letting all their feelings out.

Their good communication continues even after they break up, a prime example being their talking about the vision put in their heads by Markos in season 5, and talking about the life they actually had – those were some rather emotionally mature moments.

And even when their relationship is at its lowest, in season 3, with Stefan trying to push her away and get his revenge on Klaus, they are able communicate and deal with their issues.

And all this makes Elena realise she is still in love with Stefan.

In contrast, truly candid communication between Elena and Damon is rare.

He spends a whole summer keeping Elena in the dark about tracking Klaus and Stefan, despite knowing how much she craves for news and that she is not wholly unfamiliar with Ripper-Stefan.

Granted, he chalks it down to trying to protect her from the unpleasantness, but she does have a right to know.

He lets jealousy and insecurity get the best of him when he states he doesn’t want Elena to tell him about Markos’s vision, thus blocking good communication (even if she relates the vision anyway).

He doesn’t tell Elena that her best friend is still alive in the prison world, and she finds out from Alaric.

To which his reply is less than sound.

He keeps the fact that Bonnie brought the cure back from the prison world from Elena, even though he knows she would love to have a family and a normal life as a human, believing that once she is human again, she will go back to Stefan.

When Elena finds out about the cure being an option again, with Damon having an instant revelation that he’d take it, too, if it meant spending his whole life with her, and Elena freaks out, walking out on him, he calls Bonnie instead of going to talk to his girlfriend.

Damon is upfront in that he thinks Elena’s lying to herself about her feelings for him in season 2, though.

Their one true honest conversation is when they admit to one another that their relationship is toxic. They decide it’s best for both if they call it quits, and even then their resolution is shattered when they end up in bed moments later.

They make an attempt to talk about their relationship afterwards, but never really do.

Their unresolved issues go back to Damon’s feeding on Caroline in season 1, his snapping Jeremy’s neck in season 2, and, generally, his hurting people Elena cares about when she upsets him. And apart from Elena’s being horrified by Damon’s actions right after they happen, they never bring those matters up again, never actively try to move past them (if such a thing is even possible), and Damon certainly never tries to change. They, as a couple, don’t change.

Compromising core beliefs and morals

This isn’t an issue when it comes to Stelena, but it is especially true of Elena once she gets together with Damon. She sees Damon act violently, and many times it’s her friends and family that are on the receiving end, yet she ultimately glosses over it because she sees something good in him. Caroline comments on Elena’s changed behaviour concerning her beliefs when Elena kills newly-turned Jesse in order to save Damon without taking pause as she would’ve done before.

And, as said above, in season 5, even Elena herself admits she’s bending her morals to accommodate Damon.

Caring about each other’s happiness

Wanting one another to be happy is easier when two people are in a relationship, but the sign of true love is wanting a person to be happy even if that means giving them up.

After Elena admits her feelings for Damon to Stefan in season 4, he is upset, but he is nevertheless happy for his brother.

And later, when he sees that Elena seems happy with Damon, he even motivates her to not give up on their relationship when they hit a rough patch in season 5.

Damon, on the other hand, even though he has always known he is bad for Elena (and has admitted it), isn’t able to view in perspective the fact that, after erasing the good memories of their relationship, Elena is happy without him in early season 6.

In short, Delena is an unhealthy, toxic relationship. The appeal it has for many fans is understandable – the physical chemistry between Damon and Elena is off the charts; Damon is the darkness to Elena’s light; he represents danger and unpredictability, whereas Stefan is safety and stability; and the whole “good girl falls for bad boy” trope is always intriguing. Damon and Elena are opposites that attract, but if there aren’t enough similarities that can keep them together, relationships between opposites don’t work out in the long run.

Stelena, on the other hand, is an example of a healthy, sustainable relationship. It wasn’t perfect; however, the fact that it was based on respect, good communication and honesty helped Stefan and Elena tackle their problems. They had more emotional compatibility, and their relationship was more solid and deep than the one between Damon and Elena.

A most telling sign of that: it took Stefan less than a minute to realise that the woman in Elena’s house at the beginning of season 2 was Katherine and not Elena, whereas Damon had talked to her and even kissed her without suspecting anything.

Also, it was Stefan, again, along with Caroline, who realised that she had passengered into Elena in season 5, while Damon was clueless that his girlfriend was actually Katherine.

Another telling sign is Damon’s inability to support his girlfriend deal with getting her humanity back in season 4, helplessly watching Stefan calm her instead.

Truth be told, it was interesting that the show explored Damon and Elena’s unhealthy relationship, and I was honestly waiting for them to resolve their issues because there was potential. Sadly, even though acknowledged, their problems ended up being swept under the (huge) carpet. That’s why Delena as endgame never made sense to me – the relationship never grew, never changed substantially in order for the happy ending to feel right and earned.

#tvd #the vampire diaries #stelena versus delena #effie speaks #tv & movies & books

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nananaptime · 7 years ago

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NCT x Zodiac

Ever since I met my best friend, my zodiac interest literally exploded as she pulled me along the road decorated by the features of the zodiacs. I now took made the decision to mix that interest with NCT, who are currently ruling my life. This blog will basically contain the boys' zodiacs and me drawing parallels between that and their personalities, so let's do this

The biggest trait of a Gemini is their ability to adapt to new surroundings and situations, this can easily be mistaken for them being two-faced due to the different personalities they may portray but that is only them adapting to that specific situation. I have noticed how differently Taeil acts depending on who he's with which is a version of the adaptable trait, he's normally quiet when all 18 of the members are present so when his affectionate and clingy side comes out with Sicheng you get kind of shocked. Another example is during NCT Life when he, because of the variety aspect, tried being as funny as possible or when he during an American Buzzfeed interview spent the whole dinner flirting with the interviewer. This dude has many sides to show and we probably haven't seen even half of them yet.

Aquarians are known to be one of a kind and definitely out there, most of the time even be considered weird and odd and to be honest, have anyone of us actually met or even seen someone as weird as Johnny? At first, he seemed pretty "normal" to me, until I saw 127's Weekly idol when he first introduced his parrot expression and I'm gonna be honest, I didn't find it that funny at first but just plain weird. Doni and Coni obviously did as well but did Johnny let that stop him? Of course not, he just kept going, not caring at all about what kind of image it gave him. Aquarians can be over the top and eccentric as well which Johnny shows whenever he's gonna show any kind of affection, the members all have a near-death experience whenever he attacks with chokeholds of affection, I'm not sure if I wanna fall victim for that or not.

Now, Taeyong is as Cancer as one could be. They're the mother of the zodiacs, they are caring and extremely protective of the people around them. They also project a tough exterior in order to hide their sensitive nature, who do we know that looks badass but is actually the softest person out there? There are many instances where Taeyong has acted like a mom towards the younger members, when he pulled Jisung to sit down on his lap for instance. He also doesn't mind spoiling his members like when he offered to buy Sicheng some ice cream in NCT Life, that's one of his most adorable moments, to be honest. Anyone who isn't into NCT would assume that Taeyong is cold and quiet but he's anything but that, his exterior is what's giving these assumptions their base however as he does take on a very hard shell at times.

Scorpios are intense in everything they do, whether that be at work or at home, internally or externally. Their feelings are intense just as their actions. Because of their deep intense feelings they need a positive outlet for them, someone to share their emotions with, I think that's why we're all shipping Yuwin so hard as both of them are Scorpios, Yuta, however, is more evident in his actions and energy. The energy he lets out whenever he's with Sicheng proves just how intense he is. Scorpios also tend to hide their true emotions which, it wouldn't come as a surprise to me, if Yuta did. Not on purpose perhaps but as a defence mechanism. His straightforwardness regarding his opinion, however, is something very typical for a Scorpio as they don't take mistreatment very well at all which we can see with Yuta regarding his lack of lines.

Capricorns are the realistic people of the zodiac, the ones who do not rush, the patient ones. They're logical and have control over their emotions and I have not seen anyone as cool and collected as Kun. He has on many occasions done vlives and other activities with the youngest and craziest of the members like Lele, Jisung and Donghyuck without losing his cool or his temper. He knows how to control the situation and he knows it well. Despite this trait, Capricorns have a very great sense of humour and they know how to entertain people and all I have to say is, enter Kun's magic tricks. Capricorns are also extremely hard working and they know what they want, what their goals are. Kun has been training for a long time and has seen his fellow trainees debut one after one, yet he never gave up nor did he stop his pursuit for debut, he just kept going until finally, he made it to the stage, where he belongs.

Another Aqua baby, Doyoung is no different than Johnny, always trying to entertain and always failing, Doyoung goes to incredible lengths to keep up the mood in the group, even if it means making a fool out of himself. Just like an Aquarius, he brings out his weird and odd side in order to make everyone laugh, even though it mostly just weirds everyone out instead, like vroom vroom talk show. I'm sorry Doyoung, but the members were not impressed. Another trait of Aquarians are their innovation, which Doyoung is overflowing with, with his brains and his creativity he could compose a whole new group. He often wants to take over during lives and activities as just as he wants control he also wants to make everything more fun and get everything going smoothly and well, he does fail at times but then again, there have been successes where his innovation has saved the day and gotten everything back on the road again.

Waah, my fellow Piscean!!! Pisceans are the dreamers of the zodiac, the ones who don't mind leaving earth and entering their fantasy world. Ten gives me the feeling of doing just that with his happy nature and easy going persona. I have a feeling that's exactly what he's doing when he's dancing, leaving everything behind to go somewhere he's comfortable, somewhere nothing can hurt him, somewhere he can be him without the consequences of the idol life. Pisceans are also the most sensitive of the zodiac but be aware, this does not necessarily mean that they need protection, no they're just extremely aware of their feelings and doesn't see the need of hiding them. Just like his sign, Ten is an open book, he wears his heart on his sleeve and everyone knows when he's feeling down. Even though Pisceans are sensitive they are also the happiest of the zodiac which Ten is like 99% of the time. His laugh can be heard miles away every day and his smile shines brighter than the sun.

Ah, Valentines boy. Jaehyun was a bit difficult, to be honest as he's a bit quieter than the rest of his fellow Aquarians but after a lot of thinking and recalling I remembered his random phrases, like the fact that he keeps repeating that he lived in America for four years, that's why he's here man. He might be the most random one in the whole group now that I think about it. It's no wonder that he and Johnny are the MCs of NCT Night Night as their innovation is thoroughly needed. It wouldn't surprise me if they both planned the episodes together as they went along, only two Aquarians could pull that off. Jaehyun has a lot of sides to show and he uses them to his advantage as he often uses his bedroom eyes in order to make the fans swoon, I'm pretty sure that he finds it to be entertaining, however, this is also an Aquarian thing to do, to hand out affection and love without actually having feelings on that deep of a level.

Sicheng, our second and last Scorpio. Sicheng may be quiet, even though he's started to open up and talk more recently, but he is pretty savage and not afraid to utter his opinion. This, I noticed while watching a gif set of him and Taeyong and some other members sitting on a meadow. He got the question if he was jealous of Taeyong's looks and he answered instantly that he wasn't because while Taeyong is very handsome, so is he and he acknowledges that. His confidence is through the roof even if you wouldn't suspect it to be. Another very Scorpio thing he does is rejecting Taeil's acts of affection every single time they are attempted. He always pushes him away and teases him with his stubbornness. The intensity of his feelings has also been displayed at times like when he, in a Chinese vlive, literally attacked Renjun with hugs so much that they almost fell off the couch. He's a quiet Scorpio, but a Scorpio nonetheless.

Jungwoo is probably the softest Piscean I've ever seen. He's sensitive, dreamy, affectionate, cuddly and just overall soft. Much like a Piscean, his sensitivity shows a lot and he, if anybody, wears his heart on his sleeve, for example when he almost cringed to death while witnessing Ten's agility during the ot18 vlive, I thought he was going to pass out or when he broke down just before his first time on stage, worried that he wouldn't do a good enough job. He's also just extremely innocent which is a typical Pisces trait as we normally just dream away without paying any attention to the world, the way he repeats the members’ words and just goes with whatever crazy antics they come up with shows just how he goes with the flow with no care in the world. The biggest trait of a Piscean is empathy which I feel Jungwoo overflows with, the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes is something I think he's very capable of doing as he's often seen hugging members out of the blue almost as if he's comforting them.

The weirdest of them all must be Lucas. From randomly shouting to excessively flirting with the camera, Lucas is such an Aquarius. Does this even need an explanation though? Lucas shows his oddness through always shouting, like always, during vlives, in the dorm, during dance practices, I'm surprised that he still has his voice left as well as I'm surprised none of the other members has gone deaf. He also flirts every time he sees a camera, for example during the vlive at the park with Ten, Jungwoo and Kun, he leaned in to receive a kiss from the fans through the camera which Ten judged him hard-core for. But Lucas doesn't care, he knows he's entertaining, or at least he hopes so as he more often than not only receives odd stares from the people around him. No matter what, Lucas always manages to lighten the mood.

Leos are very popular and outgoing people and I think we can all agree that Mark lands in at least one of those characteristics as he is one of the most popular members of the group. Mark can be outgoing but then he's normally perceived as awkward as he desperately tries to entertain the people around him as seen in Real Life Bar(?) where his personal talents impressed no one at the table. Leos are also very generous people as they try and show appreciation for everyone around them just as much as they want to be appreciated. They also want to be in the centre of attention all the time which brings me to believe that no matter how much we demand for him to rest, he probably enjoys being in the spotlight that much. I'm not saying that doesn't mean he doesn't need rest but he might find the positives to outweigh the negatives.

Renjun omg. Aries people can be a little, a lot, aggressive with everything they do really, Renjun especially seems to like choking his members extremely randomly or when they tease him which always brings laughs to everyone else around him. He's also savage enough to call his members out for their past fun mistakes like when he reminded everybody on Donghyuck's birthday that Mark didn't recognize the Outro of their album, that time resulting in him being the one attacked. Aries people, no matter how brave and headstrong they are, can sometimes be a little childish which I can see Renjun be a lot, from always losing and making it into a joke to tease his members relentlessly. He does know his limit though and I'm pretty sure he has yet to cross it. Not only are they headstrong, but they're extremely stubborn and oh my god have you seen anyone more stubborn than Renjun? The biggest example of this is when kept losing and losing and losing during NCT Life and not letting that fact beat him. He even received the title "King of Losing" but he looked past that and was determined to win at least ones.

Taureans are filled with patience, perseverance and quiet strength and to be honest, that's the only words you would need to describe our Jeno. According to me, He and Mark are the most patient ones among the dreamies as they, with their quiet personas, just go along with all the antics of the members without strangling them. Jeno has found a way to blend in and make a very precious part of NCT by adapting to the other members' personas while still staying true to himself which shows his perseverance. And well we all know that Jeno is a man of few words, not always speaking but just quietly smiling and going along with everything around him but even though he's quiet, he's extremely strong both mentally and physically, just ask Donghyuck, he'll definitely confirm it as he has on many occasions fallen victim to Jeno's hidden strength.

Donghyuck is a pretty typical Gemini, to be honest, as he's always upbeat and quickwitted, always the first one to tease once opportunity arrives and always trying to keep up the cheerful energy in the group. I believe that's why he keeps pulling his pranks on the members, to make everyone else laugh. He's also very lighthearted which we can see whenever he and Jisung has a conversation as Jisung never uses honorifics with him. Yes, Donghyuck always looks slightly shocked at the nerve of the younger one but he never cares that much as it still is something that makes people laugh. He's very adaptable as well since he's in two units with completely different concepts and he slays both of them, he also acts differently depending on which unit he's with at the time as he's older in one and younger in the other. He and Taeil are a lot more alike than you would first think.

This flirt omg. He has made me so weak for Leos it's insane. Nana fits into most of Leo's traits especially the confidence and self-proclaimed pressure. He pushes himself extremely hard, especially after his long hiatus since he was worried about us fans forgetting about him and then not wanting him back. That's a very strong Leo trait, to put a lot of high expectations on oneself. Except for that, he is overflowing with confidence which can be noticed by his flirty persona whenever he's comfortable. Nana is also one to enjoy attention and being in the centre, during the ot18 vlive I noticed that he wasn't really there as he didn't get any attention, even though he just came back from his hiatus. Then, during the 00 line vlive, they just poured attention all over him and he was literally beaming, finally feeling worthy of being in the group and knowing he was wanted by his members. I'm just waiting for the next comeback where he'll really be in the spotlight.

Sagittarians are all for freedom and happiness, hating to feel restricted by rules and customs and just wanting to be themselves in this big world. Lele is literally made of sunshine and happiness and he is not afraid to show it through his loud dolphin screams and energetic nature. He's not afraid of being judged and he doesn't care at all about what people think about him. Another thing about Sagittarians is that they are the popular people who will get along with literally anyone as they are very social. I can definitely see Lele befriending everyone in school and everyone would know him and talk about him and he would be that kid who just jumps around school all happy while everyone smiles at him. It wouldn't surprise me if that was what his life was before going into SM. Oh god, if Lele and I ever met energetic chaos would ensue.

And last but not least, our fifth Aqua baby. Jisung is his own little person who, once again, couldn't care less about honorifics, at least with Donghyuck. He's kind of odd in the way he pronounces his surname, Jisung POAURK(?), and the way he quietly wiggles his eyebrows whenever he hangs out with Lele and don't even get me started on the scissor greeting thing, like what even is that xD even though the odd aspect of an Aquarian is evident, his innovative side also shines through, especially when he starts dancing. The boy could come up with a choreography on the spot for goodness sake. Like when he had a vlive with Ten and they both started tapdancing, I'm not sure if it was their own choreography but to even try that type of dance shows innovation in itself as it's not that common. I just love how the youngest of them all seems to be one of the most confident ones who's also the definition of evil maknae.

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