#the really nice thing about my internship is that its just me there when i go and the prof im with doesnt insist on small talk or anything

[thesunloveschips]

Obsessed - Part 8 (Azriel x Reader)

Summary: Y/n discovers a few things and a few more are revealed.

Warnings: sex, minors please stay away.

Click here for Obsessed (Masterlist)

****

Y/n was upset. Her semester was ending. The exchange programme had come to a close. Now, she’d have to leave for her internship and then go back to her university for the remainder of her studies. She’d miss her friends. She’d miss this new country. 

And who knew how long Azriel was posted here in this city? 

It was a coincidence that they met and they had a good few months together but Y/n really did not want to go back to a life where he was not a constant. 

The idea of it didn’t sit well with her. 

After her last exam today, she’d taken some time for her friends here. On her way back to the apartment, she’d started feeling upset but then she wore a smile and rang Azriel’s doorbell.       

He’d opened the door, took one look at her, and fucked her wildly like he wanted to reinforce something. And then, they made love to each other with Y/n slowly riding him. 

Y/n let herself rise and fall, eyes closed. Her hands were on his chest, tattooed and perfect for her. His large hands nearly covered all of her ass. 

Fuck. 

He was such a large man and the most convincing evidence of it was deep inside her, thick and throbbing as she rode him at her own pace. 

She could feel the air on her body. Her nipples were already hard and were even more sensitive after Azriel had sucked on them and smeared his saliva, and then left them exposed. 

Her breasts ached and all she wanted was his large hands to pinch and grab them roughly as if he selfishly owned her. 

His hands. Gods, they were so perfect. 

The tattoos on his fingers was an arousing sight. 

Especially after she’d once seen herself suck them. 

The way those hands groped every part of her and were still on her ass. 

She was in bed, tired after exams and sex. Azriel had woken up after a nice cuddling session for a meeting. It was an urgent one and he’d promised to return soon but Y/n was not going to pester him even if he didn’t. 

The man had a job. That too, at Umbra got fuck’s sake. That was an empire on its own managed by some young fellow Y/n hadn’t bothered about since that was not her field. 

Sex with Azriel always made her sleepy and she always woke up feeling refreshed. 

Her eyes were closed. The furry blanket was so cosy and she was just there. 

Her phone rang and interrupted her peace. 

Y/n groaned in frustration. She grabbed it and softened when she saw Azriel’s name. She swiped on the screen and accepted the call. “Hey.”

“Hello, sweetheart. I hope I wasn’t disturbing you.”

“No, no. Tell me.” She wouldn’t tell him that she wanted to sleep even more. 

“Could you bring me my iPad? It’s on the nightstand.” Y/n rose and looked around for the device. 

“Where. . Got it.” She removed herself from the sheets, ended the call, took the iPad, and was about to walk out of the room when a message popped up. 

Miss Y/n’s mother has sent a parcel to the apartment she shared with Nesta Archeron. We believe her mother has no knowledge of her current whereabouts and her exchange program. 

What? 

Y/n tapped on the notification and the chat opened. It was a group chat with Azriel and a bunch of people. She scrolled and read the messages.

Other members of the group chat were constantly updating on her location and activities while Azriel had sent the occasional ‘okay’.

She also found photographs of her taken from her outings with friends. Taken from a distance and clearly not with her consent. 

The more she saw, the more she wanted to smash her head against something. 

Why? 

Why did Azriel have her followed? 

He’d always known where she was, at what time, who she was with. She hadn’t bothered hiding much from him. 

Then why was this. . ?

Y/n walked over to the room with the iPad, the group chat open on it.

She saw Azriel’s eyes widen as she entered the room. She placed the iPad on his table. “What’s this?”

He looked at the chat quietly and then looked up at her. 

Y/n felt hot with fury coursing through every part of her. And yet, for some strange reason, she felt cold. 

It wasn’t until Azriel walked over and wrapped a jacket around her that she realised that she hadn’t dressed after leaving bed. 

She’d been naked and angry. 

“I’ve had you followed, Y/n.” 

And she couldn’t control it. 

She was barely restraining herself until then but to hear him say that he had her followed broke the dam. 

“Why? Didn’t you trust me enough to go out and not cheat on you?” 

This time, Azriel sounded confused. “It wasn’t because I thought you were cheating on me.” 

The audacity of this man to say such a thing. He had her watched and followed and photographed and so much more. 

“Scroll up, Y/n. This started the night I met you in that club before we ever spoke to each other properly.” He extended the iPad to her. 

She hesitantly took it and scrolled up furiously. When she reached the first message, she saw the date the group had been created. Feyre’s birthday. There was a photo of her dancing in that club with Nesta. 

Somebody had sent a few documents. She opened them—her CV, biodata, details of people close to her. 

“You’ve known all this about me?” He silently nodded. She felt like such a fool. 

Y/n couldn’t even think. She couldn’t process it like this. So she simply kept the iPad on his desk and walked away. 

“Y/n. Y/n, listen to me, sweetheart.” He was following. She increased her pace and entered his room. Her clothes were on the chair and she began dressing. “Y/n, please. I only wanted to know about you.”

She looked at him and it hurt. 

It hurt to know that this man didn’t trust her. 

Didn’t trust time. 

Didn’t trust their connection. 

“I would’ve told you everything with time.”  She wanted to cry. “Whenever I was ready to revisit my past and speak about it, I would’ve told you. About my childhood. My ex. My mother.”

“I only wanted to know about you.” He was pleading but she was so tired. 

“You did not trust that our relationship would reach to the point where I would ever confide in you. You thought yourself entitled to find everything about me. .” She choked back a sob. Azriel moved to hold her but she took a step behind and he halted. 

“You did not trust me.” It was a whisper and it broke everything. “And therefore, you violated my privacy.”

“I did not get that information because I didn’t trust you.” Azriel moved. When he reached her, he kneeled. 

“I was impatient. I wanted to know everything about you immediately. I’m desperate for anything you’ll give me. You heart, your body—I cannot have them unless you give them to me. But information—that I can take from any place. And I’ll take any scrap of it you leave behind.”

What was this feeling? She was being broken but also healed at the same time. And even then, everything hurt. 

“And as for being followed, I had to know that you were safe.” He was still kneeling. The world was blurry.

Y/n was still cold as she hadn't dressed completely. 

She didn’t know anymore. 

She didn’t want him to know that she had a troubled past at least until she could help it. 

She knew it would’ve come out soon but this soon? It wasn’t at her own pace. 

What was she supposed to do? 

Should she explain it to Azriel?

Should she be angry at him? 

Should she end this relationship? 

It was dizzying now. Her breathing was becoming difficult. 

She could hear her sniffles, Azriel calling her name. “. . breathe, sweetheart. Inhale. . . Exhale. . .” 

He kept telling her to inhale and exhale until she could focus on those words and force her breathing into a pattern. 

She was sitting now. Azriel was wiping her nose with something. A blanket was draped over her. He was right there, holding her hand. 

Her eyes fluttered close and Y/n faded into the dark. 

****

Whispers.

Somebody was talking. 

Somebody was responding. 

It ached. 

Something more than her body ached. 

“. . rest and she’ll be. . medicines. . . care.” 

Y/n faded away again. 

****

Y/n was warm. In a room. It was dark. And a hand held her own. 

Azriel was right there, sitting on the floor, one hand holding hers and the other arm folded on the bed to rest his head. 

He must’ve fallen asleep. 

She tried to rise and felt too weak. But the shuffling of the blankets was enough to wake him up. 

“How are you feeling?” His deep voice asked. 

“Fine.” She didn’t want to say anything more. Absolutely nothing. 

She’d sweat a lot. The greasy feeling of it remained on her body. “You have a fever.” 

Oh. 

“Have some medicine.” And he rose to leave her side, to get a strip of tablets and water from the nightstand but she did not let go of his hand in the first instance. 

“Y/n.” And then she immediately let go and looked away. What was she supposed to do? 

Was their bond supposed to be overlooked by this? 

Could it be so easily sidelined? 

She saw his hand with the medicine come in her line of sight. “Medicine.” 

His voice was only deep whispers ever since she woke up. As if he was afraid his normal pitch would shatter something.

Y/n quietly took the medicine and water and consumed them. Azriel was there to take the glass away from her and he kneeled by the bedside. 

“You had a panic attack and then you fainted.” 

“And the fever?”

“You came to me with the iPad unclothed, leaving your body exposed to the cold. And you didn’t fully dress when you came to the bedroom.” And she was now wearing one of his sweatshirts which was too big for her.

Y/n could tell that he was being careful with his choice of words. 

“I’m so sorry, Y/n.” He clutched her hand as though in prayer. “It’s my fault you had a panic attack.” 

Damn straight. 

Was there any point? 

“I need to go.” She knew she sounded weak and pathetic and even if she did go back to her apartment, there was no way she’d be able to take care of herself.

“Please. Rest here until you recover. I’ll sleep on the sofa.” 

“Don’t you understand?” Oh gods, she was going to sob any moment now. Or scream. “If I stay here, even for a single second, I will not get any clarity.” 

“As you wish.” Azriel retreated to a distance. Y/n slowly stood up under his gaze. 

She remembered that she had only worn her panties and jeans when Azriel had followed her to apologise. So she removed his sweatshirt he had dressed her in. 

When the sweatshirt was over her head, leaving her bare, Y/n saw that Azriel had turned away, as if he knew his permit to see her naked had been revoked.

She wore her own clothes and looked around. She grabbed her phone and walked towards the door where he stood with his back towards her.

Upon hearing her footsteps, he moved away, clearing the way for her. Once she began walking, she heard him follow her. She looked behind and saw his imposing figure behind her.

He was in pain. 

So much pain. 

She could see it. 

But so was she. 

And Y/n had had enough of ignoring her own pain for others. 

But Azriel standing there and following her from behind was a realisation. 

That he’d always be there. Behind her if not beside her. 

“Call me.” He suddenly said. “If you need anything—medicines, food, anything—just call.”

She wanted to kiss him. So she turned away and left his apartment.

Y/n climbed into her bed, her fluffy blanket, and fell asleep without changing her clothes. 

****

Azriel had a mission. 

Scratch that, he had two missions. 

One, Y/n’s recovery. 

Two, Y/n’s forgiveness.

He honestly didn’t understand where she’d gotten the idea that he had her followed to monitor her in case she cheated. 

If she did cheat on him, it would be the fault of the fuckwit who thought he could drive a wedge between them. 

Azriel would simply dispose of any such menaces and Y/n wouldn’t even know anything.

He sighed.

Her not knowing had not turned out well for him. 

He’d flown in his personal doctor in the middle of the night. And while she’d been resting in his apartment, he’d gotten a doctor in the city to check on her. 

His doctor was situated in one of the apartments, ready at a moment’s notice. 

Azriel kept stock of medicines and food ingredients, just in case she wanted something. 

And he waited like a dutiful husband. 

And while he waited, he googled up on how he could earn her forgiveness. 

The bugs in her apartment began transmitting her sound. She was crying and talking. He heard the name Nesta. And more crying. 

She was worried about how this would pan out. 

How she’d been an excellent fool by falling for him. 

Wait. 

Y/n had fallen for him? 

Oh. 

He shouldn’t be happy considering what happened but he couldn’t help it. 

And it was then that Azriel decided that he should probably get rid of those bugs before she saw one or saw something else on his iPad. 

He wasn’t going to hide the iPad. 

He didn’t like hiding things from Y/n but there were certain things he simply hoped she’d never find. 

It was poor thinking but what else could he do? 

He was obsessed and his morals clashed and crashed far too often for it to make sense. 

As as for how to earn her forgiveness, Y/n’s favourite books had a lot of fictional men grovelling after fucking up. 

He needed to analyse everything. 

What exactly was she hurt about. 

What could he do to stop her hurt? 

How to make amends. 

How to convince her that he was not a complete piece of shit and was worth some consideration of forgiveness. 

Her safety had been an important concern. 

If Y/n knew the number of people that had started following her while she went out on her own. 

The number of people that had been beaten up so that she could roam around outside without anything to fear.

The number of phone numbers he’d looked into after any call that made her uncomfortable. He had them all deactivated.

No. 

Her safety was an important matter that needed his attention. 

It was not a bargaining chip to win an argument or to prove a point. 

It was simply his duty. 

But how was he going to convince her that he hadn’t worried about her cheating? 

That he was only endlessly and ravenously curious about her ever since he first saw her? 

Azriel sighed. He needed advice. He picked up his phone and called the one person he trusted enough with such a matter. When the call was answered, he began. “Hello, mum.”

****

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[sunberrybarnes]

☥  ˖ִ ࣪ 🦇 airplane.　⠀p. parker & w. wilson . . .

( ♱ ) … what not to do: spider-manning while sick. what peter does: exactly that.

777 。。masterlist

When Peter passes his third McDonalds while chasing a rogue pickpocket, he thinks the universe really has it out for him. It’s almost three am and he hasn’t eaten since, what, seven pm? Six-thirty? Whatever, it’s been a long time. And Peter is hungry. Fast food isn’t the best fuel, but it would be something. Even a small fry would be enough to curb his hunger until he could find something a bit healthier.

It doesn’t take long to web up the man who stole someone’s wallet and return it to them, but by the time he’s done he’s so hungry he thinks he might throw up if he swings. Problem: he has no money on hand. People love to give free things to Spider-man, especially food, but it’s always made him feel bad. For a second though, he genuinely contemplates the idea as he bounces between his feet.

“Hey, Spidey! Need a hand?”

Peter could pass out from happiness.

“Hey, ‘Pool.” Peter grins as he turns to face him. “Got any food?”

“Nah, but I got money and a McDonalds down the street,” Wade says as he skips towards Peter. His suit is sparkling clean; he must have just come out. Why, exactly, Wade roams the streets randomly and doesn’t kill anyone or seem to be on any job is beyond Peter. But it often brings him to Peter, so really, he doesn’t care enough to find out.

They eat in the restaurant, something they don’t often do, but Peter is too hungry to care even about the possibility of his mask falling off or some rowdy kid yanking on it. The burger he’s scarfing down is far more important. Wade noisily eats an ice cream laden with candy.

In the fifteen minutes it takes them to be done eating, they chat easily. Wade asks about his Stark Internship, and lets Peter ramble on about “crazy science stuff that makes no sense, but makes my Spider happy.” In return, Peter asks about Wade’s favorite shows: Golden Girls, My Little Pony, the occasional Hello Kitty episode. He gets numerous lore dumps, and decides he likes Fluttershy best.

Peter manages to get down a double cheeseburger, thirteen nuggets, a medium fry, and a water. He leans back against the booth with a pleased sigh, grinning as Wade tries to shove more fries into his already-full mouth.

“Thanks for the food, Wade,” Peter says. “Better get back onto the streets though. Idiots won’t web themselves up, unfortunately.”

Wade swallows, the noise comically loud, and says, “Of course, Spidey! Mind if I tag along?”

“That’s a terrible idea.” Peter stands up and stretches his arms above his head, back popping. “But as long as you bring more fries, I guess you can come.”

“Oh, you guess,” Wade mutters as he snatches up their last, untouched large fry. “At least you’re allowing it. Can’t get everything you want.”

“Find someone your own age to hang out with,” Peter snarks as they leave, the bell on the door dinging above them.

“I’ll have you know that I have some very nice friends! But I can’t let my favorite Spider get hurt, IronDick would kill me.”

“He wouldn’t kill you,” Peter responds. “I wouldn’t let him. Maybe just some light maiming.”

—

Deadpool splits off within an hour, looking incredibly morose as he goes. He makes Peter swear to eat a vegetable, and be in bed by ten tomorrow, taking the night off. The sentiment is nice, and Peter tells him goodbye genuinely, but he doesn’t need Wade fussing over him as well. He’s already got half a dozen calls from Tony telling him to wrap up patrol and head home.

It’s six am, sun breaking the horizon, when Peter calls it quits. Not exactly what Tony or even Wade might have had in mind, but New York never sleeps and its crimes had run rampant over the dark hours. Peter is glad to be done, at least, as he limps through the sliding doors into Stark Industries.

After Wade left, Peter had swung around the city until he’d found some crooks, got shot at, violently slammed into a building twice, and experienced general pain and unrest. Peter threw up once already in a shady alley next to a rusted dumpster, and now every bit of his body feels so weak that he isn’t sure he can make it to Mr. Stark’s lab.

His theory is proven correct as he approaches the elevator, says hello to Bruce as the doors slide open, and promptly collapses.

Not exactly his finest moment.

—

When Peter comes to, it’s in a bed somewhere in Mr. Stark’s penthouse. Peter would try to get up and maybe find someone, but the bed is soft and blankets fluffy, the TV playing something that looks half-interesting.

No more than five minutes have passed when Deadpool comes into the room, loudly declaring “Spidey, I know I told you to get some rest but I didn’t mean like this!”

Peter cracks a grin and pushes himself up to sit against the pillow. “Sorry. Just wanted to be extra thorough. What, uh, what are you doing here?”

“I convinced ole’ IronDick to let me in. Said I had some nice things for you. He was all ‘Deadpool, Peter has everything he needs here’ so I went, ‘Nuh-uh.’ So, I brought you some hoodies, soup, and this!” Rather proudly, Wade holds up a small Deadpool plush figure. It’s stupid and a little egotistical, but Peter finds himself laughing. The laughs quickly break out into thick coughs, Peter hacking up phlegm into the bedside trash.

“Thanks,” Peter says eventually, settling back onto the bed, voice scratchy. “I really appreciate it.”

“Though some people—” Wade raises his voice, angling towards the door “—don’t think this is necessary, I argue that taking proper care of your Spider is always what makes or breaks a good person.”

“You know you can call me Peter, right?” Peter asks, smiling slightly. It’s amusing, the way Wade veers around his identity, even after he’s known it for so long.

Wade gasps dramatically, racing over to cover Peter’s ears. “Don’t say that. People can hear you!”

Peter swats Wade away, his arms limp as uncooked noodles. He hasn’t realized before now just how drained and empty he feels. Nothing exactly hurts, but his entire body is weak and achy if he moves too much. His mind, on the other hand, is completely fine and raring to go. Peter already knows it’s going to make resting that much harder.

“I don’t want you lifting a finger, Spidey,” Wade says. “Mainly because you look like you can’t hold a spoon, but also because I love spoiling my friends!”

“Your murder-money help you buy a lot of shiny things?” Peter jokes.

“Rude! I don’t only buy shiny things, I buy other stuff too. Like groceries! And this!” Wade tosses the plush onto the bed, where it lands in Peter’s lap. It’s then that he can see how the stitches are a little uneven, the eyes sewn crookedly. Handmade, Peter thinks. The idea that Wade might have made the little plush himself just to cheer Peter up warms him from the inside out.

Wade heats up the soup, putting it into a glass bowl printed with Spider-man adjacent designs—where did he even get that?—and insists on spoon-feeding it all to Peter.

“Not. A. Finger,” Wade repeats, waving the spoon around. Droplets of soup fly through the air. “Oops. Anyways. You’ve wayyyy overworked your muscles, though getting beat up probably didn’t help. And no spoon means no glass bowls.”

Eventually, Peter relents. The soup, classic chicken and noodle, is just on this side of salty. The carrots are tiny cubes instead of slices, adding just enough flavor but not too much for Peter to dislike it.

Overall, it’s…nice. Wade is gentle, if not teasing, going “open for the airplaaaaane” every few bites as though Peter is a toddler. The soup is warm and comforting, and by the time Peter takes the last mouthful, Wade scraping excess drops from his chin, he feels sleepy and full.

“Get some rest, Petey,” Wade says as he places the dishes on the bedside table. “Need our Spider back to full strength.”

Peter falls asleep warm and bundled up, feeling safe and secure in a way that he hasn’t in a long while. It’s a nice change. One he thinks he could get used to.

[sometimescherwrites]

Fax Me

Luke Cooper x gn!reader

word count: 1.4k

content: luke being lazy, luke being a male manipulator (to Michael), reader and luke are both interns, fluff, reader hates luke at first, luke plays Minecraft, if it’s shit blame my illness

day nine of cher’s conversation hearts series!!

If you ever saw Luke Cooper outside of the office, it was on sight.

The two of you both interned together and lord did you wish you didn’t. He did absolutely zero work- the definition of pretty privilege, or, more likely, nepotism. If you slacked off in half the ways he did, you were sure Luke’s uncle would fire you instantly.

Luckily, you didn’t. And people actually liked your presence. Shit you hated Luke.

But Luke… did not seem to hate you. It started slowly. Getting your coffee order right. Being slightly more cooperative with you. Including you, whether you liked it or not, in his schemes. Such as making sure to sabotage everyone but the two of you.

He was an asshole, and beyond immature. But he at least was an asshole that seemed to listen to you- even if it were only you.

“What’s your play?” You asked, dressed in a typical excessive amount of red and pink as he handed you your coffee. The correct order.

“Its 6am.” He says, as if its self explanatory, “I’m too tired to be petty.”

That, you can at least agree on. You don’t typically come in at 6am. But Michael had insisted, saying he needed the interns in early.

“What do you think he even wants us for?”

He shrugs, ushering you impatiently over to his uncle’s office, “Dunno. But I’ve got shit to build.”

“Shouldn’t we wait out here like he said?” You really weren’t looking forward to losing your paid internship.

“He won’t care.”

“He won’t care about you breaking into his office to play video games. I’m not exactly granted nepotism immunity, Cooper.” You remind him with a frown, “I’m not allowed to pull stunts like this.”

“Yes you are.” He says absentmindedly, not looking up from his computer, “You’re the only one i listen to. They fire you, i become insufferable.”

“You’re not already?”

“I could be worse.”

“That’s a scary concept.”

He chuckles, rubbing his eyes, and begins logging into Michael’s computer, “So, you’re welcome, for extending the nepotism to you. Now you wanna see what I built?”

“I still think you’re pulling my leg on that. There’s no reason I’d need-“

“They were gonna let you go a couple weeks ago. Heard ‘em talking about how upset they were that the ‘good intern’ was going an’ not me.” He shrugs, not looking at you as he pulls up a game- Minecraft.

You blink in shock. Your immediate instinct is to say bullshit. But then you thought about how he’d suddenly started listening when you asked him things- and only you.

And how when you’d been running late one morning, when before Luke you normally would’ve received a warning, you instead got an ‘it’s fine, accidents happen’. All of which had started a couple weeks ago.

“Who all knew?”

Luke rattles off a few names. A few names who had been incredibly nice to you and never once gave you any hint that you’d been about to get let go. If anything, they’d let you believe that you were doing well a couple weeks ago.

“Sons of bitches.” You curse under your breath.

“Some of them are daughters.”

“Point is they’re bitches.” You scoff.

“Mhmm.” Luke still doesn’t look at you, then his face lights up, showing you his… it honestly looked like a city. You had zero idea why he’d wanted to show you, but he seemed very happy about it.

“Wow… that’s um… that looks good?” You say, letting him give you a tour.

“This world’s based off of the entire movie of Citizen Kane. I’ve got Xanadu here and the Inquirer’s Office here…”

In that moment, you begin to see him as more than just the annoying man child you would’ve fought on sight had you seen him outside of work. It became apparent that he did have passions and motivations, just not at Dunder Muffler. Maybe he wasn’t the worst person ever.

“You know, i never liked Kane- the character, not the movie.”

Luke’s eyes light up with the most genuine excitement you’ve ever seen from him, “You’ve seen it?”

“When i was a kid. I preferred color movies, but my abuelita always had something old on. She did love Twilight Zone though- which i did love.”

“See, Twilight Zone was good, but i don’t know if I’d put it in my top shows. It was definitely one of the better anthology series. Didn’t have a lot- if any CGI if i remember right- god I hate when movies overuse CGI. It always ages so poorly- even the shit we’ve got right now we’re gonna look back on and say ‘wow, they could’ve done that way better without CGI’ especially cause there’s usually ways to do it without CGI and it always looks infinitely better-“

You blink at him in disbelief. Rationally you knew that the vast majority of people, no matter how little effort they put into other aspects of their lives had something they were passionate about. But seeing Luke Cooper, of all people, passionate about movies and the use of CGI in them, was something you hadn’t expected to see.

Michael’s sudden appearance startles you out of your quiet flabbergasting.

“What are you two doing in here?”

“I wanted to play Minecraft.” Luke says, as if it’s obvious and Michael is dumb for not coming to that conclusion himself.

“And you?”

“Luke wanted to show me his Minecraft.”

Michael just sighs, “Luke, I need you to go to the store and get some office valentines gifts before everyone else gets here.” He says, then looks at you, “And I need you to decorate around the office.”

“We couldn’t have done this yesterday and not at 6am?” You raise a brow.

“Well, you see,” Michael says, as if this was the obvious conclusion to come to, “Sometimes, as boss, you get busy, and forget about holidays. But it’s important for employee morale to celebrate. And you seem… weirdly into this holiday, so you get to decorate.”

“I’m a normal amount into this holiday.” You protest, well aware that you were not, in fact, normal about this holiday in the slightest.

“Look, just… both of you, do your jobs.”

You sigh deeply and get to work with the red pink and white streamers, asking Luke if he can bring some decorations from the store. Michael’s paying, after all, and if he had to spend a little extra… well, he had been going to fire you. So maybe he deserved it.

An hour later, Luke is back, much to your relief. Funny how someone can go from the worst person ever to the only person you like in the span of one morning.

He returned with very little of what was asked of him. But he did bring two boxes of chocolates, some candy hearts, and the decorations you’d asked for.

“That’s it?” Michael asked, looking at everything Luke had brought.

“Inflation, man.” Luke shrugged, voice monotone.

“They were out of chocolate boxes?”

“Yeah only had two.”

You have a feeling they were not out of chocolate boxes, but don’t call him out on it in front of Michael.

“Okay… um, I guess we can split the chocolates and give everyone a candy heart box?”

Luke shrugs again, “I mean, I guess if that’s what you want to do. No need to give anything to your interns that came in at 6, right?”

A few hours later, you’re sitting in the break room, laughing with Luke as you both stuff your face with chocolates, saving the chocolates you don’t like for the others.

“Hey, hey, look at this one.” You say, sliding a candy heart over to him, it says ‘fax me’, “Setting appropriate, right?”

“Might be the only fax I’d ever send.” Luke snorts, popping one into his mouth.

“Do people even fax anymore?”

“That one company does. I know cause Pam keeps asking me to fax them.”

“Let me guess, the machine is broken?” You tease.

Luke just grins, going through his conversation hearts until his face changes. Noticing his sudden silence, you look up, only to see him slide one across the table to you.

It reads ‘movie?’

You take a moment to look through your own hearts before sliding one back.

‘yes’.

If he’s in a better mood the rest of the day, no one else comments on it.

[the-great-knight-gay]

Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man Review: Episodes 1 and 2

I've just watched the first two episodes of YFNSM and I have one thing to say...

I was fucking right. It's not a bad show.

In fact, its pretty decent especially so far.

Full review under the cut: *SPOILER ALERT*

Characters:

One of the MOST important factors this show needed to get right was the characters and BOY DID THEY.

Let's start with the supporting cast.

Harry Osborn is the character with the least screen time so far (his only appearances being the 'Good Deed' clip in Amazing Fantasy and a shot of him on television in The Parker Luck) so there isn't much to say about him yet.

Next is Pearl Pangan, a character who hasn't shown up much outside of being Peter Parker's older crush who seems like a genuinely nice person. She also seems to be a less academically inclined version of Liz Allen-Toomes from Spider-Man: Homecoming (by which I mean that Liz was the captain of the Academic Decathlon and Pearl hasn't really had any scenes that show she has that level of intelligence). The similarities between the two characters are high so it might lead to people asking, 'Why not just reuse Liz?'.

The answer is, why not? Reusing Liz would have been fun but she doesn't add much to the story (at least yet) and the usage of Pearl has quite a few positives. One, it raises awareness about some lesser known Marvel characters (Pearl is a minor super hero and an Agent of Atlas called Wave) and it allows for different stories to be potentially told in the future. This is the same reason they used Nico Minoru rather than a character like MJ or Gwen, both of which he met in College btw not High School - pretty much all Spider-Man media since the first Ultimate Spider-Man comics have decided his ENTIRE supporting cast should be in high school with him. Personally the easiest way to rectify that imo is to just make an adaptation where he's in college or got a job already (adapt the JMS run marvel I dare you) but one can hope.

The characters in the Oscorp Internship where also a fun nod to characters in comics (looking at you Amadeus Cho aka Totally Awesome Hulk/Iron Spider depending on the adaptation) and Carla Conners was a fun addition (also I better not see anyone hating on her for being a genderswapped and raceswapped version of Curt Conners - there is no part of Dr Conners character that is negatively affected by these changes - its still the same character)

May seems to be very similar by the MCU version (which makes sense) so nothing much to say there yet.

Norman is a character we haven't seen yet in MCU media outside of Willem Dafoe reprising his role from the Raimi movies and I am LOVING it. Colman Domingo is FANTASTIC in the voice role, bringing just the right amount of menace and authority to his voice. All I need now is for him to be able to play crazy and we can get a potentially amazing Green Goblin when the time comes (also his design is just *chefs kiss*)

Next is the character that might actually interest me the most.

Lonnie Lincoln.

Anyone who has seen The Spectacular Spider-Man (or read my screenplay on ao3 - sorry for the promo but I don't get many chances to advertise it) will know who he is. Tombstone, a vicious gangster and mob boss and in this show, he's... an American football player.

And I love it.

Saying that he's been just put into the 'nice jock' category, while accurate, does not think to scratch the potential of this character. There is a scene where he's walking home and it's revealed he lives in a rough neighbourhood. In that same scene, we see that he is helping his family out in quite a few ways (for example the part where he offers to help his little brother with homework) but the part that stuck with me was with his mother when he said that he'd talked to someone about fixing their car and how to get a cheaper price for it.

Money problems.

What I'm thinking they're doing is they aren't showing Tombstone as a mob boss. No. They're showing his descent from upstanding citizen and star American football player to gang violence. We already see that they've planted the seeds and we know they're going for the long haul with this show (It's been greenlit all the way up to season 3 already) so I'm incredibly excited to see Lonnie's arc play out, especially if we're going to get Tombstone by the end of it.

"Cold as Ice. Hard as marble. What else would you call a Tombstone?"

Next, we have the main character himself. Peter Parker. The Amazing Spider-Man.

This might be their best achievement yet in the show. They have Peter's dorky attitude and nerdy demeanour down to a T and it's so fun to watch. He's also a genuinely good person, just how Peter should be. A scene that stands out is the scene where he's caught a shoplifter who's broken down and crying in his eyes and he looks at them and he doesn't see a criminal. No. He sees someone who was down on their luck and asks the shop owner to give them a second chance if they give back the money they stole. It's beautiful and it's so very... Spider-Man. This is the exact kind of thing Spider-Man should be. A friendly guy who's just in the neighbourhood. It's a scene that's very reminiscent of Tom Taylor's Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man in all the best ways. (also the shop that was stolen from is called Pizza Time and that's already the best thing ever)

Animation:

Okay so some people have been saying the animation of this show isn't very good which I can say is not an unfounded concern. The effort the show has taken to emulate the original Ditko comics have had a slightly detrimental effect to some of the series.

There aren't as many background extras used in an attempt to mimic the original comics and lots of the shots don't use typically cinematic shading, opting instead to use brighter and slightly less rendered shots to emulate the older style. In some ways, this is actually really cool if you can appreciate the attempt to mimic the 60s style but it can be quite off putting for some people which I can respect.

There are also some issues with the 3d models. The characters mouths don't always move directly in sync and sometimes, for when they do use background extras, they are just 2d images in the back which can be quite unsettling when standing in the same shot as 3d models (there is one scene at a party where Nico is on the phone with Peter and in the background there's a completely unmoving 2d person who's eyes just seem to follow Nico and its quite unsettling).

HOWEVER, there are some incredibly beautiful shots too. Some shots are a direct mimic of older MCU shots from Peter's first introduction in CA:CW like the opening shot and final scene of the first episode which stand out as incredibly well done.

The best part of the animation is easily the web swinging which is so well done and one of my favourite parts of this version of Spider-Man so far. His movement is rough and unrefined as it should be for a Year One: Spider-Man but it is very reminiscent of the Insomniac Games style swinging (which in my personal opinion has the best web swinging in Spider-Man media since The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and it is INCREDIBLY fun to watch when it occurs. They actually focus some time on the web swinging too unlike some other adaptations which see him shoot a web and then THWIP out of the camera frame so we get to really see the extent of this web swinging.

Story:

This is the one where I probably have the least to say, mainly because we're only 1/5 of the way into the season so far and we haven't actually gotten much of the story revealed yet. However, it definitely has a LOT of potential.

Episode 1 establishes that the Spider that bit Peter came from a portal (alongside this universes version of Doctor Strange who is fighting a demon looking creature which is credited as Symbiotic Alien - Klyntar easter egg?????) which might be slightly different to some people but to me this gives me a heavy JMS vibes.

JMS wrote for Spider-Man from 2001 to 2007 and created what became the foundation of the Spider-Verse by introducing the Spider-Totems to the Marvel mythology. He said that the powers that Peter received did not come from the radiation, but the spider itself. The radiation is just what killed the spider. It was never even stated that Peter was the intended recipient of the powers and was hinted that maybe he was just in the right place at the right time when the spider died, which really hammers home the idea that anyone can be behind the mask.

The spider coming from a portal which also brings a symbiotic alien that looks hauntingly similar to Shathra (also a character introduced by JMS that returned to the Spider-Verse in Dan Slott's End of Spider-Verse story line) hints that maybe YFNSM is taking a similar approach to JMS , which is always a good thing. I mean that man wrote Back In Black. (OMD and Sins Past were editorial and should not be credited to JMS despite it being his run people)

Now in terms of the rest of the story, we haven't gotten many hints yet but there is a scene where Spider-Man fights Butane and sees a symbol on his gauntlet that looks hauntingly similar to the number 8. You know what has 8 limbs?

An octopus. Specifically, Doctor Octopus.

We already know Doc Ock is in this show. My theory is that Butane's gauntlets were made by him but my main piece of evidence that tells me that he's the final villain?

The final episode of the season is called 'If This Be My Destiny...'

ITBMD is one of the most famous Spider-Man comics of all time and the panel where Spider-Man lifts the heavy machinery of his body has become legendary. It was used in multiple adaptations of Spider-Man, including Spectacular and Homecoming. Doctor Octopus is also the main villain of that storyline.

Norman Osborn seems to be a character that they're setting up as a main villain for the complete show but not the main season just yet, similar to how the insomniac games treat him. They seem to be putting Doc Ock as the first big villain and then following up with Norman later down the line, maybe around Season 3.

All in all, this show is shaping up to be an incredible adaptation. What are your thoughts?

[makedonsgriva]

Random, what are your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them?

Oh this is a pretty cool ask!

I will list five here!

1. We Should Just Kiss (Like Real People Do)

I’m actually pretty proud of this fic because it’s the first one I wrote after a pretty long hiatus and I was very nervous about it because a) it was my first fic for a new fandom b) it has explicit sexual content and I wasn’t sure if could pull it off nicely c) writing calamity xie lian and wu ming was a task alright like this fic took me almost a month i guess?? and d) since it was something I’d written after so long I was nervous my writing would be crappy

But people liked it and even I was very satisfied and pleased with how it turned out in the end! I’m pretty proud of it. Idk how I was inspired to write this fic because I started on a draft of it in the notes app of my phone while I was commuting back to home after my internship (harrowing experience fr)

(Maybe the fic made me channel out all my frustrations caused by the internship via xie lian)

2. I Really Like Your Company

I love this fic because it’s the first multi chapter fic I completed and posted. Also because it was my lifeline fr while I was grappling with many things. I’d started it as a gift for one of my dear friends and then it just became so much more. It’s so warm and comforting.

I was throwing in tropes and all cute stuff I could imagine in it and it made me happy. Writing that fic, getting comments on it made me very happy. I love that fic.

3. Once More We Try

Okay I’m actually still working on this fic and as a matter of fact I was working on its latest chapter before this and I truly think this fic has quickly become one of my favourites because I love writing all the characters in it so much. There’s so much to explore and so much to write and it’s a challenge but such a good challenge!

Idk how I got the inspiration for the fic I was just scrolling through tumblr one day and I randomly got this thought that huh what if SY had died instead of throwing Binghe in the abyss? And then I posted that idea and.

IT BLEW UP?

so I thought whoa why wait for someone else to write it when I can write it so I got down to business and here we are! It’s super fun. I love this fic so much. It’s also my first fic for scum villain fandom and I’m so glad it’s been so well received ❤️

4. Song of The River City

Another TGCF fanfic! I’ve put it on hold for now as I’m planning to complete OMWT before I get back to it. I’m actually very proud of this AU where we have ghost king! Xie Lian who had died during the hundred sword scene and cultivator! Hua Cheng (who had dispersed his soul as Wu Ming and was re incarcerated as the cultivator). I’m planning to do great things with this AU and I also love writing a darker XL.

The inspiration for this fic was that I was just thinking about the hundred sword scene and I thought, huh what if that guy died here? So I got down to work.

I love this fic and writing all the characters in it and plotting out the backstories is very fun! Especially the latest chapter where I’d posted the fengqing backstory is one of my favourites. I’m proud of it.

5. I Remember It

So this is just 100 words long and I love this fic because I feel like I managed to break mine and all its readers hearts in so few words. I love writing drabbles because they are always a good challenge for me and this one is a particular favorite of mine. The inspiration for it was actually a fic idea that I later scrapped away. The fic was supposed to be from the pov of snowbaz’s kid and her experience with them as she got older and they aged too and yeah.. somehow it turned into that.

Thank you so much for the ask!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not outing myself at my internship?

(some quoted things are paraphrased because my native language isnt english and i had to translate the things im quoting first.)

I (20+, trans nb) recently got a four week internship at a local radio station. I dont take any HRT yet and dont own a binder, so while i do try to dress in a way that feels comfortable to me, i dont really consider myself to be passing. So I applied to the internship as my deadname (which is also still my legal name) and introduced myself as a girl and with that name too. I was going in with the mindset that its kinda my own personal thing to consider, and since its only temporary and involves 'official' stuff (documents, articles being credited etc) + i never know how people would react to it/treat me, i dont necessarily have to tell everyone i meet. the internship went over kinda fast and everyone there was really nice and i had a feeling they'd also be accepting and use my right pronouns and name if i told them, but at that part i didnt have much time left and didnt want them to suddenly treat me differently and make a big thing out of it.

During the last few days of the internship, i got sick and couldn't go to work, which in itself was fine. But what happened was that my grandpa, who sometimes does volunteering at the same radio station, had an appointment to record something on one of the days i was sick and thought it'd be nice to surprise visit me. I, being sick and at home, obviously wasn't there but when he tried to find me he called out my new name and not my deadname, and when they got confused and asked him who he meant he apparently kind of laughed at them for not knowing that that name is me.

The next day, when i called in again to tell them I'd have to stay home for the next two days (till weekend) too, i immediately got asked why he was calling me [new name] instead of [deadname]. I got kinda uncomfortable since its like, either forcing me to lie or to out myself. I ended up telling them the truth, that im actually trans and prefer that name and that my family & friends use it for me, but that i didnt feel like outing myself at their workplace since it was only a short term official thing. The woman on the phone then went along the lines of "ah, i figured it was that already. you wouldnt have been the first trans intern we had, we would have been happy to use your new name for you. I also didn't like/appreciate your grandfather laughing at me for not knowing about it". I didnt really comment on that more than saying 'thanks' because i didnt want to have to defend me not outing myself? And we had a few other official things to discuss regarding the internship ending anyway.

A few days later i got mail from them, which had the documents i needed to prove i was an intern there (and they were nice and sent two copies, one with my deadname and she/her and one with my new name and he/him). There was another smaller piece of paper in the envelope which read "kind regards from everyone in the team. and sorry we weren't sensitive/understanding/empathetic enough for you to tell us".

And it sounds nice, but to me the message + the conversation i had where i was kind of forced to out myself earlier reads kind of passive aggressive. or as indirectly telling me i should have just outed myself and they're hurt by me not trusting them enough to tell them and making them look dumb to my grandfather for not knowing.

AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[cadaver-callum]

Life update!

Dropped out of college oops

Cant recommend unity environmental college and really have not been satisfied with the quality of education. I feel like I've learned more practical skills for wildlife rehabilitation as a kennel tech. If I ask a professor for a college level textbook about global warming and they respond "idk" and they're teaching a class about GLOBAL WARMING. I'm done lol. So i'm just gonna pay off my debt and work on hands on experience for awhile and decide of a bachelors and a vet tech degree is worth it or if vet tech is good by itself with other certifications.

For anyone considering that college here's my takeaways:

Built for someone with a job which is great

Very easy to do your degree in a piece wise fashion

Education on each topic is 5 weeks per course. great if you hate a course, terrible if you dont feel like you fully grasped some concepts

Price is on par with community college but has no connections, resources that arent digital and are not partnered with any external partnerships

You have to seek out your own opportunities for hands on experience via getting a job or applying to internships or volunteer work.

Full time does not give you any financial aid to support you i typically got 300$ for 5 weeks which is. Laughable. But it was nice for supplies for volunteer work

I feel like hands in experience is just more important. After taking some more specific courses I felt even though habitat creation is a cool topic you only touch on it for 5 weeks and the professors do not give a lot pf resources or sometimes really any at all. Which forces me to seek out additional resources.

4 5 minute youtube videos as the sources should not be considered scholarly. (What some classes at unity do each week)

I've been working as a kennel technician for dogs and cats which is very cool and hoping to use the experience to start my foray into a vet tech assistant. (Crazy I have to get a job for an assistant position but i digress)

America actively in its death throes as a society which is also gonna make things interesting but wildlife still needs to be rehabbed so fuck it we ball.

In other news i'm making a personal spiritual bird book of knowledge? Shadows? Its bird religion for a bird by a bird (ptarmigan) relating every other bird in the chosen list in relation to ptarmigans. It is going to be quite extensive! My first entry so far is chickens. Heres a peek:

The Chicken

Is a domesticated animal hailing originally from red and blue jungle fowl. Chickens have been near humans for thousands of years and stand as a sort of purgatory between humanity and wilderness.

Chickens represent an inversion and sign of distress. An animal that is also grouse like but unable to survive where it is released and has lost valuable features that I would deem necessary for survival in texas. They can forage and find food but have a diminished ecological niche without human intervention and are seen as an animal that competes with wild animals.

Chickens are hostile to most wildlife, chasing away birds or predating native species like mice, lizards, snakes, and bugs. They can also heavily impact micro ecosystems by their foraging method of upturning soil repeatedly. When done in the same location repeatedly it takes away moisture from the area destroying insect and bug habitat's for soil health.

If you see signs of a chicken consider yourself a fish out of water or betraying something fundamental.

Associations:

Plant - Silver leaf nightshade, poisonous and tolerant of dry barren conditions deters some wildlife and can poison cattle or animals that eat it.

Man - chickens are a middle man between man and animal

Daylight - chickens only forage until dusk and start at early dawn.

[sclki-op]

hello! thank you very much for contributing to the smozo art and fic!!! your writing is really good - i was literally like :0 no way when i saw your note on your fic about not being a native speaker after reading, and i mean this in the most sincere way!! i was wondering if you had any spare smozo thoughts / AUs that you wanted to talk about / writing or art projects that you are hoping to do but for some reason haven't gotten around to yet!! (i am just nosy and want to talk to another smozo shipper haha and i love your takes on their relationship but no pressure to answer!! hope you have a nice day <3) bonus question: do you have any other favourite OP characters besides smoker and zoro?

Hello! Aa thank you so much for your kind words!! Haha, I spend numerous evenings editing and fixing even the tiniest snippets so that maybe they end up decent.. trying to learn a different punctuation system and fix my not so great grammar as I go doesn’t add any confidence— so thank you, I’m happy to know that you like my stuff! I really appreciate it

Oh I turn utterly SHY when being asked about these two even though I’m eager to talk hahaha but really, thank you so much for your interest!

I guess my Roman Empire in this ship is exploring the concept of forbidden, in one way or another, relationship. Mostly between two characters that are antagonistic in their core and life courses but that might also gravitate towards each other in their worldviews, personality traits, morals. Something that starts as a cautious, very murky and blurry arrangement, situationship even, and gradually evolves into something so much more complex and multifaceted, something the characters themselves have a hard time navigating, verbalising and at the same time aren’t even allowed to by the circumstances. Between me and my friend we say: “y’know, that indefinable thing”. You can’t call it a shallow, periodic interest, but neither is it love in its common form. The thing. Long distance relationship is also something I like to explore for them. Fun fact is that I don’t really believe in such concept in real life. However, their relationship can be spurred on by so many factors within the context of One Piece’s universe that it becomes a solid possibility. And one could notice that these ideas are soo repetitive in both my art and fics it’s a bit awkward to think about haha

As for AUs— I have so many... But my faves right now are the mer! ones (3 of them, all different… with human!Zoro and mer!Smoker, the other way around and, well, mer&mer), only one of them has grown a proper plot x). Aand the one with asura Zoro. This one’s set within the canon universe, but Zoro meets Smoker before he does Luffy. Also kind of trying to fit the concept of actual demons into op for this one... I’d really like to write a lengthy thing for the asura!zoro au but I think that I’m lacking the skills for that, so it’s a goal for much later

I actually have a lot of things planned and currently in work. A bunch of illust sketches, several short comics, maybe half a dozen ficlets in my drafts? I’ve also set to depict a preface for their relationship because I’ve mostly been showing their future days. And it’s pretty hard to backtrack since they’re married like 5 times in my head by now… the silly stuff, when one’s been shipping the two for several years x) Gotta give people some lore while I’m at it to go with the contextless smooching. However, i don’t have much free time these days with uni and the upcoming internship and attempts at job hunting ouhh… But I will! Get to all my plans eventually

And for my other favourites in OP, they’re Ace, Law, Robin, Monet and Crocodile!

[bl-recs-and-reviews]

Hellooo! May i ask your help for something rather silly? Hahahaha. The thing is that i have just finished my internship at a hospital, i was there for a full year, barely existing at all and without seeing my family nor friends, but now i'm a doctor yay. And before that, BL helped me so much with my mental health because it was so light and helped me clear my mind, but since july 2023, when i entered the hospital, i lost total connection with it and i wanted to see if you could tell me what happenned ever since hahahaha, what were your favorite series since then? was there some groundbreaking series like "I told the sunset about you" or "180 grades of solitude passes between us"? What happenned with GMMTV and their actors? like i used to know everyone on the agenda, and now i see that the 2025 pilots are on and i feel lost I used to have full knowledge of your schedules and the shows on air (thanks to you, also. You were my main source of recs) but now i don't know where to start. If you can help me it would mean the world to me :))

Hi anon!! Of course, I'd love to help. This message made me super happy :)

If this was your source of recs then it means the blog is working as it should. So it'll be a pleasure to help you ❤

First things first, welcome back! And congrats on becoming a doctor!

BL recs from July 2023 to now

A lot of things have happened. There's so much BL out there that you'll have to pick and choose what to see. So I'll give you my favorites and I'll highlight some that have gained attention and praise

BL-recs-and-reviews picks

Laws of Attraction

You might recognize them from the bl lakorn Khun Chai. They had a very nice comeback with this legal adventure (or however you wanna call it) show. It has a righteous mourning uncle, an unhinged and shameless lawyer and a very nice grandma. Nice side couple too. A crazy lawyer works together with a righteous man to get justice for the killing of the righetous man's niece.

Be My Favorite

You might already know this one. We were all pleasently surprised by Krist's BL comeback. A great show overall. It was one of the interesting ones that stood it's ground until the end from GMMtv. A man gets a time traveling decive and ends up getting a partner.

Taikan Yohou/My Personal Weatherman

One of my favorites of 2023. To this day I'm still obessing over them. A Must Watch. Japanese BL with BDSM dynamics between the leads. Great and amazing overall. If you don't know what to start with, start with this one! A porn manga artist cohabitates with a weatherman. He takes care of the house chores in exchange for not paying rent. And they have sex whenever it's sunny outside.

I Feel You Linger In The Air

This one has become a classic. It's historical, it has angst and it makes you feel things all the way through. An architect gets thrown into the past and falls for an aristocrat. Time travel and reincarnation stuff is happening.

Love in Translation

The first series that gave us the amazing pair that is DaouOffroad. Lakorn vibes with some iconic NC scenes. A chinese immigrant needs a Thai patner to open his conveniece shop, but they don't really like each other. Shenanigans ensue.

Kimi to Nara Koi wo Shite mo ii / If it's with you (aka NaraKoi)

A nice and warm Japanese mini series. These two are the sweetest and cutest babies. They deserve everything. It's once again Japan doing its thing. Teenager love in a very fluffy way. A young gay boy moves to his grandmother's house and gives a chance to love when he meets the nicest local boy.

Utsukushii Kare Eternal - The Movie

If you're a fan of UtsuKare, know that the movie was released for international audiences. It was a great watch and a nice ending for this series.

7 Days Before Valentine

This one I think you might like. It's has the same director as 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us. Similarly not a lot of people watched it, but those who did had quite a treat. A supernatural being appears in front of our protagonist when he's heartbroken and tells him he can erase whomever he likes from this earth.

Ossan's Love Returns

Talented, Brilliant, Incredible, Amazing, Show stopping, Spectacular, Never the same, Totally unique. We LOVED this show. No need to have seen the first season to watch this one. Just about people and their relationships, and loving each other. Big BIG recommendation. Haruta and Maki have trouble adjusting to living together as a couple and end up getting a helper in the house, who just happens to be Chief Kurosawa.

Love for Love's Sake

Lately Korea has been doing great things. This was tiny show that broke and healed our hearts. Pain and happiness hand in hand, with a happy ending. Very deep messages about loving oneself and others. A guy enters a game where he has to make the main character happy.

Unkown

I haven't seen it yet but everybody was loving it on tumblr. It seems to be a solid show that nails the landing. We say "thank you Taiwan". The love story between two brothers (not by blood) who struggle with their feelings for one another.

25ji Akasaka de / At 25:00 in Akasaka

Another Highlight form Japan (am I biased?). It's got 2 emotionally stupid men feeling big feelings and hiding them constantly. Misunderstandings of the good kind and a satisfactory ending. It's so good. Two actors that used to be in the same Uni are now playing lovers in a show, and decide to pretend to be lovers to get into the roles.

Century of Love

We got DaouOffroad back at it again. Giving us a great lakorn-y fantasy show. With some iconic side characters and everything one can love and get from a reincarnation love story plot. A young man's lover dies protecting him on the night they were escaping her imposed marriage, so he uses the power of a goddess to stay alive for the next 100 years vowing to find her again and fulfill their love. Or he dies. But when he finally founds her, she is now a man.

Mr Mitsuya's Planned Feeding

Another Japanese highlight. We got a great cast, great food, great characters, and a great plot. Great stuff overall. We have an age gap romance with a charming middle aged man and an earnest young man. A newbie magazine reporter gets to eat the food made by the renowned cook who's articles he's publishing. Feelings ensue.

4 Minutes

Another iconic show. It was the latest Be On Cloud project. Great production and interesting premise. The ending was a bit weak but it did give us some unforgetable scenes. Involving Bible's things. Pretty nice. A rich brat suddenly has the power to see 4 minutes into the future. There's also muder mysteries.

Happy Of The End

Japan being great again. Another one to the pile of unforgetables. This was such an amazing show. Sad hopeless people finding one another and giving each other a reason to live. A guy who sleeps around to live in his lovers's houses get beaten up by another dude and ends up deciding to follow him.

Jack & Joker

The long awaited return of YinWar. It ended recently, so you might be aware of it. Based on an MV they did a while ago they finally got to produce the series. Despite it not being perfect it was great and a fun time. Joke is a thief and cons naive Jack in his youth. Years later after getting out of prison he want to make it up to Jack, but he wants nothing from him and is now a ruthless debt collector.

Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

The new series from the one and only Hwang Da Seul, Korea's bestest (to my star, etc). A show that had us stuck to the screen for weeks. Here we have a painful love story between two flawed people who despite their surrounding dificulties manage to find their little bubble of peace with each other.

Love In The Big City

This one is a rare thing from Korea. Based on an (almost?) autobiographic novel of the same name it shows us the love life of a gay man in Seoul, and the hardships that come with it. Pretty groundbreaking.

Other remarkable series from Thailand

Wedding Plan: a series from Mame, that has a very different vibe from her usual stuff.

La Pluie: A great show with an interesting side couple. I didn't love it all the way throught but it was a great production and has been widely discussed on tumblr. 🌟

Only Friends: you probably know of this one in one way or another. P'Jojo's show about messy gays. It gave a lot to talk about and everybody has different opinions on the ending. But, for me, the particular highlight was Neo's character, Boston. 🌟

Be Mine Superstar: If you're a fan of JaFirst, know that they did another show. It was cute but not as intense as their other stuff, with very different characters.

Naughty Babe: The long awaited story of MaxNat's couple from Cutie Pie. It was exacrly what was expected and had some iconic CGI and plot points xD

Twins: A less-known and smaller production. FrameRyan gave us great chemistry in a volleyball court with some questionable plot points. But hopefully we will see them again in something else. (also height gap)

Last Twilight: P'Aof's latest project. Looked very promising but the ending was very unsatisfactory. It did the rounds on tumblr but we were all left with a bitter taste in the mouth because of some plot choices.

The Sign: An ambitious project with fantasy and the police. Genres that require a thourough planning and might not have been totally up to the task. However, no other BL has had this type of mythological fantasy before and we got a lot of iconic characters, good and evil, and iconic butts in showers. BillyBabe are now a well know ship. A great watch too. 🌟

Pit Babe: The 1st live action Omegaverse! Wow, what a ride. It was a lot. The omegaverse traits were tweaked enough for it to work out. Unforgetable for many reasons. Pretty good. 🌟

Playboyy: This show was about sex workers and sex. And a dissappearance. I ddin't get to watch it but it was another one of those shows we won't forget for a while.

Cooking Crush: One of the 2 OffGun shows we got. It was cute and fluffy. Not my cup of tea but a lot of people seemed to like it.

Cherry Magic Thailand: The return of TaiNew. It was a great success and they managed to tell the story in a very Thai way, with some very funny scenes.

Dead Friend Forever: Be On Cloud's other project that was released. It shares a lot of its cast with 4minutes and we got a bunch of interesting pairs and actors from it. Drugs, murder and revenge. Interesting to say the least. 🌟

1000 Years Old: Another small production. Featuring a very nice vampire that only wants to find love and show off his umbrellas. It was very cute. Similar to IWKY in vibes.

Knock Knock Boys: Another show that made the rounds around tumblr. The couples were cute and we now love Almond and Latte. Recomended if you want nice fluffy times.

Love Sea: The show that features FortPeat (from LITA) as the main couple. It's adapted from a Mame novel so it has her usual tropes. I think it was overall liked.

The Trainee: The 2nd OffGun show we got this year. It was a great ride with a somewhat ok closure. Very nice way to learn about filming productions.

Two Worlds: Another show made by MaxNat, parallel dimensions, incurable sicknesses and gangsters. It was fun but also confusing. Had a bunch of nice parts.

I Saw You In My Dream: Small production with a bit of a supernatural plot. I haven't finished it yet but what I saw I liked.

The Hidden Moon: Another small production, that I think only one person I follow was posting about it. It has ghosts and supernatural stuff, and it seems to have been pretty great and emotional.

Monster Next Door: This show is a very traditional boys in uni type of show between an introvert and an extrovert. It gave us the pair BigPark who are now getting a second show.

Every You Every Me: Also finished recently it's a show that tells a lot of different love stories but with the same actors. Pretty interesting watch.

Other remarkable series from Japan

One room angel: A heartbreaking story of 2 people finding each other. An angel with no memories and a lowlife. It made us cry, and holds a special place in my heart. 🌟

I Became The Main Role in a BL: Cute, short and fun. Lots of pinning. The happy comedy version of At 25 in Akasaka

Perfect Propose: A cute show about an overworked salary man and his childhood friend who's crashing at his house. It was cute.

Cosmetic Playlover: The story between 2 make up artists and their rivalry turned love story. It had some nice moments, but isn't the best ever.

Takara's Treasure: This one also made the rounds on tumblr. Hiking, a social awkward junior in love with his cool senior. Cute overall, with some deep feelings as Japan knows how to do.

I Cannot Reach You/ Kimi ni wa Todokanai: A guy discovers his closest friend is in love with him and panics, but might also be ok with the idea. It was very cute and emotional. 🌟

Living with him: Two childhood friends who move in together to attend university. One has been in love since forever and the other is discovering feelings. Similar vibes to I Cannot Reach You. 🌟

Hidamari ga Kikoeru/I Hear the Sunspot: Had a solid start but kinda fell apart towards the end, sadly.

Other remarkable series from Korea

Sing My Crush: I haven't seen this yet, but I've seen it be praised over and over. Teens and music. It looks great. 🌟

Love Class s2: This one is not related to its first season, and it has a bunch of couples and a lot of iconic scenes. It is also pretty short.

Why R U Korea: I haven't seen this one yet either, and despite the low buget it seems it's pretty good.

They also have been doing a lot of reel format miniseries, and webseries like Blue Boys and Grey Shelter.

Other remarkable series from Taiwan

Kiseki: Dear to me: This was pretty talked about, the second couple ate.

First note of love: Cute, seen before faces making a comeback.

The on1y one: Made everyone insane. The ending was open, hoping for a second season. Some people were pissed.

Currently Airing

If you want a full schedule I recommend checking the website World of BL. Here are some of the series that are currently airing and that you probably have seen or will be seeing on your dash these days.

See Your Love (Taiwan) (cute and fluffy, pretty unserious)

Love in the air - Koi no Yokan (Japan) (it's a very nice remake and the second couple's story just started)

Caged Again (Thai) (they cuties of the month, animals that run human. We're having a blast)

Your Sky (Thai) (another pair of cuties, very fluff. Has a lot of people writing about it. Started recently)

The Heart Killers (Thai) (We are all OBSESSED. Do tune in, it's fun and silly. It's 10 Things I hate About You thai bl version, sort of)

Fourever You (Thai) (it has Earth and Bas)

Miseinen (Japan) (THE Japanese show right now. I am obsessed and we're all losing it every week)

Perfect 10 liners (Thai) (I don't even know why I'm watching but I'm watching, it's fun and lighthearted but will have too many episodes)

Spare Me Your Mercy (Thai) (Adapted from a Sammon novel, it's murder, euthanasia and gays. It just started and we're seated!)

Things that have happened since July 2023

I recommend checking the tag doreen's monthly bl breakdown where you will find, at the end of every post, the news of the month related to the BL industry. But here are some news I think are pertinent to recent days...

Big unforgettable stuff

The same sex marriage law passed in Thailand!

We're getting a second season of Pit Babe! And everyone is equaly curious and worried.

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 started as a very nice season until halfway through it went sideways because of an amnesia plot.

In a surprising turn of events Tul (from MaxTul who left for the US) and Mew (from TharnType) revealed they were dating and recently got engaged.

GMMTV actors stuff

JoongDunk (who I'm assuming you know of), our guys from Hidden Agenda (which was an ok show with some great scenes but a bit forgetable) have been getting a lot of traction are getting a lot of series. I am loving them in The Heart Killers.

There was a sudden transfer of most of the WabiSabi actors to GMMTV. BounPrem, Ohm and Sammy are there. GMMTV also took charge of some of their projects, like the vampire BounPrem one.

The couples in My Rommance Scammer are Ohm (form uwma) and Fluke (from My Ride), and JuniorMark (whothe side couple in Cherry Magic Th and are starring in Perfect 10 Liners.

Dangerous Romance looked promising but it got lost in itself and not even Chimon and Perth could save it. Unfortunately a disappointment. Also, Chimon is on leave for mental health issues, so now Perth is paired up with Santa (from My Only 12%). They're starring in Perfect 10 Liners (where Chimon was supposed to appear but not anymore) and have their own show for 2025: Love You Teacher.

The mains in GMMTV 2025 Head 2 Head, SeaKeen, debuted previously on Only Boo this year. And it was particularly well received, hence why they got a second show.

The main leads for Memoir of Rati are GreatInn who previously starred in Wandee Goodday. Solid start. Weak end. The highlight was the side couple with ThorFluke. Fluke is also starring in one of the stories of Mu Te Luv.

GeminiFourth, from MSP, did the Thai adaptation of My Love Mix Up Th but I think most of us dropped it halfway through.

Recently the show Kidnap ended, featuring Ohm with his new partner Leng. The show was silly and unserious but I think a lot of people dropped it. I didn't watch, but I think it had some success. They appear in GMMTV 2025's OF: Dream on and Mu Te Luv.

Singto is back in GMMtv and scheduled to have a show with Krist again called the Ex Morning.

P'New has made a bunch of show that were disappointing and for GMMTV he had made to ensemble shows: We Are and Perfect 10 Liners. Featuring a lot of couples. In We Are we had PondPhuwin, WinnySatang (from MSP, also have their own show in GMMTV2025), AouBoom, and MarcPoon. In Perfect 10 Liners we have BookForce, PerthSanta, JuniorMark and MarcPoon. Marc got paired up with Poon after the Pawin got accused of physical abuse.

We're still waiting on a lot of shows that were announce in GMMTV 2024's event, so I'm sure you can check the trailers of the ones that haven't been released yet. Or wait until we get the official trailers.

Domundi's stuff

Bed Friend was a success and we got the ship NetJames from it. Until James decided to pursue other things and Net is now with a new partner and they will appear in The Next Prince (the new ZeeNew show, with european royalty looks we're all looking forward to. Also Jimmy is back with a new partner too)

Middleman's Love and Battle of the Writers are 2 shows that starred TutorYim, who were a side couple in Cutie Pie. They've gotten pretty famous.

Other news

We were all hyped for the show Shadow, starring Singto and Fluke (from uwma). The first half was promising but iirc the second part was a little disappointing. I couldn't finish it due to Real Life interruptions.

Ohm (from uwma) starred in a show called Bake me Please, with Guide (who played a side character in I Feel You Linger in the Air) which was ok. In that show we also got to meet Poom, as the rejected second lead.

Poom was the main character of a show called My Stand In, paired with Up (from Lovely Writer) and they play the toxic love between a stunt man and a selfish rich guy.

Tunku Shower no longer exists, it became a different project. No we get our montly japanese bl throught different companies.

China dared to do Wuxia BL with Meet You At The Blossom.

Derived from the succes of Pit Babe, the side couple got they own show in This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans. It was okey.

Thailand did some more adaptations of other countries BL like Addicted Heroin Th. And a remake of Lovesick is still airing.

Ending remarks

If you made it until here, thank you for your patience. I had to do a lot of pick and chose, so I did not include any GL in this post. Just know that there is a lot of that going on too. There are a bunch of posts on tumblr with all the current and planned GLs, and I've reblogged some of them. If you're interested browse the tags #gl news or #gl stuff on my blog.

I think, despite everything, I managed to cover most of it. I'm sure there's some shows that I've missed and we might have different tastes on which shows are better or worse, so do check whatever chatches your fancy. My blurbs are very summarized so do check the pages on MDL or even the trailers if you're curious about them.

This is a lot on information so I hope it's not too overwhelming and it can help you get started on your journey back to BL .

Good luck! And enjoy!!

[offorestsongs]

heart-shaped locket

ship: oc x canon (Rook x Lysander)

summary: Lysander, anxious about their imminent separation, has an idea.

a/n: so. uh. this is something i briefly mentioned in their ship intro but i wanted to kind of expand on it so i wrote a small ficlet. enjoy, i guess

“Whatever’s the matter, mon coeur? You look uncharacteristically serious.”

Most people would have called Lysander serious, no matter the situation ― it was sweet that Rook could tell the difference between his usual lack of expression and an actual grave matter. It only made Lysander’s heart felt heavier.

“Oh― I―” Lysander was sure in his ideas when inviting Rook over, but now, seated on the old couch in the Ramshackle lounge, so close that their knees were touching, all the earlier confidence seemed to have fled his body.

He felt Rook’s hand on his cheek, warm and secure. He leaned into the familiar touch, more on instinct than anything else, but still refused to meet Rook's gaze.

“I so always want to hear what you have in mind.” Rook smiled. “So?”

Well. In that case, Lysander had no other choice. And besides, he knew well all of his doubts were unfounded. If anyone would like the idea, it was Rook.

“It's nothing bad or anything—” Lysander said, digging around in the pockets of his thick woolen cardigan. “It's just that… The summer holidays are almost here. And then you'll go on your internship afterwards and I'll stay here and…”

Finally, somewhere between a stray embroidery needle, some loose change, a button that he was meant to sew back to one of his blouses for forever and a crumpled note that Ace had passed him during class (a stickman drawing of Deuce half asleep on his desk), Lysander had fished out the exact thing that he was looking for.

“I just thought it would be nice to have something more, uh, physical to remember each other.”

On Lysander’s open, outstretched palm lay two identical heart-shaped necklaces. They were plain, silver in color, and clearly not bought first hand. Time had dulled the color, making it lose its shine. It was all Lysander could afford, yes, but truth be told, he liked the vintage, time-bitten aesthetic of it better. More romantic, he thought.

Rook had picked one of them up, already clearly delighted.

“Ah!” With a soft “click”, the heart locket popped open. “Now we can carry photographs of each other close to our chests. Marvellous! What a romantic idea, mon fleur!”

Lysander’s cheeks flushed pink. “Uh. Well. I mean. You can do that too if you want to but, uh, actually I had something different in mind.”

Suddenly, the dirty-gray fabric of the couch was the most interesting thing in the world to look at.

“Now you have me intrigued.”

Still not looking at Rook, from his other pocket Lysander took out his belowed pair of sewing scissors. They felt cold and heavy in his hand.

“I actually thought we could put there, uh, you know, our hair. I thought it would be sweet, to carry a part of you over my heart, no matter where I go. And… and to think that you're doing the same. That way, it's almost like we're not separated at all.”

Before Lysander ever had a chance to felt embarrassed by his words, Rook's lips were on his, kissing him breathless.

“Yes!” Rook said with all the enthusiasm only he could master. “Truly a beautiful idea, mon cheri! You really must share a part of my heart, to think of such things.”

Lysander smiled faintly. His heart was still beating like it was trying to escape his ribcage, but a sense of giddy happiness came over him. Of course his anxiety was all for nothing.

He put the scissors in Rook's hands. “Well then… you could cut mine and I could cut yours?”

[ethernetmeep]

18:55 — the only student to attend the art gallery the night of reception. multicolored balloons taped to various surfaces. many faces, many wrinkled with love & age. saw my elementary school art teacher. she knows me as a past self, a little girl with long hair. i let her see that part of me, the only part she ever knew that hides under faux shoulder pads deep inside my body. she asks me if i would like to glaze pots her daughter has made, as she originally was going to get rid of them. i tell her i would love to, & she tells me she likes the color blue. i plan to have a marine theme. i am excited to take the echoes of another & add my fragments of life to their life, too.

i get to speak with a woman who has worked with mixed media, a piece with floppy discs & wires & circuit boards & glass from a window breaking in her home. i tell her my fondness. we converse over nature versus machine, learn of being nature deficient. i tell her to drive safe before i leave. i tell many of the artists this. before i leave, show some of the artwork i have made that is up. however, it is not for me & i find discomfort in it— i do not mean to take up spotlight. i just go for the beauty of it all. i watch a video i have never seen before of a woman who inspired many who stepped afoot in that gallery tonight. she seemed lovely. it was beautiful. i ended up in some pictures. asked if i could be in them, as i hadn’t created anything, & i was told i could. i belonged, but didn’t, but did. a middle ground between the worlds. i told my teacher i valued his work deeply, as it shows a pure part of him— pure like a substance, fully encapsulated, not pure like innocent but pure like an element— & stated this is a wonderful trait to have in ones work. i do not know if he really realized i meant it, or maybe its diluted when it is shared. regardless, an event. small donation box & buffet table. forget money, think i won’t need it. would’ve been nice. small conversations with many. i take a photo for a woman & her artwork. static electricity simmers through her fingertip to mine. a reminder of humanity. she is appreciative, & i am appreciative of her. wonderful bright paints in her works. beauty in paintings with no photos taken, the temporary state of existence. there was one with a boy at the edge of the water & one of a winter day. i liked them quite a bit… i liked it all.

if i were to have money on me, i would’ve likely bought one of the more inexpensive but favorite leaning works— a bird made in fiber. $60. i took a photo of the persons contact information in case i change my mind. watched as paintings started to be packaged back up. wonderful, wonderful creations.

i have been thinking of many things, too. environmental club & submit many of my ideas. an inspired fellow. eat many of the cookies made by an upperclassman. i tell her they are the right consistency for a small cookie. my task is to design a mascot for the environmental club, which has been proposed to be a northern atlantic right whale. like an anthro furry… still working on her design. plan to give her a copepod friend. may name her (northern atlantic right whale) melissa or something witty. also considering making bracelets/stickers/designing.

i am a busy bee, now… i have meetings & volunteering, baking for events in february, trash cleanup on saturday & internships alike. & still, i think about tiny things. as per the rather repetitive statement, i wish the best

thank you for reading, & here is the flickering of an above light (needs to get a new bulb change at some point) & a night building upwards photo shot i like to take as another appreciation

[newathens]

hiiii hope ur doing alright I’m so sorry if this is too personal but I was wondering what u meant by “so many opportunities to be the person i always wanted to be are no longer at my disposal” ? I’m just entering my 20’s and idk what to watch out for, what to take advantage of and what to develop & invest time and energy into? Thank you so much & feel free to ignore this ofc hope u have a lovely year!

firstly I’d say im not the best person to ask because im just a nightmare negative nelly debbie downer no good fiend but mostly what i was referring to in that statement was my own personal mental illness situation. its very hard to describe but now that my brain i guess is “healthy” i look back at myself, probably from the ages of 16-24, and i realized that i wasn’t a person. i wasn’t operating with a healthy mind, i mean I’d say i wasn’t even operating with a mind. i was some strange zombie that would get up and go to class and then go to work and nothing else and i KNOW i say that now as a regular person who works but its different. it’s almost like i had no bodily autonomy in my own self. And i mean i DID things in college sure but if i had the mind that i have now back then, i think my life would currently look ten times different. And now i feel like there’s no way to fix it. At least, not a way that i can logically create. That statement is just specific to my situation

it’s hard to suggest things when everyone’s situation is so unique. ik you’re young and entering an even crazier world than i did ten years ago. honestly, my advice, is try a ton of new things, get away from your phone, listen to some of financial freedom gurus cause they have a point every now and then (roth ira, hysa, etc etc) but not always. if you’re in college, find internships & make connections. and if you feel you’re not good at socializing, work on it until you are. its so important, it’s the one thing i wish someone had told me. it’s so so important to have connections and be a networker and it sucks that that is the way the system is set up but go for it as much as you possibly can. um if you are mentally ill like me, go to therapy as soon as possible if your budget allows. and i don’t even mean in a “you have to heal your mental illness immediately & be ur best u” way. therapy just takes a lot of time and the sooner ur start the better. it’s nice to play the game of life with a fuller deck of cards. get rid of shame, haha teehee, im not kidding. and if you can’t just ignore the fact that its there even if it makes u want to hurl. and u can apply that to a lot really. going to the gym or starting a dance class or going to a cafe or eating alone. do u know when i was in college everybody was scared of eating alone and i wasn’t. granted i feel i am revolting and try to keep away from others so that’s why i had no trouble, but still. i could never understand why ppl were worried abt eating alone. focus on the fries! talk to ppl in your head! no shame! there’s no reason to have your life figured out, but im not going to say what other people say and tell you you have all the time in world. ignore the world for a second actually. figure out YOU and your interests and what YOU dream about and again try new things so you have a better understanding of YOU and then you can mold the world around you to better suit what you believe will give u the greatest joy & the best situation. because if you know you then all the choices become a lot less scary & half of them disappear altogether bc they become irrelevant! that’s all i can think of for now. im sorry if it doesn’t make sense.

[cartooncartoonpanic]

#004 On the brink

(CW: Medical trauma, mentions of child test subjects and amputations)

You ask Blossom if she's still a superhero, and this, at least, she seems excited to talk about.

"Well...crime's kind of slowed down in the past few years. Obviously we haven't been fighting you. Mojo got taken to a facility outside of the city I think. Him got kind of bored since we aren't as scared anymore-"

"Yeah, too bored to be a parent" You interrupt, understandably bitter that the man who brought you back to life never checked up on you in the past few years.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't... You don't have to apologize for what HE did. Keep going. "

"Well...I think Sedusa got a modelling contract or something? Someone in the Gangreen gang joined a popular band I think and they all went for a tour, Fuzzy invested in some ear plugs and doesn't really care about what goes on in Townsville, and the Ameboa boys...well they're still at it I guess. So yeah...we don't really go out as a team anymore like that" That last part did sound a bit sad.

"That's really all the big criminals in Townsville?" You could have sworn there was another one who he had met before

"Oh right, Princess...that's an entire situation" She whispered and tried to hint with her eyes at someone else in the room.

"She's not a criminal anymore but...she's still sort of our enemy. Or at least making Bubbles' life harder..." Sure enough a girl in a suit with gold trim and a crown hair clip was looking at both of you. Was that Princess? Did she know you were talking about her?

"Do you do any fighting?" You change the subject back, agreeing that it's probably for the best not to get into any drama.

"To be honest...I'm kind of a soloist these days. I don't know if thats the term...but Bubbles has her veterenarian internship and Buttercup has a pretty intense training schedule so usually I'm the one who takes on any new villains who pop up. Aside from this mech robot guy though, most of them don't come back. The process is a bit different though. Since its just me most of the time, I wear a costume and use a cool nickname. It's a secret though" She seemed to be having a lot of fun.

You wonder briefly, if you were a hero with a secret identity, and did all of the things that the girls did, would people praise you? Give you the benefit of the doubt? Stop treating you like a dangerous criminal? Was it possible for you, of all people, to be good? But you don't vocalize these thoughts. Especially not to her. And definitely not now of all times.

You ask Blossom if she knows anybody else here, aside from the obvious she and her siblings, you and your siblings, and princess.

"Hmmm...I think so. Some of them I only know from tv but if you mean personally...The guy with the striped shirt is one of Buttercups workout partners...I remember his name also starts with a B but I don't know what it is. And then that guy with the white hair is Edd.

Apparently his two best friends are named that too. I know, confusing... They seem exhausting to be around when they're all together but Edd's pretty nice when it's just us. We were in chess club together. The girl with the ballet shoes the really tall blonde one, her name is Deedee, and she was a big fan of my sisters and I when she was younger so we got asked to come to her birthday party as special guests and our parents got along enough that we went over to their house pretty often. And then there's her brother~" She dreamily sighed before covering her mouth, embarassed.

So she had a crush. For some reason the thought bothered you a lot. Maybe it was because you wished she spoke about you that way. Maybe it's because the fact that she's able to be comfortable enough with someone to fall in love is more proof that she got to live a happy normal life, while you didn't. Is there anything that's fair?

"I wonder why all of these people are here though. Do you know any of them?"

You look around. Aside from the obvious of the powerpuff girls, your own brothers, and princess, nobody seems like someone you've seen before. Except...there's a guy with black hair in what seems to be goggles and a cape. Even among villains people would think this guy is trying to hard and this is coming from the kid of a monkey who wore a turban. You could have sworn you recognized that face. you don't remember where you saw him, but just looking at him makes you tense.

Wait. He recognizes you too.

And he's coming towards you.

A flood of memories come back to you and leave you paralyzed at the same time. The sterile white walls. The injections. The blood samples. The sedatives.

The invasive examinations. The terrifying people in lab coats. The repeated talk about how this is all you would be good for.

The amputation.

YOU'RE CERTAIN THIS IS THE MAN WHO RUINED YOUR LIFE

Your panic becomes rage as everything around you tunes out. There is no hotel dining room. There are no other people. It's you and the evil scientist. He's speaking but you can barely hear him over everything racing through your head. Even now he doesn't have a sense of boundaries. He seems to be trying to pull your jacket off of your body, saying something about not believing they went through with it. At first you dont know what he's doing until he grabs your arm. Or rather...your metal prosthetic arm.

[toasteloo]

so i have been doing internship for.. a month! and i've been commuting with the local commuter train for an entire month, lets talk about it! because im bored (im procrastinating)

and also i dont want to use twitter to ramble now because im slowly moving away from it

the only line i use is the bogor red line that belongs to the jakarta metropolitan area (jabodetabek) commuter line

the cool thing about this commuter line is they only use ex-jr trains so you can experience japan from the 80s with this line!

this is the common trainset you will see on all lines, including the red line

jr205s! you can see this pretty much everywhere with over 700+ unit of it thats still running around, the trains that we have here are manufactured around 1986 to 1991 (you can tell by the train codes on the lower side of each trains)

there are some differences between the older and newer one notably the door window is much larger on the later model, but the ride quality is not any different and some of the newer trains has different kind of pantograph but i do not know whats the difference is between the two

(notice how the windows on the door has different size, left is the older one and right is the newer one)

the only thing i hate about the 205s is the weird ac positioning, the central ac position only exist near the doors and the other ac is on the side and it also only exist in the middle of the train, and also its weaker so it gets a bit warm very quickly during rush hour

these trains are very reliable and nothing goes wrong, its comfortable and its just fine, there are also a marchen variant of 205s

(not my photobtw)

nothing really different with the regular 205s but they are cool

next up, it's tokyo metro 6000 & 7000!

(also not my photos, i dont took many tm7000/6000 photos)

these are by far my favourite train in the line, it look very modern and overall very sick and the interior is also pretty sick too

the tm6000s are some of the oldest trains thats still in operation in the line going back as far as 1971, despite that, it's still very comfortable, although the interior is slightly yellowed i honestly kinda like it, give that retro feel and whatnot

there are no major downsides for this train based on my experience except the fact that the door usually has to be closed multiple times idk whats up with that

the best thing about tm6000s is that the ac is everywhere regardless of where you are so it is the coldest train in the line, its very nice during rush hour but when its empty it feels like you are in the arctic, freezing away..

there are multiple variant, by multiple i meant only two, the 6000 and 7000, the difference? idk that little window on the front, other than that i couldnt tell

same with the 205s some later model of tm6000/7000 has larger windows and a little screen on top of the door, but nothing really changes in term of ride quality its as comfortable a commuter train can be

now we are getting to the rare trains, first up jr203!

one of the two trains that has a door in the front

as far as i know, 8 sets are remaining for this train as they are slowly retired from the service which is kind of a shame because they look really cool

despite looking really cool this train has a very mediocre ride quality for me, like its fine but holy shit it gets hot, i havent really observed too much as to why its so hot because i only ride on this train twice

one of the most distinct feature of this train is the windows also have vertical bar, why? not sure! but they look interesting thats for sure

overall? its a unique experience because its a rare train but its not very comfortable especially during rush hours

now the most rare train in the entire jakarta metropolitan area commuter line

tokyu 8500!

you want to see rare train in the line? then here you go (also sorry for the blurry photos lol)

this train only has, one (1) set remaining that is still on operation, despite looking very old this train is newer than the entire tm6000 trains with this one is made at 1989

one of the thing that stands out than the rest is how different the interior is compared to the other, instead of plastic trims the interior is mostly dominated with steel bars, no plastic to be seen and also the other thing that stands out is the WIDE gangway

there used to be other set that has a diesel generator for its electricity but unfortunately that train is retired just months before i have internship, kinda unfortunate but oh well

i should mention with the last two trains being retired they are soon getting replaced as soon as 2025 by locally made inka trains and chinese crrc trains

this one is the locally made one, kinda cool imo

the reason why i wrote all of this? idk its just my observation on the trains that exist in the line and i feel like i need to write these down, is anyone gonna read all of this? hell no

that concludes my rambling or yapping about trains that is very long and it took me 2 days to write all of this and i should stop doing this my deadline is looking at me and it looks like its about to kill me

[koreanpepamadrigal]

hi y'all! happy opening 🎉 as a housewarming gift, i (yun, 20+, s/h) bring what the cat dragged in: miss KYUNG SEOYOUNG, your friendly neighbour grad student ta who you see more than the actual professor.

more under the cut, with both ims & discord available for plotting upon request! like this 4 plotting, and i'll come say hi! ♡

pre-sua: much like her parents, she stays unregistered. they're living a nice cushy life parading as humans, and they want the same for seoyoung. tell her to keep her mutation a secret, and she'll do fine.

and yk what, they're right! she's living the life! gets into her dream university after she graduates from high school, and even manages to date a nice guy!

and well…. attitudes towards mutants are changing. she lets him in on her little m-word secret, and everything's peachy keen- till she gets an internship and he doesn't.

that's when he lets slip to their school that she's a big bad. she's kicked out of the university, the government's on her ass, and it's on top of the news cycle for a week.

she spins it as best as she can; a dumb, silly girl who was of course getting around to registering when questioned by the relevant authorities--- it's not her fault she found out during finals season! there's interest in the case, and she capitalises off it in hopes the attention will mean lesser repercussions. she's just a girl who wanted to live a quiet normal life like everyone else, ok? :(

girlbossed, gaslit and gatekept (from university)

goes to show that dating men is probably the worst thing you can do to yourself

'lying is ok if it gets you what you want' - seoyoung, probably

anyway, sua opens its doors shortly after, and she gets back on track! she's more than happy to take the patch rash in exchange for a degree, thanks.

currently, she's pursuing a phd in one of sua's labs and regretting it... she's determined to stick it out, though, simply out of spite. her advisor may be the worst person to walk the face of the earth, but seoyoung's absolutely not giving her the satisfaction of quitting

for plotting's sake, i'll keep the classes she tas for pretty vague-- if they take a science class/lab, let's gaurrr. staff shortages also have her covering for unrelated classes, so it's really a toss-up re: whether she actually knows the content or not.

if u've read this far... send me a welcome msg w/ a science class ur muse would take and we can figure it out from there... i'll even throw in a funny seoyoung-esque email reply... ooo u wanna message me so bad 🌀🌀🌀

emails students back at 5am. uses emojis and thinks ‘😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭❓❓❓❓❓’ constitutes a proper reply. has fucky signoffs- if you ask her a dumb question, expect a: Why?, Kyung Seoyoung

serious serious ‘Sent from my iPhone’ energy

please don’t talk to her, she has no self control and will talk to you for 4h instead of getting work done.

is also a ra at yellow hall. if it comes down to the resident vs her free housing? she's picking the housing every time. doesn't care that much, though. just don't fuck around during her rounds and she'll close an eye to whatever.

takes weather-related requests and charges an arm and leg for it. if you want your first date to be sunny, be prepared to cough up for it per hour.

always tired, but also always awake.

will never miss an offer to drink and bitch about her advisor, and is quite possibly landsliding towards alcoholism.

connection ideas: late 20s and up squad... / undergrads who love her as a ta / undergrads who hate her as a ta / yellow hall residents / someone who pissed her off and is now being rained on 24/7 / someone who really wants x weather but isn't willing to/can't cough up the $$ to make it happen... they WILL be bothering her for it tho!

[emilou-keen-gear]

            One beak yawned and then a second followed. It was past the witching hour when even things that went bump in the night were starting to nod off. The night was waning toward the early hours of the morning but still hours away until the sun would come out. Most of the citizens of Duckburg were nestled snug in their beds, and only those who worked the night shift were up and about. Oh, and two dedicated scientists who had been working on their newest pet project for their employee, Scrooge McDuck. Time wasn’t of the essence, but they had hit their stride around one AM and they weren’t back down until one of them collapsed.

            But their determination still wasn’t beyond the temptation of the body.

            “Intern, I’m going out for an espresso,” Gyro called, his face the usual grumpy-slash-sardonic expression.

            Fenton rubbed his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get it for you?” Fenton asked. He was used to being Gyro’s errand-boy, so he was curious as to why his boss and advisor decided to fore-go his exclusive uses of a none-paid intern. Plus, sometimes Gyro bought Fenton coffee as well.

            “No. My doctor says that I need ‘fresh air’ and ‘exercise’,” Gyro said with a laborious eye-roll. “Apparently walking to and from my car doesn’t constitute this.”

            “Okay. Could you get me one, too?” Fenton asked. The coffee maker that Mr. McDuck kept in the employee’s lounge a few floors up always had the consistency of mud and tasted very similar no matter how often the filter was cleaned or how expensive of beans were used. And it would be a miracle if Mr. McDuck ever deigned to replace it.

            “What do I look like? A money tree?” Gyro asked, stepping onto the elevator. “Lil Bulb is in charge.” The elevator doors closed on him with a cheerful ding.

            Fenton sighed. It had been a nice try. It would have been nice to have a good cup of coffee once in a while, but until his internship was over, he was making squat. He relied on his mother for room, board and all the necessities, so he never asked for spending cash. And on top of that, his student loans were looming over his head. Luckily the bank was willing to hold off on any payments since employment with McDuck Industries would be an exceptional place to live.

            Lil Bulb clambered onto Fenton’s desk, flashing red while his filament bent down in an angry look. The device pointed its little “hand” at its “face” then at Fenton, then back at itself. A clear indication of I’m watching you.

            Fenton ignored the little invention. He had better things to do other than be bossed around by an artificial intelligent. For now, he was trying to figure out why oil kept leaking from the engine that he was working on. The engine was to be used on a new type of submarine that Scrooge McDuck wanted, but there still were a few problems that needed to be fixed.

            Just as Fenton decided the whole engine needed to be taken apart—again—and he began removing a nut, the wrench in his hands slipped and he fell on top of the engine.

            “Ah, nuts,” he grumbled as he felt the slick, wetness spread on his shirt.

            When he pushed himself off the machine, he saw the large blot across his shirt, soaking into his feathers. He knew that working in a lab could be dirty business, and normally he would wear a lab coat, but he had forgotten to put one on in his haste when he clocked in. And this wasn’t the first time. This was his fourth work shirt to get oil on it this week, and he was running out. Not to mention, oil was really hard to get out—as his mother kept telling him—so he might have to buy some more soon.

            Sitting down next to the engine, Fenton tilted his head back and rested his eyes a little, trying to ignore the grease that was in his feathers, between his fingers and who knows where else on his body. He remembered he had rubbed his eyes earlier when he was beginning to feel tired. Did he have two black marks around his eyes?

            Perhaps it was time for him to quit for the day—er—night. At least it was Friday, which meant he could sleep all day tomorrow. Well, not all day. He would have to help Mama around the house, but between Saturday and Sunday, he could catch up on his rest and on the household chores.

            Getting up, Fenton went to the sink that was located on the far side of the large, clear windows that looked out into the ocean. The very basement of the McDuck Lighthouse had been repurposed into a lab several years ago—as Fenton was told—and before that it had been a type of aquatic life observatory for one of Scrooge McDuck’s nephews. It had been one of Duckburg’s major tourist attractions where people could pay to tromp up hundreds of steps to go to the very top of the lighthouse and even hear the foghorn blow.

            Then they would go all the way down into the basement where they could see the ocean, a coral bed and dozens of fish. Fethery—Mr. McDuck’s nephew—had taken great care of the coral reef that grew around the light house and kept track of dozens of animals. There were even aquatic tubes that were built into the lighthouse basement that led to holding tanks somewhere else in the lab.          Someone could even put on diving equipment and go through the tubes right into the ocean. Fethery used these tubes to bring in sick or injured animals into the aquatic observatory where he could treat them before releasing them again.

            Fenton remembered coming to the lighthouse for a school trip once, remembered the excitement in Fethery’s voice and how he spoke to the children about taking care of the oceans, conservation and eliminating pollution. It had been very fascinating.

            But Fenton always wondered what had happened to Fethery. A few years ago, the aquatic observation had been closed down without any explanation, and it was only when Fenton was hired as an intern to work with Gyro that he found out that the space was now utilized as a lab.

            As Fenton cleaned his hands—and his face, because he really did have greasy circles around his eyes—he thought about Fethery, the lab, and what had happened a few years ago. He had never dared as Mr. McDuck—he barely said more than a few words with the elderly duck in his time as intern—and Gyro never said anything if Fenton broached the subject. His best theory was that Mr. McDuck had a falling out with his nephew and that was the end of it.

            His eyes wandered out to the ocean, although only the lights in the lab penetrated the darkness. He wondered if there was more to the story. He remembered reading an article in a newspaper about this very thing, that Scrooge McDuck’s nephew, Fethery Duck, had gone missing yet nobody reported anything about it to the police. The reporter claimed that nobody had seen Fethery since the closing of the lighthouse, and there were no records of him leaving Duckburg or any other activity of where Fethery Duck could be. Later, the newspaper printed a retraction and as far as Fenton could see, the reporter who wrote the article never worked for the paper again.

            As much as Fenton’s imagination could come up with a dozen different scenarios as to what happened to Fethery Duck, he couldn’t believe any of them. Mr. McDuck might be unapproachable and stand-offish, but Fenton couldn’t believe that he would harm an innocent person, let alone his family.

            With his thoughts floating through the subject of Fethery, he hadn’t realized how long he had been standing at the sink with his eyes looking through the window unfocused. It wasn’t until the hot water turned extremely hot that he was brought back to reality.

            And he came face to face with a beautiful woman.

            He was caught unguarded, blinking a few times as she stared back at him, her mouth open a little. Then a few bubbles poured out of her beak, racing through the water.

            Water?! She was in the ocean.

            Fenton stumbled back, his mind coming to the conclusion that there was a person drowning just outside the lighthouse. The lab wasn’t the only underwater level in the building, and they were over thirty feet below sea level. If she had sunk this far, could he get to her in time before she drowned.

            Just as he was startled by her appearance, her face jumped in surprise as well. Her body twisted and pointed downward, her motion followed by a long, scaly tail that whipped out a few times, then she was gone.

            Fenton fell flat on his butt, just as stunned as if he had been kicked by a horse in the stomach. What did he just see? Did he just see a creature that was half-woman, half-fish? A mermaid?

Want to read more? Keep track of my daily progress on AO3.