#the first otp to break my heart

[bosesmikas]

Jeia & Handy parallels

[rageserenity]

It's 2024. Are you still thinking about movieverse!Cherik? Because I am.

For the past several months, there's only been a very slow trickle of posts/fics in the xmcu cherik tag. Let's try to breathe some life back into this incredible pairing!

With one clear winner of my poll, here's thirty prompts for the thirty days of April. (This is a super chill, laid-back event---do these in any order, interpret them as loosely as you like! Create in any medium! Fic, art, gifs, meta, incoherent screaming about the otp…all winners in my book.)

The only rule here is to cherik too close to the sun. Alright. Here are the prompts.

Mutual Pining

Doesn't really even need elaboration! Write that horrifically slow slow-burn. Gif every time McAvoy made insane fuck me eyes on screen. Make a playlist of songs about impossible love.

2. Alternate Meetings

There are endless quotes about how these two complete each other in a way no one they'd met before or after ever did. How else could they have met?

3. Erik Has A Telepathy Kink

This is basically canon. Let my boy get freaky!

4. Canon Fix-It

All the times Fox fucked it up. There are endless options.

5. Hurt/Comfort

Put them in that Situation. Put them in that Blender. Break them apart and put them back together ❤️‍🩹

6. Canon Compliant

Draw that missing scene! Gif your favourite cherik moment!

7. Beach Divorce

Make it worse. Make it better. Show it to us exactly how it was. Break it down in a 3,000 word meta. Go wild!

8. Domestics

Sometimes you just want to see them doing normal couple things. Erik put the gun down.

9. Found Family

The real heart of x-men!

10. Time Travel

There are SO many possibilities here. Stick them in a time loop. Give them a chance to change their past.

11. AU

Love a good AU!

12. There Is Only One Bed

Had to get this one in here. What better way to amp up the tension?

13. Genosha

By some miracle, cherik actually did end up together at the end of 2019s trash bag disaster Dark Phoenix. We aren’t making a big enough deal about this.

14. Declaration(s) of Love

Who says it first? How do they say it and when? Have they said it…without saying it?

15. Jealousy

Need I say more.

16. Reunion

These two have absolutely no chill.

17. Soulmates

Classic prompt, had to get this in here too.

18. The DOFP Aircraft

The TENSION here. Break it down for me. How does Charles feel about his injury? How does Erik feel about his injury?

19. Gay Mutant Road Trip

You already know.

20. Body Swap

SO fun when people have superpowers.

21. First Kiss

When? How? Who initiated it?

22. The Mansion

Mansion!content is a genre of its own.

23. Conflicting Ideology

Give me your theses. Who’s right? Can they ever reconcile completely? Write a fic where it drives them apart.

24. Sebastian Shaw

A trope unto himself.

25. Team As Matchmaker

They had to have known something was going on, didn’t they?

26. Cooking

Charles deserves a good meal. Also, imagine Erik using his powers in the kitchen. The sheer domesticity…

27. Hurt No Comfort

Plenty of scope with these two 🥲

28. Growing Old Together

Giving Sirs Ian Mckellan and Patrick Stewart their props as well!

29. Making Up

*pushes chess board across the table* sorry babe

30. Charles Xavier Did More For Mutants Than You'll Ever Know

Rising to each other’s defense. Only I can insult this man.

I will be tracking #revivecherik to reblog stuff! Here’s a fic collection for the same. Let’s get this ball rolling! Please feel free to send me an ask if you’ve got anything to say! And most importantly, let’s all have fun 😁

*I know a few of you preferred something like a gift exchange because of the commitment factor—I’m super down to organise a tiny one for the handful of us! If this promptathon doesn’t flop horribly, we can hopefully do a whole bunch of stuff :)

If you read this post all the way through, please reblog for reach! Thank you! Hoping you participate come April.

Shoutout to @inmymagnetoera for reaching out and helping with this!

[kathlare]

the alchemy

Lando Norris x Amelie Dayman

Summary: Amelie returns to the F1 paddock during the Miami Grand Prix, where emotions run high on and off the track.

Wordcount: 2.6 k

Warnings: fluff, smau, kinda suggestive content

full masterlist // request over here!

May 5th, 2024 - Miami, FL

liked by drivetouamour, landoislife, and others

amelienation: Amelie has arrived at the paddock for the Miami Grand Prix alongside a friend and her sister, Stella! 💕 She’s here to support Checo, marking her first race appearance of the season. Looking stunning as always, can’t wait to see more of her this weekend! 🏎✨

View all 1,584 comments

fan1: She really said, "Let me slay Miami while casually supporting my bro-in-law." 🔥 ��� fan2: @fan1 Bro, imagine being this iconic.

f1fanatic32: She’s back in the paddock, and all is right in the world 🌎✨

latinaf1love: Supporting Checo like the queen she is! 🫶 → drivetoamour: @latinaf1love She’s the real MVP. Forget the drivers, I’m here for her.

amieobsessed: Imagine if she dates a driver… I’d die. 😭 → landoislife: @amieobsessed Bestie she’s too good for any of them. Let’s be real.

pinktarmac: Miami AND Amelie?? We’re eating good this week 🥵 → fastfamfan: @pinktarmac Forget the race, this is the main event.

lanmilsupremacy: She’s here supporting Checo... but you KNOW she’s gonna end up in Lando’s garage somehow 👀💅 → amelieupdates: @lanmilsupremacy Friends supporting friends, right? Totally innocent... 👀

landoobsessed: Imagine if Lando and Amelie were actually dating though... that would break the internet fr. 😍 → f1shipperzzz: @landoobsessed Literally waiting for that soft launch any day now 💀

miamilover99: If I see one picture of her and Lando together this weekend, I’m DONE. My heart can’t take it. 💔 → oscarfan45: @miamilover99 Same, but also... I’m refreshing Twitter every five seconds. 😭

oscarfan101: Y’all KNOW Lando’s gonna act suspicious all weekend now that she’s here. 😂 → landosimp23: @oscarfan101 The man’s gonna stutter through every interview, bet. 💀

hatersgonnahate: She’s only here for attention. Like, we get it, you’re famous.

landoismyman: She better not end up with anyone else on the grid. I’m still holding out for my otp. 🥹

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

The Miami sun was blazing, the roar of engines echoing through the circuit. Amelie stood in the Red Bull garage with her sister Stella, who was animatedly chatting with Checo's engineer. Amelie’s attention, however, was firmly fixed on the big screen in front of her, where the final laps of the race played out. Her heart was pounding in sync with the commentator's excited voice.

Lando was leading.

The McLaren driver, her Lando, was within grasp of his first-ever Grand Prix victory. She could barely breathe as she watched him expertly navigate the track, holding off Max Verstappen with a precision and calm that had the crowd on their feet.

She wasn’t supposed to be here, not this close to the action. Being in the McLaren garage would’ve raised suspicions, so she’d accepted Stella’s invitation to watch with Red Bull. But now, standing among strangers, the idea of keeping her emotions in check felt impossible.

When Lando crossed the finish line, the world seemed to stand still for a moment before erupting into chaos. The commentator’s voice cracked as he shouted, “Lando Norris takes his first-ever Formula 1 victory in Miami!”

Amelie’s knees buckled, tears streaming down her face before she even realized it. She brought her hands to her mouth, trying to stifle a sob, but the dam had broken.

—Oh my God,— she whispered, voice trembling.

Stella turned to her, a knowing smile on her lips. —Go.—

Amelie hesitated for only a second before bolting out of the garage. Her mind was a blur, her body moving on pure instinct as she weaved through the crowds and dodged security personnel. She barely registered the cheers or the sea of orange-clad fans.

She reached the pit lane just as Lando pulled into the designated spot, his car stopping amid a swarm of jubilant McLaren team members. Without thinking, she pushed her way through the cluster of orange uniforms, earning a few startled looks but no resistance.

The adrenaline of the moment was buzzing in her veins, her chest tight with excitement and raw emotion. Amelie didn’t think. She couldn’t think. All she could see was Lando, his helmet still on, his body emerging from the car as the pit crew celebrated around him.

Her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest, it drowned out the noise of the cheers from the crowd. She could feel the warmth of the Miami sun on her skin, but it all faded into the background as she pushed forward, her eyes locked on Lando. He was laughing, his face lit up with joy, but it was when he looked over and saw her that the world seemed to stop.

Lando’s expression shifted instantly from celebration to something softer, something intensely familiar. His eyes widened for just a second, and before anyone could stop him, he was pushing through the crowd, sprinting toward her.

Amelie couldn’t breathe. She didn’t know what she was doing, didn’t know why she was crying or why she’d run here, but the second his arms wrapped around her, the tears didn’t stop.

Lando’s voice broke through the buzzing in her ears. —Ames, baby— he murmured, his hands cupping her face as he pulled her into him. His lips crashed into hers, not soft, but frantic, hungry, like he’d been waiting for this moment, just like her.

The kiss was everything. His lips were warm and familiar, tasting of the salt from sweat and the intense excitement of his victory. His arms were strong around her, his hands threading through her hair, holding her in place as if he couldn’t bear to let go. And, for a moment, neither of them cared who was watching.

The cameras were already there, catching every second, every desperate kiss, and the crowd erupted in cheers. But for Amelie and Lando, it was just the two of them in the middle of everything. She forgot the world around them entirely as she lost herself in the kiss, her hands trailing up his chest, pressing him closer.

When they pulled back, panting for air, their foreheads rested together, and Lando’s breath was unsteady. —Fuck, Ames, I thought you’d never do that.— He laughed, breathless, eyes wide with disbelief and joy.

Amelie laughed too, wiping the last of her tears away. She could hear the commotion behind them, the pit crew still cheering, but it felt distant. The only thing that mattered was this moment with him. —I didn’t plan this, Lan,— she admitted with a slight chuckle, her hands still resting on his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart.

Lando grinned, eyes soft but intense, and kissed her again, this time gentler. —Guess we’re out of the secret club now, huh?—

Before Amelie could respond, she was swept up in a wave of McLaren team members, all clapping him on the back, lifting him into the air in celebration.

Amelie watched, still caught up in the whirlwind of emotion, as Lando was carried by his team, laughter and cheers filling the air. The reality of the moment hit her again. He’d won. He’d really won. And now, everyone knew they were together.

She wiped away another tear, trying to steady herself as she made her way toward the podium area, keeping her eyes on Lando the whole time. She couldn’t believe this was happening, couldn’t believe she was watching him, the man who’d been her best friend and then something more, up there on the top step, holding the trophy with the biggest smile on his face.

When Lando finally stood on the podium, her heart swelled with pride. The champagne sprayed, the crowd screamed, and he held the trophy high above his head, looking out at the fans. But all Amelie could see was him, her Lando, standing there, shining in the spotlight. And her tears didn’t stop.

She couldn’t hold back anymore.

Her hands shook as she watched him, the sound of the crowd fading into the background. This was real. This moment, this victory, it was everything they’d both been working for, even if it wasn’t the way they’d planned it. She was crying now, openly, the tears streaming down her face as she clapped and cheered, completely unable to stop the wave of emotion flooding over her.

When the ceremony ended, Amelie stayed back, her heart still racing. She didn’t want to crowd him, not yet, not when he was still caught up in the media frenzy.

She waited outside the McLaren Team Hub, pacing anxiously as the minutes stretched into what felt like hours. The cool evening air of Miami was a welcome relief after the scorching heat of the day, but Amelie couldn’t bring herself to relax.

Her phone buzzed in her purse, but she ignored it, not wanting to be distracted. All she could think about was Lando, and how she’d kissed him, and how this moment—his first win, their first kiss in front of everyone—would change everything.

Finally, she saw him. The door to the team hub opened, and there he was, looking fresh and clean, dressed in a McLaren team shirt, his hair still damp from the shower but that familiar cocky grin on his face.

Amelie felt her heart skip a beat as he caught sight of her. His grin softened instantly, and he walked toward her, his strides long and confident.

—Hey, Ames,— Lando said with a teasing smile, his voice still thick with emotion from the day. —You look stunning. But are you okay? You’ve been crying like a little baby.—

Amelie rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across her face. —Shut up, Lan. You won your first race. Of course, I’m emotional.—

He pulled her into his arms, his lips finding hers in a sweet kiss. The world seemed to disappear as she kissed him back, her hands trailing up to cup his face.

When they pulled away, Lando rested his forehead against hers. —Let’s get to the hotel, yeah? I’m ready to celebrate properly.—

—Are you now?— she teased, but the grin on her face was wide.

As they made their way to the hotel, Amelie’s mind couldn’t help but drift to the after-party. They were both ecstatic, both a little tipsy from the excitement and the lingering effects of the champagne. But when they arrived at the party, the energy shifted.

Lando was surrounded by people congratulating him, and Amelie found herself sticking close to him. She hated the way some of the other girls kept throwing flirtatious glances his way, their fingers brushing his arm just a little too long, trying to get his attention.

But it didn’t bother her as much as it would have in the past. Because the second those girls leaned in, Lando would turn to her, his eyes only on her.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him closer, her lips pressing against his ear. —You’re not going anywhere, Lan.—

He chuckled, nipping at her ear in return. —Never, Ames.—

As the night wore on, the party’s energy seemed to intensify. The music was loud, and the lights were flashing in every direction. But amidst the crowd, Lando and Amelie were like a little world of their own. They danced together, laughing and teasing, their bodies moving in sync to the beat. It was one of those nights where everything felt perfect, where the connection between them felt so natural, so easy.

Amelie felt the warmth of Lando's hand on her back as they danced, his touch sending electricity through her. The alcohol had loosened them both up, and their playful teasing grew a little bolder. Every time she laughed, Lando's eyes would light up, and every time she brushed her lips against his, his hands would find their way to her waist, pulling her even closer.

But she could feel the tension between them building—an energy that had been simmering under the surface for months, maybe longer. She could see it in the way he looked at her, the way his hands lingered on her body, the way their kisses had become more urgent as the night wore on.

At one point, Lando leaned in close, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered, his voice thick with desire. —You’re driving me crazy, Ames.—

Amelie shivered at the sound of his voice, her hands tracing the outline of his chest before sliding up to his neck. —Is that so?— she teased, her breath catching in her throat. She couldn’t deny the way he made her feel—the way his touch seemed to light her up from the inside out.

He smiled against her skin, pressing a kiss to her neck that made her pulse quicken. —Yeah,— he murmured, his lips brushing her jaw. —You’ve been killing me with those looks all night.—

Amelie laughed softly, but the sound was shaky, the heat in her chest turning into something more. She felt her heart race as she tilted her head back, giving him more access to her neck. —You’re such a flirt, Lan,— she whispered.

He chuckled against her skin, the sound vibrating through her. —Only for you, Ames,— he said, his voice low and raspy.

But as the night went on, Amelie couldn’t ignore the way her body responded to his closeness, the way every touch, every kiss felt more urgent, more desperate. There was a tension building, a hunger that neither of them had been able to ignore for too long.

Eventually, they found their way to a quieter corner of the venue, far from the noise of the party. Lando backed her up against a wall, his body pressing into hers as his lips crashed against hers once more. The kiss was heated, urgent, as though neither of them could wait any longer.

Amelie felt the heat of his hands on her waist, pulling her flush against him, and she responded eagerly, her fingers tangling in his damp hair, tugging him closer. Every inch of her body seemed to crave him, and she could feel the same hunger in his every movement.

—Fuck, Ames…— Lando groaned against her lips, his hands sliding down to her hips, gripping her tightly as though he couldn’t get enough. Amelie’s breath hitched in her throat, and she pressed her body even closer to his, feeling the hard heat of him against her.

She pulled away just slightly, her eyes meeting his, her lips swollen from the kisses. —Lando,— she breathed, her voice trembling with the need building inside her. —I think we need to get out of here.—

He nodded without hesitation, his gaze dark and intense. —Yeah,— he said, his voice rough. —Let’s go.—

They didn’t even look back as they made their way out of the party, their hands intertwined, hearts pounding in their chests. Neither of them said anything, but the silence between them was filled with anticipation.

Once they reached his hotel room, the door slammed shut behind them, and it was as if the world outside didn’t exist anymore. Lando didn’t waste a second, pulling her toward him, his lips claiming hers again, more desperately this time. Amelie’s hands found the buttons of his shirt, tugging at them as she kissed him back with equal urgency.

Her heart raced as she felt his hands slip under her skirt, his touch sending shocks of desire through her. —Fuck, you feel amazing,— he whispered, his voice hoarse as his lips trailed down her neck.

Amelie moaned softly, tilting her head back to give him better access, her fingers working at the buttons of his shirt. She could feel the heat of his body against hers, the intensity of the moment, and she wanted more. She wanted all of him.

—Lando…— she breathed, her hands trembling as they explored his chest, her nails grazing his skin.

He looked down at her, his eyes dark with desire, before he pulled her top and skirt over her head in one swift motion. The moment she was in just her underwear, he lifted her effortlessly, carrying her to the bed as if she weighed nothing. His hands were everywhere, caressing her skin, as though he couldn’t get enough of her.

Amelie’s breath caught in her throat as Lando hovered over her, his lips kissing a trail down her body. She arched into him, her hands threading through his hair, urging him on.

—Fuck, you’re beautiful,— he murmured, his lips brushing over her stomach.

Her body responded to his every touch, every kiss, and she pulled him back up to her lips, kissing him fiercely. Their hands were frantic, pulling at each other’s clothes, desperate to feel skin on skin.

When they finally came together, it was electric. Every inch of their bodies connected, every kiss, every touch, every sigh filled with the tension and desire that had been building for so long. It was messy and intense, the need for each other overwhelming.

And when it was over, they lay tangled together in the sheets, breathless, their bodies pressed close. Amelie’s head rested against Lando’s chest, and he kissed the top of her head, his fingers tracing soothing patterns on her back.

She smiled softly, her heart still racing. —That was… holy shit.—

Lando chuckled, his chest vibrating beneath her. —Told you I’d make you feel good, Ames.—

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

liked by maxfewtrell, ameliedayman, and others

landonorris: WWE FUCKIJG DID IT. P1 🏆

View all 8,588 comments

ameliedayman: Finally, I get to kiss a winner. 🏆😏 Proud of you, champ. → landonorris: @ameliedayman Oh, I’m winning more than races tonight 👀.

fanspeedy: BRO FINALLY DID IT 🔥😭 WE BEEN WAITING SINCE 2019. → landofanboy69: @fanspeedy King secured the bag ON and OFF the track, no cap. 👀

minniemills: Tears in my eyes! Lando, you absolute legend. P1! 🏆 → landonorris: @minniemills Minnie, don’t cry, I’m barely holding it together myself. 😅

mclaren: And we said it: He’s built different. 🏆

taylorf1fan: Tears are streaming down my face 😭😭 LANDO REALLY DID IT. → lanmelie_endgame: @taylorf1fan He deserves it and we deserve this relationship reveal. 🙌👀

charles_leclerc: About time, mate. Just don’t think you’re catching me in Monaco 🥱 → landonorris: @charles_leclerc Watch me 😉

madisonbeer: KING SH*T 👑 So proud, Lando! → ameliedayman: @madisonbeer Right? I trained him well. 😉 → landoeditz_: @ameliedayman Girl, don’t play with us like that!

landohater69: Great, now his ego will be even bigger. 🙄

hayesgrier: Okay, Lando. We see you, trophy boy 🏆 Don’t forget who was rooting for you before you were cool. → ameliedayman: @hayesgrier Bro, you didn’t even watch F1 until like a year ago 💀 → hayesgrier: @ameliedayman Details.

maxverstappen1: Guess I’ll let you have this one 😉 Congrats, bro! Enjoy the moment. → landonorris: @maxverstappen1 Appreciate it, Max.

landosbiggestfan_: HE’S BEEN IN LOVE WITH HER FOR AGES AND NOW THIS?! I’M LOSING IT

amelieupdates_: Soft launch? Babes, this was a HARD LAUNCH.

racefan4ever: I KNOW we’re all vibing with the idea of them, but let’s just be real: THEY HAVE BEEN DATING, so don’t act surprised, ppl! → ln4nation: @racefan4ever Like seriously. We’ve BEEN rooting for them, and now it’s just a public affair! 🔥

beachbabealex: Lando’s been simping for Ames since 2020 and now he’s living the dream. Honestly, same. 👀

laneliefoever: I KNEW IT!! Lando's been OBSESSED with her since 2020 and now he’s finally living his dream. I CAN’T BREATHE!! 😭🔥 → lanosupporter92: @laneliefover SAME! He used to be all shy and now? A WHOLE DIFFERENT MAN.

ammyf1fan: Anyone else still in shock she kissed him in front of EVERYONE? Like, talk about setting the world on fire. 💥 → lanoloversunite: @ammyf1fan SHE HAD TO.

[girl4music]

‘When In Rome’ doesn’t seem all that important of an episode at first. But then you realize Xena basically commissioned Gabrielle to kill Crassus. It’s painful cause you know Gabrielle is a person that genuinely does appreciate human life and won’t kill just for the sake of it. If it can be avoided, she will avoid it. Yet, she’s forced to decide time and time again for what to do in the heat of the moment and the conclusion seems to always be for somebody to die. Whether it be herself, Xena or other, and sometimes even at her own hand. She said she accepted the consequences of living her life with Xena early in their travels together, but I don’t think she accounted for the fact she’d have to kill just to keep her and Xena alive. Or, like in the case of this episode, to save Vercinix, a good, innocent man and a hero to his people, from being executed at the order of Caesar. It wasn’t just about sacrificing her own life, it was also sacrificing and betraying everything she stood for so that her and Xena could survive. Season 4 was the storyline for this. Choosing pacifism because she believed it was the right Way for her, then breaking it again when Xena was left vulnerable and defenceless and she had no other option but to make that split-second decision to kill those soldiers that were going to kill her. It was inevitable the way she’d end up. Whether it is a good thing or not is up to you and how you perceive the situations that happen within the episodes. Your better judgement.

This is the life Gabrielle chose. To experience and face all the violence, blood and pain again and again, being just as much a partaker in it as trying to stop it from happening… Just to be with Xena. That’s got to be the most tragically romantic, beautiful and powerful thing I’ve ever known. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Xena and Gabrielle truly are the greatest love story ever told, and I’m not just saying it because they’re my OTP. I’ll be damned if I ever find anything more romantic than Gabrielle’s insistence to throw away her morality for Xena. She’s going against her own sense of self time and again just to protect and defend people’s lives. Especially Xena’s. It’s a testament to how much and how deeply she really loves her and that’s so incredibly romantic. Wouldn’t you agree?

This is another episode where no one really cares about the Xena/Caesar fued. This episode belongs to Gabrielle and her struggle to betray her ideals by personally sending Crassus to the executioner. Commissioned and expected to by Xena, no less.

She's the heart of the whole story here. It all wraps tightly around her.

Just like 'The Deliverer', without what's going on with Gabrielle, it's just another cat-and-mouse Xena VS Caesar game and even though I love the Rome episodes, they're not as interesting as you think they are without Gabrielle’s stuff. And as great as all the other writers are with Gabrielle’s representation and development, only Steven truly gets what Gabrielle’s about. Him and Renee really make this show resonate far beyond a villain-turned-hero seeking redemption story.

Without Gabrielle - this show is half its watch value. Well and truly.

[jjsmaybank20]

hiii 😊 i have a request!

celeb!reader x jenna pretty please

reader and jenna unfollow each other on socials and everyone’s confused because they think they broke up, but in reality jenna beat them at uno or wtv (something simple)

& reader goes live and everyone’s like “oh em gee did u and jenna break up” blah blah blah

that’s all i got my brain can’t think of anything else

thank u! and i luv u! 🤭

Celebrity News

Jenna Ortega x GN!Reader

Summary: Everyone thinks that you and Jenna broke up, but in reality, she's just a sore loser.

Warnings: literally all fluff, and my shitty writing

Word Count: 757

A/N: This is for u, bby! Pardon my shitty pic editing, ur much better at it than I am.

Swear to god I thought I posted this yesterday, but I guess not. Enjoy!

navigation  celebrities (romantic) masterlist

---

BREAKING CELEBRITY NEWS: DID ACTORS Y/N Y/L/N AND JENNA ORTEGA BREAK UP?

 This past weekend, fans of Jenna Ortega and Y/N Y/L/N were shocked when the couple unfollowed each other on social media. The couple (who had been going strong for almost a year) have earned a special place in fans hearts, making this news even more heartbreaking. We still don’t know why they have unfollowed each other, but it can’t be good. 

---

10,451 Likes

JennaOrtegaNews: I can’t believe they broke up! They seemed so in love. My heart is broken right now.

y/ns_lover: Noooo! They were my OTP!!!

Scream47: Maybe Jenna will date me now

Bebop218: You’re funny Scream47

ChristianMom: Good riddance. Those two were actively against God. Finally some balance has been restored.

y/n&jenna4life: Get ur homophobic ass outta here

JennaOrtegaWifey: Gonna miss them so much. Hope they’re doing okay.

---

You sit on your bed, bored out of your mind. Jenna was in the kitchen making some food for the two of you. You think about doing a livestream, and you walk towards your girlfriend to run the idea by her. When you enter the kitchen, you see her dancing around, making you smile softly to yourself. 

You wrap your arms around from behind, making Jenna jump slightly before melting into your arms. You sway with her for a second before pressing a kiss to her temple, which makes her turn around so that she can press a soft kiss to your lips. 

When you break apart, you finally remember why you came into the kitchen in the first place. “Baby, do you want to do an Instagram live with me?” She nods her head and says, “As long as I can keep cooking.” You grin at her before setting up your phone. 

Jenna is out of the frame when you begin the livestream, making you realize that you want to surprise the fans. You signal for her to stay as quiet as possible and stay out of frame, and she nods in understanding. You watch the number of people watching shoot up faster than it ever has, catching you slightly off guard.

“Did something happen?” You mutter to yourself, trying to catch some information from the comments speeding past. Finally, a couple of them slow down. I can’t believe you and Jenna broke up! You choke on your spit when you read that, now really confused. 

“Who said we broke up? Where’d you hear that?” The comments continue to stream past, most of them interpreting your reaction as not knowing that the news of the break up had gotten out. Really though, you were just lost. 

Finally a comment stops on your screen that explains everything to you. You two unfollowed each other on Instagram. Didn’t you break up? You let out an exasperated sigh, realizing what had happened. You glance over at Jenna, who is still occupied with her baking, none the wiser as to what is going on in the livestream.

You pick your phone up and point it at her, making the viewers become extremely confused in the comments. “This little shit was mad that she lost at Monopoly, so she unfollowed me on Insta. I unfollowed her in revenge.” Finally Jenna realizes you’re talking about her, and when you say this, she turns around with an offended look on her face.

“You liar!” She then snatches the phone from you and shoves her face right up in the camera. “This liar actually cheated at Monopoly, and that’s a fact. It’s the only way she could have beaten me.” You roll your eyes, easily taking your phone back. “Or maybe you’re just really bad at Monopoly.” 

Jenna thinks about it for a moment before shaking her head and turning back to the oven. “Not possible.” You laugh before finally turning back to the livestream. Messages of relief and amusement are flooding the screen, and you have to giggle at some of them. 

It’s okay y’all! Mom and Dad are fine.

That was a close one! false alarm. 

Yeah, they’re okay. Fighting like 8-year-olds again.

Finally, you decide to sign off of the livestream. “Thanks for checking in, you guys! Jenna and I are fine, no worries. Hope you guys are doing great and have a wonderful day!” When you shut it off, you turn to Jenna and wrap your arms around her. 

“We almost started some massive celebrity news by accident, babe.” Jenna giggles to herself, making you smile. Yeah, you would have to be an idiot to let her go.

---

@lovelyy-moonlight @pnsteblnme @MrsLillithy @alotofpockets @theenglishswiftie

Join my taglist!

[allwaswell16]

All the One Direction fics I read and enjoyed in Sept 2024. You can listen to my podcast to hear me talk about each of these fics as well as an overview of what was posted on ao3 including the fics on this month’s fic roundup [ @1dmonthlyficroundup ] which you can find here! Please let the writers know if you liked the fics by leaving kudos and comments! Happy reading!

Fanfictional Podcast #66 |  ko-fi | fic recs

- Louis / Harry -

🩵 Better is the End by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(M, 26k, Greek mythology) Louis stands at the entrance to the labyrinth, and knows that this is the end. No one escapes from the labyrinth. No one can defeat the monster inside and make it back out alive.

🩵 Sugar, Sugar by @parmahamlarrie

(E, 25k, sugar daddy Louis) Meeting your soulmate was the most joyous event of one’s life… or at least, it’s supposed to be. Harry, in all of his 25 year old wisdom, was suspicious of the role fate plays in everyone's lives. He'd rather focus his time dating older men he meets off of a sugar baby website.

🩵 Break (Up)? Coming Right Up! by The_Halcyonic_Lachesist / @chai-hat-tea

(M, 14k, breakup) Louis promised Harry that they would always be together, but when Harry's dreams get in the way, will Louis be able to keep his word?

🩵 Like A Miracle by crimsontheory / @ireallysawanangel

(M, 12k, established relationship) Louis thinks he finally knows what it feels like to be truly nervous now that he has one very important question to ask his boyfriend. Part 4 of Marcel series

🩵 touch me baby, put your lips on mine by @insightfulinsomniac

(E, 12k, pwp) the soft and sweet sex party fic with a dash of dom/sub dynamics and a LOT of public sex.

🩵 Smells Like TEAM Spirit by @persephoneflouwers

(NR, 10k, high school) Punk Louis and quarterback Harry have been secretly dating for years. Feeling overwhelmed by his commitments, Harry suggests a short break, fearing he can't give Louis enough time. As Louis reflects on his vulnerabilities, Harry struggles on the field without him.

🩵 This Ain't Red Wine by LetTheMusicMoveYou / @letthemusicmoveyou28

(E, 9k, supernatural) the one where Human Louis accidentally finds himself at a Vampire only party which actually turns out to maybe not be the worst thing

🩵 Haunting Beauty by 4ureyesonly28 / @evilovesyou

(G, 6k, ghost Louis) It’s 1988. Harry has just finished his first year of teaching English and looks forward to a relaxed break. Louis is a poltergeist and has different plans for Harry’s summer.

🩵 Good-Old Fashioned Lover Boy by not_fitzwilliam / @not-fitzwilliam-darcy

(NR, 5k, omegaverse) When a miscalculated decision leads to an accidental courtship with the sweetest, most gentle alpha, Harry is torn between breaking the alpha's heart and telling the truth. 

🩵 we could be enough by @hellolovers13

(M, 5k, omegaverse) Louis never imagined anyone could love him for who he truly is. Then he meets Harry.

🩵 Only Angel by starryhaze / @starryhaze28

(E, 5k, pwp) the one where Louis is in Japan and stumbles upon a boy wearing angel wings

🩵 this cage was once just fine by amomentoflove / @daggerandrose

(T, 3k, uni) the one where Harry pines for Louis

🩵 A Tight Space by @haztobegood

(T, 2k, shapeshifter curse) Louis startles with a hand to his chest. “What the fuck was that?” “Oh, that’s the cat. I told you Liam found a stray a few days ago. That’s him.” “Are you sure that’s a cat?”

🩵 The Wilds - Timestamps by @jaerie

(E, 2k, omegaverse) The fact of the matter was that they were still bonded. And since they were just like any other bonded pair, Louis really wanted his knot. Part 3 of The Wilds

🩵 we could be the greatest team by 5sexualhomos / @hogwartzlou

(G, 1k, friends to lovers) Imagine your OTP accidentally and unofficially moving in together. Bonus points if they aren't dating at the beginning.

🩵 Singing Like a Bird 'Bout It Now by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(G, 1k, meet cute) Dr. Louis Tomlinson is worn to the bone, but only has a few patients left before the end of the day. One of those appointments takes quite a few twists and turns.

🩵 The Ball Guy by @homosociallyyours

(T, 1k, humor) Harry is an unpaid intern on his first film set, and he's pretty excited to see that his number one celebrity crush, Louis Tomlinson, will be a part of the movie. He's on the call sheet for the day, followed by a very odd addition: a ball guy?

🩵 Wordplay 2024 (series) by @kingsofeverything

Nest (G, 100 words) Harry wakes up first. Tight (NR, 100 words) Louis comes home early. Carry (NR, 100 words) Baby bump. Press (E, 100 words) Louis asks for it. Interference (G, 100 words) Bottom of the ninth.

- Rare Pairs -

🩵 circling the truth by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

(T, 3k, Liam/Louis) Liam Payne has met his soulmate. He knows he has, because he woke up with his power this morning.

🩵 'Cause What I Want Came True by @lululawrence

(NR, 1k, Louis/Diego Luna) He’d known Diego was attractive, the few photos he had shared on the dating app had made that clear, but there was something about seeing him in person that made him feel… more.

[renegad3rogu3]

I've been toying with an idea for my first fanfic of my OTP (kakairu).

I'm imagining a storyline where these two keep crossing paths during the toughest, most toxic parts of their lives. All the angst, slowest of slow burns, break ups, other relationships, jealousy, betrayal, addiction, recovery, etc.

I really want to jump into heavy themes like PTSD, addiction, and abuse—basically how these characters deal with the trauma they've faced. I picture Iruka and Kakashi as both a comfort and a problem for each other—a mix of toxic influence and soul mates who just can't seem to stay apart.

There are a lot of relationships that are like spiritual connect, lots of sun and moon references. This idea really clicks with me and is at the heart of Iruka and Kakashi's relationship in my story. Even though they might bring out the worst in each other at times, there's something deeper that connects them, as if they're destined to find each other in every lifetime.

My story has Iruka and Kakashi facing their inner demons, sometimes dragging each other down and other times lifting each other up. It's a reflection of how real-life relationships can be both healing and harmful, and how tricky it can be to find balance without getting lost in the darkness.

I've been through a lot of trauma these past few years. Abuse, DV, divorce, single mom, trauma, PTSD.. and I think this fanfiction will be a way to explore the hurt I've been through and heal

By exploring PTSD and addiction, I want to shed light on what it's like to live with trauma and how people find ways to cope. I hope to create a story that's engaging and empathetic, inviting readers to think about the complexities of relationships and the strength of the human spirit. I really want it to be real. Because trauma isn't easy, and never has a picture perfect sunshine and rainbow recovery. It changes you, often not for the best, and it takes not only trying to process what's happened to you, but breaking down your survival behaviors that got you through it, and learning new behaviors. It's hard. It's gritty. And I really want to capture that.

[elpeadro]

Part 1: The Good Ending

Part 2: The Bad, Tragic Ending

If the writers wanted CaitVi to be their canon OTP so bad, they had two ways of going about it…sike there was a secret third ending all along!

THE DISJUMBLED, TONAL MESS OF AN ENDING WE GOT:

Despite the pacing and dialogue issues of the first three episodes, I have nothing bad to say about Act 1’s ending. Caitlyn’s corruption arc, while extremely rushed in getting to this point given where her characterization was at in season 1, reaches its climax as we see just how far she has fallen: being willing to shoot a child, lashing out and hitting Vi, saying some incredibly bigoted things toward Vi, and, the pièce de résistance and one of my favorite scenes in the entire show, becoming the dictator of Piltover as the enforcers and Noxians beat their chests in salute to her. When Ambessa drapes that cloak over her shoulders and Caitlyn thumps her fist against her chest, it feels like the birth of a monster - and I mean that in the best way possible.

And she is a monster…except her actions are mostly confined to two music montages in episodes 3 and 4 and then shuffled off to the side for Warwick in Act 2 and the Machine Herald War in Act 3.

Just as it is a major problem when she goes from naive and priviledged, but good-hearted S1 Caitlyn to “let’s commit war crimes against a civilian population” S2 Caitlyn in the span of the Heavy is the Crown + Hellfire montages, it is even more a problem when the near-entirety of her dictator era is confined to the Paint the Town Blue montage. Because while I would begrudgingly accept the former being rushed to set up the latter’s payoff, the writers don’t pay it off.

At the end of episode 3, Caitlyn ascends to dictatorship. At the beginning of episode 4, she is questioning Ambessa, the justifications for martial law, and Maddie even suggests she could reinstate the council and remove herself as dictator. Can you say ‘jarring’?

That’s not how this works! You don’t write a good character having a fall from grace into a villain arc, then fast forward through the lowest and worst points of said arc. It’s like they made her a dictator just for the flavor it would give her character combined with the angst of her and Vi breaking up. Which, that’s bad writing process to begin with, but it’s especially bad when the writing has her BECOME A FASCIST DICTATOR.

You absolutely cannot evoke the political imagery of fascism only to not follow through on it. It is a conscious, deliberate choice to write and animate the end of episode 3 and the opening montage of episode 4 as they are presented.

In the Paint the Town Blue montage, we see: 

banners with the Kiramman crest being hung up all over the city

security checkpoints for Zaunites with armed enforcers standing watch

a prison with watchtowers and tall, barbed wire fences

enforcers acting as riot police (complete with riot shields)

Zaunites throwing Molotovs at said riot police

unarmed Zaunites running from armed enforcers

a Zaunite prisoner being photographed standing against a wall with a bag over their head (I really want to point this one out)

an enforcer stepping on the head of a Zaunite who is already laying on the ground and being handcuffed by another enforcer

Zaunite rebels hiding in a boarded up shop from armed enforcers

Zaunite prisoners being marched forward with their hands behind their heads

an enforcer beating someone

a line of Zaunites kneeling with their hands cuffed behind their backs as an enforcer beats another prisoner

Caitlyn being framed in shadow with a brooding, sullen look

graffiti of Jinx as a revolutionary figure waving a blue flag

In short, a dictator’s regime putting up propaganda posters and symbols, political repression by the state, mass imprisonment, police brutality, civilian resistance against an authoritarian state, and people rallying around a revolutionary symbol. And don’t forget the opening of episode 3 where we hear the recording of Cassandra Kiramman say “the people of the Undercity deserve to breathe” only for Caitlyn to immediately go “umm actually no they don’t; time to weaponize toxic, carcinogenic smog against them and revoke the most basic of human rights.”

(Side note: “Paint the Town Blue” as the song for this montage doesn’t feel right, tonally. A bit too energetic and idk, peppy? This is a montage showing an oppressed group of people being brutalized by a fascist state. Maybe go for something somber and/or horrifying? Or something that makes viewers sick from how angry they are at the sight? Just a thought.)

If the writers were going to do something with all of this, then they did a good job - song choice notwithstanding. 

The problem is they don’t. Not a single character confronts Caitlyn over the atrocities she committed.

When Vi sees her - the woman who broke her heart, who betrayed her, who became a dictator and stepped on the necks of Vi’s people for a year - she’s more annoyed and mad at Caitlyn for attacking her on accident than she is for, I don’t know, THE WHOLE DICTATOR THING? Season 1 Vi would’ve let Caitlyn absolutely have it, if not outright fought her for what she did to Vi’s city.

In what is one of the most stunning bits of character assassination I’ve seen, Jinx APOLOGIZES to Caitlyn for killing her mom.

Ekko got written out of the story to where he never interacted with Caitlyn this season, because if he was giving her shit in season 1, then he would’ve let her absolutely have it, even harder than Vi did.

Sevika got written out of the story entirely after episode 4.

Jayce never comments on it once he gets back.

Mel never comments on it once she gets back.

The writers try to trick us with Vi and Caitlyn’s argument in episode 8, and then Caitlyn’s one-sided venting to Jinx in the jail cell about how they can never repay their crimes, but those are both so weak and half-assed.

We never see Caitlyn realize the weight of her crimes. She needed to have a scene where she “wakes up” and is horrified at how far she’s fallen and all the terrible things she’s done. We don’t get that. She’s already woken up and questioning things when we see her for the first time in episode 4. Nor does she suffer from the guilt of said crimes. Again, I’m going to complain about the blatant Macbeth reference in her part of the intro credits, because how do you deliberately evoke fucking MACBETH for a character who undergoes a villain arc and commits these horrible actions only to not have her crumble under the weight of her sins…you know…like what happens in Macbeth.

So Caitlyn isn’t held accountable either externally or internally. This wouldn’t be a problem if handled properly. A villain doesn’t have to be held accountable nor realize they’re a bad person to be an effective, satisfying character.

The problem is the tone of everything that comes after the opening of episode 4.

It’s almost like the writers are actively trying to have Caitlyn commit as few on-screen, bad actions as possible during her dictator era. Really all she does is threaten Singed with the prison cells she has deemed too inhumane to use. (Oh yay! She hasn’t been as awful as she could have been). After that, she immediately flips back to Vi’s side to help save Warwick, has a very surface level argument so people can say “but Vi did call her out”, “wins” Vi’s affections over Jinx and has sex in a jail cell with Vi going down on her (that sex scene could be its own post god I hate it), gets to be one of the good guys in the war without any pushback, and gets her happy ending with Vi.

The framing of all of this, both textually and by word of God via the authors, is simply incompatible with the weight of her crimes. 

The jail cell scene is presented as Vi and Caitlyn reconnecting and finally coming together, complete with a happy pop song - ignoring Vi’s sister being clearly suicidal and Vi certainly having trauma from spending 7 years in prison where the warden beat her enough times that he didn’t bother keeping count, to say nothing of Caitlyn not having earned Vi’s trust and intimacy. (Also, Vi couldn’t have gotten any pleasure or attention? They couldn’t have taken it to an actual bed?)

The way Vi talks about herself going behind Caitlyn’s back is unhealthy and toxic. (“I went behind your back (for my sister, who has committed far less heinous crimes than you, who just watched the kid she sorta adopted die right in front of her and is now a mental wreck, after you locked her up using your unilateral power as dictator of Piltover.)”)

Vi being very, very emotionally fragile and in no way composed enough to have sex is ignored. (It shouldn’t have to be said, but if someone is this close to having a breakdown and has already punched the wall until their knuckles are bruised, you absolutely should not have sex with them when they’re in such a vulnerable state.)

The “I’m the dirt beneath your nails” line is framed as cutesy and romantic, when that’s actually a horrible, demeaning thing for someone who is a member of the oppressed class to say about herself when her partner is a member of the oppressor class and quite literally was a dictator that violated the human rights of people like Vi, called them animals, and said their blood made them this way.

And most importantly, Caitlyn never has to confront the fact that she became a dictator and did all of these terrible things while in power.

Which, I truly cannot believe I am having to say this, but if you aren’t going to touch on the fact that a protagonist went down a dark path and became a fascist dictator, DON’T WRITE HER BECOMING A FASCIST DICTATOR.

(Or you embrace the tragic, toxic nature of leaving that stuff unaddressed, as discussed in part two.)

TL;DR: the ending CaitVi got is framed as a happy ending, except Caitlyn didn’t put in any of the work for it to be anywhere near a happy, healthy relationship, so it comes across as hollow, forced, and tonally off.

[seventeenlovesthree]

@digimon02countdown Day 7 - What do you love about Digimon Adventure 02?

While my attachment to Digimon started and persisted due to my love to the original Adventure, there are still quite a few things about 02 that always kept me around. I have already hinted at it in previous posts; the relationships, similarities and support between the "older" and "new" Chosen Children, the concept of the multiverse, Jogress evolution (also the fact that my OTP are absolute dads to the kids)... But I'd say the most important aspect for me is the bonding between the characters. And nothing signifies this more for me, nothing is as outstanding, significant and vibrant - as the development of the relationship between Daisuke and Ken.

I would argue that, overall, no relationship gets that much focus, that much visible positive development than these two. And yes, upon getting asked, I will never deny that, in my opinion, there is a sense of romantic tension between them too, but in this post, I just want to write about how fascinating, soothing and beautiful their bond is to me in general.

Their initial set-up is, once again, that of rivals. That is a theme Digimon has always been playing with - but I'd say no other series threw that trope for a loop like this before. On one hand, there is the fact that they're both playing football, even ending up facing each other at a point in the series where Ken is still considered to be that perfect, untouchable genius, good at and with everything, while Daisuke is considered a thick-headed knucklehead, goodhearted, but brash and not really talented in many areas - and yet, he still admired Ken at this point. Then of course, there is the fact that they're on opposing ends, enemies in the Digital World, having brutal, cruel fights against one another as Chosen Child vs. Digimon Kaiser - until the spell breaks, with the Crest of Miracles breaking Ken's curse.

And from now on, the boy - who's responsible for his own Digimon partner's death and the suffering of so many others - will have to face the aftermath of what he's done, dealing with guilt and self-esteem issues, feeling unworthy and unlovable.

But then there is Daisuke - the only one who immediately wants to give him the chance to atone for what he's done. He is not forgiving him right away, but wants him to be able to make up for everything - and with kindness and the persistence to not let him sacrifice himself and die, they achieve the unthinkable: Their Digimon combine, their hearts pound in sync. They seem to be connected in ways that make Daisuke get excited - and scare the heck out of Ken. He thought he didn't have anything or anyone else but his reborn Digimon partner and family, and now there's this boy he used to fight, he used to be enemies with... Who simply wants to be his friend, who wants them to be "partners" and work together.

It's confusing, it's scary. While Daisuke is sure that they're meant to be and fight next to each other, it takes time for Ken to feel ready to take the steps towards him, the others, forming bonds, friendships. But Daisuke being Daisuke makes it so much easier for him to let his walls down, slowly but steadily enabling him to show his gentle and soft side, starting to trust and rely on him as much as he does in return.

And Daisuke? Daisuke is displaying a sense of confidence and comfort that we rarely saw before - he tended to be so focused on impressing others, covering up his own insecurities with cockiness. But his bond with Ken makes all his natural kindness and straightforwardness come through easily. He may appear more simple-minded at first glance, but his heart has the right priorities - and he'll do what it takes to save Ken, from himself, from darkness, helping him to be his true self.

Daisuke doesn't doubt their connection for a second - and that's why it's so important that Ken is still able to shake him. That he has an impact on him like no other. He will give Ken all the time he needs to face his demons, to do the things that are uncomfortable to him - and he'll be by his side all the way.

They are partners, they've got each other's backs. And as long as they don't lose sight of themselves and each other, it will always be this way.

[sweet-s0rr0w]

day 20 of @hprecfest - a fic with fanart

Heart Like Neon by @lqtraintracks - E, 41k, 2020, with art by @bluebutter-art

Summary: Bored of being The Chosen One, Harry discovers he rather likes sex and becomes a professional. He’s good at it, and part of why is that he can read people. Not minds, not Legilimens, but their whole self, and he can give them what they don’t even know they want. Enter Draco fucking Malfoy, enigma to everyone, including himself. Harry can’t help but want to break into him, to figure him out. And Draco, thinking he’ll fuck Potter on a lark, has no idea what he’s in for.

Excerpt:

He’s not sure if he expected some form of resistance, but that’s not what he gets. Potter blooms against him, his lips parting readily, hot breath exhaled on an aroused sigh. He kisses Draco back, instantly deep and hot and sexual. He lets Draco press him back hard, runs his hands up under Draco’s jumper and onto his bare back. Draco hears a thunk and realises he’s dropped the wine in order to grip Potter by the fabulous arse and tug him closer. Potter breathes a seductive little laugh against Draco’s lips. But there’s no artifice in it. It’s only seductive because it’s so fucking genuine. Draco shuts him up, and Potter hums contentedly into the kiss.

The lift dings their floor, and even then they’re slow to step away. It takes a moment to do anything other than look at Potter’s flushed face, at the swell of his lower lip, the heavy dilation of his eyes. It’s Potter who reaches out quickly to stop the doors from closing on them once more.

But before they step out, Draco has to give voice to this nagging feeling inside. “That thing you do,” he says. “Are you doing it right now?”

Potter looks at him steadily. “No, I’m not.”

Draco nods. “Good. I don’t want you to. Not tonight.”

“I won’t,” Potter says, hand still staying the lift doors, hair dishevelled by Draco’s hand, pulse beating hard beneath his jaw.

Draco snatches up the wine bottle, and they step out into the hall.

This is one of my absolute favourite LQT fics. I always tell the story of the day it posted, when I took my kids on a playdate, and claimed, er, tummy issues, so I could lock myself in the bathroom and finish it! Ah, fandom life. This fic just really hits the spot, every time. It's so well paced, I always think, and Drarry are a brilliant match; Harry really self-assured, Draco faking confidence in a slightly arrogant way, but underneath anxious and uncertain. The sex is obviously super hot, and I love the way each sex scene feels like it really has a purpose in driving the story and the relationship forwards. The ending of this fic is cinematic and romantic, illustrated to chefskiss perfection by one of my favourite artists (and people), @bluebutter-art. Big rec, for both creators!

If you read it, and especially if you love it, please do let me know! And as always, please do take the time to leave the author a kudos/comment <3

day 1 - first fic you remember reading

day 2 - a fic rated G

day 3 - a fic not on ao3

day 4 - a comfort fic

day 5 - a romantic fic

day 6 - a fic for a ship you don’t normally read

day 7 - the best of your OTP

day 8 - a fic that was recced to you

day 9 - a WIP

day 10 - a fest/event fic

day 11 - an underrated fic

day 12 - a fic from your favourite author

day 13 - a rare pair

day 14 - a fic rated T

day 15 - a fic over 50k

day 16 - a podfic

day 17 - a fic that makes you cry

day 18 - a fic that makes you laugh

day 19 - fanart

[bosesmikas]

modern family- haley & andy kisses (4/4)

[theladyheroine]

Unexpected OTP Pairings ✨

❥ Okay I know Valentine’s Day was last week! Almost two weeks ago! But recently I’ve been wanting to branch out a bit with my blog writing, & writing prompts are something I love a lot! So, I’m trying something new & came up with a few OTP ideas! I hope you enjoy, thank you & have fun!

❥ F x M writing prompts! I didn't specify who is who though so everyone can read!

Former! Villain x Superhero

Not even a real villain, just some dumb person who steals things or who makes evil schemes that always fail. Kind of like Dr. Doofenshmirtz, & they’re actually really nice in real life! But when a superhero comes to stop them, they instantly fall in love! Seriously has heart eyes & doesn't pay any attention to the hero’s grand pre-fight speech.

Or doesn’t put up a fight at all, just hands them the stolen goods & escapes. Leaving Hero completely confused as the Villain they were supposed to stop didn’t even bother fighting, which is still good but they’re still confused.

After this, the Villain now decides to become a Superhero!! To not only impress their new crush but also because they've always really wanted to be one anyways! It was just the push they needed.

Cue them now running the streets in a completely different outfit trying their best to stop the bad guys! Usually, it doesn’t end well though: they’ll trip over the air & let them escape, or maybe just show up late to the fight & it’s already over.

It’s even worse when their Hero crush joins the fray, and then they’re really clumsy or just start sputtering like an old car. Their former henchmen, now turned sidekicks, try to console them as they lay on the couch completely embarrassed by their feats.

Oooooor, they are super confident & much better at being a superhero than they ever were being a Villain. Maybe this confidence goes to their head a bit & will literally try flirting with Hero on the battlefield! Hero gets a bit embarrassed sometimes & their other super-friends tease them about it. If this does happen, Hero might end up trying to run away from the former Villain in an effort to focus on their job. But it just ends up being really funny to watch.

Bonus: They have opposite powers or maybe one has no powers at all.

Dashing Thief x Friendly! Detective

I'm sorry this one is a bit short!

A notorious thief with a heart of gold who only ever steals from bad guys & acts more as a Robin Hood character than any. Hardly ever keeps anything for themselves; just struts around after dark on the lookout for anything suspicious. Not one person has been able to catch them & their identity remains a mystery. Would be cool if they were a nobleman/woman or had some kind of big fancy hideout. 

The detective is actually their friend/partner (maybe)! The good egg who actually sees the thief’s true intentions instead of just mucking around in a Halloween costume. Although they're pretty ticked at the way Thief does things, they usually keep their coworkers & the boss off Thief's trail. Maybe a newbie or an intern at the detective agency, determined to prove themselves on the field. 

Maybe they met as civilians & the thief switched to a disguise to hide from authorities, but bumped into the detective who was out on a coffee break. It was love at first sight for both of them, so cute! 😆 They do a lot of coffee dates now, but sometimes Detective overdoes it.....

One is the brains, and the other is the brawn. Together they can get any job done! The Detective’s coworkers find it strange how the Thief shows up more often when they're specifically on the job. The Boss is suspicious but sometimes finds them cute.

Often swing by each other’s places to not only hangout but help each other with cases or special kinds of info. If the Thief has any sidekicks, no doubt they’ll spill funny stories of missions gone wrong or close calls. 

Stealing each other's hats and impersonating the other one for fun, then cue a playful chase scene around the room! So cute!

Dragon x Wizard

I know some people like fantasy stuff!

A dragon is resting in their cave until they hears footsteps at the entrance. But instead of finding a grumpy old knight, they find a wizard! Maybe the Wizard was exploring the caves nearby or on a journey to the next town, but instead of feeling scared or angry, they started fangirling/fanboying over the dragon instead! 😆

Likes to ask them all sorts of questions & sometimes can’t stop talking. Now Wizard can come whenever they like & the two become friends!

The Wizard visits whenever they can, showing off all sorts of new spells or potions they've created. Even though it might not be as impressive as their fire, the Dragon still finds it cool & applauds.

The Dragon will always try to impress their wizard friend with tall tales of each piece of treasure. How they got it, where they found it, if they fought anyone over it, etc. But sometimes those stories are exaggerated…

The Wizard will be in absolute awe at the Dragon’s stories & can’t help but be a complete chatterbox about it. Asking more questions about different things like how their magic works, how they can fly with all that extra weight, or if they can learn a fire-breathing spell from them instead—

If the Wizard lives in a tower then the Dragon will visit just as frequently! Usually it’s in the early morning or during sundown when there are fewer people around. But if the Wizard lives in a town or city, it might take some time for the Dragon to come around. It’s not that they don’t care, but dragons are more solitary creatures. Either way, they enjoy each other's company & the dragon likes to ask questions about different thingamabobs on the Wizard's shelves.

They can both be pretty clingy but that’s sometimes a bit tough to handle because the poor wizard has to be extra careful, especially with pouring bottles or waving their wand around if they’re not even two feet apart. Doesn’t mind but sometimes will complain a bit if their partner won’t stay cooperate.

Extra Duo!

Since I loved the superhero one a lot I thought of another one: what if a Hero’s Sidekick & a Villain’s Henchman fall in love!

The Henchman does end up giving Sidekick any tips about their next plan. Cue the Villain throwing a tantrum in their lair wondering why the Hero is always one step ahead of them. 😅

They like to hangout in civilian settings together! Bonus if they found out their secret identities on accident lol

Extra Bonus if the Henchman or both villains become heroes at the end!

[salix-triandra]

for the ask - Sam Butler from mismag! (this is ivy btw just on my extremely old technically-main blog 💀)

Thank youuuu I would love to talk about the wondrous and incandescent Sam Butler:

I feel like Sam is getting her flowers in Season 2 and flew under the radar a bit in Season 1, but Season 1 established that Sam's strength lies in seeing the emotional connections between people and that she has a very strong emotional intelligence. She sees how people matter to each other, but her insecurities break my heart as they don't let her internalize how those connections often spread from HER. S2 shows us that she has spent so much time convinced that people don't actually like her but are liking a spell she is casting on them, even though the reality is that people genuinely like her. She is charming, but she isn't just charming; she has a strong desire to know things about others.

I've only ever shipped Sam with Evan, I'll be honest-- in season 1, she was the first person to say hi to him and attempt to include him the moment she met him. Sam literally talked demons out of possessing him. It blindsided me when Evan and K were the pairing in S1 (though by the time S2 began, they'd broken up) because I saw Sam's genuine care and affection for the person Evan was and I saw K's more surface-level fascination with Evan's situation and sad-boy deal over his person-ness. No K hate, it's literally their arc. And in season 2, that care and affection has continued to grow between Sam and Evan from the start, as early as episode 2 when Sam sees Evan giving into a violent urge and stops him bc she's worried about him, when she notices Evan is being really violent with his shadow, and when Evan carries Sam across a sea of lava and they have an emotional talk about wanting to be in each other's lives. And the whole time K and Sam are talking about what Sam wants in a partner it keeps cutting to Evan doing something off to the side... and then epsidoe 3 happens where Evan fucking dies and Sam is the only person who can look at the shadow version of him? And how she's the one to ask all the right questions to determine how to get Evan back to life? And from that point onward, we see them both prioritizing each other first in everything: in combat, in emotional scenes; they gravitate towards each other before others. I could talk about this part forever but won't bc this is about SAM and not the two of them as a couple. She is so attentive, caring, and loving; it shows in the way she sees Evan as a normal person, and he validates that for her by showing that he consistently sees to the core of her.

Non-romantic OTP, K Tanaka and Sam are Pink Pals forever, childhood friends that were super close, grew apart in adolescence, and then re-connected as 17 year-olds. They care for each other a lot and are able to have tough conversations together even if it means getting a little tense because it matters to them.

I know this doesn't count as an unpopular opinion about Sam the character, but seeing as how I don't have any, I would love to see more art of Sam with her natural hair or, at the very least, with some of the protective styles she would wear under her wigs! I'll contribue myself sometime soon, but I'd love to see it from other people, too!

I would have loved to see Sam get to have more time with Fergus Pontz, a character who she dated in S1 and then saw very briefly in episode 3 after Evan got killed-- we find out he followed the Pilot Program's pathing from island to island and then ended up somewhere with bomb in his chest?? and he died??? so she never got to meet back up with him and find out how he survived things; clearly something in their old dynamic was haunting her and it would have been nice for her to get that closure with him.

Thank you again for asking!!!! I loooove this series very much and Sam most of all :)

[conundrumoftime]

Fandom grandma tales: how I survived canon ruining two of the ships I liked.

(Written after a discussion with some of my TROP fan pals about how canon can break your heart re: shipping, and how fandom manages. There are spoilers here for the entire run of Babylon 5, and for one story JMS wrote after it. yes, that story. sorry.)

Babylon 5 was a sci-fi space opera show that ran from 1993 to 1998. It is sci-fi of the era of 22-episode seasons, of huge ensemble casts with characters who get their own B- and C-plots, with an effects and casting budget that doesn’t always match its ambition, and - something it was quite pioneering in, at the time - grand pre-planned story arcs. 

It’s the first fandom that I was involved with in internet spaces as it was running, or at least when its final season was (there’s Discourse and drama from earlier years that I missed). Its showrunner, J. Michael Straczynski - ‘JMS’ - was very active in (non-fanfic) fan community spaces, and you always knew exactly what he was thinking about things because he was part of the discussion around them. There was also fanfic, which he didn’t stop but didn’t go near on the grounds of legal liability for story ideas. 

Most of the fanfic in the early days as the show was airing was focused around two big ships, of which one was canon endgame (Delenn/Sheridan) and one was canon all-ends-in-despair (Marcus/Ivanova). I, as a teenager discovering a developing online fandom for the first time with all the overwhelm and excitement that causes (ask me anything about what reading fic was like before the days of tags/ratings/warnings!) got into Marcus/Ivanova and also into one of the minor ships, Delenn/Lennier.

Delenn/Lennier was never, ever going to happen in canon. This is obvious; it clashes with Delenn/Sheridan which was JMS’s baby darling OTP, the show’s big love story. Delenn is married for the later part of the show. Lennier is her diplomatic aide, is absolutely devoted to her, and they have a very intense mentor/student relationship, which it seems is kind of standard in their culture (when Delenn’s own mentor died she went briefly insane with grief and started a genocidal war over it) but is still Very Intense. He is canonically in love with her, but that’s as far as the explicit canon statements go.

However. HowEVER. Canon also gives us, for that relationship, some wonderful ship fuel. Lennier knows about every bad thing Delenn has done, including all the stuff she doesn’t/can’t tell her husband. He’s her link to her previous world and culture and stands by her even when they kick her out. She says at one point, “without him, I would stumble and fall and never get up again.” 

And then… we had Season 5, the final season.

Season 5, for various complicated production reasons, was operating a little outside of pre-planned story arcs and in this season the Delenn/Lennier stuff ramped up about three gears in one go. It was still very obviously never, ever going to be canon, and was almost certainly not intended by the creator (who wrote most of the episodes himself) to look like there was even anything there. At this point Delenn is married; any relationship with her aide would not only be going against the show’s OTP, but going against it in the sense where she’s cheating on her husband, and there is Just No Way JMS would have gone there. And yet! Season 5 gave us:

A scene where Lennier says he can’t stay, it’s too painful to be around her now she’s married, and she’s devastated and has the following conversation with her husband about it:

S: I got your message about Lennier. Is there anything I can do?

D [snapping]: Almost certainly not.

S: Is it because of me?

D: In part, I think so.

S: Yeah, I was afraid of that. Well, as we say back on Earth, three’s a crowd.

D: On Minbar, three is sacred.

S [slightly uncomfortable laugh]: Well, I don’t think I’m ready to handle that one, Delenn.

Delenn then calling Lennier back to the station to do some secret mission thing for her, which involves her sneaking out of her bed while her husband sleeps to meet Lennier in a darkened alley behind a bar, where she tenderly strokes his face and they have a whole conversation about whether her husband understands her or not.

A scene where Lennier comes back from his secret mission to meet both Delenn and Sheridan, Delenn goes to greet him with a hug, and Lennier does this very pointed step back and nod in the direction of her husband, and she pulls back and just sort of pats him on the arms instead. 

I MEAN.

But, the issue here is not what fans did about it but what canon did about it. Canon did the canon equivalent of dragging that ship outside and shooting it in the head. 

In the final few episodes of the entire series, Lennier tries to kill Sheridan, runs away in shame, and then someone finds his diary in which he’d been writing for ages about what a bad decision he thought Delenn had made and how her whole marriage was an awful idea. Even to this day, it’s fun/awful watching people go through a first-time watch when they get to season 5 and hit that. ‘Character assassination in the form of a diary’ was a whole thing for a while. It’s been 20+ years and the actor who played Lennier is stilll mad about it (not because of shippy stuff, but because he - correctly! - thinks Lennier absolutely would not have done that). 

What *fandom* did, on the other hand, was Fixed The Problem.

Delenn/Lennier was not at all a big ship when the series was airing, and for a few years after. Then the fandom dynamics started to change. With less pressure on what canon was going to do, it felt like fandom had more space to play around with things it didn’t do. Fanfic got less interested in trying to fit within the overall story being told and started spinning off in all its own directions. And *this* ship started getting bigger and bigger. People did really interesting things with it, canon divergence went in all directions, everyone wrote a fix-it story of some variety, some authors did a great series of connected stories based on an idea that Minbari have three genders, the quality of the writing has been brilliant. And I think without that absolute whiplash feeling of what happened in canon, there would never have been this feeling of “well I’m not having THAT” which led to all this.

We did not need canon! Canon had done its thing. And canon had broken our hearts enough ways with many of the other stories it told (entirely on purpose) and we weren’t just going to sit back and let it ruin us forever.

By comparison, the other ship I was into was Marcus/Ivanova. This is entirely doomed. Susan Ivanova’s love life is just perpetually doomed. The first partner of hers we meet is an ex who’s interested in getting back together, but then it turns out he’s just using her to infiltrate the station for the fascist terrorist group he’s secretly joined. Then she falls for an archrival of hers, Talia, who works for Psi Corps, the organisation she loathes most of all things - but it’s okay because it turns out Talia is starting to question them too! Maybe these crazy kids can make it work! They have one night together and then OOPS turns out Talia was being secretly controlled by a sleeper personality implanted in her by Psi Corps the whole time. Ivanova’s love life is doomed. 

So for two seasons, she has this sort-of-flirty, sort-of-bickery, sort-of-friendship going with Marcus, who is on the surface of it very much “why not fall in love at first sight like a true romantic, YOLO!” but it turns out is actually deeply messed up himself and full of survivor’s guilt and pain and, you get the clear impression, would have died of shock if she’d actually called his bluff on the OTT flirting and said “yeah, let’s go for it”. And then he sacrifices himself to save her life. It is a very tragic ending, it is absolutely the way he would have wanted to go, she wakes up both furious and absolutely distraught, says that the last thing she heard was him saying “I love you”, says she wishes she’d at least slept with him once, and says that in a way all love is unrequited. PAIN. 

So, lots of fix-it fanfic, lots of ‘Marcus comes back to life’, lots of canon divergence AUs where he doesn’t die and they live happily ever after and both get over their huge levels of unresolved pain. Pretty standard for that kind of pairing. And as a pairing it doesn’t get in the way of any big canon pairings, it doesn’t imply anything icky like mentor/student power imbalances or adultery. And JMS clearly quite liked it. So that’s better, right?

NO. It was WORSE.

JMS wrote an Marcus/Ivanova story himself, published in one of the sci-fi magazines, to try to give them a happy ending. This happy ending involves Marcus, many many years in the future, waking up from the cryogenic suspension he’s in (it’s sci-fi, keep up, keep up). Ivanova is long dead, but he isn’t about to let this get in the way, so what he does is to *create a new Ivanova* by getting some kind of DNA + computerised memory/personality bank thing, finding a doctor who will clone her, putting himself back into animated sleep until the clone reaches the age Ivanova was when she died, then - THEN, I’M STILL GOING - takes her to a distant planet where, with her memories wiped and their spaceship having deliberately been crashed BY HIM so there’s no way back, they live out their lives in peace.

WHAT.

That pairing still does okay in fandom but it’s not really taken on a post-show world of headcanons and riffing on other people’s ideas and tropes in the way that Delenn/Lennier has (and we all just pretend that story never existed). 

So! This has been my experiences in the field of What We Do When The Show Has Thoughts On That Non-Endgame Ship We’re Into. Fandom manages. Fandom will see you through. And in the words of Susan Ivanova:

Babylon Five was the last of the Babylon stations; there would never be another. It changed the future, and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future, or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one another, for if we don’t, who will? And that true strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Mostly though, I think it gave us hope that there can always be new beginnings - even for people like us.

[multiverse--wanderer]

Merry Christmas // Oneshot - Ghost x König (CoD) -- ENG

[Oneshot based on the OTP between Ghost and König from Call Of Duty. This full Oneshot on patreon has +18 content, read at your own risk. ] This is a Patreon exclusive text, take a look at the different memberships and what each one can offer you!

...

REMINDER:

This story has been written in Spanish, which is my native language. This story has been translated to the best of my ability, although it is possible that it may have mistakes.

This is just a way to transport my writing to a common language for the rest of fans like me. For a better immersion, I recommend reading the story in its original version.

Thank you so much for reading me and see you in the stars.

...

The cabin rested at the heart of a forest buried under a white mantle, where silence stretched like an eternal whisper. Alexander had chosen this forgotten corner to spend Christmas, insisting with the same stubbornness with which he faced orders on the battlefield. He knew Simon, from whom he could sometimes only guess thoughts behind that impenetrable mask, hated crowds as much as he did. But beyond the words that were never spoken, there was a latent truth: they both longed for stillness like an oasis after hell, though they rarely allowed themselves to admit it, not even to themselves.

The forest, covered in snow falling leisurely, seemed to envelop them in a bubble, isolating them from time and the world. The cabin, rustic and modest, was a refuge that smelled of old wood and the warmth of the freshly lit fire. Inside, the fireplace roared softly, filling the air with orange flashes and the faint crackling of the logs. Alexander stood by the window, his tall frame nearly swallowing the frame, his clear eyes following the swaying of the snowflakes dancing in the wind. There was something hypnotic in this scene, as if winter spoke a language he understood better than any human word.

The room, austere yet cozy, had the simplicity of one who lives without pretensions. The wooden furniture, rough and full of history, shared the space with a small Christmas tree Alexander had decorated that very morning. The lights, flickering like trembling stars, cast playful shadows on the bare walls. He had tried to wrap a couple of gifts, and although his clumsy hands barely managed to tame the paper and ribbon, the effort imbued the room with something genuine, almost vulnerable.

Simon sat on the sofa, a stoic figure even in stillness. His mask remained on, like an extension of his skin, a reminder that some things are never left behind. But his clothes, a simple black sweater and wool pants, betrayed a hint of comfort. His large, calloused hands held a steaming cup of tea between his fingers, though his eyes didn’t look at the hot liquid. They were fixed on Alexander, attentive, as if searching for something beyond the figure of the man watching the snow.

Finally, Alexander turned. The firelight played on his face, highlighting the grooves of his features and the melancholic gleam in his eyes. He walked toward the sofa with heavy, but measured steps, and as he sat next to Simon, the furniture groaned under his weight, though neither of them seemed to notice.

—I was thinking —he said softly, almost as if speaking to himself—. How strange it is to be here. So... peaceful.

His gaze drifted to the tree, where the poorly wrapped, somewhat uneven gifts waited patiently. The tree lights reflected off the packages, giving the scene a warm, almost childlike intimacy, which contrasted with the visible and invisible scars both men carried. Alexander nodded toward the gifts.

—Do you want to open them now? —He asked, pointing at the packages with his chin, his deep voice strangely soft, as if afraid to break the stillness of the moment.

Simon didn’t respond immediately. His dark eyes, unalterable under the shadow of the mask, first scanned the gifts, then the tree, and finally returned to Alexander. There was something in his posture, in the way his shoulders seemed to relax just a little, that said more than any word could.

In that lost cabin, amid the snow that covered everything and the fire that promised warmth in a cold world, time seemed to stop. Two men, marked by a shared past of war and death, found in the silence of winter something they never expected to find: a glimpse of peace.

The older one felt strangely serene in that atmosphere. There was something in the cold winter air, in the whisper of the falling snow, and in the warmth that enveloped the cabin, that made him feel as if the world had stopped. Everything seemed in place, as if every element, from the gentle roar of the fireplace to the faint glow of the tree lights, had been arranged to offer them this moment of calm.

He was aware that he was no longer a young man, not completely, but neither old. Still, the scars—the visible ones and the ones inside—sometimes reminded him that there were things more important than the constant pursuit of battle. And on days like this, he realized there was something deeply comforting about being away from it all. Away from the noise, away from the blinding lights, and the pressure of civilization. Here, with him, everything was different.

He looked at the boy sitting across from him, whose energy had once been a contrast to his own shadow, but in this moment reflected the same peace. He knew him well enough to understand that he enjoyed these moments of simplicity just as much as he did. The cabin’s decorations, though humble and a bit messy, spoke of a genuine effort on his part, an effort to make him feel comfortable, calm, at home. And he had succeeded. Oh, how he had succeeded.

—Hm.

The sound was barely a murmur, more a thought escaping his lips than a word. But the boy, always attentive, noticed it. He turned his head, his clear eyes sparkling with a flash of curiosity. The masked man followed the direction of his gaze, where the poorly wrapped, uneven packages rested under the tree.

He smiled, though that smile remained hidden behind his mask. It was strange, he thought, how such a small gesture could carry so much weight in a moment like this. He wasn’t accustomed to these things, to these traditions that seemed to belong to another life, another world. But here he was, sitting in front of a decorated tree, with gifts waiting to be opened, and the warm presence of someone who, in some way, had managed to penetrate his defenses.

—Is it time for that? —He finally asked, his voice deep but soft, tinged with a mixture of curiosity and awkwardness that he rarely showed.

The boy didn’t respond immediately. His eyes wandered between the tree, the gifts, and his figure, as if considering the question with more seriousness than it really required. But in that pause, in the silence they shared, there was something deeper, something that spoke of a mutual understanding that didn’t need words.

Winter continued outside, covering the forest in an embrace of ice and snow. But inside the cabin, between the warmth of the fire and the silent connection they shared, a moment was being formed that would remain etched in both of them. It wasn’t about the gifts or the decorations, but the simple yet powerful truth of being together, away from it all, but close enough to each other.

Alexander let out a soft laugh, barely a whisper that was lost among the crackling of the fireplace and the murmur of the wind outside. It was a strange sound, intimate, that barely seemed to fit with the imposing figure he projected. There was something almost magical in that cabin; perhaps it was the warmth of the fire or the tranquility enveloping the snowy forest, but in that moment, even a man like Alexander could afford to let his guard down.

His eyes stopped on Simon, as they often did more than he would admit. The mask remained on, an impenetrable shield, but Alexander had learned to read the little nuances that Simon unintentionally let slip. A slight change in the tilt of his head, a barely perceptible relaxation in the tension of his shoulders, or even the subtle rhythm of his breathing. And this time, he felt it: Simon was comfortable. Maybe not happy in the full sense of the word, but comfortable, and that was enough for Alexander.

—Well —He said finally, his voice warm, with that soft accent that made the words seem to roll with an almost charming awkwardness—. I don’t think there’s a ‘right time’ to open gifts here.

It was rare for him to feel so relaxed, so human. But there was something in Simon’s presence that always managed to disarm him in a way the battlefield never had. It made him want to be something more than a soldier, even if just for one night.

...

CONTINUE READING THE FULL CHAPTER HERE:

[harocat]

As a huge love between fairy and devil lover whose favorite couple of all time is XLH and DFQC (love you header btw) I want to watch eastern fantasy what can you tell me about it? All I know is she goes into a game or something? How's the otp? I know nothing can be as good as those two but is it at least the same trope of how much they both adored each other and were willing to sacrifice for each other?

YES you should definitely watch it!

So Ling Miaomiao is a modern woman and the fan of a famous novelist, who just released his newest work, Catching Demons. She speed reads it (she's even listening to the audio of it while in a meeting at work yes queen), and realizes she... hates it. Completely despises it even though she really loves this author's work most of the time. Naturally she gets online to complain about it, and as she's doing so, she gets sucked into the world of the novel where she's in the body of the second female lead, the cruel, sinister, and doomed to die Lin Yu. 'The system' (a nebulous mysterious force that brought her in) gives her two tasks:

Survive the novel to the end

Make the second male lead, Mu Sheng, fall in love with her.

Mu Sheng is the second male lead in the novel, and not only does he end up as an antagonist, but he's literally the one who kills Lin Yu. So it seems an impossible task.

Of course though, it turns out Mu Sheng is rough with a gooey center; a true tsundere. He's love starved and lonely. He has a huge secret that he has to hide from everyone around him, including his beloved sister. It doesn't take much, just a lot of being herself, for him to start falling for Ling Miaomiao.

The game mechanics are the way 'the system' presents the story, so LMM has to try and get Mu Sheng to an 100% approval rating toward her, sort of like an otome game. There's lots of cute little jokes playing on this story mechanic (LMM commenting on 'how good the special effects are', using modern terminology and confusing people).

The rest of the plot is fun too! It indeed involves a lot of 'catching demons', as well as an overarching storyline about a powerful demon who 'cracked the sky' nine hundred years ago and is returning to try and end the world again. The costumes are wonderful, the effects are solid, and the acting is strong. There are lots of found family vibes among the main group and a child character who is not annoying.

Comparing it to LBFAD, LBFAD is more interested in diving deep into the characters and giving them pretty drastic development arcs. You are not going to get quite the character depth DFQC and XLH had, nor really, the relationship depth. And that's okay. LGIEF moves pretty briskly, and it is just a little lighter on the whole (though I know it will still break my heart like LBFAD did). It probably won't totally change your life and rewrite your brain chemistry like I'm sure LBFAD did, but you will have SO MUCH fun and the ship is super lovable and has eaten my brain.

Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi have GREAT chemistry. Esther is absolutely adorable at all times; funny and charming and looking the prettiest she's ever looked in one of the best Cdrama wardrobes ever. Ding Yuxi has puppy dog eyes on LOCK. He's brusque and sad and angry, but he is marshmallow sweet and so earnest as he experiences his first love. They are SO soft, and absolutely, they'd die for each other. So yes, WATCH IT.